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Vegan Yum Yum Recipe Review (To Be Updated)
Hi all. I was surprised no one has started a Vegan Yum Yum recipe review thread...so I thought I'd start one myself. I've only made a few recipes so far...so I'll need help filling in the blanks. If you want to help, post your recipe reviews on the thread, and I'll add them to the master list.
Chapter One: Breakfast and Brunch
Blueberry Waffles with Lemon Icing:
Best blueberry waffles I've had. I think the key is using the blueberry yogurt. It really has a nice blueberry flavor. In the past most "blueberry" things were simply just not blueberry enough...however, these definitely had a great flavor and came out of the waffle iron perfectly. good enough to eat without syrup even. They also freeze and reheat well. Good recipe. (VeganSapien)
I have always been less than satisfied with blueberry flavored items, however, these were delicious! Very full of blueberry yummyness. (VeganSapien)
Breakfast Sandwiches:
These are insanely good! I used my food processor to make the biscuit dough so it'd go quicker. You definitely need a non-stick pan for the "eggs" and need to leave them alone until they get nice and brown on the bottom and the top looks a bit dry before you can flip them. I loved the flavor of the maple-soy tofu. Overall, this was a great breakfast sandwich and would make it again. (intheend)
A real hit! I had trouble keep the tofu eggs in shape and it takes a while to prepare, but it is definitely worth it. (haricot)
I made only the maple tofu part of this recipe to go on top of the biscuits from "Vegan Diner." It was okay. It was very easy/quick to make, which is nice, but the flavor wasn't very vibrant. Maybe it's better as a component of the entire breakfast sandwich. Would try again to judge it fairly. (JessaCita)
British Lemon Maple Scones with Clotted Cream:
The scones are delicious with the lemon zest, but the clotted cream was gross... I recommend replacing the cream with some tofutti cream cheese.(haricot)
Chard Florentine on Toast Points:
This is a VERY yummy cheese sauce. I like it best with the chard in it, but I've also used the sauce over steamed cauliflower and baked potatoes. Delicious! (kristinv)
Made this for my meat eating family and they loved it! The cheese sauce is delicious. (kbarnes)
Delicious! I love the cheese & the whole recipe was super easy, especially because I just chopped up some raw spinach & let it wilt in the hot cheese sauce (as suggested in the intro to the recipe). Not the healthiest dish in the world, but it was a yummy, quick dinner for a lazy Sunday night. (Oh, and I didn't need to add any salt other than the low-sodium tamari. I think it would have been too salty if I had.) (JessaCita)
Oh wow - this was amazing!! I let Andy pick what I made for dinner - and this was it (along with soup)...I used kale instead of chard, but otherwise, followed the recipe pretty exactly. The cheese sauce was kinda weird on its own, and I wasn't sure it was gonna be any good - but with the kale on the toast - somehow it became spectacular!! I want to make this for the next gathering I have at my house!! (erinmonster)
Amazing! I've made it three times so far and we love it. I found the cheezy sauce too salty and I just omit the 3 tbsp of tamari now. (haricot)
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread:
Great. It is easy to make and absolutely delicious. It tastes like pastry.(haricot)
Lemon Cranberry Muffins:
These were good but I would probably not add the almond flavoring next time. They stayed fresh for a whole week! (kbarnes)
Quite good, but I would omit the almond extract next time. The taste was too strong.(haricot)
Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake:
Excellent, but it feels more like you are eating dessert and not breakfast. Good way to use up rhubarb and strawberries while they are in season. Would make this again, but occasionally, since it definitely isn't healthy. (haricot)
Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast:
Tofu Scramble with Seitan Sausage:
I loved the seitan - but didn't really care for the rest of the dish. It was a weird combination of things. The black beans were out of place for me - I wanted it to me mexican-ish, but it wasn't...I added some sour cream and that helped a little, but still not great. (erinmonster)
I made this but added other seasonings like fennel and crushed red pepper. The seasonings listed did not seem to be enought. It came out sort of bready, but fried up it was pretty good. I just can't picture sausage without fennel! I used it in a tofu scramble and on pizza. I would like it to be more moist. I may have overcooked it (I used a toaster oven and it cooks quickly). (little2ant)
Very good. I like how tofu is mixed with seitan and black beans. (haricot)
O.K. Not too bad. I used the smoky seitan from Vegan Diner that I had frozen the other day, since they were similar. (tweety)
Weekend Pancakes Made Easy:
Very easy to make, I eat these almost every weekend. When I make them for my niece I add banana and chocolate chips! Yummy! (kbarnes)
I tried the 'Weekend Pakcakes' because I was really missing pancakes. The picture in the book looked so good, anyway. I'd never used spelt flour before, but I think that was my favorite part. Very easy to make (I actually made these while making some taboulleh for the next day, so easy to multi-task with these). I'd also never had 100% maple syrup before (I was raised on Eggo and Mrs Butterworth, I am afraid...), and it was FANTASTIC. My omni fiance and my dog loved them, too. Thinking of doing the recipe again this weekend. (suprgrrljes)
Fantastic! It's my go-to recipe. (haricot)
Chapter Two: Main Dishes
Aloo Matar:
Broccoli Almond Sweet-and-Sour Tofu:
This recipe rocks! The sauce is so good that I usually double the amount. I've made this multiple times and its always good. (icephrosty)
This is such win. It involved a good bit of running around from thing to thing - I called in reinforcements to help - but the sweet-and-sour sauce is freaking fantastic and the tofu was perfect. I'm sad that it wasn't as gorgeous as the picture, but despite being slightly less presentable this was amazingly delicious. My omni sister gave an enthusiastic thumbs up! (tinylightsbelow)
I thought this was pretty good, but my husband & preschooler loved it. I think my problem was the ketchup in the sauce. I don't know why it bothered me, but it did. I did, however, love the almonds. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Caramelized Leek and Spaghetti Squash Polenta with White Sauce:
This is a great recipe. The polenta with the leek and the cooked squash inside is very good, and it for sure is an original way to eat spaghetti squash. And the sauce that goes with it is to die for, really... I ate it by the spoon, actually. (haricot)
Creamy Broccoli Mushroom Bake:
So the components of this kind of take a bit to prepare. The alfredo sauce has to be made, then the broccoli and and mushrooms need to be processed. This is all going on while the orzo is cooking. Then, you have to cook the broccoli and mushroom mixture. It's not a fast dish but when it comes together it is damn good. I would recommend this to people who own a Vitamix though because the sauce needs to be blended and ends up super creamy. (intheend)
Wonderful - I think this is my favorite recipe in this book so far....the way I made it at least....I had a ton of broccoli I needed to use, so I'm sure the ratios were off a little....and I made the alfredo sauce pretty strong - used a little more of everything, like nut yeast, soy sauce and tahini...added red pepper flakes to the bread crumbs, and sprinkled some daiya on top....but it was so delicious, even the left overs were wonderful! (erinmonster)
Not my favorite, it came out a bit dry and less casseroleish than I thout it'd be so it could've been that my expectations were just off. but no it was definitely dry. i might try making more sauce for it and adding daiya at the end too. (aggplanta)
Big, big hit. I thought it was pretty easy to make, and tasted fabulous. I didn't break out my food processor, just chopped the broccoli and mushrooms finely while the onions browned. My husband went back for seconds, thirds, and eventually just sat down with the casserole dish. My preschooler shoveled down his portion, too. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Surprisingly, I didn't like this at all. It was bland and the taste of garlic was very strong. But I don't think it would have been much better without the garlic. I forgot about the margarine in the sauce, maybe that's one reason why it didn't turn out any good. But I still wouldn't make it again. Had to cover it in ketchup to make it edible. Threw out the leftovers. (Eldsjäl)
Creamy Sweet Potato Bake:
this is really good, in a really weird way...the first couple of bites perplexed me - I wasn't sure if I liked it or not...but by the end, I was really enjoying it! I didn't really measure anything, but stuck to the ingredients pretty closely. I added a bunch of red pepper flakes to the top because I thought it needed them. I made mine super creamy - I'm not sure if my sweet potato to pasta ratio was right, but it was mostly sweet potato, which I liked. It was a little bit better as leftovers. My only complaint is that it was a little too sweet...maybe if I didn't add the nutmeg, it would have been more savory. (erinmonster)
I loved this. The seasoning is perfect. I omitted the kale though, can't get any fresh kale around here and I was afraid that frozen would ruin the whole thing. Some time I might try using spinach instead. (Eldsjäl)
Dal Makhni:
Quick, easy, filling. It's great as written, and I've added coconut milk, green chilies, and curry leaves with delicious results. It's equally good over rice or, thinned, as a soup. One quibble, though: if I had cooked my red lentils for 40 minutes as indicated, they would have burned horribly. Mine took less than 20 minutes. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
This is probably one of my favorite recipes in this book.. it's easy to do, and that taste of that stew/soup takes me to heaven. (haricot)
Delicata Squash Stuffed with Cherry-Almond Couscous:
Italian Rice and Beans:
not a fan....all of the ingredients sounded wonderful together, but it just didn't turn out very good....maybe it was the balsamic vinegar I didn't like, I dunno, but I wouldn't make it again. (erinmonster)
I liked the italian rice and beans very much also. (katzenfreund)
Marmalade Tofu with Kale and Lemon Pearl Couscous:
Excellent. I pretty much followed all of her suggestions except for the optional chili flakes, I used siracha. The baked tofu marinate was very good, but it dried up, but I drained my tofu very well. This didn't distract too much from the taste, but apparently when she cooks it there's leftover marinade to use as a glaze. The lemon pearl couscous was quite good. At first I was going to use rice but as I was browsing the health food store I noticed pearl whole wheat couscous was on sale. The kale cooked up nicely and was a good edition. This is a very well rounded meal that I enjoyed. (Tweety)
Pineapple Baked Tofu with Seared Pineapple Rings and Nutty Greens:
The best recipe I've tried so far. I literally told my husband not to be late coming home from work, or I would start eating without him, it was so enticing. All the components: tofu, greens, sauce, seared pineapple rings; were so delicious separately, and they harmonized beautifully. I seared all the pineapple rings in the can, and the extras were quickly snapped up by my husband & son. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
