The previous Liberal government, lead by John Howard were criticised by the opposition heavily at the time being overly heavy handed. It was unconceivable at the time that we’d set up a detention centre for processing and essentially hold the refugees captive until their claims were processed and they’d either be granted refugee status or sent home packing. Now that the Labor government is running the show, they are now being criticised by the Liberal party for being too soft however in the grand scheme of things, little has changed.

In the latest incident, we’re seeing the asylum seekers refusing to leave the Australian ship that saved their lives after their boat was sinking. During the last four and a half week ordeal, the Sri Lankans have threatened or have gone on hunger strikes to have their case heard – essentially blackmailing the government into action.

I appreciate that it is a very delicate situation, most Australians couldn’t possibly understand the conditions or environment they were living under which would cause an individual or an an entire family to uproot and head to a foreign land in a tiny boat but how the latest case has panned out just doesn’t feel right. The Australian government has now set a precedent, act like a child and stomp your feet and the government will bend to your will and give you what you want. In my opinion that isn’t the right message to be sending at all, not to the illegal immigrants or to the filthy people smugglers who bleed them for what limited wealth they have and more.

I understand that Australia is a geographically large county with a small population and appreciate that we certainly have the space for individuals and families seeking refuge here after leaving their home lands, but the Australian government must be in control of our borders and its security. We certainly can’t leave the doors wide open or we’d be flooded by illegal immigrants, but we certainly cannot close the door either.

Australian citizens have said they don’t want the door closed and that we should and want to help these people. However, there is a clear undertone from what I’ve heard and read so far that suggests that while we want to help – we also want to be protected. Clearly the challenge is going to be balancing those two desires but I find it increasingly difficult to justify saying no to someone that is fleeing their country for their own peronal safety and a better future.

What’s the answer?

Related posts:

1. Kevin Rudd & The Australian Labor Party Victorious
2. Australian Idol 2007
3. Australian Open Winner 2007: Roger Federer

Following on from the financial restructuring, Stella Hospitality Group announced on Friday 14th that it was rebranding itself to Mantra Group, to further distance itself from the embattled Octaviar, previously MFS Limited.

Now I’ll need to remember to tell people I work for Mantra Group and not Stella Hospitality Group!

Related posts:

1. CVC Asia Pacific & UBS Agree On Stella Group Financial Restructure
2. Mantra Group Wins Circle on Cavill Trade Mark Court Case
3. Changing Of The Guards

Kyle & Jackie O are known for pushing the boundaries of what is allowed on the radio and they are normally just labelled as stunts to get even more publicity. As a by product of their previous behaviour, while intentionally pushing the limits – it would seem as though their latest stunt which involved hooking up a 14 year old girl to a lie detector and asking her questions about her sex life went horribly wrong.

The media around the country are calling for their scalps after the 14 year old devulged that amongst other sexual activity that she’d been involved with – that she had been raped. The media are suggesting it should have been pulled immediately from air, however Kyle and Jackie O are saying that they don’t have that facility in their studio. I find that hard to believe, given that everyone else commenting on it suggests thats a common facility for a radio studio.

Whichever way it happened, their stunt involved hooking up the 14 year old the the lie detector, with her legal gardians permission to sort out once and for all whether she had been having sex. As it turned out, the mother not only confirmed that she’d been having sex but that she’d allegedly been raped as well – which supposedly wasn’t part of the expected outcome.

While it was poor judgement from the two and their radio station to allow a 14 year old to be hooked up to a lie detector, it wasn’t done in an interrogation style like you’d normally see in the movies. On top of that, it was done with the concent of the mother – who I believe suggested the idea in the first place.

I think that the media should be directing the majority of their anger at the mother and less at Kyle and Jackie O for their poor judgement. Should Kyle and Jackie O be repremanded, I think so as it was a gross error in judgement and in poor taste. Should they lose their jobs over it and their radio show, no I don’t think so. Should Austereo take a hit, absolutely as I’m quite sure they approved directly or indirectly that the stunt was okay for air and ultimately they are responsible.

Who do you think should be in the firing line and to what do you think their punishment should be?

No related posts.

Leading into the match, a lot of the press going on was touting Roger Federer as an easy win over Andy Roddick due to an imposing 18-2 win/loss ratio against him in the past. While it might have seemed a logical choice, you can never underestimate what a grand slam final will do to a player, drive them to greatness or crumple under the pressure.

Looking at how Andy Roddick had played leading into the final, I wasn’t confident that Roger Federer would walk over him to win Wimbledon 2009 at all – Roddick was playing some of the best tennis in his career. He dismantled Tomas Berdych in straight sets, ground out a hard fought five setter against Lleyton Hewitt with great shot making and knocked off the third seed Andy Murray in four – Roddick was a changed man and on a mission. While Andy Roddick played an extra five sets on the way to the 2009 Wimbledon final over Roger Federer, the previous two losses in 2004 and 2005 to Federer were sure to light the fire within for the third encounter.

Roger Federer had an impressive run in to the finals, dropping only a single set which was swiftly reclaimed without mercy 6-1 the following. Federer had been playing great tennis for the entire Wimbledon tournament, backing up from his first French Open win earlier in the year. Due to how the draw unfolded, Roger Federer didn’t come up against a top 10 seeded player before the final, the highest being the 13th seed Robin Soderling. There was speculation that the lack of a dominant oppontent was going to severely hinder the finals performance of Federer, however being a consummate professional and 14 open champion – I was confident that he’d find the muster if and when required.

After more than four hours had lapsed on centre court at Wimbledon, Roger Federer set the record books alight by claiming his 15th grand slam title and surpassing the long standing record of Pete Sampras. The match game score was 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14.

The overall match statistics were incredible from both players, especially the serving statistics from Roddick with 70% first serves in averaging 203kph and a fastest serve of 228kph. Despite the blazing speed and a high percentage from Roddick, Roger Federer nearly doubled the number of aces at 50 and combined with an imposing percentage win ratio on service and return – handed Roger Federer the win.

Roger Federer was without question the greatest player of his era, which is a milestone that Rod Laver always measures a player by. However after winning his 6th Wimbledon grand slam title and 15th in total, which as restored his world #1 ranking, has now also rightfully earned the title of the greatest player in history.

Related posts:

1. Australian Open Winner 2007: Roger Federer
2. Australian Open Winner 2006: Roger Federer
3. Medibank International Sydney Winner

Related posts:

1. Mantra Group: Stella Hospitality Group Rebrands
2. Changing Of The Guards
3. Mantra Group Wins Circle on Cavill Trade Mark Court Case

As you can imagine, after having competitively priced, very fast all you can eat internet for a long time – the change has been received as though it was the end of the internet and after all, a heavily restrictive 250Gb per month is outrageous!

To contrast what ComCast clients are about to receive, most broadband users in Australia pay a little more for their internet, it is 1/10th the speed and the overwhelming majority of people survive on a plan that offers less than 50Gb per month.

After having lived through the notorious 3Gb Cap from Telstra in the late 1990′s, Australian broadband users were happy when competition entered the market and provided better value plans. While we’re happy we’re not being limited to 3Gb and can get up to 50Gb at a moderate price, ComCast clients are screaming foul play that they are being pulled down to a measly 250Gb per month.

Related posts:

1. Best ADSL Broadband Plan
2. MySpace & News Corporation Problems
3. Debunking The Bigpond Broadband Signup Myth

As I’m trekking to work each morning, I listen to 102.9 Hot Tomato with Luke and at the moment a shifting set of co-hosts while they re-establish their morning crew. The current female that is on the morning show, made a statement that she doesn’t feel that Pamela Anderson is really a supporter for PETA because she accepted the job for Big Brother, however KFC are one of their major sponsors.

The discussion continued and Luke’s point of view was that it was a job, regardless of who was supporting/sponsoring the show. He felt that she has, in his terms, serious ying yang, because even though KFC sponsor the show, she was willing to put her case forward. The female said she shouldn’t have taken the job and that should have been her form of protest.

I don’t agree with that at all, I think she would have received orders of magnitude more press because she took the job, pressed her point and created a media feeding frenzy. Consider for a moment if she had turned the job down, if it even made the evening news, it would have been a one line quip that Pamela Anderson was asked to enter the Big Brother house but turned down the role due to conflicting interests in sponsorship. There wouldn’t have been more said about it and it certainly wouldn’t have been mentioned repeatedly.

What do you think, should she have taken the job and in which case do you think would have gathered more press ?

Related posts:

1. The Uplate Game Show With Hotdogs
2. Uplate Game Show Returns Worse Than Ever

In previous federal elections, my vote has been in favour of the in power Liberal Party, however 2007 is a time for change in my eyes. For the first time in my voting history, I have cast a number 1 vote in favour of the Labor Party and am backing Kevin Rudd to lead the country forward.

For the last eleven and a half years, the Liberal Party have been in the drivers seat, which has by and large done great things for the country. While the coalition has had it’s successes over the last decade, it’s also had its share of failures. I believe that the Australian Liberal Party have been in power for as long as they have, not necessarily because they had better policy all the time – but that they haven’t had any real opposition.

In 2007, the Australian public have had an alternative to the coalition – it came in the form of Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor Party. It has probably come as a surprise to many of the Liberal Party constituents that as soon as the valid alternative was provided, that the Australian people have swung so strongly in favour of it.

As I mentioned earlier, I was among the people who have swung their vote to the Labor Party. If you’re wondering why, for me is has become quite simple; I don’t think any political party should be empowered for as long as the Australian Liberal Party have been. If you’ve stayed with your historic voting pattern or swung your vote in either direction, what was your motivation for the Australian Federal Election of 2007?

Related posts:

1. Who Said Kevin Rudd Doesn’t Have A Sense Of Humour
2. Ricky Muscat, You’re Not The Australian Idol
3. Australian Border Security & Illegal Immigrants

When the actual news item was covered in full, I find out that it was from an abseiling accident. Next up they mention that it happened on Mount Tinbeerwah, followed by it being a 27 year old male and that he was from Toowoomba. All of these things start to hit a little close to home as a bunch of my friends regularly go hiking and abseiling in that neck of the woods. When the video footage starts rolling, who do I see laying flat on his back being winched into a helicopter other than one of my best friends.

After talking to another mate on the phone tonight, I find out that Anthony was abseiling down a 100m face on the mountain at pace. What he didn’t realise was that there was a branch of some sort sticking out from the cliff face that he couldn’t see coming and at great pace, he essentially ‘sat’ onto the branch. The branch was approximately an inch thick and it entered him through the groin and exited through his stomach. Incredibly, Anthony says he didn’t realise exactly what had happened at this point and could feel the stick in his pants but didn’t think anything of it – so he continued to abseil the next 50m to the base of the cliff face!

Nearly as soon as it happened, thanks to the miracle of modern technology – they were talking to him at the base of the cliff face and called through to 000 for assistance. In a very short amount of time, the emergency services were on scene and providing first aid while the Energex Rescue Helicopter was en route.

Anthony was flown to Nambour Hospital where he underwent various scans and ultimately surgery. At this stage, we’re told that while it was very serious it looks as though he might have escaped relatively unscathed.

Update:

After going into surgery yesterday afternoon, Nambour Hospital have confirmed that the surgery was successful. The branch has been removed and in an amazing act of good fortune, it has missed all vital organs as it passed through his body. To my surprise, he is already up and about but will remain in hospital for a couple of days for monitoring, to make sure that no infection takes place. I think a lottery ticket or three are in order.

Coverage:

• http://www.abc.net.au: Man impaled on tree in abseiling accident
• http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au: Abseiler impaled on tree
• http://www.news.com.au: Abseiler impaled on tree branch
• http://www.smh.com.au: Man impaled on tree
• http://www.theage.com.au: Man impaled on tree in abseiling mishap
• http://www.thedaily.com.au: Abseiler survives impaling, Impaled and lucky be alive
• Courier Mail: 1, 2

Related posts:

1. O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
2. Steve Irwin Dies & Kills The Internet

While everything was still on the rumourmill, it was expected that both Google and Microsoft would have been bidding for a stake in Facebook. What has surprised the industry to some extent, is that Microsoft actually won the deal. Of course, this investment has now extended the marketing agreement between Microsoft and Facebook, which now sees Microsoft as the supplier of user centric advertising on the Facebook platform globally, where as it was previously limited to the United States. Of course, Facebook haven’t closed the door on further investment opportunities – we might see at least one other deep pocketed company come to the table yet.

While I appreciate how important this investment was for Microsoft, in a vain attempt to keep themselves in the online marketing game – I haven’t yet joined the dots on how it is going to work. As most savvy internet users will attest, the Microsoft search platform via MSN and its successor Live is some what limited. To add insult to injury, the advertising platform that Microsoft have been building seems so lacking compared to Google, that Microsoft are only recently realising just how far behind they are.

None the less, it’s good for everyone to see some healthy competition in the online advertising space. I expect there will be a lot of people watching this space to see how it develops over the coming months; for all we know this might be the starting point for Microsoft to launch a full frontal assault against Google.

Related posts:

1. Google & News Corporation Strike USD$900 Million Deal
2. Google Acquires Feedburner
3. Microsoft Live Search Tactics To Claw Back Market Share