An alternative view of the Rudd Government's home insulation scheme

The Daily Examiner letter to the editor on 14 June 2010:

Insulated from good news

IT may be unpopular.

It is never mentioned.

But ... I had insulation installed under the Federal Government scheme.

Two efficient workers did a great job and the results are absolutely fabulous.

It's cooler in summer and now that winter is here our heating is much more efficient.

Less energy is used to heat and cool the house, not just this year but into the future.

Workers employed during the economic downturn were keeping the wheels of commerce turning.

Best of all, instead of paying them unemployment benefits they were involved in a really productive energy-saving scheme that reduces our need to burn coal to produce energy to heat and cool the house.

But no one wants to hear that.

GRAHAM JESSUP, Grafton

Prideaux on Whales and Dolphins: ‘resource’ or ‘right’?

Whales and Dolphins: 'resource' or 'right'?

2010 started with a physical clash between whalers and activists in the southern ocean, sparking a global conversation about how we regard whales and dolphins – are they a resource for the human race, or do they have an inherent right to their life, their liberty and their wellbeing?

In January I asked this question on openDemocracy. At the time it seemed, to some at least, irrelevant and somewhat odd.

Now, with only one week to go before on the most fundamental wildlife protection decision in 25 years is taken – to resume legitimate and legalized whaling again or not, it seems more relevant than ever. The dialogue sparked by an eventful half year has also progressed.

An eventful half-year sparks a global conversation

In February, the 2010 Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science discussed whether the emerging scientific knowledge about the cultural and cognitive processes of whales and dolphins should influence international policy decisions concerning them. Their conclusions were that yes, it should.

Within three days of the conference, the orca Tilikum drowned his trainer. Unexpectedly, the media and the public didn't turn on Tilikum. Instead they openly asked if we should keep such mighty, complex and intelligent species in captivity.

In March the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met to discuss the details of a 'deal' about the future of whaling activities. Sharp debate erupted. And the political dance for positions began.

Within the week, The Cove, a documentary investigating the annual slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises around Japan, unexpectedly received the Academy Award for Best Documentary 2010.

By the end of March, a Los Angeles restaurant the Hump was closing its doors as a self-imposed penalty for serving whale meat.

In late April, an unprecedented US Congressional oversight hearing was held to review if there was education and conservation value of keeping marine mammals in captivity.

April also marked the second major oil spill in six months. Remarkably, people noticed that these spills were seriously threatening the habitats of whale and dolphin populations.

In late May another conference was being held in Finland to discuss question of whether whales and dolphins should be considered as non-human persons, concluding that all whales and dolphins have the right to life, liberty and wellbeing. The Declaration quickly went online for the world to adopt and signatures poured in nearly crashing the site.

Soon after Australia announced its formal intent to challenge to Japan's whale hunting in the Antarctic through the International Court of Justice.

Japan's rebuttal was to launch a fleet of five vessels to slaughter some 260 whales in the Northeast Pacific.

With six eventful months behind us, we now look towards the IWC meeting next week where Governments will formally consider the 'deal' to resume commercial whaling.

Taking the debate to the people, this weekend, Peter Garrett launched a YouTube campaign.

No longer is the Australian Government just speaking to Australians, now they invite the world to join them.

We have to decide now

This IWC meeting will in some ways conclude the six month conversation, and set the tone for our relationship with these animals for decades to come. Will our consideration of whales and dolphins be based on numerical calculations of abundance, or will we recognize whales and dolphins as highly evolved mammals living in complex societies, which we simply wish to respect?

That the discussion is even taking place, indicates we are on the road towards a position of respect, perhaps even rights.

No-one is suggesting that whales and dolphins be granted a right to vote, to hold a drivers license, or to receive a free and fair education. But, in this short half-year we have had enough examples posed to evoke a deep and thoughtful global conversation about our collective moral compasses.

Will we return to a world that accepts whaling? Will whales and dolphins, like Tilikum, continue to circle a pool for our entertainment? The conversation has evolved, and now the choice is ours to make.

Margi Prideaux, WildPolitics.net

* North Coast Voices would like to take this opportunity to welcome Margi Prideaux as a guest contributor and applaud her advocacy on behalf of all cetaceans.

I shouldn't laugh, but......

