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"Super uncomfortable for everyone": Qantas plays R-rated movie for every passenger

<p>Qantas has issued an apology after an R-rated movie was played for every passenger onboard a flight from Sydney to Tokyo. </p> <p>On Saturday, the flight was delayed by an hour due to problems with the in-flight entertainment system, which resulted in cabin crew only being able to play one film on everyone's individual screens. </p> <p>After requests were taken by passengers, the movie <em>Daddio</em> was chosen. </p> <p>The 2023 drama stars Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson as a taxi driver and his passenger as they discuss their relationships, including an affair Johnson’s character had with a married man.</p> <p>One passenger took to Reddit to share their experience of the flight, saying it was "extremely inappropriate", due to scenes of “graphic nudity and a lot of sexting”.</p> <p>“The kind where you could literally read the texts on screen without needing headphones,” the passenger wrote.</p> <p>“It was super uncomfortable for everyone, especially with families and kids on board.”</p> <p>Another passenger said the airline made the switch to <em>Inside Out 2</em> followed by a New Zealand nature show after playing “40 minutes of penis and boobs”.</p> <p>“These poor kids and the parents because y’all should’ve heard the audible gasps across the plane,” the passenger said.</p> <p>Cabin crew members attempted to fix the screens of those who didn't want to watch the R-rated film, but when this didn't work, resorted to switching the movie entirely. </p> <p>“The movie was clearly not suitable to play for the whole flight and we sincerely apologise to customers for this experience,” a Qantas spokesperson stated.</p> <p>“All screens were changed to a family-friendly movie for the rest of the flight, which is our standard practice for the rare cases where individual movie selection isn’t possible."</p> <p>“We are reviewing how the movie was selected.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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"It's just not OK": Parking inspectors under fire for fining innocent drivers

<p>Melbourne drivers are being hit with parking fines despite not doing anything wrong, raising questions about the legitimacy of the infringement notices. </p> <p>Emma Hodgkinson from Essendon told<em> 9News</em> that she was fined for supposedly overstaying in a two-hour parking zone. </p> <p>"I was furious, it's just not OK" she told the publication. </p> <p>Hodkinson had only left her house 40 minutes prior to the time stamp on the fine, and used CCTV footage from her home to prove it. </p> <p>"When I saw the timecode on the footage and I compared it to the time on the ticket I realised I hadn't done anything wrong and it was their mistake," she said.</p> <p>Many other drivers have had similar experiences, with one man from Richmond saying he received a $99 penalty earlier this month, despite having almost an hour left on his Pay Stay app. </p> <p>Another driver was fined by Stonnington Council who said he had parked for more than two hours even though he'd only been there for about 20 minutes. </p> <p>In most of these examples, many other cars in the same area had also been fined. </p> <p>"I was able to prove I was innocent but how are [the other drivers] going to be able to prove that?" Hodgkinson said.</p> <p>Council Watch representative Dean Hurlston said the reason why innocent drivers are being fined could be because council parking inspectors have to hit their quotas. </p> <p>"We know the job of a parking inspector is well paid for good reason," he told <em>9News</em>.</p> <p>"They definitely have quotas. Councils need money, they're cash strapped. This is a way to gouge and raise revenue."</p> <p>If you've been unfairly fined, it is important to collect as much evidence as possible, including photos and screenshots. </p> <p><em>Image: Nine News</em></p>

Legal

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Is it OK to lie to someone with dementia?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steve-macfarlane-4722">Steve Macfarlane</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p>There was disagreement on social media recently after a story <a href="https://x.com/HammondCare/status/1817738312372691046">was published</a> about an aged care provider creating “fake-away” burgers that mimicked those from a fast-food chain, to a resident living with dementia. The man had such strict food preferences he was <a href="https://www.hammond.com.au/resource-hub/smart-thinking-about-hamburgers-improved-life-for-one-man-living-with-severe-dementia-symptoms?utm_content=301880186&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-252995959">refusing to eat</a> anything at meals except a burger from the franchise. This dementia symptom risks malnutrition and social isolation.</p> <p>But <a href="https://helloleaders.com.au/article/the-dementia-debate-ignited-by-a-whopper-burger">critics</a> of the fake burger approach labelled it trickery and deception of a vulnerable person with cognitive impairment.</p> <p>Dementia is an illness that <a href="https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/10_signs">progressively robs us of memories</a>. Although it has many forms, it is typical for short-term recall – the memory of something that happened in recent hours or days – to be lost first. As the illness progresses, people may come to increasingly “live in the past”, as distant recall gradually becomes the only memories accessible to the person. So a person in the middle or later stages of the disease may relate to the world as it once was, not how it is today.</p> <p>This can make ethical care very challenging.</p> <h2>Is it wrong to lie?</h2> <p>Ethical approaches <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/deontological-ethics">classically</a> hold that specific actions are moral certainties, regardless of the consequences. In line with this moral absolutism, it is always wrong to lie.</p> <p>But this ethical approach would require an elderly woman with dementia who continually approaches care staff looking for their long-deceased spouse to be informed their husband has passed – the objective truth.</p> <p>Distress is the likely outcome, possibly accompanied by behavioural disturbance that could endanger the person or others. The person’s memory has regressed to a point earlier in their life, when their partner was still alive. To inform such a person of the death of their spouse, however gently, is to traumatise them.</p> <p>And with the memory of what they have just been told likely to quickly fade, and the questioning may resume soon after. If the truth is offered again, the cycle of re-traumatisation continues.</p> <h2>A different approach</h2> <p>Most laws are examples of absolutist ethics. One must obey the law at all times. Driving above the speed limit is likely to result in punishment regardless of whether one is in a hurry to pick their child up from kindergarten or not.</p> <p>Pragmatic ethics <a href="https://philonotes.com/2022/05/pragmatic-ethics-meaning-nature-and-dynamics#google_vignette">rejects</a> the notion certain acts are always morally right or wrong. Instead, acts are evaluated in terms of their “usefulness” and social benefit, humanity, compassion or intent.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/aged-care/about-aged-care/aged-care-laws-in-australia#aged-care-act">Aged Care Act</a> is a set of laws intended to guide the actions of aged care providers. It says, for example, <a href="https://www.agedcarequality.gov.au/resource-library/psychotropic-medications-used-australia-information-aged-care">psychotropic drugs</a> (medications that affect mind and mood) should be the “last resort” in managing the behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia.</p> <p>Instead, “best practice” involves preventing behaviour before it occurs. If one can reasonably foresee a caregiver action is likely to result in behavioural disturbance, it flies in the face of best practice.</p> <h2>What to say when you can’t avoid a lie?</h2> <p>What then, becomes the best response when approached by the lady looking for her husband?</p> <p>Gentle inquiries may help uncover an underlying emotional need, and point caregivers in the right direction to meet that need. Perhaps she is feeling lonely or anxious and has become focused on her husband’s whereabouts? A skilled caregiver might tailor their response, connect with her, perhaps reminisce, and providing a sense of comfort in the process.</p> <p>This approach aligns with <a href="https://www.dementia.org.au/news/it-ever-okay-lie-someone-living-dementia">Dementia Australia guidance</a> that carers or loved ones can use four prompts in such scenarios:</p> <ul> <li> <p>acknowledge concern (“I can tell you’d like him to be here.”)</p> </li> <li> <p>suggest an alternative (“He can’t visit right now.”)</p> </li> <li> <p>provide reassurance (“I’m here and lots of people care about you.”)</p> </li> <li> <p>redirect focus (“Perhaps a walk outside or a cup of tea?”)</p> </li> </ul> <p>These things may or may not work. So, in the face of repeated questions and escalating distress, a mistruth, such as “Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon,” may be the most humane response in the circumstances.</p> <h2>Different realities</h2> <p>It is often said you can never win an argument with a person living with dementia. A lot of time, different realities are being discussed.</p> <p>So, providing someone who has dementia with a “pretend” burger may well satisfy their preferences, bring joy, mitigate the risk of malnutrition, improve social engagement, and prevent a behavioural disturbance without the use of medication. This seems like the correct approach in ethical terms. On occasion, the end justifies the means.<!-- 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;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/236229/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><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steve-macfarlane-4722">Steve Macfarlane</a>, Head of Clinical Services, Dementia Support Australia, & Associate Professor of Psychiatry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>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/is-it-ok-to-lie-to-someone-with-dementia-236229">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Mind

