What does this do for corporate IT departments that BackTrack5 on a $200 laptop cannot?
NFC: Monitor/Manipulate Contactless Payment Systems, Smart Tags and Mobile Devices (i.e: Force pair a Nokia)
Form Factor: Easily concealable and can be powered via USB. Easily turn off screen when someone is shoulder surfing
Connectivity: High Speed Mobile Data and superior network management. Ever since BT moved away from SLAX, falling back to WiFi when 3g drops has become unreliable. Multiband Radio makes it more likely to get a signal in a high security building
OS: BT5 for ARM is still not the best. Many tools are buggy and won't even run on a range of devices. Android is attracting quite a few developers meaning we are likely to see new tools on Android before BackTrack, Ubuntu or Debian Repositories. Making from source isn't viable when you are often working against the clock. BT5, being Ubuntu based, is a full desktop environment and it takes a lot of work to trim the fat. If you are talking about BT5 on an x86 laptop then the next point is amplified
Battery: Battery Life is likely much better on the Nexus than a cheap laptop. For reconnaissance, one may need to keep the device powered for hours or even days. Many cafes and bars will offer charging stations. Finding a power point on the other hand can be challenging, especially if one is trying to keep a low profile
Support: While the community-driven support for BT5 (and linux in general) is great, it is unlikely they can offer support for the particular device you are on (in a timely manner at least). Got an issue with this device, check the forums or get Live Chat Support
Crunching: Modern ARM SOC's have great number crunching ability, especially those found on mobile devices as there is a focus on graphics ability and not on economy
All my pentesting is done from either an x86 desktop (in a vehicle) or my Galaxy SIII. I find that laptops continually under-perform and have too many trade-offs. I only use them when the conditions require that I must.
Tor alone implements Onion Routing but not Onion Hidden Domains. Unless you know what you are doing, TOR alone is useless.
Get the Tor Browser Bundle. This comes preconfigured to access.onion domains, gives you a graphical interface to enable/disable TOR and provides a browser with noscript and other settings to prevent tracking and real IP leaks.
This is essential to check out the mentioned site just as a matter of curiosity. There are a lot of markets running on.onion hidden domains and it is a place I go to buy discount VPN/VPS services and some hard to find (yet legal) electronics.
Please note that while your activity while using this is hidden from the likes of Google (and possibly your ISP), your activities are not completely anonymous. Tor alone is not adequate to ensure complete anonymity, just enough to punch through any censorship mechanisms. The biggest problem with people using TOR for the first time is DNS leaks. This can easily be fixed with some custom packages or IPTables. Proxychaining a VPN in also helps. AirVPN are one of the best and come with great support though I skimp and use cheaper services as I only use this method to appease my paranoia rather than for illicit activities.
For those that lack the knowledge or confidence to set this up properly, there are many DarkNet/FreeNet/etc USB Thumb drives that come with a preconfigured bootable live distro. I've obtained a few of these for my journo friends and given the following simple instructions: Set up in a cafe, maccas, starbucks, etc; Boot from USB; Run MACChanger; Surf away (but no personal surfing i.e. Facebook, Gmail).
Pirate Party Australia currently does not have the number of exclusive members required to register with the Australian Electoral Commission. This status is unlikely to change before the next election.
We do have a handful of more liberal minor parties that one can vote for, though most Aussies have never heard of them. Two that spring to mind are the Liberal Democratic Party and Australian Sex Party. Of course there is always The Greens, but who wants to undo centuries of human achievement and plunge back into the dark ages.
In Korea, you are age 1 the day you are born. To complicate things further (as with Japan and many other Asian countries) you report the age you are turning in that year (the year being Lunar in Korea and Solar and Japan). So if a child is born on the last day of the year, the very next day that child is already 2.
So if you ever ask a Korean their age, you should ask them for their 'international age' which will be 1 to 2 years lower
The only Australian bank that I use has the following setup-
Login: Primary Account Number
Password: 5 characters, A-Z 0-9 (no lower case)
Account locks after 3 incorrect attempts.
