The Three Sisters, Blue Mountains
Posted at 12:27 pm by starsi
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Up Sydney Tower and Oz Trek Experience. A wide vista from the top. After that, to airport.
Saw Sin City. Had Neil Gaiman sign a book.
Posted at 10:38 pm by starsi
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My Hogwarts-like campus. This is Maclaurin Hall, shot from inside grounds.
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Went to Sydney U. for some snap-shots. I took the opportunity to re-submit the assignment lost by one of my professors. We then went to Wakeley. Had dinner there. Fairfield has a fair number of Filos too.
Posted at 10:34 pm by starsi
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Trip to Blue Mountains. Train ride to Katoomba. Had snapshots at Three Sisters. Scenic World Rides and Enviro and Mine Tours. Bus Tour of Katoomba and Leura. Place has English gardens on one side and Aussie flora on other side. Blue Mountains look blue because of the mists produced by eucalyptus vapours over the air.
Posted at 10:29 pm by starsi
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Went to Taronga Zoo. Ferry ride. Skyride. Had nice shots of us, but failed to upload them, big mistake. Anyway, nice day.
Posted at 10:20 pm by starsi
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Darling Harbour
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Train to airport then back.
Went to Opera House at dusk. Simply beautiful. Then through George Street and Queen Victoria Building picture taking. Went to harbourside concert by band that revived "Queen" in Darling Harbour at night. Walked up the big bridge overlooking the harbour. Magical evening.
Shot of Queen Victoria Building, taken from George St. QVB is a shopping centre. It also has historic photographs and other mementos inside.
Posted at 10:10 pm by starsi
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Meet at D's place in Campsie.
Posted at 10:00 pm by starsi
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One of the hidden histories of Australia includes the story of what is now known as "The Stolen Generation," where White Australia forcibly removed Aboriginal children from their families until 1970, in the professed goal to improve their race. Up till today, many Aboriginals suffer from this destruction of their identity and culture.
A good movie about this is "Rabbit-Proof Fence." It's the story of three children who escaped a resettlement camp for "half-castes." It is the story of tenacity and determination, as the children avoided even the most skillful trackers on their 2000-mile journey home.
Posted at 11:43 am by starsi
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The terrorist bombings in London have taken their toll on about 700 injured people and at least 13 confirmed killed, along with the families of the direct victims. The bombs exploded at rush hour when lots of workers and tourists were rushing through. People who bear no responsibility for the actions of their government were made to pay in this criminal endeavour.
In the midst of the tragedy, Londoners are unbowed. They have been advised to go on with their lives, and that is what they're doing.
Prime Minister Tony Blair only slightly acknowledged the victims then proceeded to say that the G8 meeting will continue.
US president George Bush on his part speaks Orwellian, in an attempt to distinguish what he claimed to be the evil of the terrorists from the righteousness of the G8 leaders. He said: “The contrast couldn’t be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty and those who kill, those who have such evil in their heart that they will take the lives of innocent folks.” Then he proceeded to declare: “The war on terror goes on.” I'm sure he wasn't trying to suppress a laugh.
A website put up by a group called the "The Secret Organisation of Al Qaeda in Europe" has claimed responsibility for the attacks, though experts are questioning its authenticity.
But it's more than probable that the bombings are connected to militant Islamism. Which is why it's funny how media commentary claims that this has nothing to do with the war in Iraq, even as they claim that it's connected to terrorists, who are incidentally Muslim. Nevertheless, this is precisely one of the reasons that about a million people in London protested the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Violence begets violence.
A funny thing that could happen at this moment is if someone asked these same people to protest Al-Qaeda, at a time when the US and British governments are now using this as another pretext for the policy of war and the assault on civil liberties and other democratic rights. After September 11, the wave of sympathy for and the anguish of the victims were exploited to wage a never-ending war without borders. And keep in mind that the Al-Qaeda aren't accountable to anyone, as demonstrated by their acts. Yet people can help in minimizing violence in today's world by holding officials and institutions accountable to them - theoretically - though in practice limitedly so.
I remember 2003, we had an idea that reprisals could happen; Manila was especially vulnerable for its support of the war. And it was attacked, several times, yet it didn't get such media coverage as much as London has.
But the thing is, concern for the proliferation of terrorism wasn't the priority. One justification after another was concocted to pursue the war in Iraq as a "petri-dish," a demonstration of the 2002 US National Security Strategy, a blueprint for "empire," according to US foreign policy journals.
Intelligence analysts predicted before the war that Iraq would be a converging point for terrorists if the occupation was pursued. They claim there was no connection between the Al-Qaeda type groups and Saddam prior to the war. But now it's a "terrorist haven," a rallying point for Islamists on the extreme end.
Moreover, the US has never confessed political responsibility for the creation of Al-Qaeda, when the CIA, along with Pakistani intelligence allies, covertly armed, financed and facilitated jihadi groups in their war against Russia in Afhanistan from 1979 to the late 80s. These mujahideen that evolved into what is now called Al-Qaeda turned on the US in the early 90s after it set up bases in Saudi Arabia, a place where Islamic holy shrines are located, and supported purportedly "undemocratic" regimes in the Middle East.
A straightforward solution does not privilege war. Thorough police work to catch the perpetrators should be conducted. But more importantly, the grievances that are expressed - and exploited by terrorists - should be addressed. Otherwise, non-state terrorists and those waging the war against terror, understood to be an unending terrorist war, only help each other justify their reciprocating violence. It's the ordinary citizen victims that pay.
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A place where media coverage of terrorism - at least the doctrinally acceptable one - is skewed is in Iraq. It's been exposed lately - not by "embedded journalists" - that US marines were engaged in collective punishment, assaulting Fallujah hospitals' staff and stopping the wounded from entering. It's reported that US snipers shot at doors and windows and emergency blood and medicines were prevented from reaching hospitals. Children were shot in front of their families.
Estimated Iraqi civilian casualties exceed a hundred thousand killed. That's five zeroes after the one. That's hundreds of times those killed in London.
It seems classifying what's terrorism is selective for the mainstream media.
Posted at 09:42 pm by starsi
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Breaking news: At least four explosions occurred in London's Bus and subway train network. The bomb attacks were launched in the midst of the G8 meeting and just a day after London won the Olympic bid to host the 2012 Olympics. The London transport network is temporarily stopped.
Posted at 07:35 pm by starsi
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