Your Rights on Trial

Ark's journey:

May 2008 – Ark Tribe was working on the Flinders University site in Adelaide. Conditions were so bad that workers drew up a petition calling for safety improvements, on a hand towel.

It took an intervention by the union and the state government safety regulator to get the most pressing problems fixed and finally, after several days, things began to get back on track.

The Summons – No letter, no text, no visit. Ark is called to a compulsory secret interrogation by the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABBC).

9 June 2009 – Ark's first appearance at the Elizabeth Street magistrate’s court in Adelaide, charged with not attending an interview with the ABCC. Ark walks through a union guard of honour as he enters the court.

11 August 2009 – Ark's second appearance at the Elizabeth Street magistrate’s court in Adelaide.

30 October 2009 – Ark's third appearance, this time at Adelaide Magistrates Court in the centre of Adelaide. The prosecution delay the case until 18th December because they are not ready.

18 December 2009 – Ark's pre-trial hearing to find out when he will face trial in 2010.

15,16, 18th June 2010 – Ark in court for three days of hearings.

20, 21, 22 July 2010 – Ark in court, the trial moves to written submissions.

13 September 2010 – Ark's final hearing.

Tuesday 3 November 2010, 9:30 am – Ark's hearing postponed.

Tuesday 24 November 2010, 9:30 am – Ark's Verdict.

Jockeys join ACTU

SMH November 1, 2010

Today the jockeys will join forces with the ACTU to launch a campaign demanding government support for the National Jockey's Trust, a fund set up by the AJA to support injured jockeys and the bereaved families of those who die on the track.

"Australia's $5 billion racing industry depends entirely on 840 jockeys who take extreme personal risks every time they race," the ACTU president, Ged Kearney, said. "Yet jockeys don't have many of the protections of other Australian workers."

The AJA chief executive, Paul Innes, said it was "obscene" that state governments refused to contribute to the trust, despite making more than $600 million in racing tax revenue. The AJA and ACTU are asking punters to donate part of their winnings or the office sweep to the trust.

The Sydney jockey Mark Lister knows what can happen. He suffered multiple compound leg fractures during a country race meet on Melbourne Cup day last year and spent most of the next 12 months on crutches.

"I was lucky enough to have some insurance as well as a bit of support from the trust, so we had to pull our belts in, but we got by OK," said Lister.

"The problem is that after a year out you've dropped off the radar a bit. I need to get back in there quickly. In this business, if you don't ride, you don't eat."

FROM AROUND THE WORLD - This Week's Hottest Tracks

AUSTRIA

"Black Sheep" by Valentine

CANADA

"Mountain Top" by Bedouin Soundclash

DENMARK

"Kill Me On A Friday" The JAM band

MEXICO

"Quien Te Quiere Como Yo" by Carlos Baute

UNITED KINGDOM

"Coming Home" by Pixie Lott & Jason Derülo

UNITED STATES

"Firework" by Katy Perry

Check individual country iTunes stores for availability.

photos from Parque Nacional Calilegua

rufous-bellied thrush

dusky-capped flycatcher

black vultures

dusky-legged guan

plush-crested jay

tapir footprint

buff-necked ibis footprints

fuzzy spider

pollywogs

corzuela footprints

plush-crested jay

tortilla verdura

Mike listening to Raúl

photo by Raúl

Libertador General San Martin

North of Salta, north of San Salvador de Jujuy, north of San Pedro, we came across the medium-sized city of Libertador Gral San Martin, which has a huge open market on Saturday & a national park next door, Parque Nacional Calilegua. This morning we hiked for 3 1/2 hours in the park, saw a number of new birds plus tracks of tapir, corzuela (a small deer), & bandurria boreal (buff-necked ibis).

On the way back to San Martin, we picked up two young women who were hitchhiking to the bus terminal. The gravel road & noontime heat made for a brutal walk we were glad to save them from.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called Las Yungas -- highly recommend. The parrillada (grill-man) arrived at our table with an empty glass, good thing because without him we were unlikely to have finished the liter of beer. He wrote this in my notebook:

Para Carol Mike

Mis grandes amigos norteamericanos de corazón

Raúl Delgado
1 Amigo Argentino
Ledesma (Jujuy)
Parillada
Las Yungas
31-10-2010

We had hugs & kisses before we left, & a promise that all Mike has to do for instruction in cooking on the parilla is to call Las Yungas & ask for su amigo Raúl.

