Not Right!

from The Sunday Mail, 8th August 2004.

A massive two-page spread, emblazoned with two large photos; one of a WTC tower being struck, and the other a still from the notorious footage of Mohammed Atta going through the Boston airport metal detectors.

Can We Stop Them?

As Annie Jacobsen took her seat on a plane she noticed a group of Middle Eastern men. At first she tried to ignore them. Then they started to act suspiciously…

Annie Jacobson… Annie Jacobson… why does that name sound so familiar? Nevermind, keep reading.

Keeping it queer

by Polly Bush

A new contestant has emerged in the lead-up to this year’s federal poll, with the launching of a political party prepared to take on the Howard Government’s gay wedge issue – or at least, take the issue up to a higher level.

The Keeping-It-Queer (KIQ) Party, launched today, has been formed as a direct response to the Government’s recent policy announcements to legislate against marriage and overseas adoption rights for gay and lesbian Australians.

While the new Party opposes the Government’s policies, Party President Les Beyan said the Coalition’s “regrettable” position left it no other option but to work with the Government in further creating a segregated society.

The ABC has been criticised for allowing Playschool to broadcast a children’s story allegedly involving a same sex couple.

Federal Minister for Children, Larry Anthony, says while Playschool is a quality program, it overstepped the mark in reading a book about a child with two mothers.

Mr Anthony says it is the role of parents to educate their children on such issues.

“I am concerned that the ABC are putting on these types of programs,” he said.

“Quite frankly when it comes to my children, if I want explain about same sex couples that should be up to parents.

“It should be up to me, not the Australian broadcaster.”

Still think this is all some altruistic crusade to defend the “sacred” institution of marriage, that great “building block of society”? (I just assumed that equality and justice were exponentially more important to the function of a free society, but what do I know?) Time for a reality check. From the American Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines for tissue donation. What’s the number one screening criterion? Use of intravenous drugs such as heroin? Nope, that’s #2. Suspected HIV/AIDS? #6. Jail inmates? #8. History of viral hepatitis? #11. No, the number one condition which renders a potential sperm/tissue donor ineligible is… (I feel like David Letterman)… *drumroll*

1. men who have had sex with another man in the preceding five years

>>>Rubbish. By that logic the existence of married couples unwilling or unable to have children means that this “negation” of the essential “purposes” of marriage already exist in society. Conversely, many heterosexual couples have children without ever getting married. From an evolutionary perspective, the use of contraceptives is as “unnatural” as homosexual sex.

Edo, you’ve hit the nail on the head: contraception does negate one of the essential purposes of marriage… I completely agree! In fact, I think it’s fair to say that a large part of the acceptance of homosexuality in the culture at large flows from this misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of sex. Now, before your eyes roll back into your head — — I’d like you to at least consider my position before dismissing it. So appealing to contraception doesn’t do anything to rebut my argument, does it?

Not only should gay couples be allowed to adopt, they should be ENCOURAGED to adopt. As if there aren’t thousands of unwanted, abandoned kids living in orphanages and foster homes in need of a loving family (and it’s preferable, in my opinion, to all that messy, complicated, third-party, surrogate womb IVF stuff). I fucking hate this slimy, self-righteous, bigoted, divisive, lying, corporate whore, Bush-puppet arsehole so much right now.

*ahem* that when you woke up you were clinically depressed for the rest of the day over the fact it wasn’t real?

OK, no more Scarlett-based entries, I swear. *wipes lower lip*

As someone not content to merely hurl rocks from a distance, in my efforts to understand the “negative” side of the gay marriage debate, I posted some comments on Chris’ blog, and he agreed to let me reply to his points here. He’s a Catholic, but seems reasonable enough and above the kooky “GOD HATES FAGS!!1!!11″ stuff. I do this not to be perverse or argumentative, and there is no malice or presumption of bigotry on my part, but because I seriously CANNOT fathom his position, try as I might. I’m hoping he can give me something to chew on.

