RBA INTEREST RATES

THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has left the cash rate on hold at 3.00 per cent at its first board meeting for 2013.
The decision to keep the cash rate unchanged was expected by most economists.
The RBA cut the cash rate four times between May and December in 2012, reducing the rate by 1.25 percentage points.

A truely amazing treatment.

Emily Whitehead: girl whose cancer was 'cured' by HIV

A seven-year-old girl has become the first child leukaemia patient to be successfully treated by doctors using a disabled form of the virus that causes Aids to reprogramme the immune system.

Emily Whitehead Photo: UNIVERSAL NEWS AND SPORT

By Nick Allen, Los Angeles

7:50PM GMT 11 Dec 2012

When chemotherapy failed to work for Emily Whitehead, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, she underwent a new experimental treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

It involved tricking her immune system into fighting the cancer cells - and, six months later, Emily remains in remission.

She was one of a dozen people to have had the treatment. Three adults also had complete remissions, with two of them now clear of cancer for more than two years.

Four other adults showed improvements but did not go into complete remission. One child improved but then relapsed, and the treatment did not work for two adults.

The patients each had millions of T-cells removed. Using the disabled form of HIV, these were modified to attack cancer cells before being put back into their systems.

Good Dog Rescue Story

Hitchener stars in dog rescue

Date: November 23 2012

Suzanne Carbone CHANNEL Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener enjoys a feel-good animal story but what viewers don't know is that he was the ''hero'' in a dog rescue. Travelling in a car with weekend newsreader Alicia Loxley to film community-service bushfire announcements in Eltham and Greensborough, she saw a whippet wandering across the busy four-lane Williamsons Road in Lower Templestowe and Hitchener, fearing for the dog's safety, said: ''We have to collect this dog otherwise someone will collect this dog.'' It was a natural instinct for the soft-hearted man who's the patron of Dogs Victoria. The 66-year-old who marks 40 years with Nine next year then plotted the rescue mission. The driver was instructed to mount the median strip and the duo tried to grab the dog but to no avail, so they got back in the car and parked elsewhere. Nine colleague Emma Norris found a packet of salt and vinegar chips in the car and the frightened dog was eventually enticed by the snack. A woman who saw the action took off her belt and with this makeshift leash, the dog was secured and Loxley rang Manningham council. The pet was taken to the pound and reunited with its owner. Hitchener told me: ''Thank goodness the dog wasn't hurt. It was a happy ending. It's a lovely story.'' Unfortunately there was no footage of the rescue to make the 6pm bulletin.

Kitten rescued from Florida's Abraham Lincoln statue

No one knows how a three-week-old kitten could get himself stuck inside of a statue, but this Clermont, Fla. tiny bundle of feline cuteness cried for days while trapped inside of the President's Hall of Fame Abraham Lincoln statue. By Sunday afternoon the kitten had been rescued.
For three days, WKMG/CBS reported hearing the faint meows of a kitten stuck inside of a hand made statue. The Humane Society accompanied by the Minneola Fire Department were able to drill an opening in the top of the statue, and a firefighter was able to lower himself inside and rescue the all gray kitten.
Upon his rescue, the kitten was given some milk through a baby bottle and whisked off to the local veterinarian for a medical evaluation.
John Zweifel, the curator who made the statue is hoping to adopt the kitten.
Are you surprised that the kitten has been named "Abe"?
Many thanks to the compassionate firemen of the Minneola Fire Department and to all of the animal lovers out there not willing to let a tiny life go by without a struggle.

Great RSPCA story.

A blind cocker spaniel that spent five years in a cage before being rescued from a puppy farm has had her sight restored, thanks to big-hearted dog lovers. Belle, 6, was one of 244 dogs seized by RSPCA inspectors in a raid on a Wondai puppy farm in 2009. Despite being blind from birth, Bella was bred from constantly for the puppy trade which is based primarily on “pretty” breeds such as poodles, cocker spaniels and beagles. Milena and Boris Butovski of Macgregor on Brisbane’s southside fostered Belle and a beagle called Lizzie when the RSPCA sought help finding temporary homes. In August, Michael Bernays from Animal Eye Services at Underwood removed a cataract and implanted an artificial lens in Belle’s right eye. Her first look at the world terrified her. “It was really scary,” Ms Butovski said. “She was afraid of her bed, afraid of the letterbox and flowers. “We made a big mistake at first when we took her home to reunite her with the other dog a big fight started straight away.” Ms Butovski said Belle had a second eye operation last month, which also was a success. “As much as I thought Belle was a confident and relatively happy dog before, the transformation after the second surgery was huge,” Ms Butovski said. “There was no more fear of strange things and she started running like a little racing horse, playing with a ball and showing an interest in everything. She is like a big puppy now. “The trust that you see in their eyes makes every cent (more than $5000) … worth it.” Ms Butovski said no dog deserved to be kept in a puppy farm where they were neglected and mistreated. “Belle was completely blind for five terrible years while forced to produce litter after litter of puppies, very likely genetically predisposed to blindness as she was,” she said. “When rescued, she didn’t play with any toy nor had an interest for anything but food and affection.”

