Archive for September, 2009

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Monday Blaghs

Monday, September 28th, 2009

thinker

I woke today with a case of the “blaghs”
Not sure why, but it happens sometimes (and is not at all restricted to Mondays!)
The weekend was fine, a social day on Saturday, a family day on Sunday … a relatively good night sleep only to wake today feeling like crap :(

Maybe its the lack of sun (it’s been a long gloomy winter) I don’t know.

… all I know is today would have been a great day to crawl back to bed and sleep it away (damn work and having to get out of bed)

I don’t even feel like writing (or reading) today so I’m out of here

… I hope your Monday was better than mine :)

The “blaghs” do you ever get them?

Posted in It's all about me | 2 Comments »

Condoms in porn movies

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

NOTE: This post is about porn and safe sex. It is not a debate about the pros and cons of porn in society – I have my opinions on that and will share it in another post.

Recently in LA an AIDS  advocacy group filed complaints with officials against production companies that show unprotected sex (no condoms used) in porn movies. 16 production companies were named.

With my 20 years of sexual experience I am very aware about AIDS and safe sex, by the time I became sexually active AIDS was everywhere in the media and I knew better than to have unprotected sex. What is worrying though about the lack of condoms in porn is both the risk placed on the performers (monthly testing does not protect you!) as well as the influence on younger people who are not impacted by the safe sex message and think if it is ok in porn it is ok in real life.

Production companies claim their customers do not want to see coondoms in movies – it affects their profit apparently if they insist their stars are protected. I say so what! These performers need protection and people need a consistant message on how to have fun sex and stay safe at the same time.

I have a teenage daughter and have a close relationship with many of her friends and it scares me how unprepared these young girls are for sex. Each and every one of them fears pregnancy – but STI’s are so far from their mind it is scary. Several of these girls state proudly that they are on the pill but condoms are considered embarrassing and difficult.

I am not dismissing the pregnancy issue – but lets face it – getting knocked up rarely kills you these days – but sex without a condom can!

I want to see condoms in the media everywhere – I want condom advertising on tv, I want condoms used in porn, I want mandatory use of condoms for sex workers, I want condom machines in every public toilet – Id like to see a day where sex is always protected outside of long term (pre tested) monogamous relationships.

Condoms in porn and everywhere else? I say YES – what do YOU think?

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Posted in From the news, sex and relationships | 7 Comments »

Smacking kids = lower IQ ?

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Do you smack your kids?

Its a hot topic and the sides are clearly divided. I have to admit I sit somewhere in the middle.

Yes I have smacked my children at different stages of their lives, but it is not a regular form of punishment for me – rather the extreme last resort.

I prefer to teach my children rather than punish them physically and I prefer my punishments to have an impact somewhere other than their bottoms.

I prefer to sit my kids down and tell them what I expect from them and why, I prefer to teach them how to do it right rather than just lashing out with a punishment but I  do smack as a last resort and when my kids were toddlers I did use a smack on the hand as a deterrent (and before you abuse me for it – have YOU ever tried to reason with a rabid 2 year old who wants to touch the fire?)

I also confiscate prized belongings, ban electronic entertainment, remove phone privileges and hand out “lines” as punishments (great for improving hand writing lol) and these usually have a huge impact now my kids are getting older as does doubling chores (every one in my house has jobs to do – we all live here and have an obligation to maintain it – having breasts does not make it my domain alone !) I do not think I have had to resort to a smack for well over twelve months now and hope not to have to again.

Well now a new scientific study is telling us that repeated “spanking: of children leads to lower IQ’s. The study, involving hundreds of U.S. children, showed the more frequently a child was spanked, the lower his or her IQ compared with others.

according to the report I found here
If spanking does send IQ scores down, Straus and others offer some explanations for what might be going on.

“Contrary to what everyone believes, being hit by parents is a traumatic experience,” Straus said. “We know from lots of research that traumatic stresses affect the brain adversely.” Also, the trauma could cause kids to have more stressful responses in difficult situations, and so may not perform as well cognitively.

By using hitting rather than words or other means of discipline, parents could be depriving kids of learning opportunities. “With spanking, a parent is delivering a punishment to get the child’s attention and to get them to behave in a certain way,” said Elizabeth Gershoff, who studies childhood development at the University of Texas, Austin. “It’s not fostering children’s independent thinking.”

Well I do agree with the thought that parents miss out on teaching opportunities by spanking – but I do feel in certain situations that it can be necessary .I think there are a lot of other factors contributing to this outcome. In fact I believe quite strongly that so many of societies problems are caused by weak parenting

- I am not claiming that it will all be solved with a smack  or that smacking is good for kids – I just feel when the lesson has been taught over and over and the child has not stopped the unacceptable behavior then an open hand smack  is an option as a last resort consequence.

