Pavlovian Ruby

The (new) Prime Minister of Australia has in a statement told Australians "People should not be afraid to say what they felt about border protection". Boy, is that a green light to all the racists here?!

In fact Australia's refugee problem is just a drop in the ocean compared with many other countries. Leaky boats chartered by refugees sail mainly from Indonesia; some direct from places like Sri Lanka. Many letters from readers and indeed remarks by opposition politicians say that the government should intercept these boats at sea and send them back to where they came from. I would assume that would mean giving them fuel, food and water, medicines and ensuring that the craft is seaworthy. It would be worldwide news if a single boat sank after being turned around by the Australian Navy. Fail!

Another suggestion is that we let them get to Australia and then immediately fly them back to their country of origin. Fail!

A letter from a cretinous reader suggested that all the boats be towed back to their port of departure, the refos unloaded and the boats sunk. Fail!

Whilst I have sympathy for refugees, most of them attempting to reach our shores are Muslim. A letter to the editor of one of the local newspapers said....

' Nearly 500,000 Muslims living in Australia cannot vote for Julia Gillard (the PM) because according to the holy Koran, an atheist cannot be a leader of the believers'.

The letter was written by one Hafeez Shaikh who, I believe, is an ex Muslim. There are a few dyed-in-the-wool Australian Christians saying the same thing.

Helen and James' puppy, Ruby (the destroyer) is still trying to eat anything left within her reach. They have purchased an electronic teaching (punishing) device which has a electronic collar and a base station which is placed in Ruby's target zone. As soon as she approaches the base station there is a loud buzz and if ignored the collar gives her an electric shock. It works...as soon as Ruby hears the buzzing sound she swiftly leaves the area. It will be interesting to see if Ruby later associates that area rather than the buzz with the punishment.