Fixing famine: what it will take
Glenda Kwek
August 15, 2011 - 3:12PM
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - AUGUST 14: Gaunt and malnourished, Farhia Abdule, 5 months, awaits medical attention at the Banadir hospital on August 14, 2011 in Mogadishu, Somalia. The US government estimates that some 30,000 children have died in southern Somalia in the last 90 days due to famine and drought. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX *** Click to play video
Somali food aid under threat
Somalia calls for the creation of a humanitarian task force to help protect food aid convoys.
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ESTIMATES OF A DEADLY CRISIS
12m severely affected by drought
29,000 Somali children under five dead in last 90 days
640,000 children acutely malnourished
400,000 in world's largest refugee camp, built for 90,000
How you can help
"Too little, too late." That's the phrase that's often been used to describe the international response to the famine in the Horn of Africa, where more than 12 million people need food aid because of a severe drought.
But what can be done now?
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Halima Hassan comforts her severely malnourished son Abdulrahman Abshir, 7 months, at the Banadir hospital in Mogadishu.
Halima Hassan comforts her severely malnourished son Abdulrahman Abshir, 7 months, at the Banadir hospital in Mogadishu. Photo: Getty Images
What will it take to mitigate the impact of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in parts of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Djibouti?
And what can be done to ensure a disaster of this scale doesn't happen again?
What can be done now
One who is getting help ... Aden Salaad, 2, at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kenya, where he is being treated for malnutrition.
One who is getting help ... Aden Salaad, 2, at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kenya, where he is being treated for malnutrition. Photo: AP
* More aid money
The United Nations said last week that, of the $2.4 billion it has requested from donor countries to tackle the crisis, it has received only $1.1 billion, or 46 per cent.
* Where will the money go?
The money is being used to provide people with basic needs - food, shelter, water supply and sanitation, Andrew Hewett, the executive director of Oxfam Australia, said. Importantly, the aid is also being used to try to keep people where they live presently, rather than have them move towards refugee camps that are already overflowing.
"The next rains are not due until October so people are going to be at risk in the next three months, assuming the rains arrive in October," Mr Hewett said.
"So we've got to try to keep people alive and focusing on those basic needs and getting the resources in to cope."
UN agency the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was trying to keep people on their drought-stricken farms by paying them cash for small jobs as, once they left their farms, they became very dependent on aid for a long time, a spokesman for the FAO, Luca Alinovi, told the Associated Press.
* Managing the conflict and maintaining dialogue with militants
Somalia has been without a stable government since the early 1990s. A protracted conflict within the country - involving at different times Islamic militants such as the al-Shabaab, the armies of regional countries and the Transitional Federal Government - has left local pastoralists, farmers and others cut off from aid agencies and struggling to move from place to place during periods of drought.
United Nations representatives said last week that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a peacekeeping force that was launched in 2007 and staffed by troops from neighbouring countries such as Uganda, needed more military and financial support from the UN Security Council in order to help guard food convoys travelling within the country.
Marc Purcell, executive director of the Australian Council for International Development, an umbrella organisation for Australian aid agencies, added that maintaining political dialogue with countries such as Somalia, through international bodies such as the African Union, was essential to help keep humanitarian corridors open. Such dialogue was often placed in the "too hard basket", he said.
* Sourcing food aid locally
Food aid is essential to save lives, but, if some of the food brought into the five countries was sourced in other parts of Africa, rather than flown in from Western countries, it would help build local markets, Mr Hewett said.
"Much of American food aid is dispatched from the United States. What that does is effectively subsidise American producers and it misses out on the opportunity to help build up local capacity, strengthen local markets and encourage production at the local level," he said.
"And it misses the opportunity to make sure the food aid that is delivered is cultural appropriate."
* Regulating excessive speculation in agriculture commodities
One of the reasons that the food crisis in the Horn of Africa is so acute is because of soaring food prices. The price of sorghum, a staple food, has risen by 240 per cent in south-central Somalia in the past year, Mr Hewett said. The price of maize has also risen by 20 to 40 per cent from last year.
A key reason that prices are soaring is because of speculation in agriculture commodities, Deborah Doane, director of the World Development Movement, told the BBC in June.
"If you are in a developing country, what we're seeing is a big connection between the money that is flooding the commodity market and the actual price that you pay for your loaf of bread, for your wheat, for your corn on the ground.
"It's the world's poorest that are seeing the worst of this."
* So what can be changed?
Mr Purcell said governments such as Australia and other G20 developed nations can work together to limit speculation in basic food communities, and so keep prices from soaring out of the reach of the poor.
How can we stop this from occurring again?
* Increasing investment in African food production
There are parts of Africa that are known to face chronic food shortages, and so are very sensitive to even small fluctuations in harvest yields, Mr Hewett said.
If smallholder farmers and pastoralists in these areas are given more support - such as through helping them plant hardier crops and getting cheaper inputs into their farms, as well as improving their access to disaster risk management tools and insurance programs - this gives them a better chance of coping with droughts or other natural disasters, he added.
* Easing rural African poverty
This seems like an ambitious task, but through an increased investment in physical infrastructure, future generations of Africans may be able to get out of the vicious cycle of drought, conflict, famine and poverty, Mr Hewett said.
That would include building up grain reserves to counter volatile prices, constant social assistance (rather than assistance only in a major crisis) to poor households so they can access food at all times of the year, and an insurance scheme (sometimes cash, sometimes food) that kicks in when there is a humanitarian situation.
* Educate the young, especially girls
This lack of education starts from the basics - such as knowledge about family planning and the need to wash hands to limit the spread of diseases, said Norman Gillespie of UNICEF Australia.
So in developing countries where more than half of the population is below 18, even a few years of education for a young girl can change how soon she has children and how many she has.
"As you get more children into school and as you empower more girls, the social fabric starts to change," Mr Gillespie said.
"She'll be more empowered, she's got a voice, there will be less of that cycle and pattern of how women are just really the workers and the producers of babies instead of being part of the democratic process."
* Respond faster and better to early warning systems
Satellite imagery was already showing last year - soon after the rains failed to fall from October to December, coupled with data on rising food prices - that a severe food shortage was on the horizon, but the international community failed to act quickly to prevent the crisis from becoming a full-blown famine, Mr Purcell said.
Part of the problem, he said, was the international community was more effective at responding to sudden and catastrophic disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, as seen this year in New Zealand and Japan, rather than for "slow onset disasters" such as drought.
Attention from international governments and media was mobilised very quickly for these calamities, whereas aid agencies were less equipped to respond to the unfolding disaster in the Horn as it shifted from malnutrition to famine, especially since many of them had limited access in Somalia due to the conflict and knew little about what was actually happening on the ground, Mr Purcell added.
He said that could change through diplomatic efforts by members of governments sitting on regional bodies or larger international ones to maintain constant dialogue with states placed in the "too hard basket", such as North Korea, Burma and Somalia, so that their populations would have contact with and can be monitored by local and international aid agencies.
