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Jamoz's corner - by jamoz

Jamoz's corner - February 2007

Polls and getting your vote off

February 27th 2007 08:52
There has been a lot of talk about polls recently and I was wondering why a poll would get so much visibility in the media. Polls aren't a great crystal ball that is going to tell how the people will vote. What a poll is basically a snapshot of how the people are thinking at a certain period in time. A poll can change in the blink of an eye, but yet people still use them to try and gauge the public's voting habits in the future. If polling was so accurate, why don't they just do a poll and leave it at that? We'd all know the results so no need to turn up on election day.

So what purpose does it serve if it can only tell you whats happening now, when we want to know whats happening four weeks from now? I think a more important poll question would be "If you knew then what you know now would have voted the same way?" I'd paraphrase what George Carlin said about voting many years ago "Each election day I stay home and I masturbate! Because I know that in the end I know I'm going to get something out of it!"



Look at it this way, if a photo was taken of someone...anyone today with a smile on their face it is not a guarantee that if you go back to them next week that they're still going to have that same smile, are they now? The same with a poll. Sometimes people smile for different reasons. One may be that someone has changed their mind which way they're going to vote. Which reminds me, make sure that whichever way you vote, make sure your vote leaves you smiling long after the polls have been closed and the votes have been tallied. Take that whichever way you want.
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The dumbing of two nations

February 27th 2007 07:26
People don't surprise me anymore in regard to their common sense (or lack of it) especially those who hold power in some way. To give two very good recent examples are in San Francisco schools have started to do away with homework so kids can go do more other important things with their time instead of putting something worthwhile into their brains. I must admit that I was never big on homework, but to take it away surely would do more harm than good. I would think that homework shows the teacher whether students have or haven't grasped the concept long after the class is done for the day and gives the teacher time to take remedial action with students having problems before exams when it's too late.


The other story is the Chancellor of the Exchequer and heir apparent to Tony Blair who now wants new citizens to do "volunteer" work (from what I saw it was doing basic yard work such as picking up trash and the like) to prove their "Britishness". What kind of madness is this? "Volunteer" seems to be a misnomer of sorts because if I'm being told to do it when I don't really want to it's not really voluntary is it? There's actually a word for being made to do work without pay. Humanity has been down that road before and where did it get us exactly? If I happened to be a multi millionare businessman say from China, Japan or Russia and I wish to become a British citizen does that mean I am now subject to being a volunteer? What if I were an extremely famous singer or actor who wished to become a citizen? Am I still made to "volunteer"? I would like to think that it's one rule for all and not just for some.

You hear that tapping? That is the sound of the nails being put into the coffin of good sense. You have been warned.
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Jamoz all time Australian ODI team

February 26th 2007 10:19
I have to get my team in before the "official" greatest Australian ODI team is announced tomorrow in Sydney.

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Mark Waugh
3. Dean Jones
4. Steve Waugh
5. Michael Bevan
6. Andrew Symonds
7. Simon O'Donnell
8. Shane Warne
9. Craig McDermott
10. Glenn McGrath
11. Dennis Lillee

What I noticed about this team is that with the exception of Gilchrist and Jones everyone else is a noted all rounder or a bowler. I don't think there needs to be much explanation in regard to the composition of the team itself, except it could have done with another specialist batsman and if I could fit them in I'd have tried to have found a place for either Allan Border or Greg Chappell. Shane Warne just beat out Greg Matthews for the allrounder spin position, despite in my opinion that Matthews may have been slightly better with the bat but Warnes miles ahead in the bowling department (like duh!)

I saw Geoff Lawsons team flashed on television and when I looked at it I thought "What the hell are you on Lawson? You cannot have the greatest Australian ODI team ever and not have Dean Jones!" So much for the mentality of fast bowlers. Dean Jones for me is right up there amongst the best ever in terms of international one day players. No ifs no buts. Period.
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The fear of the umpires finger

February 26th 2007 09:40
For the life of me I can't understand why people have this fear of looking in the mirror and finding an extra wrinkle around the eyeline, a grey hair near the temple or finding that you need to wear glasses fulltime. What is it about ageing that frightens people so much so that a whole new industry has sprung up around trying to keep people not only looking young but attempting to keep young as well? Pills, surgery, creams. They're all there to make us all feel like we 're supposed to live longer and healthier too! The body just like eveything else tends to breakdown over a period of time, and the longer someone lives the more likely their body will no longer be their own. A plastic hip on the left, some screws there, a pacemaker over there, remove this, put in this to make this look larger.

