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It's like a.. combined... entry... thingy
1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Went to Melbourne!
Failed a unit!
Cared about shoes!
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't even remember my new year's resolution. This year I will be making some, yes. Like going to the gym 3 times a week instead of once or twice intermittently and not spending my money on random crap that I don't need. Like crappy guild cafe food. Seriously their fried rice is so goddamn bad, BUT I STILL BUY IT. WHY.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
....Nope
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not this year.
5. What countries did you visit?
I have NEVER been overseas
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Um. Some kind of amazing time travelling device. I kind of like all the things I have. I can't think of anything else that I burningly desire.
Maybe a drawing tablet! Or a Clown pleco catfish :) they's preeeettty.
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Um. On the 15/08 we got Gypsie? But nothing PARTICUARLY memorable. The 9/01 was nice as always, and my birthday was awesome because Gavin paid a surprise visit FROM BUNBURY. Which was awesome.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I don't know. No big achievements really... I got an internship though, that was a pretty cool piece of self-helping interest-showing. Oh, and I started exercising properly. Which I think is good?
9. What was your biggest failure?
Folio apparently! And I thought I had done well. This was easily the worst part.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really. Oh wait, I had food poisoning, maybe.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
ELBERETH ♥
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Everyone, and no-one.
(Oh I don't know - I'm too tired to think so that's your cop-out answer :P)
[Unknown site tag]13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Jack, My mum and dad for not sticking to the rules and laying down the law.
14. Where did most of your money go?
I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA. FUEL MAYBE
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Melbourne with Gavin was pretty freaking awesome! Also getting Caden.
16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2007?
That one by Mika. I liked it, and it was on the radio a lot. Um. his first one.
And The Past Lives On by Falconer, and Knocking on Heaven's Door by Guns N' Roses
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder?
Happier
ii. Thinner or fatter?
Fitter. Which is kind of both and neither. Both because I am slimmer, but heavier because muscle weighs more than fat, and neither because I haven't gone down a size or anything and I haven't put on fat.
iii. richer or poorer?
A teeny bit richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Writing. :(
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Er, failing.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
We somehow juggled both of our family lunches, it was a crazy dance.
23. How many one-night stands?
None.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes, Family Guy, Futurama... I'm not sure I watched much else.
OMG FREAKAZOID
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Maybe? Oh wait, yes.
26. What was the best book you read?
Deathly Hallows was good. I re-read some other books though, and I love them more.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Power Metal!
28. What did you want and get?
Another job, A GIANT FISH TANK, A puppy, a Terrabyte, a Laptop, a corset, basically I have been pretty damn lucky this year as material possessions go.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I reeeeeeeeeeally liked The Golden Compass. BUT the 3D in Beowulf was awesome. AND I saw some other good movies that I have forgotten the names of. Like 300! 300 was awesome.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 20, and Gavin made a surprise visit!
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
I don't have a 'fashion concept.' I find the idea stupid, especially since I don't know anything about fashion. I brought stuff that I liked when I saw it. At times, I wore these clothes in a number of ways.
34. What kept you sane?
Sleeping. But it was a close thing.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
If it counts, I met DANIEL JOHNS. BEN GILLIES, and CHRIS JOANNOU.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm upset that Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister got assassinated. She was a good person so far as I could tell. Also I think Rudd is a smug git, although he has done some good stuff so far. I'd just like to see how our economy goes. No, disliking Labour because they don't look after people who have worked very hard to get their money and shouldn't have to pay nearly 50% tax is NOT a stupid reason to vote liberal. Why should I look after people who don't look after themselves?
37. Who did you miss?
Gavin. Aunty Topsy. Nana.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Heath and Rob are pretty cool guys.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
People suck, retail sucks, and it's generally worth standing up for what you think is right or rather speaking out against things you think are wrong. Also that it's good to look after your body.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Make me?
Oh, fine.
