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‘Dark tourism’ is attracting visitors to war zones and sites of atrocities in Israel and Ukraine. Why?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/juliet-rogers-333488">Juliet Rogers</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> There is a disturbing trend of people travelling to the sadder places of the world: sites of military attacks, war zones and disasters. Dark tourism is now a phenomenon, with <a href="https://dark-tourism.com/">its own website</a> and dedicated tour guides. People visit these places to mourn, or to remember and honour the dead. But sometimes they just want to look, and sometimes they want to delight in the pain of others. Of course, people have long visited places like the <a href="https://www.auschwitz.org/en/visiting/guided-tours-for-individual-visitors/">Auschwitz-Birkenau</a> Memorial, <a href="https://www.911memorial.org/911-faqs">the site of the Twin Towers</a> destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, <a href="https://www.robben-island.org.za/tour-types/">Robben Island Prison</a>, where Nelson Mandela and others spent many years, and more recently, <a href="https://chernobyl-tour.com/english/">the Chernobyl nuclear power plant</a>. But there are more recent destinations, connected to active wars and aggression. Since the <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/2024/10/11/one-year-hamas-oct-attack-israel-northern-border-1961816.html">Hamas military attacks</a> of October 7 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, celebrities and tourists have visited the related sites of the Nova music festival and the Nir Oz Kibbutz in Palestine/Israel. The kibbutz tours, guided by former residents, allow people to view and be guided through houses of the dead, to be shown photographs and bullet holes. Sderot, the biggest city targeted by Hamas, is offering <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-hamas-oct-7-tourism-sderot-8b21f590c37fa6780bf9190d6bfb62b7">what it describes as “resilience tours”</a>, connecting tourists with October 7 survivors. Similar places are visited <a href="https://wartours.in.ua/2023/02/25/dark-tourism-in-ukraine/">in Ukraine</a>. The “popular” Donbas war tour, for instance, takes visitors to the front lines of the conflict and offers “a firsthand look at the impact of the war on the local population”, introducing them to displaced locals, soldiers and volunteer fighters. There’s also <a href="https://wartours.in.ua/en/">a Kyiv tour</a>, which takes in destroyed military equipment and what remains of missile strikes. <h2>Solidarity tours</h2> These tours have various names, but <a href="https://touringisrael.com/tour/october-7-solidarity-tour/">one Israeli company</a> calls them “solidarity tours”. The idea of solidarity lessens the presumption of voyeurism, or the accusation of ghoulish enjoyment of pain or suffering. It suggests an affinity with those who have died or those who have lost loved ones. But solidarity is a political affiliation too. These tours are not only therapeutic. They are not only about “bearing witness”, as many guides and visitors attest. They are also about solidarity with the struggle. What is this struggle? Genocide scholar Dirk Moses <a href="https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/more-than-genocide/">has written thoughtfully</a> on this after October 7. Colonial states seek not just security, but “permanent security”. This makes them hyper-defensive of their borders. Israel was created as a nation <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/truman-israel/">by the newly formed United Nations</a> in 1947, two years after the end of World War II and in the shadow of the Holocaust: it was an inevitable product of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-century-on-the-balfour-declaration-still-shapes-palestinians-everyday-lives-86662">Balfour Declaration</a> (1917) that carved up the Middle East. The creation of the Israeli state turned relationships between Palestinians and Jewish people into borders to navigate and police, producing a line of security to defend. These borders have long been sites of humiliation and denigration toward Palestinians, whose homelands have been now occupied for many generations. Israeli Defense Force soldiers themselves <a href="https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/videos/29690">have spoken passionately</a> about the brutal and arbitrary violence that occurs there, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10978-016-9195-y">including “creative punishments”</a>. These were the borders that protected the sites targeted by Hamas. The Nova music festival was five kilometres from one of these borders. For many Israelis, any breach of those borders, any sense of loss of control, courts the terrors of the past. It raises the spectre of the Holocaust: the destruction of European Jewry, the loss of sovereignty over family, home, and over life, the loss of millions of lives, again. For Israel, as for any colonial state, security is a permanent aspiration, in Moses’s terms. The stakes are high. Dark tourism, seen in this light, is not only solidarity with those who have lost loved ones on October 7. It is solidarity with the border, with those who have lost that security. And that loss is profound, traumatic and, at least psychologically, can provoke violent reactions in an effort to have the borders – geographical and psychological – reasserted. <h2>‘I stand with you’</h2> Transitional justice mechanisms such as the truth commissions in <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/">South Africa</a>, <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2002/02/truth-commission-timor-leste-east-timor">Timor Leste</a> and <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/1983/12/truth-commission-argentina">Argentina</a> apply legal frameworks to heal nations from the trauma of crimes against humanity. These mechanisms are one choice after experiences of mass violence. Ironically, their catchphrase is Nunca Mas (never again), which was the title of the 1984 report by Argentina’s <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/1983/12/truth-commission-argentina">National Commission on the Dissappeared</a>. Permanent security of the kind Israel is seeking is another choice – and its catchphrase might well be the same. Never again will Israel’s borders be breached, never again will Jewish life be subjected to mass destruction with impunity. This is what solidarity can mean: not only grieving alongside those who have suffered, but attachment to an identity and borders, which are reinforced through participation. “I stand with you” is perhaps what the visits are for. I stand with you on this land, at this time, and perhaps for all time. But stand beside you in what now? In grief, yes. But also in rage, in pain, in vengeance and, for some, in making Israel great again. The hashtag #standwithus accompanies some calls for visits to the October 7 sites, for this form of tourism. It means stand with us at Israel’s border. From there, you can hear the sound of bombs falling: <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/world/israel-7-october-massacre-sites-dark-draw-tourists-3101715">in Gaza</a>, a place where no solidarity tour will go. Yet. <h2>Memorials, grief and understanding</h2> Dark tourism is not always for those associated with the events. Some people visit sites of disaster and loss because they want to understand the greater sadnesses of the world and its formidable brutalities. Some want to show their respect to others. It’s not dissimilar to visiting memorials. Memorials collate the disparate parts of grief and reflect it as public memory. They offer fragments of historical pain that can be borne in more than one mind, to create a shared reality. In Pretoria, South Africa, a memorial called <a href="https://www.freedompark.co.za/">Freedom Park</a> depicts the names of every person who died in every war fought in South Africa, as well as those South Africans who died in the world wars. The names are written on a wall that circles the park. It is impossibly long and circular, and you cannot measure it with your own stride. It is disorientating and interminable, like grief. In this memorial-metaphor, you are unable to comprehend – and at the same time are awash with – a history of loss, represented by the names. The walls contain you, and then they cannot. Grief and even solidarity is not always about comprehension or containment. Sometimes it is about proximity. Sometimes, it is about sitting with not knowing. Sometimes, it is about solidarity with something that cannot be made sense of. Trauma, psychoanalysis tells us, is an experience of what we cannot assimilate. If you sit in proximity to people and places where traumatic events have happened, you can learn something. If you see the bullet holes at a site of loss, you can comprehend something. But not everything. Bullet holes in a wall are the very definition of a partial story. People visit memorials and sites of loss to learn and to unlearn. Dark tourism has this quality. <h2>Obscenity of understanding</h2> In my field, criminology and trauma studies, we try to understand why people do the violent things they do. Holocaust filmmaker and commentator <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26303924">Claude Lanzmann has said</a> we must not indulge in what he calls the “obscenity of the project of understanding” in relation to Nazi perpetrators of the Holocaust. He regards curiosity about the minds of perpetrators and the rationale for violence as a violence in itself. Of the Holocaust, he says you cannot ask “Why were the Jews killed?”. It is the result that matters. But it is also the reaction that matters. The state of Israel itself – permanent security and its attendant horrors – is part of that reaction. But understanding can influence the reaction to violence, and contribute something to the promise of Never Again. Understanding allows us to hold more than one story in mind. It allows us to do more than <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/">count the more than 1,200 killed</a> in Israel, or the 41,689 (plus) Palestinians killed in Gaza. Bodies are always more than numbers. But explanation is one thing, justification another. Justification is best left to the courts, international or otherwise, after the violence has ceased. It is hard to hear about dark tourism in Israel/Palestine and in Ukraine and try to understand it. It is hard not to condemn the tourists. But we are quick to condemn at this time – and even quicker to demand others do the same. Perhaps we should not be so righteous, and we should resist the urge to easily condemn, from our homes in what <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/after-mabo-paperback-softback">Tim Rowse has called</a> the “ongoing colonial encounter sometimes called ‘Australia’”. Indigenous people here speak of the lack of memorials on this land. But every bordered property is a site for dark tourism in Australia. Dark tourism is the effort to seek out destinations of violence and devastation, but it is not hard to see genocide from our front door in this country.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/240119/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/juliet-rogers-333488">Juliet Rogers</a>, Associate Professor Criminology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dark-tourism-is-attracting-visitors-to-war-zones-and-sites-of-atrocities-in-israel-and-ukraine-why-240119">original article</a>. </div>

Travel Trouble

It may be macabre, but dark tourism helps us learn from the worst of human history

