Squiz Today – Friday, 6 October

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Bropropriating”

That’s when a man takes credit for a woman’s ideas. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has had to deal with it around the Cabinet table. Hard to believe that a bunch of A-type politicians would behave like that…

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DANLEY STARTS TALKING

THE SQUIZ
“Devastated” is how Australian citizen Marilou Danley described her reaction to news boyfriend Stephen Paddock had carried out America’s biggest mass shooting of modern times. Danley returned to the US mid-week to speak to authorities. She had been in the Philippines after Paddock had booked her on a last minute trip to visit family. She says she had no warning that Paddock was going to carry out Sunday’s carnage. She was released by the FBI and has pledged to continue to cooperate with authorities.

WHAT HAS SHE SAID?
In a statement delivered by her lawyer, Danley said:

• “I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring, quiet man. He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen.”

• About the trip to the Philippines and the US$100,000 money transfer; “I was grateful, but honestly, I was worried, that first, the unexpected trip home, and then the money, was a way of breaking up with me.”

• “It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone.”

SO WE’RE NO CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING WHY THIS HAPPENED?
From the police statements so far, no. In a press conference yesterday, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities haven’t ruled out that someone might have helped Paddock given the amount of preparation and gear involved. And reports this morning say authorities are looking for a woman Paddock spent time with in the lead up to the massacre. One bit of good news – the Las Vegas police have revised down the number of people injured in the attack to 489, and of those 317 have been discharged from hospital.

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SQUIZ THE REST

RETAIL SPENDING SUFFERS SHARP FALL
You really kept your money away from the shops in August. Official figures released yesterday show Aussie retail sales were down 0.6% for the month. The last couple of months of poor sales has delivered the worst slump in seven years giving optimistic economists pause for thought. Almost every category of retail saw a decline. It’s believed increased electricity prices made us skip on discretionary spending – things we can really do without like takeaway meals (which for us is very firmly in the non-discretionary category...). 

NO SIGN OF ELISA CURRY
Victoria Police will scale back the search for Melbourne mother Elisa Curry after five days of intensive searching. It now believes it is unlikely she will be found alive. Reports say a neighbour last saw her at the family holiday home at Airleys Inlet on Saturday night. And her phone has been turned off since 10.30pm that night with text messages to her husband (who was in Melbourne with their children attending the AFL final) the last recorded activity. Elisa’s family arrived at Airleys Inlet at 9am on Sunday, but she was gone and hasn’t been seen since. A committed runner, it was thought she might have got lost on a night or early morning run along the local bush tracks. Her husband has pleaded with her to get in touch if she can. Police say they don’t have a lot to work with and last night released a document that showed she suffered from depression.

FINANCIAL REVIEW POWER LIST
The Australian Financial Review 2017 Power List is in and it’s politics (and bloke) heavy. The top 10 overt power list starts with PM Malcolm Turnbull and then includes (in order) Labor’s Bill Shorten, Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, ‘The Senate Crossbench’, incoming Homeland Security Minister Peter Dutton, Treasurer Scott Morrison, financial regulator Wayne Byres, former PM Tony Abbott and ACTU Secretary Sally McManus. The covert power list has two women – Lucy Turnbull at number one and senior Turnbull staffer Sally Cray in third spot. And the cultural power list is headed by Carl and Mark Fennessey, the CEOs of TV producers Endemol Shine Australia. The women’s AFL came second. If you have an AFR subscription that gets you through the paywall, the link is here.

HOUSEKEEPING! QUICK STORY UPDATES…
AGREEMENT ON SECURITY MEASURES - State and territory leaders will hand over drivers’ licences to create a national facial-recognition database. The meeting led by PM Malcolm Turnbull agreed to all the counter-terror measures that were up for discussion at yesterday’s COAG meeting.

NZ ELECTION TALKS TO COMMENCE – They don’t charge into these things over there… It’s been two full weeks since the election and talks only started yesterday between Winston Peters from New Zealand First and those who hope to win his support to form government - both the National Party and Labour. Peters says he will make a decision on who to support by 12 October.

NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE ANNOUNCED - Another day, another Nobel. Last night’s prize went to British writer Kazuo Ishiguro whose best-known works include Remains of the Day (one of our all-time favourites) and Never Let Me Go. Along with the honour, the Japanese-born author wins $1.4 million.

SMART AUSSIE SCIENTISTS DO WONDERS WITH GLUE
Our scientists are a smart bunch. Researchers from the Uni of Sydney joined those from Harvard and Northeastern to come up with a superglue which can seal wounds in a matter of seconds. It even works on internal wounds meaning it’s causing quite a buzz about its potential for use in war zones and accidents. And it doesn’t sound very complicated; "You can just squirt it onto a wound site, zap it with light and the whole thing sets in a matter of seconds," said Sydney Uni’s Anthony Weiss. They’re now looking for funding for human trials.

FRIDAY LITES – THREE THINGS WE LIKED THIS WEEK
A well-travelled design-savvy friend of ours introduced us to Cereal a few months ago and we’re hooked. They put a travel and design mag out twice a year but there’s heaps of cool stuff online to waste time clicking through and a store with some different gift ideas.

We regularly read the New York Times weddings section because stories about how people came to find ‘the one’ are so interesting. We’re also into tall poppies because we want people to do well in life. But you’ve got to have a laugh every now and then, right? This notice got a bit of attention this week – she’s Grace du Pont of the DuPont chemicals empire. It’s so fab.

You already know we have issues with eyebrow grooming. This incident can only be described as a tragedy. Scroll to the video and speed up to the 3:00 minute mark if you’re time-poor.

SQUIZ THE DAY

Friday

ABS Data Release - Livestock and Meat, August

Cardinal George Pell to attend an administrative court hearing on historical s*x abuse charges - Melbourne

Nobel Peace Prize Announcement

Saturday

11.00am - 2.00pm (AEDT) - Government House Open Day - Canberra 

3.15pm (AEDT) - Horse Racing - Winx to star in the Turnbull Stakes - Flemington (Melb)

Sunday

9.40am (AEDT) - Rugby Union - Wallabies v Argentina - Argentina

11.10am (AEDT) - Bathurst 1000 Supercar Race, strap yourself in for 161 laps around Mount Panorama

12.00pm (AEDT) - Netball - Aussie Diamonds v NZ Silver Ferns - Christchurch