Happy birthday, Mr. Shakespeare.

With his actual birth date unknown, the arrival of William Shakespeare into the world is usually celebrated in April on St. George's Day.


He may have written wildly inaccurate history into his plays, have littered the whole with crude stereotypes - but oh, the language soars.


Living as he did in the 16th century, William would of course find the modern world passing strange and, perhaps even stranger should he come to hear of Australia.


However there are some things he would recognize - national finances are precarious, soldiers are fighting overseas, terrorism and treason are often topics of the day and the government censor is beginning to breathe more heavily over shoulders.

Photograph: BBC News

Rudd's 2020 continues to underwhelm at my house

The official view from Canberra in the wake of that basically elitist gabfest; "The Australia 2020 Summit was held on 19 and 20 April 2008 at Parliament House in Canberra, bringing together 1,000 participants from across the nation and generating more than 900 ideas."

The media view on Wednesday; "JUST nine new ideas from nearly 1000 developed by Kevin Rudd's 2020 Summit talkfest are set to be adopted. But the most popular one, for Australia to become a republic appears to have sunk without a trace."

Apparently Rudders favours:
"A national "golden gurus'' mentoring program;
$50 million for the development of a bionic eye;
The creation of a civilian corps help out in war zones and natural disasters;
A dedicated ABC children's TV channel;
A new indigenous cultural education centre;
A PM's award scheme to boost Asian links;
A "roundtable" for business and schools; and,
A high-speed broadband for vocational education organizations."

As well as:
"A Skills for the Carbon Challenge initiative to equip workers and business with green skills"

Well, I guess vocational education organizations will be underwhelmed, since Rudders has already announced a national high-speed broadband for every town of 1,000 souls or more.
Likewise the various inventor's of bionic eyes will probably be grateful for further funding, but also might've preferred to have had that money during the hard slog of creating medical prosethesis.
While the Republic Movement will be livid and plotting dire revenge.

Now we hear that the PM wants a 2020 summit every few years.
I think all those in-flight gourmet meals must be going to more than Rudders' chin line when he come up with a mish mash idea like that.
After all - Cate Blanchett might not want to have another baby every few years!

For what it's worth here's the report Responding to the Australia 2020 Summit.

The International Monetary Fund report pretends to tell us something we didn't already know (transcript)

With so much media coverage of the global financial crisis it would be hard not to understand that toxic debt is actually higher than originally anticipated, working capital is hard to find and, in the case of Australia, that the national economy was bound to go into recession this year, government revenue fall and unemployment deepen.

So the International Monetary Fund's April 2009 report on global financial stability does not report the unexpected:

The global financial system remains under severe stress as the crisis broadens to include households, corporations, and the banking sectors in both advanced and emerging market countries. Shrinking economic activity has put further pressure on banks' balance sheets as asset values continue to degrade, threatening their capital adequacy and further discouraging fresh lending. Thus, credit growth is slowing, and even turning negative, adding even more downward pressure on economic activity. Substantial private sector adjustment and public support packages are already being implemented and are contributing to some early signs ofstabilization. Even so, further decisive and effective policy actions and international coordination are needed to sustain this improvement, to restore public confidence in financial institutions, and to normalize conditions in markets. The key challenge is to break the downward spiral between the financial system and the global economy. Promising efforts are already under way for the redesign of the global financial system that should provide a more stable and resilient platform for sustained economic growth.To mend the financial sector, policies are needed to remove strains in funding markets forbanks and corporates, repair bank balance sheets, restore cross-border capital flows (particularly toemerging market countries); and limit the unintended side effects of the policies being implemented to combat the crisis. All these objectives will require strong political commitment under difficult circumstances and further enhancement of international cooperation. Such international commitment and determination to address the challenges posed by the crisis are growing, as displayed by the outcome of the G-20 summit in early April. Without a thorough cleansing of banks' balance sheets of impaired assets, accompanied by restructuring and, where needed, recapitalization, risks remain that banks' problems will continue to exert downward pressure on economic activity. Though subject to a number of assumptions, our best estimate of writedowns on U.S.-originated assets to be suffered by all holders since the outbreak of the crisis until 2010 has increased from $2.2 trillion in the January 2009 Global Financial StabilityReport (GFSR) Update to $2.7 trillion, largely as a result of the worsening base-case scenario for economic growth. In this GFSR, estimates for writedowns have been extended to include other mature market-originated assets and, while the information underpinning these scenarios is more uncertain, such estimates suggest writedowns could reach a total of around $4 trillion, about two thirds of which would be incurred by banks. There has been some improvement in interbank markets over the last few months, but funding strains persist and banks' access to longer-term funding as maturities come due is diminished. While in many jurisdictions banks can now issue government-guaranteed, longer-term debt, their funding gap remains large. As a result, many corporations are unable to obtain banksupplied working capital and some are having difficulty raising longer-term debt, except at much more elevated yields.

