open your mind

2011-02-21T01:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had my little sisters over for the weekend, and am still rather busy. However, I would like to make a quick update.

It's been 6 days since I began taking the anti anxiety pill, and I've noticed them working a little. I still can't get myself into a lift (I had a break down trying to get into one), but today, a massive storm came over, and I took it like a man. It was pretty bad (not as bad as some), and I wasn't once scared! This is essentially a first for me, so I'm guessing that these pills are having some effect on my panicking abilities. Also, almost all of the side effects have gone, although I still get rather dizzy.

Anyway, I have to go and sort some stuff out for uni. All the rooms in my house are nice and organised, except for my room, which currently is a complete mess, and has a fine layer of dust over all my study materials. I promise to make a longer post soon!

2011-02-17T03:30:00.000-08:00

Well, my first full day on these anti anxiety pills was an interesting one. Obviously the full effects have not set in yet, however, I have kept that buzzed, tipsy feeling.

I had about 3 hours of solid sleep, then waking up at about 2am, due to about 2 thousand possums running on my roof. I couldn't get to sleep after then (if the same thing happens tonight, I will make a post about it), and ended up actually cleaning up the kitchen. I did manage to get to sleep at about 8am, but my boyfriend kept waking me up with cuddles. I don't think that the same thing will happen tonight, as I'm so buggered at the moment, and I think my body just needed to adjust to the drugs.

The nausea has not been bad really. It only really effects me if I spin in a circle, or rock back and forth (duh). So yes, so far so good. I'm impressed by the lack of bad side effects. I did, however, fall over in my front yard this morning due to dizziness :/

Just to let everyone know, I'm on these pills for anxiety, NOT depression. Exercise doesn't help as much as it does with depression (although, it's not bad for me :P). I'm going to push my self slowly to get over my fears, like I did today, when I spent a whole 15min in a basement level food court in the city. Most of the time, I wouldn't even be able to go down to a lower level than the ground in a mall... now I'm ok with it :D

Also, on a small side note, my wisdom teeth are coming through. Luckily, I don't think I'll have to get them out. I had some minor teething pains, but they were reminiscent of childhood pains, and it's stopped now. That saves me a few thousand dollars!

I promise next post (if it isn't a 2-3am post) won't be about my medical mishaps :P

2011-02-16T04:18:00.000-08:00

So, I've started on my course of anti anxiety/depression pills (I'm doing them for the anxiety). I've only taken one, and I can already begin to feel minor effects.

I feel like I'm mildly tipsy... like I've had one drink and am enjoying it. I can understand why a lot of people can't stand this kind of mind set, however, I for one, love it.

See, the thing is, not only was my anxiety destroying my life, but I actually work better, have better aim and think clearer when tipsy, or have this same feeling. My knife accuracy is a lot better, I'm alert and I still have this buzzing feeling. I can concentrate on a book and my thoughts are not scattered all over the place. My only side effect so far is a mild dizziness if I get up too quickly (which I'm used to from previous medications).

So, I'm happy that these drugs are having a good effect on me so far. I made sure that I'm taking the lowest dosage of the safest drug possible, so I guess I didn't have much to worry about in the first place. I was anxious about taking the anxiety pills! The only side effects take place in the first week only, and are a little bit of nausea and dizziness (along with constipation, but I'll just eat some grapes). They did have some other side effects listed, but they only occurred if the person had a pre-existing condition related to it.

So yes, my first experience on these drugs. I've been putting it off until I was an adult because I know that these kinds of things can fuck you up when you take them as a kid. I may not need them after this first course of a month. I'm mainly using them to face my fears, and once I've done that, I don't think I'll need them anymore.

Wish me luck, and sorry about another "me" post :P

Happy Hallmark Day :D

2011-02-15T03:03:00.000-08:00

Well, happy valentines day! Well, for me it was yesterday, but for all you Americans, I guess today's the day.

