Pigeonholed Queeries

Firefox 3 Download Day

2008-06-18T15:38:00.001+10:00

Join in, it's Firefox 3 Download Day!

Help Mozilla Set a Guinness World Record by downloading the new Firefox 3 today!

Help set the record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours - get Firefox 3 now – it’s easy.

Quickly, go download Firefox 3 by 11:16 a.m. PDT (18:16 UTC) on June 18, 2008. That's 11:16 a.m. in Mountain View, 2:16 p.m. in Toronto, 3:16 p.m. in Rio de Janeiro, 8:16 p.m. in Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Rome and Warsaw, 10:16 p.m. in Moscow, and June 19, 2008 at 2:16 a.m. in Beijing and 3:16 a.m. in Tokyo.*

I love this idea, because as a website developer I'm so sick and tired of Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) which requires so much tweaking when developing websites, lets get everyone we know to upgrade their Firefox or install Firefox for the first time so we can squash MSIE, Firefox is the king of this jungle, it's time everybody knew it.

The new Firefox version 3 is so fast, it's lighter on the computer and it could out race Microsoft Internet Explorer any day!

Go on, you know you want it.

Download Day **

*,** If you miss the Download Day, go download it today anyway, your sure to love it!

Exit Policy For Big Brother Australia 2008

2008-06-17T22:02:00.000+10:00

Dear Big Brother/Network TEN,

If you want to win the number 1 position for the night, maybe the week or even the year, you should highly advertise for 7 days telling people to watch the next Sunday show as Big Brother ends the season early, watch to see the final ever episode of Big Brother Australia, a show which can't be missed, watch the reactions of the housemates as Big Brother admits it's been a failure and pulls the plug. See the housemates question if they have been the most boring set ever cast.

That would be Must See TV!!

An Australian TV history making moment!?

I think most people would love to see it officially fail.

It would be more dignified exit over the long-term train wreck we see now. Which is pushing other more valuable shows around causing people to miss them in an effort to avoid the mess that is BB08.

Think about it mate, it's for the best!

Sunday, 24 February 2008

2008-02-24T22:06:00.000+11:00

Sunday, 24 February 2008

$10 chip puts Australia on the fast track - The Age [22 Feb 2008]
Google to store patients' health records - The Age [22 Feb 2008]

Virgin Atlantic to fly jumbo jet powered by biofuel - The Age [24 Feb 2008]

Al Gore Supports 100% Equal Rights for Gays (Gay Marriage included)

2008-01-24T17:16:00.000+11:00

Tell me, why isn't Al Gore running for President?

Surely he would win almost EVERYONE's vote?

Corey Worthington Delaney's 15-minutes-of-fame

2008-01-16T10:03:00.000+11:00

Corey Worthington Delaney, famous for what reason?

Short of Corey; changing his name to Corey Hilton, dating Paris Hilton, or getting emancipated from his parents so he never has to face them for his actions in the next 48hrs, surely all this hype and incredible public interest in Corey will subside?

Earlier today during an interview on live radio, for which the station paid the teenager $750, party boy Corey fled the studios of Fox FM radio station.

He bolted out of the studio and fled fashionably down a fire escape after radio host Matt Tilley tried to remove his now ill-famed plastic yellow sunglasses, which he had kept on throughout the interview.

He was apparently chased by several news camera operators and an anxious radio producer but disappeared.

Corey later returned to the studio and completed the on-air interview.

Before making his escape, Corey was asked if he had anything to say to his parents who might be listening.

"Sorry," he said.

Asked if he was planning to return to home, he said: "To get my clothes and stuff".

Asked if he ever wanted to go home again, he said: "I do sort of, but don't know right now".

It's been interesting watching the media trying to get in on this story, the Nine Network's "A Current Affair" sumertime host Leila McKinnon, expecting apologies in addition to asking him to take off his glasses, as if she were his parent.. and today, Fox FM's Matt Tilley attempting to phiscally remove the now ill-famed plastic yellow sunglasses?

Corey also said today that he had been approached by DJ Lako to run an underage club in Melbourne. Matt Tilley made an interesting point in reply, saying, along the lines of it sounding a lot like something an evicted Big Brother housemate would say shortly before they had to return to work in a supermarket.

Listeners who called the studio to speak with Corey were overwhelmingly hostile, with one woman telling him he had no respect for anyone else and a man calling him a "knob" and warning him to "watch out". Perhaps some of the people who left comments on my earlier posts on Corey?

Update:
Police have taken Melbourne's party boy and global media star Corey Worthington into custody.

A reporter was told by a police spokeswoman that the 16-year-old had been taken to the Narre Warren police station in relation to the wild party at his parents house on Saturday night.

Related:
PQ: 16-year-old Corey Delaney's 500 strong MySpace guestlist could cost his parents $20k (14/15 January 2008)
PQ: Party boy Corey Delaney missing, after achieving global notoriety? (15 January 2008)
Party boy Corey flees radio interview - The Age (16 January 2008)
Fun stops as cops arrest party boy - The Age (16 January 2008)

Party boy Corey Delaney missing, after achieving global notoriety?

2008-01-15T20:02:00.000+11:00

The 16-year-old's parents have arrived home — but there is apparently no sign of their son at their Narre Warren property.

Corey Delaney, the unconcerned teenager who threw an out-of-control party at the weekend is already working on his next one, and could even be paid for it. The party boy, has been offered the chance of making up to $20,000 as a promoter after his wild and boozy party grabbed the attention of global media.

Party promoter Tim Sabre, of Raw Entertainment, wanted in on the attention, and has supposedly offered 16-year-old Corey a job with his events company as a party promoter.

So far, Corey has refused to return home to face the music, and the wrath of his parents, which I can't even fathom what level of anger they must be feeling towards their son at this point in time.

Mr Delaney, Corey's "Horrified" stepfather, told reporters that his son pulled out of the family trip at the last minute, saying he had to work.

Ms Delaney said: "I can't believe that Corey would do this to us to start with. Honestly, he must have planned the party."

The teenager said yesterday in an interview with Channel 9's "A Current Affair" program, that he had ignored his parents' phone calls and would not be at home when they returned.

Corey, is believed to be already planning another big party to be held somewhere in Narre Warren in two weeks' time. I imagine, along with reporters, the police will be on stand-by, but to be honest, I'd not be surprised if they maybe issued a warrant for his arrest, so his parents can bring him back to earth from the massive adrenaline rush this 16-year-old teenager must be Cruising on at the moment.

Reports say, two uniform police arrived at the family's Narre Warren home earlier today at 2.15pm and making no comment as they left about 30 minutes later.

A TV crew, thought to be from Channel Seven, were allowed into the the house earlier this afternoon. Which likely means Channel 7's "Today Tonight" is trying to copy Channel 9's "A Current Affair" lead, as they both tend to do.

Update: Today Tonight website features the video? http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/latest

Talking on "Today Tonight" the teenagers stepfather says all the typical paid interview lines, such as feeling like his house had been "violated", and "You can't chain them down, can you!?".

Meanwhile, The party and it's aftermath — has been the subject of reports by media outlets around the world, including the BBC, The Guardian, and CNN.

A Wikipedia entry has already been created, and considered for deletion.

Fans have set up Facebook groups praising his actions, with hundreds of hero worshippers joining to congratulate the teen.

Media appearances by the teen can be found on YouTube, and music and youth forum sites are apparently buzzing with the news.

Related:
Parents' anger at Corey over $20,000 house party bill - Herald Sun (13 January 2008)
MySpace party boy Corey offered $20,000 promotions gig - Herald Sun (13 January 2008)
Party boy achieves global notoriety - The Age (13 January 2008)

16-year-old Corey Delaney's 500 strong MySpace guestlist could cost his parents $20k

2008-01-15T00:03:00.000+11:00

Corey Delaney, is a kid who has been all over the news here for having a party that spiralled out of control while his parents were away holidaying, he says he was expecting around 200 people to attend his party, however Police estimated the crowd at 500, when they had to retreat until back-up arrived, including the air wing and the dog squad and more than 30 officers were needed to control the unruly crowd.

In a dramatic development yesterday, Victorian police chief Christine Nixon ordered a report on the cost to police, which she believed was up to $20,000. Ms Nixon furious and disgusted by the incident may bill the youths parents for damages done to Police cars while they were dealing with the rampaging youths and wild party goers who pelted police with bottles, trampled gardens and terrorised neighbours..

I'd agree that this kid has been a bit of a fool, but he is just a kid, and while I wouldn't condone his actions;

I'd hazard a guess he's among thousands of kids worldwide who have a) held a party while their parents were away. and b) announced his party to all his friends on social networking sites such as MySpace without contemplating that he maybe doesn't know all those "friends".

Regardless of the story; I feel the Nine Network's "A Current Affair" program should never have been able to interview this kid on national television when his parents aren't even around!? He is after all, only 16-years-old, I wonder if they had appropriate consent to interview this minor!!?

I also think it's absolutely ridiculous for "A Current Affair" to be acting as the voice of reason and maturity, after all their own shenanigans throughout the years.. Demanding apologies in addition to asking him to take off his glasses, as if they are his parents.. What a joke!

aca (A Current Affair) is simply a POP show, it's about what's popular, what stirs up reactions.. There is no journalistic value or merits in most of their content.

On a personal note; I once liked news presenter Leila McKinnon, but after I discovered her husband is David Gyngell, the (recently returned) CEO of the Nine Network, I started disliking her. And after seeing her pathetic hosting of the above interview on YouTube, I'm not a fan at all.

It is my opinion that anyone who sits in the hosting chair of either the Nine Network's "A Current Affair" or channel 7's "Today Tonight", so called "current affairs" programs, loses all respect, as they are signing away their integrity as serious journalists.

Related:
Teen-party parents may face $20,000 bill after 500 rampage - Herald Sun (14 January 2008)

Y2K v8 beta

2008-01-07T18:21:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year!

It's now 2008, I'm not sure what I'll be doing as far as blogging is concerned, I've got some other stuff I need to finish before I can workout that out.

I'd like to do something bigger than this silly blog, but I'm not sure yet... We'll see...

I'll probably let everyone know here if I take things in a different direction.

~ Watch This Space ~

Technoratiqly I hadn't been there in 3 years?

2007-12-11T13:25:00.000+11:00

I was looking at Technorati, I don't think I had updated anything in 3 years.. lol... Technorati Profile

PS. Blogger's stupid Word Verification expires far too quickly!! It's no wonder the front page of Blogger is just SPAM posts with nothing more than a stupid link, that about all the time you have to post before the verification word expires..

