a 'tail' of freedom...

no words are necessary, the video 'says' it all... but you may shed a tear watching these rescued research beagles see sun and walk on grass for the first time...

the institution of marriage & the fight for equality...

marriage is a hot topic at the moment… marriage equality has been long sought after by many gay & lesbian people, and now perhaps their battle may soon be over, well, at least one more hurdle may be surmounted… “the ALP’s left faction is claiming the numbers to remove from the party’s policy platform a reference to the Marriage Act which defines the union as that between a man and a woman” ... read more from "left believes it has numbers to change policy on same-sex marriage" - this issue will be debated at the alp national conference this week so there’s definitely an interesting time ahead…

now i actually don’t believe in the institution itself - it has its roots firmly planted in patriarchal, judeo-christian history and has been a major ‘tool’ in the subjugation of womyn…

consequently i can’t get excited over an institution i find oppressive – obviously with that goes a lack of enthusiasm for the trappings of a wedding ceremony... oh, i declined my last wedding invitation for those reasons and my friends totally understood where i was 'coming from'...  

there are a number of weddings being planned at work at the moment so i try my hardest to avoid the discussions, especially the ones about 'the gown' - 'fashion' in general is of no interest to me - but after an 'interaction' i was involuntarily drawn into and which i really didn't want to be part of today, i so needed to talk to a friend this evening - he has similar views to me so his empathy and understanding of the situation and how i was feeling was invaluable - and his comments were far more full-on 'ra-ra-ra' political than my pathetic 'i'm not into that crap' response, rather than getting into a 'heavy' conversation when i felt 'backed into a corner' after already declining to participate in 'the gown' conversation - the choice is yours to marry, but equally the choice is mine not to be involved... i guess the assumption that because you're female you must be into all the - as my nan would have called it - 'frippery' - is a tad irksome too...  

back to the point here... while the institution of marriage exists, equality is a fundamental right and same sex partners should be accorded the same entitlements and choices as heterosexual partners… i'll stand up for marriage equality, but i'll maintain my view on the oppressive nature of the institution...

i read an interesting article by nori j. rost, minister of all souls unitarian universalist church in colorado springs, “a lesbian pastor with a predominantly gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered congregation in the center of Conservative Christianity”, entitled ‘marriage and patriarchy’ –  “In this paper I will address the Judeo-Christian historical contours of marriage and how those foundational patriarchal beliefs about marriage still shape public and social policy regarding marriage entitlements, explore the unconscious reasons that conservative politicians and religious leaders oppose same sex marriage, and finally, seek to answer the unasked question with a different ethic that, in the words of Dr. Mary Hunt, respected Catholic lesbian, feminist theologian spoken to a summer school class in July, 2004, seeks relational equality for all rather than legal privilege for a few.”...  it’s quite thought-provoking…

the absurdity of it all...

"Isn't man an amazing animal?

He kills wildlife by the millions in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed. 

Then he kills domestic animals by the billions and eats them. 

This in turn kills man by the millions, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative - and fatal - health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer. 

So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. 

Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals. 

Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for "Peace on Earth." 

.. preface from Old MacDonald's Factory Farm, by C. David Coates

melissa magic...

she hasn't been to australia since 1996, and for one reason or another i missed her extremely rare performances when she was here - but not this time!! i've been wanting to see melissa etheridge for so long now... once i discovered she'd be touring australia in 2012 and tickets were available online now, i wasn't passing up an opportunity to see one of my all-time favourite singers!!!!! her visits have been few and far between and she may not get back here again - not while i can still enjoy a concert anyway!!!

mind you, the concert isn't until july next year though - i guess at least i've got the anticipation leading up to that sunday in july, the 15th, knowing i'll be having a wonderful time watching melissa, enjoying  the music (i'll be getting right into it!!) - and i'll be sharing the evening with a close friend who likes melissa (almost) as much as i do... yes, we'll be there!!!! we've got our tickets!!!! (sorry, just a bit of a brag - and in case you can't tell, i'm excited!!)

what a pick-me-up after a weekend feeling like utter crap - yet another 'lurgy' going around (or perhaps it's the same one that's just been 'lying dormant')... having worked both an early and then a late shift in a row, i made it to work on friday only to have to leave because i felt terrible, with a majorly sore throat, ear ache, pounding head, and by the time i reached home i was coughing and spluttering too... but i did struggle to work on saturday afternoon - they were already one short for the morning shift - the call had gone out during the week but with saturday mornings only paid at 'normal time' up until midday there had been no takers - so i couldn't make them down one for the afternoon too!! but once i got home shadow and i just spent the rest of the weekend as couch fixtures... 