I really liked this! Considering how many pieces of the dish there were, it actually came together seamlessly. By the time the tofu had finished baking, the quinoa was ready, the pineapple rings were seared, the greens were stir-fried and the sauce reduced. I used fresh orange juice instead of pineapple juice, mainly because I used a whole (fresh) pineapple for my rings. Her directions are missing some steps because the peanut oil and Old Bay seasoning are listed as a divided ingredient but only in the directions once. I only used the first measurement. I substituted garam masala for Old Bay since the recipes online seemed so complex. Did not need the cornstarch to reduce the sauce. In fact, I felt like I needed more sauce! The tofu turned out to be quite moist with 20 minutes of baking in marinade, then the next 20 minutes of baking without the marinade didn't do much to firm it up. Served with quinoa instead of rice. I really liked the sauce with the seared pineapple rings. The kale was a bit lack-luster for me, but when you mixed all the components together, it worked really well! (blinknoodle)
Rainbow Rice and Beans:
Red and White Cauliflower Bake:
Wow! This stuff is sooooo good. My hubby and I made it for a potluck once and people were raving about it. Making the different layers is a little time-intensive but definitely worth it! (kristinv)
Red and White Cauliflower Bake: This is true comfort food. My only complaint is that it takes a long time to prepare, but if you have some extra time go for it! So yummy! (kbarnes)
The Red and White Cauliflower bake was GREAT! It was a pretty involved process but, worth it! This will be one of my main dishes from now on. I served it with couscous and kale. (sweetpotato2100)
This was so good, I made it twice in one week. The second time, I served it to my militantly meat-eating uncle, and he loved it (I didn't tell him until after dinner that there was tofu in it). The white sauce is absolutely amazing, and I have used it in lasagna as well. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Seitan Black Bean Corn Burgers:
Soy-Mirin Tofu with Snow Peas and Peanut Sauce:
I made a special trip to the chinese market to get some mirin. This was very sweet. I didn't have any snow peas but it was still good. not my favourite of the book though has inspired me to use mirin in other recipes (S_amplified)
Made this tonight & absolutely LOVED it. I used broccoli in addition to the snow peas, used fresh ginger in the peanut sauce (instead of powdered), and dry fried the tofu as described in the Sweet Chili Lime Tofu recipe instead of frying in oil. I also used more carrot than called for & added some freshly chopped basil as garnish. Really, really, really good - and so healthy! (JessaCita)
This is fantastic!! The coconut milk I had in the fridge had solidified, so I used a spoonful of it and added some water to the sauce - the husbands only wish was for more sauce, but I thought the amount was just right - I don't need it to be saturated. I also added some sriracha to it instead of the chili oil...I'm glad I used snow peas instead of broccoli - they were delicious! I used 2 carrots, one regular, one purple for a little color and topped with some crushed peanuts. Definitely a keeper! (erinmonster)
This one really didn't grab my attention until my husband saw the picture & suggested I make it. I'm so glad he did! I didn't feel like going to the store for snow peas, so I used green beans and also added some mushrooms to the tofu while it was browning (I used a little more soy sauce and mirin so that the mushrooms could soak up some sauce). It turned out very well, and it made amazing leftovers, which I ate cold. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Sweet Chili Lime Tofu:
I loved the glaze for the tofu, very good. However next time I would not cook the quinoa with the cinammon stick, I thought it tasted a little weird. (kbarnes)
this recipe taught me how to pan fry tofu and I am forever grateful! This is something I now crave. My partner and I have eaten this countless times. it's sooooooooo good! I always have to double the sauce though. (S_amplified)
Amazing!!! This "dry frying" method of preparing tofu has seriously changed my life. It's brilliant & makes the tofu crispier than even frying in oil. So healthy & awesome! I didn't put the cinnamon stick in the quinoa because I hate cinnamon in savory things, but the lime zest was great. (JessaCita)
I failed miserably at the 'dry frying' technique....my tofu stuck, quite badly...but I was expecting it, so I pushed through....however, I did not like this recipe - the sauce tasted so gross to me, and I made it exactly like the recipe said, I even measured! So I made a second batch with less soy sauce and no mint, and it came out a little better, but still not very good....the quinoa and greens were pretty bland, and the sauce on the tofu was overpowering, so nothing was working for me.... (erinmonster)
This recipe was the first time I have ever dry fried tofu and I freaking loved the chewy texture that it created. This has to be my favorite way of cooking tofu. Anyway, the sauce is really sweet with just the right amount of heat for wimps. I doubled the sauce and thickened it with cornstarch so that I could toss in some chopped steamed green beans and there would be enough sauce to coat everything. (intheend)
Tahini Lemon Rice and Beans:
I LOVE this recipe! It's not too hard to eat and the flavor is so tasty. I eat this probably every other week. (kbarnes)
Absolutely delicious! It would be really easy to change around the type of beans and vegetables depending on what you have on hand. What a great way to eat beans and rice! (kristinv)
I thought this was pretty good and not too difficult to prepare. The sauce was SUPER strong though. Maybe too Lemony? I think next time I would cut back the sauce or water it down. Noah (9) who usually likes everything was not a fan. He did choke down a whole plate of it though. DH thought it was too strong as well. I kept adding more rice to make it less intense (luckily I had doubled the rice for other stuff, but ended up using it all). (little2ant)
Tamarind Tofu Cabbage Bowl:
Vegetable Fried Rice:
Chapter Three: Appetizers
Chana Samosas:
Collard Dolmas and Cranberry Tahini:
Just made the tahini sauce, upping the lemon juice. At first I thought it was too sweet, but it mellowed out in the fridge overnighta nd now it is wickedly addictive! Yum! (blinknoodle)
Corn Fritters:
Eggplant and Basil Stuffed Tomatoes:
Miniature Napoleons with Eggplant Crème:
Sesame Ginger Seitan Dumplings:
Fantastic!! I halved the filling and still had way too much - so I had dumplings 2 days in a row. The sauce was ok, but the second time I used my homemade chili sauce and it was divine!! (erinmonster)
Sugar and Spice Snap Peas:
Chapter Four: Salads
Apple Cranberry Salad with Country-Fried Seitan:
Chicken-Style Seitan:
I made the seitan from this recipe and it's pretty tasty. Not my favorite version, but its simple and quick. I didn't fry it, so maybe that ups the ante! (icephrosty)
Very easy, moist, and tasty. Next time I make this, though, I will make smaller cutlets. These swelled up way too much in the broth and nobody could finish theirs. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Country-Fried Seitan:
Pretty good. The mustard was a little strange, but I liked the baking soda in the dry ingredients. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
The whole family loved this (a rarity at my house!). I used the leftover broth to make some chicken-style gravy, so there was no waste. The dry ingredients for dredging is WAY too much. I used only a cup of flour as opposed to 1 and a half, and still had too much left over. So if you don't want to throw away a bunch of flour, use 1/2 or 3/4 cup. (little2ant)
Caesar Salad:
If I could only have one kind of salad for the rest of my life, this would be IT. This is probably my favorite veganized Caesar salad I've ever tried...creamy, tangy, delicious. Homemade croutons from good quality bread is definitely the way to go on this one. (kristinv)
I used my homemade sourdough bread for the crutons and toasted them up in my toaster oven since I didn't want to turn on the big one just for a small batch. They are so good and easy to make. Now the actual dressing was perfect! I used a little bit of garlic powder instead of fresh garlic and added the optional nutritional yeast. It has some tang from the dijon mustard and white wine vinegar but it's not overpowering. Really enjoyable. (intheend)
Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad:
Amazing. I loved the combination of flavors in this dish. I added some Italian spices and green olives. (icephrosty)
delicious! very simple. I felt it needed more spices though. I added cumin and paprika. On making this a second time I added penne pasta to make it more substantial. (S_amplified)
I wonder if her recipe is supposed to be for marinated artichoke hearts? I used the plain ones. I skipped the parsley and added basil, oregano and garlic. This was the first time I pan-roasted my chickpeas and they are incredible. This recipe converted me into a chickpea lover. (blinknoodle)
YUM. Definitely use marinated artichokes. The flavors are great together and it is so easy to put together. (aggplanta)
Good recipe. I marinated the artichokes in olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper, and the dish turned out very well. I served it over quinoa & added snow peas to the mix. It made for a delish meal, but I wouldn't serve it to company or anything. It is a tiny bit bland & not "knock your socks off" good. (JessaCita)
Glazed Green Bean Salad:
Very good. I was faithful to the recipe and it turned out great. I made sure my beans were nice and crunchy. I substituted almonds for the pine nuts and did not toast them. (Tweety)
Excellent. This is a great way to use a bunch of green beans. The sauce is very tasty... I would perhaps have preferred to taste more of the beans than the sauce, but it was still very popular. Next time I'll try it with some other nut because pine nuts are pricey. (haricot)
Grilled Pear, Walnut, and Cabbage Salad:
I haven't been able to find a meat-free grill yet but the sweet sauce recommended in the recipe is now my go-to for any salad dressing. Lemon Brown Sugar Dressing (S_amplified)
Pea Tendril and Daikon Noodle Salad:
Chapter Five: Side Dishes and Light Meals
Apple Cider Brussels Sprouts:
I love brussel sprouts and really enjoyed this recipe, however next time I will use a little less of the apple cider vinegar when making the sauce, it was a little bit strong. (kbarnes)
kinda gross....the first bite was overpowering - super tangy! we got used to it after a while, but I found myself choking them down instead of enjoying them - I think I only like my brussels roasted - I don't like them soggy...at all. (erinmonster)
It was my first time cooking brussels sprouts this way, and I must say I found the taste to be fantastic. I'm definitely making this again. (haricot)
Candied Lime Sweet Potatoes:
Coconut Lime Tofu:
Might be an acquired taste. I'm not sure I like the combination of coconut, lim and soy sauce. I think the soy sauce is throwing the taste into weirdom. Very easy to make. Meh (Tweety)
I made this into a salad for a friend of mine that has since raved every time I see her. I added nutritional yeast and pan friend it instead. SO delicious! (S_amplified)
Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto:
This was pretty easy to make...a lot less stirring/work than a regular rice risotto. It's pretty tasty, and I enjoyed the texture of the barley in this dish. (kristinv)
