Richard Beddie's take on simplifying the world we live in
Posts tagged Australia
It’s tough being gay, so I am told
102 years ago
by Richard
in Random Rant
Gay Times, bad times:
That was the heading in Australia Age news paper today. The story was actually a well researched one, with lots of good points, the central one being that bullying of gay kids is far too prevalent, and should stop. But I am gonna take a different spin on the story.
The article cites a number of examples of how gay youth are mistreated: by organisations like schools, by bullies, and by family members. Overall it paints a negative picture about gay rights for kids, and being young and gay.
I completely agree with the underlying message that bullying of gays has to stop and that everyone has a part to play in this, including family, schools, and workplaces. BUT I disagree with their central premise that somehow it’s getting worse. Coz I dont think it is. I think it’s getting better.
In fact one commenter on the Age web site summarised it so well:
The article states: Young homosexuals are suffering more abuse than ever, particularly in schools.
The reply: With the exception of all of human history up to this point
I think it’s getting MUCH MUCH better and here’s why.
Airline Review – part 2 (short haul international travel).
0Here is part 2(of 3) of my airline reviews (part one here).
Here I focus on short haul (under 4 hours) international travel. I will be mainly looking at Trans-Tasman trips (for the Americans reading this, that means from New Zealand to Australia or visa versa, or more likely “from one country you haven’t heard of to another you you might have, but generally have no idea where either is”). In this part I have formatted the vast majority of text into a table, and limited comments to airlines that fly often.
Australia, roaming with iPhone on XT, and misc …
03 years ago
I have been away in OZ for the last 4 days. I hightly recommended booking a trip to the Gold Coast (or anywhere sunny and warm) from NZ mid winter, even if it is for only a few days. Sunshine does WONDERS for the system, and flights are VERY cheap these days if you have some flexibility with when you go.
That does remind me, I will soon do a comparison on AirNZ and Qantas on international flights, lounges, airpoints schemes etc. For those that know me well, I travel A LOT (some times up to 8 flights a week – although most of this is domestic. My record is actually 11 flights in 7 days – 2 of these international).
Some good news too: The iPhone 3Gs DOES work on roaming on XT (Telecom), in Australia at least, even if you do the wee hack found on this page.
