Here a couple of things that have got my goat recently.
States urged to impose total ban on mobile phone use in cars.
The nanny state gone mad. Yes using a mobile phone or texting in a car is dangerous. Have you ever been behind someone yakking on a mobile while driving? They look like they're driving pissed. By all means ban hand held devices, but hands free? The study suggests that even hands free devices are distracting and could cause accidents. Maybe, but this is taking the nanny state too far. The law would be almost unenforceable anyway. What will they ban next? Passengers? Do you know how distracting passengers can be?
'Appalling' law lets schools expel gay students.
This absolutely appalling law is a relic of the Wran years when homosexuality was still illegal. Holy shit have these people ever heard of basic human rights? The law allows private schools to expel gay students not because they're disruptive or are "flaunting their homosexuality" or harassment. But just because they are gay. What the fuck? It's like outlawing lefthandness or brown eyes. Fucktards.
Christians put faith poll on the agenda.
The Australian Christian Lobby have organised an event where Christian leaders will question Kristina Keneally (Premier) and Barry O'Farrell (Opposition leader) on a range of "social" issues. The ACL did this during the Federal election with the two Federal leaders too. Hello, Church State Separation anybody? Why the leaders pander to this out-of-touch and un-representative to the majority of people in the state I don't know? Maybe I do. Votes. The ACL, and Catholics for that matter, agenda is probably the newly approved Ethics Classes in public schools. For some reason the various religions have been allowed to come into public schools and teach scripture classes once a week. While the classes were technically not compulsory, ask Nowra and Ulladulla High Schools about that though, students who had permission from their parents were not allowed to do anything constructive. No school work or homework was allowed so as not to disadvantage the poor kiddies in the scripture classes. Recently though ethics classes were trialled as alternative to scripture classes. In the trials apparently more than half the kids chose to do the ethics classes instead of scripture. This outraged the Anglicans and the Catholics. I don't know why they have their own fucking schools after all. Now the government is rolling out ethics classes across the board. Ethics are cool. I wish I had them. Last week the Opposition Liberal Party dropped its objection to ethics classes and their promise to remove them from schools. This has again outraged the Christians. It appears to me that the Liberals have seen how the wind is blowing and how popular the ethics classes actually are with voters.
The scripture classes have no place in public schools. Ethics classes are appropriate for public schools, or any school for that matter. If the Christians want to teach scripture they can go and start there own schools. Oh. Hang on. They have their own schools. Hundreds of them. Well piss off out of the state system then. We nominally have a separation of church and state in this country.
DNA and dollars are killing capital punishment.
You'd think this abhorrent practice would be outlawed just because it is barbaric but if DNA evidence and the cost of executions is doing the job, well that will do I suppose. The execution rate in the US has halved since 1999 which was the peak year for judicial homicide in the USA.
Showing posts with label Stupid Shit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stupid Shit. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Thursday, 3 February 2011
You really can't afford 50 bucks?
The recent Queensland floods brought out the best in Australians and, unfortunately, the worst. Many Aussies spent time, money and sweat to help out the victims of the floods. Many of us donated to the Premier's Relief Fund. This disaster will cost billions. It may be the most expensive natural disaster in Australian history by orders of magnitude.
Of course the Federal Government has to foot the bill for much of the repair bill. Just how are they going to pay for it? Billions of dollars don't just magically appear out of consolidated revenue. They will have to cut some expenditure but there is a limit to the cuts any government can make. A quick dirty way of raising a couple of billion bucks is a one off levy. This is what the Gillard government has chosen to do.
The levy is only going to be levied on those who make more than 50 grand a year and they're only going to be hit with a 0.5 percent surcharge on top of their usual Medicare levy. For the lucky few earning more than 100 grand a year the levy is 1 percent. Yes lucky few. Only 1 percent of Australians earn more than 100K per year. If you earn less than 50k what are you complaining about? You won't have to pay anything.
I was a little shocked by the furore this has caused. What a bunch of whingers those affected by the levy are. At the bottom end of the scale it is 48 cents per week. Yes 48 cents. If you earn 100K it is $4.81 per week. This is only for one year. Are you telling me Mr or Ms $55,000 a year you can't afford $52 in one year to help reconstruct Queensland? Or $250 if you earn $100,000. Oh the hardship. Whingers.
