World Politics

[CentralCaliBike]

This Fox watching, Republican like you, Glen Beck fan won't be giving you any new business.

http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/100950884.html

Jumping to conclusions again I see. I rarely watch TV, get most of my news from the internet, have never watched Glen Beck and have not seen FOX News for several years since I am just too busy.

 

[CentralCaliBike]

This Fox watching, Republican like you, Glen Beck fan won't be giving you any new business.

http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/100950884.html

Interesting, I did not see in the article that he was either Republican or a Glen Beck fan.

 

[redtreviso]

Jumping to conclusions again I see. I rarely watch TV, get most of my news from the internet, have never watched Glen Beck and have not seen FOX News for several years since I am just too busy.

You proudly declared yourself a foxnews watcher in your first reply to anything I said in this thread.

 

[redtreviso]

Interesting, I did not see in the article that he was either Republican or a Glen Beck fan.

Other articles said he was upset that the government was going to take away his guns..When asked about the guns his roomie spouted the NRA line about right to bear arms..Freerepublic and Stormfront are purging his forum posts as we speak..Texas law enforcement will throw this all down the memory hole as fast as possible.. Residents of that area and fellow republicans like you will just say he had had enough like their beloved Tim McVeigh.

 

[CentralCaliBike]

You proudly declared yourself a foxnews watcher in your first reply to anything I said in this thread.

You are mistaken (the question is whether you are intentionally mistaken).

 

[CentralCaliBike]

Other articles said he was upset that the government was going to take away his guns..When asked about the guns his roomie spouted the NRA line about right to bear arms..Freerepublic and Stormfront are purging his forum posts as we speak..Texas law enforcement will throw this all down the memory hole as fast as possible.. Residents of that area and fellow republicans like you will just say he had had enough like their beloved Tim McVeigh.

I guess you should have posted one of the other articles that indicates he was a Republican then rather than the one you posted. But what you are writing here suggests that he was not a republican at all, just a nut (which is evidenced by his behavior).

 

[redtreviso]

I guess you should have posted one of the other articles that indicates he was a Republican then rather than the one you posted. But what you are writing here suggests that he was not a republican at all, just a nut (which is evidenced by his behavior).

Like that guy that went after the Tides Foundation people?

 

[CentralCaliBike]

Like that guy that went after the Tides Foundation people?

I suspect those with a liberal philosophy are cringing when they read what you write, I know I do when someone claiming a conservative philosophy makes such unfounded and inarticulate comments.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Well it is pretty hard for things to get worse for Labor in WA, but they will receive a swing against them there. As one of the two main mining states, they are incredibly peeved with the mining tax. Labor have 4 seats in WA currently. I think they will lose Hasluck and Brand, with Perth & Fremantle becoming marginal for the next election. If there is enough anger there, those two could potentially fall, although I hope Stephen Smith holds Perth, as I think he's done a pretty decent job. I also think the Liberals will increase their majorities in the seats they hold there by about 5%.

I'm also voting along the same lines as you for the election - annoyed me that Latham advocated an informal vote though

Well it is looking like the seat of Melbourne will go to the greens so they will have their first seat in the house of reps. Mcewen is going to be an interesting seat as it is held by 0.01% to the liberals. All the other marginals are the ones that labor is possibly going to lose and if they lose those seats it may be good night as they are going to need to hold them. Will be interesting to see how things go in tassie as the results there are usually quite interesting and there are always big swings either way which show trends for the rest of the election. I am off to vote in an hour anyway!

Someone talked about what taxes were labor employing that were unfair? Well it is not that is unfair but company taxes are way too high also.

Latham is mentally ill.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Unfortunately things tend to get a bit pot/kettle when it comes to political advertising.

I don't know where you get your information from. Is it commercial tv? In any case, I wonder how many of the election claims of both major parties are actually based on scientific evidence or other research, and how much based on ideology and the results of polls and market research.

For instance, over a 5 year period we received just over 22,000 asylum seekers (and remember, it is legally permissable to seek asylum, according to international conventions to which we remain a signatory party.) According to the ABS "The latest one million people were added to the population in less than 2 ½ years, which is one year less than the time taken for the previous million to be added, and almost two years less than the time taken to add the million before that. " (ref: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Jun+2010) In other words, asylum seekers are not responsible for the rapid population rise, and the numbers are insignificant compared to other migrants and natural births. You'd never know this from all the hysteria over asylum seekers and boats, though.

