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Boomers vs. Bikers: Teens and elderly residents face off over bike rules

<p>A tense intergenerational argument has broken out in Sydney's Northern Beaches, as a group of seniors stopped two teenagers from riding their electric bikes on a footpath. </p> <p>The incident was captured on camera by a bystander and uploaded to social media with the caption, "Battle of the beaches. E-bikes vs. elderly", before quickly going viral. </p> <p>The video shows elderly man and woman standing outside a dental centre in the suburb of Mona Vale, stopping the youths from riding any further and are seen holding the bike as the teens appear to argue for their release.</p> <p>After the video garnered much attention, hundreds of people shared their thoughts on who was in the right. </p> <p>Many appear to have taken the side of the senior citizens, but in this case, with the teen’s ages not immediately clear, both parties could have a case. </p> <p>According to the<a title="www.nsw.gov.au" href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/roads-safety-and-rules/bicycle-safety-and-rules/cyclist-road-rules#:~:text=Riding%20on%20a%20footpath,under%20the%20age%20of%2016"> New South Wales Government</a>, cyclists (on both pedal or electric bikes) are not allowed to ride on a footpath. However, children under 16 can ride on the footpath unless there is a “NO BICYCLES” sign. </p> <p>In the comment section, plenty of arguments backed the case of the seniors. </p> <p>“Elderly are right; it’s a footpath, it’s dangerous. Annoying they drive fast,” one wrote.</p> <p>Another said: “Look I don’t know what happened, but yesterday (kids) similar to these guys were zooming on an E-bike at a dog park, almost hit us, no bells or anything and off the path. If you have these, just stay on the road.”</p> <p>Others, however, were quick to side with the teens, as one person wrote, “Entitled old people thinking they are the police.”</p> <p>Another added, “Boomers need to admit they are bored and have nothing to do.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: TikTok</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Boomers vs millennials? Free yourself from the phoney generation wars

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bobby-duffy-98570">Bobby Duffy</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/kings-college-london-1196">King's College London</a></em></p> <p>Generational thinking is a big idea that’s been horribly corrupted and devalued by endless myths and stereotypes. These clichés have fuelled fake battles between “snowflake” millennials and “selfish” baby boomers, with younger generations facing a “war on woke” and older generations accused of “stealing” the future from the young.</p> <p>As I argue in my book, <a href="https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/generations/">Generations</a>, this is a real shame. A more careful understanding of what’s really different between generations is one of the best tools we have to understand change – and predict the future.</p> <p>Some of the great names in sociology and philosophy saw understanding generational change as central to understanding society overall. <a href="http://dhspriory.org/kenny/PhilTexts/Comte/Philosophy2.pdf">Auguste Comte</a>, for example, identified the generation as a key factor in “the basic speed of human development”.</p> <p>He argued that “we should not hide the fact that our social progress rests essentially upon death; which is to say that the successive steps of humanity necessarily require a continuous renovation … from one generation to the next”. We humans get set in our ways once we’re past our formative years, and we need the constant injection of new participants to keep society moving forward.</p> <p>Understanding whether, and how, generations are different is vital to understanding society. The balance between generations is constantly shifting, as older cohorts die out and are replaced by new entrants. If younger generations truly do have different attitudes or behaviours to older generations, this will reshape society, and we can, to some extent, predict how it will develop if we can identify those differences.</p> <p>But in place of this big thinking, today we get clickbait headlines and bad research on millennials “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-hate-napkins-2016-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">killing the napkin industry</a>” or on how baby boomers have “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/boomers-are-blame-aging-america/592336/">ruined everything</a>”. We’ve fallen a long way.</p> <h2>Myth busting</h2> <p>To see the true value of generational thinking, we need to identify and discard the many myths. For example, as I outline in the book, gen Z and millennials are not lazy at work or disloyal to their employers. They’re also no more materialistic than previous generations of young: a focus on being rich is something we tend to grow out of.</p> <p>Old people are not uncaring or unwilling to act on climate change: in fact, they are more likely than young people to boycott products for social purpose reasons.</p> <p>And our current generation of young are not a particularly unusual group of “culture warriors”. Young people are always at the leading edge of change in cultural norms, around race, immigration, sexuality and gender equality. The issues have changed, but the gap between young and old is not greater now than in the past.</p> <p>Meanwhile, there are real, and vitally important, generational differences hidden in this mess. To see them, we need to separate the three effects that explain all change in societies. Some patterns are simple “lifecycle effects”, where attitudes and behaviours are to do with our age, not which generation we are born into. Some are “period effects” – where everyone is affected, such as in a war, economic crisis or a pandemic.</p> <p>And finally, there are “cohort effects”, which is where a new generation is different from others at the same age, and they stay different. It’s impossible to entirely separate these distinct forces, but we can often get some way towards it – and when we do, we can predict the future in a much more meaningful way.</p> <p>There are many real generational differences, in vitally important areas of life. For example, the probability of you owning your own home is hugely affected by when you were born. Millennials are around half as likely to be a homeowner than generations born only a couple of decades earlier.</p> <p>There is also a real cohort effect in experience of mental health disorders, particularly among recent generations of young women. Our relationship with alcohol and likelihood of smoking is also tied to our cohort, with huge generational declines in very regular drinking and smoking. Each of these point to different futures, from increased strain on mental health services to declining alcohol sales.</p> <p>But lifecycle and period effects are vitally important too. For example, there is truth in the idea that we grow more conservative as we age. One analysis suggests that this ageing effect is worth around <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261379413000875">0.35% to the Conservatives each year</a>, which may not sound like a lot, but is very valuable over the course of a political lifetime.</p> <p>And, of course, the pandemic provides a very powerful example of how period effects can dramatically change things for us all.</p> <h2>Reaching beyond the avocado</h2> <p>When there is such richness in the realities, why are there so many myths? It’s partly down to bad marketing and workplace research – that is, people jumping on the generation bandwagon to get media coverage for their products or to sell consultancy to businesses on how to engage young employees.</p> <p>This has become its own mini-industry. In 2015, US companies spent up to US$70 million (£51 million) on this sort of “advice” <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/helping-bosses-decode-millennialsfor-20-000-an-hour-1463505666">according to the Wall Street Journal</a>, with some experts making as much as US$20,000 an hour. Over 400 LinkedIn users now describe themselves solely as a “millennial expert” or “millennial consultant”.</p> <p>Campaigners and politicians also play to these imagined differences. Our increasing focus on “<a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk.pdf">culture wars</a>” often involves picking out particular incidents in universities, such as the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-45717841">banning of clapping</a> at events or the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-57409743">removal of a portrait of the Queen</a> to exaggerate how culturally different young people today are.</p> <p>Maybe less obviously, politicians such as former US President Barack Obama repeatedly lionise coming generations as more focused on equality, when the evidence shows they’re often not that different. These assertions are not only wrong, but create false expectations and divides.</p> <p>Some have had enough, calling on the Pew Research Center in the US, which has been a champion of generational groups, to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/07/generation-labels-mean-nothing-retire-them/&amp;data=04%257C01%257C">stop conducting this type of analysis</a>. I think that misses the point: it’s how it’s applied rather than the idea of generations that’s wrong.</p> <p>We should defend the big idea and call out the myths, not abandon the field to the “millennial consultants”.<!-- 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/167138/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/bobby-duffy-98570">Bobby Duffy</a>, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/kings-college-london-1196">King's College London</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/boomers-vs-millennials-free-yourself-from-the-phoney-generation-wars-167138">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Mind

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Papa Swift vs Paparazzi: Taylor Swift's dad accused of assault

