Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo

98cwitr said:

If I may frame this in a more generalized sense to achieve a full picture:
1) Restrictions on personal autonomy
2) Right to protect one's life is outright denied
3) Freedom of speech fails to extend to being acutely critical of government and their officials
That's a more fair summary.

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And this adequately expresses your opinion of life in the UK ref: us being subjugated?

Confused-by-christianity said:

I know things are bad in HK.

The UK has opened up to receiving HK'ers if they want to come here

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I know people who have gone.
Dissidents find the ccp pursues them there.
I wont be going there myself but its good of Britain to have open doors.

98cwitr said:

So never fired an AR or AK?

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At the range the guys offered like, want to try to shoot this?
So i shot a ak and ar. Kind of scary but easy to shoot.
Didnt jump back and hurt me like i expected.

Confused-by-christianity said:

And this adequately expresses your opinion of life in the UK ref: us being subjugated?

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In a very small portion and part, but there's a lot more to life than just living under a draconian government; obviously, people try to make the best of any given situation. I'm sure plenty of folks in the UK enjoy their lives and find enjoyable activities that the government will allow them to do.

TLK Valentine said:

Nope, can't say that I have.

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Well if your buddies in Texas can't help you there, and you ever make it to NC, PM me.

Confused-by-christianity said:

And this adequately expresses your opinion of life in the UK ref: us being subjugated?

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Well given the fact that within the year the govt is legislating to allow ministers to overrule judges, effectively abolishing All oversight of govt and abandoning even the pretence of a rule of law, he might have a point.. and with legislation to effectively ban all protest.

98cwitr said:

Australia is a locked down society under a totalitarian rule right now. The people are subjugated to their government and many enjoy the peaceful slavery the are under.

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Actually, the government in Australia is only following the advice of the medical professionals. The government is opposed to the lockdown because it cripples the economy. They had no choice; no lockdown = high death rate.

I believe the government made the right choice. Simply because it gave us more than six months to study Covid-19 plans in countries overseas. So we can make more informed decisions regarding dealing with the pandemic Covid-19.

Larnievc said:

So you literally have to protect yourself from being attacked by dogs? What a crazy country.

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Agree with you on that one. Having dogs roaming the streets is dangerous for children and the elderly.

klutedavid said:

Actually, the government in Australia is only following the advice of the medical professionals. The government is opposed to the lockdown because it cripples the economy. They had no choice; no lockdown = high death rate.

I believe the government made the right choice. Simply because it gave us more than six months to study Covid-19 plans in countries overseas. So we can make more informed decisions regarding dealing with the pandemic Covid-19.

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Without going into a full off topic covid debate (again), I will digress and just say Americans will not stand for draconian measures for any excuse or reason. Just because someone has a PhD doesn't mean they should be treated as infallible and inerrant beings. Doctors used to recommend tobacco products and pushed opioids with the best of intentions. "Professional" opinions are just that....opinions.

Nevertheless, the willingness to not only accept such tyranny, but to champion it, is cause for alarm.

Goonie said:

Well given the fact that within the year the govt is legislating to allow ministers to overrule judges, effectively abolishing All oversight of govt and abandoning even the pretence of a rule of law, he might have a point.. and with legislation to effectively ban all protest.

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And if that becomes the case, which there is great potential, what recourse will a disarmed people have but to accept it?

98cwitr said:

Do they not have dogs in the UK? I understand that land is a bit scare on your island, but I'm sure that rural people with land have dogs.

Seems the UK has their share: St Helens dog attack: Woman discharged from hospital

List of fatal dog attacks in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

Maybe if she had had a weapon...

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She was attacked by her own dogs.

One person died from dog in 2019. Utterly terrifying.

Larnievc said:

She was attacked by her own dogs.

One person died from dog in 2019. Utterly terrifying.

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29 January 2020 Staffordshire Bull Terrier and Mastiff cross Jonathan Halstead, M, 35 years Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The coroner recorded a narrative conclusion that Jonathan ‘died as a result of injuries sustained in an attack from his dog, whilst unconscious following an epileptic seizure’[85]

13 September 2020 Chow Chow-cross Elon Jase Ellis-Joynes, M, 12 days Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. A newborn baby was attacked by a dog and died in hospital from its injuries.[86][87]

5 February 2021 Staffordshire cross Anonymous, F, 21 Years [88] Birmingham, West Midlands, England. A customer service assistant was attacked by a family dog on 5 February. A post-mortem examination revealed "extensive injuries" the court heard, which likely caused her death.[89]

2 April 2021 American Bulldogs (2) Lucille Downer, F, 85 years Rowley Regis, West Midlands, England. Two dogs killed Lucille Downer, 85, she was attacked in her back garden after the dogs escaped from a neighbour's garden through a hole in a fence.[90]

8 November 2021 American Bully[91] Jack Lis, M, 10 years Caerphilly, Gwent, Wales. A ten-year-old boy was killed by a "large and powerful" dog while visiting a school friends' house. The dog was destroyed by firearms officers.[92]

Check out that last one...."firearms officers"

People are terrible at risk analysis.

