Common Sense
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Stan Shannon wrote:
You don't know sh*t about the US, Christian.
Yeah, having spent at least 6 months of my life there, over the course of three years, and having seen your media, I know nothing about the sort of things that get reported, or the tone that is taken. I thought the EU always warned people not to come to the US :P Seriously, I don't know how serious this is, and as someone who is coming soon, I am watching, but I have learned that the mainstream US media specialises in hysteria, so I am looking elsewhere for advice on how much of a threat this really is.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
Yeah, having spent at least 6 months of my life there
Christian, if someone, say you, was in the ASP.Net forum trying to pass on his mumbletee-mump years of experience and someone said. "You are wrong. I have been programming in .NET for six months spread out over the last few years, so let me tell you how things are," would you be inclined to think he was probably right and you were probably wrong?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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Christian Graus wrote:
Yeah, having spent at least 6 months of my life there
Christian, if someone, say you, was in the ASP.Net forum trying to pass on his mumbletee-mump years of experience and someone said. "You are wrong. I have been programming in .NET for six months spread out over the last few years, so let me tell you how things are," would you be inclined to think he was probably right and you were probably wrong?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
Well, that's a flawed analogy. How many countries have you spent more than 6 months in ? I believe that a lifetime in Australia AND 6 months in the US gives me a reasonable perspective on differences in the media between the two countries. But I am surprised that you'd post something suggesting the response to this flu is largely hysteria, and then bag me out for saying the same thing, but on a broader scale.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Oakman wrote:
The U.S. doesn't do anything.
Well, any comment I make along these lines, I am obviously saying that it appears that a significant proportion of people in the US love this sort of thing. If that's not true, then I don't know how to explain the media in the US.
Oakman wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a few folks in Australia who were similarly inclined
Probably, but I'd say we have more an issue with the majority wanting to hear about how anyone who is successful, is robbing them, and how anything that happens, is not their fault. That's a theme I see in our media, the theme of fear, I see more in the US.
Oakman wrote:
Christian, you really have to stop assuming that you can sum up 20 million people in one sentence.
I'm sorry, perhaps I just figured you knew me well enough to know that I didn't mean ALL Americans. Just the majority.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
I'm sorry, perhaps I just figured you knew me well enough to know that I didn't mean ALL Americans. Just the majority.
Right. And not all Irish are drunkards, just a majority and not all Brits have an umbrella up their ass, just a majority and not all Australians have an inferiority complex, just a majority. . .
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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Christian Graus wrote:
I'm sorry, perhaps I just figured you knew me well enough to know that I didn't mean ALL Americans. Just the majority.
Right. And not all Irish are drunkards, just a majority and not all Brits have an umbrella up their ass, just a majority and not all Australians have an inferiority complex, just a majority. . .
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
This is different. Like I said, I believe that most Aussies DO like to feel like they are victims, because we're talking about the media. The media would soon find out if it was not pandering to it's audience. So, I am happy to make a generalisation about both of our countries, based on the same standard of observation. If you're happy to tell me that your media is incapable of working out what it's audience wants, I am happy to listen to your reasoning.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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If I have a sniffle when I come back from the US in May, I will probably be quarantined. I hope it's not like quarantine on Red Dwarf.... The US thrives on this sort of thing, keep the people scared.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Christian Graus wrote:
The USmedia thrives on this sort of thing, keep the people scared.
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well, I can't speak for other countries, but I don't feel it's as bad here as it is in the US. I remember my first night in the US, turning on a news channel, and sitting there with my mouth open, astounded at what I was seeing.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Since Friday, the news shows, especially on the cable stations, have been yammering on about Swine Flu as if the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse had been seen riding down from the clouds. My friends in Canada tell me it's the same there. Every year we have a real influenza epidemic. EVERY year thousands of people die from the 'flu, including 83 children in 2008. Yet there is NO panic, and people who are susceptible still don't get the shot. Yet if there was a shot for swine flu, these same people would line around the block for it. Here's what the CDC said about the flu - last year's flu: "During the 2007--08 influenza season, the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) exceeded the epidemic threshold†† for 8 consecutive weeks in the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System during the weeks ending January 12--May 17, 2008 (weeks 9--16). The percentage of P&I deaths peaked at 9.1% during the week ending March 15, 2008 (week 11). During the previous three influenza seasons, the peak percentage of P&I deaths has ranged from 7.7% to 8.9% and the total number of weeks the P&I ratio exceeded the epidemic threshold has ranged from one to 11. The P&I baseline and epidemic threshold values are projected for each season at the onset of that season and are based on data from the previous five years. The robust regression model used to calculate the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System baseline and epidemic threshold values was recently modified. This new methodology better takes into account shifts in the long term trends of the 122 Cities data, and will be used in the upcoming 2008-09 influenza season to project the baseline and epidemic threshold values." This site is updated daily[^] Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
The swine flue pandemic is what the right hand is doing, what is going on with the left? Oh, ya. Citi and B of A need more money because of the stress tests that the fed won't release. And socialized health care plus the carbon tax, cap'n trade, are potentially being voted on and we're talking about a pandemic.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
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The swine flue pandemic is what the right hand is doing, what is going on with the left? Oh, ya. Citi and B of A need more money because of the stress tests that the fed won't release. And socialized health care plus the carbon tax, cap'n trade, are potentially being voted on and we're talking about a pandemic.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
you're actually having a vote on having actual health care in the US ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Well, that's a flawed analogy. How many countries have you spent more than 6 months in ? I believe that a lifetime in Australia AND 6 months in the US gives me a reasonable perspective on differences in the media between the two countries. But I am surprised that you'd post something suggesting the response to this flu is largely hysteria, and then bag me out for saying the same thing, but on a broader scale.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
How many countries have you spent more than 6 months in ?
