Australian election

[Harry Potter]

It seems the forum has been flooded with American politics. It's getting to the point where I'm getting vertigo everytime I look at the amount of stuff Drew has posted on the topic(s). And a little jealous cause he's getting all the attention.

So here is my lameass attempt at starting something Howard-Latham oriented. Unfortunately there's nothing as exciting as gun control to argue about (since Mr Martin Bryant resolved that issue a while back).

10 days to election time. Go Johnny.  

[cdbrown]

Umm.. yeah.  Couldn't really care less who get's in.  Well, just not let the Green's get the power as they have some really strange ideas.  Which ever government get's in they will do just the same as everyone else before them - ie do what ever the US or the UK want us to do and do it blindly.

I will be voting for the one that will benefit me the most which seems to be Little Johnny.  Don't know if I like the idea of having free health care for everyone over 75 - that's probably the age group that puts the most burden on the system as it is.

I wish I was in control - everyone on the dole would have to work for it - that would sure stop all those bludgers.  There's enough litter around for them to clean up, enough weeds and prickles on the parks for 'em to pull out.  No more handouts unless you earn it.  If people want public housing, they can then go to the new building sites and pitch in.  I get real angry about working 5 days a week for 3 days pay just so that other people can stay home.

[cdbrown]

HEY - this is supposed to be about the Aussie election not about abraham lincoln.  Let's stick to the topic.

Cheers
-cdbrown

-edit - I just noticed you posted the above quote in 6 threads.  Why-o-why?

[danny_galaga]

HEY - this is supposed to be about the Aussie election not about abraham lincoln.  Let's stick to the topic.

Cheers
-cdbrown

-edit - I just noticed you posted the above quote in 6 threads.  Why-o-why?

what are you talking about?  

[DrewKaree]

*singsong cheerleader voice*
Marky Mark, he's my man, if he can't do it, elect another one just like him who will do the same darn thing and keep doing that until you get someone who can

*gasping for air after a drawn-out-too-long cheer*

 

Is there a way that I can vote in your elections, like you could vote Democrat in ours?  

[Dartful Dodger]

^{Australia saw its violent crime rates soar after its 1996 gun control measures banned most firearms. Violent crime rates averaged 32% higher in the six years after the law was passed than they did the year before the law went into effect. Murder and manslaughter rates remained unchanged, but armed robbery rates increased 74%, aggravated assaults by 32%. Australia's violent crime rate is also now double America's. In contrast, the United States took the opposite approach and made it easier for individuals to carry guns.}
Quote taken from here

Hasn't your country suffered enough.

Mark Latham for AustraliaPrime!

[fredster]

As an American, I have have no dog in the race and respectfully decline to inject my opinion in another democratic country's politics.

It's just not right to comment on these issues.  The people of the country are the only ones to have that right in my opinion.  

[danny_galaga]

Mark Latham for AustraliaPrime!

never woulda picked you for a LABOR supporter!! commie  

[danny_galaga]

As an American, I have have no dog in the race and respectfully decline to inject my opinion in another democratic country's politics.

It's just not right to comment on these issues.  The people of the country are the only ones to have that right in my opinion.  

awww, c'mon!! i won't feel so bad sticking my nose into YOUR politics  

[RetroBorg]

Umm.. yeah.  Couldn't really care less who get's in.  Well, just not let the Green's get the power as they have some really strange ideas.

I like The Greens, and these so called strange ideas I think are common sense.

While obviously "The Greens" won't win I guess we are lucky here in Australia because we have the preferential system which means no vote is ever wasted, I'm voting Greens with preferences to Labour, I hate little Johnny and the sooner he's out the better.

Australia saw its violent crime rates soar after its 1996 gun control measures banned most firearms. Violent crime rates averaged 32% higher in the six years after the law was passed than they did the year before the law went into effect. Murder and manslaughter rates remained unchanged, but armed robbery rates increased 74%, aggravated assaults by 32%. Australia's violent crime rate is also now double America's. In contrast, the United States took the opposite approach and made it easier for individuals to carry guns.

