Asylum Seekers. Advance Australia Unfair ABC The Drum

Whether Peter Reith and the Howard government did actually 'stop the boats' is contestable.

That the policy to 'stop the boats' caused misery, loss of life, loss of face, corroded our national reputation irreversibly, made the international community think of Australia as a bunch of redneck racists, reneged on our international obligation as signatories to the UN Refugee Convention and poisoned the welcoming and compassionate heart of Australia is, in my opinion, undeniable. And unforgiveable.

(LATE EDIT! I forgot the term 'self-selection' 'country shopping' and 'luxury packs')

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I just finished 50 Shades Of Grey And I Feel As If I Have Had An Abortion. A review...

Catherine Deveny explains why 50 Shades of Grey is one of the worst books she’s ever read, with terrible writing and sexual politics alike – but she’s still really glad that people are reading, talking about and being turned on by it.

A few hours after I finished 50 Shades, I found myself at Costco.

I’m not proud of it, I was there for research. (Okay I was there for toilet paper. WHATEVER. I don’t judge your happy place.)

As soon as I walked into Costco, I was faced with 200 copies of 50 Shades Of Grey, plus similar amounts of other two – 50 Shades Darker and 50 Shades Freed – all at the mass-produced price of $9.97 each. A wall of porn.

Finding porn in between caterer packs of Cling Film and one kilo buckets of Vegemite in a warehouse can only be a good thing … (even if it is a badly-written book, being sold at a cathedral of corporate maggotry, environmental vandalism and competition consumerism).

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Freedom of speech. Unabridged speech from Intelligence Squared Debate 8 May 2012

Topic: Freedom Of Speech Is Over-Rated. I spoke for the affirmative. Not only is freedom of speech overrated the claim we actually have freedom of speech, as opposed to a perception of freedom of speech, is not only ludicrous but deeply offensive to those with the inability to exercise freedom of speech. Which is most of us.

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Sorry. I'm just not sorry. For anything.

A letter I read for Women Of Letters June 2011. Dear everyone, I’m sorry, but I won’t be writing an apology letter to Bindi, Rove or the Anzacs. Or to people who spend long hours working jobs they hate to send their children to private schools to feel good about themselves. I won’t be writing a letter of apology to women who change their surnames when they marry, or to people who drive four-wheel drives, or to fans of McLeod’s Daughters, The Footy Show or Two and a Half Men, or to people who listen to 3AW, to readers of the Herald Sun or people who shop at Chadstone.

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My ten point response to offensorati trolls

1. Just because you're offended doesn't mean you're right. 2. I've had cancer. It's not all bad, you get free biscuits. 3. My nana died of arse cancer and I have a high chance of contracting it. Not just because of our genetic predisposition but because I have enjoyed a lot of anal sex with uncircumsised men.

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