For those that fear coming to Australia!

[Sidecar Racer]

I have posted this in the make you smile thread but thought it worth

adding here .

 

[St Enodoc]

I have posted this in the make you smile thread but thought it worth

adding here .

 

oz chickens 2.jpg

Fake news. We don't have chickens, we have chooks.

[SRman]

Fake news. We don't have chickens, we have chooks.

 

Ha ha, yes! I went to Britain in the 1980s with a school mate. At one stage he was talking to his cousin who kept chickens and other things in his back garden, as well as being a game keeper for the large estate nearby. Said mate was rabbiting on about 'chooks' and his cousin was looking increasingly baffled, until I translated - "Chickens!", I said.

[St Enodoc]

Ha ha, yes! I went to Britain in the 1980s with a school mate. At one stage he was talking to his cousin who kept chickens and other things in his back garden, as well as being a game keeper for the large estate nearby. Said mate was rabbiting on about 'chooks' and his cousin was looking increasingly baffled, until I translated - "Chickens!", I said.

Very good...

[Horsetan]

Barnaby Joyce update:

 

 

It just gets better!!

[monkeysarefun]

Well.... what woman wouldn't?

 

 

[manna]

G'day Folks

[SRman]

G'day Folks

 

Nah, not typical at all. It should be deeper, and there should be a lot more of them, arranged so drivers can't avoid destroying their suspension, no matter how far they swerve around. 

[rockershovel]

The late Sir Terry Pratchett’s version of Australia imprisoned politicians upon election “to save time”

[SRman]

The late Sir Terry Pratchett’s version of Australia imprisoned politicians upon election “to save time”

XXXX.

 

Opinions seem to be divided on "The Last Continent", with some saying it was cliched, while others loved it. I am in the latter camp, regardless of the cliches, or perhaps even because of them. Rincewind even managed to invent Vegemite by accident. He also managed to avoid getting killed by drop bears. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by SRman

[rockershovel]

XXXX.

Opinions seem to be divided on "The Last Continent", with some saying it was cliched, while others loved it. I am in the latter camp, regardless of the cliches, or perhaps even because of them. Rincewind even managed to invent Vegemite by accident. He also managed to avoid getting killed by drop bears. 

.... or spiders under toilet seats.....

 

I’m sure Sir Pterry never encountered a cliche in his life....

[DougN]

Oh that sounds like a funny book... really need to find some time to read a book or 2.... I wonder if we have a copy in the house? I think we borrowed at some time a heap of Pratchett books but I am not sure...

[SRman]

Oh that sounds like a funny book... really need to find some time to read a book or 2.... I wonder if we have a copy in the house? I think we borrowed at some time a heap of Pratchett books but I am not sure...

 

 

If you haven't got it yourself, Doug, I can lend you my copy.

[PhilJ W]

Nah, not typical at all. It should be deeper, and there should be a lot more of them, arranged so drivers can't avoid destroying their suspension, no matter how far they swerve around. 

They must be bad, they're coming through the planet and opening up on this side of the world.

[ikks]

Barnaby Joyce update:

 

image.jpeg

 

It just gets better!!

Always has been, always will be an absolute Dick!!..................Oz Pollies should be involved in a reverse convict swap!!

 

Mike

[Horsetan]

.........Oz Pollies should be involved in a reverse convict swap!!

 

Errm...no thanks. We've got enough trouble over here with our own.

[Pacific231G]

Saw one of those when I lived in England, was about 11am in the morning, bright clear skies. Being a welder, I put the darkest shade of welding glass in my helmet and watched it through that.

I assume this was the 1999 eclipse. You were lucky to see it. Nobody I know in Britain who went to the totality zone saw anything but clouds and one of my friends even went to Germany where the totality was supposed to be particularly long and got to experience a violent thunderstorm instead .

 

I nipped across the Channel the old fashioned way (train to Dover-Ferry to Calais where I stayed the night- train to Abbeville) and saw it under a clear blue sky. It was a wonderful experience and utterly different from even a near total partial eclipse. I then got a train to Noyelles and had a trip on the Baie de Somme railway to le Crotoy and back before returning to the hotel in Calais. Some days just turn out to be perfect.