Hey, I was in the Army. We traveled to many exotic countries. Saw amazing scenery. Met exotic people. Shot at them. You can actually claim an advantage here. We almost speak the same language. That certainly wasn't true in my case. I would certainly agree that you have a better handle on the differences between the two countries than I do, or than an Aussie does who has never been here. However that fits the analogy you called flawed quite well. A Cobol programmer who's been working in .NET for six months has a much better handle on what .NET is about that one who is still happily chugging away at mainframes.
Christian Graus wrote:
then bag me out for saying the same thing, but on a broader scale.
I'm not even sure what bagging you out means, let alone doing it on purpose. :rose: But what frosted my cookies, for what it's worth, is that you dismissed an entire country not even just its media. I am tired of hearing, even in here where the concept of shades of gray is shouted down far too often, about all Americans or all democrats or all conservatives or all black men, or all women, or all Muslims or all Australians. I am especially sensitive to it when I see these damn talking heads on TV speaking as if they knew all 20 million of us personally and had our power of attorney in their back pocket. Maybe I was overly sensitive in this case. However, I'm glad we agree about hysteria.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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well, I can't speak for other countries, but I don't feel it's as bad here as it is in the US. I remember my first night in the US, turning on a news channel, and sitting there with my mouth open, astounded at what I was seeing.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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The swine flue pandemic is what the right hand is doing, what is going on with the left? Oh, ya. Citi and B of A need more money because of the stress tests that the fed won't release. And socialized health care plus the carbon tax, cap'n trade, are potentially being voted on and we're talking about a pandemic.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
And socialized health care plus the carbon tax, cap'n trade, are potentially being voted on and we're talking about a pandemic.
Hmpf. I made that connection days ago, Mike. ;P Did you know that today the Prez met the the Congressional Progressive Caucus? Not a whole lot of reporting on that, from what I can tell - worked a full day and had two doctor's visits so maybe I missed something. At any rate, I woulda given Oily's left nut to be a fly on the wall in that meeting room!
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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you're actually having a vote on having actual health care in the US ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
you're actually having a vote on having actual health care in the US ?
it is ambiguous, but yes. the first step anyway. it'll bankrupt the nation, drive down the number of medical professionals and increase taxes to stunning levels.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
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Christian Graus wrote:
turning on a news channel
Owned by that damned Australian, Murdoch? ;)
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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Oakman wrote:
The U.S. doesn't do anything.
Well, any comment I make along these lines, I am obviously saying that it appears that a significant proportion of people in the US love this sort of thing. If that's not true, then I don't know how to explain the media in the US.
Oakman wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a few folks in Australia who were similarly inclined
Probably, but I'd say we have more an issue with the majority wanting to hear about how anyone who is successful, is robbing them, and how anything that happens, is not their fault. That's a theme I see in our media, the theme of fear, I see more in the US.
Oakman wrote:
Christian, you really have to stop assuming that you can sum up 20 million people in one sentence.
I'm sorry, perhaps I just figured you knew me well enough to know that I didn't mean ALL Americans. Just the majority.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
Probably, but I'd say we have more an issue with the majority wanting to hear about how anyone who is successful, is robbing them
Well when you have the government spending trillions for garbage, generating 12 trillion dollars in national debt what do you expect media reports to be about? How great the government is? Puppies and the latest fashions?
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Stan Shannon wrote:
You don't know sh*t about the US, Christian.