As far as this is concerned it was never expected to lower violent crime rates, these laws were put in to place to stop some crazy dude massacring everyone in sight, since these gun laws were put in place there has been not one massacre in Australia unlike the U.S.A. where it seem somes dude flips out every second week and wipes out their local school etc. While I don't like Little Johnny, this would easily be the best law he has introduced.

Go the Greens. Let's make drugs legal!  

[danny_galaga]

yeah, i think i'd agree. bob browns mah man!! labor were amazingly silent about things like the Iraq invasion and the FTA. I always used to vote labor, but not now...

[Goz]

As an American, I have have no dog in the race and respectfully decline to inject my opinion in another democratic country's politics.

It's just not right to comment on these issues.  The people of the country are the only ones to have that right in my opinion.  

Man it would make sense if this was the standard, but it's not. A great deal of the political threads for our presidency (United States) are littered with opinions and pseudo facts from our friends from other countries.

I'm with Fredster and will stay out of this one.

-Goz

[GGKoul]

Can someone mail me a case of VB?  

[DrewKaree]

While obviously "The Greens" won't win

no vote is ever wasted

They obviously won't win, and yet you are still under some misguided theory that voting for them IS NOT a wasted vote  I don't even vote there, and your own statements are proof enough that you're wrong, you just haven't thought about your own words

Maybe it's too much of the things your wasted-vote-party want to legalize

Go the Greens. Let's make drugs legal!  

yeah, not guns, but drugs...because clearly, people can handle their drugs...just ask any kid who was addicted to crack at birth because their stoner loser of a mom couldn't stop long enough to give birth to a healthy child.  You strike me as the reason NOT to have mandatory voting, because if it wasn't mandatory, you'd be doing bong hits instead of your civic duty, and the political process would be the better for it.

Can someone mail me a case of VB?  

I would, but then you'd brag about how, after you got it, you went to the doctor for a shot or some ointment to clear it up, and you got it for free and.....what?  He said "B"?  What the heck does that mean?  OOOOOHHHHHHH!  I though he said...nevermind  

[danny_galaga]

Can someone mail me a case of VB?  

I would, but then you'd brag about how, after you got it, you went to the doctor for a shot or some ointment to clear it up, and you got it for free and.....what?  He said "B"?  What the heck does that mean?  OOOOOHHHHHHH!  I though he said...nevermind  

man, ive gotta stop doing this rofl thing, soon ill be pmsl and thats not a good look...

[danny_galaga]

While obviously "The Greens" won't win

no vote is ever wasted

They obviously won't win, and yet you are still under some misguided theory that voting for them IS NOT a wasted vote  I don't even vote there, and your own statements are proof enough that you're wrong, you just haven't thought about your own words

drew, broadly speaking, whoever gets the most votes wins. if its not a complete majority, preferential votes are counted. If a relatively minor party gets more votes, then there can be two effects. 1) maybe they win (not likely) 2) the major parties sit up and listen because they wonder why they lost votes.

thus i'm voting greens this year. traditionally i vote labor, but this time no. if enough people vote greens, some more of their candidates may get in. australia is more or less a two party system like yours, but over a period of time things change. the balance shifts. who has ever heard of the 'federalists' for instance? and yet that was the party one of your early presidents was in. if everyone only ever voted for 'federalist' or for 'democratic-republican' then that's the two parties you'd still have today.

likewise in Australia who has heard of the 'protectionist' party? yet that was the party our first prime minister was in.  if people only ever think we can have 'labor' or 'liberal/national' then that's all we'll ever have. i feel quite proud to be one of the ones to help shift the balance. after all, particulary in the senate, if both major parties are even, then even just ONE alternate senator can have some power. the two majors will be very unhappy about it and thus will aim to cater for more voters next election...

[GGKoul]

Can someone mail me a case of VB?  

I would, but then you'd brag about how, after you got it, you went to the doctor for a shot or some ointment to clear it up, and you got it for free and.....what?  He said "B"?  What the heck does that mean?  OOOOOHHHHHHH!  I though he said...nevermind  

Ok, just to make things easier... mail me a case of Crown!  The only Crown available in Canada is Crown Royal... not Crown Lager.

