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 [...]

Forget the Digital Divide, The Digital Bulldozer is coming

May 6, 2013 in Celebrity, Current Affairs, Entertainment, Music, News, Politics, Technology

I am worried about radio in the country. Not the WHOLE country, mind you, just the parts of it politicians don’t visit unless something is wet, burnt or wind blown, i.e. “the country”. What worries me is digital radio. In cities digital radio may be a wonderful thing, more choices, better quality, I hear you may even be able to pause a live broadcast. Wonderful things. What I am worried about is the thing that radio was meant to be for – getting across information. A few years ago, a lot of “regional” stations were bought up by radio networks. [...]

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 [...]

Australia: The Lucky Country

May 1, 2013 in Current Affairs, Health, News, Politics, Self

The past week or so my wisdom teeth have started growing again. I say again because mine tend to grow for a few days and then stop for months. I mean, growing is a tiring business for your poor teeth isn’t it? The problem is that this time, the wisdom tooth on my bottom right-hand side is being a bit of a tool. It’s hurting and aching and I want to pull it out stat. I decided that after not attending the dentist for a few years (in my defense, I had been to the dentist every fortnight over a [...]

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 [...]

Marriage: I’m Just Not That Into You

March 27, 2013 in Lifestyle, Marriage, People, Relationships, Religion, Self, Sexuality, Society

Like many other girls, when I was young I would picture my wedding. There was the white dress, the flowers, the bridesmaids, and sometimes even the groom. The thing is; I never thought I would actually get married. I always assumed I would feel different when I was older. It’s never happened. In fact, I’ve become almost adamant that I never want to get married. I would like to preface this piece by saying that I love weddings. Seriously. I LOVE them! Seeing a couple stand up and affirm their love for one another is a beautiful thing. And there [...]

This Week: Bike Riding and Juicer Buying

March 23, 2013 in Health, Lifestyle, Meta, Nutrition

I have had a pretty eventful week but the really disappointing part is most of it I couldn’t photograph! I visited family (who have a no-photos-on-internet policy) and went to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition (again strict no-photos-policy). But there were some things I could photograph, so here they are: We got an assortment of desserts from KoKo Black including the best chocolate mousse I have ever tasted. The Viking & I shared this  ”sampler” and we struggled to finish it (I think the hazelnut hot chocolate – see later pic – was the clincher). I attempted to ride the coolest bicycle [...]

Want The Best and Brightest to be Teachers? Pay Them More!

March 11, 2013 in Children, Current Affairs, Lifestyle, Money, News, Politics, Work

The NSW Government are intending to introduce tough new tests to ensure only the best and the brightest get in to university to study teaching. Many issues have been raised around this including the fact that the skills required to get a high score on a test aren’t necessarily the skills needed to be the best teacher in the classroom. There we agree. But when it comes to tests being the way to get the best and the brightest, I completely disagree. To me, the easiest way to get the best and the brightest in the teaching profession is to [...]