South Asia Current Affairs: 2011-07-31

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Caviar makes a home in the desert

Abu Dhabi aims eventually to produce 35 tonnes of caviar per year.

Far away from the Caspian Sea, sturgeon are raised in ponds cooled in the heart of the Gulf desert of Abu Dhabi, carrying in their wombs a form of black gold strange to these countries - caviar.
Production of the desert-grown caviar will begin later this year and by 2012, consumers in the oil-rich Gulf region will begin savouring the food of kings.
"Abu Dhabi is an ideal location for distribution of the world's growing markets for high-quality caviar and sturgeon fillet. In fact, in the UAE alone, demand is around 14 tonnes per year," said Robert Harper, Group Commercial Director at the Royal Caviar Company.
The first stock of fish was brought in to the United Arab Emirates from Germany and the factory, which will breed its own fish in future, aims eventually to produce 35 tonnes of caviar per year.
In the 50,000-square-metre factory, in the Abu Dhabi's industrial zone, special equipment is used to clean water using a biological filtration system with a semi-automated feeding system.
The group also plans to finally produce its own fish food.
In another room, technicians in lab coats carefully place the anaesthetised female fish on a marble slab, where she undergoes an ultrasound test to check for the presence of caviar, the results of which could either show no eggs, white eggs or the precious black caviar eggs.
"In this micro-environment, the sturgeon has no natural predators, and its mortality rate is extremely low," says Harper. "Caviar lovers can enjoy legally and ethically produced caviar."
Meanwhile, Ahmad al-Dhaheri, CEO of Bin Salem Holding group, which owns the The Royal Caviar Company, told reporters: "The sturgeon are threatened with extinction in its natural habitat in the Caspian Sea and by producing it here, we are helping protect this species of fish."
The waste water will be used to water green areas in the desert emirate of Abu Dhabi, said Dhaheri.
The project costs $US115 million ($107.38 million), according to the chief financial officer of the parent company, Michel Nassour.
The UAE-made caviar will be sold at prices between four and six dollars per gram, said Harper, similar to the prices of Caspian Sea caviar.
The factory will also produce up to 700 tonnes of fresh and smoked sturgeon meat every year.
"Genuine" caviar is prized worldwide as a luxurious and highly expensive product due to the scarcity of the sturgeon and the long time it takes the fish to carry the sought-after black eggs.
A sturgeon does not yield caviar until after four-and-a-half years, when its weight reaches around 10kg, one-tenth of which would be pure caviar, said Christoph Hartung, chairman of United Food Technologies, the German partner in the project.
"The caviar of the desert will be excellent," said Hartung.
The finest caviar comes from the Caspian Sea, where Iran is a leading producer.
Russia, the world's second-largest official producer of caviar, banned the harvest of sturgeon caviar in 2006 to help fight overfishing. Caviar production resumed in specially-designed farms in 2010.
The Abu Dhabi-based factory, which began operations in 2008, currently has nearly 18 tonnes of fish with 124 more tonnes to arrive this year.
They will give birth to what the company says is the "first generation of local" sturgeon in the Emirati capital, which sits on almost eight per cent of the world's reserves of oil - the country's other black gold.
AFP

Diamonds: not a man's best friend

How much is the right amount to spend on an engagement ring? Photo: Marco Del Grande

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but for a man facing the task of choosing one for an engagement ring, they may seem more like an enemy.
Along with sorting through countless combinations of size, quality and cut, men must answer the age old question - how much to spend?
When in the vulnerable position, on bended knee, no man wants to seem cheap. But nor do they want to be forking out loan repayments long after the romance of the wedding day has passed.
So how much is the right amount?
Nick Ireland, owner of Diamond Jewellery Studio, which operates in three Australian capital cities, says his company's average client will spend around $10,000 on an engagement ring.
Our clients buy rings from as low as $4,000 but we have also sold a ring for over $1 million. The range is large but most people will spend around $10,000," he told AAP.
The Diamond Jewellery Studios' target market is professionals and Ireland says it is not unusual to sell rings between $40,000 and $50,000.
But not every potential groom has that amount of disposable income, particularly when you take into consideration the looming wedding and honeymoon.
In Australia there seems to be no hard and fast rule for how much should be spent on the ring.
The idea that the expenditure should equal a proportion of the man's salary actually stems from a marketing campaign that began in the United States by diamond conglomerate De Beers, which controls just fewer than 50 per cent of the world's diamond market.
The campaign encouraged loved-up men in the US and other international markets to outlay three months salary on the ring.
But do Australian women really want a quarter of their hubby-to-be's annual salary on their finger?
Honours student Catherine McKenzie, 25, says the cost of her engagement ring is irrelevant.
"I don't care about the price tag of my ring but it is special to me because it represents our love and our future," she said.
"At the end of the day all that is important is that your choices reflect your shared values and the uniqueness of your relationship. As long as it's right for you, it doesn't matter if the ring is a Cheezel."
Event planner Mel Moffatt, who recently married stock broker husband Tim, says she still doesn't know the cost of her princess cut diamond and platinum ring, but thinks there doesn't need to be specific guidelines.
"I don't think there should be a rule on the price. I think it should be more a combination of your financial situation and how long you've been dating," she said.
"But definitely don't break the bank. You can always upgrade later."
Ireland says he and his staff will not guide customers in terms of price, but also says guidance is rarely needed as most clients have done a large amount of research on the internet prior to booking an appointment.
"We don't recommend any price. But we find people have a very set idea of what they want to spend before they come in," he said.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, just over 120,000 people tied the knot in 2009 with the trend showing a relatively steady increase since 2001.
Provided the trend continues, just over that number will be married in 2012 and that means approximately half that amount of men will be looking for a ring.
But should men be left up to the task alone?
McKenzie, who will marry fiance Mark Shaffery in February next year, says no.
"I am very particular about what I like and I don't necessarily have conventional or obvious tastes so it would have been a near impossible task for Mark to find a ring that I would want to wear for the rest of my life," she said.
The internet is also helping modern couples find that special ring, at whatever price they wish to pay.
"I found a vintage estate ring on eBay that features a rose, two leaves and a small one-point diamond in the centre for $150," said McKenzie.
"It is exactly what I wanted and even if we were millionaires I'd still want this one."
Ireland says about half his engagement ring clients shop as couples.
But for those men who want to preserve the romance of the proposal by presenting something in the ring box, they can always buy just the diamond, he says.
Tim Moffatt did just that when he proposed to future bride Mel.
"Tim proposed with the diamond and then we decided on the look for the ring together," Mel Moffatt said.
Whether it's a joint decision between the couple or just the male's purchase, Ireland advises the cut is more important than price when looking for that perfect diamond.
"You're way better off buying a smaller diamond with a perfect cut than a big diamond that looks like a block of ice."
AAP

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/diamonds-not-a-mans-best-friend-20110726-1hy1o.html#ixzz1U86bzOxV

World's priciest and cheapest cities named

Pricey ... if you're looking for a cheap holiday, don't head to Paris. Photo: AFP

To save a few dollars on your next trip, stay clear of cities like Paris, London and New York and look towards Asia.
Those are the findings of a study released last week by a major travel website that calculated the cost of visits to the world's top 50 tourist destinations.
The first 'TripIndex' by the website TripAdvisor ranked the cities by calculating some basic traveller expenses: the average cost of one night in a four-star hotel, an eight-kilometre taxi ride, a large cheese pizza and a dry martini.
The most expensive international city was Paris, with a one-day total of $US429 ($A401) in expenses, followed by Zurich ($US379), London ($US373), Tokyo ($US371) and New York ($US367).
The least expensive international city was Bangkok, Thailand, with those expenses totaling $US112, with Beijing ($US120), Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh ($US128) and Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur ($US134) also among the cheapest.
Hotel and taxi costs were key factors in determining the cheapest destinations.
One night in a four-star hotel in Bangkok was just $US86 – compared to over $US300 in six of the ten most expensive world destinations.
While an eight-kilometre taxi journey costs under $US5 in six of the ten cheapest destinations, the same journey costs around $US40 in the likes of Zurich and Tokyo.
Despite what many locals might expect, the only Australian destination on the list, Sydney, fell close to the middle, with an average tourist's day expected to cost about $US190. This put Sydney 24th on the list, behind cities like Singapore, Rome and Barcelona.
The 50 cities included in the survey were selected based on the places with the largest number of tourist arrivals.
A similar survey earlier this month named Brisbane as Australia's most expensive city for tourists, based on the prices of the most common items purchased at hotels. Melbourne was second most expensive with Sydney third.
Best value international cities
1. Bangkok
2. Beijing
3. Sharm El Sheikh
4. Kuala Lumpur
5. Sofia
6. Budapest
7. Auckland
8. Marrakesh
9. Warsaw
10. Dubai
Most expensive international cities
1. Paris
2. Zurich
3. London
4. Tokyo
5. New York City
6. Rio de Janeiro
7. Moscow
8. Kiev
9. Amsterdam
10. Stockholm

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/business-travel/worlds-priciest-and-cheapest-cities-named-20110804-1id5v.html#ixzz1U85zoxQo

Inside the new Mercedes B-Class

Inside the new Mercedes B-Class.