As a measure against the key-logger, the password is entered by clicking on a virtual keyboard which repositions itself on the screen randomly after each click. Can not login without Javascript enabled. This measure is useless on mobile devices though as the virtual keyboard fills the entire screen and thus can not be repositioned. If an attacker found a chink in the armour that would allow multiple password attempts without locking the account (likely, as this appears to be done in script), a brute-force will likely succeed in a very short amount of time.
On the plus-side, I am informed of ALL login attempts and transactions via SMS and must login and enter a one-time-pad to authorize larger transactions. I am also given the previous login time and date upon login and a separate code is required to add a new payee or for overseas transfers.
I have been using Qubes for some time and have used it as the starting point for my own desktop. Qubes is a customized Xen kernel booting a customized linux kernel as Dom0 (or Host). It currently uses a modified Fedora for the Dom0 as Fedora has best support for various Xen tools, comes with a scriptable installer (Anaconda), and plans adoption of Wayland to replace the unsecure X protocol.
I'm sick and tired of these banks screwing over the little guy.
I am curious how many 'little guys' actually managed to secure shares in the offering. I would say nil.
The underwriters decide who will receive shares in an IPO and this is done via an application/bid process meaning that friends and large clients of the bank are given priority. It would be a little suspect if all these shares were not issued to funds and the extremely wealthy.
In short, don't fret. This is the 1% fucking with the 1%. I approve of this.
JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, these companies truly represent the epitome of corporate greed and corruption in america.
if the stock price goes below certain level, will facebook close its doors?
The shareholders could vote to liquidate, sell assets or cease trading. However, Mark Zuckerberg owns greater than 50% of voting shares.
If the stock price goes below a certain level, a possible reaction by Facebook Inc's largest shareholders might be to bail and we could see a second round of shares offered as they try to cash in. This could allow for a takeover which likely wouldn't be good for end users. I would love to see the end-users snap up the shares (and voting rights) forming the world's largest cooperative, but I'm dreaming.
Correct me if im wrong, but didn't Microsoft get sued for making there own version of Java also? { Microsoft Java Virtual Machine } Which worked far better then Javas own software IMO.
Microsoft got sued for making their JVM incompatible with Java and still calling it Java. MS Java wasn't Java. It was Java-esque with a subset of Java plus some proprietary stuff.
"I can't get a standards doc for free! My life is ruined!!!"
I'll use an absurdly exaggerated yet not completely unrealistic scenario to highlight the importance of the pay-to-view model of standards
It is year 2035 and environmental issues are the hot topic in politics. The global population has reached 9 Billion and water has become scarce. An International Standard on toilet flushing systems has been drafted by a consortium of toilet manufacturers, plumbers unions and environmental groups. The standard also gives instructions on how to use a legacy flushing system efficiently by applying a certain pressure for a certain duration to a certain flush button.
A radical environmentalist party is elected in your state and proposes a law that makes any person that wastes water be arrested as an environmental terrorist. The opposition is corrupt and takes money from the toilet manufacturers and others and appends all these standards to the law. The environmentalists see it as a win and there is majority support
You hear about this new law and as you don't want to end up in Gitmo, you read up on it. Most of the law is reasonable. Then you get to the standards it references. There are a number of them which you look up online. Most refer to things like 'Farm Irrigation' or 'Industrial Complex Greywater Scheme', but then you come across the 'Household Toilet Efficient Flushing' standard. You do a Google search which comes up with some news and products. There are HTEF-compliant toilets starting at $15,000. You just spent your last $4,000 in replacing a broken toilet. You search more online and find a board that discusses the standard and find you can use your legacy toilet but MUST flush it in a specific way specified by the standard. You contact your local Plumbers Union Branch who offer to send you a copy of the standard for $200. They also offer the alternative of having a certified plumber come to your house and show you how to flush your toilet for $150.
