geekgirl

#Transfield Quits the @biennalesydney [#geekgirl]

[As reported by The Guardian in this article] ‘The chairman of the Sydney Biennale and of its major sponsor Transfield Holdings, Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, has resigned his position with the festival.

Organisers have announced that they will cut all ties with Transfield Holdings and with Transfield Services, a contractor for Australia’s network of immigration detention centres.

“We have listened to the artists who are the heart of the Biennale and have decided to end our partnership with Transfield effective immediately,” organisers said in a statement.

“With deep regret, the board reluctantly accepted the decision of the chair to resign. We gratefully acknowledge the personal contribution of Luca as chair over the past 14 years. We also acknowledge the enormous contribution of the Belgiorno-Nettis family over 41 years.”

Belgiorno-Nettis said in the statement: “I wear two hats: one as chair of the Biennale of Sydney and the other as a director of Transfield Holdings; both organisations conceived by my father and nurtured by my family over many decades. I am deeply thankful to the many friends of the Biennale, and my personal friends who have supported me and the teams throughout my tenure, especially in recent weeks.”’

PHD Examination Exhibition – Nancy Mauro-Flude

“Tenebris in Lux : The Performance of Code and the Aesthetics of Transmission in contemporary art through practice-orientated research.”

“Four more artists have withdrawn from the Sydney Biennale…” [#geekgirl]

[From an article at Artshub] “Four more artists have withdrawn from the Sydney Biennale in response to its refusal to sever ties with Transfield. This brings to nine the number of artists who have pulled out of the Biennale because of its partnership with Transfield, which manages the offshore detention of asylum seekers.

Agnieszka Polska, Sara van der Heide, Nicoline van Harskamp and Nathan Gray announced today they would not participate in the prestigious exhibition. They have asked the Biennale to leave their spaces blank so their protest will be obvious.

Last week Libia Castro, Ólafur Ólafsson, Charlie Sofo, Gabrielle de Vietri and Ahmet Öğüt announced they would boycott the Sydney Biennale because they object to sponsorship by Transfield.

‘We withdraw to send a message to the Biennale urging them, again, to act ethically and transparently. To send a message to Transfield that we will not add value to their brand and its inhumane enterprise. Finally, and most importantly, we withdraw to send a message to the Australian Government that we do not accept their unethical policy against asylum seekers,’ the first group of artists said in a statement, which has been endorsed by the additional withdrawing artists.

The boycotts came after a letter, now signed by 37 artists, asked the Biennale to cancel its partnership arrangement with Transfield.”

“Senator Ludlam welcomes Tony Abbott to WA…” [#geekgirl]

“Be My Eyes: Connecting Blind & Sighted” [#geekgirl]

[Image from "Be My Eyes"]

Want to know more about the story behind Be My Eyes?”

Climate Sceptics Now Want To be Known as “The Freedom and Prosperity Party” [#1984] [#geekgirl]

The No Carbon Tax Climate Sceptics has applied to change its registered name to Freedom and Prosperity Party. http://t.co/XDkZZitQfr

— AEC (@AusElectoralCom) December 12, 2013

Judge #Gender Diversity Threatened By #OneTermTony [#geekgirl]

[From  this Sydney Morning Herald article]: ‘A senior NSW judge has warned there are ”worrying signs” the Abbott government is winding back measures to promote greater gender diversity on the bench and called for vigilance to ensure hard-won advancements for female lawyers are not lost.

Ruth McColl, who has served on the Court of Appeal for more than a decade, said changes introduced by the former Labor government to improve the transparency of the appointment process for federal judges appeared to have been scrapped by the Coalition.

”The aim of the process was to ensure the evolution of the federal judiciary into one that better reflected the diversity of the Australian community,” Justice McColl said in a speech in Sydney on Thursday night.

”That position has now changed. According to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department website as at 22 February, 2014: ‘There are no current judicial appointment processes’ for any of the federal courts. Read what you like into that rather Delphic statement.”’

#OneTermAbbott’s Burial of a Pharmaceutical Review [#geekgirl]

[From an article at the ABC's Drum] “While Treasurer Joe Hockey is complaining that Australia is running out of money to fund the health system, the Coalition Government has buried a report with recommendations for large-scale savings on drug costs.

Not long before the Gonski Review website vanished in late 2013, a less well known but potentially equally important review also quietly disappeared from view. Unlike the Gonski Review, this particular disappearing act barely made a ripple on the public’s consciousness. But the burial of the findings and recommendations of the Review of Pharmaceutical Patents has huge economic, social and health implications for Australia.

The review began in 2012 and released a highly controversial draft report in April 2013. The final report was delivered in May to the previous government, but still has not been released.

The Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane recently indicated in Parliament that the current Government was not planning to release the final report, and was not even considering the recommendations in the draft report. And some time in the second half of 2013 the website for the review was taken offline along with all of the submissions. The draft report and background paper are still available through the IP Australia website.“

James Fallon: Confessions of a #Pro-Social #Psychopath [#geekgirl]

ACT Greens put an end to cage egg production after almost 20 years [#geekgirl]

[From a press release from The Greens] ‘After 18 years and seven bills, the ACT Greens have finally won the battle to ban cage egg production and sow stalls in the ACT, said ACT Greens Member for Molonglo, Shane Rattenbury.

“In 1996, the ACT Greens presented their first bill in the ACT Legislative Assembly to outlaw the production and sale of battery cage eggs.  I am so proud that today, our 7^th bill presented to the Assembly on these important issues has passed and will outlaw these inhumane and outdated farming practices,” said Mr Rattenbury.

“The Animal Welfare (Factory Farming) Bill will ban battery cages for egg production and the use of sow stalls and gestation crates for pigs, introducing a maximum penalty on conviction of 50 units ($7,000 for an individual or $35,000 for a corporation).

“Battery cage farming places laying hens in horrific conditions.  It is widely recognised that hens kept in battery cage systems suffer chronically, unable to exhibit usual chicken behaviour such as flapping their wings or dust bathing.

“The Bill also prohibits the removal or trimming of hens’ beaks, a common practice in the factory farming industry where the hen’s beak is removed with a hot blade or laser.  Not only is this process painful and inhumane, but it can also lead to other health complications which make it painful for the bird to eat.

“A growing number of public campaigns and a high level of recent media attention have exposed the inhumane practices of factory farming.  It is clear that community awareness is increasing and public expectations are growing for higher standards of food production.

“This bill represents a growing movement in the community, as consumers are better informed and able to make more humane choices when purchasing animal produce.  This is reflected even in our supermarket chains, with a number now stocking free range meats and phasing out the sale of battery cage eggs.

Animals Australia Campaign Director, Lyn White, expressed her support on the bill “Animals Australia applauds the ACT Government’s landmark move to prohibit some of the cruellest farming practices which see millions of animals around Australia severely confined and denied any quality of life, purely for commercial reasons. This legislation reflects community expectations for the treatment of animals and sets a significant precedent for other states to follow.”

Local produce farmer, Martyn Noakes from Bredbo Valley View Farm also welcomed the bill. “Prohibiting sow stalls within the ACT will have far reaching beneficial effects on the welfare of pigs beyond the ACTs borders; there is no need for sow stalls, caged birds or feed lots.  This legislation is a step forward in changing the way we all think about the way all our food is produced.”’