Hello,
I was listening to Radio National's Saturday Extra this morning and heard a fabulous interview with Geraldine Douge interviewing Lea Jellinek Cultural anthropologist and Research Associate at Monash Asia Institute, Monash University.
The topic is:
Recycling in a Javanese Village
and the brief synopsis is:


Plastic waste is choking the rivers, drains and rice fields of Java, Indonesia. The air is grey with the smoke of burning rubbish. In Jogyakarta, simple and appropriate technology combined with good leadership and community involvement, has encouraged a village of 800 people to separate and recycle their rubbish and re-green their community. This program is now spreading to other urban villages in Indonesia.

It is such an optimistic and heroic story that I wanted to make an audio blog of it, but after much mucking around, found that audio blogging is not yet available outside of the USA.

So the best I could do is provide a link to the podcast.
Here it is: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/saturday/

Unfortunately the five stories of the day are in one file. So - If you would like to listen it would be best to download the whole lot (rather than stream it).
Then use your media player slide to find the appropriate audio file. (The last one on the following list)

Just to avoid confusion, here's what the linked page will look like:-

Saturday 29 April 2006 Listen Real Media 7.30am 8.05amWindows Media 7.30am 8.05am Download MP3: 8.05-9.00 Podcast Help
07:30 Egypt Update
07:48 Interest Rate Conundrums
08:06 The Longest Decade
08:26 Boutique Funds
08:39 Recycling in a Javanese Village

The world being in the moral and environmental mess that it's in, I found it a real "feelgood" story.
Here's the link again: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/saturday/

Signing off now already,
Ta-ra
Paul

Open mic, Pte Jake Kovco, Letters, Cartoons

Last night I played guitar and sang at The Famous Blue Raincoat Cafe Bar in Yarraville. James Wakeling helped my out with some impressive accompaniament , licks and fills. I did about 4 or 5 songs. I think I did fairly well. Not too nervous either.
The cheese platter was delish. and the Chai Tea was lovely.

I've just come in from excercising in the park. And now it's time to do some serious blogging.
Here goes:

The prime minister has rejected claims by Pte Jake Kovco's widow that the army and the government had covered up over the circumstances surrounding his [Pte Kovco's] death."I can give her an assurance that there will be no cover up," Mr Howard said. (Pathological liar)

The government initially said Pte Kovco died when his gun discharged as he was cleaning it. It has since said the soldier was not cleaning the weapon when it accidentally discharged, but the details of exactly what happened remain unclear.
Under this Government things are never quite as they seem. Always some murkiness and secretiveness .

Jake's mother is an impressive woman. To hear her being interviewed over her son's death, click here, [click].

In my opinion, most of the letters to "The Age" today are very poignant.
Here are most of them. (Isn't it great, when you've got your own blog, you get to choose)


Sick comment belies what it is to be an Aussie
April 28, 2006

As a child I was called "wog", my parents before me "dago", my grandfather before them an "alien" who was locked up in an Australian internment camp during World War II. I was told to "go back to my country", when I was actually born here in Australia.
Now, the latest taunt by Hugh Morgan tells me I have a mental illness because I have dual citizenship ("Morgan rates dual citizens as 'bipolar' ", The Age , 27/4). And yet, my allegiances are staunchly to Australia. Little would he know. The truth of the matter is that it's a wonder we didn't get a mental illness from all the racist taunts we received as children and from all the challenges of straddling two cultures - which many of us did successfully, to our credit - without being scarred.
The real problem is in the way bigoted people view migrants: it's the look of the migrant's face that offends, not the number of citizenship papers they have (where was the advantage for Vivian Alvarez Solon in having Australian citizenship papers, when it was just the look of her face that had her deported?). And does Morgan honestly believe that scrapping dual citizenship automatically increases allegiance to Australia? I've heard more rational arguments from people with mental illness!
Citizenship is not one of the most important elements of personal identity. Take it from someone who's had personal experience in this. Cultural integration is one of the most important elements of personal identity. Mr Morgan should concentrate on developing the elements that contribute to cultural cohesion and not on the imposition of social and legal sanctions.
Take heart, Mr Morgan: monoculturalism is a curable disease. There's still hope for you and those who think like you.
Josie Cannizzo, Regent

None more dinky-di than my 'Yank' son
HUGH Morgan's comment that a person with dual citizenship had "at least the beginning of a bipolar disorder" is offensive and misinformed.
Our son was born in the US while my husband was posted there as a serving member of the Australian Army. At birth, he automatically became a US citizen and we also registered him as an Australian citizen. We have lived in Australia ever since and although our son, through circumstances beyond our and his control, has dual citizenship, he is a loyal and committed Aussie.
He has lived in many parts of Australia; has friendships spanning a multitude of wonderful cultures; enjoys bush camping with Aussie singalongs around the campfire; has trekked the outback and visited Aboriginal communities; adores our beautiful beaches; is a valued member of our local community; is a music buff and sports fan and has attended Anzac Day dawn services since he was a toddler.

This is what makes him an Aussie, not the certificate upon which his citizenship is printed.
Sarah Harris, Camberwell

When ignorance meets intolerance
IT IS most unfortunate that Hugh Morgan chose to expose both his ignorance of medicine and his intolerance of other nations when he compared dual citizenship with bipolar disorder in a speech at Deakin University this week (The Age, 27/4).

Yesterday, at the British consulate-general's office in Melbourne, I swore allegiance to the Queen and became a British citizen. I am now a proud holder of British and Australian citizenship and feel neither melancholy nor manic about this.

Only an introverted, ignorant person could believe that holding dual citizenship makes individuals disloyal to their country of residence or unable to embrace the cultural and political ideology of their chosen nations.

My husband is British and is planning to become an Australian citizen in due course. Our two-year-old daughter, born in England, holds British and Australian citizenship. We have families on both sides of the equator, and plan to move freely between Britain and Australia to live and work until we are unable to travel. We feel privileged to be in a position to do this.

I suggest that Mr Morgan researches the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) for the definition of bipolar disorder before his next public speech; he may also find the definition of delirium interesting reading.
Dr Beth Christian (emergency physician), Port Melbourne

Gratuitous insult
HOW disturbing to read that Hugh Morgan equates having dual passports to having bipolar disorder. Did he even bother to research bipolar disorder before coming out with his naive and insulting comparison?
Sufferers of bipolar disorder do not choose to have the condition, nor can they just give it back, whereas a person with dual passports can choose to hand them back any time.

In most cases bipolar disorder is a hereditary condition, not obvious in childhood, but manifesting itself in the late teens or 20s. The disorder can be managed with medication, counselling and social support.
However, one of the intrinsic problems of this disorder is a reluctance by the sufferers to seek appropriate help. So the sufferers, their families and friends lurch from crisis to crisis, in an emotionally and financially draining search for stability and happiness.

We live in hope, and sometimes hope is all we can cling to. Suicide is an ever-present risk.
How dare Mr Morgan use his high profile to trivialise bipolar disorder? Say what you mean, Hugh, that holders of dual passports are lacking in patriotism - but don't imagine that using mental illness as an insult has won you any friends.
Name and address withheld

A smart idea, if you're rich
JOHN Howard's proposed non-compulsory "smartcard" (The Age, 27/4) is a calculated attack on the privacy rights of the poor. The card is not compulsory, except in instances where a person requires government assistance - those who can't fend for themselves due to circumstances usually beyond their control.

The card will contain "biometric" information about the holder, at least a photograph, as well as personal details ordinarily considered the private business of the individual. Those who do not require government assistance (and those who would like it, but earn too much money) are not subject to this level of personal privacy compromise.