Yesterday I went out with my partner for a lovely Italian dinner with a bottle of bubbly, which was rather nice. We didn't buy cards or flowers or shit... because really, we were going to go out to dinner anyway.

I guess we don't really celebrate valentines day. I mean, there is really no point, specially for people like my and by boyfriend who live together. I guess its an excuse for a nice dinner, but really, they have taken the idea of valentines day too far. For some reasons, roses become more expensive than gold, chocolate seems to be horrible and only sold in little red boxes (with HEAPS of room for more chocolate than it actually holds), and all the restaurants are booked out! Wouldn't it be nice if people didn't need a reason or a date to be nice to their significant other?

My boyfriend and I do lovely things for each other all the time (I'm looking at buying him a Fender Stratecaster, white, at the moment), and it makes every day special, as opposed to saving up all those feelings for one day. All you have to do is put some thought into it.

For example, I LOVE getting presents, no matter what it is, as long as its wrapped, I love it. So, he went out to buy some groceries and household items (we had just moved into a new place), wrapped each item up in wrapping paper, and left it on the living room table for when I finished work. It was wonderfully lovely, and I spent a good hour opening presents and putting them away in the kitchen with glee. He also included a couple of things for me in there, but even if he hadn't, it was still an amazingly good idea.

Anyway, my point is that people shouldn't need a reason or a date to do something lovely for their significant other. I know valentines day is nice, but it has lost a lot of meaning. I even know girls who don't like it when their boyfriends do things on valentines day because the think that the boy will only do things for them on that day.

Sorry about the rant, but I kind of needed to say it. :)

Also, on a side "me" note, I had an allergic reaction to cashews on valentines night. It was pretty nasty, but I didn't die. Remember to keep safe around nuts.

2011-02-12T02:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I have just about two more weeks until university starts back up. I guess it means lots of free stuff for Orientation week.

But it means I should really get my ass back into a good routine of cleanliness and organisation. Unfortunately, neither of those attributes are strong in my personality, making it hard for me to have any motivation to do ether.

So yes, this is a little rant about me, being cynical about myself.

I hate that I can't really find the motivation to just, clean. I have so much shit in my house I don't need, use or just gets in the way, but I never have the "time" to clean it up. I don't really want to keep it, I just don't mind it being there.

I see other peoples pristine houses with their nice carpets and neat clothing, and I'm nothing like that. I would much rather sit here, blogging about how much I hate the fact I don't clean, instead of cleaning.

Well, I guess this is some goddamn motivation for me then!

2011-02-11T01:40:00.001-08:00

Well guys, I did it.

I went to the doctor and she put me on anti depressants to help me with my anxiety. The stuff is called Pristiq. I'm not allowed to drink too much on it, so this weekend will be my final weekend of full on drinking... by myself... in my room.

Apparently they have the least amount of side effects, and I asked for a low dosage... I'm not about to jump off a cliff... they're just there for my anxiety. I will hopefully manage to get in a lift this year! I'm feeling confident, but that may just be the wine. *ohgodilovewinesomuch*

Anyway, my bitching session will only be minor tonight, due to the fact I SHOULD be cleaning, but am instead drinking copious amounts of wine.

Today, while walking in the city to see my doctor, I was approached by two Mormon boys. I do know they hang around a lot in the city, and I do my best to avoid them, but this time they persisted. They kept coming after me, as though I was a special person to be fucking converted. So, I gave them the finger, told them to fuck off, and casually walked away as other people smiled and laughed at the Mormons.

Now, I hate making people feel bad, but Mormons are a distinct exception in my book. They not only offend my beliefs, but seem to like to fucking force their beliefs on me at every moment possible! I treat everyone with the respect they deserve and earn, and these guys, I would walk all fucking over in high heals. I dislike them even more than Islamic culture, and that's pretty fucking hard. (The CULTURE, not the religion. Go worship any God you want, I don't care).

Treat others how you would treat yourselves. Thats what Jesus's message was, and no one seems to fucking understand it! I would accept if someone treated me a little worse if I was rude to them, because I would do the same back. Everyone screws the message to fit their own agendas.

