Hey, Google! Give me back my ability to do a decent search or I walk

I only lost Google Search Engine’s Search Within Results option last week when using Internet Explorer – AND I WANT IT BACK NOW! It was more than annoying when Google decided to install Web History which automatically modified search results on a predictive basis thus limiting deliberately wide searches. It was simply awful coping with that intrusive low IQ Instant Search until I managed to permanently switch it off. However, the last straw was finding the search within option deleted by those increasingly highhanded geeks at Google Inc. Now looking about for a new search engine to be my ‘best friend’ in cyberspace.

Browned Off
Bangalow

* Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents. Email ncvguestpeak at gmail dot com to submit comment for consideration.

Senator Eric Abetz - the gift that just keeps on giving

This is an excerpt from an Australian Liberal Party Federal Senator Eric Abetz media release on 17 January 2011, in which he demonstrates that he is a serious history buff:

“To imply climate change is responsible for flooding is to deny the World’s history from Noah and beyond.”

Does this mean that when flood mitigation measures are inevitably discussed in the Senate later this year that Abetz might be recommending funding local government areas to build wooden arks for residents and ratepayers?

Image from Google Images

Reader Alert! Pistols, or perhaps handbags, at 10 paces at dawn

Two very seasoned correspondents who appear regularly (some might say, "too regularly") in The Daily Examiner's letters columns seem set for one almighty brawl. 

The correspondent from the lower end of the valley (the area that contributes vast amounts of $$$s to the coffers of the local council and helped bail out the cash-strapped upper valley council via a process of enforced amalgamation) has thrown a red flag in the face of the true-blue, conservative commentator from upstream.

Watch this space!

Abbott's 'flood' politics don't appear to be resonating with the general public

When a public figure like Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott tries to play politics in a rolling natural disaster; from his 'more dams' call, to cravenly trying to scare Queensland flood victims by falsely calling into doubt their basic eligibility for Centrelink's Disaster Recovery Payment and then following that with a reworking of his 'great big new tax' mantra with lines like Queenslanders should not be taxed to fund the rebuilding effort - then he too can find himself amongst the casualties:

Tables from the Essentail Report on 17 January 2011 don't indicate any great enthusiasm for Abbott. The survey was conducted online from 11 to 16 January 2011 at the height of east coast flooding and, after Abbott had given a number of interviews on the subject. It is based on 1,052 respondents.

Trust Joe Hockey to state the obvious in an attempt to point score

I rather think that Opposition shadow spokesperson on Treasury matters is beginning his 2011 push to pressure the Gillard Government concerning the Australian national budget’s bottom line, by using the January 2011 floods as his lever starting with these tweets on Saturday 15 January:

JoeHockey JoeHockey

......so watch for inflationary pressures as massive infrastructure and labour demands of rebuild kick in with higher commodity prices.

JoeHockey Joe Hockey

Prime cut meat currently $32 a kilo and producers in FNQ get $2.20 a kilo (undressed so say $4.40 equiv). Southern Aus. prices up to $3.20!

JoeHockey Joe Hockey

Watch commodity prices surge after floods. Not just coal etc but food and meat in particular. Road damage makes access to markets very tough

Emailers obviously don't know their audiences

Went to the mail box today and found amongst the assorted cattle-dogs and other junk mail one message that almost tugged my heart strings. It nearly had me convinced it was the real thing, but there was one dead-seat giveaway clue that meant it wasn't truly meant for me.

Read the e below and see if you can find the clanger.

From: Mrs. Barbara Bruno.

Dear Friend,

I am the above named person but now undergoing medical treatment.  I am married to Dr. William Bruno (Jnr) who worked with British Judicial Commission in Chelsea England for over a decade before he died on 5th of July in the year 2003. We were married for fifteen years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for two weeks.

