What is it about elections that turns everyone into social political scientists? What makes the average joe blogs think that they could run the country better than the primary main electoral candidates that are actually running to become leader?

I'm not saying that average people couldn't actually do a better job than the main people, (hell the only real requirement you need to become a Politician in Australia is to have been born here and finished grade 12. Other than that, anyone can become a politician.)

It seems that whenever there is a election, everyone suddenly has their own opinion about which political party is better and which one should get into power. Admittedly media outlets don't help specially with various tv and radio personalities getting their own views out there as well.

Personally, I'm not really sure which party is better than the other. Are they all that different to be honest? Sure there is the obvious differences depending on who you vote for, but a lot of people will either vote for what they know, or people will vote for a change to see if the other party can do any different.

I think it's more a case of not voting in whoever is the better party/person, but more so keeping the wrong person/party out of power.

There is of course the option of just voting for good ol' Mickey Mouse. I hear he usually does pretty well in these sorts of things. That said, I don't think that he'd be able to be taken to seriously. Imagine in parliment, he gets up to give his opening address and he has to tell Pluto to get down, and Minnie is in the public gallery egging him on. I dread to think what seat Goofy would get, or if Donald would be the leader of the opposition.

All that said, it could be made that most of the people in parliment now are just cartoon characters now anyway, so we could already be there.

Personally I figure if I have to goto some school/church hall, bypass all the people handing out printouts telling me how to vote, wait in line to tell the person with the book my full name and address. Then get two pieces of paper and go and vote in some cardboardy thingy I figure I may as well make it count. It may do bugger all in the grand scheme of things, but at least that way when whoever wins gets into power I can either whinge accordingly or be lambasted for making the wrong choice.

Plus it also allows me to have some sort of vague authority to winge if I so want to.

Cheers
Vote 1 Dr.

The post today is bought today by the letter [CENSORED!]

Righteo then. Censorship. That seems as good as topic as any to blog about.

Personally, I don't believe in Censorship. I believe in people making their own minds up about things. If you want the ability to watch three way goat porn, or people going on homicidal rampages with bent, rusty spoons, I believe your entitled to.

I'm sure Censorship was originally designed to protect 'innocent' minds. But look at it in today's society of TV, and the internet. If kids want to see sex or violence, a very quick google search will pretty much find them anything they want.

Kids are resourceful. (I know I was) if they want to see/hear/experience something bad enough, they will goto all lengths to do it.

Another issue I have with censorship is a governing body of people who feel that they are better than us to be able to decide what we can and can't see. What makes these people any better than you or I?

I believe in self censorship. If you see something that offends/upsets you, don't watch it, look at it. It's not hard. We all have free will, we don't need someone to make up our minds for us what we can and can't see.

Censorship is something we're always going to have unfortunately, but that still doesn't make it right.

Cheers
Dr.

No Faith please, we're Religious

Hmm, Religion. Touchy subject this one. In some cultures if you make cartoons of their god you can have almost mass riots. Some religions worship aliens from outer space (yes Scientologists I'm talking about you here. Science Fiction isn't really real you know, it's called Fiction for a reason) some religions follow the belief system of a human being who was better than a lot of people, and some people follow God.

Faith for me, now as it currently stands is something people want to believe in when they have nothing real to hold onto. When all else fails, nothing seems logical, they can turn to their faith and it gives them something to believe in.

That I don't have an issue with. I think it's quite nice (if a little deluded) if that's what gets you through the tough times then I'm all for it.

Here's the issues I have with religion/spirituality:

The exclusion of certain types of people if they don't have the same sexual preference as everyone 'should'. I'm not gay, not even bi, but I just don't think that just because someone likes the same sex as you, doesn't mean their evil.

Reincarnation - Nup sorry, the maths just don't add up. If there's only a certain number of souls in the world, there's only a finite number of things the souls can goto. Plus if my understanding of Reincarnation is correct once you've lived your life correctly your soul goes to it's nivana sort of thing. That doesn't work with me again for the numbers system.

