I wonder why Choice magazine has decided to pick on a Maytag refrigerator as an example of poor quality?

In its latest television ad it shows a Maytag fridge as being responsible for melting ice cream. We have had one of those fridges for six years and have never had any problems with its ability to keep ice cream cold.

So I wonder why Choice has chosen to denigrate this brand?

Since we have been supporters of Choice for many years we searched our files to see if Maytag has ever been properly tested. As far as we can tell it has not figured in the past year. There were some problems with G.E and Maytag in 2008 but Choice has done no testing on Maytag since then

Is it because Maytag is expensive? Is it because it’s an American fridge?

Even if the name of the fridge is not explicitly shown any owner of a Maytag will recognise its appearance and be concerned about its quality.

Surely the producers of the Choice commercial could have shown a generic fridge that did not resemble a particular brand or used one that had scored poorly in their recent reviews!

If you walk around the shopping districts in Melbourne you are struck by the plethora of stores that promise up to 70% and even 90% discount. Now I don’t mind 90% discount if that’s what the stores are delivering. But what really gets my goat is when the words “UP To” are stuck in front of the promised saving in small or feint letters.

It makes you feel that the stores think you are an idiot by including just one single item which is discounted by 90% while the rest of the sale gives much smaller discounts. Of course, I realise that it’s a come-on. It’s meant to bring you into the store, but it’s definitely counter-productive and it’s putting me off.

I now give those stores a miss because they annoy me. I really don’t appreciate being manipulated in this way. Wouldn’t it be preferable if they offered at least 30% off all the sale stock? At least that is ethical.

And I wonder if “Up To” can include zero? Isn’t zero part of “up to” or am I wrong?

And if only one item has to be discounted by the promised amount then why not then offer “UP To 100% OFF”? Surely this can be achieved by offering some dud product for free and then charging regular prices for the rest.

It’s as ridiculous as those ads that inform us of “UP To 32%” improvement in our complexion if we buy that miracle cream. Surely it can also mean that there was zero improvement.

Perhaps these cosmetic companies should actually disclose the proportion of bullshit in their advertising. If they did that, then the BS content would reach that magical 90%. Not Up To, but AT Least 90% and that’s a promise.

I just received an email from Jerusalem. It contained a photo of the Welcome Home flags for Gilad Shalit. It’s good to have the kidnapped soldier home again and I am happy for his family who waited a long five years for his return.

Shalit was kidnapped in Israel not Gaza while two of his fellow soldiers were killed by Hamas during the capture. He is very thin like a concentration camp survivor. He will never get over those horrid five years as a hostage.

Originally, I was one of those who was against the exchange of 1000 Palestinian criminals for Gilad. It seemed to be a disproportionate response, a heavy price to pay, and I believed that it would lead to more hostage-taking. But I have now changed my mind because it really won’t make any difference to Hamas. Hamas are determined to wreak havoc on Israel anyway whether it be through missiles or suicide bombers or hostage-taking.

I also believe that the Israelis have resigned themselves to living with the status quo after so many failed attempts to find a peaceful outcome with the Palestinians. That is why they decided to return those murderers to Gaza. What’s 1000 murderers more or less? If it’s not those 1000 wretches then there are plenty more being trained right now by their horrid instigators to commit more and more atrocities against Israelis.

While Israel welcomes home one of its own in a dignified and humane manner, there are scenes of hysterical ulutating in Gaza. The terrorists and murderers who were returned to Hamas in the ransom exchange are being hailed as heroes. One of them is a woman, Amana Muna, who chatted up a sixteen-year old Israeli boy in an internet chat room. She lured him to his death.

Some heroine!

And then there was Nasser Yataima who planned the bombing in the Park Hotel in Israel (30 victims killed).

The list goes on and it will go on, because, in my opinion, there will never be peace between Israel and the Palestinians as long as Hamas and its like are determined to destroy Israeli lives.

So let’s save our own. Our Gilad. If we don’t, who will?

Perhaps the mistake that Israel made was in taking those terrorists as prisoners. It costs a lot to house and feed and give medical treatment to prisoners. One only has to compare the emaciated Gilad with the well-nourished Hamas ex-prisoners who are now performing wild victory dances in Gaza. They look fine, don’t they? That’s because Israel treats its prisoners well. Some would say too well, especially when they held a protest not long ago because they couldn’t get cable TV.

I’m not joking. That’s what the protest was about.

It will be interesting to hear how Gilad Shalit was treated. By the look of him, cable TV was not uppermost on his mind.

