In this January 2011 rain BOM's the word on the NSW North Coast

FLOOD WATCH FOR THE TWEED, BRUNSWICK, RICHMOND/WILSONS, CLARENCE AND BELLINGER RIVER VALLEYS FOR SUNDAY TO TUESDAY

Issued at 11:18 am EDT on Friday 7 January 2011

Note: This Flood Watch is a "heads up" for possible future flooding and is NOT a Flood Warning [see note below].

Further heavy rain is predicted for the NSW northern rivers from Sunday to Tuesday.

The above catchments are wet from recent rain so there is a higher than 70% of local and main river flooding developing during Sunday evening onwards in the following:

1. Tweed Valley - moderate flooding including local flooding in several areas including Chillingham

2. Richmond and Wilsons Valleys - moderate to major flooding

3. Brunswick Valley - moderate to major flooding

4. Clarence Valley - including the Orara River - minor to moderate flooding

5. Bellingen Valley - minor to moderate flooding

This Flood Watch means that people living or working along rivers and streams must monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground should flooding develop. Flood Warnings will be issued if Minor Flood Level is expected to be exceeded at key sites along the main rivers for which the Bureau of Meteorology provides a flood warning service. Across NSW, about 70% of Flood Watches are followed by flooding.

FloodSafe advice is available at www.ses.nsw.gov.au

For emergency assistance call the SES on telephone number 132 500.

For life threatening emergencies, call 000 immediately.

Northern Rivers

Forecast for the rest of Saturday

Cloudy. Isolated showers, becoming scattered in the afternoon and evening, with the chance of thunderstorms. Winds south to southeasterly averaging 15 to 25 km/h tending east to southeasterly up to 20 km/h later in the evening. Temperatures in the mid 20s during the day.

Forecast for Sunday

Cloudy. Rain. The chance of thunderstorms early in the morning, mainly inland. Winds east to southeasterly averaging 15 to 30 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to in the low 20s with daytime temperatures reaching the mid 20s.

Mid-North Coast

Forecast for the rest of Saturday

Partly cloudy. Isolated showers, becoming scattered in the north during the afternoon. The chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, mainly in the north. Winds east to southeasterly averaging 10 to 20 km/h. Temperatures 22 to 28 during the day.

Forecast for Sunday

Cloudy. Rain, more frequent in the north. The chance of thunderstorms early in the morning. The chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Winds east to southeasterly averaging 15 to 25 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to between 15 and 20 with daytime temperatures reaching 21 to 28.

How to tell when it's getting a trifle damp around the house in January 2011?

.....the local ants move their nest from the turf below to the peg basket hanging on the clothes line above.

Graphic from Google Images

Oh dear! Dams on the Opposition agenda again

From A Clarence Valley Protest yesterday:

Barnaby's on the dam(mn) trail again with Abbott trekking in the rear

With the flood waters still making their way down the eastern length of Australia and so much of Queensland still under water, Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce is back on the dam trail again and, obscuring his intention to endorse proposals to dam and divert freshwater from the Clarence River catchment within broad sentences such as these:

The Coalition took to the last election a very specific strategy on the construction of dams….

CJ Bradfield was a Queensland engineering visionary for our nation. He designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Story Bridge in Brisbane and the inland water scheme in the 1930’s.Unfortunately the final and most important part of his vision was never constructed compromising the wealth of this nation that would have been delivered from this agricultural bounty……..

Australia not only can, but must have the vision to construct the infrastructure that gives us the capacity to create the agricultural, industrial and mining wealth for our future. If we don’t we only have ourselves to blame at the next drought, not climate change, just our lack of management and foresight. We can not afford a reliance on desalination, we must build dams and we must move water.

Never backward in coming forward for a swift political jab, his Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has joined Joyce for the media moment according to The Business Spectator:

Sensing that water policy will be a significant election issue stemming from the severe Queensland flooding and the controversial Murray-Darling project, opposition leader Tony Abbott says he will develop a plan to build a series of dams across Australia as part of the Coalition's next election platform, according to a report in The Australian.