Dave Winer's Twitter Club 140 is a major privacy breach!

2007-12-08T12:29:00.000+11:00

As you may or may not know, Dave Winer of Scripting News (scripting.com) recently created Club 140 (club140.org) a "fun" project to keep track of people he follows who have posted "perfect" Twitter messages, ones that are exactly 140 characters long.

Dave Winer (davewiner on twitter.com) has not yet responded to my announcement of major data privacy breaches for "protected" twitter accounts on his club140.org project.

On Twitter, the people whom you follow who have "protected" twitter accounts have a small red padlock displayed at the end of their posts in your logged in homepage on twitter, the title text
of this image is "(Users Name)’s updates are protected! Please don’t share."

Dave Winer's Club 140 project displays the information of these "protected" accounts, thus making them public and archived.

The project also has a flaw when someone writes a message on twitter which is sent to @davewiner or if they happen to simply follow @davewiner and just write a general message on twitter which is exactly 140 characters long, it gets archived on the Club 140 project. You don't opt-in to this Club 140, if you follow @davewiner on twitter, he's Club 140 project could already be archiving your messages if your meet the requirements mentioned above.

If you realize for whatever reason, that you maybe decide your words will be misinterpreted, or you change your mind
about something you wrote, it remains archived to the project even after you delete it on twitter. I think his Club 140 project archives every 10 minutes (25, 35, 45,
55...) so if your message is posted on twitter just before it gets archived to the project, then you delete it from twitter just after it got archived it remains public on the project.

This breach is a major privacy issue, imagine you said something controversial, or private which was unknowingly publicly republished on the project and then later seen on the project
website by a current or potential employer, perhaps by them googling your name or your known username!? You could lose your job or miss-out on a potential job!

While I think his Club 140 project is somewhat interesting, even though I advocate for more character space on twitter, I think there is also some concern that
people aren't opting in to this project, they are being forced.

This is a major concern for privacy!

I have nothing against Dave Winer, I read this blog and follow him on twitter as I enjoy his feedback on internet-related issues, but I just feel his Club 140 project really needs a looking into. I feel in it's current state it needs a re-think, as it's a major breach of peoples privacy.

Interestingly so far only one person on Club 140 has publicly agreed with my findings.

Dave Winer has not yet responded to my concerns and my "protected" messages are still being archived to Club 140 without my permission! I have not been my normal twitter self as a result as I don't wish to find my twitter content has been rebroadcast on Club 140.

What do you think? You feedback is welcome, please comment!

Ding Dong John Howard is gone..

2007-12-08T12:22:00.000+11:00

Yes, John Howard's Governement was voted out by the Australian people, and he even lost his own seat of Bennelong.

Labor star recruit Maxine McKew officially claimed the Sydney seat of Bennelong, making history as the person who knocked off prime minister John Howard in his own electorate.

It already feels like it's the new year for me!

PM continues to misrepresent the truth. He must go

2007-11-22T17:05:00.000+11:00

There was a great article written by former Prime Minster of Australia Bob Hawke called "The PM continues to misrepresent the truth. He must go", published on November 21, 2007 by The Age newspaper.

Bob Hawke deciphers the arguments made by current Prime Minister John Howard on why we should not vote Labor, Hawke explains that each one based on a gross misrepresentation of the truth.

"I will now demolish those arguments, not with opinions but with facts." - Hawke

The PM continues to misrepresent the truth. He must go
Bob Hawke
November 21, 2007

JOHN Howard has advanced three arguments why you should not vote Labor, each one based on a gross misrepresentation of the truth. I will now demolish those arguments, not with opinions but with facts.

First, the trade union bogy. Every working Australian, and those dependent on them, is indebted to the trade union movement. Everything they take for granted that largely makes up their standard and quality of living — their pay structure, paid annual leave, long-service leave, sick leave, penalty rates, equal pay — was fought for and won by the trade union movement.

I can speak with authority on this because for many years I presented before the national Arbitration Tribunal the union case for improvements in wages and conditions. On every occasion when I walked into the court I was confronted with an array of bewigged senior counsel representing the Coalition governments in the states and Canberra, lined up with the employer organisations, to oppose the improvements that trade unions were fighting to obtain for working Australians.

So whose advertisements on industrial relations and WorkChoices are you going to believe? The employer organisations and the Coalition that have consistently used the independent tribunals to deny you any improvements, and who have now neutered those tribunals and the protections they provide for the most needy — or Labor and the trade unions who have argued the cases from which working Australians continue to be the beneficiaries?

As to TV advertisements and the trade unions: what an insult to voters' intelligence is Howard's "union thug" scam. The fact is that in an organisation as vast as the Australian trade union movement there will be some bad apples. (You may remember that when I was prime minister I finished off Norm Gallagher, a union bad apple of his day; Kevin Rudd has shown his readiness to be just as tough.)

But ask the question: what would Howard say if Rudd, in the context of attacking employers' support for WorkChoices, authorised a TV advertisement with a photograph of a businessman, jailed for criminal behaviour for defrauding thousands of senior citizens of their life savings, with the caption "Employer Crooks"?

I conclude my observations on this first Howard misrepresentation, by saying that no institution in this country's history has done more to flesh out and give real meaning to the concept of the "fair go" than the trade union movement.

Second is Howard's economic management myth, that only he and not Labor can be trusted with the economic management of Australia. Again, let me use facts to destroy this grotesque misrepresentation. Who, as treasurer, had responsibility for economic management for more than five years before I was elected on March 5, 1983? John Winston Howard. I knew that he was handing me the worst legacy in terms of unemployment and inflation in Australia's history; both were at 11%. But I didn't know exactly how bad the projected budget deficit was, because he had refused to come clean on this during the campaign.

On Sunday, March 5, I called in the secretary of the Treasury, John Stone, who told me that the projected figure for 1983-4 was $9.6 billion, the largest in our history; equivalent today as a percentage of GDP to more than $40 billion. Stone pointed out that "the budget balance is projected to deteriorate from near zero to more than 6% of GDP in a two-year period. The speed and magnitude of that deterioration is almost without precedent among the major OECD countries in the postwar period". Stone was no Labor stooge — he went on to become a Nationals senator — and his written judgement was that Howard's performance was virtually the worst anywhere in the developed world since 1945.

My government had to rescue an economy wrecked by Howard. We made the tough economic management decisions he had shirked — we reduced tariffs, floated the dollar, introduced competition into the financial and banking sectors and massively stimulated funding in industrial research and development. Central to all this was a great act of institutional self-sacrifice: the trade unions, in return for improvements in health, education and welfare, agreed to forgo increases in wages, and thus increase the competitiveness of Australian industry.

It is the judgement of economists here and in the relevant international institutions that it was the economic management and structural reforms of Labor and the restraint of the trade unions that laid the foundations for the strength of the Australian economy today.

Prime Minister Howard has squandered it again. With the strong economy we handed over and the enormous surge in demand for our resources from Asia, his Government has had unprecedented surpluses to invest in our future, particularly in education and training. But he has utterly failed to do so and thus our future is hamstrung by shortages of skilled tradesmen and professionals.

Third, and in some ways the greatest Howard myth, is his claim about foreign relations and security. Again, look at the facts: joining with his pal, George Bush, in Iraq (described by Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, former commander of the US-led forces there, as "a catastrophic failure"). It is the unanimous view of the Australian, US and UK intelligence agencies that the war in Iraq has increased the threat of a terrorist attack in our country. Thank you, Prime Minister.

When the facts are examined against the panicked rhetoric of Howard, I suggest there is only one conclusion to which you can come: it is time for him and his Government, with all their misrepresentations of the truth, to be gone.

Bob Hawke was prime minister from 1983-1991.

Source: The Age

Poll the readers, they like it

2007-11-22T16:52:00.000+11:00

I was looking the The Age newspaper's polls page after voting on something and it was interesting seeing the questions asked and the responses:

This newspaper is more progressive and adult, smart, so the results are not uncommon:-

Minor parties: Would you vote for a minor party ahead of the Coalition and Labor?
Yes - 41%
No - 59%

~Incomplete, Sill Running - Poll date: 22/11/07

WorkChoices : Will the Government's industrial relations laws affect your vote?
Yes - 81%
No - 19%
Total Votes: 3234 Poll date: 20/11/07

Political advertising : Should parties be able to spend taxpayer funds on political advertising?
Yes - 7%
No - 93%
Total Votes: 3001 Poll date: 19/11/07

Climate for change? : Would a change of government help to combat climate change?
Yes - 84%
No - 16%
Total Votes: 2101 Poll date: 18/11/07

Swinging voter? : A week out from election day, have you decided who you will vote for?
Yes - 97%
No - 3%
Total Votes: 6232 Poll date: 15/11/07

Labor campaign launch : Do you believe Labor can manage the economy effectively?
Yes - 87%
No - 13%
Total Votes: 3055 Poll date: 14/11/07

Coalition education policy : Should parents receive a tax-deductible rebate for private school fees?
Yes - 17%
No - 83%
Total Votes: 2398 Poll date: 13/11/07

Coalition campaign launch : Will the Coalition's campaign launch help its election chances?
Yes - 17%
No - 83%
Total Votes: 2474 Poll date: 12/11/07

Labor the hot tip? : Do you agree with bookmakers' predictions that Labor will win the federal election?
Yes - 80%
No - 20%
Total Votes: 2491 Poll date: 11/11/07

View "The Age" online poll results: http://www.theage.com.au/polls/results.html

Federal Election advertising blackout started at midnight

2007-11-22T16:45:00.000+11:00

Thankfully we have some peace now that the Federal Election advertising on television and radio ended at midnight ahead of Saturday's federal election.

The media blackout is enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Advertising buyer Harold Mitchell said the combined cost of campaign ads was an estimated $60 million.

"I think this has been probably the biggest advertising splurge on election advertising by the parties and others that are not the two major parties," he said on ABC radio today.

"I think the number's going to come out at something like $60 million and that would be well ahead of the last election."

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22796626-5012863,00.html

I must mention I saw a Family First Party campaign advertisement shown at 12:03am on Network 10 in Melbourne during David Letterman, which I asume would be breaching advertising blackout?

