George Christensen refuses to Apologise for ‘greenie punks’ gun photo

Nationals MP George Christensen has refused to apologise to the Greens for a photo he shared on Facebook that showed him holding a gun and appearing to threaten “greenie punks”.

Key points:

• Mr Christensen wrote, “You gotta ask yourself, do you feel lucky, greenie punks?”
• He says it was a joke that he shouldn’t have to apologise for
• Malcolm Turnbull says it was clearly inappropriate, notes AFP still considering whether to investigate

Below the photo, shared on his public page last night, Mr Christensen wrote: “You gotta ask yourself, do you feel lucky, greenie punks?”

The comment was later edited to read, “You gotta ask yourself, do you have a sense of humour, greenie punks?” and a short time later the post was deleted.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he was disgusted by the image and comment, so reported it to the Australian Federal Police.

“The concern here is that George Christensen has given licence to people to behave in a way that is violent towards other people who may have a different view,” he said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the post “very inappropriate”, and told radio station 3AW he had checked with police this morning and gathered “they are still evaluating the referral”.

Mr Turnbull also noted that Mr Christensen “took it down after he was spoken to about it”.

“It was clearly inappropriate. I will let the police complete their evaluation,” Mr Turnbull said.

An AFP spokesperson confirmed this afternoon the matter was still being assessed.

But the north Queensland LNP MP, who sits with the Nationals in Federal Parliament, has refused to apologise for the post, saying he was making a joke.

“I’m not going to be moralised at by these extreme Greens for a joke that I put up on social media,” Mr Christensen said.

“The flippant comment I made online was a quote from Dirty Harry, who was a police officer speaking to people who are conducting illegal activity such as the Greens are. ”

Mr Christensen repeatedly referred to what he called “illegal activism” by green groups at the Abbot Point coal mine.

He said he had taken it down after he was asked to do so by Nigel Scullion, who is the acting leader of the Nationals while Barnaby Joyce is on leave.

Source @abc.net.au

Population, Changing Diet and Global Freshwater Supply Challenges

 

UN-Water
Image: unwater.org

Sydney, Australia-based Tim Hornibrook has extensive experience in large-scale agricultural ventures. As water is an invaluable component of agriculture, Tim Hornibrook pays special attention to the current state of global freshwater supplies.

UN-Water, the inter-agency coordination mechanism of the United Nation for all freshwater concerns, reports that while globally there is enough water for our future water requirements, there are areas where billions of people have little or intermittent access to water. Water goes hand-in-hand with food security as 70 percent of all water utilized by the industrial, municipal, and agricultural sectors in the world is used for agriculture.

The world’s population is projected to increase from the 7.4 billion of today to 9.1 billion in 2050. As a consequence, food demand will also increase proportionally. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing shift in diets brought about by economic growth and increasing individual prosperity. More people are shifting from mainly starch-based diets to diets including more dairy products and meat.

Around 3,500 liters of water is needed to produce 1 kilo of rice, while around 15,000 liters of water is needed to produce 1 kilo of meat, hence this dietary shift is increasing demands on agricultural water sources. Over the past 30 years this shift in diet has had a huge impact on water usage and it will continue to do so.

This situation requires a new approach to analyzing water usage, and must including looking at the value chain and equating harvest loss, post-harvest loss, and food wastage as water loss or wastage.

Japan’s Natural Hot Springs – A Timeless Tradition

 

Dogo-onsen Hot Spring
Image: city.matsuyama.ehime.jp

An investment manager based in Sydney, Australia, Tim Hornibrook has traveled extensively throughout his career. For a time, Tim Hornibrook lived in Japan, which is home to natural hot springs, called onsen.

Japan is a volcanic archipelago made up of over 6,000 islands. The country’s unique geography means that it sits upon numerous naturally occurring hot springs. The hot springs have long been recognized for their healing properties and relaxing benefits. The mineral content of each onsen varies, leading to different healing properties depending on the location of the spring.

Many visitors choose to stay in a ryoken, or Japanese-style inn, when visiting an onsen. Ryoken give visitors the opportunity to experience traditional Japanese culture, lifestyle, and hospitality. A stay at a ryoken usually includes an elaborate dinner as well as breakfast.

