FEAST OR FAMINE

The last weekend of the “Snakes Alive” exhibition in Australian National Botanic Gardens in the capital Canberra marked the approaching start to the school year. Lots of parents and children took advantage of the weekend to view live displays of snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs and crocodiles. The reptiles on display included a percentile goanna (the largest lizard species in Australia), a baby crocodile, a pig nose turtle, a death adder, pythons, frilled neck dragon lizards, and blue tongued lizards. The exhibition was in the Crosbie Morrison Building set among the trees, shrubs and flowers of the botanic gardens. In 1933 Canberra was known as A City of Flowers, but it did not have a botanic garden. In September 1935 Dr. Dickson, the Chief of Plant Industry, presented a report recommending the present site on the lower slopes of Black Mountain, but no action was to take place for another ten years, until after the war. In 1944 a research forester from South Australia, Lindsay...

Australia Day is celebrated on January 26 each year. This year marks 224 years of European settlement and 111 years of Federation. The name of the day has undergone several changes: from Foundation Day to Anniversary Day to Australia Day. In addition, this year is the fortieth anniversary of the 'Aboriginal Tent Embassy.' Captain Arthur Phillip, from Britain, took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales (on the east coast of Australia) on January 26, 1788 and became its first Governor. The first official celebrations were held in 1818 to mark the 30 th anniversary of European settlement. In the early nineteenth century, the anniversary was called Foundation Day. On the 50 th anniversary, a public holiday was declared in New South Wales and it became an annual event. By 1888, all colonial capitals of Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin and Hobart), except Adelaide, proclaimed Anniversary Day a public holiday. Before 1901 each state and terr...

This year, the Chinese or Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the year of the water dragon. It began on January 23 and culminates about two weeks later on February 4 with the lantern festival. The lantern festival will be held at Gallipoli Reach from 6:15 to 9:00pm. In Canberra, the Canberra Multicultural Forum, the Australia China Friendship Society, the Prosperous Mountain Lion Dance troupe, and ACT Chinese-Australian Association are hosting a number of events celebrating the Chinese New Year. The Lucky Dragon Family Festival The National Museum of Australia in Canberra is also celebrating the historical and cultural links between China and Australia at a special family day event on January 26 which is Australia Day. The free family event will include the China Doll stilt walkers, a Tai Chi demonstration, and Chinese dancing and music from the Australian Chinese Culture Exchange and Promotion Association. There will also be the opportunity to make Chinese paper dragon...

The Canberra Weekly (19 January 2012) reports that studies have found a close link between thinking and driving styles. This suggests that by teaching learner drivers a specific way of thinking, they might develop a patient and careful driving style. A researcher at the University of Canberra, Dr. Lucienne Kleisen, said that hierarchic thinking – thinking that makes a person aware of several events at the same time while being able to prioritize the events into those that are more urgent and important – is possible the best learning technique for learner drivers. Kleisen maintains that thinking styles and driving styles can both be trained. She said that if learner drivers develop hierarchic and effective thinking, it is more likely that young drivers will adopt a safer driving style. Kleisen’s research has shown that it is possible to identify a young person’s preferred thinking style and to tailor driver training accordingly and therefore potentially influence their dri...

A study by investment bank, Barclays Capital, says that the construction of high rise buildings and skyscrapers are indicators of an imminent economic downfall. The BarCap report provides a number of examples. These include the construction boom that led to the erection of the skyscrapers of the Chrysler and Empire State Building in New York which preceded the city’s 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression. In addition, the building boom to erect taller and taller constructions in Dubai, such as the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building - preceded the 2010 financial crisis. So, the report concludes that when there is a period in which countries strife to build the tallest construction, soon afterwards the country is hit by financial woes. The correlation between high rise construction and economic crash should heed as a warning to countries. The BarCap warned that China, which is currently undergoing construction of half the world’s highest buildings, will so...

Australia is primarily a hot, dry country. However, it has regions of cool climates suitable for cultivating wine grapes. Wine grapes don’t like hot climates as they give their best flavours when ripened in mild to cool conditions. To compensate in warm regions, vignerons plant vineyards at high altitude. Canberra’s highest vineyard is at 860 metres above sea level. The town of Orange in the state of New South Wales has many high elevation vineyards, while Australia’s highest vineyard is located in Guyra at 1,320 metres above sea level. The Orange region is often referred to as the Central Highlands of Australia producing apples, pears and cherries. It has a mild to warm summer with maximum temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (90F) with cool to cold nights during the wine grape growing season. At a one-day symposium in June 2007, at Snows Lake Vineyard in Northern California’s Lake Country (2,000 feet or 610 metres above sea level), vignerons and viticulturists from around t...