So what can Australia do?
Mr Purcell believes Australia, which recently became an observer at the African Union (AU), can help to encourage countries in the region to open up their humanitarian corridors.
The key, he said, was long-term political attention that went beyond the current emergency.
"[Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin] Rudd has been rapid in responding on this particular instance and his type of energy can assist in getting other countries to react," he said.
"And it's not just about monetary resources, it's about having bodies like the AU intercede with al-Shabaab or warlords to guarantee humanitarian access."
Both Mr Purcell and Mr Gillespie believe concerted and long-term political persistence and action would help prevent such a crisis from recurring, the way it has this year after the famines in Somalia in the early 1990s and in Ethiopia in 1984-95 (which killed nearly 1 million people). In the past five years, east Africa has experienced two other food crisis - in 2006, 11 million were hit by drought; in 2009, more than 20 million were affected by drought.
"There is evidence that the humanitarian community does learn from each crisis and that prevention is working more effectively," Mr Purcell said.
"In Bangladesh, the humanitarian workers have really worked to reduce the number of people killed in cyclones and we are seeing a massive drop in the tens of thousands of people affected in the past 20 years because of investments in disaster reduction.
"Of course some people will despair but what's the alternative? The alternative is turning away and that is not an option."
How you can help
UNICEF Australia: online or phone 1300 884 233
World Vision Australia: online or phone 13 32 40
Oxfam Australia: online or phone 1800 088 110
Australia for UNHCR: online or phone 1300 361 288
CARE Australia: online or phone 1800 020 046
World Food Programme: online
Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia (Doctors Without Borders): online or phone 1300 13 60 61
Australian Red Cross: online or phone 1800 811 700
About the countries affected (Reuters)
Ethiopia
Population size: 84.9 million (UN 2010)
The Marxist policies of Mengistu Haile Mariam, which he began abandoning in 1990 with some economic reforms, left a country ravaged by economic decline, famine and regional conflicts that consumed half the state budget. In 1984-85, in the famine, up to 1 million Ethiopians starved to death.
For months in 1984, Mengistu denied the devastating famine in Ethiopia's north. Aid workers later recalled he flew in planes loaded with whisky to celebrate the anniversary of his revolution, as hunger deepened.
Bob Geldof, after watching pictures of the famine, organised Live Aid in 1985 to try to alleviate the hunger. Watched by 1.5 billion people, it raised $100 million for Africa's starving.
Somalia
Population size: 9.3 million (UN 2010)
The United Nations said on July 18 it had started airlifting food aid to rebel-held parts of drought-hit Somalia and that Islamist insurgents had abided by a pledge to allow relief workers free access.
About 10 million people are affected in the region, dubbed the "triangle of death" by local media, that straddles Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Somalia has had no effective central government for two decades, worsening the impact of recurring droughts.
Further reading
Series of reports by Fairfax's Matt Wade and photographer Jacky Ghossein, who travelled to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya in July.
Q+A: How bad is the Horn of Africa drought?
Why is it so hard to get into Somalia to deliver aid?
What is the impact of Islamic militant group al-Shabaab pulling out of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital?
Who has donated what and where is the money going to?
Ten worst famines of the 20th century.
The role of commodity markets.
twitter Follow this reporter on Twitter @curious_scribe
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/fixing-famine-what-it-will-take-20110815-1iu0f.html#ixzz1V4gFnZBc
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Super Clinic
Super Clinic opens months late
EMMA HOPE | July 05, 2011 12.01am
SOUTHERN Tasmania's first GP Super Clinic finally opened its doors yesterday -- but patients were unable to phone to make appointments as the number was not listed.
And the new Rosny centre, which was already five months behind its scheduled opening, began with a completely new staff after all the previous clinic's doctors took redundancies.
Royal Hobart Hospital spokeswoman Pene Snashall said phone calls to the old Rosny clinic were supposed to be diverted to the new clinic.
"There was an error with the diversion of the phone that has now been rectified," Ms Snashall said.
"There is a new number but patients won't have to know it for a while as the phone will continue to be diverted."
The $5.5 million Federal Government-funded Clarence GP Super Clinic is being run by the Independent Practitioners' Network, though the network does not list the new clinic on its official website and staff contacted at its other Tasmanian clinics had no information or contact number.
None of the doctors from the previous Rosny GP clinic are employed at the new GP Super Clinic.
Ms Snashall said it was their decision to take voluntary redundancies.
"Six or eight GPs were employed at the old clinic," she said.
"About a year ago we started discussions with them about what they might like to do.
"All the permanent members of staff were offered the opportunity to get a comparable job in the department or the other offer was that they could apply for a position with the new provider.
"They all chose to take a voluntary redundancy.
"It doesn't prevent them in the future from applying to the new provider.
"I think over time that logically that will happen.
"They've got that good local community knowledge about that cohort of patients. I think some of them will say 'we've had a bit of a break and now we'll go back'.
"There was one overseas-trained doctor who had a temporary contract that expired at the end of June and that contract was not renewed."
The GP Super Clinics were a 2007 election promise by federal Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services Julie Collins.
The Clarence clinic was about five months behind schedule opening.
GP Super Clinics are running in Devonport and Burnie.
Work on a $2.7 million Super Clinic at Sorell has not begun.
hopee@news.net.au
EMMA HOPE | July 05, 2011 12.01am
SOUTHERN Tasmania's first GP Super Clinic finally opened its doors yesterday -- but patients were unable to phone to make appointments as the number was not listed.
And the new Rosny centre, which was already five months behind its scheduled opening, began with a completely new staff after all the previous clinic's doctors took redundancies.
Royal Hobart Hospital spokeswoman Pene Snashall said phone calls to the old Rosny clinic were supposed to be diverted to the new clinic.
"There was an error with the diversion of the phone that has now been rectified," Ms Snashall said.
"There is a new number but patients won't have to know it for a while as the phone will continue to be diverted."
The $5.5 million Federal Government-funded Clarence GP Super Clinic is being run by the Independent Practitioners' Network, though the network does not list the new clinic on its official website and staff contacted at its other Tasmanian clinics had no information or contact number.
None of the doctors from the previous Rosny GP clinic are employed at the new GP Super Clinic.
Ms Snashall said it was their decision to take voluntary redundancies.
"Six or eight GPs were employed at the old clinic," she said.
"About a year ago we started discussions with them about what they might like to do.
"All the permanent members of staff were offered the opportunity to get a comparable job in the department or the other offer was that they could apply for a position with the new provider.
"They all chose to take a voluntary redundancy.
"It doesn't prevent them in the future from applying to the new provider.
"I think over time that logically that will happen.
"They've got that good local community knowledge about that cohort of patients. I think some of them will say 'we've had a bit of a break and now we'll go back'.
