To all those Australian politicians out there - especially the Rees Government

Click on image to enlarge

I know its hard if you don't live right on a coast or river to visualise the type of residential land vulnerable to the ravages of climate change.
So here's an aerial view of the small northern NSW coastal town of Yamba, at the mouth of the Clarence River.

You will notice that its northern border is the Clarence River, its eastern border is the Pacific Ocean, its western border is Oyster Channel and its southern border is mostly Lake Wooloweyah with a narrow strip of land on the ocean side.
All of these bodies of water are influenced by the tide.

If the Rees Government consents to furthering urban development of West Yamba by consenting to the recent Clarence Valley Council Draft West Yamba Local Environment Plan then an extra 2,500 people will probably be added to the town's present population of around 6,000 residents (a population which basically doubles during peak holiday periods).

The proposed West Yamba development (involving significant landfill) would be on an identified flood storage area and therefore its bulk would divert some of any future flood water to elsewhere in Yamba and the smaller Wooloweyah village.

That would mean an estimated 4,000 households at the very least would be lining up to be included in any litigation against Clarence Valley Council and the NSW Government for a failure to exercise duty of care.

Remember when you could get money back by returning soft drink and beer bottles? Well here's another chance

The Total Environment Centre is alerting people to the fact that an initial decision on whether or not to pursue a national container deposits scheme will be made by Federal and State Environment Ministers on 22 May 2009.

A container deposit scheme has operated successfully for years in South Australia.
Here is what is said about it:

Container deposits are effective - Tonnage rates achieved in South
Australia for beer bottles, softdrink glass and plastic soft drink containers are far in excess of those achieved in other states ofAustralia. South Australia recovers 85% of non refillable glass soft drink bottles, compared with36% nationally. The return rate for plastic soft drink containers, (PET), is 74% whilst the national returnrate is 36%. Liquid paperboard, a recent inclusion, has a return rate of 40% increasing. [Recyclers of South Australia Inc.]

Introducing CD has many benefits to the environment, local government and community groups because it:

• Increases recycling rates in the state providing clean recyclate to manufacturers
• Significantly reduces litter in our parks and streets
• Provides 'recycling hub' infrastructure with the opportunity for more than just container recycling
• Is compatible with local council kerbside services and makes them more economic (via unredeemed deposits and reduced collection trips)
• Addresses 'away from home' container waste
• Creates local jobs
• Generates revenue for charitable and community service groups. [Total Environment Centre]

If you would like to see a dollar return on part of your recycling efforts and cleaner streets and parks in local areas, it's time to write or email your state and federal MPs asking for a national container deposit scheme to be put in place across Australia.

If you belong to a NSW community group you might like to discuss the issue and contact the Total Environment Centre at sarahve@tec.org.au about signing a group letter before 1 May 2009.

"Moggy Musings" [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A serpentine musing:

The hot weather is starting to give snakes the idea that garages, garden sheds and the crawl space under a house are good places to find a little cool shade.

Keep an eye out for these visitors and call your local W.I.R.E.S to help with relocation.

A solidarity 4ever musing:

With January 2009 being so hot further south in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, I thought I'd send a greeting to all those companion animals trying to cope with the heat wave and celsius temps rising into the 40s.

Hangs in there my fellow moggies, mutts, cavies, birds, horses etc!

Even I had to do an emergency moult last week, so I know how you are suffering.

Is it a record? musing:

Peeking at The Clarence Valley Review this morning, I see that Yamba boasts a tiny 8 week-old healthy kitten which weighed just 360 grams (12.7 ounces) on Monday, 5th January. Now that is really a small kitty!

Happy Easter to one and all

North Coast Voices

Image: Wikimedia

It seems that only The Greens are going to bat for the NSW North Coast on the matter of climate change impacts

According to The Northern Star on 7 April 2009:

More than 100 Northern Rivers residents yesterday attended a public forum in Ballina, hosted by Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change Greg Combet and Page MP Janelle Saffin.

Environmental Defender's Office Northern Rivers education officer, Mark Byrne, said an effective carbon reduction scheme was urgently needed.

"The fact is we don't have a lot of time. This really is a crisis," he said.

"This Government was elected largely because they said they would do something.

"It's time for real leadership and this scheme does not provide that."

Let us hope that Mr. Combet and Ms. Saffin heed the community concerns raised at this forum.

Coming as it did on the heels of the Environmental Defenders Office's own public meeting on 3 February 2009, I have to wonder if the two Labor MPs were there more to counter considerable grass roots resistance to the proposed national emissions trading scheme than to exchange views with local residents.

After speaking with one individual who attended this forum, I am now almost certain of this.

Given that the Rudd Government is holding to the line that the states are responsible for land use and NSW Nationals MP Steve Cansdell appears to be hoping that climate change will just disappear as an issue, it seems that The Greens are the only party at both state and federal level which is able to make the connection between global warming science and potential effects on the ground.

