Choosey Cat

"Is this all they have?"
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Dutch Prisoners to Pay a Fee

The welfare state is failing. Too any people rely on taxpayers money to live without contributing anything themselves. Basically, governments do not have the income from taxes to pay for it.

Old age pensions are going with people being forced to pay into their own superannuation. In Europe, particularly, countries like Britain cannot afford welfare benefits for people who have moved there from other European nations.

In the Netherlands prisoners will soon have to pay for their incarceration. The controversial bill will soon go through parliament. If you break the law it is your fault. There will be a charge for imprisonment and another fee for the police investigation.

Leaving things as they are will result in 19 prisons having to close with the release of thousands of prisoners. If you cannot pay the fees while you are in prison you will have to pay it when you have moved back into society.
Society by Ty Buchanan
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Society by Ty Buchanan
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Rabbit Cat

 
 "I had dreamed of becoming a rabbit."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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European Skull Found In New Zealand Dating before British Arrival

Captain Cook discovered Australia in 1770. If you believe this you are living in dreamland. The Portuguese took Malacca, a small Malaysian state, in 1511. Spain controlled part of the Philippines from 1521. Indonesia "welcomed" the Netherlands from 1596 and the Southeast Asian country was later ruled by the Dutch from 1825. France sent emissaries to Siam in 1600.

The question is did any of the sailors from these countries land in Australia before the British arrived in Singapore in 1819: note Britain had been around in India since 1612. It is obvious that Dutch sailors landed on the north coast of Australia because Indonesia is just next door. Why didn't they claim it? Why didn't Portugal claim it? The Portuguese colonized East Timor from 1613 and that is even closer. The truth is they didn't want it because they couldn't find any advanced societies there. No trade was on offer. In those days trade was everything. There was no welfare state in those days. You had to earn or starve. Seeing a few Aboriginals along the beaches and cliffs, they took on water and left.

What is surprising it that no real evidence of Europeans being in the Antipodes has been found - until now. The skull of a European woman has been found in Wellington, New Zealand. Carbon dating shows she was alive there in 1742. Dating is now very accurate.

So Europeans had visited New Zealand before Captain Cook "discovered" it in 1769. It was claimed for Britain in 1839, first being ruled from New South Wales. Then the whole country was claimed by Britain in 1840.

Getting back to the skull. When first found police thought they had a murder on their hands when they saw puncture wounds. The woman must have arrived there by "independent' means, probably by a European ship sailing at the captain's whim. Abel Tasman saw the shore of New Zealand in 1642 but had no women aboard his ship. Why did it take Europeans another century to search for the great southern land again?  There is another issue: evidence of a pre-Maori red haired white race living in New Zealand.
Evolution by Ty Buchanan
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Bad Joke Dog

"What a bad joke - messed up my day!"
 Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Fracking and Conservation Do Not Mix

There is always conflict between industry and the natural ecosystem. With the arrival of extraction and even mass agriculture comes pollution detrimental to the flora and fauna. This is no different in Aboriginal regions as in urbanized cities.

Dean Mathews is a Yawuru Aboriginal and Project Officer for the Nyamba Buru Yawuru Aboriginal Corporation. He monitors the impact on groundwater by agriculture and mining. He has made a video. It is significant that the location he tested did not have any visible industry there, so it would be expected that the water was still pure. Test the water adjacent to mining activity and the results would be quite different.

Much has been made of Aboriginal cooperation with industry - too much for my liking. One has the feeling that local Aboriginal have been duped. The mining industry employs people whose sole motivation is to change public opinion to accept the "job-creating" mining companies. The problem is of course that few Aboriginal are qualified to get these jobs.

In my opinion this is just a public relations exercise. As modern agriculture and mining becomes widespread pollution will occur. The states have allowed fracking for natural gas to take place anywhere. The effects of this is disastrous with farmers showing that gas which seeps up after fracking can be ignited with a lighter.

Aboriginals should try as best they can to have their native regions isolated completely from industry. They got the vote and ownership of their land. Now, they have to go one step further and fight for the right to keep minerals where they belong: in the ground.
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
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Cat Turn Over

 
"You have to turn it over."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Crowd Wave Observed in Prairie Dogs

The crowd wave at sporting events in not an entirely human thing. Prairie dogs do the "jump-yip". This keeps others involved and tells an individual how alert others are. It begins like the human wave. One or two will start doing it and at first it is ignored. Then it takes on a mind of its own and soon all are doing it.

The wave is just as noisy as the human wave with loud yips coming from everywhere. Prairie dogs use their whole body to make the sound. They raise there front legs then lower them with a "wee-oo" call in sequence. Like humans prairie dogs live in towns.

It was believed to be a warning call of the presence of predators, but prairie dogs continue the wave whether a predator is there or not. It is a social activity to test the alertness of others. If fellow animals do not respond a prairie dogs will not forage very much. On the other hand, if everyone is at it, they assume they can eat in safety. Somehow they are making a judgement about the prevailing danger.

In humans, the wave is usually done when the local team is doing well. Boredom about the state of play can trigger it as well. When the visiting team is doing well there is less motivation to do it - unless it is done in jest. It serves a social function in both species.
Nature by Ty Buchanan
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Dog House

 
"This is a great home."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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New Prehistoric Crocodiles Found

A new type of crocodile now extinct has been found in northern Africa. It had three sets of fangs like wild boar tusks for killing other animals. Another kind of crocodile was found nearby. This one used a flat, wide snout to catch fish. A third species of crocodile also located close by was only three feet long. This had "buckteeth" for eating plants. It was a rich find with two other known kinds of crocodile being dug up there.

The National Geographic Society sponsored the successful project. The new crocodiles show that the region had unique animals 100 million years ago. much different than in surrounding regions. These reptiles could run along at quite a fast pace then dive into the water and swim off. Unlike modern crocodiles which have legs on the side of their bodies these had longer legs set underneath. Luckily there were no people around for them to chase and eat.

The three new species are as follows:

1) BoarCroc (Kaprosuchus saharicus) 20 feet in length with three pairs of fangs sticking out of the side of their mouths like a warthog.

2) PancakeCroc (Laganosuchus thaumastos) again 20 feet long with shorter legs, laid in wait for fish grasping them with spiked teeth set in flat wide jaws in a head 3 feet long.

3) RatCroc (Araripesuchus rattoides) 3 feet from nose to tail, had buckteeth and dug for plants and grubs.
Evolution by Ty Buchanan
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