Crispy Sesame Kale:
It was very good, but I couldn't get my kale to get really cripsy. (haricot)
Moroccan Spiced Root Vegetable Home Fries:
yum! I made this as a side dish, super easy, but added that extra kick. (S_amplified)
I decided to make these before I realized that I didn't have a sweet potato. I did have some sort of tuber I bought at the Asian market that resembled a sweet potato, so I went with that (it tasted sort of sweet-potato-ish, but I don't have a clue what it was). The spices on this were very yummy, and it was incredibly easy to make, but I discovered that I really don't like celery root. I will make these again, but replace the celery root with parsnip or turnip, something sweet. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
I only used potatoes and sweet potatoes when I made this, and added some chopped onion, but I absolutly loved the combination of spices. (disneyfav4ever)
Pan-Seared Tomato and Rosemary Artichoke Sandwich:
Picnic Sandwich:
Salt and Pepper Potato Chips:
Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwiches:
it is delish. I only used 1.5 tablespoons of miso, (that stuff's expensive G!) and they still came out great! (babysgotsauce)
Very easy to throw together and worth the effort. I loved using the leftovers like lunch meat! Mine came out on the salty side, so I'll cut down the sodium next time. (icephrosty
I served it just like she suggested (with sourdough bread and spinach) and I LOVE this. My partner raved about how good this sandwich was and was debating on whether she should eat it again for dinner, lol. (intheend)
Also love the smoky miso sandwiches super yummy. (katzenfreund)
These are wonderful, absolutely amazing, I love them! I always make them as is, and save a bunch for sandwhiches or even just with some rice. The miso, nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke give these such a smokey, but not over the top taste. These are something I make probably once a week. (BGS)
Three-Spice Potatoes:
Also delicious and easy! (S_amplified)
Excellent! It took all I had not to eat it all in one sitting. I love me some roasted potatoes and this one delivered a nice combination of spices (mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander) that didn't overwhelm. (Tweety)
Chapter Six: Soups
African Yam Stew:
Incredible. Absolutely a winner for me and hubby (it was too spicy for the little guy). I used the optional peanut butter, which gave the stew a luscious creaminess, and half a bag of chopped spinach for the kale. I replaced the carrot with a red bell pepper for color. The spices were an odd combination, but everything melded together beautifully, and the textures were amazing. The sweet potatoes get really soft and creamy, and the raisins plump up nicely. It won't be long before I make this again. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Basic Vegetable Soup:
great veggie soup...I added some parsnips and used yukon golds instead of red....didn't really measure anything, but it turned out great! I added a little hot sauce in my bowl for some spice - I feel incompleter without a little heat. (erinmonster)
Black Bean Soup:
Freakin' awesome. I love black beans and this was perfection. The addition of the coconut milk she says is option, but it is a must and is genious in making all the simple flavors come through. I used fresh tomatoes. Mine was very thick and not soup at all. I wished I'd made some rice to serve over it. It makes two servings and that's what you see in the one dish and I gobbled them both up. (Tweety)
Cannellini Bean Soup with Pan-fried Croutons:
Very tasty simple combo of ingredients that blended together very well. I used a homemade stock. I liked the method of pan frying whole grain bread in Earth Balance to make quick croutons and they were tasty. (Tweety)
Chinese Broccoli Wontons in a Ginger-Soy Broth:
Chipotle Basil Corn Chowder:
The soup was tasty and came together very easily, but I didn't care for the basil in it. I used fresh corn, as the recipe suggests you do, but I cooked my veggies for quite a bit longer than the recipe says because it would have been drastically under done otherwise. My daughter thought it was good (liked the chipotle and the texture), but also didn't care for the basil. My boyfriend commented that it tasted "unsophisticated" compared to most of the cooking I do (well la-di-da!). Might make it again or maybe I'll just start adding a little chipotle paste to my regular corn chowder recipe... (mamaanna)
Creamy Broccoli Dal:
AMAZING! This is a soup worth trying even if you're not a huge fan of broccoli. Amazing. I added more curry powder and I've made it now with and without soy milk. (prefer it with) My partner loved it too. This soup you would pay a lot of money for in a restaurant and it would be well worth it. (S_amplified)
I wasn't really a fan of this. I doubled it because I like leftovers - but the leftovers were terrible, so maybe that's why it was only a 2 serving recipe...? I didn't have enough broccoli stalk, so I added some of the florets too. I wanted it thicker, so I didn't add a lot of milk. It wasn't bad the first time around, just boring....but the leftovers were very bitter, like something didn't hold up well...I dunno...it's not something I'll make again. (erinmonster)
LOVED it. I used 1/2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes and found it pleasantly spicy with the garam masala. Lots of complex flavours. It was more of a soup, and it served 3. I recommend doubling the recipe since it is so good. (blinknoodle)
This is a delicious Dal!! It tastes very warm and delicious, and did I mention creamy? I add maybe a cup of potatoes chopped very small to extend that creaminess, and I also add some -gasp- curry powder with the garam masala because most of the time the garam masala tastes a little too cinnaminny for me. Oh a a little nooch for good luck, of course! (BGS)
This was fantastic! I added the chili flakes and it tasted so good. This is a lightly spiced Indian dish and it's perfect for when you don't need a huge meal. (intheend)
Homemade Vegetable Stock:
Potato Leek Soup:
Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup:
Fantastic!!! I pureed only half the soup because I like soups a little chunky, and I added some basil at the end. I think I also needed a little more than just 1 cup of hot water. The flavor of this soup was perfect, and it was so hearty & comforting! (jessacita)
I am in love with this soup. The flavors are so good and it's easy to put together. I love to make this on the weekend and have it for lunch with a grilled avocado sandwich...heavenly! (kbarnes)
Also super good and easy to make. The spices are a really warm tasting combination and the texture is thick and creamy. (aggplanta)
Very tasty! Used hot sauce instead of crushed red pepper and used the optional nutritional yeast. Wish I had a better blender to make it super smooth...then this soup would be perfect!!! (kristinv)
Pretty good. I blended it smooth and added more spices. It wasn't terribly spicy, so it would be something nice to drink from a mug if you were sick. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
I LOVE THIS! Definetely one of my regulars! I also add a cup of finely diced potatoes for extra creamyness. It tastes so warm and delightful, the nutritional yeast with the tomatoes tastes great! (BGS)
Tanuki Soba with Spinach Tempura:
Velvety Vegetable Soup:
Chapter Seven: Pasta
Baked Mac and Cheeze:
This is a pretty good mac 'n' cheese recipe. It's always nice to find "cheese sauce" recipes that don't call for some kind of pre-made vegan cheese. The one downside is that nutritional-yeasty cheese sauces can turn ugly and brown in the oven. Most of the dish looked ok, but there were brown places where the sauce had baked onto the side of the dish. (kristinv)
AWESOME! My favorite mac and cheeze yet!! I really think it's the breadcrumbs and baking that does it for me....the drier texture...oh I could eat it everyday!! I added kale and peas because they needed to be used - next time I'll leave out the peas. (erinmonster)
I love, love, love the mac'n'cheeze, it is my favorite! Sometimes I add the peas, want to try adding some broccoli next time. (katzenfreund)
Apart from the color, this didn't remind me of mac & cheese at all (granted, it has been almost 14 years since I've had the real stuff). That being said, it was delicious. I used penne pasta and garlic bread crumbs. The bread crumbs really made a nice contrast with the soft pasta. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
I sort of combined this recipe with the sweet potato bake (from this book). Instead of using 1/3 cup of margarine, I used 1/3 cup of cashews and just a heaping tablespoon of margarine. I also used the 1/2 teaspoon of mustard and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika from the sweet potato bake recipe, plus I mashed a couple of cooked sweet potatoes and mixed it with the macaroni and sauce. And I omitted the breadcrumbs. So absolutely amazing! I made this three weekends in a row and just wanted more and more (still not tired of it at all!)! I paired it barbecued ribz once, and baked bbq tofu once. Perfect match. Pretty sure this is the best baked mac and cheese I've made! (Eldsjäl)
Gnocchi with Thyme Vinaigrette and Lemon Cashew Cream:
Hurry Up Alfredo:
Great! One of my absolute favorite alfredo sauces (I eat a lot of pasta with creamy sauce so I have quite a few favorites). The color of it is a little off, but I don't care. It doesn't taste that much just after mixing in the food processor, but when you mix it with hot pasta and let it thicken a bit - that's when magic happens! (Eldsjäl)
I liked this dish a lot. My omni sister said it reminded her of hamburger helper, but in a good way. Will definitely make again. (icephrosty)
This was pretty good, although it tastes a little too much like tahini to really feel like an alfredo sauce. (kristinv)
I've made this a bunch of times now. Don't add garlic to the sauce unless you're going to warm it up. This was teh first time using cashews to make a creamy sauce. the author is brilliant. (S_amplified)
This was good and how cool is it that all you have to do is blend everything together? The only thing that bugged me was that I could smell the mustard and I hate mustard but that's just me being lame. (intheend)
This is good and quick, like the name implies. Its not knock-my socks off amazing, I have yet to find an alfredo that is, but it is good and gets the job done! I definetely up the nootch, and serve with broccoli. I have, at times, just served it with steamed broccoli and asparagus, without the pasta, and its good. (BGS)
My husband has declared that this is the best white sauce I have ever made (a bold statement), and even my preschooler loves it. I serve it over big ribbon noodles and add lots of broccoli. I have also added mushrooms, yum. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
This was alright. I didn't enjoy the flavor of the cashews too much, but the rest was fine. My blender also didn't grind them up completely so the texture was a bit lacking. (tinylightsbelow)
Lime Peanut Noodles with Seitan, Kale, and Carrots:
VERY good! Next time I might a little more chili flakes, but other than that, it was perfect. (katzenfreund)
I left out the kale but otherwise followed the recipe. I think I used chard instead, since I had it on hand. DH and I loved the sauce - soooo good. (icephrosty)
I made this once. Kind of sour because of all the lime to it. Not sure about it. (S_amplified)
Nearly Raw Tahini Noodles:
