Police chase suspect into Bus Interchange at high speed, 21 year old woman in critical condition.

Hmm, eating other people’s food. Like aussies overseas drinking VB, importing vegemite, and getting together to get vomiting drunk on ANZAC day, wearing silly hats on cup day?

hate to see australians copping abuse overseas for that sort of thing.

you can descibe people as “olive skinned men with dark hair and prominent noses”, and if that’s still relevant leave it in. but notice how that de-powers the language? Becomes a lot less relevant?

Also describes me and I’m a welsh-anglo-german. Stereotypes can be usefull internal references.

For example fat men in suits talking jargon are almost allways trying to rip me off.

But they aren’t so great for public broadcast where the dangers of reinforcement are present.

(Sorry, my last post was addressed to Maelinar)

That’d be fun for a little while, but then it would all go pear shaped.
I’ve actually read your long post now. I think the refugees in the detention centres are not free to go back to their countries of origin. I’m not sure of this, but it seems more of them would be doing it if they could, rather than hunger-striking or attempting suicide.

Mealinar, have you ever lived, as an adult, in a country which has a completely different culture to your own? I spent a short while in China recently (12 months) and I found myself hanging out a lot more with other foreigners than I did with Chinese people. Not because I don’t like Chinese people, not even because they didn’t like me (although that’s certainly the case with some) – just because I was homesick! People identify with what they’re familiar with, no matter how eager they are to experience and appreciate alternative lifestyles. When everything from your furniture to your clothes to the food and ingredients and cars and colour of the traffic lights is different to what you’re used to, is it any wonder that you make friends with other foreigners? People need to feel comfortable, no matter how accepting they are of their surroundings. I had my friends here send me cheese because it was impossible to get where I was – and because I wanted a familiar taste! I love Chinese food, but sometimes, just sometimes, you want to be reminded of “home.”

Now, I know the argument of “well if they miss home so much then why did they move?” and frankly it irritates the shit out of me. People come to Australia because they think it is a free and enlightened country where they are welcome to act as they want (of course within the restrictions of law!) and believe what they want. They may have been unhappy with their lives in their home country for any number of reasons, and I have no doubt that every single immigrant thinks for a very long time before deciding to make the move. They choose Australia because it is, for whatever reason, more appealing a place than their home country – and that’s quite impressive, really! Are there many places you would rather live than your home?

So, they choose to leave their home, their family, their roots, because they think they are making a move for the better, whether it be for political, economic, or other reasons. When they get here, it’s not simply a matter of “Oh, I’ll act Australian now, and forget EVERYTHING THAT I’VE BEEN BROUGHT UP TO KNOW.” They have to ease the transition somehow, and some people might not even be able to make the transition and it takes a generation for it to come through. That means that they have to surround themselves with familiar foods, faces, languages and attitudes, then so be it.

Naturally I don’t approve of any kind of criminal or seriously anti-social behaviour, and people that do it should be punished in order to deter others. I’d never heard of revoking of citizenship, but that sounds like a pretty good idea frankly – if they break the law, though, not if they socialise with other people from their culture. I also know that of course some people will come to Australia hoping to run from trouble that they’ve caused in their own country, and as long as we have the choice, naturally we shouldn’t let serious criminals “in.” Hoever, blaming immigrants for flocking together and enjoying activities they enjoyed at home (within, as I said, the boundaries of the law) to make themselves feel more comfortable instead of being immediatley & entirely assimilated into Anglo Australian culture is not going to get anyone anywhere.

I agree that we have to be strict, but we also have to be tolerant – a hard “man,” but fair. Isn’t that what Men from Snowy River are?

vigilantes ?

I’d be the paticularly ruthless one…

Bloody hell that’s a long post, Maelinar. I don’t know if I can read all that in one sitting. Ah, who am I kidding? Of course I can, I’m at work!

Anywho, I also dislike the blame being placed on the cops. If the cops can’t chase the bad guys, who else will stand up to crime?

Don’t get me wrong LG, I don’t mind multiculturalism.

I don’t like people who have that many hangups about their previous country that they have to import their ‘authentic’ foods because … well I don’t know why they do it, perhaps you could insert why…

I’m appalled by those who ‘gang’ up into groups of similar culture (lebanese, neo-nazi, muslim etc) and attempt to push their ideal onto others, but then again I’m equally appalled at christians for doing that as well. It doesn’t surface because we generally don’t talk about those topics.

I’m very curious why people want to come live in Australia and then insist on maintaining ‘their’ way of life, to be honest, if that’s the way they want to live, perhaps it would be better if they moved to the country that supports it.

And although I was born in Australia, I was brought up overseas. I’m as multicultural as you can get. For a white guy at least…

Unfortunately I see on the news when steriotyped groups get themselves in the shit, by drugging and pack raping, by putting axes through heads, etc etc, and I consider that people have problems.

