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It’s important to go with the correct equipment when in the great outdoors. Though beautiful, Mother Nature could be deadly – quickly. One crucial part of anyone’s gear when enjoying our national parks ought to be portable shelter – in other words, a tent. Something like the Big Agnes tent, as fine a line as any made anywhere.

They are made from dye-free fabric that is breathable but waterproof, venting moisture to the outside while keeping everybody dry inside. Their poles are constructed from an anodizing process which is environmentally friendly.

You see, tent poles normally require two very toxic chemical substances as a part of the anodizing process. But the Big Agnes tent are created from a unique process that eliminates phosphoric and nitric acid, eliminating the polishing stage altogether.

This also has the added benefit of reducing waste water, because with out employing these toxic chemical substances, any rinsing water which is used could be safely recycled. Of course, there are numerous reasons why a Big Agnes tent is such a best-seller.

Top quality and reliability is one, plus design and features. And also the company’s reputation for other items is solid, which makes consumers of portable sheltering curious about the entire Big Agnes product line. Indeed, it appears that the company is most famous for its sleeping bags, which are unlike traditional designs in that the bag and the pad are united into one.

How they do this, they slide the pad into an integrated sleeve based at the bottom of the bag. This way, the top two-thirds is insulated as per usual but the bottom simply contains the pad, doing away with insulation material that loses most of its capability when compressed under the weight of a body anyway. For several individuals, such details don’t actually matter, but for true enthusiasts, such craftsmanship is essential.

The all-important first date. The getting-to-know-you can be greatly facilitated by an amusement ride, and the most thrilling one of all must be the Skywalk by Zalman Silber. A serial entrepreneur who made his first big fortune with New York’s infamous Skyride, a much ballyhooed but modest thirty-minute movie of helicopter flyovers, Sydney, Australia’s Skywalk is a much more visceral affair – and for a first-date, visceral is where it’s got to be at!

No, get your mind out of the gutter – “visceral” here simply means heart-pounding thrills which, studies show, make dates more attracted to one another. Yes, really: the more physically exciting the activities the more likely dates are to think of one another as being physically attractive. Scientists have paired up total strangers of the opposite sex and asked them to secretly rate one another’s attractiveness. Then each pair was put through a roller-coaster, sitting side-by-side, and asked again to rate one another’s attractiveness after the ride. The second set of responses were almost always substantially higher than than the first set!

So if you want to make a great impression, make sure to get her (or him!) engaging in some kind of physically exhilarating activity with you – such as the aforementioned Skywalk from Zalman Silber. Set at the top of the Sydney Tower, the Skywalk is essentially a catwalk with glass flooring that provides visitors with a panoramic view of the city a thousand feet above street level. Being a catwalk, everything is out in the open, with no windows between guests and…nothingness. The Skywalk offers not only a bird’s-eye view of the Harbour City but all the visceral feelings to go with it as well!

And if the simple fact of being up so high doesn’t get your date’s heart throbbing, make sure she looks down! Visiting the Skywalk is a perfect first date because the Skywalk is the perfect ice-breaker. Don’t be surprised if she reflexively grabs your arm! Even though everyone is tethered by cable to sturdy metal support structures, the frequent gusts of wind can be strong enough to make one forget all the safety features built into the experience. Afterward, you and your date can retire to the conventional observation deck of the Sydney Tower to enjoy the romantic view while sharing fond memories of your Skywalk. Or better yet, purchase another set of tickets to really jack up the excitement and send her emotions through the roof!

Rhinestones are diamond simulants or imitations made of rock crystal, glass, or even acrylic. As the name suggests, a rhinestone used to be rock accumulated from along the River Rhine. Eighteenth-century Alsatian jeweler George Friedrich Strass was the first to coat glass with metallic powder in such a way as to simulate diamonds. We’ve come a long way since then, with some manufacturers even able to reproduce the sparkling effects of a real diamond.

Rhinestones are found anywhere a diamond would be, from apparel to jewellery. They are primarily used by those who cannot afford real diamonds, but musical celebrities have elevated the status of wearing them. Personalities as varied as Liberace and Elvis Presley have worn it so much that they are now widely associated with it, and even caricatured that way.

The diamond simulant, nevertheless, is no cheap thing, inexpensive only when compared to the genuine thing. The gemological characteristics desired are usually matched (though never all of them simultaneously in any one material), making the simulant a valuable object in its own right.