When my late husband was alive he deposited a Huge sum of money with one Finance/Security Company now a Bank in London (United Kingdom). Presently, this money is still with the Bank. Recently, My Doctor told me that I would not last for the next 150 days due to cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my stroke. So, you know my predicament, I have decided to donate this fund to an individual or better still a God fearing person who will utilize this fund the way I am going to instruct here in. I want an individual that would provide succor to poor donate to orphanages, widows, and propagating peace in the universe.

I took this decision because I don’t have a Kin that would inherit the funds, My Late husband's relatives are not inclined to helping the less privileged and I do not want my late husband’s Estate misused. Thus, the reason for taking this bold decision, I’m not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Almighty.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the My late husband's Lawyer In London he would assist in re covering the funds from the Finance/Security Company . I would also issue you a letter of authority that will empower you as the original Benefactor of this fund. I want you to always pray for me.  Please assure me that you will act according to my specification herein, Write back soon.

Thank you and May the Almighty bless you.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. Barbara Bruno.

barbrabrun@aol.com

 Yep, it was the "God fearing person" bit. Don't ya just hate it when spammers cannot get basic facts right!

And where was Tony?

TwitPic

And where was Tony Abbott? Oh, he was doing doorstops, filmed walkabouts and radio interviews playing at 'flood' politics.
Before that? Well he was doing the odd 'flood' interview while on holidays.
Definitely a talker not a doer when it doesn't involve wearing lycra or showing off the navel.

Jules tongue-in-cheek scores a Keneally bullseye

After a year of ignoring NSW North Coast invitations to inspect problems on the Pacific Highway, NSW Premier Krisitina Keneally quickly hops up by helicopter for a photo opportunity during the recent flooding, and...............the locals noticed!

The Daily Examiner political cartoon on 15 January 2011

Slightly stir-crazy in Yamba, January 2011

Locals are quietly smiling at the fact that Clarence Valley Council set up a road block just out of town.

Rumour has it that after endless rain then flood, tourists just wanted to go home - please!

Unfortunately they wanted to take the family cars and caravans though flood water coursing over a narrow river causeway which is one section of the only road which ties the village to the outside world.

Yamba Road is expected to be open today.

Photo from The Daily Examiner

Oh, Germaine! It can't be the tyranny of distance at work - you're just around the corner

A hat tip to Clarrie Rivers for sending this Germaine Greer quote concerning the Clarence Valley flooding in January 2011:

An eight-metre levee has kept the town of Grafton dry, though the Clarence river is in massive spate, but Yamba, further downstream has no levee and is under water.

Actually Germaine, Yamba stayed relatively dry even if flood waters had cut it off from the rest of the New South Wales North Coast.

That’s because it had stopped heavily raining in the catchment about 36 hours before the flood peak came past this little coastal town during a very low tide period on its way out to sea.

Germaine presumably was submitting her copy electronically to The Guardian U.K. from somewhere in Queensland and did not think to click onto the Australian Bureau of Meteorology website to double check her ‘facts’.

It is difficult to find an acceptable raison d'être for modern whaling by advanced nations

Minke whale image from Mad Black Cat

Japan is not the only nation which, despite not being protein poor, insists on clinging to annual whale hunts as a national ‘right’.

Iceland which resumed commercial whaling in 2006 also vigorously protects its hunts in the face of world-wide calls to desist.

How far removed this right to hunt is from any societal food need or commercial reality is seen in an extract from a 9 July 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable:

