Prisons fill with indigenous people - Inga Ting Sydney Morning Herald May 27, 2013

Every day in Australia, 30,000 people wake up in a jail. Statistically, one of those people dies every six days.
Last week the Australian Institute of Criminology delivered its long-awaited report into deaths in custody. Its national deaths in custody program was established after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in recognition that timely, accurate data was crucial to reducing the unacceptably high number of deaths in our prison and police systems.
That this report is not months but years late is a snub to the importance of that goal. A decade ago, the program was delivering its reports within days of the close of the reporting period - the 2003, 2004 and 2005 reports were delivered within one month. Then, without explanation, each of the next three reports took between 16 months and two years to appear. The 2009-11 report has been almost 3½ years in the making……
The government's press release - with the Orwellian title ‘20 Years on - Improvements in death-in-custody rates but more to be done’ - labelled the report as ‘encouraging’ and ‘welcomed … findings that death-in-custody rates have decreased significantly in the past decade’ and are ‘some of the lowest recorded’.
But that was spin. The truth is that rates of death are only low because rates of incarceration are at a record high. In fact, the actual number of indigenous deaths in prison is on the rise, with the number in 2009-10 (14 deaths) equal to the highest on record…….
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/policy-failure-as-prisons-fill-with-indigenous-people-20130526-2n534.html#ixzz2URKFXV5g

For Climate Solution, Look to the Ground

Soil, that humble brown stuff we call dirt, is part of the answer to saving our future
Judith Schwartz Common Dreams May 21, 2013
Late last week the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere crossed the 400 parts per million (ppm) threshold. From a climate standpoint this is alarming, and points to the urgency of shifting away from fossil fuels. However, I also feel that our sole emphasis on CO2 blinds us to other means of addressing climate change—notably by returning carbon to where it belongs, in the soil. For this approach represents not only our greatest opportunity to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels, but simultaneously enhances soil fertility and biodiversity, and the land’s ability to retain water.
We get the impression that human interference with climate is a sky thing: those greenhouse gases we keep pumping into the air. But it’s also a ground phenomenon. The flip-side of rising atmospheric CO2 is the loss of carbon in the soil, the main component of soil organic matter. More carbon is stored in soil than in the atmosphere and plants combined. Over time, more CO2 has entered the atmosphere from soil-disturbing agricultural practices than the burning of fossil fuels. Once we understand this, and encourage land management strategies that store carbon as opposed to promoting its oxidation, things look different. This is cause for optimism because while we can’t un-burn fossil fuels (futuristic geoengineering tricks notwithstanding), we can effectively return carbon to the soil……
Cutting emissions is a crucial part of reducing atmospheric CO2 levels. But as we reckon with climate change and other environmental problems, it’s time we brought our efforts down to earth. Soil, that humble brown stuff we call dirt, responds readily to restorative measures. Soil carbon, a fulcrum in many biological cycles, offers crucial points of leverage. By focusing only on atmospheric carbon, we’re missing an important part of the picture. We’re also missing the opportunity to engage the public, push past malaise and hand-wringing, and get our hands dirty—literally—to safeguard our future.
Read more http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/05/21

'Tree of Life' The Performance tells the true life stories of young refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Serbia who attend Miller High School and Intensive English Centre, Liverpool Boys High School and Fairvale High School.

May 23, 2013

Event Information
This is a very powerful show for both students and adult audiences. When you see a terrorist attack acted out on stage, you have to remember that the students on stage are the survivors of that attack! The young refugees actually perform their own stories of childhood fun, then of terror and loss, and finally of resettlement and recovery. This is the culmination of a program involving group counselling, drama therapy and performance.
These amazing young people love to share their stories – the performance provides validation and understanding. Some stories are sad, some are shocking and some are very, very funny. Last year we sold out the Casula Powerhouse and the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli. This year we have extra performances to fill!
Comments from previous years included:
‘Laughed so hard at the beginning, cried in the middle and couldn’t stop smiling at the end.’
‘Best theatre I have seen for years!’
The work of Treehouse Theatre was recognized by a 2012 Refugee Week Humanitarian Award, presented by the Refugee Council of Australia.
Please book in advance. Last year several performances were sold out. See details in the attached flyer.
Casula performances:
Thursday 23 May - 10.00 am and 12.30 pm
Friday 24 May - 10.00 am, 12.30 pm and 7.00 pm
Bookings: (02) 9824 1121

