No-one wants to live in a country which lacks proper sanitation...

Must be the heat...

First one-day international, Perth:
New Zealand 185-8 (50 overs) beat Australia 181 (48.4 overs) by two wickets

remember it well....lived close to Melbourne centre....and had smouldering gumleaves landing in the backyard.....   it was so eerie...the light...like the end of the world...

49C (120F) at Avalon Airport.....   wow..

reports just coming through of the extent of the deaths and damage in Victoria.....

Yes....was a warm one today.....silly me was laying bricks....[a step for the back gate....;p

I missed the weather details....believe it got to 46 in Melbourne, tho.

yep... an all time record for Melbourne... 46.4C  115.52F  ..bet the cement dried fast..

looking at above 40 deaths though...

Yep, those global warming theorists have a lot to answer for... temperatures have risen because of all the hot air they sprout.

You can't beat beat florida for dramatic climate change, yesterday morn, 18F, today near 70F... does wonders for your skin and hair

I think those are from the fires, not the heat.....this time.  [same thing, really].

Last evening's sky was an 'interesting' colour .....smoke to the East of the city.

....and yes, how to turn ordinary concrete into quick-set ....just add 46.4 degrees.

You guys want to go halves? Put your 46 with our -8 and divide the two we should all be a bit more comfortable.

Sunday here...day after our hottest day on record....and the fire death toll is at 65 and climbing...and house loss at 640 and climbing....

Another entry into the 'record books'.....one we can do without.

86 and 750 .... and climbing.

...including Brian Naylor      ..grew up with Swallows Juniors.....and was my favourite news reader of all time......I know everything I need to know, 'cause Brian told me so.......   may your news...be good news...and goodnight..

looking at the coverage.....it's just horrifying....for all those families...

Are people being caught by the fires or are most deaths due to breathing smoke?  We have a lot of wild fires in Florida and the smoke gets so intolerable you can't go outside, at least people with any sort of compromised lungs.

the fires angus....many in cars...6 members of the one family in one car......many left it too late to evacuate and got caught on roads with trees falling on them...and colliding with other vehicles as visibility was so bad in the thick smoke...and they were unable to outrun the fire....many in homes as well.....   was just a firestorm..

Here in sunny sw fla we're in the midst of our Winter.  Has been down right cold here lately - low's dipping all the way in to the lower 40's (that's f for those of us still in the dark-ages) and staying in the low to mid 70's in the afternoon.  Gonna have to grab me a couple more dogs to pile on the bed here before too long...  

It's sad..................one of my earliest memories is listening to Brian on the big db (3DB radio) then he just became part of life as TV evolved, he always talked about his luck in  life - so ironic after his son crashing his plane near home last year and now this - Kinglake was not so lucky after all. The Naylors RIP, Australia misses you. RIP to all victims too and prayers to all associated families and friends.

We had fires near Bridgewater when I was about 8 on 2 fronts that sprang up quickly and changed directions.

It was very frightening, we seemed to only just make it out in time as the fires bore down so fast, the wind changed again and the main front turned on what it had already consumed and our house was spared. It was burnt before that and before I was born.

Several firemen from our town were burnt to death though and the wild one Johnny O'Keefe almost got caught as he was with his future Brother-in-Law volunteer fire fighting, they sheltered in a river as the fire went over.

I can only say that I hope all of our friends here at WC who are in Australia will be safe.

The death toll is now 108....Monday morning.  That won't be the end of it, either.

I have been, and will be next week, dog/sitting ...no pc...but watching CNN... my heart goes out to everyone...it is so very sad, so many lives lost, and property....thoughts and prayers going to all those in Oz.....

131 ....and likely to be over 200...

Arson has been described as Mass Murder.

This is a whole new order of magnitude.

Was arson proven, Jafo?

If so, they have to catch the monster(s) involved and mete out some swift justice.

I cannot imagine someone would do such a heinous thing. I know it's possible, but I simply cannot fathom

such an act.

Several fires are expected to be arson....and there were reports of fires being attempted to be re-lit....

We won't be getting the full story.....but a Police Task Force has been set up to hunt him/them down.