The Daily Populous

Wednesday November 15th, 2017 day edition

image for Australia's same-sex marriage postal survey: 61.6% yes, 38.4% no – as it happened

Senator James Paterson has given up on his much maligned bill for same-sex marriage, conceding there was more support for the one drafted by Dean Smith.

Paterson’s rival conservative marriage bill would have overridden already existing anti-discrimination laws to allow “religious freedoms” of refusing service to same-sex marriages.

Paterson said he was pleased with the result (he voted yes), and the parliament must now quickly pass legislation.

“The parliament must now quickly pass a bill to legalise same-sex marriage.

It is clear the majority of senators believe my colleague Senator Dean Smith’s bill is where we should start,” he said.

Of course, there can now be amendments to the Smith bill, and each of the measures in the Paterson bill can be put up and considered one by one.

But in the legislative fight, that’s round one for Liberal moderates. »

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey

Authored by marriagesurvey.abs.gov.au

Long description for Response_infographic.gif The top half of the infographic is presented as two pie charts, one for Yes, and one for No.

They provide an overall summary of the response data from the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey at the national level.

Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, 61.6% responded Yes and 38.4% responded No. »

Cards Against Humanity buys plot of land on U.S./Mexico border t - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Authored by khq.com
image for

In years past, in an effort to combat Black Friday, they've had people send them $5 and literally sent nothing in return.

The company says they've bought a plot of vacant land on the border of the United States and Mexico in an effort to make it difficult for President Trump to build his border wall.

The company did not disclose where the piece of land is located, but said everyone who pitches in on day one will receive an illustrated map of the land. »

Surgeons repair spina bifida in fetus for 1st time in Canada, hospitals say

Authored by cbc.ca

For the first time in Canada, a team of surgeons has successfully performed in-utero surgery to repair a form of spina bifida, two Toronto hospitals say.

Eiko's parents, Romeo Crisostomo and Romeila Son, learned their baby had spina bifida at their 20-week ultrasound.

According to Mount Sinai Hospital, fewer than half of children with spina bifida live independently when they become adults. »

Study Finds SpaceX Investment Saved NASA Hundreds of Millions

Authored by popularmechanics.com

The Dragon was the result of a decision 6 years prior—in 2006, NASA made an "unprecedented" investment in SpaceX technology.

A new research paper by Edgar Zapata, who works at Kennedy Space Center, looks closely at the finances of SpaceX and NASA.

This led to the creation of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), which led to the investment in SpaceX. »