Because Australia

[Nobu]

This year's controversial whale hunt has ended with less confrontation than in years past.

 

Japanese military surveillance efforts may have allowed research whaling vessels to avoid encounters at sea this season.

[Coldsteel]

This year's controversial whale hunt has ended with less confrontation than in years past.

 

Japanese military surveillance efforts may have allowed research whaling vessels to avoid encounters at sea this season.

Are you suggesting it was Japanese whalers that got Harold Holt?

[mnm]

No, but they got Ötzi instead.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

This year's controversial whale hunt has ended with less confrontation than in years past.

 

Japanese military surveillance efforts may have allowed research whaling vessels to avoid encounters at sea this season.

Are you suggesting it was Japanese whalers that got Harold Holt?

 

In fairness, its a mistake anyone could have made. Great White Whale, Great White Australian PM. I'm surprised it doesn't happen all the time.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Stuart Galbraith

[MiloMorai]

Some expectant parents in Australia are doing away with ultrasound pictures, and instead opting for the tyre smoke from a burnout to reveal the gender of their baby.

As the driver spins the wheels on the spot, blue or pink smoke omits from the tyres announcing a boy or girl to the elated parents.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/98166183/aussie-parents-using-burnouts-to-reveal-the-sex-of-their-baby

[mnm]

The tyre smoke I've seen tends to be light-gray to white in colour, if I saw tyre smoke in those colours and especially so intense it might mean 1) someone is pulling my half-shaft, or 2) I drank a hell of a lot more than I thought!

[toysoldier]

Its due to the southern hemisphere counter clockwise Schwaburger force... changes the nature of fumes and open combustion. I have heard.

[Panzermann]

The tyre smoke I've seen tends to be light-gray to white in colour, if I saw tyre smoke in those colours and especially so intense it might mean 1) someone is pulling my half-shaft, or 2) I drank a hell of a lot more than I thought!

 

ther are special tires for burn-outs that produce coloured smoke. So you can rig the desired result.

[Adam_S]

Oops, there goes the government's majority.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-27/citizenship-decision-handed-down-by-high-court/9061302

 

 

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce will face a by-election on December 2 after being declared ineligible to sit in Parliament by the High Court.

 

Mr Joyce's was the biggest scalp claimed by the High Court when it delivered its judgements on the so-called Citizenship Seven today.

 

In a rather delicious irony, a One Nation senator also lost his senate seat for being a dual national [for any Poms reading the thread, One Nation is kind of the local equivalent of the BNP].

[Panzermann]

 

kookaburras are funny

Edited November 30, 2017 by Panzermann

[Mike Steele]

And what of the potential gun man recently foiled in his plot? I thought you guys went around policing up all those nasty guns? Bet the gun was a AK (hint as to gunman's ethnicity)

[Coldsteel]

... Bet the gun was a AK (hint as to gunman's ethnicity)

 

Nah, it was one of those extreme light-weight intangible "ghost guns" the media is usually raving about.

[Panzermann]

 

be a shame anything happened to it

 

If Australian animals don't poison you or eat you, they'll BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE

Birds have figured out how to light fires to scare their prey into the open

By Richard Chirgwin 8 Jan 2018 at 06:01

 

 

Already replete with sharks, crocodiles, snakes and poisonous jellyfish galore, Australia may also be home to arsonist birds that spread fire so they can feed on animals as they flee.

The belief that birds like the Whistling Kite, Black Kite and Brown Falcon spread grass fires goes back so far that it's commemorated in indigenous ceremonial dances, according to Bob Gosford, a co-author of this paper in the Journal of Enthnobiology.

 

 

The paper posits that the behaviour isn't accidental: “Most accounts and traditions unequivocally indicate intentionality on the part of three raptor species and a handful provide evidence of cooperative fire-spreading by select individuals from within larger fire-foraging raptor assemblages”, it notes.

 

And while the researchers' main interest was to confirm and document those stories, Gosford told Vulture South the research is also important to understanding how fire spreads in Australia.

