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Earth Day Around the World - Jerusalem!

A combination view of the Old City walls of Jerusalem on 22 April 2010 before and after the lights illuminating the wall are turned off for one hour, marking Earth Day. The 40th annual commemoration of Earth Day is marked around the world today in various ways to illustrate saving and conserving energy. Earth Day is celebrated around the world annually on 22 April to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the earth's environment. On Earth Day individuals as well as environmental groups take action to raise awareness of and political attention to environmental issues such as pollution, global warming and climate change, and to encourage public endeavour for a clean environment. Earth Day which was founded by by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2010. According to the official website: 'Earth Day 2010 can be a turning point to advance climate policy, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green jobs.'

Tougher action on graffiti needed

The Corporate Governance and Finance Committee has recommended that Council lobby the State Government for tougher action to combat graffiti vandalism.

A report has highlighted a significant increase in the incidence of graffiti this year and removal is estimated to cost the city $1.7 million.

Committee Chair Cr Eddy Sarroff said the increase was not specific to the Gold Coast and was a problem for most urban centres in the country.

“Council has successfully implemented a comprehensive graffiti management and removal policy which is considered to be a leading local government program,” said Cr Sarroff.

“The program actively focuses on prevention by engaging young people through schools and identification of ‘tags’ for investigation by police.

“Council’s ArtBox Project was a trial initiative which concluded in July 2008 that involved 41 traffic signal boxes being painted in Surfers Paradise with community-inspired artworks.

“Prior to the project commencing, 90 per cent of the boxes were covered in graffiti or posters, and since the artwork was completed, only 10 per cent have had minor graffiti.

“However, while we have been working hard on new initiatives and reducing the per-job average cost of removal, graffiti removal expenditure has increased by $200,000 each year since 2004.

“”Last year, Council staff undertook almost 11,000 graffiti removal jobs and this year that number is expected to rise to 15,000.

“The Committee has recommended that further discussion take place with the State Government regarding mandatory point-of-sale security for spray paint cans, harsher penalties for offenders and any other initiatives that can deter graffiti vandalism.”

Beach volleyball

Beach volleyball is an Olympic group sport played on sand. Two teams, positioned on either side of a net which divides rectangular court, hit volleyball, usually using the hands or arms.

It is evolved from indoor volleyball, and the two sports remain very similar: a team scores points by foundation the ball on the opponents' court, or when the opposing team commits a fault teams can contact the ball no more than three times before the ball crosses the net; and consecutive contacts must be made by unlike players. The most important differences between beach and indoor volleyball are the playing surface, and the team size. There are many minor differences as well, including each half of the court actions 8 by 8 meters.

If a jamming player touches the ball, but it continues onto his side of the net, the block counts as the first contact. Open-hand dinks, where a player uses his or her finger tips to redirect the ball into the opponent's court, are banned. It is legal to cross under the net as long as doing so does not hamper with the opponents' attempt to play the ball. Players are not necessary to rotate positions; they must alternate check, but there are no rotation errors.

Science

Science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word.

Fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines:

• Natural sciences, which study natural phenomena (including biological life), and
• Social sciences, which study human behavior and societies.

These groupings are empirical sciences, which mean the knowledge must be based on observable phenomena and capable of being experimented for its validity by other researchers working under the same conditions.

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are disciplined ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovina of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat dairy products (milk), leather and as draught animals. In some countries, such as India, they are honored in religious ceremonies and revered. It is expected that there are 1.4 billion head of cattle in the world today.

Cattle were originally known by Carolus Linnaeus as three separate species. These were Bos taurus, the European cattle, including similar types from Africa and Asia, Bos indicus, the zebu,and the extinct Bos primigenius, the aurochs. The aurochs is ancestral to together zebu and European cattle. More newly these three have increasingly been grouped as one species, sometimes using the names Bos primigenius taurus, Bos primigenius indicus and Bos primigenius. Complicating the matter is the capacity of cattle to interbreed with other closely related species. Hybrid individuals and even breeds exist, not only between European cattle and zebu but also with yaks, banteng, gaur, and bison, a cross-genera fusion. Cattle cannot effectively be bred with water buffalo or African buffalo.

Papaya

The papaya is a fruit of the tree. It is a small tree, the single stem growing from 5 to 10 m tall, with spirally set leaves confined to the top of the trunk, the lower trunk is obviously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50-70 cm width, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is typically unbranched if unlopped. The flowers are similar in shape to the flowers of the Plumeria but are much slighter and wax like. They appear on the axils of the leaves, maturing into the large 15-45 cm long and 10-30 cm diameter fruit. The fruit is ripe when it feels soft and its skin has attained amber to orange hue. The fruit's taste is vaguely similar to pineapple and peach, although much milder without the tartness, creamier, and more fragrant, with a texture of a little over-ripened cantaloupe.

The primary use of the papaya is as an safe to eat fruit. The ripe fruit is generally eaten raw, without the skin or seeds. The unripe green fruit of papaya can be eaten ripe, usually in curries, salads and stews.