"Go on. Take me out to Big Maccers."
Weird Findings About IVF Babies
There has been a weird finding in research done on IVF children - they are taller than average. Work done in New Zealand has found that by six years of age children conceived by IVF are taller. This occurred when fresh embryos were used, but not with frozen embryos. The higher quality of fresh embryos was the apparent reason for this.
No benefits nor disadvantages were seen in children born using frozen embryos than children conceived normally. The real issue is - Are fresh embryos really of higher quality? Donors giving frozen embryos are just as selective.
About one in thirty children are now conceived with IVF. It is girls who are notably taller. Another "weird" outcome is that mainly boys will be conceived if the embryos are left out in a dish for five days before implantation into the uterus.
No benefits nor disadvantages were seen in children born using frozen embryos than children conceived normally. The real issue is - Are fresh embryos really of higher quality? Donors giving frozen embryos are just as selective.
About one in thirty children are now conceived with IVF. It is girls who are notably taller. Another "weird" outcome is that mainly boys will be conceived if the embryos are left out in a dish for five days before implantation into the uterus.
Danger From HIgh Salt Intake Is Overstated
Salt will kill you. That it is the idea we are all expected to accept, but there is no real proof that this is the case. No research has indicated that a high salt diet increases blood pressure. Indeed, a century ago Africans would travel a thousand miles to get it. Salt is essential for life.
Consumption 50 percent higher than the recommended level is nothing to worry about, considering it is only a "guesstimate" anyway. High blood pressure has increased in the community despite salt intake remaining about the same per person for 40 years.
Like a tax on fast food will not stop people from buying take away, so campaigns to reduce salt intake will not make people consume less. If manufacturers of processed food take salt out of their products consumers will not buy their products. Salt definitely improves flavor.
Consumption 50 percent higher than the recommended level is nothing to worry about, considering it is only a "guesstimate" anyway. High blood pressure has increased in the community despite salt intake remaining about the same per person for 40 years.
Like a tax on fast food will not stop people from buying take away, so campaigns to reduce salt intake will not make people consume less. If manufacturers of processed food take salt out of their products consumers will not buy their products. Salt definitely improves flavor.
Memorization Is Still Useful at University
It has been said that memorizing answers is not good preparation for university. This is based on the premise that much tertiary work is research and evaluation. But what about exams? Semester examinations can contribute from 10 to 50 per cent of a subject, depending on who creates the "set up" of a course.
Lecturers set exams based upon their own knowledge. They can't help themselves. It is like an artist who paints a crowd. On close perusal of the picture you can see many instances of little artists everywhere. In other words painters tend to create images of themselves. University lecturers test students on their own knowledge - they have their own pet areas.
Students can benefit from this. They can take a recording device into lectures. Indeed, many institutions record lectures for students who miss them for unforeseen reasons. It is possible to buy devices that play back speech very fast. They have a tone control to normalize the pitch. Students can play lectures over and over again at their leisure to memorize lecturers' favorite areas of knowledge. You can virtually guarantee this will be tested for in exams.
Just about every subject has a political dimension - economics, political science, sociology, anthropology and historiography. Determine where on the political spectrum a lecturer is positioned. Write assignments that support their view. Then you will get good marks.
Lecturers set exams based upon their own knowledge. They can't help themselves. It is like an artist who paints a crowd. On close perusal of the picture you can see many instances of little artists everywhere. In other words painters tend to create images of themselves. University lecturers test students on their own knowledge - they have their own pet areas.
Students can benefit from this. They can take a recording device into lectures. Indeed, many institutions record lectures for students who miss them for unforeseen reasons. It is possible to buy devices that play back speech very fast. They have a tone control to normalize the pitch. Students can play lectures over and over again at their leisure to memorize lecturers' favorite areas of knowledge. You can virtually guarantee this will be tested for in exams.
Just about every subject has a political dimension - economics, political science, sociology, anthropology and historiography. Determine where on the political spectrum a lecturer is positioned. Write assignments that support their view. Then you will get good marks.
Extinct Animals Are Still With Us
Animals are going extinct, though some are still turning up. This is true. In the past 100 years many species have been declared extinct. Oddly, a third of these have been found still living. Many have not been seen for a very long time. This is the reason for them still being around.
The okapi a zebra-like animal was recently re-found in the Congo. In Cuba the solenodon "rat" was seen jumping around. Another find was the Indonesian Talaud Flying Fox. In Australia the rock rat was identified. And the Christmas Island shrew came to light.
This is embarrassing for the conservationists about to meet in Japan at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity. It appears that emotion has won out over rationality. It is too easy to make predictions about what will happen in the future. With climate change, little real knowledge is available to researchers. Perhaps now more cautious steps will be taken.
The okapi a zebra-like animal was recently re-found in the Congo. In Cuba the solenodon "rat" was seen jumping around. Another find was the Indonesian Talaud Flying Fox. In Australia the rock rat was identified. And the Christmas Island shrew came to light.
