Men And Women
There must be a handbook given out to women who have had, or claim to have had, an affair with a high-profile politician. I imagine it’s called something like The truth will set you free! Seriously, you’re fabulous and, like, totally emotionally evolved!!
It’s full of sage advice such as “stop being so utterly selfless and think of yourself for once you amazing selfless woman,” and “you could have saved him if only he knew what was good for him,” and “don’t forget your clothes flew off all by themselves.”
And I imagine at least two women interviewed this week have a well-worn copy on their bedside tables - Michelle Chantelois and Rielle Hunter.
Continue reading "The confession manual for a politician’s mistress" »
Where are the women warriors on Paid Maternity Leave? The most extensive, economically significant policy proposal to support working women in decades is put forward by a major political party… so where are the feminists and women’s groups?
Why is there such a conspicuous silence from those who “whooped” and figuratively threw streamers when the Rudd Government finally announced its Paid Parental Leave plan (which turned out to be little more than a re-badging of the baby bonus with an administrative nightmare for small business thrown in)?
Where are Eva Cox and Sharan Burrows?
Latest 2 of 145 comments
View all comments-
Joe says:
Keep up the good work Sophie. Please try to balance all the childcare hand outs with those poor mothers who choose to care for their own children full time. Read more »
-
Othello Cat says:
Moira says a lot a strawmen and needs to work on reading comprehension. Before the other strawmen are trotted out, I will say I am not asking that children be made to starve in the streets nor am I suggesting that parents ought to raise children with no support at… Read more »
Welcome to another brief sojourn through the hot bakes and juice stands across our sun-drenched country.
Readers of Suburban Tales would know the love affair the people of Melbourne seem to have with the humble turtle. A couple of weeks ago, we reported on one such reptile who spends quality time attached to a harness being taken for beach walkies.
A blissful existence for any animal, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Latest 2 of 7 comments
View all comments-
Sam Chowder says:
Don’t forget your togs at Little Congwong Beach and also look out for bitter dowdy dressed ladies who enjoy superglueing peoples hands to their hips. Read more »
-
Jonty Burton says:
Rest assured, wherever a story about a turtle can be used for slightly comic effect, Suburban Tales will be there to make a hack of it. Read more »
Welcome to another amble around the mission-brown patios and decked al fresco areas festooned across our sea-girt nation.
We start this week in the Land of Queens, where the mighty have fallen. The Ipswich News reports the ute at the centre of the Utegate fiasco that has been resurrected and turned into a Meals on Wheels fundraiser.
Just as the Krudster himself has pulled a hairshirt skivvy over those coke-bottle specs and wound up a mea culpa or two, so the ute that did no real damage to his political career is now a contrite charity van.
Latest 2 of 11 comments
View all comments-
Amy Brunner says:
Mrsmum. First, what is your membership No. to the labor party. Second, the liberals have done nothing here. It’s Paul Pisasale and John Grant that has rasied the ute gate again. Both of them Labor fellow travellers. Third, if we are going to have anything in the musseum representing the… Read more »
-
Amy Brunner says:
To 6c legs:- Don’t you understand which side is left or right in politics. It has been clearly the left side of politics who have engineered this political publicity stunt. Read more »
WELCOME to another journey around the dilapidated tennis tables and half-finished construction projects in the back sheds of suburbs around our nation.
We start this week’s shambolic ramble in the southern parts of Melbourne, where life can move slowly, especially when you’re strapped to a turtle. Edithvale resident Helen Beaumont is just such a person.
She has found the zen-like state of happiness that can only come from harnessing up a reptile with a makeshift doggy lead and walking it slowly down a beach.
Continue reading "Suburban Tales: Graffiti and cougar weddings" »
Latest 2 of 12 comments
View all comments-
Buboe says:
Come on Jonty. Blood elf’s can’t be shamans. L2P Noob Read more »
-
Jonty Burton says:
We try to have as little point as humanly possible in the Suburban Tales column. Oh, and we like turtles too. Except for one of the subeditors who checks our copy. That particular journo is indifferent to all reptiles. Read more »
Sunday mornings are usually a fairly quiet affair in my apartment until around 11am when my swollen bladder, thumping headache and noisy neighbours force me from the safety of my bed.