Mr Howard claims the card will save $2 billion-$3 billion in welfare fraud each year. Perhaps he should look at cutting back on the obscene levels of corporate welfare he has provided by means of subsidies of private health insurance and education. (What about Corporations, eg Mitsubishi)
Far greater savings will be made there, but Mr Howard has cast himself as some sort of bizarre Robin Hood - everything he does redirects public money from the poor into the hands of the rich.Fred Abery, Wheelers Hill

Attack on liberty
THE Howard Government's so-called "smartcard" is just a national ID card by default. When aligned with the anti-terrorist laws and the powers of our security and spy agencies, this card has enormous potential to invade our privacy and erode our civil liberties.
Mr Howard says the card isn't compulsory, (pathalogical liar) but there is the big con: just try accessing government services without one and see the run-around you receive from the public service acting on Government instruction.
Reject this ID card to be introduced by guile.
John Barry, Croydon

We're still the foreign aid meanies
YOUR headline "Overseas aid to double within 4 years" (The Age, 27/4) uncritically perpetuates Alexander Downer's misrepresentation of the Government's plans for aid. As Tim Colebatch's report makes clear, Australian aid this year is $2.5 billion and an increase to $4 billion in 2010 is likely to be a real increase of well under 40 per cent, rather than a doubling.

If this amounts to around 0.36 per cent of national income as is claimed, this would be only half the UN target of 0.7 per cent, and less than two-thirds of the European Union countries' commitment of 0.56 per cent of their national incomes to aid by 2010.
The OECD announced earlier this month that in 2005 Australian aid was barely half the national average of other donors: 0.25 per cent of national income compared with the average effort by all donors of 0.47 per cent.

The Government's plans will continue to keep Australia among the meanest donors.
This is disgraceful, given the strength of Australia's economic position, the budget surplus, the repayment of all Commonwealth Government debt, and the desperate needs of the sixth of humankind living in absolute poverty.
Our capacity to contribute more and the imperative for doing so are clear, as your editorial "Aiding or abetting Third World poverty?"
(The Age, 27/4) argues.John Langmore, national president, UN Association of Australia

And something less serious (or is it) : Dirt pills may help to ease kids' asthma: [click]

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's real speech.

Hullo,
I started out by pasting all the letters in "The Age" into this space, with the plan of deleting all but the best. after the deletions, here's the result.
Zilch.

I'll go and have a look at the opinion column and see if I can strike it luckier there.
Nope.

Never mind-To "The Australian"
OK That's better
Here's a couple of good cartoons.







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Would you like to read something a little bit deeper? - Consider the following:

Does Iran's President Want Israel Wiped Off The Map - Does He Deny The Holocaust?

An analysis of media rhetoric on its way to war against Iran - Commenting on the alleged statements of Iran's President Ahmadinejad .

Have a look at how Bush and some other Western leaders quote out of context and mis-translate what Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, to fit their own objectives.
(ie, to start another war)

It seems the 'New York Times' published Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's quote in full with a more accurate translation.
If you'd like to read more about it, go here:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12790.htm

Well, I've got to go rewind the tape and watch "The bold and the beautiful" now.
There, I've admitted it, ------ OK!
See ya'

Bolivian adventures

Good morning lovely people [and carminaburana, the first person that's actually in writing acknowledged my blog. (I feel better now)]
I received an email from friend Michael in Bolivia telling me he's newly posted to his blog, so guess what. I used up all my creative blogging time reading about his adventures.

So I'm going to just be a lazy old moron and give you the link, so you can enjoy his adventures too. (No use keeping all the good stuff to myself).
http://correspondienteboliviano.blogspot.com/

So now I'll sign off and go and indulge myself in some guitar practice.
Adios Amigos

Long Pole, Classic Sword and Politics

Another cool, clear and sunny Melbourne morning.
So what better to do than go outside and practice tai chi. Long pole and classic sword were the chosen activities this morning.
You know, I think tai chi has and is saving my life.
So anyway, after a lovely breakfast, it's time to have a little quality time with my blog.



Prime Minister John Howard has told a US newspaper there will be serious consequences for any of his ministers found to have known about the illegal payments to Iraq. [click].

I sincerely hope the moral midget will not be able to squirm out of his resposibilities over this affair. Upon searching for evidence of his and his co-horts involvement, I find that some of the newspaper articles are no longer available on line. Hmmmmmmmmmm, I dunno about that.
However, I at least found one on "News.com.au" that did at least provide some reasonable coverage. [click].

Having a look through my favorite archives, I came across this 3 minute video clip, "Lives in the balance", by Jackson Brown. I've linked it and I must quote it's finishing quote,"Every bullet represents a mouthful of food stolen from a hungry child. Here's the link: [click]

Hoo Roo
Paul.

Hello, I think the letters are particularly good today

Letters from "The Age" Tuesday April 25, 2006

Inspirational
Last year I attended an Anzac Day service in nearby Latrobe. It was the best I have ever attended, for two reasons. First, no politicians were allowed to address the gathering, so we were spared their self-serving, oft-repeated banalities; and second, the choice of a young lady from the local high school to give the main address was an inspired one.

The theme of this young lady's respectful but provocative address was that Australians have been killed in wars primarily because their leaders lied to them about why they were there. Her closing words, addressed to those in power and on behalf of her generation, were: "Please don't lie to us."

I have never heard a more moving or more relevant speech in more than 30 years of attending services around the world, including at Anzac Cove itself.
I fully support the concept of younger people marching and otherwise being involved in Anzac Day. The whole idea of the day is that we shouldn't condone such criminal stupidity in the future — and these young people are our future.
Lewis Winders, Sheffield, Tasmania
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Serving our country
Maxwell R. Hayes' bitter old man routine against the so-called "Generation Y" (Letters, 24/4) displays only hatred for young people and no insight as to why they are reluctant to join Australia's defence forces.

I have been involved in community work for many years and have volunteered in youth leadership and organisations such as Oxfam Australia. I have met many young volunteers in this time that care deeply about Australia and humanity in general and are willing to make sacrifices for their communities. What Mr Hayes needs to understand is that for many young people like myself, serving their country is best done through this community volunteer work rather than in the army. For me, the army does not represent national service, it represents violence and war. The army doesn't fight for freedom but for the political and business interests of those in power and their financial backers.

While there are many selfish people in my generation, as there are in generations before us, for many young people the invasion of Iraq showed how the Australian Defence Force could be used as the tool of the US in its quest for resources and political advantage. Why would young people choose to join the defence forces if they are used in this way?Pablo Brait, Malvern

More than a gameI love football. I hate the Anzac Day match. Not because it features Essendon and Collingwood, although that might be reason enough. I hate it because the stench of marketing opportunism suffocates any meaning that might be gleaned from a day that is all about war.
Those who believe that war is about making men of boys, or triumph in adversity, or, God help us, defining our nation's character, let them also remember at the going down of the sun and in the morning that war is about killing people — not just soldiers, but children too. It's about the wholesale rape of women. It's about millions upon millions of young men drowned in an ocean of mud, shredded alive by grenade shrapnel, or simply hacked apart by a hurricane of bullets as they stumbled "over the top".
There are acts of heroism in war, extraordinary courage displayed, camaraderie forged under fire, and sacrifices made. By all means, let us remember them. But these things occur in spite of war, not because of it. They are candle flames in a long, dark night of brutality.
Stephen Mitchell, Newham
---------------------------------------------
More than a game
I love football. I hate the Anzac Day match. Not because it features Essendon and Collingwood, although that might be reason enough. I hate it because the stench of marketing opportunism suffocates any meaning that might be gleaned from a day that is all about war.

Those who believe that war is about making men of boys, or triumph in adversity, or, God help us, defining our nation's character, let them also remember at the going down of the sun and in the morning that war is about killing people — not just soldiers, but children too. It's about the wholesale rape of women. It's about millions upon millions of young men drowned in an ocean of mud, shredded alive by grenade shrapnel, or simply hacked apart by a hurricane of bullets as they stumbled "over the top".