"There was one overseas-trained doctor who had a temporary contract that expired at the end of June and that contract was not renewed."
The GP Super Clinics were a 2007 election promise by federal Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services Julie Collins.
The Clarence clinic was about five months behind schedule opening.
GP Super Clinics are running in Devonport and Burnie.
Work on a $2.7 million Super Clinic at Sorell has not begun.
hopee@news.net.au
Sunday, July 3, 2011
libs plan to save schools
Libs' plan to save schools
DANIELLE McKAY | July 04, 2011 12.01am
LIBERAL leader Will Hodgman has challenged his political foes to join forces and support legislation he will table this week that could save 20 schools from closure.
Mr Hodgman has asked his Greens and Labor counterparts to put their "money where their mouth is" and support the Bill that backs savings outlined in the Liberals' alternative budget.
Mr Hodgman said by accepting sections of the Liberals' budget, including sacking the state architect and abolishing the fox taskforce, the Government could meet necessary savings and keep the 20 rural and suburban schools open for at least the next year.
"The savings that are necessary to keep these 20 schools open, just over $3 million in this coming year, can easily be found in other areas," he said.
"In our alternative budget we have identified a number of savings measures, places we would rather cut funding before you start shutting schools.
"We will move to amend this Budget and that will give members of this Parliament, both Labor and Green, an opportunity to say and to show clearly that they are serious about keeping these schools open."
Premier Lara Giddings said until the exact proposed amendments were seen, she could not speculate on the Government's position.
However, Ms Giddings said immediate action was necessary to avoid a $4 billion debt and an annual interest bill of $300 million in four years' time.
"It would be unusual to amend the State Budget, which is based on careful research and financial modelling," she said.
"The Opposition's proposed amendments would have to be based on real economic and educational sense, not just more shallow populism and opportunism.
"The Liberals' track record doesn't inspire confidence on that front."
Mr Hodgman's challenge comes as Education Minister Nick McKim faces angry protests from communities as he meets school associations at the 20 schools flagged for potential closure.
Hundreds of parents, friends and students have met at Save Our School public meetings statewide over past weeks, many addressed by Liberal, Labor and Greens MPs.
Mr Hodgman said that if his political counterparts were genuine in their belief that schools should not be closed, he would give them the chance to express that this week.
"They've been running around the state for the last week saying they want to support these schools, well this is their chance," he said.
"We'll see whether or not their priority is keeping schools open or if they'll keep wasting money."
mckaydm@news.net.au
DANIELLE McKAY | July 04, 2011 12.01am
LIBERAL leader Will Hodgman has challenged his political foes to join forces and support legislation he will table this week that could save 20 schools from closure.
Mr Hodgman has asked his Greens and Labor counterparts to put their "money where their mouth is" and support the Bill that backs savings outlined in the Liberals' alternative budget.
Mr Hodgman said by accepting sections of the Liberals' budget, including sacking the state architect and abolishing the fox taskforce, the Government could meet necessary savings and keep the 20 rural and suburban schools open for at least the next year.
"The savings that are necessary to keep these 20 schools open, just over $3 million in this coming year, can easily be found in other areas," he said.
"In our alternative budget we have identified a number of savings measures, places we would rather cut funding before you start shutting schools.
"We will move to amend this Budget and that will give members of this Parliament, both Labor and Green, an opportunity to say and to show clearly that they are serious about keeping these schools open."
Premier Lara Giddings said until the exact proposed amendments were seen, she could not speculate on the Government's position.
However, Ms Giddings said immediate action was necessary to avoid a $4 billion debt and an annual interest bill of $300 million in four years' time.
"It would be unusual to amend the State Budget, which is based on careful research and financial modelling," she said.
"The Opposition's proposed amendments would have to be based on real economic and educational sense, not just more shallow populism and opportunism.
"The Liberals' track record doesn't inspire confidence on that front."
Mr Hodgman's challenge comes as Education Minister Nick McKim faces angry protests from communities as he meets school associations at the 20 schools flagged for potential closure.
Hundreds of parents, friends and students have met at Save Our School public meetings statewide over past weeks, many addressed by Liberal, Labor and Greens MPs.
Mr Hodgman said that if his political counterparts were genuine in their belief that schools should not be closed, he would give them the chance to express that this week.
"They've been running around the state for the last week saying they want to support these schools, well this is their chance," he said.
"We'll see whether or not their priority is keeping schools open or if they'll keep wasting money."
mckaydm@news.net.au
Friday, July 1, 2011
Facebook and teenagers
http://images.smh.com.au/2011/07/01/2466798/ipad-art-wide-pg3-parents-420x0.jpg
Parental guidance is recommended: the Riddle children (from left) Charlotte, Oliver and Georgina with their mother Sharon Williams, CEO of Taurus Marketing. Photo: Brendan Esposito
PARENTS must teach children as young as eight how to craft a ''personal brand'', as social media sites threaten to record the worst of adolescent behaviour, says mother and brand manager Sharon Williams.
Parents need to take a greater policing role, argues Ms Williams, with schools and lawyers struggling to keep up with the malicious behaviour of children online.
Ms Williams, a corporate brand manager, has applied her work to her children, teaching her teenage daughters to avoid posting comments and photos that would cause a future self to cringe.
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''It's like a tattoo,'' Ms Williams, of Artarmon, said.
Not only do Charlotte, 15, and Georgina, 14, consider their own feelings in years to come; the teens pause to think about the reactions of a withering host of strangers.
''Imagine sitting on your shoulder as you're typing the local justice of the peace, your future boyfriend, the man you're going to marry, the mother-in-law of the man you're going to marry and your future employer for the job of your dreams,'' Ms Williams said.
Both girls said they used social media but updated their status less frequently than friends. Ms Williams said Charlotte had been oblivious to the potential dangers of an internet trail before the coaching.
''Her online brand is available for all time,'' Ms Williams said. ''Parents need to take control and be responsible for their personal brand because as a child, you have no idea that in 15 years' time or five years' time, the effects of what you're doing today will be wide-ranging and have the most extraordinary repercussions.''
This week, the Herald exposed school students using a website to rate each other's sexual performance and bully some students. Principals at the five schools that form the Northern Beaches Secondary College emailed parents to emphasise school cyber-bullying policies.
The head of St Andrew's Cathedral School, John Collier, said parents should not let children use social media sites without physical supervision - at least until the ''later teens''. The principal of the Northern Beaches Christian School, Stephen Harris, said it was an ''immense parenting mistake'' for parents to allow young children to use Facebook.
Legally, children are not meant to use Facebook until age 13 but Ms Williams said teaching on image control had to happen from about age 8.
Bullying victims are embracing social media to fight back. More than 3000 people joined the Facebook community, 'Draw a heart on your wrist if you're against bullying' with photos of decorated wrists posted by affected students and adults from all over the world.
Kari Anne Begg, of Kellyville, said she and her husband were both bullied as children. They chose a school for their eldest daughter on the basis of a strong stance against bullying.
