By: Danielle Binks

Christmas is looming and the year is almost over. Bibliophiles (the easiest people to buy for!) are probably salivating at the prospect of all those paperbacks, hardbacks and eBook readers they put on their wish lists. And in preparation for all those worded treats, quite a few people will start to look at their bulging bookshelves and think it’s time for a bookish spring-clean.

There will be double-up titles. Heavyweight paperbacks that you now have in eBook format (because you don’t want to haul a 900+ page book on the train with you!). Some gifted books from well-meaning friends that you never intend to read. Other books that you did read but never intend to re-read ever, ever again. And so on and so forth …

You might be thinking a few titles can be passed on to friends and family. Or put up in an online book-swap for something worth your while. Or maybe you’re even thinking of gifting them to the Salvo’s (who seem to have an over-abundance of ‘Twilight’ books these days).

Well those are all good ideas and fine homes for your dear old books. But let me offer one more suggestion – The Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library.

Founded in 2003, the non-profit charity looks to give reading resources to homeless and marginalised people. It all started when soup kitchen volunteer, Sarah Garnett, saw a man reading a book while he waited for the food van to arrive. She started bringing him a few books every week, and thus the Footpath Library was born. The library is currently based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and will be opening in Perth early in 2012.

The Library has a few stipulations about what sorts of books they’ll accept, and it goes without saying that they should be in excellent condition.

Book Donation Guidelines
The Footpath Library accepts high-quality books in the following genres:

• Women’s, men’s and children’s fiction


• Non-fiction, including dictionaries, simple cookbooks, parenting, and self help


• National Geographic, Australian Geographic, motorcycle and car magazines.

Please note, out of respect for our customers we do not accept:

• True crime


• Travel/wine/restaurant guides


• Get-rich-quick/investment/ financial guides


• Coffee table books


• Home decorating, gardening, sewing, craft, fashion


• Sport (unless biographies)


• Any books with suicide, depression, or drug themes


• Computer manuals


• Text books of any description


• Magazines, except National Geographic, Australian Geographic, motorbike and car


• Encyclopaedias


• Street directories


• Religious material


• Used crossword/puzzle books.

I love this organization – they’re a group of book-loving volunteers who are challenging misconceptions about the city’s homeless population. This is a really wonderful charity for Australian bibliophiles to get behind this Christmas. And it’s not just books they accept – the Library also appreciates donations of bookcases, knitted goods and monetary offerings.



A few books that Spinifex is donating to the Footpath Library

By: Natalie Kon-yu

This is a particularly sore subject for me today, as I’ve come back from holiday and there’s no coffee in the house.  Coffee is a ritual for me, a kind for reward for waking up and getting down to work.  It’s something I especially need if I’m writing, not only the sharp hit of it; but making a cup of coffee also gives me an opportunity to step away from the page, to think about what I’ve written , to mull it over in my mind.

There seems to be a natural affinity between coffee and writers; we have a special relationship to the coffee shop or cafe. As part of a mentorship program, I meet with Susan on a fortnightly basis in Brunetti’s in Carlton.  We often order our coffee before we have found seats, and we sip as we talk about writing, about words that have inspired us, as well as the frustrations we encounter. I’m a drinker of espresso – a perilous coffee if you don’t trust the quality of the café – and Brunetti’s being so very Italian, is a good place for this little cup. The frustrating thing about espresso drinking is that it inly lasts a few seconds, I have nothing to wrap my hands around, no warm mug to hold onto or coast on as we continue our chat.  Sometimes I wish I drank lattes so that I could keep the experience of drinking coffee go just that bit longer, but I can’t forego the espresso.

In many ways coffee is just the precursor, the bit that gives us an excuse (and a place) to meet.  What we’re really interested in is the conversation; cafés are a great place to talk about writing.  Look around any café and you’ll see people talking more animatedly than they do in a bar or a restaurant (is it the caffeine?).  A lot of my writer friends meet up in cafes, and a lot of bookshops pop in near cafés.  We’re especially lucky to have a Readings bookshop right near the Brunetti’s where we meet, and many times after we’ve finished our chat, we walk over to peruse the shelves of this fantastic bookshop, high on caffeine and conversation.  This habit of readerly and writerly people meeting up in cafés has been acknowledged by organisations such as Poetry Australia who run a Café Poets Program, which gives writers a place to work (as well as providing them with coffee and tea) in exchange for the writer bringing the café into the writing community in a meaningful way. There was a small, locally owned bookstore in Perth where I used to live, that merged the café and bookshop, and the place was, as you can imagine teeming with writers.  As we move ever forward into cyber realities (or non realities, depending on your perspective) , I’m confident that we will never lose the humble café – we all have far too much to talk about.

Natalie Kon-yu lives in Melbourne and teaches Creative Writing at university.  She is currently working on her first novel 'the list of missing things', with Susan Hawthorne.

Don’t buy into the sexualisation of women

by: Spinifex intern, Imogen Kandel

In response to a question posed on the Collective Shout website asking for positive examples of where to shop this Christmas, we put out heads together and came up with a list of sexploitation-free gifting options (and a few food-on-the-run options, too).
 
We specifically looked at whether or not the company had used any sexist or sexually exploitative advertising, and gave our tick of approval to those who steered clear of using inappropriate images of women and children to push their message. Wherever possible, we also opted for Australian-made and owned, as well as eco and ethically friendly.
 
In our list you’ll find a mix of specific brands as well as retail outlets. To avoid buying from retailers that use sexploitation, go straight to the source and purchase directly online.
 
If you’d like to add your sexploitation-free shopping ideas, please use the comments section below.
 
Happy Holidays!


KIDS’ CLOTHES, TOYS & OTHER GIFT IDEAS
Every Little Girl - some great unisex clothing & organic tees!
Eternal Creation
The Singing Whale
Windmill Educational
New Moon Girls (magazine)

BEAUTY PRODUCTS
Aesop
Jurlique
Mukti Botanicals
Perfect Potion

BOOKS
Readings Bookshop
Books for Cooks
Mary Ryan's Books, Music & Coffee
Avid Reader
Gleebooks
Fullers Bookshop
Spinifex Press

CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES
People Tree
Blue Caravan
Ishka
Seed Heritage
Jennifer Loiselle on Etsy
A Skulk of Foxes
TOMS shoes - we love this site: for every pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need.

FAST FOOD & CAFES (when you need a break from shopping!)
Boost Juice
Grill'd
Lord of the Fries
Brunetti
Plum Café
 
UNDERWEAR
Berlei
Jockey Australia
 
BEDDING, LINEN & HOMEWARES
Albatross
HolySheet!
Bird Textile
Biome

ALTERNATIVE GIVING
Rainforest Rescue
Bob Irwin Wildlife Fund

My condolences to the People of Australia

My warnings to the women of Australia, especially northern Australia

Today’s visit of US President Barack Obama’s to your country and his announcements to your government to deploy 2,500 US Marines to northern Australia put the people of Australia, especially women in northern Australia, in grave danger.  While I understand that Australia has its own military, allow me to suggest that no state military approximates the danger of the US military in the world today.

First of all allow me to point out that because the US invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan are war crimes and violate both the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Charter, it has been necessary for the US military to train its soldiers and marines in preventive killing (i.e. murder). As you can imagine, young recruits many of whom are unemployed and others who are seeking to gain access to a college education do not sign up for such barbaric fighting. Therefore to train its recruits to kill without remorse while convincing them that they are defending their county, the USA, brainwashing techniques are employed by the US military as I document in Unmaking War, Remaking Men. 

In their training, US soldiers and Marines trained to believe that are superior to ordinary (American) civilians. This is part of their training for remorseless killing as believing in their own superiority aids young recruits in justifying their behavior in combat which ranges from remorseless to preventive killing.  Now think about it Australians – if US Marines understand that they are superior to American civilians, what do you expect of them while they are in Australia.

