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Your Say (Archive 1)
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Frank
January 15, 2005 at 16:05
Tasmania January 2005
History in the making, it’s the silence before the storm!
For Tasmania and the forests
Dave Groves
January 19, 2005 at 07:35
Sobering statistics
In recent times across the media there has been concerted focus on the “Asian Tsunamiâ€.
The worlds wealthy nations and millions of ordinary people have pitched in copious amounts of $$$$ to this “dramaâ€. Rightly so you would say……
I had a friend say to me the other day, “If they can send money when they are dead, why couldn’t they send money when they were alive?†Fair call I thought.
I then looked at the UNICEF web site and found something that I, in my ignorance, was not aware of.
Consider the following statistics and then explain to a simple man like myself why a huge fuss is not made daily in the media about this “slightly†bigger tragedy.
640 million children in developing countries live without adequate shelter: one in three.
400 million children have no access to safe water: one in five.
270 million children have no access to health services: one in seven.
More than 121 million Primary-school-age children are out of school; the majority of them are girls.
Each day, 40,000 children die from malnutrition and disease, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), from the lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation and from the effects of the drug problem.
(Statistics courtesy of UNICEF)
Aggy
January 20, 2005 at 17:34
Dear Motorbike bloke,
I wanted to write and say the following:
I cannot understand the ugly response to Sam Kekovich’s hysterically funny satirical ad for AUSSIE LAMB. Does this mean that every vegetarian doesn’t have a sense of humour? No. All of my vegetarian mates have been in hysterics – they love it – especially the tofu bits!!
20 January 2005
Aggy
editor
January 22, 2005 at 05:33
Judy Jackson, by way of her department and the Treasury, will surely need the new jail, currently under construction in front of the Pink Palace at Risdon.
Contrary to her claims last year that “the jail is full of innocent people,” this could well be the case!
The laws currently being passed by those who supposedly represent us – of the people, for the people, by the people – particularly those regarding speeding, hooning and domestic violence allow any police officer, for whatever reason he chooses, to become judge, jury and executioner.
(1) A young man is currently under detention in HMP Risdon. His crime? He was having a shouting match with his better half in his home. His next door neighbour called the police who arrested him and had him locked up. They claimed that she was in danger of being assaulted. His spouse said she did not want to press charges, but the police claimed it was out of her hands and in Risdon he now resides whilst awaiting trial on suspicion of physical violence!
(2) An inmate was released recently on a Section 42 pass. He intended to head off to the wharf in search of a job on a fishing boat. Having been off the scene “for some time” he made his way through the Salamanca Market and stopped at a stall to buy some goods. Unknown to him his wife, who had an AVO out against him, was working at the stall adjacent to the one he was at. He did not know she was there. She made a phone call on her mobile, the police arrived and within 30 minutes he was back in Risdon, his pass revoked. His crime? He had breached the AVO, which stated he was not allowed within 500 metres of his wife!
(3) A young man was at his home, watching television. His near neighbour (female) knocked on his door and told him her car had been stolen. She asked would he mind her children while another friend helped her search for her car. This he did. He sat with the kids and kept an eye on them. Some time later the police arrived with the female, apparently having found her car and now requiring a statement. Cop walks in the door, recognises the male and speaks to him by name. The male is then arrested, returned to Risdon Jail and his parole is revoked. His crime? He had broken his curfew by not being at his premises, two doors away, at the given time!
Hansard records Messrs Cox and Llewellyn as stating “anyone who speeds is a criminal.” They evidently don’t drive themselves. After all, with a government limo and driver at their disposal (which really belongs to us) to travel in, why would they drive themselves anywhere? (Remember the fiasco with the speed sign in Liverpool Street which said the limit was 60 kph, but the camera was set at 50? All the mugs, like me, who paid the fine got dudded!) The circumstances are never taken into account – hence the camera van that sits, as a matter of routine, halfway down the hill in Gordons Hill Road on what used to be the golf course. Its frequency has increased dramatically now that half of that road is 60 kph and the other is 50. Incidentally the 50 is down the hill towards Eastlands!
Hooning is to be deplored, but who gave the boys (and girls) in blue the right to arbitrarily decide who will lose their cars and why? What happens when the car is driven by someone other than the driver? What happens if a police officer decides, in an act of bastardry (and there have been plenty over the years) to take a “set” against someone? Within a short space of time a person can lose their licence, be hundreds of dollars in debt to the State and lose their car! Really warms the heart.
There have been advertisements aplenty about using mobile phones whilst driving a vehicle, even when stopped. The ads always finish with “and you will be fined!” The young police woman from Bellerive Police Station must have been exempt when using her portable radio whilst travelling in Bligh Street recently. Or is this just another one of those “do as I say, not do as I do” situations?
A skeptic
Hobart
Dave Groves
January 25, 2005 at 00:52
Once again the popular media is barking up the wrong tree. There has been, over the last week, a monumental fuss made over cruelty to cats.
Are we forgetting the unbridled torture of our native wildlife?
Our protected wildlife is fed the deadly and insidious poison 1080.
The animals are “collateral damage†in the quest for man’s supremacy over nature in the endless pursuit of wealth for the minority.
What would happen if I went and poisoned our native wildlife? Would it be ok if I said it was because I wanted to make money?
More and more on our beautiful planet the law for the wealthy is different to the law for the masses. Is it any wonder that people are confused?
So next time you see a poor cat on the square tube, spare a thought for Tasmania’s heritage floating down a pristine creek with a gutful of blue carrots.
