Telionis

Instead of the plutinium poisoning, Putin's political enemy (and chess great) Garry Kasparov faces a less dangerous attack. Maybe NSFW... yes, a remote control pen*s copter attacks the convention... Seriously. http://www.sharenator.com/Flying_penis/ Totally unrelated to Australia or Ford XR6s, but hilarious IMHO.

Wait... 6 contacts a year? They keep track??? You talked to that guy too often, you must be a criminal!??? Man, that is worse than here (the States)... and I thought Bush was effective at moving a country towards fascism... at least here half the people are f-cking idiotic enough to think it is making us safer. FMI - wtf is a bikie? A gang of motorcycle riders? They really are that much of a problem down under? _____________ The worst new pseudo-fascist law they have here is the "extraordinary rendition" garbage (which only applies to non-citizens, but it is still an absolute f-cking affront to all our founding values and down right Stalinist). The least fair thing they can do to a citizen is to summarily decide they are conspiring with the enemy and freeze all personal assets (with no oversight, no trial...) which is pretty close to fascism in my book, but at least they can't jail you without a trial... yet... Man, I hope Obama wins! McBush might just bey foolish enough to start a war in Iran. _____________ Its good to know we aren't the only ones afraid that our government is heading towards a police state. Rudd is a liberal though, isn't he? (Is Rudd the guy that got caught on youtube picking his nose?) At any rate, he couldn't lead your nation that far astray... it takes a war-mongering conservative riding a wave of fear and paranoia to lead country into serious problems. If the people aren't terrified of some enemy greater than the government, they'll never give up their liberties. "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis. I suspect the same goes for Australia (save the color of the flag), but thankfully you guys have not seriously got caught up in our poltical mess, and the politicians can't pretend it takes a police state to keep you safe from the hundreds of billions of evil terrorists...

I just heard on the nightly news - the guy is still loose (?) - anyone near Flinders Lane and William Street? Take cover!!!

Speaking of idiots... some piece of sh*t from Holland has been repeatedly changing the wikipedia article on Dr. Librescu to a frame with just his picture and line of text that reads "a n00b that got pwn3d"... oh if I could find that dude... :mad: _____________ Dude, who in God's name is that in your avatar picture? Is he real?

Update: I'm sorry to say that I was wrong - Dr. Librescu actually saved all of his kids but one. After the killer shot Dr. Librescu through the door, he pushed his way in and shot the last student left in the room as they were climbing out the window (not sure if that student was male or female). Sorry about the error. _____________________ Another Hero, Dr. Kevin Granata, RIP This account, like the last one, is based on what I have heard from other ESM students and professors, there could be small errors with this report just like with Dr. L's account, but I'm confident that the basic idea is correct. Dr. Granata's office was on the third floor, three or four doors down the hall from my Father's office. He was in that office when he heard the gunshots and screams, but instead of hiding under his desk, he went downstairs to see if he could do anything. Peeking out of the stairwell, he saw that the killer was in a classroom and not in the hallway. He went out and grabbed an injured person and helped (maybe dragged?) them back to the stairwell and up to the 3rd floor. Then he went down to floor two again, and again the killer was no where to be seen, so he grabbed the next person helped them to the 3rd floor. His third trip seemed the same, the killer was no where to be seen, so he went out, got someone and helped them limp to the stairs. Unfortunatly, this time killer caught a glimpse of Granata as the entered the stairwell. The killer ran after them, followed them into the stairwell, and shot Dr. Granata several times in the back. (I imagine the victim that Granata was helping was also killed). But from what I have heard, the few injured people he helped to the 3rd floor did in fact survive. It should be noted that the killer was reported to have come back to make sure he finished his victims, (none of the classroom victims had less than 3 shots in them), so I imagine he would have returned to finish the wounded in the hallway. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Dr. Granata did in fact save those people; even if their initial wounds were non-fatal, the killer would have come back for them. Dr. Granata would have been perfectly safe in his office on the 3rd floor, he could have locked the door and hid until the cops came... instead he ran towards the screams and gunshots. IMHO, that makes him a hero, even if he failed... He is survived by a wife and three children, all under 15. :(

That's just crazy. A Saleen Mustang is not worth that much in my book, even being so rare down there. The standard Mustang v8 could be had for $23k US here in the states... its amazing they actually sold for $100k AUS there. I guess it's all about the exclusivity, becuase it certainly wasn't a high-performance machine worthy of the price-tag. ( Personally, I'd take the phoon over any thing Saleen makes, save maybe the S7). I'm torn between the new Camaro and the new Challenger. You guys see the concept car of the latter? It's due out in 2009, with the same 6.1L 420 hp the Chrysler SRT-8s have. Quite a badass car imho. But the new Camaro looks awesome too. Of course, the Shelby GT500 is also amazing, but unlike the others, is outrageously expensive ($70k US, more than an Audi RS4).

That's just awesome. I have no idea why Ford is so stupid as to not import those here. As I said, the 3.5L 300 hp Toyotas and Nissans are destroying the American cars in the sedan market. They're struggling to compete with new developments, but they just can't come close in terms of performance, all the while, they're sitting on the perfect Japan-fighter and all the only development needed is to convert the thing to LHD...

