Sunday, August 31, 2014

The truth about Opal: what NSW transport users need to know

There have been reports that people must switch to Opal, a prepaid card, in order to use public transport in NSW from tomorrow, 1st September 2014.  

This is not true.  People are being misled by both the State Transport Minister and newspapers like the Sydney Morning Herald.

It is true that 14 ticket types are being retired but you CAN STILL BUY other paper tickets like MyMulti Weekly.

If the Sydney Morning Herald had done their research they would know this, but instead they are trying to mislead the public.

The Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has also told a lie.  Transport is NOT cheaper under Opal, not for those who use it beyond a daily return trip.  It would cost significantly more.

I'm keeping MYMULTI until paper tickets completely disappear, which is NOT the case tomorrow

I'm not going to comment on Judith Collins' resignation because I don't think she should have and there are bigger issues.

I'm not going to talk about Justice Minister Judith Collins' resignation.  I'm not going to talk about the Nicky Hager book (yet) and I'm not going to talk about the blogger Cameron Slater or the criminal Kim Dot Com.  I'm not going to talk about these things beyond this blog because to be honest I think these antics belong in the school yard.  Actually if we're being completely honest, if these antics were going on in the school yard the kids would be disciplined, the parents would be called and the kids would be either isolated or expelled.   

So what makes it okay for adults to behave badly?  They lie, they don't treat eachother politely and they don't seem to have any kind of moral fiber whatsoever.  It appears as if they think that bullying is acceptable and as if they think that the only way to run politics is to put down your opponent.

No wonder we have issues bullying and subsequent depression or worse yet suicide.  Until we hold our politicians to account for their bad behaviour this just won't change.

I'm also not going to comment further on the matter other than acknowledging what's going on because I think it detracts from the real issues.  The real issues as discussed with friends and family are as follows:

1 - Kim Dot Com.  We all agree he needs to be extradited and that he shouldn't be in NZ.  We all fear what will happen if he is behind the scenes of the party that forms the next Government.  I'm not sure what the risk of this is, but if you don't want that, the only way is to vote National or Act, possibly Conservative or NZ First but I'm not sure if they'd work with KDC.  Either way, KDC is dangerous and will put the national security of NZ in danger.

2 - The economy.  NZ doesn't have a "rock star" economy like people say.  If it did then why is the Government proud of call centre jobs?  It doesn't really promote high aspirations when you consider they pay poorly and are able to be done by robots.  It seems silly to be proud of menial jobs when people attend university and should be able to do better.  For full disclosure, I live in Sydney.  I have a post graduate diploma in communications and currently intern at a radio station once a week while doing a part time research job.  I'm applying for journalism jobs at present and I treat this blog as a job.  I try to do at least one blog a day (today's been two seeing as I missed yesterday).  NZ needs to aim higher.

3 - Employment.  Well this is a bit of a carry on.  Mana/Internet say they want to create technology jobs but they don't really have a clear cut plan as to how to do this, and nor do the Greens with their "green jobs".  National isn't much better because all they say is "Christchurch rebuild", well not everyone lives there, nor is everyone a builder.  This said, National do support mining which will get the economy going, and Act want to lower taxes and red tape to make it easier to do business.

4 - Education.  This is a bit of a non event.  There's nothing wrong with the system other than NCEA, but I was the year before so I did the old School Certificate system, which although it wasn't perfect it prepared you more effectively for university.  It gave you an accurate reading, other than in 6th form when it should have been percentages, not 1-9 rankings.

5 - Housing.  Everyone says housing is unaffordable but the Government's not addressing the real root of the cause of the problem.  People simply aren't saving.  Giving them handouts won't help with that.  All it will do is teach people that if you ask for money you'll get it and that you don't have to work hard for what you have.  It will also create higher demand which supply isn't meeting.  One of the ways to address this is through the Resource Management Act, the other is to fast track projects in CBDs and on the outskirts.  The Government's housing program won't fix anything.  Another thing is that Kiwisaver  is supposed to be for retirement.  Why can't people put money away themselves?  And before you say, "times are tough, people can't save", what about putting money in a money tin and watching it add up then investing it, or putting away 10% of your income or then using your tax refund for investments (this is what I'm doing - it's going into more shares).  Where is the discussion around personal responsibility?  It just seems to be muck raking.

And these, these are the reasons why I'm not going to acknowledge the immaturity and bad behaviour from adults who should know better.  There are bigger issues that the country needs to be focused on and it shouldn't be a school yard, "he said she said" mud slinging fest.  It should be about what's good for the country, and the political reporters like Paddy Gower don't really seem to care about the actual policies.  Well policies are what affect you and I.

No, I'm not in NZ, but it doesn't mean I won't one day buy an investment property there (because lets face it, nobody buys in Sydney - that's an Australian housing issue though) and taxing capital gains and restricting foreign investment would be so dumb.  I think there needs to be some foreign investment because ultimately it increases the pool of wealth the country has which in turn creates jobs and that is a win win situation for everyone.

So why aren't the politicians and media reporting these issues that matter?

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Reliance on Technology - gone too far?

The year was 2000.  Text messaging had just been introduced and the early adopters of mobile phones were still perceived as yuppies.  If your phone was damaged you took it in to be repaired and it would take a few days if you were lucky but up to two weeks if you weren't.  My first phone, an Alcatel One Touch Max DB died a couple of months after getting it.  It drowned in some fizzy drink.  I was annoyed but it wasn't a big deal.  I waited a few months for a new phone.  Over the next few years people upgraded their phones every few months and the big thing was when colour was introduced, yes, my first ever phone was black and white.  It was the dark ages.  Phone manufacturers wanted to get away from the old "brick" phones and there was a competition to see who could make the smallest phone.

When I was 19 in 2005 I found myself without a phone.  You see, I'd just bought the Alcatel 525, it was a gorgeous phone, and I ended up losing it one night at Auckland's Kings Arms where I met a guy I refer to as Carousel Jo whom I dated for a month, so the night wasn't a total bust.  I was without a phone for a weekend.  I had to wait until Monday to get a replacement phone which cost about $349 if I remember correctly.  It was annoying but it wasn't a big deal.

Fast forward to 2014.  Last year I upgraded my phone from an iPhone 4S to an iPhone 5 because I had charging issues with the phone and I didn't want to risk the battery dying.  For some reason I kept the 4S.  I didn't even keep it as an emergency phone.  I kept it because I wanted to eventually get all the music and I only had the music on the 4S. 