Last Sunday however was special as I managed the truly Olympic effort of making it downstairs to the couch by the crack of 10am. However seconds after collapsing victoriously onto the couch to enjoy this small victory I was assailed by suggestions for ‘fun things to do’ from my ever perky med-student ‘houseguest’.
Ms Gen Y was absolutely bursting with energy after her 3 hours of sleep, I on the other hand felt like Amy Winehouses’ liver, so I politely declined her invitation. She insisted. I more forcefully declined. She begged. I told her to leave me alone and flee the country - and that’s when she told me I had SCTD.
Latest 2 of 32 comments
View all comments-
Anjuli says:
Then are doctors who tell you that it is all in the mind, then you are rushed to hospital with a kidney infection Read more »
-
Kate says:
You make a good point, and most doctors worth their salt will try to make that distinction. Depression is usually categorised into a few groups - there’s situational or reactive depression, which pretty much describes what you mentioned - someone experiencing depression because of unemployment, bereavement, isolation etc. Then there’s… Read more »
I’ve just accepted my first ever invitation to be a bridesmaid for some very good friends.
Being a fairly low-key and relaxed kind of couple I’m not concerned about any freak outs or “Bridezilla” moments. Nor, knowing my friend’s simple and elegant tastes do I expect to find myself locked into a series of Saturday morning shopping trips to look at ghastly creations made from taffeta.
But I am wondering - in light of all the things I know my friend doesn’t want at her wedding – what exactly does a bridesmaid to the off-beat bride do? And what types of behaviours should be avoided at all costs?
Continue reading "Punch list: Top things a bridesmaid should never do" »
Latest 2 of 15 comments
View all comments-
GC says:
Hmm. I thought you were supposed to choose people you like to be your bridesmaid Read more »
-
Ex-bartender says:
One more word of advice to bridemaids; stick around until the very end. I was a bartender in a Gold Coast hotel many,many years ago in a five star hotel and had to attend to a bride who had been abandoned by her bridemaids. She had approached the bar and… Read more »
Naked cartwheels, foot spas for toddlers and a board game that teaches youngsters the ins and outs of the drug trade.
It’s been another varied week in the quirky world of local newspapers.
When an 80-year-old Adelaide woman found a board game on her front lawn, quite naturally she gave it to her grandson.
Latest 2 of 10 comments
View all comments-
Sceptic says:
Psychic Associations that protect their own industry more like it. If you get all the psychics to vote for one of their own then it legitimizes the industry, right? Wrong. It’s a way of getting the media to buy into this crap. Read more »
-
Caz says:
Hahaha! This article made me laugh thanks Jon! Read more »
Valentine’s Day is the Celine Dion of holidays. You either love it so much you experience butterflies in your stomach in anticipation, or it drives you so crazy that you want to tie it up, gag it and pummel it with whiffle bats.
For those with a significant other it’s a day of romance, a day where star crossed lovers express their love for each other with flowers, chocolate and greeting cards. For those sans-partner it’s a day of self reflection, Dr Phil, Hagen Daas and Dido.
To me it’s a day of treason.
Continue reading "A trivial trip down Valentine’s Day lane" »
Latest 2 of 6 comments
View all comments-
Jenni says:
“a fertility festival that had it all; wine, women, song, goats, sex and ritual sacrifice.” *sigh* I always knew I was born in the wrong century Read more »
-
gavin says:
You celebrate love, I’ll celebrate kittens and rainbows and sunrays. Now it’s your turn to hang up…no you hang up…no YOU hang up… Read more »
We’ll kick off this week’s tour of the suburbs with a story likely to leave your grandad shaking his head and telling you the world’s gone mad.
In yet another kick to the swingers for first-time buyers, a 16 square metre garage has been sold in North Bondi – for $240,000.
As the Wentworth Courier reports, a punter shelled out more than four times the average Australian salary for “a little extra space”.
Continue reading "Suburban Tales: The romance of housework" »
Latest 2 of 2 comments
View all comments-
Boden says:
Ha, I play cricket with Nicko Read more »
-
stephen says:
I live in Boondall. I’m waiting for this to happen to me. Read more »
Pay attention all parents before the Family Court and any parent who has come to the attention of the Police or community services. Here’s the deal: your kids’ rights trump yours.
