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  IRC UP #auspol on synIRC and because some of you don’t know how to bookmark URLS here’s the IRC webclient link!  Welcome to the Australian Hypnonarrative! Megathreads suck arse, monthly threads are slightly more entertaining so we’re kicking it real and keeping the monthly threads for a while longer and as long as I can loving do them on time. I’m going back sorta kinda to the older format because a few people commented that they prefer the other way compared to how it was done in Feb. So yeah this is apparently the place to discuss all things related to Australian Federal and State Politics.  So what’s happening this March that’s news worthy? Nothing, pretty much.  Can’t think of a single thing happening this month…  Ummmmm… unless…..  Oh yeah! That’s right. 15 workers were sacked from the Agnew mine in the goldfields for partaking in the Harlem Shake dance craze in one of the pits.   No seriously now, Western Australia votes on the 9th of this month. Hooray! The incumbent Liberal Government looks set to wipe the floor. Boooo! Basically some people are rich as gently caress in Perth thanks to the mining boom and the current consensus of the voting public seem to think this has to do with the Liberal state government. The WA ALP party has had a few false starts during the last term and aren’t really stealing the show with their pledges. The old adage goes oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them. Thanks Cat Terrist for that. Some quick hot topics have been:
So the Greens have some seats as do the Nats as do the Libs as do the ALP and some independents too. Lot of first time Lib seats are under the watch but everyone is pretty sure it’s just going to just further cement the Liberals in power, possibly in their own right. (no mandate) I’m going to be very honest here and point out I haven’t really been following the WA election trail so don’t really know much about it. I know we have a few posters from Perth dotted around here that may fill in the gaps. Maybe some of them stand to win some money. Anyway in conclusion: "Sportsbet posted:Party to provide next Premier of Western Australia. I dunno if that’s troll face or smug face. I think it’s both. Back to the Fed. gently caress da Current political parties  The Australian Labor Party The ALP are a political party. They are what some may identify as ‘centre left’. They do stuff with unions. I am not saying anymore because I don’t want to upset some precious petals. Also the media is eternally loving with them. Did someone say leadership speculation? For a current listing of policies please see http://www.alp.org.au Eternally optimistic: Quasimango, Implants, Captain Rehab, Readman, kthnxbi, Gabbleduck, dud root, Tithin Melias, Gorfob, adamantium|wang, J Bjelke-Postersen   The Liberal Party aka gently caress You, Got Mine party So, don't give a poo poo about your neighbour? Or your neighbours neighbour? Or anyone else except yourself? Boy have I got news for you, the Liberal party is currently looking for more selfish assholes to bolster their ranks, because nothing says superiority like joining an elite club full of loving wankers. Very vague promises of policies have been put forward, but we wouldn’t know the what, why or how much until after the election, due to the accountant’s making sandwiches. Is led by Tony Abbott who is often seen ripping off poo poo Howard said 15 years ago, almost word for word. Also it’s okay for me to make fun of the Liberal party because I vote for them.  Go here to see what a party devoid of policies looks like http://www.liberal.org.au/ Better than you : Matisyahu, hambeet, Rhodry, SUPERFINE CONCUBINE, urseus, Pickled Tink  The These guys are still around?  A minor insignificant too stupid to realise they're getting squeezed out and becoming completely irrelevant coalition partner to the liberals. If you want a laugh, go check out http://www.nationals.org.au/ I have serious concerns about : Cartoon, belgaer.  The Greens Listen up, okay? Yes there's a bit of an over-representation of Greens voters. Really? They're all liberal voters like their parents and only pretend to vote Green so they can get score with hipsters and look cool on the internet. There, I said it. People who are all evil and biased : Dr Spaceman, Hobo erotica, Seams, Quantum Mechanic, Paper masochist, Eh4, Magog, Cartoon, Cthulhu dreams, Lizard Combatant, Yakse, Dr rat, Majestic, Bongohead, duck monster, Chrodyn, Coq au Nandos, HookShot, teacup, Tony A. Butt, Ignem Aeternem, hooman, Knan, Cocomonk3, Frogmanv2, Tony Jowns, 2ndclasscitizen, Vladimir Poutine, Bargearse, Xerxes17, ROFLBOT, Semiru, Emmjay, iajanus, Those On My Left, The Deadly Hume, Commissar, konomex, Bifauxnen, Sulla-Marius 88, Spudd, Ler, ColtMcAsskick, Senor Tron, The Dark Project, hawaiian_robot, Krazyface, Tithin Melias, bobvonunheil, Brown Blitzkrieg, Cheap Trick, Small Keating.  