pathology_doc

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I am married, I've been to Bahrain, and I've sat in the cockpit of an F-111.

Which is the lie?
( And the answer is... )

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1) Boiled cow stomach.
2) No.

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A damn good reason to keep the nuclear weapons, if you ask me! After all, you don't want to go begging hat in hand for them when the time comes to save the world. And you certainly don't want to be caught without enough!

(I imagine they would work on zombies too.)

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I'd take the chorus (and only the chorus) from Chumbawamba's "Tumbthumping".

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Something I can use as leverage to get released. :p

[Error: unknown template qotd]The Rules of the Game by Andrew Gordon.
Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier by John Terraine.
British Battleships by Oscar Parkes.
Warrior to Dreadnought by David K. Brown.
The SAS Survival Guide by "Lofty" Wiseman.

[Error: unknown template qotd] There is a bookstore in Camden, NSW, called "Little Lane Books". While I believe it still operates online, it has closed its doors to browsers of the human walk-in-and-look variety. That is a damned shame, and one that I would happily undo if I could.

That, and the old book shop which used to stand opposite the Burnside Town Hall in Adelaide, near the corner of Greenhill and Portrush Roads. A damn shame because not long after it closed, Bracegirdle's - a coffee and chocolate shop that serves the most delectably waistline-wrecking drinks imaginable - opened just around the corner. A fine place to go and examine the results of one's bookshopping!

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PD's Draconia Party. (Changes made 2/10/08).

Criminal Justice - right of self-defence restored (criminals barred from filing suit); death penalty for rape, murder, treason where evidence overwhelming; withholding of "prejudicial" evidence abolished; national DNA database, without exceptions; rule of law and principle of equality trumps all religions at all times; homeowners killing or injuring criminals in home invasions shall not face legal sanction. ETA juries replaced or part-substituted by bodies comprising persons educated in the field germane to the trial (e.g. business law in a fraud case, forensics in a murder trial).

Education - universal and compulsory; concentration on spelling, grammar and mathematical skills in the first three years; State oversight of Church school curricula to exclude extremism; current Australian system of paying University tuition fees through tax system to be retained; raising of the bar for entry to teacher training; teaching of Creationism-as-truth ABSOLUTELY BANNED. ETA reduce school leaving age back to fifteen, and strengthen apprenticeships or trade-based schools - e.g. someone who's clearly interested in carpentry needs more woodwork classes and less Modern European History, though a bit of maths and physics wouldn't hurt them... and those interested in going into the automotive trade need metalwork over art, but might want to retain chemistry (for the metallurgy). Also, a basic overview of economics and accounting at lower secondary school level might be good for all students.

Defence - universal three-year conscription for all not in vocational training or positions (e.g. teaching, nursing, medicine) - if wish to be excluded, e.g. university student, shall join part-time reserve; best possible equipment to be purchased in adequate amounts for land, sea and air; combat deployments shall be actively sought. ETA Rotation through combat and logistics arms with learning of a trade as part of logistics/support rotation mandatory if not willing to stay on after conscript period. Terrorist leaders, if caught alive, shall be tried for their crimes by closed courts-martial. Terrorists who have engaged military forces only shall be treated as lawful combatant POWs and released without charge when the campaign against their organization is concluded. Terrorists responsible for civilian deaths shall be tried for murder and punished accordingly if found guilty. The penalty for piracy on the high seas in Draconian waters shall be death on sight: pirates will be attacked by the armed forces wherever found, and no prisoners will be taken.

Energy/transport/environment - expand and electrify rail network and passenger services; transfer all long-haul (e.g. between state capitals) freight to rail; massive construction program for non-fossil power (including nuclear) and phase-out or shutdown of coal/oil/gas contingent upon guaranteed non-fossil generation of typical peak load plus twenty percent reserve. Mandated shutdown of ALL non-essential lights (ETA e.g. advertising signs, lights in empty business premises) after 12 midnight, and fit parabolic reflectors on all streetlights to use light more efficiently; energy-saver globes to be fitted wherever possible. All new houses to have solar hot water/accumulators and grey-water system fitted from the start.

Immigration: Capped at 50,000 per year (Australian population of 20m). Voluntary immigrants (as opposed to proven refugees) shall be literate in English and numerate to upper secondary level AT LEAST. ETA Wilful breach of criminal law (particularly robbery and crimes of violence) within three years of arrival shall be grounds for immediate and permanent deportation. Immigrants must have definite means of support in place prior to arrival.

ETA

Housing: Sale price of all dwellings shall be capped at 125% of original purchase price for 25 years or until mortgage is discharged, whichever is first. Minimum of 15% deposit required for all loans, and total of all monthly debt repayments is not to exceed 50% of salary. Honeymoon loan rates BANNED. No structurally sound dwelling shall be demolished except to construct another residential dwelling for the same owner/occupants, nor shall its land be subdivided unless > 1/2 acre. Structurally unsound dwellings shall be replaced by structurally sound dwellings of equivalent living space. Allotments of land shall include space for garden and lawn, and floor surface area of dwellings including garaging for motor vehicles shall not occupy >40% of the allotment (i.e. if you have three floors of apartments, the apartment building must occupy a lesser proportion of the land on which it stands).

Rents charged by investors to cover a mortgage on the rented dwelling must not exceed 105% of the minimum mortgage payment at time of lease signing without the agreement of the tenant(s), who shall have the right to demand the financial details of the lease; and if the landlord refinances, then payments above this 5% margin are the landlord's responsibility (i.e. they cannot refinance their new BMW or Porsche into their rental properties and then twist the tenants' arms with sob-stories about foreclosure - if they do, they go to prison). Monthly rents charged by investors on dwellings with discharged mortgages shall not exceed 75% of minimum monthly mortgage payment at time of discharge or 75% of calculated minimum monthly payments for a mortgage at market value, whichever is higher. Long-term tenants who have paid rent equivalent to the original purchase price (at lease signing) of a tenancy with a discharged mortgage shall be offered the option of a 10% premium to secure the title on the property - they've effectively paid for it after all.

More to follow.

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Recycling and reusing what I can and walking to work. And to the shops, whenever possible.

Now if only Greenpeace would go play in Russia and China's backyard for a while.