Last week the Government got a report suggesting that some parents think that a system that respects a child’s right to have the benefit of access to both parents means that they have a right, an automatic and overriding right, to equal custody.
If I may abandon the normal strictures of politeness for the sake of kids having their lives wrecked by selfish or abusive parents - stuff that.
Continue reading "Getting tough on parents when kids come second" »
Latest 2 of 51 comments
View all comments-
concerned parent says:
hi all i am a resident parent my xs partner has being using the court system to control my life for nine years now back in 2004 at every unsupervised visit he would abuse me in front of our son and threaten to kill me because of child support putting… Read more »
-
xBeanie says:
The bit about abusive parents is such a red herring. Why would you want to give a known offender any unsupervised access to the children? The problem is this argument is being used to try and get the laws reversed to where the mother gets almost automatic custody, with the… Read more »
Picture yourself in this situation. You’re a young female business graduate striding up to the board room for an interview with Westpac. You see a picture of CEO Gail Kelly and you think “I can do that.” Think again sister.
If the latest statistics predict your path, there’s a strong possibility that in 15 years time you’ll be stuck in middle management or if you’re returning back part time from baby, you’ll be sentenced to “special projects.”
The statistics are bleak. Look at these statistics from the EOWA:
Continue reading "Step up or be stepped over: women’s career mistakes" »
Latest 2 of 32 comments
View all comments-
Jess Fry says:
Merrick, you have hit the nail on the head, I would add that the f word (feminism) is being lambasted because of the perception that women can have it all. We can, but there are only twenty four hours in a day. Spend it on a career, spend it with… Read more »
-
Karalyn Brown says:
Thanks for all the comments. Merick has nailed what I wanted to raise. The interesting thing about the grad stats is that the median salary for female law students is 48.6K and male law students 53K. I don’t agree that it is foolish to use the statistics in this way… Read more »
Late January, and it’s time for schools to repopulate with wide-eyed kids eager to resume ignoring their teachers in favour of the psychological abuse of their peers.
Consequently, it’s also the time roads start getting clogged and the strains of tune-free music to start screeching through the air as students pick up neglected instruments again.
It’s a stressful time of year, particularly for teachers.
Continue reading "Suburban tales: BBQs, buskers and killer shrubs" »
Latest 2 of 4 comments
View all comments-
Judy says:
I hate the idea of ‘rewarding’ people - adults or children - for perfect/high attendance. It’s punishing those who are genuinely sick and rewarding those who *should* have taken a day off and refrained from sharing their flu-germs with everyone else. A school my kids attended a couple of years… Read more »
-
fluffy says:
like these people have benefited from his skills you mean? http://www.tinyurl.com.au/1f1 Read more »
So Tony Abbott thinks Australian women should quit having pre-marital sex.
We all know he likes a challenge.
But good luck, mate, getting that particular toothpaste back in the tube.
Continue reading "Hey Tony, the virginity ship has sailed" »
Latest 2 of 126 comments
View all comments-
cam says:
My Dad once said to me, ” son, would you rather be a master key to open many locks or would you rather be a lock that can be opened by many keys ? “ That’s all Abbott needed to say. Read more »
-
Mr Mudgeway says:
Again, the innuendo: ” The same fathers ... would enthusiastically encourage their sons to screw around ...” The implication is that Tony Abbott would be just the same as one of these fathers with whom Catharine Lumby is so well acquainted. This is a monstrous accusation, just adding another brick… Read more »
Welcome to another trip around the lawn chairs and broken trampolines of our wide brown suburbs.
There’s nothing like an urban planning story to get the heart of every local journo pumping. All those genteel ‘save our suburbs’ types in leafy inner suburbs butting heads against shadowy property developer types torn straight out of an episode of
Secret Valley
. It all makes for good copy.Take the story from Brisbane’s Springfield News this week that the local Hare Krishna community may be denied permission to build a temple.
