Dear M residents,

We have a big Sunday coming up!!

Come play touch footy in the afternoon and show the other colleges what we’re made of.

We have both female and male teams so girls you can come along too.

Come and cheer us on, we will meet at Eastside mailboxes at 1.30pm and walk down to the fields at the end of C Rd together.

In the evening we are showing MAD MAX – Beyond the Thunder Dome at 8pm

Come enjoy the outdoor cinema experience – popcorn included!

DID YOU HEAR THAT GIRLS???? YOU CAN COME ALONG TOO. We remembered that you exist and that you can play sport also! You should be grateful that we thought of you- never mind that you were an afterthought! And never mind that we infantalised you!

As you can probably tell, this is exactly how I am going to spend my day tomorrow!

From my Property in Law and Equity I text:

There is nothing which so generally strikes the imagination and engages the affections of mankind[sic!], as the right of property; or that sole and despotic dominion which one man[sic!] claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individuals in the universe.

-William Blackstone, Commentaries Bk 2

And…

It is not surprising that the fiction that land granted by the Crown had been beneficially owned by the Crown was translated to the colonies and that Crown grants should be seen as the foundation of the doctrine of tenure which is an essential principle of our land law. It is far too late in the day to contemplate an allodial or other system of land ownership. Land in Australia which has been granted by the Crown is held on a tenure of some kind and the titles acquired under the accepted land law cannot be disturbed.

- Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) 175 CLR 1, 49 (Brennan CJ)

And from my Health Law and Ethics course…

We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens [sic!] for their lives. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those concerned, in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence [sic sic sic!]. It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes.

- Holmes J in all his eugenicist, abelist glory, re: why the state should permit the sterilisation of Kerry Buck ( an intellectually dys-abled woman who is described as “feeble minded; the mother of an illegitimate feeble minded child”); Buck v. Bell 274 U.S. 200 (1927), 207

In Ethics and Law for the Health Professions, I get to learn about the gross ways in which dudes have exploited the trust and vulnerability of women by lying to them about their identity, and/or making them think raping them was part of ‘standard’ medical procedure:

There have been a series of criminal cases where courts have found that there has been no understanding of the nature of the act performed, including:

- a girl who has sexual intercourse [sic!] with a doctor, wrongly believing it was a medical procedure ( R v Case (1850) 4 Cox CC 220):

- a girl who agreed to have sexual intercourse [sic!] with a man wrongly believing him to be a doctor and it to be treatment      ( R v Harms (1944) 2 DLR 61 ( Sask CA));

- A woman who agreed to sexual intercourse [sic!] with the defendant in the belief ( wrongly) that he was medically qualified and that he was treating her ( R v Flattery(1877) 2 QBD 410(CCCR));

- A woman who agreed to an intimate examination by the defendant believing ( wrongly) that he was a doctor and she was receiving treatment ( R v Maurantonio (1967) 65 DLR (2d) 674 (Ont CA);

- A woman who consented to her breasts being fondled by a man who deceived her into thinking he was conducting a medical examination ( R v Linekar [1995] 2 HFC 599).

Ian Kerridge, Michael Lowe and Cameron Stewart, Ethics and Law for the Health Professions ( 3rd ed, 2009) 297

More quotations to come!

Click to enlarge

Apparently the seller assures that it’s a “very good book” ( emphasis added) though, so maybe it’s worth the AU $1000+ they’re asking for it? Y/N?

Hmmm, I never cease to be amazed how some people spend their waking hours

‘Crime lord’s’ fake penis falls off in raid

• From: AFP
• January 10, 2010 8:17PM

SOUTH African police caught more than they expected in a Cape Town drug raid when a strap-on dildo fell off a suspected crime lord during a search, the Sunday Times reported.

Fat Murphy, feared on the streets of Cape Town’s notorious Cape Flats suburb, told a court that he is a hermaphrodite who holds male and female identity documents – one under the name Fadwaan, the other under Hilary.

