Art Monthly Australia magazine sparked fresh controversy over naked images of children by publishing an image of a six-year-old girl on its cover to protest against the recent furore over similar pictures by artist Bill Henson.

NSW police seized a number of Mr Henson’s photographs featuring near-naked or naked children in recent months, but were returned to a Sydney art gallery without charges being laid.

The July edition of Art Monthly Australia published the cover image in protest at the “hysteria” over Mr Henson’s work.

It also includes several provocative photos of children posing naked in adult jewellery as well as naked teenage girls.

NSW community services minister Kevin Greene said the images had been inappropriately hijacked for political mileage.

“I will refer this to the ACB tomorrow, and the community also should let (the Board) know what they think,” Mr Greene told reporters in Sydney.

Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell labelled the publication a “provocative publicity stunt” and called for a review of Arts Council’s funding for the magazine.

He said the average parent faced strict regulation of photographing their children at school events, and would be frustrated by the actions of the magazine.

“I understand they are in receipt of funding from the Arts Council and I assume there are procedures where that can be reviewed by Mr Rudd and his ministers,” Mr O’Farrell said.

“I notice (Premier) Morris Iemma hasn’t ruled them out receiving state government funds in the future.

“The public are furious about the double standards, I think taxpayers are angry when they see funds used in this way and to review it, I think, would be sensible.”

“Restoring dignity”

In the editorial, Maurice O’Riordan said he chose the 2003 picture of the young girl in the “hope of restoring some dignity to the debate” and to “validate nudity and childhood as subjects for art”.

The image, taken by Melbourne-based Polixeni Papapetrou, is believed to be her own daughter.

Mr O’Riordan, who does not have children of his own, told The Sunday Telegraph he did not care if it stirred community complaint.

“I believe the image is of a six-year-old girl,” he said.

“Maybe this is bold, but I don’t see the need to give in to that sort of hysteria or the prospect of complaint.

“I couldn’t really understand the furore.”

The artist, Ms Papapetrou, said she supports the use of her work for the magazine’s cover.

“We need to be clever enough to distinguish art from other types of images, otherwise we live in danger of eradicating any image of childhood in this culture for future generations to see.”

Art Monthly Australia receives more than $50,000 in funding from the Federal Government’s Council for the Arts and lists the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts under sponsors and partner. The State Government has issued grants to the magazine in previous years.

Cheap, sick stunt

NSW Premier Morris Iemma immediately threatened towithdraw future funding after he was contacted about the images yesterday.

“Images of this kind are distasteful, exploitative of children – a cheap, sick stunt at the expense of a young child,” he said.

“We’ve now reached a sad point where some people think naked kids can boost their sales and get them a headline. We will have no role in funding them while they use images that exploit children.”

More than 5000 copies of the magazine have been distributed across Australia. The magazine also includes images by Bill Henson.

In May, police raided the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, confiscating several images by Henson including the photographs of a naked 13-year-old girl.

The photos sparked major national debate and angered several organisations, including child-welfare groups, with Premier Morris Iemma labelling the works “offensive and disgusting”.

Mr Henson was cleared of any wrongdoing following a police investigation.

A spokeswoman for the Australia Council yesterday defended their decision to help fund the magazine. She said the Council regarded Mr Henson as one of the country’s premier artists.

-With the Sunday Telegraph, AAP

This was a shift in judgment, if a subtle one, about where the biggest threat to America’s economy lies. But there was no hint that higher interest rates are imminent. Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Fed, was the only member of the ten-strong rate-setting committee to vote for a rise.

After a series of cuts since the summer, the fed-funds rate, at 2%, looks uncomfortably low when set against headline inflation at 4.2%. Yet the Fed seems confident that inflation will moderate. One reason is that higher inflation reflects a jump in the cost of oil and food rather than a broad acceleration in prices. When commodity prices shoot higher, the standard policy response is to treat the resulting rise in inflation as a once-and-for-all shift in relative prices. An interest-rate increase big enough to squeeze inflation back down in short order would cause a needlessly large rise in unemployment.