i'm a wee bit concerned for me mother too... she's a tad depressed at the moment... her eyesight's degenerating rapidly now due to her chronic kidney disease, and she was told on friday that blindness was more likely a probability rather than a possibility - her anger at the incompetence that led to this prognosis is understandable, as is her depression, and her tears (i've shed a few of those for her too)...

to end this post how could i not include some melissa magic... enjoy, i always do...

are you over it?

i wasn't actually going to blog today, but then i read this article on the huffington post website and thought i'd share it...

it's by eve ensler, activist, actor and playwright (remember 'the vagina monologues'? she was the author) ... i'm reproducing the whole article because it needs to be read in its entirety... it's powerful, so i really couldn't just give a short excerpt and link - finding the 'right' excerpt was impossible, it's too important to break down to a small 'snippet' (but you're more than welcome to read it at it's source, here, if you prefer...)

 "Over it...

I am over rape.

I am over rape culture, rape mentality, rape pages on Facebook.

I am over the thousands of people who signed those pages with their real names without shame.

I am over people demanding their right to rape pages, and calling it freedom of speech or justifying it as a joke.

I am over people not understanding that rape is not a joke and I am over being told I don't have a sense of humor, and women don't have a sense of humor, when most women I know (and I know a lot) are really fucking funny. We just don't think that uninvited penises up our anus, or our vagina is a laugh riot.

I am over how long it seems to take anyone to ever respond to rape.

I am over Facebook taking weeks to take down rape pages.

I am over the hundreds of thousands of women in Congo still waiting for the rapes to end and the rapists to be held accountable.

I am over the thousands of women in Bosnia, Burma, Pakistan, South Africa, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Afghanistan, Libya, you name a place, still waiting for justice.

I am over rape happening in broad daylight.

I am over the 207 clinics in Ecuador supported by the government that are capturing, raping, and torturing lesbians to make them straight.

I am over one in three women in the U.S military getting raped by their so-called "comrades."

I am over the forces that deny women who have been raped the right to have an abortion.

I am over the fact that after four women came forward with allegations that Herman Cain groped them and grabbed them and humiliated them, he is still running for the President of the United States.

And I'm over CNBC debate host Maria Bartiromo getting booed when she asked him about it. She was booed, not Herman Cain.

Which reminds me, I am so over the students at Penn State who protested the justice system instead of the alleged rapist pedophile of at least 8 boys, or his boss Joe Paterno, who did nothing to protect those children after knowing what was happening to them.

I am over rape victims becoming re-raped when they go public.

I am over starving Somalian women being raped at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, and I am over women getting raped at Occupy Wall Street and being quiet about it because they were protecting a movement which is fighting to end the pillaging and raping of the economy and the earth, as if the rape of their bodies was something separate.

I am over women still being silent about rape, because they are made to believe it's their fault or they did something to make it happen.

I am over violence against women not being a #1 international priority when one out of three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime -- the destruction and muting and undermining of women is the destruction of life itself.

No women, no future, duh.

I am over this rape culture where the privileged with political and physical and economic might, take what and who they want, when they want it, as much as they want, any time they want it.

I am over the endless resurrection of the careers of rapists and sexual exploiters -- film directors, world leaders, corporate executives, movie stars, athletes -- while the lives of the women they violated are permanently destroyed, often forcing them to live in social and emotional exile.

I am over the passivity of good men. Where the hell are you? You live with us, make love with us, father us, befriend us, brother us, get nurtured and mothered and eternally supported by us, so why aren't you standing with us? Why aren't you driven to the point of madness and action by the rape and humiliation of us?

I am over years and years of being over rape. And thinking about rape every day of my life since I was 5-years-old. And getting sick from rape, and depressed from rape, and enraged by rape. And reading my insanely crowded inbox of rape horror stories every hour of every single day.

I am over being polite about rape. It's been too long now, we have been too understanding.