Police and a tearful Murphy recounted the saga during a bail hearing for Murphy’s charges of possession of stolen property, which come on top of earlier charges of kidnapping and intimidation, the paper said.

“I had a vagina that could not be penetrated. But I also had male organs, testes. But I always knew I was really a man and that was what I wanted to be,” he told the court, according to the newspaper.

“God created me with both sexual organs. It was God’s decision, not mine.”

Murphy has been married twice – his second wife’s name is tattooed on his arm. He said received his male identity documents after undergoing surgery to remove his female organs when he was in his teens, the paper said.

Police say Murphy offered them $1300 not to search him during the raid.

Police said they were investigating how Murphy obtained his male identity documents, saying they found no records of him undergoing sex change surgery.

Murphy was released on $43 bail.

Ok. So it is supposed to be an article about how a dude is on charges for possession of stolen property, as well earlier charges for kidnapping and intimidation. Instead, the writer manages to make it an article about the ‘genesis’ of Mr Murphy’s gender ‘identity’, ‘exposing’ parts of his life that really aren’t anyone else’s business.

Let’s break it down:

- the author begins the article with what is supposed to be a really amusing pun for all da cis people to chortle at, “South African police caught more than they expected in a Cape Town drug raid”

- the author then, by quoting Mr Murphy, gives the reader a detailed genitogentric account of Murphy’s gender ( again, apparently this is everybody’s business, as well as the court’s)

- the author then details how Mr Murphy has been married twice ( because we all know  being involved in heterosexual relationships proves you are a man, right?)

- we then learn that Mr Muphy didn’t want the police  conducting a personal search on him, and felt as though he had to offer a bribe to prevent this from happening

- the article finishes with the reader being  informed that, in South Africa, you must undergo sex change surgery if you want to be recognised as having a gender other than the one the doctor labeled you with at birth ( apparently if you are a pre-op male/female-or don’t ever intend to get surgery-or don’t want to identify as m/f- you *aren’t allowed* legal recognition as another gender! Great!)

So in articles like this one, there are common themes that piss me off. These include ( but are not limited to):

- the courts and much of the cis population (re)constructing narratives that gender nonconformist folk must tell in order to be recognised as their preferred gender

-reporters merely reporting on legal gatekeeping, rather than deconstructing it

- people believing they have the *right* to know ( hello cis privilege!) about gender nonconformist folk’s genitals

- Reporters making jokes/puns about trans and intersex folks’ genitals

- Reading about how the police just don’t seem to get (and/or perhaps aren’t sufficiently trained to understand) that some people really do feel uncomfortable, intimidated,scared and panicked about undergoing personal searches or being touched by others. This fear is often disproportionately felt by women, dys-abled folk, and those who identify as trans or intersex.

Search Terms for all days ending 2010-01-04 (Summarized)

Summarize: 7 days  30 days  Quarter  Year  All Time       

Search	Views
film harry potter 1	1
harry potter 6 film, ginny blowjob	1
“harry potter”+”girl at the diner”	1
oral sex harry potter ginny	1
ginny shoelace blowjob	1

Just a note: we don’t count your own visits to your blog.

Generated 2010-01-04 04:09:54 UTC

Hmmmm…so perhaps I should write some fanfic about Ginny performing fellatio on Harry? Or Ginny performing fellatio on herself? She would integrate a shoelace into the act somehow…. I’d probably be most inclined to write a scenario involving cunnilingus/fellatio/analingus being performed on Ginny by Hermoine, as opposed to Harry.

Anyway, to all those people out there who REALLY REALLY want to read about/watch Harry getting some, I give you this video. It is of a female Cynopterus sphinx short-nosed fruitbat, performing oral sex on her partner during dorsoventral copulation. Turn the volume up, and enjoy!

