Australian Elections in August

[lynx42]

We here in Australia have an election coming up. There are many political cartoons out there, so I'll start of with this very apt one.
Rick

[Keith Webb]

It's become the battle of personalities between Julia Dullard and the Mad Monk, but in reality I think it's going to be a mere endorsement of Julia's back stabbing of Kevin Dudd.
I am not looking forward to this one bit.

Dullard has just announced she wants to get "gas guzzling" vehicles older than mid 1990s off the road so she is no friend to old MV owners.

Originally Posted by lynx42

We here in Australia have an election coming up. There are many political cartoons out there, so I'll start of with this very apt one.
Rick

[aj.lec]

Unfortunately getting that farcical feeling

None of the parties have decent leaders

-Labour has the droll ,untrustworthy ,backstabbing ,policy regergitator without a good plan for the future , just more taxes

-Liberal has the Budgie smuggler ,who seems to put both feet in his mouth every time he opens it .No revolutionary policies or plans. Also regergitating policies

-Greens have a slimy ,arrogant git that reminds me too much of Keating

-Nationals .. well you just never hear of them

Overall . I think we may be in a spot of bother

[Barry Churcher]

Rick,if you changed the names it would be Ontario.
Barry

[Hanno Spoelstra]

It is the same everywhere it seems. So much for democracy, eh?

I think we should have a serious look at other politcal systems. As a famous Chinese leader once said: "Elections? In China we have elections evely day!" That sounds like it works. . . .

H.

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by Barry Churcher

Rick,if you changed the names it would be Ontario.
Barry

Barry,
Are you sure that Ontario has a monopoly on "all the same - so why waste my time voting" poiticians for Canada? On the other hand, my view is that if individuals can't be bothered to vote for whoever they view as the least bad of the lot they don't have a right to complain about the outcome.
The last party I remeber that was much different than the others was the Rhinoceros party and I'm not sure I would have wanted them to govern although they would have made things a bit more interesting/lively..... Some of their promises can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_Party_of_Canada I wonder how they would have done under the more recent suggestion of proportional representation?

[aj.lec]

Was sent an email entitled
"This is what happens to naughty boys"

Not really appropriate for political discussion but was funny at the time

[aj.lec]

Got me started now
Another example of the "quality" of some of our "politicians" are (especially bad ex "pop" singers)should have stuck with that

TRUE STORY
The Australian Government and the NSW Forestry Service were presenting an alternative to NSW sheep farmers for controlling the dingo population.
It seems that after years of the sheep farmers using the tried and true methods of shooting and/or trapping the predators, the Labor Government (Peter Garrett - Environmental Minister), the NSW Forestry Service and the Greens tree-huggers had a ‘more humane’ solution.
What they proposed was for the animals to be captured alive, the males would then be castrated and let loose again. Therefore the population would be controlled.
This was ACTUALLY proposed to the NSW Sheep farmers Association and Farming Association by the Federal Government and the NSW Forestry Service.
All of the sheep farmers thought about this amazing idea for a couple of minutes. Finally, one of the old boys in the back of the conference room stood up, tipped his hat back and said, ‘Mr Garrett, son, I don’t think you understand our problem.
Those dingo’s ain’t ****en our sheep - they’re eatin’ ‘em.’
You should have been there to hear the roar of laughter as Mr Peter Garrett and the members of the NSW Forestry Service , the Greens and the other “tree huggers” left the meeting very “sheepishly”.

[Keith Webb]

Voting is compulsory in Australia unlike most other parts of the world. They say we get the government we deserve but this time there is a definite lack of inspiration on either side. We deserve better than that.

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

Barry,
Are you sure that Ontario has a monopoly on "all the same - so why waste my time voting" poiticians for Canada? On the other hand, my view is that if individuals can't be bothered to vote for whoever they view as the least bad of the lot they don't have a right to complain about the outcome.
The last party I remeber that was much different than the others was the Rhinoceros party and I'm not sure I would have wanted them to govern although they would have made things a bit more interesting/lively..... Some of their promises can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_Party_of_Canada I wonder how they would have done under the more recent suggestion of proportional representation?

[Howard]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

...Dullard has just announced she wants to get "gas guzzling" vehicles older than mid 1990s off the road...

If I heard this story correctly, I can get a grant if $1,000 if I take my old car of the road & get a brand new one. $1,000. Yep, that'll make all the difference! I think I'll get a NEW Falcon! I only need to find another $37,000 an d it's MINE!
Fair Dinkum, what fairy land do these morons live in?

