Full text of Australia’s apology to The Stolen Generations

update: ABC’s official “apology pages” here.

It’s a bloody good piece of writing, it’s long overdue, and perhaps it’s also one big step closer to our nation eventually saying Thankyou. We wouldn’t be who we are as a culture without the influence of Aboriginal peoples and nations from the moment modern Australia insisted on being born of blood. I think that this action tomorrow by Kevin Rudd will ultimately have greater positive effect on the domestic relationships and politics within Australia than ratifying Kyoto has had on our international relationships. Tomorrow will be a real beginning and much more than the token gesture that some would like to reduce it to.

Brendan Nelson is an utter spoogemop, while Kevin Rudd has balls the size of a goat’s head. Oh yeah, the text –

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations – this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Check out the coverage at National Indigenous Times, as well as the excellent pre-Sorry Day coverage on the February 12 edition of the 7:30 Report

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The Washington Post is a piece of $h!t, but these are pretty funny…

  If you too are a fan of English as a language that evolves, rather than waiting for dictionaries and frustrated language teachers and newspaper editors to determine what is or is not a word which can legitimately be used to convey meaning, you’ll dig these too. Seriously, I wouldn’t give The Washington Post to a puppy to crap on. Actually… that’s probably the one situation where The Washington Post is the paper of choice. Point being, these are pretty good. 8. might just be my favourite, although 13 and 15 are definitely contenders. Anyway…

The Washington Post’s Mensa Invitational asked readers to take any
word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing
one letter, and supply a new definition.

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the
subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who’s both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the
person who doesn’t get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It’s when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, and then the Earth explodes, and it’s a serious bummer.
13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you
14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

The Story of Stuff!!!!!

You’ve got to give it to Counterpunch – when it’s good, it’s really, really good. This article by Robert Weissman just sent me headlong into a whole world of fresh juicy goodness.

Annie, who is a former colleague and good friend, casually mentions at the start of The Story of Stuff that she spent 10 years traveling the world to explore how stuff is made and discarded. This doesn’t begin to explain her first-hand experience. There aren’t many people who race from international airports to visit trash dumps. Annie does. In travels to three dozen countries, she has visited garbage dumps, infiltrated toxic factories, worked with ragpickers and received death threats for her investigative work. Her understanding of the externalized violence of the corporate consumer economy comes from direct observation and experience.

You may remember the wonderful piece of animated activism, The Meatrix. If you don’t, do check it out – highly worthy. Anyway, Free Range Studios – who produced The Meatrix – have now produced The Story of Stuff which basically maps out consumption culture from the mining of minerals to the incineration of consumables.

This bit of video is just a promo – for a download of the full piece, head to the SoS website, or drop by their blog and watch it grow.

So you’ve just caught crabs for the first time….

Escape claws

A TFF reader swears this is true. His son’s friend had just hauled up a mud crab from one of the canals at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast last week, when he was approached by a Fisheries inspector.”You’re copped, mate,” the inspector said. “That is a female crab and it is a protected species. There is a hefty fine for catching one of those.”

“But I haven’t caught it, I have simply retrieved it.”

“What do you mean, you’ve retrieved it ?”

“Well, this crab is my pet and every now and again I bring it down to the canal for a swim.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes, I let it go, it swims around for a bit and then comes back to me and I take it home. Look, I’ll show you.” And with that, the guy picks up the crab, places it into the water and issues an instruction to take a short swim and hurry back. The officer watches, bewildered.

“When will it come back ?” he asks.

“When will what come back?” the guy responds.

had to pinch this from Peter FitzSimons’ page because it’s too good to not share.

HOLY CRAP!!! Journo attacks candidate, but in the flesh for a change + yet another COALition flyer scam.

Oh Lordy!!! This is too good. This post is kind of an update – check this earlier post for background. Rupert Murdoch’s red-cordial-nightmare Caroline Overington screamed abuse at Labor Party candidate for Wentworth, George Newhouse just over an hour ago.

With her skill for making a clumsy scene, she made sure to not only do this in front of a lot of people, but at a polling location..

