Talking of trees and local councils......

The perennial arbor fight between residents and council workers continues as this report from The Daily Examiner online 22 February 2010 indicates:

CLARENCE Valley Council stirred up a hornet's nest when its workers removed a 15-year-old flame tree from outside Matt Clark's Bacon Street residence last week. Mr Clark, a National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger and an acknowledged expert in the identification and propagation of native flora, is furious with the council over what he says is a stupid decision that flouts council regulations and due process.

My sympathies are with Matt Clark as I have seen the former Maclean Shire Council insist that two mature trees (not blocking the footpath or invading drains and definitely not impeding overhead powerlines of which there were none or impacting on visibility for passing motorists) be removed from a property/footpath boundary of an elderly neighbour - only to have the same council return two to three years later and plant other trees on the footpath as part of a street tree planting program. Those two new trees of course did not thrive and later died so that section of the street remains treeless to this day.

The Daily Examiner is to be congratulated for bringing this attitude to street trees to the forefront.

Stat dec to Clarence Council published in that newspaper.

(This is an accurate account of a conversation between George Nowak CVC, and myself on the 27th August 2009, transcribed on the afternoon of his departure & the following morning, without embellishment or fabrication. This is my statement for a statutory declaration I am providing Mr Nowak's supervisor).

Sometime in late July 2009 during roadworks on corner of Villiers & Bacon St, a CVC employee noticed the street trees outside my house. George Nowak subsequently telephoned me on 26 August & left a message identifying himself and said "I need to organise a meeting with you about your house at 78 Bacon St". He then visited me at home on the afternoon of 27 August 2009. He commenced the conversation by saying: "Those trees out the front, they've got to go."

I said "Why? It's a nature strip isn't it? Trees are part of nature & they provide food and habitat for all the birds around here."

He said "They're not approved by council, you shouldn't have planted them".

I replied "well since the council leaves it to the residents to maintain, this is how I choose to maintain it. It's better than mowing it."

He talked on about that area being Council land and I shouldn't have planted the trees.

I responded that at least one, possibly two were planted by CVC about 15 years ago, just like all the others up & down the street. I only bought the place in November 2006, complete with Council certification, and the trees beautify the area which was one of the attractions for me buying the place, so it's a bit late now."

He replied "They're impeding the drainage. They've got to go."
I said "I don't know who told you that George, but that's not correct, they're not a problem". He then repeated his claim about the drainage and added "we need to get a machine in there to clean the drains out."
I said "the drain is only a foot wide, you can do that with a shovel."
He said "no-one cleans drains with a shovel anymore. It has to drain from the street. We have to use a machine"
I said "Well I do, I've been cleaning it out with a shovel since I've lived here. I make sure the drains aren't blocked, the water flows, and any ponding at the culverts here is no worse than any ponding anywhere else in the street – come around after rain and see for yourself if you want to claims like that. Have you ever been here after rain? And anyway, Council's done no maintenance on the drains here for at least 15 years, they don't to, because they work perfectly."

I went on to say "How about this, as long as I own this place, I undertake to keep the drains clear and flowing." [which I have done]

Mr Nowak then said "They're going to grow into the powerlines."
I replied, "No they're not, let's go down and have a look."
He pointed to a number of trees, saying "those ones have got to go, you shouldn't have planted them".
I said "I didn't plant them, look at the size of them, I've only been here about two and a half years, some of them would have to be 10 years old. I admit, I wouldn't have planted that one in that spot, but it doesn't affect the drainage, and it's not going to grow into the powerlines. It's a Tristianopsis laurina or water gum – but it's not a gum tree." Then I added, "In the Newcastle City Council area, where I used to work, they actually plant them as street trees now, because they found they only need to be lopped or pruned once and they change their shape forever. They're actually great for under the lines. We did some planting for them back in the mid-90s"
He then pointed at 2 others and said "that's a Tuckeroo and that's a lilly-pilly, they've got to go, they'll both grow into the lines."
I replied, "No George, you're wrong on both counts – that one's Arytera divaricata, common name Coogera; and that one's Cryptocarya laevigata or glossy laurel. I selected them because they're both small, bird-dispersed local rainforest trees that will never reach the lines. This is the sort of trees that everyone should be planting to help beat the bird-dispersed weed problems like we've got on Susan Island. This is what you guys at Council should be doing everywhere around town, not planting weeds like that one over there." [being golden rain tree – Koelreuteria elegans].
He said "Cryptocarya laevigata. That's one of the ones they recommend to plant as replacements for camphor laurel."
I said "do you mean that species list in the camphor laurel control kit?
He said "yes"
I said "Well, I wrote that. There's actually several species of Cryptocarya, and that is the smallest of them. The only similarity it has is that it produces fruit for birds." I showed him a nearby tuckeroo (planted prior to my purchase of the property), and said "this is a Tuckeroo, see the difference? There's actually two Tuckeroos here, I'll take both of them out, as well as all those two (pointing to Alectryon coriaceus) they're all coastal species, I wouldn't have planted them here." He asked what species a few of the others were, and I agreed that only one (Livistonia australis – cabbage tree palm, offset from the lines by 2m) might have the potential to get that big. I then said, "but even if that were to happen George, we won't have to worry about it cause it will take about 50 years, it's the slowest growing one of the lot. I actually planted that one, not just because it's a local fruiting species for the birds and the flying foxes, but because the drunks had ripped out some by the roots a few times & I thought if they wanted to rip that one out in the dark, it' will fight back. Just a way of protecting them from vandals."

I then explained to him that contractors from Asplundh (a vegetation management company contracted by Country Energy) were here only 2 weeks ago, and we inspected the plantings together, and I asked their opinion. They made it quite clear that they didn't think they were a problem, and even added comments along the lines of "we're not worried about those, and even if they're going to be a problem, they've got a long way to go yet and they're pretty slow growing. We'll be coming around each year anyway. Country Energy has contract with us to maintain the lines." I then said, "it doesn't even sound like its Council's problem to me. Country Energy pays these people to do it, and as far as they're concerned it's not a problem. They even delivered all that woodchip mulch for free [about 1 tonne] a couple of days after their inspection!"

