Fair enough. I got stuck into Rudd and Gillard. Along with most Aussies when it came to a vote. I haven't said anything here because it hasn't come up, and I'm not a great participant at the moment anyway.
The Prince Phillip knighthood thing. Well, it's not something i would have done, and frankly it's hard to see why he did it. Puts him offside with the people, the party, his own Cabinet at a time when his leadership is under question.
And rightly so. I personally don't like the path he is taking us, towards greater inequality, making life harder for those on the bottom, and a lot of other things. Those are important items on the national agenda, I think.
Talking about essentially meaningless honours given to Prince Phillip (who already has five or six knighthoods, not to mention the prince and duke things) is like fretting over the colour of street signs in Edinburgh. It's no skin off my nose, no money out of my pocket, nothing I really need concern myself about.
If anyone thinks that we should be cheering on our favourite political party in this forum and lambasting those who sing the opposing song, well, that's not my game. I think politics in Australia is a matter of entrenched cronyism, nepotism, self-serving decision-making and blatant untruthfulness. Remember Gillard stoutly defending Craig Thomson, saying he had her complete confidence? She knew as well as he did it was a crock of bull and he'd been wasting union funds on his own personal pleasures, but she's hardly squeaky clean in that area.
The Greens could be a breath of fresh air, as the Democrats promised to be, but they are the worst of the lot. Rabid fundamentalists with no interest in the national economy, just promoting their own extreme agendas whatever the cost.
And I guess we'll be seeing the big parties making it harder for newcomers to get votes, especially in the Senate.
Where is the potential for good political leadership in this nation? Not with the big parties.
Now, getting back onto airlines, you know what I dislike, speaking of equality? I dislike the trend amongst airlines to make economy travel ever more cramped and mean, while expanding the premium product with more and more room and goodies. That may just reflect the increasing division of wealth amongst the world's air travellers, but to my mind, this is not a sustainable model, whether in the air or the wider world.