| SOME LIMITED RELIEF FOR AUSTRALIAN SAME-SEX COUPLES The Australian Government, which appears to be doing everything possible to hinder same-sex marriage, has graciously moved to allow the issuing of documents known sometimes by the title Certificate of No Impediment, required by some countries that allow gay marriage. A few enlightened jurisdictions allow gay marriage, e.g. Spain, Portugal and Norway, but require production of such a certificate which deals with issues such as age, marriage status, etc. Pity Australia doesn't go the whole way and allow gays to marry. Unfortunately many members of our conservative government and opposition parties will do all they can to stop gays gaining such a right. Among them is our Prime Minister who sneakily organized the forthcoming vote so as to ensure a motion to allow gay marriage will fail. As I have often written, on such moral issues It is immoral that parliamentarians give themselves a 'conscious' vote and ignore the right of all Australians to exercise their consciences in the form of a simple plebiscite. [PS: I am not gay, quite happily heterosexual, but I have always championed the right of gays to be treated decently and enjoy the same privileges as the rest of us.]  SAUDI WOMEN STILL BANNED
FROM DRIVING.
That Middle Eastern
backwater known as Saudi Arabia still bans women from
driving cars, even after a spirited campaign by some
women to defy the ban.
The 13th century male primitives of the Saudi kingdom even resort to the whip in order to keep women out of cars. A 32-year-old security consultant, Manal al-Sharif, and another women were filmed behind the wheel and videos posted on YouTube as part of a campaign to change the stupid Saudi law. They risked being whipped. They escaped the lash but recently a flogging was ordered of one women who defied the ban. Only the gracious intervention of King Abdullah stopped the woman receiving 10 strokes. You old fool! Go further - move out of the 13th century and give women their rightful place in human society. EVIL BUNCH OF 'HONOUR KILLERS' SENT TO JAIL Another devastatingly
sad tale involving 'honour killing' has emerged -
from Canada. It makes one weep to read these stories
of evil humans who kill their own.
An Afghan family that for a time lived in Australia, moved eventually to Canada. Mohammad Shafia, 58, and his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, were involved in a plot to murder three daughters - Zainab (19), Sahar (17) and Geeti (13), together with 52-year-old Rona Amir Mohammad, another wife. They were aided by the girls' brother Hamed (21). The murderers were unhappy with the girls' using the Internet and defying their rules on manner of dress and dating. They apparently blamed the first wife for allowing them freedom of action. The court heard a tale of the miserable period leading up to the murders with the domineering father endeavouring to control his daughters' every move and their brother acting as his surrogate in enforcing discipline. One of the girls had even fled to a women's refuge on one occasion. And Zainab was forbidden to attend school for a whole year because she had a Christian boyfriend. The four victims were found in a car submerged in a canal. Prosecutors said the victims were drowned elsewhere then put in the car to make it look as if there had been an accident. Hamed admitted he watched the 'accident' but didn't call the police. All three were found guilty of murder with a possible life sentence. Appeals are being considered by their lawyers. TV personality Sarah Jane Honeywell strips for a PETA campaign.  The popular British TV presenter Sarah Jane Honeywell has taken part in a number of PETA advertising campaigns. You will find many photos of the PETA ladies on the Net, often nude or near-nude, sometimes in cages, and mostly nicely barefoot. For myself I have always been concerned about animals and their ill-treatment but have never been able to go so far as becoming a vegan like Sarah. Maldives women repressed by fundamentalist Islamics The Sydney Morning
Herald recently carried a lengthy
report detailing the plight of women in the
Maldives:
Female circumcision fear as fundamentalists roll back women's rightsThe article reported on the appalling practice of flogging women for having sex outside of marriage while rarely punishing the males involved. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has urged the nation to abandon this practice. Her comments outraged some Islamics who issued threats against the UN as a result.But now a new danger arises, with groups in the Maldives campaigning to have girls circumcised. Anyone who knows the facts surrounding female circumcision will know this is not only physically a barbaric and cruel practice but psychologically an assault on human dignity. B informed. Read the full report in the excellent SMH article. Worth
reading . . .
Indian journalist Amrit Dhillon writes in The Sydney Morning Herald about the ban on Salman Rushdie visiting her country and the way India is dominated by religion, resulting in people being unable to take criticism of their beliefs. (Sounds a bit familiar!). Read further: Rushdie a victim of an ailing democracy |
A WONDERFUL TV ADVERT FOR LOVERS OF FEMALE FEET  Australian company CARPET CHOICE has run several TV adverts using barefoot females - surely a very suitable subject to promote carpeting. I think the best is the one found on YouTube at the link below. Certainly encourages me to buy from them! [Note: I am not being paid for this comment!] Creative Oasis' Carpet Choice TVC - B&TLois and Clark BACK ON TV One of the best versions of
the Superman legend, the TV series LOIS AND CLARK (THE
NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN), is currently being shown on
Australian pay-TV. It features the very lovely Teri
Hatcher as Lois and Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman.
This series provides many delights for the lover of bondage. Is Teri the Queen of Bondage? Teri may well deserve such a title, she has been so often tied up for our pleasure*, especially in many episodes of LOIS AND CLARK, but also in the movies TANGO AND CASH (1989), ALL TIED UP (1994), and JANE DOE (2001). It has been reported that Teri did eventually complain about being tied up so much in LOIS AND CLARK but I have no confirmation of this. A couple of stills from LOIS AND CLARK (taken from earlier screenings on Arena; it is currently running on channel 111 HITS):   * My love of female
bondage is one of the bizarre and seemingly
contradictory aspects of my nature. It developed very
early, probably when I was aged just 6 or 7. It
is perhaps difficult to reconcile such an interest
with a genuine concern for women's rights (I can't
myself). In fact, I think very highly of women
and like nothing better than stories where strong
women put men in their place, e.g. Xena, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, Ziva. Thus I am a vast admirer of the
First Queen Elizabeth and find it pleasing to see
women in roles of leadership in my own country today -
with a female Governor-General, a female Prime
Minister and other female state leaders.
One of my favourite movies is the LONG KISS GOODNIGHT in which Charly (Geena Davis) battles a posse of bad guys and, against all odds, beats them. Interestingly, this film has one of the outstanding movie bondage scenes of all time, with Charly bound near-naked (and nicely barefoot) to a water-wheel and repeatedly dunked for extended periods. But of late I usually fast forward over this scene as I don't really like seeing Geena (one of my favourite actors) treated like this! (Contradiction again!) Footnotes Elisabeth Rohm, one of the stars of Law and Order and other shows, told GQ magazine: 'Now I can tell you something dirty. I like men who have a foot fetish. I absolutely think it's the most charming thing. It's just so romantic.' Kylie Minogue responded to q question from FHM magazine: 'What's your favorite part of your body?' A:-'Umm, my feet are quite good. I've had many a girlfriend curse me about my feet. Feet are normally not the prettiest things, but mine are not bad at all.' Any
spare dollars for spellcheckers?
I see billionaire Gina Rinehart is seeking to buy a substantial stake in my favourite newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald. Hopefully some of her cash can be used to provide spellcheckers for their subs v:  Coming soon - big new BARGAIN BOOK SECTION |