Articles from "The Conversation" 2013

[KichigaiNeko]

http://theconversation.edu.au/love-thy-n...laws-11634

17 January 2013, 6.52am AEST
Love thy neighbour: religious groups should not be exempt from discrimination laws


It’s time some religious organisations saw the light about employing LGBT individuals. Leonard John Matthews

The Gillard government has announced it will preserve existing exemptions in anti-discrimination legislation, allowing religious organisations to refuse to employ LGBT individuals – and indeed anyone else whose very presence might cause “injury to the religious sensitivities of adherents of that religion”. The Australian Christian Lobby has hailed this as a win for “religious freedom”.

This is disingenuous at best. The issue really has nothing to do with the free exercise of one’s religion and everything to do with denying the moral depth of gay and lesbian lives.

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17 January 2013, 6.52am AEST
What the government wants to ignore about sole parents and jobseeking

http://theconversation.edu.au/what-the-g...king-11582

Cutting sole parent payments devalues social relationships and redefines parents as individual economic units. The primary carer is still usually the mother, so the cuts are sexist.

The policy also fails to recognise kids, even aged eight and above, need time, skill and social inputs as against just covering costs. These gendered prejudices against single mothers use a vulnerable group to make money savings

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17 January 2013, 6.52am AEST
Spread the word: the value of local information in disaster response

http://theconversation.edu.au/spread-the...onse-11626

As dozens of bushfires continue to burn across the country (not least in New South Wales) many Australians find themselves unable to return home while many others have no home to return to.

While we all rely on the media for information about imminent threats, it’s at the local level that some of the most valuable information-gathering is being done.

Local communities, and especially those who are at “the first mile”, are the first responders in the case of a bushfire: the people that take immediate action when danger is imminent and that provide crucial information as the event unfolds.

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15 January 2013, 2.36pm AEST
New norovirus strain could cause gastroentiritis epidimic

Umm Sorry Cthulhu......

A new strain of norovirus has been discovered which scientists warn could cause a severe epidemic of gastroentiritis this winter.

The highly infectious Sydney 2012 mutant virus was identified last March, and was found to be one of the GII.4 strains of norovirus which are responsible for epidemics and pandemics.

Members of the UNSW research team worked out the complete genetic sequence of the virus and found it was a combination of two strains originating in Holland and Japan.

The strain has so far been responsible for 1.2 million cases of gastroenteritis in the UK, and is expected to be the dominant strain in the Australian winter

Full Article Here:- UNSW