Sunrise

Mostly we were up for sunrise while we were on holidays - and every day was different. My aunt, who was with us for most of the week, kept missing sunrise so I'll print her off a couple of shots and send them to her.

Here Kitty

The first pic is of the kitty recently acquired by friends in Sydney. Imagine then our surprise when we found its twin living with our friends on the Gold Coast!

Holidays

We are on the plane enroute to Queensland's Gold Coast and our first truly family holiday in 16 years. Funnily enough, we are congregating at a block of units that most of us have spent time at previously, at Burleigh Heads, with sweeping views of the ocean and a long sandy beach. There's also a great walkway beachside, flat - and only a little dangerous depending on how many cyclists and other wheeled tourists are out and about.

Miner story

The Beaconsfield Miners were rescued last Tuesday morning and returned to the surface moments before 6am. Since then, despite a couple of media appearances, the world has been waiting to hear their story. But there was a small issue of a media deal to be brokered first - and that now seems to be in place. Reports I've read suggest the miners have accepted a deal worth $2 million from Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (Channel 9, Woman's Day, Bulletin) and coverage will start with a two-hour interview program in prime-time this coming Sunday evening. Good on them - and doubly so if there is any truth to rumours of them setting up a Foundation to help share the proceeds with the Beaconsfield community.

Mysterious or suspicious?

What is the difference between "mysterious circumstances" and "suspicious circumstances"? Is there a difference in legal terms? And who knew there used to be a radio program called "Mysterious Circumstances" (available through Radio of Yesteryear for those who knew it, loved it and miss it). Who knew there was also a book of the same title and an independent film?

Blog #

Hands up everybody who can guess what number blog this is for Musings - and why I am so keen to get it up and move on to the next one as quickly as possible? Give in? Here's a clue: the last one was No. 665 and the next one will be No. 667.

Folder or Scruncher

Be you a folder or a scruncher? That's the question being asked by a toilet tissue provider here in Australia as part of a recent promotion. And would you be prepared to have your preference tattooed across one of your bottom cheeks - and would your answer change if you were offered $AUS20,000 to do it? I asked Sooz this question this morning - and, to my amazement, she said she would do a tattoo for that kind of money. Still, she's had her ears pierced and is used to physical pain I guess. Me, I don't know that I would be persuaded by the cash - regardless of how big the amount. (And if you did, would it be tax-free - especially if you did it as part of a television show - as two people did last night on Channel TEN's Rove Live - or they were in the process of going off to the tattoo people when I turned off the set to go to bed.)
And on the subject of Folding or Scrunching - what do you reckon your friends are. And isn't it amazing that regardless of how you manage your toilet paper, you can't imagine that people would/want to do it any way besides the way you do it!

Hot pursuit

Imagine you're a police officer, out on patrol, and you see a car speed past. You're sure (you check) that it's stolen. What do you do? Do you set off in pursuit, at speed? Or arrange for an intercept down the road- by helicopter, or other squad cars? And if you chose to go in pursuit, do you do so with sirens blazing? And would your decision be influenced by your location - city or country? Would you be worried about the possibility of "collateral damage" to innocent bystanders, those involved in the chase, property. Is there a better way to apprehend these wrongdoers?

What price democracy?

I've been listening to The Media Report (ABC Radio National via podcast) lately and the question was posed: "Do we need to curtail democracy in order to save it and spread it?" The question relates to the increasing restrictions on personal freedoms in order to monitor for terrorist activities, eg there is talk of the U.S. recording all phone conversations there -although it's not clear how they would be able to analyse them in a timely manner to detect suspicious conversations. But it's not just there. and not necessarily about monitoring for terrorist plots. There are moves (again!) here in Australia for the introduction of an identification Smartcard- on the pretext that this will help stamp out rorting of the welfare system. It may well do, but it would also provide a window into people's lives that could be abused and which could probably not be adequately safe-guarded in terms of privacy, civil liberties and personal freedom. And before the arguments of "If you've nothing to hide, why would you be concerned" surface, that's not the issue. The issue is that more and more governments are intruding on peoples lives without giving adequate justification for their actions. If we are to be co-opted into giving up freedoms to become foot soldiers in the War against Terror, at least come clean about the real level of threat, and the forms this takes. And for goodness sake, give some credible reasons for turning attention (and attack fronts) to Iran.

Still not safe ...

Okay, so after the recent blog about Florida alligators, I know I would be wary of going near the water ... and with good cause. There have been two more fatalities related to alligators in Florida In the last few days. The Gainesville media had further details.

Tuesday - Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, was found dismembered in a canal in Broward County. Authorities believe an alligator dragged her into the water.

Sunday - Annmarie Campbell, 23, was snorkeling in Juniper Creek in Marion County when she was fatally attacked. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sunday - Judy W. Cooper, 43, was found dead in a canal in Pinellas County with alligator bites officials believe at least contributed to her death, if they weren't the sole cause. She's believed to have been dead for several days.

Antidepressants

Do antidepressants increase the risk of suicide attempts? A recent study found that 11 of 3,455 people (mostly in the age group 18 to 30) taking Paxil for depression reported an attempted suicide, compared with 1 in 1,978 taking placebos. But experts have debated the interpretation and value of these findings. Do the benefits outweigh the risks for people with depression? And how well monitored are people newly prescribed antidepressants?
And was the level of depression for each taken into account? I seem to recall from my undergraduate Psychology, that if a person was truly depressed (and this is a fairly simplistic way of putting it) they didn't attempt to commit suicide; the danger point was when they started to feel a little better!

Moussaoui Appeal

Was Moussaoui to hijack the 5th plane on 9/11 as he has claimed, or is he mentally disturbed? Why was he given a life sentence rather than sentenced to death? And did he really plead guilty because he didn't think there was any way he could get a fair trial in America? Did he plead guilty only because he wanted to be given the death sentence and die a martyr? Will any of this become any clearer now he has appealed the final judgment and sentence? And if he was to be the 5th hijacker, has he been able to identify others who would have flown with him? (See "More".)
In an interesting point, Moussaoui had been advised in court that in pleading guilty he had waived his right to ever appeal his convictions.
Also on the Moussaoui case, the Jury forewoman has told the New York Times that it was a single juror who prevented the death sentence judgement. At no point did that juror identify themself or put forward their argument/s for discussion.
More: Moussaoui shouted out in court: "Crazy or not crazy? That is the question." He also said that Richard Reid, the British shoe bomber, was to act as his accomplice in hijacking a fifth plane - but there is no evidence of that - and Reid was not in the US at the time.

Fatal jog

There have been 18 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948. (Nine more are unconfirmed.) The latest appears to have been 28-year-old jogger Yovy Suarez Jimenez whose dismembered body was found in a canal on Wednesday. Witnesses saw a woman matching Suarez's description dangling her feet over the water's edge, but no one saw the attack. The Broward County medical examiner has concluded "the alligator attacked the woman while she was on land" and then dragged her body into a canal. He added that she "died of traumatic injuries sustained by an alligator attack, a mixture of blood loss and shock, and in my opinion died very fast." Authorities killed an alligator caught Thursday night but determined it did not kill Jimenez as its stomach contained only tennis balls and a football. Trappers continue to search for the killer alligator.
In the articles I read, here was no mention of whether there are signs warning of the danger - and, if so, whether these signs are displayed in multiple languages.

Judgment Call

I wouldn't want to be in law enforcement for anything - really - even though I have toyed with the idea. You'd have to have a very strong sense of justice and of people.
Take the disappearance of 6-year-old Aarone Thompson, who was reported missing on 14 November. Her father Aaron told police that she became upset and left the house when he refused to let her have a cookie. Three days later, police halted their search and said they believed Aarone may have been dead as long as 18 months. They said they received a tip but have not released any specifics.
The cases was due to go before a Grand Jury within the next few days but this may now be delayed because Shely Lowe, the woman sharing the house with Aaron at the time has died of an apparent heart attack.
The police evidence about Aarone's "non-disappearance" has not been released but Thompson's defenders critized the investigation for focusing on the couple rather than the missing girl. In turn, the police have called Aaron Thompson's account a fabrication and the couple's behavior "morally reprehensible."
Sam Riddle, a family friend, blamed the investigation for Lowe's death, saying she cried from severe stress at times. "I am firmly convinced the Aurora police and the state of Colorado hounded Shely Lowe to death," Riddle said.
And that's where the ability to "get it right" comes to play. Hopefully the Police are right about their concerns and Thompson (and Lowe) has a case to answer. It would be doubly tragic to think Ms Lowe's death may have been triggered for no good reason - and that Aarone's disappearance should have been pursued in a more rigorous manner.
As well as delaying the trail, the Grand Jurors may also decide to delay questioning of Lowe's children who lived with her and Thompson. (It is unclear if it was the Lowe children who were the "seven childrern removed from the house" following reports of Aarone's disappearance.)

Ophiologist?

There are many things I do not understand - like why people choose to name their email accounts as they do. (Or perhaps it's just me who doesn't have a penchant for herptology!)
In Search in today's Daily Telegraph carried this:

Looking to get in touch with old school friend, Kara Smith, last known address Duffy St, Merrylands, NSW. Daughter of Doug and Barbara Smith. Has a brother Nathan and sister Lisa. Would love to catch up on last 15 years or if someone knows her, please contact Pat at ... checkoutmysnake@yahoo.com.au

And thanks to Wikipedia for:

Ophiology (Greek ophis = "snake" + logy = "study") is a branch of herpetology and deals with the scientific study of snakes, including the natural history and behavior of the animals. An individual who studies snakes is known as an ophiologist. Many professional ophiologists find employment in zoos, while amateur opihiologists mainly keep snakes as pets.

Matter of record

I have been a bit worried about the DVD recorder of late - it didn't record four programs this week. I wasn't sure what was going wrong - it wasn't as though I'd filled all the pages at all. I couldn't even get it to work when I just pressed the record button, forget about setting the timer - and as I was doing that, I saw the error message "disk full". Who would have thought of that (besides Sooz!). I've spent some time this weekend going through the disk, seeing what I needed to watch, what I wanted to keep, and what could go without further ado. I am amazed how much - yet how little - I am recording these days. Mostly it's only two channels - and surprisingly - this isn't reflected in the general television ratings!

Fear Campaign

Is it true that you can scare people into "healthy" behavior? There are two ads doing the rounds at the moment which try to Scare people into either not smokirg or not using their mobile phone while driving. The anti-smoking ad shows a man's gangrenous leg about to be removed. The mobile phone one has a woman drive reaching to get a ringing mobile phone and when it appears in frame it is a gun that she goes to point at her temple. The ad has the super "Dead Ringer". But do these scare tactics work? Or do people think "that won't happen tome" and actively block the message?

Chain emails

What is it about chain emails that people feel compelled to pass them on? I have received three in the last week – all from different people, and all on different subjects. One for “our boys fighting in Iraq”, one for “National Friendship Week” and the other for a project someone’s kid was doing which involved passing on the email to 10 number of people and something cool will happen – although it’s not apparent how the kid will ever know – and how it would tap into the project as such. I didn’t like passing on chain letters, and I’m not one to pass on chain emails either – even though they might be intriguing. D (you know who you are) if you’re reading this – what was the really cool thing that happened?

One to avoid

Ages ago (September 2004: previous item) I blogged about actress Leslie Ash who was battling the aftermath of a hospital superbug. While doctors had said she may never walk again, she did - but she is still suffering from the infection. She made an apearance at the Sony Radio Awards in London recently and almost collapsed after presenting an award. "Every step Leslie takes unaided is a massive physical endeavfour in itself" a source close to the mother-of-two is reported as saying. Not good.

Spree

Do you knew where your credit card is? Have a couple of shopgirls taken it on a shopping spree after you left it at their store? Or has a cleaner gleaned credit card information from your rubbish and used it to fly to another country (three times!) in search of a wife? These are just two of the stories in one newspaper - so how much credit card fraud occurs in a single day throughout the world? And if you found someone had inadvertently left their card in your shop and you decided to take advantage of it, how much could you spend, and how quickly? More than $7,000 in 90 minutes is the benchmark- set by two women in Sydney who spent up on clothing, perfume and designer bags.