There are acts of heroism in war, extraordinary courage displayed, camaraderie forged under fire, and sacrifices made. By all means, let us remember them. But these things occur in spite of war, not because of it. They are candle flames in a long, dark night of brutality.
Stephen Mitchell, Newham
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A great win for all caring Australians
Congratulations to Petro Georgiou on his splendid win in the Kooyong preselection vote (The Age, 24/3). This is a win not just for Georgiou personally and not just for sane and "small-l liberals" within the Liberal Party, but for all thinking and caring Australians. His win will give heart to those of us who feel alienated because the values of the Howard Government are so radically different from the values that we hold dear.
Robin Rothfield, Fairfield
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Here's a nice heart warming piece by Phillip Adams:
Petro wins on principleBy standing up for refugees, this liberal has become a stronger, more symbolic figure in the Liberal Party, writes Phillip Adams
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18916260-12272,00.html

Bye for now

Michael in Bolivia; Cartoons

Friend Michael in Bolivia has set up a blog, so it looks like he probably won't be sending us emails any more. However, here's his blog address:

http://correspondienteboliviano.blogspot.com/

I think his writings are very entertaining and worth a read. If you're new to this blog, have a look through my archives and check his early ones.
Hi Michael, if you're reading this. How about posting a comment on one of my posts. (I havn't got one yet, goddamn)

I Thought I'd tip all my cartoons I've been saving into today's post. I'll go to the papers after this and see if there's any good new material around. (good being subjective, of course)

Good morning readers, (if there are any)

God I hate the car culture, and I hate politicians who pander to it. Also I don't like much criticizing the Bracks Government, but when I read that all speed camera locations are to be made public, it makes me mad.[click]

And on the same topic, our worst killer national roads are to have a $1 billion upgrade coutesy of the federal government. Well I say that there is no such thing as a "killer road". The killers are morons in their cars. [click]
Actually I did hear about a road killing people once. It was because of an earthquake and a big hole opened up. And it wasn't even in this country
I think that all governments should enforce responsible driving through technological means. eg, when a driver exceeds the speed limit by a certain amount or over a certain distance, his/her car should be disabled after a 2 minute warning.

Scary about Hurricane Monica, eh? Winds gusting up to 300kph, and it's heading for Darwin. [click]
I think it's time we all started acting like we actually care about our climate and the safety of our planet. Yeh, sure, we talk about it, but that's not enough.

There's precious little hope as long as we keep voting in a government that is in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry (and now starting to climb into the pocket of the uranium mining industry) and acting like vandals to the planet earth.

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Scanning the papers, I found these next two articles in different papers, but thought they should be linked together. Typical of human behavior: Kill your befefactor.
So read first, one, then the other.

Furry, cute and full of the milk of human kindness
By Orietta Guerrera, Rural ReporterApril 24, 2006

Melbourne researchers have stumbled across a compound in wallaby milk that is 100 times more effective than penicillin in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The team from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries was examining the ingredients of wallaby milk when it identified the super-potent compound, and its potential to combat bacteria and fungus including E. coli, streptococci, salmonella and golden staph.
Research team leader Ben Cocks said the discovery could have a profound impact on both animal and human health.
"We made the first observation a bit over a year ago, and since then we've got much more information about it, about how it's made, the range of bacteria that it's active against, and how potent it is," he said yesterday.
"And from a biological, evolutionary perspective it's very interesting because there's no equivalent in humans or in cows.
"It seems as if the placental mammals like humans and cows lost the gene for this anti-microbial."
Wallabies are born without a proper immune system and rely on the nutrients in their mother's milk until they begin to develop antibodies at 100 days old.
The scientists were researching the chemical properties of the breast milk of tammar wallabies at the department's research centre in Attwood to identify how their immune-deficient newborns built up resistance to bacteria while growing in the pouch.
They had hoped this research would lead to increasing the protein richness in cows' milk for consumers, but instead made the vital health discovery. Laboratory tests showed the compound was 100 times more potent than penicillin in attacking bacteria.
While the researchers have only tested the milk of tammar wallabies, Dr Cocks believes the bacteria-fighting compound will also be found in the milk of other wallabies and kangaroos.
He said the compound was relatively easy to commercially synthesise, but the next step was to examine whether the compound was safe for human use, and if so, whether it would be best applied intravenously, topically or orally.
The group has approached pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, hoping they will co-operate to develop the product. "This is all early stages," Dr Cocks said. "Even if someone picks it up, you're looking at six years plus."
Agriculture Minister Bob Cameron said yesterday: "We've taken a patent on that compound and DPI has been showing this to drug companies who have an interest in this because of the resistance to antibiotics, and obviously that's becoming a growing problem."


Exports of wallaby fur slammed
Ewin Hannan
April 24, 2006

WALLABY fur would be sold to European fashion markets under plans before the Howard Government to export thousands of skins from Tasmania.
Green groups vowed yesterday to fight the plan, saying Australians should be appalled the animal was being used in the "disgusting" fur trade.
Under the plan before the Environment Department, the skins of 30,000 wallabies killed each year in Tasmania would be exported for use in the fur trade.
Supporters of the proposal say almost all the skins are currently wasted because there is no viable domestic market.
Wallabies are currently killed and processed in Tasmania for human consumption and pet food under the control of the state's Meat Hygiene Act.
Pat O'Brien, president of the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, attacked the export plan. "The fur trade has always been a disgusting industry," he said. It's unnecessary. It just panders to a few very wealthy socialites."
Mr O'Brien said the federal Government had approved plans to export fur and meat from wallabies killed on King and Flinders islands. The association is trying to overturn the plan in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
According to the Tasmanian Government, Lenah Game Meats is the only Australian company licensed to "harvest" possums and wallabies. Wallaby meat is marketed to restaurants in Germany and France and the company's local menu includes marinated wallaby kebabs, salami and sausages.
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Lets have a look at some letters

Letters from the Age

Let's hear from those who fought
WITH another Anzac Day approaching, I suppose our Prime Minister - and, sadly, Leader of the Opposition - will be preparing themselves for yet another sanctimonious assault on the sentiments of average Australians whereby they try to associate themselves with the soldiers who fought the real battles. Again we will hear the often repeated rhetoric about the bravery and selflessness shown by ordinary people who were fighting for their country or simply wanting to protect their mates in adversity.
But as an ex-Vietnam veteran I wonder when we will hear the combined voices of those who lead us talking about the futility of war in total, and the devastation and psychological displacement it causes. I wonder when we will hear the true reasons behind the conflicts, and the admissions that in the end war solves little and progresses us all even less.
I wonder if these individuals really have the best interest of us all at heart? Or is it that they are more concerned about self-promotion, success at the next election and simply trying to ensure their place in history?
If so, lest we forget!Graeme Foley, Kew
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No way to save a few minutes

IS ALAN Barron (Letters, 22/4) serious when he applauds Robert Doyle's stance on the speed limit of the Geelong Road? Consider this: Assume that Geelong is 80 kms from Melbourne. Now assume that you could travel at the maximum speed limit the entire way (which it sounds like Alan would love to be allowed to do). If the maximum speed limit is 100 km/h, your journey would take 48 minutes.
When you increase this to 110 km/h, the journey would take about 44 minutes. A saving of four minutes - wow!
If you browse the TAC safety website you'll find:

1. speed is one of the major factors contributing to crashes on Victoria's roads;
2. the economic cost to Victoria of speed-related serious crashes has been estimated to be in excess of $1 billion in 2000;
3. Small reductions in speed can result in significant reductions in road trauma.
After reading this, you'd have to be insane to think that it's a good idea to increase speed limits in order to save motorists a paltry couple of minutes.Ty Capach, Northcote
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I'll finish off with this cartoon
see ya'
Paul

Evil, evil, evil

Couldn't resist these

An update of Michael's adventures in Bolivia

Cochabamba, I think I´ve seen it all, but I know I haven´t.I got into Cbba Monday morning after hellish bus rides from Uyuni. Many other travellers called Uyuni a waste of time, as does the Lonely Planet in it´s way, and only good for heading out of (to the Salt Lakes). I found more.

The market on Sunday (glad to be there on Sunday) was something to behold, right through the closed off main street for 6-700 metres, colours and variety of the crappiest form. I can remember right now - pirated DVDs, hair shampoo, LOTS of the colourful blankets that merge into the easiest of baby cabooses (and any other sort of backpack - these weren´t crappy), and fruit... that wasn´t crappy either most of it, so I take back the ¨crappiest¨ comment.

