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Asia TV: Australia Network
PM Gillard inherited a bad decision: to sell the Australia Network to a private operator for $223 mil over 10 years: especially with our limited media ownership. She had to undo it, and as fortune would have it, the tender system fell on it's sword. She can now cancel the whole deal, and have the government owned ABC run the show. Nothing against Rudd, but he sometimes made hasty decisions. Also, News Limited owned Foxtel had not quite revealed it's true colours back then. SP Putney 7/12/2011
Judge who jailed Matthew Ng for 13 years has form.
"Ms He is also presiding over a similar case involving a successful Australian business person, Charlotte Chou. Ms Chou's case involves similarly murky allegations that the Guangzhou judicial system and a Guangzhou vice-mayor have received huge bribes to keep her in jail, while her business partner takes control of the profitable private university she established." The Age, 6/12/2011
Equestrian ban for some Council parks
Logan City Council in Brisbane is considering banning horse riding in its 851 parks. This would be to the detriment of people living on acreage with horses, but now due to the "urban invasion" catching up with us have restricted riding space. It is not always safe to ride on roads today as there are too many inconsiderate and ignorant drivers who do not slow down or realise that the horserider has right of way. People move out on acreage for a more relaxed and roomy lifestyle, it is not our fault that progress catches up with us over time and we shouldn't to move out further and further just to pursue a relaxed and pleasurable hobby. Please consider your decision carefully Logan City Council as the results could change a lot of people's recreational lives.
Horselover
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
When are Australians going to stand up and say enough is enough?
We may vote our governments into power whoever they may be. It is doesn't matter what party that is because they are all the bloody same, with their election promises and offers of better things to come. But when things go wrong and they make stupid choices what are we Aussies going to do about it?
It's not enough that we send each other "chain" emails to tell one another about the millions spent on refugees whilst our own homeless and sick look for somewhere to sleep or for their next meal and our elderly or under-privileged die because they can't get medical attention.
It's not enough that we all bitch amongst ourselves and the news topic everyday is how the price of fuel is going up whilst we as tax payers continue to fork out for an organisation formed to control that sort of thing.
It's not enough that we stay at home because our streets are unsafe with gangs of ethnics wanting to exercise their beliefs and force them upon our way of life.
It's not enough that we sell up our homes and stop shopping in suburbs because it has been taken over by other races who rename streets and shops in their own language. Even clothes labels are in a foreign language and 'This is Australia?'
It's not enough that we struggle each week to pay our bills and buy our food and our pensioners who fought for this country have to go without whilst government officials give themselves pay increases.
It's not enough that we SEEK employment for jobs that are not here whilst Australian companies staff their departments with people IN another Country and we can't even understand them when we need some help.
It's not enough when Australians try to speak up and never heard and it's not enough that we do nothing about it except bitch about the same thing day in and day out.
Wake Up Australia. We have the power to stop this now!
I wasn't a racist last time I looked but the Australian Government is certainly driving us that way and it's time we took a stand! WE NEED TO REMIND THEM CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME! And ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Sue and Len
What does the future hold for each Australian?
My concern is this: Does anyone remember the $900 govt stimulus that was given to most Australians? The Rudd Government was loaned billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the Global Financial Crises (GFC). Dont "WE" Australains have to pay this money back? Dont forget the intrest! Theres is alot of hype concerning the European markets including the U.K. Don't you think Australia's market will crash? Intrest rates going up, people been forced to sell because they can't make repayments on their morgages. Water, Electricity, Gas, rates, food, everything seems to be going up. It seems to me each year things keep on getting worse! One could argue that its because of globolisation. That is true. Why are we excepting refugees, putting them up to stay in conditions that the baby boomers of this country would make their blood boil? The Rudd government wants to increase our population? I thought we dont have enough drinking water? "Decelination" thats right. Is the water currently safe to drink? I think not. I just did a Holistic lifestyle coach course. Think about this! Do you, people of Australia trust our government? If the answer is no, ask yourself, what we are being told, is it true or false. Governments do not care about our well being. Its time that our so called "Unions" get up from their desks, and demand a wage increase for the lower paid workers. How can they, most of the ex union officals are in parliment. Getting back to the refugees and population increasing. Great for business. A migrant can work for $15 dollars for example, i strongly beleive the mijority wont. What happens here. Our children of Australia have less opportunity, why, the migrants work for less, manufacturing companies profits increase further, and the governments allow this to occur, why, they dont care for your well being. What about the poor pensioner who receives around $350 a week. Didnt they pour their blood sweat and tears into this country? What a joke when the government talks about a "Fair Go". I gave Kevin Rudd a Fair Go when i voted the labor party in. John Howard on the other hand, if the Liberal party had not introduced WorkChoices, John Howard oviously would still be in power and what a great leader he was. My concern is Australia's debt is and will increase if a lot more, if the government continues to go the way its going. At the moment it seems to me that we are paying a heavy price on everything! I beleive living conditions for a lot of Australian families is stressful. No wonder why we have a high suicide rate in the world. We need to do something soon! Peter
Are Sailors Slaves?
Why is ok for the navy to make people work 16-18hrs a day day and even more on a constant basis while attached to a ship.. Bogey
Road Laws for Probabtionary Drivers in Australia
In Australia, there are different road rules for L- plate and P- plate Drivers in each state. This is really confusing for Learners and Probationary Drivers in Australia, specially the people living on the boarder of two states, because the rules differ in different states. The issue is that no one has made it clear to what law we need to abide by; is it what is stated on your licences or do drivers obey rules that occur to that particular state? Such as in Victoria, P1 drivers have passenger restrictions all the time and no speed restrictions, however in New South Wales, they have a set 90km/h speed limit and passenger restrictions between 11pm ? 5am. So when New South Wales drivers' drives over the boarder to Victoria, what rules do they obey. Do they still need to travel at 90km/h and have restrictions in particular times?
Please answer this question as I'm very confused. S. Skehan
50 years of television
50 years of television. Who has decided we want reality TV to dominate our evening viewing, who cares about Australia's fattest losers, and what's going on with news and current affairs shows treating us like complete idiots. For years and years they have been regurgitating the same old stories, did you know for example that a diet including lean meat and fresh fruit and vegetables, and regular exercise will result in weight loss! Did you know that it you buy your groceries at 3 different supermarkets the total cost at each store will be different?? TV stations should show reruns of Gilligan's Island and the Brady Bunch like they used to until they have something worthwhile to offer the public. I cannot believe that after 50 years of television how hard it is to find anything worth watching. Mr B
Cigarette tax hike by "exited" Sounds fair
There is no doubt that this tax will help KRudd pay for the mess he has made.
But it does not go far enough & smokers should not be left to pay for this alone.
Fat people are also a massive drain on our health system and I dont see why ba smoker should pay for a fat guy to get a new heart.
We could tax them by the kilo perhaps. Or work it out on Body mass index. or maybee we just tax cream buns.
You now its true.
Too Right Phil (RE More Money for Students)
Too bloody right mate... What happened to the days when uni students were "Working" afterhours to earn their tuition...??? Nowdays all you see is most of them pissed and/or stoned off their faces, sometimes even during "school hours"... I'm sure any Government would allocate a higher tax free threshhold or other tax concessions for uni students, if approached in a propper manner. As it is, the government loans the tuition to uni students, with interest free payback over what, 5 years ???. So, Get To Work Boys and Girls and stop whinging... Peter J... NSW
Sydney's most popular shlock-jock, Alan Jones, "has no idea"... He regales his red-neck audience every morning with an anti-government tirade, huffing and puffing about the problem of illegal immigrants. The "Rudd-Government" (as he calls the Federal Labor Party) is pulling refugees from across the seas with their lenient treatment. It has nothing to do with the war in their home countries, he claims. So, now that the Government has chosen to suspend the processing of Sri Lankans and Afghans, and offer fewer refugee positions at the end of the period, is Mr Jones happy? Oh, no.
