Positive Dying

A woman in the advanced stages of multiple sclerosis has become the face of a campaign in New  South Wales for voluntary euthanasia laws.

She said she spent 17 hours a day alone and wasn't able to move any part of her body. The lady wants euthanasia because she's suffering from multiple sclerosis. She can't choose suicide because she is unable to move any part of her body.

Euthanasia is illegal in Australia , but was legal for a period in the Nothern Territory. People have the rights to choose the way of dying especially for patients. She has to beg for death just because enthanasia is illegal in Australia. Euthanasia sounds too cruel. But if the people are volunteering, there will be different meaning for enthanasia. Euthanasia can help her die in peace with dignity so that she doesn't need to beg for mercy.

We don't know if the law will be changed, but it's a nice try for our rights. Politicians should think about if the legislation is considered enough for the public. When we face death, it's not fearful, but the way we will die.

Blogging---New Media

Blogging is very popular these days so that many people think it's going to replace journalism. Blogging is similar to traditional articles as they are usually short and designed to grab your attention, but there are also some major differences.

First, blogging is free so that everyone can make a blog, post it online and their friends or complete strangers can post comments on their blog. For other mediums such as; newspaper, radio and magazine - A journalist is the person who breaks news, then shares it with an audience who can't express themselves directly.

Seconds, most of bloggers write part-time and they don't get money. They can choose everything they are interested in, e.g fashion, food, technology or any other field. The topic might not be newsworthy. But journalists get paid for breaking news so that the topoc has to be newsworthy. “When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.” bloggers may concern the first part but journalists concern the second part because it's newsworthy and has more appeal to the general public.

Third, you can design your own blog and you can add social media on your blog which makes it so creative. They don't care about the news on mainstream media sites, they care about their readers more. A journalist faces the challenge of having to find out what audiences want to know and deliver a concise story because this is their job.

As time goes by, there will be more new media formats, but it doesn't mean journalism will disappear. There will be enough room for all of them.

Escaping from obesity epidemic?

A New York judge has blocked the city's ban on large sugary drinks, just hours before the restrictions were due to come into effect. Also the ban did not extend to drinks sold in supermarkets, any dairy or fruit drinks, many of which also contain huge quantities of sugar. Diet and alcoholic drinks were also exempt.

Opinion polls last year indicated that a majority of New Yorkers opposed the ban, with some suggesting the mayor was impinging on civil liberties and others arguing the rules would not be effective. You can still buy drinks such as diet and alcoholic drinks which contain huge quantities of sugar. 

Many people are suffering from diabetes these days, which can be aggravated by sugar consumption. There is an obesity epidemic which is contributed by huge quantities of sugar. These diseases kill thousands of people every year. If the government really wants to do something to improve the suituation, they should promote healthier drinks, with less sugar and chemical content other than ban large sugary drinks. Healthier drinks costs more money to produce which means less profits which is no good for manufactures.

How can we escape from diabetes and obesity epidemic? The diabetes and obesity epidemic will cause many complications such as cardiopathy and hypertension. I think we can lower the chance to have diabetes and obesity epidemics by improving our diet and doing sports. We can choose low sugar drinks when we buy drinks. It is proven by scientists that doing exercises or playing sports regularly helps people stay in a good shape and avoid some health problems such as heart attack or high blood pressure. So if we want to keep healthy, don't rely on other legistration. Let's do it by ourselves!!!

Love is always in his Heart

Bill Forward explained to 60 Minutes Reporter Allison Langdon why he built the special bicycle for his wife Gladys. It reveals a love story that concerns faith and promise.

 

Gladys was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease 8 years ago, Bill started to care for her since then. They have been married over 50 years already. I'm sure there are many happy memories in their mind. But when bad things happened to a good marriage, they stayed together and faced those challenges together. He did what he promised in their wedding vows of " We have taken each other for better or for worse".
 

Bill Forward is over 70 years old already and his daughter worries about him. She wants to make sure her dad is ok before he can take care of his wife. There were many take-away moments from the story but the one that stayed with me the most was Bill’s statement of “I don't want to live until I'm 100, I just want to live one day longer than Gladys so that I can care for her until the very end“. It's easy to say love when we are healthy, but it's really hard to say love when we suffer from illness or poverty.

