Dealing with the inebriated aussie style
- 16 October 2013 20:39248656seems to me that the authorities are trying to help people here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24465989 - 16 October 2013 20:52248661Ah yes, the old 'lumpy-carpet' technique...works every time.Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
- 16 October 2013 21:56248670bit of a knee jerk response tom, northern territories problems are serious and help is desperately needed.
it is not pencester gardens or market square with a handful of irritating but essentially harmless drug and drink abusers. - 16 October 2013 23:41248685If knee-jerk response it was, it was in response to the knee-jerk Oz response to what, as you rightly say, is a long term serious issue.
As one of the commentators in the article explains...
""The problem is so profound and endemic. We're way, way past the point where we can responsibly simply pass the ball over to the victims and say you fix yourselves.""
It is one thing for someone to look back over their life and career and conclude that, not only are the footprints upon the road of their history all of their own making, but the very highway and each bridge too are of their own unique design. They can then lope to the 'undeniable' conclusion that their life is an entirely self-made success, and with another small step go on to tell others to pull their socks up. "I did it, so can you."
This dumping on the victim, come, sweeping the problem under the carpet, notion; is both all too common and very very stupid, as the guy who thought this up this time is both an idiot and a politician:common/stupid, idiot/politician, such pairings as peaches & cream, boiled beef & carrots etc. are seen all around the place, but this is not to say that the one cannot exist without the other.
What is common need not be stupid, a politician need not be an idiot... and so on.
Fortunately for the BBC reporter, fortunately for us and fortunately for the Aboriginals of Northern Australia the answer is to be found within the people themselves, not as individuals but as a community...
"Sitting in the yard at Alison Ferber's house, the world of evidence and political debate feels a long way away.
But she has a simple solution of her own.
"What I think," she says with a mischievous grin on her lips "is to blow (up) the bottle shops."
She laughs a rueful laugh, then becomes more serious. "Just close it down, let the alcoholics drink water again.""
It appears Australia has caught the Media-Sound-Bite bug, and has it pretty bad for they too have concluded that what can be expounded in twenty seconds will work in practise.
...and, of course, it does work...it gets them another twenty seconds. By that time its all about a whole other problem.Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 17 October 2013 14:08248734MORE than half a century after artist Albert Namatjira was given Australian citizenship and the right to drink, indigenous leaders have gathered at the site of his former camp to discuss ways to loosen the grip of alcohol on their communities...
"...Aboriginal peak organisations at the summit have come up with a number of recommendations to fight alcoholism in their communities, including reinstating the Banned Drinkers Register, which was abolished by the NT government after last year's election.
Other proposed recommendations to take to government include a floor price for alcohol, stopping alcohol sponsorship of sport, banning advertising, encouraging community members to take a stand against grog runners and blanket alcohol restrictions.
"People have come up with a fairly broad platform of measures which, put together, will make a big difference," Dr John Boffa, 2012's Northern Territory Australian of the Year and a spokesman for the People's Alcohol Action Coalition told AAP.
Speakers at the summit expressed the view that early intervention and restriction of supply are more effective than punitive measures such as the mandatory treatment regime which forces people into rehabilitation.
"As the government gets closer to the next election and starts to come to terms with the fact that alcohol consumption (is) going up in spite of their mandatory treatment regime, they'll come back to the table and start asking what works," Dr Boffa said."
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/indigenous-leaders-gather-for-grog-summit/story-e6frfku9-1226688925013Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - 17 October 2013 14:18248735King gives regal view on grog ban in Aboriginal communities...
"...Deeply religious, he sees his first true test as king - after coaching his footy team to a Queensland Indigenous Cup grand final in Ipswich - to be a "voice of authority" in the state's grog ban review.
"Sure we can bring back the grog. But it never left," said King Jabaan, an unmarried father of 12. "Look around, people still drink, except they do it in hiding.
"The bans did nothing. These laws have only turned good law-abiding citizens into criminals, blacklisting them in the court system.
"We need to learn to drink in moderation not desperation. And the only way we can teach our kids to respect alcohol is to normalise it, be social, and educate them to drink responsibly."
The Yarrabah Council water manager accepts he does not speak on behalf of all indigenous people.
"But I speak the truth," the former Queensland Aboriginal Student of the Year said.
"We never walk alone if we have our culture, ancestors and family over one shoulder and the Holy Spirit on the other.
"And until we discipline those who binge-drink and neglect their families, we will remain mired in poverty, tragedy and despair.""
http://www.news.com.au/national-news/queensland/king-gives-regal-view-on-grog-ban-in-aboriginal-comunities/story-fndo4ckr-1226493984494Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing. - Brian Dixon
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19 October 2013 18:26248990yeah but they could allways do this howard.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/watch-what-happens-two-drinking-2468853