Saturday, April 24, 2010

LEST WE FORGET THE BUCKS

A war memorial in the tiny town of Acland , near Toowomba, has to be moved because a juggernaut coal company, New Hope Coal , Australia, wants to mine the site. On Magnetic Island , a tourist accommodation venue named Centaur , in memory of the 268 who died when the hospital ship of that name was torpedoed off Queensland in May l943 by the Japanese , changed hands and was given a new "brand" name . There were horrific screams as survivors of the Centaur sinking were attacked by sharks . Where would civilization be without wall to wall brand names reducing everything to baked beans ? That weird Woy Woy warrior and goon , Spike Miligan , before he fell in the water and disappeared, warned that Australia would end up a nation pock marked with worked out mine sites and nothing to show for all the wealth extracted. What he saw happening in Australia probably added to his depression.