Saturday 19 July 2008

Feed the world ... with the ever so 'umble Spud

Well, who'da thunk it?

And, I understand that there is very little, if any, international trade in potatoes. They're all home grown!

So, one of those "win-win's" for the local economy and global environment.


Landline - 13/07/2008: Handy Andes. Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC aka "Aunty")


Handy Andes

Reporter: Pip Courtney

First Published: 13/07/2008

ANNE KRUGER, PRESENTER: Climate change and even carbon emissions may still have their sceptics but there's no denying the impact the spiralling cost of staple foods is having right now on the world's poor.

The United Nations, the World Bank and the leaders of the eight biggest industrial powers have all pledged to do their bit to increase production of rice, wheat and corn. But what about the humble spud? Pip Courtney went to Peru for this special report to mark the International Year of the Potato.

Features full transcript, link to resource and segment videos in hi and low res bandwidth for download.

Wednesday 16 July 2008

Olympians & Spectators Offered Support In Speaking Up In Beijing

Monday, 14 July 2008

Australian Olympian Michelle Engelsman joined Simon Bradshaw, ATC’s Campaign Coordinator, for the media launch of the Beijing 2008 Tibet Resource Pack, aimed at athletes and spectators heading to next month’s Olympics in Beijing.

...

With tough regulations in place to discourage athletes and others heading to the Games from speaking out, the options for those wishing to show their support for Tibet without facing consequences are limited. The educational resource, T-shirt and badge in this pack have been carefully designed in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Olympic charter and the Australian Olympic Committee. However, individuals need to be aware that they may not be permitted to carry certain other items in the pack to Beijing.

Tuesday 15 July 2008

Bartlett's blog post about blogs

"Andrew Bartlett has been active in Australian politics for over 20 years, including serving as a Senator for Queensland from 1997-2008. He started this blog in 2004. It reflects his own views and thoughts, independent of any political party or organisation."

High value blogs - a human rights example


... there is plenty of overlap and we’re really just talking about people writing words and providing information and/or opinion. It’s the content that should matter, not the label attached to the provider of the content.

The credibility and value of those words is up to the reader/consumer, and they will usually assess its credibility based on their own judgement as to whether they think the person writing it knows what they’re talking about. But one aspect of the blogosphere which I find gets insufficient recognition is just how highly credible and skilled some of the bloggers out there are, and how useful their material can be.

Monday 14 July 2008

Blow up the pokies

It will be interesting to see what impact Nick Xenophon will have in the Federal Senate, and whether the states can be weened off pokies revenue.

Blow Up The Pokies, The Whitlams. (You Tube)

"And I wish I could shine you the right words, to blow up the pokies and drag them away.
Because they're taking the food off the table, so they can say that the trains run on time".

I think the pokies should have another series of motivating sounds and audio effects, rather like the voice overs in computer games like PGA Golf; you know, things like "ooh - that must've hurt", "this is a run of bad luck, isn't it?", and more pointed "LOSER!", "Have you eaten yet?", "Shouldn't you go home now?", included along with the happy tinkly fun sounds.

Oh, and the sound of maniacal laughter after each losing hand. And an occasional syrupy "Thank you for your generous contribution to the state's revenue base" whenever the mug punter feeds more credits into the machine.