¶2. (SBU) Staff members of Hvalur, hf, which is the only company in Iceland with the capability to hunt large whales, told Emboff on July 3 that whaling is providing jobs for 150 to 200 people. However, they admitted they are keeping their fingers crossed that there is a market for the meat and said, otherwise "this is a doomed operation." Since minke meat is the only whale meat consumed and sold in Iceland, the fin meat must be exported to another market, such as Japan. In May, Greenpeace and a local environmental group held a press conference which featured a recorded conversation with the Japanese importer of the Icelandic whale meat who stated he would not be importing any meat from Iceland this year. In late June, the Japanese Charge d'Affaires told Emboff that he didn't believe there was a market for the fin meat in Japan.
¶3. (SBU) Charge d'Affaires met with the Minister of Fisheries on July 9 and strongly protested the renewed whaling, particularly the large number of fin whales hunted. CDA reiterated that whaling is an impediment to agricultural and fish exports to the U.S, particularly to environmentally conscious outlets like Whole Foods grocery store, and underscored the Japanese CDA's belief that there is no market for Icelandic whale in Japan. The Minister responded that this was a sovereignty issue and that Iceland is a coastal nation that is using all its marine resources sustainably. He noted his political party is generally against whaling and the government is redoing the country's whaling laws, which date from 1947. He
also said the government has tasked the University of Iceland Economic Institute to create a cost and benefits report on whaling, which the Minister expects to use to develop a new whaling policy at the end of this whaling season. Regarding the reported absence of a whale meat market overseas, the Minister said that marketing was a private commercial issue which did not concern the government.

In the 2009-2010 whaling season the Iceland Government was reputed to have allowed a total hunt quota of 200 minke whales and 150 fin whales.

In the same year Japan’s stockpile of unsold whale meat was thought to be more than 6,000 tonnes.

The Wall Street Journal on 14 January 2011:

Read the WikiLeaks cables with Japan mentions in regard to Iceland’s whale hunting policies here:

June 10, 2008 cable from the U.S. embassy in Reykjavik

June 13, 2008 cable from the U.S. embassy in Reykjavik

January 30, 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Reykjavik

June 10, 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Reykjavik

July 9, 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Reykjavik

September 24, 2009 cable from the U.S. Secretary of State

Google's visual aid to Australian January 2011 flooding

Google Australia Floods Map 16 January 2011 as flooding moves southwards

NSW's Show Pony made a rare visit to the north coast of NSW

Nice to see the Sydney media pick up on the selective visit Premier Kristina Keneally made to the NSW north coast.

Keneally cannot be bothered to take up a long standing invitation from north coast communities to travel the Pacific Highway and experience the deathtrap first hand , but she managed a flight there as quick as a wink for the flood. 

The Sun Herald's Heath Aston had this piece in his column Naked Eye.

Well done, local journo Terry Deefholts (The Daily Examiner)! 

Media Matters CEO Brock calls Palin out on her 'blood libel' counter attack

This is an interesting vid we thought NCV might run.



Anony-mice
Yamba

* Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents. Email ncvguestpeak at gmail dot com to submit comment for consideration.

The GMO lobby creates a LOL

So which contributor in the BIOfortified: stronger plants, stronger science and stronger communication online community was responsible for telling the world that the humble macadamia nut (eaten by indigenous Australians for thousands of years) is a relatively new food?

franknfoode Frank N. Foode

@HerbRealm How many years have Kiwifruit and Starfruit and Macadamias been trialled on humans to ensure their safety? (relatively new foods) 13 Jan

The joke gets better when we remember that 'Starfruit' is merely the commercial branding of a fruit cultivated and eaten for hundreds of years in Asia and, that 'Kiwi Fruit' is the marketing re-brand of a conventionally created cultivar of another ancient food.

* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.

Ethanol production link to modern slavery confirmed?

This is an extract from an August 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable 08SAOPAULO432 (coordinated with and cleared by the Embassy in Brasilia) speaking of forced labour and posted on Wikileaks this month:

1.(SBU) Brazil's high profile, high-tech ethanol industry has fallen under an international spotlight for alleged use of forced or slave labor to harvest sugarcane. The press focus on sugarcane has drawn attention away from other sectors which may be at higher risk for forced labor/slave exploitation (cattle ranching, charcoal production, the sex industry). Top NGO labor experts have stated that while isolated problems remain in the sugarcane industry, the situation is improving and these other industries should be of more concern. Singling out or over-emphasizing sugarcane could play into the hands of some in the GOB who allege that U.S. TIP policy is only a cover to attack Brazil's flagship ethanol industry (Ref B). Mission suggests a broad anti-TIP strategy that enlists the large, more advanced sugarcane producers as allies in the fight against forced labor. Our efforts should also emphasize that the USG commitment to TIP is global in scale and rooted in our commitment to human rights. End Summary. Sugar is (Again) King