Great Barrier Reef not immune from 2011 Queensland flooding

Look what's heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. A freshwater and heavy sediment plume which is likely to stress certain coral species.

NASA image of Queensland flooding on 4 January 2011

Click on image to enlarge

Australian Broadcasting Commission - anything but the whip!

When ABC Radio began a dedicated twenty-four hour news broadcast I was delighted and it is probably still my first preference for national news and current affairs over the airwaves.

When ABC Television announced it was following with a dedicated twnety-four hour news channel I expected at least the same level of immediacy and range of subject matter as that on the radio.

How wrong I was. ABC TV News24 is the most basic of news padded out by endless self-promotion and current affairs repeats of repeats of repeats over day after day after day.

If one tries to use this TV channel as a primary source of information one comes away feeling flayed. Thank heavens it’s free to air because no-one would possibly want to purchase access as it now stands!

Albanese talks with NSW North Coast mayors about flooding

The Federal Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin’s timely media alert, as the NSW North Coast and Mid-North Coast face a day of predicted severe weather and chance of flash flooding:

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese is on the NSW North Coast and will hold a doorstop following a briefing from local mayors about the impact of the recent floods.

The following mayors will be attendance: Jennifer Dowell (Lismore), Ernie Bennett (Kyogle), Phillip Silver (Ballina), Col Sullivan (Richmond Valley) and Richie Williamson (Clarence Valley).

Google Images photograph of Saffin and Abanese in less stressful times on the North Coast

Elmo visited Yamba

Brisbaneite Elmo hit Yamba in a big way recently. He, along with Delece & Victor and DJ, stayed in a caravan while holidaying in Yamba. More reports about Elmo's world trips can be read here.

Credit: Pic of Elmo and DJ from http://elmosworldtrip.blogspot.com/

A WTF moment coming off the back of larger political ambition

Clarence Valley Mayor and announced Independent candidate at the March 2011 NSW state election, Richie Williamson, told The Daily Examiner:

POPULATION growth in the Valley is bringing with it increasing demands on services and facilities. To help finance those extra demands, Clarence Valley Council is introducing Section 94 (developer) Contribution Plans. The State Government recently set a maximum threshold of $20,000 for developed areas and $30,000 for ‘greenfield’ sites.

Err….Section 94s have been in place across the Clarence Valley for many years, based on the ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT ACT 1979 - SECT 94.

A fact Clarence Valley Shire Council admits on its own website:

Planning policy in the Clarence Valley is defined through the Local Environmental Plans (LEP), various Development Control Plans (DCPs) and Section 94 Contributions plans…. Section 94 Contributions Plans enable Council to levy developer contributions to fund public facilities and services whose demand is generated as a consequence of new development.

Additional to this, it does not appear that Clarence Valley Shire Council has been approved to levy the mentioned higher amount of $30,000 yet.

In fact what the mayor seems to be re-announcing is a watering down of developer obligations to adequately compensate residents and ratepayers for additional impacts on local government infrastructure.”

Indeed, in June 2010 it was reported in the mainstream media that:

The NSW Government’s decision to cap developer contributions could see new home owners in greenfields housing estates left without adequate facilities and households facing steep rises in rates, according to the Planning Institute of Australia’s NSW division.
and
PLANNING experts have warned a government decision to cap the amount of money councils can charge developers to pay for infrastructure will increase the cost of new houses - the opposite effect to that intended.
The president of the Planning Institute of Australia, Tony McNamara, said he feared a government imposed cap of $20,000 on developer levies would force up housing prices because councils in growth areas would be reluctant to approve new land for housing subdivisions, exacerbating the housing shortage.
Councils in several growth areas on Sydney's fringe have announced they will refuse to process new development applications, saying they cannot pay for the shortfall in infrastructure that will result from the new rules.

While this move is part of a NSW Government plan to eventually reduce the cost of State infrastructure contributions.

Now I can understand Williamson getting carried away by his enthusiasm for higher office and vamping a mayoral media release of what is essentially old news canvassed twice in mid-2010 in newspaper articles It's a taxing argument and Developer cap not a concern for CV, but what I cannot understand is the local media accepting this recent political beat-up so uncritically and churning out what comes perilously close to misinformation.

