"...and harvest data suggest that African countries and U.S. states with the highest intensity of sport hunting have shown the steepest population declines in African lions and cougars over the past 25 yrs."

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005941

"A November 2004 study by the University of Port Elizabeth estimated that eco-tourism on private game
reserves generated "more than 15 times the income of livestock or game rearing or
overseas hunting". (1) Eco-tourism lodges in Eastern Cape Province produce almost 2000 rand
(£180) per hectare. Researchers also noted that more jobs were created and staff received "extensive
skills training". (2)
The reasons for this are obvious. Although hunters pay large sums, ordinary tourists are much more
numerous. Hunters shoot an animal once, but photographic tourists can shoot it a thousand times and
the animal is still there. In 1982, it was estimated that a maned male lion earned Kenya National Parks
$50,000 (£26,500) a year through photographic tourism.(3) In comparison, in neighbouring Tanzania,
hunters currently pay a $2000 (£1060) trophy fee and the lion is gone forever.(4)"
Hunting safaris are seasonal and are open for a maximum of six months a year. They use very basic
camps and staff rarely learn any other skills to support themselves during the rest of the year. In
contrast, photographic safaris run all year. They use well-established, often luxurious, camps or hotels.
Staff are trained in management and other useful professional qualifications which advance their
careers

http://www.animalrightsafrica.org/Archive/Hunting/The_%20Myth_of_Trophy_Hunting_as_Conservation.pdf

Thought I rarely use Windows, I have to agree that the last install I did (7) in terms of pure 'load disk, machine on, enter information' was pretty simple.

It's the afterwards bit that's frustrating and time consuming, having to install software to both protect the machine and to make it useful for something other than browsing the web with IE enter version number). As soon as something (like the anti-virus software) stops playing nicely with another piece of software it then starts to take ages...and the scans each bit wants to complete at install...blah...and finding drivers for the hardware if not included...blah blah.

However, the exercise in installing Winders as a sole OS was quite simple and my kids could easily manage it. They could easily manage one of the more common Linux distro installs too.

I tried Fedora the other day and Loony Leper...nope, Slavering Sealion...nope, urm...Lucid Lynx....that's it :) Both were so simple it made me feel like I was no longer a cut above the other OS users. I reckon even a Mac user could have done it :))

I'd say that's true for the majority of the Windows users I know. The machine becomes two, three or four years old and they decide they need to 'get a new one so they buy a new machine. I know very few solely Windows users who have installed it at any stage of their lives.

Mothers installing Linux Filesystems :)

I think you misunderstand.

He's saying YOU are mother at the local community college. Mother pours tea, mother makes cakes, mother picks up D&D players :)

I know.

I'm always amazed by such comments.

The first thing is you have to have a floating paranoia. Then the paranoia become focused on something. The government is good because it's so vast, so integral to the functioning of the community and has such enormous power. Next you see conspiracies in most things (it goes with the paranoia) and finally whatever is being done by the 'Grubbermint' must be suspect thus the paranoid conspiracy theorist makes connections to to things were are not and fails to see the wood for their paranoid forest.

More people should watch the doco before commenting here.

While I'm all for trying to improve crop yields, I don't support the notion that someone/a company can OWN the plants they modify. Either help or go away, but don't think you can own something like this.

I'd put it in the same league as attempting to own the rights to anything surrounding the mapping or manipulating of DNA.

Richard Glover (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia) wrote a great column about things being invented in reverse. The article was title "Sometimes it's the simple things in life that strike a cord" 22 May 2010.

In the case of the Kindle (et al) which he didn't mention) he 'would' have written:

Imagine if you had a Kindle/whatever and someone told you of this really interesting new device called 'a book'.

1. You can buy them second hand
2. You can loan them to anyone you like, as often as you like and they can lend them to someone else
3. You can read them anywhere you like, though in the dark you need a torch :))
4. If you drop it in the bath, you only have to let it dry out
5. You can sell them once you've read them
6. Sometimes you can get them for free because people give them away
7. They don't have batteries so you can open and read them anytime
8. You can copy pages from them to use in tutorials, lectures, give to others so they can read that small part, keep for notes in the future
9. You can put very pretty bookmarks in them and ever WRITE on them

Imagine! You can do all this and more with the new 'Book'. :)

I think it is worth arguing :)

SUV is such a strange and ambiguous term which doesn't really describe what the vehicles are.

4WD is much clearer and a better description.

This is also a separate issue to the culturally imperialist language...don't even start on 'cookies' to describe ANZAC biscuits.

Hmmm. I'm not quite sure what you are trying to say here. If you can't vote, then sure, there's nothing you can do about it. If you think voting changes nothing, then there is no argument that will convince you and I suggest you move to a dictatorship and settle down - you obviously don't need the vote or any ability to influence the government under which you live.

In short, the land is owned by the community - not you - and the government, voted in by the community, holds it on behalf of the community. You may not like what they do with it (and sometimes I don't either) but you need to work to change their minds and support those who think similarly. If you have a political environment in which many people don't vote (USA, Britain and other such places) then sure, you've got a hard road to hoe. Nonetheless, there are so many examples of how change has been brought about by voting and political agitation, that there's no need to quote them here.

This comment is completely and utterly contradictory. I don't know what passes for liberalism where you live, but you appear to confuse dictatorship of a party or junta with liberal values of equality, freedom of speech and other such weirdly liberal things as freedom of association, the rights of workers and the poor and so on. Liberal views have never justified anything you suggest here. Freedom from slavery was a 'liberal' 'humanist' movement which was opposed by those who opposed liberal views.

I can see how this is of advantage to the community and thus they should support such notions as being proper and right means by which to restrict us all.

You make a hammer with balsa wood handles. They're crap but you have a patent which prevents anyone from making better ones, despite the fact that you merely got to the patent office first or had the money to apply and others didn't or just stole the idea and got in on the patent act first.

For the next ??? years the building of houses, cars, fences etc is slowed because people have to resort to using bricks as your balsa wood hammer handles can't take the strain.

I can see how this helps creativity, community development and social advancement and is a meaningful and acceptable restriction on the community. Thanks.

Yeah to this idea :)

I have a rel who is a nurse and another who is a pilot for a major airline flying 747s.

The airline was well aware the latter rel was going to have the surgery and he had to then be checked by their doctors.

Both had Lasik surgery and neither have reported any problems.

I know this may not help, but thought I'd report it to you anyway :))

Fair enough too.

Given that they won't be trawling the streets looking for people 'to do this to' I can't see the problem.

If you are colour blind it reduces your ability to do quite a few things and has few advantages.

Further, regarding some posters comments about 'curing' autism, I'd be interested to know how someone would be given the option of having the general competencies that most people have as against serious limitations.

Most people who have self-awareness and experience serious levels of intellectual disability are painfully aware of their personal limitations. Few would want to keep them given a choice Yes, I have worked in the field. Yes, I have relatives and friends who have impairments. Yes, I know some deaf people consider they have a culture worth keeping. No, regarding the latter, I don't think they've got an advantage that out-weighs the disadvantage. Check out the interviews of people who have gone deaf after being a hearing person. These people really know the difference.

You idiot! Now you've gone a blown it.

When their brains explode all over the country trying get their minds around that one *you* will be responsible for picking up the pieces.

I remember some Ambos and Firebrigade officers once telling me about their 'Sussan bags'

"this goes with this, goes with this, goes with this, this goes with that at Susssan's"

http://www.madisonmag.com.au/fashion/aussie-heroes.htm

(Australian joke)

You might need your own Susanne bag for all the bit's you're gonna have to pick up ;)