News: F*ck is a normal part of Australian speech

Nuts go on sale with ‘offensive’ name

A snack brand by the name of ‘Nuckin Futs’ will go on sale after a lawyer argued the word ‘fuck’ was a normal part of everyday Australian speech. The trademark was originally barred because it was an ‘obvious spoonerism’ and could cause offence. News.com.au reported: “In a five-page legal document, seen by news.com.au, which catalogues the history of controversial product names, Mr James White argued the words “f..k” or “f..king” were “now part of the universal discourse of the ordinary Australian”. “We submit that whilst there may be a mere sentimental objection or mere distaste to NUCKIN FUTS, this is not a sufficient ground for rejection of the Trade Mark, particularly since a substantial number of people would not find the words shocking.”

24/7 child care is the way of the future

The trend is beginning in America, but how long before we see round-the-clock centres in Australia? The New York Timed reported on a childcare centre in Ohio which is open literally all the time. Why? Parents increasingly have no choice but to take on second jobs or work wildly varying hours as shift workers like cleaners and restaurant staff in order to provide for their families. “On a recent day, a grandmother dropped off a first grader at 4:30 a.m. on the way to her early morning shift at Burger King. A mother picked up her 3-year-old at 11:30 p.m. after getting off work at a nursing home. Another mother came for her 2-year-old twins at 1:30 a.m., after her shift as a cleaner at a gym. or some children, the center’s staff members act almost as surrogate parents — feeding them dinner, helping them with homework, brushing their teeth and putting them to sleep until their parents come to fetch them.” About 40 per cent of the American workforce works non-standard hours, according to research. Babysitting is too expensive, so childcare is the next best option. Would you consider it? What are your care situations like now if you have kids?

Yellow Wiggle re-joins children’s group

Greg Page has made a comeback. The yellow-skivvied performer had to quit the super successful children’s group The Wiggles five years ago after a health condition meant he could not keep performing. He had been a founding member of the group, entertaining children and parents alike at sold out venues around the world for 16 years. “This takes me full circle. I’m excited to be back with my friends and to be entertaining our incredible fans again,” Page said in a statement released this morning. “I didn’t get a chance to say farewell last time, so this is an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. I’m feeling great and looking forward to doing what I love.” Sam Moran, who replaced Page, has offered to step aside. “I am very proud of my five years as the Yellow Wiggle and the group’s continued success with me as their lead singer,” he said.

Most Australian kids bullied on Facebook

A new global survey has revealed almost 90 per cent of Australian children have experienced some form of bullying on the social network site Facebook. The Ipsos Social Research Institute survey revealed Australia is the world’s worst place for kids to use social networks with the global average for bullied kids on Facebook at 60 per cent. “Australian children were less likely to experience bullying in an online chat room, via email, or on their mobile phone, compared to global averages – but were more likely than any other nation to experience bullying via social networking sites, such as Facebook,” said Ipsos director Ryan Williams. Overall Australian kids were the fifth most affected by general cyber bullying in a study of 24 countries.

Death toll from cruise ship rises

Specialist divers have found five more bodies in the upturned cruise ship Costa Concordia. The discovery brings the death toll to 11 with 24 people still missing. Time is running out to locate those who went down with the ship as waves continue to pound the massive structure. Some fear it may slip 90m to the bottom of the Mediterranean and release 1.9 million litres of fuel. The 290m ship has so far only been held in place by the same rock shelf that brought about its end four days ago. Meanwhile, it has emerged the ship’s captain ignored a Coastguard order to go back to his ship and oversee the fleeing passengers. He had escaped on a lifeboat – reportedly before women and children. The Captain did not issue a distress call until 49 minutes after the ship struck rocks. He is under arrest on manslaughter charges.

Wikipedia will go dark today – for 24 hours

In news that has Internet researchers everywhere quaking in their boots, community encyclopaedia Wikipedia will shut up shop for a day in protest of the proposed American ‘Stop Online Piracy (SOPA)’ Act. The bill, if passed, would block all non-US sites that offer pirated material. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced the planned global block-out of the site’s English pages on Twitter this morning, after first raising the idea on Monday. “This is going to be wow. I hope Wikipedia will melt phone systems in Washington on Wednesday. Tell everyone you know!” he tweeted. Mr Wales said the block-out would run from midnight US Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday to midnight the next day (4pm – 4pm AEST). The bill would apply to search engines like Google, forcing them to remove links to a broad range of material, payment mechanisms like Paypal (if they facilitated any payment for illegally obtained copyright material) and so on. What do you think of copyright online? Are you much of a downloader?

And finally, here is Mia appearing in today’s Girls on the Grill segment on the Today Show to discuss some of these issues..

What else in the news is on your mind?