Thinking of Yaamba in the January 2011 Queensland floods

Here on the NSW North Coast we share a number of similar area names with Queensland – Maclean and Yaamba being the more well-known.

Like Yamba in the Clarence Valley, theYaamba area to the north of Rockhampton is also a rural/regional holiday destination for many and the preferred home to a lucky few.

So, as radio reports begin to inform the nation that the flood gauge at Yaamba this morning reached a reading that just edged above the 16.65m 1991 flood level recorded for that part of the Fitzroy River catchment, I’m sure everyone here at North Coast Voices sends their best wishes to this small rural village and all Queenslanders affected by this massive flood.

Photograph of Yaamba flood makers from the Capricorn Coast Historical Society

Gunning for Twitter with DMCA bullets

Adult publisher Perfect 10 is trying to squelch fair use of copyrighted materials by Chilling Effects -- and EFF is fighting back. The online intellectual property resource Chilling Effects gathers and analyzes legal notices alleging online copyright infringement -- a vital resource for public education and study. But adult publisher Perfect 10 alleges that Google is infringing on copyright by sharing its notices. EFF joined other founders and participants in the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse in filing an amicus brief to urge the court to reject this attempt to block Google's contribution to the site. [EFFector,email news letter,4 January 2011]

In 2010 Chilling Effects saw more than 12,000 cease-and-desist notices reported. Over the next few weeks and into 2011, we will be doing preliminary analysis of patterns in those notices. We are also preparing the data to be more easily usable by other researchers.

According to Chilling Effects the principal senders of DMCA takedown requests were:

number Sender: type
1272 IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry): music
303 Clube do Hardware: articles
299 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation: film
257 MAGNOLIA PICTURES INC.: film
230 APCM - Associação Anti Pirataria de Cinema e Musica: music
221 Removeyourcontent, LLC: images and video (adult content)
203 RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America): music
166 Autodata Limited: technical manuals
158 Folkert Knieper: recipe photographs
122 Product Partners, LLC / Beachbody: fitness DVDs
117 SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT / EPIC RECORDS / ESTATE OF MICHAEL JACKSON: music
106 Stones Throw Records LLC: music
92 Chappell & Co: music
88 Microsoft Corporation: software and instructional material
88 Globo Comunicação e Participações S/A: video
85 The New York Times: articles
84 Deckers Outdoor Corporation (UGG Australia): images of UGG boots
82 Vivid Entertainment Group, LLC: video (adult content)
81 Digiturk: TV
81 The NBA - National Basketball Association: video streams

Its database is also uncovering an increasing trend to report Twitter accounts and particular tweets – 436 complaints by last Tuesday mentioned this form of social media.

Here is a brief sampling……..

Angry author blasts Australian blogger:

Twitter Rocket author blasts blogger

Atavar complaints:

Image DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Image DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Photo DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Photograph DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Image DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Privacy issues:

Photos DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Local Government gets upset about Twitter account using official council crest:

Logo DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

An example of one person who hunts the Twitterverse and reports every link he finds to his book:

Book DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

From beyond the grave:

Music DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Mark Twain Foundation objects:

Book DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Rutgers University objects to breach of ‘Sex, Etc’ logo copyright:

Logo DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Twitter

Polling Keneally in the dying days of her government

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally continues to add to her disasterous reputation

This is one politician who, first as planning minister and then as premier, has shown herself photogenic but inadequate in a position of power.

One cannot help but feel that she would have been better to have stuck to organising happy-clappy 'happenings' for the Catholic Church.

Although online newspaper polls cannot be considered statistically reliable, this 6.30am 3 December 2011 snapshot probably does reflect the majority view of domestic and small business power consumers across the state after the questionable one minute to midnight sale of state assests.

Cartoon found at The Sydney Morning Herald

Migaloo speaks on behalf of the Whale Nation

Some presentations bear repeating as the Government of Japan is once again active in the Southern Ocean killing fields....