''Mrs Begg was concerned cyber-bullying presented an added threat for her children but planned to teach them how to use Facebook responsibly.
''It's up to parents to talk to them,'' she said.
edu@smh.com.au
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/styled-by-mother--children-taught-to-build-online-brand-20110701-1gv6j.html#ixzz1Qu7H9Zgh
Parental guidance is recommended: the Riddle children (from left) Charlotte, Oliver and Georgina with their mother Sharon Williams, CEO of Taurus Marketing. Photo: Brendan Esposito
PARENTS must teach children as young as eight how to craft a ''personal brand'', as social media sites threaten to record the worst of adolescent behaviour, says mother and brand manager Sharon Williams.
Parents need to take a greater policing role, argues Ms Williams, with schools and lawyers struggling to keep up with the malicious behaviour of children online.
Ms Williams, a corporate brand manager, has applied her work to her children, teaching her teenage daughters to avoid posting comments and photos that would cause a future self to cringe.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''It's like a tattoo,'' Ms Williams, of Artarmon, said.
Not only do Charlotte, 15, and Georgina, 14, consider their own feelings in years to come; the teens pause to think about the reactions of a withering host of strangers.
''Imagine sitting on your shoulder as you're typing the local justice of the peace, your future boyfriend, the man you're going to marry, the mother-in-law of the man you're going to marry and your future employer for the job of your dreams,'' Ms Williams said.
Both girls said they used social media but updated their status less frequently than friends. Ms Williams said Charlotte had been oblivious to the potential dangers of an internet trail before the coaching.
''Her online brand is available for all time,'' Ms Williams said. ''Parents need to take control and be responsible for their personal brand because as a child, you have no idea that in 15 years' time or five years' time, the effects of what you're doing today will be wide-ranging and have the most extraordinary repercussions.''
This week, the Herald exposed school students using a website to rate each other's sexual performance and bully some students. Principals at the five schools that form the Northern Beaches Secondary College emailed parents to emphasise school cyber-bullying policies.
The head of St Andrew's Cathedral School, John Collier, said parents should not let children use social media sites without physical supervision - at least until the ''later teens''. The principal of the Northern Beaches Christian School, Stephen Harris, said it was an ''immense parenting mistake'' for parents to allow young children to use Facebook.
Legally, children are not meant to use Facebook until age 13 but Ms Williams said teaching on image control had to happen from about age 8.
Bullying victims are embracing social media to fight back. More than 3000 people joined the Facebook community, 'Draw a heart on your wrist if you're against bullying' with photos of decorated wrists posted by affected students and adults from all over the world.
Kari Anne Begg, of Kellyville, said she and her husband were both bullied as children. They chose a school for their eldest daughter on the basis of a strong stance against bullying.
''Mrs Begg was concerned cyber-bullying presented an added threat for her children but planned to teach them how to use Facebook responsibly.
''It's up to parents to talk to them,'' she said.
edu@smh.com.au
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/styled-by-mother--children-taught-to-build-online-brand-20110701-1gv6j.html#ixzz1Qu7H9Zgh
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Gay marriage
The Gillard government’s anti-gay marriage policy goes global
by gay rights campaigner Rodney Croome
As well as not allowing same-sex couples to marry in Australia, the Gillard government does its best to block Australians from entering same-sex marriages overseas.
It does this by refusing to issue same-sex partners with the key document they need to marry in another country.
That document, known as a Certificate of No-Impediment to Marriage or CNI, confirms to a foreign government that the Australian who wants to marry under its laws is not already married in Australia.
The Australian government routinely issues this document to heterosexual Australians marrying overseas, but it has an explicit policy of refusing them to same-sex partners.
This causes an array of problems for Australians entering legal same-sex marriages in other countries. Many same-sex partners only find out about the CNI problem at the last minute and either have to call off their wedding or go through with the kind of unofficial commitment ceremony they wanted to avoid.
In many of the countries that allow same-sex marriages, marriage brings rights and entitlements not available to cohabiting couples. This leaves Australians whose same-sex marriages the Gillard government has blocked without recognition or protection in health care, pensions and immigration.
Then there’s the pain of being denied the same rights other Australians take for granted. According to Chris Murray, whose legal marriage to his Portuguese partner, Victor, could not take place because the government would not give him a CNI, “As much as I appreciated the support of friends and family, no amount of ‘don’t worry – it’s only a piece of paper’ or ‘but it’s your love that counts’ made up for the fact that my country was saying that my relationship was not only not worthy of recognition, but I had to be prohibited from having this relationship recognised elsewhere in the world.”
Because of these problems the Netherlands gives Australians an exemption from its CNI requirement (along with Zimbabweans). Meanwhile, the Norwegians are so angry that the Gillard government is pushing its prejudices down their throats, they attacked Australia’s same-s-x marriage ban at a recent UN human rights review.
But for the most part there’s nothing that countries who allow same-sex marriages can do about Australia’s CNI policy, and as their number increases so does the number of Australians who face the inconvenience, insecurity and indignity this policy creates.
The Australian government says it refuses to issue CNIs to same-sex couples because same-sex marriages aren’t recognised in Australia. But no-one is swallowing this.
According to Senior Lecturer in Law at the ANU, Wayne Morgan, “There is nothing in Australian law that would prevent a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (being issued) to a same-sex couple marrying under the laws of another country. This is an internationally accepted document that has nothing to do with the validity of the marriage back in the couple’s own country.”
A 2009 Senate Committee inquiry into same-sex marriage agreed. It found that, “A decision by a sovereign nation to allow marriage between a couple of the same sex should be a matter for that nation, and not a matter against which Australia should throw up bureaucratic barriers.”
Since then the Government’s discriminatory policy has suffered another blow.
In 2010 Tasmania became the first Australian state or territory to acknowledge overseas same-sex marriages as state civil partnerships, giving them all the same rights as married couples in state AND federal law.
This creates an absurd situation where the Australian government is giving full marriage entitlements to legal unions it has tried to block on the basis that they are not recognised in Australia.
So why does the Gillard government maintain such a ridiculous, harmful and discriminatory policy?
It’s hard to see the current bureaucratic block to overseas same-sex marriages as anything but another mean-spirited attempt by the government to convince right-wing Christian lobbyists it despises same-sex marriages as much as they do.
Yet again loving, committed same-sex partners have been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.
I’m confident this won’t last much longer.
With Galaxy Research finding that 75% of Australians believe same-sex marriages are inevitable, history is clearly on the side of equality.
If the Labor Party doesn’t reverse its discriminatory stance on same-sex marriages at its National Conference in December, the next generation of Australians will condemn it in the same way we now condemn those Labor governments that upheld the White Australia Policy.
*Rodney Croome is the Campaign Director of Australian Marriage Equality and the co-author of Why v Why: gay marriage.
