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“Greedy” woman slammed after being “disappointed” with engagement ring

<p dir="ltr">A woman has been dubbed “ungrateful” and “greedy” online after sharing a lengthy post about how she was “pretty disappointed” with the ring her boyfriend proposed with. </p> <p dir="ltr">The bride-to-be took to Facebook to say that while she still loves her fiancé, she was upset at being given a lab-made diamond as opposed to a natural one. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I'm not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed, especially since my future husband has enough income to afford a real diamond,” she said in the lengthy post. </p> <p dir="ltr">She also confessed to feeling like “a spoiled brat for complaining”, but went on to compare how her fiancé was previously engaged to another woman and proposed with a ring costing more than $75,000, so the cheaper diamond left her feeling “second best”. </p> <p dir="ltr">The woman’s post was met with ridicule online, as thousands of people commented on her post to express their disbelief. </p> <p dir="ltr">One person quipped, “I require my diamonds to be exploitative.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“People sure do get upset when their diamonds aren't the result of human rights abuses and environmental destruction, huh,” another said, slamming the woman's “entitled attitude”. </p> <p dir="ltr">Another woman was quick to agree that the bride-to-be's “greedy” disappointment was in bad taste.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Carbon is carbon,” another person said, referring to the material that diamonds are made of, whether from the ground or in a lab.   </p> <p dir="ltr">“Such a weird hill to die on! I told my husband I wanted a lab created diamond for this exact reason: because diamond mining claims lives! Having a chemically perfect diamond is a bonus,” another woman said. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p>

Relationships

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"The time's right": Neil Mitchell signs off

<p>After 34 years on the air, 3AW radio veteran Neil Mitchell is signing off. </p> <p>Neil Mitchell has been a staple of Australian radio for decades, growing a reputation for being fair, decent, honest and sometimes "a bit grumpy".</p> <p><em>A Current Affair</em>'s Ally Langdon joined the 3AW veteran to reflect on a stellar career that earned him a legion of loyal listeners.</p> <p>"I've always wanted to be a journalist from about age 14," he told Langdon.</p> <p>"But not for a moment did I think that I would end up doing something such as I have, editing a newspaper and doing this."</p> <p>His passion as a radio presenter lies in the "real people" who call in each morning, saying, "You can go from a person laughing and telling you jokes and carrying on to great stories."</p> <p>"And then a couple of calls later there's somebody in tears that you need to help. It is real people."</p> <p>"I regularly shed tears on air ... And if we can make a difference, I shed tears again because we've had success."</p> <p>Over his decades on air, Mitchell clashed with many Aussie politicians, sharing how he took it upon himself to be a spokesperson for everyday Australians. </p> <p>"They've established a system where they don't have to be accountable," he said.</p> <p>"And [if] anybody attempts to make them accountable ... they resented it. Accountability is disappearing I'm afraid."</p> <p>While he is stepping back from his flagship show, he has assured listeners he isn't signing off forever. </p> <p>"I'll still be here. I'll be doing podcasts and all sorts of things. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be an interesting change."</p> <p>"I'm going to miss it, stepping away. But the time's right."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Nine </em></p>

Music

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Edwina Bartholomew's husband shares encouraging health update

<p>Edwina Bartholomew's husband Neil Varcoe has shared an encouraging health update, just months after being diagnosed with chronic fatigue. </p> <p>In June, the father-of-two revealed how he was struck down with chronic fatigue syndrome after suffering from a virus that “knocked him”.</p> <p>At the time, he told <em>Australian's Women Weekly</em> that he had to cut back on his work after his energy depletion made him feel like he "had nothing left" to give to his job. </p> <p>Now, Varcoe has shared a positive update on his condition, saying he has returned to work as a communications teacher at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. </p> <p>The university campus is a 40 minute drive from Carcoar, where Neil, Edwina and their two children moved last year with plans to renovate a historic hotel. </p> <p>Neil shared in a heart-warming update on Instagram that he has taught his final class in feature writing and data journalism, with his wife Edwina joining in via Zoom. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CyPCQMQBeUq/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CyPCQMQBeUq/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Neil Varcoe (@neilwrites)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“I wrapped my final class at Charles Sturt University Bathurst yesterday with a chat with a journalist I greatly admire — my wife Edwina,” Neil’s caption began.</p> <p>“For the past three-and-a-half months, I’ve taught feature writing and data journalism to a talented group of students.”</p> <p>He went on to thank his colleagues and students, before teasing a return to the regional university in the new year. </p> <p>Neil's followers took to the comments to share praise for his return to university, and wish him all the best on this health journey. </p> <p>One person wrote, “Well done 🤩 So rewarding to get back on the bike as the saying goes!"</p> <p>Another local added, “I hope you both keep returning to us at Charles Sturt! Congratulations…I’m sure the students loved you.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

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Radio veteran steps down after 34 years on the air

<p>Radio veteran Neil Mitchell has announced he will be stepping back from hosting his 3AW Mornings show after 34 years on the air.</p> <p>Mitchell shared the news to his dedicated listeners on Friday morning in an emotional statement. </p> <p>“Apart from my family, radio has been my life and my love. I will miss enormously the energy, excitement, and occasional whack that the audience dishes out to me daily,” he said. </p> <p>“But it is time, after 34 years of 4am starts, peddling flat out is getting a little hard.”</p> <p>In his statement, Mitchell said he will stay on with 3AW and Nine in a new role, including hosting his successful new podcast, Neil Mitchell Asks Why. </p> <p>“I will still appear on 3AW as an analyst, will do a weekly podcast, and hope to continue writing and TV work as well,” he continued. </p> <p>“And, don’t celebrate yet Daniel Andrews, I am here until December. Thanks to all for the superb support over the years."</p> <p>In a follow-up statement, Mitchell assured listeners he will stay true to himself and his beliefs in his new roles. </p> <p>“I have been acutely conscious of that privilege of the microphone every day I have been on air for over 36 years,” he wrote. </p> <p>“It is a tough decision to step away from the daily program. It is the best job I have ever had. But I promise I will continue my philosophy and attitude through this new role. It is one I have crafted carefully with the approval of 3AW and Nine management because I want to continue to have an impact and continue to work for the audience as the media landscape changes.”</p> <p>Mitchell has been a key player at 3AW since beginning his radio career with the station in 1987, where he started working part-time on weekends and as a morning fill-in host for former broadcaster Derryn Hinch.</p> <p>From there, he got his big break hosting the Drive show before moving to the Mornings slot, where he has been ever since. </p> <p>Mitchell has won several awards during his time as a radio journalist, while also devoting his time to helping those less fortunate, and helping to raise over $10 million for charities and causes close to his heart. </p> <p>Tom Malone, Managing Director of Nine Radio, thanked Mitchell for his service in his career.</p> <p>“Thirty four years hosting Mornings on 3AW is a record that’s likely never to be beaten. Neil has been at the top of his game and the top of ratings for nearly all of that time. It’s an incredible run. We’d have loved him to stay on, but Neil is adamant it’s time.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: 3AW</em></p>

