Touch the kitteh

This is the greatest ad ever.

A Blueprint for UN Women

Over the last few years Oxfam has been following closely the reform of the UN’s gender equality architecture and most recently, the establishment of UN Women.

The foundation of UN Women is a once-in a lifetime opportunity to turn the tide on women’s rights and gender equality everywhere, and especially in the poorest countries. Without unleashing the potential of women and ensuring their equal rights are met, poverty will prevail and sustainable development cannot take place.

Progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment must be accelerated and UN Women has an important as well as a big job ahead.

To deliver results, UN Women must base its work on the needs and priorities at country level - this is where gender equality needs to happen. As UN Women becomes operational, it is important to garner the views and vision of women’s rights and gender equality archivists at country and grassroots level about what they expect from UN Women and lessons learnt from the past.

Based on a survey of 100 women’s rights activists from 75 countries, "A Blueprint for UN Women" outlines key priorities of the new agency and makes proposals on how UN Women should proceed to build up its operations and have impact at country-level.

Key recommendations
Our survey marks the first time that civil society, including women’s rights and grassroots organizations at country level have been surveyed on how UN Women should proceed to make most impact at country level. In order to be effective at country level, UN Women should build its work around these priorities:

• The top priority that UN Women must address is all forms of violence against women. 98% of survey respondents said urgent action is needed on this issue and 72% selected it as the number 1 issue for UN Women to tackle
• UN Women should focus on the empowerment of rural women as they are less aware of their rights and have fewest resources and access to services
• UN Women should adopt a different approach to working at country level to that of UN agencies in the past. Its approach should be transformative, leading to actual change
• A central element of UN Women’s strategy should be the collaboration and inclusion of civil society organizations (CSOs) as genuine partners at country level. Civil society wants UN Women to support their efforts to empower women, strengthen their rights and ensure they play a role in the development of their countries
• UN Women needs to examine its relationship with governments at country level and use its access to government to open up spaces for CSOs to participate in the political processes of their countries.

Download Oxfam International's complete report on UN Women here (PDF: 4.1Mb)

First published on Oxfam Blogs

Metrics and driving

These two maps entertain me.

This map shows countries that still refuse to use the metric system.

This map shows countries that drive on the right in red, and on the left in blue.

Oh, and this map shows average breast size, and this one average penis size.

That is all.

Open data of a politician's cell phone

This is fantastic! Reposted from BoingBoing:

"Green party politician Malte Spitz sued to have German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom hand over six months of his phone data that he then made available to ZEIT ONLINE. We combined this geolocation data with information relating to his life as a politician, such as Twitter feeds, blog entries and websites, all of which is all freely available on the internet."Interactive map here, article here, in Die Zeit (English). A related New York Timesitem is here.

Gay IKEA ad angers Berlusconi

A new IKEA ad put up in Italy has Silvio Berlusconi angry.

The ad features two men holding hands (as well as a bright yellow IKEA bag) with the headline "IKEA: we're open to families".

In the eyes of the Italian PM, this is offensive for both the gayness of it all, but also for its 'Swedish imperialism'.

Riiiiiight.

via AdFreak

Drive like you enjoy life

In stark opposition to the usual style of road safety ads in Australia, the WA Government have taken a different approach in their recent anti-speed commercials.

With strong reference to the Sunscreen Song, a calm authoritative voice explains that we are all moving too fast. We need to stop, reflect and breathe. Oh, and stop driving like a maniac.

Nice touch that even the final 'Spoken by blah blah for the WA Government' is read much calmer than the usual speedy approach.

AIDES Smutley

A Fritz the Cat style animation called Smutley aimed at AIDS awareness and prevention. Love the animation style - very well done to keep it similar to the original 1930s style.
NSFW

via Daily What

Oxford part 2

Oxford University has damn pretty buildings. Compared to the concrete beauty of my own alma mater of La Trobe, I think I prefer this. This is in the Old Schools Quadrangle, next to the Bodelian Library.

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History. I'll excuse the fact that their website dates from 1993 due to the fact that their building and contents are awesome. Everything from huge dinosaur skeletons, to trilobites and petrified wood, through to touch and feel displays for kids.

But really, that was nothing compared to the Pitts River Museum behind it. The story goes: Lt.-General Pitt Rivers had a keen interest in archaeology and evolutionary anthropology, and so spent a considerable amount of his time collecting artifacts from around the globe. In 1884 he gifted his entire collection to Oxford, and they've been adding to it ever since.

It's quite a creepy atmosphere in the museum - the directors have decided to keep it on display in much the same way for the past 125 years. The lighting is dark, and the entire collection is grouped into similar items: an entire floor of guns, swords and armour. A case filled with small dolls from Africa. Another with examples of tribal tattoo gear from the Pacific.

