Mt. Isa is on the western edge of Queensland, a mining town where I have heard stories of people earning $90-100k for above ground mining jobs. In short, it is a boom town in an area that visually resembles Barstow, California. Sort of a high desert spot - nothing special. The highlight of the skyline is a smoke stack, although the city did not look "polluted" as I drove through it. My Mt. Isa experience was limited to getting fuel, changing a diaper, and getting a sandwich. Of course, I did not see fit to take a picture either (the photo is from a few km north of Cloncurry, about 150km to the East of Mt. Isa). Cloncurry's fame is being the site of the hottest temperature ever recorded in Australia - something like 125 degrees F. Anyhow, this mining town has quite a few more men than women, like most mining towns and this story could have come from Karratha, Port Hedland, or several other places I drove through. But the story comes from Mt. Isa. (What story?) This story:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.phpid=080818074532.7wyoh5kf&show_article=1
Apparently the mayor was getting grief that there were not enough ladies to go around, so he said that Mt. Isa was a town where "ugly ducklings could flourish into beautiful swans". Now, everyone is afraid that their city will be known for ugly women and that anyone who would have moved there would think "I'm not ugly, so I'm not moving to the Isa." Oh well, the mayor makes a reasonable point that ladies who find Bondi Beach or the Sydney bar scene rather competitive could find that they are in high demand among the well-paid, fully employed men of the Isa (they call Mt. Isa "the Isa" so I am going with it). On the other hand, generalizing about the appearance of women can be very dangerous and making an overt appeal to "ugly ducklings" is rarely a vote-getter. Let's just hope everyone finds happiness and the air conditioning holds up.