* A plague of locusts is due to hit Australia in time for the next federal election according to Bloomberg:
"Locusts are expected to hatch from August to October in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia states, according to the commission. The first-generation spring hatching alone could occur over a total area of 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres), the commission's Adriaansen said."

* One small mining company Metgasco is shooting itself in the foot. Assiduously lobbying federal government for regional infrastructure funding (which will help corporate development plans) while at the same time dissing the local MP over the new resources Super Profits Tax. Word is that Canberra is not amused.

* Someone locked a Labrador in the house - oh noes!

"MAX, the black labrador was accidentally locked inside a Daily Examiner reporter's house yesterday and decided to leave his mark in more ways than one. Not only did he wee in the master bedroom, he pooed in one of the kids' room, chewed up a nappy, raided the pantry and vomited after the debauchery."

* At least one dedicated reader of NSW State Library online offerings is threatening to cut that library card in half because it's becoming a bit of a lottery as to which webpage links actually work each day. Ah, life in rural 'n' regional Oz!

* Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata lets its slip show this month in that version of Teh Great Tax Fight:

"Mining company Xstrata Coal has revealed it will continue to buy up farmland within its Wandoan exploration lease area in Queensland despite last week suspending plans for the $6 billion project on the grounds the government's mining tax would make it uneconomic."

* Patrons at one Byron watering hole were overheard debating how long it would take a sheila to do a Corday if Tony Abbott became Australia's 27th prime minister.

* rod3000 Nothing perks you up like a 3 yr old's headbutt on the nose #wrestlemania

* The U.S. state which spawned Sarah Palin shows just how low dumb can go:

"The state of Alaska filed a lawsuit last Friday seeking to overturn the listing of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, home to the Port of Anchorage, as an endangered species."

* An oldie but a goodie from 2007 with an object lesson for Oz e-health proponents:

"An Italian woman who was mistakenly reported dead has won a yearlong battle to have her existence recognized by the government.
Pension agency INPS issued a formal apology to Maria Giuliani and reinstated her into its databank after removing her in January 2006 when another woman by the same name died, ANSA reported Thursday.
"But they only did it because the local media got hold of my case," Giuliani said of the apology.
Giuliani's removal from the databanks caused her pension rights to be revoked and she was removed from municipal and health computers.
"The first I heard about it was the following March when I went for a checkup."
"My GP fell back into his chair and said, 'But you're dead!'
"'No, I'm alive and kicking and I want to be examined,' I said. But he said he couldn't do it because officially I no longer existed."

* NSW Premier Kristina Keneally is staring down the barrel of massive electoral loss at the next state elections according to the bookies, :

"A specialist election punter from Sydney with leading bookmaker Centrebet has sounded a "death knell" for the NSW Labor government, outlaying nearly $25,000 on the Coalition at short odds to sweep to power next March! "The punter in two bets has taken just $1.15 and $1.14, with the Coalition now a red-hot $1.14 favourite to win, with Labor out to a whopping $5.35."

But she will never beat Sir Geoge Fuller's short 7 hour record as state premier.

* With all the media hoo-ha lately over Victoria Police, no-one's noticed a teeny weeny question surrounding the tale of two Garden State police commissioners having corresponded with a person convicted of serious offences.

When the Rudd Government decided that it wanted to first install and now extend ISP traffic interception, I bet it didn't factor in the possibility that some of this carefully saved info might be potentially embarrassing for future Labor governments if it 'leaked' onto the Internet.

Queen's Birthday Honours 2010: NSW North Coast recipients & full honours list

Margaret Hodgson, artist and illustrator of Copmanhurst; Jon Riordan, philanthropist from Yamba; Phyllis Pearson, musician from Nambucca; Tony Miller Dads in Distress founder from the Coffs Harbour district; these are just four of the many singled out in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2010.

The complete list can be found at The Australian Honours Secretariat:

• Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia (29KB)

• Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia (95KB)

• Officer (AO) in the Military Division of the Order of Australia (11KB)

• Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia (A-L) (242KB)

• Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia (M-Z) (206KB)

• Member (AM) in the Military Division of the Order of Australia (20KB)

• Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division (A-E) (203KB)

• Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division (F-L) (145KB)

• Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division (M-R) (134KB)

• Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division (S-Z) (145KB)

• Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the Military Division (21KB)

• Public Service Medal (PSM) (85KB)

• Australian Police Medal (56KB)

• Ambulance Service Medal (ASM) (15KB)

• Emergency Services Medal (ESM) (18KB)

• Commendation for Gallantry (10KB)

• Distinguished Servce Medal (DSM) (11KB)

• Commendation for Distinguished Service (14KB)

• Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) (34KB)

• Conspicuous Service Cross and Bar (CSC and Bar) (10KB)

• Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) (32KB)

Note: Biographical notes have only been provided where the recipient has allowed this information to be provided online.

