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By Honey Gillard

SEXY ‘Sin City’ star Jessica Alba has come out this month stating to GQ magazine that the brain is better than the brawn.

Alba, who is currently dating movie producer Cash Warren, is adamant in reporting that the first thing she looks for in a guy is brains not good looks. The star-spangled star revealed:  “I don’t really have a type as such. Intelligence,
kindness, a sense of humour - that’s kind of it for me.”

Alba met current squeeze Cash whilst filming ‘Fantastic Four’, on which he worked as a director’s assistant, and by the looks it he has made friends with her dad. The ‘Fantastic Four’ star said any probable suitors must be able to “hang out with her dad” or bye-bye.

Source: Hollywood rag

By Honey Gillard

The 1^st of June 2007 marked more than just the beginning of a winter month for Indigenous Australians; it was a day of tribute to the Aboriginal war veterans, who had previously received nothing but discrimination and prejudice.

The rare wreath-laying memorial ceremony to honour Aboriginal war veterans was held in Sydney earlier this month, reviving tragic memories of how poorly the men were treated on their return to the country and the people that they fought for. But despite the sudden uproar of memories it was not a day of gloom and sadness, but rather a day of pride, remembrance and love.

The ceremony saw Aboriginal children and ex-servicemen and women lay wreaths at the city’s War Memorial.

New South Wales Education Minister, John Della Bosca, was quoted saying: “Thousands of indigenous soldiers fought side by side with white Australians on battlegrounds across the world, and this ceremony … gives us the opportunity to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gavin Jennings said that the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum on indigenous Australians highlighted the fact that decades earlier many Aborigines fought for a nation that did not recognise them.

“It is extraordinary to think that indigenous men and women went to war for a country that at the time did not accord them the rights and opportunities that come with citizenship” he said.

It is believed that 500 Aborigines fought in World War I - an ample number, when you take in that the indigenous Australian population was a mere 80,000, and it wasn’t until 1917 that ‘half-castes’ were permitted to enlist. Between 3000 and 4000 Indigenous Australians served in World War II. A further 3000 served in support roles for the war effort.

One family in particular , the Lovett family, share an honourable story of courage and the endless discrimination from their past. Five Lovett brothers went to World War I and five signed up for World War II. All in all, 20 members of the Lovett family have served Australia in war and peacekeeping, from the Western Front to East Timor.

The most extraordinary thing about the Lovett family’s record of service, however, is that four of the five brothers who went to World War I also enlisted for World War II.

But when Aboriginal veterans returned to their homes, they found that both their social and political circumstances had been left untouched. They still were not allowed to vote, buy property or marry non-Aborigines. The men were restrained to reservations and church missions. As if this uncalled for denunciation was not enough the men were cast off from many veterans’ clubs, and after all the struggle that the men must already have to encounter from the physical and psychological effects that the war was having on them, they couldn’t even just go down to the pub for a drink, as they were not allowed to have a drink at the pub.

Perhaps one of the saddest points to this chronicle is that while other returned Australians soldiers were handed blocks of land to settle on and welcomed back to the bosom of society, the Aborigines had their applications for land rejected - even for land, in which they once owned.

Herbert Lovett’s son, Johnnie Lovett spoke of the ignorance saying: “When he’d finished his service for this country, he was given nothing.”

Dispossession of the Indigenous Australians didn’t stop either. William Murray, a Gallipoli veteran, headed the butcher of up to 100 Aborigines in 1928, which has now become known as the Coniston massacre.

Just under 2 months ago, on Anzac Day, a troupe of indigenous soldiers held a march through the Sydney suburb of Redfern, eschewing traditional Anzac Day services, where the sacrifices that were made by their community were completely disregarded, like they didn’t deserve some honour from their country that they put their life on the line for. This ignorance ultimately made this noble ceremony more important and significant within our community. Hopefully this will become an annual and uncontroversial tradition for our nation.

By Honey Gillard 

A recent Northern Territory report has found that Aboriginal children as young as three are falling victim to extensive sex abuse highly fuelled by “rivers of grog”, pornography and a lack of education.

