mojoworking

It was Glossop Road Baths for me! I'm down the coast in Perth.

Hi mate, Just dropped in to say hello. Not much changes, I see. I'm on the West Coast these days. I was banned for being cheeky to the mods, but that's all water under the bridge now we've kissed and made up

That's Uriah Heep from their 1970 debut album Very 'eavy...Very 'umble

You could try this rog:

Halibut, is that you son?

Within a couple of days of becoming PM, Julia Gillard has come out and admitted she is an atheist, which is great to see. She's the first leader of a western country I can recall who been so refreshingly honest. She stopped short of condoning gay marriage however, which has upset some people. Still, it's a bold start by the Welsh born leader of Australia.

As it says in the Bible "The poor will always be with us.” What the bible doesn't tell us is that the poor always seem to have enough money to spend on booze, fags, unhealthy food and bad taste clothes.

With many women, pets are simply child substitutes.

She couldn't look any more of a dick than Abbott, let's face it! er, let me rephrase that - she couldn't look any worse than this: http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2009/12/03/1225806/772686-tony-abbott.jpg

But how would we distinguish him from Minnie Mouse?

Good to see you throwing your weight behind the rule of law there bf

She has nicer legs than Rudd, though. It remains to be seen if she can carry off the Speedos look as well(!) as Tony Abbott however

With a more annoying voice

Exactly. As in Britain, not that many Aussies go to church, something under 20% from memory. So all the God stuff is very wide of the mark and is probably part of the original US version of the rant/hoax.

You already caught me with your Nigerian bank scam, so I'm not falling for that one!

Ah, that old chestnut. John Howard never said any of that or anything remotely like it. Not a word of that is true. It's an internet hoax that has been doing the rounds for years, prompting people to say "If only our leader had the balls to say/do that kind of thing". Sorry to explode the myth, but the leaders of western countries simply couldn't get away with saying stuff like that. It's an adaptation of something that appeared on an American forum some years ago and has mysteriously been attributed to the former Aussie leader.

I was thinking more of the tame solicitors/lawyers who are on tap 24/7 for known crime firms, underworld figures etc.

I realise your ideal situation would be to dispense with all that prosecution nonsense and install two defence lawyers instead Seriously, I agree it's not the lawyer's job to decide guilt, but in a case where he knows his client to be guilty, yet must try and convince the jury/judge otherwise, what a strange charade/performance is then acted out in the courtroom. And as we all know, the wealthier the defendant, the cleverer the defence lawyer and hence the more likelihood of an acquittal. So, as with most things in life, the scales of justice are weighted in favour of those with money.

I know that, but it surely makes a mockery of the system if the lawyer knows the accused is guilty, yet has to go through the charade of a court case and, in some instances, even achieves a 'not guilty' verdict.

I can't think of many UK MPs with chavvy names. Lemsip? Isn't that a cold & flu cure?

The Aus deputy PM is called Wayne Swan. Where else but Australia would you get a potential leader named Wayne?

She can't be worse than the outgoing PM. Kevin Rudd was the most ineffectual leader of a developed country since John Major.

In my view it can be a bad thing sometimes, at least morally. Everyone deserves a fair trial, but a defence lawyer will try absolutely anything to get an acquittal for his client even when he knows them to be guilty. That's how the system works. In doing so, the defence will try and blacken the character of the prosecution witnesses, as we often see in rape cases where women victims are routinely portrayed as liars who were "asking for it". The most outrageous defence I've heard recently goes something like "my client admits the charges against him, but in mitigation would like to point out he was very drunk/stoned at the time" Since when has that been a defence? Surely it only compounds the crime?

Are you sponsored by the Acme Pitchfork company by any chance PT? You seem to mention them at least once in every post.

Wise words Ruby. Your sagacity can always be relied upon.