Today will be another part of yesterday
and yesterday will be another part of the day before
Wait, I hear another song insomnia
About the days I wasn't tired
And doing that "fun retro look"
I stay awake for days
I stay awake for days
But I'd sit awake in a daze anyway
I'm a maze of chains
Hey don't use the term accommodation
I won't be there for that and that will never be there for me
And I need to get some sleep slash resolution
About the days I wasn't tired
And doing that "fun retro thing"
I stay awake for days
I stay awake for days
But I'd sit awake in a daze anyway
I'm a maze of chains
Over in the corner of a circle
I sleep behind this bedroom
I see "fun retro look"
Dine behind a suitcase in an empty room
It's time to leave millions behind
Hey that's what I took from retro look
I stay awake for days
I stay awake for days
But I'd sit awake in a daze anyway
I'm a maze of chains.
Insomnia - Silverchair
(Most days during semester I had about 4-5 hours sleep, so it's HIGHLY appropriate)
So Christmas was good, if hot. I got really nice, thoughtful presents from everyone and everyone liked the presents I gave them. Joy! So successful all round.
The spoils:
- I got a Western Digital MyBook Terrabyte external harddrive! It's awesome. 7200rpm, too.
- 76L Fish tank, stand, filter, heater, light and cover (JOY)
- The Wind in the Williows centenary edition
- Barbecue recipes book
- Se7en & The Last Samurai
Gavin gave me a pretty silver box chain necklace with... a LLAMA PENDANT.
- "Bizarre Buildings" book
- a nice bag for putting things in
- a mini camera tripod
- hand creme!
- bathy... butter... thingies
- TEACUPS ♥
- cucumber eye thingies... for stress reduction oo
So yeah, one million items. ONE MILLION.
We even got to go swimming on Christmas day, which was good.
Boxing day was ridiculously hot. Some amusing things happened that night, but I think they are for me to know and you to wonder about. I know, I know. Saying that is hideously unfair. :P
Went shopping and found BARGAINS. It filled me with joy. I found things that I actually liked and then I brought them. It was deeply exciting. I got some shoes, a dress, some tops and an EPILATOR. A more elegant and sparkly device of brutal torture has never been concocted. And I paid MONEY for this?
Saw The Golden Compass with
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arinellen, almightybean, reaps, auntpol, flyingmopsy and frippoi, and Gavin - who didn't want to go and then really liked it. Just sayin'.I thought it was great. However I've only read the book once a few years ago so I may have forgotten about parts that were left out, but it made sense to me and to Gavin who hasn't read the book, so I think it was probably a success.
Panzer-Bjorn were just as awesome as they should have been. HESTER AND THAT GUY WERE AWESOME.
Saw Beowulf in 3D with Gavin & some of his mates, I liked it, but it was missing... something. The 3D was totally awesome and made it worth seeing. Would it be worth seeing in the movies without the 3D? Maybe not.
New Years was heaps of fun, thanks to
marxipan_xlii, im_the_end and Karlee (Carly? Carlee? Karly? I don't have her LJ :() for organizing it. I stopped drinking when I thought I was drunk enough. I am proud of this. ♥ Today was Gavin and I's (now that just doesn't sound right. Gavin and me, my, blah. Thanks for nothing, brain) 3rd aniversary. :) Aw. We went swimming on sunday. It was stupidly cold. ♥
(I felt like doing something girly and frivolous. The heart border seemed appropriate.)
The architect I'm doing work experience with gave me a really nice Christmas present - Neufert's Architect's Data. It's a shiney expensive book with freaking EVERYTHING in it. Saunas to hospitals. And more! Awesome.
I GOT FISHES TODAY!
