It would appear that Debbie Adams, the 16 year old who fatally stabbed her cooking teacher back in 1999, is suing New South Wales for giving her access to knives. Granted, she was in a juvenile detention centre for an attack on her mother with a bread knife at the time, but does that give her the right to sue the state?

I despise many things about the world today. I know, I know; I’m only 21, what right do I have to talk about ‘the good old days’? Exactly the same rights as everyone else, as a matter of fact. Just because I was younger back in the good old days - when people took responsibility for their actions - doesn’t mean my opinion is worthless.

As I grew from a toddler to a child, and from child to teen, my mother instilled in me a quality that is apparently a rarity in today’s world: responsibility. Not only responsibility for the things I own, or the people under my care, but responsibility for my own actions, thoughts, reactions and responses. Responsibility for my self.

I have known about consequences since I was very young. It’s all very simple; say I had a toy, and in a fit of rage I threw the toy at the wall. Either the toy broke and it got thrown out, or my mother took the toy away. No matter what consequence followed, my mother made sure I knew that my action or reaction had influenced it.

What Ms. Adams did was wrong; she chose to stab her teacher with a knife while his back was to her, and as a direct result of that she was sent to prison. Regardless of how she got the knife, or what the circumstances were, she was apparently coherent and calm when the incident happened, and so should take full responsibility for it.

Should a juvenile detention centre be allowing the ‘inmates’ to handle sharp knives? Yes, absolutely! They were in a cooking class, learning skills for the outside world; something that could have benefited Ms. Adams in the future. Juvenile detention is not the ‘end of the road’, and programs are run to benefit young people there.

Should they perhaps have been watching her more closely, given that she was in juvenile detention for attacking someone with a knife? Probably, yes! The guards and teachers should have been alert and aware that she could possibly become dangerous. Does that mean the State made her do it? Not in my opinion.

For all we know, the teacher could have turned his back for a split second. Perhaps the guards were distracted, or busy with someone else. Maybe she was waiting for an opportunity, and nothing could have prevented it. Either way, Ms. Adams chose to stab her teacher; the State had nothing to do with it.

As far as I’m concerned, she should deal with the consequences of her actions.

I read something in mX (a free daily rag that is available in the CBD) today that I found myself of two minds about. May 1st has apparently been marked as ‘Become a Fare Evader Day’ - as some form of protest to the failings of our public transport system. The Facebook group where much of the rallying was done has over 1,700 members and they seem to be specifically targeting Connex, the train company.

I remember when (this is going to make me sound SO old) a daily ticket cost $1.80, and how shocked we were when it went up FIVE WHOLE CENTS. Now, the increases are much larger, and the service has declined at a much faster rate than I ever expected. Packed trains, only running three out of six carriages during peak hour, endless delays and cancellations - add fare increases to that, and no wonder we’re pissed off.

Still, what will this ‘protest’ accomplish? As it stands, thousands of people take free rides every year; I’ve done it myself on occasion. The way I see it, although the protest hit Connex right in the wallet (which admittedly will have great impact), did it really do anything to help further the fight for improved public transport? People were either fined (and Connex will no doubt make SURE they pay), or they got away with it.

Despite how unhappy I am with the public transport system, I would never take part in such a protest. Breaking the law is not sending the right message - it is basically telling the government, “We are demanding, whining children. Look! We’re doing something illegal to get attention, so you will do what we want!” We should be saying, “We’re not happy - please do something about this!”

Alas, the message we should be sending has not been noticed, because of the illegal nature of the protest. Targeting Connex did nothing to alert the government to the problem; they deal with fare evaders everyday - are completely over them in fact - and they are not going to be intimidated by people whining about ticket prices and holding up the already too long queues in and out of the stations by not having a ticket.

Sorry, fare evaders, but you FAIL. Completely. I paid for my trip, and because of the exact immaturity and selfishness you all displayed today, the next increase in ticket price is going to hit everyone that little bit harder. Thanks for nothing, jerks. Compare yourselves to the taxi-drivers who protested, and hang your heads in shame. They made the front page of The Age; you were consigned to page two or three of mX.

You have achieved nothing.

It’s Not Me, It’s You: An Exhibition of Rejection.

I wandered, quite by accident, into this exhibition on Saturday. I was so impressed that I felt I absolutely must take the time out to post about it. The photographs shown explore a variety of clichés, many revolving around love, or rather the absence thereof. I was incredibly touched by how carefully each photo had been set up, how unique the ideas were and how much of an impact they made on me.

If you live in the Melbourne area and can get to the Hogan Gallery, I really do suggest that you see this exhibition. It’s worth it, honestly. I could have spent hours gazing at the photos in there, and if I had the money there were two pieces and two series that I would have snapped up in a second. Absolutely stunning work.

At first I wasn’t going to post today, because I couldn’t think of anything nice to say. I couldn’t think of a diplomatic way to speak about my feelings on the public apology that Kevin Rudd made in Parliament today. In the end though, I am here writing about it, because I have a right to my opinion, as do the millions of other Australians that I share my country with.

Please, if you are reading this and you disagree, do not e-mail me or comment here angrily. Think about what I have said, and carefully word your thoughts and opinions, and then share them with me, because I would love to hear them. I have left comments open for that very reason.

