Well I couldn't mention M.I.A (previous entry) without commenting on the whole Superbowl incident - her 'finger malfunction' :P where M.I.A flipped a camera/s the bird during her performance at the half time show with Madonna and Nicki Minaj.
I'm not read up on any statement she or her record label may have made but I can't help but think she did it perhaps to promote her new single 'Bad Girls'.
A few initial comments (as I said I'm not well read up on the story) on news stories about her obscene gesture stated that they had never heard of her....so it's been super effective in some regards :P
I've actually been a fan of M.I.A for years - I like Sunshowers, Galang, Boyz and obviously Paper Planes :) And seeing her live at the 2011 Big Day Out in Sydney Australia was a highlight.
Looking at the comments on the video I can't help but feel her particular genius is still flying over a lot of people's heads...or perhaps I am just interpreting everything wrong.
Of course there are sensitive people running off their mouths without really thinking about the message this honest and talented artist is conveying.
Also, the fact her 'Born Free' music video was banned from popularized and commercial websites is just another reason to like her :)
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Australian Police Officer Bashes Victim Caught on Video
Hi everyone,
I've been coming up with blanks for content lately so sorry but there's not too much I can do about that - I'd change it if I could but it's outside my control really.
Anyhow a news story I saw today compelled me to right.
A video has been released of a uniformed New South Wales Police Officer punching an allegedly drunk spectator who (again allegedly) didn't follow orders when asked to leave...an embedded YouTube video (Bite me SOPA ?) is below, and below that is some more of my insight on the matter.
Also, the reason I said "allegedly" some many times was because news reports say the police officer 'allegedly' punched the person - I get that the news don't want possible legal issues with influence and whatnot...but it's not an even playing field...as the victim in all this was outed as being drunk that they failed to follow orders to leave, and resisted...arrest? Is that what they're trying to convince was happening here? Anyway...
My comments:
I've been coming up with blanks for content lately so sorry but there's not too much I can do about that - I'd change it if I could but it's outside my control really.
Anyhow a news story I saw today compelled me to right.
A video has been released of a uniformed New South Wales Police Officer punching an allegedly drunk spectator who (again allegedly) didn't follow orders when asked to leave...an embedded YouTube video (Bite me SOPA ?) is below, and below that is some more of my insight on the matter.
Also, the reason I said "allegedly" some many times was because news reports say the police officer 'allegedly' punched the person - I get that the news don't want possible legal issues with influence and whatnot...but it's not an even playing field...as the victim in all this was outed as being drunk that they failed to follow orders to leave, and resisted...arrest? Is that what they're trying to convince was happening here? Anyway...
My comments:
- The officer has been identified in news articles as being the State of NSW's Police Commissioner's son (like father like son?)
- The officer's 'partner' nor the security personal seemingly nothing to stop the brutality
- The officer completely ignores the screaming spectators plea
- The attack appears methodical...with the officer having enough time to think about his course of action as the others constrain the victim
- The officer didn't seem to understand that citizen's don't tolerate this mass abuse of power...or that almost everyone has a video camera on them at all times
- Again, the media (some? not all?) discriminates by presuming the police to be innocent until proven guilty, however the victim is branded as a drunk who didn't do as told and resisted.
- Police have ample tools to deal with such situations...I mean when the victim was held back by FOUR people why didn't he just whip out the hand cuffs and drag him out where he wouldn't cooperate with walking to the police vehicle?
Another element is the responsible service of alcohol laws...these particular cricket games at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) have had full strength beer reintroduced where other events are limited to selling low of mid strengths. With this incident occurring so soon after these changes you'd have to imagine that this will be dragged into question thanks to a thuggish prick in a uniform with a badge.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
"Junk Mail" - A Collection Experiment
Ever wondered how much unaddressed 'junk' mail a mailbox not displaying a "No Junk Mail" sticker gets?