A couple of months ago I was walking in the city and dropped my iPhone 5 at the Sydney Town Hall station.  My first instinct was to just buy a new phone, which although a pain in the ass would solve the problem then and there.  Instead I didn't.  I waited a couple of months, but then this week the phone start flicking on and off and I was really scared I'd end up being without a phone, so on Friday I went to a phone repair place at Wynyard Station.  They replaced the screen which cost $100, the cheapest around, but I wanted to save myself some money.  It appeared to have worked but when I got home the phone switched off.  I thought, "okay, maybe it wasn't the screen after all".  Then last night around 11:30pm it completely died and is now on an endless loop where it will load the Apple logo but won't go any further than that.  Effectively the phone is dead.  This time I am not going to bother getting it repaired, I mean I could get it repaired, but what if the next repair doesn't work?  Then I'll be out of pocket a few hundred dollars and I'll have to buy a replacement phone anyway.

So I thought, okay phew, I still have my 4s.  It has issues too.  It will only charge if I switch it off and then plug it in so the battery needs replacing (and when I replace my phone I'll be getting a new battery for this one from Apple George Street Sydney).  I bought a sim card today and activated it thanks to a kind stranger at the train station who let me use their phone.  Yes that's right people, these days it's impossible to be without a phone for even 5 minutes.

After activating the sim card I tried to get my music from my iTunes account but I couldn't so I did system restore and I lost the 250 songs I had on it, which was rather annoying to be honest.  By this point I was actually freaking out about the phone situation.  I had no music, no good phone and a back up phone which could die any moment.  It was panic station.

I lost ALL my apps, and I've lost photos, song lyrics and passwords, because yes folks, we store our passwords on our devices but we don't have a back up plan for if that device dies.  After work I went to the Apple store and they were at least able to help me recover my music from my iTunes account when previously the device had been locked to a previous Apple ID.  The nice guys at Apple reset the device, which was a relief.  It's 6 hours later and I'm still downloading the music over WIFI because computers won't register this iPhone (like I say, I replaced it one year ago for a reason) but until I replace it, it's okay.  It will do.  It's taken away some of the urgency to replace it.  In fact Apple were so good that I'm able to recover 996 songs.  There are still 500 songs missing but they're on my computer and I can get them back when I replace this phone, or in 90 days (once the lock down period finishes) so it's not that big a deal.  They also aren't my favourite songs.  I like them but I can live without them.

This whole experience has made me realise just how reliant on technology we are these days and I actually wonder if it's gone too far where we can't be without a phone for even a couple of hours.  I'd be completely freaking out if I was entirely without a phone for a few days.  It's such a foreign concept.  Phones aren't just phones anymore.  They're basically life planners and communication devices, radios (I have radio and other media apps).

The real moral of the story though is, do not try to save money by going to a cheap repair place.  If your phone needs repairing take it back to the manufacturer or skip that step and just get it replaced.  That was my first instinct and it was the right one.  The question now is whether or not to wait for the iPhone 6.  Because of the great Apple customer service I received today I'm even more determined to remain with Apple (ignoring brand preference etc).  And the other moral of the story is, if you think you should throw out your old phone but it still works, KEEP IT as a back up.  Once I've replaced my iPhone with an iPhone 5S or 6, I'll be getting Apple to repair the battery on this one so that it's a proper working back up phone - and then if anything goes wrong with it, it's no big deal because I can just use the back up.

Where technology is concerned cheap never works.  I've always thought that and this time, for some reason I broke my rule and now I've lost $100.  Could've been worse though, I could've paid $180 for the repair at the more expensive place AND still had to buy a new phone.

It's safe to say we are all way too reliant on technology when we can't even be without a phone for a few hours.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Who won the NZ leader's debate? You know what I'm going to say.

It's been rather tough getting up to date information given I am no longer working for the Australian Associated Press and no longer have daily access to Australian and New Zealand news to the extent that I used to.  Because I'm now in Australian radio in Sydney it's much more difficult to get New Zealand election content.  I very much rely on friends and family back in New Zealand along with Stuff.co.nz and the NZ Herald.  I occasionally go to the New Zealand radio stations like Newstalk ZB and the TV3 website to get broadcast coverage.  Either way, it's slim pickings.

I discuss New Zealand politics with friends etc and while I get more than the average person overseas I'm still missing out on election information because I am overseas in Australia.  I caught about 30 seconds of the leaders debate thanks to Fairfax.co.nz.  You see, TVNZ has geoblocked ALL content and that includes political programming which is anti democratic.  You'd think they would have made exceptions given all the campaigns to get overseas based NZ citizens to vote.

Anyway, I've seen two minutes of the debate following a bunch of articles which said that David Cunliffe was the winner of the debate.  I had to stop watching the Paul Henry Show when political reporter Tova O'Brien said that David Cunliffe had won.  I'm a right wing voter so yes, my natural bias is always going to be towards National however thanks to Stuff.co.nz I was able to view a couple of minutes of a debate, and Cunliffe did not win the debate, not from what I saw anyway.

In the segment I saw Prime Minister John Key was talking about the importance of job creation, increasing wages and creating opportunities for those still in NZ (yes, there are still some people, the nation is not just full of sheep though all the people must've just about nearly left by now) and when David Cunliffe responded he basically, and this is in a nutshell, talked about stealing from the haves to give to the have nots through redistribution of wealth.  This is the typical left wing way of thinking and doesn't promote personal responsibility at all.  Cunliffe didn't offer any solutions to get the economy moving along again, or to create opportunities.  He just repeated the same left wing rhetoric about stealing from the rich and about stopping foreign investment.

It's like he doesn't understand that without foreign investment NZ will end up much like QANTAS in Australia - a losing airline struggling to stay afloat.  Without foreign investment there is no wealth and there is no market for goods and services.  Prime Minister John Key on the other hand shows a greater economic understanding and realises that you need to increase the pool of wealth to boost the economy, and the only way to do that is by opening up new markets.  Foreign markets.

Based on the short segment I saw, John Key was the clear winner.  John Key gave a clear economic understanding and really seemed to have a plan for New Zealand, unlike David Cunliffe.  I think the NZ media is favouring Cunliffe because there's been a lot of negative coverage about him lately.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Rape and making a mistake when drunk are not the same thing.

I try to steer clear of truly controversial topics but given I've talked about Islam this week I feel like I should talk about rape tonight.  This follows an article I read on News.com.au.  Basically a judge said that there'd be more rape convictions if fewer women got drunk.  It wasn't clear in what he was saying but what he was saying is that it's hard to prove lack of consent when someone is drunk.