We need to OCCUPYRAPE in every school, park, radio, TV station, household, office, factory, refugee camp, military base, back room, night club, alleyway, courtroom, UN office. We need people to truly try and imagine -- once and for all -- what it feels like to have your body invaded, your mind splintered, your soul shattered. We need to let our rage and our compassion connect us so we can change the paradigm of global rape.

There are approximately one billion women on the planet who have been violated.

ONE BILLION WOMEN.

The time is now. Prepare for the escalation. Today it begins, moving toward February 14, 2013, when one billion women will rise to end rape.

Because we are over it."

you can read more about the billion womyn rising campaign here....

world vegan day...

november is world vegan month, and to celebrate world vegan day melbourne's event was held yesterday, sunday 6th, in the beautiful building and grounds of the magnificent abbotsford convent... and i finally made it this year!!!!

i'd asked a close friend, brann, to come along too so we were up early to 'hit the road'... well, you don't so much 'hit the road' when you're a public transport user in melbourne on a sunday... it's a slow, slow wait... that's if the transport mode arrives at all!!! how many times we watched the screens at southern cross station to see the train line we needed just disappear off the list without any announcement - it was frustrating to say the least... we gave up on the train after a while and found a tram that would get us close to the venue - i'm a tram person, why didn't we do that to start with? hmmm, that's what i get for believing someone who thinks train travel is quicker - might be, but the trains have to arrive first!!!!

it was heartening to see such a turnout... and interesting to see the number and diversity of animal activist groups - although sad on another level that so many exist due to so much cruelty...

i located the cruelty free shop stall where i found the munchie bars i've been wanting to try for ages... i bought vegan versions of bounty, snickers and mars bars, and some hard-to-come-by vegan marshmallows - those i intend making some vegan rocky road with this week - yummmmm....

a bit more wandering around, reading pamphlets and a few more purchases later and it was time to head towards the speakers area... i really wanted to hear philip wollen speak... 

 

and just who is philip wollen i can hear you ask.... the short answer is he's a man who turned his back on the privileges and lifestyle he experienced as a very, very wealthy merchant banker... he's been described as a 'humanitarian philanthropist' - but that description doesn't tell you of his commitment to animal welfare, of his activism, of his commitment to the earth... it doesn't tell you that at age 40 he decided a vegan lifestyle was the only compassionate way to live... this interview gives a wee insight into who he is and what he believes... 

he is a recipient of...

• the medal of the order of australia ""For service to international humanitarian relief and to animal welfare, particularly through the establishment of the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust”, 

• the australian humanitarian award - "The Australian Humanitarian Award  dismantles the narrow belief that humanitarianism is the exclusive domain of health care professionals,volunteers, carers and charities. The Australian Altruism Foundation sees humanitarianism as an inspiring and uniting value that we can all adopt and display in our every contact with other living beings."

• australian of the year victoria 2007 ... the following excerpt comes from the national australia day council... "Philip Wollen OAM, Philanthropic humanitarian. Through his kindness and generosity, Philip Wollen brings crucial help to many charitable causes and inspires others to share his humanitarian values and ideals. His achievements in the business world mark him as a man of action and he channels this energy into practical outcomes for the causes he champions through the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust. Philip promotes kindness towards all other living beings and strives to enshrine this as a recognisable trait in the Australian character and culture. The measure of his support can be seen in the extraordinary list of organisations the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust supports, benefiting children, animals, the ill, the environment and aspiring youth. Essentially a private man, he seeks no personal publicity but is not afraid to step into the limelight for a just cause..."

he is without a doubt one of the most fascinating, passionate, articulate people i have ever had the pleasure of listening to - a believer in the universal rights of other species, he made one statement yesterday which expressed a belief i've long held - "animal rights is the greatest moral issue facing humanity today"...

it was good to come away feeling less isolated and alone in my beliefs, that they had been validated, that there were others who thought like me, that my frustration and anger at humankind is shared - and justifiable... it was encouraging when brann said he'd go home and finally watch 'earthlings'-- i've been trying to encourage him (and others) to watch this for ages, but after listening to philip wollen he was possibly a little inspired by his very persuasive arguments...

i came across this article this morning while reading a bit more about the man - and his has definitely been an interesting journey and makes fascinating reading... "radical kindness: the banker who gave it all away" by katherine kizilos... you might also like to check out the winsome constance kindness trust - named for his mother and grandmother, it's an initiative founded by him, and actively supported by his life partner and political ally trix...