Elizabeth June 27th, 2007

PANIC about the Howard Government’s crackdown on child sexual abuse has spread widely throughout remote Aboriginal communities, where parents fear their children will be taken away in a repeat of the stolen generation.

Some families have already fled the first community to be targeted, Mutitjulu at Uluru, but the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, blames “liars” who have something to hide from police and military personnel for terrorising people and spreading hysteria.

“The reason people are scared there at the moment is because people are putting around that the army are coming to take their children away, that the army is coming in to shoot the dogs and the Government is going to take away their money and make them sit there and do what they’re told,” Mr Brough said.

Social workers and indigenous MPs in the Northern Territory are being swamped with phone calls from Aborigines wanting to know what will happen in their communities.

An indigenous MP, Alison Anderson, said she had been trying to persuade families in her huge desert electorate south of Alice Springs not to take their children and flee before police and troops arrived, which in some places could be within days.

“In one telephone hook-up last night people told me they were going to run away to a waterhole 50 kilometres away,” Ms Anderson said. “I have heard from many people thinking they may do the same thing. I’ve urged them not to panic and to stay on the communities and work with the people who arrive.”

Marion Scrymgour, a Northern Territory Government minister, said: “There’s a lot of fear, particularly among elder woman. Not so long ago - 30 to 40 years - children were being taken out of the arms of Aboriginal mothers. There is real fear that is going to happen again.”

Read the rest at the Sydney Morning Herald

I don’t have time to articulate my thoughts on this right now, as I’m knee-deep in boxes and packing tape, but I just wanted to register my complete lack of surprise. I can’t imagine the panic that I would feel if I was in these peoples’ shoes, especially considering our government’s shameful record throughout their entire lifetimes. How can Howard drop this landmine from Canberra and not communicate it properly to the people it will directly affect?

Just read Patrick’s post about why Howard is absolutely correct in comparing this mess to Katrina. I’m cranky.

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Elizabeth June 23rd, 2007

Elwood, a two-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, has been crowned the world’s ugliest dog, a distinction that delighted the mutt’s owners.

Elwood, dark coloured and hairless - save for a mohawk-like puff of white fur on his head - is often referred to as Yoda or ET, for his resemblance to those famous science fiction characters.

“I think he’s the cutest thing that ever lived,” said Elwood’s owner, Karen Quigley, a resident of Sewell, New Jersey.

Quigley brought Elwood out to compete for the second year at the annual ugly dog contest at the Marin-Sonoma County Fair today. Elwood placed second last year.

Most of the competing canines were also Chinese Crested, a breed that features a mohawk, bug eyes and a long, wagging tongue.

Quigley said she rescued Elwood two years ago. “The breeder was going to euthanise him because she thought he was too ugly to sell,” said Quigley.

“So ha ha, now Elwood’s all over the internet and people love him and adore him.”

Beyond the regal title of ugliest dog, Elwood also earned a $US1000 ($1200) reward for his owner.

via the Sydney Morning Herald

If you ask me, the best part of that photo is the bling around its neck. That dog is so hilarious that if I was his owner I would laugh 100 times a day. Poor thing.

I still think Harry could give him a run for his money, though.

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Elizabeth June 23rd, 2007

With thanks to Patrick

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Elizabeth June 22nd, 2007

JOHN Howard will seize control of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, banning alcohol and pornography and using the military to attack the “national emergency” of alcohol-fuelled sexual abuse of children.

In the most dramatic revolution in Aboriginal affairs since the 1967 referendum gave the commonwealth power to enact special laws for Aborigines and include them in the census, the Prime Minister will forcibly quarantine half of the social security payments to most indigenous community residents so that parents spend money on food and rent instead of alcohol.

Scores of doctors will be drafted to examine all 23,000-plus indigenous children in the Territory aged under 16 for evidence of sexual abuse.

Over the next month, Mr Howard will flood indigenous communities with police and the military, who will offer logistical support to rebuild communities from the ground up.

The unprecedented power grab comes a week after the release of a report that revealed rampant and often-unreported child sexual abuse in Territory indigenous communities, with children as young as three exposed to hard-core pornography.

It described frequent attacks on children by family members and their friends after parties featuring drug use and binge-drinking.

[Re-posted from The Australian, story continues at the source.]

