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Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

theguardian.com

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Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#111

Post by douche »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #46
chris_wot wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are. The lockout laws actually come from Newcastle, which had an even worse problem. Alcohol fueled violence has been and remains a massive problem in Australia. In fact, drinking in Australia remains a massive problem: we have some of the worst cases of binge-drinking and alcoholism rates in the world. We have a list of dangerous pubs in NSW: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-27/north-coast-pub-tops-l...

Interesting, recently there was a study posted on HN that it depends on genetics whether or not someone becomes violent when drunk. Australia started as a prison colony, maybe there is a connection there?

Around the time that Australia was founded as a penal colony, English property-defense laws were pretty insane, to the point that it became known as the Bloody Code[1]. Grand Larceny, a capital offense, was defined as theft of anything valued at twelve pence or higher. In modern terms, that's somewhere between five and two hundred fifty pounds. There are some interesting lists[2], but mostly they are low-level theft, poaching, livestock-rustling, smuggling and desertion. Also, transported prisoners had a pretty high chance of being Irish.

There are elements of class warfare and repression of minorities that are not unlike current narcotics law.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Code

[2] http://www.convictrecords.com.au/crimes

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#112

Post by vacri »

chris_wot wrote: post #106
vacri wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're looking at about 4 deaths a year. To put that in context, in 2012[1] 26 Australians died from falling off a chair and 58 died falling while getting out of bed. The gold standard for these kind of comparisons, lightning strikes, gets 5-10 Australians a year[2]. There is a problem with drinking and violence in Australia, but at the same time, 90 people over 13 years isn't all that many; by itself, it shouldn'…

Wow, talk about taking the data and misusing it! There were zero deaths in Kings Cross from falling off a chair, and zero deaths whilst getting out of bed. Similarly, nobody was struck by lightning in Kings Cross either. In 2012, there were about 20 deaths per 100,000 people attributable to alcohol in NSW. Source is here: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/Indicator/beh_alcafdth

What the fuck are you talking about? The 90 deaths mentioned by the parent are Australia-wide, not merely bound to King's Cross. It's entirely appropriate to compare them to other Australia-wide measures. Unless Victoria and Queensland, mentioned in the parent's article, are now located in King's Cross, I guess. Or hey, I can reframe it your way if you like: There were zero deaths from alcohol-fueled king hits whilst getting out of bed.

Also, talking about misusing data, you're claiming that 20 deaths per 100k "attributable to alcohol" is due to violent assault. What a load of shit - the Australian homicide rate (from all sources) is only 1.1/100k. "Attributable to alcohol" basically means diseases - there aren't 4400 (22M/your rate) deaths across the country every year from violent assault, alcohol-related or otherwise. There's not even a tenth that number. Alcohol-deaths-by-violence are a rounding error compared to alcohol-deaths-by-disease.

Look at your own linked graphs sorted by age - do you honestly believe that 65-year-olds are dying from king hits at a rate five times greater than 20-year-olds? That 85-year-olds dying from such violence at nearly twice the rate as those 65-year-olds? Those are some pretty feisty nursing homes.

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#113

Post by late2part »

sqldba wrote: post #5
stevebmark wrote: post #4

I'm an outsider to Sydney and Australia, and I'm a regular visitor. This article rings of an insider perspective, full of "we" statements. It has a vibe of personal anger and personal overreaction. What I'm genuinely curious about is the events that lead to the formation of these laws. Again, as an outsider, the main thing to do in Sydney is drink. A lot. The main thing my friends want to do after work in Sydney is d…

Innocent people kept getting murdered on King St (a popular bar and night life destination, as well as prostitution or at least erotic joints, and possibly some drug use.) A few years back there was a spate of "King Hits" which is when one person hits another person in the head and immediately knocks them unconscious, usually through random chance rather than any kind of skill, but meaning that person then bears the…

It's a shame they don't have laws against murder or assault that could address these issues.

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#114

Post by sydneysider »

chris_wot wrote: post #75
sydneysider wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what this has to do with anything. (and for the record, no, I don't, not eastern suburbs either).

I had a feeling you might say this. Funny how you claim you don't understand the relevance of stereotyping people based on where they live geographically. "westies jacked up on roids" indeed.

weren't you trying to do the same? I wouldn't take it so personally. Hoxton park doesn't even qualify as westie.

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#116

Post by oldmanjay »

theoh wrote: post #97
Cyph0n wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds stupid to be honest. To each his own I guess?

Yes, drinking culture in the UK is stupid and everyone knows it's a problem. The cost to the health service means that it's not really something that should be tolerated in the long term. See for example: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/10/alcohol...

If a national health service is an excuse to tell people how to live, I've pretty happy Obama fucked it all up here and just institutionalized health insurers.

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#117

Post by chris_wot »

vacri wrote: post #112
chris_wot wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, talk about taking the data and misusing it! There were zero deaths in Kings Cross from falling off a chair, and zero deaths whilst getting out of bed. Similarly, nobody was struck by lightning in Kings Cross either. In 2012, there were about 20 deaths per 100,000 people attributable to alcohol in NSW. Source is here: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/Indicator/beh_alcafdth

What the fuck are you talking about? The 90 deaths mentioned by the parent are Australia-wide , not merely bound to King's Cross. It's entirely appropriate to compare them to other Australia-wide measures. Unless Victoria and Queensland, mentioned in the parent's article, are now located in King's Cross, I guess. Or hey, I can reframe it your way if you like: There were zero deaths from alcohol-fueled king hits whils…

No fool, I'm not. I wasn't aware that the god of lightning was throwing down bolts from the sky to murder innocent civilians. And those dastardly killers committing murder by making people fall out of bed, someone should set up a taskforce, stat! It's diabolical.

Here's a small hint: those laws weren't just introduced due to homicides, but also for assaults.

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#119

Post by awl130 »

cheerioty wrote: post #3

Reads like a joke, but is actually the bloody truth. In the last 6 months, ordering my favourite mix drink resulted in either: - Getting the drink, but had to drink it at the bar were they could "supervise" me! (no joke!) - Getting the drink, only when ordered seperately and "promise" to not mix it in the same glass - Get the first one, second one denied - Direct rejection, because "too late already/wrong day of the…

this sounds like salt lake city

Re: Sydney's fun police have put out the light of the nightlife

#120

Post by tamana »

oldmanjay wrote: post #116
theoh wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, drinking culture in the UK is stupid and everyone knows it's a problem. The cost to the health service means that it's not really something that should be tolerated in the long term. See for example: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/10/alcohol...

If a national health service is an excuse to tell people how to live, I've pretty happy Obama fucked it all up here and just institutionalized health insurers.

The people drinking themselves to shit aren't honorably refusing healthcare for their self inflicted injuries
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