Jumps: Victoria – the place to be ashamed #protest #killingfields #rspca #geekgirl

The 2011 season.
After previous commitments to end jumps racing in Victoria after the 2010 season, we are disappointed that Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) are going ahead with a a three year extension to hurdle racing and a one year extension to steeplechase racing.  This has been despite key performance indicators (KPI’s) not being met in the 2010 season.

Clearly the RVL CEO, Rob Hines has not been made accountable for his public comments of ‘Make no mistake, if the KPIs are not met, it will be the last season of jumps racing’, last year.  And with our new government using tax-payer dollars to provide an additional $2 million dollars to the ‘sport’, we are ashamed that our new leaders are focused on incentivising international competitors and boosting prize money.

Our new Minister for Racing, Denis Napthine is clearly a supporter of jumps racing – we need to illustrate to him, a key decision maker, that this cruel sport is not accepted by the community.

RVL is receiving pressure from pro-jumps racing groups and it is important we show that we will not be letting them of the hook either.  RVL must take further action to ensure horses no longer suffer for a sport that is not favoured by the community.We need you to the be the voice for jumps horses.  Especially with a new government and a new season upon us, we need your help writing to the respective decision makers.  Personal letters carry great weight and the more these stakeholders receive, the more they are likely to listen to our concerns.  In your own words, be an advocate for jumps racing horses by detailing the issues.

http://www.rspcavic.org/campaigns_news/campaigns_jumps_racing.htm

A demonstration will be held by the Coalition For The Protection of Jumps Racehorses in Bourke St Mall, Melbourne at midday on Friday 6 May, 2011

Roots to Resistance! Visual Artist brings 12 Women Activists to Life #facebook #geekgirl

No More Silence! Please help spread the word by joining the Global Postcard Campaign!
Visual Artist brings 12 Women Activists to Life http://www.facebook.com/rootstoresistance

Renowned award winning visual artist and creative activist Denise Beaudet is bringing forth the images and stories of 12 remarkable women in a project entitled Roots to Resistance, painting larger than life sized portraits of these women activists as well as creating postcards that  spread word of their work.

This project aims to create voices for us all by creating postcards and sending them around the world and saying that we won’t be silent about war, atrocities and violence against women!

Examples of postcards include a portrait of the Congolese Journalist Chouchou Namegabe. Her work is simply of the utmost importance. It is a critical and dangerous endeavor as she travels across the war torn Congo to record the stories of the hundreds of thousands of women who have been assaulted there. She needs our support and our voices!

The global postcard exchange is completely free and really just involves us sending postcards to those interested in being partners in the Exchange. All we ask is that you give them out in your community and spread the word and we will print them in the language spoken there!

To become a partner in the Global Postcard Campaign please contact
Denise: invisible_earth@yahoo.com  and for more info and images of the
project: http://www.facebook.com/rootstoresistance

The 12 women:
Natalia Estemirova-Chechnya-Murdered Human Rights Journalist
Malalai Joya-Afghanistan-Woman’s Rights Activist
Chouchou Namegabe–Congo–Journalist/Women’s Rights Activist
Maria Gunnoe-U.S.-Environmental Activist
Aung San Suu Kyi-Burma-Human Rights Activist
Parvin Ardalan-Iran-Women’s Rights Activist
Rebecca Gomperts-Netherlands-Environmeari-Indonesia-Labor Activist
Wangari Maathai-Kenya-Environmental Activist
Zapatista Woman-Mexico Environmental/Indigenous Rights Activist
Marina Silva-Brazil-Environmental Activist
Yvonne Margarula-Australia-Indigenous Rights Activist

Tell Obama to keep his promise, save the #whales

I’ve signed, have you?

Dear Friend,

In an altogether shocking move, President Obama’s delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has decided to back a plan that would legalize commercial whaling — including in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary — for the first time since the international ban was passed over 20 years ago.

We only have until the start of the IWC meetings in June to convince the President that this plan is a horrible idea. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Join me and tell Obama to keep his promise, save the whales.

Greenpeace will be delivering all the names and messages to high-ranking officials in the White House on June 3rd. I’ve already added my name. Add yours today.

Oppose proposed new Victorian laws. Write to politicians today before new law is passed. #Youthlaw needs your help!