I loved it. My friends, the couple moving to Brunswick shortly, were busy taking photos of the bowler hats and chicha chowder with their CAMERA while I tried to compete with my camera. Their CAMERA is big and beautiful. I had camera envy...Anyway, off we went (Nick and Jane and I - they to La Paz) Sunday night at 8 on a ¨semi-cama¨ which is supposed to be a semi bed seat. They are that in Chile... they are NOT that in Bolivia...

Roominess seemed a foreign concept to the bus company, as did toilets. There wasn´t one on the bus, so two toilet breaks throughout, the first in a pokey little desert town at about 12, that had a bowler hat selling empanadas on the road and a little brasíer ... on the road for our warmth. There wasn´t a toilet here either, or ANY trees, to the horror of the less uninhibited of the ladies... give them time I say.The next stop was just for me in Oruro at about 3.15, where I was to take the connecting bus to Cbba.

I tell ya, this was one of themost challenging times thus far. Letting go of my quick dependence of Nick who spoke Spanish, and Auntie Jane who wouldn´t let me off the bus without telling me for the last time not to eat the cheese (she´d just bought a book on how to not eat anything when visiting South America). Oruro was packed with people trying to get to everywhere from everywhere, and the overalled guy who walked me to the bus station from where the La Paz bus stopped (a long way away - perhaps not wanting to be swamped by adoring passengers...) was going to leave me out the front telling me to ¨go through the station to the other side where the ticket stalls are, take this money ($30 Bolivianos) and give it to the nice lady at the last counter and get on the bus at 4.30am¨

When I began to panic about another part of the station and was resisting GIVING him the $30 Bolivianos he was ¨demanding¨ for his help, and pleading ¨no entiendo pero NO MAS Bolivianos!!! (Idon´t understand but NO MORE money!!!) he managed to get me to understand to follow him. What a saint!! I don´t even know where he came from! He pushed me through the throng of people, who seemed to know why they were at a bus stop at 3.30 in themorning, all lined up ignoring the touters screaming ¨a Cochabamba!!¨ ¨a La Paz!!¨, and into the office where the magic lady with a ticket was.

He paid for my ticket with that $30 and said something that I assume was ¨wait here, bus at 4.30.¨ I was panicky maybe because it was 3.30am and I was freezing and in the middle of nowhere, scared of missing my bus, but in the end if I missed the bus it was only $AU11.80 that I´d paid and eventually there would be an English speaker come up to me. There was - an American who confirmed my time to leave and to stay put.

Other compañeros assisted me also, seeing the stupid look of sleepless panic on my face. I was concerned about safety and security as well, as I have been since Santiago, but when a 30 something woman looked at me suspiciously before depositing her two and 3 year old in front of me with her luggage and a blanket to go off in search of three tickets in the madness I felt much more insignificant and secure. Either way, I got on the bus, and... no toilet and me with some pretty uncomfortable stomach issues, and no stops till Cochabamba.

The Cbba valley as we careened down it was absolutely breathtaking. So much green and lush and expectation. The outskirts of town were grey and broken and yet still operational.The central bus station was even more busy than Oruro, of course, it was 9.30 and it was a city 800,000 large. One of my first impressions were that the military style policia walked in groups of 6, but seemed generally convivial, and everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going, even the beggers who were in force, but seeming beaten by refusals, didn´t hassle me further than my polite ¨no."

After I´d found the Baño and stuffed my worldly belongings into the cubicle for the greatest relief imaginable (the cleaner saw the difficulty I was having with getting too much stuff into too small a space and offered to look after my things while I went. I thanked him much and said ¨but no way mate!¨ I don´t think he understood, but left me to my challenge.) I sat down on a bench clutched my bolsa (bag) for a while to take it all in, then called Pheobe (an Australian Catholic nurse, teaching here for 40 years) who directed me to her house via a taxi and as I entered her house, and they bolted the gates and had one of their people take my bag, I felt the oddest contrast of safety and fear.

The godparent system in Bolivia seemed to suit this house well; the young strapping teenage boys and very shy girl did all the manual labour, getting me hot chocolate, and bread and condiments, lifting my bag, washing, cooking, driving everyone around while having their schooling, accommodation, and general welfare paid for. As reciprocal as it was, it irked me anyway.

The kids didn´t seem happy, but that´s just my ignorant observation. I felt the discomfort most keenly when we had lunch and prayed to god for the allowance.I´m now, after a quick but deep reflection of my options, holed up indefinitely in another very secure house - in Barrio Recoleta. My friend in Melbourne directed me to these contacts and I´m happy with this family, a couple and their 12 year old son. The husband only speaks as much English as I do Spanish so that´s a boon. $180 per month for room and food and Spanish conversation.I have more options open to me via Melbourne, and in a month or two I´ll reconsider where my new independence (of language and awareness of culture) should take me.

It should be cheaper then but for now I feel I need the security.I caught the bus (I now know how new arrivals in Australia feel not knowing how to catch a bus!!) to the city and found myself in Plaza 14 de Septiembre, the centre of town where politically orientated boards with information about the continuing struggle for the nation´s water stand among dozens of avid readers, mostly men, while a very convincing Michael Jackson impersonator (perhaps TOO convincing) draws an even bigger crowd.

Another corner has two men debating quietly some serious issue while the growing crowd listening suggests that one or both participants may be a local politician. It wasn´t Evo Morales at any rate. Give me time. I´ll have a word or two in his ear.A further wander beyond the plaza found a begger on most corners, many of them women with babies on the footpath, with seemingly nothing.

Brash kids who eventually call me malo, (bad!) when they realise that I´m not going to fork it out. I walk back to my house, where all the houses are set well back from the street, the walls ¨protecting¨ them razor wired or cemented with broken bottles to assist the ¨pest control¨ security whose signs have a straggly faced man wearing a beanie stamped out by a big red circle with a cross through it. *sigh*I´ve contacted some Spanish lesson places, some more expensive but more comprehensive than others.

I will decide today what to do. Volunteering should be easy to pick up (Voluntarios Bolivianos and The Democracy Center being the two most desirable places to put my efforts into at this stage), while I have almost secured a job teaching English for $US3 a day but I¨m very cautious about teaching English to people who may not need it, nor to people who may be better off without it.

(I love the next bit)

Me the imperialist.I´m feeling like this city could be very good for my development, although the choices and directions I make and take are somewhat overwhel... nope. They´re just there. More soon, (wow I´ve found a really cheap internet place - hence the long email...)Love Michael

Hi yez all. Let's start with some apt cartoons.

"Moral midget", well said

The moral midget in the world
By Bruce GrantApril 19, 2006

'The doctrine of ministerial responsibility, which gave our form of government a harsh but liberating kind of moral authority, is in tatters.'Illustration: Dyson

John Howard's reputation is established as a shrewd politician who keeps a finger on the public pulse and shows his feelings only on immaculate occasions, praising heroes of the sports or battle fields. He appeals to a deflationary streak in the Australian character, which tends to ask, when complex issues of ethics arise: "What's all the fuss about?"
View full article [click]

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I want one too!