I have been waiting for my tanks to cycle and the little one finished today. There are pictures
. (Or you could look at my Flickr account. They are Yoyo or Pakistani Loaches (Botia Almorphae), and they are fantastic. They grow to about 10cm, my biggest one is about 7cm but they bulk out a lot more than in the photos. (I'm going to move them to the big tank as soon as it has finished cycling.) I haven't got names for them yet. I thought I might use Pakistani names, since they are from Pakistan. (They actually are - they can only be bred in the wild or in humungous farms in their native habitat. I feel a bit bad because of this but the majority of aquarium fish aren't captive bred and at least I know I'll look after them as best I can.) Anyone know some good sources of Pakistani names with meanings?
I know I never got around to Christmas cards, and I feel bad. I do still intend to send people THINGS IN THE MAIL, though. Not dead squirrels, I promise. Not that I could catch a squirrel. Even a dead one.
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I don't think you "get" tax
Asking the government to look after people who "have worked very hard to get their money" (and thus arguably don't need help to look after themselves) seems to be a bit silly don't you think
"Don't Hold Back" *sings*
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Aaand I find the idea of supporting people who choose to drop out of school, who choose to not put energy into keeping their apprentiship, who choose not to strive to the top is stupid. Australia is pretty rife with tall poppy syndrome. My example here is my brother. I know for a fact that if he doesn't change his ways right now, he will end up being a low-paid labourer, if not a jobless dole bludger. Because he knows the government will not let him starve. There are thousands if not millions of people with this attitude. He was given exactly the same educational opportunities as me - an excellent primary and high school education, tutoring in subjects he was bad at, help from my parents, encouragement to strive. So when I've got my degree and I've been working for a few years and I'm earning a reasonable sum of money, and he's 30-something and a jobless bum, an unhappy low-earning guy who can't get a decent job because his attitude is not employable, you can't tell me that it's fair that any percentage of my tax goes towards helping him. I made my decisions. I decided to sacrifice SOME social status for a better education, I have decided to study hard and strive to do well. He has DECIDED to do absolutely shit all, to not put any effort into his apprenticeship and get fired. To spend all his time partying because he would prefer to do that. To give no consideration to his long-term future. Sure, my parents should take more control over him, but ultimately he chose to make adult decisions when he was a child, and because of the way the system works adults let him do it. It isn't my responsibility to look after him.
I'm not against paying tax at all - I'm against supporting people who CHOOSE to be worse off. I'm not against supporting people with disabilities or who for some reason CAN'T work or support themselves. Just against people who choose to do nothing with their lives. I'm aware that not all of the people who are poor are worthless bludgers. However, it's probably a large percentage. Just come and live in Midland for a few years and see what kind of people live here, and wonder why they're poor. Some of them, yes, it's a lack of education that isn't their fault, but their parent's or simply the era that they grew up in. But people from our generation have no excuse - education is made readily available to everyone. There are jobs everywhere, with potential to earn lots, learn lots and climb the ladder. I have little pity for people who decide to do nothing with their lives, or who are unhappy with their situation but choose to do nothing about it. It's easy to re-sit your TEE, or get a TAFE degree, or get an apprenticeship. It's easier to do nothing, though.
A Goverments Eye;
So therefore because we can't tell the difference between the people who are lazy and the people who have fell to misfortune we shouldn't help anyone?
Would you prefer your brother to live in America? I am intrigued.
There are thousands if not millions of people with this attitude.
How do you know there are so many people like this? A hunch? The fact that your parents tell you so?
But for further notice I wont use your brother as an example, I think it is an interesting case but I don't feel like it proves either of our points.
Re: A Goverments Eye;
If it means further away from me? Sure. I don't really know anything about America's taxation or economy. Or anything about it beyond that lots of people don't like their president. I haven't made my mind up yet. He seems pretty stupid, but it's not like I could do the job.