LIBERAL Party attempt to discredit 13 Labor candidates comes unstuck

2007-11-22T16:29:00.000+11:00

A Liberal Party smear campaign fails, they had claimed that 13 opposition Labor candidates were ineligible to stand for office at Saturday's Federal Election, however their smear campaign was sourced solely on unchecked information on outdated websites.

With only a few days until the election, with every day the Liberal Party seem to get more desperate and are willing to say and do anything just to be re-elected.

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Robb produced a list of ALP candidates on Tuesday, which he said appeared to have retained positions on government boards, agencies and offices while attempting to run for Parliament - which is prohibited under the Constitution.

He repeated his claims on Wednesday, saying that a hung Parliament would inevitably be followed by legal challenges to candidates.

But the Labor Party described the allegations as "baseless, desperate and ridiculous" and accused the Liberals of a frantic last-minute tactic.

Labor frontbencher Penny Wong said: "These claims are completely untrue and clearly the Liberal Party is desperate.

"They have nothing left to say to the Australian people."

'Simply not updated'

Senator Wong said the 13 had complied with regulations and resigned from government posts, but the agency websites had simply not been updated.

The Herald Sun last night confirmed the Liberal Party claims were based on scouring websites, and did not involve any checks or phone calls to the respective boards, authorities and agencies involved.

Under the Australian Constitution - Candidates who are on a government payroll must resign before they nominate.

- from the Herald Sun's Gerard McManus and AAP
source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22795174-5012863,00.html

Howard Government spent almost $200 million on advertising campaigns

2007-11-22T15:56:00.000+11:00

We all knew we would eventually find out how much of the tax payers money was being waisted on advertising by the Howard Government, a Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet report says that the Howard Government spent almost $200 million on advertising campaigns in the year to June 2007.

The annual report, was released on Monday, it showed how the Howard Government had spent $196.4 million on advertising campaigns across a range of issues including defence force recruitment, superannuation and the sale of Telstra shares.

What I find VERY scary is this report does not specify whether the Work Choices and climate change advertising campaigns were included. These were some of the loudest advertising campaigns, which we all saw hundreds of times leading up to the announcement of Federal Election date.

A further $84.9 million was spent on less controversial advertising for public service recruitment and tenders for government-funded projects.

The Ministerial Committee on Government Communications, which makes the key decisions relating to advertising campaigns before advising the Government Communications Unit (GCU), met 58 times during the year - more often than federal cabinet.

The report also revealed the GCU keeps a register of advertising firms willing to handle government advertising.

Almost 650 firms were on the register at 30 June 2007; 90 firms registered for the first time or updated their entry during the year," the report said.

Prior to the previous Federal Election the Howard Government also bombarded us with this type of advertising. Essentially using taxpayer funds to get a lead on political advertising by showing off services on offer from the government and fear campaigns regarding being ready for terrorism etc. The terror hotline fridge magnets were very effective... I know nobody who kept it, many people sent them back in disgust or trashed/recycled them upon arrival.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd responded to the report by giving a "100 per cent" guarantee that Labor would use taxpayer funds only for advertising campaigns deemed acceptable by the auditor-general.

He also accused the Howard Government of strangling the long-term interest of the nation for its own political advantage.

"This report ... reveals a staggering figure of some $281 million in government advertising," he said. "That figure excludes the amount on the meter (which) has been ticking over since 1 July this year.

"It's our belief that from 1 July this year until the issuing of the writs we've had close to a million dollars a day ... over 120 days, (that's) about $120 million of government advertising.

"That money ... could have been spent on close to a million dental consultations, 280,000 bed nights in hospital or 20,000 hip replacements."

It generally does feel like the Australian people have finally woken up to the Howard Government's pre-election stunts and now share anger towards the waisted use of taxpayer funds.

The advertising figure comes on top of a scathing audit report on the Government's administration of the $330 million regional partnerships program and criticism over the Coalition's $9.4 billion spending spree at its campaign launch.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22783451-5007133,00.html

Marriage of convenience

2007-11-20T14:00:00.000+11:00

Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello have put aside years of personal bitterness to portray each other as a happy couple in a TV interview.

Image parody & report found on Herald Sun website on 20th November 2007.

* See they shouldn't have blocked gay marriage/unions! lol

** Hopefully these are the final days we'll see this couple in power in Australia, so we can finally progress and bring this country back into the future and stop going backwards into the past.

We need a new government for the people of Australia, and not this Liberal/National (coal)ition which is a government only for the benefit of big business.

Rotten Apple iTunes

2007-10-18T12:23:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: Apple iTunes Australia have passed on the savings for iTunes Plus tracks, bringing them in line with the cost of standard tracks at $1.69, as a result I've purchased many of the iTunes Plus tracks I had waiting in my iTunes Shopping Cart in celebration. From what I have gathered, we in Australia are still paying the equivalent of USD $0.50 more than USA iTunes Store, I hope we'll see price reductions there too given our dollar is fairing well against the US, we deserve better! If Apple iTunes Australia took the further action to reduce the price for tracks to $0.99 AUD, I'd be far more likely to purchase their music!!!! - Luke xoxo

I'm a big fan of the convenience of using Apple's iTunes program to download and listen to Podcasts, and also use it to legally purchase music, but I've read today that users of the Apple iTunes Store in the US were yesterday given significant price cuts for songs without copy protection, but here in Australia we will continue to pay exorbitant prices due to Apple's dominant position here.

The word is that Apple cut the price of its iTunes Plus tracks (which lack digital rights management locks) in the US by almost 25 per cent to 99 US cents each, in line with what Amazon charges for songs on its new online music store, launched in the US late last month.

In Australia, iTunes Plus tracks cost us $2.19 each ($1.94 USD), significantly more than the $1.69 ($1.49 USD) price of its other DRM-protected tracks.

As a result, I'm very seriously considering, and highly likely to no longer purchase any more music from Apples iTunes Store in Australia; furthermore, holding off my plans to buy one of the new iPods before Christmas, until they reduce the prices in it's Australian iTunes music store.

Believe it or not, I actually don't and never have had an iPod, iMac, never bought an Apple hardware product, not that I'm not interested in having an iPod or Macbook pro...

I'm so over Microsoft, I believe Apple could have gained some advantage if it had not been wasting time making stupid iPhones, given Microsoft's new operating system offering Vista has been such a big flop and not many people are taking to buying/upgrading to it, if Apple had been doing what it did best, it could have gained huge by Microsoft's mistake and been far more popular with it's new Operating system. There is a HUGE interest in Apple Mac's but Apple is too busy playing telephone operator to notice.

If I could afford to buy an Apple computer (the macbook in particular) I would have bought one by now, take a look at the prices for MacBook's in Australia (below).

Example of Recommended Retail Price (RRP) in Australia :
MacBook Pro 17" 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 'Santa Rosa' (RRP $3,599 AUD)

MacBook Pro 15.4" 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 'Santa Rosa' (RRP $3,599 AUD)

MacBook Pro 15.4" 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 'Santa Rosa' (RRP $2,899 AUD)

Apple OS on a PC
Apple MacBook's have Intel Core 2 Duo processors now, so why can't PC's run the Apple Mac operating system?

I have said to many people on many occasions, that if Apple were able to allow their operating system to run on a PC, I'd buy it tomorrow, I'd pre-order the damn thing and be ready to wipe Windows off my computer!!

I'm fairly certain it's got much to do with having control on hardware parts so they can make money from having essentially a monopoly in Apple parts.

HOT advertisement concept for Mac inside PC
Imagine how HOT the advertisement for this new venture could be, that hot Mac guy (Justin Long) telling the PC guy he wants to be inside him.. sexy music playing (let's get it on), PC guy feeling uncomfortable, but willing to give it a go, they make beautiful fireworks and finally get along together. - my advertisement concept available for purchase on request at cost!

Can't we play fair, ever?
If Apple allowed custom built PC's to run Apple Mac software I can guarantee sales in other Apple software/products would gain even bigger leads with people wanting iPods and iPhones to sync with their Apple OS.. Using the savings they've gained from being able to install it on their PC, rather than paying a small fortune to buy the Apple Mac hardware too.

Think what would happen to Microsoft, it would probably loose millions buy the week, and eventually sell out to somebody or focus on other areas such as Gaming/Xbox/Windows Mobile OS etc.

Off and Running

2007-10-17T14:39:00.000+10:00

Interesting.. offandrunning.com.au

Discovered via an advertisement on The Age website

Australia the Federal Election has finally been announced for 24th NOV

2007-10-15T02:55:00.000+10:00

Message to all Australian's at home and overseas - The Federal Election has finally been announced for November 24th.

If you are not correctly enrolled to vote, you only have until 8pm on Wednesday 17th October to fill in and return your form to the Australian Electoral Commission.

Need a form?
http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/

The Howard Government passed a law closing the roll early this election.
According to their recent figures, one in three Australians between the ages of 18 to 25 are not
enrolled to vote. So even if you are enrolled correctly, chances are at least one of your friends is NOT and may not even know it.

Spread the word to your friends and family now!!

Many people move address and don't think to update their details with the AEC.

Others have been overseas, or simply haven't thought to enrol since they turned 18. It's possible to be missing from the roll and not even realise until you turn up on Election Day, only to be turned away.

Check your enrolment here: https://oevf.aec.gov.au/verifyenrolment.aspx

Spread the word
To everyone you know: it's now or another three years before you'll have the chance to have your say, and no amount of wishful thinking or complaining has the power of a ballot.

It only takes a minute (https://oevf.aec.gov.au/verifyenrolment.aspx), check your details and
enrol today, before it's too late. .

“If you’re already on the roll but still need to update your address details, to ensure your vote you must complete an enrolment form and return it to an AEC office by 8pm Tuesday 23 October,” -- Electoral Commissioner Ian Campbell

Enrolment forms can be downloaded from the AEC website at www.aec.gov.au and are available at any Australia Post outlet or AEC office and now also at any Medicare, Centrelink and ATO office and selected Rural Transaction Centres.

You can check your enrolment online at www.aec.gov.au or by phoning 13 23 26.

It's our future Australia, make sure your vote counts!!

Australian Liberals' deliver first almost official junk mail

2007-10-13T03:55:00.000+10:00

Today in the letterbox outside my place I found what seemed to be the first punch of the Australian Liberals' election campaign as they delivered their first almost official junk mail for the campaign.

The election still hasn't been called in Australia, however much speculation yet again today that Liberal Prime Minister John Howard would ask Governor-General Michael Jeffery as early as today or tomorrow to dissolve parliament for an election on either November 17 or 24.

