REBLOG! New Australian Mental Health Report Says 'No Progress' in 30 Years

If you've followed my blog, you'll know I have a passion for mental health. This slight obsession has allowed me a tiny window into a world that for most doesn't exist. A tragic place who's border is much finer than most would expect, at any given moment almost any breathing human can topple from a well balanced mental health, into a world that is not only coddled by confusion, but largely ignored by the galaxy.

Mental health truly works in shades-of-grey, what for one person might simply be an anxious moment, is for another a life crippling disability. And although medicine - and medicine of the mind - has made huge discoveries over the past three decades, a new report suggest the insights gained might not have improved the overall life of suffers

The damning report undertaken by The University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute - BMRI - has found the life expectancy for people suffering a mental illness hasn't improved in 30 years. The finding is in stark contrast to the advances made for Australians suffering from illnesses like heart disease and cancer :: Read the full article »»»»

Richmond Recommendations

Spanish and French Authorities Bust Chinese People Smuggling Ring

Spanish and French authorities say they have dismantled a human trafficking ring responsible for smuggling Chinese citizens into Europe and the United States, charging up to €50,000/$AU70,000 per person.

A total of 75 suspects including two "main operatives" based in Barcelona and the kingpin based in China were arrested. 

The well organised smuggling ring disguised their illegal Chinese migrants as tourists or students, regularly changing the routes taken from China, as well as the travel documents used, "changed constantly according to the successes and failures of previous trips... or in order to prevent discovery of the traffickers." a statement from authorities said.

The arrests included 51 in Spain and 24 in France after a two-year joint investigation. The provided "false identities and transport Chinese citizens, In some cases the ring was involved in the sexual exploitation of migrants, some of whom were children :: Read the full article »»»»

Pop Star Wins Court Case Against Topshop

Pop singer Rihanna has won a court case against the British fashion chain Topshop over the unauthorised use of her image. In March last year, Topshop started selling a T-shirt bearing a photograph of the singer.

The picture was taken by a freelance photographer in Northern Ireland while Rihanna was filming the We Found Love music video. Topshop had a licence from the photographer but no licence from Rihanna.

Rihanna sued Topshop's parent company, Arcadia Group, for almost $AU5.6 million over the shirts. The star has a direct endorsement relationship with Topshop's rival fashion chain, River Island. 

Rihanna's lawyers told London's High Court that the T-shirt duped fans and was very similar to the images used on CD sleeves for her Talk That Talk album :: Read the full article »»»»

The Weiner's BACK!

New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who was forced to resign from Congress over a sexting scandal, has admitted sending more lewd texts and photographs to a young woman.

For anygirl who's used the services of a dating website - hand shoots up - a male posting pix of his weiner isn't anything new. While the general population is left with the belief that sexting is a teen propensity, most grown men - around a quarter in my experience - proudly post mobile manifestation of their member on about the fourth or fifth encounter.

According to news website The Dirty, Mr Weiner, 48, used the name "Carlos Danger" to contact the woman on Facebook and establish an online relationship with her which involved the exchange of intimate photographs.

Amusingly, a poll last week suggested Mr Weiner was well-placed to become the Democratic candidate to succeed Michael Bloomberg as the mayor of New York City, with voters apparently largely indifferent to his scandal-tainted past, a sign perhaps the NY girls get as many spammy-sexting pix as Huma Abedin? :: Read the full article »»»»

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Seems Teens Do It LESS Than Even We Thought? ALISON BRIE? LiLo's Lost Phone The NEW Phone Sex, Naked Self Portrait via iPhone

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Weiner Is A Sexual Predator Luring His Victims Weiner SEX Messages Post Scandal With Another Woman, Not Huma Abedin Weiner Hasn’t Changed Poor Huma Abedin, New Image Of His Penis

JK Rowling Outed as Author of The Cuckoo's Calling

Überauthor JK Rowling has secretly posed as a retired military policeman to write a crime novel that has been hailed as one of the best debut detective stories in years. 