Say no to whaling today over at WDCS International

Whale photograph from The Daily Mail online

Below is one online email which was sent from the NSW North Coast in support of the international ban on whaling.
You too can have your say through the International Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society email page here.
Emails are needed before 20 June 2010. This is your last chance to influence the vote at the next International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco.
Given Sunday's report in The Times concerning alleged vote buying by the Government of Japan, a grassroots counterbalance is needed.

President Obama
The Hon. Dª Elena Espinosa Mangana
The Right Honourable John Key
Ambassador Christian Maquieira

I call upon you to oppose whaling, to ensure the International Whaling Commission's ban on commercial whaling stays and to act to stop all commercial whaling and trade in whale products now!
I fully support the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling. This ban should not be reversed or weakened in any manner.
Additionally, I respectfully ask that any further slaughter of whales under the guise of 'scientific' research be stopped.
Living as I do in a small coastal community dependent in large part on the fishing industry and tourism, I am very aware that a healthy and biodiverse ocean returns the most rewards.
Both in terms of food and cultural/aesthetic values.
Whales are an integral part of this healthy diversity; and reducing their numbers through non-subsistence/commercial whale hunts is not just an assault on cetacean species, it is an assault upon future human generations.

Yours faithfully
[redacted for privacy reasons]
Australia

Excerpt from The Times 13 June 2010 article:

The revelations come as Japan seeks to break the 24-year moratorium on commercial whaling. An IWC meeting that will decide the fate of thousands of whales, including endangered species, begins this month in Morocco.
Japan denies buying the votes of IWC members. However, The Sunday Times filmed officials from pro-whaling governments admitting:
- They voted with the whalers because of the large amounts of aid from Japan. One said he was not sure if his country had any whales in its territorial waters. Others are landlocked.
— They receive cash payments in envelopes at IWC meetings from Japanese officials who pay their travel and hotel bills.
- One disclosed that call girls were offered when fisheries ministers and civil servants visited Japan for meetings.

McDonald's versus Yamba: boycott calls continue

The following was posted on Menu Mate at the webpage titled
McDonald's Family Restaurants (Ballina)
on 25 May 2010 and a copy sent to me:

Reviewer Name: EK
Title: McDonald's stay away from Yamba!
Comments: Dear Mr Campbell, I know a McDonald's restaurant in Yamba was approved last week by the local Council but the majority of Yamba residents DO NOT want it. Why do you want to come to Yamba when it is quite clear you are not wanted here. Please take back your application as most people will be boycotting it and you will not make any money.

To date this post is failing to display on the webpage in question. Hhmm........
However, the call to boycott any McDonald's eat-in and drive through fast food outlet in the small NSW North Coast town of Yamba continues.
While planning issues and councillots' votes refuse to die in The Daily Examiner letters to the editor on 11 June 2010 (twenty-five days after Clarence Valley Council development consent):

Valley Watch on Maccas decision
THE issues addressed by Valley Watch were not anti-McDonalds per se - they were mainly based on the inappropriateness of the intensified use of this particular site and the resultant adverse effects on local residents.
The zoning allows some uses 'with consent', meaning planners and councillors must take into account all the issues; it does not mean mandatory approval, a fact, which escaped five of the seven councillors voting on the DA.
A "refreshment room" is allowed in the zoning.
The definition does not include drive-through facilities, which the applicant claims is an ancillary use.
An accepted definition of ancillary use is that the area is subordinate or incidental to the dominant use (example being: accommodation for nurses on a hospital site).
As the drive-through will operate when the restaurant is closed, we do not believe it meets the accepted definitions of ancillary use, and is therefore not allowed in the zoning.
The fact that this commercial zoning abuts a residential area, the extra traffic that will be generated in the already planned Community Health Centre and Performing Arts Centre opposite, the increased traffic in residential streets, the adverse effect of lighting on surrounding residences, and the increased noise generated by this development as opposed to a retail outlet operating normal trading hours, were totally inadequately addressed in the planning report and by the majority of councillors.
Crime prevention was mentioned in the application, but it was not properly addressed in the report.
Councillors and planners were given many instances of increased anti-social behaviour and litter problems at other McDonalds outlets, but the issue was not addressed in the planning reports (Cr Margaret McKenna suggested Yamba residents could pick up the rubbish on their walks).
We thank Crs Tiley and Hughes, who voted against the development, and express our disappointment in the other councillors' lack of understanding of the issues and the inadequate information provided to them in the planning reports.
RONWYN LOPEZ, Valley Watch Inc secretary

A poll just for laffs....