Katters Australia Party Replacing the largely irrelevant Nationals Party especially in Queensland. Is an odd mixture of a homophobic, racist, agrarian, socialist, mad hatter who obviously has no media management strategy and almost becomes whiny and hysterical when harangued on hard hitting shows such as “The Project”. http://www.ausparty.org.au/ Loves farmers, hates gays : 4litres, BCR  Socialist Alliance. A group of disgruntled students who want to sell newspapers in a cloud of smug holier than thou condescension. One day they will have sold all the newspapers and the world will somehow be a better place. http://www.socialist-alliance.org/ Comrades in arms: MonsterUnderYourBed, Systematic, ColtMcAsskick What happened last thread? Not as memorable as some other threads so this won’t be funny.  loving poetry again. Seriously, gently caress. Though Redwolfs was pretty cool. More submarine chat.Ron Hitler-Barassi posted:
The mother loving Narrative. (You better write this TOML  !)DFAT Apologists.duck Monster vs Goonwaffe or Goonswarm or whatever the gently caress it’s called. Michelle Grattan, still a loving boring “journalist” is bringing down The Conversation from the inside, one leadership article at a time. Anidav loving loves news.com.au leadership speculation articles. Seriously. Apparently the Vietnam War occurred in 1980! The more you know!If you’re going to talk politics at least understand preferential voting for gently caress sakeI actually stopped keeping track of what everyone was talking about from here on in so people talked about planes, gays, mental illness, loving planes again, and ‘sports team city name’. In memoriam. 
hambeet fucked around with this message at Mar 9, 2013 around 13:02 |
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Great sources of news, information and opinion The media in Australia sucks rear end, so try these instead. The Outpoast: Blog by our resident legal eagle This is Serious:blog on the productivity swindle by former poo poo avatar owner Cartoon. Crikey !: Was not on the list because I'm sure everyone know's of it but duck monster pointed out that it was stupid not to included it so now it's here are you happy look now you've upset your brother! An Onymous Lefty: Left leaning, Victoria-centric blog by Jeremy Sear, Victorian barrister and Crikey contributor (the guy behind Pure Poison) Caen's Corner: "Some not-so-brief thoughts by a Melbourne lawyer with an interest in criminal law and associated fields". Much more law than politics, but often plainly written and relevant. Club Troppo: "Fearlessly dispensing political, legal and economic analysis (and some whimsy) since 2002". Left-leaning Aus politics blog. Usually exceptionally well written, and has multiple contributors. The Conscience Vote: Left-leaning political commentary that I almost always agree with and fervently wish would get published in the place of Michelle Grattan's bile. The Conversation: "The Conversation is an independent source of information, analysis and commentary from the university and research sector written by acknowledged experts and delivered directly to the public. Our team of professional editors work with more than 2,800 academic authors to make this wealth of knowledge and expertise accessible to all." i.e. Actual information, before it gets hosed sideways by hack journalists. The Failed Estate: "Rejuvenating Journalism in a Jaded Age" Australian media is loving terrible, so here is some commentary on it. Those comments are Mr Denmore, who "was a journalist for 26 years. He has worked in radio, television, newspapers and online media. He now works in the corporate sector." Grog's Gamut: Aus politics commentary (with an economic bent) by Greg Jericho. Well written, well referenced. This guy was blogging during the 2010 federal election, pointing out how poo poo the media is, while being a public servant. He was outed by The Australian for calling them on their poo poo. Heathen Scripture: Exceptionally good satirical political commentary, which is unfortunately updated very rarely. John Quiggin: "Commentary on Australian & world events from a social-democratic perspective" by a Professor of Economics. Law Geek Down Under: Fairly straight-laced Australian legal news. New Matilda: Very professional and well written news/politics/current affairs site. One of the better independent sources of Australian news. News With Nipples: Somewhat casual/hobbyist Australian media/political blogging from a feminist perspective. The Political Sword: In-depth and substantive politics and policy analysis. Politically Homeless: Well written political commentary from Andrew Elder, former member of the Liberal Party, "starting off as a libertarian-punk, then as a moderate seeking to preserve rights and freedoms in a changing world; now he scorns the know-nothing Liberals, doesn't trust the left and disdains the other interest groups that flit around Australian politics". Something Wonky: Dave and Jeremy's new Australian political+media+culture blog/podcast. Replaces Pure Poison formerly of Crikey Coq au Nandos posted:You should probably replace the spoiler text for Something Wonky with something about it being pretty inconsistent and not very entertaining. Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodies: A fairly legalistic Australian law blog, with some interesting analysis from time to time. We Are All Dead: Matt Cowgill, who does economic analysis for the ACTU, posts political and economic stuff. Specialises in debunking trending Liberal talking points. Wixxyleaks: Wixxy, claims no interest nor relation to Julian Assange. Mostly politics and other good insights. Good investigative piece regarding the Slipper and Thomson affair. Left Flank: Commentary/analysis from a Marxist perspective. Overland literary journal: An literary journal. Jeff Sparrow is the editor. The Piping Shrike: Political blog. It's usually a good read. Independent Australia: IA is a progressive journal focusing on politics, democracy, the environment, Australian history and Australian identity. IA supports quality investigative journalism as well as citizen journalism and a diversity of voices. It believes Australians are short-changed by the mass media and and so it dedicates itself to seeking out the truth and informing the public. Reasonable Grounds: News in criminal justice, politics and human rights. A Baffling Ordeal: Amusing blog on current events. Preston Institute: Some dudes take on stuff. North Coast Voices: MonsterUnderYourBed told me to put this in the OP so I Did. Ethical Martini: duck monster wanted this in the OP even though he obviously doesn't read them. Shaken, not stirred. Past Threads February thread. Let us never speak of it again Dec – Jan bi-monthly fuckery thread that went all ‘lord of the flies’ November, yeah! October thread, BEST THREAD EVER (apparently). Septembers thread. All hail IWC. Also a whole lot of info on Campbell Newman Augusts Thread, boats were stopped. So was IWC July's Thread, where the economy grinded to a halt THANKS CARBON TAX! June: Two IWC appearances May's thread (after the great cull) Last megathread A gallery of Australian Greatness RETURNS  Australia's most famous Rugby League player Joe Hockey - courtesy of sports reporter lizard combatant   First past the post politics in action! (Really it's a rousing game of Tag!)  Unbiased media coverage    How you doing?   (left)Courtesy of my new friend Belgaer (right) The Deadly Hume (Getup! Activist) Paper_Masochist posted:Here you go Hambeet. New to Australia? Thinking of coming? Want to learn More? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZboCxbTzHk Highly informative contemporary piece by a highly talented ALP MP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmRexWQhs3M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRz8FWPUmpI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRhBRg-XkWY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h99tMhQlZxw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8McCW8xk_UI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsd5OkLvShw I'm Alan Jones Are we still doing these things? Paper_Masochist posted:gently caress it GreatKesh posted:Don't want to be a dick but Captain Rehab posted:my hambeet posted:
2ndclasscitizen posted:Alright, Semiru posted:Sure, I'll Lizard Combatant posted:It's going to be that burlap sack stuffed with dog poo poo and human teeth, isn't it? SUPERFINE CONCUBINE posted:I will join you. If Pyne OR Hockey become PM, I'm out. :toxxx: J Bjelke-Postersen posted:
A Magical Unicorn posted:Campbell Newman will win the next election(*) Chicken Parmigiana posted:
AgentF posted:Fuckit, Murodese posted:
Goodpart posted:gently caress it. strangebru posted:
ColtMcAsskick posted:
Commissar posted:Gonna Mr Matey posted:I'd like to Magog posted::toxx:ing for JuLIAR to backtrack back into power. :allears: urseus posted::toxx: If Greens win a seat in Sydney $50 to a refugee helping organisation. Can you suggest some of the ones you donate to? http://isnewslimitedstillshit.com/ Lid posted:
hambeet fucked around with this message at Mar 28, 2013 around 00:50 |
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ing myself Labor will form government next federal election.