Before any of you 1 percenters get up on your high horses, in a good year, and I've had a couple, I've earned enough to be slugged a fair whack with this levy too you know. And what about the personal donation I made to the appeal you say? Well good on you then. Do you want a medal? I contributed too. It was tax deductible after all. Every bit helps. So we're making a compulsory contribution now. Get over it. We've been paying 1 percent extra for Medicare for years because of our incomes. Don't you consider yourself lucky enough to earn enough to be slugged with extra taxes? Shit, I do.
So you're not convinced how the government will use or misuse your money? The money per week that amounts to less than one of those lattes you have every day. Well governments use and misuse your money every day. Again, deal with it. Why doesn't the government cut more of those other programs that you don't believe in anyway? Well, they are cutting stuff. It may not be one of your pet projects but it is someone's. You can't please everybody. Deal with it.
Some people might even say why should I fork over my hard earned when these people are living in a flood zone and are under insured? Why should I bail out people who haven't prepared for themselves? They've chosen to live in a risky environment after all? Well, because it is the right thing to do. We call it social responsibility. Sometimes we just have to help out those who have to deal with something so extreme. These sort of disasters don't happen very often. Hell, speaking of flood zones, we're talking an area the size of Germany and France combined. Practically all of Queensland is at risk. It means you couldn't rebuild anywhere if you wanted to avoid risky areas. Even Toowoomba, which was hit by the inland Tsunami, is 700 metres above sea level. Silly buggers building homes in such and obvious flood zone. How dare they ask for help?
Now the mad monk, Tony Abbott, and the Liberal Party have asked for donations to help fight the flood levy. Oh the irony. I think, and this is entirely supposition, that Abbott is only so vehemently against the levy because, one, he didn't think of it first, and two, because if the government says the sky is blue he would say it was green. Nice work Tony.
I'm happy just to do my bit. Shit, I might even get more tax back this year than I'll be paying in the levy anyway.
Rant over.
PS
Update 4-Feb-2011
I'm not the only one that thinks this way. Thank you John Birmingham.
Of course the Federal Government has to foot the bill for much of the repair bill. Just how are they going to pay for it? Billions of dollars don't just magically appear out of consolidated revenue. They will have to cut some expenditure but there is a limit to the cuts any government can make. A quick dirty way of raising a couple of billion bucks is a one off levy. This is what the Gillard government has chosen to do.
The levy is only going to be levied on those who make more than 50 grand a year and they're only going to be hit with a 0.5 percent surcharge on top of their usual Medicare levy. For the lucky few earning more than 100 grand a year the levy is 1 percent. Yes lucky few. Only 1 percent of Australians earn more than 100K per year. If you earn less than 50k what are you complaining about? You won't have to pay anything.
I was a little shocked by the furore this has caused. What a bunch of whingers those affected by the levy are. At the bottom end of the scale it is 48 cents per week. Yes 48 cents. If you earn 100K it is $4.81 per week. This is only for one year. Are you telling me Mr or Ms $55,000 a year you can't afford $52 in one year to help reconstruct Queensland? Or $250 if you earn $100,000. Oh the hardship. Whingers.
Before any of you 1 percenters get up on your high horses, in a good year, and I've had a couple, I've earned enough to be slugged a fair whack with this levy too you know. And what about the personal donation I made to the appeal you say? Well good on you then. Do you want a medal? I contributed too. It was tax deductible after all. Every bit helps. So we're making a compulsory contribution now. Get over it. We've been paying 1 percent extra for Medicare for years because of our incomes. Don't you consider yourself lucky enough to earn enough to be slugged with extra taxes? Shit, I do.
So you're not convinced how the government will use or misuse your money? The money per week that amounts to less than one of those lattes you have every day. Well governments use and misuse your money every day. Again, deal with it. Why doesn't the government cut more of those other programs that you don't believe in anyway? Well, they are cutting stuff. It may not be one of your pet projects but it is someone's. You can't please everybody. Deal with it.
Some people might even say why should I fork over my hard earned when these people are living in a flood zone and are under insured? Why should I bail out people who haven't prepared for themselves? They've chosen to live in a risky environment after all? Well, because it is the right thing to do. We call it social responsibility. Sometimes we just have to help out those who have to deal with something so extreme. These sort of disasters don't happen very often. Hell, speaking of flood zones, we're talking an area the size of Germany and France combined. Practically all of Queensland is at risk. It means you couldn't rebuild anywhere if you wanted to avoid risky areas. Even Toowoomba, which was hit by the inland Tsunami, is 700 metres above sea level. Silly buggers building homes in such and obvious flood zone. How dare they ask for help?
