MacBook

The first thing you notice with a MacBook is that it is silent. The mouse is very new age and I like it a lot. It has taken a couple of hours just to get the pages tot load smoothly but now they are loading I like it. It is back to front in lots of ways for me and then some. I cannot say at the moment if I like it lots because everything has been hard. I wanted to download a screen saver and that has loaded and gobbledegook text but that is me. I like to indulge in discovery learning. I can see how it has a classy interface but there is much of Windows I miss because it would help me. This is me at the beginning of a learning curve? Why? Because I have to and because I believe in learning new things. I have avoided Apples since the little baby ones which were all the rage. Now...onward and upward. Surely you can just put on a screen saver? The ones they supply are really nice, thank heavens. I did get my desktop background set.

Net Filters

No, I don't suppose Net filters will stop pedophiles. Community vigilance will. We just have to be more aware, more conscientious and more alert. It's horrible. We need a better understanding of why people would hurt children. That rose coloured view aside, we just have to be constantly on the look out to protect children.

Blog Stats

I am getting a bit obsessed. I am closer and closer to the 50 000 which I thought was just a dream when I started this blog. major achievemnet stuff for l'il ole me. I just have to keep checking the stat counter because it is so unbelievable. Now I have to decide whether to carry on or rewind it back to nothing and see if I can get it back up there more quickly.

Smoke everywhere

Mt Gambier is suffereing from excess smoke form the controlled burn offs in Victoria. These have to be done byt our air has suffered badly from the constant smoke particles. Then we have our own fire down south of the city and the smoke is around from that. Our lungs will be useless. Just like the good old industrial days. No wonder Adelaide is coughing and wheezing. We are clogged!

Patrick Swayze

Judging by the huge number of visitors to my blog for the earlier post, then I rest my case. The whole world cares about Patrick Swayze and the whole world is there to support him. He does make people care. I know he has had the bad spots in his life, but in the final analysis, he has brought a lot of happiness to people in the form of emotional care and they are all there standing quietly beside him now. I remember him in the Outsiders, when he was so young and then for me I lost touch until Dirty Dancing. That film was so good because it combined dance and then a story which was, and still is, pertinent. He did a lot to make way for a whole lot of great films which revolved around dance. I just hope, now, the angels are there to hold up his wings.

Kingsford, the piglet

Jobs

"THE unemployment rate has soared across Adelaide in the past six months, more than doubling in some suburbs as gloomy economic forecasts turn to harsh reality."

We are going to have to be the sorts of people we always have been in South Australia..up for a challenge. We are going to have to ensure our young are educated and skilled. We are going to have to ensure they have abandoned the notion of life providing for them and they are going to have to get the skills and knowledge they need to compete in a federal and international market. We have to ensure they are taught well, have good opportunities and a community which will get behind them and push them along and encourage them. We are going to have to ensure older workers remain flexible and able to adapt. We shall have to make sure our workers have transferable skills. We are going to have to encourage creativity and ideas so that we can keep coming up with options. At the moment we are annexed to the eastern states and maybe falling foul of the international competitors. We ned to liven up and keep ourselves happy and afloat. We have done it before and we have always been able to adapt. We need to push harder for what we want. If the southern suburbs have managed stabiltiy through all their job losses we have , at least, something to look at and consider. Let's focus on what we can do rather than taking in the doom and gloom.

High Speed Crashes

"The colossal force of the crash on Magill Rd at Magill is graphically shown by the mangled wreckage of the two unrecognisable cars strewn over several hundred metres."

The one who is dead is 23. These people are lethal weapons in their cars. They are using cars as weapons. It is wrong. The police and fire brigade will be cleaning up these awful messes. The ambulance officers will be attending to try and save whomever they can in the damaged state they are. This is totally irrational behaviour and it is costing lives.The young are not learning, but, worse still, they are creating such a lot of pain and trauma for others to deal with. If there is a pattern to these sorts of drivers we need to identify it and then stop them somehow from driving. Easier said than done because people just drive without a licence. Peer pressure. Family pressure. Community pressure. We are going to have to be very loud and determined because their families and friends keep having to grieve and the community is constantly subject to shock. Somehow we have to pen them in and that's unfortunate I am having this thought but I really feel for the police, fire brigade and ambulance officers who keep having to clean up these bits of humans. It is wrong. Wrong. I can remember a while back one mother was pelading for her son not to be sold a car and yet he was an adult and so we cannot stop it...but if the car is used as a weapon?? Can we stop it then? We need an early intervention phase somehow and then some tough restrictions which we can monitor and that, my friends, is going to take a team effort from the community....or some clever technological way of monitoring them.

No Leave No Life

"The campaign, "No Leave, No Life", will point to a range of holiday packages to entice workers to tear themselves away from their desks and emerge blinking into the sunlight."

I am so pleased to hear this and long service was created to help people manage a full time , long term working life. It was never meant to be saved or somehow cashed in. But we have had enormous workaholic pressures on us in recent years. It has been relentless and many people have just died or got sick, really sick. It has been noticeable over the past 4 years in particular. People have to learn they can take a break. That work is not he be all and end all. There is the other side of it where people can get to try out positions in the short term too. We have used this to good effect at work. That way soemone gets a chance in a safe , supported environment while someone is taking a well earned rest. It is not good if that positon is not covered though and that has happened and it throws the strain on the rest of the employees. If people have leave they need to be covered properly. A number of people have been able to use the short term positions to make further sensible and realistic choices about their careers. So if now we are going to get people to use that leave it will free up positons and it will mean people will be forced to realise they are working too hard!! They are allowed to have a rest and we have had to work really hard on some men at work to get them to do just that...and it takes a lot of psychology, I can tell you!!

Earth Hour

"The primary reason we do it is because we want people to think, even if it is for an hour, what they can do to lower their carbon footprint, and ideally take that beyond the hour."

And it's nice to know it all started in Sydney a couple of years ago and now we have linked up around the world. It is as much about the masses having a quiet voice as anyhting else. It is about us linking up as a planet and saying we are prepared to do something about global warming...where's you effort? There is something really nice about it and I spent a lovely evening because , if nothing else, I realised overhead lighting is glaring and disruptive. Our lights are not relaxing and calming. So we are always under pressure. At work we had a commitment to Earth Hour but now we have been talking about whether we could make a day if it at work because offices are polluted. There are computers, toner cartridges, lights, phones, mobiles....everything. We are toally dependant on databases and electricity and that does not bode well. We know we have to change but we are thinking more and more people are getting sick with respiratory illnesses and headaches and we are wondering if we just relied on air and sunlight whether we might not feel better. So we are going to try having at least a morning on a regular basis where we do without all our equipment and lights. Just to see. We might be able to get the paperwork sorted because that is the biggest joke of the "paperless" world. We have more than ever since the advent of computers and it traps dust, it has to be filed, it creates weight to lift and if you store everything electronically, you cannot always access the Network or the internet. So it's all rubbish really. A totally unreliable world where you are expected to feel swamped and inadequate all the time.

Earth Hour

Well, we are all blacked out around here except the neighbours across the road. They have quite a few little children, though ,so maybe it is not so easy for them. The hills are dark. The view is dark. The lights are out around here in Adelaide!

Petrol Station Drive Offs

"An Aldinga Beach man, 20 and a Happy Valley woman, 38, were charged with four drive-offs and other traffic offences in January and last month."

The petrol stations where they have redesigned the roads and the physical lay out around the garage seems to have cured drive offs. It is incrediblly opportunistic but it is also a big surprise when you are there and the car in front just takes off, hose and all. It's horrible. Cameras? Wouldn't cameras help but maybe they can't use them outside in the bowser area.

Electronic Control Boxes.

"However, he added that people who did not take this option might find they would lose all power when power demand was running at peak levels.

I thought it was a good idea. Sounds great to be able to take control of electricity and maybe provide sensible rationing. Would be even better if we looked at the businesses and homes which are electricity hogs. Then I read that statement. This is not really an option when you put it that way, so do not pretend that it is!