I think you mistook point. 22,000 asylum seekers is 22,000 too many. I agree that we need to cut down on letting people through who are coming to the country the proper way but 22,000 is quite significant and the dangers the asylum seekers and people smugglers could cause to Australia is not very good at all.

Did you watch the ACA story on CH 9 last night? The government gives all this money and nice accomadation to the asylum seekers and they can't even look after our own people. Most of them bludge off government benefits for years and don't even try to get a job!

 

[redtreviso]

I suspect those with a liberal philosophy are cringing when they read what you write, I know I do when someone claiming a conservative philosophy makes such unfounded and inarticulate comments.

Like Glen Beck? Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, etc etc....oh and your leader Rush Limbaugh?

 

[the_kman]

eh. tones is a cyclist. he knows man.
...he knows.

/thread

 

[Bala Verde]

Blackwater Reaches Deal on U.S. Export Violations

Hilarious. A defense contractor smuggles arms into conflict zones despite US sanctions. Proudly making Amurrica safer... and an artificially prolonged conflict won't hurt business!

For a time, the company’s founder, Erik Prince, had ambitions to turn Blackwater into an informal arm of the American foreign policy and national security apparatus, and proposed to the C.I.A. to create a “quick reaction force” that could handle paramilitary operations for the spy agency around the world. He had hopes that Blackwater’s military prowess could be an influential force in regional conflicts around the world.

Ah, the good old paramilitary organizations. Yes, around the world they have made a name for themselves. Torture, extrajudicial killings, take overs of narco trafficking routes and drug plantations, arms trafficking, military training of and transferring weapons knowledge to insurgents.

Investigators reportedly looked into whether some of the weapons that were shipped to Iraq were sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which Turkey considers a terrorist organization. Turkish officials reportedly complained to the United States about American weapons seized from the group.

Whoopsy, the US seems to inadvertently fund terrorism! It's going to be a long war on terrorism.

I wonder if enough evidence will surface to charge people with violating 18 U. S. C. §2339B(a)(1) ”knowingly provid[e] material support or re-sources to a foreign terrorist organization.”

And after all that good work:

In June, the State Department awarded Blackwater a $120 million contract to provide security at its regional offices in Afghanistan, while the C.I.A. renewed the firm’s $100 million security contract for its station in Kabul. At the time, the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, defended the decision, saying that the company had offered the lowest bid and had “cleaned up its act.”

I wonder why they could offer the lowest bid? Perhaps because they have been making some illegal money on the side...

 

[Ferminal]

Two Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan and others wounded overnight, a late twist on election day.

On that note, regardless of who forms government, John Faulkner will be missed as a minister.

I've voted and happy to say I put the Nationals candidates last in the Senate, state politics does matter for me (woyalties for wegions and getting involved in city issues...) when it comes to a federal vote.

 

[auscyclefan94]

How long did it take for you to get in to vote? The line was super long at where I voted. Took 20 minutes to get in.

Sad about afghan soldiers. Noticed a lot of people are only taking the greens and labor advertisement slips but the seat I am in is Labor by a fair bit so it would take a miracle for LNP to win.

 

[Spare Tyre]

I think you mistook point. 22,000 asylum seekers is 22,000 too many. I agree that we need to cut down on letting people through who are coming to the country the proper way but 22,000 is quite significant and the dangers the asylum seekers and people smugglers could cause to Australia is not very good at all.

Did you watch the ACA story on CH 9 last night? The government gives all this money and nice accomadation to the asylum seekers and they can't even look after our own people. Most of them bludge off government benefits for years and don't even try to get a job!

I believe in people's right to seek asylum,and I don't think 22,000 people over a five year period much at all, particularly in relation to our recent overall population growth. I would rather give asylum to people in genuine need and knock back a few others. I struggle to see the "dangers" asylum seekers create. In what ways are they dangerous?

Would you have turned back the Jews fleeing Nazi persecution?

