The entire world is ripped apart by the ‘Them and us’ syndrome. If you sit down with Palestinian families, you can’t help but weep at the horrific situation in which they find themselves. If you look into the eyes of a mother who saw her children burn alive, you would have no words with which to console her. Then, travel to Israel and sit with a broken mother whose sons were kidnapped and tortured for weeks on end, and whose severed limbs were sent back to her in a bloody box, you would feel ashamed at how humans can inflict such unfathomable cruelty upon each other.

Fold away the national flags, and bring the women together, and they will lament at the sheer agony of loss. They will both understand the emptiness that haunts their shattered spirit. Irrespective of language or creed, they will hold hands as they ache at the incomprehensible barbaric behaviour whose result is never anything more than pain and suffering. There can be no victory. These women will tell you that nothing was worth the loss. No act of revenge has ever soothed a stolen life. Nothing good has ever come from bullets and bombs. What is worse, is the perpetual lies that fuel endless misery for both sides. There can be no victors where there is no justice. Land, geography, money, and sovereignty do not provide prosperity. Real wealth grows in the hearts of children. Real peace comes from shared fruits. Real happiness comes from common toil that concludes with the setting-sun around a dinner table where neighbours and strangers are just as welcome as family members.

Talk is cheap. Tough talk is pathetic. With mighty weapons, people can’t think straight. With lop-sided power, people can’t be just. Putridity dominates our world, and it gallops fast when humans are hell-bent on blaming ‘them over the border’. It is never us. It is always them. They killed our children, so we will kill their children. Has anyone stopped to ask the children what they think?

It is pathetic that we speak about the troubles of the Middles East in terms of religion and politics. I’ll tell you what fuels it: greed and stupidity. And the one ingredient that keeps greed and stupidity in full flight is lies!

And the worst lie is not the one that we spin for others to believe. Rather, it is the lie that we fashion and swallow ourselves.

There have been errors, horrors, and atrocities on both sides. Left, right, and centre. We have all erred. We have all suffered. Sad indeed that the Arabs have so quickly forgotten that they were the leaders in the fields of science. The Arabs were the forefathers of mathematics. They were the trend-setters for hospitality and generosity. They have so much going for them, they could dominate the world, and teach it about how to live a joyous and zestful life. Sadly, the Arabs have allowed themselves to be distracted by wider, jealous enemies who know how to divide and conquer.

The history of the torment in the Middle East would require billions of pages to document. How can we ever tell all the stories? And there is always one more story… have I told you what his grandfather did to my grandfather… However, those billions of stories can be summed-up in one word: Debauchery!

So, where to from here?

Corrupted souls do not know how to reason. They only understand the language of hate. Their only currency is blood. Their only mantra is power. And we still invite them to peace talks? There can be no peace while we trade in lies. There can be no respite while justice is suffocated at every opportunity.

We are left with one solution: the sane amongst us must pray for ‘magnanimity’. All of us, young and old, the pained and the troubled, the guilty and the pure, must come to the village-square and say, ‘I have made terrible mistakes. The only way for me to repent is to be magnanimous. Please dear enemy, will you allow me to be magnanimous? May I do something to show you that I am sorry about my past mistakes?’ And as one party says this to another, you will find people embracing each other and saying, ‘My enemy, my friend, there is nothing I need from you. I just want us to stop this madness. The moon is nice tonight, shall we toast the moon as we bathe in its light? Look, the stars have begun to sparkle. Please break this bread with me. The angels are watching. Let us not disappointment them on this blessed night.’

This kind of solution is only possible if we can mature. But that is unlikely. It can only happen if we are ready to forgive. But that is unlikely. It can only come to fruition if we can love, but the anger sill burns in our heart, and the rage still consumes our mind. Therefore, sadly, love is still a long way off. And this begs the desperate question, ‘What can we do?’

We can expose the lies. Not so that we can swing back and forth and take sides. Not so that we can pretend that they are at fault and we are pure. But so that we can let it all out, in the light of day. So that we can stand naked in front of each other, both ‘Them’ and ‘Us’ called to account to open our black books and place them out in the open for us all to see that neither one is blameless, and neither one is without a blemish. We both have blood on our hands. We are both guilty of atrocities. We both have troubled pasts. We both could do better. We both deserve better. We happen to be temporary guests on Planet Earth. Is this the way guests are supposed to behave?

The videos below are by Dr David Duke. At the end of it, please do not take sides. Just see that no one is blameless. Only when we can blow the whistle and halt the game, can we have any hope of coming together as two guilty parties with our heads bowed down in shame, and say, my enemy my friend, we can both do better. So much has happened, that it can never be corrected. So many lives have been ripped apart, that we can never raise our head and utter another word. Shame on us all.

Let this be an era for silence. Speak no more. Consult no more. Shout no more. Promise no more. Demand no more. Hush. We have said too much. We have hurt too much. We have lied too much.