Ensemble performances:
Monday 3 June - 10.00 am, 12.30 pm and 7.00 pm
Monday 22 July - 7.00 pm
Bookings: (02) 9929 0624

For more information call 0414 257 087
George Rosier
Secretary, Treehouse Theatre Inc.
Carlingford NSW 2118
Email: georosier@gmail.com
Mobile: 0414 257 087
The 'Tree of Life' tells the true life stories of young refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Serbia who attend Miller High School and Intensive English Centre, Liverpool Boys High School and Fairvale High School.
The show assists non-refugee students to better appreciate the lives of their refugee classmates who are struggling with current resettlement issues and past trauma. Refugee students in the audience feel acknowledged and recognised.

The performance also has relevance to a variety of curriculum areas including HSC English (Belonging), Drama, Human Society and its Environment and Dance.

The performance is also a wonderful opportunity for staff development.
Bookings are now open at the Ensemble Theatre on 9929 0644 or go to Shows for Schools: http://www.showsforschools.com.au/show/id/12017.
Please book early to avoid disappointment!

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is that they must change if they are to get better.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (German scientist, satirist and Anglophile- 1742-1799)

A book is a mirror; if an ass peers into it, you cannot expect an apostle to peer out.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinions at all.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Pope calls for a return of ‘person-centered ethics’ in finance and economics

Gerard O'Connell Vatican Insider May 16, 2013


The effects of the world's economic and social crisis
In a strong critique of the current global economic and financial disorder, Pope Francis denounces the idolatry of money and calls for a return to a ‘person-centered ethics’ in the world of finance and economics
In his first major speech on the global financial crisis, Pope Francis strongly denounced ‘the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal’. He called on the world’s financial experts and political leaders to promote ‘disinterested solidarity’ and ‘a return to a person-centered ethics in the world of finance and economics.’ ……
While addressed in the first place to the governments represented by the new ambassadors, his message was clearly targeted at the world’s financial and political leaders. And it was clearly rooted in his experience in Latin America, and especially in Argentina where over the past decades he had witnessed the country’s economic meltdown, an increase in poverty, the growing gap between rich and poor, and widespread corruption.
‘The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ’s name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them’…….

Disarmament Double Speak - Produced by International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Today at Parliament House in Canberra, ICAN Australia launched an booklet titled Disarmament Double-Speak, which exposes Australia’s mixed record on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

It describes early attempts to acquire nuclear weapons, support for British nuclear testing on Australian soil, participation in US extended nuclear deterrence, resistance to a ban treaty and the inadequacy of safeguards for uranium exports.

As former prime minister Malcolm Fraser writes in the foreword, Australia “should use our position on the UN Security Council to help lead the push for negotiations on a treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons”.


Download Disarmament Double-Speak

Please share this report widely. Help us to expose the hypocrisy of the Australian government in this field so that we can work towards a more constructive Australian approach to nuclear disarmament.



Kind regards,


Tim Wright
Campaign Director
ICAN Australia

You Tube Video looking at ways to spend resources other than military

Pax Christi UK have produced this DVD/Video to try to get people to think of the whole issue of military spending and how we could create other, better non-military
models of security if we invested in other possibilities. The video was launched at the
House of Commons on 15 April, Global Day of Action on Military Spending.
We have discussion notes/ lesson plan to go with it for use in
schools/with groups.

Please paste this into your browser for viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGeBlsiSMU

Slideshow: Six US Whistleblowers Charged Under the Espionage Act

Dear Friends

Meet the six whistleblowers Obama has prosecuted under the Espionage Act—more than all other presidents combined.
The Obama administration has been carrying out an unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers, particularly on those who have divulged information that relates to national security. The Espionage Act, enacted during the first World War to punish Americans who aided the enemy, had only been used three times in its history to try government officials accused of leaking classified information — until the Obama administration. Since 2009, the administration has used the act to prosecute six government officials. Meet the whistleblowers.

Please go the link very interesting reading.

http://billmoyers.com/content/slideshow-six-whistleblowers-charged-under-the-espionage-act/#.UYGz8T6wc08.gmail