Children 'bond with robots'From correspondents in Tokyo
April 16, 2006
PLAYTIME over, a toddler says nighty-night and spreads a blanket on the floor on top of his silver-coloured friend.
It is an everyday scene at one US nursery school, where robots are immersed among children to find out what it takes for machines and humans to develop long-term relationships.
The experiment jointly run by Sony is revealing that children, with their open minds, can welcome and even develop emotions toward the robots, leading to new commercial possibilities as machines become smarter and friendlier.
Researcher Fumihide Tanaka, 33, who the dozen toddlers fondly call "IC", as in integrated circuit chip, said: "We adults tend to ask children if it is a toy or a human being, but they are free of such established categorisation.
"When I saw a personal computer for the first time, I asked if it was a television set.
"If intelligent-machine technology is successfully developed, a century later people will see the concept just as commonsense. This is natural as we are living in a different era now."
While Sony is undergoing business restructuring and has no plans to develop new models of its iconic QRIO humanoid or AIBO robodog, it is continuing to study artificial intelligence to apply in future electronic products.
Mr Tanaka, part of Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratories, has been working on the project jointly with the University of California at San Diego, led by Machine Perception Laboratory director Javier Movellan.
The children, aged up to 24 months, started spending one hour every day with a 58cm tall Sony biped in March last year at a San Diego school.
"Humans are sure to have innate ways to communicate without using a language. We can see this better in children as adults depend on languages," Mr Tanaka said during a brief visit back to Japan.
"A great characteristic of this project is that we don't invite children to come over to our laboratory but we go to them," he says.
Mr Tanaka remote-controls the robot from a hidden place for some 80 per cent of the immersion sessions, with the humanoid moving on its own for the rest of the time.
In one experiment, researchers brought in the robot to take part in the children's dance sessions and found that the toddlers would spend longer in the room if the humanoid was among them.
On average, toddlers would stay in the room for twice as long when the robot was around.
Mr Tanaka says researchers are increasingly convinced that children consider the robot not a toy or a living human being but "something between the two", a difficult idea for adults to understand.
To contrast with the biped, researchers also gave the toddlers a simple toy that looked like a robot but cannot move by itself.
The toy, named Robby, was handled roughly and constantly shoved to the ground - behaviour the toddlers would not show to their beloved walking, dancing humanoid.
Children initially stayed away from the biped out of caution but gradually warmed to it, hugging the robot and otherwise showing affection.
Initially, the robot would often fall over due to inconsiderate treatment. But after one to two months, the children would help the robot get back to its feet. Within three months, the toddlers would never allow the robot to fall.
"They are adapting themselves to the robot and empathising with it, although nobody teaches them to do so," Mr Tanaka said.
With the humanoid becoming a playmate, another robot, RUBI, which runs on a wheel with a TV panel in its belly, joined the class in April 2005 as a teaching assistant.
Robots are increasingly being put to practical use in Japan, which has a rapidly ageing population, ranging from serving as security guards to companions for the elderly.
The project involving the children could help researchers develop more sophisticated robots.
The project head Mr Movellan said human brains were "very good at handling uncertainty and timing in everyday life".
He said this was very difficult for the current generation of robots.
"We feel it is very important to understand the problem of real-time social interaction," he said.

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Whew!, I'm glad I was only dreaming

Near-death experience? You're dreaming
April 19, 2006
NEW YORK: The brain's tendency to blur the line between sleeping and being awake may help explain the phenomenon of near-death experience, research suggests.
It has been an open question as to why some people see bright light, feel detached from their bodies or have other sensations when they are close to dying or believe they might die.

Some people view these so-called near-death experiences as evidence of life after death and many neurologists have considered the phenomenon to be too complex for scientific study.
But the research, published in the journal Neurology, implicates the blending of sleep and wake states as a biological cause of near-death experiences.

Researchers found that adults who said they had had such an experience were also likely to have a history of what is called REM intrusion - where aspects of the dream state of sleep spill over into wakefulness.
People may, for example, feel paralysed when they first wake up, or have visual or auditory hallucinations as they fall asleep or wake.

Of the 55 study participants who had had a near-death experience, 60 per cent had also experienced REM intrusion at some point in their lives. That compared with 24 per cent of 55 adults who served as a comparison group.

The findings suggest that the brain's arousal system predisposes some people to both REM intrusion and near-death experience, according to the study authors led by Kevin Nelson, a neurologist at the University of Kentucky.

This arousal system regulates not only REM sleep, but also attention and alertness during waking hours - including during dangerous situations. And many of the features of REM intrusions parallel those of near-death experience, he said.

During REM sleep, visual centres in the brain are highly active, while the limb muscles are temporarily paralysed.
So REM intrusion during peril could promote the visions of light and sensation of "being dead" that people often had during a near-death experience, Dr Nelson said.

Other evidence supported a role for REM intrusion in near-death experiences, he said. Stimulation of the vagus nerve, which connects the brain stem to the heart, lungs and intestines, triggers REM intrusion.
Reuters

Have a nice day

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Terry Lane, Shaun Carney and Bam Bam Cartoon

No morning rituals today, not in the mood.
I've got a piece of audio equipment called a jam station that was very expensive, and it's so long since I've used it that I've forgotten how.
Furthermore I recently bought a smartmedia memory card for it that was generally unavailable, but I managed to find one via the web.
So this morning, out with the manual, and equiped with coffee, focus and determination. Here we go.

Then I've gotta' set myself a new set of guitar practice assignments.

The Victorian College of the Arts has a concert performance every Wednesday at the National Gallery of Victoria at 1:00 pm. (and they are fabulous, (and free)).

I'll walk to the city today to attend. I'ts an hour and a quarter's walk. But it's such a nice day here. Seems like a good idea.
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This is by Terry Lane, appearing in the " Sunday Age" 16 April 2006 (Howard'll be slathering over this one)
Forget kindness, there's work to do:

April 16, 2006

Near Manchester in England, a 19th-century dark satanic mill has been preserved to remind visitors of how far the nation has come in the matter of industrial law.
The mill in question once wove fabric on big looms that worked with an expanding and contracting motion. As the loom moved, fluff from the yarn fell onto the floor and had to be constantly cleared away. Because the loom was set approximately a metre from the floor, the clearing of fluff was a job best done by children.
The loom was heavy and moved quickly and occasionally a child would be crushed to death in the machinery. This was not a tragedy - after all, the slums were full of starving orphans - but it was a nuisance. The machines had to be stopped while the mangled corpse was removed.
The best bit of the story is that all the other workers had their pay docked for the time that it took to remove the little body. Well, why not? They weren't working, were they?
Around the walls of the museum are extracts from Hansard, recording a parliamentary inquiry into the use of child labour in the mills. The capitalists, in their evidence, made much of the fact that if they were deprived of child labour they would all be ruined by unfair competition from less scrupulous nations. They didn't actually use the word globalisation, as far as I can recall, but the excuses for miserable cruelty, greed, selfishness and inhumanity used the same arguments. Any treatment of fellow human beings, no matter how base, can be justified in the name of competition and globalisation.
But here's a thing. When the mill owners of England were murdering children and punishing their workers for bludging, there was, as far as I know, no law on the statutes that forced them to do it. This was an industrial relations regime created from their own imaginations. When the parliament began its inquiry into labour practices, the owners couldn't say: "Well, if I didn't do it I would be fined $33,000."
That is the genius of the Howard/Andrews industrial law revolution. The novelty of imposing penalties on employers who treat their employees as human beings is something new in labour law.
Up until Howard and Andrews drafted their law, we took it for granted that bad bosses would screw their workers and good bosses would treat them as fellow human beings. We had feeble laws to protect workers against the cruelty of greedy and inhumane employers similar to those in other civilised nations.
Now we have laws to protect bosses against themselves by outlawing any spontaneous outbreak of kindness. If your workers take 20 minutes off to collect a donation for the widow of a worker killed on your work site, you must penalise them by deducting four hours from their pay entitlement. If, for some foolish reason, you are inclined to treat your workers as humans with feelings and rights to a certain autonomy of decision and action, you will be punished.
Now, if I revisit that hell-hole on the outskirts of Manchester, I will have nothing but scorn for the mill owner who presumably didn't come up with the idea of docking his workers for four hours even if it only took 20 minutes to get the dead child out of the workings of the loom. Thank God for progress!
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The following is a good opinion piece by Shaun Carney of "The Age" [click]
April 15, 2006
The Howard Government has learnt to survive by admitting nothingabout anything, writes Shaun Carney.
We also know now that the Prime Minister believed from early 2002 that Saddam was rorting the oil-for-food program.
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And it's good to see that Howie is diversifying. He only used to appease big Georgie. His list just doubled.

See yez

Rummy cartoon sport and Jobs

What has this cartoon got to do with what is to follow .... Nothing, I just like it so much I had to put is somewhere

Oh my God, talk about wind. I felt like getting out of bed last night and getting dressed and ready to get. I thought the wind was going to damage the building.

And this morning I was trying to do tai chi in the park and I couldn't stand on one leg coz the wind kept blowing me off balance.

Hey, Toyota Echos are a great car, but be carefull driving on on a freeway with a strong cross wind. Scarey.

