Opening this week with a visit to PS News’s “I would probably have said that differently if I had a second chance” file where an entry from the Australian Taxation Office has caught the ever vigilant PS-sssst! eye for discomfiture.
Releasing a public warning against superannuation fund contributors being inveigled by friends and dodgy advisers to draw on their super savings before they mature, the ATO had this to say: “The last thing the ATO wants to see is people’s retirement savings being put at risk by unscrupulous promoters.”
Far be it from PS-sssst! to expose the Tax Office to the unforgiving ruthlessness of the demon English language but to identify something as the “last thing it wants to see” isn’t quite the same as saying it doesn’t want to see it.
The kindest imputation we can draw from the comment is that while the Office does in fact wish to see people’s retirement savings put at risk by unscrupulous promoters, it doesn’t want to see it until it has seen everything else.
And that would be the last imputation we would like to make.
Cocky Doodle who?
Delightful news from the city-bound Centennial Parklands in Sydney this week that small families of the endangered Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo have been sighted in the city in recent years at a time they have been declining across eastern and southern Australia.
According to an honours student working with the parklands to investigate the cocky Cockatoo, 12 individuals were tracked with solar powered GPS transmitters over a year revealing that their lifestyles and food preferences explained how they could survive in an urban environment.
“We’ve been able to confirm what many have suspected – that pine cones make up a large proportion of their diet, so it’s no wonder why they love visiting Centennial Park!” the honours student said.
And, in keeping with PS-sssst’s long-standing commitment to the wonderful world of aptonyms, it should be no surprise to learn that the student – Jessica Rooke – is perfectly positioned to know what she’s talking about.
According to our dictionary, a “Rook” is a European crow, Corvus frugilegus, noted for its gregarious habits.
What do they say about birds flocking together?
Well done, Jessica.
Dollar devalued
It was déjà vu all over again at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade this week with another breath-taking announcement of a new international agreement clearing the way for deserving Aussie businesses to do Aussie business overseas and scoop up huge amounts of well-deserved income as a result.
This time it’s a bright new international agreement cobbled together by the World Trade Organisation that has Governments around the globe – including Australia – enthusiastically throwing their Public Sector procurement markets open to suppliers from other countries.
According to the Minister announcing the agreement, it “will open the door for Australian businesses to Government procurement markets estimated to be worth more than US$1.7 trillion.”
The news once again rattled the cage of Graham C of Canberra who greeted the estimated squillions with trillion-dollar disillusion, questioning for the second week in a row why an Australian Agency, writing for an Australian audience found it necessary to state Australia’s potential benefit in US dollars.
Graham’s eye-rolling quote of “unbelievable” from last week was rolled out again, and again the printed PS News story that covered the announcement dis-Americanised the $1.7 US trillion to the true-blue Australian $2.3 trillion it actually represents.
Winning the west
To Rama Gaind’s weekly giveaway now in which lucky readers receive the chance to become fabulously well-off and nationally famous by winning a weekly prize or three at no cost to themselves, other than going to the expense of knowing the answer to one of Rama’s ultra-simple quiz questions.
This week the challenge was to name the actor who plays the character of Wild Bill Hickok in the warmly acclaimed DVD Buffalo Girls starring Anjelica Huston and Melanie Griffith which was un-coincidentally reviewed by Rama last week.
The answer was Sam Elliott and the three lucky winners who emerged triumphant from the PS News Barrel of Booty with the correct answer were Lindsay C from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, Elizabeth P from the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation and Jason R from the Federal Department of Human Services.
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone for joining in the fun.
The winning DVDs will be winging their way to their new homes shortly.
For another chance to win another DVD, simply follow this PS News link and take your chance.
Good luck to all who do.
Till next week…….