Alan Jones says that the Government is unfair, and that sending those people back to war-ravaged homes is inhumane. He quotes from the Foreign Affairs' Smart Traveller web site, pointing out that the gorvenment thinks Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are dangerous places... So he pounces on two words used by Stephen Smith (Minister for Foreign Affairs) when explaining the new policy: "changed circumstances". Before it was very bad and we needed to accept refugees, but now, with changed circumstances they can survive, and we can send them back. What's the problem, Alan? SteveParent East Sydney
Back door people
The goody two shoes in this country, should pull there heads out of the sand. These so called boat people come into our country illegaly by the back door have no rights they lost that when they paid these people smugglers.
And why should the tax payers pay for them when we have people here that could be helped.
These people push back the ones that are going through the proper channel to come into out country, these people that are court should be shipped right back to where they come from, they have no rights and the government should stand on there feet and say no and send them back.
All boats should be burned and sunk at sea, If they cannot a ford to go through the right channels but have the money to pay these people smuggler then they have the money to go through the right channel.
All these one that we have here now should all be put on a military plane and shipped straight out back to where they come from no if or butts. brenhanena
Supporting Commissioner Christine Nixon
I am sick and tired of this lady getting it from all sides of the media spectrum,etc. For all those gits that don't agree "shut up and stop with using Christine Nixon as a scapegoat for all that went wrong etc..." The real ppl who are at fault for those fires are the gits who lit them and the bureucratic greenies etc who do not allow back burning to take place... lay off with the smut and deadwood !!! Fiona Vemoa
Billions for a bon fire
Olympic games may provide spectators with one of the best fire works displays you've ever seen but to me it's just a big bon fire fueled by our hard earned tax dollars. A billion dollars thats not a sum that most people could comprehend let alone waist to put on an event such as an olympics games. Yes it's good to be proud of our sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren to be able to have the ability to represent our great country in such physically challenging events. But what about those that are just simply physically challenged to get through an average day because they have had a stroke or some other health related event that could or will change their lives for ever.
Our health system is disgusting in regards to how many beds we have to cater for our ever growing population and the lack of staff we have to cater for these people. What we need is to spend the billion dollars that Anna Bligh is supposedly willing to spend on an Olympic games on our under resourced health system. Why would some one worry more about how other country's preceive us in the form of being able to cater for an elaborate event and not how it's fellow country man our looked after.
Fed up with having my hard earned tax dollars spent on things our country does not need. The Worker
Aussie all over
i totally agree all boat people should be turned back and not take to xmass island, if they want to come here go through the proper channels like everyone else as for the navy well instead of fireing over the with a pissy little styer pull out the 50 cal and sink it the messahe with soon get to them that we do not like you.
Tasmanian Forestry Debate
I?m a true environmentalist for the forest and a true economist for the state of Tasmania or as I like to think of myself also as a Real Custodian of The Forests and high time and fare overdue that the real people in the Forest Industry have their say from a Timber workers point of view and I?m a 4th generation sawmiller and Logger and I have always said that the timber industry was build on sawlogs for high value flooring and furniture timber. This was achieved in low volume in the 1950s and 60s and it was sustainable and I agree that the industries has gone fare and beyond sawlogs to wood chips but a sawmiller also need the wood chips sale to complete the sustainability as well!. I want to stress to the public good timber for flooring and furniture products comes from native forests in regrowth and old growth not plantation timber
There are logging contractors out there that can selectively log bushes for sawlog only from Native forest weather its old growth or regrowth. What I have always said has to happen is the sawmillers should selectively log crown land themselves to get only the saw logs they need for their mill.
An average family owned sawmill that value add timber from green to dry flooring ect would employ approx 10 people but would only need 6,500 m3 per year of saw logs not the millions of millions of tonnes needed for wood chip. But what scare me the most is that in this whole forestry debate we the family owned saw millers are being forgotten and we have always done the right thing by our forests!
But we stress as a forest Industry we must have some form of native forest export wood chip sales truly sustainable,
1: wood waste form sawlogs once they have been cut in to boards.
2: The head or crown of the sawlog tree that is not viable for sawn timber as per 1950s and 1960s
3: In some bushes when you selectively log them you have to take out some lower grade trees that want make sawlog but only wood chip so the seed from the good sawlog potential trees can regenerate.
4: And most importantly you also leave small healthy looking trees for our future sawmillers.
NOW THAT IS SUSTAINABILITY!
Please Save our family owned sawmills!!!!!!!! EW
Bored and away, stupid neighbours
When oh When will both of these poxy shows cease to exists, i mean enough is enough.Take alf stuart ,what a silly old fart he has past his expiry date surely, and now they have brought back marylyn ,next they will be bringing bobby back from the dead.And now little dopey leah is dating a priest sh*t man what a load of crap. And colleen dumb needs to have her mouth sown up. Please scrap both these show's and replace them with a anything that makes sense. Boring,boring, bloody boring!!!!
Electricity Daylight Saving Garbage Collection Penrith
Why are we all having no say in what goes on in this country.
The criminal electricity increases.
The extended daylight saving is running till April and will end up running continuously.
A collection of household rubbish once a fortnight by Penrith Council unless you pay $50.00 extra a year and an increase in July because some dickhead running it signed a seven year contract which they can’t get out if. jdp Penrith
Child Seat Restraints
I've recently heard that the laws reguarding child seat restraints will be changed after the 11th of March, 2010. Apparently, children between the ages of six months and four years MUST be in a forward facing restraint that babies use. After, from the age of four years to seven years, they MUST be in a booster seat. If you dont abide by these new laws, parents will be fined $150 to $300. My daughter is two and a half and no longer fits the baby restraints without causing discomfort and pain to her. I think that the men who sat around in their three thousand dollar suits and in air conditioned offices have gone to far. This is punishment to children everywhere in Australia. What about those who start school at the age of six? Will they have to catch the school bus sitting in booster seats, even though they are old enough to attend school? Booster seats have worked for two and three year olds for years before now, why the sudden change of heart from rich men who probably dont even have kids. When will the government get off their asses and join us 'little' people in the real world before making decisions like this?Annoyed Mother
Bullying and harrasment in Public Hospital I would like to get any feedback for those who has been bullied and harrassed while working in the public hospital. Tell about your experienced and maybe we can have a discussions here. I'm sure some are scared to be identified for the fear of payback but, you can remain annonymous. It is a major problem
but most victims are frightened. Have your say. bully
Overseas student intake.
I would only like to comment on what I observed.
There are many students that come to Australia come here to work not really to better themselves. apparently as one person bragged to me. They can pay for there paperworks that will make them eligible to get the visa to stay here as a student could you believe they said even there bank accounts are fakes as well as their assets in which their successful acceptance to study relies on. They bragged that they just work and save money send the money backhome. and when their visa is fully exhausted they will just go home presto. Do we really believe that the intake of overseas student help Australia Yes if they are legitimate NO when there papers are fakes and they are only here for economic reasons to work and deceived us. My parting comment because those students accepts lower rates than many people who are unemployed and legitimately looking for work they are
missing the oportunity because works are given to those who accept less than the minimum required and sadly too they work harder even myself dont work as hard to fair. Enough!
Lets stop looking for excuses!
Is it just me, or do other people wonder what has happened to Australians. More and more I find people who blame their current situations on their childhood, their friends and family... Basically blame things on others and take no responsibility.
And now what I see are more and more people hunting for mental health diagnoses and physical illnesses therefore allowing them to blame their situation on a disorder or illness.
I know plenty of people with back problems who continue to work, make a living and enjoy life (some who have learnt all new skills for a new job suitable), with mental illnesses who continue to strive and make positive changes in life, people in wheelchairs or with HIV that still take responsibility and want to create a better life and world...
So why is it now that more and more able bodied healthly people are looking for excuses to to be able to hate the world, feel misterble and blame everyone else!
I think Aussies need a wake up call, just look outside of Australia for one minute and see how good we do have it here! And stop whinging that your dole or pension isn't enough, and blaming others - get off your butt and make your life better for yourself! Frustrated
Are job network agencies doing enough?
I am one of a long list of people currently on the unemployment line. I fill out applications for payment search for jobs and attend appointments set by my job network provider. This is quite frustrating, not to mention the stress of being told by potential employers that if I had more background experiance/qualifications would give a better chance. I tried to overcome this by applying for certificate in a career that I could enjoy and really get a passion for. I looked on the internet at a range of courses that were of interest and went into tafe to get the enrolment papers and got later that week got the tools I needed, even put a uniform on layby. You see I was informed by my consultant at the job network agency that I would be entitled to a one off nine-hundred dollar payment to help get my course underway, provided by the government. Great! Or so I thought after photo-copying my receipts and a promise that they would reimberse me yet another appointment was made to confirm the grant had gone through. The next day I turn up to my appointment a little bit before nine-thirty am and waited to be interviewed. Well I did that interview and I will never look at a job agency with the same respect ever! After a heap of lies and fake promises they tell me "NO", seems that I'm not entitled to a one off nine-hundred dollar payment toward my course, oh and the tools I bought you guessed it no reimbersement. This left me in a difficult situation with the course about to start I'm not sure what to do. I would pay for the course myself but foolish thinking made me put the money towards the tools/uniform. Silly that, a better thinking mind would have paid for the course first givng them no option but to fork out for tools and things appropriate to the course. But now I'm suffering at the hands of a very greedy job agency. I believe that this is happening because the people that work in these agencies are more worried about having that bonus for finding thier customers dead end jobs to shut them up. I know it's a big call but think about it, they get allocated with funds that can only be spent according to how they see fit and it's easier to keep the funds rather than explain where they went. Job network agencies telling lies to job seekers and miss-infoming job seekers looking to study, sounds like cause for a complaint! But wait a minute I already did that. Yes after waiting a few hours the complaint line got back to me and politley asked me what exactly I wanted them to do about it? "Make them pay for my course, I know they have the funding!" but after an apology she tells me that nothing can be done. Job networks spend your funding however they see fit. Well I guess it's time to change agencies but I have a feeling that some unfor-seeable obstacle will pop up and the process will start all over again. Are job network agencies doing enough? I DONT THINK SO!! THANKSS. Huth 2/2/2011
Shame on Rann!
How many mistakes are you going to make before the public wake up to you! enough is enough! it is time for a woman to run this state. come on everybody vote for isobel redmond at the next state election! nathan mason 23/1/2010
Stop all immigration
This is a touchy subject for all. I believe it should be stopped for the time being unless the immigrant has sound qualifications for jobe unfilled by Australians. Much stronger laws need to be adopted for boat people to stop the continuous influx. Other contries would not take such a slack stance. V Noslen 18 Jan 2011
That Bonus?
We have heard a fair bit about the carers bonus ,and seniors bonus , how unfair it would be to take it away
and i certainly agree with that . I would like to point out however that peple that recieve a disability support pension dont get a bonus at all ,I wonder if thats fair?. My wife and I are both on a disability support pension ,my wife recieves a carers allowance as because of my disability ,I am not able to perform some personal tasks.Last year she recieved the carers bonus [which was 600 dollars, not 1600 as touted by the media], and I as a disabled recieved nothing. itspaADD YOUR COMMENT
Carers Bonus
I am disappointed that the Labour Government are being so parochial when they come to "at home matters" .The reason that they were voted in "to my and most of my friends say so " was to do some housekeeping instead of running around the world fixing nothing except getting accolades . Are we becoming a welfare country ? Cant we look after our own with dignity anymore or are we all to line up and get a hand out because the government does not grasp whats going on. We all volunteer for one thing or another snd save the government money.When does the time come around for those in need?!! Carolina ADD YOUR COMMENT
The Australian 11
After watching the bebacle of the Australians against the India Cricket team in the one day International Tri series, one must surely arrive at the conclusion the match was fixed. Just as the drumming up of ill feeling against Singh was intended to rile the crowd to add color and cloud the issue in it's entirety.
Those who offered themselves to play in the 20-20 series in India are the culprits should you believe otherwise, then you believe in the "tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny" and so on.What were they offered? Hansie did it for South Africa, so too did those Aussies in England when the Brits had to make 400 in the last day to win. What were the odds of that happening? Ask those who prospered and threw that match! Corruption, graft,bribery and dishonesty has reached yet another level throughout the world in sport, politics and every day life. However what goes around, comes around and in due course those people will suffer for the greed of their actions. For mine though, I have now lost interest in Cricket and sport in general with the introduction of drugs, cheating and whatever, but shame on the Aussies who performed so miserably and surrendered for a price. RTL ADD YOUR COMMENT
Leadership of the Liberal Party.
Politics and leadership of any party has always been the image of the one selected to lead. In earlier times Robert Menzies ruled supreme because his opposition was Arthur Caldwell. No one would ever consider Arthur to lead, thus his long reign. Once Arthur gave up the leadership....Gough romped it in at the next election....Gough bought about his own demise and Malcolm Frazer was assured of success over Bill Hayden.....then came Hawke, a man with charisma who unseated big Mal....Keating ousted Hawke and was handed the reigns before the next election....the "unlosable election" of John Hewson reinstalled Keating because Hewson was unable to cope with the "icing on the cake" of the GST.
John Howard ruled because his opposition were mostly non-identities. He lost I believe because the younger voters knew little of the past Labor Party deciding it was time for change. Well may we see the error of judgement by the electors, but the leadership of the Opposition will need someone more dynamic than those contenders. Peter Costello would have been the ideal leader who had that ability to prove everybody wrong, but he quit. He still has the opportunity, but will he reconsider in the face of turmoil within the coalition. Shame on him for not taking the leadership and giving it a go for a while at least. RTL ADD YOUR COMMENT
Brendan Nelson's Liberal Leadership
First, let me say that I voted for the Liberal party in the last election. Yes, we lost badly and I actually felt physically ill when Krudd won. How could this have happened. All my fears for our future freedom of life and living as we knew it, were being threatened.
I am still not convinced that we won't be suffering the long term effects of the last election, some of which are I fear, are already happening. {Check out the letter I wrote in the archive column - Aborigines, "Saying Sorry"}.
So I ask you Mr. Brendan Nelson, what are you going to do about the dismal state the Liberal Party is in, especially now when your personal opinion poll is at an all time low of 9%, as was reported on the news this morning. You know, normally I wouldn't even take these polls seriously, but since loosing the last election, I may just pay closer attention to them in the future.
Mr. Nelson, I hate to say this, but the reason that your public opinion is so low is, that you simply don't inspire trust in people.
I'm sorry to say this, but when I look at you, all I see are shifty eyes and a false smile which say, "I am untrustworthy and not to be believed".
I know that you can't help the way you look, but when you are in the public eye every single day, it isn't your performance or what you have to say which we notice at first, or remember. Instead, we, the ordinary people, check out how you look and present yourself.
I know it's wrong and that I am probably the only person I know who will admit to it, but it is simply human nature. Yes, most people really are this shallow, at least in the beginning.
When the Liberal Party voted on who would be their new leader, I cringed at the choice between you and Malcom Turnbull who isn't any better by the way, although he doesn't look quite as dopey as you do.
I thought to myself, 'if this is the best that they can come up with, we won't have a chance in hell to win the next election'.
And what will happen if Krudd does call an early election? With you as the Leader of the Liberal Party, we may as well save Krudd the trouble and concede defeat again right here and now.
Is it really so difficult to find someone in the entire Liberal Party who everyone respects or even likes, who doesn't have any, or at least many, skeletons in their closet. Someone who is confidant enough to stand up against Krudd and Gillard, without sounding like an arrogant arse, but at the same time is also pleasant to look at.
Surely somewhere in the Liberal Party you can find someone we could be proud of to represent Australia to the rest of the world.
