Cane toads were introduced into Australia to control cane beetles in 1935.

Unfortunately that objective was not achieved, and because cane toads are prolific breeders, with very few predators in Australia - they're toxic to most of our native animals, & to pets, if they do try to eat them - they quickly became pests.

"...The cane toad is poisonous in all its life stages, from egg to adult. Adult cane toads produce venom from glands over their upper surface, but especially from bulging glands on their shoulders — these exude the venom when the toad is provoked. While some birds and a few other native predators have learned to avoid the poison glands of adult toads, almost anything that eats the toad dies rapidly from heart failure. The poison is absorbed through body tissues such as those of the eyes, mouth and nose, so that even mouthing the toad can cause death..."  Source

Western Australians are freaked out about cane toads reaching their state, read about it here.

In the Northern Territory (of Australia) aka The Top End, one can trade toads for beer vouchers!  The toads are put down humanely by the RSPCA.

Some Australians practise their golf swing using toads instead of golf balls.

My significant other runs over toads if he sees any on the road while driving at night.

I swerve to miss them.  I figure it's not their fault that their ancestors were transported here against their will - so why should I make them suffer?  Besides, the squish sound is sickening.

STOP PRESS! 

Monsoon rains in Darwin in the Northern Territory have flushed out a cane toad the size of a dinner plate.

The grounds keeper at the city's Gardens Golf Course arrived early this morning to discover a toad so big it that fills the bottom of a bucket.

Golf course spokeswoman Maureen O'Sullivan says the grounds keeper could not believe how much bigger they grow in the NT.

"Phillip lived in Queensland for many, many years and he says he has never seen one as big as this one," he said.

"He was astounded at his find. He couldn't believe his eyes actually. He said he's just never ever seen one as big."

Source

The texture of a toad's skin:

I like frogs, but have always avoided toads, because as a child I was taught that toads can spit poison.  This web page confuses the issue by stating: 

 "Toads do not spit or squirt the poison as commonly believed"

but then finishing with: 

"Warning: the toad's poison can be squirted up to 2 metres (6') so if you must handle a cane toad, make sure you're wearing gloves and have full eye protection.)"!

- but only clean, pleasant smelling people need apply:

 

*HUGS* TOTAL! give BronwynJ more *HUGS*
Get hugs of your own

Thank-you inkspector for the hug idea.

 

Shield your eyes, Mimi, I'm touching on this touchy subject again - and please see my previous blog of 4th October 2005!

I happened to glance at Enki's blog, then read reference to this AlterNet EnviroHealth article about the use of cells from a foreskin, & the use of cell from a terminated foetus, to make face creams!

NeoCutis skin cream - made from cells from an aborted foetus

Do you recall that I have previously told you about hair products containing placenta?

Google  "hair product" placenta  & you'll get 951 results, including mention of premature sexual development in children following the use of it!

Google placenta cosmetics & you'll get 255,000(!) results.  Some of the placenta used is called "sheep placenta protein". 

If  you'd like to lose your lunch, read this at the straightdope website. 

Apparently human placentas have been used to make "protein-based beauty aids".

See what real human beings think about using executed Chinese criminals' bodies, and tissue from aborted foetuses, to make lip and wrinkle treatments, on this Australian Vogue forum. 

Hey, you can be made "younger and healthier from the inside out" with "placenta injection" - here!  (gosh!)

A discussion about Hask Placenta hair products sold at Priceline in Australia can be found on this Australian Vogue forum.

Would YOU use skin or hair products made with cells from executed criminals, aborted foetuses, or foreskins, if/when you are old, wrinkly, & balding?

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I am INFJ - but then you knew I was a rare personality type, didn't you?  hehe 

If you happen to be INFJ too, vote in the poll on this page, then read the really interesting & inspiring comments left by other INFJs!

Don't know your personality type yet?  It's more useful to know than your astrological sign!  Click here to take a test to find out.

I have never known (until perhaps recently) what I wanted to do when I grew up. 

And what is it to work with love?

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your own heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.

It is to sow the seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.

It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit.

And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you watching.

