Aborigenes more likely to be jailed in Australia

Aborigines are 13 times more likely to be jailed than other Australians and the government must step up efforts to tackle drug and alcohol abuse fuelling crime in indigenous communities, researchers said today.

Almost a quarter of all prisoners are indigenous even though Aborigines make up just 2 percent of the population, according to a report by the Australian National Council on Drugs.

“The figures are appalling,” Gino Vumbaca, the council’s executive director, said in a telephone interview. “Every family in indigenous communities knows somebody who has been to prison or is in prison.”

Aborigines remain the poorest and most disadvantaged group in Australian society, more than 200 years after Europeans settled the nation in 1788. Their life expectancy is 17 years less than other Australians and they are three times more likely to experience coronary problems, according to the Australian Medical Association.

Intricate Rainforest Sculptures of Olinda

Deep in an Australian rainforest lie sculptures dedicated to the Aboriginal’s of Australia.  In the times between 1949-1960, self taught sculptor William Ricketts learned about the culture of the Pitjantjatjara and the Arrernte peoples and their connection with nature.  These sculptures were born out of that time.

via (The Brisbane Times)

The Dreaming Festival

Genre Cultural festival
Location 87 Woodrow Rd
Address Woodford
Date June 5 to 8
Tickets Refer website
More information www.thedreamingfestival.com

The Dreaming Festival; Australia’s International Indigenous Festival is emerging as one of Australia’s not to be missed cultural events of the year. Traditional and contemporary Indigenous culture is on display often in breathtaking and inspiring ways.

Whether you have a preference for theatre, dance, film, song, or art you will find it presented richly at this festival. Indigenous performers from across the world, including Australia of course are invited to The Dreaming Festival to share and present their art and culture and tell their stories to the growing audience of Australians wanting to soak up and explore new cultures.

The nights in June are chilly and the festival is lit with campfires to keep you warm, but it is the sheer spirit of this festival that leaves you with a feeling that you have just experienced something very special.

(Via LONGVIEWS, the blog-cast)

Baz Luhrmann deserves to be sucker-punched for making this commercial. Does he have any sense at all? That is a rhetorical question … plus anyone who has seen Australia knows he doesn’t. Actually, this commercial is part of a series of ads made for Australia’s Tourist Board. I’m sure whoever heads up the Aussie Tourist board had a part in the general direction of these commercials, so he or she deserves to be sucker-punched as well. You’re not alone, Bazzie. Taken from Australia.com:

“Sometimes we need to lose ourselves to find what matters most. Australia’s Aboriginal people know as much, going ‘walkabout’ to reconnect with the land and their traditional way of life. For most of us, ‘walkabout’ takes the form of a holiday - a time to re-balance and refresh. It lets us find ourselves when the pressures of daily life have made us lose touch.”

It goes on to say that while most of us have our ‘Walkabouts’ at the Four Seasons in Sydney, Aboriginals have to stick with the bush because it is cheaper. Hey, at least they’re keeping it real, right? I’m totally kidding! Ha! Australia would never admit to anything negative involving Aboriginals. The website actually goes on to describe all the great stuff there is to do in Oz - such as snorkel, go dirt-biking and look for Hugh Jackman. Oh, and listen to the “deep throb of the didgeridoo.” But maybe they were still talking about Hugh Jackman there.

There is not much of a point to this blog. I mainly wanted to say “COME THE FUCK ON AUSTRALIA!” You can pretty much gauge the climate of global awareness on any particular subject according to percentage of comments on a related YouTube page. About 90% of comments on the above video’s page went something like this, “This commercial is memorizing and beautiful. I tear up every time. Crazy!” About 5%: “This commercial is super creepy! I’m never going there!” About 3%: “I’m an Aussie and this ad is bloody shithouse!” And then of course the 1 or 2% shaming the irresponsible portrayal of the Australian Aboriginal as a proverb-whispering, loin-cloth sporting medicine manchild, sprinkling healing sand on your relationship problems … and tracking mud through your living room.

“Bloody shithouse” is right.