My parents are just as guilty of tall poppy syndrome as anybody else. So no, they don't tell me so. It's basically because I've lived in Midland my whole life and I can see the people who live here. And it's made me cynical and bitter. And the fact that there aren't more professionals, but it's so easy to get good jobs. Even if you don't like the education system, it's easy to get an apprenticeship. Hell, you can be earning $100k/year on the mines driving trucks in two years if you only try. And there are other jobs there that are easy to get. There are few people who have a good excuse for being unemployed. Criminal records aren't a good excuse unless they were wrongly tried. Sure, we need people who don't try as hard to do the lame jobs and be check out chicks. But that doesn't mean I have to like them.
Disorder.
I don't care that I was sick.. the point is that I come from the same family who are in a working-class bracket, and I've managed to get into a tertiary institution. He was given special attention by my parents, his tutors, and the school. They did everything they could to keep him there. And the point is that when he got what he wanted he screwed that up too, because he doesn't care enough about respecting authority and the rules. He lost his apprenticeship because he wouldn't wash or cut his hair - he was working in a bakery - and he swore so loudly and frequently that the customers in the front could hear. These are ridiculously easy things to fix. He didn't, because he's not mature enough to realise that he was in the wrong. Point - he shouldn't be out of school, because he's still a boy.
And regardless of his education disorder, it was his decisions to steal from families in a caravan park on boxing day. I really hope he gets convicted for it. Becuase it's disgusting. He is not sorry. Since a criminal record will impede his already low employability, why should he get government hand outs? I don't see the justice. Sure, perhaps it's not something he should be punished his whole life for, but he certainly shouldn't get free money for it.
I was just using him as an example because I'm disgusted by him. Seriously. I have no more patience, and no more tolerance. I used to be able to put up with a lot, but now I just can't be bothered.
Re: A Goverments Eye;
"Sure, we need people who don't try as hard to do the lame jobs and be check out chicks. But that doesn't mean I have to like them."
Why not? That's a very cruel statement.
Re: A Goverments Eye;
It is. I don't entirely mean it. By like them, I meant like their choices. Why would you choose to have a job that cannot support you? Even in woolworths you can progress and succeed, so maybe I should change the statement. I don't actually hate people that much.
WAR, DEATH, TAXES:
And it's not unfairly. I earn 20 and you ear 10. You live in a cheap house at $5 and I live in a more expensive on at $8. I then have food, which I pay a little more for because I can afford it, lets say $5 and you pay $3.
So at the end of the I have $8 left over and you have $2.
Is it then fair that a flat tax would take $2 from each of us?
Your idea of fair is skewed.
Actually, it didn't used to be easy to get an apprenticeships, actually when you were growing up it was hard. I had friends worried they wouldn't have jobs after TAFE because apprenticeships we're hard to get, though I admit it is much easier now because we're in a boom.
...Eh, I have to go in an hour. So I may (or may not) finish this later...
Re: WAR, DEATH, TAXES:
I meant a flat percentage, not a flat tax. Or just less than 40c in a dollar. 30 would be more reasonable.
I won't be here in an hour either, so it's cool. Or something.
Re: WAR, DEATH, TAXES:
Is it then fair that a flat tax would take 10% from each of us?
So I take $1 from you and $2 from me.
So you have $1 and I have $8. I have lots more money to spend on whatever I want. BECAUSE the percentage you spend on food is unproportional to what I spend. So now you have to save that money, because you can't afford to have an accident. Taxes changes that. it equalities it proportionally, so you have more money to save for emergencies (and also give you health benefits so it's easier for you) and you can have some luxury goods.
SORRY, numbers. I forgot fix my numbers before I left and we don't have internet at home at the moment.
New Zero Punctuation:
Zero Punctuation: Silent Hill Origins (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2791-Zero-Punctuation-Silent-Hill-Origins).
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"No, I'm not saying that the government should look after them, I'm saying that paying half of what you earn in tax just because you're earning a lot isn't really fair. I don't like the current "tax bracket" system, either, because the brackets are pretty big - $60k/year to $100k/year is a pretty big difference. A set percentage of income that everyone pays would be more fair."