This is not a situation I want to deal with as my principles are likely to get me incarcerated for life. Yes this scenario is absurd, yet we are getting closer and closer to it every day. Some will find this rant Insightful, some will see it as a Troll. I just hope I can never say I told you so.
Crazy that things that are supposed to be standards can't be viewed (legally) for free.
I have run into this situation many times. Most recently, while planning a satellite bar to deal with takeaway coffee and breakfast rolls, I was alerted by the local council that the exhaust requirements will have to be met according to some Australian Standard or I could find myself in contravention of my liquor licence. An inconvenience but fair enough I thought, until I attempted to view the regulations. I found that I had to pay to view the standard to ensure I wasn't breaking the law.
Bullshit. Maybe the people you hang out with rely on group think, but that's not typical in my experience. Possibly the lower class rely on "group think" but I imagine that would be the same in any country you care to visit.
I agree that the lower class generally rely on 'group think'. I know many in the class that are quite proud of the fact that they watch the news and feel very well informed by doing so. However, I believe there are other groups that engage in this 'group think'. New Australians, especially those who segregate and live in their own enclaves, I posit would follow community fore-bearers. And I almost forgot the Hipsters with their anti-group-think group-think.
This post ignores the fact that the current government is only in place because of the support of one of the minor parties (The greens). Neither of the two big parties currently have the numbers to form government in their own right, they have to form a coalition with one of the minor parties are the independents.
Good point. This actually made me hopeful that people would start considering their options. The media, and possibly the majors themselves, have been throwing around terms like 'corruption', '$43 Billion', 'sexual harassment' and 'vote of no confidence' in order to get Joe Public furious enough to vote AGAINST a major by voting FOR the other major. Without this kerfuffle, I would think that minor/independent parties would have the majors by the balls come next election. The way it is looking now, it will be a landslide for the opposition. I do, however, expect votes for minor/independent parties to be much higher than previous recent elections.
A press conference on such an important issue and only 4.5 questions were asked by journalists - or journalist. Probably the lone AAP journo who penned the brief article reported in both the links you provided.
Was the press release kept secret or audience restricted in some way - or is there simply a lack of interest? Whichever, it is very disappointing.
our opposition party in Australia (the so called "Liberal/National Party", Read Conservative) wouldn't do anything about it, they are the ones who introduced the 'Fair trade laws" which mean that Australians have to bend over backwards to any American copyright but Australian copyright means nothing to America.
At least the Government waited until the Secretary was in Canberra to sign the papers, The Lib/NCP would have signed them and sent them in advance.
You are spot on. Unfortunately, posting as AC means many will miss your post. Luckily, we are still free to express our political opinion in Australia.
In Australia, we have a situation similar to that of the US. We have 2 major parties one of which is a coalition, but that is irrelevant. Both parties are right of centre and have a secular façade. Both parties have the same contributors, the same policies (albeit a difference in approach), just different 'friends'. The incumbent has few friends in the media and has been raked over the coals continuously for most the term, ever since they attempted to tax the rich. The opposition does not really advertise their policies and simply plays 'the no game' - and they play it well.
The mainstream media in Australia supports the two-party system of voting and government, thus Australians are led to believe that an independent vote or minor party vote is a wasted vote. The media create such a brouhaha involving these major parties that people vote AGAINST the major party they don't want elected instead of considering all parties policies or their leaders reputations. This is the system that keeps these parties in power.
My vote will be wasted in the sense that the party I vote for will not be elected. My vote will not be wasted in the sense that I will be on record as preferring another parties policies. Come next election, there is a chance that the major party that is down in the polls MAY adopt some of the policies from these minor parties in order to secure votes. The outcome being that the people I wanted in are not, their policies are.
