Author: Wan Kerr

The Westender is now twenty-one years old.

Part of the community, we just keep getting younger as new journalists, designers and artists come on board to keep the flag flying. We are proud to work with local design house Text and Image who have produced our new look.

You don’t get to be this young, though, without a bit of a back story. Founding editor Kerrod Trott lets a few secrets out of the bag …

In 1992 I was running a desktop publishing and marketing bureau – Perfect Pitch, no less – in Thomas Street (and living at Rio Grande in Vulture St) when my business partner and I had the great idea of starting a local newspaper as a showcase for our design and writing skills. We had one John Jiggens (aka John Freemarijuana) as our founding editor.

I’d been involved with community publishing in the 80’s when I lived on a Multiple Occupancy outside Lismore, working on the Northcoaster and publishing my own title, Incredible Times.

Thus was the Westender born – before there was a Quest newspaper in the area, before Brian Laver started his Neighbourhood News, and long before the glossy West End Magazine.

Fast forward to 1999, when I returned back to West End after a lengthy pilgrimage to ashrams, temples and holy sites in India. Out of work, and at a loss for something to do. I know, I said to myself, I’ll start the Westender again!

This, the second incarnation of the Westender, ran for several years and dominated the market. We had a delightful newspaper war running with Brian Laver and his Neighbourhood News, swapping insults in print and spreading the most scurrilous gossip about each other.

I had to cease publishing the Westender for personal and financial reasons and get a couple of real jobs to pay off my bills.

Then, in 2009, I was persuaded by a business acquaintance to re-commence publication. The third incarnation of the Westender was as a colour magazine, with a print run of up to 43,000 and letterbox dropped to homes throughout inner Southern Brisbane. We briefly ran on a weekly schedule, before the 2011 Brisbane floods dealt a body blow to the local business community and advertising revenue dried up.

(The Westender has never received any funding, its sole source of income has always been the support of the local business community, and the support of the creative local community.)

We managed to bring out a couple of special editions – usually at election time – but never quite recovered.

Here we are now in 2013 and, with a new business partner in Geoff Ebbs, the Westender is back in print, incarnation number four.

On Monday 25th November, community members from across Brisbane are invited to join in the activities helping to raise awareness and important funds for White Ribbon.  All attendees at the events will participate in the ’My Oath’ campaign for White Ribbon, by ’swearing’ to stop violence against women.

White Ribbon Day is the world’s largest male-led movement to end men’s violence against women.  It is an annual campaign that recognises the positive role that men play in preventing violence against women.  It fosters and encourages male leadership in the prevention of violence against women, based on the understanding that most men are not violent.  This campaign is a means for men to speak out against violence against women, and to safely and effectively challenge the attitudes and behaviours of a minority of men who use or condone violence against women. Women also support White Ribbon by encouraging the men in their lives to make a commitment to promote positive attitudes and behaviours towards women, as well as intervening safely to prevent violence against women when needed.

’One in three Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence in her lifetime,’ says Kylie Robertson of Brisbane Domestic Violence Service. ’This could be your mother, sister, daughter or friend. So by supporting these events you will be joining us on the path of prevention and change.’

Community members, services and organisations from across Brisbane have joined together to host these events.

In North Brisbane the Northside Alliance Against Domestic  and Family Violence (NAADV) will be holding an event at Bunnings Carseldine, 1925 Gympie Road.  Highlights include an all day sausage sizzle, speakers at 10.00am and visit from the Queensland Police and Fire Services, so bring along the kids.

In Central Brisbane the Brisbane Family Violence Network (BFVN) will be holding an event at Reddacliffe Place (outside the Treasury Casino) at 11.00am.  The Walk in Her Shoes event asks men to literally undertake an obstacle course in womens shoes.  This is no easy task, however it does promise to be a lot of fun and importantly to get the community talking about domestic and family violence.

More details about these events can be found on the Brisbane Domestic Violence Service website www.bdvs.org.au

These events will be one of many events taking place across Australia to raise awareness for White Ribbon Day, 25 November, the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. White Ribbon merchandise will be available at the events to purchase.

White ribbons and wristbands will be available at a number of stores around Australia, as well as online. To find out which stores, visit www.whiteribbon.org.au. For more information about White Ribbon Day visit www.whiteribbon.org.au.

You can also take part in the ‘My Oath’ campaign by visiting www.whiteribbon.org.au/myoath and swearing never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women.

High-speed ‘jets’ spat out by black holes pack a lot of power because they contain heavy atoms, astronomers have found.

Black-hole jets recycle matter and energy into space and can affect when and where a galaxy forms stars.

“Jets from supermassive black holes help determine a galaxy’s fate — how it evolves,” said CSIRO’s Dr Tasso Tzioumis, a member of the research team.

“So we want to understand better the impact jets have on their environment.”

The work, led by Dr María Díaz Trigo of the European Southern Observatory, is published in the journal Nature today.

Astronomers have known for decades that black-hole jets contain electrons, which are low-mass particles.

But using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton space telescope and CSIRO’s Compact Array radio telescope in northwest NSW, the research team found the first evidence of heavy atoms — iron and nickel — in the jets from a ‘typical’ black hole known as 4U1630-47.

An iron atom is about 100,000 times more massive than an electron. When a massive particle is moving it carries more energy than a lighter particle moving at the same speed.

“Heavy atoms have been seen in jets from one other system, SS433, but that’s a very unusual system, an oddball, whereas this system is quite typical, much more likely to represent black holes in general,” Dr Tzioumis said.