The children will turn to us and curse our existence. Let us not fail them. Can we create the turning point? Can we halt the madness? Can we stem the tide of absurdity? Our only mission now is to be magnanimous so that the children don’t despise us. On our watch, we must arrest the barbaric behaviour.

What can we do about it? First, let us not point the finger. Let us not raise our fist in anger. It is all too pathetic for anymore posturing. You and I can do something. Any little thing. Whatever you think you can. But please do it. However small. Please do it. Something. Anything. Please do what you can. It might take no more than seven minutes of your life. Can you afford that much?

Enough with the lies. Both parties are guilty. The children are suffering. This is not the smart way to live. We can do better! How do we win the war? By stopping the lies. In the absence of lies, we can win together.

When will the healing start?

When the children play together.

I happen to know and admire Terry White and his wife Rhonda. I have worked with them on a few assignments, and count them amongst my dear friends.

Terry and Rhonda had sent a copy of the book to me, and upon reading it, I wrote this letter to thank them. I thought to publish the letter here to share with you how the book impacted me. The book is available from all stores or from University of Queensland Press if you click here.

My letter to Terry and Rhonda follows:

My dear friends

I have often said, ‘When you see successful people, don’t just applaud… also shed a tear, because their journey would have been long and hard.’

I always knew that you, Rhonda and Terry, were remarkable souls. I had no idea about your background. I just knew that Terry was involved in serving his community via politics, and that Rhonda is a formidable retailing genius who raised a loving family while taking an interest in a range of fields. I knew nothing of the details, and I am not one to ask, preferring to give my friends their privacy.

It was evident from our special moments together that your rivers ‘ran deep’ and that your spirit was touched by God. All I knew was that you were delightful people who had energy and drive, and who held-firm to your principles. These inspiring qualities were evident from day-one. Your aura exuded your essence, which I felt was grounded in Christian values. It was by your actions that I knew who you were… citizens of substance and joy.

Before your book arrived, I had always held you both in the highest esteem. I did not know your history, and had no idea about your many challenges. I just felt that you were seasoned life-travellers whose journey was no doubt tough and rough, albeit rich and rewarding for you, your family, and all those who were fortunate enough to come into contact with you.

When you kindly sent me a copy of ‘A Prescription for Change’, I opened it in order to glance at it, thinking that I would put it aside and read it during a quiet moment. Alas, I was magnetised to it and could not put it down until I had devoured several chapters and realised that I was late to my next meeting.

Indeed, your story is an important one for so many people, on so many fronts. Your dear friends will benefit from learning more about your amazing childhood and teenage years, and about your family struggles that were not dissimilar to the struggles of many humble families of the day (not to mention the many families of modern times). Yet, it is fascinating that Terry would say that he enjoyed and appreciated his youth. Despite the hardship, it seems that you were grateful. This is a reflection of your good nature: you endure what comes, and you find the gems amidst the fire.

I am glad that you shared with us how you met Rhonda. Mind you, I felt uneasy about you leaving your sweetheart to go overseas, but I guess in every decision, we find lessons that will hold us in good stead. Indeed, it seems that your travels had awakened important questions in your mind.

The writer, Mr Tony Koch, must be commended for being able to re-tell each story in a simple, yet colourful way. Mr Koch was at no time an obstacle to the reader. I was able to visualise the townships, your workshops, your school, and your family gatherings. The only disappointment was that each chapter was shorter than I needed. I always felt that I would have benefited from additional stories. Then again, this is not a criticism. It highlights the skills of the writer: leaving the reader wanting more.

The political story woven throughout the book was gripping. At the time of his reign, I was too young to have fully understood what Joh Bjelke-Petersen stood for. I do recall his pesky presence on television, and I often wondered about his policies. Back then, I had no idea about the complexity of the political landscape which I now realise was a large part of your daily battles. Your book has sparked an interest to research that era in order to understand the corruption and the power-plays that were no doubt frustrating beyond belief. Although it is all over, I do feel for you both. I had not experienced this type of political degradation, but I did live through similar absurdities during the war in Beirut and later through similar human putridity while working for global corporate machines.

Those who have not been squeezed by unfathomable human/political weakness, might not fully appreciate the immense pressure that you must have suffered, while trying to push away the tide of injustice, pleading for some sanity and support from your friends who, instead of assisting you, were ‘advising’ you to back-off. Oh, I do know how difficult this can be. It is like being in a noisy chaotic street wherein no-one can hear you crying out for help.

Terry and Rhonda, your persistence in the face of opposition became obvious throughout the book, and it was during such moments that I, as the reader, and as someone who admires you, felt tense with frustration about a situation that I think still prevails to this day: the bastards make it difficult for the decent folk to get on with the job. But you held your ground, while you ran a business, stood-up to unethical business giants, raised a family, and clutched to your values.

I marvel at what people presume the act of ‘leadership’ to really mean. They often see leadership as some form of orchestration from on-high.

