Don’t Be Friendly or We’ll Take It the Wrong Way

May 13, 2013 in Gender, Human Rights, News, People, Society, Travel

I was casually scrolling through news.com.au one lunchtime, and came across an article entitled “Western women warned “friendliness’ confuses Indian men”. My first reaction was “huh?” which of course prompted me to read the article. In short, Indian men “often get the ‘wrong signal’ from female tourists who are simply being friendly”. Well that makes complete sense… In this day and age, women are constantly being told they can’t do things. We can’t expect to earn the same as men. We can’t expect to be treated with respect in our chosen career. We can’t expect other women to accept us [...]

Tony Abbott, Twitter, Women of Calibre and Click Bait

May 8, 2013 in Current Affairs, Human Rights, News, Politics

So yesterday I was noodling about the house, exhausted and exhilarated after surviving Satan’s own three ring circus of a weekend, when Twitter whooped out the Code Pink Alert. The Twisterhood (Twitter Sisterhood. You like it? I just made it up!) were Outraged! Again! World-Renowned Misogynist, Tony Abbott, announced a Paid Parental Leave scheme that would entitle new mothers earning $150,000 pa or less to six months maternity leave at full pay, plus super entitlements. He said, and I quote: “We do not educate women to higher degree level to deny them a career. If we want women of that [...]

Video: The Child Abuse Message Aimed at Children

May 7, 2013 in Children, Current Affairs, Health, Human Rights, News, Parenting

This video demonstrates a new anti-child abuse advertisement which contains a hidden message for children. When viewed from an adult’s height the image shows a sad child and the message “Sometimes child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it” but when viewed from a child’s height, or anyone under 4 foot 5 inches tall, the image shows a bruised child and the additional message “If somebody hurts you, phone us and we’ll help you” with the phone number. A really powerful message, a great idea and a wonderful way to reach children while they’re standing with the person [...]

This Week: My Birthday

May 4, 2013 in Lifestyle, Self, Work

We haven’t caught up for two weeks so I’ve got a few photos to share with you today. The last two weeks have been fairly eventful and today is my birthday just in case my constant updates left you in any doubt. So be warned that next week will be all about my birthday, even though it’s actually today. The first big thing in the past two weeks has been JJ stepping back from blogging, which has had a huge impact on the site but as always I’m behind him 100% in what he wants to do and I can’t wait [...]

NDIS: It Could Happen To You

May 3, 2013 in Current Affairs, Health, Human Rights, News, Politics

The NDIS has come front and centre this week. And so it should. God know it’s hard enough on disabled people and their families, without the additional worry of how they will manage financially. When you see comments like this (responding to this article by Stella Young): Ashley of Darwin Posted at 5:51 PM April 30, 2013 $22,000 for a wheelchair? Really? a basic wheelchair? A brand new car can be bought for less… If you want all the bells and whistles you can stump the cost of it yourself. The government should only assist you getting the minimum you require to be mobile. Or The department store [...]

Why I Care New Zealand Voted in Favour of Marriage Equality

April 18, 2013 in Dating, Family, Gender, Health, Human Rights, Marriage, Mental Health, News, People, Politics, Relationships, Sexuality

I’m sure you would know by now New Zealand has voted in favour of marriage equality, winning at 77 to 44. If you haven’t already heard about this, you can read all the details here, but I had to share this news with you even if you already know, purely because I am just so excited and so proud of the country my father is from. Well done New Zealand! I can’t explain how much this news has meant to me. Equality is something I am incredibly passionate about, whether it be discrimination based on race, gender, on gender identity, [...]

My Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Me

April 11, 2013 in Celebrity, Current Affairs, Human Rights, News, Politics

My mother has this irritating habit of always seeing the good in people. I suppose it’s an admirable quality too – but sometimes I want to have a rant about some in-justice without having to see it from a different (and empathetic) perspective. There are a two exceptions to this… the ex-boyfriend who cheated on me and Margaret Thatcher. I won’t pretend to understand all the politics of the time. My family enjoyed a relatively comfortable lifestyle; we had overseas holidays, two cars. We didn’t experience financial suffering the way thousands of others in our country did. Perhaps it was my mother’s [...]

Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Sadness

March 8, 2013 in Current Affairs, Finance, Home, Human Rights, Lifestyle, Money, News, People, Politics, Self, Society, Work

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about money. I hate money. I hate it with an absolute passion. As a child I wanted to be rich, purely because I didn’t ever want to have to think about money. I just wanted it to be there when I wanted it and never have to worry about it again. I’ve reached a point now where even that would not be enough. I would need to be completely, totally, stinking rich, so not only could I not think about money but I could give most of it away to others without it mattering [...]

Dying with Dignity

March 6, 2013 in Family, Health, Human Rights, Pets, Self, Society

It was a typical Australian summer morning. Off to get a coffee I decided to swing by the vets to buy some rabbit food. It was surprisingly busy and I queued patiently, taking in the pets and their owners. The doorbell rang again to signal the arrival of another patient. I saw a golden retriever before anyone else. Tongue lolling because of the heat, he looked like he was smiling. I only noticed his age when his owner, a smiling grey-haired man, helped the dog pet negotiate the steps up into the waiting room. And then I saw the rest [...]

Abortion: I’m Pro-Choice And Pro-Life

February 11, 2013 in Current Affairs, Gender, Health, Human Rights, Lifestyle, Parenting, People, Pregnancy & Birth, Religion, Self, Sexuality, Society

I’m glad to see that there’s been some new discussions around the antiquated abortion laws in New South Wales and Queensland – about time! Whenever I see articles about abortion, it always makes me wonder what I would do if a sexual partner of mine became pregnant. Given my age, sex, and relationship status (middle-aged, male, and in a 20 year committed relationship) it’s unlikely that I will ever be confronted with this situation. But when people ask me if I am pro-choice or pro-life, I always reply “both”. “How can that be?” they will ask. Well, it all depends [...]