72 posts tagged “australia”

I’m still testing this site to see how long the compose screen takes to appear. Right now: five minutes. It’s a darned sight better than the 75–120 minutes of last night, and the two days of earlier this month. I suspect Daisy, who is most Voxers’ contact inside the company that created this site, doesn’t work every day—I wrote to her again last night (oddly, I can still DM; and I can still comment. I just cannot compose or add media).
   I have tried this site on Windows and Mac, on IE, Safari and Firefox, using two different ISPs, and in two different cities, and got the same behaviour. It’s been happening with increasing frequency since August. I will briefly try it from a third city shortly.
   I know from feedback from some of you that this bug happened in Australia, too, but it hasn’t happened to you lately (though Ninja has had to switch to IE just to use this site, so things are not normal).
   Interestingly, Robin can still blog from Auckland so the issue is not nationwide.
   My opinion: I was a Vox beta tester and was one of its biggest cheerleaders, and the silence from the company is not making me terribly happy.
   And, yes, I still had interesting posts to share, but by the time the window comes up, the inspiration has long passed. Sorry if I sound like a broken record—I really wish they would fix this site, or turn back whatever new programming they put in which is obviously blocking some users. I have seen a lot of neighbours leave Vox over the last year or so, though oftentimes they do not say why. I wonder if they found it as buggy as I have in the last few months.

I somehow think there are fewer big car stunts tonight on Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei. At 8.15 p.m. on RTL. Looks more like an episode of Water Rats.

There are numerous clips of Little Britain Down Under on YouTube, but David and Matt meeting Dame Edna has to be a highlight (from 3.28).

Oh well, I just lost the entire post, because of a Firefox bug. Holden might export its Statesman to the US as a Chevy Caprice. I’ve no patience to retype the whole history, sorry.

I had a meeting earlier today and this TV show came to mind, which I suggested to the person I was chatting to (she might have been a bit young to remember):

As the US rages over its health care debate, I was inspired by some of the threads on Vox on the subject, in particular the comparison between the US and Australia. The best people to ask in comparing the two would, logically, be those who have experienced both.
   I Googled the term Americans living in Australia health care. None of these show Australia in a totally perfect light, which is what one expects. But on the health care issue, they make some interesting observations. I have skipped sites that are too brochure-like, which formed the majority in the above search.
   The first page that was relevant was this one, stating, inter alia:

They write, “Social democratic migrants focus on attributes of the United States associated with its weak welfare system, inadequate health care violence, and general conservative social and economic structures.” (Note: Health care costs in Australia are only 8% of GDP and everyone is covered. In the U.S., they amount to 15% of GDP and many remain uncovered.)
   Americans who see the U.S. as a society in decline, leaning toward socialism, come to Australia for its safer, drug-free environment. However, they object to Australia’s strong centralized government which they see as being intrusive. They find that Australia has high taxes, strong unions and generous welfare system, also that crime is on the increase.

   The second to give some comparison quoted CNN and linked this video:

   Sadly, after 100 entries I could not find a personal account comparing the systems. So I tried a different term, “American living in Australia” health care blog.
   This was a little more successful. First up was this blog which solicited this comment:

As an [A]merican living in Australia for the last 10 years, with our universal health care coverage (a combination of public and private if you want it), I have been horrified by the stories of my aging parents dealing with healthcare in [A]merica. My mom pays hundreds of dollars for medications she would get here for pennies, and even though she has medicare, she still needs to get approval for alternative therapies her doctor wants to recommend—but never gets the approval because her supplemental insurance company doesn't want to pay.
   I think it’s a little too easy for the young and/or never seriously ill to think that because they’ve never experienced a problem that everything must be ok. If only they would stop and ask: what if it was your mom, or your uncle or your neice [sic] or nephew. Would you care then?
   I am shocked at people I consider friends, who I thought would be intelligent, informed and considered, getting sucked in by the media frenzy. I am horrified at how my parents struggle with healthcare, and I am ashamed of the country of my birth.
   Healthcare is not a traditional good or service. You can’t shop around—when you need it, you need it or you die. Any country that ignores this is simply barbaric.

   I also saw another comment from an American expatriate at this blog:

I am an American living in Australia in my fifties. We have medicare here for all ages so we get universal health care. We can also go private too if we want to. I use the public system right now due to immigrating. It is a great system and I am so happy we are lucky to have universal health care.

   The next was a forum:

As a American living in Australia, and now a Australian Citizen, it is a great place to live. If you are willing to work, there are plenty of good paying jobs. The free medical system is good as well. As long as you are healthy and well off.

   The fourth featured a comment from 2007, long before the most recent debate, with some typos:

I’m an American living in Australia since the mid 70s where we have a good public system which runs for under 10% of GDP. The interesting thing is that we also have a private system of insurance and private hospitals that allows ready access to elective surgery (you have heard about waiting lists in public systems? ) and choice of doctor. I have a heart condition that is controllable with medication and the public system isn’t going to operate on me when there are plenty of people who’s lives depend on bypass surgery. Fine with me. For ideological reasons they have a hard time being blunt about that sort of thing, but as a blunt socialist doctor friend says—‘it’s a bottomless pit—you could spend 150% of GDP and there would still be things you could do.” I like knowing that if I fall over or get run over I will get carted off to hospital and not have to worry about a bill—I already paid it with the separate Australian Medicare tax levy which is how it should be in my opinion. I also like having access to the private system if my doctor and I decide that a particular treatment is the best thing to do. I think eventually countries will end up with universal safety net level health care (that happens informally in the US anyhow.) and a private system on top. Medically I don’t want to be dependent on either the Cuban or the US system. I think ideology is a positive hindrance when it comes to medical systems and that is why I am happy to pay twice for an apparently irrational and wasteful system like we have in Australia. They are actually complementary and each saves the other from its worst features.

That was just from the first results’ page.
  As I have only been a tourist in both countries, I can make no comment from personal experience. The above excerpts have not been edited further in terms of content. For those arguing their merits, I would give some consideration to what people who have experienced both systems have to say.

This was a bit disappointing. What is the 900th entry on Autocade?

Ford Telstar (GC/AR/AS). 1982–7 (prod. unknown). 4- and 5-door sedan. F/F, 1587, 1789, 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC). Mazda Capella (GC) with new front and rear ends and Ford badging. Mechanically the same. No coupé. Big technological advance on Cortina, which it replaced in Australia and New Zealand, though in the latter market, a station wagon variant was missed. Popular and a welcome all-rounder in the mid-sized market at the time, and Ford’s main entrant through most of the Asia-Pacific, but more seemed to be affectionate toward its predecessor. Sold at Autorama dealers in Japan.

   Well, at least, unlike the Wikipedia entry on the car, it’s accurate.
   A hundred to go and then I’ll announce the site more widely.

Someone has a beautiful 1963 Ford Falcon in Christchurch. This station wagon was beautifully restored, but also appeared to be now in daily use.