shocker

Did you see this in the papers today:

Race row hostel breaks silence
from theage.com.au

Various reports have come out since the story first broke, which have muddied the waters somewhat, but the basis of the story seems to be:

• A bunch of Aboriginal women travelled to Alice Springs and checked in to a backpacker hostel
• A short time later they were asked/told to leave by management who, apparently, had received complaints from the other backpackers, who were “alarmed” by the fact they (the women) were Aboriginal.

Whichever way you slice it: this is as blatant an example of racial discrimination as you will ever see. If you disagree, try imagining this story in Alabama in the 1950s, with the Aboriginal women replaced with Afro-American men.

I shouldn’t have to say this, but: you can’t go around discriminating against people based on the colour of their skin. It’s not on.

It says an awful lot about the nature of race relations in this country, even after the big sorry day. We have a long way to go.

the big issues

It has come to my attention that a grammatical error of fearsome proportions is being inflicted on the good people of Melbourne at present. I refer, of course, to those signs you see on the backs of rubbish trucks at work:

Constantly stopping

Spot the problem? The truck is constantly stopping: it never actually stops trying to stop. You would think when the driver fires up the engine and kicks it into gear, the truck is starting. Also, once the truck actually comes to a stop, perhaps at the end of a shift, then it has stopped stopping and is now stopped. However, if we are to believe the sign, that never happens!

That would be awkward. Imagine those poor rubbish truck drivers, doomed to roam the streets like some manky Flying Dutchman, piloting a craft that is unceasingly attempting to come to rest, but never quite able to stop.

Even the old Flying D managed to come to shore once every seven years or so. If my memory serves me, he then dashed around the local blue-light discos or the Scandinavian equivalent, madly attempting to pull a girlfriend.

Anyway, back to the rubbish-problem, it could all be resolved by replacing the word “Constantly” with “Frequently”.

“Frequently stopping” isn’t that better? I think we can mark that problem “solved”. Tomorrow, I’ll look into Aboriginal reconciliation, the Israel/Palestinian problem and global warming.

Running
13km this fine morning, including another shot at Anderson street.

Update
I’ve just read this, apparently according to Germaine Greer, who should know:

Now that you can buy them, bosoms are over.
From the Guardian.

Damn. I quite liked them.