What is the world coming too?

What a twisted government have we in Australia? There we have David Hicks, a self-confessed terrorist, who trained with the worst enemy of the free world, in order to kill as many Australians as possible. Yet our stupid government spends in excess of $300,000 of our taxpayers money, so that he can have another go at us! He has never done anything for our country, has never paid any taxes, and he never will.

But we older Australians, who have paid taxes for several decades, and still pay income tax, are being punished for working over the age of 70. The Australian government begrudges us the few dollars we could add to our superannuation, if we were allowed to make deductible superannuation contributions, which we are NOT.

Mr Hicks, I am sure, will be awarded with a pension, as soon as he gets out of jail. Who said, crime does not pay?

The government gives in to Mr Hicks because of all the publicity, but us old people are treated so shabbily, because we do not have a voice.

Shame on you Mr Howard! The sooner we get rid of you, honest John, the better.

Erm. For starters I'm not sure what the $300,000 is for... if it was before he was found guilty, then the whole 'innocent then proven guilty' bit applies.
Otherwise, I'm not sure what this pension is. If it's a general pension then it's for all Australian's, not just Hicks... again, a bit vague.

As for superannuation... in The Australian today (05/04/07), there's an opinion piece by Mike Steketee, pointing out how Howard has just removed tax on super contributions made by older Australians.

It essentially point out how this is going to mean young Australians are going to have to fork out even more to support the ageing baby boomers, of which there are many, and far too few young people to support them. So you'll forgive me if I take this part of your post with more than just a grain of salt.

If you want to really talk about crime paying, take a look at the penalties for white collar crimes such as embezzlement.

Those who steal millions via fudged paperwork receive much less jail time, especially if they're an individual of high standing. Witness Rene Rivkin's 'weekend' jail sentence. Disgusting.

Whereas if some dumb uneducated bloke robbed a bank, he'd be looking at hard time, no doubt about it.

You get carried away old bloke, apart from the fact we have spent more on child molesters and drug runners we are a nation built on law.
Hicks is guilty of being an idiot, and maybe more crimes but 5 years and no trial?
I shudder at the memory's of the known torture by Americans we saw in our Medea and wonder how our past generations would think about it.
Hicks stupid thou he is ,balanced with torture and shaming we would not expect from our side.

Talking of white-collar crime...

Actually when you scrape away all the trimmings, there are remarkable parallels between your classic greedy capitalist & your religious fanatic.

The Gordon Gecko type considers others less intelligent than himself & will walk over their interests to attain his/her ends-worldly enrich & status.
The Osama Bin Laben type( & his acolytes) considers others less enlightened than themselves & will walk over their bodies to obtain his/her (ultimate) ends- 16 virgins in the afterlife.

And perhaps they have a point …
Is it just an example of Christian - love those who hate you & seek to harm you- that so many of these judged lesser people fawn after & act as apologists for Hicks & co, or is it these lesser people still haven’t woken up ?

Horis leave it out mate! please reconsider your taunt about apologist for David Hicks.
Some who support him are anti USA some are anti Christian, some are in fact anti David Hicks.
Yet that last number people like me who question ANYONE not being given a fair go under the law.
Question the awful departure from what once drove America to lead the world a country founded on law.
Yet look honestly at the actions of this foolish young man Hicks.
How many of us before 9/11 would have seen him as a threat?
So he was taken into custody and held for 5 years without charge, during that time we saw photos of horrible torture by Americans against prisoners.
We heard of what amounts to kidnap of suspects by America.
And you think questioning the way David Hicks has been handled is wrong?
Concerns over law is wrong?
America and my Australian government have much to answer for in the Hicks case.
We have every right to ask those questions.
Foolish Hicks is a small member of a group who threaten our freedoms, we must not let our side threaten those freedoms too.

You’re a good guy Belly.
What you’re telling me is similar to this:
"Whomever goes to fight monsters should take care not to become a monster himself ( Frederick Nietzsche).

I hope David Hicks doesn’t disappoint you when he gets back home.
And I hope you’re fair go mentality doesnt expose us all, too much, to monsters who have no qualms about slitting a woman’s or child’s throat, or bombing commuters on the way to work, all in aid of a higher place, for themselves, in the afterlife…
Cheers!