just in case anyone is interested, the australian federal court this afternoon ruled the australian government had acted illegally in relation to the mv tampa refugee situation and ordered they be landed in australia.. see http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/11/national/national110.html for the full story.
If there was any doubt about the political nature (and stupidity) of the Australian Government's handling of the situation, have a read of this http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/11/national/national6.html .
Amazing scenes on CNN in New York & Washington. Hope little Johnny Howard (?Hunt) being there had nothing to do with it!
the kingdom hall occupied by the bulli and austinmer congregations burned last week, and there are rumours that it was arson.
can anyone shed any light on this?
Comf
Before we all kangaroo hop to conclusions, has anyone confirmed arson? If so what evidence is there any xjw was involved? Has anyone claimed responsibility?
The reasons for arson are many and varied but the most common are vandals who destroy for the sake of it, fire bugs (pyromaniacs) or criminals to cover/destroy the evidence of their criminal activity.
Suggest we get the facts before we start wondering whether there is a radical element of militant xjw's who are "out there" to cause mayhem and destruction based on "bigotry".
just in case anyone is interested, the australian federal court this afternoon ruled the australian government had acted illegally in relation to the mv tampa refugee situation and ordered they be landed in australia.. see http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/11/national/national110.html for the full story.
Just in case anyone is interested, the Australian Federal Court this afternoon ruled the Australian Government had acted illegally in relation to the MV Tampa refugee situation and ordered they be landed in Australia.
See http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/11/national/national110.html for the full story.
what kind of complete bastard regime do they have in australia?.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1511000/1511903.stm.
norm
The solution now being implemented is just for John Howard's political purposes.
Instead of landing the illegals on Xmas Is and flying them out, they are being transferred to a troopship, sailed to Port Moresby and then transshipped to NZ & Nauru - just so John Howard can say they never landed in Australia.
However, the Federal Court case in Melbourne may yet determine the outcome. For those who are unaware, an Australian court injunction is currently in place preventing the Government from proceeding with its plans. The court is sitting this morning to hear argument on the matter.
Watch this space.
what kind of complete bastard regime do they have in australia?.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1511000/1511903.stm.
norm
Jan
In an earlier post you stated "If the Ozzies had been closest to them then it would have been the Ozzies etc. Even so, they would have have been brought here to Australia even on an Australian ship." What difference does it make the vessel which picked them up is NOT Australian? THAT IS THE POINT. The Australian Government's actions have been cynical, opportunistic, indefensible and unAustralian.
Again you appear to be confusing the issue of the Australian Government's actions in relation to this group of illegal immigrants (which may or may not include genuine refugees) who were in immediate danger of sinking/drowning and rescued by a merchant vessel with the overall illegal immigrant problem.
I don't accept Australia doesn't have the capacity to deal with this group of people immediately. So what if our PERMANENT facilities happen to be full at the moment and it will take some time to erect more. Australia's emergency services (SES) has the capability of establishing emergency accommodation, as does the army, for many more than this group. The Australian Government also refuses to consider accommodation alternatives to "hostels" (low security prison camps).
In 1974 Darwin was flattened by cyclone and Australia coped with a city of 30,000 being made homeless over night. 27 years later we haven't the capacity to care for 460 people? I think we do, the Government simply refuses to use the resources at its disposal for its own political agenda and is releasing media propaganda saying it can't help.
In 1999 hail damaged 22,000 homes in Sydney. We coped despite thousands requiring temporary accommodation. Unquestionably Australia has the resources to deal with this problem but chooses not to. It is not a matter of "can't" it really is "won't" on the part of the Australian Government.
what kind of complete bastard regime do they have in australia?.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1511000/1511903.stm.
norm
Jan
Regardless of the difficulties Australia may have in dealing with this boatload, that is no justification for dumping the problem on a private shipping company.
The MS Tampa (freighter, 262m long, crew 27) is not in a better position than Australia (developed country, 7,692,030 km2, population 19.4m) to deal with this particular group.