Rowling wrote The Cuckoo's Calling under the name Robert Galbraith and kept up the pretence that it was the work of a married father of two and former undercover investigator. Her cover was blown when the Sunday Times newspaper became suspicious that such an assured piece of writing could have been created by a first-time novelist :: Read the full article »»»»

MUST SEE! Catalyst’s Dr Maryanne Demasi Does Chiropractic

I'm not a huge television watcher, discerning, one show I must see each week - or I seriously get the grumps is Catalyst. For those not-in-the-know, Catalyst is a superlative Australian science program aired weekly on ABC TV, it's always current, often a lark and most beautifully produced.

Our favourite Catalyst, Dr Demasi, this week looked into a worrying trend that has science based medicine up in arms - chiropractors with ambitions of replacing the family gp - There have been reports that chiropractors are the new refuge for a range of health problems, like asthma, colic, reflux and autism.:: Read the full article »»»»

Russia Signs 'Anti-gay' Bill Into Law

As the world becomes more liberal and accepting of difference, charismatic Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial bill - punishing people for homosexual propaganda - into law, according to an official publication over the weekend. The new law introduces fines of up to 5,000 rubles/$AU165 for citizens who disseminate information "directed at forming non-traditional sexual setup" in minors or which may cause a "distorted understanding" that gay and heterosexual relations are "socially equivalent", the publication showed.

Critics and civil libertarians have called the bill homophobic, saying it's "so vaguely defined that it would inevitably be used arbitrarily against gays," stirring hate crimes in the country.

However, the bill sailed through the parliament. Mr Putin had promised in advance that he would sign the bill.

The fines go up to as much as 200,000 rubles/$AU6,600 for officials if such "propaganda" is disseminated through the media or internet. Foreigners will not only be fined but face administrative arrest up to 15 days and eventual deportation, the law says. Organisations face fines of up to 1 million rubles and shutdown of their activity for 90 days :: Read the full article »»»»

Child Sex Crimes

REBLOG! A South Australian computer technician who downloaded child pornography and frequented internet chatrooms in order to fulfil his impaired sexual fantasies about toddlers has been jailed for 3 years. 38 year old Steven John Bolbot, pleaded guilty to an aggravated count of possessing child pornography as well as two counts of producing child pornography.

The Adelaide District Court heard that South Australia Police officers searched Bolbot's home in February 2012, during the search they found Bolbot using an internet chatroom, they also discovered 2,280 chat logs - of Bolbot role-playing - and found 246 images of child pornography on hard drives in his possession.

The court heard Bolbot's social isolation and internet addiction led him to use chatrooms to explore his sexual fantasies about young children. It heard Bolbot was employed as a computer technician in 2009, He was however sacked as a result of the criminal charges.

Several researchers have reported correlations between paedophilia and certain psychological characteristics, such as low self-esteem and poor social skills. While we've spent quite a large amount of time outing paedophile behaviour - Paedophilia - there is a gathering body of evidence that describes this abominable behaviour as an illness. Cohen et al - 2002 - in studying 'Personality Impairment in Male Paedophiles' outlines a view of paedophiles as having impaired interpersonal functioning, elevated passive-aggressiveness, as well as  an impaired self-concept. According to the authors, pathologic personality traits in paedophiles lend support to a hypothesis that such pathology is related to both motivation for and failure to inhibit paedophilia behaviour ::

Jeffrey Smart Passed

One of my favourite - and the world's - Australian artists, Jeffrey Smart has died in Italy aged 91. The Adelaide-born artist, who was known for his precise, stark urban landscapes, trained in Australia and Europe and was living in Italy.

Smart was born and educated in Adelaide where he worked as an Art teacher. After departing for Europe in 1948 he studied in Paris at La Grande Chaumière, and later at the Académie Montmartre under Fernand Léger. He returned to Australia 1951, living in Sydney, and began exhibiting frequently in 1957. 

In 1963, he moved to Italy, and in 1971 after a successful exhibition in London, bought "Posticcia Nuova" near Arezzo in Tuscany where he resided with his partner until his death.

