There seems to be a run on finding things lost from previous wars. The Australian Naval battle cruiser, HMAS Sydney, was sunk in 1941 by a German raider. There has been a search for the HMAS Sydney without success. However, the German raider was found on Saturday giving renewed hope that the Sydney will also be found.

Both the HMAS Sydney and the German vessel, the DKM Kormoran, sank after a battle off Australia’s western coast on Nov. 19, 1941 during World War II.

None of the 645 men aboard the Sydney survived. But 317 of the Kormoran’s 397 crew rowed to the Australian coast in life boats and were taken prisoner. The 9,500-ton Kormoran had been disguised as a Dutch merchant ship when it opened fire on the Sydney.

“Finding the Kormoran is one big step forward (to finding the Sydney),” said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The wreck was found Saturday 500 miles north of the Western Australia state capital Perth, he said.

The government-funded $3.9 million search for the Sydney began two weeks ago and is headed by U.S. shipwreck hunter David Mearns.

Mearns was involved in finding the wrecks of the British battle cruiser the HMS Hood and the DKM Bismarck, the German battle ship that sank her in the North Atlantic in 1941.

The Sydney weighed in at 6,600 metric tons (7,300 U.S. tons), making it the largest vessel from any country to be lost with no survivors during the war.

The fate of the ship and its crew has remained an enduring mystery, though a parliament inquiry into the tragedy in 1999 accepted accounts by Kormoran survivors that they last saw the ship in flames and heading toward Perth.

Muslim university students in Australia have petitioned the university system there to cater to their needs by changing schedules so they can do their muslim prayers and to segregate the women from the men. They are apparently still scared that girls have cooties.

MUSLIM university students want lectures to be rescheduled to fit in with prayer timetables and separate male and female eating and recreational areas established on Australian campuses.

International Muslim students, predominantly from Saudi Arabia, have asked universities in Melbourne to change class times so they can attend congregational prayers. They also want a female-only area for Muslim students to eat and relax.

But at least one institution has rejected their demands, arguing that the university is secular and it does not want to set a precedent for requests granted in the name of religious beliefs.

La Trobe University International chief officer John Molony said several students had approached the Bundoora institution about rearranging class times to fit in with daily prayers.

Mr Molony said the university was attempting to “meet the needs” of an increasing number of Muslim international students, including doubling the size of the prayer room on campus.

La Trobe University International College director Martin Van Run said that although it was involved in discussions with the Muslim students who had made the requests, the university was not planning to change any timetables.

“That would seriously inconvenience other people at the college and it is not institutionally viable,” he told The Australian. “We are a secular institution … and we need to have a structured timetable.”

Mr Van Run said that Saudi students were fully aware that the university was secular before coming to study there. “They know well in advance the class times,” he said.

Muslim leaders are backing the students’ play preaching to their congregations that the universities should accommodate the needs of the muslim students.

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More great posts trackbacked below …

I found this disturbing video at Something …. and Half of Something. It is part of a documentary that can be viewed in seven segments at The Jawa Report. This documentary follows two Australian women who are converts to islam. Interestingly, they declare that Wahhabi is the form of islam followed by most converts. This is the form of islam that Osama bin-Laden follows. Its the hard-line fundamentalist form of islam that requires its followers to live as mohammad lived in the 7th century.

Watch, learn and know thy enemy.

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Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Rosemary’s Thoughts, 123beta, Shadowscope, Cao’s Blog, Big Dog’s Weblog, Adeline and Hazel, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Allie is Wired, third world county, Faultline USA, Woman Honor Thyself, , The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, A Newt One, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, A NEWT ONE-Special Thursday guest!, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Not laughing now: John Oakes, pictured here as Santa, claims he has been fired for saying ‘ho ho ho’ - which is offensive to women

Life takes another bizarre politically correct twist when Santa in Australia is fired for saying ‘Ho ho ho’.

John Oakes, 70, got his marching orders after the store decreed that women might be offended because ‘ho’ is American slang for a whore.

Instead, he was supposed to say Ha-ha-ha.

“They’re are trying to kill the spirit of Christmas,” said Mr Oakes, who has been a Santa for ten years.

He was also found guilty of singing Jingle Bells at the Myer department store in Cairns, Northern Australia.

