Twitter Gold
”In fairness, we’ve been building’ ground zeroes’ near Iraqi mosques since March 2003″
Scare Force One – Comment of the Day
Comes from the CNN comment roll on this article. Basically for those who don’t click, it’s about a blunder in which New York City officials and citizens weren’t informed that Air Force One (quite cleverly renamed “Scare Force One”) would be doing a flyover for a photoshoot or something rediculous like that. The plane was flying at a particularly low altitude and as a result (fair enough too) many people feared a repeat of the 9/11 attacks, and a communal shitting of the pants ensued.
Whilst apologies have been forwarded by Pres Obama, he has ensured that heads will roll and all that crap. In response to a Bush Homeland Security advisor has declared HEADS MUST ROLL and that the idiot behind this flyover should be sacked, the following comment was lodged:-
Wow. A Bush administration accusing someone of “felony stupidity.” She should know. – Caleb Hummel
I endorse this comment.
Telegraph Letter of the day
“If teachers were trained and armed, imagine how well behaved the pupils would be”
Usually I read a good paper, but I only had $1 on me and needed a sudoku fix. Turns out that it was worth the money.
I endorse this insanity.
Yes, I know I’ve neglected the blog…
…but I’ve been too busy not giving a crap. To the point where firefox had to get my “saved” details again. Turns out that after ~600 hits in 3 days, I’ve notched ~30 in the last 9. Good stuff.
Here’s something to brighten your day.
Fuck I love politiks.
PS thanks to Omar for the pic ey. Stupid fuck, get credit elsewhere 🙂
(08) 6210-2310
Fucking love Telstra. Below has been taken from Adam Turner’s SMH Blog.
Telstra’s telemarketers seem to be working overtime to sign you up for a mobile deal that’s too good to be true. A friend kept getting missed calls on her mobile from 08 6210 2310, so I thought I’d put it into Google to see what popped up. That number is all over the web like a rash, with people complaining about calls from dodgy telemarketers. Sites like Whirlpool.net.au, au.phonespamfilter.com and whocallsme.com are full of people complaining about constant calls from 08 6210 2310 – and a few other numbers in the same range – almost every day for months at a time. It seems once they get you on the line they offer you a free phone and then start asking you for a lot of personal information – which should start ringing alarm bells for anyone who is security conscious. Next they baffle you with a lot of fast talking before signing you up for a phone contract which often doesn’t turn out to be what you think it is. It seems the calls are from TSA, a telemarketing mob working for Telstra which is accused of harassing people and offering them bogus deals just to get you to sign up with Telstra. Of course I’d read about TSA’s escapades, but I didn’t realise 08 6210 2310 was one of their numbers. I’m guessing a lot of other people have also seen the number on their missed calls list but not realised who it was. If you get a call on your mobile from 08 6210 2310, best to ignore it (heaven help whoever gets the number next if TSA ever ditches it). If the calls persist, complaints can be lodged with ACMA by phoning 1300 792 958 or with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
Fuckers keep ringing me. Time to spam up the phone lines.
A note for those who love the get even option. The TSA Group website is here and their contact details here.
Edit: Just for some heroic lulz, I was reading through the info for TSA (trying to find names, so I can personally harrass them). Anyways, I came across this:-
3. Brand Protection
There is nothing more important to a company than its reputation. TSA understands this, which is why we have set in place rigorous quality assurance procedures to protect the integrity of our clients’ corporate reputations.
All TSA employees and subcontractors undertake accredited training programs where they are educated about the regulatory and service quality framework within which they operate. Because we know that they may be perceived as client employees, we also actively monitor their performance on an on-going basis.
At TSA Telco Group we work hard to ensure that no customer feels pressured into taking a decision. What’s more, in many cases we utilise follow up calls to provide us with an excellent basis to gather feedback, market intelligence – and to ensure quality control in the performance of our sales teams.
TSA Telco Group operates a zero-tolerance policy with regards to ‘pressure selling.’ The result of our training programs, on-going monitoring and corporate ethos is that the level of customer complaints is less than tenth of one per cent on an ongoing basis.
And yet it seems that all over the internet, there is a war being declared on Telstra and TSA for the use of this marketing ploy.
Institutionalised Discrimination
Trolling the SMH website today I came across the following article:-
A Melbourne high school teacher who had a relationship with a 15-year-old student has been spared jail.
Nazira Rafei, 26, of Fawkner, pleaded guilty to two counts of committing an indecent act with the boy and was found guilty of one further count.
However, she was cleared of a charge that she had sex with him and also a further charge of an indecent act with a child under 16.
The County Court had heard the married science teacher struck up a friendship with the boy outside school and they began a relationship.
Judge Liz Gaynor convicted Rafei and sentenced her to an 18-month community-based order with 150 hours of community work.
She has also been placed on the sex offenders register.
Judge Gaynor said Rafei was immature and had behaved inappropriately, breaching the student-teacher trust in the most serious way.
But she accepted Rafei’s behaviour was not predatory.
“You leave this court with a conviction against your name and a life of the most extraordinary difficulty,” she said.
The court heard she had led a sheltered life and was forbidden from mixing with boys at school and university.
This is absolutely and utterly disgusting. How is it possible that one could find such excuses to be suitable to defend the breaking of the trust between the teacher and student? Not only is she guilty of breaching this, but also of sex with a minor, and yet, she walks away with a conviction and community service? What type of message is being sent to teachers out there? It sure as hell does not compliment the Knox Grammar cases all that well. Of course, they are in different juristictions, but there needs to be a united front setup against the abuse of children, and cases such as that listed above, are detrimental to the creation of this front.