 

“This may give us cause to re-examine fire history, and the conduct of fire in this country,” Gosford said.

 

Researchers watching how bushfires and grassfires propagate have only looked at two factors, lightning and people, he said; a third vector changes “what we understand about how fire travels in this country”.

 

Gosford said his interest was sparked by passages in I, The Aboriginal, a 1963* book by journalist Douglas Lockwood in which Northern Territory Alawa man Waipuldanya (aka Phillip Roberts) related fire-spreading raptors.

 

More research and interviews “piqued my interest further”, Gosford said, leading ultimately to the paper, in which Aboriginal rangers and others document the pyromaniac raptors.

 

As the paper notes, raptors in Central Australia foraging ahead of fires to catch critters fleeing the flames (as well, of course, as scavenging bodies afterwards) is well documented.

 

The idea that raptors spread fires so they can hunt is less-well documented. “There's scepticism about this – lets get some non-Aboriginal people to see if they observed it,” Gosford said.

 

As well as further interviews, two co-authors of the paper, Dick Eussen (of Tropical Australian Media) and Nathan Ferguson (of the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service) have also observed the fire-spreading.

 

That raises the obvious question: is it intentional, or are the birds accidentally taking burning sticks from one place to another?

 

“Our belief … is that it's intentional,” Gosford told Vulture South – partly because there's a growing body of work identifying surprising intelligence in other avian species such as parrots. ®

 

*Correction: Originally, this article put publication of I, the Aboriginal as 1952, a typo now corrected.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/08/australian_birds_light_fires/

 

 

pretty impressive actually, that birds can learn this

Edited January 9, 2018 by Panzermann

[Rick]

be a shame anything happened to it

 

If Australian animals don't poison you or eat you, they'll BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE

Birds have figured out how to light fires to scare their prey into the open

By Richard Chirgwin 8 Jan 2018 at 06:01

 

 

Already replete with sharks, crocodiles, snakes and poisonous jellyfish galore, Australia may also be home to arsonist birds that spread fire so they can feed on animals as they flee.

The belief that birds like the Whistling Kite, Black Kite and Brown Falcon spread grass fires goes back so far that it's commemorated in indigenous ceremonial dances, according to Bob Gosford, a co-author of this paper in the Journal of Enthnobiology.

 

 

The paper posits that the behaviour isn't accidental: “Most accounts and traditions unequivocally indicate intentionality on the part of three raptor species and a handful provide evidence of cooperative fire-spreading by select individuals from within larger fire-foraging raptor assemblages”, it notes.

 

And while the researchers' main interest was to confirm and document those stories, Gosford told Vulture South the research is also important to understanding how fire spreads in Australia.

 

“This may give us cause to re-examine fire history, and the conduct of fire in this country,” Gosford said.

 

Researchers watching how bushfires and grassfires propagate have only looked at two factors, lightning and people, he said; a third vector changes “what we understand about how fire travels in this country”.

 

Gosford said his interest was sparked by passages in I, The Aboriginal, a 1963* book by journalist Douglas Lockwood in which Northern Territory Alawa man Waipuldanya (aka Phillip Roberts) related fire-spreading raptors.

 

More research and interviews “piqued my interest further”, Gosford said, leading ultimately to the paper, in which Aboriginal rangers and others document the pyromaniac raptors.

 

As the paper notes, raptors in Central Australia foraging ahead of fires to catch critters fleeing the flames (as well, of course, as scavenging bodies afterwards) is well documented.

 

The idea that raptors spread fires so they can hunt is less-well documented. “There's scepticism about this – lets get some non-Aboriginal people to see if they observed it,” Gosford said.

 

As well as further interviews, two co-authors of the paper, Dick Eussen (of Tropical Australian Media) and Nathan Ferguson (of the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service) have also observed the fire-spreading.

 

That raises the obvious question: is it intentional, or are the birds accidentally taking burning sticks from one place to another?

