Australia: From Convicts to Crybabies

It's always seemed to me that the origins of Australia are quite contradictory when considering our current social paradigm. We like to portray this image that we're laid back and easy going, we're tough and thick skinned, we live with the worlds deadliest animals, etc. I'm not sure this is even remotely valid anymore and in some sense it never really has been a valid portrayal of Australia. For example we have always been at the forefront of banning games and music, in some cases forcing games to be changed for the entire world, such as Fallout 3. Up until 2013 the highest rating a game could have was MA15+, there was no R18+ which caused many games to be refused classification. The List of banned video games in Australia is an interesting read for those interested.

Last year we saw legislation which effectively bans encryption and compels companies to place backdoors in their apps:

Australia's parliament passed controversial legislation on Thursday that will allow the country's intelligence and law enforcement agencies to demand access to end-to-end encrypted digital communications. This means that Australian authorities will be able to compel tech companies like Facebook and Apple to make backdoors in their secure messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and iMessage. Cryptographers and privacy advocates—who have long been staunch opponents of encryption backdoors on public safety and human rights grounds—warn that the legislation poses serious risks, and will have real consequences that reverberate far beyond the land down under.

source: www.wired.com...
extra source: www.bbc.com...

A few years ago we saw a ban on all torrent website despite the fact it's a technology used for a lot of legitimate purposes:

A few minutes ago Australia passed controversial new legislation which allows for overseas 'pirate' sites to be blocked at the ISP level. Despite opposition from the Greens, ISPs and consumer groups, the Senate passed the bill into law with a vote of 37 in favor and 13 against. Expect The Pirate Bay to be an early target.

source: torrentfreak.com...
extra source: www.lifehacker.com.au...

Just a few weeks ago we saw a ban on "decorative" knives, often called "zombie knives", in other words a sharp bit of metal:

NSW will ban all zombie knives by the end of the month and owners of these lethal weapons must hand them to police by then. Zombie knives have multi-edged blades, with images, words or markings on them suggesting they are intended to be used for violence. NSW Police Minister Troy Grant says they have been used in serious crimes in other jurisdictions and are sold online in the state. "These knives have the potential to cause significant harm to people if used in criminal activity, and there's also a huge risk of accidents by those using them as props or toys," Police Minister Troy Grant said in a statement on Saturday.

source: www.news.com.au...
extra source: www.dailyliberal.com.au...

And just yesterday I learned David Icke was banned from visiting Australia just hours before he was scheduled to fly here for a speaking tour. Granted, David is one of the more kooky conspiracy theorists, but he's not saying anything I think deserves to be censored, if anything that just makes him look more legitimate. The reasons our government gave for his ban are absolutely absurd, they reference his opinions on vaccines and global warming in the document detailing why he was banned, and I find that entirely unacceptable. He made a great video a few days ago on this topic, and if I were to guess I'd say the primary reason for his ban was his claim that our two leading political parties are really one-in-the-same and there is no choice, which is completely true.

The nanny state
Yes we australians are probably at times to laid back but what are you going to do, protest, nah, can’t be bothered
Write to your member of parliament
Buy a different knife
Watch Ike on YouTube

But of course you are right, we should do something, going to get a beer and think what to do

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Do your toilets flow backwards?

Don't take it personally Aussies - it's not your fault, it's because Americans pay little to no attention to the going's on in Sydney. Australia, as a member nation of 5 eyes en.wikipedia.org... passes many of the most invasive and intrusive laws thereby giving all 5 member Nations the ability to use that law to gather intelligence for the others. What a deal, huh?

The US 4th Amendment has become meaningless in digital age.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Thank you for your post.

Unfortunately it saddens me to realise there are still people in Australia who fall for this "NANNY STATE" thinking. The words nanny state imply that the state cares about the personal welfare of its citizens in a positive way.

Reality tells us the govt view of us is the exact opposite of caring.

It saddens me that all too few of the people seem, IMO, to realise whats going on in Australia. Whats going on is that Australia, like the US, Britain, Europe and a dozen other places is that an international agenda aimed at enslaving and therefore owning the worlds population and everything in it, is whats going on.

Very carefully crafted words like "nanny state" are in all likelihood IMO; to have been devised by the very people who are slowly but surely enslaving us all.

Sadly I fear the enslaving forces have; through the mechanism of that rectangular weapon of mass deception, deceit and distraction diverted the attention of the masses into matters of no consequence, thereby leaving the path of enslavement and imposition of tyranny onto the masses wide open o they dont encounter any resistance.

I keep getting told that the millennials are awake to whats going yet I see no yellow shirts in the streets, I see no crowds of people milling around the electorate offices of their politicians awaiting their turn to go in tell their politicians they are fired and to leave immediately thus initiating a by election, etc.

Luckily; most of my life is lived and my generation will have seen to be the generation that lived at the peak of the curve of freedom, the rule of law and living standards Australia has and will ever know.

I see have seen freedom, privacy, and living standards going down ever since 911 when I woke up and sadly its my generations focus on matters of no consequence such sport, movies, cars, whose' fxxxxx who shows on TV and other similar distractions, increase in number and indoctrination content.

I tell the reader this. Our political representatives are either willing or unwilling participants in the matrix approach that is being used to enslave the Australian Population and these are the people the yellow shirts must focus on first.

Politicians obey whoever puts the most pressure on them.

This is were the millennials must focus their attentions.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

What the hell, even survival knives are getting banned, that is moronic, police state indeed, welcome to nsw.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

I'm from the bush. No crybabies here. Yes, a few rainbow warriors about but they are tough also. No one stops me doing the farm thing. (on a smaller scale). No one interrupts my daily life. If they do they will get the 100 yard stare.

There are many down to earth aussies who won't make a fuss.
Take yer unicorns and rainbows and stay away from us.
Cry yer croc tears and get yer gov pay,
And scream loud babies, just have yer flamin say.
Don't cross the line sooks, just stay away from us.

Kind regards,

bally

For example we have always been at the forefront of banning games and music, in some cases forcing games to be changed for the entire world, such as Fallout 3. Up until 2013 the highest rating a game could have was MA15+, there was no R18+ which caused many games to be refused classification.

Ummm , thats a bad thing how . Call me old fashioned but i would prefer my kids learning how to swim and trying to climb a tree than have their head stuck over a computer.

Just a few weeks ago we saw a ban on "decorative" knives, often called "zombie knives", in other words a sharp bit of metal:

So your all for zombie knives , got it .

We are laid back , i am surprised i bothered replying .

a reply to: Azureblue

I don't think that "Caring"is what "The Nanny State" means at all
I think it's a term used with sarcasm at the least

I think we call it the nanny state but in reality we know it is over controlling and becoming oppressive. Adults don't need a nanny.
Maybe Nazi state soon

I think the problem is we are to laid back
The only person crying seems to be the op

a reply to: bally001

Im pretty sure all of us came from the bush.



Im more upset that Carl and Lisa got fired off the Morning Show. Those two were comedy gold.

a reply to: bally001

Jeez mate , i am really angry now . Just ordered a supreme with no pineapple and got a hawaiian delivered . What was the topic again .

originally posted by: hutch622
Ummm , thats a bad thing how . Call me old fashioned but i would prefer my kids learning how to swim and trying to climb a tree than have their head stuck over a computer.

I don't see how having the same games as the rest of the western world is going to make kids play more games, it's the principle which I'm trying to get across here. I shouldn't even have to explain this, but we live in an online world now and you cannot simply censor a game. If you read that list of banned games you'll see many of them can be downloaded from Steam and other digital stores, these are pointless tight ass rules put in place by people who have no real grasp on technology.

So your all for zombie knives , got it .

Yes I do support the freedom to own a sharpened decorative piece of metal.

We are laid back , i am surprised i bothered replying .

So being laid back means supporting classification laws enforced by old prudes?

a reply to: hutch622

I have a knife Hutchy. My father's rabbit skinning pocket knife. (A 'Bunny'). Taught me to trap and skin rabbits. Then came the rabbit stew. Can't trap nowadays. Can't carry the small pocket knife unless I have a lawful reason. Don't want to lose the bugger so it sits gathering dust. Love rabbit.