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Karl Stefanovic discusses acting debut alongside Sean Penn

<p>They say "go big or go home," and Karl Stefanovic wasted no time in going big, boldly venturing into acting alongside Hollywood legend Sean Penn in Stan's latest original series, <em>C*A*U*G*H*T . </em></p> <p>In an interview with <em>9Entertainment </em>the on the blue carpet premiere at the Sydney Opera House, the <em>Today </em>show host shared how he landed the role, and what it was like to film with a legend. </p> <p>"I'm in it!" he boasted. </p> <p> "It's amazing, when Kick [creator, producer, director and star] asked me to come on I thought it was a joke – that's how crazy it is.</p> <p>"It was so fun to see his vision brought to life and be part of that process."</p> <p>Stefanovic also shared how his first day of acting went. </p> <p>"I was in my first scene, and Sean Penn walked out and stood right next to the camera. Sean Penn, my first acting scene ever," he gushed. </p> <p>"I actually stopped during my line, and I just said, 'Oh my God... Sean Penn!'"</p> <p>Stefanovic laughed as he recalled how the Hollywood legend looked at him, shook his head and jokingly walked away. </p> <p>The series itself is directed and produced by Australian writer Kick Gurry, who is known for his role as Griff in <em>Edge of Tomorrow</em>. </p> <p>The show is a comedy about four Australian soldiers who get mistaken for Americans in a war-town country and are captured by freedom fighters. </p> <p>The freedom fighters then made a hostage video, which goes viral, and the soldiers rise up to fame. </p> <p>The show features a star-studded cast including Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, Bryan Brown and more. </p> <p><em>Images: Getty/ </em><em>Mike Marsland/WireImage </em></p>

TV

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Lisa Curry's emotional post sparks a wave of support and love

<p>Lisa Curry has shared a heartfelt tribute on the third anniversary of her daughter Jaimi's death. </p> <p>Jaimi passed away in 2020 after a long health battle, at just 33 years old, and is the daughter of Lisa and former Ironman Grant Kenny. </p> <p>Lisa took to Instagram to commemorate her daughter with a painting of Jaimi that she commissioned to a local artist, and share her grief journey. </p> <p>"3 years ago, our beautiful daughter Jaimi took her last breath. We all love you and miss you everyday Jaimi and hope you’re at peace. It still feels like yesterday," she began the long and emotional post. </p> <p>“We all love you and miss you every day Jaimi and hope you’re at peace.</p> <p>“It’s been a s*** and sad week, where I’ve needed lots of hugs and am constantly wiping my tears away. I tell myself to breathe because I know it’s a bad day, not a bad life.</p> <p>“I’m doing ok ... but feeling sad on the inside while trying to be happy on the outside is overwhelming and feels exhausting," she added. </p> <p>Lisa also said that sometimes she can barely recognise herself in the mirror because she looks like "a mess" and other times she sees "the old Lisa." </p> <p>"The path to recovery is long and can only be done in my own time.</p> <p>"The last 3 years has been a long, slow, painful, uneventful decline in my health and my soul. I talk out loud, frustratingly scolding myself to get my s*** together. There are days when I don’t care about anything.</p> <p>"I need to change that talk to be more positive and give myself permission that it’s ok to move forward.</p> <p>"Moving on doesn’t mean letting go. I will never let her go," she added. </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-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CxJb9jkhg5C/?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/CxJb9jkhg5C/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Lisa Curry AO (@lisacurry)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Lisa then said that she needed to start looking after herself so she can be "the mother, grannie, wife and friend that I should be." </p> <p>She then thanked local artist Donna Munro for the beautiful painting of her daughter, before asking her fans if they were okay, after noting that it was  R U OK Day. </p> <p>She reminded fans to talk to someone and sent “Love and strength to everyone who’s struggling for whatever reason.”</p> <p>Her followers flocked to the comments to offer their love and support, and thanked her for being open and vulnerable. </p> <p>“Do what you can today Lisa and let tomorrow take care of the rest. Your baby mattered, your grief at her loss is justifiable. Don’t punish yourself for not having a heart of stone. One step after another, no time limit. ❤️🙏🌸” wrote one fan. </p> <p>“Sending love, Lisa. Can’t imagine your pain," commented another. </p> <p>“You’re very brave Lisa, sending strength and a big hug, we who have lost a piece of our heart knows how hard it is," wrote a third. </p> <p>"The words I say will never ease the pain but know you are a beautiful strong woman who inspires more people than you would ever know with your honest and raw feelings on grief. Hugs to you," commented a fourth. </p> <p>"I hope that you find a little comfort in the fact that you would have helped so many other people going through similar grief. Sending much needed hugs and sunshine," added another. </p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

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“Rare for a mother to say that”: Tina Turner’s heartbreaking fear revealed

<p dir="ltr">Tina Turner’s daughter-in-law, Afida, has revealed the star’s deepest fear for her children, and her agonising health struggles prior to her <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/tributes-flow-for-tina-turner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death</a>, in an emotional interview with the <em>Daily Mail</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Afida revealed that the <em>Proud Mary</em> singer, who outlived two of her four children, grieved for them every day and was “extremely sick” by the time her second son, Craig, passed away.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If you lose a child, or a loved one, you are going to cry every morning and every night,” Afida said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Craig, had passed away at the age of 59 by suicide in 2018. His brother Ronnie passed away just four years later at the age of 62 from colon cancer.</p> <p dir="ltr">Afida, who is Ronnie’s widow, shared that the only comfort was that Tina was finally reunited with her beloved sons.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They never had time to spend together and now all three of them are together.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Afida also revealed Tina’s deepest fear for her son Ronnie, and how she was worried he could “turn out like” his abusive father, Ike Turner</p> <p dir="ltr">“[Tina] sometimes told me, ‘You don’t want to stay with him. He is going to be like his father’. It is pretty rare for a mother to say that,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At first, he was kind of like his father, but after that he was going very well,” she added\, revealing that she’d given Ronnie an ultimatum to get his act together.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He made a very big effort to keep me. In the beginning it was very hard because I was not willing to stay with him,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Afida also opened up about the star’s death and revealed that despite Tina’s health struggles, the singer was extremely strong and resilient, which made her family think that she would live forever.</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-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CsoyspoMrqy/?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/CsoyspoMrqy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Afida Turner (@afida_turner)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“She was ill for a long time, but she was extraordinarily strong too,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She was fighting for her life from 2017 until now. We knew how sick she was, but she was doing so well that this was not expected,” Afida added.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Everything A-OK? New history shows the way to Sesame Street wasn’t always easy outside US

<p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Associate Professor Helle Strandgaard Jensen based at Denmark’s Aarhus University, says while </span><em style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Sesame Street</em><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> producers presented their content as both diverse and universal, the underpinning US values and assumptions about children often led to cultural clashes in other countries.</span></p> <div class="copy"> <p>With children’s culture again at the centre of debates about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/26/censorship-or-context-australian-book-industry-wrestles-with-how-to-refresh-outdated-classics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">banning or re-writing books</a> and what makes for <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/abc-accused-of-grooming-kids-after-drag-queen-appeared-on-play-school/news-story/efc1dd82aa4fb6b01a4c575e2f40e589" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">appropriate children’s television</a>, Jensen says a historical approach can provide the opportunity for more informed discussions.</p> <p><em>Sesame Street</em> debuted on television in the US in 1969 (it came to Australia in 1971) and according to its US website: “…has made a positive impact in children’s lives ever since.”</p> <p>The show says: “<em>Sesame Street</em> brings critical early education to children in 150+ countries”. </p> <p>While <em>Sesame Street’s</em> universality was marketed to international audiences, Jensen says the show is shaped by US assumptions about children’s role in society, cognitive psychology and the role of media in education.</p> <p>In European countries like the UK, Germany and Scandinavia there was a more progressive view about children, she says.</p> <p>As a result, the program was sometimes met with hostility by foreign television producers and broadcasters.</p> <p>In Jensen’s home of Denmark, Danish broadcasters rejected the show outright. Instead adapting their own children’s program <em>Legestue </em>to <a href="https://www.shcy.org/features/commentaries/helle-strandgaard-jensen-on-kermits-chubby-danish-cousin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">incorporate a frog</a> named Kaj inspired by Kermit, but one that “loves jazz and talks back to adult authority”, she says.</p> <p>In Germany, where <a href="https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Sesamstrasse" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘Sesamestraße’</a> is celebrating its 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary, local co-producers made their own content spliced together with US content, and added their own puppets including a piglet Purk, a snail Finchen and Leniemienie the mouse.</p> <p>German produced content portrays the child at the centre, encouraging them to question authority, and often revealing the hypocrisy or flaws of adults, Jensen says. It was an approach that sometimes resulted in pushback from the US based Childrens Television Workshop, she says.</p> <p>For instance, in one local clip, an adult is attending to some flowers in their garden, mowing an area of grass containing different flowers. The children ask, ‘which flowers are the good flowers?’</p> <p>In another, a woman walks past a child having to do an emergency wee in public. ‘That’s disgusting!’ the woman says. But as she walks further, her dog relieves itself on the pavement, and the woman doesn’t pick it up the waste.</p> <p>German Ministry of Education guides to accompany the show rejected traditional gender roles, taught children about the body and emphasised society based on collaboration, including unions.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"> <div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 500px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" data-spai-bg-prepared="1"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 400px; height: 656px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=cosmosmagazine&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1612139711304273922&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmagazine.com%2Fpeople%2Fhistory-sesame-street%2F&amp;sessionId=6d9a2d118b670e8e312cee283ceca4c065b3acf7&amp;siteScreenName=cosmosmagazine&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&amp;width=500px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-spai-bg-prepared="1" data-tweet-id="1612139711304273922"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>In Europe, children’s television was seen as offering something separate to school, a way to empower children and support their own understanding of the world. The European view was more based in sociology and journalism – asking children directly about what they wanted – rather than cognitive psychology, Jensen says.</p> <p>For example in the UK, television producers would survey children about what they were interested in, their views, and make content based on that. </p> <p>Another key difference was the highly commercial landscape of television in the US, Jensen says. This was different to Europe and places like Australia where public broadcasters could afford to produce content for children that was more experimental.</p> <p>She says reflecting on the past is important as children’s viewing is increasingly dominated by streaming platforms, many of which are based in the US and dominated by American programming. </p> <p>The ABC began broadcasting <em>Sesame Street</em> twice-daily in 1971.</p> <p>While Jensen’s book doesn’t specifically address the response to the show in Australia, she says a lot of her archival research included information shared between the public broadcasters the ABC and BBC, which had a strong co-production tradition. </p> <p>“One of the ways the BBC learned about what happened in the Children’s Television Workshop and making <em>Sesame Street</em> was via their Australian friends in the ABC,” she says. </p> <p>Jensen says as early as 1970 an Australian journalist at <em>The Bulletin </em>was questioning whether the show imposed American culture on children in other countries.</p> <p>In the article, ‘Entertaining Australians to be Americans’, <em>Sesame Street</em> founder Joan Ganz Cooney says she had few reservations about imposing US culture on Australian audiences. “For good or ill the whole world is being Americanised,” she says. </p> <p>Children’s Television Workshop describes the sale of <em>Sesame Street</em> to 26 foreign countries, including Australia, as an opportunity to study the universality of the program, according to <em>The Bulletin</em>. </p> <p><em>Sesame Street: A Transnational History </em>is set for <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/45872/chapter-abstract/400828941?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">release in Australia in May</a>.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><iframe title="SESAMSTRASSE Folge 1 (Teil 1)" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6-sJKRPuaiM?feature=oembed" width="500" height="375" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p> <!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --> <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=245054&amp;title=Everything+A-OK%3F+New+history+shows+the+way+to+Sesame+Street+wasn%26%238217%3Bt+always+easy+outside+US" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> <!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div class="in-content-area more-on"> </div> </div> <div id="contributors"> <p><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/history-sesame-street/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/petra-stock">Petra Stock</a>. Petra Stock has a degree in environmental engineering and a Masters in Journalism from University of Melbourne. She has previously worked as a climate and energy analyst.</p> </div>

TV

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How r/place – a massive and chaotic collaborative art project on Reddit – showcased the best and worst of online spaces

<p>Many would be familiar with <a href="https://www.reddit.com/">Reddit</a> as one of the largest social networking sites, with a large group of forums (“subreddits”) catering to almost any interest. </p> <p>Since the beginning of April, Reddit has played host to a massive collaborative art project called <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/place">r/place</a> that simultaneously shows us some of the best and worst attributes of cybercultures. </p> <p>Originally launched in 2017, r/place ran for 72 hours. The lifespan of the new r/place was also short – ultimately lasting for just five days. Beginning initially as a blank canvas, r/place allows users to place one coloured pixel every five minutes (or 20 minutes for unverified accounts) as they attempt to build a collective art piece. </p> <p>Traversing through r/place takes you for a journey through time, memes and cultures.</p> <p>At any one moment you might be looking at a Nine Inch Nails logo, the flags of various countries, a QR code linking you to a YouTube video titled The Most Logical Arguments AGAINST Veganism (In 10 Minutes), and a <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/zyzz">homage to Zyzz</a> – a popular bodybuilding figure who passed away in 2011. </p> <p>Some artworks on r/place don’t seem to represent anything at all. The sole mission of <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/TheBlueCorner/">The Blue Corner</a> is (you guessed it) to have a blue corner depicted on the final art piece. </p> <p>The artwork constantly changes over its short lifetime. But even if the drawings of some communities may not go the distance, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnRCZK3KjUY">the time lapse videos</a> depicting the ongoing mutation of the canvas has become a key part of this art piece, ensuring all contributions play a vital part in the lifecycle of r/place.</p> <h2>Collaboration – and opposition</h2> <p>r/place shows us the collaborative nature of humans in online spaces. After its emergence in 2017 it was hailed as “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/reddit-place-internet-experiment-579049">the internet’s best experiment yet</a>” and praised for capturing “<a href="https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/04/place-was-the-internet-in-all-its-glory/">the internet, in all its wonderful glory</a>”. </p> <p>This collaborative online art project allows people to express their individuality as well as collective identities formed through interactions with online spaces. </p> <p>This year’s iteration of r/place, in contrast to the previous version, demonstrates the interconnectivity of communities in digital spaces. No longer is r/place solely reserved for Reddit users. Now, there is clear power in drawing on communities distributed across Twitch, Discord and Twitter. </p> <p>This influx of communities from all over the internet has not been well-received by all.</p> <p>There is a belief Twitch streamers are ruining the work <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/place/comments/tw3fou/eu_streamer_took_over_our_small_asean_artworks/">of smaller communities</a> and are attempting to sabotage the project. </p> <p>Instead of being a democratic representation of online communities and their art, the argument goes, Twitch streamers are encouraging their fans, numbered in the hundreds of thousands, to capture hotly contested territory.</p> <p>Factions – such as those formed between <a href="https://twitter.com/Rubiu5/status/1511077247025057793">Spanish streamers and BTS fans</a> – have become the primary way to ensure power and influence over the art project. </p> <p>Smaller communities are driven out at the expense of larger influencers with more bargaining power in this pixel warfare. </p> <p>It is not just individuals taking part in this art project. Many believe “bots” are <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/place/comments/tu2gdg/bots_by_the_username_rplace_are_attempting_to/">running rampant</a>, performing automated tasks in a way that is antithetical to the idea of this artwork as a representation of human achievement as opposed to technical prowess. </p> <p>These examples are just a fraction of the chaos over the internet in the last few days: 4chan operated <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/place/comments/tufngh/4chan_is_trying_to_make_the_trans_community_look/">coordinated attacks</a> on the Trans flag and LGBTQ+ panels, and streamers are receiving an influx of <a href="https://clips.twitch.tv/TrappedBoringKleeCclamChamp-WJ0LwTK-Uhox6MSa">death threats</a>.</p> <h2>The best and worst of us</h2> <p>At its best, r/place is a powerful illustration of strangers coming together about their passions online and the collaborative nature of the internet. </p> <p>At its worst, it represents everything we have come to dislike about the internet: the exclusion of smaller voices at the expense of influencer cultures, factions between communities, and the toxicity of some cybercultures.</p> <p>Whatever the case, this project has been great for boosting Reddit’s publicity as the company <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/12/16/reddit-goes-public-ipo-filing/">goes public</a>.</p> <p>In its final moments earlier today, users could only place white tiles and watch the spectacle of a once vibrantly coloured collaborative art piece that caused so much chaos among online communities simply transform back into a blank canvas.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Reddit</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-r-place-a-massive-and-chaotic-collaborative-art-project-on-reddit-showcased-the-best-and-worst-of-online-spaces-180662" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

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"It's OK to hurt": Grant Denyer's emotional comeback

<p dir="ltr">Grant Denyer left no dry eye in the audience following an emotional performance on <em>Dancing With The Stars.</em></p> <p dir="ltr">The 44-year-old became emotional after his dance partner Lily Cornish, 22, revealed they would be dancing to Shannon Noll’s <em>Don’t Give Up</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">He confessed that he hadn’t felt “uncomfortable or nervous or emotionally vulnerable” in a while.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve spent my life being a smiley television host that pretends everything is OK,” Grant began.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That is not real life. It’s OK to struggle. It’s OK to hurt. It’s OK to reach rock bottom because you can come out of it, you can climb out of it with a bit of love and a little bit of help, and that was the case for me.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Following an incredible performance of a Venetian Waltz, Grant and Lily were awarded a perfect score of 40 by the judges.</p> <p dir="ltr">It was then the TV host broke down explaining why this song meant so much to him.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was living the career I had always dreamed of, jumping out of helicopters and wrestling crocodiles. But I'd broken my back and my body was breaking down and I hit a wall,' he explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">Grant suffered through a painkiller addiction after breaking his back in a terrifying truck accident in 2008 which left him with his vertebrae broken in 11 pieces.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I've said it before, my family saved my life. And that will be the thread that weaves this dance together.</p> <p dir="ltr">He told host Sonia Kruger that he did a lot of “healing” through a “very dark period” after owning up to his mistakes.</p> <p dir="ltr">“One thing I have learnt is that it's OK to make mistakes. It’s OK to fail and that’s a part of being human.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Whilst that was a very dark period and a hard dance thing to kind of dance to, I just put one foot in front of the other and I’ve climbed my way out of that hole.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I feel a lot of healing here done tonight. That’s probably why it’s so emotional.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I know it’s just a dance and dance maybe isn’t important but it’s important to me and this was important to me, and I feel like I can kind of close that chapter with a little bit of love and forgiveness.”</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Channel 7</em></p>