2.(U) Brazil has been a sugar producer for centuries and the development of ethanol as a promising green fuel has lent new energy to this key industry. The country's contemporary sugar industry is worth $40 billion, or 2.35 percent of GDP. It directly employs 1.1 million people, and its prospects for growth are tremendous (Ref A). Understandably, Brazil's leaders take great pride in their country's world class status as a leader in green fuels production. The Evidence for Forced Labor/Slavery

3.(U) Reports of forced or slave labor in sugarcane harvesting have marred the image of Brazil's ethanol industry. In May, the State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report characterized forced labor on sugarcane plantations as a growing trend. Days later, Amnesty International echoed the TIP report's assessment. With Brazilian ethanol production for export on the rise, the issue has caught the attention of the international press, particularly in the U.S. and Europe (Ref A).

How Eastern Australia begins its Saturday 15 January 2011

From the Bureau of Meteorology webpage National Warnings Summary:

Queensland

Warnings current:

High Seas Warning for TC Zelia,

Tropical Cyclone Information Bulletin for TC Zelia,

Ocean Wind Warning from Fiji,

Ocean Wind Warning from NZ,

Flood Warning - Fitzroy River,

Flood Warning - Burnett River,

Flood Warning - Mary River,

Flood Warning - Lockyer, Bremer, Warrill & Brisbane below Wivenhoe.,

Flood Warning - Logan-Albert,

Flood Warning - Condamine-Balonne Rivers,

Flood Warning - Macintyre/Weir,

Flood Warning - Moonie River,

Flood Warning - Thomson/Barcoo/Cooper Ck,

Queensland flood warning summary,

Forecast Track Map (QLD) for TC Zelia.

NSW and ACT

Warnings current:

Coastal Waters Wind Warning for New South Wales waters between Port Stephens and Point Perpendicular, between Moruya Heads and Gabo Island,

Cancellation of Severe Weather Warning for Snowy Mountains forecast district,

Flood Warning - Richmond/Wilsons,

Flood Warning - Clarence River,

Flood Warning - MacIntyre River,

Flood Warning - Macquarie River,

Flood Warning - Bogan River,

Flood Warning - Murrumbidgee River,

Flood Warning - Murray River,

Flood Warning - Culgoa, Bokhara, Narran,

Flood Warning - Warrego River,

Flood Warning - Barwon-Darling US Bourke,

Norfolk Island Tropical Cyclone Advice for TC Vania,

Ocean Wind Warning 1 - South Eastern area.

Victoria

Warnings current:

Coastal Waters Wind Warning for Victorian waters between Mallacoota and 60nm east of Gabo Island,

Brown Rot Advice for Northern Country, North Central and North East forecast districts,

Cancellation of Severe Weather Warning for East Gippsland and North East forecast districts,

Flood Watch for Greater Melbourne,

Flood Watch for Barwon, Hovells Creek and Otway Ranges,

Flood Watch for the Glenelg and Hopkins Basins,

Flood Watch for North East Victoria,

Flood Watch for the Goulburn and Broken Basins,

Victoria Flood Warning Summary,

Flood Warning - Maribyrnong River,

Flood Warning - Yarra River,

Flood Warning - Dandenong,

Flood Warning - Werribee River,

Flood Warning - Barwon River,

Flood Warning - Hopkins River,

Flood Warning - Glenelg River,

Flood Warning - Ovens and King Rivers,

Flood Warning - Broken River,

Flood warning for Seven Creeks / Castle Creek,

Flood Warning - Goulburn River,

Flood Warning - Campaspe River,

Flood Warning - Loddon River,

Flood Warning - Avoca River,

Flood Warning - Wimmera River,

Flood Warning - Murray River,

Ocean Wind Warning 1 - South Eastern area.

