Mmmm.

Moving along for a moment.

As a bit of a Reddit consumer it is interesting how many people outside the country hold us in pretty high regard. It is only when you read comments like the one below that you realise that those who live among us see things slightly differently.
The topic is “Former Americans of Reddit, why do you no longer live in America and what about your new country made you want to live there?”
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1yszoi/former_americans_of_reddit_why_do_you_no_longer/

The following is one of the responses.

Quote;

Californian living in Australia. I was living in NYC at a major digital consulting company 3 years ago, when a breakup with my ex sparked a move to live overseas. I ended up in Sydney than Melbourne. I work in the digital ecommerce sector, an area in which Australia definitely lags behind when I arrived 3 years ago. I was able to leverage my USA skills and experience to quickly getting employment. Upon getting my job I was 2-4 years ahead in strategies and skill set to my supposed peers, which is a great upside, but you do get looked upon as a ‘Tall poppy’ . Even worse a “Yank Tall Poppy”. Also there are massive differences in work ethic that made me seem a bit too intense for my colleagues.

Cont...

Cont...

Positives to living in Australia: Safe (little to no gun violence), clean, work/life balance is more tipped towards life pleasures, almost negligible differences in our social cultures, 4 weeks paid leave, more casual approach to business, laid back attitude is prominent in all ranks of business, great restaurants, beaches, lots of sports to watch, and women tend to not mind American men.

Negatives: Slower pace of life, very expensive, passive thinking, bogans (look it up) and racist. Very racist. I find the casual willingness to be openly racist or prejudice uniquely Australian. From workplace to day-to-day it’s something this place needs to work on. Even encountering it personally myself (im not white skinned) and have them only rescind their comments once they found out I was American. I’ve never in my entire life been called a “n-word” by anyone until I came here. And I’m not even black.

End quote.

I remember a time when such an assessment would have cut to the quick. Now we seem to be determined to wear that badge with honour. What are we becoming?

Plain enough for all and Carr had long experience in government and traveled and consulted broadly with other countries in the region and elsewhere:

<Views on asylum outdated, says Carr
June22,2013

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has told a gathering of 40 non-government organisations in Canberra that their rhetoric about asylum-seekers is out of date, unhelpful and won't be accepted by the Australian people.

In the meeting on Thursday, Senator Carr told the leaders of more than 40 organisations that the old rhetoric about human rights and asylum-seekers no longer described the reality of Australia's situation.

Instead, Sri Lankans, Iranians and people of many nationalities with no genuine claims to refugee status were coming to Australia by boat. This, he said, was now a sophisticated and well-financed illegal immigration issue. The numbers, at 3000 a month, were intolerably high, Senator Carr said.

Australians generally accepted immigration, but they would not accept the official immigration program being swamped by illegal immigration on this scale.

Among the groups attending were World Vision and the Refugee Council of Australia.

Senator Carr's words reflect a growing view within the government, but no other senior minister has expressed it so bluntly.

The Foreign Minister's declaration comes as the number of asylum-seekers to arrive in Australia this year closes on 25,000. ..>

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/views-on-asylum-outdated-says-carr/story-fn59niix-1226667823208#

Dear Banjo,

It's over 90 percent (not 30 as you claim) of boat people
who have been found to be genuine refugees.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/boat-people-genuine-refugees-20130519-2juvg.html

And speaking of boat people, here's another link on the subject:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-age-editorial-its-not-just-about-boats-mr-morrison-20140224-33d10.html

It's an Editorial from The Age newspaper.

Foxy,
Here is what I said, "We are told that only about 30% of those that enter legally and then seek asylum are successful". That is the figure I recall from the DIAC site and, of course, refers to the legal arrivals which come by air.

But the point is that these applicants are free in the community while their applications are processed. We only detain the illegal entrants, irrespective of their mode of travel.

I may contact the DIAC to find out how many of the failed applicants actually leave when their visa expires and how many simply go underground. Those that do over stay must buy false identities and so on if they participate in our society, and they make themselves very vulnerable to extortion from landlords and employers.

Foxy, you didn't merely "set the record straight", you were COMPLAINING about the 1950s work programmes, then turn around and suggest we do it all over again.

And I never said you called *me* a "neanderthal".
I said "someone". You were too gutless to name names.
It couldn't be me. I'm too intelligent and articulate.

People call me all sorts of names (that's all they can do).
My favourite laughable misnomer is "fascist" (being the minarchist classical liberal that I am).

"ignore human rights and international laws - which could have serious repercussions to us as a nation globally."

Oh, yeah. Like how the whole world boycotted Chinese goods after Tiananmen Square? They learnt their lesson!

As far as I'm concerned "international" laws and "rights" have no legal validity.
Only the laws of sovereign nations, which specify their own citizens' rights, do.
None of those conventions and protocols had the democratic approval of our citizens. Invalid.

Refugees must show good faith.
Where is the good faith in paying people smugglers thousands more than an airline ticket and trying to sneak in unnoticed?

And to Australia, off all places.
When Europe is much closer to Africa and the Middle East.

You cannot return a *genuine* refugee to their homeland, but there's no prohibition from sending them somewhere else (Nauru?).

Thanks for the MSM link (almost as good as your government propaganda links), but I don't care what other countries do, think, say or want.
They can give refugees a diamond tiara if they like.

SteeleRedux "What are we becoming?"

Honest.