Sideswipe

Pretty useless frying pan. No wonder it's under $10.

Childcare workers in Australia have been told to avoid using the words "good boy" and "good girl" as they are considered sexist. The controversial rules are part of the nationally-accredited TAFE Certificate III in Children's Services. A Gold Coast childcare worker, who did not want to be named, said staff were told to be more general and say "good work" or "congratulations" when a child has done well to avoid discriminating between sexes. Also on the PC chopping block are the words "no" and "don't". Instead of saying "don't run", they would say "remember, walking inside". So, to give another example, instead of "stop whacking Tommy over the head with that block", it's preferable to say "remember, blocks are for building".

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Likely a boy: A 6-year-old child, who kicked up a fuss on board an Air Canada flight on the weekend as the jet sat on the runway, was escorted off the plane. The child was travelling alone and became uncontrollable once the plane began to move and passengers were told to fasten their safety belts. A decision was made to return the child to his family, who were still in the airport.

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A Scottish football fan has vowed to eat only food in his club's colours for the whole season. Celtic supporter Scott Campbell, 20, has taken up a challenge from his housemates to eat only green or white foods for the whole of the 2006/07 season. Since the last week of July, the Edinburgh University student has lived on a diet consisting mainly of salad, vegetables and white meat like chicken and fish and is confident he will make it through to the end of next May. There are no reports of a matching stunt from fans of Celtic's arch rivals Rangers - possibly because they play in blue.

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Celia Lipton-Farris, a World War II-era entertainer worth US$350 million ($540 million) who lives in Florida, which was devastated by hurricane Rita last year, is the subject of a report in the Washington Post gossip column: "Celia was traumatised last year when her Palm Beach mansion was flooded by Hurricane Rita and the damage cost her over $1 million to repair. But it wasn't the money that flipped Farris out - it was being trapped in the house for several days by the rising waters, and she vowed never to be at nature's mercy again. Farris has removed her vintage Cadillac from the garage and replaced it with a 20-foot boat with a 50-horsepower engine."

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The finalists in October's New Zealand Music Awards were announced on Wednesday, and three early technical winners were revealed too. Mayor Dick Hubbard opened proceedings with this profound statement: "Music is the breakfast cereal of the soul."

When jack of a few trades Chris Knox accepted his award for best album cover, for the Bleeders' Sweet as Sin album, he queried whether his trophy was a bottle opener perhaps. His speech was short and sweet: "I've got nothing left to say, but do you need any cereal packets designed?" he asked the mayor. Bic Runga won best producer for her album Birds but she wasn't at the ceremony, so cheeky Michael Bradshaw, the head of Sony/BMG, accepted it for her: "Bic would have loved to have been here but she's in a writing workshop with Frankie Stevens."