The Engineer also Muses

Muchas Grassy Ass Amigo!

Leaks site leaks site links banned March 17, 2009

Filed under: on the government,on the interblahs — Janek @ 13:31

I just came up with that title… clever, no?

The first rule of censorship is that you can not talk about censorship

Wikileaks, 2009

In Australia, there is the continued ramp-up of internet censorship. According to SMH:

Already, a significant portion of the 1370-site Australian blacklist – 506 sites – would be classified R18+ and X18+, which are legal to view but would be blocked for everyone under the proposal. The Government has said it was considering expanding the blacklist to 10,000 sites and beyond.

Fight for internet freedom! Do not let the government win! Next stop it will be anything that opposes the government… this blog, for example.

Links:

 

After School March 16, 2009

Filed under: on homosexuality,on nothing in particular — Janek @ 12:29

I got a link to this page via my email, and I do love a good story over the interblahs. After School is the true story of two different kids at school and snapshots of their lives through time. One is the popular jock, one is the dork, but both are gay, and they both have lives that cross over, especially as they’re both ghey.

Give it a read, and then zoom through the rest of the site :)

 

A Letter March 13, 2009

Filed under: on living out of home,on the daily grind,on the government,on work — Janek @ 16:54

Dear Prime Minister,

As elements of your recent stimulus package come to light, it is increasingly apparent that the movements of the Labor party in Australia have varied from the traditional support of the working class towards the more conservative Liberal party.

I am a very low income earner, with an expected income of only $25,000 this year. $20,490 of this is on the Australian Postgraduate Award, a scholarship provided by the government to support the research for my PhD in Chemical Engineering. This works out to be $11.19 per hour, and whilst untaxed, is nearly $10 per hour less than the minimum federal wage set out by the Australian Fair Pay Commission. However, as it is untaxed, I do get to retain the full amount. Nonetheless, it does result in me having a taxable income substantially below that of a normal ”working person”, meaning that my tax is completely offset by the low income earners benefit.

How does this relate to my email? Well, because of the offset, I do not qualify for your benefit. As it is, I am surviving on minimal income, and now a benefit of ”$950 one-off payments for low and middle income households and individuals” excludes people like myself who can hardly make their rent payments and buy food, let alone be part of the ‘student life’ or stimulate the economy. Yet, your package allocates money to people who have hardly lived in the country or are deceased!

Mr Prime Minister, I am incensed at this package, because it is not accessing the people who really need the money, to pay off credit card debt and allow them to really help to stimulate the economy. I have never agreed with the Liberal party before, but I can only concur with them that this policy seems rushed and poorly thought out.

Yours Respectfully,

Janek

 

Fucking Government March 11, 2009

Filed under: on me,on the daily grind — Janek @ 21:42

I did the test on the ATO website just now and I don’t get the $900 bonus because A-O+G=0. What am I on about? Well…

For those people who didn’t know, KRudd announced that Australians earning under $100 000 would receive a bonus! Yay all of us. Students would also get it if they were on Centrelink benefits (not me, boo).

Anyway, I nipped over to the ATO page on the bonus. I went over to the calculator, entered my details, and because I had a very low taxable income (most of my income is a tax-free scholarship), the only tax I had was absorbed by the low income earners tax.

tax_bonus

Consequently, I get zip. Zero. Zilch. I do not get the now reduced $900. Funny thing is, I could do with $900…

 

Weird Feelings March 9, 2009

Filed under: on my family — Janek @ 17:56

I’ve been having some odd feelings the last few times I’ve gone home. No, it’s not just the passive-aggressive stance of my parents or anything like that. It’s the fact that, a little while ago, Mum told me what she’s done with Poppie and Uncle At. See, they’ve both been cremated, and both want to be scattered over Ridgeback, or Ka-run-gai, or somewhere. So, while we plan what to do with them, we’re keeping the ashes.

Poppie is up the back, behind the suitcases, and At is under the big steel box. Both of these places are under the stairs.