I rarely watch commercial tv. Did the Channel 9 program explore other possibilities for the processing and accommodation of asylum seekers? Did it examine any of the practices of other nations, some of which accept far greater numbers than us? I'm sure the asylum seekers would rather have their applications processed quickly so they could be released into the community and set about establishing their new lives. Incarcerating traumatized and powerless people for many years before allowing them any kind of civil liberties is probably not the most effective way of ensuring they become productive and economically viable members of society. What kind of language and skills training do they receive in those places of incarceration?

IMO mainstream news media in Australia is pretty pathetic. A lot of it is a sensationalist beat-up or simply the repeating of PR spin from various parties. I try to get information from alternative media, journals, grass roots organizations, academics or those personally involved in various sectors. Interestingly, I have a friend who is a mid-high level bureaucrat in Canberra and he agrees with my view on mainstream media as he writes some of the BS that passes for information.

*

I'm happily relieved this discussion hasn't resorted to name calling; I confess I thought it might. So often political discussions seem to descend into something akin to passionate support of football teams. "My team is better than yours!!!" No my team is better than yours!!!.

*

Is anyone else a fan of Antony Green (election geek extraordinaire) ?

 

[Ferminal]

Green is class... Saw him on Thursday on 7:30, I bet he knows every candidate and margin in every seat

If anything I will watch Sky, wouldn't dare to watch 7 or 9. ABC maybe... but I find Tony Jones irritating at times.

 

[auscyclefan94]

If anything I will watch Sky, wouldn't dare to watch 7 or 9. ABC maybe... but I find Tony Jones irritating at times.

If you watch ABC, the Coalition definetly wont get a fair go. Laurie Oakes actually thinks the Coalition will win.

 

[craig1985]

I think you mistook point. 22,000 asylum seekers is 22,000 too many. I agree that we need to cut down on letting people through who are coming to the country the proper way but 22,000 is quite significant and the dangers the asylum seekers and people smugglers could cause to Australia is not very good at all.

Did you watch the ACA story on CH 9 last night? The government gives all this money and nice accomadation to the asylum seekers and they can't even look after our own people. Most of them bludge off government benefits for years and don't even try to get a job!

Dire.

Anybody who watches or takes notice of this program should be shot IMO. Tabloid journalism at it's worse. Afraid to say Today Tonight is just as pathetic.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Dire.

Anybody who watches or takes notice of this program should be shot IMO. Tabloid journalism at it's worse. Afraid to say Today Tonight is just as pathetic.

I wouldn't go that far. I agree that has a lot of rubbish but if you take each story on face value then the one last night had a lot of merit to it. Today tonight is far worse, but CH 7 is much worse in general. Better than watching Neighbours so ACA is the only option.

 

[thrawn]

Dire.

Anybody who watches or takes notice of this program should be shot IMO. Tabloid journalism at it's worse. Afraid to say Today Tonight is just as pathetic.

Couldn't agree more with your opinion of the shows.

 

[craig1985]

If you are going to look at one youtube clip, please I urge you, make it this one. Trust me on this. The Taiwanese take on it

Youtube - Australia goes to the polls ????????

 

[auscyclefan94]

Hung parliament in Aus! It has been a pretty bad night for Labor party as people are coming to realise how woeful they are. It is crazy how many votes the greens are getting but I don't think they will go as well in the next election as people are only going for them as they are not happy with the main parties. In Victoria, the Labor party has not had the big swings they were expecting but Labor has done better in NSW. If Abbott gets up or the independents go with him then this would be a monuemental win for the Liberal party who only 6 months ago were down the gutter. The independents are more likely to go with Liberal as they are former National candidates and in their electorates, Labor is the least preffered party and liberal is the 2nd most preffered party so they would not want to alienate a majority of their supporters.

Craig, ratings speak for themselves and Ch9's ACA does very well.

 

[Bala Verde]

72 | 71 | 4 l target 76... 3 in doubt?

 

[Spare Tyre]

72 | 71 | 4 l target 76... 3 in doubt?

Yep, that's about right. It will probably take a few days to know the constitution of the new government.

My views are quite contrary to that of ACF94. I'm not at all encouraged by the possibility of a Liberal/National government, but am heartened that the Greens have continued to increase their share of the vote and will hold a significant balance of power in the Senate (house of review) from July 2011.