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Woman's hilarious baby name idea sparks divided response

When it comes to choosing a name for your child, people pull inspiration from many different places. For a lot of families, people use the names of grandparents or traditional family names to carry on to the next generation, while others may choose to use more modern and unique names to break the mould. But now, one Aussie baby name consultant has sparked a flood of hilarious responses as she asked a question about how to select a name based on the place you met your child's other parent. While the expert Michelle Casey may have been implying names such as cities or countries, others were quick to share their own hilarious interpretation. Among the standout suggestions were "Rehab", "Delusion", "Gas Station", and "Church Parking Lot", before people then offered up the names of dating apps such as "Tinder" or "Bumble". All hope wasn't lost, however, as a few couples shared their heartwarming stories of where the unusual concept actually worked out. "We did just that," one person commented, "Our two year old is named Olive. We met working at Olive Garden as teenagers." While someone else shared their daughter Julia was named after her parents meeting place, "Saint Julian's in Malta". Image credits: Getty Images

Family & Pets

Our dogs can terrify (and even kill) wildlife. Here’s how to be a responsible owner this summer

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/melissa-starling-461103">Melissa Starling</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> In Australia, dog ownership often goes hand-in-hand with a love for the great outdoors. Whether it’s walking on the beach, going camping, or having a barbecue in the park, we tend to keep our canine companions close as we soak up the sun. But many of us forget a key fact about our dogs: they are predators. Even the fluffy little 5kg ball that spends most of its time in your lap derives from an apex predator – and its predatory instincts can kick in at any time. And while many of our dogs don’t have the same hunting skills as their distant ancestors (who had to hunt for a living), wildlife doesn’t know that. The impacts of domestic dogs on wildlife aren’t well studied, and likely vary depending on the environment. Nonetheless, there’s good evidence domestic dogs, when left unobserved, can have detrimental effects in the places they visit. With that in mind, here are some things to consider next time you take your pup out for a bushwalk. <h2>How dogs impact ecosystems</h2> There are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320717305967">five main ways</a> domestic dogs can negatively impact the natural environments they visit. These are: <ol> <li>direct physical harm through predatory behaviour</li> <li>disturbance through chasing and harassment</li> <li>increased exposure to diseases</li> <li>interbreeding, which can alter the gene pool of wild canid populations</li> <li>increased competition for resources.</li> </ol> The good news is the last three points aren’t particularly relevant in Australia. For one thing, there’s little overlap between diseases common in domestic dogs and Australian wildlife. There’s also little resource overlap, except perhaps in some areas where feral or semi-feral dogs live alongside dingoes. And regarding potential interbreeding, while it was once thought this could threaten the dingo gene pool, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.16998">recent research</a> suggests it’s not nearly as common as we thought. As such, the main harms Aussie dog owners should focus on are physical harms through predatory behaviour and disturbance to ecosystems. <h2>Dogs can kill</h2> We know dogs are capable of injuring and killing wildlife, but it’s difficult to determine how common this is, because many events go unreported. While smaller animals such as lizards, gliders and possums are at higher risk, larger species such as koalas can also fall prey to dogs. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206958">One study</a> that looked at wildlife coming into care at Queensland rehabilitation centres reported dog attacks as the cause in about 9% of cases. These cases often resulted in severe injury or death. Dog owners should be especially wary of small, localised populations of vulnerable species. A <a href="https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/bitstream/handle/11336/202640/CONICET_Digital_Nro.29048152-7a5c-4ea2-8068-e73d42cba01d_B.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y">study</a> in Argentina’s Patagonia region details several cases of dogs decimating local penguin populations after gaining access to protected island areas during low tide. Not to mention, dog attacks on wildlife can bring risk to dogs as well. Kangaroos can defend themselves with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-16/mildura-man-fights-kangaroo-to-protect-dog/102983926">their powerful limbs</a>, monitor lizards are equipped with sharp claws and teeth, and many snake species <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/dogs-twice-as-likely-to-die-from-snake-bite-as-cats-research-finds-20200519-p54ufd.html">are highly venomous</a>. <h2>The impact of harassment</h2> You might think it’s harmless for your dog to chase wildlife if it never manages to catch the animals it chases, but that isn’t true. Wild animals optimise their behaviours to meet their needs for foraging, breeding and resting, and being chased by a dog can disrupt this. For example, certain threatened bird species will nest on the beach and find foraging opportunities based on the tides. One dog forcing one bird to abandon this important activity may have a small impact. But if it happens repeatedly throughout the day, it can become a <a href="https://wilderness-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Dogs-as-agents-of-disturbance-Michael-A.-Weston-and-Theodore-Stankowich.pdf">much bigger problem</a>. It may even drive animals out of the area. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2391219/">Research</a> conducted in Sydney has shown the mere presence of a leashed dog is enough to temporarily, yet dramatically, reduce the number of bird species detected. <h2>Keep an eye on your furry pal</h2> Responsible dog ownership involves making sure our dogs have a minimal impact on others, including wildlife. How can we achieve this when our dogs are simply engaging in behaviours that come naturally to them, and may even be rewarding for them? Training your dog to have general obedience – especially to come when called – is worth sinking considerable time and effort into. This can save both your dog and any wildlife they may be after. For instance, calling a dog away from a snake is one of the most effective ways of managing snake bite risk. One <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333344634_Applying_Social_Marketing_to_Koala_Conservation_The_Leave_It_Pilot_Program">pilot study</a> in Victoria found positive outcomes from a program that helped owners train their dogs to be more obedient around wildlife. That said, recall training is an art form, and recalling a dog that likes to run off and chase animals can be a huge challenge. Another solution is to rely on leashes when passing sensitive areas, or where there’s a risk of wildlife harassment. In Australia, many beaches that allow dogs have signs with information about vulnerable birds in the area and how to protect them from your dog. This could mean keeping your dog off rock platforms, leashing them when you see birds foraging on the beach, or keeping them out of fenced areas. Some areas are simply too vulnerable for dogs to run amok, so always look for signs and read them carefully. If you’re hiking, use a long line (a leash that’s more than five metres long) and look for signs of your dog detecting something of interest. Often their ears will come up high and forward, and they will freeze and stare intently. At this point, it doesn’t matter what they’re excited about: take the opportunity to leash them or shorten their leash, and get their attention before they can take off. Investing in a long leash will allow your dog more freedom without putting wildlife at risk. If your dog does injure an animal, you should quickly contact a wildlife rescue organisation or take the animal to a veterinary practice or sanctuary. For small animals, even minor injuries from a dog will usually require veterinary attention. It’s our responsibility to be respectful visitors when we’re out in nature, and to make sure our dogs are too. <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/214722/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/melissa-starling-461103">Melissa Starling</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher in Veterinary Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/our-dogs-can-terrify-and-even-kill-wildlife-heres-how-to-be-a-responsible-owner-this-summer-214722">original article</a>.

Family & Pets

"Leave the icebergs alone!": Absurd response to innocent Martha Stewart post

It just goes to show that you literally cannot post anything these days without someone, somewhere, finding a reason to be outraged. Martha Stewart, the domestic diva who's known for her knack at turning the mundane into the majestic, took her talents to the high seas recently on a luxury cruise to Greenland. And boy, did she leave a wake of icy commotion. At the ripe age of 82, Martha decided to shake things up (literally) by embarking on a nautical adventure that had some of her fans doing double takes into their morning coffee. Martha's Instagram carousel began innocently enough, with Martha gleefully showcasing her maritime escapade. There she was, drink held high, posing with the glacial wonders of the frozen north. But the pièce de résistance was the snapshot of her 'boozy iceberg' – the crucial ingredient in her icy concoctions, plucked straight from the chilly embrace of Greenland's waters. Sure enough, the comment section of her post became hotter than a sauna at a polar bear convention. Martha's loyal 1.9 million followers swiftly chimed in, and boy, was the temperature rising. Concerns over climate change flooded the scene, with plenty of followers quick to label Martha "tone deaf", wondering if the cocktails were chilled with obliviousness rather than glacier fragments. Martha's post read, "End of the first zodiac cruise from @swanhelleniccruises into a very beautiful fjord on the east coast of Greenland. We actually captured a small iceberg for our cocktails tonight." Oblivious to the fact that this is a completely standard part of such tours – and that the tiny "iceberg" fragments in question are plucked innocently from the ocean, the negative responses came crashing in. "Martha, leave the icebergs alone!" wrote one follower. "Martha the ice caps are melting don't put them in your drink," another "fan" chimed in. "I generally love Martha and the excesses of her life because [she's] about beautiful gardens, homes, food, but wealthy white people drinking their iceberg cocktails while the planet is in flames in a bit tone deaf," added another. "Global warming and melting ice caps but we need glacier ice for cocktails? Talk about tone def (sic). Been a fan for years but I've seen enough caviar lately as I struggle to buy groceries I'm out," another wrote. Talk about a tempest in a teacup – or perhaps, in this case, a tumbler. Martha's icy escapade melted some hearts and raised some temperatures, proving that even the most seasoned party thrower can stir up quite the social media storm. Images: Instagram