Despite that, Mr Nowak then said, "Well I wouldn't like you to come home and find all your trees gone."
I replied "That should never happen George. I doubt they'll ever be a problem, but anyway, if it keeps you happy, just like the drains, I undertake to maintain all of these trees while ever I own this place to make sure they don't foul the lines."

After further brief conversation I added "I know trees. I chose them because they're local species & because of their characteristics. They're not a problem." I then asked him "what about the Koelreuteria over there? The golden rain trees that Council planted, they're one of the weediest species around and have been on the national weed Red Alert list for at least 15 years. When are you going to take them out? I get hundreds come up in my yard each year, and so does everybody else around here. It's about time you removed them isn't it?"
He replied "we've got other weed priorities."

Mr Nowak then said, "And what about the parking? You've lost a parking space."
I said "well, that's my problem, I'm not worried about it, there's still plenty of parking around here – enough for 4-5 cars and that is only one parking space. Like I said, there were already plenty of trees here when I bought the place. No-one's parked there for 10 years."

Mr Nowak then said, "And then there's the issue of pedestrian safety." (!!!!!)
I said "Interesting that you should mention that George, because one of the reasons I planted these two here & that Lomandra is because a friend who came around to visit me nearly broke his leg when he stepped off the side into that drain just on dark one time. It's a two foot drop! I thought if I planted these things here, that would never happen again, so don't talk to me about pedestrian safety when there's no footpath, and no street lights on this side of the street. That's ridiculous!"
He said "no, safety for people walking past."
I said "what do you mean?"
He said, "Assaults. We had an incident in a South Grafton street recently where someone was hiding in the bushes and ambushed a pedestrian."
I replied, "Well, streetlights would fix that."
He said, "No it happened in broad daylight. Someone could hide in there."
I said, "If someone wanted to do that, there's plenty of other places they can hide around here. I think you're clutching at straws."

After further brief discussion I promised to "thin them out, and take all the coastal stuff." Within thirty minutes of Mr Novak's departure, I had removed 5 trees (3 tuckeroos & 2 beach birds eyes), as well as pruned the Lomandra back to ground level. I never heard from Mr Novak again, and naturally assumed he had been satisfied with the work I completed, as we agreed.

Graphic from Google Images

Tall tales and true from the legendary Land of the Free and Home of the Brave - litigation gone wild

It has to be true if Justia lists it on the U.S. court dockets - this month an obviously intelligent, articulate American woman living in an extended-stay hotel and who does not appear to be currently employed is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Affiliates, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Pentagon, Barrack Obama, Michelle Obama, Office of Inspector General, Federal Reserve Board, United States Congress, George Bush, Jr., Laura Bush, Joshua Bolten and Police and Trooper Departments of the United States in a civil rights application over what she insists is the overuse of virtual technology to access living beings, as well personal harassment by littering, being video monitored at the direction of a government agency etc., and is seeking $950 trillion in damages.

Unfortunately I haven't access to Pacer, however the Denver Westword carries details of the story here and links to an original court document here.

Here is a teaser of what is reported to be in the twenty-six page complaint:
I believe the Department of Justice and affiliates listed above permit overuse of virtual technology to access living beings. This is to control information, behavior, physiology, reproduction (DNA cloning), longevity, conduct harassment, conduct punishment through controlled life conditions that act as a virtual court of law, discriminate that defines life destiny, access intellectual property to control thought and innovations, conduct investigations that lead to a defamation of character, manage daily operations of living capital to secure the globe with the intent to condition the Federal Reserve when in fact their activity erodes societal values, privacy and precipitates a global recession.
Examples of virtual technology utilized:
Hidden camera
exposed camera
DNA-based brainstem software
Infrared technology
Thought monitor
Emulating software
Thought monitor
Telephonic eavesdropping and controls
Nerve Center
Probe.....
Manipulate body temperature to create cold hands and feet to precipitate peripheral vascular disease
Administer a conference bridge on my brain as a forum for 2 years in spite of my constant written and verbal requests to permanently disconnect it
Insert/force pictures and/or video of dysfunctional pictures in my brain

Apparently in America one is almost never seen as a frivolous or vexatious litigant because earlier in the year the same woman filed against U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo and Company, JPMorgan Chase and Company and American Express Company in another civil rights application and in 2009 appears to have lodged at least three civil rights actions one of which had to do with colours and patterns.

The application against the DoJ et al speaks volumes about how dysfunctional the American system of justice has become, when it will seriously docket for consideration a case where reality has left the room in relation to the complaint and, an damages claim amount is also listed which exceeds the 2009 U.S. Gross Domestic Product and must be perilously close to exceeding the combined annual GDP of the world's principal national economies.

It appears to be a worthy successor to that other classic piece of delusional litigation UNITED STATES ex rel. Gerald MAYO v. SATAN AND HIS STAFF, 54 F.R.D. 282 (1971) except that in this present case the plaintiff is obviously in great distress and probably not receiving appropriate assistance elsewhere.

Want to know Abbott's 2010 election campaign battle plan?

Tony Abbott only has one endearing character trait from this blogger's perspective - he loves to talk a lot.

So long before he actually looked like winning party leadership and becoming Leader of the Coalition Opposition he virtually told the Australian electorate that it could find his basic election campaign tactics and principal policy intentions within the covers of his book Battlelines.

Excerpts from Tony Abbott's National Press Club notes when puffing up his about to be released book in July 2009 [my emphasis]:

The Howard era should be the yardstick against which the Rudd government is judged but it won't be the blueprint on which the next Coalition government is modeled. Under Howard, there were 2.2 million more jobs, real wages grew by over 20 per cent and Australians' individual wealth doubled. This happened, not because of the China boom, but because Peter Costello's first budget sliced almost one per cent of GDP from public spending so that government would live within its means. It happened because workplace relations reform reduced third party-interference in how businesses worked, making them more productive and more rewarding for their employees. It happened because the former government understood that the world owes no one a living so expected people to work for a wage or to work for the dole. The former government didn't talk about tough decisions; it made them. It didn't borrow against the future to line people's pockets now but funded lower taxes and higher spending from the proceeds of a strong economy. Still, the Coalition won't deserve to win the next election if it is merely a tepid version of the Howard government.