Some additional reading:
Howard announces sweeping changes to indigenous policy (stoush.net)
Son of Tampa - The Transcripts (Larvatus Prodeo)
Tampa, 2007 edition (Larvatus Prodeo)
Senator Andrew Bartlett’s response
I’m seizing control, says PM (SMH)
Escape plan for Aboriginal students (The Australian)
No one consulted me, says Chief Minister (SMH)

Howard’s announcement yesterday of these dramatic strategies has caused heated debate all over the country. It’s been really encouraging to see that so many people are motivated to discuss a topic that has been sadly neglected for so long, and I’ve been following a number of interesting discussions throughout the day.

Unfortunately, for every thoughtful and considered piece of commentary I’ve encountered in the blogosphere, there is another article that simply exists to deliver uninformed condemnation of Indigenous people as a whole. In making special laws for a subset of our population - whether those laws are right or wrong - our government has essentially created an “open mic night” for all those people who wish to make exclusionary statements of their own. I suppose it comes as little surprise that so many have interpreted Howard’s strategy as some sort of official sanction for otherwise unacceptable racist statements.

I don’t honestly believe that this was his intention, for what it’s worth, but I can’t believe it was unexpected or undesired either. However, there are plenty of other people out there who have already pointed out the connection between Howard’s announcement and the timing of the upcoming Federal election without me joining in for now. What really inspired me to write about this topic was the underlying resentment that so many of us seem to carry towards our indigenous people.

I grew up in a city in Far North QLD where the anti-Aboriginal sentiment was strong. A small number of Aboriginal people lived in parks and on the Esplanade, and it would be dishonest of me to say that they were pillars of society. These people only bothered to conceal their wine casks or beer if a police car approached, and they often took the bladders out of the cardboard cartons to make that process a little easier. Drunkenness in broad daylight was a daily thing, and there were certain parks that you simply didn’t walk through if you were by yourself. I remember being grabbed on the arm by a homeless woman as I walked through the park with a school group, and needing a teacher’s help to get free. I don’t know what the situation is like in Cairns now, but in the late 90’s that’s just how it was.

I never felt unsafe in Cairns, because I knew where I should and shouldn’t go. These people didn’t go out of their way to find trouble, but conflict within their family units was part of their everyday lives. My dad’s office was across the road from one of these parks, and it wasn’t unusual to see two people beating each other up from the foyer if I was stuck waiting for him after school. Interestingly enough, it was almost always the women who began and ended those fights. That was just my observation.

Many people that I knew in FNQ had a very hostile attitude towards Aboriginal people, no doubt as a result of the things they saw on the streets. It never occurred to them that these homeless Aborigines were just a visible segment of the population, and not at all representative of the average. Racist jokes were a staple of the backyard BBQ (”How do you stop an Aborigine from drowning? Take your foot off his head!“) and if you asked a local they were responsible for 99% of the crime in the city. I heard more blanket statements in those years than I’ve ever heard since - even after September 11.

So maybe that’s why I was especially angry to read the ignorant commentary that I came across today. No, the solution is not to bomb the NT. Or kill all the men. Or put them all onto a ship and sink it out at sea. In the space of just a few hours I came so many statements that dehumanised Aboriginal people in this way, and absolved the rest of us of any responsibility for the state they find themselves in now. It’s not only offensive, it’s ignorant and does nothing at all to help the victims of this abuse. Furthermore, I am willing to bet that these same people would not publish those statements if they were directed at Muslim people in our current climate. Racism is racism, regardless of the group at which it is targeted.

I have witnessed alcohol-fueled violence between Indigenous Australians first-hand, but I don’t pretend to know the extent of the problems being faced in the NT. The statistics paint a horrible picture of widespread child abuse and domestic violence in communities up there, and I agree completely that the situation deserved our complete attention a long time ago. I totally support the government’s decision to do something meaningful to protect these children and I hope that the issue doesn’t blow over in a couple of weeks because we’re distracted by something else.

However, I don’t believe that Howard has got it right. It’s pretty hard to ignore the fact that these decisions have been made without any consultation with community leaders or even Clare Martin, the NT’s Chief Minister. Instead we have a disturbing paternalistic intervention that does not address the two biggest contributors to their predicament: Addiction, and the horrific events of the past 200 years that began the cycle of this widespread addiction. For the record, non-indigenous Australia is responsible for most of those.

Andrew Bartlett has responded to the news on his blog, and I found this part most interesting:

Professor Boni Robertson, who compiled a similar report in relation to Indigenous children in Queensland in 1999, has been reported making very critical comments about aspects of the plan. “When is this knee-jerk nonsense going to stop and when are they going to start proper consultation with our people so that we can get it done properly?”

