October 2006

Mrs Ritchie steals a generation

Submitted by rickeyre on

An Open Letter From Madonna

My husband and I began the adoption process many months prior to our trip to Malawi. I did not wish to disclose my intentions to the world prior to the adoption happening as this is a private family matter. After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand out family.

Nevertheless, we have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate. The procedure includes an l8 month evaluation period after which time we hope to make this adoption permanent. This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly.

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Great moments in freedom from information

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"POLICE officers called in to help with the Cronulla riots and their aftermath ate more than $500,000 worth of food, but the force has ruled that what they ate - and who supplied it - is information too sensitive for public release."

Matthew Moore and Jonathan Pearlman take up the story in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

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Great moments in US constitutional freedom

Submitted by rickeyre on

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech....

- The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America

Last week, a fourteen year-old eighth grader from Sacramento was interrogated by Secret Service officers for putting a picture of the president on her Myspace website with the words "Kill Bush" on it. They pulled her out of class to do the interrogation without notifying her parents or the school principal.

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Going through the motions, remaining undeterred - II: Microcredit

Submitted by rickeyre on

What do our pollies in Australia care for microcredit? On September 4 Peter Garrett initiated a debate in the House of Reps urging the government to support the Microcredit Summit goals. As usual, six MPs got five minutes each to speak to the motion, and then the debate was adjourned indefinitely. (Refer my item of September 17 re Darfur.)

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Mohammad Yunus wins Nobel Peace Prize

Submitted by rickeyre on

The award to Orhan Pamuk of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature put a smile on my face, but I was utterly delighted, if somewhat surprised, to see Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank announced on Friday as winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

So often, the Peace Prize is awarded to inappropriate people, UN bureaucracies and so forth - there can have been no more daft award of the Peace Prize than to Le Duc Thi and that great humanitarian Dr Henry Kissinger in 1973. And there are people who genuinely believe that George W Bush would be a worthy winner.

Needless to say, they're rather proud of Yunus' award in Bangladesh. Today's coverage of the Nobel Prize from the Daily Star:

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Ian Chappell on Enough Rope

Submitted by rickeyre on

I've long been an admirer of Ian Chappell, having fond memories of his batting, his captaincy, his slip fielding, his willingness to drop his daks mid-pitch in the name of wardrobe maintenance. More than that, he has shown himself to be one of that rarest of breeds - an Australian cricketer with a social conscience.

Chappelli was interviewed by Andrew Denton for the October 2 edition of "Enough Rope". The transcript of the half-hour interview is online, as is an MP3 of the full interview as put to air, and a video excerpt.

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What Aussie expats are up to

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"Six times during the weekend, police here responded to the same call: a 100-pound emu running wild near Illinois Route 3. But each time, the rogue avian evaded capture - until Monday morning. That's when officers shot and killed the emu."

Emu shot and killed by police in Granite City
Leah Thorsen, St Louis Post-Dispatch, 11.10.06

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AB, you un-Australian ambush marketer, you

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"We think ambush marketing is fairly un-Australian,"

- Geoff Donohue, corporate affairs spokesperson for Fosters Brewing, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald of 11.10.06

Allan Border's second stint as a national selector of the Australian team ended on Monday after just four months.

"...my various commitments are far heavier than I had expected back in mid-year and I don’t think it is appropriate to do what is a really important job if I am not able to give it the full attention it deserves."

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