Okay so here's the scenario to lay it out.  You're 18 years old, you're out dancing with your friends.  You have a few drinks.  You eye up a guy at the bar.  He eyes you up.  You make out on the dance floor.  You then end up back at his place.  The next day you regret sleeping with him.  You claim rape.  Sorry honey, that's not rape.  That's just a decision you wish you hadn't made.

To put it another way, most of us who are older than 25 have slept with people we wish we hadn't, and more often than not it was when we were incapacitated.  How many times do guys wake up and regret having sex with the girl they had sex with?  I'd bet it's a lot if we were to do a straw poll.  Now you don't hear them claiming rape, but given they were drunk when they went home with a chick does that make it rape?  No.  It just means they were drunk, and desperate and "banged" the first "hot piece of ass" that they saw. 

If they didn't regret it the next day then the simple fact of the matter is that it wouldn't have been a one night stand (which often these things are if you meet in a bar).  If they didn't regret it, they'd see the girl again, and occasionally that does happen, but it's very rare.  I only know of one couple who originated out of a pub's one night stand and they recently got married.  They know who they are.

The problem with the News.com.au article is that it tries to put bad decision making and rape in the same category and they aren't the same.  Nor should they be treated as such.  And it's wrong for women to claim rape just because they made a bad decision when drunk that they later regretted.

I worked it out about a year ago that out of all the guys I've slept with, I'd only sleep with about 1/4 of them again, the rest nah, not so much, and they were all when I was drunk. 

Rape is explicitly - not consenting, and saying NO.  If you consent when drunk then sorry, it's still consent.

So here's what I'll leave you with tonight, if women can claim rape from not being capable of consenting, does that mean men can claim rape for the same thing? 

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Muslim Extremists - The highest level of disrespect

Over the last few weeks the Australian mainstream media has run stories on young men, predominantly from Western Sydney suburbs like Lakemba who have no respect for the great nation we call Australia.  These men don't just believe in Islam which isn't a problem in and of itself.  The problem is how they approach it.  They show zero loyalty to this country and would happily give up their Aussie citizenship to fight in the Middle East.  In a nutshell these men are Australian in name, but name only.  Yes they hold citizenship but that does not make them Australian.  As Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pointed out recently, you're either with us, or you're against us, and if you're with us that means adopting our cultural values.

Here in Australia we accept people from all walks of life.  We don't care what you are as long as you are a good person.  A good person is someone who works, pays their taxes, doesn't commit crimes and isn't violent.  That's not too much to ask for is it?  You'd think it wouldn't be.  That's not the case however with the Daily Telegraph and radio station, 2GB talking to these Muslim extremists who have such hate towards Australia and don't respect it.

This is despite them sometimes receiving Centrelink payments from the Government and choosing not to work.  This is despite receiving the opportunity to get educated and this is despite growing up in a first world nation  Australia has opportunities that no other nation in the world has.  More often than not the extremists are born here, which actually makes it worse.  Do not get me wrong.  I get that people from different socioeconomic backgrounds have different views and having different religious views is fine too, but if you're born here you should be loyal to Australia, or you should actually leave.  The problem as Immigration Minister Scott Morrison pointed out today is that they would end up stateless.  Australian Immigration Law is such that if you do not hold another nation's citizenship then you cannot renounce your Australian citizenship.  This is actually the same for most first world nations, if not all.

What really sickens me is that if they're first generation Australian, their parents moved here for a better life.  So why aren't they being taught to appreciate the education and employment opportunities Australia would give them?  Some say that there is a youth unemployment problem in Australia but I don't think this is because of a lack of jobs as the left would have you believe.  I think it is actually because certain people, such as these extremists have bad attitudes, really bad attitudes that would only be fixed by being locked in prison or doing military service.  Although, given their hatred and anger, the military would probably only give them tips and ammunition, literally to carry out their terrorist activities.

The bottom line is that if they don't want to be here they should leave, and that their parents have so much to answer for raising these thugs.  It's time the Government held them accountable and stopped letting them get away with this.  We don't need this type of violence on our streets.  There's enough in the Middle East, let along having it in our country which is supposed to be peaceful.  And I say until they can respect our land we need to cut off their payments.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Why Royals IS in fact a rock song

Today Lorde's Royals picked up an award at the VMAs.

Everyone was shocked by the award, not because it's Lorde.  Last year she won two Grammys.  No, people are shocked because they don't consider Royals to be rock, but it actually is.

Yes, Royals is Pop but Pop is short for popULAR.  Popular Music.  This may be a technicality but it's a point that needs to be considered.  Country can be pop as can classical music.  At one point Mozart would have been popular but today we consider him classical.  The point I'm trying to make is that there can be sub genres.

Royals is a popular song and there is no disputing that.

Rock is defined as using a bass guitar and drum.  Royals predominantly uses a drum to keep the beat.  It also has the verse/chrous structure as all rock songs do.  Rock has catchy beats, and nobody could argue that Royals isn't catchy and doesn't have a hook.  Unlike pop music, traditional pop this is which has no other sub genre, rock tends to be authentic.  At the time when Lorde wrote Royals she truly hadn't come from royal and had never seen a diamond in the flesh.  It was genuine.

At one point even Johnny Cash, whom we now consider a very talented country musician was considered rock.  Rock, like all music, evolves over time.

Rock is also defined as having a strong beat, which Royals does, it has a very clear beat.  Another aspect of rock music is the attitude behind it more so than the music itself.  It's hard to know what this means but I can only guess that it is an edginess, and Royals definitely is an edgy song.

It may not be the conventional opinion but having delved into the issue further, Royals is definitely a rock song.  It's not "mainstream rock" (if that's even a term) or "conventional rock" but it is a rock song based on several definitions.  The fact people are genuinely debating whether or not it is a rock song makes it a rock song.  That's what true rock does, it challenges ideas and conventions, and doesn't try to be rock.  It exists as it is and becomes rock whether it's intentional or not, though the fact she's not trying to be rock makes it even more worthy of being rock than someone who tries, because of the earlier definition of authenticity.

Me against the tax office

For those of you who follow me on Twitter you'd know that for the last two months I've been trying to link my ATO account to my MyGov account but was unable to.  It took several phone calls to them and so a few weeks ago I mailed my return by paper.  Then today I was sick of waiting because it takes about 50 days if you lodge by paper.  It's about 6 weeks before their system even registers that you've sent it.

