the talk of the town

A Government for all Australia

Published on 2010-08-25 05:32:00

"You really do want to see a government governing for all Australia."  We are 22,436,204 AustraliansWe should like to be consulted so we can be nice and kind and move forward without prejudice. Thank you.

Water, water...

Published on 2010-08-25 05:23:00

"The Murray-Darling is 21 million megalitres of water. Just one of my rivers, just one river in north Queensland has 22 million megalitres of water. For heaven's sake, why are you trying to do the farming where there's no water?"Um...er....because it all got diverted away from us in the eastern states and we have fought like hell to get that acknowledged. Obviously we got through.

Australia Best Medium Sized Nation

Published on 2010-08-24 06:42:00

"With a relatively low unemployment rate–5.6 percent in 2009–and an economy that’s one of the healthiest even during the global recession, Australia has a lot more to offer than just beaches and Hugh Jackman. In the overall index Australia ranks fourth. In the other categories for medium-size countries, it claims the top spot for political environment and ties Spain at No. 1 for best health care. With its high standard of living, safe cities, sunny climate, and outdoorsy citizens, Aus

Hung Parliament 2010

Published on 2010-08-23 02:21:00

Well, the election - non election was the talk of the town at work today. Some were saying this situation is actually exciting and we all agreed it was the best thing to happen to us because there are so many unresolved issues. We have been pushed into participating in political potshots and the arguments of one against the other. At this point in time everyone is talking about it and everyone is trying to think their way out of it. The connection between the Governor General and Bill Shorten ha

Federal Election

Published on 2010-08-21 19:27:00

Well, the news is , there is no news. There was an UN election and for some very good reasons. We are not in chaos at all. There is no political turmoil. The high number of informal votes ought to be telling our politicians that they have isolated themselves from us. One vote on Facebook had the Douche Bag party that they had drawn on the ballot paper and ticked. So we don't feel as though our politicians are representing us. A hung parliament is probably what we need right now because we have a

Federal Election

Published on 2010-08-20 19:05:00

There is no sense of excitement, no sense of determination, no sense of purpose. I got up at 7am so I could get to the booths early and there was already a long cue of rugged up, frozen South Australians standing there with resigned faces and umbrellas. We had to vote so we were getting it done and the cold, wet weather was chilling us through. I was glad to get home for my breakfast and the fire. I am sick of the waste of money on the placards. I felt really sorry for the people who were helpin

Elections Posters

Published on 2010-08-20 06:43:00

He said the man accused him of messing with some Labor posters already in place, something he denied.Well, who knows what happened and I am sure the police will sort it out. The posters are the problem. We are past the age of posters. We don't need pollie faces beaming down on us as we go to and from work. They put hundreds of them up. In the day and age of social media ,video  and  Net enabled mobile phones they are rather anachronistic. They have been blown about or removed either de

Depressed medical students

Published on 2010-08-18 06:24:00

The study also revealed more than two-thirds of respondents would "feel ashamed" about their depression and 62 per cent would not tell anyone if they were diagnosed.That's sad, especially since they are training to be doctors. Not a healthy response at all. The article sites heavy workloads as one of the reasons for creating depression since the students have no work /life balance. It is something which is part of our lifestyle and we have to change it. Everyone is under enormous pressure to s

Kids in School

Published on 2010-08-17 05:21:00

Figures obtained by The Advertiser, have shown an alarming decline in student attendance, with almost half the school's 230 pupils not attending on a regular basis.The one thing that was really noticeable when I went to Melbourne and Sydney earlier this year is that I didn't see kids roaming the streets or shopping areas during school time. What I did see were orderly school excursions. It didn't matter where I was,  there were school excursions at art galleries, shopping centres, river a

Video Rentals Increase

Published on 2010-08-16 05:08:00

AUSTRALIA'S video rental market continues to expand despite extra competition from a growing digital technology, a major DVD rental retailer says. This is encouraging and interesting. We were all thinking, as the article suggests, that everyone would be downloading films, but the rental companies are renting games as well. In many ways , hiring a DVD has been part of our culture since the hideous pneumatic video players which first introduced us to that form of entertainment. It became a s

Red Gate Art Studio

Published on 2010-08-14 01:56:00

I went to the SALA exhibition at the RedGate Art Studio this afternoon. Just the perfect thing for this freezing, wet , horrible day. We are so over this cold weather. The studio was warm and welcoming and the pieces to be viewed were interesting an varied. I ended up buying one because I could just  see these beautiful china bowls in my dining room. It's a lovely piece butt here were other nice things and the thing is, this is the sort of thing which gets you into art. You can chat tot he

Market Exclusivity

Published on 2010-08-11 05:13:00

Suzanne Clarkson, speaking on behalf of Coca-Cola, said: "We haven't banned Mr Revell, he's welcome to go to Fieldays."He just can't sell his product because we have an exclusive supplier and sponsorship contract."I am almost lost for words but not quite. Why can one company be exclusively the provider of drinks at an event? Foolish really because it means there is no choice and no competition and no market forces at work. That company is it. So then the deal is made for the company to be the ex