Travel Trouble

How biological differences between men and women alter immune responses – and affect women’s health

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-mcgettrick-1451122">Helen McGettrick</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asif-iqbal-1451123">Asif Iqbal</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a> Most people will have heard the term “man flu”, which refers to men’s perceived tendency to exaggerate the severity of a cold or a similar minor ailment. What most people may not know is that, generally speaking, women mount stronger <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36121220/">immune responses</a> to infections than men. Men are <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005374">more susceptible</a> to infections from, for example, HIV, hepatitis B, and Plasmodium falciparum (the parasite responsible for malaria). They can also have more severe symptoms, with evidence showing they’re more likely to be <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005374">admitted to hospital</a> when infected with hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and Campylobacter jejuni (a bacteria that causes gastroenteritis), among others. While this may be positive for women in some respects, it also means women are at <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri2815">greater risk</a> of developing chronic diseases driven by the immune system, known as immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Here we will explore how biological factors influence immune differences between the sexes and how this affects women’s health. While we acknowledge that both sex and gender may affect immune responses, this article will focus on biological sex rather than gender. <h2>Battle of the sexes</h2> There are differences <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2016.90">between the sexes</a> at every stage of the immune response, from the number of immune cells, to their degree of activation (how ready they are to respond to a challenge), and beyond. However, the story is more complicated than that. Our immune system evolves throughout our lives, learning from past experiences, but also responding to the physiological challenges of getting older. As a result, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2016.90">sex differences</a> in the immune system can be seen from birth through puberty into adulthood and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jleukbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jleuko/qiad053/7190870">old age</a>. Why do these differences occur? The first part of answering this question involves the X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y chromosome. The <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20651746/">X chromosome</a> contains the largest number of immune-related genes. The X chromosome also has <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00018-020-03526-7">around 118 genes</a> from a gene family that are able to stop the expression of other genes, or change how proteins are made, including those required for immunity. These gene-protein regulators are known as microRNA, and there are only <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24808907/">two microRNA genes</a> on the Y chromosome. The X chromosome has <a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/X-Chromosome-facts">more genes overall</a> (around 900) than the Y chromosome (around 55), so female cells have evolved to switch off one of their X chromosomes. This is not like turning off a light switch, but more like using a dimmer. Around <a href="https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-019-5507-6">15-25% of genes</a> on the silenced X chromosome are expressed at any given moment in any given cell. This means female cells can often express more immune-related genes and gene-protein regulators than males. This generally means a faster clearance of pathogens in females than males. Second, men and women have <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.604000/full">varying levels</a> of different sex hormones. Progesterone and testosterone are broadly considered to limit immune responses. While both hormones are produced by males and females, progesterone is found at higher concentrations in non-menopausal women than men, and testosterone is much higher in men than women. The role of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6533072/">oestrogen</a>, one of the main female sex hormones, is more complicated. Although generally oestrogen <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000887491500026X?via%3Dihub">enhances immune responses</a>, its levels vary during the menstrual cycle, are high in pregnancy and low after menopause. Due in part to these genetic and hormonal factors, pregnancy and the years following are associated with heightened immune responses to external challenges such as infection. This has been regarded as an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2016.90">evolutionary feature</a>, protecting women and their unborn children during pregnancy and enhancing the mother’s survival throughout the child-rearing years, ultimately ensuring the survival of the population. We also see this pattern in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2628977/">other species</a> including insects, lizards, birds and mammals. <h2>What does this all mean?</h2> With women’s heightened immune responses to infections comes an increased risk of certain diseases and prolonged immune responses after infections. An <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3328995/">estimated 75-80%</a> of all immune-mediated inflammatory diseases <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32542149/">occur in females</a>. Diseases more common in women include multiple sclerosis, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri2815">rheumatoid arthritis</a>, lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2016.90">thyroid disorders</a> such as Graves disease. In these diseases, the immune system is continuously fighting against what it sees as a foreign agent. However, often this perceived threat is not a foreign agent, but cells or tissues from the host. This leads to tissue damage, pain and immobility. Women are also prone to chronic inflammation following infection. For example, after infections with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5818468/">Epstein Barr virus</a> or <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jwh.2008.1193">Lyme disease</a>, they may go on to develop <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-cfs/">chronic fatigue syndrome</a>, another condition that affects more women than men. This is one possible explanation for the heightened risk among <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fresc.2023.1122673/full">pre-menopausal women</a> of developing long COVID following infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Research has also revealed the presence of auto-antibodies (antibodies that attack the host) in patients with long COVID, suggesting it might be an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568997221000550">autoimmune disease</a>. As women are more susceptible to autoimmune conditions, this could potentially explain the sex bias seen. However, the exact causes of long COVID, and the reason women may be at greater risk, are yet to be defined. This paints a bleak picture, but it’s not all bad news. Women typically mount <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24966191/">better vaccine responses</a> to several common infections (for example, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A and B), producing higher antibody levels than men. One study showed that women vaccinated with half a dose of flu vaccine produced the same amount of antibodies compared to men vaccinated with <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/773453">a full dose</a>. However, these responses <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2016.90">decline as women age</a>, and particularly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3954964/">after menopause</a>. All of this shows it’s vital to consider sex when designing studies examining the immune system and treating patients with immune-related diseases.<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/208802/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-mcgettrick-1451122">Helen McGettrick</a>, Reader in Inflammation and Vascular Biology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asif-iqbal-1451123">Asif Iqbal</a>, Associate Professor in Inflammation Biology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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-biological-differences-between-men-and-women-alter-immune-responses-and-affect-womens-health-208802">original article</a>.