One more thing: we ordered the following:

• agua con gas
• cerveza Norte, un litro
• 2 empanadas de pollo
• 1 tortilla de verduga (a fritatta made of egg, carrot, fresh greens, mashed green pea, onion, potato)
• 1 chorizo
• 1 morcilla (blood sausage)
• postre de cayote con nuez (chayote jam with walnuts)

They also brought picante sauce for the empanadas & fresh bread served with a small bowl of fava-style beans cooked with onion, tomato, & red chilis.

La cuenta: 55 pesos.

Albert Camus

"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

— Albert Camus

French Algerian Novelist

1913 - 1960

Inside each of us is more strength than we realize.  We are stronger than we think and often it isn't until the winter of our lives that we realize how strong and capable we were.  You can do more than you think you can.  You can achieve more — paint more, write more and dance more.  And you can bear more pain and suffering than you think you can.  Don't forget to call on this strength when you need it.

Halliburton and BP explosion

A White House commission investigating the Deepwater Horizon well disaster has alleged that BP and US contractor Halliburton knew that the cement mixture designed to seal BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico was unstable.

US President Barack Obama’s special commission on the disaster that killed 11 rig workers and caused the biggest oil spill in US history said that this could have contributed to the blowout.

Democratic legislator Edward Markey said: "The fact that BP and Halliburton knew this cement job could fail only solidifies their liability and responsibility for this disaster. This is like building a car when you know the brakes could fail, but you sell the cars anyway."

Legal experts agreed, saying the information could help to bolster plaintiffs' cases in the multitude of spill-related lawsuits by helping to show that BP acted with gross negligence before the spill.

"There's no question that it's important evidence," said Charlie Tebbutt, an attorney for the Centre for Biological Diversity, which has filed a lawsuit seeking $19 billion.

"It serves to confirm the previous reports of significant problems with the exploration and production of the well."

On Thursday night Halliburton issued a statement saying that it did not conduct a stability test on the final mix of cement after a last-minute change by BP added more of a certain ingredient.

Earlier statements by the company had said tests showed the cement to be stable.

The cement mix’s failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been identified by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident.

13 Days of Scary Songs - Day 13

"Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

Have a great & safe Halloween!

Taken from "The Original Monster Mash" (1962).

www.themonstermash.com

Available @ iTunes.

Oct. 30: "Camelot" star Robert Goulet died on this date in 2007...

... he died while awaiting a lung transplant when he was 73-years-old.

Robert Gerard Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the only son of French Canadian parents. Shortly after his father's death, 13-year-old Robert moved with his mother and sister Claire to Girouxville, Alberta, and he spent his formative years in Canada.

The family moved to the provincial capital of Edmonton to take advantage of the performance opportunities offered in the city. There, he attended the famous voice schools founded by Herbert G. Turner and Jean Letourneau, and later became a radio announcer for radio station CKUA.

After graduating from Victoria Composite high school, Goulet received a scholarship to The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. There, he studied voice with famed oratorio baritones, George Lambert and Ernesto Vinci.

HIGHLY Recommended (Links to ENTIRE Amazon Website):

In 1952, he competed in CBC Television's Pick The Stars, making the semifinals. This led to other network appearances on shows like Singing Stars of Tomorrow, Opportunity Knocks, and the Canadian version of Howdy Doody in which he starred opposite William Shatner.

In 1959, Goulet was introduced to librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, who were having difficulty casting the role of Lancelot in their stage production Camelot. Lerner and Loewe, impressed by Goulet's talent, signed the virtual newcomer to play the part, opposite Richard Burton as King Arthur and Julie Andrews as Queen Guenevere.

In October 1960, Camelot opened in Toronto, ran for a four-week engagement in Boston, and finally opened on Broadway two months later. Goulet received favorable reviews, most notably for his show-stopping romantic ballad, "If Ever I Would Leave You" which would become his signature song. After the run of Camelot, Goulet appeared on The Danny Thomas Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, which made him a household name among American audiences.

In 1962, Goulet made a memorable appearance on The Jack Paar Show with fellow guest Judy Garland. He also won a Grammy Award as Best New Artist that year.

Goulet began a recording career with Columbia Records in 1962, which resulted in more than 40 best selling albums. In 1965, Goulet had his biggest pop hit in this year, when his single "My Love, Forgive Me" reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1968, Goulet was on Broadway in the Kander and Ebb musical The Happy Time and won a Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for his role. In 2005 he starred in the Broadway revival of Jerry Herman's La Cage aux Folles.

He also toured in several musicals, including Camelot as King Arthur, Man Of La Mancha, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, where he portrayed Billy Bigelow, a role he also played in 1967 in a made-for-television adaptation of the musical

In 1966 he starred in television versions of Brigadoon, which won several Emmy Awards, and Kiss Me Kate in 1968, opposite his then-wife Carol Lawrence.

