Flooding down on the farm

I knew we were in trouble when the termites stopped eating the wood in the old house and started to build boats.

Cruise liners these were if you compare their size to the construction.

I kept an eye on how things were progressing at the dock side - the front veranda.

It is a hive of activity and when the ants arrived, bringing all sorts of goods to the dock, I was sure that the termites were selling tickets for this cruise.

My suspicions were confirmed on Saturday morning as the flood levels rose and the termite ships started to float away in the flood waters.

Yes, there were ants onboard.

I don't think they appreciated my ticker tape send off, I generously threw a toilet roll at the departing armada.

The insects left on the docks were very agitated and things were looking nasty so I hastily retreated.

The floods have abated, but the termites are still building and the ants are arriving in greater numbers.

I don't know if this means another east coast low is on its way down here in June or July or if the termites are just cashing in on the gullibility of the ants.

Only time will tell.

Memo to Minister Keneally: Yamba streets flooded again last night

Kristina Keneally, NSW Minister for Planning, are you listening?

Monday night's high tide produced the third consecutive night of flooding in many parts of Yamba.

And, it's no surprise!

If Minister Keneally cares to ask the residents of the flooded areas what they think about their recent experiences she'll be told that the flooding was exacerbated by developments that have seen low-lying wet land areas filled by developers.

If proposals for further development in West Yamba, which are currently on the Minister's table, get the nod prospects for local residents are indeed very grim.

Pic: smh.com.au

Church of Scientology on trial in France on charges of organised fraud

... and the case could lead to the nationwide dissolution of the controversial organisation.

The so-called church is accused of targeting vulnerable people for commercial gain.

France, which categorises Scientology as a sect, has previously convicted several individual Scientologists of fraud over the past decades – most notably its science fiction-writing creator, L Ron Hubbard, in 1978.

The Guardian reports that the case stems from the testimony of a French woman who filed an official complaint against the organisation in 1998.

Lawyers for Aude-Claire Malton claim Scientologists preyed upon her at a time when she was "very psychologically fragile", pressuring her into spending €21,000 (£18,000) – her life savings – on products including "purification packs" and vitamins.

The investigating magistrate in charge of bringing the case against the church, Jean-Christophe Hullin, said the church, which has been glamourised by Hollywood members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, made a profit by placing individuals in a "state of subjection". The organisation, he argued, is "first and foremost a commercial business" whose actions reveal "a real obsession for financial remuneration".

Marohasy shows her ignorance on NSW North Coast flooding

When the first inklings appeared of a coming May 2009 flood event in the Clarence Valley one local warned me that such flooding would be used to raise the issue of further damming in the Clarence River catchment area.

Sure enough, yesterday climate change denialist Jennifer Marohasy opened her mouth and displayed a level of ignorance which quite frankly surprised:

It doesn't matter what time of year you drive through this region, known as the Northern Rivers District, it is always green and the wide Clarence is always brimming with water.

Oh dear, let's ignore the fact that the Clarence River is salt from above Grafton right down to the river mouth, that it appears to brim with water because of a strong tidal influence, stay silent on the fact that there is a large dam on one of its principal freshwater tributaries and let's also conveniently forget that the Clarence Valley goes in and out of drought with the same regularity as the rest of the NSW North Coast.

I honestly don't have the patience to correct the many misconceptions on which her post is based, so I'll just refer all to the blog A Clarence Valley Protest which was created during the last big John Howard - Malcolm Turnbull push to rob the Clarence catchment of its fresh water and, which includes the political response at local, state and federal level.