Footy is back

"Adelaide took an impressive lead in the fourth quarter"


Everyone is relieved that the football is back. There is a real sense of excitement and I am not sure why. Maybe because it means winter is coming? Maybe because there is something grounding and sane about a good footie match. We were wondering how the new line up would go for the Crows. They do take risks and they are a team which is committed to helping younger players to get up and running in the big time. Their decison making skill paid off and we are sooooo happy!

Earth Hour

It's tonight. 8.30pm - 9.30 pm. 20:30 - 21-30. I have just spent 10 minutes explaining to one of my French friends , who is pretty good at English, what it means. Once they got it in French...pas de problème! Lots of Australians have English as a second language, like the rest of the world, so we need to get the message out quickly in other languages. Can we do it?

John Vincent

"Veteran South Australian radio personality John Vincent has died."

This is sad news. He is a household name and so well known here. Part of our landscape and radio history. He was actually a radio announcer you often saw in town. He was one of us. He did a lot for the community and had a great sense of humour. He could be hilarious and it was that humour which would get us to rally when we were needed for something. Kind heart, kind soul. Just a really nice bloke. I am glad he died peacefully and I am glad he was surrounded by those who cared about him. He certainly cared about us.Will miss that big voice.

Brain free zone

"A note is being sent to parents this week to remind them of the dangers of students eating plant material that is not food and the matter will be raised at the next Parents and Citizens meeting," a departmental spokesman said.

Pays to advertise but this is ridiculous. Lessons in self preservation appear to have been missed.

Classmates save girl

"A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD French schoolgirl was pulled from the clutches of a kidnapper by her classmates who kicked and punched the intruder until he fled."

Damn these people for trying to kidnap little children. Damn them.  So I am delighted to hear the little children are not going to take it any more and can be their own force to be reckoned with. The classmates are so fantastic for just getting stuck into that guy and giving him what for. The police still haven't found him. I hope all his bits drop off. We get what we are prepared to accept.

Patrick Swayze

"I'm still fine to work, I haven't changed - oh, I have changed, what am I saying? It's a battle zone I go through. Chemo, no matter how you cut it, is hell on wheels," he told The New York Times.

Ain't that the truth? Anyone who has been through the scourge of cancer will know that Patrick Swayze has done it with honesty, dignity and calm courage. I am so very sorry it has come to this. He and his film Dirty Dancing have meant a lot to a lot of people and it will always be one of my favourite films. My Mum, who was fighting lymphoma at the time I took her to see Ghosts, was so moved and deeply touched by the film. It meant a lot to her. And that is the power of Patrick Swayze. He means a lot to people. His films may not be profound but they have a capacity to reach inside and have a profound impact on the emotions of people. I hope this part of his life will allow him to see just how much he has helped others and just how much we shall quietly think of him now.

Beef ain't tuna

"A BATCH of frozen shepherd's pies has accidentally been filled with tuna, sparking fears of an allergic reaction."

Okay, so , hands up, who cannot tell the difference between beef (mooooooo) and tuna (splish splosh??) This is beyond belief.

Pothole in Ipswich

"Council officers allege the damage began when Telstra failed to fix a main stormwater drain after they worked in the area a few years ago."

Well, I guess Telstra will defend itself if it needs to. Telstra? Well. There you go. Who would have thought.

Article

Intellectual laziness.

"We are, Emerson says, paying the price of "intellectual laziness over the last few decades. Economics has suffered a memory loss that has helped cause this crisis."

Oh well said. This article is well worth the read and evidence we do actually have our thinking caps on even if we haven't sorted it all yet. There is a lot to sort and thinking and education are the answer. We have let things go. We have dumbed people down. They are more easily manipulated if they cannot think or they do not know. We do have to liven ourselves up and we do have to skill up the young in both thinking and hard thinking. We have had our fun...now we have to face the consequences and get our heads down and our bums up.

Bikers again

"The key departure from history here has been the spilling over into the public domain of violence," he said.

Nathan Rees the NSW Premier is not convinced that  peace talks will work. There is some doubt as to whether the Comancheros leader's offer of peace talks is sincere. Dr. Veno of Monash University , who has considerable research knowledge in biker gangs , considers the peace talks are going to be cheaper and more effective than the sorts of legislations that we are considering in SA and they are considering in NSW. In NSW gang crime accounts for .6 of total crime and then we have the Sydney Airport brawl. So, in many ways ,we have the scene set for a decent Restorative Justice approach. We need a bit of truth. We need everything out on the table and we need very clear voices. Anyone who doubts that restorative justice lacks teeth and power needs to watch Facing the Demons where Terry O'Connell mediated the conference and process of the offenders and family and friends  of the awful Jannali killing in the pizza shop. Someone of his calibre could probably offer some salient advice at this stage since he has such a wealth of experience and wisdom. It is really important we resolve this properly and effectively. Everyone is talking about it. We were horrified and disgusted with what happened at Sydney airport. It was a case of the bikers coming onto public ground with their disputes. What Nathan Rees has said is true. It was the spilling onto the public domain of violence. Same with the recent shooting , and this is where the bikers are losing so much ground and acceptance. We knew who they were and what they were like. We are frightened of them whether that is their intention or not. They are intimidating.Some of them are involved in criminal activity but no one is going to say or do anything because we are too scared. Those are the facts from our side of it. It is surprising ,then, that we can tell stories of bikers with an amazing amount of affection and laughter. We know they scare us. We cannot believe the fortresses they build even though they say they are not fortresses. When we are describing these abodes we are amazed these guys , whom everyone worries about, have to create such over the top secure places. It is totally out of synch with how we perceive threats and we normal people just couldn't live like that. So it's all a bit bizarre to us and worrying but the bottom line is , we think they have major trust issues and it shows. No one is going to say that to them ,though ,and it doesn't mean we cannot like them or accept that is how they need and want to be. So the planned attack where you meet some guys off a plane and beat one of them to death seems to be blatantly wrong. By our standards it is mindless brutality and disrespect of others' needs in a public place and for bikers it is out of character because they always keep their stuff on their patch and they never do things like that because it is not a fair fight. We know they even  the score. We know they take no wounded. We have lived along side them for a long time and we have understood all of that. It is wrong now. Very wrong. It's like some stupid TV show and bikers were always real. We laugh at ourselves if we find ourselves in the position where we think we ought to offer some six foot six tatooed, leather jacketted hulk of a man some help...because we are in that job and he is in the position that he looks like he needs help. We don't like the crime, we don't like the brutality and we don't like the intimidation...but we all acknowledge when they run something , their organisational skills are superb. We none of us have had a story of where we were threatened or hurt and we have been in the same pubs, the same hotels, the same towns and the same streets. So yes, I think we have plenty to talk about and I think we need to go through a reconciliation process. 2009 is the Year of Reconciliation. Can we do it?

Thank heavens for WWII

"AN underground concrete girder built by American troops during World War II is all that stopped cars from plunging into a monster pothole in the main street of Ipswich, a local councillor says."

It's a huge pothole!!Ipswich had a blown water pipe and then problems with loss of water pressure but nothing to explain a hole 5m deep and 5m wide. There have been ongoing problems there which they have been trying to resolve. To get a hole that big is a worry and thank heavens for the girder. Now to find out how on earth they got a hole that big underground!

There is a great site about Ipswich here.

Of scamming and skimming

"The phone was set up to record video, while a skimming device had been attached to the ATM."

I should have thought you'd notice a mobile stuck to an ATM. Pretty primitive and yet another nasty use of technology and abuse of the public at large. I'm glad it fell off but this is the second attempt at skimming at an ATM which has been picked up. We are being played for suckers and it is mighty annoying to have a world which looks upon us as as easy source of funds. We are copping it from all directions. Bring back the bank book full of nice, neat entries! I found my Mum's at the weekend. It was from another world but it just looked so reassuring to see the entries and have a little book which was all about her and her money.

Dark Chocolate Eggs

"CHANGING diet trends have hit Easter as consumers seek darker chocolate because of its supposed health benefits."

I don't know about people eating dark chocolate because of health benefits. I should prefer to think Adelaide has finally developed a more refined palate and that we know how to separate the men from the boys. Adult chocolate for adult taste.

Sydney Airport Attacks

"Ms Randle said she was disappointed the men were not granted bail, given the police did not have any evidence of specific acts her clients were accused of carrying out."