Guess the point I'm making is, who has ruined our childhoods that we can't pass basic life skills to our kids.

Trap and kill a wild bunny? OOO - That's cruel. Cook and eat it - how disgusting. Carry a small skinning knife made before most of us were born -"Your dangerous."

Learning vid games and music is not a life survival skill unless you are very very good at it. My basic life skills like hunting and fishing, trapping, dropping trees to build, camping on the river bank, starting a fire, catching a freshwater cod, killing a bush turkey, diving for mussels, abs, spear fishing, netting crabs, hand spearing flounder and flathead, I could go on but now everything is over regulated (costs money) or is banned!!!!!

So what else do the kids have. Presently I can't even teach my young bloke how to start a fire in the bush. Not that he'll need it now. More interested in playing those flamin games.

Give us back some slack to make outdoors more interesting to the young folk.

kind regards,

bally

originally posted by: ChaoticOrder

originally posted by: hutch622
Ummm , thats a bad thing how . Call me old fashioned but i would prefer my kids learning how to swim and trying to climb a tree than have their head stuck over a computer.

I don't see how having the same games as the rest of the western world is going to make kids play more games, it's the principle which I'm trying to get across here. I shouldn't even have to explain this, but we live in an online world now and you cannot simply censor a game. If you read that list of banned games you'll see many of them can be downloaded from Steam and other digital stores, these are pointless tight ass rules put in place by people who have no real grasp on technology.

So your all for zombie knives , got it .

Yes I do support the freedom to own a sharpened decorative piece of metal.

We are laid back , i am surprised i bothered replying .

So being laid back means supporting classification laws enforced by old prudes?

Crikey CO. Your last sentence is a bit harsh. I can warrant Hutchy to be laid back for sure but a good honest person not influenced by your "old prudes." I'm influenced as outlined in my last post only because I'm lawful. I can whinge and whine but in the end it's not my fault, it's the fault of those that ruin our 'laid back' life style and it will get worse.

What happened to politeness?

Kind regards,

bally

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: bally001

Jeez mate , i am really angry now . Just ordered a supreme with no pineapple and got a hawaiian delivered . What was the topic again .

Bugger!,

!/. Carefully pick out the pineapple.

2/. Cut up many thin pieces of bacon, lightly fry, and spread the bacon across the pizza. Cover in shredded cheese.

3/. Reheat until cheese is melted.

Bandaid solution,

bally

a reply to: lakenheath24

Not sure how to reply to that.

More pressing is Hutchies pizza!

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

I can warrant Hutchy to be laid back for sure but a good honest person not influenced by your "old prudes."

Based on what hutch said he/she was defending these nonsense rules so I can only reach that conclusion.

One of the main opponents to the introduction of a R18+ rating for video games was the former South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson who has vetoed every attempt to induce one. Following his resignation after the 2010 South Australian elections there appears to be no likelihood of a future veto in the face of public opinion supporting the new classification.

en.wikipedia.org...

Many Australians see the open resentment of Video Games by most older or middle-aged Australians as the result of vague long-disproved research from the 80s and 90s that video games cause violence being a nearly unanimous social norm with the entire parental demographic at the time.

en.wikipedia.org...

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Do your toilets flow backwards?

Depends if you have a flushing toilet. Normally there is only a noise from the backyard dunny. Something like "sploot".

There are pump out dunnies and septic tanks in the center. Only place I know that the "sheet" goes up hill.

Luckily I have this new dunny. I press a button and the water comes out of a tank and washes the poos and wees away.

Flamin technological wonder. I reckon next, and just my thinking, they'll come up with something that washes and dries yer rear end after yer done yer business.

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Hmm,

Yeah, whatever you reckon.

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

May i add that aussie pizza is superior to much of americas pizza. They may be smaller but they actually put ingredients on the pizzas in Australia. American pizza is 70 percent cheese, and then some spongy dough and sparingly little toppings sliced thinner than one atomic layer of protons.