News

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Edwina Bartholomew announces surprising new living arrangement with husband

<p><em>Sunrise</em> star Edwina Bartholomew has shared her unusual new living arrangement with her husband.</p> <p>The Seven presenter and Neil Varcoe, who tied the knot in 2018, will be transitioning into a long-distance relationship as she continues her Monday to Friday donair duties and her partner moves full time to their Capertee Valley home to become a farmer.</p> <p>Varcoe, a former journalist, left his job at Twitter after Elon Musk took over and plans to be the “chief farming officer” at Warramba, the 1980s farm that he and his wife have restored.</p> <p>He will also become the project manager of The Victoria — a historic hotel in the Blue Mountains.</p> <p>It is believed that Bartholomew, 39, will remain in Sydney with their two children, Molly, three, and Tom, one, throughout the week, with the trio joining Varcoe at the rural property on weekends.</p> <p>The <em>Sunrise</em> star announced the news on Instagram, describing it as “a big day” for their family</p> <p>“Neil was born and raised in Lithgow and went to school in Bathurst, so it’s pretty exciting he now gets to contribute to the extraordinary growth in the Central West,” she wrote.</p> <p>“He is also the proud new owner of a very big jacket and beard to survive the winter.</p> <p>“We have our first stay in Carcoar as a family this weekend. We will miss him during the week but let the commuting, designing, renovation fun begin!”</p> <p>Varcoe also shared the news on his Instagram page, praising the “courage” of his wife, saying that “this wild scheme was her idea”.</p> <p>He wrote that he was “excited to build a business for his family” from the ground up.</p> <p>“The chance to contribute to the extraordinary growth that’s occurring in my home region is irresistible,” Varcoe wrote.</p> <p>Earlier in 2023, Bartholomew sparked debate when she revealed she and her husband have <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/works-like-a-charm-edwina-bartholomew-s-surprising-trick-for-a-happy-marriage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slept in different beds</a> for the past seven years.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

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"The beat goes on": Neil Diamond opens up about life with Parkinson’s

<p>Neil Diamond has opened up about his experience living with Parkinson’s, and how it has taken a long and uphill battle to come to terms with his 2018 diagnosis. </p> <p>In a candid interview with Anthony Mason for <em>CBS Sunday Morning</em>, the 82-year-old singer - best known for his hit song ‘Sweet Caroline’ - detailed how he moved from denial to acceptance, and the impact it has had on his life and his career ever since.</p> <p>“When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it,” he said. “I said, ‘oh, okay, I’ll see you whenever you want to see me, but I have work to do, so I’ll see you later’.”</p> <p>For “the first year or two”, Diamond admits he refused to accept his condition,  but as acceptance finally came to him, so did a sort of calm and peace of mind</p> <p>“I think this has just been in the last few weeks,” he explained to Mason, “but somehow, a calm has moved in and the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet.</p> <p>“And I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself and the beat goes on and it will go on long after I’m gone.”</p> <p>He went on to note his understanding that “this is the hand that God’s given”, and how his only option was “to make the best of it”.</p> <p>“There’s no cure, there’s no getting away from it. You can’t just say ‘okay, enough already, let’s get back to life’. It doesn’t work like that,” he said. </p> <p>“But I’ve come to accept what limitations I have and still have great days.”</p> <p>And while Diamond retired from touring in 2018 in the wake of his diagnosis, he can still find those great days in music, with his life playing out in the musical A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical on Broadway.</p> <p>As for how it feels to see his story performed on the stage, he admits that initially it was difficult, and that he felt some embarrassment, before going on to add that he “was flattered, and I was scared. </p> <p>“Being found out is the scariest thing you can hope for because we all have a facade. And the truth be known to all of them. I’m not some big star - I’m just me.”</p> <p>“The show is part of my psychotherapy,” he explained, “and it hurt.”</p> <p>On opening night, Diamond even returned to the stage for a singalong performance of ‘Sweet Caroline’, and as he told Mason, “I can still sing. I’ve been doing it for 50 years and I enjoy it. It’s like all the systems of my mind and my body are working as one.</p> <p>“I’ve had a pretty amazing life, it’s true.”</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Caring

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"I just went numb": Man recalls helicopter crash that gravely injured wife and stepson

<p>A father has recounted the horrifying moment he watched his wife and stepson plummet to the ground in a wrecked helicopter after a mid-air collision on the Gold Coast. </p> <p>Neil De Silva told the <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a&amp;dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Fgeelong-mum-son-among-sea-world-chopper-casualties%2Fnews-story%2Fc3de255af1ae5ea3e8b5611b2eeae87c&amp;memtype=anonymous&amp;mode=premium&amp;v21=dynamic-high-control-score&amp;V21spcbehaviour=append" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Herald Sun</a> that he felt powerless to help as he watched his family collide with another helicopter at high speeds. </p> <p>“Winnie and Leon’s helicopter took off, it only went about 200 metres in the air,” Mr De Silva said.</p> <p>“I could see the other helicopter that was due to land … it looked like they were going to crash into one another."</p> <p>“As it got closer, I was thinking ‘this is crazy, this looks really bad’ and I just went numb”.</p> <p>After a pain-staking two hour wait, Neil was eventually informed that his wife Winnie, 33, and stepson Leon, 9, had survived the devastating crash, but had been rushed to hospital in critical condition. </p> <p><a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/helicopter-crash-victims-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four others</a> on their flight were killed in the collision, while another young boy, 10, also remains critical in hospital. </p> <p>In a heart-wrenching twist to the De Silva's story, Neil revealed that the Geelong family were celebrating the end of a challenging year by treating themselves to a budget Gold Coast getaway. </p> <p>Mr De Silva shared that it had always been Winnie’s dream to take her son Leon on a chopper ride, so they decided to treat themselves to the adventure ride. </p> <p>“It was Winnie’s dream to take Leon on a helicopter,” Mr de Silva said.</p> <p>“I thought I would shout them a 10-minute flight."</p> <p>“We were on a budget holiday, trying to save money but I wanted them to have that experience.”</p> <p>Winnie remains critical but stable in the Gold Coast University Hospital with two broken legs, a damaged left knee, a broken right shoulder and a broken collarbone.</p> <p>Leon remains in a coma with facial and head injuries, a cracked skull and severe trauma to the brain in Brisbane’s Queensland Children’s Hospital.</p> <p>Mr De Silva has organised a<a title="www.gofundme.com" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-winnie-leon-seaworld-crash-victims?qid=8e66b72e6929303fe5aef72a4eb79661"> GoFundMe</a> to support the family as he takes time off work to be by their side.</p> <p>Leon moved from Kenya to Australia about a year ago to be with Winnie, and his life Down Under was set to be full of new experiences.</p> <p>“This was his first helicopter flight,” he said. “Everything is a new experience for him.”</p> <p>“I feel blessed that Winnie and Leon survived."</p> <p>“Four people died — they are blessed to be alive.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: GoFundMe</em></p>

