Australia

[cantflip]

I like you a lot Jeff exspecially because you make well thought postings with a lot of balancing of different aspects.
I think it was a well written answer. And I am writing about the "how" you wrote it not about the functional content.

Carsten

Thank you my friend. I come here because of all the folks I enjoy talking to, and never want to make anything too negative for the membership. I hope you are doing well and are able to put up with whatever your current reality is.

 

[cantflip]

Understand that we in the USA have considered hubs like Los Angeles and NYC to be lost-causes for at least a generation. But we never wanted to live there anyway. We (I) probably have a romantized 1980s view of Australia as a beautiful, sunny land of Mad Max, rampant crocodiles, steaks and seafood and probably the only "foreign" cars I'd find desirable. Watching Australian police do this to fellow non-violent Australians just hurts my soul a bit.

I have held similar romantic notions about Australia and my surname appears to have mostly wound up there from the penal colony days. I like to think I'd have enjoyed myself there as a young man. I agree, it does hurt to think their world has turned as silly as everyone else's. The list of places I think I might like to live just got a little smaller.

 

[Carmine]

The list of places I think I might like to live just got a little smaller.

I can't mention the ones I'd consider, in case I have to lamb it, but the list is damn small. Don't you wish all the useful idiots who want to create utopia would just move there? I don't mean that in a "love it or leave it" confrontational tone, just as a common-sense question. If you like the idea of a more inclusive safety net, why not go there? Most western European countries NEED people, they'd probably love an occasional secular, educated person instead of the mass-mmigration from extremist hellholes. It's not like I walk into Taco Bell and demand a burger. If America (or Australia) is/was too wild and untamed, why not go to a place that better suits you?

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

Wife and I spent our 25th between Brisbane, Sidney, & Melbourne the month of December of '87. Interesting country then and friendly folks. Glad we did it, no need to do it again, Jer

 

[commando1]

why not go to a place that better suits you?

My backyard suits me BETTER and safer than any other place I can currently think of.
FTW.

 

[RagTop66]

WARNING ! LONG AND BORING RANT FOLLOWS:
I only caught the News Report very briefly last night, Heavy Handed ? YES, But Necessary ? YES.
Far too many People are Not taking the Present Situation SERIOUSLY!
I am Surrounded by People who don't seem to give a Damn.
People shopping without Masks, Not washing their Hands, Not wearing Gloves or Masks when selling / serving Food Etc.
Not Social Distancing.
I have criticized People in McDonalds for handling my Food without Mask / Gloves.
I have criticized People for Handling money in the Hungry Jack's Drive Through & then handing me
my Food without changing their Gloves. (Money is the Thilthiest most Germ laden object on the face of the Earth.)
I have been gentle in my Handling of these people, pointing out that if they get Sick, being young, they have every chance of Recovering.
But if they take it home to Mum or Dad or Gran Ma or Gran Pa or Even that Lovely Little Person born only Months ago it WILL be a Different Story.
And Yes we all believe in the RIGHT of LIFE, LIBERTY & THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, However this does not give us the RIGHT to put Somebody Else's
Life at Risk.
How many of you have had the Experience when shopping in Winter, only to have some Lurgi ridden Checkout Girl Cough, Sneeze & Sniffle all over
your Groceries. I don't know about you But that really Pings me Off, and that's only the Flu.
And considering that the Lady was Expecting was she going to put her Unborn child at risk by attending the Rally.
And if she wasn't going to attend, what right did she have to Encourage other people to risk their Lives?
We have people Dying Every Day, Strangely Enough the States that have taken the Most Draconian Steps to Prevent the Spread of the Virus are the States
who have the Lowest Death Rates.
Yes some of the Measures have been a Pain and it's a Tragedy that I can't go on my Annual Holiday or out to my Favourite Restaurant Etc.
But I get the feeling that as long as it's somebody else's Family that's Grieving I will continue feeling offended at having my Freedoms restricted.
Heavy Handed ? YES, But Necessary ? You can Bet Somebodies Life on That!
We have an Old Saying over here. "WAKE UP AUSTRALIA"
Tony.M

Dude, you are absolutely insane! If you feel that strongly, hunker down in your bunker. This is ******* crazy!

 

[Wildaugust]

It saddens and angers me to read something like this. From my earliest days in school, I can remember being told how fortunate we all were and how grateful we should all be that we lived in a free country. Everyday, it seems, now that if I hear a newscast or talk show on the radio, watch TV news or watch videos or read something on-line, I find out that another one of our freedoms has been infringed upon or completely taken away. The reason, or excuse, always has to do with "the collective good", in other words, it's either said to be in the name of "safety" or "protecting the environment". By using either of those as a reason/excuse, governments can enact any legislation they want and no one can argue against it without coming off as some horrible, uncaring monster of a person. Increasingly, these days, another reason/excuse for taking away our freedoms and rights is to prevent us from making "hateful" and hurtful/offensive comments.

When it comes to Canada, we seem to be somewhere between America and Australia, but heading more and more in the direction that Australia and the UK have gone. When it comes to guns, for example, gone are the days when we could just walk into a gun store or a Canadian Tire, K-mart or Wal Mart and buy a box of shells. We could when I was a teenager, but now you need a permit. We used to take our rifles out to the old garbage dump and shoot at cans and sometimes the occasional rat. We used to walk, carrying our rifles. We asked one of the local cops that we were friendly with about it and we were told that, as long as the guns were not loaded while we were walking through town, we were okay. Try that today. You wouldn't get more than three houses down the block before the entire SWAT team would be there. I can remember when almost every pick-up truck had a gun rack in it's rear window. People used to be able to have wall mounted racks in their homes, now everything has to be locked in gun safes.

Every time there's any kind of murder committed with a gun, but especially a mass shooting, it's always the law abiding gun owners who are forced to give up more of their freedoms. The turning point in Canada seems to have been the mass shooting in Quebec in 1989. Look at what happened in New Zealand. The guy who committed the shooting wasn't even from New Zealand, he went there to do it. Immediately, the governments solution to "make sure that nothing like this ever happens again" (don't you just love always having to hear that cliche?) was to take away the rights and freedoms of every law abiding gun owner. By that "logic", if somebody drives their car after getting drunk, then gets into a collision and kills someone, the logical solution to "make sure that it never happens again" would be for the government to seize the cars and trucks from every law abiding motorist/vehicle owner in that country, state or province. As crazy as that would be, if you ask me, we are all getting dangerously close to that day in every aspect of our lives.


The loss of all of our rights and freedoms is just a few more pen strokes away.