The way I see it is that we're born we grow up, grow old (well for some they don't get the chance to grow old) and we die. That's it folks, we're born to die. Like it or not, we're not supposed to live forever. Can you imagine if all of the people who had ever died (of either natural causes such as disease or old age) were still living? Life would be pretty crowded wouldn't it? Some people want to inexplicably stay around forever, I don't. I figure that if someone wants to watch centuries of history unfold, thats fine. Count me out. I'm quite happy to die someday and make room for someone else. Along the way if my hair turns grey, or it (along with my teeth) drop out, I get wrinkled and saggy, and my joints ache, then I'm just going to accept it as my lot of getting old. I'm not going to refer to myself as "80 years young" because I won't be. I won't be afraid to say that I'm old, not older, just old


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James Camerons misguided attack on Christianity

February 26th 2007 05:55
According to the Belfast Telegraph film director James Cameron will reportedly hold a press conference tomorrow and claim that he has discovered the tomb of not only Jesus but also of his mother Mary, the other Mary (with whom he claims he had a child (Judah) with who is also present in the tomb) Matthew and Jofa.

I have a real problem with people like Mr Cameron because they not only seem to forget some important facts but lack common sense as well. First, when the Disciples raised the alarm that he was not there and then claimed to have seen him raised from the dead, then all the Romans would have had to have done is go to the tomb (they had guards outside and knew exactly where the tomb was) rolled away the stone, taken him out and paraded him around the town to shut up and slaughter the Disciples. The Romans didn't do that, which would lead me to believe that either the resurrection is true, the Romans were in on the greatest hoax of all time, or the Romans were outsmarted by a small band of rag tag mostly uneducated men and women


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"The warhawk has landed. Repeat. The warhawk has landed."

February 24th 2007 11:03
As anyone in Sydney can tell you right now, the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, is here for a few days, well until tomorrow anyways when he manages to choke traffic again before he leaves. Speaking of traffic it makes me wonder if there were any lessons learned from the (yawn) arrival of the two boats last week. Obviously not, judging by the unnecessary pileups since he has been here. For his trip to have lunch with the PM why couldn't he take a helicopter to Kirribilli? If they could shut down the harbour bridge for half an hour they could jolly well have put him in a chopper and flown him to where he needed to be. Save all Sydneysiders some petrol as well as some stress and heartache.

I was watching him today with Mr Howard I couldn't help but notice how similar they look. Two pasty faced balding men who have very similar interests in creating havoc wherever they seem to want to set foot. There is one thing that I am thankful for with Mr Cheney though and that is that he is Vice President and (cross your fingers folks) not the President and he will never reach the post of "most powerful man in the world". It's the only time that I'm happy that someone has a history of heart problems. Just looking at him even with his health conditions he even seems "hawkish". What he said today about keeping all options on the table regarding Iran surprised me not one bit. Just as I'm sure it didn't surprise many others either


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The inconsistency of television advertising

February 24th 2007 09:33
So the "you're having too much fun...so stop it" people have struck again with their banning of the television advertisement where the little boy drives down to the beach, picks up the girl and heads off to the beach where he surfs.
As far as television advertisements go the least thing that it can be described as is "offensive". But it apparently was "offensive" enough to have about 80 people complain about it. I wonder what was going through their minds when they called or wrote to the station. There are more offensive ads on tv than this particular one which was taken off the air. What about the one where school boys are eating a particular brand of chicken biscuit and one by one they start to regurgitate live chickens after belching and manage to laugh about it. How classy! Do you know how many times I have seen signs on a bus telling the passengers not to eat or drink? Do you realise how many times I have been given a smart clip around the ear for even giving off even a small burp when I'm amongst strangers. I'm looking for this ad to be banned I'm just looking for some consistency. What does that ad teach our young people?

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Where is the depth?

February 16th 2007 09:25
There was a lot of talk about the "depth" of the talent of the cricketing talent in Australia. I didn't see that depth today against New Zealand today. The team that is playing right now in New Zealand is an Australian team, not a modern day all dominating Australian team but one to rival the team of the mid to late eighties. I have issues with this new team and some of the players in and around it.

I am sincere when I say that I don't know how Andrew "The Happy Hooker" Hilditch got to be chairman of selectors. He was a sucker as an opening batsman and he seems to be an even bigger sucker as a selector. Here are my selectors choices


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The violation of free speech

February 16th 2007 08:21
The other day the former basketballer Tim Hardaway on radio came out and admitted he was homophobic. His words were exactly "I hate gays". From then the man has been pilloried for "coming out" (for want of a better phrase) and expressing how he feels. It may not politically correct, but he had the bravery to admit whats in his heart. I don't necessarily agree with Mr Hardaways statement but he has that right to speak his mind. Just as you or I do.