Caring

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"There is great strength in vulnerability": Grace Tame’s surprising, irreverent memoir has a message of hope

<p>Grace Tame’s <em>The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner</em> shifts expectations. It’s not a minute-to-minute backstage account of the 12 months Tame spent as Australian of the Year, or the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/12/tasmanian-survivor-of-sexual-assault-wins-the-right-to-tell-her-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#LetHerSpeak campaign</a> or the March4Justice.</p> <p>It’s not wholly focused on her struggles with hostile elements in the commercial media or the former prime minister she calls “Scott” – which is only democratic after all, given “Scott” invariably called her “Grace”.</p> <p>The book presents a horrifying account of being groomed and sexually abused as a 15-year-old by her 58-year-old schoolteacher, but it’s also not entirely taken up with “that part of my story that has been magnified and scrutinised publicly”.</p> <p>What the book reveals is that while such events are “undoubtedly traumatic” they haven’t “defined” her “unfinished experience of life”.</p> <p>And this is the important message of hope it gives to survivors of child sexual abuse. Until very recently, this crime was diminished or largely ignored by a culture that has historically <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Child-Sexual-Abuse-Moral-Panic-or-State-of-Denial/Pilgrim/p/book/9781138578371" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labelled it a myth or moral panic</a>, thereby enabling abusers. Meanwhile, as Tame writes, “they [abusers] deny, they attack, and they cry victim, while attempting to cast [victims] as the offenders”.</p> <p>“Child abusers groom through isolation, fear and shame,” writes Tame. “Through the manipulation of our entire society. All of us, to some extent, have been groomed.”</p> <p>Ahead of publication, Tame deleted her Twitter account. “I am aware this book will draw varying responses,” she writes, “including brutal backlash”. Pre-emptively responding to trolls and detractors, Tame says that she doesn’t “work for critics” but for “the people who find themselves in our words” and are “empowered by them”.</p> <p>Instead, the book shares the larger story of Tame’s life in the hope that “my being vulnerable will permit the vulnerability of another”.</p> <h2>Mining for diamonds as an attitude to life</h2> <p>Unexpectedly, the memoir opens with the story of a man called Jorge – aged “67 or 76” – who Grace met in a ramshackle share house in Portugal at the age of 19. Jorge was “asset poor” but “story rich”. He had led “nine lives” in “seven different languages”, as a soccer player, a musician, a springboard diver, the former husband of a Jewish-American heiress and – like the figure in the book’s title – a diamond miner in Brazil. All that remained of these great adventures was an “overstuffed” chihuahua called Pirate and books of photographs.</p> <p>An older, “healthily jaded” Tame suspects the chameleon-like Jorge was probably a con artist but writes that this “layer of delicious irony” merely served to confirm in her mind the things Jorge taught her that had “genuine value” – that life is essentially about people, experiences, authenticity, and connection. “Raw. Real. Uncut.”</p> <p>Of course, it’s not Jorge but Tame herself who is the diamond miner in the book’s title. In this extended motif, diamond mining expresses an attitude to life.</p> <p>“Some things in life are ultimately what we make of them,” writes Tame, “… there are things we can and cannot control” but “our power resides in how we respond to each”.</p> <p>Inevitably, this sense of optimism is tempered with a warning. The “ninth life” of a cat is the point at which the creature becomes vulnerable.</p> <p>For feminists of my own generation, who were taught that you had to be stronger, and tougher, and smarter just to get by, the book surprisingly reveals that “there is great strength in vulnerability”. Being vulnerable, says Tame, is about remaining open to life.</p> <p>Tame writes about her aunts and cousins, about her parents’ divorce, her fight with anorexia, her neurodiversity, and the six years she spent living in the United States, where she moved aged 18. There’s her brief marriage to former Hollywood child star Spencer Breslin in 2017, with an Elvis-themed wedding, her friendship with actor John Cleese and his daughter Camilla, her work as an illustrator and indeed her brief stint working on a marijuana farm.</p> <p>She writes about partying in California, hanging out in New York, and experimenting with drugs, which she says she no longer does. She has strong views on everything from the politics of Austrian novelist and playwright Peter Handke to her visit to the house of Frida Kahlo’s husband Diego Rivera in Guanajuato, Mexico.</p> <p>The book is loosely chronological, but mostly follows the rhythms and shapes of Tame’s thoughts. It is held together by a strong, irreverent, irrepressible voice, and is enclosed within a cover illustration that she drew herself.</p> <h2>Growing up neurodiverse</h2> <p>Tame was born in 1994, in Rokeby, a working-class suburb of Hobart, growing up in the same street as her aunts, cousins and grandparents, surrounded by a boisterous crowd of relatives who taught her, “Solidarity. And lots of love.”</p> <p>She describes childhood days spent “climbing trees, jumping fences” and running in and out of cousin’s houses.</p> <p>But she also recollects her childhood as a time of instability, being carted back and forth between the houses of two amicably divorced parents, which was, she says in retrospect, too much for a neurodiverse child.</p> <p>“My mind sees time through the glass door of a front-loading washing machine on a never-ending spin cycle,” she writes. “I can pull out specific memories that look as clean as yesterday because at any given moment everything is churning at high speed in colour”.</p> <p>She quickly learnt “mimicking and masking”, the “survival strategies” of autistic women. Much later, she would find out that neurodiversity can also be a strength. Tame calls herself “the autistic artist who finds everyday socialising harder than calculus, but walking onto a stage as easy as kindergarten maths”.</p> <p>She is at pains to point out that although she has “seen some strife” – unlike the former prime minister’s characterisation of her as person who has had “<a href="https://7news.com.au/politics/pm-had-no-issue-with-grace-tame-meeting-c-5473752" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a terrible life</a>” – “on the whole” her life has been mostly “wonderful”.</p> <h2>Abuse</h2> <p>But in the background was “our family’s sixth spidery sense”, largely directed at divining the presence of huntsmen, which Tame learnt to carry out of the house “by the leg”. Aptly, this description foreshadows her encounter with the “rock spider” Nicolaas Bester, the serial sex offender lurking in the private Anglican girls’ school for which Tame’s mother, aspiring to a better education for her daughter, worked hard to pay the fees.