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How mistaken identity can lead to wrongful convictions

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hayley-cullen-423538">Hayley Cullen</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a> In March 1976, American Leonard Mack was convicted of sexual assault and holding two female victims at gunpoint. In September 2023, Mack’s wrongful conviction was finally overturned by a New York judge on his 72nd birthday with the help of the <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/news/hit-in-dna-database-proves-leonard-macks-innocence-after-47-years-of-wrongful-conviction/">Innocence Project</a>, an organisation that uses DNA evidence to prove factual innocence. Mack’s conviction took 47 years to overturn. He served seven-and-a-half of these years in a New York prison. His case is the <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/news/8-moving-moments-from-leonard-macks-historic-exoneration-after-47-years/">longest</a> in United States history to be overturned using DNA evidence. In June 2023, a similar historic moment occurred in Australia. Kathleen Folbigg was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/05/kathleen-folbigg-pardoned-after-20-years-in-jail-over-deaths-of-her-four-children">pardoned and released</a> after 20 years in prison for the murder and manslaughter of her four young children. Considered one of the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/folbigg-release-would-make-chamberlain-case-pale-into-insignificance-20230307-p5cpya.html">worst miscarriages of justice</a> in Australian history, Folbigg’s release has sparked discussion over whether Australia needs a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/12/not-a-rare-case-kathleen-folbigg-pardon-sparks-calls-for-new-body-to-review-possible-wrongful-convictions">formalised body</a> to deal with post-conviction appeals. Mack and Folbigg are only two individuals on different sides of the world who have spent decades fighting to prove their innocence. Many others are still fighting. The prevalence of wrongful convictions is hard to determine. The <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/about.aspx">National Registry of Exonerations</a> in the United States has recorded 3,396 exonerations nation-wide since 1989. But data on official exonerations fail to capture the many individuals whose convictions are yet to be overturned. Estimates of the prevalence of wrongful convictions in the United States range from <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/08874034221106747?casa_token=DL_gPkxNcI8AAAAA:uI-en9junmLXXScDGthXAuC9JcLsxp5OF1J4QB1WdA2L2cZRcwRuwtxVmIMiKYbYaSDj_ji4EdPSLA">0.5 to 5%</a>. The exact prevalence in Australia is less clear but we do know <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.801706351305383?casa_token=cpZBfZmh944AAAAA%3Ax_zYUlnogLjuDWl81jc38vmeOovzw44M171rP7G3ibNnU35rvWS0yeIO_Ad0eBa54nE54KxaKzIb3w4">71 cases of wrongful convictions</a> have been identified in Australia between 1922 to 2015. Some have argued there could be <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.308199161216493">350 convictions per year</a> of individuals who are factually innocent in Australia. A witness mistakenly identifying an innocent suspect is common in many wrongful conviction cases. Eyewitness misidentification is the leading contributing factor in wrongful convictions overturned by the <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/exonerations-data/">Innocence Project</a>, present in 64% of their successful cases. In Australia, <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.801706351305383?casa_token=cpZBfZmh944AAAAA%3Ax_zYUlnogLjuDWl81jc38vmeOovzw44M171rP7G3ibNnU35rvWS0yeIO_Ad0eBa54nE54KxaKzIb3w4">6%</a> of recorded wrongful convictions involved an eyewitness error. This may be an underestimate given many applications to innocence initiatives in Australia alleging wrongful conviction, such as the <a href="https://bohii.net/">Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative</a>, report <a href="https://bohii.net/blog/positiononestablishingccrcas">eyewitness evidence</a> as a potential contributing factor. In Mack’s case, two victims misidentified him as the perpetrator. These identifications proved to be instrumental in his wrongful conviction. How did the two victims get it wrong? <h2>How problematic procedures influence eyewitnesses</h2> Eyewitness identification evidence relies on witnesses to accurately remember criminal perpetrators. Several factors affect eyewitness memory accuracy. Features of the crime can impact memory, such as whether it was light or dark, or whether the perpetrator wore a disguise. Memory can also be affected by characteristics of the witness at the time of the crime, such as their stress or intoxication levels. These factors are present at the time of the crime and cannot be changed. What is perhaps more crucial is that eyewitness memory can also be affected by the procedures law enforcement use to collect identification evidence. In <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/news/hit-in-dna-database-proves-leonard-macks-innocence-after-47-years-of-wrongful-conviction/">Mack’s case</a>, there were serious problems with the procedures used to get the identifications from the victims. One of the victims made three separate identifications of Mack. Witnesses should only complete one identification procedure for each suspect, because the first identification will bias future identification attempts. For two of the identifications the victim made, she was only shown Mack by himself surrounded by police. Showing a lone suspect without any other lineup members may <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-29406-3_2">increase mistaken identifications</a>, particularly when the context in which they are shown is highly suggestive. Seeing Mack in handcuffs and in the presence of police may have led the victim to identify him. Mack was the only person shown to the witness in these identification attempts, so the police officers organising the process knew he was the suspect. “Single-blind” administration of identification procedures – where the police officers organising the lineup know who the suspect is – increase the likelihood of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-49224-002">mistaken identifications</a>. For the other identification this victim made, she picked Mack out of a photo lineup containing seven images. Mack’s photo was the only photo in the lineup that contained visible clothing and the year (1975) in the background. All members of a lineup must be matched and no one lineup member <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/lhb-lhb0000359.pdf">should stand out</a>, but Mack’s photo was distinct. With all these problematic practices combined, we can see how Mack was misidentified and convicted. In 2020, a team of eyewitness experts published <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/lhb-lhb0000359.pdf">nine evidence-based recommendations </a>for conducting identification procedures. These recommendations serve to reduce mistaken identifications and enhance accurate ones. The recommendations address the problematic practices in Mack’s case, but also include things like making sure there is sufficient evidence to place a suspect in a lineup, and giving appropriate instructions to witnesses during the procedure. Identification procedures should also be video recorded to identify any poor practices. While these recommendations will go a long way to reducing wrongful convictions resulting from faulty eyewitness identifications, they will only be effective if followed by police. The next step is ensuring these recommendations are embedded into everyday policing practice.<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/214844/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hayley-cullen-423538">Hayley Cullen</a>, Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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-mistaken-identity-can-lead-to-wrongful-convictions-214844">original article</a>.

Legal

Counting the wrong sheep: why trouble sleeping is about more than just individual lifestyles and habits

