........
BTW, I'm also prohibited from having a tube of toothpaste larger than 100ml in my carry-on/overnight bag when I go to work. Apparently, even though I'm flying the plane, the IED risk is too great.
......
It is not that it is an IED risk, just that excessively white teeth could cause reflections off the instruments, especially the EFIS and spitting the paste out the windows could block the pitot tubes ......... nuff said
I'm sure your statement is tongue in cheek. I know and have met many Americans; in general they're much like Australians, perhaps a little more fearful on average as a result of living in a more dog-eat-dog society.
I suspect ordinary people all over the world have a lot in common, it's more the leaders that give countries a bad name.
The comment was not directed at an American but the population as a whole. They appear ultra right wing and not very bright. Take the health system reform that Obama is trying to instigate, seem to me a good reform but there is over whelming right wing opposition to it. Religion, they have a very high church attendance but seem to disregard: turn the other cheek, thou shall not kill, do not covert your neighbours goods, need I go on? And lastly who in there right mind goes into a re-enactment of a gun fight with LIVE rounds in there gun. As I said s**t for brains.
Is your point that we shouldn't have gun control laws? The simple reality is that you are vastly less likely to be killed by a firearm in Australia than you are in the USA. Is that due to the laws? Don't know, but it's hard to imagine that's not a factor.
When I was in the US in June, I was quite surprised by the amount of murders and gun related incidents that were reported on the news there. One was due to someone going to a wedding and accidentally discharging a handgun.
The cat is out of the bag in the US. Gun laws would achieve nothing but make it harder for those doing the right thing.
For comparison, Mexico has very strict laws, but has a murder rate far higher than the US, and in both countries the vast majority of gun murders are drug crime related, not some kid going nuts at his college.
Australia never really had this problem.
Both Bryant and Knight had already been identified as having mental health issues, and should never have been allowed access to firearms of any kind at all. The failing was, and still is, the mental health system.
The comment was not directed at an American but the population as a whole. They appear ultra right wing and not very bright. .
Human populations anywhere are very easily manipulated, a fact that is demonstrated repeatedly through history. Any country can be made to look bad by it's politicians, bankers, corporations or powerful interest groups.
However if you travel to the US and meet the people they really are much the same as Australians.
Human populations anywhere are very easily manipulated, a fact that is demonstrated repeatedly through history. Any country can be made to look bad by it's politicians, bankers, corporations or powerful interest groups.
However if you travel to the US and meet the people they really are much the same as Australians.
Quite right Tony, unfortunately the media have no reason to publicise the lives of everyday Americans who, like us, are just going about the business of living normal lives.
Much of the issue is the way media beat up stories to sell their wares. Without publicity many of these horrible events may not happen. The recent trend is for people to post their rants on twitter/facebook etc and then go out to do their crime or to film their crime and then post it on Youtube.
There have been numerous incidents where someone has been ridiculed on social media and has then taken their revenge on those who posted about them.
The older I get the less I want to see "news", Twitter, Facebook etc.
I am even getting tired of these debates on General Chat here
Human populations anywhere are very easily manipulated, a fact that is demonstrated repeatedly through history. Any country can be made to look bad by it's politicians, bankers, corporations or powerful interest groups.
However if you travel to the US and meet the people they really are much the same as Australians.
So true. The bad press we see and hear from them is actually a *positive* aspect of the country. Their media is free to tell the tale without fear of retribution. If this went on in North Korea, you'd never even know.
The exact same vested interests that give the US a bad name operate here too, just on a smaller scale.
I thought not to participate in this, just being the new guy on this forum you know. And I take no part in politics. But I've seen some guns and even shot with couple of them.
The worst shots at my pistol club in Brisbane were policemen and women.
Behind every door in Switzerland is an army issue gun. I don't read about mayhem on the streets of Geneva.
It's not the guns that make people shoot people. It's stupid people who believe that a gun makes them stand taller.
Their media is free to tell the tale without fear of retribution
That said, we also need to ensure our own media, whilst having the same freedom, actually gives a true and balanced view.
On the ABC ( who should know better ) news tonight, a reporter stood up in the location where the police/army are trying to track down the father/son on the run. He stated that the police had recovered a bullet from a police car that was shot at in NSW.
The bullet was determined to have come from a 308 hunting rifle, that could "put a bullet through a tree trunk from a couple of kilometers away".
Good way to put unnecessary fear into all the weekenders up in the region.
I've owned handguns in 22 38 357 44 magnum 45 acp.
I've owned rifles in 22 223 243 308 30-06
Odd, I've never felt the urge to go out on a rampage or even point one at someone else.
I've fired over the years 10s of thousands of rounds. Nearly every one has hit the intended target .
Why did I need to give up my rifles and guns?
If I must wear a helmet when riding a bike, why couldn't I even purchase a bullet proof vest for when shooting?
Control is the answer. Nothing to do with safety.
Until Port Arthur, it was a right to own a gun in oz. Hell I had an l1a1(slr).
I also had one in the services.
Most Americans I meet are good mannered, well intentioned and well educated.
I agree. I too have spent long periods working in the US and in close contact with people at all levels. I found them polite, educated and interested. A few bogans, yes, but you only need to stand on a street corner in any Australian CBD to see that we too have our share.
It's been said that Americans travel badly - they become loud, rude and demanding. That's a stereotype that does a lot of injustice to the majority who are not like that at all. But these days, if you travel anywhere in the world, you will find people of all races being rude, demanding, shrill, thoughtless, aggressive etc etc etc. Including Australians.
It would be nice if it were otherwise. But it ain't.
Agreed ( re needing luck ), but this wasnt a gun lobbyist, it was a ( supposedly unbiased ) ABC reporter flippantly sprouting obviously incorrect data, i suspect through ignorance, coupled with the current dumbing down practice of needing to compare something to something else so its exciting, and we understand.
Bit like describing a flood using olympic swimming pools, vs cubic metres per second, or the weight an aircraft can lift using indian elephants vs kilograms etc