NSW Hansard record Thursday 26 March 2009:

2937 PLANNING—SEA LEVEL RISE—Ms Hale to ask the Minister for Police, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Rural Affairs representing the Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo— Planning, Climate Science and Sea Level Rise
(1) Is the Minister aware that scientists including John Church of the CSIRO and Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of Potsdam Institute for Climate Change met in Copenhagen in March 2009?
(2) Is the Minister aware that at this conference these scientists have warned that sea levels may rise by a metre or more before 2100, and then continue to rise for centuries?
(3) Is the Minister aware that these scientists have indicated that the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change predictions of less than 59cm sea level rise by 2090 is wrong?
(4) Is the Minister aware that scientists meeting in Copenhagen this month have warned that sea level rises will rise by a metre or more before 2100, almost double the previous estimate of 20cm to 59cm made in 2007 by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?
(5) Is the Minister aware that scientist John Church's study centered on Australia showed that coastal flooding events that today we expect only once every hundred years will happen several times a year by 2100?
(6) Will Planning NSW be revising its estimates of sea level rise in relation to coastal development in New South Wales?
(a) If so, when?
(7) Will Planning NSW advise councils via a SEPP or other instrument on the most scientifically recent and accurate sea level rise predictions?
(a) If so, when?

2938 PLANNING—WEST YAMBA LEP—Ms Hale to ask the Minister for Police, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Rural Affairs representing the Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo— West Yamba LEP
(1) Given the Mid North Coast Regional Strategy has identified West Yamba as a low lying area, are there major development constraints in the face of climate change impacts, specifically flooding and inundation, in West Yamba?
(2) Will consideration be given to the latest climate science and sea level rise predictions when assessing the draft West Yamba LEP Amendment based on new data contained in the Government's Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement and coming out of the Copenhagen conference?
(3) Clarence Valley Council has determined that residential development can be safely achieved by filling the West Yamba floodplain to half a metre above their projections of the 2090 maximum flood level, basing its calculations for safe floor levels on the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change predictions of less than 59cm. However, new predictions by scientists meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 estimate sea level will rise to double the level of the 2007 predictions. Should the Department and councils such as Clarence Valley Council therefore be revising their estimates of sea level rise and therefore the West Yamba LEP?

New X-Men movie leak has 20th Century Fox hopping mad and trying to freeze online 'evidence'

It's not only Aussie actor Hugh Jackman who's "disappointed" over the leaking of the pre-release version of the new "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie - Twentieth Century Fox is livid and out to sink the vile pirate, me hearties.
Over at Chilling Effects are copies of the legal bun fight with Digg Inc:

• DMCA takedown notice
• Fox Requests Preservation of Data as Evidence

Dob in those high petrol prices

Road Tube a website set up by the NRMA is inviting motorists to report high petrol prices.

"Motorists across NSW and the ACT are being encouraged to report high petrol prices over the Easter period on NRMA’s new RoadTube website.
Average unleaded petrol prices across Sydney should not exceed $1.25 over the coming days when considering the international benchmark price and the Australian dollar.
Regional prices are typically four to five cents more expensive due to transport costs and less competition in regional towns.
If motorists drive past service stations selling petrol for $1.30 or more they are being encouraged to record the details with their mobile phone via video or camera or leave a blog with the details at www.roadtube.com.au.
Drivers of the vehicle are reminded to pull over before using their phone.
NRMA Motoring & Services President Wendy Machin said if motorists encountered over-inflated petrol prices this Easter long weekend they could now do more than suffer in silence.
“Petrol prices have remained stable this week and we don’t expect them to reach the $1.30 mark over the long weekend,” Ms Machin said.
“However, if motorists see prices above the $1.30 barrier we want them to report it on our RoadTube website via video, photos or by leaving the details as a blog comment.
“The NRMA will collate the reports from the motoring public and present them to the Petrol Commissioner.”

Comic relief

No penis, no microphone

Herald journo Peter FitzSimons has this par in today's Sydney Morning Herald

Columnist for the Grafton Daily Examiner Peter Chapman on Tuesday: "While I hold no concerns about women reporting sport, I do not believe they should be handed a microphone to comment on major male sporting contests … I don't mind female sports journos doing colour reports, but for blow-by-blow, it has to be a male." His supporting argument? There wasn't one. Just, no penis, no microphone.

Radio interview with the Minister of Silly Walks concerning the $43 billion national broadband network and Internet filtering trial

A big thanks to Mark Newton for tweeting a link to this Stephen Conroy interview.
When addressing the ISP-level filtering live trial it is almost classic Monty Python.

NewtonMark Conroy sets pants on fire as a defensive measure to stop Kate O'Toole from kicking his arse: http://is.gd/rGrm #triplej #nocleanfeed about 17 hours ago from web

Graphic from Google Images

Democratic freedoms? A case of Obama saying one thing and doing another?