I’ve been living in Sydney for the past three years, and over that time my little sister has gone from being 6 to 9. During this period, she has been growing up consuming predominantly heteronormative movies and books. My mum doesn’t talk to her about the  heterosexual themes in the books she reads, and doesn’t correct her when she repeats ableist/racist/homophobic jokes that she hears from the kids at school. I have a feeling that I am the only one that does this with her, which is quite depressing. I have spoken to my mum about, but there have been numerous occasions where she has just smirked at me, as though she thinks I’m becoming too PC.  My little sister h as a fascination with Twighlight, and still doesn’t understand why the books/movies are problematic ( I have explained what sexism is, why the Twighlight books are sexist, and yet she still reads them because ‘all the kids at school are reading/talking about them’).

All of this has been at the forefront of my mind when I’ve been looking for books for her for Christmas. I just finished reading Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai, which was quite good. It gave a good insight into the impact of ethnic conflict on people/communities in Sri Lanka, and the experiences of gay childhood/adolescence, however it had a problematic ‘sex’ scene in it that I don’t know if my little sister is ready for. After googling ‘gay and lesbian kid’s literature’, I got this site, which is quite good. But again, the meatier, more exciting looking books are for teens, not pre-teens. I’ve had my eye on a couple of books, which I think I’m just going to have to buy and read to see if they’re suitable. It’s a pity that the majority of them are not at my local or uni library, and when I went to Borders today none of them were in stock, so I couldn’t flip through them. In fact, out of three bookshops I went to today, none of the sales assistants knew of, or could recommend, any LGBTQI ( I had to explain what this acronym meant to all of them)literature for children within the  8-12 age bracket. Yeah, there is something wrong there.

So, after a lot of umming and ahhing, I have decided on some books that I am just going to have to buy and read, and we’ll see how it goes from there:

- The House You Pass Along the Way, Jacqueline Woodson

- Hard Love, Ellen Wittlinger

- Keesha’s House, Helen Frost

- ‘democracy’ does not feed people

-  ‘post-colonialism’ has enormous symbolic capital, but does very little to explain current political, social and economic issues in Africa . It is a form of linguistic violence, suppressing narratives of economic crises, civil war, rape, poverty, homophobia, institutionalised patriarchy, and, inter alia, lost intergenerational knowledge transfer.

- GDP growth is too often conflated with pro-poor growth, when they are in fact two different things (yes, to an extent they are interdependent, but they are not reducible to one another)

- grassroots organizations should not be underestimated

- Huntington’s take on Africa in Clash of Civilisations= potential depressive episode, as well as need for cheesecake yogurt

So that is obviously not all I learnt, but it is a *brief* summary. For anyone who’s interested, or is doing an essay on this in the future, I’ve also included a paper I wrote for the course below. It was on politics in Uganda, and we basically had to choose three big issues and write about them. As follows:

Three primary issues in Uganda at present are the prevalence of poverty, civil unrest and the prevalence of neopatrimonial politics in government. Whereas economic growth in Uganda was more broad-based during the 1990s, in recent years it has exacerbated income inequality. To deal with this issue, more attention needs to be paid to the developmentalist model of pro-poor growth. Whilst civil unrest in Uganda has reportedly been decreasing over the years, the humanitarian issues created by rebel activities (and the government, in dealing with them) are significant, and worthy of examination. Uganda’s neopatrimonial politics are also of concern, due to the corruption and lack of governmental transparency that it has caused. The culture of greed and loyalty based politics surrounding neopatrimonialism is something which is heavily ingrained in Uganda, and larger institutional change needs to occur for it to be effectively dealt with.