I ask you urgently to consult with your Pacific neighbors, especially in the Philippines, and the decades it took them to free their soil of US troops.  The Coalitions Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific would be a good place to start in Manila. Learn how Philippine women were reduced to prostitution for US soldiers and Marines.  When the Marines finally shipped out, they were trafficked to countries like your own for prostitution.   

Before it is too late, please consider the risks of your country and especially your women to having US military deployed on your land.


Respectfully,

Kathleen Barry, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita of Pennsylvania State University

Author: Unmaking War, Remaking Men (Australia: Spinifex 2010)

BY: Danielle Binks, Spinifex intern

What started as ‘Occupy Wall Street’ has grown to global youth in revolt against big business, conglomerates and the elitist 1%. But a disturbing trend of sexism, misogyny, abuse and determined apathy has become apparent within the ‘Occupy’ movement.

On October 10 a man was arrested at Occupy Wall Street for groping a woman. At the Occupy Denver protest, a man was arrested for groping a reporter. October has seen the Occupy movement embroiled in rape and sexual assault claims, as women at the Cleveland, Dallas, Portland and Glasgow protests have all come forward with allegations of tent city rapes.  

But what really makes a mockery of the Occupy movement is the response to these claims of sexual abuse amongst the protestors. When news broke of the Cleveland rape claim, one protestor even queried whether the abused woman was a ‘plant’, attempting to discredit the rally.

Occupy Baltimore released a ‘security statement’ pamphlet to their protestors which discouraged police involvement if any such crimes were committed. The Baltimore occupiers were heavily criticized for this ‘speak no evil’ stance, and have since revised their policies.

Julian Assange spoke at the Occupy London rally. The man behind Wikileaks has become the poster-boy for public dissent, but what many forget is the fact that Julian Assange is still under investigation for sexual molestation in Sweden.

The disparity of the Occupy protests is best represented in the YouTube video ‘Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street’ which has claimed millions of hits since it was first uploaded by amateur documentary filmmaker, Steven Greenstreet.

Set to a sedate instrumental tune, the video interviews fervent female protestors. One woman’s insights are particularly interesting for their Arab Spring reach, as she explains; “I’m originally Egyptian, so this is not new to me and I’m loving it. My faith in humanity has been restored.” Another woman is holding a sign that says: ‘I’m not homeless but my children will be.’ She is protesting for future prosperity; “I don’t want the burden to be on my children’s backs.”

These women are impassioned and proud. But you might miss their message as the camera greedily and distractedly pans their bodies. As the Egyptian protestor speaks, the camera zooms in on her long battling lashes and pretty pout. Greenstreet’s creepy camera sneakily zooms in on other female protestors colourful sleeve tattoos, gaping singlets and tracks their fingers as they ruffle long locks.

Greenstreet has said that his original intention for the video was purely ‘sophomoric’: “Pics of hot chicks being all protesty, videos of hot chicks beating drums in slow-mo, etc. But when we arrived at Zuccotti Park in New York City, it evolved into something more.”

Despite his original sleazy intentions, Greenstreet has recently come out swinging and defending his ‘Hot Chicks’ video, claiming a more political purpose for the ‘protesty’ hot chicks;

No, of course not. Because people would much rather listen to ‘Hot Chicks’ than ‘Women Citizens’ or, heck, ‘Women’ in general. Just ask the Occupy Baltimore organizers who would prefer rape victims kept their mouths shut while keeping those ‘We are the 99%’ signs held high. Maybe we should just be grateful that Greenstreet didn’t choose to title his video something truly degrading like ‘Wall Street Girls Gone Wild’. . .  although, I now see that YouTube is suggesting I watch a video called ‘Occupy Wall Street Sexy Bitch Fight.’

Is this what a revolution feels like? Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.” – but someone obviously hasn’t passed that little idiom onto the Occupy movement: ‘equality for all (especially the Hot Chicks)’.