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Oct.30: "Tonight Show" host, Steve Allen died on this date in 2000. .

Born Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen in New York City, "Steve"  was an American television personality, musician, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best-known for his television career.

He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. He graduated to become the first host of The Tonight Show, where he was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. Thereafter, he hosted numerous game and variety shows, including The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, The New Steve Allen Show, and was a regular panel member on CBS' What's My Line?

Allen played piano and was a prolific composer, having penned over 14,000 songs. In one famous stunt, he made a bet with singer-songwriter Frankie Laine that he could write 50 songs a day for a week. Composing on public display in the window of a Hollywood music store, Allen met the quota, winning $1,000 from Laine. One of the songs, "Let's Go to Church Next Sunday," was recorded by both Perry Como and Margaret Whiting. Allen's best-known songs are "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" and "The Gravy Waltz," the latter having won a Grammy award in 1963 for Best Jazz Composition.

He also wrote lyrics for the standards "Picnic" and "South Rampart Street Parade." Allen composed the score to the Paul Mantee imitation James Bond film A Man Called Dagger (1967),

Allen won a Grammy award in 1963 for best jazz composition, with his song The Gravy Waltz. Allen wrote more than 50 books and has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

HIGHLY Recommended (Links to Amazon):

(Follow links below to view You Tube Videos:)

-- Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen show. part 1  (Here's a hyperlink to Frank Zappa's post)

-- Steve Allen show (Louie Nye)

-- Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme sing, "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big"

He was 78 when he died after suffering a heart attack following a car accident.

prescription drug cost

We've made one comparison so far:

• $190-220 each, purchased with prescription in a US pharmacy
• $60 each when purchased as a 6-month supply, with prescription through a Canadian prescription service
• $47 each purchased without prescription in a randomly chosen pharmacy in Jujuy

Mother Teresa

"We can do no great things — only small things with great love."

— Mother Teresa

1910 - 1997

Each painting we paint, each poem we write and each story we tell is an act of love.  Don't try to do great things.  Try to create small things with great love and you will accomplish great things.  It is important to love what you do and to feel that it matters — to know that you make a difference each day you paint or write.

13 Days of Scary Songs - Day 12

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson

Taken from "Thriller" (1982).

www.michaeljackson.com

Available @ iTunes.

Politics in the Pub: Sham Contracting

Saturday, 30 October 2010, 2.30 pm

Family Hotel, 15 Parke Street, Katoomba

(download A4 poster) (download small flyer)

Sham contracting occurs when an employer avoids their responsibilities to pay all of a worker's legal entitlements by hiring workers as "independent" contractors rather than on an employment contract such as an award or collective agreement. This is illegal, short changes the worker and creates unfair competition for employers who abide by the law.

The Speakers

John Sutton: National Secretary, Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU)
Eleanor Gibbs: Blue Mountains Councillor and Greens industrial relations working group

John Sutton	Elenor Gibbs

According to the CFMEU hundreds of thousands of dependent contractors include backpackers, international students and apprentices who are being paid as little as $10 per hour with no other entitlements. They believe that the practice is prevalent for low paid workers on building sites, in restaurants and hospitality in general, and in the cleaning industry.

John Sutton says that it is too easy to get an ABN and has recently called on the Federal Government to tighten up the tax rules.

"The system is being abused by some employers who are forcing people to set themselves up as so called contractors to get a job."

"We have statistics from the ABS that show 116,000 people nationally holding ABN’s who describe their job as labourer. Being a labourer is inconsistent with being a bona fide business".

FRIDAY NIGHT - Club Night w/Fredde Le Grand

"Missing (Fredde Le Grand Remix)"

by Everything But The Girl

Netherlands native, Fredde Le Grand brings his experienced DJ skills to Montréal's Pepsi Forum tonight **CANCELED BY THE FIRE MARSHALL** as part of the Maskerade Ball. Watch a live set that includes Everything But The Girl's track "Missing (Fredde Le Grand Remix)" from a recent gig at Club Panama in Amsterdam.

www.feddelegrand.com

San Salvador de Jujuy

We highly recommend staying at Apart El Huancar at Belgrano 851 in the center of town. Because they did not have a doble, they gave us for the same price (300 pesos) a 4-person apartment -- 2 floors, living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, full & half bath, & terrace, plus parking in a garage around the corner for 35 pesos per night. We like it so much we plan to stay for at least 2 nights.

Last night we ate llama picante across the river @ Picanteria y Restaurant Locoto, especialidad en comidas regionales, José de la Iglesia 1113. Good sauce, we found the the meat good tasting, somewhat like pork, but too dry. We'd like to try slow-cooking it Hawaiian-style.