Continue reading "Suburban tales: You left your whip and chicken in the cab" »
Latest 2 of 7 comments
View all comments-
YYL says:
On a global scale the chances of Australia suffering from earthquakes are NOT the same as the chances of places like Japan, the east coast of the US, Indonesia, or parts of China. For example, the timeframe estimated before Newcastle sees a repeat of the quake of the magnitude of… Read more »
-
stephen says:
Luce, you did not write this, did yer ? (Reminds me of a piece that Jane Fonda recited as a reporter in China Syndrome.) Read more »
So much for modern hotels being soulless. Below are some edited highlights from a survey of guest habits from Novotel released today.
A guy’s girlfriend liked farms. So he asked for their room to be filled with hay.
A guest in Australia’s great shiraz-producing Barossa Valley heard about the hotel’s signature red-wine spa treatment. He asked for a bath full of red wine in his room.
Continue reading "It’s room service! Did you order the 33 rubber ducks?" »
Latest 2 of 11 comments
View all comments-
cats says:
Davy, i think it suggests that the women could not be effed to clean up after themselves after years of cleaning up after their husbands/children Read more »
-
stephen says:
33 ping-pong balls in a room’s when yer can start makin’ phone calls. Read more »
If Joe Hockey wins the leadership of the federal Liberal Party, the biggest loser will not be Malcolm Turnbull.
Nor will it be the government’s Emissions Trading Scheme.
It will be five-week-old Ignatius Theodore Babbage-Hockey.
Continue reading "Work life balance could be Joe’s greatest battle" »
Latest 2 of 14 comments
View all comments-
Leanne Chase - @leanneclc says:
I’m commenting from the US where we have something similar happening…a President of the United States who talks about being there for his family and work-life flexibility. And honestly I think your take is wrong. I think Hockey and Obama and many other fathers I know that work hard, but… Read more »
-
alan cotterell says:
Workchoices was framed with a clear intent to shaft Australian workers! The reality is that eventually the format of employment contracts in Australian workplaces must be formalised. However the place to do it is within the transparent committees of Standards Australia, NOT in some backroom of the Liberal Party. Thats… Read more »
Update 1.20pm AEDT: Rann is due to speak to the media at 2.30pm AEDT today. Passing waiting journalists heading into a cabinet meeting earlier he refused to deny outright having sex with Chantelois.
Today could decide the career of Australia’s most popular premier and Punch contributor Mike Rann. “It is disappointing and distressing that a friendship I had with Michelle Chantelois more than four years ago has become the subject of such sensationalised publicity,” the SA Premier said this morning. There’s more from his statement over the jump.
The publicity, which you may have caught, was the airing last night of a detailed account of an affair that former parliamentary barmaid Michelle Chantelois claims to have had with Rann. She claims it involved sex on the premier’s desk and clandestine trips to a golf course for romps in the dark. The trouble for Rann is that he has been insisting there was never any sex.
As one senior Labor figure said: “At the end of the day, she has either made the whole thing up or he’s lying.”
Continue reading "The Mike Rann sex scandal: is it a sacking offence?" »
Latest 2 of 190 comments
View all comments-
Debbie says:
Mike Rann has been doing his best to keep the real reasons for Michelle’s Marriage problems out of the press. I’ve seen michelles husband being unfaithful and am told he often has affairs or had while he was married. I’ve read that the husband is a very violent aggressive man,… Read more »
-
Frank says:
Oh yeah ... nothing like another sex scandal. Rann’s been relatively evasive ... for you to decide ... Read more »
Unless you were lucky enough to be of nightclubbing age in the 1970s it has never been cool to wear white leather shoes. Despite being akin to wearing a large sign that says “I’m a tool”, this hideous footwear has had something of a resurgence in trendy nightclubs thanks to metrosexuality.
But after a decade at the cutting edge of cool, metrosexuals have been given one clear signal they may have to go back to being ordinary blokes. Nightclub promoter Scott Mellor has chalked a line in the pavement outside a new club event in Melbourne that debuts on Friday. Beyond it, metrosexuals shall not pass.
Anthropologists might be tempted to attribute this to a socio-collectivist and culturo-genetic realisation that men are not capable of understanding manicures and shopping to the extent required to live a truly metrosexual life. But most would say metrosexuality was like platform shoes for blokes – a stupid idea in the first place – and besides, since David Beckham first dyed his tips blonde women have been clamouring that they prefer real men.