Mr. Nelson, please stop flogging a dead horse. You simply don't have what it takes to be likable to the average Australian voter. For the good of the Party, resign please and take Malcom Turnbull with you, if we are to have any chance in the next election.
Because seriously, with the anti popularity contest you are winning, even I could do a better job, despite my annoying habit of telling people what they really rather not hear said out loud.
A character fault I am sure, which has caused me more than my fair share of grief over the years, labeling me anything from a shit stirrer, to a bigot, to a racist, for simply voicing that which many people only ever dare to think, because in todays politically correct society we are suppose to be above such ordinary and sometimes petty human emotions. Why? because they are just that, politically incorrect and because freedom of speech is dead, but hopefully not buried.
M.Donna ADD YOUR COMMENT
Youths
When are the youths of today going to get a whack over the head to get them to wake up to themselves, they are ruining the lives of many today, I live in Melton and they just do what they want when they want, every night the thumping music from cruising cars echo around the streets as residents try to sleep as well as the street racers that do burnouts in every street.
The other day I decided to take the wife for a drive to watch some planes take off and land at Tullamarine Airport, as we drove around the back of the airport we came across a car full of youths eating take away and throwing all there rubbish on the ground in one of the viewing areas and they just stared at us as we drove past, we went on to another viewing area only to have them drive past later doing burnouts on the side of the road.
With all that is happening around Australia today the youths are getting out of hand and there should be something done about it NOW! They have no respect at all!
On another note, whats happening with the Tennis, I try and watch it but it is so boring, its like they are playing in slow motion, they take too much time serving with bouncing the ball a gazillion times and asking for the towel after every point, I watched Serena today and she was walking around like she had all the time in the world, they seem to be putting all there energy into the serve and nothing else. So boring.
I believe that a lot of the problems we are now having with them, is a result of a snowball effect:
Government bodies that are supposed to be in place to help educate our young are in fact disrupting them for us. Long before many of our youths become a problem for the extended community, they are stripped of their individualism,respecting their family traditions and rights as a fellow human being to be able to think for themselves. All of this they quite cleverly disguise as behavioural management. A simple example is the recent appearance of 'contracts' that are being passed out to primary school students to sign and abide by. Where minor parts of this agreement focus on good behaviour, and the majority of it is focused on stripping the children of decent jewellery whilst accepting some which can get dangerously ripped out. Whilst I am all for reigning in some of the latest trends in fashion that have become ridiculously the 'norm' for our youth while in schools, at the same time younger children are being encouraged and even pressured at some schools to abandon family traditions. I have an 11 year old daughter who has recently joined in with the women of her maternal ancestry in wearing a gold golf bangle, not a bracelet that would get caught. I know this may seem like a lame example to some, but if you consider the importance of this from a childs point of view then it becomes clear that while authority figures are running around trying to be 'right' and 'politically correct' the mind of a young child is being brainwashed into believing that their place in this world is to follow follow follow. Now maybe we can begin to see why youths act like they do. Afterall as an adult don't we like to rebel(all be it verbally) when we feel like we are being stripped of our place in this world. Cassie Lee
Speed limits?
Theres another angle on this that the snobby Sydney-ites just aren't thinking about here.
We try to slow down the drivers to suit the pedestrians here all the time. Have we ever thought of the other end - how about the pedestrians start looking before they cross.
I live in Sydney too, I have lived in the western subs, the eastern subs and the southern subs. I have seen the differences between the people in different areas and their road crossing habits.
I have right to comment as I am a pedestrian too - and I watch where I am going.
You can't say that people don't hear or see the cars, I drive a flash looking sports car which is fairly loud, you can hear me coming - its my business car. People always hear and see me coming. But yet I still notice people are absolutely ready to jump out in front of me at any chance! pedestrian crossings, even lights where they shouldn't! People who do this should not be allowed in the courts whatsoever! I mean give me a break - lets look at this logically shall we?
A) if a person saw an elephant running in a straight line would they step out in front of it? No they wouldn't because they would get hurt - whats different with a car - use your logic! Watch where your going so you don't get hurt! Would you take the elephant to court if you got hit by it and lived?
B) Yes cars should be careful - I agree 100% As someone who holds a Gold license in car and a full license for motorcycling I understand the hazards on the road. But it lies in both courts to be more careful not just the drivers! I would say that Sydney drivers are so into themselves that almost every person on the road thinks they have more right then the others - give me a break! Those ones should be put through courses on patience!
C) The driver trainers should be watched more carefully - no one who has below a certain standard of English should be allowed to drive on our roads. This isn't a racist thing - its a common sense thing! If i went to another country and didn't know their road rules or how to understand their signs I don't think they would let me on the road.
D) This one is related a bit - don't fine someone for speeding - take their license from them the second time they do it and stop them from driving after that. The public transport system in Australia is one of the best in the world! In Africa a woman has to carry a baby under each arm and walk 10 KMS with a clay jar on her head to get water each day in some places! the fine thing is just another way for our greedy government to get more of our money and we all know it! They take the food from our children's mouths if we let them!
They just drop speed limits regularly to increase the amount of people who get fined regularly in my opinion - greed.
Anyway, there's my rant - have your say!
Reply to: Speed Limits
Totaly agree! There is a thing called stupid ignorance, pedestrians don't care but neither does the Government or RTA. As long as they can collect a thing called revenue that is all that matters. Sure enough there are ignorant drivers but even more ignorant pedestrians. Worse to come when they are over 60 years old couple and still disobey the law. Need i say no more! Pluto
Don't Blame The Breed For Irresponsible Owners
Recently, the breed of Rottweilers have received alot of bad press. The incidents were tragic. However, since these events there have been numerous calls for a ban of this "dangerous dog". Before people condemn the breed, maybe some research would be helpful. The breed itself is not aggressive by nature, they are kind, loving and a wonderful family pet - If raised correctly. The Rottweiler is by nature, a work dog and it does it's job well.
When it comes to the fatal attacks on humans, it is always because of bad owners/breeders. All dogs must be raised correctly from young or else they will be "dangerous". They are just like raising children. A number one rule is too never leave children alone with ANY adult dog. This has been said by many vets around the world.
After these recent accidents, I contacted my local councel to find out about the breed's temperment. Within my shire there are 631 Rottweilers and only 7 declared dangerous with zero attacks. So when people call for a ban, how do you think the owners of those dogs feel? And the dog itself is now out casted.
I personally am freinds with a person who is confined to a wheelchair and he has a male rottweiler of his own. He is his best freind and companion. The dog opens doors, sit by his side - all day and is kind to every person who walks through the front door. This is the true side of a rottweiler or any dog in that matter.
Blaming the breed and calling for a ban upsets Rottweiler and animal enthusiast worldwide and is a misrepresentation of the Rottweiler. They are a very loyal companion to man and have saved many children and adults from terrible situations. The moral is not to condemn to good for the mistakes of the bad. And more importantly don't blame the breed for the irresponsible owner. AS Brisbane
Over the years I had found a reliable pad that contained no plastic. This is important to me as I do not wish my bodily needs to become pollutants upon the planet. I am an organic creature and I wish all of my by products to be organic and to reassimilate into the earth. The product I found that fell into this catagory was sold by most supermarkets under the 'homebrand' label.
Over the last couple of years I have seen this change and now there is no pad available that does not contain plastic. Supermarkets must be sourcing these products elsewhere and they have changed in this regard.
If you consider all of the menstrating women, all of those in the incontinence catagory and all of the babies requiring nappies - this is alot of plastic!
Please, 'no plastic in pads please".
I would like to know if anyone has any ideas about how we could get this idea out there.
Liz Agars
Kenya:
Emilio Mwai Kibaki was given 5yrs term. Why has he now changed? His wife who said he will not run another term and he went on doing it. Remember the statement 'Kibaki tosha' ? Agwambo did it. Step down Emilio, let peace prevail. You are a shame to Our Country. Joseph Weswa (Luhya tribe) from Dar-es-salaam.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his political rival Raila Odinga ADD YOUR COMMENT
Happy New Year... Above: A man wipes his face in front of the remains of a church where 50 people were burned alive in Eldoret January 1, 2008.
Blood bath in Kenya: Where is the United Nations or the African Support Group? People are being burnt alive!!
How can the world not do something?
TonyADD YOUR COMMENT
"This is your annual opportunity to turn your hands to what is one of the most difficult, and rewarding tasks that a writer might elect to face; to create, in a tiny fragment, a completely resolved and compelling story. Flash Fiction is a wonderfully entertaining thing to read and a frustratingly challenging thing to write, but we love it and so do the readers of our Anthology, and so this is another chance to get one of your stories, however small, into this year's Fish Anthology." Looking for something to do over Christmas? Why not enter this fun competion.. and check out the Fish site while you're there.Click Here
I'm Not One Of Those Fancy College-Educated Doctors
I'm a doctor, and I'm damn good at it. Why? Because I learned to be a doctor the old-fashioned way: gumption, elbow grease, and trial and error. I'm not one of these blowhards in a white coat who'll wear your ears out with 10 hours of mumbo-jumbo technical jargon about "diagnosis" this and "prognosis" that, just because he loves the sound of his own voice. No sir. I just get the job done. READ MORE!
On Global Warming
Global Warming is a natural phase in earths history. It is amazing that we as humans have come to the conclusion that it is our doing that is causing the rise in temperature. CO2 is in Fact such a small percentage of the earths atmosphere that is is like saying our car broke down we won't check the engine or the gear box but a small screw holding the rear door trim. We have used Global Warming to create a multi-billion dollar industry. Perhaps we are using Global Warming as propaganda for political movements and agendas. Perhaps it is just another way for the people in power to make more money and another way for them to control the public. How about the truth. Please?
Reply to On Global Warming
Perhaps it is beurocracy, but end of the day....the end is very near. Lets put it this way, we were given the land the country and the globe to work with. Prblem is there were too many young morrons on this earth that decided to move things quicker. I won't mention who for now, but this only created more chemicals that you and I are not aware off.....not to mention the rest of the crap that is behind it all. We don't have to be scientis to figure this all out, one can only watch some of the documentury to see it comming alive. Wake up !!
Alexander
Heading: Rudderless Ship! Come ON.... Do you live in such a place that affords you the luxury to be blinded by a range of false promises and hoodwinks that make you feel "warm & fuzzy" and allow you to justify your sheltered mind to "feel good" about your decision to act in a democratic function under the guise of helping our nation overcome the suppresion of a tyrant government that has brought our great nation to hold its own in today's international marketpace. You my friend have had an excellent 11 years of "sheer torture" find yourself a brand new rock you will need it when the preverbial really hits SOON! ADD YOUR COMMENT
News Readers
I have noticed over the past few weeks that BBC 24 News Readers are falling into the turn of phrase "20 past" "15 mins to" etc when giving out the time. This is a lazy attitude and is of no asistance at all to Partially Sighted or Indeed Blind people who listen to the programe. I would remind the readers it is 20 to 3 or 20 past 4. Please can somebody have a word and sort this out. Also a slight reduction in the attempted comedy chat from the likes of Sopple and Meatcham wouldbe appreciated.
Thank You for an otherwise excellent service. Graham
Graham, I think this is because they broadcast around the world, and although the minutes are the same in all time zones, the hours differ. Ed
How do you feel now? Well, now that our nation has had its say in the recent federal election, what winners we live amongst!
So far the "Prime Minister Elect" stated we need to be careful with regard to the numbers of the Kyoto Protocol signing. There was a timely press release regarding a study by "an expert group" (probably "LJ Honkey's") that a new study into housing demand in our nation would not be met for many years to follow... "I will be a prime minister for all Australian's" lets the educated "Wokers rights" voters down gently again standing on his vow to "give back the dream of home ownership to all Australians". GREAT ! I can only say at this point in time that here we go again.... I am disappointed yet again by my fellow countrymen/women to demonstrate their true intellect in the competent management of this so called "Lucky Country" it appears that the only element of luck appears to be the fact that we have no common borders with the real threats of todays world...(allies) ADD YOUR COMMENT
HIV/AIDS
My home country Sierra Leone is now becoming HIV/AIDS virus place. I need the urgent intervention of UN to come to our aid. Lamina
Reply to HIV/AIDS
Well, this is sad!! No matter what one would say.]
Simple answer to this comment is the system has failed. It wouldn't matter what country what race you could say I feel negative. overall ask me, I got worse things to tell yall. No one cares anymore. It is simple as that!
Eddie
Babies/Kids
All these babies that are being dumped these days are a joke on our health system that is put there to help protect kids and there parents... Babies being dumped in trash cans or parks.. Who in all the people involved in that childs life could not know something was wrong.. Yes i understand some people won't ask for help as they feel they either don't deserve it or will get punished from those there to help..
Such an occasion happened late last year to a friend when she gave up her 2 young children to a very close friend.. This was a private arrangement with approval from maternal health centre workers.. Said children went to live with friend while mother came around everyday and helped with general care of kids.. She then went home to her own house..This was arranged as the mother was having private issues and was slightly afraid for the kids safety. Doing the right thing she got help..Busy body people opening there mouths got DHS involved after a family member of the kids came for a visit and pressured the already unsteady mother into allowing them to take the kids home.. After thinking and disscusing this decission with others she then revoked it on the next day when the kids were bought round to say bye.. cont>>>
<< cont.
The family then asked to keep the kids for lunch and return them later in the day.. Yes they could do that.. The day went away with a phone call around 3pm from a weekend emergency DHS worker saying there had been reports of neglect and abuse of the kids and that they had gone to live with family.. Mind the kids did not know these people at all yet were allowed to go and live 400km away... This all led to court where the kids were then placed with a new set of strangers in a foster home..Visits were allowed but then imagine a child of 3 and not quiet 1 being allowed home to mum then taken away again back to strangers.. Does it give them insecurities do you think???
We wonder why all these people are just dealing with there own problems.. They get no results when asking for help or don't help when people make complaints like the 7 year old in NSW that died of starvation.. If only they had made sure to actually see the child instead of taking someone else's word for it..
Call a spade a spade!
Let's go back to calling football soccer. It is not the major sport played with a football in Australia, and therefore it is a confusing term.
The soccer marketeers thought that if they called it "football" it would assume more importance. They used the European and English as proof that our game was mis-named.
Wrong.
Soccer will become Number One in Australia when we become more competitive against other countries who have it as their only ball sport.
Let's keep the term Soccer, and leave football to mean a generic ball game of no determinate nature.
Who knows? When we get to the top, the world will start calling it Soccer. Sann ADD YOUR COMMENT
Homeless community agrees to phase out giant plastic bag usage
In what has been described as a massive coup for Australia's environmental movement, the nation's homeless have put their support behind the push to phase out giant plastic bags.
"This is a great day for Mother Nature," said Clean Up Australia spokesman Ian Kiernan. "From now on, we can expect to see homeless people using reusable giant green bags to carry their meagre possessions, not those planet-harming stripey plastics." Shamelessly borrowed fromThe Chaser.
BREAKING NEWS: US Underfunded Schools Forced To Cut Past Tense From Language Programs The Onion
CONGRATULATIONS TO MAXINE AND KEVIN As a Bennelong voter I am proud to have played a part in telling the Liberal Party that we have not liked their policies. Let this be a lesson that there are no safe seats. The only reason that Howard has lasted so long in Bennelong is that there has been no strong alternatives on the ticket. Maxine McKew would have won any seat, so it was brilliant for Labor to put her up against the biggest target, the Prime Minister.
WAS HOWARD A GREAT LEADER?
No. He's been a glorified public servant, managing a group of pollies. Not leading a country. He has been bland. Un-inspiring. Boring. Predictable. His gun laws were the only positive contribution to Australian society.
WHAT GOOD IS A SURPLUS?
