On the subject of stupidity as opposed to identity theft....................

This telephone exchange would be funny if not for the fact that versions of it are repeated every day.

From the pages of NO HELP Not Always Working:

(I have just checked my credit report for the first time, and notice a store credit card I had never opened. I call the credit company to report this.)

Me: “My report lists a delinquent account on a [store] credit card. I’ve never had a card with that store.”

CSR: “It says here the account was opened in 1974.”

Me: “Well, that must be a mistake. I wasn’t born until 1978.”

CSR: “Could you have opened the account and then forgotten about it?”

Me: “…I’m going to need to speak to someone else.”

When it comes to the crime of murder, don't believe everything you read in NSW North Coast newspapers

On 2 June 2012  The Northern Star  and The Daily Examiner online trumpeted that:

WHEN they think of the North Coast, most people think of the relaxed lifestyle, idyllic beaches and lush hinterland - not Australia's regional murder capital.
But statistics obtained from the state homicide squad have revealed the strip between Newcastle and the Queensland border had the second highest number of murders in the state last year, even as NSW topped the nation for the number of people murdered.
The Northern Star spoke to police in every state and confirmed that the NSW northern region was the regional murder capital of Australia.
Of the 84 murders across NSW in 2011, 20 were in the Northern Region police command, which runs from north of Newcastle to the border....
The state had 15 more murders than in 2010....

The Northern Region takes in Police Local Areas Commands in Brisbane Water, Central Hunter, Coffs-Clarence, Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie, Manning-Great Lakes, Mid North Coast, Newcastle City, Port Stephens, Richmond, Tuggerah Lakes, and Tweed-Byron.

A rather wide net to cast when trying to include the Northern Rivers into a tag of regional murder capital of Australia.

The Northern Rivers where these two APN daily newspapers circulate is traditionally thought to include Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley, Lismore, Ballina, Kyogle, Byron and Tweed local government areas only.

These are the actual murder victim numbers officially recorded by NSW BOSCAR for the Northern Rivers region in 2011:

Ballina 2

Byron 1

Lismore 2

Richmond Valley 2

Total: 7

Sounds a lot less alarming and probably sells less newspapers, but it was the truth about recorded murder statistics in Northern Rivers communities last year.

The discrepancies don’t end there however. These are BOSCAR official statistics for NSW murder victims: 75 in 2010 and 77 in 2011. Even if one added manslaughter victim numbers and missing persons unofficially presumed murdered to these totals, one doesn’t come up with fifteen more violent deaths in 2011 when compared with the previous year. In fact when combining all categories, the annual totals remain constant.

Later on in the article the NSW body count inexplicably rises to ninety-four for which, again, there is no logical explanation. One has to suspect that somewhere along the line these two newspapers have possibly confused the numbers of persons charged with the crime of murder* in New South Wales with the number of murder victims – which are not necessarily identical totals.

One interesting fact remains unreported entirely. Since 1990 the number of NSW murder victims has been steadily falling, so that in 2011 there were 42 fewer recorded victims compared with 1990.

* Murder is defined in s 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) in the following terms:

“Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him or her omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him or her, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for life or for 25 years.”

For murder and manslaughter only, the counting units used are victims. Under the definition of a criminal incident (same parties, same time, same place, same offence and same incident type) one murder or manslaughter incident could involve two or more persons being killed. Because of the seriousness of these offences and their relatively small numbers, it is considered to be more appropriate to count the number of victims, rather than the number of criminal incidents. Hence, where one murder incident involves a person killing six people, six murder victims are counted.

Let's hear it for the chickens! Greens urge Stoner to show leadership for free-range egg farmers

Media Alert: 5 June 2012

Greens NSW MP John Kaye will be joining local community members in Bellingen this Saturday to urge local member and Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner to stop the large industrial producers exploiting the label "free-range."

John will be distributing action kits designed to help community members outraged by the misuse of free-range label to lobby Mr Stoner to assert some leadership within the O'Farrell government to safeguard the future of genuine free-range egg farmers.

With the Egg Corporation pushing ahead with their plans to increase the free-range stocking density from 1,500 to 20,000 birds per hectare, the only way to ensure "free-range" means free-range is through legislation.

