kaz3g

http://www.dumpaday.com/index.php/2011/07/55-very-funny-pictures/funny22/ Peanut butter anyone?

Woodn't it!!!

Sceptic asked "Compared to what? How does the percentage of aboriginals per capita compare to elsewhere in the world?" There are Aboriginal people in many parts of the world including NZ, much of North and South America, parts of Asia and even Europe. Dispossession and the breakdown of culture have created similar issues in each of those locations in proportion to the extent of the loss. Almost all of those other countries ended up with treaties and consequent greater recognition and respect. Why are we different? Kaz

I think the problem is that you have identified those offenders by their Aboriginality rather than by their medical, socio-economic circumstances. It's often easy to see black and white but harder to see how the person lives. Victoria has only a small population of Aboriginal people compared to other States and they tend to live in relatively concentrated groups (as have many of our more recent arrivals from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. I find very little difference between the issues affecting a number of the Aboriginal people in my area and the many non-Aboriginal people in similar circumstances. It doesn't take Einstein to see its not colour that is the problem, it's common factors starting with lack of opportunity, flowing through lack of self esteem, and ending up down the gutter of despair that result in anti-social behaviour. Kaz

One track...I'm not going to debate this issue with you because I see no value in it. But I have lived and worked in the north-west of your state and in the NT. I live and work amongst the members of the largest Aboriginal community in Victoria now. All I can say is that your "experience" doesn't match mine. Kaz

Yes, and ice is the worst from a number of aspects...its extreme addictiveness, the brain damage repeated exposure does, and the violent behaviour of those affected. Incarceration costs are actually about $120k pa but that doesn't cover the infrastructure, just the keepers. It costs the equivalent of about two months incarceration to put an addicted person through a course of rehabilitation instead. The only thing imprisoning addicts does is harden their attitude and add to their repertoire of skills as thieves, burglars and bashers. Those few that aren't addicted before they enter will,almost certainly be when they get out. Prison does not treat the addiction. The concept of rehab in prison is a sad joke. Prison should be the place where only the worst of society are held. The rest, the majority, should have their medical and mental health issues treated in the community under supervision while they work off their debt to society. Why do we have women serving 12 months or more because they sold a small quantity of drugs to pay for their own addiction when their men are released into the community for bashing them in their homes? Kaz

Very true Bex, but it doesn't mean that the plight of the most vulnerable should be a subject for humour. As I said above, it's not to excuse the offending, rather it's about changing the environment in which there is a predisposition to offending and perhaps spending some of the billions being invested in new prisons on the changes would be a good first start. In Victoria, the former government was "tough on crime" and we now see the number of women being imprisoned rising at more than 10% per year. The rates for men are almost as high. So the answer was to spend $760m on a new gaol and this is rapidly blowing out to that Billion figure without the additions to other gaols, the double and triple bunking of inmates and the installation of who knows how many shipping container-accomm units at the rural prisons like the one near where I live. We, the taxpayers, should be asking what's wrong in our society that we spend more on a new prison than on a new hospital or half a dozen schools or we will go broke fencing off that section of society like they have in California. Kaz

He looked at the history of the early occupation of Australia by the British through his eyes more than 210 years after the event. Robert Studley Forrest Hughes AO was an Australian-born art critic, writer, and producer of television documentaries. His best seller The Fatal Shore is a study of the British penal colonies and early history of Australia. Born: July 28, 1938, Sydney Died: August 6, 2012, The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States Children: Danton Hughes Siblings: Tom Hughes, Geoffrey Hughes, Constance Crisp Spouse: Doris Downes (m. 2001–2012), Victoria Hughes (m. 1981–1996), Danne Patricia Emerson (m. 1967–1981) Perhaps it's time non-Indigenous Australians tried to look at it through Indigenous eyes, especially in this NAIDOC week? It's not about "changing the sentencing laws" for a particular group but it is about refining those laws to achieve more effective outcomes for the benefit of all Australian society. All the evidence continues to point to the fact that three quarters of those in gaol would do better if offered real programs of education, training, apprenticeships, cognitive behavioural therapy, sporting opportunities, cultural and language development to foster some self-esteem rather than being placed in crook college where they learn to be bigger and better offenders. But hey, what would I know? Kaz

He was there, of course. Kaz

Report calls for overhaul of the way Indigenous people are sentenced

And some people commit crimes because they are seriously unwell, destitute, homeless, come from a dysfunctional family or have never known anything different and they need to survive. They have no sense of optimism for the future because they can see no future. They are the second or third generation in perpetual unemployment. They don't have the resources, physical or intellectual, to change their circumstances and they therefore have no self-esteem whatsoever. Instead they are easily coerced into using alcohol and drugs to make themselves "feel better" and they end up in the criminal justice system But that's ok...goal will fix it for them...if they don't suicide first. The rates of suicidality amongst our Indigenous communities is nothing short of shameful. The perpetuation of paternalistic and demeaning measures to control their incomes will never teach them to manage their own affairs. The rate at which their children are removed from families is now worse than it was 70 years ago when the "Stolen generation" first became a matter for concern. Although they make up only 3% of the population they make up nearly a quarter of all people incarcerated. Family violence is rampant amongst our indigenous people but wasn't known 200 years ago. Two hundred years ago they had extremely strict rule to manage their interactions- transgressions were punished by tribal spearing and beatings. Their society was very structured and everyone knew their places and occupied them. They didn't drink alcohol. No-one stole because they were the ultimate socialists and shared everything. Their was no incest or child abuse. There were no hard drugs. They had a highly complex culture and their own language, but probably spoke 3 or 4 other languages fluently (many still do). And they could survive in country that caused the white folk who followed them to perish frequently. They suffered horrendous massacres at the hands of these "civilised" whites, contracted horrible diseases because of their contact with them, and lost their lands to them. This is not an excuse for the offending that occurs today but perhaps, just perhaps, some of them think it's fair to "collect the rent" now and then? I don't think the current situation is cause for Laughter. Kaz Google "Conniston massacre" on Wikipedia and have a white read about one of the many "interactions" that our European ancestors inflicted on them