Mr Howard bragged that he had a huge budget surplus. This is disgraceful when so much infrastructure is suffering from lack of funds: Schools have been crying out for upgrades: most school toilets are unusable. Our hospitals are understaffed and under-cleaned. Badly designed and maintained roads cause hundreds to die every year.
REGIONAL ASIAN ISSUES
When Mr Howard took over the reins, he immediately dropped all the good work that Keating had done in the region. He was not an international player in his own right, just a follower of the USA's foreign policies. Talk about a "Me Too'er"!
His mean spirited attitude to refugees has been an international embarrassment.
DEFENCE ISSUES A recent Four Corners TV program pointed to billions of dollars being spent on our buying 'unsuitable' fighter planes from the USA, against the advice of the experts. What is the story here? Are we just supporting the American aeronautical industry because that's what mates do?
DID HOWARD HAVE A MANDATE LAST TIME?
No. Last election the Labor Party made a big mistake in chosing the wrong leader. We saw that Mr Latham was not clever or wise, and reluctantly had to re-elect Howard as the lessor of two evils.
Mr Howard mistook this victory to mean that he had a universal mandate, and proceeded to un-do all the good work that unions had done over two hundred years.
For the past 11 years Australia has been marking time. Let's hope we can get back on the right path now that Mr Rudd, Ms Gillard and the likes of McKew are steering.
Sann, Putney ADD YOUR COMMENT
Will there be a salt factory next to the new de-salination plant in Sydney? ps ryde
Adult matchfinder screwball billing method
I recently signed up for a 1 month membership with the adult matchfinder website. And I found they kept billing after the first month so when I queried this they said you should have read the terms and conditions. I had in fact read the terms and conditions and thought that was that as usually all the terms and conditions are found in the terms and conditions in one set of terms and conditions so after you have read the terms and conditions you don't tend to look for any more. Now according to adult matchfinder a 1 month membership defines a 3 month membership and the autorenewal membership terms are blatantly left out of the terms and conditions and a long way down the page away from the duration of your membership area, this is so that the person will probably not pick up on this because they have chosen there time frame for membership which should be what you have chosen and read the terms and conditions. Now extra payments can occur with the billee realising this to late because terms and conditions are left out of the terms and conditions the fact that a person chooses 1 month and is then billed for three months is completely misleading, you choose a month and thats what you get. This a complete sham I read the terms and conditions but was unaware that there was another set of terms and conditions when all terms and conditions by Australian Law are always contained within in one complete document. Do not use this website. Ben Luckie ADD YOUR COMMENT
As paul williams said.. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH... illegal or not a lot of immigrants should not be allowed.. not only is it getting hard to spot the aussie but our self worth and confidence is deteriorating.. How many young aussies are in uni doing a subject that is helpful. eg.. doctorate, teaching etc.. These jobs are taken by people imported from other countries and we wonder why the aussies don't want to work.. Yes a lot are plain lazy but there are some that genuily want to work but feel not able to even bother due to immigrants employed before australians most times..
DO WE NEED THEM THAT BAD?????? 11/10/07 CM ADD YOUR COMMENT
As an example to this i am using the two eleven year old boys that recently started fires in n.s.w.
What is going to happen to them when they front up to court.. not alot as it's going to be there first offence, their parents are going to cry and sob carry on about how this could happen we bought them up to be good boys... YES that's why they started the fire... I for one think they are old enough to know better therefore should be punished as a child of 16 is.. We tell them at a young age that it's ok to light fires if they not punished, by the time they're 16 they are pretty set about the rules especially repeat offenders(even repeat offenders for different things) we let them off because they are to young.. 11/10/07 CM ADD YOUR COMMENT
WORKPLACE LAWS
Can i just point out one very important thing about the Howard government? Regardless of whether the workplace laws are good or bad, how did they come in? They were rushed in, by John Howard, and rushed through, basically we were told this is how it is and you can't do anything about it.
Now do we want a government that is going to rush through laws like that? there has to be a reason why it was rushed through like that? It was either dodgy, and howard did not want it scrutinised too closely, and or it was very beneficial to john howard and he did not want anyone to pick up on this.
We don't want a government that rushes things through that suit itself. we want a government that considers what is right for the people. Not like that is ever going to happen though. polititians are all the same.
The best we can hope for is around a 50 50 split in government so everything gets argued about and hopefully something fair is determined before becoming law. rob (reply here)
Rob you are sadly disallusioned...for many years Labor had the balance of power in the Senate and resisted against everything the Howard Government put up.... resulting in frustration and nothing passed. Lib/Nat's now have the balance of power and a Bill passes more quickly than in the past, usually to the benefit of all.....but wait you only see one side of a story such as has been shown on TV by the Unions....there is more than you are being shown or told. Have a look at Question time in the Parliament and judge on the antics of both sides......if Labor win the Federal election we will have another recession...is that what you want? Concerned. (reply here)
and the winner is...
Its goodbye to...
Howard endorses Costello
It does not surprise me that Costello has resigned. He never had the ticker to challenge the PM when he should have... and now when its finally his turn to run the party, he runs away.
It's a triple blow to Howard: not only did the PM lose his election and seat... he is made to look silly by endorsing a candidate who was so not right for the job. ADD YOUR COMMENT
The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, has to be joking. After 12 years of government ANYTHING that he promises has to be taken as pork-barrelling. 1. Changing the pre-amble in the Constitution to include Aboriginals?? Why didn't he say "Sorry" seven years ago? 2. Taking over the finances for one or two hospitals that happen to sit in marginal seats...der! Bring on the election. I can't wait to get rid of the dead wood. FG Bennelong. ADD YOUR COMMENT
Best Prime Minister
I would think John Howard would be the best Prime Minister this country has seen since Federation. He has made mistakes as we all have, but he has had a lot to put up with during his term in office. The Polls are governed by the media and what they feed the public. I feel the young people of today have bought about the gap between the two parties. John Howard has been there for 11 years and what would a 24 year old voter today know of the previous Labour Government. They were 13 years of age or less during the Hawke-Keating era when we had the recession we had to have bring the interest rates up to 17% and as high as 23%. But memories are short....... just as the Russians once said when they shot down the Korean Airline, "In time you will forget!"
Already we are seeing how the deficit is increasing within the Labour States and yet those "loyal Labour supporters continue to be blinded by the fact their Dad always voted Labour........ or John Howard is too old!!!!! It's time for change....same old Merry Go round after 10 years"
Slowly people are taking more interest in politics and not before time.......but to have Labour in all 8 States is beyond comprehension. Send in your opinion RTL
Drop the speed limit to 30km/h in Sydney Streets I'm so frustrated. There has been debate on some Sydney talk stations this morning about speed limits on residential streets. The proposal that sparked the argument is to drop the speed limit to 30km/h. The talk host was defiant! people will not want to slow down.
That's despite the scientific evidence being presented by her guest. We could have saved 70 lives in New South Wales this year alone, if cars were travelling at 30km/h rather than 50km/h when they hit pedestrians or other vehicles.
I am in support of lowering the residential speed limit to 40 initially and then to 30 if it's needed. Who can argue against a measure that could save so many lives.
Callers against the idea of taking their foot off the pedal complain that in other countries, there are no speed limits and people drive at up to 230km/h.
Yes, that fact is true. It's a jump to go from talking about local residential zones to freeways, but I have a spring in my step, lets do it.
Some parts of Germany's AutoBarn allows cars to travel as fast as they like. Ring roads around most Scandinavian capital cities allow speeds of 110km/h.
Yes they travel fast. But they have the infrastructure to allow people to do so safely.
Their roads are true freeways. They don't pass through shopping strips like Victoria Road. They don't have families living at their sides like the Pacific Highway. There are no telegraph poles or road signs to hit, there are wide lanes, safety dividers, no driveways, sufficient lighting and proper side walls to keep animals and people out of road corridors.
These countries also have strong driver training in place to allow people to travel safely at these speeds. It costs thousands to earn your licence and young drivers must pass several tests in Summer and Winter conditions to prove their ability.
