There is a lot of talk about death in my household. Given we are only out the other side of birth it has taken me quite by surprise.

On a soft, misty morning, all was quiet and still on the swamp except for a piercing whistle and splashing of water.

A council on Sydney's southern outskirts calls for changes to bushfire evacuation planning after thousands of people were left like "sitting ducks" in a 15-kilometre traffic jam, as a major blaze threatened the area.

The lawyer for asthmatic prisoner Mark Rowson tells a court his client should be immediately released from Port Phillip Prison, if authorities cannot mitigate the risk of a coronavirus outbreak in the prison system.

Pelicans and other waterbirds are dying in the outback and disappearing from waterways, as the effects of drought compound an already-concerning long-term decline in populations.

Five common accessibility presentation problems — the frustrating five — can thwart your attempts to enlighten your listeners. Rest easy. This article identifies these troublesome issues, then details the techniques you can use to avoid the issues, whether you are using IBM® Symphony® or Microsoft® PowerPoint®.

When reading The Times one does not know if one should laugh or cry. Malta government seems more and more like a Donald Duck government, a joke, with government officials, sadly including members of the Judicial, being so dishonest that it is difficult to comprehend. The government officials seem so eager to be just bigwigs that they have forgotten who they are put to serve.The judicial system seems to be in a mess.

The Observer just wants to give a few examples from todays The Times.

Once more a new bribery probe is ongoing against Transport Malta officials.
This governmental body seems to be one of the most dishonest not only in Malta but in the whole EU. This time the bribery inquiry concerns three officials so far, but in 2010 another three officials and 230 other people were charged in connection with hundreds of driving licenses granted to people who had not even sat for a test. This proves that The Observer was absolutely right in the article “Traffic in Malta, a risky business” of Feb 14, although some of the licenses have been seized by the police. However, one thing was not correct; the driving licenses are not issued by Disney World or come with the cereal packages from Scotts, but are issued by Transport Malta against a monetary compensation. This way of giving out driving licenses must surely be promoting road safety in Malta.


Malta has a very old fashioned system for ensuring that people can show that they are entitled to vote in the coming council election. Policemen deliver the documents to every single voter in person. This means that the policemen knock doors for several weeks; no wonder that there are more policemen in Malta in relation to the size of the population than in most EU countries. In Sliema the police have failed to deliver documents to 58 % of the voters.

Since Sliema is said to be a PN stronghold one can wonder if this is one more situation in which bribes are occurring. A policeman who delivers documents in Sliema and is a convinced PL supporter can easily neglect to deliver in areas with strong support for PN. The Observer does not state that this is the case but has a time saving suggestion that also will exclude the possibility of bribes; Malta should modernize its system and this is very easily done. Malta has computerized lists of the population which easily can be sorted (if not this has been done already) by place of residence in voting lists. People then just have to show their ID cards when coming to the polls and be ticked off. The present system is just ridiculous.

The Observer just want to stress what is said in the article of Feb 15, “Reflections on the judicial system in Malta” by referring to the following articles in The Times of today. Here.

And do not forget to look into this one!

Last week, my teenage son came to me and said, “Yo, Mom. Can we get some baby ducks?” No joke. He really said “Yo, Mom.” (Cue the eye roll.) And he really asked for ducks. (Cue the eyebrow lift.) I quickly brushed off this request

The HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini mechanical gaming keyboard features HyperX red linear mechanical switches built for performance, longevity and an 80 million lifetime click rating per switch.

The post HyperX Teams up with Ducky and Launches HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

Play was suspended during the Ducks-Blues game on Tuesday at Honda Center after St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench during the first period.

Mikael Backlund and Mark Jankowski scored two goals apiece, and Cam Talbot made 44 saves for his 21st career shutout in the Flames' 6-0 victory over the Ducks on Thursday night.

Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester went into cardiac arrest during a game against the Ducks on Tuesday. Ducks medical personnel helped save his life.

The Ducks dealt forward Ondrej Kase to the Boston Bruins in exchange for forward David Backes, prospect Axel Andersson and a 2020 first-round pick.

Tyler Toffoli, Alec Martinez and Kyle Clifford, who all won two Stanley Cups with the Kings, and Ondrej Kase from the Ducks were among veterans traded.

The Ducks won the distinction of making the most deals in the final hours before Monday's NHL trade deadline while the Kings only made one trade.

A player on the Ottawa Senators has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the club said in a statement late Tuesday, the first NHL player known to have tested positive for the virus.

Kings and Ducks players have not shown any coronavirus symptoms after an Ottawa Senators player tested positive and played both teams before NHL suspended operations.

The Ducks weren't expected to be a playoff team in 2019-20 and that's how it's played out. But they've made some personnel moves with the future in mind.

The Ducks signed Boston University center Trevor Zegras, whom they drafted ninth overall in 2019, to a three-year entry-level contract.

Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli are setting a new standard for taking care of arena workers amid the coronavirus shutdown.

As the Kings and Ducks wait out the NHL's coronavirus shutdown, the teams will renew their rivalry with an EA SPORTS NHL 20 simulated game.

The Ducks have converted part of their Great Park Ice complex in Irvine into a food bank to assist those in need during the coronavirus outbreak.

There are no games being played, but executives of the Kings and Ducks are busy preparing for scenarios to complete this season and have a full 2020-21 season.

THOUSANDS of people stuck at home during lockdown are using their exercise slot to visit parks and feed ducks. Express.co.uk has compiled a list of six things you and your family should avoid feeding ducks at all costs.

Known as “My Special Aflac Duck,” the robot is merging play with tools that help doctors do their jobs.

NAR commends Senators Cotton, Duckworth for Work on...

Employees at an Oregon restaurant said a peacock has taken on the role of protector for a mother duck and the eggs she laid in the closed patio area.

This recipe features on Foodie Tuesday, a weekly segment on 774 Drive with Raf Epstein, 3.30PM, courtesy of

2 duck breast, skin on. 2g five spice 2g dried ground ginger 5g salt flakes 4 scallops, roe on. sweet wasabi dressing potato salad

Getting in early with my Christmas recipe to inspire you to move away from the traditional Turkey . Not one for sweet tasting sauces with meat however his works extremely well against the rich sometimes games flavour and the sweet sour notes from the cherry sauce.

As the state rolls out a new school accountability system and a separate federal accountability system, disputes have flared between the state department and school board over which underperforming schools should get extra federal money.

Jennifer McCormick, a Republican who will not run for re-election in 2020, says the state's government structure "causes confusion and stretches resources."

The Anaheim Ducks have re-signed defensemen Christian Djoos and Jani Hakanpaa to one-year contracts. The Ducks announced the deals Wednesday. Djoos had one goal and two assists in nine games with the Ducks after they acquired him from the Washington Capitals on Feb. 24 in a trade for forward Daniel Sprong.

Ducks defensemen Christian Djoos and Jani Hakanpaa will stay with the team through the 2020-21 season after each signed a one-year, one-way contract extension.

Remarkable fossil hints at the traits birds evolved just before an asteroid wiped their nonavian dinosaur kin

The vineyard deploys a daily bird-based battalion to pluck snails and insects off their plants

Supporters of an OM worker raise money for her ministry by hosting a rubber duck race.

The Anaheim Ducks have re-signed defensemen Christian Djoos and Jani Hakanpaa to one-year contracts, the team announced Wednesday.

Yahoo Messenger 5.5 and below suffers from a buffer overflow that was originally discovered and fixed in May of 2002, but has since resurfaced. Systems Affected: Windows NT/2000/SP1/SP2/SP3, Windows ME, Windows 95/98, Windows XP.

Wind and solar power producers say they're at risk of losing investment after the European Union's executive arm scrapped proposals for a mandatory target on renewable energy use in 2030.

Rosa Manzano carefully arranges pieces of wood in a big mud igloo that, seven days after it is full, will produce charcoal of high caloric content. “Our forest also produces oak, which in the past was only sold as firewood and had little value. But with forest management and the work of women who have […]

The post Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The mummified remains of a duck-billed dinosaur contain a grey pigment, suggesting it was grey, although other pigments may have been lost during fossilisation

Ducks usually show little or no clinical signs following highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infection. In order to analyze whether the microbiota could contribute to the control of influenza virus replication in ducks, we used a broad-spectrum oral antibiotic treatment to deplete the microbiota before infection with a highly pathogenic H5N9 avian influenza virus. Antibiotic-treated ducks and nontreated control ducks did not show any clinical signs following H5N9 virus infection. We did not detect any significant difference in virus titers neither in the respiratory tract nor in the brain nor spleen. However, we found that antibiotic-treated H5N9 virus-infected ducks had significantly increased intestinal virus excretion at days 3 and 5 postinfection. This was associated with a significantly decreased antiviral immune response in the intestine of antibiotic-treated ducks. Our findings highlight the importance of an intact microbiota for an efficient control of avian influenza virus replication in ducks.

IMPORTANCE Ducks are frequently infected with avian influenza viruses belonging to multiple subtypes. They represent an important reservoir species of avian influenza viruses, which can occasionally be transmitted to other bird species or mammals, including humans. Ducks thus have a central role in the epidemiology of influenza virus infection. Importantly, ducks usually show little or no clinical signs even following infection with a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. We provide evidence that the microbiota contributes to the control of influenza virus replication in ducks by modulating the antiviral immune response. Ducks are able to control influenza virus replication more efficiently when they have an intact intestinal microbiota. Therefore, maintaining a healthy microbiota by limiting perturbations to its composition should contribute to the prevention of avian influenza virus spread from the duck reservoir.