public talk by Anwar Ibrahim

This could be interesting. If I was in Melbourne I might attend...
(Note that this is not a free talk -- it costs $15)

Public lecture by Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia - Melbourne.

As you may know Anwar was freed last September after six years in detention in Malaysia. Since then, he has been undergoing medical treatment and is in good health. He has already travelled widely including to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the United States, on a variety of speaking tours and making contact with all levels of government and civil society in those regions.

Anwar is visiting Australia to express his appreciation to the Australian people for their ongoing support during his incarceration. While in Australia he will be visiting Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. He will be addressing community leaders, academics, politicians and business community leaders.

Anwar will be in Melbourne only briefly, but the Islamic Council of Victoria is privileged to host him during his stay here. Anwar will be sharing his thoughts on Social Justice and Economic Empowerment at a public lecture on the evening of Saturday, 19th March 2005.

The lecture is scheduled to be held at Empire Receptions, 292 Sydney Road, Brunswick, and will begin at 7.15 pm.

Tickets are $15 each and available by pre-purchase only as seating is limited. To reserve your seat please contact one of:

Rowan Gould 0409 195 504

Nail Aykan 0405 203 707

Isabel Jackson 0402 444 417

You can also simply attend in person during business hours at:

The Islamic Council of Victoria, 66-68 Jeffcott Street, West Melbourne VIC 3003, Ph (03) 9328 2067

Or

The Muslim Community Cooperative (Australia), 171 Sydney Road, Coburg VIC 3058, Ph (03) 9384 9000

it is a lonely trek for a little robot

Here is a wonderful picture taken by the cute little Opportunity Mars Rover. This was taken looking backwards on its journey to "Alvin" crater.

If you want your breath taken away then click here to see the whole enormous panorama. (Careful, the file is 3.5MB.)

Gosh! That little robot, all alone out there on another world!

And if that didn't affect you enough have a look at the pic the other rover, Spirit took last month as it approached "Larry's Lookout". (2.6MB) This pic makes my heart ache. Look to the left, far in the distance, mountains are visible beyond the plain. [sigh]

These pictures are very recent and haven't been adjusted yet for dynamic range and different camera settings in parts of the mosaics, so you are seeing them raw.

Hands up those of you who knew that there are still 2 little robots wandering around on Mars right now, perfoming experiments, exploring, and sending home postcards.

It isn't surprising if you didn't know. Our news media, like vampires, love blood, but have little or no interest in good things. Along with 99% of humanity, you are rarely told of the wonderful things we humans can do.