[DrewKaree]

drew, broadly speaking, whoever gets the most votes wins. if its not a complete majority, preferential votes are counted. If a relatively minor party gets more votes, then there can be two effects. 1) maybe they win (not likely) 2) the major parties sit up and listen because they wonder why they lost votes.

Hey, waddaya know!  We use the electoral college to even out the votes, then, the guy with the most votes wins (unless you're MrC, then the tallest guy wins, because otherwise, he couldn't get into office ).

Also, if a relatively minor party (in the U.S., let's say the Green Party, or the Libertarian Party) gets more votes, then there can be two effects. 1) maybe they win (not likely) 2) the major parties sit up and listen because they wonder why they lost votes

In our case, those "minor parties" take votes away from  others, but in the case of Democrats, they don't wonder why they lost votes, they try to get the "minor party" taken off the ballot wherever they can.  

Go ahead, check it out....does this happen in Australia?


Try here

I like this one best, as we read about "law not having leeway", while countless fraudulently submitted voter registrations are allowed...the law requires them to be added, AND the law requires them to be complete and WITH I.D.!

and lastly...this

So basically, the difference between our two systems that I can see is that we have the capability of getting a third party booted off the ballot.  

[RetroBorg]

Go the Greens. Let's make drugs legal!  

yeah, not guns, but drugs...because clearly, people can handle their drugs...just ask any kid who was addicted to crack at birth because their stoner loser of a mom couldn't stop long enough to give birth to a healthy child.  You strike me as the reason NOT to have mandatory voting, because if it wasn't mandatory, you'd be doing bong hits instead of your civic duty, and the political process would be the better for it.

For the record just because I beleive in the legalisation of drugs doesn't mean that I support drug use. I just believe money spent on fighting a losing war against drugs would be better spent on drug education and drug rehabilitation. Making drugs legal and introducing government control in drug distribution and controlled drug use would remove the profit in drugs and put drug dealers out of business while also reducing the need for theft that now exists in order for some people to buy drugs, this would also reduce the amount of people that currently exist in our ever increasingly over crowded prisons.

[danny_galaga]

In our case, those "minor parties" take votes away from  others, but in the case of Democrats, they don't wonder why they lost votes, they try to get the "minor party" taken off the ballot wherever they can.  

Go ahead, check it out....does this happen in Australia?

So basically, the difference between our two systems that I can see is that we have the capability of getting a third party booted off the ballot.  

as far as i'm aware, none of the major parties are that machiavellian. buuuutt... there was this party formed by a 'round the kitchen table' type person called 'one nation'. some people joked that is was 'one notion'. anyway, the founder, Pauline Hanson, got sent to gaol for electoral fraud. which was true. But while i despised the party, i think the majors were a little too keen to have her sent away when it was clear she was a patsy (her co-founders did all the swindling, her main crime was trusting them to dot the i's and cross the t's). they released her after a few months. as far as i'm aware though, they never try to get a minor party booted. with 'one nation', theyre tardiness was their downfall...

[cdbrown]

One Nation is still around in a lot of electorates.  They had some pretty radical ideas which had a lot of support.  I liked some of the ideas she had.  Most were very politically incorrect which I liked.  The other parties didn't like this at all.  But they all try and play the "dirty tricks" campaign.  Oh well - all tv and radio advertising for the election finishes today which will be great.

Did anybody get a phone call from the prime minister in the last couple of days?  A couple of people at work received a recorded message from him - stupid thing was it came from an international phone number.  Guess it was cheaper to get the phone centers in india to dial aussie numbers and play a recorded message than do it from within Australia.

Cheers
-cdbrown

[danny_galaga]

well, put my vote in today. looks like the liberals are going to win again. i panicked at the polling place because the queue looked so long but i timed it- took 12 minutes from locking my car to getting back in it again!! 12 minutes out of three years isnt too demanding...

follow the tally here:

http://abc.net.au/elections/

[DrewKaree]

OK, I'll be there to vote shortly....fredster, Dartful, TA Pilot, Mameotron, gimme your votes.  I'll be dropping them off with a master vote registrar I know in Lowell, MA.    
He'll know how to deal with them.

Danny, what's your postal code there, so they'll know where to drop them in?  We've got a Pterodactyl, ala Jurassic Park, so he'll be over there in a wink.