Wikileaks: Japan and U.S. discuss Antarctic whaling and Australia's opposition

Main body of the text of a November 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable indicating that the American Government intended to pressure the Australian Government concerning its continuing opposition to ‘scientific’ commercial whale hunting in the Antarctic, Japan admits that the Netherlands' registration of Sea Shepherd vessels means that country is primarily responsible for addressing complaints and the U.S. is seeking to revoke the not-for-profit/charity status of the Sea Shepherd organization:

¶2. (C/NF) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and U.S. representative to the International Whaling Commission Monica Medina met with senior Fisheries Agency of Japan officials to discuss the Future of the IWC process November 4 in Tokyo. In a morning meeting with Ms. Medina, Fisheries Agency of Japan Director General Machida said that while he expects difficult negotiations ahead, he wants the Future of the IWC process to succeed. According to Machida, political level consultations on whaling are necessary following the recent change in administration in Japan. However, he cautioned the new Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) administration shares the same fundamental position on whaling as the outgoing Liberal Democratic Party, including support for the resumption of commercial whaling and continued research whaling. He added that the two sides should not rush through the negotiations, which could end up making it more difficult to reach consensus at next June's IWC annual meeting.

¶3. (C/NF) Ms. Medina said the USG understands there is no fundamental change in the GOJ position on whaling, but that the USG is looking for creative solutions to move the IWC forward as opposed to fundamental change. She added that the U.S. is committed to finding a solution over the next two to three months. She said she would advocate for including language on whaling in a summit statement following the meeting between the President and Prime Minister November 13. The statement would express the desire of both countries to work out remaining differences on whaling. Once negotiators have narrowed the issues, both sides could seek a political solution, she added.

¶4. (C/NF) Machida described the progress at the Support Group meeting in Santiago as a major step forward. However, he said there remain two major issues that need to be addressed. First, there is still no consensus on the proposals raised in Santiago even among the Support Group members, let alone the entire IWC. Second, the upper limit on catch quotas, especially a reduction in the limit for Japan's research whaling in the Southern Ocean, have yet to be negotiated. Regarding Japan's catch numbers, Machida said Australia's proposal to phase out research whaling is a non-starter for the GOJ. He added that the baseline for any reduction in Japan's research whaling should be the catch quota figures and not the actual number of whales caught.

TOKYO 00002588 002 OF 002

¶5. (C/NF) Ms. Medina replied that the catch quotas is the most important outstanding issue. She said the Santiago proposal calls for an overall reduction in catch numbers from all whaling nations over a ten year period, which would help in securing approval from Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. She said given the history of Japan's research whaling, and the increase in quota numbers in recent years, there is room for Japan to cut from the actual number of whales taken. A symbolic action by Japan, such as agreeing not to take fin whales this year, would be a good indicator to the rest of the IWC of Japan's commitment to reaching a solution. The USG would then work hard to make sure the EU and Australia do not block a compromise.

¶6. (C/NF) Machida said there are two factors outside the current Future of the IWC negotiations that influence Japan's negotiating position. First, a negative outcome in the vote at next year's IWC intersessional meeting on Greenland's proposal to catch ten humpback whales could derail the work of the Support Group. Greenland's proposal has the backing of the IWC's Scientific Committee and another rejection at the IWC plenary meeting could make the overall compromise being discussed impossible. Second, the violent protests by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) could limit the GOJ's flexibility in the negotiations. He said the Netherlands should have primary responsibly for taking action against the SSCS, but he appreciates the USG initiative to address the group's tax exempt status. He said action on the SSCS would be a major element for Japan in the success of the overall negotiations. Ms. Medina replied that she hopes to work out differences with the EU on Greenland's proposal on humpback whales prior to the March 2010 IWC intersessional meeting and include the issue in the overall agreement. Regarding the SSCS, she said she believes the USG can demonstrate the group does not deserve tax exempt status based on their aggressive and harmful actions.

¶7. (U) Ms. Medina cleared this cable subsequent to departing

Tokyo.

