Desal or not desal?

Is it just me or does everyone feel very sceptical about planned desalination plants on the Sunshine Coast?

I am not a conspiracy theorist – in general I don’t think governments are out to get us – and if the Bligh government is concerned about whether or not we’ll have enough water in 20 years time, then I think we’d be mad to dismiss that point of view.

Having said that, desalination plants are expensive to build – consume enormous amounts of energy and leave a community with massive amounts of hot, toxic brine – which has to be disposed of.

I believe in global warming – a heating planet is part of our increased need for water – it seems more than a little incongruous to build something that will spew carbon – to fix a problem caused, in part by spewing carbon.

The government is working pretty hard to get water tanks into South East Queensland back yards - for my money, that can’t happen quickly enough. Our family will never be without one again – the bigger the better!

And maybe, just maybe, if we all did that, we wouldn’t need de-sal plants at all….
And for the record, desal plants are not a foregone conclusion – the public comment period ends July 31.

Freakshow parents...

Is it just me or does everyone think the baby being birthed by her so called Dad in the US, is not the luckiest kid alive?

I will never be anti same sex relationships with children – I think a kid in a stable loving home of any type is lucky.

I have gay friends with children and I think they do a beautiful job.

I will always be opposed to freak show parents. This couple has sold their babies weird conception to a tabloid…

It took me a while (I was trying to work out exactly how the baby was conceived) but
after a morning of searching the net I couldn’t find any extra info – and then I realised they’ve gone into hiding and are leaking the details slowly.

That’s a real live baby in this she-male’s stomach - a baby that will have to live with it’s parents notoriety for the rest of it’s life…

I don't care how the baby was conceived or how it's parents choose to live their life - but I can't stand the thought of a baby being born to parents who don't seem to know or care what devestation their choices will wreak.

Chastised...and fair enough...

On the air the other day - I had a whinge about the 15% surcharge at Restaurants on Easter Saturday....

As you'll read below....I said I was happy to pay a surcharge on proper public holiday - but I didn't think Saturday was one.

Anyway, David Mathais from Cracked Pepper rang to set me straight - for reasons unknown, in Australia Easter Saturday is in fact the gazetted public holiday.

And then, his lovely wife Tracey wrote me the following email....I thought it was worth sharing (even though Tracey is politely telling me to shut my fat gob...)



Dear Caroline

I spent the better part of yesterday, including lying in bed last night, giving immense consideration as to whether or not my thoughts should be expressed in writing, as it is not my intention to offend you. I have listened to you on morning radio, debating a multitude of topics, for more years than I care to remember. Whilst yesterday was not the first time your comments really got me thinking, I couldn’t dismiss what you said. I am referring to your comment in regards to the Public Holiday 15% Surcharge when dining out. How many other Coast Citizens are uninformed in regard to the Hospitality and Tourism Industry - an Industry, which venturing a guess, would have to be a leader in supplying employment to Sunshine Coast Residents.

Whilst this is not my point, I readily acknowledge that you said that you don’t mind paying the surcharge when applicable. However you were in doubt as to whether it was applicable on Easter Saturday. David called you as an informed representative of the Industry, currently the Sunshine Coast Elected Representative Director on the Board for Restaurant & Catering Qld, and advised you that according to the Restaurant, Catering and Allied Establishments Award for the South-Eastern Division, under which we are governed, that yes indeed Easter Saturday is an appointed Public Holiday and therefore it is accepted Industry Standard to apply the Public Holiday 15% Surcharge.

My concern addresses other comments made by you.

Please allow me to clarify a few points which may give you a little more insight into our Industry:

a) When dining out as a Group, as I believe you said, you would need to spend approximately $660.00 on Food and Beverage at the listed normal menu prices before you would incur an additional cost of $100 because of the 15% Public Holiday Surcharge. Quite a substantial sum and more the exception than the average spend. This additional $100 would then in most cases be split amongst the Group so therefore a shared expense and not likely to be incurred by one Party.

b) The Wages incurred by us this week, due to the Public Holidays, were close to 60% above a normal trading week. Based on the fact that our most expensive meal is an affordable $28.75, which would incur a surcharge of a mere $4.30, the 15% Surcharge doesn’t come close to helping cover the Wages for these periods let alone any of the other day to day operating expenses including the exorbitant Rent we incur.

