Communication Shutdown - a global social network shutdown day. Starts at midnight.

So, maybe you've read my piece published on The Punch website on Friday, on why I am supporting the Communication Shutdown day starting in less than an hour.

Here is my piece, below.

I love my kids - as we all do - more than life itself. My decision to be open about what's been happening in our lives was not made without much thought over many weeks.

To take a line from the extraordinary movie about an extraordinary woman, Temple Grandin, my son is "different, not less."

Communication shutdown to promote understanding. (As published on The Punch, Friday 29 October, 2010).

I have always been a great communicator. Sometimes excessively so. My first report card – in kindy - said “Josie talks too much.” I am known to like a good chat. I even studied ‘Communications’ at uni and my job demands constant interaction with people. Social networking sites were made for me: Facebook and Twitter are my daily friends. So when I heard about a ‘Communication Shutdown’ day on November 1 – a chance for silence online for 24 hours – I was intrigued. I read about the cause and then – well, I was completely in. You see, the special day is designed to raise awareness for autism. And as my son was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, I knew it was not only a chance to support a cause I believe in, it was the opportunity for me to tell the world what’s happening with my son – it would only benefit us both by demystifying what autism is and widening my support network.

My son Rafael is a twin. He and his sister Estella will celebrate their third birthday this December. But I knew something was up before he turned two. He said ‘mamma’ plenty before he was one, and then, he just stopped talking. His sister was doing all the usual chatty stuff, but Rafael - not interested. When I got the diagnosis for Rafael, I cried. My tears were all about the fear of the unknown and the thoughts I had surrounding his future – would he go to a ‘normal’ school, would he be bullied – and overwhelmingly, the sadness tapped into my intense guilt. This was mother guilt, amplified by ten. Ever since the twins were just newborns, I have always worked from home, timing my work around naptimes. In awake times, we play, paint, Plasticine, read, run, try to break stuff (them, not me) and yes, sometimes I will answer emails, finish a story, and whack on a Brainy Baby DVD or Hi-5 to help calm and entertain the rambunctious twosome. As soon as I got the diagnosis, I wasted no time in blaming myself. Perhaps I hadn’t spent enough time with him, I thought. This self reproach consumed me, in the midst of my daily work and marriage and life. Deep in my heart, I knew this was untrue: we have structured playtimes and outdoor play and random, spontaneous play. We’ve been going to playgroups since before they were two and my husband has always been heavily involved in parenting and fun interaction.

I didn’t cry for long; it was off to a special, weekly playgroup held by the amazingly dedicated people at Learning Links, weekly speech therapy, a dedicated teacher at daycare, local council ‘speechie’ fortnightly sessions, and continuing the reading and playtime in earnest. Rafael was – and is – making incredible progress. Me, not so much.

To continue reading, go here:

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/communication-shutdown-to-promote-understanding/

And to support the Communication Shutdown, go here: https://communicationshutdown.org/

It's really easy. Simply donate as little as $5 (which goes towards helping kids with autism in your country) by going here: https://communicationshutdown.org/?view=donate-form

Once you're up (takes one minute to do), your Facebook and Twitter pages will automatically give status updates about the special day. It's actually really fun to relinquish control for 24 hours. Don't worry - if you feel you can't quite live without your social networking pages for one day, you can still 'cheat' and sneak a peek, and no-one will know. The important thing is to show support. With one child being diagnosed with autism globally every 15 seconds (I know, astounding), someone you know may well be affected by autism.

David Jones, Kristy Fraser-Kirk, and the whole juggernaut.

I am a huge fan of The Punch, and this latest piece from Tory Maguire, deputy editor at The Punch, is a thought-provoking read. It speaks of the timing and sensationalism surrounding the sexual harrassment case of Kristy Fraser-Kirk and former David Jones boss Mark McInnes. The most eyebrow raising part for me was reading that Kristy's team has set up a website which directs you to all statements made by her camp.This is one slick machine. Have a read, see what you think, and comment away:

Fraser-Kirk’s confronting a monster of her own creation

Kristy Fraser-Kirk, the young woman who launched a $37 million law suit against David Jones and its former CEO Mark McInnes, is feeling the strain.