Body

What is ‘fawning’? How is it related to trauma and the ‘fight or flight’ response?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alix-woolard-409037">Alix Woolard</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/telethon-kids-institute-1608">Telethon Kids Institute</a> You have probably heard of “fight or flight” responses to distressing situations. You may also be familiar with the tendency to “freeze”. But there is another defence or survival strategy a person can have: “fawn”. When our brain perceives a threat in our environment, our <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/fight-flight-freeze#in-the-body">sympathetic nervous system</a> takes over and a person can experience any one or combination of the <a href="https://pete-walker.com/fourFs_TraumaTypologyComplexPTSD.htm">four F</a> responses. <h2>What are the four Fs?</h2> The fawn response usually occurs when a person is being attacked in some way, and they try to appease or placate their attacker to protect themselves. A fight response is when someone reacts to a threat with aggression. Flight is when a person responds by fleeing – either literally by leaving the situation, or symbolically, by distracting or avoiding a distressing situation. A freeze response occurs when a person realises (consciously or not) that they cannot resist the threat, and they detach themselves or become immobile. They may “space out” and not pay attention, feel disconnected to their body, or have difficulty speaking after they feel threatened. <h2>What does fawning look like?</h2> Previously known as appeasement or “people pleasing”, the term “fawning” was coined by psychotherapist <a href="http://pete-walker.com/complex_ptsd_book.html">Pete Walker</a> in his 2013 book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20556323-complex-ptsd">Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving</a>. A fawn response can look like: <ul> <li>people-pleasing (doing things for others to gain their approval or to make others like you)</li> <li>being overly reliant on others (difficulty making decisions without other people’s input)</li> <li>prioritising the needs of others and ignoring your own</li> <li>being overly agreeable</li> <li>having trouble saying no</li> <li>in more severe cases, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763421004917?casa_token=FzabbqNoE0UAAAAA:DAr_QkVegIa70Zheq6vTkCrsYPJdw06kdds659h-VHSRtPSUErDzVgj-YsLunjvGkn4Mwyb1">dissociating</a> (disconnecting from your mind and/or body).</li> </ul> While there isn’t yet much research on this response, the fawn response is seen more in people who have experienced <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00958964.2022.2163220?journalCode=vjee20">complex trauma</a> in their childhood, including among children who grew up with emotionally or physically abusive caregivers. Fawning is also observed in people who are in situations of <a href="https://europepmc.org/article/MED/37052112">interpersonal violence</a> (such as domestic violence, assault or kidnappings), when the person needs to appease or calm a perpetrator to survive. Fawning is also different to the other F responses, in that it seems to be a uniquely human response. <h2>Why do people fawn?</h2> <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/2447256147/abstract/13E401AC2C1C40C6PQ/1">Research</a> suggests people fawn for two reasons: <ol> <li>to protect themselves or others from physical or emotional harm (such as childhood trauma)</li> <li>to create or improve the emotional connection to the perpetrator of harm (for example, a caregiver).</li> </ol> This type of response is adaptive at the time of the traumatic event(s): by appeasing an attacker or perpetrator, it helps the person avoid harm. However, if a person continues to use this type of response in the long term, as an automatic response to everyday stressors (such difficult interactions with your boss or neighbour), it can have negative consequences. If a person is continually trying to appease others, they may experience issues with boundaries, forming a cohesive identity, and may not feel safe in relationships with others. <h2>What can I do if I ‘fawn’?</h2> Because fawning is typically a response to interpersonal or complex trauma, using it in response to everyday stressors may indicate a need for healing. If this is you, and you have a history of complex trauma, seek psychological support from a professional who is trained in trauma-informed practice. Trauma-informed means the psychological care is holistic, empowering, strengths-focused, collaborative and reflective. Evidence-based therapies that are helpful following trauma include: <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/">eye movement desensitisation therapy</a>, which focuses on <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-emdr-therapy-and-how-does-it-help-people-who-have-experienced-trauma-161743">processing traumatic memories</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/exposure-therapy#:%7E:text=In%20this%20form%20of%20therapy,reduce%20fear%20and%20decrease%20avoidance.">exposure therapy</a> to help expose people to things they fear and avoid </li> <li> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4396183/">trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy</a> that aims to alleviate trauma symptoms by overcoming unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. </li> </ul> Depending on where you live, <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommissionresponse.gov.au/support-services">free counselling services</a> may be available for people who have experienced childhood abuse. Setting healthy boundaries is also a common focus when working with the fawn response, which you can do by yourself or alongside a therapist. If this article has raised issues for you or you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.<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/205024/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alix-woolard-409037">Alix Woolard</a>, Senior Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/telethon-kids-institute-1608">Telethon Kids Institute</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/what-is-fawning-how-is-it-related-to-trauma-and-the-fight-or-flight-response-205024">original article</a>.

Caring

Pitt stop! Snubbed rookie’s hilarious response to Brad Pitt’s F1 debut

Brad Pitt is set to make his formula one debut at the Silverstone Grand Prix for his upcoming F1 movie that is co-produced by British F1 Driver, Lewis Hamilton. News that the Hollywood heartthrob will drive an adapted F2 car as part of his role prompted a hilarious response from snubbed rookie Colton Herta, who was denied a super-licence last year because he didn’t have enough points. “Brad Pitt got a super license before me. Tough,” he tweeted in response to the news. “You're not experienced enough mate! 😂,” another user jokingly replied. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Brad Pitt got a super license before me. Tough. <a href="https://t.co/r7gedm1esn">https://t.co/r7gedm1esn</a> — Colton Herta (@ColtonHerta) <a href="https://twitter.com/ColtonHerta/status/1654225843042787330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2023</a></blockquote> The Mr. & Mrs. Smith actor will begin filming on-site at the Silverstone Grand Prix in July between the main F1 sessions. Pitt will play a retired driver making his comeback, and while the movie remains untitled, the project is being led by Joseph Kosinski, director of Top Gun: Maverick and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Hamilton has also spoken up about his involvement and experience in co-producing the film. “I don’t know absolutely every single plan with all the things we’ll be doing in the paddock, I’m more focused on making sure the script is where it needs to be,” he said. “That’s where all the time is currently, going through the script. “We’ve got a really great and diverse cast. Joe’s focus is to make us as embedded in this sport as possible. For me it’s to make sure it’s authentic, and that all of you and racing fans see its authenticity and say ‘this is believable’, and have a view of racing from a different perspective than you might see on TV. “I’m spending a lot of time right now helping Joe and the team get the script right, it’s an amazing process and I’m really enjoying it.” Fans have also shared a bunch of memes in reaction to the news of Pitt being allowed to race on the track during Grand Prix weekends. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> brad pitt seeing max lap him for the 12th time <a href="https://t.co/fWMyLkSnYF">pic.twitter.com/fWMyLkSnYF</a> — Maude⁴⁷ (@schumihoney) <a href="https://twitter.com/schumihoney/status/1654216747048742917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> brad pitt at turn one in silverstone <a href="https://t.co/168nTurA43">pic.twitter.com/168nTurA43</a> — bella (@lovesjenson) <a href="https://twitter.com/lovesjenson/status/1654235239911415808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Colton Herta when Brad Pitt is allowed to join F1 without any super licence points but he isn't <a href="https://t.co/Utlt6fRBLz">pic.twitter.com/Utlt6fRBLz</a> — F1 Updates (@paddock2go) <a href="https://twitter.com/paddock2go/status/1654222779900633088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2023</a></blockquote> Images: Getty

Movies

Young girl who penned heartfelt letter to King Charles is floored by response

An 11-year-old girl from New South Wales has captured hearts with her touching words and well-wishes for King Charles III. Maeve Malone, who lives in Willoughby with her family, wrote a letter to the monarch in September 2022 to offer her condolences on the loss of Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth, and to let him know that she believes he will be a “fantastic king”. Maeve’s letter, which she shared with Ben Fordham on his 2GB series, opened with a quick introduction, before she launched into the heart of her message, writing that she was “really sorry to hear about your mum. I am 10 and in Year 4, Mum and Dad let me stay up to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. “You were so brave on that sad day. I think you will be excellent at leading the commonwealth. I also believe you will be a fantastic king.” At the end of the page - one embellished with colourful images of purple flowers - Maeve shared another personal message for Charles, letting him know of their shared interest in botany when she said, “Mum told me you like gardening, me too! I hope the flowers in your new home are blossoming.” “I hope to visit London one day,” she concluded. “When I do, I will go past your home and think of you and your mum. “Best of luck with your new job.” After reading Maeve’s letter, radio host Fordham checked in with the young girl, asking her what had prompted her to put pen to paper and contact Charles in the first place. “I wrote it because I wanted him to know that I was sorry for Queen Elizabeth,” Maeve explained, “I really liked Queen Elizabeth, ‘cause she was a really good leader, and it was really sad for Charles to lose his mum.” When Fordham asked what Maeve had expected from her kind words, and whether or not she had anticipated a response, the 11 year old was quick to admit that she hadn’t expected one. But to her delight, she’d been wrong, with a letter arriving in the mail, addressed to her and signed by the monarch. “I got it out of the letter box, and when I got it … I started jumping with joy,” Maeve said. That letter - typed up with Charles’ signature at the bottom - read, “it was so very kind of you to send me such a wonderfully generous message following the death of my beloved mother. “Your most thoughtful words are enormously comforting, and I cannot tell you how deeply they are appreciated at this time of immense sorrow.” And while Maeve’s entire day might have been made with the kind reply, she still won’t be able to tune in for her new friend’s big day - he might have his coronation to attend, but Maeve is a busy girl, and has a party of her own to get to. Images: Ben Fordham Live / 2GB

