Too true blue. Whaddayareckon?

Australia: an American's view

Interesting set of observations from a visitor from the other side of the Pacific.'Value what you have and don't give it away.' There's a lot to admire about Australia, especially if you're a visiting American, says David Mason. More often than you might expect, Australian friends patiently listening to me enthuse about their country have said, ''We need outsiders like you to remind us what we have.'' So here it is - a small presumptuous list of what one foreigner admires in Oz.

1... Health care. I know the controversies, but basic national health care is a gift. In America, medical expenses are a leading cause of bankruptcy. The drug companies dominate politics and advertising.
Obama is being crucified for taking halting baby steps towards sanity. You can't turn on the telly without hours of drug advertisements - something I have never yet seen here. And your emphasis on prevention - making cigarettes less accessible, for one - is a model.

2... Food. Yes, we have great food in America too, especially in the big cities.
But your bread is less sweet, your lamb is cheaper, and your supermarket vegetables and fruits are fresher than ours.
Too often in my country an apple is a ball of pulp as big as your face.
The dainty Pink Lady apples of Oz are the juiciest I've had. And don't get me started on coffee.
In American small towns it tastes like water flavoured with burnt dirt, but the smallest shop in the smallest town in Oz can make a first-rate latte.
I love your ubiquitous bakeries, your hot-cross buns. Shall I go on?

3... Language. How do you do it?
The rhyming slang and Aboriginal place names like magic spells.
Words that seem vaguely English yet also resemble an argot from another planet.
I love the way institutional names get turned into diminutives - Vinnie's and Salvos - and absolutely nothing's sacred.
Everything's an opportunity for word games and everyone's a nickname.
Lingo makes the world go round.
It's the spontaneous wit of the people that tickles me most.
Late one night at a barbie my new mate Suds remarked, ''Nothing's the same since 24-7.'' Amen.

4... Free-to-air TV. In Oz, you buy a TV, plug it in and watch some of the best programming I've ever seen - uncensored.
In America, you can't get diddly-squat without paying a cable or satellite company heavy fees.
In Oz a few channels make it hard to choose.
In America, you've got 400 channels and nothing to watch.

5... Small shops. Outside the big cities in America corporations have nearly erased them.
Identical malls with identical restaurants serving inferior food.
Except for geography, it's hard to tell one American town from another.
The ''take-away'' culture here is wonderful.
Human encounters are real - stirring happens, stories get told.
The curries are to die for. And you don't have to tip!

6... Free camping. We used to have this too, and I guess it's still free when you backpack miles away from the roads.
But I love the fact that in Oz everyone owns the shore and in many places you can pull up a camper van and stare at the sea for weeks.
I love the ''primitive'' and independent campgrounds, the life out of doors.
The few idiots who leave their stubbies and rubbish behind in these pristine places ought to be transported in chains.

7... Religion. In America, it's everywhere - especially where it's not supposed to be, like politics.
I imagine you have your Pharisees too, making a big public show of devotion, but I have yet to meet one here.

8... Roads. Peak hour aside, I've found travel on your roads pure heaven.
My country's ''freeways'' are crowded, crumbling, insanely knotted with looping overpasses - it's like racing homicidal maniacs on fraying spaghetti.
I've taken the Hume without stress, and I love the Princes Highway when it's two lanes.
Ninety minutes south of Bateman's Bay I was sorry to see one billboard for a McDonald's.
It's blocking a lovely paddock view. Someone should remove it.

9... Real multiculturalism. I know there are tensions, just like anywhere else, but I love the distinctiveness of your communities and the way you publicly acknowledge the Aboriginal past.
Recently, too, I spent quality time with Melbourne Greeks, and was gratified both by their devotion to their own great language and culture and their openness to an Afghan lunch.

10. Fewer guns. You had Port Arthur in 1996 and got real in response. America replicates such massacres several times a year and nothing changes.
Why?
Our religion of individual rights makes the good of the community an impossible dream.
Instead of mateship we have ''It's mine and nobody else's''.
We talk a great game about freedom, but too often live in fear.
There's more to say - your kaleidoscopic birds, your perfumed bush in springtime, your vast beaches.
These are just a few blessings that make Australia a rarity.
Of course, it's not paradise - nowhere is - but I love it here.
No need to wave flags like Americans and add to the world's windiness.
Just value what you have and don't give it away.

