This guy doesn't have any cents!

This story has been circulating around for a while now, and I personally took a small look at the story a little while back and didn't pay much attention to it. So today I decided to look into the story a little deeper to find out what all the fuss was all about and form my own opinion on what happened.

If you haven't already heard about this story as of yet, it's basically all about a man from Adelaide who decided to pay his $60.00 parking fine in 5 cent coins. He went into a bank, asked for $60.00 worth of 5 cent coins. They provided him with this all in coins in small bags and he goes to a side counter and open them all up and put them into one big bag. He then proceeds to the RTA (I think), and tells the woman behind the counter that he wishes to pay his fine and dumps all the coins on the counter and pushes them all towards her desk. During the whole time he was filming this whole affair on what appears to be a hidden camera, and got the attention of ACA as well as Youtube which he posted up himself.

What has amazed me about the whole thing is mostly the comments which are following this whole video, and I'm honestly shocked that some of the Youtube comments seem to have much more maturity about the whole thing than the comments on ACA (which really shouldn't surprise me that much). Basically the shameful comments are praising this guy in his ways to 'stick it to the man.' How is paying a fine in coins actually doing this? All you are doing is causing yourself some trouble for going out of your way to the bank and line up in a queue to get the coins which they will have to count for you. Then going to the side counter to open up each of the bags and put them into the cloth bag which you will then have to carry with you. Also having the poor cashier girl (who before never had a beef with you until now), wanting to count all of this change. The cashier girl repeatedly tells the guy politely that she cannot accept payment in this form (as it is against Australian law to pay a fine with anything less than a 5 dollar note - which he really should have looked up beforehand).

Because of his constant arrogance at the woman behind the counter he then draws the attention of either the supervisor or security who checks what all the commotion is all about. The man refuses to give the guy the time of day, as he isn't the 'cashier' and proceeds to cause further trouble. He is then given two options, either collect the coins and change them for notes or walk out. He chooses the latter and starts saying "I've tried to make payment, he just told me to leave... I'm out." While continuing to shove the coins back at the girl who is being polite and piling them back up for him. I personally found it hilarious when he used the excuse "That's all I can afford to pay in those pieces." *Insert facepalm meme here* Great excuse there Sherlock!

He's excuse? They are "all part of a corporation" which he doesn't want to deal with. What corporation is that? The government? Well big whoop! You had a parking fine, you were in the wrong and you decide to not only take it on a woman who was just doing her job, but also another person who honestly probably wouldn't have noticed you. He then also demands to know their names, and when asked for his told them that they didn't need to know that kind of information. I may have a little respect for the guy if he actually told them, I'll wait here until you count them all. but instead he decides to take off.

Is this is what people have come down to? They do something wrong and decide to take it out on the wrong people? I mean if he wanted to dispute the parking fee he could have taken it to court, write a letter in protest or maybe even get a petition for people to sign. How about actually go up to ACA and tell his version of events. Nope. Apparently this kind of maturity wasn't common for this guy, he decided to show how a adult man can act like a 11 year old boy. Good going there bud.

Amazingly even though it is against the law to pay in such small change, they are offered to hold onto his coins in a safe until he can come back and claim them and continue to pay his fine in a proper way. So not only did he just make an idiot of himself on his own camera, but he'll have to come back to the same place with his tail between his legs to claim back the coins.

On a side note there should be another issue which needs to be brought to attention. This guy can get away with filming people and posting it within the media as it isn't against Australian law to take a photo of film someone without their permission. The only exception is employers filming employees, anything for commercial purposes, and lastly anything that is considered indecent or offensive. But I think that is another blog for another day.

This isn't a hoax!

From sharing a page for a child dying of cancer so that they can receive donations from every like the picture receives, to Heineken sponsoring a dog fight. Just about every day within social media networks like Facebook, we are constantly bombarded with ‘shocking’ news stories. Most of what we are confronted with is information of events which hardly seem that it could be possible at all. Yet because there is a picture of a dying child or because it has a lot of detail about the situation, some of us are compelled to think that the information that we are presented with is correct. Mostly due to the face that we do not want to come across as a cruel and insensitive person so we’d like to feel as though that we are contributing in some way.

Before the whole social media uproar, I personally learnt the tough way that everything that I read or see on television (including news shows) isn’t necessarily the truth. It’s a skewed truth of what that particular show wants me to believe or their personal view of the story. You only have to listen to the many stories from different people who experience a tragedy to hear countless different versions of the same event. So why hasn’t a majority of people caught on to the fact that social media is doing the same thing but on a much wider scale? I mean does anyone still believe anymore when they receive an email either claiming that they’ve won millions of dollars, or that there is a wealthy person who is looking for someone to hold their millions for them anymore? No! So why is this any different? The even sad thing is that some of these stories also appear every year, and every year there is a group of people who fall for the same hoaxes.

I personally think that there are three factors involved. Firstly it brings to some of us a sense of guilt involved. This is just simply from noticing that every post that the hoaxes are involved in have sentences within them that say the same thing over and over. Things like ‘Like if you’re against rape, ignore if you are for rape.’ Of course none of us are for rape! But for many people to simple ignore this will imply a sense of guilt, and there is nothing to be guilty about. This especially happens if a friend of yours has shared the article and you may think that your friends and family will think of you has a horrible person if you do not contribute in some way.

Secondly I think it comes also from laziness. The whole TL; DR (too long; didn’t read) type of lazy or just couldn’t be bothered looking into it. So they shared and are not even bothered to look into it, or find out what it is all about.

Lastly, the only other explanation that I could think of at the top of my head is that people who share this type of information actually believe what the information is telling us. For these types of people I have a couple of websites for you. Hoax-Slayer.com and Snopes.com. These particular websites have information about any old or new stories that you seem that are just isn’t right. If you’d prefer, a simple Google search would suffix or just simply use your common sense.

I recently heard within my favourite weekly podcast (http://www.chillpakhollywood.com/) that you could come up with the most out there theory or idea about anything , and you’ll find somewhere within the vast internet a webpage dedicated to it with theories and facts. You could even come up with the theory that monkeys have been living within planet Venus before the arrival of man and there will someone backing up your theory. This personally proves to me even more that we should all be careful of the things we see and hear not only on the internet but also within new stories.

I could go on and on about the subject, but the main thing that I wanted to point out to everyone is mostly just have a second think before you go sharing a story that seems very unlikely. Take a bit of common sense and also have a look within the internet itself to see if there has been any repeat of this happening in the past before. I can almost guarantee you that there are a lot of these stories they have all been around for many years, and it's making its yearly cycle.

Get Off Your High Horse!

Politics have never really interest me. Honestly I couldn’t care less about what really goes behind closed doors within the government. In my eyes just about every politician are a bunch of liars, and the honest ones? Well... if there are any they are clouded among the cheats, liars and made up facts that try to worry us about issues and problems we really shouldn’t care about. Sort of like a marketing company trying to promote products we don’t really need.

With my lack of knowledge about politics, I know even less about the US political campaign. I sort of have a little understanding that currently both President Obama and Mitt Romney are fighting for approval of the American people before the presidential campaign starts in November 2012.

Despite all of this, something really caught my attention this week. Back in March of 2011, Donald Trump went to the media and demanded – not asked – for President Obama to release his birth certificate. Why Trump is making a fuss that the President shows his birth certificate? I have absolutely no idea. I suppose it was really just to prove that Obama was a citizen of the USA. After what seems like weeks of originally ignoring Trumps ranting – this seemed to fuel the public – President Obama finally released his birth certificate. Which still didn’t make people happy (especially Donald Trump), as a lot of people claimed it was fake.

Donald Trump was than publicly humiliated during a White House Correspondents dinner. Claiming that not only has he shown his birth certificate, but for everyone in the room he has a copy of his birthing video. Which just happen to be the famous scene from The Lion King. Again, I don’t know much about politics, but... touché!

Now about a year and a bit later, Trump is in the news once more pointing fingers at President Obama. He claims that President Obama is the least transparent President that the country has ever had. He even feels ‘honoured’ that he was behind the campaign for President Obama to finally release his birth certificate (even though he still claims that it is a fake). But this time, Trump wants more. This time, he wants President Obama to release ‘His college records and applications... Passport applications and records... (he) will give to the charity of (Obama’s) choice... 5 million dollars.’

