maharetr

Next time you see one of those "report any suspicious activity (for example, people taking photographs of public buildings...)" sort of signs? Think on this:

The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography.

The reason we're so hung on up on 'suspicious' people 'taking photographs'?

... “we’re a species of storytellers,” and thus persistently vulnerable to a particular variety of logic failure, the movie-plot threat.

From the Making Light post The power of storytelling…to make us stupid and crazy, educating and making me fear for humanity, all at once...

Tags:

politics

Racism 'not behind Islamic school knock-back'

A south-west Sydney council has denied suggestions religious intolerance was behind its rejection of a controversial plan to build an Islamic school.

Bits that made me incoherent while reading this at work:

The proposal had divided the community and sparked fierce opposition from locals. Some protesters left pigs heads draped in the Australian flag at the site last year.

So, not only have you gone out of your way to offend Jewish and Muslim people, you've defiled your own country's flag. Well done. What was your point again?

Outside the meeting, some residents expressed relief there would not be an influx of Muslims in the area, including a woman wearing an akubra hat decorated with Australian flags.

"We just don't want Muslim people in Camden," she said.

"We don't want them not only here, we don't want them in Australia. They're an oppressive society, they're a dictatorship."

Another resident said: "It's not for racist [reasons], just all the crime and stuff that other foreign people bring into the town."

I console myself with the idea that the ABC staffers were probably laughing their arses off at you while they were putting this together. It's helping. Sort of.

Current Mood: aggravated

Tags:

politics

Hacked from the Greens announcement bulletin. I'm going thanks to a flex day. If you're interested but can't make it, pass it on. :)

Western Australia Community Gathering - How non-Aboriginal women can stand in solidarity with Aboriginal women and communities

The rights of Aboriginal peoples in Australia have been denied for too long. Non-Aboriginal women standing in solidarity with Aboriginal women and communities can make a difference.

This is the beginning of a conversation for women in Western Australia.

Join a diverse range of women from across West Australia in a day-long conversation, sharing and learning about how and where women in Australia can stand in solidarity with Aboriginal women. Explore how non-Aboriginal women in Australia remain in a privileged position, learn about the issues affecting Aboriginal women, and discuss how you can make changes.
( Details... )

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Brendan Nelson never asked the woman he quoted in his (not-sorry) speech if he could use her story.

An angry and sobbing Ms Lyman told ABC Radio: "He took my story from Many Voices oral history out of context."

Dr Nelson rang Ms Lyman on Thursday night and promised to ring her again next week to find out if she was still angry and upset, she said.

"He said: `I just wanted people to know your story'," she said.

"I asked him why he didn't ring me, and he couldn't answer that.

"How dare he use my story for his political career.

"He told me he read this three years ago so he had plenty of time to get in contact with me."

Current Mood: aggravated

Tags:

politics

Apparently, the PM wrote it himself.

There's a bit of disconnect there, between "I met with a single person from the stolen generation one afternoon, and then sat down and wrote" compared to what I remember reading in the lead up which was along the lines of "many of us are consulting with many people/groups" but still...