Ok, two pieces of valuable public information -- I'm not revealing my sources on either, but they're good ones:
FYI -- for anyone contemplating using the Sensis directory service number, 1234, Sensis, as you may or may not know, is a subsidiary of Telstra. The 1234 number is replacing the Telstra 12456 directory assistance number, but this time with outrageous costs attached: 40c to call the number, then 4c A SECOND! With this sort of pricing structure in place, it's no wonder so many Australians hold Telstra in the same regard as the major banks. By law, Telstra have to provide a FREE directory assistance number, because they are still majority owned by the government. They choose however not to pass this number on to the public. What's the number? 1223. Thumbs up to Telstra for finding a way to charge for a service that is supposed to be provided for free. Of course, feel free to forward this on.
And: A little bit of civilization for those who can't get to the shops this Christmas...(i.e. me, tho I'm suffering from a surfeit of arts & crafts at present)
Pass this link on to anyone you think who might find it useful:
Art gallery Christmas catalogue
Otherwise -- still just reeling over the Tara girls school thing...including lines such as:
The Herald understands that the teenager's parents had been isolated from the school community since the incident and had no support from other parents, who apparently feared Tara's reputation would be tarnished by the scandal.
And:
The school would not comment on the settlement, except to deny its reputation had been damaged. [The school principal stated:] "I'm looking forward to going back to Tara this afternoon. The school's reputation hasn't been damaged."
And the headmistress's initial response to the father:
"I said you know my daughter ... and she just sort of nodded her head and there was no real response," he said. "She said that [the girl] would have to be disciplined ... because of all the hassles she created, and the teachers would need an apology."
Just goes to show where some people's priorities are (i.e. not with those under their care). Even if the schoolgirl was a well-known young fabulist, the teachers should have at least filed a police report immediately with the Italian cops, as after all she was only fifteen and in their care on a school excursion in a foreign country.
All this stuff just makes me seethe about the way in which Helen Garner has renewed acceptance of the 'she was asking for it' discourse amongst middle-brow liberal humanist wombats of the babyboomer literati and intelligentsia type such as Phillip Adams (many of whom undoubtedly can no longer wear short skirts -- tho hey, come to the NT and you can wear whatever short things you like). I can just imagine Aunty Helen scrambling for photos of the young Tara girl (such as the footage of her in a short skirt at the Lansdowne) for evidence that she was appealing in deep-rooted Jungian stereotypical ways to men's psyches to rape her...I can see it all: 'Didn't she realise what a potent, age-old symbol of youth and fertility she was to that young Italian man as he dragged her down an unknown dark narrow side alley in Sorrento to let his friends rape her on the bonnet of a Ferrari?' blah blah blah de dah
P.S. I've been in Alice exactly one year now.
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