Former Aussie PM Howard loses constituency seat

The Labour Party candidate who ousted former Australian Prime Minister John Howard from his Sydney constituency after 33 years formally declared victory today.

Howard's conservative coalition lost its 11-year grip on power last Saturday with a dramatic nationwide swing towards the centre-left Labour Party led by Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd.

After the votes rolled in, Howard was forced to concede that he had lost not only the leadership of the country, but said it also looked "very unlikely" he would be returned to represent his home electorate of Bennelong.For a week, Howard trailed his rival Labour candidate Maxine McKew by a narrow margin, with neither side willing to claim victory or concede defeat.

But with the Australian Electoral Commission formally declaring the seat for Labour and a majority of postal and absentee votes counted today, McKew finally made the call.

"One week after the polls opened I can now say that … we are comfortably ahead," McKew told reporters at a school in the constituency. "I can formally say that Bennelong is now a Labour seat for the first time."

The result is a measure of the strength of the dissatisfaction with Howard, Australia's second-longest service leader, who had been the Member for Bennelong since 1974.

He becomes only the second sitting prime minister to be kicked out of parliament, after Stanley Bruce.

Source:breakingnews.ie

My Goodness, thief drives off with 450 kegs.

This brings a whole new meaning to the aims of Operation Freeflow!!!!!LOL.
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My Goodness, thief drives off with 450 kegs.

Patrick Logue

Dublin's famous Guinness brewery has been the victim of an audacious theft, gardaí said today.

A man drove a truck into the brewery on Victoria Quay, Dublin 8, yesterday and hitched up a trailer containing 450 kegs of different beers.

He then left the premises and escaped through Dublin's city traffic.

The haul contained 180 kegs of Guinness, 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 kegs of Carlsberg and has a total value of €64,000. In the pubs, the loot would represent approximately 40,500 pints and a whopping bar tab of approximately €160,000.

Officers in Kevin Street Garda Station are investigating but a Garda spokesman said there was no sign of the missing truck, trailer or its driver.

© 2007 ireland.com

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/1129/breaking41.htm

UCD SPIRe Visiting Speakers Seminar Series

UCD SPIRe VISITING SPEAKERS SEMINAR SERIES

Dirk Haubrich

University of Oxford

will speak on

Friday, November 30th

on

The Social Contract and the Three Stages of Terrorism:
Democratic Society in the UK after 9/11 and 7/7


The seminar will take place in Room G317, the Newman Building, UCD at 4 p.m

(post amended accordingly to the comment below-John 10/12/2007- 13:19)

German landlord arrested for spying on tenants

I Love the quote that Reuters managed to get at the end of this. Its fantastic! lol.

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German police have arrested a 60-year-old landlord after discovering he used cameras and microphones to spy on his tenants for a decade while they bathed and slept.

The man had installed surveillance in the bedrooms, bathrooms and living areas of two flats 10 years ago in the southern city of Ingolstadt, Bavarian police said on Tuesday.

He taped at least seven current and previous tenants – and an unknown number of their guests.

He was arrested on charges of invasion of privacy after one of his tenants discovered the bugging last week while she was cleaning the flat.

The landlord admitted to police he had been watching and recording tenants and guests. Police suspect he had sexual motives.

"Why do you think someone would put a camera in the bathroom – to see if it was being cleaned correctly?" asked Bavarian police spokesman Ulrich Poepsel.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

WERRC: "The Motion of Destiny and the Logic of Patriarchy"

Women Studies Research Seminar,

All are welcome to attend.

Thursday 29th Nov; 3.00pm-4.15pm, Resource Room (A201), WERRC,
Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington Building

Ide Corley, Lecturer in English, NUI Maynooth

"The Motion of Destiny and the Logic of Patriarchy: Kwame Nkrumah and
Ghanaian Independence"


Note: This paper examines the status of Kwame Nkrumah as "Osageyfo"
("Savior", or "Redeemer") of Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast colony) in the context of his famous "Motion of Destiny" speech. I will argue that Nkrumah implicitly deployed the "ancestral" figure of the New World slave to undo his "ethnic" affiliations and to inscribe himself within a broad global Pan-African genealogy. While Nkrumah's canny use of genealogy enabled him to unite the Gold Coast population, later his implicit status as a father figure facilitated the privatization of the state. I
aim to be informal and to encourage participation. Those interested in Nkrumah will be offered a Lacanian perspective in conversation with the "(re)turn to culture" in social theory and philosophy (Zizek, Butler et al). For those who have less knowledge of Africa but who hold a broad interest in feminist studies, the paper will use the example of Ghana's first president to examine the role of patriarchal logic within the processes of "democratization" and "modernization".

Launch of GLEN's Annual Report

Kieran Rose, Chairperson of GLEN

is pleased to invite you to the launch of our Annual Report

by Brian Lenihan TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform



Tuesday 4th of December, 2007 in the Royal College of Physicians,

No. 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2, at 1.30



RSVP to 01 473 0563 or admin@glen.ie by 29th November, 2007

Refreshments provided

The changes in the Leaving Certificate exam Timetable

So another Social Irish Institution, bends and changes to the needs of our educational customers.Minister Mary Hanafin (T.D.), has decided after listening to the responses from students from the last Leaving Certificate exam, to change the timetable for the first three days.

English, Maths & Irish will now be spread over the whole exam period and this move will mean that some 156,000 students will benefit from this measure. It was said yesterday on Mary Wilson's show that only 90 students will be affected by the new timetable, in that they will have the combination which will happen on the first three days.

All I can think of is, well it never did me any harm, but I don't deny that stress levels in those first three days go off the scale! This is a good measure and sure to appeal to those new voters who will come on stream in time for the Local Elections in 2009. Now Mary all you have to do, is ensure that you get them all on the Electoral register.

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Revised Leaving Cert timetable will ease writing burden

Seán Flynn, Education Editor

The huge writing burden on Leaving Cert students in the first week of the exam will be eased from next summer.

The new timetable will result in many of the heavier writing subjects being spread out over the course of the exams, instead of being "frontloaded" into the first few days.

Students, for example, will no longer be asked to take two "heavy" papers like geography and business on the one day.

In another change, each of the two papers in Irish, English and maths will be taken on different days.

The reforms were pushed through by the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, who has been critical of the intolerable burden placed on students in the first week of the exams.

However, the Minister has been forced to abandon her plan for a two-tier Leaving Cert, which would have seen English Paper 1 (featuring the essay and comprehension questions) taken on a Saturday morning in May. School managers claimed this would have put huge new pressures on schools.