Because "governments lose elections, oppositions don't win them", the principal obstacle to the Rudd government's reelection will be the government itself. The opposition's challenge is to make the government's conduct the issue, not its own, and then to persuade voters that it has some sensible policies that address their problems and are based on their values. In Battlelines, I put forward some proposals which could form the basis of the Coalition's future appeal. They tackle the biggest problems facing Australia in ways which reflect the values of the Coalition parties and, in my view, can touch a chord with the Australian people.

If the prime minister's political agenda is any guide, apart from good economic management, voters' principal concerns are health and education.....

The Coalition should especially beware of sloganeering against so called middle class welfare. A universal payment to families with children is not middle class welfare but a tax cut for kids. The consequence of the campaign against middle class welfare has been to trap people on social security where they are an economic burden on others rather than to facilitate lower taxes. Being against middle class welfare means being in favour of means tests. In a tightly targeted system, these often ensure that welfare recipients trying to get ahead face effective marginal tax rates in excess of those faced by highflying businessmen. It's not surprising that the Labor Party, now as much a welfare party as a working class one, should tolerate such arrangements. The Coalition, by contrast, should not put any structural obstacles in the path of people trying to better themselves. Trying to ensure that at any given level of income and in any household type, people keep a reasonable proportion of any extra income they earn should be the Holy Grail of Coalition policy.......

....my position has shifted from philosophical federalist to pragmatic nationalist as experience has trumped intellectual prejudice....... Notional bulwark against improbable tyranny, the states may well be but, in Australian practice, they are far more often a handbrake on effective government.....

In Battlelines, I propose a mechanism for actually bringing this about. It's not to abolish the states or readily to interfere with the way they do things. Rather, it's to give the national parliament much the same power over the states that it currently has over the territories.

So there we have it. The thumbnail plan appears to be to offer the electorate a return to Howard-era middle class welfare handouts at each federal budget while quietly cutting public spending, possibly lowering taxes for a few sometime in the future, doing something not yet specified about health and education, curtailing workers rights to a fair pay for a fair day's work, making life difficult for people receiving welfare benefits (with the exception of old age pensioners) and a more centralised form of federal government which overrides state decisions on anything and everything as the whim takes it.

Think I'll go down to my local library and order in the updated copy of Abbott's book to see how else he intends to make life difficult if he were to win government in 2010.
I'm sure the introduction of hanging judges, forced pregnancies and public whippings of single mothers, re-education camps for the homeless and unemployed and chemical castration of undesirables and atheists are probably in there somewhere! [wink,wink]

An edited extract from Battlines published in The Australian on 27 July 2009 here.
Transcript of 7.30 Report interview with Tony Abbott on 27 July 2009.

A 'drowning in a sea of cutes' moment

In unison the blogosphere sighs; Aawww!

Beautiful Declan - a Clarence Valley 2010 baby captured by the camera of Daniel Deefholts and found in last Saturday's The Daily Examiner

More NSW North Coast babies from Photography Unlimited Grafton here.

Not the way to woo female voters, Tony

Australian Liberal Party Leader Tony Abbott is on the woo trail again and this little nugget was thrown into the media mix yesterday with a view to possibly making him seem more human; "And it [sex] is one of life's great pleasures."

Eeeewww! Way too much information and not the type of political transparency most females would be looking for as they weigh up ballot paper options.

This is not the first time that Mr. Abbott has attempted to flirt with the electorate and it is going down like a lead balloon with many women.

From the top of his shiny balding pate right through to those stringy thighs there is nothing about Abbott to set the average voter's heart racing - the yellow lycra, red budgie smugglers and rampant chauvinism are all real turn-offs and these contrived true confessions coyly offered to female journalists are frankly risible.

Tony Abbott is a stud hunk alpha male political legend only in his own mind. Perhaps his wife should remind him of that fact next time he comes home.

Cartoon by Murray Webb

Update:

Patricia WA commenting on a Larvatus Prodeo thread concerning the media interview had this to say:
Nothing new to get excited about here. All Tony’s transgressions have been on the public record for yonks. I guess putting them in the context of the Ten Commandments makes them headline worthy, but more privately in the confessional we can only imagine what his Mea Culpa might consist of.
I have worshipped as my god John Winston Howard.
His image is graven on my heart, and I daily worship at his altar, promoting his word and his Church of the Liberal Party of Australia.
I have taken thy name in vain and been generally foul of tongue.
I have profaned the sabbath, disporting myself near naked on the beaches of Manly.
I have lived an adulterous youth and still lust after carnal satisfaction.
I have stolen the rank and rewards of my colleague Malcolm Bligh Turnbull.
I daily bear false witness against Kevin Michael Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.
I covet his Lodge though not his ass, nor his wife who is of too independent temper.
I confess that the opportunity for his assassination has so far eluded me.

Luke 'don't let truth get in the way' Hartsuyker on the National Party 2010 federal election campaign trail

Montage of cardboard cut-out incident manufactured by the Opposition in 2008

from Google Images

Not content with making a mockery of the House of Representatives during his first few months on the Opposition benches and refusing a lawful order from The Speaker's chair to remove himself from the chamber, spending the intervening years doing little more than rolling interjections - now the shadow spokeperson for small business and small minds has seized a protected species and begun wielding it as a weapon in the hope of holding onto his very marginal federal seat of Cowper.

Here is the Nationals' Luke Hartsuyker in full flight in The Daily Examiner last Friday, with the Liberal candidate for Page riding in his wake for the photo opportunity:

FEDERAL Cowper MP Luke Hartsuyker had more than flying foxes in his sights at Maclean yesterday.

The MP wants a flying fox colony removed from near Maclean High School and is intent on seeking a solution in Federal Parliament.

Yesterday he slammed the Maclean Flying Fox Working Group as a 'bureaucratic con'. He described Federal Page MP Janelle Saffin as a fence-sitter who had not been genuine with the high school's P&C committee.

Mr Hartsuyker went on the attack at the launch of his petition supporting the removal of the Maclean bats.

Mr Hartsuyker told a small group of media and residents outside the Maclean High School gates that a private member's bill was being drafted. If passed it would provide emergency powers to the Federal Minister of the Environment for the removal of the bats because they posed a public health risk.

