worming cats

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Conservation by Ty Buchanan

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National Australia Bank CEO Says People See Banks as Bastards

Though banks are now more cautious with their lending, National Australia Bank CEO Cameron Clyne says the community blames the banks for the economic crisis and rightly so too. Banks have kept their operations very secret while they risked investors money by loaning out money to potential defaulters.

He says banks should be more open about their interest rate tables and fees. Investors in the community are hit all the time by getting lower interest than they believe they will get, and being hit by fees without being informed why. Fees in particular have technical wording rather than "real life" wording.

In short, he says people believe that banks are robbing bastards. He further warns that banks will increase interest charged on loans or keep them the same despite the central bank lowering rates. People will see this as plain robbery. They will call for government intervention.

Economics by Ty Buchanan

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Microsoft to Offer VPN

Microsoft is going to offer a way for consumers to get around national firewalls. It is aimed at domestic US consumers to access corporate resources but it will make for a revolution in bypassing national restrictions, particularly for music and television programming.

Of course you will need a Windows mobile phone to access the feature. This is a trump card that Microsoft has played. However, like with cloud services when one enterprise gives something extra all competitors provide it as well.

While it is essentially for business use, VPN access will ultimately be used to access local content in countries that restrict it to their citizens. Just how program providers will react to this is not known. This announcement has been a surprise. However, many users pay a few dollars a month for VPNs already. It makes for easy use of programming supposedly blocked for overseas people.

If business gets "free" use of VPNs, the ordinary consumer will want it too. Soon rivals to Microsoft will take it a step further by giving business and general Internet users automatic VPN access.

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Conservation

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Bushmeat Trade Is Depleting Natural Forest

Bushmeat is not just a problem in Africa. Asian countries have the same problem, as the demand for meat from wild animals increases. Taking animals from tropical forest changes the whole ecosystem. It is common sense really. As the number of creatures feeding on vegetation and other animals decline there is an abundance of vegetation growth and remaining fauna. More growth kills off food for these animals.

While some plants increase, others decline. Even the amount of vegetation not consumed can fall. Uneaten vegetation crowds out growth for all, so saplings do not grow tall. Plants need animals to disperse seeds. Consequently, the variety of plants falls.

Just two decades ago the Lambir Hills National Park in Sarawak was pristine. There was an abundance of animals and trees. Now all the large animals have been killed off by hunters after a profit.

Once such dramatic change occurs there is no way back. The large animals will not breed back to original numbers. The damage also impacts on remaining animals who find their usual food source is no longer plentiful.

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Society

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Create Your Own Country

Establish your own country. People have been doing this for decades. They pronounce kingship and plant crowns on their heads to rule in perpetuity. Don't laugh. These people are serious. Such "countries" have currencies made, issue stamps and visas, and even produce constitutions. People can become "citizens" on the Internet.

Why do they establish new countries? Some do it because they are fed up with the country they live in, others to highlight an issue of contention. Doing it just for laughs or getting an income from tourism is not uncommon.

Recently a meeting of micronations took place at a Sydney university. They discussed their place in The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations. The meeting went well. There were Laughs aplenty. Just imagine how the leaders were decked out with flowing robes, scepters and crowns.

There is a problem, however. It is an illusion of independence. The "countries" are still part of the larger countries they are in. If the leader works, he/she has to pay income tax to the larger nation. Furthermore, a tiny new nation pays rates and land taxes to the local council.

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Politics

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Donkeys and Mules Are Celebrated

Donkeys and mules are not forgotten. There are people out there who care a lot for these animals. They have established the Donkey All Breeds Society of Australia National Donkey and Mule Show. They deserve a medal for creating such a long title for the celebratory weekend.

Entrants were brought in from all over Australia. The tiny Mediterean Miniature donkey was the cutest in the show. Very large animals were represented like the 16 hands high American Mammoth donkey.

Many animals performed for the spectators. It is a myth about the independent, angry mule. Indeed, they like to be trained. Donkeys really put on show in the trail, driven, sulky, halter and snigging classes. Trainers were as young as five years old. Some donkey entrants were elderly, in their mid-twenties. The show was such a success that it will continue. It is affectionately called the long ears show.

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Society

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