Tasmania

Warnings current:

Coastal wind warning 1,

Boating Weather - Wind Alert SW and Central Plateau Lakes,

Flood Warning Summary,

Flood Warning - Forth/Mersey,

Flood Warning - Meander,

Flood Warning - North Esk,

Flood Warning - South Esk,

Flood Warning - Macquarie,

Flood Watch Advice,

Severe Weather Warning 2,

Road Weather Alert,

Ocean Wind Warning 1 - South Eastern area.

This page last updated at:-
Friday January 14 2011 13:36 UTC (GMT) -- January 14 2011 21:36 WST -- January 14 2011 23:06 CST -- January 15 2011 00:06 CDT -- January 14 2011 23:36 EST -- January 15 2011 00:36 EDT

Best flood evacuation centre in Australia 2011?

Tweet sent out on 14 January 2011:

VictoriaPolice VictoriaPolice
Town of Great Western to be evacuated due to being inundated. Evac to Great Western Winery. Emergency alert will be sent to homes #vicrains

One of those great odd pics posted during the January 2011 Northern Rivers floods

Dad's found a use for this newfangled technology "colour TV"

@davcams contribution to the hysterical historical record.
Cane farmer removing flood debris from his fields

Posted on Moby Picture Nswfloods group stream

A word from Petering Time

Pete has been in contact to say he is staying north of the border for the foreseeable future to help mates rebuild after the floods and, will be exchanging PC keyboard for hammer and screwdriver.

He insists that this has been the most dramatic excuse he has ever had for not catching the biggest fish of his life.

Hopefully we will see him back home before mid-year.

Disaster-affected in Electorate of Page urged to apply for income loss payment

Because an ABC North Coast Radio segement yesterday indicated the possibility that some Centrelink staff were incorrectly telling flood victims that they were ineligible for this benefit if they had a spouse/partner earning an income, I am posting Ms. Saffin’s media release of 14 January 2011 which very clearly sets out the criteria for assistance.

If you are unsure of the advice you have received to date, make a formal verbal or written application anyway and have your own particular circumstances assessed.

Disaster-affected in Electorate of Page urged to apply for income loss payment

Member for Page Janelle Saffin MP urges people in Page Electorate who have lost their incomes as a direct result of recent natural disaster to apply for the newly activated Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy following information provided by The Hon Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Human Services and Minister for Social Inclusion.

Employees, small business owners, and farmers affected by disasters between November 29 last year and January this year, now have until February 28 this year to lodge claims for income recovery.

“The subsidy applies to eligible people all 5 Local Government Areas in the Page Electorate,” Janelle Saffin said. These LGAs are Ballina, Lismore, Richmond Valley Kyogle and Clarence Valley.

“It is a fortnightly payment of up to the maximum rate of existing Newstart Allowance for a period of 13 weeks.”

“The subsidy will be available to those who have experienced a loss of income as a direct result of recent disasters and are not currently receiving, or eligible for, any other income support payment.”

You are eligible for the subsidy if you:

• are 16 years of age, or older, and are not a dependent child;
• are an Australian resident and living in Australia for the period of time you receive the assistance; or a foreign national living or working in Australia at the time of the disaster and for the period of time you receive the subsidy;
• derive an income from the area affected by the disaster, or reside in the area affected by the disaster; and
• have experienced a loss of income as a direct result of the disaster;
• can show evidence supporting the claimed loss of income within 28 days;
• are not currently (at the time of lodgement) receiving another income support payment or pension (such as Age Pension, Newstart Allowance, service pension from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or Exceptional Circumstances Income Relief Payment); and
• each member of a couple must qualify in their own right.

If you are eligible you will receive:

• $469.70 per fortnight for a single adult;
• $424.00 per fortnight per adult who is a member of a couple;
• $508.20 per fortnight for a single adult with a dependent child;
• $388.70 per fortnight for a person who is under 21 years of age.

Ms Saffin said claims can be made through the Emergency Assistance Hotline on 1802266, at Centrelink offices, or online at www.centrelink.gov.au

The subsidy is in addition to the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and the joint Commonwealth/Queensland Government payments being made under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements.