Will someone shove a cake of Sunlight down the throat of John bluddy Winston bluddy Howard.....

For a man who stated that he was going to refrain from political commentary after he retired was tossed from office, former Aussie prime miniature JW Howard is forever popping up in the media with yet another observation on world affairs or national politics.
This time he combines both (along with some gratuitous brown-nosing) by calling for an increase in troop numbers in Afghanistan.
Yer, right.
Let's send more young men into a region where no invading First World power has 'won' a war in living memory.
Where temporary victory is inevitably followed by successful insurgency, until the 'foreigners' finally take their military bat and ball and go home. Just ask Russia.
And where Australia is supposedly fighting for democracy by supporting a corrupt Afghan government which only holds power because it could rig a national election on a grand scale right under the West's nose.
So will someone do the world a favour and stuff that arrogant little man's gob with Sunlight soap or lock him away in a backroom at Wollstonecraft where his stupidity will only be heard by four beige walls.

Of course if it comes to L'l Johnnie's own hip pocket nerve, he is not as quick to front the microphone.
The media attention was suddenly unwelcome when asked if he is to have a well-paid role in a restructured NRL.
Last Wednesday ABC News Radio reported that he would not comment because he was travelling.
Tha's right! The same 'travelling' he was doing when he opened his mouth about Afghanistan.

Image of the wee richardhead from Pop Culture Caricatures and Cartoons

First Dog On The Moon takes the mickey out of Monsanto with Canolabees

First Dog On The Moon cartoon from Crikey
5 October 2009
Click on image to enlarge

* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.

Link to Austalian Indigenous Languages Database

Wilhelm Schmidt map 1912

AUSTLANG provides information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. The core of AUSTLANG is a database which assembles information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages from a number of sources.

The database contains the following information about each Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language:

• alternative/variant names and spellings
• history of the number of speakers
• geographical distribution
• classifications from various sources
• resources
• documentation
• programs
• researchers

Browser requirements here.

Rees Government wants to sell-off NSW rail transport options?

Anyone living in rural and regional New South Wales on a limited budget knows how important the last vestiges of public transport are when it comes to accessing health care and maintaining family contact, let alone being able to shop with wider choice of goods or competitive prices.

The Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association of NSW has been pointing out the advantages of regional rail for years.

So it is with some dismay that I realised that the Rees Government is seeking to pave the way to sell-off an estimated 3,000 klms of existing and closed rail corridors - corridors which should remain in the future public transport planning mix if only on the grounds of social equity and climate change mitigation.

This legislative move has been described by others as a fire sale for developers and this would not be an inaccurate description.

There is one NSW North Coast Federal MP, Labor's Janelle Saffin, who is doing something about one closed rail corridor in the Page electorate according to The Far North Coaster on 3 October 2009.

If you don't want a For Sale billboard on the Casino to Murwillumbah line you can sign a petition asking that this line be quarantined and kept in public ownership until the completion of the Integrated Regional Transport Plan for the Northern Rivers and south-east Queensland:

The petition can be signed at Ms Saffin's electorate office – 63 Molesworth Street, Lismore – during normal business hours or when her mobile office visits the Lismore Car Boot Market this Sunday.

She has also arranged for Minister Campbell's office to accept separate emailed letters of protest.

These can be sent to david@campbell.minister.nsw.gov.au and should be copied to Ms Saffin's policy adviser peter.ellem@aph.gov.au

Oi, Swanee! You've huffed and you've puffed - when are you going to blow the states' pension grab out of the water?

Just a small reminder to Australian Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan that it's 8 days since he promised to stop state governments from taking a bite out of the one-off pension boost which came into effect in late September.
Since then there's been barely a peep on the subject from the Rudd Government.
Waddaya doin' mate? Don't drag the chain!

United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards 2009 - full list of finalists

In 2009, forty‐eight outstanding reports and programs were short listed for the United Nations Associationof Australia Media Peace Awards.

George Negus, host of Dateline SBS will announce the winners at the Awards Presentation Dinner to be held at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne on 23 October 2009.

