isyulli: people

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Rabu, 13 April 2011

Shop Frequently and Live Longer

More silly research comes to useful conclusions. A survey has found that older people, men and women who go shopping "frequently" live longer. This is true for Taiwanese anyway. Subject women were 28 per cent less likely to die in the 10 years after the study. Men were 27 per cent less likely. Apparently, going shopping once a week is absolutely no good whatsoever. One has to shop, shop, shop to have a positive outcome.

Researchers reached the following conclusion: "Shopping captures several dimensions of personal wellbeing, health and security as well as contributing to the community's cohesiveness and economy, and may represent or actually confer increased longevity." This conclusion is not soundly based on the data, however. It is just drawn "out of the air". In other words it is just an opinion. Maybe shopping is an ideal way of getting regular exercise. Note, those who lived longer were healthier to begin with. And poor health meant less shopping, thus inadequate diet.

Another problem is the finding that companionship via shopping leads to better health. This has no foundation at all. Grumpy old men do have the adjective "old" clipped onto them.

It makes one wonder whether researchers have conclusions determined before they begin a study. It is worrying that longevity was tested for only 10 years after data was provided.

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Health

Senin, 20 Desember 2010

A Restriction on Bringing Relatives Here Is Needed for Unaccompanied Boat Children

Privilege given to asylum minors must be changed. Australian immigration is giving priority to unaccompanied children so that they do not have to face the hardship of being locked up for years. However, this is being used as a stepping stone to get relatives here. The number of children on their own coming here by boat has sky rocketed. One sixth of new arrivals from Afghanistan and Iran are unaccompanied children. This is way ahead of one twelfth for Pakistan.

Like the Afghan man in Indonesia who boldly instructed Australia to hurry up and let him in so he can bring his wife and six children here, this nation is being taken for granted, as easy. Some boat people are plainly arrogant. This man had no feeling for those drowned in the recent boat sinking near Christmas island. All he could say was "at least the survivors are here now while I am stuck in Indonesia."

A restriction of say five years needs to be put on new permanent residents before they have the right to bring out other family members. Considerable time is needed before a wife can follow a husband here. We need such a deterrent. Sure there is a war in Afghanistan but not every disenchanted Afghani can come to Australia.

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Minggu, 19 Desember 2010

People Perceive the World Differently

All human beings are the same. This presumption is now challenged by new findings. Some people are good at remembering faces and the names that go with them. Others can recognize only a few. Some very few, indeed, perhaps just one or two friends. This means that we all have a unique perception of life. If remembering others is significant what about other differences in our sensory sensitivities?

The Muller-Lyer illusion is illuminating. In this test the length of two lines is the same. One has lines at the two ends pointing inward. The other has lines pointing out.

The percentage of people who perceive the second line to be longer differs from society to society. For example, the Kalahari foragers know that the lines are same length - nearly all of the participants tested. On the other hand, most Senegalese believed the second line to be longer.

The Dictator Game also highlights the difference. In this "test" a player is allowed to share a pot of money with another player to apportion rewards fairly. Westerners gave twice as much as people from Bolivia.

Questions arise. If we are not equal, should the law be applied differently to different people? Furthermore, should those born with "better" attributes be selected out at a young age and be "primed" to take leading positions as adults? We are not all like peas in a pod. Should societies be stratified to reflect the variation?

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Sabtu, 27 November 2010

RBA Governor's Case for Financial Review of NBN Is Too Late

Glenn Stevens the Governor of the Reserve bank says he supports a check on the National Broadband Network. You can't really take this man seriously. He obviously just said it to give a non-partisan, either party approach to government. Getting the Coalition off his back was his main aim. After all this time, he says this now. It is obviously late, very late indeed, with the legislation to change the structure of Telstra going through parliament at this very moment.

The Labor Government wants to stop any further investigation into the full cost of the NBN, particularly now at the end of parliamentary sitting. It wants to go away and breath a sigh of satisfaction. All government projects end up costing more than was budgeted. The Coalition knows this and if it can keep the pressure for financial investigation going it is on a winner. Though, what it can achieve by this is unclear. Labor surely has support to pass anything that is needed to get this monster of a project up and running.

Australia needs the new Internet system just to remain credible in the world. If a third of the population fully take up the capacity offered it will be a surprise. Ordinary households only need a basic service and one that is only a bit faster than that available now - city people that is. Business and rural people will be the big winners. If the industry was left to its own resources as at present those in the bush would be on dial-up permanently.

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Selasa, 09 November 2010

DNA Shows How Farming Reached Western Europe

Important discoveries have been made in regard to early farming in Europe. DNA evidence shows that invaders from Turkey brought farming skills to the western regions 8,000 years ago. They were not hunter gatherers from Germany as was originally believed. Hunter gatherers didn't suddenly take up farming. It was a learned skill that was passed on to the younger generation.

The research has been so informative that the route invaders took is clear. An earlier movement of eastern people has also been identified. It took place 11,000 years ago. invaders moved through south-eastern Europe via the Carpathian Basin near present day Hungary into central Europe.

The history of Man is fascinating and we do not have all the answers yet. Perhaps in the past a civilization equal to our own existed and all the knowledge they had has been lost. There are many mysterious things we do not know about the ancient Egyptians and their culture faded in only recent times.

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Jumat, 17 September 2010

Can City Sanitary Systems Stand Up to Fat People?

The fattest people in the world are Americans closely followed by Australians. This is not true. Bahrain has the fattest women. Even in that country fat people are looked down upon. They have a high risk of getting many life-threatening diseases. I don't want to be rude but women in Islamic states do tend to be on the large side. Perhaps this is due to the men not wanting them to be attractive to other men. Maybe Australian wives are fat because their husbands take the same view.

