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Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits are objects of scorn to smart Americans who blow horns to break up traffic jams.
-Mary Ellen Kelly
Compare Policies, Australia's first ever comprehensive political policy database compiled by Tony Huddy et. al. [Amok Creative, Blue Sheep Design, Cloud Caster]

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: What They Are Saying About MEdia Dragon: Pre-Emptive Election Launches
Harry S Truman once observed, When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship...
First, the exclusive interview: Howard and Latham talk to Crikey. Next, a story about A New South Wales punter who wagered a record $200,000 on John Howard to win a fourth term as prime minister after reading the election analysis by Crikey’s Electioneering Pebble. The betting agency Centrebet advised it was the biggest election bet it had taken, easily eclipsing a $90,000 wager on a Coalition win in 2001.
• Margo Kingston Latham to launch campaign: Will Latham attack on the second front at last? ; [Gregory Altreuter, the blog with great attitude Some Votes Are More Equal than Others]
• · Anything to escape another policy launch: Land of Hope, Return to Sender, Coincidences, Gloria and Policies: Liberal Party Policies; Labour Party Policies Policies ; Democrats Policies ; Greens Policies
• · · Yesterday, the Brissie Courier Monopoly gave Mark Latham the full treatment Dr Ivan Molloy: Candidate Jumping at the Gun Shadows
• · · · Andrew Leigh examines what impact factors such as surname i.e. Imrich, sex, age, income and country of birth have on voting patterns (PDF version) For richer, for poorer ; [For better or for worse Alan (Angry) Anderson , Strict Follower of Fox News and much more begins New Right Wing Blog on the SMH site: The Razor
• · · · · Shine Disinfectant Shine: Road to Surdom Leading Us into Political Temptation Again; [Also note Tim Dunlop writing guest column for Counterspin links to article in The Wall Street Journal (Reg. Req.): All in all, this is one Aussie election that the world will be watching
• · · · · · Michael Beschloss Choosing the most revealing books about the American election process; [Is Voting Worth the Trouble?]
(The moral, if there is one, is to vote out of duty, not self-interest. Why duty? For the simple reason that the more people who vote, the greater the chance of a happy result -- provided that each person is more likely to vote for the superior candidate.)