“At first we thought who was this woman yelling at Newhouse, then she slapped him and we realised it was Caroline Overington,” the witness said.

She was obviously just following the Electoral Commission’s guidance – mark one box above the line, all the boxes below the line, or attack the candidate in person just to make sure that everyone knows how highly News Limited prizes quality journalism.

Actually, perhaps it is a News Limited ploy. Let’s face it – that last minute poll they ran which put the Liberals closer to winning than in any other poll this year probably wouldn’t have hurt their sales. And now they can run the Sunday headline “Bugger the election results – read today’s Slappy Bitch Psycho column!! Exclusive!!”

just in –> Not wanting to miss out on the last minute negative publicity, Queensland Liberals have made sure to get caught up in another deceptive how-to-vote flyer scam. Nationally, that’s the third reported for the Liberals this week, proving that they are indeed the party of private enterprise.

How they do business at The Australian?

Check out this story – a senior journalist at The Austra-lyin’ wrote emails to independent Wentworth candidate Dani Ecuyer urging her to preference Malcolm Turnbull – her rival, and one of the key people for Australia’s sabotage of climate change action and for the approval of Gunns’ pulp mill project in Tassie. Turnbull is essentially the antithesis of everything Ecuyer is running in support of, and yet,

She has released an email exchange with The Australian newspaper journalist Caroline Overington, in which the reporter writes “Please preference Malcolm. It would be such a good front page story.”

Even on Star Trek where oversexed humans zapped around space at light speed with photon torpedoes and influenza, the crew knew they weren’t meant to influence the paths of other cultures. Here’s a senior writer for a paper which funds massive advertising b.s. about how awesome it is, asking a pro-environment candidate in what has become a very marginal seat to help return the Liberal anti-environment candidate.

Media Watch, the unique Australian show which guarantees the host a very limited number of journalistic career options for at least five years, has provided a deadly bit of coverage here chronicling the entire sage of communications to and about Ecuyer by the dark forces of  News Limited.

Hilariously, both Caroline Overington – the ‘journalist’ in question – and Chris Mitchell – editor-in-chief at The Australian – are claiming that the whole thing was just part of a friendly joke between girls. Seems like the same kind of contempt which they express for the nation’s collective intelligence each and every day.

Proof that Climate Change skeptics…

… and Reuters news service are douchebags.

How great is this story : Hoax bacteria study tricks climate skeptics!!

Some utter legends went to the effort of setting up this fake website for the non-existent “Journal of Geoclimatic Studies”. They published this report which details how ocean bacteria emit more than 300 times the carbon dioxide produced by human activities and that therefore man-made global warming is a myth.

Of course, it’s possible that the ‘creators’ were seeking to further fuel the pro-skepticism propaganda leech-pit, but I can’t help thinking that this profound introduction was written with tongue-in-cheek and middle finger raised high:

We have also taken the unprecedented step of making the paper freely available on our website: something we have been reluctant to do in the past because of our severe budgetary constraints. We hope that even if the paper is dismissed and ignored by those who subscribe to the “consensus” position on climate change, the truth will eventually seep out. We accept that this is not the best route for scientific discourse to take, but none better appears to be available. We publish in trepidation, but in the knowledge that it is the right thing to do.

That intro + context = cheeky satirical genius!

Climate skeptics jumped on the report as the ultimate vindication, the smoking gun, the undeniable proof – one emailed the report to 2000 contacts proclaiming as much. Stupid bloody greenies, trying to save trees and radically alter the future of human progress when all they really need to do is kill the oceans (more than we have already, of course).

Only thing is that, yes, it’s a prank. But it’s a constructive prank from which people should gain wisdom and insight, as opposed to the destructive hoax still being played out by ignorant knuckle-monkeys like James Inhofe. Doubt, profiteering and delay continue to be the real hoax.

Somehow, though, Reuters frames this outstanding piece of activism as an affront to climate skeptics. A more appropriate title would have been “Hoax bacteria study proves that climate skeptics are f#$&ing tools, period“.

Stephen Colbert (coal Bear) to run for President!!!

Why? Well, in his own words, “it’s clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative.”