[ikks]

Errm...no thanks. We've got enough trouble over here with our own.

Couldn't give a shi..t...................we'll take the cons!!

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

I always wonder why we always vote the Morons in.........

 

manna

[monkeysarefun]

As more and more professions are replaced by robots and computer programmes I bet the last people who still have  paid  jobs will be politicians, they'll legislate to  make sure they are deemed too important to be replaced.

 

Yet I reckon the  easiest algorithm to write would be the one that could replace a couple of hundred screaming morons (and thats just Canberra) with one phone app. 

 

We wouldn't need to wait until one of the 20 minute periods when  parliament actually sits  to get things done - instead, some high ranking public servant would  just enter in the  details of whatever politicians currently waste hundreds of hours and our money  arguing about  - for example Gay marriage, electricity prices, livestock exports -  and out would  pops the most sensible solution, and if we paid for the premium version there wouldn't even  be any ads.

 

Voting would go from a choice between the left party or the right party, to deciding between  the Android app or the Apple version.

Edited August 9, 2018 by monkeysarefun

[SRman]

G'Day Folks

 

I always wonder why we always vote the Morons in.........

 

manna

 

1. Because we have no choice but to vote or receive a fine;

2. Because we have to vote, we have to go with the choices in front of us;

3. Those choices are the morons we are referring to!

[Ozexpatriate]

1. Because we have no choice but to vote or receive a fine;

2. Because we have to vote, we have to go with the choices in front of us;

You may spoil your ballot, which addresses both 1 and 2 and you don't need to address 3.

 

EDIT: (Added later:)

 

In my experience, seeing both compulsory (Australia) and voluntary (US) voting systems, the impact of compulsory voting creates a much stronger representative will of the people.

 

In the US less than 60% of the "voting age population" vote at all and that's for the Presidential elections. Mid-terms are usually much less. There are other complexities where the people who actually determine who the President will be is a stunningly small group, but those complexities are out of scope in the compulsory/voluntary question.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[monkeysarefun]

You may spoil your ballot, which addresses both 1 and 2 and you don't need to address 3.

 

EDIT: (Added later:)

 

In my experience, seeing both compulsory (Australia) and voluntary (US) voting systems, the impact of compulsory voting creates a much stronger representative will of the people.

 

In the US less than 60% of the "voting age population" vote at all and that's for the Presidential elections. Mid-terms are usually much less. There are other complexities where the people who actually determine who the President will be is a stunningly small group, but those complexities are out of scope in the compulsory/voluntary question.

 

Strictly speaking, its compulsory to turn up and get your name ticked off the list...

 

If overseas people saw some of our ballot papers, the need to make it compulsory for us to turn up becomes obvious!

 

[Ozexpatriate]

Strictly speaking, its compulsory to turn up and get your name ticked off the list...

Yes.

 

If overseas people saw some of our ballot papers, the need to make it compulsory for us to turn up becomes obvious!

Having done it, preferential voting is just silly (and needlessly complicated). One vote for each position is more than sufficient.

 

Even without the added complication of the preferential system, voters in the US have a lot of people to vote for. It's not just the Federal positions (President Senator, Congressional Representative) but a slew of state and local government positions down to things like district attorney, school board members, sheriff, etc and then in many states there are 'measures' or 'propositions' which are essentially local referenda.  It makes for a pretty big ballot in the end.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[monkeysarefun]

Yes.

 

Having done it, preferential voting is just silly (and needlessly complicated). One vote for each position is more than sufficient.

 

Even without the added complication of the preferential system, voters in the US have a lot of people to vote for. It's not just the Federal positions (President Senator, Congressional Representative) but a slew of state and local government positions down to things like district attorney, school board members, sheriff, etc and then in many states there are 'measures' or 'propositions' which are essentially local referenda.  It makes for a pretty big ballot in the end.

 

 

Voting for the  sherrif has always seemed a weird idea to me - though I guess the position is actually a bit different from the Australian equivalent which would be voting for the local copper....

 

Hey soon you'll be able to vote for the Space Sherrif!