tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88293922011-04-22T09:25:53.464+10:00Welcome to the Land of Oz. You might as well be in Kansas. Sorry.edgarrossnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1116471149157391182005-05-19T12:46:00.000+10:002005-05-19T12:52:29.163+10:00

Can't be asked anymore, quite frankly - with the latest yet ongoing shenanigans of Australia's Immigration Department, reality has now well and truly surpassed even my humble little polemic here. I literally can't keep up with it anymore. I'll leave this blog online as a reference tool for interested souls, and you never know - maybe I'll revive it somewhere down the line.Sweet dreams, Australia.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1114131243126833582005-04-22T10:49:00.000+10:002005-04-22T10:54:03.126+10:00

Ah, Australia, Land of the Fair Go and Equal Opportunity for All... who are rich.Student debt is set to soar, with a new forecast revealing that fee-paying university students will borrow $825 million a year by 2008 to pay for degrees costing up to $200,000. (...) More than 50 undergraduate degrees cost at least $100,000, while a few - such as medicine at the University of Melbourne - charge

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111279763699579552005-04-13T14:55:00.000+10:002005-04-13T14:56:39.873+10:00

Use of cannabis - percentage of population aged 15+ responding they had used cannabis in the previous twelve months, 1999 New Zealand 22.2 Australia 17.9 USA 12.3 UK 9.0 Switzerland 8.5 Use of amphetamines - percentage of population aged 15+ responding they had used amphetamines in the previous twelve months, 1999 Australia 3.6 UK 3.0 New Zealand 2.5 Switzerland 0.8 Tiffen and

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111281668032615192005-04-12T10:38:00.000+10:002005-04-12T10:35:50.456+10:00

Expenditure as % of GDP, 1999 or latest available year17. Ireland 0.616. Australia 0.815. Belgium 0.914. Denmark 0.913. Italy 0.9(Source: Tiffen and Gittens, p. 166)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106702879771625852005-04-07T21:24:00.000+10:002005-04-07T09:24:21.226+10:00

Above all, what is perhaps oddest to the outsider is that Aborigines just aren’t there. You don't see them performing on television; you don't find them assisting you in shops. Only two Aborigines have ever served in Parliament; none has held a Cabinet post. Indigenous peoples constitute only about 1.5 per cent of the Australian population and they live disproportionately in rural areas, so you

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111281346977554672005-04-01T21:58:00.000+10:002005-04-01T09:56:17.410+10:00

Kilograms of municipal waste generated per person per year, 2000 USA 760 Australia 690 Denmark 660 Switzerland 650 Canada 640 (Source: Tiffen and Gittins, p.166)No comment.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1112150894797455242005-03-30T12:43:00.000+10:002005-03-30T12:48:14.800+10:00

...to the post below. Sometimes, timing is everything - I go and post something about David Marr's article, and in today's Sydney Morning Herald letters page, I find the following letter:Others are worseDavid Marr's report ("Geneva v Canberra", Herald, March 28) again has the United Nations and others Howard-bashing and criticising Australia's human rights records.If these critics cared to take

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1112078870059074192005-03-30T10:59:00.000+10:002005-03-30T10:56:24.323+10:00

Nice to see that David Marr is back at the Sydney Morning Herald. And here's a story by him that should be mandatory reading for anyone who's wondering why I'm doing this blog, or why Australia is what it is.Australia was facing the [UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination]'s scrutiny for the first time in five years. The event went unreported back home and the verdict - handed

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1112055346879843572005-03-29T10:04:00.000+10:002005-03-29T10:28:50.250+10:00

New South Wales Transport Minister John Watkins has condemned what he says is a growing number of assaults against bus drivers. A total of 216 assaults have been reported over the past year, some of which were committed by motorists who followed buses to their depots.(There's more at ABC News)Assaults against bus drivers. Bus drivers, fer chrissakes...

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111845250328704132005-03-27T00:42:00.000+11:002005-03-27T00:54:10.330+11:00

In the interest of even-handedness, unbiasedness, ockerness and general niceness, I thought it would be, well, nice to post a comment from one of the bastions of mainstream Australia. You know, to balance my bitter and twisted view of things in this great country.BCA President Hugh Morgan said Australia’s infrastructure problems were endemic, not only with export bottlenecks at our ports, but in

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111844114756381902005-03-26T11:13:00.000+11:002005-03-27T00:35:14.766+11:00

Mike Carlton in today's Sydney Morning Herald:The media straighteners and punishers who push the Howard Government's appalling refugee policies tend to foam at the mouth when you call the Baxter immigration detention centre a concentration camp.But this is precisely what it is, as any dictionary will confirm. The Macquarie Dictionary: "Concentration camp, n, a guarded enclosure for the detention

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106702518595255332005-03-24T16:42:00.000+11:002005-03-24T16:40:48.203+11:00

Bill Bryson faces some home truths about Australia.[In Alice Springs,] the people on the street were overwhelmingly white Australians but there were Aborigines about, too – not great numbers of them, but always there, on the edge of the frame, unobtrusive, nearly always silent, peripheral. The white people never looked at the Aborigines, and the Aborigines never looked at the white people. The

