Possible 51st State (Welcome Loomis!)
- indianajdp
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 7:10 pm
- Location: Central Hoosierland
Possible 51st State (Welcome Loomis!)
Saw this being discussed on another board and thought it might be fun to talk about here, too.
http://www.news.com.au/common/printpage ... 77,00.html
Australia primed to be yanked into US
By Tess Livingstone
16Jul03
AUSTRALIA has been urged to seriously consider becoming the 51st state of the US.
And American-born historian Dr David Mosler told a Brisbane audience yesterday there was a 20 per cent chance of Australia becoming an American state in the next 50 years.
The visiting research fellow at Adelaide University, who has lived in Australia since 1971, said the chances would increase significantly in the event of a major Al-Qaeda attack on Australia or if Indonesia became a fundamentalist Islamic republic.
Dr Mosler told the 2003 Fulbright Symposium at Griffith University yesterday that he decided Australia was "an unreformable society" after the loss of the 1999 republic referendum.
Australians, he said, had no flag of their own; a weak sense of nationhood; no prime minister in the Lodge, with John Howard living in Sydney; no national bushfire or water plans, even with the worst drought in history; and no "broad knowledge of nation in public discourse or popular culture". Australians had replaced "Empire with Yanks" after 1942, and the country retained a "quasi-colonial status".
He said Australian governments, attuned to the British, Americans, Japanese and global capital markets, had "sold off the farm" - electricity, water, ports, airports, resources - while Australians weren't offended by such "treasonous behaviour".
He said Australia's passage to American statehood would not be difficult under its Constitution.
He listed the advantages of American statehood for Australia as:
* Access to the world's best higher education system.
* Large savings on embassies.
* Being part of the world's most effective defence system.
* Merger with the world's strongest currency.
* Being part of the world's biggest economy.
* A constitution bringing a republic and a Bill of Rights.
* Fielding teams in the US national basketball, baseball and gridiron competitions.
This report appears on news.com.au.
-------
I'm all for it if they can a) get rid of all their snakes, b) lose the metric system and c) keep producing hot Australian chicks with those great ass...errr...accents
http://www.news.com.au/common/printpage ... 77,00.html
Australia primed to be yanked into US
By Tess Livingstone
16Jul03
AUSTRALIA has been urged to seriously consider becoming the 51st state of the US.
And American-born historian Dr David Mosler told a Brisbane audience yesterday there was a 20 per cent chance of Australia becoming an American state in the next 50 years.
The visiting research fellow at Adelaide University, who has lived in Australia since 1971, said the chances would increase significantly in the event of a major Al-Qaeda attack on Australia or if Indonesia became a fundamentalist Islamic republic.
Dr Mosler told the 2003 Fulbright Symposium at Griffith University yesterday that he decided Australia was "an unreformable society" after the loss of the 1999 republic referendum.
Australians, he said, had no flag of their own; a weak sense of nationhood; no prime minister in the Lodge, with John Howard living in Sydney; no national bushfire or water plans, even with the worst drought in history; and no "broad knowledge of nation in public discourse or popular culture". Australians had replaced "Empire with Yanks" after 1942, and the country retained a "quasi-colonial status".
He said Australian governments, attuned to the British, Americans, Japanese and global capital markets, had "sold off the farm" - electricity, water, ports, airports, resources - while Australians weren't offended by such "treasonous behaviour".
He said Australia's passage to American statehood would not be difficult under its Constitution.
He listed the advantages of American statehood for Australia as:
* Access to the world's best higher education system.
* Large savings on embassies.
* Being part of the world's most effective defence system.
* Merger with the world's strongest currency.
* Being part of the world's biggest economy.
* A constitution bringing a republic and a Bill of Rights.
* Fielding teams in the US national basketball, baseball and gridiron competitions.
This report appears on news.com.au.
-------
I'm all for it if they can a) get rid of all their snakes, b) lose the metric system and c) keep producing hot Australian chicks with those great ass...errr...accents
" There's no Dumbass Vaccine " - Jimmy Buffett
They're scraping the bottom the the barrel for that last "advantage" aren't they? They couldn't even come up with 10 advantages for the article.* Fielding teams in the US national basketball, baseball and gridiron competitions.
I think it will take more than the 7 reasons listed here to convince our Ozzy friends. (and hey, they're still part of our British Commonwealth you know!)
Most of my Blu-ray collection some of my UK discs aren't on their database
- poco
- Special Edition
- Posts: 929
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2003 10:40 am
- Location: looking for the blue fairy
I don't think it will ever happen. they have got a lot of British Heritage which is meaningful for them. I don't see the Aussies ever giving up that for a reason such as war and the game of Risk.
"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living." -- Dr. Seuss
- MickeyMouseboy
- Platinum Edition
- Posts: 3470
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:35 pm
- Location: ToonTown
Re: Possible 51st State (Welcome Loomis!)
That's a joke! American's education is the World's biggest joke, i dont know where they get our education is the best, if it was, most(not all but most) of the kids, teens and adults wouldn't be as ignorant about the world outside the states.indianajdp wrote:* Access to the world's best higher education system.
-
- Collector's Edition
- Posts: 2748
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2003 11:31 pm
- Location: Ephrata, PA
- Contact:
Re: Possible 51st State (Welcome Loomis!)
