Treasurer Ralph’s first budget

Treasurer Ralph has used the Australian’s Instabudget game to plan the next Federal budget. He has slashed taxes, chopped spending but still managed a surplus. Media reaction to Treasurer Ralph’s budget is here. If you think you an do better have a go and let me know.

Invention of the week: non leaking tomatoes

I like this:

THE world’s first non-leaking tomatoes will go on sale in the UK from tomorrow.

Tesco tomato buyer Emma Pettitt said, “As we all know tomatoes can be tricky to chop and a squirt of juice can easily end up on the kitchen wall or over your shirt.

“The non-leaking variety will stop that problem but without the tomato losing any of its taste.”

Ms Pettitt said, “The arrival of the non-leaking tomato may well be heralded by sarnie fans as the best thing to hit the sandwich world since sliced bread……

“(The tomato’s) juiciness sometimes means that by lunchtime our lovely salad sarnie resembles a piece of wet cardboard. From now on that will be a thing of the past.”

Carnival of Space 100

The Carnival of Space celebrates its 100 edition at the One Minute Astronomer.

Rudd’s military build up

If this is true then Mr Rudd is to be commended for taking Australia’s defense seriously. But 12 submarines !?? We have enough trouble trying to crew six.

KEVIN Rudd is set to announce Australia’s biggest military build-up since World War II, led by a multi-billion-dollar investment in maritime defence, including 100 new F-35 fighters, a doubling of the submarine fleet, and powerful new surface warships.…..

Senior government sources say Mr Rudd has insisted that defence spending remain largely insulated from the Government’s budget difficulties, but the Defence Department will still have to find at least $15 billion of internal savings over the next decade to help pay for the $100 billion-plus long-term equipment plan.

Mr Rudd said yesterday the delivery of the white paper was proving “acutely challenging as we work to defend ourselves from the global economic storm”.

“It is the most difficult environment to frame the Australian budget in modern economic history. It is also the most difficult environment to frame our long-term defence planning in modern economic history as well,” he told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. “Nevertheless the Government will not resile even in the difficult times from the requirement for long-term coherence of our defence planning for the long-term security of our nation. This is core business for government. That is why we have forged ahead in our preparation of the defence white paper because national security needs do not disappear because of the global recession. If anything, those needs become more acute.”…..

Super Max Jihadists

hmmmm,

CONVICTED murderer Bassam Hamzy, accused of masterminding a drug ring from jail, has won the right to sue the New South Wales Commissioner of Corrective Services over his solitary confinement.

After the decision was handed down, Hamzy – who appeared by videolink from jail – shouted: “I just f..cked the commissioner, I just f..ed the commissioner.’….

It has been alleged that Mr Hamzy productively used his time by running a small business and providing helpful religious instruction:

Hamzy was charged with supplying drugs last December, after police alleged he made more than 19,000 calls from jail as he coordinated a $250,000-a-week drug operation.

In 2007, he was accused of converting fellow prisoners to Islam in order to form a gang labelled the “Super Max Jihadists”.

In 2001, he was convicted of murder, malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, maliciously discharging loaded arms with intent to do grievous bodily harm, threatening to use a firearm with intent to prevent or hinder lawful apprehension and conspiracy to murder….

Home buyer grant a mistake

At last a politician who has the sense to tell like it is:

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said there was also legitimate concern that the grants might be pushing up the price of housing.

He said there was need for caution as the Government and everyone else was predicting a rise in unemployment of up to 300,000 people.

“I would hate to see that those people being encouraged to go out and buy their first homes and are going to end up unemployed in the next 12-18 months,” he said. “

It might be great to stimulate and distort one part of the economy.

“But if it means that those poor buggers are going to end up unemployed and default on their home loan in 12 or 18 months time through no fault of their own, then this will be seen to be a mistake.”

And he knows the real issue is supply not demand:

Mr Hockey said all the grants did was increase housing prices unless there was an increase in housing stocks.

“We don’t know whether there has been a sufficient increase in the amount of housing provided to meet what has stimulated demand,” he said.

Joe, can you please send a memo to your state counterparts.

I’m with Newt

While Barack Obama managed to get the American hostage released from the Somali pirates there are still 260 other nationals being held by the pirates. Newt Gringrich makes the case for adopting the “broken windows” approach to the problem:

The Broken Windows theory simply states that if a building has a broken window that is not fixed, the message is sent that no one cares. Vandals believe there will be no consequences for their bad behavior, and consequently, worse behavior will follow.

However, fixing the broken window sends a message that people care about their community and are watching, which deters crime.

Giuliani and Bratton acted on the insights of the Broken Windows theory to transform New York from one of the most dangerous cities in America to the safest big city in the country by treating minor crimes like vandalism, prostitution, and loitering like broken windows. ..

However this is not what is happening, at least by the Europeans:

“The marines found 25 people on board (of the dhow), nine of them suspected pirates,” spokesman Robin Middel told AFP.

They also found seven AK47 assault rifles and a rocket launcher, which were seized and destroyed.

