Emergency
I had a conversation with a family friend a few years ago.
This friend applied for a job as a 000 operator.
A noble profession I thought. I think it would be a tough job to do, having to calm people down who are going through traumatic events, but someone has to do it.
This friend didn't get the job. She failed one scenario.
Here is the scenario.
You receive two calls.
You have one ambulance.
The first call is a 50yr old man who's having a heart attack,
The second call is a 10yr old girl who has a life threatening injury.
Who do you send the ambulance to?
My decision was to send the ambulance to the 10yr old girl.
WRONG
Apparently the 50yr old man gets the ambulance.
Now my logic for my decision goes like this.
The 50yr old man has lived his life; sure he has at least another 20 years left in him, maybe more.
He's having a heart attack, which, if severe and he survives, will lead to severe complications that may render him unable to work.
From an economic point, if he does get the ambulance, and survives trouble free, he's only contributing to society for another 15 years (working, paying taxes etc) before we start supporting him.
The 10 year old girl...well...SHE'S 10.
No-one wants to bury a child. Send the ambulance to her.
She's 10 now; in another 10 years she'll be working and contributing to society. If she survives she will be contributing her tax dollars to help sustain this country, she will be working and participating in this thing we call "life".
This child COULD be the next prime minister (eh, maybe not, but she has the potential to change things). Once she is working there will be another 40 years of contributions coming from her. She makes her money, she spends her money, the country continues to grow, life gets better.
Apparently the Ambulance service doesn't invest in potential. It invests in the current contributing factors.
So when it all comes down to it, The 50yr old tax payer gets precedence over a 10yr old child.
And this people, is why I have no faith in humanity.
-ms
The Will of the Lowest Common Denominator
I always was and am an advocate of the separation of church and state.
I have now found a new opposition. And it brings me to a new commandment for a happy society.
The Media shalt not giveth any time to extreme right wing religion.
As you may have read Christian leader Danny Nalliah has claimed that the Victorian bushfires were not acts of arson or you know... nature ... but the punishment from a spiritual being that has taken offense to the legalisation of abortions.
I have previously blogged on the stupidity of this statement (before it was made) because there were warnings of retribution from their deity if we were to take offense and that whole pesky "free will" thing.
So, what he said is ignorant, pathetic, stupid and inflammatory (no pun intended).
What is worse is the fact that the age has given him publicity and has spread this hate, disgusting statement around the world. The previous post by Mandy has explained our shared view of the media pretty well, and I fell this time they have gone too far.
If a person was found to be handing out fliers that claimed their god has punish all black people with the AIDS virus in Africa for their reluctance to follow their faith, he would be arrested for inciting racism and violence.
The Age, in this case is guilty of spreading insulting and hate inducing propaganda of a right wing zealot.
Not only should Danny Nalliah apologize but the Age should also apologize for publicizing and spreading his bullshit rhetoric.
In other stupid news it appears the Vatican has announced that the theory of Evolution and the bible are compatible.
It leaves me to the following question: How many times must "the truth" be twisted, changed and ignored before one calls it a lie?
It is almost laughable that they now claim that Genesis isn't a literal account of events after that Catholic church has killed millions of people defending it.
It's like me telling someone that Humpty Dumpty fell off a wall, and when they question what an egg was doing on a wall, I call them a heretic and shoot them in the face - now wouldn't that be stupid; defending a fable that isn't true?
Yes. Yes it would.
And now for something completely different and unrelated:
- db
Fire the Media
Red Card for the Australian Media
As you've no doubt seen splashed across the Australian media is the news about the bush fires.
This is a very tragic event that has claimed the lives of too many people, and disrupted the lives of many more.
It's probable that these tragic events have been caused by one (or more) mentally disturbed people lighting the fires.
The impact of this situation is great. To date the Australian people have pulled together to overcome this situation.
What hasn't helped is the coverage of these events by the media.
Awareness is a great thing. Covering this issue by the media, to highlight to the rest of the country the severity of the situation is a good thing.
The way the media have gone about it is not a good thing.
I've been watching the channel 9 news (I'm a nine kind of girl) and while I always believed that Channel 9 delivered a less "bias" point of view, their coverage of the bush fires is deplorable.
The use of "tear jerking" stories is deplorable. The exploitation of people who have lost their houses and family members (as cover on the 08/02/09) is disgusting.
These innocent people are trying to deal with the situation, what they don't need is the media abusing their grief and plight to make money.
Tonight's coverage included an "exclusive". No one was allowed in or out of a town. But channel 9 managed to get in.
Instead of assessing the situation and reporting back on the devastation that happened to the town, channel 9 decided to bring along a couple with them. This was a camera in your face, zoom in for the moment the severity hits, ambulance chasing piece of coverage. It was a sad story. This couple had lost their house. Instead of this couple finding this out in their own time and to process the news in their own way, they had a camera shoved in their face and their reaction filmed, frame by frame.
There have been some heroic stories covered. The media have shown that they can focus on the triumph of the human spirit, this is great. However their coverage of heroism is outweighed by their constant need to film tragedy.