INCREDIBLE! I wasn't sure what it was going to be like, but now I'm dreaming of the sauce. It's really fast to make and I have to make a big batch now whenever cooking it. delish! (S_amplified)
I liked it. Had to double the sauce because at first it was very dry and blah ( I may have had too much cabbage). For a truly nearly raw, zucchini noodles might be better than real pasta. (little2ant)
ok, so I kind of abandoned the raw thing, mainly because it was cold and I wanted a hot dish....so I added the broccoli to the pasta and boiled it for a minute or two and added the sauce while the noodles were still hot - I left the cabbage and carrots raw though. Oh, and I doubled the sauce. We liked it - was a nice change from our standard peanut noodles. (erinmonster)
Like a previous reviewer, I abandoned the raw part and steamed the broccoli and cabbage (raw brassicas do not agree with my stomach), but left the carrots raw. I made a little more sauce, and used rice stick noodles. It was very good, a nice change from peanut noodles, and it looked very attractive garnished with black sesame seeds. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
This sauce is fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly, except I ran out of tahini, so I used half raw almond butter - and I was afraid that might make it too sweet, so I added a touch of toasted sesame oil to make up for it, which was a great touch. For the base of the meal, I used what I had on hand, which was soba noodles instead of whole wheat spaghetti, and finely chopped zucchini, green onion, and grated carrot for the veggies. I also added some sauteed tempeh to make this more of a well-rounded meal. Topped with fresh basil & black sesame seeds. Loved it! (JessaCita)
Pad See Ew:
Pasta Gremolata with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Garlic Bread Crumbs:
It was so easy to throw together and I was finished in under 30 minutes. I didn't have oil-packed tomatoes, so I just rehydrated the regular dried kind by soaking them in hot water for ~10 min. The flavors in this dish were perfect. My favorite part was the crunchy, garlicky breadcrumbs! I used panko crumbs and they worked very well. (icephrosty)
Pepita Fettuccine with Spinach and Cranberries:
Good. Right away you can see I subbed angel hair because I can't for the life of me find the fettucini I bought the other day....meh. It's a nice interesting combination of flavors and textures from sweet (maple syrup) to nutty to salty (tamari) with a touch of tart from the cranberries. Loved the uniqueness of this dish but give it about about only slightly above average on the taste scale. (Tweety)
Rigatoni with Fresh Grape Tomato Sauce:
Very good. I thought this would be run of the mill ordinary but she's correct that using grape tomatoes adds a different twist to the taste and it's good. My tomatoes did not burst on their own and I had to smash them as she suggested might be the case. I used a couple of the optional add ons: crushed red pepper, fresh basil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I used penne for the pasta. (Tweety)
Roasted Cauliflower and Wilted Spinach Salad:
This an easy but delicious recipe! Roasted cauliflower tossed in Italian herbs with penne pasta, wilted baby spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and a little balsamic. What not to like, right? I served this warm and subbed kalamata olives for the sun dried tomatoes (according to baby girl, olives>tomatoes). This was a snap to prepare very yummy. I'll be eating leftovers for lunch today. I did triple the amount of herbs and double the salt, but I always think recipes come out under seasoned as written. Next time I'll throw some garlic in to roast with the cauliflower. (mamaanna)
This was pretty good, nothing I would rave about, however the leftovers were much better! And adding sriracha helped too. This is the first recipe I've enjoyed sudried tomatoes in, so that's a plus. (erinmonster)
Very good. I forget to add the balsamic vinegar and that was crucial to the flavor because it didn't quite taste right at first. This was easy to put together. I used regular pasta instead of whole grain because I'm bringing it to work for a party. It makes a good amount. (Tweety)
Update on the above roasted cauliflower salad...it was a hit with my coworkers and the talk of the meal there for a while since it was a bit unusual, as I explained what I did. One coworker had never had sun dried tomatoes. Vegan win! (Tweety)
Seven Spice Udon:
Very good! I subbed napa cabbage for the brussels sprouts since brussels are $3.99 a pound now. I subbed brown rice noodles for the udon. Like she says this dish is all about the seven spice blend and her technique for using it was quite good. With the rice noodles I wasn't quite able to follow her instructions to create a noodle pancake and then toss but I did stir fry them good. (Tweety)
Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta:
quick and very very very good. This is the first time I used raw cashews in a sauce to make it creamy and it was good. (Tweety)
In a word: Excellent. Quite easy to make and very tasty. (tweety)
I'm thinking about making this tonight. I love the addition of nuts to make it creamy. I don't have a huge amount of basil but it's still quite good. (S_amplified)
Chapter Eight: Desserts
Apple Strudel:
This is a dessert that is SO easy, but SO good! Seriously, even if you're not much of a baker you can make this without screwing it up. It's cheap and delicious, full of spicy apple filling and a super flaky crust, and it didn't last past this morning at my house. Highly recommended! (mamaanna)
Banana Bread Made with Spelt:
Made these with whole wheat flour instead of spelt. I halved the recipe but used two bananas. Absolutely delicious! My omni grandparents said they tasted great. (tinylightsbelow)
Blueberry Grunts:
I didn't like this one much. The biscuits on top came out really tough. I won't do this one again. (haricot)
Cherry Trifles:
Well, I didn't have any cherries and I already had some vanilla pudding, but I used the sponge cake recipe and modified the cherry part to use strawberries. It was amazing! So amazing that I decided to make pina colada trifles the next day! I just added coconut extract and toasted coconut to the pudding part and used a can of crushed pineapple instead of the cherries. The cake isn't great on its own, but it soaks up the pudding and fruit flavors beautifully. The fruit recipe may be a little too sweet, depending on the fruit. I used a little less than called for in both my modifications. I can't wait to try it as written! (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
I was very excited about this one! I really liked it, it's kind of fancy, but I must warn one it is VERY SWEET, so only serve this to people who can take it. Also, I'd recommend splitting in half the amount of almond extract. (haricot)
Honeydew Coconut Tapioca:
Miniature Baked Donuts:
These are pretty good! They're easy to make BUT you need a donut pan. I ended up buying one because it's the only way I'll get to have any vegan donuts...unless I'm visiting Portland...so a donut pan is definitely worth investing in. The author developed donut recipes for an issue of Vegetarian Times. You can find the article and recipes at http://www.vegetariantimes.com/features/editors_picks/862. (kristinv)
I tried making these without a donut pain - FAIL! I just put tablespoons of dough on a cookie sheet and threw them in the oven. The resulting donut "cookies" tasted good but looked flat and weird. I just got a mini-donut pan and will try these again soon! (icephrosty)
Mini Blueberry Tarts with Lemon Cream:
my husband said it was the best dessert he'd had in a long time (katzenfreund)
This was delicious, perfect. Do it! (haricot)
Chapter Nine: Cheers to Delicious Drinks
Boba Tea Two Ways:
Chai Concentrate for Boba Tea:
Chai Boba Tea:
Pear Cherry Bellinis:
Rosewater Lassi:
Thai Tea with Fresh Coconut (Soy Free):
Chapter Ten: Sauces, Dips, and Spreads
Cranberry-Orange Sauce:
Creamy Maple Sesame Dressing:
recommended! (S_amplified)
Grilled Corn, Peach, and Tomato Salsa:
Roasted Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Marinara:
Sesame Soy Dressing:
Sweet Miso Salad Dressing:
So quick and easy to make this dressing. One of my new favorites. I love sweet dressings and I love miso so this is right up my alley. (VeganSapien)
addicted to the sweet miso dressing, I could eat it with a spoon. (VeganSapien)
Tamarind Chutney:
it was a big fail because I burned it. I put the sugar and the tamarind and water and the instructions were to boil for 30 minutes. I kept a close watch on it, but turned around to text someone at around the 20 minute mark and returned to a smoking mess. It tunred into this hard candy mess superglued to the pot. Not sure what I did wrong, but FAIL. (tweety)
The cooking time is way off on this one. I had never made tamarind chutney before, so I followed the directions exactly and ended up with a sticky hard mass at the bottom of the pot. I had to add lots more water and stir like crazy to make it the correct texture. It tasted great once I got it thinned out, though. (SweetGeorgiaPeach)
Tangy Cashew Spread:
Vegan Worcestershire Sauce:
Blueberry Waffles
Best blueberry waffles I've had. I think the key is using the blueberry yogurt. It really has a nice blueberry flavor. In the past most "blueberry" things were simply just not blueberry enough...however, these definitely had a great flavor and came out of the waffle iron perfectly. good enough to eat without syrup even. They also freeze and reheat well. Good recipe.
Sweet Miso Salad Dressing:
So quick and easy to make this dressing. One of my new favorites. I love sweet dressings and I love miso so this is right up my alley.
Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta
In a word: Excellent. Quite easy to make and very tasty.
Weekend Pancakes
I tried the 'Weekend Pakcakes' because I was really missing pancakes. The picture in the book looked so good, anyway. I'd never used spelt flour before, but I think that was my favorite part. Very easy to make (I actually made these while making some taboulleh for the next day, so easy to multi-task with these). I'd also never had 100% maple syrup before (I was raised on Eggo and Mrs Butterworth, I am afraid...), and it was FANTASTIC. My omni fiance and my dog loved them, too. Thinking of doing the recipe again this weekend.
Not sure if Kristin planned on coming back to update, but I didn't want to let reviews get away, so I've updated the list. There were also several in another thread that weren't added.
I had this book ordered before I learned some less than savory practices of the author, but...what're ya gonna do.
I just got this book in the mail yesterday, love the pics, love that I seriously have like evry ingredient in my kitchen at all times. I made the
Smokey Miso Tofu
for sammies and it is delish. I only used 1.5 tablespoons of miso, (that stuff's expensive G!)
and they still came out great!
Wanting to make the tomato soup and a trifle, triffle, whatever, soon too
sidebar- AC I am dying to know what those practices of the author were, will you please tell me, (if you don't want to on here message me, please, please...I goggled it but didn't see anything sketchy, and now I am super curious)
Attempted the tamarind chutney so I could make the cabbage tofu dish and it was a big fail because I burned it. I put the sugar and the tamarind and water and the instructions were to boil for 30 minutes. I kept a close watch on it, but turned around to text someone at around the 20 minute mark and returned to a smoking mess. It tunred into this hard candy mess superglued to the pot.
