Free Republic

Enjoy your retirement Mr President - you deserve it! Thanks to all those stalwarts on the Daily Dose who have kept the faith - love you guys, you are the BEST!!

That’s a lot of photos tonight - thanks for posting today’s Dose.
Great job!

g’day snugs!
glad to see the President is home safe and sound.

i was thinking Crocodile Hunter khakis, Bondi Beach swimwear or even The Wiggles coloured skivvies...something along those lines... S C A R Y.... :-)

hey no worries - no offence taken. There were plenty of other Australian-isms that could’ve been used for the costume believe me there are some doosies out there! That’s why I was nervous earlier on this evening.....

Steady on! I have seen worse at other APEC meetings in the past - this is quite tame....and something that the leaders may wear again if they are they outdoor-sy type. Like President Bush.

Not as bad as I thought it was going to be - phew! The colours that I mentioned earlier are on each individual coat’s colllar.
The Driz-a-bone oilskin coat is traditionally a stockmans coat used in the outback for our country folk to wear on the farm/ranch/land. They keep you clean also nice and dry. I have one and I’ve probably worn it twice as it is not the sort of coat you would wear in the city...;-)
I can see the President using his coat down on the ranch. Apparently everyone got an Akubra hat as well. The commentators on Sky News said that President Bush would be the only leader who would look good in an Akubra. I tend to agree.

G’day everyone! Thanks again Jonny for posting some top shots from the APEC summit.

We are now into Saturday afternoon here in Sydney.

The President met this morning with Prime Minister Howard and Prime Minister Abe; great view out of the windows from where their breakfast meeting was held – they were there at 7.30am this morning. Nice early start! The weather is still fairly miserable; rainy and cold. Apparently the weather has played havoc with a few events for the APEC organisers; we usually have such glorious weather here. Really, truly….;-)

Yesterday (Friday) their was a bit of a dust up between anti-Bush protestors and pro-Bush supporters (no I wasn’t there but its nice to know I am not the only Aussie who supports the President). A bit of pushing and shoving ensued; then one anti-Bush protestor decided to use his secret weapon. Tomato sauce! Yep …he unleashed a barrage of tomato sauce straight from the squeezy bottle at the pro-Bush people. He was arrested for his trouble and last I heard was heading straight for the nearest BBQ where his weapon could be put to better use.

This afternoon the leaders are holding their retreat which will include a display of Australian national costume – I am very nervous about this as I have heard some frightful rumours about colours (yellow, green, blue, red ochre) of the clothes. Sounds awful. But we will wait and see. All should be revealed in about 90 minutes time….

The big APEC protest march was held today to much fanfare; the local police where there with their brand new water cannon truck and the riot squad were out in force. So far it has turned out to be a bit of a fizzer; they estimate about 5,000 people have turned up and I think that there are more police than protestors. It is only early days of the protest we will see what the afternoon brings. Maybe tomato sauce man will show up again?

There were no Mounted Police at the protest today as there is an equine flu outbreak here in New South Wales at the moment; movement of any horses outside of their holding areas is prohibited. This is now the 3rd week of this outbreak – their has been no horse racing here since in NSW although they are holding a phantom meeting today – you can bet on the races but you cannot go to the track to see the horses run. Fortunately equine flu is not fatal but it has shown that our quarantine procedures have failed – they say that this outbreak was caused by a racehorse coming into Australia from Japan that was infected but released from quarantine too soon.

Finally President Bush leaves Sydney this evening (Saturday) for home even though APEC does not officially end until tomorrow. The President needs to be back in Washington on Monday for General Petraeus’ report on Iraq.

In the meantime I await the official APEC “uniform” to be unveiled…..((shudder))

okey dokey...hehehehe

Amen

what’s the word on Fred; what are his chances?

boy oh boy I do worry for you guys though; the Clintoons will be pulling out all stops to get the White House. I cannot believe how the main stream media suck up to these two cretins. Erk!
We are all going to miss President Bush and Laura when they go home to Texas. I am not wishing the next 16 months away that’s for sure!

Thanks so much for your review of Dead Certain. I’ll have to add it to my collection. I recently finished Doro Bush Koch’s book My Father, My President - I loved it!

