News: Contraception? You're a slut, says shock jock.

American broadcaster calls woman a ‘slut’ for contraception

Rush Limbaugh is one of the most well known firebrand conservative mouthpieces on American radio but even he may have gone too far this time. In his own Kyle Sandilands moment, the broadcaster called university student Sandra Fluke a slut because she was arguing for contraception to be included on health cover plans, citing an example of a friend who could not afford the contraception that helped her ward away ovarian cysts and had to have an ovary removed. He said: “A Georgetown coed told Nancy Pelosi’s hearing that the women in her law school program are having so much sex they’re going broke, so you and I should have to pay for their birth control. So what would you call that? I called it what it is. So, I’m offering a compromise today: I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want. So Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.” Limbaugh, fiercely opinionated, rarely apologises but in this case he said sorry. Sort of. “My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.” At least seven major advertisers have pulled their support of Limbaugh’s radio program.

Target bans controversial distressed denim technique

Clothing retailer Target has joined a line of outlets to ban sandblasting denim, the technique used to create the popular ‘distressed denim’ look, because it has been linked to an incurable form of lung cancer. Target joins retailers Levi’s and H&M who stopped selling the worn-in denim look in 2010. The technique involves shooting tiny particles of silica – sand – at high pressure at the denim. Problem is, when inhaled, the silica can result in silicosis which is a sometimes fatal lung disease. The victims of the process are most often poorer workers in factories outside of the developed world. Target joins the Sustainable Apparel Coalition companies of Adidas, Esprit, Gap, Nike, Marks & Spencer and Walmart.

Government’s media inquiry: a bit much, or not enough?

Treasurer takes swipe at mining billionaires and shock jocks

Mining billionaire Clive Palmer called Treasurer Wayne Swan an ‘intellectual pygmy’ while receiving a national treasure honour and now the Treasurer has hit back in a broad-ranging attack against mining billionaires, shock jocks and the conservative political movement. “So the debate over the future of our country is at risk of being distorted and decided not by the strength of ideas, but the strength of influence,” Mr Swan told the National Press Club. “This is a deeply disturbing development that we must understand properly so that we can resist it forcefully. We can’t afford to let the market system or the political conversation be undermined by the greed of a wildly irresponsible few. It is a defining issue for our economy and our community. I believe it is also now the major dividing line in our politics.” Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey disagreed: “Swan belts up aspiration. He treats it all like a political game. All his taxes have targeted aspiration and ambition. He loves mediocrity.”

Some kids think yoghurt grows on trees

A national survey of Year 6 and Year 10 school students found many haven’t the faintest idea where the food they eat comes from. Some 27 per cent of kids thought yoghurt grows on trees, 40 per cent believe cotton socks come from animals and from an imaginary lunchbox of bread, cheese and bananas only 45 per cent in Year 6 could correctly peg the items originated from farms. The survey was conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and was commissioned by the Primary Industries Education Foundation. ”We’re a very urbanised nation,” said the foundation’s chairman, Cameron Archer. ”Food is relatively cheap. Everyone takes it for granted and we’re quite complacent about our well-being.”

– And there’s another side to understand where your food comes from. How it’s slaughtered or raised. Check it out here.

Labor wins on health and education, not on economy

Newspoll figures have revealed the Australian Government is preferred to manage the health and education portfolios but the Opposition is better for the economy, with 46 per cent saying they’d rate their management compared to 34 per cent who preferred Labor. The gap used to be much wider, however. Labor is seen as the better manager of unemployment leading 42 to 38 per cent. The poll was taken in the middle of Labor’s dramatic leadership showdown. Only 35 per cent of voters ranked climate change as an important issue in February, down from 55 per cent in October. The poll shows the asylum-seeker issue ranks below health and Medicare, education, the economy and leadership in terms of importance among voters. How do you rate the major parties in these areas?

– Speaking of major policy areas, here’s what the Gonski school funding review had to say.

Kardashian family in $5 million lawsuit

So, the Kardashians have been spruiking an impossibly fast diet program called QuickTrim and fans are annoyed because they say they only bought the program – which apparently doesn’t work, shock horror – because the Kardashians were schilling it in the first place. The main ingredient of the blend is caffeine, so there’s one reason why it doesn’t work. As Jezebel wrote, it’s ‘f*cked up* that the Kardashians have been lying to their fans. Like in this tweet from Kim: “Our QuickTrim cleanse will be massive! Khloe has already lost so much weight.” The site continued: “… to lie repeatedly to their mostly young and female fanbase, many of whom have been wasting their money on QuickTrim pills in hopes of achieving Kim’s “bikini body” but getting nothing but the caffeine jitters in return. Let’s hope the Kardashians lose this lawsuit. They can certainly afford it, and maybe it’ll remind them that they actually serve as role models in this crazy messed-up world of ours, not just walking advertisements for shitty products.”

‘Burqa-proof’ identity checks

New South Wales has introduced new laws, beginning on April 30, that require women who wear the burqa and other people who wear religious or miscellaneous face coverings to show their face before signing official documents. The laws come in the light of the 2011 incident where Carnita Matthews made a false account of racism regarding a police officer – it was caught on tape – but then had a conviction for knowingly making a false statement overturned because the prosecution could not prove she had signed the statement. Attorney-General Greg Smith said yesterday the case highlighted the need for change and the new laws, to begin on April 30, would minimise the risk of fraud.

“They will require authorised witnesses, such as JPs and lawyers, to see a person’s face and confirm their identity before signing their statutory declaration or affidavit,” Mr Smith said. The new laws cover the witnessing of legally binding documents including statutory declarations and affidavits and include all face coverings including motorcycle helmets, masks, veils, scarves, niqabs and balaclavas. Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad said it was important to verify identity and most women would be happy to temporarily remove their face covering. “As long as it is not abused, nobody should have a problem,” he said. “If a lady is worried they can go to a female JP.”