Michael Jackson: an urban myth in the making?

I happened to have had ABC News Radio on all of last Thursday night and most of Friday morning, so I heard the developing news on American singer Michael Jackson's death.
I was also connected to the Web for much of that time and there was no noticeable problems.
Therefore this headline has the distinct smell of an urban myth developing.
Web grinds to a halt after Michael Jackson dies.

GroceryChoice website yet to carry news of its own demise

The Rudd Government's GroceryChoice web site is to be axed.

A good idea which was doomed to fail because it lacked the enthusiastic participation of the big supermarket chains and so could only ever supply the bare bones of a compartitive shopping guide.

Even the tranfer of management to Choice could do little to change public perception that the site was a lemon, for the lead-in time was far too long for the promised upgrade which would allow consumers more information.

Maintaining its irrelevance to the last, the GroceryChoice website still hadn't posted a notice of its own death thirty-six hours later.

Annual Whale Census Day, Sunday 28 June 2009

If you are out and about on NSW beaches tomorrow or taking a boat out ocean fishing, keep watch for whales and note how many you see.

From ORRCA:

We are gearing up for another whale migration season and ORRCA will, of course, be conducting our annual Whale Census Day on Sunday June 28th. Many of you will be familiar with this activity and we really hope you’ll participate again this year. For those of you new to the game here’s what we do.
Groups of people gather at certain spots and headlands along the coast and spend the day counting the passing whales. All sorts of observations are recorded e.g. numbers, species, behaviour with all recorded on a form (which we supply).
The statistics are correlated and available to anyone with an interest in cetacean research; the state and federal authorities add our figures to their data on marine mammals and it all goes towards managing our ocean in a manner conducive to the well-being of marine life.
Apart from providing useful data it’s a terrific way to spend a winter Sunday. No special equipment is required, just a comfy seat, food + drink, warm clothing and, of course, a pen and observation sheet. A pair of binoculars is a great help as is a camera.
There are particular places that are used every year but if you would like to participate at your own favourite spot, that’s just fine. Just let us know where that might be. The count goes from 7:00am until 4:30pm but not everyone can manage a whole day; no matter – even a couple of hours will help.
Unfortunately due to this now being a national event, we can't list the all the viewing points on the website. If you are interested in taking part and would like to know of some great observation points near you, please contact us on (02) 9415 3333 or email orrca@orrca.org.au .

A bad case of the blues

Peter FitzSimons apologises to Alan Jones

Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, Peter FitzSimons
admitted he did broadcaster Alan Jones wrong recently and apologised.

Apology

Last week, TFF had an intemperate rant at the successful radio broadcaster Alan Jones, asserting that he was wrong to misuse his position to constantly defend misbehaving sportspeople and others within his tight coterie, entirely irrespective of what the truth of any given matter was.

I even went further and named what I sincerely thought at the time was a comprehensive list of examples of those who had enjoyed his largesse: Darrell "Tricky" Trindall, Jacin Sinclair, Dean Capobianco, the Poo, Scott Miller, Julian O'Neill, Damien Martyn and myriad others …"

This was wrong, and I do sincerely apologise.

For, as so many readers reminded me, no such list could be complete without adding the names of Robbie Waterhouse and Andrew Kalajzich.

Kalajzich, seeing as you ask, was the most classic example of Jones misusing his power in this manner, barking that the Manly hotelier, who had his wife, Megan, murdered, was innocent - to the point that the State Government caved in and had his appeal heard, at enormous cost to taxpayers. This was only for the judge to decide that if there was a verdict beyond just "guilty" - as in, So Astonishingly Guilty It is Amazing That Anyone Could Doubt It - then he would have qualified for that, too.

For shame, Alan, for shame.

pic sourced from SMH

Shades of Charles and Cromwell in Macquarie Street this week

I didn't think that I would feel sympathy for the Rees Government, but even I was affronted by The Shooters Party's attempt to bail-up the government of the day with one of the worst environmental bills to come before a New South Wales parliament - a bill to allow the shooting of native animals in national parks and the further introduction of exotic and potentially feral species onto private land as well as removing peak body representation for indigenous communites.

The Shooters Party believed that because it could, it would give the Rees Government the option of passing its bill or seeing other government-sponsored bills blocked.

Tony Kelly may not have had as dramatic an impact on parliamentary proceedings as Oliver Cromwell and King Charles before him, but he was just as effective in bringing a democratic institution to its knees.

However, this is a two-edged sword the Rees Government is playing with here.
Sometimes it is better to take a political drubbing in seeing its own bills go down rather than undermine the very institution which allows for democratic government.

The Australian reports:

IN an unprecedented move, MPs have been locked out of the Upper House of NSW Parliament after the Government shut it down, causing chaos and confusion among members.

Upper House leader Tony Kelly walked out of the Legislative Council just before 1am (AEST) today, leaving 15 pieces of Government legislation unconsidered.

