cactoblasta

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Yes it does! Go read the last link posted. Check the status....it says "true". If you're not going to bother to read the links I post, then don't bother replying. Yes, but you'll notice if you look carefully that the second section isn't mentioned anywhere in the snopes article. The quotes from Howard et al are certainly true, but the second half - you know, the poorly written one with exclamation! marks! and barely hidden racial hate - is not</I

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

You need to go re-read it again. It says "nothing" of the sort. As a matter of fact, Snopes claims it's TRUE! And just an FYI...the first snopes link I posted was to a snopes "message" board. The link I provide here actually points directly to the snopes site. Which does not back up what you're saying. Snopes doesn't say it's true. The second section is not even mentioned on the official snopes page. I'm inclined to believe it would be American an

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

However, there seem to be a lot of new comments you've included which are a complete fabrication. They don't sound anything like John Howard. He doesn't talk that way, and they're not included on your linked sites. It's a reworded American email forward with all the references to America changed to Australia. It's discussed on the Snopes link.

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Thanks Darth - they've all run together in my mind. There's been far too many of these poor citizens deported due to incompetence or departmental bloodymindedness, and that's not even including the citizens we've had imprisoned overseas for years without charge and without our government saying anything. It's a disgrace.

Reply to An analogy even a socialist could understand in Politics JoeUser Forums

We actually HAVE a lot of free time, it's just that we choose to use it watching "Dancing with the Stars" instead of actually playing with our kids. Sure. Having lived as close as it's possible for me to be native (I am, after all, a whitie foreigner) in both cultures I definitely prefer Australia. It's just when I look at the available and traditional paths to wealth - the kinds of work where 10k a year in savings is a reasonable goal and not

Reply to What the rich do that others don't in Business JoeUser Forums

So if I invest two-thirds of my income - the thousand a month - and wear a monocle, I'll rich just in time for my first hip replacement... Hurrah! More seriously I get what you're saying about investments. I put $50 away every week into an internet account, although the interest rate's only around 4.5. The advantage is I can take that money out any time I need it. Fortunately I haven't needed to do that yet, but it might work for you Marcie.

Reply to An analogy even a socialist could understand in Politics JoeUser Forums

The problem with your analogy is that it is written by someone who is not a business person. Have you ever lived in a fishing village? I spent several months in one on the east coast of Java in Indonesia. The men who owned their own boats didn't actually do much repair work; only those who worked for the corporate trawlers spent more than a couple of hours every morning working hard. The rest of the day was spent variously drinking, gambling and hangi

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Geez! I thought the USA was the only stupid ones in that respect. Of course not. The only difference between any two nations is the things they're stupid about. We're all still people, even when we're blackbagging innocent people (or at least unconvictable people, which in the eyes of the law is the same thing) or cracking down on fringe tai chi groups because they threaten the motherland.

Reply to An analogy even a socialist could understand in Politics JoeUser Forums

What if there is no infinite supply of land and there cannot be another gardener? There'll be famine and civil war brought about by the rise of regional lords (under the king) who are prepared to guarantee access to food supplies by taking the land of others. That's just how we humans roll. On the analogy.... It's not very persuasive. There are few social groups less open to encouraging competition over land and resources than h

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

They are only sent away if they "refuse" to learn english. I was of course referring to the case of a Brisbane woman who went mad and began speaking Italian exclusively. She was deported in 2005 and it only came to light last year that she held an Australian citizenship. There was a rather major scandal surrounding the whole affair.

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

And just an FYI - the US has no borders with Cuba. Just open sea. Refer to previous statement about effectiveness. Actually you do. US ownership of Guantanamo Bay means you could ship them over there and dump them at the front gates. Cuba could protest but realistically there's not a damn thing they could do about it.

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

First, you are not an island, you are a continent. Second, the US Coast Guard does the same - with limited effectiveness (as I suspect the Aussie navy does as well). Actually we're both - largest island in the world, smallest continent. The point I was making is that we have no land borders. You have to get in a boat to reach Australia, and you have to use an ocean-going vessel. To make port on our north coast you have to go to a small settlement, non

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Oh, and that incoherent quote towards the end of your article - the one beginning like this: IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians. is allegedly from an editorial, although from the way it's written I highly doubt that. Ian McClure from the Hunter

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

So I doubt that I'm as ill-informed as you seem to think I am. Do you know how Australia manages to keep unskilled and apparently 'undesirable' ethnic types out? The US physically can't use the same techniques. We're an island, drmiler, and our navy intercepts approaching asylum seekers and deflects them towards either the pacific islands or back to Indonesia. You could potentially do something similar if you used army patrols to kidn

Reply to Why is it only Aussies can get it right? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Exactly, maso. In any case Australia is a democracy. Any citizen has the right to lobby for whatever kind of laws they like, even if that law is sharia. The only time we should be expelling people or imprisoning them is when they break our laws. So far as I'm aware disagreeing with the legal system is not yet illegal. Costello and Howard are just being their usual selves and sacrificing good foreign policy for a cheap domestic boosts.

Reply to iPod - never again! in iPod JoeUser Forums

I've got an ipod nano and I haven't any problems with it ever. Granted I predominately use a Mac, so the software is heavily biased towards me as an end-user, but it's the easiest way I've ever seen of getting music onto and off a MP3 player. As for the "how do you get music off the player" dilemma, just open itunes and delete the songs/playlists from the ipod. Problem solved.

Reply to My week, in conversation in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

That was funny. You should write more of these. Oh, and good luck with the policeman. Everyone loves a uniform!

Reply to FOR MY JU FRIENDS WITH LOVE in Personal Relationships JoeUser Forums

Welcome back.

Reply to Americans are bloodthirsty! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Unfortunately that still makes it poetry, and so unabidable, if that is indeed a word.

Reply to Americans are bloodthirsty! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

You should. It's hilarious. Just don't take your sons or daughter. 'Adult themes' is something of an understatement.

Reply to Americans are bloodthirsty! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Bugger off Gilford. I can't abide poetry, especially bad poetry.

Reply to Global Warming---a new dodge? in The Environment JoeUser Forums

Read State of Fear. You'll like it. Yeah that was a good book. It opened my mind to a few possibilities I hadn't considered. I blogged about that particular work before and its corrupting influence. I especially like what it has to say about the inherently unstable nature of the earth we live in. Blizzards, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, tornadoes and hurricanes/typhoons have been around since the dawn of time. We've always had t

Reply to If we Outaw Trees, Only Outlaws Will Have Trees! in Misc JoeUser Forums

No, Shovelheat. They ARE the closet. Cue Twilight Zone music...

Reply to A Force For Good? Hizballah? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

I've yet to hear anyone say that the Nazis were good people because they provided for the German poor. Really? Wow, they must have some heavily revisionist history books in the US! The only good thing I've ever heard said about Hitler's Nazis is that they turned the German economy around. But realistically we could say the same thing about the IRA and Sinn Fein (apologies for the spelling). But it's only as Sinn Fein was seriously treated

Reply to What happens if the Earth starts cooling? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Have we really earned the right to use the knowledge of 'global warming'? Are these sweeping, panic-fueled policies really the measure of a society who soberly, and respectfully, tinkers with nature? How often does the passionate protagonist, determined to save the world, make a monster? I'm with you there. We can accept that we produce a hell of a lot of pollution and try to cut down (especially in cities and river systems purely on the basis on p