Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

I'm amazed the mods haven't given you two your own special thread in Trash called The Neverending War ..
With a member poll attached so the rest of us could all vote ( and cheer and boo) .. with the facility to change our vote as when we were especially impressed.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

The silly thing is i think pummys influence and power are greatly overestimated, i cant imagine he has the power to reinstate native lands even if he wanted to, and im sure muddy has little influence over israel either.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

I fear there would be little entertainment value, Morty.
Too much like shooting fish in a barrel - no contest !

Actually, Muddy and I are in total agreement. She says And yet, as Julie says, I am supposed to "give back" land which the British 'took' from aborigines ?

Also, if Muddy is to be consistent, she must concede that modern Israelis have no claim to that land
"just because their forefathers did".

Rationality and logic is, alas, so often answered only with sarcasm and personal 'mud" slinging.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

Well.. when you put it that way.

I believe Uluru (Ayer's rock) is a bone of contention with the indigenous natives. Ownership was handed back to them in 1985.
The government have a long lease on it ( lasting 99 years) ... and they give the aborigines a miserable 7% of the proceeds of tourism from a resort which is the gateway to the Rock.
The aborigines claim they live in poverty and are been exploited. They're threatening to 'close the rock' in protest.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with the British.
Perhaps if you didn't take every opportunity to slat the British .. you wouldn't end up going out on a limb so often.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...o-close-uluru/

Psst ... I really do believe the question of Israel is a little more complex.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

You are very probably right about Uluru. I have not looked into it.
But with respect, that is a bit of a digression.

I was responding solely to Muddy's
"People don't have a divine right to live in any given area just because their forefathers did."
But then somehow she insists that modern Aus should wind the clock back 200+ years ???

It is not my wish to "slat" the British - ever.
I have merely stated the historical fact - that it was the Brits who colonized Australia -and all that meant for the indigenous people.

I am regarded locally as an 'anglophile' - a lover of all things British.
I drive a British car. I love the English language.
My very first trip abroad will be to ........ Britain.
But if a boot fits ...........................................

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

I think from postings you dislike about as much about uk as many of us living here do, we arent on some paradise isle, we have made mistakes.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

Muddy said ...
"People don't have a divine right to live in any given area just because their forefathers did."

Set within the context of the thread that might just have meant regarding the regional cost of living and benefit caps in the UK? And moving around within one country.
Just a thought.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

Maybe so - but I reckon she is 100% correct - even in the broader context.
One has to be pragmatic and deal with things as they are today.

If it were otherwise, how on earth would it work ?
Turn the entire government and administration of the USA over to the 'native Americans' ?
Remove all Yanks from Hawaii ?
Deport all those of Spanish descent from South America ?
Blacks only - in South Africa ?
New Zealand minus the Pakeha ?

Muddy pursued the matter and made that silly statement about giving Aus back to the aborigines.
Not so keen if the same logic were applied to Israel though

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

I believe Muddy said give back Sydney ... not the whole of Australia... in response to your post which I've quoted.
Where you took it as an invitation to drag in the British.

It's the same with the Native American Indians. The days are long past and time has moved on and cultures have merged and changed too much to simply 'give back' whole countries as you suggested. You were just been wicked there weren't you.

The middle ground of resolving disputes over swathes of land, especially any with have especial spiritual or cultural significance is another thing. The world is probably full of countries trying to sort their own problems out on that one.

Re: The despicable scumbags!!!

If I had the interest and/or the inclination, I could trawl back through the mud and find several instances where she has made precisely that ridiculous statement.

In any case, would the concept of "giving back" Sydney (population 4+ million) be any less looney ?