One of the largest producers of rhinestones in the world is the Austrian concern Swarovski, which has a custom of manufacturing fine crystal products such as miniatures and chandeliers. From 2004 through 2009, it was a Swarovski creation that served as the star atop New York City’s famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Preciosa is a Czech company that is responsible for most of the other rhinestones in the world, with a method that uses only about thirty percent lead in order to minimize refraction.

Other unique coatings and coating processes are utilized to create crystal rhinestones that exhibit diamond-like traits for example rainbows. Like Swarovski, Preciosa virtually makes sculptures, jewelry, and the like. Indeed, the former Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Hapsburgs host most of the fine rhinestone makers in the world.

A detox diet is a nutritional plan which claims to rid the body of impurities. Many such eating plans involve limiting consumption to only water or juice or outright fasting on a regular basis. Another kind of detox diet recommends the complete elimination of a certain kind of food such as all fats or all carbohydrates. Proponents of these methods of eating believe that trapped toxins are released somehow, passing through the skin, sweat, or breath and out of the body.

All detox diet plans are based on very ancient Egyptian and Greek notions about the body. Besides what we eat, other modalities are employed to detoxify the body, including physical treatments such as colon cleansing. Several herbs and allegedly herbal supplements are sold to supposedly speed up or otherwise aid the detoxification process. Such products are often marketed as targeting specific organs.

Bodily dextoxification is a field of so-called alternative medicine, which means that there’s no scientific evidence for its claims. Nevertheless, many swear by its placebo effects, though some of the more outrageous practices prevalent in the field appear to be potentially dangerous.

The entire affair may be more psychological than physical, in the final analysis. For one thing, there are simply people who derive a certain sense of pleasure from being contrarian, individuals for whom eccentricity is fashionable. Then there are people who are mentally disturbed conspiracy theorist-types and believe that the medical establishment wants to keep folks sick. Whatever the private motivations of such individuals, the final effect is to perpetuate new generations of detox theory adherents who seem to argue against anything scientific.

Of course, not all detox diets are shams – many are quite sensical plans that seem to be simply affixing the “detox” label onto themselves becuase it is a hot-selling buzzword at the moment. Insofar as individuals are a lot more conscious of what they’re eating, these dietary schemes are, in the main, harmless.

The right wedding favors can be hard enough to find, seeing how they should reflect not only the occasion but the couple and all their guests, but for people in alternative~ lifestyles for instance open marriages it may be extremely challenging. On the one hand, traditional wedding favors do not seem to honor the most special aspect of such a marriage – namely, that it’s open and the couple is not exactly shy about the fact – but on the other hand most folks wish to remember a marriage, not a social statement.

Of course, one may easily retort that marriage by definition is a social statement to begin with – but the institution is so typical and nearly universal that it’s no “statement” at all, not in the sense of a declaration beyond the obvious.

Wedding favors are also statements, in effect, a kind of message from the couple to their guests. They represent what the couple wishes the guest to remember of the wedding, and also how the guest should view the couple. So how to go about choosing the right takeway gift, the right momento?

Ultimately, it depends on the couple, of course. The overwhelming vast majority would no doubt prefer innocous ceremonies and by extension sourvenirs – even private affairs that make the official proclamation of their marriage blend into the vast background of all marriages occurring in their culture. Hence the double difficulty encountered by individuals in alternative family arrangements where nothing seems to recognize, much less celebrate, their beliefs.

What to do, then? Fortunately, many such people, those who pick and also proudly proclaim their unusual unions, are really creative and eminently capable of designing their own unique parting gifts for their guests. But as modern society becomes ever more permissive, it’s only a matter of time before enterprising folks start catering to this niche market with particular goods that not only recognize their particular flavor of marriage but even honor it.

Quality museum replicas of Italian marble statues are amongst the most popular of best-sellers. After all, everybody knows and loves Michelangelo’s David or Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. Italian works like these are amongst the most prized examples of marble sculpture anywhere, of any time period, with an ethereal smoothness that belies their stark realism. And now fine museum replicas allow anybody to own a copy!

Being surrounded by high-quality museum replicas can put us in a good mood all day long, at least if we’re serious art lovers. There is nothing like being connected to the glorious past than through one of the highest expressions of golden civilizations gone by in the form of marble statues that lift us above the everyday.

