The protest riots at a Bob Jane store in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs on Friday night is more than just a national disgrace. It should be a turning point in the naming and shaming of the ever growing number of moron’s that perpetrate public pack crimes.

These people believe that they are immune to the repercussions of their actions because they are part of a pack or a group or in this case a riot. The senseless nature of this and other pack or group crimes must be dealt with and punished at levels beyond that of just the destruction of property.

They must be dealt with and punished for the long term damage that they do to the psyche of our youth and for the escalating levels of future actions that will no doubt come from this. The “one-up-manship” that exists today in many of the youth of this country mean’s that the next moronic incident will only be bigger and more damaging.

It is time for the government, the police and media to join forces to expose and publicly shame the people involved in these types of crimes. The punishment must go beyond that of the normal judicial process. It is time to fight fire with fire.

The internet is the greatest communication invention of all time. But it can also be a powerful weapon in the fight against and the punishment of criminals. It is time for a national “Online Social Protection Network” that allows people to assist in the identification and exposure of individuals who commit these acts against society.

It is time for an Online Community Name and Shame network!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qooQOrNfPjU

THE Victorian Police say they will unveil its digitector to catch speeding drivers over Christmas.

But why don’t they use or unveil this throughout the entire year and not just Christmas?

Yes, there are more people on the roads this time of year, but surely it would help prevent a lot of other deaths throughout the rest of the year.

This is the problem; the police are rampant come holiday time and are barely seen other times in the year.

More consistency is needed for them and for the rest of the state.

They should also have more drug and booze buses around in other times of the year rather than just the holiday periods also.

When was the last time you got breath tested at a booze bus? Or drug tested?

Back onto the speeding game, the digitector is a tool that was used in the 80s and consists of two strips placed on a road that measures the speed at which a car has travelled between the two points.

Senior Sergeant Wayne Cully told The Age the digitector would catch drivers who believed they could outwit police.

“These days, repeat speeding offenders are always on the lookout for a police car with a radar attached, but they have all forgotten about the digitector,” he said.

“It’s pure mathematics. This device always catches the speeding drivers by surprise, they don’t realise they’ve been caught until they’re being waved in.”

 AUSTRALIA needs to do more of this – naming and shaming.

More than 130 Victorian state schools have been identified as underperforming which questions our country’s level of education compared to other countries.

The microscope is on underperforming schools with parents now able to check how well their childrens’ schools is going through a range of different measures including national assessment test results and what the average absent list is from school.

North Shore Primary School in Geelong was ranked one of the worst.

It’s a great sign that there are national assessment test results in order for schools and education to keep on the same line.

But what can the education department do with underperforming schools.

Give government grants? Get the teachers in more training? Adapt a different method to teach the students?

Usually it’s government grants to adopt further programs to enrich children with further education where needed.

These underperforming schools need to be named and shamed in order to get better.

VICTORIAN premier John Brumby said Victorians were the “envy” of other Australians as a new Roy Morgan poll found 1200 Australians thought Melbourne was more liveable than Sydney and any other Australian city.

Melbourne has a lot going for it but moreso than any other city, the multiculturalism stands out.

The variety of restaurants and the cultures surrounding them makes Melbourne a liveable city to live in for anyone of any nationality.

Maybe that wouldn’t be the case for cities such as Darwin with the vast amount being indigenous, while Sydney is deemed to be one of the more expensive Australian cities to live in.

Melbournians also have a great shopping scene where you can find some of the best bargains at several DFO outlets and across different streets such as Bridge Road in Richmond.

Then there is the Crown Casino. A brilliant night spot.

And of course, sport.

What better sporting grandstand than the MCG; and Docklands.

Some say Melbourne has the world covered when talking about sport. The amount of sports facilities in Victoria continues to grow with a third viable Melbourne based football stadium on the agenda.

There is also a fierce football rivalry to go with it.

But perhaps the biggest thing going for Melbourne is its array of food.

From the italians at Lygon Street to the maltese at Taylors Lakes, the array of cultures make great food. Think of the positives Australians.

Who wouldn’t want to live in Melbourne?

FOOTBALL clubs have a lot to put up with off the field.

It’s a common theme for many with rape allegations hovering over the club’s reputation.