The report visited remote Northern Territory communities and found that child abuse was apparent in all 45.  

Co-chair Pat Anderson, who released the grim report last Friday, claimed that children were being exposed to pornography at a young age and then later mimicking the actions with one another. 

The children were also reportedly abused by both indigenous and non-indigenous adults. 

Ms Anderson blamed a lack of education and rampant alcoholism as the chief causes of the alarming problem. 

She said: “A river of grog is running through and destroying remote communities. There is a strong association between alcohol abuse, violence and the sexual abuse of children.”  

Anderson added to the report saying: “Children as young as three have been exposed to pornographic material and videos in their homes.” 

“This has been seen by community and social workers who observed the children imitating sexual behaviour with each other.” 

The inquiry’s 316-page report into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse made 97 recommendations, including improving procedures for reporting and monitoring offenders, addressing pervasive poverty and alcoholism and tightening ropes on pornography laws.

 Co-chairman Rex Wild, QC, remained adamant as he warned of a “disaster” looming over indigenous communities if the government didn’t get their act together soon and stop playing politics and work together to implement a long-term strategy to manage this crisis. 

“Unless action is taken we are utterly convinced a disaster is looming,” Mr Wild said. 

One of the cases referred to in the report is an account of local police officers turning a blind eye to a “rampant informal sex trade” between young Aboriginal girls and non-Aboriginal mine workers. 

Girls, aged between the tender ages of 12 and 15, were purportedly provided with alcohol and cash, as well as other goods as a trade for sex with local mine workers.                       

Police revealed to the inquiry that they were alert of the ongoing sex trade but claimed that there was little in which they could do due to a “culture of silence”. 

Another case, which is currently facing the courts, involves a non-Aboriginal health worker who is assumed to have exchanged goods, drugs and attention to a number of local children for sex. When questioned about the man one 15-year–old described him as her “boyfriend”. 

Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin spoke of the distressing events claiming that not enough had been done to stop the suffering of children. 

“This is a landmark report that will sadly expose the great pain and unhappiness of many people,” she said. “It is clear that not enough has been done to tackle the abuse of Aboriginal children.” 

“I commit the government to implement the key action areas of this report and get on with the job of tackling this deeply disturbing issue.” 

The inquest was set up by the Northern Territory government last June, after the surfacing of seversal widespread reports of child sexual abuse in remote areas of central Australia. 

Sources: theage.com.au   

         news.com.au

By Honey Gillard 

IT’S been 40 years now since the Australian Aboriginals were first recognized as official human beings – going from the ‘flora and fauna’ of Australia to it’s inhabitants – it’d seem to be a time for indigenous Australians to celebrate, but sadly for many who are still living an inequitable and deprived life this event is nothing to celebrate. 

In the 1967 referendum an astonishing 91% of white Australians voted in favour of the inclusion of indigenous people in the national census, after almost a decade of Aboriginal right campaigning. This resulted in colossal alteration to Australian society that provided hope to manys doorsteps of justice and equality for all the Aboriginies who had endured immense and injust segregation in many areas, including such necessities as housing and education. It’s sad to hear that such promises are yet to be kept. 

Activist Neville Perkins says that even after 40 years words have not been kept by the government and statistics are still grim – if not worse.

He says: “While there have been some improvements since the 1967 referendum, there is still room for more improvement in the living conditions of Aboriginal Australians and unfortunately under the Howard Government, Aboriginal affairs has gone backward.”

“We still have the poorest health rates in Australia.”

Indigenous Australians have a life expectancy 17 years shorter than non-Indigenous people – a deficit that Senator Andrew Bartlett claims must be top priority for all Australian governments.

Reconciliation Australia board member Fred Chaney says life expectancy is a chief evidence of the government’s failure.

“It overlays a whole lot of other social statistics, in education, in employment, health and so on all of which need attention, but life expectancy is a reminder that we’re doing worse than the United States, worse than Canada and worse than New Zealand,” says Chaney.

