NSW: a State of chaos. As if there aren’t enough wallopers out there in Sydney with guns, stun guns, spray guns and batons — namely the Keystone Kops and the Train Goonz, our parking inspectors are now demanding batons and capsicum spray to protect them from irate motorists. Citizens who are being increasingly booked under this State’s draconian revenue-raising campaigns are starting to fight back.

It seems Clover Moore’s attempt to ban bottled water from Council hasn’t reached the ears of her senior staff. One senior planner still insists his staff buy him San Pellegrino mineral water every day at rate payers’ expense. It tastes better coming in a green bottle all the way from Italy!

Openly gay Christian speaker Anthony Venn-Brown was prevented from speaking during the Sunday service at Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Dulwich Hill last Sunday. “Fighting” Father Dave Smith had invited him to speak as part of the Sunday morning service but was told a few days before hand that Anthony could not speak due to the fact that he came from a non-Anglican background. This was obviously absurd.

Father Dave has had numerous speakers from many different faiths including Catholics and even a Muslim cleric. Anthony used to be a highly successful preacher for the Assemblies of God Church, and was a part of the early Hillsong Church but then came out very publicly and found acceptance within the Church community very difficult, and wrote a book called A Life of Unlearning — a Journey to Find the Truth in 2007 about his journey as a gay Christian.

Apropos Coles, MasterChef, and the pantry that the rest of us have to use (i.e. the supermarket), I think you’ll find most Coles supermarkets are no-go zones for a lot of “fresh” produce after the Saturday hordes have been through. I have taken to regularly sending Coles a feedback form telling them what’s out of stock. So far, I’ve got an email back telling me that Head Office has contacted the store manager and X product will be back in stock for my next visit. Meanwhile, I’ve gone somewhere else. Unfortunately for Northcote (Victoria) locals, both large supermarkets at the local Plaza are Coles. Bleached Chinese garlic, anyone?

Do Crikey readers know of the appalling attrition rate for jumps racing horses? Of the 288 horses that jumped in races last year, 188 of them failed to appear in trials this year. Of the remaining 100, only 50 raced. 10 horses have died so far this year. If you were a jumps racehorse, you’d have to be thinking the odds aren’t great.