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ditch the ham sandwich

A leaflet sent home to parents telling them to ‘Ditch The Ham Sandwich’ has sparked debate with parents unhappy with the recommendation from the Cancer Council.

The leaflets produced by the Cancer Council were distributed with public school newsletters in NSW and comes after another recent leaflet from the Cancer Council suggesting children have ‘meat-free’ Mondays. Their Meat Free Monday suggestion said:

"Eating more plant-based food is a way you can reduce your cancer risk and the risk of other chronic diseases. Another benefit of eating less meat is that it’s good for the environment. Did you know that it can take 30 bathtubs of water to produce just one beefburger?”

David Bligh, of Bringelly Pork and Bacon, responded to the idea of ditching the ham sandwich and said the leaflets go ‘too far.’ He told News Corp, 'I think sometimes these politically correct messages can go a little bit too far and not be as practical as they should be.'

In an interview with 'The Today Show’, he said:

"People bring up all sorts of issues about food and chemicals and things like that, but a lot of the preservatives and things that are put in ham and bacon are actually naturally occurring chemicals and preservatives because these sorts of things are found in spinach and vegetables and all of those sorts of things.

"It is just blown out of proportion. Ham has been eaten for the last 5000 years without any side effects."

Today host Karl Stefanovic also weighed in on the issue during the show saying, "I think this is just ridiculous. I don't know where they get off doing this,” as he and co-host Ally Langdon and newsreader Alex Cullen ate ham sandwiches at their desk.

A spokesperson for Cancer Council explained the leaflets were only to get children to eat better food. She explained:

'Because there is strong evidence that eating processed meats and too much red meat is associated with increased risk of bowel cancer, our cancer prevention messages advise everyone to limit their processed meat consumption and cut down on red meat.”

According to reports, The NSW Department of Education confirmed there was no banning of ham sandwiches from schools. In their NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy, they say, "Ham may be used in Everyday foods and meals such as salads and sandwiches.” Processed meat however fell into their ‘occasional fillings’ recommendation, which included bacon, salami, chicken roll, sausages and hot dogs. They also said lean ham is preferable, writing:

"Lean meats include skinless chicken, steak, roast beef, turkey breast, low fat mince, lamb and pork. Trim visible fat from meat where possible. Ham may also be used in Everyday meals and snacks, preferably lean ham.”

In the article created by Cancer Council NSW suggesting to ‘swap ham out of the lunch box,’ it explains ham is linked with bowel and stomach cancer. They write:

"We know that ham is a lunch box staple for many families, however, Cancer Council recommends that we limit or avoid processed meats because of their link with increasing the risk of bowel and stomach cancer. Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia. Processed meats include ham, devon, bacon, salami, frankfurts, prosciutto and some sausages such as cabanossi and kransky.”

Instead of ham and other processed meats in sandwiches, wraps and salads, they suggest using the following ingredients instead:

  • BBQ chicken with the skin removed
  • Canned tuna or salmon
  • Boiled eggs
  • Hummus
  • Cheese
  • Leftover home-cooked meat such as slices of roast
  • Home-cooked rissoles

They suggest making processed meat an occasional food only and not a regular choice.

Image Credit: (Alexey Androsov / Shutterstock.com)

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May 3 is National Paranormal Day!

And we're bringing you a collection of websites, YouTube channels, podcasts, TV shows, online games and real-life ghost tours that will scare you into keeping the lights on all night.

Read on... if you dare!


GHOSTS, DEMONS AND ANGELS

Here’s a spooky fact: 35% of Aussies believe ghosts exist and that they can influence their will on the living, according to a poll by Essential Research a few years back.

Even if we haven’t seen a ghost, there’s no shortage of ‘evidence’ out there to capture our imaginations.

From hearing a friend of a friend’s uncle’s spooky story that they swear is real, to the videos on social media supposedly proving the existence of ghosts (usually on night vision cameras while unsuspecting people sleep) and the TV documentaries of unsolved mysteries that science can’t explain, there’s plenty to make us believe.


IT’S JUST A MOVIE… RIGHT?

Hollywood has made tons of money out of scaring us out of our seats and making us spill our popcorn everywhere, with movies like Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, Poltergeist and The Conjuring all based on true life stories. But 2009’s hugely successful Paranormal Activity was a major dose of frights with its ‘found footage’ style making it seem all the more real.

More recent movies such as Insidious and Hereditary continue to bring the paranormal scare factor, but at least we can deal with our terror in the privacy of our lounge room.


