No wonder the Americans are annoyed with Pakistan

When a U.S. combat team entered Pakistan and assassinated Osama bin Laden, the long-held suspicion that the Al Qaeda leader had been hiding in that country was confirmed.

After having given literally billions to the Pakistan Government to fight terrorism (and with millions unaccounted for) it must have been galling for the Obama Administration to suspect that members of either this government or its military knew where he was all along.

All that money goes some way to explaining America’s sense of entitlement when it unlawfully breached Pakistan sovereignty and lessens the impact of Pakistan’s outrage.

From Wikileaks Cablegate a U.S. diplomatic cable dated 14 December 2007 and originally sent from a building approximately 49kms from Abbottabad:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 005266 SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2017 TAGS: PINR PK PREL PTERSUBJECT: PAKISTAN: FIXING COALITION SUPPORT FUNDING REF: A. ISLAMABAD 4817 ¶B. ISLAMABAD 4369 Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) ¶1. (U) This is an action request, see Para 12. ¶2. (C)

SUMMARY. Since 2002, the USG has reimbursed Pakistan over 5.3 billion USD for support to U.S. operations using Coalition Support Funds (CSF). When pending claims are processed, that figure will likely exceed 5.6 billion USD. The CSF authorizing legislation was written soon after 9/11; six years down the road, we need Pakistan to more vigorously engage in the war on terror, but CSF is not working the way it should. CSF is not reaching those parts of the GoP that are shouldering the load in GWOT operations. Two clear examples of the problem are helicopter readiness and medical support to the Frontier Corps. The readiness of Pakistan's helicopter fleet is poor. Despite giving the GoP 55 USD million for helicopter operations over seven months, only 2 to 6 Pakistani Cobras are fully mission capable at a time they desperately need air power to fight spreading militancy. Additionally, we have processed or will process reimbursement requests for 100 million USD over the year to support medical operations, but the Frontier Corps still does not receive basic medevac support. Another consequence of the current system is political. It fuels the internal argument that the USG is "paying" Pakistan to fight a U.S. war - this at a time when the Pakistanis need to accept the direct threat to their own security and sovereignty posed by al-Qaida, Taliban and extremist forces.

¶3. (C) Post has worked extensively with the GoP to increase GoP transparency and accountability. What we have discovered is that we are receiving reimbursement requests for barbed wire and air defense radar systems that have no or marginal impact on the GWOT. We recognize the legal and political sensitivities involved in developing a new approach, but the program, as it is currently being implemented, simply is not meeting U.S. or Pakistan counter-terrorism objectives. This message outlines several ways forward. In the meantime, DOD or CENTCOM should undertake an audit or program review of CSF. END SUMMARY. TARGETING CSF FUNDING TOWARD PAKISTAN AND U.S. STRATEGIC GOALS

¶4. (C) U.S. Public Law 109-289 (2206) authorizes CSF to reimburse Pakistan for logistical, military and other support provided to U.S. military operations. Under this authorization, the U.S. has reimbursed Pakistan 5.3 billion USD since 2002. When pending claims are processed, the total CSF reimbursement to Pakistan will exceed 5.6 billion USD. Pakistan receives nearly 90 percent of total CSF worldwide. While the December 8, 2003 guidance provided by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on parameters for reimbursements is broad, there have been multiple instances in which Post is confident funds have been diverted and that reimbursed claims figures have been seriously inflated. A few examples: -- HELICOPTER READINESS. Pakistan received 55 million USD for helicopter operations from July 2006 to February 2007; however, Post estimates that as few as 3 Cobra Helicopters were fully mission capable as recently as 10 weeks ago. Post is confident Army Aviation Command never received the 55 million. -- MEDEVAC ASSISTANCE TO FRONTIER CORPS. The Pakistan Army claimed 99 million USD over past 12 months for medical operations and the U.S. has paid or is in process of paying all/all submitted medical claims. Yet, despite providing this plus fully funding 235 million USD CSF lease assistance for 26 new Bell 412 helicopters, the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps has repeatedly requested U.S. assistance in providing assets for medevac, obviously unaware of the resources the U.S. has provided. --RADAR MAINTENANCE: Between August 2006 and July 2007, Pakistan submitted claims for almost 70 million USD in ADA Radar Maintenance, although there is no enemy air threat related to the war on terror. --BARBED WIRE: Between August 2006 and July 2007, we received a claim for 26 million USD in barbed wire and pickets. While these items are no doubt helpful in protecting outposts, the claim figures are highly suspect.