"This petition will send a clear message to the Minister and will provide the Clarence Valley with a voice," Mr Hartsuyker said.

"It is outrageous that our school students are exposed to diseases of the third world. Co-existence is not working, disperse the bats now."

Now Mr. Hartsuyker knows full well that there has never been a case in this country where the vulnerable protected species the Grey-headed Flying Fox has directly transmitted Hendra or Nipah viruses to humans. There is of course a vaccine available for the Lyssavirus which is transmitted by a bite/scratch from an infected mammal, but the incidence of this virus is extremely rare and there have only been two cases in the whole of Australia.

He also would be well aware that an properly constructed application to the NSW Government would allow a limited period bat dispersal license to be issued as has happened in the past (it would be interesting to discover just who has been advising Maclean High School P&C to go down the rather torturous joint application route it has taken).

Yet the lack of rampant disease in the playground and an easier alternate route to bat dispersal permission does not stop our doughty, disaster peddling Coffs Harbour politician from holding forth - thereby making Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin appear very balanced and genuinely constructive in comparison.

Distribution of the species within the Northern Rivers Catchment

Previous North Coast Voices posts concerning bats.

When a quote is not a quote in 2010

Tim Lambert posting about climate change denialism reminded me that there are any number of misquotes and absolutely false quotes found on the Internet these days.
Snopes carries examples of some classics which are primarily sourced from America.

However, if one wants to see blatant misquotes and bogus paraphrasing at work in Australia one can do no better than look through Hansard courtesy of Open Australia where complaints about misrepresentation are not uncommon.

This little exchange was set off by that arch word-twister, Tony Abbott:

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree with his finance minister that the Home Insulation Program, which has contributed to the deaths of four Australians, was a program where the government could not be expected to dot the i's and cross the t's?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Mr Speaker, on a point of order: it is not in order for the Leader of the Opposition to verbal the finance minister in a question. Therefore the premise of the question is incorrect and therefore the question is out of order.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The chair is not in a position to vouch for the accuracy of quotes contained within questions. On all occasions, these matters are left in the hands of the person that is asking the question, and the remedial action open to any aggrieved party is well known by members of the House.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) I do. And it has just been repeated in the most recent statement.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Please proceed.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) In question time today, the Leader of the Opposition stated that I had said yesterday that the government could not be expected to dot its i's and cross its t's with respect to the administration of the insulation program. As those who are listening might have noted in what was just read out by the member for North Sydney, I was asked a specific question about delaying decisions with regard to the government stimulus matters, and the question related to: why didn't the government deal with issues such as the risk association with metal fasteners at the time it made these decisions? My answer was: these are matters for implementation, rightly to be dealt with by the minister and the department, and this was not a reason for delaying those decisions. So the interpretation that is being placed on my statement by the member for North Sydney and the Leader of the Opposition is totally false.

House of Representatives Hansard transcript for 11 February 2010

Audio of Tanner interview which includes the dotting the i's and crossing the t's quote, courtesy of that excellent resource Malcolm Farnsworth's audio clips.

Whaling Wars: Japan wrong on science and in breach of U.N. international convention

This week the Government of Japan began its trial of two Greenpeace activists who blew the whistle on an allegedly illegal trade in whale meat within that country.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission has informed the Japanese Government that it is in breach of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in relation to detention of the Tokyo Two.




This is how Asahi Shimbun sees the trial and this below appears to be the newspaper's current position on whales:

A large whale apparently devours more than 5 tons of krill and small fish per day. One can only imagine the consequences of protecting such a big eater alone could have on the ecosystem......
Because we humans lord it over the land and because the oceans seem all too powerful, we have been too indifferent to their debilitation.
Unlawful actions against research whaling do nothing but distract people's attention from the true peril. It is time to repay the oceans with our wisdom.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 8

A position which is not supported by science according to Discovery News:

Meanwhile,a new study has cast doubt on one of the key arguments of those responsible for Japan's Antarctic whaling program: that the region's minke whales have increased greatly in number in response to greater availability of krill, following the reduction of populations of other whale species as blue, fin and humpback. According to this argument, hunting minke whales therefore not only does not pose a threat to the species, it actually helps those other species.
The new study, funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program and published in the journal Molecular Ecology, used analyses of genetic diversity to examine whether there was evidence that numbers of minke whales in the Antarctic have increased in recent decades. Its authors, led by Kristen Ruegg of Stanford University, extracted DNA from 52 whale meat samples purchased in Japan from minkes killed within four Antarctic management areas. As large populations tend to have more genetic variation than small ones, which have more inbreeding, the researchers were able to use the amount of genetic variation within the population to calculate its historical size. They concluded that the long-term population size of Antarctic minke whales is 670,000, which falls within the range of estimates derived from several ship-based surveys and is indeed in excess of a more recent unofficial estimate of 338,000.
Ruegg and colleagues speculate that one possible reason why minke whales might not have grown in number in response to the greater availability of krill is that minkes may have never experienced strong competition for food because krill may have been abundant enough for all predators, both prior to historic whaling and today. Alternatively, minke whales may not eat krill at the same time, in the same areas or at the same depths as larger whales.

The world according to Abbott in 150 words or less

The world according to Tony Abbott in 150 words or less....

Garrett has committed the equivalent of industrial manslaughter, Stephen Conroy is a Labor bagman carrying election bribes to the media, the poor often prefer to be penniless and homeless, the country will be better off if more income producing government assets are sold, unfair dismissal rules and penalty rates for weekend work should be tossed out the window, NSW & QLD public hospitals would be more economically viable if run by the mates network, a dying Bernie was faking his indignation, it is always the the highway's fault when my official car cuts in front of a truck, every young girl should go to her marriage bed gift-wrapped as a virgin, only women should do the household ironing, climate science is crap, the national economy is boring and my knob is so-o-o much bigger than Kevin Rudd's so you should trust me.

It literally took Barnaby Joyce years before he permanently parted company from reality and started to spout nonsense - the current Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has reached la-la land much sooner it seems.

