UNBELIEVABLE - the good ole aussie dollar

[fringe_dweller]

Interesting response!
what makes you think i'm not familiar with hardship? your generation have an exclusive claim to it? didnt your generation enjoy hecs tax payer funded free uni education to gain your degrees qualifications that led to your prosperity later on - not to mention i did live in the UK for a few years 17 yrs ago, and lived and worked with the working poor here, not much has changed for them since WWII!
technology has a lot to do with our improved circimstances/lot than conservative idealogies i would think, specially in food production.
what side of politics started that war again?
I liked being poor there coz, SO many people are poor, that you dont feel singled out or left out, its different when your part of a smaller group looking at all the prosperity around you, more like the million working poor homeless in the US must feel.
the dream i am referring to is that its all simply down to conservative policies and the enslaving of one half of the population will solve the other halfs problem of getting that 100th investment house/property subsidised with middle class welfare/ tax cuts/ neg gearing

[Dennis]

Whoops! My post was not directed at you in terms of appreciating or understanding poverty or hardship. Hardship is a personal thing and is not easy, nor worthwhile, to compare across generations as each person, family, situation and time is quite different, so it becomes kind of meaningless. There were probably more well off families who suffered more in terms of (lack of) love, quality of life, general well being etc.

My post was simply a personal reflection on the contrast between now and then. At the time, we never actually felt poor as we were all in the same boat. Also, the real battlers were the mums and dads that had so little hope yet carried so much responsibility. Neighbourhood crime, drugs, burglary, etc were almost non-existent too. We generally felt quite safe and it was a very comforting feeling.

Cheers

Dennis

[casstony]

Originally Posted by fringe_dweller

I find it fascinating that this forum and other aussie astro forums are predominantly made up of 'conservative' thinking people -

Don't worry there's a few of us subversives here .......... and we're taking down names.

Still, we have good friends from the dark side - we just skirt around the issue of politics. We save politics for when we're in a house full of loony lefties so we can all have a group hug and make each other feel better.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

So... who's bought what as a consequence of this situation?

[erick (Eric)]

Well I'm thinking seriously about that Astrosystems barlowed laser!

[casstony]

Originally Posted by Omaroo

So... who's bought what as a consequence of this situation?

Denk II universal powerswitch binoviewers - there's been a few on Astromart recently around the $US850 mark.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Originally Posted by erick

Well I'm thinking seriously about that Astrosystems barlowed laser!

Mine just arrived yesterday Eric. It's fantastic! Sooo easy and spot-on to boot.

Cheers
Chris

[Dennis]

Although some Australian suppliers, such as BinTel and AEC have lowered their prices for US and Japanese products to account for the Aussie $ strengthening against these currencies, I don’t think that I have seen DSLR body and DSLR lens prices come down in the same period?

Cheers

Dennis

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Originally Posted by Omaroo http://www.iceinspace.com.au/vbiis/i...s/viewpost.gif
It's OK David - just wait for it to crash with a change of government.

If you blow any balloon up far enough its got to burst, doesn't matter who is in government

Yep, I was brought up in the UK too, and still think of them as better days in a social sense. We didn't have much although dad worked full time as a miner. We never locked our doors, we knew every neighbour for 2 streets either side of ours, only ever had one car (dad got done for DUI, silly old fool, and that was the end of it). I built my own push bike from scrapyard parts as mentioned before. I appreciate what I have now, I've worked for it, but I wonder if today's generation aren't going to find it hard later when things go pear shaped (as they inevitably will) . When I see kids of 17 driving new cars that mum and dad bought for them, running around with $300 mobile phones that are mostly used to send purile messages at 25c a time, and think they are in strife if the batteries on the ipod run out at an inconvenient time. I hope they cope when the big balloon bursts, or we are all buggered

[fringe_dweller]

Hi Dennis, i apologise for going off, this is 'sposed to be a friendly place, i was a bit stroppy and lost it at the time, and the current political climate is a bit tense and serious for good ol laid back oz than we are used to in recent decades, and as Tony said, despite our personal views we're all friends here I do actually appreciate what everyone went thru back then, it wasnt fun I know that, hope you accept my apology
but for gawd sakes can we please have this election over with already

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by fringe_dweller

Hi Dennis, i apologise for going off,.. >snipped

That is a kind and thoughtful gesture – thank you. IIS is indeed a wonderful Forum with a great, diverse bunch of people but it is inevitable that we occasionally misunderstand each others messages. The interface is so restrictive via plain text, which would not be the case if we sat face to face, where each would have the benefit of a whole range of indicators and feedback to clarify, put in context and perhaps more completely understand what was intended. I put an interpretation on your post that I now understand was not where you were coming from, so in that context your response was understandable and certainly didn’t offend or upset me.

And as I said, despite the hard times, ours was a safe and happy street, something I wish the children of today could experience. Today’s (different) stresses and pressures were not part of that era – mercifully.

I suspect we both owe an apology to H0ughy for the OT stuff.

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by Dennis

................................

I suspect we both owe an apology to H0ughy for the OT stuff.

Cheers

Dennis

Nope!! Just buy me a double overhead nebula camera with twin foxtails and we will call it even

If you notice boys I left your topic well alone. Astronomy and politics don't mix

Now don't do it again - you never find me going off topic..........much

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

My apologies too h0ughy, got on my soap box a bit. If you really want to have a laugh at "the good old days" thing, look for a copy of Capstick Comes Home.mp3, by Tony Capstick, real funny.

[fringe_dweller]

no worries Dennis IIS in definitely a great place to hang out! i grew up in the 60's and 70's - i guess that was the last of the leave your door unlocked era, and kids could play anywhere and be kids, i walked millions of miles to school and back over the years
thing i remember about the 60's 70's from a kids perspective was that it was the cold war era, and the threat of WWIII nuclear winter was always presented as very real and imminent, and we grew up thinkin it was inevitable i think, and consequently lived my early life as if there was no tommorrow - todays scary monster under the bed equivalent for kids today would global warming i expect?
I'm going off to the naughty boy room corner right now h0ughy your a good sport old son

[h0ughy (David)]

LOL I like ancient history like that Kearn

[h0ughy (David)]

"The Australian dollar surged past 93 US cents for the first time since 1984, soon after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates overnight.

The domestic currency shot up to a 23-year high of 93.37 US cents at 5.55am after the US central bank's interest rate setting arm, the Federal Open Market Committee, announced a quarter of a percentage point cut to the its federal funds rate, to 4.5 per cent.

This is the Australian dollar's strongest level since April 4, 1984, when it closed at 93.93 US cents, data from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) shows." from SMH

Oh well i have done it now..........

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

WHAT have you DONE h0ughy ?

do you have a DEATH wish ?

leave the bank account alone - you need brownie points for leave passes - not for frequent flyer points for the ambulance service

geoff

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl

WHAT have you DONE h0ughy ?

do you have a DEATH wish ?

leave the bank account alone - you need brownie points for leave passes - not for frequent flyer points for the ambulance service

geoff

its the cloud I tell you its the cloud - the voices, they made me do it honest, besides - its nothing much

[citivolus (Ric)]

Moohaha, the Megrez 90 is here Now to go on an accessory buying spree.

[vash (Ashley)]

this reminds me of a Saturday Night Live sketch about the American dollar being down and out, I found a link to it.

http://www.dailymotion.com/clomas/vi...entures-of_fun