Saturday poem: Money, Benjamin Zephaniah

I have a gambling problem ... it's my government

By Andrew McKenna In Australia we are suffering from a massive failure of public policy. The decision made today at the VCGR is a symptom of a deep illness within all our governments. Julia Gillard's recent publicly [more]

Friday music and dance: Halo and dance on roof top in india

Can exotic herbs counter ageing?

Swinburne PhD candidate Matthew Pase is investigating whether dietary supplements can help counter the slowing of brain function with age. In the most developed regions of the world, 264 million people or 21 per [more]

Pool: why the consultants' turnaround? Is Council’s Risk Assessment available?

Dear CI, I read with interest some of the commentary on the Aquatic Centre/Western Oval debate. I keep puzzling over several issues, one of which was raised in CI's Comments section. How is it that in 2007, the [more]

Two!

It's CI's birthday! Two. How would you live without us? Let us know! Congratulate us. Conditions of congratulating us: 1. No hate bloggers 2. No nasty comments about those pro or anti the swimming [more]

Council’s withdrawal of commercial waste collection - an already sealed decision?

For the Council and beyond This is a letter of objection in regards to the "Council’s withdrawal of commercial waste collection, effective from 1 April, 2012". As a retailer in Barker Street I am anxiously [more]

Wednesday meditation: Ray Bradbury on writing persistently

US mega-death machines for WA's Garden Island?

Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said yesterday that the Australian Defence Force posture review - an inquiry into Australian defence bases - was off target. It suggested that US nuclear submarines should be [more]

A welcome end to alpine grazing

Greens MP Adam Bandt has welcomed a decision by Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to reject the Victorian government plan to graze cattle in the Alpine National Park. Mr Bandt said the decision was the [more]

Human trafficking a dangerous reality

By Kelly Rankin In the movie The Whistleblower, an American police officer turned peacekeeper uncovers a sex trafficking operation in post-war Bosnia. Although viewers want to believe this is just a movie, [more]

Benjamin Skepper live

Internationally acclaimed Japanese-Australian musician and composer Benjamin Skepper will play the historic Theatre Royal Castlemaine for his first solo live performance for 2012. Lauded for his musical creations at [more]

Carved by life, painted with sound

When the Helen Davey Trio plays, it’s not unusual to see twelve or more instruments on stage, and, of course, just three musicians. Says Helen, “We’re all passionate about sound and like experimenting with [more]

Ten uses for an Olde Gaol

It remains an eyesore at the top of the hill. In an idle moment we thought up ten new fun uses for the Olde Castlemaine Gaol. Your suggestions welcome. 1. Turn it into the pokies venue. Thieves, convicts, cut [more]

30 January 1972: Army kills 13 in Northern Ireland civil rights protest

British troops have opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators in the Bogside district of Londonderry, killing 13 civilians. Seventeen more people, including one woman, were injured by gunfire. Another woman was [more]

You can't have it both ways

The Government must end uranium sales to Russia if it is serious about stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the Australian Greens said on Friday. Greens spokesperson for nuclear affairs Senator Scott Ludlam [more]

Castlemaine Theatre Company seeks new blood

Castlemaine Theatre Company, Caslemaine’s only not-for-profit, community run theatre, is seeking new directors, and so we are very excited to announce that our first project in 2012 is a New Directors Season. This [more]

Sunday meditation: Vent 329

By Jeremiah Ganicoche* You know when you’re facebook-stalking your ex and you find out that she’s married and your fucken world falls apart? Well, that just happened to me. The Bitch. She swore she would [more]

Saturday poem: The pathway finally opened

By Mahsati Ganjavi (12th century). English version by David and Sabrineh Fideler The pathway finally opened When my heart came to rule in the world of love, it was freed from both belief and from disbelief. On [more]

Pokies reform not costly and would create jobs

Industry claims that poker machine reform will cost $5 billion can only be described as fanciful, with a new analysis by The Australia Institute showing that the cost is likely to be between $171 million and $342 [more]