¶5. (C) Ambassador, the Office of Defense Representative and DOD officials have repeatedly raised CSF disbursement and other problems with the Prime Minister, Ministry of Finance and key military officials but have not received satisfactory responses. In fact, recent correspondence from Pakistan leadership argues for additional funding to support increased operations.

¶6. (C) CSF reimbursement funds go directly into Pakistan,s general treasury -- from there we have no visibility on their final destination or application. And we are not alone - based on our conversations with GoP officials, from President Musharraf down to the average Pakistani private, no one in Pakistan seems to have a clear grasp of the amount of US military reimbursement assistance actually provided.

¶7. (C) The CSF authorization legislation was drafted soon after 9/11. Six years down the road, we still need Pakistan to engage more vigorously in the fight against extremism, but it is clear we also need to do a better job of making sure our monies are targeted to meet our counter-terrorism objectives. POTENTIAL APPROACHES TO CSF REFORM

¶8. (C) Potential options to address CSF issues include the following: (1) Stop approving Pakistan's CSF reimbursement requests until we receive adequate assurances on disbursement; (2) Earmark CSF monies for specific areas: maintenance, support, etc.; (3) Create a CSF "trust fund" that would allow the USG to control reimbursement and to obligate some funds for specific needs; or (4) Convert CSF into a direct cash transfer program.

¶9. (C) Option 1 would lead to a major political clash and damage our military to military relationship, just as we have the potential for greater cooperation under Chief of Army Staff General Kayani's leadership. This would undermine the very purpose of CSF--to encourage the GoP to continue fighting militant extremism. The Taliban, al Qaida and Islamic extremists represent a clear and growing danger to U.S. and Pakistani security and to regional stability. As allies with forces in the region, we have a responsibility to strengthen and focus our assistance to improve their security forces' capabilities.

¶10. (C) We understand DOD has determined Options 2, 3 and 4 would require asking Congress to amend the authorizing legislation. Post could attempt to persuade Pakistan to concur with establishment of some form of "trust" mechanism - pointing out the alternative may be a severe reduction or loss of funding if Congress continues to see insufficient transparency and accountability. In any event, a new approach is urgently required. We believe some variation of Options 3 and 4, which allow the USG to earmark at least some CSF monies for those Pakistani military elements of vital interest to us (helicopters, special forces and Frontier Corps), is the most logical and efficient approach. CSF AUDIT/PROGRAM REVIEW

¶11. (C) Post repeats that we do not have visibility over the destination of CSF funds. Accordingly, Post would welcome an audit or program review of the CSF process by CENTCOM or by DOD. ACTION REQUEST

¶12. (C) Action Request: Post would appreciate a front-channel response to the options proposed in para 8 and the proposal for an audit/review. PATTERSON

Road testing Australia's healthcare professionals

Whitecoat Launching late June 2011

"nib are developing a new online service called Whitecoat. It lets you find and compare healthcare specialists in your local area. There are nib customer reviews, and ratings for service and value. Whitecoat will feature over 250,000 healthcare specialists including dentists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, optometrists, podiatrists, osteopaths, remedial massage therapists, acupuncturists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, nutritionists, naturopaths, herbalists, homeopathists, myotherapists and bowen therapists. Whitecoat is particularly useful for people who have moved to a new area, need treatment for a specialist service for the first time or just want to check out their own healthcare specialist on Whitecoat. So if you need a dentist, physio, chiro or remedial massage therapist who's been road-tested, go to whitecoat.com.au It's powered by nib for all Australians.”

This may get interesting – an insurance company about to publish a league table of Australian healthcare professionals and the Federal Health Minister along with heathcare workers are not amused. Apparently it’s OK for them to access data concerning consumers but consumers are not expected to return the compliment.

