I know you're right, because how many time have we seen news stories about kids or babies in the back seat being hijacked right along with the car? After all the publicity, why in the world would somebody STILL leave the doors open and the car running instead of just parking the car? Braindead. Our gene pool is in trouble.

Wow. Australia is becoming more and more like America, but with funny (and charming) accents, every day (That kind of thing happens so often here that it doesn't make news).

Hmmmm...I'm not too happy about Australia becomming more Americanized than it already is, so although your post was funny Wolf, it's also concerning to me.

I have actually had this discussion on many occasions in relation to globalisation vs americanisation. Which is it really?

Anyway, I still think the woman was a complete drip and is being treated as she deserves to be treated. Coppers have a hard enough time as it is without morons acting like they have a right to disregard the law.

Actually it's homogenization and I don't like it much either. You'd be surprised how much Aussie stuff has invaded the US, as stuff from other parts of the globe.

People also need to realize that Australia, not the United States, is the prime target of Islamic extremists in the Far East. Their citizens took the brunt of that attack in Bali a few years ago and Australia itself is located just below the island chains where terrorists operating out of Indonesia and the Philippines are based. They are constantly having to repel attempts at people smuggling from China and Moslem countries of Africa and Asia, very similar to the US problem preventing illegal immigration from the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Although they possess sophisticated detection capabilities, their country has such a massive coastline that is impossible to patrol every inch of it so they have 10 times the potential for illegal entry. If Australia is becoming more like the US in the way they handle law and order, they have a very good reason for it - and it's not because they admire our style in civil services :neutral:

Speaking of Australia's beautiful coastline; have a look at this article in todays paper. It's about a US carrier dumping garbage just a few miles off our coast after our city had kindly welcomed them. Not happy Jan!

http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/c...5E3102,00.html

To add to the article, I had no idea that it was policy to dump rubbish into our oceans (I mean the oceans we all enjoy regardless of what country we come from). It's come to my attention because it happened in my back yard, but I think the practice of dumping rubbish over the side of a ship is disgraceful. Particularly as it appears the rubbish is not just green waste, but items such as plastic.

Am I the only person who thinks this practice should be halted?

A carrier has so many thousands of people on board that the thought of how much garbage they have the potential for boggles the mind :mg: Somebody's butt is going to get kicked for that. I've no idea what the captain of that vessel was thinking, maybe no knowledge of the local currents or thinking that they wouldn't get caught, but here in the US it has taken us more than 10 years to stop the cruise ships from dumping their sewage while in our harbors. Apparently these companies felt we were being unnecessarily fastidous or ungrateful for their business or who knows if they even cared how it affected us.

I'm not sure what they were thinking Tonchi. They hadn't even left Australian waters yet, so all the garbage has been collected by local fisherman and has had to be quaratined for obvious reasons. Ecologically, this issue could cause major problems not just for Australia, but for any other countries who happen to be lucky enough to host another country's rubbish.

I'm sure the US is not the only country who uses this practice for rubbish disposal, so this isn't so much a comment on the US navy as much as a comment on how stupid our legislators are world wide. How can they claim to care for the environment and such things as whale harvesting when they're using these waters as a toilet?

At one time the US navy did oil changes at sea and told the EPA to take a hike. Maybe still?

So many powerful countries/companies thumb their noses at institutions who have been appointed to act as our collective moral conscience. When we see evidence of these sorts of actions, it's no wonder oppositional countries refuse to be horsewhipped into line. Why would they when it's quite obvious there is no unity or sense of common purpose?

US navy submarines jettison all garbage overboard. It gets compacted into perforated cannisters weighted to sink to the bottom. Unless we're going to be at see for less than two weeks or won't make it out past 50 miles then we keep it onboard for disposal in port.

What sucks is cannisters that have to be disassembled because we got called back to port on short notice. Then we get to disassemble them and then seperate the garbage for recycling.

What do you think about your rubbish going straight into the water? I do understand that there are space issues etc onboard any vessel at sea for any length of time, so what I'm wondering is if you think there should be more of an effort to find a better way to do things or do you think you have the best way already?

Hey, with Alito in the Supreme Court, and a couple more of his type, we may lose the EPA altogether, and nobody will have to thumb their nose at tham anymore.

Lucky thumbs? (deliberately not pointing out the typo in that sentence) :)

What everyone seems to forget is that ultimately, we all breathe the same air, drink the same water, and drown in the same sewage. A flip of the bird to those who dumped the garbage in Aussie waters which are ultimately EVERYONE's waters (ever hear of currents, folks?)