Continue reading "End of metrosexuals is a win for real equality" »
Latest 2 of 42 comments
View all comments-
Alex says:
There is nothing wrong with a guy looking after himself. On that note some guys do go too far, if you don’t have at least a few rough edges that define you as a man you may as well wear a dress. Read more »
-
Drew (Darlinghurst) says:
Meterosexuals….meh Thank God Im Homosexual. I find most Heterosexual men….... LAME. Now piss off back to Suburbia Meeeeow. Read more »
Colleges are being blamed for a culture we didn’t create. The focus is always on our worst behaviour. That’s understandable – it can get very bad, as events at Sydney University have shown.
But you can’t blame “college culture” and “tradition” - this is a youth culture which extends far past these privileged quadrangles.
The ‘tight and white’ wet t-shirt party could have been held at any backpacker hostel or suburban pub.
Continue reading "Colleges don’t cause misogyny in young men" »
Latest 2 of 45 comments
View all comments-
stephanie says:
I don’t think I can stand to read through the rest of these comments (20 or so, will have to suffice) so I apologize if the following suggestion has all ready been made… If this subject has struck a nerve, I invite each of you to visit: oneinfourusa.org I attended… Read more »
-
iansand says:
Only because there is no way this statement will reported: STATEMENT FROM ST PAUL’S COLLEGE 18 November, 2009 As the Warden of St Paul’s College, Dr Ivan Head immediately made clear in his initial statement issued on 11 November, the Council of St Paul’s College deplores the sentiments reported to… Read more »
The World Economic Forum recently released their 2009 Global Gender Gap Report, and unfortunately Australia has slipped markedly in the ranks over the past couple of years.
The report measures how equally the resources and opportunities of a nation are divided up between genders.
In 2006 Australia was ranked fifteenth. Now we are twentieth out of the 134 countries included in the report. The Nordic countries topped out the list with Iceland coming first, Finland second and Norway and Sweden were third and fourth respectively. New Zealand retained their position in fifth place.
Continue reading "Women by numbers: why we’re slipping on equality" »
Latest 2 of 21 comments
View all comments-
jim morris says:
jasper; I became interested in the female/male ratio after having an application for a library job rejected; even though I had worked in the library whilst studying at university. If what you say is true then why isn’t there a gender equity programme in place to even things up, as… Read more »
-
Kit says:
To those who claim that women are earning less because they are in lower paid fields, please read the report. It says ‘wage equality for similar work’ with women earning 68% of man’s income for similar work. To those who say that women choose lower paid fields, historically when women… Read more »
Each year during Orientation week at Sydney University, boys from St Paul’s invite women from the all-female colleges to their bar, the Salisbury, for the “Tight and White” party.
The night pretty much does what it says on the tin. The tighter and whiter the clothes the better. Especially when the girls are soaked in water on arrival, their clothes now transparent and sticking to their bodies.
And even more so when they lie down on the bar while men drink shots of spirits off their bodies, off their bare stomachs, breasts and thighs.
Continue reading "Inside our sexist college culture, and how to fix it" »
Latest 2 of 124 comments
View all comments-
Elle says:
I can’t believe how many people actually disagree with this article . How do you know what really is going on there? these women are so insecure and want to belong they would do anything. And these men are seriously screwed up. Read more »
-
Leah says:
There are plenty of college students, male and female, who choose not to participate in these activities, and they still manage to have good reputations, friends, and a social life. Yes the guys involved in these activities are fostering a sexist attitude but that’s about it. Nobody is assaulting or… Read more »
Perhaps the elite all-male college at Sydney University, St Paul’s, needs to get some rugby league players to talk to its members about respecting women.
The ranks of the elite who would decry league players as “boofheads” and would have been most vocally repulsed by the exposure of player attitudes to the opposite sex have been revealed as nurturing a virtually identical culture of the sexual objectification of women.
Rugby league teams aren’t known for being overrun with players who are also top-flight academics but they could probably teach the boys at St Paul’s a thing or two. The students are supposed to be high achievers but for outright misogyny it’s pretty hard to beat setting up a Facebook group that basically endorses rape.
