Where are the "my body, my choice" advocates now? Conspicuously absent, once again. This fucking nanny + police state is completely out of control (tanning beds are banned, here, too, as is a lot of manga and anime. Yes, tanning beds), and this is another brick in the wall...
A lot of nefarious shit was announced, today, including QLD likely going back into lockdown over SIX (!!) cases, and the cancellation of our main international cycling event, NEXT YEAR...
So France, Italy, Germany and Spain can ALL have their big cycling events, with a crowd, in 2021, but Australia, fucking Australia, can't even have the race, in fucking 2022...
I realise that most people here won't care about cycling. That's fine, but it isn't the point. The point is that what this means is clearly the government has no intention of opening borders, even by fucking JANUARY 2022, which is four months away. It also means they obviously have no intention of allowing the return of large-scale sports events (except the ones they can bet on, of course, like AFL, NRL and fucking cricket), even next year... That's important, because Australia now has one of the highest vaxx rates in the world, will likely have reached AT LEAST 80% (forced) vaccination by then, and yet they won't even allow us THE ILLUSION of some sort of "normality", let alone anything actually resembling it, in reality...
That's it. I give up on Australia, today. I knew this day would come. It just came EVEN FUCKING SOONER than I thought.
Suggestions for where to seek a "working holiday", to get out of this nightmare..? The US doesn't offer them, so... Outside of the US/Mexico, would be good...
I'm still calling it...they will open up for a little bit with this freedom day shit and then shut us back down by the time Christmas comes. Or they'll give us Christmas before shutting us down early next year when it comes time for the "Boosters" to be implemented. They'll give us a taste of "freedom" until the time for booster shots come...then they'll lock us down yet again until we comply with their boosters.
The fact that they call it "Freedom Day" is completely tone deaf in and of itself.
I am saving every damn cent I make to get the fuck out of this country. I have some knowledge of Japanese. I have friends who live in Japan. I'm pretty sure I could get a working visa if things don't change on that front and find somewhere to live over there. Even if I have to house share...I'll do it!
They say Teaching English is the easiest way to go in Japan...the only thing that might hamstring me is that I don't have a degree. I don't know, some people say you can get a Teaching job there without a degree so long as you're fluent and present yourself well enough. Others say it's difficult without a degree. That might be the one thing that may hamstring me.
But I do have 8 years of Japanese under my belt. I've been there 7 years in a row before the lockdown. I've lived and studied there for a month and found it pretty manageable. I'm pretty sure I could do it...the job part is the only thing that worries me.
But yeah, the moment this country opens up (if ever) then I am fucking out of here!
You can buy all the vapes you want here, and you aren't limited to nicotine, either. And despite what the news says, well, I'm not in Banff, but the most you see here is masks just because it's the law (and people are pretty lax even so.)
I've run across many Australians on working holidays at these places, and other ski-type resorts (in BC, but don't go there.)
Funny what you say about feminist shitholes and a woman's word, n that...
I've already experienced most of that shit, here, unfortunately (not the rape bit. More just "You're making me uncomfortable, reeeee!"), and I think Australia is almost certainly more (intersectional) "feminist" than the UK, as I've outlined before, so...
Eh. Shrug. I'm not great, or even "good", at avoiding those situations, which is, in large part, how I ended up such a loner shut-in, but... At least I have experience, I suppose!
I know how those situations go... I really bloody do, ha. So... There's that, I guess.
To add to this, I've never had "criminal proceedings" raised against me, for what I mentioned here, but... As far as the court of public opinion goes... Yeah, I've been socially "lynched", for making a woman uncomfortable, a couple of times...
Lost friends that way, and lost my position in a volunteer org...
So anyway, I get it. Can't imagine the UK being any worse than here (or NZ), really, in that regard!!
Yeah, I thought the UK would probably be easiest...
Though Scotland is fucked, evidently, so avoid their grip, I suppose? What do you think of the situation in Wales, at the moment..?
Also, thoughts on "Eastern" Europe..?
Poland, Hungary, Czech Respublika, Slovakia are all options...
Also Portugal and/or South America. Obviously harder for me, as I don't speak any of those languages (Spanish, French, German and Japanese, I do, but not the languages belonging to those countries I listed), and obviously all considerably poorer than the UK (maybe not Czech, but the rest), but... Could be a better option. I'm no exactly "thriving" here, anyway, so... Being paid at least SOMETHING, in a middle-income country, might, might be better than earning pretty much nothing, in the 2nd-most expensive country in the world, rn... :-/
I'm not sure they would let me move there permanently (at least, very easily, at present...).
But if I could meet and marry a girl, there, and get residency that way, I would be more than willing to stay...
Or Poland. Or quite literally anywhere in that part of the world. I'd even be willing to live in most of Ukraine.
Money is not really a concern, for me, as long as I can live a decent life, there...
Though my impression/understanding is that most women east of the Oder (German-Polish/German-Czech border) only really want to marry an ideally rich foreign man so that they can get out of their respective countries, rather than staying there, so... Eh.