Barry Brannan
January 26, 2005 at 11:01
Isn’t it ironic that the Australia Government give an Australia Day award to Ben Kearney for his work in getting Coles Bay to go plastic bag free.
Through has actions, Ben has been responsible for saving 525,000 bags since April 2003 but if the government had implemented a 20 cent plastic bag levy they could have saved 11 billion bags in the same time!
By giving the award, the government it admitting it is the right the to do, but they still don’t do it. Go figure.
Editor
January 27, 2005 at 04:11
My son is in the Styx Forest, has been for 15 months now. He is well known by hundreds of young and old people who are concerned about the old growth forest.
He is the person you are proud to say, “I stayed at Peck’s camp in the Styx.” Peck is a man who inspires because he is an inspiration, one of his best friends is profoundly deaf; they became friends in kindergarden, at the age of five. Peck would stamp his feet to get Timmy’s attention to join him and play. They have been firm friends ever since.
This year Tim starts an arts course at Broome University. Peck lost his older brother when he was thirteen; then he was Peter. Lawrence would tease him ,calling him Peck after Peck in the movie Willow; at thirteen Peter would be performing fire stick dances, and making beautiful pottery; practising kick boxing and generally being a great dude.
Except he did not like the name Peck; I can see Lawrence now, hand on Peck’s head as Peck flayed punches at his brother, saying don’t call me Peck. When Lawrence died, I told him Lawrence only called him Peck because Peck was the hero in the movie; from that day he said my name is Peck from now on.
I came to Austrailia 33 yrs ago. Arriving in Sydney 1972, moving to Melbourne the same year, There I meet an old boyfriend from the village I was born in, we became partners and my first son Nathan was born in Williams Town Vic. 1974. We moved to Western Australia in the lower sth. West Cranbrook where I had Sean, Lawrence and Peter, 1978, 1979, 1984. Lawrence died in 1997; His dad died in 2000.
I was a coordinator and active participant in Greening Australia 1980 onwards providing and planting thousands of native trees and undergrowth in disused gravel pits in the Cranbrook Shire with the help of the local Apex club. Later I participated in the push to stop whaling in Albany.
My friends, they think there are thousands of trees in Tasmania; I say just look around you; we had vast old growth forest here too; now it’s predominantly bluegums, and the Kangarooes are being shot on open grazing land … they have no natural land left.
Do Australians care about the trees the native animals or is it the dollar. Tasmania could be the last natural habitat on Earth; what a unique possition to boast.
I cannot eraze from my mind that man who shot the last Tasmanian Tiger. The Tasmanian Devil is doomed and while the experts scratch there heads it’s all down to …
Long live the Whales, Long live the Trees, Long Live my SON and all the people trying to save our heritage from all over the world.
Today is AUSTRALIA DAY; For the ABORIGINAL it is the Saviour Day; they celibrate what they have left.
Dot Firth … remembering Lawrence 1979-1997
Rob Walls
January 29, 2005 at 12:08
It’s a free country, isn’t it?
While writing this I take a mental glance over my shoulder because I feel that the climate of freedom in this country no longer exists.
That the highest law officer in the land believes he can invoke “the law†to prevent Mamdoub Habib from profiting from his unjust imprisonment makes a mockery of Australian justice and the presumption of innocence.
It is an assault on Australian democracy as serious as anything perpetrated by a terrorist. To let Ruddock go unchallenged will erode the legitimacy of Australian law in the eyes of the people.
Apart from his complicity in the imprisonment of refugees, his vindictive statements against Habib demonstrate this governments’ disdain for our personal freedoms. His comments are effectively a crime against the Australian people. It is about time that Australia was brought to book on the issue of human rights. By his own criteria of guilty until proven innocent Phillip Ruddock is nothing short of a war criminal.
Does this cadaverously spiteful man still have the gall to flaunt his Amnesty International badge?
Rob Walls
dave groves
February 1, 2005 at 00:29
I have just been blown away by the latest “advertising†in the Examiner’s Pulp Mill newsletter (Sunday 30Jan).
Is the caricature on “A5†supposed to be anyone in particular, or do all people who do not “support†Tasmania look as depicted? Is this meant to reinforce the Gunns20 Slapp suit?
I’m glad the “bloke†in the hardhat “supports†the pulp mill, because without this project, Tassie would no doubt spiral into oblivion and the whole state would be on the dole. I think a sparkle on a tooth would give him the edge though, maybe a shave so he looks “clean and green†and perhaps a halo hovering over his lovely hat. That would convince me to support Tasmania and know that our whole state will be better off. I would get the holes fixed in my shoes, wear clean (and definitely green) clothes, have a wash and in general take a long hard look at myself for ever doubting that Tassie’s economy is riding on the back of a jinker to Bell Bay.
I am impressed with the extensive graphic depiction of the “wood to paper†process on page “A21â€.
They have covered all intelligence levels from 2 year olds and up.
I think that they should have left out the smoke on the chimney stack because that is not “Green†and we know this is a “Clean Green†state and a “Clean Green†Pulp Mill that will pull our economy into the Green (used to be black, but that is not a good colour for a pulp mill).
A “bloke†with a hard hat and a smiley face would have given the diagram an authentic edge. I know, use the bloke on “A5â€. No, not the one who looks un-tasmaynyan, get the smart one. Yeah, that’ll show ‘em.
I love the rainbow going down into the pile of woodchips on page “A2â€.
Wow, there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Tassie, you are saved!
Hail to the pulp man!
I just want to thank the State Government for investing my money on such a fine piece of literature.