My father’s having a fit and he’s unable to breathe. See, my father is a diabetic. Let me back that up. My father is a heavily-smoking, overweight, borderline clinically depressed diabetic with sleep apnoea who periodically binge drinks to help him deal with his problems. OK, I thought, hypoglycaemic seizure, probably exacerbated because he went to the pub yesterday afternoon. It’s not uncommon, but dad takes painstaking care, bordering on obsessive-compulsive, regarding his insulin dosage, and this is the most serious reaction he’s ever had.

Who the hell has the balls, the unmitigated gall, to lower exhorbitant MP, federal judge and Governor-General superannuation packages, which currently sit at nearly eight times the national average for those who actually earn it, and irrespective of age? After little Johnny Howard retires (which will hopefully be directly related to the Federal election results), he stands to earn $200,000 annually until he dies. Someone explain to me why that’s necessary. Even Stan Zemanek (think a kind of Australian Rush Limbaugh (or better yet, don’t)) was heaping cautious praise on Latham for putting the policy forward. Why the fuck do politicians need 6-figure salaries anyway? Isn’t a modest salary plus travel allowances and corporate kickbacks enough? Oh, right, because they’re the ones who write their own wage increases into legislation.

Before I’m accused of being obsessed with offbeat stories of Americana to justify some personal enmity, bear in mind that I mention this story because the topic of opposition to gay marriage perenially rears it’s ugly, anachronistic head in this and most other Western countries. Whereas I could make broad, sweeping indictments on how embarassed I am to live in a world where gender neutrality regarding the right of marriage isn’t a foregone conclusion, I’d rather concentrate on each specific argument posited against in turn. Not just because expounding the nuts and bolts of a complex issue is the best way to understand it (as much as one can understand an incomprehensible position), but because it quickly becomes apparent just how little grounding any of the arguments have in reality.

It’s just unbelievable. One second you’re leaving a pub after celebrating your team winning a match against their arch-rivals. Some ‘rioded up, knuckle-dragging rock-ape of a bouncer takes exception to something you say (Hookes became a well-known and widely respected sports journalists after his retirement and was notoriously opinionated, so it’s reasonable to assume that’s what occurred, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something far more innocuous). He runs up behind you and punches you in the back of the head. Crack. Your skull strikes the ground and you’re clinically dead. 18 hours later your life-support machine is unplugged. And such incidents of assault are probably quite frequent given the fairly well-conceded fact that many bouncers seem to live in a provocative world of their own, where physical domination is more a matter of pride and ego than a last-resort method of earning your pay. I’ve mentioned in a recent entry that I don’t go out to bars and clubs very often, but even I’ve had the odd altercation with the puffed-up meatheads. I’m not physically diminutive by any means, but nor am I in the slightest bit interested in participating in their canine-esque, clenched-jaw territorial posings (I’m sure they’d piss on the doorways of the clubs they’re paid to control if they could get away with it). One got noticeably annoyed when his attempts to plant his hand in the centre of my chest and shove me backwards made little leeway (like I said, I’m not weak), while another screamed at me as if I’d just knifed his mother when I dared to misunderstand his barking monosyllabic neanderthal mating call. Philistines. My antipathy towards capital punishment is sorely tested when I hear about senseless, cowardly, murderous behavior like this. And the world is robbed of yet another genuine nice guy who, unlike his attacker, decided to make a success of his life.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Complete and utter domination. Favourites? Put your tongues back in your heads and toddle off back home you choking sheepfuckers. Fancy, poncey France? Slow, old, boring, penalty-pulling England? Doesn’t bother me. There’s no getting through a defense like that, and only so much you can do to repel an enterprising attack like that. When you write Australia off, that’s exactly what you get. Chili on a stick, inserted rectally.

England captain Martin Johnson, speaking at yesterday’s press conference, told the assembled media they’re confident they can kick more penalties than France on Sunday.