Global Financial Stability Report, April 2009 Summary Version and Statistical Appendix

Preschoolers vs patients in development tiff

How many medical practices are there in Yamba?
Three, four - for a population of around 6,000?

Now yet another one is being considered by Clarence Valley Council in a section of the existing Kangabunnaby's child care centre building.

Yet another parking nightmare in the making for land that was zoned residential in the original cul-de-sac subdivision.
If passed, Kangabunnaby's would change from a 90-child facility down to one that caters for 54 children, with a total of 12 car spaces for staff and parents; and three consulting suites that shared nine car spaces plus two disabled car spaces.

Local mums are not amused and, one has to suspect that a development application fix may be in place when you see a proposed small medical practice described in the local media as a super clinic.

My nose tells me that if the application gets passed, within two years the owners will close the childcare centre and submit another DA for commercial premises.
Even more parking woes!

Clarence Floodplain Project in top 25 outstanding Aus-NZ projects announced by the Global Restoration Network

Jabiru at Little Broadwater on the Clarence Floodplain

Photograph: Clarence Valley Council

The Global Restoration Network and its cross-Tasman expert panel has just announced the top 25 outstanding ecological restoration projects being undertaken in Australian and New Zealand.

The Clarence Floodplain Project was included in this list and was also in the top 17 highly commended projects category.

Well done Clarence Valley Council and landholders and industry partners in this ongoing program.

I really shouldna, but WTF

It seems there can't be that many Aussies using Twitter because Cursebird, the real-time feed which records tweets using those b-a-d words, only had around 1.41% of tweets with the word b@stard included.
So where the bluidy hell are ya?

Possum on Turnbull's political free fall

Because of late I have neglected that ex-merchant banker who leads the Federal Coalition Opposition, here is Possum Comitiatus in Tuesday's Crikey:

This appears to be one of those "Holy cascading waterfalls of public disapproval Batman!" type events.

If we head on over to the historical satisfaction ratings of Opposition Leaders ,the only previous example that seems remotely comparable to Turnbull’s performance in the metrics is that of his Lordship, Alexander Downer.

Ouch!

Well said Possum.

I suspect that the next viable leader of the party is still in nappies, because it will take that sort of generational change to revive the post-Howard corpse.

And who said it wouldn't go to his head.......

Barack Obama is President of the United States of America - arguably the most powerful political position going, backed as it is by America's military might.

However, there is a global financial crisis and America is suffering. In March 2009 the official U.S. unemployment rate reached a 25 year high and over 13 million people (reputedly the highest absolute number on record) are wondering where their next pay check will come from.

The U.S. federal government is not as popular as the Obama Administration had hoped when it came to power after the 2007 presidential election. Tea parties to demonstrate against the taxpayer-funded financial bailout of Wall Street are the order of the day.

So is President Obama taking note of the mood of the nation and exercising a little fiscal restraint at the White House?

Not if this media snippet in the Mail Online is anything to go by:

When you're the president of the United States, only the best pizza will do - even if that means flying a chef 860 miles.

Chris Sommers, 33, jetted into Washington from St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday with a suitcase of dough, cheese and pans to prepare food for the Obamas and their staff.

