Canary in the Mine

Rodney Hide is totally underwhelmed by the Government's announced spending on defence, and says that journalists have again switched off their critical faculties. In fact, he says it's a con. "The $3b spend-up is: 1. spread over 10 years; 2. mixes capital and operational as in, “The funding will be aimed at boosting depleted troop numbers and rebuilding aged infrastructure"; 3. doesn’t factor in what it would cost to maintain defence spending at the miserable level it is now. In fact, an extra $3 billion over ten years could well be a cut to defence spending if any of that money is for capital."

Indications are that the stronger-than-expected economy has led to fewer enrolments in tertiary education, and fewer people accessing student allowances, Education Minister Trevor Mallard says.

"Dr Death", Philip Nitschke, is considering packing his bags and moving to New Zealand permanently if a proposed Australian law making it illegal to pass out information on assisted suicide is passed. Getting past the headline grab, the important thing to note is that an amendment to Australia's Crimes Bill, expected to be passed this year, would make it illegal to offer information on assisted suicide via phone, fax or email.

The Vatican's top family affairs official has blasted Spain's law allowing gays to wed as a destruction of the marriage institution and urged Christians around the world to oppose such unions. Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, also said adoption of children by same sex couples was "moral violence" against children and jeopardised their personality and stability. Trujillo says the Spanish law "changed and falsified the very definition of marriage". Along with the growth of couples living together outside marriage, it was "destroying, bit by bit, the institution of marriage". He said the family is a "precious common good of the people and a patrimony of humanity."

In contrast to the popular image of mothers struggling to strike a balance between the demands of raising children, working and the tensions of daily life, a national study in the US finds the vast majority of are satisfied with their lives as mothers. Nearly 81 percent of the women surveyed for the Motherhood Study said they were "very satisfied," and another 16 percent said they were "somewhat" satisfied. Results were generally high regardless of income, race, education, age, marital status and employment.

According to market research firm NPD Group, "U.S. sales of video game hardware, software and accessories rose 23 percent in the first quarter of 2005 to more than $2.2 billion." ..."The $10 billion U.S. video game industry is roughly on par with the domestic movie box office in terms of sales."

But technology has become a bane of modern life. People juggle a mountain of electronic equipment to store their most important records and intimate secrets. But the complicated nature of their machines, with their manuals full with unintelligible acronyms, tangles of cords and invisible wireless signals, means a breakdown is almost inevitable. The loss of a computer, cell phone or other gadget can be so jolting that it is fueling the rise of what some psychologists call "computer rage." Some computer repair companies are beginning to hire counsellors to help callers through their crisis.

It's English, but not as you and I speak it. In fact, you may not even understand it. The chief promoter of Globish (Frenchman Jean-Pierre Nerriere) says most of the world speaks it, and he has even patented it. Globish takes the 1500 most common words of English, and disregards the finer points of grammar (with a vengeance).
Nerriere has a website explaining Globish in detail, but ironically you'll need a good grasp of French to wade through it.

The change of the peppered moth from predominantly light to predominantly dark coloured (this is a highly simplified statement) as a consequence of adapting to the English pollution of the Industrial Revolution is quoted in the textbooks as one of the best examples of evolution. But oh dear - it seems that all is not as it should have been out in the field.

Tail-out: Weighing in at 110kg, Miss Jumbo Queen 2005,Tarnrarin Chansawang,18 has been chosen as the contestant in the annual Thai contest who best exhibits the characteristics of an elephant by virtue of her grace, elegance and size.