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dr-neil-robinson-1312179">Dr Neil Robinson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-salford-878">University of Salford</a> Dark tourism has become a much more well-covered pasttime in recent years, in which a macabre fascination lead tourists to travel to various places not served by Thomas Cook: the sites of battles and genocides, war cemeteries, prisons, and even <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/the-rise-of-dark-tourism/374432/">current warzones such as Syria</a>. The 20th century alone has provided such a <a href="http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/location/10-great-places-to-visit-for-dark-tourism/">long list of places</a> at which catastrophes or great loss of life and suffering has occurred. Sites visited range from the spot from which JFK was assassinated, to prisons such as Alcatraz in San Francisco, through to battlefields of the World Wars, or the vestiges of genocides such at Auschwitz in Poland or Tuol Sleng in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but we shouldn’t condemn those for whom this is an interest. Dark tourism appears to be a manifestation of our media-rich society through which information found online may persuade us to see historical sites in person. But its origins can be traced back much further than the fascination with death and disasters of the 19th and 20th century. In the 11th century, people and pilgrims often visited places with religious significance such as Jerusalem, where the location of Christ’s crucifixion is a popular attraction; tourists visited Gettysburg, the site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War in 1863; and in more recent centuries, the Grand Tour offered an opportunity for the wealthy to experience Europe, with sites such as the classical ruins of the Colosseum in Rome – which in the name of entertainment saw execution, torture and death – one of the must-see attractions. Today, in parallel with the growth in popularity of dark tourism is the enormous growth of social media and the 24-hour news economy. The ease of access to such blanket coverage through the web, Facebook and Twitter has increased people’s awareness of, and fascination for, these historical sites of war, conflict and catastrophe. For example, the last decade has brought a surge in visitor numbers to <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-fiction-to-gallows-humour-how-chernobyl-survivors-are-still-coping-with-trauma-57923">Chernobyl</a>, where guides take visitors around the abandoned city of Pripyat (radiation levels permitting) which has been deserted since the nuclear power plant explosion on April 26, 1986. The 30th anniversary this year has in itself <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3526271/Chernobyl-tourists-pose-photos-eerie-sites.html">added to interest in visiting</a> the overgrown and crumbling city. As with tourism of any kind, this greater footfall brings benefits. In this case, not just the economic boost but also as a tool of education and even conflict resolution. For example, the <a href="http://www.belfasttours.com/package/belfast-political-mural-tour">taxi tours of Belfast’s murals</a>, which document Northern Ireland’s Troubles, offer visitors a way to understand the history and provide the communities involved a means to reflect and move on from the conflict. This model is <a href="http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=25852">viewed with interest</a> and hope by moderates on both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide searching for a peaceful solution for the long term. The tours of <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/916">Robin Island prison</a> in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years incarcerated among many others, starkly present how those imprisoned by a corrupt and discriminatory political regime can later engage in peace and reconciliation. The <a href="http://www.bruisedpassports.com/africa/5-reasons-you-must-go-for-a-township-tour-in-south-africa">Soweto township tours</a> in Johannesburg have acted in part as a means through which generations of South Africans can better understand their country’s dark past and help to establish truth and reconciliation for the future. Dark tourism should not in my opinion by viewed as unethical, repugnant or even a self-indulgent activity. Certainly some dark tourists may engage in their pursuits for all the wrong reasons, seeing death and destruction as a commodity to be consumed with little thought for those who caught up in its wake. But others visit such sites to pay their respects, to better understand the magnitude of death and destruction, and to inform the outside world of the details of terrible events – even in some case offering to help. These are positive effects that may come from so much pain and suffering. We should strive to better understand the origins of the terrible events of human history to be more able to prevent us repeating them. In this regard, that more people visit sites associated with dark tourism and learn about them should be seen as a positive.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60966/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dr-neil-robinson-1312179">Dr Neil Robinson</a>, Lecturer in Business, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-salford-878">University of Salford</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-may-be-macabre-but-dark-tourism-helps-us-learn-from-the-worst-of-human-history-60966">original article</a>. </div>

Travel Trouble

"I miss my bestie": New appeal after Molly's family left in the dark

Peggy and Ruby, the inseparable pet dogs, and their feathered friend the illustrious Molly the Magpie, are back in the news again – this time for being "snubbed" by the Queensland Premier. After <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/family-pets/outcry-after-authorities-seize-internet-famous-magpie-from-queensland-family" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wildlife officials swooped in</a> and plucked Molly from her cozy abode, leaving Peggy and Ruby in a state of mourning, the Gold Coast community erupted into chaos, with cries of injustice echoing through the streets. Even the Queensland Premier Steven Miles couldn't resist dipping his toes into the avian drama, promising to right the perceived wrong and reunite the trio. “I’m most interested in what is in the best interests of the animal and if the department can work with the family to reunite them in a way that is legal, I would support them,” Premier Miles said. “I know they take their responsibilities under the law very seriously, but I think in these circumstances there’s room for some flexibility. I sometimes think common sense needs to prevail. I hope my support for that campaign can get Molly back home.” But as time passes and emails go unanswered, the hopes of the trio have dwindled like a deflating balloon at a child's birthday party, prompting the pets' owner, Juliette Wells, to release a further appeal on poor Ruby's behalf: "Ruby is disappointed," reads the post on Instagram. "She says, 'What is taking soo long? MR QLD STEVEN MILES said he was going to help bring Molly home but he’s not answering my emails or phone calls. I don’t understand why? 'If he does get back to me I’m going to tell him WOOF I’m NOT Happy, I miss my bestie & think about him everyday 🥹🐶🐾' Wells then goes on to call for further action. "We are all getting to this point 😕," she writes. "We need to keep pushing forward keep the emails rolling . . ." But then Wells is very careful to instruct fans as to the tone they should adopt: "** NO AGGRESSION. Be kind - remember what these 3 best friends have shown the world Love & acceptance in differences. We all have differences in opinions let’s just voice them in a positive way for this Famous Magpie Molly **" Calls for action from fans and followers was immediate and resolute, with one fan writing "protest needs to be organised ❤️ all we want to see is for three friends to be reunited ❤️ If they really cared about Molly as they say they wouldn’t let him suffer like that he must be sad without his friends 😢." Another, dramatically, went one step further: "I’ve just put a call in to a friend on the opposition party to your premier- she’s going to see what she can do xxx🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🌈🌈🌈." <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5h8zoJpmN4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5h8zoJpmN4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Peggyandmolly (@peggyandmolly)</a> </div> </blockquote> Images: Instagram

Family & Pets

3 health benefits of dark chocolate

Although it seems too good to be true, dark chocolate can actually be good for you! When consumed in moderation, this delicious treat has some powerful health benefits. Following are three of the major reasons to indulge. 1. It can help prevent heart disease Like tea, dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which are compounds that act as antioxidants. Flavonoids protect cells from harmful molecules – called free radicals – that are produced when the body breaks down food or is exposed to sunlight or smoke. Free radicals can cause cell damage that leads to heart disease. Flavonoids can also lower blood pressure and reduce LDL cholesterol (ie, the bad cholesterol) by up to 10%. 2. It can improve your mood Dark chocolate stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that bring on feelings of pleasure. It also contains the chemical serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant. 3. It can protect your skin German researchers found that the flavonoids in dark chocolate absorb UV light, help protect and increase blood flow to the skin, and improve skin’s hydration and complexion. Here's the caveat For all of its health benefits, though, dark chocolate does contain a lot of calories. So, experts recommend sticking to no more than 60g – about two to three squares – of the sweet stuff per day. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/uncategorized/3-health-benefits-of-dark-chocolate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>.

Food & Wine

Bruce Lehrmann condemns damning inquiry and labels trial conduct as a "dark chapter"

Bruce Lehrmann has expressed his strong disapproval of a damning inquiry into his rape trial, referring to it as "a dark chapter" in the justice system. In response to the inquiry's findings, Bruce Lehrmann has criticised the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, for his conduct during the trial, stating that it was a troubling episode for the justice system. The former Liberal staffer, who intends to pursue a multimillion-dollar compensation claim over the trial's handling, commended his legal team, led by Steve Whybrow SC and Kamy Saeedi lawyers. Mr. Lehrmann stated to <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/bruce-lehrmann-slams-damning-inquiry-describes-trial-conduct-as-dark-chapter/news-story/b5b6ec06d5b435f8870a1e7d5b9ae4b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a>, "Much of what we are reading, my brilliant criminal defense team led by Steve Whybrow SC suspected all along. I owe everything to the lawyers who have surrounded me. This is overwhelming and alarming reading." He also acknowledged Mr. Sofronoff and his team for revealing the truth and shedding light on what he perceives as a dark chapter for the ACT Justice system. Mr. Lehrmann promised to share more details once the Chief Minister releases the full report to the public. The landmark inquiry found that the prosecution's legal initiation was appropriate, but it severely criticised Mr. Drumgold's actions during the trial. Walter Sofronoff KC, a former Supreme Court judge in Queensland, affirmed the lawfulness of the police's charges against Mr. Lehrmann and agreed that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was justified in prosecuting based on the available evidence. It is essential to note that this finding does not reflect Mr. Lehrmann's guilt or innocence but focuses on the conduct of the police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Mr. Lehrmann remains innocent under the law since he was never convicted, as the trial collapsed following an allegation of juror misconduct. However, the inquiry revealed damning evidence against Mr. Drumgold, accusing him of "knowingly lying" to the ACT Supreme Court regarding his alleged warning to Lisa Wilkinson concerning her Logies speech. The report uncovered unethical conduct by Mr. Drumgold, including his use of a note related to a discussion he had with Ms. Wilkinson just days before her speech. The Australian newspaper <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/sofronoff-report-reveals-shane-drumgold-lied-during-bruce-lehrmann-rape-case/news-story/07d25b9c79364a10473806e3df48dfa7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained a complete copy</a> of the extensive 600-page Sofronoff report, which confirmed the seriousness of the findings against Mr. Drumgold. This led Mr. Sofronoff to contemplate whether the DPP was suitable to continue holding the office. The inquiry was initiated after Mr. Drumgold wrote a letter to ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan in November 2022, demanding an inquiry and making "scandalous allegations" about political interference. However, the inquiry revealed that these allegations were baseless and untrue. The report further criticised Mr. Drumgold for not disclosing crucial material to the defence, which is a significant violation of the principle of disclosure in criminal litigation. Chief Justice Lucy McCallum's stern criticism of Ms. Wilkinson's Logies speech led to a four-month delay in the trial and sparked a firestorm of adverse publicity. The report favoured Ms. Wilkinson's account over Mr. Drumgold's, suggesting that he had knowingly lied to Chief Justice McCallum about his warning to the broadcaster. Mr. Sofronoff stated that while Ms. Wilkinson should have exercised caution in making the speech given the trial's proximity, Mr. Drumgold had a responsibility to the court and failed to act appropriately. In conclusion, the Sofronoff inquiry found significant misconduct on the part of Mr. Drumgold and raised concerns about the fairness of the trial conduct in Bruce Lehrmann's case. Images: Getty

