Fitch Threatens To Downgrade Australian Banks

ABC’s Elysse Morgan is reporting that Australia’s big four banks have been warned they may be downgraded by Fitch Ratings agency because of their reliance on offshore funding. ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac all face the prospect of their AA ratings being downgraded by at least one notch. Fitch Ratings senior director John Miles says the agency is reassessing the risks associated with the banks’ reliance on wholesale funding. ”When we look at their funding mix, if we exclude equity around 30 per cent of their funding comes from offshore wholesales markets,” Mr Miles said.

Yellow Curry Paste – Anti Oxidising Curry

The preparation of curry pastes is one of the joys of kitchen life, the ability to control and indeed, develop, the pounding, grinding to a paste of aromatic, fresh, textural ingredients is completely cathartic.

The ingredients should be ground using a pestle and mortar, a gentle wrist and a mind emptied of most everything else.

Starting with the hardest ingredient, then adding other ingredients one at a time, in sequence is surely a meditation.

It’s recommended to start with the chilies, the sea salt – the coarseness of sea salt aids in cutting through the chili skin – as you add each ingredient, take in the aroma of the paste savoring each new ingredients reaction with the last :: Read the full article »»»»

New Research Predicts Autism Much Earlier

Autism, a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction, restricted and repetitive behavior. The signs of Autism all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not yet well understood.

Signs of ASD are diagnosed in the first three years of a child’s life, generally between the second and third year, the signs develop gradually, in some cases however, autistic children first develop more normally, and then regress.

New research has shown that children who develop autism may show signs of different brain responses in their first year of life, researchers say the study may in the future help doctors diagnose the disorder much earlier. Read the full article »»»»

'ASIO' The Australian Spy Agency is Seeks to Recruit Muslim Spies

The Muslim community has welcomed comments from the head of Australia’s spy agency – ASIO – that it needs to recruit more Muslims. ASIO director-general David Irvine made the comments during a rare public address at the Sydney Institute.

“ASIO needs to recruit more people from within our newly arrived migrant communities,” Irvine said. ”Connected to this is the need for ASIO to develop even better outreach into our different ethnic communities, particularly Australian Muslim communities, my constant message to our valued Islamic community is very simple: ‘ASIO is not against Islam, it is against terrorism; against terrorism that kills both Muslims and non-Muslims alike” Irvine said ”To achieve our common goal of a safe and harmonious community, we need to work with you’.”

Muslim community leader, Ahmed Kilani from Muslimvillage.com welcomes Mr Irvine’s comments, but has called for ASIO to be more open in its relations with the Muslim community. He says the relationship between Muslims and the intelligence agency has been uncertain since the September 11 attacks. ”Although it’s 10 years later, we welcome the comments but I also think there’ll be a lot of suspicion in the Muslim community just in the way that ASIO has been engaging with them in a very covert way, in a very unofficial way, would lead to a lot of suspicion and mistrust for what’s happened in the past,” he said.

“The first that we hear of this is through the news media; no-one in the Muslim community’s heard of this approach.” Kilani said ”Although I welcome what he’s saying, really we need to see a real change in the approach for it to have any credibility.”

'ASIO' The Australian Spy Agency is Seeks to Recruit Muslim Spies

The Muslim community has welcomed comments from the head of Australia’s spy agency – ASIO – that it needs to recruit more Muslims. ASIO director-general David Irvine made the comments during a rare public address at the Sydney Institute.

“ASIO needs to recruit more people from within our newly arrived migrant communities,” Irvine said. ”Connected to this is the need for ASIO to develop even better outreach into our different ethnic communities, particularly Australian Muslim communities, my constant message to our valued Islamic community is very simple: ‘ASIO is not against Islam, it is against terrorism; against terrorism that kills both Muslims and non-Muslims alike” Irvine said ”To achieve our common goal of a safe and harmonious community, we need to work with you’.”

Muslim community leader, Ahmed Kilani from Muslimvillage.com welcomes Mr Irvine’s comments, but has called for ASIO to be more open in its relations with the Muslim community. He says the relationship between Muslims and the intelligence agency has been uncertain since the September 11 attacks. ”Although it’s 10 years later, we welcome the comments but I also think there’ll be a lot of suspicion in the Muslim community just in the way that ASIO has been engaging with them in a very covert way, in a very unofficial way, would lead to a lot of suspicion and mistrust for what’s happened in the past,” he said.

“The first that we hear of this is through the news media; no-one in the Muslim community’s heard of this approach.” Kilani said ”Although I welcome what he’s saying, really we need to see a real change in the approach for it to have any credibility.”

CHIP House! Powered By Solar, Controlled By Xbox Kinect

The CHIP House – Compact Hyper-Insulated Prototype – was started with the goal of creating a net-zero energy home – one that requires no external energy source – and it looks like the designers exceeded that target. The house actually generates three times as much energy as it uses thanks to solar panels and a host of energy saving measures. Heat generated by the air conditioning is used to make hot water, natural light can be used at most hours of the day, and the whole house’s design and ventilation system allow for the temperature to be adjusted quickly and with minimal energy usage. The CHIP House’s most striking feature is the insulation fitted around the entire 750-square foot home, which makes it look like a giant mattress but also preserves the interior temperature.