I believe that the story portrayed in your book is a perfect example of leadership: leading yourselves amidst turbulent, lonely, and scary times, while many about you are falling, failing, or distancing themselves. Yours is a story of leadership-in-action, fought in the trenches… declaring yet another war with another greedy idiot, while wondering if this punch might well be your last, or if that blow might well be the final one to knock you down. Despite these grave risks, you attacked, you defended, you bruised, and you pressed on, moved on… That was leadership: carving a new path through a dark jungle, simply because you refused to walk along easy-street where corruption of the mind and soul would have been the cheaper price for a smoother ride.

I found the book engaging. It is filled with lessons about perseverance and justice. It is a real story that depicts two people in the act of following their heart, even if it meant losing friends and infuriating people.

No doubt many have told you how funny it was to read: ‘Benjamin, say the fuck word one more time and you’ll have to stay here — I can’t afford one more fuck.’ I was glad that I was not drinking at the time of reading this chapter, because I would have sprayed the room. That line will go down in history as a cute example of a stressful altercation, involving the delightful Rhonda White whose body-language and voice jumped out from the page. I burst out laughing. Isn’t it interesting that we can find humour in such dramatic incidents that punctuate our lives. Perhaps time heals and time soothes and in the end, life’s struggles settle to reveal our strengths.

The survivors will endure; looking back to learn, to smile, to laugh. Indeed, we can laugh at what can now be described as a knee-slapper about a precious mother-and-son moment.

I thank you, dear friends, for sharing your story with me. And I congratulate Tony Koch on a story well told.

I have purchased additional copies to enrich my friends. ‘A Prescription for Change’ is more than an inspiring story. It is agitating, uplifting, insightful, and indeed infuriating because it reminds us that the world has not changed. Stupidity and myopia abound.

In the end, there is hope. We can learn from Rhonda and Terry that, by the Grace of God, we must neither give-up nor give-in.

You are role models for the new warriors who can learn from you both and say, ‘I, too, shall stand my ground. I shall not surrender!’

In my prayers, and with immense admiration,

Jonar Nader

Sam Cohen of IHRB

If you have anything to do with Sam Cohen or IHRB, you need to read all about the trickery and deceit at a special site I constructed called www.IHRB-Story.com. This site explains the amazing misleading contract that is used to con people into handing over their money to buy silly products which are supposed to contain herbal ingredients that IHRB and Sam Cohen says are his magical formula. I have heard of people selling things that don’t work, but Sam Cohen’s hair regrowth treatment is empty. It does not contain the supposed Indian Curries. So if they are not in the bottle, how can we say that they do not work? Is the hole in the doughnut just as tasty as the rest of the doughnut? How can it be? In the absence of these Indian Curries, how can we still even discuss the treatment offered by the Institute of Hair Regrowth and Beauty? How can we even keep calling it a treatment? It is nothing. Nil, Ziltch. Non existent. So Sam Cohen and IHRB of Pitt Street will take thousands of dollars, all on the basis of a lie. Wow, that’s a few million-percent profit, on top of a scam. All pretty bad news. Read all about this rip off at www.IHRB-Story.com and let me know what you think.

If you know of any students studying contract law, they might find this amazing. You see, a contract is not just about words. One has to understand the beast behind the magic trick. When you know the environment that surrounds the contract, you will note that each word takes on a whole new meaning. You have to know how and why a contract is prepared, before you can effectively assess the merits of the words. The intent is more poisonous than the words alone. When combined, the contract by Sam Cohen and IHRB will sting you like a scorpion. Deadly.

Right under your nose, you will sign a lovely contract, thinking that you are in control. Sadly, down the track when you need to rely on the contract to assist you, it becomes apparent that it was all smoke and mirrors, at your expense.

Until we can find a sure-fire treatment to cure baldness, perhaps at the pre-birth genetic level, we will have to go with snake oil, charlatans, scammers, con artists, and liars, amidst a few good treatments that can work for some people, some of the time.

Sadly, my hair is thinning, so I thought to try out the treatments offered by Sam Cohen of IHRB (Institute of Hair Regrowth & Beauty). I regret ever having anything to do with IHRB and Sam Cohen. He promised a money back guarantee that was nothing more than a lie. Anyway, he did us all a favour by not refunding my money. It caused me to investigate his operation. After five months, I have collected enough data to expose this man and his company. If you have anything to do with hair loss or baldness, or if you have anything to do with Samuel/Sam Cohen or IHRB of 105 Pitt Street Sydney, you can read my dedicated blog at IHRB-Story.com.

This made me think that as large as Google is, it has more code to write. Its software needs some modifications. I would have thought that advertisers should be able to stipulate where their ads go. I know that it is all one big pot, but in this case, it would make sense for the ad not to have been associated with this damning article about the company’s misconduct.

Anyway, IHRB and Sam Cohen always bag Shane Warne and Advance Hair Studio. After investigating Sam Cohen and his methods, I have found that his practices leave a lot to be desired. A full report is now filed at this site dedicated to Sam Cohen and IHRB. The site is designed to assist people who are experiencing hair loss and who are contemplating wasting their money with Sam Cohen and the Institute of Hair Regrowth and Beauty, also known as I.H.R.B at Pitt Street Sydney. If you are planning on spending money with IHRB, you would be well served to visit that site. I am sure you will change your mind and be grateful that you did not waste your money.