Japan’s most popular onsen is the Dogo-onsen Hot Spring located in Matsuyama, the capital of Ehime. With a history that stretches back 3,000 years, Dogo-onsen is the oldest spa in Japan.

J.R.R. Tolkien and The Inklings

The Inklings
Image: amazon.com

Holding a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in Louisiana with a concentration in psychology, Tim Hornibrook eventually entered the financial services field in Sydney, Australia. Outside of work, Tim Hornibrook enjoys traveling and watching movies, especially the Lord of the Rings.

Originally published in written form in 1954 by English fantasy author and professor J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings was set in a fictional environment that Tolkien called Middle-earth. The future of civilization relies on a ring that was placed into the hands of a hobbit named Frodo. The book takes a reader through the adventures of Frodo as commanding forces try to get a hold of the ring.

In 1920, Tolkien began teaching at Oxford University and started a writing group called The Inklings with other famous authors including Owen Barfield and C.S. Lewis. The Inklings gave Tolkien the idea for The Hobbit, which was published as a children’s book prior to The Lord of the Rings in 1937.

Indian Restaurants to Check Out in Sydney

Bijolias
Image: bijolias.com.au

Tim Hornibrook is a longtime professional in the financial services sector. In his most recent role, he managed more than $1.2 billion in agricultural funds at a firm in Sydney, Australia. Outside of his professional career and interests, Tim Hornibrook is an avid food and travel enthusiast.

Indian food is one of the most popular ethnic cuisines in Australia. Once hard to come by in Sydney, it is now quite easy to find this type of food. With all the choices, it is sometimes difficult to decide what to try, but a few spots are definitely worth a visit.

Bijolias (Seaforth)

Featured in The Daily Telegraph as one of Sydney’s hottest Indian restaurants, Bijolias puts effort into transforming the perception of Indian cuisine from its traditional roots. Integrating European fine dining influences, it offers a robust menu with both traditional and modern dishes. With love and attention given to plate composition and ingredients, this is definitely a place that subscribes to the theory that you eat with your eyes first.

Maya Da Dhaba (Surry Hills)

Maya Da Dhaba has been a local favorite in Sydney for years. Traditional favorites and more innovative dishes are on the menu, so there is literally something for everyone. The restaurant also boasts an impressive list of vegetarian offerings and offers family-style dining.

Abhi’s Indian Restaurant (Strathfield)

With signature dishes like Goa Fish Curry, Abhi’s has cemented itself as a cornerstone of Indian cuisine in Sydney. The restaurant has rightly earned that reputation, boasting dishes with complex flavors for even the most discerning palettes. Drawing inspiration from the Goa and Chennai regions, Abhi’s is a must-dine option for Indian cuisine lovers.

Tulane Unveils New Uniforms

 

Tulane
Image: athlonsports.com

Tim Hornibrook has more than 15 years of experience in financial services in Sydney, Australia. In preparation for his professional career, Tim Hornibrook graduated from Tulane University, where he also played football on a scholarship.

In addition to hiring a new head coach, Tulane plans to make changes to its uniforms in the fall of 2016. Since spring practice began, the school has displayed a blue jersey in an area used to host recruits. Coach Willie Fritz also recently tweeted a link to a video that shows off the new uniforms with the blue jersey, two different helmet types (green matte, gray/black matte), blue facemasks, and a throwback logo.

Since 1920, Tulane has been affectionately known as the Green Wave. As expected, the football uniforms have heavily featured green throughout the years. The blue uniforms represent a departure from that tradition, although there is also a dark green variant of the new look. Along with the standard road jersey, there are 48 potential new uniform combinations.

Tulane opens the 2016 season on September 1 on the road against Wake Forest.

Worldwide Implications of Water Shortages

Water Shortages
Image: un.org

With ten years’ experience managing agriculture-oriented mutual funds in Sydney, Australia, Tim Hornibrook is highly knowledgeable about worldwide trends. One of Tim Hornibrook’s areas of concern includes the impact of present and future water shortages.