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111539681863668572005-03-23T11:46:00.000+11:002005-03-23T12:14:33.106+11:00

Alright then, something short and uncontroversial (in the sense of factual) today from The Australian:CAMILLA Parker Bowles will automatically become queen of Britain, Australia and more than a dozen other countries when her future husband, Prince Charles, accedes to the throne, the British Government has admitted. It would require special legislation in Canberra for her to be downgraded to

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111450715868827142005-03-22T11:01:00.000+11:002005-03-22T11:19:51.686+11:00

OK. Had a bit of feedback and a subsequent think. The result being that I'll try to be more careful with my wording in future - I can see why some of this would read as quite offensive so I'll try to rectify this by sticking more to the facts and trying to avoid the polemic as much as possible. Am still getting over the shock of anyone actually giving a damn about what I say or think, which makes

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111280974913432662005-03-21T08:37:00.000+11:002005-03-21T08:36:05.756+11:00

Cubic metres of water used per person per year, 1999USA 1870Canada 1600Italy 980Australia 840Japan 720"Australia's semi-arid interior means that it is the driest [inhabited] continent and the limited availability of water has greatly shaped Australian development. It may be surprising then that in terms of water consumption per person Australia rates fourth highest among the selected countries. (

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111019617226376562005-03-17T11:32:00.000+11:002005-03-18T10:43:55.826+11:00

In case you're still doubting that Australia is an absolute cultural desert, Andrea Hull, Director of the Victorian College of the Arts, had this to say on the radio Wednesday evening:"Australia lags behind other nations when it comes to its cultural priorities(...)There's a far higher investment from European countries and countries like Ireland in the arts per capita than there is here in

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1111019263854488302005-03-17T11:21:00.000+11:002005-03-17T11:29:36.530+11:00

Deportation, Australian style:PAUL LOCKYER: Still smarting from the Cornelia Rau affair, the Immigration Department finds itself in the middle of a new storm tonight.Its officers are now under fire for using heavy-handed tactics to remove two students from their classes in a New South Wales school and take them to Sydney's Villawood detention centre.In the Federal Parliament, Immigration Minister

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106373530224825752005-03-16T23:09:00.000+11:002005-03-16T11:12:13.880+11:00

One of the main problems down here is the isolation. Because Australians don't know much about the outside world, they overreact to everything that doesn't fit their small world perspective - slight disturbances become "riots" and so on. Australians are also badly travelled - a contentious point this, as most Australians do travel abroad in quite high numbers. However, they only really go to

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1110781014694566052005-03-14T17:07:00.000+11:002005-03-14T17:16:54.696+11:00

Yeah yeah I know, these stats are way late but I thought them interesting for one reason: an ABC show actually making the Top 10. An incisive documentary maybe? A cutting edge political analysis? A comedy with brains and humanity?Nope, a lightweight chit chat with some European aristocrats, and just 'cos a former real estate agent from Tasmania got hitched to some chinless titled wonder from

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106701943624286102005-03-11T12:24:00.000+11:002005-03-11T12:23:57.696+11:00

Ah, the School of the Air, staple myth of the Australian Outback. However, as Bill Bryson discovers, it’s not for everyone……I also read a little booklet I had bought where I was frankly taken aback to discover that each child spends only half an hour a day (actually, 'up to half an hour a day') on the radio, plus ten minutes a week in a private tutorial with their teachers – hardly a lavish

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1110405987270992402005-03-10T09:03:00.000+11:002005-03-10T09:06:27.270+11:00

1. Hitch2. Constantine3. The Aviator4. Million Dollar Baby 5. Bride & Prejudice(from the SBS Movieshow)Still waiting for an actual Australian film to make it in here...

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1110329392386291522005-03-09T11:26:00.000+11:002005-03-09T11:49:52.390+11:00

Believe me, this is true. I don't know where you are as you're reading this but I hope for your sake gender relations are better in your country:She used to be in her early thirties and married with children. Now she's pushing 37, is likely to be single, with one or two offspring. (...) ...Doctor Helen Kelleher, convenor of the Australian Women's Health Network isn't surprised by the finding that

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1110236350667952952005-03-08T09:56:00.000+11:002005-03-08T09:59:10.670+11:00

A majority of Australian Super 12 players [that's Rugby Union, not League] believe they have team-mates who are battling serious alcohol and gambling problems, according to a survey released by their players' asssociation today.The survey of 84 professional Australian rugby union players, including 27 Wallabies, found that just over half of those questioned thought that between one and 10 players

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106286949766357442005-03-07T12:59:00.000+11:002005-03-07T12:57:56.746+11:00

Australians love to piss their money in the wind. Gambling in Australia has assumed ridiculous proportions - you basically can't go to pubs anywhere 'cos they're nothing more than boring casinos, full of one-armed bandits, and that's just the clientele. Boom tish. Seriously: gaming and gambling is a huge social problem in Australia, and, as usual here, it's ignored and/or not being taken

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109898851938667982005-03-04T11:32:00.000+11:002005-03-04T12:14:11.940+11:00

Ah, "The Voice From The Vault" quiz on my local ABC radio station's breakfast show. Every morning it's a reminder of how isolated from and ignorant of the wider world Australians are. I should maybe note that the ABC's listeners probably represent the upper middle-class in Sydney and hence, one would think, the "educated" slice of Sydney radio (I shudder to think how this quiz would pan out on