Legal

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

Dixi et salvavi animam meam. This Latin phrase – I have spoken and saved my soul – sits at the end of Karl Marx’s <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/">Critique of the Gotha Programme</a>. Written in 1875, this text imagines a communist society that will come about “after the enslaving of the individual to the division of labour, and thereby also the antithesis between mental and physical labour has vanished”. Only then, Marx argues, “can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be completely transcended and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!” Roger Waters – bassist, lyricist and conceptual mastermind behind Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon, released 50 years ago today – knows Marx’s Critique. Indeed, he quotes it when discussing the record with music journalist John Harris. “Making The Dark Side of the Moon, we were all trying to do as much as we possibly could,” Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">told</a> Harris. "It was a very communal thing. What’s that old Marxist maxim? ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’ That’s sort of the way the band worked at that point." Assertions about solidarity, cooperation and shared “unity of purpose” – as Waters says – situate Dark Side in the context of Pink Floyd’s <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/pink-floyd-roger-waters-david-gilmour-feud/">notoriously fractious</a> recording career and helps us understand the album’s enduring appeal. <h2>Shine on you crazy diamond</h2> Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965. Led by the charismatic songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Syd Barrett, the group established itself as a leader in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_underground">London underground music scene</a>. They released their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in 1967. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_Machine">Soft Machine</a> member Kevin Ayers <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/pink-floyds-the-piper-at-the-gates-of-dawn-9781441185174/">described</a> The Piper at the Gates of Dawn as “something magical, but it was in Syd Barrett”. Not long after the record’s release, Barrett suffered a catastrophic, LSD-induced breakdown. In response, the band recruited David Gilmour on guitar and recorded a second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, as a five-piece in 1968. Around this time, the increasingly unstable Barrett was unceremoniously ousted by the rest of the band. After Barrett left, says Ayers, “Pink Floyd became something else totally”. There are different versions of Pink Floyd. The recordings released after Barrett left the band in 1968 bear little resemblance to the first. Dark Side sounds nothing like the whimsical Piper. But it is obvious the record is in large part preoccupied with the loss of Barrett. This preoccupation comes to the fore in the album’s penultimate track. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1OOQP1-wOE&ab_channel=HDPinkFloyd">Brain Damage</a>, written and sung by Waters, references Barrett’s adolescence (“Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs”), alludes to his illness (“And if the dam breaks open many years too soon”), and acknowledges his leaving the group (“And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes; I’ll see you on the dark side of the Moon”). Drummer Nick Mason confirms the group didn’t want to lose Barrett. In his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/265734.Inside_Out">autobiography</a>, he writes, "He was our songwriter, singer, guitarist, and – although you might not have known from our less than sympathetic treatment of him – he was our friend." <h2>If the dam breaks open many years too soon</h2> What we hear on The Dark Side of the Moon is a band dealing with trauma. In this sense, Dark Side represents the start of a reckoning with the past – a process that culminated with the band’s next record, 1975’s elegiac <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/wish-you-were-here-pink-floyd-seminal-ode-to-the-tragic-life-of-syd-barrett/">Wish You Were Here</a>. Culmination is a useful term when it comes to Dark Side more generally. On this record, all the avant-garde techniques and tendencies the band had toyed with in the post-Barrett period – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te">musique concrète</a>, sonic manipulation, extended improvisation, analogue tape manipulation – come together to spectacular effect. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ">Money</a> – with its anti-capitalist lyrics penned by Waters (“Money, it’s a crime; share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie”), odd time signature, and handmade tape-loops mimicking the sounds of cash tills, bags of coins being dropped from great height and bank notes being torn up – is one of the stranger hit singles in pop music history. Be that as it may, Money and the album from which it is taken, of which <a href="https://www.pinkfloyd.com/tdsotm50/">more than 50 million copies</a> have been sold, continue to resonate with listeners worldwide, five decades on from its initial release. <h2>The enormous risk of being truly banal</h2> “I made a conscious effort when I was writing the lyrics for Dark Side of the Moon to take the enormous risk of being truly banal about a lot of it,” Waters told John Harris, “in order that the ideas should be expressed as simply and plainly as possible.” On this point, <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/david-gilmour-says-its-pretty-unlikely-he-and-roger-waters-will-resolve-pink-floyd-feud">if nothing else</a>, David Gilmour agrees. He told Harris, "There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific. That was a leap forward. Things would mean what they meant. That was a distinct step away from what we had done before." Mortality, insanity, conflict, affluence, poverty and, in another nod to Marx, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation">alienation</a> are some of the themes presented on the record. The need – and this brings us full circle – for compassion, if not outright solidarity, is another. This is an album about the importance of understanding, as Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">insists, "T</a>he potential that human beings have for recognising each other’s humanity and responding to it, with empathy rather than antipathy." Given the sorry state of the world in 2023, about which Roger Waters has many <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64580688">contentious</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/07/pink-floyd-lyricist-calls-roger-waters-an-antisemite-and-putin-apologist">problematic</a> things to say, I wager Pink Floyd’s masterwork will continue to resonate with listeners for a while yet. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-the-moon-at-50-how-marx-trauma-and-compassion-all-influenced-pink-floyds-masterpiece-198400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

How to be safe online

Are you wary of banking online? You’re not alone. Here’s a guide to being safe when using the world wide web. From banking online and paying your bills to doing your weekly grocery shop, the internet is handy. But is it safe to do all of those things? Yes, if you know how to be safe online. Many baby boomers have voluntarily shared personal information with people they have never met in person, according to anti-virus developer McAfee. This didn’t include online shopping or business transactions. A total of 57% of people had shared information or posted personal information online, which Michelle Dennedy, vice president and chief privacy officer at McAfee, says is a big concern. “The use of social networks among people 50 plus is trending now that it’s become more commonplace across all age groups,” she reveals. “It seems counterintuitive that sharing personal information with strangers would not concern them, however. This further highlights their need to better understand the difference between the real and perceived dangers online and how to best protect themselves." How do you protect yourself online? The first step is being aware of the dangers of using the internet. While researching for recipes or local dog beaches is relatively harmless, it’s submitting personal information, such as your contact or banking details, where caution needs to be applied. If you’re banking online, always make sure you go to your bank’s official URL (web address) and not a fake site and if you receive an email from what looks like your bank asking for your details, delete it. Banks are adamant that any emails from them will never ask for their customer’s banking details, since this is a security risk. If you’re ever unsure and do receive an email from your bank asking for information, contact their call centre. Emails to delete Many online scams will come in the form of an email. While email providers have their own security measures to filter out what they think are dodgy messages, it’s best to know what to look out for. If you receive an email from a company or person you don’t know, treat it with caution. Emails that contain poor spelling or grammar, ask for your personal information, offer deals or prizes that seem too good to be true, or ask you to “donate” a large sum of money, delete it. The best policy is one of caution and constant vigilance. Avoid banking online at a public computer When it comes to protecting your hard-earned cash, it always pays to be extra cautious. If you’re at an internet cafe or using a public wi-fi connection with your laptop or tablet, it’s best to avoid doing anything that requires you to share important personal information. While it may be safe with some connections, it may not be with others. Banking websites do have their own security measures for when you’re using their site, but it’s always better to be cautious. If you’re using a public computer, remember to log out of any sites containing your personal information. This could be your email, Facebook or your online dating profile. You don’t want the person who uses the computer after you to have access to your details. Another key consideration is to keep your passwords private. Avoid sharing them with other people and try to make it a series of letters or numbers you will remember, but that is difficult for others to guess. Be a smart shopper If you love to grab a bargain online, be a smart shopper. Make sure the website you’re buying from is legitimate and not a fake version of the real thing. A good tip is to keep a record of all of your online receipts and to regularly monitor your bank statements. If you ever see a purchase on your bank or credit card statement that you’re not sure about, look back through your receipts before contacting your bank to investigate further.

