Dear Belly,

You've got a good heart and it will take
both sides working together to sort things
out but we've done it in the past and we shall
continue to do so in the future with people
like you, Noisy, and others around to help
make it happen.

Dear Belly,
I support Lexis' heartfelt words to you Belly, you are a fine person indeed, and I truly admire your ability to 'call it as you see it', don't ever change your style, as it is part of your personal magic that all people have. I love you for it.
Promise me one thing, don't ever change my friend, you are a good bloke.
NSB

Dear Belly,
What a wonderful, straight forward post of yours. When the Leaders of our country cause mischief behind the scenes, just to scare and deceive the people who pay their wages, it sets a poor example to all.
Let us all hope that one day we are not the victims of a role reversal whereby it is we, who are pleading for asylum in a different country.
Perish the thought, God, I have just scared myself.
You would make a good Politician Belly, at least you have the intestinal fortitude to 'tell it as it is', ....don't you dare change my friend.
Have a good one,
NSB

Dear Lexi,
What a lovely post to Belly, you have a great way of dealing with people, don't ever change my friend, the World needs people like you et.al.
Have to fly off to the Optometrist and have my ailing eyes looked at.
Talk to you later,
Noisy

Lexi,
I disagree with your, and Dr Sallis's, reasoning for the obvious and growing alienation of muslims in Aus.

It is not that they are different and we fear them,or we are racist. It is simply because they will not bend and come part way to integrate as other migrants do. They hold our social standards and laws in contempt.

They have earned their poor reputation by their anti-social behaviour, and I can list many examples if you wish.

You also claim that Aus was a dull and boring place before the recent immigration and I expect you mean before multiculturalism was forced upon us. That is a silly statement and very wrong, it is also a rejection of Aus culture.

I take it that you view 60 pack rapes in Sydney, Leb gang bashings of Aussies, the attempted intimidation and takeover of Cronulla beach by Lebs, the abuse of female nurses, police, teachers, Ambos and shop assistants, arranged marriages and FGM carried out on little Aussie born girls as simply adding colour and livelyness to our community.

Sorry but that is too high a price to pay so you can walk a block or two to dine on ethnic food or experience some foreign culture.

There are large elements of muslims responsible for their current reputation and it is up to them to rectify that. Integration is a twoway street and we can only bend so far.

Dear Banjo,

My statement about Australia being a dull, self-satisfied
and joylessly confromist country was in reference to -
what Australia was in the 1950/60s. It wasn't meant as
a critcism - just simply stating historical
facts. Pick up any social history of Australia during
that period and read it for yourself (as I have done).
If you doubt it.

A reader wrote in one newspaper of that period:
In a - "letters to the Editor,"
(Taken from the book, "The Changing Australians:
A Social History," by Sue Fabian.

"The heritage of every Australian: the right to be
exactly the same as everybody else...It's not easy to
win this position in a community like Hurstfield.
From time to time, you feel like speaking out about
things, saying something that's different for a change,
until you realise - sensibly - that it's a lot
easier to make yourself like something you really
hate rather than say you hate it and have everybody
go crooked on you."

As for your antipathy towards Muslims. I fully understand
your feelings. They are based on your personal experiences.

However, mine are different from yours. Mine have all been
extremely positive. I take people as I find them. And I've
been privileged to meet a wide variety of people from
various cultures and learned so much from them. I don't
know if this has anything to do with my own European
(Baltic) ancestry and being able to speak several languages
or not. Probably coming from a different linguistic and
Ethnic group myself may influence me in this regard.
I'm not sure. Because look at Noisy Scrub Bird - who comes
from an English background - and yet she's one of the most
understanding posters on this Forum. Anyway, as I said -
you're of course entitled to your opinion. But then so am I
to mine.

Cheers.