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Do you ever read other people's posts or do you just come in and post absolutely whatever.
 
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I won $170 today. I saw your FB Ax... the spring carnival always captures people's attention. It's so historic and so pumped up, and the Melb Cup is generally considered one of a handful of the best races in the world. And I mean - getting dressed up, drinking all day, having a bet, it's kinda fun. I had $10 on every race today and ended up $80 up.
 
I don't care about the Melbourne Cup, sorry. Vale Verema.

edit: sorry you posted same time lol and didn't mean to come off as above gambling and races and the sort, I just think it's all a bit cruel. We haven't progressed much further than the Romans in this matter.
 
I do however think it is possible to be in the racing industry and care deeply about houses. From all reports Sub Zero is as happy as can be and he is 25 now.
 
Yeah, I think it'd be very difficult to succeed without having respect for the animals. But for every successful story, there are hundreds that end up in the glue factory. Not trying to rub a downer on nothing, but you know the drill at this time of the year. :)
 
The Sad Punk said:
Yeah, I think it'd be very difficult to succeed without having respect for the animals.
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Really? Seems to me the only way to succeed is if you don't care how many horses are sent to the glue factory, given the horrid attrition rates and the fact that even the successful horses have essentially no life ahead of them.

Barbaric sport. Sooner we stop giving a shit the better. I just find it hilarious when people who wouldn't cross the road to watch a horse race at any other time of the year suddenly decide to spend heaps of money on clothes and/or bets for a couple of days a year.
 
I probably just took that position because I'm incapable of imagining people who don't care for animals. The thought cannot enter my mind. I'm willing to imagine everyone in the industry as a misguided well-wisher if it makes me happier.
 
Axver said:
the fact that even the successful horses have essentially no life ahead of them.
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Why do you say this? Aside from the ones who die from the injuries the successful ones tend to be looked after from what I know. And even the ones who don't make a lot of money, I'm pretty sure they don't just shoot them.
 
Axver said:
Barbaric sport. Sooner we stop giving a shit the better. I just find it hilarious when people who wouldn't cross the road to watch a horse race at any other time of the year suddenly decide to spend heaps of money on clothes and/or bets for a couple of days a year.
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Jeez, can you imagine if people wore their fascinators for the rest of the year? It's ridiculous enough that we find such accessorising socially acceptable for an entire day.
 
cobl04 said:
Why do you say this? Aside from the ones who die from the injuries the successful ones tend to be looked after from what I know. And even the ones who don't make a lot of money, I'm pretty sure they don't just shoot them.
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Charlotte knows shit-tonnes more about this than I do, but from what she's told me race horses are basically pushed to within an inch of their life and basically can't do a whole lot of anything beyond for most of their life. They don't get to properly develop physically. Keep in mind that they only have a very narrow window in their youth to race and then have 15, 20 years ahead of them. You know how if AFL players are pushed too hard, too fast in their teenage years before their body finishes growing, they're basically broken before they even reach adulthood? Same applies to horses, except unlike AFL players race horses are pushed from pretty much day one.

The Sad Punk said:
Jeez, can you imagine if people wore their fascinators for the rest of the year? It's ridiculous enough that we find such accessorising socially acceptable for an entire day.
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That would be hilarious.
 
The fascinator thing is interesting, at least. I'm always in disbelief at some of the things (not hats) women will put on their heads.
 
Axver said:
Charlotte knows shit-tonnes more about this than I do, but from what she's told me race horses are basically pushed to within an inch of their life and basically can't do a whole lot of anything beyond for most of their life. They don't get to properly develop physically. Keep in mind that they only have a very narrow window in their youth to race and then have 15, 20 years ahead of them. You know how if AFL players are pushed too hard, too fast in their teenage years before their body finishes growing, they're basically broken before they even reach adulthood? Same applies to horses, except unlike AFL players race horses are pushed from pretty much day one.
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Willing to defer to Charlotte on this one! Sub Zero might be the exception, not the rule
 
I used to enjoy it as a kid but the exploitation of animals has lost me to the "sport". The fashion, gambling and binge-drinking all seem quite fun and tame compared to "sport" itself.

Yesterday was made worse by the fact that the "winners" were Oliver and Waterhouse, two people who have behaved extremely unsportingly in recent years, with Oliver betting on a race he was involved in! The whole Waterhouse family is severely dodgy. The "loser" of the day was Verema, the horse whipped beyond its limits until it's legs gave way.

What I don't understand is why it must be horses that are racing. Why can't the Melbourne Cup and all the other races feature 24 willing human beings running for the prize? Why must there be horses?

The obvious reason is "tradition" and I'd be asking far too much on society for things to change, but I'd much prefer to watch an Athletics Carnival featuring willing human participants than unwilling equine participants.

Everything off-track could remain the same... The betting, the fascinators, the drunkeness.
 
I got my ticket and ID inspected on the train about an hour or so ago (apparently pretty common after 6.30pm here), so hearing about this sends shivers down my spine regardless of whether or not I had everything in check (yes, FWIW, I did).

The comments are just as disturbing.
 
I've been fare evading since I moved to Brunswick, because there's hardly ever ticket inspectors on trams, and given I ride them mostly in the morning and evening peak they can't fit on, much less scan everyone.

But having said that if I was fined I would willingly pay it immediately. I saw this article - Ticket inspectors fear being attacked under proposed new powers - which proposes $75 on-the-spot fines, which I'd also be willing to pay. I've now saved that much money the fines wouldn't outweigh it.

Should I feel bad? Yes. But I don't. They leave themselves open to it. I bought an adult weekly every week I was commuting from Werribee, because there's more likely to be inspectors and you can't get out of the city stations without scanning your card.

Anyway, the above video is pretty disgusting. I don't give a shit if he took off running down the platform, ticket inspectors aren't fucking cops and they don't get to do that shit.

It's Triple M, the comments section shouldn't surprise you.
 
It would be just as disturbing if it was the coppers doing that shit.

No human being deserves such an attack for something as minor and insignificant as fare evading.
 
Except, y'know, public transport doesn't just run on goodwill. Fares are an important source of revenue, and mass fare evasion has a habit of playing into the neoliberal "it's not profitable so shut it down!" argument.

That said, I'm torn because I'm also a total cheapskate.
 
Honestly, especially after the introduction of Myki and the removal of being able to top up or buy short term fares on trams, I think a lot of people's attitudes can be summarised as: "I'd pay if it were easier but it's not so I won't."

I guess it's a bit like downloading media in that sense. People are often willing to pay, but only if you make it as easy as possible. Myki seems to be designed to just frustrate people and encourage fare evasion.

In any good fare system, to encourage payment you need a good balance of ease of payment and threat of adverse consequences if you don't. Just trying to fine people and scare them into paying doesn't really work and encourages resentment. Just making payment easy doesn't really work either because people won't see a reason to pay if there's no consequence for not paying - especially since everybody thinks "I'm just one person, how can my fare evasion really affect the system's revenue streams and viability?"
 
That's why I didn't see what was so bad about metcard. Fines were there to deter people but it was also very easy to buy them, and they had single use tickets. The fact that if you just want to do one simple trip you have to pay $6 then put money on it is ridiculous.
 
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