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109807761223898152005-03-03T10:42:00.000+11:002005-03-03T10:56:01.226+11:00

Jared Diamond, author of Collapse, was interviewed last night on the ABC's PM Programme. Now, Jared quite likes Australia, in fact he said that "it's a country that I really love, and I've been there frequently and I considered emigrating to Australia." This just to let you know that even someone as friendly disposed towards Australia as Jared can't help noticing the following:MARK COLVIN: You've

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106372105474221302005-03-02T12:28:00.000+11:002005-03-02T12:32:59.630+11:00

Another extract from Bill Bryson I can wholeheartedly testify to - just to mention the word "convicts" will almost get you killed in any pub in Sydney. While Bryson is wrong about there being no mention of convicts or the First Fleet in museums in Sydney (the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, for example, is really good), he's spot on about the general athmosphere of denial. For an outsider, this is

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109638341679093962005-03-01T00:23:00.000+11:002005-03-01T15:47:36.333+11:00

Let me take you down, 'cos we're going to, Macquarie Fields... Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyhow, after 4 nights of "rioting" in one of the prole holes from hell that surround metropolitan Sydney, Macquarie Fields, things seem to have settled down somewhat. By the way: what Australians call "rioting" would more properly be called an "affray" or something along those lines. In my six years here,

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109573274261661882005-02-28T17:43:00.000+11:002005-02-28T17:47:54.263+11:00

The Sydney Morning Herald has news for all the backpacking flotsam and jetsam desperately trying to pick up every weekend in my local pub:In NSW, rates of chlamydia have increased by more than 300 per cent since 1999, and most of those infections are in heterosexuals under 25. Syphilis, particularly common among gays, has risen by more than 200 per cent, and HIV infections are up 11 per cent,

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106702769540451032005-02-27T14:50:00.000+11:002005-02-27T14:50:25.160+11:00

More Bill Bryson:"[Then I came across] an unfortunate experiment in social engineering popularly known as the Stolen Generations. This was an attempt by government to lift Aboriginal children out of poverty and disadvantage by physically distancing them from their families and communities. No one knows the actual numbers, but between 1910 and 1970 between one-tenth and one-third of Aboriginal

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109229913516852152005-02-25T09:26:00.000+11:002005-02-25T09:27:13.813+11:00

1. The Aviator2. Hide and Seek3. Bride and Prejudice4. Spanglish5. House of Flying Daggers(Source: SBS Movieshow)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106284626191213922005-02-24T09:51:00.000+11:002005-02-24T09:52:01.180+11:00

Percentage of population with income below 50% of the country's median income, mid to late 1990s USA 17.0 Australia 14.3 Italy 14.2 Canada 12.8 UK 12.5 (Source: Tiffen and Gittens, pp. 142-143)I always wondered where Australians get that idea from that people in Australia have this great lifestyle and are much better off than anyone else in the world. They must walk their streets with

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109050139717099252005-02-23T09:30:00.000+11:002005-02-23T09:29:58.753+11:00

1 LOST (Channel 7) 2 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (Channel 7)3 DANCING WITH THE STARS (Channel 7)4 WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE (Channel 9)5 CELEBRITY OVERHAUL (Channel 9)6 CATEGORY 6: DAY OF DESTRUCTION (Channel 7) 7 CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (Channel 9) 8 CSI: MIAMI (Channel 9) 9 MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS (Channel 9) 10 60 MINUTES (Channel 9)Ye gods... 5 American shows, a quiz show, a "current affairs"

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1109032676075156332005-02-22T11:14:00.000+11:002005-02-22T11:37:56.080+11:00

This is par for the course in Australia, so I'll keep this brief. Australian men treat women in a way that would have them get their empty heads kicked in in my home town, by women AND men, and pretty much anywhere in the civilised world, I suspect. And nowhere is the Australian male more male than in Rugby League, the male working-class sport in this country par excellence. Hence, this

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107058752893178132005-02-21T13:12:00.000+11:002005-02-21T13:12:45.356+11:00

Four hundred and thirty-three human beings, seekers of asylum, stranded far from home. A Norwegian container ship, its enormous red hull floating listlessly off Christmas Island. A nation losing its soul. Or was it bearing it? CNN compared the stranded with the Voyage of the Damned, but the Australian Government and most of its citizenry were bereft of compassion or sympathy. 'Sink the Tampa' –

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106373408813902502005-02-18T09:07:00.000+11:002005-02-18T09:06:43.630+11:00

One thing you won’t find much in Australian second-hand bookshops are 1950s or earlier editions of lots of books - The Catcher in the Rye, A Farewell to Arms, Animal Farm, Peyton Place, Another Country, Brave New World and hundreds and hundreds of others. The reason for this is simple: they were banned. Altogether, at its peak, 5000 titles were forbidden to be imported into the country. By the

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1108638939365391592005-02-17T21:56:00.000+11:002005-02-18T08:46:15.203+11:00