David Mason is a US writer and professor, and poet laureate of Colorado.

Not sure I agree about the TV, and the price of Lamb is through the roof at the moment. Last week in the local papers people were writing in to complain that Fruit was tasteless these days. America must be in a pretty bad place if what he says is true .....

are you sure he was in Australia, and not PNG

They only eat people there Maaka, not lamb...........................

noosard wrote:Carson is a donkey
That is crap about if the people were armed the holocaust wouldn't of happened
The army rolls into town would the locals fight them
I doubt it not when their own armies didn't defend them

so true noose, if the germans were armed quite the opposite, the extermination of the jews would have taken just a couple of weeks instead of years, Rwanda , 800,000 people murdered in less than 100 days, by a tyrannical government, but it was not even the government killing, it was the people. already calls for banning muslims from entering america , for a muslim database. this is how tyranny works . you demonize a minority, you make specific laws about them, then you demonize any of their supporters. you put fear into people. tyranny can only work when it is supported by the people. one man can't do it alone. hitler didn't get to power without the help of the people. that shows how easy it is to brainwash a nation. if it all goes south with islam how long do you think the 1% of the American muslim population would last when the 78% Christian population turned on them with their guns ?
the term self radicalized ? what exactly does that mean ? I thought they get radicalized by watching tv, reading papers, listening to politicians

papafarang wrote:

noosard wrote:Carson is a donkey
That is crap about if the people were armed the holocaust wouldn't of happened
The army rolls into town would the locals fight them
I doubt it not when their own armies didn't defend them

so true noose, if the germans were armed quite the opposite, the extermination of the jews would have taken just a couple of weeks instead of years, Rwanda , 800,000 people murdered in less than 100 days, by a tyrannical government, but it was not even the government killing, it was the people. already calls for banning muslims from entering america , for a muslim database. this is how tyranny works . you demonize a minority, you make specific laws about them, then you demonize any of their supporters. you put fear into people. tyranny can only work when it is supported by the people. one man can't do it alone. hitler didn't get to power without the help of the people. that shows how easy it is to brainwash a nation. if it all goes south with islam how long do you think the 1% of the American muslim population would last when the 78% Christian population turned on them with their guns ?
the term self radicalized ? what exactly does that mean ? I thought they get radicalized by watching tv, reading papers, listening to politicians

Maybe they get radicalised at friday sermons at the mosque

"Maybe they get radicalised at friday sermons at the mosque"
could be true, or could be false ? who knows. trouble with that one is if it was a mosque anyone that attended the place is now a suspect, but that's a slippery slope, maybe they attended to radicalize other muslims ?.
today it was reported that the pair went to target practice for days before the attacks, but that don't mean gun ranges are terrorist training camps, or are they ? the gun ranges did assist these terrorists with training

papafarang wrote:"Maybe they get radicalised at friday sermons at the mosque"
could be true, or could be false ? who knows. trouble with that one is if it was a mosque anyone that attended the place is now a suspect, but that's a slippery slope, maybe they attended to radicalize other muslims ?.
today it was reported that the pair went to target practice for days before the attacks, but that don't mean gun ranges are terrorist training camps, or are they ? the gun ranges did assist these terrorists with training

"The common denominator in both calls to control guns and to fight an imaginary anti-Muslim backlash is a deep distrust of the American people. Instead of focusing on the small number of terrorists, the mass of Americans are viewed as the problem, and must be restrained. Gun controls express a fear of ordinary folk having guns; Islamophobia theory says the real problem is the bigoted masses. And, in both cases, Obama and others pushing these claims believe that it is quite all right to restrict ordinary Americans’ rights – whether to own guns or to express their opinions."

http://www.spiked-online.com/

ronan01 wrote:

papafarang wrote:"Maybe they get radicalised at friday sermons at the mosque"
could be true, or could be false ? who knows. trouble with that one is if it was a mosque anyone that attended the place is now a suspect, but that's a slippery slope, maybe they attended to radicalize other muslims ?.
today it was reported that the pair went to target practice for days before the attacks, but that don't mean gun ranges are terrorist training camps, or are they ? the gun ranges did assist these terrorists with training