Not sure what I did wrong, but FAIL.
Broccoli Almond Sweet-and-Sour Tofu - This recipe rocks! The sauce is so good that I usually double the amount. I've made this multiple times and its always good.
Apple Cranberry Salad with Country-Fried Seitan: I made the seitan from this recipe and it's pretty tasty. Not my favorite version, but its simple and quick. I didn't fry it, so maybe that ups the ante!
Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad: Amazing. I loved the combination of flavors in this dish. I added some Italian spices and green olives.
Smoky Miso Tofu Sandwiches: Very easy to throw together and worth the effort. I loved using the leftovers like lunch meat! Mine came out on the salty side, so I'll cut down the sodium next time.
Hurry Up Alfredo: I liked this dish a lot. My omni sister said it reminded her of hamburger helper, but in a good way. Will definitely make again.
Lime Peanut Noodles with Seitan, Kale, and Carrots: I left out the kale but otherwise followed the recipe. I think I used chard instead, since I had it on hand. DH and I loved the sauce - soooo good.
Miniature Baked Donuts: I tried making these without a donut pain - FAIL! I just put tablespoons of dough on a cookie sheet and threw them in the oven. The resulting donut "cookies" tasted good but looked flat and weird. I just got a mini-donut pan and will try these again soon!
I feel like such a dork for asking this, but how are people able to update my main post? lol Guess I won't have much to update if people are always beating me to it...
No, if you're here, go for it. I won't do it anymore!
Tahini Lemon Rice and Beans: I LOVE this recipe! It's not too hard to eat and the flavor is so tasty. I eat this probably every other week.
Chard Florentine on Toast Points: Made this for my meat eating family and they loved it! The cheese sauce is delicious.
Weekend Pancakes Made Easy: Very easy to make, I eat these almost every weekend. When I make them for my niece I add banana and chocolate chips! Yummy!
Lemon Cranberry Muffins: These were good but I would probably not add the almond flavoring next time. They stayed fresh for a whole week!
Red and White Cauliflower Bake: This is true comfort food. My only complaint is that it takes a long time to prepare, but if you have some extra time go for it! So yummy!
Sweet Chili Lime Tofu: I loved the glaze for the tofu, very good. However next time I would not cook the quinoa with the cinammon stick, I thought it tasted a little weird.
Apple Cider Brussels Sprouts: I love brussel sprouts and really enjoyed this recipe, however next time I will use a little less of the apple cider vinegar when making the sauce, it was a little bit strong.
Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup: I am in love with this soup. The flavors are so good and it's easy to put together. I love to make this on the weekend and have it for lunch with a grilled avocado sandwich...heavenly!
Not sure if Kristin planned on coming back to update, but I didn't want to let reviews get away, so I've updated the list. There were also several in another thread that weren't added.
I had this book ordered before I learned some less than savory practices of the author, but...what're ya gonna do.
So what are the less than savory practices? I'm not sure I want to know because I really like her cook book!


text:
Colonel Fitzgibbon is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, who is mentioned on the Liberty Tree website. Colonel Fitzgibbon is not seen or mentioned during any of the games in the Grand Theft Auto series.
Colonel Fitzgibbon is a retired army colonel, who works with victims of liberalism in Liberty City. He was questioned after receiving a nail gun signed by Mayor Miles O'Donovan to sell in order to raise money for the victims. Colonel Fitzgibbon said: "we asked the Mayor for something for our prize draw to raise money for victims of Liberalism and we got sent a huge nail gun. The thing is, it does fit snuggly in a garage, but I'd rather use a hammer."

subset: commoncrawl


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Versa Tool™
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TORONTO – Onex Corp. (TSX:OCX) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has signed a deal to sell Gates Corp. for US$5.4 billion to private equity firm Blackstone.
Gates is a manufacturer of power transmission belts as well as hydraulic and industrial hoses and couplings.
Onex said Friday proceeds from the sale to the Onex Group, which includes its co-investors, will be roughly $2 billion, of which Onex Corp.'s share will be approximately $550 million.
CPPIB's proceeds from the sale of Gates will be approximately $1.5 billion.
Onex senior managing director Seth Mersky said it was tough decision to sell Gates.
"We don't see many industrial businesses with its global brand recognition," he said in a statement.
"Nonetheless, Onex shareholders and our limited partners have done very well. We have thoroughly enjoyed partnering with the Tomkins management team and wish them continued success."
The deal is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
Gates is a division of Tomkins, a maker of belts and hoses for the industrial and automotive markets, that Onex and CPPIB jointly acquired in 2010 for roughly $5 billion.
Onex says including the sale of Gates they will have successfully sold eight divisions of Tomkins for $7.9 billion in aggregate proceeds.
In addition to Gates, Tomkins still owns Aquatic, a maker of acrylic bathtubs and shower enclosures.


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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 8, 2009) - The ETSU volleyball team is set to head to Jacksonville, Fla. to take on North Florida and Jacksonville this weekend. The Bucs face the Dolphins on Friday at 7 p.m. and the Ospreys on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Bucs (6-10, 5-3 A-Sun) are coming off of their second win in the school's history over Belmont after splitting their matches last weekend. Senior Amanda Youell (Middleburg, Fla.) and junior Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) lead the way for ETSU as Youell has posted three double-doubles on the season, while Cogburn has two of her own.
ETSU is 3-5 all-time against Jacksonville dropping both meetings in 2008. The Bucs 4-2 against the Ospreys having won three of the last four matches between the two teams.
Jacksonville (10-5, 6-2 A-Sun) comes into the match having won seven-straight including conference matches against UNF, FGCU, USC Upstate, Mercer, Kennesaw State and Stetson. The Dolphins are led by Shelley Walroth and Brooke Singleton. Walroth is first in the conference in digs per set averaging 5.24, while Singleton has a team-best 137 kills.
North Florida (7-10, 2-6 A-Sun) has dropped its last three matches getting swept by Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State and Mercer. The Ospreys are led by Kaley Read as she leads the A-Sun with 260 kills.
Both matches can be seen live on ASun.TV by clicking the link above. For more information on Buccaneer volleyball and all other athletic news, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.


text:
The Political Persecution of Australia's First Female Prime Minister (Vanilla Version)
By Anne Summers AO Ph.D
2012 Human Rights and Social Justice Lecture
University of Newcastle
31 August 2012
© Anne Summers 2012 This speech is copyright and is not to be reproduced or quoted from without the express permission of the author.
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for coming along to hear me. It is a great honour for me to have been invited to deliver the 2012 Human Rights and Social Justice Lecture to the University of Newcastle.
It is also a great opportunity for me to be able to share with you some ideas and research that I have been developing for some months now. The invitation to deliver this lecture acted as something of a catalyst and also as a deadline to bring this work to a form that could be shared.
Of course, I had no idea when I nominated "the political persecution of Australia's first female prime minister" as my subject that it would become so topical. However events of the past couple of weeks have underscored the need to really shine a light on the way in which her fellow citizens are treating our prime minister.
In this lecture I want to examine what I contend is the sexist and discriminatory treatment of Australia's first female prime minister by the Opposition and by some elements in Australian society.
And I must issue a warning that I will be using sexually-based language and, in the accompanying PowerPoint presentation, showing some images that some people are bound to find offensive. If you think you might be offended maybe you should not read any further.
ON 24 JUNE 2010 Julia Eileen Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister. She had served as deputy prime minister to Kevin Rudd in the Labor government that was elected on 24 November 2007. As DPM she had enjoyed enormous popularity and although the means by which Gillard assumed the top job was controversial – and became more so over the course of time – initially her elevation was greeted with widespread enthusiasm. There was a palpable sense of history in the media coverage, with most outlets treating Gillard's ascension as an important event, to be taken seriously. The public seemed pretty pleased as well. Her popularity rating was high. Women and girls, especially, were thrilled at this milestone having been reached.
Gillard has said that women who were just so happy to see a woman running our country sent her gifts, often jewellery. Gillard said that she always tried to wear these pieces of jewellery at least once, and at an event where she would be photographed, so that the giver could see how much she appreciated the gesture.
Just a few weeks into the job, Gillard called an election, seeking to legitimise her position through the validation of a popular vote. The election, held on 21 August 2010, failed to deliver her an outright majority. However she was able to form a government by negotiating agreements with the Greens and three Independents.
In order to secure a deal with the Greens, Gillard had to agree to introduce a price on carbon and thereby break a commitment she had made during the campaign that there would be "no carbon tax under a government that I lead".
Other prime ministers have changed policies or gone back on promises. Paul Keating did not proceed with the L-A-W tax cuts. John Howard introduced a GST. Both were accused of backflips and of breaking promises. Neither was ever called a "liar".
The term "Juliar" seems to have been coined by broadcaster Alan Jones and quickly adopted by opponents of Gillard. It featured prominently on banners at a rally protesting the carbon tax that took place in Canberra in March 2011.
The so-called Convoy of No Confidence rally in Canberra was the first time that many of us were exposed to the virulence of the attacks that were beginning to be made against Gillard. It was the first time we saw her referred to as "Bob Brown's bitch" and it was the first time we saw the slogan, "Ditch the Witch".
Little did we know that this was just the beginning.
Over the past two years Tony Abbott has relentlessly used Gillard's backflip on the carbon tax to depict her as unreliable, as untrustworthy and as a liar. The notion that the prime minister is a "liar" has now been firmly planted in the public mind.
Journalists have commented on Tony Abbott's practice of heckling Julia Gillard across the dispatch box whenever she is speaking in Parliament.[1] Normally he does it sotto voce so that only she can hear, but on August 20 the Deputy Speaker heard him referring to the prime minister as a "liar" and demanded he withdraw. It is "unparliamentary" to call someone a "liar".
As you probably recall, Abbott's withdrawal was qualified, so much so that he was thrown out of Parliament for an hour, becoming the first Leader of the Opposition to be ejected from the House since the mid-1980s.