Some have speculated that he may call it for December 1, giving the Liberal Party more time to attempt to crush the Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's growing lead in political news polls, however their is a growing sense among the Australian public that it is simply sick of waiting for this election to be officially called.

Finally calling this Election will be putting to an end months of intense "faux" campaigning, putting us all out of our misery and starting the real thing.

Governor-General Michael Jeffery was expected to have arrived back in Canberra last night after a two-week official visit to Belgium and Britain making him available to host a visit from the Prime Minister to call for the election to begin.

Constitutional monarchy -
The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General at Federal level and by the Governors at State level. Although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister. The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve powers outside the Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975. -Wikipedia "Australia"

As Australia is a members of the Commonwealth of Nations reigned by Queen Elizabeth II the Prime Minister must visit the Governor-General to receive permission to dissolve Parliament for an election.

Debate on the monarchy -
In the latest opinion polls, 45% of Australians favour a Republic, 36% favour a monarchy, and 19% are neutral.[1] There are considerable differences between states, with New South Wales and Victoria showing much stronger support for a republic than other states. -Wikipedia "Queen_of_Australia"

Prime Minister John Howard is going into the campaign with a huge margin to make up, his lost many of his fans as the Australian public finally start to wake up to his behaviour.

The Government is trailing in the polls by up to 15 points on a two-party basis. The latest Morgan poll, taken last weekend and released yesterday, has the ALP on 57.5 per cent to the Coalition's 42.5 per cent. -The Age

As the Liberal Party start their bid to win a fifth term, it seems to me that the number 5 will be the theme, the advertisement I received today with the soft lower-case heading "Liberals' strong economic team", which included a five point summary titled "Keeping our $1.1 trillion economy strong and secure" which states claims to:

Supporting families through tax cuts, investment in infrastructure and improved family benefits.
Over 2.1 million more Australians with jobs.
Average interest rates 5% lower than under Labor.
Average wages increased by more than 20% in real terms.
More investment in defence, health, education, roads and the environment.

The Liberal/National Coalition have always been quick to claim everything that looks good, and denounce involvement in anything which isn't a good reflection upon themselves, usually preferring to deflect problems and claim it's the soul fault of the States (The Australian public have time-and-again elected the State Labor parties to run the states Governments).

The Liberal Party have been boasting lower unemployment thanks to them, but they never give very deep facts, these days most people have no choice but to work in order to survive the very high costs of living, but many are forced to take what they can get, therefore many people are in part time or casual employment and are not necessarily happy in their employment, paid hours or not using their skills/qualifications.

I love how they put such important issues at the bottom such as health, education, roads and the environment, not surprisingly the Environment has to come last as John Howard, a longtime climate skeptic, continually refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, having been labelled as having been asleep on Climate Change for the past 11 years.

On the flip side of this aforementioned advertisement was the first almost official mail drop campaign attack on Labor with the hard hitting capitalized heading "LABOR'S TOO INEXPERIENCED.¶ THEY'RE STILL LEARNING"

Labelling the Labor Leader - Kevin Rudd and Federal Labor Shadow Treasurer - Wayne Swan with a drivers "L Plate", and sub-titling them with "STILL LEARNING".

Next a silhouette of 5 people sub-titling them with "TRADE UNION BOSSES", adding a speech bubble saying "We're coming back!"

Then Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment & Heritage, Arts - Peter Garrett whom they sub-titled as an "EXTREMIST".

Finally Deputy Leader, Employment & Industrial Relations, Social Inclusion - Julia Gillard whom they sub-titled as an "EX-TRADE UNION LAWYER"

Coinciding the Election is yet to be called, initially I hoped an investigation will follow this junk mail to ensure this wasn't paid for with the public's money like the many many advertisements they have been sending us, advertising on television, radio and online boasting like the Liberal Australian Government cares, with information packs to talk to your kids about Drugs (something they have advertised on-and-off for ages, we finally received the information package a few ago. They have sent out Global Warming packs, Terrorism packs, all sorts of junk, every Election year we get our letterboxes filled with this junk in the lead up to an election. But thankfully, it seems people are wising to this regular electoral occurrence.

Today John Howard called a Press Conference first making the 5th Anniversary of the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 202 people at Bali, including 88 Australians, followed by the introduction of a 33-page document titled "Australia: Strong, Prosperous and Secure", Mr Howard laid down five goals for policies:

To keep the nation strong, secure and united, engaged in the world and at ease with itself.
To build a new era of growth, prosperity and opportunity.
To embrace a sense of aspirational nationalism to guide various levels of government.
To ensure a rising tide of prosperity lifts all boats, with every child getting a solid start.
To get the balance right on the big challenges in climate change, energy and water security.

Yesterday John Howards also announced a plan for a landmark referendum to ask Australians to incorporate a statement of reconciliation into the constitution, of which he claims he had not had "much of a discussion" with his Government before announcing his plan to hold a referendum, which will ask whether the constitutional preamble should recognise indigenous Australians, he told journalists in Sydney yesterday.

John Howard has had bad blood with Aboriginal leaders and the indigenous community and general public over the topic of reconciliation due to his persistent refusal to say the word "Sorry" to the children of the Stolen Generation. The purpose of saying "Sorry" was to acknowledge the wrong that had been done to indigenous families and so that the healing process could begin.

It is somewhat "unfortunate" for him that he called for this referendum so close to an election, I imagine people will likely see through this act as yet another vote-buying scheme.

Closing: I may make amendments/additions to this blog post as it's 3:55am now, I must go to bed. I'm sure there will be plenty more to discuss in coming days and weeks as we draw closer to hearing an election date, and see the beginning of what most people expect to be the dirtiest Federal Election Campaign in Australian history!

Notes: I'm sure you know that I am NOT a Liberal voter! Don't however assume I'm simply a Labor voter, I vote for whomever (non-Liberal) has good policy and good local representatives, and I don't always vote in the manner in which local candidates recommend.

Warnings: I'd like to remind readers, this is a blog, it may include my opinion, you have a right to your opinion as do I. The best efforts were used to try to ensure all information was/is correct at time of publication!

Suffer from road rage? - win a bottle of wine

2007-04-20T14:52:00.000+10:00

Suffer from road rage? ~ win a bottle of wine

I just come across something very strange - an advert on News Limited's Herald Sun website advertising stuff on the News Limted Network showing a teaser for a CARSguide survey asking Do you suffer from road rage? The prize - win one of 3 bottles of Penfolds Grange red wine.

I'm sorry if you don't agree - but I feel alcohol should have no part in anything road/traffic/driving related!? Do you?

I certainly don't agree with it being a prize/reward for any sort of road survey!

Victoria's road toll year-to-date (at time of publication) stands at 100 (up 9%) from the same time last year.

If you Drink and Drive - You're a Bloody Idiot!

Bum Rush the Charts - word-of-mouth plan to show people power

2007-03-22T01:07:00.000+11:00

Today (March 22nd, 2007) Podcasters, bloggers and their readers are proving the power of their media by joining together Thursday to to strike fear into the hearts of the music industry and make an independent music artist #1 on iTunes charts.

Podcasting gets little respect from traditional media. To them we're little more than a joke, than amateurs. What they don't understand is that podcasting is more than just a delivery mechanism - it's a social movement. People are sick of the watered-down, cookie-cutter content that networks and record companies expect us to enjoy. People are tired of watching friends and loved ones get sued by record labels who only care about profits and nothing else, not even the artists they supposedly represent.

We want and deserve more. On March 22, 2007, we're going to change that with your help.

We can do better. We can match and exceed the reach of big media, corporate media, labels, and the entrenched interests. On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a demonstration of our reach to Main Street and our purchasing power to Wall Street. The track we've chosen is "Mine Again" by the band Black Lab. A band that was dropped from not just one, but two major record labels (Geffen and Sony/Epic) and in the process forced them to fight to get their own music back. We picked them because making them number one, even for just one day, will remind the RIAA record labels of what they turned their backs on - and who they ignore at their peril.

What's more, we're going to take it a step beyond that. We've signed up as an affiliate of the iTunes Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of "Mine Again" will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it's a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the most misunderstood and underestimated groups of people by big media. Black Lab has taken it up another notch - 50% of their earnings are going to be donated to the scholarship fund as well.

If you believe in the power of new media, on March 22nd, 2007, take 99 cents and 2 minutes of your time to join the revolution and make iTunes "Mine Again". If you're a content producer (blogger, podcaster, etc.), we're asking you to join up with us and help spread the word to your audience. Nothing would prove the power of new media more than showing corporate media that not only can we exceed their reach and match their purchasing power, but that we can also do it AND make a positive difference in the world. If we can succeed with this small example, then there's no telling what can do next.

Obviously, buy Mine Again on Thursday. In addition to that, we need to give a major social networking blast to BRTC stuff on Thursday.

Send out one final round of MySpace bulletins on Thursday. Ideally, delete any previous bulletins about BRTC and post a new one. If you have the time, delete and repost in the morning, afternoon, and evening, to ensure that the maximum number of friends see the bulletin (especially if you have a lot of friends).

Go to this Digg.com Bum Rush URL:

http://digg.com/videos/music/Bum_Rush_The_Charts_2

and click Digg It. If you don't have a Digg.com account, set one up.

On this day... How Depressing

2007-03-11T15:53:00.000+11:00

What a depressing find on Wikipedia this afternoon:

On this day... 1996

- John Howard took office as the 25th Prime Minister of Australia.

Hopefully he wont be in office this time next year.

I can't wait for the election later this year.

I want to see this country progressing again, John Howard has sent this country back in time towards the 1950's.

I can't help but personally associate the rise in people with depression to the halt of progressive Morality and Humanity by John Howard and George W. Bush, it's no wonder everyone is so depressed the world is being "run" by B1 and B2.

Google's Templates

2007-01-14T19:04:00.000+11:00

It's a shame Google's Blogger [un-beta] doesn't seem to have a lot of difference when it comes to it's available templates..

I don't have the time to bother to make one, I have previously done so, the current one I am using was modified by myself, however I've always come to find (in the past versions) something seems to happens when editing on blogger and I loose half my template content because it either never loaded the full template when I went in to edit it, or because it old saved half the template.

Maybe I'll bother to try again someday..

Website Development is my occupation and this blog is more personal, so I tend not to want to waste my spare time "Pimping" my Social Networking sites like blogger and MySpace. etc.

