Just read in the UK Daily Mail the following. A tradesman in UK has a plastic bag in his van with empty crisp packets and the like in it. The local bylaws officer fines him 300 quid because he is not licenced to carry rubbish!!!!!!!!!!! Is the whole world going bloody crazy? This sort of behaviour is absolute crap, just another case of council big brother with bylaw officers who think they are the worlds policemen. We have similar goings on here in OZ parking officers who wait around till some poor sods permit expires and then book him for being a minute overtime. The only thing that seems to matter these days is how much money can be screwed out of the little guys and gals. They are all at it, banks, insurance companies who will do anything to avoid paying out on a policy, not to mention the guys at the very top of the chain who think they have a licence to do what they like.
Ok folks thats my two bobs worth, what do you think????
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Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it.
We are going down the slippery path where Councils think they have the right to dictate everything. Fining people for leaving their MT bins out because they are an eyesore.
FINE the council back for providing bins that ARE an Eyesore.
It goes on and on though. Two in Qld spring to mind.
Brisbane City Council allowed a RICH B to build right up to the boundary line of his property. The house next door (Wooden) was so close you could not get between the houses so the wooden structure could be painted and maintained.
The other one was on the Gold Coast where a now deceased Lady owned a Very desirable home on the beach. Born and raised in the house and would not sell.
They built huge Multi Story apartment blocks either side of her with ten metre Concrete walls blocking her in.
You would have to see the Photos to fully understand how much the house was blocked in.
Yup Councils working for the People. I don't think So.
I believe that once you get elected to any level of government you either have to implement or change things around regardless of how stupid the idea is. This is done in order to prove to the electorate that you are actually doing something useful and not just picking up the lurks and perks for nothing. DD if you want to count the senate and lower houses seperately then we are actually paying for more than just 3 levels of government.
I don't think any elected official of any local government authority has booked this poor tradie - it was an EMPLOYEE of the local council (apparently) mis-applying a local government ordinance.
Whilst I can agree with some of the knobs that are elected to local council ... in this instance it seems it was an over-exuberant council worker that, I am sure, will get his action overturned by a court. That is, IF the information contained in the news article, and in the reality of the circumstances, is in fact accurate.
We aren't there, we only have the news article to refer to ... so did the journo report accurately ... did the tradie represent the situation accurately to the journo ... was the enforcement officer having such a bad day he was out of order.
Jest sayin'
Cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
Wore a uniform too. Light blue shirts with a Qld Coat of arms shoulder patch.
Looked very much like a Police badge at a quick glance. Amazing how many drivers used to slow down when they saw the badge thinking it was a Police one.
Govt in their wisdom decided we had to have a corporate uniform.
New Badge looked Just like the Century batteries Logo. Turfed out after threats of legal action.
New uniform new badge decided upon. Silver on black. Made in another country so the unions played up. Not made in Australia.
New uniform New badge. Private sector thought the new uniform copied their one.
New Uniform New badge... Gets better. Whole of Govt change to a logo some described as a shower of sperm.
New Uniform New badge.... Previous whole of Govt Logo had no Authority feel. new badge Silver on Black Not much different from a Mall Cop's badge.
New Uniform New badge because there was a new directive to show length of service in your uniform.
Uniform Woes Ongoing.
You have to remember that each uniform change meant a whole new wardrobe ,Trousers/Skirts. Shirts/blouses Hats Etc.Etc.
All the changes must have cost Millions to the taxpayer.
The Initial Changeover was a retrograde step and led to a total farce for twenty years of unnecessary changes.
Probably by some admin person trying to justify their job.
I worked for the government for part of my working life.
Take a car out of the car pool for the day, get 3 engineers & 1 design draftsman.
Drive down to the work site & walk around with a hard hat & safety colored vest on trying to look important/interested.
Go to the pub for a long lunch & drinks. Charge it to work account.
Drive back to office & go home early.
Gday...
struth Keith. Why on earth would anyone admit to this outrageous workplace activity. Speaks as badly for those who were your managers as it does on yourself and the other four sad sacks.
I too worked much of my working life in public service and such instances by slack staff were very rare.
If any of my staff performed as you describe they would be under disciplinary action quick smart and not let out on their own again.
cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
Local government has tightened up heaps, State government, pretty tight as well. While I worked for local government, I came to the conclusion that the saying "Birds of a feather flock together" couldn't be truer for the recruitment for Gov.
I had an experience, the boss of the vehicle fleet came and asked me to go and pick up a car, heres the address. He said its a bit weird, the call came from the police. This employee was spending his time at the local brothel, had a heart attack while in the saddle, he died doing what he loved doing, except it wasn't council work. No boddy was aware of this until. I had to bring the car back and was told to keep it hush hush.
When I worked for the government (in Queensland) I had the - perhaps mistaken - belief that as a public servant I had a duty to the public. Many of my then colleagues had the opposite view and I did not last in the public service...funny, that!
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Dave (Nutgrass)
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Carpe Diem - Seize the day!
You never get a second chance at a first impression, so make the first a good one.
I can recall days of yore in UK if the local council were digging up a road somewhere and there was one bloke on the shovel, there would be two or three stood watching him. Brings to mind that saying, "Work fascinates me, I could watch it for hours"
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Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it.
I worked for the government for part of my working life.
Take a car out of the car pool for the day, get 3 engineers & 1 design draftsman.
Drive down to the work site & walk around with a hard hat & safety colored vest on trying to look important/interested.
Go to the pub for a long lunch & drinks. Charge it to work account.
