It's been a while since I last did one of these.

And I'm horribly bored. Instalment orders suck.

Gakked from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. Guys/Girls: Do you have a crush on me? Guys/Girls: Have you ever wanted to be me for a day?
5. Guys/Girls: Would you kiss me? Guys/Girls: Why do you think the girls would rather kiss me than you?
6. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
7. Describe me in one word.
8. What was your first impression?
9. Do you still think that way about me now?
10. What reminds you of me?
11. If you could give me anything what would it be?
12. How well do you know me?
13. When's the last time you saw me?
14. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
15. Are you going to put this on your LiveJournal and see what I say about you?

Something with some meat to it.

Which is funny, coming from the vegetarian. *grins*

I haven't really been as vocal in this journal as I used to be - too many other distractions, and, as Mel says, happiness is active, so I'm actively out there doing stuff rather than sitting around thinking of things to say in my journal, and then when I am sitting around I'm playing with X-Project and that's fair more fun. *grins* But work is horribly dull today, so all that I'm leaving at 2pm to get Important Errands Concerning Top Secret Plans run, I'm feeling the need to get chatty. Besides, I need to justify the horribly self-serving meme down there. ;)

Any way, something that Phil and I were talking about last night (I got kidnapped for dinner, which was very good) was some of the repurcussions of the Budget, and how disturbing it is that the Gnome's Government is effectively telling people to go forth and multiply, with various bonuses and perks for people having babies.

Now, the question that goes begging is this: if Australia is in such dire need of population that the government feels compelled to actively encourage people to have children (within the holy sanction of marriage, prefereably, otherwise you're a bludging single parent leeching tay payer's money from them), why then don't we allow more immigration? Besides the refugee crisis (and don't bring up that whole queue-jumping argument, you can't jump a queue if there isn't one. For example, how does someone in Afghanistan apply to immigrate here when the nearest Australian consulate is in Pakistan and they don't exactly have Net access there?), there are hundreds and thousands of qualified, skilled people wanting in on the Lucky Country. And why doesn't the government increase migration numbers? Because the people wanting in are not the preferred type - ie, white, European, and speaking English.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's the White Australia Policy all over again. The government would rather encourage people bring more children into an already over-populated world than to share what we have with people who already exist becase they're too Asian or too Middle-Eastern to 'fit in'. Well, bollocks to that - Australia is built on migration (us white Australians aren't exactly native either, if you go back only 7 generations), and it's our previous willingness to incorporate other cultures into our own that has given us the identity we have, one of a place where everyone has a fair go and everyone gets a chance at making something for themselves.

John Howard and his government are making me ashamed of being Australian. I just hope everyone else is feeling the same way by the time the next election rolls 'round.

Oh, and another thing...

The people I work with sometimes are deeply scary. Conversation between myself and a colleague yesterday:

C: Jo, have you lost weight again?

Me: Yeah - I wasn't eating much while I was sick.

C: I wish I could get sick like that too!

This from a girl who is maybe two inches shorter than me and probably twenty kilos lighter. If she lost weight she'd fall down the grating over the storm water drains. Seriously.

*shakes head* I really worry about our society sometimes if these are "normal" people.

Because I told Phil I would...

Remember Subreality? Phil and I were getting nostalgic last night. Well, I was defending my Current Obsession by saying how much fun it was co-writing and how much I missed that part of Subreality. So, here it is, dug out of the vaults, a little co-writing effort Phil and I started waaaay back in the Good Old Days. Nag him and he might add to it. ;)

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( The Great Muse Swap... )