Emma-in-oz has a listing of Australian toy stores selling wooden, non-toxic, fair trade, and/or Australian-made toys. Check it out.
The issue of whether breastfeeding discrimination will be banned in Western Australia remains up in the air, but things don’t look all that hopeful: “Barnett promises breastfeeding debate“, and “Government won’t support breastfeeding Bill“. Write or phone your MP now, and consider going to the rally next Tuesday at noon at Parliament House. Rally details are here.
Via meloukhia, 22 people with disabilities in San Bernadino were housed in a “group home” – which turned out to be chicken coops, with buckets to pee in.
Via whooz_queen, Meredith Nash has an article “Why homebirth is important to women?” up at The Melbourne Newsroom:
The issue of homebirth particularly highlights women’s fractured and partial adherence to everyday feminisms. The moral panic over homebirth may point to a ‘backlash’ against feminism(s) both by the Australian government and women themselves. In spite of hard-won changes to Australian women’s legal and political status over the last 30 years, anxieties about pregnancy and motherhood clearly continue to brew.
Categories: culture wars, ethics & philosophy, gender & feminism, Politics
Are cultural politics worse than no politics at all? 
Today in Tangential Learning: the smell of chloroform 
LNP staffer quits after anti-feminist rant in email 
Hoyden About Town 
A lawyer discussed the successful (too long in coming, my opinion) legal decision by a judge in NY that warehousing people with mental illnesses in large “homes” (a couple of hundred per place, more or less) is illegal and they should be released into apartments, with supportive services, on Hugh Hamilton’s radio show, “Talk Back”, WBAI in NYC. The show was yesterday, in the 1st hour, 2nd half. The show is archived online, free, for 90 days http://www.wbai.org
(I have a comment on Hugh Hamilton’s website, on his “guest book”, http://www.talktohugh.com when he opined why I didn’t call during that segment, but
called earlier on the war on Afghanistan, for that guest. )
(Note: I am involved in the fight against the takeover at WBAI, a community
noncommercial radio station, since I mentioned the station. See http://www.takebackwbai.org for more information on that.)
On breastfeeding: I did it starting in 1970. It was a wonderful experience. At
the time, women could not be seen breast feeding in public (it was not acceptable;
I don’t think it ever came to a legal question). When “out”, I would take the infant into a restroom, WC to nurse the baby. Yukky. )
Last Monday, the US holiday, Labor Day (no not about giving birth, which a
performance artist has played with), my spouse pushed me/my wheelchair
around in midtown Manhattan on a long (st)roll. We stopped in a Starbucks (many
have wheelchair accessible WC, bathrooms, restroom, single person toilet room).
Wheelchair accessible rest rooms are difficult to find in NYC.
One of the customers was breastfeeding her baby, while sitting on a high stool,
in front of the window. My husband never noticed, his back was to her. We were sitting nearby. I was delighted with the progress. As a child, it was not usual, but I did see a woman breastfeed a child from time to time, in the 1940s.
[ I use st+roll for (st)roll, which means, street roll/stroll.]
Hi Sanda,
only just released you from the moderation queue – any comment with two or more links gets automodded. Sory for the delay in publishing your comment.
something weird is going on – I’ve attempted to approve Sanda’s comment several times, but then it stays unapproved.
Unrelated, but reminded that I emailed you (tigtog)last week,so check your spam!
Ah, no glitches on the internet surprise me, chuckle (in re my awaiting moderation and your comment).
finally got it published! had to go into ‘edit’ mode in admin to make it stick in the end.
Hooray for Dr Meredith Nash seeing the wider issues around women’s reproductive rights and birth! Now to see if other feminists can see it… Hello out there?