"Warlpiri people are not slaves, yet many in ‘mainstream’ society persist in claiming some sort of ‘ownership’ of Aborigines. They arrogantly have opinions as to what Aborigines should or shouldn’t do, and believe they have some sort of right in deciding what is best for them. Warlpiri have no power over their destiny. No say in their future. No say in how they should run their lives." Frank Baarda, Yuendumu 2010
Chips Mackinolty: "Katherine was isolating in those days. Unless you’d stayed in town for at least two wet seasons people would look at you as an outsider. And if you were crazy enough to do a third wet season they sort of thought, 'Well, he might be a lunatic but at least he is our lunatic.' "
The paradox of cycling as a profession is that, if we consider both the lack of long-term career paths and the high volume of commitment required to even begin a professional career, it seems highly undesirable...[T]aken as a form of employment, it would be hard to tell why the average professional has devoted themselves so intently to a career which they themselves recognise as tenuous and likely to have a negative impact in the long-term.
I do not wish to use the conference as a “soapbox,” nor do I wish “hijack” the world championships. I will not and cannot discuss events or circumstances related to the ongoing investigations and lawsuits involving Lance Armstrong and certain of his current and former business associates and teammates, including what I saw and heard during the relevant time periods.
I can’t think of a single incident in the past in which the Warlpiri residents of Yuendumu have not respected non-Warlpiri residents’ neutrality in such matters. They respect our right to be kept out of it. This respect is not reciprocated by “mainstream” society, that has the arrogant belief that it is entitled to interfere and dictate to remote Aboriginals how they should live their lives. The Intervention epitomises this arrogance.
Mr Richard Teo, A/President of the CLP: "There was no violence whatsoever. There are a lot of people out there who would like to sink the man. He [Abbott] is one of the best indigenous persons that have come out into the open to openly look for a position in government which we need more people like that for. There are a lot of jealous people out there who would like to sink the man. And we are a fair-go party, we give everyone a chance to prove themselves."
In evidence given to the Committal proceeding in the Alice Springs Magistrate's Court in December 2009, one of the campers told the Court that the "words exchanged" included "You black cunts - fuck off out of this Todd River" and "Get out of the Todd River, you motherfuckers".
The river was up 40 feet at the Greenville Bridge by the time we got there - swelled by the normal snowmelt in many of the 37 States and 2 Canadian provinces that drain into it and also from the floodwaters that flowed down from the Cumberland River that had trashed Nashville, Tennessee a couple of weeks ago - all of this made for some exciting canoeing - with many of the sandbars and islands under water.
The air in Kabul - particularly in summer - is literally full of flying faecal matter. Your shit turns into dust and when the evening winds start up the city fills up with this dust that is literally full of shit. And it covers every surface. You can walk around your room with a damp cloth 24/7 just cleaning a coating of shit-dust full of faecal matter off everything. It is in the air, in your eyes, it is up your arse and down your throat.
This weekend took me back to my childhood and errant youth, when I was a member of the St. George Motorcycle Racing Club in Sydney. My Dad and I tracked all over New South Wales going to all manner of bike races, including the last of the Speedway races at the Sydney Showgrounds and beyond.