We were given minds to think and mouths to speak. It is sad that someone can no longer say what they want to say. The issue is not what he said its the right to speak openly. If today it's him thats being attacked for his speaking freely, tomorrow it's you and it's me being gagged when we write to the paper, write blogs or call radio talk show hosts to vent our feelings. The world is full of people who simply won't or aren't ever going to like certain groups of people. Now whether it is liked or not these people with all of this "hatred" in their hearts aren't going to go away simply because they've been muzzled by the politically correct. Are we living in a democratic part of the world or are we under martial law where we can say some things out in the open and the rest we have to run to the back room of the house and cup our hands, whisper under our breaths into an adjacent ear in the hope that no one can hear us and report us to the politically correct thought police


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Why pandas named Zhou Zhou and Ling Ling make Jamoz go "Yuck yuck"

February 12th 2007 10:25
Did anybody take notice that there were about 30 pandas that were "christened" in China the other day? I tried to avoid stories like this but they were given these names that supposedly matched their personalities and I usually have no emotional stake in these major events however I'm prepared to make an exception as the event was described as a "christening". Am I missing something here? When did these animals take up religion?
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Mr Howard's selective hearing

February 12th 2007 09:49
"You have to have 60 votes to cap troops, to limit funding to do anything. If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president, I will."

The quote above comes from Hillary Clinton in a speech in Iowa earlier this month to Democratic Party members. I bring this quote up because I find it strange that the Prime Minister, John Howard has now come out and criticized Barack Obama for saying yesterday he will pull the troops out if he becomes President. So why didn't he come out and attack Hillary when she made her statement? As Hillary is now in the "end the war" camp it's not a mattter of wanting to send more troops she too wants to get out as soon as possible. So why Obama? Did Mr Howard miss the Hillary quote? Or did he simply misunderstand what she said considering he has a habit of not hearing things properly in recent times


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Just a hint of cynicism

February 9th 2007 05:17
Despite there being a water shortages and restrictions there seems to be no amount of bottled water available. I have nothing against bottled water, the companies that bottle it or the people who drink it. I'd rather drink bottled water than the stuff than what comes out of the taps. I have no idea whats in the water supply and thats what discourages me. At least with a bottle of water I can look on the labelling and see exactly whats in it.

Recently the water companies have come up with this plan to put a "hint" of some fruit flavouring into some of their bottled water. I, like a man who has nothing better to do than to spend what little money he has on marketing ploys, bought a bottle that was mandarin flavoured


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Anna Nicoles price for fame and fortune

February 9th 2007 03:20
There is a real tragedy in not only the death of Anna Nicole Smith but also in her life as well. She was someone who was ill equipped for life, let alone for celebrity status. She seemed to be a fragile lost soul who like her idol Marilyn Monroe, drifted slowly toward an unfortunate end.

The price of fame and fortune for people like Anna Nicole who couldn't handle it, is that they end up going down in history as being more infamous and unfortunate. For me, the saddest part about all of this is that there are so many young people out there who are just like Anna Nicole who chase the same dreams that she had and end up the same way. I see Britney Spears heading down the same road if she doesn't keep her wits about her and keep close to her family and true friends


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Darrell Hair against the world

February 9th 2007 00:58
I'm not sure what was going through Darrell Hairs mind when he decided to try and sue both the ICC and the PCB for alleged racism. I would have thought that if he were to sue anybody he should also include the other nations that voted against him in the meeting that voted to kick him off the elite umpiring panel. The suit against the ICC and the PCB will do nothing to enhance the reputation of the ICC or himself and blow any chance he may have harboured of ever umpiring at the top level again .

What is apparent is that there was a major problem with him as an umpire. It says something against him, that he, as one umpire can have half the cricketing world against him and that the other half of the cricketing world just happens to non white. I don't hear these same reports against Billy Bowden, Simon Taufel or any other white umpire, so I'm not convinced it's a racial issue. It has to be an onfield umpiring issue


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Racism by any other name still smells as bad

February 8th 2007 10:27
If there is one subject that fascinates me and is yet still one of my pet peeves is the whole issue of not just race but racial discrimination and the myth of superiority. I like racists. Not because of their lack of discernable intelligence but because they are always at the ready to make me laugh at their vain attempts of trying to convince others they are better than everybody else. I suspect that if people were all the same colour then we'd find something else to differentiate each other. Can you imagine hearing any of these?
"I'm sorry but we don't serve green eyed people in here."
"Blonde bathrooms on the right, brunette bathrooms on the left


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The Shaggy syndrome AKA The "It wasn't me!" disease

February 8th 2007 07:42
One of my favourite songs when I was a young man was "No one is to blame" by Howard Jones. I didn't realize the real meaning of the song until recently when it has become painfully aware to me that we live in an age of personal irresponsibility. I have ranted about this before about how people now believe that they can do anything illegal or immoral they want to do and then when they are caught out they cry "It wasn't me! It was this terribly debilitating disorder I have!".

