reply to post by Dock6

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Thank you Dock6

I'd also like to add, as an afterthought, that I personally do not want to live in America neither. Nor does my American born husband anymore.
It's nice to visit though!

double post

[edit on 7-10-2008 by ImJaded]

i've always been interested how people who say "I don't need a gun" are so interest in making sure no one else has one either.

I grew up working on ranches. I have a coffee can full of rattles--and I only killed the snakes that tried to strike me. I worked around heavy machinery, where you couldn't hear a rattlesnake when the motor was running. So you kill a snake so you don't get bit without hearing the rattle next time. I know 4 people who have been bitten. One died because his coumadin interfered with the antivenin.

This summer the dogs have found two snakes in the back yard. Where my kids play. . . .

But that's not why I own a gun. Neither is home defense. The reason I own a gun is for the "free meet" I get every november, enough to fill the freezer and save us around $500 a year.

Plus I like target shooting. Fun and a stress relief.

But for some reason, people in other countries (like schenectady) are sure that I'm some kind of nut because I don't live in a high rise and play video games.

Why does it bother foreigners so much that guns are legal here? Since none of them "ever want to live here," what could it matter how we mind our business?

Unless of course, the thought of someone else being at liberty somehow grates on them . . . .

I've never been to oz. I hope to travel there on business i the next year. I enjoy traveling all over the place. And I never wish those people would copy my home. I'm happy for them to be themselves........

Good to see we've got clued in 'Field Agents' getting out there and finding the facts for us about that mysterious land they call.....Australia.

Unfortunately the post I'm referring to has been removed..whodathunkit??

Anyway, thanks Fathom for a real informed post about Australia. keep up the good work

I did say I don't see any need for a gun, I never said I didn't own one.

I don't. But if I really wanted to, I would, legal or illegal.
Can ya dig it ?

Reply to Dr.Strange


The truth ? It really doesn't bother me if Americans own guns. I don't think about it. When you live in an environment where guns are seldom used, you don't think in terms of gun ownership or useage.

The gun issue arose several posts back when someone who identified as American stated that Aussies 'lift their skirts' to assist those intent on shafting them. I guess you saw that item of provocation ?

The thread title claimed to be factual, although no-one in Australia has ever polled my opinion of Obama or any other US presidential candidate.

I'm not sure who ran the alleged poll and have no idea how many were polled. For all I know, it could have been a poll run in the Ebay Chin Wag forum, lol.

Most Aussies have a pretty high opinion of Americans and of America. Sure, a lot of it is based on US tv and movies, but it's enduring.

Most Americans seem to genuinely enjoy their time in Australia as far as I'm aware. I doubt they'd do so if they hadn't engaged with Aussies in mutual respect and friendliness.

We've never had anywhere near as strong a gun culture as the US, here in Australia, although years ago people (my father for example) had rifles as a matter of course, particularly in rural areas.

The Port Arthur 'massacre' .. which many (including myself) believe was staged .. was used to eliminate firearms from the general community, just as Dunblane was staged (in the opinion of many) to eliminate firearms from the UK community. They'd have a much harder time eliminating firearms from the US community of course and not least of their problem would be the massively large population, compared to Australia (21 million approx.) and UK (60 odd million).

The thread took off on a bit of a heated tangent when someone apparently took offence at the contents of the OP.

It could just have easily taken a far more amicable tangent if, for example, someone had expressed interest in why Aussies allegedly favoured Obama .. or if there had been curiosity as to how the US is generally perceived by Australians.

Anyway, one thing is certain ... no Aussie is ever going to try to deny Americans their guns. Aussies are a live-and-let-live society, in the main. We have a good life here and I guess that occupies most of our energy.

Hope you enjoy your time in Australia, next year. I'm confident you will

[edit on 7-10-2008 by Dock6]

reply to post by Dock6

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I agree with Dock's sentiment here. I have a great respect for the American people and their rights just as I do the Australian people's.



[edit on 7-10-2008 by ImJaded]

yes to all three. three times on the rattler one. I shot them all with my short barreled, pistol grip pump, can't miss with that one. the guy breaking into my house was whacked out on something and was in the process of kicking my front door down when i shot at him, he ran away but fell and stayed down, he didn't die since he only got pockmarked a little bit.
I live in a small town on 500 wooded acres, yelling for help wouldn't help me much so i keep shotguns/firearms throughout the house in discreet places.

like i said australia must be a very safe place, you are lucky.
one of your mates questioned why we needed to own guns.
thankfully i only passed through australia and have never lived there. i have visited many places in my life, my father worked for the state department when i was growing up.yes, you're probably right.
no all those things happened in good 'ol USA.

reply to post by ImJaded

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Good on you, ImJaded

Has anyone ever canvassed your opinion re: the US elections, by the way ?

