5. Best place to be head of state: Sri Lanka

Women have run Sri Lanka for 23 years. The UK comes in at seventh place, while dozens of countries, including Spain and Sweden, have never had a female head of government.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/revealed-the-best-and-worst-places-to-be-a-woman-7534794.html

THE state government has quietly dropped an annual awards ceremony honouring unsung local heroes on International Women's Day.

After being hosted by the state government on March 8 for the past decade, the Minister for Women, Pru Goward, scrapped the usual Parliament House ceremony and will instead attend a string of events hosted by other charities, including the Smith Family.

Dozens of MPs, including the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, nominated women working for others in their electorates last year. A spokesman for Ms Goward insisted the awards had not been dumped but the government would use March 8 to announce a new, expanded awards system with ''more involvement from members of the public''. Ms Goward will speak at a Smith Family event, a UN breakfast and six other events related to Women's Day.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/womens-awards-under-rug-as-goward-cans-event-20120303-1u9q6.html#ixzz1o7hVXvlu

Of course, apart form this busy schedule, Prue will do a herogram, by jumping out of a cake while being half-naked...

Some wore sparkly costumes, some wore uniforms and others wore pretty much nothing at all, but all those who took part in this year's gay and lesbian Mardi Gras were united by one message - equality.

Organisers say more than 9,000 people marched in this year's parade to celebrate the gay and lesbian community.

Tens of thousands more watched the procession along Oxford Street, including guest of honour singer Kylie Minogue, who also performed at an after party.

Minogue took to Twitter, thanking over and over again everyone who marched in the parade.

"ThkU THANK YOU @SydneyMardiGras & Mardigrasland... YOU were amazing... I am #happytiredwiredrelievedamazedgrateful," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-03/mardi-gras-overcomes-bad-weather/3866912

Last week Limbaugh called Fluke, a Georgetown University law student, a "prostitute" and a "slut" after she testified before Congress about a need for insurance coverage for birth control.

Having made the initial attack last Wednesday, Limbaugh followed up on Thursday by adding: "So, Miss Fluke, if we are going to … pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."

"I should not have used the language I did, and it was wrong," Limbaugh told listeners on Monday.

Advertisers began pulling their support immediately after the comments. Limbaugh apologised over the weekend for the attack, but immediately ran into more trouble as critics charged that his apology was insincere.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/mar/05/rush-limbaugh-sincerely-sorry-aol

THE former husband of media doyenne Ita Buttrose was portrayed as a ''selfish, irresponsible and pitiably weak man'' who ''abandoned'' his family in the mini-series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, a court has heard.

Alasdair ''Mac'' Macdonald is suing the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the NSW Supreme Court for defamation, claiming the show depicted him as a ''man so threatened by the success of his wife that he deserted her and his family''.

Mr Macdonald is also claiming aggravated damages, claiming the producers did not contact him before broadcasting the show to check the truth or facts.

From Eva Cox

This is the time of the year when there is a brief flurry of interest in women's rights and roles. There will be some celebrations but not much political action.

Is this acceptance of the status quo because there are some very prominent women in top positions (the PM, Governor-General, a couple of premiers and CEOs)? Are we satisfied with this evidence that the glass ceiling can be broken?

That is an odd metaphor, based on the assumption that feminism is just about joining the blokes up there on their terms, rather than shifting the gender biases in the system. There are many other signs that real gender equity is still missing.

This week the Power Index noticed that there were only 16 women (12 per cent) among the 130 names featured in the lists of powerful Australians published so far this year. The female editor wondered why this was so and asked for comment. I wrote that this gender imbalance was probably an accurate measure of what the current macho power networks think is important.

Another indicator was this week's news that there was only one woman out of seven new Living National Treasures, which incidentally included Clive Palmer! These indicators suggest that gender still gives many men more power and public recognition than women, with little evidence that they deserve their higher status.

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3875064.html?WT.svl=theDrum

Forbes magazine's latest list of billionaires has ranked Gina Reinhart the 29th richest person in the world.

She is now the richest woman in the Asia Pacific, and ranked as the 19th most powerful woman in the world.