Art puts us in touch with the human capacity for imagination, the cultural heritage of our species. Museum replicas make that affordable so that one and all can enjoy the finest works at home or in the office. Indeed, they are so inexpensive, even the greatest examples, that it is something of a disservice to yourself to do with out them if art is essential to you!

Even if used merely as bookends or, worse, paper weights, they lend a classical elegance to any environment that goes far beyond such nakedly practical uses. And for such reasons, replicas make great gifts as well, thoughtful and possibly a bit out of the ordinary.

Given the variety of art that’s obtainable in replica form, it should be a fairly simple matter to discover the right piece that perfectly expresses your sentiments, whether of friendship and support or congratulations and well-wishes.

You’ll be able to express yourself while showing fantastic taste With a carefully chosen museum-quality replica that bears in mind the recipient’s own outlook. It’s a excellent way to say something elegantly!

Head aches? Squinting? It may perhaps be symptoms of failing eye-sight. So what do you do next? You set off to see an eye physician (of course) and it could be that you will need glasses or contact lenses. Now there is always the option of laser surgery but this article will not talk about that.

Go for the glass? Eye glasses have been around for decades – think Benjamin Franklin, an iconic wearer of eye glasses. Glasses are either created from plastic or glass. The frames for them also come in a wide range of materials. And, if you’re stressed about not finding the proper frames, don’t stress they currently have frameless designs. And if you are one of those folks who can’t even think about putting their finger in their eye and flinch at the notion of it, spectacles may be your best option.

Nonetheless contact lenses offer you some advantages over eyeglasses. One benefit, the rain, I believe you know what happens. Two, fog, eyeglasses tend to fog up. Three, moving down your nose anytime you perspire, etc.

Whichever you choose, the most essential issue is the fact that you see clearly.

When shopping for real estate, articles generally go over what is recommended by industry experts such as Isaac Toussie. But learning from failure is as important as learning from success; indeed, the two are symbiotically interweaved. And thus, following up on the previous installment’s discussion of desirable but still affordable New York City neighborhoods, we will consider the worst of the worst here by way of steering you to properties elsewhere!

A borough-by-borough run-down concludes as follows:

Staten Island: generally speaking, the areas closest to the ferry terminal will be the worst, with crime, noise, and other social ills most prevalent.

Manhattan: a much more diverse set of conditions here, but a good rule-of-thumb principle holds that areas north of Central Park should be avoided (though gentrification has made many such areas much better than previously was the case). With the exception of Chelsea and Upper East and West Side areas like Lincoln Center, avoid all areas with a public housing project.

Bronx: the whole borough should be avoided (but for Riverdale on the west coast and Throgg’s Neck on the southeastern one).

Queens: the most complex situation in the whole city, with many neighborhoods fairly mixed ethnically, racially, and socio-economically. But clearly inferior places include vast tracts of Jamaica and surrounding areas, especially towards points south near Brooklyn. Ravenswood is another problem area, next to Astoria in Long Island City. Roosevelt Island is deliberately mixed, but as is always the case, the bad will drive out the good, and it’s quite a debate whether gentrification can work there. East Elmhurst (but not all of Elmhurst proper) should also be avoided for the mix of noise, crime, and other social ills presented by many of its denizens. Jackson Heights is on the borderline, once a nice nabe but now host to a vast illegal immigrant community.

Brooklyn: another complex case, though rather more clear-cut than that of Queens mentioned above. Sunset Park is gritty and working-class but at least somewhat safe, relatively speaking. Definitely avoid Bushwick and surroundings, as well as Flatlands and even, nowadays, Canarsie. Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights are not very desirable areas and have a history of violence, as is the case with Ocean Hill and Brownsville. East New York should be avoided like the plague. Coney Island is also often bad, though the City of New York is finally committed to a wholesale revitalization effort.

Tough stuff? Scarcely. One cannot be too truthful when it comes to the persisting pockets of urban blight. For those new to New York, such “color” is quite often fascinating. But for many others, peace and quiet is desired above all for thinking, studying, and enjoyment of being.

The neighborhoods listed are anathema to those values, peopled as they are by those of a disposition, whether cultural or otherwise, towards noisy commotion and even physical violence. Yet because the city bursts with new arrivals each day, industry observers like Isaac Toussie agree that property prices and rent will still be very expensive, even when compared with more desirable spots in the same city. For example, Kingsbridge and Bedford Park in the Bronx, ghetto to the core, can still command rents only a couple of hundred less than those in premier places like Riverdale or Throgg’s Neck!

The 1099 Form is filed on behalf of independent contractors in the United States each year as required by law. Independent contractors are individuals or firms that provide goods or services to another person or corporation within the terms of a contract or verbal agreement.

All those individuals or businesses that make use of independent contractors must file a 1099 Form for each contractor paid an amount of six hundred dollars or more during a single year. As may be imagined, it’s possible for thousands of such contractors to be hired, and so those who make use of more than two hundred and fifty need to file all their forms electronically, which is almost always generated by software.

In addition to a 1099 Form, the 1096 is also necessary when it comes to paper copies sent through the mail. Payees typically use the info on their 1099s to complete their own tax returns, and will most likely use the Combined Form 1099 that records all the independent contracting they have done for the year.

Generally speaking, however, taxpayers are not required to attach a 1099 to their own federal income tax returns except under certain circumstances. Guidelines concerning 1099 forms are to be found in IRS Publication 1220.

Use of the 1099 has become quite controversial in the current economic recession as more and more employers seek to conserve money by classifying an ever bigger part of their workforce as independent contractors. The advantages to the employer in savings are essentially passed onto the worker, whose take-home or net earnings will take a substantial hit relative to that of a regular employee. But the practice has becoming increasingly widespread in the American economy today because really few candidates can afford to complain or hold out for a better job offer in such recessionary times.

Some of the most well-known of museum replicas are those famous Italian marble statues every person knows: David, Augustus Caesar, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. These are a few of the most prized examples of marble sculpture anywhere, with a fine smoothness and absolute realism.

No wonder everyone wants a copy! They truly lend an air of elegance and even authority – gravitas – to a setting. They’re veritable objets d’art in themselves, though can also stylishly serve as bookends and even paperweights!

No, those aren’t ignominious fates for such masterpieces of Italian marble. After all, there’s no shame in being practical in addition to being amazing, and if anything utilizing miniature versions of beloved marble statues in novel ways can only further cement their reputations. For what is the purpose of art if not to lift us above the everyday? And what better way to do that than to suffuse the everyday with art, in the manner of a deus ex machina!

Having replicas of museum works of art in your home or office can put you in a excellent mood all day long if you truly appreciate art. You will go through your day surrounded by a few of the most inspirational works ever produced by humankind, landmarks of human achievement and imagination. Who knows, they may even “rub off” on you and inspire creations of your own!

Ultimately, the point in owning such things is how they put us in touch with the cultural heritage of our species. We are reminded of exactly where we came from and what we can achieve. What they teach us is that the human capacity for imagination is boundless; they put us in a spiritual realm where we can all take pride in the legacy of the ancients. Sounds too good to be true? Get your own and see!

Wedding favors truly add to the “sentimental interest” of one of the most important occasion in anyone’s live. A wide selection exists on the market for nearly every possible purpose, with every theme including religious ones, well represented.

For instance, Asian themed wedding favors are one of the most popular bestsellers nowadays, though conventional favorites like the fairytale still dominate the industry. And perhaps in a sign of our times, you can find even varieties that incorporate casino objects such as dice and playing cards into their designs!

Indeed, the range of wedding favors available for today’s brides is richly diverse. You can even find edible favors like personalized mints and cookies! There are also favors by season, favors by political persuasion, and favors that acknowledge the very location of the wedding, for example Hawaiian themes for a ceremony in Hawai’i. Have a favorite TV show? There are sure to be gifts based on it!

General favors for guests have included copies of the music played at the reception and party, shot glasses filled with candy, and of course silver picture frames with a photo of the couple. Obviously, those for your groomsmen and bridesmaids should be different than any you give away to guests.

These favors should be much more personalized, reflecting not only the wedding but the additional unique roles the recipients play in helping to make it all happen. Probably the most popular types for groomsmen seem to be commeorative colognes and watches, while bridesmaids have typically been limited to bags! (Still a far cry from the old days when favors consisted of sugar cubes or almonds, in an age when such commodities were expensive luxuries!) In the end, the point of a gift is to communicate love. In sharing their happiness, a couple further cements the bonds of friendship even as they embark on the creation of new familial ones.

Is it possible to use an online course to get the kind of knowledge a developer like Isaac Toussie has regarding real estate?