"Say Yes Australia" Week May 30 - June 5 Second carbon price television advertisement launched tonight (video)

http://www.youtube.com/user/SayYesAustralia
http://www.sayyesaustralia.org.au/
http://twitter.com/#!/SayYesAustralia
Blanchett fronts carbon tax campaign

Quote of the week

 

“If Reuters is the best newswire, then Twitter is Reuters on acid, crack and cocaine”

Neal Mann quoted on news: rewired 27 May 2011

 

When are Australian lawyers going to advise clients that the Streisand Effect may render threats of legal action ineffective?

Unfortunately for the sender the following legal letter appeared to have no effect, as versions of the offending content were reposted on at least six other sites and display there to date. Perhaps Mr. T Snr should have a word with his son concerning Internet reality, as even Google Inc is obviously not taking him seriously.

From the files of Chilling Effects:

NoticeID=50864: Defamation – re 434u scam social networking site

November 24, 2010

Sender Information:
redacted
Sent by: redacted
[Private]
redacted
redacted
redacted NSW, redacted Australia

Recipient Information:
http://www.livejournal.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/
redacted
redacted
redacted

Sent via: Via email
Re: Cease and Desist

I act for [Client Name Redacted] and 434u Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd. Our client has instructed us that you have extensively published false, misleading, malicious and defamatory material across the internet at http://community.livejournal.com/434u. In addition to being highly defamatory, the publication of the Offending Material constitutes the tort of Injurious Falsehood and is being undertaken with the sole intention of causing loss and damage to my clients. As you are well aware, the statements and publications contained in the Offending Material are utterly without basis in fact.

The publication of the Offending Material has already caused loss and damage to my client and related entities, and will continue to do so unless the offending material is immediately removed and deleted from all locations in which it is published and displayed. We are in the process of contacting all sources we are able to identify and strongly suggest that you take immediate and decisive action yourself to remove all instances of the Offending Material.
We require that you immediately undertake to remove all of the Offending Material and that you confirm by direct response when you have done so.

My client is taking this matter extremely seriously and will take all necessary steps to hold you accountable for the loss and damage that your conduct has caused and will continue to cause whilst the Offending Material is being published and displayed. We reserve our clients rights against you in all respects and will instruct lawyers in to pursue you directly should we not receive a satisfactory response to this demand.

Regards,

[redacted]
Attorney

Posted at E46Fanatics forum on 3 August 2010:

from Lawrence Connor
to Karl Scott ,
Lawrence Connor
date Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 11:06 PM
subject Re: 434u.com
mailed-by gmail.com
hide details 11:06 PM (27 minutes ago)

Dear Mr. Karl Scott,

Take whatever actions as you see fit. I am not changing what I have published.
Mr. Tidy has made his choices, and your assertion that what I have expressed is false is mere empty gesturing and posturing. it will be upon you to prove anything in a court.
Your next communication to me is either to tell me what next step you take, or I hear no further from you.
I have received your missive, and you also now have received my reply. Take it for action as you will.
I stand by my right to publish. Nothing other results from your having contacted me at this time.

Regards,

Lawrence A. Connor
- Show quoted text -

Lawrence Albert Connor

EDO NSW: Coal Seam Gas Seminar at Murwillumbah on 9 June 2011

 

FREE Environmental Defender’s Office (EDO) seminar on Coal seam gas

Three companies are currently exploring for coal seam gas (CSG) and conventional gas in the Clarence Moreton Basin , which covers much of the Northern Rivers. Metgasco Limited already has approval for a gas-fired power station near Casino and is currently seeking planning approval for a gas pipeline from Casino over the Border Ranges to Ipswich . There is already one Petroleum Exploration Licence over part of the Tweed Valley , and Macquarie Energy is currently seeking another.

Various environmental and legal concerns have been raised about CSG by affected communities. The EDO is holding a public seminar to provide information about what is happening in NSW and the region generally and the Tweed Valley in particular; discuss some of the potential environmental impacts; explain the approval processes; and inform the community about their legal rights.

Where : CWA Hall, 20 Queen St, Murwillumbah
When : Thursday 9 June 2011, 6-8 pm

No need to book.

Information:

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER’S OFFICE NORTHERN RIVERS
1/71 Molesworth St NSW 2480
PO Box 212, Lismore NSW 2480
Telephone: 1300 369 791
Fax: (02) 6621 3355

Australia is an international wonder, but...............