Good luck Stephen – go hard. And take comfort from our experience in Australia, where a candidate satirising the right-wing incumbent is proving consistently and reassuringly popular. I know that it must have come as a blow when The Convenientest Truth missed both the Oscar and the Nobel prizes but hey – the Presidency? As third prizes go, that’s better than what you picked up in the egg-and-spoon race for ‘special children’ at home economics day. You remember.

But hang on a minute. A fork in the road? Capitalized? So that it’s A Fork in the Road? You jammy bastard Coal Bear!? You’ve already pilfered the Australian campaign!

Coming soon: Sean Penn & PETA….

That’s right – it’s all been a bit dire and heavy here lately, what with Johnny Howard’s master plan grinding into effect and huge chunks of biodiversity literally due to be flushed down the toilet. BLAAAAARGH!!!!!!

So just letting you know – if you’re interested, of course – to check back in here in the next day or so.

You’ll find a review of the brand spanking new film Into The Wild. Personally, I don’t much care for hype like “oooh, Oscars” – BUT, as a way to easily convey meaning, this is an Oscar+ movie. Really mindblowing film of rich depth, insight atypical of American cinema, and a durability likely to ensure its status as a future classic. Do come back and read more Friday.

Also coming up – an interview with Dan Mathews, Vice President of PETA and author of the freshly released (and compulsively readable) Committed: a rabble-rouser’s memoir. For animal-lovers, activists, queens, readers, writers, popstars, supporters & all people easily pissed by perspectives that don’t fit their world view there’ll be plenty of juicy goodness in the 40-minute transcript when it goes online by early next week.

$500 to mock Little Johnny – what’s the catch?

MEDIA RELEASE – October 14 2007
From: “Don’t Look Gallery”
Subject: Tell Little Johnny where 2go, win $500! (or donate some extra $$$ to the prize pool and make the competition scarily well-cashed-up!)

Don’t Look Gallery presents Short, Sharp and Funny!

Create a short film making fun of John Howard, put it up on YouTube
and be in the running for $500!

Don’t Look Gallery wants to see the back of Little Johnny and thinks
that Australia’s arts community is in a great position to put the boot
in. To be eligible for the prize money, make a short movie (between 30
seconds and 5 minutes) poking fun at Australia’s worst Prime Minister,
pop it up on YouTube, and then get the website address listed on five
other websites (to show that you’re getting the message out).
Send an email to dontlookgallery[at]gmail.com with the above info by
November 17 and you could win $500 and take an active role in showing
Mr. Mean&Tricky the door!

Please email this to anyone/everyone who might be interested (put it
on lists, your myspace/facebook whatever) and help get the word
out!

This competition will be judged by the Director of Don’t Look
Gallery, Greg Shapley.

Australian Department of Immigration – Kevin Andrews clarifies position on human rights

videos like this remind me why i made a whole category of “too good not to”

So glad this vid got pointed out to me. Creator, Dan Ilic, has a bunch of creatively deviated sproutlings just here.

<a href=”https://typingisnotactivism.wordpress.com/2007/10/13/australian-department-of-immigration-kevin-andrews-clarifies-position-on-human-rights/”><img src=”http://tinyurl.com/23828h&#8221; border=”0″/> <strong>Scoopit!</strong></a>

wwworldwide John Howard caption contest!!!

John Howard’s beloved Liberal Party had their website hacked by some freedom-loving web ninjas. EXCELLENT!!! The story’s here in Rupert’s always-aptly-titled News Limited, who have of course censored the ‘lewd’ message.

I’m guessing that John Howard says:

“I like to suck dick”. It would be cooler if it said “I like to suck dicks this big”, or “I once stuck my fist this far up a refugee,” or, best of all “I don’t care if a bloke sucks dicks this big, he and his partner should still have the same legal standing as everybody else”.

 

 

There are so many possible messages that would fit here. Please make your suggestions in the comments section and I promise to do something amazing with the best ones in the lead-up to our federal election.

Scoopit!

this One Blogpost for Burma.

Why a day of support briefly turning a bunch

of separated minds around the world

toward the Burmese people, crushed by

sudden and violent deadly oppressive force?