What do YOU think – do you smack your kids – why/why not?

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Posted in From the news | 12 Comments »

Pregnant twice at the same time- not twins?

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

I am not talking about twins. Todd and Julia Grovenburg found out after a routine scan that they are expecting two children.

So whats the big deal – people have twins all the time right – its not so uncommon. The difference in this case is this woman in Arkansas has conceived her second child after the conception of the first – two and a half weeks later in fact!

This is an extremely rare medical occurrence called superfetation with only 10 other cases known.

Wow – Good luck to the couple and their amazing babies!

What do YOU think – have you heard of any strange pregnancy stories?

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Posted in From the news | 2 Comments »

Will Australia say no to genital mutilation?

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

In some places in the world women are still legally butchered via the act of circumcising the clitoris (genital mutilation)

According to yahoo news Immigration Minister Chris Evans said he was “willing to consider directly intervening ” in the case of Grace Gichuhi, 22, and Teresia Ndikaru Muturi, 21 two Kenyan women who fear they will be circumcised if forced to return home.

They have been in Australia since July last year after attending the Catholic World Youth Day and have exhausted their avenues under Australian law to apply for asylum here as our current laws do not offer them protection.

I can not believe that the word “consider” was even used!

Gichuhi said her mother had been killed by members of the Mungiki sect for refusing to have her clitoris cut off, and she also feared death in the crude operation.

“They use a knife. Just a knife, no medicine,” she told Fairfax newspapers.

“They circumcise you and maybe you die.”

Muturi said she was sold for 10 cows to marry a 70-year-old man and would also be circumcised against her will if forced to return.

Yet the Australian government is still “considering” what to do about it?

In my opinion it is easy – these girls are here, these girls need protection and Australia needs to give it to them. What do YOU think?

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Posted in From the news, It makes me mad | 4 Comments »

In an ideal world!

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

teach4

According to my youngest sons (aged 6) school principal we would have teachers who speak correct English teaching our classes  “in an ideal world”
- but we don’t!

I removed my son from his school today because his own teacher (a truly wonderful dedicated teacher) has been away sick – and the replacement was not in my opinion suitable.

Not only does this teacher have personal hygiene issues (to put it bluntly she smells of wee and BO) not only did she scare my son by repeatedly shouting at the class (5 and 6 year old children) she can not even correctly pronounce the word “ask” (it is NOT “axed”) and again shouted at my son and told him to “sit down and stop interrupting” when he questioned her on it.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am 100% supportive of teachers. Unlike my husband (he feels they are under worked and over paid) I think they are over worked and under paid (mostly) and completely unappreciated.

It is GOOD teachers I support though – and not everyone is suited to teaching.

Is it too much to ask that our primary school teachers (you know – the ones who are hired to teach our kids the basics) can speak, read and spell at a primary school level?

I think our kids deserve it – what do you think?

Just an update on this one. (March 2010)

Our school has (thankfully) not hired that relief teacher again (several parents started taking their kids back home again when she was there so they got the message – their issue was her shouting though not her speech )
I feel someone with such poor skills should never have been hired in the first place!

Unfortunately there is still an issue with the standard of teaching in Australian schools (I shall write again on that topic another day) It frustrates me – our kids deserve a good education, good teachers need better conditions and wages – and bad teachers should not be in the class room.

It has been pointed out by a couple of bitchy commenters that my English skills are not perfec

(if it offends you so much there is a back button at the top of your screen – move on) .

I am aware of this – but I am not hired to educate children!

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Posted in It makes me mad | 1 Comment »

RIP Christian Rossiter ‘right to die’ man dead

Monday, September 21st, 2009

According to yahoo news Christian Rossiter, the Australian quadriplegic who recently won a landmark court case allowing him to refuse food and water from his nursing home died Monday. his brother Tim said he succumbed to a chest infection.

“I thank all those who have made Christian’s life, in his final years, as comfortable and as dignified as possible,” Tim said in a statement.

“Death I suspect comes as quite a relief for Christian,” Rossiter’s lawyer, John Hammond, told Seven Network television. “I think Christian will be remembered as someone who was very brave and took up a fight which will give a lot of people comfort.” Hammond said the ruling was not about euthanasia, but about giving people the right to refuse treatment if they are dying.

He was finally granted the right to refuse food and hydration after having to take the matter to court. I was so glad for him when he won, but so sad that we still live in a society where people are not allowed the right to a painless death at the time of their choosing rather than being left to suffer.

I do not know if  Christian would have chosen euthanasia had he the right to do so, but I feel ashamed that he did not get to make that decision for himself.

I can only imagion that euthanasia would have been a “nicer way to go” than starving and dying of thirst.

