Malcolm Fraser Has Died

Today is a sad day for Australia. A past prime minister Malcolm Fraser has died aged 84. He was the last of the true Liberal prime ministers. He resigned from the Liberal Party five years ago because, he said, there were no true liberals in positions of authority in the party today. It is now a conservative party and there is no place for himself in it.
Malcolm Fraser dies
Malcolm in 1982
He has condemned the current government's policy of "turn the boats back" as racist.  All his life he was a strong supporter of multiculturalism in Australia.  He said look around you and people from all cultures live here.  This cannot be changed.  The policy of closing the door to true refugees is an anachronism.

Even John Howard was center right. He was never a liberal. When the Coalition gets into government it does the same thing every time - take from the poor and give to the rich, a conservative right wing policy. That is the reason for current problems in Government. The budgets are just too far to the right for senators to pass.

Malcolm Fraser did mend his falling out with Gough Whitlam over the "Dismissal". This is something that Prime Minister Tony Abbott will never do with his critics in the Labor Party and independents in the Senate. A video of Tony Abbott in the House of Representatives shows him shouldering aside Bill Shorten leader of the Australian Labor Party.

Tony Abbott is hanging onto power by being selfish, not stepping down when he knows the great majority of Australians hate him. Malcolm Turnbull seems to be a true liberal waiting in the wings. Tony Abbott's reign will be just a hiccup, a glitch, in history, a time of failures. No doubt the policy on boats will change with future governments.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
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Not See Cat

Cannot see me cat
"You can't see me."
 
 ✴ Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan 
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New Magic Fat Pill

A revolutionary diet pill has been developed by US and Chinese scientists. However, there is no hope for men - it only works on women. The critical ingredient in the pill comes from the South American primula tree. It works very will indeed on mice. Let us hope trials on humans are just as successful.
Skinny woman table of food
Apparently, women will be able to eat with impunity and the calories will still be burnt off. Side effects are not known at present. Some promising products in the past had issues.   Chronic diarrhoea was the major problem .

The primula molecule mimics the effects of exercise which produces BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Some diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntingdon’s could also probably be treated with the new molecule as BDNF is low in sufferers.

Though the pill works effectively on females, for males it is toxic. Male mice got even fatter and became diabetic. If the new molecule is used to treat diseases in men, maybe they will have to put up with weight gain. Women will be laughing all the way to dinner plates. Just what the world needs - fat men and matchstick thin women.
Health by Ty Buchanan
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Hope for Ebola Vaccine

Ebola is still a world crisis. Though the overall rate of infected people has slowed, some pockets in Africa have increased infections. It could still spread to Europe, Asia and the US.  If it does spread this wide, control will be virtually impossible.
Some form of effective treatment has to be found - fast. The blood of survivors has been seen has the most probable source of a vaccine. However, any form of treatment should be examined for its usefulness.

In Australia a vaccine tested on monkeys holds out great hope. The Kunjin treatment has been created from engineering the Ebola virus protein. Monkeys were given the vaccine and they showed significant protection from the disease. Seventy five per cent of the monkeys kept their resistance.

Much research was based on tests on rodents. Success on them did not mean that vaccines would work on humans, so tests on primates is beginning. Scientists must get a move on to create a successful vaccine. Ninety per cent of infected people die.
Health by Ty Buchanan
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Dancing Mice

Dancing mice

"Those dance lessons did come handy."
 
 ✴ Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan 
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Dancing Mice

Dancing mice


"Those dance lessons did come handy."
 
 ✴ Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan 
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Ultrasound to Treat Alzheimer's Disease

A great deal of research is going on into solving the problem of Alzheimer's disease. It is a major issue with the number of elderly people increasing in most countries. Though young people can suffer from the illness it is perceived as a disease of the aged.
Ultrasound to treat Alzheimers disease
While most work has been done on the chemical and molecular structure of the brain, it seems that a simple treatment has been there all along. The University of Queensland has stumbled onto ultrasound as an effective treatment. First successful on mice, it is now being rolled out for humans.

Waves of ultrasound break up neurotoxic amyloid plaque. The cause of the illness is still there, but the damage done is reversed. Some old memories could still be lost. However, new ones will be kept. This will reduce the need for resources in caring for the elderly who will able to function on their own.

In tests, mice were capable of solving problems that had beaten them before. Decision making is the most important function of the human brain apart from those keeping a person alive. Long term memories are not so critical: though ideally, one would not want to loose these.

It is debated whether the use of ultrasound would improve executive functions of healthy brains. Other diseases also damage the brain and detection of them is difficult. In the future we could all be getting regular ultrasound.
✴ /Health by Ty Buchanan
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Dog Cat

"I am not a dog!"
 