SPRING IS THE TIME FOR THE OPEN GARDEN SHOWS IN BATHURST & MAYFEILD OBERON.

SPRING IS THE TIME FOR THE OPEN GARDEN SHOWS IN BATHURST & MAYFEILD OBERON.

The Bathurst Spring Garden Spectacular will be held again this year on the last weekend in October:

27/28 October 2012

For further information contact Anne Llewellyn at annesgarden@bigpond.com or on (02)6331 4117

or Spencer Harvey at sharv77@bigpond.com or on (02)63313171

Mayfield Garden Open Days

1. Visit NSW
2. Events
3. Mayfield Garden Open Days

• Add to Shortlist
• 0View shortlist

• 
• 
• 
• 
•  
•  

01

Address: 570 Mayfield Road
Oberon, NSW 2787

• Get directions
• View area map: Oberon
• View guide page: Oberon

Saturday 20 October to Sunday 28 April 2013

Spring 2012 open weekend dates are now confirmed for October and November. Autumn 2013 open weekend dates are now confirmed for April.

Mayfield Garden is one of the world's largest privately owned cool climate gardens. Open to the public only six weekends each year, this garden includes well over 160 acres of maintained gardens and is home to features such as an 80 metre cascade that tumbles down the hillside, six acre water garden, an oak forest, a maze, an amphitheatre and much more.

Designed to make the best of autumn and spring, this is an extraordinary garden experience not-to-be-missed!

For more information: www.mayfieldgarden.com.au

History of Mt Panorama

Circuit History

Well before it became a gathering place for motor racing enthusiasts, the Mount was an important part of the local Wiradjuri tribe's culture. The Mount was called ‘Waluu', which means ‘to watch over' and it was from the vantage points now known as Skyline & McPhillamy Park that the young Wiradjuri men would watch over their land and the movements of travellers to and from the valley.

Mount Panorama began as a dirt-track/tourist-drive carved out of the bald hills around the bustling city of Bathurst in the mid 1930s. The Council of the time, specifically Mayor Martin Griffin, had a vision for a premier motor racing circuit with the sharp hills, hairpin bends and a fast downhill straight that would inspire awe and demand respect from all who took up the challenge for years to come. Strong support from the New South Wales Light Car Club, Auto Cycle Union and the Federal Government, through a national employment relief scheme, saw this vision become a reality. On 17 March 1938 Mayor Martin Griffin declared the Mount Panorama Scenic Drive open. He always knew that the road was going to be used for motor racing but Depression Era funds weren't easy to come by, so he had to create a ruse. At Easter 1938 the first races were held and except for the war (WWII), have been run ever since.

Mount Panorama is indisputably a Mecca for motor racing fans all over Australia and around the world. On 16 April 1938, Mount Panorama attracted an overwhelming 20,000 spectators to its first race, The Australian Tourist Trophy.

Photographs of the early days of racing on Mount Panorama show the crowd leaning over wire fences, vehicles on dirt tracks, officials in canvas tents, and drivers with gloves, goggles and jacket, but no helmet. The facilities at Mount Panorama were non-existent during this time, with nothing more than dirt and some lines marking out a pit space for each car.

Of more recent times, Mount Panorama has undergone some serious refurbishment to ensure the legacy of this icon lives on for generations to come. The spiritual home of Australian motorsport has been well and truly established through the staging of 46 consecutive Bathurst 1000 races (formerly 500). The Mount has seen drivers come and drivers go, with few ever completely dominating the merciless curves and unforgiving straights. In 2006, 194,000 spectators turned out not only to witness Craig Lowndes edge out Rick Kelly for his 2nd Bathurst title, but also to farewell one of the best racing car drivers Australia has ever produced - Peter Brock, King of the Mountain. Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup are so far the only drivers to win the new Peter Brock trophy, winning all three Bathurst 1000 races since its introduction.