Technology

Dark Waters is a scary movie. Here’s Why…

Many people have said Dark Waters is more terrifying than any horror movie. That’s because the most frightening thing about Dark Waters is the fact it actually happened. A US corporation – Dupont – put money before human lives and jeopardised the health of every person on this planet by dumping toxic PFOA waste in waterways in West Virginia for years. This makes Dark Waters one of the scariest movies you’ll see but don’t let this put you off. We all need to see this movie because it’s about how corporations think they can get away with polluting our planet in shocking ways, as long as they keep it hidden. Yes, it’s a bit like Erin Brockovich but even a bit more sinister. Why is it sinister? Because in Australia, we can usually watch a film like this and thank God we live on a remote island in the South Pacific. But that argument doesn’t hold any more. There’s a scene in Dark Waters where Mark Ruffalo (playing lawyer Robert Bilott) asks what’s a safe level of the pollutant – PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid) and the answer is – one drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool! You see Ruffalo’s face as he mentally adds up the amount of this chemical he’s seen flowing in streams near Parkersburg in West Virginia, and you know from his expression, pretty much the world’s water supply has been wiped out. Dupont has illegally dumped so much of this chemical that by now, it would have worked its way into the underground water system and there’s no saying how far it’s travelled. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RvAOuhyunhY?controls=0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <h4 id="h-what-s-the-story-behind-dark-waters">What’s the story behind Dark Waters?</h4> Dark Waters is based on real-life events to do with the lawyer, Robert Bilott. Back in 1998, Bilott was working as a lawyer in Cincinnati when a cattle farmer called Wilbur Tennant (played by Bill Camp) visits him at work saying his cows are dying and he’s convinced the DuPont Chemical plant in town has something to do with it. At first Bilott isn’t interested – he tells the farmer he’s a defence lawyer and he “defends chemical companies.” But, as a favour to his grandmother, who knows the farmer, Bilott later drives to the farm to check it out. Once he gets there, he sees the property is a graveyard and the farmer tells him 190 of his cows have recently died. Bilott agrees to do some research and to find the environmental report DuPont, and the Environmental Protection Agency, wouldn’t share with the farmer. But what Bilott finds is far more deadly. He discovers a cover-up involving DuPont’s plant in the town of Parkersburg. He finds a synthetic chemical known as PFOA, which was created to coat army tanks in the war but was later used as a coating for cooking utensils – commonly known as Teflon – has been dumped in the area’s waterways for years. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.54574132492115px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843832/dark-waters-3-um.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/4fbfa27af6ae46b5b367a4550e95fbe6" /> From his research, Bilott finds DuPont has known about the dangers of PFOA and the fact it’s linked with deformities in babies and cancer in people. Even worse, he learns these synthetic chemicals are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because our bodies can’t break them down – so they stay in our systems forever. Bilott is hooked and knows he has to chase this case down to the very end and show Dupont they can’t do this sort of thing. As Bilott says later in the movie: “The system is rigged. They want us to think it will protect us. We protect us. We do.” Just how serious is this PFOA toxic waste? PFOA is one of a class of PFAS toxins or Perfluoroalkyl substances. They are are all man-made toxins and it’s estimated the majority of living creatures on earth now have PFASs in their bloodstream. Dark Waters is the first movie to document this story about PFASs and the film has had a major impact. When it was first released late in 2020 in the US, DuPont suffered a stock price fall. The full cinema release of the movie was delayed because of COVID-19 earlier this year but now you can watch the film on Binge, Apple TV and Prime Video. Does Dark Waters get its message across? Dark Waters is two hours long and a lot of it is fairly harrowing, documentary-style viewing. But to make sure we understand the fully story, this is the most realistic and compelling way. Some reviewers have said the subject matter deserved more but the low key, intense nature of how the film is made – produced by Todd Haynes – is far more persuasive than any other style. The understatement wins you over to the seriousness of what’s unfolding. We see the effect this harrowing, drawn-out legal battle has on Bilott’s family life with his wife, Sarah, (played by Anne Hathaway) and their sons. Ruffalo gives a strong, intense performance as Bilott and we can feel his commitment to the situation. Tim Robbins delivers a great performance as Bilott’s boss at his company, allowing him to keep working on this case even though it ends up taking 13 years to resolve. What’s the story behind PFOA and PFAs? Dark Waters highlights the dire reality of pollution from this class of harmful chemicals called PFAS. PFOA is just one of these and it’s found in Teflon, carpets, waterproof clothing, grease-proof paper and some packaging. Most people have heard of the dangers of PFOA and many frying pans now have packaging promoting they are ‘PFOA free.’ At a time like this with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting most of the world’s population, it’s even scarier to know that the health issues linked with PFAS contamination include a reduced response to vaccines. The threat of PFAS contamination is not limited to the US. There have been major contaminations in Europe and unfortunately, here in Australia, we’re not exempt either. A story in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)">Sydney Morning Herald,</a> written by Carrie Fellner and Patrick Begley in June 2018, reports at least 90 sites across Australia are now under investigation for elevated levels of PFAS chemicals. You can limit your exposure to PFAS The<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/pfos.aspx" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)"> NSW Health Department’s website</a> has lots of information about PFAS and what you can do to limit your exposure. Our Defence Department has manufactured these chemicals as well and so did an American company called 3M which operated within Australia. You can see the 90 sites where PFAS have contaminated the area on the map <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html" target="_blank">below.</a> (This map is republished from a story in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/toxic-secrets-where-the-sites-with-pfas-contamination-are-near-you-20180616-p4zlxc.html" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)">Sydney Morning Herald, </a>written by Carrie Fellner and Patrick Begley in June 2018.) <img class="wp-image-118038" src="https://womenlovetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Dark-Waters-Map.jpg" alt="Dark Waters map" /> The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/pfos.aspx" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)">NSW Health Department website </a>has some tips of what you can do to minimise your exposure to PFAS if you live in a PFAS affected area. This list includes being careful not to use groundwater, bore water or surface water for drinking or cooking. They say, using town water from the taps is OK but to be even safer, filtering your tap water would be a good idea. Images: Dark Waters

Movies

New Tim Tam flavour hitting the shelves

Arnotts gave Aussies the opportunity to vote for the new Tim Tam flavour and the results are in! The options were between Dark Choc Espresso Martini Tim Tam or Butterscotch and Cream Tim Tam. Voting closed on April 11, with the winning flavour announced as Butterscotch and Cream Tim Tam. The delicious, decadent flavour will hit Coles’ shelves in July. The Butterscotch and Cream Tim Tam has rich brown sugar and toffee notes paired with a creamy blend of buttery smooth butterscotch cream, also coated in delicious milk chocolate. Compared to the Dark Choc Espresso Martini which is made with roasted espresso and vodka flavoured cream sandwiched between two crunchy biscuits, all coated in decadent dark chocolate. The Butterscotch and Cream Tim Tam flavour will make a delicious addition to the pantry, alongside your other favourite Tim Tams. Rebecca Chan, Arnott's Senior Brand Manager said it’s always fun getting Aussies to vote for a new flavour, proving it successful in previous years. “We know how passionate Australians are about Tim Tams and we love giving them the opportunity to choose a new flavour each year,” she said. “The two flavour contenders are certainly our most indulgent so far, bringing an espresso martini into mouth-watering biscuit form, with the ultra decadent Butterscotch and Cream alongside as a fierce contender.” Images: Arnotts

Food & Wine

How do animals see in the dark?

On a moonless night, light levels can be more than 100m times <a href="http://bit.ly/2mZLkEL">dimmer than in bright daylight</a>. Yet while we are nearly blind and quite helpless in the dark, cats are out stalking prey, and moths are flying agilely between flowers on our balconies. While we sleep, millions of other animals rely on their visual systems to survive. The same is true of animals who inhabit the eternal darkness of the deep sea. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the world’s animals are primarily active in dim light. How is their formidable visual performance possible, especially in insects, with tiny eyes and brains less than the size of a grain of rice? What optical and neural strategies have they evolved to allow them to see so well in dim light? To answer these questions, we turned our attentions to nocturnal insects. Despite their diminutive visual systems, it turns out that nocturnal insects see amazingly well in dim light. In recent years we have discovered that nocturnal insects can avoid and fixate on obstacles <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6240/1245">during flight</a>, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v419/n6910/full/nature01065.html">distinguish colours</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/2mi1XqU">detect faint movements</a>, learn visual landmarks and <a href="http://bit.ly/2miaSIF">use them for homing</a>. They can even orient themselves using the faint celestial polarisation pattern <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v424/n6944/full/424033a.html">produced by the moon</a>, and navigate using the constellations of <a href="http://bit.ly/2nvmNUu">stars in the sky</a>. In many cases, this visual performance seems almost to defy what’s physically possible. For example, the nocturnal Central American sweat bee, Megalopta genalis, absorbs just five photons (light particles) into its tiny eyes when light levels are at their lowest – a <a href="http://bit.ly/2miaSIF">vanishingly small visual signal</a>. And yet, in the dead of night, it can navigate the dense and tangled rainforest on a foraging trip and make it safely back to its nest – an inconspicuous hollowed-out stick suspended within the forest understorey. To find out how this kind of performance is possible, we recently began to study nocturnal hawkmoths. These beautiful insects –- the hummingbirds of the invertebrate world –- are sleek, fast-flying moths that are constantly on the lookout for nectar-laden flowers. Once a flower is found, the moth hovers in front of it, sucking the nectar out using its proboscis, a mouth-like tube. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160495/original/image-20170313-19263-1u8f9id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Deilephila elpenor. Shutterstock The nocturnal European Elephant hawkmoth, Deilephila elpenor, is a gorgeous creature cloaked in feathery pink and green scales and does all its nectar gathering in the dead of night. A number of years ago we discovered that this moth can distinguish colours at night, the first nocturnal animal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v419/n6910/full/nature01065.html">known to do so</a>. But this moth recently revealed another of its secrets: the neural tricks it uses to see well in extremely dim light. These tricks are certainly used by other nocturnal insects like Megalopta. By studying the physiology of neural circuits in the visual centres of the brain, we discovered that Deilephila can see reliably in dim light by effectively adding together the photons it has collected from different points <a href="http://bit.ly/2mi1XqU">in space and time</a>. For time, this is a little like increasing the shutter time on a camera in dim light. By allowing the shutter to stay open longer, more light reaches the image sensor and a brighter image is produced. The downside is that anything moving rapidly – like a passing car – will not be resolved and so the insect won’t be able to see it. <h2>Neural summation</h2> To add together photons in space, the individual pixels of the image sensor can be pooled together to create fewer but larger (and so more light-sensitive) “super pixels”. Again, the downside of this strategy is that even though the image becomes brighter, it also becomes blurrier and finer spatial details disappear. But for a nocturnal animal straining to see in the dark, the ability to see a brighter world that is coarser and slower is likely to be better than seeing nothing at all (which would be the only alternative). Our physiological work has revealed that this neural summation of photons in time and space is immensely beneficial to nocturnal Deilephila. At all nocturnal light intensities, from dusk to starlight levels, summation substantially boosts Deilephila’s ability to see well in dim light. In fact, thanks to these neural mechanisms, Deilephila can see at light intensities around 100 times dimmer than it could otherwise. The benefits of summation are so great that other nocturnal insects, like Megalopta, very likely rely on it to see well in dim light as well. The world seen by nocturnal insects may not be as sharp or as well resolved in time as that experienced by their day-active relatives. But summation ensures that it is bright enough to detect and intercept potential mates, to pursue and capture prey, to navigate to and from a nest and to negotiate obstacles during flight. Without this ability it would be as blind as the rest of us.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74101/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/eric-warrant-344184">Eric Warrant</a>, Professor of Zoology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/lund-university-756">Lund University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-animals-see-in-the-dark-74101">original article</a>. Image: United States Geological Survey

