A Question Of Nothing

Got my tax assessment the other day, and I'm still up to pay $2,000! What a crock of shit! I get tax withheld from my salary anyway, but I only earned about $2,000 in interest anyway, which gets obliterated by stuff like medicare levy and the surcharge and Higher Education fees. Whoever invented the HECS system needs to be found and shot, or if they're already dead, have their bones exhumed and hanged. It's a silly system and inconsistent. People who went to university when the system was free have a HUGE advantage over the rest of us, as they would have made comparatively more money at the same age, since they wouldn't have been in the same level of debt automatically. Spare a thought for people who go to university in places like the US, where loans have been privatised and people are getting royally fucked over. It's not right, especially not over education.

What's more interesting is the flood levy additional tax that we have to pay (thankfully only temporarily). I think that's ridiculous. This additional tax was made to cover costs from the major floods we had a few years ago. I think that's absolute bullshit. Natural disasters happen often, and a lot of areas are well known to be prone to them more than others. Essentially, you are taking the risk when you move to places like that. So why should the rest of the country have to bear the cost for reconstruction? People should be fucking insured for this, and Governments should just cough up the money for it. When we had major bushfires here when I was younger, no additional tax burden came, people were forced to survive on their own. These things are only going to get worse as times goes on and we fuck up the environment even more. The Government better not pull this sort of crap again.

Somebody is crying at work. Ummm...awkward.

I was reading the other day that in Ireland, a woman died because the hospital refused to abort her pregnancy, and the cause of death ended up being blood poisoning. This is what happens when the religious zealots get any sway in the political process. Apparently in Ireland you cannot have an abortion if the heart of the foetus is still beating. This is despite the fact that the mother was dying as a result of the pregnancy. Well done, Ireland. You fucked up. What are all the right to lifers going to say about this now? Are they glad that in their quest to keep everyone alive, their actions have lead to the deaths of two? Bravo, bravo.

In lighter news, I've been reading up on Grand Theft Auto V, which sounds like an absolute blast! I prefer Los Santos over Liberty City. Although, my preferred place would have been San Fierro, because that's where I was primarily based in GTA SA. Anyway, I read that the map was big enough to accommodate the red dead redemption map, the GTA SA map AND GTA IV map, and still have room left over. Holy crap, this game is going to be massive, I can't wait!!! At least I'm on my way to getting through The Lost and the Damned. Hopefully it will be out of the way quickly so I can finish the Ballad of Gay Tony and be done with GTA IV, finally. Sorry, it just wasn't fun. GTA SA was the shit, I love that game!

University taught me a lot of important things, in hindsight. What's closure in the scheme of things? These days are just passing us by.

Could a valid thought even enter your head at this time of the year? Jesus, it's been practically 6 months. Half a year. For fuck sake. That's not right. And I guess in other ways, we are very alike.

It's been another lazy day here. Oh, the hopeless emptiness of revolutionary road. You shouldn't have told me to watch it, cause in hindsight it's brutal to watch and understand and ponder on. Then again, it was more Melancholia when it all fell apart, right?

Been reading up on Blade Runner, particularly the death of Roy, who delivers a tremendous speech before he karks it. Do memories become lost in time when you die? Like tears in the rain? Isn't it so unfair that if there is nothing on the other side, that memories, your experiences amount to nothing? I mean several billion years ago, the universe just roared into existence, and here we are right now. There you are, at whatever time, reading this.

Been trying to get back into chess lately. I think my issue is that I'm too tight. I don't like to sacrifice anything, to offer or even accept any gambits. Therein probably lies my problem in trying to become a better player. I never think a move ahead. Then I think back to the good times and I wonder whether I threw that match to make you happy? It shouldn't have ended in a draw. I knew what I was doing, and I made deliberately silly moves to see what would happen. Would have liked a re-match though.

Memory is viewed very interestingly. I remember when I was overseas with my cousins in about 1999/2000, and I watched them revise for stuff. They didn't actually sit there and 'learn' stuff per se, instead, they read pages and pages of textbooks and just committed them to memory. I then realised that everyone in Asia studies this way. It's not about contextual learning, it's about being able to regurgitate facts and figures back at the teacher. I don't really classify that as learning, it only exercises your memory, and having a great memory isn't all that it's cracked up to be if you don't know how to use it.

As I've moved into a management role at work, it has become more and more obvious how much office politics comes into play. It's really disheartening, because it's like an episode of Survivor, but without the payoff or the fun challenges. People conspire against each other, gossip, create alliances and cliques, it's like something out of high school. Surely this happens in most (if not all) workplaces? Doesn't this cost the world a LOT in terms of lost productivity?

Been watching Misadventures of an awkward black girl lately. While I thoroughly enjoyed season 1, I think season 2 has become really melodramatic and depressing. Sure, there have been some shining moments of comedic brilliance, but overall, I feel drained and unhappy after watching an episode, which is not good, considering most eps are 10-12 mins long! Imagine if it was a 30 minute sitcom?!

As most of you know, I've been getting back into the swing of things with guitar, and concentrating solely on on our original stuff. The other has written some truly amazing chord progressions and sequences. But not just that, I've been paying closer attention to his lyrics, some of which are incredibly hard hitting and poignant.

Holy moly, this week has seen an absolute littany of huge posts from me! Haha, I guess it's because I've got nothing to do at the moment.

What is funny is that the veterans of the most vicious wars in history like WW2 and Vietnam etc. are the staunchest anti-war campaigners and pacificsts now. You don't get older soldiers on the frontline shooting at other people. You get younger soldiers who are too young to know any better, and who can be more easily manipulated to put their lives on the line for nothing. I don't know what could compel someone to go and do that. Interviews with front line soldiers today displays a blatant lack of understanding of the conflict as to why they are fighting. They just want to fight. Here's to brainwashing idiots. Education is the only solution for this sort of situation. I don't mind being branded or labelled a pacifist. Warfare, and the sickening nature it brings out in humans, and the sickening profiteering it brings out in corporations, has to be abandoned. In the end, we all just end up dying. I recall a quote from the Dalai Lama (who I'm incidentally now following...on twitter, hahaha!) roughly meaning that conflict which was brought about to end conflict has never worked, as conflict is still around. Exceptionally valid point. Well played, Dalai, well played.

Going back on a statement that I made the other day about catholic priests and celibacy, I wonder why buddhist monks who are celibate don't have the same problems? Then again it might not even be reported. But it's interesting to think about. While I do support the royal commission into the Church cover up, I don't support the idea of forcing priests to give up details of confession. When the law interferes with faith, we have gone a bit too far. I know this makes my earlier comment on abortion hypocritical, but I think this is entirely different. Health and trust are different things, and confession is an integral part of catholicism.

Anyway, let's leave it here for now.

Joaquin out.