Now the mad monk, Tony Abbott, and the Liberal Party have asked for donations to help fight the flood levy. Oh the irony. I think, and this is entirely supposition, that Abbott is only so vehemently against the levy because, one, he didn't think of it first, and two, because if the government says the sky is blue he would say it was green. Nice work Tony.
I'm happy just to do my bit. Shit, I might even get more tax back this year than I'll be paying in the levy anyway.
Rant over.
PS
Update 4-Feb-2011
I'm not the only one that thinks this way. Thank you John Birmingham.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Shooting the messenger - Wikileaks and Julian Assange
All the kerfuffle about the release of diplomatic cables boils down to one thing. Shoot the messenger. Wikileaks doesn't make shit up. They just publish the sort of stuff that once upon a time may have been published by the New York Times or the Washington Post. If the leaks had been initially been published in the newspapers the leaks and the source of the leaks would have been the news. Now the corporations than run the newspapers are the same lobbyists that "run" government so it isn't part of their business plan to publish inflammatory leaks. The call is to shut down Wikileaks and call for Julian Assange to be executed. Shoot the messenger.
Democracy requires a certain amount transparency to work. Otherwise what have you got to hide? Governments are not private individuals. They're beholding to the people. Not the other way round. Governments forget that and start to think that it isn't the secret that is the point it is the keeping of that secret. Lets face it. What has been the major revelations so far? Country A thinks country B is corrupt. Or a certain Prime Minister, let's call him Mr Brown, is considered by some to be feckless and vain. No shit Sherlock. All we're seeing is what we already knew. The emperor is naked.
As I said the point is keeping the secrets. Openness leads to accountability. If we the people are kept in the dark to whom are our governments accountable? They can and do get away with any old shit. They don't like being caught out in a lie. Most of the releases might embarrass the authors in the short term but in the long term we'll all forget and it will be Business As Usual. Responsibility and accountability are what the politicians and beauracracy fear the most. Well that and keeping us from finding out where the money comes from. Keep the bastards honest. That used to be the slogan for the Australian Democrats. Maybe Wikileaks is the true successor to that motto.
It is far from certain that Julian Assange and Wikilieaks have done anything illegal. But this is where the shoot-the-messenger part comes in. Some politicians and media are calling for the ex-judicial murder of Assange. WTF? Assange and Wikileaks may be doing more for open government and democracy than, well, just about anybody in decades. And for that some are calling for Assange to tried for treason or shot. It is typical of these reactionaries. Government does something illegal. Whistleblower blows whistle on illegality. Whistleblower is charged and silenced. Government goes back to BAU.
Assange and Wikileaks aren't traitors. They're heroes.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Whooping Cough or why you should get immunised
Did you know that right now in Australia we're facing a Whooping Cough (Pertussis) epidemic? Pertussis is one of those childhood illnesses we almost had licked. But then, probably because of the anti vaccination movement and general apathy to vaccination, parents stopped vaccinating their kids and adults didn't get their booster shots and this deadly disease rears its ugly head again.
Last week a 5 week old baby died in South Australia and last year 3 babies, including 4 week old Dana MacCaffrey, from the North Coast of NSW died of this horrible disease. The SA health department reported around 2700 cases of pertussis for the first half of this year. For the same period last year there were about 1400 cases reported. Nationally the figures are even worse.
The reason these babies died from this preventable illness is because they were too young to be vaccinated. New born babies rely on herd immunity, the rest of the community being vaccinated, to protect them from diseases like whooping cough. By the community I mean us. Everybody. Especially those people who come into contact with children and babies. As vaccination rates have fallen herd immunity isn't as effective as it once was. Unfortunately for the babies that died they probably came into contact with a person who was carrying the disease. The more people who remain unvaccinated and the more cases that occur the more chance unvaccinated babies will have of coming into contact with carriers of this preventable disease. Remember that, preventable disease.
Unfortunately the Whooping Cough immunisation doesn't last a life time so a DTP booster shot should be administered every 5 to 10 years. DTP stands for Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis. We had the DTP shot 5 years ago when we went to Africa.