Poverty

In 2005, 52 per cent of the Ugandan population were living below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day (UNICEF 2005: Internet). Despite this, reports by the international community have a  tendency  to characterise Uganda as one of the ‘success’ stories of international aid (OECD 2005: Internet, 3). Such characterisations tend to draw on Uganda’s relative macroeconomic success, for example in lowering inflation and increasing economic growth.The improvements in economic growth are notable, given that in 1990 economic growth stood at 4.5 per cent, and in 2007 it was 8.6 per cent- almost doubling in size (CIA 2009: Internet).  However, there have been criticisms that Uganda’s Poverty Eradication Plan, introduced in 1997 and made into a PRSP in 2004, focuses too much on macroeconomic stability at the expense of poverty reduction (Hickey, 2005:1003).  The previously held assumption that increases in economic growth will trickle down to the poorest in society has largely been negatived in the case of Uganda, where income inequality and poverty has predominantly increased over the past decade or so (Hickey, 2005: 997). In 1992, the Gini Coefficient stood at 0.36, but rose to 0.43 in 2002/3 (IMF 2005: Internet, 13).Although it decreased to 0.408 in 2005/6, the figures clearly demonstrate that income inequality is worse today in Uganda than it was in the early 1990s, despite considerable economic growth over this period.

In a geographical sense, poverty is disproportionately experienced by Ugandans living in rural areas (91.9 per cent of the chronic poor), and the conflict effected North (30.1 per of the chronic poor) (Hickey, 2005: 997). In 2002/3 the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line was 22 per cent in central Uganda, but this figure almost tripled to 63 per cent for those living in the Northern district (Nannyonjo,2004: Internet, 9). Rebel activities have been associated with fatalities, abductions, the displacement of people, and widespread insecurity, which has contributed to the creation of an environment conducive of poverty (Hickey 2005:997).

In Uganda, there are wider issues with the way the poverty stricken are at times treated with derision by the government. Academic John Hickey argues that Ugandan political elites have a tendency to, ‘make a close association between long-term poverty and a failure to be ‘‘economically active.’’’  He also claims that the ‘idle peasant’ archetype is a commonly used by the ruling elite. In a presidential speech in 2004, Museveni claimed that many Ugandans involved in the agricultural economy, ‘are stepping on top of each other and not doing anything useful’(Hickey, 2005:1002).

Additionally, there has been evidence to suggest that the poorest people are not necessarily the indended targets of poverty reduction schemes. In discussing the government’s Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture (PMA), one of the architects of the program stated;

‘the poorest are deficient [sic] in agricultural assets, which brings into question whether or not the PMA will make any difference to the poorest. . . we envisaged that after initial successes with commercialization the poorest would provide labor on maize farms and agro-processing factories. But this was as a wish statement’ (Architect of PMA, 2002 as quoted by Hickey, 2005:1002).

The stereotyping and blaming that occurs by the elite when addressing poverty, is not only ethically problematic (due to the classism inherent in the two statements given above), but also unproductive. It diverts energy and resources away from effectively dealing with poverty issues, whilst obscuring the complexity of long term poverty.

It has been argued that one of the reasons why economic growth in Uganda is not broad-based is that the importance of pro-poor growth has been under-recognised. Kappel, Lay and Steiner state that in order for growth to be pro-poor, emphasis needs to be placed on agricultural, non-farm and informal sectors,  as opposed to primarily focussing on industrial sectors (Kappel, Lay and Steiner,2004: Internet,3). They state that pro-poor growth is land and labour intensive, and is focussed on localities with high rates of poverty. In order for developing countries to reap the benefits of broad-based growth, income needs to be redistributed to the poor through progressive taxation, and targeted government expenditure (Kappel, Lay and Steiner,2004: Internet,3). In Uganda, the agricultural sector employs around 70 per cent of the workforce, and yet over the past ten years government spending on agriculture has been decreasing (Byaruhanga 2009:Internet). Further in 1992/3, the agricultural sector accounted for 48 per cent of GDP, whereas in 2002/3 this dropped to 38 per cent (Kappel, Lay and Steiner 2004:Internet, 12). Increased government spending on agriculture  is needed to address problems such as inefficient farming practices, a misled dependence on rain-fed-agriculture, inefficient distribution channels and planning mismanagement (Byaruhanga 2009:Internet). It also needs to be recognised that not all members of the population will have the resources or capacity to engage in intensive agricultural production, and as such the importance of non-commercial farming and informal sectors needs to be recognised, and given adequate financial support.

