Like the shotgun needs an outcome.

This new track by Lykke Li is a swift transition from previous songs like "Little Bit". But what can you expect from a sexy Swede?


Don't pull your pants before I go down
Don't turn away this is my time
Like the shotgun needs an outcome
I'm your prostitute, you gonna get some

And my other favourite track of the week comes from Aussie artist Illy with "On the Bus". Think you can relate if you were that kid, like way back, on the bus with a Discman banging Biggie with a bottle of Passion pop, ciggies in the pocket.

"Double X" debunks the myths and misunderstandings around feminism.

By Milly Caffrey

Gloria Steinem, American journalist, feminist, socialist and political activist pictured here while working as Playboy Bunny Waitperson in 1963.

Ms Kristy Fraser Kirk who dared to sue former David Jones CEO Mark McInnes for sexual harrassment.

Radio avoids the visual assault that a blaring television can often inflict. Its blindness creates a certain intimacy and appeals to the imagination of the audience. However, sustaining the interest of the listener for thirty minutes each week can be a challenging task for producers and presenters.

It is then no mean feat that Sydney’s 2SER FM has won a national award for excellence at the Community Broadcasting Conference for the weekly half hour program “Double X”. Produced and presented by Rosie Lentini and Jeanavive Mcgregor with a small team of volunteer journalists, including Louisa Olsen and Farah Ahmed, the show tackles everything from the recent Kristy Fraser Kirk sexual harassment lawsuit to tantric sex.

Inheriting the role of producer almost a year ago, Rosie Lentini changed the format of the program with the aim of showing everyday women that being a feminist isn’t all about burning bras and growing a monobrow.

“There is a stigma around feminism and admitting you believe in equal rights for women. I wanted to break down the concept of feminism,” Ms Lentini says. “Making it more accessible, looking at issues like female sexuality and providing women with the information to make the choices that are right for them.”

This notion of female empowerment has been noticeably absent from recent mainstream media coverage of Kristy Fraser Kirk’s allegations against David Jones then-CEO Mark McInnes. Unsurprisingly, it has been proven in court that Ms Fraser-Kirk suffered psychiatric harm after being ravaged by the media in their unabashed sexual interest of the case.

“There was also a lot of media attention on the size of the lawsuit,” Ms Lentini says. “And I think that many people missed the point. What we tried to do was recast debate over the case and give a voice for people to express their reactions to sexual harassment.”

Based on a different theme every week, with an interesting array of guests, “Double X” is an often hilarious but always informative program. For a medium born in the late 19th century, radio has survived and evolved through the digital age, proving that radio is certainly not a dying art. The award to “Double X” is well-deserved recognition for a feminist program that challenges those who believe feminism to be irrelevant. As Ms Lentini asks, “Who can say that feminism doesn’t mean anything anymore?”

Find out more about the program and listen to the podcasts here.

From the Outside Looking In

 By Milly Caffrey

Album cover: From the Outside Looking In. "This is trick photography," NJE says. "That homeless guy could have been me."

So the troops are dying, what you trying prove? And all I see is shit on the 6 o’clock news, how many express their views to get them out of Iraq, why they not doing nothing just to bring them back?

This is solo hip-hop artist NJE “Politically Speaking” on a track from his latest album From The Outside Looking In.

“I’ve had a relatively easy life, not really dramatic,” NJE says. “But growing up in Campbelltown, you see a lot of people going through bad things. There are many housing commission blocks in this suburb and you don’t hear a lot of good things about the area.”

This is partly why NJE started writing lyrics in his late teens to express not only himself, but also issues he saw affecting those around him.

“Whether it be drugs or kids having babies too young… seeing friends go downhill really impacts you.”

Influenced by soulful, old jazz, NJE’s latest album also illustrates how Aussie hip-hop has developed over the past ten years, shifting away from strong nationalistic themes and associations with beer, BBQs and Southern Cross tattoos. Although there is still a focus on the “Aussie battler”, hip-hop artists are increasingly articulating lyrical rhymes and bouncy beats that connect with those living in areas in which NJE says the expectation for individuals to succeed is “pretty low”.

However, member of hip hop duo Koolism and Triple J presenter, Hau Latukefu, thinks describing the genre as “Aussie” hip-hop misses the point.

“The only Australian music is indigenous music. When we were starting out in the early nineties, we were trying to create an identity for ourselves, so we differentiated the genre by calling it Aussie hip-hop. But now that’s irrelevant, we can just say ‘local artist’ instead.”

But whether you define NJE as a local or Aussie hip-hop artist, his rhymes represent a genre imbued with a do-it-yourself attitude and a dedication to give a voice to those often left out of social change.

NJE’s goal of elevating his underground beats to a universal stage looks set to become a reality with an upcoming collaboration with skilled and influential American MC Kool G Rap. Combine this with an album that buzzes with originality, and you have an MC no longer looking from the outside in, but poised for success.

Check out NJE's MySpace here but also the hilarious but banging clip below for "Appetiser (The Entree)".
 