I would first of all like to make it perfectly clear that I, like all people, do have biased views towards some ethnic groups. These views are not unfounded, and they are not based on stories, or rumours. They are based on my experiences and relations with people from those groups. I do not automatically judge people based on their ethnicity, but often I have found the generalisations I have made (often inadvertently) about various ethnic groups to be true.

The reason I am being so honest about my feelings is because today the Australian government made an apology to Aboriginal people everywhere, for the atrocious behaviour inflicted upon a group of Aborigines known as the ‘Stolen Generation’. The stolen generation refers to people of Aboriginal (and mixed Aboriginal) descent, who were taken from their families without permission. I do not support the actions of the government at that time. I do not believe that they did the right thing.

However, Aboriginal people have stated that ‘White Australia’ owes them an apology. They have asked for monetary compensation. They have asked for better education, better healthcare, better living conditions. They feel that we owe it to them, because approximately 140 years ago, the government in power at the time began to steal children from their parents and loved ones.

I do not feel that I should need to apologise, or feel guilty, for the actions of a government that existed before I was born. I do not feel that monetary compensation should be granted to the descendants of the stolen generation; I only barely support it for the people who were actually taken themselves. I do not feel that Aboriginal people have any right to expect special treatment, or extra benefits simply because they are Aboriginal.

Concessions and benefits are available to those of Aboriginal descent, in addition to those concessions and benefits already available to eligible Australian citizens. Simply being Aboriginal means you qualify for a whole range of discounts on things like health care and education. Some states even have laws stating that Aboriginal children can attend school with no fees. I don’t feel that we need to do more for them simply because of their ethnicity.

I suppose that I resented the apology so much, because of the request for compensation that came with it. It turned a simple request for an apology into a demand for money from the government, and in my mind that cheapened the whole affair. All day, I have been simmering about the government caving and apologising for something they didn’t even do. The rest of Australia is expected to do the same, because it is ‘Sorry Day’.

Well, I am not sorry. I am sympathetic, and I have been moved by the stories from members of the stolen generation, but I refuse to apologise for something that I had no part in and do not support. I used to hear and read stories about Aboriginal culture being passed down through song and dance, and stories within the family groups. Now, I see bitterness, angriness and expectancy being passed down to the younger generations.

I hope that Aboriginal people everywhere can see that what is done can never be undone, and no amount of apologies or money will change that. I hope that they take the apology and accept it, and then begin to teach their children that ‘White Australia’ does not owe them the earth simply because of their ethnicity. I hope that the bitterness and tension starts to fade, and I hope that the Aboriginal people can forgive.

Not forget, but forgive. And then, I hope they can move on.

This post is probably very politically incorrect, but it is my true opinion. I have been completely honest, and have opened myself up for a lot of insults here. Please, just read what I have said above, and take it as my opinion, nothing more. I have a right to it, just as you do. At least I’m not posting about wanting an apology from England, because they sentenced my ancestors to death for stealing a hankie.

I did consider posting about that instead, though. ;)

On our way to the pet shop today, we were diverted around a large sectioned off area of freeway, and we could see a police car further up. At first we thought there had been an accident.. until we realised there was no car, and there was an overpass right above it. I looked at Mum and said, “Someone jumped.” She nodded, and we took the detour, that passed right above the police car.

On the side of the road, right about where the police were parked down below, there were a pair of boots. It may have been coincidence, but I don’t think so. I think someone did jump off the overpass, and I wish I’d been able to take a picture of those boots. It would have made a very emotional scene; even thinking about it now makes me want to cry. I just don’t understand how someone could do that.

Even when I felt suicidal, I was never selfish enough to do that to my mother, or my siblings. I couldn’t stop thinking about them finding me, and then living without me. I guess I was lucky that I was so close to my family; they gave me something to live for. I’m thinking of whoever took their life today, if in fact they did, and of the family and friends they have no doubt left behind.

A Macedonian woman living in Germany cut her (hopefully dead) husband into pieces, and then proceeded to flush the smaller pieces down the toilet. Larger pieces of his body were apparently thrown into the rubbish, which was then incinerated.

She told her children, “You won’t find him, I’ve flushed him down the toilet.” They reported him missing before Christmas, and told police she had tried to poison their father. They also said the marriage was “steeped in hatred”.

Traces of the man’s blood have been found in the toilet bowl, and police are currently attempting to have the woman extradited from Macedonia, where she fled (presumably) after killing her husband.

Wow. She flushed him down a dunny and then had the larger pieces incinerated. If she hadn’t blabbed about it, I think she would have gotten away with it. What a way to die; I guess now he knows how goldfish feel.

Missing man John Darwin constructed the plan to fake his own death with his wife Anne Darwin, who has apparently known of her husband’s whereabouts for the time he has been ‘missing’. Anne Darwin apparently gained £25,000 when her husband was declared officially dead, and a further £137,000 which paid out her mortgage pursuant to an insurance policy.

At this stage, police do not believe the sons were involved, or knew of the plot at all.

Imagine how horrible it must be for their sons, to know that their dad intentionally hid from them for five years, missed that much of their lives, just for the money. I know they’re adults, but it would still be a horrible feeling.