<p>In the midst of celebrations marking the conclusion of Taylor Swift's Eras tour in Sydney, an unexpected and troubling incident has emerged involving her father – Scott Swift.</p> <p>The 71-year-old has been accused of assaulting an Australian photographer, Ben McDonald, in the early hours of Tuesday morning at a Sydney wharf in Neutral Bay.</p> <p>According to reports confirmed by NSW Police, the alleged altercation occurred around 2:30am, following Taylor Swift's final performance in the city.</p> <p>It's said that Taylor and her father had been enjoying post-show festivities when the incident took place, tarnishing what should have been a joyous occasion.</p> <p>McDonald, who serves as the chief executive of Matrix Media Group, recounted the events to <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13128721/Taylor-Swift-father-Scott-assault-photographer-Sydney-wharf.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Daily Mail Australia</em></a>, shedding light on the confrontation. He stated that Taylor and Scott arrived at the wharf after travelling from Homebush on a luxury superyacht named <em>Quantum</em>.</p> <p>McDonald claims that after they disembarked, Scott allegedly 'charged' at him. McDonald originally thought that it was a security guard, and was surprised when he realised it was Taylor's dad.</p> <p>"In 23 years of taking pictures, I have never seen anything like it," he told the <em>Daily Mail</em>. "He probably decided he needed to defend his daughter, for some reason... She got off the boat, she walked towards security guards who were shoving umbrellas in our faces, and then he charged."</p> <p>Footage capturing the moments leading up to and following the alleged assault has surfaced, providing some insight into the incident. <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13128721/Taylor-Swift-father-Scott-assault-photographer-Sydney-wharf.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The video</a> shows Taylor and her father walking up from the wharf, shielded by large umbrellas held by security guards. Amid the commotion, McDonald attempted to capture the scene, and was obstructed by the guards protecting Taylor and her companions, including Mr Swift.</p> <p>In the aftermath, McDonald reported the incident to authorities. He did not sustain serious injuries, though he described experiencing discomfort and soreness on the left side of his face.</p> <p><em>Images: YouTube</em></p>

Legal

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1983 vs 2023: Truth of Australia’s housing crisis exposed

<p dir="ltr">Australian filmmaker Jack Toohey has painted a bleak picture of the reality of the nation’s housing crisis, with four decades of comparison to back up his case.</p> <p dir="ltr">As Toohey himself proclaims in the caption to his video, the “market is broken”, and there’s far more to the story than older Aussies - many of whom believe earlier generations had it much harder in life - might expect.</p> <p dir="ltr">To begin, Toohey throws himself “back in time to 1983 to buy a house”, where he goes on to explain that he’s only “an average person looking to buy an average house”.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to Toohey, the average cost of a house in 1983 was $64,039, while the average annual income was $19,188, and an average university degree cost nothing. Average taxes and rents were $4,377 and $2,494, and the average disposable income for Aussies was $12,315.</p> <p dir="ltr">And for anyone who managed to save 50% of what was left of their income to put towards a mortgage, they could expect to have enough in their account within two years to put towards a 20% deposit.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Remember that as we head back to 2023,” Toohey said, “and I’m still an average person looking to buy an average house.”</p> <p dir="ltr">It was then that things took a turn for the worst, with Toohey sharing just how much things had changed over the course of 40 years.</p> <p dir="ltr">In comparison to 1983, Australians in 2023 could expect to have to fork out - on average - $920,100 for a home. And their savings were set to take a bigger hit, too, with the cost of a degree rising from the low price of “free” to an average HECS debt of $23,685, and wages at an annual average of $90,896.</p> <p dir="ltr">Taxes and rent had taken a hit, too, coming in at $20,008 and $28,600 - with the added problem of $5,453 HECS repayments.</p> <p dir="ltr">And the new average disposable income was $36,835, leaving hopeful Aussies with $18,417 after their repayments and taxes, and 10 whole years before they could even consider putting down a house deposit.</p> <div><iframe title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7240732571313638664&amp;display_name=tiktok&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40jack_toohey%2Fvideo%2F7240732571313638664&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-sg.tiktokcdn.com%2Ftos-alisg-p-0037%2Fd8c1512dcd27459288fba5180051cbff_1685864431%7Etplv-dmt-logom%3Atos-alisg-i-0068%2F23958d0b68604bf7ba312a5dce455671.image%3Fx-expires%3D1686117600%26x-signature%3DJt8ZF65d8EGFALqjAbYSYOeu0Do%253D&amp;key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p dir="ltr">As Toohey noted, it was no surprise that many were feeling the pressure, and that “clearly it’s not just lazy layabout young people sipping lattes, indulging, that’s the problem”. It would, he pointed out, take him 84 years to save up if he started skipping his one daily takeaway coffee.</p> <p dir="ltr">To simplify, he explained that the average house price had increased by 14 times in four decades, while the average yearly salary had only increased by 4.7 times - information he stressed had been drawn from both the ABS and ATO.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Houses used to cost three times your salary,” he said, “and now they cost 10 times.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: TikTok</em></p>

Real Estate

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Dog people vs cat people: what your pet preference says about you

<p>Ask anybody whether they’re a cat or a dog person, and chances are, they’ve got a quick answer. But does your pet preference actually say much about your true personality? Well, there’s an increasing body of research that suggests it might.</p> <p><strong>Dog people are more extraverted</strong></p> <p>A 2010 study confirms the pervading cultural belief that dog people are more outgoing and social. Psychologist Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin conducted a study with 4,500 participants answering questions that measured their personality inclinations among the Big Five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. They also indicated whether they considered themselves a cat person, dog person, both or neither.</p> <p>Dog people scored higher on extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness whereas cat people were more neurotic and open, which in this context means creative, philosophical and open to non-traditional ways of thinking.</p> <p>“Once you know the findings, it kind of falls into place,” Gosling noted. “You think, of course, agreeableness and extraversion – dogs are companionable, they hang out, they like to be with you, they like your company, whereas cats like it for as long as they want it, and then they're off.”</p> <p><strong>Cat people scored higher in intelligence</strong></p> <p>In a 2014 study involving 600 college students led by Denise Guastello, an associate professor of psychology at Carroll University in Wisconsin, found dog owners were more lively, outgoing and rule-following, while cat owners are more introverted, sensitive, non-conformist and scored higher on intelligence tests.</p> <p>“It makes sense that a dog person is going to be more lively, because they’re going to want to be out there, outside, talking to people, bringing their dog,” said Guastello. “Whereas, if you’re more introverted, and sensitive, maybe you’re more at home reading a book, and your cat doesn’t need to go outside for a walk.”</p> <p>Interestingly, the study also found the different qualities the pet owners valued in their dogs or cats: 38 per cent of dog lovers reported companionship was the best quality of canines, while 45.6 per cent of cat lovers said affection was the top cat trait.</p> <p>However, ultimately these studies are of course, generalisations and the traits don’t apply to all dog owners or cat owners. And in the end, what does it matter – each pet owner loves animals and that in itself says a lot more about a person!</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Peter Stefanovic breaks silence on Karl vs. Michael fight

<p>Peter Stefanovic has lifted the lid on how his brother Karl is doing in the wake of the recent media storm surrounding his fight with Michael Clarke. </p> <p>The younger Stefanovic spoke on Nova FM’s <em>Fitzy and Wippa show</em> on Tuesday morning, sharing how Karl is holding up. </p> <p>“I think he’s going okay, yeah. Yeah, he’s hanging in there,” the <em>Sky News</em> host replied.</p> <p>However, when pressed by Fitzy on whether Karl’s long-standing friendship with the former cricket star was “over”, Peter was vague.</p> <p>“You never know how these things work out. You know, there’s ebbs and flows,” he told the hosts, before adding that Karl was in “(paparazzi) city” at the moment.</p> <p>“And it’s never a flattering photo they take, is it? It’s always mid-stride,” Peter joked.</p> <p>Karl is yet to comment on the public scuffle himself, while Michael Clarke issued a grovelling apology after the footage of the stoush quickly went viral. </p> <p>Earlier this week, he said in a statement to The Daily Telegraph, “I accept full responsibility for this altercation and am shattered by my actions.”</p> <p>“I’m absolutely gutted I’ve put people I hold in the highest regard in this position. My actions in the lead-up to this altercation were nothing short of shameful and regrettable. </p> <p>“I am shattered that because of my actions I’ve drawn women of class and integrity, and my mates, into this situation.”</p> <p>The pair were <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/karl-stefanovic-and-michael-clarke-caught-in-public-scuffle-over-cheating-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filmed</a> by a bystander in Noosa which showed a shirtless Clarke being slapped across the face and screamed at by his girlfriend, Karl’s sister-in-law, Jade Yarbrough, over cheating claims.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p> <div class="media image venti" style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; width: 493.639679px; margin: 24px auto;"> </div> <div id="indie-campaign-rHsIzpAmAj7xkA4llYlH-2" style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 24px;" data-campaign-name="NCA ENTERTAINMENT newsletter" data-campaign-indie="newsletter-signup" data-jira="TSN-268" data-from="1640955600000" data-to="1677502800000"></div>