</p> <p>Bester began preying on Tame at age 15 in “the very same year my mental health began to decline”. The grooming started in the classroom with Bester telling what he claimed were jokes. Once, about a student “obsessed with tubular objects”. At another time, about <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/rage-saved-my-life-in-the-end-grace-tame-on-not-backing-down-20220719-p5b2s7.html?collection=p5biok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a former student</a> who he claimed was “as easy as a McDonald’s drive-through”.</p> <p>Through “innocent, permissive laughter” students became acquainted with a “supposedly harmless man”. His “recycled racy comments were just part of his schtick, and they didn’t alarm our young inexperienced minds in the same way they might have adults”.</p> <p>Nobody suspected there was something fundamentally wrong in all this, alleging “he pushed the boundaries, that was all”.</p> <p>Bester soon began following Tame about, attempting to gain access by pretending to be her uncle at a medical facility where Tame was being treated, also turning up at the kiosk where she had a part-time job.</p> <p>Tame’s parents had two consecutive meetings with the school, asking them to put an end to Bester’s “inappropriate behaviour”. But Bester “coolly laid the groundwork for a narrative in which I was the supposed aggressor, and mentally ill one that he felt ‘sorry for’.” And the school, she writes, believed him. “This would, in fact, be his line of defence in court.”</p> <p>The police statement given by the school principal was, she argues, “perversely, almost as damning of the school as it was of him”.</p> <p>It revealed that “despite regular and consistent complaints from students, staff, parents and visitors to the institution” the school “allowed him to continue working”.</p> <p>Police found “videos of adults raping children on his computer”.</p> <p>Tame writes that after she disclosed the sexual abuse by Bester, the school sent her mother a bill for outstanding fees.</p> <p>Bester was sentenced to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/nicolaas-bester-sentenced-over-social-media-comments-child-abuse/7083524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two years and 10 months in jail in 2011</a> for the abuse of Tame. Yet, writes Tame, he was surrounded by apologists. His church group invited him back to play the organ as soon as he was released. On social media, or simply standing on the street outside a nightclub, Tame was surrounded by a barrage of victim-blaming abuse.</p> <h2>Advocacy and the media</h2> <p>Over time, the media narrative around child sexual abuse has begun to shift, due to the public advocacy of countless men and women, including Tame. But the change is inconsistent and uneven.</p> <p>In 2018, Tame teamed up with Nina Funnell, a Walkley Award winning freelance journalist and sexual assault survivor who began the #LetHerSpeak campaign in partnership with Marque Lawyers and End Rape On Campus Australia. The campaign was aimed at overturning the gag clauses in Tasmanian and Northern Territory law. In 2019, Tame won a supreme court exemption to tell her harrowing story of being groomed by Bester.</p> <p>Advocacy takes its toll, she writes, in “the re-traumatisation that results from reliving the abuse.” It is predicated on an incessant “unpacking and processing”, with the reality of abuse “playing on a loop”.</p> <p>All the while Tame says she has been called everything from a “feminist hero of the fourth wave” to a “man-hater” and a “transgender child abuser”.</p> <p>The brief accounts Tame gives of her interactions with commercial television producers and journalists are far from flattering to the media. Though she looks strong, the media furore frequently left her “shaking”.</p> <blockquote> <p>I’d never had such intense panic attacks, coloured by flashbacks cut with criticisms so violent that all I could hope to do was knock myself out in the hopes of knocking them out of me.</p> </blockquote> <p>And there were, consequently, missed opportunities. The 2021 National Press Club address “in which I talked about how the media retraumatises survivors by not listening closely to the boundaries they set” was “overshadowed that day by a confected feud” between Tame and the former prime minister “that then spiralled and became an ongoing convenient media distraction used to dilute the work I did.”</p> <p>Other media encounters are slammed as “trauma pornography in disguise” and the “unethical, disingenuous gathering of vulnerable people for the purpose of entertainment”.</p> <p>Towards the end of the book Tame recounts the frenzied criticism generated by the so called “side-eye” moment, where she was photographed with then PM Morrison at this year’s morning tea for Australian of the Year recipients.</p> <p>In the wake of these photographs, she writes, her partner Max Heerey was “sent a barrage of text messages” including repeated messages from one journalist asking whether her “autism” had “something to do with” her frosty exchange with Morrison and if “I frowned because I was autistic”.</p> <p>At this point, Max informed the journalist that their questions were ableist and “incredibly offensive”.</p> <p>“I have no idea if it’s offensive or true or what but just wanted to ask as it’s a discussion being raised,” the journalist shot back, followed by a screenshot sampling an article citing autistic “so-called ‘social-deficits’”.</p> <p>“I said please don’t contact me again. This is all incredibly offensive,” Max repeated. “Grace is autistic but not stupid”.</p> <p>But the texts kept coming.</p> <p>Tame writes,</p> <blockquote> <p>I didn’t frown at the Prime Minister because I can’t control my face, because I’m disabled, because I have some kind of deficit, or because I need help. I didn’t frown at him because, in his words, ‘I’ve had a terrible life’’".</p> <p>I frowned at Scott Morrison deliberately because, in my opinion, he has done and assisted in objectively terrible things.“</p> </blockquote> <p>Without specifying what those things are, Tame writes, "No matter what your politics are, the harm that was done under his government was … not limited to survivors of domestic and sexual violence”.</p> <p>To have “smiled at him” would have been a lie.</p> <p>In place of confected outrage, which is “disturbingly skewed”, this memoir attempts to “bridge gaps in understanding” and “ignite a conversation”. It’s worth the “risk and pain”, Tame writes, because “evil thrives in silence”.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-great-strength-in-vulnerability-grace-tames-surprising-irreverent-memoir-has-a-message-of-hope-191074" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Images: National Press Club of Australia/Macmillan</em></p>

