What's what?

Only work if Senate on same page though Gaz. Great thinking trying to get it more effective though
Here on tweed council elections the parties used it to train their candidates for a life in. state or federal political life pensions pending.
Let's hope they work with the people and expansion of our shire as the number one priority. Fortunately here we havs some well informed citizens who will help steer the ship.

Yeah fair point we would need the upper and lower houses on same terms.

Wouldn't mind flushing out the career deadbeats with nothing left to offer federally like Abbott, Pyne, Doug Cameron, Plibersek + all the minions on the backbench.

That's one weird little arbitrary list there. Picking names out of the hat.

ten year + politicians who I think have done a shit job and need to stand aside for better talent. They've tried & failed and have nothing left but sniping. There's more names in the hat tho if you'd prefer Turk?

I could fill 3 hats and go all day on the SA state parliament.

I'm going to give Tom Koutstantonis a dishonorable mention for being the pollie I would most like to see step on a brown snake.

Hat? I could fill Bolivar with my shit-list. And that's just in Canberra! A shit-list of current incumbents that are FUCKING us up as we speak. In fact, I wager my shit-list is waaaay shittier than yours. We could go alphabetical...start with the As.

Abetz or Andrews or Abbott? Triple A threat. Got any worse??

I reckon you've got the As pretty much sealed there turkey.

This article about Abetz' brother explaining away great uncle otto the nazi war criminal is worth a chuckle.

"I think it was one of mixed reaction in that he did some really positive things but he also did participate in, you know, the deportation of the Jews which is really, there's no excuse for that whatsoever and yet he also did some very positive things," Abetz said

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/peter-abetz-says-nazi-w...

Hah! "Several times"?! Try several hundred since first ever posting. Jeez, even in this one particular thread, there's a motza, Fongo.

As for the rest of your comment, seems a bit 'tired and emotional' there, comrade.

I have said from the start the aboriginal cashless welfare card is a scam... This confirms it.... It actually is a total disgrace..

https://theaimn.com/lnp-welfare-card-true-facts-exposed-corruption-disgu...

What's what? After reading this article, well, who the fuck knows?

Surely not any of us, we're all being played with nefarious intent, and even those of us not on social media would have no idea how far the tentacles reach.

Yeah it's on the Guardian but give it a go.

"Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.” -Phaedrus

Beat me to it, Doggo. Everyone should have a read of that.

Phaedrus. Good name for a journal/blog/movement.

I've read a bit about Mercer before. We all know Bannon. What strikes me straight off, especially with these tech-nerd squillionaires (and there's a bunch), is what is driving them? The more horrendous intellectualised guff behind the 'alt-right' - take your pick...there's all sorts of bad crazy scholarship to choose from - seems to originate from these Silicon Valley tech geeks. It's a 'revenge of the nerds' action porno!

Ayn Rand has got a lot to answer for.

That got pretty heavy pretty quick stu but definitely an interesting read. First time I've heard about Mercer but I've always felt that social media was ripe for exploitation.

My faith in humanity has been restored a little though as pornhub has just edged out breitbart again! Number 31.

http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/US

I'm with you sheepdog that card is an absolute joke as if people in remote areas can completely rely on plastic for every transaction its insulting. Step one for attempting to address social issues in Australia is treat people who use welfare like human fucking beings.

It did, eh? Though the most intriguing thing is that her research wasn't shady and classified but involved just a few clicks on the computer. Find the links, make the connections, follow the money. What's happening is occuring in plain sight yet we appear unable to accept we're being manipulated; the illusion of agency and reason is too strong to bear thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, we're capable of being led by the nose.

I mean, fuck, we should know this, a century of advertising proves how capable we are of being herded around.

Can I make a generalisation? The left will lose because they appeal to reason, the right will win because they appeal to emotion.

"Phaedrus. Good name for a journal/blog/movement."

Also a good name for the alter ego of a zen student who took good care of his motorbike.

Or something like that.

The welfare card rort by the coalition (link above) should be in the front page of every mainstream outlet.

That's a pretty fair generalization the more I think about it. The biggest argument from the conservative right is often the integrity of the left. Correct or not seems irrelevant as shit sticks.

It's a shame the argument is always framed as an us vs them in right/left political & media terms because people just eat it up.

"Phaedrus" would make a good board name too I reckon

Re: Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, for some reason that dude ended up annoying the shit outta me. Kinda ironic he got beaten to death by a Buddhist monk in Thailand.*

Apropos of fuck all, I missed President Trumble's terror address today. Anyone do a flag count??