Just a quick one before it's off to bed. John Farnham, an Australian legend (translation: virtually unknown outside of Australia) will not be singing at this year's ANZAC Day celebrations after a veto by New Zealand's thankfully sane Prime Minister Helen Clarke. The ABC commented that "New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clarke doesn't want him performing at the 90th anniversary of the ANZAC Cove

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1108602848094692272005-02-17T12:07:00.000+11:002005-02-17T12:16:20.703+11:00

And a double whammy for youse today: the top 10 teeve stuff people watch here. Again, bugger the linking - if you're keen, google them. Unsurpringly, most of these, again, will be American, with the occasional Australian sports broadcast, variety drivel or commercial "news" programme thrown in.1 LOST (Channel 7) 2 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (Channel 7) 3 DANCING WITH THE STARS (Channel 7) 4 CSI: CRIME

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1108602333777961502005-02-17T11:57:00.000+11:002005-02-17T12:05:33.780+11:00

1. The Aviator2. Hide and Seek3. Million Dollar Baby4. Meet The Fockers5. CloserI'm not going to bother to link these anymore - if anyone really is that interested in the Hollywood rubbish people watch here, they can google for it. I will, however, put any Australian film that actually makes the top 5 up in lights, or at least red. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle.(Source: SBS Movie Show)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1108518476609112032005-02-16T12:38:00.000+11:002005-02-16T12:47:56.610+11:00

Every now and then, an Australian pops up and gobsmacks you by saying exactly the same things you were thinking about. Funny thing is, when I say these things out loud, I am somehow a foreign malcontent and almost-terrorist, so it is nice to read the occasional Australian speaking sense. Like Les in today's Sydney Morning Herald letter's page. The topic is dental health care in Australia (which,

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106373242074966972005-02-16T11:05:00.000+11:002005-02-16T12:48:58.030+11:00

True. The last referendum on the matter went resoundingly to the Monarchists. Even Bill Bryson couldn't believe the level of public discourse at the time, and let me tell you: I've never heard so much pig-ignorant nonsense than during the republic debate. Most people were apparently already befuddled by the term "president" and, being so deeply American in mind and soul, immediately thought the

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1108425592518375192005-02-15T10:53:00.000+11:002005-02-15T10:59:52.520+11:00

More trouble for the embattled Immigration Department. It involves French citizen Mahamadou Sacko who arrived at Sydney Airport 18 months ago to start an English language course. But before he could do anything he found himself the focus of a bizarre interrogation. He was taken to the Villawood Detention Centre where he received no consular access and was even asked to sing the French national

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106284072195920882005-02-14T16:05:00.000+11:002005-02-14T16:12:14.843+11:00

Percentage of population with income below $US11 PPP per day, 1995 Australia 18 UK 16 USA 14 France 10 Canada 7 (Source: Tiffen and Gittens, pp. 142-143)No comment.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1108085306976277552005-02-11T13:19:00.000+11:002005-02-11T12:28:26.976+11:00

...is going to be Camilla Parker Bowles. And how much fun to see Australians squirming about, going "no, she'll only be called 'The Prince's Consort' " and "well, I didn't vote for the monarchy anyway so what's that got to do with me" and blablabla. Thing is, most Australians did vote for the monarchy, and no matter how much you try and dress it up with diplomatic semantics: this woman will be

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107997775689671122005-02-10T13:01:00.000+11:002005-02-10T12:09:35.690+11:00

1. Closer 2. Million Dollar Baby 3. Meet The Fockers 4. Ray 5. Sideways (Source, as always: SBS Movie Show) And once again, they're all American... anyone surprised? Don't yell all at once.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106371633462226232005-02-09T10:35:00.000+11:002005-02-09T10:30:15.156+11:00

Bill Bryson takes a train ride in Australia and tries to raise "the Aboriginal question" with Australians. I can personally vouch that this is pretty much how all Australians react; similar things have happened to me on numerous occasions. ...Trevor and I sat at dinner with a pair of quiet middle-aged teachers from rural north Queensland, Keith and Daphne. (...) [Keith] talked with enthusiasm

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107830149548953502005-02-08T13:08:00.000+11:002005-02-08T13:35:49.546+11:00

In the course of the last couple of years, I think it's fair to say that I got reasonably disillusioned with Australia, as you will be able to tell from this blog. As I mention here, this used to be a quite decent place, or at least not significantly worse than elsewhere. But even someone as cynical as me about the state of affairs in this sorry excuse for a nation still gets surprised every now

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106282779098366492005-02-07T22:22:00.000+11:002005-02-07T10:17:32.630+11:00

Expenditure on age pensions as % of GDP 18. Ireland 2.5 17. Australia 4.3 16. Canada 5.1 15. USA 5.2 14. New Zealand 5.5 (Source: Tiffen and Gittins, pp. 146-147) In Australia, the state, i.e. the community, will not look after you when you're old - you're expected to look after your pension during your working life yourself. And if you're unemployed, or looked after the kids for a couple of

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107059886784994522005-02-06T13:31:00.000+11:002005-02-06T12:44:09.266+11:00

The Howard government’s brand new black bureaucracy - launched in June last year amid attempts to abolish ATSIC - is managed almost exclusively by white bureaucrats, NIT inquiries have revealed. The revelations are a slap in the face to more than 20 years of convention in Aboriginal Affairs - increasingly, Indigenous workers have staffed and run Indigenous bureaucracies. But under the Howard