At least that's how it was even a few years back, so I hear...
Can't say I haven't thought about this, extensively, at the very least!! 😅
Not every country is open to every passport holder (obviously), so that's why I limited my choice, largely, to those I mentioned...
Interestingly, if you have a NZ passport, there's many, many more options, lol...
I've been thinking about this for YEARS, though. Ever since fucking up my exchange chances at Uni, ha. So... Yeah. That's why I'm interested in your thoughts, I guess.
Also stand a chance of getting a student visa to Sweden (yeah yeah), or possibly a teaching job in Japan, but both of those are more complicated/time-consuming (plus $$$) processes...
Also read the smug, incredibly condescending tone in which the ABC, and the "academic" who wrote this (it's from The Conversation originally, which is a lefty academic blog) tells you how this is A GOOD THING, and how it's incredibly GOOD that we have non-democratic, non-elected bureaucrats working behind the scenes to ban shit, "for your health"...
What the flying fuck is this country coming to? Like, what??!
Tellingly, only about 80 of the hundreds of impact statements started each year get to decision makers, which means the process itself knocks out poorly thought out proposals.
I'm all for 90% of shit never getting to parliament but fuck me this secretive body is powerful.
Set up during the 1980s to ensure government decisions didn’t needlessly tie up business in red tape, *the office gradually was given other things to consider, *
Yup. That's why this "Indigenous Voice to Parliament" thing needs to be fought for all it is worth. Because it'll just be this same, non-democratic, unanswerable (to the 98% of the population who doesn't "identify" as Aboriginal), extrajudicial body...
That's the problem with this country, and its endless, and ever-increasingly, needless bureaucracy... :-/
Where are the "my body, my choice" advocates now? Conspicuously absent, once again. This fucking nanny + police state is completely out of control (tanning beds are banned, here, too, as is a lot of manga and anime. Yes, tanning beds), and this is another brick in the wall...
A lot of nefarious shit was announced, today, including QLD likely going back into lockdown over SIX (!!) cases, and the cancellation of our main international cycling event, NEXT YEAR...
So France, Italy, Germany and Spain can ALL have their big cycling events, with a crowd, in 2021, but Australia, fucking Australia, can't even have the race, in fucking 2022...
I realise that most people here won't care about cycling. That's fine, but it isn't the point. The point is that what this means is clearly the government has no intention of opening borders, even by fucking JANUARY 2022, which is four months away. It also means they obviously have no intention of allowing the return of large-scale sports events (except the ones they can bet on, of course, like AFL, NRL and fucking cricket), even next year... That's important, because Australia now has one of the highest vaxx rates in the world, will likely have reached AT LEAST 80% (forced) vaccination by then, and yet they won't even allow us THE ILLUSION of some sort of "normality", let alone anything actually resembling it, in reality...
That's it. I give up on Australia, today. I knew this day would come. It just came EVEN FUCKING SOONER than I thought.
Suggestions for where to seek a "working holiday", to get out of this nightmare..? The US doesn't offer them, so... Outside of the US/Mexico, would be good...
I'm still calling it...they will open up for a little bit with this freedom day shit and then shut us back down by the time Christmas comes. Or they'll give us Christmas before shutting us down early next year when it comes time for the "Boosters" to be implemented. They'll give us a taste of "freedom" until the time for booster shots come...then they'll lock us down yet again until we comply with their boosters.
The fact that they call it "Freedom Day" is completely tone deaf in and of itself.
I am saving every damn cent I make to get the fuck out of this country. I have some knowledge of Japanese. I have friends who live in Japan. I'm pretty sure I could get a working visa if things don't change on that front and find somewhere to live over there. Even if I have to house share...I'll do it!
They say Teaching English is the easiest way to go in Japan...the only thing that might hamstring me is that I don't have a degree. I don't know, some people say you can get a Teaching job there without a degree so long as you're fluent and present yourself well enough. Others say it's difficult without a degree. That might be the one thing that may hamstring me.
But I do have 8 years of Japanese under my belt. I've been there 7 years in a row before the lockdown. I've lived and studied there for a month and found it pretty manageable. I'm pretty sure I could do it...the job part is the only thing that worries me.
But yeah, the moment this country opens up (if ever) then I am fucking out of here!
You know you can't leave unless your vaxxed right? They have us trapped.
Banff. Or better yet, Jasper.
You can buy all the vapes you want here, and you aren't limited to nicotine, either. And despite what the news says, well, I'm not in Banff, but the most you see here is masks just because it's the law (and people are pretty lax even so.)
I've run across many Australians on working holidays at these places, and other ski-type resorts (in BC, but don't go there.)
Canada worries me at the moment, ngl...
But yeah, that's like... The second-most common destination for Aussies like me thinking of doing this, after the UK, lol... So I can imagine!
But... I'm kind of worried about the direction your country is heading, tbh, with vaccine passports and the like...
Doesn't seem that much better than where we're heading, minus the vaping thing... Sadly. :-/
But yeah, I know a lot of your countryfolk, and other people who moved there, lol. So... Could be an option, I guess!