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Howard

If I heard this story correctly, I can get a grant if $1,000 if I take my old car of the road & get a brand new one. $1,000. Yep, that'll make all the difference! I think I'll get a NEW Falcon! I only need to find another $37,000 an d it's MINE!
Fair Dinkum, what fairy land do these morons live in?

You could cash that rusty old truck in - maybe buy a Jackaroo or Commodore.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

You could cash that rusty old truck in - maybe buy a Jackaroo or Commodore.

Keith..
Maybe y'all should sneak into the states..they know how to treat you right..
And by the way there are more rust buckets sailing from Tamil land with piles of terrorists that are heading for Canadian waters because we didn't sink the last one that had a couple of hundred of them terrorists that we are now feeding and sheltering and they are sending for their relatives to come and there is more behind them..Should have dealt with them and sunk them the minute they hit Canadian waters..only way to stop them..as soon as they get close enough to swim they are over the side and gone..
And y'all are even closer than we are ..at least you have them all herded on a remote island that probably when you fill it to over flowing you will be waiting for a Tsunami to clean it off so y'all can start over..great idea..

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard
labor.
If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely.
If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.
If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you will be jailed.
If you cross the Chinese border illegally you may never be heard from
again.
If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you will be branded a spy
and your fate will be sealed.
If you cross the Mexican borders illegally you will jailed for two years.
If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into political
prison to rot.
If you cross the United States border illegally you get:
1 - A job
2 - A driver's license
3 - A Social Security card
4 - Welfare
5 - Food stamps
6 - Credit cards
7 - Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house
8 - Free education
9 - Free health care
10 - A lobbyist in Washington
11 - Billions of dollars in public documents printed in your language
12 - Millions of servicemen and women who are willing to - and do - die
for your right to the ways and means of our @#$%----ution
13 - And the right to carry the flag of your country - the one you walked
out on - while you call America racist and protest that you don't get
enough respect.

Rant over....

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

This is actually being considered..
Those slime ball politicians would commit incest with their grandmothers/grandfathers,and most do, to get a vote..


Spred this around and call your MP to protest..

Bill #C-428 [THANKS TO RUBY DHALLA AND BOB RAE]
Only if you disagree with this Bill ... pass this message along.


This bill should not have seen the light of day ... and yet it will receive second reading at the next sitting of parliament.

Please read the bill and make your own decision. If you disagree with the bill send this to everyone over the age of 50 in your address book ... or those who may be turning 50 a few years.

Hopefully, by letting your member of parliament know your feelings on the bill, it will be defeated.

If you agree with the bill you don't need to do anything..

URGENT ATTENTION About Our OAS pensions Bill C-428 An Act to Amend the Old Age Security Act (residency requirements)



Bill C-428 will allow recent immigrants to apply for OAS in 3 years instead of the existing 10.


This bill had first reading in the house on June 18, 2009. It was seconded by Bob Rae! MP Ms Ruby Dhalla who introduced the bill represents the riding of Brampton whose population is mainly East Indian. Right now you have to have lived in Canada for 10 years in order to qualify for Old Age Security. She wants the time reduced to 3 years. Thousands could come to Canada when they are 62 years old, never having worked or contributed to this country's tax system, etc and qualify for full Old Age Security benefits. 10 years minimum is reasonable - 3 is not!

Look this up, Google C-428 and you will see this bill has only one purpose, and that is to 'featherbed' a select group of people for votes.

I certainly hope this bill does not get passed. It is about time we called our elected MP's to ask them to NOT support this bill. Their response may be one factor in helping us determine who gets elected in the next election.

What Can You Do?

1. Spread the message to family, friends and e-mail buds.

2. Write letters, send e-mails to all your list and call Members of Parliament

It is time Canada looked after it's vets and long-term citizens before tossing OUR hard-earned money around on people who have no right to this money, never having paid taxes or contributed to our economy. If a family wishes to bring elderly relatives here and are willing to waive their own right to collect these funds in order that the elderly relatives can receive them ... fine. Otherwise, do not expect the Canadian taxpayers to do it.




There are too many people abusing the generosity of the Canadian people. We need to stop this NOW. We, our children and our grand children currently owe the global investment community over $500 billion dollars ... the sum of our accumulated National Debt that is never publicized.

[Keith Webb]

Source: Daily Telegraph

This is fascinating, funny and tragic all in one article. This is only part of it - it's an amazing read.

