March 2, 2012

A pretty cool timelapse thing of the new Cotter Dam during the recent deluge...

It's only half finished, but it's already 11 metres higher than the old and now demolished dam that used to stand just in front of it, which makes me wonder how the old dam would have stood up to it if it'd still been there....

March 1, 2012

Posthumous baptisms. Why they're offensive...

I was catching up on some reading in GD and saw some threads on it, and was bothered by a lot of the 'It's harmless religious symbolism' type sentiments I saw. From what I've read of this baptising people after they're dead, it appears to have been done predominately to Jews, and that the Mormon church was posthumously baptising Holocaust victims up until 1995 when they agreed to stop it....

I'm an atheist, and if I can see so clearly that it's an offensive and hurtful thing to do, I don't understand why there's people who don't see it. Sure, it's some religious thing and the people being baptised are long-dead and can't be hurt anymore, but that's not what it's about. It's the families who get hurt by it, because they're here to see their family member's memory being disrespected and abused. When I see people like Anne Frank and other Holocaust victims being targeted by this stuff, I see it as an attempt to try to strip away their identity as Jews...

When it comes to symbolic gestures towards Holocaust victims, one I'd point out as being the complete opposite in intent and effect than the insensitive ones I've read about lately is one I read about a few years ago (I think it was in a book by Tom Segev) where one of the first actions after the declaration of independence for Israel was the posthumous citizenship granted to Holocaust victims. The difference between those two aren't that the latter wasn't religious, it's that the latter was a powerful and moving gesture that would have given some comfort to relatives of those who died...

February 28, 2012

Don't Tell My Mother I'm In Iran...

I posted this in the I/P group a while back, and it got a bit buried. so I thought I'd post it again. It shows a Iran that I think many people don't see, plus an added bonus is Diego Bunuel is pretty damn easy on the eye, imo. The whole series is awesome, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants an insight into other countries that people might not know much about...

February 14, 2012

Bullying and swarming at DU...

Nadin posted something earlier on in this forum that made a reference to it, and being someone who's never been bullied either in real life or online, I have seen it aimed at others at DU. How do other DUers react when they see it happening? Me, I usually look at the swarm and think to myself they're really doing it tough when it comes to impressing people who are onlookers. Do people think it's acceptable and somehow not bullying if the target is someone who's not one of the popular kids? And what advice is best to give someone who's being bullied at DU? I don't use the ignore feature myself, but I'd suggest it as one way to get rid of the buzzing of the swarm, coz engaging them is going to have the same result as poking a nest of bees. I'd also suggest just turning off the computer and walking away for a while. The suggestions put the onus on the person who's being bullied, but I figure if there's no way of controlling a swarm, the wisest thing to do is control yr own experience....

February 11, 2012

Does anyone else like Sebadoh/Folk Implosion?

I'm stuck in the 90's right now and can't stop listening to them....

&feature=BFa&list=AVGxdCwVVULXdTFFffO4OJhAX_auWibWJ-&lf=list_related

February 9, 2012

Where is the Bedouin Intifada?

In 2004, Israeli officials were up in arms about an impending Bedouin Intifada. But the Bedouin didn’t rebel and now, despite plans to expel tens of thousands of them from their homes in the West Bank and the Negev, things remain relatively quiet. Why?

Thursday, February 9 2012|Mya Guarnieri

As Israel steps up its expansionist policies both inside and outside the Green Line, the Bedouin community has come under particularly intense pressure.

Inside Israel, the state seeks to Judaize the Negev (Naqab) desert. This “development” includes last year’s Prawer plan, which recommends that Israel relocate between 30,000 and 40,000 Bedouin citizens, ripping them from their villages and sticking them in impoverished townships, to clear the area for Jewish-only settlements.

After the Israeli cabinet passed the Prawer plan in September 2011, Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel likened it to “a declaration of war.”

Al Arakib could be considered an opening battle. The state first demolished the unrecognized village in July 2010—destroying homes and tearing olive trees from the ground to make way for a forest to be planted by the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF). After the Bedouin residents of Al Arakib rebuilt their village, Israeli forces returned and destroyed it again. Since then, Al Arakib has been demolished and rebuilt over 30 times.