Despite this setback, Ms Hanafin said the "new revised timetable is the most significant and student-centred reform of the exams timetable in decades".

Under the new timetable, most students will get at least one half-day without any exam in the first week

Students taking both exams on the first day will also have their time spent in the exam hall shortened by 50 minutes, compared with recent years when the two English papers were taken.

Last night Ms Hanafin said: "While exams are always a test and an acceptable level of stress is a normal part of any testing procedure, I think the new timetable is very student-friendly."

Source & Contd:Irish Times

Sesame Street: not suitable for children

Sesame Street: not suitable for children

How sad that a TV show in which grown men read stories to children for no apparent reason no longer seems appropriate

Thrillingly, the early episodes of Sesame Street have just been released on DVD, but be warned - those shows are dangerous! Slapped across the front of the case is the message, "These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child." And looking at the wobbly sets and be-stringed puppets, they probably are better suited to sentimental adults than kids raised on Pixar. But this sticker is an expression of concern.

It's not the psychedelic nature of the programme in its 70s incarnation that worries, but the behaviour it might encourage. Children dancing in the street! Grown men reading storybooks to kids - for no apparent reason!

Cookie Monster is the number one problem, not because he is a monster, but because he eats cookies (encourages obesity), and when his addiction takes a special stranglehold, the plate (might hurt). His alter ego, Alistair Cookie, used to smoke a pipe before eating it, which, Sesame Street producer Carol-Lynn Parente explained to the New York Times, "modelled the wrong behaviour", and so Alistair was, tragically, dropped, and he now probably munches down on pipes in bitterness in illegal pipe dens.

Source & Contd: Hadley Freeman, The Guardian (UK)

Japan's melody roads play music as you drive

Just after hearing this on Mary Wilson's Drive time show. Sounds like a fun idea. I wonder if you could do like the top 30 on the M7 now that would be fun......Goes off to hum Leona Lewis to the hum of the car wheels. :-D

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'Japan's melody roads play music as you drive'

Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent
Tuesday November 13, 2007
The Guardian

Motorists used to listening to the radio or their favourite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, after engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface.

A team from the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute has built a number of "melody roads", which use cars as tuning forks to play music as they travel.

The concept works by using grooves, which are cut at very specific intervals in the road surface. Just as travelling over small speed bumps or road markings can emit a rumbling tone throughout a vehicle, the melody road uses the spaces between to create different notes.

Article continues

---

---

Depending on how far apart the grooves are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, enabling cunning designers to create a distinct tune.

Patent documents for the design describe it as notches "formed in a road surface so as to play a desired melody without producing simple sound or rhythm and reproduce melody-like tones".

There are three musical strips in central and northern Japan - one of which plays the tune of a Japanese pop song. Notice of an impending musical interlude, which lasts for about 30 seconds, is highlighted by coloured musical notes painted on to the road. According to reports, the system was the brainchild of Shizuo Shinoda, who accidentally scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer before driving over them and realising that they helped to produce a variety of tones.

The designs were refined by engineers at the institute in Sapporo. The team has previously worked on new technologies including the use of infra-red light to detect dangerous road surfaces.

But motorists expecting to create their own hard rock soundtrack could find themselves struggling to live the dream. Not only is the optimal speed for achieving melody road playback a mere 28mph, but locals say it is not always easy get the intended sound.

"You need to keep the car windows closed to hear well," wrote one Japanese blogger. "Driving too fast will sound like playing fast forward, while driving around 12mph has a slow-motion effect, making you almost car sick."

Source: The Guardian

007 association gives MI6 recruitment headache

The success of the James Bond movies has given the British Secret Intelligence Service a recruitment headache – too many cranks want to join MI6.

"I think it gives people a false impression of what working for the organisation is actually like," the head of MI6 recruitment – named only as "Mark" – told BBC Radio One's Newsbeat programme on Monday.

"So it does tend to turn up quite a lot of thrill seekers and fantasists and we're really not interested in them".

As well as dismissing the notion that spying was a never-ending life of fast cars, fast women and shaken not stirred Martini cocktails, "Mark" was keen to demolish another myth surrounding MI6.

"We don't have a licence to kill – we don't carry Berettas – that's simply not true."

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Review of the Social Welfare Code to examine its compatibility with the Equal Status Acts, 2000-2004

Hey y'all,
A friend posted this across to me this evening. Now considering it was only launched this week (19th November 2007), I will put it down to lack of press attention rather than anything more sinister. Anyway.

Basically the Department of Social & Family Affairs are conducting an equality audit to see their compliance with the Equal Status Acts 2000-2004. Some of you may remember the Equal Status Act case from 2003, which was taken against DSFA regarding the provision of a Free-Travel Pass for the partner of a gay man. The case, while a landmark case, did not set a major precedent because it was settled out of court and subsequently this 'loophole' was handled in the Equal Status Act 2004 (Amendment) by the then Minister for Social & Family Affairs, Mary Coughlan who defined the 'partner' in this scheme as either the male or female partner. i.e. Not a same-sex relationship but a heterosexual relationship. This actively discriminates against Lesbian & Gay persons and is in many respects in violation of European Law.
The Minister was able to do this, because their is a provision(Section 14) in the Equal Status Act, which provides that you cannot take a case of discrimination on the nine grounds, if this is already enshrined in law. This has meant that discrimination can be legislated for, within an Irish context and it cannot be challenged under the ESA or the nine grounds because of this provision.

I would ask people who visit this page from Ireland, to have a look at the home page for this equality review at the DSFA and make a contribution about the issues which may pertain to them on the nine grounds. A Copy of the introduction letter is included below as well as a link to the submission page.

Rgds,
j.
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Letter of Explanation

Thank you for participating in the consultation process.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs has engaged independent consultants to carry out a review of all social welfare schemes to establish whether they are compliant with the provisions of the Equal Status Acts, 2000-2004. As part of this review, we wish to consult with interested organisations and individuals to establish whether there are any provisions of the Social Welfare Acts, regulations or administrative schemes which, to your knowledge, act to the disadvantage of any of the categories of person mentioned in the Equal Status Acts 2000-2004.

The grounds referred to in the Equal Status Acts are:

• » Gender
  
  
• » Marital status (i.e. being single, married, separated, divorced or widowed )
  
  
• » Family status*
  
  
• » Sexual orientation (i.e. heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual orientation )
  
  
• » Religious belief (including religious background or outlook )
  
  
• » Disability (including type of disability)
  
  
• » Age
  
  
• » Race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origin
  
  
• » Membership of the Traveller community.