Books

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"Return our stolen diamonds!": Renewed pleas over the Great Star of Africa 

<p>In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, calls in South Africa are growing stronger for the British royal family to return the world’s largest known clear-cut diamond.</p> <p>Known as the “Great Star of Africa” or “Cullinan I”, the diamond is cut from a larger gem that was mined in South Africa in 1905. It was handed over to the British royal family by South Africa’s colonial authorities. At the moment, the diamond resides on a royal sceptre that belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p>Demands for the return of the Great Star of Africa and other items have intensified since the Queen's death, as many South Africans view Britain's acquisition of the jewels as illegitimate.</p> <p>"The Cullinan Diamond must be returned to South Africa with immediate effect," activist Thanduxolo Sabelo has told local media, adding that: "The minerals of our country and other countries continue to benefit Britain at the expense of our people."</p> <p>According to the Royal Collection Trust, which oversees the royal collection of the British royal family, the Great Star of Africa was presented to King Edward VII in 1907, two years after its discovery in a private mine.</p> <p>Supporting the British monarchy's claim to the precious stone, the Royal Asscher Diamond Company has said that the gem was purchased by South Africa's Transvaal government (run by British rule) and presented to King Edward VII as a birthday gift.</p> <p>A University of South Africa professor of African politics, Everisto Benyera, rejects this narrative, telling CNN that "colonial transactions are illegitimate and immoral”.</p> <p>"Our narrative is that the whole Transvaal and Union of South Africa governments and the concomitant mining syndicates were illegal," Benyera has said, arguing that: "Receiving a stolen diamond does not exonerate the receiver. The Great Star is a blood diamond ... The private (mining) company, the Transvaal government, and the British Empire were part of a larger network of coloniality."</p> <p>According to the Royal Asscher, the Cullinan diamond was cut into nine large stones and 96 smaller pieces. The largest of these was named the Great Star of Africa by King Edward VII, who also named the second largest cut stone the Smaller Star of Africa.</p> <p>The larger diamond was set in the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross and the second cut stone was mounted in the Imperial Crown, which has been on display this week on the Queen's coffin.</p> <p>African countries continue to fight for the recovery of cultural artefacts that have been stolen by colonial troops, with more than 6000 people signing a petition for the return of the jewel so that it can be displayed in a South African museum.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Legal

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Aussie miner discovers $102 million pink diamond

<p>A rare pure pink diamond has been unearthed in Angola, at the Lulo mine, and according to the Aussie operator of the mining site it is believed to be the largest discovered in 300 years.</p> <p>Named "The Lulo Rose", The 170 carat pink diamond was discovered in the country's diamond-rich northeast.</p> <p>The sparkling whopper is among the largest pink diamonds ever found, the Lucapa Diamond Company said in a statement.</p> <p>The “historic” find of the Type IIa diamond is one of the rarest and purest forms of natural stones and was welcomed by the Angolan government, which is also a partner in the mine.</p> <p>“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage,” Angola’s Mineral Resources Minister Diamantino Azevedo said.</p> <p>The diamond will be sold at international tender, likely at a dazzling price. Although the precious jewel would have to be cut and polished to reveal its true value, the process could potentially see the stone lose 50% of its weight.</p> <p>Similar pink diamonds have sold for record-breaking prices.</p> <p>The 59.6 carat Pink Star was sold at a Hong Kong auction for US $71.2 million (AUD $102.5 million). It remains the most expensive diamond in the world.</p> <p><em>Image: <span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Lucapa Diamond Company Limited </span></em></p>

Money & Banking

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Neil Diamond's incredible rare treat for fans

<p dir="ltr">Baseball fans were given a surprise treat from singer Neil Diamond who made an appearance at the Boston Red Sox game.</p> <p dir="ltr">Diamond gave a heartwarming performance of his classic “Sweet Caroline” at the game on June 18 at Fenway Park in Boston. </p> <p dir="ltr">Heartwarming footage shows Diamond enthusiastically singing along while sporting the black and red Boston Red Sox letterman jacket as the crowd joined in. </p> <p dir="ltr">This was Diamond’s first performance since 2018 after he retired due to his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway Park is incredible 🎤 🙌 <a href="https://t.co/P1yRDJR5ho">pic.twitter.com/P1yRDJR5ho</a></p> <p>— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1538345916490473472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">He previously sang the song at the same stadium in 2013 when the Red Sox played their first home game since the Boston Marathon bombing. </p> <p dir="ltr">The song has now become a part of tradition for the Red Sox who play “Sweet Caroline” during the eighth inning of each home game. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite retiring from live touring, Diamond said that he would “continue his writing, recording and development of new projects”.</p> <p dir="ltr">There is a musical about Diamond’s life currently in pre-production and is expected to open on Broadway later in the year. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Music

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Australian artist and philanthropist Neil Balnaves dies in boating accident

<p dir="ltr">Australian arts philanthropist Neil Balnaves has died at 77 following a boating accident. Balnaves was reportedly holidaying with his wife, Diane, near Tahiti when the accident occurred.</p> <p dir="ltr">Leading figures from the art industry have paid tribute to Neil, as a man who had a vision to “create a better Australia”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Balnaves Foundation released a statement on Tuesday, confirming his death. “The Balnaves family sends their heartfelt thanks for people’s kind words and wishes and kindly requests privacy at this difficult time,” it read.</p> <p dir="ltr">Balnaves had a successful career in TV, running Southern Star production house and producing popular shows including Big Brother, Bananas in Pyjamas, Water Rats and McLeod’s Daughters.</p> <p dir="ltr">After a string of successes, he became chair of the Ardent Leisure Group, which ran theme parks such as Dreamworld on the Gold Coast  from 2003 until 2016.</p> <p dir="ltr">After a boating accident on the Gold Coast in 2002, which almost killed him, Balnaves became an avid philanthropist. He gave away $20m of his fortune to arts organisations.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/22/neil-balnaves-australian-arts-philanthropist-dies-aged-77-after-boating-accident">Guardian Australia</a> was just one of the beneficiaries of his philanthropic foundation, which also donated to Sydney’s Ensemble and Belvoir Street theatres, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia, the Adelaide festival and Bangarra Dance Theatre.</p> <p dir="ltr">The foundation gave a grant to Guardian Australia for in-depth reporting on Indigenous affairs, and an in-depth reporting project on Australian art.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Balnaves Foundation also funded Indigenous and health research.</p> <p dir="ltr">Balnaves is survived by his wife, Diane Balnaves, whom he married in 1971, and his children, Hamish and Victoria.</p> <p dir="ltr">Kilmurry described Balnaves as a champion for the creative community, not just with his philanthropy but his personal passion for the arts.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">“We will miss his generous and fearless spirit,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Image: Getty</p>