I shudder to think of Clinton and his equally horrid wife getting back in the White House. It is one scary thought. By chance i caught a little of the interview with Clinton on Larry King Live; by what he was saying he and Mrs Clinton have it all planned out of what “they” are going to do when she becomes President.((shudder))
If it happens you can migrate for 4 years - I know of a nice friendly place in the southern hemisphere. ;-)

I think the last good one is now married to me....hehehehe!
We have our fair share of cuties down here as you said there is no harm in looking ;-)!

Please do; I look forward to seeing them!

I am glad the links have come in handy! It helps sometimes to get a little local “flavour” about people and places.
Rudd is the red hot favourite to be the next PM. It is nice to see PM Howard looking so happy during this APEC week as he has been taking a pounding locally. It is funny how your own leaders are viewed internationally. I am sure you had that same feeling about Tony Blair. Internationally praised but domestically not so hot.
BTW I LOVE meerkats too! I can spend hours watching their antics - we have some cute litle ones at Taronga Zoo. Is that you in the bubble picture???

thank you! Yes I believe that the Aussies are Special Ops and there primary mission is protection of the embassies in Baghdad. We are very lucky we have not lost one of our soldiers in combat in Iraq; I pray everyday for all of our guys over there.

g’day Pippin!!!
so when are you gonna come down for a visit???? the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment...
BTW have you looked at my homepage? I have some photos there that I took of Sydney. The Opera House is a beautiful building I have been there many times to see concerts. And I have climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge too; that was a real buzz.

G’day from cold, wet, miserable Sydney. One of these days I will get used to the time difference. Thank you snugs for another fine effort today with the Dose.

The President met yesterday with Australian opposition leader Kevin Rudd. Their talks remained confidential with only a stills photographer allowed to take a couple of photos. After the meeting Mr Rudd praised the President saying he was a warm individual. The opposition is for bringing the Aussie troops home from Iraq if elected; it will be high priority for Mr Rudd. Apparently he told President Bush his intentions yesterday at their meeting. What President Bush’s response was we will never know. But I am kinda thinking it wouldn’t have been great. BTW the Australian election date is still to be announced but it will be some time before the end of the year. The polls suggest that PM Howard is going to loose but we all know how wrong polls can be…

Also on the agenda was a visit by the President to the Australian Maritime Museum. President George H W Bush visited the same museum on his trip to Sydney in January 1992 – bit of trivia for you! At the museum President George W Bush was greeted by aboriginal dancers and musicians in a traditional welcome. I am sure by the look on the President’s face at one stage that didgeridoo music is not his bag! But as his style he took it all in his stride with his grace and good humour.

You may have heard on the news about the security breach by a local satiric comedy TV show called The Chaser who disguised themselves as the Canadian delegation, motorcade and all. They managed to get through two security checkpoints before they were stopped and arrested. It has proved to be a huge embarrassment for the New South Wales Police as not only was the Canadian Prime Minister not even in the country at the time of this stunt but one of the guys was sitting in the backseat of the “official” vehicle dressed as Osama bin Laden. Oh dear! They have been charged with trespass and various other things and will appear in court next month. The show is quite funny and they meant no harm but they were very lucky not to have been in more serious trouble….

I watched live on TV this morning (Friday) the President’s address to APEC business leaders; it was a fine speech and hit the right notes especially about terrorism. APEC is now in full swing and there will be plenty of meetings over the next 48 hours. The President departs Sydney Saturday night (Sydney time).

I am hoping we will get to see the President in the local costume dress up before he leaves; I have my fingers crossed that whatever is chosen will be tasteful as we don’t have a national costume per se.

I’ll be hanging about here for a little while as I am on my APEC Holiday day off so if you have any questions lemme know, ok?

Thanks for the feedback; I’m glad you enjoyed my post.
Daisy, I don’t work at the Chamber of Commerce but Sydney is not a hard sell really :-)
Jonny = LEGEND - sterling job tonight my FRiend. Thanks for all your hard work.
See you all later - back to work for me - and don’t worry we are looking after your beloved President!