Thursday, October 14, 2004
Where PC is taking us
Choose your own gender: Governor Arnie Schwarzenegger has backed a new Californian law that says, in effect, a person can decide his or her (if those terms are even possible now) own gender. Gender has always been a social construct rather than a reality, but now it’s not even biologically based. It’s an obvious absurdity, and the trustees of Westminster School District are not afraid to say so. Apart from the law being “unconstitutionally vague”, they believe it could lead to situations where boys could not be banned from girls locker rooms, and so on. They’re resisting incorporating the code into their school laws, and taking the case to Court. But it looks to be touch and go whether they’ll succeed.
Teaching nuns hit by Muslim headscarf ban: Nuns who teach in state schools in the Black Forest region of Germany are to be banned from wearing their habits in the classroom in line with a judgment on Muslim headscarves, a federal court has ruled. The federal administrative court decreed that it would be unjust if a law passed this year in the southern state of Baden Württemberg prohibiting Muslim women teachers from wearing headscarves did not also apply to Christian symbols. Nuns who form an active part of the teaching staff in the predominantly Roman Catholic state will in future have to change from their habits into ordinary clothing before they enter the classroom.
Choose your own gender: Governor Arnie Schwarzenegger has backed a new Californian law that says, in effect, a person can decide his or her (if those terms are even possible now) own gender. Gender has always been a social construct rather than a reality, but now it’s not even biologically based. It’s an obvious absurdity, and the trustees of Westminster School District are not afraid to say so. Apart from the law being “unconstitutionally vague”, they believe it could lead to situations where boys could not be banned from girls locker rooms, and so on. They’re resisting incorporating the code into their school laws, and taking the case to Court. But it looks to be touch and go whether they’ll succeed.
Teaching nuns hit by Muslim headscarf ban: Nuns who teach in state schools in the Black Forest region of Germany are to be banned from wearing their habits in the classroom in line with a judgment on Muslim headscarves, a federal court has ruled. The federal administrative court decreed that it would be unjust if a law passed this year in the southern state of Baden Württemberg prohibiting Muslim women teachers from wearing headscarves did not also apply to Christian symbols. Nuns who form an active part of the teaching staff in the predominantly Roman Catholic state will in future have to change from their habits into ordinary clothing before they enter the classroom.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Lindsay Mitchell sees the irony
The Child Poverty Action Group has called on the government to take immediate steps to eliminate child poverty while simultaneously, the Durex Global Sex Survey has revealed more than half of New Zealand women are practising unsafe sex, despite being concerned about unplanned pregnancies, an irony noted by Lindsay Mitchell, petitioner for a parliamentary review of the DPB.
"Many of the children the CPAG are concerned about are the results of unprotected sex. They are born to parents without the means to raise them. Many will spend their first years in benefit dependent households."
"Half of all the babies born in 1994 had contact with the benefit system in their first three years of life. And every year 5,000 more babies are added to existing benefits. Is this intentional?"
"Dr Nikki Turner, spokesperson for the CPAG, says that it is high time the government acted to reduce the poverty experienced by one in three children."
"Nearly all of these children are already getting income support, most of them the DPB. Yet there is not one word from the CPAG about parental autonomy or parental responsibility."
"These so-called advocates for children need to open their eyes and start identifying the real problem. As long as they keep on demanding the government solve child poverty those creating it will carry right on."
The Child Poverty Action Group has called on the government to take immediate steps to eliminate child poverty while simultaneously, the Durex Global Sex Survey has revealed more than half of New Zealand women are practising unsafe sex, despite being concerned about unplanned pregnancies, an irony noted by Lindsay Mitchell, petitioner for a parliamentary review of the DPB.
"Many of the children the CPAG are concerned about are the results of unprotected sex. They are born to parents without the means to raise them. Many will spend their first years in benefit dependent households."
"Half of all the babies born in 1994 had contact with the benefit system in their first three years of life. And every year 5,000 more babies are added to existing benefits. Is this intentional?"
"Dr Nikki Turner, spokesperson for the CPAG, says that it is high time the government acted to reduce the poverty experienced by one in three children."
"Nearly all of these children are already getting income support, most of them the DPB. Yet there is not one word from the CPAG about parental autonomy or parental responsibility."
"These so-called advocates for children need to open their eyes and start identifying the real problem. As long as they keep on demanding the government solve child poverty those creating it will carry right on."
Monday, October 11, 2004
You know you're living in 2004 when....
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You email the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have email addresses.
6. You go home after a long day at work you still answer the phone in a business manner.
7. You make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial "1" to get an outside line.
8. You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.
10. You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.
11. Your boss doesn't have the ability to do your job.
12. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.
13. Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom of the screen.
14. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 15 or 20 (or 50) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
15. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
16. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.
17. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
18. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this list.
19. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
20. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You email the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have email addresses.
6. You go home after a long day at work you still answer the phone in a business manner.
7. You make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial "1" to get an outside line.
8. You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.
10. You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.
11. Your boss doesn't have the ability to do your job.
12. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.
13. Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom of the screen.
14. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 15 or 20 (or 50) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
15. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
16. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.
17. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
18. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this list.
19. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
20. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list. AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.