Family & Pets

"Dark day": Karl condemns tradies as Melbourne braces for third day of protests

<div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> Today host Karl Stefanovic has weighed in on the violent construction worker protests in Melbourne yesterday where three police officers were hospitalised, calling them “heartbreaking and terribly sad.” "It was a dark day. On the streets of a major city - violence, fury, anarchy," Stefanovic added. "Police (were) forced to deploy smoke bombs, pepper spray and plastic bullets,” he said. Three police officers were hospitalised with minor injuries after a group of tradies protesting in Melbourne against mandatory vaccinations in the construction sector turned violent. Police have announced their tactics today "will be different". Today reporter Christine Ahern was caught up in the chaos and said earlier on the show the crew and herself was "physically threatened on numerous occasions". <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> 2000 protesters charged through Melbourne yesterday, taking over the city for eight hours. Organisers say they won't stop protesting until their demands are met. MORE: <a href="https://t.co/kRDsizvVgX">https://t.co/kRDsizvVgX</a><a href="https://twitter.com/ChristineAhern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChristineAhern</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9News?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9News</a> <a href="https://t.co/Mq5Q8Zha0n">pic.twitter.com/Mq5Q8Zha0n</a> — 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) <a href="https://twitter.com/9NewsMelb/status/1440403029082054662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2021</a></blockquote> Thousands of tradies filled the streets of Melbourne in mass protests after the $22 billion construction industry was shut down for two weeks. Anger has been brewing over vaccine mandates, designated break spaces on construction sites being shut down, and the sector’s operation under a 25 per cent worker capacity to meet social distancing requirements. Last week, tradies walked off the job in sporadic strikes, setting up tables and chairs in the middle of streets to take coffee breaks. But the ensuing protests have seen ugly brawls break out with police officers and journalists injured and a dog allegedly kicked. When talking to Waleed Aly on The Project, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, said the issue could have been handled better by both the Victorian Government and industry bosses, given there was a lack of communication with workers before restrictions came in to place on their work sites. “Culturally for the construction industry, they had to fight for ages to get lunch rooms and then all of a sudden you turn up one day and you can’t use your lunch room. They are already at 25 per cent, already have the social distancing, et cetera, et cetera,” she said. The union’s Victorian state secretary John Setka said there had been little consultation with the government over Covid measures affecting the industry. “I have never spoken to Daniel Andrews to be honest,” Setka told the Today program on Tuesday. “I have never met him and never spoken to him. I’ve had no discussions with Daniel Andrews ever.” Tradies unlikely alone in views Those watching the chaos outside the CFMEU office were horrified, but experts say the angry boilover is unsurprising. University of Melbourne law professor Joo-Cheong Tham said the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) fundamentally opposes vaccine mandates. Some individual unions are in favour of requiring jabs among their workforces – teachers for example – but Prof Tham said the broader union movement has been “remarkably cohesive in opposing employer mandates”. “Four interlocking principles underpin this position,” he wrote in an article for <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.theconversation.com/" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. “They are (that) high vaccination rates should be attained through encouragement and facilitation, not employer mandates; that where strictly necessary, mandates should be implemented through public health orders; that effective access to vaccines should be secured; and that the voices of workers should be respected.” Image: Today and Twitter </div>

News

If you laugh at these dark jokes, you’re probably a genius

Body:A man walks into a rooftop bar and takes a seat next to another guy. “What are you drinking?” he asks the guy. “Magic beer,” he says. “Oh, yeah? What’s so magical about it?” Then he shows him: He swigs some beer, dives off the roof, flies around the building, then finally returns to his seat with a triumphant smile. “Amazing!” the man says. “Lemme try some of that!” The man grabs the beer. He downs it, leaps off the roof – and plummets 15 storeys to the ground. The bartender shakes his head. “You know, you’re a real jerk when you’re drunk, Superman.” — Let’s ignore for a moment whether or not that poor rube survived his fall (if it makes you feel better, let’s say Trampoline Man was waiting for him on the ground). The real question is: did you find this joke funny? Sick? Maybe a little of both? According to a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10339-016-0789-y">study</a> published in the journal Cognitive Processing, your reaction could indicate your intelligence. In the paper, a team of psychologists concludes that people who appreciate dark humour – defined as “humour that treats sinister subjects like death, disease, deformity, handicap or warfare with bitter amusement and presents such tragic, distressing or morbid topics in humorous terms” – may have higher IQs, show lower aggression and resist negative feelings more effectively than people who turn up their noses at it. To test this correlation between sense of humour and intellect, researchers had 156 male and female participants read 12 bleak cartoons from The Black Book by German <a href="http://www.ulistein.de/">cartoonist</a> Uli Stein. (<a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10339-016-0789-y">One</a> of them, which paraphrases a classic joke, shows a mortician reaching deep into a cadaver as a nurse muses, “The autopsy is finished; he is only looking for his wrist watch.”) Participants indicated whether they understood each joke and whether they found it funny, then took some basic IQ tests and answered questionnaires about their mood, aggressive tendencies and educational background. The results were remarkably consistent: Participants who both comprehended and enjoyed the dark jokes showed higher IQs and reported less aggressive tendencies than those who did not. Incidentally, the participants who least liked the humour showed the highest levels of aggression and the worst moods of the bunch. The latter point makes sense when you consider the widely-studied health benefits of laughter and smiling; if you aren’t able to greet negativity with playful optimism, of course you will feel worse. But what about the link to intelligence? According to the <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/01/a-twisted-sense-of-humor-just-means-youre-a-chill-genius.html">researchers</a>, processing a dark joke takes a bit more mental gymnastics than, say, a knock-knock joke – it’s “a complex information-processing task” that requires parsing multiple layers of meaning, while creating a bit of emotional distance from the content so that it registers as benign instead of hostile. That emotional manoeuvering is what sets dark jokes apart from, say, puns, which literally pit your brain’s right and left hemispheres <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/12/heres-what-happens-in-your-brain-when-you-hear-a-pun.html">against each other</a> as you process a single word’s multiple meanings, but usually don’t force you out of your emotional comfort zone. Tina Fey sums up the difference pretty well: “If you want to make an audience laugh, you dress a man up like an old lady and push her down the stairs. If you want to make comedy writers laugh, you push an actual old lady down the stairs.” The takeaway: Pretty much any joke that relies on wordplay will put your brain to work – dark jokes just require a bit more emotional control to earn a laugh.

Mind

Spot the serial killer: Fan in The Stands takes a surprisingly dark turn

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> The NRL is still finding ways to delight fans from their homes as they’re currently not allowed to attend matches due to coronavirus. Luckily, the NRL have been running a Fan in The Stands promotion, which gives fans the opportunity to buy a cardboard cut-out to fil out the seat in the stadiums. For $22, fans can pay to have their likeness or any image they send in the crowd at an NRL game. Naturally, some fans have been taking advantage by getting their dog in on the action. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> My dog was just on national TV. Best $22 I've ever spent <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NRLRoostersSouths?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NRLRoostersSouths</a> <a href="https://t.co/YaKXNWdATX">pic.twitter.com/YaKXNWdATX</a> — Matt Bungard (@TheMattBungard) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheMattBungard/status/1266312156716232704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote> On Sunday’s match between the Penrith Panthers and the Newcastle Knights, fans were quick to realise that amongst the die-hard cardboard cut-out fans, there was also a serial killer. Reddit pointed out that Harold Fredrick Shipman made an appearance on top of a Canberra Raiders cut out. Shipman was an English doctor believed to be the most prolific serial killer in history, with estimates that he may have had more than 250 victims. He was found guilty of murder of 15 patients in 2000, but took his own life in 2004 after being sentenced to life in prison. Some saw the lighter side to it, but others thought it was disrespectful to the families of the deceased. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Dr Harold Shipman taking his dog to the <a href="https://twitter.com/NRL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NRL</a> today. Dominic Cummings was there on Thursday. Whoever is doing this is genius 😂😂😂 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Penrith?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Penrith</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/newcastleknights?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#newcastleknights</a> <a href="https://t.co/1YKolNh0v7">pic.twitter.com/1YKolNh0v7</a> — Steve Robins (@Robins79) <a href="https://twitter.com/Robins79/status/1267017814243708928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote> NRL head of marketing Peter Jarmain still supports the cardboard cut-outs, saying it is good for the players and clubs. “We wanted to make sure the lifeblood of the NRL, our members and fans, had the chance to pull on their jerseys, don their club colours and support in a really fun way,” <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/05/29/cant-get-to-game-fan-in-stand-the-next-best-thing/" target="_blank">he said, according to NRL.com</a>. “I know the players and clubs will appreciate the support, even if the fans aren’t able to shout, celebrate and jump around for the tries and hits as they usually would.” Hero image credit:<a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TheMattBungard/status/1266312156716232704" target="_blank"> Matt Bungard</a> </div> </div> </div>

