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ACTU pleads for rate rise amnesty
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is being urged to consider the plight of working families when deciding whether to increase interest rates this week. Analysts say higher than expected December quarter inflation figures and solid domestic demand give the RBA a strong case to increase interest rates at its board meeting in Sydney tomorrow. If the bank's board does decide to raise rates, they will be at their highest level in 12 years. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says low and middle income families cannot afford another rise, and the RBA should hold rates at current levels until the full impact of the global financial situation becomes clearer. ACTU president Sharan Burrow says many families already have their finances stretched to the limit by mortgages, credit cards and other loans, and the RBA should look at other economies.
Britney Spears' Extreme Make-Under
Britney Spears showed off the disappointing results of an intensive home make-over session during a trip to Millenium dance studio over the weekend. Last week, it was widely reported that celebrity colourist and Extreme Makeover consultant, Kim Vo, spent 4 hours at the troubled singer’s L.A. home working on her neglected tresses. However, judging by Brit’s bedraggled appearance on Saturday, 4 hours wasn’t nearly enough time to tease the pop wreck’s weave into something resembling a decent hairstyle. Sporting ripped fish-nets, tacky red hotpants, a stained top and her usual bedraggled mop, braless Brit hit Millenium with dad Jamie for numerous cigarette breaks, punctuated by a spot of dance practice. People quoted Vo as saying of his Brit assignment: "Britney needed some help with her extensions and wanted to talk about a new color.
Woman in Chains
Jody, my runaway subject, laid it all out for me one day. On the Riverside Ave. side of the building, she pointed out, is where most of the developmentally disabled folks hang out. On the Sprague Ave. side, drug dealers and anyone connected to the local drug culture can find each other. Jody explained that the subculture of the Plaza is like a family-a very dysfunctional family. I documented Jodys life for six months and what she told me rang true for the most part. At different times of the day, the Plaza veins course with a melting pot of bus riders, social outcasts, business professionals, gangster wannabes and teenage single moms with strollers in tow. Guys in ties mix with strange looking creatures, some pierced with enough metal to fill a scrap yard. I guess its all in how you look at it.
Orthodox Boxer’s Balancing Act
The era of Jewish boxers — tough guys from the ghettos, like Benny Leonard and Barney Ross — is over. For that matter, the era of boxing itself, once king of all American sports, has passed, as well. In that regard, Dmitriy Salita is doubly a throwback, being both Jewish and a boxer, with an added twist: As a practicing Orthodox Jew, he does not fight on the Sabbath. What normally might be a potentially fatal limitation for a boxer (many fights are scheduled for weekend nights) has proved to be a public relations bonanza for this undefeated junior welterweight, now the star of Jason Hutt's documentary film “Orthodox Stance," opening January 25 in New York and April 11 in Los Angeles. In addition to boxing, Salita, 25, is something of a juggler, balancing his sincere commitment to Chabad Orthodoxy with his training regimen, and the relative looseness of the sporting world with the stringency of religious practice.
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