I am not kidding. Trump actually wants the president of the United States of America to disclose personal and private information about himself, and he will give away to any charity of Obama’s choosing, 5 million dollars. The first thing that sprang to my mind was not only is this guy is an idiot, but 5 million dollars is honestly just change for this billionaire. I mean honestly? 5 million dollars? For me personal, that is more than I could ever ever want. But for billionaire Donald trump. This is nothing. He probably doesn’t get out of bed for anything less than 5 million.

Another thing that sprang to mind was, with all that money that he has, shouldn’t he be donating to charity anyway? Without having to bribe the President of the country he lives in? And I’m not talking about his reality TV show here. Because that isn’t really charity is it?

I honestly think this is another media stunt, and he is making a fool of himself in the meantime. What does he honestly think he will gain from all of this? The even funny thing is that Trump released this on YouTube, with the comment section disabled. Maybe he is a little afraid of what the trolls will do to his dwindling reputation?

 

Joking aside, if you look back to the YouTube video when Trump appeared on the video first requesting the birth certificate of Obama, he said that he wanted proof that he was born within the USA. When he was asked back in March, “Why didn’t you ask George W. Bush for his birth certificate?” his response was “George Bush was born in this country.” Without really answering the question. Why all of a sudden interest in this President? Out of all the 44 Presidents that America has had? Why this one? Honestly I couldn’t care less what hidden agenda Trump has. But coming out and publically bribing your own president is a really cheap shot, which will only make you look like a fool. How about you focus on the more important things in the world, and actually step down from that high horse you call a tower.

Another case of simple ignorance!

During the weekend, as most people would have either sat down to watch the second rounds of the NRL finals and complain about Manly's two tries (which myself I'm still 50/50 about) there was a very large protest within the streets of the Sydney CBD. I'm sure I do not have remind everyone what the protesting was about and why it had started. It started off as a very peaceful protest within Hyde Park, but soon became very violent where several protesters and police were badly injured in the process. I'd like to say straight off the bat that any form of violence is unacceptable!

The main reason why I wanted to start this blog is not necessary in regards to the protest itself, but what has happened after the protest. Newspaper articles - particularly that of Peter FitzSimons - telling people who believe in imaginary friends and "To go back where you came from." Any Australian to tell that to another person within Australia is just plainly stupid. Are you forgetting how Australia was founded?

I have two main beefs with his article. Firstly Peter is furious that this whole protest which turned unnecessarily violent was in regards people who 'don't like a freaking video!' Well I hate to point out the obvious there Pete, but if the video was about people hating a country, whether it be this one or any of the major populated countries, you would have a completely different view! If someone came and interviewed anyone of us about our opinion on this lovely brown land, and turned our words into something hateful I'm pretty sure there would be a lot more protest about this worldwide. So picking in people's belief, no matter what it is - and especially insulting their beliefs by saying its just imaginary friends - really shows how much of an imbecile you really are.

My other beef is that it picks on religion. Yes, what they've done was wrong. Yes it was horrific and people should not have been injured, but why are you whining to a newspaper? Get off your butt and do something proactive! Liking a picture on Facebook isn’t solving any of these problems.

What I want to know is where is your article about the other horrific things that are done every single day all across the globe? Where's your article about world hunger? Where is your article about rape, not only against adults but also against young children? Where is your article about war? How governments use war as an excuse to terrify people and to take the other countries valued possessions? Where is your article about countries stealing other countries property and never returning those valuable precious artifacts? Where is your article about how women still get paid less in the 21st century! Where is your article about domestic violence? Where is your article about people injuring animals? Where is your article about the innocent people who are condemned to die every year for something that they didn’t do? Or even just for something that they wanted to stand up against?

People need to stop using other peoples religious belief as a form of venting their anger, and focus on other things that are really more important in the world. I cannot speak for all religious people,  but I have a feeling that a lot of people with beliefs are disgusted with what happened within these riots as much as I am.

50 Shades of Crap!

From as long as I can remember, I've never given into any hype whatsoever. Unless it was a favourite band of mine, TV shows etc that I have loved for years. Even when the big phenomenon of Harry Potter was happening for years, I didn't decide to read any of the books until the very last book was released. Then I decided for myself whether I liked a series of books or not. This is simply because I like to choose for myself what I like, and not give in to the puff. I really cannot explain it. I honestly think it has to do that when everything is said and done and when all the dust settles, something new comes along and any hype that did occur has moved onto something new, leaving the old hype behind.

So when the book 50 Shades of Grey was released I was intrigued. I didn't know what to make of it, and the only thing that I knew about the book was that some scenes within the book are very explicit and that the author of the book got her inspiration from Twilight. Now anyone who knows me knows how much I dislike Twilight with a passion. It wasn't until last year that I decided to sit down and watch a couple of the Twilight movies, as I thought 'I've been saying how much I don't like Twilight, when the only information that I got is from the internet and I never formed my own real opinion.' But as I soon found quickly enough, it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Now before I go on about the reasons why I don't like 50 Shades of Grey, spoiler alert warning to anyone who hasn't read the book and are thinking of reading it.

This book comes very very close to the reasons why I do not like Twilight. The main female character in the book (Anastasia) has no spine whatsoever. In the 21st Century to come across any fiction about a female character who gives in and let people walk all over her annoys me. Women for centuries have been fighting for their right to speak up and let it be known that they aren’t inferior, and this book puts all that to shame.

Christian the main male character in the book and also Anastasia’s love interest is a complete and utter control freak. From the moment he meets Anastasia, he warns her countless times that he is a bad person to know and that she should run for the hills. And at the beginning of the book when she tries to forget about him, he either meets up with her again just to see her or sends her expensive gifts, which draw her back to him and the whole process starts all over again.

When he finds out that she doesn't have a computer (though how a college student almost graduate has survived 4 years without a computer is beyond me), he buys her the most expensive MAC computer which hasn't been released yet. And why a major CEO of a very large corporation uses a MAC computer, is beyond me as well.

When she doesn't reply to a phone call or email right away, he decides then to buy her a new Blackberry phone so she can constantly be in contact with him without any excuses. Later on when he sees the type of car she drives, he automatically doesn't like it and decides to buy her a new car. Through all this she is protesting, but very very little. Doesn’t really put up any kind of fight at all and within moments decides to keep everything he has bought her and the subject is dropped.

Christian is also a complete stalker. No matter where she seems to be, he always is around the corner. In one part of the book she tells him that she needs to get away for a few days to visit her mum so that she can have a bit of vacation time after her graduation, guess where she finds him on the second day of her holiday apparently contemplating buying land in the area. Yeah right!

Though funnily enough, Christian to me isn’t the bad guy. Despite everything that he does, he isn’t really the reason why I’ve come close many times to through the book across the room. It’s the female character. This is mainly because Christian tells Ana constantly that she has a choice in what happened. If he does something she doesn’t like, to tell him know what her feelings are about the situation or just simply walk away. Now I understand that she is in complete thrall with Christian and doesn’t just want to walk away, but she he ample opportunity to express her opinion.

As I mentioned before, she has no spine whatsoever. She doesn’t stand up for any of her beliefs at all. She lets everyone walk all over her. Even a good male friend of hers tries to make a move on her while she is intoxicated, Christian comes to the rescue (being the stalker he is), and just about the very next day while her friend has been trying to call her all day to apologize, she forgives him and gives him a big hug and pretends it never happened!

Her best friend and roommate warns her countless times that she doesn’t think that Christian is a good man for her, as she is constantly seeing Ana upset all the time, never at one point does she listen to her best friend of 4 years advice. Even though the book mentions that her best friend likes to prey constantly and never let a subject go. But apparently, when it comes to Ana’s relationship with Christian she is suddenly distracted and drops the conversation.

There is also no real plot to the story either. Everything is pretty much skipped and missed without any real detail. Excluding of course the explicit scene in the book, which tells every tiny detail – and sometimes ever gross detail? While she is at her graduation, her best friend tells an amazing speech apparently. What the speech is about, I have absolutely no idea as the book doesn’t mention what the speech is about. Christian also has a speech during this graduation and reveals a lot about himself which Ana is very shocked as he rarely reveals anything about himself. What it was about, have no idea either! All we know is that he didn’t have much food when he was younger, which could mean a lot of things.