Montmorency of the Northern Football League is the latest to come under threat.

Three players have been charged after police alleged the women were held prisoner and repeatedly raped by footballers in Phillip Island.

The two 18-year-olds Trent Cantwell and Ruben James Mineo were named.

The 17-year-old wasn’t.

It should be a name and shame thing for all three despite their ages.

Surely it isn’t fair that two of the three cop the public humiliation and the other gets off with barely a red face.

There was a Werribee DVD rape allegation at Werribee Secondary College two years ago.

Because the alleged were under the age of 18, names weren’t identified but on community vote at the time, most were wanting to know the names.

Yes it would put the families in the firing line. But at least the alleged would learn a lesson.

It would be interesting to find a statistic of those not named and if they go on to form more criminal acts in the future than those named.

Maybe it’s time for judiciary to make a stance on this and help turn the spotlight off the football clubs and the sport in general and moreso on those who did the deed.

The Channel Nine news team had to keep their wits about them this week when a super sized image of a seagull gate-crashed the live set of the six o’clock news segment.

In a bizarre scene, a massively magnified version of the bird walked in front of a real-time projection of the Melbourne cityscape, directly behind news anchor Peter Hitchener.

At the time, the ever-professional news journalist was reading a story about a 27-year-old murder, and had to keep his wits about him due to the sensitivity of the report.

Rather than chuckling with laughter, like the majority of the news set did at the time, Hitchener remained calm, only mildly flinching in response to the rare occurrence.

Speaking out publicly yesterday, Hitchener said that he had to control his urges after seeing the main cameraman turn his head away from the set to hide his laughter.

“I was reading away, and it was a serious story, and I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my gosh that seagulls back again’, because we had bit of a problem last night,” Hitchener said.

“About 50 seconds to 6 o’clock this seagull arrived and started pecking at the camera and it had the beadiest huge eyes you’ve ever seen in your life.”

The incident comes only days after another TV news journalist made the headlines for an incident which occurred during a live segment.

ABC news presenter, Virginia Trioli, was forced to apologize to a Coalition senator, and viewers, after she was caught on air pulling a face and twirling a finger in the traditional manner of calling someone crazy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S90EUwVnUjY

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?

Have you ever seen any other moments like these in Australian TV history?

Were you impressed with Hitchener’s professionalism?

Would it have been inappropriate to laugh during the incident?

Political correctness is yet again at the frontline of the media after the controversial midget racing event at a Victorian racetrack over the weekend

The event, dubbed the ‘midget’s cup’, was held down the home straight of the Cranbourne racetrack on Sunday, with short statured people dressed in racing colours acting as jockeys.

During the final few frantic metres, one of the men who was being ridden, fell on his face, sending a dwarf flying across the finishing line, uncanningly in first place.

Along with many other groups and individuals accross the nation, Victoria racing minister Rob Hulls has slammed the event, which was sanctioned by the Racing Victoria Limited marketing department, saying it does little to promote the sport and upcoming Spring carnival.

“At a time when racing should be fighting hard for that discretionary dollar and fighting hard to get young people back to the track, this type of event does nothing to promote the industry as vital, modern or innovative,” Hull said.

Megan Lilly from Short Statured People of Australia was also outraged by the display and has demanding an apology from the racing club.

“Well I thought it was a completely disrespectful and lacking in any real humour whatsoever. It’s just a very poor reflection of people that continue to find humour in belittling others,” Lilly said.

“They should issue a formal and public apology to the short statured people of Australia.”

On the back of the recent Red faces furore, Australia cannot afford the continued bad press it is recieving.

Issues such as this highlight the sensitivity of individuals across our nation and the need for Australia to generate a better understanding of political correctness.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWkoTveubzo

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?

Did you find the midget racing offensive?

What punishment, if any, should be given to the Cranbourne Racing Club?

Is Australia being too sensitive?

Melbourne Storm last night defeated the Parramatta Eels to claim the NRL premiership and seal Victoria’s stake as Australia’s leading sports city.

In a dominating year, Melbourne has claimed just about every major sporting title in 2009, showing the nation that they are the ‘real’ sporting capital.

So far this year the state has claimed the AFL premiership with Geelong, the soccer A- League title with the Melbourne Victory, the current national basketball championship through the now defunct South Dragons, and the state Netball competition thanks to the Melbourne Vixens.