The whole experience feels like you've wandered into the private display chambers of an eccentric explorer from the 19th century. Which is exactly what I presume Mr Rivers was.

If there's one thing I do miss about England, it's the pubs. They certainly got that right. A pub is a warm, cozy place where you can slip into for a quick 20 minute drink, or spend the whole night with a few friends. There should be no TV, no gambling machines and certainly nothing that can remind you of the outside world. It's a living room. With beer.

The Gardener's Arms is a cute little pub, down a laneway on the outskirts of Oxford CBD. It's fairly small, has comfortable couches, good selection of beer, and all the food is vegetarian. Ahhhhhh. Lovely.

Damn it feels good to be a gangster XP

Oh my, yes.
To add a bit of awesomeness into the regular Windows XP 'Bliss' default wallpaper, Burt Gummer simply inserted the Office Space printer revenge scene.

Genius.

Click here for hi-res download.

via BuzzFeed

Oxford, UK

So I'm in the middle of a (very) quick work trip to the UK. I'm attending the FairSay eCampaigning Forum this week, which I must say I'm really looking forward to. Also on the agenda is hanging with those lovely peeps from the Oxfam GB offices, and talking global digital communications, campaigns and plans.

I only had a few hours in London before coming up to Oxford, so now beginneth the obligatory 'British' happy snaps.

Westminister Abbey - check.

Houses of Parliament - check.

London Eye - check.

Nelson's column - check.

Ooooh - two cheesy icons in one! Red phone box AND London bus - check.

Heheheh. I went through Slough. UK comedy TV series reference - check.

Terrifyingly large nuclear power plant right next to a supermarket, football oval and children's playground - check.

Pompously clean and old University grounds visible from hotel room - check.

More updates once I regain sanity from this jetlag.

Aussie gangster pics

This is what a bunch of criminals looked like in Sydney in 1920.

Since the Historic Houses Trust NSW Police pictorial archive isn't exactly the prettiest interface to navigate, check out other awesome Aussie gangsters here (site in French).

Japan: Maru is OK

In the midst of all the horror and sadness, a momentary glimpse of normal life.

Maru is safe and sound.

Nagasaki: Quake vs Bomb

2011 Sendai Earthquake (top) vs Nagasaki bombing aftermath (bottom)

via reddit

Soylent Green is on my shirt

Damnit. I'm too late to buy one of John Sprengelmeyer's Soylent Green t-shirts!

Next time, Gadget. Next time.

via Laughing Squid

New Mini. Woah.

EPIC WANT!

It's a Mini. A new Mini. With a carbon-fibre body and a COLOUR-CHANGING GLOWING UNION-JACK-SHAPED WHOLE-OF-ROOF SUNROOF!

Also, the graphics in the video are way cool.

Religion... TO THE EXTREME!

This made me laugh today.

via Barry

5 years of Close the Gap

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Close the Gap Campaign which works to close the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians within a generation.

Co-chairs of the Close the Gap Campaign, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda and National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking Dr Tom Calma, are in Canberra to address the National Press Club, to outline the crucial importance of ‘people power’ in the campaign for Indigenous health equality.

“Since 2006, 150 000 Australians have formally pledged their support for achieving Indigenous health equality and almost every Federal, State and Territory government and opposition party has signed the historic Close the Gap statement of Intent.

The first ever Minister for Indigenous Health has been appointed and we have seen almost $5 billion of ‘closing the gap’ branded programs from Australian governments.

The next crucial chapter is the development of a national plan to close the health and life expectancy gap. With this we hope the next five years will achieve real, sustained health improvements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the country.” - Commissioner Mick Gooda

Indigenous Australians die, on average, between 10 to 17 years younger than other Australians. A baby born to an Indigenous mother is still between two and three times more likely to die before its fourth birthday than a child born to a non-Indigenous Australian mother.

“The 2002 Australia Bureau of Statistics’ social survey asked almost 10,000 Indigenous Australians what the greatest ‘stressors’ were for them over the past year. Almost half – 46 per cent – reported the death of a family member or close friend.

“Every time we unnecessarily lose an Elder, we also lose the source of stability, governance, order and counsel in our communities.

“Every time you hear of an Aboriginal language dying out, remember it is not the language that is dying, it is the people who speak it.” - Dr Tom Calma

What you can do:

• Read more about the Close the Gap campaign


• Take part in National Close the Gap Day (24 March 2011)

First published on Oxfam Blogs

Little girls are terrifying

BASTARDS!

This hidden camera show decided to stand a creepy little girl in the hallway of a hotel and film the reaction as guests THOUGHT THE GIRL FROM THE RING WAS STANDING IN FRONT OF THEM.