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107486807712702542005-02-04T14:10:00.000+11:002005-02-04T14:13:27.713+11:00

Sandra Bernhard about Australians: "Her impression of Australians is of fun-loving people who are a little "detached" from the world because "you guys aren't always running with full information about the world". (Sydney Morning Herald) She's being very diplomatic here. In other words: Australians are nice but dim.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107472871684744972005-02-04T10:15:00.000+11:002005-02-04T10:21:11.683+11:00

I know, I know, it's an extreme case and not representative at all blabla. Still, when I heard this on the radio this morning, I couldn't stop laughing: The swift departure of [an Indian doctor and his wife] from a South Australian country town after less than a week has highlighted concerns about the problems of recruiting overseas doctors to rural areas....Dr Simon says in his eight years in

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106282327550456392005-02-03T23:45:00.000+11:002005-02-03T11:41:06.426+11:00

How do you fare once you've been put out to pasture in Australia? After you've stopped working, how does your income and buying power compare to younger generations? Is there even a pretension to equality between generations when it comes to income? While everyone knows that your income will go down, will it still be roughly comparable to that of the working population in Australia? Erm... no.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107130801484364742005-02-02T10:20:00.000+11:002005-02-02T10:15:30.356+11:00

Just got this forwarded from a friend of mine. Now, keep in mind that I make no pretensions to claim that this is a real photograph, and you know you should take everything you find on the Net with a grain of salt yada yada yada. This purports to be a photo from the Perth Cup horse race: Click to enlarge Click and see if you can spot the Australian male in action... as I said: I've got no idea

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1107059473088004862005-02-01T09:26:00.000+11:002005-02-01T09:38:10.790+11:00

You really can't say this often enough! Aboriginal Australians are more likely to drop out of school, go to jail and die young than other Australians, a new survey of government services shows. The Productivity Commission report paints a bleak picture of prospects for the Indigenous community, with worryingly high levels of smoking, obesity, diabetes and poverty among Aboriginal families.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106372740131957262005-01-31T21:51:00.000+11:002005-01-31T09:52:04.010+11:00

"Now here is why you will never understand Australian politics. In 1972, after twenty-three years of rule by the conservative Liberal Party, Australia elected a Labor government under the leadership of the dashing and urbane Gough Whitlam. At once Whitlam's government embarked on a programme of ambitious reforms – it gave Aborigines rights they had not previously enjoyed, began to disengage

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106281834898344262005-01-28T13:00:00.000+11:002005-01-28T12:55:26.700+11:00

If you're old in Australia, you face a significantly higher possibility of living in poverty than in comparable countries. Put simply: Australia, in contrast to all its family values-touting politicians and Anzac Day veneration of old soldiers, actually couldn't give a rat's about its elderly. As Tiffen and Gittins note: "[This] table reveals also that Australia has the highest proportion (29%)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106804686260771232005-01-27T16:24:00.000+11:002005-01-27T16:44:46.260+11:00

From today's Sydney Morning Herald about yesterday's Australia Day celebrations in Sydney: The pride is high and there's no holding back Not so long ago, public demonstrations of how pleased and, yes, how proud a people are to be Australian, might have caused some unease. No longer. Shortly after dawn in Sydney, George Street was echoing with the inevitable chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106723503866795022005-01-26T17:53:00.000+11:002005-01-26T18:14:55.523+11:00

Listened to 702's breakfast show yesterday on the way to work and they interviewed Hugh Wirth, head of the NSW chapter of the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), about a string of recent horrific attacks on cats. Mr Wirth asserted, quite matter-of-factly and calmly, that, since the perpetrators were always males, the reason was obviously that Australian males have a

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106372456248702272005-01-25T22:00:00.000+11:002005-01-25T09:56:09.430+11:00

Bill Bryson drives around the Australian countryside and notices that, really, Australia is just like the USA was in the 1950s. Needless to say, he possibly thinks that's a compliment, and in fact you hear a lot of Yanks saying this about Australia. What they mean, presumably, since I've never heard a black American say this, is that Australia is like a white Mc Carthy-era version of the US, and

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106283910711880852005-01-24T21:47:00.000+11:002005-01-24T09:56:18.753+11:00

Sometimes you can't see your hand in front of your eyes for all the family values-clichees being spouted by Australians. Family this, family bloody that, family freaking the other. Unless you have kids, it seems, you're a lesser being in the Land of Nod. Fair call - each to their own and that. But what actually happens to women once they get kids? Do they get paid maternity leave, so as to lessen

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106287751577791182005-01-21T17:07:00.000+11:002005-01-21T17:15:30.340+11:00

This wouldn't even be worth commenting on but for the fact that I know that this warning will be wholeheartedly ignored by the greedy people of this city: Despite good overnight rain, Sydney residents are being encouraged to continue to conserve water as the city's dams fall to record low levels. Prior to last night's storms, Sydney's dams hit an all-time low at 42.1 per cent of capacity. The

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106182597274639722005-01-20T11:43:00.000+11:002005-01-20T11:56:37.273+11:00

