![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The pre-election post...
OK, here's a pitch to the few of you out there who haven't made up their mind on how they're voting on Saturday. I'm not going to suggest who you vote for, but rather I will suggest who you shouldn't vote for.
Democracy is a system of government which was not won easily. People - invariably men - of power and property, fought tooth and nail to ensure that we "common folk" were not allowed to directly influence government. On the other side, rationalists argued that any person, when provided the opportunity to make an informed decision, is capable of correctly choosing their representative. Supported by the "intellectuals" of the day, and a bit of industrial muscle from the labour movement, we won that battle - and it wasn't that long ago.
However, when that principle of making informed decisions is taken away, you may as well not have elections at all. When there is a cynical excersise of mass deception in order to gain power, there is no democracy, merely a campaign of the biggest lie.
I ask you then, before you vote, to read the following. Yes, it's from an ALP site. But I've checked each quote carefully and they are accurate.
http://www.alp.org.au/features/lies.php
A vote for John Howard is, effectively, a license to lie. It is a vote that permits someone to deceive you. Don't do it.
(And cut-and-paste and forward this on to all who haven't made up their mind).
Via![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
adricongirl and erudito - and from one of the more sensible people whom I've discussed such matters with, Brian Palmer's
political test (for this election)..
My results are: One Nation: 22%; National Party: 17%; Liberal Party: 31%; Labor Party: 77%; Democrats: 95%; Greens: 86%. It's probably how I'd vote as well...
Also fromadricongirl (who is obviously paying attention to this election)... According to Family First, followers must "pull down Satan's strongholds" which includes mosques, Freemasons' temples, brothels and bottle shops. Further, they've had to discipline a campaign volunteer who claimed that "lesbians are witches and should be burned to death". They have also decided that the lesbians (they do have a thing about them, don't they?) won't receive preferences.
They've also decided to propose an
annual fee on all Internet users to block at a server level things they find objectionable. On a related matter, Manhunt has been banned. *grumble*
Was very impressed by Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, both of which I finally got around to seeing withcaseopaya last Friday. Mike Moore does go straight to the source, and I like that. He's also been receiving some mail from
US troops in Iraq.
In other news, I fixed a very recalcitrant DHCP/ICS problem on Monday along with zone file problems for the website and email and on Wednesday my second meeting with DEWR representatives went really well. My business plan is considered "extremely viable". w00t! On Friday I hand it in..
Democracy is a system of government which was not won easily. People - invariably men - of power and property, fought tooth and nail to ensure that we "common folk" were not allowed to directly influence government. On the other side, rationalists argued that any person, when provided the opportunity to make an informed decision, is capable of correctly choosing their representative. Supported by the "intellectuals" of the day, and a bit of industrial muscle from the labour movement, we won that battle - and it wasn't that long ago.
However, when that principle of making informed decisions is taken away, you may as well not have elections at all. When there is a cynical excersise of mass deception in order to gain power, there is no democracy, merely a campaign of the biggest lie.
I ask you then, before you vote, to read the following. Yes, it's from an ALP site. But I've checked each quote carefully and they are accurate.
http://www.alp.org.au/features/lies.php
A vote for John Howard is, effectively, a license to lie. It is a vote that permits someone to deceive you. Don't do it.
(And cut-and-paste and forward this on to all who haven't made up their mind).
Via
adricongirl and erudito - and from one of the more sensible people whom I've discussed such matters with, Brian Palmer's political test (for this election)..
My results are: One Nation: 22%; National Party: 17%; Liberal Party: 31%; Labor Party: 77%; Democrats: 95%; Greens: 86%. It's probably how I'd vote as well...
Also from
adricongirl (who is obviously paying attention to this election)... According to Family First, followers must "pull down Satan's strongholds" which includes mosques, Freemasons' temples, brothels and bottle shops. Further, they've had to discipline a campaign volunteer who claimed that "lesbians are witches and should be burned to death". They have also decided that the lesbians (they do have a thing about them, don't they?) won't receive preferences.They've also decided to propose an
annual fee on all Internet users to block at a server level things they find objectionable. On a related matter, Manhunt has been banned. *grumble*
Was very impressed by Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, both of which I finally got around to seeing with
caseopaya last Friday. Mike Moore does go straight to the source, and I like that. He's also been receiving some mail from US troops in Iraq.
In other news, I fixed a very recalcitrant DHCP/ICS problem on Monday along with zone file problems for the website and email and on Wednesday my second meeting with DEWR representatives went really well. My business plan is considered "extremely viable". w00t! On Friday I hand it in..
no subject
In fact, an article this Monday morning in the the SMH labled all people who voted for the coallition as "toads". Something which caused a back-lash of readers up here too. The SMH typically weighs in at a middle-left to centre position and The Telegraph is typically a little more left leaning on federal issues and central on state issues, but this time round it was hard to tell the Telegraph from the SMH.
Terry McCrann's comments / criticisms were (and trying to keep my objective hat on) fair in my opinion this time round. Even up until polling day you could have been forgiven for believing that the ALP were going to win with a huge land-slide based on the journo coverage.
The outcome of all of this is that the print media up here has lost a significant amount of credability, and deservedly so in my opinion. Whilst I may have enjoyed their comentary and take on things I secretly underneath remeber thinking about three weeks ago that it was going to blow up intheir faces at some point down the track.