# Atomic Bombs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 18, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-bombs/76852 "2001-08-18T02:44:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-bombs/76852/41 "2001-09-05T03:54:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LinoleumInnocence \* > Okay I am wading in on this. > > And **Duckster** no _you can’t understand it if you haven’t lived there_. I **am** Australian. > > – snip – > > You say that the Australian government is capable of cover ups. Well I doubt we are very good at it. We can’t even cover up a phone card scandal. Keating was in power then. Hmmm. Well he has better credentials for a cover up than John Howard would. I’ll admit that. Still there was the pig farm debacle. How about the 1975 Constitutional Crisis? 🙂 > [@](#): > > Yes there is monitoring of conversations over the airwaves and via internet. There is a joint US-Australian monitoring. And you know what? Australia is pissed because the US gets any info that concerns it sent straight to the US without our review. If you think this isn’t going on in your own country then I think you are a little misguided. Last I heard, Australia finally achieved full and open reporting with the USA on this. I believe they are now on par with Canada and the UK in that such secrets are shared and shared alike without restriction. > [@](#): > > But for the most draconian internet rules, I say go to Afghanistan. Internet is illegal there. Yes, but I was talking about a western, allegedly free democratic country, having the most draconian Internet censorship laws in the western world. And if the media and friends still in Oz serve me correctly, there is more restrictive legislation in the works. > [@](#): > > Name for me the _specific_ (sections and all if possible, something a little smaller than the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936) tax law that was backdated 25 years. There have been retrospective tax laws passed here, but to the best of my knowledge the worst retrospective law was one that was backdated 2 years. But it had been announced in a press release allowing plenty of time for affected people to make adjustments. The law was backdated to the date of the press release. Try the new GST tax law. There is some very interesting sections which allow the Commissioner of Taxation to change reality beyond anything my former Aussie accountant has ever seen. > [@](#): > > Oh and **Duckster** it might be that we have an inate distrust of _Americans_, not everyone. 😃 I understand where you are coming from on this one. 🙂 > [@](#): > > P.S. Everyone lay off the Vegemite. There is nothing better than vegemite on toast and a cup of tea for breaky. To say otherwise is to throw down with me. 😃 I’m partial to Weetbix myself. I have yet to find a Yank cereal which beats it. ---
**Author:** ![LinoleumInnocence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LinoleumInnocence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinoleumInnocence)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-bombs/76852/42 "2001-09-05T05:01:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Duckster (in snippets): > > How about the 1975 Constitutional Crisis? Yeah? Sir John Kerr, double dissolusion. Blah Blah Blah. So what? And the conspiracy there was? > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Duckster: > Last I heard, Australia finally achieved full and open reporting with the USA on this. I believe they are now on par with Canada and the UK in that such secrets are shared and shared alike without restriction. Hmmmm. How recent is this? My information is about 6 months old. At that point, Australians were still whinging. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Duckster” > Try the new GST tax law. There is some very interesting sections which allow the Commissioner of Taxation to change reality beyond anything my former Aussie accountant has ever seen. Now how about a section or a description or something. The legislation isn’t as big as the ITAA but it is still fairly large. I can’t see anything in the GST legislation that allows a 25 year retrospective enactment of _any_ GST law. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Duckster: > > I’m partial to Weetbix myself. I have yet to find a Yank cereal which beats it. Not a big cereal person, but weetbix is certainly one of the few I would eat (with a teeny bit of sugar) But what about my arguments against a nuclear weapon? Li [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atomic-bombs/76852.md?page=2)