The lawyer and safety seem to be at odds here. The four who were arrested in connection with the Sydney airport brawl have not been granted bail. My non legal way of looking at it is this simple. We are not used to anything so violent happening at an airport. This is cold, calculated, public violence. These four were arrested because presumably they were involved. Not to grant them bail means they remain in the care of the police. At the moment the public is both outraged and scared but acknowledges this is not the work or the behaviour of all bikers. We are trying to be fair and rational. Our whole international reputation is at stake as well as our safety and the safety of bikers. We need to sort this out carefully and slowly. Given that other bikers have since been shot in Canberra, then those four who were arrested can be deemed to be highly at risk. At this point the law needs to be used to keep everyone calm and safe. Ms. Randle represents the Comanchero''s boss Mick Hawi who has made some wise decisions in the light of what has been going on. He has offered to talk with persons of significance in our community, he has ordered his group not to wear their colours and not to ride their bikes and he has acknowledged that the general public is feeling very insecure about all of this. His actions also seem to suggest he is aware that this whole Sydney airport affair has put all bikers at risk. He has taken steps to be part of a solution to this problem and shows some good leadership skills in that area. I just find it unfortunate that the lawyer would want bail granted at a time when the public would not even consider that an option...rightly or wrongly...and perhaps just accept that the 4 are safer where they are now and that we just need to be very careful at this point how we manage this. Having said that , there is nothing wrong with allowing people to know that perhaps these bikers are being held without a proper reason and that would eventually be taken into consideration by the police and courts. We have been trying to think where this sort of thing has occurred at any airport. It has cut across the notion there has to be a certain level of trust as you go from one place to another. Time. Place. Respect.

Hacker Hired

"She heard he had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism often characterised by social isolation, when he was 10."

Aspergers children are often exceptioanlly gifted in one area and it is true they can be difficult to interact with since they run to their own rules and way of thinking. They run their own agenda and they can be difficult to manage if they are not brought in some way shape or form into the mainstream. Hiring this boy as an adviser is both using his talent and directing his energies and exceptional learning capacity in a positive way. He appears to have been closely supervised and mentored. He has been allowed to grow. Whether those opportunities will redirect his skills and motivation remains to be seen, but it is a least an insightful way of trying to deal with both destructive behaviour and Aspergers which has largely left us stumped and Aspergers sufferers and their families disenfranchised.It is interesting that he appears to have operated very well socially at that high level of business training and development.

Sydney Airport Brawl

"Bystanders rushed to give Zervas CPR, as he lay bleeding in front of check-in counters 19-20."

What great human beings these people are. Since we have refused to be hurried along by the severity  and shock of this and we have allowed information to come out, then the facts are speaking for themselves and will allow us to develop a sensible set of strategies for dealing with mindless violence. We are neither guilty nor mindless. We need to continue to run by our values and use our brains.

Pants fall down

"A TEENAGER has faced court after his baggy trousers fell so low that he exposed himself - just as a female police officer was walking past."

I am tired of the falling down pants and the butt crack. It is time Australian men livened up a bit. This story is just great!

Bikers

"It's just ridiculous and the Government is not doing anything but burying its head in the sand and using any excuse not to introduce the appropriate legislation."

If our lunch time discussions are anything to go by, it's not burying our head in the sand which is the problem. It is bikers holding us to ransom as a community. A number of people had tales to tell of takeovers of country towns by bikers who were on their interstate or country runs. They would come in as a group, do as they pleased, ignore signs and then leave. People spoke of being worried and how quiet everyone would be and how they would just take it. This is intimidation. What they also said was they didn't think all bikers were like that and that when they left the towns there was not a spot of rubbish to be found. You see, the problem is, they are frightening. Whether they mean to be or not, they have got everyone frightened and so we think there is no one strong enough to stand up to them and then we were fearful for anyone who did. We are not stupid. There are a lot of bikers who are indulging in a life of violence. We read about it all the time. Some of us know about it. Adelaide is a small place. So if you stand up to them, then you run the risk of being harmed. That is how people see it. If bikers do not want us to think like that then they have to change their PR. The other thing which is clear is that their values are quite different from the majority of Australians. They have a different way of going about things and the tough way of doing things no longer sits comfortably with our predominantly middle class values. Some of this could be clarified and negotiated. Some of this could be re interpreted . We have come to realise we don't feel safe. We just don't, and we don't want anyone to stand up and put their own lives and families at risk. So yes, we need a group which can get the balance back. For a lot of years we have lived alongside bikers and it really hasn't been a problem but now it is. The balance has gone.

Media Images

I have decided I shall make my own private stand about what is foisted before my eyes in the media. I am sick of violent, gruesome and ugly images. I am sick of tarty, trashy looks. That's me. I have had enough. My home. My values. Net sites are peppered with loathesome images . TV is full of them. Nothing wrong with taste and beauty. Nothing wrong with safe images when I am spending my time with the media. News reports are news reports . I can choose to watch those or not and even some of those appear to be doctored by all accounts. It has to be making us insensitive and it has to be impacting on us to be surrounded by ugly all the time. I have had it. So I am being more selective. I am protesting,I am emailing and I am telling people I don't want this vile and gross stuff in my face. There is no divine right to tell me what I am going to look at simply because I choose to engage with media in 2009.

Sydney airport brawl

"They say they will look at police numbers at the airport, police response times and the quality of intelligence gathering before the brawl, as well as the cooperation of state and federal officers."

And that is all that can be done. We were horrified and our reaction was we don't get this in Australia. Well, now we do. We were horrified this was planned. We were alarmed at the arrogance that you would just go to the airport and use whatever was there to pummel someone to death. Have a brawl. It shows a complete disrespect for who we are and what we want. it was premeditated. It was carried out without considering what others might need or want. Brutal. Cold and brutal. If the response was slow then we are not geared up for this kind of violence and we do not expect it. Onlookers would have been traumatised. It is so against our belief that we can have a country where you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder and feeling unsafe. It is the few again determining how the majority of us should be treated and we shall get what we are prepared to accept.It is part of how we are being increasingly forced to accept whatever a particular group of people wants to foist upon us. We aren't all like that and  the sorts of people who behave like that are few. Sydney airport is well run and well organised. I should hate to see us have to tie everything and everyone down...but I guess we'll have to unless we can get onto these things in the planning stage, which is highly unlikely.Sad to say it makes us feel irresponsible and guilty and it makes us feel like we are to blame. Not so.

How to start your own secret society

What am I reading? I have just finished How to start your own secret society by Nick Harding. It looks at secret societies in our civilised world and how they operate. It is light hearted but really very interesting. One thing I picked up was that Mozart was a Freemason. Now there's a thought to ponder for a while. I really enjoyed it. It was a pleasant easy read which gave me a few things to think about and it was the perfect antidote to the Patricia Cornwell novels I had read - Post Mortem and Body of Evidence. They were really, really good and it's a while since I have really wanted to get to the end of a book.I couldn't put them down. They were intelligently written and I liked the characters. The plots were intriguing and I liked how she put a good social perspective on it. They were a hard read though because they made me so involved and emotional., so Nick harding's book was just the very thing to read next. I am about to start Catfish and Mandala.

HECS debts

"The list of biggest HECS debts, obtained for the first time by The Sunday Telegraph, shows one student has accumulated a staggering university bill of $310,497."

I paid my daughter's fees up front and she has been repaying me. It saved her 25%. I was outraged that 25% would be added on for the people who can least afford it. Some poele will never pay the HECS debt back and it has been a very poorly conceived way of getting people to study. It has allowed for people to buy a place at our universities but it has also meant people have gone out into their young lives will ridiculous sums to repay. Decide whether they have to pay or not...but this fee has created some disturbing consequences and needs to be reviewed.

Financial Panic

"We've got to isolate the bad assets," Mr Brown said.

Said like a true Brit. Cut through the hype and just make a simple statement. Panic is not going to help. Hysteria will not add to the resolution of this. I can remember people used to say we only used 10% of our brain. It used to be said over and over. Well, the ten percenters got us into this mess so we do not want the ten percenters to get us out of it. What we need is a group of people who can use more brain power and it will be a global effort. We are going to have to use the best finacial brains around the world to get us out of this bit by bit. Knee jerk reactions, hyped up half truths and generally throwing our skirts up in the air is not going to cut it.

