A mere click away from the WIN News videos that I posted earlier today, in the “related videos” section of YouTube, I came across these videos of an idiot hooning around Canberra’s streets on a motorbike, in one case reaching 212km/h on ANZAC Parade which is a 60km/h zone, and reaching plenty of other ridiculous speeds on other Canberra roads, in traffic.
For the record, this article on this blog was written at about 7pm yesterday. End Edit.
It looks like they may have run a red light towards the end of the second video as well…almost a certainty considering that they were slowing down but still travelling in excess of 100km/h when the video faded to a different clip just as they were reaching the stop line.
The sooner this idiot is caught and stopped, the better. It’s just a pity that the numberplate which appears briefly is unreadable.
Update 3:42pm: Thanks to Kenneth for a link to an ABC News article which notes that a man is being questioned by police over the videos.
I congratulate the police on their swift work, however I am taken aback by a section of the article:
Superintendent [Matthew] Varley has also criticised internet users who viewed the video.
He says viewing the video might encourage others to drive unsafely.
“We want Canberrans to recognise themselves that simply promoting this sort of behaviour, viewing this sort of behaviour and commenting on it online encourages this sort of thing and it’s quite simply a stupid irresponsible act that puts other people at risk,” he said.
“If you see people driving around at excessive speeds, report it to us at the time so we can take some action at the time as well.”
I must say that I find the comments of Superintendent Varley somewhat perplexing considering that the online community did a lot of the legwork on this case (see the work done by The RiotACT in unearthing various online profiles which apparently belong to the creator of the videos) and have been highly critical of the rider in the videos. It would also be fair to say that a number of people have reported these videos to Police after watching them.
In my view, Superintendent Varley needs to remember that watching the videos is not illegal, and in a democratic society the public is entitled to discuss such things. Whilst it is possible that Superintendent Varley is venting at the few people on YouTube who seem to be encouraging the creator of the videos, his comments are too broad, and are enough to prompt me to write a letter to him expressing both my concerns about his comments, and my thanks for his, and his team’s, prompt action. End Update
The helpful message I received from the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority’s website at 4:15am when I attempted to register for an e-pass, in order to pay for my trips through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel on Sunday:
Apparently they don’t like people submitting orders between 12:30am and 6am. If they only accepted electronic orders during standard business hours it would almost be understandable. If they didn’t accept order between 12:30am and 6am on one day per week while they performed system maintenance it would be understandable…but to block orders every single day between those hours sounds like premium quality red tape to me, in other words, a rule for the sake of having a rule. I’m just surprised that the times aren’t more exotic, perhaps they could block orders between 12:27:48am and 6:04:27am in their next revision of their website…maybe they should block them between 11:36:53am and 2:43:18pm for an executive lunch break as well.
For a city that is trying to make all toll roads electronic and cash-free, this is a very poor effort.
Update: A few hours after originally writing this article I went back to the RTA website to register for an e-pass, during the registration process I gave them my email address so that they can email a copy of my invoice to me. Despite this, they want me to print the “registration successful” page containing my E-Toll Pass ID and Receipt Number for my reference. They have my email address, why can’t they just email the information to me? End Update
To the moron out there who tried to use an SQL injection attack this morning to reset the admin password on this website…next time, try to attack a username that actually exists, and don’t format your attack so poorly that your shoddy hacking attempts end up as the display name on a comment automatically marked as spam.
If you’re going to break in, please try to cover your tracks a bit better.
I was coming home along Coranderrk Street at about 5:15 this morning and noticed something which I can only describe as an act of stupidity. Next to the National Convention Centre a new building is being constructed and there have been some minor roadworks in the area (see the green mark on the map below)…as such there are traffic cones. Some dim-witted idiots (or probably the plural thereof, even if it is a partially redundant description) decided that it would be a good idea to move them on to the road in a haphazard manner, effectively blocking one lane, and turning the other into an obstacle course. The road was not in this state (and there were no construction or roadwork staff on-site) when I went past at 7:45pm yesterday, so these dimwits obviously did it during the night.
Map copyright: Google 2008. Map data copyright: MapDataSciences Pty Ltd. Green marker added by Samuel
Just so we’re clear about this, I am not talking about the “witches hat” type of traffic cone, I’m talking about the tall skinny ones which are about a metre high, so you can’t really negate the obstacle course by running over the cones.