$250,000 pledge to JOY Melbourne 94.9fm

2006-11-24T09:56:00.000+11:00

Did you know, if the Victorian Labor Party is re-elected this Saturday 25th November 2006, they will honor their pledge to Australia's only Gay and Lesbian Community Radio Station.

JOY Melbourne is a Gay & Lesbian volunteer-based Community Radio Station,
Committed to providing a voice for the diverse Lesbian and Gay Communities, Enabling Freedom of Expression,
The breaking down of isolation and the celebration of our culture, achievements and pride.

Health Minister Bronwyn Pike announced on JOY on Sunday that “the Bracks Labor Government would deliver $250,000 to secure the future of JOY 94.9 if re-elected on Saturday”

The Announcement and Conversation took place on-air during the show "Allegro Non Troppo" on JOY Melbourne 94.9fm

A mediaRELEASE and Podcast of the announcement is available on the JOY Melbourne website now!

The money would go into JOY's Relocation Appeal

"We need to raise $500,000 through this appeal to do all the work required; to build new studios, equip them properly and relocate to bigger premises that will meet JOYs needs well into the future.

Right now we would like you to invest in the community by investing in the stations future. $500,000 is a significant sum and we only seek our support with some of this amount. If the station can realise $50,000-100,000 in this appeal we will be able to encourage financial support from philanthropic bodies and other organizations and we need your support to do this.

Every donation whether $25 or $500 counts. Your support will acknowledge the importance of securing the future of Australia’s only gay and lesbian radio station.

Please help us to relocate and reinvest in the stations facilities. After over 13 years of broadcasting it would be sad to lose a station that is such a vital part of our community."

Go to the JOY website and support the station that supports you!

In the interests of being fair I will mention that I am a JOY Volunteer, I'm the JOY webmaster

Glass starts to shatter at the ABC

2006-11-01T20:48:00.000+11:00

Wednesday, November 1, 2006. 8:43pm (AEDT)

It's the long feared beginning of the end for ABC!

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has axed its popular comedy show The Glass House.

Comedian Corinne Grant says she and co-hosts Wil Anderson and Dave Hughes have known about the decision for a number of weeks.
"Obviously we're devastated ... it's very upsetting, but it's not an overnight shock to us. We have known about it for a while now. But we don't understand the decision at all," Grant said.
She says when the ABC broke the news no "good" explanation was given.
Lesna Thomas from ABC TV Publicity today confirmed the show has not been renewed for 2007.
She says it has had five years on air and that the national broadcaster has decided to go in a new direction.
Grant says that is ridiculous.
"Only the ABC would cancel a show that is at the height of its ratings success and say it is time to move on. That would be like Pat Cash winning Wimbledon and going 'oh, it's time to move on'," she said.
"We just won an AFI award, we're nominated for another one, we just got nominated this year for the Most Popular Light Entertainment Program for the first time in the Logies - why would you cancel a show when it's at the height of its popularity?"
Grant says suggestions that the show may have been axed because of regular segments poking fun at Prime Minister John Howard or US President George W Bush are speculative.
"If that was the case, and certainly the ABC have not said that at all, but if that was the case that would be extremely concerning," she said.
"That would be a national broadcaster being dictated to by the incumbent government about its content. Which is the kind of thing you see in North Korea, not Australia."
Grant has also denied claims by Liberal NSW Senator Connie Fierravanti-Wells that she is guilty of a serious conflict of interest. The Senator says Grant is the face of the ACTU's workplace relations campaign.
"I am not fronting an ACTU campaign. That Senator is making that up. I am not the face of any ACTU campaign," said Grant.
Grant says a lack of funding may have been behind the ABC's decision.
"The ABC doesn't have a lot of money. Maybe it was the difference between our show and The 7:30 Report getting a new stapler."
The last episode of The Glass House will go to air on November 29.
Overnight Anderson, posting in his MySpace blog, urged fans to tune in.
"We are going to go out guns a'blazin, I promise."

After John Howard appointed KEITH Windschuttle, a leading protagonist in the history and culture wars, to the ABC board to further beef up its right-wing credentials, it was only a matter of time before Howard's goons started influencing the content shown on ABC.

Mr Windschuttle has been a fierce critic of the so-called "black armband" view of history and claimed in his 2002 The Fabrication of Aboriginal History that massacres of Tasmanian Aborigines had been exaggerated.

The eight-member board already includes right-wing columnist Janet Albrechtsen and conservative anthropologist Ron Brunton.

A businessman in the hotels industry, Peter Hurley, who is national senior vice-president of the Australian Hotels Association, has been appointed to the second board vacancy.

Content Sources:
ABC News - Glass House axed - 01 Nov 2006.
The Age - ABC gets a culture warrior - 16 Jun 2006.

$90m God Squad

2006-10-30T04:19:00.000+11:00

Government and non-government schools can get up to $20,000 a year to help them provide chaplaincy services under a three-year, $90 million program that Mr Howard announced yesterday.

I am absolutely appalled to hear that Prime Minister John Howard is investing $90 million into yet another school program to take us back to the 1950s era thinking, and I find it inappropriate for taxpayer funds to go towards the promotion of select religious activity in schools.

$90 million would be better spent on school counsellors, youth workers who could serve the whole school population without a preconceived agenda.

...unlikely to include guidance by Scientologists, Falun Gong practitioners or Jehovah's Witnesses, Mr Howard admitted. "We're not going to discriminate, but clearly we reserve the right to say no to somebody who is plainly unacceptable, whatever that person's background might be," he said.

It is not appropriate to pick and choose, there should be freedom for any group to represent, I just think it's not workable, to have freedom you can't discriminate therefore this plan should be scrapped immediately!

Lincoln Wright of the Sunday Herald Sun says in his article on the topic :

"...The program may help prevent another Werribee DVD-type incident in which a gang of teenagers molested a girl, filmed the incident and sold it on DVD."

I find it absurd to suggest that having a chaplain in the school would or even could have changed the outcome of "that incident"!

Content Sources:
The Age - Schools get chaplain funds.
Sunday Herald Sun - Schools will get $90m God squad by Lincoln Wright 29/10/2006 p. 13

Wake Up: PM unsurprised by small harvest forecast !!

2006-10-27T21:01:00.000+10:00

In what I see as proof positive John Howard avoidance of hard-line evidence warning of the dangers that exist in the onset of climate change, Prime Minister John Howard has said today that he is not surprised by a new official forecast released today showing Australia could have its smallest grains harvest in more than a decade.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) has today forecast that production of wheat, barley and canola is likely to be slashed by 63 per cent to just 13.6 million tonnes.

That would be the smallest grains harvest since the drought of 1994/95.

ABARE expects the drought to cut overall economic growth by 0.7 per cent.

The last week has seen just about every political party in Australia reacting more seriously to the reality of climate change. In Victoria is obvious and predictable, given we have a state election in November.

But Mr Howard, who is currently on the second day of his tour through drought-stricken areas of New South Wales, has the audacity to say the forecast is predictable.

"Fortunately we've got strong growth in other areas of our economy, but it will cut economic growth and we must understand that, and that's why we must help our farmers through their hour of need," he said.

ABARE says seasonal conditions have worsened since mid-September, with little or no worthwhile rain and warmer temperatures.

National Australia Bank spokesman Tim Keith says the dire situation could place long-term financial pressures on some farmers.

"You still need to pay interest on loans and those sorts of things," he said.

"It can start to eat into your equity, and obviously that sort of financial change is the concern for a lot of our clients out there."

I think John Howard has known all along this was unavoidably on the cards for Australian Farmers, but his steadfast refusal to deal with the onset of drought and inevitability of climate change is now going to cost many Farmers their independence and for some their house, home or farm due to further long-term financial pressures on farmers struggling to make ends meet.

Content Sources/Related Links:
PM unsurprised by small harvest forecast - ABC News - 27th October, 2006.
Drought won't cripple economy: Howard - The Australian - 27th October, 2006.

Climate For Change: The Next Great Depression?

2006-10-27T04:18:00.000+10:00

A report on the economic ruin facing many countries due to inaction on climate change, will warn next week that climate change could force the world into the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

The comprehensive British report written by former World Bank chief economist Sir Nicholas Stern and commissioned by the British Treasury, seeks to overturn conventional wisdom by insisting that fighting climate change will save, not cost, governments money.

Britain's chief scientist, Sir David King, told The Guardian the report indicated "that if we don't take global action … we will be faced with the kind of downturn that has not been seen since the Great Depression and the two world wars.

"If you look at sea level rises alone and the impact that will have on global economies where cities are becoming inundated by flooding … this will cause the displacement of hundreds of millions of people."

Sir David described the Stern report as the most detailed economic analysis yet conducted and said it would "surprise many people in terms of the relatively small cost of action".

However, he told a climate change conference in Birmingham that achieving global consensus would be very hard.

"In my view this is the biggest challenge our global political system has ever been faced with. We've never been faced with a decision where collective decision making is required by all major countries … around risks to their populations that are well outside the time period of any electoral process."
The United States and Australia have refused to join the Kyoto Protocol — the international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions — because US President George Bush and Prime Minister John Howard have argued that it would harm their countries' economies.The

The Stern report comes as the Howard Government is signalling a shift in its attitude to climate change. Environment Minister Ian Campbell told The Age yesterday governments needed to invest more in emission reduction technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

Content Source: Climate an economic time bomb - The Age - October 27, 2006

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have to applaud the decision to finally start dealing with the issue of Global Warming, a positive decision t build a huge $420 million solar power plant near Mildura - the second biggest in the world.

A joint project between the Victorian State Labour/Bracks Government and the Federal Liberal/Howard Governments.

The evidence for global warming is strengthening every week.

But the announcement needs to be just a start, as Australia has many options for clean energy and we could have been the world leaders in this environmentally friendly clean energy industry but we missed the boat, and now risk being left behind and shunned by other countries for not signing the Kyoto Protocol and doing more to slow the destruction of the ozone.

It is easy enough to be lost in despair over the global warming topic, but ignoring this issue wont help the future generations of this world and our own enjoyment of life on this planet!

We do have options, such as solar power, bioenergy, wind power, cogeneration, energy efficiency, hydroelectricity and natural gas.

These options have been around for years and are excellent at cutting greenhouse gas emissions today.

I longer we wait, the bigger the mess we have to deal with and the further the destruction.