Yesterday her barrister Rachel Francois told the Federal Court Fraser-Kirk has developed an adjustment disorder and the “media intrusion” into her life since news of her case broke was partly to blame.

The point was raised during arguments over whether the names of potential witnesses in the mega sexual-harassment case should be made public, with Fraser-Kirk’s team saying it wanted to protect other women from suffering the same intrusions as the former DJ’s marketing staffer.
There’s no doubting the media interest in the case has been intense. It’s the business story with everything - a venerable brand, a red-hot chief executive, and that $37 million, a figure so staggering it could only have been arrived at with the intention of causing maximum attention and damage.

It’s worth looking back to early August when Fraser-Kirk first announced she was lodging a statement of claim against the DJs board and McInnes, who had been punted from the retailer the previous month after she complained of him behaving inappropriately towards her at a work function.

It was the day before the David Jones Spring Summer 2010 fashion launch and the next day’s frock fest was overshadowed by the massive law suit.

The timing was no accident.

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fraser-kirks-confronting-a-monster-of-her-own-creation/?referrer=email&source=Punch_nl&emcmp=Punch&emchn=Newsletter&emlist=Member

Photo credit: Brad Hunter

Oprah is coming to Australia.... in case you haven't heard! Part two on this $ bonanza

This piece by Paul Colgan from The Punch is a cracker.

The captioning of the Oprah audience pics is my fave part.

This pic above is captioned as "Janice, Margie and June" from Tourism Australia accounts. Clearly losing it. Love.

And here is his piece:

A thank-you note to Oprah from Tourism Australia

Dearest Oprah, can we start by saying: ohmygod ohmygod ohmyGOD.

We can’t thank you enough for getting us out of the little marketing pickle we have found ourselves in ever since the Lara Bingle Where-the-Bloody-Hell-Are-You business (yes, what were we thinking?). For your enjoyment we have enclosed some photos from inside our marketing department from the moment we heard the news that you have decided to shoot your first ever overseas show in Sydney. As you can see, there was quite the excitement.A few more pictures follow. We will of course have a full itinerary ready by the time you arrive but now that we’re locked in there are a few preliminary things you might want to think about that we’ve listed below.

Continue reading here:
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tourism-australias-letter-to-oprah-winfrey/

Burning holy books... sin or stupidity?

So, here's a change of pace.

That QLD lawyer guy - the one who filmed himself smoking the Koran and the Bible as if a joint - is causing all sorts today.

Whatever you think of Christianity or Islam, I think it's completely disrespectful to burn what many people hold sacred. Hey, Alex Stewart? Not hilarious.

Yeah, I get it, I get it, he's trying to make a point. According to Stewart, he says they're just books, and if people are getting so upset over a book then they're taking life way too seriously, and people should just "get over" the burning of books like the Bible or the Koran.

"I guess that's the point with all this crap," he said.

"It's just a f---ing book. Who cares? It's your beliefs that matter. Quite frankly, if you are going to get upset about a book, you're taking life way too seriously."

Except it isn't just a book. Just like a marriage cerificate isn't 'just a piece of paper'. It means significant things to people, mate.

Now, people who know me know that I have a fantastic sense of humour, the blacker and weirder and cruder the antics, the better. But this... well, this is just dumb.

Paul Colgan is managing editor of http://www.thepunch.com.au/ and as you will see from this piece, an excellent writer.

In answer to Stewart, he says: "To the contrary, I would suggest that if you are fanatical enough about your belief system to rip up someone else’s and smoke it, then you are the person who is taking things too seriously."

Here is an excerpt of his piece, entitled: "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of total stupidity."

When pastor Terry Jones called off his epically dumb plan to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning a bunch of Korans, for a brief period it looked like western civilisation valued people with something between their ears. But then along comes Alex Stewart – an Australian, no less – to confirm democracies provide shelter for the hopelessly stupid.

It was on behalf of people with a brain everywhere that the US President went on television to plead against the pastor’s plan to burn holy books. He succeeded in stopping the Jones protest but then along comes Stewart on YouTube, ripping out pages from the Bible and the Koran and smoking them in a festival of smugness cloaked in a mantle of enlightenment.

Score one for the Taliban and the view that the West is intellectually bankrupt.

To continue reading (and I highly recommend you do), click this:
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-total-stupidity/