“That Australia is successful is not in doubt. It has a prospering economy, a harmonious and egalitarian society, an ability to accommodate immigrants, an excellent civil service, an independent central bank, a good balance of personal freedom and limited government, sensible pension arrangements, sporting prowess and a fine cuisine. There is no underclass, no permanently depressed area, no significant group of citizens who challenge the values of its society. Its cities do have pockets of despair, but neither slums nor ghettos. It is a flourishing democracy, one of the oldest in the world, with a long history of pioneering reform: when America got round to introducing the secret vote in 1872 it was known as the Australian ballot, because the Aussies had had it since the 1850s.”;

But……..see rest of The Economist article here.

O'Farrell Government dons its jackboots and strides forth

The O’Farrell Government seems intent on striding across the News South Wales landscape with the destructive intent of a blitzkrieg aktion and this time its blind rage against the notion of a fair go and an egalitarian society is directed at around 400,000 public sector workers.

This NSW government intends to reserve the sole right to itself of setting wages and conditions in this sector:

Industrial Relations Amendment (Public Sector Conditions of Employment) Bill 2011 [Member with Carriage: Pearce, Gregory Notice of Motion: Tue 24 May 2011 Introduced: Tue 24 May 2011 First Reading: Tue 24 May 2011 Ministers 2R Speech: Tue 24 May 2011]

146C Commission to give effect to certain aspects of government policy on public sector employment

(1) The Commission must, when making or varying any award or order, give effect to any policy on conditions of employment of public sector employees:

(a) that is declared by the regulations to be an aspect of government policy that is required to be given effect to by the Commission, and

(b) that applies to the matter to which the award or order relates.

(2) Any such regulation may declare a policy by setting out the policy in the regulation or by adopting a policy set out in a relevant document referred to in the regulation.

(3) An award or order of the Commission does not have effect to the extent that it is inconsistent with the obligation of the Commission under this section.

(4) This section extends to appeals or references to the Full Bench of the Commission.

(5) This section does not apply to the Commission in Court Session.

(6) This section extends to proceedings that are pending in the Commission on the commencement of this section. A regulation made under this section extends to proceedings that are pending in the Commission on the commencement of the regulation, unless the regulation otherwise provides.

(7) This section has effect despite section 10 or 146 or any other provision of this or any other Act.

Have passport will travel? Habib should note what the Australian Government did to another citizen it found uncomfortable

NOW

Habib cleared, gets passport back {The Sydney Morning Herald 27^th May 2011}

“Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has been cleared of being a national security threat and has had his Australian passport returned.

The Sun-Herald can reveal the Australian government has agreed he is not a terrorism suspect and delivered his passport by courier to his western Sydney home.

After years of fighting to clear his name, the father of four said he "cried" when he received the document yesterday.”

THEN

Holt Acts To Block Passports {The Sydney Morning Herald 15^th November 1950}

The Minister for Immigration, Mr. H. E. Holt, has cancelled provisions in the passports belonging to Mrs. Jessie Street and Dr. Thomas Kaiser which would have allowed them to travel to Poland to attend the "World Peace Congress."....

"However, the Minister has discretionary power to cancel the passport, and further disciplinary action can be taken by the Government by withholding travel facilities if not already arranged,"

Secret cablegram, Immigration to High Commission, 16 November 1950
Threatening Australian citizens travelling overseas with passport cancellation
From National Archives of Australia

Anyone old enough to remember "Red Jessie" will know that an Australian passport is only as good as the government holding office allows it to be.

As good an explanation as any.........

…..for the state of political discourse in Australia this century.

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

Abbott the Unbelievable

Federal Nats MP for Cowper on the NSW North Coast and Deputy Manager of Opposition Business Luke Hartsuyker may have joined Malcolm Turnbull, Ian Macfarlane, Alby Schultz and John Forrest in a very public pollie sin bin for missing votes in the Parliament - in an email signed by Hon. Warren Entsch, Chief Opposition Whip, Patrick Secker, Nola Marino, Mark Coulton and Paul Neville and seemingly approved of by Tony Abbott.
But it's Opposition Leader Abbott the Unbelievable who comes out with egg on his face for repeatedly saying during radio interviews that the sin bin email which he approved "was not about any particular individual, it was about the principle that every one of the Coalition MPs has got to be there for every division."
At the same time studiously avoiding answering a direct question about his prior approval of this unusual email.