Click on poll results to enlarge

A whimsical poll from The Bureau Chiefs.

Not everyone loves a mining millionaire.....

SMH online polling A.M. (above) and P.M. (below) on 10 June 2010

According to ABC News on Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has given a timely reminder to mining companies that their rhetoric needs to be in line with their advice to the stockmarket, institutional investors, shareholders and creditors:

The corporate regulator says mining companies need to ensure they comply with continuous disclosure rules, when making statements during the debate about the proposed resources super profits tax.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says the directors of resources firms need to work out whether they have enough information to form a view on the impact of the tax, when making statements to financial markets.
ASIC's deputy chairman Belinda Gibson says responsibility for compliance with the stock exchange's continuous disclosure rules ultimately lies with directors.
"The rules require that: a) that the market is fully informed; and, b) that the market is not misled," she said.
"Now it's up to directors when they make statements about their companies, whether it's in relation to the resources tax, that their statements are accurate and that all material information is given to the market."

Elsewhere it has been suggested that the Australian Electoral Commission also had some stern words about one of the anti-RSPT advertisements that the mining industry was running.

First Contact: a whale tale from the NSW North Coast

As more and more North Coast recreational fishers come into contact with migrating whales, here (with permission of the author David Bancroft) is one very personal encounter - first published in The Dailly Examiner on 4 November 2008:

SOMETIMES the most memorable events occur when you least expect them.

On Sunday, while fishing with a neighbour about a kilometre offshore from Minnie Water, we experienced something neither of us is ever likely to forget.

Having dropped my GPS before we set off, we were unable to find our usual fishing spots so we settled on some close-in reefs, in about 14 metres of water, in the middle of some other boats that had already settled.

We dropped anchor and that's where we stayed.

Things were quiet ... too quiet.

Then as I looked to the north from the back of the boat a whale surfaced about 15 to 20 metres away moving slowly and gracefully towards us.

Nothing unusual in that, it happens quite a lot now.

When it surfaced again – now only seven to eight metres from the boat – we could see it had a calf in tow.

We banged the side of the boat so they would be aware we were there, but there was no change in direction.

"Hang onto something," I said.

Then, when they surfaced again only a few metres from the back of the boat, the adrenalin started flowing.

We could see dark shadows under the water only about a metre under the boat. Then they surfaced beside us. We could have jumped from the boat and ridden them.

Then they were under again and, soon after, we started moving. Not violently or suddenly, but one of these two mighty creatures had collected our anchor rope and we were travelling with them.

Obviously frightened by their contact with the rope, the monsters gave a few almighty thrusts with their tails to break free. There was such power that the swell and chop disappeared and the whole surface of the water for about 40 metres became a whirlpool.

The boat swung around. They were free of the rope.

It might sound ridiculous, but this was more exhilarating than frightening, more a realisation of the power of these magnificent mammals than a reminder of your own mortality.

It was fantastic.

Saffin marches for equal pay for women and Hogan hides

Pic from article in The Northern Star on 10 June 2010

Maud up the Street asked me to mention that Federal Labor MP for the Page electorate on the NSW North Coast, Janelle Saffin, was out on the barricades marching for Equal Pay For Women.

Onya, Janelle!

Now I know there weren't any men in that march, but I didn't see any public support in the media from Kevin Hogan the Nats candidate standing against Saffin in this year's federal election.

Poor show, Kev. Half the world don't have dangly bits, mate. You're supposed to remember that and help the push for equality.

When 'Microsoft' calls..........

The international Support on Click scam (aka ITEZY.com and System Recure) has been around for a number of years as this suspect press release, media article, forum and post indicate.

Even Dell has a warning out about these scammers: We have recently received complaints from some Dell customers in relation to a company called Support On Click. We are informed that representatives of Support On Click have telephoned Dell customers and have indicated that Support On Click.com is in some way affiliated with Dell. Please note that Support On Click is in no way affiliated with Dell, nor is its controlling company, Pecon Software Limited.