Anna Bligh

"I think there are many people who would never have thought that Queensland would be the state that delivered our first elected woman premier and I'm thrilled and proud of them that they proved everyone wrong," she said on ABC radio on Sunday.

I am glad Anna Bligh got back in because she needs to be able to show us whether she can do the job or not. To be voted in gives her a chance to set her own agenda and be able to give the job her best shot. It is astounding our country cannot keep women at the top in politics. They have been shot down and don't survive, or they battle on and find themselves pulling out. Julia Gillard is our best chance at the moment and now we can see if Anna Bligh can skill herself up and get on with the job just like any man We set women up as targets and I don't think a woman should have a job just because she is a woman. A man shouldn't either. There is something about the political arena in this country which is toxic to women and we need to fix it. Women need to have  a long, hard look at themselves and see why they cannot survive and then we need to look at the hostile environment which every woman politician has to face. I do not think we are credible as a nation unless we can get women to keep the top jobs and be as credible as men. We seem to be more tolerant of men's foibles. Needs a good analytical look and people need to get behind Anna Bligh and ensure she can learn as much now as she did on her return journey to re-election.

Water Tasting

"Behind winner Mt Gambier's tap water, described as "fresh, clean and bright", was Plympton, judged second best, with a sample from southern suburb Morphett Vale coming third."

This is such a good idea. Firstly there is a sense that the best way to counteract criticism is to be innovative and inventive. We take our water very seriously in Adelaide , so to use well known local foodies to participate in a serious water tasting is such a great idea. It has that level of credibility but a typical Adelaide approach...there's a bit of a sense of fun. It is a very good  way to promote water awareness and our local businesses and expertise. If we are going to be good at something, then let's be it and do it and water ought to be the thing we are damn good at. So gold stars and plus points for tackling our water woes head on and getting a good sense of perspective. Me? I have put a filter on my tap water and it's staying there. I reached saturation point last year after years of Adelaide water.

Secondly it is something we can add to and develop. As I said, if we are going to be experts, we might as well choose water because it is something which is so close to our hearts and something we are always criticized for. This approach will get us all involved and it will get more experts on board so in the end, our water will improve. I just love this idea. It is Adelaide.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House is an iconic, legendary, part of our heritage now. No restoration will come cheaply because it is so unique. It has a colourful and interesting history and it stands out superbly as you fly into Sydney. I can't think of a trip to Sydney without looking out for the Opera House from the plane. It is amazing because you can see it from everywhere. The funds need to be secured and the building needs to be cared for. If we have a building like that then we need to give it the top priority it has earned and it has had to fight for what is now an indisputable part of our landscape and lifestyle. We use it all the time to represent us.

It's raining again!

Not a lot, but it is raining and there might be thunder! Could create some hazardous conditions for the Clipsal but I doubt it will dampen the spirits. Adelaide loves car races. Lots of people have a serious interest in cars here. It's warm and the rain is sprinkling. I have watered this morning and the garden is showing signs of recovery. I have planted grevilleas and invested in bark chips. My sisters grevilleas and diosmas have not been watered at all and they are fine. She has plenty of bark chips...hence my copy cat sister behaviour! We are at least heartened now.

Demineralised Water

WHO put out a paper which is not allowed to be cited to do with the effects of long term use of demineralised water. It's basically about how we, as humans, need the minerals in water for our digestive system and health. things like calcium, magnesium and essential elements. So, I guess if we use desalinated water we'd have to mix it with normal water to keep the health benefits for us. Makes sense and I am sure there are water experts out there who can explain this to us so we don't worry about it.

Adelaide Water

"The latest SA Water annual report shows the number of potential health threats in the state's drinking water has nearly doubled in the past few years."

This article says the state of the Murray is the problem. I'd say it's the state. Adelaide drinking water is the pits and always has been. Recently we have all been suffering from nausea. Some people very badly. It may not be the water but what else are we all taking on board in the heat?  I'd love to see us have decent water. I was hoping desalinated water would be our answer but then somebody was saying their mother said that some country which had long term use of desalinated water had health issues now...I cannot believe we can't just have water. You know , water.

Work Choices dead

"WORKPLACE Relations Minister Julia Gillard has declared WorkChoices "finally buried" after the Senate passed Labour's Fair Work Bill today."

Yes!!! The laws have passed the senate. RIP and good riddance.

Financial Mess

"The latest outlook published by the International Monetary Fund last night says the global economy is expected to contract this year for the first time in 60 years."

The crystal ball gazing is up and running and the predictions are there. Some will be true and some won't be true. We were all being prosperous and we were all being told how wonderful our economy was and how we had never been wealthier but if I could work out that the economy was being set to blow up as there were government changes around the world, then I am sure really good economists and financial experts could work that out. You just cannot keep making profit. You cannot keep driving people into the ground to gain profit and inflating things all the time makes them go pop. That is my simple version of how things were going. The timing for government changeover around the world was interesting but once you set a financial juggernaut rolling down hill, it takes a lot of power, expertise and skill to avert damage and disaster, which is why I keep hoping the same people who got us into this mess are not here running it now. Economies are precariously balanced in modern times. I do not blame us for trying things. I do not blame us for trying to create a global economy for planet earth so we can all benefit...but I can see that people have not had the skills to implement it. It was too big a risk taking exercise and it has blown up in our faces. The only way out is sensible advice, calm thinking and considered decisions which prudent people know will work. I do not want to hear another prediction. I want to hear some decent remedies because speculation is what got us to this moment in time.

New Look Facebook

"Ninety-four per cent of the nearly 800,000 Facebook users who have voted in a poll on the site said they do not like the changes rolled out in the past two weeks."

I am surprised people do not like the new design because the complaints about the other new look Facebook which is now the old look Facebook was it was very sloppy in its design approach and layout. The only thing I don't like in the new , new look are the new notifications at the top of the page instead of the side. I am a digital immigrant so I still forget to scan the whole screen. I tend to look in the middle, right and left....so I don't notice the things at the top. Facebook is a database. They have gone through and tidied it up, got things into neat categories and places and you tend to get more status updates and then there are separate categories for photos and videos so that the news section is less cluttered. The layout has been tidied up. Now they seem to have subdivided the profile page and started to group that. I want my profile page to be chronological in my activities  and not grouped. It is the reason I still blog. I actually want a part of cyberspace which I drive and set up within the limitations of the app I am using.It would be quite  nice to blog and Facebook in the same spot in lots of ways. Just set up your home on line...but people tend to want one area for one thing and another area for another and in that sense I am no different, I guess. On the whole I like the new, new Facebook and see no reason to complain. People do not like change and they are tiring of change because things are changing every five minutes and everyone is fed up with that kind of life. Sooner or later people will dig their heals in and refuse to budge and create the inertia which will bring about a routine, regulated, predictable existence...and they won't like that either!

Executive Pay Outs

"Australian companies and the regulatory framework they operate under are not responsible for the current crisis … and they shouldn't be overregulated in response to it," Mrs Ridout said.

We are not responsible for it either. It is a question of balance, a matter of equity and then doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. We are all in this and we all need to consider how to now best manipulate some very bad financial management and then , perhaps, the fall out when companies collapse. There is no reason for executives to have preferential treatment under these circumstances. Reporting the facts is all it takes. Remuneration is for everyone. The open discussion will only help us to see the picture clearly. Everyone needs to be heard and we'll get plenty of information since this is a global phenomenon.

Abused children

"Jarrad's GP, Marko Zuvela, said the boy and his sister seemed well-nourished and presented well whenever he saw them, but that he was not aware until recently that Jarrad had not been attending school."

This is a sad, sad case. I don't want to discuss it. I want to stop it. We have people who have children and the children seem to be being used in an extreme way to provide cash or chemicals for the adults who are responsible for them. This boy had not been attending school and so that might have been a way to push alarm bells. Schools need to be able to routinely notify a central place / agency if children are not attending school. I always thought it was up to me to ensure children in this home were at school. I thought that is what I should be doing as a responsible adult...that it was between me and the children in my care. Some adults are not like that. They claim full time students who are not actually full time at school and they claim the money and perhaps the prescriptions as well. If absenteeism is a way of tracking abuse, then we have the technology to do it. Databases should be connected and there should be people who check absenteeism. They could contact the school in the first instance and if the school cannot provide an explanation , then the care providers of the child need to be doing that. It also gives a legitimate way for an outside agency to be in contact with people who are not caring for their children for whatever reason. Early intervention works. It just does.

Spider Smuggler

"He has been charged with tax fraud and breaking nature protection laws."

EEEEEEEE-oooooo! Aaaaaaargh! Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! He ought to be charged with scaring the daylights out of customs officials and making me feel utterly sick. Spider smuggling! Oh , yuck, how disgusting. We used to have them here but I haven't seen them in a while, perhaps because I live in a differnt part of the city.They are basically an Eastern states problem and they can keep them. I don't like 8 legged things in my home, hairy or not.

Wi fi wotsits

I invested in a new , fast wifi ADSL set up over Christmas. It has been a J learning curve to say the least and some of it I really appreciate because I like to learn. It is not as stable as the slow wifi set up I had but the slow one was okay but a target for opportunistic people who wanted to hijack bandwidth and ride for free. So the new one is secure and works really, really well when it is all settled down...then it seems to be like those crackly radio programmes you hear from the war years or the stories of CB riggers blowing each other out of the air. I have Network stumblers and tracers so I can see who is on wifi in the area. We are all on secure networks bar one and it can go well until the one comes on. Then I have to wander with my laptop around the house to find the best reception area. It's funny how life changes but the problems don't!

Obscene Golden Handshakes

"Mr Swan said there were some instances where the size of so-called "golden handshakes" had been "obscene".

Oh yes, we are ropable about execs giving themselves pay rises and then quitting the job or taking jobs overseas.Obscene is the word we have been using. We have woken up to ourselves and others. It is great to see us thinking about what this all means now. Some people have beautiful feathered nests, lifestyles and retirement plans thanks to the hard work of those who have become unemployed. We realise that all the lovely lifestyle and profiteering was built on very dubious values indeed. We are scandalised at how the execs have catered to their self indulgence at the expense of workers and jobs. The fact we now have "menials" who can be treated in such a fashion has really got to us. It is a real superior being mentality which we are not going to tolerate. Okay we got sucked in by all the hype about everyone being better off than ever, the property boom and the wealth creation. We know how fake that was now and how we just had the privileged and the non privileged...

Alcopops

"Senator Nigel Scullion said he missed the division because he was holding an impromptu meeting in a stairwell."

Yes, those impromptu stairwell meetings are a real bind. The  alcopops tax lost by one vote, but it is getting a bit predictable as to who is going to hijack the government bills...all the time, every time and it is wearing a bit thin. We actually need politicians who are here to do the job, who take it seriously and who are going to be raising issues in a well considered way. Opposition for the sake of it is making us laugh because it no longer sounds valid. I believe whle heartedly in every bill being thoroughly analysed and considered. I believe loopholes and erroneous thinking should be picked up so that we have bills which are solid and will serve us well. This is more of the silly kid behaviour and it's a shame. A real shame.

Midnight Oil

Judging by the huge amount of interest in the couple of posts I put up about Midnight Oil I can only think they still enjoy a huge international interest and following. Rightly so. We were having a bit of a laugh because we thought Peter Garrett had tamed himself down a bit because he was now a politician. Nothing was taken from his performance and his heart, nor , indeed, from the talent which was Midnight Oil, but he used to just go right off on stage and really get into it. We figured the suit wearing had subdued him. They were a brilliant band and we know they still have the capacity to rock the country. Maybe they should just go in the studio and record us a new album because they are just so great. Might be a nice antithesis to parliament!

Best comment

Woke up early and there was report on, So how long will the military be in power? the reporter was asking


As long as it wants to be???

Humanoids

The Japanese are getting closer and closer to having a humanoid which is so life like. There is one advertised here which has recently put on show, but You Tube has some amazing ones. The future is here!

Holiday at Home

"Holiday house rentals are most in demand, with people seeking self-catering options to keep down costs."

It's good to hear our regional tourist parks and accommodation is booked out. It is great to know the tourist dollar is being spent at home. It is partly a weather thing. The unpredicatable weather has had an impact on people because they do not want to be caught unawares in a place they are not familiar with. Then there is cost. Then we have realised if we appreciate our own back yard it will help jobs in our state. We do have to look after ourselves. On top of that , holidaying at home is less stressful and peole have been stressed. There are so many nice places in South Australia for those who like to get away from it all.

Crazy traffic.

Adelaide is a 20 minute city. It takes you 20 minutes by car to get most places and then maybe an hour for a really big trip. No one much minds driving in Adealide because it is straight forward and hassle free. Just lately , though, it has been a total pain. There have been far too many accidents, there have been excess cars because train lines have been suffering from excess heat exhuation, there have been the extra Clipsal visitors and then everywhere in Adelaide there have been road works. Our days are now marred by slow, intolerable traffic jams, rerouting and surprise slow downs. you cannot travel anywhwere without being caught up or slowed down. We are so over it.

The luck of the police

"A police spokesman said the 25-year-old man, of no fixed address,  had nothing to do with the original police pursuit, but had been breaking in to the house."

The police were trying to catch the car which had escaped after they pulled it over. They didn't catch the driver but they caught some other guy who was stealing from a house! Our police have been getting some lucky breaks like that....but they have also been alert to things going wrong.

Sand Art

Our indigenous artists produce the most amazing sand works of art as do the North American Indians. It seems to be an inherent talent we have had as human beings which has brought us great inspiration and joy. It is good to see it translate with such success to our cyber world.Some of these online videos are not only interesting and inspirational to watch, they are also very calming. There is something quite magical about sand.

It's raining again!

The rain has brought us comfort. It has also made us rebellious! Most of us decided we were going to look after ourselves this weekend. As soon as the rain hit we decided we needed to nurture ourselves and nothing was going to get in our way. We were at the garden centres...inspite of the rain, ready to rejuvenate our gardens. We were taking baths to soothe ourselves. We were off to the shops and to visit friends. It was all about looking after ourselves. Me? I did go to the garden centre and got rained on and then Sunday afternoon I curled up with a really good book which I couldn't put down. Long time since I have felt that lost to the real world and it was great.

Clipsal 500

"The total build and removal period spans around four months and costs $750,000 annually."

Putting up a permanent stand would save that money and the inconvenience of traffic hazards while they are putting the temporary stand up and then taking it down. It could be used for other things. These are all good arguments. It's not just about money, though. Adelaide has always been a small city with a small, comfortable feel. To grand stand it would alter its feel and to bring in more races would add to carbon production, sound and air pollution. If people want the big city feel then there are plenty of cities to get a dose of that. In many ways most capital cities are just becoming international metropolises and Adelaide needs to decide whether it wants to go down that road. The Clipsal is hugely popular, as was the Formular One here. We are a state which likes races and the feel which comes with that. I don't think this should be a decision which is just foisted upon us. I think it is something we need to discuss properly and the public needs to be consulted. As it stands there are plenty of advantages but it would permanently change our landscape and maybe we don't want that.

It's raining hoons.

"The wet weather played havoc on the state's roads last night, with 22 car accidents reported to police between 4pm and 11pm."

Most of us got into work today jaded and frazzled. People either do not know how to drive in the rain or they do not care. The rain has brought the hoons out, so most of us had our evening disturbed by assorted "exciting" car noises. I had a bad case of hoon rage at one stage. I could have really given the guy a piece of my mind. The sickening noise goes right through you. Sunday, a day of rest? Not if it's raining. You don't always see the cars, you hear them. So we were nice and angry today because most of us had had near accidents or people sitting on our tails when they need to leave a gap in the wet. Then there are those who slide carelessly between lanes and with a narrow wheel base this is not a good idea. Adelaide drivers used to be quite sensible. They have lost it.

Better batteries

"Scientists in the United States have invented a battery that can charge in seconds, promising a revolution in power storage that could also help green cars and renewable energy."