U.S. President Barack Obama has been in office long enough now for disconnects to emerge between his grand speeches and what he does in fact.
Never more so than in the case of the former Bush Administration warrantless wiretapping of its own citizens.

CNet reported in January 2008 that Barack Obama was against warrantless wiretapping:

For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and "wiretaps without warrants," he said. (He was referring to the lingering legal fallout over reports that the National Security Agency scooped up Americans' phone and Internet activities without court orders, ostensibly to monitor terrorist plots, in the years after the September 11 attacks.)

It's hardly a new stance for Obama, who has made similar statements in previous campaign speeches, but mention of the issue in a stump speech, alongside more frequently discussed topics like Iraq and education, may give some clue to his priorities.

In 2008 an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was put to the U.S. Senate.

This is what Obama as a presidential candidate is reported as saying of this amendment on 14 July 2008:

"I am proud to stand with Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and a grassroots movement of Americans who are refusing to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty," Obama said in a prepared statement. "There is no reason why telephone companies should be given blanket immunity to cover violations of the rights of the American people — we must reaffirm that no one in this country is above the law.

"We can give our intelligence and law enforcement community the powers they need to track down and take out terrorists without undermining our commitment to the rule of law, or our basic rights and liberties.

"This administration continues to use a politics of fear to advance a political agenda. It is time for this politics of fear to end. We are trying to protect the American people, not special interests like the telecommunications industry. We are trying to ensure that we don't sacrifice our liberty in pursuit of security, and it is past time for the administration to join us in that effort."

Obama then went on to vote for the legislative amendment which allowed immunity from prosecution.

However this immunity was not believed at the time to extend to government according to its Senate sponsor:

Second, lawsuits against the government can go forward. There is little doubt that the government was operating in, at best, a legal gray area. If administration officials abused their power or improperly violated the privacy of innocent people, they must be held accountable. That is exactly why we rejected the White House's year-long push for blanket immunity covering government officials.

Since then a number of court cases have come to light including Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc v Barack H. Obama, President of the United States of America.

Now in response to this and other current litigation President Obama (through the Department of Justice) appears to be asserting a surveillance power which is even wider than that previously asserted concerning warrantless searches.

President Obama may be smoother and better packaged than George W. Bush, but deep down he is nothing more than an expedient politician like those presidents before him and, just as unwilling to relinquish any power (no matter how dubious) over the citizenry.

Here is what the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFA) says about its current court proceedings:

In Jewel v. NSA, EFF is suing the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government agencies on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records.

Jewel v. NSA is aimed at ending the NSA's dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans and holding accountable the government officials who illegally authorized it. Evidence in the case includes undisputed documents provided by former AT&T telecommunications technician Mark Klein showing AT&T has routed copies of Internet traffic to a secret room in San Francisco controlled by the NSA.

That same evidence is central to Hepting v. AT&T, a class-action lawsuit filed by EFF in 2006 to stop the telecom giant's participation in the illegal surveillance program. Earlier this year, Congress passed a law attempting to derail that case by unconstitutionally granting immunity to AT&T and other companies that took part in the dragnet. Hepting v. AT&T is now stalled in federal court while EFF argues with the government over whether the immunity is constitutional and applies in that case — litigation that is likely to continue well into 2009.

In addition to suing the government agencies involved in the domestic dragnet, the lawsuit also targets the individuals responsible for creating, authorizing, and implementing the illegal program, including President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and other individuals who ordered or participated in the warrantless domestic surveillance.

For the full complaint in Jewel v. NSA

In March 2009 the Obama Administration replied to the EFA litigation with the GOVERNMENT DEFENDANTS' NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO DISMISS AND FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT virtually asserting that everything (including publicly known facts about this wiretapping and data mining) is a 'state secret' or other form of privileged information.

Graphic found at BoingBoing

Easter as an ending, not a beginning (WARNING: this post is not for kiddies who believe)

Click images to enlarge

Original pics here

It's almost mid-2009 and they're still fighting in.............

It's almost mid-2009 and they're still fighting in.............

Iraq - the War on Terror still leaving a bloody fallout Bomb near Iraq Shi'ite shrine kills 7

Afghanistan - despite the propaganda NATO-led occupation forces are losing hearts and minds Obama seeks extra funds for wars

Sri Lanka - Tamil Tigers versus Sri Lankan Government forces 'Civilians die' in Sri Lanka zone

Democratic Republic of Congo - civil war still unresolved DR Congo army fights off rebel attack in east

Pakistan - Protestors versus police Two Killed in Protests in Pakistan`s Baluchistan

India - KCP rebels killed in exchange of gunfire with police 3 rebels killed in Manipur

Somalia - civil war leads to lawlessness Aid Workers Quit Somalia

Ethiopia - rebel group still active Ogaden Rebels Counter 'Crisis' Claims by Ethiopia

Sudan - Israel versus whoever they please Report: Naval commando forces involved in Sudan strike

Columbia - FARC rebels take on Columbian Army Colombian Army and FARC Rebels Battle Near Venezuelan Border

England - British establishment against one lone man Policeman suspended over G20 protest death Video of police assault

......and various other places around the globe.

Monsanto goes a-Twittering

It's no secret that Agwired has a relationship with Monsanto the biotech giant.
So when it came out with this it was hardly surprising:

I ran across this article, Planting Cyber Seeds, written by Jeffrey Tomich for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and I thought I would share it will all of you. The article is about how Monsanto has worked to tackle big issues through Twitter, the social networking tool that answers the question, What are you doing?

Because environmentalists were constantly trying to derail Monsanto in the media, the company quickly realized that they needed to address some big issues in the news for themselves. The group uses Twitter to discuss controversial topics like food labeling and genetically modified foods. Like many agriculture groups, Monsanto has realized that this is the best outlet to interacting with the nation's food consumers.

Sounds as though Monsanto is on top of the social media game doesn't it? However when you search for Monsanto on Twitter you find a different story.

MonsantoCo shows the company-endorsed face of Monsanto tweets, but over at the official Monsanto blog they linked to a Twitter realtime search which showed 5 pages of more varied results, with anti-GM tweeters hogging the space right now.
Including beekeeper protests and links to media articles about GM crop failures.
Although it has to be said the Monsanto Twitter is hardly overwhelmed with people tweeting it.

Seems that whatever online PR Monsanto tries, it comes to grief.

The Rudd Government endores the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while problems persist

First the Rudd Government formally said sorry to the Stolen Generation and now it has endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin delivered a statement in support of the document at Parliament House this morning, saying that the move was a step forward in "re-setting" the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
"The Declaration gives us new impetus to work together in trust and good faith to advance human rights and close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians," Ms Macklin said.
"The Declaration recognises the legitimate entitlement of Indigenous peoples to all human rights – based on principles of equality, partnership, good faith and mutual benefit."

However, this is the true state of affairs according to the National Indigenous Times:

NATIONAL, April 7, 2009: Residents of remote Aboriginal communities are routinely being sold rotten and overpriced food, an inquiry has heard.
A federal parliamentary inquiry into community stores has also heard a Queensland government-run store in the Torres Strait was infested with rats.
Distressed residents told the inquiry the infestation at the IBIS store at Moa Island had reached plague proportions, while a store representative admitted there was rodent problem.
"Many of the stores we heard about and some of the stores we saw were not up to scratch and that's got to have an effect," Labor MP and head of the inquiry Richard Marles said.
Mr Marles, who spent last week touring communities in the Torres Strait and Cape York, said residents across the region claimed food at their local store was rotten or out of date.
"There was a repeated sense that a lot of product was out of date, there was some evidence that the use-by date had been textaed over - that was certainly a repeated theme among those who were giving evidence before us," he said.
The inquiry has also received an anonymous submission from a Northern Territory nurse who expressed dismay at the quality and price of goods in her local store.
"The cucumber I bought was mostly rotten. Of the 1kg bag of tomatoes three were rotten, the sour cream went out of date six weeks ago, the avocado was black all through ... and a package of a red onion, a tomato and a lettuce cost $11," she said.

ISSUE 174, April 2, 2009:.........With the election of Labor, there was some optimism that there might be major changes to the scope and nature of the intervention. The political analysis was that Labor had deliberately kept themselves as a small target over the intervention, and that there would be a significant shift in policy and emphasis over the intervention post-election.
However, apart from some cosmetic changes to CDEP and the permit system - which have yet to be enacted - the new government decided to keep the intervention rolling.

A mounting case of intervention failure

UN tells Rudd to 'redesign' NT intervention

Graphic from the National Indigenous Times

Black Carbon Aerosols: another culprit contributing to global warming?

On 4 April 2009 the US National Aeronautics and Space agency (NASA) reported that aerosol particles known as Black Carbon, produced by industrial processes and the combustion of diesel and biofuels, are contributing to the warming of the Arctic which receives wind drift from North America and Europe but has minimal precipitation to flush these fine particles out of the atmosphere.

Full article Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming.

Australian Law Reform Commission online forum asks for your opinion on royal commissions

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) is holding a review of the operation and provisions of the Commonwealth Royal Commissions Act 1902 and related issues.

Submissions can be lodged in the usual way or the online forum can be accessed.

This is an important subject as royal commissions are sometimes the only way Australian citizens have of establishing the veracity of what the government of the day is telling voters about a given issue.

It is interesting to note that the ALRC has highlighted cost in its media release and not the attempts by government to limit such inquiries by handing down very narrow terms of reference, as was the case in the faux royal commission, the 2005 Inquiry Into Certain Australian Companies In Relation To The UN Oil-For-Food Programme (also popularly known as the Cole Inquiry or AWB Inquiry)

Here is the ALRC media release:

The Australian Law Reform Commission today released an Issues Paper, Review of the Royal Commissions Act (IP35) seeking feedback from the community on 49 questions posed as part of its current review of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth). The ALRC has been asked by the Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, to review the operation of the Act—which has been in force since 1902—and in particular to consider whether less formal alternatives to a Royal Commission may be appropriate in some circumstances.

ALRC President Professor David Weisbrot noted that "Royal Commissions look at issues of great public importance and play a very important role in ensuring that systemic failures are addressed. When there are controversial issues that cannot be handled satisfactorily by the courts or the political process, there are invariably calls for the establishment of a Royal Commission—and there are often expressions of disappointment when other 'lesser' forms of inquiry are established, such as the inquiries into the treatment of Dr Mohamed Haneef and Cornelia Rau.

"Royal Commissions usually prove to be very expensive. Precise figures are surprisingly difficult to pin down, but we estimate that, in today's dollars, the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry cost taxpayers over $70M, the one into the collapse of insurer HIH cost over $47M, and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody cost over $50M."

Professor Weisbrot stated "A key concern for the ALRC is whether an alternative model of executive inquiry might provide similar advantages and outcomes to Royal Commissions, in terms of respect, independence, protection of witnesses and so on, while offering more flexibility, less formality and greater cost-effectiveness."

Royal Commission powers are another issue under the spotlight. Commissioner in charge of the ALRC Inquiry, Professor Les McCrimmon, noted that, "The Act currently gives Royal Commissions a wide range of coercive information gathering powers. For example, a Royal Commission can apply for a search warrant, summon witnesses to give evidence and require the production of evidence. The exercise of such powers must be balanced carefully against the rights of those being investigated.

"The Royal Commissions Act also contains a number of criminal offences that can be used to punish failures to comply with the requirements of a Royal Commission, interfering with witnesses, or interfering with the work or authority of a Commission. We will be exploring whether civil penalties may be more appropriate in some of these contexts," Professor McCrimmon said.

Along with the release of the Issues Paper, the ALRC has also developed an Online Discussion Forum organised around the key questions being considered in this inquiry, making it easy for people to share their ideas and experiences at http://talk.alrc.gov.au.

The Review of Royal Commissions Issues Paper and further information about this Inquiry are available from the ALRC website http://www.alrc.gov.au/. The closing date for written submissions in response to the Issues Paper is 19 May 2009.

The final report and recommendations are due to be presented by 30 October 2009.

Job Services Australia 2009: unemployment service providers for the NSW North Coast

From the Minister's media release:

Providers for Job Services Australia will begin operation from July 1. There will be a 12 month transition period for job seekers to Job Services Australia providers........
Job Services Australia folds seven separate employment services programs into a 'one-stop-shop' that provides job seekers with a more personalised service......
There will be 116 contracts servicing job seekers across Australia. The 116 contracts comprise individual organisations or groups of organisations totalling 141 providers. They will be supported by at least 48 sub contractors.
There will be more than 2000 Job Service Australia sites across the nation, an increase from 1800 sites under the current system.........

Job seekers will receive a letter from April informing them of changes.
If job seekers have any queries they can call the customer service hotline 1800 805 260.

List of stream services by ESA:

Clarence NSW	ACET australia	Indigenous Australians	Grafton, Maclean, Yamba
	Key Employment	People with a disability	Grafton, Maclean
	Nortec Employment and Training Limited	Generalist	Grafton, Yamba
	Tursa Employment & Training Inc.	Generalist	Grafton, Maclean, Yamba

Coffs Harbour NSW	ACET australia	Indigenous Australians	Coffs Harbour, Corindi Beach, Nambucca Heads
	Enterprise and Training Company Ltd	Generalist	Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo, Nambucca Heads, Toormina, Woolgoolga
	Ngurrala Aboriginal Corporation	Indigenous Australians	Macksville, Nambucca Heads
	Nortec Employment and Training Limited	Generalist	Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo, Nambucca Heads, Woolgoolga
	Tursa Employment & Training Inc.	Generalist	Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads, Woolgoolga

North Coast NSW	Bunjum Employment Services Pty Ltd ABN 45102978129	Indigenous Australians	Ballina
	Jobfind Centres Australia Pty Ltd	Generalist	Ballina, Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay
	Nortec Employment and Training Limited	Generalist	Ballina, Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay
	Tursa Employment & Training Inc.	Generalist	Ballina, Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay, Mullumbimby

Richmond NSW	Job Futures Ltd	Youth At Risk	Casino, Kyogle, Lismore, Nimbin
	Jobfind Centres Australia Pty Ltd	Generalist	Casino, Lismore, Woodburn
	Nortec Employment and Training Limited	Generalist	Casino, Kyogle, Lismore, Nimbin
	Summit Employment and Training	Indigenous Australians	Casino, Kyogle, Lismore
	Tursa Employment & Training Inc.	Generalist	Casino, Kyogle, Lismore
	Yabur Yulgun CDEP Aboriginal Corporation	Indigenous Australians	Lismore

Tweed NSW	Nortec Employment and Training Limited	Generalist	Bray Park, Kingscliff, Murwillumbah, Pottsville, Tweed Heads South
	The Salvation Army Employment Plus	Generalist	Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads South
	Tursa Employment & Training Inc.	Generalist	Kingscliff, Murwillumbah, South Tweed Heads
	Yabur Yulgun CDEP Aboriginal Corporation	Indigenous Australians	Tweed Heads

It's market failure, says Senator Conroy

Australian Minister for Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy says that the Rudd Government announcement that it will establish a national broadband network costing around $43 billion (financed by government bond issues) is due to "market failure"
From where I'm sitting it looks more like a Stevo failure to me.
The Australian rightly points to Telstra as the fly in the ointment but doesn't mention that the Conroy tender process didn't result in viable bids anyway.
Having Stephen Conroy as minister when the basic plan for creating the new national network is being put in place does not bode well.
Especially as home use on the new network will be limited and much more expensive according to one analyst - which if true will alarm the average blogger
When is Kevin Rudd going to shuffle this inept minister away from a sensitive portfolio and into the obscurity he so fully deserves.
Conroy is a living example of the Peter Principle; "the theory that employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent."

Beserker 2009

Many Australian families have stories past down through the years about life during the Great Depression.
By now some of these stories have acquired a glossy surface demonstrating the family's valiant survival and humour in the face of adversity.

However, it doesn't take much to peek below and see memories of the fear, distrust and intense dislike which existed between those without jobs or income and the agents of those that had both.

If one delves deeper one often finds examples of verbal and physical violence.
Threats, beatings; to the constant refrain of get out, get out or move on, move on.

I'm not suggesting that the world is on the brink of another world-wide depression as I write, but I am wondering how a modern affluent society used to only relative poverty since the Great Depression will cope with a prolonged global recession.

If Australia were to enter a long period of high unemployment, will our answer at an individual level be the type of violence seen in the growing number of multiple murders since the beginning of 2008 in America and elsewhere?
Or will Australian society weather the global financial crisis relatively intact?
Will our old egalitarian myths sustain us?

Photograph from The Age

XKCD on windpower - the funny side of the energy debate

From XKCD

It's not easy being Google ;-)

"Google may be mapping the streets of the Western world but the good folk of Broughton, in Buckinghamshire, England, don't want a bar of it.
The Google Street View car was blocked from filming last week by angry residents, led by Paul Jacobs, who alerted neighbours after spotting the car from his window.
"I don't have a problem with Google wanting to promote villages. What I have a problem with is the invasion of privacy, taking pictures directly into the home," Mr Jacobs told the BBC.
"We've already had three burglaries locally in the past six weeks. If our houses are plastered all over Google it's an invitation for more criminals to strike."
Mr Jacobs called police, who arrived to find a crowd in dispute with the Google driver, but the car moved on." [Brisbane Times on 6th April 2009]

"Mr [Rupert] Murdoch also questioned whether the newspaper industry should continue to allow online news aggregators such as Google to aggregate newspaper content without being compensated for it.
"Should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyrights?" [The Australian 4th April 2009]

"Google launched Street View in the U.S. in May 2007, soon visually documenting and uploading the streetscapes of eight other countries to the web. Later that year, crews also embarked on Canadian streets, snapping static shots from camera-mounted sedans embossed with the ubiquitous company logo.
Holding an array of cameras, each vehicle moves along public roads collecting raw images of everything that happens to be in view – including residences, passersby and any other happenstance activity that's trapped by its sophisticated lenses.
It's the 2007 photos that will be showcased in the upcoming release. The reason they're only being posted now is partially thanks to concerns previously raised by the federal privacy commissioner, who feared the easily accessible photos showing some citizens could infringe on their privacy, Denham said.
Canada's privacy laws require that the person being photographed give their consent to the pictures being published, unless they are being taken for "journalistic, literary or artistic purposes."
The company recently approached Denham's office to explain what measures it has taken to alleviate its misgivings. In post-production, Google now subjects all photos to an automated process of blurring people's faces and licence plates." [TheStar.com on 5th April 2009]

"COMPANIES that aggregate mainstream media content without paying a fee are the "parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the internet" and will soon be challenged, Robert Thomson, the Australian-born editor of The Wall Street Journal has warned.
Thomson, who was holidaying in Australia last week, said companies such as Google were profiting from the "mistaken perception" that content should be free........
"Google argues they drive traffic to sites, but the whole Google sensibility is inimical to traditional brand loyalty," he said.
"Google encourages promiscuity -- and shamelessly so -- and therefore a significant proportion of their users don't necessarily associate that content with the creator.
"Therefore revenue that should be associated with the creator is not garnered." [The Australian 6th April 2009]

