Hold on a mo, Joe!

According to ABC News last week, Joe Ludwig was talking up a digital welfare debit card:
"The federal Human Services Minister says almost all of welfare recipients in prescribed areas of the Northern Territory are now having half of their payments quarantined."

He also went on to say that "about 500 Northern Territory businesses have expressed an interest in accepting the new welfare debit card." and "there is wide support for the new welfare debit card".

Widespread support from which group, Senator?
The indigenous communities, the 400 people who have so far managed to avoid having their welfare payments quarantined?

Oh, you meant the 500 Northern Territory business owners and the big supermarket chains!
Joe, a dingo has more honour than the Labor Right these days.

McCain's VP is an anthropomorphic climate change sceptic?

Greenpeace is less than impressed by Republican presidential candidate John McCain choosing the very conservative Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential running mate.
It has produced a brief environmental history for this candidate.

Along with a link to the history DeSmogBlog sent out an email alerting everyone to the fact that Sarah said:

"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made. "

Given that women are generally considered to be more aware and concerned about global warming issues, this bid for the female vote may not have the bounce that the McCain camp obviously hopes for among some groups of American voters.

Monatge from DeSmogBlog

US 08: Denver Sermon on the Mount

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has released the transcript of his acceptance speech.

Like most of his major speeches this much anticipated delivery was essentially more of an optimistic sermon and less of a comprehensive and firm commitment to specific policy.

What Obama does promise Americans is tax cuts, heavier reliance on nuclear power, more gas exploration, investment in clean technology, federal budget cuts and a hawkish foreign policy.

All the rest is a clever use of wordy smoke and mirrors, because the measures broadly mentioned could not deliver a universal benefit to the target groups within the American established political and social systems.

The speech very cleverly contained a number of colourful sound bites and predictably attacked McCain.

As we all saw on television, Obama's rhetoric sent Democratic convention delegates wild in Denver.
Will they survive the inevitable disappointment if Obama gains the presidency?

One has to wish Barack Obama well in his bid for the U.S. presidency, because this bid signals a positive change for the status of African-Americans.

However, from an outsider's perspective, Obama appears to be the usual political fantasist in a two-man race between political hucksters.

Saturday's favourite cat LOL

Boy the Wonder Cat did a double take and then crossed his legs in sympathy when he saw this LOL on the monitor.

Serves him right - he is always trying to sit on the keyboard!

LOL found with those funny folks over at I Can Has Cheezburger

What you won't read at Fairfax websites

Readers of the Fairfax group's websites can expect to read distorted views of things associated with that lot.

For example, readers should not expect to see the following item reported by Fairfax.

Today, Friday August 29, Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mike Carlton was sacked for refusing to write his weekly column during the strike.

The Australian newspaper reports:
Carlton, a member of the journalists' union, the MEAA, took the stand on the grounds that filing the column amounted to crossing a picket line.

He told ABC Radio in Sydney off air that he could not discuss the situation on the ABC because of his contract with Fairfax Radio, which owns 2UE, where he does the breakfast show.

But ABC Radio said he had confirmed that he had been "let go" for not filing the column for the Saturday edition.

Fairfax Media staff in Sydney and Melbourne went on strike yesterday until Monday over the company's plans to cut 550 jobs.

Save The Long Paddock!

Scientists and conservationists say vital wildlife corridors will be lost forever if state governments sell off a network of stock routes in Queensland and NSW.

"A review has recommended to the (NSW) government that travelling stock routes should be ceded back to the Department of Lands unless the local boards can provide a business case for their retention, which means they have to be profitable.
"This means the Department of Lands can do whatever they see fit with their routes, they can lease them or sell them or do whatever they like."
In 1975, the stock routes covered 2.3 million hectares but the area had shrunk to about 600,000 hectares in 2001, with much of the land bought up by landowners of adjoining properties.
The government would now probably look at the routes individually, not as part of a network, she said.
"The drovers and environmentalists agree that the network should stay connected and not as bits and pieces of land that all have different values with different developments on them," she said.

Come on bloggers - a lot of you would only be a grandparent or two away from the farm.

Do something!

Photographs from Farm4 at Flickr, The Sydney Morning Herald and Euchamoamba.com

Monsanto and Edelman provide a giggle or two

They say all things come to he who waits.