Well obviously it's going to be different everywhere. There are far too many variables to come up with any sort of meaningful figure. But in any case I started to put every piece of junk mail that I received in my mailbox into an old postage box I had lying around. I forget exactly when I started but I believe it was leading up to Christmas 2010 in say late November 2010 and it occurred in an area outside of the Sydney Metropolitan Area in New South Wales, Australia :)
So roughly it's a years worth of junk mail - I say 'roughly' knowing it's more like 13 months, however I believe I lost some to the recycling bin due to it being left out in the rain and 'helpful' people.
Anyhow I'm sure you're curious to know how much was deposited.
...Well that box is full and that's a AA Battery to the bottom on the right hand side for some sort of scale for the size/room it occupies...or of course you could go off the bricks.
I weighed this (sorry, no evidence photograph you'll just have to trust me) using the highly accurate method of getting on the bathroom digital scales, waiting for the number to stabilize than held onto the junk mail - it weighed 22.5kg (including box...). That's 49.6 pounds - And that's a lot of resources.
Perhaps it doesn't sound like much to some but just think about how many letterboxes receive some sort of regular junk mail:
Sorry it's a bit blurry, but I think this photo sums things up. There are 19 mailboxes (in the first complex) with one that has a visible NO JUNK MAIL sticker - 8 rolls of junk mail reside in the others and it is assumed the other residents already retrieved theirs. Where those 18 mail boxes received 22.5kg of material, as I did, that adds up to a total of 405kg ~890lbs ....4 Ton worth where 180 mailboxes got the 22.5kg.
One image I evidently don't have available to me right now is the recycling bin for private Post Office (P.O) Boxes provided by Australia Post. I also have one of these mail boxes...and every time a batch of flyers comes out that goes to PO Boxes, these bins literally overflow. I do have a picture somewhere which I can edit in when it is rediscovered.
If that isn't thought provoking enough consider this...
... fluctuations in weight exist during the year as there are spikes in who and how many business advertise this way. The above image is some pre-Christmas junk mail I got received and weighed. As you can see the roll of junk mail (and rubber band) weighs just under 1kg at 836grams ~1.84lbs
There exists on the internet a large range of information about the benefits of recycling paper but I won't delve into that aspect, but rather encourage you to consider them or look them up yourselves and make up your own mind on this issue.
Something I take into account myself is the time and other resources it took to produce the end product: From growing, nurturing trees and harvesting the wood which somewhere along the line becomes pulp of paper creation...as well as the combined distance it traveled including from the forest to the individual delivering it....to ultimately ending up in someone's mailbox before eventually getting tossed (hopefully) in the recycling or used for something else more useful than being landfilled.
It's a tough thing to comment on...Livelihoods rely on the industry, businesses need to promote who they are and what they provide, and people want to be kept in the loop of all the great bargains; whilst on the other hand it is pretty much a big middle finger to people interested protection of the environment and more sensible uses of natural resources, it promotes perhaps unhealthy purchases and consumer culture and it becomes part of the waste stream when the reader is done with it.
Thoughts? Comments?
Well obviously it's going to be different everywhere. There are far too many variables to come up with any sort of meaningful figure. But in any case I started to put every piece of junk mail that I received in my mailbox into an old postage box I had lying around. I forget exactly when I started but I believe it was leading up to Christmas 2010 in say late November 2010 and it occurred in an area outside of the Sydney Metropolitan Area in New South Wales, Australia :)
So roughly it's a years worth of junk mail - I say 'roughly' knowing it's more like 13 months, however I believe I lost some to the recycling bin due to it being left out in the rain and 'helpful' people.
Anyhow I'm sure you're curious to know how much was deposited.
...Well that box is full and that's a AA Battery to the bottom on the right hand side for some sort of scale for the size/room it occupies...or of course you could go off the bricks.
I weighed this (sorry, no evidence photograph you'll just have to trust me) using the highly accurate method of getting on the bathroom digital scales, waiting for the number to stabilize than held onto the junk mail - it weighed 22.5kg (including box...). That's 49.6 pounds - And that's a lot of resources.