Mercedes-Benz’s quality resurgence will cascade down to its smallest models.
The company has released the first official pictures of its all-new B-Class, revealing an interior that will adopt higher-grade materials and design touches from its more expensive sedans and sports cars.
Apple’s continuing influence on automotive interior design is also revealed by an iPad-mimicking multimedia display screen that dominates the dash of the new B-Class, a model that will make its debut at September’s Frankfurt motor show.
The colour graphic monitor comes in either 14.7cm or 17.8cm sizes and its display, which includes audio and internet, is controlled by a rotary dial on the centre console.
B-Class buyers will be able to choose from four different interior packages: Exclusive, Chrome, Sports and Basic.
The Exclusive interior comes with a dash top formed from the German car maker’s faux leather that it dubs Artico (the name Drive believes is a touch of German humour, being an abbreviation for artificial cow).
Mercedes has created a far more harmonious and interesting design compared with the somewhat disjointed and drab effort of the outgoing B-Class.
Classier-looking surfaces and materials will be more familiar from models such as the E-Class, while the cross-haired air vents – all five of them – are near identical to those used in the SLS Gullwing supercar and SLK sports car.
A regular handbrake also makes way for a more sophisticated electronic park brake, and Mercedes’ trademark seat-shaped electric seat adjustment controls are positioned on the door.
Mercedes claims the new B-Class, which sits on an all-new, highly flexible platform, will offer more rear legroom than even the S-Class limo.
The B-Class will reach Australia in early 2012 and is the first in a more extensive range of small cars that will also include the next-generation A-Class and a soft-roader, sedan and sports car.
Expect to find a similar version of the B-Class’s interior in the new models.
Courtesy: Drive

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/motors/inside-the-new-mercedes-bclass-20110802-1i95u.html#ixzz1U85oqkLY

Man arrested for trying to split atoms - in his kitchen

A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said he was only doing it as a hobby.
Richard Handl said he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorised possession of nuclear material.
The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.
Only later did he realise it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden's Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.
"I have always been interested in physics and chemistry," Handl said, adding he just wanted to "see if it's possible to split atoms at home".
The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.
Although he says police didn't detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn't such a good idea.
"From now on, I will stick to the theory," he said.
AP

China's maverick to become the richest woman in sport

Cashing in ... Li Na of China. Photo: Getty Images

Li Na, the French Open tennis champion, is on course to become the richest woman in sport as companies fight to cash in on her enormous popularity in China.
Li, 29, has played only four tennis matches and won around £25,000 ($38,000) in prize money since her victory at Roland Garros in June.
However, she has signed at least £26 million ($40 million) of sponsorship deals this year with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and Haagen-Dazs, which believe she could be the key to the lucrative Chinese market.

French success ... Li Na poses with her trophy near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo: Reuters

Her agent, Max Eisenbud, said it was "hard to set a price" after Li became the first Chinese to win a grand slam tournament. "We had to change it a lot," he said.
At present, Li's earnings are second only to Maria Sharapova, the Russian she beat in the semi-finals in Paris, but they are likely to swap positions if she can continue to triumph in major tournaments.
For many Chinese, Li is a maverick.
Known as "China's number one sister" since her victory, she has a tattoo, has dyed her hair, and has been known to shout at her fans as well as her husband.
In 2008, she quit China's Soviet-style national sports system and started her own team, giving her control over her finances and making her a role model of independence from the state.
That did not stop her, however, from appearing on the cover of People's Daily, the staid official newspaper, in a spot usually reserved for Hu Jintao, the president, when she triumphed in Paris and more than 116 million Chinese watched the match.
"What a transformation!" said Terry Rhoads, the former head of sports marketing at Nike who gave Li her first £15,400 a year sponsorship deal in 1998.
"Two years ago, she could not buy a sponsor. Now she is the only person with a Nike deal who can wear patches from other sponsors on her clothes," he said. "They told Nike: if you blink, there are a host of Chinese sports brands ready to pay big money."
As international brands try to make their mark in China, Li is in a seller's market, he said.
"You have a lot of people searching for someone who has credibility, who can make the needle move and make Chinese stop and think. And Li Na has separated herself from the pack," he said. "She speaks English, she has a great personality, and she's a world champion in a sport that China has traditionally not dominated in. And with Yao Ming retiring, that leaves a big hole," he added, referring to China's former sporting hero who was forced to quit basketball this year due to injury.
"She is also a great ambassador, very pleasant and very interesting, and that has a positive effect on the way people see China, which makes Chinese people feel very proud," he said.
However, Ye Feng, a brand consultant in Beijing, said Li, who returns to her home town of Wuhan to play a tournament later this year, might be too ordinary to captivate the Chinese market.
"In general, Chinese fans prefer athletes with good looks, which is not her advantage," he said. "Yao Ming is much more recognisable to Chinese eyes and men get more attention from the public," he added. "I am not sure many Chinese could identify Li Na's face. "
The Daily Telegraph, London

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/luxury/chinas-maverick-to-become-the-richest-woman-in-sport-20110804-1id5q.html#ixzz1U84PgSIj

Stress is top reason for lengthy sick leave

Stressed out ... the number one reason for work sick leave. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

MENTAL health issues have overtaken physical injury as the cause of the longest absences from work.
About 55 per cent of people who suffer stress or other mental conditions on the job are taking five or more sick days in a row, figures from the Bureau of Statistics publication, Australian Social Trends, June 2011, show.
And research to be released this year shows that workers with mild levels of depression take twice as many sick days. About 20 per cent of the working population experience mild levels of depression, the research indicates.
Fractures are the next largest category of workplace absence, with 54 per cent of those with broken bones away for a week or more.
Workers off sick with a job-related mental disorder take an average of 10.8 weeks off, and experts say workplace bullying and harassment, as well as heavy workloads, are leading to the rise in mental stress claims.
The bureau report also shows:
53 out of every 1000 workers suffer a work-related injury or illness - about 640,000 workers a year.
Work-related injuries and illnesses cost about $60 billion a year.
The accommodation and food services industry has the highest injury rate - 84 per 1000 employees.
About 4.8 per cent of compensation claims compiled by Safe Work Australia - about 61,600 workers - were for mental disorders. The median payout for psychological injury was $16,300.
Separate data for federal public servants show there has been a 54 per cent increase in mental stress claims in the past five years.
Comcare, the federal work health and safety regulator, said while injury compensation claims by government workers fell in the same period, it is concerned at the growing proportion of claims for workplace stress.
Neil Quarmby, general manager for Work Health and Safety at Comcare, said mental stress claims in the past 12 months accounted for close to 22 per cent of all serious claims involving a week or more off work.
Mr Quarmby said psychosocial risk factors must be urgently addressed by employers and that bosses should know how to identify signs of mental health problems among workers.
Maureen Dollard, an expert in work stress and director of the Centre for Applied Psychological Research at the University of South Australia, said the main factors leading to stress are work pressure and bullying.
Employees are pressured by the ''relentless drive'' towards productivity increases, Professor Dollard said. ''It's all about the quantity of work, rather than the quality of it.
''It's taking its toll. It's dehumanising. Managers are after short-term productivity gains and don't really value the worker any more.''
She said managers need to be aware of the priority they give to psychological health versus productivity.
''We are on this mad cycle of work intensification, globalisation, competition. Unless people start to pull back and think more about the welfare of the workers, it will become a serious public health issue.''
Professor Dollard said early indications of work stress research by the centre, soon to be published, indicates that people who experience mild levels of depression have twice as many sick days as those who do not.
The research, to be published this year and based on responses from 3000 workers, indicates about 20 per cent of the working population experience mild depression.