Update: Since writing this, I have created a new site that is dedicated to Sam Cohen and IHRB’s hair loss nonsense at www.IHRB-Story.com.

You can see the Ads by Google, promoting Advance Hair Studio, in this online article in the Sydney Morning Herald. The report speaks about the misleading conduct by the company that resulted in the ad being banned.

Dear Mr Greene

May I please protest at the ways in which the M2 roadworks are impacting on the service that your company delivers.

I understand that roadworks are necessary. However, it seems to me that 90% of the time that I use the M2, there are roadworks in progress. This forces me to travel at 40 km per hour. Yet you still charge me full toll fees. This cannot be right. I spend thousands in tolls each year.

May I please ask you to review my e-tag charges and match this up to the dozens of times that these coincide with road closures and detours, and refund the tolls. The whole purpose of the M2 is to provide a benefit over Epping Road. Pray tell, what is the benefit of crawling at 40 km per hour? At one time, the detours were so confusing, I ended up in Windsor and had to double back and pay more tolls!

I believe that you ought to place an early sign to advise motorists of these roadworks, well before the entry point so that we can decide to use Epping Road instead. I urge you not to place an all encompassing sign on the M2, but one before the M2, on each and every day, so that we can make an informed decision. And please do not place a sign that says, ‘Roadworks from January to April’. This wide sweep will not work, because we motorists cannot remember every sign and every instruction. We need to be told of your roadworks prior to entering the M2 so that we can detour, rather than be trapped. It just is not fair. And it seems unethical to charge for a roadway that promises time-saving, when there are none!

Tonight 11 January 2010, I entered the M2 at Ryde, heading towards the Hills, and it was roadworks ALL THE WAY to the Pennant Hills exit, and all this time, there was only one truck to the side of the road. Why are you slowing us all down, charging hefty tolls, and making us crawl kilometre after kilometre, with the threats of RTA cameras. How excruciating.

I would appreciate your response. If you need additional information, I would welcome your call.

Mr Greene responded thus:

Dear Jonar,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us about your recent experience with travel delays during essential maintenance works on the Motorway. I can appreciate that roadworks can be frustrating and often require what seem to be extensive work zones, however it remains our absolute priority that we protect people undertaking essential works on the motorway.

The works schedules are advertised on the M2 website and are aimed to minimise traffic impacts during day time peak travel. For information about M2 road works to plan your travel ahead of time, please visit the Work Alert page on our website. If you would like to register for email alerts about upcoming works, please respond by return email.

We acknowledge your comments about additional signage to advise motorists about planned works that may cause delays and can confirm that we do use variable message signs to alert motorists of upcoming works. Ultimately the decision to use the motorway is then one for motorists themselves to make.

We are working hard to deliver improvements to our customers. You may be aware that on 13 October 2009 the NSW Government announced that it had reached an ‘In Principle’ Agreement on the scope and funding for a proposed upgrade of the M2 Motorway.

For further information about the Hills M2 Upgrade please visit www.hillsm2upgrade.com.au where you can also register for email updates about the project progress.

Regards,

I was completely dissatisfied with this reply. I could not believe that this was any response whatsoever. For this reason, I thought to check that this, indeed, was the official position of Transurban. So I sent a note to the CEO, Mr Chris Lynch. This was the response, from Mr Darren Moy, General Manager, NSW Assets:

Dear Mr Nader

Thank you for your recent letter to Chris Lynch regarding maintenance works on the M2. He has asked me to respond on his behalf.

Both Mr Lynch and myself concur with the advice you received from the Head of Hills M2 Motorway dated 14 January.

It is a core responsibility of motorway management to ensure essential maintenance works are undertaken in the interests of safe and efficient travel on M2 for all Motorists. Works programs are developed in such a way that minimises impact on the greatest number of motorists. This includes programming work outside peak hours and compressing work periods to reduce the overall number of days on which it occurs.

It is essential to ensure safe working sites are in place when this work is done, both for workers and passing motorists.

It is my understanding that on 11 January, maintenance was being carried out in the tunnel, which perhaps explains why you saw only one truck.

Hills M2 has responded comprehensively regarding signage and other means of maintenance works notification to motorists such as the website.

Ultimately use of the motorway is a matter of free choice. Transurban considers that the M2 does offer motorists time savings and value for money. The proposed widening of the motorway will further improve customer experience and I trust regular users will welcome this development.

Yours sincerely. Darren Moy. General Manager NSW Assets.

Here are my observations about this absurd response.

Transurban has refused to face the question. The company must tell its users about the roadworks, BEFORE a user enters the motorway. Mr Moy says that the use of the motorway ‘is a matter of choice’. NO! I am given no choice! I am lured onto the motorway, with a promise of a motorway, expecting a motorway, only to be then, later, after the entry, told that I have to slow down to 40 km per hour AND to prepare to stop. That is not a matter of choice, because once I am on the motorway, I am trapped. I cannot turn back. I cannot get off without paying the toll.