Peace, from a very drunk chick.

Pushy Mothers

2011-02-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

So, in continuing from my last post, this post shall be about my recent encounters with overly pushy mothers.

I first began to notice the stress put on kids by their mothers when I was in my first couple of years of primary school. Most of my friends, only 6 or 7 years old, could never come over just to play, on the weekends or after school, because they had so many things on, from sports to debating. I was really confused as to why they did these things for quite a long time, considering most of them complained to me that they hated it.

Then, when I hit high school, my mother, who is not the pushy type at all (she let us choose what we wanted to do) told me about how one of her friends put her two kids into bands, sports teams, art classes and various other activities, simply to try... TRY and get them a fully paid scholarship into a local "prestigious" high school. It wouldn't have been much more expensive to just pay for them to get into the school... it's not like they were THAT exclusive. They take anyone who pays.

I then realized that, for some reason, mothers (and sometimes fathers, but not a lot of the time) seem to think that the better high school their child gets into, the better job prospects they have from university. Admittedly, the way the mark final test papers in Queensland is based on the scores of other people around you (if you do well and the rest of the class fails, you fail), therefore making a private school look more attractive. But this does not necessarily mean you will get a fantastic mark.

I was put through a private school, ended up with a pretty good final year result (enough to get put into teaching or psychology degree's), but I was rejected for all my courses! I had to wait half a year to be accepted into another course (Bachelor of Business). I'm now in my Bachelor of Human services and my marks from high school don't even matter any more. I'm making my own way, and the only extra activity I took at school was being on the student environmental council.

Actually, another thing that compounded the problem of stress in the students was that my school REQUIRED that every student take an after school activity, which I though was utter bull shit, specially for the grade 11's and 12's. The only activity that was worth it was being in any of the school bands, but that required... you know... musical talent.

Anyway, my main point is that there is already too much stress on high schoolers, from social pressures to school... don't add anymore. It's painful to watch.

2011-02-07T21:17:00.001-08:00

*sigh*

I really don't feel like being social.

I was offered a position as a Guide leader. They really need one, or else they will have to shut down the Guide unit of the Hut. But I went to the meeting last night, and the only thing I could do was panic. I didn't want to talk to people... I hate people at the best of times. Now the expect me to be the Guide leader. I feel really bad turning this down, but I'm going to have too. I've got my other volunteering things to do, and university. Fuck this, I feel so bad...

I guess I'll just text them. The other leaders have a way of skewing their words so you have to help out anyway like "Oh, we can work AROUND that" or "Sure you can't just do a couple of hours a week?". NO, FUCK OFF.

Yes, I am the self serving type, but only because when I'm not, I have to deal with people who guilt you into shit. It's better just to not care at all when it comes to certain organisations.

As for the Big Brother Big Sister thing, I'm still going ahead with that. The interviewer was really nice to me and they said I didn't have to go in a lift to get to their office... that I could take the stairs. But no Guides... they just made me feel like shit. I'm not even going to call, I'm just going to text them to tell them. Half the girls didn't like it there because their mothers were just forcing them into something for "extra curricular" activity. Fuck that, I NEVER did extra curricular activity and still managed to get myself into a good university. The other mothers just thought of us as glorified baby sitters.

Anyway, that's what my next post will be about... stupid fucking mothers.

My fears

2011-02-06T01:37:00.001-08:00

I've found that I have some very specific... strange fears, that stop me from doing every day things. I'm not sure if they are logical or not, but I shall list them, for your reading entertainment...

