Natural Disaster...

Natural disaster can be defined as a consequence of a natural hazard occurring on land, sea or air.
In Australia. these events cause great financial hardship for individuals and communities, and can result in loss of life, which has become part of AUSTRALIAN FOLKLORE....

Some of the common natural disasters found in Australia are..


Drought

Prolonged and abnormally dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs. These major droughts have resulted in financial losses, personal hardship and environmental damage. In Western NSW and west Darling areas, the 1895 Federal Drpoght was exacerbated by heavy overstocking, and the arrival of rabbits which crossed the Murray River into western NSW in 1881 and reached plague proportions. Overstocking caused widespread severe erosion and increased the effects of the drought.

Eastern and Southern Australia is once again experiencing widespread drought, with agricultural income in 2006-07 expected to be at the lowest level since 1994-95.

Forest fires

In mid-January 2003, extreme weather conditions led to multiple outbreaks of fire in Namadgi National Park to the south of Canberra. Strong winds pushed the fires into forested areas adjoining Canberra and on the afternoon of Saturday 18 January, firestorms fanned by high winds hit Canberra suburbs. Thousands of hectares of forest and park lands were burnt out.

Floods

Floods occur when water covers land which is normally dry. Floods in Australia range from localised flash flooding as a result of thunderstorms, to more widespread flooding following heavy rain over the catchment areas of river systems. Flooding is also a regular seasonal phenomenon in Northern Australia. Australian towns were built on floodplains despite warnings from local Aborigines.

Over one million square kilometres of Queensland and New South Wales (and a smaller area of Victoria) were flooded in April 1990. The towns of Nyngan and Charleville were the worst affected with around 2,000 homes inundated. Six people were killed and around 60 were injured.

notes..

Australian folklore is based on traditional beliefs, legends and customs of a group, handed down through generations

Fast Food Forum To Address Obesity Woes

THE fast food industry will meet with the NSW government and public health experts for talks today triggered by concern over the community's rising level of obesity.

Former premier Bob Carr will co-chair the NSW Food Forum, where the agenda includes proposals such as listing fat and calorie information alongside meals offered on fast food menus.The NSW Government initiative follows a campaign by Sydney-based The George Institute for Global Health, which has highlighted the elevated levels of salt contained in most fast food meals.Bruce Neal, Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney and senior director at The George, said the talks were a "great opportunity" to improve the nutrition of fast food and possibly without the need for new regime of industry regulation.Australia was now lagging behind the US and the UK which had introduced salt reduction targets for 80 different categories of food, he said.

"Prof Neal is calling for industry agreement to reduce the salt content of fast food meals.This would ensure a benefit for all fast food consumers, he said, and not just those "few motivated people" who could be persuaded by improved nutritional labelling to buy a healthier option.The fast food industry is expected to announce a new partnership with the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) - a Quick Service Restaurant Forum within the AFGC that would focus on nutrition and health issues.

Industry takes the growing levels of obesity and chronic disease seriously and recognises the need to work with stakeholders to reduce salt and saturated fats and improve consumer information.

Australian Body Art Festival 2010

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Look very nice right??

wow...

FANTASY bodies go on display in Queensland as the annual Body Art Carnivale brings human canvases to life.

The Australian Body Art Carnivale is centred around body art in its many varied forms - from the more readily seen art form of face painting right through to cutting-edge full body painting using airbrush and sponge and brush, as well as special effects.Read more:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/australia/australian-body-art-festival-2010/story-e6frfq89-1225868551921#ixzz0umeRdWVg

It is very interesting!!!

FOREIGN STUDENTS ARE HELPING TO PROP UP STATE SCHOOLS WITH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FEES.

Thousands of students, mainly from Asia, poured $31 million into primary and high schools in Australia for last year - up from $27 million in 2008. More than 4000 overseas students were enrolled in state schools last year compared with 2700 in 2007, according to documents released to the Herald Sun. They paid annual fees of about $13,000 for years 11 and 12 and $8800 at primary level.

Australian Education Union state president, Mary Bluett said it was possible overseas fee-paying students were being enrolled ahead of local students who wanted to attend a school but lived outside the zone.

Some schools were actively recruiting foreign students as a way of earning much needed.

John Masanauskas

The Effect of Television Viewing

Based on the estimation, more than ninety per cent of the family units in the urban countries have at least one set of television (Sharif 1999). According to Leigh (2001), since the first time television was invented, it has enthralled its audience from all generations. This statement was supported by Dr. Thomas Alexander, who said that the television programmes are designed to have a demand of undivided attention. According to the American Time Use Survey (2003) statistics, women and men spent 2.5 hours and 2.8 hours watching television respectively. Many said that watching television gives some bad impact especially to the children as their imaginative skills do not developed well since watching television is a passive activity (Leigh 2001). However, I strongly believe that watching television also have positive effects. This is based on some reasons that could support my statements which are television programmes provide additional information to learn, encourage critical thinking skills among the audiences and refreshes our minds after having a hard day's work.


Firstly, television programmes provide additional information to learn. The television is a good medium of teaching among the students. They are believable to understand more on what they have seen rather than what they have read (Leigh 2001). In addition, news programmes on television also ensure us to access to the latest current issues of local and world networking. Besides, youngsters have more information which allowing them to explore the beauty of the world (Rutherford 2002). They also can share and discuss with their friends on the knowledge that they get from the television programmes about the global problems (Sharif 1999). So, I strongly believe that watching television has a positive effect.


Secondly, watching television programmes encourages critical thinking skills among the audiences. They become more curios about the world around them. This makes them become expert on the cultural identity and the contribution of the other cultures to communities (Leigh 2001). Not only that, from the resolving of the conflict in the programme shown, families can discuss the better solutions that are possible. The discussions help to develop a critical thinking skill which is necessary for learning purposes and social interactions (Sharif 1999). Again, viewing television programmes give a positive effect as it helps to develop critical thinking skills.


Lastly, watching television programmes also refreshes our mind after having a hard work at schools or offices. Young people can forget for a while about the frustration and stress caused by the increasing demands and expectations put on them. Hence, they become more refreshed and ready to concentrate on the other works (Rutherford 2002). So, watching television can help to relax our mind and body thus it proves that viewing television lead to positive effects.


As a conclusion, watching television has positive effects such as additional information can be learnt and the critical thinking can be triggered among audiences. Furthermore, it also refreshes our mind after having a hard work at schools or offices. Therefore, I strongly believe that watching television also have positive effects instead of bad impacts that the people always think and talk about.