1. Being pronounced dead nine times can only mean he was a cat. Nine lives.
  2. Right. Referendum time tomorrow in the UK. I'm quite happy to stick my neck out and say I'm voting yes to AV, and this is why - http://alternativevote-1.blogspot.com/

    No idea about our local council elections yet, will decide when I head back home tomorrow and see who's standing, but it saddens me that this first chance in years to change our electoral system towards a more progressive and fair system is going to be blighted by politics. Yes, ideally I want proportional representation, today if possible, but it won't happen without taking steps away from First Past The Post. Only our second referendum ever (first in 1975) and it's going to get arse-whipped by political bias. I live in eternal hope though
  3. Originally posted by Risto:[..]

    And that is a good thing? Why would i pay for someone elses pickyness and luxery.... Let them pay it themselves and spend the really needed money on critical healthcare instead of molestation (offtopic )


    I agree, it's like state sponsored liposuction for fat people who simply find eating reasonably or doing exercise too difficult.

    Or like at my high school when my engineering teacher told us how the school had to spend thousands of dollars to introduce brand new, extra stiff chairs simply because they we have a student who weighed 250kg -that's more than a fully grown female polar bear!

    Seriously, we've become too much of a nanny state - people shouldn't be given sugarcoated bastardisations of the truth to allay real concerns about their mental/physical health nor should we be helping people who wouldn't aren't doing anything to help themselves.

    And on Osama - I was quite disappointed by how obvious his hideout was and how little of a fight he put up - very anticlimatic. Definitely not as devious and cunning as I originally thought - how did the Americans manage to take so long to find this guy
  4. If you're not willing to help yourself (except in absolute extreme cases where the issue can't be helped) how can you expect and why should you expect anyone else to try if you're not going to take part and allow them to give you the help you may need.

    It's harsh but that's the truth.
  5. i like Gillards new policy on teen mums. it will either make em think twice about having the kid in the first place, or make them finish their education so they dunt become a well-fare dependent family who contribute nothing to society
  6. i voted yes to AV, although public reaction to the "no" campaign's ridiculous arguments - and even lies, in some cases - don't give me much hope.
  7. Originally posted by wangmaster:i voted yes to AV, although public reaction to the "no" campaign's ridiculous arguments - and even lies, in some cases - don't give me much hope.

    Nah, be prepared for an outcome we don't want bud. I voted Yes aswell - m'mother did point out to me, must be said, that the last referendum outcome went against the predictions, i.e. when we voted to become part of the EU in '75. I'm told the general feeling and opinion polls suggested that we'd stay separate, but we ended up involved (and an involvement I myself am glad of), so there's always hope.

    Just a quick shout out to the Aussies on here - do you like the Alternative Vote or not? Asked Drew on Twitter earlier, but just thought I garner a bit more opinion here if possible.

    I mean, in an ideal world, we'd actually be having a referendum on changing to PR (Proportional Representation) which I think is the fairest voting system of all that we have available, but we won't have a chance of progressing to that without changing the current (outdated and impractical) FPTP system to AV first. Something that a lot of people don't seem to consider, i.e. those who are voted no to AV because they want PR, which won't ever happen under a Tory-led government. Of course, if it were to actually happen, I'd probably have a hernia.