News

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“Keep it in your pants son”: Radio hosts react to Clarke vs. Stefanovic fight

<p>Former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke has been slammed after the video footage of <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/karl-stefanovic-and-michael-clarke-caught-in-public-scuffle-over-cheating-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his fight</a> with his girlfriend, Jade Yarbrough and <em>The Today Show</em> host, Karl Stefanovic, went viral.</p> <p><em>2GB Radio</em> host Ben Fordham slammed the former cricketer for dragging Stefanovic into the fight.</p> <p>“Karl Stefanovic’s name has been dragged into it because he happened to be there and Michael Clarke turned on Karl too,” he said on Thursday.</p> <p>“Really, really disgraceful language that was used by Michael Clarke as far as I can see it’s got nothing to do with Karl apart from the fact he happened to be there.</p> <p>“It’s between Michael Clarke and his girlfriends, it’s a shocker and the language used by Michael Clarke in a public place in front of children was utterly disgraceful.”</p> <p>His co-host Ray Hadley also commented on Clarke's behaviour, implying that Clarke should grow up.</p> <p>“I don’t know Michael Clarke but we’ve all had problems in life Michael, me included.</p> <p>“But if I were to give advice to a 41-year-old male adult … it would be along the lines of ‘keep it in your pants son,'" he said</p> <p><em>KIIS106.5 </em>host, Kyle Sandilands, also commented on the drama saying that he "nearly died" when he first found out about the incident.</p> <p>His co-host Jackie O expressed her shock: "my jaw is to the floor and I’m like ‘I can’t believe what I’m seeing’ thinking this is not the Michael Clarke I know".</p> <p>Sandilands claimed that he had been in "thousands of fights like that," and chuckled as he asked the question we've all been thinking: "why are they shirtless in a public park?"</p> <p>“If we all sit around and we think what’s our worst fight we’ve ever ever had with our partner, imagine someone filming that and putting that on The Daily Telegraph … No thanks. I’d disappear forever, you’d never see me again,” he added.</p> <p>His co-host agreed, and said that she would "leave the country for two months".</p> <p>The radio hosts speculated that Karl Stefanovic's involvement in the drama was simply because he was trying to "diffuse" the situation.</p> <p>“Who wants to get up and shoehorn themselves into someone else’s argy bargy? I think Karl was walking away,” said Kyle.</p> <p>"I hope they do alright," he added.</p> <p>Although the public scuffle wasn't mentioned on <em>The Today Show</em>, Stefanovic was asked about it while getting drinks at the <em>Australian Open</em>.</p> <p>"You know what the answer is going to be," he reportedly said to the <em>Herald Sun</em>.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

News

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Expectation vs reality: Reporters share inside look at what cruises are like now

<p dir="ltr">Four reporters have shared their experiences on some of the most popular cruising lines - revealing that their expectations weren’t quite met by the reality of their trip.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Joey Hadden, who booked her first ever cruise on the Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, her sessions of relaxing in the sun came with unexpected crowds and difficulties in finding a chair.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I spent more time waiting in lines than I had anticipated. And I saw much of the world from behind other people's heads,” she wrote of her experience in <em><a href="https://www.insider.com/what-its-like-to-go-on-a-cruise-now-photos-2022-10#and-as-she-explored-more-of-the-ship-during-her-weeklong-stay-she-was-surprised-to-find-that-even-the-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-felt-overcrowded-at-times-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Insider</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">She shared that when she first boarded the ship and excitedly went to watch the ocean as they sailed away from the port, that tall, thick glass and not being able to find a spot to stand stopped her from doing so.</p> <p dir="ltr">Fellow <em>Insider </em>reporter Monica Humphries said her experience with crowds aboard Carnival Vista, which was at partial capacity during her trip in July 2021, saw her waiting in long lines to disembark at each port and for help from the service desk.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-34a72885-7fff-8bfa-d8da-1752b0965c73"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Buffets were another source of contention and crowds for the two reporters, with Humphries also finding that issues with how food was labelled meant she accidentally ate meat twice despite asking what was in her food due to being pescatarian.</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/Ci2sCi_OmYu/?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/Ci2sCi_OmYu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Amanda Krause (@amandalynn_14)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Mikhaila Friel, who sailed on the Queen Elizabeth, made the common mistake of sitting by herself on her first night in the dining room - not realising that wherever you sit becomes your table for the rest of the cruise.</p> <p dir="ltr">Surprising temperatures were another common experience, with Friel, Hadden, and Amanda Krause, who travelled on Disney Cruise Line’s Wish, finding that they hadn’t packed enough warm clothes.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Europe in the fall can be pretty chilly, so I wore a coat during my excursions in Amsterdam. However, I wish I'd brought a larger selection of warmer clothes and accessories to wear on outdoor areas of the ship that were affected by the wind, something I hadn't considered,” Friel wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">“A woolly hat and a pair of gloves certainly wouldn't have gone amiss.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Krause, who had never travelled by ship before, hadn’t expected the chill that came from the cold air-conditioning inside the ship and wished she had brought warmer clothes to avoid shivering at restaurants and bars, as well as in the Walt Disney theatre.</p> <p dir="ltr">While they reported having an enjoyable time during their cruise experiences, each of the travellers encountered hiccoughs and disappointments that made them all the wiser.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-f0becb41-7fff-b1b7-92ae-503f52e12a06"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Cruising

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Hard vs soft luggage – which is better?

<p>Your suitcase will be your most faithful travel partner, so make sure you choose the right one.</p> <p><strong>1. How are you travelling?</strong></p> <p>When you’re checking your luggage in for a standard flight, it makes very little difference whether it’s hard or soft. But other modes of transport can be difficult with a hard suitcase. It’s much harder to fit in the back of a taxi or car, and it can be trickier to stow on a bus or train. If you’re taking flights on very small planes your luggage might be restricted even further and hard sided bags can even be banned, so read the fine print.</p> <p><strong>2. What are you taking?</strong></p> <p>Hard suitcases can provide more protection if you travel with a lot of breakables, like glass cosmetic bottles or electronics. It’s also good for flimsy souvenirs that you might pick up along the way. If you like to keep all your breakables in your carry on, then soft luggage should suit you fine.</p> <p><strong>3. Are you an organised packer (and unpacker)?</strong></p> <p>Soft suitcases will generally come with a few more internal pockets or dividers, allowing you to separate out your items. Hard suitcases tend to be a big empty space. If you like things to be organised, soft luggage is the best bet. Hard suitcases also take up more room than soft, so if you like to live out of your case on the floor of your hotel room (rather than hanging things up) you could find it gets in the way.</p> <p><strong>4. How often do you travel?</strong></p> <p>Hard luggage is more durable than soft and will usually stand up to the rough treatment of time in the cargo hold or being dragged around cobblestone streets. If you travel frequently, you’ll want your luggage to be able to survive multiple journeys without showing too much wear and tear.</p> <p><strong>5. Do you worry about security?</strong></p> <p>It can be easier to break into a soft suitcase, if only because thieves can simply slash the fabric sides. It’s not usually possible to do this to a hard suitcase, so you are giving yourself an extra layer of protection. However, keep in mind that a good travel lock will usually deter most opportunistic thieves, so most types of suitcase are relatively safe.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Travel Tips