There are some people in this world who feel a powerful bond with other human beings. They love humanity with all its shortcomings. They love to be in crowds with the rest of the world, the closer the better. They sing folk songs about everyone being a sister or a brother to everyone else. “If you need a friend… blah, blah.”

I’m not one of those people. If I see a crowd, I go the other way. If I travel by public transport I distance myself as much as possible. And the same goes for theatres or restaurants and other public places. Quite frankly, other people’s personal habits make me sick. They cough, they sneeze, they snort, they burp, they yawn and they do it all without covering their mouths.

Yesterday, I was disgusted by a woman who was excavating her boyfriend’s earwax with her fingernails. They were sitting opposite me on a tram. That endeavour wore her out. She then went on to yawn and displayed a cavernous gob which reminded me why I’m relieved that I’m not a dentist. Imagine looking at that all day. Well, I guess it could be worse. There are other even more nauseating medical fields, and perhaps the money makes up for it.

It would have to.

Which brings me to what turns me off. You guessed it, it’s lack of manners and we know that manners, courtesy and consideration are alien to many people. They simply don’t know any better. It must be their upbringing and that is unfortunate. But sadly, understanding that they don’t know any different doesn’t make repulsive behaviour easier to take.

I still can’t bear being near somebody who is snorting mucous from the bowels of his or her innards. I can’t stand it when anyone sneezes in my direction. I am not drawn to hug a stranger. Well, you don’t know where he’s been lol.

It really worries me that etiquette and by that I mean basic consideration rather than which correct fork to use with which food, has disappeared. How long has it been since I’ve heard “Excuse me” or “Sorry” when someone bumps into me?

How long has it been since some fellow passenger has noticed that others on the tram may not be interested in his or her boring mobile phone conversation?

I’m stuck with sharing this world with all those inconsiderate excrescences. I’m also fully aware that they are not going to change. So I turn away and fantasise about a Great Flood.

p.s the following bit of my post was added on the 1st October which happens to be AFL Grand Final Day in Melbourne.

Famous author, Alexander McCall Smith has just given an interesting interview on this very subject during his current visit to Australia. He is dismayed by the lack of social values in the U.K. He refers to a broken society in which honesty, decency and good manners have become unfashionable concepts. Moreover, he links these failings with the recent riots in the U.K. One of the demons in the U.K is binge drinking, he says.

We have similar problems here in Australia to the ones that McCall Smith talks about. Young people binge drink and that includes young women as well. The problem here is that alcohol is everywhere and not much happens without a drink. Today, for example, the alcohol outlets are making a fortune because there is going to be a Grand Final of one of the football codes and you cannot watch sport without drinking and drinking and drinking. Not if you are a real “Sportsman” lol.

Hopefully the shopping mall will be empty this afternoon since everybody will either be at the football or glued to the T.V.

Ten years after 9/11. The horror of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York stays with me. I refuse to forgive. I refuse to understand why it happened. I don’t believe that it had nothing to do with Islam–the religion of peace as the Muslims describe it. In fact I don’t care whether Islam is a religion of peace or not. The truth of the matter is that Muslims committed this atrocity and have been committing these atrocities before 9/11 and since then.

Think of Bali and over two hundred deaths there. Think of Madrid and London. Think of India. Think of the school and the theatre in Russia. Notice the common thread?

After 9/11 I happened to visit Paris. It was the first time that I had been confronted by the great number of Muslims in that country. My reaction was one of recoil. I felt threatened. I wanted to get away from them. I wondered how France would fare under these conditions and as it turned out the answer is “not well.”

I have to admit that I don’t like to be prejudiced, but the Muslims make it hard for me to be more tolerant. They didn’t show much outrage when some of their fellow Muslims attacked the Twin Towers. An image of Palestinians dancing in the streets and the women doing those screams of celebration remains etched in my soul.

Why didn’t some of the so-called moderate Muslims come out and shout their condemnation of this atrocity? Why so silent?

Instead, many of them denied that Bin Laden and his fellow murderers had done it. Some of them said that it was because of disaffection with the system. Whatever their grievances, surely there was a better way to complain about things.

I remain extremely angry with Muslims. I resent how they want to change some aspects of our Australian culture to accommodate them. Why is it that they left their Arab countries because they didn’t like how conditions are in those countries, but then they want to change Australia to make it more like the countries which they abandoned?

It doesn’t make sense to me.

I love Australia and don’t want it to become like Europe. The revulsion that I felt when I was in Paris was palpable. The association will always be there. Muslims=9/11 and 9/11=Muslims. A tragedy for the whole world, Muslims included.