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Tuesday, May 9, 2006The Australian Budget (Appropriation Bill No. 1) for 2006-2007 was released by the Australian Liberal Party–Australian National Party coalition government treasurer, Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal).

Costello noted the resilience of the economy against natural disasters and terrorism, and through “disciplined and prudent management” the Government was able to “repay Labor’s debt” of quoted 96 billion dollars of net debt and the Government was now “debt-free”.

Costello noted that the Government budget was in “surplus for the ninth time” with a forecast surplus of 10.8 billion.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Yesterday in Geneva, Iran and the P5+1 nations — the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia; plus Germany — reached a six-month deal over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. Iran is to reduce its nuclear activities in return for a lifting of some economic sanctions.

Iran has agreed to not build any new enrichment facilities, to halt enrichment of uranium past a purity of 5%, to “neutralise” a stockpile of nearly 200kg of enriched uranium of a purity of nearly 20%, to not install new centrifuges, and to disable a number of existing centrifuges. They also have to allow access for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to a number of sites including Natanz and Fordo, as well as information on the reactor at Arak.

In return, the P5+1 is to provide “limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible” relief from economic sanctions including removal of specific trade sanctions on precious metals, including gold; the automotive sector; and oil. The sanctions relief is worth around US$7 billion (about €5 billion).

In Tehran, Iran’s negotiators were welcomed home at the airport by a gathering of supporters holding placards. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians reportedly watched coverage of the negotiations through the Iranian night.

Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, told reporters, “[i]n this agreement, the right of [the] Iranian nation to enrich uranium was accepted by world powers”. The United States contests this.

US president Barack Obama welcomed the deal: “For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, and key parts of the program will be rolled back.” He said the provisions of the deal “cut off Iran’s most likely paths to a bomb”.

British prime minister David Cameron said the deal was an “important first step” and Iran was “further away from getting a nuclear weapon”.

John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, appeared with British foreign minister William Hague at a press conference in London. Kerry told reporters: “Now the really hard part begins, and that is the effort to get the comprehensive agreement, which will require enormous steps in terms of verification, transparency and accountability”.

Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, said the deal was a “historic mistake” and said the Iranians had agreed only to “cosmetic concessions” that “can be undone by the Iranians within weeks”. “Israel”, he said, “is not bound to this agreement while Iran is committed to the destruction of Israel. Israel has the right to protect itself in the face of any threat. I wish to reiterate that as the prime minister of Israel — Israel will not allow Iran to develop nuclear military capabilities.” He also said: “Iran is receiving billions of dollars in relief in the sanctions without paying any sort of price. Iran is receiving written approval to violate UN Security Council resolutions”.

Naftali Bennett, the Israeli economic minister, warned of the prospects of a nuclear Iran: “If in another five or six years a nuclear suitcase explodes in New York or Madrid, it will be because of the agreement that was signed this morning”.

A spokesman for President Obama stated: “the United States will remain firm in our commitment to Israel, which has good reason to be skeptical about Iran’s intentions”. Obama phoned Netanyahu on Sunday to try and reassure him.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Voters in the small Channel Island of Sark, a Crown dependency of the British Crown, have voted in their first democratic election, bringing an end to almost 4½ centuries of feudal rule.

Voting in the election opened at 10:00 local time (UTC) today, and closed at 18:00. The result is expected to be announced at 22:00.

57 candidates were competing for the votes of the 474 residents eligible to participate in the election, to win 28 seats.

Roger Olsen, the first person to vote in the election, commented on the transition to democracy. “Sark has an opportunity to express itself, to determine its own destiny,” he commented. “We like to make our own decisions. Now we’re set up to do exactly that,” he continued.

He also stated the he believed the island needed “fresh eyes, new blood and a new perspective”.

Suzie Thorpe, the next voter, commented on the issues which concerned her during this election. “We need a good sustainable economy. But we don’t want the island to change too much. We don’t want any helipads, thank you.”

Sark was the last feudal state remaining in the Western world, and the transition was forced by European human rights legislation that requires democratic governments.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

In the largest study of its kind, a genetic analysis of 1,168 families with multiple cases of autism has identified genetic links to autism. A previously overlooked stretch of DNA on chromosome 11 implicates a gene called neurexin 1 and increases the evidence for the involvement of neurexins and genes related to glutamate transmission in the brain.

Genetic studies of autism have previously been undertaken; however the new study involves the collaboration of more than 120 scientists from more than 50 institutions representing 19 countries who pooled their data as part of the Autism Genome Project. The findings were published in the Feb. 18 issue of Nature Genetics.

Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of autism, said: “The identification of susceptibility genes will provide profound new insight into the basis of autism offering a route to breakthroughs in new treatments in support of families.” Autism Speaks funded this project in conjunction with the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Joachim Hallmayer, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford and chair of the collaboration’s executive committee, explains what is next: “While promising, these results need to be followed up with more refined genetic maps to home in on other specific candidate genes. We also need to look more closely at chromosomal anomalies in large samples of children with autism.” In the paper, researchers caution that the genetic foundation of autism probably involves multiple genes and chromosomal abnormalities.

