Brisbane

I haven't been posting Council threads since the election because to be honest it's been so exhausting after the disastrous result of the election. But the last couple of weeks I've popped it on for a few minutes here and there, including right now.

Cr Wines is currently standing up in front of the Council and saying that he thinks polling booths were deliberately understaffed at the Council election as a tactic to make voters think "oh, the current incumbents are useless, I'm sick of waiting, we better vote them out." His evidence for this claim? In his Ward, only in one booth did he not come first, and he said he saw long lines at that booth.

Archive/non-paywall link.

Archive/non-paywall.

Curlews of Moorlands Park: Moss & Mist | The road goes ever on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td2CNMj7hsw

@brisbane

The longest-running scientific experiment, the Pitch Drop at the University of Queensland, Brisbane @brisbane

Our workshop electricity bill is constantly insane, despite relatively low consumption.

If I plug in our residential rates against our workshop usage, it would be at least 30% lower for the same consumption.

Is there an actual need for a "business" account at a business address? My understanding of business accounts is that they offer higher levels of support and a faster resolution time, but when poo has hit the fan (such as flooding) we're not restored any faster than the houses nearby anyway.

Seems bollocks to pay quite a bit extra as a business when the usage is comparable to a residential address.

This also applies to internet which is more expensive for a business account with no difference in SLA.

Came across this petition to the QLD State Parliament:

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=4077&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR18l5EClb5gvNnegW7VLg8lXNFazrIwh17AHFjqswsI5l6sPQKXxNT-uJA_aem_AbEOs0teE0XoaUN0hQqrTgcjeLZr0s0S2QXBM9NWNosEIw4w3oNeFl93YieF0ZqypJc7HVbX-stIA-z5PZrZPsSj

Basically, what they want is the right to use whatever force they want upon home invaders without consequence. This feels like a real step backwards in terms of civility and I'm not really aware of any cases (there aren't any mentioned in the petition at least) where someone has been prosecuted for using "disproportionate" force on an invader.

I'm not saying I'm complicit with crime and it's important that we all get to feel safe in our own homes, I think that's a fundamental right. But I don't like the idea of everyone being the law. It shouldn't be legal for someone to shoot at me or attack me if I enter their property by mistake or want to meet my neighbours.

The MP putting this forward is a member of Katter's Australian Party, but it just seems like a good distraction to get dumb voters to vote LNP because the news disproportionately covers crime in Queensland while statistics show that the crime rate is decreasing and research and "common sense" shows that addressing the root problems is a more effective strategy. Something which the LNP will absolutely fail to do as they completely fail to recognise the problem.

~~But worst of all probably is that they try to relate this to cinematic masterpiece "The Castle" when it really has nothing to do with the film at all and more to do with mediaeval practices.~~