treaty to ban cluster bombs
From Avaaz.org
Final negotiations are underway right now in Dublin, Ireland on a treaty to ban cluster bombs.
Cluster munitions don’t just kill during war–they scatter small, unexploded “bomblets” on the ground. When children pick them up, they are often maimed or killed. Most governments agree that they should be banned–but many (including Australia) are now trying to weaken the proposed treaty with loopholes, exemptions, and delays.
Negotiations end this Thursday. If enough of us raise our voices, we can drown out the arms manufacturers and convince our governments to do the right thing. Click here to send a message to ask the federal government to do the right thing,
Water for Mulga Bore school
Ms Jenny Macklin MP
Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Ms Macklin,
Re. Water for Mulga Bore school
Firstly, congratulations on the Government’s historic Motion of Apology to Indigenous Peoples. Congratulations too on the Government’s commitment to close the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians in areas such as life expectancy, education achievement and employment opportunities. I welcomed these with all my heart
Today I am writing to you about the water-quality crisis at the school at Mulga Bore in the Northern Territory. According to a report in The Age on February 28, the school is closed because they have no water. According to the report, “drinking water pumped from two bores is so severely contaminated with nitrates that young children, babies and pregnant mothers are at serious risk […] Mulga Bore’s nitrate levels are 1½ times greater than World Health Organisation standards for developing countries.”
It is almost unimaginable that a school here in Australia has been closed because of a lack of drinkable water. It is an image straight out of the third world. Both the symbolism, and the reality of its impact on the life expectancy, education achievement and employment opportunities of the children of Mulga Bore, must be devastating.
Are you aware of the situation at Mulga Bore? What is being done about it?
I would urge you to do all that you can to bring about a speedy reopening of the school at Mulga Bore and to ensure its long-term success.
Sincerely yours
Campbell
Alpine classic
I lack Ben’s skills with the video editing so here’s a lower-tech account of the 2008 Alpine Classic.
—————————————————–
Sometimes the grid city feels like a cage.
Richard ‘Sticks’ Price contemplates another day at work.
Chicken Legs is still looking for a way around the office porn filters.
As the meeting at the gallery moves into its third hour, the C8er girl considers biting off her tongue to help stay awake.
And the student makes his plans for the new academic year.
Tank’s been a bit distracted lately.
The Belgians?
It’s better not to ask.
—————————————————–
We all have the weekend …
… on our minds.
—————————————————–
Bright, “Where the river runs those giant hills between.”
Sunday morning
Early start for the …
—————————————————–
Baz 70km
Belgian 200km
Belgienne 70km
C8er Girl 130km
Chicken Legs 200km
Sticks 200km
Student 200km
Tank 130km
TOTAL 1,200km
harvest
Got back from a week at the beach and was pleased to see that the hot weather hadn’t decimated the vegie patch. Harvest included beans, rhubarb, silver beet, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant.
calendar gripe
I don’t think I’m alone, when planning my days and weeks, in thinking about Saturday and Sunday as linked in some way. Commonly this block of days is called the ‘weekend’.
So religious, cultural and historic factors notwithstanding, why is it so hard to find a calendar that puts Saturday and Sunday next to one another?
It really shits me.
tis the season
This is pretty classy
See page 3 for 20% off Ansell condoms now that’s what I call immaculate contraception.
But don’t be fooled by the *FREE WALL CLOCK! The Roman numeral for 4 is wrong (IIII)
* With every purchase over $29.95 from this catalogue. Limit 1 per customer.
a recycled revolution
I am struck by the similarities between Rudd’s ‘education revolution’ and episode 29 of The West Wing. (Hello, my name is Campbell and I am a West Wing nerd).
Basically the White House staff come up with the idea of giving scholarships to teacher trainees who agree to work in inner city public schools. By the end of the episode this grand plan, which is to be the beginning of a ‘permanent revolution’* in education, gets watered down to a possible pilot program that might fund 100 scholarships.
Sorry Kev, giving away laptops to all secondary students is not an education revolution. Improving infrastructure at public shcools and conditions for teachers might be a better place to start.
