BlindFish Ideas

Google 'seaview' coming to the great barrier reef Google has a long standing aim to organise the information of the world. Notice that their aim is not to be the worlds best search engine. Nothing so narrow. Google thinks big. They want to index and organise everything then serve it up (with adverts attached) for our pleasure and education. I cant wait to explore the Seaview and the reefs. If the destruction of the reefs continue this record of the reef may prove to be a vital record of a part of our natural history.

False Accusation, safeguarding young people and staff Does the system protect the vunrable? When I read this BBC article I was alternatively annoyed, worried, relieved and concerned. Most of all it highlighted the importance of a robust useable safeguarding policy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16927479#story_continues_2 Most accusations against teachers in Wales are dropped I was annoyed that teachers are getting their careers ruined by false accusation. Rex Phillips, from NASUWT is quoted in the BBC article as saying. "It's every teacher's worst nightmare to have a false allegation made against them. Their reputation is damaged and they often find it hard to go back to work, even though they've been completely exonerated. "We just want teachers to be treated fairly. Once an allegation is made, a teacher is often suspended immediately without even a bit of consideration given to if it can be true or not. "There's no 'innocent until proven guilt

Improving subsistence farmers diet with fish husbandry in Cambodia How can a bunch of fish ponds make a real difference? This summer I am travelling around South-East Asia, including Cambodia. In Cambodia I will be visiting some NGOs and  voluntary aid projects . I meet with our main contact this week and most of the work is focused on people projects, teaching English,  prison visits , drug addiction etc but they mentioned one project where they help rice farmers start fish husbandry projects. These projects are designed to help the local subsistence farmers grow on fish to adult size for increasing the protein component of their diet. Being interested in all forms of fish keeping I hope that when we travel to Cambodia I can visit the project or at least meet up with the team managing the project. It sounds like a fascinating and practical way to help some of the worlds poorest improve their diet and economic situation. It was mentioned that the project specifically look

What will the Syrian government do next? I understand why all countries appear so reluctant to get involved in Syria. But did the veto by China and Russia in the UN security council give the Syrian government free reign to bomb their own people?  The situation in Syria is very complex and the truth is even harder to find due to the wide spread journalism ban in Syria. We can't be sure that people are dying. That people are resisting government control either by protesting or violence. But the government is defiantly responding with force. See this below link from NPR, I get lots of my current information from @acarvin on twitter.  http://www.npr.org/2012/02/09/146622564/syrian-forces-renew-bombardment-in-homs?sc=17&f=1004 My concern is that the veto stopped dead the possibility of Syrian government easing up. Before the veto failed the mere threat of UN intervention may have slowed down or restrained the Syrian government. Now what is there to stop the Syrian gov

Last year I went to Kazakhstan for work for a HIV project, which lots of people know. What most people don't know is that I had a travel companion. An awesome travel companion who is cunning clever and strong. Very helpful in a pinch and a sneaky fellow. I am talking of course about Ninja Penguin.  I documented his adventure and am now sharing this small book I have made showing his travels in Kazakhstan.  (Just a bit of fun but it's great to remember my time in Almaty)  

In 11 weeks I will be leaving for an adventure around south east Asia. 3 month adventure exploring new cultures and environments. > I Found this organisation today http://www.lantaanimalwelfare.com/ and it looks interesting. It is basic animal care looking after abandoned dogs and cats, spaying them and caring for them. > > They have volunteer opportunities for just day tourists as well as more long term options. Whilst we are not certain I like the idea of spending a day cat cuddling and dog walking in a tropical paradise. We will see how busy our time gets but it seems like a very down to earth grass roots project. >

Just read this article about a volunteer option at the blue planet http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/mobile/content.php?sid=4746 I got so intrigued by the idea of this option. If I was to ever to be made redundant and was thinking about a career change I would go for this. To be honest if I was made redundant I would try to get some volunteer hours even if they didn't advertise for them. I would love to be paid to look after fish maybe this could be a way in if I became redundant. I did keep a blog about the blue planet aquarium for a long time but when my annual pass ran out I stopped adding anything but I would love to start again. Sent from my iPod