Prime Minster John Howard has admitted that many of the improvements in Aborigines’ lives that supporters of the ’67 referendum hoped and voted for have not transpired.

Howard stated that the rights which were fought for in 1967 were no rights at all if “accompanied by grinding poverty, overcrowding, poor health, violence and isolation from mainstream society”.

On his attendance at a Canberra function held to commemorate the 40^th Anniversary of the referendum the Prime Minister was greeted with a swarm of “boo”s echoing in his address. 

In spite of the reception of Howard’s hostile salutation, the Howard Government is reportedly now putting plans into place (and action this time) to finally deliver better services to those Aboriginal communities, existing on the outer reaches of society. 

Sources: abc.net.au

By Honey Gillard 

Recently jailed socialite Paris Hilton and her ‘Simple Life’ on-again-off-again BFF Nicole Ritchie share their ‘bazaar’ words with the one-and-only ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ magazine.    

We all know (especially after recent events) that Paris has a little, hold on, make that rather quite a bit of trouble with the law – with getting jailed and all. But what you may not have known is that Paris believes that she gets “in more trouble just because of who she is.”  Paris, 26,  says: “I think I get in more trouble just because of who I am. The cops do it all the time. They’ll just pull me over to hit on me. It’s really annoying. They’re like, ‘What’s your phone number? Want to go to dinner?’ They won’t even give me a ticket. They just pull me over, and the paparazzi, of course, take a picture. All the time. I have so many cops’ business cards.” 

Will Paris Hilton be the future Martha Stewart. Well, Paris reports: “Maybe when I’m old.”

On falling out with Nicole in 2004 the blonde bombshell revealed: “There was no reason why we were fighting; it was just silly. We believed what other people were saying. People are really twofaced in this town, and they were trying to play us against each other. It made me sadder than any break-up with a boyfriend. It was just like the worst feeling ever.”

Nicole on the other hand reveals her philosophy on her scrapes with the law, saying: “Every mistake I make, there’s consequences, I don’t take anything lightly.”

She continues clearly stating that she is “clearly not” above the law.

She says: “Well, clearly I’m not! Otherwise, it would be smooth sailing. I get caught for everything!”

So what does little miss. Ritchie have planned for her future?

Well the young socialite reveals to the magazine: “My plan was not to be a celebrity. My plan was to be a singer and an entertainer. I wanted to go to NYU, major in musical theatre, do Broadway, and come out with an album. Unfortunately, I started playing up when I was in my teens.”

As all girls have to inevitably deal with in some point of their life Nicole also has to deal with losing friends to gossip and realizing who her true friends are.

“This year, my biggest struggle has been realizing that some people close to me are not good for my life. I’m a girl and I love to gossip, but when I hear that people I consider friends are talking about me, it really hurts my feelings. It’s not, ‘Is Nicole okay?’ but more like, ‘I heard that Nicole blah-blah.”

Who loves rock ‘n’ roll? Nicole loves Rock ‘n’ roll.

“I like really pale, I like really skinny, I like people that kind of look homeless. Back in the day, it would have been David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix…”

The new ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ issue hits newsstands on May 22.

Source: Just Jared 

By Honey Gillard ‘

There’s Something About Mary? 

Well there’s something bout Cameron Diaz anyways.  

The 34-year-old beauty recently opened up to ‘OK! Magazine’. During the interview Cam talked her maternal instincts (though she doesn’t have any kids) and her love of kids. Below is a lil excerpt: 

On her maternal instincts: I think we all have that maternal ability. I’m a mother now; it’s a nurturing nature that we all have. I definitely don’t want to have children right now. This schedule is killing me. I mean, where am I going to fit a baby in between interviews? [laughs] 

When she becomes a mom, Cameron will treat her child like a ‘human being.’ I always say I’m terrible with kids, but I think I’m pretty good with [them]. I love kids. They’re great. I don’t treat kids like kids because I was never treated like a kid. I treat kids like human beings because that’s how I was treated. Some kids get it and some kids don’t. Well that’s a first – a quite wise first I might add. 