Parts of that email directly read into the Hansard record on 26th May 2011 by Labor's Anthony Albanese.
Last night we lost a division because the following five Coalition Members failed to support their colleagues:
Malcolm Turnbull (5 missed divisions)—margin 14.86%....
This behaviour is totally unacceptable and shows great disrespect to their colleagues and the Coalition as a whole.
As a result of the absence of these Members, the following Members missed an opportunity to raise issues important to their electorates....
It is an interesting point to note that all the Members who missed the division occupy safe seats, while, of the Members prevented from speaking in the adjournment debate three are first term Members and all occupy marginal or key seats.....
Members are elected to Parliament to represent their constituents. That includes being present when the Parliament divides on a question.

The Australian and Sheridan create a ranting LOL

This is what The Australian says in About Greg Sheridan……….

Greg Sheridan, The Australian's foreign editor, is the most influential foreign affairs analyst in Australian journalism.
After 25 years in the field, he is a veteran of international affairs who has interviewed leaders all over the Asia Pacific and America.

This is what Greg Sheridan writes in Fraser's unreliable memoirs rewrite history on 26 May 2011…….

Snapshot taken 26 May 2011

But even Henderson's splendid industry omits many of Fraser's howlers. Fraser claims the neo-conservatives wielded great influence in the Bush administration of the 90s. But George W. Bush was not even elected until November 2000.

Now 25 years in the field takes Sheridan the journalist back to around 1986. Surely that’s long enough for him to have formed a memory of the Forty-First U.S. President George H. W. Bush (term of office January 1989 - January 1993) who in 1991 sent 425,000 American troops into Kuwait as part of the multinational force taking part in Desert Storm, which resulted in the rout of Saddam Hussein’s military forces and their retreat back into Iraq.
Sheridan post-rant might even recall the that neo-conservatives existed prior to November 2000.

Karl 'The Terminator' Bitar finds another target

Not content with scuttling the future electoral chances of Federal and NSW Labor, Karl Bitar goes on to chance his hand with Crown Casino. Let the good bad ugly times roll!

ASX / MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
24 May 2011
CROWN APPOINTS MR KARL BITAR TO HEAD UP GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
MELBOURNE:

Crown Limited (ASX: CWN) today announced that Mr Karl Bitar has been appointed to head up Government Affairs at Crown Limited, subject to usual probity approvals.

Mr Bitar will be responsible for managing Crown’s relationship with the Federal Government across a broad range of issues including tourism, infrastructure development and responsible gaming.
The Chief Executive Officer of Crown Limited, Mr Rowen Craigie said, “All of us at Crown are looking forward to working with Mr Bitar.”

www.crownlimited.com

Help Jack fight the Polluter Giants

Fund Solutions Not Pollution

The big polluters don't need to pocket windfall profits from a carbon price - some of their profits are almost as large as the entire revenue itself! But still they lobby against our clean future.

The Government needs to invest at least $2 billion each year of the pollution price revenue on renewable energy and innovation to build a clean energy future. We know this can be done. The Australia Institute's reseach paper, commissioned thanks to GetUp members' donations and released today, shows just how easily that money can be found by cutting subsidies to the worst polluters.

This ad needs to start playing this week if we're going to strengthen the renewable industry's arm in these negotiations. With $100,000 we can buy out all the remaining Canberra TV spots for the fortnight. That's a good start - another $60,000 and we can buy out the last minute spots in several target rural electorates. Chip in so we can give the media buyers the go ahead.

Make a donation to this advertisement here.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands

Since he became Leader of the Opposition Tones the Terrible has been so unrelentingly negative about Australia’s present and future if he doesn’t get to lead the nation, that I’ve almost come to believe we’re all in a bad way
Then along comes the OECD’s Better Life Index which puts Oz into global perspective.
Seems Tony Abbott has a very jaundiced view. Because on the housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, and work-life balance fronts we are doing very nicely thankyou when compared to the other 33 OECD countries.
In fact - overall Oz leads the bluddy world.

Click on graph to enlarge

When social media goes wrong: Does Glaxo Smith Kline know where their anti-smoking campaign is turning up on Facebook?