When: Saturday, 9 June 2012, 9am

Where: Bellingen Growers Markets, The Bellingen Showground Corner of Hammond and Black Streets

Who: Greens NSW MP John Kaye

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Photograph from Free Range Eggs

In 2012 Christopher Monckton goes way beyond being a media tart

The point at which Viscount Monckton of Brenchley changes from an irritating media tart into a pathetic media whore?

http://youtu.be/Br9imjm1kvk

The plot begins to unravel - will Abbott and Pyne be left holding the thread?

It must have been a hard twenty-four hours for the Coalition lynch-mob headed by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and his trusty henchman Christopher Pyne.

First a Federal Court judge asked for reasons to be presented as to why he should not find Health Services Union (HSU) national secretary Kathy Jackson in contempt of court because she allegedly attempted to inappropriately contact him without other parties being aware.

The judge also referred to a June 1 affidavit of Ms Jackson which contained "potentially scandalous allegations" and unless it was read in court, he would not allow the public access to the document. "This case is going to be conducted in court and not in the newspapers," he said on Tuesday.

Then a former sex worker (pictured below) at the heart of one of their favourite allegations went on television and stated she was out of the country in May 2005 and couldn’t have met with Craig Thomson.

Transit of Venus: I saw'd it, I saw'd it!

Transit of Venus on 6 June 2012, University of Sydney Physics Society
(Photo: Terry Cuttle)

Using the tools of my childhood - two white cardboad sheets acting as both 'pinhole camera' and photographic paper - I saw the 6th June 2012 Transit of Venus.
It was as magical as the first time I, in my skewed tie, baggy shorts and long woollen socks, used this crude instrument to watch my first solar eclipe in the schoolyard so many years ago.

Paul Howes - braggart extraordinaire

Once more the National Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (pictured on left) has been caught doing a little background bragging to the media in 2012:

Howes' famous threat to withdraw support for the carbon price if it cost "one job" paid off when the government delivered a package containing large free permits for trade exposed industries, a $300 million steel transformation package and big support for coal industry jobs.

There is just one small problem with any brag, one can get quickly caught out. Howes does not appear to have publicly made this threat until 13 April 2011 at the earliest.

Yet the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper of July 2008 clearly stated:

The Government also recognises that there will be adjustment costs for businesses as they move to a low carbon economy. That is why the green paper outlines programs to assist these businesses in the transition period. This assistance involves providing free permits to the most emissions intensive trade exposed activities…

In November 2009 the NSW Farmers Federation reported:

The Government says that it recognises that emissions-intensive coal mines need transitional assistance to adjust to the introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. It will target assistance to the most gassy mines, and has on the table a $750m package to assist these mines investigate and implement abatement opportunities and ease their transition to the introduction of a carbon price.

On 17 March 2011 the Prime Minister; promised she will not allow jobs in heavily polluting trade-exposed industries to go overseas under her emissions pricing regime.

The same day the Garnaut Climate Change Review Update Paper 6 recommended assistance to trade exposed industries for ninety per cent of their obligation.

While on 23 March 2011 it was reported that; compensation packages [are] now being negotiated by Labor in closed-door meetings with the directors [of] trade-exposed companies. This resulted in federal government funding worth $300 million going to Australian steel manufacturing, in addition to other assistance being offered to steel as one of the emissions-intensive trade exposed industries The coal and aluminum sectors were also included in this trade exposed industries compensation.

Although Australian Workers' Union formal submissions to government may have assisted in shaping government policy on carbon pricing, Paul Howes’ self-promoting ‘threat’ had next to nothing to do with any influence this union exerted.

OMG! It's 2012 - let's announce a celestial tragedy expected in 4 billion years

Presuming no possible knock-on effect from a collision between Andromeda and The Milky Way, NASA has blithely announced this event scheduled for around 4 billion years’ time.

After all; by then climate change, population pressure, government inaction and the dominance of multinational corporations will have extinguished human life on Earth anyway and the Sun will have probably begun to die of its own accord.

But hey, the 24hr news cycle is alive and kicking right now – so let’s put out a press release!