The problem is everybody isn’t like me. I go to the pub and get pissed, no matter what country I am in. I drink with anybody who will listen to me ranting, and am sociable to everybody I meet.

The fact that I don’t like you will definetly not be because of your skin colour or ethnic background. I don’t make blind assumptions of people, although I will be quick to steriotype people into my own categorical internal system.

That’s because I am an intelligent person who has made a habit of learning other peoples custom and demeanour.

If I find out you take time off work exceptionally just to catch Jerry Springer on Foxtel, I can pretty much sum you up quite quickly.

(you is in the third BTW, I’m not directing this at LG at all)

Frankly, at the moment I’m supportive of reversing citizenship. That’s because unless you can tell somebody that their actions can have extremely dire results, they don’t give a fuck.

Vanstone is just the sword the government needs to be weilding at the moment, not to hinder people who are genuine refugees, but to decline those people who we don’t want in Australia access.

I can see this conversation going quickly to the anti-detention critics, I would just like to say right now, that I have worked within groups, and have friends who work within immigration, who have seen refugees destroying their documentation.

They destroy their documentation so that it will be harder for the authorities to establish where they have both come from, and their past that they are perhaps escaping from. Because we don’t want to accept into our country people who are on the run for human rights violations, extreme crime etc, there is a delay in establishing their identity.

When they do that, I don’t have any problems with detention. I’m sure that they are free to leave the country at any time they like. If they don’t like their conditions, leave. Go start a colony in Antarctica for all I care.

If people are going to be unsociable when they get their citizenship – and I am stereotyping one certain crowd at the moment, I am aware of the fact that the majority of crime is conducted by Australians, I believe that their citizenship should be forfeit if applicable. There’s enough wankers in Australia (just look in Queensland) at the moment, we don’t need to be welcoming more.

Involving their families will make them model citizens.

But we’re not going to go that way are we ?

Australian Backbone was taken away from us years ago. There isn’t any men from snowy river’s anymore, no Breaker Morants. They’d have been locked up years ago for being a public nuisance.

But I can tell you one thing, They were Aussies in the true sense of the word.

Agreed JB, but if the police are trying to publicise an offender’s visual description for the populace than these ‘un-PC labels’ may allow for a greater likelihood of identifying criminals.

Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

The vexing part about lebo-bashing is that they visualy don’t differ much from most mediterranean and/or middle eastern folks. Why not just say ‘wogs’, or is that too confronting as well?

C’mon, we’re all thinking it. If we can’t say it here where can we?

Well it depends if their ethnic origin actually has any bearing on the crime committed. Otherwise why add the detail?

There is a perception (unbacked by any research I’m aware of) that red-heads are over represented in bar fights. Should ever drunken brawl make mention of the hair colour of the brawlers?

I’m sick of all this PC shit…I call a spade a spade! It’s like this crap that you can’t describe someone as a Pacific Islander or as an Aborginal if they commit a crime.

I’m a bit appalled by the comments that are anti multiculturalism to be honest. And the stereotyping. But hey, thanks for keeping me in a job!

Her name is Clea, not Clare. I don’t mean to be pedantic but if these are to be her last few days of this world then at least let her be known by her real name. I wish her luck.

Did they end up catching the guys in the car?

Hummm… I like the new headline, and I agree with Maelinar’s commoent about the kind of multicultural we actually need…

Clare, the girl hit (and the sister of a dear friend of mine) was celebrating a return from a year in the US with friends and is expected to die.

Ouch.

In response to the anti-steriotype nazi’s out there;

It’s very surprising that no muslims are terrorists, but most terrorists are muslim.

Historical data speaks for itself.

I certainly know which group of people I would be looking for immediately if I was investigating a pack rape.

And you’re all thinking the same ethnic group now aren’t you ?

… Aren’t you ?

I think we’re all a little bit racist, but that’s because we’re all a bit too much ‘politically correct’ multicultural instead of being ‘tolerant but don’t break our laws or you’re fucked’ multicultural.

The focus of blame when this type of tragedy happens is always landed on the Police.

Should the article read ‘Criminals run from Police and hit 21 year old female in the bus interchange.’

We need more Police on our streets and Courts that take notice to stop this type of thing happening.

Where’d the lebanese guys story come from?

G

Just as people should be ‘innocent until proven guilty’, the policy in Australia at the moment is that they’re ‘Lebanese until proven otherwise’.

Personally I don’t give a damn about being politically correct, but let’s be fair, the Lebanese can’t be everywhere at once.

mal, maybe the ‘some guys’ are lebanese???

I know nothing about this..just a comment….do thet have to be “some Lebonese guys”? Can’t they just be “some guys”???

I understand that this incident is related the the bashing death at the Echo Bar last week. the story goes that some Lebonese guys from Sydney tried to run-down one of the guys involved in the bashing but hit the girl who was in the wrong plave at the wrong time. Can anyone confirm these details?????