The area was still navigable, but at a lower speed, and only for one car at any given time. If left in this state, this “generally busy during the day” road would undoubtedly have an accident before long. I live short distance away, so I stopped at home, then made my way back and called the police. A friendly lady answered the phone and I explained the situation to her, and she let out a sort of “some people are really dumb” moan when she heard that traffic cones had been spread across the road. I mentioned to her that I would have fixed it myself, but it most probably would not be safe for me to move the cones at night (especially as I was wearing fairly dark clothing), and if somebody saw me moving the cones and called the police about it, I would be the one getting in trouble.
I wasn’t quite sure if the lady on the phone wanted me to wait around for the police to arrive, and as I generally don’t like to leave the scene until they arrive when I call an emergency service, I decided to wait. A few minutes later a police car arrived, “the police officers activated their vehicle’s warning lights” as one of their press releases would say, and got out to assess the situation. I walked over and explained who I was and why I was there, and then assisted the police with the cleanup (which was now much safer thanks to the flashing lights on the police car). A security guard who was just leaving the nearby CIT campus also assisted.
I must say that the two police officers, who must surely have been wondering what was going through the minds of the people who moved the traffic cones, did not seem phased by the sheer stupidity of the situation. They were very professional and friendly, and I think the response of the police to this incident was absolutely fantastic.
It’s just a pity that, in all likelyhood, the chances of catching the dimwits who moved the traffic cones is almost zero. With that in mind, if you saw anything suspicious in the area during the night, I would urge you to give crimestoppers a call on 1800 333 000.
Yes, Daylight Saving Time is with us once again, and that means I will soon be performing the bi-annual ritual of synchronising a watch with the sixth hourly time pip (the top of the hour pip) on 2CC and then walk around the house synchronising all the clocks with the watch. I don’t do this before the start or end of Daylight Saving as the clocks will drive me nuts if I do that, but I can put up with them ebing an hour out of whack after the change for a few hours, so I will update them later today.
In semi-related news, I had a five minute laughing fit earlier after John Kerr read out an email from a Russian woman (it might have been Maritz who wrote a peculiar letter to the editor to this blog a while back, but I didn’t quite catch the name so I can’t be sure), talking about how she sings to the garden every week and is adjusting the garden to daylight saving ten minutes at a time over a six week period so as to avoid confusing it…she also mentioned something about having a cupboard full of clocks (which, if I heard it correctly, was referred to as a clock full of cupboards), half of which are on daylight saving time, and the other half on normal time, and she swaps them when the time changes instead of just adjusting the clocks.
John stopped half way through the email to check if it had come from Clive Robertson!
I might have to order a copy of that from Media Monitors, it’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard on the radio in ages, and it’s proof that there’s a full moon out there.
I was in Queanbeyan today and walked past a rather amusing incident. A parking inspector was writing a parking ticket for a car, and noticed that the driver of the car behind this one was about to get in to his car.
The parking inspector called out “You’ll be getting one of these in the mail” to which the driver replied “Why, what did I do wrong?”. The parking inspector pointed at a bus zone sign and said “It’s a bus stop” to which the driver quite remarkably replied “Oh, but I only read the green sign”.
The tone of the message indicated that the driver thought he was innocent because he only read one sign (it was a shared zone, a red sign indicated the times that it is a bus stop, and the green sign indicated the times that it’s a car park). Putting the fact that the green sign indicated that the spot was not a car park at the time of the incident to one side, the logic behind this statement is quite astounding.
Based on this driver’s logic, if you walk in to a store and want to purchase a $1000 television for example, you could claim that when you read the price tag it said “$100″, and the store would be required to sell the television to you for $100.
The parking inspector had the final word before producing the parking ticket when he informed the driver that “you have to read all the signs”.
The whole incident, and especially the final line from the parking inspector, amused me immensely, although I would have to admit that the notion of that man driving a car on a public road does concern me.
Then I know exactly where you can work to make it happen…Michels Patisserie in Weston Creek.
As I was walking past there at lunch time, one of the staff took a cup of coffee over to a customer’s table, that customer then, quite loudly I might add, enquired about the staff member’s marital status, and then proposed.
For some reason, this level of sanity seems to be quite common in Weston Creek as a previous encounter of mine proves.
Important communique!
Instead of being someone who wants to own a big airline, you become an airline boss who happens to not own an airline at the time.
Some unbelievably wise words of wisdom from my insane angel of destiny.
On Friday I promised details of the “full moon affected people” I encountered during my lunch break. Both of these people were encountered in the Weston Creek area.
I encountered the first one after I had ordered a creamy potato bake and a coffee to take away from a cafe in Cooleman Court (a small shopping centre for those of you not familiar with the area), I was waiting for my order and another man went up to the counter to place his order, one of the waitresses started to serve him, but he, instead of ordering, started telling her about how her photo was in the window, she looked, as did I, and there was nothing in the window, but he insisted…there was an awkward silence, my order arrived and I left. I have no idea what happened with him and his imaginary photo, but I doubt that he was served by the girl supposedly in the imaginary photo.
A few moments later, as I was crossing the road, a man who was crossing the road in the opposite direction decided to yell out, whilst right beside me, “large square people”, something which stopped me dead in my tracks, as I was completely dumbfounded, as were a few other people if their facial expressions were anything to go by. I did somehow manage to complete my crossing of the road and find somewhere quiet and sane to eat my lunch.
It’s been a while since I’ve had the perverse pleasure of writing about the strange people I seem to encounter, and despite the fact I’ve enjoyed it, I don’t want to have to do it again for a while.
This time last week Nattie and I were having a walk from our house to Civic Video in Braddon to return some DVDs. The DVDs were not due back until the Monday, but as that was Christmas day we took them back a day early.
We decided to take a longer way home, which involved passing the newsagent near the corner, about halfway up Lonsdale Street.
There was a woman standing outside the newsagent (probably about 65 years old, looked a bit like the woman in the pensioner’s insurance ads…just with more exagerated glasses and makeup) staring at one of the newspaper billboards. As we walked past she turned around, started waving her arms in the air and exclaimed at the top of her voice “Ooooh Aaaaah Glenn McGrath…who cares?”, she then repeated herself in a more muffled way a couple times and I struggled to contain the laughter that was trying to force its way out.
She walked off around the corner, and Nattie and I followed at a distance as we were going that way too…just after the corner she encountered a couple who looked like they were going out for lunch, and started the whole performance all over again…the couple walked away very quickly in a state of shock (she must have less than a metre in front of them when she started), as Nattie and I left the scene I called out to her to wish her a Merry Christmas…it might have been the most amusing and strange thing I had seen all day, but it certainly put a smile on my face, and I thought she looked like she could use someone to wish her a Merry Christmas. She echoed my Christmas sentiments.
A random Internet conversation I seem to be having right now:
[4:15:09 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: hello
[4:15:53 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: hello
[4:16:15 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: what’s up
[4:17:35 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: well I don’t know, you wanted to talk yesterday and I summed you had a reason for it
[4:20:10 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: yes I just want to get a freind out of my country
[4:21:28 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: ??
[4:21:49 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: I see…you’ll have to forgive me, but I am a bit cynical about people who want to talk to me via instant messenger services like this one when I don’t know them and they provide minimal information in their initial request.
[4:22:15 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: I am sorry but I am not the best person for your quest, but I wish you all the best in your search. Have a happy new year
[4:22:32 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: the same to you
[4:22:43 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: how old are you?
[4:22:46 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: 19
[4:23:42 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: can you send me your pic please?
[4:24:13 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: No, but if you google my name you can find a few dozen of them
[4:24:39 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: real?
[4:24:44 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: yep
[4:24:51 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: ok
[4:24:57 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: let me do it.
[4:25:04 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: ok
[4:28:58 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: I got dem, but I don’t believe is you.
[4:29:21 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: How would you like me to prove it?
[4:29:56 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: I have an idea…the first result when you google my name…why don’t I copy this conversation to that website?
Update 4:57am: Unfortunately the conversation continued, after which I blocked the unusual gentleman who was obviously not going to end the conversation without a blocking.
[4:30:19 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: oh that’s true
[4:30:39 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: ok let me trust you
[4:30:56 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: hmm, what are you
[4:31:03 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: OK
[4:31:06 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: It’s there now
[4:31:34 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: last time I checked, I’m human.
[4:31:49 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: are you a star?
[4:32:04 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Not really
[4:32:15 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: tell me now
[4:33:14 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: No, I am not a “star”. I am an Australian blogger who attratced a bit of attention last year when a popular Australian website decided to ridicule me
[4:34:13 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: wel, I undurstand
[4:34:25 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: that’s good
[4:34:36 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: yeah.
[4:34:50 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Any reason why you wanted my picture?
[4:35:04 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: just to see you
[4:35:20 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: i like pictures
[4:35:30 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Oh OK, fair enough…I like pictures too
[4:35:44 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: Do you want be a friend of mine?
[4:36:10 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: I have freinds who liv there
[4:36:20 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: in Obart
[4:36:43 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: As I think I said earlier (perhaps I didn’t get to the point earlier), I rarely have time to chat, I don’t think it would work out
[4:37:10 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Hobart is a nice city…on a different island to me though
[4:38:22 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: ok.
[4:38:28 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: God bless.
[4:38:35 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: you too
[4:38:38 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: bye bye
[4:38:51 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: bye
[4:39:49 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: sorry , could you find a g.f for me?
[4:40:06 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: or a freind of your island
[4:40:30 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: um, well I’m not a dating service
[4:41:10 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: I suggest that you just keep adding random people to your contact list…surely at least one of them will be your friend
[4:41:32 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: I don’t tha’s a good anwer.
[4:41:44 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: How many have you added so far? 5000? 10000?
[4:42:09 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: How many for you?
[4:42:22 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: 8
[4:42:35 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: 9 if I include you
[4:43:03 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: includ now me
[4:43:19 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: why?
[4:43:40 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: bcause I wanna be your freind
[4:44:26 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: That’s very nice and flattering, but for the third time, no.
[4:44:40 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: why not??
[4:44:58 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Because I’m just not interested
[4:45:28 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: why you no interested?
[4:46:05 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Because generally I rarely have time to chat
[4:47:16 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: Oh, I think that can the reason for you to include I
[4:48:06 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: huh?
[4:48:23 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: hehe
[4:49:31 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: This is a joke to you isn’t it?
[4:51:12 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: I don’t think, maybe you.
[4:51:36 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Well obviously you don’t think…
[4:52:17 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Anyway, I must go, it has been an unusual experience chatting with you…enjoy your friend and picture hunting, but I think you’re looking for a girl friend the wrong way.
[4:52:21 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: Goodnight
[4:52:25 AM] KWIZERA Bruce says: just what you think
[4:53:18 AM] Samuel Gordon-Stewart says: This must be payback for calling random spammers in your country and wasting their time in the same way they waste everyone elses
Hooray for random people who want to talk about nothing (I wonder if he would have tried to sign me up to some “find the love of your life” spam distribution scheme if I had kept talking to him?).
“Tis the season for loopy characters…tra la la la la, la la la la”
It looks like I’ve been turned into a Wikipedia article for the second time, and much like last time it’s a load of tripe. I will be proposing that it be deleted.
(Update 11:46PM: The article has been deleted despite a protest without explanation from its author “Sabiby”. End Update)
Samuel gordon stewart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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[1]Samuel Gordon Stewart [2]is a notable blogger of small fame in his home city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Through his massive web-site updated many times a day containing often peculiar writings of his day to day routine, dreams, letters to politicians, Canberra news and his now strained relationship with Bradley Murdoch, all written in a confusing style jumping between first and third person, along with his pod cast Australian Independent Radio [3], numerous cartoon series [4]and hilarious and often vicious insults and criticism his blog attracts and posts, Samuel Gordon Stewart is often mentioned on many web-sites, has won Australian blogging awards and has gained fame on more main stream local media. Media such as AM1052 2CA, FM104.7, The Canberra Times, Prime News, and various other smaller community media publications and broad casts regularly give mention to Samuel or publish/broadcast comments from him. Through continued mention in the media, his large numbers of letters to the editor of many local papers being published, and word of mouth publicity, Samuel Gordon Stewart has gained local fame to be a cult hero in the league of other well known Canberra personalities such as Limestone Lizzy, Northbourne Nattily, or Civic’s Crocodile Man.
Links: http://samuelgordonstewart.com/
http://www.grods.com/proud-to-be-samuel
http://the-riotact.com/?p=1963
Sources: The Canberra Times: Friday 2nd of June 2006, Monday 26th June 2006, Wednesday 13th August 2006, Tuesday 21st November 2006
The Queanbeyan Chronicle: Tuesday 7th March 2006, Thursday 6th July 2006
The Tuggeranong Chronicle: Friday 15th September 2006
Thanks to anonymous writer “hello” for the heads-up, even if I think you are the author of the article.
In more exciting news, “the ginger bread man” is back, with another fake email address.
From……: the ginger bread man
Email…..: samsmum@samuelgordonstewart.com
Url…….:
you do remember me dont you sammy?
how is mr hat? still alive? i havent seen him in any photos of you?
but i have seen you and your cute doggy walking atop mount ainslie at dawn.
can u guess who i am?
As I said in response to your last email, I can think of a few people that you could be, all of whom I had minimal contact with, and haven’t seen in years…I suspect that most of them have matured slightly beyond your level of maturity though.
Hat is fine, living a peaceful retirement in a cupboard.
Perhaps I have forgotten mentioning a dawn foray up Mount Ainslie with my “cute doggy” (how good are you at research, what is his/her name, gender and breed?), but to the best of my knowledge I have not mentioned it, which leads into your next question:
can u guess who i am?
My psychopathic stalker? The Suffolk Strangler? Oh, wait I know, you’re the paranoid coin eater from Neptune.
Are you having fun continuing something which wasn’t funny in school? Bullying was hardly funny then, don’t expect me to find it funny now.
It’s been a while since I had enough material for a post about the strange things people write about me.
Last week I wrote an email to Stuart Bocking explaining various aspects of my health, this was a follow-up to a phone call I made to Stuart the morning before when I couldn’t sleep (I can’t remember most of that call now).
The banned former contributors to this site who inhabit BrownNoiseUnit decided to expand on that email, making extensive use of their perverted imaginations along the way.
Stuart, I love you in a more-than-a-friend way. I want to tell you things I tell no one else. I want to fall asleep on your shoulder, take long walks in the rain, and gaze deeply into your eyes over the rim of my Nescafe Kenjaro cup. Oh Stuart, how I long to show the sights, sounds and smells of Kairnbra! Coffee at Civic, a croquet at Kingsley’s Chicken, a stroll in the late afternoon past a construction site! Just you, Nattie, a radio, the camera and me.
Stuart, I think of you all the time. Even when I am not listening to your breakfast shift, your voice is forever in my head. Sometimes I just lie on my bed, close my eyes and let the memory of your voice take hold of my whole being.
I have to go now, Stuart. I will call you as soon as I get off work. If I don’t get through I’ll send a text, and if you don’t have your phone on you I’ll email. What’s your home number again?
Anyway, if for some silly odd reason we don’t link up, I’ll be in the cafe across the road from where you work. I’m the one with the binoculars and the anorak!
I yearn for you tragically. Have a great weekend! I’ll be listening (and watching!)
Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Kairnbra
Admittedly I find the whole thing quite amusing (and a tad disturbing), but, if I was a deranged lunatic, it might be something I would write…I think the only reply I would ever get would be the police charging me with stalking or harrassment, and a court order banning me from going anywhere near a radio station, or making any contact with anyone who works in radio…there might even be a clause banning me listening to the radio.
The blatently obvious bottom line though is that Stuart hosts a show on 2UE, I along with many other people contribute to that show as a caller and an emailer, yes I would like to meet Stuart one day, I gather that the feeling is mutual as he invited me to his Christmas function (an invitation I had to turn down due to work commitments), but it doesn’t go any further than a penpal type friendship.
I accept that some people try to stereotype me as a stalker, but that notion is so far from the truth that it is amusing.
Moving on, and someone who I probably went to school with sent this email via the contact form (with a fake email address too)
From……: the ginger bread man
Email…..: gingerpubes@samuelgordonstewart.com
Url…….:
………………………………………………….
Subject…: u dont kno me sammy but i kno u
………………………………………………….
ive been watching u for a long time sammy, and the time has come for the rape and pillage of “bagland” i plan to conquer this wonderful land and keep it for myself.
I can think of a few people who this could be, thankfully most of them matured beyond that point by the end of year 8, obviously some didn’t.
For the record, it was “Bag”, not “Bagland”, and at varying stages there was also “Locker”, “Desk”, “Pencil Case”, “Rabbit Land”, “Dog Land” and “Samuel Land”. And seeing as the world hasn’t changed for “the ginger bread man” in at least the last six years, and probably more, Pencil Case contains a rather large army led by the fearless Commander Ruler, and will be backed up by The Book Of Wisdom (aka a dictionary which makes a good projectile).
Ah memories, thanks for the walk down memory lane, ginger bread man.
Update 4:35PM 17/Dec/2006: I think this effort from Chuck A. Spear is worth a mention.
Good Morning The Beige Baron
Submitted by Chuck A. Spear on December 16, 2006 - 2:15am.
Good Morning The Beige Baron err The Beige Lunatic.
Since you have the flu, how are the aches, pains, and general zombieish feelings? I have been mixing my medicine with coffee. If I whinge this much at 19, what will I be like at 69?
Always and forever
SGS
Reminds me a little bit of a Beatles song:
Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?
I thought Save The Ridge were dead and buried…I was wrong. I thought that having Gungahlin Drive near completion would spell the end of anti-Gungahlin Drive protests…I was wrong. People against Gungahlin Drive will not use it when it opens…just wait, I’ll be wrong.
Today the ACT Government is holding a public walking tour of part of Gungahlin Drive, Save The Ridge are going to “peacefully” gatecrash the event, presumably with megaphones and banners.
Save The Ridge are a cunning mob, they know they no longer have the numbers to mount any sort of protest, so they “urgently” enlist the help of various “Save xyz School” groups, claiming that the money being spent on the Gungahlin Drive Extension is being diverted away from schools, buses etc. They forget a couple important points:
Budget: It may have been a bad one, but Gungahlin Drive was in there
Those peksy court costs: Those agonising years of stalling in the courts by STR cost an awful lot of money…and helped to blow out the cost of the road
I don’t know what they expect the government to do…unbuilding the road would cost more money so that doesn’t help, cancelling the road would be an utter waste and leave a large mess…but might provide a poorly placed dragway (could offset aeroplane noise if the Tralee development goes ahead).
The horse has bolted, it’s won the race, and is about to receive the trophy, but for what it’s worth, Save The Ridge are having an encore comedy performance. Enjoy the press release (emphasis as per the press release).
WHAT: Community Rally to Protest the Opening of the First Stage of the Gungahlin Drive Extension and the Negative Impact the Massive Cost Overruns have had on the Public Transport, Education and Community Sector
TIME AND DATE: 10am, Sunday 10 December
WHERE: Gungahlin Drive Extension junction with Ginninderra Drive
(parking at the GDE site office, off Masterman St, Bruce. Transport is being provided between there and the start of a community walk)
ASSISTANCE: STR needs the URGENT community support to assist with leafleting, letterboxing and postering. Please email info@savetheridge.org.au or call Paul Oboohov on 0417 048 217 to volunteer some time.
OTHER HELP: SPREAD THE WORD!
ABOUT: The first section of the Gungahlin Drive Extension (GDE), between Ginninderra Drive and the Barton Highway, will be officially opened by the ACT government on Sunday 10 December. The ACT government has scheduled a community walk / cycle at 10am on the GDE between Ginninderra Drive and Ellenborough St to “celebrate the opening”, see http://www.gde.act.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/41409/CommunityWalkEvent.doc
The Save the Ridge Committee invites you to attend a peaceful protest at this event, to make the following points:
* The cost of the 9km GDE, one of the most expensive non tunnelled single lane roads in Australia’s history, is being recouped partly through the closure of 39 schools in the ACT, as well as a raft of cutbacks including scaled back ACTION bus services, library closures, social programs cut, reducing ACT Government employee superannuation entitlements from 15.4% to 9% and significant increases of government taxes and charges;
* The GDE is being built at a time of trend petrol price rises not seen since the early 1980’s. With massive increases in petrol demand in some of the world’s most populous developing nations, cheap oil is a thing of the past and nationally climate change issues are now near the top of the community’s concerns. Like the Australian Government, the ACT Government has taken almost no action on the issue. An important first step would be a significant investment in an electrified rapid transit system with a commitment to power it through green energy purchases. With no carbon emissions, this would make significant progress on improving the Territory’s per capita greenhouse gas emission profile;
