TAC 20 Years

Tomorrow night at 8.30, the TAC ask us to watch the road toll halve in three minutes.

It has been 20 years since the first TAC ad appeared on Australian television and since then we have been forced to think about our actions and the repercussion we may feel, in the form of destroyed lives, hopes and dreams, mangled limbs and pulverised brains.

Tomorrow night, at 8.30 make sure you are watching either 7, 9, 10 or SBS to hear the TAC's message.

Do yourself a favour and click on the following link http://www.youtube.com/tac?gl=AU&hl=en-GB

And remember, if you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot.

Quote Of The Day

"It is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life." -Sister Kenny

Quote Of The Day

"The one who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."-Anonymous

Booze Hours Clipped

The Sunday Age reported today that three of Melbourne's CBD 24-hour bottle shops hours have been clipped do try and curb alcohol-fuelled violence.

The Liquor Licensing Commission has been forced to act due to police and public pressure to try and solve the violent problems in Melbourne.

Will this help diminish alcohol-fulled violence? Or just push the violence to an earlier hour?

I don't believe that slashing bottle shop times will change anything. If people want to get drunk, they will get drunk. What really needs to be looked at is the responsible serving of alcohol in pubs and clubs and even restaurants to not give already intoxicated people more alcohol. I understand that at most places it is dark and the bar is often crowded and you're so busy you may not even being that much attention yo who you are serving. But guess what, to be serving alcohol legally in the first place, you need to have obtained an RSA certificate, which means you have learnt that it is illegal to serve an intoxicated person. You need to be paying attention.

I know many mangers and bar owners will not be happy to read this and having worked in hospitality, I know that the bar is the main money earner but at what price?

Most people going to bottle shops are at a home environment and in the suburbs. Violence is still happening there too, so maybe the Liquor Licensing Commission should look further out and crackdown on venues rather then bottle shops.

What do you think? Will this help curb alcohol-fuelled violence, or is it just a scheme for the Liquor Licensing Commission to be seen to be doing something?

Smack Out Of It

On an issue that many may think would divide the nation, a whopping 90% of Australians believe it is OK to smack a child.

According to polls where almost 8000 Australians voted, 90% and more believe that it is OK to give a child a quick smack to remind them that what they have done is wrong. No one is condoning belting a child, and there is a large gap between abuse and a smack but in an age where everyone is so righteous, the poll results shock.

The issue of smacking flared up again recently when Victorian mother Claire Davidson received a knock on the door from the police who promptly informed her that if she hits her child with a wooden spoon again she would be charged with assault with a weapon. I'm not sure about you, but last time I stirred a bowl, I didn't use a deadly weapon.

Claire Davidson's daughter, who is 9, was participating in a classroom discussion when she told her class her mum hits her with a wooden spoon. Her teacher then informed a school support worker who contacted the police.

When did it become a crime to reprimand your child? When did we become so precious? Our Tasman friends the New Zealanders know all about punishing children. In 2007 it became illegal to use force to discipline your child. If parents are seen to be doing so they could be charged and turn into criminals overnight.

A recent argument put forward against smacking is that it will in fact lower your child's IQ. American (where else?) psychologist Murray Straus found that children who were smacked by their parents scored an IQ 5 points lower then those children who were not physically disciplined.

A quick poll around my office found that the majority if not all, showed no problem of smacking a child. One mother said, "Don't tell me off for smacking my kids and then when their 16 tell me to control them. If they don't learn respect and what's right and wrong from a young age, what hope is there for them?"

One can't help but to ask is this why there so many violent attacks happening? Youths of today know, no boundaries and lack respect for people their own age, older and authority figures.

So what's your opinion? Is smacking a form of abuse or a way to discipline a child every now and then?

Fire Safe; Are You Ready?

The Brumby Government in co-operation with the CFA, have released a new fire safety policy that helps to prevent the tragedy that was Black Saturday.