The Palm Island Riot and the death in custody of Cameron Doomadgee has, of course, been already forgotten by mainstream Australia, keeping in tradition with totally and comprehensively ignoring the plight of Australia's Indigenous population. After the usual racist goon squads of the Queensland police rampaged through Palm Island, some Islanders now want to sue the police: Now lawyer Kevin Rose,

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1106013198846182022005-01-18T13:47:00.000+11:002005-01-18T13:20:51.580+11:00

I'll write a bit more in the near future about Australian aid to developing countries, which is especially interesting in this time where Australians are quite publicly beside themselves about how generous and generally world top-class ace super they are, helping those, like, really poor guys, dude. For the time being though, this as a starter: "The United Nations (UN) Millennium Project wants

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1105919061891194172005-01-17T10:29:00.000+11:002005-01-17T10:44:21.890+11:00

Stumbled into a quiz segment on Radio 2GB last Friday afternoon. This is how one caller fared. I swear, I'm not making this up: DJ: "Alright, your question is: what is the capital of Switzerland?" CALLER: "Bern." DJ [after a pause]: ".... I hope not, 'cos that's not what I've got in front of me!" CALLER: "OSLO!" DJ: "No, that's not it either. Sorry, see you later, our next caller is Peter [or

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104205537315572702005-01-14T13:02:00.000+11:002005-01-14T12:57:56.876+11:00

John van Tiggelen writes specifically about North Queensland in Mango Country: A journey beyond the brochures of Tropical Queensland, but this passage can be taken for Australia as a whole. It really is as contradictory a country as this. Australians will forever spout off about what their country supposedly is like, and then go and do exactly the opposite of what Australia supposedly is all

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104209607128119522005-01-13T15:58:00.000+11:002005-01-13T15:55:19.830+11:00

Australia, land of the "fair go", of "mate-ship", where everyone gets a chance... Except for when you're weak, poor, underprivileged, disabled, black, sick, a woman.... The list is endless. If you fall into any of these groups, my friend, my old mate, you are fucked. Take the income of disabled persons, for example. Tiffen and Gittins note that "disabled adults received less income than the

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1105509223582560562005-01-12T16:51:00.000+11:002005-01-20T09:25:35.440+11:00

According to the Australian government's Australian Institute of Criminology, "Indigenous persons aged 10 to 17 years [are] still almost 20 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous persons of the same age group."

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1105321707288061482005-01-11T09:35:00.000+11:002005-01-11T09:31:08.773+11:00

Australia is one of the few countries in the world to incorporate another country's flag in its own. Gives a whole new meaning to the terms "independent" and "sovereign", doesn't it? Have a look: (Source: Wikipedia) Wikipedia also notes that "[the flag] suggests [that] Australia is a colony or dependency of Great Britain. New Zealand, Fiji and Tuvalu are the only other independent nations in

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104208497248232822005-01-10T10:42:00.000+11:002005-01-10T10:38:06.940+11:00

There's one thing you can bet on in Australia: once the petrol price rises above 1 Australian Dollar per litre, it's advisable to cover your ears, else the highpitched whining everywhere should burst your eardrums. Inevitably, the country that characterises everyone else (i.e. Brits, Continental Europeans, Asians, Blacks, even US-Americans sometimes) as "whingers", has a good, well - whinge about

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1105058642256049022005-01-07T11:13:00.000+11:002005-01-07T11:46:27.686+11:00

I'm loathe to even comment on this, but it's a dirty job and someone's gotta do it. While it is true that the general response of the Australian public and government to the Tsunami tragedy has been great, it helps to keep some things in perspective. If only to somewhat silence the misty-eyed Hooray Harrys who claim that Australia leads the world in compassion at the moment and that this proves

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104382654276157872005-01-05T15:43:00.000+11:002005-01-05T15:41:02.716+11:00

"Australia is the best country in the world. That is why we must do all in our power to protect, secure and build Australia's future." (John Howard, Liberal Party website, 2004) "One suspects that people who like who they are, and like saying that they like who they are, are soon going to be saying that they don't like who you are." (Martin Amis, 1987)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104207256205345792005-01-04T22:35:00.000+11:002005-01-04T10:30:58.640+11:00

Tiffen and Gittins point out that "[t]he most systematic data [on air pollution] is on oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. Both are implicated in respiratory problems and in acid rain, while nitrogen oxides are central in the formation of photochemical smog. Sulphur dioxide is emitted by vehicles, by the burning of coal, and in processes like wood pulping and paper manufacturing. Similarly, nitrogen

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104730017615381362005-01-03T16:16:00.000+11:002005-01-03T16:26:57.616+11:00

"For a country that prides itself on its multiculturalism, the disgraceful treatment meted out to 'boat people' who arrive on Australian shores speaks to an underlying problem in the constitution of the Australian state. Whatever the virtues of a tolerant policy within the space of the nation, it rests on a troubled relation to the 'outside' world." (Dr McKenzie Wark, in his introduction to

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104088772741232272004-12-31T11:45:00.000+11:002004-12-31T11:46:03.543+11:00