He had apparently been handpicked after the President had tasted his pizzas on the campaign trail last autumn.

The NSW North Coast Local Government Stakes winners of 2007 and bets laid

In that race for the mayoral seat just how did NSW North Coast mayors' campaign spending compare at the 2007 local government election of shire councillors?

According to their own disclosure declarations of political donations and campaign expenditure:

Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson spend $1,263.03 of his own money (mostly outlaid on newspaper and radio advertising) and nobody else chipped in any cash or kind help it seems.

Ballina Mayor Phil Silver splurged $8,941.36 from his personal kitty (spending it for the better part on newspaper, radio and cinema adverts with the odd poster thrown in) and no-one gave him a single cent as a donation.

Byron Mayor Jan Barham declared that she spent nothing and received nothing, presumably because she was running on a Greens group ticket.

Kyogle Mayor Ross Brown who heads a council representing only a few thousand punters, spent accordingly at $100 from his own wallet (paid down entirely at the local newspaper's advertising department) and not a brass razoo was sent his way from any other source.

Tweed Mayor Joan Van Lieshout (who ran as part of a NSW Liberals group ticket) spent nothing to get elected to council and, despite a fundraiser event, received no individual political donations, but Peiter Van Lieshout gave a $12,425.40 cheque to the ticket campaign which was spent on almost every form of campaigning known.

Coffs Mayor Keith Rhoades was another candidate who spent and received no money in his own right, but the group ticket of which he was a part laid out $9,250 and received $1,700 in donations (most of which was spent on TV and newspaper adverts).

Richmond Mayor Col Sullivan managed to risk $6,068.56 of his private moolah on the group ticket, which was a big part of total group candidate contributions of $10,068.56 (mainly spent on newspaper ads and flyers as well as someone to distribute these).

Free TV fails bush viewers

Techno dinosaur Southern Cross Television's viewers don't rate

Channel Ten has been crowing about its fantastic new 24/7 sports channel, Channel One .

Fantastic?

New?

Well, it might be IF viewers live in metropolitan areas.

Channel Ten's programs in the bush are broadcast by the techno dinosaur Southern Cross Television, which reckons it will have things together by July.

Here's a tip: Given Southern Cross's track record, punters should take the odds that it will start showing One programs after Christmas ... perhaps!

How serious is local government about protecting against climate change impacts? Not very it seems, if it is Clarence Valley Council

On 17 April 2009 The Daily Examiner ran a front page article about Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River on the NSW North Coast; Yamba Prone to Disaster?

Yesterday it posted online a letter to the editor on the same subject:

YAMBA is a town of approximately 6000 residents sitting on predominately low-lying land surrounded on all four sides by tidal bodies of water and tethered to the mainland by a strip of land approximately 1.25 kilometres wide, according to a scaled map.

On April 17, The Daily Examiner published a front page article Yamba Prone To Disaster?

This article pointed out that Yamba will have difficulties coping with the predicted bigger floods of longer duration and increasingly severe storms accompanied by storm surges.

Part of this difficulty is the limited evacuation options open to residents should Yamba Road be cut by floodwater in any of the three to four places it has been cut in the past, thereby denying access to high ground at Yamba Hill for a considerable number of residents and/or preventing movement inland towards Maclean or the Pacific Highway.

Floodwater in certain side roads or across Angourie Road will also cause problems for residents seeking high ground.

The Daily Examiner article went on to say that the State Emergency Service (SES) was concerned about this situation and that its submission to Clarence Valley Council regarding proposed large-scale urban development in Yamba recommended in effect that the Maclean Local Environmental Plan 2001 (LEP) amendment for West Yamba be deferred pending further study.

The SES were right to draw council's attention to the problems which may be experienced as severe weather events become more common.

According to Clarence Valley Council documents, Yamba flooding can occur because of a combination of high river flows, high ocean levels, wind-wave action along the foreshore or from intense rain over the local catchment (Webb, McKeown and Associates, 2009, 'Yamba Floodplain Risk Management Plan').