Smart is known for finding the beauty in ordinary -very static - objects, and for his fearless colour palette. Smart is one of Australia's best known artists with his almost iconic and unique imagery, he was heavily influenced by various artists and art forms :: Read the full article »»»»

Run Skidmark Run!! Google Gets it's Geeks Onto Paedophile Hunt

It's en ease to bag out the behemoth that is Google, outwardly the company looks like a money making machine - without a huge social conscience - Scratch the surface a little however, and your glimmered by small signs of hope. There's a bunch of cool stuff coming out of Google's X-Labs, Project Loony's superneat wifi via balloon power. Google Culture  dictates that the company has a social conscience, keeping up with that ethos is often harder than simply creating the coolest business in the galaxy.

In it's latest effort to set-things-right, Google is doing what it does best, it's creating an image database to help law enforcement control the traffic of offensive images and remove child pornography from the web. Indeed, it's a no-brainer, Google's mission statement outlines the company's intention to 'organize the worlds information' and mapping a world of depravity in order to be rid of it,  something the company is exemplary at.

As well as a clever new algorithm designed to hunt down illegal child pornography, the behemoth has bequeathed tens of millions of dollars to help not-for-profits around the globe keep up the good fight. £1million/$AU1.65 million has been thrown at UK  internet watchdog IWF - Internet Watch Foundation - to help boost it's surveillance, and a further £1.25 million/$AU2 million to setup a fund available for software developers to produce new tools to help fight child pornography. 

Not that we're cynical, but, the last four weeks have seen Google ganged up-on by big voices in the UK, including British MPs, for what many perceive as the company's reluctance to crack down on child internet pornography.

While we'd love to sing Google's praise, we are left wondering why that hadn't done this sooner? Now that Google has announced plans to setup an online database of offensive images, you can expect that the war will escelate quickly. The ethos of the plan is to enable law enforcement agencies, not-for-profits and private companies to detect and remove offensive content more easily :: Read the full article »»»»

Will Fairfax Paywall Cannibalise it's Printing Press?

The death of print is back on the tips of expert tongues with Fairfax Media announcing it is hoping to replicate the success of its international digital subscription service when it launches a metered paywall in Australia next month. From July 2, visitors to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald websites will have free access to 30 articles each month, any reading after that will cost.

Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood says the move is part of a restructure which will save the company an additional $60 million by the end of September - this year, ambitiously - Mr Hywood told an investor briefing this morning that the restructure aimed to reduce duplication across the business, with a minimal impact on content and sales.

While Mr Hywood warned of a sharp fall in Fairfax's overall earnings, he said there were no plans to eliminate the print versions of any of the company's mastheads. In march this year Fairfax Killed of it's familiar broadsheets, consigning the format to the history books, with the first tabloid editions of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age rolling off the printing presses on March 4, does a paywall signal the further shrinkage of physical paper as a source of news?

Mr Hywood reiterated that the company had "no plans" to kill of print, however many media analysts believe that his statements only apply to the company's popular weekend print editions :: Read the full article »»»»

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Cisco Predicts Internet Measured in Zettabytes

Technology behemoth Cisco has forecast that the need for internet speed will increase at head-spin pace over the next 4 years. The company predicts that by 2017, global internet traffic will be measured in zettabytes - one zettabyte is the seventh power of 1000 or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 bytes, a sextillion - a trillion gigabytes.

Cisco reckons that by the end of 2015 annual global internet traffic will wiz past the zettabyte threshold. By 2017 the internet will reach nearly 1.5 zettabytes annually. However, more worrying for boffins is the growth in peak-hour internet trafic. Over the past 5 years peak hour traffic increased at a steady 30 per cent a year, last year it grew at 40 per cent and Cisco say that growth is set to triple of the next 5 years.

The research is part of Cisco's Visual Networking Index - VNI - and ongoing initiative by the behemoth that explores the implications of IP growth. Another amazing stat to come out of Cisco's research is the growth of mobile, in 2012 less than 25 per cent of internet traffic originated from mobile devices, they expect mobile to grow to half of all internet traffic by 2012

It's worth noting; in 1986 - pre modern internet - the planets entire data output, television, radio, cable etc, was 0.400 zettabytes. in 2000 we still only consumed 1.2 zettabytes - remember, that's everything, all broadcast technologies - by 2012 the planet will be consuming more than 5 zettabytes of data a year, almost a third of which will be pulled through the internet:: Read the full article »»»»

Words Evade Me?