ROOS

WHALING DEAL IS NO DEAL - February 2010 U.S. diplomatic cable outlining Australian Environment Minister Peter Garret's response.

Never a truer word - GetUp! continues to disappoint

Save Wooli would be the first official GetUp! campaign I have heard of which doesn’t appear to have been canvassed with members first. Or as this activist organisation now coyly plays it – joins campaign to save Wooli.

This is the opening and very inaccurate salvo in its online campaign:

“I hope that people look after Wooli so that it will be here forever.” That’s six year old Evie talking about her favourite place – the small coastal community of Wooli.

But this typical beachside town might not be here forever. Increasing coastal erosion due to climate change is on a course to wipe out half the houses as higher and higher tides climb the sandbanks. Rather than readying a response to increasing coastal erosion due to climate change, the recommendation before the Clarence Valley Council is to head for the hills and abandon the village to the rising tides.

Does someone senior in this activist organisation have a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in land or business in the Wooli area on the NSW North Coast? Or has the organisation fallen into the error that it must always have a ‘new’ campaign on offer to remain relevant with the fickle enthusiasms of mainstream media?

The Daily Examiner 27 December 2010:

LABELLING a “Save Wooli” campaign and online petition by GetUp! as “misguided”, Greens Clarence candidate Janet Cavanaugh has come out in support of Clarence Valley Council’s planned retreat proposal for Wooli.

The environmental scientist said the proposal had also been endorsed by the council’s climate change advisory committee and local environment groups.

“I am usually supportive of the progressive stance taken by GetUp! but I’m concerned by the level of misinformation being used to support this campaign,” she said.

“The proposal put forward by council is to relocate the southern residents to another area within Wooli. There is no plan to ‘abandon’ the village as claimed in the campaign.”

ABC News 28 December 2010:

The Greens candidate for the seat of Clarence says she is surprised and disappointed by a campaign to help Wooli residents deal with erosion.

The national advocacy body Get Up has launched campaign to try and block the Clarence Valley Council's proposed strategy of a 'planned retreat'.

Local candidate, Janet Cavanaugh, says the council's policy to relocate residents to other areas of the village is the only 'realistic' approach.

"I would have expected from Get Up that they would have actually consulted with their local members before taking on what is a very complicated issue," she said.

"I disagree with the fact that they are criticising the planned retreat as a legitimate form of climate change adaptation.

"They're calling for alternatives, though the campaign is extremely vague on what those alternatives should be."

Ms Cavanaugh says Get Up's stance is misguided and will further confuse residents affected by erosion.

"I was surprised and a little bit disappointed with the fact that Get Up supported this campaign," she said.

"I think it was an ill-conceived campaign for them to run.

"But it does highlight that there will be local consequences to climate change and that there are hard decisions that will need to be made.

"This is an emotional issue because it's talking about people's houses."

Comment to GetUp! from Antony McCardell:

As an environmental scientist I can say that, sadly, the campaign to save Woolli is misplaced. What can rate-payer funded local councils like Clarence Valley Council do? The most common method used to protect beach communities is to build protective sea walls and groins. This can cause as much harm to up-current beaches and their ecosystems as they produce "security" for the settlements "protected". This is because sea walls dramatically increase beach erosion up-current. This is supported by extensive studies here and worldwide. No, beach erosion and sea level rise are pretty much inevitable unless the world tackles climate change head-on. More power to GetUp if it can achieve THAT... but...

Timthorncraft on the same subject:

Wooli is built on a sand spit. On energetic unprotected coasts like NE NSW, sand spits are temporary features at the best of times and in the face of sea level rise we have two options.
We can go with the geomorphological flow and gradually retreat from low lying vulnerable sand areas like the south end of Wooli Spit or,
We can have the real estate industry pick which bits we want hang on to, fortify them with vast amounts of concrete and rock, costing vast amounts of public money, releasing vast amounts of CO2, and turn places like quaint dear old Wooli into something resembling an industrial wharf complex, and then in 20 or 50 or 100 years we can watch the rising sea eat it all anyway!
I'm a long standing supporter of Getup campaigns but I think that Getup is backing a real loser this time.

