In contrast to much of the world, Australia is vast in area, but relatively sparse in population. So back in 2004, the then treasurer Peter Costello urged his fellow country men and women to procreate for their nation. He encapsulated his plea in the statement "one for mum, one for dad and one for your country." But he did not rely on words alone. He had a stimulus package to offer--$3000 per baby.

The results? Amazing.

The fertility rate increased by 3.2 per cent between 2004 and 2006, with almost 12,000 "extra" children born, according to a recent survey by the Melbourne Institute.

Now the implications of that baby surge are about to be felt by schools. The Federal Government has promised to give every Australian four-year-old access to preschool by 2013. To achieve this, Premier John Brumby has set forth a vision of "one-stop shops" - centers that would combine child care, kindergartens, maternal and child health facilities and primary schools.

That, of course, brings out other problems. Where are they going to get all the preschool teachers needed to deal with this wave of new students - especially when there is already a shortage?

Like all social policy, the issues are complex and interwoven. Still, it's nice to see a country grappling with key issues in child care and trying to design a system that will enhance the lives of children.

Posted by Marion Blank at 05:23 PM
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We all "know" that we regularly face phenomenal changes in so many aspects of life. But here are a few facts that illustrate just how profound and wide-ranging the changes are:

The 25% of India's population with the highest IQs is greater than the total population of the US (meaning that India has more honors kids than America has kids).

If you are one in a million in China, there are 1300 people just like you.

The top ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

The US Department of Labor estimates that today's learner will have 10 to 14 jobs by the time they are 38 years of age.

One in four workers has been with their employer for less than one year.

There are over 200 million registered users on MySpace. If MySpace were a country, it would be the fifth largest in the world--between Indonesia and Brazil.

The #1 ranked country in Broadband Internet Penetration is Bermuda. The US is #19, Japan is #22.

There are 31 billion searches on Google every month. If we go back to the whole of 2006, the number was 2.7 billion.

The first commercial text message was sent in December 1992. Nowadays, the number of text messages sent every day exceeds the total population on the planet.

The number of internet devices in 1984 was 1000; the number in 1992 was 1,000,000; the number in 2008 was 1,000,000,000.

There are about 540,000 words in the English language (depending how you do the counting). That is about five times are many as existed in Shakespeare's time.

It is estimated that a week's worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the eighteenth century.

The rapid of information means that for students starting a technical degree, half of what they learn in the first year of study will be outmoded by the third year of study.

It is predicted that by 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the human brain.

Predictions are that by 2049, a $1000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species.

Posted by Marion Blank at 05:23 PM
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For some time, the issue of mercury in vaccinations has been of major concern. It was brought to the fore by parents of chilren with autism who reported that the disorder appeared after their children received vaccinations containing mercury.

But concerns are not limited to the issue of autism. Many parents are worried about the role that vaccines play in affecting their children’s health. And the analysis of new vaccines indicates that their concerns are justified.

It may have seemed that the issue was settled when pharmaceutical companies removed the mercury from most of their products (although it is still in the flu vaccine). What we are finding out now, however, is the children are receiving high concentrations of aluminum in their shots. This well-documented neurotoxin may be more dangerous than mercury.

Two-month old babies now receive 1,225 mcg of aluminum from their vaccines -- 50 times higher than safety levels! Although the FDA, CDC and World Health Organization are aware of the dangers, they are not taking action.

If you have young children, or you know people who do, you would do well to read a book linked titled Aluminum in Vaccines -- a Neurological Gamble, by Neil Miller, director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute. It documents the hazards associated with aluminum-laden vaccines. For more information, go to http://www.thinktwice.com/aluminum.pdf

Posted by Marion Blank at 10:55 PM
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The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
She was only a whiskey maker but he loved her still.

A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.
The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
It's not that the man did not know how to juggle, he just didn't have the balls to do it.
The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion..
Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!

Posted by Marion Blank at 02:08 PM
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A new report from England has found that 1,300 girls who received the cervical cancer vaccine last year have experienced adverse side-effects. The vaccine is given to those who are quite young--12 and 13 years-since it is deemed to be most effective if given before any sexual encounters have taken place.

A total of more than 700,000 girls were vaccinated last year. Many have called for the suspension of the program. But supporters of the vaccine are claiming the adverse effects are within an acceptable range. The definition of acceptable though is worrying--with the reported symptoms

ranging from paralysis, to convulsions and sight problems. Others report severe pain, nausea, muscle weakness, fever, dizziness and numbness.

If you wish to find out more about this major issue, go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1160516/Paralysis-epilepsy-blurred-vision-1-300-girls-reaction-cervical-cancer-vaccine.html#

Posted by Marion Blank at 04:01 PM
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Though Google is used by vast numbers of people, most are unaware of just how much can be done with this amazing tool. For example, if you want to:

Find the email in the haystack
Get the latest weather forecast for Hyderabad, or anywhere else on Earth
Translate your website into 13 languages with a single line of code

Browse the classics without opening a book
Work on the same document from four corners of the Earth
Preserve instant message conversations
Get directions when you're on the move
Show your kid where the Komodo dragon lives
See the effects of climate change for yourself
Multiply 27,334.56 by 21.3 without a calculator
Stargaze on a bright sunny day, or on a cloudy afternoon

or if you have a range of other options in mind, go to http://www.google.co.uk/landing/thingstodo/ where you will be able to click and get videos showing you exactly how to proceed. Happy Searching!

Posted by Marion Blank at 10:56 PM
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Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face. That's the title of a poem--and book--by Jack Prelutsky, our nation's first Children's Poet Laureate.

The poem goes as follows:

Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,

for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.

Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you'd be forced to smell your feet.

Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.

Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.

Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place--
be glad your nose is on your face!

In his other poems, Prelutsky offers a magical world where anything can happen. Ogres run wild, dragons sing, and baby uggs hatch. . . . Frogs wear red suspenders in a rainstorm of pigs and noodles. . . . Scranimals gallivant under a pizza the size of the sun. . . .

So if you would like to have some fun with your child and enhance his or her reading at the same time, get hold of some of Prelutsky's work. You can find out more at http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15573

Posted by Marion Blank at 01:47 PM
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