 

“Our belief … is that it's intentional,” Gosford told Vulture South – partly because there's a growing body of work identifying surprising intelligence in other avian species such as parrots. ®

 

*Correction: Originally, this article put publication of I, the Aboriginal as 1952, a typo now corrected.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/08/australian_birds_light_fires/

 

 

pretty impressive actually, that birds can learn this

 

Bullsh_ _!

[Marek Tucan]

Ravens can use sticks to complete simple tasks... I can see some other birds being equally smart.

[Mike Steele]

Ravens can use sticks to complete simple tasks... I can see some other birds being equally smart.

 

Meanwhile we have TNeers that cant even spell. Ah evolution isn't it grand.....

[Mr King]

 

Ravens can use sticks to complete simple tasks... I can see some other birds being equally smart.

 

Meanwhile we have TNeers that cant even spell. Ah evolution isn't it grand.....

 

 

As president of that klub, I like to think I am devolved

[Mr King]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWOhWRvDHRk

[DougRichards]

Yes I know

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-16/wallaby-hops-across-sydney-harbour-bridge-surprising-motorists/9332050

 

A wallaby hopping along the Sydney Harbour Bridge has surprised motorists early this morning, with police later cornering the startled animal and taking it to a vet for a check-up.

Callers to Sydney radio station 2GB witnessed the marsupial jumping about the lanes on the northern side of the bridge just before 5:00am.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," one caller, Michelle, said .

"I was so worried about the poor little thing. It was just hopping northbound in lane eight.

 

"I thought 'No, no way do you see a kangaroo in the city like that," she said.

"I've only seen them in the country."

Traffic controllers from the Transport Management Centre, including Dave Wright, monitored the wallaby.

"Traffic controllers had quite a surprise early this morning when we saw a kangaroo making its way down lane number eight of the Sydney Harbour Bridge coming from the northside," he said.

"It basically continued to hop, making its way from lane eight all the way over to lane one … down the Cahill Expressway and down to Macquarie Street," he said.

Motorists called police, and officers from Harbourside and North Shore local area commands responded.

"There was a police car following it at a really slow pace and there were a lot of cars behind it," another 2GB caller, Dean, said.

"It was just just hopping down the street. I've never seen anything like it. That's Australia for you."

Photo: Police were able to corner the wallaby near the Conservatorium of Music. (Twitter: Sunrise)

 

"It was on the Cahill Expressway on top of Circular Quay," a third 2GB caller, Ray, said.

"It was just standing there minding its own business with a police car there with flashing lights and everything."

Police were later able to pin down the out-of-place animal.

"Officers took the startled macropod into police custody near the Conservatorium of Music, with the Police Mounted Unit arriving on scene soon after to take it to the zoo for veterinary assessment," police said.

 

Animal stressed but free of major injuries

The male adult swamp wallaby was taken to The Taronga Wildlife Hospital in Sydney where it was assessed by senior veterinarian Larry Vogelnest.

"It was quite distressed … so I elected at that point to anaesthetise it … to give it an injection so it was asleep because it was very stressed," he said.

"Then I examined it thoroughly. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any significant injuries.

"It had some minor grazes on its face and its hind legs.

"I X-rayed its whole body to rule out any fractures … and there didn't seem to be any major injuries."

Photo: The wallaby is recovering and is expected to be released into bushland. (Supplied: Taronga Zoo )

 

The wallaby will be monitored at the hospital's intensive care unit for the next 24-hours and later released in bushland where there were other swamp wallabies.

Police Inspector Kylie Smith said it was an extremely uncommon call-out for police.

"It was a very unusual job for a city police officer to be chasing a wallaby down the Harbour Bridge," Inspector Smith said.

The wallaby was likely taking in the famous sights she joked.

"Sydney's got the best harbour in the world so I'd imagine he was taking in the view."

Asked about the global media coverage the story has received, Inspector Smith said "what a beautiful harbour Sydney has".

"So, wake-up all across the world and know that we actually do have wallabies or kangaroos that jump down the main street of Sydney."

It was thought the wayward wallaby might have made its way to the bridge from a golf course in Cammeray, police said.