Israel’s policies are just as inhumane on the other side of the Green Line, where the so-called “Civil Administration” seeks to remove 27,000 Bedouin from Area C in order to expand illegal Israeli settlements. The Civil Administration’s plans will be carried out over the next three to six years.


http://972mag.com/where-is-the-bedouin-intifada/35017/

February 3, 2012

Westpac staff brace for more pain

I'm betting Westpac will be the first of the big four not to pass next Tuesday's expected RBA rate cut. Banks bleating about higher funding costs really annoy me

Westpac employees are bracing for the loss of as many as triple the number of job losses already announced this week as the bank adjusts to a weak economy and higher funding costs.

BusinessDay understands that as many as 1500 more positions could be at risk, adding to the cuts of 560 announced yesterday.

Westpac denied that large-scale job cut announcements are in the works. "That information is speculative and incorrect," a spokesman said.

The bank said that yesterday's disclosure would be "the most significant for this year".

"For some time now we have said that staff numbers will be less by the end of the year as we adjust to a slower growth banking environment," Westpac media relations manager Supreet Gosal said.

However, BusinessDay understands staff have been asked to document their daily activities and achievements on a fortnightly basis so that management can identify priorities for retrenchments.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/westpac-staff-brace-for-more-pain-20120203-1qwxc.html#ixzz1lK2E3TEQ

January 28, 2012

MK on settler outposts: No civilized country demolishes homes

Oh, the irony...

This week, national-religious MK Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) was interviewed on an Israeli news show called London & Kirschenbaum about his proposal for a bill to legalize illegal settler outposts in the West Bank (yes, you read correctly – to make legal what is illegal). The private bill, which has been tabled due to the Prime Minister’s objection, would bar the state from demolishing and evacuating settler outposts in the West Bank that have been around for four years and have at least twenty families living in them.

One such outpost is Migron, which has been the center of controversy in the news in recent days as the government has once again demonstrated its pro-settler agenda. The Supreme Court has ruled the outpost must be demolished by March 2012, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has circumvented the decision by reaching an agreement with the settlers to move their illegal outpost two kilometers over and turn where they live now into a farm. Peace Now has an informative report on the Migron situation which can be found here.

So getting back to MK Orlev: In his interview, he defended the bill with the argument that (paraphrasing from the Hebrew): families who moved to the West Bank in good will and with government support cannot be evacuated from their homes because no civilized country in the world has a policy of house demolitions.

http://972mag.com/mk-on-settler-outposts-no-civilized-country-demolishes-homes/33947/

January 26, 2012

Protesters mob PM

Police have had to rescue the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader after they were trapped in the Lobby Restaurant by angry Tent Embassy protesters.

About 200 people surrounded the restaurant, which is near the Tent Embassy, banging on the glass sides and chanting "shame" and "racist".

They kept Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott trapped in the building near Old Parliament House for up to half an hour this afternoon before a large contingent of police forcibly escorted the political leaders through a side door to a waiting car.

Protesters chased their car down the road, banging on its roof and bonnet.

The ABC is reporting that police will investigate footage of the event.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/protesters-mob-pm/2433902.aspx

And here's why it happened...

Comments by federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that perhaps it was time for the Aboriginal tent embassy to move on triggered a protest that trapped him and Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a Canberra restaurant.

About 200 protesters ran from the tent embassy, where 40th anniversary celebrations were under way, to the nearby Lobby restaurant in Canberra after learning Mr Abbott was giving a speech there.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abbott-comments-trigger-restaurant-siege-20120126-1qj0v.html

January 24, 2012

UK raises concerns over Israel's treatment of Palestinian children

The British government has raised concerns about Israel's treatment of Palestinian minors arrested and interrogated for stone-throwing and other crimes, highlighted in an article in the Guardian.

Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, urged Israel to address the UK government's concerns when on a visit to the country a fortnight ago.

Burt told the Guardian he had "raised concerns about the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention. I urged the Israeli government to address these concerns."

Burt was also asked in the House of Commons last week about the issue of solitary confinement for Palestinian minors. Labour MP Sandra Osborne called on the government to condemn the practice and demand the release of 106 children detained in the Israeli military prison system.

In response, Burt referred to an earlier statement in which he said the practice of shackling children was wrong. Minors are routinely shackled throughout court hearings in the Israeli military justice system.

Osborne told the Guardian Israel's treatment of Palestinian minors was "unjustified in the context of human rights". She had been appalled and distressed on visits to the Israeli military juvenile court at Ofer, near Jerusalem. "No civilised democracy should treat children in that way," she said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/23/uk-concerns-israels-treatment-palestinian-children