Going on a train, just in case the train doors don't open
Going in a train tunnel
Going in ANY lift
Going in an underground car tunnel
Getting in a car
Riding in the back of a bus
Sleeping with no lights on
Sleeping in a tent
Sleeping without a blanket
Going anywhere further than walking distance from my house
Storms
Being in a place with no phone signal

Most of things should be a part of my day to day life, but I will do ANYTHING to make sure that I never have to go through any of them. It affects my life a lot really, but I can live with it. My university is about half an hours walk away... I don't have any work yet and my family always come to visit me (they're an hours express train ride away). But I'm starting to see if affect even my relationship. I can't go out at night to the party district (not that thats my scene anyway), I can't go adventuring through mountains like I used to... Everything is based above my above fears. For some reason, I'm ok with going through underground Bus tunnels, as long as I'm at the front of the bus... I'm also ok with glass lifts.

Does anyone else have these kinds of fears? Is it just me?

2011-02-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, today I really don't have too much to gripe about.

The weather is fine, no one has personally offended me by saying something on the news, my back yard is super clean now...

So, not much to gripe about. I guess this will be a "me" post.

Tomorrow, I will be going in for my (hour fucking long) interview, to volunteer for the Big Brothers, Big Sisters group. I basically make friends with a disadvantaged kid they pair me up with. I'm also going to be volunteering for the Dressed for Success group, where women who are too poor to buy themselves a nice suit for a job interview, are given a couple of nice outfits, interview skills and some shoes. I'am also planning on volunteering to help tutor kids in English at a poor school. I managed to graduate English in grade 12 one of the top of my grade, so I figure I can help out.

So, I guess you think I'm a good person for helping out and volunteering. Well, I guess I am in some ways. But my main reason to start volunteering now, is because the completion of my degree requires me to clock 400 hours of volunteer work, helping out people. Also, it gives me some great references to actually get me a paid job. However, Big Brothers and Big Sisters is something I'm passionate about... thats about the kid I'll be friends with, not just the hours and super duper references.

Meh. Hopefully I'll be able to make friends. I love living with my boyfriend, but it's nice to have people over.

The myth of Equality.

2011-02-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

(Just as a note, when I finally get my camera to work, I will take pictures of my throwing knife target and post them)

Equality is something we can all seemingly stand for. I mean, if we are all equal, we would have nothing to fight about hey?

But we are not equal, are we? I am a fairly poor person, meaning that I am often treated worse in stores and social gatherings, as opposed to richer people, who have status symbols such as a car and a nice house. And why are we treated differently? Because the other person has more money, in this case anyway. People don't even realize they're doing it.

But even then, just because I have breasts, I get free drinks at parties and am held the door open for. I, however, are not like most girls and will almost always return the favor.

Anyway, what I am pointing out is that equality is a stupid idea, that has no basis in the human Psyche or society what so ever. I treat someone who is rude to me differently to someone who asks politely... it's just how it's work. I know that you need to draw the line, such as giving everyone an equal CHANCE, but that is different to treating them equally as well.

People think that when someone treats someone differently, they can blame it on race or sex. But they can't. You have to blame it on the structure and teaching of society from a young age, to expect that certain people have certain jobs and certain ways of life. They may have had bad experiences in the past with a person of that race or sex, OR... OR, this is a good option, the person who is being treated differently... IS DOING A BAD JOB.

OH MY GOODNESS. HAS NO ONE THOUGHT OF THAT??? *rage*

Sorry about that, but I'm sick of hearing about how a woman/man in a workplace is fired, she/he claims gender bias and it turns out that she was doing a shit job anyway.

Anyway, my main point is that equality is pointless in this society. People will ALWAYS have their own opinions about people who are a certain sex, race, or hold a certain religious or political view point. We need to recognize this to make sure we can, finally, look at each other and not see anyone as a particular race or sex, but as simply another human being.

2011-02-04T02:54:00.000-08:00

Well hi,

I've found my posts to be rather... impersonal. I mean, they contain my opinion and such, but not really anything about me. I don't know... I just feel like talking about a couple things that I do, rather than just go on cynical rants. But meh. It's not Facebook here. I shall write about myself sporadically, and try not to bore anyone.

So, this is my first "me" post.

Well, I live in this great, big, windy, flooded, wet, ablaze country called Australia. I love it here, specially in Queensland. We're the kind of people who don't complain it's hot until it's about 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) and start complaining when it gets to about 20 degrees Celsius (68 F). I've lived through drought and flood, cyclones and bush fires. I guess its just a part of life here.