Work is love made visible. -Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet: 26 poetic essays

I started off working in a bank, for six years, & I hated it!  It was so serious, and dry.  Nobody there seemed to enjoy their job.  There were at least five chain smokers smoking on me all day.  There was a lot of time pressure, and responsibility (head tellers are responsible for lots of cash!) - but no pleasure, no fun, & creativity was not a requirement.

Looking for a complete change, I studied beauty therapy, only to come to the realisation that I didn't actually fancy ripping hair off other womens' underarms, etc etc - instead I would prefer to be the kind of classy woman who looks so gorgeous that others assume s he is a frequent beauty parlour client.  :-)

Since then I've worked as a legal secretary (one solicitor referred to administrative staff as 'plebs'!), then in several part time jobs:  as a bookkeeper in a travel agency (erk, all those figures), in data input (I didn't mind that, I could work on my own quietly, with no pressure), word processing, and at a newspaper in features advertising sales (I enjoyed designing ads, but did not have enough time for creativity, I liked making lists of prospective clients, but didn't enjoy rejection.  The worst aspect was 'office politics' [read passive aggressive or outright aggressive bitc*es] constant deadlines, the irresponsibility of the other staff, & the occasional lying, non-paying customer). 

I hate receiving criticism, I resent having to go in to work when I don't feel like it, I love my freedom, I thrive on praise, and I need to be free to potter, as the mood moves me. 

Along the way I've become a self taught web designer, plus I'm an aspiring artist. 

"Art is the only means by which one soul can truly touch another."  Curtis Verdun

I'm on an absolute high when someone likes my art!  In fact, if you love my art, I will probably love you (at least until you fall off your pedestal)!

I would perhaps also like to become a personal stylist/wardrobe consultant, for the frumpy down-at-heel woman, who needs guidance to emerge from her chrysalis. 

 

Source

I've been told I would be/am an intuitive counsellor.  I might study counselling, or psychology, in future. 

I love makeovers/transforming, and like making order out of chaos - but more along the lines of one off tranformations, not the day to day tedium of cleaning up after messy family members, eg - & I abhor being 'taken for granted'. 

I would also like to do makeovers on homes - not just on people & their wardrobes - but probably only on my own investment properties, rather than just interior decorating/designing for clients, I think.

How happy are you in your career? 

What would you prefer to do? 

What have you loved, & hated, about the jobs you've had?

 

 

 

 

 

One night last weekend, while driving teenagers from the footy to a party, I happened to glance into my rear vision mirror, & to my dismay saw the flashing coloured lights of a police car!

They look more impressive than that when they're flashing, actually.

I thought that for the first time in my life I was going to be breathalysed! 

(Translation:  to be breathalysed is to undergo a random breath test, to check if I was driving after consuming an illegal amount of alcohol.)

Luckily I don't drink, so I had nothing to fear except awkwardness.

The policeman, when approaching my car, flicked out his baton!

I said " H e l l o,   O f f i c e r " in my best porn star voice* ...

... because

... as I had suspected, he was one of my favourites of the local constabulary, pulling me over for a lark!  hehe

He's good looking, with a beautiful smile, big muscles, & a great sense of humour - plus he's intelligent, & very well educated!

If we weren't married, & I was a decade younger & several sizes smaller, I might be in a position to take advantage of all the above!  :-)

*  my family accuse me of speaking in a porn star voice on the 'phone - how embarrassing!

Perhaps this is old news to you, but I've been wanting to see:  The Secret.

I'm so disappointed that it was on television in Australia recently but I missed it.

In my inbox today are links to some YouTube footage of an Oprah show about The Secret, which I am now sharing with you:

 

Part 1-1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=menegMURPvQ" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=menegMURPvQ" target="_blank"http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Part 1-2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEBWBw-kKE" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEBWBw-kKE" target="_blank"http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDIzzc6JKks" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDIzzc6JKks" target="_blank"http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLWb3Te8Tuc" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLWb3Te8Tuc" target="_blank"http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukm6LMBb_LQ" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukm6LMBb_LQ" target="_blank"http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VipqbxpaAHA" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VipqbxpaAHA" target="_blank"http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

 

I haven't watched them all yet, because it's late & I'm going to bed shortly (11:11pm).