One simple sign, if it were erected just before the entry point, would enable motorists to decide to use the M2 or to use Epping Road. This argument would apply to each and every toll road in the country. One young engineer, Mr J Bennett, said that another option would be to have an audio message into which motorists could tune, via their car radio, so that they can know about the condition of the M2 (and all major roads) several kilometres before they have to make the decision about which road to use. The radio broadcast would be short, sharp, and constant, so that motorists can know what is going on.

Allow me to slow this down and respond to Mr Moy’s letter, line by line.

TRANSURBAN: Both Mr Lynch and myself concur with the advice you received from the Head of Hills M2 Motorway dated 14 January.

JONAR: This confirms that at least three senior people at Transurban have missed the point, and are refusing to answer the question, and are disregarding their duty to operate within the Values of their company.

TRANSURBAN: It is a core responsibility of motorway management to ensure essential maintenance works are undertaken in the interests of safe and efficient travel on M2 for all Motorists.

JONAR: The sentence above is as useless and as pointless as any statement can get. Why are they telling the bleeding obvious. Of course it is their responsibility to undertake maintenance. Did my letter protest about the maintenance? No. Did I say that they ought let the road degrade and stuff public safety? No. So this point might well have been something just as useless, along the lines of, ‘We at McDonald’s must ensure that our deep fryers are in working order, and are kept clean.’ What’s that’s got to do with anything?

TRANSURBAN: Works programs are developed in such a way that minimises impact on the greatest number of motorists.

JONAR: Was I urging you to schedule your work so as to inconvenience every user? Who in their right mind would not try to minimise the impact? Work has to be done. Of course maintenance must be undertaken — at the best possible time, taking into account a multitude of factors. I am not dictating when you should schedule your work. However, given that you have raised this point, has it occurred to you that a person with an excruciating toothache does not care how many other people do not have one? If you have to conduct a works program, and your only option is to either impact 30,000 people or 20,000 people, what benevolence are you boasting about to the 20,000 whom you have inconvenienced? I was merely suggesting that you fore-warn the 20,000 people so that they can make an informed decision. I was not asking you to cease work or to put your workers at risk. I was saying that the 20,000 drivers ought to be told that the long stretch of road is not what it seems to be. Drivers are told that they are about to enter a motorway. This word ‘motorway’ means something. It means a long uninterrupted road. So if your works schedule is going to contravene the meaning of the word ‘motorway’, tell people before you trap them and take their money, so that they can indeed have a ‘free choice’.

TRANSURBAN: This includes programming work outside peak hours and compressing work periods to reduce the overall number of days on which it occurs.

JONAR: I guess that only an emergency or catastrophe would necessitate work to be performed during peak hour. This photo from your website shows only too well the hideous nature of the M2. It would be unbearable to conduct work during busy periods. So why are you stating the obvious once again? Besides, I wonder how your company can promise a motorway, when, during peak hour, the M2 resembles a car park. How can you take money for a service that is not delivered to the ‘greatest number of motorists’, and then take money for a service that is again not delivered to the off-peak motorists who are forced to slow down and still pay for the privilege?

TRANSURBAN: It is essential to ensure safe working sites are in place when this work is done, both for workers and passing motorists.

JONAR: My letter to you did not hint at a desire to speed-up and injure people. Safety is paramount. I was not asking you to compromise on safety. I was saying that when your motorway is temporarily NOT a motorway, that you give me a sign. Of all the signs you and the RTA flash at me, how hard would it be to place one that ‘honestly’ states the ‘conditions ahead’. But you must do this before I am trapped inside a motorway that now is guilty of false advertising. It is dishonest to make an offer, and not provide the service. Please ask ten senior managers and ten junior staff to write 100 words on the meaning and application of ‘integrity’ within Transurban? If you all do not define it in the same way, who shall be the arbiter? If you ask me, and in essence you are asking everyone, because you are publicising your values for all to see (and why are you?), then I would say that integrity requires you to do what you know in your heart is the correct thing to do, even if this might mean that you miss out on a toll fare. You see, if you do not like to miss out on a fare, what makes you think that the customer is happy to miss out on the service? Where integrity is ignored, we had better know the definition of ‘theft’.

TRANSURBAN: Hills M2 has responded comprehensively regarding signage and other means of maintenance works notification to motorists such as the website.

JONAR: First, this is incorrect and does not address my question. You can have a million neon signs, and that’s up to you. I was asking for a sign that forewarns a customer that the motorway is temporarily not a motorway, and that the customer would be expected to STOP (which is hardly what a customer expects when entering a toll road). Your fancy Values pie speaks of ‘Corporate reputation’ and ‘relationships’ and ‘excellent’. What a load of noble words. What do they mean?

And now for the clanger: you all gloat about having a website. And you seem to exonerate yourselves by flicking aside my complaint, justifying your actions by saying that you post all your works programs on the web. Mr Greene had said, ‘The works schedules are advertised on the M2 website and are aimed to minimise traffic impacts during day time peak travel.’

Why are day-time users more important than night-time users? If there is this major difference, why don’t you reflect this discrimination in your tolls, and make it cheaper to travel when the service is obviously degraded for the night-time travellers?

Mr Greene then says, ‘For information about M2 road works to plan your travel ahead of time, please visit the Work Alert page on our website.’

Would I be right in assuming that this statement, had it been written twenty years ago, would have said, ‘To plan your travel ahead of time, please review the Notices section of the Sydney Morning Herald.’ You see, it might as well say that now. As a corporate-type driver from the Hills, you can believe that I can easily travel 200 km per day. We Hill-billies are not all farmers you know. My day does not constitute a train-track style of commuting from A to B. Rather, I move about, enjoying the wonders of dozens of major roads and dozens of smaller streets, all changing daily in their ebb and flow of traffic. And you expect me to log onto your website and plan my trip? This would be advisable to those about to climb Mt Kilimanjaro whose highland tracks are opened and closed seasonally.

The M2 is a major fixture. It is not like the road to Gundagai, or some arbitrary war zone bordering India and Pakistan. It is a major arterial. It is not the responsibility of the traveller to check the daily whims of every road. We live in a city. The M2 is a permanent motorway. The whole concept of road-signage addresses the otherwise impossible driving burden. If someone is merely going to the airport, isn’t it insane that a driver has to check the websites for Pennant Hills Road, then the M2, then the Lane Cove Tunnel, then the Harbour Tunnel, then the Eastern Distributor, and then maybe the City of Sydney and dozens of other roads (and back again). Please answer this question in accordance with your Values. By the way, the RTA requires all motorists to check the website to determine when their permeant warning of ‘School Zones’ apply. Now that is for another argument, at another time.

In any case, I did visit your website and noticed that your Road works alert has not changed in over one week. So do I go there every day like a bunny and read it carefully, in case some minor date did change? Is this like a game of spot the different? I know that you suggested that I subscribe to your email alerts, so now is a driver supposed to remember all this during 1000 km of travel, until an email arrives? And now we have to check our inboxes every day before we head off to work each day? What a lot of effort that is! Exhausting really. What’s wrong with one sign?

Incidentally, those who live in North Sydney are about the only people who might understand any a broadcast that says, ‘Heavy traffic South Bound’. Anyone else who has been twisting and turning for two hours can hardly know the time day, let alone the bearing to would the jolly that warns of delays east bound. Most people, and I am willing to bet on this for charity if you would care to take the wager, would not have a clue which way to point if you stand them in a street and ask them to indicate what is meant by westbound. This would require a compass, and I have never met anyone, outside of the Scouts, who has one. Furthermore, your website speaks of ‘Geotech and cut sampling’. Must a carry a packed lunch for day? What do you want me to do with that information? It makes as much sense as when the weather presenter tells us that the barometric pressure is 1024 and rising. Batten down the hatches!

WHEN TIME IS MONEY

I am not sure what your CEO earns. No doubt it’s no great secret for a public company boasting toll revenues in exccess of $770 million. Bellow we see a Transurban management report that shows one-off adjustments whereby a CEO transition is shown to have cost $16.1 million. The 2009 Annual Report outlines the current CEO’s remuneration and incentives exceeding $6 million. Good luck to him. I have no problems with this.



I point out the CEO’s income so that I can work out what his time is worth. This is so that we can plug in the figures into the Transurban calculator that acknowledges that our time is money. Transurban very well knows that people use a motorway and a tollway to save time, because time is valuable. This proves my point completely. We use the M2 so that we can get there sooner. We want to save time. The Hills M2 website shows this calculator as an example of why people ought to use the M2 — to save time. So my dear people, why do you want us to prepare to stop? If you know that we use the M2 to arrive at an advantge, for which we pay handsomely, then why would you still take our money when you do not deliver on this very promise?

TRANSURBAN: Ultimately use of the motorway is a matter of free choice. Transurban considers that the M2 does offer motorists time savings and value for money. The proposed widening of the motorway will further improve customer experience and I trust regular users will welcome this development.

JONAR: I wonder how many people know that this problem will only become worse as the widening program continues for two years! And I wonder how many people know that after this widening, the tolls will be jacked up! They will, dear reader, because the company has struck a deal with the NSW State Government. I shall write to the Premier to see if we can change the contract to rectify this stubborn negligence. Transurban wants to inconvenience drivers, take their money, slow them down, not deliver on the service, not warn anyone about the road-works, and then, at the end, raise the price! Well you can knock me down with a boom gate. And I say yet again, we have no choice to avoid your road-works, if you do not tell us about them in a reasonable way. Fudging the whole thing by saying that the details are on the web is an insult to your own intelligence. Why don’t you do the right thing? You take our money and you justify it on the basis that we are receiving value for money. You are making millions in profit. You are the people who find this great value for money. So just do the decent, ethical, honest, honourable thing.

Dear Transurban executives. Next time you touch your annual report or see your values statement, please ponder if these values are still valid? But in reviewing them, please be sure to do so with Honesty, Integrity, Humanity, and Accountability.

Today’s news refers to an incident in Brisbane. I have had a litany of bad service from taxis in the Brisbane area. Here is a letter that I sent to the Yellow Cab Company of Brisbane.

Dear Yellow Cab. I wish to make a complaint regarding the driver of taxi number [withheld] in vehicle [withheld] regarding an incident on Sunday morning… outside the Brunswick Royal George Hotel next to the Sun Herald Building. I know that this is not a taxi rank. Yet I waited in line with many others for one hour. If it is not a pick-up point, then a clear no-pick-up rule should apply. The place operated like a rank, and is therefore confusing. Finally after drunks were pushing and shoving, and 50% of all passengers jumping the queue and drivers of all taxi companies picking up people from the middle of the line and the back of the line, it became my turn as the first in the queue. The driver of [withheld] insisted that I tell him where I am going, before accepting me as a passenger. The Valley is super-charged with intoxicated rough youths. There were all sorts of unpleasantness while waiting in line. I told the driver that it should not matter where I was going and I opened the door and sat inside. He immediately started to petition the four or six youths whom he had just dropped off, and they began to threaten me, with one saying, ‘I will kill you’ and others shouting obscenities and hurling abuse. The matter was seconds away from flash point, and the driver would not accept me as a passenger. I was 100% sober (I never drink or take drugs). While in his cab, I was sandwiched between his abuse and the youths’ threats which he was inflaming.

While in the taxi I called 000 and spoke to the police. At this time, coincidentally, a police car stopped in front and the driver went to complain to the police about me. The police then asked me to step out of the taxi. The driver said to the police that he was going home and did not want to take any more fares. Please investigate this driver’s meter. You might find that he lied to the police, which is an offence. He refused me passage because I would not pre-advise him of my destination, which I presume is against the rules. He incited violence, which I believe is an offence. He was rude, obnoxious, and verbally abusive. The police immediately presumed that I was the problem passenger and asked me to move along, not listening to my story. I heard a police officer ask, ‘Has he not paid his fare?’ This is a huge presumption, and the taxi driver was allowed to leave while I was against a wall being surrounded by four or more police officers.

Now I was stranded for another hour, while aware of a gang of youths eyeing me out for a fight. The whole taxi situation in the Valley is an indictment on the authorities who are responsible. The place is over-crowded with drunks and drugged thugs, along with decent people out for a pleasant night out. The taxi stands are invisible to tourists like me from Sydney. Where thousand of people congregate, where is the nearest stand? Why are there no signs to assist in this matter? Why not a sign to point to the nearest stand? Why not a taxi administrator like they have at airports. The place is a mess with lots of pushing and shoving. No doubt you are not responsible for all of these matters, and the local council and the city needs to address this ghastly situation. Any taxi stand ought to be one block up so that the left turn is made on to the ramp to the bridge, rather than block the Mall area, which can take ten minutes just to move 100 meters with the fare running. The whole situation is bad. I have had other issues with taxi drivers in the area. This time, I would appreciate your assistance in this regard before I contact my legal counsel and take civil action as well as media action about a level of service that is absurd, made worse by police officers, including a Senior Sergeant who did not understand the situation and should not have been on the beat if he and his colleagues are unable to understand the basics. I have lodged an official complaint with the Brisbane Area Command about the Police officer in question. It now falls upon you to please meter out the necessary disciplinary measure against the driver. I would welcome your call and your written response so that I can advise my legal counsel with the result of this first step. Thank you.

After waiting 40 days for a satisfactory response, here is what Yellow Cab Company said:

Dear Jonar,

As previously stated the driver has been subjected to Yellow Cabs Rules of Conduct and Operating Procedures. Under current Qld Privacy Provisions we are unable to divulge any disciplinary action that may have been taken against this driver. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused by this unfortunate incident and thank you for your valuable input.

Respectfully Yours

This is not good enough. How can I know that anything was done? Privacy, my foot. And when a driver is attacked, it’s all out for the sympathy-card, with protests in the street and deputations to our Prime Minister. A range of people need to pull their head in, while another group must put its head together and stop licensing idiots, no matter their skin colour or country of origin. It has nothing to do with race or nationality, but with absurdity and stupidity!

Anyway, these days, the collectors have turned their attention to serve the tax office. Years ago, I knew the manager of a marina who would point out certain members of the public and say, ‘That man is a tax inspector’. He was able to spot the snoopers who came to his marina in order to take notes about the yachts. The tax office would then try to match the yacht-owners with their income tax returns, and work out who might be cheating on their tax payments. Anyone who had told the tax department that they had a bad year, would have a lot of explaining to do about how they came to afford a million-dollar vessel.