I live with my boyfriend in a lovely 2 room unit, full of asbestos and dust. But the back yard is lovely and large and it's better than not being in Brisbane. I am in University at the moment, doing a Bachelor of Human Services (I was doing a Bachelor of Business, but I figured this would produce more jobs, considering the amount of social workers they need at the moment) and volunteer here and there.

I am learning to throw knives (proper ones, not kitchen), partaking in Pen Paling, collecting stamps, reading books, drinking and smoking and enjoying life in general. I have a soft modded Wii, because I'm too poor to buy games...

And I just realized how boring this is to read. Well, enjoy!

2011-02-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

Well, that was an a astoundingly good movie. With most movies these days, about half way through I begin to want it to end. Not this time. It kept me griped right the way through. Even though some of the dialogue was lengthy, it was necessary to keep up the pioneer character. Not only was the acting top notch, but the plot was progressive and made sense (well, most of it. Some was a little hazy). True Grit is something I definitely recommend seeing.

So, moving on from praise, I move to my usual cynical attitude towards cinematic releases.

For some reason, a channel in my country, which I can only compare to Fox News in its accuracy and bias, seems to love picking up on movies (or receiving money from the marketing agents) that are CRAP. They will give them good reviews, call them family friendly and also disembowel movies that are not "agreeable". For example, on a current affairs show, they ran an expose` detailing how horridly gory and scary the recent Harry Potter movie was, and warned families from going to see it, saying how the director had gone off track and lost his child audience. However, when Yogi Bear came out they, even with no monetary back up, recommended it, called it hilarious and great for all ages. I would seriously consider severely hurting myself over seeing that movie. Another example is their promotion of Gulivers Travels, which was not a BAD movie, just very hyped up.

I've found that good movies, even children's movies, are often ignored simply because they spent too much money on a well written script and not enough on promotion. I LOVE seeing movies that have ambiguous trailers (not doomsday ones, they're just stupid). I can't predict the plot, I go in with no expectations, and that makes the whole experience that much better. I love how they're not given a million plot summaries and splattered all over the internet. Even after reading a review for Black Swan, I still can't see the resolution from it (or choose to ignore it), and I can't wait to see it!

People need to realize that just because something is the biggest and brightest, doesn't make it the best.

2011-02-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well hi guys.

I've decided to update this blogie thing more often. Today's post is me telling you that I'm too busy getting ready to see True Grit to write anything decent at the moment. Check back tonight for more bitch... I think this time I may talk about Cinema and how good movies often don't get the attention and praise they deserve.

I'm back!

2011-02-03T01:38:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm back, rambling on about useless things as usual.

This time, I'm here to complain about the media, and most notably, the coverage of the recent natural catastrophes that have happened in my state, in which no area was spared.

Now, I get bat shit scared at even the hint that there may be a storm around, even if it only lasts about 15min (which here in storm season, they usually do). I freaked the fuck out when I heard about the flooding which inundated the lower half of my street. So, as a test, when I first saw cyclone Yasi forming out in the Pacific ocean, I decided that I would not watch or read any news item about the cyclone until it had crossed the shore (it's still a cyclone now I think).

So, I did. For 4 pain staking days I did not click on my favorite site, Google news. And you know what? I read the news this evening for the first time. It was a hell of a storm. One of the biggest in our history, considering it's gone further inland than any other has. But no one died. I was not affected. I had no reason to panic. I heard people in the local super markets telling their fellow paranoid friends about how they were doing the usual cyclone things like taping their windows and such, simply because it was not EXPECTED that it would hit Brisbane. It was as though that one degree of fear pushed by the media was enough to tip the reasonably minded people of Brisbane, who had just been through a historic flood, over the edge into panic.

