Monogamy - Overrated?

Paternity tests given to birds, monkeys and foxes reveals that simply because these species had developed a relationship similar to marriage it did not necessarily mean that they had been faithful to each other.

In 70 per cent of cases, their offspring turn out to have been fathered by males other than their partners.

The only species in nature that doesn't commit adultery and in which there seemed to be 100% monogamy is a flatworm. The male and female worms meet as adolescents and their bodies literally fuse together.

So was Tiger Woods merely following his human instinct?

Is it fair to say that monogamy is a myth that has been rammed down people's throats for far too long?

Orbital Inn

Just when we thought we had seen the heights of Aviation technology when Airbus presented their prposed design for aircraft travel in their futuristic transparent planes, a bunch of Russian engineers and Russian-based company Orbital Technology go a tiny step further by presenting their proposal for a four-room zero-gravity 'Hotel in the Heavens' located at the cross roads of yes and no joke.
No seriously, it is. And you could very well be on it. That is ofcourse, provided you have a cool $984,000 lying around.
Located hundreds of miles above the planet's surface, the hotel will essentially be aimed at very* wealthy individuals and people working for private companies wanting to do research in space.
Guests will orbit planet Earth once every 90 minutes whilst enjoying 16 sunsets and 16 sunrises!

The Shane Warne/Ken/Wax transformation saga

We're just never going to escape these bogans, are we? The Shane Warne soap opera will just keep playing in a media outlet near you. Meanwhile, the world economy is going to hell in a hand basket, we have unprecedented political upheaval across the Middle East, the US is heading southwards as a superpower, millions are starving around the globe etc etc. But "our boy" Shane, newly slimmed down and rearing to go, is heading to the altar with a c-grade celebrity who must be as thick as him and equally desperate for some publicity. I'll give their marriage 12 months, or untill Warnie finds his phone again - whichever comes first hahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntSBKPkk4m4

One of my new favourites. Great lyrics!

Julia Gillard's solution to people smuggling.

Ok, so it seems to be the most pressing issue at the moment with valid arguments both for and against that I just had to write about it...

Australia’s so called ‘agreement’ to send the next 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for resettling 4000 refugees from Malaysia over the next four years, will occur regardless of whether or not Australia sends those asylum seekers or accepts them within Australia.  This coming as a result of the mistreatment of 90,000 refugees in Malaysia according to a recent assessment by the UN stating that refugees in Malaysia were vulnerable to prosecution, deportation, whipping and detention – so why would we be simultaneously sending refugees to the same country that openly engage in the further mistreatment of asylum seekers?  How can Australia promote such mistreatment being a country of migrants itself? Isn't that just as 'un-Australian'?

At a time when war is escelating globally, and considering the proportion of the developing world and developed countries that now face poverty, should Australia be protecting its own borders as opposed to increasing business for people smugglers?

Another interesting argument put forward was surrounding the legitimacy of the refugees themselves. are they genuine refugees or are they rich and elite people in the war torn countries or in the refugee camps, exploiting the sympathy of the world to the refugees to advance their immigration plan by flying to Indonesia for a boat trip to Australia? only the poor are the ones who suffer in a war and have no means to escape it. The rich, the elite and the educated are the ones who are able to use their advantage to get out of the countries, legally or illegally. This leads to the question about the "compassion" that the refugee advocates always pride themselves about. Ha, we have the ideologically driven activists who are using their resources, energy, intelligence to advocate the elite and rich at the expense of the poor and under-privileged and are boasting about their "compassion". To the lawyers who are the activists, any boat people that you have helped, if it turns out that they are immigration opportunists in reality but somehow succeed in deceiving the system with your help, means that you are taking away the precious limited places for the genuine poor refugees in the camps.

So I'm done with my usual socialist rant and I welcome any further views put forward by fellow readers.

The Australian economy and our growing reliance on China

China's growing demand for Australian natural resources (iron ore, copper, and other resources dug up from Port Hedland's wasteland) may have very well been the reason Australia did not fall into recession during the 2008 GFC. Having consumed 37% of Australia's mineral exports over the past fiscal year (up from 5% a decade earlier), China's almost insatiable demand continues to drive the Australian economy. But are we setting ourselves up for vulnerability by our growing dependence? Is Julia Gillard allowing too much investment from China (whilst delicately tempting to charm Washington with pledges of friendship)?

Such exponential growth has attracted a surge of investment in the sector. Having already received $40 billion in investment from mining companies during 2010 (nearly triple the amount from 2005), a further $140 billion worth of mining and energy projects are currently underway. Australia's biggest investment boom since the 1850s gold rush, as boasted by Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan.

But how can an aspiring professional like myself be apart of this growth? Infact, individuals of any industry, blue or white collar? Western Australia, the state that accounts for two-thirds of Australia's exports to China, which has resulted in faster growth and lower unemployment than Australia as a country. So while the world's most powerful nation struggled to find jobs for millions of unemployed, WA is worried about a labour shortage! With the mining sector set to produce 85,000 jobs over the next 18 months, other industries will also be beneficiaries to this growth with the mining boom set to create jobs for waitresses, cabdrivers and hotel clerks.

But are Austrlaians becoming too dependant on Chinese demand? Any economy that becomes too dependant on any one sector takes too big a risk. Are we losing control of our natural wealth to China? However you decide to look at it, Australia is succumbing to the realities of the East - thats where the growth is!

You Are What You Owe

How will the U.S. Get a grip on its vast debt, which makes it the world's largest debtor after Japan? Do the leaders of a nation, $14.2 trillion in debt, have the courage to cut health entitlements or social security?
Power that is built on debt is often power that will crumble.
If federal debt is projected to reach 100% of US GDP, the US will be in an even deeper hole than bankrupt Ireland or Portugal.
How much patience does America's largest creditor, China, actually have? A populous and rising power that does not necessarily sympathise with US objectives. One can see why.
Sale of US treasuries seems like a proper and legal retaliation but it would produce dire consequences for the US
Its not too late for the US to get a grip and limit its vulnerability to its foreign rivals.

R2P

Its known as the responsibility to protect doctrine. The concept is simple; human rights are universal, every state should protect them, and if a particular state cant, others should!
Initially invoked in 1967 to persuade the West to intervene in Nigeria to end a Civil War. A conflict that resulted in the starvation of millions.
The Ivory Coast today, unable to protect the rights of millions of its people, a political agenda that would sustain given little or no humanitarian assistance from external bodies, would never have foreseen a military attack by the UN peacekeepers.
The R2P doctrine redefines humanitarian aid to incorporate elements of military intervention if doing so would overthrow a national leader and restore peace and structure in a nation unable to prevent grave human rights abuses.
The UN's armed forces intervention in the Ivory Coast may be the only way to end such terrible attrocities.
If applied selectivley, humanitarian intervention may save the lives and protect the rights of millions of innocent savilions in Libya.

Democracy

Revolutions are never pretty. The birth of justice is never easy. The fight for freedom, justice and dignity is what consumed the people of Egypt. Vicious clashes between those for and against Hosni Mubarak show just how ugly and unpredictable any revolution can get. Jan 25 marked the start of the end of Mubarak's 30 year rule. but is democracy sustainable in an Arab country where 82% of the population believe stoning is an appropriate punishment for adultery and 84% of the population favor the death penalty for Muslims who leave the religion?