Content Source included: Hazy dawn on a greenhouse fix (p. 22) - Herald Sun - October 26, 2006

Google's YouTube censorship erases 29,000+ clips

2006-10-24T00:12:00.000+10:00

The censorship begins, the ever popular YouTube.com website was sure to have the media after it soon enough, with the hundreds of thousands of copyright protected content that has been illegally uploaded onto it's servers. I never thought YouTube.com was worth the risk of buying into for that very reason and was fairly shocked when it was announced that Google had bought into it.

Today Australian IT/Reuters reports that Google's YouTube.com has removed 29,549 video files after receiving a demand from a group of Japanese media companies over copyright infringement. From now on it's going to happen regularly I'm sure. The system is full of the stuff.

But concern is now developing regarding censorship of content. Yeast Radio Comedic Political Correspondent/Podcaster Richard Bluestein reports that his YouTube account was cancelled for posting non-pornographic material, calling his readers/listeners to boycott the website in protest of it's new censorship.*

Christiaan Huygens remarks in response that the Hypocrisy is rampant with YouTube.com filled with video-voyeurism. Suggesting that people type is key words like “up-skirt” “shoe” “secretary” “co-ed” “stocking” etc, etc and you will see video after video on YOU TUBE of people secretly video-taping unsuspecting women in parks and subways. That nonsense is a hell of a lot more offensive (and now illegal in many localities).

The Gay Expat remarks in response that the website also contains a lot of the “bumfight” clips of young white suburban men paying the homeless to mutilate themselves and/or fight each other.

* I have not seen the content that was within Richard's YouTube account so I can only go by his word, which I trust (mostly).

YouTube erases 29,000 clips - GOOGLE's YouTube.com removed 29,549 video files from its popular website after receiving a demand from a group of Japanese media companies over copyright infringement, an industry group said.The

television, music and movie clips had been posted without the permission of copyright holders, the Tokyo-based Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers said in a statement.The

group, which represents 23 media companies including TV networks and movie distributors, said it would ask YouTube to set up screening and other measures to block postings of unauthorised files. It also called on internet users not to post video clips in violation of copyright laws.

YouTube, which serves more than 100 million videos a day on its free website, has drawn complaints from some copyright owners, as the site says it can't track which videos are pirated.

YouTube officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Content Source: Reuters via Australian IT | YouTube erases 29,000 clips

pressure to fast-track reforms to remove legal discrimination against same-sex couples

2006-10-23T23:10:00.000+10:00

Pressure is mounting on Australian Prime Minister John Howard to fast-track reforms to remove legal discrimination against same-sex couples as the federal Government considers yet another ban on civil partnerships for gays and lesbians in the nation's capital.

The Government will be forced to decide shortly whether it will again ban looming legislation in the ACT to offer same-sex couples legal recognition that affords them the same rights as married and heterosexual de facto couples.

The ACT is also pushing ahead with plans to reintroduce legislation allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil partnerships.

ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell told The Australian the laws would not seek to replicate marriage, but would allow couples to enter into civil partnerships to be witnessed by an authorised officer.

"We are going out of our way to say this is not marriage -- it's about giving gay and lesbian couples functional equality under the law," Mr Corbell said.

"We anticipate we will have legislation presented to the ACT assembly late this year or early next year."

The story quoted above also speaks with High Court judge Michael Kirby whom revealed that he and his long-time partner Johan Van Vloten had considered and rejected marriage but believes it should be legally available to others same-sex couples.

He brings up a topic which I don't think gets enough attention, as with heterosexual partnerships, there are many homosexual couples whom don't believe in or wish not to marry their partner.

But there are also many people whom have painfully tried to live their relationships in a more "traditional" sense, wanting to cement their relationships by wedding their beloved. There are plenty of gay couples whom have been together for many many years, some far out-lasting many heterosexual couples legal marriages.

There are also many people like myself whom are currently single, but would very much appreciate the same rights as heterosexual couples. When I find someone special I'd like to have the option available to marry them once we have been together for a while!

It has long been my opinion that when same-sex people are given the same rights as heterosexual people, calmer will be restored, suicides numbers will reduce as poor young homosexual teenagers and adults will not feel there is no point to life, they can grow up and marry as all their friends and family have done for centuries before them.

Bisexuality in my opinion has different types of people, a lot of people hide behind a vale of being bisexual to soften the blow when they reveal their sexuality.

There will no longer be a need for some men and women to marry for the sake of having children or because they want to force themselves to try and get over their feelings of attraction for members of the same-sex.

Other countries whom have allowed same-sex marriage and civil unions have not imploded and in many way have thrived. Pick up any "homosexual" oriented magazine from the UK and see there are many advertisements for marriage/civil ceremonies now that civil unions have been allowed!

Same-
sex attracted people have suffered under the rule of the heterosexual majority for centuries, it's time for change. It's time!

Content Source: Justice Kirby backs same-sex marriages -
http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20629895-2702,00.html?from=public_rss

Commonwealth's position is only the Commonwealth's position!

2006-10-23T22:24:00.000+10:00

Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock claims the Commonwealth's position on same-sex relationships is widely supported.

"If you ask the community as a whole whether they saw same-sex relationships as the equivalent of marriage, I'm sure the answer would be 'no'," he said.

The Federal Government has rejected calls from Western Australia's Attorney-General to adopt laws that recognise same-sex and de facto relationships under family law.

WA is the only state in which same-sex couples can access the Family Court to divide up property, adopt each other's children and be appointed next of kin.

WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty has told a weekend conference in Perth it is time the Commonwealth follows WA's lead in giving gay and lesbian people the same rights as the rest of the community.

The Australian government is continually speaking on behalf of the people of Australia, but it's clear from their track record that what they are perceving to be the community stance is becoming more and more devided from reality.

"If you ask the community" is a term used so much, but they never actually "ask the community", asking the community seems to be defined simply at election time, if they were elected into government then they have a right to do whatever they want and say it's the stance of the community as a whole regardless of figures that get them into office..

The people of Australia have no voice under the rule of the Liberal/National coalition.

The people of Australia must use their voices louder to ensure they are heard, but what does it take to get through to this "rogue" Government?

Monday, October 23, 2006. 10:15pm (AEST)

ABC News Online: Ruddock rejects WA call to recognise same-sex couples
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1770746.htm

Terrifying Research into the Ritalin Generation

2006-10-23T01:22:00.000+10:00

Are parents and doctors the real terrorists? I suspect it may be so!

Research into the Ritalin Generation by Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute reveals drugs can wire the brain for addiction.

Ritalin, an over-prescribed drug taken by 50,000 Australian children- commonly used to treat (or deal with) children with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), has a similar chemical structure to cocaine and has prompted renewed calls for research into its long-term effects for more than 5 years.

Research revealed in Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun reveals that Giving children Ritalin could be breeding a generation of junkies. Children taking psychostimulant drugs, including Ritalin, may be more susceptible to amphetamine addiction late in life.

It has been reported that children as young as five have suffered heart attacks and strokes after taking Ritalin - an amphetamine-like prescription stimulant.

Content Source: Sunday Herald Sun, October 22, 2006. page 30

Pope attacks Gay Relationships as "weak and deviant"

2006-10-23T00:55:00.000+10:00

Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun Reports that Pope Benedict XVI has attacked gay marriages as "weak and deviant" in a major speech to Italian Roman Catholics that they should defend 'traditional marriage' and oppose any other forms of unions.

While he did not specifically mention gay marriage, The Pope said Catholics had to defend matrimony and "the introduction of laws on other forms of unions which would only destabilise it".

How is it possible to destabilise 'traditional marriage' when it is so clearly already beyond unstable, gay marriage/gay unions had nothing to do with this, heterosexual/straight couples managed to do this on their own with their drive-thru weddings in Las Vegas and celebrity worshiping of pop culture, these just some of the many things contributing to the destabilising of 'traditional marriage'. Get over it, your had your chance, now it's time to step aside and let us have the freedoms you have enjoyed or loafed for centuries.

Content Source: Sunday Herald Sun, October 22, 2006. page 30

Biggest hole ever!

2006-10-20T18:42:00.000+10:00

Well we've done it now!

We have the biggest hole ever!

Australia fits in our hole 4 times!!

THIS spring's Antarctic ozone hole has been declared the largest on record, an emphatic reminder that man-made atmospheric harm is set to continue for decades to come.

The hole peaked at 29.5 million square kilometres this year - 100,000 square kilometres larger that the previous largest hole recorded in 2000 - the World Meteorological Organisation said yesterday.

It was also the deepest recorded over eastern Antarctica, at one point leaving a layer of sky above Australia's Davis station with no ozone at all to guard against ultraviolet radiation.

The roughly oval-shaped hole, four times the size of Australia, swung over South America and Falkland Islands, and reached its greatest extent on September 24.

- Reported in Melbourne's Saturday AGE newspaper 21 September, 2006

Mad Mad Mad World

2006-10-07T17:33:00.000+10:00

I've been SO busy lately, but that aside I've had so much trouble reading the newspapers, I keep missing the news, it's so depressing, I wish we could progress and be done with USA President George Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard.... I feel like were all stuck spiraling into hell until sain people can take the rains and fix all that they have fucked up!

"Absolutely Fabulous" News: AbFab Divas to Reteam

2006-04-12T00:29:00.000+10:00

AbFab Divas Re-team For New Comedy

Patsy and Edina are gone, but there is some "Absolutely Fabulous" news!

Jennifer Saunders (Writer of AbFab series & player of Edina in AbFab) is re-teaming with Joanna Lumley for a new comedy to air on BBC America.

Also staring in the new show will be Jennifer's partner-in-comedy Dawn French who grew Jen from a Crystal.

The currently untitled series, created by Saunders, which is scheduled to run for seven episodes and has no premiere date yet.

It focuses on the members of a women's club in a small English town. A newly widowed woman (Sue Johnston, "Waking the Dead") joins the club, which purports to be dedicated to truth and fellowship, but finds its members also rather enjoy a bit of good gossip.

In addition to Johnston, Saunders, French and Lumley, the show will also feature Pauline McLynn ("Angela's Ashes," "Father Ted"), David Mitchell ("Peep Show") and Sally Phillips ("Smack the Pony," "Bridget Jones's Diary").

"Absolutely Fabulous" first ran on the BBC for three seasons from 1992-95 and made its way to this country a few years later. Two more seasons and several specials have followed in the past few years.

Sounds like a hit, we are sure to LOVE this show!!!!!! I can't wait!!!