It is also necessary to recognise the effect of Uganda’s high birth rate on the perpetuation of poverty. Uganda has the third highest birthrate in the world, with 6.77 children born per woman (CIA 2009: Internet). The maternal mortality rate is considerable also, and it has been estimated it could be as high as 1, 200 per 100, 000 live births (Okuonzi, 2004: 1635). The high fertility rate,  combined with population mobility and the adoption of Western nuclear family structures , has contributed to Uganda’s 2·5 million orphans and other helpless children, who make up a tenth of the entire population(Okuonzi, 2004: 1635). Uganda’s high fertility rates and population growth have been identified as key setbacks to poverty reduction, due to increased human demand for already scarce resources. In order to deal with high fertility rates, and the associated problem of poverty, the government needs to provide better quality and more available reproductive health services, rather than just rely on fragmented humanitarian aid to deal with these issues.

Civil Unrest

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was formed in 1987, as means of rebellion against the government. It operates predominantly in Northern Uganda, but also parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) and Sudan (Doom and Vlassenroot, 1999:6). Although it has been waning in strength and numbers over the years, it still elicits attention, given the long term sociopolitical effects of its influence on many Ugandans.

There are various humanitarian issues associated with the war. It has been estimated that more than 1.4 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict(USAID 2003: Internet). HIV prevalence is said to be higher in conflict areas than the rest of Uganda. The abduction of children by the LRA, and the associated child soldier and sex slavery that has resulted, has been said to have a demoralising effect on past and present  communal consciousness(USAID 2003: Internet). More generally, academic Klaus Deininger has stated that civil conflict disrupts core social institutions (Deininger, 2003:582). He states that civil war promotes the undermining of institutions such as the police, and also property rights. The naturalisation of violence and crime in the community has negative effects on public morale. Deininger also states that civil conflict creates a less welcoming environment for capital investment, which is precisely the thing which could help rebuild communities in conflict effected areas (Deininger 2003:585).

In 2003, USAID reported that the conflict and  insecurity in Northern Uganda resulted in more than  $100 million being lost per year in production (USAID 2003:Internet). Another problem with Uganda’s history of civil war is the tendency of government to divert public expenditure away from other output-enhancing which could improve civil life.

In 2003, The Ugandan government announced that it was going to cut expenditure on various government ministries and departments and re-allocate more funds to the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) (Akugizibwe, 2008: Internet). For the 2008/9 budget, the government plans to spend around the same amount on security (from Shs443.2b to Shs453.2b), as it does on health (Shs428.3b to Shs480.5b) (Akugizibwe, 2008: Internet). Such a focus on security stands in marked contrast to other areas of spending, such as justice/law and order (Shs234.6b to Shs242.2b) and agriculture (Shs116.8b to Shs239.2b), both of which have potential to improve civil society.

In the past, the Ugandan government has offered amnesty to those involved in the LRA, as a means of encouraging their retirement from rebel activites, and bringing about peace in the effected regions. In 2004 the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the head of the LRA, Joseph Kony. Kony has responded to the warrant by saying he will not come forward unless he is granted immunity from the charges (Burke-White,2008:Internet). Further, there is a popular conception that ending the civil conflict involves choosing between the competing goals of  peace and justice(Burke-White,2008:Internet). On one hand, there is the argument that prosecuting Kony will promote public accountability and strengthen the image of the legal system. However, on the other hand there is public interest in ending the conflict as expediently as possible, and bringing about peace in the region. It has been suggested that means of dealing with the conflict include the strengthening of local government, a more efficient utilisation of pre-existing police budgets and forces, and the continuance of and investment in schemes which provide support for those effected by the conflict (Deininger 2003:589).. In 2003, USAID created a Displaced Children and Orphans Fund, which provides for counselling and vocational training for former child soldiers, abductees, women and the internally displaced ( USAID 2003:Internet).  It has also created a Victims of Torture Fund, which supports the rehabilitation and reintegration of adults and children harmed by the rebel forces back into society. Schemes such as this, as well as movements to bring about peace in the region, are necessary to deal with the past and present effects of civil war on the population.