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Elon Musk vs Russia

<p>Elon Musk is always ready for a fight. Even with a nation as powerful as Russia. But supplying his satellite internet service to Ukraine has opened up a whole new can of worms.</p> <p>Musk says his <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/spacex-astronomers-warn-over-musks-planned-satellite-constellation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Starlink</a> signals are being jammed.</p> <p>About the same time, Russia’s space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin declared: “Offlining the satellites of any country is actually a casus belli, a cause for war.”</p> <p>So, could the clash between Musk’s commercial enterprise and Moscow’s military activities become a cause for escalation?</p> <p>It depends, says space law expert Duncan Blake. Space isn’t lawless, he says. But it is very murky. And it’s a legal and ethical challenge particularly relevant given Australia’s accelerating civil-military space launch and satellite program.</p> <p>Like most legal matters, there are issues of degree, intent and physical harm.</p> <p>International law is relatively clear in defining an “armed attack”. It’s based on the equivalence to a physical armed force seizing and holding a piece of strategic territory. Both electronic warfare (jamming signals) and cyber warfare (hacking functions) can cross that line.</p> <p>“Hopefully, neither the Russians nor anyone else is stupid enough to interfere with missile warning satellites because that would send a very bad message,” says Blake. “At the other end of the spectrum is interfering with something like a Superbowl broadcast. It’s enraging. It’s annoying. But it’s not an ‘armed attack’.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution.</p> <p>— Elona Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1499472139333746691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>It would, however, be subject to international treaties and agreements. Electronic spectrums are regulated. Cybercrime is a matter of national law. Both are inherently hard to enforce, Blake says, and separating the two is getting harder.</p> <p>An attack on a commercial <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/agriculture/csiro-makes-satellite-eye-in-the-sky-available-for-aussie-earth-observation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth-observation</a> or space-awareness satellite would inevitably be seen as aggressive. But disabling a military spy satellite could be regarded as an act of war.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p184577-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.56 resetting spai-bg-prepared" action="/space/elon-musk-starlink-attack-russia/#wpcf7-f6-p184577-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="resetting"> <p style="display: none !important;"><span class="wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page"><input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page spai-bg-prepared" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/elon-musk-starlink-attack-russia/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/elon-musk-starlink-attack-russia/" aria-invalid="false" /></span></p> <p><!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></form> </div> </div> <p>So what if your satellite is both?</p> <p>“Could it be a legitimate military target?” asks Blake. “Would it be lawful to target this satellite? The answer is yes to the first, maybe to the second”.</p> <p>For example, the Optus C1 communications satellite has several relay nodes dedicated to Australian military use. The remainder provides crucial communications links across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Under Article 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, anything that offers a significant military contribution through its nature, location, purpose or use is a valid war target.</p> <p>But, says Blake, there are conditions.</p> <p>“If you’re going to target something, one precaution that must be taken into consideration is the constant care of the civilian populations. Another one is whether or not there was another target that would achieve the same military advantage without the effect on the civilian population.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Some Starlink terminals near conflict areas were being jammed for several hours at a time. Our latest software update bypasses the jamming.</p> <p>Am curious to see what’s next!</p> <p>— Elona Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1500026380704178178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>Musk is delivering his Starlink ground stations to Ukraine’s front lines. They ostensibly offer satellite broadband services to anyone who cares to use them. That can be for seeking humanitarian aid or medical assistance. It could also be to report Russian military movements.</p> <p>“You can imagine circumstances where those tests about what constitutes a lawful target might be satisfied from a Russian perspective,” says Blake.</p> <p>There are few international courts or tribunals equipped to deal with space disputes. The Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague, is one. It’s the same court that ruled against China’s claim to the Philippines’ islands in the South China Sea. (Beijing ignored the verdict.)</p> <p>“Obviously, it’d be nice if everybody complied with international humanitarian law, and also the international law on the use of force,” says Blake. “There are consequences for failing to comply. And there are plenty of reasons to comply.”</p> <p>Ultimately, though, it’s about who you are – and what you want to be.</p> <p>“People in the military are in the business of killing people and breaking things,” he says. “So what makes us different from criminals who kill people and break things? The thing that makes us different is the rule of law and doing all you can to minimise civilian harm.”</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><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=184577&amp;title=Elon+Musk+vs+Russia" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/elon-musk-starlink-attack-russia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/jamie-seidel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamie Seidel</a>. Jamie Seidel is a freelance journalist based in Adelaide.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Technology

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‘You can’t stop it’: in rural Australia, digital coercive control can be inescapable

<p>Domestic and family violence perpetrators commonly use technology such as phones and other devices as a weapon to control and entrap victims and survivors, alongside other forms of abuse. This “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/59/3/530/5172990?login=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital coercive control</a>” is not bound to a particular location and can follow targets anywhere, any time they access devices or digital media.</p><p>For women outside urban Australia, technology-enabled abuse can pose more risk than for those in cities. In research funded by the <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Institute of Criminology</a>, we spoke to <a href="https://doi.org/10.52922/ti78405" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13 such women who have been subjected to digital coercive control</a> to understand what it is like.</p><p><strong>The disturbing side of technology</strong></p><blockquote><p>… you see a side of a phone that you probably wish you didn’t know about [Shelly]</p></blockquote><p>The women reported that abusers used technology to harass and stalk. The majority experienced image-based sexual abuse (the creation and/or release of intimate images without consent) or recordings made of victims or survivors, overtly or covertly.</p><p>Some experienced doxxing (release of personal and identifiable information). Perpetrators in some cases impersonated real or fake people and initiated contact with women or their children. Authorised functions of phones and other devices and accounts were sometimes impaired, or unauthorised functions enabled.</p><blockquote><p>I think you can feel a lot safer knowing they are not in proximity; they can’t hurt me. When it comes to technology it can – I guess you’re more hyper-vigilant because they can come any time and you can’t stop it. Even if you block someone, they find another way. They do; he always found other means to make contact with me. I never – I guess you never got to escape, which I hadn’t experienced before, because every other type of abuse I was able to – it ended at some point. [Kira]</p></blockquote><p><strong>It is different outside the cities</strong></p><p>These behaviours have also been observed in <a href="https://accan.org.au/Domestic%20Violence%20and%20Communication%20Technology%20final%20report%2020190801.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urban settings in Australia</a>. Also, like in cities, we found that violence persisted (and often increased) after separation.</p><p>However, women outside cities face higher barriers when seeking help and responding to family violence, and they can also be at greater risk.</p><p>Domestic violence agencies are further from women’s homes in non-urban areas, as we have observed in this study and in <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/104420/13/Landscapes%2Bof%2BViolence%2BCW%2Bedit%2BFINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other work</a>. Legal services can be limited and there are shortages in alternative and crisis accommodation.</p><p>Complicated financial arrangements and pressures may hinder women’s ability to exit violent relationships, such as where they work on farms or other small businesses and there may be few employment and educational opportunities in the region.</p><p><strong>No anonymity</strong></p><p>Numerous survivors spoke of the lack of anonymity in rural areas, so they and/or their abusers were more likely to be known when disclosing and reporting violence. This can be confronting, especially when perpetrators are well-known and well liked.</p><blockquote><p>He is established - he knows people and he’s well liked … he’s in a boys’ club and knows lots of people … whereas I don’t. [Fiona]</p></blockquote><p>This could be heightened for women with family and networks out of the region or overseas, culturally and linguistically diverse women, criminalised women, or those viewed as “different” outsiders.</p><p>As well as actively destroying women’s social networks, abusers would challenge women’s accounts of abuse and attempt to gather allies, as Claire explains:</p><blockquote><p>He went around the streets telling people that I’m crazy … Because we’re in a small country town he was going in and out of shops … He affiliated himself with one of the local churches and got them on his side.</p></blockquote><p><strong>Isolation and fear</strong></p><p>Abusers socially isolate women, and those in non-urban areas are often socially further from family, friends and support services than those urban areas. We found too, that some abusers sought to extend geographic isolation, by moving women to more remote locations.</p><p>Technology could provide channels to communicate with others and to seek assistance and support. Natalie had “a good amount of friends” and so would be “on the phone, or I’d be texting, and that was my outlet for a crazy situation”. However, some women felt this was not always possible when devices had been taken over or were monitored by abusers.</p><blockquote><p>[I was] too scared to use it [technology]. I just couldn’t reach out to people … I didn’t want to use it just in case [Lola]</p></blockquote><p>Fear loomed large in women’s accounts of digital coercive control. All those we spoke to had contact with police.</p><p>Some had positive encounters, most commonly with specialist (domestic and family violence liaison officers, who are less available in many rural areas) but more spoke of negative encounters. Women who were dissatisfied with police felt that officers were dismissive of digital coercive control.</p><p><strong>‘Homicide flags’</strong></p><p>We believe digital coercive control warrants attention. Coercive control, obsessive tendencies, stalking, and threats to kill or self-harm have all been noted as signals of fatal violence by <a href="https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/586182/domestic-and-family-violence-death-review-and-advisory-board-annual-report-2017-18.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death review teams</a>.</p><p>The women we interviewed reported all these behaviours. Non-fatal strangulation is another “homicide flag” and was reported by 46% of our participants.</p><p>Firearm ownership and threats to use firearms also signal high risk. Firearm ownership is common on farms and in many rural areas.</p><p>An assault can become a homicide in rural areas, because of the sheer distance between the site of an attack and a hospital or medic.</p><p>It is imperative that we acknowledge and address how technology is used against survivors and the impact that technology-facilitated abuse has on women across landscapes. We must also recognise that women in rural locations face elevated risks, and that digital coercive control can provide evidence and signal risk of fatal violence.</p><hr /><p><em>Pseudonyms have been used for the women quoted in this article.</em></p><p><em>The National Sexual Assault, Family &amp; Domestic Violence Counselling Line – <a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1800 RESPECT</a> (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.</em><img style="border: none !important;margin: 0 !important;max-height: 1px !important;max-width: 1px !important;min-height: 1px !important;min-width: 1px !important;padding: 0 !important" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176980/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bridget-harris-547362" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bridget Harris</a>, Associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queensland University of Technology</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/delanie-woodlock-1287646" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Delanie Woodlock</a>, , <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p><p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-cant-stop-it-in-rural-australia-digital-coercive-control-can-be-inescapable-176980" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p><p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Technology

