Red Cross
Dead cats don’t belong in charity bins. Same goes for sex toys, dirty nappies, sharp knives, broken furniture and the leftovers from your Christmas dinner. But try telling that to the people who’ve dumped hundreds of tonnes of crap in the charity bins of suburban Sydney and Melbourne this past week.
According to news reports in both the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, people in our eastern states’ most “affluent” suburbs decided the local Salvos, Smith Family or St Vincent de Paul charity bin was a more convenient way of getting rid of unwanted Christmas detritus than paying a visit to their local tip. The measly $12 entrance fee to most local council tips clearly proving far too expensive for their “affluent” tastes.
Dumping broken furniture, dirty clothing or unusable bric-a-brac is not charity. And our suburbs have not been suddenly overcome by an urgency to give to others. Stuffing your local goodwill bin full of unwanted stuff (some living) helps no one. It’s just thoughtless, lazy and selfish.
Continue reading "Only the selfish dump their crap in charity bins" »
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a column that looks at all kinds of myths and mistruths, at falsehoods, fiction and fabrications. This week we look at whether gamers are breaching international conventions when they loot, pillage, or kill.
I’m no war criminal. Not even a virtual one. That’s because I’ve never played a violent video game – or indeed any video game since Donkey Kong. The original version.
But if the Red Cross has their way, it raises the question of whether I could be up on some kind of charge for (ahem) enjoying The Human Centipede.
Continue reading "ICB: Are there 600 million virtual war criminals?" »
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Kheiron says:
I always released my prisoners. I figured it was more demoralizing to the enemy to have their soldiers sent home with a spanking instead of ‘dying for the cause’. With the way I fought the battle, though, there weren’t a hell of a lot of survivors… As for the FPS… Read more »
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LC says:
A study started in the late 70’s and continuing to this day have been showing a steady downward trend in all violent crime across the first world. Of course, newspapers are continuing to report these crimes, and are reporting more trivial events then they used to, for example, a minor… Read more »
It was all over in 30 minutes. Bowls were washed, toasters put away and the lids of the honey jars screwed back on. But the feeling was hard to beat.
Just like every other weekday morning between 8-8:30am, at least 25 kids from the Alexandria Park School in Sydney’s Inner West eat breakfast around a communal table and head off to class with full bellies; a peaceful and warm start to the day.
Lucky kids would do all of this in the comfort of their own homes. But for an increasing number of others, mum and dad are just not earning enough to feed them the most important meal of the day.
Continue reading "In this breakfast club, Weet-Bix saves the day" »
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HeatherG says:
Ronnie, interesting. You may like to re-read what I actually said. Yes, I’ve chosen to get further education, because without it I am, apparently, unemployable in this city as it stands at this moment in time. I chose full time this year—to speed up the process—because I lost my job… Read more »
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sick of selfishness says:
Jade have you considered that rents have more than doubled in the last 5 years? Many are have to pay 60-80% of their income on rent, all while utilities and food costs have increased rapidly too. Telling people to move is so simple but doesn’t take into account that it… Read more »
Recently in the Cook Islands I had the opportunity of having breakfast with some of the Cook Islands’ most prominent female citizens.
Nikki Rattle, the CEO of the Cook Islands Red Cross, is a warm and engaging woman with boundless energy.
I grew up the son of Victoria’s first Equal Opportunity Commissioner and Nikki reminded me of the many women I met in my mother’s company during my childhood: emotionally intelligent and very strong.
Continue reading "Women have a vital role in Pacific politics" »
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rajend naidu says:
A common cliche. I have that noise being made for a long time. But there has been no qualitative change in the status of women in the political arena in the Pacific region. Any survey will reveal a gross mismatch between the rhetoric and the reality of the clam that… Read more »
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Rosie says:
Women having vital roles in Pacific politics has a long long way to go to catch up to Australia. They would be more inclined to accept Pauline Hanson with her straight out honesty, mother than the lying Julia Gillard. Gillard would not stand a chance in the Pacific Islands, Tonga,… Read more »
This is a worthwhile little fund raising video for victims of the Christchurch earthquake from the same guys who brought us the imbeachedaz whale.
If you’d like to donate visit the Red Cross Australian and New Zealand websites.
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Pyre says:
oh bru, you’re teking it too seriuzly bru… Read more »
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The Liberal Loafer says:
australians donate enough money at the tax office and the pub already. Read more »
Disease looms as the second wave of death behind virtually every natural disaster. It is why the first stages of relief efforts are best measured by what doesn’t happen rather than what does.
The response to the Asian tsunami was stunningly successful in halting thousands more deaths through disease.
The threat of disease is the reason why in Pakistan today, even though flood waters have peaked and are beginning to recede, the situation facing millions of survivors is catastrophic.
Continue reading "Why Australians need to do more for Pakistan" »
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A Nobody says:
Being a muslim and donating to 5 local charities locally in Australia I just can’t believe some of you are so heartless. Maybe I should stop giving locally and give to Pakistan instead. I am a low income earner. I just get by most of the time. I always find… Read more »
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Robinoz says:
I wouldn’t give Pakistan a cent. It’s full of Taliban who are killing off those whom they think are Christians, denying food aid to those who aren’t muslim. Pakistan isn’t a friend of Australia’s. Let the numerous muslim countries help Pakistan and put our money to better uses. Read more »
The Red Cross does some of the most important work people can dedicate their lives to.
After the Black Saturday bushfires its role in collecting and distributing millions of dollars in aid was extraordinary so they’re a group more than entitled to voice an opinion about its cause.
In a statement this week the organization linked the Black Saturday fires to the now popular notion that it was all the fault of climate change.
The media release promoting the report was headlined: “Be Prepared says Red Cross as climate change boosts world disaster toll” and included the Victorian fires as part of its evidence for this.
This was accompanied the publication of the World Disasters Report and found that in 2008 and astonishing 225,842 people died in natural disasters. Cyclone Nargis in Burma and the Sichuan earthquake in China accounted for 93% of deaths worldwide killing 138,000 and 87,000 people respectively.
But by putting climate change front and centre of the Black Saturday fires Michael Raper, Red Cross director of services and international operations, runs the risk of being intellectually dishonest about the multiple causes of the fires.
Continue reading "It’s no help to link Black Saturday to climate change" »
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Ben Payne says:
No, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong. The Black Saturday bushfire was god’s way of punishing us for our abortion laws - didn’t you hear? http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/2009/02/10/media-release-abortion-laws-to-blame-for-bush-fires/ And you just watch out, those darn pornographers in Melbourne are gonna get us all fried when god melts the ozone layer on… Read more »
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Josh says:
It was also no great help for the likes of Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine to say that Greenies had blood on their hands over this. Casting ignorant blame without, as you say, an understanding of the complexity of the issues is dangerous. Read more »
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