International Women's Day Brunch, Yamba 6 March 2010

LOWER CLARENCE WOMEN’S GROUP
INVITES YOU TO

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
BRUNCH

SATURDAY 6 MARCH 2010
10 AM – 11.30 AM

TREELANDS DRIVE COMMUNITY CENTRE YAMBA

GUEST SPEAKERS
‘Love Bites Program’
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Youthful voice & guitar’

RAFFLE for local Women’s project
‘Deborah Novak mounted photos’

DONATIONS TO UNIFEM

Cost: $10 per person Concession $5.00

Please book by Thursday 4 March
Yamba Community Centre
Tel: 6646 1478

General enquiries:
Susan Howland – 6645 0001 or 6646 2129 or 0427 975 131
susan.howland@clarence.nsw.gov.au

Support of the Office for Women’s Policy and Clarence Valley Council is appreciated.

How we found out that there is a bunyip in the creek

Possibly a true story.....

The day was just like many others. Dusk was falling and the frogs were warming up for the night-time chorus.

Then we heard a strange yodelling sound and looking down towards the flat we saw someone running up the creek bank and falling into the long grass.
So the hubby and I jumped into the paddock basher and motored down to see what was going on.

Lying in the paddock was the next door neighbour "Bob" as naked as the day he was born. The smell on his breath left no doubt that a large amount of alcohol had been consumed (and possibly a assortment of other rather more illegal substances).

He was mumbling about being attacked by a large, black, hairy bunyip.
So on the lookout for Bob’s clothes and the bunyip, I grabbed a bucket and headed down to the creek to get some water as our neighbour was not in good straits.

After we cleaned him up we loaded him into the Torana and drove him home.
His wife strongly objected to him entering the house, so Hubby took him into the shed. A couple of horse blankets on the hay and Bob was as snug as a bug in a rug.

On the back veranda I found an esky with one long neck and quite a few empties.
I filled these empties up with water, replaced the screw caps and took them down to the shed.

Bob was regaling Hubby about the bunyip and how it attacked him: his heroic efforts to fight the dreaded beast and how he escaped its clutches.

Seeing me or more likely the beer, Bob insisted that he needed drink. I gave Hubby the only bottle of beer left in the esky which he and Bob shared while I went back to the house.

When I returned Bob was still worried that the bunyip was coming to get him, so Hubby had convinced him that I knew a sure fire bunyip stopping spell.
Glaring at both of them, I told them that I could cast a bunyip proof barrier around the shed, but if I did both of them will have to stay in there till dawn. Hubby fairly bolted out of the shed.

In casting my sure fire spell I walked around the shed reciting all of the plant botanical names I could think of - finishing with a rousing chorus of “grevillea robusta, GREVILLEA ROBUSTA, GREVILLEA ROBUSTA!"

Bob looked happy when I completed the circuit of the shed and the spell was in place, but as we started to leave his doubts grew.

It was then I remembered that a side effect of this spell is that it makes beer go flat and taste like water. Bob was keen to try the beer and to his surprise the spell worked. He was very pleased when I counselled that if he needed to check if the spell was still working all he had to do was have another bottle of 'beer' from the esky.

Would you believe it we finally arrived home in time to feed the Angus poddy calf.

Somerville responds to climate change denialism

 

A Response to Climate Change Denialism

Richard Somerville, a distinguished professor emeritus and research professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, issued the following statement in response to a recent request to address claims recently made by climate change denialists:  

1. The essential findings of mainstream climate change science are firm. This is solid settled science. The world is warming. There are many kinds of evidence: air temperatures, ocean temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels, and much more. Human activities are the main cause. The warming is not natural. It is not due to the sun, for example. We know this because we can measure the effect of man-made carbon dioxide and it is much stronger than that of the sun, which we also measure.  

2. The greenhouse effect is well understood. It is as real as gravity. The foundations of the science are more than 150 years old. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat. We know carbon dioxide is increasing because we measure it. We know the increase is due to human activities like burning fossil fuels because we can analyze the chemical evidence for that.  

3. Our climate predictions are coming true. Many observed climate changes, like rising sea level, are occurring at the high end of the predicted changes. Some changes, like melting sea ice, are happening faster than the anticipated worst case. Unless mankind takes strong steps to halt and reverse the rapid global increase of fossil fuel use and the other activities that cause climate change, and does so in a very few years, severe climate change is inevitable. Urgent action is needed if global warming is to be limited to moderate levels.  

4. The standard skeptical arguments have been refuted many times over. The refutations are on many web sites and in many books. For example, natural climate change like ice ages is irrelevant to the current warming. We know why ice ages come and go. That is due to changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun, changes that take thousands of years. The warming that is occurring now, over just a few decades, cannot possibly be caused by such slow-acting processes. But it can be caused by man-made changes in the greenhouse effect.  

5. Science has its own high standards. It does not work by unqualified people making claims on television or the Internet. It works by scientists doing research and publishing it in carefully reviewed research journals. Other scientists examine the research and repeat it and extend it. Valid results are confirmed, and wrong ones are exposed and abandoned.  Science is self-correcting. People who are not experts, who are not trained and experienced in this field, who do not do research and publish it following standard scientific practice, are not doing science. When they claim that they are the real experts, they are just plain wrong.

6. The leading scientific organizations of the world, like national academies of science and professional scientific societies, have carefully examined the results of climate science and endorsed these results. It is silly to imagine that thousands of climate scientists worldwide are engaged in a massive conspiracy to fool everybody. The first thing that the world needs to do if it is going to confront the challenge of climate change wisely is to learn about what science has discovered and accept it.   

[Taken from Scripps Institution of Oceanography announcement]

Is Tony Abbott failing to read the mood of the electorate?

Another of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's policy one-liners surfaced over the last few days in relation to health services and he is now proposing the 'return' of local boards to run public hospitals. No real change to the centralised federal and state administrative systems which allocate health funding and no significant increase in that funding - just another layer of bureaucracy added back into the mix in New South Wales and Queensland in particular.

This is what the man (who as former Health Minister resisted calls to increase federal health funding over his five-year tenure and left office with Commonwealth funding running at approximately 42-43% of total health funding) had to say in yesterday's press release, which refined his message to include the possibility of the abolition of NSW and Queensland area health service management leaving each region without a co-ordinated approach to service delivery or forward planning and presumably individual hospitals left to fight for their own piece of the federal-state funding pie.

