Long time, no type...

Now before you say anything, I know it's been a long time. I'm sorry I didn't call - I just got caught up in life, the universe and everything. Please, let me explain...

I'm going into my second year of university at UQ in Brisbane this Monday and I am very excited to be going back to studying! Since I left you last, I finished semester 1, began and completed semester 2, I moved house, my sister became engaged, my uncle got married, my brother won a Gold Medal and I completed several things from my bucket list travelling to London in September (...yeah, there is more to that story), I worked full time for a while during these Summer holidays, and then upon returning to casual work with nothing else driving me I can safely say...I CAN'T WAIT FOR MONDAY! 

Now, having experienced a boredom and lust for knowledge like never before, I will write some back posts about my adventures while keeping you up to date with how things this year is going now that we've survived the 2012 Apocalypse together. I promise to keep my mind a wit fresh (although they both need some sharpening at the moment).

Thanks Daemion, for nagging me to get back into the habit. Just like an artist will draw, I have to write every day to get better.
Oh, did I mention Daemion's art is amazing? you really should check it out...

Keep your eyes and ears open for a Paramore review sometime this weekend!

Yours,

Emily.

Speaking of today's election...

I woke up this morning to yet another ad campaign for Ray Smith that I hadn't seen before. Now this one happened to include images of damaged roads and an explanation about how the previous council failed in basics.
Yes, I can vouch for this to an extent.
On Brisbane north side our roads are still full of road damages that only get worse every time it rains.
For JOUR1112, I reported on a story that I started before anyone had made a single mention of road damages. After pestering the politicians in my ward, in the last week they changed policies leaving a lot of very confused residents. Rhys joked around that I started it, but I like to think I had some influence ;)


Here is my article:

NORTHSIDE STREETS STILL STURGGLING

The Brisbane flood aftermath has left streets on the north side still suffering and they won’t stop any time soon.

One of many inadequate drains on busy Zillmere Road

Many main and busy streets including Zillmere Road, Handford Road, Beams Road and Robinson Road East faced constant flash flooding this wet season and remain littered with pot holes, inadequate drainage systems and dangerous quick fixes in attempted repairs.

The Summers of 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 have seen 484.8mm, 952.6mm and 638.0mm of rain respectively, all classified as ‘high’ recorded rainfall according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

While the ‘la nina’ weather pattern over Brisbane that caused the severe rainfall for this wet season has now broken, the damage remains the same, and is likely to worsen next Summer time.

The streets became a danger to both pedestrians and motorists as sink holes were opening up damaging vehicles while pedestrians were made to wade through rising flood waters on busy roads with no alternative routes. One sink hole opened in Geebung to measure over a 1 metre diameter before anything was done about it.

The loss of Labour in the March election meant Leanne Linard (ALP), who was planning on addressing these road problems has now stepped down. The newly elected NLP Member Jason Woodforth’s focus is instead centred on “cutting costs”.

In the upcoming Brisbane City Council election the focus for the Deagon and Bracken Ridge Wards roads are familiar. The representative responses of Victoria Newton (ALP), Gordana Blazevic (LNP), Georgia Farrell (Greens) and John Harbison  (Independent) all believed that the focus regarding transport was on the much needed Geebung overpass and nothing at this stage was on the table for road repairs.

Yet in local letterbox leaflets distributed through the week, Ray Smith announced an $800 Million Local Roads Package to be used on road maintenance for flood aftermath if elected, but north side suburbs have again missed out. The package does not include resurfacing or maintenance.

“In the last 4 years, the current Council Administration has failed to deliver more than half of their promised Road Action Plans and our roads have been left in a deteriorating state,” Ray Smith explained in a press conference this week.

The elections this year have meant a backlog of promises from politicians without any clear indicators they will honour them. The added confusion of last minute changed minds and policies regarding budgets have left residents fed up.

“It really is an important issue. It’s becoming quite dangerous when it rains,” said north-side resident Paul Hoffman, “It’s definitely going to affect how I vote.”

3 Cheers for QPS...

If you've managed to find yourself under a rock, and missed what happened this Easter long weekend in Brisbane, let me fill you in.

• Sunday night in Zillmere 4 men fled in a stolen vehicle and were followed by police
• The driver charged through a police road block and towards an officer causing shots to be fired with 1 man injured with a shot to the leg
• All 4 were arrested
• Monday morning a Brisbane task force named "Taskforce Kilo Perpetual" was launched as the 4 men were part of a wanted 30 for over 190 offenses in the past 4 months
• Approx 2 hours later, 2 stolen cars became part of an over 2 hour long car chase across Brisbane City, tracked by Seven, Nine and Ten news helicopters to assist police
• After successful use of road spikes, the cars came to a stop at a Shopping center, leading 7 young men ages 13 to 19 to be arrested.
• The man who drove towards the police on Sunday night has since been charged with attempted murder and the other men face a variety of punishable offences ranging from 14 years to life if found guilty in the coming days.

Police arresting a suspect at Mt Ommaney shopping center Monday afternoon.
Picture: Glen Barnes. Source: Courier Mail

I have had a few thoughts racing through my head since this has unfolded and I sat in front of my television, while constantly refreshing twitter to learn the news as it happen. The first, of course, is how absolutely AMAZING it is that we have the news literally as it happens. If you have read any of my other blog posts, you're probably aware by now that I have a love-hate relationship with the media...

Well, today my friend, is one of love. And for many reasons...

For one, QLD Police only recently received their first helicopter, based on the Gold Coast. In moments like these (no matter how rare they are) this does seem like a minor oversight. Without the commercial media's use of helicopters tracking the separate cars and relaying the information to the police, catching the cars would have been, lets just say - much more tedious
MEDIA - 1
EMILY - 0

The news was literally instantaneous. I was able to receive a tweet from someone at ABC, and next thing I know, the information is being relayed over my television set with images to match. The power of social media, web 3.0 and the media making use of such powerful tools created a huge awareness of what was going on, to further assist in bringing justice.
MEDIA - 2
EMILY - 0

As for Zillmere, I did notice over the past few nights odd police behavior along Zillmere Road (which happens to be where I live, with lovely windows looking right over onto the street). My partner and I had had conversations about 'what are they up to?' and 'who are they going to catch?' only to be out maneuvered by clever police tactics and precautions. Heck, I felt safe in my own suburb when literally meters away road blocks were being set up, of which we knew nothing about until reported on the media. The Queensland Police have again reinforced why I feel safe somewhere where others might be quick to judge for a suburb that is currently in the news for some very serious crimes. Not a single person was injured, other than those committing crimes and resisting arrest, and in the end, the bad guys got caught. Not one alarm bell in my head went off...but I still like to think I am savvy and noticing their odd driving behaviors makes me in the loop ;) who knows, I could be a crime reporter yet!
MEDIA - 1
EMILY - 0
QUEENSLAND POLICE - 9999999999999999999....

Well done, QPS! For now I know I am safe, and my faith in Australian Media (at the very least) has been restored.
Plus, I like to imagine some 'The Raid'-esk moves going down in some apartment building near by....you never know!