While North Coast Voices has to confess that it was more a case of 'we didn't have the time right now' to chase up the names than one of stealthily waiting for Monsanto lobbyists in Australia to raise their heads, the result has been the same.

Along with the regular 'Mr. Monsanto' another visitor to our blog turned up yesterday morning - one Edelman PR in Washington DC.

Now Edelman PR - Asian Pacific (with offices in Sydney and Melbourne) lists Monsanto as a client in India.

However, this company is entirely absent to date from the Australian Government Lobbyists Register.

One could conclude that this company was not active as an Australian lobbyist at the federal level; but with domestic clients such as Coca-Cola, Samsung, Pfizer, Shell, The Scotts Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Boots Healthcare, BristolMyersSquibb, CSL, iiNet and Origin, it is an unlikely that this is the case.

The fact that Edelman has Monsanto as a client rather puts a whole new light on its own Food and Wellness Report 2007.

Researching websites and digital social networks in which to embed the GM giant's message perhaps?

Versailles in Macquarie Street

The NSW Government adjourned the electricity privatisation debate and vote in the Upper House of Parliament yesterday.
The matter of adjournment was put to the vote and the plan was for the bill to come before parliament again on 23 September 2008.

According to the Fairfax media; "During the Opposition's address, Mr Costa said: ''this is a joke'' and left the house. Members of the public gallery applauded as he left."

ABC News also reported; "New South Wales Treasurer Michael Costa says he is thinking about quitting politics as his electricity privatisation plans head for certain defeat in State Parliament today."

NSW unions thought that privatisation was now off the agenda and potential buyers were snakey; "The New South Wales business community is "dismayed" by the collapse of the Iemma Government's electricity privatisation plan, the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) says."

Bring it on Iemma was full of bluster before the bill debate began, but the best he could do in the immediate aftermath was issue a media release about a mini-budget (due to the 'loss' of the supposed $15 billion coming from sale of assets) before skittering into the bunker.

What is an indisputable fact is that Iemma and Costa recalled parliament from recess with no hope of having the numbers and cost the state's bottom line around $500,000 it could ill afford.
He did this because yesterday was a piece of theatre only - designed to allow King Louis Iemma to bypass parliament and go ahead with Marie Antoinette Costa's sell off.

With New South Wales Government now residing in Versailles, I wonder where they will build Petit Trianon?

Maud up the street doesn't care much where they plonk the fancy real estate. She has her knitting needles out and is busying practising her Thérèse Defarge lines.

Exclusive Brethren off the hook, again!

The move in the Australian Senate by The Greens to have a wide-ranging inquiry into the activities of the Exclusive Brethren religious sect was blocked today (28/08/2008) by the combined vote of Government (Labor) and Opposition (Liberals and Nationals) senators.

The only senator to side with The Greens was the Independent Nick Xenophon.

How sad!

news.com.au reports

The Australian Greens, who proposed the inquiry, said the Brethren was preventing its young members from undertaking tertiary education courses and forcing young women into arranged marriages.

"The light of day needs to be shone onto the activities of the sect," Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said.

Those activities included making large political donations to the Coalition.

Costa the Political Thug is out-of-control

NSW Labor Government Treasurer, Michael Costa, has gone so far over the line he is now a mere dot on the horizon.

Costa the political thug, the ultra bully, has been sprung according to The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday.

"MICHAEL COSTA has been threatening Labor MPs that their electorates will be starved of funding unless they support the Iemma Government's bid to privatise the power industry."

It seems that the foul-mouthed Dr. Evil just doesn't understand that these sitting MPs were not elected by voters to represent the Iemma Government.
Voters elected them to represent the will of their electorate and the majority of people in NSW appear to be against the privatisation of NSW electricity assets.

Costa is quick to complain when others mention his bi-polar disorder, but slow to recognise that he is obviously not always in control of his impulses.

Right now those impulses are leading him to subvert the democratic process.

Question Time In Canberra. Did my eyes deceive me?

During yesterday's televised Parliament Question Time did I really see Federal Minister for Ageing and Member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, get to her feet and say that the Commonwealth Dental Scheme had been reintroduced for teens and aged Australians?
What is it with Aussie pollies? Do none of them consider Disability Support pensioners worthy of automatic inclusion in dental, health and welfare policy.
Why do they always have to be shamed into it?
Justine, I expected better of you!