“The unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps.” - Franz Fanon Did the people who supported the Medevac Bill ever consider that their … Continue reading Exile on Main Street – refugee rights and policy wrongs
June 26, 2020 Friday 12:00 - 1:00 PM Welcome to the Paradigm Shift on FM 102.1 4ZZZ Fridays at noon. We challenge the assumptions of our current society, to resist oppression ... Susan interviews Peter Gray from Radical Times in the United States. There is an uprising going on in the United States after police murdered George Floyd, an … Continue reading Black Lives Matter
Every family in Palestine loses a heartbeat with the unexpected call or knock on the door. Every family in Palestine knows someone who has been murdered by Israel. Be it by assassin's bullet, a "settler's" firebomb, or the toddler denied medical life support. Israel is a criminal. - Stanley Cohen BDS on TripAdvisor over PalestineAmnesty … Continue reading Boycott Israel – stop annexation of West Bank
“The only passion that guides me is for the truth ... I look at everything from this point of view” - Che Guevara Crude attempt to slander Paul Petersen, Assistant Secretary, Qld MUA circulated by anonymous 'rank & filer' In May 2019 Paul Petersen was re-elected as assistant branch secretary in the Qld division of … Continue reading Slander against MUA organiser
Governments never waste an emergeny in order to push through crazy new rules like this one. This campaign is important and the more support we can get behind it, the better chance we have of succeeding. You can read more and sign the petition here: To: The Hon Dan Tehan MP, Federal Minister for Education, … Continue reading Protect the Arts, Humanities, the Social Sciences at Australian Universities
The new veloway extension is now open! The V1 links bicycle riders from Griffith Uni, Toohey Forest and all points east right down to the Brisbane River at the Goodwill Bridge.
This was a $45 M project compared with over $300M for the four lane upgrade to Lytton Road at East Brisbane.
My brother and I triked (=riding re-cumbent tricycles) up and down the veloway this morning clocking up 20 kms in an hour and a half with a couple of short nature breaks.
It was magnificent! Almost to the standard of the great run from the Brisbane Valley rail trail ending to Wulkuraka railway station, known as the Brassall Bikeway.
Below are some excerpts from the Main Roads website and suggestions from Space for Cycling lobby group. Congratulations to Space for Cycling for their activism and sense in working for better cycleways in Brisbane.
Our biggest thanks goes to the workers who built this extension for making cycling a better and safer form of transport. Thanks goes to the Minister, Mark Bailey, for his support of this project and his criticism of the Lytton Road upgrade.
Never mind the good-hearted banter that the Minister was out with his cement mixer after hours and on weekends to help workers complete the project under budget and on-time.
Ian Curr 24 June 2020
The Veloway 1 (V1) is a dedicated cycleway designed to connect people riding bikes between Lower River Terrace, South Brisbane and Eight Mile Plains, adjacent to the Pacific Motorway.
The 17 kilometre cycleway will provide a route for people travelling by bicycle.
Upgrades to the V1 are being made in stages to (partially) remove multiple road crossings and to improve safety where on-road crossings still exist.
V1 Stage E is currently under construction but is due for completion in mid 2020.
WBT supported Space for Cycling in their bid for improvements to the Veloway 1 connection at Tarragindi. As ‘Space for Cycling‘ recommends the best course is for a fly over this dangerous stretch of road for bikes.
As one cyclist comments:
“The transport Department website makes it clear that the Birdwood road crossing at Tarragindi is not part of the V1 stage E, so the crossing will remain in place for some time to come. Lord knows how it will be done if they ever get to it . There is certainly not enough space to run it under the Busway and the Freeway. Hopefully they will tidy up the crossing and the road or footpath on the Southern side of Birdwood Road and broaden the waiting areas for bicycles at the crossing . They could also reset the lights for peak hours for commuter cyclists as Birdwood road is not all that busy for cars”
We are very much looking forward to the opening of Stage E of the V1 Veloway, which is scheduled for mid-2020. This will provide a dedicated cycle path from Birdwood Rd, Tarragindi to University Rd, Upper Mount Gravatt. It will not only make conditions safer and smoother for people who already ride this way, but it will encourage people onto bikes who have previously been deterred by the dangerous crossings—particularly at Marshall Rd—and cramped conditions along Bapaume Rd.
However we note that cyclists will still need to cross Birdwood Rd to connect from the new section of bikeway to the existing Veloway from there towards Greenslopes and the CBD. This crossing is unsafe even for the current level of use, let alone the additional riders who can be expected to travel this way once Stage E is opened.
“The truth is that the modern world is in part created by the way language is used. Modern linguistic usage suggests that the present age is one of ‘emergencies’, ‘crises’, ‘dangers’ and ‘intense difficulties’, of ‘scourges’ and other problems. They relate to things as diverse as terrorism, water shortages, drug abuse, child abuse, poverty pandemics, obesity and global warming, as well as global financial affairs … The great maxim of governments seeking to widen their constitutional powers would be: ‘Never allow a crisis to go to waste.’ ”
WBT posts this discussion with Masha Gessen to helpunderstand what is happening in the lead up to the November 2020 US Presidential elections - ed. __oOo__ In the run-up to the 2016 election, The New Yorker's Masha Gessen stood out from other journalists for calling out the significance of Donald Trump’s speech and behavior, unprecedented … Continue reading Surviving Autocracy – the ‘rule of words’
Cuban medical brigades have treated more than 100,000 COVID-19 patients worldwide Professionals of 34 Cuban medical brigades, who joined those who provide services in 59 countries, have so far treated 109,211 patients with COVID-19, Bruno Rodriguez, Cuba's foreign minister, reported today. In a context where the pandemic threatens everyone equally, solidarity and humanism save lives, … Continue reading Cuba’s Gift
Ancestress Ancestress (AKA Teila Watson) shares her thoughts on democracy in Australia. When we think about science and what gives us life, we don’t often think of up in the sky or out in space, where there’s no trees to give us air, no water to drink, no earth to belong to. And yet within … Continue reading Is democracy obsolete in so called australia?
