Issues news

PETA has once again come up with an ingenious way to turn people off treating animals badly, this time focusing on turkeys.
A game named Cooking Mama, The Unauthorised Edition has been launched in time for the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It is a spoof of a Nintendo Wii game and players are asked to complete tasks such as removing the innards of a turkey and plucking its feathers.
Expect to see an animated mix of blood and guts, followed by an educational video which gives a behind the scenes look at what happens at the farms turkeys are raised on.
Have a go, I dare you.

YEN is thrilled to announce the 2008 YEN Young Woman of the Year is Sophie McNeill.  Head to the YWYA website for full details.

Introducing the category winners of the 2008 YWYAs.

Art & Design - Ainslie Asher
Business - Lara Deutsch
Community Vision - Tania Major
Fashion - Anna Plunkett
Film, TV & Theatre - Maeve Dermody
Hair Design & Direction - Ali Holmes
Journalism - Sophie McNeill
Music - Claire Bowditch
Photography - Liz Ham
Sport - Stephanie Rice

Eleven awards were presented at the official ceremony, including former Australian of the Year surgeon Fiona Wood who was also awarded the inaugural YEN award of excellence.  Each of the winners was unveiled at a stunning pink carpet ceremony at Sydney's City Recital Hall in Angel Place.

Thanks to our partners for making the event a fantastic success!  Full profiles of the other finalists, judges & ambassadors are also available via the YWYA website. 

The White Ribbon Foundation Australia campaigns to eliminate violence against women through cultural and attitudinal changes. It's for men by men approach aims to create positive role models within the male community.
The idea of the foundation came when the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was declared in 1999 and a white ribbon was the symbol for the day.
A report compiled by White Ribbon discovered that more than 350,000 girls aged between 12-20 have been sexually assaulted or raped. This suggests that around one in seven girls have experienced some form of sexual abuse.
Donations and white ribbons can be purchased nationally on White Ribbon Day November 25.

The majority of ad-breaks are the bane of my House/ Gossip Girl/ Mad Men watching existence but I am quite partial to a good TVC. Luckily, NZ seems to produce loads and I’ve seen many a local commercial sweep industry awards and end up on those “World’s Best Ad’s� shows (yes, I watch them. So what?) Anyway’s usually you can expect these ads to stick to the winning formula of kiwi humour + clever visuals x nostalgia (peep this iconic L&P one) but the exception, with good reason, is the country’s famously shocking car safety ads. NZ has a really shitty problem with road fatalities – there have been approx 4,600 deaths and 132,000 injuries over the past ten years and in the corresponding time the Government (old Government now) has been addressing the problem with hard hitting, smashing and crashing ad campaigns. When I was younger I found some of them so intense that I fled the room when they came on. This is one I saw on TV the other night, we were about to head out to a party when it came on and it pretty much killed my buzz. Is it not the scariest ad you have ever seen???

Americans may be a lot more open minded than what the world really give them credit for, even in its small towns votes have been cast to show attitudinal change.
Following the election of the first half-African U.S. President-elect, the first transgender mayor has been voted in by citizens in a small town called Silverton within the American state of Oregon.
Stu Rasmussen is a loved figure in the community of Silverton and says the decision to change his lifestyle was made much like men who have mid-life crises. Rather than choosing fast cars or trophy wives, Mr Rasmussen wanted something else.
“I wanted cleavage,� he said
Mr Rasmussen has been described as an individual who is passionate about Silverton and willing to perform his duties as a mayor to act in the best interests of the town. He was voted in because the community believe he can do the best job not because of his lifestyle choices.
Mr Rasmussen was elected as the mayor of Silverton in 1989 and again in 1990 during his purely male days. Regardless, election of a transgender person is not a common feat in this day and age still filled with many prejudice people. But, you know what? We're making progress.
I would be interested to see how any Australian city or town would receive the candidacy of a transgender mayor.

With the thought of Armageddon looming - petrol prices rising, the economic crisis, housing crisis, (mid-life crisis) - it's the perfect time to get some exercise and de-stress!
Manuel de Arriba Ares is the creator of the eco-gym in Valdespino de Somoza in Spain. It is made of 100% recycled materials, including dead tree stumps, spare bicycle parts, wheelbarrow wheels and scrap metal.
What better way to be fit and environmentally friendly as well?
The concept of the Ecogolical Gymnasium all started with the fact that his hometown was beginning to fill with obese people and the bundle of dead tree stumps outside the local orchard was becoming bigger as well.
Mr Arriba Ares needed some weights and decided to make some nifty eco-friendly ones out of one of the dead tree stumps. Soon enough he had made everything to cover cardio, weight training and most resistance exercises.
The Ecological Gym took Mr Arriba Ares approximately four years to build before he donated it to his community.
"In comparison to a normal gym, it is clearly, in my opinion one hundred thousand times better," he said.
"It cost nothing.
"Exercise is fundamental!"
Check out the video to see the eco-genius!