Issues news

Move on over Nimbin – NSW has a new green capital and thy name be Blair Athol. Last night, local police (who by now are no doubt looking forward to a ripper of a bonfire) made a 1.8 million cannabis bust in the south-western suburb - the third such yield in a week. You may remember that on Monday some industrious hydroponist lost 700 plants with a total street value of around 4 million (not that he was concerned with that – they were, of course, all for “personal use”). Yesterday another raid uncovered 300 plants on a property in the same street; this one worth about 1.5 mil. It’s said that many of the tip-offs came from concerned neighbours, to which I say, what ever happened to a sense of community? Anyway, police are not saying whether the incidents are linked but either way, it would seen that gated communities are the new bushlands and remote farms - just like on Weeds!

Bitchiness has always being a problem for girls but now it seems to be getting out of control! Gossip is an issue that crosses generations but I’m sure the surge in popularity of Gossip Girl has only helped the process of glorifying gossip.

The Sydney magazine industry was, and still is, in turmoil with the blog 4inchheelsonly, exposing the ‘supposed’ dirty secrets of these mags. Maghag, as the blogger refers to herself, has already provoked heated debate about beauty editors and their freebies, as well as the realities of work experience and retrieving bananas for editors. Obviously inspired by these people, a person called Jane Smith has popped up on my Facebook friends. Suddenly, all hell broke loose in my university course. Jane uncovered (and I use that term loosely) gossip snippets about all the different year levels and exposed love interests, sexuality issues and unrequited love. At the start it was funny, you could have a little giggle like ‘Oh My God, did they really kiss?’ and ‘Oh, I saw that as well and thought it was interesting’ but then things took a turn for the worse and people were accused of being Jane and malicious gossip was spread. It wasn’t funny anymore. After a few weeks rest, Jane has arisen from the ashes again with more goss, and who knows where it is going to go now?

Psychologists and www experts always go on and on about the dangers of cyber bullying and I personally think the rise of ‘gossip blogs’ could be the next nasty thing on the ‘net. Teenage girls are so tech-savvy now and blogs could easily be started, ruining friendships and reputations through lies. I don’t know what can be done to stop it. Any ideas?

I need to whinge and whinge I will! The media make me sick to my stomach. Hopefully most of you are aware that in excess of 25 000 people have been killed (more than half of this amount are said to be children) by a horrendous cyclone in Burma. Incidentally, the day this story broke, Grant Hackett's 'pot belly' story also emerged. When deciding upon what story to put on the front page of most Newspapers - The Hackett saga won.
1. Grant doesn't have a gut you imbeciles. If you knew anything about sport and training, you'd know that your stomach can inflate from carb overload (i.e. the poor guy needs energy!).
2. 25 000 + people have died!! In excess of thousands upon thousands are left homeless, starving and in extreme despair over losing family and friends - but the people of Australia would rather criticise Hackett and his 'gut' (or, so the newspaper editor's believe)
3. If a bus blows up on the street in Afghanistan and kills 55 people, it'll barely receive a five line article on page 18 in the newspaper. But if a bus was blown up in down-town Sydney or London or New York, it would make front page for 10 days in a row and we'd be forced to relive every gruesome detail of the event for the next five years to come!
4. The last point I would like to make is... why is it, that when going to check the news on a particular news site the other day - the headlining homepage story read something along the lines of ' Corey causes a stir in the BB house'?!!
Again, 25 000 + people have died in Burma, but our media is clearly more interested in Corey, the party-boy-brat, who's been glorified by being put into a house full of dead-set drop kicks.
I am so angry at the world today - but hey, at least I got it off my chest!
Thoughts?

The recent announcement on the taxing of alcopops shows that the government has the ability to dissuade consumers from "unhealthy" products - but what if they put some of their sway towards the promotion of healthy products? The Australian Medical association is calling on Kevin Rudd to, in conjunction with junk food taxes, place subsidies on fruit and vegetables. With the obesity epidemic affecting 1 in 5 Australians (and the main cause of this often being pinned to the cost of fresh produce) it's proposed that a subsidy be provided to growers and retailers, or directly to families to ensure that healthier food be readily obtainable and within everyone's budget. According to the board, a rise in consumption of fruit and vegetables by just one serve a day (just one delicious fuji apple!!) could the health system $157 million a year in reduced heart disease alone - pretty incredible huh? There's no word yet on whether the plan is being slated but it's a great idea none-the-less.

Phew, around Australia right now the hopes of hundreds of thousands of debt-racking current students and debt-saddled ex-students are rising with cautious anticipation. One of the most innovative ideas to come out of yesterday's 2020 Summit had to be "Community Corps"; a scheme that could potentially have university graduates working off their HECS debt through volunteer work. However, while on paper it seems like a perfect solution to two problems - graduates need reduced debt; communities need greater volunteer numbers - the idea is already facing opposition from more than just the opposition. The National Union of Students argues that volunteer work isn't a viable option for those students who are already working part-time jobs on top of study commitments and that it would therefore be the wealthier kids on campus that reaped the benefits of the scheme. Hmm good point. What if the volunteer work was done post graduation? Would that work or is the whole thing a bit pie in the sky?

We've seen off-runway weigh-ins, models producing health certificates and countless gallons of ink spilt over the subject, and now the French government is looking to take to the stand in the great weight debate with the most aggressive of moves. The French National Assembly has approved a legislation that would make the promotion of extreme dieting a crime punishable by up to two years in prison and fines of up to $47,000. In France - a country synonymous with haute couture - up to 40,000 people suffer from anorexia and while the fashion industry is often saddled with the blame, this particular bill is aimed specifically at 'pro-ana' websites; online communities that encourage eating disorders as a lifestyle choice. When challenged on the bill's seeming contradiction of free expression, French health minister Roselyn Bachelot replied "Encouraging young girls to lie to their doctors, advising them on foods that are easier to regurgitate, and inciting them to beat themselves up each time they eat is not freedom of expression,"