David, like so many others I assume, would have been lucky to have seen our Children for a collective total of less than eight hours over the Easter weekend. And for the record we certainly didn’t pay him any penalty rates.

Any Holiday period represents a time when our Industry is at it’s busiest. While every one else is enjoying time off usually spent with Family and Friends we are working at our hardest, with little or no thanks, and more often than not abuse because, as an example, the Patron had to wait a little longer for their meal. We are proactive and continue to try and educate by explaining in advance that delays could be expected and point out the obvious situation of a facility operating to full capacity.

Don’t get me wrong, we were brought up on the principle that working hard reaps rewards, and we don’t mind doing it, we are passionate about what we do. Yet on the brink of nearly five and a half years of owning Cracked Pepper Brasserie & Bar and a collective total between us of more than twenty five years in the Industry David and I are still astounded by the treatment we and our Staff are forced to endure. I believe that there is a perception that because we are in a SERVICE Industry Patrons feel they are entitled to speak to us in an abusive, belittling, obnoxious, offensive and rude manner, common courtesy unfortunately seems to be a thing of the past. Funny though, when you think about it, because so many of the roles that we all perform as individuals in our day to day life are in service to someone else.

Caroline, you are in a position where an opinion expressed by you is heard far and wide. Your opinions have the ability to influence and sway perception. I guess I am just trying to say that a simple comment may have far reaching consequences. What you said yesterday certainly had an effect on me.

Kind Regards

Tracey Mathias

Going going gone.....

Is it just me or is everyone married to their direct opposite?

I am a chucker – shackled for life to a hoarder!

I admit, being a chucker is not perfect – hundreds of times in my life I have gone searching for something I know in my heart I chucked in the bin or sent to Vinnies in my last frenzied clean out.

The alternative though – for my money – is a life lived in mess. Surrounded by crap you don’t like, use or need. Welcome to our garage.

Anyway – I think I’ve finally had a win – I’ve convinced the man I love to have a garage sale, Saturday morning.

From 6am.

Lots of good stuff - great bookcase...a lovely restored desk....car seats...baby stuff....books...clothes....cups and stuff if you're setting up house....

You'll find the address in the paper xx

We're all doomed.....

Is it just me or does everyone agree that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself?

There is a front page today www.thedaily.com.au selling doom and gloom – predicting hard times for all.

Australia has just copped seven interest rate rises - thanks to America’s financial
mis-management – but part of the reason for that is the strength of Australia’s economy.

We’re doing so well, we’re spending too much and the reserve bank is trying to slow us down.

Australia is not in recession.

That doesn’t mean everything is perfect – far from it.

Figures released yesterday suggested the Sunshine Coast is one of the least affordable places in Australia to buy property – and that’s not ideal – especially if you don't already own property here - but it also suggests to me that there are plenty of people with money and they like to spend it here.

I don’t understand the willingness of some media to talk things down - sending the market into a spiral of fear helps no-one.

To bugger up a Mark Twain quote – "rumours of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Bill Cosby speaks...

Is it just me or does everyone struggle to discuss race issues?

I am posting this with some reluctance - because it's perfect fodder for racist pigs who want to use someone like Bill Cosby to peddle their bile - and I don't want to be part of that.

Having said that, Dr Cosby is one of my favourite people in the whole wide world. I loved my dad to bits, but I still sometimes wished Dr Huxtable was my dad.

He is funny, kind and sensible. When his son was shot and killed by (white) police I believed him when he said America had to do something about racist cops.

I also believe him when he talks about problems in black society.

The following has caused a stir. For my money, it's not just about black people, it's about anyone who doesn't parent their children properly - and then continues to blame society for the way they turn out. Have a read....



