open24hours posted:

"It means they have value."

open24hours posted:

A family of possums live in my backyard. Why anyone would want one as a pet is beyond me.

ScreamingLlama posted:

They thought we were gone.



They called us a "footnote in political history".



But this election, we're back.



And we're keeping the bastards honest.


Goons, I'd like to introduce a new contender for the NSW Upper House for 2015:



Rendall Wagner, from Point Clare on the Central Coast, has signed up for an Upper House ticket along with a dozen other Australian Democrats candidates around the state. The NSW Australian Democrats are firmly behind putting a total kybosh on coal seam gas (exploration as well as fracking), keeping the Libs from starving TAFE of its funding, supporting the growth and development of manufacturing and hi-tech industry, improvement and further development of passenger rail and making the most out of the NBN. In particular, Rendall wants to see more telecommuting, teleconferencing and other work from home initiatives in places like Gosford and Wyong.


Some background for those not familiar with the Dems (especially foreign goons):

Founded in 1977, the Australian Democrats are a nominally centrist (but noticeably left-wing in practice) party devoted to government transparency and accountability (as expressed by the rather colourful slogan "Keep The Bastards Honest"), the absence of corporate or other vested interests in politics, economic justice, social justice and human rights. (Basically, we're the polar opposite of the LNP and ALP, but not as far left as the Greens.) In 1986, Janine Haines took the helm of the Dems to become the first woman in Australia to lead a political party.
Ten years later, things fell apart when Meg "the gays are ruining the party" Lees failed to hold John Howard accountable for introducing tax reforms he said weren't going to happen. The Goods and Services Tax passed the Senate, the Dems as a whole were blamed and despite maintaining a Senate presence right up until 2008, the party's reputation was permanently stained.

In 2012, a near-bankrupt money hungry shitstain by the name of John Davey set up his own faction with the intent of taking over control of the party completely, aided and abetted by the then-president of the NSW state division and some other muckety-mucks in the National Executive (ironically, this all happened shortly after I joined the party). Calling themselves 'RebootD' and claiming their aim was to give the Dems a fresh start, Davey and company laid waste to the party's organizational structure and finances EVE-style, including looting $22,000 from the national bank account and hijacking all the web domains, engaging in some truly bizarre correspondence with the Australian Electoral Commission that nearly cost the party's national registration, seizing control of the official social media accounts and using them to slander and bully the living crap out of anyone who questioned their actions, and holding their own separate national executive meetings where they pretended that the Democrats' national president, Darren Churchill, had resigned. After a concerted effort involving the real NE and the AEC, RebootD was given the flick, but three years later we're still picking up the pieces. Needless to say, it cost us the ability to field candidates for the 2013 federal election.

Fortunately, we've been able to restore the party's functionality enough to get Rendall Wagner and friends on this year's Legislative Council ticket, and hopefully something can be put together for next year's federal election.

markgreyam posted:

I FINALLY understand why they don't give a poo poo about the environment; because no-one actually owns it. Things (like animals, which are things) don't have inherent value unless they are owned by someone.

Endman posted:

As much as I would love to chill out with a pet wombat, the idea that private ownership is the only thing that gives an animal species its value is shockingly stupid.

open24hours posted:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_privatization

Seagull posted:

Dude on the train with iron crosses and 88 tattooed on his hand.

The shire line is a true hell

wow he has 14 on the other one jesus

Endman posted:

Why do we allow libertarians to exist?

Kegslayer posted:

Its because the cost of compliance and taking him to court is probably higher than what they can recoup assuming they win at all. They have a limited budget and so they go for the easy wins.

Its the same for most regulatory agencies. At the bank where I'm working at now, APRA just calls us in advance to tell us that they're going to be coming down at this date to look at this particular item and to make sure we have everything ready.

Going after the big end of town means saying goodbye to those sweet sweet consulting gigs and directorships when you leave public service.

Frogmanv2 posted:

Twiggy was sued by asic, and won. Can't remember the details, and am phone posting, so you will need to dig up details yourself.

Murodese posted:

I think if you're starting a political party with new faces/ideas, taking on the reputation of an older defunct party causes as many problems as it solves. Sure, there'll be a chunk of the population that'll be like "oh those old chaps, I'll vote for them because they were familiar when I was a lad" and get you over the "who the gently caress is this" hump, but you're also going to dissuade a chunk of the population that are still annoyed at said party for their past deeds. No amount of cajoling is going to convince them otherwise, either.