Perhaps it doesn't sound like much to some but just think about how many letterboxes receive some sort of regular junk mail:
Sorry it's a bit blurry, but I think this photo sums things up. There are 19 mailboxes (in the first complex) with one that has a visible NO JUNK MAIL sticker - 8 rolls of junk mail reside in the others and it is assumed the other residents already retrieved theirs. Where those 18 mail boxes received 22.5kg of material, as I did, that adds up to a total of 405kg ~890lbs ....4 Ton worth where 180 mailboxes got the 22.5kg.
"Recycling just one tonne of paper saves approximately 13 trees, 4100kwh of electricity and over 30,000 litres of water"
- National Packaging Covenant by the NSW Jurisdictional Projects Group
One image I evidently don't have available to me right now is the recycling bin for private Post Office (P.O) Boxes provided by Australia Post. I also have one of these mail boxes...and every time a batch of flyers comes out that goes to PO Boxes, these bins literally overflow. I do have a picture somewhere which I can edit in when it is rediscovered.
If that isn't thought provoking enough consider this...
... fluctuations in weight exist during the year as there are spikes in who and how many business advertise this way. The above image is some pre-Christmas junk mail I got received and weighed. As you can see the roll of junk mail (and rubber band) weighs just under 1kg at 836grams ~1.84lbs
There exists on the internet a large range of information about the benefits of recycling paper but I won't delve into that aspect, but rather encourage you to consider them or look them up yourselves and make up your own mind on this issue.
Something I take into account myself is the time and other resources it took to produce the end product: From growing, nurturing trees and harvesting the wood which somewhere along the line becomes pulp of paper creation...as well as the combined distance it traveled including from the forest to the individual delivering it....to ultimately ending up in someone's mailbox before eventually getting tossed (hopefully) in the recycling or used for something else more useful than being landfilled.
It's a tough thing to comment on...Livelihoods rely on the industry, businesses need to promote who they are and what they provide, and people want to be kept in the loop of all the great bargains; whilst on the other hand it is pretty much a big middle finger to people interested protection of the environment and more sensible uses of natural resources, it promotes perhaps unhealthy purchases and consumer culture and it becomes part of the waste stream when the reader is done with it.
Thoughts? Comments?
Monday, January 2, 2012
Cocaine in Australia - Drug of the Summer 2012?
Okay I confess - The story of Cocaine interests me. I remember watching the movie Blow with Johnny Depp shortly after it came out for rent after a recommendation from a mate in Food Technology class :P
In short I loved it and since I have read books about cocaine, seen numerous videos about all aspects of cocaine production from plant to vial, read official documents from authorities such as health departments and enforcement agencies, as well as proported "trip reports" on various open web forums.
Pretty much I am attracted to anything that has anything to do with cocaine...movies containing it, hearing new slang words for it, hearing of the most recent 'record breaking cocaine bust', new distribution methods, technology and routes, the latest public figure to be caught up in association with it...well you get the point...EVERYTHING.
Today I learned something new and I am keen to share it. In fact, it's something I predicted. Cocaine is being effectively distributed between states in Australia...well two at least.
News articles today...
Melbourne Busts
Sydney Busts
...cite cocaine being detected by police drug units in two seperate Australian cities Sydney (NSW) and Melbourne (VIC).
This may come as no suprise however what this means is a substance that has been valued at $450 A GRAM (Source "80g worth $3600 - Implying Cocaine on streets may be heavily cut? Only possessed by those willing to part with and with access to $$$?) and is heavily regulated has not only got into an underground market, but it HAS a market at those prices.
Think about this if nothing else. Most people would know of the nasty side of the illict drug trade which includes cocaine. With the price of Cocaine being reportedly £20 a gram in parts of the U.K (Source) and for the U.S between $20 (b.s?) - $175 (after the "crack down" - Source) why WOULDN'T alleged 'cartels' want to hit this apparent Australian honeypot? After-all the AU dollar has been stronger than the U.S dollar for what? Nearly constantly for 12 months? If Australia = High profit, and where the proceeds are used to finance conflict...that means Australia's influence per user could be the highest in the world. Who knows perhaps New Zealand pay even more, or NZ users visit Australia and there's some 'drug tourism' occurring.
With the Summer starting to kick in and a lot of Festivals + Australia Day, it'll be interesting to see what else turns up in the news in this area.
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