An Onymous Lefty - Latest Comments in Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Mondo Rock — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:40:11 -0000

if you removed the snarky tone I would agree with many of the statements in the post.

Hey Surname - do you often allow your emotions to overcome your critical thinking?

Agree with the argument or don't agree with it - but don't get all precious about the tone in which it is made. We're all adults here (I think).

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Jeremy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:48:28 -0000

"Why can't you leave Australia Day to celebrate what you do like about our country, and leave the rest of the year for you to complain about what you don't?"

Because overblown patriotism of the type I'm criticising here is most prominent on Australia Day, obviously.

"When idiots at AWH claim that the leftie elites hate Australia, this is exactly the kind of post they are talking about. "

Only because they're too stupid to distinguish between hatred of Australia, and criticism of the jingoism and nationalism to which some citizens now annually degenerate.

Still, thanks for your measured and constructive feedback, friend.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

John Surname — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:09:10 -0000

Jeremy, as your friend I feel it is my duty to tell you when you've written a shit post, and this is a shit post. Why can't you leave Australia Day to celebrate what you do like about our country, and leave the rest of the year for you to complain about what you don't?

When idiots at AWH claim that the leftie elites hate Australia, this is exactly the kind of post they are talking about. Way to mock those who drive utes too. I may drive utes, or think that lambis that great (and let's remember that lamb is considered a rare delicacy in many parts of the world) but if you removed the snarky tone I would agree with many of the statements in the post.

Also your attempt at satire is ham-fisted and obvious. Subtlety is the key.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Jeremy — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:07:46 -0000

Dickhead warning, reap.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

kedgie — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:39:11 -0000

Hey Reap, feel free to send me the cash, I don't mind one bit. Especially with todays exchange rate.

Oh, and if you want to pay two grand for me to get "home" that'd be fine too. Especially considering the difference between a Zone two ticket to my home and two grand. The milky bars are on me!

Just so you know, I never referrred to Wales as home.

God knows what "convience" is, but:

A) Not English, wankstain.
B) We waited four years for residency. Hardly a "shopper"
C) Go fuck yourself.
D) I believe my point was that you can be a committed, worthwhile member of society and still see Citizenship as purely a piece of paper
E) Seriously, go fuck yourself.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

reap — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:28:14 -0000

Hey kedgie I am prepared to organise a whip around to make up the difference between the cost of the passports.

Even happy to help raise the two grand for your one way ticket back 'home'.

I would happily to do all this if we could get rid of another 'mercinary' Anglo citizenship shopper who settled on Australia for convience.

Your place can go straight to a refugee escaping persecution. You know someone who would value the freedoms, protection and safety that comes with being an Australian.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

kedgie — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:38:10 -0000

"When they start to think of themselves as Australian rather than a person from x country who just happens to live in Australia.

Personally there's no real reason to take out citizenship unless you feel that way....you don't need it to stay here, citizenship is completely voluntary."

Most immigrants (Myself included) would fall somewhere in between those categories. I consider myself both Welsh and Australian. I've lived in Australia for longer than I lived in Wales, but my formative years were spent there. Not to mention the fact that because of the amount of family I have still living in Wales I have important ties to the country.

I don't think I just happen to live in Australia, but nor do I think of myself as exclusively Australian, either.

Citizenship is voluntary, but personally I think we took out citizenship for purely mercinary reasons - Australian passports were cheaper than renewing our British Passports and we didn't have a whole lot of money at the time.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Ant — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:28:51 -0000

Fair enough, online is good.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Jeremy — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:15:58 -0000

Nup - still haven't finished Halo 2. Was bored stiff by it, to be honest.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Ant — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:25:05 -0000

Someone shouting Allah would not be drinking Alcohol :), but yes idiots shouting stupid slogans are hardly anything.

Hey o/t do you have halo 3?

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Jeremy — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:54:48 -0000

Likewise pissed kids making trouble whilst shouting about Allah.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

TimT — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:48:47 -0000

I agree, there's a large element of media beat up to all this.

Pissed kids making trouble? Not a story. Happens all the time.

Pissed kids making trouble while wearing flags? Now THAT'S a story!

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Ant — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:59:39 -0000

Still it was a HUN beat up, acting like dicks and blocking traffic is done by heaps of groups. I remember the G20 dicks blocking kings way and made me hours late for work.

Hardly the Cronulla style riots that they tried to beat up a couple of days before. I didn't want northern suburb bogans in my home suburb either, (Mordi boy here :)) but 50-70 kids getting loud and taking a fair amount of time to cross the lights is pretty much nothing.

