Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

doesn't sound like too much to ask.

But then again you have the logistical problem of if school in X suburb has XX places then if people from Y and Z want to send their kids there what happens to the kids living in X when the places run out?

You have to give preference to people in the local area to the local school - for state schools anyway

Our Economic Professor told us the definition of "fascism" is to be ruled by regulation. Then went on to inform us that there is more than 75,000 pages of laws & regulations printed every year in our government. When our founding fathers sat down and penned the laws, I think he said that there was 12 pages.
We are moving away from democracy at a rapid pace, and when a liberal gets voted into the oval office, America will decline at a much faster rate.
- Johnkofi

things do get complicated when idiots who can barely look after themselves come into power

And look at the regulations, retrospective legislation and deprivation of civil liberties imposed this decade.....

All (supposedly) in the name of national security and the defence of democracy.....

No wonder the rest of the world sees us as complete hippocrites...

I still think were the lucky country Rupe,granted our politicians aint the best but theres a hell of a lot of countries out there worse off than we are.The inhabitants of some of those countries have possibly never even heard of Australia!(luckily for us or wed soon be overpopulated!)

Indeed Niloc, we have been the lucky country....

That's why we have an onus to ensure we present the same freedom and liberty to our children, that our fathers and grandfathers fought and died for....

Not some bastardised form of neo-fascist industrialised state where decisions are made purely by and for a wealthy minority and where a citizens rights are subjugated to the state, and a persons role in nationhood is designed and consigned to be no more than a means of production for a globalised econo-political entity that assumes more rights to statehood than individuals....

It's time that decisions were once more made by the 90% of the citizens of this country for the benefit of 90% of the citizens of this country....

Not the 10% of stateless, nationless, moral-less entities that seem to currently have usurped our collective psychies

RupertofOZ ,our next prime minister! Id vote for you! But would you have time to do AP and be PM? wOULD YOU WANT TO? Maybe you Steve, EB ,ELLKAYBEEand a few others could start your own party! the AP australia party! Id sign up as first member . probably left a heap of others of importance out there! Jaymie ,AAquamad, ALL OF YOU ,cant name all of you its good to read people get out there and speak their minds .

I heard something that sort of shocked me, but I haven't checked into it.

Have any of you heard about a law that is supposed to take effect in New Zealand that will make it a crime to critize the government or a member of the parliament?

If it is true, there goes democracy in that country! Free and open criticism of politicians is one of the few ways, outside of the vote, which controls them and the idiocy they can come up with. Personally I feel, why should they be above criticism when they place themselves into the position of public scrutiny? I understand that sometimes they take "heat" for purely private matters, but if they wanted thier private life to remain private then they should have remained a private citizen.

Kevin

Jayme,
You asked about sending your child to another school other than the one serving your community. Most of the school districts here in the US are locally ran, state and federally financed institutions. (Yeah, our school taxes for the most part are biggest portion of our property taxes, but most of the dollars spent come from the state and federal levels.) Now, many districts take the approach of community or neighborhood schools at the primary level. Your child will probably attend a school for the first four or five years close to your home. Then when they enter middle school/junior high they will attend a school servicing a number of primary schools within the community, and they will then progress to high school that might have students from one or two middle schools (or more) where they will complete thier 12 years of "mandatory" education.

Now, in an effort to do everything from improve education to "desegregate" public schools were are seeing everything from "magnet" schools to school "vouchers". The magnet school idea is to have schools that concentrate on one or two academic areas. (You might send your child to a "Math & Science" school, while I choose to send mine to "A Performing Arts" school.) The children still get the basic background required, but are given additional courses and advanced instruction in the chosen area. The big problem is each student has to apply to these schools and are chosen not only off of academic or other ability, but also off of race, location of residence or grade level. Since each school generally has a limited number of available seats the competition to get into a magnet school can be difficult. Then in the area of school vouchers it has generally been upheld that in some states if you have a child who is attending an academically deficient school you can get a "voucher" to permit you to enroll your child in another school or district. The biggest problem with this is that the courts have generally limited these vouchers to public schools or private schools that are not affiliated with any religous groups. While you will find that most Americans support the idea of a seperation of church and state, we also seem to favor schools that are faith related due to the "moral" atmosphere most schools have, and due to the fact that many of them are excellent in achieving academic goals.

In a nutshell, the local districts do not want to lose control over the students that are in thier district because most school funding is based off of student population numbers. The state and federal governments, on the other hand stand back and take the approach that the administration of the local schools is a local matter and should not be interfered with.

Kevin

thanks for that info Kevin, more to think about...

Kevin that law was enacted here in Australia in about 2004 as part of a re-write to the 100 year old "anti-sedition" law.....

Supposedly as part of our reaction to "terrorism"..... a bit like your Patriot Act.

Also illegal to gather in a public place in numbers greater than three.

i have to look into it a little more, but if the Patriot Act is like that, it is not enforced. both of them laws would voilate the constitution

geez, we are a bunch of law breakers eh? lol

talkin crap about the gooberment is puty common. got the first amendment for that. got the 2nd amendment supposedly to keep the security of a free State. that ones been purty much chopped up. i guess the first amendment will be gone soon too....once they gid rid of the first 2, the rest will go quick