Yeah, having spent at least 6 months of my life there, over the course of three years, and having seen your media, I know nothing about the sort of things that get reported, or the tone that is taken. I thought the EU always warned people not to come to the US :P Seriously, I don't know how serious this is, and as someone who is coming soon, I am watching, but I have learned that the mainstream US media specialises in hysteria, so I am looking elsewhere for advice on how much of a threat this really is.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
Yeah, having spent at least 6 months of my life there, over the course of three years
ChitChatting in a confy hotel and riding around in the back of a car gives you little idea of American life. Until you grew up here, experience all levels of public schools, and worked most of your life here then you can pretend to know America.
Christian Graus wrote:
and having seen your media
The media is crap. Each news program is designed to make you feel a certain way and think certain thoughts. The fancy graphics, music, catch phrases, personalities, and the loads of eye catching commercials interfere with normal thought processes. I find it sickening when a newscast lacking almost every detail gets interrupted by a GW commercial picturing kids playing in a bright green grassy field with butterflies and a rainbow, or some crap about change and hope. I especially hate that Cricket Wireless commercial picturing all these low income workers in a dirty city singing and making music with garbage cans. Then a black lady puts up a cellphone to her ear and starts rapping.
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well, I can't speak for other countries, but I don't feel it's as bad here as it is in the US. I remember my first night in the US, turning on a news channel, and sitting there with my mouth open, astounded at what I was seeing.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
Christian Graus wrote:
but I don't feel it's as bad here as it is in the US.
Thats because no one gives a shit about what happens in Australia. There is no bang for the buck in swaying popular opinion of Australians. Far more effort goes into trying to promote a particular world view in the US by both sides. What happens here affects the entire world. What happens in Australia affects Australia.
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
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Christian Graus wrote:
Probably, but I'd say we have more an issue with the majority wanting to hear about how anyone who is successful, is robbing them
Well when you have the government spending trillions for garbage, generating 12 trillion dollars in national debt what do you expect media reports to be about? How great the government is? Puppies and the latest fashions?
We don't have 12 trillion in debt.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Christian Graus wrote:
How many countries have you spent more than 6 months in ?
Hey, I was in the Army. We traveled to many exotic countries. Saw amazing scenery. Met exotic people. Shot at them. You can actually claim an advantage here. We almost speak the same language. That certainly wasn't true in my case. I would certainly agree that you have a better handle on the differences between the two countries than I do, or than an Aussie does who has never been here. However that fits the analogy you called flawed quite well. A Cobol programmer who's been working in .NET for six months has a much better handle on what .NET is about that one who is still happily chugging away at mainframes.
Christian Graus wrote:
then bag me out for saying the same thing, but on a broader scale.
I'm not even sure what bagging you out means, let alone doing it on purpose. :rose: But what frosted my cookies, for what it's worth, is that you dismissed an entire country not even just its media. I am tired of hearing, even in here where the concept of shades of gray is shouted down far too often, about all Americans or all democrats or all conservatives or all black men, or all women, or all Muslims or all Australians. I am especially sensitive to it when I see these damn talking heads on TV speaking as if they knew all 20 million of us personally and had our power of attorney in their back pocket. Maybe I was overly sensitive in this case. However, I'm glad we agree about hysteria.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
Oakman wrote:
But what frosted my cookies, for what it's worth, is that you dismissed an entire country not even just its media.
I did not mean that, I meant that the media is that way, although by definition, it's that way because that's what people want to hear. I still love Americans :-)
Oakman wrote:
However, I'm glad we agree about hysteria.
I actually got the WORST newspaper Melbourne has to offer, and it wasn't much better, I must admit. Some person wrote in and said that people who were not worried should watch the movie 'outbreak' for a dose of reality. That was an eye opener.....
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Christian Graus wrote:
but I don't feel it's as bad here as it is in the US.
Thats because no one gives a shit about what happens in Australia. There is no bang for the buck in swaying popular opinion of Australians. Far more effort goes into trying to promote a particular world view in the US by both sides. What happens here affects the entire world. What happens in Australia affects Australia.
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
Well, there could be someting in that. But, I suspect the people who most like to be scared, like the people here who like to be made to feel helpless, are the ones least likely to actually have any effect on the world.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Christian Graus wrote:
you're actually having a vote on having actual health care in the US ?
it is ambiguous, but yes. the first step anyway. it'll bankrupt the nation, drive down the number of medical professionals and increase taxes to stunning levels.
Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
it'll bankrupt the nation
Possible.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
and increase taxes to stunning levels
Also possible, it has to be paid for
Mike Gaskey wrote:
drive down the number of medical professionals
How will it do that, apart from stopping them from charging astronomical amounts for poor care ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )