Seniors Sex Saving

Our local Bayside Leader newspaper enjoys a good story about seniors and sex. In August 2008 they gave us Stairway to heaven: Brothel move to help elderly clients rejected

The latest is Age Sex Discount:

Saucy senior citizens can receive a generous discount at brothels this week.

As thousands celebrate Seniors Week, those who present their seniors discount card at some brothels and escort services can mark the occasion in an entirely different way.
Bayside Leader 6 October 2009

I couldn't find the story online but according to the hard copy "markdowns" of 50% were apparently on offer.

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Rethink Interview with Daniel Ellsberg

Jonathan Kim has interviewed Daniel Ellsberg about the upcoming documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

His post at the Huffington Post is worth a visit. There are several video clips from the interview such as Why Ellsberg calls the current Afghan war "Vietnamistan"

A primary source from a key player.

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Turnbull Discovers Reaganomics

When you are a besieged Opposition leader, launch a new policy. However, it didn't work for Simon Crean and it won't take the torch off Malcolm Turnbull this week.

Putting Reaganomics into practice was something that Ronald never quite managed himself. It sounds like the squirming trio at Turnbull's press conference today are going to try. Some not-so-original ideas were:

• Stop waste and duplication in government spending
• Reduce government spending as a percentage of GDP
• Increase growth through spending on infrastructure, small business and innovation
• Independent scrutiny of public finances

Presumably Joe Hockey and Helen Coonan will have to come up with some concrete proposals as there were none on the horizon this morning, just cheesy grins all round.

The new spending will, of course, replace the stimulus infrastructure package and other government programs for innovation and small business. Need to check the thesaurus for synonyms for 'stimulus'.

Malcolm's media release reads not only like a lift from Reagan's election manifesto but could be a cut and paste from Kevin Rudd's 2007 campaign launch.

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Spreading indigenous knowledge

John Liebhardt has kicked off a Global Voices special topic on The Future of ICT for Development:

At first glance, the relationship between indigenous knowledge and the Internet seems fraught. Indigenous knowledge provides a distinct set of beliefs, practices and representations avidly tied to place; the internet lauds itself for erasing boundaries and borders.

On one hand, the traditions encapsulated in indigenous knowledge are culturally unique, using local understanding to solve local problems. This makes it an important component in the fields of ecology, education, agriculture and health security. On the other hand, the internet is lauded for spreading information to help people, but it is also a bazaar, tilted towards large corporations and the economies of scale: Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft, PayPal. Indigenous knowledge has certain spiritual and ceremonial components; the internet is largely agnostic, and makes a good deal of money peddling pornography.
ICTs and the spread of indigenous knowledge

GV author Aparna Ray is also seeking input:

As part of our special coverage *The future of ICT for development*, I am
working on a post, the theme of which is "role of ICT in protecting native/local knowledge". If any of you have any interesting conversation threads/ links from the blogosphere in your radar, please do send them my way or even if you feel that there is something I definitely need to cover in such an article, please let me know. All inputs are most welcome :-)

You can send any thoughts to Aparna through her link at GV or leave them on comments here.

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Climate Change: Have your say for Copenhagen

Every time I grow weary with ALP equivocation on climate change, I tune in to what the National Party are saying about global warming and Australia's proposed Emissions Trading Scheme. Terms like bush-populism, scare mongering, truth challenged, lowest common denominator, dumbed down, heads in the disappearing top soil and other emotive responses come to mind.

Since I've been trying to give up negative attacks and sarcasm, I thought I'd offer another Climate Change website for the blogosphere from Think About It:

TH!NK2 Climate Change is a 3 month blogging competition with a focus on UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December 2009. Some 90 bloggers from 43 countries, including all 27 EU Member states, India, China, Brazil and the USA, the world's biggest players in climate policy, will come together on the European Journalism Centre's thinkaboutit.eu platform, to exchange ideas and debate the issues of climate change.

Participants are encouraged to report about stories in their own back yards; to bring out the local side of a global issue. The aim is to create a portal into the lives of the TH!NKers, to show how each one experiences the effects of Climate Change policies every day.

You don't have to be European to join the community. Just register at TH!NK ABOUT IT

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Climate Change: Blog Action Day 2009

As Global Voices reports:

On October 15, bloggers from all over the world will get together to blog about climate change in one of the largest social change events on the web: the Blog Action Day.

As an official blog partner, Global Voices will support Blog Action Day by encouraging bloggers around the world to register their support online and join in. On October 15 and beyond, Global Voices bloggers look forward to linking to and translating what bloggers around the world are saying about climate change and the environment where they live.

