Heartless theft leaves disabled woman speechless

By bobb |

BY STEPHANIE ANDERSON
05 Dec, 2011 04:00 AM

A severely disabled Canberra woman has been left without any means of communicating after thieves stole specialised equipment worth thousands of dollars last month.

Twenty-one-year-old Perrin Tucker was at a medical appointment with her mother Katrina when thieves broke into their Flynn home, causing thousands of dollars' worth of damage and taking everything electronic in sight.

"The laptop is gone, all our computing equipment is gone," Mrs Tucker said. "They even opened Christmas cards looking for money."

From Scepticism About Autism to Capital-S Skepticism

By bobb |

Eran Segev

On Thursday, 13 May 2010

Time: 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Place: Lecture theatre, Innovations Building, Eggleston Rd, ANU

Free admission

No need to book but note that the theatre seats 106.

Various groups with a variety of agendas have all kinds of ideas about autism. Looking at their claims can be one step towards active skepticism.

Eran Segev is a father of 3 boys, an IT consultant, and the President of Australian Skeptics Inc (Sydney Skeptics).

About the Sydney Skeptics

Anti-vaccination 'diatribe' ill-informed and factually wrong

By bobb |

9/03/2009 12:00:00 AM

I am not anti-vaccination but I am in favour of parents being given factual information regarding vaccinations so they can make informed decisions as to what they have their children vaccinated against and when they do it.

Jack Waterford's diatribe in Times 2 (March 5, p2) against people who decide not to vaccinate their children is both ill-informed and, in some cases, factually wrong.

I will restrict my response to just one area the link between autism and certain vaccines.

Researchers floored after study links autism to vinyl

By bobb |

LONDON

6/04/2009 12:00:00 AM

Children who live in homes with vinyl flooring have double the chance of being autistic, research has discovered.

The finding which amazed even the scientists conducting the study provides one of the first clues as to a possible cause of the condition.

The study, by scientists in Sweden, Denmark and the United States, stumbled across the connection almost by accident.

It is being taken seriously because autism has long been thought to result from environmental factors.

Big pay day for top private schools in cash handout

By bobb |

DEBORAH SNOW
6/04/2009 12:23:30 AM

SOME of Sydney's wealthiest private schools will receive handouts of up to $200,000 each to refurbish already lavish sporting and arts facilities, under the first leg of the Federal Government's National School Pride program unveiled yesterday.

The federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, said more than 2000 NSW schools would receive grants totalling $277.5 million to be spent on "maintenance and minor building works".

...

Telstra offshoot hires notorious teen hacker 'Akill'

By bobb |

MICHAEL FIELD
24/03/2009 12:53:00 PM
TelstraClear, Telstra's New Zealand subsidiary, has hired one of the worlds best known hackers - a teenager known as "Akill".

Nineteen-year-old Owen Thor Walker became the subject of a US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cyber crime investigation spanning the United States, Europe and New Zealand and dubbed "Bot Roast".

New Zealand police finally caught him last year and he admitted to being the ring-leader, code-named Akill, of a group known as the A-Team.

Coroner calls for more funding for support services

By Anonymous (not verified) |

A Canberra coroner has called on the ACT Government to provide more funding for coronial support services.

Coroner Ron Cahill made the comments during an inquest into the death of a 21-year-old disabled man.

Stephen Moon had been sedated after having his wisdom teeth out at Calvary hospital.

Today, the court heard it was likely he had died from pneumonia he had contracted while on ventilation.