REAL-LIFE STORIES TO FREAK YOU OUT

It’s one thing to watch a movie or read a horror tale knowing it’s not real, but hearing stories from people who 100% believe they’ve had a paranormal experience is the quickest way to scare yourself silly.

Real Ghost Stories Online

As its name suggests, this daily podcast features real-life people sharing their real-life paranormal experiences, encompassing all things supernatural, demonic, ghost investigations, haunted houses, possessions, shadow people, the unexplained and more.

Monsters Among Us

This podcast focuses on the unexplained and gives a voice to the wives' tales that we all heard growing up as a children. Are they true? They sure sound true! And that's enough to scare us!


r/Paranormal on Reddit.com

The r/Paranormal community has nearly a million members and “provides a platform to discuss and share true first-hand paranormal experiences, evidence, thoughts, and theories”. We’ve warned you.

In a similar vein, r/Ghosts and r/Ghoststories are also good places to find tales of the paranormal.


MrBallen

On YouTube, MrBallen is the master of strange, dark and mysterious stories, mixing paranormal tales with true crime stories that will turn you into a shivering wreck. (He’s also got a podcast and puts up short versions of his stories on TikTok.)


THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN AUSTRALIA

Would you be brave enough to visit some of Australia’s most haunted locations in the hopes of having a paranormal encounter? Here are some spooky ghost tours not to be missed.

Aradale Hospital, Ararat, Victoria

This psychiatric hospital in country Victoria started out as a jail and eventually became a lunatic asylum for the criminally insane. It operated for over 100 years, shutting down in 1993, and its complex of nearly 70 buildings across 100 acres now makes it practically a ghost town all of its own. At the height of its operation it housed over 1,000 people and it’s said around 13,000 people died, which adds up to a lot of hauntings.


Willow Court Asylum, Tasmania

Willow Court, about 30 minutes outside of Hobart, is Australia’s oldest continually run asylum, and the Paranormal Investigation tour turns visitors into real-life ghostbusters! Participants get to use the latest paranormal equipment to search for ghosts in wards that are usually closed to the public, including the morgue and sections for the criminally insane.


Adelaide Arcade, South Australia

The oldest and grandest shopping Arcade in Australia also has a dark history of murder and accidents, with ghostly experiences reported by shoppers and staff. The ghost tour is very real - no dress-ups, no gimmicks - and offers exclusive access to the haunted tearoom below the arcade.


GUARANTEED GHOSTS WITH THESE VIDEO GAMES

If you don’t want to be let down by a ghost tour that may not turn up any spooky moments, then go for a VR game to give you a guaranteed scare. Yes, you know it's not real, but these immersive games will feel real to your body and have your anxiety high in no time. Even watching the trailers has us scared!

Phasmophobia

This psychological horror co-operative game sees you and three others play paranormal investigators on a ghost hunt. There’s different haunted locations to investigate, 10 different types of ghosts to encounter, and you get to use well known ghost hunting equipment. You can even interact with the ghosts using your voice and ouija boards.


Paranormal Activity

Based on the movie franchise of the same name, this immersive game involves puzzles and scary surprises as you investigate a large, spooky house.


Visage

This first-person psychological horror game sees you playing Dwayne, a man trapped in a gigantic, ever-changing house by supernatural entities. On top of dealing with the ghostly activity, you have to make sure you avoid the darkness, otherwise you’ll lose your sanity and be exposed to even more severe paranormal experiences.


SUPERNATURAL THRILLS WITH SOME FUN THROWN IN

If you’re a fan of things that go bump in the night but you're after some entertainment without being terrified for days, you should definitely watch TV series Supernatural. You won’t be disappointed!

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki play brothers Sam and Dean Winchester who hunt down all manner of spooky spectres including ghosts, demons, werewolves, vampires, changelings and the creepy creatures from those spine-chilling urban myths that scared us as a teenager (and maybe still scare us as an adult). 

The show has its fair share of gore and jump scares, but it is also funny, comes with a killer soundtrack and has an emotional heart and well-written characters who are very human (as opposed to the creatures they hunt down).

Sadly the series ended in 2020 after 15 seasons but it's still amazing (even on a rewatch). Check it out on Amazon Prime (or buy it on Apple TV).

But you might want to grab a bag or two of salt before you start watching, just saying...