Letter from a Coffs Harbour shire councillor:

Dear Getup!

I have been a proud supporter of Getup! over recent years and have, to date, agreed with and supported most of your campaigns. I too love Wooli greatly and will be greatly saddened to see the coastline of the Clarence Valley change drastically as a result of sea level rise.

In the instance of your "Save Wooli" campaign I completely disagree. This is because:
1. Sea levels are rising - most estimates now commonly exceeding 1m of sea-level rise by 2100, with many recent indications that it could be 2m by 2100. There is no indication whatsoever that sea levels will stop rising at 2100, to the contrary they are likely to continue rising due to our (the human species) ever-increasing emissions of greenhouse gases.
2. There are only two solutions to adapt to the impacts of sea-level rise on residential, commercial and industrial premises:
i. Move to higher ground
ii. Engineer costly solutions such as sea walls, levees and put in place fill to physically protect premises.
3. The cost of engineering solutions to protect all vulnerable coastal properties is most likely well beyond available public funds.
4. It is not an equitable use of public funds to pay for the protection of a very limited number of properties in a highly vulnerable coastal locality. If Clarence Valley Council and the State and Federal Governments are called upon to fund the protection of a very limited number of properties at Wooli this will draw much-needed funds away from Hospitals, Schools, Aged Care Facilities, Libraries and Environmental Protection and Restoration projects.

These are the hard realities and consequences of the fact that Australians are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases globally. We are the greatest per-capita contributors to the very problems that you highlight in your "Save Wooli" campaign. As a nation we need to make some very tough decisions in the public interest. Protecting a limited number of coastal properties to the detriment of many needy social and environmental services is not, in my opinion, a fair and equitable campaign.

I have always associated Getup! with fairness, equity, reason and rationality and a fair-go for our people and environment. In this instance I feel very strongly that you have got it wrong.


Yours Sincerely
Councillor Mark Graham
Coffs Harbour City Council.

Petering Time on the Save Wooli campaign here.

U.S. happily admits it imprisons more of its own population than any other country in the world

When delving into the Wikileaks Cablegate file sometimes the mind boggles – both at cable content and the little asides.

So we find that one diplomat opines that on average men are likely to live longer in Russia if they are in prison and, that America locks up more people as a percentage of its own population than any other nation on earth and half of those re-offend.

Full cable transcript can be found here

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000531O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV TBIO RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN PRISONS
REF: A. 07 MOSCOW 4543 ¶B. MOSCOW 325 ¶C. MOSCOW 378
Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns for reason 1.4(d).
¶1. (C) Summary: The Russian prison system combines the country's emblematic features - vast distances, harsh climate, and an uncaring bureaucracy - and fuses them into a massive instrument of punishment. Russia imprisons a greater portion of its population than almost any other country in the world (second only to the U.S.). In contrast to other Western countries, the system is foremost focused on punishment, not rehabilitation, and while statisics are difficult to compare, produces a lower rate of recidivism. Recent prison riots, new prisoner shock tactics, and smuggled videos of prison mistreatment have highlighted the cruelties and corruption in the system. Health conditions in Russian prisons are poor and infection rates for contagious diseases are much higher than in the general population, but surprisingly the mortality rate for men in these prisons is only one-third the rate on the outside - a statistic that says much more about the dangers of alcoholism and road safety than it does about healthy living behind bars. Reports of abuses in the prison system have been answered with calls for reform, most recently in the Human Rights Ombudsman's annual report and by the President's Human Rights Council. While NGO activists such as the embattled Lev Ponomarev praise the work of Lukin, the insurmountable challenges posed by the physical and cultural nature of the prison system mean that efforts to improve conditions or to alter the character of the system from punishment to rehabilitation are likely to produce only superficial improvements. End summary......
¶6. (U) According to FSIN statistics, as of July, there were approximately 889,600 people in the custody of the criminal justice system, including 63,000 women and 12,100 juveniles. This rate of 630 prisoners per 100,000 citizens is second in the world only to the United States (702 per 100,000)......
¶11. (U) According to Sergeyeva, the recidivism rate in Russiais only 36 percent (compared to more than 50 percent in the United States or the United Kingdom).

