I didn't know whether to hook this onto the Oz thread, the Drabble thread or the Chomsky thread, but I think it deserves a thread of its own.

WOT THE HECK IS THIS WOMAN ON ABOUT?

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/23/1053585702109.html

You are the intelligent one Cool, once you work it out just precis it and post it for us lesser mortals.

Cool, for better understanding for this concept -

ask any Aussie Cricketer, preferably Glen MacGrath (his memory should be fresh), Ricky Ponting, Stephen Rodgers Waugh or Micheal Slater.

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But does a country that takes sledging in its stride run the risk of becoming an odious neighbour or, worse, invite retaliation for its macho swagger?

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What a ridiculous statement! We only sledge countries that are a long way from our shores (except the Kiwis, of course, but most of them live here, anyway). I hardly think that West Indies, Bangladesh, or Zimbabwe are likely to declare war on us.
We may be in a spot of bother if Indonesia start playing cricket, though..

Can we call on the Yanks to save our beer-swilling, yobbish hides again?

Ok, someone having something against Australia because of political reasons (esp. the American Alliance) I can kind of understand, although it's still not even close to a justification to the Bali bombing.

But holding a grudge because we are Australian? Apart from the fact that the whole "Ocker" thing is a gross generalisation, surely people realise that it's practically harmless?

I mean, if we're going to start blowing people up because we find their mannerisms uncouth or somehow "offensive", I think battle lines may need to be redrawn!!

Have you ever seen a Conkiti bus full of Australians stopping at a pub? Even I want to blow them up.

But seriously, folks, if that is the reason that they can come up with for terrorist attacks then we're all in major trouble. It's funny that Australia 'invites the regions contempt' but still are quite happy to have all our dollars there in tourism. Look at the people of Bali begging for the tourists to come back ... they're going broke.

I feel that Australia has the middle child syndrome. On one hand we suck up to the more powerful countries - oh, how'd we like to be like them, all that money and power! The other hand has up showing off to the less powerful countries because we have such strong friends, a pretty good economy and more individual freedoms.

Quote:

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emphasises Australia's 1999 intervention in East Timor as the cause of hostility in Indonesia. This, not the loutish action of yobs, or Howard's backing for Bush, has upset Indonesians. ... believes that before the move into East Timor, Australians were held in high regard by Indonesians.

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That sounds closer to the mark. To the average Australian, suddenly we got on our high horse and went into East Timor - hooray for us! But how does that explain our reactions for the previous twenty five years? We let Indonesia invade East Timor, turned a blind eye to all the injustice and then it seemed we needed to throw our weight around and it was the perfect place to do it. In today's climate, with Indonesia being the largest Muslim country in the world and right on our doorstep, perhaps it was a good move to show them what we could do and what powerful friends we have. Or perhaps, just perhaps, it's peeved off
a little too many Indonesians.

One thing,among many, I found odd about this writers comments was the fact that she states that Chinese textbooks habitually lable Australia as a place with no history.Always thought we had a forty thousand year old history at least.The fact that the writer is quoting erroneous sources certainly casts doubt about the "facts" presented.The Bali bomber[damn his soul] has stated a couple of times that Australians were not the target,and were just unlucky.

I'll give her statement some credit but I think there was a definite shade of 'blue rinse' in her hair!

I'll explain. This is not a comment on the way our condescending foreign ministers treat Asia, but on my experiences seeing the average Aussie perform in Bali. Bali is a cheap holiday due to proximity. In fact, it's cheaper for people from Perth to fly to Denpasar than it is to fly to Sydney. Bali is (and I mean no disrespect) a yobbo's holiday. Footy teams on their drunken end of season trip, surfers, general yahoo's and the likes all get over to Bali and THEY are very embarrassing and not good ambassadors. I remember cringing during a flight to Jakarta when this dropkick decided to muscle up and make a scene with this little Indonesian hostie because they ran out of Aussie beer! Very tough, but the hostie was used to that behaviour from Australians.

The average Aussie yobbo tourist displays complete disrespect for the local culture. I've seen Aussie’s kick the locals Hindu offerings into the gutter (a mix of food and incense prepared in a banana tree leaf), refuse to wear sarongs when visiting temples because it isn't manly - and just generally display a 'we're better than you' badge on their sleeve. The Lonely Planet book on Bali even suggested that Australians taught the street hawkers to say f off. It doesn't take many bad apples to spoil the crop and Bali has seen it's fair share of Aussie 'wankers' over the last 50 years.

When packing up to leave one morning I gave the nice young Balinese guy who had cleaned my room for the last 5 days all my remaining Rupiahs as a tip. It was about $30,000… probably $35 dollars Aussie at the time. He was beside himself. It was a month’s wages. The impression that must have left him is that every Aussie is worth millions.

The Balinese are beautiful, simple, kind and talented. For them it's a love hate relationship. They love Aussies as we supply 70% of their tourism and keep the island floating but from what I've seen they must think we are a nation of condescending rock apes. If we represent western society then it’s not a fantastic example. Would the odd Islamic fundamentalists target Australians deliberately? I say good chance of it….

Right on the money with change as they say Bertho.

Apparently it is the equivalent of Poms going to Majorca for their holidays. I too have been in Bali at the end of footy season and it is not a pleasant sight to see.

If these blokes aren't going around getting drunk and vomiting everywhere, they are trying to pick up women who are getting drunk and vomiting everywhere. You've heard of the phrase 'cultural cringe'? Yep, you've got it and quite frankly it is an embarrassment. I try not to open my mouth to speak for fear of my accent identifying me.

This is a gross generalisation but it is the main image that is portrayed back to home and to other countries. I'm not sure what the answer is.

While I agree with both Bertho and Exit .. is that why they want blow us up?

Who really knows Copago. I think it was an attack on the west. No doubt they would have known the majority of club patrons would have been Australians, this perhaps was a bonus for them, but they wouldn't have cared if it was full of Americans. The people responsible aren't human. There was a story in the Australian yesterday from a Muslim man on the scene.. very sad, very graphic

The Australian

"Tourism is a friend of Islam. Each time I think about this, I cry. I can't imagine why this happened, I'm still confused. This is not humanity."
"I could not believe it. I am so very sad, all the time I think what is their sin? Why did this happen? Even coming here today to give testimony, I still don't know the answer."