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8 sneaky female heart attack symptoms women might be ignoring

<p><strong>Women aren't men</strong></p><p>There’s a big disconnect between what women think a heart attack would feel like – excruciating chest pain – and what it often does feel like. “Other than the reproductive system, the cardiovascular system has the most differences between genders,” says Professor Jean McSweeney, PhD, RN. So it’s to be expected that female heart attack symptoms – while sometimes shared with men in a general sense – can also be experienced differently. After all, “we have much smaller vessels in our heart,” says Dr McSweeney, who was among the first to zero in on women’s heart attack symptoms in a 2003 study, published in the journal <em>Circulation</em>. “And we’re constructed differently.”</p><p>When a woman’s main arteries are blocked, she’ll often experience a constellation of signs, including chest pain, pressure or tightness, along with multiple non-chest symptoms, says Judith Hilevi Lichtman, PhD, department chair and associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. What’s more, not every woman experiences the same symptoms, and the symptoms don’t necessarily happen all at once. We spoke with experts and female heart-attack survivors about what some of those symptoms might be and what they feel like. Here are eight that surprised us most.</p><p><strong>A strange-feeling arm</strong></p><p>“I felt like my arm was asleep,” says Tara Robinson, a school counsellor, who, incredibly, survived three heart attacks in one week at the age of 40. For the first two, the feeling would emerge for a couple of minutes and then go away. By the time she arrived at the hospital, the symptoms were gone and she was sent back home without treatment. “I thought maybe I was working out too hard at the gym or I slept on my arm wrong,” she says. By the time the third heart attack struck, that feeling was much more intense and persistent – and impossible to ignore.</p><p>Another heart attack survivor, Lilly Rocha, described her arm as feeling “sore.” In fact, she felt general soreness in her entire upper left side, along with her jaw and chest. At the time, she was 37 and a corporate vice president who organised international events; she’d jet-set from country to country on a regular basis – so she attributed the soreness to the stress of travel. It wasn’t until a co-worker (who had himself experienced a heart attack) insisted on taking her to a hospital did she realise the shocking truth: She’d just had a heart attack.</p><p><strong>A really sore jaw</strong></p><p>Along with arm issues, fatigue and shortness of breath, jaw problems often emerge months before an attack and then intensify during the actual event. Robinson described it as “like the way your mouth feels after you’ve come home from the dentist and the Novocaine hasn’t quite worn off.” As with the arm, the jaw also acts up because of what doctors call “referred” pain, explains Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, attending cardiologist and the director of Women’s Cardiovascular Prevention, Health, and Wellness at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and author of Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book: <em>Every Woman’s Guide to a Heart-Healthy Life</em>. “That pain comes from the heart,” she says. Dr McSweeney recalls a patient who first complained about her jaw to her dentist and was given treatment for TMJ. When that didn’t help, her wisdom tooth was removed. Of course, the pain only got worse – until she ended up in the hospital with a heart attack and was finally properly treated.</p><p><strong>Nausea and vomiting</strong></p><p>In a 2018 <em>Circulation </em>study that examined women and men who experienced a heart attack before age 55, two-thirds of women said they’d experienced epigastric (upper-abdominal) issues, such as indigestion, nausea, or stomach pain, notes Dr Lichtman, the article’s lead author. Only half the men reported similar problems. As Robinson describes that day she was rushed to the hospital with her third heart attack: “I wanted to vomit so badly.” After treatment, she adopted lifestyle changes that included eating a heart-healthy diet. She now helps lead other patients in living healthier.</p><p><strong>Shortness of breath</strong></p><p>This can catch you by surprise while you’re in the middle of running a meeting at work, doing household chores, or even lying down. An early symptom of a heart condition can be the need to prop yourself up in bed in order to breathe better. “You feel out of breath because when your arteries are blocked, there is not enough oxygen being delivered throughout the body,” explains Dr Steinbaum. “If the heart has been damaged or a heart attack is happening, the heart may not have the ability to push the blood forward and this can cause fluid to back up into the lungs.”</p><p><strong>Extreme fatigue</strong></p><p>“Women tend to dismiss heart attack symptoms because we are used to feeling uncomfortable on a monthly basis,” says Dr Steinbaum. “The key to knowing when to get checked is to assess whether the things you do every day and are normal for you suddenly become difficult or you get symptoms while trying to do them.” Robinson remembers having to crawl back to her bedroom after cleaning her shower; she felt weak and wanted to take a nap.</p><p>Dr McSweeney tells of one patient who reported being so tired that she could only make one side of the bed. She needed to rest before making the other. “It’s not this pronounced in every woman,” says Dr McSweeney. But if the fatigue gets progressively worse, or you don’t feel better after you’ve slept, you should see your doctor.</p><p>When Rocha was hit with episodes of extreme fatigue, she blamed it on her hectic travel schedule. By the time she arrived at the hospital, where she waited a long time to be seen – no one suspected she was having a heart attack – the fatigue and feelings on the left side of her body became so overwhelming that she couldn’t move or talk. “I felt like I was going to pass out,” she says. Fortunately, she received treatment before it was too late. She now owns her own company in order to have control over her work-life balance.</p><p><strong>Upper-back pain</strong></p><p>Robinson reports that her back problem was the only symptom she’d describe as actually painful. “It felt as if it was behind my heart,” she says. Other women have described it as a sharp pain between the shoulder blades, which intensified at the time of the heart attack.</p><p><strong>An odd feeling in the chest</strong></p><p>Women don’t necessarily describe it as “chest pain” – much less a “Call an ambulance!” kind of pain. “They may call it ‘chest tightness’ or ‘chest pressure,’” says Dr Lichtman, who adds that women may not associate their symptoms with a heart attack because they’re experiencing other symptoms unrelated to the chest, like fatigue or muscle pain. Rocha felt a “strong tingling sensation – almost like electricity was shooting out of my chest.” It would come and go, she recalls, and in the beginning would last two or three minutes at a time. About six months before her heart attack, she went to her primary care physician (who was also her ob-gyn) because she was convinced she had breast cancer. The doctor did a breast exam, found nothing, and sent her home. Rocha eventually noticed that her entire left side – chest, jaw, and arm – just felt “weird.”</p><p><strong>Flu-like symptoms</strong></p><p>“Women might say, ‘I’m so tired. I must have a virus,’” says Dr Steinbaum. They might convince themselves that all they have are flu symptoms, many of which resemble the conditions above, including body aches, fatigue and nausea. But if the sensations seem different or more intense than anything you’ve felt before, get it checked out. While they may turn out not to be symptoms of a heart condition or precursors to a heart attack, you’re better off not ruling out the possibility – even if you’re under 55 and especially if you have a family history of early-onset heart disease. If you have even the slightest thought that you might be having a heart attack, call an ambulance.</p><p><strong>Wear Red Day is Feb 14, Valentine’s Day, but <a href="https://www.heartresearch.com.au/redfeb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heart Research Australia</a> is raising awareness for the whole month of February (aka RedFeb). Getting involved is as simple as wearing red and donating. #wearredanddonate</strong></p><p><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-b17a06eb-7fff-dd09-11c8-ce867b3d8400">Written by Joanne Chen. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/heart-blood-pressure/8-sneaky-female-heart-attack-symptoms-women-might-be-ignoring" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></span></em></p><p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Does it really empower women to expect them to make the first move?

<p>Heterosexual dating conventions have long held that men make the first move: first to flirt, first to ask out on a date, first to propose.</p> <p>What if the roles were reversed?</p> <p>That’s what one dating app, Bumble, has tried to do.</p> <p>Bumble brands itself as a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/bumble-app-whitney-wolfe" target="_blank">feminist dating app</a> that’s designed to empower women. According to <a rel="noopener" href="https://bumble.com/" target="_blank">Bumble’s website</a>, the app was developed to “challenge the antiquated rules of dating” by requiring those who identify as women to initiate communication with men they match with.</p> <p>With over 100 million users as of 2020, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/bumble-statistics/" target="_blank">Bumble is one of the most popular dating apps</a> on the market, and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5FmVpQ4iO4" target="_blank">in interviews I conducted with over 100 people about online dating</a> in my <a rel="noopener" href="https://connectingdigitally.com/" target="_blank">“Connecting Digitally” study</a>, more than half reported using Bumble.</p> <p>But my research shows that Bumble, despite purporting to empower women, leaves many female users feeling frustrated and vulnerable. This disconnect can be linked in part to the ways in which many men engage with online dating apps.</p> <p><strong>When a match is meaningless</strong></p> <p>Bumble’s attempts at “<a rel="noopener" href="https://bumble.com/" target="_blank">levelling the playing field and changing the dynamics of dating</a>” and empowering users to “<a rel="noopener" href="https://bumble.com/" target="_blank">connect with confidence</a>” makes sense in theory, but not in practice.</p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://youtu.be/H5FmVpQ4iO4" target="_blank">Women in my study reported</a> a number of counterproductive user practices based on their own swiping experiences and conversations with male Bumble users.</p> <p>A 39-year-old female participant in my study described the frustration of making the first move and not getting any response: “So then all of a sudden you’re a match, but they would never say anything or respond to you … you wouldn’t hear from them. What’s the point? Why even bother?”</p> <p>Rather than evaluating profiles carefully and swiping “yes” on women they’re serious about, men are often <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/670200" target="_blank">likely to swipe right based only on the profile photo</a>.</p> <p>In addition, many men approach online dating as a numbers game and practice what some call “<a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/bumble/status/1139706620416425989?lang=en" target="_blank">power swiping</a>” or “<a rel="noopener" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0265407517706419" target="_blank">shotgun swiping</a>” by saying “yes” to everyone and seeing who shows interest and matches with them. Many of them will only read a women’s profile information after matching.</p> <p>Lastly, because some men are <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3710505/What-Tinder-strategy-Men-likely-casually-swipe-right-women-match-attract-them.html" target="_blank">just swiping for the ego boost</a> of “likes,” they’ll simply delete the match rather than respond to a women’s invitation to chat.</p> <p>Women in my study often pointed out that a match was far from a guarantee of mutual interest. Unfortunately, due to “<a rel="noopener" href="https://lithub.com/swipe-right-for-loneliness-on-the-gamification-of-dating-apps/" target="_blank">the gamification of dating</a>” – the way the apps are designed to be engaging and addictive – mindless swiping is a common phenomena across all dating apps, not just Bumble.</p> <p><strong>Communication and power</strong></p> <p>For decades, language scholars have been researching how people connect – or fail to connect – <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.2307/412243" target="_blank">in conversation</a>.</p> <p>We say that the person speaking “holds the floor,” and they can wield power through choosing the topic, talking for longer periods of time and steering the conversation in certain directions.</p> <p>However, not all power is maintained through holding the floor. Not taking up a speaker’s topic in conversation, either by changing the topic or ignoring the question altogether, is another way to exercise power.</p> <p>In other words, in any conversation, it takes two to tango. <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00312.x" target="_blank">As the authors of a study on email communication and response times put it</a>, “failure to respond or to take the floor creates a breakdown.” On dating apps, not responding to an opening message is akin to ignoring someone who’s asking you a question in a face-to-face conversation.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442142/original/file-20220124-21-1f3lrvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="A video billboard reads 'Woman. Fighter. Wife. Patriot. Feminist. Mother. Hero. Justice.'" /> <em><span class="caption">Bumble, which has made empowering women a key facet of its brand, pays tribute to former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an advertisement.</span> <span class="attribution"><a rel="noopener" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/07.RBG.Bumble.UnionStation.WDC.23September2020_%2850381239022%29.jpg" target="_blank" class="source">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" target="_blank" class="license">CC BY-SA</a></span></em></p> <p>On Bumble, women may be given the control to take the floor first and direct the initial topic of conversation through, as Bumble terms it, “<a rel="noopener" href="https://bumble.com/en/help/how-does-messaging-work-on-bumble#:%7E:text=Users%20who%20have%20First%20Move,First%20Moves%20are%20time%2Dsensitive!" target="_blank">first move privileges</a>.” However, when men fail to respond or unmatch after receiving that opening message, the women in my study reported feeling dismissed, rejected and, ultimately, disempowered.</p> <p>In 2020, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-01-17/for-bumble-the-future-isn-t-female-it-s-female-marketing" target="_blank">Bloomberg published an article</a> exploring Bumble’s marketing tactics and brand messaging. Though the company maintains that requiring women to message first “reduces harassment” and “creates a kinder exchange between two people,” the author of the article noted that Bumble was never able to provide tangible proof of “how Bumble was keeping women safer or leading to more equitable relationships.”</p> <p><strong>Switching poles doesn’t solve the problem</strong></p> <p>On a positive note, Bumble has become a catalyst for conversation about gender, power and communication in online dating. And while <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/love-lust-and-digital-dating-men-on-the-bumble-dating-app-arent-ready-for-the-queen-bee-120796" target="_blank">many may not be ready for women to make the first move</a>, most of the male and female Bumble users in my study <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5FmVpQ4iO" target="_blank">noted that they chose the app</a> precisely because of its philosophy of empowering women. To me, this speaks to the fact that people are ready to embrace Bumble’s goals of “<a rel="noopener" href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/408946-female-driven-dating-app-bumble-publishes-full-page-ad-in-the" target="_blank">shaking up outdated gender norms</a>.”</p> <p>That hasn’t stopped some men and women from decrying Bumble’s unique design as sexist. In fact, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bumblemessagingsettlement.com/" target="_blank">a class action lawsuit filed in 2018 accused Bumble of discriminating</a> against heterosexual male app users because the app only allows women to send messages first. Bumble denied wrongdoing, but agreed to settle in 2021 to avoid further costly litigation.</p> <p>A 37-year-old female participant in my study thought the app’s emphasis on gender was artificial and constrictive: “I don’t like it when people limit things by sex or gender. That doesn’t feel empowering to me. It just feels like they’re trying to [enact] reverse sexism.”</p> <p>By creating a situation where the right to speak and direct conversation is only given to members identifying with one gender, the work of coming up with unique and engaging opening messages falls on that group.</p> <p>Men have traditionally done more of this work. Many of them don’t exactly cherish initiating conversations with countless strangers, <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23538-3_22" target="_blank">a process that’s rife with anxiety and rejection</a>.</p> <p>For heterosexual matches on Bumble, women are now required to do the part. Yet to place the work of initiating conversation solely on one group seems to encourage passivity in the other party, which seems to only hamper healthy communication.<!-- 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 rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/riki-thompson-964482" target="_blank">Riki Thompson</a>, Associate Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Writing Studies, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-washington-699" target="_blank">University of Washington</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/does-it-really-empower-women-to-expect-them-to-make-the-first-move-175032" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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When is it better to restart vs. shut down your computer?