(*Family status means being pregnant or having responsibility as a parent or in loco parentis for a person who is not yet 18 or as a parent or the resident primary carer of a person over that age with a disability of such a nature as to give rise to the need for care or support on a continuing, regular or frequent basis).

Source & Cont'd : DSFA Equality Review Page

Aids ad breaks Italy taboo over word 'condom'

The word "condom" is to be uttered for the first time in an advertisement to raise Aids awareness in Italy, breaking a bizarre taboo in the Catholic country.

Since the spread of HIV/Aids started in the 1980s, the Italian government has run health campaigns about the disease, some of which have featured pictures of condoms.

But they have always omitted using the "C" word.

Movie director Francesca Archibugi, filming the TV advert at a pharmacy in Rome's Fiumicino airport on Thursday, described the new advert as "a triumph against taboo".

The Catholic Church equates promotion of condoms to fostering immoral and hedonistic lifestyles.

The prudish treatment of the word contrasts with the risque nature of Italian advertising and media, where gameshows and adverts routinely make sexual references, or feature scantily clad women, often for purely decorative effective.

Although the sale of condoms is far more widespread in Italy than many other parts of Europe - they can, for example be bought from street vending machines - slogans until now have been restricted to phrases such as: "Protect your love!".

Archibugi's campaign is unlikely to impress the Vatican, which teaches that fidelity within heterosexual marriage, chastity and abstinence are the best ways to combat Aids.

The director, famed in Italy for films such films as "Shooting the Moon", said it was important to get the message across in Italy where there 4000 people every year are infected with HIV/Aids.

"The true dangers are never talked about - there's a moralistic facade which, when uncovered, reveals great ignorance".

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Chile Senate gives President $2 to fund transit

Now I have heard of trying to undercut somebody's authority by force but this is ridicilious!




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Chile Senate gives President $2 to fund transit

Chile's Senate gave President Michelle Bachelet just $US2 to fix a new transit system in the capital that works so poorly it set off large public protests earlier this year and cut deeply into her approval ratings.
Bachelet asked Congress for $US92 million to prop up the system, and the $2 response was supported by a few key votes from her centre-left coalition, revealing deep schisms in her 20-month-old government.
"I think this has hit bottom. The political system is not working, the coalition is not working," said Marta Lagos, director of the Chilean branch of MORI polling firm.
The same centre-left coalition has run Chile for 17 years, since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
The failed Transantiago system – which established new routes for buses – was developed before Bachelet was elected. But she has taken the blame for the congestion and commuting delays it caused.
Bachelet, a socialist who became Chile's first woman president in March 2006, called the vote "regrettable." She has seen her popularity ratings fall to 39 per cent this year, also damaged by violent protests by subcontracted workers at state-owned miner Codelco in July.

Source & Contd: Stuff.co.nz

Supreme Court makes ruling favourable to unmarried father

The Supreme Court has today issued a ruling favourable to unmarried father ‘Mr G’, in a case concerning the custody of his children.

On New Year’s Eve last, Mr G’s partner, ‘Ms O’, allegedly left the home the couple were sharing with their twin boys.

Shortly thereafter, Ms O left the country and took up residence in the UK.

Mr G then attempted to have his children returned to him.

These proceedings started with a District Court hearing in Trim, Co Meath. Last September, the High Court ruled that the removal by Ms O of the children, and their retention in the UK, was unlawful and ruled the children be returned to the state and to Mr G’s care.

Ms O appealed that decision, and this morning, in an in camera hearing, the judges made a ruling that was favourable to Mr G.

However, the court stressed that this did not determine any issue with regard to custody -this remains to be decided by another court.

Source: Breakingnews.ie

Cheers Guys & Gals

Hey y'all,
Just a quick thanks for visiting the page, we've hit 500 visits today and have had 1000 hits since the site went live in September. So Keep reading & Keep commenting. :-D

Laterz,
j.

ALSO for those of you of the Big North American Country persuasion (ie NOT CANADA), Happy Thanksgiving. :-D

Fallen Italian royals seek damages over exile

Well the former Greek Royal Family did something similar a couple of years ago and was laughed out of town, though they ran very quickly after they fled following a failed counter-coup in 1967.

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Fallen Italian royals seek damages over exile

The son and grandson of Italy's last king are seeking damages from the country for sending the men of the once illustrious House of Savoy into exile after World War 2 when Italians voted to end the monarchy.

The family's lawyers, in a letter to the government, are arguing that the exile of male heirs was a violation of their human rights, under European Union rules.

The son and grandson of late King Umberto II, who died in Portugal in 1983, are eligible for damages of at least 260 million euros ($NZ500 million), said royal family spokesman Filippo Bruno di Tornaforte.

"It was a violation of their human rights," he said. "This is absolutely clear."

He was later quoted telling Italian media that the proceeds would go to a Savoy family foundation that does charity work.

The request for damages, which Italian media said has not yet been accompanied by a formal lawsuit, opened old wounds in Italy and shocked members of the ruling centre-left coalition of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

HISTORIC GRIEVANCES

One official at Prodi's office was quoted as telling Italian state television that Italy may now turn around and seek damages from the Savoy royals over historic grievances.

Italians voted to abolish the monarchy after World War 2, punishing the family for first collaborating with fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and then fleeing Rome in 1944 to avoid an invading German army.

"It's truly nonsense," said lawmaker Renzo Lusetti of the family's request, adding he believed the statute of limitations on that grievance had surely run out.

Communist lawmaker Pino Sgobio called it a "a sign of moral, civil and social decadence".

Giulio Andreotti, an 88-year-old former prime minister who has been serving in parliament since 1946, seemed to quote from memory that Italy only seized the Savoy assets belonging to the former king. That was a fifth of the assets of Umberto II's father, he told Italian media.

Prince Vittorio Emanuele, a 9-year-old when the royal family left Italy, has requested 170 million euros in damages.

He was based in Switzerland with his family until 2003, returning soon after Italy lifted a ban on male heirs of the country's throne from entering the country.

His son, Emanuele Filiberto, has asked for 90 million euros, and according to Italian media was due to appear on a television talk-show to explain his request.

Source & contd: Stuff.co.nz

Asimo, the world's most advanced humanoid robot, can't drive his own car yet, but he is helping manufacturers make vehicles safer.

Asimo, the world's most advanced humanoid robot, can't drive his own car yet, but he is helping manufacturers make vehicles safer.