I can hear the delightful sound of rain falling in my roof!  A lot of Australia is drought stricken as you have perhaps heard, & I'm a farmer's daughter, so rain is such a welcome sound for me!  Unfortunately my washing is on the line, but I'll just think of this as an extra rinse cycle :-).

Remind me to tell you about the funny thing which happened to me last night.

 

"An autopsy will be carried out tomorrow on former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith who has died after collapsing in a Florida hotel room." (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/ s1843929.htm" title="http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/ s1843929.htm" target="_blank"http://www.abc.net.au/news/ne...)

Born	November 28, 1967 Houston, Texas, USA
Died	February 8, 2007 (age 39) Hollywood, Florida, USA

I let out a squeal this morning when I heard that Anna Nicole was dead.

According to Wikipedia:

"...While performing at Gigi's, a Houston strip club, in October 1991, Smith met elderly oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall and they began a relationship. During their two-year relationship, he reportedly lavished gifts on her and asked her to marry him several times.

On June 27, 1994, Smith, age 26, and Marshall, age 89, were married in Houston. This resulted in a great deal of gossip about her marrying him for his money. Though she reportedly never lived with him ^[3], Smith maintained she loved her husband and that age did not matter to her.

Thirteen months after his marriage to Smith, Marshall died on August 4, 1995, in Houston..."

I liked Anna Nicole.  She was an interesting character.  It's sad that she has gone, with so much in her life unresolved.

RIP Vickie Lynn.

 

I'm not a political animal, but I realise a lot of you are, so I took the World's Smallest Political Quiz, & my result surprised me:

I'm surprised because in the past I have considered myself to be Conservative, & lately I've been having some perhaps Libertarian ideas (!) while reading "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" by Harry Browne.  It's such an interesting book, check it out!

 

 

This documentary trailer arrived in my inbox this afternoon:

Psychiatry an Industry of Death

"Through rare historical and contemporary footage and interviews with more than 160 doctors, attorneys, educators, survivors and experts on the mental health industry and its abuses, this riveting documentary blazes the bright light of truth on the brutal pseudoscience and the multi-billion dollar fraud that is psychiatry."

Think of the rare occasions we hear of or see a psychiatrist on television:  do they seem at all sane to you?!

Well, it's no wonder, because, apparently, they think we're all mad!

There exists "the stereotype of the mad psychiatrist" but:  "It is suggested that there is no firm evidence that psychiatrists suffer more frequently from "popular madness" than other medical practitioners." (!)

An insight into psychiatric interns' thoughts, including "nobody is ever quite sure what the diagnosis is" & reference to avoiding "the mad psychiatrist" on his rounds, can be found here, along with these gems:

- why be a psychiatrist:

"short work hours, little-to-no call, more $$$, less infections to bring home from the office, less chance of getting sued, utter and complete job security any where and anytime you want it.... then move to personal and abstract reasons-- ....... personal connection to the schizos..."

&:

"The fact that medicine was previously based upon scientifically unsound ideas is irrelevant. Most fields are moving past prev. voo-doo medicine and onto an evidence based approach. Psychiatric diagnosis and disease classification is still done by popular vote."

On a lighter note, check out these psychiatrist cartoons.

I received an email of blonde jokes today:

Blonde LOGIC

Two blondes living in Townsville were sitting on a bench talking.. And
one blonde says to the other, "Which do You think is farther
away..........Melbourne or the moon?"

The other blonde turns and says "Helloooooooooo, can
You see Melbourne...?????"


CAR TROUBLE
A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells the Mechanic it
died.

After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling smoothly. She Says,
"What's the story?"

He replies, "Just crap in the carburetor"

She asks, "How often do I have to do that?"


SPEEDING TICKET

A police officer stops a blonde for speeding and asks her very Nicely if
he could see her license.

She replied in a huff, "I wish you guys would get your act Together.
Just yesterday you take away my license and then Today you expect me to
show it to you!"