You would never pay half, nor even approach paying half of your income as taxation. Assuming (for the sake of argument) you are in the top taxation bracket, your minimum post-tax income is $102,900. Since to be in the top tax bracket you have to earn $150,000 a year, you are in reality paying 31.4% tax. If you have that much money you'd be paying less tax anyway, since it would be trivial to afford an account and move your income into investments (flat 30% capital gains tax) and businesses and negatively geared loans.
A flat tax rate is not a very good idea. This is because, in terms of percentage (which is how we express taxation!) the cost of living does not scale linearly with income. If we charged everyone a flat rate (let's say 15%) the poor end up worse off. This is because the percentage of their income spent on living is higher. Consequently, flat tax rates because they, along with many minor regressive taxes such as GST,are unfair because they shift a greater proportion of the taxation burden per capita onto those who cannot afford to bear it.
"Aaand I find the idea of supporting people who choose to drop out of school, who choose to not put energy into keeping their apprentiship, ..., the system works adults let him do it. It isn't my responsibility to look after him."
Putting aside arguments about free will, you're making a lot of assumptions here which are demonstrably wrong.
I want to attack your concept of the 'dole bludger' because I find it incredibly offensive - putting aside the physically and mentally ill and disabled for now, the amount of genuine 'lazy' people out there who are just 'dole bludgers' is around 3.9% (long term unemployment) and has been that way for around 25 years. That's equivalent to about 350,000 people. Two thirds of these are classified as "involuntarily jobless but unlikely to be actually seeking employment" - they are actually incapable of working or looking for a job. This means that, arguably, there are 109,900 people who could be claimed to be 'dole bludgers'. Hardly 'millions'. . Interestingly, it is lower than that of most developed nations.
Ultimately your argument comes down to the misconception that unemployed people, on average, choose to be poor. This simply isn't the case. There are dozens of factors involved - environment, education, upbringing - all of which influence a person's ability to 'get a job'. I don't need to come and live in Midland. I grew up in Maddington, Gosnells and Armadale and I know what poor people are like. They are generally not poor because they choose to be. They are poor because they are ridden with mental and physical illness, a lack of self-confidence and problems with authority. People do not become this way through choice. They are like this because they are exposed from birth to the cycle of poverty and 11 years of federal governance by people who share your opinions means they have next to no opportunity to break out of it.
On top of that, in Australia we have decided - through 100 years of democracy - that our country will provide a minimum standard of living for any citizen or resident, regardless of choice or ability. Not only is this the morally correct choice, it is also the most correct one economically - history has proven conclusively that allowing financial inequality and the class divisions that come with it to occur are detrimental for the entire society and economic system.
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(Anonymous) 2008-01-10 04:38 am (UTC)(link)I agree with this. I can think of dozens of cases of people I grew up with (Belmont!), exposed to alcoholism and abuse or just neglect and never had parents to teach them... anything really. They come to school where they might learn those things, except that teachers are generally overworked anyway and can't afford to invest that much time into children who are "problem children" and have to deal with them with simple discipline instead. Inevitably, as these kids grow up some of them went out and get jobs and like your brother (talking to meghan here not reaps in case he thinks I am insulting mark or something), are awful at them, swear etc until they are fired.
I don't deny there is an element of personal responsibility with these people being unemployed but saying they are just "lazy" is an incredibly narrow view to take of their personal circumstances. These are people who've struggled with life and in a lot of cases failed to struggle hard enough against circumstance. Considering they've been struggling since they were old enough to speak, that's not entirely unreasonable. Health care, education, welfare, all of those things tax pays for shouldn't be denied to these people just because you can construe these people as lazy.
I'm pretty sure I am repeating what reaps said so I will stop.
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Lazy is just a summing-up of many factors for the sake of typing less. Not trying hard enough isn't really a valid excuse. I'm not against children whose parents taught them nothing.There are a few people like my brother, however, who have been given every avenue avaliable, and have chosen to close them all.
