Issues news

For a procession highlighting the illegal trafficking of women into sex slavery...

Sam Roddick, owner of erotic emporium Coco de Mer and daughter of recently deceased Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, has sent out a request for women to join her in a procession through the City of London today. Creative collaborators and partnersin crime, Sam and her Mum had designed the procession together, hence she wants to continue as planned to honour her spirit. The procession, strangely enough, will march through the Old Bailey complete with an East End horse drawn hearse with flowers spelling 'sex slave'. Led by a twenty-piece gospel choir, women will be dressed as mothers holding the pictures of their daughters who have disappeared into the clutches of criminals who have imprisoned them through torture.

Did you know?
80% of England's prostitutes are thought to be imported sex slaves
Their age range is from 13 years old to 22 years old
They are sold at source from as little as £150
Their UK landing price is from £3000 - £5000
They are forced to have unprotected sex and no act is un-marketable
They make their traffickers around £250,000 a year
They are tortured and controlled by horrific fear and threats

The procession is a lead up to an art installation, which will be housed for a week in Trafalgar Square from the 23rd September to the 30th September. The installation consists of seven shipping containers conceptualized by seven different artists who have documented one woman's journey and the story of how she ended up in England as a sex slave.

Canadian journalist Naomi Klein (pictured at her desk), is well known for her distaste for capitalism, now she has turned her probing eye to the war in Iraq. With the help of director, Alfonso Cuaron ( Children of Men), she has produced a terse 6-minute short, on the history of American electro shock, to help promote her new book, Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Introducing extracts in her Guardian column, Klein gives a taste of what's inside: 'It's a tried-and-tested torture technique: strike fear into your victims, deprive them of cherished essentials and then eradicate their memories. In 2003, the US applied this on an enormous scale for its invasion of Iraq.' Explosive stuff - whether you agree or not.

Check out the short film The Shock Doctrine

The masters of satirical comedy, ABC's The Chaser, have outdone themselves.  U.S president George Bush was in Sydney today (or Sidney according to the White House issued press release) for the APEC summit. The Chaser team, one dressed as Osama Bin Laden, used their "insecurity" pass, plastered with the word "joke" and other hints like,"it's not for real pass", to get past the APEC security with their fake motorcade stunt. The hoax got them within metres of George W. Bush's hotel.  The program's producers released a statement revealing the Chaser team had no intention of entering the APEC restricted zone and had no knowledge they had even passed it.
The stunt is an embarrasment to the $250 million APEC security measures which have kept Sydney at a lock-down status with a cavalry of snipers and barracades to help protect the President.  What a joke. Literally.

Footage of their motorcade and arrest.

...the i.Beat blaxx mp3 player. I mean, sorry. But what the fuck? Is this sponsored by Vice magazine? Produced by the KKK? Is ironic racism ok now? Did we just go back to the 1970s? Can you even *imagine* the marketing meeting in which the copy writer unveiled her or his ideas for this little beauty? "We're going to rip off Apple AND be incredibly offensive in just three little words. And then bloggers across the blogosphere will write offended posts like this one and we'll get loads of free marketing! We can't fail!" And then the copywriter will be heartily congratulated and probably win some kind of 'Advertising - It's Great!' award, and then go on to produce a range of 'iRape hoez' for a gardening manufacturers or something. WAY TO GO, dudes!

A recent outbreak of equine flu has paralysed the Australian horse racing and breeding industry. While horse flu is not something to cheer about, a permanent end to horse racing would be a victory. Many racehorses endure painful, debilitating injuries and are drugged to keep them on the track when they shouldn't be racing. Most sick, old, and injured horses who absolutely cannot race are sent to slaughter. While there are concerns over huge monetary losses, (the shut down has cost the industry at least $100 million since last Saturday), and the Sydney and Melbourne spring carnivals, including the world famous Melbourne Cup, may be affected, as a New York Daily News reporter remarked, "As long as mankind demands that [horses] run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks." Go here to help.
Words by Heather Moore

'Sex(ism), Sport and stupidity' is the proud moto of the UK originated men's weekly magazine *Zoo*. The Australian arm of the publication has sunk to new lows this week announcing a competition for male readers to win their girlfriends' a round of free plastic surgery. As the cover of the magazine explains " *WIN A BOOB JOB FOR YOUR GIRL. *Want to turn those fried eggs into massive mamms? We'll give you ten grand to do it". And no, they're not kidding.