Frogmanv2 posted:

I havent had a big mac in years, but keep projecting, it just helps solidify your case.

I mean, if you honestly think that eating and appetite isnt in part controlled by chemicals in your brain, there is honestly no point to this at all.

Recoome posted:

Turns out that some members of the United Patriots Front are neo nazis

Recoome posted:

Turns out that some members of the United Patriots Front are neo nazis

quote:

We at the UPF are studying the Constitution so we are equipped to take on the corrupt politicians in Canberra which behave exactly the same way as you have now, that is with treachery.

Frogmanv2 posted:

there is honestly no point to Laserface at all.

hooman posted:

https://www.facebook.com/100009413836436/videos/1569286923395087/

I almost feel sorry for this guy.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Jumpingmanjim posted:

GoldStandardConure posted:

I eat big macs and other rubbish food all the time. Guess my BMI.

Frogmanv2 posted:

I havent had a big mac in years, but keep projecting, it just helps solidify your case.

I mean, if you honestly think that eating and appetite isnt in part controlled by chemicals in your brain, there is honestly no point to this at all.

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

e:oh wow, no it's right near the base of the trunk. It looks like some creepy middle aged dude.

Birdstrike posted:

my appetite for shitposting knows no bounds

quote:

A group of Liberal party MPs, including the former prime minister and then federal opposition leader Tony Abbott, are under scrutiny over $250,000 worth of designer watches they were given by a visiting billionaire from China almost three years ago – that were assumed to be fakes.
Among them is the embattled MP Stuart Robert, who was then the opposition’s defence, science, technology and personnel spokesman, and is now under intense political pressure over a controversial trip to China in 2014.
“Instant noodle billionaire” Li Ruipeng, the chair of the Li Guancheng Investment Management Group, gave Abbott, Robert and the then opposition industry spokesman, Ian Macfarlane, designer watches out of a plastic bag at an informal dinner at Parliament House in June 2013 as a goodwill gesture.

There were also watches for Abbott’s wife, Margie, and Robert’s wife, Chantelle, who were not present at the dinner – but not Abbott’s then chief of staff, Peta Credlin, who was.
(The then Queensland minister Rob Molhoek also received a Cartier Ballon Bleu bracelet watch, valued at $23,400, from Guancheng in 2013 – the most expensive gift received by any Newman government official in that financial year, and surrendered by Molhoek to the Ministerial Services Branch.)

Macfarlane, assuming his Rolex was a fake worth between $300 and $500, declared the gift with the clerk of the House of Representatives but kept it (“and wore it occasionally,” says the Herald Sun).
Macfarlane had the watch valued in Sydney after the September federal election, after the then Liberal candidate for Moore, Ian Goodenough, favourably compared it to his own, genuine Rolex.
Macfarlane was told his watch was worth about $40,000 – and his had obviously not been as expensive as those given to Abbott and Margie Abbott.

Though the clerk told him he was entitled to keep it, he returned it to Li Ruipeng’s company and alerted Liberal “fixer” Tony Nutt, who – the Australian Financial Review reports – ordered the immediate collection of the watches so that they could be returned.
Robert and Abbott complied – though a spokesman for Abbott denied it was on Nutt’s advice.

The spokesman told Guardian Australia that the two watches given to him were declared as well, though Abbott had also taken them to be fake. It wasn’t so much the gift, as the way it was given, he said.

“My understanding is that they were handed over in a plastic bag, as has been reported, and I think everybody was of the same view,” he said.
“They were declared in the normal way. As with most parliamentarians, it’s better to over declare than under declare but I believe Mr Abbott was of the understanding that they were fake, given the way that they were handed over, and, when it became apparent that they weren’t, they were handed over straight away.”

Asked by Guardian Australia whether Robert had, like Macfarlane, assumed at first the watch was a fake, a spokesman said there was “nothing to add to the story that’s not already out there” but confirmed that it had been returned.

Macfarlane’s office has been contacted for comment.

Less than a year later in August 2014, Robert, the then assistant defence minister, took what he says was a “personal” trip to Beijing with friend and Liberal Party donor Paul Marks to celebrate a mining deal.
He is now fighting to save his ministerial career as Labor accuses the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, of failing to enforce his own standards.
Phillip Coorey writes in the Australian Financial Review that Roberts “should have learned from the watches to tread warily in China”.
The senior public servant Martin Parkinson will determine whether Robert breached the ministerial code of conduct with his trip to China.

Halo14 posted:

Tony Abbott and other Liberals took Rolexes they thought were fake

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/10/liberals-took-rolex-and-other-designer-watches-assuming-they-were-were-fake

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Tim Wilson, the Human Rights Commissioner, will run for Robb’s safe seat of Goldstein.

I have huge respect for Wilson.

He is very smart, diplomatic and hard-working, and brave and articulate in the contest of ideas.

He is a libertarian rather than a conservative, and how badly we need people who believe in freedom.

Wilson, for instance, has been brilliant in the defence of free speech, when too many others were silent. He has fought for free markets and against the over-regulation that stifles creativity, initiative, investment and employment.