Voting is mandatory in Australia and as such is viewed as a chore or a burden. A lot of people don't take it seriously. It doesn't help that it is very difficult to get information on each of the candidates policies. The only real campaigning is tacky flyers with 'Vote #1' in beg red type and a spiel about why the other guy is so horrid.
To highlight my point compare the opposition to a minor party that most people are unaware of. The oppositions website uses the entire banner and the right half of every page attacking the incumbent. Policies are split across dozens of PDFs across several pages. The minor party makes their policies very clear with a headline, summary and major point of each area of issue on a single page.
Now in answer to you questions,
Any idea when the next elections are in Australia?
By Nov 30, 2013. Possibility of an early election but the incumbent won't call it because they are around 30% in the polls and the opposition won't challenge because they have a chickenshit leader.
What are the chances that Australians will vote for the same party that is doing this to them?
Very small - but not because of this issue. The other party would and will do exactly the same thing
They can't be that stupid, can't they?
Unfortunately, yes
Harden the F up, Australia!!
We are following in the footsteps of the US, except out citizens don't have the right to bear arms. Everyone wants change but votes the fucking same.
Pearson including Penguin, SAMS, Addison Wesley and Financial Times Cengage Learning including National Geographic Learning, Gale and Brooks/Cole Macmillan Higher Education -- a major ebook publisher
Cengage Learning in Australia have changed their name to 'Open Colleges'
After this, I'll be avoiding them.
Slashdot Mirror
What does this do for corporate IT departments that BackTrack5 on a $200 laptop cannot?
NFC: Monitor/Manipulate Contactless Payment Systems, Smart Tags and Mobile Devices (i.e: Force pair a Nokia)
Form Factor: Easily concealable and can be powered via USB. Easily turn off screen when someone is shoulder surfing
Connectivity: High Speed Mobile Data and superior network management. Ever since BT moved away from SLAX, falling back to WiFi when 3g drops has become unreliable. Multiband Radio makes it more likely to get a signal in a high security building
OS: BT5 for ARM is still not the best. Many tools are buggy and won't even run on a range of devices. Android is attracting quite a few developers meaning we are likely to see new tools on Android before BackTrack, Ubuntu or Debian Repositories. Making from source isn't viable when you are often working against the clock. BT5, being Ubuntu based, is a full desktop environment and it takes a lot of work to trim the fat. If you are talking about BT5 on an x86 laptop then the next point is amplified
Battery: Battery Life is likely much better on the Nexus than a cheap laptop. For reconnaissance, one may need to keep the device powered for hours or even days. Many cafes and bars will offer charging stations. Finding a power point on the other hand can be challenging, especially if one is trying to keep a low profile
Support: While the community-driven support for BT5 (and linux in general) is great, it is unlikely they can offer support for the particular device you are on (in a timely manner at least). Got an issue with this device, check the forums or get Live Chat Support
Crunching: Modern ARM SOC's have great number crunching ability, especially those found on mobile devices as there is a focus on graphics ability and not on economy
All my pentesting is done from either an x86 desktop (in a vehicle) or my Galaxy SIII. I find that laptops continually under-perform and have too many trade-offs. I only use them when the conditions require that I must.
Get this
Then, go here: silkroadvb5piz3r.onion
Tor alone implements Onion Routing but not Onion Hidden Domains. Unless you know what you are doing, TOR alone is useless.
Get the Tor Browser Bundle. This comes preconfigured to access .onion domains, gives you a graphical interface to enable/disable TOR and provides a browser with noscript and other settings to prevent tracking and real IP leaks.
This is essential to check out the mentioned site just as a matter of curiosity. There are a lot of markets running on .onion hidden domains and it is a place I go to buy discount VPN/VPS services and some hard to find (yet legal) electronics.
Please note that while your activity while using this is hidden from the likes of Google (and possibly your ISP), your activities are not completely anonymous. Tor alone is not adequate to ensure complete anonymity, just enough to punch through any censorship mechanisms. The biggest problem with people using TOR for the first time is DNS leaks. This can easily be fixed with some custom packages or IPTables. Proxychaining a VPN in also helps. AirVPN are one of the best and come with great support though I skimp and use cheaper services as I only use this method to appease my paranoia rather than for illicit activities.
