"Where's me Harley?"
Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan
Smart Aircraft Navigation Reaches Brisbane Airport
Technological advancement is moving on apace as Gold Coast Airport in Queensland adopts a new satellite-based aircraft navigation system. It was announced by Warren Truss deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure and regional development, though nothing was said about funding.
Smart Tracking navigation improves position accuracy of aircraft. The government jumped on the introduction to say it was part of its goal to improve services in the flight industry, an unannounced objective until now.
Airservices Australia managed the set up of Smart Tracking at Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne and Cairns airports. The improvement has been going on since 2012 by Airservices and has now reached Brisbane. This will meet requirement for projected growth in demand. Let us hope growth actually occurs. At the moment Qantas is not doing very well.
The new system will enable flight controllers to keep aircraft flying over water longer instead of creating noise pollution in built-up areas. To put it bluntly, not all advancement proves useful. Keeping aircraft in the air for an extended time could create organizational problems. It could lead to more accidents.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
Kentucky Fried Chicken Gets Smaller
A few months ago something else happened. The action was a bit underhanded and unannounced. The cups that the mashed potato and coleslaw come in are now a bit smaller. This is a major downsizing. In other words it is a price rise done in disregard for the intelligence of customers. We are not stupid Mr KFC.
The takeaway market place treats customers as cash cows. Australians are used to being told lies. McDonalds has the audacity to call its hamburger a Big Mac when the roll is not even an average size roll. It is a mini-roll by anyone's standards.
Hungry Jack's (Burger King in the U.S.) offers small size meals at a cut price. However, since this began the price of standard size meals has increased steadily. It is an ongoing price rise. The normal size meals used to be a little more than $6.00: now they are close to $10.00. Recently the small meals went up by $0.50.
We all know that take away chains make most of their profit from the sale of soft drink. Some food lines run at a loss, but this is the reality of the market place. There is competition out there. The least we can expect is that they are honest with customers. Unfortunately they are not.
Society by Ty Buchanan
Political Correctness is One-Sided
Being politically correct is the right things to do always - wrong! When it forces people to scrap their plans and conform to another's point of view it is absurd. Women have got more rights than men today. Men are kicked from pillar to post.
Those in control of all types of organizations believe that women should be pandered to all the time. This is getting ridiculous. The University of Sydney Union was planning to stop a society that meets the needs of men from operating. The body's aim is to help men with mental issues cope with life. Obviously, these males do not want women around. Females have no place in such a body.
Women get their university child care and "womanly" things like that. Why shouldn't men have the same rights. The rights of males is denied. What place do women have in a "Men's shed"? The society advised that it copied the concept of a place for men from a similar body set up in 2007.
Oddly, many members of the board refused the application not due to women: they pointed out that it damaged the caused of the queer members of society. Yes, they were referred to as "queer". Transgender would have been a more seemly thing to say. A female member of the board interjected with don't forget women!
How could the new society be "breaking down gender roles?" If anything it was upholding them. It should be noted that some of those involved in the decision were not happy about the view put forward. They saw it as a step backward, not forward. Some said the society could operate if it let women in. This would run roughshod over what the society stood for - a place for men. Thankfully, a one vote majority allowed the body to run as it stood.
Science by Ty Buchanan
Private Health Insurance Fiasco in Australia
The government intends to ruin Australia's private medical insurance system. With privatization Medibank Private Health Insurance will become like all the other funds. The Commonwealth bank was once owned by the government It is now just another bank.
At the moment Medibank has two "branches". One (Medicare) refunds part of the fee charged by specialists, blood tests and various bills from hospitals. The other is a private health insurance fund. There is a problem here, however. Medibank and Medibank Private are both registered names held by the federal government. How can a public company and a private company use the same business name?
One of these will have to change its name. People are being offered shares in Medibank Private. How long can this be allowed to continue? Isn't it illegal? Future shareholders must be told what will be done about this. A change in name will have a disastrous affect on the value of shares.
There is no doubt that Medibank Private is subsidized by government. Share values will fall as it becomes just another private fund. Surely investors can see this - maybe they are too thick to understand. Medicare, Medibank: what's the difference?
Health by Ty Buchanan
Banded Stilts Water Bird Always Finds the Water
As soon as inland rain arrives at Australian lakes, the banded stilt water bird makes its presence felt as well. It somehow knows that the rains have started from several hundred miles away. This useful ability determines their way of life.
They don't hang about long. Rainfall will be limited so they move on to the next fresh rains spot. Birds were tagged with satellite transmitters. One bird flew directly to a saline wetland 1,000 miles away in two days. Another bird got there four days later, but the destination for both was the same.
Banded stilts do not have to migrate for improved feeding conditions. Their inbuilt system allows them to always find water. Why don't other birds do this? Obviously, evolution is "hit-and-miss". Animals develop abilities purely by chance. This is why evolution is successful. Animals move into niches that line up with their attributes.
Science by Ty Buchanan
Beached Beaked Whale in Australia
Many animals have not been seen for a long time. Indeed, it is not known whether they have become extinct. Some, of course, live in places not usually visited by humans. Recently a beaked whale was washed up on a beach Australia. It is rare and lives deep in the sea.
The actual species cannot be verified by manual examination of the body, Part of the body will be sent to the Australian Science Museum in Sydney for DNA tests and X-ray scans to determine the correct species.
Not much is known about beaked whales because they live so far down in the sea. Only stranded and beached specimens have been found. They do come to the surface to breath but do not linger there for very long.
Many scientists have never seen a live beaked whale. A beaching of this kind is very rare indeed. Parts of the body will be thoroughly examined to shed more light on how the mammal lives. We will never know everything about fellow animals. The more we know the better.
Science by Ty Buchanan
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