Australia buries flawed Obama mugs Mafia style

An Australian Parliamentary official reported that 198 mugs featuring Barack Obama were destroyed because "Barack" was spelled "Barrack" The surprise is that the mugs were smashed and buried under wet concrete behind a loading dock. Shades of the Mafia!

The Australian government had made two hundred of the mugs to commemorate a visit to Australia by Obama in 2010. The visit never happened although he visited last year.

Only two mugs were ever sold from the Parliamentary gift shop. One was to a journalist who informed the shop that Obama's name was misspelled. Those two mugs would probably do well on eBay!

Bronwyn Graham a Parliament House official noted:"Due to the sensitivity associated with the mistake that was made with the president's name, the last thing we wanted was for the fragments to be found on a garbage tip somewhere," However it might have been better if the mugs had been cremated or put through some sort of shredder! Or perhaps they could all have been offered one by one on eBay to help reduce the Australian debt. For more see this article.