News

Dark web not dark alley: Why drug sellers see the internet as a lucrative safe haven

More than six years after the demise of Silk Road, the world’s first major <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1748895813505234?casa_token=xjYBG0jb8Y8AAAAA:8NyrWITwd0jAIZxW-ZDyIoWGbdiTG34kkYpibnTX6blXkZOtApmx4Mmf-wCeBqIUGU9DbRFwKors8A">drug cryptomarket</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-dark-web-46070">dark web</a> is still home to a thriving trade in illicit drugs. These markets host hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of people who sell drugs, commonly referred to as “vendors”. The dark web offers vital anonymity for vendors and buyers, who use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to process transactions. Trade is booming despite <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871617300741">disruptions</a> from law enforcement and particularly “exit scams”, in which market admins abruptly close down sites and take all available funds. Why are these markets still seen as enticing places to sell drugs, despite the risks? To find out, our <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/bjc/azz075/5645405">recent study</a> surveyed 13 darknet drug vendors, via online encrypted interviews. They gave us a range of reasons. More profitable First, selling drugs online is safer and more profitable than doing it offline: Interviewer: So you still sell on DNMs [darknet marketplaces], and prefer that to offline. Correct? Respondent: YES. Selling offline is borderline stupid. You can make so much more money online, the risks [in selling outside cryptomarkets] aren’t even remotely worth it. Both of these claims correspond with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395913001722">previous research</a> showing that the dark web is perceived to be a safer place to buy and sell drugs. Regarding profits, darknet vendors do not have to limit their trading to face-to-face interactions, and can instead sell drugs to a potentially worldwide customer base. Less violent Encryption technologies allow vendors to communicate with customers and receive payments anonymously. The drugs are delivered in the post, so vendor and customer never have to meet in person. This protects vendors from many risks that are prevalent in other forms of drug supply, including undercover police, predatory standover tactics where suppliers may be robbed, assaulted or even killed by competitors, and customers who may inform on their supplier if caught. Other risks, such as frauds perpetrated by customers and exit scams, were considered inevitable on the dark web, but also manageable. Some respondents said that being protected from physical risk on the dark web is not only a benefit for existing drug suppliers, but may also make the activity attractive to people who would not otherwise be willing to sell drugs. While some of our respondents had previously sold drugs offline, others were uniquely attracted to the perceived safety and anonymity of the dark web: I hadn’t ever thought about selling drugs in any capacity because I dislike violence and it just seemed impossible to be involved in selling drugs in “real life” without running into some sort of confrontation pretty quickly… I was always too scared and slightly nerdy to do that and never really contemplated it seriously until the dark web. More customer-focused Some vendors told us the feeling of safety and control lets them focus on providing a more courteous service to their customers or “clients”: I try to provide the best products and service I can, when someone has a problem or claims [their order was] short on pills (as long as they have ordered from me before) I usually take them at their word. This is a stark contrast with perceptions of the street trade, which some of our respondents perceived not only as “small-time”, but also rife with danger and potential violence: The street trade is a mess. I wanna provide labelled products, good advice and service, like a real business. Not sit in a shitty car park selling $10 bags from a car window all day. Not just about profit Dark web vendors also pointed out the various non-material benefits of their work. These included feelings of autonomy and emancipation from boring work and onerous bosses, as well as excitement and the thrill of transgression. One respondent described it as: Exhilarating … and nerve-wracking. Seemed so alien. “Drugs? Online? In the post? Naaaah surely not.” Plus if I’m honest, my inner reprobate buzzes from it. The rush of chucking a grand’s worth of drugs into post boxes… unreal, man. Interviewees rationalised their participation in the dark web drugs trade in a variety of ways. These included pointing out the <a href="https://files.transtutors.com/cdn/uploadassignments/1509030_1_article-1-seminar.pdf">relative safety</a> and medicinal benefits of some illicit drugs, and the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0004865814524424?casa_token=P1q12ppNwlIAAAAA:iRe-gQHWLKsD0fqCl45Bj7ms1eRqCHY6sa0zYtMjoyuORRQBfj_7A0JLub2FZCt65-u2UjxXCnQzBQ">dangers associated with drug prohibition</a>. Let’s face it, a LOT of people like getting high… It’s human nature, but to ban it and make it criminal so that it’s hard to get, then you get poison and people die… I can tell you that the use of darknet protects users from buying products that during traditional prohibition would likely kill much more people. It also takes drugs off the street, reducing some violent crime. These insights help us understand why the dark web is increasingly attractive, not only to consumers of illicit drugs but to the people who supply them. For those who are averse to confrontation, and who are sufficiently tech-savvy, the dark web offers an alternative to the risk and violence of dealing drugs offline. Written by James Martin and Monica Barratt. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/dark-web-not-dark-alley-why-drug-sellers-see-the-internet-as-a-lucrative-safe-haven-132579">The Conversation</a>.

Art

5 minutes with author Minnie Darke

In 5 minutes with author, Over60 asks book writers about their literary habits and preferences. Next in this series is Minnie Darke, a writer based in Tasmania. Darke is the pen name of Danielle Wood, who has written non-fiction, short story collections, and novels for adults and children. Her bestselling book Star-crossed has won the Margaret Scott People’s Choice Award and been published in more than 30 countries. Her latest novel, The Lost Love Song, will be out on March 3. Over60 talked with Darke about etymologies, her dinner with Margaret Atwood, and a trope she has mixed feelings about. Over60: What is your best writing tip? Minnie Darke: The Australian writer Bryce Courtenay was once asked what every young writer needs in order to be successful, and he answered, “Bum glue.” Apparently, he kept a belt at his writing desk and would literally buckle himself into his chair. Although there’s now research that shows your brain will benefit if you get up and walk around at intervals, or periodically shift from your sitting desk to your standing desk (or whatever groovy set-up you have), the truth remains that you simply have to put in the hours: the hours, and hours, and hours, and hours that it takes to produce your very best writing. I also remember reading another very important piece of advice, but alas (and sorry, dear anonymous adviser) I can’t remember where. It went something like: “Nothing except writing is writing. Talking about writing is not writing, thinking about writing is not writing, planning to write is not writing. Only writing is writing.” What book do you think more people should read? I’m not a huge fan of the word ‘should’, but there are many, many books I’m really grateful I didn’t miss out on reading. It’s hard to pick one, but from where I’m sitting right now, I can see the shelf of books that I’ve curated according to one of my most important principles and the main one I’ve tried to live out while writing Star-crossed and The Lost Love Song. It is this: readers shouldn’t have to choose between a strong plot and great writing. Some of the books that I think have both, in spades, are The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. What was the last book that made you laugh? I confess that I’m a bit of a word nerd, which is why I bought the book The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth. The stories that lurk behind the words that make up our crazy, difficult, melting-pot language are frequently laugh-out-loud funny. What do you think makes for a good romance? In my ideal romance there are two lovers that I love, individually, as characters. They are almost certainly flawed, but this only makes them more interesting. Because I love them, I want them both to be happy. Further, it’s obvious to me that both their lives will be better if they can find a way to be together. After that, I need to be frightened that the great boon of their being together might be made impossible by some force – internal or external. And, then there’s the ending. It has to be immensely satisfying, if not necessarily happy. How does your writing routine look like? Up at 6am, make a cup of tea, take to my desk in my gypsy caravan in my back garden, buckle myself into my seat (no, only joking about that) and try to ignore my three children bickering while their dad nags them to get ready for school (not joking about that, at all), write until about 2pm while getting up and down to let the two dogs in and out (and in and out, and in and out, and in and out) of the caravan, and occasionally make more tea. Then eat lunch, change out of my pyjamas and dressing gown and go get the kids from school. Such glamour! How do you deal with writer’s block? I tell myself this: “A professional sandwich maker makes sandwiches. They just make the sandwiches. You’re a professional writer. You write the words. That is what you do. So just sit down and write the words.” Which author, deceased or living, would you most like to have dinner with? I did have dinner with Margaret Atwood. Tick! And although she once said, “Wanting to meet an author because you like [their] books is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté,” nothing could change the fact that I loved meeting her. What trope grinds your gears? Alternatively, is there a cliché that you can’t help but love? Ha! Great questions! The things that ‘grind my gears’ are usually at the sentence level rather than the trope level, but… I have to admit that I’m sometimes irritated by love stories where the protagonists hate each other at first sight, and this is evidence that they’re meant for each other. In my life, if I dislike or distrust someone at first sight, there’s usually a very good reason! But, as soon as I say all that, I immediately think of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and its great-great-granddaughter text, the movie Ten Things I Hate About You – both of which I love, and where that trope works to perfection. Perhaps it’s all in the way it’s done, and not in the thing itself? As for a cliché that I can’t help but love? I’m quite fond of the idea of old lovers meeting up again at a new time in their lives and reinventing their relationship – I always find myself sucked in by click-bait like, “They were in love as teenagers, then met again by chance after 40 years…”

