Issues news

Paper mache pandas set up by members of the World Wildlife Fund are pictured on the Parvis des droits de l'Homme at Paris Trocadero esplanade to symbolize the 1,600 pandas left on earth and to call people to do their part in helping to reverse the deterioration of our natural environment.

Are you partial to a long shower? Guilty of leaving the tap on when you brush your teeth? Known to put four pairs of underwear and a t-shirt on a full wash cycle? Are you, my friend, a water pig? If you answered yes to any of the above then perhaps take heed of the fact that October 19-25 is National Water Week. That doesn't mean "use as much water as you like" week but rather, "our waterways cannot sustain the ever-growing population and we need to reign the splishy-splash in" week. In accordance, here are some water-saving tips I have deftly compiled:

- Take shorter showers (duh); set that stop watch and make every-morning a mini-challenge to thy self!

- Instead of drowning your veges in water and boiling the shit out of them, try steaming them in a shallow bed of water, with the saucepan lid on. It makes them cook way quicker, saves water and keep more vitamins in your greens - win win!

- If you live in a Surry Hills/ Fitzroy rat hole then chances are your taps leak. SORT IT OUT. You will invariably have old-school faucets and the washers on these things are a cinch to replace. You can find the instructions over the internet in the time it takes to change your Facebook status.

- Get feral and save that dirty washing. Take a week to cultivate a big pile in the corner of your room then when you really do have nary a stitch to wear, wash it all in one go. Washing with a full load saves about ten litres of water.

So there you go, for further (probably more valuable) info, head here.

 

World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) lead coalition 'Handle With Care' made up of four different animal welfare groups (RSPCA, Animals Australia, Compassion, WSPA) are campaigning against the long distance transport of live animals from Australia to the Middle East, to replace this with a chilled meat trade.

For more information on the campaign visit http://www.handlewithcare.tv/au

Now is your opportunity to talk directly with WSPA campaigns manager Emily Reeves on live export and ask any questions or have your opinions heard!

It only takes a few seconds to register, then just dial in to ask any questions you have about live export and find out how you can help.

Go to, http://www.tangler.com/forum/stop-live-export

The forum will start tomorrow Tuesday October 14th at 2pm and finish by 4pm.

When I was in high school, I had a part-time job in the children's wear department of a certain well-known department store that shall remain nameless.

I can remember being truly disgusted one Saturday morning, when I opened up a new box of stock and was faced with mountains of diamonte-studded padded-bra and brief sets for the girls 12-and-under section. Seriously, it was lingerie for preschoolers. I can't say I was surprised by how totally inappropriate this was - we had also recently started stocking those vile Bratz dolls and I had ranted at my manager about that too (why is it that the boys' toys are things like science kits, Meccano and sports equipment while the girls are encouraged to play with tarted-up bimbos who promote inanity, blue eyeshadow and skanky clothes?).

Anyway, I know it's an issue that has been brought up on YEN before, but hey, you know, maintain the rage and all. I think Phillip Adams was the first to call it "corporate paedophilia" - he wrote an interesting article a few years ago which you can find here. There's also the 2006 TAI report "Letting Children Be Children: Stopping the sexualisation of children in Australia" by Emma Rush and Andrea La Nauze. And there's a more recent article here for those of you who are bothered by this sort of thing.

"By denying the responsibility of man in global warming, by advocating gun rights and making statements that are disconcertingly stupid, you are a disgrace to women and you alone represent a terrible threat, a true environmental catastrophe".

The always outspoken Brigette Bardot on Vice presidential candidate Crazy Palin

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Art Exposing Eating Disorders exhibition at the Mori Gallery in July/August this year. I am pleased to report that the final figures are in and the exhibition raised twelve hundred dollars for the Butterfly Foundation National Research Fund. There was some amazing talent and beautiful honest expressions on those walls and any that were not sold have been donated to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in NSW. Keep your eyes peeled for news of next year’s Art Exposing Eating disorders event because it’s going to be bigger and better! Start getting your artistic ideas together now. Looking forward to it and thanks again to everyone who supported it.

Yes, I've been taking a political dilettante's interest in the upcoming US Presidential Election. (Yes, I stayed in last Friday night to watch the Obama-McCain debate... and was sorely disappointed - nowhere near as much bite as there should have been. Reckon I was sharper as third speaker for the affirmative "Tazos should be banned from school" in my Grade 7 inter-house championship).

Yes, this really is John McCain's running mate, and if the Republicans win, she will be (as Jack Cafferty so harrowingly puts it) "one 72-year-old's heart beat away from being President of the United States".

I'd read plenty about Sarah Palin's encounters with the media, and honestly didn't believe it could possibly be as bad as it sounded. But then I watched her interviews.

I actually want to cry. Now surely, no matter what your political persuasion or level of interest in world affairs might be, you will be equally disturbed to see (a) that somebody so far out of their intellectual depth could actually be a serious contender for one of the most powerful positions in the world, and (b) this shower of verbal diarrhea being sprayed in the face of a journalist who asked a highly relevant question about the US economic crisis.

Sadly, these aren't one-off gaffes. No wonder they're now only letting her out in public under the strict supervision of McCain or teleprompters.

At the moment she's at "debate bootcamp" in preparation for Thursday's Vice-Presidential debate with Joe Biden (Obama's guy). If they can turn her into something semi-coherent by then I'll eat my hat, but me thinks we're all about to be treated to a good ol' fashioned trainwreck.