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No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Friday, September 07, 2007

APEC Conference 2007


APEC Conference 2007, Sydney Australia


There are protesters at this conference, what a surprise!!


I have decided to throw my 2 cents worth about the APEC Conference into the ring, (everyone else seems to be doing it so why not me?) mine will be a light hearted glimpse only as the serious side of it eludes/bores me.

Sydney, which is our largest city, with a population approaching 4.5 million has been thrown into chaos with the unprecedented security that a visit by the US President and many other world leaders has brought about.

I am strongly anti-terrorist in my outlook but I still feel a little uncomfortable with the fact that overseas (read US) security forces have been granted a “shoot to kill” right on our shores, we take pride in our “harass the crap out of ‘em” attitude but usually don’t openly endorse shooting them!!

The traffic chaos has been enormous with “motorcades” flitting here there and everywhere thus causing blanket road closures while Dubya and Co. cruise around our fair city unimpeded, (this has caused some minor inconvenience to residents…. like the inability to get to work or anyplace else.)

As well as “Airforce 1” bringing Dubya to Sydney, the “in case of war” plane is parked at Brisbane’s International airport, this one contains enough technology and electronics to become the command centre in case of emergency, thanks a lot guys for making two of our cities such appealing terrorist targets.

There is a Television show called The Chaser here which specializes in “way out” humour, they have lampooned this vast security net by creating a false motorcade complete with a Canadian flagged Limo (the Canadian Prime Minister is not in attendance…. small point though) this bogus motorcade was allowed to broach the “secure” area before the main limo discharged it’s passenger “Osama Bin Laden” into the arms of waiting security forces….amusement was not one of the emotions in plentiful supply at the scene Aussie “Joe Public” however thought it was funny!!!!!!!!

The cast and crew of The Chaser were all arrested at the scene and may yet live to regret their decision to pull off this stunt.

If all the decisions had not been made already, and if this conference had any hope of producing a worthwhile result I for one would not be so cynical of it, but to me it seems a bit Ho Hum!!!!!!!!!!



Mae of the Dae (Title suggested by Gette) thankyou!!

Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.
Mae West







18 comments:

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Boy howdy, has EVERYONE lost his sense of humor. That was a great gag, and should be appreciated.

Puss-in-Boots said...

I loved the Chaser's escape Peter, although as you say, they may live to regret it. I just had a thought, if they're all in gaol, what about the programme??

Granny said...

That's funny - wish I could have seen it.

Lee said...

I'm not at all a fan of "Chaser's", although they showed a weakness in the security, their stunt could have ended up disastrously for them and I'm afraid I would have little sympathy for them. I reckon I've got a good sense of humour but their humour, to me, is self-serving and they annoy the hell out of me...that's just my humble opinion. Ask Robyn, she knows my feelings about them! lol

Marcus said...

Long live The Chaser

LZ Blogger said...

Peter ~
You and I have been blogging mates since I first stated blogging and I almost did not "comment" on this particular post of yours for that EXACT reason, but (even having said that) I just can't, so here goes... You don't like the RIGHT of "shoot to kill?" What other right is there? Shoot to irritate? Shoot to scare off? Shoot to MISS?

These terrorists only UNDERSTAND "SHOOT TO KILL". Their model seems to be "Blow yourself UP and take as many people with you in the process as you can!" The correct response to that is ALWAYS... "Shoot to KILL!" (or... be killed!) and now you've got my 2 cents worth too.

As for the CHASER, that's just a prank gone badly wrong. That stuff although funny in certain instances... is really sophomoric and in this case (where people's lives are concerned) is just STUPID! Sounds like they may be the next candidates for the "Darwin Awards" (to me).
But like I said before... just MY 2 cents! ~ jb///

Peter said...

Hi Jerry, re your 2 cents worth on the APEC Conference, as you said we are allowed to hold different opinions about things without becoming in any way vindictive about it, so the kitty now stands @ 6 cents.
Unlike the US we do not have or want a “right to bear arms” clause in our “constitution” so we have a slightly different outlook on shooting, there are in fact alternatives to “Shoot to Kill” that are effective in all but acts of extreme pressure (yeah right, read terrorist attack) but I guess what really is off-putting about this is that it has been given to non Australian law enforcers to decide.
Now I’m not saying just that its been given to US security folk…. I’m saying NON AUSTRALIAN, I don’t think I would like to be a member of our Prime Ministers security unit that shot and killed an American citizen in the USA!!
Your second point about “The Chaser” you need to have an understanding of the Australian sense (or nonsense) of humour (see we don’t even spell it the same) to understand the appeal that this sort of show has to the average Aussie, our press has labeled it as a thoughtless prank…. now they should know better than that… they live here….. and this has absolutely ensured it will go down in the annals of Aussie history as the best gag ever.
It has to do with our convict origins probably…. DO NOT LET AUTHORITY STAND OVER YOU, but its also the trait that makes us appealing to other races.
I’m emailing this to you as you have no cause to check back to see if I commented on your remarks…. Your Aussie Mate. Peter.

Jack K. said...

Peter, I loved the Chasers prank. It made our national news. Fan-flipping-tastic. I love their (non)sense of humour. Great prank. They are lucky they didn't get shot. I bet some heads rolled for them getting as far as they did.

Big Dave T said...

APEC? What is it? Maybe I should start reading newspapers again. Let's see, OPEC has to do with Oil, so APEC has to do with . . . hmmmm, air?

TLP said...

Oh, it was a great joke! We in the U.S. take ourselves way, way to seriously. We're not so important.

You can keep G W Bush there. Please.

Cliff said...

Send the President home safely and all will be forgiven.
You Aussie bloggers have taught me how close our countries really are to being one and the same.

Jamie Dawn said...

Mae West was one smart gal!

I saw the footage of that motorcade and the fake Bin Laden's arrest. It's amazing how close they were able to get!!

So sorry that Dubya caused such a ruckus there in Aussieland. He causes ruckuses here too, but I kinda like the guy.

wazza said...

Gidday Peter,

I for one enjoy the "craziness" of The Chasers, but I think they overstepped the mark with this stunt.
Just goes to show how far they did get through the security lines, but it sure wouldn't of been funny if one of the rooftop snipers had capped off a round or two. No laughing then as this is a serious security breach and terrorists don't give a f**k who then kill or maim as long as they get their point over.

Peter said...

I'm more than a little surprised by the degree of feeling for "The Chasers" prank, as they said when interviewed.... they expected to be stopped at the first checkpoint where the whole thing would have been pretty harmless, the security was in fact so lax that they stopped voluntarily only 20 meters from the hotel where the Bush entourage were staying and discharged Bin Laden for effect.
Short of somebody opening fire at that time I don't believe there was ever any danger to anyone.

Walker said...

LMAO

I have never seen ths Chasers but they sound halarious.
Security forces are to busy looking for their prejudices not the obvious.

Security measures are getting to strict, what next shooting a heat seeking missle at a pigeon for hitting its mark lol

Unknown said...

I'll protest that!

Val said...

A good post and great response, Peter.

Pamela said...

dear God, I hope that "shoot to kill" story was from the same vein as the drop bear and the hoop snake.