“The other people on the dhow were Yemeni fishermen who were hijacked by the suspected pirates.”

Middel said the suspects had to be freed on the instructions of a NATO squadron commander.

“There exists no legal framework in the NATO for arrests to be carried out,” he explained.

Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison Schmitt to visit the island of Malta

Today on Discovery Enterprise we will be launching a series of articles concerning the past, present, and future of lunar exploration to mark the occasion of Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison Schmitt’s visit to the island of Malta.

Dr. Schmitt is a former United States senator and a geologist who was involved in NASA’s Apollo space program. He was the lunar module pilot of the Apollo 17 mission and is the only scientist ever to travel to the moon. Following this mission, Senator Schmitt was appointed a Professor of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served one term as US Senator, is the Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council and founder and Chairman of Interlune-Intermars Initiative Inc. an organization whose goal is to advance the private sector’s acquisition and use of lunar resources.

Senator Schmitt was invited by the Department of Physics of the University of Malta in collaboration with the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Malta Committee and the United States Embassy to deliver two public lectures entitled “A SCIENTIST ON THE MOON – APOLLO 17” and “SPACE EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION” on the 22nd and 23rd of April 2009 as part of series of activities to mark the International Year of Astronomy and to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.

The full programme of the activities connected to this event can be found at the Malta’s International Year of Astronomy website.

Senator Schmitt is also an advocate of returning to the moon and envisions using the energy and mineral resources of Earth’s nearest neighbor to create a spacefaring civilization.

The series of articles that will follow in the coming days are dedicated to the young men and women of today who will be the active participates of making this vision a reality.

Alex Michael Bonnici

The Moon Our Stepping Stone in Creating a Spacefaring Civilization

“If God wanted man to become a spacefaring species, He would have given man a moon.” – Krafft Ehricke, space visionary

The Moon will play an important role in humanity’s future expansion into space. A return to the Moon is the only logical step if our planetary culture is to evolve into a spacefaring civilization.

In the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a historic superpower Moon race, which culminated in 12 men exploring the surface of the Moon. The first era of lunar exploration reached a dramatic conclusion in December of 1972 as Apollo 17 Astronauts Captain Gene Cernan and Dr. Harrison Schmitt became the last men on the Moon.

Moon 2.0, is the second era of lunar exploration involving the partnership of the governments of many nations and private enterprise. It will not be a quest for “flags and footprints.” This time we will go to the Moon to stay. The Moon is a stepping stone to the rest of the solar system and a source of solutions to some of the most pressing environmental problems that we face on Earth – energy independence and climate change. Already, governments from around the world recognize the importance of lunar exploration, and national space agencies from the United States, Russia, China, India, Japan, and the nations of Europe have sent probes to the Moon to pave the way for humanity’s return there.

This second era of lunar exploration will be much more exciting and inspiring for it will help to create a new branch of human civilization out amongst the stars.

Today’s video selection takes a closer look at this brave new era of lunar exploration.

Moon 2.0: Join the Revolution

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is an unprecedented international competition that will challenge and inspire engineers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. The X PRIZE Foundation, best known for the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private suborbital spaceflight, is an educational nonprofit prize organization whose goal is to bring about radical breakthroughs to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.

“The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration.”

“Having Google fund the purse and title the competition punctuates our desire for breakthrough approaches and global participation,” continued Diamandis. “By working with the Google team, we look forward to bringing this historic private space race into every home and classroom. We hope to ignite the imagination of children around the world.”

Base Camp Moon

The fruits of the previous moon expeditions have provided scientists with astounding information and insights. Over the years, this information has helped shape technological advancements in fields as diverse as biology, geology, astrophysics and chemistry. In 2018, astronauts will once again set foot on the lunar surface, with the goal being to ultimately establish a presence on Mars and beyond. Astronauts, scientists and engineers will use the moon as a training ground to develop and refine the technologies that such an ambitious vision demands.

NASA’s Plans to Return to the Moon

This is an exciting and inspirational video highlighting some of the hardware that will return humanity to the Moon within the next decade.

Exploring and Colonizing Mars – The Search For Life

Today on Discovery Enterprise we will explore one of the most enduring and tantalising questions connected to the red planet. In the sixth and final instalment of the Discovery Channel’s landmark television series Mars Rising – The Search For Life.

Is there life on Mars? Scientists in North America and elsewhere are combing the most barren places on Earth to search out bacteria, amino acids or carbonates in the most inhospitable environments existing on our world in search of clues to help answer the age old question – Is there life on Mars and elsewhere in the cosmos? Did life on Mars arise independently in a separate act of biogenesis? Or, does life on Earth and Mars have a common ancestry? And finally does Martian life pose a potential threat to the humans who venture there and the human civilization left behind on Earth? Will the human species one day face the threat of a very real Andromeda Strain?

The search for past or existent life on Mars is perhaps one of the most compelling reasons why humanity will go there. And, if it can be proved that life once existed on Mars or still ekes out a tenacious hold there, then Mars may hold the potential of becoming the second abode of the human species.

Mars Rising – The Search For Life