WBT posts this message from a local correspondent from the Catholic Worker Community. Please note our previous stories on this topic in the relevant articles boxes below. -Ed. __oOo__ “They tell me patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.Steal a little and they throw you in jail.Steal a lot and they make … Continue reading Watch Bernard Collaery, Witness K and the trial the media can’t cover
"For those who’ve come across the seas we’ve boundless plains to share " - Ali Kadri, spokesperson for Islamic Council, sent by his father to Australia after the 2002 Gujarat riots. He was speaking in Pineapple Hotel Park on 21 June 2020. “Dutton wants to silence and hide his cruel policy of vendetta against refugees” … Continue reading Exile on Main Street – changing of the guard
Baghdad Central is a six parts series about post-Saddam Iraq. While the story traces the life of an Iraqi family's resilience in the face of the US-led occupation, it shows how grim 'shock and awe' was for daily life in Baghdad. Of course this is not the first US intervention that has gone so bad. … Continue reading Baghdad Central
4ZZZ has been providing independent news and current affairs since its inception in 1975. The newsroom is entirely volunteer based and provides Zedlines bulletins on the hour each weekday from 8-11AM, plus a dedicated one hour news and current-affairs program, Brisbane Line, from 12-1PM on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Refugees on Main Street Kangaroo Point … Continue reading Exile on Main Street – National Day of Action for refugees
Refugees ... face all sorts of problems, as well as losing their minds - Pamela Curr SMH 10 Oct 2015 In his article Cracks in the wall of refugee cruelty Andy Paine writes:"Another momentary crack has appeared in that seemingly impenetrable wall of refugee cruelty. It has allowed for an exchange of human solidarity between isolated … Continue reading Where is Justice?
There is an uprising going on in the United States after police murdered George Floyd, an African American man living in Minneapolis. Some parallels exist with the rioting that went on after Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. Not because George Floyd was a public figure like Dr King but because of the frustration felt by the community for ongoing racism. No political party in the US has come out attacking the root causes that stem from capitalisms inability to deal with poverty, lack of public housing, mass incarceration, drug and alcohol abuse. Wall Street surely must crash.
The Kangaroo Point Main Street Central Apartments in Brisbane houses about 120 refugees who hang banners off their balconies supported by protesters. In response the government attempted to extract the refugees. So protestors erected tents and camping gear to begin a blockade. Three demands were hastily put together: No forced transfers of refugeesAllow refugees day … Continue reading Exile on Main Street – ‘Refugees are welcome here’
A University of Waterloo professor answers your burning question. As temperatures rise, the temptation for Canadians to soak up the sunshine is strong. That’s a good thing, as there are plenty of physical and mental health benefits to vitamin D, thanks to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. Just make sure you’re basking in a physically … Continue reading Can you disinfect your face mask with sunlight? No, says UV Expert
"The refugees tell us who we are, The poets tell us who we could be, So we detain the refugees, And arrest the poets." - Ian Curr with apologies to Phil Berrigan The cops arrested Jonno Sri at the refugee blockade … Mass action on Main Street ... Call to arms by Jonno Sri ... https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=335382080781141
RACQ/QLD Health initiative, for whom? North Queensland MP Robbie Katter called for an inquiry into Queensland Health's dealings with Aboriginal woman suffering from acute rheumatic fever in the Gulf. Paradigm Shift interviews local member for Traeger, Robbie Katter, for his response to the allegations made by Alec Doomadgee about failure of duty of care by … Continue reading Long road ahead for Doomadgee
How much coal or oil is burnt to provide the electricity to power private companies to take to the air? How much government subsidy do they get? Who made the engines? Under what employment conditions? These are only a few questions that come to mind when reading claims that: Zero-emission, low-cost regional flights with just … Continue reading Plane powered by electric engine
Poor people are often the subjects of theft and rip offs. supermarkets, banks, landlords, casinos and telco's would be high on the list of thieves. How many of them pay tax? Capitalism survives on state subsidies. Not that the Australian Treasury would tell us but corporate Australia do not pay tax. All of these subsidies … Continue reading Fight to Live, Live to Fight
A rousing documentary, many years in the making, that follows a group of determined local women in their 14-year fight for the right to work in Wollongong’s steel industry. Forty years ago, Wollongong’s Jobs for Women Campaign, with director Robynne Murphy among its leaders, took on Australia’s most powerful company BHP – and won. But … Continue reading Women of Steel
We are very much looking forward to the opening of Stage E of the V1 Veloway, which is scheduled for mid-2020. This will provide a dedicated cycle path from Birdwood Rd, Tarragindi to University Rd, Upper Mount Gravatt. It will not only make conditions safer and smoother for people who already ride this way, but it will encourage people onto bikes who have previously been deterred by the dangerous crossings—particularly at Marshall Rd—and cramped conditions along Bapaume Rd.
Artist’s impression of…