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9 Comments
JOHN
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 1:22 pm | Permalink
Julia Gillard appears to be the most homophobic prime minister in Australia’s history. The absurd aspect is that people on the other side of politics, such as those who criticised her for being “deliberately barren”, have been conducting a whispering campaign that she is a closet lesbian and that her hairdresser consort is just a handbag.
9302202E5A6ABD06A6B4260EAD62EE10
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 1:30 pm | Permalink
well really after getting the farmers off side, the miners off side, the refugee advocates off side,the clubs offside,kevin rudd offside,she really doesnt want another enemy like the churches offside does she?
ALLISON
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 1:43 pm | Permalink
the law is an ass (or arse)
JOHN
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 2:49 pm | Permalink
Hooray for Andrew Wilkie in QT this afternoon.
LADYSTARDUST64
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 3:15 pm | Permalink
PM Gillard is really making it difficult to raise empathetic, morally conscious teenagers.
Grow some Julia and stop toppling towards the right wing nutbags. Enough is enough, beyond a joke, blah blah blah. This issue is not going to go away because as it currently stands it is wrong. Everything about it is wrong. Fix it and your legacy will be long and fondly remembered. What if your Tim was a Tammy and you loved her just the same. She might even have a shed too. Would you want anyone else telling you what to feel - how to be you?
I don’t think so.
CHARLES RICHARDSON
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 3:27 pm | Permalink
To be fair, it should be pointed out that this isn’t something the Gillard govt introduced: it’s a Howard govt policy and dates to at least 2005, as this _Age_ article documents: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/gays-hit-in-overseas-nuptial-bid/2006/01/13/1137118970292.html . That’s no excuse for Gillard, but she shouldn’t cop all the blame.
SUSIEQ
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 3:30 pm | Permalink
I never knew this happened (CNI’s) and its appalling, but hardly suprising, especially when you have people like the right wing faction of the ALP doing its Chicken Little routine at the mere mention of gay marriage. This issue is such an easy fix for the government- much less complicated than carbon taxes and mining taxes - surely it would pass through parliament easily enough? We may not have many pleasant memories of the Rudd govt, but everyone remembers the apology to the stolen generation don’t they?
Who cares what the Christian Lobby thinks - why should they have everything their way all the time?
F531F3B28AE6B07F01AD44BF62360840
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 4:27 pm | Permalink
Interesting article.
I did have a question regarding the whole same sex marriage debate.
If we did get same sex marriage into law, as per many other countries,
would be willing to discriminate against groups who are calling for FULL marriage equality, as per the definition below:
“Advocating for the right of consenting adults to enjoy love, sex, and marriage without limits on the gender, number, or relation of participants. Full marriage equality is a basic human right”
(Source: marriage-equality.blogspot.com).
If we are willing to discriminate against, and exclude such groups, from the institution of marriage, on what grounds would we exclude them?
by gay rights campaigner Rodney Croome
As well as not allowing same-sex couples to marry in Australia, the Gillard government does its best to block Australians from entering same-sex marriages overseas.
It does this by refusing to issue same-sex partners with the key document they need to marry in another country.
That document, known as a Certificate of No-Impediment to Marriage or CNI, confirms to a foreign government that the Australian who wants to marry under its laws is not already married in Australia.
The Australian government routinely issues this document to heterosexual Australians marrying overseas, but it has an explicit policy of refusing them to same-sex partners.
This causes an array of problems for Australians entering legal same-sex marriages in other countries. Many same-sex partners only find out about the CNI problem at the last minute and either have to call off their wedding or go through with the kind of unofficial commitment ceremony they wanted to avoid.
In many of the countries that allow same-sex marriages, marriage brings rights and entitlements not available to cohabiting couples. This leaves Australians whose same-sex marriages the Gillard government has blocked without recognition or protection in health care, pensions and immigration.
Then there’s the pain of being denied the same rights other Australians take for granted. According to Chris Murray, whose legal marriage to his Portuguese partner, Victor, could not take place because the government would not give him a CNI, “As much as I appreciated the support of friends and family, no amount of ‘don’t worry – it’s only a piece of paper’ or ‘but it’s your love that counts’ made up for the fact that my country was saying that my relationship was not only not worthy of recognition, but I had to be prohibited from having this relationship recognised elsewhere in the world.”
Because of these problems the Netherlands gives Australians an exemption from its CNI requirement (along with Zimbabweans). Meanwhile, the Norwegians are so angry that the Gillard government is pushing its prejudices down their throats, they attacked Australia’s same-s-x marriage ban at a recent UN human rights review.
But for the most part there’s nothing that countries who allow same-sex marriages can do about Australia’s CNI policy, and as their number increases so does the number of Australians who face the inconvenience, insecurity and indignity this policy creates.
The Australian government says it refuses to issue CNIs to same-sex couples because same-sex marriages aren’t recognised in Australia. But no-one is swallowing this.
According to Senior Lecturer in Law at the ANU, Wayne Morgan, “There is nothing in Australian law that would prevent a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (being issued) to a same-sex couple marrying under the laws of another country. This is an internationally accepted document that has nothing to do with the validity of the marriage back in the couple’s own country.”
A 2009 Senate Committee inquiry into same-sex marriage agreed. It found that, “A decision by a sovereign nation to allow marriage between a couple of the same sex should be a matter for that nation, and not a matter against which Australia should throw up bureaucratic barriers.”
Since then the Government’s discriminatory policy has suffered another blow.
In 2010 Tasmania became the first Australian state or territory to acknowledge overseas same-sex marriages as state civil partnerships, giving them all the same rights as married couples in state AND federal law.
This creates an absurd situation where the Australian government is giving full marriage entitlements to legal unions it has tried to block on the basis that they are not recognised in Australia.
So why does the Gillard government maintain such a ridiculous, harmful and discriminatory policy?
It’s hard to see the current bureaucratic block to overseas same-sex marriages as anything but another mean-spirited attempt by the government to convince right-wing Christian lobbyists it despises same-sex marriages as much as they do.
Yet again loving, committed same-sex partners have been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.
I’m confident this won’t last much longer.
With Galaxy Research finding that 75% of Australians believe same-sex marriages are inevitable, history is clearly on the side of equality.
If the Labor Party doesn’t reverse its discriminatory stance on same-sex marriages at its National Conference in December, the next generation of Australians will condemn it in the same way we now condemn those Labor governments that upheld the White Australia Policy.
*Rodney Croome is the Campaign Director of Australian Marriage Equality and the co-author of Why v Why: gay marriage.
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JOHN
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 1:22 pm | Permalink
Julia Gillard appears to be the most homophobic prime minister in Australia’s history. The absurd aspect is that people on the other side of politics, such as those who criticised her for being “deliberately barren”, have been conducting a whispering campaign that she is a closet lesbian and that her hairdresser consort is just a handbag.