She is the only Australian to make the top 100 rich list.

See the full list here.

Her fortune doubled to an estimated $US17 billion after she sold part of an undeveloped iron ore mine to a South Korean steel maker.

Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim topped the list with a worth of $US69 billion.

Hi Gus,

I have some time for Eva Cox & her work but not her incessant lobbying for the arbitary division of spoils, based on gender.

I've been in business for more than 40 years & I can attest to the fact that every successful woman I've met lamented the idea of quotas being created to promote female "opportunity" ... they want to be recognised as successful based on their talent, skills & expertise & not some artificial framework designed & maintained by a mindless bureaucrat.

The fact is, this whole argument is specious.

What we should be promoting at every opportunity is to have progression based on merit & merit alone.

People like Eva can't argue in support of "equal opportunity" & then expect to re-engineer society so women are more equal than men ..... how is it that we aren't permitted to have "men only" clubs anymore but it's OK to have "womaen only" clubs?

Have a great day.

Cheers,

John. 

Hi Gus,

Something obsecene about this Gus!!!

The world's 100 richest own $1.7 trillion between them ... more wealth than the GDP of 90 of the world's top wealthiest countries & equal to 13% of US GDP.

To keep things in perspective a bit, Gina's stash is worth less than 2% of Australia's GDP.

By the way, having lots & lots of money doesn't make you any happier, healthier or good looking .... just a whole lot more miserable & lonely I reckon.

Cheers,

John.

I only brought Eva Cox in this as I know this is a very complex issue... Quotas are not the best way to get there, but sometimes can be a necessary wedge... I know a lot of women successful in business and many are trying hard to "promote" more women in places of "power" not because they want to displce the male gender but because they think that some women would do a much better job here or there... One of the thing these women still observe is the "glass ceiling" and also they note the reticence of some women to rock the men's boat, despite being and having to be "better than men"... Thus they have their own "network" as to balance "the boys' club" in order to get there. But it's a hard slog...

At this level, as you know, there are a lot of dynamics from style of management to relationships with other businesses —competitive or friendly. etc...

Meanwhile, Though I "cannot be bought with money", I would not mind if Gina threw a few crumbs in my direction... 

One of Australia's first feminist journals has entered the digital age thanks to the efforts of a Melbourne woman.

The Dawn is available in the digital collection of the National Library of Australia (NLA) from today, just in time to mark International Women's Day.

It was first published in 1888 by Louisa Lawson, the mother of poet Henry Lawson, and covered issues from the campaign for equal pay and women's suffrage to the evils of corsetry.

It closed in 1905 when Lawson became ill - just three years after most Australian women won the right to vote.

The campaign to digitise The Dawn was launched by Melbourne's Donna Benjamin last year, after she discovered there were no plans to create an online record of the journal.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/new-dawn-for-historic-suffragette-journal/3876066

Hi Gus,

Yes, I understand that but the way forward for all our best intersts is to argue the issue on fact-based research .... there is already plenty of evidence that businesses who have more female members on their boards or in their executive teams than men produce better returns than the "men only" outfits. So, let's publicise the evidence & encourage shareholders to decide ... it's in their interests & it's the only way to get rid of the old boys club that has been running this country for the past 200 years!!

However, just because there is evidence that company's with a greater feminine presence do better than those with a dominant male culture, doesn't mean that all female executives are better than their male counterparts ... that's why I argue for selection on merit, every time (Gina Rhinehart doesn't have more money than you, me or Kerry Packer because she is a woman, it's because she was Lang Hancock's daughter).   

By the way, that's why I was putting the slipper into Julia Gillard recently when everyone was complaining about how badly she was being treated because of her gender ... I made the point that, based on my research, I would expect a female leader to do a better job than her male counterpart (the evideence is out there that they do) so, if they weren't doing a better job, it was not because of their gender but rather they simply weren't capable enough: hence my criticism.

My view is that if women want to be treated equally, then they have to be prepared to be judged against best practice standards of performance, not some 2nd rate male equivalent like the mad monk. And they can't keep jumping backwards & forwards from being a "woman" one minute & a "leader" the next, trying to have a bet both ways.