No amount of rationalisation/justification (political gymnastics by Howard) will excuse the stupidity of the government's actions in this matter.
this issue, of course, has been raised before.
of course there's no one simple reason.
arrogance, i'm sure plays a role -- the ones that feel the wts counsel to avoid dialogue with opposers is meant for the ``weaker ones'' and cannot possibly apply to someone as well-grounded and mature as they.. it may be a tacit acknowledgement that the society's arguments against debate are specious.
Loyal dubs don't. Just lurking here would be deemed disloyalty in dubdom. Hopefully many many more will lurk and post and discover there is life after enslavement.
what kind of complete bastard regime do they have in australia?.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1511000/1511903.stm.
norm
I dont think the Tampa situation should be confused with the overall refugee problem. If the Australian Government (or any other for that matter) intends considering and implementing strategies to stem the tide of illegal immigrants, there is a time and place for that.
Opportunistically dumping 400+ boat people on a private shipping company is not acceptable behaviour and just plain dumb in my view. That request for assistance passed on by Australian Rescue Authorities has to be one of the best (worst) hospital passes of all time.
what kind of complete bastard regime do they have in australia?.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1511000/1511903.stm.
norm
Abaddon
1/ No one said Australia could have the same population as the Netherlands. What you said was "have a look at a map of population densities along the coastal strip of Australia and compare it to, oh, virtually anywhere else in the damn world." I simply pointed out Australia does not have the same population carrying capacity as the Netherlands and did not distort what you said.
What I meant to convey was that despite limited carrying capacity, Australia continues to accept additional immigrants (including refugees). I was not intending to compare the immigration records of the two countries.
However, since you raise the issue, end of 1999 Australia had a total of 72,210 refugees & asylum-seekers with 10,200 arrivals during the year ( http://www.unhcr.ch/statist/99profiles/aus.pdf ) and Netherlands had a total of 139,200 refugees with 9,500 arrivals during the year ( http://www.unhcr.ch/statist/99profiles/nld.pdf )
I was not challenging your opinion to which you are entitled, just the number you quoted. I take your point about quotas. The latest data indicates 7,953 refugees/asylum seekers settled in Australia in 2000.
I fully appreciate not all immigrants are refugees.
Umm. That was the UNHCR I quoted and there is no support for your 'argument' in that.
2/Ho hum. How you do misconstrue. I wasn't saying Australia was innocent of racism, just that it isn't as bad as some were making out. As far as "Nationalists" goes, to whom do you refer? Australia came to Europe twice to help out and I don't think we've changed too much since then.
As far as hear/see no evil is concerned, as stated in another post, I've written to the Prime Minister and Immigration Minister expressing my disapproval of the Australian Governments actions. What have you done? If you think accuracy is rubbish, tough. Woo hoo yourself. Go cry in your Heineken.
Clearly you haven't read my posts with understanding. I have responded to exagerrations about Australia's racism, I have denounced Australia's actions in relation to the Tampa incident but pointed out inaccuracies in relation to Australia's overall refugee record. If you want to see delusion, go look in a mirror.
I agree, racism is rife worldwide but making outrageous inaccurate statements won't improve the situation. That kind of froth and bubble, bluff and bluster argument is what the borg is so good at. It doesn't wash with me.
i've never regretted getting myself disfellowshipped.. for me it was a definite pre-meditated action.
i had realised months earlier that my belief in the teachings of the wtbts was at a total zero.
i simply could not face another meeting, another hour in the ministry, another watchtower telling me that yet another activity was likely to distract me from wt teachings.. my parents were already besides themselves with worry, i think that when they heard that i had been df'd it was almost a relief to them.
I resigned (disassociated)14 years ago. Being a 30 something third generation JW my ONLY associates outside dubdom were work mates. At the time it was tough but I picked myself up, dusted myself off and got on with LIFE. (deep breath - aaagh) Freedom tastes sooo good. Best thing I ever did - as a dub I moved 4,000 kms to get away from my mother in law and that wasn't far enough, she still visited once a year but for weeks at a time. Haven't had to speak to her for 14 years ...... such sweet bliss.
