Posted By: Charles @ Today at 09:04 am in "Burning Questions"
This question is in response to Jonno's lament (posted elsewhere) about the misuse and "Americanisation" of the English language.
I'm asking members to post the most annoying examples that they encounter.
As a sports fan I often despair over the use of adjectives when it is an adverb that should be employed by the 'experts' covering games. An example of this would be, "He moved quick to intercept the pass." when it should be "quickly". If the commentator wished to use the word "quick" he should have said, "He was quick to intercept the pass." Note: I used the words "should have" rather than the often heard "should of".
If commentators and media announcers wish to use abbreviated word forms, why do they insist on saying "On the other side of" instead of "After" when telling us what is to be seen/heard after a bre ... [more]
Posted By: Flin @ Yesterday at 08:56 am in Australian Business & Financial News
AMP boss Craig Meller quits after scandals revealed at banking royal commission
MP's chief executive officer Craig Meller has quit his job with immediate effect after a series of scandals were revealed at the banking royal commission.
The resignation was accompanied by an unreserved apology from AMP to its customers.
The royal commission heard AMP lied to the corporate watchdog ASIC for almost a decade to cover its practice of charging customers fees for advice that was never delivered.
Mike Wilkins, a non-executive director of the company and former CEO at insurer IAG, has been appointed as acting CEO.
Mr Meller has become the first senior executive to lose his job as a result of the banking royal commission.
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 19 2018, 05:43 PM in Australian Football League
I have a feeling that there could be some upsets on the cards this week, but we can only try our best. The round is made more difficult as two games are played mid-week (Tuesday and Wednesday) so selections aren't known. Those four sides will only have a short break before round 6.
Friday April 20:
Sydney v Adelaide: The Crows were dysfunctional last week and might struggle against the Swans who play well at home. SYDNEY
Saturday April 21:
Saint Kilda v GWS: The Giants look to be too strong for the Saints. GWS
Carlton v West Coast: The Eagles have started the season well and, despite a poor record at the MCG, they should account for the Blues. WEST COAST< ... [more]
Posted By: Flin @ Apr 19 2018, 07:24 AM in Computer & Technical Things
‘Game changer’: Discovery on tiny island could alter global economy
A TINY island in the Pacific Ocean is the site of a huge discovery that has been described as a “game changer”.
Japanese researchers have mapped vast reserves of rare-earth elements in deep-sea mud — enough to feed global demand on a “semi-infinite basis”, according to a new study published in journal Scientific Reports.
The deposits, found within Japan’s exclusive economic waters, contain more than 16 million tonnes of the elements needed to build hi-tech products from smartphones and radar devices to missile systems and electric vehicles, according to the study.
For instance, yttrium, one of the metals included in the recent discovery, can be used to make camera lenses, superconductors and mobile ... [more]
Zimbabwe sacks 16,000 striking nurses, says their action is 'politically motivated' Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said the nurses would be replaced by retired and unemployed staff.
Zimbabwe says it has sacked 16,000 striking nurses, as the new government seeks to keep a lid on labour unrest in the build-up to the first elections since the fall of Robert Mugabe.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga accused the nurses of staging a "politically motivated" walk out and said they would be replaced by retired and unemployed staff.
The nurses' union told its members to stay calm as it considered its response.
The nurses went on strike on Monday over unpaid allo ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 18 2018, 09:21 AM in Other Political News
Open letter urges Prime Minister to collect 'more tax, more equitably' to make Australia a fairer place
By David Taylor and Mariella Attard
Photo: Michael Keating said if we raise personal income marginal tax rates, we could avoid crisis levels of future deficit. (Flickr: CafeCredit (CC 2.0))
Australians need to pay more taxes to "fund the health, education and transport services we need".
That's the call from Paul Keating's former Cabinet secretary Michael Keating, who has backed an open letter on taxation reform which has been sent to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from a left-leaning think tank.
Mr Keating, who served as the head of the ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 18 2018, 08:59 AM in " Car News & Reviews"
Holden Commodores and other models fetch up to $340,000 at auction
By Leonie Thorne
Photo: A 1988 VL Walkinshaw Commodore sold for $340,000. (Supplied: Burns & Co)
How much would you spend on a 30-year-old Holden Commodore? $3,000? $30,000? How about $300,000?
The idea of old Holdens fetching as much as new Ferraris might be jaw-dropping to some, but at an auction in New South Wales over the weekend, dozens of people battled six-digit bidding wars over some rare models.
A 1988 Walkinshaw Commodore sold for $340,000 after 66 bids, and several other rare Holden models sold for more than $150,000 each.
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 18 2018, 08:44 AM in Breaking News
Suspected Sydney plane bomb plot ringleader and Australian IS terrorist captured in Iraq
By Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and Suzanne Dredge
Photo: Ahmed Merhi is one of two Islamic State fighters allegedly connected to Australian terrorism arrested in Iraq. (Supplied)
An Islamic State (IS) commander suspected of hatching a plan to blow up a flight from Sydney last year and an Australian IS fighter allegedly connected to the country's most notorious terror cell have been captured in Iraq.
Senior Australian officials have told the ABC that Islamic State commander Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were detained in Iraq earlier this year, but their arrests h ... [more]
Posted By: scepo @ Apr 17 2018, 11:10 AM in Other Sports
I’m a sinner too
Israel Folau - Founding Contributor
People’s lives are not for me to judge. Only God can do that.
I have sinned many times in my life. I take responsibility for those sins and ask for forgiveness through repentance daily.
I understand a lot of people won’t agree with some of the things I’m about to write.
That’s absolutely fine. In life, you are allowed to agree to disagree.
But I would like to explain to you what I believe in, how I arrived at these beliefs and why I will not compromise my faith in Jesus Christ, which is the cornerstone of every single thing in ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 15 2018, 09:30 AM in "Burning Questions"
The following is the first of the logic puzzles for this season of B.Q..
This is relatively easy and future puzzles will gradually become more difficult.
2 points for a correct solution and 1 for a “near miss”.
John never misses an opportunity to watch the night sky for falling stars. Using only the clues that follow, determine the location (Collie, Esperance, Israelite Bay, Leonora) and date (August 4th, 7th,17th, 25th) for each of his night-time trips, as well how many shooting stars he saw (2, 9, 16, 23).
Clues
1. The August 25 trip logged somewhat more shooting stars the outing to Israelite Bay. 2. The August 4 outing was either the trip to Esperance or the outing to Israelite Bay. 3. The trip where they saw 23 shooting stars was ... [more]
Posted By: Bear @ Apr 14 2018, 08:58 AM in Breaking News
Russia says Britain helped fake Syria chemical attack, calls for emergency UN meeting to 'avert danger of war'
Donald Trump said missiles "will be coming" and lambasted Moscow for standing by Bashar al-Assad.
The White House says it is "confident" the Syrian Government was responsible for a suspected chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held Syrian town of Douma one week ago.
But Russia's Defence Ministry claims Britain was involved in "faking" the attack — which a Syrian medical relief group said killed at least 60 people.
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 13 2018, 08:50 AM in Australian National News
Commonwealth Games: Missing athletes could be genuine refugees, advocates say
By Ashleigh Stevenson
Photo: Eight Cameroon athletes gone missing, according to the team's Chef de Mission. (ABC News)
Some Commonwealth Games athletes who have disappeared from the Gold Coast Athletes Village could have legitimate cases for asylum in Australia because of human rights concerns in their home countries, the Refugee Council of Australia says.
The Commonwealth Games Federation confirmed there were reports Rwandan and Ugandan athletes were missing, along with eight competitors from Cameroon.
Two squash players from Sierra Leone are also being looked for.
