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How do I tell my kids we are currently short on money – without freaking them out?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-sharman-96073">Rachael Sharman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-sunshine-coast-1068">University of the Sunshine Coast</a></em></p> <p>I was a teenager during Australia’s 1990s “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/17/remembering-the-recession-the-1990s-experience-changed-my-view-of-the-world">recession we had to have</a>”, and remember clearly a friend asking his dad for some money to go to the movies.</p> <p>With equal parts frustration and resignation, the dad explained he’d been retrenched and wasn’t certain employment was on the horizon in his near future. So he really didn’t have any spare money for cinema tickets.</p> <p>Rather than being scary or upsetting, as rather clueless teenagers this felt like something of a lightbulb moment.</p> <p>Many kids learn about their parents financial difficulties this way. Something they’ve always been able to have is suddenly denied them. The penny drops.</p> <p>But it’s not easy talking to your kids about the cost-of-living crunch. Many fear worrying their kids or leaving them with a lifelong “scarcity mindset”, where a person is forever cursed with a feeling spending money is always wrong.</p> <p>So how can parents communicate the financial realities to their children? And how might the messaging be different with younger kids versus teens?</p> <h2>For younger kids, keep things calm and simple</h2> <p>Most primary-aged children are oblivious to macro conditions outside their home and immediate community. They haven’t yet developed the ability to put sudden changes into perspective.</p> <p>The key here is not to have your own anxieties rub off on your kids.</p> <p>Children this age look to their parents as beacons of information and will very much <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2794157">mirror</a> any fear or anxiety you express. They may even blow things out of proportion.</p> <p>Keeping things calm and simple is key.</p> <p>Provide a basic explanation that things cost money, and you don’t have as much money as normal right now, so as a family there are certain things you just can’t afford.</p> <p>Very young children can be relentlessly narcissistic in their outlook – this is developmentally normal.</p> <p>They might even demand you work more or harder so they can afford their desired items and activities. The best you can do is laugh it off and offer to try – but explain that for now, the kids will have to come up with something else to do.</p> <p>Consider a plan to substitute their previous activities with free ones. For example, explain they can’t play their usual sport this season, but you are going to head to the local park every week to kick the ball around and have a picnic instead.</p> <h2>Ask teens for their opinions and ideas</h2> <p>Depending on their intrinsic interest in the news and understanding of maths, finance and economics, a sudden and unexpected drop in finances may also come as a shock to teenagers.</p> <p>But at around 12 years of age, children undergo somewhat of an explosion in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/">frontal lobe function</a>. Their capacity to comprehend and process even complex information increases quite markedly.</p> <p>So teens may not only understand your current situation, but be able to help out.</p> <p>Giving teens a “role” to play in assisting the family builds a sense of competence and offers a team-based problem-solving approach to the emotional concerns they may be feeling. In other words, they’ll feel less powerless.</p> <p>This approach is underpinned by what psychologists and researchers call “<a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory/">self-determination theory</a>”.</p> <p>This well-studied concept posits that most humans have an innate need to:</p> <ul> <li> <p>experience and demonstrate autonomy (making your own choices, acting on your own volition)</p> </li> <li> <p>competence (feeling like you’re good at something, have achieved something worthwhile)</p> </li> <li> <p>relatedness (working well with others, especially people important to you).</p> </li> </ul> <p>So working as a team towards a common goal is a great way for a family to pull together and help each others’ mental wellbeing.</p> <p>Discuss with your teens what activities, events and items might need to go on the backburner or be discontinued.</p> <p>And don’t forget, teens have a very well-honed hypocrisy radar – there’s no point suggesting they cut back on recreational activities, for example, if you are not willing to do the same.</p> <p>Use this as an opportunity to discuss the difference between “wants” and “needs” and ask them to sort family spending into those categories. Discuss points of disagreement calmly.</p> <p>Ask your teens to brainstorm ways to improve your financial efficiency – and help you in doing so. They might enjoy coming up with ideas such as grocery shopping with a strict meal plan in cheaper stores, looking for specials, riding or walking to school where possible, getting a part time job or helping out with childcare.</p> <p>Rather than fixating on what we have to go without, work with your teenagers to come up with proactive ideas on what you can do differently. Frame it as working together to achieve the same aim.</p> <p>Teach your kids there can be challenges in life, but how you go about managing them is the key. This will help them develop into resilient adults.<!-- 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/208008/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/rachael-sharman-96073">Rachael Sharman</a>, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-sunshine-coast-1068">University of the Sunshine Coast</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</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/how-do-i-tell-my-kids-we-are-currently-short-on-money-without-freaking-them-out-208008">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

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Short naps can improve memory

<p>Rather than distracting you from the task at hand, naps can improve your memory function, a new sleep study has found.</p> <p>Scientists at the Saarland University in Germany have found that taking a 45 to 60 minute power nap can boost a persons’ memory by up to five-fold.</p> <p>The study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, showed participants 90 words and 120 unrelated word pairs. The group was then split into two: one group took a nap and the other group watched a DVD.</p> <p>When the participants were tested again, the group who had napped were able to remember the words as accurately as they could after they learn them.</p> <p>Professor Axel Mecklinger, who supervised the study, said: “A short nap at the office or in school is enough to significantly improve learning success. Wherever people are in a learning environment, we should think seriously about the positive effects of sleep.”</p> <p>He added: “Even a short sleep lasting 45 to 60 minutes produces a five-fold improvement in information retrieval from memory.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2015/12/positive-thinking-and-mental-health/"><strong>Can positive thinking improve your mental health?</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2015/12/health-benefits-of-turmeric/"><strong>Turmeric boosts mood and mind</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/mind/2015/12/definition-of-happiness-changes-with-age/"><strong>Your definition of happiness changes with age</strong></a></em></span></p>

Mind

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9 medical reasons your short-term memory is getting worse

<p><strong>What is short-term memory?</strong></p> <p>Short-term memory is the type of memory you need to accomplish your immediate goals, explains Dr Patrick Lyden, chair of the department of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. That may be working your way through tasks during the workday, remembering someone’s name, email, or phone number, or recalling where you tossed your keys when you got home.</p> <p><strong>Where is it located in the brain?</strong></p> <p>When someone rattles off their phone number, you file it away in brain circuits that include the hippocampus (your memory centre) and the amygdala (your emotional hub). Depending on how important the short-term memory item may be (your address, someone you call all the time), it can be converted into long-term memory, says Dr Lyden.</p> <p><strong>How does short-term memory work?</strong></p> <p>Short-term memory isn’t just about being able to quickly recall new info; there are three phases. “You have to register the information, store the information, and retrieve the information,” says Dr Lyden. Registering means that you’re paying attention in the first place. Storing the info means you’ve filed it away in your brain. Retrieval is the ability to access the memory again. Any of these steps can break down, he says.</p> <p><strong>Is your memory okay?</strong></p> <p>Many people assume they have a memory problem when the explanation is something else entirely, says Dr Lyden. Maybe you’re not paying attention because you’re gazing at your phone or texting, for example. The first step to figuring out if something is going on is to “pay closer attention,” he says. Repeat the new information three times to commit it to memory.</p> <p><strong>When it may be time to worry</strong></p> <p>If you can’t pass the “pay attention test” despite repeating the information, your next step, advises Dr Lyden, is to determine if your problem is storing new memories or retrieving them. If you’re having a problem remembering a new acquaintance’s name, ask them to give you three choices – like Carrie, Lauren, or Janet. If your problem is storing new memories, you won’t be able to remember. But if your problem is retrieval, you’ll remember that her name is Janet once you hear the correct name.</p> <p>Having trouble with retrieving a short-term memory isn’t as serious as being unable to store them. “The storage problem is a serious problem, and you should see a neurologist,” he says.</p> <p><strong>Inactivity</strong></p> <p>Blood flow is good for your brain – it keeps it young. “Exercising boosts blood flow to your brain. If you stay active, you’ll have a better memory,” says Dr Daniel G. Amen, author of <em>Memory Rescue: Supercharge Your Brain, Reverse Memory Loss, and Remember What Matters Most</em>. Dr Lyden suggests daily exercise and it doesn’t have to be intense. “A one-kilometre run daily is better than a 10-kilometre run one day a week,” he says.</p> <p><strong>Substance abuse</strong></p> <p>According to Dr Amen, marijuana a toxin that impairs memory. “Marijuana lowers every area of the brain and ages it. On average, pot smokers have brains three years older than non-smokers,” he says. Alcohol abuse can also harm your memory.</p> <p><strong>Mental health conditions</strong></p> <p>People tend to miss their own depression. But if you’re suffering from depression, anxiety, or chronic stress, get help or your memory can also pay the price. “These conditions may all hurt the brain,” says Dr Amen. Getting relief will not only improve your life and outlook but save your brain.</p> <p><strong>Lack of sleep</strong></p> <p>When considering short-term memory loss causes, poor sleep is a big one. “If you don’t sleep seven hours a night or more, you’ll be in trouble. Your brain cleans itself at night. When you don’t get enough, it’s like the garbage collectors didn’t come to clean up,” says Dr Amen.</p> <p><strong>Dementia</strong></p> <p>Before you panic, there’s some good news: “The vast majority of people who are healthy will not have a degenerative neurological condition causing short-term memory loss,” says Dr Lyden. But dementia or Alzheimer’s is a possibility in some groups. If you’re over 60 and have risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, or obesity, then you may be more prone to problems and need to be evaluated, he says.</p> <p><strong>Medication</strong></p> <p>If you lead a healthy lifestyle, eat right, exercise, and go easy on alcohol and other substances that can harm memory, yet you still feel like your memory if failing, talk to your doctor about your medications – prescription and over-the-counter, advises Dr Lyden. Cholesterol drugs, painkillers, high blood pressure pills, and sleeping pills are among the drugs that can trigger memory issues.</p> <p><strong>Hypothyroidism</strong></p> <p>When you have an under-active thyroid, everything in your body runs slower. Your digestion will slow and you can become constipated; cell growth slows and can lead to hair loss; your metabolism becomes sluggish, triggering weight gain. And you may be plagued by muddied thinking or forgetfulness. Often, medication to restore thyroid hormones can help alleviate symptoms and help you feel better all over.</p> <p><strong>A poor diet</strong></p> <p>Inflammation is bad for your body and your brain. “The higher the inflammation levels in your body, the worse your memory will be,” says Dr Amen. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet, like the Mediterranean diet, and avoiding foods that increase it (highly processed foods, loads of sugar) is key. He also recommends taking fish oil and probiotics.</p> <p><strong>Lyme disease</strong></p> <p>Lyme disease is transmitted through a tick bite, and causes early symptoms like fever, chills, headache, and fatigue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Later on, without treatment, some people also may notice short-term memory problems. Dr Amen points out this may include trouble with attention, focus, and organisation. Keep in mind that the types of tick that carry the bacteria are not native to Australia and it’s not likely you can catch Lyme disease in Australia.</p> <p><strong>When to seek help</strong></p> <p>Along with the self-test mentioned earlier, think about how you perceive your short-term memory. Ask yourself: Is it getting progressively worse? Is it worse than 10 years ago? Are other people noticing a problem? “Those are things you should take seriously,” says Dr Amen.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/9-medical-reasons-your-short-term-memory-is-getting-worse-2?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