We’re encouraging Aussies to Pledge to Quit smoking for World No Tobacco Day on the 31 May. Take our pledge and share it with your friends, maybe we’ll even set an Australian record for Pledge to Quit! states Glaxo Smith Kline’s Nicabate Pledge to Quit team on Facebook.

Unfortunately one of the Facebook accounts which advertises the pledge campaign is Grafton Goss (online since 12 May 2011) which carries what has been described by The Daily Examiner as “vile” gossip.

Snapshot taken 25 May 2011

In fact unsubstantiated allegations made concerning the sexual activity of named young people are so unpleasant and language employed so crudely graphic that I have omitted a direct link.

This webpage will soon come undone as Grafton Goss’ creator is not as anonymous as first appearance suggests.

In the meantime Facebook users can make Zuckerberg live up to his social media site’s undertakings regarding privacy and appropriate content by going to the Help page and following the prompts to report Grafton Goss and its posts.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to speak at The Red Dove international aid forum in Lismore on Saturday 28 May

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to attend aid forum in Lismore

Page MP Janelle Saffin has announced that Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has accepted her invitation to visit the Page electorate for a forum on overseas aid.

“In this region there are a number of local organisations as well as many dedicated individuals who work to reduce world poverty by their involvement in overseas aid projects.

“I’m delighted to be able to invite them to this forum with the Foreign Minister to hear firsthand about Australia’s international aid program, where the big challenges are, and what is being achieved.

“It is a horrifying statistic that around the world 23,000 children die of preventable starvation or related sickness every day and globally about one billion people are living in extreme poverty.

“More than ten years ago Australia and 188 other countries joined the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and agreed to increase aid with the core focus of reducing world poverty.” Ms Saffin said.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd says he looks forward to visiting Lismore and discussing Australia’s aid program.

“Lismore is a great place and Janelle is a great local member. I have visited Lismore many times over the years at Janelle’s invitation and this next visit is long overdue”

“I look forward to discussing with the community the Australian Government’s aid program and our responsibility is to ensure that this program gets real results”

“With one billion people living in abject poverty, we must not forget that we are talking about people who are part of our common humanity, people for whom each day is a struggle to survive.”

“Australians have a great reputation as being givers, and being volunteers and we should be proud that we are responding to the challenge of world poverty by being a real contributor to global development.” Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd will speak at an international aid forum The Red Dove in Lismore on Saturday 28 May. Details are available from Janelle Saffin’s office: 66219909.

Janelle Saffin MP, Media Release, 23 May 2011

NEWS FLASH: Penbo's head swells alarmingly!

Poor Penbo! His delusions of grandeur are showing – he clearly believes that every reader (including casual online readers like myself) actually vote for his own personal political opinions and those of Teh Great Rupert by perusing the tripe regurgitated daily by www.news.com.au:

“What these people fail to understand, and what Brown doesn’t get, is that newspapers have constituencies in the same way that political parties have constituencies.” {David Penberthy, Editor-in-Chief of News.com.au in The Punch on 23^rd May 2011}

 

Monster Twister Hits Joplin, Missouri, May 2011 (video)

Hardly a building was left standing in Joplin, 240km south of Kansas City after the tornado, reported to be 1.5km wide, hit late in the afternoon.

"I would say 75 per cent of the town is virtually gone," Kathy Dennis of the American Red Cross told CNN.

By nightfall local time, the death toll had risen to 24 and was expected to climb further.

The worst-hit building was the multi-storey St John's Hospital, where TV images showed nearly every window to be blown out. There were reports that debris from the building had been found 75km away, and local television reported fires throughout the building amid fears that broken gas lines in the hospital could cause an explosion.

The tornado was part of a series of severe weather patterns that hit the midwest, including in Minneapolis where a twister was blamed for the death of a 59-year-old man. A number of others were injured after tornadoes hit parts of Minnesota.

But Joplin and its population of 174,000 took a "direct hit" according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Griffin. "It went right through the centre of town," he told the Springfield News-Leader.

A man living almost 75km away from the hospital said that debris from the building, including medical supplies and X-rays, was found in his yard.

Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe, was upstairs in his home when the storm hit but was able to make his way to a basement closet. "There was a loud huffing noise, my windows started popping. I had to get downstairs, glass was flying. I opened a closet and pulled myself into it," he said.

