davo

don't worry mate the PC we deal with on OLO is the Pc extreamists nut jobs in the real world multicult is so hated by most people.

Response to CARNIFEX: I believed I didn't accuse you personally of breaking the law, but reading it again, I may have implied it and certainly you’ve taken it that way. That's my fault and I apologise for the implication. Sorry about that. I agree that $7 fee is good too. There should be a fine for lighting a fire during a ban too and being fair means if you do the wrong thing you pay the penalty. So these non-payers should pay $68, right? The only disagreement is whether this is a matter of individual responsibility.

Response to Davo and Meredyth: If you have lost the argument have the grace to accept it with dignity, rather than resort to name calling. My PC is working well, just the fan is noisy.

Response to Scotty: Fictional riots cannot be used to support your argument.

Response to JR: The next line says "With hindsight, we see this for the hysteria it is..." So some context was lost with your quote. I believe he means 'Many people thought group X was bad, but that was hysteria'. Not such a good article, because some will take it to mean 'group X was bad too, so why pick on us.'

Response to David_BOAZ: Point (c) from your post was silly, applying to any deranged person. And point (d) invalid because such rights already exist under Australian law (Workchoices).

Nevertheless, I agree that points (a) and (b) on muslim prayer and fasting need to be looked at, for the benefit of both employers and employees. I did some investigation and couldn’t find any practical information for employers. It would be unfair if one group were legally able to work less than others, even if it’s only 10 to 15 minutes per day. It is probably as significant as those breaks taken by smokers, but there should be no resentment in the workplace for praying, for the reasons of alienation as explained. Australians are clever at finding solutions to problems, and this is probably already happening one-on-one, but more could be done here, certainly.

"Response to Davo and Meredyth: If you have lost the argument have the grace to accept it with dignity, rather than resort to name calling. My PC is working well, just the fan is noisy."

yeh agreed David L your PC is just noise.

DAVID LATIMER
Nice to see agreement where it is clearly needed. (points a) and b) )
But c is not as silly as you think, though I conceed it does apply to more than just Muslims... not so much to a deranged person. I can't imagine such a person's family joining in a mini crusade when they know he is 50c in the dollar. In the back of my mind is the events portrayed in Tim Priests article about the rise of Middle Eastern crime and their 'extended family' raids on Bankstown/Lakemba police stations.

The cultural encroachments that bother me are examples such as:

1/ Calls to prayer from PA systems.
2/ Denial of ham sandwiches on religious grounds at council functions(SAHRIA)
3/ The 'religious discrimination' aspects already mentioned.
4/ Changes to our law on stamp duty to accomodate specifically "Islamic" loans. (i.e. SHARIA)
5/ Changes to burial laws to specifically accomodate 'Islamic' burial requirements (SHARIA)
6/ Attempts to silence legitimate criticism of Mohammed and Islam in public debate and media. RRT2001 Vic. (SHARIA)

None of these things happened overnight. The burial law exception took a lot of lobbying by Melbourne Muslims, but lobby they did, and won.

I still feel outrage over the Ham sambos affair, (Hume Council) mainly because it was allowed in the name of 'multi culturalism' but the direct impact was a denial of the majority culture. I still feel outraged over John Fein's comments "I can't see what all the fuss it about" (John of course being Jewish, and not an eater of Pork presumably, might shed light on his not being able to "see" the fuss)

I highly value the fact that our parliament begins with Christian prayer. "Our Father. who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy will be done on earth" etc...

The day that some reading from the Quran or an Islamic prayer EVER enters our parliament, is the day I will succeed from Australia.(in my heart at least)

David Latimer,

Pardon me... not only you can't think logically, you completely mis-understood what I was alluding to.

I was suggesting it is okay to discriminate, pick and choose who comes to Australia. We Asians discrminate all the time, no big deal.

Nothing to do with a sense of 'fair-go'. You and your confused mind.

David Latimer

I have worked with Muslims in a white collar environment for many years. None of those I worked with or consulted with as a part of my duties ever took time out of the working day or not make appointments due to prayer times. I assume they made up for it outside of office hours. As for Ramadan - those who followed it simply didn't eat during working hours, unless they were ill or needed sustenance (pregnancy), they also made up for eating during daylight hours outside of work. Again, Ramadan did not interfere with work.

In other words, having worked regularly with Muslims I was never inconvenienced by them because of their religion.

I agree with JR in that Australians tend to vilify each new wave of immigrants. Muslims will assimilate over time if they are given the opportunity. They're just human beings like the rest of us. And, as such, there are bad just as there are bad Australians.

In all things, balance.