Continue reading "League players might teach rich boys a thing or two" »
Latest 2 of 50 comments
View all comments-
Tom says:
So these days setting up a crassly named football team is tantamount to rape? And when people figure that it was a football team, not a pro - rape site (besides, do you really think anyone would be stupid enough to publish such views on Facebook, if they were to… Read more »
-
alex says:
tall poppy much? Read more »
So - members of the sporting community think its sacrilege for women to swan about in fashionable attire as horses race in the background (for in the background they most definitely are), do they? Well, I for one, think it’s cool.
Australia is a sporting nation but with almost every other sport, women get cast aside - shunted to a cheerleader’s outfit or a cold seat on the sidelines. But with the races, we practically have complete run of the place.
Spring Carnival! Fashions on the Field! Lawn parties! Make-up tents! Champagne! Vegetarian pies! Could it be any more female oriented?
Continue reading "Racing’s unrivalled appeal to both men and women" »
Latest 2 of 21 comments
View all comments-
Coco Chanel says:
I just want some filly when asked ” Wheres your outfit from?” to say TARGET and my shoes are from Spendless…...Priceless !!! Read more »
-
bob says:
As at least one of the respondents also says, horse racing is not a sport - it’s entetainment that gilds the lilly of the true meaning of racing - gambling. Would more than 2 men ( or women) and their dogs have an interest in the so called sport of… Read more »
The spring racing carnival has been hijacked by fashonistas. And a motley assortment of B-listers, C-listers, gibberers, attention-seekers, hangers-on, creeps, drunks, wankers and wannabes.
I’ve never seen the fawning fashion media interrupt a Collete Dinnigan catwalk show to report the result of the fifth from Flemington. Why, then, should a racing carnival as short as an English summer share airtime with the frou-frou set?
When Jean Shrimpton shocked conservative Melbourne with her mini skirt in 1965 (the year Bart Cummings won his first Cup), fair enough. That, at least, was something approaching a real story.
Latest 2 of 21 comments
View all comments-
Sam says:
Makybe Diva’s third win was one of the greatest rorts in racing history (and I backed her) - Luxury weight of 58kg - should have been 63kgs - and a manufactured bog track to suit. Done to suit the Freedmans and the “ladies” - the race has become bullsh!t! Read more »
-
I am not a Fillie says:
During the Spring Carnival can the media refrain from referring to women as “fillies” year after year after year, talk about groundhog day Spring Carnival is exactly the same year after year after year - even Bert Cummings wins year after year after ......... Read more »
I teetered into my 40th birthday earlier this year.
Fabulous heels? Check. Spectacular dress? Check. Girls Night Out? Cocktails? Dancing? Check. Check. Check.
I’m nothing if not a walking cliché.
Latest 2 of 17 comments
View all comments-
stephen says:
Hell, what’ya say to a 40 year old woman ? Jeez !! Read more »
-
Sara Donald says:
Hey Jayne, Lovely, well-written piece with meaningful insights and anecdotes. My 40 b’day swings around in two more years. am already planning a huge bush dance bash. can’t wait!! hope to see more of your stories on the web. By the way, gorgeous pic of you. Read more »
How many column inches in women’s magazines are devoted to dieting every year? Enough to cross the Nullarbor? Circumnavigate the globe? Traverse the universe?
“Get your body beach ready. Now!” “Your best body. Fast.” “Your best-ever body in four weeks.” “Shrink one size in four weeks.” And my personal favourite: “Drop a dress size by Saturday!” Really?
I should issue a little disclaimer and own up to writing many vacuous and silly diet coverlines during my 15-plus years working in women’s magazines. Seven kilos in seven days? Only joking. But you get the drift.
Continue reading "Odds and magazines are stacked against diet success" »
Latest 2 of 9 comments
View all comments-
John says:
Just getting off the track slightly…when you talk about women’s magazines, the first that pops into my head is make up, cosmetics, anti-wrinkle/aging creams. I do a lot of international travelling, and everytime i pick up the duty free magazine on board, half the magazine is full of womens cosmetics!… Read more »
-
Budz says:
@TRJN: Yes the girls are on the treadmills and guys are on the weights. So what is a way to increase your testosterone and metabolism? By increasing your muscle mass! So girls, get on the weights too and before you know it your metabolism will improve and you will be… Read more »
It is a running joke in my office that we should just pack up and relocate to Norway.