Shame (1985) is Rushdie’s third book, noted for its magical realism. The Indian author is also the narrator, saying that the novel is and isn’t about Pakistan, never living there for longer than six months at a time: “I learned Pakistan in slices.” It is of the birth of Omar Khayyam Shakil on his grandfather’s deathbed to three mothers – all sisters, one with the real pregnancy and two who experience phantom pregnancies with “perfectly synchronized sympathy” to conceal the shame of the unmarried mother, “with not a solitary father in sight.” Named after the famous Persian poet, Omar feels like a “creature on the edge: a peripheral man.” Living with the shame of being born out of wedlock, Omar says shame is like everything else; “live with it for long enough and it becomes part of the furniture” – to the extent that he lives a shameless life, the opposite of ashamed. Coddled by his three mothers, Chhunni, Munnee, and Bunny, he puts on weight and is teased. For his t...

Man’s best friend is his dog – but not necessarily. The average dog is now believed to cause nearly 2,000 domestic disputes and arguments in its lifetime. A study by an insurance company in the United Kingdom maintains that the average pet dog, during a life expectancy of 12.8 years, can cause 1,997 domestic arguments – which equates to three arguments a week and 156 quarrels every year, reports the Sun-Herald. Arguments range from disagreements over who should take the dog for a walk, feeding them too many treats, and what to do with them during holidays. The study revealed that 25% of dog owners regularly argue about where the dog is allowed to wander about the house – such as on beds and sofas. About 20% of dog owners argue whose turn it is to clean up the dog’s mess and 10% disagree over who should clean the stains on the carpet, caused by the dog. Disciplining the dog also causes arguments – 18% of couples argue and separate because one is accused of being too ha...

The tribal conflict over cattle rustling in Pibor, South Sudan, has resulted in attacks and reprisals between two main communities, the Lou Nuer and the Murle. Tribal tensions are not new, and have been a feature of Sudan, and other countries, for centuries. Can other countries, or more importantly, individuals, learn from tribal conflict? New Scientist (7 January 2012) has an interesting book review that may shed some light on the impacts of tribalism. Mark Pagel, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and author of Wired for Culture (to be published in March) has reviewed a book by Richard Sennett, professor of sociology at New York University and the London School of Economics, entitled Together: The rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation (2012). Sennett contends that “living with people who differ—racially, ethnically, religiously, or economically—is the most urgent challenge facing civil society today. We tend sociall...

Tea tree oil has shown to be effective in controlling all stages of sheep flies, such as maggots, eggs, pupae and adults. The Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), a government department, funded research to find a pain-free way of controlling flies and lice in sheep. Flystrike from blowflies (large flies) can infect sheep, causing disease and death, and thus impacting the sheep meat and wool industries. However, research conducted by the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation in Queensland has led to the discovery of a natural product that controls flies in sheep. Researchers tested the tea tree oil for its insecticide effect and its impact in repelling sheep blowflies and lice. The tea tree is a tree native to Australia along the north coast and streams of New South Wales and Queensland. The scientific name is Melaleuca alternifolia and is commonly called narrow-leaved paperbark, narrow-leaved tea tree, or sn...

The Sun-Herald reported on January 8, 2012, that at least two Australians a day are arrested somewhere in the world – and that this number has doubled in ten years since 2001. In 2001 a total of 568 Australians were arrested and 208 were imprisoned in foreign detention centres overseas. Ten years later, in 2010-2011, 1,069 Australians were arrested (88% increase) and 313 were imprisoned (50% increase), representing record levels. The countries in which Australians find themselves in most trouble are the United States of America, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) indicates that the crime which has increased the most over ten years is assault – 89 Australians were arrested overseas for assault in 2010-2011. Another 75 were arrested for drug offences, and 79 were arrested for visa violations. Other crimes include theft, corruption, fraud, illegal recruitment, paedophilia, prostitution, sexual assault, murder, kidnappin...

In the nine days from December 25 to the New Year public holidays, 1,291 people have been rescued from New South Wales beaches alone – predominantly in and near Sydney beaches. That’s an average of 143 rescues a day. In total, 66 have required hospital treatment. The statistics are double the number of people rescued over the same period of time last year. Last year in the same region of New South Wales (on the eastern coast of Australia), 649 swimmers were rescued from the ocean. This year, lifesavers, in addition to the almost 1,300 rescues, made almost 30,000 preventative actions. Warnings and preventative actions were provided to 28,784 beach visitors, urging them to swim between the flags and ordering them off unpatrolled and unsafe areas of the coast, or preventing intoxicated individuals from entering the water. The festive season, public holidays, and hot temperatures have resulted in many people visiting the beaches of Australia. Unfortunately, many swimmers...