Drive back to office & go home early.
Gday...
struth Keith. Why on earth would anyone admit to this outrageous workplace activity. Speaks as badly for those who were your managers as it does on yourself and the other four sad sacks.
I too worked much of my working life in public service and such instances by slack staff were very rare.
If any of my staff performed as you describe they would be under disciplinary action quick smart and not let out on their own again.
cheers - John
I was the Design Draftsman, the three Engineers had all the say as they were my superiors. In other words it wasn't my call.
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Cheers Keith & Judy
Don't take life too seriously, it never ends well.
Trip Reports posted on feathersandphotos.com.au Go to Forums then Trip Reports.
We are certainly now in a nanny state with every possible reason now enshrined in law to allow money to be extracted from your pocket, and ably assisted by high end technology there are cameras everywhere with facial recognition technology being used even on motorways and street corners. I now wear a hat pulled down at the front and have glasses that auto tint outside, I am not a crook or law breaker but a person who likes a little bit of privacy.
Governments who are supposed to serve the people bin a democracy have sunk to a pathetic level and neither of the big parties have any moral principals, the classic law is the one where you can be locked up in jail because you told someone what you saw at a detention centre, absolute BS.
WE are told that we have the option to express our feelings and exercise our democratic rights once every three years the problem as I see it is the intervening years and the fact that we have two political parties who are as bad as each other.
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Life was meant to be enjoyed Australia was meant to be explored
Happily doing both to the Max.
Life is like a camera, focus on what's important & you will capture it every Time
SNIP~~~Governments who are supposed to serve the people bin a democracy have sunk to a pathetic level and neither of the big parties have any moral principals, .............WE are told that we have the option to express our feelings and exercise our democratic rights once every three years the problem as I see it is the intervening years and the fact that we have two political parties who are as bad as each other.
Gday...
I agree, but it is the electorate that returns these "two political parties who are as bad as each other".
I posted in another thread, I think it is still pertinent -
The key is the ballot box perhaps.... perhaps ONE day ... hopefully soon ... people will actually look closely at the candidate in THEIR electorate and not follow like sheep the media, and ten-second grabs by spin doctors, who tell you which leader of the PARTY is the most popular and then convince people to vote for that person.
If Shorten/Turnbull/di Natale/Hanson etc are not in YOUR electorate then find out which candidate is going to do something for YOUR electorate, not which party they are in ... not just who will follow their party line and therefore perpetuate the status quo irrespective of the colour of the government they form.
We get, and quite probably deserve, the politicians we chose ... not only do we put them in, we continue to vote for the same ones and they end up with a career of many years, and then leave with a pretty pension etc.
The decision is YOURS. Make your collective votes count for real change.
Spread the word, tell everybody to look beyond the spin of the media and press releases, make an effort to understand and know the candidates in your electorate and then vote for the one that will work for what YOUR electorate wants ... not who will follow a 'party line'.
Despite what the media and the "polls" say you are NOT voting for Shorten/Turnbull/di Natale/Hanson - you are voting for someone in your electorate.
Cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
John its impossible for most people to really hnow these candidates personally ,there names on a ballot paper,in an electorate of many thousands of people...
John its impossible for most people to really hnow these candidates personally ,there names on a ballot paper,in an electorate of many thousands of people...
Gday...
Ya hit the nail right on the head Ron ... ZACTLY ! !
People don't know most of the candidates personally and rarely go out of their way to find out about them - so people lazily vote for the party they have been convinced to vote for by the media and spin doctors.
Look past the party they represent ... take the time to know what each candidate is actually standing for. Then which one is going to be the best representative of YOU and what you want in your electorate.
There are not that many candidates on a ballot - ranges from four to about a dozen at the most usually - doesn't take long to ask about their values etc.
When you actually look at what they stand for, or represent, there are not many left on the ballot worthwhile.
The sheep keep voting for Shorten/Turnbull/di Natale/Hanson but they are the figureheads of impersonal parties that are not in their electorate ... then everyone whinges about how non-representative the elected government is.
Elections are usually decided on about 52%>48% 'two-party preferred' margins (gawd I hate that term) ... so half of the population are disappointed EVERY election no matter which colour gets the gurnsey.
Time to break the cycle ... vote for a PERSON who will REPRESENT the electorate - not the half-arsed, self-serving policies of some far away party.
Jest sayin'
Cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
Too many STUPPID lobbyists in or around gov . They cannot seem to operate properly. One big reason why Trump got voted in !! Too many people tellling us how to live with hair brained ideas . From people who have NO idea, NO EXPERIENCE!!!
Time to break the cycle ... vote for a PERSON who will REPRESENT the electorate - not the half-arsed, self-serving policies of some far away party.
THIS!! Exactly!
And ... if you don't KNOW, ask the candidate!
Don't rely on the media to give you the answers - they are bought and paid for by one of the major parties.
Final point - remember that, if the candidate says X, and the party says Y, the party will win! You cannot rely on any candidate from a party (no matter what they call themselves) to do what they say, as they are bound to vote how the party says they vote! Even the "noted renegade" Bananaby Joyce (bro) votes as the party tells him to, regardless of what he says in the electorate (I know this because I see what he says here, and then how he votes!)
I am constantly reminded of a poem I read in First Year of High School - many years ago now - written by that renowned poet "Anon" which went ...
A politician is an arse
upon which everyone has sat
except a man!
Have remembered that for well over 50 years (but couldn't remember any of the poems we were supposed to "study" beyond a week!
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If you had to choose between being fit and drinking wine ...