<p><strong>Keep calm and shut down</strong></p> <p><span>There are some who believe there’s nothing that can’t be fixed on your computer by shutting it down and starting over. </span></p> <p><span>That may be a stretch, but truly, the shutdown option has always been seen as a cure-all for technical difficulties. </span></p> <p><span>Is it really that simple, though? And can a restart create the same system magic?</span></p> <p><strong>The case for shutting down</strong></p> <p><span>Anh Trinh is the managing editor at Geek with Laptop, a site that helps readers gain knowledge around all kinds of tech subjects. </span></p> <p><span>She explains that shutting down a computer is a way to power down all processes of the machine. </span></p> <p><span>“It’s very similar to a restart but with the exception that your computer won’t turn back on again until someone powers it up,” she explains. </span></p> <p><span>“This is especially useful if you plan to leave your computer for a while.”</span></p> <p><strong>Shut down isn't what it used to be</strong></p> <p>People with newer computers may experience a different kind of shutdown these days, according to ProPrivacy digital privacy expert Ray Walsh.</p> <p>“Although many people assume that a shutdown is a more comprehensive way to ensure that all processes are killed, the reality is that since Windows 8, this is a fallacy,” he says.</p> <p>“In older versions of Windows, both ‘shut down’ and ‘restart’ did exactly the same thing in terms of shutting down processes. However, since Windows 8, a new feature called Fast Startup has altered this considerably.”</p> <p>How has that changed things, exactly? “Shutting down a Windows computer actually creates a deep hibernation file that the PC later leverages to allow for Fast Startup. A restart, on the other hand, completely kills all processes, clears the RAM, and clears the processor cache,” he explains.</p> <p>“This is why a restart is the preferred method when completing a new install or uninstall and why a computer restarts during Windows Operating System updates.”</p> <p>And just so we’re clear, forcible shutdowns are a different story entirely.</p> <p><strong>What about Macs?</strong></p> <p><span>“A Mac is a Unix environment in which everything is cleared during both ‘shut down’ and ‘restart,’” Walsh explains. </span></p> <p><span>“This makes both ‘shut down’ and ‘restart’ identical in that all processes, cache and memory will be cleared, giving the machine a complete refresh.” </span></p> <p><span>In other words, there’s no real difference between a shut down or a restart for Mac users. This means most of the information that follows applies to PC users only unless otherwise stated.</span></p> <p><strong>Which situations call for a restart vs. a shutdown?</strong></p> <p>“When you’re installing new software or hardware, you’re going to need to restart your computer. This will shut off all processes so that the Kernal can be reestablished with the new software or hardware in consideration,” says Shayne Sherman, CEO of TechLoris.</p> <p>For those who aren’t aware, the Kernal is a part of the operating system that manages memory and CPU time.</p> <p>“This is also what you want to use when you’re having problems with your computer, since this will kill all processes and restart them.”</p> <p>And yes, this is different for Macs, according to Walsh. “Due to the fact that a Mac always clears everything during a reboot, Mac users will always clear their machine when they restart or shut down,” he adds.</p> <p><strong>How often should users be performing a restart?</strong></p> <p><span>“Most IT experts recommend doing a restart at least once every two to three days to permit Windows to clean up open files, get rid of temp files, and update itself,” Walsh says. </span></p> <p><span>“This ensures that deleted files and other assets are removed from a PC’s cache and aren’t left hanging around, potentially causing security or privacy issues.”</span></p> <p><strong>How often should users be performing a system shutdown?</strong></p> <p><span>“Shutting down a computer is a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way to leave a PC unattended,” Walsh explains. </span></p> <p><span>“Leaving a PC in sleep mode results in some power usage by the RAM and from the storage of open files and programs.”</span></p> <p><strong>Which option is better for battery life?</strong></p> <p><span>“A shut down is a deep hibernation that ensures that your computer is not wasting energy,” Walsh says.</span></p> <p><span> “A restart only momentarily turns the machine off to stop all processes, clear the RAM, and clear the processor cache. Thus, a shut down is better for power consumption and better for prolonging the life of the battery.”</span></p> <p><strong>Which option is better for security?</strong></p> <p><span>This is one area where the answer is the same for both PCs and Macs. “Shutting down a Windows PC or Mac is considered better for security because it means that the machine is completely offline for the period of time that it is off,” Walsh says. </span></p> <p><span>“This removes the potential for that machine to be hacked and stops it from communicating with a command and control server if it has already been infected with an exploit.”</span></p> <p><strong>What about cold temperatures?</strong></p> <p>Believe it or not, temperature should be one of your considerations when deciding whether to shut down or restart.</p> <p>“The cold can be extremely damaging to batteries, which is why it is unwise to switch off a battery-operated device when it is extremely cold,” Walsh explains.</p> <p>“It is better to keep a laptop running rather than switch it off in a cold car.”</p> <p>But that’s not the only reason to avoid a shut down in cold temperatures. “In extremely cold temperatures, it can potentially be unwise to turn off a computer abruptly, particularly if you have been performing intensive CPU/GPU tasks that have made the computer heat up considerably,” Walsh says.</p> <p>“This is because going from hot to cold quickly may adversely affect the PC’s microelectronic components due to thermal contraction.”</p> <p>If you have no choice but to shut down, Walsh advises waiting a little while after the intense processes have ended; that will allow the internal components to slowly cool down first.</p> <p>“However, generally speaking, computers like the cold and will perform better in the cold, where they will not heat up as much performing intensive processes,” he adds.</p> <p><strong>How about hot temperatures?</strong></p> <p><span>“The biggest danger for computers is extreme heat,” Walsh says. </span></p> <p><span>“Anytime that a computer is exposed to extremely hot conditions, it is best to power it down and leave it switched off. Even a relatively hot office can potentially be highly damaging to a computer’s components if the computer is overheating. This will substantially reduce the life span of the computer and is much more of a concern than the cold.”</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/science-technology/when-is-it-better-to-restart-vs-shut-down-your-computer?pages=1">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

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Men are just more competitive? Science says it’s not that simple

<p>When trying to understand America’s persistent gender wage gap, researchers have in the past decade suggested that women are less competitive than men, and are therefore passed over for higher-ranking roles.</p> <p>But a new study from the University of Arizona shows it’s probably not that simple; in fact, women are just as likely to enter into a competition as men – but only when there’s the option to share their winnings with the losers.</p> <p>The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111943118" target="_blank">study</a>, published today in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,</em> was led by Mary Rigdon from the University of Arizona’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, in cooperation with Alessandra Cassar, a professor of economics at the University of San Francisco.</p> <p><strong>Gender wage gap persists</strong></p> <p>In 2021, women will earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, says Rigdon. This means women work nearly three months more to receive the same amount of pay as men. When these results are adjusted to cover age, experience, and level of education, women still earn about 98 cents on the male dollar – in other words, an equally qualified woman is paid 2% less than her male counterparts.</p> <p>Economists have considered a few possible explanations for this, Rigdon says. One theory, known as the “human capital explanation”, suggests that there are gender differences in certain skills, leading women to careers that pay less. Another theory – perhaps the most widely considered – is patent discrimination.</p> <p>The researchers decided to test the other prevailing theory – the competitiveness theory – because they reasoned that if women were so reluctant to compete, they would occupy fewer high-ranking positions at the top of major companies, a trend that is not represented in the growing presence of women in leadership roles.</p> <p>“We thought it must be the case that women are as competitive as men, but they just exhibit it differently, so we wanted to try to get at that story and demonstrate that that is the case,” Rigdon says. “Because that’s then a very different story about the gender wage gap.”</p> <p><strong>Testing a troublesome theory</strong></p> <p>Rigdon and Cassar randomly assigned 238 participants – split nearly evenly by gender – to two different groups for the study. Participants in each of the two groups were then assigned to four-person subgroups.</p> <p>For all participants, the first round of the study was the same: each was asked to look at tables of 12 three-digit numbers with two decimal places and find the two numbers that add to 10. Participants were asked to solve as many tables as possible – up to 20 – in two minutes. Each participant was paid $2 for every table they solved in the first round.</p> <p>In round two, participants were asked to do the same task, but the two groups were incentivized differently. In the first group, the two participants in each four-person team who solved the most tables earned $4 per table solved, while their other two team members were given nothing. In the other group, the top two performers of each four-person team also earned $4 per table, but they had the right to decide how much of the prize money to share with one of the lower performing participants.</p> <p>In the third round, all participants were allowed to choose which payment scheme they preferred from the two previous rounds. For half the study participants, this meant a choice between a guaranteed $2 per correct table, or potentially $4 per correct table if they became one of the top two performers in their four-person subgroup. For the other half of the participants, the choice was $2 per correct table, or $4 per correct table for the top-two performers with the option to share the winnings with one of the losing participants.</p> <p>The number of women who chose the competitive option nearly doubled when given the option to share their winnings; about 60% chose to compete under that option, while only about 35% chose to compete in the winner-take-all version of the tournament.</p> <p>About 51% of men in the study chose the winner-take-all option, and 52.5% chose the format that allowed for sharing with the losers.</p> <p>While the sample size is relatively small, the results deserve attention.</p> <p>Rigdon and Cassar have a few theories about why women might be more inclined to compete when the winnings are shared. One suggests that female participants are interested in controlling the way winnings are divvied up; another, popular among evolutionary psychologists, is that female participants may be inclined to smooth over bad feelings in a group setting. Yet the answer may lie less in biology and more in socialisation, perhaps that women are encouraged from a young age to be “nice=”: at this point, the jury’s still out.</p> <p>“We really have to ask what it is about this social incentive that drives women to compete,” Rigdon says. “We think it’s recognising the different costs and benefits that come from your different biological and cultural constraints. But at the end of the day, I think we still have this question.”</p> <p>Rigdon and Cassar are now designing a study to drive to the heart of that question.</p> <p>“If we’re finally going to close the gender pay gap, then we have to understand the sources of it – and also solutions and remedies for it,” Rigdon says.</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><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=171365&amp;title=Men+are+just+more+competitive%3F+Science+says+it%E2%80%99s+not+that+simple" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/behaviour/are-men-more-competitive-than-women/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/amalyah-hart" target="_blank">Amalyah Hart</a>. Amalyah Hart is a science journalist based in Melbourne.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