You would have to be living under a rock to not know about Black Saturday so I will skip over the horrific facts and bring to your attention the Brumby Government scheme. Tell me your thoughts and whether or not this is enough to help prevent, Australia’s worse natural diaster from happening again:

The biggest change is the introduction of a new Fire Danger Rating Policy. This policy contains six categories of danger: Code Red-Catastrophic, Extreme, Severe, Very High, High and Low Moderate.

CODE RED, CATASTROPHIC: If you live in a bush fire prone area your safest option is to leave the night before or early in the morning.

EXTREME: Leave early in the morning or you can stay on your property if you are well planned, have a well constructed home and you can defend your property.

SEVERE: Leave your property early in the morning or say if you can protect and defend your home.

VERY HIGH: If you live in a high-prone area, you should leave at the beginning of the day.

HIGH: Go over your bush fire survival plan and make sure you’re ready if the time comes for you to flee.

LOW MODERATE: Check your bushfire plan.

This policy however doesn’t give any form of authorities the power to forcibly remove anyone from their property. That decision still lies firmly with the owner. But will anyone take that risk? Would you after what happened on Black Saturday?

It has also been estimated that the freakish weather conditions of February 7th, will happen at least once more this summer. It’s not only up to the Government or the CFA, local councils have to do there bit too. The Dandenong Ranges have been ravaged recently with a mass clean up (or clean out) of trees. This is NOT the way to go.

Allow local fire authorities to back burn the possible hot spots and clean up debris and scrub. This won’t stop fires from happening, but it will rob them of fuel.

So, with the fire season officially beginning on October 28, I ask you, the very people who could be affected, is the Government’s new fire policy enough to help prevent another Black Saturday?

Quote Of The Day

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change we seek." Barack Obama

Welcome!

Welcome to the re-launch of GOAS. I've changed things around a little bit (I get bored very easily and constantly need mental stimulation) and this time next week it will probably look different again, but for now, enjoy the revamped and hopefully regular posts that are from the Girl On The Soapbox.

Girl On A Soapbox comments on the issues that effect those that live in Australia and sometimes around the world on all sorts of issues and encourages debates and friendly discussions.

So sit, back type and join in the discussions on GOAS.

The Do's and Don'ts of Customer Service Etiquette

DO be patient if you join a phone queue; your call really is important and a customer service attendant will speak to you as soon as they can.

DON'T be rude and cranky when your call is finally answered. It is not the customer service attendants fault you had to wait so long.

DO be pleasant and polite as this will get you much further with your customer service attendant.

DON'T be abusive and dismissive. This is likely to get you an "accidental" hang up or a transfer to another department.

DO multi-task when being transferred to said department and end up in another long queue. Perhaps you could clean, play solitaire or do a crossword. It will make the time you're wasting, appear to go faster and you will have the rewarding feeling of achievement, rather than resentment.

DON'T tell your life story to every customer service attendant you speak too. Be polite and succinct. Know what you want to say. Don't try to think off the cuff. It will waste your time and the customer service attendants time too.

DO thank your customer service attendant even if you don't really want too. You may have to deal with them again and you want them to have fond memories of you.

DON'T cuss and curse as if the customer service attendant did you a personal wrong.

DO take note of the person you speak too. In the future you may have to make reference to the call and it is quicker (and helps you back your claim) when you can note whom and when you spoke.

DON'T continue your conversation with whoever is in the room with you, once your call has been picked up. You're wasting your time, their time and you are more then likely to get hung up on and have to start the whole process once more.

Quote Of The Day

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."- Eleanor Roosevelt

Quote Of The Day

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery."

-James Joyce

Melbourne; The Most Livable City?

Not to give away my age, but not too long ago, I was heading into the city most Thursday and if I had recovered, most Saturday nights too. Now the majority of the time we managed to miss any fights picked within our group, but we did see some fights over the years. Most of the time we didn't hang around and got out of their pretty quick but I dont ever remember their being so much violence.

The fights we witnessed were usaully one guy on another. Not a whole group of guys verse one and the minute someone hit the ground, or drew blood, fight over. No one got kicked while on the ground. No one was so badly hurt that they were put in a coma or brain damaged. No one used to pick a fight with the guys trying to break up the fight.

Recenty, Sly of the Underworld told 3AW listeners that at a recent police convention, past and present members of the force agreed that their had been a considerable rise in violence in the city.

Why is it we are hearing (what seems) everyday that someone has been bashed? Abused? Parents losing their cool at junior football games? Road rage? What has changed in our society over the last 10 or so years?

Can drugs and alcohol be solely to blame or does it go further then that? Their are new drugs on the streets compared to 10 years ago and perhaps that is to blame, but why are sober people snapping? What happened to the attitude: do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Is their some sort of pack mentality?

Try and remember the last time a stranger did something nice for you. Maybe a stranger smiled at you. Let you into the next lane? Let you cut in front of them at the shops becasue you had less items? Said excuse me? Please? THANK YOU?

If you can't remember the last time someone did this for you, this is my point. If you can remember, please share it and restore our faith in the human spirit and your thoughts on why Melbourne has become so violent.

Do you feel safe going out in Melbourne? Do you think twice?

Chris Brown Gets A Slap On The Wrist

Like many women, I was shocked and disturbed by the pictures leaked of a beaten Rihanna by until recently, "allegedly" by Chris Brown. Until Monday, Brown denied that he belt Rihanna after a pre-Grammy party last year, but on Monday took a plea deal and pleaded gulity to assult.

This plea deal has now found Brown escaping possible jail time and being slapped on the wrist with 180 hours of community service. What message is this sending? It's ok to smack around your girlfriend/wife/mother/sister, all you will have to do is plead guilty and your punishment will be the same as if you were caught talking in class at school: pick up rubbish.

Even though this happened in the States what do you guys think? Is it an adequate form of punishment? What message, if any, do you think this is sending out?

Sports Stars V HECS

Some of you may have read several articles in The Age last week highlighing the argument of whether athletes who go to the AIS should be exempt from paying back their scholarships or should they have to pay later with a HECS-style scheme.

Some of the many arguments being put forward (mainly from former athletes) is that most athletes will never achieve the professional benifts of a successful career as an elite athlete and therefore will never be able to pay back the government.

Another argument is that HECS paying university students will have a career spanning over many years where upon they will have a secure job and have the time and the money too pay back their often mammoth debt. Elite athletes apparently don't have this option.

But is this fair? Should the Australian people have to pay for our athletes? Should athletes be made to pay it all back regardless of their success?

A recent online poll found that 93% of people believe that athletes should be forced to re-pay their training debts.

Kimberly Crow, a rower and sporting commentator believes that by forcing athletes to pay back their scholarships athletes will retire younger for fear of a growing debt and that Australia's great sporting culture will dissolve due to this. Current university students and those who are in the process of paying back their debts feel un-easy, why should athletes be exempt? And as for Australia's sporting culture declining due to athletes retiring early, perhaps they wern't that serious about being an elite athlete in the first place?

I love sport, anything to do with sport, but this debate got me fired up. If a reason for aththletes not being able to pay back thier debt is due to being "a dumb athlete" with no bright future ahead of them, then maybe look to the AFL.

The AFL have their footballers enrolled in part time TAFE and university courses so that by the end of their career, they have something to fall back on. Now an arguement their could be that AFL footballers get paid rather well, better then say a tennis player or runner but it's the concept that is my point.

Another suggestion that has been put forawrd, is from HECS creator, Professor Bruce Chapman. Professor Chapman suggests instead of a HECS scheme the government implements a "human capital contract" where the Government "owned" a stake of the athletes earnings. The word "owned" seems a bit ominous to me.

What do you all think?