COULD Kevin Rudd be this vindictive? Our complex, brilliant, idiosyncratic, angry former prime minister, seething like an exiled prince in the north, is widely regarded as the likeliest source of the most damaging allegations to surface about his deposer, Julia Gillard.

In the crucial first weeks of her election campaign, Gillard has been forced to fight anonymous allegations that she reneged on a deal to give Rudd more time as leader, and that she opposed pension and parental-leave policies in confidential Cabinet meetings.

All the while, Rudd has played the humble Member for Griffith, smiling for the cameras, playing with schoolchildren and pretending he can't hear journalists' questions.

The leaks may have come from other politicians or staffers, authorised by Rudd or not. They may be old information, gleaned by journalists when Rudd was still PM.

Or they may be a pieced-together account by staffers who weren't in the Cabinet room, but who subsequently heard reports.
Whether or not Rudd is deliberately trying to lose Labor the election - and one day return to his throne - he is undoubtedly the beneficiary. And he has a long history of leaking against his own side.

The people who know Rudd best tell of his coldness and his kindness, his brutality, his consideration and his conceit.

Today, former foreign minister Alexander Downer reveals he regularly used Rudd to leak damaging information against his then-Opposition Labor colleagues during the early 2000s.

"I don't use the c-word, but I do use the f-word pretty freely, and I can tell you that Kevin Rudd is a f****** awful person," Downer says.

Others have plenty more to say about Rudd.

"I think he has some form of Asperger's syndrome," broadcaster Alan Jones says.

"We called it 'the icebox'," says one of Rudd's many disgruntled ex-staffers, describing the way Rudd would freeze out anyone who gave him bad news or tried to argue.

"If Rudd was p***** off with you, he would stop asking you to do things.

"You'd end up with nothing to do, and he'd give your work to other people. And if you disagreed about anything, he'd shut you out."

But ice-cold was better than blazing hot. When Rudd kicked a hole in the wall of his own office, screaming with anger, none of his staff quite knew what to say.

It was 2007 and Rudd, as Opposition leader, had just conducted an aggressive press conference in Sydney. He returned to his Phillip St office and let everyone know how strong his rage could be. "We all saw it - all the staff," one witness says. "It was extraordinary."

What frequently set Rudd off was the feeling that he was unappreciated - like the flop of his speech before the UN general assembly in September, 2008.

The UN auditorium was three-quarters empty, and Rudd's then-chief of staff, David Epstein, nodded off. That was bad enough, but when Rudd got wind of the Australian news reports mocking his appearance, he lost it.

In his private suite on the jet home, surrounded by staff and RAAF personnel, Rudd raged.

"He actually punched the wall of the plane," one observer says. This time, luckily, he didn't put his foot through it.

[Ken Hughes]

Don,t vote for politicians,it only encourages them!

[Ganmain Tony]

This one is from the cover of one of our Rags The Australian Financial Review. Youve gotta love Cartoonists!!!

[Ganmain Tony]

Thought there would be more cartoons posted than what we've got to date.

I love this one, very well drawn..

[Ryan]

Without a doubt the worst this country has had to endure for years.

We should start our own party for the upcoming November 2010 Vic state election. It only takes 50 members doesn't it?

Either that or emigrate to Norfolk island.

[aj.lec]

From an email I have just received
-
While suturing up a cut on the hand of a 75 year old farmer, whose hand had been caught in the gate while working his cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Julia Gillard, and her being our prime minister.

The old farmer said, "Well, ya know, Julia is just a Post Tortoise."

Now not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked,

What's a "Post Tortoise?"

The old farmer said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a Tortoise balanced on top, that's a post Tortoise."

The old farmer saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, she sure as hell isn't goin' anywhere, and you just wonder what kind of dumb bastard put her up there in the first place."

[lynx42]

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Ken Hughes

Don,t vote for politicians,it only encourages them!

Here is the kind of guy to vote for...
Canada and Australia should be fighting over this guy to come here..I'd vote for Joe for Prime minister in a flash..

SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dog s off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.

The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand.

He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the holidays and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the prison.

Yup, he was re-elected last year with 83% of the vote...
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a 'Git-R Dun' kind of Sheriff.

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO..

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF

AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER.

THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona ) who created the 'Tent City Jail':
**He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them..
**He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. **Took away their weights.
**Cut off all but 'G' movies.
**He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.
**Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

**He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails, so he hooked up the cable TV again.....BUT only let in the Disney channel and the Weather channel...