What can I do and why should I give a shit? Well, I'm glad you asked. If you know me there is a good chance you know that we are expecting a little girl in December. If you're family there's an even better chance that you will be meeting said little girl shortly after she is born and probably when she is most vulnerable to nasty preventable infections. You can help by wandering in to your local GP and getting the DTP or Pertussis jab between now and December. It doesn't hurt and it is cheap. Fuck, if you're visiting our new baby in 2011 I'll pay for it if you're a tight arse or you don't have the finances. Even if you don't know me and you will probably never meet my baby you should, for the sake of your community and herd immunity, get the jab (but you'll have to pay for it yourself though).
Now before you roll your eyes and think that this daddy to be is just being paranoid remember that babies are dying from a preventable disease. That is stupid. No babies should be dying from Whooping Cough. I know that shit happens and babies die from a myriad of things and some of those things can't be prevented. But wouldn't you like to be proactive and do something today that may just save a life?
Oh, and by the way, some doctors are unaware of the risk and may be reluctant to give adults boosters. The booster for adults has apparently only been around since 2005 after all. If they won't give you a booster see another doctor.
What are you still doing here? Do us a favour and go see your doctor. Now.
Last week a 5 week old baby died in South Australia and last year 3 babies, including 4 week old Dana MacCaffrey, from the North Coast of NSW died of this horrible disease. The SA health department reported around 2700 cases of pertussis for the first half of this year. For the same period last year there were about 1400 cases reported. Nationally the figures are even worse.
The reason these babies died from this preventable illness is because they were too young to be vaccinated. New born babies rely on herd immunity, the rest of the community being vaccinated, to protect them from diseases like whooping cough. By the community I mean us. Everybody. Especially those people who come into contact with children and babies. As vaccination rates have fallen herd immunity isn't as effective as it once was. Unfortunately for the babies that died they probably came into contact with a person who was carrying the disease. The more people who remain unvaccinated and the more cases that occur the more chance unvaccinated babies will have of coming into contact with carriers of this preventable disease. Remember that, preventable disease.
Unfortunately the Whooping Cough immunisation doesn't last a life time so a DTP booster shot should be administered every 5 to 10 years. DTP stands for Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis. We had the DTP shot 5 years ago when we went to Africa.
What can I do and why should I give a shit? Well, I'm glad you asked. If you know me there is a good chance you know that we are expecting a little girl in December. If you're family there's an even better chance that you will be meeting said little girl shortly after she is born and probably when she is most vulnerable to nasty preventable infections. You can help by wandering in to your local GP and getting the DTP or Pertussis jab between now and December. It doesn't hurt and it is cheap. Fuck, if you're visiting our new baby in 2011 I'll pay for it if you're a tight arse or you don't have the finances. Even if you don't know me and you will probably never meet my baby you should, for the sake of your community and herd immunity, get the jab (but you'll have to pay for it yourself though).
Now before you roll your eyes and think that this daddy to be is just being paranoid remember that babies are dying from a preventable disease. That is stupid. No babies should be dying from Whooping Cough. I know that shit happens and babies die from a myriad of things and some of those things can't be prevented. But wouldn't you like to be proactive and do something today that may just save a life?
Oh, and by the way, some doctors are unaware of the risk and may be reluctant to give adults boosters. The booster for adults has apparently only been around since 2005 after all. If they won't give you a booster see another doctor.
What are you still doing here? Do us a favour and go see your doctor. Now.
Friday, 4 June 2010
The burgers are NOT better at Hungry Jack's (Burger King)
You don't go to the airport for fine dining. It is true you can find a branch of Dank St. Depot at Sydney Airport and the Qantas Business Class Lounge isn't horrible but you should really lower your expectations just a tad for everything else. It is fast food after all. A number of the big franchises are represented in the food hall and includes... drum roll... Hungry Jacks.
Usually fast food from the big guys is adequate. There is a standard to which you expect and most of the time that standard is satisfied or sometimes even exceeded. And that is why I went to Hungry Jack's in the International Terminal at Sydney Airport. I ordered something simple - a cheeseburger. After waiting a few minutes I was handed a bag containing a cheeseburger wrapped in paper. As soon as I picked the cheeseburger out of the bag I knew it was cold. I had a WTF moment. The store was busy enough that there were no burgers queuing up on the counter. Apparently they were being made fresh to order. I saw my burger being handed through from the kitchen to the counter server who bagged it.
