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

These reports suggest that the majority of the 52 most prone places for fire in Victoria have dismissed the guidelines and recommendations from the bushfires royal commission.

It’s amazing how after last year’s Black Saturday events – not even 12 months since the event – that people are still taking this for granted.

News Limited papers said the reports, compiled by the Country Fire Authority, Emergency Services Commissioner and RMIT University, revealed almost half of people in the state’s highest fire risk areas would not leave their home on a catastrophic, or code red, fire danger day.

They show only 15 per cent had changed their bushfire survival plans after Black Saturday and almost one third did not understand the national warning system introduced last year.

One quarter of those surveyed would stay in their homes on code red days and only leave if they saw fire, while 78 per cent who stayed to defend their homes on Black Saturday said they would do it again.

People in these areas have seen the effects of last year’s disaster. It gained world recognition.

Still, some people believe they have more to worry about.

But what’s more important than protecting yourself and your family. Keep a look out particularly on total fire ban days.

It’s a staggering amount for those who want to buy houses as they prices continue to soar.

The Age reports that the median house price hit $540,500 in the three months to December, to be 15 per cent more expensive than the previous record of $470,000 set in the September quarter, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. The median is the middle price of all house sales recorded in the quarter.

Price inflation was most dramatic in the middle market of between $500,000 and $900,000, a segment characterised by second-time home buyers and wealthy investors.

But if you’re a home owner, you would be thinking that you have just won tattslotto with the price of your property going up.

That’s the good thing about buying property – the only way is up.

Property, particularly in growing areas, is something that will always go up.

Indians getting bashed – this time three of them being taxi drivers in Ballarat.

Are they easy targets? The fact that some people believe that Indian people don’t fight back.

The attacks take the total of incidents involving Indian nationals in Ballarat to four in just three days.

One of them a student, told The Age, that he was fearing for his life.

It has become that serious that it is life or death for some Indian people.

This is really sad that this is happening in Australia; a country in which has more recently accepted multi-culturalism.

It is a country that has accepted a lot – until now.

Does the economic crisis have much to do with this? In a previous post, I wrote about how one Indian living in Melbourne wondered if it was because some Australians were frustrated that Indians had jobs and some Australians didn’t.

Was this a motivating factor in the fact that more Indians are getting bashed and killed than any other culture in the country?

They have protested holding signs up such as ‘Racism is more dangerous than swine flu’.

The protests follow a number of racial attacks on them in Melbourne.

Many are brutally bashed; many find themselves with little hope when going out for a few drinks.

They are targeted in the Australian community; they’re seen as easy targets…but why?

I have recently discussed this issue with several Indian people in Melbourne.

They believe Australians are angry with Indians because they seem to “steal the good jobs from them” and the Australians left with jobs such as cleaning are left frustrated and in turn, try to intimidate and take it out on the travelling Indians.

One said that he “wasn’t scared” but that most Indians were “easy targets.”

He agreed that Australia’s attack on Indians has only been recent with a trend that seems to be continuing.

Many pick up jobs all around Australia; a lot flock to marketing and salesman positions.

There are more Indians and Asians in Australia than what their are pure Australians.

It must be a frustrating thing for those rare Aussies left. To see their country taken over by a flock of internationals.

Whether that’s racist or not, it appears Australians must accept multi-culturalism.

But it is apparent that Australians aren’t accepting it that well.

The Indian that I spoke to this week said that employers prefer Indians to work in workplaces than some Australians is that they work harder and work for less.

This is argumentative of course, but there’s no doubt Indians work hard for their dollar.

But just as the frustration boils over in tough economic times, Indians could feel more pain than good. And that is not right.

It was reported in The Age last week that train drivers on metropolitan lines run red lights at least once every two days.

Data collected by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau suggests a significant increase in such incidents since the late 1990s. Figures for the 70 months to May 2002 show there was an average of just 1.5 red signal breaches a month on the part of the network operated by Connex after privatisation in 1999. In the part of the network initially operated by National Express, there was an average of 2.2 red light breaches a month in the 77 months to May 2001.

Surely there must be a review of this by the state government with the last apparent incident happening in July on the Frankston line, narrowly missing another train on the Flinders St line.

It was carrying 401 passengers at the time.

Many are jumping on to ebay and selling items in a bid to at least get something useful for themselves.

But surely there’s something in the saying – ‘it’s the thought that counts’.

It proves there are a lot of bitter people in the world after receiving pressies from someone and then selling it just days later on ebay or another item exchange.

It is estimated that Australians will horde up to $1b worth of unwanted goods this festive period.

Some will try and get cash for the unwanted goods, while a surveyed 26 per cent will exchange it as a gift to someone else.

However about 43 per cent of people said they would let their unwanted goods sit in cupboards.

Australians planned on spending an average $662 to buy 12.7 Christmas gifts this year.

Victorians and Tasmanians were predicted to spend the most, with about 164,000 people splashing out $2,000 or more on presents, followed by 161,000 in NSW and 86,000 in Queensland.

This festive period, hold on to your goods; you never know they might be worth more to you than what you think.

VCE results typify what they are all about and what they’re heading towards next season.

It may be just a number, but that number or score can become pivotal to your future dreams.

A lot of students are left shattered this time of year; depressed and looking for somewhere else to go after not getting a high enough score to get into their chosen university course.

There are ways around it for those lost dreams however.

Doing a TAFE course on the same subject and performing well at that gives you an enormous chance of getting into university in the next year.

If you have a dream and there are some obstacles, don’t just drop it and take it as a failure.

Take it as a challenge to perform and grab it with both hands.

It really does depend on how much you want to become that doctor, lawyer, physiotherapist, journalist, public relations assistant, business manager, architect, nurse – the list goes on.

The worst people in the world are the ones that just give up and don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

These people end up in jobs they don’t like and simply go to work to earn money each day with little satisfaction.

Do you want to become one of these?

Australian airline Jetstar has been forced to a meeting with the Federal Government after a blind couple from Melbourne were refused a booking on the airline because of their guide dog.

”People with disability have the same right to travel by air as the rest of the population. They should not be treated like children or as an inconvenience,” said parliamentary director Bill Shorten.

It was the second incident in as many weeks where Jetstar has faced a complaint from people with a disability.

Imagine life being blind.

Surely, the airline can be more compassionate about the issue and compromise.

Guide dogs are like these peoples’ air.

They need them; they survive with them.

They guide them.

Jetstar will quickly lose more and more business if it continues to discriminate against people with a disability.

The complaints will continue to stack up until they change their laws and beliefs.

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.