I'm guessing from Dagabond's comments that you guys didn't get the last gen Mustangs down there? I'll trade someone an 03 Cobra for a 2000+ phoon. (If only customs wouldn't have such a fit about that...) The Kenne Bell kit (KB) can make 700 rwhp, costs $7k US and requires no internal mods. Truely a great machine. Who know the Winsor 5.0 guys would be so wrong when they complained about the switch to the modular 4.6? The cog-drive superchargers sound even crazier on the Cobra. I'll try to find a video of one. That 900 whp one was just amazing btw.

Maybe China is a danger, but you guys would own NK. They have a ton of troops, but can barely equip them, much less transport them to Australia. Furthermore, with their logistics, the bush (brush, outback?) the wild would eat them alive. In fact, they may have tried it and nobody realized. Also, whether its based on a realistic view of Australia or just what we know from Steve Irwin (RIP) and Paul Hogan, Americans love Australia. They think of it as a cooler more fun-loving USA. They might have no idea that Sydney is not the capital, in fact, they might not know that Sydney is in Australia, in fact, they might not know that Sydney is not referring to a person that decided to spell her name differently to be cool... but they still love ya'll. If you ask any American what other countries they actually care about, (if he realizes there are other countries... j/k), he'll almost certainly say Canada, England or Australia, (maybe Japan, especially if he is a typical Honda boy, or maybe NZ if he knows that's not a state in the south-west US). So I gurantee, we'd be over there to back you guys up in no time, and I'm sure you can count on mother England just as much, as well as the rest of your fellow commonwealth nations. I understand that everyone wants to be self-sufficient, but whether or not you are, you're certainly not more than a day or two from help like it or not, (and how far can a North Korean tank drive in a day or two, what, 5-10 miles at top speed???). Shoot, the French might even come (maybe... if the weathers nice... depends on who else is going) - we'll try to keep Germany out of it since they have only two modes, peace and World War. (I don't mean to come across implying that you guys need us for protection, I'm just saying that whether or not you want us there, the rest of the English speaking world would be there to back you guys up).

Lightnings are awesome. I tied one from 60 to 100 mph on the highway when my Stealth was stock. Very impressive. He would have probably walked me if we started at 20 mph. Ever get the Syclone/Typhoon there? (Not the F6 typhoon, I mean the GMC trucks). They were pickup and SUV respectivly, made from 1991-1992, totally ordinary looking. They had a turbo 4.3 engine that was basically the engine from the turbo Buick GNX (but bored out .5 L). They ran flat-14s stock, but they responded to mods so easily that there are some running 8s today. If you didn't recognize it, it looked like any other piece of crap 1990 GMC truck. They're the Lightning's arch-rival here (despite the attempts of Dodge to steal that honor with the Viper v10 powered Ram).

We've always pined for the Skyline, Evo and STi products here in the states. Those who know, like myself, even more desired the Holdens, v8 Fords and especially the turbo XR6. Are there any machines you guys wish your market got? Did you guys get the late model Camaros? It wasn't a very good handling car (not bad, but might get out-handled by a top-model Integra), and the inside certainly wasn't finished like a Porsche would be; but it looked nice, was resonably quick and was cheap. The last generation was motivated by the 5.7L v8 LS1 engine. Though it was rated at 305 hp for the Z28 and 320 hp for the SS (so as not to compete with the Corvette), most Camaros dyno'd exactly the same as their Corvette bretheren, so most consider them ~340 hp cars. For $24,000 US you could get a brand-new, 340 hp / 380 lb-ft v8 equipped car with a 6-speed Tremec T56 transmission all in a package that weighed 3400 lbs and ran low 13 second quarter miles at over 105 mph stock. Also, the aftermarket for the cars was huge, and with bolt-ons and new camshaft you could get 450 hp at the crank and flat-12 sec quarters. There were also several supercharger kits and a twin T66 turbo kit that allowed it to out-accelerate a 1200 cc Hayabusa croch-rocket on the highway. It wasn't a BMW by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a pretty good deal for a kid with the desire for acceleration. They can be had for $10k, (6-7 years old w/ 50,000 miles), I'd love to pick one up, but lack the space and need the cash to fix the Stealth (ecu melted through itself). __________________ The 2003 and 2004 Mustang Cobras were also very awesome (though expensive, $37k new). With just $1500 worth of bolt-on mods, you could make 500 hp at the crank easy. Not too hard when you've got a supercharged V8 from the factory (just a boost pulley and exhaust and you've got another 70 hp on top of the 420 it came with stock). [it was rated at 390 stock, but nobody believes it made that little]. __________________ How about the Dodge Viper. I know its the embodiment and exemplification of American excess, but who can say no to an 8.3L V10 engine w/ 500 hp and 500 lb-ft. Here it's sold for $70k, when a new Lotus Esprit will run $85k, an NSX will cost $90k, and a 911 turbo drain your pockets of $130k. Furthermore, with 8.3L and only 500 hp, you know its no where near its limit. A tuner in Texas, John Hennessey, put 10 psi of boost into one, and it overloaded his dyno - (the dyno maxed out at 1200 lb-ft of torque, which the Viper exceeded, with 10 psi).