Community response to this Coalition policy and its lack of detail appears lukewarm to say the least with the state governments highly resistant to the idea and, the Essential Report poll of 1,033 respondents between 9 and 14 February on the question of responsibility for Australia's public hospitals clearly shows that Abbott is not reading the mood of the electorate on the issue of who should be taking responsibility for our hospitals.

Q. Would you support or oppose the Federal Government taking over the responsibility for hospitals from the State Governments?
Total support 58%
Total oppose 10%
Strongly support 26%
Support 32%
Neither support nor oppose 19%
Oppose 7%
Strongly oppose 3%
Don’t know 13%

Over half (58%) of those surveyed support the Federal Government taking over responsibility for hospitals from the State Governments, 10% disapprove, 19% neither support nor oppose and 13% don’t know.
People aged 55 years and over were more likely that those in other age groups to support a Federal Government takeover of hospitals (79%).
People in NSW were more likely than those in any other states to support a hospitals takeover (67%), while people in Western Australia (18%) and South Australia (17%) were more likely to oppose such a move.
Males were more likely than females to support a hospital takeover by the Federal Government (65% v 52%).
Support for a Federal Government takeover of hospitals from the State Government was highest amongst Labor voters (70%), followed by Coalition voters (63%) and then Green voters (54%).

Abbott's foray into the area of industrial relations policy last Friday and his pledge to roll back workplace relations legislation until it reflects the intent of John Howard's much hated Work Choices also appears set to lead the Coalition down a rocky road.

Saffin has the right answer on Maclean flying fox colony question

The community debate on the flying fox colony roosting in bushland adjoining Maclean High School has been ongoing for literally years.
In fact one former Maclean mayor initially got himself elected on the back of beating up on bats.

Federal Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin has the right idea; removing the bats is not a long-term solution and she is committed to discussing permanent options including moving the school.

Here is one local resident's recent letter to The Daily Examiner on the subject:

Beauty and the Beast

DOES age come before beauty in the Maclean Flying Fox issue?

I obviously touched a sore point with Mr Apps in my letter regarding the flying foxes at Maclean High school.

I did live across the road from Maclean High school for 10 years during the last flying fox episode in the late 1980s early 1990s and attended the then public meetings, public rally and kept informed.

The flying fox colonies Mr Apps refers to are in existence and so too are the major nurseries between Lismore and Grafton, all of which apparently unite and then head south to be with their friends on the Central Coast.

While I do not question Mr Apps capacity as an elderly gentleman to have amazing recall of his childhood, flying fox camps come and go and I don't think flying fox numbers would have been high on his agenda as a kid.

Camps may contain tens of thousands of animals or several hundred depending on the abundance of food available in the surrounding area. As the numbers of animals changes in response to food availability, the area of the camp occupied by them increases or decreases. (This is often mistakenly viewed as a 'population explosion').

Grey-headed flying-foxes are known to be faithful to sites for over 100 years; if sites are destroyed, the animals move to the 'next best site'.

Attempts to relocate a camp may not have the desired effect and flying foxes may move to an even more inconvenient location - example - attempts to move the camp near Maclean High School resulted in flying foxes moving closer to houses. (From the NSW Conservation Society).

The 1.1 hectare site of decimated rainforest next to Maclean High school is and was one of many food sources for the flying foxes. It's hard to imagine flying foxes ignoring this yummy area as it is within the flight path of many of them. Add to this equation flying foxes are genetically blue printed at birth to return to their birth place to give birth to their next generation.

Ten years ago dispersal of the flying fox colony cost ratepayers $100,000 and they are now back with a vengeance and relocating themselves in the process but unfortunately it is not where the community wants them.

My interest in this issue is in the health and well-being of the students and teachers of Maclean High School because they are caught up in a problem they did not create, just like the flying foxes are. It is a public health issue that has been allowed to develop to a point where something has to be done now.

I am not an environmentalist, however I do love, value and respect what Mother Nature has created for us.

If we all took the same view as Mr Apps we would still murder and bulldoze everything in our pathway till such a time we lived in a concrete jungle and visited museums to view trees and animals.

There is a solution but the NSW Government refuses to make a decision either way hoping the problem will fade or be buried because it will cost them money.

So Brucie Apps of Townsend, putting your old age before my stunning beauty may I suggest if you feel as strong as I do on this issue maybe we should join forces (Beauty and the Beast), start a petition, organise a rally, sell raffle tickets to fundraise for a trip to Canberra so that the people of MHS can be finally heard.

DEBRAH NOVAK, Yamba

Want to do a Woolies 'price check' comparison online? First sign a confidentiality agreement!

Woolworths went to the media with the big news that now one can do a price check online of 5,000 items it carries in its supermarket outlets across Australia.

Not only was this so-called pricing transparency met with a big yawn it was also somewhat misleading.

However, what was really interesting about this PR exercise was the fact that a visitor to the company website had to agree to the conditions set out below before the gatekeeping function allowed a search to begin.

So don't you dare print out a page and hand it on to your neighbour or the big bad Woolies police will come a-knocking.....lol, rofl

Price Check Terms & Conditions

Restricted Use

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• adapted, reproduced, stored, distributed, printed, displayed, performed or published, and no derivative works can be produced from any part of this website
  
• on sold or provided to any other person, in a material form, or
  
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The site's URL may not be displayed on any website without Woolworths' written permission.

I have read, understood, and accept the above terms of use.

Clarence Valley Council gets caught out

Clarence Valley Review 10 February 2010
Click on image to enlarge

The saving grace in this story is that Cr. Karen Toms has had the good sense to suggest to Clarence Valley Council that it start following Dept. of Lands guidelines and its own policy and procedures, now that irregularities in how council allocates trust fund monies has been brought to her attention.

Perhaps shire councillors and senior management might also take a quick tutorial in what constitutes reserve land covered by this trust.

Because only specifically named local reserves gazetted by the Minister are included under Clarence Coastal Reserve Trust provisions - it's not for just any old Crown land council might like to spend money on or supply services to whenever its budget allocations are otherwise stretched.

It was also good to see the Clarence Valley Review free community newspaper run with this story and include resident and ratepayer Ray Hunt's comments.