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a storm surge is a large amount of water pushed towards the shore, which combining with the existing tide and/or floodwater, raises the mean water level by 15 feet or more depending on the inclination of the underwater shelf leading to the foreshore.

Wind-driven waves are superimposed on this surge and the total effect is often swift and destructive flooding of coastal areas ( www.nhs.noaa.gov, April 18, 2009).

It is easy for the average person to recall that in the last decade storm surges have caused loss of life in America, India, South-East Asia and New Guinea.

It is also easy for Yamba locals to recall that severe 'east-coast lows' are sometimes preceded by days of rain and have been known to follow close on the heels of a Clarence Valley flood.

So here we have a town, with a large retiree population, two aged-care facilities and more than a few people without a car, faced with the probability that from now on it will be more vulnerable in floods and severe storms and, that there may be some risk to life as well as anywhere between $1.9 million to $113.7 million worth of property damage from any one severe adverse weather event (Webb, McKeown and Associates, 2009, 'Yamba Floodplain Risk Management Plan').

What does Clarence Valley Council do when faced with this risk scenario?

Does it look at the recent reports from reputable CSIRO researchers which state that sea levels are rising faster than was thought (University of Copenhagen, 2009, Climate Change International Scientific Congress) and move to protect existing residents by immediately beginning to organise a co-ordinated emergency evacuation plan? No, it does not.

What is does is decide to progress the proposed development of West Yamba (based on what appears to be 2007 predicted sea-level data), thereby eventually adding another 2000 to 2500 people to an already vulnerable population and taking away yet another section of local flood storage land, at the same time deciding that it will ask for money from a cash-strapped NSW Government to put together some sort of plan with the help of emergency services at some indefinite point in the future.

Why does it do this?

Well, on reading council's February 24, 2009 ordinary monthly meeting minutes and attachments, it appears that it has accepted the argument that to defer the LEP amendment would not be 'considered reasonable'. So intent are our nine councillors on appeasing a select group of property speculators and so determined are they to widen the Yamba rate base, that these same councillors are willing to ignore their duty of care and the risk to residents' lives in favour of being 'reasonable'.

Clarence Valley Council obviously has not taken note of the fact that should individuals in the expanded Yamba population experience property loss or loss of a family member as a result of predicted flooding/surges, it would be within the realms of possibility that council would face both individual litigation and a class action.

Our nine councillors should also remember that, in certain circumstances, they do not have full indemnity for the resolutions they pass. Or perhaps they do remember and that is the reason for the deafening silence on the subject of Yamba since they passed the West Yamba amendment?

JUDITH M. MELVILLE
Yamba

Biotech: the unmet promise of genetically engineered crops?

In the face of a review of GM crop yield studies which concluded that there was no appreciable difference between crops grown from conventional and genetically modified seed, talk of herbicide resistant weeds being associated with land used for GM crops and the banning of GM maize MON 10 by Germany on environmental grounds, the big biotech companies are pretending that is still business as usual.

And if you are a large multinational corporation like Monsanto, with lobbyist tentacles reaching into so many national or state governments around the world, I expect that it really is business as usual.

So usual that it is thinking of starting yet another court case in its pursuit of the 'golden' apex of a global agricultural food chain.

Still it doesn't hurt if you also create a slice of corporate propaganda like this:











View and Download this Ad
from Monsanto website











* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.

Dear Mal, Get a life!

Is it just me or does anyone else feel thoroughly browned off with Aussie Leader of the Opposition Malcolm Turnbull's constant carping?

Fair Work Australia is wrong, the stimulus packages are bad, the ETS is a disaster, giving extra money to the poor is a waste of dollars, a budget in deficit is the end of the world as we know it, Rudd is a villain and Swan an idiot, the country's being invaded by boat people, we should be told why SEIV 36 blew up before the police investigation is finalised, there's a conspiracy under the bed and its name is Labor, blah, blah, blah............

Malcolm
Turnbull
Mal -
Content