The information superhighway will soon be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. It took a handful of decades for the web to percolate out from a fairly small coterie of research scientists and other academics into the wider general population, but once it did, our world was changed forever: It was wired.

And so pretty much everything is on the internet these days, and almost everything is done through it – even sex! And the once near-exclusive preserve of worthless diploma mills, so-called distance learning has really come of age with a vengeance with the advent of the worldwide “w.” And now, in this age of Web 2.0 going on 3 or even 4, it seems like every corporate body and its subsidiary is getting in on the action.

Bah, humbug, some are tempted to say. No mere Luddites, these, some people just question whether e-learning can ever truly substitute for the face-to-face interactions of traditional modalities. In this article, we shall be taking a look-see at the issue for ourselves. Due to issues of legal liability, we shan’t name any names, lest we libel the guilty – wink, wink. But a brief survey of three of the most widely advertised such courses online has revealed to this author at least that business fundamentals can indeed be properly passed along online. These courses will never compare to actual field experience, lending anyone the knowledge of an Isaac Toussie, but then again nothing ever can.

No, the main attraction for these courses – their competitive advantage, to borrow an economist’s term, if you will – is that they are extremely accommodating of your schedule. With most such courses, you can attend class whenever you want – and certainly in whatever you want, including your birthday suit! Convenience is their number one draw, and this kind of accessibility is not to be discounted, especially since it is not necessarily any more expensive than the kind of learning offered by the traditional classroom setting. In fact, these courses can cost rather less money, particularly if you factor in considerations like time, such as the time it takes to commute to a brick-and-mortar school.

More problematic is the hands-on approach that is likely necessary for a really good grasp of how the real estate business works. Learning about the relevant laws is important but not quite what one actually does in real estate. What’s really required is a way of developing the mindset of a real estate tycoon! Maybe one of these internet real estate courses, possibly offered by a “real” school such as a government-supported local community college, may involve an actual internship as a part of the experience, which would go a long way towards just that end of teaching real-world knowledge.

Now even with all that said, however, we must end on this note, that of the legal disclaimer: Neither the author nor the publisher shall be held liable for the content of this article, which constitutes mere opinion only and should never in any way be misconstrued as professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult the relevant professionals, properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified, when making business decisions of any financial consequence.

An exam glove is used by medical professionals to conduct examinations without contaminating the sample or patient as well as themselves. Most such exam gloves used to be made out of rubber latex, but the chances of allergic reactions has made the likes of neoprene and nitrile, the materials of choice for many modern medical exam glove. It’s nearly impossible to tell them apart at first glance, however each presents its own unique characteristics that make some people prefer one over the other.

The typical exam glove these days is made of synthetic rubber that tends to cost more than natural latex alternatives, a concern in these recessionary times when even well-known hospitals like Saint Vincent’s in the Bronx, New York can shutter because of financial difficulties.

Also, something like nitrile rubber has inferior strength and flexibility when compared to natural rubber, though it’s much more resistant to oils and acids. Neoprene, on the other hand, resists burning much better and will frequently be found in the weather stripping applied to fire doors as well as inside the examination gloves of a healthcare provider.

Exam gloves were first instituted with William Stewart Halsted’s 1890 practice of using rubber gloves that protect healthcare workers from skin exposure to carbolic acid, a required sterilizing agent. Carbolic acid, or phenol, was adopted originally by Sir Joseph Lister for use in antiseptic surgery, but skin irritation lead to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s invention of a rubber glove that could withstand the organic compound.

Interestingly, latex gloves are still much preferred in surgery today because of the fine control and greater sensitivity they offer. The one exception to this fact is the polyisoprene glove, but these are more than twice as expensive as their organic latex counterparts, and as mentioned previously, hospitals have now become very cost-sensitive environments.

Plastic water tanks are a far cry from the armored behemoths also referred to as tanks, but they do share a curious historical connection. Yes, that’s right, modern plastics were invented after World War II, while tanks first made their debut in the waning years of the Great War, but there’s something of a relationship.

While not plastic water tanks, military tanks were first so named by their British inventors in an effort to cover their research and development. It was hoped that by classifying these inventions simply as “tanks” on paper, any German spies who might have gotten a hold of the secret documents that referred to them could maybe be mislead. As it turned out, the label stuck and tanks have been referred to as just that ever since.