These included the vote on the Government's plans to privatise NSW Lotteries, which was likely to be defeated.

With no minister or parliamentary secretary present, president Peter Primrose closed down the Upper House until the "ringing of the long bell".

That long bell could ring at any time of the Government's choosing.

But it is unlikely to be heard until after the return from the winter recess on September 1, even though the Upper House was scheduled to sit today.

In protest, Liberal, Nationals, Greens and the one Independent MP arrived at the doors of the Legislative Council at 11am (AEST), only to find them locked.

It is believed to be the first time the Upper House has been shut down in such a manner since its inception in 1824.

"I've never seen a situation where a house has been shut down on a long bell for up to three months," Greens MP Ian Cohen said.

Opposition Leader in the Upper House Mike Gallacher said Mr Kelly all but ran out of the house when it appeared the Coalition would oppose moves to adjourn a day early for the winter break.

"By the time we turned around, in the blink of an eye Tony Kelly was not only gone from the house, he was gone from the Parliament," Mr Gallacher said.

"We couldn't find him, no one knew where he was.

"We're in limbo. The Parliament is effectively still sitting.

"We're just being denied access to the Parliament."

As the Upper House has not been adjourned, when Parliament does resume, Hansard will record the proceedings as having taken place on June 24.

NSW North Coast councils didn't make it into the 2009 winners circle at the National Awards for Local Government

2009 NATIONAL AWARDS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT - CATEGORY WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Twenty one council and shire projects have been selected as Category Winners in the 2009 National Awards for Local Government.... Independent judging panels selected the winners across 11 award categories. The 2009 Category Award winners came from every state in the Commonwealth, and included urban, regional, rural and remote councils. The theme for this year's Awards is 'Local Government - Building Australian Communities'. The 2009 Awards were open to all elected councils and shires around Australia. The National Awards have been held annually since 1986 and are intended to highlight innovation in delivering infrastructure and services to local communities. This year's Award categories encouraged innovation in infrastructure, health, natural resource development, environmental sustainability, Indigenous engagement and collaborative service delivery. Since 1986, the Awards have helped councils to share good practice in order to find local solutions for community challenges. Overall, 233 entries were received from local councils, making this year one of the more competitive awards in recent times.

National Awards winners here. Unfortunately this year no North Coast council made it into the winners circle.

"Get punched by Nat (Young)?"

After the pic of Angourie (above), which is a ripper, was posted on Kurungabaa by Kim Satchell, a sharp-witted Stu Nettle responded, "Tell us a story Satch! Don’t just leave us wondering. Was it as good as it looks? How’d your board go? You get many barrels? Get punched by Nat (Young)? C’mon brother!"

Nat ... a surfing legend?

Blistering barnacles, Mr. Editor!

Letter to The Daily Examiner editor, Peter Chapman, published on 25 June 2009.

See other posts:
Brave young Maree Jay takes on the ugly face of Australian journalism at The Daily Examiner
Greatest problem! Crisis! It's extravagation time at Tabloid City

The Clarence Valley takes it own temperature and declares it is fit and well despite global economic downturn. But will the good news continue?

Image: Google Images

Clarence Valley Council has released its upbeat June 2009 bi-annual Economic Monitor of this large Northern Rivers local government area.

Unfortunately, as communities along the Clarence Coast are heavily dependant on tourism income, increasingly rapid environmental change may well undercut this economic optimism.

This year coastal erosion is continuing to cause concern.

According to The Daily Examiner last Thursday:

MANY beaches along the Clarence coast are off-limits today as king tides ravage the coastline.
Clarence Valley Council has declared most beach accessways too dangerous, ordering that barricades and closed signs be erected at beaches from Yamba to Wooli.
“This is about personal safety and people should not go past these points,” Clarence Valley Council deputy general manager Des Schroder said.
If people really have to go onto a beach, Mr Schroder said they should use the beach access points that were still open or use open beaches such as Main Beach in Yamba.
“You might have to drive to get to them but it's for your own safety,” he said.
“People should be really cautious about being on a beach.”
The dangerous beach conditions are the result of ongoing extensive beach erosion and a series of two-metre king tides this week.
The high tides have gouged steep cliff faces along some beaches and stripped sand from others to reveal bare rock shelfs.
The erosion has left many pedestrian and vehicle access points unstable and dangerous.
“People should stay away from all beach accesses until the seas have subsided and accesses have been repaired,” Mr Schroder said.

Only in Tassie......an explanation for mysterious crop circles

In scenically beautiful Tasmania they have found an explanation for those mysterious crop circles according to the The Mercury yesterday:
"WALLABIES are hopping into Tasmania's opium poppy fields and getting high.
The revelation has also solved what some growers say has spurred a campfire legend about mysterious crop circles which appear in the state's poppy paddocks. In true X-Files style, Attorney-General Lara Giddings said yesterday the drugged-up wallabies had been found hopping around in circles squashing the poppies, creating the formations. The wallabies are increasingly entering the fields and eating the poppy heads. That causes them to get high and run around in turns creating "crop circles". "The one interesting bit that I found recently in one of my briefs on the poppy industry was that we have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles," Ms Giddings told a Budget Estimates hearing. "Then they crash. We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high." ......
Ms Giddings was answering questions about the security of Tasmanias poppy stocks, that are considered some of the safest in the world."