**When asked why the weather channel, he replied, "So they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.."

**He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value.

**When the inmates complained, he told them, "This isn't The Ritz/Carlton....... If you don't like it, don't come back."

More On The Arizona Sheriff:

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports:
About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before.

Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their PINK SOCKS..

"It feels like we are in a furnace," said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the TENTS for 1 year. "It's inhumane.."

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic.. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths!"

Way to go, Sheriff!

Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers' money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

[Ryan]

That's a great story. I'd vote for Joe.

Over here in Victoria, we have a thug in the media at the moment who bashed a 96 year old WW2 vet for his pokie winnings ($20) and he only got a 12 month sentence with a non parole period of 4 months. He'll be out in a couple of weeks after serving just over 3 months.

[colin jones]

Wow!!!!! That sheriff has got my vote.
Colin!

[lynx42]

Two Different Versions .... Two Different Morals


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OLD VERSION

The ant

works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building

his house and laying up supplies for the winter.



The grasshopper

thinks the
ant is a fool and laughs and
dances and plays the summer away..



Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.




The grasshopper
has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.


MORAL OF THE STORY:

Be responsible for yourself!





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



MODERN VERSION

The ant

works hard in the
withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and
laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant
is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.



Come winter, the shivering grasshopper

calls a press conference
and demands to know why the ant
should be allowed to be warm and well fed while

he is cold and starving.


Channels 7, 9 and 10,the ABC and SBS

show up to provide pictures of the shivering
grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his
comfortable home with a table filled with food.



Australia is stunned by the

sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of
such wealth, this poor grasshopper
is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on
Oprah with the grasshopper
and everybody cries when they sing,

'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Acorn stages a demonstration in
front of the ant's house where
the news stations film the group singing,

'We shall overcome.'

Cardinal George Pell then has the
group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.


Prime Minister Gillard
condemns the ant and blames
John Howard, Robert Menzies, Capt
James Cook, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.

Bob Brown exclaims in an interview on Today Tonight

that the ant has gotten rich off the back
of the grasshopper, and calls for an immediate tax hike on
the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, Labor in conjunction with the
Greens draft the Economic Equity
& Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.



The ant is fined for failing to hire a
proportionate number of green bugs
and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,

his home is confiscated by the Government
and given to the grasshopper.



The story ends as we see the grasshopper

and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the

ant’s food while the government house
he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house,

crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.


The ant
has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is
found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned,
is taken over by a gang of spiders
who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once
peaceful, neighbourhood.



MORAL OF THE STORY:

Be careful how you vote in 2010.

[Lynn Eades]

I think like you. How come we seem like a minority. What happened to freedom, freedom of choice, and being responsible for our actions? Where did all the commies come from? Do you have anyone you can vote for?
I was in Perth as Rudd a dud dud re appeared to become part of the performance. Good luck!

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Don't forget to get out and vote..!!
THe Australian Sex Party could hold the balance of power..makes more sense that what you have running and elected and ruling now..

http://www.sexparty.org.au/

Lets keep the world updated on results through MLU..

[Keith Webb]

Well the result is... there isn't really one... looks like we have a hung parliament with neither of the main parties with enough seats to form a government which leaves the balance of power with the independents.

This hasn't happened since the 1940 election.

The most telling feature was the huge rebuff to Julia (tryhard, dullard) Gillard and her back stabbing ways, particularly in the former Prime Minister's state of Queensland.

[aj.lec]

Should be some lively debates in parliament and Bugger all action for the next few years
And another early election when either side thinks they might have got an edge
As long as the Greens havent picked up too many seats ,BIG trouble if they get some of their mandates through

[Ken Hughes]

I emailed our NZ prime minister and asked him to please explain why they voted for the ETS (carbon tax), because when they were in opposition govt they were dead against it!and us fools voted them in,nothing but a pack of turn coats(typical politicians).
I believe that that the democratic process should take place in ousting politicians from power/govt and that these people that tumble the leader of a party should be put against a wall and shot!
Women in charge of a country dont work,just look at NZ over the last 10yrs what a bloody mess!(i am not being anti women,just ask my partner and she will tell you the same) but that is how it is.
So see the mess this woman has created now in Australian politics!.
And yes i did get an acknowledgement from the prime ministers office of my email but no answer as yet!!!.
He now climbs down off his soap box and exits the the thread.
Cheers all.