Melbourne train network

Why oh why are our politicians so short sighted. 

A few years ago a new freeway called eastlink was built in Melbourne. A good idea and probably a necessary link in our road network. But why did it not include a rail system as well. 

The Melbourne train network is a shocker when in comes to links. All lines come from the CBD and branch out like a spider web. Unlike the tube in London or the metro in Paris or the subway in New York etc etc etc our train lines have very few station links. So if you live near a train line and would like to go to a station on another line, you need to go almost all the way into town to change lines. It is horribly frustrating and annoying that the government actually had an opportunity to link about 3 lines with a ring rail lines. 

Poor foresight once again

Bankers are Wankers

Once again the banks are screwing us.

It is easy to understand the situation, whenever the Reserve Bank increase interest rates, the banks raise interest rates quicker than you can say, 'All bankers are #@&%'s'. It must be a great earner, to drive up the rates so quick.

Whereas, when the RBA drop the official interest rate, it can take days or even a week for the banks to announce that they will drop the rates, but more often only a proportion of the percentage drop and not only that, they choose a date usually in 2 or 3 weeks later when they may eventually drop rates. Over time, this differential must be making the banks full percentages more than they were from previous years.

It is no wonder that they are making record profits, and of course this means fat bonuses for the fat cats at the top. Surely the economics of it all is not that hard, charge more and give less, make cuts and rake in the money.

I know we need strong banks, but they are complete bastards and love screwing everyone while they line their own pockets.

Petrol Price Rip Off

I still can't believe that the Australian Government do not have the ability or the balls to stop the obvious collusion of the petrol retailers in this country.

Last night I was driving to a work function knowing that I needed to fill up with petrol on the way. As I pulled into the servo I didn't really pay much attention to the price, until I started to fuel up. Now, to be reasonable, over the last fews weeks the price of petrol has been remarkably steady for Melbourne standards (currently floating at about $1.29/litre). So as the petrol started to flow I looked a little harder at the price. WTF, the price was $1.42/litre.

The typical 10% increase at the drop of a hat, with no rational reason for the hike.

So as a matter of protest I only put in 15 bucks worth. I made my way to the counter and as I paid I expressed my frustration to the attendant. I am not under any illusion that the attendant has any authority on the price fixing, but I felt it was important to let him understand the situation. When I asked him 'so when did the price go up?'. His reply of '10 minutes ago', followed by ' geez I'm glad I filled up this morning', didn't go down so well with me.

But my anger stepped up another notch, when, on my way home I noticed the same petrol station had moved the price back down to $1.29/litre. So, yes I managed to catch a glimpse of the 2 hour price hike.

Nevertheless, the price fluctuations in this country is an absolute joke. It used to be fill up on a Thursday evening before the weekend price jump, then it moved to a Tuesday for no apparent reason, then we had the weekly Sunday jump, usually a 10 cent or 10% price increase, which ever is more.

More recently, I think the oil companies must be embarrassed to give us the weekly price increase, given the strength of the dollar and the drop in oil prices, although this doesn't mean too much going on their track record.

Gillard, get your shit together and stop the collusion and the constant Aussie petrol rip off.

What's in a cigarette?

There is something about cigarettes that puzzles me.

Why doesn't or why can't the government just ban the harmful ingredients that go into the cigarettes?

This may be a simplistic approach - to change what goes into the smokes, but it may offer a solution to many of the health problems associated with this addictive habit. I am astounded that with all the advertising that we see on t.v. and hear on the radio about quitting smoking there is very little discussion about the ingredients that are put into cigarettes.

After a very quick Google search on what is included in a cigarette, brings up many websites with pretty much the same information. Cigarettes have about 4000 ingredients other than tobacco. WTF? I think many of us have heard this statistic before, I know I have, so why or how can smoking companies still get away with this? Have governments gone completely mad to allow this to continue.

I have copied an extract from one website which has similar information as many other sites I've looked at, which lists some of the chemicals put into smokes.

Here are some other ingredients:
Acetone: nail polish remover
Ammonia: household cleaner
Angelica Root Extract: known to cause cancer in animals
Arsenic: used in rat poisons
Benzene: used in making dyes, synthetic rubber
Butane: gas; used in lighter fluid
Carbon monoxide: poisonous gas
Cadmium: used in batteries
Cyanide: deadly poison
DDT: a banned insecticide
Ethyl Furoate: causes liver damage in animals
Formaldehiyde: used to preserve dead specimens
Hydrazine: rocket fuel
Hydrogen Cyanide: rat poison
Lead: poisonous in high doses
Methoprene: insecticide
Megastigmatrienone: chemical naturally found in grapefruit juice
Maltitol: sweetener for diabetics
Methyl isocyanate: its accidental release killed 2000 people in Bhopal, India in 1984
Napthalene: ingredient in mothballs
Nicotine: a poison used to kill cockroaches
Polonium: cancer-causing radioactive element

With all the campaigning from Quit and varies other lobby groups against smoking, there is no mention about the ingredients. I really can't understand why it is not possible for a government to make it illegal to put many of the toxic and carcinogenic ingredients on a 'banned list'. It was done in the 1970's with asbestos in the building industry, and even though we still hear about cases of asbestoses and other forms of lung cancer caused by this product, it hasn't stopped us building, and the number of people dieing from this is reducing.

Maybe what I'm suggesting could be a change of approach which could satisfy the smokers who do not want to quit smoking and may help them to stop sucking in these harmful chemicals.

Can anyone tell me why harmful ingredients can't be banned?

Can the cigarette company justify poisoning people and continue to get away with it?

I would love see something happen on this regard, which would surely have a positive outcome.

Last night I watched the program Q and A on the ABC, where an audience member asked, 'Why can't we just ban cigarettes altogether?' I really can't see this ever happening. It would more likely take smoking underground, which for mine is not a clever solution. With what I'm suggesting the current laws on the sale of cigarettes would still be applicable so the government can still rake in the taxes.

Smokers could still throw away their money and buy smokes. Could it be a more natural cigarette? Would this encourage smoking if it wasn't as harmful? I don't know.

The cigarettes that we know now could change and maybe they might taste a bit different or may need to be re-lit more often? I wonder if smokers would be able to notice the difference and would accept any change to the smoke itself if they knew that they had less rubbish going through their body.

I'm not sure what could come of it, but it all seems ludicrous to continue with the status quo.

This is my rant, Adam and the Rants.

WARNING: LOGIC AHEAD by Boris Synott

WARNING: LOGIC AHEAD

Warning, Caution, Beware, Look Up, Look Down, Mind Your Step, Do Not Cross, Very Hot, Very Cold, Slippery When Wet, Danger, Slow Down, Stop.
Warning Signs, they are everywhere. I recommend we do away with the lot of them before the human race begins a descent into complacent stupidity. Replace the Warning Signs with a few standard signs like "Think" or "What is your common sense telling you right now Captain Obvious?"
Better yet have no signs at all
Our daily lives have been taken over with signs telling us what not to do and to be careful to the point of not doing anything. This is eroding our built in survival instinct. One of the very few things, besides opposable thumbs, that keep us at the top of the food chain.
Sure if there are no signs the stupid people of the world might injure, maim and kill themselves, but if they are daft enough to stick their head out of a moving train then I don’t think there's really much hope for them anyway. Say this out loud and tell me if you disagree. "I am happy to leave my small children in the care of someone who sticks their head out of a moving train" Ok, so we all agree, no big loss to the species.
One warning sign I did see was on a standard queens size bed electric blanket. The warning was about number seven in a list of ten things not to do with the blanket, including getting the blanket wet. If you still piss the bed you shouldn’t be lying on anything with the word "electric" in the title.
The instructions on how to use the blanket correctly were shorter than the list of warnings. The warning stated in bold font "DO NOT STICK PINS INTO BLANKET". Now I have slept in quite a few different beds of my own and in various places both here and overseas. From the expensive, hand folded down corners, with a mint chocolate on the pillow type of beds to the cheap as chips, is lucky if you don’t get scabies backpacker bunks. At no time I have ever come across a need to stick pins into the bed. So why is this warning required? It is required because some mental midget in a moment of what they thought was exceptional brilliance has stuck pins into the blanket and electrocuted himself or herself. The Company now has to place such a warning tag to prevent any further lawsuits against them. I think that person should have been grateful, as had they not been electrocuted they would have been stuck with pins during their sleep with no one to blame but themselves and more than likely pissed the bed as well.

Takeaway coffee is another one that has warnings that are just astounding to the average caffeine consumer. The lids now have either "CAUTION: HOT CONTENTS" or "CAUTION: CONTENTS MAY BE HOT" embossed on top. Now lets take a moment here. You have just stood in line at a crappy, little, trying to be oh so different café near your work because you were too lazy to make yourself a cup of coffee at home before you left. You have ordered a coffee so you would expect the contents to be hot. I will say repeat that just in case is was too simple a statement. You have ordered a coffee so you would expect the contents to be hot. You would be pissed off if it were cold. I fail to see the need for a warning. If you order a coffee and spill it on yourself resulting in scolds and burns then that will certainly serve as a reminder for next time, more so than any embossed warning message.

Another device with a warning tag that beggared belief was a Heat Gun I was using to strip paint off the side of a house. It is a hand held electric device that you plug into the 240volt socket and switch it on. (Numpties take note: there is that word "electric" again)
It heats up and blows excessively hot air in a measured flow. You hold this near the paint and as the paint bubbles you slide the paint scraper along and the paint comes off in one easy motion.
It has a warning tag "DO NOT USE AS A HAIR DRYER". This gadget melts bloody paint so why on earth would you stick it near you head? The person that did stick it in the direction of their cranium deserves the third degree burns and what small brains they had to be seeping out of their skull. They should maybe stick to collecting stamps and leave the house renovations to the Boy Scouts who probably have a patch advising that they are competent with said device.
So in summary we should remove all the Warning Signs and those of us who don’t have to buy a clue can get on with making this species great and those who can’t keep pace will fall by the wayside in a generation or two.
In 1859 Charles Darwin gave us his Theory of Natural Selection. Imagine how far ahead we could be if we didn’t stunt our growth with warning signs.

Freedom of Information

So Julian Assange has now been arrested on charges unrelated to Wikileaks. Surely right minded people can't think that there is something bigger going on here?

Where is the freedom of expression and information. Isn't the USA and the Western World supposed to support those ideology traits, perhaps only in theory.

The power hungry pollies of the world need a dose of reality and face up to their two faced hypocritical ways.

I write this on the anniversary of John Lennon's assassination.

Give peace a chance,

Adam

Stop with the Traffic Lights

Why are there so many traffic lights these days? Is there an actual person who is employed to determine where traffic lights go? I'm sure there is. I actually think that this 'someone' is trying to justifying there own existence by placing them where ever they can.

Over the last few months I've been driving around the outer suburbs where new estates are popping up, why is it that the traffic lights are the first things to go up. Right now, when one car sets them off, it stops the whole traffic flow, when entering cautiously would have been a better idea. Why can't they just leave them turned off until there is significant traffic to deem it necessary to become operational?

Another place of annoyance is around shopping centers after hours. Why not just turn them off at these times. If cars need to enter the road they can do so as they would if they were entering on a stop sign.

Red arrows piss me off the most I think. If there is nothing coming, then lets get on with it! Go!

I have seen some places around Europe where lights are turned off i think between 11pm-5am. Great idea.

I have had an idea where; after hours the lights could flash red or green depending on the main flow of traffic and if you are entering from the red flashing you can give way to traffic on the green flashing lights.

I also love the American system where you can turn on a red light if there is no on coming traffic. Just a note here, you can turn right in the States, but would be left in the UK or Australia on the red light. Why can't we also do this? Are we too obsessed with traffic fines and generating revenue? Me thinks so.

There has fairly recently been talk in London about perhaps starting to remove some of the traffic lights and going back to basics. You stop, you look and if its clear you go. How simple is that?

I know I'm probably being a little simplistic and sure there are places and times when granted traffic lights are needed and they work. But someone needs to get there hand off it and get real, and get the traffic flowing.

This is my rant.

Adam