Cheers,

John. 

I completely agree John...

Merit is the key...

but sometimes the quota is the keyhole...

I don't think Julia ever played the female card... The media has been going bananas about it though...

From the Merde-och Press:

Women told to do more blokey activities in International Women's Day message

These and offers of scholarships for a Liberal National Party win are some of a raft of messages to Australian women to mark International Women's Day.

A report card gave Julia Gillard an "A" for effort as Australia's first female prime minister, but the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) also sounded warnings for the Labor leader.

It praised her conflict management, for making legislative change and re-engaging with the public service in Canberra.

But AGSM executive director Rosemary Howard says Ms Gillard is facing a similar problem to those of other women in top roles - being judged in terms of male leadership qualities.

"Here is a leader who has successfully managed a complex minority government to achieve a remarkable amount of legislative change in a short period of time," Professor Howard said.

Ms Rinehart had applied for special leave to appeal against an earlier decision that the dispute can be heard in court, rather than behind closed doors in confidential mediation.

In a statement Ginia Rinehart, the youngest daughter of Gina, says it is very painful to have her family's disagreement argued so publicly in the High Court.

Ginia Rinehart says the case is motivated entirely by greed.

"My siblings and I were blessed with an exceptionally fortunate upbringing," she said.

"The case is motivated entirely by greed and I have no doubt that one day soon my brother and sisters will regret putting money before family.

"Unfortunately, this realisation will come too late as the damage to our family and its good reputation will already have been done."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-09/rinehart-loses-appeal/3879574

--------------------------

Greed works both ways... The other sibblings want a fair share of the trust which they feel they're not getting... Ginia, of course, is NOT INTERESTED IN THE MONEY...

----------------------

Billionaire Gina Rinehart told three of her children they could be bankrupted unless they agreed to let her retain control of a family trust, court documents have revealed.

Ms Rinehart lost her High Court battle to have details of the family feud kept secret today, when the court refused to allow her to appeal against the lifting of a suppression order.

The 58-year-old has been involved in a dispute with the three children, who want to remove her as head of the trust.

And the ABC can now reveal that Ms Rinehart told her children that to avoid financial ruin, they needed to sign a new deed to give her long-term control of the trust.

Ms Rinehart's youngest daughter Ginia Rinehart has sided with her mother in the feud and has accused her siblings of putting greed before family loyalty.

"My siblings and I were blessed with an exceptionally fortunate upbringing," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-09/rinehart-loses-appeal/3879574?WT.svl=news0

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/feminist-critics-of-this-new-sport-sound-like-snobs-on-a-soapbox-20120608-201nt.html#ixzz1xRbvhVkx

meanwhile :

Turning sport into a raunch spectacle is sexist and damaging.
A YEAR after the faltering arrival of the glitz-style girls' beauty pageant in Australia, we are soon to endure an attempt to import another sexist American spectacle to our shores.
The Lingerie Football League is a women's seven-a-side gridiron league that began in 2009 after the success of the ''Lingerie Bowl'' pay-per-view event broadcast at half-time during the Super Bowl. The game is full-contact like the men's game, but the uniform of bra, panties and garters bears little resemblance to the male uniform, with the exception of shoulder padding.

One of the most vicious campaigns in Australian media history is still playing out. Alan Austin has made a formal complaint to the Australian Press Council.

A BRUTAL ARTICLE in Monday’s The Australian contains at least six false assertions. Hence it violates Item 1 of the 'Statement of General Principles' of the Australian Press Council (APC).

Mitchell’s central deception is the one News Corp has perpetrated continually for more than ten years. He falsely claimed former Prime Minister Julia Gillard set up a “slush fund” for her then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, an official with the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), who used it for illegal transactions.

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/the-australia...

The raising, of this RC settled old issue, by Mitchell seem to be done to damage the prospect of Labor in the coming by-elections. One only need a few voters to be swung around by "fake news" and tada...

Meanwhile, this has a few power-women excited: