Same problem with me.
I envy the people who can wear slip ons. My wide Hobbit feet force me to wear lace-ups.
As a Tasmanian (NSWman technically but shh) you were no-one if you werenât wearing blunnies in high school, particularly my high school in a heavy farming district with a school farm. The great Tasmanian boot. I wanted to get a pair up in Qld but opted for same style but a cheaper brand.
I expect further reviews @sandsoftime when you buy your Driza and Akubra in the future.
Beggars BeliefâŚ
Eerie detail in pic of toddlers playing in blue sandpit would see both die in their 30s
Wittenoom was the site of a blue asbestos mine between 1943 and 1966, and it was only discovered recently that children who lived in the town were developing a range of cancers and dying as a result
Philip Noble and Ross Munroe were just four years old in the picture
An eerie detail in this picture of two toddlers playing in a blue sandpit would end in both of them dying horrible deaths in their 30s.
The two boys lived in a mining town called Wittenoom north-east of Perth, Australia, in the 1950s and children in the area would play in blue sandpits made from scraps from the mines.
But, horrifyingly, these mines were blue asbestos mines â and the asbestos tailings were being smeared across the town in roads, school playgrounds and the faces of innocent Philip Noble and Ross Munroe playing in their backyard sandpit.
Wittenoom was the site of a blue asbestos mine between 1943 and 1966, and it was only discovered recently that children who lived in the town at the time were developing a range of cancers and dying as a result.
A sack race at the Wittenoom racecourse which was covered in asbestos tailings
Philip Noble and Ross Munroe were four years old when they were pictured in the blue sandpit in 1953. They would sadly both would go on to die from mesothelioma, a kind of cancer that attacks the lungs. Philip was a footballer before dying aged 36, while high school principal Ross died at 38.
Residents would buy the asbestos tailings, which were also used to reduce dust around the house, without knowing how deadly the killer substance was â with experts not realising how dangerous it was until the 1990s
Associate Professor Alison Reid, of the WA Institute of Medical Research, performed a study on people who spent their childhoods exposed to asbestos in Wittenoom and what cancers they had developed, reports the publication.
She found that girls up to the age of 15 who lived in the town had been more likely to develop mesothelioma, ovarian and brain cancers, and have had increased death rates. Boys had similar results, with elevated rates of mesothelioma, leukaemia, prostate, brain and colorectal cancer, diseases of the circulatory and nervous system and excessive death rates.
The study further discovered that 2,640 former Wittenoom children had been exposed to blue asbestos before the age of 15 â with the average age being just three.
By the end of 2007, 228 of the former residents had died of a range of causes and by 2009 there were 215 cases of cancer in 207 individuals.
âWe will continue to follow this group to provide important information on the long-term implications of exposure to asbestos during childhood,â said Associate Professor Alison Reid of the 2012 study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
The town is now declared a contaminated area and at 50,000 hectares it is the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere.
Those poor kids
I thought they knew or at least had strong suspicions about it in the 70s and 80s. Midnight Oil released Blue Sky Mine in early 90s to raise public awareness of the residents and mine workers battle for compensation and support in getting the health treatment which had been going on for several years at that point
good album too. Midnight Oil is Aussieâs version of The Tragically Hip in Canada.
Yep. Have to check out their âcanadian equivalentsâ now - thanks!
Yep,got their fair share from me!
The owners knew about the stuff being potentially lethal for a very long time,but donât let lives stand in the way of$$$$$.A former Lib AG was a lawyer for the company concerned.She allegedly claimed it was good for you.
those who like them, like them a lot. thereâs a lot of âCanadianaâ in their writing that wonât make sense to most, keep that in mind.
Happy Aussie Day Everyone!
Iâm sure that thereâs a way to celebrate this great place while acknowledging all the people who live here.
at this stage i think theres enough support to just change the dateâŚ
the date itself is irrelevant to many of us, so if it causes some of us pain, then lets just all of us, change it.
the best date mentioned to me is May the 8th
May 8
M8(mate) day
even if the wording Mate has been politicisedâŚbut its still a great Aussie trait
much better time of the year from an industry POV to have a PH anywaysâŚ
Personally i think it should be Jan 1st fir Federation Day.
The jyst give us a public holiday in lui of it being a holiday already
Looks like the celebrations are in full swing!
Cheers 
Too hot to do anything here.
More typical Aussie newsâŚ
I would have said just move it a day forward. 25th Jan. Day before landings. Only problem with the federation date is thatâs already a holiday so Aussies would never accept!
Famed Kiwi and Aussie critic bringing the burn
https://x.com/AJemaineClement/status/1758017190543184178?s=20
About as accurate as wearing a bow tie thinking that it gives him a personality.
Donât diss the Hiphopopotamus!