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-breheny-1269716">Mary Breheny</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rosie-gibson-1051224">Rosie Gibson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a> Sleep may seem straightforward – everyone does it, after all. But as many of us know, getting enough sleep is not necessarily a simple task, despite what you might read in the media. How to sleep “properly” is a favourite topic of self-help articles, with <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/expert-advice-good-nights-sleep-27900333">headlines</a> such as “Expert advice to get a good night’s sleep whatever your age” promising the answer to your nocturnal awakenings. Older people are commonly the audience of these messages. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad058">Our analysis</a> of articles published in the New Zealand media between 2018 and 2021 found sleep is presented as inevitably declining with age. At the same time, sleep is portrayed as a cure for everything: a good night’s sleep is depicted as a way to maintain productivity, ward off illness and dementia, and ultimately live longer. But most of these articles are aimed at the individual and what they can do to improve their sleep. Often missing is any reference to the external factors that can contribute to poor sleep. <h2>Personal choice and sleep</h2> A key message in many of the articles we examined is that sleep is a simple matter of making the right choices. So, if you’re not getting enough sleep it’s probably your own fault. People are lectured about poor “<a href="https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/%7E/media/CCI/Mental-Health-Professionals/Sleep/Sleep---Information-Sheets/Sleep-Information-Sheet---04---Sleep-Hygiene.pdf">sleep hygiene</a>” – staying up too late looking at their phone, having too many cups of coffee, or not getting enough exercise during the day. And it’s true, drinking too much caffeine or staring at a screen into the small hours might interfere with sleep. It’s also true that good sleep is important for good health. But things are a bit more complicated than this. As anyone who has struggled to maintain good sleep knows, simple tips don’t always overcome the complex situations that contribute to these struggles. <h2>Awake to other factors</h2> Good sleep is not just a matter of “making the right choices”. Internationally, there’s a growing body of research showing sleep is affected by much more than individual behaviour: it’s often shaped by a person’s <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094412">social and economic circumstances</a>. New Zealand research is adding to this pool of knowledge. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235272181600019X?via=ihub">One study</a>, based on survey results from just over 4,000 people, found insufficient sleep was more common among Māori than non-Māori, partly due to higher rates of night work. International <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6524484/">research</a> has also found women are more likely to experience insomnia due to their caregiving roles. One US study found unpaid caregivers for children or parents (or both) reported shorter sleep quantity and poorer sleep quality than paid caregivers or people without such roles. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1471301220915071">survey</a> of 526 carers in New Zealand showed two-thirds reported mild or severe sleep disturbance. We also know lack of sleep is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/chronic_disease.html">linked to serious disease</a>, including diabetes and heart disease. Sleep duration and quality have been identified as predictors of levels of haemoglobin A1c, an important marker of blood sugar control. And hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease and irregular heartbeats have been found to be more common among those with disordered sleep than those without sleep abnormalities. Failure to acknowledge the social context of poor sleep means sleep messages in the media ignore the fundamental causes in favour of the illusion of a quick fix. <h2>The commodification of sleep</h2> Sleep is also increasingly characterised as a commodity, with a growing market for products – such as sleep trackers – that claim to help improve sleep quality. Sleep trackers promise to measure and enhance sleep performance. However, their reliability may be limited – <a href="https://mhealth.jmir.org/2021/6/e26462">one study found</a> the tested tracker did not accurately detect sleep, particularly in older adults who had greater levels of nighttime movement. Framing public health problems as matters of personal choice is common. Alcohol and fast-food consumption, for example, are regularly presented as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691619896252">matters of individual responsibility</a> and poor personal choices. The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hpja.737">role of marketing</a> and access to healthy food gets a lot less attention. Of course, simple tips for getting good sleep may be useful for some people. But ignoring the underlying social and economic factors that shape the possibilities for good sleep will not address the problem. Health promotion messages that focus on individual behaviour miss <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.12112">the structural barriers to better health</a>, including poverty, low levels of education, high rates of incarceration, substandard or crowded housing and racism. We need to move beyond messages of individual behaviour change and start talking about inequities that contribute to the problem of who gets a decent night’s sleep and who doesn’t.<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/210695/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-breheny-1269716">Mary Breheny</a>, Associate Professor of Health Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rosie-gibson-1051224">Rosie Gibson</a>, Senior lecturer, School of Psychology, Massey University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</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/counting-the-wrong-sheep-why-trouble-sleeping-is-about-more-than-just-individual-lifestyles-and-habits-210695">original article</a>.

Caring

Greta Thunberg slapped with first conviction over climate protest

Greta Thunberg has been fined by a court in Sweden after she refused to obey the orders of Swedish police officers at a climate change protest. The 20-year-old activist pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying she disobeyed the direct police order to leave a climate protest as an act of necessity. “My actions are justifiable,” Thunberg told the court in Malmö, according to local media outlets. “I believe that we are in an emergency that threatens life, health and property. Countless people and communities are at risk both in the short term and in the long term.” Thunberg was part of a group of protesters that blocked the road for oil trucks trying to gain access to Malmö harbour. She was charged for failing to leave when ordered to do so by police. Thunberg has been slapped with a fine for breaching the order, although it is not clear how much she will have to pay, as the fine will be based on her reported income. Thunberg became the face of the youth climate protest movement in 2018, when she began skipping school each Friday at the age of 15 to stage solo climate protests outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm, holding up a sign reading, “Skolstrejk för klimatet” (school strike for climate). Despite regular school strikes and protests losing some momentum with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Thunberg has continued to travel the world joining climate protests and speaking at international summits, urging world leaders to act on the climate crisis. Image credits: Getty Images

Legal

Is the Barbie movie a bold step to reinvent and fix past wrongs or a clever ploy to tap a new market?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-gurrieri-5402">Lauren Gurrieri</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> After a months-long marketing blitz, the much-hyped Barbie movie is released this week. From a <a href="https://news.airbnb.com/barbies-malibu-dreamhouse-is-back-on-airbnb-but-this-time-kens-hosting/">Malibu Barbie dreamhouse</a> listed on AirBnB, an AI tool that <a href="https://www.barbieselfie.ai/au/">transforms selfies into Barbie movie posters</a> and multiple Barbie-themed brand collaborations ranging from nail polish to roller skates, Barbie is everywhere. She has even gone viral as a fashion trend known as <a href="https://www.elle.com.au/fashion/barbiecore-27286">Barbiecore</a>, exploding across social media with people embracing vibrant pink hues and hyper feminine aesthetics. A Barbie world is upon us. Although some have criticised this <a href="https://twitter.com/MosheIsaacian/status/1673415496929267712">saturation</a> strategy, it is a very deliberate marketing ploy to revitalise and redefine a brand with a contested position and history. As well as attracting adults who grew up with Barbie and are curious to see what’s changed, the reinvention is drawing in those younger fans swept up by the tsunami of marketing and merchandise. Despite being one of the <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/brandspark-most-trusted-brands-america-2022">most trusted brands</a> with a value of approximately <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1009126/barbie-brand-value-worldwide/">$US700 million</a>, Barbie has long attracted feminist criticism for fuelling outdated and problematic “plastic fantastic” sexist stereotypes and expectations. <h2>The Barbie backlash</h2> Only a few years back, Barbie was a brand in crisis. <a href="https://time.com/3667580/mattel-barbie-earnings-plus-size-body-image/">Sales plummeted</a> across 2011 to 2015 against the cultural backdrop of a rise in body positivity and backlash against a doll that represented narrow ideals and an impossible beauty standard. After all, at life-size Barbie represents a body shape held by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01544300#page-1">less than 1 in 100,000</a> real people. In fact, she is so <a href="https://rehabs.com/explore/dying-to-be-barbie/#.UWs-5aKyB8F">anatomically impossible</a> that, if she were real, she would be unable to lift her head, store a full liver or intestines, or <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/305/6868/1575">menstruate</a>. The backlash has also been in response to growing concerns about how she influences child development, particularly how and what children learn about gender. Barbie has been identified as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144521000243#!">risk factor</a> for thin-ideal internalisation and body dissatisfaction for young girls, encouraging <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S174014451630208X">motivation for a thinner shape</a> that damages body image and self esteem. And despite the multiple careers Barbie has held over the decades, research highlights that girls who play with Barbie believe they have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-014-0347-y">fewer career options than boys</a>. This speaks to the power of toys to reinforce gender stereotypes, roles and expectations, and how Barbie has imported narrow ideals of femininity, girlhood and womanhood into young girls’ lives. <h2>Reinventing a long-established icon</h2> In response to this backlash, Mattel launched a new range of Barbies in 2016 that were promoted as <a href="https://shop.mattel.com/collections/fashion-dolls#filter.ss_filter_tags_subtype=Fashionistas">diverse</a>, representing different body shapes, sizes, hair types and skin tones. This was not without criticism, with “curvy” Barbie still considered thin and dolls named in ways that drew attention foremost to their bodies. From a white, well-dressed, middle-class, girl-next-door with friends of a similar ilk, Barbie has since been marketed as a symbol of diversity and inclusion. To signify the extent of the transformation, Mattel’s executives gave this project the code name “Project Dawn”. Mattel - like many other brands joining the <a href="https://theconversation.com/victorias-secret-joins-the-inclusive-revolution-finally-realizing-diversity-sells-163955">“inclusivity revolution”</a> - knew that diversity sells, and they needed to make their brand relevant for contemporary consumers. Diversity initiatives included a line of <a href="https://shop.mattel.com/pages/barbie-role-models">female role model dolls</a>, promoted as “introducing girls to remarkable women’s stories to show them you can be anything”. Barbie was also given a voice in the form of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5BsRl9zFaeSKIL4XD-pdGHGbJRvkfe8S">Barbie Vlogs</a>, where she expressed her views on issues including depression and the <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/barbies-vlog-about-the-sorry-reflex-is-the-feminist-pep-talk-all-90s-babies-need-to-hear-9852366">sorry reflex</a>. A gender neutral collection called “creatable world” was added in 2019 to open up gender expression possibilities when playing with Barbies. Such efforts were crucial to undoing missteps of the past, such as a “Teen Talk Barbie” that was programmed to say “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSL2-rbE9AM">Math class is tough!</a>”, or the compulsory heterosexuality that Barbie has long advanced. <h2>The latest step in Barbie’s transformation</h2> Barbie the film is simply the next step in an evolution to make brand Barbie inclusive. And with a rumoured film budget of $100 million, the supporting marketing machine provides a critical opportunity to reset the Barbie narrative. With Greta Gerwig, acclaimed director of female-led stories such as Little Women and Lady Bird at the helm, and a diverse cast of Barbies of different races, body types, gender identities and sexual preferences, the film and its creators have sought to assure audiences of the film’s feminist leanings. Addressing the complicated history of Barbie is crucial for audiences who grew up and played with the doll and are grappling with introducing her to the next generation of doll consumers. Yet, Robbie Brenner, executive producer of Mattel Films, has explicitly stated that Gerwig’s Barbie is “not a feminist movie”. Indeed, the main character still represents a narrow beauty standard - tall, thin, blonde, white - with diverse characters in place to support her narrative. Which begs the question: are these inclusion initiatives simply emblematic of diversity washing, where the language and symbolism of social justice are hijacked for corporate profit? Or do they represent a genuine effort to redress the chequered history of a brand that promotes poor body image, unrealistic ideals and rampant materialism? What is clear is that in today’s climate where brands are increasingly rewarded for taking a stand on sociopolitical issues, brand Barbie’s attempts to reposition as inclusive have paid off: sales are now booming. Seemingly, Barbie’s famous tagline that “anything is possible” has shown itself to be true.<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/209394/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-gurrieri-5402">Lauren Gurrieri</a>, Associate Professor in Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</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/is-the-barbie-movie-a-bold-step-to-reinvent-and-fix-past-wrongs-or-a-clever-ploy-to-tap-a-new-market-209394">original article</a>.