'They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.

In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.$500 sneakers for what ? ?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2 ? ?
Where were you when he was 12 ? ?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol ? ?

And where is the father ? ? Or who is his father ?

People putting their clothes on backward:Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something ?

Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from??

We are not Africans.

Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap .. . .. . .and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed.

Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read.

We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs.

We, as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer.'

Dr. William Henry 'Bill' Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.

If you knew Anna....

Is it just me or does everyone believe Gandhi was right – we have to be the change we want to see in the world?

This week I was invited to a lunch celebrating foster and kinship carers on the Sunshine Coast. I can’t imagine a better illustration of what Gandhi was going on about.

Queensland is desperately short of foster carers. That’s because the need for safe beds for kids is growing so quickly.

Tonight, 6200 Queensland kids will need a place to sleep, out of harm’s way.
There are a lot of problems in the world – drought, global warming, not to mention child abuse and neglect – and sometimes that can feel overwhelming.

The important thing to remember is there’s always something you can do and that means there’s always hope.

You and I can’t make it rain, meet the Kyoto target, nor rescue every child – but we can take shorter showers, stop buying crap we don’t need and make sure our own kids are loved and cared for.

Anything we get to do on a bigger scale is a bonus.

Being a foster carer is just about the best example of a “bigger scale” that I can think of.

When I was very young, I used to go out with a boy who had a foster sister.

Emily was nine and her mum loved her, but she was a druggie – whenever she went on a bender, Emily went to Matthew’s house.

Sometimes she’d just spend Saturday mornings cooking cakes with Matthew’s lovely, hippy mum – sometimes she’d call in the middle of the night because she was home alone or her mum was passed out. And sometimes, happily, Matt and his family didn’t see Emily for ages.

I don’t think I understood it at first. I used to pepper Matthew with questions.
“But why don’t you adopt Emily? How can your parents let her go back to her mum?”
“Don’t you miss her when she’s not here?”But I get it now. Matthew’s mum and dad showed perfect love by providing Emily with exactly what she needed.

Emily had a mother who loved her; Matt’s family was just the support crew.

At Wednesday’s lunch there were numerous families who had been “the support crew” for between seven and 25 years.

It always amazes me that their incredibly hard work, the lives they change, the problems they tackle and the love they give goes largely unnoticed.

It’s not a criticism of our good friend Nicole Kidman, but if she spends half an hour in a children’s hospital ward, magazines from Sydney to Soweto usually want a piece of the action.

Yet when the police knock on my friend Anna’s door at 2am with three heartbreakingly neglected kids under the age of three, the world says “thanks Anna”, shuts the door and walks away to leave her to it.

Make no mistake, if you know Anna, you’ll know she is more than up to the task.

After a year or so in her loving house, those same babies have lost their thousand-yard stare; the haunted look of tiny souls that have just seen too much.

They laugh and giggle and you get the feeling it won’t be too long before they pluck up the courage to let go of Anna’s leg in public.

It just amazes me that Anna isn’t more famous than our Nicole.

Gandhi asked us all to be the change we want to see. You don’t see it much, but at a lunch full of foster-care providers, you are truly in the company of people living that dream.

And in their own backyard, with their many and varied charges, they really are changing the world.

It doesn’t matter how old or young, rich or poor, married or single you are. If you are a good parent, or you think you’d make a good parent, there’s a kid out there who needs you.

If you want to find out more, give Annette a call at the Integrated Family and Youth Service, 5438 3000.

Spuds over-rated!

Is it just me or is everyone absolutely fed up with groovy labels putting modern Australia into neat little boxes?

This mornings papers are full of something called a SPUD – I think it stands for single professional urban dweller.

Apparently for the first time in the history of the Australia – single women outnumber married women – and the nations social commentators have started waxing lyrical about young women shunning relationships for the good life without commitment or children….

It takes me back to year nine maths with Mrs Pollard – the uses and abuses of graphs.

