Neccessity is a mutha.
Posted on 12/25/2005 12:50:04 PM PST by naturalman1975
THE holiday spirit won out yesterday as Australians celebrated Christmas the best way they know how -- by eating, drinking and relaxing without too much of a care in the world.
Another year of living in the shadow of terrorism, coupled with a fortnight of racial tension in Sydney, were forgotten as people headed to the nation's beaches and parklands, or stayed at home to enjoy the festive spirit.
Only one incident caused alarm. A prank bomb on a Sydney train, which sparked a full-scale police operation, was the only scare in an otherwise quiet Christmas, tragically marred by 11 deaths on the roads.
Despite fears that Christmas could be a flashpoint for violence on Sydney's beaches following weeks of racial unrest, seasiders made the most of a perfect sunny Sunday among a bigger-than-usual contingent of police -- some on horseback -- at Bondi, Cronulla and Maroubra beaches.
Crowd numbers were down at Cronulla, the flashpoint for this month's race riots. But around the rest of the country, including the Sunshine and Gold Coast strips, authorities reported that most beaches were busy.
John Howard and Kim Beazley sent Christmas wishes to the Australian people, remembering the disasters of the past 12 months, such as the Boxing Day tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake. The Prime Minister said 2005 had seen the good heart of Australia on display, and the Opposition Leader said the time spent with families over Christmas was "sacrosanct and must never be undermined".
Churches reported increased attendances, which Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell said could be a response to the recent unrest in Sydney.
In Sydney, police pounced on a train fearing a Christmas terrorist attack after an explosive device was detonated on a carriage at Belmore station in the city's west.
Police said the device, which turned out to be small CO2 canister bomb, appeared to have been set off as a prank while the train was standing at the station platform.
CO2 canister bombs cause a loud explosion and are dangerous to anyone near the device, but no one was injured in yesterday's incident and it caused minimal damage to the train.
Tran Vin had one carriage between him and the explosion, which was on the eight-car train's final carriage.
"It was just like a gunshot," he said. Mr Tran said a small fire broke out briefly in the carriage where the device was detonated.
Police closed Belmore station about 1pm and called in dogs to check for more devices.
Fears of a major bushfire outbreak were kept on hold, except on the NSW central coast, where firefighters were last night backburning to contain a blaze that burned out about 200ha yesterday. No properties were damaged.
L
I just got back - both Sydney and Melbourne were FULL of flies. I don't get it. Flies everywhere. Unless you were out in the mid harbor on a boat it was rediculous.
Neccessity is a mutha.
Recent estimates state that there are 650 BILLION flies in Victoria alone, this year - it's not normally that bad, though flies are part of the Australian summer. But two very hot summers accompanied by increased ground moisture have lead to a great increase over normal levels. Predators don't mature in large numbers until later in the season - but when they do, they will cut down the fly numbers dramatically.
In simple terms - normally only ten percent of larvae reach adulthood. This year it's been more like 70%. So I'm not surprised you noticed them.
For a moment I thought you were talking about Islamazis...I still have difficulty differentiating the different pests...and am all in favor of any and ALL "extermination" efforts for BOTH types of paraiste!
Thats good news - I will probably be going back every 6 months or so and nice to know the fly thing is periodic.
A Cork Hat for Corkoman!!! perfect!!! Thanks.
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