World Youth Day, not so much for youths of the world


you darn punks! by Paul McClintock

I don’t often get into divisive topics here, but I need to talk about World Youth Day and what a load of civil rights intruding bollocks it is. Not only are the “celebrations” making it difficult for citizens of Sydney to move around their city for the month – new laws are in operation until the end of July making it an offense to cause “annoyance”. The declared areas in the city which are covered by these ridiculous laws include 40 city locations, more than 500 schools and 35 train and bus stations.

Now, I’m reasonable. I don’t like being annoyed. I hate it when the kids in our unit block bounce balls in our courtyard of amazing acoustics, but would I fine them up to $5500? HELL NO. However, if you’re in a declared zone in Sydney during this month and you’re wearing a shirt someone doesn’t agree with, skateboarding or just generally being youthful – you could cop a fine.

In celebration, the awesome Red Bubble t-shirt group Agent Provocateur are running a WYD t-shirt design challenge. The submissions so far are delightful, offensive and definitely worth a $5500 fine.