Twenty-one years of technology have allowed the all-seeing, all-hearing and sometimes-dancing Asimo to evolve from a disembodied set of legs that took up to 20 seconds to pace a single step into a robot that can slalom through road cones and run at 6 kmh.

The latest version of the strong Asimo robot is touring Australia and will be in Sydney until December 2.

Its engineering achievements have required scientists for the car maker Honda, the company behind Asimo, to master the skills that govern locomotion, such as how humans shift their weight as they walk. This technology has subsequently been adapted to help prevent vehicles from swerving, according to Hongsiri Suesattabongkot, a Honda engineer and former robotics student at the University of NSW.

The mechanical midget, which at 1.3 metres tall would barely be able to peer over a steering wheel, has also been responsible for a technology that warns drivers about impending collisions.

Source & Contd: Stuff.co.nz

Earth's Moon is 'cosmic rarity'

Moons like the Earth's - which are formed in catastrophic collisions - are extremely rare in the Universe, a study by US astronomers suggests.

The Moon was created when an object as big as the planet Mars smacked into the Earth billions of years ago.

The impact hurled debris into orbit, some of which eventually consolidated to form our Moon.

The Astrophysical Journal reports that just 5-10% of planetary systems in the Universe have moons created this way.

"When a moon forms from a violent collision, dust should be blasted everywhere," said lead author Nadya Gorlova of the University of Florida in Gainesville, US.

"If there were lots of moons forming, we would have seen dust around lots of stars - but we didn't."

Source & Contd: BBC

Spray-on condom unveiled

Utterly Utterly Utterly Bizzare! Perhaps its time to say goodbye to the rubber johnny, and finally that guy who had a latex irritation can now be joyous at the fact he can now have sex! :-D

----------------------------------------

Spray-on condom unveiled

A German inventor had invented a spray-on condom.

Jan Vinzenze Krause, director of the Institute for Condom Consultancy said the idea came from the idea that the condom should fit the man, and not the other way round.

Speaking to Spiegel Online he said: "If you go into a drug store to buy condoms, the ones they sell are mainly suited to men with the average penis length of 14.5 centimetres (5.51 inches), but a lot of people have penises that are smaller or larger than that.

"This would represent a revolution in the condom market," he added.

The device works by spraying liquid latex straight on to the penis, which covers it in a matter of seconds.

The spray-on condom will, however, work out as more expensive than conventional ones.

The chamber will cost around �11 to �18 and the liquid latex refills, which produce between 10 and 20 condoms depending on size, will be priced at between �3.50 to �7.

That amounts to around 70p per condom, compared with around 35p per conventional sheath.

Source & Contd: Pinknews.co.uk

Doctor struck off after receiving money for 'free' care

In a Follow-up to this story, which Stuff.co.nz reported & listed on here , here is the result of this:
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Doctor struck off after recieving money for 'free' care:

An Auckland GP has been struck off after accepting $260,000 from an elderly couple in return for "free" medical care.

Donald Ian McDonald, 62, was struck off the register after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, a spokeswoman told NZPA.

He was also censured and fined and will have to pay 30 percent of costs incurred by the inquiry. The tribunal also found Dr McDonald had failed to manage the couple's medical care to an expected standard.

Dr McDonald admitted he accepted $260,000 from the elderly couple, who have name suppression, but denied he failed to appropriately manage the couple's health care.

The tribunal heard that the couple paid Dr McDonald in instalments between January 1998 and November 2004. His former de facto partner, who also has name suppression, was paid $60,000.

Dr McDonald had known the couple since he had been administering them with acupuncture in the 1970s but did not become their GP until 1998.

The former partner was ordered to pay back the money in the High Court.

The elderly man died in December last year. His wife is in a rest home and suffers from dementia.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the couple's lawyer, Stephen Gully, told the hearing yesterday he had drawn up wills for the couple and the woman named the doctor as one of the beneficiaries.

However, the elderly man subsequently told Mr Gully he did not agree with his wife's wishes to favour Dr McDonald in the will, preferring instead his nephew.

Source & Contd:Stuff.co.nz

Rhodesia's last white minority ruler dies

Rhodesia's last white minority ruler dies
20/11/2007 - 20:24:49

Ian Smith, the last prime minister of white-ruled Rhodesia, whose attempts to resist black rule dragged the country now known as Zimbabwe into isolation and civil war, has died, according to a family friend. He was 88.

Mr Smith died at a clinic near Cape Town, South Africa, according to long-time friend Sam Whaley. He had recently suffered a stroke.

Mr Smith unilaterally declared the country’s independence from its colonial power, Britain, on November 11, 1965. He then served as the prime minister of Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979 during white minority rule. The country failed to gain international recognition and United Nations economic sanctions were instituted.

Advertisement

He finally bowed to international pressure and Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party won elections in 1980.

To many white Rhodesians, he was a kind of idol. To most blacks, his rule symbolised the worst of racial oppression.

Mr Whaley, who was a senator in the former Rhodesia and a legal expert for Smith’s party, said he had received a phone call from a friend of Smith’s stepdaughter, Jean Tholet, in Cape Town about Smith’s death.

“He was a man of grit and courage,” Mr Whaley said.

“I am sure that he is happy that he hasn’t had to hold back any more,” he said in reference to his final weeks clinging to life.

Source: Breakingnews.ie

Govt sets up unit to fight human trafficking

Call me a cynical old coot (Cynical old coot), but Im just curious which EU fund did we now tap into in order to pay for this and more to the point, How long will the funding last before the Unit is silently stepped down?For the Record before I get the head bitten off me, yes of course I welcome the setting up on this, but like I said call me cynical etc etc.

---------------------------------------------------

Govt sets up unit to fight human trafficking
20/11/2007 - 17:51:57

The Government has set up a new special unit to combat human trafficking, it was announced today.

A senior official is to be appointed to head up the unit which will be part of the Department of Justice.

The measure follows the introduction of proposed laws, the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill, to outlaw people smuggling for the sex trade or illegal labour.

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan said a new Executive Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit would take charge of national strategies while working with international agencies.

“Human trafficking is, by its very nature, a crime that crosses national state boundaries,” he said.

“Constant vigilance, active international liaison and full co-operation between relevant authorities is vital to counter it.”

Source and Cont'd: Breakingnews.ie

Equal-L: 12th World Congress on Basic Income

The UCD School of Social Justice is co-sponsoring the 12th World
Congress on Basic Income, to be held at UCD on June 20-21, 2008. For
details and the call for papers, please visit

http://www.basicincomeireland.com/.

