An American Birthday Present (September 21st, 2006)

I've got 10 minutes left, so one more quick story for the day. The year is 1988, Sydney is celebrating it's bicentennial anniversary. America, in a nice gesture, gives Australia a birthday present. So what does it give? A gallery celebrating joint Australia - American connections. In theory I think that sounds okay. But as you walk into the Australian Nation Maritime Museum in Sydney you're greeted with a huge section titled the "USA Gallery" and currently dedicated to the American Navy. A quick look at the plaque says that this was given to Australia by the US to celebrate Australia's 200 year anniversary. Great, so it looks like America gave a memorial of itself to Australia for Australia's birthday. I think things like this don't help America's self-absorbed public image.