Music

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Why smoking shouldn’t give movies an automatic R rating

<p>In an era when <a href="http://www.whitehutchinson.com/blog/2014/01/movie-attendance-continued-its-long-term-decline-in-2013/">cinema attendance</a> is in continual decline, the United States Surgeon General’s <a href="http://http//www.cdc.gov//tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/movies/index.htm">proposal</a> that all movies depicting smoking should be rated R is a particular form of silliness. </p><p>The Surgeon General <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/50th-anniversary/">estimates</a> that giving an R rating to movies with smoking would reduce the number of young smokers in the US by nearly 18% and prevent one million deaths from smoking among children alive today. </p><p>But these statements are based on <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001078">questionable assumptions</a> and calculations.</p><h2>Beyond the cinema</h2><p>Advocates for R ratings argue two effects. R-rating would dramatically reduce the number of young people who would be exposed to smoking scenes in movies. And it would act as a major disincentive to movie producers to include smoking scenes because R rated movies attract smaller audiences. These producers would thus self-censor smoking scenes after doing the box office maths.</p><p>But studies purporting to demonstrate the power of smoking scenes to cause smoking already include R-rating movies in their smoking scene exposure assessments. In this 2007 <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/5/e1167.long">paper</a>, for example, 40% of the films were R-rated. The same research team has also <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/114/1/149.long">shown</a> that 81% of US adolescents are allowed to watch R-rated movies. </p><p>If youth who allegedly start smoking because of exposure to smoking in movies are already watching lots of R-rated movies, how would an R-rating reduce such exposure? </p><p>Moving movies with smoking to R-rating would put the onus on parents to regulate their children’s viewing. Few would disagree with that. But why would parents regulate their children’s viewing more because of concern about smoking than they do now because of concerns about exposure to strong violence and explicit sex in R-rated movies?</p><p>If the R-rating solution is designed to prevent youth seeing smoking, it may prevent them seeing it in cinemas, but it will not prevent them seeing the newly rated R movies elsewhere with consummate ease, increasingly so as download and i-View markets rapidly expand. It surely cannot be long until proponents of R-rating realise they will need to call for total movie censorship of smoking. If they’re comfortable with that, let them be open about it.</p><p>But I, for one, am not. And because the call for this proposal has received no serious consideration outside of the US and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_India">India</a> (a nation with a strong history of censorship), I’m certainly not alone. </p><h2>Art imitating life</h2><p>As I wrote <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001078">before</a> in the journal PLOS Medicine, I’m concerned that public health advocates think it’s reasonable for the state to regulate cultural products such as movies, books, art and theatre to further their cause.</p><p>Film isn’t just about the communication of public health messages to the masses. And children’s moral development and health decision-making is far complex than a response to wholesome role models. </p><p>Filmmakers depict all sorts of antisocial, unhealthy and even dangerous realities that we might expect in society. That doesn’t mean the behaviour is desirable or that the filmmaker is endorsing the behaviour. </p><p>In nations such as Australia which ban all forms of tobacco advertising, any evidence of paid tobacco product placement in movie would be a breach of the <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/tapa1992314/">Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992</a>. There would be many inside the local film industry who would be appalled if tobacco companies were paying illegally for such scenes to occur. </p><p>There have been no whistleblowers exposing this here, so any smoking scenes are highly likely to be script and directional judgements.</p><p>Smoking prevalence in <a href="http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-1-prevalence/1-6-prevalence-of-smoking-secondary-students">Australian children</a> is at an all-time low, as it is in the <a href="http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/2012_12_19_survey">United States</a>. This has been achieved by the sustained combination of policies and campaigns mostly directed at adults, but to which kids are also exposed. So while smoking in movies has been rising, smoking in kids has been falling.</p><p>There are many overtly and subtly negative treatments of smoking in movies and television that are probably contributing to the decay of smoking’s former status. This compilation from the globally massively popular <em>Friends</em> TV series is illustrative.</p><p>If R-rating advocates had their way, no adolescent should ever be exposed to such programs.</p><p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p><p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-smoking-shouldnt-give-movies-an-automatic-r-rating-30864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Movies

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Denzel Washington to star in R-rated Macbeth

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Academy Award winner Denzel Washington will be taking on the titular character of Macbeth in </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Tragedy of Macbeth</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a new adaptation of the famous Shakespearean tragedy.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://movieweb.com/the-tragedy-of-macbeth-teaser-a24/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">new teaser</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> sees Washington depict the fictional Scottish lord in stark black-and-white in an eerie and otherworldly version of medieval Scotland.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845673/_0-19-screenshot-1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6feccf71e63c402d99b87f90984344e9" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Frances McDormand will star alongside Washington in the new adaptation. Image: A24</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In meticulously world-weary performances, a strikingly inward Denzel Washington is the man who would be king, and an effortlessly Machiavellian Frances McDormand is his Lady,” the New York Film Festival’s announcement of the film reads.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The film is directed by Joel Coen - one half of the Coen brothers - though this time he will be working solo. </span></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/CRoxy5pIXjd/?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> <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/CRoxy5pIXjd/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by A24 (@a24)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Famed actress Kathryn Hunter will also join the cast as a trio of ‘weird sisters’, alongside Brendan Gleeson as King Duncan, Corey Hawkins as Macduff, and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Queen’s Gambit </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">star Moses Ingram as Lady MacDuff.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Though it echoes the forbidding visual designs - and aspect ratios - of Laurence Olivier’s classic 1940’s Shakespeare adaptations, as well as the bloody medieval madness of Kurosawa’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Throne of Blood</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Coen’s tale of sound and fury is entirely his own,” the announcement reads.</span></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/CUDKPNFrkku/?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> <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/CUDKPNFrkku/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by A24 (@a24)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Coen previously shared his aspirations for the film, with hopes it will be a “boldly inventive visualisation of the Scottish Play” and “an anguished film that stares, mouth agape, at a sorrowful world undone by blind greed and thoughtless ambition”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The film made its debut at the 2021 New York Film Festival in September and is due to be released in select theatres on December 25. It will then be streaming on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">See the latest teaser trailer below.</span></p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bk6VArB6_us" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: A24</span></em></p>

Movies

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Wippa tears up discussing mental health struggles

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Michael “Wippa” Wipfli, co-host of Nova FM’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fitzy &amp; Wippa</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> show, opened up about his mental health while discussing the devastating impact of the pandemic on Aussies’ mental health.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an emotional discussion on-air in honour of R U OK Day?, Wippa spoke about how Aussies have been faring during the pandemic, saying the mental health crisis is “at a level we’ve never seen before”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You can feel a heavy weight hanging over us at the moment. There’s a cloud and it’s getting harder,” he began.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Every day in the news there is a new headline of somebody taking their own life.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While he mentioned the toll of Australians of every age, he highlighted how teenagers have been especially affected.</span></p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ffitzyandwippa%2Fvideos%2F290302545759679%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=476&amp;t=0" width="476" height="476" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The impact of lockdown over the past two years has had a devastating effect on mental illness,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“All ages, but growingly the more, more heartbreaking on our teenagers.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Starting to read from a post he recently found on social media, Wippa had to visibly collect himself before continuing.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843952/capture.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/2a6fa733de6a47ea8a5396ef6dc3766c" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Fitzy &amp; Wippa</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our neighbour’s son tried to take his own life a few nights ago. He’s now in a coma,” Wippa read out in the clip.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Last year, we lost six kids from the one school, and another this week. They were all 14 and 15.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My friend’s a funeral director. She’s taken six weeks off. She said how hard it was seeing so many teenagers take their own life. My friend’s a paramedic, who attended an 11-year-old…” Wippa choked up, unable to finish what he was reading.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The reason we’re talking about it today is to help people that are struggling, but also to help those who are around those people that might be struggling to offer help and [are] feeling helpless.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We just need to reinforce for anybody that’s going through that, that there is care here for you. People want to be here for you.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The conversation then became personal, as Wippa was asked if there were moments where someone reached out to him when he was struggling.</span></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/CSoYM3yJJAS/?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/CSoYM3yJJAS/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Michael Wipfli (@wippa1)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The host said someone had, and spoke about how he copes with low periods.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I can see it coming in more detail these days, I just notice patterns within myself if I’m starting to get caught on thoughts, or if I can’t clear my mind as easy, I’m very alert and aware of that, so I don’t go down and spiral further,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also shared how he copes while feeling triggered, saying he stops drinking alcohol and tries to exercise as much as he can.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wippa ended the conversation with a message for those struggling, emphasising that they aren’t alone.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“People become so low, so low, they dip their toe in the deep end of this darkest place, and they think to themselves ‘it would be far better off for my friends and my family if I wasn’t here anymore’. And that’s wrong,” Wippa said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Everybody needs you here, but your depression and your mood, the swings can be exaggerated outside of the normal emotion, and that is the very, very dangerous place to be.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“And it might be caused by an event, it could be triggered by something in particular, over a period of time, it could be genetic, but they swing to that point of emotion where they feel like it would be better if they weren’t here.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“And if you’re swinging in that way, please know that you’re wrong, we want you here.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Fitzy &amp; Wippa</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you or anyone you know is suffering, please contact</span> <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lifeline</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">on 13 11 14.</span></em></p>

Mind

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"Of course I'm not ok": David Campbell in tears on set

<p>David Campbell was left in tears after he watched a viral video during <em>Today Extra</em>, on Friday.<br /><br /></p> <p>The TV host revealed they’d be giving viewers some “Friday feels,” but his co-host couldn’t have been prepared for Campbell’s emotional response.</p> <p><br /><span>US toddler Benjamin Olson has not been able to make too many friends during the pandemic, but thankfully his beautiful 99-year-old neighbour Mary was the perfect fit for the tiny tot.</span><br /><br /><span>As video of the pair playing rolled, it proved too much for David, who was sporting pajamas for National Pyjama Day.</span></p> <p dir="ltr">Today is National Pyjama Day where thousands of Aussies are wearing their PJ's to work or school in support of children in foster care. 💙 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9Today?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9Today</a> <a href="https://t.co/ovypiJinNP">pic.twitter.com/ovypiJinNP</a></p> <p>— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTodayShow/status/1418355931088310272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2021</a> <span></span><br /><br /><span>"Don't," he said.</span><br /><br /><span>When cameras panned back to David, he was wiping his eyes.</span><br /><br /><span>"That was just so nice and I wasn't ready for it," he said.</span><br /><br /><span>His co-host Belinda Russell asked if he was OK.</span><br /><br /><span>"No," he responded.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842637/9news-david-campbell.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/d510356ff5b14b8d8179d95593bbcd7c" /></p> <p><em>Image: Supplied</em><br /><br /><span>"It's week four of lockdown. Of course I'm not ok. I'm crying at a video, it's 9:17."</span><br /><br /><span>You can watch the adorable clip on their <a rel="noopener" href="https://9now.nine.com.au/today/viral-video-leaves-david-campell-in-tears/724e037d-fb03-4b11-8921-e86478b8cadd?ocid=social-today" target="_blank">site.</a></span></p>

Caring

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Prickly business: Backlash over R-rated Cactus dance

<p><span>Channel Ten has boasted about their family friendly programs in the past, including <em>The Masked Singer.</em></span><br /><br /><span>However the channel has caught flack after viewers sat through a performance by Cactus who sang the smash-hit I Touch Myself by the Divinyls on Tuesday.</span><br /><br /><span>“The Cactus with Boobs is singing The Divinyls' <em>I Touch Myself</em>... WHOLESOME FAMILY VIEWING MY A***,” commented one viewer on Twitter with a laughing emoji attached.</span><br /><br /><span>“Really didn't need to see a cactus touching its pot,” a second person said.</span><br /><br /><span>A third viewer commented on the absurdity of the performance.</span><br /><br /><span>“I can't wait to explain to future generations that a cactus with boobs once sang about masturbation on national TV and that that wasn’t even remotely the weirdest thing to happen in 2020,” they wrote.</span><br /><br /><span>“So a Cactus with boobs is singing <em>I Touch Myself</em> during prime time that's Channel 10 for you,' added a fourth viewer.</span><br /><br /><span>They added: “the irony of a cactus singing about touching itself.”</span><br /><br /><span>Host Osher Günsberg couldn't help but get a word in either, tweeting: “Singing about masturbating. Brilliant.”</span><br /><br /><span>Judges Dannii Minogue, Urzila Carlson, Dave Hughes and Jackie 'O' Henderson all took a turn to guess who the star hiding behind the prickly costume was.</span><br /><br /><span>Their guesses ranged from comedian Julia Morris, to actress Jane Seymour, singer Ella Hooper and <em>MasterChef</em> star Poh Ling Yeow.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837526/the-masked-singer-5.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/04f336bac3da4eeea23090a92aa1feed" /><br /><br /><span>At the end of Tuesday night's episode, the Wizard was revealed to be Isaiah Firebrace.</span><br /><br /><span>Jackie 'O' Henderson was the only successful judge to correctly guess the 20-year-old singer.</span></p>