The only people who approach me are the kids from Green Peace or students employed by our local MP around election time to try to butter me up for a vote, lol.

Gee, we have enough problems with our own pollies ! What a useless bunch they are.

reply to post by Fathom

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A pump-action -- for a snake ?

Here's a contrast for you. We had a pair of red-bellied black snakes living under our house when I was a kid. One bite and you're history.

We didn't know about them until our old dog took them on. They killed her, despite my father driving fast in our old truck over corrugated country roads to the vet's place (it was Sunday, his day off).

My father brought back our dog. The vet had cut her to pieces. Never an explanation. My father dug a grave under the peach tree. My heart felt as if it had been torn out of my chest .. worst pain I'd felt in my life. He had some idea that if I didn't see my dog dead, I would never accept it. So he made me look .. grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and forced me. For my own good. Didn't feel like it.

That finished it for my mother. She grabbed the short handled axe used for chopping kindling for the fire and got under the house .. less than a metre headroom under there. Yorkshire-Irish woman. You don't even try to talk them out of anything when they have that look in their eye.

When she emerged, she tossed two six foot red-bellied blacks onto the ground in front of her. Then, she got the fire going under the copper boiling pot used to boil linen, and after she'd chopped the red-bellies into pieces, she burned them. She loved our dog too.

Years later, another red-belly black rose to bite my father, who was camped in the bush. This time, a long-handled axe was used. One chop. Done.

That's how we do it in Australia.

reply to post by Dock6

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your mom is awesome! more woman than me thats fer sure.
i have two machetes as well that i carry when i am on horseback, my favorite one is from 1929 and was handed down to me from my grandfather. i love it.

i feel safer using the shotgun on the snakes, can't miss bang! and it is over.

Now that the thread went into US vs Aussie vs Gun Control mode, I must confess that the point of the OP is lost on me. Case in point: I would never vote for Mugabe, and yet I really don't want to live in Zimbabwe. What's the big deal?

reply to post by Fathom

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Yes, she's different. The only person I've encountered who genuinely qualifies for the term 'fearless'. Fearsome, too. I think half my arthritis stems from 'gentle reminders' administered by her hand when I was a child, lol. But she always had her eyelashes mascarad and curled and every hair in place, lipstick perfect, stocking seams straight as a die, fingernails from a magazine and ramrod straight back. Gorgeous looking. Monumental temper .. awesome !

reply to post by Dock6

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i think we would have gotten along allright her and i.

A good old Yank vs Ozzie thread.

Let's hope it stays in good humour, cos as a Brit I love both the Yanks and the Ozzies for very different reasons...

The Yanks seem to rely more on technology and weapons, whilst the Ozzies seems to carry more of a swagger in regards to practical purposes.... E.g an American would shoot a snake, whilst an Australian would rather drag it out of its hole and chop it up.

As a Brit, I'd probably just convince the snake that it'd be better off living elsewhere, as the weather is crap and everything is over priced here.

Anyways, to my cousins in both the US and OZ, keep it real guys, you both make me smile.

[edit on 7-10-2008 by mr-lizard]

reply to post by Fathom

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Yes, by the sound of you, I think you're right about that

Like you, she's travelled. Solo in her case. Female Indiana Jones type : )

Have just deleted a long post about her exploits. I'm still learning about many of them myself. I think she must have scooped up most of the best bits from the gene pool. No wonder the rest of the family seem so colourless in comparison to her.

reply to post by mr-lizard

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Nice post

Put us in a room together and I know we'd all get on brilliantly

Most of our problems stem from our politicians and those behind them.
They use Divide and Conquer tactics on us at the same time they're dividing up between them what they take from us. All of them .. even 'our' supposed enemies. We fight the wars and the creators of those wars are each other's house-guests, at our expense.

Roll on the Revolution !

Sorry for kidnapping this thread. I wish to give my self up, and return the thread unharmed.


back to the OP's point.

I think Obama draws a lot of interest from people who otherwise have little abiding interest in US politics. For example, the young, the a-political, overseas spectators, etc.

He is less popular here (USA) because he makes a lot of generic promises, without addressing specifics, or answering any questions from his own past. The fact that the media acts as his bodyguard and shelters him from all direct or pressing question adds to his negative numbers as the weeks wear on.

Like many potential suitors, Obama looks best when viewed from a distance, in subdued lighting and pleasant surroundings.

.

I like the Australians. They seem very practical. In fact, I like you guys so much I am willing to wrap Obama in a nice big red bow and send him to ya as a token of friendship

USA is a disgusting place to live in right now, Australia is like heaven compared to USA