This might all be part of the normal cut and thrust of politics. Most observers of Canberra today agree that the current political environment has become especially toxic. The hung parliament, and the expectation on the part of the Opposition that it is just one lost vote on the floor of the House away from government has raised the stakes to levels not previously seen in Australian politics.
As a result we are experiencing an era in politics where there is very little civility. The overall temperature of discussion and debate is torrid and people use language towards and about each other that even a few years ago would have been considered totally out of line. This, sadly, is the new norm.
But what is NOT normal is the way in which the prime minister is attacked, vilified or demeaned in ways that are specifically related to her sex (or, if you like, her gender). Calling her a "liar" might not be gender-specific, although as I have pointed out, it was not a term used against back-flipping male prime ministers.
There are countless examples, however, where the prime minister is attacked, vilified or demeaned in ways that do specifically relate to her sex and I propose to devote the rest of this lecture to describing, categorizing and exploring the implications of them.
Some of the examples are benign, in the sense that they are examples of a double-standard, of a woman being treated less seriously than a man of similar status would be.
The most obvious and most frequent example is the way in which the prime minister is almost always referred to as "Julia". I offer as an example, the banner headline in The Australian just over a week ago during the reporting of the Slater & Gordon matter:
Have you ever seen a headline "WHAT JOHN TOLD…" or 'WHAT PAUL TOLD…"? No you haven't, for the simple reason that previous prime ministers were accorded the basic respect of being referred to by their last names.
There is a similar lack of respect in the way the federal Opposition constantly just uses the female pronoun to refer to the prime minister. Tony Abbott is a serial offender – constantly referring just to "she" or "her" in his press appearances – but he is not the only one.
Federal Hansard shows that the following exchange took place during Question Time in the House of Representatives on 21 August 2012. The prime minister was answering a question when the Manager of Opposition Business, Christopher Pyne, interrupted her on a Point of Order:
Mr Pyne: Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order. She is defying your ruling. You asked her to be directly relevant and it was a very specific question.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I actually stated I would listen carefully to the Prime Minister's answer as she had only just commenced. It is for the chair to determine relevancy or not.
Mr Albanese: A point of order, Deputy Speaker: under the standing order which requires that people be referred to according to their titles, 'Prime Minister' is the title.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The Prime Minister has the call. [3]
This is politics, you might say. Everyone is fair game.
Perhaps. But should our politicians be the ones to lower the threshold of what is acceptable commentary about each other? Sadly too many of them are – in ways that affect all women MPs as well as the prime minister.
I was told this week by a federal MP that there is what she called "misogynists' corner" on the Coalition benches. This is a bunch of members, all of them male, who, she said, "positively bray" whenever a female frontbencher from the government goes to the dispatch box to give an answer.
And it is not just the men. Opposition front bencher Sophie Mirabella has been known to call out, "Here comes the weather girl" when the attractive Kate Ellis, Minister for Employment Participation and Early Childhood and Childcare, goes to answer a question.[4]
Should our politicians be setting higher standards? I think they should, for the simple fact that it is now possible to posit that this conduct is having a negative influence on the national conversation.
I know countless instances of people who routinely use terms like "lying bitch" when speaking about the prime minister. What we are seeing now has gone way beyond derogatory comments about her clothes, her accent, her "arse" (to quote Germaine Greer) and even her earlobes – the comments that many of us found offensive only a year ago.
The threshold is being progressively lowered, so much so that it is now pretty much in the gutter, if not the sewer.
I want to give you some other examples, all of them recent, and all of them involving friends of mine, which go to demonstrate how much the contempt for the prime minister has leached out of the political domain and into the daily lives of ordinary Australians:
- A few weeks ago in Darwin my friend was picked up from her hotel by a cab. The taxi driver said to her, totally out of the blue: "How could you be staying at the same hotel as the lying c**t". Apparently Julia Gillard had stayed at the same hotel the week before when she was in Darwin to welcome the Indonesian president. The taxi driver continued: "Someone should have shot her while she was here. Everyone wants to do it."
- In July in Sydney a stallholder in the flower market at Flemington apologised to a friend of mine who was buying some flowers for having to add GST "for Julia"; he then followed it by saying "we've got to get rid of the bitch".
- Another friend told me about an encounter his mother, whom he describes as "quietly spoken and conservative-looking", had at a medical office in Albury when she went to submit a form for her latest MRI. The man behind the counter said to her, unprovoked: "I'll send it off to the red-haired bitch". (Note: an earlier version of this speech stated that this incident occurred at the Medibank Private offices in Albury. I have since discovered that this is not the case. I made the mistake in good faith, acting on information provided by a friend that he believed to be correct. However, having been alerted to the error, I have corrected it and apologise unreservedly to Medibank Private and especially the staff at the Albury offices.)
IN MY REMARKS today I want to focus on depictions and comments about Julia Gillard that are utterly and undeniably sexist.
What I want to establish is the extent to which the prime minister is being treated unfairly as a woman and because she's a woman. I want to identify ways in which Julia Gillard, Australia's first female prime minister, is being persecuted both because she is a woman AND in ways that would be impossible to apply to a man.
We will get started with a little trip down Memory Lane. I am sure you are all familiar with these examples.
I played that tape mostly to remind you of them, but also to provide a benchmark of what we used to think was awful and offensive. Sadly, things have got much, much worse in the past year.
If you are anything like me, you probably had no idea that this stuff is out there. You, if you are anything like me, were probably still outraged by "ditch the witch" and the like. Now, only eighteen months after that poster was first aired on national television, I have to report that that sentiment is tame compared with some of the things that are being suggested to, or about, the prime minister today.
This material is distributed via a number of different means. With today's information technology anyone can be a publisher and thousands of us are. Mostly we use these tools to benign effect: to chat with friends, share photographs, exchange ideas or information, or just to add a bit of entertainment to our daily lives.
But others are increasingly using these same tools to vilify, to degrade and to undermine the authority of the office of the prime minister and the present incumbent, Julia Gillard.
Email is one such tool.
We are all familiar with chain emails. Usually they are harmless and inoffensive, even if they can be annoying. But sometimes they are downright offensive.
This is one of the infamous cartoons sent to members of Parliament by the obnoxious Larry Pickering. I will say a bit more about him in a moment.
There are also the viral emails, the ones that people forward on and on to all their friends. Mostly harmless – I get a lot of blonde jokes sent to me – but when ugly images such as this one go viral, it all adds to the overall climate of disrespect that is demeaning to and which is undermining the authority of our prime minister.
I would argue that it is also having an impact on her personal ratings. You would be aware that while recent polls show the government gaining, Julia Gillard's personal popularity, and her ratings as preferred prime minister are stagnant or, on some polls, falling even further.
Is it any wonder when she is subject to this sort of thing?
YouTube is another tool.
Anyone can make a video and post it on YouTube. What surprises me is that ordinary people would bother to record themselves slagging off at the prime minister. I won't show any examples but you can search for them if you want to.
For instance, in one such video, called – creatively – Julia Gillard: the world's biggest slut, a young man who does not even have the guts to show his face, but has a scarf covering his features, says – among many other offensive things:
Hey just a guess, you also do not like Julia the lying bitch…. One has to remember that Julia has the rags on once a month. "WHY" Because she deserves it… (That was posted in June 2012.)
And Facebook is probably now the weapon du monde. In fact I would say that the lethal combination of Photoshop and Facebook has taken our political discourse to places we probably did not think possible. We just saw an example of an ugly Photoshopped image going round on email. The extent of the distribution of similar – or worse – images on Facebook is so much greater because of the massive numbers of people involved.
Facebook was expected to reach 1 billion members worldwide this month.[5] In Australia, there are supposedly more than 10 million Facebook users.[6] So the potential is there to reach very significant numbers of people using this social networking tool. And of course a lot of companies are devoting a lot of resources at present into figuring out just how to exploit the commercial potential of this.
Large numbers of people are already using Facebook to express political views.
Until I began to do research for this lecture, I did not appreciate the extent to which Facebook is being used as a vehicle for hate speech. Julia Gillard is not the only target. There is a large amount of racist material and I guess if one were to go looking, there would be many other examples of offensive material.
But I was looking for sites that dealt with Julia Gillard and here are a few of the things that I found:
There is a Facebook page called Julia Gillard – Worst PM in Australian history. It was established in July 2011 and describes itself in the following terms:
This page is a community of people who like to take their anger and frustration out on this useless oxygen thief, Julia Gillard – Our motto is 'Friends don't let friends like Julia Gillard'
This is a very busy and much visited site and it contains a great deal of material of a highly suggestive and sexual nature. I have included some of the worst examples in the Appendix to this speech and will not show them now.
Instead I will just give you a taste of some of the milder stuff:
One of the features of this page is the very large numbers of comments visitors make about these sexually suggestive pictures. It is not uncommon for there to be 500 or 600 hundred comments under a single photo.
Another feature of this page is to invite people to provide captions or commentary on straight-forward news photos. Two such examples are the historic photograph of Governor-General Quentin Bryce with Julia Gillard just after the latter had been sworn in as Australia's first female prime minister, and a number of photos of Gillard with Barack Obama during the US President's visit to Canberra last year.
The comments are almost without exception extremely crude, sexual and sometimes quite violent. Those that also involve President Obama are often racist as well.
And what makes Facebook different from email, or from the hate-filled comments from cyber trolls that appear under online opinion pieces in newspapers or on the ABC, is that Facebook users are much more likely to use their real names and their photographs – so we know who they are.
The other thing about Facebook is that we can measure what is going on.
For instance, the Facebook page Julia Gillard – Worst PM in Australian History had 15,686 "Likes" and 43, 265 people were "talking about" it on 22 August this year. By August 28 – in just six days – this had grown to 18,051 likes with 45,760 talking about it.
(Fortunately this is way short on the 132,000 people who "like" Julia Gillard on her official Facebook page).
Facebook has given us new ways to intimidate, bully, harass and defame on a remarkable and previously unimaginable scale. There was another very famous Facebook page that has since been taken down.