Ollie Gebert is a junior golf instructor and was at the nine-hole Cammeray golf course this morning but has never spotted a wallaby there.

"I've never seen one in 25 years. There is a lot of bushland over at Northbridge and the back of Cammeray so maybe it's come from there," he said.

The wallaby may have used the golf course to access the freeway that leads to the bridge, he said.

"Obviously it's a big possibility. This is the only entry. At the back of the golf course near the 6th hole there's an entry to the freeway so that's the only way I can see it jumping on from the golf course."

Topics: animals, human-interest, police, sydney-2000

[Panzermann]

buying old furniture with locked drawers is always an adventure!

The Cabinet Files
Hundreds of top-secret and highly classified cabinet documents have been obtained by the ABC following an extraordinary breach of national security.


This was not a leak — here's what it took to unlock national secrets


The Cabinet Files is one of the biggest breaches of cabinet security in Australian history and the story of their release is as gripping as it is alarming and revealing.
It begins at a second-hand shop in Canberra, where ex-government furniture is sold off cheaply.
The deals can be even cheaper when the items in question are two heavy filing cabinets to which no-one can find the keys.
They were purchased for small change and sat unopened for some months until the locks were attacked with a drill.
Inside was the trove of documents now known as The Cabinet Files.
The thousands of pages reveal the inner workings of five separate governments and span nearly a decade.
Nearly all the files are classified, some as "top secret" or "AUSTEO", which means they are to be seen by Australian eyes only.
But the ex-government furniture sale was not limited to Australians — anyone could make a purchase.
And had they been inclined, there was nothing stopping them handing the contents to a foreign agent or government.


topics of the papers:

• AFP lost hundreds of national security files
• Classified files left behind in Wong's office
• Right to remain silent nearly removed under Howard
• Andrew Bolt consulted on changes to 18C
• NBN Co's secret negotiation documents revealed
• Abbott ignored advice, breached confidentiality
• Rudd was warned of home insulation 'critical risks'
• Morrison asked ASIO to slow down asylum seekers' visas
• Razor gang considered welfare cut for under-30s

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-31/cabinet-files-reveal-inner-government-decisions/9168442?pfmredir=sm









"what's in that old cabinet?" "Dunno. Can't find the keys" "Put it on sale"

Laziness wins! :lol

[MiloMorai]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/animals/camera-captures-kangaroo-collide-with-cyclist/vi-BBIBYcp?ocid=spartandhp

[DougRichards]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/animals/camera-captures-kangaroo-collide-with-cyclist/vi-BBIBYcp?ocid=spartandhp

 

 

Bloody cyclists!

[DougRichards]

Meanwhile, on Sydney Harbour (that is harbour with a U - the correct spelling!)

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5339663/Wallaby-pulled-water-Manly-ferry-crew.html

[Adam_S]

And there was me thinking that link would be about the ongoing Ferry Mcferryface saga.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ferry-mcferryface-saga-not-over-yet-for-transport-minister-andrew-constance-20180131-h0rk0t.html

[BansheeOne]

 

Video shows airborne luxury car plough into eastern Sydney cemetery

 

7News Sydney /

41 minutes ago

A delicate operation's been conducted to remove the wreckage of a luxury car that smashed through a cemetery in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

 

Police allege the driver, Peter Sheridan, was heavily intoxicated when his vehicle launched over the Randwick Cemetery sandstone wall early Tuesday morning.

 

Footage taken at the scene shows the brake lights go on at the last second but for the driver - his brush with death was clear.

 

The high-performance Mercedes came to rest some 10 metres inside the cemetery, desecrating around a dozen headstones dating back to the 1920s.

 

The car hit the wall with such force that blocks of sandstone flew almost 40 metres across the cemetery.

 

The 48-year-old, who suffered injuries to his face and abdomen, was left trapped in the vehicle for a short time before he was assisted by local residents.

 

[...]

 

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/38850366/luxury-car-filmed-ploughing-into-sydneys-randwick-cemetery/