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Also go read http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3523278 if you're not already. Scrubs. hambeet fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 11:17 |
| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:10 |
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So there's a couple of quizzes mentioned on the IRCs (that's #auspol on irc.synirc.net come and join us especially if you're an LNP voter that would be really nice): Australian Political Quiz - it's got a few problems as a quiz but you might learn something I guess. SMH Vote-A-Matic - this one's better. I'd like people to try it and see what we get. Apparently I'm only 81.3% Green 
eh4 fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 11:21 |
| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:18 |
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Nashnel Nine Nooooos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUKihMerh2Y
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:18 |
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You should probably replace the spoiler text for Something Wonky with something about it being pretty inconsistent and not very entertaining.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:20 |
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Coq au Nandos posted:You should probably replace the spoiler text for Something Wonky with something about it being pretty inconsistent and not very entertaining. I've never listened to it, truth be told.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:23 |
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Coq au Nandos posted:You should probably replace the spoiler text for Something Wonky with something about it being pretty inconsistent and not very entertaining. And yet you post in Auspol.  Wonky can be variable, it is after all a couple of blokes having a laugh about the ridiculous public life of idiots we're forced to endure, which I suspect is as much a steam letoff for them as it certainly is for me. Wonky is best listened to with a couple of beers as if they're on the radio. You'll get good weeks and ordinary weeks, don't expect the world of them.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:26 |
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eh4 posted:So there's a couple of quizzes mentioned on the IRCs (that's #auspol on irc.synirc.net come and join us especially if you're an LNP voter that would be really nice): I'm a third third and a third. I think that just makes me "all prick"
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:29 |
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eh4 posted:SMH Vote-A-Matic - this one's better. I'd like people to try it and see what we get. Apparently I'm only 81.3% Green 75% Green, 12.5% each on the others, that's food for thought. I thought I'd have a bit more Labor, shows what I know! (nothing)
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:34 |
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 Greens 50%, Labor 35%, and Liberal 15%, keeping in mind I'm an American who just lurks this thread for information on refugees and so I'm not familiar with how many of these policies are actually implemented. 
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:39 |
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 100% Green Actually, I'm not so comfortable being so close to being a NAZI. These charts aren't infallible, are they? 
Exclamation Marx fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 11:50 |
| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:46 |
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That quiz is intensely stupid, see the communications question for more detail.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:51 |
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Ground floor on the funniest thread on the forums  I'm immensely cynical of those graphs. Aside from the fact that you can't really plot political outlooks on a 2-D graph in a meaningful way, putting nebulous concepts like "economic freedom" on an axis seems kinda stupid.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:56 |
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eh4 posted:SMH Vote-A-Matic - this one's better. I'd like people to try it and see what we get. Apparently I'm only 81.3% Green 100% Green  Not that it really means much when the other two parties are in a race to the bottom with their social policies.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:57 |
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43.8% ALP, 12.5% LNP, 43.8% GRN
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 11:59 |
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Michelle Grattan reposts an LNP press release without any kind of editing, opinion or analysis: http://theconversation.edu.au/abbot...evolution-12518 Burn the conversation to the loving ground
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:01 |
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2.5 economic/6.5 social (just above the greens), and 75% filthy dirty hippie, 12.5% JuLIAR and 12.5% rich elitist scumbag. Was kind of hard picking between some of the SMH questions, which is maybe why some Tony Abbott stuff got through.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:04 |
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Graphs only make sense with quantifiable data, 'freedom' is a concept bound up in a huge amount of cultural baggage and assumptions and isn't quantifiable. Importantly, it's basically straight up says that socialism is less-free than not-socialism. That only works if you buy the line about how positive/negative rights are completely different things and not arbitrary lines in the sand drawn to match whatever cultural/political framework the speaker happens to believe in. The Greens, as a party, are not and never have been socialist or advocated socialism. Yet there they are in the democratic-socialist corner because they don't believe companies should control everything in a capitalist system. tl;dr If you have to take a quiz to find out what what your political label is, you clearly don't belong in this thread
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:05 |
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 feels good man also 100% Greens on the SMH one, it's me, I am the whackaloon leftie. Serously though Rudatron's right "political compass" tests are butt and I mostly only linked them in chat for humour value.
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Waaaah the Christians are out to get me
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that quiz is made by the libertarians, which is why it has an idiotic 'economic freedom' axis
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:14 |
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Vote-a-matic says 56% Liberal, 37.5% ALP, 6.3% Greens. No real surprises there.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:26 |
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 At least the SMH one asks you about actual policy instead of plotting you on a "freedom index".