You can read a short summary of the report here. It includes this list of “important points made by the Inquiry”:

• Child sexual abuse is serious, widespread and often unreported.
• Most Aboriginal people are willing and committed to solving problems and helping their children. They are also eager to better educate themselves.
• Aboriginal people are not the only victims and not the only perpetrators of sexual abuse.
• Much of the violence and sexual abuse occurring in Territory communities is a reflection of past, current and continuing social problems which have developed over many decades.
• The combined effects of poor health, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, gambling, pornography, poor education and housing, and a general loss of identity and control have contributed to violence and to sexual abuse in many forms.
• Existing government programs to help Aboriginal people break the cycle of poverty and violence need to work better. There is not enough coordination and communication between government departments and agencies, and this is causing a breakdown in services and poor crisis intervention. Improvements in health and social services are desperately needed.
• Programs need to have enough funds and resources and be a long-term commitment.

I don’t pretend to have any of the answers. These people lack the funds and resources to make positive changes through self-determinism alone, but there is no excuse for our government to bypass the indigenous community leaders who really are willing to get their hands dirty. All I know is that Howard’s approach is treating the symptoms rather than the disease, and I don’t see much evidence of long-term policies to complement his new laws.

And if today’s reading taught me one thing, it’s this: In order for there to be long-term improvements there needs to be a shift in attitude from non-Indigenous Australia as well. Unless we improve our understanding of these issues we cannot hope for people in remote Aboriginal communities to understand ours. We could all start by showing a little respect for our fellow Australians in the way that we write, and resist the urge to make simplistic generalisations that ignore our role in this mess.

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Elizabeth June 21st, 2007

This is not a pairing that I had even imagined until I saw this video. In fact, I didn’t know that Reba McEntire was still recording. All I can say is that I was really, really surprised at how much I love this version of the song, and the video that goes with it.

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The original song and video were great too, but this one grabs me more. And that’s big news from somebody who refuses to listen to commercial radio

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Elizabeth June 21st, 2007

If you’re not Australian, or you don’t own a TV, you won’t know what I’m talking about. Watch this video to find out.

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Elizabeth June 20th, 2007

you said Is
there anything which
is dead or alive more beautiful
than my body,to have in your fingers
(trembling ever so little)?
                           Looking into
your eyes Nothing,i said,except the
air of spring smelling of never and forever.

….and through the lattice which moved as
if a hand is touched by a
hand(which
moved as though
fingers touch a girl’s
breast,
lightly)
        Do you believe in always,the wind
said to the rain
I am too busy with
my flowers to believe,the rain answered

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Elizabeth June 16th, 2007

You have got to watch this video of Connie Talbot, who is 6 years old, singing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” on Britain’s Got Talent. This kid has such a refreshingly soft and expressive voice, and the cutest smile you ever saw.

If you can watch this without getting tears in your eyes, see a specialist and schedule a heart transplant.

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Elizabeth June 16th, 2007

There is a new breakthrough in weight-loss that is revolutionising the way we think about dieting. I have noticed INSTANT results just by making a few small adjustments to my lifestyle!

Please refer to the diagram below, and consult your doctor before beginning your new regime.

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Elizabeth June 16th, 2007

I will go to extraordinary measures to avoid my dentist.

My last check-up was at least two (but maybe three) years ago. At that time my bottom wisdom teeth were breaking through my gums, and causing an infection that would flare up about every 6 weeks. I spent the better part of a year ignoring the problem and assuming it would eventually tire itself out.

I think it was the day that I was unable to fulfil my commitment to a tasty steak that I finally caved in and made an appointment. It was an anxious week while I awaited my fate and imagined the worst.

My teeth are straight and hole-free, and I’ve never had a filling or braces or been drilled into. I know I’m lucky, and yet my lack of experience in the chair is also the cause of my massive fear of dental procedures. I’m so sure that my time will come, and I’ve had 27 years to consider how a needle might feel if it was jabbed into my gums. Finding out for sure excites me about as much as the prospect of a drill in my retina.

So when I saw that dentist a few years ago, at the height of my flare-up, I was pretty anxious. And he didn’t really make it any easier by making fun of my genuine fear and holding me down while he scrubbed my throbbing gum with a hard toothbrush until it bled. I was in tears by the end of it, and didn’t exactly entertain the suggestion of coming back in a month to have my wisdom teeth removed by the same thug. I followed his instructions at home, and scrubbed my gum until my toothbrush turned red, and eventually the infection just didn’t return. I was free! Well, except for all those pesky reminder cards that came in the mail.

Of course, I like my straight teeth so it’s been in the back of my mind that my wisdom teeth may still need attention before they started messin’ up my smile. However such concerns were usually able to be dulled with a steady diet of reality TV and crack cocaine. It was going to take something pretty sneaky to get me back in the dentist’s chair.

