American writer Mark Twain is quoted (incorrectly it appears) that everyone complains about the weather but no-one does anything about it.
Well, Australia’s weather gurus – the Bureau of Meteorology – tried to do something about it a week or two ago, but it seemed to blow up!
Fearful Bureau of Meteorology’s acronym – BoM – reduced the significance of the Bureau’s work, it approached the media and asked it to address the “inaccurate statements” it suffered despite the deep respect the Bureau held in the community.
“With an ever-increasing number of severe weather events, it is more crucial than ever that the Bureau of Meteorology’s insights, wisdom, data and information are shared, understood and acted upon,” the BoM wrote to the media.
“To support this need, the Bureau of Meteorology asks that media outlets update editorial style to ensure references to the organisation are by its full name, the Bureau of Meteorology or the Bureau for short, and not BOM or the Weather Bureau.
“This aligns with the Meteorology Act 1955.”
Its history now but the media declined the request and Australia’s weather ‘BoM’ remains.
Which brings us to the next complicated climatic conundrum: Should it be BOM or should it be BoM?
Does the ‘of’ deserve a capital ‘O’?
The cost of crime stopping
To Crime Stoppers NSW now where it has joined NSW Police to raise public awareness of the more sophisticated scams, so more normal members of the public will have a better chance of recognising and then dodging them.
According to Crime Stoppers, Australians lost on average $41 million to scams each month in the first half of 2022 and: “Scammers are finding new and smarter ways to steal people’s hard-earned money, so it can be difficult to know if a call is a scam or not.”
As if to join in the scammers party, Crime Stoppers made clear that if they’re going to make a difference, stopping the scammers ‘Comes with a Price”.
And they meant it!
The Chief Executive of Crime Stoppers NSW is one Peter Price!
Anti-corruption plan corrupted?
Impressive news coming out of the Federal Government in recent weeks with the Government doing what it needs to do to set up a ‘National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in similar fashion to States’ independent commissions against corruption, commonly known as ICAC.
While the new Commission will mean little to the vast army of public sector staff members going about their daily duties, it might cause some people who bend the rules a sleepless night or two, but most people would regard the planned new ‘commission’ a positive move towards a more professional and honest government.
Only one thing can stop it from doing its job and that is the selection of the Commissioners to run it.
What troubles PS-sssst! is that the rules as they are at this stage, the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners of the new body are to be “subject to approval by the Parliamentary Joint Committee”.
Whoa!
Sounds like the wolf choosing who’s going to protect the chook pen!
PS-sssst! thought it appeared unusual that so many MPs were being so positive about the new commission.
Maybe now we know why!
Immaculate prize winners
To Rama Gaind and her weekly giveaway now in which three lucky PS News readers are set to win copies of the DVD thriller The Immaculate Room starring Emile Hirsch, Mike Walsh and Kate Bosworth.
To have the best chance of scoring Rama’s giveaway, all we needed to do was answer her question: How many days do Kate and Mike have to stay in The Immaculate Room?
The answer was 50 Days and the first sharp readers with the correct entry to jump out at the judge were received from Ros M of the Commonwealth’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Jan B from South Australia’s RevenueSA, and Christine C from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who took part in the game. The DVD movies will be on their way to their new owners very soon.
For another fun chance of removing Rama’s riches from her simply visit her fantastic weekly reviews in PS News of the Book Be a Better Manager in 5 Minutes a Day at this PS News link and/or her other exciting giveaway of the Book Under Her Skin at this link.
Good luck to one and all who put Rama to the test. May everyone be a winner!
Books under-booked!
And finally, a pleasant little story popped up from Victoria a couple of weeks ago with the announcement that the annual Premier’s Reading Challenge was now on, encouraging thousands of young Victorians to read a set number of books from a published list suited to their different reading levels.
A great story and just the right one to share with PS News-reading parents in Victoria’s Public Service.
All geared up and ready to put pen to work, PS News’s brilliant Assistant Editor Ysabel noticed something wasn’t quite right with the mid-October press release.
A quick visit to the Premier’s Reading Challenge website revealed that the program had finished on 2 September.
It left Yssy wondering who the Premier was pointing his ‘Challenge’ at!
Till next week…..
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