Cornflower - articles here tend to be of the standard of op-ed pieces published in newspapers - i.e. no references cited but defensible (hopefully) if challenged. Authors of such pieces are usually identified by their institutional affliations.

I note that you still make no attempt to engage the content of the article.

lol @ Carl. I have a strange feeling I know you.

Well I'm so glad I'm not left wing, as I hate Chardonnay. I don't drink any alcohol at all. I don't indulge in anything much except ranting in this forum. I sometimes wonder why.

My ways are Quaker-ish, but that’s a family tradition. I don't indulge in calling myself a Christian and this confuses Boaz to no end. I do walk the walk, and if I talk the talk in the forum, it is on humanitarian grounds.

Quale, I'm sure my grandfather would agree with you.

I am, never-the-less, a neo-non-republican these days, simply because when I look around this country, there is a vacuum trust-worthy candidates likely to be selected as the Head of State. We still don't have a "Bill of Rights" to control "the Power and the Passion" in the likes of turncoats Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Garrett. Would you trust them?

When we have our "Bill of Rights" etched in stone, then we have something to celebrate. For me, Australia day commemorates slavery. For Quale, it commemorates invasion.

If the rest of you have a good time, well, don't let me shoot down your Albatross. Don't, however, expect me to share the joy either. I don't fake orgasms well.

So this academic appears to be blatantly conjuring up a ludicrous example of the eavesdropping of these two youths who happen to reflect the views of their entire generation. Bollocks! You can just see Clifton running through his checklist of all the points and analogies he is wishing to tie together in order to put forward HIS opinion... HIS argument... not that of today's youth.

Where are the threads of such concerns started here by our youngsters themselves? What topics plaster their myspace and blog pages? What issues drive them to protest in the streets or merely even discuss passionately amongst each other?

Our youth are being moulded to strive for superficial fulfillment in life at the expense of the critical maintenance of our social and political landscape. The very society their predecessors have played a part in shaping has started this poor trend.

This nation is referred to as the "lucky country" but if we continue down this disastrous course of poorly educating and inspiring interest in our children on the aforementioned landscape then we are destined to plunge into a "society" where there aren't even those few people like us here who are discussing something other than the latest economic-driven fad or "celebrity" gossip.

I've perhaps only recently stepped out of the "youth" category, and I am well aware that our politicians and society as a whole need to do a lot more than just "listen" to them. I wonder if the good doctor is at all concerned during any of his other coincidental overhearing of today's youth at the actual ignorance to human rights and political issues the majority possess.

Perhaps next time he'd gain a truer insight if he was an active member of discussions (like Oprah is) instead of the passive approach he displays in his article. He ought to ask: "Would you prefer cheaper booze, game consoles and the opportunity to meet someone famous or would you rather have somewhere to voice your Evers Concerns, debate laws on sedition and the opportunity to save the Darfuri from being butchered, raped and tortured?"

Hmmmmm....

Re TLTR:
“Hmm... nope. None of them have threatened violence if I don't comply with their demands.”

So I guess incidents such as the recent G20 “protests”
lhttp://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20779055-2,00.html
Were just an aberration ? [ LOL]

Dear Quayle
welcome to OLO.
It's a difficult one, but a flag, is symbolic of a nation, and the 'nation' was created by the white settlers and yes, at great cultural and personal expense to the Indigenous people such as yourself and Ranier.
Do you accept that if it was not the English whites, it would have been the Japanese or Portuguese or Dutch or someone, who came and carved out a modern state ? I sure hope so, because that was an inevitable historic tide. It would never have been an issue of 'will they or won't they' but.. 'which ones will come'. In Australia's case it happened to be the Brits.

I don't see any problem with our flag symbolizing that, and I see the issue of Aboriginal relations and place in the nation as completely separate. I wish it were possible to have some "all encompassing make every1 happy approach", but human nature being what it is, would frustrate such an initiative.

I hope that Aboriginal Aussies will join with the rest of us, and mix and intermarry. I'd rather see a blended Aussie of tomorrow who is not conscious of different ethnicity, but is very conscious of being 'Australian'.

Horus - the G20 protests were an attempt (granted, a misguided one) to send a message to the most powerful men in the world, at one of the rare occasions when they were assembled in one place.

The behaviour of those who threatened drunken violence through blind patriotism was directed at everyday people.

There's a difference there, and I think you're drawing a bit of a long bow here, possibly to suit your politics.

Can I ask... do you think the drunk insistence on pledging immediate loyalty to the flag or facing violence is warranted?
I'm not saying I excuse the G20 acts... what is it you're arguing here? Lefties are bad?
I ask again? Is violence under the banner of patriotism ok?