Family & Pets

Halle Berry's priceless response to troll over naked balcony pic

If you’ve got it, flaunt it. And if you’re Halle Berry, do it while sipping wine and basking in the sunshine, rising above a troll or two along the way. And that’s the exact approach the Academy Award winning actress has taken with her latest social media share, to the delight - and amusement - of fans all over. In a picture posted to Halle’s various online accounts, the 56-year-old can be seen standing nude on a balcony with a wine glass in hand, glowing in the light from above. Some strategic limb placement and shadow work keep the snap well within posting guidelines, though that likely wouldn’t have kept the actress from sharing her peaceful moment, with her caption reading “I do what I wanna do.” Comments flooded in for the Catwoman star, and while some were far more appropriate than others, the general consensus was that Halle should absolutely continue to do exactly what she wanted, with the heartfelt support of her fans behind her, and many applauding her bold statement. “Well behaved women never made history,” wrote author and wellness expert Maria Emmerich. “The blueprint,” declared American rapper Saweetie. “YES!!!!” gushed singer Kelly Rowland. “I’m 61. If I looked like her, I would be way worse!” said one fan. “She looks gorgeous.” “I just wanted to see the sunrise but this is 1000% better!” another chimed. <blockquote class="instagram-media" 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);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqyh2CYrZq6/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <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> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <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 style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqyh2CYrZq6/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Halle Berry (@halleberry)</a> </div> </blockquote> However, despite the celebration from the majority, there were still those who saw fit to spew their cruelty, with some going so far as to blame Halle’s joy in her body for any hardships in her relationships. Halle silenced them soon enough though, confirming with one fan that it had actually been her own boyfriend - singer Van Hunt - who took the picture. And when someone took issue with Halle daring to bare all in her 50s, the star once again took the high road (to the balcony), drawing attention to the sheer absurdity of the original comment with her unique - and entirely unforgettable - comeback. “Imagine being in your 50s still posting nudes for attention in menopause when you should be chilling with your grandkids,” wrote Halle’s hater, “ageing with dignity is no longer a thing.” And Halle, in a move that gave the ageist comment none of the attention it was craving, merely asked of her followers, “did you guys know the heart of a shrimp is located in its head?” The comment was never going to sit well with the actress, who has been open about her thoughts on ageing in Hollywood - and life in general - in the past, even telling AARP in 2022 that “we’re all going to get older. Our skin is going to shrivel up and we’re going to look different. I see things changing with my face and body, but I’ve never put all my eggs in that basket. I’ve always known that beauty is deeper than the physical body you’re walking around in.” “I refuse to become someone who just tries to hold on to a youthful face and not embrace what’s most important about being beautiful - how you live your life, how you give back to others, how you connect to people, how you strengthen your mind, body, and soul and nourish yourself, how you give in a meaningful way of yourself. The most beautiful people have something radiating inside. “Women are told that when we reach a certain number, we’re no longer valuable. I believe the opposite. Society should look at us as jewels as we get older. “Because the older women get, the more formidable we are.” Images: Instagram

Beauty & Style

"Who wants me around?" Sarah Ferguson's hilarious Coronation response

Sarah Ferguson has joked about being invited to King Charles' Coronation in May, claiming she hasn't received an invitation. While in New York to promote her new book, titled A Most Intriguing Lady, a question came from the audience if she was planning to attend the royal event, given some members of the royal family, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, had already received their email invites. "TBD [to be determined]," she said before asking, "The invitations haven't gone out yet. Have they?" After a murmured response from the crowd, the Duchess quipped that her invitation could be waiting for her at home. "I'm travelling at the moment, so maybe it [invitation] has gone to another place," she said to host and Glamour magazine editor Samantha Barry. "The invitations haven't gone out yet, so I don't know if I'm going to be there because, you know, who wants me around," she joked. Fergie also joked about other grand plans she may have for the big day if she doesn't make it to Westminster Abbey. "Well I've decided the best thing about being British around a coronation - although I've never been to one - I think we should, I should set up a tea room at the bottom of the drive with bunting and cakes," she said. When asked if she had any advice for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have received their invitation but are yet to announce if they'll attend amid the deepening family rift, Fergie said she aimed to "lead by example" to the young royals. "I think the best way to answer that is to really take hold and lead by example," she said. "I wouldn't give advice, I would say that your actions speak louder than words." Image credits: Getty Images

Family & Pets

Bindi Irwin slammed for "useless" response to animal tragedy

Bindi Irwin has come under fire for her "pathetic, useless" response to a "tragedy" at a wildlife farm in the US. The wildlife warrior was contacted on Twitter by Taylor Blake in Florida, asking for help to cure her emu Emmanuel, who has avian influenza. According to Taylor, avian flu has killed 99 percent of the other birds who live at Knuckle Bump Farms, in what she described as a "massive tragedy". Running out of options to save her celebrity emu, Taylor reached out to the Aussie wildlife warriors online. Bindi Irwin responded saying that, although Australia Zoo had treated more than 100,000 animals, it had “never treated an emu with this particular disease”. “We will need to rely on our fellow animal experts with more experience with this avian flu,” she began, in a tweet in response to Blake’s call for help. She signed off the response with, “Sending love and light your way from our entire family”. Bindi's response was quickly condemned online, with many suggesting the Irwins might have been able to do something to assist. “What a pathetic, useless reply,” one Twitter user began. “Zero effort to help when you are in a supposedly unique position to use your influence and contacts to actually help her.” Another wrote, “There is a lot they (the Irwins) can do. Very few people have their massive access.” “Thoughts and prayers are nice, but is there not someone you could recommend, given your family has been in this field for years?” another said. “Empty words.” Added another, “So you don’t know of anyone in your network who could help? “One would assume it wouldn’t be hard for you to ask around or spread the word in the hopes someone with the right experience comes forward.” Despite the onslaught of criticism, others believed the Irwins would be helping in any way they could. One person said, “I feel quietly certain that behind the scenes they are helping resource the right specialists for Emmanuel. Quiet achievers.” Image credits: Instagram

Family & Pets

Happy wife, happy life? A harmonious relationship is the responsibility of both partners

Relationships play a key role in people’s happiness. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00026-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">There are scholars</a> who study how people maintain good quality relationships and the challenges they face. Some challenges are beyond people’s control, including financial, familial and health stressors — however, there are things people can control to make their relationships stronger. For instance, people can avoid escalating conflict, criticizing a partner or acting too jealous. They can also do positive things in the relationship in the form of gratitude, laughter, sharing good news and experiencing new things together. Given that there are many needs to be juggled within and outside relationships, people have to decide what to focus on. In other words, to manage their lives, it is good for people to assess how things are going in various domains of their life by asking questions like: “Is my relationship satisfying? Could I be doing more to make it more satisfying?” <h2>Women as barometers</h2> There is a view among laypeople and relationship researchers that women are the “barometers” of relationships — that is, women’s judgments about their relationships are more predictive than men’s of future relationship satisfaction. There are several origins of this view including an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0601_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evolutionary</a> perspective that women have adapted a special ability that make them better able to sense when things are off or going well in relationships. Another explanation relates to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038593027002003" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender roles</a> and the idea that women serve the primary role in tending to relationships. The barometer hypothesis is captured by the popular saying “Happy wife, happy life,” but does the research support it? <h2>Testing the truth</h2> <a href="https://carleton.ca/pair/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">As a professor of social psychology at Carleton University and researcher</a> who studies happiness in relationships, I was part of an international team of researchers led by University of Alberta professor of family science and couples researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=3AJzUnEAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew Johnson</a> that analyzed more than 50,000 relationship-satisfaction reports to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209460119" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examine the validity of the old adage “happy wife, happy life.”</a> More specifically, in one study, a team of us recruited over 900 mixed-gender couples from the community and tracked their relationship satisfaction on a daily basis over three weeks. In another study, over 3,000 mixed-gender couples were assessed annually across five years. More broadly, we found that changes in relationship satisfaction today were linked to how satisfied people felt down the road. In other words, if a person feels higher-than-usual relationship satisfaction, the feeling seems to carry over into the next day and year. We also found that men’s and women’s relationship satisfaction ratings were equally strong predictors of their own, and their partner’s, relationship satisfaction reported the next day and the next year. That is, women’s judgements were not uniquely predictive of the future state of the relationship; women’s and men’s current ratings of relationship satisfaction had similar predictive effects. <h2>Satisfying relationships</h2> People’s relationship satisfaction levels change over time. It is important for couples to reflect and be aware of how things are going in their relationship and take stock and act on it. For instance, if things are going well in the relationship, people should double down on that so they can reap more rewards into the future. So if a couple just had a fun date night, rather than take a break, the couple should be looking for more opportunities to bond together. On the other hand, if a relationship is not going well, for instance, arguments are frequently escalating or the spark has fizzled, it is time to make some changes to alter the course of the relationship satisfaction path. <h2>‘Happy house, happy spouse’</h2> Our results imply that maintaining a relationship is a shared responsibility. This underscores the idea that partners influence one another and jointly shape romantic relationship satisfaction. Taken together, a more fitting way to describe the role of gender and relationship satisfaction predictions is “happy spouse, happy house.” This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/happy-wife-happy-life-a-harmonious-relationship-is-the-responsibility-of-both-partners-191288" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Relationships

Ellen DeGeneres’ frosty response to ex’s car crash

Ellen DeGeneres has commented on ex Anne Heche’s horrifying incident which has landed her in a coma. The 53-year-old actress was reportedly driving at an extraordinary 140km/h when she crashed her Mini Cooper into a house in Los Angeles. Her <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/new-details-of-actor-anne-heche-s-fiery-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">car burst into flames</a> and Anne was pulled out, suffering severe burns and has since ended up in a coma. Anne’s ex, talk show legend Ellen, was inquired about the incident and asked if she has spoken to her. “No, I have not. We’re not in touch with each other, so I wouldn’t know,” she responded, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/ellens-cold-response-to-ex-anne-heches-horror-car-crash/news-story/e58a3fbbd62c457c1e050a0206a70e55" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a> reported. Ellen was then asked if she had any well wishes for her former partner to which she just responded with a, “Sure, I don’t want anyone to be hurt”. The crash is <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/caring/actress-fighting-for-her-life-after-horror-car-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">currently being investigated</a> by the LAPD who have confirmed that if Anne is found to have been drunk she would face significant charges. "If found intoxicated, [Heche] could be charged with misdemeanour DUI hit and run. No arrests have been made so far,” a representative said. Anne’s representative has confirmed that she is in an “extreme critical condition”. “She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention,” her representative said. “She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident.” Anne and Ellen made their relationship public on the red carpet for the movie premiere of Volcanoes back in 1997. However, Anne was told she would lose her contract if she appeared with Ellen, who was also advised to appear alone. The pair did not adhere to what they were asked to do and instead showed up on the red carpet but were reportedly kicked out before the movie ended. Their relationship lasted three-and-a-half years before they broke it off and within hours, Anne was spotted at a stranger's house which saw the police called. She also had a public breakdown amid the break-up. Images: Getty

Caring

Plagiarism, John Hughes’ The Dogs and the ethical responsibilities of the novelist

John Hughes’s novel The Dogs has been withdrawn from the longlist for the Miles Franklin Prize after an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/09/miles-franklin-nominated-novelist-apologises-for-plagiarising-nobel-laureate-without-realising" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation by The Guardian</a> identified numerous instances of plagiarism. Hughes’s lifting of passages from other books has sparked furious debate and literary detective work – mostly on Twitter – prompting questions about the nature of influences, literary pastiche and the attribution of sources in novels. Hughes acknowledged he had unintentionally borrowed from the 2017 English translation of Nobel prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s The Unwomanly Face of War, after The Guardian applied document comparison software to both books, finding 58 similarities and some identical sentences. Further investigations by academic Emmett Stinson and writer and critic Shannon Burns exposed the apparent copying of passages from books such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/15/parts-of-john-hughess-novel-the-dogs-copied-from-the-great-gatsby-and-anna-karenina" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anna Karenina, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Great Gatsby</a>. This week, meanwhile, poet Lachlan Brown has posted <a href="https://twitter.com/lachbr/status/1538406796024377344" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a series of Google documents</a> identifying similarities between phrases and passages in The Dogs and those in Eric Newby’s Love and War in the Apennines, W.B. Sebald’s The Emigrants, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t9k9aZGMgofYcRNbMCvO0LZB4Zyv0gNq/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amos Oz’s Judas</a>, and Loren Eiseley’s <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-xE6x9b99s26jukvfLjWd71idOy9f0zd/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Invisible Island</a>. Australian National University academic Millicent Weber has also added to the <a href="https://twitter.com/Millicent_Weber/status/1538759965694783489" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing list</a>, highlighting similarities between phrases used by Hughes and phrases in work by five other writers including Saul Bellow and Nadezhda Mandel’shtam. In response to the accusations of plagiarism, Hughes released two statements. In the first, he explained he had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/09/miles-franklin-nominated-novelist-apologises-for-plagiarising-nobel-laureate-without-realising" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inadvertently incorporated passages typed up from Alexievich’s book</a> into transcripts from his grandparent’s stories of surviving the second world war, which appear fictionalised in The Dogs. Hughes apologised to Alexievich and her translators “for using their words without acknowledgement”. Last Thursday, however, after further revelations, Hughes released a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/16/john-hughes-i-am-not-a-plagiarist-and-heres-why" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second, longer statement,</a> explaining why he was not a plagiarist. Rather than a mea culpa, he drew on arguments first proffered by the Romantic poets of the <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199644179.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199644179-e-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">late 18th century</a> about the impossibility of originality, and the importance of drawing on other writers’ work as part of the creative process. “It is a rare writer who doesn’t use the work of other writers in their own work”, Hughes said. He went on to cite modernist poet T.S. Eliot, who wrote in his 1920 essay collection, The Sacred Wood: <blockquote> Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. </blockquote> The Dogs is a novel, in part, says Hughes, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/16/john-hughes-i-am-not-a-plagiarist-and-heres-why" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about secondhand stories</a>: fragmented, contradictory memories of war. It is a complex, multi-generational work, narrated by the protagonist, Michael Shamanov, a scriptwriter, and centring on his relationship with his elderly mother, Anna, who is slowly dying in a nursing home. Shifting between past and present, it traces the family’s traumatic history, exploring the tension between the need to remember and the desire to forget. The controversy around this novel, which was previously shortlisted for the New South Wales and the Victorian Premiers’ Literary Awards, echoes recent Australian plagiarism scandals, raising difficult questions about publishing and creative processes. But this one, to say the least, is especially messy. <h2>Cento defence</h2> In his statement of defence (published before this latest material was posted on Twitter), Hughes contended he is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/16/john-hughes-i-am-not-a-plagiarist-and-heres-why" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“no thief”</a>. He had “wanted the appropriated passages” – which, aside from those taken from Alexievich, he did not name – “to be seen and recognised as in a collage”. This is a common line of argument in plagiarism scandals, frequently understood as the “cento defence”. A cento is a poem comprised entirely of lines written by other poets, an ancient form of collage dating back to <a href="https://poets.org/glossary/cento" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Homer and Virgil</a> The success of this form is predicated on two key factors: the transformation of the “stolen” works into something new, interesting or valuable, and an explicit acknowledgement of the processes at work. But if, as Hughes claims, The Dogs takes “ventriloquism as its theme”, intra-textually signalling to the reader that experimental games such as pastiche are at play, why did this not form part of the contextual discussions about the novel? (Indeed Hughes’s publisher, Terri-ann White, said on Friday <a href="https://upswellpublishing.com/category/news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she felt “affronted”</a> on learning, from his second statement, that he wanted the appropriated passages to be recognised as in a collage.) Hughes is right: there is a legitimate tradition of bricolage and pastiche as artistic forms; but in doing so, even T.S. Eliot used extensive citations. Terri-ann White, <a href="https://upswellpublishing.com/category/news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went on to say</a>: <blockquote> I have published many writers who use collage and bricolage and other approaches to weaving in other voices and materials to their own work. All of them have acknowledged their sources within the book, usually in a listing of precisely where these borrowings come from. I should have pushed John Hughes harder on his lack of the standard mode of book acknowledgements where any credits to other writers (with permissions or otherwise) […] are held. I regret that now, as you might expect. To have provided a note in this book with attribution would have been the only way to treat it. </blockquote> The freedoms of fiction do not absolve the author of the need to reference when lifting passages of work from others. <h2>Conflicting statements</h2> Australia has a long history of literary scandals. One recent plagiarism case involved Newcastle poet Andrew Slattery, whose prize-winning poem Ransom, published in 2013, was discovered to be comprised of the work of 50 other poets, such as Charles Simic and Robert Bly. Slattery used the “cento defence”, claiming this poem was part of a “cynical experiment.” He acknowledged, however, that it should <a href="https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/1775720/newcastle-poet-in-plagiarism-scandal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“have included footnotes”</a>. In 2020, however, when poet Judith Beveridge was revealed by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/09/poetry-plagiarism-copying-maya-angelou-ira-lightman-will-storr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poetry sleuth</a> Ira Lightman to have used phrases borrowed from other poets in a number of her poems, including Incense, At Dusk, and Making Perfume, her confession and swift apology ensured there was <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Farts%2Fprime-ministers-top-poet-judith-beveridgeused-the-words-of-others%2Fnews-story%2F7978d96c83fb2cb5ee534c7cb147fc76&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-test-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comparatively little outrage.</a> Interestingly, in his book of autobiographical essays <a href="https://giramondopublishing.com/books/the-idea-of-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Idea of Home</a>, Hughes describes an early (but abandoned) <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Farts%2Freview%2Fdriven-to-obsession%2Fnews-story%2Fc1a113a20a7b159f553bb3b5297cccbb&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-test-score&V21spcbehaviour=append" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doctoral research project on Samuel Taylor Coleridge</a>. An English poet and literary critic, Coleridge – one of the founders of the English Romantic movement – was one of literature’s most <a href="https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/10/21/coleridge-and-plagiarism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notorious plagiarists</a>. Hughes’s case is made particularly messy and unusual by the conflicting statements offered by the author: not only is The Dogs ostensibly an example of pastiche, as noted, but apparently also the result of untidy note-keeping, and an unintended side effect of how “influence […] plays such a crucial role in the creative process”. As it continues to play out on Twitter, with yet more source texts being discovered, the scandal has focused attention on the responsibilities of the author, the complexities of writing fiction, and the ethics of creative practice. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/plagiarism-john-hughes-the-dogs-and-the-ethical-responsibilities-of-the-novelist-185386" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Images: Giramondo Publishing/Good Reads

Books

Readers respond: What responsibilities did you have at home when you were young?