*The phrase ‘permanent revolution’ is removed from the President’s speech as it apparently comes from Mao Zedong’s ‘Little Red Book’. Which made me think of this clip.
4 out of 6
With six months more training since my last time out, a flatter course and a pair of $30 socks I felt pretty confident about the Melbourne Marathon.
Thinking about it in the lead up, I had set myself the following goals
- Start
Sounds a bit silly, but making the commitment to attempt a marathon is actually quite a mental hurdle. - Finish
Complete the course, even if injured or dehydrated, before they close the race- about 6 hours after the start. - Don’t stop
Run the whole way. I’ve learned the hard way that my body doesn’t like running in the heat or the wind but even if the weather’s nasty I don’t want to walk. - Improve on last time (3:30:31)
Conditions permitting this felt pretty doable (what with the new socks and everything). - 3:15:00
A stretch, but not outside the realms of possibility.
- 3:00:00
A dream.
There is a moment when a freakish combination of traffic snarls, toilet queues and a clothes drop-off point located in the bowels of the MCG conspire to make even goal 1 seem unlikely. We make it to the marshalling point just in time only to hear that the start’s been put off by 15 minutes as they haven’t fully closed St Kilda Rd yet.
The course starts just outside the MCG, goes down St Kilda Rd, around Albert Park Lake, along the beach to Sandringham and then back. We start at the back of the pack of something like 8,000 entrants in the full and half marathons. Simon takes off quickly; it’s very crowded for the first 10km and I find it difficult to settle into a rhythm as I run around slower runners while skirting tram tracks and using the occasional footpath.
Once we hit the bay the field has opened up a bit and I move past the 4hr; 3:45 and 3:30 pacing groups. The turnaround point at Sandringham comes up sooner than I’d expected but having seen the 3:15 group on their way back I know it’s going to be a struggle to catch them. It’s not overly hot but very bright and exposed and I think the loss of fluid is starting to take a toll.
Richard and Penny are waiting on St Kilda and give me a welcome cheer and pep talk. It’s also a relief to be running in the shade for the first time. Then a final burst gets me up William Barak Bridge, around the outside of the G (where Em and the girls, who’ve made it in after all thanks to delayed flight [a long story], are waiting to give me a wave and a cheer) and then onto the ground for a final lap finishing in front of the Members’ Stand.
The clock shows 3:28 as I cross the line. Will get the official time on Tuesday but I reckon there was about 5 minutes beteween the race starting and my actually going over the starting line so it’ll be around 3:23.
I have a blood blister on my left foot that is the size, shape, colour and texture of one of those chewy rasberry lollies.
Burma petition
Burma is ruled by one of the worst military dictatorships in the world. Last month Buddhist monks and nuns began marching and chanting prayers to call for democracy. The protests spread and hundreds of thousands of Burmese people joined in — but they’ve been brutally attacked by the military regime.
This petition calls on Burma’s powerful ally China and the UN security council to step in and pressure Burma’s rulers to stop the killing.
runner : rider
Runner: I spend a lot of my running time on shared cycle/pedestrian paths. Often you come zooming past from behind and I don’t even know you’re there. It can be quite a shock. Couldn’t you ring your bell or something?
Rider: Dude. A bell would add like 30 grams to my bike. That’s going to seriously slow me down.
Runner: Maybe you could try the new Shimano Ultramicronads. It’s a bell made out of a lightweight titanium alloy, weighs in at 8 grams and costs about $300. I hear Lance Armstong and Schapelle Corby use one.
Rider: I think you mean Cadel Evans. Sounds good but still, 8 extra grams.
Runner: Well you could always lose a few kilos from your gut.
Rider: That’s a bit below the belt.
Runner: Actually your gut is above your belt but now that you mention it you’re carrying a bit of excess baggage on your fat arse too. If you can’t use a bell couldn’t you at least call out to let me know you’re about to pass?
Rider: I suppose I could but it might shatter my mental state. See every time I pass a rider I’m telling myself that I’ve broken away from the bidon for my sprint down the Champ du Ulysses and I’m passing another Belgian drug cheat just before the finishing line.
Runner: OK. Whatever. But if I do hear you coming up behind don’t be surprised if I hog the middle of the path or throw an elbow.
keep looking »