Mind

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Life is too short - it's time to choose a Life List over a Bucket List

<p><em>Author Kate Christie has rejected the idea of creating a Bucket List and instead has had a mental shift that allows her to now fully embrace the joy of creating a Life List. Here’s why…</em></p> <p>A month after I turned 50 my ex-husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Eleven months later he was gone. He was 54. He left behind our three beautiful children to try to come to terms with a chasmal loss that they don’t yet fully appreciate. Life is too short.</p> <p>With the diagnosis of a terminal illness there is no hope. There is just a decline - sometimes slow and sometimes devastatingly quick, where you have to bear witness to the process of death. You are forced to grieve the loss of someone before they have even gone. It is brutal and life changing.</p> <p>The paramount decision I made after my husband’s death was to stop putting ‘life’ off until later on the assumption that I have all the time in the world. I rejected the idea of creating a Bucket List and instead I have fully embraced the joy of creating a Life List.</p> <p><strong>What is a Life List and why choose it over a Bucket List?</strong></p> <p>A Life List is a long list of everything you want to achieve or experience while you are still young enough to fully achieve, experience, and enjoy it. It is the exact opposite of a Bucket List - which is generally defined as a list of the things you would like to experience before you die — that is, before you ‘kick the bucket’. It’s time to embrace a Life List over a Bucket List if:</p> <p>• You are not focused almost exclusively on travel and adventure. What about everything else that’s important to living a many-faceted brilliant life such as learning, being of service to others, and nurturing your relationships?</p> <p>• When it comes to travel, you don’t necessarily want to just experience crazy adventures that might actually hasten you kicking the bucket - such as swimming with sharks dressed in a wetsuit looking like a very edible seal.</p> <p>• You are not simply looking to create a list of obligations — the things you never, ever made time for in your life but which now you need to get through lickety-split and tick them off the list before you die … from exhaustion.</p> <p>• You are not interested in asking: What do I want to do before I die? Instead, you want to ask: What do I want to do while I am still young enough to enjoy it?</p> <p><strong>3 Steps to Creating Your Own Life List</strong></p> <p>1. Pick up a pen. The act of writing your Life List will significantly increase your chances of achieving your goals.</p> <p>2. Include 3 types of goals on your Life List:</p> <p>• <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Go Big Goals</strong></span> - The big, hairy, outrageous goals that take planning, or are new experiences, or will take you outside your comfort zone (for example, last year I walked The Larapinta Trail in Central Australia; and I have been cold water swimming almost every single morning for 2 years…)</p> <p>• <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Go Small Goals</strong></span> - Include a range of smaller, life-affirming, inspiring goals that provide the daily fuel that makes your soul sing. Go Small or short-term goals can be implemented in the near future and generally without extensive planning.</p> <p>• <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Go Now Goals</span></strong> - Seize the day! Engage in acts of spontaneity to keep you on your toes.</p> <p>Because life is too short. It is too short to the point that we need to live it every single day. We need to think deeply about what is most important to us and we need to prioritise those things - today. We need to purposefully plan to invest our time for the greatest possible joy. We need to invest our time in the people we love most. We need to invest our time in creating memories, in being of service to others, in generating happiness and fulfilment and wonder. And we need to start doing this right now. Because later might be too late.</p> <p><strong><em>Kate Christie’s book ‘The Life List: Master Every Moment and Live an Audacious Life’ is available from Booktopia and Amazon</em></strong></p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Mind

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Subway falls a foot short for one customer

<p>A woman has run into some trouble with her Subway sandwich after taking to it with a measuring tape. </p> <p>The irate customer had been suspicious about the supposed dimensions of her “6-inch sub”, and decided the only thing to do was to find out for herself if she was on to something or not. </p> <p>However, the woman didn’t succeed in putting her fears at rest, instead proving them to be right. </p> <p>The sandwich, advertised as being six inches long, measured up to be just over five. </p> <p>In her annoyance, she told the company that they should be doing better - in her words, “to up your game” - if they expected to be charging extra for what customers weren’t actually receiving. </p> <p>“Usually I wouldn't really care,” she noted, and then explained in some of the world’s most relatable terms, “but I was super hungry today.”</p> <p>To add insult to injury, she also revealed how she’d gotten "one less piece of salami and pepperoni” than usual, and noted that this was simply not up to standard, and that she had inside intel to prove it - her sister had been a Subway manager for years. </p> <p>This wasn’t the first time Subway had run into trouble over the size of their sandwiches - a customer in Australia once took their anger straight to court, going so far as to sue the company in 2013. His photo, posted to Facebook, showed that his footlong sandwich was not the promised 12 inches, but instead 11. </p> <p>That case was settled for a staggering $525,000 (approximately $798,042.00 AUD), and in 2015, Subway introduced new in-store regulations towards ensuring their products measured up, as well as additional disclosures for their consumers.</p> <p>At the time, Subway acknowledged that the media buzz surrounding the case had motivated its decision to settle the case, while the judge was firm in his belief that the smaller sandwiches actually contained no less food in terms of weight.</p> <p>“The settlement acknowledges as much when it says that uniformity in bread length is impossible,” he said, “due to the natural variability of the bread-baking process.”</p> <p>To many, however, this was not - and seemingly never will be - good enough. And to others, it’s a tale as old as time that they’d tired of hearing. </p> <p>“It's clearly a ‘SUBWAY 6 INCH’ and meant as a description rather than a measurement of length,” wrote one fed up individual on yet another related story, this time posted to Reddit. </p> <p>“In that case,” mused another, “there should be a new policy wherein every Subway employee should be required to do air quotes when using the term ‘Footlong’.”</p> <p><em>Images: Reddit</em></p>

Food & Wine

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Short shift: Fashion week research on how the ’60s and ’70s rocked Australia’s clothing industry

