FOLLOW US, WE'RE FAT!

I’ve been wondering for a while just how long it would take for Obesity to move from being a medical issue to a social one, it seems we are right now on that cusp. Obesity has had so much bad publicity - deservingly so – over the past 5 years that the obese are striking back, no longer satisfied with the social stigma, and  often unable to lose the weight, the obese are becoming a large majority.

Fat activist Jackie Wykes recently posted a volatile question via theconversation.edu.au, asking How Anti Obesity Campaigns Re-inforce Stigma. Ms Wykes says “By focusing on weight as the problem and weight loss as the solution, social and economic inequalities are made invisible.” I’d reckon that in this country at least – and the world generally –  supermarkets would disagree entirely, never have groceries – fresh included – ever been so inexpensive, there is literally NO excuse today for BAD EATING HABITS!

According to Ms Wykes, health disparities between groups are blamed on individuals for not making healthy choices, ignoring the ways that the choices available to comfortably middle-class white Australians are often very different to those available to people on low incomes, to recent immigrants, or to Indigenous Australians.

This rhetoric clearly scirts the issue – yes obese people have rights, more rights than drug addicts, less than breast cancer patients, and about the same as rights as smokers –  in my mind the formula is pretty simple, EAT LESS! If you wish to make the argument complicated - it’s still diet based for the majority of obesity – then EAT CAREFULLY! :: Read the full article »»»»

FOLLOW US, WE'RE FAT!

I’ve been wondering for a while just how long it would take for Obesity to move from being a medical issue to a social one, it seems we are right now on that cusp. Obesity has had so much bad publicity - deservingly so – over the past 5 years that the obese are striking back, no longer satisfied with the social stigma, and  often unable to lose the weight, the obese are becoming a large majority.

Fat activist Jackie Wykes recently posted a volatile question via theconversation.edu.au, asking How Anti Obesity Campaigns Re-inforce Stigma. Ms Wykes says “By focusing on weight as the problem and weight loss as the solution, social and economic inequalities are made invisible.” I’d reckon that in this country at least – and the world generally –  supermarkets would disagree entirely, never have groceries – fresh included – ever been so inexpensive, there is literally NO excuse today for BAD EATING HABITS!

According to Ms Wykes, health disparities between groups are blamed on individuals for not making healthy choices, ignoring the ways that the choices available to comfortably middle-class white Australians are often very different to those available to people on low incomes, to recent immigrants, or to Indigenous Australians.

This rhetoric clearly scirts the issue – yes obese people have rights, more rights than drug addicts, less than breast cancer patients, and about the same as rights as smokers –  in my mind the formula is pretty simple, EAT LESS! If you wish to make the argument complicated - it’s still diet based for the majority of obesity – then EAT CAREFULLY! :: Read the full article »»»»

TWITTER BOMB

A UK man who joked on Twitter that he would BLOW UP an airport after it closed because of snow has had his conviction for sending a “menacing” message overturned in a landmark ruling for users of social media websites.

Paul Chambers, 28, had sent the message in what he called a moment of frustration at not being able to catch a flight from Doncaster Robin Hood airport. Mr Chambers had later been arrested and sentenced but the High Court on Friday upheld his appeal against conviction. Speaking outside the court afterwards, Mr Chambers’ barrister John Cooper, who had argued it was wrong to associate the tweet with terrorism, said it was a milestone ruling.

In Friday’s High Court ruling, three judges headed by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, allowed Mr Chambers’ appeal against a Crown Court judge’s decision upholding the 2010 conviction. They said: “If the person or persons who receive or read it, (the message) or may reasonably be expected to receive, or read it, would brush it aside as a silly joke, or a joke in bad taste, or empty bombastic or ridiculous banter, then it would be a contradiction in terms to describe it as a message of a menacing character.” :: Read the full article »»»»

WTF is FNT!?

HITMAN SMS Threat

Police around Australia are investigating a series of text messages in which it is claimed a hitman will kill the recipient if they do not pay out $5,000 The message says the texter has been hired to kill the owner of the phone and demands the cash be sent to an online account. It warns the phone user not to contact the police.

Police in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia are investigating the hitman text scam, while authorities in New South Wales say they are looking into a number of threatening texts. Police believe the message has been generated from an international account and say there is no credibility to the threats. They have urged people, however, not to reply by text or email.

“We’re just advising people not to be alarmed by it,” said WA Police spokeswoman Susan Usher. ”The best thing to do is delete the message, don’t pay any money, it’s really not something to contact police about.”

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s scam watch service has received about 100 reports so far today. Officials in NSW say they have been inundated with phone calls about threatening texts. Police say it has caused a major increase in calls to the 000 emergency phone line and to local police stations.

image source: abc

$US32 Trillion Hidden Tax Havens

Up to $280bn is lost in tax revenues as wealthy individuals park financial assets in offshore tax havens. Rich individuals and their families have as much as $32 trillion of hidden financial assets in offshore tax havens, representing a huge bundle of lost income tax revenues, according to research published on Sunday.

The study estimating the extent of global private financial wealth held in offshore accounts – excluding non-financial assets such as real estate, gold, yachts and racehorses – puts the sum at between $21 and $32 trillion. A new report has found that as much as $US21 trillion is being held in offshore tax havens around the world, the worlds top ten banks - including UBS – are apparently out front in this game.

“What’s shocking is that some of the world’s biggest banks are up to their eyeballs in helping their clients evade taxes and shift their wealth offshore.” John Christensen, the Tax Justice Network told al Jazeera :: Read the full article »»»»