Government

Uganda was a virtual one-party state between 1986 and 2005. During this period, opposition parties were allowed to exist, but under severe restrictions, which prevented them from presenting a considerable challenge to Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) (Tangri and Mwenda, 2008:180). An indication of Museveni’s power was in 2004-5, when he pushed through Parliament amendments to the constitution, including one which changed the law to allow him to run for another term (in preparation for the 2006 election) (Tangri and Mwenda, 2008:180).

In his article, Staying Poor: Exploring the Political Space for Poverty Reduction in Uganda, John Hickey asserts that excessive presidentialism, neopatrimonialism and corruption still characterise Uganda’s political landscape (Hickey, 2005:798). Simply put, Patrimonialism refers to a political system where members of government are instated in return for political support, loyalty and service that coincides with the ruler’s aims (Gordon, 2002:77). Under a patrimonial system, a ruler comes to personify the state, and is not only a key political figure, but also a key military and cultural representative (Sandbrook, 1985 as quoted by Gordon, 2007:77). Another feature is that the ruler may instate family members, or ethnic kinsmen/women, to leading government positions.  ‘The purpose of these personalised appointments is to make every office holder feel personally grateful and loyal to the person of the President, instead of the institution of the State’ (Mwenda, 2006 as quoted by Tangri and Mwenda, 2008: 182). Neopatrimonialism is a ‘modern’ form of the traditional patrimonial rule, and is a mixed system. Here, elements of patrimonial and rational-bureaucratic rule can exist together, in an interwoven state (Erdmann and Engel, 2006: Internet, 9).

In Uganda, Museveni has been marked out for his neopatrimonial ruling style (Hickey 2005:793). Museveni’s wife was appointed as a state minister for Karamoja, his brother is a former minister for micro finance, and his brother-in-law has been appointed as minister for current affairs (The Independent, 2009:Internet). There is also evidence of Museveni’s patrimony in the military, where 74 per cent of the top 23 command positions in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), are occupied by officers from Museveni’s western region.  The president also has influence in the business/economic sphere, where some of his relatives and in-laws are well placed. One of the most prominent is Hannington Karuhanga, a chairman of Stanbic Bank and chairman of UGACOF, a leading coffee exporting company(The Independent, 2009:Internet).

There are various sociopolitical issues associated with neopatrimonial rule, including a stifling of democratic participation, governmental arbitrariness, nepotism, political favouritism and corruption. Political academic John Hickey argues that the effect of political arbitrariness on civil society in Uganda is significant (Hickey, 2005:798). He gives an example from early 2000, when at the last minute Museveni withdrew the ‘co-ownership’ clause placed in The Land Act, which was supposed to address gendered poverty issues in Uganda (Hickey, 2005:798). The clause was of particular relevance to improving women’s livelihood, given the tendency of widowed females to enter long-term poverty traps, as a result of the asset stripping following the death of their husbands (Hickey, 2005:798). Hickey also draws links between neopatrimonialism and a lack of proper democratic participation in Uganda. He states that a large number of the chronically poor, including the landless, people with mental dys-abilities and the elderly do not receive poverty quotas, whereas groups such as the army and workers, do ( Hickey, 2005:798).

