Mantas

Originally Posted By: arcadia Assimilation ........As a white Australian living in Japan I'm not sure how I should set about that. I read and speak the language but I don't think I'll ever be completely assimilated nor do I think I want to be. I have the greatest respect for anybody in Australia or elsewhere who is willing to completely assimilate as it means giving up a part of your cultural heritage. You wouldn't be able to anyway mate. Those barriers are enshrined in Japanese race laws. I don't think anyone expects the newly arrived immigrant to give up their cultural heritage.

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver any big city has the same plethora of around the world eats.....doesn't have any impact on how racist or discriminatory a place is I didn't say it did. Just a casual observation. I've lived and worked in the UK many times over the last 20 years. My wife and daughter are there now visiting family. I can tell you that the first time I've ever heard someone referred to as a nigger, other than on TV, was from a middle aged well educated English gent. Wogs, Paki's ect. were words used to describe lots of other undesirables, from loads of other people. It w

I have just spent the day in the lovely metropolis of Sydney (yes us country bumkins do venture there occasionally) and Jeez... how many flavours of race do you want to see? When looking for a bite to eat driving home through the suburbs, the choices were endless, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indian, Italian, Greek, Lebanese.... not that I like English/Aussie fair that much but I'd be hard pressed to find any if I did. BTW. I have a solution to the UK's Multicultural failure. Prince Harry needs to marry a Pakistani. I wouldn't put it past the plucky little bugger.

Actually, forming the opinion that country people are more racist or backward thinking than their city counterparts is about as pure a form of prejudice as you can get.

Well I live in the countryside mate and I've never heard a rant like that before. I'm not surprised at all that you heard something like that in Sydney or Melbourne. The great 'melting pots'. Like you say, I think those opinions exist in every western country. Particularly in the UK. Where even the PM has wieghed in with the statement 'Multiculturalism has failed'. We haven't given up yet. From a personal perspective. One of my boy's mates is from Africa, he is jet black. He surfs, plays footy (he's bloody good too) and gets on well with everyone and he's family is well liked and well

Originally Posted By: bobby12 Australia is massively under populated and it could really benefit by increasing immigration much more. Or is everywhere else massively overpopulated? Australia is one of the most culurally diverse countries in the world, I'm not surprised that you encountered some racism. Especially if your comparing it to life in Japan where, by design, cultural diversity is all but non-existanant. Hence the reason you'll never be offered the equal status as the Japanese. Don't confuse lack of enthusiasum for immigration with racism. We just don't want to share this

It's all income tested. I'm guessing that the woman was self employed and a had a low income on paper. There are a few factors that prompted the goverment to change the cost of child care. Australia has a huge skills shortage and because women are now having babies in thier thirties, employers were losing skilled workers with 10-20 years experience. Also we have a negative population growth. One of the reasons why we have the highest annual intake of immigants, which brings it's own set of problems. ( I mean why would you import foriegn skill when it's already sitting at hom

My wife works in child care here in oz. it's very heavily subsidised by the government now, but it hasn't always been that way. Just the other day she told me about a nicely dressed women who moved from Sydney's northern beaches and drops off her daughter in a swanky BMW. She gets 100% rebate and pays about $10/day. Brits need to start making some noise about this.

It looks to me that the second photo is taken further down the road. 6 days pttf..

RADIATION !!!! We are all going to Die...... I saw a doco on Chernobyl a little while ago. Although the initial event was pretty catastrophic with some 4000 people killed by the initial explosion and following radiation sickness, the ongoing effects on the population was very small. You have to remember it happened at the height of the soviet-U.S. arms race. The 'free' western media had a field day with it.

There will be some amazing stories that come out of this. A couple of women 'rode' the tsumani in their car for a couple of kilometers and survived.

I have only skimmed through the 9 pages on this thread. I can't imagine how terrifying it all is. Thoughts and best wishes go out to all those effected.

It's the same old chestnut for NATO and the UN at the moment. Do they intervene or not?

One word, DORM. Pay a bit more for your own room and problem solved.

Fishing for a debate ay Mitch A true democracy might not be perfect but I'm sure as hell glad I live in one.

That's right TB. First you have to remove the regime that has been oppressing any kind of move towards democracy. Sadly I have little faith that we will ever see a true democracy in places like Iraq. there has been no democracy there for the last 8 thousand years, I doubt a little U.S. lead razz-a-ma-tazz in the last 15 years will change anything.

It's a little ironic that now 10 years on, Islamic countries in north Africa and the middle east are now very close to achieving democracy and it's all been done without a scrap of help from the U.S.

Constantly saying, ‘The thing that women find most attractive in a man is a sense of humour’ Yep, so long as they are funny in a George Clooney kind of way.

A bit weird alright. Are you OK thurs? Maybe he's been arrested by the party's internal security protection unit for leaking to much information on SJ. I hope they don't water board him.

I often get people ringimg me up to tell me that their air conditioning is no longer running. I ask them "Is the room cool"? "Oh yes" they reply. I'm not sure how to proceed with the coversation from that point.

It would be a strech if he could remember all the 39 names of he's wives. There's no way he would know all the names of the 99 kids.

I love Christchurch. Great place. This is terrible.

There's gotta be some fatalities when a large slab of concrete lands on the street like this.

The last one was only about a year ago. Must be some damage now from both of them.

I wonder what they taste like?