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Are laws in Australia made on fear rather than logic?

October 23, 2012 in Children, Current Affairs, Entertainment, Health, News, People, Society

Today’s guest post from Jessica Chapman: There was a time when we Australians would hear a ridiculous story about an American suing his neighbours goat for eating the washing he had hung over the fence and winning, we’d say, ‘Only in America,’ and then we’d laugh and eat our Kinder Surprise eggs. We were thankful that we lived in a society where we were clever enough not to let litigation or banning get out of hand. Well, not any more… Not long after I wrote that the banning Buckyballs due to some incidents of children swallowing the product was absurd, the [...]

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I Don’t Believe In Revenge

September 13, 2012 in Entertainment, Health, Human Rights, Mental Health, People, Politics, Society, Technology

I don’t believe in revenge. I don’t care what you have done to me – I won’t try to “get you back” or “get even”. What’s the point? Any attempt by me to exact revenge, or punish you, only gives your offence justification. I won’t do that. I only have so much time and energy to give, so why waste that on looking for revenge? I have more important things to do. I put my focus on moving on and recovery. Revenge is an ugly thing… and it leads to equally ugly actions and consequences. I’m sure half the motivation for trolls and [...]

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When People Forget How To Think

July 13, 2012 in Anecdotes, Entertainment, Humour, People, Self, Society, Stories

I was in the city on Saturday night with my friend Linzi, we had a nice dinner and were enjoyed dessert at the Lindt Cafe, mid story, when all of a sudden I went “ooh!” and my face lit up. Not with enjoyment from the story, or the fantastic macarons we were enjoying.  Not from enjoyment at all, actually. It lit up with the reflection from the fireworks that randomly went off over Linzi’s shoulder. It took approximately 10 seconds for Linzi & I to be bored with said fireworks and wishing to resume our conversation that had been so [...]

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Upholding The Law or Going Too Far?

July 3, 2012 in Current Affairs, Human Rights, News

One of the things I hate about reading the news is learning about all the horrible things that happen around the world, especially when things go wrong. This was one such story, written by Ilya Gridneff in The Sun Herald, where a joke went wrong. A golf day ended in the rough for Michael Lindsay. A few beers at hole 19 and a bus ride to his Freshwater home went from a 26th birthday celebration to being wrongfully arrested and shot with a Taser by police. Mr Lindsay’s first mistake on May 27 last year was not producing his ticket fast [...]

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Who Was Alan Turing, And Why Is He Still Important?

June 22, 2012 in Human Rights, News, People, Sexuality, Society, Technology

Tomorrow, the 23rd June 2012, will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing. Who was Alan Turing? Well, he was one of the most amazing minds of the 20th Century. He was a mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. His list of achievements are astounding: At the young age of 22, he was elected a fellow at  King’s College, Cambridge. During WWII, he worked at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking centre, where he devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including creating an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. In the latter part of the war, he [...]

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What Happened to Miss Independent?

June 18, 2012 in Celebrity, Dating, Friendship, Marriage, Mental Health, Relationships, Self, Work

“Miss Independent…..oooo she fell in love” so the song goes. Yes yes, the song is all about a girl who is surprised by “this feeling taking over” not suggesting she became less independent when she fell in love.  While a very catchy tune (and a GREAT one to sing and dance to when inebriated, trust me!), I take issue with any suggestion that women (or men) should suddenly lose their independence when “falling in love” or “entering a Very Serious relationship” or “obtaining a pet and then becoming co-dependent with your cat”. I have always been a very independent woman. [...]

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What Happens If You Don’t Follow The Rules

June 6, 2012 in People, Society

I was recently in a situation where two people met a stalemate. You see there was a rule, and one person wouldn’t follow it. The other insisted they must, and they replied “What are you going to do?” It sounds like a situation you would have with a five year old. A problem with an obstinate primary-schooler who refuses to stay in their seat during class. You tell them the rule, and they’ve figured out that, really, there isn’t anything you can do about it. The situation wasn’t resolved, one person stormed out, but it raised an interesting question for [...]

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A Conversation About Organ Donation

March 29, 2012 in Current Affairs, Family, Health, News

Recently my husband & I were watching TV. He turned to me and asked “Hun, do you want to be cremated or buried?” I said I’d like to buried if I’m whole and if he can afford a fancy tombstone. If organs are taken or a tombstone is out then I’d like to be burnt and put in a nice pot, not one of those letterboxes in the wall. I’d like to be taken home and placed on the mantlepiece so one day I can fall off on purpose and scare his new wife. Although recently I have decided I [...]

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Video: We Need To Talk About Injustice

March 20, 2012 in Human Rights, Society

The other day I came home and my husband was watching this video. It took only a few seconds for me to be completely sucked in to this man and what he had to say. It’s over 23 minutes long, but it’s worth your time. Have a look. Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about injustice T.

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Abortion, Marriage, Religion and the Law

March 4, 2012 in Marriage, Politics, Religion, Sexuality

Update 10/05/12: Obama has announced his support for marriage equality. I am overjoyed, but not surprised, by this announcement, and here’s why.  I was recently sent a video of a speech made by Barack Obama relating to the separation of church and state, his stance on abortion, and what that means. In part, Obama stated: “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning [...]

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