Art

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Neil Young’s ultimatum to Spotify shows streaming platforms are now a battleground where artists can leverage power

<p>Neil Young has given Spotify an ultimatum: remove the Joe Rogan Experience podcast or Neil Young walks. In a letter to his management team and label, the 79-year-old rocker lambasted Spotify for spreading Rogan’s misinformation about COVID vaccinations.</p> <p>“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-demands-spotify-remove-music-vaccine-disinformation-1290020/">said Young to his management team</a> and record label.</p> <p>“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”</p> <p>Young is the first high-profile artist to condemn Spotify for its handling of COVID misinformation, but far from the first person to single out Rogan’s podcast on the platform.</p> <p>The Joe Rogan Experience podcast has the highest amount of subscribers on Spotify. In 2020 the podcast became a Spotify exclusive through a deal <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21263927/joe-rogan-spotify-experience-exclusive-content-episodes-youtube">estimated at $100m</a>. Despite its massive popularity, the Joe Rogan Experience has been frequently criticised for promoting conspiracy theories, misinformation and other problematic content.</p> <p>In January 2022, 270 medical health practitioners and researchers submitted <a href="https://spotifyopenletter.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/an-open-letter-to-spotify/">an open letter</a> calling on Spotify to moderate misinformation on its platform. The letter was prompted by an episode that featured a controversial physician who openly promoted conspiracy theories and baseless claims about COVID vaccinations.</p> <p>“This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform,” the letter read.</p> <p>Two days later, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/spotify-neil-young-joe-rogan-1235081916/">Spotify has reportedly removed Young’s music from its platform</a>. This isn’t the first time Young has removed his songs from Spotify, citing poor sound quality as the reason when he temporarily <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-interview-archives-crazy-horse-upcoming-albums-784773/">pulled his entire catalogue</a> from Spotify in 2015.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442842/original/file-20220126-14-1914439.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442842/original/file-20220126-14-1914439.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Joe Rogan on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. A few weeks ago, 270 doctors, scientists, healthcare professionals and professors wrote an open letter to Spotify, expressing concern about medical misinformation on Rogan’s podcast.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">YouTube</span></span></p> <h2>Stream of conscience</h2> <p>Neil Young is not the first musical artist demanding change from the streaming giant.</p> <p>Spotify and other music streaming platforms have become a battleground where artists can leverage their power, notably over disputes concerning artists’ revenues and the value of music in an era of streaming.</p> <p>In 2015, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/9/15767986/taylor-swift-apple-music-spotify-statements-timeline">Taylor Swift briefly removed her album 1989</a> from Apple Music due to the platform offering a three month free trial that would not generate royalties for artists.</p> <p>In 2021, the artist payout debate was reignited after the publication of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/10/music-streaming-debate-what-songwriter-artist-and-industry-insider-say-publication-parliamentary-report">Parliamentary report in the UK</a> calling attention to Spotify’s handling of artists’ rights management, revenue rates, and commercial fairness.</p> <p>Recently, following the release of her latest album 30, <a href="https://theconversation.com/adele-has-successfully-asked-spotify-to-remove-shuffle-from-albums-heres-why-thats-important-for-musicians-172301">Adele took aim at Spotify</a> demanding the shuffle feature be removed from albums encouraging users to listen to the tracks in their intended order.</p> <h2>Self-regulation</h2> <p>Spotify has taken action to regulate harmful content on its service in the past. In 2017, Spotify <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/17/16162146/spotify-removing-white-supremacist-neo-nazi-bands">announced it would remove content</a> from bands connected to white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements.</p> <p>Spotify also joined several other social media and streaming platforms including Facebook, Apple Music and podcast platform Stitcher to remove the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/6/17655516/infowars-ban-apple-youtube-facebook-spotify">polemical right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones</a> and his podcast InfoWars for spreading misinformation and lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.</p> <p>In 2018, Spotify added <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/spotify-is-officially-policing-the-music-it-hosts-627638/">a new hate conduct policy</a> to its terms of use that included guidelines for removing music that “promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence.” Spotify developed the policy in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. The platform faced immediate backlash when it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/arts/music/rkelly-spotify-accusations-xxxtentacion.html">cited the policy to defend</a> removing American artists R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from its editorial and algorithmically curated playlists. The two artists’ catalogues were not removed from Spotify’s streaming library, but would be far less visible to listeners.</p> <p>Critics viewed Spotify’s use of the policy an attempt to censor music. With such a sweeping definition of hate conduct, some observers wondered, why were R. Kelly and XXXTentacion removed and not the dozens, if not hundreds, of other artists with controversial pasts or criminal convictions?</p> <p>The move prompted other prominent artists, most notably Kendrick Lamar, to threaten <a href="https://pitchfork.com/news/kendrick-label-head-confirms-he-threatened-to-pull-music-from-spotify/">withdrawing their music from Spotify</a> entirely. Shortly afterwards, Spotify rolled back the policy. In a <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2018-06-01/spotify-policy-update/">corporate statement</a> announcing the shift, Spotify also minimised its responsibility in political matters or public controversies: “That’s not what Spotify is about. We don’t aim to play judge and jury.”</p> <p>Digital platforms have taken steps to moderate misinformation. For example, in the lead up to the 2020 US election, Twitter began <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-adds-fact-check-warning-trump-tweets/">adding fact-check labels</a> to tweets shared by former president Donald Trump. Later that year, Facebook’s Oversight Board <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/22/tech/facebook-oversight-board/index.html">began hearing cases</a> to oversee key decisions related to content moderation.</p> <p>Throughout the COVID pandemic, academics and public health officials <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-a-virus-goes-viral-pros-and-cons-to-the-coronavirus-spread-on-social-media-133525">have called on social media platforms</a> to help fight the spread of dangerous health-related misinformation.</p> <h2>Policing platforms</h2> <p>Reliance on platforms to moderate podcast content is a tenuous proposition. As commercial entities operating internationally, platforms simultaneously seek to serve their corporate interests and comply with regulations and laws in multiple jurisdictions.</p> <p>Significant change can be achieved when platforms act in unison, such as in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/28/792078881/spotify-becomes-latest-tech-company-to-hit-on-pause-political-ads">the decision to ban political advertising</a> implemented by several major digital platforms including Spotify after facing significant public pressure. Still, users and advocates should not hold their breath waiting for platforms to do the right thing.</p> <p>Failures to moderate harmful content are harder to ignore when they involve bigger name artists. Neil Young has never shied away from political action in a musical career spanning nearly six decades. The singer’s demands were bolstered by a credible threat: he’s removed his music before and now he’s done it again.</p> <p>Ideally, the pressure from Young’s fans and other prominent artists will push Spotify to take effective action against misinformation so users can spend time rockin’ in the free world instead of listening to COVID conspiracy theories.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175732/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/d-bondy-valdovinos-kaye-1046676">D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye</a>, Lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/neil-youngs-ultimatum-to-spotify-shows-streaming-platforms-are-now-a-battleground-where-artists-can-leverage-power-175732">original article</a>.</p>

