sonofgloin - Quote "I would rather be charged with murder in the public system than the US military system."

Part of the problem is in your reply look at the video of the Americans in the gunship shooting unarmed civilians THEY DID NOT GET CHARGED, the prison torturers did not get charged.

Why are they here, in America now the president can order drones to kill American citizens.

Give me one good reason for them to be here?

Probably Philip because the idiots in Canberra, with their massive cuts to defence spending, have left us so weak we would have trouble defending ourselves against an invasion by a Solomon Islands dance company.

If some one's going to be shot, I know who I don't want it to be.

Bazz, i live in hope that a party, and leader, will have the pragmatism, intellect and determination to summarise the situation ad offer Australia a vision that can gain consensus for major refrom, with coming pain offset by policies that temper trends to get us where we need to be.

You specialise in energy, a cucial subject which i need to take on board more. I cant really say i specialise in much. Probbaly explains why i am destined for academic mediocrity. I have always been interested in drawing the various policy pieces together, so i suppose i aspire to be a fair commentator. I have always thought that a politics student should have a good grasp of many issues, although policy specialists in one area are absolutely crucial. Therefore, i describe myself as a generalist,

At present, i am working on a piece that will seek to show the propsects for Australia from trade based on current trends. I hope it will be useful, but i will leave that to others to comment on

Phil, I can't argue with any of that, although possible, if it came to Americans slaughtering Aussie civilians an air strike fits the bill logistically.

Re a reason to have them here:

If you believe that we in Australia are in any way sovereign to our futures you are indeed naive tiger. We are tied fiscally, manacled socially and our elected representatives do the bidding of those who do not hold Australian citizenship right now, at this very point in time.

Yes Chris energy is crucial but I am afraid it is ignored and just
considered a sidetrack by many.
Onthe BBC tonight a discussion was about UK GDP. The comment was, they
have put a lot of money into the economy but it has not increased GDP>
Why is that do you think ? they say.
The economist just thought it will eventually.

So many just do not realise that growth has absolutely nothing to do with money.
They think the UK now has zero growth and one economist thinks the
UK is in contraction.
The only reason the US has got some growth is because they have had
an input of additional oil from shale and a lot of cheap gas.
However it is not cheap oil or gas so it won't last.

Well I guess we are just some insects riding a leaf down the river.

I'm with, hasbeen. He pretty much nailed it for me, only he forgot one.

Mind your own damn business!