The following is a link to a video from an Australian morning news show, where the hosts returned from commercials to discuss the ‘long stabby things’ that they keep next to there beds to ward off intruders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_fMN9kFm14

At first I laughed at just how stupid this was that they actually let something like this go to air, but the fact that they were so serious about what they were talking about, at least for a while, made me question how some of the folks even have jobs.

Due to our running short on time, I promised I would upload some of the important topics that were skipped over to the blog.

We’ll begin with a question I wanted pose: Having seen what Australia and New Zealand are like in terms of how their media is regulated and what the expectations are in media professions, which country would you rather live and work in and why?

Me personally, I would love to live in New Zealand because of the way its media system is structured and the fact that the government has little to no involvement in controlling the media except for during times of war, and let’s be real, when was the last time New Zealand was involved in a world conflict that people were talking about it on CNN?

And besides, New Zealand is a beautiful country! Who wouldn’t want to live there?

In New Zealand some new laws regarding alcohol have been passed.  Under these new laws bars, restaurants and clubs will have to shut down by 4 a.m. and places that sell alcohol cannot sell any alcohol after 11p.m. and before 7 a.m.  These laws are considered “stricter” than the previous laws.  If these laws are considered strict maybe New Zealanders should try living in PA.  Im sure many Pennsylvanians would love bars to stay open till 4 a.m.  Also in New Zealand rules have changed for underage drinkers.  From Wednesday only parents or guardians can give their underage child alcohol.  That law would just be unheard of in the U.S.  Just goes to show the differences in certain countries.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/20374826/bars-close-earlier-under-new-law/

According to the New Zealand Herald, a teacher was censured for calling students slag, loser and prick, mocking their names and making derogatory comments about their ethnicities. Barbara McConnell, is a teacher at Auckland’s Mt Roskill Grammar for almost 10 years. Because of this issue she was was asked to stay at home on full pay following complaints from many about her behavior during class lectures. The school board of trustees have been doing what they can to investigate her behavior and issued her a written warning due to the incident.

School principle, Greg Watson, called Mrs McConnell in and asked her to stay away from school, on full pay, while an investigation was carried out by the ERA, or the Employment Relations Authority. He asked had his deputy principal, Jennifer Anne Barker, gather comments from the students immediately after the incident took place. According to their responses, “Ms Barker’s analysis found 18 students wrote that Mrs McConnell had called a student a “prick”, 16 wrote she called a student a “slag” and 14 wrote she called a student a “loser”.”

Mrs. McConnell is also accused of telling a student to shut up, mocking their names, talking about suicide, suggesting a student would be bashed for wearing a particular shirt, and made derogatory comments about ethnicities. She argues that these are simply accusations and misinterpretations, and she stuck to her decision to deny calling any of the students a prick, slag, or a loser.

According to the article, “She had not been suspended but transferred to work at home, which the school was entitled to do in the interests of teacher and student welfare.”

check out the article:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11173352

posted by: Lyndsay Eliasof

The video below is an ABC documentary of the hardships many Australians are facing with poverty. It shows many volunteers gathering to help the poor who are struggling to pay for rent, electricity, and what not. Unfortunately many Australians can’t even afford to feed themselves or their families. This has become a national issue that many are unaware of. Today, there are 5 unemployed people for every vacant job in Australia, making it about a half a million people who are looking for full time work.

These individuals are entitled to what is known as New Start. This program is suppose to be help from the government, who gives them a dull payment. However, the government expects them to live on only $35 dollars a day, unless they have children. It is believed that New Start for single people is simply inadequate and does little to actually help them survive. There are currently 685,000 people that are receiving New Start,

There were many stories in this video of individuals who are living off of New Start. They say these people are living on the “brink” and they discuss the hardships they are dealing with. Pastor Marty Beckett started a Thursday night carpark dinners for many individuals who are in desperate need of food. Donations from the town and churches in the area are the primary source of the hot meals that are capable of being distributed. People of all ages, with different situations come to receive a nice warm meal, which for some is the only meal they receive in a week. They interviewed single mothers, people who just lost their jobs, people who are retired or on disability checks, and many more. Its crazy to think how many people this is affecting and how not many people are aware of this pressing issue. I found this video very touching to see that are good people in the world that will stop what they are doing to organize something like this to make a difference to so many lives.

check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBXKFZKVs2M

posted by: Lyndsay Eliasof

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/technology/yahoo-email-missing-after-4-days/story-e6frgakx-1226782131215

By Kaylee Berger

Due to consistent bullying via social media, scared bureaucrats have been granted anonymity and silent phone numbers to stop angry Australian civilians from continuing the online bullying.

Those that have been bullied online have had a rough time. People have created separate webpages ridiculing them and basically using the page as a hate page. There have also been instances where peoples home addresses, personal phone numbers and license plate numbers have been made public online. Doctored photos and videos have been put online without permission from that person. Even online polls have been created to measure their competence. The bullying has overstepped its boundaries and action must be taken place.

The extent of the abuse is outlined in the first Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) guidelines on cyber bullying, which let public servants remain anonymous when dealing with the public. The APSC says government agencies must balance “efficient service delivery” with the “safety and wellbeing of employees”. “Agencies may need to consider a less personalized approach, where necessary, to service delivery, in which APS employees are not identified by name, and where emails to agency clients come from a generic mailbox rather than a personal address,” it states. “It may be appropriate for agencies to divert offensive emails to a single source to minimize the impact on staff.”

Employees are scared for their lives! The APSC is recommending to companies that any employees that may have been threatened should be taken off department contact lists for their safety. They also recommend that employees take off personal information that could be found on social media accounts or any other place online. This will reassure that people cannot find out more information about the person other than through online.

A Community and Public Sector Union spokesman said government funding cuts were reducing services to the public and increasing waiting times. “Where that abuse comes from is that people are frustrated because they can’t get services,” he said. “That comes from the government cutting resources to the public sector, and when people get delays they now have another way to vent, online.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/cyber-bullies-abusing-stalking-public-servants/story-e6frg6n6-1226783569202