Bigger income leads to better sex

FINANCIAL stress is the equivalent of a cold shower.
A survey by Relationships Australia has revealed that people's sex lives improve along with their income - and that the magic number for satisfaction starts at about $80,000.
Only 44 per cent of people with a household income under $60,000 a year are sexually active, compared with 81 per cent of people with a household income of more than $80,000 a year.
Money worries were a leading cause of relationship breakdown, said Relationships Australia executive director for development and practice, Samantha Aldridge.
''When you look at households earning under $60,000, less than half of them are sexually active,'' she said. ''It would be difficult to manage a household on $60,000 without feeling some financial pressure. Financial stress has a huge impact on relationship satisfaction and on intimacy and, now we know also, sexual activity.''
The findings of the Relationships Indicators Survey 2011 showed that 60 per cent of Australians aged 18 and over are sexually active.
But it is not the tempting 20-somethings or the flirty 30s enjoying the most satisfying love lives. Instead, satisfaction levels are likely to be higher among those in their 40s and seniors, the survey of 1200 people found.
Only 65 per cent of respondents aged 25 to 34 are contented with their sexual activity.
The happiest age group are the 40- to 49-year-olds, with 74 per cent of whom are pleased with their passionate pursuits. But the 60- to 69-year-olds and the over 70s are not far behind - 72 per cent of respondents in both age groups reported that they are satisfied with their sex lives.
Ms Aldridge said people in their late 20s and early 30s are under a lot of pressure. ''That is the time people are either building a career or building a family or trying to do both,'' she said. ''We know that people are staying at university for longer, so they're not entering an active earning capacity until later in life. Some people in that age group are still living at home and that's going to put a dampener on sexual activity to some extent.
''That age group is less independent financially, and otherwise, than they have been historically and that is having a significant impact on their sex lives.''
But the rut does not last, with satisfaction rates improving significantly among respondents in their late 30s and 40s.
''Between 40 and 49 you have children who are becoming increasingly independent, you've probably returned to the workforce, you probably have a fairly solid career behind you, so your income is going to be in a higher bracket,'' Ms Aldridge said.
The national survey was conducted in February and March this year and showed an increase in the number of sexually active people aged 70 and over. A quarter of these people reported that they were sexually active, compared with 17 per cent in the Relationships Indicators Survey conducted in 2008.
Of those who were sexually active, 72 per cent reported being satisfied, compared with 67 per cent in 2008.
''There is more to it than Viagra,'' Ms Aldridge said.
''They are feeling more supported by family, friends and communities. They are feeling more optimistic. All of those things will contribute to a healthier sexual relationship.''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/management/bigger-income-leads-to-better-sex-20110802-1i94z.html#ixzz1U840QSqS

Leadership tips for introverts

A new academic study shoots holes in the theory that you have to be an extravert to be a good leader. Photo: Nicolas Walker

For Andrew Jetter, it was a matter of eye contact. Inclined to be an introvert, the bank president had to force himself to look others in the eyes.
"Making small talk ... I had to practise that," said the chief executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, Kansas.
"I have to force myself to greet new people. The hardest thing is to go to a big conference where there are 150 there and I know three or four, maybe. It's a challenge."
Jetter worked hard and made it to the top of his profession without having the natural gregariousness - or what psychologists call extraversion - usually associated with leadership.
It's a journey taken by many shy or introverted people, who represent anywhere from 25 per cent to 40 per cent of the population.
But a new academic study shoots holes in the theory that you have to be an extravert to be a good leader. It turns out that introverts, or shy people, can be great leaders, too.
A recently published analysis by Adam Grant, an associate professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, looked at 73 previous studies that found extraversion was "the most consistent predictor of leadership emergence".
But Grant wrote: "In contrast to popular wisdom, our work suggests that extraversion can be a liability for leaders."
Stripped to its most basic, Grant's research concluded that extraverted leaders - who may be big talkers comfortable with sharing opinions and, often, orders - are very good with subordinates who tend to be more passive or comfortable with being told what to do.
But in organisations where subordinates are more dynamic or aggressive, extraverted leaders may clash or fail to listen to the input that they should from others.
In workplaces with confident, self-starting workers, introverted leaders shine. They listen better, and they're more receptive to good ideas from their subordinates, Grant found.
At Kansas Action for Children, a non-profit advocacy organisation, Chief Executive Shannon Cotsoradis had doubted she could fill the shoes of her predecessor, a dynamic extravert.
"I've always perceived myself as an introvert and saw it as a leadership handicap," Cotsoradis said. "I really wondered if I could be successful in a CEO role. I wasn't sure it played to my strengths."
Like Jetter, Cotsoradis sought guidance from a counsellor. Through Right Management, Jetter connected with Mack Harnden, and Cotsoradis worked with Connie Russell, both of whom provided leadership coaching.
"What was pivotal for me was changing the way I thought a leader should be," Cotsoradis said. "I learned to trust my own leadership brand. I've found ways to make the demands of the job work for me."
When she counsels introverts, Russell said, she finds that their challenge typically is to become comfortable sharing enough of themselves to make interpersonal connections, the foundation for building trust among subordinates.
"Without connections, people assume you're self-centred or too self-effacing to take command," Russell said. "You have to make connections to show you have the self-confidence to command respect."
Harnden said he encouraged introverts to "toot their own horns a little bit, or they'll be bypassed". They have to find a balance point, he said, between humility and resolve.
As Grant's study found, the introverted leader sometimes has an advantage over extraverted leaders when it's important to share the spotlight with others.
"That's one of the best ways to build support as well as bench strength - sharing the glory," Harnden said.
MCT

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/management/leadership-tips-for-introverts-20110804-1icu0.html#ixzz1U83qQVkh

Why do women prefer tall men?

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.

Tall men attract the ladies because they remind them of our violent ape-like ancestors, according to a new theory.
A study shows men hit harder when they stand on two legs than when they kneel down, and when directing punches downwards.
This might explain why early humans began walking upright, and also why women prefer tall men, say US researchers.
"The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that our ancestors adopted bipedal posture so that males would be better at beating and killing each other when competing for females," said Professor David Carrier, from the University of Utah.
"Standing up on their hind legs allowed our ancestors to fight with the strength of their forelimbs, making punching much more dangerous.
"It also provides a functional explanation for why women find tall men attractive.
"Early in human evolution, an enhanced capacity to strike downward on an opponent may have given tall males a greater capacity to compete for mates and to defend their resources and offspring. If this were true, females who chose to mate with tall males would have had greater fitness for survival."
The findings are reported in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.
Professor Carrier's team measured the force of punches delivered by male boxers and martial arts experts as they hit in four different directions, forwards, sideways, down and up.
A punch bag fitted with a sensor recorded the force of the forward and sideways blows.
For strikes downward and upward, the men struck a heavy padded block on the end of a swinging lever.
The men hit the targets as hard as they could, both from a standing posture and on their hands and knees.
For all punching angles, the blows were much harder when delivered standing up rather than kneeling down. From a standing position, side-strikes were 64 per cent harder, forward and upward strikes were 48 per cent harder, and downward strikes were 44 per cent harder.
And whether standing up or kneeling down, the men could hit three times harder punching downward.
The switch to walking on two legs was a defining point in human evolution, but the reason it happened is still unclear.
Charles Darwin, the "father" of evolution, thought human ancestors stood up so they could handle tools and weapons.
Later a host of other reasons for bipedalism were suggested, including carrying food, dissipating heat, efficient running, and reaching high branches.
Today, one of the most popular theories to explain the upright human posture is locomotor advantage. Standing on two legs is said to increase the efficiency of walking and running.
But Professor Carrier said this was not born out by research showing that bipedal walking is "energetically more expensive".
Nearly all mammals, including chimpanzees and gorillas, move on all fours when running or covering long distances on the ground, he pointed out.
On the other hand, many four-legged animals stood up and used their forelegs to fight, including anteaters, lions, wolves, bears, horses and rabbits.
Many studies have shown that women find tall men more attractive. But Professor Carrier disagrees with the theory that this is chiefly because height indicates "good genes" which may be passed onto offspring.
"If that were the whole story, I would expect the same to be true for men - that men would be attracted to tall women," he said. "But it turns out they're not. Men are attracted to women of average height or even shorter."
The alternative explanation may be that among human ancestors, tall males were better able to defend their resources, partners and offspring, Professor Carrier believes.
He stressed this did not imply that women are attracted to physically abusive men.
"From the perspective of sexual selection theory, women are attracted to powerful males, not because powerful males can beat them up, but because powerful males can protect them and their children from other males," Professor Carrier said.
"In a world of automatic weapons and guided missiles, male physical strength has little relevance to most conflicts between males. But guns have been common weapons for less than 15 human generations. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised that modern females are still attracted to physical traits that predict how their mates would fare in a fight."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/style/why-do-women-prefer-tall-men-20110520-1evrk.html#ixzz1U83aXO8Q

The steroid generation

Most men are very unlikely to admit to using steroids in the gym. Photo: Tanya Lake

In the gym it is hard not to look at the rippling, bulked up behemoths and wonder "are they on it?"
Yet nobody ever talks about steroid use. They may boast about taking other substances for fun on the weekend, but on the roids? Guys are much less willing to fess up about those.
Of course they have been around for decades. The East Germans had a national program, and during the 1990s baseball in the USA was flooded with them. Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, and The Tour de France? Enough said. And most recently, five North Korean female soccer players tested positive, with their defence being some musk deer gland medicine used to treat lightning strike.
So they are everywhere in sport, and yet seemingly nowhere in the gym. I can only suppose that is it because the average gym member has no regulating body or monthly drug tests. So how would you know if someone at the gym was taking a few jabs of this and a few cycles of that?
To find out, the University of California, Los Angeles ran a study on the type of people using steroids. Of 500 users surveyed, almost four out of five users were non-athletes taking them for cosmetic reasons. Almost 15 per cent admitted to unsafe practices such as needle sharing and reusing needles, and 99.2% of all users reported side effects.

The acne, hair loss, mood changes, decrease in the size of testicles, and the breast development is just the start of it – roid rage and the permanent (internal and external) damage to yourself and others is where steroid abuse can really start to take its toll. Then there is the fact that they are illegal, and have to be passed in sneaky vials and concealed packages in overseas mail bags.
I cannot comprehend the risk that so many Jersey Shore wannabes take on in the quest for a swollen six pack – like the unfortunate case of the Sydney personal trainer who attracted a Facebook fanbase for his muscle photos, and was then charged for possession of steroids.
It’s easy for us normal-sized people to scoff, but what if I was offered $5million for the next Hollywood superstar role and had to get beefed up in six months? Would I attempt to sneak a bit of the muscle juice to get those fast results? Hmmm. I would probably think about it, just like some of those who took part in the UCLA study.
The documentary Bigger, Faster, Stronger poses this very conundrum, portraying the story of steroids from both sides. And I have to say, it has pushed me back on the fence. Are they bad for you? Yes, we all know they can be. But like many drugs, from caffeine to alcohol to cocaine to aspirin – while severe usage can be very bad for your mind and your body - small medicinal doses can also be beneficial.
While it's a given that drug abuse always ends ugly, this great doco leaves the ‘how bad are steroids’ argument for the viewer to decide on.
We know one Hollywood star who sticks by performance enhancing drugs, and Sylvester Stallone wasn’t so sly when he was caught smuggling 48 vials of it into Australia for its anti-aging effects. So could Sly be right? Could some performance enhancing drugs improve the life of a man as he approaches his 50s, 60s, and beyond?
Maybe. But it’s a very different health debate than the case for using steroids as an essential ingredient of a gym workout.
And for most of us, Hollywood isn’t likely to come knocking anytime soon.
Do you have any experience with steroids? What do you think about their use in gyms?

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/fitness/blogs/boot-camp/the-steroid-generation-20110803-1ibf7.html#ixzz1U82OiIlJ

Mr Bean crashes $1m supercar

Rowan Atkinson is reportedly lucky to be alive after crashing his McLaren F1 supercar.
Top Gear’s fastest celebrity in a reasonably priced car has just crashed a very expensive one.
According to UK news sites, Rowan Atkinson crashed his £650,000 (AU$1,010,000) McLaren supercar after he reportedly lost control and spun off the road before crashing into a tree and a lamp-post. The car is said to have caught alight following the accident.
The 56-year-old is reported to have freed himself from the wreckage, with a fellow motorist comforting the Mr Bean actor before paramedics arrived at the scene.
According to a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service, Atkinson was taken to hospital with “minor injuries”.
One witness is quoted as saying: “Rowan is lucky to be alive”.
The Sun quotes a witness as saying: “It's a miracle that he managed to walk away from the crash. He's a very lucky man. The car was a wreck, really badly damaged. Rowan must be absolutely gutted.”
It is widely reported that Atkinson purchased the rare supercar to celebrate the success of the Mr Bean film franchise.
It’s not the first time Atkinson has bingled the McLaren F1 supercar. The actor reportedly rear-ended a Rover Metro in October 1999.
Two weeks ago, Atkinson set the fastest time ever recorded on Top Gear UK’s “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment.
Atkinson is a renowned car enthusiast, and has written for a number specialist car magazines
He’s best known for his work on Mr Bean and for being the star of the comedy series Black Adder.
Source : The Age

Iconic 'most faithful dog in world' just a tourist scam: historian

Greyfriars Bobby is commemorated by a statue in Edinburgh, but the legendary tale of the loyal dog was just a tourist scam, a historian claims. Photo: Getty Images

The most faithful dog in the world, which kept a 14-year vigil at his master's grave in Edinburgh, Scotland, was nothing but a Victorian business stunt, according to historian Jan Bondeson.
The 140-year-old story of Greyfriars Bobby continues to draw tourists to the graveyard that was once inhabited by the Skye Terrier commemorated by a bronze fountain erected in his memory in the cemetery and immortalised on the silver screen by Walt Disney in a 1961 film.
But Bondeson, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University, claims that Bobby was far from the dependable dog portrayed in the tale of undying Scottish devotion.
He says the story was a fabrication, created by cemetery curator, James Brown, and restaurant owner, John Traill, to drum up custom for local businesses -- and that Bobby was a stray mutt, bribed with food to stay in the graveyard.
"The entire story is wrong --the account of the dog on the drinking fountain who supposedly kept vigil at his master's grave in all kinds of weather is not accurate. Bobby would go out hunting rats in the church and was kept well fed by the locals. He was not a mourning dog at all -- he was a happy little dog," Bondeson told Reuters.
The trusty terrier - as the story goes- kept watch over the grave of his beloved master, Edinburgh policeman John Gray, from his death in 1858 until the animal died in 1872.
However, after studying drawings and contemporary accounts of Bobby while researching his book, "Amazing Dogs", Bondeson also realised that he was looking at two different pooches.
"I noticed that the two dogs looked quite different. The first Bobby was quite an ugly dog but in later paintings he looks just like the statue on the drinking fountain," Bondeson said.
The first Bobby, an old mongrel, died in 1867, leaving Brown and Traill with a problem on their hands, Bondeson said.
"A dead bobby was no good for business, so they replaced him with a pure-bred Skye terrier who lived for a further five years until 1872 -- after which it time did not take long for the fountain to be erected," said Bondeson.
Read: Guide to Edinburgh

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/iconic-most-faithful-dog-in-world-just-a-tourist-scam-historian-20110805-1ied6.html#ixzz1U81ePnqm

Facebook's new 'Expected: Child' tag sparks outcry

Support services ... counselling by midwives can ease post-natal fears.

