Big B

I am coming from Australia to LA for a holiday for 4 weeks. I am looking to stay at a studio apartment for about 4 weeks. Where would you stay in LA? Where are nice suburbs to stay in LA if your a tourist? Not anywhere expensive or posh, just a nice area in LA. Any ideas or thoughts from anyone from LA or who have stayed in LA would be greatly appreciated.

I am studying a grad diploma of education at Uni of Notre Dame sydney.

Any teachers for NSW secondary schools out there. I just have some questions.

How many classes a week would students have for subjects such as history?

How many minutes is each class?

I understand teachers have to go by the syllabus for what subjects that the teach. But does every school have its own 'curriculum' and the way that subjects are taught or what should be taught?

I have to do a 10 week lesson plan for a uni paper and i am just trying to get a grasp of a lesson plan for 10 weeks and the structure and all.

I appreciate any info or feedback from any NSW high school teachers or any Australian high school teachers out there.

Although we have teachers as lecturers, i am really finding that they dont talk to their students - that is future teachers much about the practicalities of being a teacher or whats involved on a day to day basis.

Thank you!

Why are there so many Indians in Western Sydney? Suburbs such as Quakers Hill, Rooty Hill are all like little Bombay or little New Delhi.

Are they all on student visas, are they refugees, are they all illegals? There has got to be someone who works in dept of immigration that can explain why sydney suburbs are being turned into dirty disgusting ghettos.

And then there are all those sudanese that are hanging around main train stations such as Auburn, Lidcombe, Blacktown.

I dont understand how such large numbers are allowed in and not assimilating.

I saw an interview with Barbara Bush who talked about her sons. I didnt know that Jeb Bush, while he was Governor of Florida, also tutored kids in need while being Govenor. Just gets me thinking that the wrong son ran for President in 2001. Maybe history would have been alot different. Even though i hate the Bush family, i cant help admire Jeb.

I have been watching the movie Gettysburg. At first i thought that the story that Confederate General Heth moving into Gettysburg looking for shoes for his men, actually made sense. But the more i watch the movie, i am convinced that Heth literally 'bumped' into the Union army. In the absence of confederate cavalry, i think Heth ran into the union cavalry under Buford - who possible saw Heth first and ambushed him. So i wonder where did the story about searching for shoes come from and why its given any credence about why Heth went into Gettysburg.

I just wanted to get some feedback about an idea of interviewing soldiers who have fought in wars. And i mean not just the big wars like WW2, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. But also the small 'forgotten' wars like Korea, as well as troop involvement in peace keeping places such as Africa, South East asia, Haiti etc, East Timor, Somalia etc.

I would like to write down soldiers thoughts and feelings - what did they feel about basic training and their thoughts on their first deployment overseas. How did they feel about being away from home. How did they feel about the army / navy / airforce. The first time they come under fire. The first time they came home. Did they talk about what they had seen and what they felt. Letters from home. What did they think about their commanders? Did they look at the government differently? Did they fit easily back into society?

There is a song from the 80's. In the song are the lyrics 'Its the year of fear' and also 'Save your love tonight'. The song sounds like its from a english group / australian group like The Church or something like that. But i cannot find the artist. I heard it on the radio again and have searched youtube and google but cant find it.

Its not a fast song - rather a slow song.

I watched Michael Moores 'Capitalism - A love story'. Now i am not American so i dont know how much truth there is in his documentary. Now not being American, i am just wondering are things that bad in the U.S? Do americans find that there is any truth to what michael moore is saying about capitalism? What particularly got me was the 'airline' pilots salary - that pilots dont make much money. But also the bailout of the banks by the government. How do americans feel about what michael moore was saying - the true state of America or a complete load of rubbish - or was their some truth to what michael moore was saying? Has capitalism let people down?

If i was in charge of the country, i would just allow single females to immigrate and ban any male from coming in. The single females would be allowed to come in and would on condition of staying - have to marry and have babies by the man they marry. And she would have to stay married to him for at least 10 years otherwise she would be expelled. As a way of keeping up the population and securing national security and our national identity, wouldnt this be a great idea?