Another thing I noticed, browsing the local news sources for the flood of news about Cyclone Yasi, was the same sources and the same information being repeated over and over again, not just by different news outlets, but in each of the separate stories in each different news outlet. Constantly telling me to keep tuned for more information, recycling the old stuff to make it seem new... It was maddening.

But enough of that. I am glad they are getting some media coverage, because without it, we would not care enough to help. I guess that if we cause enough panic and grief, everyone will fork out great sums of money to read a news paper that tells them where to donate.

The fall of the english language

2009-04-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

The use of sayings such as "oh my god" and "like", usually in the context of "..and he was like...", shows the slow decline of the use of more articulate words to describe things, weather it be visual or emotional. This decline of the use of more descriptive words in everyday life is not the next step in the evolution of language, but the simplification of it to the point that no one will need to think about what to say, but to just say what is already programed into their vocabulary for the certain situations they encounter.

It could even get to the point that when a person speaks at all, they do not even know what they are saying when they do speak, with such a loss of adjectives and verbs. Although things like nouns may not change as much, as quickly, eventually people, places and things will be grouped simply into a few words. Thanks to these changes in the english language, our lives have the ability to be taken over by an over powering, almost omnipresent force that will control our lives and creating our lives into more mundane existences.

Through the loss of the descriptive parts of the english language, we will have a lot more trouble speaking up against forces we do not accept and demand not to be reckoned with. Forced to accept our almost inhuman fate of simply acting as a cog in the wheel of manufacturing for a larger power then ourselves, who's only face is that of the advertisements they pound out at us, the human race, or the future generations of certain countries, will have no knowledge of how to stand up for what is right and what is needed to be a human.

The loss of more descriptive and more aggressive language, specially used in the right context, along with this current generations loss of intrest in public happenings that are local to them and involve government altercations, will ultimately lead to the downturn of the human race into somewhat a machine, if anyone has the balls to take the opportunity to do so.

We must not lose our ability to describe or debate.

a cocktail of drugs

2008-11-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

with the recent news in, that a new vaccine for skin cancer has been developed, i have begun wondering if all these amazing feats of medical science are really worth it. there are things to "cure" or "prevent" almost anything these days.

but why do people seem to worship these drugs and hail them as "miracle cures"? why do people not take preventative precautions, such as waring a hat in the sun to avoid skin cancer, instead of always relying on these "wonder drugs" right before they die?

such questions remind me of the sad truth that we are a society who values convenience and speed, who don't take precautions beforehand. this can apply to many situations such as simple as fast food restaurants. people don't have to cook, they can just eat and leave the waste on the table, floor, or bin (if they are nice). they don't think that eating a grease-ball burger everyday may cause them to get diabetes, obese and give them poor self esteem.

i guess people just think these days you can take a pill and fix everything, i mean, they have had experience with pills before, such as paracetamol which almost immediately "cures" a headache. people now think you can take a pill to help you lose weight, and it will do it for you, even though the person probably wont exercise any more, or eat any less, which is what is needed for the pill to work.

it makes me wonder how, for hundreds of years, we have never really had the need for all these drugs. although, for hundreds of years, the human race didn't have the same problems. i mean, when have you heard of some ancient european (apart from royalty) becoming obesely fat and dying from diabetes.

these amazing "wonder drugs" have ensured that we live longer, to pollute the earth even more. so where does natural selection come into it? remember those super bugs everyone is so scared of these days? they have used natural selection to combat antibiotics and have gone out, ready to infect the world, ensuring that natural selection goes on as it should do.

so how many of these drugs will cause super bugs, super cancer, super diabetes to form? how long will we survive on all these new and improved drugs that have been created to fend off some very preventable diseases? the lifestyle of today is very much driven by consumer's and convenience, so people expect we shall last off these drugs until THEY die. then they don't care.

i think it is great, overall, that people have such powerful minds to create such drugs. i could not get my head around such science and i respect them with the highest dignity for attempting to save our population from the demise they so utterly deserve for being such a lazy society, driven by convenience, consumerism and self want. but people should realize that a pill or a vaccine is not going to suddenly make you better.

and people should also realize that natural selection is going to come into play eventually, get around the vaccines and cures and kill even more people.

Australia's mandatory internet filtering

2008-11-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

being an Australian citizen, i am proud of Australian culture and our ability to say, think and see things as each of us individuals (who are not influenced by mass media) wish to. but at the moment, that freedom is now being jeopardized, with the simple blocking of 10,000+ internet websites to the Australian people that the government deems "inappropriate".

so, there are a couple of major problems with this proposal. first i will start with the ethical ones, the ones that matter.

as a "democratic" society, we are almost ensured with freedom of speech, freedom to read what we want, freedom to view porn, freedom to do anything almost.

"The [filter] will specifically test filtering against the ACMA blacklist of prohibited content, which is mostly child pornography, as well as filtering of other unwanted content," Senator Conroy told Parliament.

other unwanted content?? that makes me want to laugh with absurdity as well as fear for my freedom for viewing materials that i wish to.

child pornography blocking, to me, is a great thing. the last thing we need around here is more opportunities for pedophiles to feed their fetish, but the filtering system does not block things such as peer to peer file sharing which is a main transporter for child pornography. it also does not block proxy sites in other countries that can be used to avoid the whole filter altogether. and i am more then sure that they are not going to care about a few cases of people at home, who want to watch their legitimate porn or read about support for some random political group whom to government deems "unwanted content", so what happens if they just think that a pedophile swapping images is an innocent person at home, just swapping some illegal music?

there are some ISP servers who are more then happy to take aboard the filtering service though. Michael Malone, Director of Australia's largest ISP, "iiNet", is taking on board this filtering system, only to show the government "How stupid it is". Since the government is not listening to expert advice, public opinion or the industry, "iiNet" is hopping to deliver some "hard numbers" which the Rudd government likes to base their policies on these days. they are going to publicize every child who can get through the system, they are going to tell everyone about every legitimate site that will be blocked.

so what will happen to all the freedom that we, as a "democracy" that everyone loves so dearly, have almost been guaranteed? what will happen to people who voice their opinions like i do? will i be blocked from the internet, a violation of my rights to communicate with the world? will rogue journalists be blocked from voicing their opinions about international issues, wherever they may be in the vast world? we are simply turning into state controlled in the same way countries such as China and north Korea are controlled. this is what we get for voting in a leftie into government, who at first, we thought was going to do things FOR the Australian people.

also, with the mandatory filtering, there is another problem, for people who are for and against the filtering service. internet speeds could decline up to 84% and prices for internet service rise sharply. hmm.... paying more for poor, slow, filtered internet.

i wonder how the general populous of Australia will think of that in a time where we are attempting to save money in a world in financial crisis.

euthanasia, the good, the bad, and the ugly

2008-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

after reading many sites to do with euthanasia, for and against, i would have to say, i am for it. BUT however, there are many things wrong with arguments from both sides of the debate.

first, to define euthanasia. most people see it as what it is: assisted suicide. that is, essentially, what it is. it is done for the benefit of the patient, the family and (as sad as it may seem) the health care system. it is done because the patient is in excruciating pain and wish's to die, but does not have the means to do it themselves.

but as i said before, several of the arguments for and against just befuddle me.

people who are against euthanasia do have some good reasons for their arguments, but one of them that does not make ANY sense to me is the value of life. how valuable is life if you are in constant pain?? it should not be about quantity of life, but quality. it should not be for any religious reasons. the god i know and love would accept this.

to not let someone have their own choice over life and death and to have their choices dictated to them by political and religious leaders is against everything we are taught to believe in, in our "democratic" society. you see the people and the state they are in. they are depressed because some can barely feed themselves, some cant move without the slightest bit of pain, some cant clean themselves without help. if someone kept their pets in this condition, then the RSPCA would charge them for assault.

the people against euthanasia for pain related reasons sometimes just say "take more painkillers". fairly blatant. what about people who are paralyzed? you cant take any damn medication for that can you?

but some of the arguments for euthanasia also do not make entire sense to me. they have used the words "terminal illness" as an example for euthanasia. but people with terminal diseases/poisonings/injuries can live for quite a while. no one can predict what time they may die. they have had to use many other names for it, all of which can be interpreted in many different ways. they have to define their ideas and names with more accuracy.

but when weighing up the arguments, believe me, it is easy to see it is almost best (but not the easiest decision to make) to opt for euthanasia for a loved one. personally.... i would HATE to make the decision, but i respect anyone who does have to make the decision and opts for euthanasia.

so to all political leaders, religious leaders and "ethicists", stop dictating peoples choices to them. everyone should have a right to say yes or no, based on THEIR OWN BELIEVES AND MORALS.

the american invasion of Iraq in 2003

2008-11-14T23:17:00.000-08:00

so, as the world is so often reminded, america is still fighting off an unknown enemy in Iraq. we are also reminded that there are several reasons, confirmed and unconfirmed, of why america, and many allied nations, such as Australia and the UK, are in Iraq.

so, now it seems, everyone has their own reason to why the invasion of Iraq occurred. it is maintained by governments the world over that it is to eradicate the taliban who where driven out of Afghanistan by western forces. it is also maintained that they wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein, whom did not follow the orders from the US about oil and whom was such an evil dictator.

so, america hates the terrorists, who "performed" the 11th of September terrorist attacks on 3 world trade centers and the pentagon in 2001. it seems that the entire invasion was based on "terrorist" attacks on america, where the explanations about the attacks where totally unfounded. only one of many of these examples is that the attacks on the pentagon where meant to be by a plane. so why was there minimal damage to the pentagon itself? why is there only a small hole in the wall and why are there no remains of the plane itself? it was claimed that it disintegrated by the aviation fuel, which is physical impossible considering the explosion did not last the 2 hours it would have had to, to disintegrate the plane, not including the engines. all footage of the attack was confiscated and only 5 frames where released to the public. and from these frames, no plane is visible.

if they have nothing to hide, then why don't they just show the damn footage?

and they want to get rid of dictators? so far, they have rid the world of Saddam Hussein, who was the only one who could keep his country in order, despite his biological weapon attacks on his OWN people. ever since he was pushed out of power, Iraq has fallen into chaos. they have not been able to keep a leader and HAVE to rely now on western military help and aid.

but what about all the other dictators? how about Robert Magabe? he is still in power, yet he has displaced half of his own people, killing hundreds of thousands in the process. he has caused inflation to rise to the utterly ridiculous height of 231,000,000%. why are they not in there "stabilizing the situation"?

then there is the idea that america is in Iraq to secure oil. it seems to be the idea that keeps the masses in silent agreement to the invasion, but still marginally opposed to it. it gives us a reason to hate it, but to keep our dependance on oil, an easy resource to use, but not retrieve. its the thing that prevents us from finding alternative energy sources.

disgusting.

and now, the only reason that i support the Iraq invasion, is so that the situation can be mended and Iraq is able to handle things on its own. now that they have had to become dependent on the allied military presence, it will take a while to wean them off it.

but no. the western world needs oil, don't they?

so.... what do you expect to read here?

2008-11-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

well, from the title of my blog, it is easy to guess the general idea of why i am writing my thought and opinions, to be discussed with others. i want to ensure that people think about the things they see on T.V, not just mindlessly agree with it. people should always get a second opinion, if it be from a less biased news source or someone who is an expert on the matter. the problem is, people value convenience too much.

so i challenge people to think and feel their OWN ideas about what happens in this world, from euthanasia to the invasion of Iraq. from religious differences to global warming. the things that make humanity what it is.

i'm not sure if anyone reads this, and as long as one person does, and thinks about their already cemented ideas about a certain thing, and realizes that there are other ways to think about things, then my goal has been reached. i just hope to purvey these ideas to a broader audience then just one person though.

you don't need a crowd to change the world. you need one person who can lead them