Finally, a thank you to the Examiner for it’s usual reporting style. I’m sure that all true blue Tassie blokes and their sheilas will see that we are the Pulp State, with a generous garnish of green, and that we will ensure all of those “tree huggin’, latte sippin’ un Tasmaynyan troublemakers†leave us to keep doin’ what we do best, that is rip out them trees and get ‘em to the mill lickety split, so that we can all sleep at night knowin’ that were’re supportin’ Tasmaynya.
I just feel all warm and gooey.
Dave Groves.
dave groves
February 1, 2005 at 00:42
I am told that at present only 500,000 tonnes of our woodchip comes from plantation.
The other 5,000,000 tonnes comes from native forest(both private and public).
I am told that harvesting native timber will need to continue until 2019.
I am told 100,000 native animals die each year.
How do these figures reflect a sustainable industry?
What will be left for future generations?
Come on Tasmania. Be fair dinkum.
Talk to your friends and your workmates.
Get out there and find the truth about what these pirates are doing to our state.
Good luck,
Dave
Rob Walls
February 1, 2005 at 04:21
Licensed to drive…and drive…and drive…
In early December I renewed my driver’s licence and was told to expect it in the mail within a few days. A week later it still had not arrived.
Having to go to Sydney for a month I assumed that there had been a pre-Christmas delay and figured it would be forwarded to me. When it had not arrived by late January I rang the Department of Infrastructure Energy and Resources who assured me it had been sent out, but they cheerfully volunteered to send a replacement.
This arrived within a few days. A week later, so did another licence. I figured the original must have fallen into a crack at the Department and that I now had the original and the replacement. But then yesterday there was the by now familiar envelope. Another licence.
Each day now when I go to pick up the mail, I get the feeling I’m condemned to work my way through some sort of Ground Hog Day time loop. There’s always a letter from a real estate agent telling me people are queuing up to buy my house, a cheerful newsletter from a politician…and another driver’s licence. The only thing that reassures me that this is not so are the bills…
Rob Walls
dave groves
February 2, 2005 at 14:08
Urgent message to all inhabitants of Tasmania.
The second meeting of the Tamar Residents Action Committee (T.R.A.C.) will be held in the Deviot Hall on Deviot Rd this Friday afternoon.
The purpose will be to inform and discuss the impact of the proposed Longreach pulp mill.
All are welcome to attend with a 7.30pm start.
Cheers,
On behalf of the committee.
Dave Groves
Neil
February 3, 2005 at 03:55
Dear Tastimes,
Two excellent fundraising events are planned to help the brave folk being sued by the woodchipping giant Gunns Ltd.
1) Don’t forget this Friday’s film night ( Feb 4th).
Hosted by award winning Tasmania film maker and Gunns 20 defendant Heidi Douglas…
What: The screening of the famous “McLibel” film, and one of the most compelling Tasmanian films ever made, “The Battle of Bakers Creek”. Also another brilliant short forest film by Heidi Douglas, called Tasmanian Forests: A global treasure, a national responsibility.
Where: Upstairs at Sirens Restaurant (6 Victoria St, Hobart)
When: 7.30pm, this coming Friday Feb 4th 2005.
How much: $10.oo or $8.oo concession. Includes tasty supper.
More details: Zanni or Jill at the Wilderness Society: 6224 1550
2) As part of the Fringe Festival, one of Tasmania’s most talented musicians Peter Hicks is putting on an unforgettable show featuring a retrospective of the last 15 years of his brilliant songs.
What: The evening is called “Stage Left”.
This guy is amazing!! His songs and musicianship are legendary and he’s become one of Tasmania’s best loved performers.
Where: Backspace Theatre, rear of the Theatre Royal. 29 Campbell St. Hobart. Phone 6233 2299.
When: Wednesday Feb 16th at 7.30pm
How much: $5.oo donation.
Cheers
Neil Cremasco
phill Parsons
February 5, 2005 at 02:33
Oh, to be missing.
One could fall into the arms of Amanda, the care bear.
All one needs is no documents, posssibly to speak another language [bon jour, como talle vous], to be young and confused, and the country to be placed in the grip of a fervour about illegal immigration.
This failure of the missing persons system reminds me of the old lost property system, one that I am more familiar with.
Anything but a working mobile phone resides at the police station where it was reported, the details inscibed in a book that no other station sees.
If you don’t look at that station they are all Sergeant Schultz. A real time warp from the age of life in the parish of your birth.
Now with modern communication it is all on the net and the person [www.missingpersons.gov.au] can be seen as though they are all on ebay. Not the item though, not even a simple list, what is wrong with them.
Thank you also goes to the little bears at Baxter. Had this missing person not been identified she would have died in care but alone.
A cruel fate for anyone, to rot because you are not wanted, your country of origin unclear. But to be mentally ill and confined, no hope, no treatment.
I hope that this lesson will at least erase this possibility. It may take a little longer to establish humane treatment of assylum seekers.
lhayward
February 6, 2005 at 12:44
Though concepts such as “conflict of interest” seem to have passed Tasmania by, some more recent buzz words have taken off like wildfire. “Flexibility” appears one of them.
At a Forest Practices Tribunal hearing last week, a pro-logging landowner tendered a written statement in evidence (despite evidence submission having closed). In it he claimed to have been offered a grant by Private Forests Tasmania to establish a pine plantation in a rural residential zone where forestry was otherwise prohibited. He complained bitterly that the federal funding behind the grant offer had lapsed during the litigation.
These federal funds, I guessed, were Natural Heritage Trust money, a hunch acknowledged by a PFT employee watching proceedings.