Carbon dioxide emissions (Tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from energy use per head per year), 2000: USA 20.6 Australia 17.2 Canada 17.1 Belgium 12.0 Netherlands 11.1 It should also be noted that "Australia, with 0.3% of the world's

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104380508846809892004-12-30T15:14:00.000+11:002004-12-30T15:21:48.846+11:00

The relatively short period in which Australian dominant discourse has turned conservative, xenophobic and racist should perhaps not be surprising. John Howard's encouragement on his election in 1996 for the community to be relaxed, comfortable, and free to express views without being called racists or bigots, led right-wing writers and public commentators to attack progressive views with a

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104088181193823792004-12-29T11:59:00.000+11:002004-12-29T12:06:29.936+11:00

This table "...is couched in terms of emissions per person, to show how each country's economic patterns and lifestyle are contributing to the problem. Australia was the worst-performing country per capita, with the United States and Canada being the other two countries with figures greater than 20. At the other end of the scale, each Swede produced only about a fifth as many CO2-e emissions as

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104192340958479692004-12-28T10:46:00.000+11:002004-12-28T11:05:40.956+11:00

"That 'Tropical Lifestyle' nonsense is just a marketing ploy," I mumbled through a mouthful of meat. "It's got nothing to do with the real ambience of the place. Life in the tropics is all about sweaty jocks and swatting mosquitoes and sleepless nights spent listening to rum-driven domestic disputes during the build-up to the Wet." Kegs twiddled an empty prawn tail between thumb and forefinger.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1104087564755388212004-12-27T05:35:00.000+11:002004-12-27T12:45:08.896+11:00

As Tiffen and Gittins point out, "America leads the world in obese women and men by a considerable distance.... Australia ranks second among the selected countries among women and third among men." The figures from 2000 are: Obese females (percentage of female population with Body Mass Index >30) United States 34 Australia 22 UK 21 New

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1103770813231854342004-12-23T13:41:00.000+11:002004-12-23T14:00:13.233+11:00

From a Research Paper by the Edmund Rice Centre entitled Deported to Danger: A Study of Australia's Treatment of 40 Rejected Asylum Seekers (there's much much more on the topic of Australia's refugee policy... stay tuned over the next couple of weeks): "In answer to the core question, whether the Australian Government or its agencies sent or attempted to send asylum seekers to unsafe places we

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1103673247287488502004-12-22T10:35:00.000+11:002004-12-22T11:16:25.080+11:00

Went out last night to the films with my partner and a colleague of hers (Anglo-Australian) whom I hadn't met before. I was wearing a football top. My partner's colleague was perfectly nice but looked at me in a quizzical sort of way, as if she couldn't quite make me out. Went for drinks afterwards and after a while I asked her about this. She then told me that she had been totally thrown by the

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1103595519438285152004-12-21T13:09:00.000+11:002004-12-21T13:18:39.436+11:00

No Australian wants to know this, let alone cares about this, and no screaming from the rooftops (or in a blog, for that matter) will change it. But scream I must, until lungs will burst. This is what life is like for this country's indigenous population: During 1999 - 2001, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated the adjusted life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1103493532314911992004-12-20T08:52:00.000+11:002004-12-20T08:58:52.313+11:00

Again, I've written on this before, but here's another installment of drunken violence in Sydney: SYDNEY'S plague of violence is set to claim another life and police across the state have been ordered to crack down on Christmas drunks. (...) Confronted by yet another violent weekend, NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has appealed directly to his troops to come down hard on alcohol-related

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1103258955350284912004-12-17T15:41:00.000+11:002004-12-17T15:49:15.350+11:00

"Staff at a TAFE institute in northern New South Wales have performed an exorcism to rid the place of 'evil spirits'. A host of holy leaders was called upon to help in the cleansing ceremony, including the Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II, Australia's most senior Muslim leader, local Aboriginal elders and a Jewish rabbi. (...) Organiser Geoff Parry says years of government budget cuts and

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1103167000357147602004-12-16T13:47:00.000+11:002004-12-16T14:16:40.356+11:00

Tom Schieffer, American Ambassador to Australia, gave his farewell speech yesterday - he's off to tell the Japanese what to do. Schieffer's an old friend and business partner of George W. Bush (you can read about their Texas Rangers venture here), and, as the American representative in Australia, he was basically the mouthpiece of this country's real government. Sort of like the local branch

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102414462696533322004-12-15T14:54:00.000+11:002004-12-15T14:52:13.736+11:00

"In the debates about reconciliation, land rights claims, and demands for apology and for a treaty, some simple facts seem to be ignored. These facts are that, by law and international conventions, the State of Australia, by taking over the possession of the land from Britain, the country which invaded this continent illegally, is still in a state of war with the Australian Indigenous population.