[fredster]

Danny,

What passes for a 'liberal' down under?  Do they support the war on terror and the war in Iraq?  After all, y'all are down under.  Toliets flush counterclockwise, spring is winter, so liberals are conservatives?

did you win or loose?  

[DrewKaree]

Danny,

What passes for a 'liberal' down under?  Do they support the war on terror and the war in Iraq?  After all, y'all are down under.  Toliets flush counterclockwise, spring is winter, so liberals are conservatives?

did you win or loose?  

Lose...if he were "loose", and I think he IS    that would explain the attraction the ladies have to him.

Oh, and you forgot Fahrenheit and Celsius, the "what side of the road to drive on", and, somehow (I dunno, but it's GOTTA work in there somehow) the Aborigines.

danny, that dog crap on your shoe....goodonya mate.

(just practicing to see if I'm using it correctly  )

practise, practice   colour, color   crap like that.

[Harry Potter]

Bloody Greeny treehuggers  

I'm surprised Howard did this well, what with all the Iraq thing looming over his campaign (apparently it wasn't looming low enough). However several news networks pointed out that this victory may increase Blair's and Junior's chances at winning.

Guess we'll see.

[danny_galaga]

something that ties in the election with arcade games  

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=19860

once you've read about andie mcdowell getting divorced you can click on 'vote now' under elction invaders for a bit of parliamentary invaders...

[fredster]

I thought you were turned upside down.  

But I had faith the good people of Australia had good sense.  It will be the same in the UK and in America.

 You can go play your games now and don't worry.  Ypu can rest easy, the US will take care of you.

[danny_galaga]

I thought you were turned upside down.  

But I had faith the good people of Australia had good sense.  It will be the same in the UK and in America.

 You can go play your games now and don't worry.  Ypu can rest easy, the US will take care of you.

 

[fredster]

I thought you wore glasses.  Did you get contacts or something?

[danny_galaga]

hehe. don't need glasses for a brown eye...

[fredster]

Well, like I said, everything is upside down in Australia.

Winter is summer, Liberals are conservatives, etc.  So your portrait doesn't surprise me.  

It also confirms were most of your words and ideas come out of.

Here's a view of the situation from the US:
http://nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/31578.htm

[DrewKaree]

hehe. don't need glasses for a brown eye...

How about a monacle?

Oh, nevermind, I get it.  You're showing us the orifice you usually TALK out of!  

GOTCHA!  (ball's in your court, man!)

[danny_galaga]

hehe. don't need glasses for a brown eye...

How about a monacle?

Oh, nevermind, I get it.  You're showing us the orifice you usually TALK out of!  

GOTCHA!  (ball's in your court, man!)

badda boom, badda bing!!

[danny_galaga]

fredster, to continue with the 'arse' theme, that article is a bit 'arse about face' (and i'll head drew off at the pass with an obvious reference to the pic above!):

'Australia has been a faithful U.S. ally in every American war since 1917 without needing (in John Kerry's words) to be either "coerced or bribed." At risk was a splintering of the English-speaking alliance (America, Australia and Great Britain) that has been the moral and military core of the war on terrorism.'

Australia was a faithful ally to Britain in WWI from the first day war was declared in 1914. Since the US kinda wandered into the fray in 1917 you could hardly say that WE were faithful allies to the US!!

P.S: this bit was rather interesting:

"Good on ya, Cobber. Have an ice-cold tube of Fosters on us."

ok, Drew is an ocker acolyte so he can tell you that the 'goodonya' bit is fine. but no-one under about sixty would say 'cobber'. i met an aussie once who drank fosters. but only once. and the 'tube' is what you stare at instead of the wall when you are sitting on the couch. (although for Londoners it's what you get into to get from A to B).

goodonya fredster!! getadogupya!!

[fredster]

I have reported you to your governement as a subversive Danny.

They seemed to have a file on you.

[DrewKaree]

I have reported you to your governement as a subversive Danny.

They seemed to have a file on you.

See danny, I told you I'd get you back  

Now they've got a FILE on you!  I hope they put the pictures I sent them in there.  That one where you forgot your monacle...they were especially interested when I told them about that one.

Now your in for it!