On the point of corruption, in 2005 the World Bank estimated that Uganda on average lost US$300m per year as a result of political sycophancy. In 2007, Uganda’s Transparency International Index placed it 111^th out of 180 countries, however this worsened in 2008, when it ranked 126^th out of 180 countries (Olanyo, 2008:Internet). In the survey section of the Ugandan Self-Assessment Report 2005, almost half of the respondents reported that bribes were more frequently demanded at the time of the survey than five years ago (Olupot 2008: Internet). The report stated, ‘corruption…has adversely impacted on the effectiveness of services meant to improve the quality of life, especially in health and education…It has additionally influenced death and poverty levels in Uganda’(Olupot, 2008: Internet). As can be seen, arbitrariness, a lack of proper democratic participation and corruption all have significant sociopolitical consequences for Ugandan’s population.

What needs to be institutionalised in Uganda is an effective system of checks and balances on arbitrary political power. There needs to be more accountability on the part of the government, and greater transparency in public policy. The fact that Museveni has changed the constitution to suit his own interests is reflective of an argument made by academic Sabiti Makara,  who claims that there is a class of political elite in Africa who believe that

the constitution and the people are there to serve the government, rather than it being the other way round ( Makara, 2009: 57). This institutionalised idea is something that needs to be changed.

There are various avenues through which such change is possible. Uganda has a free press, which has played a significant role in drawing attention to governmental corruption, and dissatisfaction with the government’s neopatrimonial culture. In terms of governmental change in the 2011 national elections, and whether it can bring about a transformation in governing culture, it has been stated that the opposition party to the National Resistance Movement(NRM) is not organised enough at present to be a viable contender(Makara, 2009: 58). Funding for parties attempting to run against the government has also been an issue, and the NRM has previously been accused of unfairly utilising state resources to advance their own political agenda. However, academic Sabiti Makara states that, ‘in societies such as Uganda where strongman tendencies have been the norm rather than an exception…the opposition parties will need to press for more transparency in public funding, electoral reforms, and change in the attitudes of some of the state institution’(Makara, 2009:73).

Poverty,  civil unrest and the prevalence of neopatrimonial politics in  Uganda are all important issues that pose challenges to Uganda’s development . In terms of poverty, the government needs to adopt a more empathetic approach to income inequality and long term poverty problems, whilst more seriously examine the merits of pro-poor growth. Ending the civil unrest in Uganda is said to involve a tension between peace and justice, and although Joseph Kony should face prosecution by the ICC, this is problematic if it means the conflict will be drawn out further. Finally, in order to challenge neopatrimonial politics in Uganda, there needs to be larger institutional change. A new government (whether or not this is likely), and the influence of the free press are possible means through which this can occur.

Reference List

Burke-White, W. 2008. Peace v Justice in Uganda. http://www.foreignpolicydigest.org/20080604103/Regional-Archive/Africa-Archive/special-report-peace-vs-justice-in-uganda.html. Accessed 25/10/09.

Byaruhanga,C. 2009. Uganda: Increase spending in Agriculture to Increase Prosperity. http://allafrica.com/stories/200911090742.html. Accessed: 27/10/09.

Central Intelligence Agency(CIA). 2009.  World Factbook-Uganda. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html.

Accessed: 29/10/09

Deininger,K., 2003. ‘Causes and consequences of civil strife: micro-level evidence from Uganda’ Oxford Economic Papers, Vol.55 (4).

Doom, R. and Vlassenroot,K., 1999. ‘Kony’s message: a new koine? The Lord’s

Resistance Army in Northern Uganda’ African Affairs, Vol. 98(390).

Ermann,G., and Engel,U. 2006. Neopatrimonialism Revisited – Beyond a Catch-All Concept. http://repec.giga-hamburg.de/pdf/giga_06_wp16_erdmann-engel.pdf. Accessed: 1/10/09.

Gordon,D.,2007. ‘African Politics’, in A. Gordon and D. Gordon (eds.), Understanding Contemporary Africa. Lynne Reiner Publishers, Colorado.

Hickey, S., 2005. ‘Staying Poor: Exploring the Political Space for Poverty Reduction in Uganda’ World Development, Vol.33(6).