98cwitr said:

Without going into a full off topic covid debate (again), I will digress and just say Americans will not stand for draconian measures for any excuse or reason...

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Yeah, we'd pretty much prefer to die and make all our neighbors sick before we give up our rights. It's the Christian thing to do. Cause 'Murica.

disciple Clint said:

Civil war? is that what you call it when one gang has a shootout with another gang right here in the streets of our cities?

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A drive-by is not a firefight.

98cwitr said:

Both countries seems completely content on subjugation to their governments on the whole; and have traded their liberties for feelings of security. Shutdown/mandate protests seem in be shared by the minority in both countries. I was pleased to see Brexit come to fruition. I have a colleague in Australia (Melbourne) right now who keeps me informed of his perspective on what's happening there.

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Our country was heavily influenced by the UK but the culture is not the same.
You talk about liberties but you have traded certain liberties for other liberties. Both the US, England and Australia are all democratic countries but what we have laws on differs due to our different culture.

A liberty is only really liberty when the majority of the population want and vote for it. You won't ever get 100% of the population wanting the same thing. This is why you have the two major parties in the US, Democrats and Republicans. I am sure about half of the country is unhappy when the opposing party gets voted in.
The US had a civil war over slavery. I know it was more complex then just that but that is what it was known for. When slavery was abolished I am quite sure the south or many people in the South felt like they had lost their rights and liberties. They felt owning slaves was their right and they were forced by the government to free them. What the south saw as a loss of liberty the South the north vied as a gain in liberty.
This is the thing with liberties, it depends on your perspective of what it is.

Now the majority of Americans feel that gun ownership is a right, one of their liberties. If that ever changes and the majority decide they want stricter laws a big slice of the population will protest at loss of liberty. One group doing what they feel is best for the country vs another group who feel its wrong and their liberties are being taken away. Which is the same as what we have going on here.

Most of us want firm restrictions. Unlike the US we have small population and we have no countries bordering. At one point we were close to being Covid free. But Delta was allowed in and it spiked and we panicked. Restrictions were placed on that State, particularly in certain areas because we all desperately wanted our normalcy and control of this disease back. People protested and this caused a huge spike like we had not seen before. People panicked more. A few thousand cases as an American may seem just like another day to you but to us these numbers were astronomically High, high enough to take serious action.

We are not all having our liberties taken away. A certain slice, a smaller slice of the population feel that way vs the larger majority who feel restrictions are what was needed to prevent illness and death, that our liberties would be taken away if Covid was simply allowed to run riot like it does in the US.
Melbourne was the centre of where it all went down, both the huge spike, the panic and the more extended lock downs. Now no one is saying some things went on that shouldn't have gone on. There were definitely some police who should have been investigated and sacked and some of the restrictions went to far due to panic. But overall the majority of Australians wanted restrictions the same way the majority of Americans want guns. You feel safer with guns (I would feel extremely unsafe) we have felt safer with restrictions.

You view is being fed by your friend in Melbourne and the media. We all know what the media is like hyping up and focusing on what it wants to focus on. It is not proving you with a balanced view.

Larnievc said:

Living in a country where you have to have a gun to feel safe.

Do you carry weapon when you go shopping?

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Needless to say, these people represent a dwindling minority of Americans. Most Americans don't own guns anymore and don't feel safer with them around.

Occams Barber said:

It's also worth noting that Victorians approve of the way Covid is being handled by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. While approval levels have dropped in the last 12 months, Andrews approval rating still stands at at 60% among those impacted by the lockdowns etc., based on a survey conducted on 10 Nov. 2021.

A majority of 60.5% of Victorians refer to COVID-19 leadership, communication, keeping people safe and following the health advice for why they approve of Premier Daniel Andrews although there are negatives by 39.5% because too powerful - Roy Morgan Research

OB​

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I hadn't seen that but it doesn't surprise me. Lately I don't look too much at Covid news, just enough to know what my own state is doing, too much dwelling over it causes anxiety.

98cwitr said:

Without going into a full off topic covid debate (again), I will digress and just say Americans will not stand for draconian measures for any excuse or reason. Just because someone has a PhD doesn't mean they should be treated as infallible and inerrant beings. Doctors used to recommend tobacco products and pushed opioids with the best of intentions. "Professional" opinions are just that....opinions.

Nevertheless, the willingness to not only accept such tyranny, but to champion it, is cause for alarm.

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That is actually not totally true about doctors. When the medical link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer was clearly demonstrated the cigarette companies went shopping for doctors. They were basically paid to lie to people. That is why when there is a monetary link between a scientist and his claims that he is not thought to be as reliable as an independent researcher.