Posted By: Flin @ Apr 13 2018, 08:00 AM in Australian Business & Financial News
Delivery apps opening 'dark kitchens' to create meals exclusively for online orders market
Restaurants pumping out hundreds of meals without tables, chairs or waiters are a new development in the future of food.
So-called 'dark kitchens' are creating meals exclusively for the booming online delivery market.
One is operating off a laneway in inner-city Melbourne. It houses six restaurants, an ice-cream parlour and a bottle shop — in a space less than half the size of a tennis court.
Two of the restaurants have their home base in Footscray, across town. Two more normally exist in the nearby suburb of Richmond, just a few kilometres away.
The final two are virtual: they only exist through an app.
Levi Aron, the general manager of Delivero ... [more]
Tasmania's Catholic church to audit plaques to identify convicted sex offenders The Catholic Church is looking for any more plaques like the one that featured convicted sex offender Philip Green (left).
Tasmania's Catholic Archbishop has ordered a full audit of all the state's Catholic institutions to identify and remove plaques depicting convicted sex offenders.
It follows the removal last year of a plaque from exterior of Hobart's St Mary's Cathedral which depicted a former Catholic priest convicted of sex offences
Victims of church sexual abuse had demanded the controversial plaque be taken down.
The artwork from the 1980s depicted the late Monsignor Philip G ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 10 2018, 07:05 PM in CRIME -
Woman who faked cancer, duped friends and neighbours, jailed for 'despicable' scam
By court reporter Emma Younger
Photo: Hanna Dickenson will lose her job in real estate, the court heard. (Little Real Estate)
A Melbourne woman who faked having terminal cancer and scammed $42,000 from her parents' friends and neighbours so she could maintain her partying lifestyle, has been jailed for three months.
Hanna Dickenson, 24, convinced her parents to give her money for supposedly lifesaving treatment in 2012 before later telling them she needed more funds for overseas treatments in Thailand and New Zealand.
Dickenson's parents, who run a farm near Swan H ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 10 2018, 06:58 PM in Australian National News
National Union of Workers official linked to fake Black Lives Matter Facebook page suspended
By Kristian Silva, Benjamin Sveen and staff
Photo: Ian Mackay is one of two NUW officials suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. (Facebook: National Union of Workers)
A high-ranking Australian union official has been stood down amid claims he was involved in a fake Black Lives Matter Facebook page that collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.
The Black Lives Matter page had almost 700,000 followers — dwarfing the movement's official page — before it was suspended by Facebook.
It allegedly collected money through online fundraisers and soli ... [more]
The vile taunts directed at Samantha Armytage during Sunrise protest
WHEN protesters descended on Sunrise’s Commonwealth Games set this morning, host Sam Armytage copped some vile comments.
Natalie Wolfe news.com.auApril 10, 20181:56pm
THERE were rumours all week that a group of indigenous protesters, the same ones that stood out the front of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, were going to pay a visit to Sunrise’s Gold Coast set.
And this morning, just before 7.30am, the group, armed with Aboriginal flags and ‘Stolenwealth Games’ signs, headed to the open-air set at Kurrawa Beach and sat themselves directly behind the Sunrise panel and right in front of breakfast show’ ... [more]
Posted By: Jonno @ Apr 10 2018, 01:34 PM in Social Issues
A Sydney barber says he’s devastated after being taken to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for not cutting a young girl’s hair. Sam Rahim runs a barber shop in Hunters Hill Village on Sydney’s North Shore, where he exclusively cuts men’s hair. Just before Christmas, a woman, a lawyer, walked into his shop asking him to cut her daughter’s hair.
“I refused politely,” he said. “I explained I’m not qualified to cut women's or girls’ hair. I’ve never done it. “But she kept pressing me, saying I should just do it. I told her there are three women’s hair salons within a minute’s walk but she became angry and stormed out.”