"The common denominator in both calls to control guns and to fight an imaginary anti-Muslim backlash is a deep distrust of the American people. Instead of focusing on the small number of terrorists, the mass of Americans are viewed as the problem, and must be restrained. Gun controls express a fear of ordinary folk having guns; Islamophobia theory says the real problem is the bigoted masses. And, in both cases, Obama and others pushing these claims believe that it is quite all right to restrict ordinary Americans’ rights – whether to own guns or to express their opinions."

quite ironic really, all muslims in America need to by guns to protect themselves from the fear of tyranny of the masses. very sad situation. last time every black man was a member of the black panthers, before that it was commies

papafarang wrote:

ronan01 wrote:

papafarang wrote:"Maybe they get radicalised at friday sermons at the mosque"
could be true, or could be false ? who knows. trouble with that one is if it was a mosque anyone that attended the place is now a suspect, but that's a slippery slope, maybe they attended to radicalize other muslims ?.
today it was reported that the pair went to target practice for days before the attacks, but that don't mean gun ranges are terrorist training camps, or are they ? the gun ranges did assist these terrorists with training

"The common denominator in both calls to control guns and to fight an imaginary anti-Muslim backlash is a deep distrust of the American people. Instead of focusing on the small number of terrorists, the mass of Americans are viewed as the problem, and must be restrained. Gun controls express a fear of ordinary folk having guns; Islamophobia theory says the real problem is the bigoted masses. And, in both cases, Obama and others pushing these claims believe that it is quite all right to restrict ordinary Americans’ rights – whether to own guns or to express their opinions."


quite ironic really, all muslims in America need to by guns to protect themselves from the fear of tyranny of the masses. very sad situation. last time every black man was a member of the black panthers, before that it was commies

Except there is no backlash against muslims in the US. Where and when have the non-muslim masses in the US tyrnannised muslims - details please

I said "from the fear of tyranny of the masses" , nothing about it being real, fear is an emotion not a reality. the way americans cling to their guns because of fear of tyranny of their own goverment

papafarang wrote:I said "from the fear of tyranny of the masses" , nothing about it being real, fear is an emotion not a reality. the way americans cling to their guns because of fear of tyranny of their own goverment

you meant to say:

the way some Americans cling to their guns because of fear of tyranny of their own government.

too bad the sensible members of every society worldwide are cobbled in with the idiots.

a tragedy it is, the price paid by the honourable for the debts of the insane.

and with that, -time to go listen to david bowie music backwards LOL

RW

yes sorry some americans, my apologies

I think if you wanted to whack say 50 to 100 people in Australia or NZ and planned it carefully it would be pretty easy. It's more than just gun control laws as to why we aren't so big on spree killing. It's also cultural and psychological?

"Except there is no backlash against muslims in the US. Where and when have the non-muslim masses in the US tyrnannised muslims - details please"
well that was the kiss of death, news report on the BBC about how their living in fear, even had armed protest outside a mosque in texas, did you plan that ? strange how truth can follow fiction, as I said tyranny gets it's power from the people, Mr trump knows this, good for votes

papafarang wrote:"Except there is no backlash against muslims in the US. Where and when have the non-muslim masses in the US tyrnannised muslims - details please"
well that was the kiss of death, news report on the BBC about how their living in fear, even had armed protest outside a mosque in texas, did you plan that ? strange how truth can follow fiction, as I said tyranny gets it's power from the people, Mr trump knows this, good for votes

No did not know that - provide a reference please.

Did i plan what? Be sensible for a change.

Explain tyranny gets its power from the people.

Does that mean "power to the people" = tyranny?. Who should have power then?

I did say BBC news.

The lawyer representing Dr Rifi and the council told the court the Supreme Court's order to prohibit Folkes' rally did not go far enough.

He wants the websites and Facebook pages used to promote the event to now be used to spread the message that the rally is cancelled.

Dr Rifi says the court should find any proposed gatherings marking the anniversary in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act.

"Their freedom of speech should not impinge on our rights as citizens," he said.

"They have every right to express their view but their right is not absolute.

"We also have a right as a citizen of this country not to be insulted, not to be humiliated and not to be intimidated."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-11/c ... al/7020282

Pig on the spit at Cronulla beach on a Sunday avo

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act ... 8b1761b7ba

noosard wrote:Pig on the spit at Cronulla beach on a Sunday avo

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act ... 8b1761b7ba

pig on a spit.. someone's going to get offended