Inter-country Adoption

I agree with Dianne Dempsey that inter-country adoption is a commoditisation of children.

Those who disagree, should ask themselves why they are not willing to give the money they would spend on that child to the community the child comes from. The impact on that child and many others in their community would be far greater than removing them from their community and adopting the child.

There is no doubt that this is about the needs of the adopting parents, not the child, or the community they are coming from.

in reference to: Pity third world orphans, but they're not a commodity (view on Google Sidewiki)

My experience with the Virgin Blunder

I saw the offer of the Gold membership and it was immediately obvious that it was an error. I was happy about the error and it didn't occur to me to contact them to let them know about it. When the reversal came through, I certainly wasn't surprised, but was a little disappointed. I am amazed at the indignation of some commenters. It is not as if they suffered a loss as a result of the error.

in reference to: Virgin Blue's Velocity Gold Status email mistake (view on Google Sidewiki)

Opposing Violence against women

I agree with many of the sentiments in the article, but already you are seeing in the comments that it is not just moslem men who have a problem with violence against women.

We should reject violence against all people and should not be afraid to confront it whether it comes from moslems or any other part of society. It is certainly a lie to suggest that it is simply a clash of civilisations. Statistically, there would be many men who practice violence against women amongst the police and armed forces personnel wearing the white ribbon on Wednesday.

While it is a nice gesture, we need to consistently reject violence in all its forms.

in reference to: Paul Sheehan (view on Google Sidewiki)

More on Prostate Cancer

This SMH article adds to the confusion about Prostate Cancer.  It makes sense to me, but perhaps it is just my aversion to being diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.  Certainly, having read this article, and also, when I heard Professor Coates statement years ago, I am not inclined to be screened for Prostate Cancer unless I have symptoms.  But, I do wonder if I am making the right choice.

A confronting story!

Husband sacrifices sex to stay alive prostate cancer

This really is a confronting thought.  Thinking rationally, there should be no question of not making the choice this man has, but for me, it is hard to imagine it not being an agonisingly difficult decision to make.  No matter how much I acknowledge that there is far more to life than sex, and that there would clearly be plenty of things in life to enjoy without sex, it still seems excrutiatingly difficult  to even contemplate!

I remember reading an article about this a few months ago.  The article focussed on the injustice to the zabaleen, having their pigs slaughtered, and the belief of many that this was just an excuse to make life difficult for them.  It seems they have reaped the consequences of their injustice.

Australia's xenophobia exposed

Another boat on the way | smh.com.au  How ironic that all this fuss is made about asylum seekers, when by far the biggest source of illegal immigrants comes from tourists (usually white) who overstay their visa.

How many Australians are now longing for the tough stance of the Howard government.  It hasn't made the news, but despite the tens of millions spent on the Pacific solution and the enormous suffering of the asylum seekers, 87% of them were acknowledged as true refugees and settled in Australia.  Maybe they really are refugees.