For us Aussies, here's hoping ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) will sign on for the series!!!

Source: ParezHilton.com & Zap2it.com

Tags:

AbFab

Absolutely Fabulous

Jennifer Saunders

Joanna Lumley

Dawn French

Comedy

Solar-thermal power touted as energy solution. 31/03/2006. ABC News Online

2006-03-31T20:57:00.000+11:00

It's news that brings a big smile to my face...

Australian scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have developed a new form of electricity that could provide all of Australia's electricity needs in 2020.

Called solar-thermal energy, it has been developed by mixing solar energy, heat and natural gas.

The process uses two hundred mirrors to track the sun, and focus the sun's rays towards a tower. The tower at which heat can reach temperatures of more than 1000 degrees Celsius, producing 500 kilowatts of power.

This is then mixed with natural gas and water to produce a renewable energy.

Wes Stein from the CSIRO says the new development could provide for Australia's future energy needs.

"It would only require about 50 kilometres by 50 kilometres in the centre of Australia somewhere to provide all of Australia's electricity needs in 2020," he said.

"That's not very much of Australia."

Check out the article here at ABC News Online (Australia) |
Solar-thermal power touted as energy solution. 31/03/2006.

Tags:

news

science

research

global warming

australia

360-degree plug outlets

2006-03-23T11:57:00.001+11:00

360-degree plug outlets

I found this post on Cool Hunting: 360-degree plug outlets, thought it was a great concept.

These outlets have already made the rounds, but such an ingenious solution to a common annoyance deserves note here.

The story goes like this: Some bright chaps in Salt Lake City invented a solution to the low functionality of most electrical outlets by creating a socket that can rotate a full 360-degrees, allowing us to use our electrical devices from 18 different angles. Standard installation allows you to install or replace existing outlets quickly and easily (make sure you turn your power off first though).

These outlets will be available from 360 Electrical sometime soon (so they say). To be the first to know about their availability, sign up for their e-mail list.

Tags:

Electrical

Products

Devices

Queen Anthony Callea

2006-03-14T09:40:00.000+11:00

Australian Idol runner-up Anthony Callea brought a showbiz touch to the Queen's visit.

The pint-sized Melburnian was a star turn at yesterday's Commonwealth Day church service in Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral.

The Queen's Commonwealth Day message was a serious one, highlighting the scourges of HIV/AIDS and the deaths of women in childbirth.

Then there was Callea, belting out a performance of his hit single, The Prayer.

He might have made an impression too, because the Australian Idol star was one of only a few official guests privileged to chat to the Queen during a royal reception later at Admiralty House.

The Queen struck up a conversation with Callea as Prime Minister John Howard escorted her along a line of well-wishers.

Callea also plans to run in the Queen's Baton Relay in Melbourne on Wednesday ahead of the opening of the Commonwealth Games.

- AAP via. The Age

Tags:

Anthony Callea

Australian Idol

Idol

Queen

Music

Is it time we swapped OIL for ETHANOL?

2006-03-13T16:01:00.000+11:00

On SBS DATELINE in Australia on Wednesday, March 15 at 8.30pm Ginny Stein reports on how Brazil has succeeded where much of the industrialised world has failed. After three decades of work it has developed ethanol – made from sugar cane – as a cost effective alternative to petroleum.

Faced with a dramatically escalating fuel bill during the first oil crisis in the 1970s Brazil’s government bankrolled the ethanol industry’s evolution. Today a variety of car manufacturers sell the flex car – a vehicle type which can run on either ethanol or petrol or any combination of the two.

Last year over half the cars sold in Brazil were flex cars and over a million cars are now running on ethanol. All of the General Motors and Volkswagen cars sold in Brazil are flex cars. Brazil is also now creating the world’s first ethanol fuelled planes.

Flex cars now outsell standard petrol models, and the country’s leading manufacturer has declared it's the only model it will make from now on. Brazil is leading the ethanol charge but is urging other nations to come onboard - including Australia, where the struggling sugar industry sees ethanol as a potential saviour.

Certainly for Brazil it provides tens of thousands of jobs, energy independence, and enormous trade opportunities. Now it needs other nations to adopt ethanol so that it becomes a viable alternative fuel source around the world.

As countries around the world search for alternative fuels to power them into the future, more than a million Brazillian cars are running on fuel produced from sugar cane.

Is it possible that Brazil has come up with a solution to the world's energy problems?

According to a United Nations News report released on 14th April 2005, "Biofuels can cut poverty, provide energy and mitigate climate change".

Agriculture and forestry products such as sugarcane, maize and manure could become leading sources of energy, a key element in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability.

With around 2 billion people, mostly in rural areas of developing countries, still living without electricity or other modern energy services, increased use of so-called bioenergy can help diversify agricultural and forestry activities, improve food security, contribute to sustainable development and mitigate climate change by replacing fossil fuels that produce global warming greenhouse gases.

...Bioenergy is produced from biofuels – solid fuels, biogas, liquid fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel – which come from crops such as sugar cane and beet, maize and energy grass or from fuelwood, charcoal, agricultural wastes and by-products, forestry residues, livestock manure and others.

...In developed countries, there is growing interest on the part of governments and the private sector in expanding the use of biofuels, particularly in the transport sector. Scenarios developed for the United States and European Union indicate that short-term targets of up to a 13 per cent replacement of petroleum-based fuels with liquid bioethanol and biodiesel appears feasible on available cropland, FAO says.

For this century, the report anticipates a significant switch from a fossil fuel to a bioenergy-based economy which could benefit not only the rural poor but also the whole planet, since biofuels can help mitigate climate change.

Ethanol is having some success - Japan has agreed to increase the level of ethanol it includes in its petrol and so has the United States. There are over 5 million flex cars running in America, and Indonesia will start producing 150,000 flex cars this year.

The Australian Government has released the final report on the testing program on the impact of 20 per cent ethanol on the Australian vehicle fleet. The report's findings support the Australian Government's decision to cap ethanol at 10 per cent. The 10 per cent cap commenced on 1 July 2003.

Ethanol could be used as an additive/enhancer to petrol at the 10 per cent level in most modern vehicles but could also be used at higher percentages in specially-designed flexible fuel vehicles.

In America, The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FDAI) has indicated that manufacturers new car vehicle warranties would support an ethanol level in petrol of up to 10%.

However in Australia there are still no garantees using Fuel blended with 10% of ethanol won't void car warranty.

Sugar can be fermented to produce ethanol (ethyl alcohol, 'alcohol') which can be added to petrol. In petrol it increase the absorption capacity with consequent damage potential.

Benifits of Ethanol:
Kyoto Targets - Increased use of ethanol will help Australia to achieve a reduction in Greenhouse gases required by international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol.

Reduced Oil Imports - Some 70% of petrol in Australia is derived from imported oil. A thriving ethanol industry in Australia will replace imported oil and improve our Balance of Payments. A 10% blend in Australia’s petrol would improve Australia’s trade balance by more that $3 billion over 5 years.

Greenhouse Gas - Petrol and other transport fuels contribute significantly to Australia’s greenhouse gas production. Carbon dioxide is the greatest component of greenhouse gas produced from burning petrol in vehicles. Ethanol reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because it is a renewable fuel.

Ethanol production from plants represents a carbon cycle where plants absorb carbon dioxide during growth, recycling the carbon released during fuel combustion.

The latest reports based upon ethanol produced from corn in the USA concludes that a litre of ethanol produces some 19% less Greenhouse gas that a litre of petrol. This is based upon the entire farming and production cycle (ref. United States Department of Energy 1999.) Ethanol produced from by-products such as molasses will result in even higher savings of Greenhouse gases.

Car Warranty - The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FDAI) has indicated that manufacturers new car vehicle warranties would support an ethanol level in petrol of up to 10%.

In Canada and the USA where ethanol has been widely used for 20 years ethanol blended fuels are approved under the warranties of all major auto manufacturers. In fact some recommend ethanol blends (E10) for its environmental benefits.

Made in Australia - Ethanol is produced by sugar and grain grown in Australia. Approximately 70% of petrol used in Australia is imported. By using ethanol blended fuels you are supporting Australian farmers and Australian industry and helping the environment.

In Closing: - I think considering that two thirds of the worlds known oil resources are located in the Middle East. And the constant instability of that region, seemingly caused by the western world who wants their oil at any cost. It would make far greater sence that Australia and other Western countrys put all the resources they can into stimulating growth in these industrys and eventually call for an end to fuels that cause greater damage to the environment! For Australia I would recomend no or very minimal taxes on more enviromentally friendly fuels and make industry and consumers or fuels that are causing the damage to remain in some form, so as to usher people onto enviromentally friendly fuels and work faster towards stopping global warming and greenhouse gas emitions.

Resources/Sources:

DATELINE - SBS Television Australia
Episode "Brazil's Sweet Revolution" to air on Wednesday, March 15 at 8.30pm
Press Release - Brazil's Sweet Revolution - SWAPPING OIL FOR ETHANOL IN BRAZIL
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/

Media Release - Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Heritage - Senator the Hon. Ian Campbell - Ethanol fuel quality report released - 9 December 2004

Ethanol Facts - Australian Friends of Ethanol

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) - Australian politics - chemlink

Biofuels can cut poverty, provide energy and mitigate climate change - United Nations News Service

Related Links:

Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Heritage - Atmosphere - Ethanol

Why Gay Couples, should be allowed to Adopt

2006-01-16T18:45:00.000+11:00

The debate over civil rights, same-sex unions and gay marriage continues as per usual, It's likely adoption with follow in close pursuit...

Some people have some rather irrational and un-intelligent reasons against homosexual men/women's rights to adopt.

When you are born homosexual you are indeed somewhat cut out of the whole reproduction game. Supposedly many feel reproduction IS the very meaning of life. Some using that as reason against any form of gay rights.

But in doing so, millions of orphaned children remain parent-less and in poverty.

Consequence of a loving gay couple wanting to adopt a child, means they are actually more likely to be ready for that endeavour and of a sound matured mind.

Whereas Heterosexual couples can fall pregnant un-intentionally, many children around the world would have been born this way, through lapse of mind during a heated sexual moment proper protection isn't warn or taken, or protection is taken but doesn't prove effective to stop a pregnancy. Many people are against abortion so they have the unwanted/unexpected/unplanned child!

