The Irish

The Russians may be  different, but the Irish are unique. Reblogged from the Failed Estate.

Those Russkies Again

Apparently dash cameras are common in Russia.

As result, we have an avalanche of You-Tube clips of Russians doing crazy things on the road.

Here is an example. I wish I'd had that presence of mind when I was subjected to something similar a few years ago...

Reality Check

This image was posted by a relative on Facebook the other day - H/T Chris.

It's a timely comparative reminder of the reality of our current debt levels.

It also puts the hysteria promoted by many in the MSM (especially the News Limited cabal) into perspective.

But it won't sell many newspapers......

Dogs That Climb

This is our fourth Heeler, but she's the first one that climbs.

She's done so, almost as if she was born to it, from the first day we collected her from the refuge.

She's also smart and curious, and I'm pretty sure she likes to get up high so she can see what's going on. Sitting on top of the barbeque (as in this pic) puts her at window height where she can see where we are and what we're doing.

She also sits on top of our outdoor furniture and climbs to inspect things in the backyard shed.

You can always find the coolest spot on a hot day, and the warmest on a cold day by checking the location of the dog.

An Amusing Little Drop

Some of my Vietnam Veteran mates may find these pics amusing.
H/T - Gavin...

Of Frogs and Toilets

Regular readers might be thinking that I have an obsession with frogs and toilets.

Perhaps....but I thought this was funny.

The location was 800 kms west of Toowoomba.

There was a much less amusing sign in the same toilet -

Disease and Cure

Patriarch Raphael I Sako of the Chaldean Church (Courtesy Catholic Leader)

There's a report in this week's Catholic Leader about the plight of Christians in Iraq.

Isn't Iraq the "model" of successful intervention by the West in the Middle East?

An extract from the report -

According to Church sources, the number of Christians in Iraq have plummeted from 1.4 million in 1987 to perhaps fewer than 250,000 today. Many Christians who fled the south have not stayed in the north either because they have been unable to find jobs or housing or because they have been reluctant to settle in a region that continues to experience sporadic violence. Bomb attacks in Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu last month left at least 30 people dead and more than 200 wounded. The violence was politically motivated.

So there are over a million Christians worse off since the invasion.

Some have a strange definition of "success".

Ask an Iraqi Christian.

Update - Today's Catholic Leader -

The last section of this report makes interesting reading -

It was a small step in Iraq's agonisingly slow recovery a decade after what the bishop described as an unnecessary "invasion and occupation"of Iraq by a US-led military coalition.