The $1 Justification

Many thanks to our Prime Minister for making out that the average Australian is a heartless tightwad.

She reasoned that her new flood levy was fine and should go through parliament because it would only cost the individual an estimated $1 per week.

A few thoughts:

• If it’s bad policy it doesn’t matter how much or little it will cost the tax payer, it’s just plain bad policy
• This government has found it has a handy knack of underestimating costs of projects so the reasoning of $1 a week should be taken with some scepticism.
• The general public has been very generous and digging deep to help our friends north of the border, much more generous than this government ever will be
• If it's so easy for the general public to give a dollar then surely it's at least just as easy for the govt to save the same amount or more.
  
• Also a big reason for an injection of funds in Queensland can be attributed to the lack of insurance on infrastructure. Every other state government has these provisions in place, but not Queensland.

Remove the cotton wool and have a look at the issues at hand.

Day At The Tennis

Some observations from a recent trip to Melbourne to watch some of the Australian Open tennis.

Quiet please – I am used to making noise whenever I like at football matches. I even like to commentate as the game goes on. It’s not allowed here. Even the rustling of lolly wrappers got me some dirty looks. I couldn’t move, I was even afraid to eat some chips in case the crunch would distract the players in their ball toss and get me thrown out.

Crowd involvement – it is limited due to the aforementioned quiet times. However at the end of an exciting point the cheer sounds marvellous. Possibly due the contrast with the quiet or the size and shape of the venue. Either way, when it comes it sounds great, it’s just doesn’t last as long as id like. Cheering comes and goes as the points are won and lost. Also, no sledging was allowed, not even clever retorts made famous by ‘Yabba’ at the SCG.

Toweling – it's summer so every player keeps a towel at the end of the court to access between points. Although it seems the presence of sweat isn’t mandatory to call for the towel. Funny to watch how each player asks the ball boy for the towel in different ways. Some just point, others motion the wiping of their already dry face.

Checking balls – there are six balls on the court at any one time. Per point usually only 2 balls are required. This doesn’t stop some players asking for 3, 4 or even 5 on occasions. Doesn’t matter if they’re new balls either. Makes me wonder what they are actually looking for in a furry air conveyance.

Change of ends – if you must go out for a toilet break or some food you better be quick, as they don’t let you in once time is called. You have to wait till the next change of ends. Probably due to the aforementioned quiet period prior to serving. Moving back to seats is considered too noisy.
Sponsors seats – as usual, even on centre court there were quite a few left vacant. Even with Rafa playing.

Thoughts & Prayers

It has become a throw away line when someone or a community is struggling through immense trial. It is especially the case when our politicians and media people are attempting to appear sympathetic. They say, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you”, but are they actually praying?

I got me thinking, that one doesn’t have to be Christian to pray. All religions seem to pray to something. As Christians we pray to one God who created everything while others pray to another god, multiple gods, dead relatives or a figure in history.

An atheist, however, should stick to the thinking that there is nothing out there. No higher being of any sort or kind. This means nothing to pray to.

So it was an interesting pick up when Julia Gillard said, “Our thoughts and prayers” when talking to the people affected by natural disasters over Queensland.

It’s an innocent enough gaff, nothing worth making a really big deal over. It just gets you thinking sometimes about prayer and its power to comfort people. Because there is something greater out there, but not according to our PM.

The Grim Reality

“Life At The Bottom”
by Theodore Dalrymple

Each chapter in this book is a separate essay written by the experienced public health psychologist, author and philosopher. Separate yet they follow along a theme as they all come from his observations of supposed “disturbed” people.

I can relate to his rantings as they are similar to mine. The endless stream of apparent victims who wont accept responsibility for their own actions. The chapter headings say it all: ‘the knife went in’, ‘tough love’, ‘choosing to fail’ and ‘we don’t want no education’, to name a few.

He tells it how it is and not how you would like to think it is. The irony in Dalrymple’s observations is that the systems in place to help those disadvantaged in society go a long way to disadvantage them further only in different ways. Think, for example, how endless welfare creates a cycle of dependence. Also how about how abused children are sent back to their irresponsible parents because the ideology is to have them with birth parents as a priority. Common sense, it appears, does not exist as much as it should in the area of public health, according to Dalrymple.

He does rant, and sounds cynical at times. But I don’t blame him at all. He works in the tough field of mental health yet still seems to be quite patient and understanding. I struggle for patience, talking with irrational people is very difficult.

Good on Dalrymple for his persistence in the field and for producing a sensational piece of common sense literature.

The Alpha Male Story

Funny little story of a patient I came across one day.

A cricketer of the alpha male persuasion was on a stretcher flat on his back, bleeding from his mouth. He was in this predicament due to an errant top edge colliding with his teeth.

Silly me pointed out the obvious regarding the existence of helmets these days being rather plentiful.

His response, “Helmets are for skirts!”

Enough said.

Open House

“Open House”
Collection of interviews by Sheriden Voysey

The first installment of transcribed interviews from the ‘Open House’ program on Christian radio station Hope 103.2fm.

Even though he is a Christian on a Christian radio station it is good of Voysey to allow his interviewee to talk and to tell their story. This is easy enough to do in most cases where the interviewee is largely giving their Christian testimony.

There are some other cases where the subject is more secular or controversial in nature. Voysey still lets them talk. I like that, he lets them tell their whole story and then allows the listeners and readers to think about the topic in their own way and then discuss what was said.

There is a vast array of personalities being interviewed. Someone will appeal to everyone.

I found that the people I hadn’t heard of still had fascinating stories to tell. I’m glad I read them all and didn’t cut to the people I thought would be most interesting.

The secular personalities are in some ways more interesting, as their views on Jesus aren’t as clear cut or predictable. They have many varied views on Jesus between them. It should be no surprise that some have no clear view on Jesus, instead hold various views on their own.

I'm a late starter, as by the time the start reading this edition there have been two more editions of ‘Open House’ released. If the first is anything to go by then two and three will be very enjoyable indeed.