Since reporters world-over have been sent out to London to cover the Olympics, it seems like a good time to have an Olympic-themed round-up. All our news is on the Olympics anyway. More Women Than Ever More women than ever are competing in the 2012 London Olympics than any previous games. Women are representing nearly…
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lip is dishing out a new regular feature where we review classic and well-loved popular books that you probably should have already read. Perhaps it’ll inspire you to pick up a copy, dust off a tome that’s been sitting on your shelf for a while; or since many of the older books are public domain…
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Yahoo CEO Pregnant The new female CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, has announced that she is pregnant via Twitter. At age 37, Mayer is only the 20th woman ever to become a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. There is little or no research tracking whether there have been pregnant Fortune 500 CEOs while in…
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When one feels lost in life, lacking in direction, miserable, one should go on an adventure. I know this thanks to books such as Eat, Pray, Love, Tales of a Female Nomad, Unfinished Business, and A Thousand Days In Venice. Adventures are transformative. Especially if they are difficult and involve travel. They’re particularly good after…
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Aiming to be South Korea’s First Woman President Park Geun-Hye, daughter of a former South Korean dictator (who was assassinated) is now aiming to become the first woman president in the nation’s upcoming election. She is operating on a platform of increasing social equality and forging closer diplomatic ties with North Korea. Voters seem…
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Georgia Harding’s Painter Of Silence is a quiet book. Set in twentieth century Romania, the central figure of the story says nothing. He is ill and is brought to hospital. He is mute and deaf. Adriana, a sister on the ward, names him Ioan, after her son who went missing during the war. But he…
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Facebook Names First Woman to Board This week Sheryl Sandberg has become the first woman on Facebook’s board of directors. Sandberg has been the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook since 2008 when she left her job at Google. Before Facebook became a stock listed company, there were calls for them to add a female board…
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Fun with IVF A medical ethics panel in Britain has recently supported IVF in cases of three parents, as long as the procedure is safe and effective. In such cases, the baby would be genetically related to their father (i.e. the sperm donor), and their two mothers – both of whom donate eggs. The procedure…
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Gillard: Love Is All You Need This week on ABC programme, Q&A, Julia Gillard appeared alone and answered audience questions. One question came from a war veteran who asked her why his son couldn’t get married. Her response: ‘I think that you can have a relationship of love and commitment and trust and understanding…
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Same-Sex Marriage Supported by Celebrities If the democratic system won’t bring equality, celebrity endorsements might get you there. This week, Marie Claire magazine (owned by the same company that brought you Channel Seven) in partnership with GetUp officially announced its support for marriage equality in Australia. The magazine launched the ‘I do’ campaign, showcasing…
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Support For Same-Sex Marriage Passes in NSW Senate After much discussion, the New South Wales Upper House has voted in support of same-sex marriage. There was applause as the motion passed on Thursday afternoon, 22 votes to 16. The motion is to essentially work to encourage the federal government to legalise same-sex marriage. Both ALP…
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Penny Wong Knows Family Values On Q&A this week, a questioner asked Joe Hockey why he and his wife were better parents than Penny Wong and her same-sex partner. Hockey spluttered an embarrassed response which eventually culminated into the statement, ‘I think in this life we’ve got to aspire to give our children what I…
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mali: women’s rights set back 50 years Mali is a strongly patriarchal society where women need to ask permission from their husbands just to leave the house. Feminist groups have been campaigning to change the laws of Mali to enable women to get basic rights and make educating all girls an attainable goal. The…
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In theory, The Last Holiday is an autobiographical account of the concert tour which resulted in legislation to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a public holiday. Author Gil Scott-Heron did a huge 41-city tour, supporting Stevie Wonder throughout America. The tour promoted Wonder’s Hotter than July album, which included the song “Happy Birthday” – a…
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