In addition, Victoria has triumphed in Australia’s most prestigious cricket competition – the Sheffield Shield.

Basically, Victoria has claimed every single major sporting title on offer in the country.

This begs the question why the state has not been given a team in the international Rugby Union competition, the Super 14.

In 2005, the league expanded from 12 to 14 sides, and instead of Melbourne being given a spot, Perth was the lucky recipient.

Many people have spoken out about what it is that has made the city so successful in the sporting world.

Experts believe it may have something to do with the colder weather, and the motivation to keep warm through physical activity.

Some put it down to the great sporting arenas and facilities the state possesses.

Others, however, believe the answer is simple: Victoria is just better.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1AYeCeRRss

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION:

What is the reason behind Victoria’s current purple patch?

Should Melbourne be given a side in the Super 14s Competition?

What is Australia’s second best sporting city?

65 revellers have been arrested for drug related crimes at music festival in Melbourne over the weekend.

The Parklife festival drew a massive crowd of 17,000 at Birrarung Marr to see headlining acts La Roux and Digitalism, with a bunch of dance based support acts.

Armed with a large group of sniffer dogs, and working in co-operation with the events organizers and security, Victorian Police arrested numerous party-goers for carrying drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy.

While Police have applauded the general behaviour of people at the festival, despite the discovery of drugs, the increase in drug related crimes at youth festivals has to be of concern for the public.

Last year 53 people were caught the same festival for drug possession and this year that figure has increased by 12.

At the same time, the number of overdoses and hospital admittances for drug use has also jumped over the years.

It indicates two things:

That the police have identified the issue as a real societal problem and have done their best to prevent drug use at festivals.

However, it also indicates that the public are not acting upon the message and are continuing to use drugs at music events.

With the year slowly coming to an end, and a plethora of New Years Eve and summer festivals about to hit Australia, the public need to understand the issues and dangers that are associated with drugs and partying.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=920Xo4x62zw

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION:

What punishment should those caught with drugs at festivals receive?

Do you think drugs are a major problem in our society?

What else should the government do to prevent the problem?

With the State election due at the end of next year, the battlelines are being drawn in the political war over Victoria’s controversial North-South pipeline.

The new Pipeline represents all that is divisive in the political argument over water.

The Pipeline will divert 75 billion litres of water to Melbourne when it opens next year. But experts say our water reserves are dwindling, with Lake Eildon down to 18 per cent of capacity.

With the surrounding water reserves in northern Victoria extremely low and little prospect of big rainfalls over the next few months, serious questions are being asked about whether the savings are really there.

The Opposition claims that it is not clear that the Government will ever achieve the water savings that it claims that will provide the water for the Pipeline, without stripping water out of the Murray Darling system.

Other commentators say that the North South Pipeline has been presented as the solution to all our problems.

The Greens in Victoria say it will take 75 gigalitres every year out of the Goulburn and pump it into Eildon Weir. Good in theory if the water is there, they say.

The man in the middle – Water Minister Tim Holding – is spearheading the Pipeline project for the Government. He is one of the Brumby Government’s top ministers and his profile was lifted considerably recently when he was lost – and then found by rescuers -- in Victoria’s alpine wilderness.

He was missing for two nights after going on a solo hike at Mount Feathertop, the second highest peak in Victoria.

Mr Holding might have stepped of a dangerous alpine peak only to find himself in the midst of bad political weather.

The powers that the State Government needs to pump water through the Pipe have been blocked in the Upper House by the Opposition, Greens and the DLP – all aligning themselves against the Government.

It has developed into a Mexican stand-off over the water to Melbourne. The Government refuses to budge and says they will guarantee water through the Pipeline for at least the first year.

The Opposition parties say the Pipeline is a white elephant and say the Government has squandered billions of dollars in big infrastructure projects at the peril of other more sensible water saving options such as rain water harvesting and recycled water.

What will happen next?

One thing is sure. Water politics is shaping up as a key issue at next year’s State election – and the divisive fight over our water will continue beyond our waterways all the way to the ballot box.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnmwkamchhQ

Do you think the State has acted well enough to deal with our low water levels?

Will their plans solve our water issues?

Should we use recycled water?