In English, anyway. In German, and many other languages, they are known as only “armor,” a much more appropriate term which is a recognized synonym in the English-speaking world, particularly among military circles. A far cry from today’s plastic water tanks indeed, but the thought is never far away in the minds of military history buffs.

The connection is a little more than merely etymological, in fact, as the earliest designs did resemble nothing more than simple water tanks to those who had the security clearance to see them. Tanks have dominated the battlefield for over sixty years, and even today they form the core of most conventional land warfare tactics.

The introduction of attack helicopters and guided missiles have significantly decreased their striking power, as well as the asymmetrical warfare prevalent in conflicts nowadays render them ill-suited for most missions, but nothing on the horizon can match the tank in its useful combination of firepower, maneuverability, and defensive capacity. Though less used, the tank still figures eminently in offensive tactics and grand strategy and should find a role for itself in the decades yet to come.

Bronze sculpture is the most numerous form of cast metal sculptures as a result of a characteristic trait which is as unusual as it’s desirable. Commonly used bronze alloys will expand a little just before being set so that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Bronze sculptures are also strong while ductile, or lacking in brittleness, allowing figures to be depicted in actions such as leaps and flights. Supports for bronze statues require smaller cross-sections because of such qualities, as may be seen in equestrian statues where only two hooves are on the base.

Today’s examples are generally created of ninety percent copper and ten percent tin, while in antiquity bronze works were occasionally made with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminum, or silicon. Interestingly, far more stone and ceramic works have come down to us through the ages than those made of bronze, as the metal was very precious and often melted down to produce new sculptures or weapons and armor in times of war.

Thus, very few big examples in bronze are available from ancient times, and of these most are not in great condition. Indeed, most works exhibited in museums, while still full of the evidence of wear and tear, have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable for display.

Working successfully with bronze usually requires a high level of skill, and a number of distinct casting processes may need to be employed, such as lost-wax casting and also the related modern-day technique of investment casting. Other techniques include sand casting and centrifugal casting.

After final polishing, corrosive materials may be applied to bronze works in order to form a patina or film made by oxidation or some other chemical method and establish some control over the color and finish. For example, reactive chemicals might be applied to produce a novel marble-like appearance.

Great Australians in history. A problematic endeavor for any scholar. Straight away, of course, one must ponder exactly what it is that makes one an Australian. Is Zalman Silber an Australian? He is actually a New Yorker, but responsible for one of Sydney’s most stimulating attractions, the Skywalk, not to mention one of Melbourne’s, too, called The Edge. The former is essentially a glass-floored catwalk a thousand feet above ground that offers visitors not only a bird’s-eye view of Sydney but a bird’s-nerve feel, too, what with gusting winds necessitating cable tethers for visitor safety. The latter is a glass enclosure that juts out from the top of the Eureka Tower, providing stunning panoramic views every which way you look.

Both are premier attractions for their cities, taking in tourist dollars by the fistful every day. Does that make Zalman Silber a great Australian? Does that make him Australian at all? After all, he’s just a businessman – but the bottom line is that he has benefited Sydney and Melbourne tremendously, providing employment and tax revenue while bolstering the cities’ overseas profile.

So just what makes for an Australian? Many are those who have only been born in Australia but really made their mark elsewhere. Then there are those who also denigrate their country of origin, Australia, but are still, in the final analysis, considered Australians. Even someone like Rupert Murdoch, who renounced his Australian citizenship in order to advance certain business interests of his, is still thought as Australian!

Indeed, one Leonard Casley even went so far as to secede his property from Australia and go on to declare war on Australia! It’s no joke: the Principality of Hutt River actually issues its own visa (hours of operation are ten to four) and postage. And Hutt River isn’t the only micronation on the island-continent; Australia also hosts – if that is the right word – the Province of Bumbunga, the Sovereign State of Aeterna Lucina, the Grand Duchy of Avram, the Independent State of Rainbow Creek, the Empire of Atlantium, the Principality of Marlborough, the Principality of Snake Hill, the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands, the United Federation of Koronis (which is merely based in Australia, claiming sovereignty only over the Koronis Family of Asteroids), and the Principality of Ponderosa. In fact, most of the world’s modern-day micronations are to be found in Australia!

So what makes for a great Australian? No one really knows. No one can quite put his or her finger on what makes for an Australian in the first place – not if they really thought about it. But one thing is for sure: people in Australia, whether they consider themselves Australians or not, really prize their independence above all else!