9302202E5A6ABD06A6B4260EAD62EE10
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 1:30 pm | Permalink
well really after getting the farmers off side, the miners off side, the refugee advocates off side,the clubs offside,kevin rudd offside,she really doesnt want another enemy like the churches offside does she?
ALLISON
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 1:43 pm | Permalink
the law is an ass (or arse)
JOHN
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 2:49 pm | Permalink
Hooray for Andrew Wilkie in QT this afternoon.
LADYSTARDUST64
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 3:15 pm | Permalink
PM Gillard is really making it difficult to raise empathetic, morally conscious teenagers.
Grow some Julia and stop toppling towards the right wing nutbags. Enough is enough, beyond a joke, blah blah blah. This issue is not going to go away because as it currently stands it is wrong. Everything about it is wrong. Fix it and your legacy will be long and fondly remembered. What if your Tim was a Tammy and you loved her just the same. She might even have a shed too. Would you want anyone else telling you what to feel - how to be you?
I don’t think so.
CHARLES RICHARDSON
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 3:27 pm | Permalink
To be fair, it should be pointed out that this isn’t something the Gillard govt introduced: it’s a Howard govt policy and dates to at least 2005, as this _Age_ article documents: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/gays-hit-in-overseas-nuptial-bid/2006/01/13/1137118970292.html . That’s no excuse for Gillard, but she shouldn’t cop all the blame.
SUSIEQ
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 3:30 pm | Permalink
I never knew this happened (CNI’s) and its appalling, but hardly suprising, especially when you have people like the right wing faction of the ALP doing its Chicken Little routine at the mere mention of gay marriage. This issue is such an easy fix for the government- much less complicated than carbon taxes and mining taxes - surely it would pass through parliament easily enough? We may not have many pleasant memories of the Rudd govt, but everyone remembers the apology to the stolen generation don’t they?
Who cares what the Christian Lobby thinks - why should they have everything their way all the time?
F531F3B28AE6B07F01AD44BF62360840
Posted Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 4:27 pm | Permalink
Interesting article.
I did have a question regarding the whole same sex marriage debate.
If we did get same sex marriage into law, as per many other countries,
would be willing to discriminate against groups who are calling for FULL marriage equality, as per the definition below:
“Advocating for the right of consenting adults to enjoy love, sex, and marriage without limits on the gender, number, or relation of participants. Full marriage equality is a basic human right”
(Source: marriage-equality.blogspot.com).
If we are willing to discriminate against, and exclude such groups, from the institution of marriage, on what grounds would we exclude them?
Monday, June 13, 2011
twitter for tv
Marketing Pilgrim's Social Channel is available for sponsorship. If you are interested in sponsoring this channel, please contact us here.
« OLDER ENTRY
BY CYNTHIA BORIS ON JUNE 13, 2011
Fans Find TV Tweets Very Engaging
1
Ten days ago, Jared Padalecki, one of the stars of the CW series Supernatural got a Twitter account. He started it after years of saying he never would and couldn’t even get his own name because of there are so many imposters on Twitter. He settled on @jarpad, announced it at a fan convention, then took a photo of his co-star at the convention as proof that it was really him.
As of this morning, Jarpad has 94,132 followers and they aren’t just sitting idle. Many of them complied with Jared’s wishes to vote for a band he produces in a House of Blues contest, shooting them up to number one.
Then there’s Jared’s co-star Misha Collins. He has 219,000 followers and parlayed his Twitter fame into a charity that raised around $100,000 last year for an orphanage in Haiti.
Oh yes, and The CW is reaping the rewards, too. Their audience is young, mobile and active in social media, so they’ve made it extremely easy to follow any of their celebrity tweeters. They have a full page of one click links to the Twitter accounts of more than 75 of their stars. That’s massive for such a small network. They also have a clever iPhone app that allows you to follow the Tweets of the stars or the fans of a given show so you can Tweet while you watch.
TV and Twitter isn’t just for the young. CBS, which has the oldest demographic of big five networks, has been using Twitter chats to spur on their audience.
George Schweitzer, president of the network’s CBS Marketing Group, told eMarketer;
“Social media has allowed us to have a voice in interactivity, in that we can be part of the conversation while it’s all happening. It’s really shown, yet again, another thing that was supposed to be a negative for our industry has become a huge positive. More people are watching television than ever before, and they’re enjoying and talking about it.”
Schweitzer goes on to say that CBS was very happy with the response to their recent Tweet Week where stars of their shows Tweeted while watching. The “however” is that they can’t directly correlate the success of that event with a rise in ratings. But as we’re always saying here, measuring social media isn’t about the numbers, it’s about brand recognition and buzz.
On June 4, “jarpad” was a trending term on Twitter. You can bet that thousands of people who weren’t Supernatural fans clicked through to see what all the fuss was about. That’s the kind of publicity that the CW can’t afford to buy and they got it totally free thanks to their newly Twitter-obsessed TV star.
SIMILAR STORIES IN: SOCIAL | FORWARD: EMAIL THIS POST
Share this post
Similar posts you may like...
Twitter’s Promoted Tweets: 300% More Engaging Than Normal Tweets
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Your Vote for Best Tweets of the Year
1 comment on “Fans Find TV Tweets Very Engaging”
Frank Reed Says:
June 13th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Young, mobile and active in social media. With the CW being a bit player in the TV wars if they can corral this group they might have something even more valuable than the 4 major networks do: a passionate (albeit smaller) group that hangs on every word of their favorite stars.
It’s really what social media is truly about. Forget the big numbers. Find those that are passionate and play to their interests then don’t get greedy!
Looking forward to seeing what happens (or has happened) six months from now due to this type of interaction.
[Reply]
« OLDER ENTRY
BY CYNTHIA BORIS ON JUNE 13, 2011
Fans Find TV Tweets Very Engaging
1
Ten days ago, Jared Padalecki, one of the stars of the CW series Supernatural got a Twitter account. He started it after years of saying he never would and couldn’t even get his own name because of there are so many imposters on Twitter. He settled on @jarpad, announced it at a fan convention, then took a photo of his co-star at the convention as proof that it was really him.
As of this morning, Jarpad has 94,132 followers and they aren’t just sitting idle. Many of them complied with Jared’s wishes to vote for a band he produces in a House of Blues contest, shooting them up to number one.
Then there’s Jared’s co-star Misha Collins. He has 219,000 followers and parlayed his Twitter fame into a charity that raised around $100,000 last year for an orphanage in Haiti.
Oh yes, and The CW is reaping the rewards, too. Their audience is young, mobile and active in social media, so they’ve made it extremely easy to follow any of their celebrity tweeters. They have a full page of one click links to the Twitter accounts of more than 75 of their stars. That’s massive for such a small network. They also have a clever iPhone app that allows you to follow the Tweets of the stars or the fans of a given show so you can Tweet while you watch.
TV and Twitter isn’t just for the young. CBS, which has the oldest demographic of big five networks, has been using Twitter chats to spur on their audience.