Movies

What is ‘reverse racism’ – and what’s wrong with the term?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mario-peucker-192086">Mario Peucker</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/victoria-university-1175">Victoria University</a> “Reverse racism” is sometimes used to describe situations where white people believe they are negatively stereotyped or discriminated against because of their whiteness – or treated less favourably than people of colour. “Reverse racism” claims have surfaced in the current debate around the <a href="https://theconversation.com/10-questions-about-the-voice-to-parliament-answered-by-the-experts-207014">Voice to Parliament</a> referendum. “The concept looks racist to me,” <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/building-a-voice-to-parliament-into-our-constitution-would-divide-us-along-racial-lines-and-do-nothing-to-change-the-past/news-story/794a86f16d664e6a4ebfbed589b27a01">wrote Sky News commentator Kel Richards</a> last August. Such views misrepresent the Voice as preferential treatment of First Nations peoples, falsely suggesting it would somehow weaken the political say of non-Indigenous Australians. Complaints of reverse racism can be found in the community more generally, too. “I think average, working-class, white Australian males have it the hardest out of anyone in society,” said one 23-year-old man in a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/3/1/19">2023 study</a> of Australian men, “we are the victims of reverse racism”. “Reverse racism” is an idea that focuses on prejudiced attitudes towards a certain (racialised) group, or unequal personal treatment – namely, discrimination. But it ignores one of racism’s central markers: power. “Prejudice plus (institutional) power” is the widely accepted basic definition of racism. Or, as <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-07453-002">two researchers defined it</a> in 1988: “Racism equals power plus prejudice.” In a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jun/04/aamer-rahman-reverse-racism-comedy-tour">famous 2013 sketch</a>, comedian Ahmer Rahman said, yes, reverse racism is possible … if you go back in a time machine and convince the leaders of Africa, Asia and the Middle East to invade and dominate Europe hundreds of years ago, leading to systemic inequality across every facet of social and economic life, “so all their descendants would want to migrate [to] where black and brown people come from”. Put simply, the concept of “reverse racism” – or “anti-white racism” – just doesn’t work, because racism is more than just prejudice. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dw_mRaIHb-M?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Comedian Ahmer Rahman unpacks ‘reverse racism’, and why making it real would need a time machine.</figcaption></figure> <h2>Why ‘reverse racism’ is a myth</h2> Prejudice and discrimination are inherently tied to historically rooted and entrenched, institutionalised forms of systemic racism and racial hierarchies, injustices and power imbalance. The continuing lack of diverse representation in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/25/the-47th-parliament-is-the-most-diverse-ever-but-still-doesnt-reflect-australia">political</a>, social and economic positions of influence is just one of many indicators that we’re still a long way from living in a post-racial society. White people may be called a derogatory name with a reference to their whiteness. They may be discriminated against: for example, by an ethnic business owner who prefers to employ someone from their community background. This may sometimes be unlawful. At other times, it may be a lawful form of “positive action” or “affirmative action”, aimed at reducing historically entrenched, intergenerational and systemic inequalities. But in all these instances – and regardless of whether it’s lawful or not – the term racism, or “reverse racism”, would not apply. <h2>How common are reverse racism claims?</h2> A representative US survey, conducted by PEW in <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/04/09/race-in-america-2019/">2019</a>, found that around 12% of respondents believed “being white hurts people’s ability to get ahead in the country nowadays”. Among white Republicans, the proportion was 22%. It was only 3% among white Democrats. A more recent US survey, in <a href="https://theconversation.com/poll-reveals-white-americans-see-an-increase-in-discrimination-against-other-white-people-and-less-against-other-racial-groups-185278">2022</a>, concluded that 30% of white respondents saw “a lot more discrimination against white Americans”. Representative data on these issues is lacking in Australia. But there is evidence a significant minority of Australians seem convinced anti-white racism is a thing. A 2018 <a href="https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/128799/4/Reverse%20racism%20and%20white%20victimhood%20in%20Australia%20JIS%20March%202018%20clean.pdf">Australian survey</a> found that around 10% of respondents who stated they had witnessed racism as bystanders said the victim of the allegedly “racist” incident was a white person. Another recent (non-representative) <a href="https://periscopekasaustralia.com.au/papers/volume-10-2-2023/demarcating-australias-far-right-political-fringe-but-social-mainstream/">survey</a> of 335 Australian men in 2021 showed that one in three respondents agreed with the statement: “white people are the victims these days”. Australian senator <a href="https://theconversation.com/pauline-hanson-built-a-political-career-on-white-victimhood-and-brought-far-right-rhetoric-to-the-mainstream-134661">Pauline Hanson</a> has been complaining about “reverse racism” since her maiden speech to parliament in 1996, when she described “the privileges Aboriginals enjoy over other Australians”. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pauline-hansons-1996-maiden-speech-to-parliament-full-transcript-20160915-grgjv3.html">She said</a>: "We now have a situation where a type of reverse racism is applied to mainstream Australians by those who promote political correctness […]" Gamilaraay man <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2020/mar/12/its-time-to-put-an-end-to-the-gaslighting-that-occurs-every-day-in-australia">Joshua Waters says</a> most First Nations Australians have heard this kind of sentiment, and statements like: “Uh, I’m not racist. You’re racist for calling me racist. Actually, that’s reverse racism!” But as he has argued, “To be called racist for identifying actual racist behaviours and rhetoric is not OK.” <h2>Backlash against racial justice</h2> “Reverse racism” sometimes reflects a naïve but profound lack of racial literacy. But more often, it’s a defensive backlash against societal reckoning with racial injustices, both past and present. And it’s often an expression of “<a href="https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116">white fragility</a>” in the face of an <a href="https://scanloninstitute.org.au/mapping-social-cohesion-2022">increasing awareness</a> of racism in Australia – as epitomised by Hanson’s political career. “Reverse racism” claims are often strategically adopted by right-wing populist political actors and far-right fringe movements, to garner support and recruit new sympathisers and members. This can manifest in political stunts such as the infamous “<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/15/australia/pauline-hanson-white-australia-intl/index.html">ok to be white</a>” motion Hanson put to the Australian Senate in 2018, which claimed to condemn alleged “anti-white racism”. The phrase “it’s OK to be white” had <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-17/origins-of-its-ok-to-be-white-slogan-supremacists-united-states/10385716">previously been used</a> by white supremacists in the US. Anti-white racism claims have also been expressed in more explicit, aggressive and extreme ways: as threats of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-believers-in-white-genocide-are-spreading-their-hate-filled-message-in-australia-106605">white genocide</a>”, a core neo-Nazi belief. In far-right extremist movements, in Australia and globally, these conspiratorial narratives are commonly used to mobilise – and in some cases, have become crucial drivers for – white supremacy terror attacks, like the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, which killed 51 people and injured 49. “Reverse racism” is a skewed, reductionist and ultimately inaccurate understanding of racism.<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/208009/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mario-peucker-192086">Mario Peucker</a>, Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/victoria-university-1175">Victoria University</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-reverse-racism-and-whats-wrong-with-the-term-208009">original article</a>.

