This makes me mad as hell.....

[kiwigeo]

Guess Ive got pie on my face then......didn't realise you were quoting my post.

I think the crux of the problem is that Australians have a more refined sense of humour than the average American and one other thing I've noticed is that Americans don't know how to laugh at themselves. Making a joke about America in the presence of Americans can land you in a whole heap of trouble. An American making jokes about Australians amongst a bunch of Australians has little to fear...apart from eventually having his joke backfire badly on him/her.

[DJ’s Timber]

I am sorry I didn't know how to wrap around your quote.
I was merely trying to say that you might have an idea for a pie ad

Fixed

To Quote, you can either use the in the post to post a reply with that post wrapped in Quote tags or copy and paste text and highlight then click on in the reply box to wrap quote tags around Highlighted text.

[RETIRED]

Beat me to it DJ.

[Grumpy John]

It's not so much the yanks in general but a small politically correct group of wankers who believe that we should all live like their narrow minded concept of what the world should be. They have no concept of normality.

These wankers are found in all countries and we should not single out the yanks as such.


Peter.

I was commenting more on the political and economic influence successive American Governments have exerted on 3rd world and developed countries. In spite of what they may think, as the song goes "they're not the boss of me".

[1canetoad]

To Quote, you can either use the http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/images/button2/quote.gif in the post to post a reply with that post wrapped in Quote tags or copy and paste text and highlight then click on http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/images/editor/quote.gifin the reply box to wrap quote tags around Highlighted text.

Thanks Guys

Sorry about the confusion Kiwi

Ben

[Woodwould]

How dare these American newspapers lecture us on racism. These newspaper editors seem to forget that they live in the country that tried their best to wipe out the indigenous population...

I'm not siding with the US, but just want to highlight Australia's continuing appalling indigenous race relations. Australians seem largely blind to it, but it is a very concerning topic elsewhere in the world. Perception of race relations varies greatly depending on your vantage point.

[kiwigeo]

I'm not siding with the US, but just want to highlight Australia's continuing appalling indigenous race relations. Australians seem largely blind to it, but it is a very concerning topic elsewhere in the world. Perception of race relations varies greatly depending on your vantage point.

I'm not disputing that Australia's race relations are perfect but thats not the topic under discussion. American blacks took exception to a KFC ad that implied that West Indians like fried chicken. The fact is that fried chicken IS popular in the Carribean.....see my earlier post re experiences in Trinidad.

I'm sure alot of Americans have checked out and laughed their heads off at the famous "Beached As" cartoons which take the p*ss out of Kiwis and in particular Kiwi Maoris. We haven't seen front page press articles in the Kiwi papers branding the Australian authors of the cartoon as racists. Every Kiwi I know (including a significant number of Maori friends) finds the cartoon funny.

[Woodwould]

I'm not disputing that Australia's race relations are perfect...

That's just as well because I didn't say they were perfect - I said they were imperfect!

..thats not the topic under discussion.

Well actually it is. I responded directly to a hypocrytical comment made by GJ querying America's hypocrytical condemnation of our racism. To say both countries are equally racist would be fairer.

[Ian Smith]

I think the crux of the problem is that Australians have a more refined sense of humour than the average American and one other thing I've noticed is that Americans don't know how to laugh at themselves. Making a joke about America in the presence of Americans can land you in a whole heap of trouble. An American making jokes about Australians amongst a bunch of Australians has little to fear...apart from eventually having his joke backfire badly on him/her.

Yep - have to agree - I'm reminded of a joke about a Yank who, due to work commitments, had to spend some time in England.

His work colleagues suggested that while he was there he should collect some examples of typical Britsh humour.

Unfortunately, due to work pressures, he had forgotten all about this and it wasn't until his send off in London that he suddenly remembered his mission.

It was well into the night, and one of the "Horsey" set, well lubricated with prime port, was in full swing and thought it would OK to try out his latest gag. So our Yank paid very close attention.