This is embarrassing for the conservationists about to meet in Japan at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity. It appears that emotion has won out over rationality. It is too easy to make predictions about what will happen in the future. With climate change, little real knowledge is available to researchers. Perhaps now more cautious steps will be taken.
Strange Animals Live in Australia
If you want to see weird animals go visit Australia. Most animals are spread throughout the world but Australian marsupials stay strictly at home on this "lost continent". Two hundred kinds of marsupials live only in Australia the kangaroo being the most commonly known.
When the platypus was first taken to England scientists of the day said it was a hoax, a made up animal. The koala seemed to be a cuddly bear. Unfortunately wild koalas can be very nasty and do not take kindly to being picked up. So aligned to its environment, the Tasmanian Tiger soon became extinct with the arrival of Europeans.
Besides marsupials, other creatures make life difficult for people living on this continent. Red back and funnel web spiders are dangerous. The box jellyfish also causes much pain to humans. Small animals have died from their sting. Don't let the presence of these put you off from visit this great country. Oh, I nearly forgot, the crocodile lives up north.
When the platypus was first taken to England scientists of the day said it was a hoax, a made up animal. The koala seemed to be a cuddly bear. Unfortunately wild koalas can be very nasty and do not take kindly to being picked up. So aligned to its environment, the Tasmanian Tiger soon became extinct with the arrival of Europeans.
Besides marsupials, other creatures make life difficult for people living on this continent. Red back and funnel web spiders are dangerous. The box jellyfish also causes much pain to humans. Small animals have died from their sting. Don't let the presence of these put you off from visit this great country. Oh, I nearly forgot, the crocodile lives up north.
Can City Sanitary Systems Stand Up to Fat People?
The fattest people in the world are Americans closely followed by Australians. This is not true. Bahrain has the fattest women. Even in that country fat people are looked down upon. They have a high risk of getting many life-threatening diseases. I don't want to be rude but women in Islamic states do tend to be on the large side. Perhaps this is due to the men not wanting them to be attractive to other men. Maybe Australian wives are fat because their husbands take the same view.
New research has shown that fat people have lower activity in frontal lobes. This increases risk-taking behavior. Gambling apparently has a cause. Mass produced foods are causing behavioral change in societies. As developing countries adopt Western dietary habits their societies change as well. Preservatives and colorings are the main factors. High carbohydrate and protein diets are also detrimental. Gone are the days when women foraged for wild vegetables and berries while their men brought home meat once a week. Eating too much food definitely contributes to diabetes. This disease is rising as people eat, eat and eat.
A human being should only eat one meal a day. Many have four meals a day and eat between meals. Treat-taking is becoming the norm. When people do the weekly shopping they fill the trolleys with soft drinks, chips, chocolates and lollies. Rich, sweet deserts are popular. Your body can do without them. It is not a question of whether the health systems can stand up to this onslaught. In the long run city sanitary systems may not cope.
New research has shown that fat people have lower activity in frontal lobes. This increases risk-taking behavior. Gambling apparently has a cause. Mass produced foods are causing behavioral change in societies. As developing countries adopt Western dietary habits their societies change as well. Preservatives and colorings are the main factors. High carbohydrate and protein diets are also detrimental. Gone are the days when women foraged for wild vegetables and berries while their men brought home meat once a week. Eating too much food definitely contributes to diabetes. This disease is rising as people eat, eat and eat.
A human being should only eat one meal a day. Many have four meals a day and eat between meals. Treat-taking is becoming the norm. When people do the weekly shopping they fill the trolleys with soft drinks, chips, chocolates and lollies. Rich, sweet deserts are popular. Your body can do without them. It is not a question of whether the health systems can stand up to this onslaught. In the long run city sanitary systems may not cope.
The NBN Will Remain an Issue into the Next Election
The NBN will live on. Despite the Coalition winning government with the ex-National Party Independents support, the National Broadband Network will remain with Labor at the next election. Indeed, they will win and put Australia on a path to a better future. There is no way the Australian people will accept "the private sector will provide" because it certainly won't. Telstra is only interested in market share. Hope lies in Telstra investing heavily and freezing out small telcos. This is its long term plan. Faster broadband is needed now, however, for medicine, education and scientific endeavours.
As a voter said in Bob Katter's electorate, God help Bob if he supports a Labor government. He will try to keep broadband. Tony Abbot will refuse and Bob will give in to his own deep conservative emotions. Like the Green who has already said he will support Labor. Eighty percent of Green voters used to vote for Labor. Even Bob Brown the Green leader openly prefers Labor over the Coalition. He has already warned that not much will get through the upper house.
The Coalition has not faced a hostile Senate before. It will be tough going for Tony Abbot. He is not a man for compromise. He has his own opinions and he wants his own way. The maternity leave issue is a case in point. Hardly any Coalition members want this. They don't want a heavier burden placed on business. The mining tax is not over yet either. It will be almost impossible for any government to balance the books without savage cuts much like the cuts in the UK. Like the problem government in the UK which will see the Liberal Democrats blamed for "sleeping with the enemy" and slaughtered at the next election, so the Independents here who go in with either party will face termination at the future poll in Australia.