"Then you could hear everything go. It tore the roof off my house, everybody's house. I came outside and there was nothing left. There were people wandering the streets, all mud-covered.

"I'm talking to them, asking if they knew where their family is. Some of them didn't know, and weren't sure where they were."

The tornado struck less than a month after another tornado outbreak left 354 dead across seven US states.
[The Australian, Tornado 1.5km wide kills 24 in US midwest, 24 May 2011]



Images found at National Geographic and The Australian

The novel O'Farrell approach to the solar bonus scheme leaves this blogger cold

So the O'Farrell Government wants to abandon the principles of contractual law in relation to the Solar Bonus Scheme and introduce retrospective legislation to make its clawback superficially legal – all on the basis that it drastically needs to rein in the state's budget outlays due to massive black holes.

However, all is not as Premier O'Farrell would have us believe.
Besides ignoring the fact that the Solar Bonus Scheme take-up rate indicates that NSW was well on its way to meeting its obligations in relation to a particular national climate change target, it is closing-off the scheme in preference to making the energy industry adequately pay for renewable energy they receive from this source and, are misrepresenting the state of the economy to achieve its aims.

Firstly, NSW Government finances and the lies told.

Analysis and Advice on the Details of the "Report on Variance between Mid Year(December 2010) and March 2011 Update" prepared for the NSW Premier and Treasurer by the acting Secretary to the NSW Treasury, Michael Lambert, and Analysis and Advice on Claims in the Associated Media Release of 27 April 2011,"Black Hole Blows Out Further" by the NSW Premier, The Hon Barry O'Farrell states:

Moreover, the size of the accumulated budget deficit from 2010‐11 to 2014‐15, $4,384 million, even if it were to eventuate, would not itself imperil the state's finances or its AAA credit rating. That accumulated deficit estimate is less than 75 basis points of the revenues and expenses for the five years. And the government should be aware that, even if it took no remedial action, further parameter changes which will inevitably arise in the coming months and years will as likely improve the budget outlook as weaken it. Moreover, the general government's current net debt and unfunded superannuation level is about $8 billion below the level which might lead to a review of the AAA credit rating and there are few sub‐sovereign entities outside of Australia which enjoy a AAA credit rating……
A claim is also made that the "failure to take the additional budget impact of the Solar Bonus Scheme into account could only have occurred if Treasury advice on the scheme's impact was not sought or simply ignored". This is a speculative conclusion and the alternatives offered are not the only feasible options……
During the preparation of this briefing, the Energy Minister, the Hon Chris Hartcher, announced that the Solar Bonus Scheme had been placed on hold pending legislation to close the Scheme to new applicants……
The media release offers other claims of "gross economic incompetence". Insofar as fiscal policy is concerned, the state's AAA status does not support this claim. A fear that the budget deficit "could grow even further" is merely an assertion made without evidence. A claim that "Labor had 'cooked the books' to distort the true state of NSW's finances" is not supported either by the report issued by Mr Lambert or by this Office's examination of available data.

Secondly, the NSW Coalition's history of supporting a residential solar power scheme.

This is Google's cache of http://www.barryofarrell.com.au/protect-our-local-environment/the-nsw-liberals-nationals-will-introduce-a-renewable-energy-buy-back-scheme.html. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 10 May 2011 04:35:50 GMT. This page no longer appears directly on the O'Farrell website.The following clearly shows that the NSW Liberal Party and O'Farrell supported a solar bonus scheme.

Effective action on environmental issues requires sensible policies that deliver practical and real improvements.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals will introduce market mechanisms that will encourage people to use renewable energy.

We will introduce a renewable energy buy-back scheme – sometimes known as a feed-in tariff.

The scheme will:

be a credit or payment to households, institutions or businesses for the renewable power they produce. This will include small-scale solar power from household rooftops; and

encourage households to make decisions that save energy bills over the medium term.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals policy for a gross feed-in tariff was first announced in October 2008. The Labor Government mimicked the policy when it adopted a Solar Bonus Scheme in November 2009 for small solar photovoltaic installations.

Despite this, the government has excluded many renewable and innovative energy sources, as well as involvement from many commercial energy users who are best positioned to take up decentralised generation.