<div class="copy"> <p>It was the dress that shocked a nation and signalled an industrial revolution.</p> <p>When sixties model Jean Shrimpton attended the 1965 Melbourne Cup dressed in a simple white shift hemmed well above the knee – with no gloves or stockings – the outfit immediately sparked scandal.</p> <p>The moment encapsulates a series of cultural, social, economic and technological shifts underway in Australia which led to the unravelling of the local clothing manufacturing industry.</p> <p>It was this iconic photo, depicting nonchalant Shrimpton on the lawns of Flemington Racecourse, which inspired Pauline Hastings PhD research at Monash University into the history of Australia’s textiles and clothing industry from the 1960s on.</p> <p>Hastings is <a href="https://mfw.melbourne.vic.gov.au/event/miniskirts-the-unravelling-rag-trade/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">presenting her research</a> as part of Melbourne Fashion Week.</p> <p>A lesser-known detail about ‘that dress’: Shrimpton was sponsored to attend Derby Day by industrial chemical and fossil fuel company Du Pont, to promote the company’s new synthetic fabric, Orlon. </p> <p>Cheap, mostly imported synthetic fabrics (made from fossil fuels) were one of several factors contributing to a major shift in Australian clothing manufacturing and consumption, Hastings says.</p> <p>Hastings says, there is a clear thread linking the rise of synthetic fabrics like Orlon, Dacron, Rayon (… anything ending with an ‘on’), which had a throwaway quality to them, and today’s <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/fast-fashion-part-one/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fast fashion addiction</a>. Australia is the second largest consumer of textiles globally, buying on average <a href="https://www.monash.edu/msdi/news-and-events/news/articles/2022/urgent-call-to-reduce-australias-sizeable-fashion-footprint-and-its-impact-on-planetary-and-human-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">56 new items of clothing </a>per person, per year.</p> <p>Post war immigration and the rise of the ‘baby boomers’ led to a greater emphasis on youth culture and individualism. </p> <p>This, together with the rise of advertising and mass marketing helped drive a cultural shift away from the ‘make do and mend’ era where fabrics and clothing were often unpicked and re-sewn into new garments. </p> <p>Hastings says the removal and reduction of tariff protections was another contributing factor to the demise of local manufacturing.</p> <p>Before the post-war era, “everyday clothes weren’t imported. They were manufactured here … made for local consumption,” she says.</p> <p>“Imports on mass were kept out by tariff protection. So, very high tariffs on anything important [which] meant that if they did come in, imports were sort of priced considerably higher in the marketplace than our local product. And our local product was not overly cheap from what I can gather, because it was pretty,  labor intensive and Australian wages at the time were quite high.”</p> <p>Interwoven, these different factors – the commodification of youth culture, the reduction in tariff protections by the Whitlam government, and the rise of new synthetic fabrics – all contributed to the demise of Australia’s local clothing manufacturing industry.</p> <p>Today, 97% of Australia’s clothing is imported.</p> <p>By sharing her research, Hastings says, she hopes we can learn from history.</p> <p>“It’s how culturally we can shift. Because, we did a major shift from the post war era of what I call ‘thrift and making do.’ We did a major shift then to a sort of a ‘purchase everything we can possibly see throwaway society’ when it comes to fashion, in a couple of decades.” </p> <p>She says, history shows, if we really wanted to, we could learn again, to value things, recycle, upcycle and cultivate a culture of sustainability.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em><!-- 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=217818&amp;title=Short+shift%3A+Fashion+week+research+on+how+the+%26%238217%3B60s+and+%26%238217%3B70s+rocked+Australia%26%238217%3Bs+clothing+industry" width="1" height="1" /> <!-- End of tracking content syndication --></em></div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/how-the-60s-rocked-australian-fashion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Petra Stock. </em></p> </div>

Beauty & Style

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Court short over Serena's final flourish

<p dir="ltr">Margaret Court has called out Serena Williams following her retirement after losing against Aussie Alja Tomljanovic.</p> <p dir="ltr">The US tennis champion’s career came to an end after she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 in the third round of the US Open.</p> <p dir="ltr">This means Court will hold onto her grand slam record that Williams has tried besting for a long time.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the win for Court, she didn’t hold back when she called out the US player who she says should have spoken more about her opponent following her loss.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Serena, I’ve admired her as a player, but I don’t think she has ever admired me,” Court told The Telegraph UK.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I thought it was bad that Williams didn’t mention her opponent more when she spoke.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We were taught to be role models for the young, in how we behaved. We were taught to honour our opponent. You learned from your losses. We respected one another.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In her retirement speech, Williams mentioned Court and slammed those who said she doesn’t deserve to be the GOAT (greatest of all time) because of her loss.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles, which she achieved before the ‘open era’ that began in 1968,” Williams said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record. Obviously I do. But day to day, I’m really not thinking about her. If I’m in a grand slam final, then yes, I am thinking about that record. Maybe I thought about it too much, and that didn’t help.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The way I see it, I should have had 30-plus grand slams.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Court went on to single out tennis organisers who she claims completely ignored her at Wimbledon, and the lack of invitations for other big tennis events.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s very sad, because a lot of the press and television today, particularly in tennis, don’t want to mention my name,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s only when they have to, because I still hold so many records. In 2020, I was meant to be coming to Wimbledon for the 50th anniversary of my calendar grand slam.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But then Covid hit, so the honour never happened. The French Open didn’t invite me, the US Open didn’t invite me. Rod Laver had won the slam and I was going to be honoured in the same way, but no.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I didn’t lose any sleep over it. But the honour has not been there for what I did do. In my own nation, I have been given titles, but they would still rather not mention me.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Retirement Life

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Don’t look a GIF horse in the mouth: Short, shareable animations have been delighting humans for centuries

<p>They are a popular feature of social media and text messaging in 2022, but many people are surprised to discover short sharable animations or videos, like GIFs have been around in digital format for 35 years, but in analogue for nearly two centuries.</p> <p>Today many have become internet memes, added for emphasis, and mostly played on continuous loop.</p> <p><strong>GIFs (short for Graphics Interchange Format)</strong></p> <p>Steve Wilhite, a computer scientist working at CompuServe is <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-gif-early-internet-innovation-ubiquitous-relic-180963543/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acknowledged as the creator</a> of the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF in 1987.</p> <p>A GIF is a small image file that can support short animations or videos. GIFs work by stringing together several frames or images into a single file, which plays like a short clip.</p> <p>Compressed they are small file sizes; GIFs are easily shared on email and social media.  </p> <p>While most can share in the delight of a well-chosen GIF, there is a long-running heated disagreement over how to pronounce the acronym, tracked <a href="https://time.com/5791028/how-to-pronounce-gif/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">by Time</a> (this COSMOS journalist had been pronouncing GIF with a hard ‘g’, while Wilhite apparently preferred the softer version, like ‘JIF’). </p> <p>But long before the GIF there were various forms of short sharable animation made in analogue. Here we flick through a few.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-giphy wp-block-embed-giphy"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/giphy1.gif" alt="" width="500" height="337" /></div> </div> </div> </div><figcaption>Ghost GIF / Credit: Matthias Brown</figcaption></figure> <p><strong>Thaumatropes (from the Greek for ‘wonder turner’)</strong></p> <p>Dating back as early as 1827, a thaumatrope is a two-sided disc which creates a simple animation when spun.</p> <p>The device is a disc with different but related pictures on each side and strings attached at opposite ends. When those strings are wound up tightly, and then released, the disc spins creating a simple animation. </p> <p>While the idea was described and popularised by John Ayrton Paris, the inventor of this wonder turner is not known. </p> <p><strong>Phenakistoscopes (from the Greek for ‘deceitful viewer’)</strong></p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p202287-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.62 spai-bg-prepared init" action="/technology/computing/dont-look-a-gif-horse-in-the-mouth/#wpcf7-f6-p202287-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="init"> <p style="display: none !important;"><span class="wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page"><input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" aria-invalid="false" /></span></p> <p><!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></form> </div> </div> <p>In 1832 an analogue form of the modern GIF was made by spinning a circular card on its centre. </p> <p>In that year, two scientists Joseph Plateau from Belgium and Simon von Stampfer from Austria independently created looping animations called phenakistoscopes.</p> <p>The phenakistoscope creates the illusion of moving images by slicing the circle into segments and placing a sequential image at slightly shifting locations within each slice, using vector graphics. Each slice of the circle acts like a frame in an animation. Between each slice is a black radial slit.</p> <p>When the circle is spun on its centre, and its reflection viewed using a mirror, the effect creates the illusion of smoothly moving images like a short, repeating video. </p> <p><strong>Zoetropes (from the Greek for ‘life turn’)</strong></p> <p>Two years later, mathematician William Horner <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2908" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">created the zoetrope</a>, an idea based on the phenakistoscope but able to be viewed by more than one person at a time.</p> <p>A larger cylinder like a drum has slits cut into the sides for viewing. Strips of sequential images spin inside the cylinder so that the viewer sees one after the other.</p> <p>The technology was popularised by American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, Milton Bradley in 1866 who sold zoetropes as a toy with replaceable picture strips.</p> <p>Several animation studios have built three-dimensional versions of the zoetrope using sequentially posed figurines instead of pictures. Visitors to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne can experience a <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/acmis-cuphead-zoetrope-cool/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3D zoetrope</a> of video game character <em>Cuphead</em>. Meanwhile visitors to the <a href="https://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ghibli Museum</a> in Tokyo, can see a zoetrope of skipping and running totoros built using figurines from the Studio Ghibli movie <em>My Neighbour Totoro.</em></p> <p><strong>Find out more about phenakistoscopes and GIFs on the 2022 SCINEMA International Science Film Festival</strong></p> <p>For more on the history and science of the phenakistoscope (and instructions on how to make one) watch the 2022 SCINEMA International Science Film festival entry, <em>Animated GIFS: Celebrating Scientific Genius</em>, by <a href="https://scinema.org.au/register" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">registering</a> to view it for free on the SCINEMA website. </p> <p>Follow the prompts on the email you receive and you’ll find <em>Animated GIFS: Celebrating Scientific Genius</em> in the Animation / Experimental playlist. You can watch all the films until August 31 2022 when the festival ends. </p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-giphy wp-block-embed-giphy"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/giphy-1.gif" alt="" width="480" height="480" /></div> </div> </div> </div><figcaption>GIF based on a phenakistoscope / Credit: Sanni Lahtinen on GIPHY</figcaption></figure> <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=202287&title=Don%26%238217%3Bt+look+a+GIF+horse+in+the+mouth%3A+short%2C+shareable+animations+have+been+delighting+humans+for+centuries" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/computing/dont-look-a-gif-horse-in-the-mouth/" 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/petra-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Petra Stock</a>. Petra Stock has a degree in environmental engineering and a Masters in Journalism from University of Melbourne. She has previously worked as a climate and energy analyst.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

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Spotify’s response to Rogan-gate falls short of its ethical and editorial obligations

<p>Audio streaming giant <a href="https://www.spotify.com/au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a> is getting a crash course in the tension between free speech and the need to protect the public from harmful misinformation.</p><p>The Swedish-founded platform, which has 400 million active users, has faced a hail of criticism over misinformation broadcast on its <a href="https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/joe-rogan-experience-most-popular-podcast-news-roundup-1235123361/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most popular podcast</a>, the Joe Rogan Experience.</p><p>Rogan, a former ultimate fighting commentator and television presenter, has <a href="https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/joe-rogan-anti-vaccine-podcast-spotify-1234961803/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> healthy young people should not get a COVID vaccination. This is contrary to medical advice from governments all over the world, not to mention the <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Health Organization</a>.</p><p>A recent episode of his podcast, featuring virologist Robert Malone, drew <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/14/spotify-joe-rogan-podcast-open-letter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism from public health experts</a> over its various conspiracist claims about COVID vaccination programs.</p><p>There were widespread calls for Spotify to deplatform Rogan and his interviewees. Rock legend Neil Young issued an ultimatum that Spotify could broadcast Rogan or Young, but not both.</p><p>Spotify made its choice: the Joe Rogan Experience is still on the air, while Young’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/28/joe-rogan-neil-young-spotify-streaming-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener">music</a> is gone, along with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-29/joni-mitchell-take-songs-off-spotify-solidarity-with-neil-young/100790200" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joni Mitchell</a> and <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nils-lofgren-spotify-neil-young-1292480/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nils Lofgren</a>, who removed their content in solidarity.</p><p><strong>Spotify’s response</strong></p><p>Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek has since <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2022-01-30/spotifys-platform-rules-and-approach-to-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> to tag controversial COVID-related content with links to a “hub” containing trustworthy information. But he stopped short of pledging to remove misinformation outright.</p><p>In a statement, Ek <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2022-01-30/spotifys-platform-rules-and-approach-to-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>:</p><blockquote><p>We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users. In that role, it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.</p></blockquote><p><strong>Does it go far enough?</strong></p><p>Freedom of expression is important, but so is prevention of harm. When what is being advocated is likely to cause harm or loss of life, a line has been crossed. Spotify has a moral obligation to restrict speech that damages the public interest.</p><p>In response to the controversy, Spotify also publicly shared its <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2022-01-30/spotify-platform-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rules of engagement</a>. They are comprehensive and proactive in helping to make content creators aware of the lines that must not be crossed, while allowing for freedom of expression within these constraints.  </p><p>Has Spotify fulfilled its duty of care to customers? If it applies the rules as stated, provides listeners with links to trustworthy information, and refuses to let controversial yet profitable content creators off the hook, this is certainly a move in the right direction.</p><p><strong>Platform or publisher?</strong></p><p>At the crux of the problem is the question of whether social media providers are <a href="https://socialmediahq.com/if-social-media-companies-are-publishers-and-not-platforms-that-changes-everything/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">platforms or publishers</a>.</p><p>Spotify and other Big Tech players claim they are simply providing a platform for people’s opinions. But <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/scott-morrison-says-social-media-platforms-are-publishers-if-unwilling-to-identify-users/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regulators</a> are beginning to say no, they are in fact publishers of information, and like any publisher must be accountable for their content.</p><figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443600/original/file-20220201-19-1kyj1oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Logos of big tech platforms" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tech platforms like to claim they’re not publishers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pixabay</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/06/01/addressing-big-techs-power-over-speech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have significant power</a> to promote particular views and limit others, thereby influencing millions or even <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/#:%7E:text=How%20many%20users%20does%20Facebook,the%20biggest%20social%20network%20worldwide." target="_blank" rel="noopener">billions</a> of users.</p><p>In the United States, these platforms have immunity from civil and criminal liability under a <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1996 federal law</a> that shields them from liability as sites that host user-generated content. Being US corporations, their actions are primarily based on US legislation.</p><p>It is an ingenious business model that allows Facebook, for example, to turn a steady stream of free user-posted content into <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/277963/facebooks-quarterly-global-revenue-by-segment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US$28 billion in quarterly advertising revenue</a>.</p><p>Established newspapers and magazines also sell advertising, but they pay journalists to write content and are legally liable for what they publish. It’s little wonder they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/24/newspapers-journalists-coronavirus-press-democracy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struggling</a> to survive, and little wonder the tech platforms are keen to avoid similar responsibilities.</p><p>But the fact is that social media companies do make editorial decisions about what appears on their platforms. So it is not morally defensible to hide behind the legal protections afforded to them as platforms, when they operate as publishers and reap considerable profits by doing so.</p><p><strong>How best to combat misinformation?</strong></p><p>Misinformation in the form of fake news, intentional disinformation and misinformed opinion has become a crucial issue for democratic systems around the world. How to combat this influence without compromising democratic values and free speech?</p><p>One way is to cultivate “news literacy” – an ability to discern misinformation. This can be done by making a practice of sampling news from across the political spectrum, then averaging out the message to the moderate middle. Most of us confine ourselves to the echo chamber of our preferred source, avoiding contrary opinions as we go.</p><p>If you are not sampling at least three reputable sources, you’re not getting the full picture. Here are the <a href="https://libguides.ucmerced.edu/news/reputable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">characteristics</a> of a reputable news source.</p><p>Social media, meanwhile, should invest in artificial intelligence (AI) tools to sift the deluge of real-time content and flag potential fake news. Some progress in this area has been made, but there is room for improvement.</p><p>The tide is turning for the big social media companies. Governments around the world are formulating laws that will oblige them to be more responsible for the content they publish. They won’t have long to wait.<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/176022/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-tuffley-13731" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Tuffley</a>, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics &amp; CyberSecurity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Griffith University</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/spotifys-response-to-rogan-gate-falls-short-of-its-ethical-and-editorial-obligations-176022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p><p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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A short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty

<p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people.</em></p> <p>Often people think about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as something historic, dating back to the 1970s. But it should also be thought of as a site of the longest protest for Indigenous land rights, sovereignty and self-determination <a href="https://www.echo.net.au/2021/10/50-years-of-aboriginal-tent-embassy/">in the world</a>.</p> <p>In fact, this year, the Tent Embassy is set to celebrate its <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/blackfishing-alt-right-pushes-to-co-opt-aboriginal-tent-embassy-to-cause-20220105-p59lzj.html">50th continuous year of occupation</a>. Demonstrating its significance to Australian history, it was included on the <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6068943/the-aboriginal-tent-embassy-has-been-left-off-the-act-heritage-list/">Commonwealth Heritage List</a> in 2015 as part of the Old Parliament House precinct.</p> <p>In this momentous year, it’s worth remembering how the Tent Embassy came to be and what it has continued to stand for since its erection in 1972 – and the significance it still has today.</p> <h2>Aliens in our own land</h2> <p>The Tent Embassy began its public life on January 26 1972. On that day, Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorey left Redfern and drove to Ngunnawal Country (Canberra), where they planted a beach umbrella opposite Parliament House (now known as Old Parliament House).</p> <p>They erected a sign that said “Aboriginal Embassy”. With them on that day was their driver, Tribune photographer Noel Hazard, who captured the event in a series of photos.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption">The establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Australia Day in 1972.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Museum Australia</span></span></p> <p>The term “embassy” was used to bring attention to the fact Aboriginal people had never ceded sovereignty nor engaged in any treaty process with the Crown. As a collective, Aboriginal people were the only cultural group not represented with an embassy.</p> <p>According to Aboriginal activist and scholar Gary Foley, the absence of an Aboriginal embassy in Canberra was a blatant indication <a href="https://www.naa.gov.au/learn/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/first-australians/politics-and-advocacy/activists-aboriginal-tent-embassy-lawns-old-parliament-house">Aboriginal people were treated like aliens in their own land</a>.</p> <p>Initially, the protesters were making a stand about land rights following the then prime minister William McMahon’s speech that <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/welcome/mls-indigenous/home/mls-classroom-photo-mural-initiative/classroom-photos/tent-embassy">dismissed any hope for Aboriginal land rights</a> and reasserted the government’s position on the policy of <a href="https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/a-white-australia/">assimilation</a>. The Tent Embassy was therefore a public display of our disapproval of and objection to the policies and practices of the government.</p> <p>In later years, it has become an acclaimed site of our continued resistance to the continuity of colonial rule.</p> <h2>Demands of protesters</h2> <p>Police who were patrolling the area at the time of the Tent Embassy’s erection asked the protesters what they were doing outside Parliament House. They said they were protesting and would do so until the government granted land rights to Aboriginal people. The police were said to have responded, “<a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72441/pdf/article0712.pdf">That could be forever</a>”.</p> <p>As it turned out, it was not illegal to camp on the lawns of Parliament House, so the police could not remove them.</p> <p>Later, on February 6 1972, the members of the Tent Embassy issued their list of demands to the government. The demands were clearly about our rights as Aboriginal people to our homelands, regardless of the fact cities were now built on the land or mining companies were interested in the bounties within.</p> <p>Compensation was called for in the instances where the lands was not able to be returned. There were also demands for the protection of our sacred sites.</p> <p>While the McMahon government cared little about negotiating with the protesters, the leader of the Opposition, Gough Whitlam, visited the Tent Embassy and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/21/gough-whitlam-remembered-a-true-leader-for-indigenous-australians">publicly proclaimed a promise of Aboriginal land rights</a> under a future Labor government.</p> <p>There was widespread support for the Tent Embassy from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allies across the continent, and indeed the world.</p> <p>Media attention also grew as it became obvious the Tent Embassy and protesters were not going to move on. Other Aboriginal activists joined the embassy, including Foley, Isabel Coe, John Newfong, Chicka Dixon, Gordon Briscoe and many others.</p> <h2>Forced removal and revival</h2> <p>The government was not too keen on being reminded Aboriginal people were demanding rights, so it <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/welcome/mls-indigenous/home/mls-classroom-photo-mural-initiative/classroom-photos/tent-embassy">amended</a> the Trespass on Commonwealth Lands Ordinance to make it illegal to camp on the lawn of Parliament House. This gave the police the authority to remove the protesters.</p> <p>The ordinance was but a few hours old when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7j3Rq2Tryo">police attempted to forcibly remove the embassy</a>. They did so to the roar of the crowd chanting “land rights now”. A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOIvHE0tJAk">violent confrontation with police</a> ensued.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOIvHE0tJAk?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>On September 12 1972, the ACT Supreme Court ruled against the use of the trespass laws, and the Tent Embassy was temporarily re-erected before being removed again the following morning.</p> <p>Then, at the end of 1972, the Coalition government led by McMahon lost the federal election to Labor. Whitlam was able to keep his promise in part – he did give the land title deeds to the Gurindji people. This was captured in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-01/mervyn-bishop-australias-first-aboriginal-press-photographer/8655130">historical photo</a> by Merv Bishop of Whitlam pouring a fistful of dirt into Vincent Lingiari’s hand.</p> <p> </p> <p>While this iconic image has become a demonstration of what might be possible, the work of the embassy is not yet done. Land rights across the continent have yet to be fully achieved.</p> <p>The Tent Embassy was re-established the following year and remained until activist <a href="https://commonslibrary.org/the-aboriginal-tent-embassy/">Charles Perkins negotiated its removal</a> pending the enactment of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976.</p> <p>In the ensuing years, it occupied several other sites around Canberra, including the site of the current Parliament House. In 1992, it returned to its original site on the lawn of Old Parliament House to mark the 20th anniversary of the original protest.</p> <p>Eleven years later, much of the Tent Embassy was destroyed by fire in a <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/end-aboriginal-tent-embassy">suspected case of arson</a>. The police once again attempted to remove protesters from the site under <a href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/tent-embassy-under-further-attack">orders from federal government’s National Capital Authority</a>.</p> <p> </p> <h2>An enduring symbol of protest</h2> <p>Today, the Tent Embassy remains on the lawns of Old Parliament House as a reminder of the successive failures of subsequent governments to address the demands for justice represented by the embassy and its people.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Aboriginal-Tent-Embassy-Sovereignty-Black-Power-Land-Rights-and-the/Foley-Schaap/p/book/9780415839518?gclid=CjwKCAiAz--OBhBIEiwAG1rIOuFlzGCUJvLxLafzUlJZ_D1uyMj0Tz9J_YFIEwcLS0kMzAffvRc_7hoCxwUQAvD_BwE">Foley reflects</a> in his history of the embassy:</p> <blockquote> <p>That it has endured for [five] decades as a potent symbol rejecting the hypocrisy, deceit and duplicity by successive Australian governments is a testament to the refusal of large numbers of Aboriginal people to concede defeat in a 200-year struggle for justice.</p> </blockquote> <p>Nowhere else in the world have we seen such longevity around a site of protest. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is an impressive achievement that demonstrates the tenacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and our continued fight for the reclamation of our lands and sovereign rights as First Nations peoples.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174693/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bronwyn-carlson-136214">Bronwyn Carlson</a>, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lynda-june-coe-1305919">Lynda-June Coe</a>, PhD Candidate, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-short-history-of-the-aboriginal-tent-embassy-an-indelible-reminder-of-unceded-sovereignty-174693">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Wikimedia Commons</em></p>

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Keep an eye out for these 5 films from the Byron Bay International Film Fest

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbff.com.au/blog/bbff-returns-in-2021-with-a-special-edition-programme-of-inspiring-and-uplifting-films" target="_blank">Byron Bay International Film Festival</a> has ended for this year, that doesn’t mean you missed out on its offerings.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The nature of the Aussie film festival means that some films are already out, like <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/movies/how-to-watch-these-5-short-films-from-the-byron-bay-international-film-fest" target="_blank">these five</a>, while others are screened ahead of their airing to the general public.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With that in mind, here are five short films in this year’s programme that you’ll want to keep an eye out for.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Inner Portraits</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846493/film-fest7.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9a774b879fcb43b387b9f36e4c4c7414" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Photographic artist RJ Poole has made a rare appearance in front of the camera in </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inner Portraits</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The short documentary sees the Lismore photographer become the subject, relating his experiences as a soldier in Australia’s SAS regiment during his youth, interspersed with some of his proudest work.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Having made its appearances at the Melbourne Documentary and St Kilda film festivals, the public release date for </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Inner Portraits</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is yet to be announced.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Perfect Storm</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846492/film-fest5.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/bdcaf3e26bb34370a115bc896af9df84" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Set on the wild coast of Auckland, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perfect Storm</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> follows one man’s enforced isolation from his loved ones during the pandemic. With a cast of just two, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perfect Storm</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shows how coming home to oneself and the environment can be a silver lining amid loneliness.</span></p> <p><em><strong>CWA: Judgement Day</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846495/film-fest11.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c5d0bf976ef34c1f820e2d901c544d22" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Byron Bay International Film Festival</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Step inside the Country Women’s Association, an Australian icon and backbone of rural living, through </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">CWA: Judgement Day</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Set in a nondescript Canberra building, it follows a group of women gathering for a secret initiation into the world of judging for the CWA.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With its world premiere at the Byron Bay film festival, this is one film to be on the lookout for.</span></p> <p><em><strong>The Handyman</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846491/film-fest3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/1c8c0bef92754c67b8d253ce9b322559" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An Australian drama, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Handyman </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">starts with Evelyn (Alison Whyte, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Dressmaker</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">) about to end her life, until she is interrupted by an awkward handyman (Nathaniel Dean, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alien: Covenant</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">). His need for work collides with Evelyn’s desire to make him leave, and she discovers that he has problems of his own to contend with.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Handyman</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been making appearances at film festivals around the world since its premiere in Cairo last year, with its public release date still to be confirmed.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Dandelion</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846494/film-fest10.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c9a2c329480442c5964d42fd16504ef9" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><em><strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dandelion</span></strong></em><strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"> takes on the tough subject of loving someone and supporting them on their mental health journey with quirks and comedy, all while replacing the strong female character trope with a more nuanced, vulnerable protagonist.</span></strong></p>

Movies

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How to watch these 5 short films from the Byron Bay International Film Fest

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The yearly <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbff.com.au/blog/bbff-returns-in-2021-with-a-special-edition-programme-of-inspiring-and-uplifting-films" target="_blank">Byron Bay International Film Festival</a> has returned for 2021, featuring a combination of feature-length and short films from Australia and around the world.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With this year’s theme being ‘Shining Light in Darkness’, the festival lineup includes films that reflect life in isolation, processing loss, and finding happiness in unexpected places.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The films will be screened at the Palace Byron Bay cinema and the Lennox Head Cultural Centre between December 17 and 21.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luckily, those who can’t make the festival can still catch these five films.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Mourning Country</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846411/film-fest1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b9ad562690f9491289aba18ea0c0e302" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">‘Mourning Country’ shares the personal experience of Budawang Elder Noel Butler. Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Opening with shots of burnt landscape and charred remains as Budawang Elder Noel Butler calls for animals no longer there, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mourning Country</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> explores the grief felt for the country’s unique wildlife to bushfires.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The six-minute film follows Butler as he walks through the ashes of his property - destroyed in the 2019 Currowan fire - where his home and the Aboriginal Cultural Centre once stood. Capturing his mourning for the flora and fauna that once lived there and the life that begins to flourish, the film speaks to the “destructive loss” of life that comes from improper management of the land.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mourning Country</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is available to watch </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ryanandrewlee.com/cinematography/mourning-country" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, on cinematographer Ryan Andrew Lee’s website.</span></p> <p><em><strong>The Kicked Dog</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846412/film-fest2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/39189f2a6983404c8d9d704c478c4b79" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alan Ford (pictured) stars alongisde Clive Russell in the black comedy 'The Kicked Dog'. Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A black comedy from writer and director Max Hemmings, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Kicked Dog</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> stars Alan Ford and Clive Russell (</span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Game of Thrones</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">) as Alan and Terry, two feuding brothers attempting to reconcile over a low-rent heist. As aged East End gangsters from a bygone era, they have limited time to mend their relationship before Terry’s dementia sets in.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Kicked Dog</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is due to be released online in July, 2022.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Mirador</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846415/film-fest9.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/705d33c849ac4e76889a8b6cacab4210" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Performance artist Angela Goh pushes film equipment through the Phoenix Central Building in a scene from Mirador. Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An experimental look at performance art, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mirador</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> follows performance artist Angela Goh as she navigates the winding interior of the Phoenix Central Building, a private performance space in Sydney.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The film plays with perspective and distortion as Goh takes us through dark corridors, down stairwells, and along thin beams, showing how buildings can contain mysteries. Watch the film </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://versusversus.com.au/work/mirador/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Our Country</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846414/film-fest8.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/82ff7d376b60479091d640c6e2890239" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">'Our Country' is filmed on Dunghutti Country and features members of the community sharing their stories. Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though only five minutes long, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our Country </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">explores the connection between people, country and culture for members of the different generations of the South West Rocks community of Dunghutti Country, on the NSW Mid North Coast.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keen to check it out? Head </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://robertsherwoodfilms.com.au/portfolio/our-country-short-film" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to watch it.</span></p> <p><em><strong>Lotus</strong></em></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height:0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846413/film-fest6.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/52bb2b5714cd4ec78762a0aa4ac4d19e" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Angelika Furstler recreates her near death experience in 'Lotus'. Image: Supplied</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Filmed almost completely underwater in the Mayan Cenotes, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lotus</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is inspired by filmmaker Angelika Furstler’s own near-death experience in Mexico while facing her biggest fear. It is a film that explores how one can grow from pain, anxiety and fear to find coherence, harmony and flow.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Lotus</em> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">is showing in international film festivals, the film’s </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.angelikafurstler.com/lotus-shortfilm" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> says it isn’t publicly available as of yet. It is expected to be launched online, and keen viewers can sign up to be notified when it is released.</span></p>

Movies

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Waleed Aly's heated COVID-19 debate cut short

<p><span><em>The Project</em> got very heated during a debate on COVID-19 in Tuesday night’s episode.</span><br /><br /><span>Producers cut off Waleed Aly while he was in the middle of a discussion with co-host Rachel Corbett about the vaccine.</span><br /><br /><span>Aly and Corbett got into a discussion about how far the “no jab no play” idea would go, as there is a large percentage of Australians not willing to get the vaccine.</span><br /><br /><span>“This is such a good idea for travel,” Corbett said.</span><br /><br /><span>“I don’t mind if it becomes something for everyday life. If you have to have the little tick in your passport to go to work.</span><br /><br /><span>“If you can’t have it, then you can still go into work because we don’t need to be 100% vaccinated but we need to be decent percentage.</span><br /><br /><span>“Some people might not be able to get the vaccination. The idea we can’t go into work if we haven’t got vaccinated, we’re in a pandemic.”</span><br /><br /><span>Aly disagreed, saying: “Hang on. I don’t want employers to have that much power over your decision,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span>“I feel like it’s sensible and let’s get the jab and get into work,” Corbett responded.</span><br /><br /><span>Aly didn’t back down though, saying: “There’s a difference between saying it’s sensible and encourage people to take a vaccine and a measure that could have all kinds of consequences down the track.”</span><br /><br /><span>“What about the consequences to another outbreak happening or a business closing down and all those kind of things?” Corbett countered.</span><br /><br /><span>“To me the consequences of an employer being able to dictate your health decisions is profound,” Aly responded.</span><br /><br /><span>“Imagine if they made rules like that about things you didn’t agree with, it would be frightening.”</span><br /><br /><span>Corbett fires back: “In this situation your business could shut down and that’s been a huge problem. If that could keep your business open, that’s reasonable?”</span><br /><br /><span>Aly got halfway through his reply but admitted producers told him to be quiet.</span><br /><br /><span>“I think that’s a fair point. I’m being told I have to shut up now,” he concluded.</span><br /><br /><span>Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has officially kicked off after a second delivery of Pfizer vaccines arrived in the country on Tuesday.</span><br /><br /><span>Health Minister Greg Hunt said residents across 240 aged care homes will be vaccinated by the end of this week after the rollout began on Sunday.</span><br /><br /><span>“My advice is that we are on track and on schedule and in fact we may be able to beat that,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span>“The consistency of supply has been strong and heartening.”</span></p>

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The blunt comment from Dan Andrews' wife that made him cut his holiday short

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> <p>Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has revealed that he returned to work two weeks earlier than planned after a cheeky comment from his wife.</p> <p>He had been taking a holiday over the Christmas and New Year's period but revealed his wife was the reason for his early return.</p> <p>“To be honest, Cath said to me last night ‘you’re on the phone, 20 hours a day, you should just go back’,” he told reporters when asked about his unplanned return on Thursday.</p> <p>This is due to Andrews monitoring the recent coronavirus spike in Victoria from home.</p> <p>“I’ve been at home. About 25 minutes from here,” he said.</p> <p>“So yes, I did not plan on being here with you today, but I am almost sure I think I was due to come back on about the 20th.</p> <p>“It’s not about me, I’m not, I’m not seeking your collective sympathy. Their job is a job to be done … I’ve been following things very closely and very actively and this is the right thing to do.”</p> <p>The premier came under fire for taking leave as Victoria recorded its first cases of community transmission in 61 days.</p> <p>"Why is Dan Andrews on holidays? I'm sure we all remember the outrage last year when Scott Morrison went on leave," one man tweeted.</p> <p>Another added: "Where is the faithful leader Dictator now? Martin Foley, said Victoria is in a crisis right now, panicking, scared, all the leftards wanted to smash Scott Morrison for being on his pre-arranged holiday. Where is the Dictator?"</p> </div> </div> </div>

Travel Trouble

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4 ways Australia’s coronavirus response was a triumph and 4 ways it fell short