* Big thanks to Clarrie Rivers for the article image he emailed from his sick bed!

A message for Clarence Valley Council: "one person's junk is another person's treasure"

Like plenty of other Clarence Valley Council residents I've been waiting very keenly for council to undertake its annual kerbside cleanup. This annual event enables residents (and especially those who don't have access to a suitable vehicle) to dispose of items that either won't fit into the weekly garbage bin or are viewed as still having some redeemable features ... "one person's junk is another person's treasure".

So, I was more than a bit miffed when I found out, courtesy of a piece in The Daily Examiner, that 2010's pickup would not provide for the kerbside collection of e-waste. Prior to the 2009 cleanup residents were similarly told that e-waste should not be out for the February-March collection, but should instead be recycled during Council's second E-waste collection later in the year.

Sadly, the e-waste collection in late 2009 did not eventuate.

Consequently, small and not-so-small mountains of e-waste have been accumulating at many properties across Council's coverage area since at least early 2009.

As most residents (AND Council) know, the amount of material residents put out for collection and the amount of material council workers load on council trucks are two totally different amounts. Prior to the collection days scores of amateur and not-so-amateur recyclers and reusers "assist" Council and lessen the loads that have to be transported. In fact, many residents facilitate the work of the recyclers and reusers by sorting their material so that it can be readily identified as genuine junk/rubbish, useful junk/rubbish and possibly useful junk/rubbish.

Perhaps residents will ignore Council's advice and continue to place their e-waste out for collection. After all, seeing the e-waste go to good homes prior to the arrival of council workers and vehicles on the designated cleanup days is a darn lot better than having to resort to sending it to the tip in weekly instalments via the weekly red garbage collection.

Read Council's notice re the cleanup, including specific dates for local areas, here.









Regards,
Clarrie

Godless information technology or Why the minister doesn't like Apple Mac or the humble Platypus

What on earth can one say about this from Objective Ministries except why is the poor Australian Platypus dragged into the IT conspiracy against Christianity?

Hypnotically encased iMacs trick unsuspecting computer users into accepting Darwinism .
However, these propagandists aren't just targeting the young. Take for example Apple Computers, makers of the popular Macintosh line of computers. The real operating system hiding under the newest version of the Macintosh operating system (MacOS X) is called... Darwin! That's right, new Macs are based on Darwinism! While they currently don't advertise this fact to consumers, it is well known among the computer elite, who are mostly Atheists and Pagans. Furthermore, the Darwin OS is released under an "Open Source" license, which is just another name for Communism. They try to hide all of this under a facade of shiny, "lickable" buttons, but the truth has finally come out: Apple Computers promote Godless Darwinism and Communism.
But is this really such a shock? Lets look for a moment at Apple Computers. Founded by long haired hippies, this company has consistently supported 60's counter-cultural "values"². But there are even darker undertones to this company than most are aware of. Consider the name of the company and its logo: an apple with a bite taken out of it. This is clearly a reference to the Fall, when Adam and Eve were tempted with an apple³ by the serpent. It is now Apple Computers offering us temptation, thereby aligning themselves with the forces of darkness⁴.
This company is well known for its cult-like following. It isn't much of a stretch to say that it is a cult. Consider co-founder and leader Steve Jobs' constant exhortation through advertising (i.e. mind control) that its followers should "think different". We have to ask ourselves: "think different than whom or what?" The disturbing answer is that they want us to think different than our Christian upbringing, to reject all the values that we have been taught and to heed not the message of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Given the now obvious anti-Christian and cultish nature of Apple Computers, is it any wonder that they have decided to base their newest operating system on Darwinism? This just reaffirms the position that Darwinism is an inherently anti-Christian philosophy spread through propaganda and subliminal trickery, not a science as its brainwashed followers would have us believe.

A Satanic, unevolvable chimera compels you to submit to Darwinism!

ADDENDUM: It has been brought to my attention that the Darwin OS mentioned above now has a cartoon mascot (no doubt to influence children) named Hexley (pictured above) -- a platypus dressed as a devil who performs occult magic, i.e. hexes. They're not doing a very good job keeping their ties to the forces of darkness a secret, are they?

"Hexley DarwinOS Mascot Copyright 2000 by Jon Hooper. All Rights Reserved.''

Barnaby gets a conspiracy theory all of his very own

After deciding that climate change was a giant global conspiracy, that governments across Australia were against the humble farmer and the Rudd Government determined to bring down Armageddon on our heads, Opposition Finance Spokesperson Senator Barnaby Joyce was finally given a dastardly plot all of his very own.

"Tony told me there was a campaign directed against me and it didn't matter if I got 99 per cent of what I said right: everyone would latch on to the 1 per cent that was wrong," Senator Joyce told The Australian.

What more could an Opposition Leader do for his faithful National Party sidekick?

Marieke Hardy over at ABC's The Drum sums him up well (with tongue firmly lodged in cheek):

Barnaby Joyce is wonderful and juicy and mental, he really is. If he's not pulling magical figures from the number-sky, ("Let's call it $1,400 million! No wait, $1,400 gajillion-zillion! Let's stop throwing money to the hungry brown people and just build a giant donut named Bettina we can all turn to in times of crisis!") he's shrieking about climate change and leading some frankly startling campaigns against women who dare purchase smaller than a B-cup.

NSW North Coast a winner in 2010 WetlandCare Australia National Art and Photography Competition

Nicholas Duckworth, Grafton - Open Photography Prize

Other North Coast winners were:
Anna Jackowiak-Hoare, Bonalbo - Open Art Prize
Oliver Lifford, Teven - Children’s Art Senior Prize
Isabella Laura Jones, Ballina - merit award Children’s Art Senior Prize
Blair Trigger, Byron Bay - merit award Children’s Photography

The winning works from the WetlandCare Australia National Art Competition 2009... are now on display at the Cooee Heritage Centre in Gilgandra, central west NSW. The Heritage Centre doubles as the information centre for Gilgandra, so there are plenty of visitors passing through who will get to enjoy the artworks.
The exhibition is hosted and sponsored by the Central West Catchment Management Authority, who sponsored the Children's Art Senior Category in the 2009 competition.
The works will be on display until August 31.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the competition.

