>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6594557.stm
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>This from a former penal colony?

There but for the grace of God ...

When the colonists kicked out their masters from America Britain turned all her attention onto Australia. If it hadn't been for the War of Indep then the USA may have become the penal colony.

The Brits, in the 1830s also kicked out rebellious frenchmen from upper and lower Canada, and exiled some of them to such terrible places as Van Daemans Land (Tazmania) and Bermuda. It must have been hell for les pauvres!