Bill is proud of caring for his wife. he said:" She is always my princess". Though Gladys is unlucky to suffer from Alzheimer, she's lucky to have a sincere husband who has been with her for over 50 years and sharing the rest of their lives together.

Chavez's Colourful Career

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer on March 5, 2013.

Venezuelians  were very sad because they respected their president. Chavez was elected as a president in December, 1998. He experienced coup-u'detat in 2002,  oil strike in 2002-2003 and public vote in 2004. Venezuela has political stability and economic boom now. 

Petrol exporting is the economic lifeline of Venezuela. Internationally the Chávez government attempted to increase autonomy from U.S. and European governments by increasing control over domestic oil production and promoting economic and political integration with other Latin American nations. Due to high oil revenues, the Chavez government had much money to invest in social welfare, nation infrastructure construction and social development.

The Chavez government proposed and enacted 20 democratic socialist economic policies which concerns to medical and health services, education, employment and land reform since 2003. The poverty and extreme poverty populations reduced widely than at the beginning of Chavez.

Never ruin our tomorrow

Australian television journalist Peter Harvey has died aged 68 on March 2, 2013 after four-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Peter Harvey has spent over 50 years as a print, radio and television news reporter. He has covered the Vietnam War, The Dismissal, the second Gulf ward and most of the major events in Australia and overseas in between.  He studied journalism when he worked for the Daily Telegraph and he won a "Walkley Award" in 1964.

He joined the Nine Network in 1975 and worked in the network's Canberra bureau  for many years. He was very famous in Canberra because he covered politics with distinction. Many politicians of all parties respected him. "Peter Harvey, Canberra" became a catchphrase. His children even joked with him.

He was the only Australian reporter with American Forces when the first Gulf War broke out and he covered the second Gulf War. He covered the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last October when he was on holiday with his wife in Venice. He had chemotherapy which made all his hair gone. He didn't really care. He said: "I"m not the guy who worry about today, ruining my tomorrow".

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Harvey was "a true newsman to his boostraps".

"Our nation’s media has lost a giant today with the death of Peter Harvey," she said in a statement.

Biggest winner for Oscar

The 85th Annual Academy Awards will be live Today in. Who will be the biggest winner for Oscar? The nomination of the 85th Academy Awards were announced on February 20, 2013. Chinese director Ang Lee with his movie "Life of Pi" was nominated for 11 awards. American direction with his movie "Lincoln" was nominated for 12 awards. The movie "Escape from Tehran" already won the best film and the best director awards at the Golden Globes Awards and the sixty-sixth British Academy of Film Awards. But the director Ben Affleck was nominated for the best director this time.

The full awards list came out already. Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi' emerged the biggest winner of the night with four titles to its name - Best Direction, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. 'Argo' and 'Les Miserables' followed with three Oscars each. 'Lincoln', on the other hand, won only two awards - it was the film that had received the most number of nominations at 12.Best actress is Jennifer Lawrence for 'Silver Linings Playbook'.

As a Chinese, I'm very proud of Ang Lee. He was nominated for best direction 3 times already and won this award for Brokeback Mountain in 2006. It's very hard for non-American director. He is the biggest winner for Oscar 2013.

Who am I?

Who I am? My name is Min Xie. I come from China. I lived in China over 20 years. I have been here for only 3 months. Australia is too different from China. I'm still gettting used to new environment.

I have many hobbies. I love travelling, reading and playing video games. I travelled 3 times per year when I was in China. I have been to many countries before, for example South korea, Japan, Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia and Fiji. Now I'm in Australia. Australia is a beautiful country with many sightseeings. I'm going to travel around Australia this year. My nexy plan is to travel around the world. I like talking to people who live under different background and see their customs when I travel. So this blog will be a travel blog. I will post photos and some funny stories about my trip when I finish my trip.

Being a journalist is my dream. So I chose journalism as my subject when I went to university. I went to a newspaper report office and worked there for 6 months after graduation from university. I love the job, but I decided to live in another city. So I left there and worked as a sales representative for 5 years. When I started to think about migration, I wanted to do this job again. That's why I joined the communication and media course.