Another brickbat for Telstra Customer Service

Telstra continues to elicit negative perceptions……………….

An ongoing Telstra torment

I CAN'T begin to explain the torment I've experienced this past 12 months at the hands of Telstra.

I must say though my feeling of futility and stupidity was somewhat allayed when reading our glorious Bonnie's letter to you on December 20.

Bonnie is a business woman I admire and it brought me great relief to know that someone of her capability and knowledge of the world of communications could also struggle in her dealings with this once great telco.

I could detail in excess of 20 examples of monumental Telstra stuff ups involving my personal and company phones and internet connections over this year, however, the one that brought the most chuckles and pain was their recent disconnection of my business phones.

Without detailing the events leading up to this - which were quite bizarre and confusing to say the least -a day arrived, a Thursday, about four weeks ago when all my telephones - the business line, the EFTPOS line and all three company mobiles were dead.

When I tried to dial it told me I could only dial the billing number on my bill -which I did but it still didn't let me ring out.

So in frustration and fear I tried the Telstra business number - miraculously I got through. I explained I had called the billing number on my account as instructed -but had not been able to get through.

The only remark then was they were aware the wrong number is printed on those bills -no apology, no explanation.

The woman I spoke to told me that I hadn't paid my account which I explained I had in dribs and drabs over BPAY -and that Telstra had only just reconciled all the errors of the past 12 months.

The woman explained that I needed to pay another $473 if I wanted the phones reconnected.

I told her I simply didn't have that money on the day and asked her how she expected me to pay this amount given my customers couldn't call to order nor could they pay with EFTPOS and nor could they buy any pre-paid telephone or internet. She didn't care.

She said to call back when I paid and they would arrange to have my phones reconnected.

The irony was as she went to end the conversation she asked me which number was the best one to contact me on?

I said: "Are you serious? You've disconnected every single line I have."

I managed to get an email through to my son, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, he paid the account via BPAY and emailed me the payment details.

I actually have my own designated Telstra person - with an email address and direct number - as a result of the Telstra trauma

I've experienced this year. I couldn't call that person because the phones were disconnected - and as it turned out he was on an RDO anyway.

I emailed the payment information immediately to this chap, who returned to work on the Friday and he gave instructions that my phones be reconnected immediately.

Well immediately in Telstra terms was the following Tuesday morning.

My store is open 6am-6Pm every day of the week and my business number is used to book appointments for the acupuncturist and remedial masseuse who work from the clinic I've established at the rear of my store.

So almost six days with no phones, no EFTPOS and no sales of pre-paid internet or phone.

Over that weekend I needed to speak to my father.

I had a brainwave -I'll use the telephone box outside my store - hmmm ...it was out of order.

But the most painful part of this whole experience was that on the Sunday, December 5, my baby boy turned 26. He promised to call me from Tarin Kowt where he is currently serving as an Australian soldier.

For the first time in those 26 years I didn't get to speak to my baby boy on his birthday.

Thank you again Telstra -a most memorable year.

Oh, and some advice, stop spending buckets of money on sending out copious volumes of expensive marketing materials and direct that budget towards improving your customer service.

URSULA TUNKS

Managing Director, Premium ldeas and Marketing

[The Daily Examiner,letter to the editor,28 December 2010]

Japanese Antarctic Whale Kill 2010-11: If there are official photographs of the slaughter why aren't we seeing them?

Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown in The Sydney Morning Herald on 21 December 2010:

Greens leader Bob Brown says he has met with Japan's ambassador and told him that whaling is doing his country "great damage".

He says he told Shigekazu Sato that whatever victory Japan thinks it has in killing whales is "a pyrrhic victory".

"I did describe this bloody business of whaling in very direct terms to the ambassador.

"I was able to ask him if he, as a Christmas gesture, might not give me the co-ordinates of the whaling fleet and update them every other day. He declined to be so generous."

