Archive for January, 2009
Out of office
I’m on hols starting tomorrow, viewers. Expect sporadic updates for the next weeks. Toodles.
Snapshot of aussies
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the results of the latest census taken in 2006. The report is v long with many interesting bits, as all census/censi? have. Among them are that a third of kids in their 20s are still living at home, women are on par with men in terms of educational qualifications, children of migrant parents are more likely to have higher education and earn more, we have more women than men, religion is less popular (for young and old) and the iGeneration comes of age.
Offiicial summaries and obs here.
Lit meet in London
Thursday, 5 February 2009, 6-9pm at the Museum of London.
Listen, watch and dance to celebrate the first year of the Write Queer London writing competition. International speakers and performers and prizes.
Entry is free.
Hosted by UntoldLondon and Chroma Journal.
Top end job
Iceland will have an interim Prime Minister who’s lesbian. Yay!
They’ve had a woman Prez before y’know.
[Thanks to Anni for the link]
Happy state to be in
Yay for Queensland. The Sunshine State wants positive changes to laws, to support gay rights. Perhaps they’re really supporting the PM, who’s from there, or y’know once we got a Federal govt with the balls to do the right thing, it was easy to fall in line. Actually, all states and territories have to amend their laws to ensure that we have the same rights as the straights according to the Same-Sex Relationships amendment acts.
The amendments are throwing up some interesting challenges for bureaucracy and same-sex couples. Policy changes are one thing, but local legislation and red tape assumptions will have to be audited and retraining for staff provided. To be fair, NSW and Commonwealth agencies have been pretty open when it comes to same-sex matters except where the law didn’t provide. As we travel forward with the law on our side, we’re unearthing, even tipping over, sacred cows.
Some of the new issues I’m learning about are states having to amend their Evidence Acts to bring in privileged spousal communication for same-sex couples just as with het couples, registering your same-sex partner and children with Medicare and Centrelink (I’m still to figure these out), and suddenly having your relationship (st8 or gay) being placed in the de facto basket – with legal effects, whether you like it or not (can you say Palimony?) -, Immigration to make allowances for foreign same-sex couples (they already do for half-aussie couples). Tell me, how does one explain same-sex martial status on the passport when travelling to a country that does not recognise same-sex rights?
Sadly though, rosy as the picture looks, it is still not easy for many to come out. The law protects but your family may step away. A recent article from LOTL notes that older lesbians may not take advantage of new benefits because coming out could adversely affect their relationship with their children. And as you know, the older we get the more precious are our family ties.
Plenty to learn, more work to do.
Smorgasbord of free e-books
Awesome post from Gizmo TSA that is an attempt to collate a list of sites for free e-books. Dude started at 50 but with readers chiming in there’re well over a hundred sites, which means you can read onscreen the rest of your life and never finish, what with new e-books being published every week.
I’m happy to see links to non-fiction and non-English sites.
[Thanks to DA]
G-employee makes happy company
Not the only progressive US company but Google has joined a list of corporations fighting Prop 8 for realz. Google Inc issued a statement in September and have followed up by joining with Levi Strauss & Co, H5 and the SFCC as business amici by filing an application for leave to file an amici curiae (friends of the court) brief. For those not aware, Proposition 8 was a California ballot proposition that sought to entrench, in the state constitution, recognition only for hetersoxuals’ right to marry. In other words, same-sex couples would be permanently excluded from the legal spousal club, although domestic partnerships still have some common law protection (is this the same as de facto relationships?)
Why are they doing it? Google are concerned that denying basic rights for employees isn’t good for them nor business (didn’t stop Google displaying adds from both sides of the campaign though), and really, it would be too costly to rollback their payroll system.
The brief is available to view here.
The writ challenging Prop 8 from those you expect it to come from is available here.
The CA State Supreme Court will consider the matter in March.
Fingers crossed.
The writer’s guide to making a digital living
Free download (2.7 megs, PDF)
The writer’s guide to making a digital living was developed through the Australia Council’s Story of the Future project in 2008 to explore the craft and business of writing in the digital era.
This report looks at writing, collaboration, copyright, marketing and distribution and business models, and how to develop projects from concept to commerical takeup. It includes case studies from Australia’s rising generation of poets, novelists, screenwriters, games writers and producers who are embracing new media and contains audio and video content from seminars and workshops, as well as extensive references to resouces in Australia and beyond.
The writer’s guide to making a digital living is published under a non-commercial, remix, share-alike Creative Commons licence. You may embed, download, distribute, remix, share alike and above all enjoy.
Made possible by Australia Council for the Arts.
(Excerpt)
Who should use this guide
