(no subject)

Ask me about any of my icons and/or interests and receive an explanatory burble forthwith.

(no subject)

Please allow me to be (no doubt) the one millionth Life on Mars fan to note the incorporation of this classic funny cat video into Season 1. You know the scene I mean.

Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

HIGHLEE DELISHUS

(no subject)

A new Australian law leaves transitioning transgender women and men stuck with their birth sex on their passport, making them vulnerable to suspicion and harassment when they travel overseas, as well as being just plain humiliating. It's a bit of bureaucratic nonsense which serves no purpose other than to add hassles and misery to peoples' lives.

ENROLL TO VOTE

If for any reason you're not on the electoral roll (for example, if you've recently turned 18 or if you're overseas right now), you need to enrol RIGHT NOW. A new law closes the roll the day the election is called. (Similarly, if you need to register a change of address, you'll only have 3 days to do it.) Don't lose your chance to vote in this year's Federal election! Go to the AEC Web site for instructions. Pass it on!

The new Indigenous laws

Well, the new law was railroaded through. It's so dodgy it had to be made exempt from the Racial Discrimination Act, and may also be unconstitutional in that it takes away Aboriginal peoples' control of their land without just compensation - suspiciously, not every element of the law is directly related to preventing child abuse. In fact, although the new law is supposedly a response to the Little Children Are Sacred report, it implements only 3 of that report's recommendations, and has been condemned by the report's authors. It's pretty clear the law has little to do with protecting children and much to do with trying to control the lives of Aboriginal citizens.

David Marr describes the new law's draconian provisions in detail.

The question is, what do we do now?

(no subject)

If you'd like to take action against the recent law about passports for transitioning transgender people, there's an online petition.

You could also write the Minister for Foreign Affairs a couple of firm but polite lines:

The Hon Alexander Downer MP
Shop 6B, Mt Barker Central Shopping Centre
20 Druids Avenue
MT BARKER SA 5251
Phone: 08 8398 5566
Fax: 08 8398 5577
Email: minister.downer@dfat.gov.au