More than 250 people dead from cholera in the 21st century

A cholera outbreak that already has left 250 people dead and more than 3,000 sickened is at the doorstep of an enormous potential breeding ground: the squalid camps in Port-au-Prince where 1.3 million earthquake survivors live. Health authorities and aid workers are scrambling to keep the tragedies from merging and the deaths from multiplying.

Five cholera patients have been reported in Haiti's capital, heightening worries that the disease could reach the sprawling tent slums where abysmal hygiene, poor sanitation, and widespread poverty could rapidly spread it. But government officials said Sunday that all five apparently got cholera outside Port-au-Prince, and they voiced hope that the deadly bacterial disease could be confined to the rural areas where the outbreak originated last week.

"It's not difficult to prevent the spread to Port-au-Prince. We can prevent it," said Health Ministry director Gabriel Timothee. He said tightly limiting movement of patients and careful disposal of bodies can stave off a major medical disaster.

If efforts to keep cholera out of the camps fail, "The worst case would be that we have hundreds of thousands of people getting sick at the same time," said Claude Surena, president of the Haiti Medical Association. Cholera can cause vomiting and diarrhea so severe it can kill from dehydration in hours.

Robyn Fieser, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, said she was confident that aid groups and the Haitian government will be prepared to respond to an outbreak should it occur in the camps. But she stressed that the challenge of preventing its spread is "immense."

"There are proven methods to contain and treat cholera, so we know what we're dealing with. The biggest challenge is logistics, that is, moving massive amounts of medicine, supplies and people into place to treat them and prevent the disease from spreading," Fieser said from the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Doctors Without Borders issued a statement saying that some Port-au-Prince residents were suffering from watery diarrhea and were being treated at facilities in the capital city. Cholera infection among the patients had not been confirmed, however, and aid workers stressed that diarrhea has not been uncommon in Port-au-Prince since the earthquake.

Women's Rights Aborted

By Milly Caffrey

It took less than an hour for a Cairns jury to find Tegan Simone Leach, 21, and her partner Sergie Brennan, 23, not guilty of procuring an abortion and supplying drugs to procure an abortion following a three-day trial last week.

The couple were charged under the 110-year-old Crimes Act that lists abortion as illegal in both Queensland and NSW unless carried out to prevent serious danger to the woman’s physical and mental health.

Despite some media reports, the medication was not “smuggled” into the country, and in fact passed through customs. RU486 is also legal in Australia, but its availability is extremely limited as there is no pharmaceutical company that imports it. This means that individual practitioners have to apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration to dispense the medication, which can also cost over $300.

The couple also claims that a doctor informed them that there was no alternative to an invasive surgical procedure, which in Queensland can incur an $810 upfront fee for a termination in the first trimester.

Despite the couple’s defence that they felt they were not ready to have a baby, the Prosecutor Michael Byrne accused Ms Leach of making a “lifestyle choice”. However, even pro-life advocates have disagreed with this position.

“I don’t think calling it a lifestyle choice is a very compassionate approach to take,” said Mary Joseph, Projects Officer for the Life Marriage and Family Centre at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. “We do think at the same time she needed to have the necessary support.”

Spokesperson for Pro-Choice NSW, Jane Caro, believes “a lifestyle choice might be whether you want to live in a flat or a house… (termination) is a life time choice. It’s a solid determination of women not to parent because they want to do it properly and thoroughly…. a sensible, entirely mature and grown up position.”

Although the case against Ms Leach and her partner has been dismissed, the verdict has still not clarified the whether practitioners will be protected when performing a medical termination in pregnancy. As Jane Caro points out, the case has made the medical profession in Queensland and NSW “nervous”, therefore making women’s access to abortion in both of these states more difficult.

“When you make access to abortion difficult, you increase the possibility of an early term abortion becoming a late term abortion.” This procedure can be extremely traumatic, involving the removal of a dead foetus that is developed enough to require dilation of the cervix for its extraction.

When asked whether the Premier would consider removing abortion from the Crimes Act before the 2011 election, a spokesperson for the Attorney General John Hatzistergos stated, “The law on abortion in NSW provides a balance between competing interests in this area of the criminal law. The long-standing law allows abortions for women who meet criteria in certain circumstances. All other abortions are ‘unlawful’.”

The law seems to ignore the results of a survey conducted by the Australian National University in 2003 which found that over 80 per cent of respondents supported a woman’s right to choose whether or not she has an abortion.

The solution is then the decriminalisation of abortion in both Queensland and NSW, to ensure the rights of doctors, and most importantly women, who deserve the security in knowing they ultimately hold control over their own bodies.

Commonwealth equals wage exploitation for some

In a recent speech to the Queensland Media Club, Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared that Australia has survived the global financial crisis better than any major advanced economy.

“In 2009 the Australian economy grew by 1.3 per cent,” Gillard said. “In contrast, the world’s advanced economies contracted by 3.2 per cent.”

Australia’s public debt is approximately six percent and the unemployment rate has remained steady at 5.1 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But these positive figures are dulled by estimation from Dr John Sweeney of the Edmund Rice Business Ethics Initiative that not all employees in Australia are enjoying the benefits of a strong economy.