But let's build these freeways. Link Sydney's North to its South and West with a safe motorway. Connect Sydney with Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne.
Then you'll find people will use these motorways rather than take short cuts through residential areas, where they're more interested in going 10km/h faster, than saving the life of a local kid.
Chaos in Dubai airport
Due to insensitivity of the Emirates staff, 100s of stranded passengers are suffering along with a lot of children. due to cancellation of many flights and inefficency of the staff, many people of different nationalities are suffering without food or place to stay at the Dubai international airport today 18/11/2007. This kind of treatment is unwarrented without any major calmity.
Jebaraj
WHAT GETS ME IS THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE THAT SAYS WEBCKE IS A HERO. HOW IS HE A HERO, HE PLAYS A GAME OF FOOTY AND ADMITS WELL AFTER THAT HE WAS EXCUSED FOR TAKING A DISALLOWED DRUG, VERY POOR. I HAVEN'T HEARD OF HIM SAVING SOMEONES LIFE SO HOW IS HE A HERO. DR NSw Comment
I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this. Newspapers never seem to allow you to comment on political articles, you would think that in this information age and with the ease of communication using the internet they would welcome people expressing their opinions. Obviously they don't want to know what people think! JDP Comment
2 months ago I approached a staff member at Melbourne Central station, about the state of the men's bathroom on the station. Holes in the walls, no locks on the doors.To this day, nothing has been done. I wrote to CONNEX, and got the normal "we'll look into it".
If this was China, Japan, or Germany it would have fixed in a week. But I guess this is AUSTRALIA's, "we'll do it later" attitude. GB Comment
What a disaster we have in our aboriginal communities: the widespread substance abuse, the all-to-common assaults of women and children, the extreme poverty, and the seemingly impossible plight of our indigenous australians.
Can the problem be fixed? i did hear one ex-politician say directly that the problem could not be solved. but we NEED to do SOMETHING: it cannot just continue as is.
My suggestions would be to:
ensure safety and welfare of women and children as a priority. this may involve removing them from their communities especially if they cannot be shielded from their male elders practising their "tribal laws".
no more "tribal law". when it's an excuse to perpetrate heinous deeds then we have to get rid of it. we are all australians and we have decent laws for our society.
welfare payments to all adult aborigines to be "controlled" with a large % to be debited from an account and only to be spent on essentials (food, clothing, etc).
all aborigines found to be abusing substances, will only get access to their essential supplies account.
all young aborigines to be in school.
we can go an about civil liberties, and believe you me i feel desperately for our indigenous australians, but this situation is so dire that we must step in and take drastic measures to correct this.
Ok, does anyone else think that this is ridiculous?
What a racist country we are! Who are we to protest against an Islamic school? Education is one of the most important things that we can give to children, why should we deny Muslim children that right? The same right that you would demand for your child.
One woman commented "But why can't they go to school with our kids?" Well in response to that the curriculum that we teach in schools is written by the hegemonic group, obviously Islamic culture is not considered in this (many other cultures are not considered either). So this makes it inequitable for these kids to be taught in 'normal' schools. Many people would say, "well they moved to this country, they should assimilate" WELL no we are a multi-cultural country and we should cherish that.
I would like to ask people who are protesting against this school to put yourself in their shoes...how would you like it if you were told you had to put aside your own culture and belief's and 'convert' and that you couldn't build a school for pete's sake. That's a lesson we should have all been taught.
I am currently at university studying teaching and feel disgusted that people can actually think that this type of behavior is okay, all children have the right to an equitable education, ALL children. If you don't think these kids have a right to this then please look up the Social Justice Goals of the Adelaide Declaration. It makes me sick to my stomach to see this racism and ignorance displayed by the people of Australia.
Food for thought: Unless you are native to this country you yourself "flew here". Think twice before calling yourself an 'Aussie' and denying others the right to call themselves the same.
EmV.
Emus harrassing passing motorist, near Thredbo, Snowy Mountains
WHAT GETS ME IS THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE THAT SAYS WEBCKE IS A HERO. HOW IS HE A HERO, HE PLAYS A GAME OF FOOTY AND ADMITS WELL AFTER THAT HE WAS EXCUSED FOR TAKING A DISALLOWED DRUG, VERY POOR. I HAVEN'T HEARD OF HIM SAVING SOMEONES LIFE SO HOW IS HE A HERO. DR NSw Comment
TIME BOMBS AND HUMANS
Well, another day another massacre.
Another deluded human being feeling wrong done by takes matters into his own hands.
How do you feel, nauseated, numb blank horrified, myself it comes as no surprise,just one more timebomb that had its wick shortened.There is only one person on this earth that you can know and that is yourself, and in knowing yourself you are the one responsible for every thought and action that you do,you are to me another timebomb as i am to you, and in that knowledge I as a fellow being am aware that my own thoughtlessness can be the wick shortener if i was to tick off one of the timebombs that walk freely around this world.
What am i saying, well its simple, we are all accountable for ourselves, no one else is responsible for how we interpret the world, no one else can make a decision for us, its our own personal choice that gets us wherever it is we are going. The shooter in Finland is no different to you or I he just became deluded with his own interpretation of who should live and who should die, he became his own God his own judge jury and executioner, what he forgot to do was to be responsible for his own actions, and it seems he never will be accountable now as he has escaped that fate by indeed putting the bullet in his own head.
If you wish to know who these people are out there, they are anyone and everyone, they are in your home, your street your school your workplace, they are all just waiting to be ticked off, and for that reason it is with great carefulness that you must tread, always think that for every action that you initiate their is a response, be it good or bad, and this is something every single one of us needs to start getting through our own heads, no one has the right to harm anyone, no one has the right to kill, the only right we have as humans is to be responsible for every action we take, and to be prepared that there is always a consequence good or bad, if you steal you will pay a penalty, if you help someone you will reap a reward in some way or another, if you kill you will be killed, this is how the world works, nature is often stated to be a cruel force, let me say that nature has nothing on us in the cruelty department, humans outdo that a millionfold.
So again i leave you with this thought, every action you take every decision you make has a reaction and a consequence, just be very sure that you as an individual make the right choices, if we all do this there will be fewer massacres, fewer deaths, fewer problems for society as a whole, and before you speak think what it is you are saying and how it can be interpreted, you never know when you may be speaking to a timebomb, you never know until you are the timebomb. A Mutton
Keep the Flag.
Our flag bears the stars that blaze at night,
In our Southern sky of blue.
And the little old flag in the corner,
Is part of our history too?
It's the English, the Scots and the Irish,
Who were sent to the end of the earth?
The rogues and the schemers, the doers and dreamers,
Who gave Australia its birth?
And you, who are shouting to change it,
You don't seem to understand.
It's the flag of our law and our language,
Not the flag of a far away land.
There are plenty of people, who will tell you,
How Europe was plunged into night.
That little old flag in the corner,
Was the symbol of freedom and light?
It doesn't mean we owe allegiance,
To a forgotten imperial dream.
We have the stars to show where we are going,
And the old flag to show where we have been.
Displayed at the R.S.L. in Rosebud. Originated from Poet's Corner a segment in the Australian Post. RTKL
This sport is legal in Alabama!
This is disgusting. Who thinks that killing a beautiful animal with a gun is sport? Who lets a child do it? And now we discover that it was a pet pig, named Fred! And it did not die quickly.. it was chased and shot at for 3 hours. A terrifying death. Shame!
CHILD CARE (see below)
That’s why the ABC centre is worth so much. I send my child to a community run child care, the profits are put back into the centre and not into the hands of the owners and staff are better paid.
What I don’t understand is why hard working people are not rewarded by having government support when sending your children to child care, and why do the unemployed and single mothers who stay at home all-day are able to send their children for as little as $1 dollar are day and they don’t work and are able to look after their children during the day... Reply
CLASSIFICATIONS
Has anyone seen the Nando Patch "Stripper" Commercial?