The co‐chairs of the Awards Judging Panel, Mr. Murray McInnis (Barrister of the Victorian Bar) and Mr. Michael Smith (former Editor of The Age), stated that the calibre of the entries this year were exceptionally high and that they were both impressed and inspired by many of the nominations.

[UNAA media release, 5 October 2009]

FINALISTS – Major Categories

BEST PRINT

News

• Jonathan Pearlman and Kate Geraghty, 'The Ugliest Epidemic, Rape was a way to get payment', Sydney Morning Herald

• Carol Nader, 'Placed with other damaged teens: Tom's in Trouble', The Age

• Nick O'Malley, Heath Gilmore, Erik Jensen, Josephine Tovey, 'Foreign Students Exploited as Slaves', Sydney Morning Herald

Feature

• Trent Dalton, 'Southern Crossed', The Courier Mail QWeekend Magazine

• Ruth Pollard, 'Dying to be Heard', Sydney Morning Herald

• Glenda Ruth Kwek, 'Grim Life of Outcast Children', Sydney Morning Herald

• Chris Johnston, 'Sourabh Sharma', The Age

• Nick O'Malley, 'A Walk Through the Valley of Death', Sydney Morning Herald.

BEST TELEVISION SPONSORED BY SBS

News

• Yalda Hakim, 'Afghan Stories', SBS TV World News Australia

• Yaara Bou Melhem, 'West Bank: Barrier Woes', SBS TV World News Australia

• Sally Sara, Wayne McAllister, 'The Long March', ABC TV News

Current Affairs

• Yaara Bou Melhem, Aaron Thomas, 'Jordan: Jailing the Innocent', SBS TV Dateline

• David O'Shea, 'Bali's Shame', SBS TV Dateline

• Jeff Waters, 'Ramsi Future', ABC TV Asia Pacific Focus

Documentary

• Rachel Perkins, Darren Dale, 'First Australians', SBS TV

• Liz Jackson, Janine Cohen, Kate Wild, 'Who killed Mr. Ward?', ABC Four Corners

• Geoff Thompson, Ian Altschwager, David Anderson, Simon Brynjolffssen, Ake Prihantari, Ari Wuryantama, '80 Million a Day', ABC Foreign Correspondent

• Debbie Whitmont, Deb Masters, Caro Meldrum‐Hanna, 'A Totally Avoidable Tragedy', ABC Four Corners

• Quentin McDermott, Sarah Curnow, Anne Connolly, Shaun Hoyt, 'The Bullies' Playground', ABC Four Corners

BEST RADIO

• Sharon Davis, Gina Perry, Russell Stapleton, 'Beyond the Shock Machine', ABC Radio National Radio Eye

• Nance Haxton, 'Cry Me a River', ABC Radio

• Anita Barraud, Paul Penton, 'Indonesian Journeys: Democracy and Diversity', ABC Radio National 360

• Lorena Allam, Michelle Goldsworthy, 'Holding our Tongues', ABC Radio National

BEST PHOTOJOURNALISM

• Jason South, 'PNG Maternity', The Age

• Andy Drewitt, 'Breakdown', Maroondah Leader

• Kate Geraghty, 'Sexual Warfare in the Democratic Republic of Congo', The Sydney Morning Herald

• Stephen Dupont, 'The Mean Streets of Port Moresby', The Diplomat Magazine

BEST ONLINE

• Kimberley Porteous, Simon Rankin, Kate Geraghty, Jonathan Pearlman, 'Sexual Warfare in the DRC', Sydney Morning Herald Online (http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2009/congo/)

• Martin Daly, Janna Mamar, Maris Beck, David Pavlich, David Boyle, Marc Eiden, Tim Young, Cormac Lally,

Polly Dedman, Dawn Wells, John Tjhia, 'Trafficking', The Age Online

• Dave Crossthwaite, Andy Drewitt, Melinda Marshall, Shaun Campbell, Jan Burton, Chris Kelly, Sean Lee, 'Feeling the Strain', Maroondah Leader Website (http://specials‐leader.whereilive.com.au/strain/)

Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Promotion of Aboriginal Reconciliation

• Emma Cook, 'After the Apology' SBS World News Australia

• Andrew Stephens, 'Healing Spirit', The Age

• The Fraser Coast Chronicle, The Butchulla, Q150, Zonta, Toni McRae, Kerrie Alexander, 'Reconciliation 2009', The Fraser Coast Chronicle

Office of Senior Victorians Promotion of Positive Images of the Older Person

• Ian Henschke, John Gilbert, Stephen Opie, Phillip Jinks, 'Professor Nordin', ABC TV Stateline SA

• Manpreet Kaur Singh, 'The Golden Athlete', SBS Radio Punjabi Program

• Kerry Staight, Andrew Burch, Chris Nilsen, Che McNamara‐Moyle, 'In Like Flynn', ABC TV Landline

Office of Women's Policy Increasing Awareness and Understanding of Women's Rights and Issues

• Jo Chander, 'Papua New Guinea‐Journey Through a Fragile State', The Age

• Sally Sara, Trevor Bormann, Wayne McAllister, Simi Chakrabarti & Garth Thomas – 'Bangladesh‐Acid Attacks', ABC TV Foreign Correspondent

• Sarah Ferguson, Ivan O'Mahoney, Anne Connolly, Kate Wild, 'Code of Silence', ABC TV Four Corners

• Yaara Bou Melhem, Aaron Thomas, 'Jordan: Jailing the Innocent', SBS TV Dateline

Office for Children and Portfolio Coordination Increasing Awareness and Understanding of Children's Rights and Issues

• Peter Munro, 'Childhood Lost: underage prostitutes strain a system in crisis', The Sunday Age

• Farrah Tomzin, Carol Nader, 'Bridging the Gap', The Age

• Carol Nader, 'Children in Residential Care Series', The Age

• Felicity Ogilvie, ‐'Urgent Need for youth psychiatric Ward in Tasmania', ABC Radio

Victorian Multicultural Commission/Australian Multicultural Foundation Promotion of Multicultural Issues

• Jill Emberson, Tony Macgregor and Judy Rapley, 'The Ties that Bind: Stories from the Tongan Diaspora', ABC Radio National, 360

• Dai Le, Trevor Bormann, Simon Beardsell, Garth Thomas, – 'Return of the Boatpeople', ABC TV Foreign Correspondent

• Chris Johnston, 'Sourabh Sharma', The Age

• Martin Daly, Janna Mamar, Simon Rankin, Tom Arup, Adrian Lowe, Marika Dobbin, Lucy Battersby, Jewel Topsfield, Andra Jackson, John Woudstra, Neil Bennett, Rebecca Hallas, Rubert Guether, Andrew Duffield 'Migrant Stories' The Age

National Indentity Fraud Awareness Week October 2009

This week is Crime Stoppers National Identity Fraud Awareness Week 2009.

The Sydney Morning Herald's Lesley Parker reminds us that:

According to a report released last year by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in three people aged 15 and over encountered some form of scam in 2007 – perhaps receiving emails...
Five per cent of them (806,000 people) made at least an initial response and 453,100 people lost money – almost $1 billion in total, or an average of $2160 a person.
The ABS says this translates to a "victimisation rate" of 2 per cent.

Don't become a statistic in 2009.

How identity theft occurs according to Stop ID Theft:

• Personal information you place on the Internet is collated by a fraudster.
• Mail is redirected without your knowledge.
• Wallet or purse is stolen.
• Unsolicited phone calls asking for information.
• Household or business garbage bin raided.
• Credit card or ATM card skimmed.
• Corporate identity theft by accessing publicly available records.
• Impersonation of a deceased person.

Fellowes Identity Fraud Quiz

Cybersquatting on photographs: one form of identity theft on the Internet

Update:

Some April and September 2009 statistics on identity theft from Veda Advantage.