Qantas staff buy lost property, 'sometimes enough to fill a van'

Scores of valuables such as mobile phones, laptops, and cameras left behind by passengers on plane kept by Qantas staffs routinely. The Sunday Telegraph stated that Qantas staffs conduct staff auctions to distribute those unclaimed valuables. Despite passengers are allocated with respective seats and leave contact detail to the company, but Qantas does not actively return those lost items. Qantas only sending its passengers to describe their lost items and mostly let its customer's wish to be disillusioned. They defend that passenger may possibly take away any valuables left behind in seat pocket.

However, Qantas hold staff auctions for those lost items and alleged part of it are endowed away for a philanthropy such as Salvation Army and Mission Australia in Sydney.. Ironically, Mission Australian spokesman denied the allegation and said they had not received any donations from Qantas for years.

When told of the denial from Mission Australia, Qantas said it had been donating the items to other charities.

Laws to target unexplained wealth

New laws come into force in South Australia this month, aiming unaccountable wealth related to syndicate.

From August 29 onwards, the laws will take effect and allow courts to deprive any wealth that a suspect can not explain. Attorney-General John Rau says the laws are formulated with intention to tackle heinous criminal activity by targeting the profit gained of those activity.
The new laws differ from the Criminal Assets Confiscation Act 2005 by allowing state to confiscate proceeds of crime with no need to prove the defendants engaged in criminal activity. Unless, the defendant has solid evidence to verify those wealth is acquired lawfully.

Also, the new law allow police to ask for relevant information from people holding money in accounts for others and apply for a warrant to search and withhold anything relevant to identifying, tracing, locating or quantifying a person's wealth.

The laws will only enforce against those who meet certain criteria, say for instance being suspected of a serious offence, being subject to a control order, or on justified reasons of engagement in crime.

Public health scare campaigns do not help obese, research finds

Research found that continuous warning from the Public health campaign have no significant effect on helping obese people to lose weight. Interview result of 142 adult with overweight problems indicated that they felt ashamed, humiliated and insulted by government health campaigns. Particularly the advertisement about the health council related the increased waist size will consequently lead to higher risk of getting cancer diseases.

Dr. Thomas said that causes of people with obese problems can be complex and different from each others, not only because of laziness and consuming the wrong foods. The campaigns also instilled the public with a mistaken opinion that overweight people are unhealthy, Dr. Thomas pointed out.

While, Craig Sinclair, director of the Cancer Prevention Centre at Cancer Council Victoria on the other hand defended the campaigns by saying that they have social obligation to arouse consciousness of public the risk of being obese and the its connection with cancer diseases.

Argumentative essay: Television viewing Draft 2#

Television, an innovation which has revolutionized entertainment, communication, education and a host of other industries since it was invented. In developed countries, generally every household have at least one television set (Sharif 1999). Besides, according to American Time Use Survey 2003, US residents spent most of their idle time in watching television as compared to other leisure and sport activities. All the facts reveal that television has become a dispensable device in our daily life. Television viewing has become an eristic issue to be disputed. However, I firmly assert that television viewing is disadvantageous for children because it influences the development of thinking of children, causes behavioral problems and leads to low grade academic performance.

Firstly, watching inappropriate television programs for continuous time can profoundly influence the development of thinking of children. When children are at the growing phase with great curiosity towards the world, their comportment and notion can be easily affected by the programs they watched. For instance, child development experts argue that television as the primary element leads to violence tendency among children. Vast of graphic scenes relate to violence are screened on the television frequently, even the news. It has gradually instilled a mistaken concept on children that violence is a usual proportion of life and a proper way of tackling problems. Moreover, television programs like ‘Friends’ also express wrong thought and encourage children to think that all problems can be solved effortlessly . As consequence, when they confront intricate conditions in reality, they will be easily overwhelmed by the distress and ended up by giving up (Sharif 1999).