Even when we’ve differed - on legalising same-sex marriage, for instance - Wilson has been able to argue with the greatest civility, without giving or taking offence. He prefers ideas to combat, policy to posturing, deeds to words.

I like him a lot.

And, of course, now that he is leaving the Human Rights Commission the coast is clear to call for its complete abolition.

Halo14 posted:

Tony Abbott and other Liberals took Rolexes they thought were fake

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/10/liberals-took-rolex-and-other-designer-watches-assuming-they-were-were-fake

open24hours posted:

Is Wilson running as an independent or what?

Birb Katter posted:

Can you be a Libertarian and run as anything other than indi?

Birb Katter posted:

Can you be a Libertarian and run as anything other than indi?

Frankly posted:

guys GUYS real post here -

Recently I attended babby's first protest about the current refugee policies. The speakers at the small rally really struck a chord and made me feel like poo poo for the refugees stuck in detention. However I'm really badly informed about the issue but I sort of understand from skimming this thread, talking to people and reading up online

- Conditions in detention camps are atrocious
- Policy of 'go back or stay here in not-Australia' essentially dooms some asylum seekers to go die someplace else
- A lot of (probably most?) men, women, children who are long-term tenants in these camps are severely hosed up by the experience, because 'going back' is just not an option for them
- People have been killed upon returning to their country of origin for a variety of reasons

Now I've been writing to my local Tasmanian senators and representatives about the issue and Andrew Nikolic (LIB) sent me a probably pre-baked 2 page reply. His main points are -

- Few adults/no children in detention by end of Howard years
- Labor policy led to 51,000 new arrivals, 1,200 deaths at sea
- 2,000 children in detention under Labor, down to <100 today
- Increase in 'legitimate' asylum seeker intake (this phrase gives me the shits but I don't understand it fully)
- Australia is now the World's Most Generous Nation for Resettling 'Genuine' Refugees (by head of population and by national wealth) and 2018/19 will be our biggest intake in 30 years
- Detention centers run sporting activites, art programs, recreational facilities, libraries, English classes and self-education facilities
- Greens, advocates using 'overblown language' and 'emotional manipulation' and subtly called me out on my similarly strong language.

I'd very much appreciate it if anyone could take the time to address Mr Nikolic's points and add a few of their own to help me better understand this complicated and sadly political issue. I'm not asking for big articles but a pointer to some decent media on the issue would be great.

TLDR: I'm really uneducated on the issues surrounding asylum seeker policy, help me be more informed on the issue

quote:

CSIRO boss defends shake-up, says politics of climate 'more like religion than science'

The CSIRO's chief has told the ABC the backlash from his decision to restructure the organisation has made him feel like an "early climate scientist in the '70s fighting against the oil lobby" and that there is so much emotion in the debate it almost "sounds more like religion than science".

Key points:

CSIRO chief says he will not back down on restructure
Thousands of climate scientists sign protest letter
Chief says change is about using resources effectively
Dr Larry Marshall said he would not be backing down on his controversial shake-up of the organisation's climate divisions, telling the ABC he was yet to be persuaded.

The redirection of climate science priorities at the CSIRO has drawn international condemnation, with thousands of climate scientists signing an open letter protesting against the changes.

Frankly posted:

- Few adults/no children in detention by end of Howard years

quote:

- Labor policy led to 51,000 new arrivals, 1,200 deaths at sea

quote:

- 2,000 children in detention under Labor, down to <100 today

quote:

- Increase in 'legitimate' asylum seeker intake (this phrase gives me the shits but I don't understand it fully)
- Australia is now the World's Most Generous Nation for Resettling 'Genuine' Refugees (by head of population and by national wealth) and 2018/19 will be our biggest intake in 30 years

quote:

- Detention centers run sporting activites, art programs, recreational facilities, libraries, English classes and self-education facilities
- Greens, advocates using 'overblown language' and 'emotional manipulation' and subtly called me out on my similarly strong language.

Birb Katter posted:

Frankly my dear, I don't give a drat.

Now that pun is out of the way let the goon hivemind answer your questions.

Frankly posted:

actually it comes from a dumb Lano & Woodley joke that stuck with me.

Too young to even know the quote everyone assumes it is outside of ~top ten movie moments~ countdowns haha

e: Thanks so much magic gun person, that helps reinforce what I was already slowly coming to realise

quote:

Even for refugees who are in need of resettlement, there is no orderly resettlement “queue” to join. In reality, the resettlement system works more like a lottery than a queue. Very few resettlement places are available globally and, while UNHCR aims to prioritise those in greatest need, most refugees – even people in very vulnerable situations – cannot realistically expect to be resettled in the near future, if ever. Many refugees lack access to UNHCR’s resettlement processes altogether and simply do not have resettlement available to them as an option. It is unreasonable to expect refugees to remain indefinitely in situations of danger and insecurity, or to penalise them for seeking their own solutions, when the international community fails in its responsibility to provide effective protection.