Its OVER........

Australia has a new government................but for how long?


Plenty of pundits [ on both sides of politics] are saying the new Labor government will be lucky to last 18 months.


It will be an absolute roller coaster of a ride so watch out.................


There are plenty of media stories around on all major channels.

The cartoon seems to sum up well the predicament of the new Prime Minister.























[cartoon "borrowed" from Punch magazine]

Sexy High Heels?

Nothing like a great pair of womens' legs, accentuated in a nice pair of high heeled shoes.

Just ask any leg man!

However, it is not all good, health wise, according to recent research work, explored further here:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/07/19/2957864.htm?site=science&topic=health

In essence, wearing high heels too much shortens the calf muscles and increases the thickness of the Achilles tendon, leading to further leg and ankle problems. Remedies are discussed in the article, but it means less good legs to look at.

Hardly likely to be replaced by this, though.........

Why Is It Brave to Want It All?

Reproduced from
Camilla Cavendish From: The Times April 10, 2010
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/why-is-it-brave-to-want-it-all/story-e6frg6zo-1225852004961


SO here I am, "fresh" back from maternity leave but feeling about 102, gripped by a vertiginous fear that the third child was a step too far. I am standing on a cliff edge marked "woman who failed".
My baby is blessedly robust and easy, yet I can't remember the names of colleagues, have lost my security pass and need a thesaurus to write. My brain is on the blink.

With the first two children, I managed to cover up for deficiencies by wearing mascara and cultivating an air of efficiency.

It is a maddening aspect of modern life that most careers take off when we are in our 30s. Many of us hit a period of acceleration at 30, just when we are thinking about children. If you miss the moment, it's almost impossible to catch up.

The early 40s are prime time for men. British political leaders David Cameron and Nick Clegg are 43, the age at which Tony Blair became prime minister. Many men are at the top of their game when many women are waylaid by teething, phonics, lunch boxes and childcare.

These things seem to clog up the brain's easy access account and push other information - the size of the deficit or the news from Tehran - into some kind of remote cognitive overdraft facility. Hands-on fathers are better able to compartmentalise than many working mothers, because we are the ones who get the call when the shoes are lost or the child is ill.

This shouldn't matter so much. In a working life that might span 40 years, it seems absurd that a few middle years can be make or break. Yet downsizing temporarily can have a devastating effect on female careers. In the US, the writer and thinker Sylvia Ann Hewlett has found that women lose about a third of their earning power if they take even three years out to care for children or relatives. Some drop in earnings is inevitable. What is scary is the permanent relegation of many older women to the sidelines.

In her book Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success, Hewlett finds that 37 per cent of highly qualified American women voluntarily leave their careers at some point. Another 30 per cent take what she calls the "scenic route", working part-time and/or from home. A whopping 93 per cent of those women try later to get back on to the career highway, but half fail to find an "on-ramp" back to mainstream jobs. Some become self-employed. Many end up in jobs for which they are over-qualified. This is an extraordinary waste of talent. What employers see as a "gap" in a resume has actually been filled with learning how to parent, negotiate with small irrational people, remain patient and alert on almost no sleep - surely all valuable management skills.

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Well ladies, what have you got to say about that???

Copulate and Perish

Just a variation on the old catch cry - populate or perish, a familar one to the child of the 60s and 70s.

Trouble is, the new heading is still pretty apt.

A new study has just shown that the cheapest way to lower carbon emissions is ............wait for it..........better contraception. Very plausible really. The more of us there are, the greater are the carbon emissions.

And at $7 per person to extend contraception / family planning to all who want it / need it is cheap compared to us all driving renewable energy fueled electric cars at $131 per person.

Read more http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40476 . Light hearted entertainment is useful sometimes, even if there is a serious twist in the tail.

Frogs and Crocodiles Suffer Too

Increasing amounts of oestrogen are getting into the environment. Mostly via effluent, and effluent reuse. Some also through the food chain, with man [ and women] at the top. A lot via use of the contraceptive pill, both inadvertently, and by disposal via the sewer.

We are probably not doing ourselves a lot of good, overall.

But when oestrogen effects are the subject of an article in the mainstream press, then maybe it is time to be more mindful of the issue.

It is a thoughtful and thought provoking article.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24891709-7583,00.html

and definitely worth reading.

We are lucky, living in a relatively smaller city. But for cities where their sewer is the next cities drinking water, what a mess!

Selecting the Right Person for the Job - Especially Teachers

We have all seen great staff, and we almost certainly have seen abysmal, horrible, could not care less staff. So why are staff selected in the first place? And what does it say about the employing organisation / business?

This issue is explored in some depth in a recent Malcolm Gladwell article available here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true

In the examples he uses two or three very dissimilar areas but one - school teachers - is a critical one for most families. Personally I do not think I am teacher material - and do not desire to be one, but I most certainly have had a few good teachers. They are memorable, and effective.

We all have had both good and bad teachers. And most parents hope that their children have "good" teachers. But what is a good teacher?

The article attempts to explore this issue in some depth and to point out why good teachers are vital. But finding and selecting good teachers is not an easy or even a tangible process. Do you agree with the points made that having better teachers and paying them appropriately is more cost effective than almost any other option in the field of education, and that class size is a bit of a furphy? I spent time in vary large classes while at school and never felt disempowered......maybe the teachers were much better or just more dedicated. But read it and think!

Malcolm Gladwell has form as a distinguished writer - as author of The Tipping Point.

This article is an excellent read and particularly pertinent in Australia as we approach a new school year. It is also an interesting option to ponder as regards indigenous education in Australia, a topic being considered in a more serious manner across especially northern Australia. How can society ensure that "good" teachers are available in numbers for this important task? There are other difficulties in that field, but getting and retaining good teachers is essential - for that task as well as for all schools.

Updated Options for Women

Many women enjoy the option to enhance their attributes, naturally or cosmetically. Some use enhancements offered by lingerie. To the male observer, some of these actions create positive interest, others negative.

There has been a considerable numbers of words written about women who wear the burka, hijab or whatever local name is used. Some are complimentary, many are not. Most observers see it as shapeless. But maybe not.

Wearing the burka often comes to personal choice, unless you live in a country where women may not have that choice. I have no comment on that.

But there are a few cartoonists who think the subject does offer reasonable options in offering an alternate view.

The following cartoon appeared in some Australian papers recently. Many commentators believe there is a revolution occurring among women in those areas, even while wearing continuing to wear the burka!