On Tuesday 8th December the Upper House of Victorian Parliament will debate and vote on proposed new laws that give invasive powers for police which will impact on the everyday life of tens of thousands of Victorians.  On 26 November (2009) the Government and the Opposition members in the  Lower House of Parliament passed the proposed laws despite acknowledging they breach fundamental human rights.

Youthlaw seeks your urgent support to oppose this proposed law and request voting be deferred until  politicians properly investigate and consult with community rather than rush it through Parliament.

The proposed ‘Summary Offences and Weapons Control Amendment’ Bill introduces new ‘move on powers’ for police that enable them to order any one to move away from public spaces even if they haven’t committed any crime. Interstate experience indicates these laws will target young people in particular.

The Bill also allows the police to conduct random searches including strip searches of children under 18 in certain circumstances. Similar proposed legislation in WA has been sent off for investigation by an upper house Committee due to the public uproar about the impact of these invasive powers on the community.

If you don’t want laws that have proven to be ineffective, unfairly target young people and create unnecessary conflict between community groups and police then please send an email such as the one below, to the Government by Tuesday 8th December 2009.

SUGGESTED EMAIL MESSAGE
I AM WRITING TO URGE YOU TO OPPOSE THE ‘SUMMARY OFFENCES AND WEAPONS CONTROL AMENDMENT ACT’ BILL OR AT LEAST DEFER PASSING THE BILL UNTIL THERE HAS BEEN A PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS SUCH A LAW. THE INVESTIGATION SHOULD PARTICULARLY ENABLE CONSULTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE, HOMELESS PEOPLE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WHO ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE EFFECTED BY THESE LAWS.

Please email to:

john.brumby@parliament.vic.gov.au
Premier, Leader of the government, ALP
ted.baillieu@parliament.vic.gov.au
Leader of the Opposition, Liberal party
rob.hulls@parliament.vic.gov.au
Attorney General, ALP
bob.cameron@parliament.vic.gov.au
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, ALP
peter.ryan@parliament.vic.gov.au
Leader of the National party
sue.pennicuik@parliament.vic.gov.au
Greens, Australian Whip

Please forward to all your friends and networks.
Please email me if you are interested in further information about this issue.
Tiffany Overall
Youthlaw

Australian Government must demand Japan recall its whaling fleet immediately

The Japanese whaling fleet left port in Innoshima (Nov 19, 2009) en route to Antarctica with over 1000 whales in its sight. It will take the whaling fleet about three weeks to reach the Southern Ocean beneath Australia.

When they get there, the Government of Japan’s annual ‘research’ expedition to Antarctic waters plans to kill up to 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 of our beloved humpback whales.

“Japan’s so-called scientific whaling is nothing less than commercial whaling in disguise. You don’t need to kill whales to study them,” said Darren Kindleysides, Director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).

This is the fifth whaling season for the Japanese Government’s controversial and confrontational ‘scientific whaling’ program known as ‘JARPA II’ and the 22nd consecutive year Japan has hunted whales under the guise of scientific research. In that time, Japan’s whalers have killed more than 9000 whales in the Southern Ocean.

“Hunting hundreds of whales and calling it research breaks international law and defies the global ban on whaling brought in by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. How many more whaling seasons must be endured, how many more whales must die under this charade?” Kindleysides said.

This whaling season, the whalers are planning to kill 50 humpback whales - this would break a four decade ban on hunting humpbacks and has ramifications for Australia’s thriving whale watching industry.

“The whalers have our beloved humpbacks in their sights - the same whales that migrate to Australia during winter, the same whales that support our multi-million dollar whale watching industries on our east and west coasts.”

Research [1] has shown that whale watching is worth approximately $300million dollars a year in Australia, with humpbacks the backbone of our whale watching industries in many locations.  Japan withdrew plans to kill humpbacks in 2007 and 2008 following international outcry and pressure from countries like Australia, but their self-appointed quota of 50 humpbacks in the 2009 season still stands.

With the recent change of Government in Japan, there are suggestions the Japanese Government is reviewing the funding for the annual whaling expeditions, a hugely subsidised and controversial hunt that has stained Japan’s standing on the international stage.

“The Australian Government must demand Japan recall its whaling fleet immediately. It is time to tell the new Japanese Government to put their unlawful whaling program on ice. If diplomacy cannot prevent another season of whale slaughter in the Southern Ocean the Rudd Government must deliver on its election promise to pursue legal action against Japan before international courts and tribunals to end whaling once and for all,” concluded Kindleysides.

