Integrating into a foreign society

[Blakamin]

It has been pis$ing down over here, my wife wants to do the Great Ocean 'Together' what ever that means, so that counts out the bike ride down the great ocean unitll we have done that little 'bonding' 'doing things together husband and wife cr@p'

As for intergrating into a foreign society, I think the wife and I have done ok. yeah sure Oz and NZ are not that different.
I watched every AFL game when I moved over hear and found it quite a good game, I have choosen to support St Kilda, as they are the local team in our area. (still tossing up about supporting Collingwood) I go around calling everyone 'mate' which my wife thinks is funny. and I have taken up wearing 'Thongs'. intergrating is easy, you just need an open mind.

Great Ocean Road should only be open to bikes

and dont...DONT supprot collingwood... nobody will talk to ya... they call the magpies coz they're scavenging little pricks...(the fans) and they've won 2 finals in the last 40 years!
My teacher in the last year of primary school used to play for the saints
personally, I'm an Essendon supporter and I talk to Saints fans... talk to everyone bar collingwood fans... nobody likes collingwood unless their fathers did.... dont make that mistake

[Ms Piggy]

Everyone has a difficult childhood. It's all about how the people around you help you meet those challenges.

My main thing is I have a psych disorder bordering on complusion, in that I have to fill my idle time with reading and digesting information. There's never been more access to information in human history. It's a good time for mental cases like me to be alive.

Sorry I didn't mean that to sound as patronising as it did once I read it (just now)!

Although there are degrees of difficulty, within childhood, me thinks.

[Blakamin]

bordering on complusion, in that I have to fill my idle time with reading and digesting information. There's never been more access to information in human history. It's a good time for mental cases like me to be alive.

know that feeling.. i cant sit and do nothing... the library has run out of books, I cant sleep without reading...
Once, at bandca... melbourne, i read the A-K phonebook coz i hadnt slept in 2 days and had nothing else... the interweb is fantastic! specially with a laptop!

[Gixxer]

Great Ocean Road should only be open to bikes

and dont...DONT supprot collingwood... nobody will talk to ya... they call the magpies coz they're scavenging little pricks...(the fans) and they've won 2 finals in the last 40 years!
My teacher in the last year of primary school used to play for the saints
personally, I'm an Essendon supporter and I talk to Saints fans... talk to everyone bar collingwood fans... nobody likes collingwood unless their fathers did.... dont make that mistake

Yeah I have heard that alot, the only reason I was thinking about the magpie's is that my wife's relations over here support them. but I watched all of the Staints and bombers games from September on, so I think I will support the saints.
I even have a footy ball now, and played a quick game in Monbulk on Grandfinal day in between quarters.
Cheers

[Blakamin]

Yeah I have heard that alot, the only reason I was thinking about the magpie's is that my wife's relations over here support them.

QUICK... DIVORCE!.... bloody 'pies
2 of my brothers support 'em... lucky i dont talk to one of them
sounds like you're intergrating better than me... bloody rugby! cant stand it!

[jrandom]

Everyone has a difficult childhood. It's all about how the people around you help you meet those challenges.

Indeed. Everyone does; some have it worse than others. Some grow up being sexually exploited by multiple members of their family before they even get to puberty, being beaten to an extent which, were it perpetrated upon one adult by another, would result in non-trivial jail time, being ignored, emotionally tormented, forced into self-loathing, and only provided with the utter, bare minimums of survival's necessities. Spending large chunks of their subsequent adult existence struggling with what have become hard-wired psychological inabilities to function, they form the real, unpleasant, smelly basis for the bargain basement of every psychiatric professional's client list.

But, sure, nobody has the perfect childhood. I've learned to be grateful for mine, though. I came out of it with nothing worse than a distaste for authority, a rather strange personality type, and a heavy skew toward stereotypical male insensitivity.

[Paul in NZ]

THREAD HIJACK ALERT!

***



Drool. I still don't have a Smelly of any flavour. There was a Mk 5 like yours, wot I particularly fancy since I plan on *using* it, in the T&E a while back for $180 or so, didn't last long, I'm kicking myself.

If you ever run out of space for the old Enfield and want a good home at a fair price, let me know first...

[Edit: Actually, based on the bike you were riding, that was quite a while back, wasn't it? The meaningfulness of my comment therefore becomes predicated on whether you still happen to have it somewhere, of course...]

Ha ha!

