Environment Victoria activism : Election fever awareness : Walk Against Warming Promotion

Amanda handing out material at Blackburn Station

Get the details about the stuff we are handing out

..... and please do your bit.

To-day was a busy day for Environment Victoria campaigners.  There is a Federal election on as we all know on 21 August.  Election fever is in full swing - and it is a good season for increasing environmental awareness and pressing home to the politicians and the general public the need for good management and good decisions.  

In addition, Victoria heads for the polls on November 24.  So this is a time for hard work and activity and making known the environmental needs of Victoria.  Water is high on the list - water for the environment. Government making good and enlightened decisions about water - instead of the mish-mash of political opportunism that has seen the mismanagement of water in Victoria for far too long.

Amelia and Trier in action.  Response was great.  Thank you, Blackburn!

After the hand-outs on the coming and going sides of Blackburn Railway Station in competition with former Mitcham MP and current Liberal Candidate, Phil Barrresi, it was over to Tony Robinson's conveniently situated office where the drivers of Blackburn pleased us greatly with their honking support.  We wish Tony could please us as well as his constituents do with some responsive and responsible action both in his electorate and with his parliamentary colleagues on water and environmental matters.  

Miss Eagle with the "I care"  bubble

And then it was off to City Square, to do my bit to assist in the promotion of the Walk Against Warming.  EV put a whole new slant on the publicity and we attracted the ABC, Channel 9, The Age and a wire service.  So be watching.  The star of the show was five and half (I'm nearly six, you know) Finlay.  The camera personnel loved him and he performed accordingly.  We are considering looking for a manager for him now. And here we are......

All in all - a fun and rewarding day.

Let's hope it contributes to putting the environment and climate change

on a better course.

See you all at the Walk on Warming.

You can do it in the Melbourne CBD.

You can do it in the seat of Mitcham.

You can do it in the seat of La Trobe. 

Just click this link.

PS: Thursday morning.  Over at ABC Environment they have this beaut picture of our Finlay:

Go here for the original picture and story
and we are on Flickr too...

DAVID ROVICS IN MELBOURNE : CATCH HIM IN WONTHAGGI

David Rovics - Songs of Social Significance - Australian Tour

Wonthaggi - August 5 - for Watershed Victoria
More info: Jessica 0407307231


...........AND IN MELBOURNE..........

David Rovics with Support from James Henry (triple J unearthed winner)
Ben Fuller and Brendan Mcgloin
Tuesday 3rd August 8pm
Bella Union Bar Trades Hall, 
Cnr Victoria and Lygon Sts Carlton

Great event last night.  

Appreciative crowd.  

Pictures below.  

David Rovics performing

supported by

Mark Doggett and Ben Fuller

and

James Henry

(laughed myself to bits at his songs)

Have a listen at http://www.davidrovics.com/
James Henry(Triple J Unearthed winner)
http://www.myspace.com/jameshenry1979
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=140193979332567&ref=ts

Behind the Barricades: Best of David Rovics

Halliburton Boardroom Massacre


Return

Songs for Mahmud


Living in These Times

ANTI INTERVENTION DEMONSTRATION AT ELTHAM : SUPPORT THE MELBOURNE ANTI INTERVENTION COLLECTIVE

From the MAIC

Melbourne Anti Intervention Collective

The word came through late on Friday night.  Next morning, there was to be a demonstration against The Intervention because Jenny Macklin would be at Eltham Square, the piazza-style cafe precinct next to the shopping precinct in Eltham.

I had to get up in the morning and get the wherewithal for a placard.  Didn't want to go without one. So had to go up to the newsagent for the cardboard and etceteras.  Above is the ever so humble finished product.  When I got there, those stalwarts Keith and Cheryl were already there sitting politely on a bench in the central part of the square with their placards.

The Greens were there with a table full of related material.

James Searle, The Greens State candidate for Eltham was on deck, too.

And the star of the event was Oliver.

Oliver is a protest hip-hop artist

who writes his own material.

Although wheelchair bound he is highly energetic.

He was a great success.

I arrive a little late and was told that Jenny Macklin had been there early with a table of stuff.  However, when she saw the company she was among, she moved.  Sometime later I spotted Jenny Macklin and spoke to her.  I told her that I used to work for a Labor Member of Parliament.  "Oh, yes" Jenny Macklin said, "I know her." I then asked Jenny what she was doing to try to get back the $35 million of taxpayer funds wasted by the New Future Alliance in the Northern Territory. You can read more about it here.

Jenny's lips clamped shut and she sped off leaving me to wonder why a Labor party minister cannot converse with a Labor voting citizen about such a policy.  Are we living in Joe Stalin's Russia?  Do cabinet ministers' loose lips sink policy ships?  And I wondered whether this is how Jenny saw herself all those years ago when she set out on her political career.  I recall a time when we were proud of Jenny.  She was in Opposition acquitting herself well with an assortment of scalps on her belt.