Senator Brown also called on the federal government to release the most recent whaling photographs, which he said are being kept hidden "in the minister for the environment's drawer".

"That sort of cowardly approach to Tokyo is not representing what the Australian people think about the cowardly business of whaling," Senator Brown told reporters.

"If they want to go down there and slaughter whales in our oceans or the oceans south of New Zealand, let the rest of the world see what they're doing."

The intransigence and blatant hypocrisy of the Government of Japan and its agencies having oversight and operational responsibility for these annual whale hunts begs the question of why the Australian Government continues to take such a low-key approach:

Japan's Fisheries Agency has admitted its officials accepted gifts of whale meat from the body that runs the country's so-called scientific whaling program.

Six months ago the ABC broadcast allegations by two whaling crew members that officials and crew were illegally taking thousands of dollars worth of whale cuts.

At the time the Fisheries Agency denied the allegations, but it has now reprimanded five of its officials for taking more than $3,000 worth of whale meat.

The Federal Opposition, which when in government was not inclined to pursue legal action against the Japanese Government, now calls for:

… an interim injunction be taken out against Japan to prevent it whaling in the Southern Ocean this summer.......

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the federal government should be doing more to stop the annual whale hunt.

And an interim injunction should be sought through the international court, or the tribunal on the law of the sea.

Australia's efforts through the International Court of Justice has been "torturously slow", Mr Hunt said, noting the court's decision isn't expected until at least 2013.

While the Sea Shepard’s methods of directly confronting the whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean raises concern in many quarters, sometimes it is hard to stand back from the fact that this group is the only one physically standing between whales and painful, unnecessary, early deaths from unnatural causes.

Japan's Insitute of Cetacean Research has sent out a media release and two short videos which allege to show an 'attack' on its whaling fleet on New Year's Day 2011:

2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists aboard a zodiac boat throwing glass bottle projectiles against the Yushin Maru No. 3 (2.91MB)

2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists aboard a zodiac boat prepare to deploy a rope aimed at the Yushin Maru No. 3 propeller and rudder (794KB)

Although last year Japan reiterated its intention to again hold off plans to slaughter humpback whales like Migaloo the White Fella, there is no guarantee that this decision will not be arbitrarily reversed.

McDonald's rubbishing Yamba in 2011 - Part One

While Petering Time is away chasing that illusive fish catch of a lifetime it has fallen to me to keep the McDonald's Yamba fast food outlet 'rubbish pile' evidence.

So here is the first installment for 2011 of Maccas branded litter found in Yamba public spaces within a few metres of and/or or less than a kilometre from the McDonald's Australia fast food outlet opened in December 2010.

Yes, Virginia, there is a bright future out there

The following impressive study undertaken by British primary school children aged between 7 and 11 years of age shows that the world still contains much human potential - Blackawton bees.

The abstract is here, the full report is here and here is the list of the young science enthusiasts and now published authors and their support team:

1. P. S. Blackawton1,

2. S. Airzee1,

3. A. Allen1,

4. S. Baker1,

5. A. Berrow1,

6. C. Blair1,

7. M. Churchill1,

8. J. Coles1,

9. R. F.-J. Cumming1,

10. L. Fraquelli1,

11. C. Hackford1,

12. A. Hinton Mellor1,

13. M. Hutchcroft1,

14. B. Ireland1,

15. D. Jewsbury1,

16. A. Littlejohns1,

17. G. M. Littlejohns1,

18. M. Lotto1,

19. J. McKeown1,

20. A. O'Toole1,

21. H. Richards1,

22. L. Robbins-Davey1,

23. S. Roblyn1,

24. H. Rodwell-Lynn1,

25. D. Schenck1,

26. J. Springer1,

27. A. Wishy1,

28. T. Rodwell-Lynn1,

29. D. Strudwick1 and

30. R. B. Lotto2,*

1 Blackawton Primary School, Blackawton, Devon, UK

2 Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London,

11-43 Bath Street, London EC1V 9EL, UK

*Author for correspondence (lotto@ucl.ac.uk).