Mum - Your computer isn't working!
Did you know they have been trying to filter the Internet for kids since the beginning? My first version of Internet Explorer had the still ineffectual "Ratings Filter". Why it was so ineffectual was because not all sites are rated. In fact, a teeny tiny proportion of them are. So you had to allow access to many, many harmless sites. With a co-ordinated effort to allow all sites to be rated, and a few more options in the filter settings (such as for those of us who don't think our kids will go to hell for reading Harry Potter) it could be the most effective of all the filters. So long as parents remember there is a nice big stack of Internet browsers available to download, and that you need to set it on all of them. There is an overwhelming majority of kids who are more computer savvy than their parents and they can install a browser without their parents even knowing they are there. This I know because if it were not a staple of Windows, you wouldn't know Internet Explorer is on my computer. All shortcuts for it are removed because its not as effective in its safety standards as my beloved FireFox.
Where is all this going? Well, Obviously the 84million dollar waste of time - NetAlert. A bunch of really computer dumb politicians (that know so little about the net they need to get their Hip - tech savvy employees to edit Wikipedia entries for them) thought that they needed to protect our children from the evils of the world wide web. Of course, that only related to the evils of Naked Women, non christian view points, Blue Tit birds, and breast cancer research. The true evil on the Internet for them, that which can actually do them real harm - Chatting with Paedophiles in Chat Rooms - is still available to them.
What is the real problem here, is that its another electronic Nanny that parents count on to do their job for them. Much like the Square Nanny in the corner of the lounge room, this new Net Nanny is designed to give parents further ability to take little notice of their children, and what they are doing. People wonder why childhood obesity is on the rise, and yet then in homo-superior rants at their children's 'demands', explain how when we were kids, there were no PlayStation, or Computers. There was no Foxtel with hundreds of channels to choose from. We had Vinyl LP's which didn't fit into any portable device, and the Walkman - which took tapes - also took two AA batteries that run flat awful quick and you had to wait for your parents next pay day to replace them. We used to play cricket in the back yard and ride our bikes to spend our pocket money.
That said, I am not denying there is not reasons to fear letting your child out by themselves on any of the countries roads. Mine, well Mine cant go out without me or their father. This is a fear our parents never knew, and so we try and compensate with PlayStation and Computers - the Internet - not really acknowledging that we are exposing them to the same danger there. So what do we do?
My method appears to work well. Firstly, they have a decent sized back yard (Please, if you have a child in a townhouse or unit, consider moving.. Even to a whole new place on the map.) with Swing set and Trampoline. We have Cricket sets, totem tennis, and many other toys that allow our children movement in their yard. They also have a large undercover play area, just in case it rains - so they are not too disadvantaged. That didn't work well when the storm came through the central coast and flooded the play area with freezing cold water - we lost a lot of toys that day.
Next, we do have a PS2 and 4 computers. One of the first things I got for the PS2 was Eyetoy. Thankfully not in the play area, but in a decent open area, it encourages them to move to play the PlayStation. They also have singstar - but that's a story for another blog! (All the activity they get fighting over who's turn it is) Now with the computers, 3 are desktops and one is my laptop. The G5 apple mac and the Laptop both have the main purpose of being work machines - so the kids don't normally get within cooee of those two. However, of the other two, an Intel Celeron 2.6Ghz and an G4 Apple Mac Sawtooth, only the Celeron is set up due to room constraints. This is because they are set up in Common Rooms. Generally, anything my kids think they shouldn't be doing on the Internet, they don't do because they are not hidden in the privacy of a study or bedroom. The G4, when set up, comes with the bonus of OSX 10.4, which has an effective enough parental control built into the operating system. Personally, I can not think of a better "Net Nanny" than their family, and so - while my computer sits in a common room, whether I am looking or not, my children are safe surfing. It works for both my sisters too. The best part about this method, is it costs no one - not me, not you, not any other tax payer, one red cent.
Dr, it hurts when I do this...
Rudd recently unveiled a long overdue idea of the Federal government taking over public hospitals. To be honest, the whole three levels of government thing has been handled incorrectly for far too long. While I understand that the Federal Government cant be expected to sit around and plan for each and every state individually, I find the lack of co-operation between State and Federal, because of the party differences, childish!
Obviously, one State Premiere will want an allotment of funding for something, and another will want that allotment for something different, and both will have very good reasons for wanting it, but the Federal Government has to choose. Either way, they are pissing off someone. For example, the insanely long time spent pissing off central coast residents through ignoring "the missing link". Or the Qld Health crisis. Certainly we can point our fingers at the state government and say "its all your fault", but if I remember this correctly, the buck is supposed to stop with the federal government. Apparently, they are toothless tigers against the state government. It's far worse in a Labor run state with a Liberal Federal Government. You never hear solutions, you hear the blame game. For example, I once appealed to my local member, Jackie Kelly, to do something about the child care crisis. I had a job in St Leonards. To get there at my start time, my train left at 5am. No Daycare centre was open at 5am. So I toyed with the idea of putting them in one closer to where I work.. It cost more than I earned! I was left choiceless - our two income family became a one income family. (Prior to that, my sister was minding them while I found a house and child care facilities.) I didn't want that much - a long day care centre that opened early enough for me to go to work, and didn't cost the earth. I used to have one in QLD, why couldnt I get one that good in NSW? Well, Jackie's reply was basically - its not hers or ther federal governments problem. Go speak to your local state government rep. (We wont mention who just quit because trying to work and be a mother is so darn hard! - even if she had a personal Nanny). For me, her "tough stance" on childcare was too little too late, and really, it yielded no real results. The point is, It was a Problem - and rather than *taking charge* and FIXING the problem, the blame game perpetuated to stupid proportions..... and everyone lost interest, leaving working parents with the same old problems, but no hope in sight.
So when Kevin Rudd looks at another state problem, ailing health systems, instead of hiding behind "Well, that's a State Problem", he puts his foot down. Certainly, I would answer a referendum much sooner than 2008, but what people are missing here, is he is shaming state governments into action. If they don't fix it, then Big Brother has to come and clean up their mess. I know with kids these days, threatening to get big brother to beat up the school bully is "cool", but lets not kid ourselves, we are from the era where if your older sibling had to do anything for you, it was ultimately embarrassing and just made the whole situation worse. In this situation, the federal government having to step in and take over one of the most important jobs in their portfolio would also be considered Political Suicide.
That said - I am counting on their common sense as much as Rudd is.
Fair go! I had to park on the footpath, or I would have had to walk an extra 100 metres...
Today's most amazing news story is about how *Greedy* the councils are. I would like to think I am not the only sane person in the world that realises that if people didn't park illegally, then the councils wouldn't have to fine them... right? Its the same as the "evil Speed Cameras" and how millions in fines are given out every year in those "revenue raisers in disguise". I find it more disturbing that so many people blatantly speed through known speed camera's like they have some god given right to do whatever the bloody hell they please. You cant miss the speed camera - there are THREE warning signs before it. You cant honestly not know where you cant and cant park either.. again - SIGNS! At the very least, common freaking sense! The Daily Telegraph, once again, in all its glory blames the councils for the stupidity of others.
Even funnier was the implication that Randwick Council is a lot meaner than Parramatta Council. No, Mr Bissett, people parking in Randwick are just a whole lot dumber! If I am right with who in Randwick cops the most parking fines, then you can just look at their behaviour at the race course for proof of that! I used to have a Race Horse, and I remember the parking *joke* well. We parked a fair way up the road, in a legal spot, and had a bit of a walk (myself while several months pregnant) to the entrance. About 100m of road shy of the entrance, the footpath disappeared under a string of cars. I cant remember which track this was at (Rosehill or Randwick), but it was absolutely shocking! We had our Four Kids with us for "Family Fun Day" while our Horse was racing in a listed event. Yet, I had to take them, and my pram onto the road, on the outside of parked cars just to get to the track. Wonder where the parking police were that day.
In Other News...
Apparently these days, Paying your rent amounts to squat if your landlord is less responsible than you are. Tenants have gone on record as being given 30 minutes to move out - one told to vacate the premises immediately, sorry, you cant take your stuff with you.
We all knew getting a rental property was getting hard these days - so you do your level best to maintain the rent and property in the most pristine of condition. But when you think that it gives you some security, you may one day find out you are sorely mistaken. Perhaps we should all keep the books other fiddly things packed - until buying a house finally becomes an option again.
Closing Words....
I wonder if I can stick my ex husband for $16,000 a week?
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