“In hindsight, we should have stayed off the radio.”
— Australian cricketer Brad Haddin, on his inebriated post-World Cup on-air interview.
United States | Boycotting religious freedom
THE GIST. Last week the Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, signed into law the controversial 'Religious Freedom Restoration Act', which critics argue allows businesses to discriminate against LGBTI citizens.
THE LAW. The law basically makes it really hard for the government stop people from exercising 'religious rights'. Critics say that it allows employers, businesses and landowners to discriminate against LGBTI people on religious grounds, although some legal experts doubt that's true.
THE BOYCOTT. Despite the fact that 19 other states have similar laws, and have had since the early 90s, there has been a huge public outcry against Indiana. A campaign to 'boycott' Indiana has been supported by Apple CEO Tim Cook, various celebrities and even the state of Connecticut.
THE RESPONSE. Governor Pence has reluctantly agreed to a compromise. He still thinks the criticism is a "gross mischaracterisation" of the law, and says it's just a "perception problem." But he's also announced that he wants the law to changed to clearly prevent discrimination.
Australia | Harper's Bazaar
THE GIST. The Federal government has released the final report of the 'Harper Review', which is an inquiry into Australia's competition policy - basically, the laws which are supposed to make sure that economic markets are competitive, to "secure the welfare of Australians."
THE REPORT. The report looks into the level of competition in several different areas, including supermarkets (Coles/Woolies), the taxi industry (Cabs/Uber), and pharmacies.
THE FINDINGS. One of the report's 'priority' areas is taxi regulation, finding basically that the current laws make prices high and service quality low (cue Uber-user eye-rolling). It also recommends that trading hours restrictions be scrapped, other than on "Christmas day, Good Friday and the morning of ANZAC day."
THE POWER. Another recommendation is to make it easier to crack down on 'abuses of market power', which for a lot of people is synonomous with the big supermarkets. Jos de Bruin, representing Master Grocers Australia (read: not Coles or Woolies), said that "Seven out of ten people think Coles and Woolworths are totally dominant" and that "action needs to be taken now."
Small-talk
Damages. A Tennessee man has been awarded $2000 in a lawsuit against Pizza Hut, after he injured his mouth when attempting to chew their "excessively hard croutons." The man apparently bit down way too hard, naturally expecting that the croutons were of the cheese-stuffed variety.
Prison hack. A man has escaped from a London prison, through an act that the prosecutor called "extraordinary criminal inventiveness." The prisoner used a mobile phone to set up a fake website and email address, posed as a clerk from the British Courts of Justice, and emailed the prison to say that he should be let out on bail. Which he then was.
Also known as. Voting is now open for the 33rd annual 'name of the year' contest. The competition pits the 64 best (supposedly real) names, as submitted by the public, against each other in a bracket-style tournament. The top seeds in this year's competition are: 'Cherries Waffles Tennis', 'Littice Bacon-Blood', 'Dr. Electron Kebebew' and 'Mussolini Africano'.
The word
Credulous. Adj. Too ready to believe things; especially on uncertain evidence: A Chicago man drove off of a semi-demolished bridge, tragically killing his wife who was in the passenger seat. Despite passing barricades, orange cones and flashing lights, the unfortunately credulous man continued on the the fatal path, having been directed to do so by his car's GPS.
