Because I am a Girl
Bruce Elder: 8/5/10, Irvine Welsh and others; Vintage, 189pp, $24,95 If you believe we should all be treated equally, regardless of race or sex, then you will already be appalled by those countries and societies where prejudice against young girls, simply because they are female, is part of the fabric of everyday life. It is […] read more…The toughest kind of labour
Jo Chandler; 8/5/10 International health literature is loaded with graphs and studies describing, in antiseptic terms, the three obstacles that prevent a pregnant woman from getting the care she needs to survive childbirth. -First is social: will her family recognise when she is in trouble, will culture allow her to seek help, can she afford […] read more…G(irls)20 summit tout women’s importance
7/5/10 Days before G20 leaders meet in June, women from the world’s 20 leading economies are to hold their own “G(irls)20 summit” to highlight women’s contributions to global economic prosperity. From June 15 to 18, the women will discuss the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals that affect girls and women, notably eradicating poverty and hunger, […] read more…Bees attacked on all fronts: worldwide die-off of bees
30/4/10 A huge die-off of bees worldwide, a major threat to crops depending on the honey-making insects for pollination, is not due to any one single factor. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said yesterday that parasites, viral and bacterial infections, pesticides and poor nutrition resulting from the impact of human activities on the […] read more…Compare Our blessings with the world
Clay O’Brien, 27/4/10 The latest figures released on international aid show again how Australia is lagging behind the rest of the developed world. Each time these types of figures are released, we comfort ourselves by saying: “Yes, but we give a lot to worthwhile causes as individuals.” But that does not show us in a […] read more…AIDS incubators we can do without: HIV
Alex Wodak; 24/4/10 Alex Wodak is a physician, director of the alcohol and drug service at Sydney’s St Vincents Hospital and president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. Twenty-nine years after the announcement of a new pandemic, the world still struggles to come to terms with HIV. Sometimes logic, rationality and compassion have prevailed […] read more…Secret children of priests to sue
19/4/10; (2 Items) When Pat Bond told her lover, Henry Willenborg, a Franciscan priest, she was pregnant, he urged her to have an abortion. Ms Bond, who was 28, had a miscarriage and then became pregnant again. This time, the church urged her to give up the child for adoption. Ms Bond, from Missouri in […] read more…U.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths
13/4/10 Citing a series of fatal malfunctions dating back to 1777, flag manufacturer Annin & Company announced Monday that it would be recalling all makes and models of its popular American flag from both foreign and domestic markets. Representatives from the nation’s leading flag producer claimed that as many as 143 million deaths in the […] read more…The rise of gendercide
10/4/10;( 2 Items) It’s like a death notice wrappen in pink. A pregnant woman in India has an ultrasound, and when her bill drops into her letterbox it’s in a pink envelope, signalling that she’s having a baby girl. In a country where parents-to-be are not permitted to learn the gender of their unborn child, […] read more…Divided loyalties: an incredible situation
Joan Chittister; 7/3/10 For all the certainty about the facts of the case, there is still an aura of discontent everywhere about the situation surrounding clerical sex abuse in the church. No one disputes the data now; everyone disputes the nature of the problem. And worse than that, the data simply keeps piling up on […] read more…The nun and Glenn Beck: a standoff
Joan Chittister; 11/3/10 I got an invitation today. It wasn’t to me. It was to Glenn Beck. Let me give you a little background so you can understand how it happened. There is a nun in the country this week, a Sister of the Good Shepherd, from Syria. Now, that may not seem much like international […] read more…Passover Seder, Cup 4: Obama, this year in Jerusalem
Bradley Burston; 31/3/10; (6 Items) [All fill the last of the four cups of Seder wine] We built this city. We built this city on freedom. We built this Jerusalem, this faith, this people, on the idea that God cannot be seen nor touched, that God cannot be built of stones, nor destroyed in fire, […] read more…China challenged over executions
31/3/10 Human rights group Amnesty International has called on China to publicly state how many people it puts to death each year. In its annual report on the use of the death penalty worldwide, published on Tuesday, Amnesty said the number of people executed by Beijing last year was likely “in the thousands” – estimated […] read more…Anglican breakaways in rush to the Vatican
Tess Livingstone; 27/3/10 More than 200 Traditional Anglican Church parishes from around the world have petitioned the Vatican to be received into the Catholic Church. Archbishop John Hepworth of Adelaide, primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, said petitions had been sent on behalf of 100 parishes in the US, 30 in Britain, 26 in Australia, […] read more…Asylum spike bucks world trend: UN report
Paul Maley & Paige Taylor; 24/3/10 The number of refugees seeking asylum in Australia jumped by almost 30 per cent last year despite global numbers remaining steady, challenging Kevin Rudd’s claim that instability abroad is behind the surge in refugee boats. As Border Protection command yesterday intercepted two more asylum boats, the third in as […] read more…Bloody battle to save endangered species
22/3/10 The battle to save some of the world’s most endangered species is turning bloody, with wildlife charities deploying guns and military vehicles to protect elephants, rhinos and tigers from a surge in poaching. At least one organisation, Care for the Wild International, is buying military-style field equipment and supporting the deployment of armed guards, […] read more…