Caring

Missing Titanic sub: what are submersibles, how do they communicate, and what may have gone wrong?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-b-williams-1448728">Stefan B. Williams</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> An extensive <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65953872">search and rescue operation</a> is underway to locate a commercial submersible that went missing during a dive to the Titanic shipwreck. According to the US Coast Guard, contact with the submersible was lost about one hour and 45 minutes into the dive, with five people onboard. The vessel was <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/titanic-submersible-search-oceangate-expeditions-vessel-missing-as-us-coast-guard-launches-search/9d7352d8-6a6d-4dc1-afac-ce07dc63cea3">reported overdue</a> at 9.13pm local time on Sunday (12.13pm AEST, Monday). The expedition was being run by US company OceanGate as part of an eight-day trip with guests paying US$250,000 per head to visit the wreck site. As of <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/americas/live-news/titanic-submersible-missing-search-06-19-23/h_c2b5400daf8538d8717f50c619d762ac">Monday afternoon</a> (Tuesday morning in Australia), US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said the watercraft likely had somewhere between 70 and the full 96 hours of oxygen available to the passengers. The Titanic’s wreck sits some 3,800 metres deep in the Atlantic, about 700km south of St John’s, Newfoundland. Finding an underwater vehicle the size of a small bus in this vast and remote expanse of ocean will be no small feat. Here’s what the search and rescue teams are up against. <h2>OceanGate’s Titan submersible goes missing</h2> Submersibles are manned watercraft that move in a similar fashion to submarines, but within a much more limited range. They’re often used for research and exploration purposes, including to search for shipwrecks and to document underwater environments. Unlike submarines, they usually have a viewport to allow passengers look outside, and outside cameras that provide a broader view around the submersible. The missing submersible in question is an OceanGate <a href="https://oceangate.com/our-subs/titan-submersible.html">Titan</a> watercraft, which can take five people to depths of up to 4,000m. The Titan is about 22 feet (6.7m) in length, with speeds of about 3 knots (or 5.5km per hour). Although submersibles are often connected to a surface vessel by a tether, video and photos suggest the Titan was likely operating independently of the surface ship. According to OceanGate’s website, the Titan is used “for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep-sea testing of hardware and software”. It also has a “real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system”. This would likely include strain gauges to monitor the health of the Titan’s carbon fibre hull. A strain gauge is a kind of sensor that can measure applied force and small deformations in material resulting from changes in pressure, tension and weight. The Titan’s carbon fibre hull connects two domes made of composite titanium – a material that can withstand deep-sea pressures. At 3,800m below sea level (the depth of the Titanic) you can expect pressures about 380 times greater than the atmospheric pressure we’re used to on the surface of the earth. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?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/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532840/original/file-20230620-23-c6k9lo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Several tube like shapes on a rectangular concrete platform underwater" /></a><figcaption>Titan on the launch platform underwater, awaiting a signal to commence the dive. <a class="source" href="https://oceangate.com/gallery/gallery-titan.html#nanogallery/titangallery/0/4">OceanGate</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>Communication and rescue efforts</h2> The Titan would have had an acoustic link with its surface vessel, set up through a transponder (a device for receiving a sonar signal) on its end, and a transceiver (a device that can both transmit and receive communications) on the surface vessel. This link allows for underwater acoustic positioning, as well as for short text messages to be sent back and forth to the surface vessel – but the amount of data that can be shared is limited and usually includes basic telemetry and status information. The Titan is a battery-operated watercraft. Given it has lost all contact with its surface vessel, it may have suffered a power failure. Ideally, there would be an emergency backup power source (such as an independent battery) to maintain emergency and life support equipment – but it’s unclear if the missing vessel had any power backup on hand. According to reports, at least two aircraft, a submarine and sonar buoys were being used to search for the vessel. The sonar buoys will be listening for underwater noise, including any emergency distress beacons that may have gone off. One of the major challenges in the rescue effort will be contending with weather conditions, which will further shrink an already narrow search window. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?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/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532842/original/file-20230620-49349-cnzdk6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A dark blue image with a tube like shape floating in the lower third" /></a><figcaption>Titan commencing a dive to 4,000m underwater. <a class="source" href="https://oceangate.com/gallery/gallery-titan.html#nanogallery/titangallery/0/1">OceanGate</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>What might have happened?</h2> In a best case scenario, the Titan may have lost power and will have an inbuilt safety system that will help it return to the surface. For instance, it may be equipped with additional weights that can be dropped to instantly increase its buoyancy and bring it back to the surface. Alternatively, the vessel may have lost power and ended up at the bottom of the ocean. This would be a more problematic outcome. The worst case scenario is that it has suffered a catastrophic failure to its pressure housing. Although the Titan’s composite hull is built to withstand intense deep-sea pressures, any defect in its shape or build could compromise its integrity – in which case there’s a risk of implosion. Another possibility is that there may have been a fire onboard, such as from an electrical short circuit. This could compromise the vehicle’s electronic systems which are used for navigation and control of the vessel. Fires are a disastrous event in enclosed underwater environments, and can potentially incapacitate the crew and passengers. Time is of the essence. The search and rescue teams will need to find the vessel before its <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230331121053/https://oceangateexpeditions.com/tour/titanic-expedition/">limited supplies</a> of oxygen and water run out. There’s an ongoing debate in scientific circles regarding the relative merit of manned submersibles, wherein each deployment incurs a safety risk – and the safety of the crew and passengers is paramount. Currently, most underwater research and offshore industrial work is conducted using unmanned and robotic vehicles. A loss to one of these vehicles might compromise the work being done, but at least lives aren’t at stake. In light of these events, there will likely be intense discussion about the risks associated with using these systems to support deep-sea tourism.<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/208100/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-b-williams-1448728">Stefan B. Williams</a>, Professor, Australian Centre for Field Robotics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> 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/missing-titanic-sub-what-are-submersibles-how-do-they-communicate-and-what-may-have-gone-wrong-208100">original article</a>. Images: Getty