Facebook recently added "Expected: Child" to its list of friends and family tags. Photo: Louise Kennerley

Got a bun in the oven? Facebook just made it easier to tell all your friends and acquaintances about your new pregnancy in one fell swoop. The social networking site recently added "Expected: Child" to its list of friends and family tags.
The company also allows you to write in your due date and has optional space for the soon-to-be little one's name.
Finding out that a friend or former high school mate is pregnant on Facebook is nothing new. Who hasn't seen a tummy holding photo or an ultrasound printout or even just a morning sickness complaint come through on the daily feed? But that hasn't stopped the internet from going bonkers over this new information.
Here's a snapshot of the Twitter-river on the topic:
"This is just weird"
"This freaks me out"
"Oh lawls, whatz next list your ovulation calendar?!"
"Just me or is this creepy?"
When I heard the news I put in a call to a friend who is 10 weeks pregnant to see if she would consider adding an "Expected: Child" on her Facebook account.
The answer? A big fat no.
"I'm so curious to see who would even do that," she said.
She identified three main problems with this new designation.
1. It might hurt her friends' feelings to hear about her pregnancy over Facebook rather than in person.
2. The issues around having a miscarriage.
3. For people who have had trouble conceiving, Facebook was already a minefield of pregnancy announcements and new baby photos. Putting a countdown to baby right on one's own profile might be even more hurtful to these people.
On the other hand, if you tell your circle you are having a baby via Facebook, you save yourself from having the "Guess what?" conversation over and over. You can just sit back, breathe through your first trimester nausea and collect the "Congratulations!" wall posts.
Los Angeles Times

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/facebooks-new-expected-child-tag-sparks-outcry-20110804-1icwd.html#ixzz1U81SFkR2

RIM unveils BlackBerry 7 OS phones

BlackBerry Torch 9860.

RIM is fighting back the smartphone hordes with the play-friendly BlackBerry 7 OS running on the Torch 9860 and Bold 9900.

BackBerry’s once iron grip on the corporate phone market is slipping as iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices all beef up their business credentials. RIM fought back with a consumer-friendly makeover for BlackBerry 6 OS phones such as the Torch 9800. The play-friendly push continues with the unveiling of new BlackBerry phones running BlackBerry 7 OS.

The new Torch 9860 and Bold 9900 will initially be exclusive to Optus, to go on sale in September. They feature a 1.2 GHz processor and a new interface powered by Liquid Graphics, underpinning an improved Webkit browser and optimised HTML5 performance. RIM has been quick to push BlackBerry 7 OS’ touch-friendliness and improved social networking integration such as updating the Facebook for BlackBerry app to tighten integration with BlackBerry Messenger.

Integration with third-party services and attracting wider developer support are crucial for RIM’s future, according to Ovum analyst Tony Cripps.

RIM's new BlackBerry smartphones could be “the most important devices in the Canadian smart device vendor's history”, following a recent slowdown in device shipments, staff cuts and doubts over the company's strategy and leadership, Cripps says.

“The latest BlackBerry 7 OS and much-improved BlackBerry Browser certainly seem to offer a compelling device-side user experience, one very much comparable to the oft-maligned PlayBook tablet. However, the real proof of the pudding is whether that software-driven experience captures the imagination of third parties who might wish to write and deploy applications or content to those devices.”

The launch of new BlackBerry 7 OS devices comes as RIM plans to switch its top of the line BlackBerry phones to the QNX operating system next year, which currently forms the basis of Tablet OS used on the BlackBerry PlayBook. RIM is banking on the unification of its smartphone and tablet platforms to attract developer support.

Facebook v Shagbook in trademark battle

This post was originally published on Mashable.com
In an eyebrow-raising trademark battle, Facebook filed suit against adult dating site Shagbook in May. Facebook’s contention: that the world’s largest social network would be “damaged by the issuance of a registration for the mark Shagbook.”
Shagbook has now filed its own opposition, along with counterclaims, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
As represented by SNRG Ventures, Shagbook, in the filing, “denies the allegation that Facebook is highly distinctive as it is a generic term”. It also challenges the validity of Facebook’s trademark, arguing that it should never have been granted.
Shagbook, in Facebook’s reasoning, is in violation of Facebook’s trademark because the site’s name is highly similar in “appearance, sound meaning, and commercial impression”. Its filing says the name was adopted with “the intent to call to mind and create a likelihood of confusion … and/or trade off the fame of Facebook”.
Not so, says Shagbook. When its American owner was living in the UK, he “referred to his little black book as his little ‘Shagbook’”, a representative for SNRG Ventures told Mashable. “He was amused with the word ‘shag’, and picked up the name Shagbook.com, all perfectly innocently.”
Just how far will Shagbook go to fight Facebook’s trademark suit? “SNRG and Facebook’s attorneys have spoken but there have been no formal negotiations as of yet,” the representative tells us. “SNRG plans to vigorously defend the Shagbook mark.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first instance of Facebook attempting to protect its mark. The social network has made several prior trademark claims against web companies using “face” or “book” in their names.
The full text of Facebook’s original filing against Shagbook, and Shagbook’s counter click here.
Mashable.com is the world's largest blog focused exclusively on social media news.

Evil fiction: teacher a target of fake Facebook profile

Police are hunting the creator of a fake Facebook profile that was used to impersonate a Sydney primary school teacher and frame him as a paedophile by targeting kids at his school.
The teacher, who cannot be named, is a long-time campaigner against racism online and with others he runs a blog that names and shames racists by publishing their hate-filled Facebook postings.
In a phone interview, he said he believed this is why he was targeted. He said he and his family had been harassed over the phone, received death threats and had threatening notes left in his mail box after his personal details - including his address, phone number, photos and work details - were posted on a white supremacist website.
"This Facebook profile opened up a couple of days ago with a picture of me and a friend with shirts off holding a beer ... they were writing things on the wall such as 'i'm gay and I like little boys' and all sorts of things like that," the teacher said in a phone interview.
"They were engaging with students - kids were commenting and they were writing back pretending to be me."
Screenshots of the fake profile, which Fairfax Media has chosen not to publish, have photos of the teacher with captions such as "this is me being a gay god". The About Me section says: "I'm a teacher at [redacted] and I adore my students. Especially the boy's [sic] I could eat them up with a spoon".
The screenshots also show students posting on the wall debating whether the profile is real. Some appeared to be tricked by the ruse. "Hey mr [redacted] can I do training next week because my leg is better," wrote one.
The teacher said parents had contacted him asking why he befriended their children on Facebook and he worried the impersonators were also grooming them through private messages. Their goal, he believes, was to "portray me as a paedophile and make me lose my job".
The teacher said he had reported the harassment to police. He had been making reports about the phone threats for months but police had never done anything about it.
"I've got about six or seven outstanding police reports and none of them have been touched. I tried to get an AVO [apprehended violence order] in Sydney but I didn't even get it due to a police f*** up," he said.
But now that kids have become involved and parents have begun complaining, NSW Police has fired up an investigation.
"Redfern Police are investigating a fake Facebook page created to impersonate a south-western Sydney teacher," a NSW Police spokesman said.
"The matter was reported to Redfern Police on 1 August 2011 after the teacher was alerted by one of the parents at the school. It will be alleged the parent told him the impersonator had added a number of his students as friends."
Police said inquiries into the matter were continuing. The spokesman said a person charged in relation to this type of crime could be charged with offences under the Telecommunications Act including using a carriage service to harass or menace.
It is understood the teacher reported the incident to his local MP, Tanya Plibersek, whose office referred it to the Australian Federal Police. However, the AFP said it only investigated crimes against federal government departments and not private companies or individuals.
"Facebook is hosted in the United States, which makes it difficult for Australian law enforcement agencies to police," the AFP spokesman said.
"Individual users of Facebook who feel threatened by material that they believe is being posted by someone they know or who is close to them, can report these matters to their local state/territory police in the first instance."

Read Complete Article….

Airport cab drivers' short fuse

Reluctant ... Taxi drivers are becoming increasingly difficult over short trips from Melbourne airport.

