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Just when you think Australian footy had run out of ways to be a__holes*, they manage it again. Essendon Football Club appointed the Chair of an anti-LGBTQ+ church to their board as Chief Executive. Somehow they 'missed' that this dude held beliefs that were antithetical to the club's 'values.' The guy in question has resigned already, but there is talk of suits being brought because he was being discriminated against because of his beliefs. (Link to ABC News article) I don't have anything against someone with his religious beliefs being appointed, but inevitably it would lead to a point where he refused to fund/allow/endorse programmes that encourage and develop inclusion because they go against his Jeebus, and THAT is what I disagree with. If any services or programmes were downgraded as a result of his appointment, then he has been the cause of making the world unsafer. Footy clubs are bastions of white cis male privilege and they can f___ off. *I'm not commenting on the allegations of absolutely disgraceful and disgusting behaviour displayed by Hawthorn management to Indigenous players, although it is very much on my mind.

I know we have a few Aussies on the board so as our election coverage ramps up I thought I’d start a thread. I’m working for the AEC and have to pretend to be apolitical on any platform with my real name or face, but I’m very anxious that Scummo and friends will get back in. Wondering what people think of the so-called “teal independents”? Anyone got someone exciting running in their seat? I’ve only got one independent and the second item on his “reasons to vote for me” is “I support the coal industry” so… Greens for me.

Hi, all! YouTube suggested this family to me this morning and I promptly fell down a huge rabbit hole. Help! Paul and Taina (pronounced with a long I sound) Licciardo-Toivola live in remote Finland with their 10 kids, named Leonardo, Cleopatra Taina Bride, Jerusalem, Shakespeare, Romeo, D’Artagnan, KingJames Ocean, Aphrodite, Nefertiti Butterfly Bambi and Omega Royal Fox. Though they seem to dress modern, allow tongue rings on their 18 year old (Cleo), and maybe don't homeschool (?), Paul seems pretty into the doomsday cult his mom started. The kids only wear white because the family is "minimalist", their house is huge, and they haven't explained why they left Australia for rural Finland. They seem to allow the older ones to have social media but they also seem incredibly isolated. Paul doesn't appear in the videos often and how he pays for this all is my newest favourite mystery! Based on Taina's morning routine vids (posted below), she MUST blanket train her kids because the four youngest in diapers sit on a blanket waiting to be changed. Paul's Mom (started a culty thing in Australia): http://www.jesuslightsministries.com/ Taina's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-PepfX4nM19zhdgEn3o5kg Morning routine with what I think are blanket-trained babies, around the 8 minute mark: Paul's weird religious videos, which all seem very short. All I can gather is he really likes the King James bible; they named a kid after it!: https://www.youtube.com/user/elohimisjesus Some of the older kids, Leonardo (who I think the is the married one at age 20?) and Cleopatra have vlog channels, just look up their full names on YouTube if you are interested. I feel a bit bad dragging them into this mess (but of course their channels are public). Of course YTMD has beaten me to this - I'm not the only one who gets blanket training vibes! Props to them for finding out some middle names (there's no family intro video but Taina mentions that the two youngest girls both have Bambi as a middle name) and for finding Paul's mom. https://ytmommadrama.com/viewtopic.php?f=197&t=13817 The kids don't seem especially programmed but do seem quite isolated (I hope I'm wrong). I'll give the parents props for at least letting them have social media accounts. Do any of them go to uni or anything post-secondary? Google tells me homeschooling has only been legal in Finland since 2015 so where do they kids go to school? So many questions.

These people check a lot of the boxes: living off the land, courtship, telegram, having kids as fast as possible, building a church. They are Australians who moved to Siberia.

Facebook has apparently decided to ban all Australian media as a result of proposed government legislation that would force them to pay for news content that is shared. Facebook claims they provide free clicks; the news companies say they are acting as a publisher. Either way the response is ridiculously over the top as sites including the Royal Children's Hospital (not a news organisation), The Chaser and The Betoota Advocate (both satirical), the Bureau of Meterology and Department of Health and Human Services (also not news organisations), political bloggers, Overland (literary journal) and more are blocked. It is an.. interesting insight into how much power they actually have - and the response I'm seeing is fascinating - if Facebook doesn't want us on there, well we can live with that. Pretty sure their revenue would cover the costs being proposed. As an attempt to get us to pressure the government I think they may have underestimated how much support this move has cost them.

48 Hours has an interesting new episode about an Australian cult run by a women who said she was Christ reincarnated. They were very child centered and she even stole other people's children. Very interesting commentary by a cult expert about how photographs show how children's personalities are being suppressed. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-the-family-cult-australia-anne-hamilton-byrne/

A three-man US evangelism team hit up a train in Sydney, and to be honest, the reaction is surprisingly polite. It's the smug preacher's caption that this is "fierce", but my favourite part is the obviously planted guy "spontaneously" giving his testimony at the end, and the fact they put this video up think it makes them look *good*! If you don't want to give them clicks, US dude starts preaching, older Aussie dude with book basically tells him to stop pushing his opinions on other people, and that no one cares. The rest of the commuters are definitely on older man's side. I love that man! I also appreciate how he starts saying it'll only take 3 minutes, and angrily says he's not angry. "I'm not angry" "You sound angry" "I'm not, I'm angry that you're so..." "so you are angry?" Wondering what would happen on a commuter train in London. Either people very deliberately obeying London etiquette and studiously pretending he didn't exist, or getting loudly mocked!

Some good news out of Australia Awaiting the various displays of reich wing butt hurt over this.

"In the past three years, alarm bells have begun to ring about the role religion may play in fostering, or concealing abuse. There have been two substantial inquiries into domestic violence in Australia in recent years. Both have identified religion as a significant, under-reported problem." http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/domestic-violence-church-submit-to-husbands/8652028?WT IMO very interesting article about how churches fail abused women and how toxic and dangerous the doctrine of "male headship" is.

Yikes; theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/oct/24/australia-giant-spider-mouse-carry-horrifying-impressive?CMP=fb_gu I thought it was a spider Bart Simpson took down to Australia, but remembered just now it was a frog.

I just saw this while reading news articles online, and found it rather interesting. It's not very often that the Brethren are in the media, however, it is not at all surprising that they're willing to make use of funds they are not entitled to. http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/exclusive-brethren-federal-labor-calls-for-investigation-into-funding-of-extremist-cult-schools-20160707-gq0jq5

I came across this story which was last updated 22 June 2016. According to the article, military cadets were subjected to institutionalized rape and sexual violence by staff and peers. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/21/asia/australia-military-abuse/index.html

This show is a reimagining of Prisoner, an Australian soap opera that ran from 1979 to 1986. It is soooooo good! Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix. Season 4 starts on Tuesday! That probably won't reach Netflix USA until Christmas.

It's self explanatory, mate!