Technology

5 things we all do wrong in the shower

While showering every day keeps us smelling fresh, it actually disturbs the natural bacteria on our skin and strips it of the oils that keep it supple. In fact, many shower habits can actually be very unhygienic. Experts reveal what we’re doing wrong, and what to do instead. 1. Showering everyday The University of California found that too much washing can actually be bad for you, because it strips away beneficial bugs that the body uses to help ward off infections. Apparently, if we simply wash our hands and below the belt regularly we can skip a full shower every day. 2. Showering for too long Water is an irritant, so the longer you’re in there, the more irritated and dry your skin will become. Oil from the sebaceous glands hydrate the skin, so showering for too long strips it of moisture. 3. Rubbing soap on your whole body Soap dislodges dirt and oil from the body, allowing water to wash it away. But the skin on the arms and legs doesn't contain a lot of oil, so cleaning them with soap just makes them dry. Instead, simply focus on the armpits, buttocks, groin and feet 4. Letting the shower water blast over your face A hot shower can cause and exacerbate fragile capillary networks in the cheeks, leading to unattractive, visible capillary networks and worsened impaired skin conditions, experts warn. 5. Using a pouf Poufs and loofahs are a haven for bacteria — the dead skin cells they scrub so well from our body get caught up in the nooks where bacteria can feed on them. Also, because poufs take time to dry and may well retain dead skin cells, it’s a potential source of infection. To keep it clean, wet your pouf and put it on a medium heat in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds. How would you feel about skipping your daily shower, like one of these tips suggests? Let us now in the comments below. Image credit: Shutterstock Related links: <a href="../health/body/2016/03/ways-to-stay-active-in-winter/">4 ways to stay active in winter</a> <a href="../health/body/2016/04/ways-weather-influences-your-health-and-behaviour/">5 ways weather influences your health and behaviour</a> <a href="../%20http:/www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/04/how-to-get-the-best-lawn-for-winter/">How to get the best lawn for winter</a>

Beauty & Style

Dog groomers give owner wrong dog

One dog owner has left the groomers with a different dog than the furry friend he brought in. Taking to Reddit, the owner posted an image of two dogs in the front seat of their car, one being of his own dog, and another of the one he got back. "Dog groomers gave me the wrong dog," they wrote in the post. Reddit users flocked to the comments to share their thoughts. "Is the bottom one yours? He looks happier," someone wrote, to which the owner responded, "yes lol.” "Dog smiling like, I don't know who this person is, but what a nice person. Are you taking me to my parents? :)," another person wrote. This isn’t the first doggy mix-up to have occurred. In 2022, a woman from Chesapeake, Virginia told People she was given the wrong dog. "I was like, 'This isn't my dog, where's my dog? Where's my puppy?'" the woman said, explaining when she received the dog. "I didn't get a chance to get a good look at him, all I saw was white. I go to the car and I put him in. He turned around and I thought, 'He looks so different, am I tripping?’" One person shared their own experience, "The city pound once gave me the wrong dog when I went to pick up my newly adopted dog from her spay.” "When I was younger and worked at a dog kennel boarding house there were to yellow labs that came in around the same age and same size looked pretty freakin similar," another user wrote. "I could tell the difference by their personality; one was a little more friendly. My boss had no idea obviously because the day I wasn't working he gave the wrong dog to its elderly owner she had him for a week." Image credit: Reddit

Family & Pets

"I still don't know what I did wrong": Susan Sarandon reflects on breaking royal protocol

Susan Sarandon has opened up her brush with royalty, and how she was slammed for "breaking royal protocol". The 76-year-old actress recalled attending the Royal Windsor Cup at Guards Polo Club with her youngest son in 2018, where she met Queen Elizabeth. Sarandon said she was given conflicting advice about what to do when she came face-to-face with Her Majesty, as she explains in the documentary Portrait of the Queen. "[When] I got to to England and my friends were like, 'do not bow, whatever you do don't bow, that is so passe'," Sarandon recalled. "You know, there's this push and pull about whether and how much respect you're going to give to the royal family and whatever. They said to me 'don't bow. Do not bow' and I thought, 'well, I'm going to be respectful'." When the day arrived, Sarandon and her son Miles were seated in a different section, where she received a briefing from a royal aide before the Queen arrived for their meeting. "They said: 'Don't ask her any questions. [If] she talks to you, it's okay but don't ask her anything. And this is what you have to do, you know, bow when she comes'," Sarandon recalls. "So I'm all stressed out, I think, 'am I going to bow or am I not going to bow?' "So anyway, the moment came when they finally said: 'Okay, it's your turn to meet the Queen'. And here is what happened - she was sitting down! "So of course, I had to bend over to shake her hand and so it looked like a curtsy. So, at the end of the day, I kind of did bow and the headlines still said after all of that, that I had gone against protocol somehow. I still don't know what I did wrong." At the time, the British press condemned the actress for breaking royal protocol by initiating a handshake with the Queen. Despite the semantics of their meeting, Sarandon said her brief encounter with Her Majesty was perfectly pleasant. "She was lovely to me," Sarandon says. "I don't think we had a very long conversation. I think it was kind of just 'Oh, it's so nice to meet you'. And, and I said 'it's so nice to meet you'. And I remembered that you can't ask her anything." "So that definitely puts a damper on your conversation because she has to be in charge of everything." Image credits: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