Wanting everyone to believe in the *exact* same thing as you, otherwise they're wrong and need to be converted.

Believing that the Stars, tea bags, numerology, reading palms etc has any control over your life whatsoever.

The thought that your god wants you to kill other people, or yourself for even supposed riches in the afterlife. Any religion that promotes harm to yourself or others is just not for me.

So all that said, what do I believe in?

I'm not 101% sure anymore. As I said earlier, I view faith as something to hold onto when there's nothing for you to concretely believe in anymore. Don't get me wrong, there are such things as spirits and miracles, but as for a deity not sure on that one. All the main religions have issues as I see them, so I don't really consider myself religious anymore...

Cheers
Dr. (Who has already sat in a corner, losing his religion)

When life gets in the way of TV...

My life is pretty sweet, as mentioned earlier. So saying I don't really think that the title of this post is all that apt, but it'll do for the time being. :)

I worked out the other day that currently I am watching 10 shows from Australia/US a week. Most of these shows run for about 45 minutes - 1 hour, so saying that is 10 hours a week I'm spending in front of the idiot box. Sure there's a lot of crap on TV (most reality TV fills that crap quota I think) but there is a lot of good stuff.

I like TV that is just that little bit different than the mainstream. I just finished watching Six Feet Under on the weekend, and that was a show that was different and good. Unfortunately I think they kind of lost their way around season 3 and never really recovered, but on the whole it was a good show.

I also like Dead Like Me, which I'm going to start rewatching again. There is also a new show called Reaper which is kind of the same in that there is soul capturing. Again, different but good.

Just for those interested here's actually what I'm watching each week at the Moment:
Family Guy
American Dad
Las Vegas
Chuck
Heroes
Reaper
Spicks and Specks
Chaser's War on Everything
Pushing Dasies
Drawn Together
Mythbusters

Does this mean I have too much time up my sleeve? Maybe.

Cheers
Dr. (Who doesn't have square eyes.)

The wheels on the public transport system go where now?

Public Transport is fun isn't it? I mean, it must be otherwise why would people catch it every day? It can't be anything to wanting to get from A to B, cause that never happens.

It must have something to do with wanting to be crammed into a small sardine box of either a bus or a train and sit next to people you normally wouldn't want to have anything to do with, let alone want to sit next to them.

It could be you like reading the work of fiction that is the timetable. Or maybe you really do want to smell that person who's sitting next to you, or listen to the other person's mobile phone conversation from across the otherside of the carriage.

Or maybe it's that glaring that you get from when your near the door and trying to get out of the way of people either side that you've got a 50/50 chance of pissing someone off.

I'm not saying public transport is all bad, for the majority of it, it's not too bad. But in peak hours, like in every major city I imagine, it's not the most enjoyable way I can think of to spend time.

I think I'll go back to riding my bike, fresh air is good for me and the environment. And I can also enjoy all the fumes from the busses anyway.

Cheers
Dr.

That Dreaded Second post...

Hmm, blog post two. It has a lot to live up to the second post. It's like the second season of your favourite TV show, or the sequel to the original that was really good.

The advantage I have is that I have no idea if anyone actually read the first post, so I can crap on about anything this time and I can be safe in the knowledge that I don't have any stockholders to report to, or critics.

They say (I can't actually quote anyone, I just go with either "They", or "Someone once said". It's so much easier this way) that in polite company you shouldn't talk about Religion, Politics or Sex. Due to the fact that I'm not always polite, I think I'll pick one of those today, but go on a slight tangent.

That tangent, is Love/Crushes/Attraction to people.

It's time to go back on a trip on memory lane, past desperation street and a just over the hill past regretville.

Remember back to that first someone you liked, way back when. Probably when you were still a kid. Possibly still in primary school. (I know I was) Remember that funny way you felt when that special person looked at you, or spoke to you or something like that.

They may not have even felt the same way about you, but your feelings were still there. Time passes on, you meet more and more people (or not if you become a hermit, in which case get out more!) but you always remember that first special person.