People With Kids

I notice people with kids much more frequently now. I do not know whether there is a causal link that can be traced to my own pending fatherhood or not, but I am assuming that there must be. I particularly notice parents of kids whose kid is in the midst of a temper tantrum, crying uncontrollably, or other such incidents of typical kid-like behaviours.

I am generally trying to work out how I am going to respond. I guess this is because I am certain that when the Kid is being well-behaved he will be Mommy's boy and when he is acting up he will be Daddy' boy and I will be the one responsible for disciplining the little fella.

I have had plenty of practice with the nieces and nephews and with other people's kids. So, I am quietly confident that I am going to be able to handle the changed sleep patterns and the general lack of sleep. As Big John McCarthy of UFC fame was known to say, "let's get it on!"

Kinky Sex -- The Key To Happiness?

One might wonder what the key to happiness is. At least in some ways that question seems to have been answered, kinky sex. Any desires Australia might have harboured of conforming to some perceived drab and dreary sexual norm has been shattered by a recent sex survey which found that there are many Australians who enjoy bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism (BSDM). This kind of sexual practice involves role play.

This was not a survey of just a few hundred people. The survey questioned some 20,000 people and found that contrary to wide-held beliefs that the practitioners of these kinds of sexual pleasures were not damaged and dangerous as a result of their preferences. The study also found that BSDM was also not practiced as some kind of reaction to previous sexual abuse. But never fear the practitioners account for a mere 2% of Australians.

The survey was conducted by public health researchers from the University of New South Wales. The findings have been published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

The fact that 2% of Australians partake in BSDM is not so surprising, but the fact that the findings of the survey suggest that they are happier than most others is a surprise. I took a couple of psychology courses at university and was always taught that BSDM was deviant sexual behaviour and that the practitioners were in some way damaged goods and in need of specialized intervention in order for recovery to be achieved.

It may now be the case that people looking for a little happiness might want to consider a healthy bondage or discipline session.

The findings might be good for business for those sex shops that supply the necessary equipment for a good ol' bondage and discipline session.

Jakarta Traffic

This one is for the cynic in me. The police in Jakarta have conducted a 10-day operation in which they were targeting motorists who were breaching traffic laws and regulations. The underlying premise of this operation was to improve driver discipline. No drama there and good luck on the discipline front!

However, it is reported that the good police officers recorded more than 18,000 violations of prevailing traffic laws and regulations -- no shock there either! It is reported that from these 18,000 plus violations a mere 2,948 tickets / citations were issued. So, this means that there were more than 15,000 friendly warnings issued to the not so law-abiding motorists. One must assume that these 15,000+ offences were not so serious as to warrant a ticket.

But here is the thing, and this is the cynic in me, I have not come across that many police who are into free friendly warnings. My personal experience has always been that a free friendly warning always involves a "transaction" either a ticket or the Soeharto get out of jail free card, that nice blue IDR 50K note! The value of the transaction generally depends on the seriousness of the offence. The reason people pay is simple; going to court is a hassle and the payment to court officials is not any less! If you want to read about this practice there are plenty of descriptions on the web and a simple Google search will lead you to many of them.

The even more cynical me generally thinks that perhaps there were considerably more violations than the 18,000+ noted and that these were not recorded for whatever reason!

There is no doubt that motorists in Jakarta and more generally in Indonesia need to get some discipline happening but this is not gonna happen with operations like this no matter how many official and unofficial tickets are issued. The reality is there needs to be better technology to track people with driving licenses and cars. There also needs to be better enforcement; simply people who violate the law enough times in 12 months lose their license. If they get caught driving without a licence they pay a huge fine and if they get caught twice they pay an even bigger fine and if they get caught a third time then they should automatically enjoy the hospitality of the State in prison!

The government needs to install red light cameras and be active in fining people and taking their licenses away when they do not pay.

Perhaps an incentive system for police to catch and ticket people properly could be implemented. Although, an incentive system like this is susceptible to corrupt policing it would not be any more corrupt than the system now. Motorists could still contest the fine!

This sort of system would also alleviate employment and perhaps even transport issues in the capital, people losing licenses means they need to employ new drivers, hence increasing employment opportunities, or leave the car at home and therefore there are less cars on the road! A winner either way!

Likelihood of happening -- Zero! Yep, the big "0"...

Trains -- A Spray for Discipline

Discipline and riding trains always brings to mind vivid memories of over-crowded trains and punters taking their lives into their own hands by riding on the roof. I guess compared to hanging out of the door of a moving train and having to contend with all of the track side dangers makes riding on the roof a relatively safe option. Well, at least as safe as riding on an open roof with live electricity wires carrying 1000s of volts can be.

In this very important 'train riding discipline month' being run by the State Rail carrier, PT. Kereta Api Indonesia, people without valid tickets and roof-riders are being fined between IDR 7,500 and IDR 25,000 for their indiscretions. The transportation officers are also confiscating identification cards which is an even bigger hassle than the fine as life in Indonesia is always dependent on having identification. Confiscated identity cards are almost never returned to the owner without the payment of a "facilitation" fee. And it is the facilitation fees that drive the continuance of this practice.

Nevertheless, it is the roof-riders that are in for the most fun. It has been decided that they are too difficult to catch if they refuse to come down from the train roof voluntarily. So, the answer is to spray them with a coloured dye that will allow them to be caught later and fined accordingly.

But as is common in Indonesia this is just another revenue raising venture that does not address the underlying core reasons for people breaking the law; simply there are not enough trains running frequently enough during the peak periods to cater for the demand. If you want to stop people riding on the roof of a train then the obvious answer would be to provide extra carriages so that they have a safe environment to sit in. Alas another example of putting the cart before the horse...