I was totally outraged that such a Commercial was allowed to be shown!
I switched from watching Ten, Win & Prime because of not only their constant ad bombarding but also the lack of something worth watching, only to find that also on SBS you can be watching something rated G or PG thinking it's safe for all the family, only to be hit with an x rated commercial like that Nando Patch Ad.
Does every ad these days have to have naked women, boobs, or sexually explicit everything? Why don't people do something about it? If I had the power I would sack those so called Classification Officers and the one that is responsible for the so called Code of Conduct!
I mean what kind of people are they? Do they have any sense of morals?I know they are not responsible for the trashy Ads but they are responsible for accepting them as ok to show on Television
Has anyone complained about it to those responsible? Comment on this reply
SELF EMPLOYMENT
Why would you bother trying to start your own business? I have just started out on my own landscaping and what happens? The really nice revenue collecting barstads from the department of fair trading come along and fine me.
Now I know I am supposed to have to a license, but whilst at TAFE studying a few years ago I was told that I had to have 3 years experience, 3 completed jobs for inspection and my trade certificate. Now I’m told they have changed the rules as from January this year. Why didn’t they put an add in the paper letting everyone know that the rules have changed and to check it out. Well I was well on my way to getting 3 years on the job when work dried up so I decided to go it alone.
Just when you think you are getting ahead, doing the right thing working hard, paying your taxes, paying all your bloody bills that go with being in business. Then some crones from Canberra wanna knock you down again. Why bother. Toby Puglisi
Ballina NSW Send your Comment
Wow! What a welcome speech!!
The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was introduced by the Columbia University's president Lee Bollinger, who took him to task for Iran's record on human rights, its nuclear program, its alleged arming of Iraqi insurgents and its treatment of Iranian-American scholars. Bollinger also challenged Ahmadinejad to explain why he did not believe documented evidence about the Holocaust and why he has vowed to "wipe Israel off the map." "You exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger declared.
The president replied saying that it was a very rude speech. And then went on to prove that it was true... for example: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country,'' Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in response to a question about the recent execution of two gay men there. "In Iran we do not have this phenomenon,'' he continued. "I do not know who has told you we have it.'' Loud laughs and boos broke from the audience of about 700 people, mostly students at the Ivy League school whose garb included "Stop Ahmadinejad's Evil'' T-shirts.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
(gratefully borrowed bits from NY Daily News.com and smh.com.au)
To the Young Australians in this country and those who have little knowledge of politics I urge you to watch the forthcoming QUESTION TIME on Channel 2, in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
If you are any judge of character, you may just determine who the Ringmaster is and who are the clowns.
Yes, it maybe boring, but you will clearly see those representing both sides of the house in a better view than the pictures others paint of our Parliamentarians.
Have a look at the Senate as well and then make up your mind after seeing these representatives performing.
After all it is your country and only involves an hour of your time from 2pm-3pm, Monday to Thursday.
Get with it.
RTL.
Lane cove tunnel fine fiasco...
I am almost wanting to vomit thinking of how the NSW state government treat's everybody with contempt, the latest fiasco with the Lane Cove tunnel where people have been fined for exceeding the speed limit in the early days of the tunnel being opened is nothing short of a rort, the RTA would have known exactly what was going to happen.
Apparently over a short period of time there were 10,000 speeding infringements listed, this is over 10 times higher than the Sydney Harbour Tunnel over the same period. Surely somebody somewhere in Government would have looked at this over time and thought 'Mmmmm, that's a bit high...we might want to look at why this is happening. Actually, I reckon they would have thought $$$$. The roads minister has apparently knocked an investigation on the head...Eric would you take the same stance if this had happened prior to the election? Mmmm...I think Morris would have been writing out the credit notes himself!! Anyway, this will be taken to court and the RTA (us taxpayers) will have to fork out more of our money when they are proven wrong.
All the talk about safety is a con and we are falling for it!! If Governments were more concerned about motor vehicles exceeding the speed limit and not revenue there would be technology in every motor vehicle to alert you that you are entering a particular speed zone. The technology utilised by mobile phones, NAVMAN, etc.. could be utilised the same way with a speed zone notification alert.
There are that many speed zones, traffic signs and other crap information littering our roads and footpath's how are you suppose to keep your eye on the road and look for every road sign. I'm a truck driver and am thinking of getting myself a navigator like how rally drivers have "School zone 100 metres ahead"..... "80kms back to 40kms in 30mtrs"...... it's getting that bad!! Between Caringbah and Kogarah an 11 kilometre drive there are 12 different speed zones and 4 school zones.
No wonder there are so many accidents on the road, people are not watching the road they are looking for the next bloody speed zone!! Getting back to the speed zone alert, the government wont do anything about it because this would actually slow us down and the revenue would not be as high. The whole thing makes me sick!! Anyway I'm off to find my navigator!!! Reply
Global Warming = Right Wing Board vs Australia
Today in the Age, Wendy Frew, Jewel Topsfield and Katherine Murphy have written a piece that describes how the ABC board (pro-Howard) is pressuring the broadcaster to run a controversial documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle.
For most thinking Australians, its a done deal. The world is warming, and you'd have to be stupid not to see the obvious cause: human activity. With billions of us swarming all over the globe, lighting fires to keep warm, burning fuel in cars and factories... its a no brainer. And if Howard is continuing on his "non-believer" agenda.. it just goes to show that he doesn't get it! That's why there will be a change of government in October! Sann
Reply
POOR ATTITUDE AND SERVICE
You know I come and check out this site semi regularly - finding it occasionally interesting. But when I see a post allowed that doesn't even have the authors name and location listed as per your own rules I have to wonder. Sure everyone has the right to complain about someone or a situation but when you mention this poor woman's name and where she works then fail to include the writers name and location well.... good for your credibility and can we really believe them. Shame, shame, shame... Kathy Reid Ellenbrook
Reply here Fair point, Kathy. We prefer contributors to identify themselves. But it does not stop us from letting everyone have their say! Ed.
Smoking - Re person justifing their right to smoke.
I am glad you are getting fed up with people from the non-smoking community. Because why should we the non smokers be put at risk everyday by people like yourselves who dont care. Why should I have to walk through the haze outside the front of a shopping centre because you people are smoking there, why should I expose my lungs to your pollution. Why should I have to put up with being exposed to second hand smoke. You compare yoursleves to people that drink, your not even close. A drunk does not sit outisde the pub and poor drinks down other peoples throats but you force other people that walk by you to breathe your poison. I for one am fast and firm for making it illegal to smoke in any public place and this includes the streets. A reason why you should pay so much tax is because smoking does kill and its been proven its even all over the packets. When you get sick and others you have made sick you become a massive financial burden on the health system. I believe you should pay double what you currently pay and I still dont think it will even come close to what you will cost the taxpayers.
Wake up australia and stop smelling the smoke Steve Reply here
I know there is no subject here on illegal immigrants, but there needs to be.
Our country is a beautiful country for one reason: Our visitors come, see the place then leave with great memories. These days we're letting in people because they're country has gone to hell, but who's to say ours is not gonna turn out that way if we keep letting immigrants in. They can't speak English, don't have any skills and once settled their family's move over. i.e.. Mum and Dad, sisters brothers and cousins. How do we know they're not carrying some dangerous dieses. They left they're country because of violence, famine, poverty. Well don't you think our country is getting a little over populated without bringing more people into our country. It will be harder for the teachers and education system as these children don't know how to speak English let alone have any idea what the teachers are on about. If we wanted to go to their country would they let us in? I don't think so. Then there's all the gangs they've created, raping our young women and bringing more crime to the streets. There is no future for my children in this country and I am ashamed to call myself an Aussie anymore....What is an Aussie these days?? We need to band together and sought this rubbish out before our country's taken over by foreigners and we are the strangers. Can't speak English and don't have skills? Then send them home. There is a time to say no and this is the time. Enough is Enough!! Paul Williams