A copy of the call for papers is also attached to this email.

If you would like to contact me with any queries(john.baker@ucd.ie), please feel free to do so.

We very much hope that egalitarians from Ireland and abroad will take part
in the Congress and address themselves to the possible role of basic
income in promoting equality. We would particularly encourage civil society
organisations and activists to participate; contributions do not necessarily
have to be in the form of academic papers, as round tables and workshops
are also encouraged. Critical analyses of basic income are as welcome as
positive ones.

Details of a one-day lead-in conference on June 19, organised by CORI and
specifically concerned with the prospects of basic income in Ireland, will
also be circulated shortly.

Source: Equal-L

Equal-L: "Towards Journalism of Conscience: The Media and the Challenge of Rural

"Towards Journalism of Conscience: The Media and the Challenge of Rural
Poverty".

The lecture will be given by Palagummi Sainath, Rural Affairs editor of
The Hindu newspaper at the Swift Lecture Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity
College Dublin on Wednesday 28th November at 7pm. The lecture is
co-hosted by the IIIS, Dept of Anthropology at NUI Maynooth and
Connect-World.

The lecture is open to the public so all are welcome to attend.

Please find additional information on Palagummi Sainath below. Please
contact Sharon Jackson if you require further information on the event.

Queries:
Sharon Jackson
sharon.jackson@tcd.ie
Tel: +353 1 896 3668
Fax: +353 1 896 3939

www.tcd.ie/iiis
Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) The Sutherland
Centre Sixth Floor, Arts Building Trinity College Dublin 2 Ireland


Biography of Palagummi Sainath:

Palagummi Sainath has worked as a journalist reporting on development
and related issues in India for 26 years. He has won over 30 national
and international
journalism awards and fellowships, his most recent being the Ramon
Magsaysay award in 2007 for journalism, literature, and creative
communications arts. He has also won Amnesty International's Global
Human Rights Journalism prize (2000) and (with CNN's Jim Clancy) the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Boerma prize
for work of 'international importance in addressing the issues of
hunger.' In November 2002, he became the first print media journalist to
win the 'Inspiration Award' at the Global Visions Film Festival in
Edmonton, Canada (with film maker Joe Moulins). The first working
journalist to win India's Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, Sainath is also a
winner of the BD Goenka prize for Excellence in Journalism, and has also
been an Eisenhower Fellow.

Sainath's book, 'Everybody Loves a Good Drought' (1996), has gone into
19 printings and has been translated into a number of languages. In the
last decade, he has spent on average three quarters of the year with
village people, reporting extensively on agrarian crises due to
neo-liberal policies, on the lack of sensitivity and efficiency by the
government and the bureaucracy, on farmer suicides in Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and also reported on the plight of the dalits.

Sainath's strength lies in his energy as an investigator, the rigour of
his research and the lucidity of his prose. A fine photographer and
public speaker, he is currently the Rural Affairs Editor of India's most
serious English language daily, The Hindu, of Chennai. The eminent
Indian journalist Nikhil Chakravartty once described Sainath's work as
"the conscience of the Indian nation." His work on poverty, hunger and
inequality has also won praise from the likes of Nobel Laureate Amartya
Sen who once described him as one of the world's great experts on hunger
and famine.

Sainath is actively involved in the training of journalists in the
poorest regions of India's countryside. He has also been teaching
journalism at the Sophia Polytechnic in Mumbai for 20 years. Many of
Sainath's students have themselves gone on to win major national awards.

Source: Equal-L

Equal-L: Global Peddlers and Local Networks: Cosmopolitanism at the Margins

Dr. Uma Kothari, Reader at the Institute of Development Policy
Management at the University of Manchester will give at talk on:

"Global Peddlers and Local Networks: Cosmopolitanism at the Margins"

in Seminar Room B, the Musuem Building, TCD on Nov 28th at 5 pm. All
welcome.

Details on Uma Kothari:
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/staff/kothari_uma.htm

Queries:
Email: Geog@tcd.ie
Department of Geography at Trinity College, University of Dublin

Source: Equal-L

No kissing at the Gaza media fun park

If you believe the building plans, Media City will be a Disneyland fused with Hollywood and the CNN Centre on the shores of the Mediterranean.

There's only one catch: it's in the Gaza Strip.

Workers at this ex-Jewish settlement go in fear of Israeli air strikes, while there is a blockade on building materials.

And the Hamas Islamists backing the site – envisioned as a combined amusement park, movie studio and hub for international journalism all in one – say foreign filmmakers will be welcome, as long as their works don't show people kissing.

But those setbacks and the reality of Hamas rule and Israeli sanctions have not discouraged Gaza Media City's backers, inspired by Arab examples in Dubai and Egypt that have drawn foreign investment and created jobs.

They have started work on landscaping in the hope that one day the project will feature a zoo and film lots that recreate among other things, the Palestinian villages of a century ago and today's Israeli settlements.

"We are aware of the closure problems and the obstacles in bringing cement and other equipment but we have decided to begin the work," said Abdel-Salam Naser, the project's engineer.

Hamas politician Fathi Hammad said it could cost $20 million ($NZ28m) – a bargain compared to the sort of projects seen in Gulf states away from the Middle East conflict.

But it must be tackled in stages, with funding from Arab countries and non-governmental organisations abroad, he said.

Media City's organisers will produce television shows and movies about Palestinian history and the conflict with Israel, and have planned small scale set models of Palestinian refugee camps and Israeli settlements.

"Everybody should learn about the 60 years of Jihad by the Palestinian people against the (Israeli) occupation," Hammad said, referring to the conflict between Palestinians and Israel since the Jewish state was founded in 1948.

Hamas leaders have offered a long-term truce with Israel in return for a viable Palestinian state, but it is shunned by Israel and its allies for refusing to renounce violence. The Islamist group continues to say it does not recognise Israel and its 1988 founding charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in June after fighting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah faction.

Since then, Israel has declared the territory an "enemy entity" and tightened border restrictions, although it has pledged to keep humanitarian supplies flowing.

Given Israel's ban on importing construction materials, organisers of Gaza's Media City have started with low-key work such as building fish ponds and planting citrus trees.

If and when construction on Media City does start, workers will make buildings from clay and wood to save costs – in case they are destroyed by Israeli air strikes, its organisers said.

Keen to rally support among Gazans struggling under the boycott, Hamas has frequently turned to the media – including its own satellite TV channel, radio station and newspapers – in its power struggle with Fatah.