George Schweitzer, president of the network’s CBS Marketing Group, told eMarketer;
“Social media has allowed us to have a voice in interactivity, in that we can be part of the conversation while it’s all happening. It’s really shown, yet again, another thing that was supposed to be a negative for our industry has become a huge positive. More people are watching television than ever before, and they’re enjoying and talking about it.”
Schweitzer goes on to say that CBS was very happy with the response to their recent Tweet Week where stars of their shows Tweeted while watching. The “however” is that they can’t directly correlate the success of that event with a rise in ratings. But as we’re always saying here, measuring social media isn’t about the numbers, it’s about brand recognition and buzz.
On June 4, “jarpad” was a trending term on Twitter. You can bet that thousands of people who weren’t Supernatural fans clicked through to see what all the fuss was about. That’s the kind of publicity that the CW can’t afford to buy and they got it totally free thanks to their newly Twitter-obsessed TV star.
SIMILAR STORIES IN: SOCIAL | FORWARD: EMAIL THIS POST
Share this post
Similar posts you may like...
Twitter’s Promoted Tweets: 300% More Engaging Than Normal Tweets
Become a Fan of Fanpop
50 Million Tweets Per Day? We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat!
Twitter Spam Declines…Or Does It?
Your Vote for Best Tweets of the Year
1 comment on “Fans Find TV Tweets Very Engaging”
Frank Reed Says:
June 13th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Young, mobile and active in social media. With the CW being a bit player in the TV wars if they can corral this group they might have something even more valuable than the 4 major networks do: a passionate (albeit smaller) group that hangs on every word of their favorite stars.
It’s really what social media is truly about. Forget the big numbers. Find those that are passionate and play to their interests then don’t get greedy!
Looking forward to seeing what happens (or has happened) six months from now due to this type of interaction.
[Reply]
Sunday, June 12, 2011
girl exposed
Gay Girl in Damascus is a man called Tom
Asher Moses
June 13, 2011 - 9:07AM
Comments 2
Tom Macmaster ... wrote under the pseudonym Amina Arraf.
Amina Arraf, the "Gay Girl in Damascus" who sent the world into a frenzy after she was reportedly kidnapped by Syrian security forces, has been outed as a 40-year-old American man.
A new entry on Sunday in the blog, which for months has claimed to be written by a lesbian Syrian-American living in Damascus, asserted that the entire saga was a hoax.
The post, which came days after an entry saying the blogger had been arrested, was signed by "Tom MacMaster" in Istanbul, Turkey.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Jelena Lecic ... the Croat living in London said the Gay Girl in Damascus blog was carrying a picture of her.
In it, the author says the narrative was fictional but insists it "created an important voice for issues I feel strongly about."
It says the author never expected so much attention.
It is not the first time a a blog has been exposed as an elaborate fiction. In 2004, the Plain Layne blog, purportedly the diary of a bisexual young woman, was revealed to be written by a man, Odin Soli.
A grab from Gay Girl in Damascus.
Additionally, from 1999 to 2001, Debbie Swanson convinced the world that she was a terminally ill teenager, Kaycee Nicole, who was stricken with leukemia. It was one of the most high profile cases of Munchausen by Internet, a disease where people feign serious illnesses online.
On Tuesday, a blog post on the Gay Girl in Damascus site, supposedly written by Amina Arraf's cousin, said she had been detained in Damascus after weeks on the run. The story unraveled quickly after a woman in Britain said the photos on the Facebook account of the blogger known as Amina were actually of her.
The author of the blog post on Sunday titled it Apology to readers but wrote "I do not believe that I have harmed anyone". There was no listing for MacMaster in Istanbul.
Stolen identity ... a grab from Jelena Lecic's Facebook page.
MacMaster, a 40-year-old American from Georgia, is a Middle East peace activist who has been studying for a masters degree at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is reportedly on vacation in Turkey with his girlfriend.
The Washington Post was able to track MacMaster down before he outed himself on the blog but he initially denied any connection to Arraf, saying if he were the "genius" who pulled it off he would write a book.
MacMaster when posing as Amina had given people postal addresses for Christmas cards which were registered in his name. He and Amina were on the same Yahoo message group about "alternate history" and frequently engaged each other in discussions about the Middle East.
Many biographical details about Amina that were published online also matched MacMaster's own life story. These are detailed in an extensive Washington Post article, which highlights MacMaster's deep knowledge of Syria and long affinity with the Middle East.
In the blog post purportedly by Arraf's cousin, Rania Ismail, it said Arraf was last seen on Monday being bundled into a car by three men in civilian clothes as she was on her way to meet someone at the activist Local Coordination Committees. Ismail said a friend accompanying her was nearby and saw what happened.
A reporter for The Associated Press, who maintained a month-long email correspondence with someone claiming to be Arraf, found the writer seemed very much like a woman in the midst of the violent change gripping Syria. The writer spoke about friends in Damascus, and outlined worries about her father and hopes for the future of her country.
In the emails, the person acknowledged fudging some details of escaping from Syrian security officials to protect herself and her family, and painted a harrowing picture of fleeing her home.
Jelena Lecic, the woman whose photos were linked to Arraf's Facebook profile, said the London woman first learned her likeness was being used when it was linked to an article about Arraf in the Guardian newspaper, her spokesman has said.
The spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lecic, a Croatian woman working as an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians in London, reportedly had her identity stolen about a year ago. MacMaster had been circulating photographs of her to people asking for pictures of Arraf.
On the blog, Arraf was known for frank posts about her sexuality and open criticism of President Bashar al-Assad's autocratic rule.
In February, an American blogger named Paula Brooks began communicating with Arraf via email but became suspicious when her IP address was traced back to Edinburgh in Scotland.
Arraf sent Brooks a photo of herself that matches the photos Lecic claims were taken from her Facebook page.
She told Brooks that her IP traced back to Scotland because she used a proxy to hide her identity. However, an email Arraf sent to Brooks discussing plans to study in Britain led her to suspect Arraf might have been blogging from the University of Edinburgh all along.
Media scoured records for confirmation that Arraf existed and also attempted to confirm biographical information found in her blog, but came up empty. No one, including the US State Department, was able to confirm her arrest.
NPR reporter Andy Carvin said he had spoken to a number of people who claimed to have met or interviewed Arraf but found that nobody had even met her in person or spoken to her on the phone. Even a purported girlfriend in Canada said she had only had a text-based relationship with Arraf.
Arraf's Canadian friend, Sandra Bagaria, who started a campaign to have Arraf released, was last week dismayed at suggestions she may have been deceived or that her Syrian friend might have been using a false identity.
''I don't know. I really can't tell. I would love to tell you I know," she said.
"I just want it to be clarified, and then I will deal with what I should and should not feel. But for now I just want it to be a little more clear."