I tried around 1pm and the one thing I did successfully do was work out what my tax refund amount will be.  The problem was I couldn't lodge because one piece of information I provided was incorrect so tonight when I got home from work I decided to try again.  I tried a new piece of information and IT WORKED!  It was like a miracle.  After that I managed to file my tax return very easily, which was made easier because I'd filled out all the information earlier in the day.

Because I filed online I should have my refund within about 12 days time.  I'm not going to get too excited though.  The money is already allocated.

A fair chunk is going on rent, some is going on more shares, it's also going on other bills, a new pair of sports shoes and a new screen for my iPhone plus 6 weeks worth of gym membership and some singing lessons.  In short it's going on stuff I actually need that I haven't been able to buy because of unstable hours.

I am so excited that I fought the tax office and I WON after two months, 20 attempts and several phone calls.  When it said it had linked I was like HOORAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

It's also a lesson to persevere even when it seems completely useless.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Sonia Kruger's pregnancy, don't break out the bubbly just yet

This weekend 48 year old television presenter Sonia Kruger announced she is 16 weeks pregnant to partner Craig McPherson.  This comes after years of struggling to conceive and two previous miscarriages.  As the mainstream media constantly reports, the older you are the harder it is to conceive and carry a pregnancy full term.  In Fact Kruger's own IVF doctor has said that in all the time he has worked in the field he has not seen one woman over the age of 45 have a successful pregnancy.  Before anyone comments, I'm the product of conception over 40 as is my brother (40 and 43 respectively when born).

Obviously like the mainstream media I'm happy for Kruger that she's finally getting a child that she wants desperately, but lets not forget that she could still miscarry.  Miscarriages are incredibly common.  Last month Today co host Georgie Gardner announced that she'd struggled with a miscarriage and wanted to focus on her children.  The woman, Christine Sams who interviewed Georgie at the Daily Telegraph said during the interview that she'd been through miscarriages herself.  How recent her miscarriage is we weren't told.  Earlier this month Home and Away star Ada Nicodemou had a still birth.  The baby boy was born on the 9th of August and Ada and her husband Chris asked for privacy and were sent condolences.

The founder of Australian website, MamaMia, Mia Freedman who found early success in women's and teen magazines like Dolly and Cosmopolitan had a miscarriage in 2009.  She too suffered a miscarriage which she says nearly broke her.  Recently Mia Freedman along with colleague Rebecca Sparrow (who has also suffered a miscarriage) released a book, Never Forgotten, which is a book about the pain mothers go through when miscarrying (let's not forget that men also suffer these miscarriages - just because they don't physically carry the baby, it still affects them).  Since Gardner's story, others have come forward in saying they've had miscarriages.

Political reporter Lyndal Curtis is one such woman.  In 2011 she was 38 weeks pregnant when she miscarried a daughter called Madeline.

I don't want to put a dampener on the joy of Sonia Kruger's news but she could still suffer a miscarriage (I don't think she will) so until the baby is born it's not a certainty, though I would imagine she'll be doing everything in her power to ensure she has a healthy pregnancy.  It just pays to remember that although 80-90% of pregnancies go full time, 10-20% don't.

I do however agree with several commentators including MamaMia's Rebecca Sparrow, the age at which you become a parent doesn't matter.  In fact I'd go so far as to say older parents make better parents because they're more stable financially and they've "been there done that" on a lot of things that other parents might do which could hurt the kid's upbringing.

I'm pretty certain I don't want kids but if I did have kids it would be late 30s - early to mid 40s.

Good luck and congratulations to Sonia Kruger.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

I'm sorry David Cunliffe - it's not you, it's the nation

Since David Cunliffe became the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party on the 15th of September last year he has faced no end of criticisms.  Several people are saying he is incompetent and stand down as the leader.  In the last couple of months he has been portrayed by New Zealand's mainstream media as a monkey who doesn't know what he's doing.

This is due to him apologising for numerous things lately.  It started when he addressed the Women's Refuge in July.  He apologised for being a man because the majority of violence is committed by men.  The speech drew major criticism with people, including Prime Minister John Key appalled by the statement saying it's insulting because not all men are violent (never mind the opening sequence of National's TV campaign features a disheveled young white man).

He followed this apology up last week by apologising for being a Cunliffe and that he was sorry for how his direct ancestors treated Maori during the land wars.  This has also drawn criticism on social media sites like Twitter with people mocking Cunliffe.

Last night it occurred to me he's trying to mimic former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who famously apologised to the Aborigines in 2007 and subsequently won the election and went on to lead the nation for 3 years until Julia Gillard took control and led for another term.

The difference between Rudd and Cunliffe's apologies is that Rudd's was new and genuine whereas people are seeing through Cunliffe and it's obvious he's following suit and just trying to win the election.  Unlike Rudd the NZ public is happy with keeping John Key as the Prime Minister but in 2007 Australia had enough of John Howard.  

Cunliffe has also said even if he loses this years election he will stay on as leader.  Some may call this stupid, but look at Australia's current Prime Minister Tony Abbott, he lost the 2010 election and is now Prime Minister.  The main difference between Rudd and Cunliffe however is timing and NZ doesn't want a Labour led Government & that's why nothing he says resonates.  It's not personal.  It's just the present mood of the nation.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Why you should take a few months to do part time paid work while doing internships

There are people who say you should work endless hours and take absolutely any work that you can   These people say it doesn't matter what work you do, that earning money is more important.  They're the people who say people with university educations and qualifications should take jobs stacking shelves in supermarkets and settle for McDonald's or other equally lame and menial jobs.  My bet is that either these people who make these comments have no ambition or think that life is solely about money.  Either way they're the types of people who never had a passion in their lives.  I disagree that you should work full time in jobs you hate and that's what I'll be talking about in today's blog.

To set the record straight, I have a Diploma in Broadcasting, a Bachelor of Arts with a major in politics and a minor in Film, TV and Media Studies.  Once I'd finished my undergraduate study I worked for a while before doing post graduate study in journalism.  I earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Communications, half of the papers were journalism papers.

While I was finishing my studies I was working full time for a news agency but due a company restructure I left before redundancy and now I'm working part time casual jobs while I do an unpaid internship at a radio station.  Now I have been criticised by loads of people for making the decision not to go full time but today I want to explain why someone with passion and ambition may not go full time while they are pursuing their goal.