[1] Research undertaken by the International Fund for Animal Welfare evaluating the economic value of whale and dolphin watching in Australia.

Media Contact:
Darren Kindleysides (AMCS Director): +61 (07) 3393 5811 or 0422 396 077

www.marineconservation.org.au

South Park Season 13 Whale Whores

Preview – it’s the Japanese!

Things turn bloody when the Japanese attack the Denver aquarium!

Ok, you’re right it is South Park highlighting the issue of dolphin slaughter in Japan – watch.

PS. Save Japan’s dolphins.

Primitive: A New Multi-Platform Media Artwork

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new multi-platform media artwork Primitive was commissioned by FACT in partnership with Haus der Kunst, Munich and Animate Projects, London. The work is a combination of:

• a multiple- screen video installation
• a music video
• a short film for cinema
• an online film
• an artist’s book.

“This will be the first solo exhibition in the UK by the Thai artist, which forms part of the AND Festival, Primitive is set in Nabua in the Renu Nakhon district of Thailand, which suffered violent clashes between communist communities and the Thai military in the 1960s. Communist suspects were brutally tortured during attacks and those who managed to escape fled to the jungle where they disappeared forever. Nabua’s story undeniably has echoes with the current political turmoil in Thailand, as freedom of expression is still restricted and Thai security forces continue to engage in extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests, with new cases of ‘enforced disappearances’ emerging during 2008.”

Read more about Primitive at FACT.

Chinese hack into film festival site

CHINESE hackers have attacked the Melbourne International Film Festival website in an intensifying campaign against the screening of a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

The sabotage comes as festival organisers confirmed federal and state police had been called in, private security guards were being hired to protect film-goers and festival staff, four Chinese-language films had been withdrawn and a long-term Hong Kong-based sponsor had pulled out of the event.

The hackers broke into the festival’s website early yesterday, just hours after Premier John Brumby officially opened the 2009 festival at the Arts Centre.

The hackers replaced festival information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans and were last night continuing to disrupt the site by spamming.

“We like film but we hate Rebiya Kadeer,” one message says and calls for an apology to the Chinese people.

More from The Age

GG note: The controversial “Ten conditions of Love” is Sold Out at the Festival.

International Whores Day

Yes it’s a legitimate day of recognition for sex workers. Sex workers will protest outside NSW Parliament House (June 02,09).

The Scarlet Alliance wants anti-discrimination laws to protect sex workers, saying at the moment its members are the victims of unfair bias from banks, lenders, local councils and in advertising.

Sex worker Ivy McIntosh said people in her profession were being overcharged when they placed ads in local papers.

“I’m paying too much for a measly two inches,” she said in a statement.

“Sex work is legal in NSW.

“Why am I charged hundreds of dollars to advertise in local papers when other trade occupations are charged less than $100?”

The sex workers will dress in red and carry red umbrellas in the demonstration for International Whores Day, which started in France in 1975.

Source The Age

etoy.QUEER-LABS

We know there’s a little gay guy in everyone. But the etoy.BUREAUCRATS forgot to celebrate this fact!

etoy.CORPORATION SA wishes to apologize officially for not consulting the etoy.QUEER-LABS before setting this year’s GENERAL MEETING date.

Shame on the chairman and all his board members: the 6th of June 2009 is the day of the EUROPRIDE PARADE & FESTIVAL in Zurich! EuroPride is this year’s biggest gay event in the world: a celebration and political demonstration for acceptance and tolerance, against discrimination and against the creation of taboos and violence on grounds of sexual orientation. Political speakers include the politician and publicist Daniel Cohn Bendit, the mayor of Zurich, Corinne Mauch, and the Moldovan human rights activist Mihaela Copot.

http://www.europride09.eu/

The chairman proposes triple voting rights for all etoy.SHAREHOLDERS who can show probable cause that they practice/tested same-sex romance and/or participate in the general meeting as cross-dresser/gender-bender.

In addition, etoy installed the position of agent.PINK who can be contacted to delegate voting rights in case the celebration schedule cannot be synchronized with the etoy.MEETING-PLAN. —> use: gay@ir.etoy.com

kisses from etoy …leaving reality behind.