I guess now that we're in what is commonly referred to as the "post technological age" where religion is a moot point there's no need to say "The devil made me do it!" These days it's some kind of depression, bi polar disorder, ADD, ADHD, emotional distress caused by some form of emotional/physical/sexual abuse, brainwashing, obsession, road rage, air rage all brought on by what our parents/guardians did to us as children or some other mental disorder that seems to be so convienently at hand


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Second XI Soccer

February 7th 2007 07:13
I'm not a fan of soccer, never have been and probably never will. As I've mentioned in a previous blog I managed to avoid the entire football world cup last year. Nary a kick, a pass or a goal did I see. When I was growing up I was led to believe that there were two sports seasons - a rugby league season which defined winter for me and a cricket season which was the essence of summer. I mean yeah soccer was there and people played it, but it was an insignificant sport that was played by mainly people whose names ended in "-itch" who refused to integrate and play either rugby or cricket. I don't take too much notice of soccer except when there's a riot or crowd trouble and it's then I thank God that I don't support a sport that has more problems off the pitch than there is on.

Anyways I didn't write this to attack soccer or it's supporters. I was wondering though about a peculiarity about soccer when I was watching tonights sports news which made me sit up and take notice. Australia played Denmark (don't quote me on that) and lost 3-1. The thing is that they, the Australians, lost without eight of their top players. Now as I said I'm not a fan but why would the coach basically choose what is really a second XI Australian team? Why play at all if you have no choice but to put on the field a second rate team? I don't see how it helps. The other team doesn't get a real workout, to them it just may be a run around the park. For those on the losing side it may be a good experience to get a taste of international field, but surely it can't be good for morale, can it? The strange thing is I don't see it happen in any other sport. I can't imagine any other Australian team not having eight of their best players available for an international match? Could you see the Australian cricket team going into an international match without eight of their players? Or The Wallabies or the Kangaroos? It's ironic that one time soccer fans don't riot is when they have have half their team missing and get trounced in the process


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Keep it off the front page!!!

February 5th 2007 12:00
I have mentioned this before where certain stories that end up on the front page of newspapers that aren't actually newsworthy. The most recent is the whole non issue of Kylie Minogue and her breakup with her French boyfriend. Quite frankly I'm not a part of her life and I dont care what happens in her love life. She can do a Anna Nicole Smith and marry a 150 year old relic on an iceberg with a polar bear doing the marriage service I don't give a damn. Just keep it off the front page where the real news is supposed to be.

I'm sure it has its place for people who have nothing better to do with their time than to stick their nose into others personal business and make her life an open book but you can count on the fact that I won't buy a newspaper that has it's priorities wrong. Newspapers are just that - papers that have actual news. Kylies love life is not front page news. In fact it's not even news and whoever decided that it is front page news should go write for New Idea or Womens Weekly.
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Has Australia peaked too early?

February 5th 2007 10:28
I have been watching some of the one day matches in the CB series and one thing strikes me about the Australian team. After having such a great summer they are beginning to slow down. I think they've peaked. Well at leat I hope they've peaked. I don't only say that because I have $100 on them to not win the world cup I say it because they don't seem to have the bowling to keep a good batting side from scoring runs in the final overs. In fact I am willing to stake my reputation right now to name the four semi finalists - New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Australia. Obviously only two can make the final and there's only one winner. I know who my winner is but whether they do or not is another story.
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America's War - The more things change...

February 5th 2007 10:13
From the start of the Iraq war I have always believed that the United States invaded (for want of a better word) a sovereign nation under false pretences to oust an unpopular leader. As the rest of the world watches as the continuous slaughter in Iraq of both American servicemen, Iraqi security forces as well as civilians slips into anarchy I believe that the United States never planned on this degradation. Now that they're there there is no simple exit. In fact there is no exit without some major complications in the future.

Now that Saddam has been successfully deposed of there is something now a middle east vacuum where Iran who has its fingers in both Syria and by extension Lebanon along with helping to fund Hamas in Palestine as well as sending insurgents over the border to destabilize Iraq. The White House now has no choice but to be in Iraq to try and keep Iran out of Iraqs business. They have already declred they have an interest in helping Iraq militarily and in banking. No wonder the US is afraid of Iran even without the nuclear weapons. The last thing the Americans need is for a sworn enemy to control the majority of the region


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My misplaced patriotism

February 5th 2007 09:14
I don't know how many people have heard the new patriotic song written by Amanda Vanstone, but for me I heard it and found it uninspiring to say the least. The radio announcer played it as I got into bed the other night and it put me to sleep. Honestly the words don't appeal to me and the tune is unoriginal.

Why would Ms Vanstone think Australians need another song to sing after the national anthem? People have enough trouble singing the first verse of that let alone another song to memorize. Is she looking for her place in history by wanting another patriotic song to place alongside "Waltzing Matilda" "Hey true blue" "Tie me kangaroo down sport" and "Down under


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