Latest news with #UnderPressure
New York Post
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
No one escapes scrutiny on the New York sports scene, especially these franchise linchpins
'Well, here you are, in the ninth, two men out and three men on. Nowhere to look, but inside, where we all respond to PRESSURE.' Now, I would have preferred to use lyrics from the better and more meaningful song — 'Under Pressure' by Queen and David Bowie — but the sports metaphor in Billy Joel's 1980s hit 'Pressure' was a better fit to get us into the following exercise for today's newsletter. Wednesday was that rare day on the yearly sports calendar with no games scheduled in MLB, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL. (Yes, there was a full slate in both MLS and the WNBA, so no angry emails, please!) But we decided to use the inactivity to break down those local sports figures facing the most pressure for the remainder of 2025, beginning with the second half of the baseball season for the Yankees and the Mets:
The Age
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Ultimate nostalgia trip: Debauched European tours for the middle-aged
Vanilla Ice is still touring. Let that sink in. The ultimate cringeworthy one-hit wonder, the guy who rhymed 'rock a mic like a vandal' with 'wax a chump like a candle' while also ripping off Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure, is still being paid to perform live. That's not such an anomaly, either, because there are plenty of artists and bands who enjoyed a brief rush of fame in the '90s or 2000s still touring the world, still playing to adoring audiences of parents who have left their kids with a babysitter for the evening. The Waifs are playing wineries. The Offspring are doing arena tours. Salt-N-Pepa are on the festival circuit. Hanson are still a going concern. Frenzal Rhomb are coming to an RSL near you. (No shade, I love Frenzal Rhomb.) I saw '90s skate-punk band Pennywise play recently, and a friend pointed out that everyone who raised their phone in the air to take a video had a photo of their kids as their wallpaper. All of this points to a peculiarity among Gen X and Millennials. There's a hunger among this ageing cohort for throwback experiences, for blasts from an increasingly distant past. We're still cool, right? We still do all the same things? That's why we can go to Ministry of Sound gigs that begin at 4pm. We can still play Mario Kart on a new Nintendo. We still consider Back to the Future a good movie. So … how about we all go on Contiki again? Hear me out here because this might just be the ultimate revival experience. Gen X-ers and Millennials love reliving moments from their past, so how about an ultra-budget three-week jaunt around Europe to really tap that nostalgia vein?
Sydney Morning Herald
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ultimate nostalgia trip: Debauched European tours for the middle-aged
Vanilla Ice is still touring. Let that sink in. The ultimate cringeworthy one-hit wonder, the guy who rhymed 'rock a mic like a vandal' with 'wax a chump like a candle' while also ripping off Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure, is still being paid to perform live. That's not such an anomaly, either, because there are plenty of artists and bands who enjoyed a brief rush of fame in the '90s or 2000s still touring the world, still playing to adoring audiences of parents who have left their kids with a babysitter for the evening. The Waifs are playing wineries. The Offspring are doing arena tours. Salt-N-Pepa are on the festival circuit. Hanson are still a going concern. Frenzal Rhomb are coming to an RSL near you. (No shade, I love Frenzal Rhomb.) I saw '90s skate-punk band Pennywise play recently, and a friend pointed out that everyone who raised their phone in the air to take a video had a photo of their kids as their wallpaper. All of this points to a peculiarity among Gen X and Millennials. There's a hunger among this ageing cohort for throwback experiences, for blasts from an increasingly distant past. We're still cool, right? We still do all the same things? That's why we can go to Ministry of Sound gigs that begin at 4pm. We can still play Mario Kart on a new Nintendo. We still consider Back to the Future a good movie. So … how about we all go on Contiki again? Hear me out here because this might just be the ultimate revival experience. Gen X-ers and Millennials love reliving moments from their past, so how about an ultra-budget three-week jaunt around Europe to really tap that nostalgia vein?
