Behind the picture

In Europe, a Ukrainian feminist movement protests against prostitution and for women’s rights by getting their tits out, donning long blonde wigs, putting flowers in their hair and getting in lots of trouble.

The modern equivalent of a hair shirt. Pic: AFP

Femen’s latest protest ended with the KGB arresting an Australian filmmaker, and three other women were reportedly forced to strip, doused in petrol, and abandoned in a forest.

While it has ended badly for the individuals, the movement itself has worldwide coverage of its uncovered members and its causes.

Latest 2 of 139 comments

 
  • Mark says:

    02:46pm | 01/01/12

    Pity they would not protest for population control. Groups such as PETA who promote things such as turn over a new leaf go vegetarian, the amount of natural enviroment that has to destroyed to make a bowl of salad, this does not include dams and weirs which destroy wetlands, all… Read more »

  • Rhys Needham says:

    07:30pm | 22/12/11

    The KGB are actually Belarusian intelligence, not Russian or Ukrainian (and, yes, I’ve seen the footage, it’s wonderful). Read more »

 

Welcome to a new semi-regular segment on The Punch, where we try to extract something meaningful from the week that was.


In yet another week dominated by the carbon tax and financial turmoil, the other big story was the guilty verdict on Michael Jackson’s personal doctor, Conrad Murray, who slowly poisoned Jacko with a toxic mix of anaesthetic and sedatives.

Jacko wanted a cure for insomnia so he could rest up for his imminent comeback tour. The thing is, why did he need drugs at all? According to the man himself, dancing could solve all problems. Let’s examine the video evidence…

Latest 2 of 28 comments

 
  • Anthony Sharwood

    Anthony Sharwood says:

    01:38pm | 13/11/11

    Your cat can read? That makes one of us Read more »

  • Susan says:

    12:51pm | 13/11/11

    Hilarious tongue-in-cheek Mirage. Well played. Read more »

 

It’s on again. The Melbourne Cup. The race that stops the nation. Or at least, the race that stops the nation working.

Ah Americain… can you do it again?

This year’s Cup is like no other. Well might we say “stop the boats” as refugees seek asylum on our shores, but maybe we’d do better to stop the planes. This year, more foreign raiders than ever before are trying to steal our riches and destroy our way of life. It’s just not horse racing.

So who’s going to win? The Punch proudly presents Australia’s most devastatingly honest and accurate form guide to help you decide for yourself.

Latest 2 of 20 comments

 
  • Happy Punter says:

    03:50pm | 01/11/11

    You’re a beautiful man Anthony. I actually followed your form guide and picked a winner. I’m $100 dollars richer because of you. If you were here right now I would kiss you. Read more »

  • neo says:

    02:14pm | 01/11/11

    23 looks good to place, I went a small bet each way. Same with 2. And a little more on 1 to place. And there goes my each way on 10 :( Read more »

 

Gaddafi’s dead. Good. We got Osama and now we got this creep. As The Sun in Britain said: “That’s for Lockerbie”. And as I myself often say: “begeeeeerrrrk”.

That kind of facial hair really gets my goat.

While the world is rightly celebrating the death of the tyrant Gaddafi today, here in the chicken coop the mood is more sombre. Across the world, millions of my fellow hens continue to be slaughtered daily in the name of another colonel.

These two colonels lived different lives, on different continents, in different eras. But the hens and I had a scratch around in the dirt today, and we came up with a few similarities. Begeeeeerrrrk!

Latest 2 of 46 comments

 
  • old fart says:

    08:12am | 31/10/11

    Have you noticed how much they look alike? really scary and Gaddafi’s convoy was hit by zingers, sorry I meant stingers.  Dont feel to bad about gaddafi pleading for his life. In 42 years he would have heard the pleas many times over. Pity, he didnt listen to them either. Read more »

  • Bev says:

    01:47pm | 23/10/11

    In my personal opinion,  the KFC style chicken can not be all that good for our health after a certain age, no offence.  Because of the very high fat content & all those trans fatty acids which occur during the frying process!!  Agreed but it was not always like that. … Read more »

 

I’m tired, cold and smell like a tin of cat food. This is my first taste of life as a deep-sea fishermen. Twenty-four hours on a fishing trawler outside Sydney Heads with Paul Bagnato, a fourth generation skipper.

I'd kick Rex Hunt's arse. Pic: Adam Taylor

The Bagnato family have run six trawlers out of Sydney since the 1960s, delivering Sydney’s freshest seafood to the Fish Markets every day of the week.

“We are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he says. “It’s a tough life out here.”

Latest 2 of 5 comments

 
  • MrEd says:

    07:59am | 14/08/11

    You need to Call Juliar, a diesel making carbon monoxide fumes? she’ll be on it like a fat kid on a cupcake. Read more »

  • Gregg says:

    12:45pm | 13/08/11

    Nice tale there Adam and some good shots. So how was Unionism out there and the safety clobber and all etc.!, just kidding and I wonder how MK or MF would hack that kind of trip let alone doing any work, too far out of the comfort zone of the… Read more »

 

Yesterday, News Ltd national defence writer Ian McPhedran argued that it’s our moral duty to stay the course in Afghanistan, both to honour fallen diggers and for the sake of the mission itself. Many ordinary people took exception, arguing the best way to honour the fallen is to withdraw from the whole exercise.