What more can I say, Networkers?  Plenty, to be sure.  But I don't want to.  I am saddened, possibly disgusted by all this.  In the Northern Territory, people who were never consulted about the depth and breadth of the impact of The Intervention are suffering and denied the right to be treated as the majority of citizens are treated in Australia.  They are denied autonomy and self-determination in regard to the most basic activities of daily life.  

All that is left to say is:  Who will stop the NT Intervention? 

 Please join us in trying to do something about this.  

We do need your help.  See the details below.

Federal Election 2010:

Who Will Stop the NT Intervention?

Speakers:

Richard Di Natale (candidate for The Greens)

Sharon Firebrace (candidate for Socialist Alliance)

David Glanz (Melbourne Anti-Intervention Collective)

Plus a representative from the labour movement TBA.

Monday, 6:30pm

9th August 2010

Trades Hall

cnr Victoria and Lygon Streets

Carlton South

It will take more than voting to get rid of the NT Intervention. 

Even if the Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate 

it will still require the power of grassroots movements, 

such as the land rights movement of the 1970s 

to win real Aboriginal rights.

It is no surprise that Tony Abbott is 100% committed

 to the failed policies of the NT Intervention. 

If he is elected he will

extend the racist Intervention that his party brought in.

Gillard’s Labor government supported the implementation

 of the Intervention under Howard and 

have entrenched Intervention policies—

Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations rings very hollow.

The Greens are the only party with members in parliament 

who have consistently opposed the Intervention. 

It would be good if the Greens increase their vote in this election, 

and if Labor remains in power rather than Abbott. 

This will demonstrate a clear vote against 

the continuation of racist policies like the NT Intervention. 

We encourage you to join us in discussion about what we can do

  to take a stand against this latest attack on Aboriginal rights.

Melbourne Anti-Intervention Collective (MAIC) meets 

every Monday, 6:30pm at the New International Bookshop. 

The bookshop is located in the basement of the Trades Hall 

building located on the corner of Lygon and Victoria Streets 

in South Carlton. All welcome!

www.maicollective.blogspot.com 

Find us on Facebook:

‘Melbourne Anti Intervention Collective’

Self Determination NOW!

Jobs With Justice

 Land Rights, Not Leases

Basic Rights, Not Basic Cards

BOYCOTTING ISRAELI GOODS MADE IN PALESTINE : SOME PALESTINIANS ARE CHRISTIANS : DEAD SEA DEGRADATION

The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) is asking its members to consider boycotting goods produced by Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  Australia has a strong and proud history in relation to boycotts, most notably with the boycott of South African goods (remember the Birds Eye Fish Fingers campaign!) and sporting boycotts.  These two factors alone made significant contributions to the downfall of apartheid in South Africa.  

The NCCA is asking us to reflect on the situation in Palestine and the Occupied Territories.  Many Palestinians are Christians - and some from the most ancient of Christian communities - yet we tend to lump all Palestinians together as troublesome, Israeli-killing, suicide bombing Moslems.  And is it any wonder!  Israelis and so many among the Jewish diaspora would want us to believe this.

Just look at the second part of this article!  

I think it is time for many in the Jewish community to remember the adage that if you want friends you have to act like a friend.  I know there are Jewish people in Israel who think like me and I actually know a couple.  And they do act in friendship with the Palestinians in so many ways.  

So many people seem to forget the Christian connection to Palestine.  For instance, back in 2003, when Dr Hanan Ashrawi was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize, Frank Lowy - on behalf of the Jewish community - rang Bob Carr, then Premier of NSW and one of the decision makers of the Sydney Peace Prize, to seek the withdrawal of the award to Dr Ashrawi.  Needless to say, Lowy did not succeed.  But the hide - the very hide - both of the Jewish community and Lowy himself!  BTW, it is said that the softest thing about Lowy is the enamel on his teeth.  

And the Christians in Australian were of precious little help.  Because, Networkers, not only is Dr Ashrawi a Christian, she is a staunch Anglican and, it seemed, that this did not dawn on the Anglican Church in Sydney until some time later.  That is how good the majority of Australian Christians have been in their relationships with Palestine and Palestinian Christians.

It may be difficult to identify products that could be targets for boycotts, but the Dead Sea cosmetics are familiar to Australians living in Melbourne.  The sales and promotional people for these products frequently accost us in shopping malls.

And since the Dead Sea entered into the conversation, I want to point out what is actually happening to the Dead Sea.  For the last fifty years, at least, we have been told how the Jewish people have made the desert bloom in Israel.  Australian farmers have been among those who have copied some of the Israeli irrigation techniques.  However, Israel, it seems, is no more environmentally conscious than the rest of us - in spite of propaganda.  The evidence of this is in what has happened and is happening to the Dead Sea.  It is a mess.

There are, you may be pleased to hear, Israelis working to make everyone aware of this situation and working to fix this dreadful and significant degradation.  So, in the spirit of "to have friends, be a friend", please go to the Save our Sea website and join the Save our Sea Facebook campaign and follow the campaign on Twitter.