A celebration of the timeless poetry of voice and instrument

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

http://youtu.be/x8-YMpYbRqY

Mārrma djiḻawurr ŋāthinana, nambawu ḻarruŋana Guwalilŋawu
rirrakayunmina ḻiyanydja milkarri, nambawu ḻarruŋana Murrurrŋawu
roŋiyirri rirrakayyu. y..a barrawaḻayu y..a Mutjwutjŋa gaḻaṉiṉiyu

Ga namba Guwalilŋa, ga namba Warraḏika, ga namba Yumayŋa, m..m

Yä wulman ŋäthinana, yä dhiyaŋuna ḻanyiŋdhu dhungununayu
yä bāpa Kamba-Djuŋadjuŋa. miḻŋ'thurruna bayma Mayaŋ-ŋaraka
yä ŋäṉḏi maṉḏa. marrkapmirri maṉḏa. nhumanydja ŋayathaŋana Ruypu Milinditj
yä ŋäṉḏi maṉḏa. marrkapmirri maṉḏa. nhumanydja ŋāthiyaŋa milŋurr Burarrapu
yä namba guwalilŋa, yä gunambal warraḏika, yä namba Yumayaŋa
m..m
(english)

Two scrub fowl crying out, looking for Guwalilŋa
the calls like women crying, looking for Murrurrŋawu
the cries returning his mind to the jungles at Mutjmutjŋa

oh place Guwalilŋa, Warraḏika, Yumayŋa, m..m

Oh the old man cries, from this drink
oh dad Kampa-Djuŋadjuŋa, home Mayaŋ-ŋaraka bright in his mind
oh my two mums, beloved mums, hold Ruypu Milinditj
oh my two mums, beloved mums, cry for the sacred spring Burarrapu
oh the place Guwalilŋa. Warraḏika, Yumayŋa, m..m

 

*Djiḻawurr, the orange footed scrub fowl are family and relatives to the Gumatj---

Wiyathul as written by Yunupingu
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powerd by LyricFind
Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858831261/#dsPWVgkbbJwFDFwQ.99

Barry O'Fibba's perfidy exposed

Like a bad dream, the party whose leader appears to happily involve himself in the disreputable slaughtering of African elephants for their ivory, has this to say in Shooting News on 30 May 2012 about his backroom deal with the O'Farrell Coalition Government:

"Hunters in NSW will be stalking in national parks and eating wild duck by Christmas under a deal done between the Shooters and Fishers Party and the Coalition Government.
Despite losing the fight against the ammunition control bill last night, the SFP is celebrating this significant win, which comes in return for their qualified support for the privatisation of the state's electricity assets.
The SFP has also guaranteed support for its amendments to the privatisation legislation that will protect workers affected by the sale of power generators and other infrastructure.
The SFP has been pushing to legalise hunting in national parks for some time, and has succeeded in forcing O'Farrell to back down on his opposition to it after blocking the electricity sell-off in the upper house.
"We expect to have that legislation through by the end of June and, subject to the implementation program, we expect to be hunting in some national parks by Christmas," SFP MLC Robert Borsak said. "It will be rolled out progressively."
NSW hunters should also be able to hunt duck and quail by then, too.
"These are all positive changes for NSW, which has seen our precious national parks suffer under the idealistic 'protection' of the Greens," Mr Borsak said.
"Australia's once vibrant hunting heritage has been smothered and primary producers have been devastated by ducks in plague proportions. We will at last begin to bring some sense and balance back."
He said government support for the legislation wasn't without conditions. Wilderness and heritage zones will not be gazetted for hunting and a number of high-use national parks close to metropolitan areas would not be included in the program.
Only about 70 of the state's almost 800 parks and conservation areas are to be opened up, although whether more may be added in the future is not clear.
Permission to hunt in parks would be run under the same model as conservation hunting in state forests, but the state's duck and quail shooting would follow a new 'adaptive' model.
"What we're talking about is not your traditional open and shut duck season," Mr Borsak said. "We're talking about a new model for sustainable, progressive utilisation based on species, populations, periodic need for mitigation and so on."
Both national park and gamebird hunting would be managed under the Game Council, which has overseen conservation hunting under R- and G-licences since being formed in 2004.
Hunters will also gain protection from harassment under the legislation intended to reduce the likelihood and seriousness of attacks by protesters, although the details of this are still to be worked out.
"Conservation Hunters save the people of NSW millions of dollars and their impact on pest and feral animal populations has been proven," Mr Borsak said.
"There are around 20,000 licensed Conservation Hunters active in State Forests and on private property, and they remove over 600,000 feral animals every year, a huge benefit for our native flora and fauna."