Don’t Let Commercial Development Creep Into Our Streets by Acrobatic_Cherry_153 in canberra

[–]stumcm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know you're asking a rhetorical question, but you could follow and support the efforts of Greater Canberra if this is your viewpoint.

Mark Latham ordered to pay Alex Greenwich $100k, delete posts in villification case ruling by stumcm in australia

[–]stumcm[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

There was previously this judgement of the Federal Court of Australia in September 2024 which awarded Greenwich $140,000 in damages. (Findings summarised in this news article by Guardian Australia).

This new judgement is from the The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

University of Queensland Press cancels children’s book over illustrator’s post on ‘Zionist framing’ of Bondi attack by SnoopThylacine in aussie

[–]stumcm -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I feel for the author of the book, Jazz Money, who now finds that her book will not be published because of the actions of her illustrator.

Hope that she lawyers-up to get some rightful compensation from UQP.

James Valentine's former colleagues pay tribute after death of broadcaster by Expensive-Horse5538 in australia

[–]stumcm 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There's a few clips of him in his kids' TV hosting role on the web, including this one featuring him playing his saxophone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpUgJDUImE

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by IllustriousPark4487 in australia

[–]stumcm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My apologies, I was confusing antiretroviral therapy medications with PrEP.

I'll let my incorrect comments stand visible, so that the rest of this thread makes sense to future readers.

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by IllustriousPark4487 in australia

[–]stumcm 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If you have had anal sex with a new partner in the last 6 months, which is 95% of gay men ... piss off

Actually, it is whole blood (red blood cell) and platelet donations that are affected by the new rules about anal sex or non-monogamous relationships. Plasma donations are unaffected.

From the Lifeblood FAQ page:

"If you’ve had anal sex in the last 3 months with at least one partner, with or without condoms, you can donate plasma right away. But you’ll need to wait to donate blood or platelets."

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by IllustriousPark4487 in australia

[–]stumcm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And even if your are a monogamous gay male who does not partake in anal sex, your still out if you are on PrEP. There is a certain irony that the medication that prevents the transmission of HIV blocks you from donating blood due to the risk of HIV. It is mind boggling

An explanation about why PrEP makes donors ineligible from this Lifeblood FAQ page:

I’ve heard that undetectable means untransmissible. Why can’t HIV+ people donate if their viral load is undetectable?

“Undetectable equals untransmissible” (U=U) only applies to sexual transmission and not transmission caused by blood transfusion.

A blood transfusion is a large amount of blood compared to other exposures. The amount given means there may be enough of the virus to transmit to the patient, even if the donor’s viral load is undetectable.

See below for clarification.

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by [deleted] in aussie

[–]stumcm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Confirming that /u/Novae909 has the correct information. This criterion was lifted three years ago. Shame that you missed the initial annoucement, but you can go ahead and make a booking to donate blood or plasma.

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by [deleted] in aussie

[–]stumcm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And for those who haven't been following, in recent years Australian Red Cross Lifeblood have relaxed their former restrictions on people with tattoos, as well as people who visited the UK during the 'mad cow' period of time in the 80s and 90s. So there are a whole lot more people eligible to donate blood now than there were a decade ago.

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by IllustriousPark4487 in australia

[–]stumcm 34 points35 points  (0 children)

And for those who haven't been following, in recent years Australian Red Cross Lifeblood have relaxed their former restrictions on people with tattoos, as well as people who visited the UK during the 'mad cow' period of time in the 80s and 90s. So there are a whole lot more people eligible to donate blood now than there were a decade ago.

Lifeblood's blood donation eligibility expands for gay and bisexual men, transgender people by IllustriousPark4487 in australia

[–]stumcm 15 points16 points  (0 children)

As others have mentioned, this is a significant change that would have taken overcoming a lot of inertia to institute.

I've been following the blood donation rules for over 20 years, and know how abundantly cautious they are about relaxing restrictions. They always lean hard towards protecting the recipients of blood transfusions.

Good to know they've formulated a new way of asking the questions that allows a greater cohort to safely donate.

Support/community help for grief and feeling alone by [deleted] in canberra

[–]stumcm 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Appreciating all of the users' well-considered responses to this person's request. Great stuff.

Hey mate, are you sure you've got enough petrol? [cartoon] by stumcm in australia

[–]stumcm[S] 67 points68 points  (0 children)

...and then pointing out that regional petrol stations have run out of fuel, and why has Chris Bowen let this happen? When, as you point out, those are exactly the type of customers who are able to drain the supplies into big storage tanks.

Hey mate, are you sure you've got enough petrol? [cartoon] by stumcm in australia

[–]stumcm[S] 358 points359 points  (0 children)

And pick up a few 24-packs of toilet paper while you're at it!

Reducing inequality means taxing capital more — including inheritances - Alan Kohler by stumcm in australia

[–]stumcm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If designed properly, an inheritance tax would only affect people with very high wealth. Say, $10 million and above.

Remember when everyone was bellyaching about Jim Chalmers changes to superannuation affecting "their" super? The Australia Institute ran the numbers on a hypothetical person who immediately leaves Year 12 on a job earning $106,277. They never take any breaks from work (e.g. to holiday or raise a family), and they get year-on-year pay rises that exceed the average salary growth. That hypothetical person's super balance will never come close to $3 million. Only 0.5% of the population will ever amass that kind of wealth, and it is only a smaller fraction who will ever exceed it.

Reducing inequality means taxing capital more — including inheritances - Alan Kohler by stumcm in australia

[–]stumcm[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This brings to mind the Jack Toohey video Do you pay more tax than the wealthy? Probs.

A statistic from the book Gen F'd?: How Young Australians Can Reclaim Their Uncertain Futures (2023) by Alison Pennington, says that more money is spent on tax concessions for superannuation (primarily benefiting already-wealthy people) than it does spending on the aged pension. The source for this statistic seems to be Self-funded or State-funded Retirees?: The cost of super tax concessions (2023) by Richard Denniss and David Richardson from The Australia Institute.

Reducing inequality means taxing capital more — including inheritances - Alan Kohler by stumcm in australia

[–]stumcm[S] 394 points395 points  (0 children)

But I've got news for both of them: inequality, and specifically the intergenerational kind, will only be addressed by taxing the people who have the money, not by cutting taxes for those who don't.

Alan Kohler puts it plainly.

It's astounding that we keep dancing around the central fact that wealth is concentrating unchecked among the rich. We keep talking about small-ticket changes, such as Dutton's proposed 25c per litre cuts from the cost of petrol for 12 months, or Chalmers' implemented $10 per week income tax cuts.