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Foot in Your Mouth Prime Minister

Our beloved Australian prime minister has put his foot in his mouth yet again. I don't believe that I have experienced such a pig headed, mislead person who has gained the highest position in the land before.
Tony Abbot with foot in mouth.
He has weighed into the debate of Western Australia's intention to close down remote Aboriginal communities, despite the first Australians being born and bred there. It is a case of whites controlling the lives of black people because Caucasians dominate power and authority in Australia.

Western Australian governments of both persuasions have a history of being bigoted toward Aboriginals. There have been cases in the past of whites buying votes at state and federal elections by giving Aboriginals alcohol. This is despicable behavior.

Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister, has said that aboriginals should be forcibly moved to cities because they are a drain on the welfare system. He believes that they will fill job vacancies that do not exist in built-up regions.

Apparently, living where you are born is a life-choice. What nonsense! Where are Aboriginals going to get the large amount of money required to make such a major move to cities? And without immediate employment, welfare will still have to be paid. It is impossible to pay high city rents on unemployment benefits.

It should be noted that many white Australians choose to live in remote places so they can more easily get long-term welfare benefits. Indeed, they choose to get in the "tiny" and go fishing every day.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
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Accident Cat

Accident Cat

"I'll just try this - what, wut, but, but, but, but!"
 
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Something New - An Australian Moth

Yes, we have something new for you! Aenigmatinea glatzella is a new moth that is very primitive indeed - a living dinosaur in fact. It is in a new family of its own. With its feathered wingtips and specs of purple and gold it is certainly unique.
Aenigmatinea glatzella enigma moth
A new primitive moth in over forty years, it is something to get excited about. This new moth was found on Kangaroo Island, a place that people regularly visit, yet it remained unknown until now. Be sure though that many more will be found by motivated naturalists.

The moth's ancestry goes back to Gondwanaland. It is extremely short-lived: leaving the cocoon, mating and dying in a day. This is why it was not observed by previous researchers.  It is only a centimeter long.

DNA analysis shows that moths and butterflies have a complex evolution. Enigma moth has no tongue. Moths and butterflies developed tongues later, probably more than once independently. More moths will be found because it is believed that over 10,000 moths and butterflies are not yet named.
Evolution by Ty Buchanan
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Cat Owns Slippers

"What do you mean they're yours?"
 
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New Glasses "Cure" Color Blindness

It is not known how many levels of vision there are: There could be billions. Every human being and animal for that matter sees the world differentially. It was believed that all people are the same. We are not. Shades of color can be divided into finer and finer degrees. At one end are the color blind. At the other are probably the most skilled painters.
Glasses cure color blindness
As we age, like taste our vision of the world fades. It is so gradual: we do not notice that the number of colors we see has diminished. Special glasses have been made to change shades of color into fine levels of black. gray and white. This works well in that color blind people have  got through the "Ishihara" detection test for this malady.

It may be possible to improve perception of gray spectrum shades. Perhaps even detection of colors can be increased. This is for the future though. For now the new spectacles have had a great impact. Adult men have been brought to tears when the glasses are first put on.

Color blindness is the most common congenital malady in humans. It is partially gender specific. Most sufferers are men. Color is not totally absent for these people. They can see specific colors when they are bright. It is like being able to play music "by ear". The shades disappear when there are lower faint realms.

There is no doubt that some color people are not good motor vehicle drivers. Reading road signs is a problem. Even seeing brake lights becoming brighter when a vehicle in front brakes is difficult. At the moment there is discrimination against elderly drivers. There are calls for them to take tests every year. No doubt if this does happen then there will be calls for the color blind to be similarly tested. This will be unfortunate.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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Fox Photographer

Fox photographer
"Hold      i i i i t t tt!
 
 ✴ Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan 
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The Young Need to Change Their Attitude to the Elderly

There is a lot of talk about the percentage of elderly people in the population increasing as time goes on. It seems rational to suggest that they should stay in the workforce. Unless there is legislation to force young Australians out of the "desk" jobs and into manual labor, this will not happen.
Elderly working
As one gets older the body lets you down. You no longer have the stamina to keep going, on a production line for example. Persistent pain that you have to live with is also a problem. Chronic illness can only be treated, not cured. Where do you draw the line between keeping someone at work who is clearly sick or sending them home? When an elderly person says, "I can't do that anymore", maybe they can't.

If you are young good health is taken for granted. You heal quickly and continue to enjoy life. For many, to be old is to be sick. Medical specialists do refuse treatment to the elderly because it is seen as a waste of money, notwithstanding the fact that a new knee or hip would make life less painful.

The whole structure of society will have to change to keep the elderly employed. Young people have the feeling that a "mature" person should work as hard as an employee in their twenties. A significant proportion of the young believe that the assets of the elderly should be taken by the government and spent on them, even though retirees worked hard in their younger days to buy homes.

We will need a Star Trek world where people choose to work not for financial gain but to benefit others. Such a world is too utopian to be believed. It is not the elderly who need to change, it is the young. Respect and consideration of the elderly is not something the young understand.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
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