Where else, would our natural heritage be defined so creatively, rather than squandered on devils and such things?
John Hayward
Weegena
Dave Groves
February 7, 2005 at 14:12
Why is it that this state is so reliant on big business? Industrial companies that arrive on Tasmania’s shore to save the masses, while creating some employment, seem to stifle lateral thinking, instead creating an environment where dependency on the corporation becomes a way of life.
When one of these giants makes a business decision and relocates, closes or leaves Tasmania for an area with a financially attractive workforce, all hell breaks loose and the spectre of eternity on welfare sends the workers into a state of doom and unending pessimism only unlocked by promises of bigger better industry by our leaders.
We have become locked into a nineteenth century industrial revolution mentality in Tasmania that diverts people from education and training and focuses on reshaping our state with trucks, machines and industrial factories.
All well and good you may say, but what about the “clean green†image that is the message we are allegedly promoting to the world? Tourists don’t wish to see heavy industry; they want to see the jewel that is Tasmania.
For Tasmania and its people to prosper on the world stage in the 21st century, we need to promote our isolation to the international tourism sector, show them our pristine waters, forests and air. Encourage individuals into small business to promote these assets. Train our people to standards that will show our visitors that Tasmania is the world’s number one tourist destination.
For example, look at the Franklin Dam debacle and what its loss now means for Strahan and its people. If the government’s lead was followed in those days, what would be the future for those folk now?
The people are now trained to service the needs of this world class facility and many small businesses now thrive while tourists patronise this area in droves.
All thanks to the few who dared challenge the thinking of the state.
We can foster niche markets for our produce for the worlds wealthy. Quality is what counts and there is always a market for quality.
Look at King Island. Their produce is multiple amounts more expensive than generic brands, but it has quality. Look at our export produce: Atlantic salmon, Wasabi cheese, strawberries, truffles, walnuts, saffron and wine to name a few.
Look at our talented arts and crafts sector. Look outside the bubble.
This is the way for Tasmanians to achieve a truly sustainable future.
This is what our political and business leaders need to focus on.
I can see only great things for all our folk if we steer clear of the industrial age.
Accepted we have heavy industry in Tasmania, but why encourage more?
Do you ever hear any one say, “I had a wonderfully peaceful holiday in Gdanskâ€. Or “we loved the fresh air in Beijing†and “Sulphur Dioxide is easily my favourite aromaâ€, and then, “Dioxin really gives this fish an unusual tang†or “why does the water give me diarrhoea?â€.
You don’t have to be Einstein to work out that if you want people to come here and rave about this state of potential, the way forward is to change the mindset of our leaders and encourage them to focus on our “clean green†future so spruiked and not on “heavy industry will save us allâ€.
I encourage you all to be proactive in this change of mindset as you and future generations will be the beneficiaries of what happens in Tasmania over the coming years.
Remember the Franklin Dam issue 20 years on. You can make a difference.
Justa Bloke
February 8, 2005 at 11:19
Sonnet of an un-named company
Cute furry creatures die in agony.
Our share price rises and our profits soar.
Thanks to 1080 we shall fear no more
attacks by possum or by wallaby.
We treat the future as our enemy;
short-term gain is what we’re aiming for.
If Nature’s in the way we declare war
on all her aspects down to the last tree.
We’ll spray organic farms with atrazine
and slap a writ on all who make a fuss.
We’ll shut you up if we can’t buy you out.
Paul’s in one pocket: in the other, Rene.
Whole laws are written just to favour us,
and that’s what politics is all about.
Dave Groves
February 10, 2005 at 01:00
Let’s all observe a minute’s silence for South Sister and the folk who strive to keep their community intact while men from afar decide their community’s fate.
Despite overwhelming community rejection of the Forestry Tasmania plan, Steve Manson (FT) was quoted as saying, “you won’t see it from the tourist route, only a little slice/nick, you’ll only see it from the top of South Sisterâ€.
I guess he is describing part of the attitude of the decision makers that “if you can’t see it, or we can hide it is just fine†and “it is our decision, like it or notâ€.
For the locals and tourists who are daring enough to climb from their cars and head up to the top of South Sister, the view post logging will give them a bird’s eye view of how this state is run.
I reckon we need another minute’s silence to take this all in……………..
The plight and fight for the St Mary’s community continues.
Will the community actually get what they want or will the stroke of a distant pen pushed along by bags of money decide their fate for them?
Pat Hess
February 10, 2005 at 04:41
‘PM Blair apologises to IRA members’
See Mr Howard it’s okay to apologise.
See Forestrytas/Gunns … it’s okay to admit one is wrong.
Until one does, then things do not change.
‘Yes, we see a problem, let us work together and repair it.”
“Yes, we can see how our forestry practises are becoming problematic … let us work together to change it’ .. instead of inserting ones head back into the sands of ignorance, and up one’s proverbial backside.
Politicians seem incapable of apologising or making changes. It’s always about attack and defence.
And the holdfast to the economic falsegod, and to their own arrogance.
Unity
Pat
editor
February 11, 2005 at 02:53
As one who has a vested interest in all matters pertaining to the “justice system” and the goings-on within HMP Risdon, I find some of the happenings there absolutely unreal. Surely the powers-that-be, including the Parole Board, cannot be serious about what they believe is the “rehabilitation” of inmates.
Inmate is released on parole via a Section 42 pass. He goes to town (Hobart) and is, to all intents and purposes, at peace with the world. He notices that up in Liverpool Street there are two fast-food outlets that he was not aware of before he left for other climes. He has himself a Happy Meal and is feeling on top of the world.