Well, I've been alive in Melbourne for 62 years too me it seems the winds have a different feel about them. I think we are going to be in for some nasty surprises soon.

Arr, we should'n worry, our Prime Miniature will asure us that there's nothing wrong. Climate change is just some sort of tree hugging bleeding heart namby pamby greenie propaganda.

He and his big hero, George will look after us.

To the papers:

Sport. Don't Do ItOPINIONPhillip Adams
April 15, 2006
GIVEN my lifelong aversion to sport, I was surprised to receive an invitation to lecture on the topic as part of the cultural program for the Commonwealth Games. With the event scheduled for the splendiferous Bendigo Town Hall, I jumped (metaphorically, not physically) at the chance.
You can imagine the horror on everyone’s faces when I heaped abuse on all forms of physical activity excluding sexual intercourse. It was clear that I was a clerical error. The place was packed to the rafters with people who’d expected to hear from the other Phillip Adams – the Olympic shooter. The audience wanted to shoot me – and the organisers wanted to shoot themselves.
Marx was wrong. Sport, not religion, is the opiate of the people. It substitutes for a long list of drugs – everything from Prozac to Viagra via steroids and ecstasy. And that’s just from watching it! To play or support sport is not merely erroneous but testosterroneous, an invitation to become addicted to that most lethal of narcotics, which makes the male gender a danger to itself and the entire planet. Circumcision doesn’t go far enough. It’s time to have Medicare cover castration, particularly for the cast of The Footy Show and soccer hooligans.
Because smoking is linked to lung cancer, there are health warnings on packets of Winfield and Marlboro. There should be even bigger warnings on sporting equipment. Given the thuggish behaviour of those attending matches, boxing gloves and footballs clearly cause brain damage to the fans as well as the participants. Moreover, sport is linked to knee injuries, broken ankles and frequent collisions of skiers with trees and coronaries while jogging. It causes car accidents during those grand prix at Albert Park and Monaco, triggers brawls on and around rugby ovals, and a well-aimed fast ball can overwhelm those codpieces worn by one-day cricketers, thus ending any chance of offspring. And look at the possibility of casualties at Melbourne’s Games, where audience members risked being speared by an ill-aimed javelin or killed by a discus blown off course.
While still a Melburnian, I was hired by Brian Dixon, the football hero who’d become sports minister in Sir Rupert Hamer’s Liberal government, to encourage sporting activity in the wider community. Animator Alexander Stitt and I promptly came up with Life. Be In It, a campaign still running after 30 years. Within days of the launch, there were outbreaks of frisbee-tossing in parks all over Australia, and veritable plagues of kite-flying, canoeing, dog-walking and playing with the kids.
Fortunately, Alex and I realised the error of our ways and invented Norm, the paragon of couch potatoes. Thanks to Norm’s roly-poly role-modelling, the nation narrowly escaped an epidemic of hernias, heart attacks and head injuries.
Though shouted down by the crowd at the Bendigo Town Hall, I tried to use my experience in Orwellian mass persuasion by suggesting useful modifications to the most popular sporting events. Take footy. It doesn’t matter which code – soccer, the AFL or either form of rugby – the on and off-field violence is caused by teams and individuals fighting over a single ball. The simple answer? Give every player a ball of his own! Chuck a few dozen onto the field and see the testosterroneous misbehaviour give way to sweetness and light.
The reaction was sadly reminiscent of the looks of blank astonishment I’d received at Melbourne’s famous grand final breakfast when, in the company of the football establishment – plus PMs past, present and potential – I revealed that Aussie Rules was an ancient fertility ritual. The oval was a giant egg, the goal posts representing the vaginal welcome to the womb. The football was an egg, and the winning team was the one that did the best job impregnating its goal posts. Oh, and when the teams burst through screens of coloured paper at the beginning of the match, they symbolised sperms rupturing a condom.
The audience seemed deeply shocked. Nobody laughed. Nobody clapped.
Ditto at Bendigo. I was ushered out a back door by the embarrassed mayor lest I be beaten up by the Bendigonians. But I would not be silenced, shouting defiantly about my board membership of the Anti-Football League.
Founded 40 years ago by Keith Dunstan, the League would publicly destroy one football a year in the interests of sanity and civilisation. We blew one up in the centre of the MCG. Another year we had a Bullens Circus elephant tread on one.
I started the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Balls. Same intent; different strategy – to have people charged with kicking, thumping, thwacking or otherwise abusing balls. For some inexplicable reason, it has failed to catch on.

I like this letter from the Age on18/04/06:

Employed in the pursuit of personal liberty

RE TIM Colebatch's article, "Revealed: a nation of drop-outs" ( The Age, 17/4). As someone who spent the better part of the 1990s gainfully unemployed, I would like to offer some possibilities as to why many people have given up looking for work.

At first I was an avid job seeker. I took part in a job club, polished up my interview skills and once managed to talk my way into an interview in a bank, even though there were no jobs available there. I sent out hundreds of resumes, phoned hundreds of workplaces ranging from factories to libraries, and seemed to live entirely for getting a job.

It took a while, but I soon realised what a colossal waste of time it all was. Any kind of training seemed to be non-existent for any of the work I was seeking. My mind was changed when I went to an interview for a door-to-door salesperson. After being told that the company wanted people who were "hungry for success", I walked out and swore never to look for work again.

I then spent many years engaged in a variety of activities: political activism, community radio, a community print press, learning and teaching martial arts — in short, many things that I would not have had the time and energy for if I had been working full-time. During that period, I looked at work with a different point of view.

The large number of jobs that seem to be pointless — time-wasting, number-shifting office jobs in self-perpetuating businesses; mind-numbing, menial labour in factories making nothing much; and service-industry jobs doing things for people who don't, or won't, do them for themselves. With "choices" like these, being on the dole seemed to be the best call.

Don't worry, I'm gainfully employed now and paying taxes. But it is in an industry (residential aged care) that gives to the community, and part-time through my own choice, because I haven't forgotten what personal freedom is.Andrew McIntosh, Glenroy.

Bye for now.

The US. President is Bonkers

This piece in the "Australian" by Phillip Adams is too good to let go

(The cartoon was not attatched to the original article. I found it in the Washington post. been saving it.)

Lock him away to stop the next war.

With his presidency reduced to a mess, George W. Bush may just decide to lash out wildly at Iran, writes Phillip Adams

April 18, 2006
WE cannot wait any longer for the impeachment of George W. Bush. Far more efficient to have Bush certified. There is no need for further debate on his mental state. The US President is bonkers.
Having turned the White House into a madhouse, having taken more lunatic positions on more issues than any head of state since GeorgeIII (are they, perchance, related?). GWB needs a long rest and a change of medication. And it shouldn't be too hard to guide him into a padded cell. Just tell him it's the presidential bomb shelter.

Let's examine the symptoms of his mental decline. First, Bush convinced Americans that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. This is something the poor fool might have believed, given a tenuous grasp of geography, history and political reality. He then began to hallucinate about weapons of mass destruction, despite the evidence of Hans Blix and a multitude of others that there weren't any. And he finally organised a tatty little alliance to join him in the silliest war since Vietnam, one guaranteed to recruit terrorists in unprecedented numbers.

Like Vietnam, the Iraq war was launched with presidential lies. Like Vietnam, the Iraq war descended into a moral and military quagmire. And if Iraq seems to be less of a stuff-up, consider this fact: it's taken just three years in Iraq for US deaths to equal the body count after six years in Vietnam.

Little wonder six retired senior generals have joined ranks with the American public in condemning the war, or that the guru of neo-conservatism, Francis Fukuyama, has broken ranks with the likes of Charles Krauthammer and William Kristol in denouncing it. Or that many in the Republican hierarchy have joined left-wing critics denouncing the invasion as a mistake and a failure, calling for immediate withdrawal.