It was part of the Alf Stewart meme – a series of extremely crude FaceBook pages that have taken over the persona of a character in the soapie Home and Away and used him to promote some pretty disgusting notions. You will not be surprised to hear that most of these denigrate women and some of them actually glorify rape.
The one to which I am referring shows Alf saying: "Julz you f*****g slut" on top of a photo of Gillard which has superimposed over it the words: "Smash my box Alf". Under that is another photo of Alf, and the words: "If I wanted a greasy red box I'd go to KFC ya slut".
This little graphic had been "liked" 43,253 times by the time it had been taken down. Perhaps just as alarming was the fact that it had been "shared" by 2,099 people. If each of those people who shared it with their friends had 100 Facebook friends, this image has potentially been distributed to over 200,000 people. (That's more than one-third of the population of Newcastle).
It must be very hard being Julia Gillard and knowing this stuff is out there.
But does she have any redress? What are the prime minister's rights at work?
I think it is reasonable to ask whether the prime minister is being treated in ways that are actually unlawful or even illegal under federal legislation designed to protect the rights of workers.
But because politicians (and therefore prime ministers) do not generally speaking njoy these rights, I want for the sake of my argument to look at the situation in a somewhat different way.
Imagine that Julia Gillard is the CEO of a very large company, Australia Pty Ltd, and imagine that all of you here today are the company's shareholders. And let's agree that the people seated in the front row here today constitute the company's board of directors.
I will now take you through your responsibilities and obligations as shareholders and directors to the CEO you have employed to run your company.
There are laws passed by the Commonwealth Parliament that set the standard for conduct in the workplace as accepted by the general Australian community. They reflect the norms and expected behavior within the vast majority of workplaces.
One such law is the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984.[7]
Section 5 of this Act defines direct sex discrimination as "less favourable treatment" of a woman compared with a man in the same circumstances.[8] Section 14 of the Act covers the place of employment as the area where such discrimination has occurred. [9]
I think we can easily conclude that any discrimination against Gillard on the grounds of her sex has occurred in the course of her "employment" as CEO of Australia. What needs to be established is whether she has been subjected to any form of less favourable treatment relating to her employment because of her gender.
I believe that we can clearly make the case that she has been treated less favourably because of her sex.
Let me give three examples where she has, in the course of her employment, been subject to comments that are both offensive per se and which relate specifically only to women. In other words, these same things could not and would not have been said of a man.
First, let's recall the comments of Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan in 2007 who said, speaking of Julia Gillard, that "anyone who chooses to deliberately remain barren … they've got no idea what life's about". [10]
We do not describe men who do not have children as "barren"; its usage relates only to women and thus these remarks are a clear example of sex discrimination in employment.
My second example comes from former Leader of the Labor Party, Mark Latham, who said only last year: "Choice in Gillard's case is very, very specific. Particularly because she's on the public record saying she made a deliberate choice not to have children to further her parliamentary career".
"I think having children is the great loving experience of any lifetime. And by definition you haven't got as much love in your life if you make that particular choice,"he told ABC radio. "One would have thought to experience the greatest loving experience in life – having children – you wouldn't particularly make that choice".[11]
I do not think that men are called upon to make choices about paternity in order to pursue careers. This is, again, a sex-specific situation and an example of a person being disadvantaged in her employment because of her sex. Can we think of any instances where a man has been asked about such choices? Both the original question to Gillard and the use put to it by a so-called commentator constitute less favourable treatment.
My third example is from the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, who in February 2011 demanded that Gillard "make an honest woman of herself" by taking the carbon tax to an election.[12] The expression of course implies dishonesty and "make an honest woman of" refers only to women, so is inherently sexist, but more pertinently, its normal use is in relation to single women. "To make an honest woman" of someone usually entails a man marrying a woman who is pregnant. The use of this term in relation to Gillard was a non-too-subtle reminder to voters of the CEO's single status. There could perhaps even be a case here on the grounds of marital status under the Sex Discrimination Act.
There are many more examples I could cite, such as:
- the comment made in July by a Kevin Rudd backer about the time it was taking to bring Gillard down: "We need her to bleed out", as this person charmingly put it[13]; or
- the recent description by David Farley, CEO of the Australian Agricultural Company, of Julia Gillard as "an unproductive old cow" [14] – you would not call a man "a cow"
but I think I have made my case.
No male CEO of Australia has ever been subjected to the same treatment.
The federal magistrates court has found that an Aboriginal man who was subjected to constant derogatory comments about his race had been discriminated against on the grounds of race.[15] I suggest that were such a case to be brought forward based on what Julia Gillard has had to endure, that there would be a finding of sex discrimination.
This then creates obligations for you, the board of directors, to rectify the situation and remove the discrimination or be held liable for the damage done to her – both her reputation and her emotional wellbeing.
I think we can also make the case that the CEO has been subject to sexual harassment in her employment as set out by sections 28A and 28B of the Sex Discrimination Act.[16]
It is well accepted under the Act that the sending of sexually explicit material via email or text to a person constitutes sexual harassment.[17] The definition also covers accessing sexually explicit Internet sites.
Interestingly, a recent test case under the Sex Discrimination Act as to whether exposing a worker to pornography at work constituted sex discrimination (as opposed to sexual harassment) was settled out of court.[18]
The creating of sexually explicit Internet sites or contributing to ones on Facebook that I have described would easily fall within the definition of sexual harassment.
I have already shown you an example from the loathsome Larry Pickering.
Larry Pickering has suddenly become very famous – if not infamous – after being identified by the CEO in her press conference on Thursday 23 August as someone who publishes "a vile and sexist website". Gillard said: "for many, many months now I have been the subject of a very sexist smear campaign from people for whom I have no respect".
What she did not say is that for many months now Pickering has bombarded not just her but every member of federal parliament and every senator on almost a daily basis with emails containing hate-filled commentary about Gillard. Often these commentaries have been accompanied by cartoons, many of which – like the one I have shown – depict Gillard naked and wearing a huge strap-on dildo.
Pickering was infamous back in the days when he was cartoonist for The Australian for producing annual calendars in which all the (then all male) politicians had extremely long penises that were used to supposedly entertaining effect. It seems that Pickering cannot envisage a prime minister without a penis – so he had to give Gillard a strap-on. When Facebook (where he publishes some of his material), forced him to stop drawing her this way, be started depicting her with a dildo thrown over her shoulder.[19]
I have seen many examples of these emails – shown to me by MPs – and I know (1) that they go to every member and senator and (2) they contain vile and disgusting images of our political leaders, most often Julia Gillard and, until his resignation from Parliament, Bob Brown.
Yet no Member of Parliament has denounced them, not in public at least. I find this almost beyond comprehension. Nor, before Gillard mentioned them at her press conference, had they been written about by anyone in the parliamentary press gallery. Surely it is newsworthy that Australia's first female prime minister is under such constant illustrated attack. Surely it is noteworthy that the portrayals of her are obscene and indisputably sexist.
Surely it would merit a report somewhere in the media by one of the journalists who churn out stories daily from Canberra.
Instead we have had what one might almost call a conspiracy of silence.
Is it because the images are so vile that there was an implicit agreement between parliamentarians and the press to simply pretend they did not exist? Or were they just dismissed as the crazed work of a cranky old hack?
I sense that many journalists in the press gallery are now somewhat embarrassed about their failure to report on and thereby smoke out these endless vicious attacks on the prime minister.
WE COULD ALSO make the case that the CEO of Australia Pty Ltd has been bullied. Comcare, the Commonwealth workplace health and safety agency defines bullying as:
Repeated behaviour that could reasonably be considered to be humiliating, intimidating, threatening or demeaning to a person, or group of persons, and which therefore creates a risk to health and safety.[20]
There can be little doubt that these sexually explicit images of Julia Gillard by her abusive detractors are acts of bullying in the sense that they are solely designed to demean and diminish her, humiliate and intimidate her. There is currently a Parliamentary inquiry examining bullying in the workplace[21]. It will be interesting to see whether its findings would support this conclusion.
Turning to the industrial relations law, would the CEO have any resort under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)?
Section 340 prohibits an employer from taking "adverse action" against an employee, which includes discriminating against an employee, while Section 351 prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against an employee because of the employee's sex or marital status. An employer can be liable for the actions of their employees and for the way co-workers treat each other.
Increasingly, industrial tribunals and commissions are having to grapple with this new phenomena, and are being called upon to determine whether conduct on FaceBook can warrant dismissal.
Already there are many examples where Fair Work Australia has been cited when employees have been dismissed for acts of sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct on social media sites such as Facebook against co-workers.
(This definition includes supervisors and bosses as well as more junior employees).[22]
While the tests may be different from those under sex discrimination law, there is little doubt that the type of commentary and images to which Julia Gillard is routinely and repeatedly subjected to would come within the type of conduct prohibited in all other workplaces. An employer would be liable to their employee and may have to pay a civil penalty (a fine) under section 539.
(Indeed, there could even be the possibility of prison. In July a Bendigo magistrate gave a suspended prison sentence to the creator of the FaceBook page: Benders Root-Rate. Yes, you did hear me correctly and, yes, it does mean what you think it means: a Facebook page in which the creators rated named people's sexual performance.)
Back in the 1970s when women were for the first time getting jobs in places such as the police force, the fire brigade, BHP and other previously all-male workplaces, it was common for these women to find pornographic photographs placed inside their lockers. These were an expression of hostility on the part of some of their male co-workers who apparently resented the intrusion of these groundbreaking women into what had been all-male domains.
Aren't we seeing a similar process happening now? When Julia Gillard logs onto her computer and sees images of herself naked, or holding suggestive signs, isn't she being subjected to similarly hostile acts by people who apparently resent her being in the job?
I would say Yes.
I think that we can fairly conclude that the CEO of Australia Pty Ltd has been subject to conduct that is outlawed under both the Sex Discrimination Act and Fair Work Australia. You as shareholders of Australia Pty Ltd would expect the board of directors of the company to not just pay any applicable fines and damages, but to do something about changing the culture of the company that allows this kind of behaviour to flourish. The courts can make orders to stop certain conduct and order other conduct to occur – as shareholders you could demand the directors put in place some positive actions.