*this may be post-struth.

Pirsig is still kicking. By a bizarre coincidence he was my first FB friend. I was setting up my account way-back-when, being a diligent little user typing in favourite books etc which included ZATAOMM and the invisible hand of the algorithm put us in touch.

I said g'day, he said howdy. I said I liked his book, he said thanks. Oh we had so much to talk about!

For mine , The single most alarming news item so far in 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/china-considers-paying-cou...

I thought the most 'alarming' was something about 18c?

or this...

http://www.loudmotor.com/japanese-porn-industry-urgently-needs-male-acto...

What happened to 18c ?

You don't have an opinion on the fact that a nation of 1.6 billlion people is actively encouraging an increase in the size of the population , Turkey ?

.

what are we doing blowin? 18 weeks paid parental leave here. latest bill in parliament is to increase it to 20 weeks. isnt that an incentive?

though it will increase our future population of white bogans with only single mothers collecting ever increasing amounts of welfare, so theres that benefit.

Happyass, I'm not into any kind of accelerated population growth program , so the fact that Australia is doing it is no better.

But the laws of mathematics say that at a similar percentile growth rate the real growth on a population of 14 Billion people is going to be a shit load greater than that of a nation with 24 million.

And that's what I'm talking about - the single greatest threat to the planet : human population growth.

PS - You can keep your shithouse comments regarding white bogans to yourself in future.

Unless you want to start talking about drunk blacks, avaricious Jews, uncouth Arabs and conniving Asians .

Same same .....but different.

"white bogans with only single mothers collecting ever increasing amounts of welfare"

"drunk blacks, avaricious Jews, uncouth Arabs and conniving Asians "

Yew! Clash of the Titans!

Still no opinion Turkey ?

Yeah, 18c is the one of the most tin-pot "causes" the right-on freedom warriors have come up with in many a moon. And there's been a few to pick from.

Back on Earth, how's this one, Blowie, from earlier?

https://theaimn.com/lnp-welfare-card-true-facts-exposed-corruption-disgu...

Or this one?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart...

Y'know the ones other people were discussing before...whaddyareckon?

I can understand if you and Happy Arse wanna carry on though. As Brandis infamously said...ah, you know it, comrade.

You think those issues - though important - are more important than the active promotion of accelerating the impact of humans on the planet through massive population growth ?

You know climate change, access to clean drinking water and adequate nourishment, air pollution , oceanic pollution , terrestrial pollution , the detachment of humanity from nature , extinction of species , destruction of remaining pristine environments, congestion and impacts on productivity that result, loss of quality of life - all of these issues and many more, basically every issue confronting humanity and the planet are directly and indirectly excacerbated by increasing global population.

But you honestly think that 1/ the wording of a law relating to racism in a nation where telling someone to vacate a train seat because they're Asian is a noteworthy hate crime

2/ the nefarious funding of a two bit political party in one of the most politically stable places on Earth

Or

3/ A modern and far less socially onerous technique for controlling populations in the manner as has been practiced since humans ever formed societies.

You think any of these 3 relative trivialities are more important than the literal future of life on Earth ?

I've never understood why people attack maternity leave as a bogan policy. Its a good policy because only mums that work can get it.. the ones that pay tax?

Bogan welfare bums just keep getting the dole it makes zero diff now the baby bonus is cactus.

The most concerning thing I've seen today is that there are just as many people beating off to breitbart.com as there are to pornhub.com

Sex n violence, Gazzy. 'Fake' sex n 'fake' violence. Tech nerd nirvana!

Yeah , good talk Turkey.

You never fail to unimpress.

well we wouldnt have this problem blowin if old people would just die sooner....nah, i didnt mean that.

.....although it would solve the problem right?

anyhow, now i have another one due soon, im looking forward to my new (old) plasma, maybe a new board or two, and something for the wifey.

you cant stop progress.

I hope your Bub is happy and healthy , Happyass.

Doesn't mean the Earth needs twice as many humans every generation.

If people have kids cause they want them , then that's they're prerogative, it's human nature and good times.

But to actively promote population growth for economic / political reasons ....that's fucking moronic.

And it's detrimentally counterproductive.

blowin I wonder if the chows will continue to heavily favor male children and throw the chinese gender imbalance out even further. At least that might may slow their population growth down a little.