* According to Canberra Times reports (Canberra Times, Dec 2), until recently the GDE construction has used almost 0.5 (approx. 0.41)% of Canberra’s potable water supply at a time of unprecedented water restrictions. It will continue to require water, but from a new greywater source. The cost of this appears to be the Government reneging on the promise to rehabilitate 20 sportgrounds for community use due to their being insufficient available water because of the drought;
* The GDE has come at an incalculable environmental cost with the destruction of significant linkages in Canberra’s high conservation value urban bush. The ACT Government’s rhetoric of suggesting it will become the first capital city in the world to achieve environmental status under UNESCO (Canberra Sunday Times, 3 December 2006) is farcical with the wholesale vandalism of Kaleen Grasslands, Bruce/O’Connor Ridges and Black Mountain Reserve. Numerous studies by university researchers have found Black Mountain Reserve to be a world class area for biodiversity, the position advocated by STR and supported by world class members of the broader scientific community since the 1990’s;
* Community members and experts recognise that bush regions ACT Government have preserved are so small and fragmented, that the richness of their ecology is not likely to be sustainable in the long term. This is largely due to the threat to fauna when migrating between areas and from domestic animals. The Government’s proposal for the fossil fuel based Belconnen to Civic busway is another example of how little value these pockets of bush have to the ACT Government and how they are only perceived to have value if they can encourage further construction activity along the corridors; and
* The ACT Arboretum site will now be the final home for almost 200,000 cubic metres of unnecessary GDE fill that was trucked in from various construction sites around Canberra to build the GDE. After it has already arrived, it was determined that there was already a surplus of fill on site and this fill was not necessary. In addition, 170,000 cubic metres of soil from the site will also be sent to the Arboretum to permit further construction of the road. Almost 400,000 cubic metres of soil will now be relocated to the Arboretum site. This farce is characteristic of the repeated failures throughout the entire GDE planning, approvals and construction process.
Placards will be available, but if you wish, please bring one of your own. A placard and banner making workshop will be held at 2pm on Saturday 9 December in the Rocks meeting hall. Please come along and help create a range of interesting statements.
Speakers include, but are not limited to:
* Alex Pollard, ACT Peak Oil;
* Meredith Hunter, ACT Greens candidate for the seat of Fraser; and
* Allan Lohe, former Save the Ridge Chairperson
If you can suggest any additional speakers, please contact Paul Oboohov on ph 0417 048 217.
It must have been International Loopy Spammer day yesterday. For some reason I received the same bit of spam five times…the exact same email to the exact same email address five times.
The spam in question was titled “[TKO] : your (eBay) account could be suspended” and was, not surprisingly, a bogus email about an eBay account being suspended. Unfortunately these spammers aren’t very bright, they have copied various aspects of eBay messages, but not very well.
For example, there is no “from” or “reply-to” address, and as such these emails, which slipped past the spam filter somehow, landed in my inbox, and not in my eBay folder…there are further dead giveaways in the email itself.
eBay sent this message to member of ebay
Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay.
Hmmm, surely my eBay username should be in the first sentence then.
The links are very amusing, most eBay scam emails have links to real pages on eBay…these scammers managed to link to Yahoo Mail’s login page instead, and include faulty javascript redirects to the actual eBay pages, they even managed to have the fualty javascript redirect on an ebay.com link point to ebay.com.au
The link to “update your user account details” (which basically means “give us all your personal info so we can commit identity theft”) comes from a “respond now” button, which in a real eBay email would take you to eBay’s message centre, but in this case is the only working link, and takes you to http://madahbahana.org/signin.ebay.com
madahbahana.org is registered to something called the “Indomarching Group” in Jakarta, which for a while was using the website to “sell” fake university degrees, unfortunately in the last 24 hours or so the website has been destroyed and now only returns “403 forbidden” messages…which is a pity because I would have liked to see how bad their attempt at emulating a real eBay page was.
For the record, I received the emails yesterday at 6:06am, 6:09am, 5:41pm, 5:43pm and 6:11pm.
The headers from one email show that a php script at zvvurk.nl on behalf of 125.160.82.205 sent the emails, and the people responsible used Microsoft Word to write the emails…they really are dumb.
Update: Since writing this post I have received another one of these emails, it came in at 9:14am. End Update
