"I am entitled to the best."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
No Freedom in Federal Politics
It seems very odd and even selfish for a leader to prevent a conscience vote just to get his own way. This is the only conclusion that can be reached when Tony Abbott, an ardent Catholic, will not give members of the Liberal Party freedom to vote as they like on same-sex marriages. It is common knowledge that the majority of the Coalition would vote to support it if freedom was given. Julia Gillard was just as bad when she was Prime Minister and would not allow the Labor party a conscience vote.
Australia is too conservative for the rest of the world on same-sex marriage. We have been left behind. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is one of the "dictators". He says, there is "no room for a personal view". These fossils are living in 18th century mode. The whole world is going down the road of more freedom.
This issue will not go away. Private members' bills will continually be resubmitted, until rationality ultimately wins. Tanya Plibersek could ask Liberal Malcolm Turnbull to co-sponsor her proposal.
In a democracy as Australia claims to be, there is no democracy within political parties whose members are put there by the people. Politicians know if the issue was put to a referendum same-sex marriage would be passed. Though it is a peculiarity of Australians that they usually vote "No" to any referendum, this case is different. It is also time again for a referendum to make the Northern Territory a state, so the High Court would find it more difficult to overrule its laws.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
Court Decisions are Ridiculous
It seems that you can get away with anything if you put up an absurd defense. A woman was charged for driving her car without lights while the car had a flat tyre. The woman's defence was that she had taken the sleeping drug Stilnox earlier and she couldn't remember driving. Being interviewed by police was also lost to her memory.
Remember the weird claims made when Prozac was first brought onto the market? You don't hear anything bad about Prozac today. The same thing will happen for Stilnox. If the drug is so dangerous it would not have been allowed onto the market at all. It is just convenient to have something to blame for strange behavior.
The Court found in favor of the woman. It must be said when reviewing court decisions that the government puts weird people in charge of courts. Magistrates and judges continue to give lenient sentences despite pleadings by police and the public. They are certainly a law unto themselves. Indeed, many judges believe that they are above the law. They see the separation of powers as an avenue to become dictators which gives them the right to make absurd decisions. They recently found a fellow judge not guilty of sexual assault!
Remember the weird claims made when Prozac was first brought onto the market? You don't hear anything bad about Prozac today. The same thing will happen for Stilnox. If the drug is so dangerous it would not have been allowed onto the market at all. It is just convenient to have something to blame for strange behavior.
The Court found in favor of the woman. It must be said when reviewing court decisions that the government puts weird people in charge of courts. Magistrates and judges continue to give lenient sentences despite pleadings by police and the public. They are certainly a law unto themselves. Indeed, many judges believe that they are above the law. They see the separation of powers as an avenue to become dictators which gives them the right to make absurd decisions. They recently found a fellow judge not guilty of sexual assault!
Law by Ty Buchanan
Kiwi Came from Australia
Three years ago a fossil was found at st Bathams in New Zealand. The record books now have to be rewritten. It seems the fossil is an ancestor of the Kiwi and it indicates that it was related to the Australian emu. This undermines the premise that the kiwi is a solely New Zealand bird. After all it is the national symbol.
You see, the emu relative could fly and it flew to New Zealand. It was a tiny bird compared to the kiwi. The enormous egg that kiwis lay evolved. It was not "handed-down" by the giant Moa. Eggs began to get larger in birds during the Miocene.
The theory that the kiwi originated in Australia was commonly held before this fossil find. It was believed to have got to New Zealand when the country was joined to Australia on Gondwanaland, but his view has been put to rest.
Most New Zealand birds got bigger over time. This was not unusual. The kiwi evolved from the earlier tiny ancestor. Discovery of this 20 million year old fossil was pure luck. It is the oldest fossil ever found in New Zealand.
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
Supermarket Bags Pollute the Ocean
Whether you use an "environmentally friendly" shopping bag or a standard one you are damaging the environment. They both take time to break down. Furthermore, the so called "safe" bags cause pollution during manufacture.
Australia's oceanic waters carry countless pieces of plastic bags, Marine creatures eat this debris and die. When plastic breaks down in sea water it becomes very tiny and is virtually invisible. These pieces gather up pollutants and become mobile destructors. The tinier the particles the more absorbent it becomes.
Researchers scooped up surface water from the ocean in coastal water all the way from Perth to Fiji and New Zealand. By observing the area of the net covered in plastic fragments they were able to codify amounts across a vast area. The average number of microplastic fragments was 4,000 per square kilometers. It went as high as 23,000 in some places. This was near highly populated cities.
Most of the items people use are made of plastic. Supermarket bags are the most prominent, followed by drink bottles. Plastic cups and discarded packaging.
Ocean currents also move the plastic into low populated sectors of the ocean. They build up "floating dustbin" regions that become permanent. Marine life is seriously affected. This will ultimately become a major problem for Mankind just as serious as climate change
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
Natural Gas Must Not Be Used as a Substitute for Clean Power Generation
It is proposed that natural gas be used instead of coal for electric power generation. The national climate summit put a deadline of 2012 for this to happen with the dirtiest power station, Hazlewood. Environment Victoria took up the challenge saying that natural gas with renewable energy resources could reduce Hazlewood's pollution by 14.4 million tonnes to just 1.8. Wind generation would gradually replace natural gas.
The claim is exceedingly optimistic. Too much faith is placed in wind generation despite the fact that electricity production by this means has peaked in northern Europe and it still does not make a profit. Beyond Zero Emissions is even more optimistic. Its plan aims to end Hazlewood's use of coal by 2013. Failure to reduce emissions means it could be closed.
The future looks good for natural gas production with gas being obtained from coal seams and 20 gas power plants being planned. Natural gas is not really clean though. Indeed, leakage of methane gas occurs. Replacing coal power generation with gas as a temporary measure is a mistake. What is the point of wasting millions of dollars in investment on the premise that something better will come along?
The best way to go in the short term is to build solar thermal power sites alongside existing coal power stations. Note that solar thermal only produces electricity during the day. A final solution will undoubtedly be tidal generation because the moon continues to circle the earth making oceans rise and fall day after day.
The claim is exceedingly optimistic. Too much faith is placed in wind generation despite the fact that electricity production by this means has peaked in northern Europe and it still does not make a profit. Beyond Zero Emissions is even more optimistic. Its plan aims to end Hazlewood's use of coal by 2013. Failure to reduce emissions means it could be closed.
The future looks good for natural gas production with gas being obtained from coal seams and 20 gas power plants being planned. Natural gas is not really clean though. Indeed, leakage of methane gas occurs. Replacing coal power generation with gas as a temporary measure is a mistake. What is the point of wasting millions of dollars in investment on the premise that something better will come along?
The best way to go in the short term is to build solar thermal power sites alongside existing coal power stations. Note that solar thermal only produces electricity during the day. A final solution will undoubtedly be tidal generation because the moon continues to circle the earth making oceans rise and fall day after day.
Environment by Ty Buchanan
Society by Ty Buchanan
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