These days, small-business owners who deal in cash, and who cheat the system, are committing more than one offence. Naturally, not paying income tax is one criminal activity. The other is collecting GST/VAT from consumers and not passing it on. This means that a cash-based business is making an extraordinary profit. To combat the cash cheats, the tax department might be sending garbage collectors to collect all the clues about the activities of a small business.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say that you own a fast-food franchise, and it is your practice to always wear plastic gloves when preparing an order. The tax ‘rubbish’ collector would count how many boxes you discard during a three-month period. If you later say that you only sold 1000 sandwiches, yet you had discarded 20 empty glove boxes, you would have some explaining to do. Many small business operators do not realise that they leave behind many clues, despite trying very hard to cover their tracks. For example, some purchase their stock via the back door, using cash. You would be stunned if you really knew how much stock, delivered by the company representative, is really stuff that fell off the back of a truck. The manufacturer’s warehouse manager would be in cahoots with the delivery-truck driver, who stacks his truck with stolen goods, and sells them to convenience stores under the counter. I knew a wine company whose premium brand of wine was syphoned from the vineyard in large vats, and sold on the black market after being bottled by the thieves (being regular employees). Bottles are easy to buy or steal, and labels are easily stolen or printed. The extent to which this goes on is alarming. If the convenience store ever has to pay a legitimate invoice, such payments are mostly made via a second company that inflates its expenses via clever merchants who write out fake invoices made in the name of Company X which is a sister company of Company Y which is owned by the sister of the brother of the wife of the owner of Company Z which uses the ABN of an old unlisted company. (This is not supposes to happen, but it does. One of my investigations for my client defied all logic and found this type of anomaly, which the authorities denied could happen, but was happening, due to a computer loophole! It is possible to have a listed active ABN for a de-registered company). It’s all a dirty game. Made even dirtier when the employees, left to work on their own for a shift or two, rob the owner blind by stealing goods, giving products away to friends and family, and pocketing the takings without ringing them up on the cash resister.

Below we see a range of photos of the types of clues that tax inspectors can use. They will eventually ask the shop-owner to furnish the invoices for that stock. Unable to present the invoices, the shop-owners has to lie big-time, or blow the whistle on the truck-drivers from whose back things seem to fall off. As a result of this risky behaviour, a lot of delivery trucks are now delivering goods in plain boxes, completely unmarked. And the more serious ones are offering to pick-up the empty boxes, offering to refund deposits for such empty boxes, saying that they care about the environment. What a tangled web we weave.

It’s is always a game of cat and mouse, and for now, the tax inspectors and the tax auditors, are still one step ahead, if they choose to put their claws into you. Mind you, there are so many tax cheats out there, that it is really overwhelming. It gets to the point where the tax commissioner had to decide where to allocate the resources, given that the minister wants a return on investment. So it becomes a question of catching the big fish, the easy targets, and those that would make good media fodder.

The Japanese sushi train washes the lids each night. Taking a photo each day for 90 days will give the tax inspector some ammunition when challenging the restaurant to explain why it cries poor. From these lids, one can see that quite a lot of plates were produced. If the owner is going to say that most of the food was discarded, then the question would be, why make so many dishes each night, when the demand is so low?

If a bottle-shop keeps stocking the fridge each day, one can safely presume that the bottles are selling. If so, where are the invoices for these bottles? Paying cash does not mean that the bottle-shop can hide the takings.

A store with this level of daily stock movement ought to show a healthy set of books. Even if the business can say that it did not make a profit, the GST payments had better add up.

The cash-mad convenience stores will have a lot of explaining to do if they cannot show who supplied these goods, how they paid for them, and when they sold them. Then the flow-on effect will start, whereby the distributor had better show income for these deliveries.

I am in two minds about whether this clip should win the trophy for ‘best clip’ for being so mesmerising, or if it should win the ‘worst clip’ for being so dodgy.

Here is what it looked like to me from my seat.

Oh, and here’s another idea. When I was ‘in the moment’ watching the grand film ‘Titanic’ for the first time, I thoroughly enjoyed the song, ‘My heart will go on’. It was a sweet song, beautifully sung. And then some weeks later I saw a video clip of Celine Dion singing it, and I was thrown overboard. Her delivery of that to camera ruined a good song for me, and now I can never hear that song again and enjoy it.

This experience gave me an idea that all new songs ought to be launched without anyone knowing the name of the artist, and without a video clip. In this way, people can judge each song on its merits. You see, I know young people who refuse to listen to a song if they knew that it is sung by someone whose hairstyle they dislike, or whose mannerisms drive them to distraction. Yet, strangely enough, if a new hip artist revives an old classic, they lap it up, not realising that it is an old song. Whereas if you sat them down and went through your old collection with them, they would shake their head at each one. They only listen to modern songs, and only by people they like. That’s hardly the way music should be judged. Alas, we do judge books by their cover, and by their author, and by the hype. Similarly, we do judge songs by factors other than just the rhythm.