Additionally, over-indulgence in television viewing will trigger the behavioral problems in children as well. If the television becomes the exclusive companion of children, the ramification can be catastrophic. It is not unparalleled cases where children have put on Superman costumes and injured themselves badly by jumping out from high altitude. Disciplinary problems can arise as they imitate character with inferior behavior. Moreover, in many movies, its characters have parochially portrayed with given roles in life, especially men and women. These stereotypes adversely affect children in their behavior towards themselves and others (Sharif 1999).

Lastly, prolonged period of television also contributes to poor academic performances of students. People find it is more fascinating to flick between channels, looking for interesting programs rather than turn the television off. As a result, students neglect of their homework (Rutherford 2002). Educational psychologist points out that children who are heavily addicted in television viewing are those students who having poor academic achievement at school (Leigh 2001). In addition, present-day children’s programs and music video clips cause children nowadays having short attention spans as well. Eventually, it results in children are unable to focus on a specific matter for long period time, especially in study and homework (Sharif 1999).

All in all, television viewing apparently brings incalculable issues such as negative implication on thinking behavioral problems, and poor academic performance. Although some may argue that there are benefits in television viewing. But, after comparing its pros and cons, solid evidences show that its shortcomings outweigh its benefits. Hence, I strongly assert with my stance that television viewing is detrimental for the viewers.

Argumentative essay: Television viewing Draft 1#

Television, an innovation which has revolutionized entertainment, communication, education and a host of other industries since it was invented. In developed countries, generally every household have at least one television set (Sharif 1999). Besides, according to American Time Use Survey 2003, US residents spent most of their idle time in watching television as compared to other leisure and sport activities. All the facts reveal that television has become a dispensable device in our daily life. Also,television viewing has become an eristic issue to be disputed. However, I firmly assert that television viewing is disadvantageous for children because it influences the development of thought of children, causes behavioral problems and lead to low grade academic performance.

Firstly, watching inappropriate television programs for continuous time can profoundly influence the development of thinking of children. When children are at the growing phase with great curiosity towards the world, their comportment and notion can be easily affected by the programs they watched. For instance, child development experts argue that television as the primary element leads to violence tendency among children. Vast of graphic scenes relate to violence are screened on the television frequently, even the news. It has gradually instilled a mistaken concept on children that violence is a usual proportion of life and a proper way of tackling problems. Moreover, television programs like ‘Friends’ also express wrong thought and encourage children to think that all problems can be solved effortlessly . As consequence, when they confront intricate conditions in reality, they will be easily overwhelmed by the distress and ended up by giving up (Sharif 1999).

Additionally, over-indulgence in television viewing will trigger the behavioral problems in children as well. If the television becomes the exclusive companion of children, the ramification can be catastrophic. It is not unparalleled cases where children have put on Superman costumes and injured themselves badly by jumping out from high altitude. Disciplinary problems can arise as they imitate character with inferior behavior. Moreover, in many movies, its characters have parochially portrayed with given roles in life, especially men and women. These stereotypes adversely affect children in their behavior towards themselves and others (Sharif 1999).

Lastly, prolonged period of television also contributes to poor academic performances of students. People find it is more fascinating to flick between channels, looking for interesting programs rather than turning the television off. As a result, students neglect of their homework (Rutherford 2002). Educational psychologist points out children who are heavily addicted in television viewing are those students who having poor academic achievement at school (Leigh 2001). In addition, present-day children’s programs and music video clips cause children nowadays having short attention spans as well. Eventually, it leads to children are unable to concentrate in a specific matter for long period, particularly study and homework (Sharif 1999).

All in all, television viewing apparently brings incalculable issues such as behavioral problems, poor academic performance and negative implication on thinking. Although some may argue that there are benefits in television viewing. However, after comparing its pros and cons, solid evidences show that its shortcomings outweigh its benefits. Hence, I strongly assert with my stance that television viewing is detrimental to the viewers

Argumentative essay : Junk Food Final Draft#

Over the past 30 years, the nutritional value taken by Australian children has been dropping significantly. The elevated accessibility and consumption of fast food is deemed as the main culprit of the issue (Weekend News 2005). Junk food is defined as any food that is insalubrious and of low nutritional value (Smith 2005). So, I strongly agree that the sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned due to the increase in childhood obesity, cause of behavioral problems and litter problem.