Music

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“We are going to be OK”: Doctor pulled over for speeding amazed by policeman’s actions

<p>A US doctor received a meaningful present after she was pulled over by a police officer for speeding.</p> <p>Dr Sarosh Ashraf Janjua, a cardiologist at a coronavirus quarantine unit in Duluth, was pulled over by State Trooper Brian Schwartz for speeding on her way to work on March 21.</p> <p>But instead of a fine, the strooper gave her a firm warning along with five N95 filtering face masks that were allocated for him by the state of Minnesota.</p> <p>“He … firmly told me it was very irresponsible of me to be speeding, especially since I would not only take up resources if I got into an accident, but would also not be in a position to help patients,” Janjua wrote on a Facebook post.</p> <p>“I waited for him to write me a ticket. Instead, he told me he was going to let me off with a warning.</p> <p>“He reached in to hand me what I assumed was my license back … Five N95 masks, from the supply the state had given him for his protection.”</p> <p>Janjua said she has been having fears that supplies of adequate protective equipment would dwindle, putting emergency responders and healthcare workers like her at greater risk.</p> <p>“This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking,” Janjua wrote.</p> <p>“We are going to be OK.”</p> <p>Schwartz gave Janjua his masks after noticing “what appeared to be two used N95 masks in Ashraf’s purse that he assumed she was reusing”, the Minnesota State Patrol told <em><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/30/us/minnesota-trooper-n95-masks-doctor-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2pmshjw-aJEXrUvO_HehR7fnP3pejsu3L3rB9tOSX4Q8NCzvO3wFliWZU">CNN</a></em>.</p> <p>In early March, officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services said the country had only about <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/3m-scrambles-to-meet-coronavirus-demand-for-face-masks.html">35 million of the 3.5 billion N95 masks needed in the event of a full-blown pandemic.</a></p> <p>The White House is forecasting that <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-01/coronavirus-update-spain-uk-death-tolls-putin-doc/12108700">between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the US will die</a> from the coronavirus.</p> <p>“As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it,” said Anthony Fauci<span>, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.</span></p>

News

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“Definitely not OK”: Photo of bikes on Melbourne train divides the internet

<p><span>A picture of bicycles parked in front of an accessible seating on a Melbourne train has sparked an online debate over the appropriateness of using allocated spaces.</span></p> <p><span>The photo, which showed a pair of bikes locked to the railing in front of a priority seat, was shared to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/disabilityparkingwallofshame/permalink/2693760433992019/">Australian Disability Parking Wall of Shame</a> Facebook group on Saturday.</span></p> <p><span><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7831309/bikesorry.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/98a9aa4af8f54dd2a3c2411cad34a1f1" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Source: Facebook</em></p> <p><span>“Not car related but train disabled seating on Frankston train line just now,” the poster wrote.</span></p> <p><span>“My opinion [is] they shouldn’t be allowed, what you think?”</span></p> <p><span>Some said that the owner of the bikes was within their rights to put their bicycles at the area in question.</span></p> <p><span>“If it’s empty and not blocking the aisle what’s the problem as long as they’re moved when the space is needed,” one wrote.</span></p> <p><span>“Nothing wrong with bikes going there as that’s where they’re meant to go. But must be moved when needed for a wheel chair,” another commented.</span></p> <p><span>“If no one requires access at the time, makes sense to use the empty space,” one added.</span></p> <p><span>However, others believed the move was illegal or at least improper. </span></p> <p><span>“Should be fined. Disabled folk treated like crap as usual,” one wrote.</span></p> <p><span>“People think that the signs DO NOT apply to them,” another added.</span></p> <p><span>“If someone needed the seats they are supposed to be offered up. But locking the bikes seems a bit over the top,” one chimed in.</span></p> <p><span>“Definitely not OK,” one said.</span></p> <p><span>According to <a href="https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/more/travelling-on-the-network/bikes-on-public-transport/">Public Transport Victoria</a>, bikes can be carried on metropolitan trains except at the first door of the first carriage, which is designated as a priority area for passengers with mobility impairment. </span></p> <p><span>It is not known whether the picture was taken on the priority carriage.</span></p> <p><span>“It’s important to be considerate of all passengers sharing the train network by ensuring seats, particularly those for the mobility impaired, are not obscured by objects – including bikes,” VicRoads told <em><a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/definitely-not-ok-photo-on-melbourne-train-divides-the-internet-011858807.html">Yahoo News Australia</a></em>.</span></p> <p><span>A <a href="https://melbourne.figshare.com/articles/A_more_inclusive_City_of_Melbourne_Easy_English_version/8206904">University of Melbourne study</a> found that inaccessible public transport was one of the main issues preventing the city from becoming more inclusive for people with disability.</span></p> <p><span>“Public transport is better than nothing but there are a lot of barriers I wasn’t expecting in such a big city,” wheelchair user Stacey Christie told <em><a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/sometimes-train-drivers-forget-you-how-to-make-melbourne-more-accessible-for-people-with-disabilities-20190927-p52vmk.html">The Age</a></em>.</span></p>

Domestic Travel

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“Not OK”: Ben Fordham criticised for posing inappropriate question to NSW Premier