I don't have children, in fact the only expenses I have are rent, public transport, singing lessons and a couple of debts plus my phone.  That works out at $400 a week.  Due to Aussie wages being the highest in the world it means that if you're a young single like myself it is very easy to live on part time money - which on good weeks can be $600 before tax, about $500ish after tax.  You're much better to take the time when you're younger to work part time and do internships etc before you have commitments that prohibit you from doing so.  You see, you can always make more money but you can't always follow your passion.  If you're not in your field (depending on what it is) by a certain age then you can write it off that you will ever get into the field.  So while you may be broke for a few months or live basically for a few months it is much better to do this than to end up in dead end jobs for the rest of your life.

Unfortunately the majority of full time jobs are Monday - Friday so if you're doing an internship the fact is you can't work full time unless you want to end up in dead end jobs for the rest of your life.  The reality is, by doing an internship for 3-12 months, even longer if necessary you are gaining experience that is way more valuable to you than a wage would be.  The wage can come later.  You see, doing unpaid work is much like going to uni.  It's a short term financial cost but the opportunities it will create far outweigh the short term economic loss.

If you work full time in jobs you hate then the other consequence is that you cannot focus on what you're truly passionate about and if that is the creative arts then you need to flex those muscles and keep a foot in the door with your own projects and unpaid work for credible organisations.  The comments by some on the left that have been published in the mainstream media of late have totally misunderstood the value of unpaid work.  Sometimes the experience is way more valuable and as I'm highlighting in this post, if you're truly passionate about something then  you won't care what you're earning and will adjust accordingly.  Being willing to work for free gives you experience that you may not otherwise get and you are basically getting trained at no cost to the company.  It's a win win situation and I don't think people are at all getting exploited.  Nobody forces us to unpaid internships.  The real tragedy would be if the option to do unpaid work experience was taken away from us because we may not get opportunities to do what we're good at and passionate about.

If you had kids or a mortgage it would be a different story but while you're young and commitment free it's much better to take a few months where you work in part time paid employment so you can spend the rest of your time doing unpaid work, building up your experience and ending up better off in the long run.  When you have a talent in an area, there would be nothing worse than not fulfilling that destiny and those ambitions and you'd just end up miserable in old age. 

As long as you can pay your rent does it really matter how much you earn?  My answer is no, passion's way more important so if you need to, take a few months while you're young to work part time and do internships to get the experience that will give you a long career in the field you're passionate about.  An unpaid internship can also be very satisfying and keep your brain moving while you do dead end jobs you despise and it can reignite a flame.  It can give you the experience and the drive to follow what you really care about and to set goals and that is a really good thing.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Lose yourself - Lose Election - Lose the PM status - National's campaign ad

National's campaign TV ad was launched today and has drawn loads of comments on Twitter.  Naturally I wanted to see the ad for myself so I tried to find a link and managed to on Fairfax NZ's Stuff.co.nz website.  I endured the painful ad.

The ad starts with an opening sequence of John Key and some young man on the right hand side.  The young man, played by former Shortland Street actor Jacob Tomuri.  It's not completely obvious but the image of John Key is supposed to be one of credibility while the one of the young man (who represents Labour and the other parties) is disheveled and a trouble maker.

Meanwhile in the background there is a team of rowers rowing and in the background Eminem's Lose Yourself.  For those who've been living under a rock the last decade Lose Yourself was released in 2003 by Eminem who is a white rapper. 

Why National, a right wing conservative party would use an outdated song is beyond me, and why they would try to merge popular culture into the political process is absolutely trashy.  There is a voice over in the ad telling people that although it won't be easy they'll keep the books under control and manage the economy more effectively than Labour.  That may be true but that's not at all the message conveyed in this ad.  The message that actually comes across is that of a party who is desperate for votes and doesn't understand popular culture.

But what's most disturbing about this ad is that it's using popular culture to try and win votes and that's just wrong.  The two shouldn't be together.  Popular culture is always changing and evolving.  Popular culture changes on a regular basis and is shallow.  Do we really think that politics should be shallow too?  Given the reaction to the book Dirty Politics (which I'm yet to read) it would appear that way.

It's lucky I, unlike most voters don't vote based on political advertising and make up my mind months in advance because if I did vote on advertising then this ad will actually lose votes (so maybe Lose Yourself is fitting).  That's another thing, National is winning in the polls, why would you use a song titled "Lose Yourself"?  Talk about subliminal messaging in the ad.

This ad is terrible and whoever approved it should be sacked.

NB: I'm still voting Act for the party vote and National for my electorate, I decided that months ago.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Abbott's comments: Living in Australia isn't a right, it's a privelege.

.There's a Lady Gaga song that starts with the lyrics, "it's been a long time since I came around, being a long time but I'm back in town....", well for today's first blog post I'm going to start with the words, it's been a long time since I wrote a truly controversial blog post and I'm torn between which one to write first.  I think I'll go with Prime Minister Tony Abbott's comments about immigrants adopting Australian values.

The comments have drawn criticisms but they were taken out of context.  Abbott told number 1 Sydney radio station 2GB that migrants should adopt Aussie values and that when you move here the only flag you should be flying is the Australian one, that you shouldn't be supporting terrorist organisations.  How can a post like this draw criticism?  It seems absolutely ridiculous, especially given that Abbott himself is an immigrant who came by boat when he was three under a migration scheme.  Why should Jihadists and other ethnic groups be excluded from adopting Australian values?  What is the point of coming to Australia if you aren't going to respect our value and culture?  If we went to the Middle East for example we'd have to wear burqas or adopt other cultural norms over there such as not walking out in public if you're a woman because god forbid a woman can actually look after herself.  What is the point in coming to Australia if you aren't going to assimilate?  You might as well just stay in your home country.

Since the comment was made earlier today, someone on Facebook has already said that people have the right to go where they want if they want.  Actually that's incorrect.  Coming to Australia isn't a right unless you're born in New Zealand, or hold NZ citizenship, in which case it actually is, but for the vast majority of world citizens it's a privilege.  It's also a privilege to be able to come here as an NZ citizen.

For those who don't value life in Australia then I really do suggest you leave because the fact of the matter is, it's up to the Government to decide who comes here and if you aren't going to respect the Government and its values then you don't deserve to be here.  Nobody is saying you have to give up your Islamic or Tamil etc faith, just that if you come here you need to integrate into the Australian way of life and that means not supporting terrorist organisations which goes against everything Australia stands for, so is it time we had a cultural values test along with a history test to get citizenship?