I am overjoyed to hear this. The sooner we get rid of petrol and oil, the better. The next step is the biodegradable battery or a transformer one which transforms into a handy gadget when its days are done.

Wake up , Australia!

It may look like we are facing one disaster after another. It may look like we have our backs to the the wall. It may Look like we have too much on our plate.We haven't thrown our hands up in the air and carried on like pork chops. We have got in there and done what has needed to be done. We have shut down the critics, the snipers, the garrulous onlookers and kept everyone focussed on connecting and doing. Everyone has been in there doing one way or another. It has been bringing us together and it has enriched and refreshed our spirit. All this pain and heartache has connected us in a very real way. So now you can hear things like it's no use us sticking our heads in the sand. That we need to haul together. That we need to look for solutions and not be part of the problem. We have been focussed and we have realised we need to wake up to ourselves. We have to look after ourselves and we need to look after our own. We are starting to stand up and be counted and know the only way we are going to get through this lot is to make sure we are working for one another and doing it in the way we do it best...the Australian way. We weren't sure what that meant, but now we know it's about hauling together, facing the facts, looking out for your mate and bloody waking up to yourself.

24 Hours Air Traffic

If you are an insomniac, this has a very mesmeric effect! It is extraordinary how many planes are flying in 24 hours. Just extraordinary.

Sound relief

"If there had been a roof, headline act Midnight Oil would have raised it."

I am glad the reports are about Midnight Oil  letting it rip and just showing us the way. They have been an iconic group because they sing what is deep in our heart. They say what we need to say and we ALL sing along. Beds are Burning would have meant so much, I am certain. I was thinking about the lyrics:

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep when our beds are burning

 The time has come and we do need to pay the rent. That song would have meant so much. Midnight Oil was always a front runner in keeping the real issues in front of us in a way that we could relate. Peter Garrett has learnt a good lesson and we have learnt one too. We need to connect in a basic way. We need to relate and share meaning in a fundamental way. Musicians and artists express what we need to think about and we know it. We do not shy away from lyrics.  Peter Garrett has learned the lesson we all need to learn  -to thine own self be true. As an artist, as a musician, he not only feels his best, he has a profound influence. Suit him up and shove him in parliament and he is like a duck out of water. He must feel straitjacketed.Stick him on a stage with the people he loves and he can not only make music, he can relate to people in a very real way. His music drives him to connect and Midnight Oil as a band was a group which rallied us around issues. From what I can tell, the whole evening was a huge success which touched everyone. It was how Australians are one and how we heal wounds. If Kylie Minogue had everyone in tears with I still call Australia home, and if it rained, if we rocked on and sang our hearts out...then it was the good medicine we needed and a good lesson for us all. We need each other, and we need to be Australian.

Tent cities

So much for riches and wealth. Our western economies are not keeping people safe at all. The Californians now have tent cities because of job losses and mortgage foreclosures. We have been hopeless at managing our economies if it has come to this. It didn't happen over night. It has taken years to get this low. I hope the people who have been running the world economy are out in their tents too and that we have some decent financial experts running the show now. This is pitiful.

Last bushfire nailed.

Oh well done, folks. Well done. At least the last fire is out. The fire fighters can rest up a bit now though I dare say there is still stuff for them to do. They have been out there day after day for weeks trying to get those Victorian fires under control. A well earned beer, I'd say and I dare say a lot of them have to return to work on Monday.

Well done!

Are you a change agent?

Oil Slick in Queensland

I can well imagine the French would have a lot of practical advice to give us in terms of cleaning the massive oil slick off the Queensland coast. Floods, fire, drought and now this. One massive environmental disaster after another. The French have spent hours and hours cleaning slicks off their Atlantic coast and have learnt a lot from it. At this stage we cannot use volunteers because of possible harm to them. We do have strong biodiversity and crisis management teams and basically we have a very logical and sane approach to these matters. Volunteers would want to help because we are all too well aware of how much long term harm can come from a spill that size and then the containers of fertiliser at the bottom of the ocean. We have wonderful beaches and we do take responsibility for things such as this . The difficulty has been in assessing the amount of damage because the initial information wasn't accurate. Cyclone Hamish had damaged the ship, which , once in harbour , was found to be more damaged than reported. We have to get a lot of expert advice and help quickly because that environment is now badly polluted. The wild life will be suffering. Those working in the area will have to guard themselves against skin damage and respiratory problems. Those working with the wild life will exhaust themselves so there may be a place for volunteers down the track. The shipping company is trying to play a part in this and, in the end the legal aspects of it ,will be sorted out. In the short term time and expertise are of the essence and people are having to get down there to clean it up. It would be nice if we could just suck it all up and then dispose of it safely. The cleaning of a beach is painstaking . The need to regulate shipping off our coast is now even more important. The climate? Not much we can do about that. We can , however, pool our resources globally because so many countries are suffering similar disasters and combined experience and knowledge would be of great advantage.

The Mighty Murray

I am impressed. The plight of our river has been sung loud and clear at every opportunity today. Information, live hot spot visits, information, reflection. The Mighty Murray is calling for our help and we have heard it loud and clear. We are still divided as to whether we get the weir going, dredge the channel or leave it to rainfall. Rainfall didn't work last year and we have never been this dry. We need to keep the spotlight on it and we need to keep these animated conversations going. Goolwa is angry and so it ought to be. They have done it hard and suffered enough. We need to keep talking and debating and pushing this to the front until we reach the point of critical mass  where we get all this information out and before us and shaped finally into our decision. We have heart ached enough. We have researched and soul searched enough. Now we need to keep it on the table, we need to keep rummaging through it and one day soon now, there will be our decision and we can move on. It may not be what we want but it will be a decision which we can live with and which will help us to grow again. Right now we are all dried up and angry.

Police Officer Paralysed

"THE older of the two brothers cleared of the assault of a police office has thanked police for saving his father's life."

Matt Butcher ,who was paralysed as a result of the attack on him by the man who has been judged not guilty ,was almost speechless when he spoke with his wife on television tonight. He and his wife were very quiet and very subdued. There was no sense of justice for either of them because we have all seen the footage and the footage is still there for us to see.The policeman is paralysed.  So yes, we are all a bit baffled. We get the bit the man was trying to protect his father whom the police officer had shot with a taser. His father had a heart attack. So we get the fact he was probably outraged and emotional. That was his dad. The rest? The media has brought this before us again because Australia is normally a fair country and we just do not see that. at the moment.  We do not understand the verdict and maybe there is something we have misunderstood? If nothing else we need to look at it all again. I'm sorry, but I think we do, or we shall make our own judgements and that is not right. When someone said that police will now think about whether they intervene or not is quite true. It's like those who have been sued for applying first aid. They too are now thinking. This approach will not help us one bit nor further us as a community.

Iraqi Journalist Gaoled for 3 Years

"We expected the decision because under the Iraqi criminal code he was charged with assaulting a foreign leader on an official visit," Attabi said, adding: "We will appeal this decision."

Indeed. To thine own self be true. I am horrified the journalist was gaoled for 3 years for throwing a shoe at George Bush, but the Iraqis have looked upon the action from their own legal perspective in their own way. They have stayed true to their own code of conduct and ignored the fact it was George Bush. The whole world threw shoes at Bush after that happened. they went to the online site and threw shoes. We all wanted to throw shoes and more at George Bush for what he had done to the Iraqis. That they have suffered all they have at the hands of an unwarranted invasion, that they have lost so many people, have had to put up with so much and have had bombs raining down on their children's heads, and yet, at this point in time there is no thought of revenge, but what they believe to be the legally right thing to do...then now we know why they have survived...and will survive. They have looked at the harm which was done to a world leader visiting their country. Then the journalist, well, he could have shot George Bush and no one would have been surprised. He could have been very violent and no one would have held it against him. What he chose to do was use his own culture to express how he felt. He felt disgusted.  He expressed that disgust by throwing a shoe and showing he wished to insult George Bush. Not bomb him. Not torture him. Not kill his children and shed his blood. Just throw a shoe to insult him...which George Bush ably avoided. There is no way he should be in gaol except his country has judged him and that it is the punishment. Iraq has taught us a lot. We cannot interfere in their laws but I should like to think we could use diplomatic channels to plea for the freedom of the journalist.

