Saturday 29 June 2013
Quotes of the week
“On top of that, I’m entirely ready
to take a shovel, dig up the press gallery and turn it into a garden for
ornamental cacti. Their lack of self awareness is staggering. Who, on one hand,
lectures politicians for focusing on leadership instability, while at the same
time, reporting on nothing else?” {Corrine Grant over at The Hoopla on 25th
June 2013}
“Since when has disrespecting a
parliament, rather than respecting a parliament, been an act of loyalty? Since
when is disrespecting the office of prime minister, rather than respecting the
office of prime minister, seen as an act of loyalty? Since when is verballing
and patronising electors, that they somehow got it wrong in 2010 rather than
respecting the result, seen as an act of loyalty?” he said.
“Of course, none of these are acts
of loyalty at any level. They are the acts and views of radicals. And many, too
many, have fallen into this lazy world of spit and venom at the expense of
nation-building and investing respectfully in our institutions that are the
foundation of our democracy.” {Rob Oakeshott in The
Guardian UK on 25th June 2013}
“Who would want to be a woman in the sexist snake-pit that is Australian politics?” {Araminta Wordsworth in National Post on 28th June 2013}
“Who would want to be a woman in the sexist snake-pit that is Australian politics?” {Araminta Wordsworth in National Post on 28th June 2013}
"It's
a very strong team ... but there is one person who I particularly want to
mention.
"We have a strong and credible broadband policy because
the man who’s devised it, the man who will implement it virtually invented the
internet in this country. Thank you so much, Malcolm Turnbull."
{Tony Abbott in http://youtu.be/oQbm6InGeUg 27th June 2013}
"Tony Abbott should avoid further embarrassment
by not opening his mouth ever again on anything related to telecommunications.
He’s had years to get it right, and he still has no clue."{Robert Merkel in LarvatusProdeo on 28 July 2013}
“Van Onselen was voicing the concerns of more than a few of Abbott’s colleagues, who fear being handed power with no mandate and no agenda.”
{Waleed Aly in The
Monthly in July 2013}
Labels:
Federal Election 2013,
media,
politics
Friday 28 June 2013
Two women an ocean apart on a momentous Wednesday 26 June 2013
Crikey.com.au Editorial, 27 June 2013:
Yesterday, a lone woman stood up to her (overwhelmingly male) colleagues who were trying to take away her rights and silence her voice. She stood in the legislature and spoke for women everywhere, and when she could stand no more her colleagues and the people who elected her stood with her. And at least yesterday, she was triumphant.
She is Wendy Davis, a Texas state Senator, who filibustered a bill that would effectively outlaw abortion in Texas. When her 13-hour filibuster ended 11 minutes before the crucial midnight deadline, others took up the torch, shouting down a vote, and preserving women's right to choose -- until Texas Governor Rick Perry called for another special legislative session to pass the bill.
Yesterday, in Australia, our first female prime minister stood up to her male colleagues who were trying to silence her voice. She stood and called their bluff, and she said she was not going down without a fight. But then, when she could stand no more, her colleagues and her friends spoke for a man with a blue tie instead. And while a few remained loyal to her, it wasn't enough. In her final speech as prime minister, she took to the podium alone.
"What I am absolutely confident of is it will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that, and I am proud of that," she said. And no one stood with her at all.
Portrait of a man you don't want your daughter, sister, aunt, mother to meet
Kickstarter’s full public apology and take down notice of 21 June 2013 here.
Excerpt:
Let us be 100% clear: Content promoting or glorifying violence against women or anyone else has always been prohibited from Kickstarter. If a project page contains hateful or abusive material we don’t approve it in the first place. If we had seen this material when the project was submitted to Kickstarter (we didn’t), it never would have been approved. Kickstarter is committed to a culture of respect.
Second, the project page has been removed from Kickstarter. The project has no place on our site. For transparency’s sake, a record of the page is cached here.
Third, we are prohibiting “seduction guides,” or anything similar, effective immediately. This material encourages misogynistic behavior and is inconsistent with our mission of funding creative works. These things do not belong on Kickstarter.
Fourth, today Kickstarter will donate $25,000 to an anti-sexual violence organization called RAINN. It’s an excellent organization that combats exactly the sort of problems our inaction may have encouraged.
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