Though I can somewhat understand maybe why anyone would both to read all three books within the series. I suppose to find out whether Ana suddenly gets a back bone and stands up for herself, and maybe to see if the relationship at all can last between an utter control freak stalker, and a complete spineless gutless woman.

Driving Me Crazy!

For as long as I can recall, I’ve never had the urge to drive. Sure, as the years went by I did like all the new features which newer models of cars possessed. Though it never really persuaded me to go out and get a license, or to save up and buy the car of my dreams. A few times I have given into pestering from family, friends or boyfriends and have tried to learn (don’t think I did too badly either), but I never really thought to myself ‘Wow. This is the most amazing thing ever. Why didn’t I accomplish this years ago!’

Unlike most people, since I do work in the CBD I actually do love catching public transport wherever I go. Sure, I’ll admit there are a few pet hates about catching public transport, but never have I had an experience so bad that I reached boiling point and thought to myself, “That’s it! I’m going to start driving wherever I go!”

Because of this choice that I’ve made, it has amazed me how many people do not like this choice. They feel it absolutely necessary to voice their opinions very loud and very clear to me, that the choice that I’ve made on not learning to drive is the most absurd thing that they’ve heard.

I’ve been told countless of times over the years that driving is a necessity. It’s not something you want to do; it’s something that you need to do. If this is really the case, then please explain to me why I am not – nor have I ever - stood in the middle of a shopping centre with a trolley filled with purchases wishing that I knew how to drive as it would be a bugger to get all these home.

Another reason that people give me is that it’s the ultimate freedom. That if I was ever bored at home or with whatever situation I am current in, that I could just grabs my car keys and drive to any place your heart – and the road- can take you. The funny thing about this is that it usually comes from people who most likely have never left the state let alone the country. Whereas I have travelled almost all over the world and even had the opportunity to not only see but touch the amazing pyramids of Egypt!
My usual response though, is that my multipass ticket of allows me to catch whichever bus, train and ferry that I desire and go wherever I want to go. The even amazing thing about this wonderful ticket of mine is that not only do I not have to stop for petrol, but I also do not have to worry about traffic, idiots on the road who do not know how to drive and also many other countless things drivers complain about.

It is almost as if that learning and being able to drive or have a licence is part of a cult, which they quickly want to add more members to, so that everyone else can join in and complain about. Petrol prices, cost of insurance, registration, toll prices, bank repayments, and mechanic fees which it seems that a majority of people do not really know what they are being charged for, but will not only happily pay their mechanic (with a bit of a grumble), but feel it part of some invisible terms and condition clause that they must moan about for the next several weeks.
While they do all this, I am more than happy to catch public transport. The only real worry that I have is making sure that I am at the bus stop/train station a little early, finding a seat (which honestly doesn’t concern me), and what is going to be my entertainment for the 45 minute train ride to the CBD. A book to read? MP3 or MP4 player? Or what I love to call ‘entertainment’ within the train itself (though honestly that’s more for the evening journey home).

When I was confronted with the question “Why don’t you drive?” I’d try many excuses that I could think of. It’s environmentally friendly. I get to meet a lot of people on the train. It gives me time to unwind after a very long day at work. I have no need for it right now. None of these reasons were ever good. I have now simply decided to say the truth. That I don’t drive, because I choose not to.
I have always had the usual response that I will regret it when I am older. I am now in my 30s and my response still is, “Well when I start complaining about the whole driving matter, feel free to tell me ‘I told you so.’ Until then, leave me be.”

The usual misconception from everyone is that I either hate or fear driving. This is the furthest thing from the truth. I do not hate driving, nor do I hate people who do drive. Though I will admit that I do dislike seeing people who drink and drive and have total disregard for their fellow man. But honestly, you confront these type of behaviour no matter where you go, and whether it is behind the wheel of a car or within public transport you cannot escape people who do not think about the consequences of their actions.
I also do not fear driving, as I had been learning for almost a year. I just didn’t like that fact that I was trapped in metal box, alone with only the radio for company. Whereas on public transport, I am completely surround by everyday people, and my on the rare chance will bump into someone I know and start a conversation with them in the journey.

I can honestly say the one thing that I will not be doing on my journey to work, is be in the bumper to bumper traffic, yelling at someone who has just cut me off, be a victim of road rage, or be rear ended by some idiot who didn’t look where they were going. This would mean that I would have to pull over and exchange insurance details, to only find out they don’t have insurance.

So while all your drivers out there give me that little smirk about the fact that I do not know how to drive, I will also most likely be the one who will be at the shopping centre or concert on time, because you’re all too busy looking for a parking space. Now if you excuse me I wrote this on the train home, and would like to go back to reading my book.

Beware of Hackers!

I’m sure all of us at one point or another purchased something with our savings or credit card, and before the words APPROVED flashed up on our screen have said a little prayer to ourselves (or crossed our fingers) in hopes that it all went through OK. This usually happens because we hope that there are funds within the account. For some people this is usually because we have over spent, or for some unfortunate people, because they have been a victim of hacking. If you haven’t been a victim of hacking, then we all know someone who has.

We can be careful all we want, but the reality is that it is real, and that you won’t be aware of when it happens as it could happen to anyone of us any day. Unfortunately for most people that this happens to, don’t realise how major this issue is until it does happen. Not only do you lose whatever funds are left within your account, but they can continue taking that money until your account is frozen. They can also steal other details from you – personal details – like your driver’s licence and then you will also become a victim of identity theft. Honestly, as scary as this may all seem, it is really only the tip of the iceberg. Stolen identity, loss of funds, anything that you use your computer for hacked into. Even your Facebook page, and your email will be view and maybe even your password changed so the humour and entertainment of hackers.

There are many ways that these types of thieves or hackers and access this type of information first. The most common is an email. They will pretend to be your bank, your internet provider, phone companies and many other companies saying that they need to upgrade their information for ‘security purposes’. They will even make everything look authentic. Big logos, signature at the bottom, official stamps... the list goes on. If you receive an email asking for anything personal, do not reply to it. If you think it actually may be your bank trying to contact you, the best advice I can give you is to call your bank, phone company etc directly and ask them about the email that you received. It is better to double check, then to regret it all later.

The other most common way people hack into your computer, is through pop up screens. If you do not know what a pop up screen is, it is just simple a screen that pops up when you click on a link. It will usually mention something like you are the 100th visitor today and you have won an iPad. I’m sure we all had drilled into our brains, if it is too good to be true it usually is. This is one of those examples. I can guarantee you, with any advertisement, pop up, or email that you receive (sometimes a phone call or a text message too) saying you have won something and you know for a fact you’ve never entered any competition, you haven’t won anything. This is just another way some people will try and get information from you. And you don’t even have to provide them with information, all these emails etc will do is give the hackers access to your computer and that’s all that they need to gain information of you.

The third most common way is through a phone call. Usually mentioning that they are from a marketing company trying to find out some information. Lately I have heard of people being contacted saying that they are from a telco company or even a PC expert claiming that they are aware that you have a virus on your own computer, and if you just give them your credit card information of even give them access to computer they will be able to fix this for you. Unless you have someone within your house or someone that you know who repairs computers, just hang up the phone when you receive one of these calls.

And the last example I can give you of people trying to gain your personally information are from door knockers themselves. Now I’m not saying that all sales people who door knock are frauds, but some of them are. I personally have had twice someone knock on my door claiming to be part of the electricity company and all they want me to do is sign a form. When I question the man more about this form he was very vague. When I asked which electricity company he represented, he said all of them. He tried to explain to me that the government had just passed a law that everyone can receive a high discount off their electricity bill but in order for the government to give this discount everyone had to sign a form. Strange huh? In the end I ended up finding out he was from a competing electricity company trying to get me to switch.

I can give you all the advice in the world, but the only one major advice that I can give to everyone is that if you have a bad feeling about it, don’t go through with it. If it looks like a dodgy email or the person on the phone doesn’t sound all that truthful, delete the email or hang up the phone. It’s OK to have bad manners sometimes, especially when you are trying to protect yourself and also your family. If you’ve also have had the unfortunate experience of being a victim of hacking, warn your friends, and let people know. The more we are all aware of the different types of dangers out there, the more we can all be prepared.

Politics - Why is it such a headache!

Back in November 2007, when Australia had a Federal election. It was between John Howard and Kevin Rudd. I’m not really in to politics, and to be honest half of the time I really do not know what they are going on about. In my opinion no matter who you vote for, they are all no good liars and really not worth my time.