I opened the wrapping and poked the bun. Cold. I lifted the bun and felt the meat. Stone motherless cold. It even had that look that it had been cold for some time. You can tell when something has not been fresh made. As I said WTF?
I took it back to the girl who served me and I told her that the burger was cold. She took the burger back and handed it in to the kitchen. It looked like she said a few cranky words to the cook too. After a couple of minutes a bag was handed though from the kitchen to the girl that served me. She gave me the bag and apologised.
I walked away and opened the bag. The wrapping paper looked familiar. It looked in just about the same half arsed wrapped state I left it when I handed back my burger. It was the same burger I had handed back. This burger was hot though. Almost too hot to touch. All the kitchen had done was zapped the burger to within an inch of its life in a microwave. I'll be fucked if I will accept a re-heated burger.
I went back to the counter and spoke to the girl who had served me again "This burger is the same cold burger I gave you," I said. "I expected a fresh burger and not a microwaved crappy burger."
She looked at me blankly and said, "But it is hot. We heat it for you."
"Please give me a fresh burger," I said. She attempted to take back the burger I had but I said she could have that back when I got a fresh burger.
A few minutes later she returned with a new bag and I give her the old burger. I walked away again opening the bag. This burger seemed hotter than the last one. Unnaturally so. I opened the wrapping and the burger was steaming. The bun was soggy and had that freshly microwaved look and feel. Fuck this I thought.
I went back to the same girl at the counter and said, "This isn't a fresh burger either. It has been microwaved. It is crap. I wanted a fresh burger not microwaved crap."
She looked at me with a slightly surprised look and said "But this is this the way we do it. All the hamburgers are like this."
"In that case," I said, "I want my money back. I wanted a fresh burger and you are only going to give me microwaved crap so please give me my money back." All $2.70 of it. I know, I know, so much angst for so little money. It is a little embarrassing but there is a principle at stake here.
She had a quick word with one of her colleagues and then gave me my money. She still looked a little nonplussed though.
So there you have it. Apparently at the International Terminal at Sydney Airport Hungry Jack's serves microwaved, or, I should say they re-heat pre-prepared burgers. That is shit and I won't put up with it. Fuck 'em.
Oportos was the recipient of my money today. I had a Norm chicken fillet burger. And Mrs Fields for some delicious chocolate chip cookies. Hungry's can go [insert something appropriate here].
As an aside one of the better airport burgers I've ever had was a burger at Burger King at La Paz Airport in Bolivia. Then again it may have just been the altitude. La Paz Airport is at about 4100 metres. I might have been a little light headed and a turd sandwich may have tasted as good. ;-)
Usually fast food from the big guys is adequate. There is a standard to which you expect and most of the time that standard is satisfied or sometimes even exceeded. And that is why I went to Hungry Jack's in the International Terminal at Sydney Airport. I ordered something simple - a cheeseburger. After waiting a few minutes I was handed a bag containing a cheeseburger wrapped in paper. As soon as I picked the cheeseburger out of the bag I knew it was cold. I had a WTF moment. The store was busy enough that there were no burgers queuing up on the counter. Apparently they were being made fresh to order. I saw my burger being handed through from the kitchen to the counter server who bagged it.
I opened the wrapping and poked the bun. Cold. I lifted the bun and felt the meat. Stone motherless cold. It even had that look that it had been cold for some time. You can tell when something has not been fresh made. As I said WTF?
I took it back to the girl who served me and I told her that the burger was cold. She took the burger back and handed it in to the kitchen. It looked like she said a few cranky words to the cook too. After a couple of minutes a bag was handed though from the kitchen to the girl that served me. She gave me the bag and apologised.
I walked away and opened the bag. The wrapping paper looked familiar. It looked in just about the same half arsed wrapped state I left it when I handed back my burger. It was the same burger I had handed back. This burger was hot though. Almost too hot to touch. All the kitchen had done was zapped the burger to within an inch of its life in a microwave. I'll be fucked if I will accept a re-heated burger.
I went back to the counter and spoke to the girl who had served me again "This burger is the same cold burger I gave you," I said. "I expected a fresh burger and not a microwaved crappy burger."
She looked at me blankly and said, "But it is hot. We heat it for you."
"Please give me a fresh burger," I said. She attempted to take back the burger I had but I said she could have that back when I got a fresh burger.
