gandalph

Robinsm , 1. Don't believe all you read/see/hear in the media. 2. A life sentence means many different things in the various Australian jurisdictions. I think the ACT is the only place in Australia where a life sentence means for the of his/her natural life. But what's the point of keeping a person in gaol when they can no longer pose a threat to society. A great deal of sentences of imprisonment are handed down to satisfy our "need" for retribution rather than to protect our society. A wise man I once worked with said: People should be gaoled AS punishment not FOR punishment. I'd rather have a "let's have the Pollys get their heads out of their arses and stop using 'Law & Order 'as a vote catcher" day/week/year. Fat chance of that though.

Agreed Frank, and that would be a terrible outcome, but it has started. A local radio comentator commentating on the news that the director of the National Portrait Gallery had removed the portrait of the Indonesian president because of the "political climate" said she really hoped that one of the self portraits by Sukamaran would be put on display in the gallery. Arrgh!

You're sounding more and more like Turbs FT. You make a statement and when queried the answer is "you go look it up". Disappointing.

That's not supporting stats FT that's apochrophy. So is this: I live next a walk-way and I've found used syringes and used condoms in my garden beds, Pretty confident they weren't mine. I've met hundreds of addicts through my work and the majority cite marijuana as their gateway drug to the heavy stuff. Not saying that grog doesn't play a part but I doubt your assertion that it's the principal gateway.

Supporting stats FT?

Sorry PHIL, but the old French and the Middle English beat you to that word. It is recorded as far back as 1340 according to the Oxford. But I did find a signature phrase for our occasionally grumpy, but deeply sensitive honorary grammarian Dazza: "It is no secret that the sensitive grammarian leads a deeply troubled life." Yours to use Dazza, as you feel fit. Hope the beer's cold.

Agreed Nev, but I only elected two, 1 for the H of R and one for the Senate, Someone else will have to take the blame for the others

Well the topic is points pedants and pr*cks so what's wrong with discussing politicians? Seems to fit the topic perfectly. Sorry mum:happy:

Yes Mum! Sorry Mum!

Waaaaay back when I when I was a kid had fish I was warned to run our tap for about 5-10 minutes before replacing any water in the tank. We had copper pipes and apparently some bad-for-fish-stuff leaches out of the copper. I never bothered to find out if that was true or an urban myth, I just did as I was told and we had reasonable success with keeping them alive & healthy (apart from clever fisher-cats).

Well I wonder just who would give the instruction to the CSIRO. Certainly not the Science Minister - 'cause we don't have one! Politicians - perhaps useful for Bio-fuel base stock?

Easy there lad! My comment was a generalization and most certainly NOT directed at anyone in particular. It's one of the pitfalls of forum threads that the timing of a reply may sometimes indicate that was in response to the previous post. Thats why I did not quote any particular post. I was to trying to avoid any sense of finger pointing at specific posters.

It is good to see passionate arguments being put for both sides of an issue. It is sad though, when the arguments decompose into personal insults and shrill name calling . Sometime we learn more about the posters than about the topic and it's not always pleasant. Perhaps some of the more passionate amongst us could develop the habit of drafting a reply and then waiting a few minutes before pressing the "post" button?