First of all, junk food triggers the behavioral problems in children, such as hyperactivity and inattention (Smith 2005). In order to enhance the taste and appearance of junk food and its shelf life as well, chemical additives are added into junk food. According to the Medical Association President, Dr Bill Cray says that the existence of junk food at school has led to malnutrition issue in students and affected their healthy development and growth, and their learning ability is depressed. Besides that, a noticeable improvement in student’s behavior in class is observed by teacher since the removal of junk food and soft drink form the canteen. The students turn into calmer after lunch (The Food Show 2005).

Junk foods are also accused as the major cause of health problems especially childhood obesity. Childhood obesity can stimulate future illnesses such as heart disease, osteoarthritis, and cancers (Weekend News 2005). Snack food such as biscuits, cookies, chips, confectionery, hamburgers, soft drinks and so on are categorized as low nutritional value food by Health Foundation (2005). It is typically high in salt, sugar, or fat and mostly contains artificial flavor enhancers (Smith 2005). Undeniable, junk food increases the kilojoule intake greatly and leads to weight gain. The problem is even compounded by the fact that most of the teenagers do not practice adequate physical activity (Weekend News 2005).

In addition, sale of junk food is the main contributor to litter problem in school. Tins, crisp packets, cartons and plastic containers are thrown everywhere by students after they consumed it (The Food Show 2005). Litter can be health hazardous and causes school to pay more in cleaning expense and also tarnish the reputation of our community (Smith 2005). Owing to litter problem, the groundsman has to spend more time on cleaning up the rubbish rather than maintenance projects (The Food Show 2005).

All in all, the sale of junk food in school canteens has caused vast problems such as environmental issue and health hazardous. Although some may argue that there are benefits in sale of junk food inside the school compound. However, after comparing its pros and cons, we can find out solid evidences that its disadvantages are exceeded its advantages. Lastly, a dietian, Samira Karimi advocated that schools are obligated for the welfare and safety of student, and that includes their health in The Food Show (2005). Therefore, I firmly agree that sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned for the sake of students.

Argumentative essay : Junk Food draft 2#

Over the past 30 years, the nutritional value taken by Australian children has been dropping significantly. The elevated accessibility and consumption of fast food is deemed as the main culprit of the issue (Weekend News 2005). Junk food is defined as any food that is insalubrious and of low nutritional value (Smith 2005). So, I strongly agree that the sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned due to the increase in childhood obesity, cause of behavioral problems and litter problem.

To enhance the taste and appearance of junk food and its shelf life as well, chemical additives are added into junk food. All of these additional additives result in behavioral problems in children, such as hyperactivity and inattention (Smith 2005). According to the Medical Association President, Dr Bill Cray says that the existence of junk food at school has led to malnutrition issue in students and affected their healthy development and growth, and their learning ability is depressed. Besides that, a noticeable improvement in student’s behavior in class is observed by teacher since the removal of junk food and soft drink form the canteen. The students turn into calmer after lunch (The Food Show 2005).

Junk foods are also accused as the major cause of health problems especially childhood obesity. Childhood obesity can stimulate future illnesses such as heart disease, osteoarthritis, and cancers (Weekend News 2005). Snack food such as biscuits, cookies, chips, confectionery, hamburgers, soft drinks and so on are categorized as low nutritional value food by Health Foundation (2005). It is typically high in salt, sugar, or fat and mostly contains artificial flavor enhancers (Smith 2005). Undeniable, junk food increases the kilojoule intake greatly and leads to weight gain. The problem is even compounded by the fact that most of the teenagers do not practice adequate physical activity (Weekend News 2005).

In addition, sale of junk food is the main contributor to litter problem in school. Tins, crisp packets, cartons and plastic containers are thrown everywhere by students after they consumed it (The Food Show 2005). Litter can be health hazardous and causes school to pay more in cleaning expense and also tarnish the reputation of our community (Smith 2005). Owing to litter problem, the groundsman has to spend more time on cleaning up the rubbish rather than maintenance projects (The Food Show 2005).

