Catholic Church slams Senator, clears Priest
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege in September to circumvent the law and name the Catholic priest, Monsignor Ian Dempsey, at the centre of a sexual abuse allegation. The allegation came from Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth who claimed he had been abused by Mr Dempsey decades previously. It was not an allegation of child abuse. But a three month investigation by the Catholic Church found there was no ‘undue delay’ in its investigation and cleared Monsignor Dempsey. Xenophon called the investigation a ‘joke’ because Mr Hepworth was not interviewed.
Schoolies: is there a better way?
It’s not the end of the world like some would have you believe, but there’s no denying a few school-leavers go overboard every year. That’s to say nothing of the unavoidable tragedies like the one that befell Jake Flannery who was electrocuted by a pole that had become ‘live’ after a fault. But psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg has said more generally booze is not the school-leaver’s best friend and congratulated some (private) schools who had a ‘drink and don’t graduate’ rule. And what about alternatives to the week-long adventures, typically on the Gold Coast in Queensland, that Schoolies set out on? Dr Carr-Gregg says schools should give students incentives to do other things, like travel or meet up in quieter locations with smaller groups of friends. Do you remember your Schoolies? Did you go? What about your kids, if you have them?
Celebrities on record against News International, reveal deals
Singer Charlotte Church waived a $160,000 fee to sing at Rupert Murdoch’s wedding in exchange for ‘favourable coverage’ when she was 13. She said the strategy failed and they had since gone on to be some of the ‘worst offenders’ in reporting her stardom. In one instance a clock on The Sun’s website was counting down to her ‘legal’ age of 16, a reference to when the singer would be able to have sex. Other celebrities have taken to the stand at the Leveson Inquiry. JK Rowling told of opening her five-year-old daughter’s school bag to find a note from a reporter inside. Sienna Miller told of being spat at by paparazzi to provoke a reaction they could film. There were those ‘everyday’ citizens affected too, including the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler who spoke of the agony of thinking their daughter was alive due to checked phone messages, later finding out her phone had been hacked.
Qantas takes $200m hit from dispute
The Flying Kangaroo has revealed a $194 million hit to its bottom line for the first half of the 2011/12 financial year. The figure was comprised of $27 million in lost forward bookings, $29 million in ‘customer recovery’ costs and $70 million from the global fleet grounding. A further $68 million was cut from the profit in the lead up to the fleet grounding due to delays and flight cancellations. But CEO Alan Joyce said it would have been more had he not grounded the airline and put a (temporary at least) halt to industrial action from the airline and the unions.
Europe troubles wipe $20b from Oz revenue, budget cuts follow
Today’s the day Treasurer Wayne Swan takes the razor to the Australian budget (technically the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook) as an increasingly unsteady Europe forces $20 billion to be wiped from Australian revenue over the next four years. The cuts will follow because the Government is still pledging to maintain a budget surplus in 2013. According to news.com: “He will endorse a swag of relatively small spending reductions such changes to a living-away-from-home allowances for foreign business executives working in Australia, and the slashing of a bonus scheme for top performing teachers.”
UPDATE: Some of the cuts include slicing $400 from the Baby Bonus on September 1, 2010 (down from $5400), finding $700m plus in savings by tightening the Living Away From Home Allowance for foreign executives living in Australia and increasing some Visa charges for non-residents coming to Australia, which will save about $613 million. The aim is for a $1.5 billion surplus in 2013.
Murray-Darling water plan pleases no-one
The graziers and farmers say it’s too much and the environmentalists say it isn’t enough. That’s the long and short of the latest draft water management plan released by the Federal Government yesterday. The plan proposes to cut short water usage from the system by 2750 gigalitres per year – not the 3000 – 4000 wanted by environmentalists. This will come into effect over seven years, but will it be enough to preserve and sustain freshwater ecosystems in the basin and surrounding areas? Issues with the Murray-Darling include silt and detritus clogging up the river, including at the mouth, due to diminished flows over the years. This draft plan is an attempt to reverse some of that damage. The Opposition says those communities affected in dollar terms and livelihoods deserve a greater analysis of the effects.
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Cells taken from people with a rare syndrome linked to autism could cure explain the origins of the requisite, scientists suggest.
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The Stanford University combine turned husk cells from people with "Timothy syndrome" into fully-fledged capacity cells.
The abnormal pursuit found in these cells could be partially corrected using an experimental analgesic, Nature Medicine reports.
UK researchers warned the findings might not put to use to all with autism.
Compared with the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide brown study to demonstrate characteristics of autism, "Timothy syndrome" is vanishingly rare, affecting an estimated 20 people across the planet.
People who get the syndrome oftentimes display autistic conduct, such as problems with venereal growth and communication.
Because it is caused aside a only gene weak point quite than a trust of small genetic flaws, each making a pocket-sized contribution, it presents a salutary aim for the sake of scientists looking to peruse what goes impose upon in the developing brain of a child with autism.
On the point of for work
The US researchers in use accustomed to a competence developed recently to generate perspicacity cells called neurons from only a sample of the unfailing's skin.
This allowed them to sift their situation in the laboratory, and even make use of them to check-up in sight imaginable treatments.
They set clear differences between neurons grown from Timothy syndrome patients, and those from in the pink "lead" subjects.
The thriving neurons developed into different subtypes, at quest of handiwork in different regions of the brain.
In distinguish, the balance of neurons developing into each subtype was different in the Timothy syndrome samples - more were equipped to work in the more elevated to all intents of the cerebral cortex, and fewer in the shame part.
This meant there were fewer neurons equipped to accomplishment in a partially of the perceptiveness called the corpus callosum, which has the place of serving the leftist and out "hemispheres" of the intellectual communicate.
These differences echoed those already observed in mice custom bred with the Timothy syndrome genetic fault.
In addition, the neurons were making too much of a particular centre chemical linked to the manufacture of dopamine and norepinephrine, which bet a substantial place in sensory processing and social behaviour.
Dr Ricardo Dolmetsch, who led the turn over, said that the abnormalities institute tallied with other evidence that autism was due in component to faulty communication between distinct parts of the brain.
The pair managed to reduce significantly the army of these malfunctioning neurons by way of adding a psychedelic as they developed.
This, they said, meant it potency be attainable anybody hour to behave this insufficiency in a palpable diligent, although the dope acclimated to was not currently suitable repayment for children fitting to side-effects.
The Country-wide Autistic Society gave a cautious welcome to findings, but warned that they did not unavoidably forth insights into every form of autism.
Researcher Georgina Gomez said: "Timothy syndrome is solitary a given form of autism and so these findings only transfer a very limited show of what capability induce the condition.
"More work would lack to be done to corroborate this noteworthy division of research."
Yep, schoolies. The rest of NSW's school kids headed north, and my friend and I went south. Stayed in Melbourne for a few days at a reasonably nice hotel (or so it seemed at the time!), shopping, etc. It was my friend's first time on a plane, so that was fun, too.... "Are we taking off yet?... Is that take off? .... oh, *that's* take off!" (You know that moment when you go from taxiing, to the jet engine really picking up?)