For those that lack the knowledge or confidence to set this up properly, there are many DarkNet/FreeNet/etc USB Thumb drives that come with a preconfigured bootable live distro. I've obtained a few of these for my journo friends and given the following simple instructions: Set up in a cafe, maccas, starbucks, etc; Boot from USB; Run MACChanger; Surf away (but no personal surfing i.e. Facebook, Gmail).
My school forced me to buy the 2nd edition where 'fail' is a noun.
First sentence is fail...
Pirate Party Australia currently does not have the number of exclusive members required to register with the Australian Electoral Commission. This status is unlikely to change before the next election.
We do have a handful of more liberal minor parties that one can vote for, though most Aussies have never heard of them. Two that spring to mind are the Liberal Democratic Party and Australian Sex Party. Of course there is always The Greens, but who wants to undo centuries of human achievement and plunge back into the dark ages.
Posting to undo 'off-topic' moderation. Someone please mod this informative.
Don't tell the Koreans that.
In Korea, you are age 1 the day you are born. To complicate things further (as with Japan and many other Asian countries) you report the age you are turning in that year (the year being Lunar in Korea and Solar and Japan). So if a child is born on the last day of the year, the very next day that child is already 2.
So if you ever ask a Korean their age, you should ask them for their 'international age' which will be 1 to 2 years lower
The only Australian bank that I use has the following setup-
Login: Primary Account Number
Password: 5 characters, A-Z 0-9 (no lower case)
Account locks after 3 incorrect attempts.
As a measure against the key-logger, the password is entered by clicking on a virtual keyboard which repositions itself on the screen randomly after each click.
Can not login without Javascript enabled. This measure is useless on mobile devices though as the virtual keyboard fills the entire screen and thus can not be repositioned. If an attacker found a chink in the armour that would allow multiple password attempts without locking the account (likely, as this appears to be done in script), a brute-force will likely succeed in a very short amount of time.
On the plus-side, I am informed of ALL login attempts and transactions via SMS and must login and enter a one-time-pad to authorize larger transactions. I am also given the previous login time and date upon login and a separate code is required to add a new payee or for overseas transfers.
I have been using Qubes for some time and have used it as the starting point for my own desktop. Qubes is a customized Xen kernel booting a customized linux kernel as Dom0 (or Host). It currently uses a modified Fedora for the Dom0 as Fedora has best support for various Xen tools, comes with a scriptable installer (Anaconda), and plans adoption of Wayland to replace the unsecure X protocol.
http://alt.com/ [NSFW]
...New Matilda, Conversation AU, & Independent Australia...
Thank you. I was not aware of any of these.
I found New Matilda and Independent Australia but would like to confirm I have the correct site for Conversation AU.
I'm sick and tired of these banks screwing over the little guy.
I am curious how many 'little guys' actually managed to secure shares in the offering. I would say nil.
The underwriters decide who will receive shares in an IPO and this is done via an application/bid process meaning that friends and large clients of the bank are given priority. It would be a little suspect if all these shares were not issued to funds and the extremely wealthy.
In short, don't fret. This is the 1% fucking with the 1%. I approve of this.
JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, these companies truly represent the epitome of corporate greed and corruption in america.
Nobody will disagree with you here.
if the stock price goes below certain level, will facebook close its doors?
The shareholders could vote to liquidate, sell assets or cease trading. However, Mark Zuckerberg owns greater than 50% of voting shares.
If the stock price goes below a certain level, a possible reaction by Facebook Inc's largest shareholders might be to bail and we could see a second round of shares offered as they try to cash in. This could allow for a takeover which likely wouldn't be good for end users. I would love to see the end-users snap up the shares (and voting rights) forming the world's largest cooperative, but I'm dreaming.