The Malcolm Bligh Turnbull Narrative - abridged version

One version of the Turnbull narrative which may just survive into the future:

There once was a fairly ordinary Australian boy who grew into a young man rumoured to have a nasty temper and an inflated opinion of his own intellect.
His name was Malcolm Bligh Turnbull.
The young man first became a part of the fourth estate, but having a short employment attention span then entered the legal profession where many of his ilk flock, got himself a property so that he could style himself a country gentleman, flirted with authorship, became for a time a merchant banker and along the way made pots and pots of money (not always in a much admired fashion).
Not content with his lot he decided that he would very much like to be President of Australia and so helped mount a national campaign to dismantle the Australian Constitution and form a republic.
The now not so young political peacock saw this campaign fail in the face of contrary voter opinion and, being essentially both lazy and impatient decided that he would rather have a bird in hand such as the job then held by John Winston Howard - Prime Minister of Australia.
Having virtually brought himself Liberal Party pre-selection through sizable party donations and spent a barrow of cash on an election campaign in the Wentworth electorate in New South Wales, he won a seat in the Federal Parliament.
Utterly shocked that the Prime Minister and Cabinet did not immediately bow down before him and clear his path to the prime ministership or at least the treasurer's job, he not so graciously made do with being a parliamentary secretary and then Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.
As part of the Howard ministry he actively assisted the Coalition into the political wilderness in November 2007.
Since then he has been either trying to convince Coalition power brokers that only he can lead them back to victory in 2010 or fending off those who would like to replace him once he actually became Leader of the Liberal Party and Opposition.
To that end he has been rather busying playing at political theatre (a la Machiavelli's Prince, John Wilkes Booth or Burke & Hare depending on your particular point of view) and in consequence his nose has been growing soooo long that it will no longer fit though any door in The Lodge.
Enter Joseph Benedict Hockey........

'Typhoid Mary' Fielding goes too far

Struth, there's yet another idiot pollie fronting the teev this week!
Family First's leader and one and only member of the Australian parliament Senator Steve Fielding apparently not only thinks man-made global warming doesn't exist, he thinks the principles of viral transmission don't apply to his august person.
The obviously lobotomised senator has someone in his household he says has been diagnosed with swine flu, but is determined that even if he might be infectious himself he "doesn't want to take a sickie".
Yeah, nice one Stevo - go trotting through an air-conditioned workplace (open to the general public) dominated by older, sedentary men who would probably be more vulnerable to swine flu.
Look! See how quickly Steve can bring Parliament to its knees!
See how powerful Family First is!
Did we really vote this drongo in?

Q: What's a 2830?

A: A dubbo, of course.

As reported yesterday, a couple of Dubbo Zoo inmates, oops that should read Dubbo City Councillors, who previously resided in the Clarence Valley, are making big impressions in the local government arena in central western NSW.

Richard Mutton (left) and Peter Bartley (right), who are councillors on Dubbo City Council, have done their level best to demonstrate how effectively the National Party performs.

At Monday night's meeting of council a motion, moved by Mutton, that Bartley had breached the council's code of conduct, should be counselled and should apologise to the council was carried.

So who are Mutton and Bartley?

1. Mutton

When Gerry Peacocke retired as the State National Member for Dubbo in 1999 a swing of 19.4% was required if the Nationals were to lose the safest seat in NSW. With its remarkable collective wisdom the Nationals saw fit to preselect Mutton as their candidate. The rest is history ... Mutton suffered a humiliating defeat and lost the seat to the independent Tony McGrane.

2. Bartley

Bartley is chairperson of the Nationals Dubbo electorate council.

Gee, the Nationals are a weird breed of cattle.

Pics from Dubbo City Council

Godwin Grech, celebrity and other political trivia this week

I suppose it was inevitable - Federal Treasury Principal Advisor, Financial Systems Division, Godwin Grech, now has a FaceBook fan club and a Wikipedia entry.

Godwin is being widely discussed in the mainstream media and the blogosphere because of his testimony before a Senate inquiry last week.

However, the author of the FaceBook entry remains a bit of a mystery.

I'm rather inclined to suspect a Liberal party staffer organised the creation of this entry, after hearing Liberal Party MP and parliamentary attack dog Joe Hockey admit on ABC News Radio yesterday that he tried to contact Mr. Grech on Saturday to offer moral support.

Meanwhile according to the Commonwealth Hansard for the House of Representatives (using a quick word count) on the day that email was revealed as a fake, honourable members rose to use the word lie 9 times, lies 2 times, lied 22 times and liars 1 time.