Every time I go up stairs, I’m literally walking over my grandfather and great uncle. It’s eerie.

 

The housemates March 9, 2009

Filed under: on living out of home,on my friends — Janek @ 17:47

Dan kindly pointed out yesterday that I don’t have any reference yet to my belov’d housemates… after all, the house is for 9. So, I’ve put together a rough working list to be revised as needed:
Room 1 – The Endless Student: 6 universities, countless degrees, now doing Grad Law, but might eventually finish one day and have to get a job.
Room 2 – The Solicitor: Aspiring Asian on her way to being the next Lucy Lui… or not.
Room 3 – ME!
Room 4 – The Accountant: Much like the one of Dan’s own from his place last year, we have an Asian girl doing commerce. My my.
Room 5 – The Smoker: There are only two smokers in the house, and he is the other one. Really really nice guy, does tend to smoke like a train.
Room 6 – The Spelunker: Currently empty, this was the site of the cave-in in the ceiling
Room 7 – The Cananandian: Really lovely lovely girl, who managed to break up her relationship in Canada when she found a new bloke here in Australia
Room 8 – The Innocent One: Also a commerce student, she has lived most of her life in Cambodia, and is now being exposed to more Australian Culture. She joined us for Mardi Gras, and wanted to know what homophobia meant and why gay people can’t have children. She’s so cute
Room 9 – The Rainy Cloud: A nice enough lady on the outside, she’s upset about her isolation from her family, and seems determined to walk around with a sour face on all the time.

So, that’s the 8 of us! Now I can write stories about everyone :D

 

Protected: AARRGHH!!!!! March 7, 2009

Filed under: Protected,on living out of home,on university — Janek @ 00:44

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Password Changes March 7, 2009

Filed under: Protected — Janek @ 00:00

So, I’ve decided to change my password to something mildly more memorable. Email me if you want it :D

 

Departure March 6, 2009

Filed under: on my friends — Janek @ 13:53

Sara and Meitar depart today, back to the US. It has been a busy year for them here in Australia, and ended on a sour note, but I have certainly made two great friends, and learned much along the way. They have a fascinating tumblr blog, Male Submission Art and are organising a really interesting forum and conference in New York this weekend called Kink4All.

I am going to miss them both, and hope that we can stay in touch across the Atlantic, until we meet again one day.

I also thank them for their kind contributions to my house, which includes a double bed, half a kitchen, and the best leather chair ever. It was worth the 5 hours of helping them pack their lives into boxes, though it is no replacement for their wonderful presence.

Until next time, Sara and Meitar!

 

Mardi Gras, again March 6, 2009

Filed under: on homosexuality — Janek @ 13:45

Last year, I went on a long tirade about why I didn’t agree with the Mardi Gras. Let me just repeat something for a moment:
- Mardi Gras began as a political statement in response to the Stonewall riots.
- New Mardi Gras, the body that took over the operation of Mardi Gras, stopped the whole thing from going bust.
- The trade-off was that now, commercial companies often end up with floats in the parade, such as Pump water.
- This is combined with a range of pointless floats, examples of which (taken from the 2007 parade) include “The Kate Moss Line Dancers” – in reference to Kate Moss and her drug taking caught on camera – and the “Friends of Dick Cheney” – with people with blood-stained tops, after Dick shot his friend’s ear.
- The Mardi Gras, for me, is still about visibility, but also seeks to point out about how we’re still not accepted within the general community, our rights are not equitable with those of the hetrosexuals, and so forth

Consequently, this year I’m marching, and I want to point out that it’s not because I’ve sold out on my morals. I still firmly believe that the Mardi Gras is not about dancing half-naked down the street and then ending up drug-fucked at the Afterparty or in Stonewall. I’m marching with Acceptance Sydney, a group for gay Catholics. I still, philosophically, disagree with the views of the New Mardi Gras and their commercial and pointless floats, however. Strongly.