Article by Cameron Spink

Well the day finally came and passed and Prince William was married to Kate Middleton, or as they are called now, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For several hours we stayed glued to visions of grandeur and general awesomeness.

Such an outlook on marriage is, unfortunately, not actually what is in store for William and Kate (or indeed anyone who marries). I am getting married at the start of next year and there is so much planning and preparation that goes into the big day. In western society we make a big to-do about the wedding day. I recall the commentators saying several times last night “everything has gone to plan” (even if it was merely the guests arriving).

It would be in our interests, however, to temper our hopes and expectations. Not because they cannot be realised but because, as the Minister always says “marriage is about the hard times”. I would imagine that even our royal couple will experience marriage difficulties.

A disturbing example of marriage difficulties is the marriage of Horatio Spafford to Anna Larson. They married 1861 and I can assure you that they were not the centrepiece of Friday-night entertainment. Once married they were faced with terrible circumstances. In 1871 Horatio lost nearly all of his worldly possessions to a fire. Then, only two years later, they lost their four daughters in a freak shipping accident.

Now assuredly William and Kate will not face torment this extreme. This does not mean, however, that the lessons learned by Horatio in his troubles and not transferrable to ourselves. Horatio Spafford is not remembered for the troubles that befell him but for his attitude of surrender to God’s will. It was this attitude that brought him to write the well-known hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”.

While weddings are joyous things, marriages are hard work. Yet God, in His infinite wisdom, recognised a great need for man not to be alone. He also wrote, directed and played out the greatest love story in the history of human kind. It is through His sacrifice and by his example we can say that through whatever we face, married or not, “it is well with my soul”!

An article arguing the advantages of spanking your children has appeared on Online Opinion. Here is an excerpt:

So, pro-spanking parents aren’t Nazis?
Ben-Peter Terpstra, 13th April 2011

"Here’s some honesty for you: “Children are selfish, self-centred, egotistical little monsters. They are also, and often at the same time, gorgeous, loving, wonderful creatures,” writes Irish columnist, Sinead Ryan.

Nor is corporal punishment evil, or ineffective, she concludes. “Finally, it is its very rarity that makes it work. It shocks a child (and indeed, many a parent), and that is the point.”

Of the don’t-smack-your-darling camp Ryan states: “Smacking has been hijacked by the PC-parenting brigade, who probably frown upon the naughty step, too. They are very possibly the same parents who regularly get notes home from teacher about bad behaviour, but who cannot mete out effective punishment. Hint: that's what they want you to do.”...

You see, it’s too easy to sniff at pro-smacking parents, in their working-class suburbs with no time for “I feel…” sentences. It’s too easy to pontificate about the alleged benefits of talk-therapy when you have one child, and a nanny.  It’s too easy to lecture working-class families.

The raw truth: Pro-spanking/smacking parents aren’t Nazis, and campaigning elites feel threatened by parents making politically-incorrect choices, with better results. So, how about we put the establishment’s professional do-gooders on trial?...."

Click here to read the full article.

Go to our forum to discuss whether you believe spanking is an appropriate form of parenting.

It didn't take long for the first fine to be dished out by French Police for a women wearing a burqa in public.

French police issue first fine for Islamic veil ban
Herald Sun, 13th April 2011

"French police have fined a woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil in the first reported enforcement of a ban on the garment on the day it came into effect.

The woman, born in 1983, was fined 150 euros ($A206) "without incident" at a shopping centre in Mureaux, northwest of Paris, early on Monday evening, a police source said without elaborating on exactly what she was wearing.

On Tuesday, officers in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis said they asked a woman to remove her veil and when she refused they took her to a nearby police station.

There she removed the niqab and was released after being given a written reminder that full-face veils were no longer permitted in public.

France on Monday became the first country in Europe to apply a ban on the wearing of full-face coverings, including the Islamic niqab...."

Click here to read the full article.

The debate regarding whether the burqa should be banned has reached our shores with conservative state MPs Fred Nile and Cory Bernardi calling for this Islamic veil to be banned in Australia. Do you believe that any face coverings should be banned? What are some prime considerations in this debate? Have your say on our forum.

A teacher who taught his class of adult students how to use the f-word may be compensated after he was fired for the incident.

Fired 'F-word' teacher may be compensated
Ninemsn, 13th April 2011

" A teacher who was fired after presenting a lesson on the word 'f---' to adult students may be compensated after his termination was ruled illegal by Fair Work Australia.

British teacher Luke Webster was dismissed from Mercury Colleges in November 2009 after he gave adult students who were trying to learn English a worksheet that contained the expletive in every sentence.

He was asking students to discuss the use of the word, its different meanings and whether it was being used as a verb or a noun, The Australian reports.

Andrew Waters, the college's then director of studies, said Mr Webster's actions were "highly offensive" and were not acceptable in "any workplace in Australia".

After he was fired, Mr Webster's sponsorship visa became invalid and he was forced to return home to the UK.....

The tribunal's senior deputy president, Lea Drake, found Mr Webster's use of the swear word during the lesson was a valid reason to be sacked but it was unfair he was not given the chance to respond to Mr Waters' conclusion that he had behaved inappropriately. ..."

Click here to read the full article.

Do you believe he should be compensated? Was he fired fairly? Have your say on our forum.

In devastating news a gunman has walked into his former school and opened fire killing ten students. In a swift rampage Wellington Menezes de Oliveira has given ten children no future and many families a great deal of hurt.

Students killed in school shooting rampage in Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Herald Sun, 8th April 2011

"A heavily armed man has entered his former Rio school and opened fire, killing 10 children and wounding 18 people before taking his own life, officials say in a tragedy that has shaken Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro state's health department chief, Sergio Cortes, presented the new toll for the attack on Thursday, revising it downward from 13 dead and 22 wounded announced earlier by fire officials in the chaotic few hours after the attack.

Authorities identified the shooter as 24-year-old Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, a former student at the public school.

Police said he left a letter saying he wanted to commit suicide, but they also said he appeared to have prepared for a major deadly assault, bringing into the school two revolvers and loads of ammunition just as students and staff were arriving at the morning bell.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she was "shocked and disturbed" by the shooting.

"Innocent children lost their lives and their future," she said in a brief television appearance...."

Click here to read more from the Herald Sun.

Article by Cameron Spink

There is nothing more heartwrenching than the story of Ziv Magen’s last couple of weeks. As a husband he had to stand by his wife, Maiko’s, side as she succumbed to lymphoma cancer and was placed under heavy sedation and she would finally die last night. As a father he now faces the daunting task of looking after their one-year old child while dealing with the inevitable depression that comes when you lose your closest friend.