All in all, the sale of junk food in school canteens has caused vast problems such as environmental issue and health hazardous. Although some may argue that there are benefits in sale of junk food inside the school compound. However, after comparing its pros and cons, we can find out solid evidences that its disadvantages are exceeded its advantages. Lastly, a dietian, Samira Karimi advocated that schools are obligated for the welfare and safety of student, and that includes their health in The Food Show (2005). Therefore, I firmly agree that sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned for the sake of students.

Argumentative essay #1

Over the past 30 years, the nutritional value taken by Australian children has been dropping significantly. The elevated accessibility and consumption of fast food is deemed as the main culprit of the issue (Weekend News 2005). Junk food is defined as any food that is insalubrious and of low nutritional value (Smith 2005). So, I strongly agree that the sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned due to the increase in childhood obesity, cause of behavioral problems and litter problem.

To enhance the taste and appearance of junk food and its shelf life as well, chemical additives are added into junk food. All of these additional additives result in behavioral problems in children, such as hyperactivity and inattention (Smith 2005). According to the Medical Association President, Dr Bill Cray says that the existence of junk food at school has led to malnutrition issue in students and affected their healthy development and growth, and their learning ability is depressed. Besides that, a noticeable improvement in student’s behavior in class is observed by teacher since the removal of junk food and soft drink form the canteen. The students turn into calmer after lunch (The Food Show 2005).

Junk foods are also accused as the major cause of health problems especially childhood obesity. Childhood obesity can stimulate future illness such as heart disease, osteoarthritis, and some cancers (Weekend News 2005). Snack food such as biscuits, cookies, chips, confectionery, hamburgers, soft drinks and so on are categorized as low nutritional value food by Health Foundation (2005). It is typically high in salt, sugar, or fat and mostly contains artificial flavor enhancers (Smith 2005). Undeniable, junk food increases the kilojoule intake greatly and leads to weight gain. The problem is even compounded by the fact that most of the teenagers do not practice adequate physical activity (Weekend News 2005).

In addition, sale of junk food is the main contributor to litter problem in school. Tins, crisp packets, cartons and plastic containers are thrown everywhere by students after they consumed it (The Food Show 2005). Litter can be health hazardous and causes school to pay more in cleaning expense and also tarnish the reputation of our community (Smith 2005). Owing to litter problem, the groundsman has to spend more time on clean up the rubbish rather than maintenance projects (The Food Show 2005).

All in all, the sale of junk food in school canteens has caused vast problems such as environmental issue and health hazardous. Although some may argue that there are benefits in sale of junk food inside the school compound. However, after comparing its pros and cons, we can find out solid evidences that its disadvantages is exceeded its advantages. Lastly, a dietian, Samira Karimi advocated that schools are obligated for the welfare and safety of student, and that includes their health in The Food Show (2005). Therefore, I firmly agree that sale of junk food in school canteens for the sake of students.

Text Production Draft #2

Global warming has become most intractable issue faced by the world leaders. Scientific community deems that there is strong correlation between global warming and changes in climate. Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels have been used by humans indiscriminately and incalculable of carbon dioxide was given off. The rate of warming in the last 50 years was double the rate observed over the last 100 years. (Holli Riebeek 2007)Skeptics may criticize the global warming as natural phenomenon and the slight increasing in global temperature will not cause any destructive impact on our planet. However, continuous warnings from venerable scientists and authoritative statistics have shown us global warming is truly happening now and deteriorating at an unimaginable rate. Thus, concerted moves should be taken as soon as possible to combat this problem before catastrophic consequences of global warming in term of climate change befallen on human beings.

