Hospital stay leads to a jarring experience
Regarding all the beer nostalgia (C8), Andrew McCarthy of Toormina points out that occasionally, 'Carlton United Breweries (CUB) has produced 'one-off' runs of DA and KB for the discerning drinker.'
'Whatever happened to the once-ubiquitous Globite school case?' ponders Col Begg of Orange. 'So good for mothers to discover last week's lunch crusts and banana skins among the sweaty gym gear and for creating an almost impenetrable obstacle path in the bus aisle.'
Leonie Barrett's (C8) public phone avouchment has the backing of Peter Mayes of Petersham: 'Recently, my daughter fell asleep on the last train out of Sydney after a long day and evening at work. She woke up at Flemington. Her mobile was dead so no money, taxi or Uber. Thank God she was able to call me at 1am to go and fetch her. Telstra, we love you!'
'I tried to support Leonie yesterday by using my closest public telephone to call a friend,' says Brian Harris of Port Macquarie. 'The only problem was, all my contacts were in my mobile phone.'
'Not a dunce cap (C8),' says Geoff Gilligan of Coogee. 'But, in the late '50s my fourth class teacher had a foot-high wooden model of a man dressed in a suit, complete with bowler hat. The head was mounted on a spindle and could do 360s. His name was Mr Swivelhead, and if you were turning around and talking to students behind you, you had to take him home and bring him back with a note from your parents acknowledging your inattention. Yes, I got him a few times. Nowadays, I'd probably just be classified as ADHD.'
'We've had the Victorian era, the Edwardian, Georgian and Elizabethan eras, but what era are we in now?' asks Alison Brooks of Hope Island (Qld). 'Surely, not the Charleston era?'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
5 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Fraud claim rocks Smorgon gold mine deal
Companies controlled by the powerful Victor Smorgon Group have been accused of running a dishonest and fraudulent scheme to invalidly acquire a stake in an Australian gold mine at a below-market price. The allegations, which have been strongly denied, were filed in the Federal Court by the Smorgon group's Chinese partners in the Stawell Gold Mine, and reveal a bitter battle for control of the Victorian project at a time of record high gold prices.
The Age
5 hours ago
- The Age
Fears emerge on Liberal religious right that cult inquiry unfairly targets Pentecostal churches
The committee said recruitment tactics included using social events to build rapport (like potluck dinners or youth groups); isolating recruits from 'negative' outsiders; promising secret or higher knowledge; asking recruits to commit in small ways, then escalating; using charismatic leaders; creating insider language and symbols; and targeting vulnerable people. Heath's employee said some examples misrepresented church activities as 'deceptive or sinister' while sports clubs and political parties were ignored. He claimed, in a 'church guidance note' attached to the email, that anonymous submissions 'fuelled by media-driven stereotypes and Facebook groups … could be used to justify new laws that potentially criminalise and censor pastors, leaders and churches and expose them to vexatious legal actions. 'Despite high levels of coercion and control displayed in unions, activist groups, political parties and sport, the Victorian government is targeting religion.' Heath said her office had been contacted by constituents concerned about the inquiry and that she had asked her employee to get in touch with key stakeholders. But she said she had no knowledge of this specific correspondence or the email's content, which was sent from the employee's private email but claimed to be on her behalf. She said her employee had sent the email in good faith, expressing his own opinions about the Geelong Revival Centre. Loading 'My staff member now acknowledges this was based on insufficient information and was a mistake. The allegations against this organisation are serious, and I expect more information will come to light during this inquiry.' Heath is from the Pentecostal church, City Builders, in Gippsland, where her parents are pastors. In 2022, the church rejected allegations it sought to engage improperly in politics or supported gay-conversion therapy. The employee's email ultimately reached devastated survivors who say they faced coercive practices within religious groups and who have found hope in the inquiry. Ryan Carey, from Geelong Revival Centre Survivors and Stop Religious Coercion Australia, said the committee had shown good faith by focusing on behaviours rather than any beliefs. He wants freedom of belief, association and religion. 'We also want it to be safe and free of abuse, exploitation, and harm,' he said. 'Healthy churches shouldn't require survivor groups upon exit. Ours does. 'Survivors are used to having people in power try to silence them and invalidate their stories. This is spit in the face of survivors, and frankly, I think they deserve an apology.' Renee Spencer, from Survivors of Coercive Cults and High-Control Groups, said she was not surprised by Heath's employee's apparent attempt to indirectly influence the inquiry but it was damaging nonetheless. 'Survivors who took the time to dredge up their deepest pain for this inquiry have already retraumatised themselves in the hope of meaningful change and harm prevention. Thankfully, for the most part, we have found people to be empathetic and measured,' Spencer said. Christian legal think tank Freedom for Faith shared concerns religious freedoms could be infringed, in a submission co-signed by Australian Christian Churches, the Baptist Union of Victoria, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Australia and the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. They were encouraged by the committee's insistence it was not looking to judge faith, and acknowledged coercive control did exist in some religious contexts. But they worried the definition of cult could be expanded 'under anti-religious pressure … to include faiths that involve whole-of-life commitment, and faiths that teach unpopular beliefs (especially concerning sexuality, gender and marriage)'. The Australian Christian Lobby urged against introducing any new legislation, to avoid inadvertently stepping on the right to freedom of expression, religion and association, and agreed there was a risk of mainstream church practices being misinterpreted as 'cult-like'. Loading The bipartisan committee is chaired by Labor MP Ella George, who said Victorians could practise their faith freely without fear. 'There is no truth to any claim that the committee's inquiry is about sanctioning religious practices. The religious beliefs of Victorians are irrelevant to the inquiry's terms of reference,' George said. 'The emphasis is on how these groups operate, not what they believe.' Patrick McIvor left City Builders in 2016 and was the lead author of a submission to the inquiry called 'Beyond Belief', which was endorsed by Survivors of Coercive Cults and High-Control Groups, Stop Religious Control Australia and Victorian Cult Survivors Network. He said the inquiry appeared to have a genuine interest in getting things right. 'I understand the nerves of some groups, particularly some religious groups. And we agree, it shouldn't be about religious groups. Any solution should absolutely uphold freedom of belief, freedom of association, and that's why we've kept the focus [of our submission] squarely on harmful behaviours and not vilifying people.'
Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Fears emerge on Liberal religious right that cult inquiry unfairly targets Pentecostal churches
The committee said recruitment tactics included using social events to build rapport (like potluck dinners or youth groups); isolating recruits from 'negative' outsiders; promising secret or higher knowledge; asking recruits to commit in small ways, then escalating; using charismatic leaders; creating insider language and symbols; and targeting vulnerable people. Heath's employee said some examples misrepresented church activities as 'deceptive or sinister' while sports clubs and political parties were ignored. He claimed, in a 'church guidance note' attached to the email, that anonymous submissions 'fuelled by media-driven stereotypes and Facebook groups … could be used to justify new laws that potentially criminalise and censor pastors, leaders and churches and expose them to vexatious legal actions. 'Despite high levels of coercion and control displayed in unions, activist groups, political parties and sport, the Victorian government is targeting religion.' Heath said her office had been contacted by constituents concerned about the inquiry and that she had asked her employee to get in touch with key stakeholders. But she said she had no knowledge of this specific correspondence or the email's content, which was sent from the employee's private email but claimed to be on her behalf. She said her employee had sent the email in good faith, expressing his own opinions about the Geelong Revival Centre. Loading 'My staff member now acknowledges this was based on insufficient information and was a mistake. The allegations against this organisation are serious, and I expect more information will come to light during this inquiry.' Heath is from the Pentecostal church, City Builders, in Gippsland, where her parents are pastors. In 2022, the church rejected allegations it sought to engage improperly in politics or supported gay-conversion therapy. The employee's email ultimately reached devastated survivors who say they faced coercive practices within religious groups and who have found hope in the inquiry. Ryan Carey, from Geelong Revival Centre Survivors and Stop Religious Coercion Australia, said the committee had shown good faith by focusing on behaviours rather than any beliefs. He wants freedom of belief, association and religion. 'We also want it to be safe and free of abuse, exploitation, and harm,' he said. 'Healthy churches shouldn't require survivor groups upon exit. Ours does. 'Survivors are used to having people in power try to silence them and invalidate their stories. This is spit in the face of survivors, and frankly, I think they deserve an apology.' Renee Spencer, from Survivors of Coercive Cults and High-Control Groups, said she was not surprised by Heath's employee's apparent attempt to indirectly influence the inquiry but it was damaging nonetheless. 'Survivors who took the time to dredge up their deepest pain for this inquiry have already retraumatised themselves in the hope of meaningful change and harm prevention. Thankfully, for the most part, we have found people to be empathetic and measured,' Spencer said. Christian legal think tank Freedom for Faith shared concerns religious freedoms could be infringed, in a submission co-signed by Australian Christian Churches, the Baptist Union of Victoria, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Australia and the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. They were encouraged by the committee's insistence it was not looking to judge faith, and acknowledged coercive control did exist in some religious contexts. But they worried the definition of cult could be expanded 'under anti-religious pressure … to include faiths that involve whole-of-life commitment, and faiths that teach unpopular beliefs (especially concerning sexuality, gender and marriage)'. The Australian Christian Lobby urged against introducing any new legislation, to avoid inadvertently stepping on the right to freedom of expression, religion and association, and agreed there was a risk of mainstream church practices being misinterpreted as 'cult-like'. Loading The bipartisan committee is chaired by Labor MP Ella George, who said Victorians could practise their faith freely without fear. 'There is no truth to any claim that the committee's inquiry is about sanctioning religious practices. The religious beliefs of Victorians are irrelevant to the inquiry's terms of reference,' George said. 'The emphasis is on how these groups operate, not what they believe.' Patrick McIvor left City Builders in 2016 and was the lead author of a submission to the inquiry called 'Beyond Belief', which was endorsed by Survivors of Coercive Cults and High-Control Groups, Stop Religious Control Australia and Victorian Cult Survivors Network. He said the inquiry appeared to have a genuine interest in getting things right. 'I understand the nerves of some groups, particularly some religious groups. And we agree, it shouldn't be about religious groups. Any solution should absolutely uphold freedom of belief, freedom of association, and that's why we've kept the focus [of our submission] squarely on harmful behaviours and not vilifying people.'
