Blog Marco

This blog article was inspired by a recent posting in radar which was titled "No scuples, No Shame" and a printed article entitled "born to scam".

Basically it talks about the various ways in which people scam "the system" - getting something free for themselves and having everyone else pick up the bill. This list of swindles will get you thinking, perhaps motivate you to try them (I'm not telling you to try them out and warn you that there may be harsh consequences if you get caught and if you don't - your guilty conscience will eat you till you die!), but also perhaps warn the appropriate people to take action to cover up these real life loopholes.

In the forum Mel says that "The only problem with all these scams is that the company supplying the goods or services are actually losing and therefore will increase their prices to cover these losses.... end result.. we all lose out as we end up paying more for everything to cover other peoples scamming. You're only scamming yourself in the end. My advice. Be honest."

By the end of this article you'll know how fraudsters do it and how to catch them in the act from simply knowing their tricks of the trade.

Sneak into a gig
Forge a copy of the pass out stamp for the venue/event from a set of crayons and sticky tape.

It is known that the writer of the Chronicles of Narnia - a series of seven books is a well established Christian writer. An article I read in the news wrote about Narnia being an allegory (a fable: a short moral story (often with animal characters)) and some believe it to have a parallel to the Christian Story of Jesus and His resurrection.

"The Irish-born writer and Oxford academic filled this land with mythical creatures and talking animals. It was ruled by an evil white witch who maintained a permanent winter and outlawed Christmas.

In the snowbound parallel universe of Narnia, the Pevensie children are embroiled in the battle to return a mystical lion called Aslan to the throne.

J.R.R. Tolkien, a friend and Oxford colleague, disliked The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, describing it as "a meaningless jumble". With its story about sacrifice and resurrection, others considered it Christian propaganda. But the seven novels of the Narnia series have become children's classics, selling 95 million copies in 41 languages since 1950. With every Hollywood studio looking for its own children's franchise, it was inevitable that someone would turn the Narnia novels into a movie.

Sid the Seagull has been telling us Australian's to "Slip Slop Slap" (Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat) for more than 25 years - since 1981.

Sid The Seagull's Advice: "Avoiding overexposure from the sun doesn’t just help prevent skin cancer, it helps you avoid premature ageing."

So what did I do yesterday? I went to the zoo witha few relatives, having forgotten the slogan failed to do any of the three maxims of slipping on a shirt (the seagull recommends long sleeve), slopping on sunscreen (actually I did put sunscreen on my arms *phew* - but I didn't on my face) and slapping on a hat.

So now I'm sitting here writing this article regretting not doing any of these... My skin is tingling and it is sensitive to touch from the sunburn. Argh!!!

Anyway, this led me to look up some information on how to treat sunburns.

One website suggested that: "Treating a sunburn quickly and with healing ingredients is important to help reduce the damage and to protect against further damage." and proceeded to go through some tips:

In a previous blog I wrote about Intellignet Design and Evolution theory and the ongoing conflict and discussion at which is to be taught at school.

Here is a followup to that story:

Pennsylvania science teachers will not be forced to advocate "intelligent design" after a judge ruled that that the theory is really religion in disguise.

Judge John Jones of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled that intelligent design - which bills itself as a scientific theory and states that life shows signs of being the work of an intelligent designer - is in fact reworked creationism.

The decision comes after 11 parents sued the Dover High School Board of Education for requiring that biology students be read a statement that cast doubt on evolution and endorsed intelligent design. Eight of the nine school board members were voted out of office in November, but the case continued in the court.

In his decision, Jones systematically dismantled the arguments of the proponents of intelligent design. Jones said that the history of intelligent design shows that it is essentially creationism with explicit references to God and the Bible removed. As such, it is primarily a religious theory, not a scientific one, and cannot be taught in US public schools, which are prevented from promoting religion.

The Sydney "Race Riots" have been reported about thoroughly on all levels of media and talked about endlessly on the talkbalk radiowaves.

I switched on talkback radio to have a hear about other people's views on the riots - its amazing on how many people's views are just filled with misunderstanding, misconceptions and stereotypes which conflict with my own personal views.

Anyway, rather than going more in-depth with this issue which already has been thoroughly talked and reported by other people i just wanted to draw a parallel with a report I read today and the episode of Oprah about the movie "Crash" I wrote about around last week.

Here is the synopsis of Crash if you haven't seen it:
"A provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial conflict in America, CRASH is that rare cinematic event - a film that challenges audiences to question their own prejudices. Diving headlong into the diverse melting pot of post-9/11 Los Angeles, this compelling urban drama tracks the volatile intersections of a multi-ethnic cast, examining fear and bigotry from multiple perspectives as characters careen in and out of one another’s lives. No one is safe in the battle zones of racial strife. And no one is immune to the simmering rage that sparks violence - and changes lives..."

I didn't know much about diamonds an their four cuts until I read this article about the diamonds rating system - the 4C's.

Basically, the 4C's rating system for Diamonds consist of Carat-weight, Clarity, Colour and Cut.

"No two diamonds are alike, points out the Gemological Institute of America, and a stone's rarity and cost are determined by its unique characteristics as measured by the 4Cs. Size alone doesn't make a diamond more valuable, GIA says; using all four criteria, a smaller stone of exceptional quality can be more valuable than a larger diamond of lower quality."

I was watching "Million Dollar Machines" on ABC which just finished just now. The theme was "Power Boats" and it went through the genres of traditional, sporting and modern power boats. What really took my breath away was the 118 WallyPower, which is valued at $24 million dollars.