Of course they are powerful, look at all the laws Anonymous has passed.
By 2010, 65 laws existed.
So they'll implement a new protocol: httpSS - twice as secure
You laugh, but...
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/
https://wwws.safra.com/SafraOfficeBank/
http://wwws.aa.warnerbros.com/journeytothecenteroftheearth2/
https://wwws.loc.gov/readerreg/remote/
Secure browsing has already gone enterprisey with the new WWWS for secure sites
Notice the 3rd link. https:/// is not even configured on this server. Yet we are meant to think it is secure because of the 'wwws'.
Correct me if im wrong, but didn't Microsoft get sued for making there own version of Java also? { Microsoft Java Virtual Machine } Which worked far better then Javas own software IMO.
Microsoft got sued for making their JVM incompatible with Java and still calling it Java. MS Java wasn't Java. It was Java-esque with a subset of Java plus some proprietary stuff.
"I can't get a standards doc for free! My life is ruined!!!"
I'll use an absurdly exaggerated yet not completely unrealistic scenario to highlight the importance of the pay-to-view model of standards
It is year 2035 and environmental issues are the hot topic in politics. The global population has reached 9 Billion and water has become scarce. An International Standard on toilet flushing systems has been drafted by a consortium of toilet manufacturers, plumbers unions and environmental groups. The standard also gives instructions on how to use a legacy flushing system efficiently by applying a certain pressure for a certain duration to a certain flush button.
A radical environmentalist party is elected in your state and proposes a law that makes any person that wastes water be arrested as an environmental terrorist. The opposition is corrupt and takes money from the toilet manufacturers and others and appends all these standards to the law. The environmentalists see it as a win and there is majority support
You hear about this new law and as you don't want to end up in Gitmo, you read up on it. Most of the law is reasonable. Then you get to the standards it references. There are a number of them which you look up online. Most refer to things like 'Farm Irrigation' or 'Industrial Complex Greywater Scheme', but then you come across the 'Household Toilet Efficient Flushing' standard. You do a Google search which comes up with some news and products. There are HTEF-compliant toilets starting at $15,000. You just spent your last $4,000 in replacing a broken toilet. You search more online and find a board that discusses the standard and find you can use your legacy toilet but MUST flush it in a specific way specified by the standard. You contact your local Plumbers Union Branch who offer to send you a copy of the standard for $200. They also offer the alternative of having a certified plumber come to your house and show you how to flush your toilet for $150.
This is not a situation I want to deal with as my principles are likely to get me incarcerated for life. Yes this scenario is absurd, yet we are getting closer and closer to it every day. Some will find this rant Insightful, some will see it as a Troll. I just hope I can never say I told you so.
Crazy that things that are supposed to be standards can't be viewed (legally) for free.
I have run into this situation many times. Most recently, while planning a satellite bar to deal with takeaway coffee and breakfast rolls, I was alerted by the local council that the exhaust requirements will have to be met according to some Australian Standard or I could find myself in contravention of my liquor licence. An inconvenience but fair enough I thought, until I attempted to view the regulations. I found that I had to pay to view the standard to ensure I wasn't breaking the law.
Bullshit. Maybe the people you hang out with rely on group think, but that's not typical in my experience. Possibly the lower class rely on "group think" but I imagine that would be the same in any country you care to visit.
I agree that the lower class generally rely on 'group think'. I know many in the class that are quite proud of the fact that they watch the news and feel very well informed by doing so. However, I believe there are other groups that engage in this 'group think'. New Australians, especially those who segregate and live in their own enclaves, I posit would follow community fore-bearers. And I almost forgot the Hipsters with their anti-group-think group-think.
This post ignores the fact that the current government is only in place because of the support of one of the minor parties (The greens). Neither of the two big parties currently have the numbers to form government in their own right, they have to form a coalition with one of the minor parties are the independents.