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1101201688097469412004-12-14T11:17:00.000+11:002004-12-14T11:26:26.830+11:00

Just a little something today. Australians are brilliant at making small-talk and friendly chit chat; in fact, they're possibly the friendliest people you could hope to meet. Unfortunately, as usual here, things are not quite as they appear. True, Australians are alarmingly nice when you meet them. However, this is largely due to the fact that they don't say what they think, and hence,

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102890279779738472004-12-13T09:18:00.000+11:002004-12-13T09:24:39.780+11:00

1. National Treasure 2. Team America 3. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 4. Saw 5. Christmas with the Kranks (as usual, via the SBS Movie Show)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102734296959595042004-12-11T13:47:00.000+11:002004-12-11T14:04:56.960+11:00

I listened to Australia Talks Back on Radio National last Wednesday. Very interesting show about Australian expats overseas and the challenges they face. The usual programme about emigration really, nothing too special. But then - then it started turning, with more and more people phoning in and saying how they returned to Australia after years overseas and being faced with what was almost

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102558510752442522004-12-09T13:00:00.000+11:002004-12-09T13:15:10.753+11:00

"The Federal Opposition has released a draft shared-responsibility agreement between the Government and the Mulan Aboriginal Community in Western Australia. Under the deal, the Government would provide petrol bowsers and new health programs, while the community would agree to meet certain standards including getting children to school and making sure their faces are washed twice a day." (

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102460889681983182004-12-08T09:45:00.000+11:002004-12-08T10:10:56.583+11:00

I've written on this before but here's another take on it. I've never really understood that Australian self-image of laid-back, relaxed dudes who'd much rather surf than work. That, as is readily apparent to outsiders, is absofuckinglutely bollocks. Instead, they're all perfect little wage slaves. But that's OK for Alan Mascarenhas because, hey, you can still make quality use of your spare time,

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102413667806529082004-12-07T20:43:00.000+11:002004-12-07T21:01:07.806+11:00

"Australia's population has come from all over the world, and Australians travel all over the world. Australia's trade relations also extend into many countries. Yet in the cultural sphere Australia has been, and continues to be, relatively isolated from the external world. It might be called Western or European, but cultural contacts with Europe or 'the West' are minimal, except for England and

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102286270678834352004-12-06T09:36:00.000+11:002004-12-06T09:47:47.993+11:00

1. National Treasure 2. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 3. The Grudge 4. The Polar Express 5. Bad Santa (via the SBS Movie Show)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102041314759539932004-12-05T13:30:00.000+11:002004-12-05T14:15:43.533+11:00

But for Bevan Bartman, 19, and Reg McGrady, 23, their plans to poke around someone's home and smoke a bit of yarndi [marijuana] turned into a nightmare. The father and son who disturbed Bartman, McGrady and two friends, aged 15 and 16, at their home near Goondiwindi allegedly stripped one boy naked and dragged him along the river bank by a rope tied around his neck. Another was allegedly tied to

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1102042492579644422004-12-03T13:52:00.000+11:002004-12-03T13:54:52.580+11:00

Australia had a major race relations problem, with two race riots so far this year, and people were becoming indifferent to rising rates of Aboriginal imprisonment and deaths in custody, Parliament heard yesterday. Senator Aden Ridgeway of the Australian Democrats, the only Aborigine in Parliament, said the Government had watched over two major race riots in 10 months and still did not see there

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1100839120565801312004-12-02T11:24:00.000+11:002004-12-02T11:26:36.923+11:00

Considering that one of the few things that Australia has going for it internationally is its nature and environment, you'd think it would be a high priority for Australians, right? I mean, if for no other reason than recognising that tourism, which is one of the most important national revenue sources, is highly dependent on unspoilt nature - seeing as that's why tourists in their vast majority

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1100476007385259242004-12-01T10:32:00.000+11:002004-12-01T12:16:13.916+11:00

In 1999, Australians had the chance in a referendum to replace Queen Elizabeth II as the Head of State with a person actually elected by the Australian people (via their elected parliament). In other words: to establish an Australian republic in place of the current constitutional monarchy. "Constitution Alteration (Establishment of Republic) 1999 sought to establish the Commonwealth of

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1101778216742483842004-11-30T13:07:00.000+11:002004-11-30T12:30:16.743+11:00

"The Howard Government has rejected calls from South-East Asian nations to sign a treaty renouncing the use of force in the region. During the federal election campaign, Prime Minister John Howard repeated his commitment to launch an attack against terrorists abroad if they were planning to strike Australian interests and the host country refused to act. (snip) Foreign Minister Alexander Downer

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1101681012263666302004-11-29T09:24:00.000+11:002004-11-29T09:30:12.263+11:00

1. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 2. The Grudge 3. The Polar Express 4. Taxi 5. Hero (via the SBS Movie Show)

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1101476056913771372004-11-26T23:58:00.000+11:002004-11-27T00:57:50.920+11:00

PALM ISLAND, Nov 26: Police took control of the airport, school and hospital on Palm Island today after an emergency situation was declared in the wake of violent riots over a death in custody. Some residents, contractors and public servants, including 22 teachers, were evacuated from the island as police from Townsville and Cairns were flown in to reinforce officer numbers. Angry mobs today

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8829392.post-1099278116293151782004-11-25T12:45:00.000+11:002004-11-25T12:50:58.903+11:00

The Australian of the Year Award ("The awards profile leading Australians who are role models for us all.") and the Young Australian of the Year Award ("The Young Australian of the Year Award recognises those aged 16 to 25 who are outstanding and exceptional young Australians." ) are given out each year. The last 21 winners of the Australian of the Year Award were comprised of 17 men and 4 women

edgarrossnoreply@blogger.com0