Sunday, August 17, 2014

The politics of a one night stand

Over the last few days I've read numerous articles about Tinder and the accounts from the guys who use it.  Basically in a nutshell it's a brothel for guys who don't want to pay for sex and the women who use it are open to being used for sex.  Bare in mind the majority of these women would probably NEVER ever support prostitution and would probably say women should have higher standards.

I'm going to criticise both the men who use the app and the women who do.  When a woman allows a man to disrespect her and just use her for sex and is over the age of say 22 she is saying that women should be objectified and that we're nothing more than sex objects.  Women who let men use us say that we're just bimbos without brains.

Sadly that transfers to the media.  How many times do you see a smart intelligent man on the radio or television alongside a bimbo who is literally just there to look pretty.  Think Janicker te Allen on the Paul Henry Show in NZ and several other shows in Australia.  It's very subtle but it's definitely there.

If women are portrayed in media as being bimbos then that actually translates to the workforce where men, who are generally the holders of management positions can't handle smart intelligent women, and yes, I'm actually sorry to say that I have faced discrimination for being a woman in the workforce, and for being a smart woman no less.  Recently in fact.  I was also told by this person who showed sexism towards me to just find a job to pay the bills and forgo my ambitions.  I've had this other times recently too, and it's not just men showing sexism towards women, it's also women who are sexist towards other women.  Sexism is why Nadine Chalmers Ross has never been promoted to co host New Zealand's Breakfast programme.  She is simply too smart and because she's not a blonde bimbo like Toni Street, she will never anchor a show because apparently smart women aren't wanted.

Then when we have sexism in everyday life and the media that translates to politics and we end up with a scenario where older men control the situation and because women are like children, should be seen and not heard, any attempts to change this are quickly quashed.  Look at the treatment of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.  She was smart yet she was ostracised by the Labor Party because of that very fact.  The powerbrokers within the party couldn't handle a smart woman being in power.

So next time you want to have a one night stand and be used by a guy, think about the greater consequences, by doing so you're just reinforcing stereotypes that women are bimbos who aren't allowed opinions or brains.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Tinder is dangerous, please be careful re: Warriena Wright's murder

You might recall a few months ago I blogged that I didn't want to know about the Baden Clay murder trial and that I thought there was too much mainstream media coverage.  There has been a recent case which has me absolutely hooked.  That is the murder of New Zealand tourist Warriena Wright who was tragically killed a week ago by Gable Tostee.  The week following her plunge from the 14th floor of a Gold Coast apartment complex was centred around Tostee as he was the last person to see her alive.  The two had met on Tinder and then gone back to his apartment.  It is not yet known if he pushed her, but before he was charged with murder the mainstream media reported that Tostee had posted on body building forums that he liked balcony sex.

Wright, a church going animal rights activist had met Tostee on Tinder, a mobile phone dating app which allows users to click a green heart or a red x.  If the feeling is mutual both parties can message eachother.

Up until this week I hadn't used Tinder but I must admit that on Thursday I was a bit curious so I created a profile, which actually just linked to my Facebook, so it's very simple.  Within less than an hour of using the app I had two hot, but sleazy guys message me asking if I wanted hot sex and if they could see my pussy.  This isn't a sugar coated or exaggerated version of events.  It's actually what happened.  I quickly told them to go to a brothel.  Tinder is a very sleazy dating app.  It's basically a mobile version of a bar, except you're sober and you don't have a conversation of "how are you?", "what do you do?" etc, it's straight to "wanna fuck?" 

I am NOT at all justifying what happened to Wright because I'm actually rather angry at the way guys think they can sleaze around and take advantage of women, but anyone who uses Tinder and goes back to the apartment of someone they meet on the site is asking for trouble.  I've used dating sites in the past myself.  I normally meet in public places.  One time though, back in 2006 I didn't.  The guy came to my house and picked me up, then we went back to his place for wine and to watch a movie.  Of course one thing led to another, long story short, I agreed to a lot of sexual stuff but there was one thing I didn't agree to, so when he was sleeping I bolted and went to the police with a friend the next day.  The police spoke to him but as I agreed to most things there was nothing further they could do, and that's okay.  The point of sharing this story is that anyone who goes back to the apartment of someone they meet on Tinder is asking for trouble, and that's the closest I've come to a bad situation.  Thinking back I was exceptionally lucky but I'd always had an escape route figured out in my head.

Women shouldn't use Tinder.  By using Tinder and having casual sex with guys (and when I was 18 I had a lot of casual sex) all they're doing is enforcing the message that women are nothing more than sex objects that men can take advantage of and then spit out.  And men should know better than to proposition women they barely even know.  It's different when it's a one night stand from a nightclub and you've had a conversation - don't ask me how because there is no rational explanation, it just is.  I guess it's because there is the possibility of something more happening when you connect on a spiritual or intellectual level.  That happened for me in October, the feeling wasn't reciprocated though.  Ah well, you win some you lose some.

Today it was revealed that Tostee suffered from autism, hated rejection and had severe confidence issues.  The case reminds me a lot of the Elliott case.  Tostee and Weatherston have similar personality traits in that they both wanted to be in control and couldn't handle when they didn't get the world given to them at their fingertips.  In Weatherston's case, he stabbed Sophie Elliott 256 times until her body was mutilated.  In Tostee's case it was either a sex act gone wrong or he pushed her off the balcony (he had said previously that he liked balcony sex).  Either way, the man is guilty.

Let this be a lesson that Tinder is dangerous and anyone who uses it is asking for trouble.  It's just not worth it.  Of course random hook ups can be fun, but people need to be more careful.  Just because the internet is common these days and used by everyone doesn't actually make it safer.  If anything it makes it more dangerous.  It was safer back in 2004 but now you get a whole bunch of weirdos using it to hide who they really are for sinister purposes.

And please, before you meet anyone from the internet think twice and really make sure you know them first.  I've met a few people from online but normally it is in public, at parties or after months of conversations.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Review: John Key Portrait of a Prime Minister book

Some people question why New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is so popular and don't understand it.  As you're reading his biography: John Key, Portrait of a Prime Minister it is very clear why he has the support of the majority of New Zealanders.

John Key had a humble upbringing in Christchurch's Burnside with a solo mother who worked low paid jobs and raised her three children on welfare and the income from her job while living in a state house which she was able to secure because she was a widow.  Early on in his life John Key decided he wanted to make $1 million and be Prime Minister of New Zealand.

He almost didn't.  While he was growing up he had a friend who wanted to leave school to get a job, but his mother Ruth Key simply said "no" and the conversation ended.  He finished school, not with exceptional grades and then went onto university where he had planned to study Economics but ended up doing Accounting.

From there he worked for several firms.  When he wanted to become a currency trader he was originally turned down as the recruitment staff thought he would be better as a sales rep.  The reality is, Key wanted the excitement that came with being a currency trader.  He so knew how to read scenarios and has a very good business mind.  He gave his son Max some wisdom that you could lose money eight out of 10 days but if you make more on two then it doesn't matter, and that it's better to get commissions than a salary because of the possible increase in income.  Due to his poor upbringing Key doesn't fritter away his money like many of the other young currency traders did.

He made his million, actually 50 times more than that and then decided to return to New Zealand to enter politics and it was very clear early on that he would eventually be the leader.  He wanted to learn from existing MPs on what they did that made them successful and he wanted to become leader of the National Party.  As early as 2004 he had discussions with former leader Don Brash but in order to secure the leadership he required the support of Gerry Brownlee so that Bill English would be deputy leader.

John Key became the leader and ultimately won the 2008 election.  Since his time in office there have been numerous national disasters - the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River mining incident which left 29 men dead.  Key has an ability to stay calm, probably a character trait from his time as a currency trader in New York and London.

Key is successful as Prime Minister because he is able to read the public mood and sense what they want, this probably because of his time as a currency trader.  He is used to taking calculated risks.

Towards the end of the book it becomes very clear that Key hates to lose so when the tide begins to turn that is when he will step down as the leader.  I anticipate this will be in 2018 when Steven Joyce or Judith Collins will take over as leader.  Who will be leader will entirely depend upon the mood of the nation at the time.

All in all, I think this book is well worth reading as it offers a great insight into what makes a successful Prime Minister and how you should approach politics if you want to succeed.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Nicky Hager's new book: Dirty Politics

Nicky Hager's latest book, Dirty Politics has caused quite an upset amongst politicians and controversial resident Kim Dot Com, even typing that name makes me cringe.  For those of you who aren't aware, Nicky Hager is an investigative journalist who has written several books in the past.  He doesn't discriminate based on his own left wing politics. 

He targeted National in 2006 in The Hollow Men, which was a look at party donations and who National typically appeals to.

Other books he's written include: Secret Power, a look into the GCSB released in 1996, Secrets and Lies written in 1999, 2002's Seeds of Distrust, The Hollow Men as I've mentioned in 2006 and Other People's Wars in 2011.

Yesterday Dirty Politics was released and although I have not yet read the book, I'm waiting for my copy which is completely sold out and on back order, it looks at the Whale Oil blog run by Cameron Slater and the inner workings of the National Party, particularly focusing on John Key and staff member Jason Ede.

The reaction has been mixed.  Those on the right side of politics with clear links to National say the book is nothing more than a smear campaign designed to hurt National and those on the left are concerned about the issues raised, with the Green Party already saying they plan to take legal action against the National Party.

Regardless of your politics, this book is well worth the read and for some people to dismiss it simply because of who it is written by or the views of the writer is absurd.  Books like this may upset those with a vested interest but they are essential for the democratic process.  More often than not Hager delves into issues that New Zealand's mainstream media only touches on, and these books often have years of research go into them.

Once I've read the book in a few weeks time I will post a review on the content and any important issues it raises.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Robin Williams - Suicide should never be an option

Well you'd have to have been living under a rock not to know that yesterday it came across all the news wires that acclaimed comedian Robin Williams had taken his own life.  Sydney's Kiis 106.5 reported that he hanged himself.  Other media like 2GB and the newspapers have suggested his wife just thought he was sleeping in.

Since his death there has been a discussion about how comedians hide their sorrow behind the laughter and that Williams battled with alcohol and drug addiction.  According to the UK's Daily Mail, he was facing bankruptcy and supposedly his career was tanking, but this doesn't seem right given reports earlier in the year which said Williams was keen to make another Mrs Doubtfire movie, although Lisa Jakub, the girl who played his youngest daughter in the movie wasn't keen to get on board and do it.

I could talk about the memories and Williams successful career.  I could talk about how celebrities suffer depression and mental health issues but I don't really think that's beneficial to anyone.  Much like when Charlotte Dawson took her own life, in the same way, it's more important to focus on the point that got them to that moment of total desperation and hopelessness where they felt there was no escape from their pain.

There is always a way up from depression and things are never as bad as they seem.  Williams had been to rehab so he knew the services were available, as did Charlotte Dawson when she took her life in February.  Both of them had enough people in their lives that they could have made it through.

I just hope that people will actually seek help when they're depressed and think things aren't going to get any better.  They always get better and there are so many charities out there who help people who are going through mental health issues.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Australian Employment - Is it time to scrap the 457 and the issue of unpaid internships

Yesterday a friend posted on Facebook a link to an article in the Australian edition of The Guardian newspaper.  The article discussed employment and unemployment.  The belief was that unemployment was caused by insufficient jobs and too many immigrants working on the 457 visa.

I want to rebuke this and say what Senator Eric Abetz and Prime Minister Tony Abbott have been saying for some months.  There are jobs out there if you truly want to work.  New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key shares this sentiment and has maintained it for quite some time.  I talk to quite a few people and if you're willing to do the work it's there.  It may not be what you want but work is work and once you have a job it is always much easier to find other work.

Now there is talk that foreigners are stealing Aussie jobs and while there may be some truth to this, the reason is that Aussies just aren't willing to do the work.  If they were then they'd have the jobs and foreigners would be left out in the cold.

Another bone of contention for those on the left side of politics is the issue of unpaid internships.  They say that it is exploitation.  Who says that reward for work needed to be monetary?  Look, people can always make more money but we can't always gain experience.  Many of us only have until about 30-35 to get experience in our chosen field before we have to resign ourselves to dead end jobs we hate.  So if we're willing to work for free to gain experience and to gain an edge over others then let us without trying to control our decisions. 

The simple fact is, when you don't have experience nobody is willing to pay you and that is where internships come in .  Yeah you may work for no money short term but in the long term you'll be much better off.  This is something that unions seem to forget.  They seem not to realise that a reward for work isn't always economic, sometimes it's about creating opportunities and without experience, you simply do not have the same opportunities.