The United Nations has stated that over the next two decades, demand for fresh water will outpace reliably distributed supplies. Shortages already exist in about 40 percent of the planet. River sources such as the Ganges, Nile, and Yangtze have slowed to a trickle, and some lakes have disappeared almost entirely. In some areas, water is expensive–its heaviness makes transport costly. Urban areas of many developing nations (and some more advanced ones) must import their water, as well as key goods and services. These cities must also bring in food.

But major water usage doesn’t only come from consumers. 70 percent of the world’s available water goes to food production. The water used in production is known as “virtual water.” As the population increases, this demand will only increase; by 2050, it will be 70 to 100 percent higher than the current demand. Compared to water usage for drinking and sanitation, this unseen demand goes unnoticed by the public. Though humans drink about two or three liters of water, each one accounts for some 3,000 liters used in producing food and fiber. The demand for “virtual water” will rise as cities grow. Since the Earth’s supply of fresh water has steadily shrunk and will continue to decrease, further strains on personal economies appear certain.

Trombone Shorty Academy Students Play House of Blues

 

Trombone Shorty Academy
Image: tromboneshortyfoundation.org

Born and raised in Syndey, Austrailia, agribusiness investment expert Tim Hornibrook has traveled all over the world. He has visited every continent except Antarctica. When spending time in the United States, he stays at his residence in one of the most culturally rich cities in the country: New Orleans. Tim Hornibrook first came to the U.S. to study at New Orleans’ Tulane University on a football scholarship.

Tulane celebrates the jazz culture that the area is known for. Tulane’s New Orleans Center for the Gulf South partnered with the Trombone Shorty Foundation to create and run the Trombone Shorty Academy, which provides music education to New Orleans high school students. The academy teaches students about the region’s rich musical history, while students gain hands-on experience playing in a performance ensemble. They are also mentored by music students at Tulane.

On April 28th, 2016, students from the Trombone Shorty Academy took to the stage with the Academy’s founder and namesake, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. The concert took place at the famous House of Blues as part of the 2016 Shorty Fest.

Hakodate Botanical Garden Celebrates 45th Anniversary

 

Hakodate Botanical Garden
Image: tripadvisor.com

Tim Hornibrook, Sydney, Australia-based agribusiness investment expert, has traveled all over the globe. Tim Hornibrook has visited every continent except Antarctica and lived in several countries, including Japan. Japan boasts a rich array of experiences and sightseeing opportunities. One particularly unique destination is the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden, where visitors can watch snow monkeys relax in the garden’s hot springs.

Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden, which just celebrated its 45th anniversary, is located just east of the Hakodate Mountains, in Hokkaido. During the day, the 90 monkeys that reside in the garden relax in the warm waters of the large heated pool. The garden was established in 1970, and has been a popular tourist attraction since then. The best season to see the monkeys is between December and April, when the cool air makes the hot springs especially appealing to the monkeys.

Tolkien’s Middle Earth Recreated in New Zealand

 

Tolkien’s Middle Earth
Image: newzealand.com

Business professional Tim Hornibrook specializes in agricultural investment. In his spare time, Tim Hornibrook enjoys watching movies, specifically the Lord of the Rings Trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were all shot exclusively in scenic New Zealand.

New Zealand, known for its breathtaking scenery, was the perfect location for Middle Earth. Rolling meadows, rugged mountains, stunning beaches, and even a volcanic plateau offered producers of the movies a multitude of diverse landscapes to stage the fictional world created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Matamata in Waikato became quaint Hobbiton, home to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. After filming was completed, Hobbiton became a permanent attraction for tourists. Visitors can explore hobbit holes and take guided tours of well-known places in the movies such as Bag End and the Green Dragon Inn. Every visitor will recognize a number of the peaceful scenes from the movies.

Scenes from the River Anduin, the Gardens of Isengard, Osgiliath Wood, and Rivendell were all shot outside the city of Wellington. Most of the locations that appear in the movies are easily reached by car. A number of tours are available for visitors.

Tolkien fans won’t regret visiting the enchanting places where Middle Earth came to life. They will have the opportunity to relive their favorite scenes and be a part of the magic captured in the epic adventures from the Lord of the Rings.