As always, words evade me -happens often with Mr Frost's work - His latest once again has me speechless, except to say, these pieces never last long, don't procrastinate, buy the f_cking thing! :: Read the full article »»»»

Apple CEO Tim Cook Rejects US Senate Report

Apple's CEO Tim Cook has defended his company's tax avoidance  tactics, Cook faced a grilling by US lawmakers accusing the tech-behemoth of sham subsidiaries and convoluted strategies to shift profits offshore, however Cook strenuously denied the company used gimmicks to avoid paying taxes. Cook told a US Senate committee Apple paid all the taxes it owed, complying with not only the law, but the spirit of the law.

He said last year it paid $US6 billion to the US Treasury, a tax rate of about 30%.

The high level US Senate committee investigating corporate offshore tax avoidance has accused Apple of shifting billions of dollars in profits to avoid paying US taxes on a massive scale. It found Apple avoided paying $9 billion in tax in 2012. Earlier, Panel chairman Senator Carl Levin accused Apple of "exploiting an absurdity" in its tax payments.

Mr Cook told the hearing that Apple lives up to its tax obligations and more, but some lawmakers expressed outrage over findings of the panel's probe that the tech-behemoth avoided taxes by using a web of foreign subsidiaries, some without any tax jurisdiction :: Read the full article »»»»

Apple Testimony to PSI

Carbon Pollution at 3 Million Year High

Global greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached an ominous milestone that is unprecedented in human history. The world's longest measure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million for the first time in three million years.

The daily CO2 level is measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which tracks greenhouse gases in the Northern Hemisphere. The level has been measured at Mauna Loa since 1958, with data before that taken from ice core samples.

The last time it reached this level, temperatures rose by between three and four degrees and sea levels were between five and 40 metres higher than today. Still sceptical? :: Read the full article »»»»

Copper Beech Farm

Earlier this month Sydney's house prices topped out at $AU50 million - Altona, a Point Piper harbour front mansion - In the US however, a house has just gone on the market with an asking price of $AU195 Million.

Copper Beech Farm - named for the Copper Beech trees, not a US misspell - is set on 20 hectares/50 acres of manicured (subdividable) lushness, it boasts 12 bedrooms - excluding separate staff quarters - 9 bathrooms, standout views across Long Island Sound, two islands, private beach, grassed tennis court, 25-metre swimming pool, a proper geenhouse, gatehouse and stone carriage house.

The Neo-French Renaissance manor house isn't why the asking price is so high, nor it's history, Copper Beech Farm is a breezy 45 minute drive - as if you'd drive - to New York City. What's that sound real-estate agent keep making? "Location, location, location." :: Read the full article »»»»

How To Go From Tourist to Traveller

No one wants to be a tourist any more. Everyone wants to be a local. SMH Traveller Ute Junker dolls out some great advice on how to blend in. "If you really want to understand a city, you need to live in it.: Ms Junker says, "What I love most is the way I've become attuned to the rhythms of the neighbourhood.

Going local requires a commitment, and not just fixing your own breakfast or making your own bed. If you want to live local, you need to devote a decent amount of time to your chosen city. I'd recommend 10 days as a minimum. It takes you the best part of a week to settle into the rhythm, to become a familiar face in the neighbourhood.

Ms junker also has some concise tips on securing an apartment - the essential ingredient in a tranquil fitting-in - know your neighbourhood, Reputable companies should supply plenty of information about the neighbourhood on their website :: Read Ms Junkers Full SMH Article »»»»

Legendary Divinyls Front-woman Chrissy Amphlett Dies

One of Australia's most revered rock legends, Chrissy Amphlett, best known as the singer of the Divinyls, has died in New York aged 53. The charismatic front-woman was surrounded by family and friends at her home when she died on Monday morning.

Her husband of 14 years, former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton, says Amphlett died of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. In a statement released by ARIA, he added she had fought the diseases with "exceptional bravery and dignity"

Christine Joy Amphlett was born in Geelong, Victoria, in 1959.