Posted By: Flin @ Apr 10 2018, 09:42 AM in Asia / Pacific
China seeking base on Vanuatu
Fears over China's growing influence in the Pacific have increased after reports Beijing wants to establish a permanent military base in Vanuatu, in what's considered Australia's backyard.
However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is confident of Australia's strong relationship with the island nation 1750km east of northern Australia.
Initial talks have already begun with Vanuatu, which could result in China establishing a major military presence and upsetting the delicate strategic balance in the region, Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday.
Chinese money has already helped finance a new wharf on the north island of Espiritu Santo, alongside an upgrade to the international airport.
The ability for China to dock warships and refuel on what would be their first Pacific base has rung alarm bells among Australian security chie ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 8 2018, 11:21 AM in Australian - Latest Political Stories
Labor set to benefit from proposed changes to federal electoral boundaries
By political correspondent Louise Yaxley
The Liberal Government's majority would effectively be wiped out if proposed changes to federal electoral boundaries go ahead, election analyst Antony Green says.
The Australian Electoral Commission announced the Victorian redistribution on Friday, adding an extra seat to recognise the state's rapidly growing population.
The new electorate will be in Melbourne's booming western suburbs and will be named Fraser after former prime minister Malcolm Fraser.
The ACT will also gain an extra seat because of its increase in voters, covering the sout ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 8 2018, 11:04 AM in Other Sports
Commonwealth Games: Split in Pacific ranks over transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard
Pacific Beat By Richard Ewart on the Gold Coast
Photo: Laurel Hubbard is favoured to win gold at the Commonwealth Games. (Supplied: Linda Brothers/IWF)
One of the most controversial moments of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will come when Laurel Hubbard, the transgender weightlifter from New Zealand, takes to the stage in the women's +90 kilogram category.
Since Hubbard became eligible to compete in international events at the start of last year, she has polarised views in the weightlifting community, particularly in the Pacific.
Head coach of the Samoan team Jerry Wallw ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 8 2018, 10:41 AM in Good News Stories
Quirky tin shed bookshop 'borne out of laziness' offers booklovers' sanctuary
By Shelley Lloyd
Photo: The bookshop is little more than a tin shed in Bardon in inner-city Brisbane. (ABC News: Shelley Lloyd)
Imagine pitching a business model to a bank manager for a bookshop that's open 24-hours-a-day, with no security and payment being optional.
It defies logic and common sense, but it works.
Logical Unsanity Books and Miscellaneous Phantasmagoria is little more than a tin shed wedged between a group of shops in leafy Bardon, in Brisbane's western suburbs.
It is not your average bookshop — it is not entirely weather proof, the shelving is m ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 7 2018, 01:11 PM in Asia / Pacific
Borneo oil spill: Environmental groups and victim's family call for accountability
By Indonesia correspondent Adam Harvey
Photo: Rohani Baso mourns the death of her husband and says she doesn't know how to care for their daughter without him. (ABC News: Adam Harvey)
Environmental groups want the head of Indonesia's state-owned oil company to be fired over an oil spill that has killed five people and polluted an estimated 80km of Borneo coastline.
It took five days for Pertamina to admit the spill came from one of its crude oil pipelines.
For days the company claimed the huge quantity of oil in the bay had come from a ship — even though there was no evid ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 6 2018, 03:17 PM in Education
200,400 teachers were beaten by students in the school year 2015-2016, and it's getting worse thanks to Obama's "leniency toward violent minorities" program
Sarita La Cubanita
Annette Allbright
A high school administrator who was violently assaulted by students and then terminated by her school district is among the teachers and parents who will be meeting with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Wednesday about how the Obama-era school leniency policy has affected public schools.
Annette Albright, a former behavior modification technician at Harding University High School in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg scho ... [more]
Posted By: lee @ Apr 6 2018, 12:33 PM in Breaking News
"(E)eight people have been arrested around Australia in a mass interstate operation, suspected of incest, child sexual assault and serious neglect of children, including sex with victims under the age of 10. The arrests follow the formation of Strike Force Hermoyne, formed by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad when the revelations of alleged historic and ongoing child abuse first came to light in 2012.