Who is this? Please don't post anonymously in debates...
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How could you say that you are given no opportunities though? School is an opportunity.
Hm. Maybe I should change my argument to "people who don't know how to teach their children values shouldn't be parents."
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You should think about changing your argument, I fully admit there are people in society who are given endless opportunity and so on but they're a tiny group of people and having a problem with taxation based on that alone doesn't make much sense, even if disliking them does make sense.
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Not to mention the fact that we look down upon people who do more physical jobs as being not as clever/worthy. Maybe if we looked on them as being more ...worthy then people like Jack wouldn't drop out of some kind of education and just fall through the gaps.
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Males with learning disorders often end up in the same situation as your brother. It has very little to do with laziness and everything to do with poor decision making because the faculties available to you and I to make those decisions are not available to him.
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I excluded people who are genuinely disabled or otherwise unable to seek work from my argument.
So my numbers are wrong. It still doesn't stop me from disliking people who are allowed to live from the system just because they don't mind about lying to get it. I don't really care that it's impossible to figure out who these people are.
I don't respect problems with authority as a reason to be unemployed. Criminal records are a decision which results in consequences. Problems with authority are things that someone just needs to try hard enough to bite the bullet and overcome. Just because you don't like your boss doesn't mean that it's a good reason not to listen to them, within reason. Sure. If your boss tells you to put your hands in a fire, our you're fired, the job's not worth having. But if your boss tells you to go and get a box, you go and get the box. Similarly, problems with police is a problem with respecting the officers and the laws of society. People who don't respect the law and therefore can't get a job shouldn't be rewarded for it.
I know several people of about 40-55 who were born into very poor families who are now very wealthy. They somehow learnt that an education is important, picked up the social skills necessary to succeed and then did it. Not all of them pursued their success through academics. So if they can do it, why can't others? Their families were not atypical of poor families. So what's the catch?
Education is supplied pretty thoroughly in Australia.
So a lack of self-confidence is a more viable non-diagnosable reason to be unemployed, but most people lack self-confidence at some times in their lives.
I'm not saying that people don't deserve a certain standard of living, though I guess it sounds like it. I'm saying that I have little pity, tolerance or compassion for people who fail to make something of their life from choice, not those who are unable to. Just as I have little pity or compassion for people who don't look after their children, be they wealthy or no. I don't think people who have worked hard should have to pay undue amounts of tax. It's my opinion. It will probably change - most of my other opinions have, like thinking that eating meat is wrong. I now think not eating meat is retarded. But at the moment I despise people in general, and particularly people like my brother, who respect nothing and get away with far too much, because they don't care enough about anything to notice that they're doing the wrong thing and be affected by it. Wealthy people are pretty detestable in many ways as well. Greed is disgusting. But then, I'm pretty greedy about certain things. Nobody's perfect. But of course, it's difficult to see our own flaws sometimes. I'm pretty unhappy with my home life. Is it surprising that I blame other people?
Tax numbers
It's unintuitive, but: no. The way that tax brackets work is this: you pay each bracket's marginal rate for monies earned within that bracket. So, for example:
Someone who earns $6000 pays $0
Someone who earns $7000 pays $0 + 10% of $1000 - $100. This is not 10% of their income, but 1.4%.
Extrapolating, someone who earns $150000, although they are in the top tax bracket of 45%, will pay $47900 in income tax - just under 32% of their income.
Additionally, people who earn more than that will usually have the resources to have significant investments - they might even be paid into investments, such as being granted stock options in lieu of actual salary. The money 'earned' when investments appreciated in value isn't taxed as income, but at a flat capital gains rate of 30%.
With that, and with the fact above that the top tax bracket effectively starts at 32%, no Australian with a decent accountant really pays much more than 30% of their income in taxes. Of course, the people earning $150000 or more are also the ones who can afford decent accountants :)
Re: Tax numbers
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Haha, no.
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*goes back to sitting quietly*
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