One of the most significant impacts of global warming is the rise of sea level. The escalating global temperature melts the glaciers and ice sheets as well as expands the water volume, leading to rise in sea level. (Chris Woodford 2006) For instance, the Larsen-B Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula collapsed over 35 days in early 2002, prompted by 3°C of warming since the 1940s. (Holli Riebeek 2007) In the 2007 documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth- a global warming, Al Gore pointed out the global warming contributes to the melting of land-based ice shelf in both poles, especially Arctic icecap and Greenland. If half or whole of the Greenland is melted, most of the low-lying countries and coastal cities with high population such as Florida, San Francisco, Shanghai will be completely submerged beneath seawater. Unavoidably, millions of homes and buildings will be demolished and washed away.

Global warming also brings calamitous impacts on human being and ecosystem. Flora and fauna may unable to cope with the sudden climate change and erratic weather pattern quick enough, eventually end up with extinction. For examples, around 50 percent of breeding habitats for some birds may disappear in Arctic. (Chris Woodford 2006). Plus, coral reefs all over the world are bleaching due to the global warming, causing fish species which rely on coral reef on jeopardy. The rate of species loss is 1000 times greater than the natural background nowadays. On the other hand, global warming also triggers breakout of 30 types of new infectious epidemics in the last quarter of century. There is also resurgent of diseases which were once under control. In 1999, the West Nile virus had spread throughout the United States due to increased temperature which favors the migration and mobility of vectors. (Al Gore 2007)

In order to arrest the problem of global warming to its core, reduction of greenhouse gases emission needs to be placed at its priority. In case of individual effort, we should use more efficient electricity appliance and end-use efficiency in our daily life, renewable technology, passenger vehicle efficiency, carbon capture and storage technology as well. We can replace the incandescent lamps with energy-saving fluorescent lamps, switch to renewable energy, bicycle, walk, or take the public conveyances instead of using cars, and cut down the usage of air conditioner. Besides, it is crucial for government to partake in solving global warming issues. They should gesture their efforts by supporting environmental conservation projects such as Kyoto protocol or have their own acts to deter the issue from becoming even severe.

All in all, global warming is not merely a regional issue, but worldwide. Al Gore had quoted a thought provoking sentences in his talk, “Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problems…” (Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow 2004) Indeed, the solution is on our own hand! We just need to have the substantial determination in resolving the issue. Without any further hesitation, all the countries should act together to figure out the problem and secure our future before it arises disastrous consequences on our only planet, earth.

Text Production Draft #1

Topic: What are the potential effects of global warming in terms of climate change and how can they be arrested?

Global warming has become most intractable issue facing by the world leaders. Scientific community deems that there is strong correlation between global warming and changes in climate. Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels have been used by humans indiscriminately and incalculable of carbon dioxides was given off. The rate of warming in the last 50 years was double the rate observed over the last 100 years. (Holi Riebeek 2007) Skeptics may criticize the global warming as natural phenomenon and the slightly increasing in global temperature will not cause any destructive impact on our planet. However, continuous warnings from venerable scientists and authoritative statistic have shown us global warming is truly happening now and deteriorating at an unimaginable rate. Thus, concerted moves should be taken soon to combat this problem before catastrophic consequence of global warming in term of climate change befallen on humans being.

One of the most significant and direct impact is the rise of sea level. The escalating in global temperature melt the glaciers and ice sheets as well as expand the water volume, leading to rise in sea level. (Chris Woodford 2006) For instance, the Larsen-B Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula collapsed over 35 days in early 2002, prompted by 3°C of warming since the 1940s. (Holi Riebeek 2007) In the 2007 documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth- a global warming, Al Gore pointed out the global warming contributes to the melting of land-based ice shelf in both poles, especially Arctic icecap and Greenland. If half or whole of the Greenland is melted, most of the low-lying country and coastal city with high population such as Florida, San Francisco, Beijing, and Shanghai will be completely flooded and awash by seawater. Unavoidable, millions of homes and buildings will be demolished and washed away.

