Stupid Ads

I'm noticing a theme in advertising where ads are showing blokes as stupid.

Can’t blame the companies though. They are subjects to the market research they pay for.

Still, I’m not going to be drawn to a product that advertises in such a way. Some examples

• GIO – the bloke appears so worried that he made a mistake with his insurance cover. The wide shot shows he is sitting in a flooded lounge room while the woman is calmly making an origami swan.
• Fantastic Furniture – a woman shows off all the furniture she has acquired to a girlfriend. In the bedroom out comes a man looking as daggy as possible slurping spillled cereal off his t-shirt. To the disdained looks of both women
• Glade – woman puts a glade air freshener in the lounge room. Man does a little dance to try and set it off again. Woman walks in and pushes the boost button with an air of superiority.

There are so many, you won’t be getting my money. Perhaps I just watch too much television.

An Ambulance Approaches

We see some interesting things from the front of an ambulance on an emergency.

Drivers are either unaware, incompetent, full of self-importance or a combination of all three.

It’s not hard. An occasional look into the rear vision mirror frequently is a good start. It is a basic skill when learning how to drive. After achieving that maybe the rest should be easy. How one can miss the light show alone is beyond me. With the noise on top of that makes it astonishing.

All one has to do is spot us early and calmly move to the left. Those already on the left need to ease of their speed to make this transition as smooth as possible.

If you’re stopped at red lights do not go into the intersection. Lights and sirens is not a command to do such a thing. Most actually turn the lights and sirens off completely. It is a well-intentioned act, yet a stupid one. Any accidents that occur as a result are the individual’s responsibility. We are not about making business for ourselves. If a crash happens before our eyes we are obliged to stop which hinders our progress to the original emergency.

We don’t take undue risks on the roads and we don’t expect anyone else to do so.

All we ask is for awareness and common sense. Two commodities that seem to be in short supply.

Immaturity In All Sizes

Saw a child throwing a tantrum in a shop this week. Nothing odd about it. A three year old trying to manipulate a parent into buying a toy she had spotted and impulsively wanted, right now.

You expect that from little children. Their brains are just starting to develop. Was pleased to see the parents not give in to the whims of a three year old.

Strangely, I was reminded about a recent incident at a Sydney hospital. One involving a “mature” adult.

Ambulance was called to a lady with a headache, arrived to find the lady lying on the floor very close to a raging gas fire. We found out that she had already been to hospital that day for a fever and had received appropriate treatment.

A patient in such a condition usually has to wait for a little while. There was nothing acute going on plus she had already been given treatment. Lying in front of the fire probably eradicated any gains made by antibiotics.

Despite this, and the relatively short wait she was about to face, 10 mins later her sons behaved abhorrently. Much worse than the little girl in the shop.

They abused and threatened hospital staff. Had them scared for their safety. All because his mother had to wait a short period. They impulsively want a bed right now. This was their form of the three year old tantrum. Only this tantrum involved a lot of swearing. They left for another hospital and ended up waiting for a longer period.

Childish. Immature. Yet not an immature child.

Pedestrian Safe Cars

Saw a report on crash tests to determine which cars were safest for pedestrians. Some were better than others. Those that didn’t fare so well have apparently received recommendations to lift their game. As well as upgrade to the Australian standards to account for safety to pedestrians.

Yet the safest place for a pedestrian is where there are no cars, the footpath. If a car encroaches into that space no amount of engineering brilliance will save you from serious injury.

What about promoting pedestrians being wise about their decisions. Changing car design for pedestrian safety is implying that it is all right for pedestrians to continue with their reckless, dangerous and risky decisions when crossing roads. It doesn’t allow the individual to take responsibility for their own decisions.

It’s always the fault of someone or something else. For this report it seems the fault lies with the car.

Something to Inquire

Bob Brown wants an inquiry into the Australian media after recent events in the UK press. If one thinks he has concern about corruption and phone hacking in this country they will be sorely mistaken.

Brown doesn’t like certain aspects of the media because they look at his policies and listen to what he says. They critically analyse and come up with comments not favouring the Brown position.

This is purely about quelling dissention. Bob Brown doesn’t like it. No one does of course. But no one else is calling for sanctioning the press so that only friendly opinions are aired.

There is a massive double standard with Bob Brown. He was nowhere to be seen when conservative governments were getting heavily criticised by the unions, the ABC and his own party. Now the sandel is on the other foot and the Greens are finding it uncomfortable.

The Greens are at the peak of their powers so they ought to get used to the criticism. They have stuck their head out of the political parapet. People are wising up to their radical intentions.

Bob Brown will likely be a one term prime minister. Much like his predecessors, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

The Reformer

“The Costello Memoirs”
by Peter Costello

Costello offers a frank account from his life in politics. It covers a lot of ground. It goes through his education, law degree, entry into politics, role as treasurer ending with events surrounding the 207 federal election.

He was a great treasurer, some would suggest the best this country has ever seen. He blows his own trumpet a bit and rightly so. He brought this country from a horrible financial situation to the stronghold of the Asian region. Not enough credit was given to him for Australia’s position during the global financial crisis. He weathered many storms with his knowledge and wisdom on financial matters. He was a true reformer.

The detail about treasury matters can be a bit dry. He avoided the minutiae to a large degree. But without the background you don’t get a full grasp of how much he cared for the portfolio.

I wasn’t politically aware for much of his tenure so it was great to become acquainted with early years in politics and re acquainted with the latter years. So many events happened in the background of my life during the 1990’s yet were important on a national level.

Costello offers a fantastic overview to his political life and the events that took place in that time. A fascinating education in politics and economics.