*shudder*

Canberra - the last bastion of decent journalism

I've always had a soft spot for the Canberra Times. They are, in my opinion, the last honest newspaper left in the country. The last to actually invest in proper journalism, and certainly the last to instil a sense of independent trust in their writers. In the three years I served as a parliamentary media officer, their office door was always open to a chat. And not a forced 'I need you because you need me' chat. Genuinely engaged and interested people who have the benefit of a culture of decent reportage.

With their recent decision to erect a bloody great big paywall on their website (effectively putting up the last barrier to anyone outside of Canberra), they have further isolated themselves in our Nation's capital and seem likely to lose any influence they ever had on the remaining mudpile of news outlets in this country. I'll forgive them this, as they no doubt feel the financial pinch of an industry struggling to survive in the new media age.

But I must commend them on their latest stance against the questionable ‘journalism’ that exists in the rest of the country.

Here's the story:

The Prime Minister has just sent a Greens' Bill off to committee for further scrutiny. The long shot of this Bill is that it would take away the right for an individual Minister in the Federal Government to overrule territory law, whilst still retaining the ability for Federal Parliament to do so. This would have the effect of giving the NT and ACT Governments the same autonomous control that the states currently enjoy. It's interesting to note that this move even has the support of Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister in the ACT.

How does the Australian react to this? With outrage, of course. How DARE our territories have the same autonomous rights as the states! Don't you know that it will just illustrate to the whole country how Bob Brown has Julia Gillard over a barrel? For that reason ALONE we can't allow this to happen!

Now, of course it's not surprising to see this reaction from the Australian. This is the same paper that decided impartial reportage was so important that it singled out the Greens as needing to be 'destroyed at the ballot box'.

The Canberra Times responded:

Over the years, we've grown accustomed to a certain level of Canberra-bashing that favoured hobby of lazy thinkers and political oppositions particularly around elections. If ignorant Australians, and the editors who pander to them, repeatedly confuse Federal Parliament with the people of this city, there's little we can do about it.

But this week's insults go too far.

Read the full editorial here. It's worth it.

The Times response raises (amongst others) two very important points:

• the people of the ACT (and the NT) deserve to have an elected Government that can serve for their best interests. This should be without the interference of a Federal Government (within the bounds that the remaining six states currently operate).
• the people of the ACT look after their Federal rulers for four whole months out of every year. Tyler Durden's words would not go astray here.

I admit that I'm the first to criticise the city of Canberra. As a city, it's cold, featureless and mind-numbingly boring. For those long weekends of Parliamentary sitting periods, I struggled to find enough of interest to keep me awake, let alone alive. It's transient population of Parliamentary staffers, Government workers, lobbyists, activists and students results in a city that will never grow past the concrete bus-stop that it currently is.

But at least it has a decent newspaper.

Cats with thumbs

Cats with thumbs. Kinda one of my dreams, but also venturing into nightmare territory.

Yaaarrr! Bed at 2 o'clock!

Epic pirate bedroom is epic.

At least now I have a blueprint for what I'm going to build on my holidays.

Coppin a feel of Paul Rudd

Awesome.

So, Paul Rudd joins Rosario Dawson and Eva Mendes on stage to present one of the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Rudd thinks it's funny to cop a feel of Mendes' breasts. So Dawson leans over and grabs his balls. And I mean grabs. The look on his face is priceless.

Restoring gender equality, one inappropriate action to match another. Rosario Dawson, you rock!

100 days of design

Epic creative win.

So, Michael Beirut runs a workshop for the Yale School of Art. Every year he gives his students specific instructions:

Do a design operation that you are capable of repeating every day. Do it every day between today and up to and including 100 days. That afternoon, each student will have up to 15 minutes to present his or her one-hundred part project to the class.

The only restrictions on the operation you choose is that it must be repeated in some form every day, and that every iteration must be documented for eventual presentation. The medium is open, as is the final form of the presentation on the 100th day.

It's a great way to encourage creativity in repetition. For example, Jessica Svendsen decided to recreate 100 variations of Josef Muller-Brockmann's classic 1955 poster for a Beethoven program at the Zurich Tonhalle. The results (including the pic here) are awesome.

I've worked as a graphic designer in a publishing house with incredibly ridiculous deadlines, as well as my own publishing ventures where timelines are slack (but deadlines are all the more important). I know how hard it can be to be creative under pressure. This project gives students practical experience in pushing their boundaries and trying a range of different approaches to the same brief. Love it.

Check out the full list of finished projects for more awesomeness.

Ahem.

Baby laughter fixes everything

This is so many kinds of awesome.

Fed up with receiving yet another job rejection letter, Marcus McArthur let his 10 month old son rip one up.
The babby hilarity that ensued made up for the lack of employment offers.
Love it.