Of Stippers and Other Things.

I shall not be boring you with my mundane daily activities too much in this post. Suffice to say that I have been reading lots and played futsal with boys last night in preparation for my attacking role in this weekend's tournament. I scored a few goals, made a few assists, and they are trying to drill into my head that I need to control the ball more.

What I really want to blog about is what's been in the news. Yes, it seems like it has been a busy few days in Australian politics and it has been quite entertaining to observers such as myself. Someone apparently leaked news that the very popular leader of the federal opposition party got pissed while on a 'taxpayer-funded' trip to New York to attend a United Nations meeting. He allegedly then visited a strip club. Now, if this was any other politician, or any other guy, for that matter, there would probably be a massive uproar, and said politician would probably be forced to resign or something. The leader of the Labor party may be very publicly very Christian, but he is also Aussie, and an Aussie who doesn't drink at all is practically unheard of. At least he could admit to the blunder (unlike some other politicians).

Even a member of the government has come out to say that he was with the then-shadow foreign affairs minister. Add to that fact the statement from the club's owner, and you have one very weak scandal. There was a very amusing comment in an article published in the Star newspaper (Malaysian daily) yesterday. I can't remember who said it, but to paraphrase, he (R) went into the club while drunk, but the PM, while sober, led Australia into the war. Even the leader of a Australian Christian Lobby thinks that it was not an unforgivable mistake and that if anything, it would probably endear him to the voting public, as they would see that he is human, after all. So, what next? This is not the first attack of the year on the opposition leader, but the attacks on his credibility have been feeble. Is the government getting desperate?

The other thing that caught my eye in yesterday's Star, is the report that Facebook would cost Australia $4billion as a result of loss of productivity in the workplace. Funny, and I can so see it happening. I know that people sign up for networks related to their profession/workplace/firm. I wouldn't say that I'm addicted, but from personal experience, it is pretty useful SOCIALLY. I only signed up coz my dear cousin kept pestering me to, and for many months, it remained quite dormant. But 8 months later, I used it to send out invites for my farewell gathering. It has put me in touch with lots of friends all over the world that I've been out of touch with for a few years. I do consider it for social use, though, and imagine that thanks to Surfcontrol, the firm that conducted the study, employers are going to start blocking access to the site. Ironically, Surfcontrol may well benefit from this, as it sells a web and email blocking system (according to masher.com)!!