My response to Sheridan Voysey’s question “Is it ok for employers to check what their workers are saying online?”, which was posed in regards to Facebook in particular on Open House on Canberra’s 1WAY FM.
Yes, and if you don’t want them to see what you’re saying, use the privacy controls to prevent them from seeing it. If it’s publicly viewable, it’s fair game in my books.
And it’s not just Facebook. I have no issue with an employer or a potential employer checking up on what I say on this website, or on the radio, or anywhere else that is public.
There is a vast difference between what is said publicly online, and what is said privately between friends. For example, if I say “the company I work for will go broke in two weeks if they keep spending money like this” publicly, it could have an adverse effect on the company, whereas if I say it privately to a friend, it’s not likely to have any impact on the company.
In this example, the comment is almost certainly tongue-in-cheek, and most people reading the text version would not understand that because, as I’ve said many times, text is not particularly good at carrying subtle humour.
I’d be interested in hearing what you think about this, but I will ask you to refrain from calling this “Facebook bashing” because I’m close to signing up again at the request and suggestion of a few people who I will not name here.
It’s back, hopefully on a regular (read: weekly) basis, but that all depends on my ability to actually remember to write the article each week.
This week’s award goes to Duran Duran, and the feature song is “(Reach Up For The) Sunrise”.
Now the time has come (has come)
The music’s between us
Though the night seems young (seems young)
Is at an end
Only change will bring (will bring)
You out of the darkness
In this moment everything (everything) is born again
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Now the fireball burns (ball burns)
We go round together
As the planet turns (turns) into the light
Something more than dreams to (more than dreams)
Watch out for each other
‘Cos we know what it means (what it means) to be alive
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Feel the new day enter your life
Feel the new day
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
Reach up for the sunrise
Put your hands into the big sky
You can touch the sunrise
Feel the new day enter your life
UP to 340,000 students across Australia are set to pocket a $1850 double bonus from the Federal Government because of a stimulus package loophole.
Under the hastily drawn up economic rescue package, full-time students and apprentices from age 16 will receive a $950 one-off stimulus payment – with those also holding down part-time jobs while studying double dipping for a further $900.
[..]
The flaw will blow a $300 million hole in the stimulus budget and some students have told the Sunday Mail they plan to use the unexpected windfall to head overseas.
Many families will also receive multiple payments under the scheme, with the average family $3800 better off.
More than 1.36 million Australian families already have qualified for the Single Income Family Bonus and another 1.4 million have qualified for Back to School Bonus payments, with some people qualifying for both.
I assume that the only reason this has become a bigish news story today is because of the $300 million figure, because the story certainly isn’t new. I clearly recall the fact that many people will receive multiple payments being a big part of the news stories back when the stimulus package was being debated in parliament.
In fact, the story even goes on to say almost exactly that:
Senator Xenophon said he raised the issue during the Senate inquiry into the Government’s economic package.
“They said that they were aware of it, but couldn’t change the system to prevent the doubling up,” he said.
“So some people have got extra payments because of the way the system works. This is what happens when you rush something through and it’s by no means ideal.”
It’s an interesting story, but it’s a regurgitation of something we knew a long time ago. And if you think the $300 million makes it newsworthy regardless…well, seriously, what’s another $300 million when Lindsay Tanner is predicting, as reported by AAP today, a $100 billion (yes, with a B) deficit or higher over the next three years? Why it’s a mere 0.3%.
What little support I had left for Tony Abbott has now been eradicated thanks to his statement yesterday about apologising to the so-called stolen generations:
LIBERAL frontbencher Tony Abbott has admitted for the first time that the Coalition made a mistake by refusing to apologise to the Stolen Generations while in power, reversing his position and publicly contradicting John Howard.
[..]
“It was a mistake for us not to apologise to Aboriginal people,” the Opposition indigenous affairs spokesman said.
“And I’m pleased when Kevin Rudd did decide to apologise that he was strongly supported by the Coalition.”
My position on the apology hasn’t changed since last year. It was a bad idea then, and it’s still a bad idea now, although I dare say that there’s not a darn thing we can do about it.