Many people say immigration is a bad thing, that we are receiving too many people etc. But the way i see it, immigration would have to be the ultimate example of the superiority of Western civilisation. Just going for a walk and seeing indian, vietnamese, filipino shops to me is just brillant and proof of the absolute rat holes of these countries. Is there no other race or culture that can boast the superiority of Western countries such as U.S, Canada, Germany, Britain and Australia? Is it immigration not proof that Western civilisation has a 'burden' to civilise the rest of the world? Is it not proof of our destiny to rule the world?

According to sources, the U.S gave USD $667 million in foreign aid to the Philippines for 2009-2010. Australia will give AUD $118 million in aid for 2010-2011. I imagine that Japan would also contribute a large amount of money. So the question is how do filipinos see their country receiving so much foreign aid? The Philippines closed down the U.S bases - which were bringing in so much money in U.S aid for the sake of national pride. So now when, For the sake of national pride, when will the Philippines ween itself off Foreign Aid?

I was down in Sorsogon, visiting my sister in law give birth. And i couldnt help but notice the poor state of the hospitals. No air conditioning, the windows wide open to let flies in, no blankets on the bed, cobwebs on the ceiling. And thats without the daily expenses of going to hospital!. Why do filipinos tolerate the poor state of their hospitals?

Im looking around for a nice hotel to stay in Baguio Ive stayed at the Australian hotel and pub before, but im looking for something in town. From personal experience, would there be any hotels you would say were good?

I have a toploader whirlpool but its leaking water from the bottom. So i am after a new one. Products made by LG are supposed to be crap, and the problem with whirlpool is that its small. Anyone had any positive experieces with any washing machine that they would recommend again?

The Florida Pastor, Terry Jones has said now that he wont burn the Muslim holy book, the "Koran' because he gained assurances that the planned Mosque in New York would be moved. On the eve of the anniversary of 9/11, is Terry Jones defusing what could be a emotionally highly charged anniversary or backing down to international pressure?

I find it interesting Hillary Clinton's comments that U.S debt levels were a threat to U.S National Security. No Kidding! The question then has to be why has every administration, democrat and republican, allowed the U.S debt levels to get to such that it becomes a threat to National security?

I am going to be staying in pi past the 21 day tourist visa limit. Last time i did this, i got slugged a fee for 3,000 pesos. I want to get the extension this time. But i dont know if i can do it at the airport when i enter pi (when i clear customs) or if i have to go the local embassy to get this. Any advice on those who have got the extension past 21 days and how they went about it would be very much appreciated. Thanks guys.

If you were part of a Confederate jury after the battle of Gettysburg, and you had to make a decision about who was to blame for the loss of the battle, who would you blame. Ive seen the movie 'Gettysburg' and alot of the blame tends to go on Jeb Stuart. But do you think Lee's overconfidence as well as Longstreet's delays on the second day, as well as Ewell's hesitancy to take the hills on that first day contributed to the loss? Who would you blame? Love to hear the opinions of any americans or those who are well read on the battle at Gettysburg.

The new prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, has approached the small island of East Timor, once a part of Indonessia until 1998, and asked East Timor if Australia could place a detention centre for the 'boat people' or illegal immigrants coming to Australia. Copying John Howard's "Pacific Solution', i believe the idea is nothing more than Australia leaning on a smaller power to take care of our illegal immigrants. And its nothing more than Neo-Imperialism. What do you think?

I sometimes watch fox news. I am not American, but Australian. And I have noticed that Bill O'Reilly, Hannity, and Glen Beck sometimes refer to President Obama as the 'Anoined One'. Now i thought that the office of President was something that Americans were proud of. And to hear news commentators refer to the president in such terms, i thought was derogatory and Insulting - after all he is the elected official. What do Americans think when they hear the President being referred in such terms?