English place names have a special place in my heart. To some of them we owe a debt that never can be repaid.

Yesterday, we said goodbye to Bentley Priory. And this piece of art is remarkable:

It is with deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence has confirmed the death of James Thompson in Afghanistan on 19 May 2008.

To

observe, to trade (on our terms) and occasionally fight the French & Germans.

It is with deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Marine Dale Gostick, of 3 Troop Armoured Support Company, Royal Marines, in Afghanistan on Sunday 25 May 2008.

You’d have to go quite a way to find a nation (excepting the Islamic ones, natch) as misogynist and racist and fond of bestiality as Australia.

However, in Perth at least things might be changing*.

There’s a particular weasel (and that’s slightly unfair; some of my best friends are weasels) who happens to be the West Australian Opposition leader, and who is by all accounts a slimy bastard. As he won’t do the honourable thing with the pistol and a single round, or even step down, some scurrilous scallywags appear to have started a smear campaign. While the methods might be suspect, this sort of accusation is not new, and we can but hope it has the desired outcome.

Rough justice, outback style.

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And in breaking news, two photos I took have made it into an online guidebook to Australia!

They are of the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre and Floriade. The originals are at Flickr:

It is with deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Trooper Ratu Babakobau of the Household Cavalry Regiment was killed on Friday 2 May 2008, in Helmand, Afghanistan.