Jamming Prisoners' Mobile Phones Is a Waste of Time

Australia is testing technology that is intended to stop prisoners from using mobile phones to communicate with the outside world. Prisoners deserve to be locked up safely away from the community but don't they have some rights? This is like throwing then into the "cooler" and separating them from other people for days on end.

Relatives are not prevented from visiting them. It just seems that blocking communication is extreme. This is an added punishment like introducing legislation retrospectively. When people committed crimes that led to incarceration they had no idea that they would be cut off from the outside world in such a draconian way.

It is known that some criminals use mobile phones to continue crime on the outside. But is this grounds enough to stop communication for everyone in prison? Clearing prisons of mobile phones is an ongoing problems with hundreds of them being confiscated each year. When jamming is used it stops emergency calls getting through. And ordinary citizens in the community close to a prison will be blocked as well.

It seems to be a "knee-jerk" reaction to solve a perceived problem. Many government sponsored initiatives appear to be silly "after the fact". This is another one that fits into this category.
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Law by Ty Buchanan
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Bear Has No Pride

 "Pride - what's that?"
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Coal and Oil Production Brings Radioactive Sludge to the Surface

It seems it is not only nuclear power that pollutes the earth with radioactive substances. For centuries coal and oil production has brought thousands of tons of polluted material from beneath the planet to the surface. Further processing concentrates it even more.  Apparently the sludge is left lying around and is not isolated from the population. For every barrel of oil pumped up into storage, ten barrels of polluted water is dragged up as well. Uranium and radium occur naturally below ground. In the US plastic pipes used in the production process were given to kindergartens to make playground equipment.

The coal and oil industry has known for many years about the problem but has kept very quiet about it. While nuclear power stations are closely monitored, limits are set high for coal and oil which allows producers to pollute at will. Tests for radioactivity on dumps of sludge give readings 700 times higher than clean areas.

With new housing estates being built on top of discarded polluted sludge it is only a matter of time before a disaster takes place. When the general population finds out the truth about this there will be street protests across the globe.
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Environment by Ty Buchanan
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Australia Is Moving Toward a Cashless Society

Whether we like it or not, Australia is moving toward a cashless society.  People do not like to carry cash. While the older generation draws money from ATMs and banks to go shopping, young people prefer to carry just a credit card. Most debit cards are held by the aged who do not like to go into credit card debt.

In Australia 86 per cent of transactions are made with a card. This puts Australia 6th in the world in the cashless country list. Developing nations still use cash for about half of all payments.

Using cards for payments is safer than cash. If felons know a person is carrying cash they could be theft targets. There is another side to a fully cashless society: the taxman will be able to trace all transactions, business and private, if suitable laws are passed to gain access to bank data. At present only the police can view data on a person's financial affairs if they are investigating a crime. This will probably be extended over coming decades to social security and the tax department to make sure people are not "ripping off" the taxpayer. Tax avoidance will be a thing of the past.
Whether we like it or not, many people do not carry cash. While the older generation draws money from ATMs and banks to go shopping, young people prefer to carry just a credit card. Most debit cards are held by the aged who do not like to go into credit card debt.

In Australia 86 per cent of transactions are made with a card. This puts Australia 6th in the world in the cashless country list. Developing nations still use cash for about half of all payments.

Using cards for payments is safer than cash. If felons know a person is carrying cash they could be theft targets. There is another side to a fully cashless society: the taxman will be able to trace all transactions, business and private, if suitable laws are passed to gain access to bank data. At present only the police can view data on a person's financial affairs if they are investigating a crime. This will probably be extended over coming decades to social security and the tax department to make sure people are not "ripping off" the taxpayer. Tax avoidance will be a thing of the past.


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Society by Ty Buchanan
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Halt Cat

 "Whoops!  That was a bad stop."
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Yoga Dog

 "Why cant I do yoga?"
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Pensioners Will Be Denied Income

Pensioners have gray hair. They are also entering a gray area, politically, socially and economically. Most people reaching pension age have never paid superannuation and others have only been paying it for a few years of their working lives. The amount saved by super is certainly not enough to live on. This group relies on the government to provide them with an income.

Calls are coming from all sides for an increase in the pension to a "livable" level. Basic costs like council rates, rents, electricity, gas, water and sewerage have gone through the roof in the last decade. There is no solid reason why this should be so. Electricity companies keep saying the old infrastructure has to be renewed. Surveys show they have actually over-spent, pushing the cost onto consumers.

Giving those who could afford solar power a massive discount for feeding electricity back into the grid is appalling political decision making. Pensioners could not afford solar. They are subsidizing the wealthy.

We are entering a tough period for older Australians. As time passes retiring workers will have full superannuation cover. What happens about those already on the government pension? When Paul Keating introduced compulsory superannuation it was with the intention of phasing out state funded pensions. Both sides of politics are pushing toward this. They are not planning to increase the pension by the needed $4,000 a year.
In the past the wandering tramp was common and this wasn't only during the depression. Nearly all of these were elderly. They could not afford to put a roof over their heads. Within a decade, such a social class will return. This time though they will join the homeless young who exist on unemployment benefit that it much lower than the pension.
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Society by Ty Buchanan
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Normal Cat

 "How am I sitting on this chair?  That is a secret."
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Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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Being Overweight Causes Osteoporosis

Being overweight leads to heart disease but it can also cause osteoporosis. This is due to people cutting out vital elements in the diet in their attempts to lose weight. Dairy products are essential for strong bones. Yet milk, butter and cheese are precisely what it being disregarded in diet by 30 per cent of women. Another danger is the consumption of bread. An astounding 40 per cent of women have stopped eating this food that is calcium fortified.  It must be remembered though that bread has only been part of the human diet for 10,000 years.  It could be the cause of many humans "diseases".

Research has shown that the real cause of weight gain is carbohydrates. Yes, it's as simple as that. People who only cut out sugar lose weight very quickly and maintain a low body weight thereafter. People concentrate on eating low fat diets even though research shows this to be the wrong thing to do. Look at movies made up to WWII. Actors and actresses and especially the extras were all quite skinny then. In those days most Western nations had not developed the high sugar habit. And most workers then went to work on a large fatty fried breakfast.

Danger in the future will not be with low fat diets. Young people today just refuse to eat vegetables. Cabbage and broccoli are high in iron. Young people steer well clear of these. Hope lies with the intake of fish. The young do like fish. Note the dash for seafood at Christmas. Fish contains calcium and minerals. Processed food is high in sugar. Government needs to have a policy aimed at lowering sugar intake in our diets.
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Conservation by Ty Buchanan
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