Autism affects about one in every 150 children, and the CDC has called it an “urgent health concern”. Autism is a developmental disorder which impairs social interaction, communication and features restricted and repetitive interests and activities. Twin studies and other research clearly suggest a genetic basis for the condition. Currently there is no cure for autism, but both behavioral or sensory interventions and drugs can influence the symptoms.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Yesterday, Barcelona football star Lionel Messi made a risky pass from the penalty spot to Luis Suárez, setting up the completion of a Suárez hat-trick against Celta Vigo, and Barça defeated them 6–1 in a La Liga match at Camp Nou. Suárez climbed to the top spot for La Liga this season, scoring 23 goals, and FC Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 30 games in all competitions. By passing to Suárez, Messi missed an opportunity to attempt his 300^th goal in the Liga.

The match saw four yellow cards, all for the Celta Vigo players. Barça had eleven shots on target as compared to Vigo’s four. Gustavo Cabral was the first booked in the game in the eleventh minute.

Messi opened the scoring for the Catalans in the 28^th minute. Carles Planas was booked for a bad foul, and Messi won a free-kick, which he successfully converted into the goal, scoring his 299^th goal in La Liga games. About ten minutes later, Jordi Alba brought down Swedish striker John Guidetti in the penalty area, and the visitors got a chance to equalise from penalty. Guidetti scored from the penalty spot making the score 1–1 before the half time. Hugo Mallo was booked in the 42^nd minute. The first half ended 1–1 with three bookings in 45 minutes.

Messi in the 59^th mminute assisted Suárez via a through ball, as the Uruguayan scored the team’s second goal and Barcelona were leading again. Two substitutions were made in the 61^st minute for the home side. Aleix Vidal came for Dani Alves and Sergi Roberto was replaced by Ivan Rakiti?. Celta made a change in the 65^th minute as Marcelo Díaz was subbed-in for Pablo Hernández.

Neymar’s shot in the 75^th minute was blocked, assist from Messi, but Suárez netted his second of the night and Barcelona were 3–1 up. The 78^th minute saw two substitutions. Dejan Drazic replaced Guidetti, and Arda Turan came for Andrés Iniesta.

Messi was fouled around the 81^st minute in the penalty area, and won a penalty kick. The Argentine passed from the spot, and Suárez completed his hat-trick. A similar type of goal was scored by the Dutch legend Johan Cruyff playing for Ajax AFC in 1982.

Rakiti? scored the fifth goal in the 84^th minute from a through ball assist from Suárez, just a minute later after Pape Cheikh was subbed off Daniel Wass. In the injury time, Neymar netted a goal, assist from Suárez. The match ended 6–1.

After the match, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique said “There will be those who like it and those who don’t […] You can take a penalty like that, it’s legal and there’s a Cruyff penalty we all know.”

A similar penalty attempt by Thierry Henry for Arsenal F.C. in 2005 did not work out.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Japanese fishermen in Taiji, Japan clashed with surfers from Australia and the United States. The location where dolphins are culled was moved to a secluded cove this year to hide the activity from television crews and protesters.

After successfully defending the hunt, by using boat propellers and boat hooks against the group of surfers, who were joined by actress Hayden Panettiere, the fishermen have started their annual cull.

Whaling in Taiji usually yields 2,000 dolphins per year using the dolphin drive hunting method. The dolphins are diverted from their migration route by banging metal rods. As fear can affect the taste of the meat, after being speared and bludgeoned to death, they are left to hang for a day before being cut up. Television crews and campaigners opposed to the culling were prevented by fishermen and local police from filming these activities.

Although the practice of aquatic mammal hunting is condemned by many groups worldwide as well as within Japan, whaling is seen by those involved as a long-practiced cultural tradition that should be defended. As the demand for whale and dolphin meat for use in sushi has declined, the Government of Japan now has to financially subsidize the industry to support the local economy. Japan argues that whaling is still carried out for scientific reasons, to understand species population numbers. This claim is disputed by the scientific community outside of Japan as well as by environmentalists.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller wants to sue the anonymous person who vandalised his article in the Wikipedia encyclopedia, a website resource almost anyone can edit.

An IP address from Josef Silny & Associates, a Miami education consulting firm, wrote a biased paragraph about him creating uproar from the golfer. The entry was posted twice: once sometime last year, and again in December 2006. The paragraph was removed last month, and deleted from the article history by Danny Wool, a staff member of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Zoeller is suing Josef Silny & Associates to find out who added this text.

“The Zoeller family wants to take a stand to put a stop to this. Otherwise, we’re all just victims of the Internet vandals out there. They ought not to be able to act with impunity,” said Zoeller’s attorney, Scott Sheftall.

The offensive edits, about which the suit is based, allegedly suggested that Zoeller admitted to consuming mass quantities of drugs and alcohol and beat his wife.

Through the court, Wikipedia can not be sued for a vandalous edit. The person or company, in this case, will be sued. In fact, the Wikimedia Foundation has not been contacted by Zoeller or his representatives about the lawsuit.