Decides he had better get himself around to his Parole Officer to check in. PO asks why he has come to visit him. Newly Released tells PO that under the terms of his parole he has to check in before he heads off home. PO checks his records and discovers Newly Released has been let out three weeks early!
PO then calls police, who put him in “Divvy Van” and transport him back to HMP Risdon to serve out the three weeks.
The Sceptic
editor
February 14, 2005 at 10:48
In much of the commentary and correspondence about English teaching occasioned by Professor Sawyer’s remarks, there seems to be some confusion about the teaching of language and teaching about logic.
Any half-decent English course will teach about the language, its history and development, its grammar and so on; in particular, it will teach how language is used rhetorically in the arts and crafts of persuasion. Effective and knowledgeable teachers of English will draw on a wide and varied range of source material; honest teachers, conscious of professional responsibilities, will avoid partiality in both content and context.
When the lessons move on to the logic of persuasion, they move from being language-focused to being about logic, about the arguments themselves; such lessons could equally be about the persuasive use of graphics and other visual imagery, or about non-verbal symbols — which is what aspects of mathematics deal with. In a crowded syllabus, it is reasonable to ask whether English ought give up time for non-English content.
But the main point here is not whether English courses should or should not be extended in this way; it’s a matter of being clear about precisely what is being taught. (And, please, no simplistic and clichéd nonsense about pigeon-holes.) As for suggestions of political, religious and ideological bias, that is a different, though obviously related, matter.
Leonard Colquhoun
7248
Editor
February 14, 2005 at 10:54
To: “a sceptic”: I can’t believe your last post about the poor bastard who gets paroled and then fronts up for his meeting, and gets whacked in a divvy van and back out to the pris – the poor bugger has been penalised for being honest. Was he set up?
Red
Editor
February 14, 2005 at 12:19
What the bloody hell is going on with the re-jigged format of the ABCT TV news out of Hobart?
It seems annually, aunty likes to call in the makeover gurus to dust off the set and give us a brand spanking version of the same gear, but surely this time they’ve gone too far.
Witness the presenters who are now some distance from the screen, as the camerman have no doubt been issued withan edict to pull back in a bid to make them more presentable to the eye.
The end result is they’re barely distinguishable, with the added side effect of making them appear like any run – of- the- mill newsreader from the commercial networks. This surely must grate on their credibility.
And what’s with positioning them next to a PC? Is is to create the illusion that they may have to suddenly stop mid-read and check their Hotmail accounts, or surf theirr favourite website [tastimes anybody?] surely it couldn’t be anything else. But then, just as you’ve adapted to the appearance of the PC and begrudingly accepted it as part of the new format, they take it away mid bulletin. Crazy.
Such manouvering smacks of the antics of doomed Aunty head, Jonathon Shier as he slavishly attempted to turn the national broadcaster into a Nine or Seven some years back and so it appears no lessons have been learnt.
ABC TV news needs to sharpen the focus and lose the set immediately. It’s balanced current affairs reportage we want to see and hear and not have it
obscured nightly by smoke and mirrors.
Warren Perso
editor
February 14, 2005 at 13:34
Annual Garage Sale
Saturday 19th February 2005
10.00 am till 3 pm
St Stephens Church Hall
Sandy Bay Road
In aid of
Vellore Christian Medical College and Hospital India
If you have unwanted goods to donate please bring them to the hall the previous day
Friday 18th between 2pm and 7 pm
or phone:
Dr Dennis Humphrey 6224 1965
Editor
February 14, 2005 at 16:19
Have you ever wanted to participate in a life-changing event? Here’s the opportunity. In August, WorldPride is to take place in Jerusalem!
Visiting Jerusalem at any time is extraordinary. I have had the pleasure of walking through the streets of the old city many times, and each visit changes the way in which I see the world. The stones of old Jerusalem have witnessed events that continue to shape so many lives. Wandering past the church which is built on the site where Christ was crucified, or past the wailing wall where orthodox Jews are praying, or visiting the Dome of the Rock, the third most holy site for Muslims, can be breathtaking.
Now, this holy city is to become the site of a different ritual, WorldPride. It is no coincidence why Jerusalem has been chosen. WorldPride will bring a new focus to an ancient city. In these times of intolerance, in the home of three of the world’s great religions, Jerusalem WorldPride will gather Israelis, Palestinians and people from all over the world to bring a message that is needed throughout the Middle East and beyond: that human rights transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries, that our differences can be respected peacefully, and that our love knows no borders.
Like most cities, there is a queer history in Jerusalem that needs acknowledging. For the last eight years a non-profit agency Jerusalem Open House has been providing services to the local LGBT community and in the space of a few years has become one of the Middle East’s leading queer services and advocacy organizations. The Open House provides services for secular and religious Jews as well as for Arabs. It is one of the few places in Israeli society where such a diversity of people meet together.
Jerusalem has already seen three successful and peaceful pride events, attended by thousands. Now it is time for something more. WorldPride has only ever been held once before. The first WorldPride, Rome 2000, brought to the heart of Europe, and indeed to the Pope’s doorstep, the message that queer folk are – and always have been – a vital part of humanity. Now it is time to build upon this message and to bring it to a new and even more challenging frontier. It is time to demonstrate to the world, not only that we belong, but that our love and our pride can cross the harshest borders that divide people.