A few minutes later she returned with a new bag and I give her the old burger. I walked away again opening the bag. This burger seemed hotter than the last one. Unnaturally so. I opened the wrapping and the burger was steaming. The bun was soggy and had that freshly microwaved look and feel. Fuck this I thought.
I went back to the same girl at the counter and said, "This isn't a fresh burger either. It has been microwaved. It is crap. I wanted a fresh burger not microwaved crap."
She looked at me with a slightly surprised look and said "But this is this the way we do it. All the hamburgers are like this."
"In that case," I said, "I want my money back. I wanted a fresh burger and you are only going to give me microwaved crap so please give me my money back." All $2.70 of it. I know, I know, so much angst for so little money. It is a little embarrassing but there is a principle at stake here.
She had a quick word with one of her colleagues and then gave me my money. She still looked a little nonplussed though.
So there you have it. Apparently at the International Terminal at Sydney Airport Hungry Jack's serves microwaved, or, I should say they re-heat pre-prepared burgers. That is shit and I won't put up with it. Fuck 'em.
Oportos was the recipient of my money today. I had a Norm chicken fillet burger. And Mrs Fields for some delicious chocolate chip cookies. Hungry's can go [insert something appropriate here].
As an aside one of the better airport burgers I've ever had was a burger at Burger King at La Paz Airport in Bolivia. Then again it may have just been the altitude. La Paz Airport is at about 4100 metres. I might have been a little light headed and a turd sandwich may have tasted as good. ;-)
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Metallica and their promoters (Michael Coppel) are greedy bastards
Metallica tickets went on sale yesterday in a Ticketek Pre-sale before the main sale on Thursday. I'm a bit of a fan of these heavy metal legends but for one reason or another I've missed their previous tours of Oz. So I was pretty keen to get on-line and snag a ticket. I managed to log on a 5 minutes too late and missed out but I don't think I'll bother trying to get a ticket when the main sale starts on Thursday for a couple of reasons:
1. Tickets are $150. That is expensive but not a show stopper in itself.
2. There is a note on the Ticketek website that says:
"Guidelines released by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which regulate how credit card merchant fees are collected, allow for retailers to pass on the cost of credit card payments to the consumer. In this instance the promoter has elected to pass these fees onto consumers that are paying by credit card, and therefore the Transaction Fee has been increased to cover this cost."
Okay that is fine. It is happening more and more often. I expected another dollar or two on top of Ticketek's usual fee of what I still consider to be still an outrageous $4.95 when you still have to pick up the ticket from the box office yourself. So I expected a fee of maybe $7 or $8. No. The fee for Metallica is $15.90. FIFTEEN DOLLARS AND NINETY CENTS! Are they fracking kidding. On top of a ticket price of $150 they want another $15.90. Oh, and that is the fee for picking up the ticket yourself from the box office. It costs more to get it mailed.
The capacity of Acer Arena in Sydney is about 21,000. Lets assume that for the 3 Metallica gigs the capacity is only 15000 people (the shows will sell out though). They are going to make 6.7 million dollars from ticket sales and on top of that another three quarters of a million in ticket surcharges. Ticketek will take a third so the promoters (Michael Coppel) will still make a lazy half a million just from the credit card surcharge alone. If they get 20000 punters at each show in Sydney they'll make 9 million dollars in ticket sales and up to 1 million dollars on top of that from the ticket surcharge. This is from Sydney alone. Metallica is also playing in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.
Greedy fucking bastards.
Update 13-05-2010: I did try and buy a ticket when the main sale went on and I missed out. Karma?
1. Tickets are $150. That is expensive but not a show stopper in itself.
2. There is a note on the Ticketek website that says:
"Guidelines released by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which regulate how credit card merchant fees are collected, allow for retailers to pass on the cost of credit card payments to the consumer. In this instance the promoter has elected to pass these fees onto consumers that are paying by credit card, and therefore the Transaction Fee has been increased to cover this cost."
Okay that is fine. It is happening more and more often. I expected another dollar or two on top of Ticketek's usual fee of what I still consider to be still an outrageous $4.95 when you still have to pick up the ticket from the box office yourself. So I expected a fee of maybe $7 or $8. No. The fee for Metallica is $15.90. FIFTEEN DOLLARS AND NINETY CENTS! Are they fracking kidding. On top of a ticket price of $150 they want another $15.90. Oh, and that is the fee for picking up the ticket yourself from the box office. It costs more to get it mailed.
