FEAST OR FAMINE

On Friday August 31 we will experience what is known as a "blue moon." The blue moon occurs approximately every 2.5 years when there is a second full moon in a single month.   It happens when the first full moon is early in the month and the last full moon is four weeks later, still within the same month. August’s first full moon appeared on August 2. It only happens in months with 31 days, usually August and December, and only every two-and-a-half years. The last blue moon occurred on 31 December 2009. The expression "once in a blue moon" is used colloquially to mean “not very often” or “rarely.” The moon does not actually change colour, although it occasionally appears to change colour due to dust particles in the atmosphere.   Some people say that when you get two full moons in one calendar month, the second one brings surprises and occurrences that turn up suddenly - “out of the blue.”

The returning London Olympians had their last public ‘welcome home’ parade in the nation’s capital, Canberra on Tuesday August 28 after seven celebrations in nine days. Thirty-four Olympians attended the Canberra parade, including: Archery – Elisa Barnard and Taylor Worth; Athletics – Luke Adams, Lauren Boden, Melissa Breen, Chris Erickson, Claire Tallent, and Jared Tallent (silver medallist, 50km walk); Beach Volleyball – Natalie Cook, Louise Bawden, and Becchara Palmer; Boxing – Luke Jackson; Canoe/Kayak – Jessica Fox (silver medallist, slalom); Hockey bronze medallists – Nathan Burgers and Glenn Turner; Modern Pentathlon – Ed Fernon; Rowing – Scott Brennan, David Crawshay, Kimberley Crow (silver and bronze medallist, single and double scull), Brook Pratley (silver medallist, double scull), Tess Gerrand, and Karsten Forsterling; Sailing – Matthew Belcher and Malcolm Page (gold medallist, 470 class), Swimming – Angie Bainbridge (silver medallist, women’s 4x200m freesty...

All five tertiary institutions in the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) held their Open Day on Saturday August 25 in order for the public to gain information on courses, campuses and lifestyles. The Australian Catholic University (ACU) – ‘Your future starts here’ – is open to students from all beliefs and backgrounds. Over 20,000 students are enrolled across ACU’s six campuses in Brisbane, North Sydney, Strathfield, Melbourne, Ballarat and Canberra. The Canberra Campus (Signadou) has undergraduate and postgraduate study in education, nursing, social work and theology ( acu.edu.au ). The University of Canberra (UC) – ‘ Australia's Capital University’ – received the maximum five-star rating for both getting a job and graduate outcomes in the latest Good Universities Guide ( canberra.edu.au ). The Australian National University (ANU) – ‘Where would you like to learn?’ – is situated centrally in the nation’s capital at the Acton campus. It has a...

The following is an extract of a radio interview on 24 August 2012 with Madison Brightwell, focusing on my third novel, Bardot’s Comet . The full interview is 29:17 minutes and can be heard on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/strategic-book-club/2012/08/24/author-martina-nicolls Madison Brightwell: What can readers expect in your third novel, Bardot’s Comet , because it is very different from your previous novels, The Sudan Curse and Kashmir on a Knife-Edge, which are primarily about specific countries? Martina Nicolls: My first two novels are factional stories - fiction based on fact - about my work in Sudan and Kashmir. Bardot’s Comet is historical literary fiction.   In Bardot’s Comet , the reader immediately knows that a famous female mathematician and astronomer is dead – she’s been murdered.   The time period is 1966-1969, so it is unusual for a woman, such as Prudence Bari, to rise to fame in a non-traditional, or male dominated field of work. The novel i...

New Scientist (18 August 2012) reports that Golden Rice can prevent blindness. It contains a precursor to vitamin A deficiency which blinds an estimated half a million children each year, particularly in undeveloped countries. The problem is that it is genetically modified, and therefore there are many opponents to its use. There is another alternative. A sweet potato, grown naturally in Uganda, contains a lot more beta carotene than other sweet potatoes. Beta carotene helps stave off vitamin A deficiency because it is converted into vitamin A in the body. About half a million children in Africa and Asia suffer blindness every year due to the lack of vitamin A in their diet, which is vital for vision and the immune system. Of those who lose their sight, 66% die within months. Aid agencies currently treat vitamin A deficiency with high-dose vitamin A capsules administered twice a year. However, eating locally grown food rich in the vitamin would be more practical ...

The Canberra Times reports that the number of Torres Strait Islander medical students has increased dramatically in the past decade. It now matches the ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous people in Australia for the first time. Last year, 80 of Australia’s 3,241 domestic first-year medical students were First Nations peoples, which is 2.5% of medical students and an increase of almost one percent on 2004 figures. The reason to celebrate is not only due to the increase, but also because 2.5% of Australia’s population is Torres Strait Islander – and this is the first time that there has been parity with the ratio of indigenous to non-indigenous population in Australia. The main challenge now is for all of them to graduate. Previously only about 30% of First Nations students did not complete the course (compared with about 2% of other students). This was mainly due to family and cultural commitments, financial difficulties, and discrimination, said Associate Professor Peter ...

  August 19 is World Humanitarian Day. World Humanitarian Day was launched in 2003 when the special representative of the secretary-general to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 colleagues died in a car bomb attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. It is a day to pay tribute to all humanitarian workers who have lost their lives doing good in the world. I was in Baghdad on that fateful day. Where once humanitarians were respected for providing time, expertise and compassion in countries where conflict and natural disasters occur, they are now all too often targeted for kidnapping, harassment, and death. Sometimes they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Attacks on humanitarian posts have tripled in the last decade. In the past year, according to the United Nations, 109 humanitarian workers have been killed, 143 were wounded, and 132 have been abducted. In all cases, the humanitarians were unarmed – for they are peace workers and never carry ar...

  In Canberra, the National Triangle begins at Parliament House and extends across Commonwealth Avenue and Kings Avenue bridges to the opposite side of Lake Burley Griffin. The lake, with its cycle paths, is an ideal place for walking, cycling, and running. On the lake, people can take boat tours or go kayaking. Along the National Triangle is the Carillon (bell tower) on Aspen Island (connected by a footbridge), the National Capital Exhibition, Blundell’s Cottage, the International Flag Display, the Caption Cook Memorial Jet (a jet fountain), the National Library of Australia, Questacon (the National Science and Technology Centre), the High Court of Australia, and the National Gallery of Australia (the art gallery). MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and Th...