“Over the last ten or twelve years profits have grown steadily at 11 per cent per annum,” Dr Sweeney said. “Wages have increased over three per cent annum.”

This indicates the increasing inequality between Sydney’s rich and poor, and an expanding market of people being employed below award wages and under the minimum wage.

This disturbing figure also undermines the prime minister’s assumption that “work gives economic security and enables life time choices”.

There are numerous examples of recently arrived migrants being employed at $8 or $10 an hour. The minimum wage is over $12.

Dr Sweeney tells the shocking story of an asylum seeker who approached the Edmund Rice centre for help after being kept as a virtual slave of an unscrupulous employer.

“He had been in Australia for five years and had met someone who ran a fruit and vegetable shop. The owner employed this man, but never paid him. He told him that if he left the shop, he would be picked up by the Department of Immigration. The man was so scared that he stayed in the shop, and the owner would lock him inside every night.”

Unfortunately this is not an isolated case of undocumented workers being exploited in the off-the-books economy.

“I think that it’s very widespread,” Dr Sweeney said.

Dr Sweeney said the onus was on the government to stop unethical and exploitive practices by creating initiatives that will grant all workers the “personal dignity” that Julia Gillard claims all employees deserve.

By Milly Caffrey

A rational respect for religion

This article appeared on the ABC website and was written by Scott Bridges.

A few weeks ago I read that a long-dead Australian was set to be promoted to the rank of Saint by the Catholic Church. This news registered about as strongly on my give-a-shit meter as the AFL Grand Final(s) and the latest Guy Sebastian album.

I am an atheist, you see - not that this informs my personal identity any more than the fact I love asparagus or that I think George Lazenby was the best James Bond. It’s just that Mary MacKillop and the Pope and stuff are not really my thing, just like Australian Rules football and FM pop. No harm done. Some of my best friends are Catholic, Fox FM listeners, or Collingwood supporters etc.

But as yesterday’s canonisation ceremony drew closer, the militant atheist pack-hate directed towards Catholics and believers of any religion in general reached a crescendo so intense that I almost took communion myself just to spite other atheists. Piss-taking and joking is one thing but outright hatred is another.

The way I see it, if you think the whole concept of religion is wrong then you should feel free to say so - vocally and passionately if the mood takes you. If some aspect of religion deserves criticism (for example, stoning “criminals”, abusing children, or over-commercialisation of faith) then you should feel free to criticise - vocally and passionately if the mood takes you. But if your opposition to religion begins to manifest itself in the form of personal abuse or blind hatred on the basis of belief then maybe it’s time to remind yourself of that rationality you wear so proudly as a badge.

Is it rational to smear all those who hold religious beliefs as being stupid, unthinking, or sheep? Isn’t it possible that some believers have put a lot of thought into their faith and have simply come to a different, although equally critical decision than your own, or that there may be other reasons unrelated to philosophical thought for faith to exist? For millions around the world religion is all in life that is constant and safe; religion motivates, encourages, consoles and gives hope. Is it rational to hate people who hold onto these things in their lives?

Is it rational to ignore and diminish the positive aspects of religion just because there are negative aspects? Sure, the Catholic Church, as an organisation and a collection of individuals, has been responsible for many terrible crimes through the years (as have most, if not all, organised religions), but churches and their non-Christian counterparts also do an awful lot of good for people and communities around the world. For every paedophile there are thousands of hard-working clergy whose only mission is to improve others’ lives. Is it rational to hate this?

Perhaps the problem these past weeks has been the inescapable media build-up to the moment Our Mary would burst onto the Heavenly stage and prove that Australia can do God just as well as it can cricket and faux-American accents in Hollywood films. For your average atheist it was probably a tad galling that our newspapers and TV bulletins fawned over the internal goings-on of a religion in which relatively few Australians actively participate. The whole thing is a bit surreal when you think about it.

And be honest - would you even have batted an eyelid in surprise if the commercial TV coverage suddenly cut away to a corner of the studio where a clutch of Mary supporters were dressed in green and gold, holding Vatican flags, and chanting some sort of horrible “Oi! Oi! Oi!” iteration? It was really looking like it would get that ridiculous at times.

But obviously enough people are interested in Mary MacKillop’s canonisation or the media would’ve dropped it like a bag of week-old prawns. People might’ve been interested because they are Catholic, or Christian, or nothing at all and they just like the pomp and ceremony, but it was clearly a story of some national significance.

Over the past week, as the canonisation ceremony drew nearer, I’d noted the increasing media chatter about Australia’s first Saint-in-waiting and, duly noted, I ignored it. Then last night I flicked through the television channels around dinner time and struggled to find Mary MacKillop-free broadcasting so I turned the TV off. Same as I do during that last week in September.

Actually, I lie - I didn’t totally ignore it. Over the past week I’ve discussed the MacKillop circus with others whose ideas are similar to mine, and I’ve made and heard some great jokes and gentle piss-taking about the canonisation. But whenever I saw the jokes turning into aggressive and compassionless attacks on those to whom religion is real and important, I’ve felt uncomfortable. Surely two of the most rational behaviours we could exhibit as humans are tolerance and respect, so perhaps us atheist beacons of rationality should lead by example.