Now personally, the vibe that I was getting during that time is that a lot of people were just sick and tired of all the false promises that John Howard from the Liberal party were telling us for years. I cannot recall all the promises at the time John Howard were making, but I do recall that when it was time to vote Kevin Rudd would be getting mine, as I thought Australia needed a change for the better. It also seemed at the time that this wasn’t just my opinion either. A lot of people really wanted a changed and just felt that Liberal had been in power for way too long and we needed a Labor government.

For years John Howard seem to me that kid in school who didn’t really have any friends but wanted to hang around the cool kids and be their lap dog. I always use to find it funny every time that John Howard was next to George W. Bush; he always seemed really giddy that here he was getting media attention next to the ‘cool kid’. Until both stood next to Tony Blair, and it would seem to me that Tony would give a shake of his head and roll his eyes every time he would see them two together.

Not long after Kevin Rudd was elected, all the promises he had made during his campaign didn’t seem as though they were going to happen. The fibre optics internet network which he had promised during his campaign? Well he had approached Telstra about it and told them that they would have the governments support, they basically shut the door in his face and said no. So it seemed as though not matter how hard he was trying he didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

People who had seemed to have voted for Kevin Rudd where now stating that they had voted for John Howard and telling people off for electing him in the first place. I still remember Facebook lit up by various comments from people bad mouthing Kevin Rudd and I sat there thinking, ‘I’m pretty sure we I scroll through the older posts I would find a “Hooray Kevin 07!” in there somewhere.’

In August 2010 things started to hit the fan. I wasn’t in the country at the time, but all I remember is an election happening while I was overseas, and next thing we knew Australia had a female Prime Minister. There was talk at the time that Julia Gilard had stabbed Kevin Rudd in the back and basically took the seat from him. Australia was proud once again to have their first female Prime Minister and we were all ready for a change once more.

Time and time against since that August day, Julia was either saying or doing something wrong. Commenting on how she doesn’t like kids during a speech for education, or going on about not believing in god despite growing up in the Baptist Church. She even gave a grant to schools to build new halls when a large majority either didn’t have the room for the new building or their old halls were fine as it is. Now I’m not going to list all the major flaws that Julia has done, but just like Kevin Rudd things all seem to be going from bad to worse.

When Julia became Prime Minister, she made Kevin Rudd foreign minister. Not something that I would see Kevin Rudd doing, but even with a knife in his back he seem to be doing an OK job. Mostly due to Julia constantly stuff up; nobody wanted to know about poor Rudd anymore. He has now resigned as Foreign Minister which apparently means he can now go for the Prime Minister seat.

I do not know the whole mechanics of it, and frankly I do not want to. Now this is the part that completely amazes me. Since it now seems with all of Julia’s stuff ups, Kevin Rudd may be back in the big seat as Prime Minister. After everything he has gone through, it seems as though that Kevin Rudd is getting the popularity vote.

Have people finally lost it? Has the world really gone mad? I mean, back in 2007 everyone wanted him, when he stuff up a lot of people were cursing the name Rudd. Now that we’ve had Julia for just over a year they now want him back? Like I said before, all politicians lie and it’s really hard to choose the lesser of the two evils when choosing Labor or Liberal. But do we all really want Kevin Rudd back in power? Will Julia steal his seat once again when he does become Prime Minister? Who knows? This is one of the many reasons why I do not like politics; no one ever is honest with anyone.

So I finally had my little vent, as I’m sure it’s driving a lot of people in Australia a bit mental as well. What does everyone else think of this? Is this whole feud between Gilard and Rudd completely nonsense, or do you think that it’s about time that Rudd have the spotlight once again?

Smell The Roses

In January 2007, the world famous violin player Joshua Bell played as a street musician in front of morning commuters within a metro station in Washington DC. He played wonderful and very complex pieces on his violin which is worth over $3.5 million, and hardly anyone noticed. Even though just a few days prior he had performed within a Boston theatre, where the average selling price was about $100. He only made $32 from his performance within the subway.

Only a few people stopped to have a quick listen before quickly rushing away, many others completely ignore the man entirely. Some stopped to listen for a few minutes and gave a tip; others just threw in a tip without even stopping. This is a man who sells out theatre so people can go for a couple of hours to listen to his music paying at least $100, yet no one really had the time to stop and listen to this wonderful music while everyone was rushing to work or wherever they were headed that day.

I’m not sure if many of you are aware of this but on Saturday night (Sunday morning) at about 2:30am there was a lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes behind the earth so that the earth blocks the sun rays from striking the moon. All three have to be perfectly aligned. When this happened the moon turns red, and can be viewed perfectly with the naked eye without any harm. It was an event that I’m always excited to see. Within the weather we’ve been having all week, I was also very optimistic that I will get to view it. Which I did. I stayed up all night watching this fantastic show that nature had to offer.

The next morning I went to buy the paper thinking since most of the east coast of Australia had a fantastic view that it would at least made the front page. I was completely wrong. The major news the next day was about a Home and Away star that was arrested for domestic violence. The even funnier thing? I check the whole newspaper and it didn’t even get a mention, let alone a photo of the event.

Nature has amazing and beautiful scenes to offer us each and every day, how many of us actually take the time to notice it? I recall the first week that I worked within the CBD. Since it was darker a lot sooner I would take my time walking back to the station within the city, and just looking up and seeing all the lights and tall buildings would take my breath away. Even now in summer when I get home (and it isn’t overcast), the sun setting is such a wonderful sight.

Have you walk around your neighbourhood lately? The other day I got to see a bunch of wild birds all having a bath within a puddle. There were at least 20 of them washing themselves. There’s a bunch of people fighting to preserve nature. They are out there every day trying to find donations and at the moment against the whale killers. We’ve now been taught to recycle everyday, cut down on our use on electricity, and to use more biodegradable items. Why are we doing all of this for if we can’t even take the time to appreciate it all? I can guarantee you that if you stopped for a moment just one day and really paid attention to your surroundings, you’ll find something around you that is amazing. Even if it is as simple as a rainbow after the rain or a bird flying through the air on a clear day.

Say No To Bullying

Bullying. Wikipedia mentions that “bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.” So basically no matter which way you look at it, bullying is a type assault. Whether that is verbal or psychical.
Throughout our lifetimes, each one of us will experience different types of bullying. Whether it will be at school, at home, work or in public. Some not as extreme as others, but still bullying nonetheless.

The past decade, it seems as though bullying is on the rise. Whether that is because a lot more people are speaking out about it, or because it is actually on the increase is hard to say. A lot of close friends of mine admit that they have been bullied as a child and if they were ever to run to their teachers or parents about being bullied, they were told to fight back especially if they were male.

The one thing that a lot of people seem to forget, that bullying doesn’t end when you finish school. It continues throughout your adulthood as well. So if you’re just waiting and praying for that day when you finish school so it will end. It doesn’t. It’s now your bosses, your co-workers, people you meet on the street and sometimes even family members. It happens everywhere. Whether face to face, or through emails, text messages, phone calls, you name it.

Now I’m not mentioning this to give people a scare. I just want to point out that this is life. Bad things happen, we move on and things become great. Until another bad thing happens. It will seem like it is the end of the world and that you cannot live any longer. But it will get better, it always does. Moving on when something bad happens, can only make us strong people.

I learnt from a young age that the reason why most people bully other people is because they feel threatened by someone’s accomplishments, they don’t understand another person’s difference, or that they are in fact being bullied. So just to appear stronger, they will pick on another person to make themselves feel better and tough. So it really has nothing to do with you at all. There is nothing about you that the bully doesn’t like or hate. It is in fact the bullies hate themselves and take it out on other people.

To me bullying isn’t the worst thing that can happen. The worst is when you actually start to believe what the bully tells you. If they tell you that you’re worthless, or ugly, and other insults and you start to believe the lies, then to me the bully has won. If you walk away, voice your opinion and stand tall, then no one can harm you. I’m not asking people to fight back with their fists, just be more confident in who you are as a person, stand up for yourself, and you’re already ten steps ahead of everyone else. Violence of any kind if never the answer.

