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Showing posts from March, 2014

Why Do Conservatives Hate Asylum Seekers?

In the latest salvo of the government's cruel and pointless war on asylum seekers , Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced today asylum seekers will no longer have access to legal aid when processing their claims. Gay Iranian man wishing to contest your deportation because your sexuality and views leave you at high risk of being hanged? Don't expect Australia to stump up for the appeal! Depressing. So it's safe to say that the Liberals, and conservatives in general, really, really hate asylum seekers. The question though is why? Look at it. Asylum seekers show all the values that conservatives claim to hold dear: They show initiative; They support the free market; They're self funded; They support private enterprise; They take the opportunity to solve problems themselves instead of waiting for governments to make everything better; They're willing to work hard to achieve a better life for themselves and their families. And conservatives hate them? They should

Your Cancer is Such A Downer

"Yeah, look, I've been meaning to talk to you about this for ages. It's just - I'm really sick of you having cancer. It's hard to say this but I really have to say something. We used to have a good time hanging out, but now, whatever we do, you've always got cancer, you know? All of us just want to go out and have a good time but there you are, sitting around with cancer. The symptoms of your cancer are awful and embarrassing. We've tried to cheer you up but nothing makes the cancer go away; it's no wonder you have it, really, with that attitude. The rest of us work hard to stay upbeat and not have cancer. I know you're getting treatment and it takes time but your cancer is such a downer. I don't know why you can't just try not having cancer for a while, surely it's not that hard. Anyway give us a call when you don't have cancer any more, maybe we can catch up but right now with your cancer - it's just too much trouble trying to

No Public Housing Sell Off in NSW

Rumors have been mooted for years on both sides of politics, but today the NSW government has confirmed it will be  selling public housing in the Rocks , in inner Sydney. This will raise oodles of money for the government; many of these properties have prime harbour views and will fetch millions on the open market. Most of the properties are old, and require a tonne of maintenance, and these residents aren't really the image of the global city of Sydney we want to present, are they? They have to go. I can see this being a very popular decision. Why should poor people get to live in such a desirable location, anyway? In looking at all the reasons why selling off these houses is a terrible idea, we have to go back a bit. Many of the residents have been living in their houses for decades - and they moved in at a time when the Rocks wasn't a desirable location. Historically, Sydney Harbour was very much a working harbour - with all the pollution, docks, and industrial infrastructur

March in March Report

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After all of the  build up  to the March in March, I nearly ended up not marching at all. First I was supposed to be marching in Newcastle, then it looked like we'd be in Sydney, then Sydney was cut short but I was having niggling health issues and considered staying home. But heck, I'm the "ordinary Aussie wife and mother", mentioned in Jenna Price's  Canberra Times article on the march  (about the only MSM coverage ahead of the event), I had to be there; I knew I'd always regret missing it. So DH, Baby G and I set for the Newcastle march on Sunday morning. We'd no signs, unfortunately; I'd been away for the few days prior, but the main problem was I couldn't think up any witty, yet peaceful and family friendly, slogans. The closest I got was BRO'S BEFORE EMBRYOS, which lacks a certain punch. Also, it required me to insert an erroneous apostrophe, which goes against everything I stand for, but I didn't want anyone to think I was referring

Provoking Politics

You'd think right wingers would be happy with the state of things in Australia right now. Their guys are in government, their chief protector owns all the newspapers, what's not to like? But it seems they just can't let go of their fetishistic hatred of the left. They're particularly incensed right now at the continuing spread of Greens Senator from WA Scott Ludlam's Welcome to WA, Prime Minister speech to the Senate , which is getting a lot of screen time from them given they claim its audience is the irrelevant Twitter users of the left. Miranda Devine lets loose in News Ltd today , in a column which begins with a claim that the left has "lost its marbles", then goes on to prove hers were never in existence. There's accusations of hate speech, dog whistling, sneakiness and bigotry, finishing up by calling Senator Ludlam a loser. All that's to be expected, but it's when Devine turns her adoring eye on Abbott that the fun really starts. In repo

Class Privilege: Still Taboo

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Social Justice Kittens, from  Liar Town USA I've always been a proud Novocastrian, even accounting for I've lived nearly half my life in Sydney. So my  recent post  expressing my mild dismay at the hipsterisation of Newcastle and pricing out of the working classes was written with the best intentions. It wasn't received that way; apparently a few of the cafe-attending sorts I wrote about were quite upset. Well, can't please everyone, and on I rolled. Meanwhile, a new curated Twitter account for Newcastle started; I was booked in to host one week, and really looked forward to it. So I was a little...put off to see the first three hosts posting more of the same "ooh, look at the gorgeous boutiques and cafes!" stuff I'd been writing about. There's a lot more to Newcastle than that, a whole world outside the mall where we're taking our groceries home on the bus. I wished for a different perspective, a host who was poor and angry, and said so. Well, did

How To Write Good Essays, By Someone Who Does

I've got a lot of friends heading off to university for the first time this year, and many are worried about that big chunk of university assessment - essays. I know how worried I was this time last year. But whilst I'm no genius and crash and burn in group work, the one thing at uni I've realised I'm good at is writing essays; I consistently score over 90%. I've done this by working out an essay writing method and sticking to it. I can't promise it will give you good marks, but give it a try; it works for me and I hope it will work for you too. What you're doing when you write an essay is working out what you want to say in response to the question, finding academic references that agree with your view, then rewriting them in your own words. Crazy, but that's how it goes. 1. Ideally you'll need to start at least two weeks in advance of the due date. Read the question. Make sure you understand all the key terms - now is the time to contact your tutor

Enough

I've never been one to back down on something I believed in. And after my experience giving birth to Baby G in 2011 ...I vowed I would never again keep quiet about something for the sake of keeping the peace. I wanted to make sure what happened to me wouldn't ever happen to another woman; that if an abuse survivor requested a caesarean birth, she'd get one, without having to plead or beg or tell her story to an endless series of hospital staff for evaluation. I initially complained through the official hospital process, and that ended up with an apology from the Head of Obstetrics...but they said I "slipped though the cracks". There was no indication anyone would be held accountable, no sign anything would change. So after some time and consideration, I decided to lodge a complaint through the Health Care Complaints Commission. What a mistake. Dealing with the HCCC has been an experience almost as painful and degrading as the initial treatment in hospital. I'd

Who Are The Trolls?

There's a video doing the rounds of immigration minister Scott Morrison referring to our ludicrous border protection policy, Operation Sovereign Borders, as "operation sovereign murders" before hastily correcting himself. It's telling - why would he have described it thus if he had not already done so, likely jokingly, in private conversation?    Anyway, the Australian Greens posted the video on their Facebook page; I added my two cents worth and went on my way. Until I found myself flooded with notifications. My unspectacular comment couldn't be getting that many likes from Greens supporters, I thought, and it wasn't. The notifications were replies from Greens opponents. Trolls. People who signed up to the Facebook page of a party they professed to hate and posted about how awful the Greens were, a bunch of inner city lefties who needed to get out into the real world, why didn't we want the boats stopped, we were responsible for 1200 deaths at sea, wh