ScreamingLlama posted:

From the looks of this thread, there are some people who still like the Dems and would quite like the opportunity to vote for us again.

Amethyst posted:

I love how libertarians think they are experts on everything. This guy clearly has no idea what "domestication" even means and here he is pulling conservation theory out of his rear end

Doctor Spaceman posted:

For what it's worth he's got a vet science degree and worked as a vet for 6 years. He's a qualified crazy person.

open24hours posted:

quote:

In a speech to parliament, he argued species disappeared because they were owned by everyone but belonged to no one. As a result there was no incentive for anyone to keep them safe from predators.

The long-term survival of at least some Australian animals is assured because they are kept as household pets in other countries, the senator said.

Leyonhjelm questioned the logic of allowing people to own animals that could kill native wildlife, but not allowing people to protect the prey.

Just as dogs and cats are in no danger of dying out, the same will be true if native animals are privately owned, he said.

He admitted there could be problems with owning some native wildlife, especially those that were nocturnal. That might require us adjusting our own sleeping patterns to enjoy them, he said.

Seemlar posted:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/18/david-leyonhjelm-wants-native-wildlife-kept-as-pets-to-prevent-extinction

ScreamingLlama posted:

We're not starting another political party, we're reviving an existing one. The Dems were never deregistered in the first place; we've still been around, just lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to make a comeback. 2013 would have been that time had RebootD not been a thing. Obviously some people are still sore over the GST, but as I said before, it can always be repealed. From the looks of this thread, there are some people who still like the Dems and would quite like the opportunity to vote for us again.

Yautja posted:

The Most Insane Leader in Australia.. besides Tones

Endman posted:

I actually hope NSW reelects Baird. If the CSG wells poison Sydney's water supply, we'll be rid of the largest blight on our nation's character.

hooman posted:

How will that kill Rupes?

Endman posted:

I just assume that once people stop buying the Daily Telegraph, he'll just disintegrate into a puddle of toxic goo.

open24hours posted:

quote:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-...as-pets/6329674
"Just as cats and dogs are in no danger of dying out, the same will be true if native animals are privately owned. It means they have value."

ScreamingLlama posted:

We're not starting another political party, we're reviving an existing one. The Dems were never deregistered in the first place; we've still been around, just lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to make a comeback. 2013 would have been that time had RebootD not been a thing. Obviously some people are still sore over the GST, but as I said before, it can always be repealed. From the looks of this thread, there are some people who still like the Dems and would quite like the opportunity to vote for us again.

Murodese posted:

Since you're probably aware of what happened: can you explain what the deal was with the two? democrat parties during the last election? I remember hearing that somebody had hijacked the party in one of the states or something?

ScreamingLlama posted:

In 2012, a near-bankrupt money hungry shitstain by the name of John Davey set up his own faction with the intent of taking over control of the party completely, aided and abetted by the then-president of the NSW state division and some other muckety-mucks in the National Executive (ironically, this all happened shortly after I joined the party). Calling themselves 'RebootD' and claiming their aim was to give the Dems a fresh start, Davey and company laid waste to the party's organizational structure and finances EVE-style, including looting $22,000 from the national bank account and hijacking all the web domains, engaging in some truly bizarre correspondence with the Australian Electoral Commission that nearly cost the party's national registration, seizing control of the official social media accounts and using them to slander and bully the living crap out of anyone who questioned their actions, and holding their own separate national executive meetings where they pretended that the Democrats' national president, Darren Churchill, had resigned. After a concerted effort involving the real NE and the AEC, RebootD was given the flick, but three years later we're still picking up the pieces. Needless to say, it cost us the ability to field candidates for the 2013 federal election.

hooman posted:

Who are the democrats targeting here? Someone who really wants a party that has a tarred name like the greens, the right wing compromises of labor and the instability of the PUP?

Anidav posted:

Dems are cool. Rolls off the tongue. I'd vote for dem Dems. Dems dems dems dems dems.

ScreamingLlama posted:

MiniSune posted:

Anecdote: With the advent of steam my piracy of games has dropped to zero. And I've been doing it since the TRS-80.

Almost to the point that if it isn't on steam, I could nary give a gently caress even to pirate it.