[paraclete]

Not just Abbott, Campell-Newman who swept to power in QLD with an unprecedented majority has just been thrown out, but Abbott is an idiot pursuing unpopular policies without consultation, everything they do has to be compromised until there is little substance left. Austerity doesn't go down well over here, particularly when there is no crisis. I suspect your 'bama suffers in the same way, still the XL will be a test of strength of character and rhetoric. I think we might replace an Abbott with a Bishop or if you like replace a PM with an FM for the second time

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-0...ounded/6060126

[tomder55]

Julie Bishop appears to be a good replacement . But I haven't really followed her all that much . She at least understands the war against jihadistan is a long one.

[paraclete]

Yes Julie has the reputation of being always the bridesmade, never the bride, she has been deputy to three leaders, a very experienced politician with years under her belt, and she has the benefit of that short chair at the Security Council, so much international respect where it counts, not only that she can put three words together in a sentence. Remember Tom I told you Shorten would become the leader of the Labor Party when he was just standing in the shadows and I think it is time to move the Bishop to Kings Bishop two she is supported by the two Mals at Queens Rook two and Kings Rook and barely a Hockey in sight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Bishop

[tomder55]

The emperor forgot to use his Ticonderoga #2 pencil's eraser on his budget . The 529 proposal is still in his budget request even though we were told he was withdrawing it. The White House says that the the giant volumes that is the budget book had already been published before he decided to scrap it . The book itself may be the biggest $4 Trillion fantasy novel ever written.

[talaniman]

Unlike republicans whose plan is to oppose and not propose, as they prepare yet another vote to repeal and REPLACE the ACA, but they have no replace.

[NeedKarma]

Your political system is sooooo broken.

[talaniman]

I prefer the word contentious NK. Its always been that way.

[tomder55]

Unlike republicans whose plan is to oppose and not propose, as they prepare yet another vote to repeal and REPLACE the ACA, but they have no replace.

They proposed budgets every year and passed them in the House ,only to collect dust on Harry Reid's shelf. Now both chambers will pass a budget . Then the emperor will veto. Who will be the obstructionist then ?

[talaniman]

Does it really matter who obstructs when they both take turns doing it?

[tomder55]

everyone does it !

yeah that's always the back up argument when you can't exclusively blame Repubicans.

[talaniman]

Don't worry Tom, I will have the chance to yet again blast, and blame the repub and that will be sooner, rather than later.

[paraclete]

Is this a storm in a tea cup or a tea cup in a storm?

[tomder55]

Don't worry Tom, I will

have the chance to yet again blast, and blame the repub and that will be sooner, rather than later.

yeah I see the Dems are resurrecting their claim of a 'Republican war against science'.

[paraclete]

If it's a war against bad science then good but it must be applied to more than carbon outcomes

[tomder55]

their latest manifestation is due to a measles outbreak ;a disease that had been eradicated . But with the influx of illegal immigration it is making a come back.You see ,back when we had a rational immigration policy ,immigrants were screened for infectious diseases .
So now the Dems have concocted this argument that the science denying Republicans are to blame for it's reemergence .

[paraclete]

This Measles outbreak isn't confined to your continent and for the same reasons but it has to be put squarely at the foot of the anti vaccination nutcases who tout bad science and spread the nonsense across the world. Purtusses is another, defeated here until we got migration from the subcontinent, particularly from refugee populations and tuberculois is on the come back road too, and the UN nutcases expect us to take these people and put our own populations at risk

[talaniman]

Measles Outbreaks 2015 - Recent Outbreaks and Exposures

Yeah blame the Mexicans and Democrats, and remember the good old days. The anti vaxxers cuts across many lines but over simplifying it doesn't solve it, nor does pandering to the MY FREEDOM crowd.

[ebaines]

their latest manifestation is due to a measles outbreak ;a disease that had been eradicated . But with the influx of illegal immigration it is making a come back.You see ,back when we had a rational immigration policy ,immigrants were screened for infectious diseases .
So now the Dems have concocted this argument that the science denying Republicans are to blame for it's reemergence .

Measles had NOT been eradicated - there were very few cases, to be sure, but it was not eradicated. But it's so infectious that even if there are only a few cases it's enough to start a big outbreak if there are enough unvaccinated people in he herd. And the dems can't blame the repubs, nor the repubs the dems, because the anti-vaxxers run the gamut from right to left. In general people on the right who are anti-vaxxers feel that way due to distrust of big government, and those on the left are suspicious of big pharma. Its telling that the biggest concentration of the disease is not in poor neighborhoods nor in red states but rather the tonier suburbs in southern CA - maybe a bit of a cliche but the types of folks who tend to be anti-GMO, insist on "organic" and glutten-free foods, and drive Prius's.

[tomder55]

I'll quote the NY Slimes for you :

"The vaccination controversy is a twist on an old problem for the Republican Party: how to approach matters that have largely been settled among scientists but are not widely accepted by conservatives."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/us...ield.html?_r=1

ebaines . love the reference to the anti-GMO'ers . now there is anti-science at it's best .

[ebaines]

It's a fact that human beings tend to embrace "facts" that support their point of view and reject those that don't. That's why liberals are as likely to ignore science as are conservatives. Its called confirmation bias - it's very difficult to convince people who have a particular belief about something to change their mind merely by presenting facts that counter their belief. It is a bias that you see every day, especially on shows with talking heads that air on FOX, CNN and MSNBC.