Norway has an enviable track record when it comes to gender equality initiatives.
And looking specifically at the issue of women in corporate leadership, Norway’s experience with the introduction of quotas for corporate boards has shown that such measures can radically alter gender equality outcomes for the better.
Continue reading "Why gender quotas would help Australian business" »
Latest 2 of 68 comments
View all comments-
Les says:
The sex discrimmination tribunal is an arm of the femminist movement and men are finally beginning to wake up to this. For years men have been making concessions to appease those who strive to bring about greater gender balance whether in work place or other areas. Personally I think this… Read more »
-
Observer says:
Don’t get me started on that biased institution called the Family Court-aka men haters inc. Read more »
I probably should be writing this under a different name. I’m an Australian woman with a Lebanese Christian heritage, who grew up amidst an invisible social war of Lebanese Christian vs Lebanese Muslim – right here in Australia. And I’m genuinely concerned about how Muslim people are represented.
Polygamy is a contentious topic, Islam is feared and misunderstood by non-believers. So naturally, a perfect fit for a festival of dangerous ideas at last week’s Sydney Opera House Event. And man did they find the perfect speaker.
Kayser Trad. Nice enough. What I’ve seen of him anyway. I reserve all judgement of him, his practises, his beliefs. I write this based purely on his performance that day. His topic was ‘Polygamy and other Islamic Values are good for Australia’.
Continue reading "Keysar Trad doesn’t do his fellow Muslims any favours" »
Latest 2 of 88 comments
View all comments-
paul says:
I still don’t understand this racial or religious narcissism, or ignorance by Trad and others. If I went to a Muslim country and presented the hijab as a ‘dangerous’ idea I would expect to have my visa revoked. Arn’t you really debating whether polygamy is PC? I repeat Australia is… Read more »
-
Adam says:
All these comments are proof positive that religion is man’s worst ever creation. I find both Christianity and Islam extremely offensive. Two archaic, backwards FAITHS that place complete and utter devotion in the supernatural. Over time Christianity has probably been the most sickening of the lot but in this day… Read more »
As teenage sailor, Jessica Watson, makes a second attempt to embark on her 27,000 nautical mile journey around the world, it’s timely to reflect upon the way in which the she, her family and the notion of the trip has been discussed in the media and society. For, there’s no doubt, that on the water or land, since Jessica and her intentions were first touted, she’s been a walking headline.
Her attempt to be the youngest solo sailor almost ended before it had begun when, on her way to Sydney to commence, she collided with a Chinese cargo ship in the early hours of the morning and limped back to port with a broken mast.
The report on the collision indicates that Jessica does not have the experience everyone initially believed, and so a once very supportive tide has begun to turn against the teenager and her family.
Continue reading "PC rubbish allows a teen to try sailing the globe" »
Latest 2 of 65 comments
View all comments-
Phottecot says:
The response to national disaster is awesome but it’s a damn shame that so many people take advantage of the negative situations. I mean everytime there is an earthquake, a flood, an oil spill - there’s always a group of heartless people who rip off tax payers. This is in… Read more »
-
jessica-will-meet-davey-jones says:
Re: David says: 11:42pm 30/09/09 Do you really have any understanding of deep sea (blue ocean) sailing? You claim the boat is safety rated, yet there’s no mandatory rating for pleasure boats (unlike in sporting events). Your claim of “state of the art sat-nav” does not take into account that… Read more »
There are so many gems here it’s hard to pick a winner for worst line. But the guy in the viking suit probably takes the gong for worst-dressed. Enjoy the cringe.
Latest 2 of 6 comments
View all comments-
Alison says:
Aah yes, that’s why I’m single. Read more »
-
James says:
Did you notice that the “non smoking guy” could be Matt Lucas (Little Britian)? No wonder he’s gay now. Read more »
I read with glee this week the news that the Rudd government is reviewing the role of women in the Defence Force.
For some reason this always gets me riled.