Global warming also brings calamitous impacts on human being and ecosystem. Flora and fauna may unable to cope with the sudden climate change and erratic weather pattern quickly enough, eventually end up with extinction. In addition, around 50 percent of breeding habitats for some birds may disappear, threatening the species that depend on plants in Arctic. (Chris Woodford 2006). Plus, coral reefs all over the world are bleaching due to the global warming and causes fish species which rely on coral reef on jeopardy. The rate of species loss is 1000 times larger than the natural background nowadays. On the other hand, global warming also triggers breakout of 30 types of new infectious epidemics in the last quarter of century. There are also resurgent of disease which was once under control such as Asian flu and SARS. For example, on 1999, the West Nile virus had spread throughout the United State due to increased temperature which favors the migration and mobility of vectors. (Al Gore 2007)

In order to arrest the problem to its core, reduction of greenhouse gases emission needs to place at its priority. In case of individual effort, we should use more efficient electricity appliance and end-use efficiency in our daily life, renewable technology, passenger vehicle efficiency, carbon capture and storage technology as well. We can replace the incandescent lamps with energy-saving fluorescent lamps, switch to renewable energy, bicycle, walk, or take the public conveyances instead of using cars, and cut down the using of air conditioner. Besides, it is crucial for government to take place in solving global warming issues. They should gesture their efforts in supporting environmental conservation projects such as Kyoto protocol or has their own acts to deter the issue from even severe.

All in all, global warming is not merely a regional issue, but worldwide. Al Gore had quoted a thought provoking sentences in his talk, “Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problems…” (Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow 2004) Indeed, the solution is on our own hand! We just need to have the substantial determination and consistency in resolving the issue. Without any further hesitation, all the countries should act together to figure out the problem and secure our future before it arose disastrous consequences on our only planet, earth

$69m for biometric checks in counter-terrorism white paper

THE Federal Government will spend $69 million to reduce the risk of terrorist attack across Australia.

The long-awaited counter terrorism white paper was released today by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at Parliament House in Canberra.
The money will fund the introduction of biometric-based systems and reduce the risk of terrorists, criminals and other persons of concern entering Australia undetected.
In 10 countries applicants for Australian visas will be photographed and finger-printed in their home country before a visa is issued.

A new counter terrorism control centre will be established that will improve the ability of agencies to operate against terrorism and to detect and prevent terrorists' threats.

"The Government remains committed to efforts that enhance integration and co-ordination of Australia's national security systems," the white paper says, adding the range of security challenges would be managed in a flexible and adaptive way".

"This approach serves our objective to take all necessary and practical measures to protect Australia and Australians at home and abroad."
Mr Rudd said terrorism continued to pose a serious threat and a serious challenge to Australia's security.

"That threat is not diminishing," he said.
"In fact, the Government's security intelligence agencies assess that terrorism has become a persistent and permanent feature of Australia's security environment".

Home grown threat
Security and intelligence agencies report that, while there have been counter-terrorism successes, they had been offset by the rise of groups affiliated with, or inspired by, al-Qaeda's message and methods, he said.

"Another apparent shift has been the increase in the threat from people born or raised in Australia, who have become influenced by the divisive narrative espoused by al-Qaeda," Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd said a terrorist attack could occur at any time.
"Prior to the rise of jihadist terrorism, Australia was not a specific target, now Australia is," he said, adding that more than 100 Australians had been killed in attacks since 2001.
Mr Rudd said there had been some success with counter terrorism efforts in South-East Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"But this has been offset by newer areas of concern such as Somalia and Yemen."

Privacy concerns
Earlier today civil libertarians expressed concerns that the new measures could violate privacy.
"I am very concerned that these things pose an ever increasing invasion of privacy," New South Wales Civil Liberties Council president Cameron Murphy said.

Mr Murphy renewed his calls for a Bill of Rights, saying it would protect people from governments over-stepping their duties.
"Information like this might be collected for what look like entirely reasonable reasons, but it can be adapted."

The long-awaited white paper has been leaked extensively and its release comes as the Government fends of Opposition calls for the resignation of embattled Environment Minister Peter Garrett over his handling of the now axed household insulation program.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis would not comment on the document except the time it took to deliver.
"It has been delayed for an unconscionably long time," he told Sky News.