<p>Australia’s response to the coronavirus outbreak so far has been among the most successful in the world. From a peak of <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers#at-a-glance">more than 400 cases a day, the rate has fallen to fewer than 20 new cases a day</a>.</p> <p>Australia has avoided the worst of the pandemic, at least for now. Comparable (albeit larger and more densely populated) countries, such as the United Kingdom and United States, are mourning many thousands of lives lost and are still struggling to bring the pandemic under control.</p> <p>The reasons for Australia’s success story are complex, and success may yet be temporary, but four factors have been important.</p> <p><strong>Success 1: listening to experts</strong></p> <p>The formation of a <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-update">National Cabinet</a>, comprising the prime minister and the leaders of each state and territory government, was a key part of Australia’s successful policy response to COVID-19.</p> <p>States and territories have primary responsibility for public hospitals, public health and emergency management, including the imposition of lockdowns and spatial distancing restrictions. The Commonwealth has primary responsibility for income and business support programs. Coordination of these responsibilities was crucial.</p> <p>The National Cabinet was <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/advice-coronavirus">created</a> quite late – in mid-March 2020 when cases were beginning to increase exponentially – but has proved an effective mechanism to resolve most differences as Australia’s dramatic and far-reaching measures were put in place.</p> <p>Within a week of the National Cabinet being formed, Australia began to place restrictions on social gatherings. On <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-22/coronavirus-nsw-victoria-act-shutdown-non-essential-services/12079124">March 22</a>, ahead of a National Cabinet meeting that evening, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory announced they were proceeding in the next 48 hours to shut down non-essential services. This helped push all other governments into widespread business shutdowns announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that night, to take effect the following day.</p> <p>National cooperation was further enhanced by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (<a href="https://www.health.gov.au/committees-and-groups/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc">AHPPC</a>), comprising Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy and his state and territory counterparts. From the start of the crisis, this forum helped underpin Australia’s policy decisions with public health expertise, particularly with regard to spatial distancing measures. Murphy has frequently flanked Morrison at national press briefings.</p> <p><strong>Success 2: international border closures and quarantine</strong></p> <p>Australia’s <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-0">decision to close its borders</a> to all foreigners on March 20, to “align international travel restrictions to the risks” was a turning point. The overwhelming number of new cases during the peak of the crisis were directly linked to overseas travel, and overseas sources account for nearly <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/australian-covid-19-cases-by-source-of-infection">two-thirds of Australia’s total infections</a>.</p> <p>A week after closing the borders, Australia instituted mandatory two-week quarantine for all international arrivals. Together, these measures gave Australia <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31016-3">much more control over the spread of the virus</a>.</p> <p><strong>Success 3: public acceptance of spatial distancing</strong></p> <p>Australia’s rapid adoption of spatial distancing measures reduced the risk of community transmission.</p> <p>Perhaps galvanised by images of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30074-8">Italy’s health system on the brink of collapse</a>, Australians quickly complied with shutdown laws. In fact, many people had already <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-kept-our-distance-before-the-covid-decrees-phone-data-reveals-australians-goodwill-20200430-p54oho.html">begun reducing their activity</a> before the restrictions were imposed.</p> <p>Australians’ compliance is demonstrated by the low number of community transmissions, despite having less strict lockdown laws than some other countries such as France and New Zealand.</p> <p><strong>Success 4: telehealth</strong></p> <p>One of the federal government’s early moves was to radically expand Australians’ access to telehealth. This allows patients to consult health professionals via videoconference or telephone, rather than in person.</p> <p>Australians have <a href="https://www.greghunt.com.au/australians-embrace-telehealth-to-save-lives-during-covid-19/">enthusiastically embraced telehealth</a>, with more than 4.3 million medical and health services delivered to three million patients in the first five weeks. A <a href="https://www.racgp.org.au/gp-news/media-releases/2020-media-releases/may-2020/racgp-survey-reveals-strong-take-up-of-telehealth">survey of more than 1,000 GPs</a> found 99% of GP practices now offer telehealth services, alongside 97% offering face-to-face consultations.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Australia has also had failings, and it might have been in an even better position today if it had acted more decisively. Although it eventually “went hard”, the federal government spent the early weeks of the crisis mired in uncertainty.</p> <p><strong>Failure 1: the Ruby Princess</strong></p> <p>About 2,700 passengers from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/10/anatomy-of-a-cruise-how-the-ruby-princess-came-to-dock-and-disembark-with-coronavirus">Ruby Princess cruise ship</a> were allowed to disembark freely in Sydney on March 19, despite some showing COVID-19 symptoms. The ship has become Australia’s largest single source of infection. About <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-23/coronavirus-across-australia-if-ruby-princess-never-docked/12172314">700 cases (10% of Australia’s total)</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-13/australia-coronavirus-death-toll-rises-ruby-princess-fatality/12239626">22 deaths</a> (about 20% of Australia’s deaths) are linked to the ship.</p> <p><strong>Failure 2: too slow to close borders</strong></p> <p>While Australia was comparatively quick to ban foreign nationals coming from China, it was slow to introduce further travel restrictions as the virus began to spread throughout the rest of the world.</p> <p>It took more than six weeks after Australia’s first confirmed case for the federal government to introduce universal travel restrictions. Before this, restrictions were targeted at specific countries, such as Iran, South Korea and, belatedly, Italy – despite other countries such as the US posing similar or even greater risks.</p> <p><strong>Failure 3: too slow to prepare the health system</strong></p> <p>Australia was too slow to ready its health system for the prospect of the virus spreading rapidly. When cases began to rise exponentially, Australia was ill-prepared for a pandemic-scale response.</p> <p>This was particularly evident in the testing regime. At first, some people with symptoms went to community GP clinics and hospitals, without calling ahead, putting others at risk. On March 11 the federal government <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/24-billion-health-plan-fight-covid-19">announced</a> 100 testing clinics would be established, but this was <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/opening-of-100th-covid-19-gp-led-respiratory-clinic">only completed two months later</a>, once the peak of the crisis had passed.</p> <p>The result was that as cases began to increase in mid-March 2020, Australia suffered <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/chief-medical-officer-update-on-coronavirus-testin">supply shortages for testing</a>.</p> <p>Australia also struggled to meet the rising demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). Australia’s <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommsen%2F75585d2b-2ea4-429c-bc62-d82fe6ee120d%2F0000%22">stockpile of 12 million P2/N85 masks and 9 million surgical masks</a> was not sufficient, and neither had it stockpiled enough <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-gowns-visors-gloves-national-medical-stockpile-to-be-reviewed-20200424-p54mxk.html">gowns, visors and goggles</a> to cope with the crisis. GPs complained of inadequate supplies hampering their work.</p> <p>Eventually, on <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-update">March 26</a>, elective surgeries were curtailed so PPE could be diverted to the pandemic frontline.</p> <p><strong>Failure 4: shifting strategies and mixed messages</strong></p> <p>The lack of a clear, overarching crisis strategy has resulted in a reactive policy approach, featuring confusing messages.</p> <p>At first there was confusion about exactly which businesses or events (such as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/09/no-chance-of-australian-grand-prix-going-behind-closed-doors-organisers">on-again</a> then <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-13/australian-formula-1-grand-prix-cancelled-over-coronavirus/12052142">off-again</a> Melbourne Grand Prix) should be shut down. There were also inconsistencies between the Commonwealth’s position and the states’. For example, most states closed or partially closed their public schools around Easter and began reopening them when cases went down more than a month later. Despite concerns raised by some state governments, Prime Minister Morrison repeatedly insisted there was no risk in sending children to school. Childcare centres remained officially open throughout.</p> <p>The mixed messages have been particularly pronounced on Australia’s approach to the virus itself. The federal government initially talked about “slowing the spread”, but some states argued for a “stop the spread” strategy. This tension increased confusion about how far Australia’s lockdown restrictions should go. <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/why-australia-s-corona-wars-have-only-just-begun-20200430-p54oo1">Debate raged</a> between people who argued that “herd immunity” was Australia’s only realistic option, and those who pushed for “elimination” of COVID-19 in Australia.</p> <p>Confusion reigned for too long. Even an <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-160420">April 16 statement</a> from Morrison, designed to clarify the long-term strategy, conflated two different strategies by declaring Australia was continuing to “progress a successful suppression/elimination strategy for the virus”.</p> <p>In the end, the case count provided its own answer. Several states began to record multiple days and weeks with no new cases, showing that elimination may indeed be possible.</p> <p>As restrictions unwind, a new norm will set in. The risk of COVID-19 emerging again means Australians’ way of life will have to fundamentally change. Significant risks remain, particularly for states that ease restrictions too fast. Continual monitoring will be required to prevent further outbreaks or a second wave.</p> <p><em>Written by Stephen Duckett and Anika Stobart. </em><em>Republished with permission of </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-australias-coronavirus-response-was-a-triumph-and-4-ways-it-fell-short-139845"><em>The Conversation.</em></a></p>

Retirement Life

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Outrage at sneaky packaging symbol that short-changes customers

<p>A Woolworths customer’s complaint over the amount of beef mince in a packet has brought public attention to a little known code that is commonly found on supermarket products.</p> <p>The supermarket says that it’s not to blame for the error, despite knowledge of the code being a revelation for many.</p> <p>Queensland mum Mandy Smith purchased a 500g package of beef mince from her local Woolworths store recently and paid $7.50 for the packet.</p> <p>When Mandy weighed the meat on her scale at home, she discovered that the mince weighed just 262g and took to Facebook to voice her outrage.</p> <p>“Seriously Woolworths … I have been buying this mince like this for a while, and not cheap due to trying to cut out fat. I weighed it today and there is less than 300 grams in a supposed 500g pack!” she wrote.</p> <p>“I paid $7.50 for 500 grams and got this! And yes my scales are fine I use them daily by (the) way. How many people are you ripping off (by) including the packaging weight?”</p> <p>It has since been pointed out that supermarkets put a letter “e” next to the weight on products, which surprisingly stands for estimate.</p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7834589/woolwoths-mince.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/988554b3e82944c4b847d7dabb7e3c9d" /></p> <p>It’s called the “average quantity system”, and according to the National Measurement Institute (NMI), IT’S “an internationally agreed method of determining the size or quality of prepacked articles with ‘consistent normal content’”.</p> <p>“This means it provides confirmation of the measurement or quantity of goods in the package, being sold by measure,” the NMI website reads.</p> <p>“AQS provides a 97.5 per cent assurance that goods are the correct quantity within the prescribed tolerances.”</p> <p>A Woolworths spokesman told<span> </span><em>news.com.au</em><span> </span>that the company took Mandy’s claim seriously.</p> <p>A Woolworths spokesman told news.com.au the company took Ms Smith’s claim seriously.</p> <p>“We want our customers to shop with the confidence they’re getting what they’re paying for,” the spokesman said.</p> <p>“We’re aware of the customer’s claim and have been looking into it with our meat production partner.</p> <p>“We have a range of checks and balances in place throughout production to help ensure our products comply with trade measurement.”</p> <p>It has also advised customers who are concerned about the weight of a product to return the item for a refund.</p>

Food & Wine

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How 5 short intentions can help people recovering from depression stay on track