When Bush was re-elected in 2004, this column suggested the President would go on to blast Iran or have the job done by Israeli surrogates. Both scenarios were dismissed as absurd and alarmist. Now journalist Seymour Hersh's revelations of a US plan to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, perhaps with nuclear bunker-blasters, are causing national and international dismay. They've also provoked anger among the Pentagon's highest-ranking officers already enraged by Donald Rumsfeld's stewardship of the Iraq invasion and occupation. Given Rumsfeld's clear contempt for their opinions, they might well feel mutinous should he and the Commander-in-Chief show further signs of strategic insanity. But would that prevent air strikes by the Israelis? Given the sabre-rattling by that ratbag in Tehran, what could hold Israel back?
Bush is attempting to hose things down, but the world recalls his endlessly repeated mantra before the invasion of Iraq. Military intervention wasn't inevitable, just an option.
Now bleeding in the polls with mid-term elections looming, isn't it possible that Bush might go for broke? Double or nothing? A final, desperate throw of the dice?

Condoleezza Rice might join the Pentagon in trying to talk him down. So, one hopes, would Tony Blair and John Howard. But did Bush listen to reasoned argument last time? With a reckless, irrational President, you've the perfect set-up for the tail to wag the dog. As with 9/11, here's an opportunity for reality to follow a Hollywood script.

Last week I discussed this scenario with Fukuyama. His initial response was that Bush's political situation is too perilous for such a tactic, that the US public and its media wouldn't tolerate another Iraq. But bombing Iran's nuclear facilities could be characterised as surgical. It might not need troops on the ground and would certainly seem more relevant to the war on terror than the neo-con adventure in Iraq. Fukuyama conceded that such a strategy was possible.
And that possibility is more than enough.

A lame-duck President with the eagle as his symbol once again takes the role of hawk. With his presidency a total mess, what's there to lose? So it's time to certify the President. Yes, you'd have to certify his equally deranged Vice-President as well. And toss in Rumsfeld to keep them company. Along with anyone else in the administration, the Congress, the Senate or the Australian parliament mad enough to think Iraq a sane decision.

Green TV, Fluoride, God of good sense, Rummy.

Had an extra good guitar practice session with niece Julie today. We worked for hours on just two songs :- St. Lois Blues and Tennessee Waltz. They are evolving very nicely. Almost ready for public performance. Probably "The Famous Blue Raincoat" on the Thursday after next. I might go there by myself next Thursday and do three open mic pieces. Maybe some classical plectrum pieces. I like that style.

I heard on the news radio about a new website that has short movie clips about environmental issues, things like climate change, poverty, etc.
Hope you'll look at it. [click]

Here's something from "Letters" in the "Age"

Tapping old mythsLiz Porter and her dentist have swallowed a myth themselves on tap water and fluoride (Society swallows the myth, 9/4). She urges people to consume tap water, and her dentist says water needs fluoride. Two reports from the US have blown those ideas out of the water. This month, a Harvard Centre for Cancer Prevention study showed that fluoridated water results in a five-fold increase in osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, in young people.

Last month, the US National Academy of Sciences revealed serious health hazards from fluoride in water, at quite low levels. Their three-year study highlighted bone fractures and joint pain, thyroid damage, and more.

They recommended that the maximum contaminant level for fluoride be lowered, which will leave no margin of safety between the amount of fluoride authorities add in Melbourne, Shepparton and Bendigo, and the amount proven harmful.

Remember, with fluoridation, the dose is out of control because people consume vastly varying amounts of tap water. Please Liz, check your myths.David McRae, Geelong

and another from the same source: (Age)

God of good sense Religion needs to be recognised as a group of philosophies, many centuries old, that contains grains of wisdom yet much nonsense that needs to be jettisoned (A God of all things, 9/4). The concept of God must be acknowledged as a concept only, not any kind of reality.

When we accept that religion is human-made, we realise that the values and ethics we place such great store by are human creations for human needs, not the motivations of some deity. When we realise that, we realise that we are quite capable of conducting ourselves as individuals, and our societies on a collective level, with grace, dignity and common sense. Having said this, it can't be stressed enough that people's concepts of what is good and evil differ greatly. For this reason, it's important to glean the values and ethics that we need to support a sustainable and inclusive community from the religions of the past.

We must then discard the superstitions and bigotry that condemns anyone outside these private clubs of spirituality to a life of rejection and persecution.
This is not a call for watering down religion, making it moderate or liberal. It's a call to reject religion itself, without throwing out all wisdom and compassion and opting for outright nihilism, as some would argue the rejection of religion leads to. We don't need a concept of God to decide what is right and what is bad for us. We should decide to have that wisdom for ourselves.

Andrew McIntosh, Glenroy

Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

There's mounting anger over the Bush Junta's invasion of Iraq.

Calls for Rummy to resign over his inept handling of the "war"

Well now there's talk about his involvement in prisoner torture. See for yourself [click]

Here's a link to the "New York Times" with an article headed " More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation" --- Sounds like good news [click]

See ya' tomorrow

Not the Country Club

How are you all doing? Paul here:-

I've been surfing the blogs a bit and come across a good blog called, "Not the Country Club",
by:- Al S. E. Location:Toronto, Canada.
I've linked it's latest post directly into my own blog coz' of the video clip of the speech by Dr Ron Paul (Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Texas) that it contains a link to.
I don't know of any other media where one could obtain this material. It is very poignant, and non partisan. It's coming from a "Republican Rep".
I can assure you it's hard hitting. To view it click this "Not the Country Club" and when in it click on the active word "speech" I beseech you, please watch it. (Especially you Terry).
(Although I think I may have activated the word "speech" earlier in this text. )
think I'll go back to this guy's blog now and post him a postitive comment.
See ya' tomorrow.
Paul.

Letter from Michael

You know, It's great when patience pays off.
I've been practicing the guitar now since 1994, and many times wondered and still do if I'll ever be able to play the damn thing properly at all. Last night I played so well (in my own study) that even I enjoyed listening. (Singing was even good too) I couldn't stop, until eventually I got too tired and had to hit the sack. I feel very rewarded.

Another great day out on the tai chi playfield, I had so many ideas about what to blog .... cos I listen to ABC news radio all night (during wake and sleep) and so much fertile material. Anyway while I was supposed to be concentrating entirely on the movements part of my mind was blog composing.
When I got home and checked the in- box there was a letter from a friend of mine who's roughing it in South America.
So my ideas had to be put on hold coz I wanna share this email. with ya'all

First Letter, received on 7 April 2006:

O.k. I´ve been quiet for a couple of days, not for lack of internet cafes (there´s heaps! And very good quality in Santiago (not getting my hopes up for the rest of my trip!)). I was waiting to speak to Fiona before I let everyone know what happened...Here it is... I got robbed.

I´m o.k. I´m not at all hurt. It was a submissive robbery from under the table. Luckily only three things got taken, no, four and not my passport, mastercard, or cash. Unluckily one was the camera, which had the photo from the plane that was my first view of South America.

Guess I can just take the last view from South America with my new camera... which I haven´t got yet... Another was, (and this hurts quite a bit) the mini tape recorder ´the girls´ gave me with about 10 tapes, one with their best wishes on it, and another tape with alot of my experiences so far. Guess I can just bore you all with my written instead of spoken word...

Another was the CASE of my hearing aid. (I almost wrote hearing aid case but you would have started to read that and think "shit! His hearing aid!" but I was wearing that at the time. I guess they must have thought it had a ring in it. Whenever I take it out in front of someone I say "such and such, I have something important to ask you..." hehe... well, no such fun now... And the other was my mini binoculars. Hope the little bastard is looking through them when I´m coming at him sideways because I´m on the prowl in Santiago. I may be able to track down who I THINK it is.

The police were not very helpful, although quite happy when I settled for just a statement for my insurance. They were pretty keen on making fun of the stupid gringo. Far out I´m so very much more aware of how it feels to not know the language and everyone laughing at you (or worse) thinking that you´re stupid. ¡¡I´ll show them!! ¡¡I´ll learn fluent Spanish and then they can know for sure!! By the way, "on the prowl" is kinda more like on the crawl, because the blisters on my heels are so bad I think one´s infected.

