Just before new year, i was listening to the heaviest rain i’d heard in melbourne for years. Such a delicious sound. i revelled in the delights of pounding water.

But of course, most of that water was going down many drains into the bay, because we don’t have a huge embedded system to catch, keep and recycle storm water.

The smart guys at the top of town want to throw billions of dollars at private companies, to build a desalination plant which is going to use coal-fired electricity, add pollution and greenhouse gases, and line the pockets of those private investors for years to come

.. when research shows you’re so much better off catching what falls out of the sky.

(um, evidence, michael? Well, Bob Brown and the Greens say so. Average households receive 8 times the water they consume, apparently.)

Here’s Bob talking to a rally against desalination.

Bill Mollison once said that all the solutions are there already. It’s just the political will, and getting past the stakeholders.

One of my dreams for ’08 is that the people of Victoria will demand intelligently innovative, sensible and truly sustainable solutions to the water crises, and that we’ll be rewarded with the best new system in the world.

And i reckon that means we collect and recycle storm water.

Oh look, here’s a bunch of sane and clear-thinking locals investigating the whole DeSal/PPP setup (or maybe they’re commie free radicals?). Apparently we pay for the desalinated water even if it turns out we don’t need it.

(The weirdest thing .. the herald sun editorial agreed with me.)

Public art is more popular in Tasmania than i realised. Here’s a whole town that devoted itself to supporting local artists by painting murals on every available surface (Sheffield, slightly East of Cradle Mountain).

And i caught a picture of this very strange dog. I thought it must have been an elaborate kind of poodle. “Look at this dog,” i said to Tim. “You idiot, that’s an Alpaca,” he replied. Oh, yes i see that now.

Plus, this little valley called Wilmot, on the way to Cradle Mountain, has an abundance of Gorgeous Quirky letterboxes; and even a mural, celebrating said boxes.

(image links to larger version)

You’ll see on the map, that Sheffield is right near a place called Promised Land.

View Larger Map

i’m sure you know already that the uk/us partnership interceded in 1953 to overthrow an Iranian democracy. However, many people in the US do not know; so there’s a group called Just Foreign Policy who are touring the states in an attempt to educate fools and eradicate ignorance.

They put together a video explaining how the 1953 oil coup happened. Definitely worth watching for the background info.

Those wretched jumped-up baton-twirlers and lever-twisters in the White House of Bush aren’t thinking of invading another sovereign nation, are they? Surely not .. are they completely moronosic (sic) ?

This is so cruelly insane it’s almost not funny
“nelson waits for apology” – i say keep him waiting, ooh, eleven years?

Clearly mr half-nelson has a case for compensation.

Generations of doctor-turned-politicians, their brains and hearts stolen by ignorance; .. cruelly spurned by the staffers of inconsiderate party leaders whose compassion extends primarily to the underprivileged.

oh the hurt, the indignity, the suffering!
(irony, nay sarcasm, fully intended)

Why do people of reasonable intelligence have to behave like blithering idiots?

i wobble with anger and confusion.
Thank you Kevin for your compassion and good grace.

i refuse to let the petty, mean-spirited, blindingly incompetent opposition party ruin such a beautiful day. i say hold on to the power of truth, grace and love.

Just ignore the idiots. Rise above the fear and ignorance. Yah.

(says me who vented in a blog post. honest to blog! Contradiction?)

Thank you Kevin for having the guts to use the S words – Sorry and Stolen.

Thank you to the authors of “Bringing them Home”, the 1997 report which received such a stony and stubborn silence for so long.

Thank you to all the people who have cared about justice for the Stolen Generations.


Everyone i spoke to cried yesterday. i had tears welling up all day.

Yes, there are problems our nation must face; yes there are people who continue to weasel their way around the facts, or who stare into the face of pain and refuse to see it. Of course, there’s no chance of short-term solutions. But at last, the whole freaking parliament has begun to open up to the reality of what happened in our past.

I’m staying focussed on the positive, me. Nothing can spoil such a day. Pauline’s gone, Jeanette’s fossil-brained hero is out of the Lodge, and Kevin is at the helm. Go Kev.

What about this? A man who leads his opponents into compassion, rather than into fear or abusing them! Kevin pulls out the understandascope:

Mr Rudd acknowledged that some Australians were still opposed to saying sorry.