Media City will be available for use by foreign production companies, but output will be strictly vetted.

"Certainly, a scene of some man kissing a woman cannot be allowed on the soil of this city," Naser said.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Swedes stand up for topless rights

So why is it Swedish men don't fight for a similar sexual revolution ?????? Equality of the sexes should mean this should be the case

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Swedish women are fighting a new sexual revolution - the right to go topless at pools and beaches.

Scandinavian feminists were outraged when two women were asked to cover up their breasts by a lifeguard at a public pool near Stockholm, the Daily Mail's website reported.

On of the women, 22-year-old Ragnhild Karlsson, said "If women are forced to wear a top, shouldn't men also have to?"

The result is a campaign group called Bara Bradiost, which translates as Just Breasts.

A spokeswoman for the group said women should feel comfortable taking their tops off wherever they went.

"We want our breasts to be as normal and desexualised as men's, so that we too can pull off our shirts at football matches."

The Sweden's equal opportunities ombudsman will decide whether or not to take up the case later this month, the website said.

Soucre: Stuff.co.nz

Elderly couple paid $300,000 for 'free' health care

A family lawyer says he was surprised and concerned when his elderly clients told him they had paid their doctor and his partner more than $300,000, in return for "free" medical care.

Auckland GP Dr Donald Ian McDonald has admitted he accepted $260,000 from the elderly couple, who have name suppression, but is denying he failed to appropriately manage the couple's health care.

A Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hearing in Auckland today heard how the couple paid Dr McDonald in instalments between January 1998 and November 2004.

McDonald's former de facto partner Aruna Williams was paid $60,000.

After proceedings in the High Court, Ms Williams has been ordered to pay back the money.

The elderly man died in December last year, his wife is in a rest home and suffers from dementia.

Dr McDonald had known the couple since he had been administering them with acupuncture in the 1970s but had not become their GP until 1998.

Dr McDonald has described the couple as his "second parents".

The couple's lawyer Stephen Gully told the hearing today he had drawn up the wills for the couple and the woman named the doctor as one of the beneficiaries.

The husband later contacted him to say he wanted to make changes without his wife knowing, he said.

However, the elderly man told Mr Gully he did not agree with his wife's wishes to favour Dr McDonald in the will, preferring instead his nephew, the tribunal was told.

Mr Gully said he learnt sometime in 2003 during discussions about the wills that Dr McDonald had accepted the payment and of the large amount involved, with "surprise and consternation".

The couple were vague about the payments but did say they expected free medical treatment for the rest of their lives, in exchange, he said.

In 2005 Mr Gully received a phone call from a medical professional at a geriatric hospital in the North Shore who was concerned about the couple's relationship with the doctor and the payment he had received.

Dr McDonald was not at the hearing today.

The hearing has been set down for four days.

- NZPA

Source: Stuff.co.nz

I Don't Like Cats but I was sent this one.

Source: LOLCats

The Weekend of Anthems And Drugs..

It really is a weekend for accepting new anthems isn't it? First the Italians get around to replacing their "temporary" National Anthem, which was roughly 50 years up till Thursday when it became the official National Anthem. Now The Labour party has today, at its Conference accepted "The Red Flag" as its Anthem. Coincidently this is the same conference where a motion was brought forward to legalise Cannabis......erm maybe not the best idea guys.

-------------------------------
abour votes for 'The Red Flag' as its new anthem
The Labour Party has voted to accept the song known as "The Red Flag" as its new anthem.

The global socialist ballad was written by Jim Connell who was born in Kilskyre, Co Meath, in 1852.

It is sung every year at the British Labour Party Conference.

The vote to adopt the song was taken today at Labour's conference in Wexford

Source: Breaking News.ie


*******************
Labour delegates call to legalise cannabis

Delegates at Labour's 62nd annual conference will make calls for the legalisation of cannabis and marijuana at the event in Wexford today.

The move is backed by the party's chief whip, Emmett Stagg.

Party Leader Eamon Gilmore will his give keynote address later tonight.

Last night, the conference got underway with a stinging attack on the government. Deputy Leader Joan Burton attacked plans by the government to accept pay rises while working people have to do with pay restraint.

She spoke out against co-location of private hospitals on public land. She described it as, "a development that will deliver massive profits for Fianna Fáil's developer friends but which will widen even further the two-tier nature of the health service".

The party will also commence informal planning today for the 2009 local and European elections.

Source: Breaking News.ie

Hairspray release on DVD

So As you will see below, 'Hairspray' is out on DVD this weekend. If anybody *HINT* at all *HINT* is seriously struggling to find me an *MAS pressie, well this would be a very good place to start. However can you please work it out among yourselves, so I dont end up with a gazillion copies of the bloody thing, have to sell 3/4 of them on Ebay, while holding the other quarter, as an "insurance policy" in case somebody scratches the disk!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review: "Hairspray"
by Marc Breindel (Planetout.com)

"Welcome to the '60s!" a big, bright musical number from the new "Hairspray" invites us. Welcome to a time when Americans dreamed big, sang big and wore their hair very, very big. All the numbers in "Hairspray" are as big as the beehive bouffants the dancers wear, and as much fun as a tiki luau at Rock Hudson's swimming pool, circa 1962. Summer movies don't come any sunnier.

"Hairspray" the movie musical revives the 1988 camp classic by gay film god John Waters. A Broadway version of "Hairspray" won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2003. Now it's back on the big screen with the original John Waters story, the Tony-winning Broadway score by gay partners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (they famously kissed on national TV when they accepted their prize) and a shiny new cast of Hollywood stars. Unlike last year's disapointing "The Producers," this new creation not only stands up to its predecessors, in some ways it surpasses them.

For those who just came out of the closet, "Hairspray" is the fairy-tale story of Tracy Turnblad, an endearingly perky John F. Kennedy-era teeny-bopper whose love of Baltimore and early '60s dance changes the lives of everyone around her. Tracy overcomes racism, sexism, conformity and even McCarthyism to open her neighbors' eyes to a groovy Technicolor world of social liberation and style.

Tracy (played by irrestible newcomer Nikki Blonsky) doesn't fit the conventional "leading lady" image of 1962 (nor of 2007, for that matter). She's too short, too heavy and too lower-middle-class. On the outside, that is. Inside she has the grace of Audrey Hepburn, the spunkiness of Gidget and the fierce dancing rhythm of soul godfather James Brown. Best of all, Tracy is congenitally oblivious to a chorus of family, friends and foes alike who warn her not to dream so big lest she make a laughingstock of herself. Guess who gets the last laugh.

