There’s been a bit of “Not today. Don’t anyone critique him today. Today is the day the PM is above critique.” The day we suspend critique is the day we confer absolute power. I didn’t go into this election planning… Read More ›
race & racism
Acknowledgement and Apology
This post is being continually updated with links to commentary on the Apology Today, for the first time, indigenous people performed a Welcome to Country ceremony at the Opening of the Parliament of Australia. Kevin Rudd’s hope is that this… Read More ›
This is what we’re up against: “Ironbar” Tuckey
Wilson “Ironbar” Tuckey , the member for O’Connor, a huge rural electorate in WA, walked out on the apology this morning. Ironbar Tuckey got his nickname after he was convicted in 1967 for beating an Aboriginal man with an iron… Read More ›
Liberal Party’s shameful prevaricating
I wanted to post on the current round of semantic gymnastics regarding the Parliament’s apology to the Stolen Generations, but Andrew Bartlett’s done it, and better than I could: Liberals’ Separated Hearts. The comprehensive report of the “National Inquiry into… Read More ›
Margaret Mead and long bows: is the sexual revolution all her fault or not?
There’s an excellent post by Mercurius at Larvatus Prodeo regarding the drawing of long bows from scanty (nay, unrelated) data. It’s based on a notably incoherent op-ed column which asserts many things, but particularly makes the now common charge that… Read More ›
Mitt Romney and his Black Best Friends
Oh my, this is embarrassing. Major cringe warning. Mormon Republican candidate Mitt Romney gathers with a group of African American teenagers at a Martin Luther King Day parade. He spontaneously bursts into a chorus of “Who Let The Dogs Out?”… Read More ›
Supporting an apology
Photo from GetUp! Here’s the text of the e-mail I just sent to my MP: I just wish to offer my support for the Labor government’s decision to take the hugely symbolic and just action of apologising on behalf of… Read More ›
Gestation Anxiety: the othering of intentional single motherhood
“Maverick Mother” is playing on SBS tomorrow, Friday February 1, at 10 pm. (on XY Doc). [1] “Brave stuff”. “Controversial”. ABC’s Life Matters has this to say about Janet Merewether’s autodocumentary, “Maverick Mother”. Did Merewether climb Mt Everest? Take her… Read More ›
Neale Fong and Jim McGinty: the plot thickens.
Ah, Western Australian politics. Such a festering sewer. I wrote last week about Neale Fong, overpaid Health Department bigwig, being forced to resign. The trigger was the Crime and Corruption Commission report recommending disciplinary action and possible prosecution – after… Read More ›
PoCo A PoCo: Fifty Two Acts of Political Correctness
Babalon-93 has suggested that I expand my previous post, “Words Mean Stuff: thorny language”, into a Fifty Two Something series: 52 Something Choose something you would really like to do on a weekly basis and commit to sharing it with… Read More ›