It shouldn't be up to the Government to tell us how we can and can't spend our time and what we must or must not work for.  Nobody forces people to do an unpaid internship.  People agree to do them because of the long term reward, so I say let people.  Without unpaid internships some people may never get experience and therefore never reach their potential and that would be more of a tragedy than not getting paid for a few months.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Review: Hanson at Enmore Theatre Sydney 8th August 2014

A few months ago I blogged about how I was going to see Hanson and that I'd been a fan of theirs since I was 11 years old, so 17 years.  Tonight was the night of the concert and it was truly amazing.

I arrived outside the Enmore Theatre around 6pm and was behind these very stuck up girls but I moved spots in the line and was around nicer people who I could actually talk to.

Eventually the doors opened and somehow my strike of being close to the front remained.  I was about five rows from the very front.  Nearby were some drunk yobbos from Tamworth who weren't even Hanson fans and were being morons in the lead up to the concert.  The girls they were with were drunk too and weren't any nicer.  

Season 1, The Voice contestant Adam Martin opened and as always the opening act is always a let down.  Martin had zero charisma and personality.  You couldn't understand him and his music was awful.  He also wasn't a good singer in general.  He could hold a fund but he was nothing special.  Fortunately he only did five songs.  

Then there was a gap of 30 minutes before Hanson came on.  When they came on stage the crowd went absolutely nuts, myself included.

They opened with Fired Up from their new album, which did, get the crowd fired up.  Following that they moved onto their very old music, and sung Where's The Love from their best selling album Middle of Nowhere.

They also sung Thinking Of You, Weird and A Minute Without You.

As per the 90s, Taylor is still very much the front man and he could work the crowd brilliantly.

During the gig the Hanson men sung acapella and each sung a song on their own.  Zac did an unreleased song.  Taylor and Isaac did ballads.  

Isaac has always been the quiet Hanson but tonight he showed he's got personality and passion. Zac on the other hand is actually pretty quiet, probably from being behind the drums.

The moment I'd been waiting 17 years for finally came.  The Hanson brothers thanked the fans who've been there since the start.   By this stage it's 80 minutes into the show and I'm already in heaven.  Taylor started singing MMMBOP which I had just enough battery left on my phone to record a video.  It was a very special moment.

After that they closed before coming back for an encore of two songs and they once again thanked the Sydney crowd for showing up.

I took three videos, only one of which is on Facebook.  I would've taken mods but as per my previous comment, I didn't have enough battery power so I had to be selective.

My favourite parts of the show excluding MMMBOP and Taylor's working of the crowd was the fact the Hanson men sing 100% love.  When they perform you can see they're genuine and care about what they're singing about.  One day when I meet them I would like to think they're the types of guys I'd be friends with.  Back in 1997 Zac was my fave but now I'm a Taylor convert.  He's definitely my new fave.

Overall I give them a 5/5, the only thing I'd have preferred is if I'd been in the front row and had a better camera.but their performance, singing and personality, I loved it all and as I left the Enmore Theatre I said I was in heaven.  This was well worth the 17 year wait? And was my first ever show in Sydney.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Was giving up Gammy heartless? Or the right thing to do?

It's a moral dilemma isn't it?  After months, or even years of trying for a baby you finally get a surrogate.  You not only have twins but you find that one of them is born in Thailand with Down's Syndrome.  You choose to take the other baby and leave the disabled one with the surrogate mother.  Next thing you know there are headlines in your native Australia brandishing you terrible parents and how could you do such a thing?!  You're criticised and the media looks down upon you.  Surrogacy is called into question but the main issue, would you keep a disabled baby isn't?

Every day just about we read stories about parents who abuse their children, parents who don't feed their children and parents who basically shouldn't have children in the first place.  We see countless stories about children going to school without food or even shoes in some cases.  And very rarely we ignore what is staring as blankly in the face which is that some people should not have kids.

The parents of baby Gammy have been called heartless by Australia's mainstream media and the mother in Thailand is threatening legal action against the parents.  It has come to light the father has allegedly been involved in sex abuse against children.

So the question now is, even though it's easy to say that they are heartless haven't they actually done the right thing by giving up a baby that they don't want?  Isn't that baby better off with a parent who, although she may be poor, will actually love the child and give it the care and attention he needs.

Today the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Gammy's parents were told the baby boy only had a day to live at most.  The parents then said goodbye and farewelled their baby boy.  Claims that they requested an abortion when told Gammy had Down's Syndrome are incorrect according to the Sydney Morning Herald.  They say that they left him because it was either take the girl or potentially lose both the babies due to military unrest in Thailand.

Even if the latter is true, why has Gammy not yet been flown to Australia where medical attention and treatment would be of a superior standard.

And if it is true that they didn't want Gammy because of his Down's Syndrome then they may have done the kinder thing.  Gammy's surrogate clearly loves the boy from pictures the media has released and isn't that more important in some cases than being with your biological parent?

It raises a question though, should we be allowed to abort babies when we find out they have mental disabilities?  We're talking about people that will never be independent and that will need constant care throughout their lives.  Caring for one healthy baby would be hard enough, let alone caring for one that has health issues.

It doesn't just include people though, children aren't the only ones ditched by parents, animals are too.  If you're not going to care for a child or an animal adequately then the fact of the matter is, you shouldn't have one, and sometimes although it seems heartless, adopting out an unwanted child or pet is actually the kinder thing to do so that it can be with someone who will love and care for it.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

The Coalition hasn't failed, the MSM has

As you'd expect, the Sydney Morning Herald'd columnist Peter Hartcher has jumped on the bandwagon saying the Coalition's marketing of their budget is a joke.  He says they've fallen into the same trap as Labor did.  This is total garbage.

The Government promised to scrap the carbon tax and they have.  They promised to stop the boats and they have.  They're in the process of returning the budget to surplus.

The mainstream media is the one who has failed.  They're the ones who have failed to provide adequate information on the budget and they're the ones who have failed to educate the public on policy.

Take for example the $7 Medicare copayment or the necessity to apply for 40 jobs a month if you're on welfare.

$7 is such an insignificant amount and you may or may not be aware.  In NZ it is $25 to see a doctor.  That's if you have a Community Services card and $50 if you don't.  $7 is less than $1 a day and very few people would go more than that.  The MSM has miseducated people by not providing how Australia compares internationally.

Then there's the need to apply for 40 jobs a month.  Those who truly want to work will do this no sweat but once again the MSM manipulates the facts saying it's unreasonable.  It's not.  Those truly wanting to work will reach this minimum in a week, however, those truly wanting to work won't be on welfare in the first place.