Music

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Neil Young demands his music is removed from Spotify

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an open letter to his management team, record label, and Spotify executives, Neil Young has demanded his entire music catalogue be removed from the streaming service.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His reasoning behind the demand stems from Spotfiy giving a platform to podcasters who spread vaccine misinformation and dangerous rhetoric about the Covid-19 pandemic. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He wrote, “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he continued. “They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Neil’s callout directly targets right-wing podcaster Joe Rogan, who regularly pedals an anti-vaccine sentiment on his show </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Joe Rogan Experience</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and even claimed he used livestock medication ivermectin to “cure” his bout of coronavirus. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” the letter reads. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just 48 hours after Neil Young issued his public demand, Spotify confirmed they would be removing his music from their platform. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The company said they regretted the turn of events and hoped to “welcome him back soon”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users,” it said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Neil Young responded to Spotify’s move, saying he was willing to take the hit to his yearly revenue, and urged other artists to contemplate a similar move. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Spotify represents 60 per cent of the streaming of my music to listeners around the world. Almost every record I have ever released is available – my life’s music. (It is) a huge loss for my record company to absorb,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I truly want to thank the many, many people who have reached out to me thanking me for taking this position – people who are health professionals on the front lines, people who have lost loved ones to Covid or who are worried for their own children and families. I have never felt so much love coming from so many,” said Young.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I sincerely hope that other artists and record companies will move off the Spotify platform and stop supporting Spotify’s deadly misinformation about Covid.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Music

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How do pigeons find their way home? We looked in their ears with a diamond-based quantum microscope to find out

<p>Homing pigeons are known for their uncanny ability to find their way home – navigating complex and changing landscapes. In fact, they do this so well they were used as a source of secure communication more than 2,000 years ago.</p> <p>Julius Caesar <a href="https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2017/11/not-just-birds">reportedly sent</a> news of his conquest of Gaul back to Rome via pigeons, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/255b75e0-c77d-11e2-be27-00144feab7de">as did Napoleon Bonaparte</a> following his defeat by England in the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.</p> <p>We know pigeons use visual cues and can navigate based on landmarks along known travel routes. We also know they have a magnetic sense called “magnetoreception” which lets them navigate using Earth’s magnetic field.</p> <p>But we don’t know exactly <em>how</em> they (and other species) do this. In <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2112749118">research</a> published today in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, my colleagues and I tested a theory that attempts to link magnetoreception in homing pigeons with tiny lumps of iron-rich material found in their inner ears.</p> <p>By using a new kind of magnetic microscope, we confirmed this isn’t the case. But the technology has opened the door for us to investigate the phenomenon in several other species.</p> <h2>The current hypotheses</h2> <p>Scientists have spent decades exploring the possible mechanisms for magnetoreception. There are currently two mainstream theories.</p> <p>The first is a vision-based “free-radical pair” model. Homing pigeons and other migratory birds have proteins in the retina of their eyes called “cryptochromes”. These produce an electrical signal that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03618-9">varies depending on the strength</a> of the local magnetic field.</p> <p>This could potentially allow the birds to “see” Earth’s magnetic field, although scientists have yet to confirm this theory.</p> <p>The second proposal for how homing pigeons navigate is based on lumps of magnetic material inside them, which may provide them with a magnetic particle-based directional compass.</p> <p>We know magnetic particles are found in nature, in a group of bacteria called <a href="https://theconversation.com/magnetic-bacteria-and-their-unique-superpower-attract-researchers-100720">magnetotactic bacteria</a>. These bacteria produce magnetic particles and orient themselves along the Earth’s magnetic field lines.</p> <p>Scientists are now looking for magnetic particles in a range of species. Potential candidates <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00114-007-0236-0">were found</a> in the upper beak of homing pigeons more than a decade ago, but <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11046">subsequent work</a> indicated these particles were related to iron storage and not magnetic sensing.</p> <h2>A peek inside a pigeon’s ear</h2> <p>The new search is now underway in the inner ear of pigeons, where iron particles known as “cuticulosomes” <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982213004338">were first identified</a> in 2013.</p> <p>Single cuticulosomes have been located within distinct regions in the pigeon inner ear where other known sensory systems exist (such as for hearing and balancing during flight). In theory, if there were a magnetic sensing system in pigeons, it should be located close to other sensory systems.</p> <p>But to determine whether iron cuticulosomes can act as magnetoreceptors in pigeons, scientists need to determine their magnetic properties. This is no mean feat, since cuticulosomes are 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand.</p> <p>What’s more is they are only found in 30% of the hair cells within the inner ear, making them difficult to identify and characterise.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431870/original/file-20211115-6434-uzv76r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431870/original/file-20211115-6434-uzv76r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Diagram showing a homing pigeon's inner ear, with labels for hair cells and magnetic particles." /></a> <span class="caption">We conducted quantum magnetic imaging of iron-organelles in the pigeon inner ear.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert W de Gille</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>To tackle this problem our group at the University of Melbourne, together with colleagues from Vienna’s Institute of Molecular Pathology and the Max Planck Society in Bonn, turned to a new imaging technology to explore the magnetic properties of iron cuticulosomes in the pigeon inner ear.</p> <p>We developed a magnetic microscope that uses diamond-based sensors to visualise delicate magnetic fields emanating from tiny magnetic particles.</p> <h2>Disproving the theory</h2> <p>We carefully studied thin sections of the pigeon inner ear placed directly onto the diamond sensors. By applying magnetic fields of varying strengths to the tissue, we were able to gauge the magnetic susceptibility of single cuticulosomes.</p> <p>Our results showed the magnetic properties of the cuticulosomes were not strong enough for them to act as a magnetic particle-based magnetoreceptor. In fact, the particles would need to be 100,000 times stronger to activate the sensory pathways required for magnetoreception in pigeons.</p> <p>However, despite the search for the elusive magnetoreceptor coming up short, we are extremely excited by the potential of this magnetic microscope technology.</p> <p>We hope to use it study a host of magnetic candidates across a variety of species including rodents, fish and turtles. And by doing so we can focus not only on cuticulosomes, but a range of other potentially magnetic particles.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171738/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-simpson-1289933">David Simpson</a>, School of Physics, Senior Lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-pigeons-find-their-way-home-we-looked-in-their-ears-with-a-diamond-based-quantum-microscope-to-find-out-171738">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Woman finds record-busting diamond