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Women disadvantaged when it comes to cardiac care

<p><span style="font-size: 14px;">Women with some cardiac conditions receive less evidence-based treatment than their male counterparts, research </span><a style="font-size: 14px;" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/216/3/sex-differences-management-and-outcomes-non-st-elevation-acute-coronary" target="_blank">published</a><span style="font-size: 14px;"> today by the </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">Medical Journal of Australia</em><span style="font-size: 14px;"> has confirmed.</span></p> <div class="copy"> <p>Researchers from the University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital and Concord Repatriation General Hospital analysed registry data for patients diagnosed with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) – which includes myocardial infarction and unstable angina – in 43 Australian hospitals from 23 February 2009 to 16 October 2018.</p> <p>The authors found important differences in baseline characteristics by sex. Concerningly, this included fewer treatment plans offered to women than men.</p> <p>Professor Roxana Mehran, Director of the Center for Interventional Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Trials at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, described these findings to <em>MJA InSight</em>+ as “a huge, huge issue for women”.</p> <p>In an <em>MJA InSight</em>+ exclusive podcast, Mehran said that women’s undertreatment in this area was mostly a result of a lack of data and female participation in clinical trials.</p> <p>“The disparities continue to remain there, despite all of our education,” she said.</p> <p>“We’re seeing that the prevalence of acute myocardial infarction is actually increasing instead of decreasing, especially among women over the age of 45. We are seeing that recurrent myocardial infarction and recurrent events are higher for women compared with men.</p> <p>“We’re seeing increasing myocardial infarction in young women, or admissions for younger women presenting with an acute coronary syndrome, and we know that women present differently, they have different triggers, their lesion and their vessels look very different than men.”</p> <p>In an <em>MJA</em> editorial, Mehran and her co-authors wrote that: “Even in patients with documented coronary artery disease, secondary prevention therapies were less frequently prescribed for women than for men. Further, women were less likely to be referred for cardiac rehabilitation.”</p> <p>The researchers’ findings, wrote Mehran and her co-authors, “add to the body of evidence that differences in treatment constitute a problem that is not adequately managed even in high income countries.</p> <p>“The authors have provided further evidence for sex‐based disparities in the management and treatment of people with NSTE‐ACS. Their findings indicate the importance of the further investigation of sex‐specific pathophysiological mechanisms and the urgent need for evidence‐based sex‐specific strategies and recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of ischaemic heart disease.</p> <p>“Women with NSTE‐ACS are both understudied and undertreated, and the report … is a valuable contribution to increasing global awareness of differences between men and women in the characteristics of heart disease, and to promoting cardiovascular health in women.”</p> <p>A total of 7783 patients were eligible for analysis, including 2422 women (31%).</p> <p>Patients’ outcomes, both in-hospital and at six-month follow-up, were assessed. The researchers also separately assessed these differences in patients with documented coronary artery disease.</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=166238&amp;title=Women+disadvantaged+when+it+comes+to+cardiac+care" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> <!-- End of tracking content syndication --></div> <div id="contributors"> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/women-disadvantaged-when-it-comes-to-cardiac-care/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a></em> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/ian-connellan" target="_blank">Ian Connellan</a>. Ian Connellan is editor-in-chief of the Royal Institution of Australia.</p> </div>

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Coles VS Woolies VS ALDI: Who wins the supermarket price war?

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>The pandemic has meant that people are looking for savings where they can, including their grocery shopping.</p> <p>One of the best places to save some extra cash is the supermarket, and consumer group <em>CHOICE</em> has confirmed whether Coles, Woolworths or ALDI offer the best prices with a survey of 152 products.</p> <p><em>CHOICE</em> found that ALDI was on average 20 per cent cheaper than Coles or Woolworths.</p> <p>“We were surprised that there was such a discrepancy,” says Margaret Rafferty, managing editor of CHOICE.</p> <p>“I think in some products you could save up to 50 per cent more by shopping at Aldi.”</p> <p>15 items were at least 35 per cent cheaper.</p> <p>ALDI was thrilled with the news.</p> <p>“From somebody as credible as CHOICE, it’s a great reassurance to us and our customers that we’ve got the best price,” said Andrian Christie, Aldi’s customer interactions director.</p> <p>ALDI also took out the most categories in <em>CHOICE's</em> home brand comparison last month, taking top spot for best tomato sauce and best tea.</p> <p>However, if you don't have an ALDI nearby, you can still save money at Coles or Woolworths.</p> <p>“There were a few (items) where Coles and Woolies were cheaper. It wasn’t universal,” Rafferty said.</p> <p>For example, sweet treat Clinkers cost $1.74 per 100g at ALDI but only $1.67 at Coles and Woolworths.</p> <p>The best advice to follow is to look at the cost per amount.</p> <p>“Just look at the unit pricing. Compare that and that will tell you if you’re getting the best price,” says Christie.</p> </div> </div> </div>

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Scott Morrison VS Daniel Andrews in aged care debacle around COVID-19

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been accused of messing up the response to Victoria's COVID-19 aged care outbreak after sending in junior nurses to fight the deadly virus.</p> <p>Victorian officials have warned of a "sh*tshow" in the sector after they were forced to break into medical cabinets in a Melbourne nursing home.</p> <p>A blame game has erupted between the Morrison Government and Andrews Government in Victoria over the coronavirus outbreak in the state's nursing homes as 769 aged care residents and workers have become infected with the coronavirus.</p> <p>Daniel Andrews, Victorian Premier, has expressed his frustration at the Morrison government as he noted that aged care was the Morrison Government's responsibility.</p> <p>“I’ve spoken with the Prime Minister. Ministers have been speaking. Officials have been speaking. It was a very long night, but this is a critical challenge,’’ he said.</p> <p>“The Commonwealth has asked for assistance. They’ve asked for certain things and that’s exactly what they will get.”</p> <p>Andrews has said that infection control is so poor in some private nursing homes that he wouldn't let his mother stay there.</p> <p>“I would not let my mum be in some of these places, I just wouldn’t,’’ he said.</p> <p>“I cannot stand here and tell you that I have confidence that staff and management across a number of private sector aged care facilities are able to provide the care that is appropriate to keep their residents safe.”</p> <p>The Prime Minister said that the situation is "very concerning" and has cut short a visit to Queensland to devote himself to the aged care crisis.</p> <p>“We have just over 80 facilities out of just over 430 in Victoria which have been affected. Not all severely, but some of those cases have been far more severe,’’ he said.</p> <p>Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed that the Victorian Public Health Unit instructed all staff at St Basil's to immediately self-isolate.</p> <p>“Seventy-nine of 115 residents have now been transferred,” Mr Hunt said.</p> <p>“Our role is to make sure that those remaining residents are safe, and the advice that I had as of late last night and early this morning is that the conditions are stable. The staffing is led by a very experienced nurse unit manager.”</p> </div> </div> </div>

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