The extensive investigation led detectives to arrest eight people in three operations in NSW, South Australia, and Western Australia, it was announced on Friday.
In NSW, a 45-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested in the Griffith area and taken to Griffith police station.
The woman was charged with perjury, while the man was charged with six counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10, four counts of indecent assault, sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14, aggravated act of indecenc ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 5 2018, 04:01 PM in Australian Football League
Friday April 6:
Carlton v Collingwood: Two sides without a win this far.The 'Pies impressed against GWS despite injuries so I'm tipping COLLINGWOODWIN
Saturday April 7:
Port Adelaide v Brisbane: The Lions are a much improved side but they will struggle against the Power. PORT ADELAIDEWIN
Melbourne v North Melbourne: The Roos have beaten the Demons in every encounter since 2006. If the Demons have finals aspirations they must win. MELBOURNEWIN
Gold Coast v Fremantle: Because of the Commonwealth Games the Suns lose their home ground advantage. The Do ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 4 2018, 09:13 AM in Health & Medicine
Academic David Goodall turns 104 and his birthday wish is to die in peace
By Charlotte Hamlyn
Photo: Mr Goodall says thinking about death doesn't make him sad. (ABC News: Marcus Alborn)
David Goodall turns 104 today. But truth be told, he takes no pleasure in getting older.
If he could be granted one birthday wish, it would be to die.
"I greatly regret having reached that age," Dr Goodall said.
"I would much prefer to be 20 or 30 years younger."
Dr Goodall made international headlines in 2016 when, at the age of 102, the university where he served as an honorary research associate ordered he vacate his office because he was a safety risk to himself.
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 3 2018, 11:43 AM in Education
Why some migrant school students do better than their local peers (they're not 'just smarter')
The Conversation By Justine Dandy
Photo: Asian-Australian children reflect the aspirations of their parents, in what might be called a migrant effect. (AAP)
Australians from some migrant backgrounds achieve better results than their local peers, according to recent reports on the academic performance of school students.
The 2017 OECD review of migrant education found students from the Philippines, China and India were more likely to achieve baseline academic proficiency than their Australian-born counterparts. Baseline academic proficiency is demonstrating key knowl ... [more]
Moment officers beat, hose down and film disability pensioner.
An officer then sprays the man with a watering hose while another draws out his mobile phone to film. (Fairfax Media)
Apr 3, 2018
Confronting vision has emerged of the moment six police officers forcefully held down, beat and sprayed a mentally ill disability pensioner with a hose outside his Melbourne home.
In September 2017, the man’s psychologist called Triple-0 over concerns for his deteriorating mental health, a Fairfax Media investigation has revealed.
What followed was an horrific ordeal, in part filmed by officers and captured in full on the man’s CCTV c ... [more]
Posted By: Bear @ Apr 2 2018, 05:58 PM in Australian National News
Indigenous groups hit back over nurses, midwives’ ‘white privilege’ code of conduct.
A NEW code of conduct for Australian nurses and midwives was slammed for including a reference to “white privilege”. But this is why it’s necessary.
Should the nursing and midwife code of conduct include references to “white privilege”?Source:istock
IT’S the two words that have the medical profession divided — “white privilege”.
Last week it was reported that nurses and midwives around the country were subject to a new code of conduct that declares “cultural safety is as important as clinical safety” and requires “the acknowledgment of white privilege”.
The new code, which came into effect in March, was labelled “cultural madness”.
Posted By: Charles @ Apr 1 2018, 10:22 AM in Good News Stories
'You've got to get out from your comfort zone': how one family adjusted to a new life in Australia
By Sue Lannin
Photo: The Kesuma family became citizens in 2014. (Supplies)
Imagine relocating your life from the country you've always known to somewhere very different with a 7-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.