I’m willing to bet my mum and my sister are part of the 'single' women statistic – one of them is a widow – the other is divorced – one has four children the other has three and neither one of them could be described as a commitment phobe, a 'freemale' or a cross between Bridget Jones and Sex in the City.

I don’t know if people get paid for making up dumb acronyms like snag, dink and spud – but just in case, here's mine - I’m a cob-sob-cat-fah – loosely that stands for 'Cranky Old Bag Sick Of Being stereotyped by Chardonnay sipping Academics and Tabloid journalists looking For A Headline'

What's yours?

My Space is forever...

Is it just me or does everyone think the internet might just be the best and worst invention the world has ever seen.I love it – I use it everyday (and if you’re here, you probably do too…).

I actually think kids are smarter these days because information is so readily available now.

But the internet, youtube, social networking sites like Myspace and blogs of any type are not without their pitfalls.

My daughter is in year 9 – yesterday her class saw a presentation from a woman trying to hammer home to the kids how vulnerable they are on line – and it’s not just about sex predators and cyber-bullying .

The woman told the story of a young girl in England who decided at the age of 14 she wanted to be a model. Because she didn’t have an agent, the girl got her mum to take some slightly saucy shots which they posted on a homemade website.

There is no copyright on the internet – you post it – you lose it. The next time the girl saw her photo it was in the promotional shots for a pornographic movie available for download – the girl wasn’t in the movie – she wasn’t paid a cent – but her 14 year old space was splashed across a million computers – as people perused adult sites. Her photo is still there in fact.

Last night we talked to our kids about movies they sometimes make and post on youtube - about silly things they might say on their myspace – and about how revealing they are generally on line.

This generation of teenagers will be the first to have their teenage years come back to haunt them so graphically.

In 20 years time – when your child is a bank manager or a school teacher or on radio or running for politics – something that seems hilariously funny now – taken out of context – could take them down.

Food Fetish....

Is it just me or does everyone think some fantasies should remain exactly that?

Those crazy kids in Japan have come up with a new fad. It’s the fantasy cafe.

At Edelstein Boarding School Cafe, the male waiters look about 13 years old, wear school uniforms and lip gloss, and study only one subject: how to serve female visitors.

All customers at Edelstein are treated as “benefactresses” visiting the school, and the “students” are expected to wait on them hand and foot, chat, flirt and talk about their pretend homework.

It turns out there is a best-selling comic in Japan, based on boy-boy love at a German boarding school. Bizarrely, the comic books target single women in their 20s and 30s, and the proof is in the pudding. Edelstein Boarding School Cafe has been jam-packed with wealthy, giggling females since the day it opened.

Roleplay cafes have long been popular for men in Tokyo, but most of them involve young girls dressed in French maid outfits – not exactly imaginative.

The new breed of eatery is more leftfield, from the weird homoerotic boarding school caper to a Butler’s Cafe, where customers are given a tiara and a bell to summon servants.

Most young Japanese girls allegedly fantasize about fairytales, and at the Butler’s Cafe they need only tinkle a bell to have a handsome foreign waiter go down on one knee and ask: “Yes, my princess?”

I’m not convinced that’s the sort of thing Australian girls are after, but since the fantasy cafe industry is worth billions of yen in Japan, I decided to do a little survey with the people I work with.

My on-air partner Mark suggested a “Celebrity Café” where every customer is treated like Paris Hilton or Tom Cruise. “Paparazzi” would ambush you at the door, before bodyguards intervened to escort you to your table, shooing autograph hunters and threatening photographers along the way.

Once you were seated, wait staff would begin to fawn, complimenting your outfit and re-arranging the menu to suit your specific needs. And if there’s live music at some point, you’ll be asked on stage to “do a number with the band”.

Sadly, I reckon that one’s a goer.

One of our managers, Maree, suggested a fireman cafe where staff members dress in full regalia and look as though they’ve stepped off a calendar. Every hour or so there would be a scheduled emergency, during which every female patron would be swept into the arms of a burly waiter and rushed to safety.

Bec from promotions was pretty keen on Maree’s idea, but thought she’d upgrade it to lifesavers and include budgie smugglers and mouth-to-mouth.

My husband John came up with a restaurant for blokes who just wanted to dress themselves. A fantasy venue where you could wear stonewash jeans “because you paid a lot of money for them at the time” and brown shoes with a black belt “because sometimes it happens by accident and you should never be expected to go back and change”.

In a similar vein, my son wants a restaurant where you can put your feet on the table and eat with your hands (apparently table manners are archaic and pointless and it’s about time someone did something about it).

Rhyno, who does afternoons at Mix, wants an All You Can Eat restaurant, where the bloke who eats the most never has to pay the bill.

My boss (who prefers to remain nameless, but I’m sorely tempted) wants an Underbelly Bar, where everyone treats you like “the head of the family”, girls with extremely big breasts find you attractive and you get to “whack” anyone who gets in the way.

I don’t think he’d like it too authentic though. I’m pretty sure at least half the so-called Carlton Crew went face first into a bowl of pasta on Lygon Street.

Finally, Max, our (occasionally ornery) chief engineer, says his ultimate fantasy is a restaurant anywhere with amazing food, decent service and reasonable prices. He’s such a sweet man.

Is that Alyce, Elise or Eleese?

Is it just me or does everyone like a good speller?

Asradio announcers, Mark (the bloke I work with) and I meet hundreds of school kids every year – write hundreds of autographs - and we’re constantly amazed at the many and varied spellings of seemingly standard names.

The name Alyce – have you any idea how many ways that name can be spelled?

I've long suspected it was at epidemic proportions, this crazy spelling fad - and now it's official!

A social analyst has taken a look at all Australian births for 2007 – he found 12 different spellings for the name Jayden…nine for Aiden…eight each for Amelia and Tahlia…

The use of Y instead of I and C instead of K is also big with new parents - as in Lynkon for Lincoln.

But wanna know the truly bizarre thing? Apparently Gen Y parents are keen on creative spelling, because they're cranky about their childhoods....can you believe that?

Psychologists claim Gen Y was the first set of kids who had both parents at work and a high rate of divorce. Subsequently, they never felt special or valued as kids and the direct result is choosing names that make their children feel special.

How about that Kineesha Fae?

The rebound Nelson

Is it just me or does everyone think Brendan Nelson has proved he has no political judgment?

The latest Newspoll has put Brendan Nelson’s public approval at just 7 per cent, a record low apparently.

I’m not sure if that’s because Australia doesn’t like Brendan, specifically, or we just think the Libs are on the nose in general.

The reason I think Brendan Nelson has no political judgment is the fact he ever fought to replace
John Howard in the first place. I’ve always thought the first person in the top job after an election loss is like the re-bound lover - doomed from the start.

You know when a friend comes out of a bad marriage? They always jump into a new romance and everyone just rolls their eyes and starts the clock. Well, it’s like that.

Strangely though, I think the one thing Brendan Nelson’s leadership has got going for it is how terrible his polling is. Right now, at 7 per cent, that leadership chair is all his - not a challenger in sight.

Give Dave a Job!

Is it just me or does everyone think David Hicks deserves a job?

Reports in today’s news claim Mr Hicks wants to work doing something outdoors – but he’s not had much luck securing a job and has asked Adventurer Dick Smith to put in a good word for him.

Dick has met David Hicks on numerous occasions and says Australia needs to hear his story. Mr Smith says he would have no hesitation giving David Hicks a job and hopes someone does it soon.

I want to hear David Hicks story.

I am not a complete bleeding heart, people died on September 11. If David Hicks was a key mastermind in that, then maybe he has got what he deserved. But if David Hicks was a bit player who, as I suspect, was a nobody, a none too smart kangaroo skinner from Adelaide who was looking for adventure (who suddenly found himself on the wrong side, come September 12) then I think I think it’s time we gave the man a job and let him get on with his life.