Books

The dark side of supportive relationships

Imagine that you’ve had a heated argument with a co-worker, and you call up your husband or wife to talk about it. Your partner can react in one of two ways. They can assure you that you were right, your co-worker was wrong and that you have a right to be upset. Or your partner can encourage you to look at the conflict objectively. They can point out reasons why your co-worker may not be so blameworthy after all. Which of these responses would you prefer? Do you want a partner who unconditionally has your back, or one who plays devil’s advocate? Which is better for you in the long run? <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-50034-001">In a recent study</a>, we wanted to explore the contours and repercussions of this common relationship dynamic. Do we want unconditional support? If you’re like most people, you probably want a partner who has your back. We all tend to want empathetic partners who understand us, care for our needs and validate our views. These qualities – which relationship researchers <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-12631-002">refer to as interpersonal responsiveness</a> – are viewed as a key ingredient in strong relationships. Research <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-17764-005">has identified</a> links between having a responsive partner and being happy and well adjusted. But having an empathetic partner isn’t always a good thing – especially when it comes to your conflicts with others outside the relationship. When we get into an argument with someone, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.59.5.994">we tend to minimize our own contribution to the dispute and overstate what our adversary did wrong</a>. This can make the conflict worse. After being involved in a dispute, we’ll often turn to our partners to vent and seek support. In our study, we found that empathetic and caring partners were more likely to agree with their loved ones’ negative views of their adversary and blame the adversary for the conflict. We also found that people whose relationship partners responded this way ended up being far more motivated to avoid their adversaries, tended to view them as bad and immoral, and were less interested in reconciliation. In fact, a full 56% of those who had received this type of empathy reported avoiding their adversaries, which can harm conflict resolution and often involves cutting off the relationship. On the other hand, among the participants who didn’t receive this sort of support from their partners, only 19% reported avoiding their adversaries. Receiving empathy from partners also was related to conflict escalation: After their partners took their side, 20% of participants wanted to see their adversary “hurt and miserable,” compared to only 6% of those who did not receive this sort of support. And 41% of those who received empathetic responses tried to live as if their adversary didn’t exist, compared to only 15% of those who didn’t receive unwavering support. Long-term consequences These dynamics became entrenched over time. They kept people from resolving their disputes, even as people found their partners’ responses to be emotionally gratifying. For this reason, they continued to vent, which created more opportunities to fan the flames of conflict. People seem to seek partners who end up making their conflicts worse over time. What’s the lesson here? We often want partners who makes us feel understood, cared for and validated. And it’s natural to want our loved ones to feel supported. But soothing and validating responses aren’t always in our best long-term interests. Just as prioritizing immediate emotional gratification over the pursuit of long-term goals <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x">can be costly</a>, there are downsides when partners prioritize making us feel good in the moment over helping us properly wrestle with life’s difficult problems from a rational, unbiased perspective. Those who want to better support their loved ones’ long-term welfare might want to consider first providing empathy and an opportunity to vent, but then moving on to the more difficult work of helping loved ones think objectively about their conflicts and acknowledge that, in most conflicts, both parties have some blame for the conflict, and just see the situation from very different perspectives. The truth can hurt. But sometimes an objective, dispassionate confidant is what we need most. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/edward-lemay-908525">Edward Lemay</a>, Associate Professor of Psychology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-maryland-1347">University of Maryland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michele-gelfand-205936">Michele Gelfand</a>, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-maryland-1347">University of Maryland</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-supportive-relationships-128591">original article</a>.

Relationships

Jojo Rabbit: Hitler humour and a child's eye view of war make for dark satire

Jojo Rabbit is not Disney Studios’ first foray into Hitler parody. In 1943, it produced <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L90smU0SOcQ">der Fuehrer’s Face</a> – an anti-Nazi film inside Donald Duck’s nightmares. Now, Disney is the Australian distributor of Jojo Rabbit, a story of a young boy whose imaginary friend (and buffoonish life coach) is Adolf Hitler. In this dark satire, from the Polynesian-Jewish-New Zealand director Taika Waititi who brought us <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4698684/">Hunt for the Wilderpeople</a>, Nazi Germany is in its waning days. The Germans have all but lost the second world war but 10-year-old Johannes “Jojo” Betzel (Roman Griffin Davis) believes he, and he alone, will be the Aryan hero to turn the tide. The boy’s imaginary friend, a hilariously incompetent Hitler (played by Waititi in blue contact lenses and the trademark moustache), cheers him on. When asked to kill a rabbit to get into the Hitler Youth, Jojo baulks, though he does almost manage to kill himself in a grenade stunt. “You’re still the bestest, most loyal little Nazi I’ve ever met,” the fantasy Fuhrer enthuses. Through children’s eyes Themes and images of children have often been central in films exploring WWII. Steven Spielberg famously used <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUJ187mkMq8">“the girl in red coat”</a> to create a powerfully moving symbol of innocence in <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/movies/article/2017/03/31/schindlers-list-one-most-visually-powerful-war-films-ever-made">Schindler’s List</a> (1993). Immediately after the war, a stream of films, including Roberto Rosselini’s <a href="https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1358-germany-year-zero-the-humanity-of-the-defeated%22%22">Germany Year Zero</a> (1948), Gerhard Lamprecht’s <a href="https://ecommerce.umass.edu/defa/film/6025">Somewhere in Berlin</a> (1946), and Fred Zinnemann’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu8h7OyX8-Y">The Search</a> (1948) looked at wartime trauma through injuries acquired by children. Like Jojo’s grenade mishap, their wounds were permanent. In war films, children’s perspectives don’t diminish the ghastliness of war. Quite the contrary. When war and its pervasive horror spills over from the battlefield and intrudes on their youth, viewers are appalled at its spread. Containing that disease of war, curing it even, is where Waititi’s takedown of fascist group-think truly begins. How will Jojo escape the brainwash army of Reichswehr propaganda parrots like Rebel Wilson’s Fräulein? There are several steps. The first one for Jojo is finding out his mother has been hiding a Jewish girl in the attic. Scarlett Johansson gives an enchanting performance as a single mum who tries to keep the embers of humanity and love in Jojo’s heart alive as he gets lost in Nazi doctrines of vile anti-Semitism. Jojo starts falling for Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie), the hideaway in his attic, as her humanity – and his pre-pubescent hormones – triumph over fascist indoctrination. Through Jojo’s eyes, we see Elsa turn from monster into human as he comes back from the brink of fanatic hatred. Waititi hides that innocent, simple love story under slapstick and a ton of special effects. The latter don’t always work. And some of the jokes fall flat. But what works is the message that Jojo is both manipulated and self-manipulating. His Nazi hate is a cage of his own making, and Elsa is the key to unlocking it. She teaches him that empathy for those who we think are different from us is powerful. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VTqd4yNFuSw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Irreverent or irresponsible? Hitler comedies have a long history. In 1940, Charlie Chaplin released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVLQ8lNd1Pk">The Great Dictator</a>. Mel Brooks created <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brkp2VhzdDI">The Producers</a> in 1968. German filmmakers Dani Levy (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780568/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler</a>, 2007) and David Wnendt (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylstybS6rqw&list=PL-2fuUy0f-jOu3bV_Bj1Uh-SbTO8OCK1A&index=2&t=0s">Look Who’s Back</a>, 2015) strived to find the right balance between comedy and drama. Like Waititi, those filmmakers experienced how mining sombre Holocaust themes and hateful iconography for the ridiculous splits public reactions along extreme lines. The critics bemoaned that Levy committed only halfheartedly to a funny Hitler, making the film the worst thing a comedy can be: too harmless. Wnendt faced another issue. He intercut his film with hidden camera footage of Germans reacting to the lead actor dressed as Hitler. People thought this was too much realism. Waititi <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-09/jojo-rabbit-review-and-taika-waititi-on-making-comic-hitler/11721074">says</a> he didn’t look at these forerunners and didn’t do any research on Hitler. He looked to literature instead. Jojo Rabbit uses the masterful dramatic novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25641300-caging-skies?from_search=true&qid=ev2DKS7scE&rank=1">Caging Skies</a> by New Zealand-Belgian author Christine Leuens as source material. The book doesn’t have the same generous scoops of comedy and tragedy found in Ladislav Fuks’ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/725311.Mr_Theodore_Mundstock">Mr. Theodore Mundstock</a>, or in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18582851-the-nazi-and-the-barber">The Nazi and the Barber</a> by Edgar Hilsenrath. It’s all the more reason to recognise what Waititi has tried to accomplish. He had to negotiate between a book adaptation, Holocaust memory, and Hollywood. Commenting on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJSwD_17qjY">his motivation</a> for making the film, Watiti, whose mother is Jewish, said: “I just want people to be more tolerant and spread more love and less hate”. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/benjamin-nickl-594248">Benjamin Nickl</a>, Lecturer in International Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/jojo-rabbit-hitler-humour-and-a-childs-eye-view-of-war-make-for-dark-satire-128622">original article</a>.

Movies

5 dark secrets of web travel sites

Booking a trip on an online travel site is convenient, but comes with its own set of problems. 1. They know who’s on a Mac and who’s on a PC – and who’s going to spend more. Last year, US travel research company Orbitz tracked people’s online activities to test out whether Mac users spend more on travel than PC users. Turns out that on average, Mac users lay out US$20-30 more per night on hotels and go for more stars, according to the Wall Street Journal. As a result, online travel sites show these users more expensive travel options first. To avoid inadvertently paying more, sort results by price. 2. Their software doesn’t always hook up to the hotel’s system. A guaranteed reservation is almost impossible to come by anywhere – but the risk of your flight or hotel being overbooked increases with third-party providers. The middleman’s software isn’t immune to system errors, so always call the hotel or airline to make sure your booking was processed. 3. Don’t be fooled by packages: Often, they’re low-end items grouped together. Ever notice how travel sites recommend a hotel, a rental car, and tour package all in one click? These deals usually feature travel that no-one wants, like flights with multiple layovers. Check the fine print. 4. You could miss out on loyalty points. Third party providers can get between you and frequent flyer miles or points. Many hotel loyalty programmes don’t recognise external sites, others award only minimum points and exclude special offers, like double points on hotel stays. 5. Once your trip is purchased, you’re on your own. An online travel agency can’t provide assistance the same way an agent can if a flight is cancelled or a room is substandard. Basically, when you arrive at the airport or hotel, you’re just another client who booked at the lowest rate. Written by Sheri Alzeerah. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/travel/tips/5-Secrets-of-Web-Travel-Sites">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA93V">here’s our best subscription offer.</a>

Travel Trouble

The internet's founder wants to "fix the web" but his proposal isn't ideal

On March 12, the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web, the internet’s founder Tim Berners-Lee said we needed to “<a href="https://webfoundation.org/2019/03/web-birthday-30/">fix the web</a>”. The statement attracted considerable interest. However, a resulting manifesto released on Sunday, and dubbed the <a href="https://contractfortheweb.org/">Contract for the Web</a>, is a major disappointment. Endorsed by more than 80 corporations and non-government organisations, the campaign seeks a return to the “<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/10/1301496/">open web</a>” of the 1990s and early 2000s – one largely free of corporate control over content. While appealing in theory, the contract glosses over several key challenges. It doesn’t account for the fact that most internet content is now accessed through a small number of digital platforms, such as Google and Facebook. Known as the “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/129830/">platformisation of the internet</a>”, it’s this phenomenon which has generated many of the problems the web now faces, and this is where the focus should be. An undercooked proposal Berners-Lee identified major obstacles threatening the future of the web, including the circulation of malicious content, “<a href="https://webfoundation.org/2019/03/web-birthday-30/">perverse incentives</a>” that promote clickbait, and the growing polarisation of online debate. Having played a central role in the web’s development, he promised to use his influence to promote positive digital change. He said the Contract for the Web was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/24/tim-berners-lee-unveils-global-plan-to-save-the-internet">a revolutionary statement</a>. In fact, it’s deeply conservative. Berners-Lee claims it’s the moral responsibility of everybody to “save the web”. This implies the solution involves engaging civic morality and corporate ethics, rather than enacting laws and regulations that make digital platforms more publicly accountable. The contract views governments, not corporations, as the primary threat to an open internet. But governments’ influence is restricted to building digital infrastructure (such as fast broadband), facilitating online access, removing illegal content and maintaining data security. Missing links The contract doesn’t prescribe <a href="https://www.iicom.org/intermedia/intermedia-past-issues/intermedia-jul-2019/taking-aim-at-big-tech">measures</a> to address power misuse by digital platforms, or a solution to the <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/T3-Report-Tackling-the-Information-Crisis.pdf">power imbalance</a> between such platforms and content creators. This is despite <a href="https://www.iicom.org/intermedia/intermedia-past-issues/intermedia-july-2018/platforms-on-trial">more than 50 public inquiries</a> currently taking place worldwide into the power of digital platforms. The most obvious gaps in the contract are around the obligations of digital platform companies. And while there are welcome commitments to strengthening user privacy and data protection, there’s no mention of how these problems emerged in the first place. It doesn’t consider whether the harvesting of user data to maximise advertising revenue is not the result of “<a href="https://contractfortheweb.org/principles/principle-5-respect-and-protect-peoples-privacy-and-personal-data-to-build-online-trust/">user interfaces and design patterns</a>”, but is instead baked into the <a href="https://www.hiig.de/en/data-colonialism-nick-couldry-digital-society/">business models of digital platform companies</a>. Its proposals are familiar: address the digital divide between rich and poor, improve digital service delivery, improve diversity in hiring practices, pursue human-centered digital design, and so forth. But it neglects to ask whether the internet may now be less open because a small number of conglomerates are dominating the web. There is <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Digital%20Platforms%20Inquiry%20-%20Final%20report%20-%20part%201.pdf">evidence</a> that platforms such as Google and Facebook dominate search and social media respectively, and the digital advertising connected with these. Not a civic responsibility Much of the work in the contract seems to fall onto citizens, who are expected to “<a href="https://contractfortheweb.org/principles/principle-9-fight-for-the-web/">fight for the web</a>”. They bear responsibility for maintaining proper online discourse, protecting vulnerable users, using their privacy settings properly and generating creative content (presumably unpaid and non-unionized). The contract feels like a document from the late 1990s, forged in the spirit of “<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/wired25-louis-rossetto-tech-militant-optimism/">militant optimism</a>” about the internet. It offers only <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/016344387009001005">pseudo-regulation</a> for tech giants. It also implies if tech giants can demonstrate greater diversity in hiring practices, allow users to better manage their privacy settings, and make some investments in disadvantaged communities, then they can avoid serious regulatory consequences. Legacies of internet culture A big question is why leading non-government organisations such as the <a href="https://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.publicknowledge.org/">Public Knowledge</a> have signed-on to such a weak contract. This may be because two elements of the original legacy of internet culture (as it started developing in the 1990s) are still applicable today. One is the view that governments present a greater threat to public interest than corporations. This leads non-governmental organisations to favour legally binding frameworks that restrain the influence of governments, rather than addressing issues of market dominance. The contract doesn’t mention, for instance, whether governments have a role in legislating to ensure digital platforms address issues of online hate speech. This is despite evidence that social media platforms are used to <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/609/60904.htm#_idTextAnchor005">spread hate, abuse and violent extremism</a>. The second is the tendency to think the internet is a different realm to society at large, so laws that apply to other aspects of the online environment are deemed inappropriate for digital platform companies. An example in Australia is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/law-should-treat-social-media-companies-as-publishers-attorney-general-20191120-p53cch.html">defamation law not being applied to digital platforms such as Facebook</a>, but being applied to the comments sections of news websites. Berners-Lee’s manifesto for the future of the web is actually more conservative than proposals coming from government regulators, such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/digital-platforms-inquiry">Digital Platforms Inquiry</a>. The ACCC is closely evaluating issues arising because of digital platforms, whereas the Contract for the Web looks wistfully back to the open web of the 1990s as a path to the future. It fails to address the changing political economy of the internet, and the rise of digital platforms. And it’s a barrier to meaningfully addressing the problems plaguing today’s web.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127793/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/terry-flew-3944">Terry Flew</a>, Professor of Communication and Creative Industries, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-internets-founder-now-wants-to-fix-the-web-but-his-proposal-misses-the-mark-127793">original article</a>.

Technology

Why do we get dark circles under our eyes?

I’ve always wondered why we get dark circles under our eyes, and whether anything can be done about them - Fran, 34, Melbourne Many people have an appearance of dark circles on the lower eyelids, and they have many different causes. Dark rings under the eyes are worsened by general fatigue, especially lack of sleep. The daily fluctuation is due to swelling of the skin, leading to a change in light diffusion, which looks like increased darkness of the skin. For some people, all we can say is that their parents had dark circles under their eyes and therefore they do too. This trait can <a href="http://www.pigmentinternational.com/article.asp?issn=2349-5847;year=2018;volume=5;issue=1;spage=1;epage=3;aulast=Daroach">run in families</a>, and is more pronounced in certain ethnic groups. Sun exposure can also create dark circles under the eyes, by increasing the melanin content. The skin in this region can pigment more than the surrounding skin because it’s more sensitive. Because the skin is thinnest under the eyes, the blood vessels here will be closer to the surface, meaning they look darker. As we age, our skin gets thinner and we lose collagen (the main structural protein in skin) and elastin (a highly elastic protein in connective tissue), which is why we get wrinkles. This often makes the blood vessels (which are dark in colour) under our eyes stand out more. The tear trough (the depression below the eye) also deepens with age because of movement of fat under the eye forwards, creating shadowing below it. The dark circles could also be a mere shadow from tired, puffy eyelids, or just from the anatomical shape of someone’s eye sockets: some are hollowed more than others. People with this appearance could be suffering from a skin condition of the eyelid skin such as eczema or allergic contact dermatitis. Inflammation from dry and sore skin, and also rubbing, cause melanin production. Some people may not always have dark circles, but may have been rubbing their eyes from fatigue or itchiness caused by hayfever. In these cases, the dark rings will simply go away after a while. Can dark circles under the eyes be treated? Darker skin under the eyes is a perfectly normal and natural appearance. But if it bothers you, there are a few options. Treatment will depend on what causes the dark circles, and these causes need to be addressed. In some cases, only an improvement may be possible. Removing the cause of inflammation of the eyelids will stop the melanin factory from overproducing. Then a fading cream can be used to reduce the colour. Be careful to use a cream without hydroquinone, which is a bleach that can harm our skin if used for too long, as it will be necessary to treat for a very long time. Ideally a fading cream would contain <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3663177/">licorice root extract</a>, as there is some evidence this inhibits the melanin factory in the cells without causing toxicity to the cells. Uva-Ursi plant leaf extract and a type of nanopeptide (Nanopeptide-1) are also commonly used. But while we know they are safe to use their effectiveness hasn’t been tested. Written by Michael Freeman, Dermatologist, Associate Professor, Bond University. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/ive-always-wondered-why-do-we-get-dark-circles-under-our-eyes-90172" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

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