As long as the public believes the Fed will act to control inflation, today’s price increases are unlikely to feed tomorrow’s wage claims, and a wage-price spiral can be averted. The trouble is, expectations of inflation have started to pick up. A survey by the University of Michigan shows that inflation is expected to be over 5% in the next year, the highest reading since 1982. And expected inflation for the next five to ten years is 3.4%, the highest since 1995. This trend is mirrored in other rich countries. In Britain expectations have risen to their highest level since the central bank’s survey began in 1999. A poll of the euro area, carried out by the European Commission, also shows a rise in the balance of consumers expecting higher inflation.

Until recently, central bankers have looked on the stability of inflation expectations with satisfaction. The public seemed to trust that independent monetary stewards would not be tempted, as politicians might be, to keep interest rates too low to control inflation. But now that faith is in doubt, policymakers seem to be shifting tack. The Fed’s statement referred to a pick up in “some” indictors of expectations but reckoned that this was a sign only of greater “uncertainty” about the outlook. In a speech on June 9th Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, admitted to gaps in knowledge about how the actions of central banks affect inflation expectations and how these in turn have a bearing on inflation. Such qualifications are a hint that inflation expectations may have lost their place at the heart of policymaking.

One reason not to worry is that perceptions often differ from reality. Consumers may be overly sensitive to changes in the price of frequent purchases, such as food and fuel, while they overlook the stability of other prices. As the effect of the commodity shock fades, expectations are likely to follow recorded inflation back down again.

If, however, an inflation psychology is returning, not all the rich world’s central bankers appear to be treating it with the same degree of trepidation. The European Central Bank has signalled that it will raise interest rates at its next meeting on July 3rd, to show that inflation remains its main concern. That the central bankers at its American counterpart are sitting on their hands, for the moment, reflects the greater threat of a sharp downturn in the economy there. But if the Fed’s rate-setters are too complacent about rising inflation expectations, they run the risk of squandering the credibility their predecessors earned at such a high price.

FOR years it seemed that American consumers’ demand for liquid fuel was price inelastic—whether it was to drive their cars or get their brains going in the morning. Yet $4 seems to have been the price at which demand becomes elastic, for both petrol and a frothy latte. As a result, baristas at Starbucks coffee shops around America are starting to get a taste of what it feels like to be a carworker in Detroit. On July 1st the coffee retailer, based in Seattle, said it would close a further 500 stores in America (in addition to the 100 closures it announced earlier this year), and reduce its workforce of roughly 172,000 by around 7%.

A remarkable 70% of the stores due to close were opened after 2005, which seems to confirm the comment made by Howard Schultz, when he returned to the helm of the company in January, that most of Starbucks’ wounds were self-inflicted. As it expanded at a breakneck pace, the company opened too many Starbucks in subprime locations. But the deteriorating American economy is doing further damage. As a premium-priced supplier, Starbucks is suffering from the same trading down that is sending shoppers rushing from Target to Wal-Mart. McDonald’s, it seems, has perfectly timed its decision to start selling coffee that is pleasant to drink.

Shares in Starbucks are now trading at barely one-third of their peak value from two years ago. Yet, rather than being a sign of panic, the closures may be evidence that Mr Schultz means to return the company to its focus on quality, rather than growth. After closing all its American stores simultaneously for a brief retraining session a few months ago, there are plans for further improvements in the staff’s competence and demeanour, and in the cleanliness and comfort of its shops.

There are also innovations in the works, ranging from healthy smoothies, to a mysterious (and so far unnamed) Italian drink, to further automation. In March Starbucks bought the Coffee Equipment Company, a small outfit that produces a hugely expensive coffee-making machine called the Clover. It is now testing the machines in a handful of its American shops.

Admittedly, there have been some complaints about the introduction of the milder “Pike Place” filter-coffee blend. But on the firm’s popular new customer website, MyStarbucksIdea.com, the main concerns are about the quality of the food sold by Starbucks and, above all, its prices. Encouragingly for Mr Schultz, there are also many positive suggestions, from serving vegan food to introducing a loyalty card, which suggests that plenty of customers still care for Starbucks enough to give him a chance to win them back—recession or no recession.

Are you negative in your bank account? Have funds run low? Just let it slide. Let the structured one’s freak out about it. If your a risk taker and trying to take your company public for an ipo, it’s all going to come with the territory.