I could possibly get over the fact that the media are playing a cheap shot by filming these "tear jerking" stories. I could possibly get over the fact that all other news has taken a back seat while we cover this issue.
But I cannot get over the editing of these stories.
I don't know who is in charge of the editing department at channel 9, but they need to be fired.
The pathetic intro music to each story, the "dramatic" background music in each story. This cheapens peoples stories. I understand that everyone grieves in their own way. I understand that some people need to tell their story. The channel 9 news team are not the people I would be telling my story to. They have cheapened and destroyed the stories of those affected.
I also don't understand why I need to hear Tracey Grimshaw cover this issue. She should stick to covering ACA stories about Queenslanders. I quote "To all those around the country, we have lost a good friend and good man, Brian Naylor, we now know how you feel". What? That was not the way to phase that sentence. What I gleaned from that was, "I wasn't personally affected so I didn't care, but out wait..Now I am I know how you're feeling"
really...she should not be on the air at this time.
The media needs to take a long hard look at itself.
20 years ago the media was about the news. These days it's about exploiting the little mans story to sell some advertising space.
-ms
ps. The one good thing the media have done is provide information on help lines that people can contact for information, support and donations.
SES - Victorian Bushfire Information Line: 1800 240 667 - Info about the fires
State Inquiries Centre: 1800 727 077 - Info about family members/friends
Centrelink Victorian Fires Hotline: 180 22 11 - Info about money available to those affected
Victorian Bushfire Fund - 1800 811 700 - Please donate
Red Cross - 1800 811 700 - Please donate
Adelaide is a hole
I know this is not an original statement, or even a shocking one, but I feel it needs to be reiterated.
I have recently returned from spending 24 hours in this town.
In my opinion it was 23.5 hours too long.
I have been to Adelaide before. I thought it would be fun to check it out. I was mistaken.
After being there for two hours, I had walked the whole city and was at a loss as what to do next.
During my previous stay I discovered several things.
1. If you are a foreigner and applying for residency, living in Adelaide actually contributes more points to your application because Adelaide is considered a country town in the eyes of the government.
2. There are more pubs then churches in Adelaide. These pubs help pass the time.
3. Adelaide is yet to discover surround sound. Night Clubs play music in stereo
My recent trip to Adelaide has been an educational one.
I have discovered that our country will slowly be taken over by bogans.
Uneducated, lazy, unemployed bogans.
I don't understand how the current government can keep going on about "working families" and making life easier for "working families"but still hands out money to the unemployed. GET A JOB YOU LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING FREAKS.
Seriously, why am I paying taxes if you're not going to even ATTEMPT to get a job. Jeez
The baby bonus.
why does this exist?
This seems to be pocket money for the Adelaide bogan.
Get a job???...why when the government will give me $6k every nine months. Spend it on the baby?? yeah right...the pokies arn't going to play themselves now are they.
Besides, when your an Adelaide bogan the government pays to support your baby anyway.
I've reached a conclusion why Adelaide is full of so many bogans.
There is NOTHING to do in Adelaide. Really. The only thing you can do is start drinking first thing in the morning (I know this violates the normal, "no alcohol before midday" rule, but I think Adelaide is exempt from this.
Alcohol is the only thing that can distract you from the fact that you live in a large "country town". It's the only thing that distracts you from that fact that all housing was built in 1960 and nothing new (or pretty) has been built since.
It's the only thing that distracts you from the fact that your neighbour has never had a job and has 5 kids (to 5 different men), yet somehow has a better car and house then you.
Adelaide...Government money at work
-ms
An Open Letter to Bill Gates
Dear Mr Gates,
I was surprised to see your names in the news again yesterday. When I read the first paragraph, it explained that you unleashed mosquitos on the unsuspecting crowd. What a spectacle!
Without reading any further than the first line, because reading is for the lonely and ugly, I was wondering what the message behind it would be. Maybe you like bugs, and no offence Billy - you look the type, or maybe it was an example of what you get when you buy a Microsoft product - thousands of niggling bugs to annoy you - I felt like I was getting closer.
Then it hit me harder than a thirteen year old boy watching "Wild Things".
You wanted to physically represent the parasitic nature of the Micro$oft business model!
It is truly inspiring that after all these years you would be so honest with the world.
Though in a position that is out of character for me - I found myself....wrong.
It appears that when you released the bugs on the wealthy crowd you yelled out "Not only poor people should experience this!"
I was taken aback! You have told me something that, surprisingly, I didn't know. Only poor people get bitten by mosquitos. I am not a rich man and I get bitten. I have never seen yourself or Oprah scratch away at your arm - the logic seems sound.
Something was, pardon the pun, itching at the back of my mind though - why wouldn't the mosquitos drink the blood of the superior such as yourself? It just doesn't seem to make sense. So I decided to go to where the information is never wrong- Wikipedia. Calm down Bill, I know how you hate this Web 2.0 stuff hence why you and your company ignore it like the plague.
Again, I appear to be wrong - look what I found:
Wikipedia and Bill gates combined can not be wrong. They are obviously the most reliable sources for information we have. A billion screaming dollars can't be wrong.
- db