In August a 10-day festival will take place, the likes of which Jerusalem and the Middle East have never before seen. The calendar of events is designed for participants with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests! It will include parties of every shape and size, concerts, theatre, a film festival, a conference for GLBT clergy, another for academics on religion and homosexuality, GLBT marriage rights celebrations, workshops on lesbian, gay, queer social and cultural issues, opportunities to attend religious services, events for queer clergy, and the WorldPride Parade, Street Fair and Rally where we will make our most public and visible statement of pride and unity.
Whether you are atheist (like me), or someone for whom the stories of Jerusalem have even greater meaning, this promises to be a queer event like no other.
When people have been trying for thousands of years to describe the magic of Jerusalem, I can’t hope to convey it adequately in these words. Nor can I do justice to the extraordinary work of Jerusalem Open House. All I can say is that I hope to see you in at WorldPride in August.
David Denborough
Editor of the book ‘Queer Counselling & Narrative Practice’ Dulwich Centre Publications
And an Australian Ambassador for WorldPride
For more Information:
WorldPride is planned as a 10-day festival spanning 2 weekends, August 18-28, 2005. Information is already available online at http://www.worldpride.net (in English, Arabic, Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian). For more information, including travel information, group rates and special packages, please email [email protected] If you would like to get involved locally in getting the word out about this event, please email [email protected]
Dave Groves
February 15, 2005 at 01:43
Riddles and fiddles?
When Bob Gordon came to see me regarding the proposed pulp mill at Longreach he told me that water emitted from the 4/5 kilometre outfall was basically fresh water with some sodium chloride (common salt) added.
Yesterday on the ABC’s “Country Hour” he said there were about 100 different chemicals to be pumped into Bass Strait.
I am confused. Was this a slip of the tongue or is there something to hide?
If this water is so clean, why send it to the ocean? Recycle this valuable asset. With current water restrictions in place for rivers in the Pipers area (Brid, Little Brid, Great Forester and all their tributaries), it shows just how precious our water is. It is not something to be used once and pumped into the ocean as waste.
How can this proposal possibly equate to ‘world’s best practice’?
Other countries recycle their water many times over. I think that their systems would be closer to ‘world’s best practice’.
The destruction of rare and endangered species by damming the Pipers River could be avoided if recycling was adopted and it would show a real sense of environmental responsibility, while dramatically reducing the expense of constructing a dam and associated pipelines.
Bob also spoke of the brown tannins that would accompany this water. He likened it to a natural river. Natural rivers don’t suddenly dump 26 billion litres of adulterated waste water 4/5 Kilometres out to sea. The area off the mouth of the Tamar River is an awesome wonderland containing rich and diverse marine life.
To see photos reminds me of the Barrier Reef. It would be a travesty to see this environment compromised in any way. It is a well known diving “hot spot†and a real bonus for Tasmania.
So my message is “let’s recycle our precious fresh water for Tasmania and show the world what ‘best practice’ really meansâ€.
editor
February 15, 2005 at 02:50
A recent article I read penned by John Pilger put it extremely well …
Recently we have celebrated ‘Australia Day’ Many Australians believe it to be a farce that passes as a national day; some call it the stolen day; celebrating the dispossession of the original forty thousand year inhabitants, by the British in 1788.
Our celebration day needs to be changed to a more appropriate day (shame to lose a public holiday…but!) to reflect our true achievements. Perhaps even ANZAC day which would not only incorporate a remembrance (some say a celebration of war), but I believe this is not the case. It is to remember the mateship, an illustration of how people help and care for each other to overcome enormous odds and inhuman treatment.
Coupled to this it could be a celebration of the magnificent achievement of Australians who have introduced to the world such things as, the Woomera, Penicillin, Aspro, Aussie Rules and even the Victa Lawn Mower on a practical level as well as our Writers, Musicians, Artists and Sports People.
It seems to me that we now live in an Australia where a large proportion of the population (the little Johnny lovers) are being frightened into a subservience by fear of terrorism (and probably fear of interest rate rises, which will happen!).
Never in history has this country been so totally bound to another rapacious power dressed up as a democracy. The democratic façade that is Bush’s America had he, Bush, elected, also on a platform of fear, and the unhealthy and frightening influence of ultra right-wing Christian fundamentalism whose mantra is “we have all the answers, there is no other way to salvation, ‘TO BE SAVED’ to be part of the Almighty’s select group”.
God forbid that Australians be conned in a similar manner as so many Americans have. Given most Aussies pragmatic nature and their distrust of authority, I am pretty confident that a good degree of commonsense will prevail in this great South Land.
So, how does any thinking person promote commonsense and perhaps something called ‘real democracy’, well, debate, get people talking about the things that matter, other than the fotty or cricket (which is good, but not all the time), keep writing letters to websites, papers, pollies etc.
Let us not stand by and condone such as the torture of Mamdouh Habib being a recent case that once again highlights an Australian leader that calls himself democratic, yet has so completely collaborated with the Guantanamo regime. The land of the fair go deserves better than supercilious cruelty.
Cedric Tuffin
Earlier: Wretched Symbol of Colonial Oppression:
http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php/weblog/comments/wretched-symbol-of-colonial-oppression/
Dave Groves
February 16, 2005 at 01:27
If you go down to the woods today…………..
‘Evercreech’.
The name sounds like a land far away, lost in time. In some ways it is.
In the reserve, the giant Manferns provide a green canopy keeping the track cool and the air sweet.
Some have a circumference larger than I have ever seen before. One had a Myrtle with a trunk about 8 inches in diameter growing out of its side about 8 feet from the ground. The creek flows clear water, for most parts, over granite boulders and under fallen giants that make bridges for our creatures to safely traverse.
Tall stands of various eucalypts make you lift your eyes to the sky. The sheer wonder of these massive living things makes me smile.
