Go Gillie!

I'm more than a tad tired of all that nonsense about Oz Prime Minister Julia Gillard being an unmarried, childless and godless sheila, so I was glad when Crikey's Bernard Keane took a scalpel to the mainstream media:

"The growing media obsession with both Julia Gillard's physical appearance and her marital status could be dismissed as indicative of both the essential inanity of the press and its casual sexism. That's certainly enough as it is. The media subjects female politicians to a blatant double standard, requiring them to conform to standards on physical presentation and lifestyle choices that are never applied to men. Moreover, it's not as if the media perpetuates a single stereotype to which female politicians must conform. Instead, it's a constantly changing set of requirements that means there's always something to criticise and the media always wins. Look too good, you're condemned as vacuous, or reliant on your appearance. Don't look good enough, you're disparaged as unattractive. Don't have a family, you're deliberately barren. Have a family, you're a career-obsessed harridan neglecting your kids. But it's more than that. The Australian yesterday launched a series of personal attacks on the Prime Minister, with the clear aim of ridiculing her and delegitimising her as a political figure. It complements an effort by Liberal Party figures to attack Gillard over her childlessness and her de facto marital status."

Go read the rest (with links to Albrechtsen, Stewart & Legge's sly nastiness) here.

11-year-old girl tells Sydney Morning Herald tipsters Phil Gould, Roy Masters and Greg Prichard to eat their hearts out

11-year-old Chloe Lawrence has won the Illawarra Mercury's Footy Tipping Comp this a year.

Chloe's tipping, which netted her 141 points for the season, was so convincing she would have easily beaten The Sydney Morning Herald tipsters Phil Gould, Roy Masters and Greg Prichard.

Last year Chloe's seven-year-old brother, Daniel Moro, was the paper's top tipster.

The Mercury reports that Chloe and Daniel, who both won $3000, left thousands of experienced adult tipsters and bona fide footy experts in their wake. Their success has stumped their mother, Amy Taylor. But, according to Chloe there is method to her choices.

She avoids the Roosters and the Sharks and otherwise opts for teams based largely on home ground advantage and sidelined stars.

"I say, 'Who's out? Who's not playing? Who's at home?"' Chloe said.

"I don't like the Roosters. If Manly or Storm are at home I'll pick them because I like them."

Chloe plans to spend some of her winnings on her first mobile phone and will also donate a portion of the money to the Cancer Council in memory of her grandfather, who succumbed to cancer in recent years.

The remainder will be placed in a savings account.

For the record, Chloe predicts a Sea Eagles versus Dragons grand final, with the latter to win by about six points.

pic from The Illawarra Mercury