I HOPE THAT IN making the case in this way I have persuaded you that the prime minister is entitled to feel aggrieved by the way she is being treated.
And so are we.
It says something about our country and about us that we could subject our leader to such vile abuse. It is even worse that we somehow think it is OK and even funny to demean her sexually in such crude and disgusting ways. What has happened to us?
How can we account for these levels of vitriol, for this hatred?
Can it really be the case that a tax – a carbon tax – could really spur so many people to such levels of hatred? I find that impossible to believe, so I have to conclude that the persecution of Julia Gillard has to be about something else.
Is it just the simple fact that she is a woman?
It is difficult not to conclude that we Australians are – so far at least – simply incapable of accepting a woman in charge of our country.
It is worth remembering that we were one of the last countries in our region to have a female prime minister or president. India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea and of course New Zealand – who managed two! – all had women leaders before we did.
But surely Julia Gillard's continuing unpopularity is not just because she is a woman? It can't be because she was incredibly popular as Deputy Prime Minister.
There are two reasons why Australians are having difficulty liking their prime minister.
For all of our history a prime minister has been a man in a suit who has been married (to a woman) and who has children. If our first female leader also happens to be our first unmarried, childless, living with a partner, not to mention atheist, prime minister then perhaps it is not surprising that the population is having some trouble getting their heads around this new reality.
The fact that we have had ten female leaders at state or territory level apparently has not adequately prepared us for this.
But I think there is something else at work.
And that is the deliberate sabotaging of the prime minister by political enemies, who include people within her own party, and who are using an array of weapons which include personal denigration, some of it of a sexual or gendered nature, to undermine her and erode her authority.
It was not always so.
I like to quote a story that did the rounds in Sydney a couple of years ago about the hard men of the NSW Right who got very nervous when they learned that then DPM Julia Gillard was planning to attend a big Labor function in the western suburbs. How would the traditional women of the west react to Gillard, the Sussex Street boys fretted: after all, she was single, had no kids and lived with a hairdresser.
They made some inquiries and the feedback shocked them: these supposedly traditional women had no problems with Gillard's marital status, envied her freedom from the responsibilities of raising children and, most of all, were in awe of her for choosing a hairdresser for a partner![23]
IN JUNE 2010, in the week she became prime minister, Julia Gillard presided over a 14 per cent increase in her party's vote, with Labor's two-party preferred vote rising to 55 per cent to the Coalition's 45 per cent. Julia Gillard was preferred as prime minister by 55 per cent of Australians against the 34 per cent who preferred Tony Abbott.[24]
Even more striking, as Barrie Cassidy has pointed out, was the stunning turnaround in the leader's satisfaction rating. Kevin Rudd's rating when he was deposed had been -19. Within a week of becoming prime minister, Julia Gillard's satisfaction rating was +19, a 38 per cent turnaround.[25]
It is difficult to remember back two years ago to Julia Gillard's rock star status. She was popular – even adored – and there was no doubt she was on track to lead Labor to a stunning electoral victory.
And then there were the leaks.
During the election campaign several extremely damaging leaks, put into the public domain by journalist Laurie Oakes, alleged that in Cabinet before the leadership change Gillard had opposed both the paid parental leave scheme and increases to the aged pension.
Nothing could have been more calculated to wound her politically.
She – the childless woman – stood accused of not caring about families with children (paid parental leave) and of being a heartless person who was against fairness for pensioners.
As the following table shows, Gillard's popularity dropped almost 20 points virtually overnight following the leak on 27 July about her supposedly not supporting the paid parental leave scheme, and – as we all know – the government's standing was damaged, its primary vote fell to 38 per cent and it was unable to gain a parliamentary majority in order to govern.
Gillard has never recovered from this.[26]
Her personal popularity has remained low even while the government's standing has started to improve.
And she never will be able to recover while a similarly brutal and targeted campaign of vilification is still being conducted against her. In 2010 it was Kevin Rudd, or his agent, who successfully struck at her credibility and her authority with those cruelly targeted leaks.[27] In 2012, in addition to the continuing attacks on her by the Rudd camp (where she is routinely referred to as "bitch" by some of her parliamentary colleagues), it is also anyone who forwards a viral email, or "likes" or "shares" or adds to a sexist comment on FaceBook, who Retweets a crude comment, or engages in casual conversations where the country's leader is dismissed as a "lying bitch".
It is time to stop. To draw a line.
My purpose in deciding to explore these things today was not to titillate, and it was certainly not to give satisfaction to the people who are responsible for producing this awful material.
Some people counseled me not to show it. Ignore it, delete it, don't reinforce it, I was told. I disagree.
I think that by shining a light on what is out there, on the ways in which our country's leader is being demeaned and destabilized, and our country and its population is degrading itself, we might be able to shame the more decent among us into not going along with it any more.
We have to do this because I am alarmed that we have created a climate of misogyny that is widespread and contagious. It taints all of us, makes all women vulnerable and it is likely to act as a deterrent to young women thinking about a career in politics. Why would anyone want to step up for such treatment?
I did take the advice to the extent that I have cut back on what I showed today but I am including many more examples in an R-rated Appendix to this talk which will be available on my website in coming days.
I was very impressed earlier this week when Helen Szoke, the Race Discrimination Commissioner, unveiled a strategy to end racism in this country: "Racism: it stops with me".
Simple yet effective.
I would like today for we shareholders in Australia Pty Ltd. to make a similar commitment: The persecution of our prime minister: it stops with me.
So next time you get one of those emails, don't delete it – send it back to whoever sent it to you and tell them: It stops with me. When someone in your company refers to the prime minister disrespectfully, don't ignore it – tell them off: it stops with me. And if you stumble across a website or a FaceBook page that contains offensive commentary or images, don't avert your eyes – make a comment calmly saying how sad this makes you feel: it stops with me.
This is something that is beyond party, beyond political affiliation, beyond voting intention and beyond whether or not you like Julia Gillard. We should all be worried about this vilification of our first female prime minister. I think the same thing would happen if she were from the Liberal Party. Indeed Julie Bishop, the deputy leader of the Opposition has told me that she is constantly attacked for being childless.
So it does not matter whether you are Labor or Liberal, National Party or Green, whether you admired Julia Gillard or you despise her, whether you intend to vote for her or against her.
If enough of us push back, perhaps we can stop it. And if we can, perhaps that will help restore some dignity and respect to the holder of our highest office.
We would be a better place if we could.
Note of thanks. I would like to acknowledge and thank the following people who helped me in various ways in the preparation of this speech: Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, Rodney Cavalier, Anne Cooper, Kay Dee, Georgia Fullerton, Jeff Mueller, Elizabeth Raper, Barbara Riley-Smith, Chris Ronalds SC, Janet Wilson (and several members of parliament who preferred their names not be made public).
[3] http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2d5112d9-d29f-4121-aa4c-332814189972%2F0024;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2d5112d9-d29f-4121-aa4c-332814189972%2F0018%22
[10] http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/barren-gillard-unfit-to-be-pm/story-e6frfkp9-1111113448384#ixzz248ixawJX
[11] Joe Kelly, "Mark Latham says Julia Gillard Has No Empathy Because She Has No Children". The Australian 4 April, 2011
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/mark-latham-says-julia-gillard-has-no-empathy-because-shes-childless/story-fn59niix-1226033174177 Accessed 23 August, 2012
[12] Malcolm Farr, "Tony Abbott tells Julia Gillard to 'make an honest woman of herself' on carbon tax" Herald Sun 25 February, 2011
http://www.news.com.au/national-old/tony-abbott-tells-julia-gillard-to-make-an-honest-womanof-herself-on-carbon-tax/story-e6frfkvr-1226012034629 Accessed 1 September 2012
[13] Peter van Onselen, "Backbench push for survival fuels leadership noise" Weekend Australian 21-22 July 2012 p. 13
[14] Melissa Mack, "'Old cow' insult for PM Gillard" InDaily 3 August, 2012
http://www.indaily.com.au/?xml=mob&iid=66169#folio=1 Accessed 23 August, 2012
[17] For example, see the definition of "sexual harassment" published by the Australian Human Rights Commission: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/sexualharassment/index.html.
[19] Karl Quinn, "Defiant Pickering says he's not finished with PM yet". Smh.com.au 24 August, 2012 http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/defiant-pickering-says-hes-not-finished-with-pm-yet-20120823-24p11.html Accessed 26 August 2012
[20] http://www.comcare.gov.au/safety__and__prevention/health_and_safety_topics/bullying/Comcares_workplace_bullying_campaign
[21] http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ee/bullying/tor.htm
[22] See, for example, Damian O'Keefe v Williams Muir's Pty Limited t/a Troy Williams The Good Guys [2011] FWA 5311 and Dover-Ray v Real Insurance Pty Ltd (2010) 204 IR 399; [2010] FWA 8544
[23] Anne Summers "It is Gillard's ability to connect with, surprise and delight a wide range of people that is her ace card" The Age 26 June, 2010 Insight. P. 3
[24] Phillip Coorey, "Gillard Saves Labor" Sydney Morning Herald 26 June 2010
http://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard-saves-labor-20100625-z9qy.html?autostart=1%22>first Accessed 30 August 2012
[25] Barrie Cassidy The Party Thieves. The Real Story of the 2010 Election Melbourne University Press, 2010 p. 147
[26] Table first appeared in crikey.com.au


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The AVANGRID Board of Directors announced the appointment of Dennis V. Arriola as Chief Executive Officer effective July 20, 2020. Arriola succeeds James P. Torgerson.
To help protect its communities during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, AVANGRID donated 31,000 protective masks to emergency service providers in Connecticut, Maine, and New York. After the AVANGRID Logistics staff secured its required supply of personal protective equipment, such as masks, gloves and gowns, the team set aside thousands of masks for donation.
AVANGRID announced today that its Park City Wind project was chosen to advance to contract negotiations by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The proposed 804 megawatt (MW) offshore wind development, a project of Vineyard Wind, LLC, would power approximately 14 percent of Connecticut's electricity supply and avoid emitting more than 25 million tons of carbon emissions in the state.
AVANGRID has again been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies. The announcement marks the second consecutive year that AVANGRID has earned the designation from Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.