The capacity of Acer Arena in Sydney is about 21,000. Lets assume that for the 3 Metallica gigs the capacity is only 15000 people (the shows will sell out though). They are going to make 6.7 million dollars from ticket sales and on top of that another three quarters of a million in ticket surcharges. Ticketek will take a third so the promoters (Michael Coppel) will still make a lazy half a million just from the credit card surcharge alone. If they get 20000 punters at each show in Sydney they'll make 9 million dollars in ticket sales and up to 1 million dollars on top of that from the ticket surcharge. This is from Sydney alone. Metallica is also playing in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.
Greedy fucking bastards.
Update 13-05-2010: I did try and buy a ticket when the main sale went on and I missed out. Karma?
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Australia Censored
The Luddite, Senator Stephen Conroy, still plans to introduce legislation for the internet filter for Australia similar to other bastions of democracy like China and Iran. Forget that most of the Western world thinks the plan is stupid and a waste of time. Conroy's filter will essentially slow the internet now for Australians just so they can prevent us going to website on the super sekrit Refused Classification list. We're not even allowed to know what is on the RC list. Thankfully, however, the list was leaked last year and now we know we're being protected from a Queensland dentist's website, hundreds of legal adult entertainment sites, some sites on euthanasia research, legal gambling sites, vacation kennels for dogs, Youtube videos, medical stem cell information sites and homosexual rights sites. There is no appeal and no oversight. Once a site is refused classification it is listed and we don't get to know unless when you attempt to access the site you will be bounced by the filter. Tough cookies. I wouldn't be surprised if Wikileaks, the site that leaked the RC list, will be listed. Oh yes, if a government decides that a site doesn't fall into line with that governments particular philosophy once the firewall is in place it is easy for them to block it. Ain't democracy grand. Arseholes.
The Pirate Party is doing their bit to help circumvent the almost inevitable filter by releasing a slideshow to show pensioners how to get around the filter. If geriatrics can do get around the filter it shows that the whole filter fiasco is a waste of time.
This bloke has a good summary of the whole sordid affair here.
The Pirate Party is doing their bit to help circumvent the almost inevitable filter by releasing a slideshow to show pensioners how to get around the filter. If geriatrics can do get around the filter it shows that the whole filter fiasco is a waste of time.
This bloke has a good summary of the whole sordid affair here.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Arsehole government is going to censor the net
It seems the government is going ahead with its plan to censor the internet and join such bastions of freedom as Iran and China. More information about the whole steaming pile of doggie do do can be found at the Electronic Frontiers Australia campaign site nocleanfeed.com
Net censorship move a smokescreen: expert (SMH).
Net filter that helps no-one (ABC).
Net censorship move a smokescreen: expert (SMH).
Net filter that helps no-one (ABC).
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Friday, 13 November 2009
Bailed up by 911 Truthers in Sydney
I've just been handed a 911 Truther postcard (click the picture to embiggen) in Sydney of all places. I was just coming out of Central Station on my way home when I saw a couple of people, older guys, handing out flyers. I usually ignore these people but something struck me about the beige t-shirts they were wearing. The motif was a stylized 911 with the ones made to look like the Twin Towers overlaid with a magnifying glass. Anyway I was past these guys before it sunk in as to who they were but I couldn't be fudged going back. But as luck would have it about 100 metres up the road closer to home there was another person handing out flyers. This time it was a blonde thirty something woman wearing the same beige t-shirt. Beauty I thought, I'll get a brochure this time. She saw me and headed straight to me saying, "You look like you'll probably be interested in this". She probably noticed my grin. She handed me a postcard."Ah, you're 911 Truthers" I said. I was laughing out loud at this point.
"Yes we are" she said. "We're having a talk tomorrow night at the Tom Mann Theatre across the road. You look like you'd enjoy it. Brings some mates." She handed me more postcards. What the hell do I look like? I was wearing a black t-shirt with a 3d barcode on it but does that make me look like a conspiracy loon? Well duh.
I laughed some more as I walked away but she followed and said, "Have you heard about the thermite?"
I turned and said, "The thermite as in the trace metals and chemicals that can also be found in thousands of pulverized and burned computers and mobile phones? That thermite?" Thanks Penn & Teller's Bullshit.