I was just hoping to go somewhere a bit more, umm... Based? Less dystopian (presently), anyway!
Side note: I don't really vape, much; or smoke, even spliffs...
I just don't want to live somewhere that thinks this shit is ok... The vaping thing is more just... "Straw - meet camel's back", really...
I wish the grand final got cancelled. Maximum lulz.
Ha! Yeah right! The bogans in charge need their footy fix! Oh but want to protest the government? That's a super spreader!
Funny what you say about feminist shitholes and a woman's word, n that...
I've already experienced most of that shit, here, unfortunately (not the rape bit. More just "You're making me uncomfortable, reeeee!"), and I think Australia is almost certainly more (intersectional) "feminist" than the UK, as I've outlined before, so...
Eh. Shrug. I'm not great, or even "good", at avoiding those situations, which is, in large part, how I ended up such a loner shut-in, but... At least I have experience, I suppose!
I know how those situations go... I really bloody do, ha. So... There's that, I guess.
To add to this, I've never had "criminal proceedings" raised against me, for what I mentioned here, but... As far as the court of public opinion goes... Yeah, I've been socially "lynched", for making a woman uncomfortable, a couple of times... Lost friends that way, and lost my position in a volunteer org...
So anyway, I get it. Can't imagine the UK being any worse than here (or NZ), really, in that regard!!
Yeah, I thought the UK would probably be easiest... Though Scotland is fucked, evidently, so avoid their grip, I suppose? What do you think of the situation in Wales, at the moment..?
Also, thoughts on "Eastern" Europe..?
Poland, Hungary, Czech Respublika, Slovakia are all options...
Also Portugal and/or South America. Obviously harder for me, as I don't speak any of those languages (Spanish, French, German and Japanese, I do, but not the languages belonging to those countries I listed), and obviously all considerably poorer than the UK (maybe not Czech, but the rest), but... Could be a better option. I'm no exactly "thriving" here, anyway, so... Being paid at least SOMETHING, in a middle-income country, might, might be better than earning pretty much nothing, in the 2nd-most expensive country in the world, rn... :-/
Also, welcome back!!
Hungary is standing steadfast by their anti-LGBT propaganda laws, so maybe you can scout it out and see if it's worth a permanent move there?
I'm not sure they would let me move there permanently (at least, very easily, at present...).
But if I could meet and marry a girl, there, and get residency that way, I would be more than willing to stay...
Or Poland. Or quite literally anywhere in that part of the world. I'd even be willing to live in most of Ukraine.
Money is not really a concern, for me, as long as I can live a decent life, there...
Though my impression/understanding is that most women east of the Oder (German-Polish/German-Czech border) only really want to marry an ideally rich foreign man so that they can get out of their respective countries, rather than staying there, so... Eh.
At least that's how it was even a few years back, so I hear...
Can't say I haven't thought about this, extensively, at the very least!! 😅
This is the list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_holiday_visa
Not every country is open to every passport holder (obviously), so that's why I limited my choice, largely, to those I mentioned... Interestingly, if you have a NZ passport, there's many, many more options, lol...
I've been thinking about this for YEARS, though. Ever since fucking up my exchange chances at Uni, ha. So... Yeah. That's why I'm interested in your thoughts, I guess.
Also stand a chance of getting a student visa to Sweden (yeah yeah), or possibly a teaching job in Japan, but both of those are more complicated/time-consuming (plus $$$) processes...
Also read the smug, incredibly condescending tone in which the ABC, and the "academic" who wrote this (it's from The Conversation originally, which is a lefty academic blog) tells you how this is A GOOD THING, and how it's incredibly GOOD that we have non-democratic, non-elected bureaucrats working behind the scenes to ban shit, "for your health"...
What the flying fuck is this country coming to? Like, what??!
Australia is the next West Taiwan.
Here's the original article for your perusal of the comment section: https://theconversation.com/from-october-it-will-be-all-but-impossible-for-most-australians-to-vape-largely-because-of-canberras-little-known-homework-police-167376
It really is amazing. I knew academics were out of touch with reality, but some of these guys? Well, they really do take the fucking cake... :-/
I'm all for 90% of shit never getting to parliament but fuck me this secretive body is powerful.
Government always expands.
It's somewhat ironic, isn't it?
"We need to cut business red tape by, uhh, creating a body which generates MORE red tape!"
"Yes, that makes perfect sense!"
Fuck me this country is dumb... :-/
Not dumb, it is very intentional. Not every politician is in on it but it is coordinated.
Yup. That's why this "Indigenous Voice to Parliament" thing needs to be fought for all it is worth. Because it'll just be this same, non-democratic, unanswerable (to the 98% of the population who doesn't "identify" as Aboriginal), extrajudicial body...
That's the problem with this country, and its endless, and ever-increasingly, needless bureaucracy... :-/
And it’s been so successful they are using the same playbook for guns in the US.
Reminder; to have freedom, you have to be fulling willing to fight and die for it.