New research has shown that fat people have lower activity in frontal lobes. This increases risk-taking behavior. Gambling apparently has a cause. Mass produced foods are causing behavioral change in societies. As developing countries adopt Western dietary habits their societies change as well. Preservatives and colorings are the main factors. High carbohydrate and protein diets are also detrimental. Gone are the days when women foraged for wild vegetables and berries while their men brought home meat once a week. Eating too much food definitely contributes to diabetes. This disease is rising as people eat, eat and eat.

A human being should only eat one meal a day. Many have four meals a day and eat between meals. Treat-taking is becoming the norm. When people do the weekly shopping they fill the trolleys with soft drinks, chips, chocolates and lollies. Rich, sweet deserts are popular. Your body can do without them. It is not a question of whether the health systems can stand up to this onslaught. In the long run city sanitary systems may not cope.

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Kamis, 02 September 2010

New Finds of Early Humans Do Not Change the Basic Theory

Darwin got it right. Well actually he may not have. Fossils of early humans do not alter basic scientific thought in relation to evolution, Finds do not show a linear development toward advanced Man. Evolution though does tend to predict what new discoveries show. Claims that a particular fossil find is a breakthrough are just not true.

New dinosaur fossils, however, tend to be groundbreaking with regular identification of new type of dinosaurs. Indeed, they seem to have roamed on every continent. The book on dinosaur evolution has not yet been written. Time will tell how clear an understanding of it we can get.

New research teams need to be formed to go to all parts of the world and seek answers to evolution of mammals and reptiles, if indeed dinosaurs were reptiles. Some specialists today even question this view.

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Jumat, 06 Agustus 2010

Making Drinking Under 21 Illegal Is Not Realistic

Dr Aric Sigman a UK psychologist says the drinking age should be raised to 21. Then we would have young people drinking illegally. Brain damage may be a fact but this has not stopped states in the US allowing the smoking of marijuana, which has similar effects. Anyway, some children drink now and are being permanently brain damaged. Illegality has not stopped them.

It is a myth that parents have control over their children until they are 21. Indeed, many parents seem to have no control over their children at any age. Young people are driven by emotion and they need to "enjoy" everything now. Parents and children sitting down to a rational discussion is fairyland stuff.

Drinking used to be the norm in Australia. Then we had the ridiculous situation where people under 21 could not drink alcohol legally, but they could die on the battlefields of Vietnam.

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Sabtu, 31 Juli 2010

Dogs Are Smart, Just Like Humans

Humans aren't that special. It was once thought that people were superior to chimpanzees because humans had feelings and showed love. We all know now that chimps do have these propensities. Other animals weren't even considered in the "advanced" creature stakes. Time has shown that many animals use tools to find food.

Pets such as dogs tend to mimic their owners. They say you grow like your partner and if your companion is a dog then the dog copies you, and heaven forbid you copy the dog. So strong is this bond that dogs will actually give up food rewards to do what their owners do.

Research had two group of pet dogs. Their owners went on hands and knees and opened a sliding door with heads and closed hands. One group of dogs was rewarded for opening the door. The other group was reward with food for not doing what their owners did. All dogs opened the door - foregoing the food reward.

Clearly dogs learn like humans. They copy. Dogs in the test were of many breeds, so intelligence was not a factor. Furthermore, what does a dog do when it sees a human yawn? Think about it. It yawns of course.

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Jumat, 23 April 2010

Abbot Is Naive to Stop Young People Getting the Dole

Tony Abbot's call to send young people to work down the mines is a bit radical for an opposition leader. The "dole bludger" term is very old hat nowadays. With government strengthening of loopholes in getting unemployment benefits it no longer applies.

Abbot says young people do not know what is good for them and they are naive. Working down the mines will not make them less naive. Furthermore, they do know that going underground will not do them any good. Abbots condemnation of them joining environmental movements instead of mainstream political parties is like the cat calling the kettle black. Another "naive" statement from Tony Abbot is the idea of testing young people to see if they are "mature" enough to receive unemployment benefit.

Though Tony Abbot believes that depriving the young of unemployment benefit will make them move to the remote bush of Western Australia, this is a childish, simplistic dream. Recruitment officer Kevin Wealand says mining companies need skilled workers. They don't want labourers. Abbot says this will be Liberal Party policy. Ultimately this attempt at social engineering will not work. Mine owners and union leaders are cringing at the thought of having unskilled workers operating dangerous mining machines. Queensland Resources Council director Michael Roche says Tony Abbot is misguided - he is completely off the track.

Putting it bluntly, Tony Abbot comes across as a twerp. Does he sleep with that bike? Where have all the real leaders like Malcom Turnbull and Peter Costello gone? The Coalition needs to get a decent leader to be a contender for Prime Minister.

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Minggu, 11 April 2010

Australia Has Done the Right Thing in Delaying Processing of Boat People

With Christmas Island bursting at the seams the Government had no choice but to say stop, that is enough. The six month delay in processing of boat people from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will make potential boat people think again. Unfortunately, those already here are worrying about being processed, but the Government has said it will do checks on those soon. "Genocide" is being used in relation to Tamils. Using words like that will only make the situation worse. Tamils have not been killed indiscriminately.

ASIO has become involved with processing. It has placed some people on a "danger" list of possible activists. If they are militants they will be sent home. ASIO must be allowed to do its job. That is what is was created for.

Tamils were not put into "concentration" camps. In fact, people wanted to stay in the camps. They were forced to leave. Tamils have arrived here believing what people traffickers had told them - that it would be easy. They are surprised when they are not given access to Australia. Obviously, there will be disappointment.

With the UN report on refugees showing Australia was the only country to have an increase in refugees, the Government had to do something. With the door now closed to Australia, albeit temporarily, maybe some will choose to go home.

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