<p>About <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/statistics-and-facts-about-mental-health/how-common-are-mental-health-problems/">one in six people in England</a> report experiencing anxiety or depression in any given week, and depression is a <a href="https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression">major cause of disability worldwide</a>.</p> <p>Some people have experienced very adverse experiences over their lives, leading to low self-esteem and other vulnerabilities which can make people susceptible to depression. Difficult life circumstances, such as financial problems, loneliness, stresses at work, among family or in relationships, poor physical health and genetic vulnerabilities also contribute. Even long-term depression can be treated, but the lifetime risk that the depression returns has been reported as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2169519/">about 50 per cent for those experiencing one episode</a> of major depression, with the likelihood increasing with further episodes.</p> <p>Greater numbers of people experiencing mental health problems, and greater awareness of effective treatments, has increased demand for services. In recent years this has led to investment through the <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/iapt/">Improving Access to Psychological Therapies</a> programme, but because of huge demand, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50658007">waiting times can still be a problem</a> and it’s important that we develop new ways of helping people manage and overcome their mental health problems – to prevent problems occurring in the first place, and to prevent them returning. A lot of this comes down to teaching people to help themselves more effectively.</p> <p>To some extent this is already happening, for example with increases in self-help support within mental health services, and the use of self-help websites, online support and apps. Working with NHS staff, we have developed the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29665889">Self-Management after Therapy intervention</a>, or SMArT, designed to help people to stay well after they have recovered from an episode of depression.</p> <p>Like other relapse-prevention approaches, it assumes that many people continue to remain vulnerable to depression. Recovery is seen as a process that continues after the end of therapy that has its ups and downs. This approach helps prevent someone from feeling they are back to square one if they have a setback, a frame of mind that can increase the likelihood of a return to more severe depression.</p> <p>The approach, first developed by psychologist <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/faculty/peter-m-gollwitzer.html">Peter Gollwitzer</a> in the 1990s, has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260106380021?via%3Dihub">found to support changes in behaviour</a>, such as quitting smoking or doing more physical activity, through what are called implementation intentions. It is designed to help people turn an intention to act into a habitual behaviour. We know how hard it can be to make good intentions a reality (such as practically every New Year’s resolution), and when someone’s mood and motivation are low it can be even harder. As one mental health service user said during our research: “I know what to do, but when I’m down I just don’t do it.”</p> <p>Implementation intentions work by linking a specific situation to a specific response. For example: “Every evening between 7pm and 9pm I will write down all the positive things that have happened that day,” or “Every Thursday evening I will go to the pub quiz with my friend Katy”. They often take the form of “if …, then …” statements, such as: “If I feel down, then I will talk to my partner about why this might be.”</p> <p>When the situation comes up, the learned response is brought to mind, and is therefore more likely to be acted out. Using our SMArT intervention, people are encouraged to identify up to five of these implementation intentions. It’s important that they are realistic and that they will have an impact on the person’s wellbeing. The best way of thinking about them is to consider five things you do on a regular basis that are important to you. Then, imagine how you would feel if you didn’t do them. That is what tends to happen in depression, or when a person is at risk of a relapse.</p> <p>The use of the SMArT intervention is supported in mental health services by <a href="https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles/psychological-wellbeing-practitioner">psychological wellbeing practitioners</a>, and patients are encouraged to share their intentions with friends or family who can support them.</p> <p>SMArT is just one of a number of ways of helping people who are prone to depression to stay well and we’re carrying out more research to see how effective it is. It provides a bridge between the end of therapy and life without therapy and helps people see the importance of setting plans and having routine in their lives. It also emphasises that recovery is a process that includes learning about oneself and self-management strategies. It is something for the long-term – not just for all-too-soon-abandoned New Year’s resolutions.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129046/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: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-lucock-916922">Michael Lucock</a>, Professor of Clinical Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-huddersfield-1226">University of Huddersfield</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-five-short-intentions-can-help-people-recovering-from-depression-stay-on-track-129046">original article</a>.</em></p>

Mind

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Why David Koch and Sam Armytage have been forced to cut their holidays short

<p>As the year draws to a close,<span> </span><em>Sunrise </em>hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch were looking forward to a relaxing break over Christmas.</p> <p>However, the surprise announcement of Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon returning to host the<span> </span><em>Today </em>show in 2020 has cut their holiday plans short.</p> <p>The<span> </span><em>Sunrise </em>hosts are being forced to return from their holidays a week early as Channel Seven fights to retain the popularity held by<span> </span><em>Sunrise </em>in the absence of Stefanovic.</p> <p>As<span> </span><em>Today </em>is returning on January 6th, 2020, which is a week earlier than the show debuted last year, Channel Seven has no option but to start <em>Sunrise</em> a week early as well.</p> <p>Channel Seven and Nine have been in a ratings war for the last 15 years, with Channel Seven always coming out on top due to the success of Sunrise.</p> <p>The reinstatement of Stefanovic means that things have to change.</p> <p>Kochie said that he was more than happy to work through the holiday period in order to keep the lead of the network.</p> <p>'We figured if the opposition A-team is on holidays, we will work through the summer and hope people give us a chance,' the veteran presenter told<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/seven-recalls-holidaying-stars-to-get-jump-on-nine/news-story/66867b77aca5cf07290902b0bf3397aa" target="_blank">The Australian</a>.</em></p> <p>'When I told my wife we were starting a week early (to mirror what Today was doing), she just laughed in that cynical way that only wives can and started listing all the holidays we've been brought back from.' </p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lOPl8AB7m/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lOPl8AB7m/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Good luck, @edwina_b! We’ll all miss your smiling face at Brekky Central, but cannot wait to meet your little bundle of joy 👶🏼🍼</a></p> <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 post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/sunriseon7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Sunrise</a> (@sunriseon7) on Nov 7, 2019 at 2:50pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Nine’s National Director of News and Current Affairs Darren Wick has confirmed that Stefanovic is in the “right headspace” for the role.</p> <p>“I think a year on, he’s very much in a different headspace to where he was a year ago,” Mr Wick said to<em> <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/television/hes-in-a-different-headspace-inside-karl-stefanovics-return-to-today-as-nine-confirms-shock-new-lineup/news-story/44ef1c0e4cd08ae254b272a9261f534d" target="_blank">The Daily Telegraph.</a></em></p> <p>“The pressure and the focus and the intensity of everything that he was going through, it spun out of control.</p> <p>“It was a crash and burn. It’s one of the crashes and burns that he probably needed to have.</p> <p>“It has taken him out of the glare, out of the spotlight for a while. He’s been able to settle down everything in his private life. He’s in a great space.”</p> <p>He also admitted that the changes made to the show earlier this year were “too dramatic” as Stefanovic was ousted and replaced with journalists Deb Knight and Georgie Gardner.</p> <p>The new hosts struggled to compete with<span> </span>Sunrise<span> </span>in 2918, with the ratings of<span> </span>Today<span> </span>reaching an all-time low of 155,000. This was almost half of<span> </span>Sunrise’s 277,000.</p>

TV

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Enjoy some hearty sticky beef rib with beurre bosc pear

<p>This sticky beef recipe is messily delightful, with sliced pears for an added health kick to your meal!</p> <p><strong>Serves: </strong>4 to 6</p> <p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p> <p><strong>Beef</strong></p> <ul> <li>2kg beef short ribs</li> <li>5 litres water</li> <li>3 cups Chinese cooking wine</li> <li>2 cups dark soy</li> <li>1 cup light soy</li> <li>1½ cups white sugar</li> <li>1 cup ginger roughly chopped</li> <li>10 garlic gloves crushed</li> <li>1 bunch of green shallots roughly chopped</li> <li>3 cinnamon quills</li> <li>8 star anise whole</li> <li>1 orange, zest removed</li> </ul> <p><strong>Salad</strong></p> <ul> <li>2 beurre bosc pears pealed and finely sliced</li> <li>1 bunch sea parsley picked</li> <li>1 small kohlrabi, peeled and finely sliced</li> <li>1 lemon</li> <li>Extra virgin olive oil</li> </ul> <p><strong>Sticky sauce</strong></p> <ul> <li>50g sugar</li> <li>50ml Chinese black vinegar or balsamic vinegar</li> </ul> <p><strong>Directions</strong></p> <p><strong>For the beef</strong></p> <ol> <li>Place all ingredients except for the meat in a stockpot and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 15-20 minutes to bring out flavour.</li> <li>To prepare the beef ribs, cut excess fat away and place in the simmering stock for 2½-3 hours, keeping in mind that the beef should be under the stock at all times. It is a good idea to place a piece of baking paper over the top of the beef as this helps keep it submerged.</li> <li>Once cooked, remove from the stove and let the beef steep for about 1 hour.</li> </ol> <p><strong>For the pear and kohlrabi salad</strong></p> <ol> <li>Place sliced pear, kohlrabi, sea parsley and native pepper berry in a bowl.</li> <li>Season with salt, lemon juice and a splash of olive oil. Set aside.</li> </ol> <p><strong>For the sticky sauce</strong></p> <ol> <li>In a pan, add 200ml of braising liquid, Chinese black vinegar and sugar and reduce to a thick sticky sauce.</li> <li>Slice ribs and place on a serving platter, pour over the reduced sauce and garnish with the pear and kohlrabi salad.</li> </ol> <p><em>Recipe thanks to <a href="http://rediscoverthepear.com.au/">Australian Pears</a>. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.wyza.com.au/recipes/sticky-beef-rib-and-beurre-bosc-pear.aspx">Wyza.com.au</a>.</em></p>

Food & Wine

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