Chows Gaz? Do you have any more racial pejoratives handy? Might as well break them all out now to save me coming back later.

How is chow any more racist than jap, aussie, yank or pom etc? It certainly wasn't intended that way. Toughen up bb it's a big world out there, just because they're Asian doesn't mean they need you to wrap them in cotton wool.

Suggest the movie "Lion". There is a good line from Kidman on this issue.

Good luck with that approach Gaz. You will probably need it.

I'm guessing all your friends are caucasian with a white-knight attitude like that bb?

Saw Lion, that's 2 hours I'll never get back although I did get some brownie points from my dear wife. Lets all face it NK isn't that good, probably best suited to spaghetti westerns!!

As a young kid my dad would ask who wants a feed of chow food? which meant steamed dim sims and fried spring rolls, never knocked back, darn I can taste them now. He always called anyone that looked like an Italian or Greek a wog or dago but only if they drove badly. Of course some of his best mates and some neighbours were Italians or Greeks so we all got on really well. My best mate's family in primary school ran a "continental deli" so I got to taste lots of great breads, meats, cheeses and espresso coffee from a very early age - darn I getting really hungry now. I guess it all could be summed up by that great Australian movie "They're a Weird Mob". I love multicultural Melbourne a universe away from Hanson politics.

"They're a weird mob"...instructional film taken from the book, written by some wog called Nino Culotta (erm, real name John Patrick O'Grady).

Anyways, I saw a film quite recently: I, Daniel Blake.

The end speech/eulogy:

"I am not a client, a customer, nor a service user.
I am not a shirker, a scrounger, a beggar, nor a thief.
I am not a national insurance number, nor a blip on a screen.
I paid my dues, never a penny short and proud to do so.
I don't tug the forelock, but look my neighbour in the eye.
I don't accept or seek charity.
My name is Daniel Blake, I am a man, not a dog.
As such, I demand my rights. I demand you treat me with respect.
I, Daniel Blake, am a citizen, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you."

Oh come on Smiley. You're not really pulling out the "Some of my (dad's) best friends are..."
and then following it up with a "I really like their ethnic foods..."

wait, you're being ironic, right? i just took the bait? damn it.

cheers blowin.

we hear that fresh blood is needed to support an ageing population and that heavily drives population growth in the developed world, but i wonder if there is a natural limit to human longevity that will release this pressure? is there a intrinsic human cell limit? or would diseases such as cancer provide a limit at least in the short term. i.e. next 100 years?

Time for this...AGAIN?

(Well, it is Blowie's favourite)

The govt stops puts the kibosh on Maccas hiring 457 visas.

Had no idea the rort was so widespread but here's hoping it ends soon. Article says Dutton is gonna review the 457 list - which currently includes 650 occupations! - so it "better reflects genuine labour market needs”.

stu... Absolute propaganda bullshit from Dutton.... Just more "anti immigrant" feed the "alt right" crap.. thats' possibilty number 1...... Possibilty number 2 is the coalition has now been in since 2013 , and it's taken 4 years, a shocking poll result, A behind the scenes move by Dutton to be pm, a defection, a penalty rates disaster, and a mad monk for them to even address it...

Roy Morgan found that "real unemployment" in Australia is at 9.1%... That's 1.188 MILLION unemployed.... There are a further 1.266 MILLION people under employed.

http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7049-australian-unemployment-estimates...

From your link, there are 500 people here on 457 visas working in fast food.....

500 people.......

That's sure gonna make a dent in that 1.188 million...

smh, pmsl, lol, wtf. etc etc etc

Sheepdog , what about the other 2 million odd workers here on visas of one type or another ?

Do they factor in to your LOL accounting techniques ?

Blowin, wtf has that got to do with stu's specific point? Give me your opinion on the topic at hand before expanding. Then after you have discussed the 500 food workers, I'll be happy to address your "2 million odd workers here on visas of one type or another", as long as you supply a factual link backing your 2000 000 number.

Well Sheepy, I took your comment that the 500 in the link was a drop in the ocean and that visa holders aren't taking the jobs of Australian citizens.

2M unemployed with 2M guest workers - you don't think there is any connection ?

If we look at the recent (6 or so) years of the 457 visa issue, it seems both sides of politics have stuffed this up. It seems the highest number of 457's handed out was under the Gillard government. Regardless, it seems crazy to have 457 for Maccas and the like. Regardless, the system is broken. Go into any petrol station, fast food, etc and see for yourself.