A while ago I had the heartbreaking experience of holding my best friend in my arms while the vet gave him a leathal injection to end his suffering – my dog was dying of cancer and whilst I could have had a few more weeks with my old friend I chose a peacful pain free death for him, rather than watch the cancer destroy him day by day while he suffered in pain.

Why do I not have the right to assist my human loved ones or to support their choice in this same way?

I hope one day euthanasia will be legal – what do YOU think?

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Posted in From the news, It makes me mad | 1 Comment »

A pedophile living on YOUR street?

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

What would YOU do if you had children, nieces and nephews, grand kids, friends with kids that visit etc and you found out you had a convicted pedophile living on YOUR street?

Would you accept his right as a paroled prisoner who had served his term  and been released to live among you – or would you, knowing the statistics of sex offenders that reoffend ( and this is a hard number to pin down – I have read estimates of anything from 10% to 95%) be filled with fear for those you care for and feel anger that the government will do nothing to stop it?

I know I would fall into the second category.

Thankfully Convicted pedophile Dennis Ferguson hasn’t moved into MY street, but he has moved into one in  the suburban area of Ryde in Sydney’s north-west.

The NSW housing minister, David Borger, has asked  Justice Action, a prisoner support group to convince him to move from the area after admitting he did not have the power to insist that Ferguson be relocated.

But the fact remains – where to put him anyway? He has previously been run out of communities in Queensland. Who would want him on THEIR street? Not me!

I don’t care if he is likely or not likely to re offend – the fact is he could, that there IS a chance – be it tomorrow or in five years time he just might offend again as he has repeatedly in the past.  So why the hell is he considered  fit to be released into the general population?

We are talking about a man who served a 14-year jail term  for attacking , kidnapping and sexually molesting three young children for three days. A man who failed to complete a rehabilitation program or even admit his guilt and then went back inside for breaking parole terms and taking a job that exposed him to children!
According to www.mako.org.au He was also charged and taken to court  for allegedly sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl at her home in Dalby, west of Brisbane, in November 2005.  Judge Botting granted a permanent stay on the proceedings based on evidence put before him by Ferguson’s defense team that pre-trial publicity about his past convictions would make it difficult to find an objective jury.

Where can a monster that was convicted of 19 charges including kidnapping, sodomy, gross indecency, indecent dealing and carnal knowledge go, I sure as hell don’t want him around my kids!

We protect the insane from hurting themselves or others. We lock mentally ill people up that are a danger to the community – so why not sexual predators? Why does he have a right to live among us?

He thinks there is nothing wrong with having sex with children!!!! WTF?

It is not up to the community to punish this man – it is up to the government to protect the community – and they should be doing it NOW not after another innocent gets hurt.

What do YOU think?

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If you suspect a child is being abused in any way contact your local police! If you are Australian please visit this page for information on how to report it http://www.mako.org.au/report.html

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Posted in From the news, It makes me mad | 5 Comments »

Trust and husband number 23!

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Trust is such an important thing in any kind of relationship.
Anyone who shares my life knows how important it is to me, Id rather suck up any negativity and deal with it rather than be lied to … even if the intentions are well meant.
I have forgiven those who have betrayed my trust in the past – but that has been highly conditional on trust being regained (and the severity of the betrayal ). I have no place in my life for people I do not trust and it seems that Wook Kundor feels the same way!

According to http://au.news.yahoo.com the 107-year-old Malaysian woman says she is ready to marry for the 23rd time because she fears her current drug addict husband might leave her for a younger woman.

she told the Star newspaper: “Lately, there is this kind of insecurity in me,”

“I realise that I am an aged woman. I don’t have the body nor am I a young woman who can attract anyone.”

“My intention to remarry is to fill my forlornness and nothing more than that,” she said.

Now if this plucky woman at 107 isn’t willing to settle for a relationship with a man she doesn’t trust I say why should any of us (men too!)

It is so easy out of fear, security, money, dependance, lonelyness etc to stay in a relationship that is unhealthy – and without trust how can it be?

To me trust is as important as love, friendship (and great sex) in a relationship – what do YOU think

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Posted in From the news, sex and relationships | Comments Off

Patrick Swayze dead

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Patrick Swayze,star of movies such as  Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Road House, Point Break, Donnie Darko and more died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” his publicist, Annett Wolf, said in a statement Monday evening.

March 2008 brought the sad news that Swayze was suffering from a particularly deadly form of pancreatic cancer.

Despite all efforts this finally has claimed his life leaving behind his wife Lisa who he met at the age of 19.

RIP Patrick Swayze!

It is so sad when we have to say goodbye to those we love or care about and that includes those we look up to but have never met.
What do YOU think?

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