As a voter said in Bob Katter's electorate, God help Bob if he supports a Labor government. He will try to keep broadband. Tony Abbot will refuse and Bob will give in to his own deep conservative emotions. Like the Green who has already said he will support Labor. Eighty percent of Green voters used to vote for Labor. Even Bob Brown the Green leader openly prefers Labor over the Coalition. He has already warned that not much will get through the upper house.
The Coalition has not faced a hostile Senate before. It will be tough going for Tony Abbot. He is not a man for compromise. He has his own opinions and he wants his own way. The maternity leave issue is a case in point. Hardly any Coalition members want this. They don't want a heavier burden placed on business. The mining tax is not over yet either. It will be almost impossible for any government to balance the books without savage cuts much like the cuts in the UK. Like the problem government in the UK which will see the Liberal Democrats blamed for "sleeping with the enemy" and slaughtered at the next election, so the Independents here who go in with either party will face termination at the future poll in Australia.
Australia's Voting System is Quite Straightforward
Voting informal just because you don't understand the Australian voting system is not a smart thing to do. Admittedly, the way Australians elect representatives is a bit odd, but other countries have idiosyncratic election methods as well. The US collegial way is considered far too complicated to explain to an outsider. Though quite simple, the British process of first past the post tends to favor a choice between two parties. It was unusual for the third party, the Liberal Democrats, to win so many seats as in the last election.
The Australian voting system is not that complicated. In Britain votes going to a third party are lost, totally. Just remember that in Australia a vote to a weaker party is counted as a full vote to the first or second party leading in the count. It doesn't matter where you put the major parties in your numbered list on the voting paper. What does count is which of these parties appears higher in your list. The party highest, i.e., closer to number "1", in your list is allocated your vote. That about sums it up.
Voting for the Senate is ordinary proportional voting with an Australian twist. The number of Senate seats is six for each state and two per territory. For a double dissolution 12 seats in each state are up for grabs plus two for each territory. If candidates were elected by voters selecting only one prospective Senator the result would be much the same as Australia's proportional system.
The voting paper has a horizontal line drawn across it. To vote below the line, number all of the squares next to candidates, "1", "2", "3"... and so on until you reach the total number of candidates - choosing the most favored candidate as "1" then allocating accordingly. Voting above the line is known as a "ticket vote". If you put number "1" in one of the squares in the top section your votes are "preallocated" by the party you chose as "1", as if you filled out all squares below the line.
All the number "1" votes are counted by party. In each state, if a party has 14.3% of number "1" votes (a quota) the party has a Senator elected. Two Senators get up when more than 28.6% "formal" votes are gained. A ridiculous complex mathematical formula is used to determine the remaining one or two of the six Senate seats not achieving a quota in each state. Basically, selection is worked out based on highest preference by the numbers on the ballot papers.
Considering ticket votes comprised nearly 95% of all Senate votes in the 2001 election it is time for a review of the system. As noted, the way selection is carried out is ridiculous.
As long as you remember the forgoing explanation voting is quite straightforward.
The Australian voting system is not that complicated. In Britain votes going to a third party are lost, totally. Just remember that in Australia a vote to a weaker party is counted as a full vote to the first or second party leading in the count. It doesn't matter where you put the major parties in your numbered list on the voting paper. What does count is which of these parties appears higher in your list. The party highest, i.e., closer to number "1", in your list is allocated your vote. That about sums it up.
Voting for the Senate is ordinary proportional voting with an Australian twist. The number of Senate seats is six for each state and two per territory. For a double dissolution 12 seats in each state are up for grabs plus two for each territory. If candidates were elected by voters selecting only one prospective Senator the result would be much the same as Australia's proportional system.
The voting paper has a horizontal line drawn across it. To vote below the line, number all of the squares next to candidates, "1", "2", "3"... and so on until you reach the total number of candidates - choosing the most favored candidate as "1" then allocating accordingly. Voting above the line is known as a "ticket vote". If you put number "1" in one of the squares in the top section your votes are "preallocated" by the party you chose as "1", as if you filled out all squares below the line.
All the number "1" votes are counted by party. In each state, if a party has 14.3% of number "1" votes (a quota) the party has a Senator elected. Two Senators get up when more than 28.6% "formal" votes are gained. A ridiculous complex mathematical formula is used to determine the remaining one or two of the six Senate seats not achieving a quota in each state. Basically, selection is worked out based on highest preference by the numbers on the ballot papers.
Considering ticket votes comprised nearly 95% of all Senate votes in the 2001 election it is time for a review of the system. As noted, the way selection is carried out is ridiculous.
As long as you remember the forgoing explanation voting is quite straightforward.
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