If you know of a person that is being picked on and bullied, the worst thing you can do as a human being is to stand by and let it happen. Bullying, wherever it may happen needs to end. We need to stand up for one another and report it when it happens. Just because you may see someone picking on one person, doesn’t mean it stops there. A person who bullies people within the work place may even go home and bully their family. It’s a never ending cycle. This is why we have to stop the cycle continuing.

If you are being severely picked on, always remember that there will be people who you can talk to about it. It can be your neighbour, a friend, a family member, a teacher or a work colleague. There will always be someone who you can talk to about it. Everyone at some point in their lifetime has been picked on, so anyone who says that they haven’t is lying. Even celebrities get it all the time, except their verbal bullying is a little more public than others. Remember Elton John and Lilly Allen at the GQ awards? Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump never miss an opportunity to call out abuse at the other person.

Doing nothing about the whole situation, makes the problem even worse. So remember, there will always people you can talk to about what is happening. The best websites to visit to find out more information is http://au.reachout.com/. This website contains blogs of actual people about their experiences and who you can contact. It is even for people who are being bullied within the workplace. http://www.bullyingnoway.com.au/talkout/faqs/default.shtml is another website you can visit, though this is more aimed at children who are being bullied at school.

I’ll leave you with a link to a YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg&feature=share video that I was show the other day. I won’t go into too much detail about this video, but it is about a young boy who has been picked on all his life. He doesn’t understand why he has been singled out or what he can do about it. It’s a very heartbreak yet very powerful clip that I suggest everyone who has a couple of minutes to please watch and take note.

How do you like those Apples?

My closest friends and family will always know one thing about me. I don’t like Apple products. Well... maybe more like despise Apple products. I’m tired of people who do love Apple products showing me what the latest Apple product can do. Especially since most people who will approach me about what the latest Apple product can do think it’s actually new, when in fact it is only new to an Apple product.

Since I haven’t liked Apple products for many years (mostly when the first iPod was released), that I need to explain myself. As a lot of people do not understand why I do not like these products. So for everyone today, I will explain the reasons why I do not like Apple.

The Fans: These fans of Apple are the craziest people I have ever met. To me they come close to Twilight fans. They live and breathe Apple products and will always buy Apple products. Every little thing that their new Apple product can do, they seem as though it is the best thing in the world.

Intangible: New movie coming out? Don’t worry about buying the DVD; let’s buy it from the Apple Store. New album released from your favourite band? Let’s buy it from the Apple store. It makes me sick. When I buy a movie or an album, I like holding the item which I’ve just purchased. So basically I like the product which I’ve just bought to be tangible. The product I just bought is faulty? Let me grab that receipt and go back to the store where I purchased it and get a refund or exchange.

Product placements: It seems as though every movie, music video or TV show that is released will always have that perfect shot of an Apple product. It’s not subtle either. It’s a close up view of the item with the logo in plain view, and it will always be the main item. Music video? The apple product will be controlling the music within that video. Movie? It’s what saves the day. I’m pretty sure if the iPhone or iPad was invented back in 1996, it would have been an Apple product that saved the world in the movie Independence Day, not a laptop.

Just give us all your money: I understand that Apple products have their own design which everyone is so very proud of (even though when it is re-released the design never changes). But do you really have to charge an arm and a leg for all your items? They even charge more for Microsoft Office for Macs even more then what Microsoft is charging for it.

Ever been inside an Apple store lately? I’ll guarantee you everything within that store is more expensive than other stores are selling the exact same item. Seriously, paying around $30.00 for a movie, when all you get is the data which you’ve downloaded? If your PC dies, gets stolen, or just get old, that movie or song which you downloaded cannot be sold within a garage sale or through eBay. If you don’t want that movie anymore, you just have to delete it to make room for the other items on your computer.

Image: The image that Apple likes to portray about their items is that when you purchase their items your whole social life will explode, and you’ll be such a socialite that you can’t ever remember life ever been boring and dull. I do release that a lot of products do this, so I won’t be too harsh on Apple for this reason.

No competition: With the image that Apple portrays itself with its ‘exciting and revolutionary’ products, a lot of consumers believe in this hype and do in fact buy a lot of their products. Funnily enough even if the new product which was released just has one new feature that the older product.

But because of all this hype, with a lot of consumers actually buying their products it makes it all bad for all the little companies who unfortunately have to compete in this market. With everyone buying iPods, iPod shuffle, and the iPod Touch, all other multimedia players out there get shifted to the back shelf and don’t have a chance at all.

The best example that I can give you of this, is for a while now I've been thinking of purchasing a tablet computer. Mostly due to the 2 hour train ride I do every day, there is only certain amount of books I can read when I decide I need a bit of a change. Then I realized that a tablet computer was probably a bit too much just to watch a movie or a TV show on the way to or from work, and that a multimedia player would not only save me a lot of money, it is technically what I was looking for anyways.

Every store that I went to asking for the item, pointed me in the direction of the iPad or the iPod touch. They didn’t have any item out there. Not even for a simple MP3 player or an MP4 player. If I just wanted an MP3 player, then I would have to buy an Apple product, especially for an MP4 player. Mind you I did find one store which sells the item which I’m looking for and I will be going back to purchase that item. Isn’t it very sad that there is no range at all?

Ok I’ve had my rant. Keep in mind that I am not jumping up and down and saying Microsoft is better. I know that there is a whole variety of items out there which one type of product is a lot better than another, but I love having that choice. When you have a large freedom of selection to choose from, it is up to you – the consumer – to decide which item is more suited to your needs. When that selection comes down to either one or two items or nil, you really don’t have a freedom of choice. Unless you’re stuck with the illusion of choice. This just means you think you have a selection, when in fact it is one Apple product or another.

If I had just one favour I could ask people who do go out and buy these products, it’s just to take a moment and think before you purchase that next Apple product. Are you only purchasing it because it has what you need, or are you only purchasing the item because it is what everyone else is buying, and it’s just another fashion accessory.

Give Kyle the kick!

Well who'd a thunk it? Everybody in the whole wide universe is the answer. Kyle is in the media once again and this time it hasn’t even been two months since the last time he was appearing everywhere within the media. This time it’s for his comments against news.com.au reporter Alison Stephenson. She wrote an article about Kyle and Jackie’s new show called ‘A night with the stars.’She mentioned that within minutes of the anticipated program it all fell apart. Despite mainly focusing on just the bad twitter comments about this show, she did have something good to add about it. That as bad as the show was, maybe this type of entertainment is exactly what the fans of the Kyle and Jackie O show actually wanted to see. And above all that, she praised how they have the ability to pull in top major stars.

Kyle’s reaction to the news article? “Some fat slag on the Telegraph website, sorry, news.com.au, has already branded it a disaster. You can tell by reading the article she just hates us. What a fat bitter thing you are. You’ve got a nothing job anyway. You’re a piece of shit." What a very mature thing to say. Not. Many famous people have been back lashed within the media over decades and have just ignored a lot of the comments they hear about them. But Kyle has to come out swinging, saying that it his right as an Australian to defend comments made about himself. If he isn’t stirring up trouble all on his own, it’s his reaction to something someone has said about him.

The amazing thing is that the media and many people call him a shock jock. Maybe they should look up the definition of the word. The dictionary has the definition of shock jock as: “A disc jockey on a talk-radio show who expresses opinions in a deliberately offensive or provocative way.” Expresses opinions! If that is what Kyle is doing, then a lot of men and women who are dragged to courts for verbal abuse due to domestic violence can get off scot free because all they did was expressed their opinion. Face it Kyle. You got ticked off that someone had the guts to write about how they didn’t like your show and it made you mad.

When is the media going to learn that this guy is nothing but a hypocrite and kick him off the air for good? I don’t see him doing any good. He was brought into Big Brother because it was losing ratings in hopes to pick up more viewers, and it made the show worse. He was brought in to Australian Idol and the same thing happen. So the media decides to give him his own show? Very clever people working behind that train of thought there.

Because of his comments live on air, a lot of the top sponsors are coming out of the woodworks and withdrawing from sponsoring not only the TV show, but also the radio show as well. Basically to cover their own arse. Holden released a statement not long after Kyle’s rant on air saying, "Recent comments made on the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast Show do not in any way reflect the views or opinions of Holden and we are very disappointed to hear Kyle's personal attack on a journalist. We believe the show is no longer in line with Holden's core values and as a result we have taken action to withdraw our sponsorship of the program, effective immediately."

