Australian soldier, Captain Paul McKay,missing in up state New York in freezing conditions

Come on Aussies,pray for one of our very best,Captain Paul McKay and our American friends searching for him.


Dozens join search for missing Australian soldier in New York state

By North America correspondent Lisa Millar
ABC

About 40 volunteers and forest rangers have joined the search for a missing Canberra soldier in upstate New York.

Officials are growing increasingly worried about missing Australian, Captain Paul McKay.

They have been searching for a week-and-a-half and believe he may be in woods around Saranac Lake.

Temperatures have warmed to about seven degrees Celsius and authorities say the 31-year-old's military training and fitness will help him survive.

He was carrying a large backpack and US police believe that despite the freezing conditions he was headed for Lake Placid in the state's north.

Local media are reporting that Captain McKay arrived in the country on December 29.

Two earlier credible sightings were reported but police have had no further leads.

It is understood the Afghanistan veteran suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Local police chief Bruce Nason says Captain McKay's family in Australia received an email from him on the day he disappeared.

"The email that he sent to his father, he pretty much gave all property and possessions to his father, and there was some other information I'm not going to get into detail with, but it led us to believe that he didn't plan on returning," he said.

Mr Nason says extra volunteers and forest rangers have joined the search and no-one is giving up hope.

"We're getting calls daily with new information from the public," he said.

"The ground search is being conducted by the New York State Forest Rangers receiving assistance from the New York State Police and experienced volunteers.

"The wooded area where he was last seen, some areas it's really thick and it's difficult to get through."

Police say Captain McKay travelled to Saranac Lake on December 30 and stay overnight at the Best Western Inn before leaving the next day.

It is believed he left walking along the road towards Ray Brook, New York State.

Australian Bush Fires:Memories of Canberra blaze rekindled

Memories of Canberra blaze rekindled

BY NYSSA SKILTON
Canberra Times
10/02/2009

Victoria's bushfires have stirred memories of Canberra's own bushfire disaster just six years ago, raising the question: What has been learnt?

Bushfire and meteorology specialist David Packham, of Monash University in Melbourne, said nothing had changed in forest management since the Canberra 2003 fires and Victoria was suffering the consequences. ''The mismanagement of the south-eastern forests of Australia over the last 30 or 40 years by excluding prescribed burning and fuel management has led to the highest fuel concentrations we have ever had in human occupation,'' Mr Packham said.

''The state has never been as dangerous as what it is now and this has been quite obvious for some time. ''It is a recipe for the disaster that we have had.'' Mr Packham, who is a research fellow at Monash University's School of Geography and Environmental Science, said a ''God almighty brawl'' was about to erupt in Australia about how forests should be managed to reduce the risk of bushfires.
''There has been a total lack of willingness to instigate a proper fuel reduction management program based on the skills and understanding of indigenous people who, after all, for tens of thousands of years were the stewards of our environment,'' he said. ''We have thumbed our noses at what these people did and knew and we just can't keep on doing it.''
The director of the centre for environmental risk management of bushfires at the University of Wollongong, Professor Ross Bradstock, said now was not the time to speculate on what went wrong. ''There needs to be more sober appraisal to figure out exactly what's happened,'' he said. ''We know these very big destructive fires have occurred before in Victoria under very different eras of management.'' Professor Bradstock said scientific knowledge of bushfires was quite rudimentary.

He said, like Canberra in January 2003, the conditions in Victoria on Saturday were off the top of the fire danger scale. ''We actually have no formal scientific knowledge of the way fires behave in the upper part of the fire danger scale, let along off the top of the danger scale,'' he said. ''Yes, we have scientists and people working on the problem, but these are extraordinary phenomena and we don't fully comprehend them.'' Professor Bradstock said there was no prescribed burning solution which would totally eliminate risk of bushfire. ''Anything we do in terms fire management is about the reduction in risk,'' he said.

''Understanding the best use of resources to reduce risk is still a formidable challenge. We don't have all the answers.'' CSIRO bushfire researcher Andrew Sullivan said aerial shots of Marysville, depicting green street trees dotted among destroyed houses, reminded him of what he had seen in Canberra in 2003. ''It implies to me that what's happened is house-to-house spread after the fire front has gone through,'' he said. ''That's what happened in Canberra. Primarily the bushfire hit Eucumbene Drive and Warragamba Drive [Duffy] and spot fires started in the gardens of houses that lined those streets.'' Mr Sullivan said prior to Saturday, he would have said Australia was becoming better at dealing with bushfires.

Hamas Terror supporters hold candle light vigil, in Australia's capitol, Canberra.

Thousands of candles lit in Gaza vigil

News.com.au
January 10, 2009 08:29pm

MORE than 4000 candles in white paper bags have been lit on the front lawn outside Parliament House in Canberra as part of a vigil against the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Religious leaders from the Islamic, Catholic, Anglican and Uniting faiths were also present to show their solidarity and support for peace in the Middle East region.

The paper bags were carefully laid out across the lawn to spell out both English and Arabic translations of the words, "Save Gaza Now".

The display's artist, Jorge Pujol, designed the Sorry, the First Step display after last year's historic apology to Indigenous Australians by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

“The candle message is pretty much a silent message. It's a message of light,” Keysar Trad, from the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, told the gathering.

“We are lighting candles to bring about light, dissipate this evil of destruction.”

The vigil concludes a day of protests in Canberra over the conflict.

Australian Terror supporters Rally in Canberra 1

Australian Terror supporters Rally in Canberra 2

Australian Terror supporters Rally in Canberra 3

Australia's useful idiots have no limit to their idiocy and confected compassion,the usual parade of unelected,school teachers,'students",public servants,carers and sharers,the unemployable,publicly funded parasites, Union officials, Union members, and other assorted leftists, and free loading God Botherer's with clearly, not much to do today.
Under the ever present main stream, pro Hamas media eye, they cried on cue and shouted for the destruction of Israel in their quest for "peace" in a way that only Islamist's aka members of the "Religion of Peace" and their adoring new age Christian / atheist fan club can,
Ingratiating themselves to Australia's imported and purpose home bred Islamic Terrorist's and terrorism supporters,members of the Religion of Peace,aka Islam, and it's two faced carpet bagger's / community leaders clearly loved every minuet of their HATE FEST,just what would these arse clowns do without Israel and the west to blame 24/7 for every hurt they feel?

I can only assume they believe that they will in exchange for their betrayal of Australia they will be spared their lives should the Mongrel Dog of Islam take over here in Australia as it has in Gaza, why else would "Catholic, Anglican and Uniting faith" and other sufferers of Stockholm Syndrome, make such unashamed arse clowns of themselves by this Curr like behavior? when Australians who feel their only chance of survival and to appease Islams Satanic Beast,is to jump into bed with Islamic Terrorists and their Australian based representatives,all those who fought and died for us must be wondering why the hell they bothered.
I wonder just how many of these new age God loving "Christians" and atheist's live in Sydney's occupied territories in the south western Sydney suburbs with the Godless savages they marched with today.