PASSENGERS who catch a taxi from Melbourne Airport are too often having to deal with drivers who are reluctant to take short trips, a submission to the state government's taxi inquiry says.
In a submission to the taxi inquiry, being conducted by former consumer watchdog chairman Allan Fels, the airport's management says there is a problem with short fares from the airport to surrounding suburbs. ''It is an all-too-common experience for arriving passengers to encounter reluctance from drivers for short fare trips,'' the submission says.
The submission also argues that there must be greater enforcement of requirements for drivers to accept all fares. Airport passengers pay a $2 taxi surcharge. Of this, $1.32 goes to the airport.
CLAY LUCAS

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/airport-cab-drivers-short-fuse-20110804-1iduu.html#ixzz1U80eo9jL

The world through an 11-year-old's eyes

<i>I Am Eleven</i> director Genevieve Bailey with one of the subjects of her film, Jamira.

I Am Eleven director Genevieve Bailey with one of the subjects of her film, Jamira. Photo: Teagan Glenane

An Australian documentary in the style of Michael Apted's classic Seven Up may prove to be the sleeper hit of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
I am Eleven, by Melbourne filmmaker Genevieve Bailey, takes a look at the lives of 11-year-olds the world over - Australia, Thailand, Morocco, the US, India, Europe and Japan - to find out what makes them tick. The surprising answer is, according to Bailey, a real passion for the issues of our age.
"I think people will be shocked when they see how articulate and frank and passionate a lot of the kids are about universal themes - anything from politics to the environment to love ...
"People will be energised by it. It's an optimistic film that also touches on more serious issues. It's a tough age where kids are full of ideas and personality and opinions and they're not afraid to express them."
Jack, from Thailand, gave his thoughts on Islam in the film. "We shouldn't think that all Muslims are terrorists," he said. "I spent some time in Saudi Arabia and I loved it. There were some really strict laws on women's rights - if you had a woman in your group in a restaurant you'd have to sit in the family section - but in the end I thought it was a pretty nice place."
Jamira, from Australia, is interviewed about her background and fondness for stargazing. "I am proud to be Aboriginal because my culture's very interesting to me," she said. "Me and my da, we look up at the stars at night-time and my dad goes what do you think about that place? I think there would be aliens or other people like us living on another planet thinking about the same thing that that we're thinking." "I am not a citizen of France, I am a citizen of the world," said Remi, from France."I've always dreamt that there are no borders, that the world is just one country. That way there would be no more inequalities."
Bailey said she was partly inspired by Seven Up, which has tracked the lives of 14 British youths at seven-year intervals from 1964.
"I grew up watching Seven Up with my family and we used to quote it at the dinner table and all have our favourite kids on it. I definitely loved it but it was so British, and although I loved that it was British ... I wanted to make my film on a global scale, not just in Australia."
In all, 23 11-year-olds appear in the entirely self-funded film, which Bailey began in 2005. "I wanted to study an age, and I thought back to my favourite age in life and it was when I was 11," said Bailey, 30. "I wondered whether, given how the world is today with technology and the internet ... 11 is still the special age that I remembered it to be."
Strictly speaking, the film is not just about 11-year-olds. Because of the lengthy production time, there's a mini Seven Up progession within the film. "I started in 2005 so a lot of the kids aren't 11any more. I've actually gone back and revisited a lot of them."
MIFF has schedule an extra screening of I am Eleven for Sunday 7 August, 11:00am at Greater Union. The film will also show at Palace Cinemas in North Brighton on August 18.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-world-through-an-11yearolds-eyes-20110804-1idon.html#ixzz1U80S0JyR

The king of animal instincts

In Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Andy Serkis again shows his creature portrayals go more than skin deep.
WE CAN all remember the turning point in our lives or careers. Andy Serkis's recollection is especially vivid. He was on a stage in the Wellington studios of Weta, director Peter Jackson's visual-effects house, his body dotted with sensors. A video screen was nearby.
''As I lifted my hand and began moving my head, I could see Gollum doing the same thing on the screen,'' Serkis says. ''It was like looking at a magic mirror.''
This was during the filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In every sense, Serkis was Gollum, the haunted nemesis of author J.R.R. Tolkien's imagining; literally, a man-made creature.

Andy Serkis as Caesar the chimp with James Franco in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Photo: AP

The process is called motion capture, or performance capture. Pioneered by the Weta Workshop in New Zealand, it recently reached new levels in James Cameron's Avatar.
After Gollum, Andy Serkis played King Kong and now he is Caesar, the chimpanzee and protagonist in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In each case, Serkis becomes the animal, mostly speechless but certainly not voiceless.
The sensors and cameras, improved with each outing, map and track his every move and feed the multitude of facial and body movements into computers, which then render them as his new self. The process means Serkis can act alongside other real characters.

Andy Serkis. Photo: AP

To his director, Rupert Wyatt, it is a bravura performance in keeping with Serkis's reputation. ''Andy Serkis is our generation's Charlie Chaplin,'' Wyatt says of his fellow Englishman in his production notes.
''By that, I mean he's one of the very few actors around who has fully embraced the available visual-effects technology because he completely understands the full potential of what it can achieve. He's able to push through the technology and focus on the role,'' Wyatt adds in a later interview. ''I do think he's one of the great actors in the world."
It's not that Serkis goes looking for this kind of work, he says, but it invariably finds him. He has worked away from the sensors, most notably in Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, a biopic of British new-wave performer Ian Dury, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award. Not that the biopic role is needed to demonstrate his acting chops, Serkis says, but it does provide what he clearly feels is much-needed validation of his view that his performances are pure acting rather than something created by computers.

Andy Serkis as Gollum.

Interestingly, criticism originates from his own profession, Wyatt's glowing endorsement of Serkis's talent notwithstanding.
''That's what actors don't understand,'' Serkis says. ''Actors work in different ways. Some play characters close to themselves, others go in search of characters a little way away from them, others a long way from themselves; transformational roles are what they seek. I'm one of those actors who likes to go that way.
''Pushing the characters as far away as possible [from yourself] makes the challenge greater and finding an ability to connect with those roles is what you've got to want to do if you want to use this technology. The price of that is you completely disappear into the role and that you're manifested on the screen and you won't be recognised as you.''

Andy Serkis as Ian Dury.

So, no, there is no resemblance between Serkis and Caesar the chimp. But that's Serkis giving Caesar's face and character depth and life, from shambling movement to evocative, soul-deep eyes.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes reimagines the beginnings of the now 43-year-old original movie. Caesar is the survivor of a medical experiment gone wrong - an attempt by James Franco's character, scientist Will Rodman, to regenerate brain tissue as a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Caesar is the child of such a victim of experimentation. The mutation that makes the cure short-lived and fatal for humans revs the IQ of primates.
Serkis is closing on 50 but he is one star who doesn't have to worry about his looks, at least in this line of work.
There is the comfort, too, of believing the next generation appreciates him, even if this one doesn't, or can't make the distinction between digital and analog. ''They totally get it,'' Serkis says. ''Kids understand because they're the generation that plays with Wii and Nintendo.''
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is now screening. Gerard Wright travelled courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-king-of-animal-instincts-20110804-1ic3z.html#ixzz1U80EOqV0

This time it's serious

If you thought round one of the financial crisis was pretty rough three years ago, that was just a dress rehearsal for the main act. And the performance has just begun.
For the past 10 days, the markets have been doing the dance of the uncertain. Serious falls but nothing to get too alarmed about. On Wednesday things began to get ugly. Then came last night, when it finally dawned on traders in Europe and North America that there is almost no way to avoid an economic calamity.
The problem is compounded by the fact that it is so alarmingly huge and that it is replicated throughout the developed world. Massive deficits, enormous debts, and no obvious way to pay for it all.

Downward trend ... The ASX took a tumble yesterday.

Downward trend? Markets tremble as world lurches toward GFC MK II.