10 ways you’re doing your ironing wrong

Some people like ironing, stopping at nothing but pressing their underwear. These individuals usually love their Sunday ritual of tackling four piles of laundry with a cup of tea and a midday movie for company. There’s even a group of extreme ironing enthusiasts, who’ve combined their love for action sports with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt. They swear by its meditative qualities: the repetitive movement; the hiss of the steam; the elimination of creases, one by one. Then there’s the rest of the population, who’ll do everything they can to avoid it: from only buying wrinkle-free fabrics to hanging garments in the bathroom for the shower steam to work its magic. They don’t call it a “chore” for nothing, people. Unfortunately, life thrusts at us many occasions that require whatever we’re wearing to receive a good press. Whichever camp you fall in – seasoned or sporadic – you’re poised to benefit from these practical tips. 1. Over-drying your clothes Having them hang for too long, frying in the sun or on the heater, can over-dry clothes, leaving them stiff as cardboard and crispy in texture. They become difficult to reshape and harder to iron. Also, be wary of how long they’re in the dryer, especially if you don’t have one of the more advanced “moisture-sensing” models. 2. Not shaking clothes out As you’re taking your clothes off the line and out of the dryer, don’t forget to shake them out. This smooths seams and pleats, making them easier to iron later down the line. 3. Not protecting delicates Placing a hot iron directly on sensitive fabrics can ruin garments, branding them with an unsightly singed and shiny mark. Protect them by ironing fabrics inside-out and with a pressing cloth as a buffer. A handkerchief or napkin will do. 4. Not misting clothes This makes creases easier to eliminate. Many irons have an in-built spray function so you can lightly mist your clothes at the touch of a button. Alternatively, keep a water spray bottle handy. 5. Not using a starch spray Starch sprays can speed up ironing and leave your clothes looking extra pristine – if you use them correctly. Spray the area right before you iron and leave it to penetrate for a few seconds. This will also save your iron’s base plate from a build-up of product residue. (You can make your own starch spray by dissolving one tablespoon of corn-flour in two cups of water.) 6. Not adjusting the temperature If you have a large pile to tackle, start with your lightest silk, synthetic and delicate fabrics, as these need to be ironed on lower temperatures. Then, as your iron begins to heat up, iron your woollens on medium heat, and then cottons and linens that require a higher heat. Always let the iron sit for a few minutes after you adjust the temperature setting. Want to cut your ironing time in half? Place a sheet of aluminium foil underneath the ironing board cover. The reflected heat from the foil means you don’t have to flip over the garment and iron the other side. 7. Not paying attention to the form of the garment For shirts, start with the sleeves (cuffs always open) and lay the collar flat (even though that’s not how you usually wear it), then let the shirt hang for a few minutes before putting it on. For trousers, iron along the main crease, stopping six inches below the waist, then hang by the waistband. And always iron skirts from the top down, unless there’s a flounce or flare, in which case, start from the bottom and work up. If you’re having to iron pleats, start from the bottom, working from the inside of the pleat to the outside. Then set it with a shot of steam. 8. Using circular strokes Ironing in circles stretches the fabric. Always iron lengthwise. 9. Making a mess of sheets Is there anything more annoying than ironing sheets, tablecloths and curtains? The trick is to set up two chairs next to the ironing board. Fold the piece onto the chairs as you work on it. You could also iron them on a tabletop you’re not too precious about, provided you protect the surface with a bath towel. 10. Not hanging up or folding as soon as you’re done But make sure you wait five minutes before putting them on. You need to let the press set, otherwise you’ll be undoing all your hard work. Do you have any ironing secrets to share with us? Let us know in the comments below. Written by Kathleen Lee-Jo. First appeared on <a href="http://www.domain.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Domain.com.au</a>. Image: Getty Related links: <a href="../lifestyle/home-garden/2016/06/best-way-to-fold-fitted-sheet-video/">Best way to fold fitted sheet</a> <a href="../lifestyle/home-garden/2016/06/5-foods-you-should-never-reheat/">5 foods you should never reheat</a> <a href="../lifestyle/home-garden/2016/06/the-secret-to-keeping-your-whites-white/">The secret to keeping your whites white</a>

Home Hints & Tips

Family learns they visited wrong gravestone for nearly 20 years

A family from the UK have been left devastated after discovering they have been visiting the wrong grave for almost 20 years. The Bell family, who buried their familial patriarch Thomas back in 2005, regularly visited his gravestone at Holy Trinity cemetery in Wingate, County Durham, for 17 years. According to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-63858303?at_bbc_team=editorial&at_format=link&at_medium=social&at_link_type=web_link&at_link_id=C514075C-74A5-11ED-997B-754D2152A482&at_link_origin=BBC_News&at_ptr_name=facebook_page&at_campaign_type=owned&at_campaign=Social_Flow&fbclid=IwAR0hoRUkg38_Q-s8CoEe70ObHtrYX4-QbVvA7KH2hCTmcEd34a28BuYzfeI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a>, it wasn't until Thomas' wife Hilda - who was due to be buried beside him - also died this year that the mix-up was discovered. The family discovered that a mix-up at the cemetery has seen Thomas's headstone been "placed on the wrong grave", due to "insufficient process" and "poor record keeping". An inquiry into the incident found "a perfect storm" of problems led to the crushing mistake, believed to be due to the human error of a stonemason. Bob Cooper, the Archdeacon of Sunderland, said that the error was a "great sadness" caused by a number of wrong protocols being followed. "The term 'a perfect storm' is used all too often in modern parlance, however on this occasion it seems particularly apt," Cooper said. "It cannot be guaranteed that historic cases like this will not reoccur because there will be gaps in the records for many reasons in parishes across the Diocese of Durham and further afield." A number of recommendations are set to be implemented within the parish to ensure the mix-up does not occur again. Image credits: Google Maps

Family & Pets

"It's wrong!" Heidi Klum's lingerie shoot with daughter slammed

Heidi Klum has come under fire for a controversial photoshoot with her 18-year-old daughter. The 49-year-old supermodel has teamed up with her daughter Leni for a collaboration with Italian lingerie company Intimissimi, with the campaign photoshoot drawing in a flood of criticism. The mother-daughter duo posed together in a series of stripped down poses, showing off the luxury lingerie products and frolicking around together. While some loved seeing them model together, others found the intimacy of the photoshoot disturbing. <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-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjkB_DhDBiD/?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/reel/CjkB_DhDBiD/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Heidi Klum (@heidiklum)</a> </div> </blockquote> One person wrote on Twitter, “It’s wrong and makes me feel deeply uneasy!” Another wrote, “Ah yes, the classic mother-daughter pose: standing in your lingerie. A favourite for every family album.” Someone else chimed in, “Heidi Klum and her 18yo daughter Leni posing half naked in their underwear together. Holys**t!” Another commented on Instagram, “Trained by Mum. Can a therapist take a look at this, please!”, while another insta user, simply wrote, “Nope.” Heidi and Leni are starring in Intimissimi's new autumn/winter 2022 campaign “as icons of self-confidence, joy of life and love between a mother and daughter”, <a title="www.thesun.co.uk" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/20055687/heidi-klum-sexy-lingerie-teenage-daughter-leni/">The Sun</a> reported. Image credits: Instagram

Family & Pets

Murder conviction overturned for podcast star

A US judge has overturned the high profile murder conviction of Adnan Syed, who served more that 20 years behind bars for the death of his ex-girlfriend. Th 42-year-old's case shot to fame when he became the subject of the Serial podcast, which went on to gain worldwide notoriety. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the conviction of Syed, who had been serving a life sentence since 2000 for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. Phinn ordered Syed to be immediately released on his own recognisance “in the interests of justice and fairness”. The body of Hae Min Lee was found buried in February 1999 in a shallow grave in the woods of Baltimore, Maryland, with the autopsy revealing the cause of death for the 18-year-old was strangulation. Throughout his multiple appeals of the guilty verdict, Syed maintained his innocence, while his appeals were continuously denied, including by the US Supreme Court which declined in 2019 to hear his case. In a surprising move last week, the Baltimore City state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced that she had asked a judge to vacate Syed’s conviction while a further investigation is carried out. Assistant state’s attorney Becky Feldman told the judge that the decision was prompted by the discovery of new information regarding two alternative suspects and the unreliability of mobile phone data used to convict Syed. “The state has lost confidence in the integrity of his conviction,” Feldman said. “We need to make sure we hold the correct person accountable. “We will be continuing our investigation,” she said, while promising to “do everything we can to bring justice to the Lee family.” Prosecutors now have 30 days to either bring new charges or dismiss the case. Image credits: Getty Images