Yep, taking care of that so it doesn´t get bad. Can´t wear shoes at the moment, sandals with the back strap tucked in... yep.So, there´s my last day or two in a nutshell (they have nut stalls on the street called "nuts for nuts". Not sure if anyone gets the pun...). Other than that, I LOVE Chile. So much so, I want to see more of it! On the way OUT that is. Don´t listen to me. I´m having a weird day or two. Of course it´s too cheap to go to the trouble of looking for food myself so I´m experiencing alot of restaurants.

More expensive than I thought but once out of Chile it´ll be much cheaper.Everybody smokes in Santiago, which is funny that I say that for the first time here... this is the first internet cafe place that doesn´t have ashtrays next to the computers, and I wondered why it felt cleaner in here...A lovely owner of a cafe today (where I had my first chocolate calienté) was very proud of his country, and said I shouldn´t leave for those more dangerous climes.

He wanted me to explore the south, where he´s going to go when he can afford to buy a 4WD. There are alot of them here too, or it could be my connecting the blanket of smog with something that I hate. And I´m surprised that I haven´t seen anybody killed on the road - there´s not much patience for pedestrians (and that´s the peds who know which way the cars are coming!!)

It´s crazy out there, and there are scratches on all the cars and I often see people backing their car into a spot and bumping the next car.Um, the Cerro Santa Lucia is a wonderful escape from the CBD, right on the edge, it´s got a 630mtr peak (its a hill by the way) with a whole castle-like structure on it, which was used first by the priests, then by the nuns, then by the military. I had some photos of the place but...I was going to try to head off on Saturday on the 5 day, 10 seater Pachamama tourbus (which seems to visit some great places) to Calama (near Bolivia) and then the train across through the Uyuni salt plains and then to Cochabamba, but the bus is full and only runs once a week.

Not sure if I can hack another week here... There´s a regular bus that just goes up the guts for much cheaper and faster, but it´s not at all comfortable I hear, and there´ll be no multilingual tourguides... I could fly for about twice the price of the bus apparently (thanks 4WD cafe guy), but there´ll be no flying for this little chickadee... hmm... if I were a chickadee there probably would be flying... yep. So not sure yet. This little chickadee will see.I love you all. I´ll be fine from now on I´m sure *his hands rest fully on wood as he types* and I´ll get another camera (cheap! (the camera, not the chickadee...) and I have a webcam!! Let´s see how it works!!Love yas,Miguel

Next Letter:
Thurs 12 April...Hi all,It?s too darn expensive to do ANYthing in Chile. That?s why this email is so short. Outback tourist trap Chilé ©s not cheap!However, I?ve fallen in love with San Pedro de Atacama, just inside of Chile, and near the Bolivian border (it hit me last night about how incredibly close I was to Bolivia!!)

It runs almost primarily on tourist money (tours, internet, more tours, restaurants, hostels, tours). I was going to go back to Calama (where I travelled through to get here) tomorrow night and catch the train to Uyuni in the Bolivian Southwest where the salt lakes start from, but they finish here near San Pedro, and I heard that the train has wooden seats, broken windows, drafty floorboards and outside toilets (??)

so I?ve bitten the bullet and decided to go from here, in... a... *reconsiders momentarily but has already paid* a 4WD tour across the salt lakes to Uyuni. I know I know. I SAID I wouldn?t be sucked into such touristy stuff, but it?s ... well, no. I just want to see the lakes.But I do love San Pedro, with it?s unpaved streets, clay buildings(I?m sure it?s made of something else, but I?m no builder) little historic square and ... church, it?s very VERY colourful market (I bought a simple wide brimmed hat that fits!! (but I think I chose a pink one...), and it?s towering Andes mountainscape as a backdrop.

Just grand!I think I?m getting used to being the odd one out here. Giggles still whenever I have to walk under a doorway (which is EVERY doorway!) but more words to communicate with which only means more words that I don?t know! My camera (new) has been getting a workout and I think there are some real framable ones in there! (*feels it with his feet for security*) You wouldn?t have believed this until I told you (now) and I didn?t know until I got to South America, but Chile has such an anvanced space program that I was able to take a quick trip to ... the moon yesterday!

And not only that, but they?ve really pumped money into technology and have discovered the practical theories of time travel, so I went back to paleolithic times this morning. A real eye opener I can tells ya! Anyhow I´ll explain more when I can send some photos...I saw my first wildlife this morning (in space travel mode, and in that I didn?t count the countless dogs (which do count as wild for they aren?t owned and life for they are alive), the blue dragonfly, or the lizard that I don?t think was a lizard at all).

A bunch of prancing (or were they running from our big tour bus??) vicuñas(which are wild still), llamas (!! Finally, they aren?t wild), and a rabbit with a long tail, called something else... OH! And some Wyatas, which are big blanco y negro waterbirds and, and, and... flamingos!! Cool. But going now, cos I don?t have a Mercedes Benz to trade for this email time.Right. Adios. Love to you all,Michael.p.s.

Thank you all so much for you wonderful thoughtful and heartfelt words. They keep my going (as much at LEAST as the mountain range behind me does.) More personal one´s next week... promise!! No, I don?t promise. But I?ll try. Love yas.Sat 15 April.I´ve just arrived in interesting-to-say-the-least Uyuni.

What a few days! Where to start...Well, San Pedro will remain with me forever as a wonderful place of curious contrasts, but the Uyuni salt plains today (Salar de Uyuni) were a pleasure to behold. That photo that I was showing everyone from the lonely planet? Nuthin!!! Compared to the real thing. I put my blistered feet in the salty water (that was only present at ankle deep in some parts of the "lake") and didn´t scream but it helped I think!

We got there before sunrise this morning from Hotel Sal (a hotel made of Salt!! the tables, chairs, all the cutlery is made of stone from the moutainous edges of the lake) and I took photos. Nobody´s photos will compare to being there. Walk out onto the plains and it´s as quiet and comforting as the deepest clouds of a heaven that may or may not be there.Suffice to say, the last three days has been in non-internet country...

ANd suffice to say (only if you´re me) that flamingos can fly off to ... anyway, I´ve seen too many now, I´m sure they taste good... Active smouldering (!!!) volcanos, frisbee where there´s no such thing as a borderline (thanks Palmzie!) and some good friends made, both Chileans (there ARE some!!) and French/Belgian/South African/English/and even a New Zealander!Oh, Nick the NZer and Jane are moving to Melbourne soon.

Melbourne crew MUST make them welcome, especially cos they want to move to Brunswick!!I head to Cochabamba tomorrow night, after being in Uyuni for the day tomorrow. I´ve been surprised by the fact that, yes, older Bolivian women DO wear those bowler hats! All of them, nearly. Yet I haven´t seen any younger women in the same garb. Is it only for older women (I don´t think so) or is it a tradition that will die out in the next generation?

My new camera has caught some fantastic sights, including my chewing on coca leaves... don´t panic family, it´s really fine, and it really helped my altitude issues (topped 4000 metres on Thursday!!!) and it´s 3669 here in Uyuni. Didn´t get sick at all, just really scatterbrained (haha, for the impending comments) and tried to trot up a hill with the crew on the 4WD to see a sunset but we all nearly died! It took about 25 minutes to stop heaving for breath and it was only a little raise in the ground! Learnt my lesson...

Saw a wild fox (sly, they really are!) and a .... CONDOR!!! Two of them! I´m very happy about that. I have to download some photos I think... lots of photos. Lots of incredible montañas, lagunas, and me looking deep as red roses into the sunset while sitting on a 3 metre cactus...Can´t go on... I LOVE YOU ALL!!!Anyway, again, it´s really costly here *watching his bolivianos* and really slow so I can´t email more personally as yet.

I love ALL your contact with me. It really does make my day to see you in my inbox (that sounds Soooo impersonal in a group email, but I really really mean it.) Thank you all.More soon,Love, Michael.p.s. Rob Bednall, where ARE you? (I forget, I know you´re in Peru somewhere... sorry, altitude. You can blame alot on this you know!)p.p.s. Don´t need to get that free car from my travel doctor now... but all better, if you know what I mean... i.e. my doctor said he´d buy me a car if I didn´t get the shits.

And, can't resist a little bit of politics at least.

See Yez later