RIVER WALK

There's this blonde out for a walk. She comes to a river and sees
Another blonde on the opposite bank. "Yoo-hoo!" she shouts, "How can I
get to the other side?"

The second blonde looks up the river then down the river and Shouts
back, "You ARE on the other side."


AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE

A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and said That her
body hurt wherever she touched it.

"Impossible!" says the doctor. "Show me."

The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left breast and Screamed,
then she pushed her elbow and screamed in even More. She pushed her knee
and screamed; likewise she Pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she
touched Made her scream.

The doctor said, "You're not really a redhead, are you?

"Well, no" she said, "I'm actually a blonde."

"I thought so," the doctor said. "Your finger is broken"


BLONDE ON THE SUN

A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day. The Russian
said, "We were the first in space!" The American said, "We were The
first on the moon!"

The Blonde said, "So what? We're going to be the first on the Sun!"

The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their Heads.
"You can't land on the sun, you idiot! You'll burn up!" said The
Russian.

To which the Blonde replied, "We're not stupid, you know. We're Going at
night!"


IN A VACUUM

A blonde was playing Trivial Pursuit one night. It was her turn. She
rolled the dice and she landed on Science & Nature. Her Question was,
"If you are in a vacuum and someone calls your Name, can you hear it?"

She thought for a time and then asked, "Is it on or off?"


FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES!

A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had acquired two
New dogs, and asked her what their names were. The blonde Responded by
saying that one was named Rolex and one Was named Timex.

Her friend said, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like That?"

"HELLLOOOOOOO......," answered the blond. "They're
Watch dogs!"

I remember hearing or reading years ago that's it's not fair to pick on the blondes - or was it just that there shouldn't be Polish jokes? - because at some time in history a great many of Poland's scientists were executed, leaving the less intelligent to survive (gosh that sounds rude, my apologies to anyone of Polish descent reading this).    Are most Poles blond, or did I just mix up the blonde & Polish jokes there?  hehe

Of course I've been Googling today, & found this about the massacre of Lwow professors,&nbs p;& this about anti Polish sentiment.

Did you know that during the Nazi era an estimated 50,000 - 200,000 "racially acceptable" children were taken from their families in order to be brought up as Germans?

Here is the Wikipedia entry for BLOND (all about blonde!).  Interesting snippets include: 

*  less than 1.8% of the world's human population are blonde

*  Lighter hair colors occur naturally in humans of all ethnicities, as rare mutations, but at such low rates that it is hardly noticeable in most populations, or is only found in children.

*  it is probable that humans with blond hair became distinctly numerous in Europe about 11,000 to 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age 

(because lots of men died hunting & the remaining few men had heaps of women to choose from & could see the blondes easier, hehe)

Are blondes more desirable?  See what strippers think about that - does being blonde bring more tips?!

"...men associate light hair with erotic adventures, black - with femme fatale, red - with emotional fireworks and exotics and brown hair with…home comfort...natural blonds and red-heads produce pheromones six times more that brunettes and, thus, attract men more..."  - from a Factio Magazine article.

According to this Hawaiin blog post by a zoology grad student, the number of blondes is likely to drop in future - but the blond gene won't become extinct.

What a relief - I like variety!

Oh, & here is a makeupless photo of me at 22, & at my blondest:

Heavy blonde streaks in my naturally dark brown long straight hair, followed by a perm to make it wavy, totally wrecked my hair for several months!

 

Longstanding loyal readers will remember my post of 4th October 2005:

"Beauty products made from aborted babies & executed convicts".

Click the "October 2005" link in the Archives in the left column to read it.

Apparently the Chinese also harvest organs from their live prisoners!  Click here for this news story.

Don't think that disrespect for human beings, whether living or dead, happens only in China.  Scratch the surface of any 'civilised' nation and you may find scandals like this (from the UK).

Click here for reports of body parts taken without consent of the bereaved - in Australia.

Did you hear about the Alder Hey scandal, in the UK?

What about this New Jersey, USA, biomedical company story?

Who do you think owns your body parts?!