In a tiny laneway near the corner of Swanston and Bourke streets, smack-bang in the middle of the city some anonymous peoples have created this mini-urban garden. Suspended nasturtium plants growing in recycled cardboard bases adorn and enliven this grimy alley and are an inspirational example of the kind of actions that will see us transform the current mess that we are living in to a sustainable future. May many others take their lead, get creative and find ways to make life beautiful.
In a progressive move by the Melbourne City Council, a bike share system has been installed in the Melbourne CBD enabling people to pick up and drop off bikes to and from around 50 locations. It's suprisingly reasonably priced- you pay $2.50 per day, $8.00 per week, or $50 per year to have unlimited access to a bike 24hrs a day.
There is a deal running at participating 7/11 stores where you can buy a helmet for $5 and either keep it or return it and get a $3 refund.
A couple of days after spokesperson for Wikileaks, Julian Assange was arrested over farcical rape charges Melbournites gathered in support of him, and for truth, free speech, government transparency and justice.
Unfortunately 2 separate rallies were held on consecutive days, which resulted in an inaccurate representation of the number of people who showed their support, but nevertheless hundreds gathered each day to express their outrage over his unlawful treatment and the truth of the rotten and corrupt core of world politics that the Wikileaks cables irrefutably revealed.
The Wikileaked diplomatic cables reveal many truths about what is going on that have been veiled in government lies that the major news channels have been complicit in representing. I truly hope that these revelations will precipitate a mass movement of people standing up for truth, accountability and global justice and that will no longer be possible for governments to get away with mass deception and acting against the good of the people for the interests of the few.
In conjunction with a conference that was recently held in Melbourne for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel movement was this concert for Palestine- at which Jafra, [the Arabic band I have been playing with along with Yousef, Liam and Amal] had our first performance.
For those unfamiliar with the BDS movement, it is essentially a campaign to employ similar pressure on Israel as was used in South Africa to end apartheid- a peaceful means of applying pressure to bring justice where all other methods have failed.
Since their illegal occupation began, Israel have encroached further and further into Palestinian lands and stripped Palestinian people of their freedoms and basic human needs and have created a grand scale humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions- all aided, abetted and funded by the US government.
It's a glaring example of the hypocrisy of the American governments' foreign policy- that they not only turn a blind eye to Israels' terrorism of the Palestinian people and illegal settlement in their lands, but also that they turn a blind eye to Israels nuclear program [and their own for that matter..] and now want to target Iran.
And now as America holds peace talks with the Palestinian and Israeli leaders [irony of ironies..] Israel has increased it's rate of illegal Israeli settlement in Palestinian lands by 30%. As my friend Yousef said, it's like there being two people in dispute about pizza and one of them quickly gobbling as much pizza as they can while they talk..
It is such a huge and complicated situation that it's really impossible for me to sufficiently cover it here- I implore you to read up on it as much as you can as it is a matter of global consequence.
Yousef has a particularly interesting and informative radio show called 'Palestine Remembered' on 3CR at 8:30-9:00am wednesday mornings which covers issues relating to the plight of Palestinian people.
http://www.3cr.org.au/palestine
Also performing at the Concert for Palestine, as well as speaking at the conference was the passionate, articulate and on-point Palestinian refugee, activist and performance poet Rafeef Ziadah. Check her out. Maximum respect..
To my delight, whilst walking home from work through the Melbourne CBD, I discovered this planting installation outside a major shopping centre. From recycled cardboard and news paper, the mysterious horticultural propagandists fashioned a honeycomb-like structure in which were placed small plants and seedlings for people to take and plant in a bid to inspire the greening of the world. In coke bottles and chip packets were a number of other plants placed with the message "When you're planting, everything looks like a vase". Niice.
Go forth and propagate!!
Posts
![Christmas is again upon us, compelling people to flock to the city in droves to participate in the annual consumer frenzy that it is. The supposed virgin birth of the mythical son of God doesn't mean much to me personally, though I do really appreciate spending time with the family. I just don't see that spending exorbitant amounts of money on unnecessary stuff is the way to express love for your loved ones. Instead of feeling obliged to submit yourself [and the planet] to financial and emotional stress and creating colossal waste, I invite you to think about how this money, time and sentiment can be better spent..](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrhq6IMOZMAroZSZo0Lnv8jSuvI6CVCs94XigaXm976VEQmMGm1q4yd31N8RBpxaSInhI-MH1oLTd4bCGUUYrhEU47rShbursuPwPl94IcKLm3hmN4crE6bU-c-h5K-aOhz_-SX9xIXw/s1600/Christmas+shoppers.JPG){kind=link}