Legal

You’re probably washing your hair wrong - here’s how to fix it

Unlike many other aspects of life, how to look after our hair isn’t necessarily something we’re taught to do. While there are plenty of tutorials, explainers and hacks for pulling off particular hairstyles, how-to’s for ensuring your hair is healthy (and looks it) seems to still be catching up. Hair expert Zoe Irwin says that many people who are washing hair incorrectly are even inadvertently damaging it, and has gone on a crusade to teach people how to care for their locks. Speaking to The Sun, the creative director at John Frieda Salons said hair is often more of an “afterthought” than other aspects of their physical wellbeing, such as skincare. “Your hair needs the same treatment in order to look its healthiest,” she says. To help your hair look its best and healthiest, here are some of Irwin’s top tips and advice across each stage of the hair-washing process. Less is more when it comes to shampoo According to Irwin, most of us use too much shampoo, and cutting back can not only save you money by making each bottle last longer but can lessen the amount of chemicals from shampoo that ends up in the environment. She suggests using only a small blob of shampoo - slightly smaller than a 50-cent coin - and to apply it by spreading the shampoo over your hand rather than directly onto your hair. This means that when you do wash your hair, the shampoo will be distributed more evenly. Irwin also discourages rubbing shampoo into your hair to create a lather, since your hair is at its most fragile when wet. Instead, massage your scalp by holding your head still and moving your fingers along your scalp. Use conditioner from tip to top After shampoo removes dirt and excess oil, conditioner comes in to nourish and replenish lost moisture - and there’s a way to apply it to avoid the dreaded feeling of a greasy scalp. Irwin says applying conditioner starting from the tips of the hair and working up to the top solves this problem, as the amount of product will dilute as you move towards your scalp. Take care when drying your hair Finally, Irwin says drying your hair should be done with care - avoiding too much friction of heat on your fragile locks. Instead of rubbing your hair dry with a towel, she suggests wrapping it in a towel or hair wrap and delicately pressing and patting the towel against your head. The longer you do this, the less amount of time you’ll need to use your hair dryer. When you do switch on your hair dryer, it’s best to use it in small sections of your hair on medium heat in circular motions. This helps your hair not only dry faster but also reduces the amount of heat damage inflicted. Wash intuitively and ditch the schedule As for how often to wash your hair, Irwin doesn’t say, but that’s because it's highly subjective. Though there is plenty of debate about washing hair daily, every couple days, once a week or even less frequently, it all comes down to how your hair behaves. Dermatologist Dr Iris Rubin told Cosmopolitan it’s best to shampoo hair as flakiness, excessive grease, itchiness or build-up start to crop up, rather than by following a regular schedule - with finer, straighter hair generally needing more frequent washes compared to thicker, curlier hair. Image: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

“How to Murder Your Husband” author convicted for murdering husband

An author who wrote an essay about “How to Murder Your Husband” has been convicted of murdering her husband. Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was found guilty on Wednesday of second-degree murder for shooting dead her chef husband Daniel Brophy, 63, back in June 2018. Prosecutors told the court that Crampton Brophy killed her husband to claim her husband’s $1.4 million life insurance policy. They said that she was collecting gun pieces in the moments leading to Daniel’s death before killing him at the Oregon Culinary Institute. Footage presented to the Multnomah County courtroom showed that Crampton Brophy in fact owned the same make and model of the gun that killed her husband. She was also seen driving to and from the culinary institute when Daniel was killed and found by his students. Her defence team argued that she was collecting them for a new book she was writing - about a woman who slowly collected gun parts to complete a weapon and get back at her abusive husband. They said that Crampton Brophy and Daniel were in a loving relationship for almost 25 years. The jury of five men and seven women deliberated the case for eight hours before delivering the guily verdict. One of Crampton Brophy’s attorneys, Lisa Maxfield said they are looking to appeal. Crampton Brophy is due to be sentenced on June 13. Images: Twitter

Legal

Blackout bungle sees sisters marry the wrong grooms

Two sisters have accidentally married the wrong grooms during their joint wedding, as a power cut caused a confusing blackout. The ceremony was happening in the village of Aslana in Madhya Pradesh state, India, when the unfortunate blackout wreaked havoc with the proceedings. During the confusion, the priest continued to read out the marriage rites, but accidentally confused the couples. The brides’ father Ramesh Lal suggested the priest may have been confused since the two women were both in red dresses with veils over their faces. When the mistake was realised, it was later rectified. Blackouts and power cuts have been more common in India, as unusually high temperatures continue to tear through the country. These surging temperatures have seen a surge in demand for energy, with many companies resorting to intermittent power cuts in order to cope with the demand. More than a billion people across south Asia are facing a record-breaking heat wave which leaves them "gasping in whatever shade they find". Temperatures in northern India<a id="mol-de96b2e2-d097-11ec-861e-fba9b27a3e26" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/pakistan/index.html"> </a>have spiked to 47C as neighbouring Pakistan suffered its hottest March for 61 years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in April, "Temperatures are rising rapidly in the country, and rising much earlier than usual." Image credits: Getty Images

Relationships

Mid-flight singalong strikes the wrong chord

A man who sang a Christian worship song while strumming his guitar on board a plane has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Jonathan Neo was on an easyJet flight when he started to sing to his fellow passengers mid-flight. Footage of the singing was shared online by the pastor of the group Jack Jensz Jr who captioned it: “Worshipping our King Jesus 30,000 feet in the air!” The video, which received a whopping 31 million views in just two days, showed a few of the passengers singing along with Jonathan while others looked on angrily. <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/reel/CcIbSzRD7dm/?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/reel/CcIbSzRD7dm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jack Jensz Jr. (@jackjenszjr_)</a> </div> </blockquote> Many people in the comments section slammed the group for inconveniencing passengers and for their lack of respect. “No self awareness here at all. I'll be praying for you guys to actually learn some,” one wrote. “I would rather go to Jesus right NOW than endure that nightmare of a flight,” another commented. “Do you feel good about holding people hostage? Did Jesus say to force feed His word against people's will? Disgraceful,” another person wrote. “What a self-righteous, presumptuous, and annoying thing to inflict on a plane full of strangers,” someone else commented. Images: Instagram

Travel Trouble

Could you be wearing the wrong bra? It’s more likely than you think

Bras are an item of clothing we wear most days (if not every day), so it makes sense to wear bras that fit and are comfortable. But with various sizes, styles and brands out there – and needing to fit them to our own unique body shapes – finding something that actually fits can feel like an impossible task, causing us to settle for the next best thing time and time again. Not any more! To get an insight into how women can find a well-fitting bra, and just how often we should be getting fitted, OverSixty spoke to experts from New Zealand lingerie brand <a href="https://www.bendonlingerie.co.nz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bendon Lingerie</a>. Here’s what we learned. 5 signs a bra doesn’t fit “As women, we’ve long been accustomed to all sorts of minor everyday discomforts - from wearing an uncomfortable bra that requires us to readjust every 30 minutes, to a blister-forming pair of stilettos,” the Bendon Lingerie team explains. “But thanks to decades of cultural shift and breaking away from the need to satisfy societal norms, we know we deserve better and honestly, if it’s uncomfortable, bin it.” The team at Bendon Lingerie have five main signs they tell women to look out for, including: <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> Uncomfortable underwire </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> Straps that are too tight and dig into the skin, or too loose and fall off the shoulder </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> If your breast bulge over the top of the cups </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> A bra band that rides up your back (it should sit flat and be parallel to the ground) </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> The gore (the centre front triangle piece) is either digging in or not sitting flush against the body </li> </ul> For a visual guide to determining whether your bra fits, head <a href="https://www.bendonlingerie.co.nz/blog/post/bra-fitting-101#ill-fitting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Myth: Bra shopping is a nightmare Now that you know what a bad bra looks and feels like, you might be dreading having to purchase new, well-fitting bras - but getting fitted and staying open-minded about your size can make the task much easier. “It’s a common misconception that getting bra fitted is a difficult process,” they say. Having been invited for a bra-fitting with the Bendon Lingerie team in Sydney, I can confirm as much. After deciding on a few different styles and starting with the size of my most recent bra (which I reviewed <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/money-banking/review-a-sustainable-bra-worth-the-splurge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>), we were able to settle on not one, but two, bras that fit my shape and were incredibly comfortable in just 10 minutes - and in slightly different sizes than what we started with. “Our best advice is not to get stuck on the size you think you are, and to be open-minded about trying different styles,” the team tells me. “Have confidence in the fitter to assist you in finding what you want. “We understand that getting fitted can be a confronting process for some women - we hear a lot of women not wanting to go up a cup or band size because it’s ‘not their size’, but bras are quite complex garments. Ours are often made up of a minimum of 26 parts, so there is a lot of room for differences to exist.” Their ultimate advice? Focus on finding bras that are comfortable over specific sizes, since that will be what makes you feel your best. When were you last fitted? Since finding a bra that fits relies on being fitted, how often should we be doing it? The Bendon Lingerie team tells me there are several tell-tale signs it might be time, such as if your bra is uncomfortable or doesn’t feel like it's supporting you anymore, you’ve never been fitted, or your clothing size has changed. Ideally, it’s best to be fitted every time you buy a bra, but since that can be hard to achieve, doing one every 12 months “is a good habit to get into”. A strong foundation for every outfit “It’s not so much a surprise, but something that women should keep in mind when shopping - our fitters will always ask this question when beginning a fitting too,” the team says. “For example, plunge bras are great for low-cut tops and dresses, smooth cups are great under clothing with clingy fabrics, and contour bras can help create more shape and natural lift for ageing breasts.” Bras can also be a fashion statement all on their own, with the pairing of lacy longline or corset-type bustiers and oversized blazers an example. Image: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

‘A gentleman with the mad soul of an Irish convict poet’: remembering Chris Bailey, and the blazing comet that was The Saints

Inala in the early 70s was bleak. A Brisbane suburb of wide dusty streets, treeless and bland. A planned community, meant to grow over time. Austerity, accented by the cheap houses – weatherboard, red brick, concrete – stifled the suburb like a blanket on a hot February night. It was boring. Beyond boring. The only concession to communal childhood joy was the pool, and the crazy concrete skate rink. But if you wanted a creative outlet, you needed to search elsewhere. Ivor Hay, (future Saints drummer), was heading to the picture theatre in Sherwood one Saturday night in early 1971, "and I saw Jeffrey [Wegener – another Saints drummer] with these two longhairs, Chris [Bailey] and Ed [Kuepper]. They were off to a birthday party in Corinda and asked me along. That was our first night." Bailey was raised by his mum, Bridget, in a house alive with siblings – mostly girls, who looked after the kid. He got away with a lot. “None of us had a lot of money,” Hay tells me. "Both Chris and I were raised by single mums in reasonably sized families. Chris’ mum was pretty feisty, with this Belfast accent which was just fantastic. They all looked after ‘Christopher’, he could do all sorts of things and they would accommodate him. His mum would have a go at him about the noise, but we’d just go to his bedroom and rehearse and bugger everybody else in the house!" Kuepper taught Hay to play the guitar: Stones and Beatles and Hendrix. Hay passed the knowledge down to Bailey, who was keen to learn. Neither Kuepper nor Bailey learned to drive, so Hay became the driver in those wide suburbs where driving and cars were everything. There was politics in Bailey’s house – his sister Margaret chained herself to the school gates to protest uniform policy – but this pervaded the town. The conservative government had no time for the young, and the police force did their best to make life difficult. But there was a sense that these young men were making something new. As Hay says, "We used to sing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internationale">The Internationale</a> at parties. I don’t know if we were revolutionaries, but we had that sense that something was happening. [With the band] we were doing something that we thought was going to change something. Chris was particularly good at pushing things, at being anti-everything." <h2>Out of Inala</h2> To escape the suburb was to head north to the railway line. It was the lifeline to the centre of Brisbane – record stores, bookshops and other forms of life. Kuepper remembers going into the city with Bailey. "We had intended to steal a record, and we went into Myers […] both wearing army disposal overcoats […] these two long haired guys walking into the record department with these overcoats […] surprisingly enough, we were successful!" Like the railway line, Ipswich Road joins Brisbane to the old coal town of Ipswich. It slices through these western suburbs, carrying hoons in muscle cars and streams of commuters, the occasional screaming cop car or ambulance. On Thursday nights, the boys used to sit at the Oxley Hotel, overlooking Ipswich Road, “just sit up there having beers, we wouldn’t have been much more than 17 or 18 at that time. Chatting about all sorts of stuff,” says Hay. "Chris and Ed were comic collectors and Stan Lee was the hero […] there were political discussions, philosophical discussions. Those guys could talk underwater." They talked and played and sang. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5YP_tsPzmg&t=905s">And Bailey had the voice</a>. It was a force, not just loud and tuneful, but full of snarl and spit. Soon they had songs, and in 1976 scraped the money together to record and release their first single on their own Fatal Records label. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpMwMDqOprc">(I’m) Stranded</a> took Bailey out of Inala, out of Brisbane and into the world. He never looked back. <h2>A changed city</h2> The Saints released three albums in as many years – (I’m) Stranded, Eternally Yours and Prehistoric Sounds – before Kuepper and Hay returned from the UK to Australia, leaving Bailey to his own devices. Bailey remained in Europe, releasing a cluster of solo albums and many Saints records over the next 40 years. He wrote some achingly beautiful songs. It is a testament to his talents as a songwriter that Bruce Springsteen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ4a_tgJp4I">recorded a version</a>of Bailey’s Just Like Fire Would in 2014. There’s no doubt that Bailey and The Saints changed Brisbane forever. People around the world who love music know Brisbane exists because of The Saints, The Go-Betweens and bands like them. Peter Milton Walsh (The Apartments) was one of many who benefited from The Saints legacy, "They blazed through our young lives like comets. Showed so many what was possible – that you could write your way out of town." “Without The Saints,” Mark Callaghan of The Riptides/Gang Gajang told me, “we probably wouldn’t have started. ” "They just made it all seem doable. It was like, ‘Well, they’re from Brisbane!’ So we started our first band, and at our first gig we covered (I’m) Stranded! We even took a photo of the abandoned house in Petrie Terrace with (I’m) Stranded painted on the wall. But it never crossed our minds to stand in front of this. It would be sacrilege, you know? And we were trying to work out a way that we could get it off the wall intact, because we recognised it was a historical document." Chris Bailey isn’t the first of our creative children to leave this life behind and move on into memory. With their passing, like the returning comet, the past is freshly illuminated, allowing us to look back at our young lives. Back when the future was broad in front of us, urged on by voices like Bailey’s to open our eyes and see the world. And Bailey’s was a unique voice. Kenny Gormley (The Cruel Sea) remembers him singing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYA5WdP47Y0">Ghost Ships,</a> "But ah, I’ll never ever forget seeing Chris pick that shanty, alone at sea in a crowded room, holding us sway, wet face drunk and shining, quiet and stilled in storm, cracked voiced with closed eye and open heart. And that was Bailey, a gentleman with the mad soul of an Irish convict poet.“ Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared in <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-gentleman-with-the-mad-soul-of-an-irish-convict-poet-remembering-chris-bailey-and-the-blazing-comet-that-was-the-saints-181059" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

Can you spot what’s wrong with this movie poster?

A bunch of posters for a new movie had to be pulled down following a glaring error that was spotted by fans who, let’s face it, didn’t even need to be particularly eagle-eyed. Robert Eggers‘ new vikings film The Northman stars Alexander Skarsgärd, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy and Ethan Hawke. The actors are seen standing together on the poster but there is one thing missing… the movie title. Posters for the film went up in New York without the title and were drastically pulled down within hours after it went viral on Twitter. Isaac Butler was the first person to point out the crucial missing element and tweeted what he imagined happened when the poster was ready for printing. “So you got that poster ready for The Northman?,” he wrote. “Yeah, chief! We already printed it and put it in subways all over New York!” “You made sure the title was on it, right?” “Uhhhhhhhh….” Subway users were quick to jump onto the action with one even suggesting it was a way to create “buzz” for the new movie. “Lol they forgot to print the title on the subway ads for The Northman,” someone wrote. “The Northman looks so good but whoever is in charge of their posters can’t stop f**king up,” another tweeted. “Well if this 'error' was intentional to get buzz, it's working. Never heard of this until this morning after seeing three tweets like this,” someone suggested. Image: Twitter

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