It seems that there was a very attractive young lady walking in the park and there were three gentleman coming towards her. One chap was walking along the footpath, one chap was on a bicycle, and the third chappy was riding a horse. The question was - Which one knew her?
There was general silence around the room a couple of banal guesses but no one really knew so the Horsey bloke trimphantly announces:
"The horse man knew her!"
Everybody laughed raucously and thought it a splendid joke.

The Yank filed this away in his memory banks and, on his return home, when asked about British humour, this is what he said:
There was this great lookin' gal see, takin' a walk in the park and there's these three guys, one guy was walkin' on the sidewalk, one guy was ridin' a pushbike, and the third guy was on a horse. Which guy knew the gal?

Silence all round so, finally he says:
"Well the answer's horse s**t, and I don't get it neither"

I reckon that says it all

I just think we don't have the "sacred cows" that other cultures seems to cling to or use as reason to be offended. How many times have we gone to press moaning about another Nation taking the p**s

Remember the episode of Muhammad Ali and Bert Newton - "I like the boy" - Completely harmless in the context it was delivered and yet it really wound Ali up, but it has to work both ways. Why does it seem we have to conform to the way others think?

Don't we have the right to be Aussies in Australia and Kiwis in New Zealand - you ought to see the look of horror when they find out the Kiwis call their footbal team the "All Blacks" !! --too too precious I reckon.

Ian

[kiwigeo]

Don't we have the right to be Aussies in Australia and Kiwis in New Zealand - you ought to see the look of horror when they find out the Kiwis call their footbal team the "All Blacks" !! --too too precious I reckon.

Ian

I believe the AB's were initially called the "All Backs".

[Grumpy John]

Well actually it is. I responded directly to a hypocrytical comment made by GJ querying America's hypocrytical condemnation of our racism. To say both countries are equally racist would be fairer.

I don't recall saying Australia had a perfect record regarding the indigenous population

I'm not disputing that Australia's race relations are perfect but thats not the topic under discussion. American blacks took exception to a KFC ad that implied that West Indians like fried chicken. The fact is that fried chicken IS popular in the Carribean.....see my earlier post re experiences in Trinidad.

I'm sure alot of Americans have checked out and laughed their heads off at the famous "Beached As" cartoons which take the p*ss out of Kiwis and in particular Kiwi Maoris. We haven't seen front page press articles in the Kiwi papers branding the Australian authors of the cartoon as racists. Every Kiwi I know (including a significant number of Maori friends) finds the cartoon funny.

It was probably more likely a small group of do-gooders that seem to find offence at everything and have no grasp at all on reality.

[Ian Smith]

I believe the AB's were initially called the "All Backs".

I'm no rabid rugby fan, but this from the official All Blacks web site commenting on the origins of the name:

"Tradition has maintained that its origins were due to the English media applying that label to the men of 1905-05. But Palenski clearly proves the usage was prevalent in New Zealand before that tour, most notably in the Evening Post when a Sydney correspondent was previewing the tour by the British team of 1904.

There were references to the All Blacks in relation to Wellington as early as 1889, so the British connection has been well and truly scotched."

So I suspect that the "All Backs" story is a bit of mamby pamby PC rubbish

Ian

[kiwigeo]

The story behind the use of the name "All Backs" is an interesting one.

Here's a more detailed account of the whole story:

ALL BLACKS - The Name?

Interestingly when I attended primary school back in the early 60's in a small town in New Zealand's Wairarapa region I got told the All Back story by Sam Meads (brother of AB Colin "Pine Tree" Meads) and later on got the same story from Grant Batty (one time AB) who lived across the road.

The story may be indeed be a myth but I don't know how you can interpret it as "mamby pamby PC rubbish"....it was around long before PC was invented.

[jimbur]

What do you think the response will be when they find out that in test matches even the black players are expected to wear whites.
Jim

[Ian Smith]

The story may be indeed be a myth but I don't know how you can interpret it as "mamby pamby PC rubbish"....it was around long before PC was invented.

Kiwi - wasn't having a shot at you so sorry if it came across that way. I have no real interest either way but if it was the All Backs why was that? Did that bloke go into any details - just regurgitating what the AB site said on the subject.

Ian