While admiring one of these marvels a fellow traveller comes my way. ‘Joe from North America’ (not his real name) is on holidays until early March. He is in Tasmania to see as much of the forest wilderness as he can before he goes back to his plundered state.
He is a forest worker back home. His job is to report on the forest ecology. Eagles, bears and coyotes are dying from 1080. It surprised me because I thought it was banned in the U.S.
We shared a long conversation and learned much about each others neck of the woods. ‘Joe†says to me, “did you hear that?â€. “Hear what?†I replied. “The chainsaw†he said. Peace and quiet shattered as the saw became louder. I had to investigate. What was going on in this haven?
Nearby the reserve are massive radiata pine plantations. I followed the commotion. I expected to see many men working in the forest.
No army here. Just two machines to take out the forest. Two men only to take out this massive area. One to cut, drop, trim and make ready for an 8 wheel loader to stack ready for transport.
Small wonder there are people out of work when this industry is so highly mechanised. It was a disappointing end to an awesome beginning.
Mark
February 16, 2005 at 12:01
While recently travelling across the north east of Tasmania I diverted through Scottsdale. This was accompanied by the usual defensive driving as I approached speeding log trucks with their visible trailer sway. I hadn’t visited the region for some time and noted the new tourist sign for the Forest Eco Centre (I assume ECO is an acronym for Extensively Clearfelling Oldgrowth).
On first sight it appeared as an upturned beach bucket made from marine ply and metal girders in an upward spiral. As I drove past, another sideways glance proved the actual design to be a tree stump. Although this seems a highly appropriate design I cannot believe Scottsdale’s city councillors, state politicians, Forestry Tasmania bureaucrats and Tourism Tasmania consultants did not recognise the irony. Nor can I see how millions of taxpayer dollars could be spent on the construction and maintenance of such a white elephant when the health system continues to suffer.
It would seem the architectural draftperson was either a qualified impressionist painter or the consultant was someone’s immediate relative.
I will view the Hobart waterfront from a new and exciting perspective.
Pat Hess
February 17, 2005 at 11:19
Have just watched McLibel .. the full account of the two English people, that McDonalds slapped a writ on.
The two people wanted to prove that it is the large corporations that are wrecking our environment (and poisoning us, in more ways imaginable)
The Gunns 20, or rather they should be called McGunns 20 .. would be inspired, what these two people achieved.
Their dedication and purpose to their cause.. and they both have bugger all – was applaudable.
Cheers
Pat
Pat Hess
February 19, 2005 at 01:12
Dave I think 1080 was re-invented in the 80’s.. re-designed with poisons that would ‘break down’ in the environment.
Its quite comical how some people actually view the ‘now’ 1080 as ‘safe’.(no masks, or gloves)
editor
February 19, 2005 at 03:22
Go to:
http://www.tassie.net.au/~cdibley/
and follow the prompts on the Preolenna web page to plantations issues where you will find my submission to Senate Inquiry on Plantations which includes an analysis of the impacts on just one farming community.
Colleen Dibley
Moses Iten
February 21, 2005 at 12:27
ChaleChole Productions is proud to announce its first anthology – VIVA LA RAZA sparkles when the sun hits – launched this February in Hobart and Switzerland. Arriving in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney in March. Mexico in April. Only $10.
escape,
impunity,
assassination,
love,
anarchy,
truth:
one life,
one world,
six stories.
from VIVA LA RAZA sparkles when the sun hits:
“I sprinted and plunged in headfirst, keeping my eyes open. The fishermen on the shore had warned me about the strong currents…â€
“…I find it difficult talking to Fernando, really being lost for words. Here I was, us having met at a friend’s party, asking questions as cold-bloodedly as possible. Questions about the murder of another journalist. Only that this murdered journalist we are talking about, happens to be my new friend’s Dad…â€
“…they ran so fast that I fell and they dragged me on the ground and hurting my legs. They made indications to the other police to cover me so that no-one could see where they were taking me.â€
No one is free, until we are all free.
Proceeds from this publication are contributed towards fighting for the release of the Guadalajara Summit protestors, citizens of Mexico who now have spent already 8 months in prisons of the Guadalajara government.
Anthology edited by Moses Iten. Moses is a post-Swiss pseudo-Mexican Tasmanian rogue, dabbling in music, literature and journalism published in Australia, Germany, USA and Mexico.
Mark
February 21, 2005 at 13:32
I have included a full extract of “Beehive vandalism concerns keepers” from ABC On-line dated Sunday, 20 February 2005, as I do not wish to misrepresent any facts as reported.
The big question remains who could have done this? The beekeepers have had some of their assets destroyed and income reduced in a far worse fashion than Gunns claims for itself.
Could it have been vegetarians down from Devonport after the live sheep exports concerned about bee factories?
There are many similarities of behaviour with Lucaston where signs were destroyed. One point of difference would be the 40 police who brought law and order to Lucaston.
I only offer speculation to help any police investigation but perhaps it was forestry workers from Maydena area? Perhaps in Lucaston’s case it was forestry workers from the Huon area? It is amazing how the acts of vandalism are so similar.
Perhaps the forest industry actively communicates its destructive intent among like-minded individuals?
Perhaps this is all in an environment of tacit approval by the government, FIAA and TCA?
No, it was probably the fault of the bees.
It would be nice to hear some outrage by a politician or a forest indutry representative but that would require a leader or statesman.
Jason Lovell
February 22, 2005 at 05:01
This is fascinating. While arson attacks against those publicly opposed to current forest practices occur regularly in Tasmania, the decision of the non-ABC media to totally ignore this issue is amazing.