Global markets now have given up on the pretence that it all will somehow work out. They've given up on the soothing statements from politicians. Even those eternal optimists, stockbrokers, no longer believe their own rhetoric about "green shoots" and "return to a bull market".
And once greed turns to fear, as has been occurring for the past week and a half, it's everyone for himself.
In round one, governments bailed out the private sector. The financiers who engineered the problem got away scot-free. But who will bail out the governments?
The word around Wall Street last night was that the economy needed another round of stimulus, even more money printing, to stave off an imminent recession.
The second round of stimulus, the much vaunted QE2, wound up only a couple of weeks ago. It did nothing except add more debt to the national accounts. Employment has stagnated, economic growth has flatlined, consumer spending is down.
Western consumers seem to have picked up what the financiers and governments don't seem to understand; that there is too much debt and that it is time to pay it down.
This isn't the first time the world has seen sovereign debt crises. But it is the first time it has been of this magnitude and the first time it has infected First World economies on such a scale. The last major outbreak, in Latin America several decades ago, was before the forces of globalisation connected the entire world to everyone else's opportunities and misfortunes.
The Asian crisis of 1997 was largely confined to the region and, to their credit, those nations took their medicine, attempted to rectify the problems and resumed their normal activities.
The developed world has not been prepared to do the same this time. Debt problems have been given a temporary balm by the addition of greater debt.
And for all those who talk about a soft landing for Australia? We are one of the most exposed nations on earth, a small economy that relies extensively on exports and trade. As for all those who reckon we have "decoupled" from America and that our relationship with China will save us, you are partly correct. But China is tied to the US, courtesy of its huge exposure to American debt. That's only one degree of separation.
Let's hope governments can come to some meaningful way to resolve the problems confronting global finance. After the farce in Washington during the past month, that seems highly unlikely.
iverrender@smh.com.au

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/this-time-its-serious-20110805-1ie4t.html#ixzz1U7zwUzoV

Digesting what disgusts

What is the psychology behind our digust?

Disgust.
A powerful word, a powerful response to something found totally offensive.
Often disgust is inspired for good reasons such as survival. Rotting food ought to revolt us because otherwise we may eat it.
But what if disgust is cued by something that mightn't actually be bad? What about when we’re disgusted by something that can’t actually hurt us?
Like sex, for instance.
Or love.
Why are some people disgusted by things that are beautiful? And can the disgust be diminished?
A girlfriend’s reaction to her adult boyfriend’s wet dream – or nocturnal emission – got me thinking about the science behind disgust.
It’s not common but it does happen and science poses numerous reasons as to why, mostly relating to the need for sperm and their genital vessels to exercise often (the male penis is surely a fascinating creature!).
Yet I could find nothing that could explain why she was so utterly revolted by his sleep squirts - nothing that linked her disgust with even the most primitive instinct for survival. Seed-spilling may offend Methodists, but not our biological beast within, or so it seems.
So I concluded that her disgust might not be innate and common to all humans but rather a rejection of something that offended her individual moral and cultural values. Values that were also threatening to destroy her relationship.
It’s not uncommon.
Consider things people that frequently freak or gross folks out – menstruation is yucky, sperm is yucky, commitment is repellent, emotional honesty is a terrifying weakness – how often do we pause to consider why these things are so offensive and whether we really have good enough reason? How much of our disgust is really that reasonable?
Then I discovered that the concept of disgust is riding a wave of scholarly interest at the moment, and one young philosopher had recently published a book aptly titled Yuck!: The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust.
In this interview, Daniel Kelly explored the idea that learned disgust, as opposed to hardwired disgust, was an imperfect moral barometer that could do more harm than good, particularly in regards to decision-making.
Interesting, I thought. So many of our decisions are influenced by the way we feel about things, or the way we think our peers will react, or society at large.
But is this right? Is this healthy? If our internal vibe-o-meters aren’t pure mechanisms of survival, can we trust them to guide us?
Think of the things you find disgusting.
It could be sickly-sweet displays of affection, or anal sex, or romantic entanglements with the relations of your in-laws, and then think about why they disgust you.
And tell me, do you think your disgust is really, truly warranted?
Could you learn to love what you find most foul?

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/blogs/citykat/digesting-what-disgusts-20110804-1id7x.html#ixzz1U7zeHFOE

Heidi Montag broke, unemployable

Falling stars ... Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt.

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt say they made a mistake pursuing their "quest for fame".
Out of money and famous for nothing more than being famous, the former stars of The Hills now find themselves largely unemployable since their MTV docusoap came to an end, reports The Daily Beast.
The couple, who, to avoid paying rent, now live with Pratt's parents, admit they went too far in chasing celebrity.
"What we learned is: you can be too famous... We were all getting paid to be people we weren't for so long that you stop - there's no line," Spencer says.
Montag, who famously underwent 10 different plastic surgery procedures in a single day, has publicly expressed regret over her transformed physique, and she is no happier with the emotional artifice the couple parlayed in pursuit of headlines.
The couple now admits that their repeated break-ups and even their divorce were faked to add drama to The Hills.
Asked if they ever actually separated, Montag replied, "No. We've never been apart". But as Pratt explained, "We got so deep with how many storylines we had to do to continue the machine."
"Our quest for fame was a mistake," Pratt said. "That was the big thing I didn't get: reality TV is not a career."
Asked where the money went, Pratt replied that it was spent on manufacturing their ersatz television personae.
"Everything we were doing, we were buying props. I bought a big blue monster truck just to drive it on The Hills for an episode. Never drove it again."
As for the disbursement of the rest of their television income, Pratt estimated that the couple spent more than $2 million attempting to launch Heidi's pop career, and a million dollars on suits and clothes for him that he would "never wear again".
WENN and smh.com.au

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/people/heidi-montag-broke-unemployable-20110805-1iebm.html#ixzz1U7zBS0Kn

'I don't give a f--k': Lyon accuses Kennett of being a bully

Melbourne great Garry Lyon has returned fire at Hawthorn's Jeff Kennett, saying the AFL club president has "bully tendencies".
Earlier yesterday, Kennett criticised Lyon for agreeing to help the embattled Demons only for the next few months.

'I won't cop that' ... Garry Lyon has fired back at Jeff Kennett's criticism. Photo: Merryn Sherwood

Kennett told 3AW that there was little point in Lyon doing the job for three months, comparing Lyon's commitment unfavourably with Hawthorn's football director on the board, Jason Dunstall.
''If Garry's now saying I'll come in and help for three or four months, you're not going to turn around a ship which is in as much trouble as Melbourne in a few months,'' Kennett said.
''He's either got to make a commitment to get in there and help and do it as Jason has, for three to six years, or he ought to just butt out.''

'He should butt out' ... Hawkes president Jeff Kennett has accused Lyon of meddling.

'He should butt out' ... Hawks president Jeff Kennett has accused Lyon of meddling. Photo: Sebastian Costanzo

The Hawks boss also accused Lyon of thinking he was the saviour of the Demons.
Melbourne confirmed yesterday that Lyon would be a consultant for the rest of the season, liaising between the board and the football department.
Lyon hit back, saying everyone at Hawthorn would be happy when Kennett's presidency was over. ''I don't care what anyone says. I don't really give a f--- what anyone says - that's my opinion and that's the way I'm going to do it,'' Lyon said.
"If you're framing a market on who's going to shoot their gob off first about this stuff, he'd be $1.01," Lyon told Channel Nine's The Footy Show, where he is a co-presenter.
"I still would have lost 100 grand because he would have been backed off the map.
"Why he feels the need to stick his nose into other clubs is beyond me.
"I don't know whether people are bluffed or they sit back - he's got some bully tendencies, Jeff."
Lyon said Kennett had inherited a strong club when he took over from previous president Ian Dicker and should concentrate on running the Hawks.
Kennett will step down as president at the end of this season.
"I reckon a hell of a lot (of people) at Hawthorn are going to take a deep sigh of relief when he leaves at the end of the year," Lyon said.
"The thing with Jeffrey about his comments today, he gets personal in relation to me.
"He reckons I'm huffing, puffing, strutting around and saying I'm the kingmaker - there's nothing further from the truth - so he's either ignorant, ill-informed or he's lying.
"We're not the first club he's had a crack at and I guess there comes a time when Melbourne have to stand up and defend themselves.
"I'm not copping that from Jeff Kennett."
Lyon also said again he would not coach Melbourne, even if ailing club president Jim Stynes made a personal plea.
Lyon added he had no say in the sacking of coach Dean Bailey earlier this week or the reappointment of Cameron Schwab as chief executive.
"I've never, ever said I'm the saviour of the footy club," Lyon said.
"The fact is, I'm going to help a mate (Stynes), I don't know if I'm any good at it or not."
Lyon had one piece of good news last night, saying Stynes was feeling better.
The dramas at Melbourne over the weekend clearly affected Stynes' health and he is back in hospital as he battles cancer.
"He's had a fantastic day today, which is really good news," Lyon said.
"He's lucid, he's determined to get to the game on the weekend (against Carlton) ... he continues to defy."
- with Jake Niall

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/i-dont-give-a-fk-lyon-accuses-kennett-of-being-a-bully-20110805-1idxt.html#ixzz1U7yx0MGg

'Wax-work' Warnie whipped into shape - but not by Liz

Shane Warne has revealed he achieved his lithe new frame in part by drinking diet shakes that were recommended by a mate's mum.
The once chubby, cigarette-smoking cricketer said he was playing poker at his Brighton home with "good mate" and St Kilda footballer Steven Baker when, between rounds, their conversation turned to how a bloke might shed a few kilograms.
"Bakes told me how his mum had recently lost a substantial amount of weight on a new system," Warnie says on his website in a blog that reads more like an advertisement.