My Aunty Ruby's last name was Mortis and I had an uncle John Frost. Kaz

Well, age is a funny thing. While I can be pretty definite about not being involved with any C***** up, I am probably guilty of being confused about which "Flying" posted Kaz

I think Vizzie has a lot of problems getting an Internet connection from the remote area in which he and she live. Probably sent several posts that didn't make it to the forum. Kaz

More reliable and cheaper to repair than a bloody BMW! Kaz

It's alright mate...they are only looking for wealthy people. Owning a small aeroplane is the first step to insolvency! Kaz

Is that how you work it out? Kaz

Statistics Concerning Ladder Dangers According to the World Health Organization, the United States leads the world in ladder deaths. Each year, there are more than 164,000 emergency room-treated injuries and 300 deaths in the U.S. that are caused by falls from ladders. Most ladder deaths are from falls of 10 feet or less. Falls from ladders are the leading cause of deaths on construction sites. Over the past decade, the number of people who have died from falls from ladders has tripled. Falls from ladders are the leading cause of ladder-related injuries, followed by using a ladder improperly, using a faulty or defective ladder, and simple carelessness. And silly old buggers are the most likely to use a ladder and fall off it Kaz

The liners are quite fragile...did you pull them? Kaz

Is nobody going to comment on the foibles of a nation that HAS automatic roadside condom vending machines? Kaz

Hi Bruce I sincerely hope so, too and I think it will depend to some extent at least on how we whose origins here are a bit older treat those who come now. I was 8 years old when my old mum came home from shopping quite incredulous telling me that Harry and Laurie had sold their green grocer shop....to Italians! What's more they were Southern Italians and the women had hairy lips! We were a totally Anglo community up until then. Years later mum told me how delightful and polite the Biviano family was. It's not just Muslims that are unable to migrate to Japan. My youngest son married a Japanes girl 12 years ago and has 2 beautiful children with her. He is fluent in Japanese and worked there in Tokyo until they moved to Singapore a few years ago. They were heading back to Tokyo for holidays recently and he had to renew his visitors visa. The kids are Australian citizens thank goodness. Sometimes I pine for the Chips Rafferty types, the Australia of the 40s and 50s, but mostly I just marvel at the diversity of cultures, clothes and cuisines that is my home. Kaz

I'm reasonably educated, GG and I have also read the Bible, including the Old Testament. I seem to recall you quoting from it to justify your prejudices in a post sometime back. Perhaps YOU should first learn what jihad is and is not. Try reading what the Supreme Islamic Council has to say and even try talking to an ordinary Muslim. http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/understanding-islam/legal-rulings/5-jihad-a-misunderstood-concept-from-islam.html?start=9 What do you know about Muslim people? Have you ever sat down and had a meal with a Muslim family? I live in a relatively small rural community of around 60,000 people some of whom are the oldest and newest of Australians. Migrant origins include England, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Congo and Sierra Leone to name a few. We have 5 mosques and a Sikh temple as well as Christian Churches of many denominations. Our recently arrived African community is a mixture of Christian and Muslim but they are all given help and support by the Lutheran church here with the benefit of a substantial philanthropic donation from it's congregation. The Uniting Church and others similarly work closely with them to help them integrate into the community. I have a school bus goes down my street each school morning. sometimes the driver is a woman in a hijab and other times it's a heavily bearded guy in a turban. We have a great selection restaurants and cuisine reflective of our diversity. In a couple weeks, there will be a three-way cricket match here: local Victoria Police Members, Rumbalara Aboriginal Sports Club, and the Muslim community. The latter is also supplying the food for the day. I'm looking forward to it. Kaz

I dunno either, Phil, but I well remember the parish priest standing in the pulpit and telling us all to vote DLP as did our Archbishop at the time. I know many churchgoers sent money for the IRA who were perhaps a tad terrifying in the Troubles, too. And just a thought but, as one who grew up with nuns in black with their faces half covered, I chuckle a little at the discomfort young Catholic lads now have with someone in a hijab. Times change. The IRA is now a legal entity, nuns now dress in mufti, priests no longer demand particular political allegiance and the last place of worship I entered was a Sikh temple where the religion espouses notions of equality of all and care of the poorest without regard to colour, race or creed. Not a bad approach to relations with your fellow man, I thought. Kaz

Hi Bruce The Koran isn't the problem, it's those relatively few people who propound a perverted version of its teachings to achieve their own twisted ends. Rather like the Catholic Church during the Inquisition or the Reformists who made Salem a well known corner of the Earth. I have seen the world stand back and watch while various despots held power by force of violence in places like Cambodia, Somalia, the Sudan, Congo, Ruwanda and Iraq...at least until gold, diamonds or oil supplies were threatened. And I seem to remember a quote somewhere about "good men doing nothing". I don't know what the answer to terrorism based on a perverted faith belief is. Personally, I think the players are generally misguided weak individuals and the planners behind them psychopathic murderers. I'm glad we are an island but I feel damned uncomfortable about our treatment of refugees and our current warehousing of them off-shore. Kaz

Hi guys Just a reminder that our host (the owner of this list) is not a multi-millionaire with all his assets located in Guernsey. Please think before you post defamatory statements about people who have all the resources in the world to make life unpleasant for you and him. Kaz