Instead of covering this interesting and informative local news item, commercial media decided to give us reams of interstate cricket final (okay – this was justified), Twenty20 cricket shenanigins in NZ and Johnny Farnham versus Helen Clark. It’s plainly obvious that the beekeepers’ item had far far more news value in Tasmania than stories about international sporting issues or Helen Clark not knowing or caring who John Farnham is.
The failure by most Tasmanian outlets to report this news is a good example for those who don’t believe that our news is somewhat censored. Here’s a tip for non-believers: Great propaganda requires the capture, knowing or not, of society’s gatekeepers and involves the news you don’t see as well as the bread and circusses proferred in its place.
This is why we get Farnsie vs Clarksie and international cricket leading news bulletins instead of actual news, news that affects us here in Tasmania.
This item is a fascinating illustration of the strange values that some Tasmanian gatekeepers are now adhering to.
I wonder if they even know they’re doing it …
Neil
February 23, 2005 at 12:30
Dear TT
A quick reminder of this Friday’s Forest Inquisition.
1 PM this FRIDAY 25th FEBRUARY
PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS, HOBART
SPEAKERS: Peg Putt MHA, Helen Gee & others plus great music!
BACKGROUND…
Under the Howard Government election policy, 170,000 ha of high conservation forest was to be protected.
Roads are now being built into some of these forests, (Wielangta, Nabageena) and logging is imminent in the Weld Valley, at Recherche Bay, in the Great Western Tiers, the Tarkine, the Styx and in the Blue Tier, pre-empting the long-awaited announcement.
The situation is intolerable!
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Forestry Tasmania is being examined by the Government Business Enterprises Scrutiny Committees in early March. Please bring your written questions, general and specific, on Friday to hand to Greens Leader Peg Putt.
She will present them to Forestry Tasmania on your behalf. Show your concerns, we must all turn out once again for our wonderful forests.
If you can’t make it, send your questions before Friday:
For more info email the SOUTH EAST FOREST PROTECTION GROUP: [email protected]
Cheers,
Neil Cremasco
Kathy Matthews
February 24, 2005 at 06:03
Say goodbye to Kingston Forest
If you are interested in seeing the destruction of a forest close to the city – take a drive to Kingston on the southern Outlet then, take a peek at Green Hill Drive, (just off the first section of Summerleas Road – 1 km on the left from the “MacDonalds” roundabout).
It is a very stark landscape.
Quite a chunk of dry eucalypt forest is being cleared for housing.
Urban sprawl, it means the end of habitat for lots of birds, bees and other animals.
Kathy Matthews
Barry Brannan
February 24, 2005 at 13:49
Well done to Helen Gee for standing up against the insane new rule that one must have $20m public liability insurance to hold a protest at Parliament House.
The government may say they are acting on “legal advice” but I can give them alternative legal advice that says they don’t need to do this.
There is no reason why the government can’t bear the risks themselves.
http://update.tas.greens.org.au//fulldoc.php3?title=Parliamentary Committee Move Discourages Democratic Participation&date=1109163600&author=Nick McKim MHA
Barry Brannan
phill Parsons
February 24, 2005 at 20:31
And they should all live happily ever after with Barry Brannan’s professional indemnity covering that advice.
phill Parsons
February 24, 2005 at 20:56
And now the care bear is (http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php/weblog/C12/4) 104 not out. What a batting average this government has.
Where has the common sense or political nous of supposedly clever operators gone.
So bound by their own rules, so governed by their own procedures that a 104 year old woman has to be reviewed by the refugee tribunal and if unsuccessful the Minister may then use the ‘Approved’ rubber stamp anyway.
All hail due process and give this aged woman, congratulated by all and sundry, the mental anguish of not knowing her fate until it has been reviewed.
Will she be locked up in Baxter whilst Amanda pontificates.
At least if China refuses to take her back she won’t have the years that Peter Quasim will have to linger, Australia’s one prisoner on death row, sentenced without trial for the ‘crime’ of being a Kashmiri and so denied by the State that has jurisdiction over his place of birth.
India denies Peter, will it be three times and then we will embrace him as a human being caught in a kafkaesque game of statecraft and let him live among us.
Come on Amanda, cut the crap and the get out the Approved stamp for this centenarian. Those who complain about due process will take the mantle of churlishness that you wear for your failure to apologize, acolyte of the leading proponent of never ever excuse your behaviour, John Winston Howard.
And yes, whilst in this bought of compassion, give Peter a Ticket of Leave so he may wander among us, protected temporarily from dying in detention.
Isabella
February 26, 2005 at 11:05
Message to the Tasmanian Visual Arts Community!
Please see piece by Jane Rankin-Reid, “What’s wrong with (Hob)art?” (16/2): http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php/weblog/comments/whats-wrong-with-hobart/,
and the resulting, heated comments section – and join in the debate – have your say, whether it’s to NAVA, (Greg Barns if you dare!), Ms. Rankin-Reid, our Arts Minister or to the comments section.
Tim upston
March 5, 2005 at 05:26
Let’s just all hope that if the long-suffering Iraqis finally achieve democracy they are not inflicted with the type of political leader who would arrogantly ignore the wishes of the majority by dragging the country into an illegal invasion of a former trading partner, involving the mass murders of thousands of men, women and children, torture and rape of inmates, and looting of antiquities, and displaying a breath-taking arrogance in their refusal to recognise the fact that their brutal view of the world is shared by very few outside their own sycophantic circle, the military, weapons and oil dealers.
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