Speaking of Winchester, the Winchester Mystery House in California was once the residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Winchester. The sprawling mansion is said to be haunted by the ghosts of people killed by Winchester rifles. The story goes that a psychic told Sarah to find a house and continuously build it to keep the spirits happy. Sarah spent nearly 40 years until her death getting builders to add oddly shaped rooms and doors and staircases that went nowhere to confuse the spirits.

 

BUT IS ANY OF THIS PARANORMAL STUFF REAL?

Australian Skeptics offers a cash prize of $100,000 to anyone who can prove they have psychic or paranormal powers and is “able to demonstrate their ability under proper observing conditions”. To date the prize money remains unclaimed.

But that still doesn’t stop us believing, does it?

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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala (Photos by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Actor Blake Lively and singer Alicia Keys have paid tribute to New York City landmarks as a parade of stars celebrated American fashion and Gilded Age glamour at the annual Met Gala.

Known for celebrities in over-the-top outfits, the so-called Oscars of the East Coast returned to its traditional date of the first Monday in May, just eight months after 2021's pandemic-delayed event in September.

This year's A-list guests were told to dress in 'gilded glamour' for the annual fundraiser for New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lively, a Met Gala co-chair along with her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, arrived in a glittering bronze-coloured Versace dress influenced by New York's Grand Central Terminal, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

Attendants later removed a large bow and rearranged the gown's long train to reveal a turquoise and brass look, a switch Lively said was an ode to the greenish patina bronze buildings develop over time.

met gala blake lively
Blake Lively's stunning transforming dress - with matching gloves!  (Photos by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)


Empire State of Mind singer Alicia Keys also celebrated New York, wearing a Ralph Lauren dress with 200,000 crystals arranged to look like the city's skyline.

Alicia Keys attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the
Alicia Keys (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)


The Met Gala marks the opening of the annual fashion exhibition at the museum's Costume Institute.

This year's exhibit, In America: An Anthology of Fashion, caps a two-part exhibition and focuses on the history of American dress.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she was attending for the first time in 20 years to celebrate the fashion and spirit of America.

Her burgundy gown featured subtle embroidery of the names of 60 famous American women including abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Madeleine Albright, the late secretary of state.

Hillary Clinton attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the
Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)


Another political figure, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, wore a tuxedo jacket with symbols of New York's subway system and 'end gun violence' written on the back.

He took the opportunity to note the economic struggles many people experienced during the opulent Gilded Age of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"Although we had some great inventions and some great architecture ... it was also a dark period and we should never forget that," he said.

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who organised the gala, wore a colorful Chanel dress with feathered cape and an American tiara, a family heirloom from 1910.


Actor and musician Janelle Monae donned a black Ralph Lauren gown with a silver- and black-striped hood that she described as "the gilded age of the future."

 
Some of the other looks on the red carpet:

© AP 2022

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Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan will return to Neighbours as much-loved characters Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell for the show's series finale.

The Australian soap first aired in 1985 and follows the lives of those living and working in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough.

Neighbours has confirmed that Minogue and Donovan will return before the series, which centres on the cul-de-sac community of Ramsay Street, ceases production in June after being dropped by its broadcaster.

The show's official Twitter account shared a message from executive producer Jason Herbison which said: "Scott and Charlene are the ultimate Neighbours couple and it would not feel right to end the show without them.

"We are thrilled that Jason and Kylie have come home to play a very special part in our series finale."

A follow-up post continued: "It has been an emotional experience for them, for us and I'm sure it will be for our viewers."

Minogue and Donovan, who are both 53, played Scott and Charlene until their departures in 1989 and 1988 respectively.

The pair were Ramsay Street's power couple and a favourite with viewers.

In response to news of her return, Minogue posted a photo of what appeared to be a glimpse of a Neighbours script on Instagram, with the caption: "Omg!!"

Donovan posted a similar image showing the script from a different angle and captioned it with his co-star's Instagram handle.

Scott and Charlene's wedding episode was watched by more than two million Australian viewers when it first aired in 1987, and later pulled in an audience of almost 20 million when it was shown in the UK in 1988.

The ceremony became one of the most-watched TV moments of the decade.

After it was announced that the soap would be ceasing production, Donovan said: "I think it's sad... but I think it's time to celebrate Neighbours."

Minogue said she will be "forever grateful" for her time on the show.

The soap also launched the careers of Hollywood stars such as Margot Robbie and Liam Hemsworth.

© PAA 2022

Image Credit: (Mary Evans Picture Library)