All Things Australia-ish

[intedomine]

Was wondering who this ZyZZ guy was. Never heard of him when he was alive.. and aesthetics don't really work anyway.. That's a myth. It's charisma, attitude and immediate environment that so often nullifies aesthetics.

[Alisaura]

Originally Posted by blueeyedgirl

It's unfortunate that a man died so young etc, but can I say how unattractive I find that look: the whole fake tan, fake hair, fake teeth, ripped, and the tatts :bleurgh:

Yeah, that. And I find the whole concept of someone focussing on aesthetics to be fairly repellant in and of itself.

[mysterious_jen]

I am finding it completely outrageous that this government can bring in a carbon tax they lied about in the blink of an eye but the disability insurance scheme will take 7 years to implement. What the hell jooolia?

[Axver]

Well, the reason for that is pretty simple really - the NDIS is not a vote winner. Seriously, whenever a political party proposes (or opposes) anything, you just have to ask yourself what interests it serves and electoral prospects it helps. Think about social groups and voter blocs, who they traditionally vote for, and what they're keen on.

The carbon tax: Besides being an obvious attempt to bring some left-wing support back from the Greens to the ALP, it's also an obvious attempt to appeal to the centre and swing voters. Malcolm Turnbull and the centrist faction of the Liberal Party clearly support it, even if they can't say so, and it even (at one stage) appeared to have potential appeal to right wing voters as Tony Abbott once supported it too. In theory, the people totally alienated by a carbon tax would never have voted ALP anyway so they weren't losing any votes, while the people standing to benefit from tax breaks and increased government aid are middle class swing voters. On paper, it should have delivered greater numbers to the ALP. In practice? Maybe not, but it's a long time until the next election.

National Disability Insurance Scheme: Although it would again potentially win back some left-wing support from the Greens to the ALP, that wouldn't be terribly significant, and is support that will generally flow on from the Greens to the ALP via preferences anyway. It's unlikely to win many votes from any other voting group, because most of the people who stand to benefit from the NDIS are traditionally Labour voters. They're poor, marginalised, and Tony Abbott is on record as not giving a shit about them or their plight. Thus unlike the carbon tax, which could be a vote winner (or loser), the NDIS is not a game-changer and is of no great priority at this stage. If it blows up into a huge controversy, well, then it may become a game-changer.

The moment you answer the "on paper, who's likely to support/vote for this and who's likely to hate/vote against this?" question, you'll get your answer why some issues are being pushed through and others are left to take seven years. Outrageous, but politics. True for all sides.

[cobl04]

What a shame that political bullshit gets in the way.... reason eight trillion why I will never be overly interested in politics.

[Vlad n U 2]

That's what I thought once, too. You've much to learn, young Cobbler.

[KhanadaRhodes]

i understand your frustration mr. shoemaker, but to me that's why i got interested. i figure shit will never change if i don't take an interest. if i just voted for whoever i thought would win - or worse, didn't vote at all then i'm doing myself a disservice. everyone's different of course, but i think it's vital for everyone to have at least a small interest in politics, at least enough to form opinions on issues so you can figure out which candidate is the best for you.

though i am looking at this from the perspective of someone who's from a country where voting isn't compulsory, of course.

[cobl04]

[Alisaura]

I'm assuming (and praying) that's not your arm, Danny?

[cobl04]

Not even if I was paid a million.

[cobl04]

Jazzy O

[cobl04]

80 per cent of drivers fined for speeding in the past year were doing less than 10ks over the limit

[Saracene]

Well limit is the limit and not some kind of vague guideline.

[cobl04]

I understand that, but in most cases I would argue it's hardly dangerous (American drivers frequently drive above and beyond limits). I would love to see how many incidents (fatal or non-fatal) were caused by drivers doing less than 10 km/h over, particularly on freeways.

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally Posted by cobl04

80 per cent of drivers fined for speeding in the past year were doing less than 10ks over the limit

is that based off the radar gun or the ticket though? i don't know how it works elsewhere but i've been pulled over (a lot ) for speeding, and always over 10 mph. the cops would pretty much always say i was going slower than i was so i'd pay less of a fine/less demerit points. so if someone were to go back at my records it'd look like i just had a bunch of dick cops when i really just had a major lead foot and really bad luck.

[cobl04]

Well when you get picked up by cameras the ticket/fine they send you has your detected speed, and then they cut 3kms off for margin of error.

[The Sad Punk]

There's a road near my place that I frequently go a few kms over the limit on, just because it feels like a 60kmph road rather than a 50kmph. I know, I know. I got a speeding ticket there last year and, to be frank, until last week I was still doing the same dumb thing. Until last week. I nearly ran over a cat. Now I never speed there at all.

Everyone needs a nearly-ran-over-a-cat moment. Shit, it was still basically a kitten.

[cobl04]

I killed a cat one night I felt horrible for days.

And for what it's worth I'm mainly talking about high/freeways. In residential areas I think the limits are the limits.

[Axver]

Originally Posted by Saracene

Well limit is the limit and not some kind of vague guideline.

This.

Originally Posted by cobl04

(American drivers frequently drive above and beyond limits)

Which I found utterly ridiculous when I was over there. The only justification I've ever seen from Yanks that it's acceptable is "everybody else is doing it so you're actually unsafe if you're driving at the speed limit", which is one of the most braindead cop-outs I've ever heard.

This isn't to say I'm squeaky clean, and it's probably a good thing I can't get a driver's licence as my desire to get from one place to another in the fastest, most direct way possible would probably turn me into a reckless driver.

[Axver]

Oh yeah, and ...

Originally Posted by The Sad Punk

There's a road near my place that I frequently go a few kms over the limit on, just because it feels like a 60kmph road rather than a 50kmph. I know, I know. I got a speeding ticket there last year and, to be frank, until last week I was still doing the same dumb thing. Until last week. I nearly ran over a cat. Now I never speed there at all.

Everyone needs a nearly-ran-over-a-cat moment. Shit, it was still basically a kitten.

You know what I hate? Twats who hit a cat, then just drive off. Would you drive off if you hit a person? Fuck no you wouldn't. At least have the decency to stop, check if the cat is still alive (I know of too many sad stories of cats surviving hits and could've been saved if only the person had checked on them), move it off the road, and if possible, try to find the owner. We were all really appreciative when the guy who hit my Nan's cat stopped and door-knocked to find out whose cat it was; it didn't make his death any less sad, but at least it didn't sting so much. Poor guy was pretty shaken up too; my Nan's cat was chased onto the road just over the crest of a hill by the neighbourhood bully cat; the guy drove over the crest at the wrong time and never even had the chance to hit his brakes.

Hitting a cat is worse than hitting a child. At least cats are cute.