Nah! Long gone. It was OK as bush gun and would go for a pretty penny now. I moved to a 8 x 57 Mauser which was a bloody cannon but if you did hit anything, it stayed hit. It was already sporterised so I was happy to stick a scope on it but I could never bring myself to do the scope thing on the carbine.

Paul N

[scumdog]

THREAD HIJACK ALERT!

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Drool. I still don't have a Smelly of any flavour. There was a Mk 5 like yours, wot I particularly fancy since I plan on *using* it, in the T&E a while back for $180 or so, didn't last long, I'm kicking myself.

If you ever run out of space for the old Enfield and want a good home at a fair price, let me know first...

[Edit: Actually, based on the bike you were riding, that was quite a while back, wasn't it? The meaningfulness of my comment therefore becomes predicated on whether you still happen to have it somewhere, of course...]

Got a SMLEy from an old farmer a few years ago, said "take your misuss out for a meal and it's yours, that's my price". It's a great old weapon, mint barrel and ex-drill purpose but still fully wooded and I've got a few goats with it.

The old man used a Mk 5 (or is No. 5?) in Malaya, reckoned it was only a little better than an M1 carbine due to the muzzle-blast and inherently poor accuracy, said a No4 was the go, - or a Bren!! also said the Browning 5 shot with 00 buckshot was a mean weapon that was vastly under-rated.

[Lou Girardin]

If Australia converts to Islam, will sheep have to wear burqua's?

[James Deuce]

Sorry I didn't mean that to sound as patronising as it did once I read it (just now)!

Although there are degrees of difficulty, within childhood, me thinks.

It wasn't patronising at all - I owe you a beer for making you feel bad.

[Jackrat]

THREAD HIJACK ALERT!

***



Drool. I still don't have a Smelly of any flavour. There was a Mk 5 like yours, wot I particularly fancy since I plan on *using* it, in the T&E a while back for $180 or so, didn't last long, I'm kicking myself.

If you ever run out of space for the old Enfield and want a good home at a fair price, let me know first...

[Edit: Actually, based on the bike you were riding, that was quite a while back, wasn't it? The meaningfulness of my comment therefore becomes predicated on whether you still happen to have it somewhere, of course...]

http://gibbsrifle.com/
Go to their on line cattledog then to their Historical remakes.
Then you can have a real drool,just like me
Also check out their sport spec' rifles if you would like one in .308 with nickle finish.Or how about 45-70

[Ms Piggy]

It wasn't patronising at all - I owe you a beer for making you feel bad.

Ok then! I'm glad.

[Skyryder]

You are right, and it does depend on interpretation. I think you've taken the ultra conservative view.

The Westminster system is not a perfect system, despite a long history and tradition, and it most certainly does not entertain the illusion of free speech or individual rights. The freedom of action of the state in relation to international standing and issues, and the rights of government and corporate bodies take precedence over individual rights. New Zealand does not have an independant charter or a constitution of it's own. We have adopted someone else's irrespective of whether or not it fits, which it palpably doesn't given the level of dissatisfaction evident in a wide range of NZ society. If we are independant why retain a Governer General, an archaic role designed to make sure that the wild colonials toe an irrelevant line?

I believe that our society has changed out of all recognition in the last 20 years, and the laws and regulations of the UK and the Commonwealth do not reflect NZ's changing place in the world. We have certainly been economically disadvantaged by our attitude toward Commonwealth trading partner priorities, and most certainly have little in common with the UK, other than a fascination with a minority oval ball sport. Ignore the fact that we have diverged from our historical base significantly and you risk a case of Ostrich Syndrome.

I am all for managed change. However the nature of NZ politics prevents managed and structured change thanks to a 3 year electoral term. I've worked in Government and the cycle goes; Election, Break all the promises, define the real agenda, organise the budget to implement the agenda, begin implementation, cease implementation to begin telling the next round promises that will be broken at the next election. That suits a Constitutional Mornarchy down to the ground because nothing ever changes or if it does it gets so FUBARed that it actually harms the people it was designed to help. Constitutional and Electoral reform shouldn't be a negative process. It should bear the promise of a unique and dynamic society rather than a hidebound backward looking conservative nostalgia-fest.

CSL - define the word culture within the frame of reference that it has been bandied about to describe the make up and structure of a society and its dynamic nature and you will have a difficult task. Culture is one of those words with an assumed dennotative meaning, when in fact the connotations defeat an attempt at definition, particularly at an individual level. Dig deeper on that one and you find that everybody has an idea, though it will be vague and wildly different.

