Ye Cute Pictures Meme

1. Stop talking about politics for a moment or two.
2. Post a reasonably-sized picture in your LJ, NOT under a cut tag, of something pleasant, such as an adorable kitten, or a fluffy white cloud, or a bottle of booze. Something that has NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS.
3. Include these instructions, and share the love.



Eheu, this image was taken in terrible light, and this is the best I could manage in Photoshop. frankxcat realised I was about to take a shot of him in his underwear, froze with his tongue partyway out of his mouth, and modestly covered the big black spot on his undercarriage before I could capture it with the camera.

Complain about John Laws' homophobic remarks

Sydneysiders reading this may have heard about John Law's recent homophobic comments on air. While it's probably just a stunt to grab ratings, in the current climate it would be dangerous to let someone so influential think they can get away with queer-bashing. Here's an email I received with further info and instructions on how to make a complaint. (If you're outside Australia, you may wish to email the radio station at the address below.)
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On air on Wednesday 3 November John Laws attacked Queer Eye... personality Carson Kressley on the basis of his sexuality before going on to vilify the gay men and women of Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

"This is a really serious thing," Laws warned his listeners. "It's not often that I get really worried about this country, but I tell you what, I had a sleepless night last night after watching the television that I saw in relation to the Melbourne Cup. Who is this pompous little pansy prig who's strutting around everywhere yesterday, telling Australian blokes how to wear their pocket square? As he called it. That's poof speak for handkerchief. Who is he? He might be famous in certain circles, circles being the operative word, we know where they are."

The talking Brillo Pad wasn't letting up, and continued with: "He was judging girls, now what the hell does a pillow biter know about judging girls? They should have had a few truckies down there, or me, or the co-driver even. Fair-dinkum Aussie blokes judging fair-dinkum Aussie girls. Not this pompous little pansy.

"I remember when Australia was a land of proud, dedicated women and hard-drinking and hard-talking men. M- E- N, men. Why this sudden proliferation of pansies I don't know. It's a major issue. It's all very good and well that Australia tolerates people with varied sexual leanings but I don't know why we should be celebrating it. The sooner this fairy flies out and lets us judge our own women on our own criteria the better."

Finally he drew to a close, speaking on behalf of "truck drivers, wharf labourers, free thinking red-blooded Australian men and me". He then went on to play a recorded track saying "Piss Off Pansy". Not quite finished yet, Laws went on to say: "I know what you would like to have said [plays track] 'Piss Off Poof', but you can't say that because that's a derogatory word, so we won't say that. We wouldn't stoop to that, well I really wouldn't want to s-s-s-stoop to anything, would I?"

Section 1.3 (e) of the Commercial Radio codes of practice states that "A licensee must not broadcast a program which is likely to incite or perpetuate hatred against or vilify any person or group on the basis of age, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual preference, religion or physical or mental disability."

John Laws's comments are in clear breach of the industry's codes of practice. If you are offended by John Laws's derogatory comments and, like me and many others, affronted that one of Sydney's leading commercial radio stations should be perpetuating such narrow-minded and reactionary sentiments that are insulting on many levels to a great many people, please lodge a complaint with 2UE by completing the listener complaint form (Adobe Acrobat PDF format, 16 K - download the free reader program if you need it) and faxing it directly to them.

Your complaint must be sent within 30 days of broadcast of the offensive material and must include your name and address details in order that the station is compelled to acknowledge the complaint.

You can also email John Laws directly or the Programs department of 2UE at the following email addresses:

John Laws: thefortress@bigpond.com
Programs: programs@2ue.com.au

Please forward this email to anyone you know who might wish to make their voice heard.

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Feel free to pass this posting on, unedited, to any appropriate forum. (Don't forget to include the complaint form.)

(no subject)

Ladies and gentlemen, Thich Nhat Hanh has completely fucked my head.

Details later once I get my brain back out of this quasar.

Abortion rights in Australia in danger

ETA: You must read 17catherines's comment below on late-term abortions. In brief, women who have a late-term abortion do so for serious medical reasons.

A number of powerful people without wombs are currently discussing the possibility of restricting the right of those with wombs to make medical decisions about said organ. In other words, stripping away women's abortion rights is back on the agenda in Australia. This could mean a ban on late-term abortions, and removing the Medicare rebate for the procedure.

After initially staying out of the fray, Health Minister Tony Abbott commented, "Are people being railroaded into this by parents, boyfriends and the culture of convenience? ... Do we really think 100,000 abortions a year represents Australia's best self?"

First off, the 100,000 figure is spurious. It includes non-abortion procedures carried out after a spontaneous miscarriage or when a baby dies in utero. Only South Australia keeps statistics on actual abortions.

The suggestion that women are not capable of making their own decision about abortion, or make that decision lightly, is simply untrue. It's also scariliy patronising. Of course women face pressure from partners or family when faced with the choice; that pressure may be to end the pregnancy or to continue it. How would removing or limiting our choice improve our ability to choose freely? Nor has Abbott put forward a strategy for reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in Australia; in fact, he recently called for the morning-after pill to be made prescription-only, which would increase unplanned pregnancies.

The Governor-General Michael Jeffrey, by contrast, has called for education as a way of reducing those unplanned pregnancies. He also recognised that it's not a choice women make lightly. In fact, let me quote him:

Could I just say, that, obviously, abortion is a very, very difficult decision for anybody to undertake. If there were ways of reducing the numbers of abortions I think that would be great. If we could do it through better education, contraception, better understanding of relationships, so that unwanted pregnancies are lessened in some way.

Abbott's parliamentary secretary, Christopher Pyne, has called for a ban on abortions after 21 weeks; Special Minister of State Eric Abetz and incoming Queensland National senator Barnaby Joyce want Medicare funding removed for most abortions; the Deputy PM has said the number of abortions has got "out of hand".

But not all Coalition politicans support the bans. Finance secretary Sharman Stone says that Medicare records do not back the claim of an increase in abortions.

No-one is fooled by Abbott's rationalisations. We can only hope this nonsense is a fillip for Family First, and not any indication of the direction of government policy. However, since the government will shortly be able to pass any law it likes, we need to let Abbott know what we think right away, while he's still testing the waters. Please, write a polite letter or email - a short one is fine - and ask him to keep abortion legal, safe, and affordable for all Australian women.

Tony.Abbott.MP@aph.gov.au

House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

(02) 9977 6411

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Further reading:

The fab Cyndi Tebbel puts the case that Abortion is a private decision.

The satirical newspaper Crikey! comments on media coverage of the issue, which has largely involved interviewing the wombless.

Adele Horin argues that Not just the unborn child deserves concern : "Abbott's obsession with abortion is not matched by a passion to help those children born into difficult circumstances." (I laughed hollowly at Abbott castigating Catholics for being more concerned about mandatory detention than about abortions. Such detention has devastating effects on children's health - precisely why it's illegal.)