Arjay, when I made the comment about the mortgage belt being hit it was in a general sense, Australia wide. My point was about interest rates, the Coalition promised they would look after those with a mortgage, the promise has not been kept as evidenced by the record number of mortgage sales Australia wide.

Keating made changes to monetary policy which has been to the benefit of the Coalition. The Coalition cannot now blame Federal Labor for any ills Australia is now involved in. Much resource is being wasted on Iraq, clearly the dumbest decision made by an Australian Government for many years.

By the way Irjay I haven't given Labor my first vote except for one election, and that’s over a dozen or more Federal elections.
Mr. Rudd is a bit of a thorn for the Coalition as if he could have easily slotted into the Liberal Party under Mr. Menzies. The Liberal Party has lurched to the right and is involved in governing only for sectional interests; that is, the big end of town ( IR legislation )

Tony Tony if the straw poll of this site is any measure then your Government if in trouble. Hell I didn't think I'd say this good post "BOAZ_David", now I'm going to wash my keyboard. Secular socialism and Christian socialism share many goals but their are some important differences. As a Secular Socialist I do have some concerns with Rudd however they pale into nothing when faced with a creature like Tony. While everyone else has covered most of his problems and then some, I think it’s important to remember to judge people by their actions and not their words. We should also bare in mind that even Polly’s are human and make mistakes, So we should forgive real mistakes as long as the lesson is learnt. How stafe is your seat Tony?

"No doubt Rex you would be proud of the sexualisation of young kids as done in the Netherlands. Many are happy to show kids of 4 or 5 years old perverted sexual acts including sodomy. I am sure that most citizens in Australia would love this. It is also in the Netherlands that Paedophiles want the age of consent dropped to 12 years of age. The Netherlands might be able to boast that they have taught 10 year olds how to wear condoms even if kids are being abused and losing their innocence at a much younger age."

Did you bother to read this article, Runner? It concludes with "” Jos Poelman of the Foundation for STD control has one answer. “Face the facts. We have the lowest number of teenage mothers [in Europe], and Dutch students do not start having sex at a younger age than their foreign counterparts.”" So yes, Runner, "Face the facts"!

On a previous thread, you claimed to have taught your children, as they went into young adulthood, the benefits of chastity, and I was happy to congratulate you on that. But I also pointed out that relying on preaching chastity was a general failure in lowering the rates of unwanted pregnancies and abortions, compared with the Dutch initiative.

I posted this website [as I have done on a number of occasions] because it shows the way in which evidence of success and common sense is ignored in Australia, in favour of following tactics which inevitably fail, but are in line with the religious beliefs of those who have the power to promote sensible policies, but who instead fail in their duty to the Australian people.

I don't have a problem with decision makers having religious/spiritual beliefs, but these beliefs should not be forced onto others. Roman Catholicism is traditionally dictatorial, so maybe Tony has a bigger problem in this respect than Kevin.

It was a welcome attempt by editor Susan Prior, in the course of this monologue-like stream of comment, to be even-handed and invite Rudd to put an article on OLO.
I am not too sure where that would get us.
Upon what stage would the two players be word-dancing?
That of mud-raking vitriol?
Or the religious - Christians marching as to (uncivil)-war?
We already have had a suggestion by Sage on the religious bit: a weekly parade of (uncivil?) debate on Isalm (versus Christianity no doubt).
Heaven forbid! That has been done to death. If more of this unproductive style of religiosity does get a gong I make a plea:
Lay off the over-done Islam versus Christianity, and change the scene a bit. Let's dance to a new theme. Maybe Thor versus Athena; or Buddha versus Quetzalcoatl; ---.
If we are to continue with the burden of misanthropes misapplying ancient social dictates towards modern times, let's be even-handed about it- be multicultural-friendly and invite Horus,Vishnu, and all that jazz to play in the band.

In getting into all this religous rubbish in the first place, through his ill conceived and somewhat contrived article in The Monthly,Kinetic Kev made the fundamental error of going into battle on ground chosen by team coconut.
If I were KK I would not be reponding to spray by The Terrible Tony in this edition of OLO. I would rather see KK pick the time and place of his attacks and the content and manner of delivery.
Play on Howards terms and you will loose on them.When KK had them running after him weren't they wildeyed and breathless, stopping to listen to them was a mistake. Babbling Brian should have been a one day event.Be prepared don't let them Tampa with ya.
Anyway with wisdom gained it is a trick that can only be pulled once.Right?
Puerile,pointless politics of the major and some minor parties. Poor us paying for and having to put up with this rubbish.
Tony, me old mate,stick your religion. Your jingoistic mob likes to draw on the( mythical ) traditions of the Digger let me tell you from experience you would not have got the first paragraph out before
getting a boot tossed at your head; and Kev stop telling the troopies how to dig their trench go and give them a hand.
Boys, the issues are profligate spending on defence equipment of dubious value and in one instance on discarded helicopters.
Howard has said he will give $10b over 10 yrs for M/D reform prior to the science being done ie the amount defines the solution.Offset this against $24b for new ADF aircraft,$7b for new A/W Destroyers and
over$1b each year to keep the troops in Iraq.The electorate have already said they believe the environment is a bigger issue than security so what is this government up to.
There is a veritable cornucopia of issues from health to infrastructure for the Labor Party to address, I just pray that KK does not leave it too much longer before indicating an educated awareness and policy responses.
Bruce Haigh

Rex, I think most of us are suspicious of those who claim they have "words of advice for young people".

Probably the most famous who carried this jingo was William S Burroughs. In his wit and sense of irony, this also includes warning us about the church. Enjoy the script and the U Tube sample.

Beware the bad language, be over 18 to open these. (advice)

http://www.jjjwebdevelopment.com/306sites/burroughs/burroughs.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgLcv1mQZBg

"Get that in writing!" lol

Why is it that in politics, everyone is an expert, yet none seem to know much about their own causes at all?

Before they make statements, they should write contracts to the High court. If they are telling an untruth, they should be forced to pay compensation to the Australian people. Then they may be accountable for their "words of advice".