Australia

So who does the Sydney birds?

Police charge man allegedly behind famous ‘Pam the Bird’ graffiti on Melbourne landmarks

Criminal charges bring alleged solo ‘Pam the Bird’ artist back to earth

You got two options here. So which one are you going to choose? hmmmm?

Why must our internet infrastructure be so fucked.

In short:

Dozens of people across Australia have shared their experiences of vitamin B6 toxicity with 7.30.

Terri-Lynne South, a GP and dietitian, says the number of cases is likely to be under-reported.

What's next:

The TGA says it is considering a proposal to tighten regulations, including changes to where and how B6 vitamins are sold.

We accept reports where people consider a business is doing something they shouldn’t. We use the reports to inform our education, compliance and enforcement work.

• When a business sells a product or service that doesn’t meet basic rights, known as consumer guarantees, it must offer the consumer a solution.
• Businesses must not tell consumers to take the problem to the manufacturer or importer.
• When a product has a major problem, consumers can choose between a refund or replacement.
• When a service has a major problem, consumers have a right to alter their agreement with the service provider.
• Businesses must fix a minor problem with a product or service by at least giving a free repair.

Apparently it’s legal to film peoples genitals without consent and share it online.

As usual, 26 January has been marked by protests, denunciations of those protests, and further iterations. Even apart from the fact that it marks an invasion, the foundation of a colony that later became one of Australia’s states isn’t much of a basis for a national day.

A worthy recipient of Australian of the year and a great warrior in the fight against the beast that is MND ( also known as ALS)

Speed kills. It’s the message that we’ve had driven home for decades by law enforcement and the government. But it’s time to have a serious discussion about speed limits in Australia without the hysterics and put some cold, hard facts into the debate.

In short:

Police are investigating a vandalism attack on 20 bronze statues of Australian prime ministers in Ballarat.

The heads from the busts of former Labor leaders Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating were severed and stolen.

What's next?

The sculptor who created the busts says plaster moulds are available to recreate the statues.

"A provocative act by former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has stolen the limelight – again – at a morning tea with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for recipients of the 2025 awards.

The 2021 winner wore a “F*** Murdoch” T-shirt when she was greeted by Mr Albanese and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, at The Lodge in Canberra on Saturday.

The PM and Ms Haydon smiled and greeted Ms Tame, but there was no visible reaction to the incendiary statement on her shirt." https://michaelwest.com.au/from-side-eye-to-show-stopper-as-tame-stuns-pm/

I thought this bit made an excellent point

non archived link

It was around this time in 2020 that the US was helping Australian firefighters with a catastrophic surge of blazes during what became known as their Black Summer. If the same thing happens this year, both governments will be in an impossible situation.

Maybe not this year but one year soon this WILL happen. We voters aren't taking any of this seriously, so neither are our politicians... be prepared.

After literally going through Black Summer (fire all around us), we moved to a place of zero bushfire risk in rural Tasmania. Even smoke triggers my partner who fought in those fires for 4 months, no pay. Hard to pay the bills

I guess what we need is nuclear submarines /s

What is going on in Sydney??

A childcare centre in Sydney was set alight early morning on Tuesday and antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on the wall, authorities said, the latest in a spate of attacks in Australia targeting the Jewish community.

The childcare centre, located near a Jewish school and synagogue in the city's east, suffered extensive damage but there were no reports of injuries in the attack which occurred around 1 a.m. (1400 GMT, Monday), police said.

It was the second antisemitic attack on property in four days in Sydney, and comes amid a spate of similar crimes targeting the Jewish community in Australia's most-populous city.

Perhaps a bit off topic, but I just learnt that apparently Australia Post accepts requests from landlords/body corporates to have parcel lockers installed (and they can be restricted to just people that live in the building)!

It's also free of charge to the building owner(s)/body corporates, and maintenance/installation/site surveying is all handled and managed by Australia Post.

Obviously, having one of these installed in a private building for residents/workers would be contingent on your landlord and/or owners corporation/body corporates giving a shit, having space, and being willing to install one, but if anybody here has such sway, I'd strongly suggest seeing if you can make it happen.

Parcel lockers are very convenient, and if you aren't home for deliveries that require signatures or can't be left, they'll also often put them inside a parcel locker instead of taking them to a post office

(Yeah, I realise the percentage of people on aussie.zone who own an entire apartment building is probably quite low, but I'd hazard a guess that a few people either own apartments (so can badger the owners corporation), or rent (so can badger the landlord), assuming the LL/OC would care. But since it doesn't require any installation or maintenance costs, and can be restricted to just building residents, so wouldn't raise a security concern, I don't see why anybody would be vehemently opposed to it)