Tracy shares the screen happily with an absolutely fabulous ensemble cast. There's harried homemaker Edna Turnblad, a character invented by legendary drag queen Divine and played very differently here -- charmingly so -- by John Travolta (more on him later). Tweener heartthrob Zac Efron of Disney Channel's "High School Musical" makes girls swoon again as crooner Link Larkin. Fellow dream teen Elijah Kelly brings even more charisma to his role as Seaweed, the sweet young dancing machine who catches the eye of Tracy's adorable best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes).

Penny's Bible-thumper mother, Prudy Pingleton, is a hilarious cartoon in the hands of the always-sublime Allison Janney. Queen Latifah is welcome as ever, here combining civil-rights-earth-mother with raucous Motown DJ Motormouth Maybelle. Michelle Pfeiffer steals her every scene as Velma Von Tussle, a suburban sexpot in '60s glamour gowns that would make Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" jealous, and who'll stop at nothing to see her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow, cleverly borrowed from NBC's similar "American Dreams") named Miss Teenage Hairspray in a snowy TV wonderland of pastel-tinted Eisenhower-era segregation that is the Von Tussles' personal domain.

The real action takes place on a local "American Bandstand"-style TV show, Tracy's whole reason for living until she learns that life is about more than just dancing a great Mashed Potato. James Marsden (of "X-Men") plays the slick but good-hearted host in the shiny green-and-blue cocktail jackets, singing and dancing sensationally. "The Corny Collins Show" has just one "Negro Day" a month, hosted by Motormouth Maybelle, and otherwise blacks are banned from the airwaves. Velma likes it that way, and she's the station manager. Just about everyone else wants to integrate, for reasons that become obvious whenever the African-American characters appear on screen. They're the hottest dancers and have the most charming personalities, let alone the basic issue of equality.

Soucre & contd: Planetout.com

Singapore bans game over lesbian scene

Singapore has banned an Xbox video game because it contains a sex scene between a woman and a female alien, the city-state's censors said Thursday.

''Mass Effect,'' a futuristic space adventure published by Microsoft Corp., has been banned because of ''lesbian intimacy,'' said Chetra S., deputy director of the Board of Film Censors, in a statement.

Players can engage their avatars in a variety of sexual encounters during the game, though none between men or between men and male aliens, according to reports on several blogs. The human and the alien are depicted kissing and caressing each other in a sex scene that The Straits Times English-language newspaper in Singapore reported ends with the alien saying, ''By the gods, that was incredible, Commander.''

A Microsoft spokesman in Singapore said Microsoft respected Singapore's decision to ban the game, which is slated to launch globally on Nov. 20.

'''Mass Effect' features realistic content and interactions in the context of the science-fiction story line,'' said Ian Tan, marketing communications manager for Southeast Asia. ''The game takes a mature approach to various relationships amongst characters throughout the game and the content in question is another dynamic of that.''

Chetra, of the censors' board, said Singapore's video game industry is largely self-regulated, with game importers responsible for declaring to the censorship board that the game content falls within a set of guidelines.

''This helps to ensure that games are suitable for a general audience and do not feature exploitative or gratuitous sex and violence, or denigrate any race or religion,'' Chetra said.

Other video games that have been banned this year include ''God of War II,'' for nudity, and ''The Darkness,'' for ''excessive violence and religiously offensive expletives,'' according to Chetra.

Chetra said the city-state's Media Development Authority, which oversees the censors' board, will introduce classification for video games next year, a move that could allow games such as ''Mass Effect'' to be passed under a mature classification.

Authorities in Singapore have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying that homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle choice. Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed ''an act of gross indecency,'' punishable by a maximum of two years in jail. Despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions. (AP)

Soucre: Planetout.com

EQUAL-l: “The Global Sex Industry” – An evening seminar

Invitation to

“The Global Sex Industry” – An evening seminar

Speakers

Kate McCarthy, Freedom from Pornography Campaign

Norah Gibbons, Barnardos

Kathleen Fahey, Ruhama

Tuesday November 27^th 2007

Royal Dublin Hotel O’ Connell Street

7.30pm-9.30pm

RSVP to Rachel 01-8787248 or racheld@nwci.ie

Michelle Scanlan

Information Officer

National Women's Council of Ireland

Direct Line: 01-8898479

Phone: 01-8787248

Fax: 01-8787301

email:info@nwci.ie

web: www.nwci.ie

9 Marlborough Court

Marlborough Street

Dublin 1

From EQUAL-L

The Cows Analogy

For those times when the text is just not enough for explaining things, we have cows.

-----------------------------------
FEUDALISM :

You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM

You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you a glass of milk.

Or... You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM

Your cows are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.

FASCISM

You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM

You share two cows with your neighbors. You and your neighbors bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need". Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows drop dead of starvation.

Or... You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM

You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.

PERESTROIKA

You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the Mafia takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the "free" market.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM

You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP

You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY

You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point that you must sell them both in order to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow which was a gift from your government.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY

You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

CAPITALISM

You don't have any cows. The bank will not lend you money to buy cows, because you don't have any cows to put up as collateral.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE

You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

PURE ANARCHY

You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

ANARCHO-CAPITALISM

You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM

You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

OLYMPICS-ISM

You have two cows, one American, one Chinese. With the help of trilling violins and state of the art montage photography, John Tesh narrates the moving tale of how the American cow overcame the agony of growing up in a suburb with (gasp) divorced parents, then mentions in passing that the Chinese cow was beaten every day by a tyrannical farmer and watched its parents butchered before its eyes. The American cow wins the competition, severely spraining an udder in a gritty performance, and gets a multi-million dollar contract to endorse Wheaties. The Chinese cow is led out of the arena and shot by Chinese government officials, though no one ever hears about it. McDonald's buys the meat and serves it hot and fast at its Beijing restaurant.

US drops plan to force diplomats to Iraq

WASHINGTON - The State Department is dropping plans to force diplomats to serve in Iraq because volunteers have filled all 48 vacant positions at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and in outlying provinces, The Associated Press has learned.

The department will announce it no longer needs to move to "directed assignments" for Iraq once personnel panels give a formal OK to foreign service officers who signed up for the remaining three open jobs, U.S. officials said Thursday. Those three diplomats have won tentative approval, they said.

The announcement could come as early as Friday, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced.

Officials had indicated this week that a forced call-up might not be necessary after volunteers cut the number of vacant posts to 11 by Tuesday. All were filled by Thursday with only the final screening process for the last three spots pending, they said.

