Bluey's Dad

Surely an upstanding gentleman like you doesn't associate with the lower classes Bitters?

Says the bloke who quoted and responded to Nutbean's opinion on Hanson supporters. Go about your morning then.

Hanson voters are a whole different level of stupid. Also did you miss the bit where Nut and I both said they have a right to vote how they want? No one is saying take away their vote. Just that we judge them more harshly for how they use that vote than we would anyone else. Don't conjure up ridiculous hypotheticals in response to something that wasn't actually said.

Sure, they have the right to vote for who they want. But what Hanson says means I'll judge them for being idiots for voting for her. Not a judgement I'd make for any other vote. Hanson's presence in the Senate indicates to me that there are a lot of idiots in this country. Edit: what Nutbean said

Interesting, especially the church one. Thanks for sharing Wrecker.

I'm curious about this too. Responses from the few gay people I know range from "gay marriage now!" to "meh, cbf". None have responded in the outright negative.

Oh good, so the AFL sticks it to footy fans 3 weeks in a row instead of just the once. This organisation really does [censored] me off.

This is why we need need neutrality.

Sigh, he's right: https://crownbet.com.au/support/betting-info/afl-live-faqs

Surely not? Please please please please tell me this is not a thing.

QFT

So, despite there only being one game on Sunday, it is not on FTA: http://www.afl.com.au/broadcastguide Words fail me.

Robbo wins the title for me. Not because he's significantly worse than the rest, but because his role at the HS should demand someone of much greater quality. I can only assume that he is one of those people who 'fails up'. Edit: oh and also the Jesse Hogan interview last year. He was CLEARLY inebriated.

Then we need to ask, is the Essendon Football Club really reflective of these values? Nope. This is where the AFL needs to walk the walk. The EFC should have been replaced with someone else who embodies more of the 'ANZAC Spirit'. Like I said, if you're gonna do it, do it right. And in this case, doing it right means making a big statement and replacing Essendon. Probably to the AFL's financial detriment though, so they won't do it. You can't pledge yourself to high minded ethics and then squib it when those ethics conflict with your ability to generate income. The AFL is conflicted, and until they grow some balls they should stop pretending to be the defenders of social issues and friend to the downtrodden. Right now they are only those things when suits them.

I'd be all for the AFL getting involved in social issues if it wasn't predominantly lip service to garner ratings. Also if they did it competently. Their management on social issues is a joke, Gill especially. If they gave it their all then fine, but they do it all in half measures and end up looking like fools. If they had better leadership and administration, go for it, advocate away AFL! But they don't, and they just make things worse. Titus skewered it with this article - http://titusoreily.com/afl-excited-set-purely-symbolic-example/

Not at all. Captained our club through some dark years and gave his all. Deserves some acknowledgement.

Deserves to get to 100 and be chaired off imho. Surely we can find a spot for 2 games. You're right WYL, this isn't charity organisation. It's a football club, and football clubs have a lot of emotion in them.

Touché

Good post. Also Gold Coast and GWS coming in so close together put a much larger strain on the talent pool than ever before.

Please tell me you made that up Biff. Surely professional broadcasters would not have such a conversation as this.

If that's not incentive to get him here then I don't know what is! Richmond are my favourite club to watch implode.

Unfortunately there are quite a few. I wrote a big thing, but thought it'd probably be inappropriate to post it publicly. I'll pm you.

Also true, the politics of fear is strong with both parties. The last time I felt positive about politics was when Rudd got in. I fell completely for the "Howard lite" routine. The positive feeling didn't last long! It still staggers me that Pauline Hanson got so much traction, but it's a good example of how the system can be exploited if you can tap into the mob's misdirected anger and fear.

Sure it's great for fringe players. But how do you ensure that fringe players are the only ones that move? Movement of anything more than fringe players could destabilise the club giving up the player and impact on their season. Do not want. Take some players from the lower leagues, recruiting AFL club has to make some sort of donation to that club to compensate. Limit of one player recruited per AFL club.

Thanks Wrecker. In this case, yes it didn't go the way I would have liked, however it's not the only example of how I feel democracy isn't working as it should. I probably wasn't clear enough on my media point. I was in London last month (before the vote) and all I heard in the media was negative commentary on immigration. It was constant, and it was clear that it was influencing voters when I discussed it with British colleagues. Similar to what happened here with the Tampa, although again I'd say you'd disagree. The media love a bloodbath. It sells papers and subscriptions or whatever. When I say 'manipulation', I mean that their actions (what they cover and the manner in which they cover it) has a significant effect on voters. The media's role in educating the public on important issues is compromised by their imperative to run a business. And with the size that these conglomerates have reached, their power to influence voters (consciously or not) has reached a level that I think is actually hampering our political system. And often it is conscious. I know you won't like this example, but it's pretty clear how the Murdoch run media outlets blatantly barrack for one side. I was disappoined to see that The Age (Fairfax I think) also fell into this trap at the last election, openly publishing stories on how the public should vote. As I've been overseas recently I can't say if they've done so again this time around, although it wouldn't surprise me. The vote did 'go my way' when Rudd was elected. It was the first (and so far only) time I have voted for that party. The years following his election were the first time I felt the political system wasn't working properly, especially after the minor parties holding such power during the Gillard years. Political disenfranchisement breeds protest votes, which further dilutes the major parties' ability to do things when those votes go to protest parties with no experience and no proper policies. I think Turnbull actually made that point last week, and it's a good one. I feel like democracy as a political system, despite being the best model we currently have, could be working much much better. But to do so we need 2 things: 1 - Better education of voters on issues, and how issues will effect them * 2 - Better regulation of media coverage on those issues. I have no idea how to achieve either of those, but those 2 I think are the big impediments to getting our political system working properly. * I'm a financial adviser and you would be staggered if I told you how many people don't understand the implications of the last federal budget. They are all voters, and they have no idea what's going on. They vote for the party they have all their lives, with no mind to how that party's actual policies effect them. I find this is true of clients on both sides of the political divide. You should see the look on the faces on some of the Labor voters when I explain Shorten's super tax plan is mathematically similar to Turnbull's. They think it goes further, and it does, just nowhere near the extent to which they think. Then you explain the issues with Industry super funds to them and their jaw drops. They've been on a side of politics all their lives that has lead them to believe one thing, when in fact another is true. TL:DR; People are idiots and will vote against their best interests if the media tells them a scary story to sell more papers.