Midnight Oil is back

"Mr Garrett is due to play a second concert with his reunited band Midnight Oil tonight."

Peter Garrett cannot be everywhere. He cannot do much good looking at the oil spill on the Queensland coast  and be trying to raise money for the bushfire and flood victims as well. Heading up Midnight Oil is no small deal and frankly, it's what Peter Garrett does best. This is how he is a good politician and this is how he does do his best for our country..and do you know what? We won't let him be a singing politician. We are not that flexible. Yes, people need to get onto that oil spill from the trawler and we are going to have to do what they do in Europe...get everyone down there to clean every bit of it up. Right now Peter Garrett is doing his bit for two states in Australia. He is out there busting his gut performing .There are those who do....

Fined for Howling

"The court was told that on January 14 police attended a home in Greenfields, south of Perth, because an intoxicated man had been howling loudly in his front yard."

The Perth man was fined 400 dollars for disorderly behaviour because he wouldn't stop howling in his front garden. It doesn't say what he thought he was doing or thought he was imitating. Sounds a bit weird. Who goes into the front yard and howls? Yodelling, yes, I  get that, but howling??? Is he all right? The neighbours must have been driven bonkers but I think I 'd be laughing if one of my neighbours decided to howl for hours out the front. Would you howl out the front??

Water , water everywhere...except in Adelaide.

It drives us crazy. The eastern states are getting a drenching and we do not wish them ill. But they are getting flooded and we are soooo dry and crispy. It's the lack of balance in Australia...and then the touchy point of the Murray flow blocked upstream in the eastern states as we dry up and destroy heritage wet areas. No more studies , please. Action. I applaud Adelaide Now for trying to bring all our thoughts together in one spot so we can think this one out and just act. We need to do something about the Murray and we need to do something about the Lower Lakes. A lot of people have well formed opinions and expertise and so a logical plan has to be enacted. Action. We have to change this because it is breaking our hearts. It is destroying us. People seem to think the Wellington Weir is a fait accompli and that it has actually been organised. Will the weir help? Not many people think so. The opinion seems to be with dredging that awful channel and bringing in the sea water. There is merit in that. It was estuarine originally. We need a look at this Australia wide and we know it. We have tried to do that. The eastern states have held up the water flow. They also get a lot more water than we do in natural rainfall. Too much in some places. So the eastern states can think in terms of water. We cannot. The water we have access to is storm water, as per the innovative Salisbury wetlands, some rain and then plenty of sea water. In many ways our climate lends itself to being the great marina state...except most South Australians don't seem to like marinas. I do. The places I have been in the world where you go down to the coast and wander past marinas are some of the most fascinating places I can think of. I am not really a boatie, but I love the feel of boats and water. I grew up in a fishing village. I love watching boats and people come in on their boats. Our coastline would suit marinas. It would be something we could have. Pottering about on boats. Lots of South Australians like sailing and it would be a good healthy thing for our kids to grow up with. A lot better than computers and mall trawling. Boating is not just a rich person's play ground. With the right type of planting we'd have the wild life we'd enjoy and the greenery we miss. I think we need to reshape how we think of ourselves and we are , in many ways, sea people and then lots of us grew up with holidays on the river. What we have now is soul destroying. We need to make a move and not everyone will be happy ...but if we have a thriving environment, then we will embrace it because it's what we like to do...blossom.

Criteria for the Stimulus Package

The package is quite broad and will be inclusive of a number of groups and people. If, like me, you are not sure whether you are eligible or not, the information is here. I hope the students are actually expected to be at school. We seem to have a lot of wanderers again during the school day and an upsurge in graffiti. We had solved that problem and now the ugly daubing is back.

Stimulus Payments

"Well there's great news for dead people, Kevin Rudd's going to give them $900 as part of the economic stimulus package," he said.

Have I missed something? The payments are not going to the dead, their estates might be eligible. Who receives the money form the estates? The people nominated in the will. The living. The spouse, the children. I should think that would be a good thing to have money paid into an estate especially if you have children going to school, if you have lost your income earner, if you have to move because you cannot live in a big house alone. I could see that money would be put to very good use.Isn't that why we are getting the stimulus package? When people die there is a big financial outlay and you do not begrudge them so if the estate becomes eligible for that government funding , it might actually soften the blow for some people. Had that happened when my mother died I would have suffered less financially at the time. It was a big financial blow for me at the time. It wouldn't be now.Times change. There will be people out there who need that  money because they have lost someone.

Schools in the Clouds

With another report of students being shot in a school , with our thoughts that if the bush fires had occurred during the week, our students would have been endangered, with floods, snow storms, random attacks of arson, bombings...schools are increasingly a target for society's dysfunction. We have the capacity to deliver online education now and the cost would be isolating students from friends and teachers who can play a significant role in their lives. More and more we are going to have to think about protecting students and staff from these random, lethal attacks and then the cruel weather events. Who would then look after them if we taught them online? For that reason we won't do it, but I am desperately sorry for parents who are increasingly getting this kind of news and I am so sorry for communities which are suffering this kind of violence. We all need to give this some serious thought.

Social Networks

"SOCIAL networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are now more popular than personal email with Australians spending one in every 10 minutes online inside their "virtual homes", research shows."

Social networks are not email. Email is old. We have outgrown it. Social networks are more convenient, more direct, easier to manage and less of a chore. Contact is a piece of cake. Simply more enjoyable and more efficient. Email replaced snail mail for the same reason. We have moved on. This should not be surprising. The difficulty we have is being slowed to a halt by clogged email boxes or email which is not available or lumpy. Social networks just keep everyone in the loop is a very easy fashion. Connectivity , isn't that what we are about?

Tourists Down

A country's wealth is built on its primary industry. In times of prosperity service industries thrive but they will not cement an economy during lean economic times. When money is short, jobs are scarce, income low, then people will look to cut costs. The first things to go will be services. So with the harsher economic times upon us, then yes, people will travel less, they go away less often and the tourists will look longingly through their images and holiday souvenirs. It would help if we holiday at thome.It'll put our tourist dollars back into our pockets.It will help if we consider our own tourist spots. We might actually notice some of these places need our help because they are suffereing from the atrocities of a cruel climate. It will mean we rediscover some of the joys of our own country. When money gets tighter , we'll rediscover our local area and we shall have to support our own. We are going to have to rethink this because we can help some of our tourism spots and keep them viable until better times are upon us. We have to deal with it or we are in for a shock. Many people have prospered from tourism but it is an industry which rides good financial conditions. All countries will be feeling the pinch now.Think globally and act locally will have to come into play. I don't think we are suddenly going to lose our intercontinental and international connections. We have spent too long developing them as a world. We are going to have to look at how this all plays out when people will not have the money to travel, won't have the money for expensive accommodation. It might help the carbon footprints we have done little about. It might help pollution. It may not help individual operators unless we can help them from the inside.

Wildlife Wanderers

Yesterday's story of the injured kangaroo bouncing in onto the bed of a man in Canberra had everyone alive and animated with stories of close encounters of the wild life kind. Stories of weird noises from the fire which ended up being blackbirds, weird noises from the roof which ended up being birds or possums. The best two were the one one about the people who arrived home from holidays to a home which was trashed and wallpaper which was ripped off the wall...and then tell tale possum poo everywhere and then the one of the scratching at the French doors during the night. The doors were rattling and then there was awful scratching. During the night it was disturbing to say the least. We listened enthralled. Luckily the people could turn the  light on in another part of the house to see who was at the French doors....a great big koala trying to get in! We moved from that to narrow escapes from falling gum tree branches...one of our hazards!! My best story on that was the lady I used to work with who went out to her car and leaned over to get something out of her glovebox in the car. Had she remained seated upright in the driver's seat , she would have had head injuries or worse. A gum tree branch decided to break off and fall onto her car. In the bush , this is not a problem that gum trees drop their branches. In the suburbs it can be a real hazard. So what's the answer? Cut all the old gum trees down? We dare not do that, but they  do drop branches and it's worse in dry conditions .

Climate Clockheads

I awoke to discussions on the radio of the lack of commitment from our government to climate change. Some people wake to music! I couldn't have agreed more. Doesn't matter which government, which country , whether it is the current or previous government, there is no government which is committed to climate change initiatives. This strikes me as very odd. I would have expected action stations. We are being trashed, debilitated and receiving cruel blows from our current climate. So is the rest of the world. It is more than odd that no government can be any more than tepid about climate change inititiatives. Very odd ,and we have noticed .They need to explain. Truly, after what we have been through , the whole world needs leadership which will create climage change for the better.

You Tube all grown up?

"Universal is negotiating with YouTube to set up a stand-alone video site to showcase its music videos as a way of attracting premium advertising."

Well I'll let the Brits and Google swing it out in the ring over the music fees . I understand all the discussions about royalties, rights, artists etc...but You Tube has been a promotion site too which has made a lot of  moeney and success people. Somewhere in all this is sense and now we are having these sorts of discussions it tends to suggest that You Tube has come of age and new ways of administering it may well be desirable. The music people can sort out their licencing agreements You Tube floats a lot of talent. It floats a lot of rubbish too. It has been very random but now it is coming into its own and it would make sense to me to break the site into various arenas where videos can be aired according to their level and then still have that random component where whatever happens , happens and if it takes off, well, we have had the chance to find something different. There is a status quo now for You Tube. Before it was finding its feet.

Choices, choices

"Apple's new desktop range will also have to compete with the increasing consumer preference for laptops - including the growing appeal of the low-cost, sub-$1000 netbook computers, which now represent the fastest-growing segment of the PC market."

It's true...I'd love a little web surfer PC. They're cute but also have a lot of power ,possibilities  and portability for something so nifty. I cannot justify the outlay. I just want one. Apples seem to becoming increasingly popular but whether they stay that way with a higher price tag is something for the current market to decide. Apple users adore their Apples. I like PCs because I can make it my own, I can fix it myself...it's called a personal computer for a reason in my book. I can see how Apples could become the thing again because they are standardised and some people are looking for that now. I am really curious to see how this pans out. Apple cornered the market with the iPod and the iPod Touch is really very impressive. It's the first time I have ever thought of owning an iPod. Not for a while yet, though, my little MP3 player is just fine and dandy....just not so impressive!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport...

Mr Ettlin says the animal initially crashed through the window and landed on his bed.

Mr. Ettlin does not lack courage because how amazing is that to have a kangaroo crashing into your home and onto your bed??!! He tackled the kangaroo to the ground so he could get it outside. Kangaroos can inflict a lot of damage to a human. Mr. Ettlin was obviously very good at thinking on his feet because he needed to protect his wife and 2 children. I hope they have found the kangaroo because it sounds like it was badly hurt and that is why it came crashing into the home. I wonder how it became so hurt?

Tuesday, bloomin Tuesday

The long weekend is gone. The 8 am civilised start is gone. Back to the treadmill, heh? I have noticed over the last few weekends that the stats drop and then on Monday they swing right up again. I'd like to think that means people have a life. I always used to get a surge in stats at the weekend as people headed to the Net for solace, a break, time out. Now, it would seem, they do other things and that is such a healthy sign!! It seems we are all reconnecting with life and real people. I value my virtual life and internet friends, but you have to stay grounded and in the real world!! There is a better sense of balance for most, I think.

Gen Y = The Lost Generation?

So clever. They are not lost. They are very surprising.

Police Chases

Well this one has got away for the time being. The police must be sick of hoons and chases, brushwood fence fires, bottle shop raids, bust ups...Adelaide behaving badly. We are. The few stuffing us all up again. I think we need to enlist the insomniacs and our connectivity, to get Neighbourhood Watch on-line. They do it with Frog Watch to monitor the movement of cane toads...well, we have some toads of our own we could track on-line or with Twitter. It's not as if you don't notice these cars..and in suburban streets it's dangerous.I am certain the online community would rally to keep ourselves and the police safe.

Indigenous languages banned in schools

The Territory Government has made this year a transition phase towards a new bilingual policy which will make it compulsory for schools to teach only in English for the first four hours of the day from next year.

It is not a bilingual school if English is the primary language of curriculum delivery and for 4 hours a day. Presumably the morning. That is the bulk of lessons. Our school afternoons are much shorter than the mornings. Bilingual means curriculum is delivered in two languages. The indigenous languages are disappearing and this will assist their demise. I accept that aboriginal people need to have English skills to access our education and our systems, but I understand that getting them into school is one of the hurdles. Giving them a foreign language to operate in is not going to help them. If we only want to deliver education in English then we need to do that and say that. We shouldn't pretend. Then we should build in the indigenous language delivery as a bone fide part of the school day. It is horrible to make aboriginals feel like aliens in their own country.  This is all tricky stuff and needs to be better negotiated if the plan to educate in English is coming into place next year. I should have thought it might be better to start a changeover with kindergarten and then build on that each yeat so that the studnets starting kindie next year with be more exposed to English and then pursue their learning more often in English.

Swearing

"He usually gives a pretty robotic performance so I'm sure that that was a clever little snare in there to make him sound like one of the lads," he said.

If our Prime Minister swore last week, then it was hardly a political storm. It was a really frustrating week last week. I ended up swearing and I hardly ever swear. I am over it. I don't avoid swearing but I just don't swear much at all. The end of last week saw me swearing with the best of them and I ,too, caused a bit of a stir because people think I do not swear. It has been a long , hard haul through summer. It is going to be a longer, harder haul through winter. We have two devastated states, one big financial crisis, job losses, ongoing, outrageous community violence and a dried up River Murray. There is so much weighing on our minds and Kevin Rudd has had a lot to content with. The financial crisis has been years in the making but he has to deal with it. The climate is out of control and the global financial crisis is impacting on us. So, swearing doesn't fix anything but it is how we feel at the minute. He is , at least, feeling the same level of frustration as the rest of us.

Meme Mobile

Mr Uribe, known as Meme to friends, said his new ride would be called the "Meme-Mobile". 

Manuel Uribe was once the heaviest man in the world and I blogged about his getting married because it would be just so wonderful to see this man get well and walk again. His new car has a bed in it because he still cannot walk.His wife will be driving. I so want the world to get behind this man and get him better because no one should be allowed to get so big they have to stay in bed. His new car is an eye catching yellow and I am sure when he can see outside and see the world again he will be inspired to lose even more weight. He is not doing it too quickly and that is good because his body and mind will have to make a lot of adjustments to being a normal, walking man again . So slow is good. He has nearly lost half of his original weight. Now he has a car , he is at least mobile and connected to life again.. I cannot wait to see him walk.

School takes Clear Action

A spokesman for the school, Chris Rann, confirmed that three students had been expelled from the Kensington Park school. "The school does not wish to comment," Mr Rann said.

Nor should it. The matter is dealt with and they have acted clearly in the interests of their students, the  public and handed the matter onto the police who don't appear to be taking any action. We have reached saturation point on a few completely messing things up for the rest of us. Those few should not be given any time. Indulging destructive, disruptive behaviour has allowed it to grow. We need to put our time and energy into the the majority of people who are happy and positive.The media have done well to keep this short, sharp and shiny. We can change the balance.

Beacon WA

Seismologists say the phenomenon, known as an earthquake swarm, is highly unusual, but has been moving through the wheat belt for the past decade.

Beacon has had 100 earthquakes in the last month. They are calling it a swarm. We don't know much about them and we don't know what it means and we don't know where it is coming from and whether it might herald something more serious. Presumably we are working on this to find out? There is some information here and Yellowstone National Park has been subject to them. They can precede volcano eruptions. Do we have a volcano?! Then there was the thing about the maelstrom off the WA coast....so what is going on over there? Lot of disruption by the sounds of it. There is information about the Manchester swarms here. The Brits appear to have been much more comprehensive and detailed in their approach.

Daylight Saving SA

In case you are like me and totoally clueless as to when we change back from daylight saving...then it's April 5th, so we have ages yet!! Somehow March triggers thoughts of getting that hour back!! While I was searching for the information I found it on this Work Safe SA  site which has all sorts of useful information  about term dates, work/life balance ...daylight saving  and then some serious information re workplace legislation. Fantastic site!!