The announcement will be major relief for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice< and the department's senior management. They had struggled to quell a revolt among diplomats who questioned the ethics of ordering unarmed civilians into a war zone under penalty of dismissal.

But the officials said Rice had intended to go ahead with directed assignments if not enough volunteers had come forward. They also said the department may have to resort to such a measure in the future.

The prospect of the largest diplomatic call-up since Vietnam had caused an uproar among the 11,500-member Foreign Service. At a contentious town hall meeting this month, the strength of their opposition came into public view as some diplomats protested the forced assignments, citing safety and security concerns.

The complaints were a deep embarrassment to the department and led Rice and her deputy, John Negroponte, to remind diplomats of their duty to serve their government anywhere they are needed. Both sent worldwide cables urging foreign service officers to volunteer, but stressed that they would rely directed assignments if needed.

More than 1,500 diplomats have volunteered to work in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. But the resistance to forced assignments generated bitter criticism of the diplomatic corps; some Internet commentators accused the foreign service of cowardice and treason.

Last month, the department told 200 to 300 diplomats that they were "prime candidates" for the 48 vacant positions that will come open in Iraq next summer. They had until Tuesday to accept or to offer a medical or family reason not to go. Those without a compelling reason would have been subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal.

But on Tuesday, citing the rising number of volunteers, the department extended the window for more diplomats to come forward and officials said they would not begin ordering anyone to Iraq until next week, if at all.

Source & Cont'd: Yahoo.com

Scotland hug-in protests target Stagecoach buses

Everyday I wake up and think, "great another day to study" and/or procrastinate-usually the latter. Then I go online. And I read a story that riles me up..........This is one of them......

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Scotland hug-in protests target Stagecoach buses

Gay rights activists and members of the Scottish Socialist party are to travel on buses in several Scottish cities today in protest at the treatment of a gay couple on a bus earlier this month.

Same-sex couples will hold hug-ins on Stagecoach buses in Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In Aberdeenshire protestors will join the couple in recreating their journey.

Altogether around 20 couples are expected to take part in the protest.

Steven Black, 16, and Mark Craig, 19, were travelling on the bus from Aberdeen to Old-meldrum, Aberdeenshire. The route is operated by Stagecoach.

The two gay teenagers were threatened with ejection from a bus and then made to sit separately after a fellow passenger complained about their behaviour.

Mr Black claims that he merely had his arm across Mr Craig's shoulder. Stagecoach remains unapologetic about the incident, and backed the actions of the driver.

This morning a spokesperson for Grampian police told PinkNews.co.uk that an investigation is ongoing after a member of the public complained, but refused to reveal what the investigation focuses on.

Nick Henderson, LGBT spokesperson for the Scottish Socialist party, told PinkNews.co.uk:

"It is absolutely shocking that paying customers are asked to leave a bus for showing their affection.

"It is discrimination of the worst sort. It is only because they are gay - straight couples do this sort of thing all the time."

Steven Stewart, director of corporate communications for the Stagecoach group, last week told PinkNews.co.uk that the company has carried out a thorough investigation into this complaint.

"This has involved interviewing the driver and reviewing CCTV footage from the vehicle," he said.

Source & Contd: Pinknews.co.uk

Headless goats, chickens found on California beach

Two headless goats, three decapitated chickens, a beheaded rooster and a dove or possibly pigeon have been found on a scenic Southern California beach in the past week, police said.

Police in Laguna Beach said they were unsure whether the seven animals had washed up on shore or been placed there. They are trying to figure out who was behind the decapitations, and why.

The headless goats were found inside a purple burlap sack on the sand a week ago. The other beheaded animals turned up in recent days.

"We are looking at all kinds of things – Halloween prank stuff, kids or cold, ritualistic-type activities," Laguna Beach police Sgt Jason Kravetz told the Los Angeles Times.

"They are wet. That means they are close to the surf line or they are washing up," he said. "It's something I haven't seen in my 18 years on the job."

Laguna Beach, which lies about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, is an affluent seaside community which also provided the setting for the 2004 MTV teen reality show Laguna Beach.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

By a chinny chin chin, Zeus wins

The goatee competition was fierce at the Royal New Zealand Show in Christchurch yesterday and when a policeman was asked to mind a goat, things got a little gruff.

Senior Constable Heijo Bouma was asked by an exhibitor to hold her goat while she took a quick break, leaving photographer Kirk Hargreaves to capture the bearded duo.

With the crowd well-behaved, Bouma did not mind goat-sitting Highspur Zeus. Today is the final day of the 77th show which runs from 7.30am to 5.30pm.

The weather is forecast to be damp with cloud and drizzle, from early morning.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

EQUAL-L: The EU Knowledge Economy

UCD Equality Studies Centre

UCD School of Social Justice

Egalitarian World Initiative (EWI)

Monday 26^th November 2007,

C214, Arts Block, UCD.

Followed by a reception in the Staff Common Room

Professor Mary Darmanin

EWI Marie Curie Fellow 2007, University of Malta.

The EU Knowledge Economy: A case study of the impact of supranational discourses on member states’ ICT policies.

ALL WELCOME

Please notify in advance if you require ISL services.

Please contact marie.moran@ucd.ie with any queries.

Evangelicals call for ban on Harry Potter books

America's largest conservative organisation has called for the banning of the Harry Potter books and films after author JK Rowling revealed that main character Albus Dumbledore was a gay wizard.

The Christian Coalition of America claims to have 2.5 millions supporters and describes its mission as "defending America's Godly heritage."

Its chairman, Roberta Combs, said she was disappointed that Rowling chose to out one of the most popular characters in children's literature.

42-year-old Ms Rowling, whose seven-series saga about the boy wizard has made her an estimated £545m, sent shockwaves round the world last week when she told an audience of fans in New York that the headmaster of wizarding school Hogwarts was gay.

"It's not a good example for our children, who really like the books and the movies. I think it encourages homosexuality," said Ms Combs.

"I would never allow my own children or grandchildren to read the books or watch the movies, and other parents should do so too."

Other Christians groups have never been fans of the books, because they think they promote witchcraft.

Rowling's gay revelation has only added to their dislike of her works.

Gay equality organisation Stonewall, on the other hand, praised Rowling for outing Dumbledore

"It's great that JK has said this," a spokesman said last week.

"It shows that there's no limit to what gay and lesbian people can do, even being a wizard headmaster."

Soucre: Pinknews.co.uk