Little Christian sentiment from a preacher of God’s justice
This isn’t the first time Queensland MP James Bidgood has shocked his colleagues but, if nothing else, he’s getting very good at it.
Facts, figures and family reasons justify paid parental leave
There are so many negatives weighing down the choice to have a child, it’s astounding anyone still does it. Financially it’s the most irresponsible thing a woman can do.
Greer sneers in frock horror as our image watchdogs howl
You know the fashionistas of the world have won the war when Germaine Greer steps in. Not to fight ’em on the front line, or smack ’em in the giblets as some would like to do to Greer right now, but to join them.
Acidic reminder we’ve done nothing for Afghanistan’s girls
Twelve little Afghani girls have been staring down at me for the past four years. Staring with suspicion? Inquisitiveness? It’s hard to tell.
Friendly truce as Americans embrace feel-good president
Americans are a weird mob. The world champions of the cult of individualism have become united.
Hard to have no hard feelings when there’s so little progress
During the ABC’s recent television broadcast on ACT election night I got a small thrill. As the cameras rolled, it struck me that – for the first time – our election reportage, live- crosses and hosting were being conducted by an all-woman team.
Wham, glam, thank you, man – and for so little money
So, Sarah Palin’s election campaign wardrobe has cost more than $US3,000 dollars a day; every day; for the past seven weeks. Big deal.
Silly slogans and useless information mug the hapless voter
Mercifully, it’s over. Those appalling election ads have stopped. That dumb noise, nagging through every television break, has finally been switched off. Now, at last, we can all head out to vote. Pity though that voters’ heads are giddy with idiotic, jingoistic, rhyming ditties.
Doubt this bloody ad campaign will pull any more tourists
There’s nothing quite like a depressed American woman in tears, a stressed-out Chinaman, and a beautiful Aboriginal boy, to get us all wondering “what the bloody hell is this?”
Women won’t find empowerment by playing the pet’s role
Choosing a career can be tough. For the ambitious American bombshell, Alison Waite, it was real tough, as she explained to the Australian media earlier this week. She’d just finished graduate school when her first nude centerfold was published in Playboy. “I thought, well, what do I do? Medicine or the Mansion?” She chose the Mansion.
A Glorious Kill and a Grubby Demise
The essay, “A Glorious Kill & a Grubby Demise”, was published in “ANIMALS”, by Finlay Lloyd Publishers, October 2008. The illustration is by Ingeborg Hansen
Generosity of spirit endures long after duration is reached
It’s often the unexpected kindness of strangers that lingers most in our memories. And the television industry isn’t known for its kindness: strangeness, maybe, but not kindness.
Our leaders’ partners are more than merely manbags
It’s an odd thing. Even though Janette Howard clearly played a prominent role in the shape of Australia’s political history, I can’t remember what she sounds like. In fact, I can’t recall ever hearing her speak. And yet her words were crucial in influencing the actions of her husband the nation’s second longest serving prime minister.
There’s more than just lipstick to colourful Palin’s appeal
Why is it that politics has such a problem with lipstick? Since when did this simple stick of colour, kept in a tube and carried in every woman’s handbag, become the mask of dirty swine?