Going, going, gone ... Shane Warne has tanned up and trimmed down since November.

"He is now totally behind the product as he has seen amazing results among his family and close friends, and realises it could help so many people."
He said the eating plan, combined with exercise and low-calorie chocolates that prevented him snacking between meals, helped him achieve his ideal weight.
The 41-year-old has dropped an astonishing 12 kilograms in two months, driven by what Warne says was a desire to get "super fit" for his last year of professional cricket in the Indian Premier League.

Hungry for love ... Liz Hurley leaves Bolognese Restaurant in central Rome last month. Photo: AFP

This week he cut an extraordinarily slim figure as he was photographed emerging from the West London home of his girlfriend, the model and actress Elizabeth Hurley. Some have suggested he looks more like a waxwork, visibly glistening in the English summer heat.
Warne, who retired from first-class cricket in 2008, has been dating Hurley, 46, since last year, and during the relationship there has been a notable change to the blond cricketer's appearance.
However he denies his health-fanatic girlfriend has imposed a strict fitness and beauty regime, or having undergone surgery.

Shane Warne Liz Hurley share a kiss after an Indian Premier League match in May. Photo: AP

"Just read more dribble that my girlfriend @ElizabethHurley is to blame for how I look. That's just unfair & rubbish reporting," Warne tweeted last week.
"I have always taken pride in my appearance and an attack on EH is unfair. I'm proud of how I look and worked my butt of for 4 months !"
This morning he continued to tweet sarcastically about his new appearance and the publicity surrounding it.
"@ElizabethHurley confession time - I had a bread roll today - sorry ! please don't hurt me or punish me and make me sleep in spare room !!!," he tweeted.
"@ElizabethHurley not the whip again if i have a chip !! standing on my back with those 8 inch heels whilst you make me do 200 push ups-hurts."
"It doesn't matter what anyone says about anything-never lose your sense of humor-be happy and enjoy life.. I'm very happy - thankyou !!! X"

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/waxwork-warnie-whipped-into-shape--but-not-by-liz-20110805-1ie70.html#ixzz1U7yTlgCG

Ukrainian zookeeper to spend five weeks living in lion enclosure

KIEV — A Ukrainian zookeeper plans to spend five weeks living in an enclosure with two lions to raise funds for the zoo.
Alexander Pylyshenko, who entered the lions’ enclosure on Tuesday, said he plans to spend the next 35 days painting pictures of the lions which he will sell to raise money for new buildings.
The 40-year-old even intends to help a pregnant lioness give birth during his time with the lions, the zoo said.
“I hope that my attitude and the optimism with which I approach this project will be understood by people,” he said in a statement on the zoo’s website.
He told a local newspaper, Nash Gorod, that he planned to take showers and use a toilet outside the enclosure but would sleep on a wooden platform inside.
The private zoo in the town of Vasylivka in western Ukraine, around 500 kilometres from Kiev, has two lions, named Samson and Katya, living in a bare enclosure.

Zoo owner and artist Aleksandr Pylyshenko sits inside a cage with female African lion Katya at a private zoo situated in his yard in the city of Vasilyevka, southeastern Ukraine August 3, 2011

Source: National Post

Phyllis Chesler: ‘Afghan babes’ in the Big House

Forced, arranged marriage is a heartbreaking and soul-crushing reality in many Islamic societies. Marrying a 10-year-old to her 30-year-old, illiterate first cousin — not an untypical pairing in parts of the Middle East and Muslim Asia — is barbaric and inhuman. Often, such arranged marriages include normalized wife and daughter-in-law beating.
I recently got a window into this world by watching an HBO documentary with the catchy title Love Crimes of Kabul. The film takes us inside a woman’s prison in Kabul. The tone of the production is surprisingly light, given how dark the underlying subject is. The women in the Badam Bagh prison are commendably feisty. They are surprisingly tough babes in the Big House and their pants-wearing, butch female warden is tougher still. And yet, she still functions as their respected and protective mother figure.
There is much gruff and playful tenderness among the women, who bond and fight with each other as if they are family; they eat and sleep together in the same room, communally. The all-female atmosphere is that of a harem or brothel. The Burqa Babes, if I may call them that, are surprisingly, refreshingly brash. They are from every tribe and region of Afghanistan and they bear the genetic legacy of every conquering army that has passed through the area for millennia.
Iranian filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian (kudos to you, dear lady) miraculously managed to get a camera and a crew inside the prison and inside some of the prisoners’ legal hearings. What crimes have the women committed? Apparently, half the prison population dared to fall in love, or are suspected of having done so; or they have dared to have sex before marriage, have run away from home, or rejected an arranged marriage. These are treated as de facto crimes in Afghanistan. (The other half of the prison population are thieves, smugglers, or murderers.)
One woman was sentenced to four years for having run away with the boy she loved. Another woman, the very spunky Kareema, who looks like an innocent child (many of the inmates do) fell in love, had sex, became pregnant — but the scoundrel who had courted her refused to marry her. She turned both herself and her boyfriend in to the police. The only way this cad can now get out of jail is if he marries Kareema, who is very pleased that she has managed to turn her potential murder into an inevitable marriage.
Some husband. His name is Firuz, and he says, on camera, “I wish I never met her.” Nevertheless, a lawyer advises: “A bad husband is better than no husband.” The women understand and accept this as their lot in life.
Other prisoners include the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law-couple of Zia and Alia (or Aleema). They are in for rather mysterious reasons and they fight bitterly. Did they run away together from a dangerously violent home? Did Zia save the younger woman by hiding her from Alia’s murderous family? Did Alia have an affair with Zia’s son — whom she now refuses to marry? Or did Zia try to pimp out Alia? It’s not clear. These women say that in their family, “people speak with knives.” Alia is clear that if she is ever released from prison, her family will “quietly drown” her.
Then there is Sabera, so young, so pretty, so charming. Although she has been accused of having had premarital sex, a medical exam in prison proves that she is still a virgin. However, she admits to having engaged in anal sex — something that is quite common in Afghanistan both among men and as a birth control device in heterosexual couples. (Courtesy of Amnesty International and the PBS program Frontline, everyone now knows about the “dancing boys” of Afghanistan and about the Taliban and Kandahari penchant for young boys — usually orphans — who are taught to dress and dance like women and with whom the older, dominant man has various types of sex.) For this crime, Sabera was sentenced to three years.
Back to the Badum Bagh prison: One woman on camera admits that she killed her husband — after years of provocation. Naseema is 45 years old and has no regrets. “Men like my husband should all be murdered. He had sex with boys and other women and with a seven-year-old girl. I did the world some good. But it’s considered a crime. I have no pain or remorse. I’m glad.”
The chief female guard says that “women have been given too much freedom.” Another prison guard adds: “If they were good women, they would not be here. They would be home with their families.”
No, sir. With their fighting spirits, defiance, open-heartedness, and philosophical minds, these are very, very good women indeed.
Pajamas Media
Source: National Post

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Thursday, 4 August 2011