Aust. Election in 1 week - A review of Kevin Rudd, PM

by fulltimestudent 197 Replies latest social current

• 

  fulltimestudent

  I'm still determined not to vote - just to write something unpleasant about pollies on the Ballot paper. If I lived in Victoria, I just may, as an act of sheer bastardry, vote for Julian Assange (of Wikileaks fame), but I don't live in Vic, so I cant.

  My objection to voting is that the political choice offers two self-perpetuating oligarchies (who are something like the Governing Body). They make up a slate of candidates and election advertising consists of attempting to persuade swinging voters to vote for their slate of candidates.

  Anyway, I noted that K.Rudd has made a video in Chinese, aimed apparently at mainland China. I didn't know that they had a vote (yet-haha). So I wanted to see if I could discern what it was all about. Couldn't find it, but I did find this old KRudd video, made for an election 8 years ago, when the world was young and KRudd was seen as gentle spring rain, but in this video, someone takes the piss out of him.

  So watch that instead:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptccZze7VxQ

  KRudd is famed for being the first western pollie to speak Mandarin Chinese, and Chinese friends tell me that he does OK. But KRudd has some hassles in getting his Mandarin speeches right, as this next video shows. (Caution, bad language - please moderators, let it stay, it tells us a lot about learning Chinese and about KRudd.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RqAjMo19fs

  But as bright XJW's will quickly notice, this video has been doctored also, so will the real KRudd please stand up!
• 

  fulltimestudent

  But sometimes, KRudd seems to get it right, as in this speech to students at Beijing University, where he makes a couple of funnies.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcowAI9lk20
• 

  fulltimestudent

  And, here he is last year (while he was still wandering in the wilderness, looking for the promised land - hoho!) talking to students at my university.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xObjkqsJfAA

  and another bit just to demonstrate he reads Chinese OK also, just watch a minute of this one:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBIRqo9Lsj4

  (Oh! yes. it also shows that I go to a real university - it exists, and I may be a real person also - grin)
• 

  smiddy

  If you want to stick it to Liberal,tony Abbott or Labour Kevin Rudd then vote for Clive Palmer United Australia Party, he`s offering pensioners an increase of $150.00 per f/n as a livable amount to get by on.He is also a successful business man who is now a billionaire. just saying, smiddy
• 

  Jeffro

  smiddy:

  If you want to stick it to Liberal,tony Abbott or Labour Kevin Rudd then vote for Clive Palmer United Australia Party, he`s offering pensioners an increase of $150.00 per f/n as a livable amount to get by on.He is also a successful business man who is now a billionaire. just saying, smiddy

  Clive Palmer's policies (using the term loosely) are primarily for the benefit of one person. Clive Palmer. Still better than Tony Abbot though.

  Rudd's a bit of a narcissist but not as bad as Abbott by a long shot. Abbott is telling all the same lies Campbell Newman told.

  Maybe I'll vote for the Greens.
• 

  doofdaddy

  Jeffro covers my opinion.

  Funny FTS, you won't vote but you have a clear political stance against KRudd.
• 

  zeb

  Abbot is head of the Liberal party Note that,... party. Rudd is head of the Labor party note that... party. Look past personalities and the way the media keep remaking them.

  Spend some time on Google and look at what the 'parties' have done if you dont know already.

  The Greens are water mellons green on the outside and red on the inside. many of their members are of the former communist movement and are still of the same mind. They want one thing.. control. I agree with the comments on the 'two party ' thing spoken of here. It is required that voters use their brains and nominate as many 'independents' in the highest part of their papers as they can. For those who dont know their are 62 names/parties to check off on one paper and 7 on the other. There is even a Sex Party. Now if they ever got any real influence then i hope they make sex compulsory.

  One of the tiny shining lights is the 'Citizens Elected Referends'.. party very similar to the Swiss model of things. Now in the draw they have lobbed second place on one paper. So that will get them a lot of votes from those who vote 1234567 from the top. Many thousands of young people will not get a vote because they have (a) not registered onto the electoral roll; and (b) have so infatuated with electronic toys that the real world has past them by.

  Australians have two faults. They are too generous and mentally lazy. This election gives them a chance to prove me wrong on the second one. I live in hope.
• 

  slimboyfat

  Go Rudd!
• 

  Bells

  Australians are too generous??? Really??? I've often thought that so many Aussies are actually pretty selfish... :(
• 

  Jeffro

  There's a political quiz online that helps to get a sense of which of the parties (I think it just covers Liberal, Labor and Greens) best align with your own priorities.

  http://www.abc.net.au/votecompass/