Abbott leaves himself exposed by choice of shadow ministers

It was not a good week for Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott.

Former Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull rises to his feet and takes a scalpel to the Coalition's greenwash climate change policy and, in full election mode, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey declares to anyone who would listen;"There is a very clear message to the Rudd Government from the Reserve Bank: Stop spending so much money (or) interest rates will rise" only to be knocked down by every blogger capable of reading what the Reserve Bank had really said.

Tony Abbott weathered the very public Turnbull defection and that whopper from his #1 protegee only to be faced with this:

Let me see if I'm getting this right because, you know, things move by at pace. First up, shadow treasury spokesman Joe Hockey took the obvious course when confronted by a growing perception that the conservatives were losing ground in the revered 'preferred economic manager' category of the national polls: He appeared on commercial television clutching a pink tutu and a magic wand. This was an approach clearly designed to offer a point of colourful comparison that made 'maverick' opposition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce look a little more greyly bankerish and restrained.

Just after Shadow Minister Finance and #2 boy Barnaby Joyce, red faced and almost incoherent, came out with a real jaw dropper when he claimed that Australia was in danger of not being able to meet its sovereign debt leading to this online new excerpt:
Economists have joined the Federal Government in branding Senator Joyce's comments irresponsible, especially at a time when financial markets are jittery and overseas investors might take his comments seriously.
Credit ratings agencies that monitor sovereign risk say the Opposition finance spokesman's assessment is nonsense.Brendan Flynn, who analyses sovereign risk for Standard and Poor's, gives the Federal Government the highest triple-A credit rating.......
"With the triple-A rating, that's indicative of the extremely strong ability to meet financial obligations and therefore in our opinion, very little chance of defaulting on debt," Mr Flynn said.
"We rate all of the Australian states triple A or double A-plus, and the double A-plus is our second-highest rating - our opinion of a very strong ability to meet debt obligation."

A number of voters are not amused with this from rod3000 out in the Twitterverse; "Sir Barney Bjelke-Petersen" I like it Emmo :-) #qt and this from no_filter_Yamba; Why is it that Queensland seems to throw up politicians with serious neurological deficits? Barnaby Joyce needs to be retired pronto!

UPDATE:

Another Hockey moment to make Abbott cringe; Coalition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey called for an end to the stimulus, saying the big issue was no longer unemployment but interest rates. ''It's time for the government to explain how spending money on school halls in 2012 is going to create jobs and help address the economic downturn in 2008,'' he said.
In the same The Age article Deutsche Bank answered his question; Since mid last year almost 8000 primary schools have been building halls and computer labs and libraries with $14 billion [of stimulus funding] … It looks as if in January, with school about to return, the tradies put on more blokes. ''It has to be the stimulus. Private non-residential construction is flat, private industry isn't investing outside the mining sector.''

Peter Martin laid it out in pictures for the economic theory-challenged Shadow Treasurer:

Hard to get the Premier's attention? Well life's like that in regional New South Wales

On 5 February 2010 The Daily Examiner proudly announced:

TODAY four North Coast mayors and the region's three main newspapers start a combined campaign to get much-needed improvements to the Pacific Highway accelerated. Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson, Coffs Harbour Mayor Keith Rhoades, Richmond Valley Mayor Col Sullivan and Ballina Mayor Phil Silver yesterday sent letters to the NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell inviting them on a highway road trip between Coffs Harbour and Ballina - a road most of us travel regularly.
It is the first step in what is likely to be an ongoing campaign to get the government to rethink its highway priorities and it is a campaign that has the strong support of this newspaper, the Coffs Harbour-based Coffs Coast Advocate and the Lismore-based Northern Star.
It is rare - most likely unprecedented - that four mayors and three daily newspapers have banded together to support a single issue and illustrates the level of concern in the region about preventable highway deaths.
Late last year the NSW Government told us there were no major upgrades planned for the area between just north of Coffs Harbour and just south of Ballina for at least the next five years because it was focusing on areas with higher traffic volumes and where pre-planning work had been done.

I'm sure a resounding cheer went up at breafast tables all over the North Coast that morning.

Five days later Premier Keneally had passed the ball to one of her ministers and the editor was reporting:

THIS is a transcript of part of a conversation yesterday between a Daily Examiner journalist and a representative of the NSW Minister for State and Regional Development, Ian Macdonald.
The representative was responding to an invitation the mayors of Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley and Ballina sent to the Premier, Kristina Keneally, to travel the Pacific Highway between Coffs Harbour and Ballina to see its condition for themselves.
Mr Macdonald was responding on behalf of the premier.
Reporter: "And he'll do the tour?"
Spokesperson: "He'll be doing that with the mayors, wouldn't he?"
Reporter: "Yeah, they're doing a drive from Coffs to Ballina. That's the idea, to highlight the problem areas."
Spokesperson: "Coffs to Ballina, that's, what, 18km?"
Reporter: "No, it's a reasonable drive ... about two-and-a-half hours. That was the thrust of the invitation, so they (the leaders) can see for themselves how bad it is."
Spokesperson: "Oh, it's a drive."
We don't want to crucify this spokesperson; they were trying to do their best to answer our inquiries. They may have just moved from interstate with little knowledge of the region.
Certainly the minister has a better understanding of the geography of the area after being here a number of times
But the exchange helps illustrate how difficult it can be to get the message across to political leaders about what is needed on the highway.
And it also illustrates why it is so important to get ministers and the premier here first hand to see the highway's condition and not rely on the advice of staffers.
'Coffs to Ballina, that's, what, 18km?'

According to yet another article it appears that the NSW Leader of the Opposition is overseas at present - what is your excuse for staying away Ms. Keneally?

Wibbling widgets, Clarencegirl!

Sometimes the moon and stars just don't align and blogging becomes an obstacle race rather than a pleasant ride through cyberspace.

This is one of those times.

Most of North Coast Voices' regular contributors are down for the count at present due to injury or illness and, that leaves me holding the fort for the next week or so.

However, my PC has taken full advantage of this opportunity to create mischief and become highly dysfunctional - my apologies in advance for any spotty postings over the next few days.