International Monetary Fund(IMF).2005.Uganda- Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7SQxmhm-KDoC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false.  Accessed: 29/10/09.

Kappel,R., Lay,J. and Steiner,S. 2004. The Missing Links Uganda’s Economic Reforms and Pro-Poor Growth. http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/Research_Units/DPRU/DPRU-Conference2004/Papers/Robert_Kappel-The_Missing_Links.pdf . Accessed: 26/10/09

Makara, S. 2009. Does multiparty politics have a future? http://www.ifra-nairobi.net/resources/cahiers/Cahier_41/3Makara.pdf. Accessed 27/10/09.

Nannyonjo,J. 2004. Conflicts, Poverty and Human Development in Northern Uganda. http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/research-papers/2005/en_GB/rp2005-47/_files/78091760398042569/default/rp2005-47.pdf. Accessed 29/10/09.

Okunzi, S.A., 2004. ‘Dying for economic growth? Evidence of a flawed economic policy in Uganda’ The Lancet, Vol.364(9445).

Olanyo, J., 2008. Uganda: Corruption Derails MDGs in Poor Countries. http://allafrica.com/stories/200809260080.html. Accessed 28/10/09.

Olupot, 2008. Uganda: corruption Costs Sh500b a Year. http://allafrica.com/stories/200801220042.html. Accessed 27/10/09.

Tangri, R. and Mwenda, A., 2008. ‘Elite Corruption and Politics in Uganda’ Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol. 46(2).

The Independent. 2009. Family Rule in Uganda. http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php/cover-story/cover-story/690-family-rule-in-uganda-?showall=1. Accessed 26/10/09.

UNICEF. 2005. Uganda-Statistics. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_statistics.html. Accessed: 30/10/09.

- to check for Femplay product updates

- to read about how ‘Web Administrator’ will increase the size of my inbox if I give them my account username and password

- to find out that I have inherited $2 million from the will of an estranged relative of mine living in the US

- to determine methods to enhance and maintain my erection during sex with my girlfriend.

What I love about some spam mail is the way it makes assumptions about: a) my gender, b) the kind of sex that  I have, and c)the fact that I could not see impotency as anything other than an inhibitor to ‘proper’ sexual gratification.

This spam ad particularly annoys me:

.Find out how to- absolute*ly satisfy your. girlfri*end

Gary Gordon to me

Erectile dysfunction(ED) or (male) impotence is a sexual dysfunction [sic] characterised by the inability [sic] to develop or maintain an erection of the penis. There are various underlying causes, such as cardiovascular leakage and diabetes, many of which are medically treatable.

3 different tablets are currently available from your doctor and these work when there is sexual stimulation. Depending on the treatment, it will need to be taken 20 minutes to 1 hour before sex, and the period of time over which it works can vary between 3 hours and up to 36 hours.

Viagra

Sildenafil 50/100 mg

$1.42 per pill More info

Yes. As a woman without a male partner, I have no idea how I’m supposed to respond to this.

Teaching kiddies about masturbation is good for a number of reasons- these being, inter alia:

- Non-reproductive, possibly non-het sex being recognised as  a valid(and important) form of sexual health

- kids realising that having a partner for sex is not compulsory

- the bodily pleasure/s of kids/teenagers is not merely secondary ( or an appendage to) to their intellectual/physical/social/emotional health.

…And it makes me think…….why can’t we do this in AU? What is inhibiting the move? Conservative politics? The influence of religious groups on proposed sex ed programs? Conservative parents? How do we get around this?

If we were to do this in AU, I would of course be for the expansion of the 14-17 year age bracket, to include younger kids (who may benefit just as much from the info as 14-17 yos). I’d run a fine tooth comb through the ads/program to determine the level of heteronormative politics involved, and do something to widen this narrow focus. Additionally, the inclusion of comprehensive info on dys-abled sexualities would be critical.

In Spain they’ve also decriminalized abortion and allow gay marriage. Why can’t we do this too? :/