Now a lot of his fans are coming out saying this is just another way for the media to get back at him, and that this whole thing is blown out of proportion. One fan even suggested that “It’s funny how everything is one sided with the media,” and that news reporter Alison, “obviously just wanted to make a good story and didn’t care about, at what cost.” What a complete joke. I’m guessing this poor fan didn’t read the article that Alison wrote, and only got his facts from Kyle’s radio. If this fan of his had any sense at all, they really should have read the article and notice that the only feedback that Alison wrote are from the twitter fans who were watching the show.

As usual, Jackie is taking Kyle’s side and defending him. Saying that “you treat women here, with nothing but the most respect.” Come on Jackie. This isn’t the first time that Kyle treated women like crap. Remember the incident where he strapped a 14 year old to a lie detector to ask her questions about her sexuality to only find out that she was raped? And they still needed a producer to whisper into Jackie’s air that maybe they should stop asking questions!

Face it Kyle. You’re not a has-been, you were nothing to begin with. You’re just an attention seeker trying anything and everything to get their name in the paper. Well guess what, this time it has come back to bite you, and this time the wounds haven’t healed before you’ve decided to get your name in the press once more. Hopefully this time you’re actually kicked off for good, and will actually learn to grow up and act mature for once and take responsibility for your own actions.



Article about the so called love child:
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/kyle-sandilands-and-jackie-o-discuss-his-secret-love-child-on-air/story-fn907478-1226159961642
Article the Alison Stephenson wrote:
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/kyle-sandilands-and-jackie-os-television-show-a-disaster/story-e6frfmyi-1226201928254.

Eat an apple a day, to remove the doctor altogether.

How would it feel if you, a friend, or even a family member was being bullied at school or even in the workplace because you were overweight? Not a very pleasant experience for those who go through it, or at least see this type of thing happen almost every day. Now, how would you feel if your own government thought you were overweight, because it was now considered illegal to be overweight? And not just obesely overweight, but overweight to what the government considered to be overweight?

Since September 2009, it is now illegal to be overweight in Japan. For men, if you are over the age of 40 you must have a waistline of 85 centimetres (33.5 inches). For women it’s 90 centimetres (35.4 inches). Now according to this law if you are found out to be overweight, you must undergo counselling. If companies do not reduce the number of overweight employees by 25 percent by the year 2015, they could pay more money into a healthcare program for the elderly.

Now I’m all for companies being involved for their employees to be fit and healthy and to introduce it within the daily work routine. Especially within an office environment. When you’ve hardly move from your desk all day getting up to go for a walk when you’ve been staring at a screen all day is an amazing feeling. You don’t even have to go for a large walk. Just to feel some fresh air makes you feel good. What I don’t like is that the government decided to step in and make it illegal. Illegal? Really? Why does it have to be illegal? Couldn’t they just pass a law to make it part of the work routine to do some exercise?

Even in most countries throughout the world if a child is obese, it is now considered child abuse and the parents could either be given a fine or have their child taken away from them due to ‘neglect’. Even the teachers have to report any child who is overweight to the authorities. Has it really come down to this? Can you just imagine how the child feels for being overweight? The poor child most likely gets picked on at school. Now they have to make the parents feel awful because their son or daughter is on the heavy side.

I’m honestly happy in a way that there are things in place to get us to move and to lose weight and make us healthy. It just seems a little drastic to me. Instead of making it illegal to be overweight or shaming the parents because their child is overweight, why not limit the amount of fast food places within a certain distance. Like maybe not have two or three McDonalds within viewing distance of each other, and have them a lot further apart. Or maybe within a shopping centre, allow the limit of maybe one or two fast food places and the rest health food stores. Or just simply do not allow major fast food chains to have such fatty foods. Just allow us to make this choice on our own, don’t make it illegal. Or even simpler enough, make healthy food cheaper! For the same price I could buy a sandwich, I could get a large Big Mac meal and that comes with a drink! I know it isn’t good for me, but if I am on a budget, I’d rather have fast food than to starve because healthy food can be expensive.

Now in places like Japan and China, everyone knows that population is one of the major problems in these countries. Honestly, population seems to be a major factor throughout the world and not only just these countries. So if the world is becoming too overcrowded, and obesity is considered one of the major killers next to cancer why make it a concern? Especially when doctors believe that living unhealthy is considered a form of suicide.

I find it funny how everyone is told to eat and be healthy when Australia is considered the second fattest country next to the USA. Yet, we’ve been getting older and older each year. It is believed that we will be living longer lives, and a child that is born this year could live to be 150 years old.

What does being healthy even really mean? Does it mean being a certain weight? Exercising and eating right? I’m sure it means all these things. We all at least know one person who does eat healthy, they may not exercise frequently due to an injury, and they cannot keep their weight down. I love a good conspiracy theory, so the little part of me that tends to not believe when the government is trying to help me, thinks there may be a secret agenda. But that’s just me thinking the government doesn’t do something for a reason and not just for the good of the people.

Why is it when something is increasing throughout the world, instead of moderating it we either have to remove it completely, make it illegal or put a tax on it? Whatever happened to freedom of choosing for ourselves and letting us pay for the consequences of what we decide to do? It’s like smoking in a way, we all know it’s bad for you, we all know that it does damage to us and can kill us, but there is still many people who still smoke. You can put all the taxes on it that you want and make the thing illegal, there will still be people who smoke.

What is going to happen next? We all live in a world where everyone is fit and healthy? If history is any example to anything, a lot of people have tried that in the past and it didn’t work out. Or maybe is this a way to remove healthcare altogether? Who knows what the real agenda is, or if there is any at all. All I know is that when something seems too good to be true, it tends to be no good at all.

What a child wants is not really what they need

I’m sure most of us have heard by now about the lesbian couple who have started hormone treatment on their adopted son from the age of eight, as they and he always knew he wanted to be a girl. If you haven’t read this story, and do want to read all about it you can find about it all here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043345/The-California-boy-11-undergoing-hormone-blocking-treatment.html.

Now apart from the fact that an eight year old boy has said that he has always wanted to be a girl, both his parents are letting him go through with this choice, and an actual doctor going through with the whole procedure. There is only one thing about this whole story that really makes me sick to my stomach. It is that people who have read or heard about this story have been responding in two ways. 1. This is what you get when gay couples are allowed to adopt, or 2. This is why gay people shouldn’t get married. Now some people whom I’ve talked to about this story have not had this answer, I admit. But it has been surprising how many people have responded in this fashion.

Saying that the couple is going ahead with this because of their sexual orientation is just plain stupid. This is one of the reasons when I hear something happen on the news and they either point out their religion, where they are from or their sexual orientation makes me mad. None of these things have anything to do with the choices we all make as individuals. Saying this is happening because they are gay is just as stupid as someone would point out that they dye their hair. It has nothing to do with the choice they make each and every day. You may as well point out the colour of their hair, the shoes that they wear or what car they drive.

All three adults (the couple and the doctor) make me sick to my stomach for even considering going ahead with this whole sex change. I have no idea how much they are paying this doctor, but I have a gut feeling this was probably not the first doctor they went to see. The amazing thing is that within the interview Debra (one of ‘Tammy’s parents) mentions to recall back to when each of us where either the age of three or four or think about what we were. ‘Where you a boy because you look like a boy, or were you a boy because that’s how you felt you were?” Now I’m sure I can speak about a lot of us here, but when I was a kid of the age of three or four I didn’t really spend much time thinking about what I was in gender. As a matter of fact I was most of a tomboy when I was a kid. I loved playing with cars, running and climbing trees (if that’s what you want to clarify what young boys do) but I didn’t think of it as being a boy, I thought it was fun and it’s what I wanted to do.

And where are child services in this whole story anyway? I know the kid wants to go through with it and all, but this has to be some sort of abuse in one way or another...right? I swear this whole thing really doesn’t make any sense at all. I’m sure we’ll be hearing in about 5 years time some Women’s Day spread about some boys horrid mistake when he was eight and now wishes to turn back but can’t.

When each of us tries and think back to when we were all eight, I’m pretty sure what I wanted at the time was not the right choice. My brother wanted to be just like the boy who could fly (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090768/) and I wanted to be a Ghostbuster (still want to... sort of). How about waiting until this kid is a little older and can make this decision all on his own. Adults who actually want to go through with the surgery have to go through a whole psychological process, to make sure that the final decision they make is the right one.

Where are the people standing up for this little kid? Come on, I’m pretty sure if you sat the kid down and said to him, “Ok, I know this is what you think you want to do right now, I respect that. But this is a decision that will impact the rest of your life. And if in the future you realized you’ve made a mistake and want to turn back, it’s going to be even harder later on. How about waiting a few more years when you’ve actually experienced life a little more and you’re able to make this decision as an adult?” Or just one simple theory that I have, say NO! What happened to saying no to a kid who wants something? Have everyone become soft?

In the end if the government, the doctors, the family aren’t stepping in and doing something to stop this, what has the rest of the world have a chance on when someone else think the idiotic idea that they’ve come up with and no one stops them and say hey... you’re an idiot. Honestly, I think with stories like this is why shows like Jerry Springer will be on the air forever.

Manners. They really do cost you nothing.

When I was a child, my parents never really use to drill using manners into me. My mother did the usual, “Say please,” “Where’s my thank you?” that sort of thing. Though believe it or not I could tell if what I had done something wrong. Mostly due to a look my father would give me. I never got hit by my parents, but the look my dad use to give me when I did something wrong, could send chills down your spine even if it was the hottest day.

I cannot recall how I actually did pick up being polite constantly. Maybe somewhere along the line it was constantly drilled to me, but I don’t think so. I honestly think it’s because my mother kept at it so often that it became a natural thing for me. To this day, it’s very rare that I do not thank anyone for the slightest thing or apologize when I did something wrong. Though the admitting I’ve done something wrong probably really comes from my favourite comedian Eddie Izzard. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RegxuU8NOhs)

But what really amazes me, is the lack of manners a lot of people do have. Now just because I say thank you and please quite often doesn’t mean that I expect a lot of other people to do the same. Though what I do expect is that if I am waiting for my coffee with about 20 other people, and one by one these people are called to collect that coffee and not one of those 20 people either give a nod or even a simple thank you to the person behind the counter who is stressing right about now because they have to serve everyone in this morning rush really shocks me. From what I’ve noticed just about every morning for the past 5 month, I have not seen one of these groups of people waiting for their coffee say thank you when they’ve received it.

Maybe I’m being a little too harsh or maybe it’s simply because I have worked in customer service for about 10 years, and I know what it is like to work behind a counter in a thankless job. I cannot explain it. Same thing when I catch the bus in the morning, everyone seems to rush off the bus without a simple thank you to the driver.

I think the sad think about all of this, is that we have to be reminded about using manners. On the bus there are signs to let people know to give up their seats to less mobile passengers. In the bathroom we have to be reminded to wash our hands before we leave the bathroom. Every day we have station announcers repeat for every train that rolls in to the station to step aside from the door and let the people get off the train first. The sad thing is? Even though we are reminded of this just about every day, we all know someone or give one person a dirty look within our minds when we see them going out of their way to ignore this simple politeness. Every morning and evening I see people crowded around the doors of the train without even stepping aside for a moment to let people off the train, and squeeze their way in. All because they want to quickly run in and grab a seat, even though they’ve probably have been sitting at their desk all day.

In schools it is taught to young children that they must share with the rest of the children and always use manners. These teachers have to make sure throughout the day that the children that they are teaching for that day/week/year uses manners while in a classroom. I think this is fantastic stuff, as no one is singled out and every – including the teachers – have to use them as well. The depressing thing about it all is that some, not all, parents do not continue to use this at home. The moment they are picked up from school whoever picks them up swears & shouts at their kid. So whatever manners they’ve learnt throughout the day is gone within that single moment.

People (not just kids) like to fit in with other people. It’s human of us to want to be accepted by our peers. And if our friends/family/co-workers aren’t being polite and using manners, then most people don’t stand out and just follow the rest of the crowed. Now this is probably the part where I would either blame the parents bringing up their kids or society. It’s the nature versus nurture debate I guess. In my opinion both of these things do come into play. In the end though, it is really our choice.

To me manners symbolize respect for one another. So not just people I know, but people that I interact with every day of my life. When I get my morning coffee handed to me I smile and say ‘Thank you,’ because I actually do appreciate the person who is behind that counter who has to serve dozens of people in the morning rush. When the bus I catch in the morning stops at the destination I wanted to go in, I thank the driver for getting me there safely. Most of all if I’ve had a bad day and someone that I know takes the time to listen to me vent while I just shake off whatever has been bothering me; I thank them for taking time to listen to me. As we’ve all been there when something has been bothering us, and all we really needed was someone to listen.

So I’m going to end this by saying thank you to each and everyone one of you. For those times when you helped someone and never got acknowledged. For the times when stayed back after work and never been told that they appreciate what you do. For the times when you were there for a friend who needed someone to talk to. And mostly for the times when you just needed to know that you do was great.

Thank you!

For Every Like This Gets, Someone Will Donate A Dollar!

We’ve all seen or at least know someone who posts these types of links or messages within our social media sites. Whether it is seen within our newsfeed or - that annoy me the most - ones that I receive within my message box on Facebook. One moment I’m excited to receive a message, the next I’m annoyed that the message I’ve received says if I do not send this message to at least 10 people in the next 5 minutes after reading this message, my phone is going to ring and it’ll be an axe murderer going to kill all the cute little innocent puppies in the world.

Chain letters, chain messages or chain emails as they are more commonly known as, has been around for a very long time – at least the 1930’s (not obviously the emails or text messages) when they were called luck letters. They usual pry on people’s good nature or just plain old superstition. Most of them are just laughable, but all of them are false. If you’re like me, you may have tried one or two just to give it a go to see what happened. Otherwise if you’re probably the 1% of the worlds civilized population you’re very clever not to fall victim to it or you’re part of the many people who actually start the thing to see how it takes off. Now I can tell you for certain that even though I’ve may have continued on a couple through my email, I have definitely deleted loads more.

Now chain letters etc are one thing, but it has become more and more frequent on social networking sites that hoaxes are just exploding. From the worlds smallest elephant fighting for its life (it’s actually a dead elephant foetus because its mother died); to Facebook charging for its usage (it mentions on the home page that it will always be free) and lastly to things like nails found in cheese in dog parks (the story originated this year in Argentina, there were no dogs harmed). I admit when you first come across these types of stories, your shocked, repulsed or at least shaking your head at these sorts of stories. Thankfully with websites like www.snoopes.com a lot of these stories can be proved on the spot whether if there is any truth behind it. To be honest most of the time a simple Google search would suffice to find out the truth behind it all.

Lately there has been a serious decline in the weird video link that I personally haven’t seen around for a while now, supposedly link you to videos of either a young girl being caught stripping on a webcam by her father, or some other really distasteful images. If some of you haven’t learnt by now, these are just one sneaky way someone has put up to put some kind of virus either on your computer or to hack into your Facebook account. Usually the one way to spot these kinds of fake links is if usually it is spammed on your newsfeed within Facebook. Or just a simple Google search would do.

Usually the best advice that I could give to anyone about any of these things (including weird ghost or horror stories), which seem to be on the rise as of late, is to use your common sense. And if for some reason you lack in the common sense department, at least ask someone you know who has some. Just a simple Google search about anything too good to be true will let you know the real story behind all of these. So at least it will not only protect you against viruses, but it will also protect your friends and family against them as well.


World’s smallest elephant - http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/prayer/elephant.asp
Ghost of three men and a baby - http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/3menbaby.asp
Munchkin’s Suicide on Wizard of Oz - http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/ozsuicide.asp

Slowly Turning Into Monkeys

A lot of scientists believe that we were all evolved from monkeys. I tend to disagree. I actually think we are all slowly turning into monkeys. This is mostly due to the fact that it seems that we as a species seem to be getting more and more stupid with each generation. With technology advancing at an amazing rate, it seems as though that this advanced technology is making us a lot dumber instead of making a lot of our lives faster and easier as it was intended.

People no longer remember phone numbers anymore, as we all have our mobile phones that store our friends and families names and their contact details. It’s not until we either lose our phone or it suddenly breaks down that we panic and message our friends/family on Facebook - or what other social media site we use - to message us with their contact details.