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A California woman made a surprise find after discovering a 4.38 carat yellow diamond in Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Noreen Wredberg was visiting the park with her husband Michael and decided to explore the Crater of Diamonds park, the state Parks Department told </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NBC News</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I first saw the park featured on a TV show several years ago,” Ms Wredberg </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/american-airlines-removes-mother-toddler-refusing-wear-mask-onboard/0e144844-75b3-40a3-8ad7-92e3416c425d" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the department.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When I realised we weren’t too far away, I knew we had to come.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The couple arrived at the park after several days of rain which had left the slightly-dry soil in an ideal condition for finding diamonds.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 333.33333333333337px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844590/244189895_10161140297647646_1540172523317654032_n.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/48ee06d0d5d84df4b199faf2b84bde25" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: The State Parks of Arkansas</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Wredberg had been searching for about an hour before she noticed the large gem.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I didn’t know it was a diamond then, but it was clean and shiny, so I picked it up!” she said, according to </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">NBC News</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If visitors find diamonds at the park, they can take it to the park’s Diamond Discovery Centre to confirm whether the diamond is real.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Arkansas is the only state with a public diamond mine, with more than 75,000 unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since 1906.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Arkansas parks department said the diamond Ms Wredberg found is the biggest in the last year.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Wredberg has been allowed to keep the stone, but said she was unsure about what she would do with it.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: The State Parks of Arkansas / Facebook</span></em></p>

Money & Banking

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Iconic sitcom star dies just three weeks after cancer diagnosis

<p>Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond has died aged 44.</p> <p>The former child star - who was known for playing Screech in the popular 90s sitcom - had stage 4 lung cancer and was diagnosed just three weeks ago.</p> <p>Taking to Facebook to announce the tragic news, his team revealed he passed away Monday morning, local time.</p> <p>He was being treated in a hospital in Florida.</p> <p>“We are saddened to confirm of Dustin Diamond’s passing on Monday, February 1st, 2021 due to carcinoma,” Diamond’s official social media page read.</p> <p>“He was diagnosed with this brutal, relentless form of malignant cancer only three weeks ago.</p> <p>“In that time, it managed to spread rapidly throughout his system; the only mercy it exhibited was its sharp and swift execution. Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful.”</p> <p>According to TMZ he was taken off breathing machines to transfer to hospice care.</p> <p>A close friend of Diamond, Dan Block, said he had a "huge lump" on his neck for a long time but avoided going to the hospital out of fear people would take photos of him and post them online.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKwtHtvjpTj/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKwtHtvjpTj/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Saved by the Bell: NOW!🐯 (@sbtbnow)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“I know that the reason he didn’t get help is because when he goes out people take pictures, put it on the internet and say not nice things about him,” Block told the publication last month.</p> <p>“He’s subject to public ridicule all the time and it sucks. People need to know he is a human.”</p> <p>His Saved by the Bell co-star Mario Lopez told Variety that he had urged his former colleague to seek treatment a few weeks ago.</p> <p>“I actually just spoke with him a couple of weeks ago. He was reluctant to go in (to hospital) for a while because he didn’t know if anything was going to get out,” Lopez said.</p> <p>And I said, ‘Bro, that’s foolish, you’ve got to get in there and take care of yourself and forget what people are saying.’</p> <p>“Some people thought his illness was a joke, which is awful, but the internet always spills tales. When all of this was happening, I was optimistic that he would make a recovery, but it was obviously too late.</p> <p>“From when I found out he was sick to his passing, it’s been incredibly quick. It’s so fresh, it’s incredibly hard to process.”</p> <p>Diamond started his first round of chemotherapy just two weeks ago.</p> <p>His family has a history of the disease, with his mother dying of breast cancer.</p>

News

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"Do it again!": The worst way to find out your diamond ring is fake

<p>A Florida teacher and her student have gone viral across the globe after an innocent school experiment revealed her engagement ring isn’t real.</p> <p>A group of high school students used a diamond tester and went from class to class testing their teacher's rings.</p> <p>In the video that was shared to popular teen app TikTok, the students are seen approaching a teacher wearing an engagement ring with a large rock.</p> <p>The clip heard the woman saying she had proudly worn the ring for 20 years since her husband proposed.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Yo this kid goes around testing his teacher’s wedding rings &amp; I’m screaming because most of them are fake 😭😭😭😭😭 <a href="https://t.co/tG3zWkDmDw">pic.twitter.com/tG3zWkDmDw</a></p> — I put sugar on my grits (@thismyburner8) <a href="https://twitter.com/thismyburner8/status/1321550282161971201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <p>"I can test it to see if it's real?" a student asks the teacher.</p> <p>She tells him to "come on in" and places her hand on the table.</p> <p>The student commented about how large the diamond is, to which the teacher responded, "It's going to be big, we've been married over 20 years."</p> <p>However the diamond tester went on to beep, indicating the rock is not a diamond at all.</p> <p>"You say you've been married 20 years? Not going to lie I don't think it's real," the student tells her.</p> <p>The clearly agitated teacher demands the student test it again, saying: "Do it again. This thing is real. So what you telling me?"</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">“Wym you don’t think it’s real?” 💀💀💀 <a href="https://t.co/1ZbdI3K3bg">pic.twitter.com/1ZbdI3K3bg</a></p> — I put sugar on my grits (@thismyburner8) <a href="https://twitter.com/thismyburner8/status/1321569964508078080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <p>Once again, the diamond tester beeps to indicate the rock is fake.</p> <p>The footage then cut to the teacher calling her husband and taking the ring off.</p> <p>"You knew it wasn't real?” she can be heard saying over the phone.  </p> <p>“And you still gave it to me after 20 years? So this is what I'm going to get?</p> <p>"Okay, you know what, you thought it was going to be me and you tonight, guess what? It ain't. It's not going to be."</p>

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