While 4U1630-47 is a small black hole, a few times the mass of the Sun, the physics of black holes “is scalable”, he said, meaning that the finding would apply to larger black holes.

The discovery suggests that jets are powered by the black hole’s accretion disk — a belt of hot gas swirling around the black hole — and not by the spin of the black hole itself, which would be more likely to produce jets containing only light particles.

The jets from 4U1630-47 are travelling fast, at two-thirds the speed of light.

When such fast-moving jets containing heavy particles smash into matter in space, they could generate gamma rays and neutrinos, which might be detectable with current and future telescopes.

Publication:
Trigo MD, Miller-Jones JCA, Migliari S, Broderick JW, Tzioumis T. Baryons in the relativistic jets of the stellar-mass black-hole candidate 4U1630-47. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature12672.

The Hon. Tim Nichols, Treasurer of Queensland, today addressed a South West Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast at the Loft, in West End.

After referring to his government’s efforts to deal with the scourge of Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs, he talked about his own efforts to get the Queensland economy back on track.

When the LNP Government took power in March 2012, he said, they faced ballooning state debt, and a number of international rating agencies who were very anxious about the situation. The new government made it a priority to rein in debt – ever-growing fees, charges and interest bills, etc.

According to Mr. Nichols, the Government had to find $595,000 per hour to repay debt, hitting the taxpayer to meet the cost.

They called in Peter Costello to head a Commission of Audit to investigate the state finances, and make recommendations on how to rescue the economy.

The Commission’s delivered many recommendations to make the economy work better in the long term, by stabilising its debt, and funding future sustainability, etc.

There were, however, also many recommendations for improving service delivery – by challenging the prevailing belief that the Government must provide all services.

The LNP administration is now setting up a situation where outside agencies, not the government, provide services. Mr. Nichols talked about leveraging the private and not for profit sector to take over more service delivery.

According to Mr. Nichols, the time has now come for the government to ask the private and Not For Profit sectors whether they can deliver services better than the government.

This, he said, is already occurring in the areas of building, nursery and printing, etc.

Mr. Nichols said a change of attitude in the community was called for. His Administration is facilitating this change in attitude by cutting red tape, as demonstrated by their commitment to reduce red tape by 20%.

A new task force – the Office of Best Practice Regulation – has been set up to examine the impact of regulations on business. He said there are 440 red tape reduction initiatives currently underway.

The LNP’s philosophy, said Mr. Nichols, was to free the shackles of business to make business.

Residents and visitors alike will soon have the opportunity to experience a visit to the markets right in the beating heart of West End.

The exciting new Boundary Street Markets will burst onto the scene in the beating heart of West End from Saturday 16th November and every Saturday & Sunday thereafter.

Housed on the historic site of the old Peter’s Icecream Factory (now the Absoe site) on the corner of Boundary & Mollison Streets, the Boundary Street Markets will gather together an incredible group of over one hundred growers, food producers, local artisans and designers.

From 7am – 2pm every Saturday and Sunday, discover anything from art and artichokes to zebra statues and zippy bags – and everything in between.  Passionate traders will present their finest product in a bustling market that extends across the carparks and buildings of the historic site.

Every weekend, source the very freshest for your weekly fruit & veg shop, buy an exclusive gift or just have a fresh roasted coffee, while taking in the unique West End community vibe.

Situated on the corner of Boundary & Mollison Streets in the heart of West End, the markets are easy to access with the City Glider bus stopping right outside the door.  But you can catch the train, ride your bike, take a walk, or even drive…

Offering everything from local fresh and exotic growers and producers, including farm fresh produce, organics, herbs, flowers, bread, pastry, honey, seafood, meat, cakes, eggs, spices, teas, coffee, yoghurt, nuts, oils, deli, juices, icecream, muesli, pate, antipasto, candy, gelato, popcorn, gluten free.  PLUS homewares, eco products, jewellery, fashion, retro, handmade, antique traders, vintage, upcycled, recycled, knitters, stationery, kids style, tea makers, clothing, bohemian style, silversmiths, art, pottery, candles, body products, ink and so much more.

Every Saturday and Sunday commencing 16th & 17th November from 7am – 2pm.

Jump onto the website for more information.
www.boundarystreetmarkets.com.au

New York based Becky Kanis, co-founder of the 100,000 Homes Campaign in the US, will be in Brisbane for the next few days sharing her experience in tackling the problems of homelessness in our society and reporting on the positive outcomes being achieved in the US.

Ms Kanis is here at the invitation of West End’s Micah Projects and among other engagements she will be conducting a free public forum in Woolloongabba this Monday night.

According to Karyn Walsh, Coordinator of Micah Projects, Becky helped to launch the successful 50 Lives 50 Homes Campaign in Brisbane in 2010, based on her US experience.

“A total of 671 people have now been surveyed with the Vulnerability Index about their housing, healthcare and support service needs,” said Karyn. “223 people have now been housed and 190 people are supported by the 50 Lives 50 Homes campaign partners.

“Becky is an inspirational speaker, and her passionate commitment to ending homelessness shines through her every word,” said Karyn.

More information on Becky Kanis can be found at:
http://cmtysolutions.org/blog/staff-qa-becky-kanis-100000-homes-campaign
http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions/women-veterans/becky-kanis

Event Details:

Free Public Forum with Becky Kanis
6pm – 7.30pm
Monday 4 November 2013
Refreshments served from 5.30pm
Trinity Hall, 68 Hawthorne Street
Woolloongabba 4102

RSVP: Micah Projects 3029 7000