Check out Niknayman’s blog where he (she?) is somehow still managing to post very infrequently, from within Burma.

Read latest scattered and dwindling updates from within Burma HERE

Latest reports from within the regime indicate that thousands have already been killed and their bodies dumped.

The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: “Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.”

Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.

 

vid tribute by Angelina

And make sure to spend some time today at Ko-Htike’s blog, sending out all the pieces of info as he gathers them in London.

 

 

 

 

banner from Saffron Revolution Worldwide

If it’s your first visit, there’s a good collection of Burmese news links here, but please make sure to check in with the Free Burma online action and register your support for today’s blog-silence.

 

Alexander Downer is pube deficient – here’s proof

Well… he’s Minister for four an’ a half hairs isn’t he?

QUOTE OF THE CENTURY!!!

“A moment I’ve been dreading. George [Bush Sr] brought his ne’re-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I’ll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they’ll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work.”

                Ronald Reagan in his recently published diaries,May 17, 1986.

Charcoal God, thy name is Mr. Fish

File under sad-but-true, needed-to-be-said, and US-democracy-in-general

Direct communications from Burma.

Amazing to find a page on the BBC World Service hosting direct communications from people inside Burma. Personally I think that what is happening there right now is stunning and however it ends it is already the most sincere and realistic call for democracy heard on the planet this millennium, imho.

Here are two of the most recent comments – but the entire feature warrants reading. I fear it will soon be running stories of torture and tragedy.

We don’t know what will happen today, we are waiting to see how the situation develops. The junta announced that they will suppress the demonstrations whether by civilians or monks, anyone who disobeys their orders. We have suffered for a long time under the wicket junta. We are so afraid of them and cannot say what we think of feel. We respect our Buddhist monks very much. Our country has many natural resources but we are very poor. We are a disgrace in the whole world because of our rulers. But we hope for a golden future. We hope for the freedom of Aung San Su Kyi. Kyi, Rangoon

Today the city is quiet and people go to work as normal. There are lots of rumours, but for the time being everything is calm. People are anxious to see what’s going to happen. According to the government’s warnings, today could be a big day. China is key. The US have announced new sanctions, but this is nothing. Burmese people do not welcome them and do not care about them. They want help, not sanctions. If the US wants to make a change here, they should threaten that if China continues its support for the Burmese military, they won’t take part in the Olympics. Everything else is a joke. Michel, Rangoon

George Bush visits a school (again)

George Bush goes to a primary school to talk to the kids to get some PR. After his talk he offers question time.

One little boy puts up his hand.  George asks him his name.

” Stanley ,” responds the little boy.

“And what is your question, Stanley?”

“Actually, I have 4 questions:

First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN?

Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes?

Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?”

Fourth, why are we so worried about gay-marriage when ½ of all Americans
don’t have health insurance?

Just then, the bell rings for break. George Bush informs the kiddies that
they will continue after the break.

When they resume George says, “OK, where were we? Oh, that’s right, It’s
question time. Who has a question?”

A different little boy puts up his hand. George points him out and asks
him his name. “Little Sammy” he responds.

“And what is your question, Little Sammy?”

Actually Sir, I have 6 questions:

First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN?

Second, why are you president when Al Gore got more votes?
Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?

Fourth, why are we so worried about gay marriage when 1/2 of all
Americans don’t have health insurance?

Fifth, why did the break bell go off 20 minutes early?

And sixth, what the f**k happened to Stanley?”

Tassie Pulp Mill Video round up

Malcolm Turnbull(shit into action) was on Lateline tonight. Given that he received the independent report from chief scientist Jim Peacock today, Tony Jones asked him to dance the “what the report said” jig. Interesting. Very much so. Watch it here.

or stick around and check out this unbleached goodness…..

brief and to the point, and I reeeeeeally like the thought experiment at the end.

recently posted media exclusive featuring Paul Lennon and Gunns CEO John Gay speaking candidly with Tasmania’s youth. Features startling revelations about the Premier’s childhood and how it has effected his vision for Tasmania. Not to be missed.

new ad for Tasmania from Senator Christine Milne

one of many worthwhile mill-related addresses from he of huevos grandes, Greens Senator Bob Brown

a revealing interview with Paul Lennon. . . actually, it’s not that revealing. . . this just summarises what’s been in the papers all year – but does it bee-yoo-diffly.

wacky cute-weird Tasmanian pulp mill doco featuring Matt Damon…. seriously….. it’s Matt                  Damon.