Good point. This actually made me hopeful that people would start considering their options. The media, and possibly the majors themselves, have been throwing around terms like 'corruption', '$43 Billion', 'sexual harassment' and 'vote of no confidence' in order to get Joe Public furious enough to vote AGAINST a major by voting FOR the other major. Without this kerfuffle, I would think that minor/independent parties would have the majors by the balls come next election. The way it is looking now, it will be a landslide for the opposition. I do, however, expect votes for minor/independent parties to be much higher than previous recent elections.
Attorney General's press conference:
A press conference on such an important issue and only 4.5 questions were asked by journalists - or journalist. Probably the lone AAP journo who penned the brief article reported in both the links you provided.
Was the press release kept secret or audience restricted in some way - or is there simply a lack of interest? Whichever, it is very disappointing.
our opposition party in Australia (the so called "Liberal/National Party", Read Conservative) wouldn't do anything about it, they are the ones who introduced the 'Fair trade laws" which mean that Australians have to bend over backwards to any American copyright but Australian copyright means nothing to America. At least the Government waited until the Secretary was in Canberra to sign the papers, The Lib/NCP would have signed them and sent them in advance.
You are spot on. Unfortunately, posting as AC means many will miss your post. Luckily, we are still free to express our political opinion in Australia.
In Australia, we have a situation similar to that of the US. We have 2 major parties one of which is a coalition, but that is irrelevant. Both parties are right of centre and have a secular façade. Both parties have the same contributors, the same policies (albeit a difference in approach), just different 'friends'. The incumbent has few friends in the media and has been raked over the coals continuously for most the term, ever since they attempted to tax the rich. The opposition does not really advertise their policies and simply plays 'the no game' - and they play it well.
The mainstream media in Australia supports the two-party system of voting and government, thus Australians are led to believe that an independent vote or minor party vote is a wasted vote. The media create such a brouhaha involving these major parties that people vote AGAINST the major party they don't want elected instead of considering all parties policies or their leaders reputations. This is the system that keeps these parties in power.
My vote will be wasted in the sense that the party I vote for will not be elected. My vote will not be wasted in the sense that I will be on record as preferring another parties policies. Come next election, there is a chance that the major party that is down in the polls MAY adopt some of the policies from these minor parties in order to secure votes. The outcome being that the people I wanted in are not, their policies are.
Voting is mandatory in Australia and as such is viewed as a chore or a burden. A lot of people don't take it seriously. It doesn't help that it is very difficult to get information on each of the candidates policies. The only real campaigning is tacky flyers with 'Vote #1' in beg red type and a spiel about why the other guy is so horrid.
To highlight my point compare the opposition to a minor party that most people are unaware of. The oppositions website uses the entire banner and the right half of every page attacking the incumbent. Policies are split across dozens of PDFs across several pages. The minor party makes their policies very clear with a headline, summary and major point of each area of issue on a single page.
Now in answer to you questions,
Any idea when the next elections are in Australia?
By Nov 30, 2013. Possibility of an early election but the incumbent won't call it because they are around 30% in the polls and the opposition won't challenge because they have a chickenshit leader.
What are the chances that Australians will vote for the same party that is doing this to them?
Very small - but not because of this issue. The other party would and will do exactly the same thing
They can't be that stupid, can't they?
Unfortunately, yes
Harden the F up, Australia!!
We are following in the footsteps of the US, except out citizens don't have the right to bear arms. Everyone wants change but votes the fucking same.
Well, you'll just get a new hand...?
Franchise Opportunity
You can become a Re-Hand(TM) franchisee for $0 upfront (T.A.P)
Who NOT to buy from:
Pearson including Penguin, SAMS, Addison Wesley and Financial Times
Cengage Learning including National Geographic Learning, Gale and Brooks/Cole
Macmillan Higher Education -- a major ebook publisher
Cengage Learning in Australia have changed their name to 'Open Colleges'
After this, I'll be avoiding them.