Reproductive Freedom

I made it to the pro-choice rally yesterday, late as usual, but in time to join the march to Parliament House. (In fact, I'm briefly visible in the video from it here. :) The speakers really put into context for me the need for women, for any person with a uterus, to be able to control this most basic aspect of our lives: ( Read more... )

1800RESPECT is national sexual assault / domestic violence service offering phone and online counselling. Lots of info at their Web site.

Support services for at-risk queer Aussie youth (Star Observer, 25 November 2016)

The planned repeal of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) in the US will leave 55 million women unable to afford ( Read more... )

"Abyan" is the pseudonym of the Somali refugee who was allegedly raped on Nauru, flown to Australia, then flown back to Nauru, and now will be once more flown to Australia. Australia ignored three requests from Nauru medical staff to bring her here for a termination; presumably it was only when her situation became public knowledge that the ( Read more... )

Jack held his breath, and then was gone: I'm pretty sure I had a narrow miss with hypoxic blackout as a young girl, after trying to swim underwater for as long as I could. In my case, I was lucky - I had a sudden, raging, lengthy episode of tachycardia, which I think must have saved my oxygen-starved brain from blacking out. Neither children nor ( Read more... )

These links dumps tend to be pretty grouchy, so let me kick off with some great news: despite initial reports, the manuscripts of Timbuktu were not destroyed during the militants' occupation. :D

Divisive asylum debate will return for election year. *bangs head on desk* FIX THE PROBLEM, JULIA. Instead of another race to the bottom, process the ( Read more... )

Last ones for 2012 ( Read more... )

I keep chucking things in the unsorted links dump, but then adding comments, which probably means they belong in an actual posting, eg:

The case against legalising same-sex marriage

A useful summary. It becomes ever clearer that the issue, at base, is not sexuality but gender.

Speaking of which, I don't understand this case at all. Why would any ( Read more... )

The band, Rush, have issued a cease & desist against the talk show host, Rush, for infringing their copyright. (Read the letter for the legal details.) Apparently their songs are not for rent to any god or government either ( Read more... )

Another important point: the withdrawal by Rush's sponsors is not a First Amendment / free speech issue, but the free market at work.

Here's a snippet of that New Scientist (3 March) interview about politics and morality: "... I think the Tea Party is driven in large part by concerns about fairness. It's not fairness as equality of outcomes, it's ( Read more... )

Some important points raised in discussion of health insurance and contraception in the US.

In the US, health insurance is provided by employers. It is not paid for by taxpayers, but is earned by employees and constitutes part of their wages. The actual issue - a bit lost in all the noise - is whether employers and insurers should be allowed to ( Read more... )