Last week my mother delivered what was needed: bribery. What sounded like a generous offer to pay for teeth whitening was actually a dark and elaborate plan to hand me over to her dentist, and like a fool I fell right into her trap! I had agreed to her offer before considering all the consequences, and by the time the horrible realisation set in the appointment had been made. I’ll never know for sure whether she and the dentist were in cahoots, but by then it no longer mattered. I was an unwitting pawn in their sadistic plan, and so began a fortnight of nightmares and hallucinations that woke me screaming from my sleep.

As it turns out, my vanity won the battle against my fear and I found myself at the dentist yesterday morning. I was feeling pretty calm as I was led to the chair, and decided to remain in control of the situation. After all, thought I, how much damage can you do in three years when you live in a city without fluoride in the water and you eat chocolate three meals a day and you love your coffee with extra sugar and you have an on/off relationship with mouthwash and oh my God what if he notices that I still have my wisdom teeth and wants to rip them out and WHY didn’t I just drive one block further and spend this hour shopping? The illusion of calm was shattered in about 3 seconds flat, and I found myself offering the dental hygienist vast sums of cash to doctor my records and let me go. She was in fits of laughter by the end, which made one of us.

And that’s when things started to go very wrong. As I was lying there almost horizontal I willed the halogen light above me to shatter and lodge its pieces in my head so that I would instantly be rushed to hospital and far, far away from the drill. What happened next wasn’t quite as dramatic as I had hoped, but the light did suddenly go out and was deemed unfixable after many attempts. Moments later, the electric scaler made a series of disturbing noises before sparking and taking its own life. “This has never happened before!”, said the dental hygienist, and I assured her that it was completely my fault. She was slowly beginning to understand that I wasn’t kidding.

We were moved into another room and this time all the equipment worked just fine. She took x-rays of my teeth for the specific purpose of checking my wisdom teeth, and since I was feeling a bit guilty about nearly burning down the surgery I decided to suck it up like a grown-up. I reminded myself that I could simply cancel any further appointments if there was bad news, and choose a new dentist three years from now. Nobody would ever catch on.

Nobody expected what happened next.

… my x-rays were perfect, and my wisdom teeth were growing at a great angle. Furthermore, I didn’t even have upper wisdom teeth at all, so they’ll never ever cause me any trouble - ever! No holes, no crowding, barely any plaque. When the dentist finally joined us he went looking for problems, and finally told me to halve my brushing time. Halve it! How many people can say that their dentist told them to brush less?

Naturally I was feeling pretty smug by this stage and quietly patting myself on the back for all the money I saved in the past 3 years. Since I broke half the surgery they ran out of time to make an impression of my teeth for the whitening treatment, so I had to go back again today and see the other dentist who works there. “No problem!”, I said. “See you tomorrow!” and I skipped out the door like it was International “Elizabeth Is Awesome!” Day.

There was no trepidation when I entered the surgery this afternoon. I happily flicked through magazines in the waiting room and noted the models whose smiles were almost as dazzling as my own. Eventually I was called into the room by a very severe-looking hygienist with a thick Russian accent. “Zeet down,” she said, and as I followed her orders I was quietly thankful that she wasn’t rostered the day before when I was really panicking. And I know it’s horribly politically incorrect to giggle inwardly when your dentist can’t pronounce the word “teeth” (instead saying “teese”, as in Dita von) but the truth is that I was still coming down from yesterday’s adrenaline and therefore can’t be held responsible for my inappropriate thoughts. He was terrific actually, and answered all of the weird questions I fired at him including “how come I can’t sing properly for 2 hours after I brush my teese?” Gargling with salt water is apparently the solution. Now I was going to be even more perfect than before!

Obviously this cockiness and self-adoration wasn’t going to last, and the Universe made sure to knock me down a peg before sending me back out into the world. After the lengthy conversation with my dentist, and another one with the receptionist, I skipped back to the car and drove off happily into the sunset. Five minutes from home I caught my refection in the rear view mirror and noticed the MASSIVE splotches of solidified white plastic stuck to my nose and cheek from the cast he’d just made of my teeth and NEITHER the dentist nor the receptionist thought to mention it. I looked like the Phantom of the Opera*, or the victim of a horrible experiment in self-waxing. It was everywhere! I was greatly consoled by the fact that I didn’t have time to stop at the shops as planned, or this could have been a whole other post.

Moral of the story: I was right to be suspicious of dentists and those that they employ. However, I should place more faith in my own awesomeness from now on. That I can do!

* a possible exaggeration.

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