"I have great powers."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
Earth's Oldest particle Found in Western Australia - a Zircon Crystal
Everyone knows that Australia is old. Just how old has been defined by science - A zircon crystal on a Western Australian sheep station is the oldest piece of planet Earth. It is 4.4 billion years old.
Tests were done to determine the crystal's age. The rate of decay of uranium against the constant lead showed how old it was. This was confirmed by atom-probe tomography where the mass of lead atoms is measured.
The zircon particle was created on the Earth's crust soon after the planet formed. And the Earth was not a violent place until much later. Water was already present and there is a high probability that life began at this time. The Hadean eon as this period is called in now a misnomer because it means Hadean the god of hell.
Proof of life is unlikely. Science is not advanced enough yet to fully examine this period. Very little can be identified as originating in this period of the Earth's development.
Science by Ty Buchanan
Pig Elvis
"I love Elvis, man."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
The 1967 Referendum to Give Aboriginals Equal Rights
I was in my twenties in 1967 when the referendum on giving Aboriginals the vote was held. Obviously, I must have voted, but I cannot remember anything at all about it nor the way I voted. Should I be ashamed about this? Well it seems many Australians do not remember a thing in regard to the referendum. It was nearly half a century ago.
Rarely does a yes vote to change the Constitution "get up". This to non-Australians means that few attempts to make a change have been successful. Of the 24 referendums held only four have got a majority yes vote. People from other countries would think it odd that an advanced country such as Australia had not given Aboriginals the vote decades before. However, think about the racial discrimination in the United States in the supposedly enlightened 1960s.
Other discrimination existed then. Young Australian men who were forcibly enlisted into the military to fight in the Vietnam War could not go into a pub and drink alcohol until they reached the age of 21. Most conscripts were in their teens. When they came home on leave they were condemned by society for fighting the wrong war, even though they did not want to fight at all.
Though the referendum was commonly assumed to be about giving Aboriginals the right to vote, they could already do this but seldom did. The referendum was to give Aboriginals all the rights that Caucasion Australians had. A yes vote gave them the pride and dignity of being accepted as "real" Australians. Before 1967 Aboriginals were a non-people. They had no real identity and were ignored by white society generally.
They got access to welfare and took it dismissively calling it "sit-down money". They began to openly express themselves for good or bad. Discrimination still exists against aboriginals today. The Northern Territory is controlled by the Federal government. Aboriginal men in the Northern Territory are forbidden to drink alcohol. Clearly, many white Australians still feels that Aboriginals are racially inferior and cannot handle alcohol. Go to a night club in the early hours of the morning and see the number of white Australians stunbling about completely out of their minds on alcohol.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
Be Consistent Mr Abbott
The age of entitlement is over for Australia - unless of course you vote for the Coalition. This is the the message of the A$324 million drought package comes across to Australians living in cities. The motor industry got not support, neither did SPC. Eighty per cent of Queensland is suffering drought. It is a serious crisis. However, a government must be seen to be consistent.
Taking the hammer to trade unions is to be expected from a conservative government. The Liberal-National Government is not in the center politically in Australia. It is definitely conservative: plainly an anachronism that we have to live with. The National Party would bring back tariffs if they had the power, but they will remain Liberal Party lap dogs forever.
Of course, other countries put up barriers against agricultural imports, so Australia should do the same. However, how can a government say one thing and act in a contrary manner. It cannot be taken seriously. A turn here, a flip there - What will we get next?
The government is putting disability pensioners on the dole while giving businessmen, namely farmers, unemployment benefits. This is very odd behavior. Put everyone on welfare and be done with it. If Tony Abbott follow the aggressive cuts carried out by the Queensland premier none of us will have jobs.
None are so blind as those who will not see. The "free" market will not provide the essentials that people require to live decent lives. They won't build roads, distribute water or provide adequate communication technology to everyone. Conservatives still believe that the market reigns supreme. It is their religion. Reality is that the free market is grossly distorted in the world, with monopolies and oligopolies running roughshod over smaller businesses.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
Kitten Flies
"If pigs can fly so can I."
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
Australia Annoys Microsoft
Microsoft is unhappy about a country that does not like government data stored overseas. It is jumping up and down about this policy in Australia. The question that must be asked is - Why is the big data giant so miffed about it? The loss in income for Microsoft cannot be that great. There must be another reason.
Like Google, is Microsoft collecting data to use for its own ends? It is so upset it refuses to launch the Office 365 service in Australia. Microsoft is aggressively lobbying the Coalition government to change the rules and open up the market. It must be after something more than profit.
Everything put into the cloud can be accessed by the cloud's owner. These services already hold data from many countries. If say a major government could get its hands on such data think of the power they would have. It seems only reasonable that countries should consider national security to be more important than reducing costs.
Internet by Ty Buchanan
Being Overweight Makes You Shorter
Young women are becoming shorter. This not just from the weight pulling one down and stooping, i.e., bending over at the shoulder. It is because girls have a poor diet and are overweight. They do not grow to their full potential height.
Women in the 18 to 24 are 1.1cm shorter on average than their mothers. Oddly, young men have "shrunk" by only 0.2xm when compared to their fathers. The reason for this discrepancy is not yet known.
Today this age group of women is 27 per cent fatter than the same age group in 1995. This is a larger gain than people of all other groups. The main problem is that young women do not eat foods that contain calcium - thus the spine bends and compresses. They eat "on the run", consuming just about anything that is tasty and fills them up. Preparing meals is not something young women do. Furthermore, fad diets are notoriously lacking in essential vitamins and minerals.
It is older women who are doing the exercise. They have realized the dangers and are doing something about it.. Older women like to look younger. Perhaps daughters should note what their mothers are doing and seek advice from them.
Health by Ty Buchanan
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
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