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:29 |
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Both polls put me firmly in the Greens camp so no surprises there.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:40 |
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A Magical Unicorn posted:Vote-a-matic says 56% Liberal, 37.5% ALP, 6.3% Greens. No real surprises there. Speak for yourself, I'm massively surprised that you didn't get 100% LNP
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:41 |
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Hyperriker posted:Nashnel Nine Nooooos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUCy8E9PL8k
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 12:55 |
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Peter Harvey.  http://www.news.com.au/national-new...t-1226589104769 Well I just had an entertaining evening. Went to a gig at a winery, so I had to get a bus there and back. (The gig itself was great, but since we don't talk about that sort of thing in these threads - at least it's not POLITICAL AXIS SURVEY BULLSHIT) Getting back to the bus after the show. Then we were held up for about 20 minutes because people were getting on the wrong bus and basically it was full of middle aged people who had too much vino and some woman got increasingly agitated and tried to organise everyone and order the driver around, which the driver wasn't too happy about, so he basically lectured the bus like we were schoolchildren (schoolchildren are probably better behaved, to be honest). I just kept quiet. Finally the extra people were left to find other arrangements and the bus got rolling, and so I only had to put up with people singing badly for half an hour. Drunken middle aged people are the worse. Ban wine. The Deadly Hume fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 13:03 |
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Despite getting 75% Green the more sad part of that quiz is that according to the questions I'm currently 19% Liberal v 6% Labor. I have no idea how that works at all apart from answer phrasing - the communications question was a loving disaster.
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Murodese posted:Speak for yourself, I'm massively surprised that you didn't get 100% LNP Well LNP+ALP = 93.5% I see no problem here.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 13:07 |
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The SMH questions were obvious in their connection to specific parties, but having said that I found them rather unnecessarily arbitrary. Also hambeet put me in Greens, don't think I could see mine there. 
Ler fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 13:20 |
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Canberra.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 13:19 |
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I was at a birthday house party tonight and MP and former NSW Attorney-General Robert McClelland was there. Confirmed: he got down and dirty to Swedish House Mafia.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 13:20 |
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Julia Trillard posted:I was at a birthday house party tonight and MP and former NSW Attorney-General Robert McClelland was there.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 13:29 |
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Lid posted:Despite getting 75% Green the more sad part of that quiz is that according to the questions I'm currently 19% Liberal v 6% Labor. I have no idea how that works at all apart from answer phrasing - the communications question was a loving disaster. The quiz tries to lift policy directly from the party platforms, but because your restricted to choose between only the short policy summaries presented there's a sense of false sense that all aspects of the platform options are mutually exclusive, like with the communications question. The communications question suggests to the reader choosing the Greens option means they don't want any form of internet filter but at the price of the NBN for instance. It was actually kind of interesting how being specific about numbers, any numbers, when you've got very limited information makes a policy appear better thought out, whether that reflected how realistic or even existent the costings and planning for the policy really was. At least that was the impression I got.
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RIP Peter Harvey Page Downfall posted:The quiz tries to lift policy directly from the party platforms, but because your restricted to choose between only the short policy summaries presented there's a sense of false sense that all aspects of the platform options are mutually exclusive, like with the communications question. The communications question suggests to the reader choosing the Greens option means they don't want any form of internet filter but at the price of the NBN for instance. Yeah, I had that problem with the poll too. It's full of false choice and a few instances where it feels like information is incomplete. For instance, one of the responses for employment and industrial relations says "No reintroduction of Work Choices" and it's not mentioned in the other two responses despite the fact that all three parties are completely disinterested in bringing that back (Or at least the Libs say they are  ). And like you said, the Greens communications one says absolutely nothing about the NBN, which is a pretty drat important issue.But hey, the results said I was 87.3% Green, so I'm OK with it.
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This is horribly off topic but I have a friend in Melbourne who may be contemplating suicide in the near future due to extended joblessness and having apparently given up hope. Can people please PM me with suggestions about who I can urge him/her to contact? I'm in Canada. I will call long distance as needed. Sorry to be a downer... (also posted in LAN/Aus thread)
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 15:22 |
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Ask Ron Hitler-Barassi
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 18:13 |
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Also I was disappointed because for a moment I thought Gerry Harvey had died and I was wondering why you were all sad.
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| # ? Mar 2, 2013 18:13 |
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Rust Martialis posted:This is horribly off topic but I have a friend in Melbourne who may be contemplating suicide in the near future due to extended joblessness and having apparently given up hope. Send him here. http://info.beyondblue.org.au/MAHP.html If he has Medicare he should be eligible for something like six free sessions with a mental health professional. Though the last time I saw a psychologist they needed to have a reference from a GP before they would set up the bulk-billing. As far as I know the suicide hotline in vic is still running as well: http://www.suicideline.org.au/ Chrodyn fucked around with this message at Mar 2, 2013 around 18:21 |
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Tony Jowns posted:Canberra. Too soon.
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