"A trademark lawsuit against Google that a lower court had dismissed in 2006 has been given new life.
Rescuecom, a Syracuse, New York, computer services franchising business, sued Google in 2004, alleging that Google has seriously hurt its business by serving up competitors' ads when users search for "Rescuecom" in Google's search engine.
The suit alleges that Google and Rescuecom competitors buying the ads profit without authorization from the Rescuecom trademark, and that the practice can also confuse potential customers and franchisees, resulting in lost business.
In its defense, Google argued that the selling "Rescuecom" as a keyword to competitors that triggers their ads along with search results isn't a trademark infringement under the Lanham Act." [Computer World 6th April 2009]

Grocery Choice still limps along...

The Rudd Government's much vaunted GroceryChoice website (allowing for online price comparison across grocery retail chains) still limps along, awaiting the CHOICE revamp which is promised for July this year.

Five months to revamp a website is a long time (a task subcontracted to SMS Management and Technology) and the worry grows that in the end CHOICE will only use this website as an extension of its existing information service and not regularly deliver a more detailed level of price comparisons across retail chains in regional Australia, where consumers are often disadvantaged due to more limited shopping options.

The website disclaimer now says it all:
Although the Australian Government supports this website by contributing funding to its operation, it is not an Australian Government website and the Australian Government is not responsible for its content or operation and, to the extent permitted by law the Australian Government makes no representation and gives no warranty and accepts no liability in respect to it.

North Eastern NSW April 09 price comparisons

Byron Shire Council to grow food on public land

On April 4 Byron Shire Council launched its pilot program for growing food plants on public land.
The pilot program will be co-managed by Council and the community over six months and involve monthly working bees.

Byron Shire Council’s Sustainability Officer, Graeme Williams; ‘This project is in response to some of the more alarming global trends. ‘While this is a small trial project, something like it on a larger scale could have large economic implications by relocalising our food production systems.
‘We currently have such a disconnection with the food we consume. Hopefully walking past publicly grown food will encourage interaction and maybe motivate people to emulate the system in their backyards. ‘Growing our own food is a lost art somewhat and one we should regain given our economic and climatic situation.‘The project will address all four arms of sustainability: environmental (food miles, resource dependency), social (bringing the community together and educating people), economic (with agriculture and farming both growth industries) and lastly, governance, with our council as a local government forerunner in this area, devoting council land to develop food security projects.’

Byron Shire Council is to be congratulated for this innovative approach to public health and resource sustainability.

Hopefully other Northern Rivers councils are watching this pilot and considering how they may use the wealth of local public land which is earmaked for eventual development far into the future and which lies idle now.

Picture from Google Images

Pollie jokes review

By the last year of the Howard Government jokes about Coalition pollies had been refined to a professional standard and we all had a good laugh.
Now that we're almost at the halfway point in this Rudd Government first term, do we have any jokes to show for it?
Are they all that funny?

Well we have Rudd, Kevin Rudd a video over at Unsourced Humor.

Jokesey gave us an old BOOM-BOOM about Rudd and the strip club:
Did you hear that Kevin Rudd saw a disappointing poll this morning? It was bereft of a gyrating naked woman...

At The Reel Deal it was a replay of an old Howard joke with Rudders substituted as the butt.

I Seek Golf came up with a Little Johnnie:
Kevin Rudd was visiting a primary school in Tasmania.
One class was in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.
The teacher asked Mr. Rudd if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy'.
So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'.
A little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a 'tragedy'.
'No,' said Rudd 'that would be an accident.'
A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy'.
'I'm afraid not,' explained Mr. Rudd 'that's what we would call great loss'.
The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Rudd searched the room. 'Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?'
Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand.
In a quiet voice he said: 'If a plane carrying you and Mrs. Rudd was struck by a 'friendly fire'
missile & blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.'
'Fantastic!' exclaimed Rudd . 'That's right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?'
'Well,' says little Johnny 'it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be a f*cking accident either!'