“I say to non-indigenous Australians — imagine for a moment if this had happened to you,” he said.

My favourite moment was when he spoke about Nungala Fejo, and had asked what she would like him to say.

A sombre Mr Rudd told an emotional story about an Aboriginal woman, Nungala Fejo, who was taken from her family outside Tennant Creek in 1930s and never saw her mother again.

“I asked Nanna Fejo what she would have me say today about her story. She thought for a few moments, then said that what I should say was that all mothers are important.

“And she added: ‘Families — keeping them together is very important. It’s a good thing that you are surrounded by love and that love is passed down the generations. That’s what gives you happiness’.”

How long since a leader of the nation used the word love on the floor of parliament?

mmmmmm, sweet honest compassion is such a joy and a relief.

Much better than mean-spirited wrangling with words and evasion etc ..

Lots of people writing about this one ..

• Dale writes about the joy of being in the heart of Redfern;
• Ms Fits takes up one of the members for his lack of manners;
• Ali Cobby Eckermann explains why people turned their backs;
• Richard Flanagan mentions the occasion as he launches an important new history: Van Diemen’s Land;
• Sarah rips up Nelson’s ideas, with fury and indignation;
• Jo Blue congratulates Kev from overseas: “it takes guts to admit mistakes”;
• Richard gives a serve to people making excuses and papering over the facts;
  
• Xavier printed up his concise version of brendan’s response (language warning);
  

mmm, i enjoyed reading all these people and more

(Full Text over at The Age, plus some extended videos on youTube, and the abc has plenty)

Here’s a song i think you’ll like.
From the xxteens (via imageyenation), a warning. With a funky beat.
It’s called “How to avoid becoming a terror victim”.

The accompanying video (below) could be hilarious, unless you are Easily Scared, or on the lookout for Seditious Material; in which case it would be Terrifyingly Insulting to your Sensitivities. Beware: attempted humour and satire.

And this is how i felt after watching the video.

I feel a bit nervous
I feel a bit mad
I feel like a good time that’s never been had
I feel a bit fragile
I feel a bit low
Like I learned the right lines
But I’m on the wrong show

(I’m Living in the Sensitivities.)

Best lines in the xxteens lyric?

“store a decent amount of cash someplace in case ATM’s malfunction“
“try to fly on wide-bodied planes, terrorists often avoid hijacking them“

But they sound better in the song than they look in text.

Hope your whole week goes really well.
i’m staying indoors.

Next up, we need a song called “How to avoid becoming a terror suspect”. Any ideas?

Here’s my collection of photos from Tasmania (selected). Or, view via flickr (slideshow).

Oh this flickr slideshow might be better..

comments welcome
kthxbye

i thought the traffic was mad in Phnom Penh .. and it is! Bikes traveling along only centimetres from other cars and tuk-tuks. People weaving in and out of traffic as though it’s a giant tapestry.

To cross the road, you just walk into the traffic. Bikes and cars move around you. Terrifying at first, until you get used to it.

Lauli described it as a giant stream full of many schools of fish. You need to learn to go with the flow.

Then i realised that the whole stream is moving at around 20-30kmh .. and actually the drivers are all really good at managing tight situations.

They drive slowly enough to be able to change course instantly. It helps that most people are on pushbike or moto .. you’re totally aware of everyone around you. Not cocooned and separate in a car.

No way would Australians drive slowly enough to manage this traffic.

When we got out of the city onto the open road, our driver hit 60kmh and it felt unbelievably fast. Oh, then you see the buses driving down the middle of the road at high speed. Now that really is mad.

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photo credit: thejonoakley

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i’d never heard of Murdunna, but now i know it’s a beautiful part of an unbelievably gorgeous world. These Tasmanians have got something really special going on, i’m telling you.

Well it’s on the Tasman Peninsula, so like the rest of us Australians they’re not always 100% imaginative with the naming. But “Murdunna” that’s .. experimental innit?

Thanks so much Julie and Annie for hosting me and my tent. Really lovely to hang out with you and the kids.

World’s best fish and chip shop – who would have thunk it? Huge tubs with exotic fish swimming about. No photos, darn!