Scotsman
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Why we need to make fathers visible
A protest was held this week at the Scottish Parliament. Picture: Andrew Carr | Andrew Carr This would be a good time for policy makers revisit and renew a coherent parenting strategy Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There was an amiable gathering of fathers and mothers, and babies in slings and buggies outside the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, protesting the poor provision of paternity leave in the UK. The Singing Mamas sang 'Under Pressure' and a parental leave version of 'Bella Ciao'. Paternity leave was introduced by Labour in 2003. In cash, it amounts to less than half the minimum wage. In duration, a basic two weeks. Hundreds of employers, of course, add their own more generous schemes on top of the statutory obligation. I discovered on Wednesday, that the Scottish Parliament is not among them. The campaign for fathers to spend more time with their partner and new child is like being in favour of virtue. Who can disagree? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The narrow focus on paternity leave, however, could be the key that opens up a much-needed wider debate on the visibility and positive resource of fathers that has been dormant during a period of significant demographic change. I look back to 2012 and the launch of the Scottish Government's National Parenting Strategy. The Minister for Children and Young People, Aileen Campbell, gave a passionate speech. She said, 'Valuing parents is one of the single biggest ways of giving the nation's children the best start in life.' It was part of the ambition for 'Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow up.' There were 14 pages of 'commitments'. One page was specifically about fathers under the strapline 'Parents facing additional challenges'. Funding was put in place 'for organisations such as Men in Childcare, working to redress the existing gender imbalance and the need for more men in early years settings.' The redoubtable Kenny Spence who has been driving the cause of men in childcare, reports the funding raised the number of men in the early years workforce from 2% to 4%. Is 4% in early years, or 9% of male staff in Primary Schools, enough? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Families Need Fathers Scotland – that's us. We changed our name to Shared Parenting Scotland in 2020 to reflect the evolution of our client base as we took more calls from mothers, grandmothers and new partners. We were funded to 'provide support to fathers and other family members facing contact problems with their children.' Much of our casework reveals the kaleidoscope of embedded barriers and disincentives to sharing parenting after divorce or separation. There was a commitment to a 'twice-yearly fathers round table meeting acting in an advisory capacity on national policy and how it impacts fathers.' The Fathers Advisory Board was very useful but just faded away about 2018. There have been Third Sector bright spots. The birth of Dads Rock which now reaches across Scotland was based on the building the role and recognition of fathers in parenting from ante-natal classes onwards. Fathers Network Scotland came up with the Year of the Dad in 2015, which had buy-in from all sectors. Its annual Dads Survey is now becoming a valuable longitudinal study of both the time fathers are spending with their children, as well as the pressures they experience when balancing parenting with work – feeling guilty at both. This would be a good time for policy makers at local and central government level to revisit and renew that 2012 commitment to a coherent parenting strategy.
West Australian
14-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Editorial: Cook and Saffioti ‘under pressure' as they prepare to deliver Labor's first post-election Budget
There's no way of knowing what might be running through the minds of Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti as they walk into Parliament House to deliver Labor's first post-election Budget on Thursday. If the people of Western Australia had any say in the matter, they might suggest the pair be humming the impossibly catchy melody to David Bowie and Queen's 1981 hit, Under Pressure. Because the pressure is certainly on for the re-elected Cook Government to deliver on a number of fronts — cost of living, health and housing, chief among them. Having been handed a landslide victory by WA voters, the Government must now offer real world solutions to the State's many problems. They've certainly got the means with an iron ore royalty windfall jacking the State's surplus to around $3.5 billion, $300 million higher than expected. Soaring gold prices have also helped boost the balance. But now is not the time to be frivolous, with many critics already pointing to Saffioti's $217 million Burswood Park racetrack as evidence Labor has its priorities wrong. Because while the Government may be cashed up, voters are not. And things are set to get worst with many WA households factoring in a 50 per cent hike in their annual electricity spend following speculation that Labor will dump its $400 power bill credits, which have been handed out for the past three years. It is expected to result in a $600 increase in annual electricity bills for the average household from next month. It would be very bad optics indeed if the Government opted to ditch the credits at a time when voters are still struggling with high cost of living, astronomical rent and mortgage pressures. Cook and Saffioti are no doubt well aware that there will be intense blowback if they do not offer some kind of fiscal solution to help fix WA's broken health system. Health Minister Meredith Hammat, in particular, will be hoping Saffioti has an ace up her sleeve when it comes to doing something about WA's seemingly ever-increasing hospital ramping figures. Housing is another major thorn in the Cook Government's side. WA currently holds the title of Australia's rough sleeping capital — a badge of shame given our State is the economic powerhouse of the nation. Experts also warn that without a major injection of funds, WA's housing crisis will likely hinder opportunities for economic growth and diversification into the future. The lack of adequate inner-city housing options could mean the skilled migrants that are expected to flood our shores as part of the predicted IT boom will simply bypass Perth in favour of other more affordable and better-equipped capitals. The Government holds all the cards, and the strings to a burgeoning purse. It's time to reward the confidence WA voters have placed in them by prioritising the needs of the community. To quote that earlier 80s hit, this may not be Labor's 'last dance' but it is certainly a government under pressure.