At Love For Life teh joke was looong:

But it was at Kevin Rudd LOL that my funny bone was finally tickled:
Kevin Rudd called Julia Gillard into his office one day and said, "Julia I have a great idea! We are going to go all out to win the country voters."
"Good idea Prime Minister, how will we go about it?" said Julia.
"Well," said Rudd, "we'll get ourselves one of those Driza Bone coats, some RM Williams boots, a stick and an Akubra hat, oh and a Blue Cattle dog.
Then we'll really look the part. We'll go to a typical old outback country pub, we'll show we really enjoy the bush." " Right ,"said Julia.
Days later, all kitted out and with the requisite Blue heeler, they set off from Canberra in a westerly direction.
Eventually they arrived at just the place they were looking for and found a typical outback pub. Walked in with the dog and up to the bar.
"G,day mate," said Rudd, to the bartender, "two middies of your best beer." "Good afternoon Prime Minister," said the bartender, "two middies of our best coming up".
Gillard and Rudd stood leaning on the bar drinking their beer and chatting, nodding now and again to those who came into the bar for a drink. The dog lay quietly at their feet.
All of a sudden, the door from the adjacent bar opened and in came a grizzled old stockman, complete with stockwhip.
He walked up to the cattle dog, lifted its tail with the whip and looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the other bar.
A few moments later, in came another old stockman with his whip. He walked up to the dog and, lifted it's tail, looked underneath, scratched his head and went back to the other bar.
Over the course of the next hour or so another four or five stockmen came in and, lifted the dogs tail and went away looking puzzled.
Eventually, Rudd and Gillard could stand it no longer and called the barman over. "Tell me," said Rudd, "why did all those old stockmen come in and look under the dog's tail like that? Is it an old outback custom?"
"Strewth no!" said the barman. "It's just that someone went 'n told 'em there was a cattle dog in this bar with two arseholes!"

Greed is still good

Fair crack of the whip!
Up to our knees in a global recession caused by excessive business and personal debt and out-of-control greed and what does the world do?
Continues accumulating massive debt through government borrowings to prop up ailing national economies and stands by while many of the architects of this crisis continue on their avaricious way.

The Australian this morning:

"FANNIE Mae and Freddie Mac, the US Government-controlled mortgage giants, will pay $US210 million ($294 million) in retention bonuses over the next 18 months.
The lenders are overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) after making $US108 billion in losses last year and being taken into Government conservatorship.
Fannie Mae's disclosure last month that it planned to pay almost $US5 million in bonuses to its top four executives riled politicians, who were already furious over $US165 million windfalls for about 400 workers at AIG's troubled financial products business.
Today's revelations of the payments to be made to ordinary workers are almost certain to cause anger in Congress, which is considering legislation to tax bonuses paid by companies that have received federal bailouts.
In a letter to Senator Charles Grassley, James Lockhart, director of the FHFA, spelt out the bonuses being paid to 7600 employees at the lenders over 18 months to early 2010.
Mr Lockhart said that about $US51 million of payments were made to workers late last year, according to The Wall Street Journal, which has seen the letter. The rest of the cash would be distributed this year and early next year.
At Freddie Mac, 4057 workers would be eligible for payouts, of which 92 would receive $US100,000 or more. One Freddie worker would be paid more than $US675,000 to retain his or her services.
The letter said that 3545 Fannie employees would be eligible for retention bonuses, of which 121 will get $US100,000 or more. The maximum payout at Fannie will be $US705,000............
Fannie and Freddie loan or guarantee half of America's $US12 trillion mortgage market but made losses on sub-prime loans. They are propped up by the Government, which has put aside $US200 billion to support the lenders."

If this isn't milking government for all it's worth, what is?

Climate change deniers still singing the same old song with Marohasy in the chorus

Header for Cato Institute advertisement

There may be a new president in Washington but lobbyists for industries opposed to climate change mitigation measures are still singing the same old song.

According to CBC News at the end of March the Cato Institute ran full-page ads in:

the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Washington Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. The ads cite evidence, referenced in four scientific papers, that the climate is not changing significantly.

These very expensive ads were signed by 100 'scientists' and George Monbiot has fun with this list, while DeSmog Blog links to an interesting set of API memos.

The advertising campaign appears to be timed to disturb public perception ahead any passage of US climate change legislation and the Obama hosted April climate change summit and, a surprising number of the advertisement's listed individuals are also reported to have taken money from fossil fuel industries.

Among the list of 'scientists' endorsing the ads is one Colin Barton, CSIRO (Retired), Robert M. Carter, PhD, James Cook University and the blogosphere's favourite Australian global warming denier Jennifer Marohasy, PhD, Australian Environment Foundation.

Ms. Marohasy gives some space to the ad on her blog, Andrew Bolt's blog on 1 April also gives it a mention and thanks Professor Bob Carter for the heads up, but Tim Blair doesn't appear to have noticed these ads.

While it seems that Jennifer Marohasy originally worked as a field biologist and is affiliated with the Institute of Public Affairs (which is believed to receive funding from the oil, coal, tobacco and biotech industries) and marine biologist Professor Robert Carter is also a PIC affiliate, little is known about Colin Barton.

Perhaps Tim can make up for letting down the denialist side by finding out if Colin Barton CSIRO (Retired) is the same man who endorsed the 2008 denialist ISCS Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change as Colin Barton, PhD (Earth Science), former Principal Research Scientist, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Melbourne, Australia and/or the person formerly employed by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria as a geologist working in coal also posting on the Internet as Dr. Colin M. Barton.