This week’s featured archive post: July 2008. Newer posts just below.
Look closely at the following photo (courtesy of Wiki Commons) taken at Bondi Beach in 1900:
See what I mean?
12 Jul
This week’s featured archive post: July 2008. Newer posts just below.
Look closely at the following photo (courtesy of Wiki Commons) taken at Bondi Beach in 1900:
See what I mean?
1 Jul
Floating Life
6,010 views (6,777 last month). Top ten individually viewed posts in June:
Apr 06 ~ Nov 07
2,629 views (3,285 last month). Top ten individually viewed posts in June:
Ninglun’s Specials
1,299 views (1,346 last month). Top ten individually viewed posts in June:
Photo blog
868 views (1,207 last month). Top ten individually viewed posts in June:
English/ESL
8,887 views (10,067 last month). Top ten individually viewed posts in June:
Stats from Google Analytics: 352 visitors, 436 visits, 597 page views. Up 300+%. Top five individually viewed posts in June:
4 Jun
Redfern has its say on Human Rights
May 7 Around thirty people from a range of backgrounds heard expert views at a Community Consultation on Human Rights at Redfern Town Hall.
Chaired by Sydney Peace Foundation Director Professor Stuart Rees, a panel outlined issues in a number of areas. Indigenous Australians were represented by Charmaine Weldon, women’s domestic violence expert at Redfern Legal Centre. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse matters were the area of Rosa Loria from Sydney Multicultural Services, while Annie Parkinson raised issues concerning people with disabilities. A former asylum seeker from Bangladesh, Maqsood Alshams, outlined his personal experience and addressed related matters. Maqsood spent 16 months in the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre before his release in April 2000. GLBT and sexuality concerns were the province of Yasmin Hunter from Redfern Legal Centre.
After refreshments came the action. Groups of six discussed their concerns and what they had heard in the first part of the meeting. Each group contributed to a submission to be sent to the National Human Rights Consultation Committee. Individuals were also encouraged to make personal submissions.
Matters in this area are not as simple as they might at first seem. First, as Andrew Lynch says in an article on Australian Policy Online, “the Commonwealth attorney-general, Robert McClelland, made it clear that constitutional entrenchment of rights, empowering the courts to strike down legislation it found in breach of a protected right, was not on the table.” What is up for discussion is a parliamentary Act similar to the ACT’s Human Rights Act and Victoria’s Charter of Rights and Responsibilities.
Several speakers drew attention to the great difference between enshrining rights in such an Act or Charter and actual social equality – what happens in day-to-day life, which is a matter of the psyche rather than the statute books.
An audience member, claiming Indigenous Australians have “no rights”, cited difficulties experienced paying for funerals, but it is doubtful that would be addressed under a Human Rights Act or Charter. It is an important issue, no doubt affecting many marginalised through poverty in this country.
Then there are paradoxes: the tension between anti-vilification laws and freedom of speech, for example, or removal of discrimination on grounds of same sex relationships at Centrelink actually working against the financial interests of some couples.
But do have your say.
Submissions close on 15 June. You can make a submission by going to the NHRC website at http://www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au./www/nhrcc/nhrcc.nsf/Page/Home. You may also send your ideas to:
National Human Rights Consultation Secretariat
Attorney-General’s Department
Central Office
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
See also http://www.humanrightsact.com.au/2008/ (A Human Rights Act for Australia) and http://apo.org.au/justice/127 (Australian Policy Online).

1 Jun
According to Sitemeter there were 10,835 visits and 13,780 page views on the Floating Life blogs in May. Last month it was 9,666 and 12,383. English/ESL scored 7,422 and 10,233; last month – 6,323 and 8,942. Ninglun on Journalspace/Blogspot was 237 and 280; last month 232 and 282. 73 of the last 100 visits were to Blogspot:
Blogspot and Journalspace: last 30 days
WordPress stats
Floating Life had 6,777 views; last month (time adjusted to Oz Eastern) 6,787. Floating Life 4/06 ~ 11/07 had 3,285 view; last month 2,686. The Photo Blog: 1,207 (1,017 last month). Ninglun’s Specials: 1,346 (1,266 last month). English/ESL: 10,067 (8,741 last month). My students’ blog: 97 (41 last month). Only 8 people visit that blog regularly, most of which is password protected.
Over the fold are the most visited posts for May.
1 May
The month in stats
Sitemeter: Floating Life blogs – 12,383 views from 9,666 visits (13,477/10,781 in March); English/ESL – 8,942 views from 6,323 visits (14,928/10,132); Ninglun on Journalspace – 282 views from 232 visits (272/204). English/ESL has peaks and troughs related to our school term times and holidays.
WordPress: Floating Life 6,865 views (6,960 in March); Neil’s Modest Photo Blog 1,013 (631); Ninglun’s Specials 1,256 (1,436); Floating Life Apr 06 ~ Nov 07 2,683 (3,630); English/ESL 8,694 (14,935). The Sitemeter count for English/ESL includes my student pages (41 views) and a few bits on Geocities which do not appear in the WordPress count.
What was read in April
Here are the top 25 individually viewed posts in the past 30 days according to WordPress.
Top posts on Ninglun’s Specials were:
Top posts on the Photoblog were:
24 Apr
My uncle Keith and aunt Ruth. My father in RAAF uniform is best man. The bridesmaid I am not sure about – Ruth’s sister, or a friend?
19 Apr
Here is a graph from Sitemeter showing the effect of BlogExplosion between 8.30 and 9.30 this morning. Note that it isn’t just visits, but also page views, suggesting that some of those drawn to the Floating Life blogs stick around.
BlogExplosion has also upped the “credits” per blog views from 0.5 to 0.75, so you get more of a payoff in visits than you used to.
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