She gained fans - including this fan - for her energetic performances, complete with a signature outfit of a school uniform and fishnet stockings. Amphlett revealed her fight against multiple sclerosis in 2007 and in 2010 announced she had breast cancer ::::

REBLOG! Favourite NEW Thought via Domain

In a previous life - a much more leisurely paced life - I spent half my time in the city and the other half in the bush - commuting, resting, commuting, resting; *sigh* gee-wiz I miss the Australian Bush!

So I've started to take a look around, test the waters, and to my surprise there's a bunch of eligible property out there.

My Favourite New Thought on the escape front is French Island, my latest obsession.

The agent describes this little bit of heaven as "A picturesque winding driveway leads to this charming 1 bedroom cottage on 13 secluded acres and features un-interrupted bay views." More *sighs* :: Read the full article »»»»

NORTH KOREA! Japanese Tweet Missile Launch/South Korea on VITAL THREAT Alert

Officials in the Japanese city of Yokohama have been left red-faced after mistakenly announcing the launch of a North Korean missile to 40,000 followers on Twitter. The city, south of Tokyo, prematurely fired its tweet just before noon (local time), announcing "North Korea has launched a missile" with blank spaces to indicate the exact time.

South Korean and US forces have raised their alert status to "vital threat" before an expected North Korean missile test, with tensions high in the run-up to a key anniversary. Any launch could coincide with visits by US secretary of state John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in Seoul on Friday.

South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "any time" and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions 

South Korea/US Raise Alert Status

South Korean and US forces have raised their alert status to "vital threat" before an expected North Korean missile test, with tensions high in the run-up to a key anniversary.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation of a launch between Wednesday and April 15 birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung.

Any launch could coincide with visits by US secretary of state John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in Seoul on Friday.

South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "any time" and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions :: Read the full article »»»»

RELATED! North Korea Gets All Vocal

Leonard Lauder’s Billion Dollar Gift

Cosmetics billionaire Leonard Lauder has given New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art an astonishing, no-strings-attached collection of Cubist art worth an estimated $US1 billion. The enormous collection, which Mr Lauder assembled over four decades, includes 78 works by Picasso, Braque, Gris, and Leger, and "will transform the museum," a museum statement released said.:: Read the full article »»»»

Behind the Scenes: The Australian Ballet on the International Stage by Lisa Tomasetti

Behind the Scenes: The Australian Ballet on the International Stage is an exhibition by Sydney-based  - South Australian born - photographer, Lisa Tomasetti. This latest set of pictures were shot over several years, taken on the Australian Ballet's tours to Tokyo, New York and Paris :: Read the full article »»»»

DARPA Funds Interstellar Starship

DARPA Funds Interstellar Starship

That US behemoth, DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency aka the Department of Everything – has teamed up with that other US giant, the fiscally challenged NASA to create a program that would see interstellar travel within the next 100 years.

DARPA has awarded $US500,00 in seed funding to the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence to form the aptly named 100 Year Starship - 100YSS – program.

The initiative will call on expert opinion from a wide range of disciplines, engineers, scientists and artists will contribute to a single shared vision, to develop the capability for mankind to achieve interstellar flight within the next 100 years.

A public symposium will be held this year, in Houston, Texas from September 14 to 16, in what will become an annual event. Has the real world finally caught up with the strangely accurate transfictontrek world of Gene Roddenberry?  :: Read the full article »»»»

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X-STEAM! The Future of Sustainable Rail

X-STEAM! The Future of Sustainable Rail

Off the cuff a 75 year old steam locomotive and green, sustainable transport seem to have less than naught in common. Not according to the Coalition for Sustainable Rail – CSR – who reckon they can reinvigorate Locomotive 3463, circa 1937, bringing her back to life as the world’s first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive.

CSR is a superneat collaboration between the University of Minnisota and Sustainable Rail International – SRI – a not for profit research group dedicated to the research and development of modern steam trains.

“This is a pretty Radical idea, but there’s a lot of science behind it,” Davidson Ward, SRI president said “looking to technologies of the past to inspire solutions for today’s sustainability challenges.”

SRI acquired the large test bed steam locomotive - Locomotive 3463 – via donation from the Great Overland Station Museum in Topeka, Kansas. This locomotive, built in 1937 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, will be reconfigured by SRI’s locomotive modernization experts, then tested as part of CSR Project 130 :: Read the full article »»»»