<p>Federal Minister for Women Marise Payne has slammed a Sydney radio host after he asked a question to New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian or whether she would have an abortion.</p> <p>Sitting down with 2GB host, Ben Fordham, Berejiklian was grilled about the bill to decriminalise abortion that is before the state’s parliament.</p> <p>The Premier has been heavily criticised as accusations have been made against her saying she tried to rush the bill through Parliament, with members of her own government furious as to how she handled the situation.</p> <p>During the interview, Fordham asked Berejiklian whether she would ever consider having an abortion.</p> <p>“I can’t speak for what circumstances I’d be faced with,” she said.</p> <p>“I don’t want to make people feel guilty who have had to go down that path.</p> <p>“I’m not someone who’d be comfortable going through that process, but that’s just me, I can’t speak for other women.”</p> <p>Senator Payne was angered by the interview, saying it was inappropriate to ask such an invasive question.</p> <p>“I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask anyone publicly, male or female, about sensitive health questions like that and it’s not OK,” she told the ABC’s<span> </span><em>Insider</em><span> </span>program on Sunday.</p> <p>The exchange between Fordham and Berejiklian went as follows:</p> <p><strong>Fordham:</strong><span> </span>Under no circumstances?</p> <p><strong>Berejiklian:<span> </span></strong>I can't speak for, I can't speak…</p> <p><strong>Fordham:<span> </span></strong>But within, Gladys, Gladys from Willoughby or wherever you live…</p> <p><strong>Berejiklian:</strong><span> </span>But I can't, but heaven forbid, I've not been in a situation where I've had to contemplate that, and nor would I. But I can't make a vote according to me and my beliefs, I cast my vote because I know other people don't have the life experiences I've had, don't have my beliefs.</p> <p><strong>Fordham:</strong><span> </span>You didn't want your faith or your personal beliefs to flow over into everyone else's views.</p> <p><strong>Berejiklian:</strong><span> </span>That's right.</p> <p><strong>Fordham:</strong><span> </span>But for the record, your own personal view. Not your parliamentary view, or your Premier view.</p> <p><strong>Berejiklian:</strong><span> </span>My personal view is I'm a very conservative person who would not feel comfortable in having that process, but that is just me, and it's not fair for me … and Ben, you've been naughty in pushing me to say that, because I don't want anyone to feel guilty about decisions they've made, because I'm not in their shoes.</p> <p>Senator Payne, who is currently the most senior woman in the federal Liberal Party due to also being Foreign Minister, said that the bill should be left up to New South Wales politicians to decide.</p> <p>“But I do think it’s appropriate for that matter to be decriminalised in New South Wales, yes.”</p>

Body

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Why full-fat milk is now OK if you’re healthy

<p>The Heart Foundation now recommends full-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt or reduced-fat options as part of its <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/news/new-advice-from-the-heart-foundation-on-meat-dairy-and-eggs">updated dietary advice</a> released yesterday.</p> <p>This moves away from earlier advice that recommended only reduced-fat dairy when it comes to heart health.</p> <p>So, what’s behind the latest change? And what does this mean for people with high blood pressure or existing heart disease?</p> <p><strong>What’s new if you’re healthy?</strong></p> <p>For healthy Australians, the Heart Foundation now recommends unflavoured full-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese, as well as the reduced-fat options previously recommended.</p> <p>The change comes after <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/publications/Nutrition_Evidence_papers_-_Summary_DAIRY_FINAL.pdf">reviewing research</a> from systematic reviews and meta-analyses published since 2009. These pooled results come from mostly long-term observational studies.</p> <p>This is where researchers assess people’s dietary patterns and follow them for many years to look at health differences between people who eat and drink a lot of dairy products and those who consume small amounts.</p> <p>Researchers run these studies because it is not practical or ethical to put people on experimental diets for 20 or more years and wait to see who gets heart disease.</p> <p>So when results of the recent studies were grouped together, the Heart Foundation reported no consistent relationship between full-fat or reduced-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt consumption and the risk of heart disease. The risk was neither increased nor decreased.</p> <p>Put simply, for people who do not have any risk factors for heart disease, including those in the healthy weight range, choosing reduced-fat or low-fat options for milk, yoghurt and cheese does not confer extra health benefits or risks compared to choosing the higher fat options, as part of a varied healthy eating pattern.</p> <p>Before you think about having a dairy binge, the review noted the studies on full-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese can’t be extrapolated to butter, cream, ice cream and dairy-based desserts.</p> <p>This is why the Heart Foundation still doesn’t recommend those other full-fat dairy options, even if you’re currently healthy.</p> <p><strong>What about people with heart disease?</strong></p> <p>However, for people with heart disease, high blood pressure or some other conditions, the advice is different.</p> <p>The review found dairy fat in butter seems to raise LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels more than full-fat milk, cheese and yogurt. And for people with raised LDL cholesterol there is a bigger increase in LDL after consuming fat from dairy products.</p> <p>So, for people with high blood cholesterol or existing heart disease, the Heart Foundation recommends unflavoured reduced-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese to help lower their total risk of heart disease, which is consistent with previous recommendations.</p> <p>Unflavoured, reduced-fat versions are lower in total kilojoules than the full-fat options. So, this will also help lower total energy intakes, a key strategy for managing weight.</p> <p><strong>How does this compare with other advice?</strong></p> <p>The 2013 National Health and Medical Research Council’s <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/australian-dietary-guidelines#block-views-block-file-attachments-content-block-1">Dietary Guidelines for Australians</a> recommends a variety of healthy foods from the <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating">key healthy food groups</a> to achieve a range of measures of good health and well-being, not just heart health.</p> <p>Based on evidence until 2009, the guidelines generally recommend people aged over two years mostly consume reduced-fat versions of milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or their alternatives, recognising most Australians are overweight or obese.</p> <p>This advice still holds for people with heart disease. However, the new Heart Foundation advice for healthy people means less emphasis is now on using reduced-fat versions, in light of more recent evidence.</p> <p>The Australian Dietary Guidelines have a further recommendation to limit eating and drinking foods containing saturated fat. The guidelines recommend replacing high-fat foods which contain mainly saturated fats such as butter and cream, with foods which contain mainly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats such as oils, spreads, avocado, nut butters and nut pastes.</p> <p>This advice is still consistent with the Heart Foundation recommendations.</p> <p><strong>Australians eat a lot of ‘junk’ food</strong></p> <p>The most recent (2011-12) National Nutrition Survey of Australians found <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4364.0.55.007main+features12011-12">over one-third (35%)</a> of what we eat comes from energy-dense, nutrient-poor, discretionary foods, or, junk foods.</p> <p>Poor dietary patterns are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/health-conditions-disability-deaths/burden-of-disease/overview">the third largest contributor</a> to Australia’s current burden of disease. Being overweight or obese is the second largest contributor, after smoking.</p> <p>If Australians followed current dietary guidelines, whether using full- or reduced-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese, the national <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/burden-disease-study-illness-death-2015/contents/table-of-contents">burden of disease due to heart disease would drop</a> by 62%, stroke by 34% and type 2 diabetes by 41%.</p> <p><strong>What’s the take home message?</strong></p> <p>See your GP for a heart health check. If you do not have heart disease and prefer full-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt then choose them, or a mix of full and reduced-fat versions.</p> <p>If you have heart disease or are trying to manage your weight then choose mostly reduced-fat versions.</p> <p>Focus on making healthy choices across all food groups. If you need personalised advice, ask your GP to refer you to an <a href="https://daa.asn.au/find-an-apd/">accredited practising dietitian</a>.</p> <p><em>Written by Clare Collins. Republished with permission of </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-full-fat-milk-is-now-ok-if-youre-healthy-but-reduced-fat-dairy-is-still-best-if-youre-not-122184"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>. </em></p>

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