This Mediterranean based power boat is the crème de la crème of all power boats. It could be described as a narrow, angular, black-glass-housed superluxury go-fast is 118 feet long, looks like a stealth fighter that missed the runway, and is squirted to a top speed of nearly 70 mph by a total of 16,800 gas-turbine horsepower.

The externat design of WallyPower is awesome. Glass windows - tinted - 360 degrees all around the boat, full dining table, bed(s) and a kitchen.

The Monaco-based company Wally Yachts (named after a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Wally Gator, which is a little like Boeing naming itself Snoopy Group) has, since 1993, been a high-tech-cruising-boat innovator. Its huge, all-composite sailboats, 60 to over 100 feet long, are prized for their computerized, hydraulically trimmed simplicity of operation, particularly when compared to boats that are rat's nests of lines and winches and require large crews. A typical 80-foot Wally can be sailed solo.

I was reading "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
Wasn't sure of some of the words...
_______________________________________________________
In "The Red-Headed League"

"It saved me from ennui," said Holmes.

Ennui is a noun and it means "mental weariness from idleness and lack of interest."

Does anyone every use the word ennui in a conversation now?
Why or how come this type of language becomes extinct in our daily conversations...?

"I'm suffering a bit of ennui..."
"Ennui has got the better of me..."

_______________________________________________________

In "The Naval Treaty"

"This gaudy relationshp did him little good at school."
Gaudy - Tastelessly showy

"...it seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the the playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket."
Piquant - pleasantly stimulating to the mind. (In other use it is - agreeably pungent, sharp or appetising.)

"You are the stormy petrel of crime, Watson. What is it?"
Petrel - Sea birl, usually flying far from land.

"...his people are of the Huguenot extraction..."
Huguenot - a French Calvinist of the 16th or 17th centuries
sub: Calvinist - an adherent of the theological doctrines of John Calvin

Looks like Filipina supermodel Isabel Roces is heading a campaign for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). In PETA’s latest campaign they have the Philippine supermodel sitting in a pile of red hot Thai chilli peppers. The animal rights group is calling on consumers in Asia to shun meat to become vegetarian.

According to zeenews, the pile of chilli peppers around Isabel Roces is 250 kilograms worth. Do you really think the Thai peppers she is sitting amongst in the photos weigh 250 kilograms?

"Being healthy and kind is always in style," said Isabel Roces, who was recently named Fashion Model of the Year by MTV Philippines. "So whether you want to slim down

and get healthy or just clear your conscious, there's no better way than to go vegetarian."

"This is the first time we've ever done anything this hot," said Jason Baker, a PETA spokesperson. One past PETA advertisement featured Baywatch star Pamela Anderson wearing a bikini made out of iceberg lettuce. Ms Roces, a vegetarian who has posed for Peta ads before, volunteered her services as she was already in Thailand on another assignment.

In Germany - the roots of protestantism - a protestant youth group has produced a 2006 calendar with twelve photos depicting erotic scenes from the bible, including a bare-breasted Delilah cutting Samson's hair and a nude Eve offering an apple.

"There's a whole range of biblical scriptures simply bursting with eroticism," said Stefan Wiest, the 32-year-old photographer who took the titillating pictures.

Anne Rohmer, 21, poses on a doorstep in garters and stockings as the prostitute Rahab, mentioned in both New and Old Testaments. "We wanted to represent the Bible in a different way and to interest young people," she said.

"Anyway, it doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that you are forbidden to show yourself nude."

Bernd Grasser, pastor of the church in Nuremberg where the calendar is being sold, was enthusiastic about the project.

"It's just wonderful when teenagers commit themselves with their hair and their skin to the Bible," he said.

- Well... everyone has a right to interpret the bible anyway they want... it's classified as "art" anyway...

The Controversial Website selling the calendars. Price 15.50 EUROS including delivery.

These flash movies will beat any miniclip game anyday...

Also... Driver Qualification Test format for the NSW RTA DQT Test. (News South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority Driver Qualification Test)

Do You Have ADD? Are You an Attention seeker?

"From the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire.
This test will help you determine the level of your sensation seeking disposition. This is based on the test developed by Prof. Marvin Zuckerman from the University of Delaware. Please complete the following questions. There are no right or wrong answers, everyone is an individual, just respond to the statement. For each statement, choose either true or false. If you do not like either choice, mark the choice you dislike the least."

Sensation seeking scale

This was taken in the Winter a few months ago.

I basically set the camera on timer mode set it on a shelf to get this self-portrait. I used no flash. The scene - namely my face was lighted with a normal 60 watt incandecent light. White Balance was adjusted to accomodate that fact.

Taken with a Nikon D70 camera f1.4 lens.

Ever wondered what the difference between a phychologist and psychiatrist was? Well here's your answer:

Psychologist - A specialist who can talk with patients and their families about emotional and personal matters, and can help them make decisions.

Psychiatrist - a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

In this photo, the emergency crews are righting the flipped vehicle.

A car flipped over just at Cowpasture Road earlier this evening - around 8pm as the sun had just set.

A man was pulled from the car which was flipped on it's side.

From what was reported - another vehicle hit the 4WD which led to the 4WD driver losing control and flipping the vehicle.

Some Ambulances and unmarked police cars came by to manage the scene.

It just so happens a Fire Brigade Station is right in front of this intersection.