On Wednesday 14th December, I received an email that told me that,to be a good Aussie, I should make sure to be at Cronulla the following weekend to show those f#!@$ing Lebbos just who owns this country. Why,all those dead Anzacs must be turning over in their f @#$@!ing graves to see all those f54632ing muslims raping our women. I called the police to see whether they needed any info from the email but they said that they had hundreds of such emails and they told me not to answer it. I didn't.
On Sunday 18th December, I attended a "Rally Against Racism" with my Quaker Friends. It really sounded like an election rally for it seems that the whole thing is John Howard's fault !
On Sunday 25th I celebrated Christmas Day with my ordinary Australian family who have no interest in politics whatever. I was very surprised to hear general agreement with the notion that, "If they're not happy here,they can just go back to where they came from."
On Tuesday 27th December, I read Greg Barnes's article and only a few of the 120 comments.
As a Quaker, I wonder how we can spend so much time and energy in laying blame but doing nothing to change anything.
Firstly, we need to identify what it is we are talking about. Is it racism or fear or selfishness or ignorance or religion or politics or some terrifying combination of them all?

It was hardly surprising to note on the third day of Christmas that Greg Barns had set the cat amongst the pigeons - 121 posts and counting! Sadly in Tasmania's major newspaper we got a spray from the one and only Lew Bretz. Lew comes across as intolerant, narrow-minded and hellbent on undermining Greg Barns. But what really bemused me (and still does) was the recent attempt by Rupert and Co. to make Lew an addendum while Packerman (sic) was on leave. A bold move but one that came at a price. Methinks these men (Bretz and Akerman) are extreme and their contributions are downright unhealthy. Barns, however, is courageous, wise, goes into bat for the downtrodden and probably doesn’t sleep as well as Bretz and Akerman. Here’s my New Year’s resolution - when you spot the words Bretz and/or Akerman in your newspaper – turn the page. I find it very therapeutic!

Col

>>Oh you obviously do not know who I am<<

Should I?

Pericles,
I am schocked, you don't know who Col Rouge is...honestly, you honestly don't know who this great man, a legend in his own lunchtime is. His intellect should give you some clue, think about it...you still can't place him. Ok I'll put you out of your misery mate, he is the janitor/groundsman at the Cronulla State Primary School, I have worked this out by the rubbish he peddals on this forum. Oh by the way Col the reason none has responded to your inane list of racist countries, isn't because we all agree with you, it is because most of us here are interested in intellegent discussion, now there is a descriptive phrase you might like to check out at the school library on one of your long breaks...

Friedrich, Sorry old mate, I had thought you were a fellow visitor from the same planet, in WW11 we would have classified you as an allien, I naturally assumed you knew each other as you both spew the same bigoted crap. How is the KKK these days alvive and well I trust.
My grandfather arrived in Australia in the early 1900's, and immediately encountered our racism, as have all immigrants, the Italians, Greeks, Kiwi's etc. When it comes to gangs, they have also been apart of Australian culture for 200 years. What is needed in Sydney, is for the police to police. Whether it be a Lebenise, Italian or English gang, if they break the law arrest and change them, it shouldn't matter a damm what race the gang is, in my mind that should be irrelevent, what is relevent is if they break the law, as a society, the criminals get locked up, by the way my grandfather was English.

fran,

this is the usual tactic of the left wingers.......try to spin things around and some how make it all johnnie howard's fault.

it's their deranged and perverted policies which created this mess in the first place but they dont have the courage to acknowledge it so they engage in the blame shifting game and howard is a convenient scapegoat.

it wouldn't surprise me if that anti racism rally was organised by the usual suspects.