"The Sunblind State"
by Amanda Watt
QWeekend Magazine
December 4-5, 2010
Queensland is the (official? unofficial?) melanoma capital of the world, yet many Queenslanders still have no idea how deadly melanoma can be. The response is often "oh, so you'll just cut it out, yes?".
Having experienced the sun these last few days in Cairns out on the Great Barrier Reef, it kinda freaks me out. I went on a one-hour guided snorkeling tour yesterday and didn't think to put sunblock on my face and ears till I was out in the water and it was too late.
I got a little panicky. I had my head out of the water a lot so I could hear the tour guide and I could feel the sun beating down on me. I pulled the hood of the snorkeling suit up to protect my ears and zipped it up to my chin for my neck (and just chose not to think about how dippy I looked) but there wasn't anything I could do about my face.
Blessedly, no sunburn today though my face feels like it got a sunburn. Frankly, the intensity of the sun scares me. I don't know how anyone can spend much time in it unprotected. I'm pale but so are quite a lot of Australians with their 'pale English rose' heritage.
They call it the "slip, slop, slap" (the application of sunblock). As one woman, interviewed for this article, said "I never knew that not doing the 'slip, slop, slap' routine could kill you." She is 60 and she is dying. They can't stop the spread of the melanoma. It's reached her brain.
"Shop to Suit"
by Paddy Hintz
The Courier Mail Weekend Edition
December 4-5, 2010
Each state in Australia sets the hours that retail businesses are allowed to operate and it is different in every state. "Under the current system, major Queensland retailers are generally prevented from opening before 8 am or after 9 pm." In some rural areas, there is no shopping -- including grocery shopping -- permitted on Sundays and often not in the evenings.
The major reason cited is to protect workers. The idea is apparently that it would be, what, cruel and unusual to make them work when the standard office worker isn't? There's some kind of special pay allotted for workers who have to work a public holiday and that's over and above things like overtime pay. I read recently that it was feasible for a waiter working a holiday that falls on a weekend to make as much as $70 an hour.
Since Christmas and Boxing Day fall on Saturday and Sunday this year, the "official" holidays are being moved to Monday and Tuesday. A lot of restaurants are saying they're just going to close for the last week of the year because the wage costs are more than they can afford.
There's a hue-and-cry building about this for next Easter as well. Good Friday and Easter Monday are official holidays. In addition, ANZAC Day falls at the same time in 2011. If I'm reading this correctly, many businesses are required to be closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, and ANZAC Day. That's virtually a week of forced closings.
In the US we used to have the "blue laws" (and I think we still do, technically). When I was growing up, few businesses were open on Sunday and it was rare for any retailer to be open on a Sunday. I think that was more about religion than worker protections. I was in my teens when retailers started opening on Sundays -- but only 12-5 -- and we were scandalized and righteously indignant. Not that it stopped us from frequenting those businesses, after we got home from church of course.
Now, Sunday is just another weekend day. If I say I can't do something on Sunday morning because I'll be in church, people have to pause for moment to remember that church still happens.
It feels odd, as an American, to have a government agency telling a business when they can and can't be open. For all I know, this is exactly how it happens in the US and I'm just ignorant of that fact. But if I had a massage practice in a small town, would I not be able to offer sessions in the evening? That would make me bristle, to think that I couldn't make the choices that were best for my practice.
Do workers need that much protection? When I've worked retail, it was a given that I would have to work weekends and holidays some times. It was one of the disadvantages of working retail (and yet another incentive to finish college and get a desk job!). If I wanted a weekend or holiday off, I negotiated with the boss. If I was the person with the least seniority, I didn't necessarily get the time off. Just part of being a working stiff.
The fight for longer hours is being led by major grocery chains Coles and Woolworths. Other retailers are saying they're being put to a disadvantage with online shopping or, if they're close to a state border, with shops just across the line who have more lenient hours.
Here's a summary of trading hour laws by state, which I think is kinda funny.
Queensland: opening hours and restricted days differ between major and minor regional centres and the southeast (Brisbane). Trading restricted on Sundays in most regional areas.
Victoria (home to Melbourne)
ACT (Canberra, the national capital)
Tasmania
Northern Territory (home to Uluru and Alice Springs)
Unrestricted trading except for Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day morning and Christmas Day.
Western Australia (which includes Perth): No Sunday trading except in designated tourist areas. All public holidays are restricted trading days. Trading is unrestricted north of the 26th parallel because of its isolation.
South Australia (Adelaide): Restructed trading on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, public holidays and Proclamation Day for non-Adelaide areas. No Sunday trading except for Adelaide CBD.
And you thought it was tough to keep track of liquor laws in the US!
Boss who upgraded airline seats guilty
The former boss of Qantas Link Longreach has been found guilty of improperly giving friends and family upgraded airline seats.
Daniel David Sheehan, 46, ws accused of giving upgrades -- including to the fater of cricketer Ian Healy -- from economy to first or business class to the value of $70,000 between 2007 and 2008.
After a week-long District Court trial, Sheehan was found guilty on 50 counts of dishonestly gaining a benefit and one count of attempted fraud and sentenced to 15 months' jail, wholly suspended for 18 months.
Um, isn't this why we want an airline exec as a friend?? Given how crappy an experience flying is these days, how else are they expected to make friends??
Reality kicks in as our next hope is 2046
by Marco Monteverde & Guy Hand
To say that Australia is "disappointed" about being passed over to host the World Cup in 2022 is a distinct understatement. FIFA, the World Cup governing body, has been rocked by reports of bribes and underhanded dealings for a while now. The fact that they gave the 2022 World Cup to Qatar has more than a few people shaking their heads. Here's a few facts about Qatar to bolster that reaction.
Population: 1.5 million, most of whom are foreign workers
Main cities: Doha and Al-Rayyan
Average temperature in July (when the World Cup will occur): 46C / 115F
Size: 11,425 sq km (1/6 the size of Tasmania)
Illegal: homosexual acts, drinking alcohol outside licensed premises (oh, that's going to put a cramp in World Cup fun!), taking photos of local people (especially women)
New stadiums needed: 9
FIFA world ranking: 115th
World Cup appearances: 0
Lonely Planet description: Doha has earned the unenviable reputation of being 'the dullest place on Earth'.
Qantas sues Rolls as rules trim superjumbo
by Geoff Easdown & Ben Packham
You've probably heard about the problems Qantas has had lately -- exploding engines, emergency landings, that sort of thing. The upshot seems to be that the new engines -- provided by Rolls Royce -- for the Airbus A380 have a little acceleration problem. The oomph needed to get them into the air for long-haul flights (LA to Sydney being a chief example) with a full payload is more than the engines can handle.
To do it safely, Qantas would have to restrict flights from LA to Australia and Asia to a payload of.....80 passengers. So, they've simply closed those routes for now, at a huge financial loss. Lawsuits have been filed, as you can imagine.
On the other hand, with only 80 passengers you'd be sure of getting some legroom and that you'd be able to stretch out and get some sleep.
Teacher in cyber strife
by Tanya Chilcott
A teacher who made an avatar -- a computer alter ego -- to interact inappropriately with a 12-year-old in a virtual world has been deregistered and banned for reapplying for four years. ... "When questioned about this, Mr. Stark was evasive; he consistently claimed he 'did not know' whether his avatar was capable of such behaviour,' the written decision stated.
Bad avatar! Bad! Bad!
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