Register now by clicking on the link.

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One Night the Moon centre stage

When singer/songwriter Paul Kelly visited Maningrida community in Arnhem Land for the 2003 music festival, he was already a hero of many of the local children. Ironically it arose from his role as a racist farmer in the film One Night the Moon.

The Years 8, 9 and 10 students had studied the short movie as part of their English program at school. Rachel Perkins directed the 57 minute gem. After an impromptu performance at Friday's assembly, Paul was surprised that this seemingly very adult narrative had captured their interest.

This emblematic Australian 'lost in the bush' story is based on a couple of incidents involving missing children. They involved legendary bush tracker Alexander Riley whose exploits were recorded by his grandson Michael Riley in the 1997 documentary Blacktracker.

The film production was based on Riley's role in the 1932 search for a young boy near Dubbo in New South Wales. He was also instrumental in the rescue of a 6 year old girl in 1918. Writer John Romeril's stage adaptation has been relocated to Gariwerd (aka the Grampians) in Victoria, to which the audience receives a traditional welcome to country.

Composer and musical director Mairead Hannan has included some more songs from Kev Carmody and "created soundscapes using our instruments to fill the theatre with a sense of the landscape." The music and innovative artwork are very effective in the intimacy of the Merlyn Theatre. This version runs about 80 minutes.

Detailed comparisons between the two media would be tiresome. The two female leads, Natalie O'Donnell as lost child Emily's mother Rose and Ursula Yovich as tracker Albert's wife, give powerful performances that are reinforced by their strong singing voices. Mark Seymour as Jim and Kirk Page as Albert give intensely dramatic performances but neither is a strong singer. Nevertheless their key duet, 'This Land is Mine/This Land is Me' loses none of its impact.

The message is clear and simple: the heavy price we pay as individuals and as a society for our blind prejudices.

Director Wesley Enoch has preserved the film's overwhelming sense of tragedy whilst maintaining its hope that true reconciliation can be achieved.

The season finishes at the Malthouse on 3 October. You'd better hurry. Otherwise try to see the video. It's an Aussie classic.

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Australia: Kenyan women refused refugee status

Cross-post at Global Voices:

Australia: Kenyan women refused refugee status

It's surprising and disappointing that few regulars in the blogosphere have posted about this case!

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St.Kilda: carrying the flag

Ever since St.Kilda was certain of a finals birth this year, I’ve had to reassure my extended family: we only have to win our last game of the year to be Premiers.

But it’s been a character building expereince since attending the Saints’ 1961 first semi-final loss against Footscray. One glittering prize from five starts: 1913, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1997. Believe me, I was at the last four. St.Kilda’s score of 60 points was the same as Friday night’s but the Dogs managed 69. Ruckman Alan Morrow, titan of 1966, limped from start to finish.

In 1965 St.Kilda was clearly the stand-out of the competition. Graham Kennedy jumped the infamous Bay 13 fence before the game and planted the red, white and black flag in the centre. These days he’d face a $6000 fine. Perhaps it was an omen that Nick Riewoldt was one of the footballers who acted as pallbearers at the King’s funeral in 2005. What kind of omen will be clearer by 5pm Saturday.

Essendon buried our hopes in’65 before half-time and twelve months seemed too long to wait for an impatient 18 year old. Not long after, we had to register for National Service. That conscription lottery was one that none of us wanted to win. My ball didn’t come up so the only lines I had to stand in were the overnight queues at the G for finals tickets.

Thirty years later we camped at Rod Laver arena for tickets to the ill-fated ’97 loss to the Adelaide Crows. When Elsternwick brothel The Daily Planet was decorated in St.Kilda colours, it was another omen, every saint a superman. However, we had so many injuries in the preceding month that I couldn’t name our first ruck that day even if you offered me a free seat to this year’s judgment day as prize.

On form the ’65 team would have beaten the ’66 mob in a canter. The desperation factor that made Darrel Baldock’s men legends kicked hard again in the latest victory over Footscray.

At the last public training session on Tuesday, we stood opposite the now-bulldozed terraces of the outer where we spent many heart-wrenching hours during our dark ages. We always stayed to the end, no mean feat given the Moorabbin weather.

Saints fans have had to be stoic. We’ve snatched the proverbial cliché from the jaws of victory too often. But like another recent long shot, “Yes We CAN!”

It's been along time carrying the flag.

P.S. Still desperately looking for a Grand Final ticket.

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Saints Tragics: St.Kilda's Grand Final Week Training

The sun blessed the last public training session for St.Kilda FC before the 2009 AFL Grand Final. For Saints tragics - ENJOY!

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