We asked our readers what responsibilities they had at home when they were young and the responses were nothing short of surprising. From looking after younger siblings to having dinner ready because both parents were at work, here are just some of your awesome responses. Bernadette Heckford - Everything as my mother had seven kids. Being the eldest girl you helped her do chores. Taught me how to care for my home. Denise McGoldrick - We lived on a farm so when we got home from school we had to feed the pigs, ducks and chooks, cut up wood for the combustion stove, usually just splinters until we were old enough to do the big stuff. Only when our chores were finished we were allowed to watch TV for an hour, then bath, dinner, washing dishes and bed at 7.30pm. Also had to keep our rooms tidy and make our beds before leaving for school and have our uniforms and shoes ready the night before. Our Dad was an Army man, so was big on preparation. Still got my clothes ready the night before, so I am not running late. Peggy Czajka Bowser - Both parents worked so I had to prepare and get dinner ready for mum to cook, look after my little brother, do my own washing from the age of 12 and sometimes wash the whole family’s washing on weekends as well. Shopping, ironing, cleaning the floors, cut grass, general everyday cleaning of my room and put up with three painful lazy brothers as well. Diane Jack - Collect the eggs, bring in the wood my brother had chopped, set the table and do my homework. Gill Holman - Youngest of five and we all had chores. My dad even taught my brothers to sew on buttons and darn socks which he had learned to do in the RAF. We all learnt skills for life. Charlie Hedges - Keeping my room clean, helping to clean all common rooms, laundry, ironing, setting the table for meals, clearing and washing dishes, tending to my younger sibs, lawn mowing and raking leaves in the fall, anything else my parents asked. Our "payment" for family chores was a roof over our heads, food, basic wardrobe. If we wanted more we needed to find gainful employment outside of home. Kaye Whitbread - Helping Mum in the house. I was the only girl. Brothers did nothing. Judy Bagatella - I was responsible for all my five brothers and sisters. Washing up, taking them to the park ect. My parents had to both work. I didn't mind at all. When I was 19 though I moved away. Georgina Johnson - Keeping our room tidy and clean, helping prepare meals, ironing, chopping wood, and anything else that mum needed help with around the place. Also mowing the lawns with a hand mower. Petra Harris - To begin with, mum and dad had a servo open from 6am for five to six days a week so after school I usually went home (I was around 12) and started the evening meal prep. Other times I learnt to pump petrol and to get pocket money to go to the pictures. I ran a carpark for patrons of the footy club across the road. Then the parents bought a coffee lounge so when not at school I worked there before and after school and Saturday mornings, no pay/pocket money. Then I decided I would like a job and earn real money and the oldies were not impressed. I didn't resent my parents because they taught me good work ethic. If you would like to share a memory of your own click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/oversixtyNZ/posts/pfbid0ESVN4M8nQNRhJ78LpoZp1Ree5DSV7cK7VmmXiW81duBkymnwqPSmUDLSg2FRG7cjl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Retirement Life

Oops! Scientists identify the neurons responsible for learning from mistakes

Have you ever driven past an intersection and registered you should have turned right a street ago, or been in a conversation and, as soon as the words are out of your mouth, realised you really shouldn’t have said that thing you just did? It’s a phenomenon known as performance monitoring; an internal signal produced by the brain that lets you know when you’ve made a mistake. Performance monitoring is a kind of self-generated feedback that’s essential to managing our daily lives. Now, neuroscientists have discovered that signals from <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/brain-pleasers-the-neurons-that-respond-to-singing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neurons</a> in the brain’s medial frontal cortex are responsible for it. A <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm9922" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new study</a> published in Science reports that these signals are used to give humans the flexibility to learn new tasks and the focus to develop highly specific skills. “Part of the magic of the human brain is that it is so flexible,” says senior author Ueli Rutishauser, professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, US. “We designed our study to decipher how the brain can generalise and specialise at the same time, both of which are critical for helping us pursue a goal.” They found that the performance monitoring signals help improve future attempts of a particular task by passing information to other areas of the brain. They also help the brain adjust its focus by signalling how much conflict or difficulty was encountered during the task. “An ‘Oops!’ moment might prompt someone to pay closer attention the next time they chat with a friend, or plan to stop at the store on the way home from work,” explains first author Zhongzheng Fu, researcher in the Rutishauser Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai. The team recorded the activity of more than 1000 neurons in the medial frontal cortexes of human epilepsy patients (who had existing electrode brain implants to help locate the focus of their seizures) while they performed complex cognitive tasks. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p190553-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> In the first task, called the Stroop task, participants’ reading- and colour naming skills were tested. Viewing the written name of the colour, such as “red”, printed in the ink of a different colour, such as blue, they were asked to name the ink colour rather than the written word. In the second task – the Multi-Source Interference Task (MSIT) – participants were shown three digits on a screen (two the same number and the other unique) and had to press a button associated with the unique number while resisting the tendency to press the other (because it appears twice). The researchers noted that two types of neurons seemed to be at work: “error” neurons fired strongly after a mistake was made, while “conflict” neurons fired in response to the difficulty of the task. “When we observed the activity of neurons in this brain area, it surprised us that most of them only become active after a decision or an action was completed,” says Fu. “This indicates that this brain area plays a role in evaluating decisions after the fact, rather than making them.” Scientists have known for some time that there are two types of performance monitoring: domain general and domain specific. Domain general performance monitoring tells us when something goes wrong, which allows people to perform new tasks with little instruction. Domain specific monitoring tells them what went wrong, and is one way that people perfect individual skills. Previously it was thought that the different neurons responsible for these two forms were located in distinct parts of the brain, but this research has found that they’re actually intermingled in the medial frontal cortex. According to Rutishauser, understanding the mechanisms behind performance monitoring is critical to perfecting the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders in which it is extreme, for example obsessive compulsive disorder (overactive monitoring) and schizophrenia (underactive). <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=190553&title=Oops%21+Scientists+identify+the+neurons+responsible+for+learning+from+mistakes." width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/neurons-performance-monitoring/" 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/imma-perfetto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imma Perfetto</a>. Imma Perfetto is a science writer at Cosmos. She has a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Science Communication from the University of Adelaide. Image: Getty Images </div>