The Kesuma family did just that.
After the violence of the May 1998 riots in Jakarta, Tendean Kesuma decided to move his family from Indonesia to Australia for a new start. It was 2005 before they could make their first step with a temporary move to Singapore. They landed in Melbourne in 2007.
It was tough. They moved from middle-clas ... [more]
Video: shows Russia testing ‘Satan 2’ intercontinental ballistic missile.
RUSSIA has again tested a missile Vladimir Putin says could hit any target in the world and render defence systems “useless”.
RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2.
A NEW intercontinental ballistic missile hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as being able to fly over the North or South Poles and strike any target in the world has reportedly been tested for the second time overnight.
Fox News reports that Russia’s defence ministry released a video purportedly showing the Sarmat ICBM blasting off in spectacular fashion from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in its northern Arkhangelsk province, the move c ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Mar 31 2018, 03:59 PM in Breaking News
Autopsy shows police shot unarmed black man in the back, refuting official story, lawyer says
Photo: A mourner holds up a photo of police shooting victim Stephon Clark during the funeral services for Clark in Sacramento. (AP: Jeff Chiu)
An autopsy on an unarmed black man killed by police officers in California's capital last week shows that none of the eight bullets hit him in the front, contradicting the official version of events, a lawyer for the deceased's family has said.
Clark was hit six times in the back, once in the side and once in the leg, the independent autopsy found.
Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for the family of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African-American killed in Sacramento on March 18, said the findin ... [more]
Posted By: Charles @ Mar 31 2018, 09:06 AM in Australian National News
Parents' Cafe 'refugee hub' adds theatre to the menu in last-ditch attempt to avoid closure
By Antonette Collins
Photo: Haitham Jaju and Fatem Shamaan perform at the Parents' Cafe in Fairfield. (ABC News: Antonette Collins)
A vital community hub in Sydney's south-west that supports Iraqi and Syrian refugees is on the brink of closure with funding due to run out in the next few months.
Established eight years ago, the Parents' Cafe in Fairfield is more than just a place to eat and drink.
It provides essential services, courses and a place to meet for thousands of refugees who have settled in the area after fleeing from conflict.
'Swinging' Parents Accused of Abusing 8yo Daughter
Posted By: Charles @ Mar 31 2018, 08:42 AM in CRIME -
'Swinging' parents accused of drugging, sexually abusing 8yo daughter
By James Carmody and Charlotte Hamlyn
Photo: Officers from a police taskforce searched six properties in Perth and regional WA on Thursday. (Supplied: WA Police)
Western Australian Police have launched a major investigation into the suspected sexual abuse of at least five young children during organised sex activities with groups of adults.
The investigation was launched last month after police obtained footage allegedly showing an eight-year-old girl being sexually abused by her mother, stepfather and a male friend of the pair.
The trio, aged between 39 and 56-years-old, have been charged ... [more]
Posted By: Bear @ Mar 31 2018, 08:38 AM in Interesting/Amusing Youtubes & Videos
What Is Diversity?
Imagine being told that you've done everything right and you can't be faulted, but even so, you will be penalised/ downgraded because you are white. This actually happened. And they did this to children. The government penalised little children for being white.
These people hate you and your children. How far are you going to let these people go?
The world has been changed for the worse, this treatment of white people is racist - but it still goes on as if this behaviour is normal, even our own politicians support it.
No other group of people would be expected to tolerate this sort of treatment, why?? because if any other group was treated this way the so-called 'progressives' among us wou ... [more]
The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle is using money raised from selling churches to compensate victims of child sexual abuse, but one coastal community is fighting back.
The church on the hill
The closest thing the tiny town of Bungwahl has to a landmark is its church. St James sits high on a hill, overlooking the sparkling Myall Lakes on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
It has been there for more than a century but many touri ... [more]
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