For a gay couple to have a child, they both have to be ready, it's currently scientifically impossible for one person or a couple of the same-sex to conceive a child without aide of someone of the opposite sex, or scientist/doctor's aide, and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say we'll never witness the events of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie "Junior" were a male is able to carry a child! Therefore it's simply impossible for us to accidentally have a child! No such thing as an unwanted/unexpected/unplanned child!

On paper, many gay couples will make better parents. They've often got more money, are often better educated and usually far less likely to commit a crime.

One male parent and one female parent guarantees nothing —any pair of imbeciles can have a child. But when you adopt, you face a thorough evaluation. Because all prospective gay parents will face this examination, the average gay parent will likely be far more adept and prepared than the average straight one.

Most importantly, if we can improve the life of any orphaned child, don'’t we have a moral obligation to do so? Even accepting ridiculous arguments that straight couples are ideal, wouldn'’t gay people and single parents offer a preferable future than the orphanage? Enabling them to adopt means thousands of children get parents and the prospect of a much better life. Who would deny them that?

adoption

- a legal proceeding that creates a parent-child relation between persons not related by blood; the adopted child is entitled to all privileges belonging to a natural child of the adoptive parents (including the right to inherit).

Gay adoption

refers to the adoption of children by a same-sex couple. Gay adoption is now legal in many Countries and States/Territory's around the world which include; Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and England and Wales. Iceland, Norway, Germany and Denmark allow "stepchild-adoption" so that the partner in a civil union can adopt the natural (or sometimes even adopted) child of his partner. In the Republic of Ireland and some other countries, individual persons, whether heterosexual/homosexual, cohabiting/single may apply for adoption.

Within the U.S., Florida is the only state that completely prohibits gay adoption. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Colorado and Utah all make same-sex adoption virtually impossible. Critics of anti-gay adoption policies also point out that in many of the states that have bans on gay adoption, gays are still able to act as foster parents.

In other countries same-sex adoption is currently being reviewed along with the right to marriage/same-sex unions etc.

One prominent figure in America's gay adoption debate is actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, who is an adoptive parent in a same-sex relationship. O'Donnell is remembered for her efforts in challenging Florida's gay adoption ban.

Related:

Adoption

Adoption by Gay Parents

Rosie O'Donnell's Blog

Australian Marriage Equality

Australian Coalition for Equality

Victoria Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby

Confusion as Sony Music launches gay label

2006-01-16T14:44:00.000+11:00

I'm struggling with internal confusion towards news that Sony Music is launching an all gay music label.

The recording industry is finally coming out of the closet. But should we be happy or sad?

Sony Music said it was launching the first major music label dedicated to nurturing lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered artists.

The label, Music with a Twist, is a joint venture with Wilderness Media & Entertainment, the company led by Matt Farber, who founded Viacom Inc's MTV Networks' new gay and lesbian channel LOGO

Farber noted that the success of brands dedicated to the African American and Hispanic audiences have also helped talent in these communities cross over well beyond their core audiences.

Likewise, Music With a Twist's roster will feature gay artists who have mass appeal and hit potential across all musical genres. The label will collaborate with Sony Music's other US labels and divisions, including Columbia Records Group, Epic Records, Sony Nashville and Sony Urban Music.

The label also plans to release various compilations geared toward gay and bisexual audiences, as well as music fans everywhere, featuring hit songs by established artists that have been embraced by gay, bisexual and trans-gendered audiences as well as tracks from emerging gay artists.

The first of these compilations will be released in June 2006 during National Gay Pride Month.

Though I'm very glad gay artists with be nurtured under this label rather than fired or un-distributed (especially happens to us poor gay guys in Australia! Not yet seen any Will Young albums down here, I got my uncle to buy it for me when he was in the UK). I feel somewhat that it's kind of discriminating towards us that they only way to get this stuff is for them to NOW create an all gay label...

SOURCE: AAP/News Limited

Government refuse gay aussies nuptial-bid overseas too!!

2006-01-14T02:32:00.000+11:00

Heterosexual people should realize the stress' of homosexual people living in and being associated to such a homophobic country!!

I was really quite shocked to read this article, but not all together unexpected from a government that clearly see gays to be a challenge they're willing to take on...

But they're really denying us our rights to freedom and choice by obstructing gay couples wanting to get married in countries that DO recognize same-sex nuptials.

They are going to get a very LOUD and CLEAR message from the Gay community that they are going too far...

The Attorney-General's Department last year told at least two of Australia's embassies in Europe to refuse help to citizens requiring proof of their single status for a same-sex marriage.

The Age learnt of the policy through the case of an Australian man whose bid to marry his gay partner in the Netherlands was blocked by authorities.

The Australian embassy in Vienna refused Peter Kakucska, originally from Melbourne, a certificate confirming his single status once it was clear he needed it to marry Markus Muehlmann, an Austrian.

Like many countries, the Netherlands requires proof that foreign nationals wishing to marry there are not already married. Australian embassies provide this proof.

Mr Kakucska has actually lived in Vienna with his partner Mr Muehlmann, since 1993. Last year they took advantage of European Union laws that entitled them to apply to marry in the Netherlands.

Mr Kakucska said embassy staff knew his sexual orientation. When he requested single-status proof, a consular official produced a form that sought details about the prospective marriage partners in columns headed "Male" and "Female".

"I filled in our details, crossing out 'Female' and put the form down," Mr Kakucska said.

The official, Wolfgang Dobias, said he could not accept the form before contacting the Australian embassy in The Hague.

"When I came back he said he didn't have good news for me," Mr Kakucska said. "He showed me from behind a glass screen the official communique he received from Canberra."

The embassy later provided Mr Kakucska with a stamped "certification" dated August 16 and signed by Mr Dobias, the senior consular officer.

It stated: "Following the advice of the Australian Attorney-General's Department we herewith certify that Australian law does not allow the issue of a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage to persons wishing to enter into a same-sex marriage."

Mr Kakucska received a similar document saying the embassy could not provide a Single Status Certificate.

Lucky for them, the Netherlands ultimately accepted the documents, and an affidavit from Mr Kakucska, as proof he was single. The couple were married in November.

He says he now plans to take legal action against the Australian Government.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said one purpose of the certificates was to certify a proposed marriage would be valid in Australia.

Most of the media conscious will recall that the Australian Government passed laws in 2004 that defined marriage to be exclusively as a union between a man and woman.

Australian National University senior law lecturer Wayne Morgan said:

"There is nothing in Australian law that would prevent a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (being issued) in such circumstances.

"This is an internationally accepted document that has nothing to do with the validity of the marriage back in the couple's own country."

Gay activist Rodney Croome, of the newly formed Australian Coalition for Equality, said:

"It's simply mean-spirited and bloody-minded for the Australian Government to block Peter's access (to documents) on no other basis than the gender of his marriage partner.

"The Government has already made clear its opposition to same-sex marriage in Australia. Why does it now have to export that prejudice to other countries and Australians living overseas? "

I've really come to feel so ashamed of this country since the Howard Government first came into ~~dictatorship~~ power!

My hope is the media (print, television & radio) report this case, and that we can gain the support of more heterosexuall Australians towards gay/civil rights.

We are one of the only Western Country's that is actually going backwards as far as civil rights, at a chilling pace since the Howard Government came into power on 11th March 1996.

SOURCE: The Age - Sat Jan 14th, 7:33 PM ET

Anti-gay laws hinder AIDS-prevention efforts

2006-01-11T03:00:00.000+11:00

Anti-gay laws hinder prison AIDS-prevention efforts in Namibia's prisons, South Africa's Mail & Guardian paper has reported.

AIDS activists cite blame on a 30-year old law banning male-to-male sex for preventing condom distribution and
HIV-prevention efforts in Namibia's prisons. Advocates for condom distribution have run into opposition from government officials who see their efforts as promoting homosexual activity.

Correctional facilities are a key front in halting the spread of HIV in the impoverished southern African country -- where statistics now show that nearly 20 percent of the nation is infected -- but attitudes about same-sex activity are hindering that effort, according to HIV prevention activists.

In the United States, HIV prevention advocates see strong similarities to their fight to distribute condoms in correctional facilities.

Julie Davids, executive director of CHAMP, a New York-based community HIV/AIDS mobilization project, said that, unlike in most correctional facilities abroad, programs like condom distribution are unavailable in the vast majority of U.S. jails and prisons.

"(Correctional facilities) in the U.S. say the same things they say in Namibia -- that condoms will condone sex and increase prisoner rape," she told the PlanetOut Network. "But if they really wanted to prevent prison rape, there are a lot of things they can do and aren't." Davids pointed to the Prison Rape Elimination Act passed by Congress last year, but rarely implemented due to lack of accountability across a wide variety of state, federal and municipal correctional systems.

The federal government estimates that about 30 percent of federal male prison inmates engage in sex acts -- consensual or not -- with other male inmates. However, most correctional facilities do not track incidents of sex.

Nor is the success in preventing HIV through condom distribution well documented. Only a few cities and states, such as Philadelphia, New York City, Vermont and Mississippi, allow condom distribution, but none have statistics on its effectiveness.

"This country needs to stop putting up obstacles to HIV prevention," Davids said. "Condom distribution is common sense and should be part of a continuity of care, both inside and outside of prison and part of a whole range of harm-reduction programs."

SOURCE: PlanetOut Network (via. Yahoo!) - Mon Jan 9, 7:33 PM ET

I'm ready to Blog!

2006-01-10T03:00:00.000+11:00

Hello viewers,

As you can see, I've not yet really got started on this blogging thing, but I promise it's about to change!!

I'm ready to Blog!

Stay tuned for a good steamy blog!

About Me

2006-01-01T00:00:00.000+11:00

Coming Soon

Where's the blogging?

2005-06-30T00:00:00.000+10:00

OK, so your wondering where's my blogging?

Well it's within me to start a blog, I'm just getting over the stage fright and trying to work out what my blog with be about.

I will hopefully have something for you to read very soon!

~ Luke

My Kinsey Number is 6.0

2005-06-29T23:59:00.000+10:00

My Kinsey Number is 6.0

Exclusively Homosexual

What's Your Kinsey Number?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

What kind of Hot Boy Kiss are you??

2005-05-22T23:58:00.000+10:00

You are a Summer Kiss! You love showin your boy
off... especially when you both can chill
outside with your shirts off...

What kind of Hot Boy Kiss are you??
brought to you by Quizilla.

2004-10-29T23:16:00.000+10:00

WelcomeThis is my first post to my blog, just a test really!