In any war in which Australia is involved, mainstream public figures rarely question our commitment to the conflict. To do so is seen as the equivalent of saying the fallen died for nothing.

Ordinary people know better. In war, as in life, the ground shifts. The perfectly valid reason you got involved several years back may no longer hold up today. Funny thing is, war movies have long echoed this theme. Maybe it’s time our leaders took a trip to the video store…

Latest 2 of 146 comments

 
  • LBC says:

    03:01pm | 12/09/11

    The current situation is like a bad film script and unfortunately, the world is not safer after the loss of so many lives. To get a clear insight into what is actually happening, have a look at Brown University’s comprehensive research:  http://costsofwar.org/  It makes you wonder when will we stop… Read more »

  • St. Michael says:

    02:22pm | 13/06/11

    “To contrary my friend, your talking to a reservist with friends who have been voluntarily deployed to every theater the Australian military has fought in over the last decade. Do you really believe that soldiers aren’t selfless?” My mistake, when you referred to warriors I didn’t realise you omitted the… Read more »

 

A friend of mine recently posted a picture on Facebook of their well-loved pug sleeping companionably underneath their sleeping baby’s cradle.

An unlikely babysitter. Photo: AFP.

“Protective pug”, she posted, and a flurry of exclamation marks followed in reply - pug and baby were bonding, our friends’ fears were allayed, their household was harmonious, everything would be fine.

As any dog person will tell you, this was an important step. Dogs need heaps of love, care and attention, especially when life is apt to change.

Latest 2 of 81 comments

 
  • acotrel says:

    06:48am | 18/04/11

    ‘Dogs do make excellent companions though. ‘ Mine doesn’t answer when I speak to him.  Am I doing something wrong? Read more »

  • KDB says:

    09:37pm | 17/04/11

    Explain to me the bizarre logic in having a dog for companionship, only to keep it outside?  I admit my dogs are spoiled rotten, definitely more than a dog trainer would recommend.  They are both older rescue dogs that had had rough lives so I must feel a subconscious need… Read more »

 

A pair of sixty-oners they may be but two things Julia Gillard and US President, Barack Obama definitely do not share are: a love of Vegemite, and an understanding of Australian rules football.

So I don't suppose you need an AFL adviser do you? Picture: Supplied

Or perhaps that should be an understanding of Vegemite, and a love of Australian rules.

Either way, both came to the fore yesterday as one 49 year old ribbed the other for nearly busting a valuable Oval Office statue of an American icon and beloved saviour of the Union, Abraham Lincoln.

Latest 2 of 15 comments

 
  • rufus says:

    03:35pm | 10/03/11

    s long as it wasn’t a mouth full (while Tim Tam wasn’t watching) like old Bill got once too often. Read more »

  • Old Clive says:

    09:31am | 10/03/11

    We must be the laughing stock of S.E Asia. Read more »

 

In a letter to IOC boss Jacques Rogge, Iran’s Olympic Committee chief Mohammad Aliabadi has today declared the London 2012 Olympics logo racist, because apparently, you can see the word Zion in it, if you twist your neck 45 degrees and drink half a bottle of the kind of spirit which is heavily frowned upon in Iran.

And you thought it was $650,000 well spent

The obvious cynical, Western reaction is to point out that Iran is trying to distract its own populace from overthrowing the state by drumming up anger about yet another trumped-up fiendish Israeli plot.

But here at The Punch, we’re not so sure. We think the Iranians may actually be onto something. Because if you look at Olympic logos down the years, it appears many of them were trying to tell us something we were all too swept up in Olympic fever to notice.

Latest 2 of 69 comments

 
  • john says:

    11:41pm | 13/12/11

    it’s “Lion” not “Zion” . What Zion has to do with British? Lion is a strong and beautiful animal in Uk forest. Read more »

  • AW says:

    12:56pm | 07/03/11

    I might be biased, but I quite like the Sydney logo. It looks like a runner under the Sydney Habour bridge to me (which I’m guessing it was meant to be). Read more »

 

The Egyptian protests that have led to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak have produced some incredible media images, by photographers who often put their own lives in danger to bring us scenes from the streets of Egypt.

Here are some photos from the last two weeks, which culminated in celebrations on Friday night as Mubarak announced he would end his 30 year term.

Protesters celebrate Muburak's resignation. Picture: AP

Latest 2 of 15 comments

 
  • Luce says:

    12:25pm | 15/02/11

    “Good to know Atheists enjoy living in western Christian democracies.” Zac, there is no relationship between the democratic system and religion. Neither was formed as a result of, or with influence from the other, and neither system has any say in the running of the other one. These so called… Read more »

  • Zac de Spudnut says:

    07:06pm | 14/02/11

    James, quotes from the same internet conspiracy nutjobs>>> My quotes were from “Atheist Foundation of Australia” and “federal court of appeals”. So if they are “conspiracy nutjobs” then Atheism and Atheists are in real trouble. I am an atheist, and I love democracy.  It gives me the freedom to be… Read more »

 

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