Body

Kyrgios' classy response to parking furore

After being the subject of some car-related naming and shaming, tennis champion Nick Kyrgios has parked the drama and attempted to “make amends”. Kyrgios took to Instagram to assure fans he is parking in “the right spot” after he was called out by a fellow resident of the inner Sydney suburb of Zetland via Facebook. “I’ve parked in the right spot, I’ve made amends,” he said in the clip. “Sorry for my inconvenient parking for one day, I’ve parked in the right spot. We’re in the middle of an NRL season guys so let’s talk about other sporting athletes, not where I’m parking … it’s all good now.” <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/kyrgios-car.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Nick Kyrgios shared a clip on Instagram confirming he had parked in a different spot and that it was “all good now”. Images: @k1ngkyrg1os (Instagram) Though the other resident didn’t directly name the star athlete, he heavily implied that Kyrgios was the “famous and quite notorious tennis player” who had been repeatedly parking their lime green Tesla in a car share zone. “Looking for some advice here, it’s a tricky one, we have a car share allocated spot right out the front of our apartment building,” the neighbour began his Facebook post, which was accompanied by a series of photos of the car. “Recently a very well known famous and quite notorious tennis player has decided that he is somehow entitled to park in it with his own vehicle. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/zetland.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="664" /> The Zetland local also shared photos of the culprit’s car parked in the car share zone. Image: <a href="https://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis-2022-nick-kyrgios-under-fire-entitled-parking-job-030301447.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yahoo News</a> “I don’t want to name and shame the guy but he’s very famous and parks in this car share space almost nightly, meaning that anybody that has a Go Get or Car Next Door vehicle has no option to park there, as you can see the other night our friends had to park their Car Next Door vehicle illegally behind him as he had parked his car in the dedicated car share space?” The neighbour went on to ask whether he should “just let this guy go” because he’s an athlete, adding that it was more about the “principle and setting a good example” than the $400 fine that Kyrgios - who has earned $9 million in prize money during his career. <blockquote class="instagram-media" 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);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ304XEJLxv/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <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> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <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 style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ304XEJLxv/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Nick Kyrgios (@k1ngkyrg1os)</a> </div> </blockquote> Among the mix of commenters who defended or criticised Kyrgios, his partner, Costeen Hatzi, also shared her two cents, writing that he “didn’t realise” what kind of spot he was parking in. “Hey all, to be fair, he didn’t realise it was a car share spot,” she commented. “He parked there to allow other car spots for those who can’t find parking in the area. “Nick understands and will move his car. Thank you all for your kind messages.” Images: @k1ngkyrg1os (Instagram) / Yahoo News

Legal

“It’s not the time”: Gavaskar roasted over Shane Warne response

Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has copped a slew of online criticism after his comments about Shane Warne just days after his death. Gavaskar was just one of many who paid tribute to Warnie after his sudden death on March 4th while he was holidaying in Thailand. While the former Indian captain had plenty of kind words to share, he refused to cave when asked if Warne was the greatest ever spinner. "No, I wouldn't say that no. For me the Indian spinners and Muttiah Muralitharan were better than Shane Warne," he told India Today. "Look at Shane Warne's record against India, it was pretty ordinary." "In India, he got five wickets only once in Nagpur, and that too because Zaheer Khan swung wildly against him to give him a five-for. Because he did not have much success against Indian players who were very good players of spin, I don't think I would call him the greatest." "Muttiah Muralitharan with a greater success he had against India, I would rank him over Warne in my book." While the greatest spinner conversation is a reasonable topic to discuss, many were outraged by Gavaskar's timing. Sports journalists and fans alike took to Twitter to call out the cricketer, saying the comments were distasteful given the circumstances. "Honestly, Sunny, it's not the time ... could have just sidestepped it," British journalist Jack Mendel wrote on Twitter. "The body isn't even cold yet". Both Warne and Muralitharan struggled during their careers due to the difficult playing conditions in India, despite their prodigious wicket-taking abilities elsewhere in the world. The Aussie finished with 34 wickets in the nine Tests he played in India, with those coming at an unflattering average of 43.11. Muralitharan did not fare much better, grabbing 40 wickets in 11 Tests played in India at an average of 45.45. Gavaskar's out-of-pocket comments were more head-scratching as it came after he admitted Warne's leg spin was the toughest art to master as a bowler. "He mastered a craft which is so difficult to master, which is wrist spin," he said. "To pick 700-plus wickets like he did in Test cricket plus hundreds more in one-day cricket just tells you how good a bowler he was." Gavaskar opened up on the moment he found out about Warne's death, saying a text message from his son had left him stumped. "A big shock, a real big shock because who expects anybody to pass at the age of 52," he said. "Within 24 hours the cricket world has lost two giants of the game, not just Australian cricket, but the cricket world. This is unbelievable. It's hard to come to grips with." Image credits: Getty Images

News

Two years on from the first COVID case, New Zealand’s successful pandemic response still faces major challenges

Two years ago today, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in Aotearoa New Zealand. Few of us could have imagined the huge impact this pandemic would still be having two years later. As New Zealand enters its third year of the pandemic, we are facing widespread community transmission as an epidemic wave of the Omicron variant sweeps across the country. A majority of New Zealanders <a href="https://cpb-ap-se2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.auckland.ac.nz/dist/c/828/files/2021/07/omicron-preliminary.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may become infected</a> in coming months, but many with few or no symptoms. Australian experience suggests we might see a peak of around <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/covid-19-hospitalisation-peaks-in-australian-states-since-omicron-emerged-potential-relevance-to-aotearoa-nz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,100 people with COVID-19 in hospitals</a> during March and April. We have previously written about the challenges apparent after <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-months-after-new-zealands-first-covid-19-case-its-time-for-a-more-strategic-approach-144936" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six months</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-year-on-from-the-arrival-of-covid-19-in-nz-5-lessons-for-2021-and-beyond-155367" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one year</a> of the pandemic. Today, we examine what we’ve learned — the major challenges that have persisted or emerged and how New Zealand can manage them to achieve the best possible outcomes. Shifting strategies New Zealand has demonstrated the benefits of a science-informed response with a <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4907" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strong strategic focus</a>. During the first year of the pandemic when there were no vaccines available, the <a href="https://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/new-zealands-elimination-strategy-for-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-what-is-required-to-make-it-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elimination strategy</a> protected people and the economy. Following the emergence of the Delta variant, <a href="https://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/the-next-phase-in-aotearoa-new-zealands-covid-19-response-tight-suppression-may-be-optimal-for-health-equity-and-wellbeing-in-the-months-ahead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tight suppression</a> was also highly effective. Now, with the growing surge driven by the Omicron variant, New Zealand has been forced to shift to a <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/preparing-for-omicron-a-proactive-government-response-is-urgently-needed-to-minimise-harms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mitigation strategy</a>. New Zealand’s strategic approach has supported the country in achieving some of the world’s <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/mortality-declines-in-aotearoa-nz-during-the-first-two-years-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lowest COVID-19 mortality rates and increased life expectancy</a>. New Zealand has also had a relatively small amount of time in lockdown and comparatively <a href="https://www.oecd.org/economy/new-zealand-economic-snapshot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">good economic performance</a>. To achieve these successes, New Zealand has had to deliver major public health interventions very rapidly and their limitations have become apparent over time. Border quarantine is <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/215/7/failures-quarantine-systems-preventing-covid-19-outbreaks-australia-and-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener">difficult to maintain</a> if not done well and creates <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/its-a-case-of-wait-and-see-grounded-kiwis-wrap-up-two-day-bid-for-judicial-review/X43JEMEEEL47I7JBPHTZIBJPFI/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severe consequences for some</a>. The vaccine rollout has been <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o180" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highly inequitable</a>. Mandates for vaccine and mask use have been divisive and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/09/lets-remember-why-we-are-here-new-zealand-anti-vax-protest-splinters-into-jibes-and-jabs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sometimes vigorously opposed</a> by a vocal minority. Challenges and opportunities ahead The experience of the last two years highlights five major opportunities to enhance New Zealand’s pandemic response and achieve lasting benefits for our ability to manage other major public health threats. 1. Taking a precautionary approach in the face of uncertainty Possibly the biggest challenge has been the changing nature of the pandemic threat itself. The virus <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03792-w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continues to evolve</a> and new variants of concern with increased infectiousness have emerged. We do not know whether future variants will be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/11/will-covid-19-become-less-dangerous-as-it-evolves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more or less virulent</a>. Omicron shows a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00438-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high capacity for reinfection</a> which will need to be managed if this variant remains dominant. Optimistically, we may see the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00100-3/fulltext?s=09" target="_blank" rel="noopener">end of the pandemic</a> though not the end of COVID-19. The full population impact of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02598-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post-acute illness</a> (long COVID) is not yet known and evidence about <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00177-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prevention</a> and management is still at an early stage. 2. Enhancing equity and better protecting the most vulnerable The move to mitigation (from elimination and suppression) shifts protection away from the collective, population-level focus to individual measures like vaccination, mask use and self-isolation. Despite a strongly stated commitment to equity, Māori and Pasifika have <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/23-02-2022/the-spinoff-covid-tracker-the-live-graphs-that-tell-the-story-of-delta-in-aotearoa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lower vaccine and booster coverage rates</a>. They are also <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over-represented among COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations</a>. Mitigation aims to flatten the epidemic curve to protect the healthcare system from being overwhelmed. During such periods, there is potential for the most vulnerable (people who are Māori, Pasifika, low-income, living with other illnesses and disabilities) to miss out on care. There are multiple ways of improving equity in the response. These include greater support for Māori and Pasifika <a href="https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Covid-Priority-W.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health providers</a>, further efforts to <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/eliminating-maori-inequities-in-covid-19-outcomes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise vaccine coverage for Māori</a> in particular, policies to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125804726/sick-leave-increase-what-you-need-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support sick workers staying at home</a> and a <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/making-the-most-of-masks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national mask strategy</a> that makes effective masks freely available. We also need a stronger focus on protecting children’s health and well-being, including a pivot to a whānau-centred approach and efforts to reduce transmission in <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/tag/ventilation-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">schools</a> and <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/strengthening-omicron-mitigation-strategies-in-early-childhood-education-settings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early childhood education</a>. 3. Improving communication, policy responsiveness and trust Pandemics are different from other public health emergencies because the behaviour of individuals directly affects the level of risk for the wider population. Inevitably, after two years, the response has become more contested and social cohesion has weakened. Some of this shift appears fuelled by the global pandemic of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/26/so-many-rabbit-holes-even-in-trusting-new-zealand-protests-show-fringe-beliefs-can-flourish" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disinformation</a>. The New Zealand government can enhance public trust by showing that the response is risk-based, for example by phasing out travel restrictions and border isolation requirements now that Omicron infection is widespread. Some mandates are needed for critical public health interventions but require continuing review to ensure they are proportionate. Trust and <a href="https://informedfutures.org/social-cohesion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social cohesion</a> will also be improved by maximising transparency around the pandemic response, with clear statements about the rationale and level of risk, supported with evidence and local surveillance data presented in meaningful ways. We also need <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/cracking-the-misinformation-code" target="_blank" rel="noopener">specific strategies</a> to reduce misinformation and disinformation on social media. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448759/original/file-20220227-95880-851xvy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Tent and sign from an anti-mandate protest." /><figcaption>Anti-mandates protests have been partly fuelled by misinformation. Adam Bradley/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</figcaption></figure> 4. Improving evidence-informed leadership and adaptability While New Zealand’s science-informed strategic response has been generally successful, it has at times been reactive rather than proactive in rapidly adapting to changes in the pandemic. We need better mechanisms, such as the multi-party <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/history-and-buildings/special-topics/epidemic-response-committee-covid-19-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">epidemic response committee</a> of parliamentarians, and advisory processes that ensure high-level science input into the all-of-government response. This could include the formation of a COVID-19 science council/rōpu. Other measures include a <a href="https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/research-and-data/nzris/covid-19-research-database/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">well-resourced research strategy</a> to provide high-quality scientific evidence and an <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/five-key-reasons-why-nz-should-have-an-official-inquiry-into-the-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official inquiry</a> to assess the pandemic response and drive wider system improvements. 5. Investing in public health infrastructure The current <a href="https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-units/transition-unit/response-health-and-disability-system-review/information" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health sector reforms</a> are an opportunity to establish essential infrastructure, including a Public Health Agency and Māori Health Authority. Investment in the national immunisation register may help with reversing the recent <a href="https://www.immune.org.nz/sites/default/files/publications/Coverage%20Report%20-%20July%202021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decline in childhood immunisations</a>. The pandemic also demonstrates that <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/rethinking-rebreathing-how-to-end-the-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clean indoor air</a> is as essential to health as clean drinking water. We should learn from other countries that have also delivered effective responses. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanwpc/article/PIIS2666-6065(20)30044-4/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taiwan is an example</a> we have previously documented. In summary, New Zealand is well placed to navigate the pandemic and the Omicron wave successfully. As we enter our third pandemic year, we can improve the effectiveness of our response by maintaining a precautionary approach in the face of uncertainty. We also need to improve equity, communication and trust, and evidence-informed leadership, as well as investing in public health infrastructure. These improvements will provide legacy benefits that <a href="https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/pq/article/view/6550/5715" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prepare us well for other public health challenges</a> we face.<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/177134/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-baker-169808" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Baker</a>, Professor of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Otago</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amanda-kvalsvig-1143399" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amanda Kvalsvig</a>, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Otago</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matire-harwood-1323164" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matire Harwood</a>, Associate Professor Department of General Practice and Primary Care, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Auckland</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-wilson-133898" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nick Wilson</a>, Professor of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Otago</a> 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/two-years-on-from-the-first-covid-case-new-zealands-successful-pandemic-response-still-faces-major-challenges-177134" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Domestic Travel