You raise some interesting ideas. The Westminster system as you rightly state is not the perfect system but it does offer one significant advantage over a republican model. That is the role of the Govenor General. Not many people know and again you have correctly stated the Queen's representitive is the Commander in Chief. All military sevicemen swear alleagence to the Queen and not to the Government. The Govenor Genearl's prime function is to oversee the role of the elected government and that it functions according to law. As subjects of the Queen the Govenor General is the only person who is able to act in our interests should a dictatorship try and establish itself. Yea I know he did not help the Fijiean Govenment when Speight and his cronies staged a coup but this had more to do with the Govenor Geneal being a native to Fiji than his office.
Without the GG you need a President or an upper house. As the upper houses tend to be conservitive in mind if not in body, look what they did to Whitlam, then the other option is a President either to be elected or appointed. Either way in my view not as satisfactory as the Queens Rep who is only nomintaed by the Government.

The fact that our system can evolve to the needs of the times is another measure of its support. Whether this evolutuon is for the good or ill is subject to debate but that is what political evolution creates.

Politicians of both our system and the a Republican system can still lie cheat and do whatever untill election time and in this no amount of changing from one to another will eradicate.

For my mind there has been no argument, as yet, that has prompted me to seriously advocate a change in how our Parliment operates. However unless untill someone can come up with some bloody sound ideas how we will be better off than a new flag and a grande upper house that will be paid for by you and I, I shall continue to advocate the status quo.

OK so I have got off the beaten track but this is what happens when the flag is mentioned among other things.


Skyryder

[Indiana_Jones]

What a load of bull, you can't move into a nation and expect them to catair (spelling) for your needs, the western world has turned into a bunch of girls where we are afraid to offend other races, and they know it so they take advantage of the fact. I hate PC!!!!!!!!

-Indy

[James Deuce]

You raise some interesting ideas. The Westminster system as you rightly state is not the perfect system but it does offer one significant advantage over a republican model. That is the role of the Govenor General. Not many people know and again you have correctly stated the Queen's representitive is the Commander in Chief. All military sevicemen swear alleagence to the Queen and not to the Government. The Govenor Genearl's prime function is to oversee the role of the elected government and that it functions according to law. As subjects of the Queen the Govenor General is the only person who is able to act in our interests should a dictatorship try and establish itself. Yea I know he did not help the Fijiean Govenment when Speight and his cronies staged a coup but this had more to do with the Govenor Geneal being a native to Fiji than his office.
Without the GG you need a President or an upper house. As the upper houses tend to be conservitive in mind if not in body, look what they did to Whitlam, then the other option is a President either to be elected or appointed. Either way in my view not as satisfactory as the Queens Rep who is only nomintaed by the Government.

The fact that our system can evolve to the needs of the times is another measure of its support. Whether this evolutuon is for the good or ill is subject to debate but that is what political evolution creates.

Politicians of both our system and the a Republican system can still lie cheat and do whatever untill election time and in this no amount of changing from one to another will eradicate.

For my mind there has been no argument, as yet, that has prompted me to seriously advocate a change in how our Parliment operates. However unless untill someone can come up with some bloody sound ideas how we will be better off than a new flag and a grande upper house that will be paid for by you and I, I shall continue to advocate the status quo.

OK so I have got off the beaten track but this is what happens when the flag is mentioned among other things.


Skyryder

The NZ Army has no Royal Warrant and reports to the Prime Ministers office. The only Arms of NZ's Defence Force that have a direct chain of command through the Gvernor General to the Queen are the Air Force and Navy, which are both vastly under strength given our huge coastline (longer than the continental US coastline) and our reliance on shipping and air transport. The NZ Army has recently been re-equipped to change it's role into Mobile Infantry, rather than its previous engineering and logistics bias that make more sense if you were to provide aid to a population in a country plagued by every disaster known to man. I don;t believe it has a sinister purpose, though that could easily change.

NZ Doesn't need an Upper house. We do need an independent judiciary, whose role will also include mediation, adjudication, and moderation of the lawmaking process. I would support a supreme court that was made up of mulitple disciplines including the legal profession, rather than maintaining the outmoded concept that only lawyers can make laws.

We also need a government system that relies more on people whose primary loyalty is to NZ, not to an archaic constitutional monarchy who has no political power or influence.