YA Isolation II: Suggestions for the Reduction on “Isolation”
This one is open for comments that (well all comments, but geared towards) both explore ways to to overcome the isolation and to comment on a constructive set of ideas to address the issue. Regardless, if you’re having issues talk to Nikki (nikki@inspire.org.au) or Janice or Kerry, whose emails I don’t have on hand. In an attempt to be constructivist, I’m throwing out this idea for the masses, and frankly, it’s up to you goes whether or not it goes anywhere. It’s on YAs to find a solution, so if you’re in a situation where you feel isolated, you should be working out ways that YOU THINK isolation could be averted (atleast somewhat), because as I said in the previous post, it’s likely to worsen with the influx of YAs.
Here goes (it’s a bit disjointed and needs more work obviously, but that’s where you guys come in).
1. Staff ties with YAs: If I remember correctly there was talk a while back when discussing (in the early phases) the new YP program, of having “isolated” (geographically, as discussed at the time) YAs linked with staff to get support when they need it. This would be an excellent system to impliment, even though staff will be faced with (in theory) more work
2. YA ties: Setting up a “team” system, where small groups (2-4) of YAs from varying areas (not necessarily completely workable due to the way the YAs are split across the nation) that will remain in place until people leave. Like the ROYL system, it will be about supporting eachother, but instead of a mentor system, it’s more to do with, helping eachother find resources, finding the “courage” to approach places for activities etc.
3. Overhaul of YL Setup: ROYLs need to be looked at, and there needs to be further incentives to ensure that they (if they are to still be used under the new system) remain active in the 6 weeks that they are tied to new YAs. There have been varying reports about the effectiveness and committment of YLs and whilst it’s never going to be perfect, it’s a valuable system, and without it, new participants may struggle even moreso.
4. Fostering an open forum: It’s difficult to do this, but currently, there seems to be a mob mentality, where if a person doesn’t agree with the outlined proposals, they are looked down upon, ideas are overlooked and questions are raised about the constructive nature of their posts. It’s important to create a safe forum (ie discussion) where people feel comfortable expressing their opinions. This was a buzz topic a while back (early 08) but it was seemingly overlooked after that short period. Whilst there is never going to be 100% cohesion, it needs to be addressed becaused without this being reduced/stopped, disenchantment is going to worsen.
5. Assistance to setup projects: Staff being able to help YAs setup school presentations, ties with companies etc in areas relevant to that of the YA requesting (or in the general vicinity, ie potentially Perth for WA) so being able to do “something major” is easier for all YAs to do
I’m sure there are more, but they are the 5 that come to mind currently. Post ideas/comments/whatever. I’m really keen to here from as many YAs as possible, so tell yo franz.
A Discussion on “isolation”.
A big issue before I decided to leave the YA community (and part of the reason why I left) has reared it’s head again of late, the idea that several YAs have begun to feel isolated from the other members in the YA community or from RO itself. Now, before I go any further, I’m going to through in a definition, because the idea of “isolation” has seen me recieve negative responses in the past.
Dictionary defines isolation as “noun the state of being isolated”, and of course, isolated as “separated from other persons or things; alone; solitary.”
Regardless of whether you take the stance that isolation is merely about geographic location, or you are taking a less narrow minded approach and looking at the bigger picture, isolation within the YA community is becoming more prevelant, and seems to be driving YAs away from the organisation.
First up, I want to point out that geographically speaking, yes, I was lucky in being a Sydney based YA not having the trouble of traveling distances to go to workshops etc, and having access to celebrations such as the Inspire Xmas Party and post-AI Summit celebration. But the isolation I felt was not about not being able to attend meetings/celebrations (although I rarely did, as a result of the difficulty in getting there) it’s about out of contact with many YAs in the area for long periods of time and not being able to complete activities that have a seemingly higher value than others (presentations rather than vandalism stickering everything).
Really, I’m not standing out and saying that people who are geographically isolated have it easier nor am I saying they have it harder. To me, both situations present a valuable set of opportunities.
Isolated YA
- The ability to operate control over your activities
- Ability to undertake more activies rather than “sharing” amongst others
- Controling how RO is promoted. You decide whether it’s vandalism stickering you want to do or organising speechs at schools etc
Non-Isolated YA
- Access to more activities
- Access to a wide range of marketing opportunities
- More people in the area to work with
It seems people on both sides miss the negatives though. Whilst an isolated YA has more power over what they do, big movements require more than one person, and Sydney/Melbourne YAs who have access to more speeches/presentations/etc have more competition, meaning that people frequently miss out.
Under the new youth participation system, the current issues can swing two ways. It is either going to be solved, with more people from “isolated areas” becoming participants, meaning that people near eachother can band together to work as a team and create events (kind of like what the WAYAs group is doing) or it could see more issues occuring, more distain and less interest in participating in the program.
I’m sure there is more to be added to this, so when I think about the stuff, I’ll either edit the post or throw it in the comments section, but I’m desperate to hear from others (and alledgely so are staff, and this is an informal means of venting frustrations) about their experience, their views or potential solutions. So just comment away. As usual, if you haven’t commented before, I have to validate, so don’t stress if your post doesn’t appear straight away.
The next (in theory) post will be about trying to address issues and trying to help find ways to get over the ‘isolated’ feel that people are reporting.
The Observations of a Madman 