Indigenous activist Adam Hill walks his chalk…

Pretty bloody impressive. . . even moreso for a first-timer. Here is Ausfailure National Tantrum by Adam Hill. Better still – read his story.

Ladies and Gentlemen… the 2007 Chalk the Walk ‘Ausfailure National Tantrum’.

by Adam Hill

A dear friend and ex University mate (Andi Meher) has been running this amazing street art competition for a couple of years now called ‘Chalk the Walk‘. I was persuaded to enter this year, and I must admit, having never created a ‘chalk’ pavement artwork before, was a little reluctant.

Bohemian Rhapsody in Lego

it’s been that kind of a day

Chomsky’s latest view around Iran.

Noam Chomsky’s latest writing on US foreign policy – Cold War II – is as eloquent, insightful, readable, and profoundly clarifying as ever. I actually got the urge to go info-seeking after reading this appalling new piece on Al Jazeera about how Mahmoud Ahmadinejadh is currently being denied permission to place a wreath at the WTC site in New York when he attends the UN next week. So Iran can help the US locate Al Qaeda operatives in the Middle East… but can’t lay flowers at a shrine? It’s as much about symbolic hypocrisy as the anti-abortionists who support war.
If you need a reason to take 20 minutes to properly digest the article, check out the following excerpt. If you really don’t have the time right now, please do yourself a favour and get clued up on this later. Either way – not to be missed, seriously.

Without irony, the Bush administration and the media charge that Iran is “meddling” in Iraq, otherwise presumably free from foreign interference. The evidence is partly technical. Do the serial numbers on the Improvised Explosive Devices really trace back to Iran? If so, does the leadership of Iran know about the IEDs, or only the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Settling the debate, the White House plans to brand the Revolutionary Guard as a “specially designated global terrorist” force, an unprecedented action against a national military branch, authorizing Washington to undertake a wide range of punitive actions. Watching in disbelief, much of the world asks whether the US military, invading and occupying Iran’s neighbors, might better merit this charge — or its Israeli client, now about to receive a huge increase in military aid to commemorate 40 years of harsh occupation and illegal settlement, and its fifth invasion of Lebanon a year ago.

It is instructive that Washington’s propaganda framework is reflexively accepted, apparently without notice, in US and other Western commentary and reporting, apart from the marginal fringe of what is called ‘the loony left.” What is considered “criticism” is skepticism as to whether all of Washington’s charges about Iranian aggression in Iraq are true. It might be an interesting research project to see how closely the propaganda of Russia, Nazi Germany, and other aggressors and occupiers matched the standards of today’s liberal press and commentators..

The comparisons are of course unfair. Unlike German and Russian occupiers, American forces are in Iraq by right, on the principle, too obvious even to enunciate, that the US owns the world. Therefore, as a matter of elementary logic, the US cannot invade and occupy another country. The US can only defend and liberate others. No other category exists. Predecessors, including the most monstrous, have commonly sworn by the same principle, but again there is an obvious difference: they were Wrong, and we are Right. QED.

Must Play Loud

  – the original video –

– the fatter audio –

– richie hawtin rework –

serious whale story on the way – hang in there

😉

Cuaron & Klein – The Shock Doctrine (video)

for a lavish web-based research resource with continued informational expandiness, go to The Shock Doctrine online, for more of Naomi Klein’s bombastic writing and associated coverage hit her homepage at NaomiKlein.org or for a page full of associated YouTubery go here.

Alfonso Cuaron, by the way, is the utter frickin geeeeenius who directed the utterly must-see Children Of Men.

A Special Thought For 9-11

meanwhile, across town…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The US Air Force would do better for all Americans and the remaining 6 billion UnAmericans if they were to bomb a ranch in Texas. . . after first evacuating Barney, of course.