Source: Celebrity babies.com

Source: JustJAred

By Honey Gillard

‘Spider-Man’s Kirsten Dunst admittedly loves her music but vows that she will NEVER release a CD.

Despite the young actress singing in Spider-Man 3, as well as Marie Antoinette, The Cat’s Meow and Bring it on she swears that “never, ever, ever, no, no, no” will she follow the lead of such Hollywood actors as Russell Crowe, Toni Collette, Jared Leto – who all in my opinion are pretty spectacular - and countless other musical aspirees by creating a band and releasing a CD.

Dunst, who can actually sing well, says, “Definitely not. No way. It worked when Barbra Streisand was doing it, but now it’s a little cheesy, I think. It works better when singers are in movies.”

Despite her pledge and history as one of the few child actors to successfully translate her talents to adulthood, music looms large in Dunst’s life. She is now negotiating to play Deborah Harry in a coming biopic having been asked by the Blondie singer is a regular fixture at gigs in the US and was recently seen at the prestigious South By Southwest Music Festival.

“I am a big music person, yes,” she confirmed. “I think Arcade Fire is the best band of their generation.  

“Other than that I am a big Kate Bush fan and Joni Mitchell fan and Bruce Springsteen fan. Regina Spektor, I think she is great.”

Source: news.com.au

ASHLEE Simpson is May girl for ‘Harper’s Bazaar’!

By Honey Gillard

The singer/actress, whose third album is set to hit stores out this fall, finally comes out and address the plastic surgery rumours and criticism that she’s copping Jessica’s style, as well as bestows advice for troubled stars like Britney Spears.

Below are excerpts from the ‘Bazaar’ interview provided by ‘US magazine’:

Enjoy!

On growing up:
“I’ve definitely learned a lot and grown up a lot in the past few years. I’m at peace on the inside. I’m at a really good place.”

On her Saturday Night Live fiasco:
“I’m definitely okay with my awkward moments. I’m one of those people who gets knocked down, and it won’t stop me. You kind of learn to be a fighter…But, truly, in my heart, I don’t feel like I have anything to prove to anyone.”

On living in the public eye:
“I don’t get bothered by people saying what they say. I’m a happy person, and I’m happy with my looks. Everybody always has an opinion. One minute they’ll love you; one minute they’ll hate you. When you go home to sleep at night, [the important thing] is to feel good about yourself. And I do.”

On changing her look and her rumoured plastic surgery:
“I loved how I looked. I’m not an insecure person, nor was I before. It’s a personal choice. I believe if somebody chooses to do plastic surgery, it [should be] for yourself, not for anyone else.”

On her style:
“You know, I was never a dress person, but now, if I’m going to an event, I like to put one on. I have to feel comfortable no matter what. I love Alexander McQueen, and, oh, gosh, I love them all – Fendi, Chanel.”

On how her style differs from Jessica’s:
“We like some of the same designers, but we wear clothes differently. Oh, God, how do I say this? Jessica likes to be very put together, and I like something to always be a little off, whether my shoes don’t match or something like that.”

On criticism she’s trying to look more like Jessica:
“Of course I look like her. She’s my sister. It’s like, God, please! We think it’s quite funny.”

On criticism that her father, Joe, is an inappropriate stage dad:
“People have the wrong perception of him, because he is a wonderful man. He would never hurt a fly.”

On stars like Britney Spears who are publicly battling their demons:
“I think that they should probably move out of L.A. I think that their parents need to help them.”

On her rumoured hook-up with Ryan Phillippe:
“That was absolutely not true. I’m pretty sure I [went home] that night with my friend Nicole. I’m pretty sure we went to Taco Bell…Can I not even talk to a guy?”

On her life philosophy:
“I just want to have fun. Life is too short…through all my changes, I’m still the same person. I’m definitely still goofy. My heart has not changed.”

To read more from me, Honey, visit my blog – Honeyz Home Source : US magazine