The incredible beauty of small things

Tiny red fungus at Chatswood (NSW) by cskk

One of a series of photographs Most Beautiful Mushrooms

A rare endangered Australian fungus from the Lane Cove (NSW) area

Ron's photo of Mycena from the Cairns (Qld) region

Best online media headlines of the week that's past

The Vatican finally gets its revenge on Henry VIII
A Brisbane Times article on the Catholic Church further relaxing its criteria for admission of Anglican clergy and parishioners into Teh Church of Rome.

Australians all let us react, says right
WA Today piece by Richard Ackland on asylum seeks.

Driver loses licence after 45mins
News.com.au tells the world about an 18 year-old caught out less than a hour after passing his driving test.

Giant seagull appears behind Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener
News.com.au again, this time proving that a picture is worth yada, yada, yada....

















Poll: Fewer believe in global warming
MSNBC and Ali Weinberg giving the big polluting multinationals some cheerful news at breakfast.

'Day after tomorrow' map shows consequences of climate change
The U.K. Telegraph also tackles the climate change subject by announcing a Science Museum map showing Great Britain can expect sea level rise, drought, heat wave and food shortages if global temperatures continue to trend upwards.

Obama makes a hero of Fox News
Kansas City Star lets us know that the U.S. President is a miracle worker.

First Dog On The Moon Presents: How To Deny Climate Change! An illustrated Typography of the Denialist's Journey

First Dog on the Moon at Crikey takes on Andrew Bolt and climate change denialism on 16 October 2009:

Click on
flow chart
to enlarge

A cry from the heart......

From the Koori Mail online:

Ms Macklin, we deserve better

AS D-Day steadily approaches for the Indigenous community of Yarrabah, a large number of our people are facing uncertain times. The hope for the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme to be extended past 1 July has been lost, with Federal Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin rejecting the local leaders' plea, and putting what she thinks will work in place. She has rejected another proposal by the local leaders to extend CDEP, once again acting bull-headed towards our people and Indigenous Affairs. These brash and foolish decisions which have been made by government ministers over the last decade who have handled Indigenous Affairs did not help us move forward one bit. Minister Macklin's latest decision is also going to backfire and fail miserably unless she becomes more proactive towards the community in Yarrabah, instead of bureaucrats dictating from their flashy offices in Brisbane. They're still sending their feedback drones or mules into the community meetings to do their dirty work. Shame on the ministers and the Government. Five hundred people will lose their jobs and their families will be left to live off the dole. So much for our 'highly skilled' labourers and qualified tradesmen who have also proved themselves working in the mainstream. It is a shame we have been given this to live and abide by in our beautiful home in a year where Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would start closing the 18-year life-expectancy gap between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians. This neglect has been with us Yarrabah folks since the old missionary days of 1892. Our people are totally sick of it. We wonder why we still die younger than expected. These new changes have no respect for our cultural identity, making us into dole-bludgers and draining our confidence instead of giving our residents hope of being employed in their home town. Ms Macklin, if you really care about Indigenous Affairs and your fellow Australians in far north Queensland, I urge you to visit us in Yarrabah to meet the residents to find a better outcome, because the one you settled on is not good enough. We are not all useless. We are Australians too, the real Australians. We deserve much better. ... BRAD HIGGINS Yarrabah, North Queensland

Everything old is new again - bulldog fascisti in 2009?

U.K. Map of BNP members from The Guardian

The British National Party (BNP) has long been regarded with suspicion in certain quarters and characterized with some justification as a fascist slash racist political party.

It's party membership list has been repeatedly leaked and published by Wikileaks, mainstream media and blogosphere.

On 19th of October 2009 The Guardian newspaper published a membership map by U.K. electorate, based on demographics which would've made ol' Ossie Mosley proud.

The following day the BNP published this legal threat:

“Furthermore, any media using that list for any purpose whatsoever, be it interpretation, analysis or interview purposes, is in clear breach of the Data Protection Act and we will not hesitate to institute legal action against them” .

Meanwhile protesters jumped the barricades to protest against the BNP leader appearing on a BBC television Q&A-style program, The Guardian is asking if all this publicity is actually going to boost acceptance of this political party and Skepticlawyer is discussing how society deals with the politics of hatred and exclusion.

We live in interesting times......................

Daily Examiner editor socks it to insensitive NSW National Party leader

The Daily Examiner's new editor, David Bancroft, was not impressed by the National Party this week:

THERE is little more off-putting than seeing politicians attempting to make political capital out of tragedy.

Despite the obvious insensitivity and the offence it can cause to people grieving, MPs of all political persuasions seem to find it necessary to trot out one of their favourite soap box topics for the media at a time when the focus should be on the people who are directly affected by tragic events.

This week it was NSW Nationals leader, Andrew Stoner, who could not avoid the temptation to have a crack at the Rees Government over the condition of the Pacific Highway.

Stoner was probably right in what he was saying - that the condition of the highway leaves a lot to be desired - but his decision to use the 20th anniversary of the Cowper bus crash, in which 20 people died, as the catalyst for media comment left me feeling cold......

I remember having the same feeling when the politicians flew into the site on October 20, 1989, and started talking about the condition of the highway rather than displaying empathy for those who had died or been injured.

One of those was another National Party leader, Wal Murray.

The fact is, the condition of the highway was bad then and remains bad. Fewer lives would be lost if governments did what they promised and made the highway dual divided carriageway.

But the primary cause of that accident was not the highway, it was the fact that the truck driver was high on drugs.

A survivor remembers the horror and grief of the 1989 Cowper bus crash

Ballina hosts 350 Climate Fair on Saturday 24 October 2009

Ballina on the NSW North Coast is playing host to the 350.org's Global Day of Climate Action! next Saturday.

According to the Ballina Shire Advocate:

The 350 Climate Fair has been organised by the Ballina Climate Action Network and the North Coast Climate Action Group, in association with non-profit group Island Quarry Inc, as part of a world campaign by 350.org to urge world leaders to take action on climate change.

The keynote speaker is Roger Tomlinson from Griffith University. There also will be stalls and live music. The event will be held at Missingham Park from 10am to 2pm.

Graph from http://www.350.org/