Call me a bra-burning feminist with hairy under-arms and a Subaru if you like, but it appears to me that men don’t want women in the military because they are scared of themselves.
Latest 2 of 99 comments
View all comments-
Kyle says:
@ suze, quite a few comments up you posted this “Consider childbirth or even Rape, women are very resilient and can be put through overwhelming trauma and survive through it. Suicide rate is higher among males which says something about the psychological strength of women.” Just the slightest bit of… Read more »
-
Kayleys Son [John] says:
mum i love your article and I totally agree with you. if women are prepared enough and think they’re ready let them go frontline Read more »
One of the best pieces of commentary on the Della affair I’ve seen this week was the cartoon in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph. It depicted a line-up of possible candidates for John Della Bosca’s former lover. In the middle, a woman with a guide dog.
I laughed into my coffee, because it’s what we’re all thinking, right? I’m reluctant to put the boot into Della any further – he stood down this week with dignity and grace – but let’s be honest: he isn’t exactly in Brad Pitt’s league.
Yet ‘hot’ and ‘sexy’ is how he was described by his 26-year-old former lover. It’s understood that she is blonde and easy on the eye. Della, on the other hand, is a man whose age is nudging distinguished and whose physique suggests the last time he broke a sweat during exercise was when Bob Hawke wore his Australia jacket.
Continue reading "How power can make even Della Bosca seem hot" »
Latest 2 of 37 comments
View all comments-
JLT says:
Wasn’t it Henry Kissinger who said power is the best aphrodisiac? Read more »
-
peter from brisbane says:
If I was Della, I’d rather do 6 months in the Iron Motel at Long Bay than take Belinda out to the Iguana this weekend for a nice intimate dinner for two . Maybe the attraction for Della is that Belinda and Kate nearly share surnames. Anyway at least Della… Read more »
Recent ABS figures showed marriage in Australia is becoming more popular, while divorce rates are falling. They also showed the average age we’re getting married has increased to 29.6 for men and 27.7 for women.
For this to be the average, plenty of people are still getting married in their 20s or even late teens – but it’s not for lack of people telling them they’re making a mistake.
It’s rude to tell people they’re making a mistake when they’re buying a house, changing careers, or deciding to have kids. Why, then, is it OK to berate people for getting married when they’re young and in love?
Continue reading "Call me old fashioned, but it’s OK to marry young" »
Latest 2 of 59 comments
View all comments-
Carmen says:
I’m a 20 year old and personally getting married at a young age is not so good. For some (a minority) who are 18 can get married & stay married is very rare. How can a person so young think rationally if physically the human brain is not… Read more »
-
Vonny says:
Maybe the people expressing disapproval at marrying young aren’t actually expressing disapproval. Perhaps they are expressing scepticsm regarding “it’s too good to be true”. There’s so many bad things that happen to people that when they see a good thing, they don’t realise it’s real. I think that despite this,… Read more »
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
The Senate protects us from bad government
Governments of either persuasion don’t like it when they don’t get their own way in the Senate. … Read more
Most commented
The talk of the town
- Atheists can do better than saying believers are stupid 228
- Why there is no International Man’s Day 181
- Nation's top scientists agree: the climate is changing now 167
- Token ceremony openings must be brought to an end 35
- The confession manual for a politician's mistress 22
- Yes to housing affordability, but don’t take my home 18
- SA election: A party that can't run itself... 15
- SA election: Why Mike Rann's time is up 10
- The dark side of cute: the truth about puppy farms 9
- The Senate protects us from bad government 1
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
RT @_Tors: The political mistress's public confession manual - just posted the imaginary one on The Punch http://bit.ly/9sQssK
Happy St Patrick's Day
RT: @_Tors The political mistress's public confession manual - just posted the imaginary one on The Punch http://bit.ly/9sQssK
Happy St Patrick's Day! What will you be doing to celebrate? Share it here: http://bit.ly/brz2k1#thepunch
Gentle jabs to the ribs
Breaking news: Something is going on
Is this the greatest ever send-up of 24-hour news? Warning: contains strong language and hilarity. From… Read more
Latest 2 of 22 comments
View all commentsAdd your comment