It’s gotten so bad, that we now have warning labels on the most obvious things which our common sense would have warned us to begin with. No hair dryer in the shower. No laptop in the bath. No running towards the closing doors of a train (you do realize that it’s not designed like an elevator door and won’t open when you stick out your arm/leg/body between those doors right?). Now a lot of people will say that these kinds of warning labels have been around since the mid 1970s. This is true. Keep in mind though, these kinds of warning labels wouldn’t be there if someone hadn’t actually tried and done these sorts of things and then tried to sue the company for not warning them of the dangers.

A friend of mine recently wrote a blog about a young girl who was recently found dead in her bedroom with a belt tied around her neck (http://bernd2acrisp.blogspot.com/2011/10/high-price-of-idiocy.html). She apparently was taking part of a new game called ‘choking’ (or space monkey). The definition I found on the internet regarding this game says that “they self-strangulate in order to achieve a brief high. The high is the result of oxygen rushing back to the brain after it's cut off by the practice of strangulation.” Now if you’re stupid enough to take part in this, even if it is the latest thing that a lot of people are taking part in, then I’m sorry to say you’d be part of the many people who already sign up for the Darwin Awards each year.

Maybe this all has something to do with reality TV shows like Jackass. We see videos all the time of people doing outrageous things which make us laugh because their acting so silly, but at the same time has a bit of appeal to it because they all look as though they are having so much fun. So some of us attempt to recreate what we see on these shows and they get badly injured in the process (if they are lucky).

Whatever the cause of all this, maybe some of us should watch out for that special friend of ours that will go that extra mile for attention. Make them realize that what they are about to do is the most stupidest idea ever, and that you’d rather make sure they have all their limbs attached then to see them doing something that they will either regret later, or one of the stories someone will be talking about at their funeral and warning other people about on the news.



(For those of you who do not know what the Darwin Awards are. Here is the link to the website to find out all the information about it: http://www.darwinawards.com/. Has a lot of stories about the weirdest thing that some people have done to end up ten feet below the ground.)

Qantas! You're grounded!

I, like thousands of other people, was affected by the weekend decision by Alan Joyce to ground all Qantas flights. I only was informed of the situation when I had already arrived at the airport and started to make my way through security. When I was stopped and asked to go to the customer service desk as Qantas had an announcement to make. I didn’t think much of it, as there wasn’t a big queue. Though there was a very big queue of people wanting to check their bags in manually. I honestly just though it was put on hold for a while, as it occurred to me with the lack of any Qantas staff that there might be an emergency meeting.

Within about half an hour of me arriving, all Qantas staff had return back to deal with (by now) hundreds of customers wanting to know what was going on. Thankfully I was only the 10^th person in the queue and made my way to a representative right away. I was immediately told of the situation, and also informed that there was arrangements for my accommodation for the night and my dinner and breakfast was already prepaid for at the hotel. Other than that, the Qantas rep had no idea what was going on, only that he was informed that all flights had been grounded till at least Monday. And even then he wasn’t aware what would happen next. At this point, I knew there was no point arguing with this guy, as I’m sure he was pretty shocked and confused like the rest of us. It’s moments like these that I am thankful that I have worked in the customer service industry for over 10 years, as I felt sorry for the guy who would have to deal with the angry customers which were waiting.

Now I was pretty lucky. It may not seem like it. But I was in Melbourne at the time, trying to get home to Sydney. It was a Saturday afternoon. But the main thing that was running through my mind was that I had to find a way to get home as I had work on Monday morning. I was just given free accommodation for the night, a free meal and free breakfast. Other people weren’t so lucky. Some had already checked in their bags and they had to wait to retrieve it from the plane. Others were heading off to Las Vegas for a big holiday when they were turned around. I went straight to my hotel room (which they let me right in, as they had already been informed of the situation) and knew that since all flights were most likely booked out, decided to catch the long train home the next day.

Now the thing that I find most interesting is that the unions were mostly asking that the crew of Jetstar have the same wages as the crew from Qantas, as well as fighting that the jobs of Qantas stay within Australia. So that includes everyone from the pilots to the ground crew. The way that the staff decided to protest was to walk off the job for an hour. Now this hour of protest isn’t randomly decided. It is organized a week advanced and basically Alan Joyce has the option of meeting what they are asking for, or they go on strike. For an hour. Yes this hour is costing Qantas a lot of money. But sometimes you need to take drastic action to get a result you want, or at least a compromise.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending the unions, I’m merely explaining the process. I don’t know how much they get paid, but what I do know is that if the Jetstar crew want the same pay as the mother company who basically does the same flights as them, then why not get the same wages? Qantas response to all this? They cannot increase their wages, because then they won’t be able to give cheap flights. The way that I see it, these people who are asking for an increase in their wage run the company. They are the ones who are doing the nitty gritty work and fixing the planes when there is a problem. And you want to pay them less?

The even funnier thing about all of this? Alan Joyce says a big fat no to a wage increase for his staff, but a big fat yes to his own 75% wage increase! He now earns $5 Million dollars per year. How is this at all making any sense? One moment he is complaining about the unions asking for too much of a wage increase, even though Qantas made over a double in profit last year of $250 Million dollars. Even though they were quick to say that they lost $200 Million with Qantas International. And the way Alan Joyce decides to solve all of this? Ground all Qantas flights all over the world for the next 48 hours. That’ll stop them protesting... for an hour! Not a very clever move I think. As not only are Qantas informing all their passengers who had tickets they will receive a refund of their ticket, but also $350 per day for accommodation and expenses. I’m sure that’ll do nothing to the net profit.

Is it just me, or could this all have been avoided by a little thing I like to call COMMUNICATION. What happened to sitting in a boardroom, discussing with the unions with what was fair for the staff? You know actually speaking with the people from the unions instead of using the media to do all the communicating for them. I honestly think that this would solve a lot of the protesting if some people were open to a little compromise instead of shifting the blame from one person to the next. Maybe Qantas should try it next time instead of treating their customers and staff badly by not only grounding the fleet for 48 hours, but by also threatening to shut out any worker who had been protesting from when they come into work on Monday.

Are we becoming what we hate?

For the past week, the main story that has hit news across the globe is mainly about the death of Gaddafi. How in the last hours of his life he spent hiding in two concrete sewers when he was spotted by former rebels who surrounded him. He was cornered while holding a gold-plated pistol, while he was apparently wounded and dazed. He then begged for his life before he was shot in the street. A graphic video was taken, showing how his body was dragged through the streets of Sirte and paraded around before a crowd which was celebrating his death in the nearby town of Misrata.

There are two things about this whole story which literally made me sick to my stomach. Now don’t get me wrong, I had no warm fuzzy feelings for this guy at all. Especially after what he did to his own people when they decided to stand up against him. He killed thousands of his own people, and I’m certain a lot of people believe he got what he deserved.

The first thing is which appalled me is how can anyone, after how they were treated by this mad man,  would want to hunt down and kill a human being who is begging for his life then drag his body through the streets. While filming it all! I mean, there is this guy who is on the run, because his own people want him dead. He has now had to resort to hiding in abandon buildings and sewers with his family and a couple of bodyguards because everyone wants him dead. And what do these people do? They treat him exactly the way he was treating his own people. Instead of letting him live in exile, or letting him rot in jail with the rest of the people who were defending him, these people resort to the one and only treatment they were standing against. Aren’t we better than that as a race? What happens when you kill the one thing that you hate, to suddenly realize that you or your country are now becoming the one thing you stood against?

The second thing that appalled me (and honestly I do not know which is the worst), is not only that they showed this video footage on peoples television screens at home, but pictures of the video were shown in newspapers as well. Come on seriously? We have people fighting against violence in games, and violence within movies and how they should have a proper rating system to protect people from these types of images. And what do we do? We show actual footage of an actual dead body being dragged through the streets while people are celebrating. This is not the first time it’s happened either. Early this year, when Osama was hunted down and killed they showed a picture of his face on the news of his dead body. Ok, I am aware that it ended up being a fake photo. But at the time, during the news when everyone is glued to the news to hear about the death of Osama the news presenter mentions ‘We don’t normally show photos of a dead person, but in this instance we’ll make an exception.’

So it’s ok to show videos and photos of dead people now? This is what we’re becoming? The news is always sad and depressing, and even for myself I cannot watch it on a daily basis because the news rarely shows anything good or heart-warming. I think it’s about time that a lot of us realize that if you want to stand up for freedom, you don’t follow the ways of the one thing you’re standing against.