She stopped and started to back away. "In that case if you come tomorrow night you can come for free. You might learn something. Brings some mates" she said.
I laughed and kept walking home. I was thinking, free though? How much was it to go to this thing? There it was printed on the postcard. $60! Fudging heck. It must be quite a lurk this 911 Truther thing. Apparently I could go for free if I wanted to though.
I really don't think I can buggered going along tomorrow night to listen to these hard core loons. I mean it is Saturday night after all. The other thing is that these people are spouting shit that is plain offensive to the memories of the thousands of people that perished on 9/11. Every point they have raised has been debunked by credible experts thousands of times.
If you do want to go to loonfest though they have a web site, thehardevidence.com and 911oz.com. You'll want some kind of mind bleach afterwards though. You never know I might even still go seeing as I can get in for free. Maybe not.
If you want the real story though check out this site, www.debunking911.com. It is a good place to start to read about some real debunking of the shite the 911 Truthers spew. Here is a link to the awesome Popular Mechanics 9/11 myth debunking article. Hopefully these will be an antidote to the paranoid ravings from the conspiracy believers at 911Oz for you.
It was an interesting experience though. It was the first time I've met these characters in the wild and the first time I've heard of them here in Oz. Usually I run in to them on-line at places like Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy Blog - www.badastronomy.com.
Update 16/11/2009: I didn't end up going because... well I forgot. We were watching Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress which was totally diverting for me and 2 hours of Michelle's life she won't get back. :-)
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Penguin Classics WTF?
Well this shits me no end. The Sydney Morning Herald says Penguin classics prove too risque for Australia Post. Apparently Lolita is a little to controversial for Australia Post so they've removed it and a couple of other titles from sale. The article ends with this, Penguin Australasia's sales director, Peter Blake, said: ''I guess there have been complaints from customers and they have reacted by removing them from sale. Retailers can do what they like.''
If that is the case it is pretty weak of Australia Post to cave to the defenders of public virtue in this instance and ignore problems with their own staff like the treatment of injured workers.
It also does the SMH no credit to use
this picture (left) of one of the "banned"
books to illustrate the article when the
actual cover for Anais Nin's Delta of Venus,
formerly on sale in Australia Post,
is this one (right).
Way to provoke a response SMH. Not that there is anything wrong with the original cover by the way. The whole range of Popular Penguins use the plain orange cover. It is part of their $9.95 paperback promotion. They blurb it as Popular Penguins At A Perfect Price. Which makes it doubley stupid of Australia Post to remove the books based on title or theme alone. The covers are certainly inoffensive. What is next Australia Post? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? It does use the "N" word after all. Lady Chatterley's Lover? Sexy times. Junky? Tsk tsk drugs. Dracula? Ooh scarey. The Mind of God? How dare a scientist talk about the search for meaning in the universe.
We're not talking fringe or avant-garde or below the counter porn books. We're talking Penguin fracking Classics. You know, literature. Maybe these wowser whingers should go out a read a book some time. No, not just that one.
By the way I've read Lolita and it is a great book. True, a distasteful topic but it is handled supremely well and in no way does it glorify the protagonist or his crimes. So there.
If that is the case it is pretty weak of Australia Post to cave to the defenders of public virtue in this instance and ignore problems with their own staff like the treatment of injured workers.
It also does the SMH no credit to usethis picture (left) of one of the "banned"
books to illustrate the article when the
actual cover for Anais Nin's Delta of Venus,
formerly on sale in Australia Post,
is this one (right).
Way to provoke a response SMH. Not that there is anything wrong with the original cover by the way. The whole range of Popular Penguins use the plain orange cover. It is part of their $9.95 paperback promotion. They blurb it as Popular Penguins At A Perfect Price. Which makes it doubley stupid of Australia Post to remove the books based on title or theme alone. The covers are certainly inoffensive. What is next Australia Post? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? It does use the "N" word after all. Lady Chatterley's Lover? Sexy times. Junky? Tsk tsk drugs. Dracula? Ooh scarey. The Mind of God? How dare a scientist talk about the search for meaning in the universe.
We're not talking fringe or avant-garde or below the counter porn books. We're talking Penguin fracking Classics. You know, literature. Maybe these wowser whingers should go out a read a book some time. No, not just that one.
By the way I've read Lolita and it is a great book. True, a distasteful topic but it is handled supremely well and in no way does it glorify the protagonist or his crimes. So there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)