This appears to be part of the standard spiel and one version that currently being used in the Northern Rivers area: He had me click Start-Run and type in eventvwr, and then click on Applications and tell him how many Error flags I had — well, there were hundreds, just from this past month. He asked for a little info about them, and started a spiel about how many people were having these kinds of problems. It sounded like the canned beginning of a sales pitch.

The Daily Examiner on 9 June 2010 reported on the latest manifestation:

A TELEPHONE-BASED computer scam, which asks computer owners to install damaging and invasive software on the premise of a remote repair session has been stepped up in Grafton and Coffs Harbour in recent weeks.

Though the scam has been operating for well over a year nationally, with sporadic instances occurring locally, Computer Troubleshooters, Grafton reported it had heard of at least 10 customers affected in the Grafton area in the past fortnight and about the same amount in Coffs Harbour prior to that.

According to a Queensland police statement, the scam, which is sometimes known as 'Support on Click', involves people taking a call from a person working at a foreign call centre.

The caller claims to belong to a software support company that has been requested by Microsoft to fix problems on the victim's computer.

The offender confirms the victim's computer has sent error messages to Microsoft regarding problems with their Windows Explorer before directing the victim through a process on their computer, ultimately giving the offender remote access to the computer to download Trojans or gain access to personal information.

Once the offender has gained access, they will then give or sell the victim software in order to prevent this problem in the future. The victim, instead of downloading anti-virus software, unknowingly installs a virus on their computer which may be used to gather credit card data.

Microsoft's Asia-Pacific director for internet safety, Julie Inman Grant, confirmed the company was not contacting its customers by telephone.

"Microsoft will never cold-call a customer and request access to their computer system. Nor do we direct third-party support companies to do so," she said.....

However, to date I can find no specific mention of this attempt to deceive on scamwatch.gov.au. Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy is apparently more interested in furthering his grand plans for censoring the Internet.

名誉のない国: Japan launches whaling fleet for summer slaughter in Pacific

名誉のない国 - A nation without honour intends to kill gentle mammals such as this sperm whale pictured above. Why? Not because it's people are starving and in need of food, but simply because it can.

The Global Times 10th June 2010:

"Japan launched a summer whaling mission Wednesday, with the target of killing 260 of the giant sea mammals in the Northwest Pacific, despite legal action by Australia. Three harpoon and two research ships set sail from three separate ports in Japan with more than 200 crew to hunt whales in the Pacific Ocean, said the Institute of Cetacean Research, which is sending the state-backed whaling fleet. Due to obstructions by the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Japan said that its catch was down to 507 whales in the 2009-2010 expedition in the southern waters, below a target of about 850. In the latest whaling trip, the fleet led by the Nisshin Maru mother ship plans to catch 100 minke whales, 100 sei whales, 50 Bryde's whales and 10 sperm whales. The expedition comes after Australia launched legal action with the International Court of Justice in an effort to stop Japan from killing whales in the name of science."

Pic found at Google Images

The Great Cup Hunt

The last couple of months I've been lost in a mind fog.
I'm finding that I have the attention span of a goldfish with Alzheimer's. Nice rock....nice rock....[thunk]....where did that big hard thing come from?

My vagueness was brought home to me when I went to get a mug for my morning cuppa. There were only three mugs facing me.
Since I usually have about eighteen mugs in the cupboard I had to wonder where all the other mugs had got to?
I've never seen mugs migrate north for the winter before. Was this a new phenomena? Something to do with global climate change?

Then it occurred to me that every morning I make myself a cuppa, go down to feed Arnold the calf and then wander around the farm checking on things or down to the garden to work. So off I go on six cylinders, with only two firing.

Sure enough there are three cups sitting like nesting birds around Arnold's stall. The cup hunt is now on in earnest.

Next stop the garden. Each tap yields a cup, two on various garden posts and another one that had fallen off its wooden perch. I’m on the right track.

So then I walk the yard fence and this comes up trumps with another five. By the time I get to the main gate I have a bucket load of cups, a sense of destiny and a great hunger for breakfast.

After breakfast I unload the cups ready for washing and something occurs to me - where is the mug with the fish pattern I had with me this morning when I went on the cup hunt?

Pic from Google Images