He said: “The manager told me my services were no longer required.

“When I asked her why, she replied, ‘You said Ho-ho-ho and that’s not appropriate’.

“Not appropriate? How long has Santa been calling Hohoho, for goodness sake?

“She also said I wasn’t supposed to sing.”

A spokesman for the store insisted the elderly Santa was dismissed because of ‘his attitude’ and not for his Ho-hohoing.

“Our Santas are not banned from using the term,” he insisted.

Mr Oakes, who is looking for a new job as Santa, says he is prepared to sing, shout Ho or Ha.

But he draws the line at clambering down chimneys.

Its hard to know with these sorts of things - the guy might have a nasty attitude and uses this as an excuse for being fired. On the other hand, we do have a tendency to go WAY overboard with politically correct nonsense. People are so sensitive these days they can’t deal with being offended and go out of their way to find things to be offended over. I say - get over it. If that’s the worse thing that will ever offend you in your life then you are getting through life pretty easy.

Sheesh!

Webloggin has a wonderful story about the Royal Australian Navy showing the world how to deal with bullies.

Apparently, Iranians tried to capture some Australian Sailors in much the same way they took some British Sailors hostage. But the Australians weren’t havin’ it!

Navy Times

Iranian naval forces tried to capture an Australian boarding team in the Persian Gulf — even before they seized and held 15 British sailors and Marines — but where the British sailors were taken captive, the Australian sailors repelled their attackers, BBC News reported Thursday.

The Australian and British incidents were very similar, according to what British military sources told the BBC: An Royal Australian Navy team had been searching a cargo ship in the northern Persian Gulf when Iranian operatives approached in small boats. But the Aussies “were having none of it,” the BBC reported

They reboarded the ship they had just searched and trained their weapons on the Iranians, warning them “in colorful language” to back off. The Iranians withdrew. The Australian sailors were later extracted by helicopter, according to the story. Reuters reported that the boarding team was from the frigate Adelaide. It also reported that two Australian sailors were awarded medals after the incident.

Americans Soldiers still know how to fight, our politicians just won’t let them. It angers me to the core that our military has been hogtied and not allowed to use ‘deadly force’ eventhough deadly forces is used against them.

I’m glad at least one Western nation still knows that bullies will back down when confronted with someone willing to fight them.

This whole war could be done with if we showed the tiniest willingness to go to the mat.

HOOAH for the AUSSIES!!

video h/t It’s a Matter of Opinion

This kind of patriotism isn’t cool. You know, if you are cool you have a hard time deciding which side you are on. How can you know which is the right side? Right?

Sometimes choosing sides is the honorable thing to do. I can’t fathom people who would not chose to side with their own people, their own country. Apparently, Beccy Cole is clear about whose side she is on. I just wish we had an American version of Beccy Cole. Among other things she writes:

And I admire the burning fire that causes you to fight.

As for me, I know whose side I am on. Do you? On whose side were you when it mattered?

Tiara Tip to Seawitch who wrote:

Beccy Cole, an Australian who sings country music wrote it and sings it.

“Poster Girl” was written when Beccy returned from entertaining the troops in the Middle East over the Christmas and New Year period and found a letter from a fan who didn’t agree with Australia’s participation in the war. Beccy has previously commented. “I have a huge amount of respect for our forces and I’m very proud of the great job they are doing over there. Our job was to provide an entertaining break from their gruelling routine and from all reports, we succeeded. I’m happy to report that morale is high amongst the Aussies and if their hard work and commitment is anything to go by, peace in the Middle East is achievable”

Blackfive likes it too. He also explains to those of us who aren’t Down Under what a Digger is

See Argghhh! H&I Fires.

Also at Hot Air and Dawnsblood Rants, Bill’s Bites, RedBlue Christian,

UPDATE: Beccy Cole ‘Poster Girl’ Tops the Country Music Radio Charts.

“When I returned from the Middle East earlier this year, I felt so proud of the Australian troops I had met. I was extremely inspired by these hard working and enthusiastic young Australians and I wanted to write a song that would pay tribute to them. I’m delighted that Poster Girl has reached the number one position, I hope I’ve been able to spread the pride.”

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