Winter in Adelaide

Published on 2010-08-09 05:41:00

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Published on 2010-08-08 02:02:00

Did I enjoy the film? In the end , yes. When I first started the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus I didn't know what to make of it. Some of it seemed poorly done, it was episodic and sporadic and then, suddenly it got into its stride and took off. Some of it will be the fact that Keith Ledger met his untimely and sad end when the film was being made. Trying to pull the film together after that would have been extremely hard. I am glad they did and even though the actors who played Keith Ledger playe

Cold Callers

Published on 2010-08-06 18:14:00

Humphreys, Steve. phonebooth2968.jpg. June 1986. Pics4Learning. 6 Aug 2010 If you are not my friend, my family, my doctor, dentist, vet. If I have no business association with you and you are not my mechanic...be kind enough to stay off my phone!!! This week has been ridiculous with the amount of unsolicited cold calls. I am polite because I know what an awful job that is. No one ought to have to make sales that way because it is a job which is likely to elicit abuse. I do not want calls out of

Kevin Rudd

Published on 2010-08-05 02:04:00

Mr Rudd, who was ousted in June, said it had been a difficult time since then but he would join the fight to stop Opposition Leader Tony Abbott winning.Well, it doesn't matter if you are Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, you or me, how you live your life and manage the difficulties and then what you stand for is who you are. You can listen to tripe and live it. You can let others call the shots but in the end you decide whether you are Nelson Mandela or Mother Theresa. Only yesterday we

Plugging the oil well

Published on 2010-08-04 03:34:00

The procedure involved pumping heavy drilling fluid, known in the trade as mud, into the busted well to push leaking crude oil back into its source rock.Busted well?Odd use of language in a report, but still. There are signs that the well, which has been leaking since April and has created so much unforgivable damage and death may well be repaired. No one seemed to be in too much of a hurry to fix it and meanwhile that whole coastal area which had already been affected by Katrina and the broke

Bloody minded train doors

Published on 2010-08-02 06:08:00

Yes indeed. The train doors on the new trains just open and shut as they feel like it and it goes on all the time they are in the station. The article refers to the doors refusing to open at stations. I haven't seen that but I have noticed the new train doors are not very reliable and the constant open and shutting on standstill drives you nuts. That's nothing to being stranded at the wrong station. It is not easy to get anywhere in Adelaide without a car so if you are at the wrong station and i

My Adelaide

Published on 2010-07-31 18:42:00

My AdelaideView more presentations from Sally Smith.

Facebook Demographics

Published on 2010-07-30 17:39:00

These demographics may not necessarily be accurate but they are interesting. People do not always give their age or their correct age on Facebook and then they may have an account which they are not actually using. It would be interesting to see what is occurring in terms of active Facebook use because it has changed considerably in these last two years and is less social and more games oriented.It still remains a very good way to be in contact with others.Australia rates number 15 which is not

Childhood Obesity

Published on 2010-07-28 06:41:00

"That was a real disappointment despite all of the campaigning, despite banning junk food in tuck shops, despite the Active Challenge we've still got a problem with obesity as there is around the country, so that's a particular disappointment," he said.Yes, we were talking about childhood obesity today because someone had seen figures on 4 year olds just getting heavier and heavier as the years went by. We were thinking about what would influence that because it has to be our lifestyle. Our g

Telstra Job Losses

Published on 2010-07-27 04:47:00

Telstra last week announced it would slash 330 senior jobs in addition to 900 retrenchments announced in April.What a depressing article. If Telstra is shedding 1230 jobs and only since April this year then it's not about customers or service. Streamlining is not what it is about. That is a lot of jobs and I don't suppose Telstra is the only company to be shedding jobs. This is not the sort of news we need because it will worry people and those people who have lost their jobs will be trying to

Masterchef Finale

Published on 2010-07-26 02:42:00

Adam is our winner, and as I predicated in my last Masterchef post, it was a tightly fought contest because Adam and Callum were well matched. It was surprising to see what they didn't know in round one by way of ingredients. It was also good to see them there at the finale because you know you have taught some good lessons and you are a good teacher when your students can add to you and your students can teach you. The mutual sharing and it was clear from Friday night, and then again last night

Hindmarsh Stadium bans vuvuzelas

Published on 2010-07-25 04:00:00

Perth Glory's nib Stadium, Central Coast Mariners BlueTongue Stadium and Newcastle Jets' EnergyAustralia Stadium have also refused the vuvuzela into their matches.The article says Hindmarsh Stadium is concerned about the welfare and safety of its patrons because the vuvuzela can reach 120 decibels and so if there are a lot of them in one place , it could lead to hearing problems. In a litigation prone world then it's probably a good decision. In a fun world, the kiddies will be sad. Kids love

Ugly Sports' Parents

Published on 2010-07-23 19:07:00

But South Australian sporting groups are taking action to keep "over-the-top" parents in line..I am glad to see there will be some action taken over this because there have been similar articles about the way parents have been treating teachers and then Adelaide Metro had, I don't know if it still has, a comment on its phone line that they did not have to speak to abusive people. Adelaide has become very rude, bullying and abusive. We are all talking about aggressive clients and customers. Hospi