He said "higher educational system" that means colleges and universities, not regular public schools.MickeyMouseboy wrote:That's a joke! American's education is the World's biggest joke, i dont know where they get our education is the best, if it was, most(not all but most) of the kids, teens and adults wouldn't be as ignorant about the world outside the states.indianajdp wrote:* Access to the world's best higher education system.
- Loomis
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 6357
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:44 pm
- Location: Sydney, Australia ... where there is no Magic Kingdom :(
- Contact:
Re: Possible 51st State (Welcome Loomis!)
Wow, I think this is a first. Being mentioned in the subject line!indianajdp wrote:Australians, he said, had no flag of their own; a weak sense of nationhood; no prime minister in the Lodge, with John Howard living in Sydney; no national bushfire or water plans, even with the worst drought in history; and no "broad knowledge of nation in public discourse or popular culture". Australians had replaced "Empire with Yanks" after 1942, and the country retained a "quasi-colonial status"...
He said Australia's passage to American statehood would not be difficult under its Constitution....
He listed the advantages of American statehood for Australia as:
* Access to the world's best higher education system.
* Large savings on embassies.
* Being part of the world's most effective defence system.
* Merger with the world's strongest currency.
* Being part of the world's biggest economy.
* A constitution bringing a republic and a Bill of Rights.
* Fielding teams in the US national basketball, baseball and gridiron competitions.
Guy goes away for a week and becomes a talking point...
Ok, just a few things on that so called expert .
We do so have our own flag. It just happens to have the UK flag in the corner. By that rationale, New Zealand doesn't have its own flag either.
The Constitution may allow it, but it would take a majority of voters in a majority of states to pass, and that ain't happening in a country that didn't vote to become a republic only a few years ago.
As for the so called advantages:
* Access to the world's best higher education system.
Our uni system is about to go the same path as the US - HUGE fees for all courses, even Arts. It was an average of 6-15k for a degree here, soo to be 13-20k. Shocking. I would hardly call it an improvement. However, the reality is we will have the 'improved' eductation system by 2007.
* Large savings on embassies.
What the hell does that mean? Do you ship them over here whole? Or is this a new US foreign policy? If you guys become Americans, we don't need ambassadors anymore! Yay for hegemony!
* Being part of the world's most effective defence system.
Yes, I've seen how effective the US has been in defending the world against the evils of communism in Vietnam, Korea and Cuba. And most recently, I've seen the effectiveness of stopping imaginary weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or wherever they were meant to be.
* Merger with the world's strongest currency.
* Being part of the world's biggest economy.
Do you think this guy is compensating for something? We have a BIG STRONG CURRENCY. I'm sure a nice personality too. Size isn't everything buddy.
* A constitution bringing a republic and a Bill of Rights
Yeah, coz that right to carry arms is really working out for you guys. How many gun related deaths there? And we already have a constitution that implies many of the same rights, but we don't have the same amount of arguments though.
* Fielding teams in the US national basketball, baseball and gridiron competitions.
Ok, I give up! We should soooooo be part of the US.
You guys just want to win an event in the international swimming meets, don't you? Just once....
Sorry, if I sounded a little catty. I do actually find the whole thing hilarious.
Dr David Mosler is so ill-informed to the actual reality of the way things are set up in either country that it is embarrassing.
The truth is, culturally, we are very much like the US as we have many of their influence bombarding us daily via the mass media. In essence, our government IS following US foreign policy at the moment over many issues, but has been burned by it (SEE: Imaginary Weapons of Mass Destruction).
Anyways, in 50 years all of this will be moot as I'll be writing from Sydney, US.
Behind the Panels - Comic book news, reviews and podcast
The Reel Bits - All things film
Twitter - Follow me on Twitter
The Reel Bits - All things film
Twitter - Follow me on Twitter
- MickeyMouseboy
- Platinum Edition
- Posts: 3470
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:35 pm
- Location: ToonTown
Ah. But Loomis I wouldn't mind if Britain became a province of Canada. How would you feel about that?
Most of my Blu-ray collection some of my UK discs aren't on their database
- Prince Adam
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1318
- Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2003 4:44 pm
- Location: The Great, Wide Somewhere (Ont, Canada)
- Loomis
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 6357
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:44 pm
- Location: Sydney, Australia ... where there is no Magic Kingdom :(
- Contact:
Yeah, I could live with Canada.2099net wrote:Ah. But Loomis I wouldn't mind if Britain became a province of Canada. How would you feel about that?
Degrassi and chicks who say aboot.
Gotta love it
Behind the Panels - Comic book news, reviews and podcast
The Reel Bits - All things film
Twitter - Follow me on Twitter
The Reel Bits - All things film
Twitter - Follow me on Twitter
- Choco Bear
- Gold Classic Collection
- Posts: 473
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2003 12:36 pm
- MickeyMouseboy
- Platinum Edition
- Posts: 3470
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:35 pm
- Location: ToonTown
- Prince Adam
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1318
- Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2003 4:44 pm
- Location: The Great, Wide Somewhere (Ont, Canada)
- Prince Phillip
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1419
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 11:48 am
- Location: Baltimore, MD