- with AP
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Comments
2 comments so far
See how the media jumps onto unverified, made up rubbish posing as news? The days of "journalists" actually researching stories are long gone, Signed by Berkel, a bisexual, pot smoking parrot in detention on Xmas island
Shemp | melbourne - June 13, 2011, 9:20AM
This man, Tom, claims he hasn't hurt anyone and says he created this blog for Syria. What a crock, why then did he have dating site profiles up with the photos of jelena? Why did he create a relationship with a woman in Montreal? He wasn't blogging for Syria, he was blogging to live out a lesbian fantasy. He'll be doing an interview soon and I hope the interviewer asks the hard questions and doesn't let him get away with saying "I did it all for Syria".
Juno. - June 13, 2011, 9:30AM
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/gay-girl-in-damascus-is-a-man-called-tom-20110613-1fzmw.html#ixzz1P6nNjDJz
Asher Moses
June 13, 2011 - 9:07AM
Comments 2
Tom Macmaster ... wrote under the pseudonym Amina Arraf.
Amina Arraf, the "Gay Girl in Damascus" who sent the world into a frenzy after she was reportedly kidnapped by Syrian security forces, has been outed as a 40-year-old American man.
A new entry on Sunday in the blog, which for months has claimed to be written by a lesbian Syrian-American living in Damascus, asserted that the entire saga was a hoax.
The post, which came days after an entry saying the blogger had been arrested, was signed by "Tom MacMaster" in Istanbul, Turkey.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Jelena Lecic ... the Croat living in London said the Gay Girl in Damascus blog was carrying a picture of her.
In it, the author says the narrative was fictional but insists it "created an important voice for issues I feel strongly about."
It says the author never expected so much attention.
It is not the first time a a blog has been exposed as an elaborate fiction. In 2004, the Plain Layne blog, purportedly the diary of a bisexual young woman, was revealed to be written by a man, Odin Soli.
A grab from Gay Girl in Damascus.
Additionally, from 1999 to 2001, Debbie Swanson convinced the world that she was a terminally ill teenager, Kaycee Nicole, who was stricken with leukemia. It was one of the most high profile cases of Munchausen by Internet, a disease where people feign serious illnesses online.
On Tuesday, a blog post on the Gay Girl in Damascus site, supposedly written by Amina Arraf's cousin, said she had been detained in Damascus after weeks on the run. The story unraveled quickly after a woman in Britain said the photos on the Facebook account of the blogger known as Amina were actually of her.
The author of the blog post on Sunday titled it Apology to readers but wrote "I do not believe that I have harmed anyone". There was no listing for MacMaster in Istanbul.
Stolen identity ... a grab from Jelena Lecic's Facebook page.
MacMaster, a 40-year-old American from Georgia, is a Middle East peace activist who has been studying for a masters degree at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is reportedly on vacation in Turkey with his girlfriend.
The Washington Post was able to track MacMaster down before he outed himself on the blog but he initially denied any connection to Arraf, saying if he were the "genius" who pulled it off he would write a book.
MacMaster when posing as Amina had given people postal addresses for Christmas cards which were registered in his name. He and Amina were on the same Yahoo message group about "alternate history" and frequently engaged each other in discussions about the Middle East.
Many biographical details about Amina that were published online also matched MacMaster's own life story. These are detailed in an extensive Washington Post article, which highlights MacMaster's deep knowledge of Syria and long affinity with the Middle East.
In the blog post purportedly by Arraf's cousin, Rania Ismail, it said Arraf was last seen on Monday being bundled into a car by three men in civilian clothes as she was on her way to meet someone at the activist Local Coordination Committees. Ismail said a friend accompanying her was nearby and saw what happened.
A reporter for The Associated Press, who maintained a month-long email correspondence with someone claiming to be Arraf, found the writer seemed very much like a woman in the midst of the violent change gripping Syria. The writer spoke about friends in Damascus, and outlined worries about her father and hopes for the future of her country.
In the emails, the person acknowledged fudging some details of escaping from Syrian security officials to protect herself and her family, and painted a harrowing picture of fleeing her home.
Jelena Lecic, the woman whose photos were linked to Arraf's Facebook profile, said the London woman first learned her likeness was being used when it was linked to an article about Arraf in the Guardian newspaper, her spokesman has said.
The spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lecic, a Croatian woman working as an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians in London, reportedly had her identity stolen about a year ago. MacMaster had been circulating photographs of her to people asking for pictures of Arraf.
On the blog, Arraf was known for frank posts about her sexuality and open criticism of President Bashar al-Assad's autocratic rule.
In February, an American blogger named Paula Brooks began communicating with Arraf via email but became suspicious when her IP address was traced back to Edinburgh in Scotland.
Arraf sent Brooks a photo of herself that matches the photos Lecic claims were taken from her Facebook page.
She told Brooks that her IP traced back to Scotland because she used a proxy to hide her identity. However, an email Arraf sent to Brooks discussing plans to study in Britain led her to suspect Arraf might have been blogging from the University of Edinburgh all along.
Media scoured records for confirmation that Arraf existed and also attempted to confirm biographical information found in her blog, but came up empty. No one, including the US State Department, was able to confirm her arrest.
NPR reporter Andy Carvin said he had spoken to a number of people who claimed to have met or interviewed Arraf but found that nobody had even met her in person or spoken to her on the phone. Even a purported girlfriend in Canada said she had only had a text-based relationship with Arraf.
Arraf's Canadian friend, Sandra Bagaria, who started a campaign to have Arraf released, was last week dismayed at suggestions she may have been deceived or that her Syrian friend might have been using a false identity.
''I don't know. I really can't tell. I would love to tell you I know," she said.
"I just want it to be clarified, and then I will deal with what I should and should not feel. But for now I just want it to be a little more clear."
- with AP
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Learn to Trade CFDswww.GFT.com.au
5 Easy Steps to CFD Trading. Free Practice Account Included. GFT
Tours of KenyaBenchInternational.com.au
Exclusive Kenya adventure tours. Travel with the Kenya experts
Start Repairing Your BodyQuitnow.info.au
The day you stop smoking your body starts to repair itself
Comments
2 comments so far
See how the media jumps onto unverified, made up rubbish posing as news? The days of "journalists" actually researching stories are long gone, Signed by Berkel, a bisexual, pot smoking parrot in detention on Xmas island
Shemp | melbourne - June 13, 2011, 9:20AM
This man, Tom, claims he hasn't hurt anyone and says he created this blog for Syria. What a crock, why then did he have dating site profiles up with the photos of jelena? Why did he create a relationship with a woman in Montreal? He wasn't blogging for Syria, he was blogging to live out a lesbian fantasy. He'll be doing an interview soon and I hope the interviewer asks the hard questions and doesn't let him get away with saying "I did it all for Syria".
Juno. - June 13, 2011, 9:30AM
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/gay-girl-in-damascus-is-a-man-called-tom-20110613-1fzmw.html#ixzz1P6nNjDJz
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