Here are some tips to play it cool:

1. Creditors are worthless, they just sit on the phone all day and are trained to read off there scripts on $9 -$10 an hour
2. Fico Scores these days are bull. As an entrepreneur, your credit will be back up like a heart rate machine just have faith
3. When the bank calls you, just buy them time on the phone. Banks know the game and that’s how you do it.
4. Your going to hear a lot of comments from the outsiders. Just ignore ‘em they won’t get it anyway it’s who they are.

When the economy is low, now is never a better time to grow!!!

How to take advantage of the moment while the moment lasts…

1. Look closer at your business. Think of ways that you can improve on what could be better re: team, strategy, sales, etc.
2. Start a new business. Now is never a better time, the economy profits well from new business development so why not?

Don’t be so trusting…

A wise business man knows that trust takes time. Laying out all your cards is a no no.

Ideas, ideas, ideas…

Share the good, protect the great babies with your heart and soul.

Business owners have a ball together…

Why not? They work hard and play hard. They are very creative and the fun in the game is contagious.

Careful what you wish for because it may just come true!

What happens when you are looking for something and that something is just there for the taking. Be safe, because it’s gonna happen fast. Always have a back up plan when things may emplode.

At the end of the day, it’s all a big game

True but not so true, its the attitude and how you play the game in what counts.

Drive, Ambition and Passion are your powers. They come along way…Use them wisely

Vladimir Putin has appointed Mr. Medvedev, Moscow’s new Russian President has won the electorial election by a large marginal vote. Mr. Putin will stay on as prime minister, with there relationship remaining at close end. Power of president is hiearchy and Russia is known for it’s highly personal political system that has been molded by former Putin. Mr. Putin will now take the reigns as prime minister and no longer will be in charge of controlling Russian army as well as foreign policy.

Mr. Medvedev is challenged with some highly significant decisions that will not only impact Russian economy but will also impact ties with the United States. Questions from the public tend to arise on whether Mr. Medvedev will take control of Russia’s foreign political affairs that have been quite political in ties to the Kremlin.

In today’s competitive society and all the negativities, the stressors involved, it is common human nature to fall short with worry and doubts. Having the proper emotional intelligence and the ability to think forward that “Anything can be possible” is positive for cultivating growth, inner strength and continuous progression through life. We learn through experiences, we learn through others and we learn for ourselves. There are many books, human nature of conversations that are expressed on ways and techniques. But in the end, it is only to your own making that anything can be possible if you possess the proper mental efforts.

Thinking bigger, and bigger and BIGGER…

Staying small is one’s own choice, however we cannot grow if we do not put in risk. Risk taking can frighten many people. Whether they are simply too set in there ways, or naturally uncomfortable, undesired to grow. Practicing risk taking behavior is supported to moving ahead in life. It is how you view the experience, take it in, look back and revisit these experiences, learn from them and move on. Repeating the cycle is unhealthy, takes out of your precious personal time and remember that we only have one life so it is to one’s own choosing how to live it well.

Pessimistic Views on Life…

Why it won’t…Why it can’t? How many times and rehearsed conversations from people have we heard that this won’t work because…or I am not able to because…Perhaps it was just a bad day or perhaps we are simply just acting out in ways why it won’t work. “No” is a regular response to these type of people. They have trouble imagining and visualizing. They are the types whom see failure as a predictable option. Fear and doubt create worry among these types. In the end, there isn’t enough of a mental climate to create something positive. Pessimistic views tend to down play on the dreams, the ideas and creativity.

Optimistic Views on Life…

Possibility Thinking is focused on problems and ways that are positive. Dreamers of sorts. They see the “Anything Is Possible” point of view and keep working past experiences “Turning Water Into Wine.” They are the ones who strive to achive, climb mountains, adventure, experience and explore. In a sense, a full life, resilience of never giving up one’s dream. Success thinking in optimism makes anything possible.

Positive outcomes with optimistic thinking result in the following:

Overcoming Inferiority
Living Confident
Challenges To Problems
Facing Lifes Personal Battles
Evaluating Ideas

What type of life do you want to create?

When you are putting your life together we look to believe in creating success in career, in marriage, in family and in friends.