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

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.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.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>.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.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.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.Spotify’s responseSpotify 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.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>:<blockquote>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.</blockquote>Does it go far enough?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.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. 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.Platform or publisher?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>.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.<figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443600/original/file-20220201-19-1kyj1oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Logos of big tech platforms" /><figcaption>Tech platforms like to claim they’re not publishers. Pixabay, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY</a></figcaption></figure>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.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.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>.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.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.How best to combat misinformation?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?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.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.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.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" /><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-tuffley-13731" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Tuffley</a>, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Griffith University</a>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>.Image: Getty Images

Technology

Jacinda Ardern’s cool response to car chase by anti-vaxxers

Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, appeared unbothered by a car chase she was involved in that saw anti-vaxxers pursuing the van she was in, forcing it onto a kerb. Footage of the chase has recently gone viral online, showing a group of anti-vaccination activists use their own vehicles to attempt to block Ardern in the Bay of Islands. The group can be heard shouting abuse at Ardern’s vehicle as officers with the Diplomatic Protection Service stood guard. One shouted, “Shame on you!” while another shouted, “We do not consent”. Another protestor claimed Ardern was “hiding in the van”, calling her a “wussy” and a “Nazi”. The video also shows the vehicle attempting to pull on to the main road, taking to the footpath to avoid a car attempting to block it in. A woman in one of the cars pursuing it can be heard saying, “Oh this is fun! We‘re on a chase”, while a man says that the group just wanted “a few words” with Ardern. They joked, “We’re in pursuit for the Prime Minister”. Ardern described it as “just another day”, telling reporters, “at no point was I worried about my safety or the safety of anyone that was with me.” She added, “Every day is faced with new and different experiences in this job … We are in an environment at the moment that does have an intensity to it that is unusual for New Zealand. I do also believe that with time it will pass.” She said, “I see that as just being a reflection of the fact that we are the decision makers. And if people don’t like the decisions that are being made, then it’s us that of course will hear the feedback about that.” The chase comes amid a small but notable rise in threats towards public officials involved in New Zealand’s pandemic response, according to police data released to 1News this week. Threats to politicians reached a three-year high in one month last year. Most of the reports, which at times spiked to as many as 16 per month, involved threats aimed at Prime Minister Ardern. Lance Burdett, who protected former Prime Minister Helen Clark, said COVID-19 vaccinations had become a sticking point with a small minority. While close to 95% of adults in New Zealand are now fully vaccinated, some have strongly resisted getting the jab or the mandates that have come with the country’s pandemic response. Image: Mark Mitchell-Pool/Getty Images

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

Jacinda Ardern’s cool response to car chase by anti-vaxxers

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Woman's hilarious baby name idea sparks divided response

Our dogs can terrify (and even kill) wildlife. Here’s how to be a responsible owner this summer

"Leave the icebergs alone!": Absurd response to innocent Martha Stewart post

How biological differences between men and women alter immune responses – and affect women’s health

What is ‘fawning’? How is it related to trauma and the ‘fight or flight’ response?

Pitt stop! Snubbed rookie’s hilarious response to Brad Pitt’s F1 debut

Young girl who penned heartfelt letter to King Charles is floored by response

Halle Berry's priceless response to troll over naked balcony pic

"Who wants me around?" Sarah Ferguson's hilarious Coronation response

Bindi Irwin slammed for "useless" response to animal tragedy

Happy wife, happy life? A harmonious relationship is the responsibility of both partners

Ellen DeGeneres’ frosty response to ex’s car crash

Plagiarism, John Hughes’ The Dogs and the ethical responsibilities of the novelist

Readers respond: What responsibilities did you have at home when you were young?

Oops! Scientists identify the neurons responsible for learning from mistakes

Kyrgios' classy response to parking furore

“It’s not the time”: Gavaskar roasted over Shane Warne response

Two years on from the first COVID case, New Zealand’s successful pandemic response still faces major challenges

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

Jacinda Ardern’s cool response to car chase by anti-vaxxers

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