If any of you have been on Twitter any time in the past 24 hours, you may have seen the trending hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet .
I logged on about two hours ago and was greeted by crazy backlash to a tweet posted by an apparent employee of PR Company IAC, Justine Sacco.
The tweet was this:
Whether or not it was real or a PR stunt, it was an extremely tasteless thing to post on one of the most prominent and public social-media websites of today. Immediately after posting this tweet, Justine Sacco was said to have boarded her flight to South Africa.
Since then, she has deleted her original Twitter account, however the backlash from the post continues, with around 40 tweets containing the hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet rolling in every minutes.
One thing is for certain...if this tweet was, in fact, real, then the racist messages behind it are undeniable. Twitter users are questioning legitimacy and whether Ms Sacco will still have a job after this social-media PR disaster, or even ever get a job again into the future.
The rest of the story is guaranteed to come out within the next few days. Until then, remember to always think about the consequences of what you're putting up online!
Never let your employees control your social media account. This is something that British pub The Plough learnt the hard way. After firing their head chef just over a week before Christmas, he took to Twitter to vent his outrage.
Unfortunately for The Plough, the Twitter account he used wasn't his own, but instead the account for his ex-employers.
Since then, this topic has gone completely crazy on Twitter, with people expressing both their disgust of firing an employee a week before Christmas, and their love of the way the ex-head chef got his revenge.
Of course, I wouldn't suggest doing this, just in case your ex-employers have a good knowledge of the law and how to best sue you. Also, as funny as this is, we don't know the full story or even why the guy was fired. Until we do, it makes for a funny anecdote and I wish this guy all the best in finding a new job in the future.
The other day, the internet went wild. It wasn’t because Miley Cyrus
performed another dance where she couldn’t put her tongue back into her mouth,
and it wasn’t because Robin Thicke wrote a sexist song. It went crazy for
a different reason.
Pop music royalty, Beyoncé did something that no one expected.
Armed and dangerous with an abundance of loyal followers, Twitter suddenly
became the platform on which Bey would announce that she had secretly released
an album on iTunes without anyone knowing anything about it.
Now that’s what I call a successful album release! The
self-titled album Beyoncé by Beyoncé suddenly just appeared on iTunes, with
brand 14 new songs and a large number of videos. It wasn’t even given a release
date, that’s how secret it was! But it wasn’t leaked early, and basically all
of the advertising for her new album has been done via word of mouth in the
Twitterverse.
And it all started with one tweet from Columbia Records:
This started the spark, sending Twitter users into overdrive
and opening up iTunes to see what new and amazing songs Bey had given us. And
you won’t be disappointed! This album is full of amazing lyrics and really
relaxing yet catchy music. It’s typical, commanding and awesome Beyoncé, but in
my opinion it’s more of a personal album. The fourteen new songs are already a
hit with fans, and have already regained the number one throne on iTunes.
One year on from the Sandy Hook Massacre and the United States of America still hasn't learnt its lesson regarding gun control legislation. Exactly one year ago, killer Adam Lanza murdered 20 children and six teachers in cold blood with a semi-automatic assault rifle.
Some argue that gun control laws are not needed, and that they would be taking away the fundamental, constitutional rights of Americans. How is this the case when so many lives would be spared from early deaths? In the past year, many Americans have blamed the USA's lack of a public healthcare system. More than a few times, I've heard mental illness described as being the key factor in many US massacres, and not the guns.
How, then, can citizens of the USA not see that guns are to blame. Yes, the lack of a proper healthcare system means that those suffering from mental health are not receiving proper treatment. But the fact that anyone is able to buy a gun is scary.
Even if the USA had a working healthcare system equivalent to that of Australia or Canada's, there would still be a major gun problem. Gun violence is not just from the mentally ill. Gun violence can occur when anyone who owns a gun decides to use it to the detriment of those around them. Yes, if healthcare was improved, maybe the situation with guns would improve also, but healthcare cannot be blamed in its entirety.
Another argument which I've heard is that criminals would still have guns, whereas the honest-to-God, true-blue citizens would be left to fend for themselves with nothing but baseball bats for protection.
Gun laws became an issue in Australia after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, and since then, crimes involving shootings have dropped dramatically. As for the fact that criminals would be the only ones with guns, I think that Australia needs to be recognised once again.
Gun violence is never going to completely disappear, but Australia serves as a reminder that our mass shootings and gun murders in general have gone down since stricter legislation was implemented. There will always be ways for criminals do get guns, however ordinary citizens should not be able to carry a gun for 'protection'. After all, culture permitting violence only encourages more violence. The reason why so many US citizens feel the need to own a gun is because everyone else owns a gun. It is a self-perpetuating cycle which needs to stop.
Finally, the Second Amendment is always the fundamental issue. According to many Americans, taking away guns is the equivalent of taking away their fundamental human rights. Incorrect. The guns which were available to citizens when the United States Constitution first came about were vastly different to the guns of today. In fact, the semi-automatic assault rifle used in the Sandy Hook massacre was capable of firing 20 shots every 3 seconds. This is an extreme difference to guns which used to take 30 seconds to load up only one bullet.
America needs stricter gun laws. Despite the fact that I live in Australia and don't really deserve a say, everyone needs to realise that America's gun law are outdated and that ordinary citizens should not feel the need to own nor carry a gun.
At this point, I think that the bravery of both the teachers and children at Sandy Hook Elementary should be recognised. The actions of the brave people in that school, many of whom lost their lives, meant that many more lives were saved. But for what? One year later and there is still no legislation limiting gun ownership.
Whilst some still like to fantasise that the whole thing was a hoax, it was definitely not the case. The Sandy Hook massacre was entirely real, and that is why, one year on, families are still trying to come to terms with the deaths of their friends, family and loved ones. No more.
This is a follow up post to my blog from earlier on in the week entitled 'Everyone Deserves the Right to Marry'.
Apparently the High Court doesn't agree.
Even though it doesn't affect me, today Australia took a step backwards when the High Court repealed the Marriage Equality Law in the ACT was repealed. Unfortunately, as much as we hoped this wouldn't happen, it did.
In my opinion, everyone deserves the right to marry, and the definition of marriage has changed dramatically from when it first came to light. No longer should marriage be defined in the biblical sense as solely between a man and a woman. No, we are smarter and more advanced than that.
The world has changed and we need to change and adapt with it.
In an article by The Australian, they say that the High Court wanted to ensure that the laws were concurrent with Federal legislation and that states and territories did not operate as separate countries when it came to marriage legislation.
Fair enough. But going so far as to repeal the law altogether? Why not just fix the Federal laws so that everything is concurrent and that everyone in Australia is entitled to the right to marry. Sure, it might be difficult, but as the saying goes: 'I'm not saying it's going to be easy...I'm saying it's going to be worth it.' Australians need to work together to encourage the government to develop laws which aren't seen as unconstitutional and that can be recognised as concurrent with legislation.
In the end though, the spark left behind by the Marriage Equality Law has lit a fire. Though the law has since been repealed and the marriages that have occurred in the past week aren't legally recognised, I highly doubt that it will stay this way forever. Times are changing and we need to keep up.
I think this picture says it all. Underneath everything, we are all human.
For the link to the article in The Australian that I mentioned, click HERE
The chiming of midnight in Canberra this morning marked a momentous occasion for homosexual couples from around Australia. The Australian Capital Territory's Marriage Equality Law is currently still in the process of being challenged by the Australian government. But really, we all know what this means!
It means that Tony Abbott has struck again. Despite the fact that his sister is a lesbian who is happy with her life, Mr Abbott cannot come to terms with the fact that homosexuality in this day and age is widely accepted and that the church should have no place in political decisions.
I dream of a day when homophobic comments like the one at the top no longer exist.
However, whilst the law is being challenged in validity, there was no denying that it officially came into effect at midnight. There were two couples scheduled to marry in the ACT at 12:01am this morning, with approximately 40 more over the weekend from states and territories across Australia.
Whilst their marriage is legal in the ACT for the time being, many are questioning whether it will stay that way after the High Court's decision, predicted Thursday. Whatever the outcome though, it has started a spark in Australia that can never be extinguished. Though this new law may fail (though hopefully it won't!), Australia has had a taste of the future and there is no going back.
In the meantime though, this is a time for celebration for all of those same-sex couples in the ACT who have waited patiently for it to be their turn. I wish these happy couples the best of luck and the happiest of lives together. They've earnt it!
For more information, check out this ABC article HERE
I'm sitting here trying to remember what happened to all of the months in between January and December this year. Racking my brains furiously isn't working at all, and I've finally come to the conclusion that I must have some sort of Amnesia.
Because it's December, and we all know what that means.
Welcome to the month of way too much food, holiday road rage and Christmas shopping. It's finally the festive season!
Don't take this as me being a Grinch! No! Take this as well-meaning advice with only the best of intentions! Let's face it, as good as the holiday season is, there are always those little things to look out for and avoid.
Bad drivers are notoriously bad at this time. I don't know what it is about this time of the year. Blame something in the air or water or food. But drivers seem to lose the ability to drive properly and it becomes a time where indicators, speed limits, road rules and common curtesy seem to be optional.
I'm not saying that every driver loses their cool at this time of the year, nor am I saying that I am perfect. However, I am saying that this holiday season, it'd be nice if we checked ourselves and didn't overreact to tiny, insignificant things. If we make it home safe at the end of the day, that's the main thing.
In order to make it home safe, you've got to survive a shopping centre at Christmas. If you're like me, and often leave your Christmas shopping until the last minute, then you'll know what I'm talking about.
Crazy and frazzled mothers with prams, rude business people who talk on the phone whilst surreptitiously pushing in front of you in the line and screaming kids all make for those joyous and fun-filled shopping trips at Christmas time. To avoid this scenario though, there is a quick-fix solution!
Ready?
Don't leave you Christmas shopping until the week before Christmas. That is a week when good driving is especially optional, parking is impossible and you're huddled like penguins beside the checkouts in what kind of is, but isn't really, a queue. This a week when, if you must go shopping, you shouldn't go to browse. You should be like a lion spotting a gazelle on the Serengeti. You should have your eye on the prize and not stop for anything else. Your trips to overcrowded shopping centres with pretend 'Christmas' sales during this week should consist of you going in, paying and leaving. If you choose to skip the second step, that's illegal and you will probably get caught.
So Christmas Day. Relatives and food. It's up to you with how you deal with relatives, but all I can say about food is just enjoy yourself. Christmas comes once a year, so don't stress about your diet, alcohol consumption or wasteline. It's one day, I'm sure it'll be fine!
All in all, remember to stay calm and have a good Christmas! It'll be over in no time (until next year!)
