Sunday 12th of January 2025

Blogs

the dinosaurs of our times...

dinosaur with night goggles

Some dinosaurs did their hunting at night, new research suggests.

Studies of the eyes of existing birds and reptiles with different daily activity patterns were compared with similar parts in dinosaur fossils.

The results suggests that small, meat-eating dinosaurs were nocturnal; large, plant-eating dinosaurs tended to forage both during the day and at night.

The Science study also challenges the notion that mammals' nocturnal nature evolved to avoid day-active dinosaurs.

on the value of goats .....

on the price of goats .....

from Crikey .....

Barry: 'Larrikin' Wilkie and his death-defying fight against pokies

Crikey senior journalist Paul Barry writes:

flutter...

flutter...

 

Clubs Australia says it is "outraged" at suggestions it may be involved in a death threat against independent MP Andrew Wilkie.

Mr Wilkie has claimed the gaming industry is mounting a smear campaign against him because of his calls for tougher laws to target poker machines and problem gambling.

The Tasmanian independent also says there has been an attempt to blackmail him with supposed "compromising photos", and threats to trawl through his past as an Army cadet at Duntroon.

"In the past two days I've received a death threat, been threatened with the existence of compromising photos, and am having my past as a cadet at Duntroon nearly 30 years ago trawled over,'' he said.

shoot...

shoot

 

HUNTING in 29 national parks, relaxation of gun licensing laws and shooting as a school sport: these are some of the demands the Premier is about to be confronted with by the Shooters and Fishers Party, which now shares the balance of power in the NSW upper house.

As the make-up of the Legislative Council was decided yesterday, documents obtained by the Herald reveal the extent and cost of the shopping list likely to be presented to Barry O'Farrell as he tries to negotiate his legislation through the new Parliament.

on the golf course of international relations...

international relations

 

US President Barack Obama has said he enjoys golf in large part because a game is the only way he can escape outdoors for hours at a time.

He said he misses the trappings of ordinary life - weekend lie-ins, trips to the market and walks in the park.

"I just want to go through Central Park and watch folks passing by," he told Hearst newspapers. "I miss that."

Mr Obama's security bubble precludes much privacy and spontaneity. He recently announced a re-election bid.

"I miss being anonymous," he told Hearst Magazines' publishers and editors at the White House.

searching for a conscience .....

searching for a conscience .....

More than 250 of America's most eminent legal scholars have signed a letter protesting against the treatment in military prison of the alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning, contesting that his "degrading and inhumane conditions" are illegal, unconstitutional and could even amount to torture.

the flowering of democracy .....

the flowering of democracy .....

Former One Nation politician Pauline Hanson has a good chance of winning the final NSW upper house seat.

Ms Hanson is 6000 votes ahead of her nearest rival, the Greens' Jeremy Buckingham, with 91 per cent of primary votes counted, ABC election analyst Antony Green said.

The full result is expected to be declared tomorrow, more than two weeks after the state election on March 26.

So far 20 of the 21 upper house seats up for election have been filled, with the Coalition winning 11 of the vacancies.

Labor has won five of the seats, the Greens have two, and the Shooters and Christian Democrats each have one.

friend or foe .....

friend or foe .....

"We have 18 pax [passengers] dismounted and spreading out at this time," an Air Force pilot said from a cramped control room at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, 7,000 miles away. He was flying a Predator drone remotely using a joystick, watching its live video transmissions from the Afghan sky and radioing his crew and the unit on the ground.

The Afghans unfolded what looked like blankets and kneeled. "They're praying. They are praying," said the Predator's camera operator, seated near the pilot.

the good old days...

safety with caution
Abetz slams workplace safety laws


The Federal Opposition says the proposed regulations that will underpin national workplace safety laws are unworkable.

The Government has been moving to implement uniform laws across the country.

The Opposition supports the proposals but its spokesman on Employment and Workplace Relations, Eric Abetz, says business is worried about the complexity of the regulations.

a sign of the crimes .....

a sign of the crimes .....

For the 400 US taxpayers with the highest adjusted gross income, the effective federal income tax rate - what they actually pay - fell from almost 30% in 1995 to just under 17% in 2007, according to the IRS.

And for the approximately 1.4 million people who make up the top 1% of taxpayers, the effective federal income tax rate dropped from 29% to 23% in 2008. It may seem too fantastic to be true, but the top 400 end up paying a lower rate than the next 1,399,600 or so.

a manifest destiny .....

a manifest destiny .....

Was the photo of smiling Obama shaking hands with President Gadhafi taken before or after Obama knew he was a bad Libyan? Did Obama's smile came from constipation, or did God only recently inform him after prayer that Gadhafi was evil? Did Divine consultation convince Obama not to save rebels' lives in Bahrain and Yemen? He did nothing when their nasty leaders murdered them for protesting.

salvaging the furniture...

savaging the furniture...

 

Both Parties Claim Success in Averting a Shutdown


By CARL HULSE


WASHINGTON — The hard-fought budget compromise late Friday that narrowly averted a government shutdown calls for increasing Pentagon spending while imposing significant cuts on a wide range of domestic federal programs.

Syndicate content