Squiz Today / 09 January 2018

Squiz Today – Tuesday, 9 January

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Raw water”

Building on the raw food trend, raw water is the latest health craze in the US. “Naturally probiotic. Perfected by nature,” says one brand. “Potentially full of dangerous bacteria, viruses and parasites,” say some health experts. Or you could just let your tummy decide?


GENDER EQUALITY FRONT AND CENTRE AGAIN

THE SQUIZ
Matters of misconduct against women and gender equality were back in the spotlight yesterday following:

1. Allegations from three women that Aussie star Craig McLachlan assaulted, harassed and bullied them while performing together in a stage production of The Rocky Horror Show.

2. The Golden Globes awards brought key Hollywood players together for the first time since revelations of harassment and abuse of women in the industry blew up last year.

3. Senior BBC journalist Carrie Gracie yesterday resigned citing pay inequality with her male colleagues.

LET’S DEAL WITH THE MCLACHLAN ALLEGATIONS FIRST…
Sure thing. A decision by “mutual agreement” was reached late yesterday between McLachlan and producers of the current incarnation of The Rocky Horror Show for him to leave the production. The Seven Network said the production of McLachlan's TV series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, is on hold pending the outcome of the police investigation. And reports this morning say two more women have come forward to police with complaints against him. McLachlan completely denies the accusations. The accounts from McLachlan’s former co-stars - Erika Heynatz, Christie Whelan Browne and Angela Scundi – on ABC TV’s 7.30 last night were in equal parts compelling and harrowing.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE GOLDEN GLOBES AND GRACIE’S RESIGNATION?
“Good evening ladies and remaining gentleman” was how host Seth Myers kicked off the awards ceremony. Women and men supporting the recently launched ‘Time’s Up’ initiative wore black and a pin. Our Nicole (Kidman) used her Best Actress acceptance speech to speak about the power of women. Natalie Portman underlined the lack of diversity in the ‘Best Director’ field. But the night belonged to Oprah Winfrey with a speech that has sparked new speculation she’s thinking of a run for president in 2020. As for journo Carrie Gracie, she’s one of the most highly regarded editors at the BBC, so her resignation is explosive. She accused her employer of 30 years of having a “secretive and illegal” pay culture and of “not living up to its stated values of trust, honesty and accountability”. Cue the hashtag #istandwithcarrie.


SQUIZ THE REST

NEGATIVE RESULT FOR NEGATIVE GEARING ATTACK
Now for some light political news – it seems the Turnbull Government attack on Labor’s proposed changes to negative gearing tax concessions was erroneous. Too hard? Fair enough. Long story short - the ABC got its hands on documents showing Coalition statements that Labor’s policy to scale back tax-friendly arrangements for property investors would bring our economy to a halt weren’t consistent with what the bureaucrats were telling them. Labor yesterday chanted “liar, liar, pants on fire”. So situation normal then.

AUSSIE INTERNET SPEEDS DROP DOWN THE RANKINGS
‘Below average’ is the mark on Australia’s internet report card. Our fixed broadband internet speed was yesterday ranked 55th fastest internationally – below that of Kazakhstan (the land of Borat), Slovenia and Russia. Singapore has the fastest. The good news is our mobile network did better than fixed broadband where we ranked 7th in the world in the Ookla Speed Test. We’ll leave it there in case we jinx ourselves…

RETAIL MORE UPBEAT THAN EXPECTED
The Australian reports that fancy finance mob Deutsche Bank reckon we shook off our spending blues in December and through the Boxing Day sales. That means our retailers did a lot better than they were expecting. Deutsche also says the pre-Christmas launch of Amazon didn’t impact our established retailers’ sales significantly and that it may take the global juggernaut a bit longer to get a foothold in Australia than anticipated. The proof will be in the pudding when the retail companies release their results in coming weeks. One retailer who hasn’t faired well is Diana Ferrari. It has announced its closing.

ROOT SIDELINED WITH ROUGH GUTS
Putting aside Australia’s momentous win of the fifth Ashes test in Sydney yesterday, the headline news from the match was that a bloke named Joe Root was sidelined by a dodgy prawn. We’re being disrespectful – Root (yes, that’s his name) is the English captain (yes, he’s English, not Australian) and he was hospitalised on Sunday night with gastroenteritis. That didn’t stop him from returning to the crease yesterday to resume his innings until he retired ill on 58 runs. Aussie captain Steve Smith praised him for his toughness. All in all, we won the Ashes series 4-0. Aussie Aussie Aussie!

A COUPLE OF SAD POINTS TO NOTE
Fairfax Media cartoonist Ron Tandberg died yesterday after a short battle with cancer. For years his ‘pocket cartoons’ adorned the front page of The Age with his simple, sharp and funny take the issue of the day. He was 74yo. And the Red Cross Blood Service yesterday reiterated a call from a dying young woman who used her final message on Facebook to urge people to live life to the fullest – and to donate blood. Holly Butcher was just 27yo when she died last week.

GOLDEN GLOBES – THE SHOW BIZ STUFF
Just because the awards night had a serious overtone doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the winners:

• Best Motion Picture, Drama - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

• Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy - Lady Bird

• Best Actress - Frances McDormand for Drama (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri); Saoirse Ronan for Musical or Comedy (Lady Bird)

• Best Actor - Gary Oldman for Drama (Darkest Hour); James Franco for Musical or Comedy (The Disaster Artist)

• And gratuitously, Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie – Nicole Kidman

And here’s a look at the fabulous frocks and blokes in suits. Just what your Tuesday needs.

SQUIZ THE DAY

Today is the first day same-sex couples can marry in Australia without a waiver following a change to the marriage laws last year. The first weddings have already taken place

North and South Korea to meet to discuss North Korea's participation in next month's Winter Olympics - Panmunjom (which is the 'peace village' in the demilitarised zone)

ABS Data Release - Building Approvals, November

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's 36th Birthday

America's National Cassoulet Day

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