Shaggy Dog Comments...

Issue 739

While national pride swells over our ability to spend close to $100 million to show 400 would-be Afghan refugees who's boss of Australia, the long-suffering people of the strife-torn country are now trying to escape the impending fury of the West, as well as fleeing the lunatic Taliban regime. Community aid group World Vision is seeking raise a measly $1 million to help cope with the looming crisis on the Pakistan border. Despite closing the border, more than 1000 refugees (aka 2.5 boatloads of queue jumpers to politicians seeking re-election) are still crossing every day. After years of drought, which has meant little food, a savage snow-covered winter in the mountains looms. If you want to help 133 240. If you don't, then pray our political leaders don't get any worse than they currently are, or it could be you fleeing next.

And they still wonder why we think they're bastards... On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank cut interest rates by 0.25%. All the major banks announced they would follow suit, but while some are ready to pass on the rate drop on Monday, Australia's biggest bank, the National, is hanging on for 12 days before it reduces its mortgage rate. In contrast, every time rates went up last year, they hiked up their rates within five days. They're even less generous with that biggest rort of all – credit cards. Rates went up within six days of every increase, but this year the Reserve Bank has made five cuts. The credit card rate hasn't changed since April – despite the fact that rates have now dropped 0.5% – in two cuts – in the past month.

And while we're on the subject, we were impressed by Qantas and its initial denials that they were price gouging stranded customers in the wake of the Ansett collapse. A week later they'd changed their position to 'so what if we are?' before deciding it was more than a frustrated public could take. But the following give you an idea of what it's like at the moment . A colleague planning to fly to Adelaide with Ansett later this month was forced to re-book with Qantas. They have just forked out a whopping $1470 for a return ticket from Ballina (inc GST). For that sort of money, they could have bought a round-the-world airline ticket.

And since we've mentioned the GST, consider this: if the price of airline tickets goes up, so does the GST revenue (they have and it has), while the government also pockets the GST from passengers who pre-paid for Ansett tickets. So since airline passengers are already paying more tax because of this whole disaster, why are they being forced to fork out an additional $10 for an employee entitlement scheme no-one seems to understand, and may not even be used. The Minister for Losing the Plot, John Anderson, has already said it won't be refunded to the people who paid it. But then, why worry when you're a politician (or former politician) who enjoys taxpayer-funded flights?

From The New York Times comes a quote from Queens resident Samia Watt, which sums up contemporary life in New York – 'Every little thing makes you paranoid. My girlfriends and I went to the movies. When the theatre started to shake, I lost it until I realised that it was the subway going by.' On page 10 in The Echo this week, we feature a harrowing first hand account from a man who escaped from the World Trade Centre just in time.

But the US has kept its sense of humour. An American friend sent the following: The Bush administration has issued another threat against the Taliban unless they hand over the terrorist Osama bin Laden. White House officials say that unless the Mullahs cooperate, American Forces will take all the Afghani women and send them to college.

There are two types of people in the world – the bean counters and the bean roasters. The bloke pictured right falls into the latter category, but lately he's been forced to do some counting, only to discover that he's racked up the half-ton on this mortal coil. From all the caffiends at The Echo, we'd like to wish Bill Sheaffe a very happy 50th birthday. Your Starbucks gift voucher is in the mail.

From all the caffiends at The Echo, we'd like to wish Bill Sheaffe a very happy 50th birthday. Your Starbucks gift voucher is in the mail

All creatures great and small, feathered and furry, are invited to attend the annual Blessing of the Animals, this Sunday, October 7 at the All Souls' Anglican Church in Bangalow. Last year Bangalow lad Grant Tucker and his bird Charlie (pictured) were among the flock.

Father Gary Shearston began the Blessing four years ago. It's held close to St Francis Day, October 4, to pay tribute to St Francis of Assisi, the 12th century saint whose affinity with God came through animals. Father Shearston spent nearly three months in the Monastery of Assisi in the mid-70s

'St Francis was a truly great man, and Sunday is a chance to enjoy ourselves and say thank you to God for this bloke whose vision was to honour and care for animals. It's a fun occasion and last year we had a really good turn out, with those attending bringing all sorts of animals – cows, horses, cats, dogs, a lizard and even some silk worms.'

All animals and their owners are welcome. The Bishop of Grafton, the Right Reverend Philip Huggins will conduct the service, which begins at 9.30am. After the blessing, stewards will be on hand to mind animals so the human friends can attend the special All Souls' church service at 10.15am.