If this was not a beat up why else would they write this http://www.news.com.au/hera... days before? I'm sure Franklin was hoping to get the big scoop on the big nasty riot and all he got to do was write a fluff piece on a bunch of dumb kids.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

JT — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:41:40 -0000

Well Roger Franklin's article brought the über-nationalist, (racist and) xenophobic nutters out of the woodwork, especially John of Wagga:

"News.com hate patriototic Aussies, White Aussies that is, and Roger Franklin loved it when they were apparently intimidated by some Pacific Islanders. I wonder why? He'd probably tell you they are sweet little darlings, when actions speak louders than words and we all know they're violent thugs."

and

"Roger Franklin, you obviously haven't seen the hordes of lebanese, or Maoris that set out for the beach every week. More than likely, you just don't hold them to the same standard you do White people."

Notice that he can't spell "patriotic" right!!!

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

JT — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:29:16 -0000

I didn't laugh Anthon_y .

I was in my car travelling up Main Street (on the way to a certain appointment involving a certain indoor soccer team) when I got a red light at the pedestrian lights on Main Street. About 50 - 70 of these flag-draped, body-painted teenagers (just about all of them males) crossed, doing their chants (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi and so forth), yelling patriotic slogans at the cars stopped at the lights and flexing their muscles and shit. These idiots were still carrying on, crossing the road, AFTER the lights had turned green, greatly pissing off us motorists.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Ant — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:13:43 -0000

Have to laugh at the HUN they beat up a so called Mordialloc Riot then when it doesn't happen they cry like a baby and write a petulant article bitching about it no happening.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Yobbo — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:19:20 -0000

"At what point does an immigrant cease to be an immigrant, Yobbo?"

When they start to think of themselves as Australian rather than a person from x country who just happens to live in Australia.

Personally there's no real reason to take out citizenship unless you feel that way....you don't need it to stay here, citizenship is completely voluntary.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

reap — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:51:51 -0000

Thoose stickers that have a map of Australia and the words "Fuck off were full" are offensive.

They leave off Tasmainia.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

kedgie — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:17:31 -0000

I meant "Your" as in "them", Yobbo. As in "Your man over there" Terrible sentence.

I didn't say it was racist either, it's not so much racist as xenophobic, then.

At what point does an immigrant cease to be an immigrant, Yobbo? I'm a citizen (although I've retained dual citizenship), I pay my taxes. I've contributed just as much to this country as anyone else my age. Probably more. Do you think tha satisfies the men in the utes? Or my step-grandmother, for that matter, who has one of those signs on her car?

To them, it's just a piece of paper. They don't care that I've put in as much work as they have - probably more - all they care about is the fact that they're "entitled" to complain - even though they're the least likely to do anything practical to change the things that are wrong.

I'm not sure how we're supposed to call ourselves a democracy when whole wedges of society are isolated from being able to participate in the process.

But at least it keeps the "Love it or leave it" lot firm in their sense of superiority.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Marek Bage — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:38:30 -0000

(Oh, and the Greens).

Yes, of course.
It's all Batik shirts and Credlocks in this crowd.

In the Sydney subrub of Manly, hundreds of youths draped in "Aussie pride" livery wore slogans declaring "f--k off we're full" as they smashed car windows and ran up the famous Corso targeting non-white shop keepers.

Aww! Isn't that sweet!
An Aussie version of the "welcome to country" ceremony.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Yobbo — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:19:37 -0000

it's the ones that depict a map of Australia containing the text "Fuck off, we're full" that I find truly offensive.

Agreed. Well I don't personally find them offensive so much as stupid. Australia certainly isn't full and Migration is a huge net benefit to the country. The people who think we're full are the same people who vote for subsidies for Toyota to make cars they were already going to make.

(Oh, and the Greens).

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Yobbo — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:15:25 -0000

That's only one usage. Think of the crowd invading the football field, or the tourist invasion of a holiday area.

In both those cases "Invasion" is being used as a metaphor. It's a very popular metaphor, but a metaphor all the same.

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Marek Bage — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:56:36 -0000

Damn those unclosed tags!!

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Marek Bage — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:55:25 -0000

In short it's just another way of saying "If it ain't broke don't fix it".

Wow! Talk about cultural chauvinism!
The kind of people who think that there is nothing broken or in need of fixing in Australia are the kind of nationalistic Candides who are more bane than boon to this country.

I know you don't think that way, Yobbo, but what an odd thing to say!

Re: Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, amen

Marek Bage — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:46:36 -0000

As an immigrant who cherishes Australia, I feel it is incumbent upon me to critisise what I perceive to be flaws in Australian society.

If I didn't give a toss about my adopted country I would disengage from discourse, jump into a ghetto of compatriots and feel superior as I spoke ill of Australians in the Patois of my choice.

As an aside, whilst I find the "Love it or leave it" stickers culturally chauvinistic, it's the ones that depict a map of Australia containing the text "Fuck off, we're full" that I find truly offensive.

Cheers.