Further reading:

NCCA Passes Resolution for Peace in Palestine

Act for Peace website

Israel to expel 400 children

HYPOTHERMIA AND HEARTBREAK: SUFFERING AND VOYEURISM AT DANDENONG POLICE STATION

This word scares the living daylights out of me -

ever since the events of 18 September 2009.

When I - and a lot of others - thought about hypothermia,

we thought of a scene like this...

Who would think it possible to get the first symptoms

sitting, singing and chatting with a group of people

around this...

But that is what happened to me one September evening

on a property 15 minutes out of Bungendore, near Canberra.

I thought I was going to die.  So did my friends.  The paramedics were called. I am a diabetic and, when told of this, the paramedics believed my symptoms were consistent with a hypoglycaemic attack.  They gave me an injection and sweet stuff out of a tube and I began to come around - although I felt I had been run over by the No. 10 bus.  Next morning, I went to the GP in Bungendore.  He checked for everything - and everything was OK.  He also became the first in a line of medicos to tell me that, whatever it was, it could not have been a hypoglycaemic attack because that was impossible due to the medication I was on. IT NEVER HAPPENS, they all said.

Eventually, a specialist diagnosed hypothermia with a great deal of certainty - even though she wasn't present at the time.  I have come across two cold climate people who, when I tell them the story and the symptoms, nod knowingly when hearing of the hypothermia diagnosis.  So there you are.  Since coming from the tropics to live in Melbourne six years ago, I have never acclimatised to the cold and its - more likely than not -accompanying gloom.  Now, since the events of last year, I am terrified of the cold and of being cold.  Absolutely, appallingly, horrifyingly terrified.

So please imagine my horror and my heartfelt empathy when I read this story in The Age to-day relating to hypothermia and a man who had been held in police custody in Dandenong and then chucked out into outer darkness where there was nothing but the gnashing of voyeuristic police teeth.  

Who were the police who looked on so callously at the suffering of this man?  Blood relatives of the guards in Nazi concentration camps? Had they been trained in Abu Ghraib?  Clearly, they have flunked Human Rights 101.  Clearly, they should get due process and procedural fairness - and then be sacked.  Not demoted, sacked. 

They should be sent to where bad policemen and policewomen go

 and from where they can never return ever to harm or hate people again.

Related Reading:

Hypothermia Frostbite And Other Cold Injuries: Prevention, Recognition, Rescue, and Treatment

Hypothermia - Wikipedia entry
Interpreter hails probe into death

Related articles by Zemanta

• What is Hypothermia (Low Core Body Temperature)? Signs & Symptoms (healthhype.com)

THE DINGOES BACK ON TRACK : MISS EAGLE CUDDLES A DINGO

The Dingoes are back on track with their Tracks tour doing the rounds this month.  Check here for dates of their gigs.  However, for the Saturday gig on 7 August, please do some double checking.  Dingoes are listed for Meeninyan but a woman called ABC Radio 774 and told Red Symons this morning that a sign was seen in Ruby's at Belgrave last night that The Dingoes will be there.  Ruby's site doesn't say.  Last minute change of plans???  Better check before deciding or traipsing all the way to Meeninyan to find Belgrave would have been the better choice.

Miss Eagle 

snuggling with Barrowless Boy

- one beautiful domesticated dingo

Miss Eagle - and a few others - were over at Eltham on Saturday for a snap demo against the Northern Territory Intervention and Jenny Macklin who we had been told would be campaigning in Eltham Square

Enjoying relaxed refreshment in Eltham Square

was Julie Fechner of Dingo Care Network

with Barrowless and Shiralee.

I had heard about these people and their dingoes over at Eltham and the controversies surrounding Australia's own native dog so I got into conversation with Julie.  I asked if I could take Julie's photograph and she agreed.  She then insisted that she take one of me.  I was most reluctant since the dog didn't know me.  I was a stranger.  But that was no problem as you can see.  Beautiful, beautiful animals.  And as you can see, Julie and friends do a lot of work to restore confidence in the the beauty and value of the dingo.  

Related reading and listening:

Tracks

Dingo (Australian Natural History series)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Can Australia save the dingo from extinction? (scientificamerican.com)
• Protesters defend Fraser Island dingoes (news.theage.com.au)
• Island dingoes in healthy numbers (news.theage.com.au)

STOP POLLUTION : REPLACE HAZELWOOD

Organising meeting for 10/10/10 International Day of Climate Action  

MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE PROTEST AT 

HAZELWOOD POWER STATION

If you live in Melbourne and 

would like to help with the organisation, 

please come to the meetings.  

Organised by the Switch Off Hazelwood Collective

Info & updates:

http://www.switchoffhazelwood.org

join our group on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136204136410082

RSVP re protest: 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103681089687392

Contact Shaun for more details: 

0402 337 077