It is estimated that if 5,000 households take advantage of the scheme, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is the equivalent of taking 16,250 cars off the road.

Decentralised generation can reduce demand for costly generation and transmission infrastructure, and can reduce the peak price of electricity.

The NSW Liberal & Nationals policy will ensure that NSW leads Australia in establishing a decentralised energy sector, by honouring the State Government's current commitments and improving the scheme to make it more effective. A comprehensive scheme could cut NSW's emissions by around 1 per cent per annum.

Thirdly, IPART's position on the existing Solar Bonus Scheme and electricity retailers.

From the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal Electricity Draft Report April 2011:

The current gross rate of 20 c/kWh is lower than the price that some customers are paying for electricity....
The Solar Bonus Scheme is currently structured so that retailers receive a financial benefit. This is because although they earn revenue from customers for gross consumption, they pay the market operator, AEMO, on a net consumption basis (that is after netting off energy supplied by the solar panels). The NSW Government’s proposed Solar Summit aims to identify opportunities for reducing the costs of the Solar Bonus Scheme. One option for achieving this aim is for Government to require retailers to transfer some of the financial benefit they receive under the scheme to distributors (who pay the feed in tariff to the customer).
This would reduce the amount of funds required to be recovered from customers, or foregone by taxpayers, to pay for the scheme.
We note that the other gross feed in tariff scheme in Australia, the ACT Scheme, requires retailers to contribute 6c/kWh towards the cost of the scheme.
We recommend that the NSW Government, as part of its Solar Summit, consider requiring retailers to contribute to the cost of the gross feed in tariff, whether or not it terminates the current scheme......

Finally, this.

This is Google's cache of http://www.nsw.liberal.org.au/policies/cost-of-living/plan-for-an-affordable-and-sustainable-energy-industry.html. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 16 May 2011 02:01:02 GMT. In which O'Farrell seems to admit that he intends not only dipping into the pockets of residential suppliers of renewable energy and but into state funds as well.

"We will also ensure that households do not have to pay for Labor's failed solar scheme by redirecting uncommitted funds from the NSW Climate Change Fund to cover the cost of the Labor's failed NSW Solar Bonus Scheme," Mr O'Farrell said.

That national embarrassment is at it again....

Caricature from The Sydney Morning Herald

Australian Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell is taking his right-wing arsehattery onto the world stage preaching to contrarian converts - thus confirming to the English their enduring belief that Aussies are by and large the intellectually degenerate offspring of either 18th Century criminals or whores and ensuring that a pope will never come from the Antipodes in our lifetime.

The Global Warming Policy Foundation is pleased to announce that the second Annual GWPF Lecture will be delivered by

His Eminence Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney

Title: One Christian Perspective On Climate Change

When: 26 October 2011, 7pm

Where: Westminster Cathedral Hall, 42 Francis Street, London SW1P 1QW

Attendance at the lecture is by invitation only.

“The Global Warming Policy Foundation: Founded in November 2009, the Global Warming Policy Foundation is an all-party and non-party think tank and a registered educational charity. Its main purpose is to bring reason, integrity and balance to the climate debate. It seeks to inform the media, politicians and the public on the subject in general and on the misinformation to which they are all too frequently being subjected.”

Here’s its latest report:
Lord Turnbull: The Really Inconvenient Truth

Monday, 16 May 2011

Former Cabinet Secretary Questions Blind Faith In Climate Alarmism
For the full report click here

NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into Electricity Transactions begins today

Special Commission of Inquiry Electricity Transactions

The Honourable Brian Tamberlin QC has been appointed as Special Commissioner to inquire into and report on all matters relating to the electricity transactions (occurring both
before and after entering into those transactions), including:

1. Compliance with applicable laws, policies and practices;
2. The circumstances surrounding the resignation and appointment of directors of Eraring Energy and Delta Electricity in December 2010;
3. The value for money achieved for the State compared to the retention value of the assets to the State; and
4. The costs and benefits to the State of the electricity transactions, including potential risks and liabilities and the extent to which the transactions can deliver the stated objectives for entering into them; and
5. Any other related matters.

Further, the Commissioner is to inquire into and report on options for future action that could be undertaken to further the public interest in a competitive NSW electricity sector, including options to:

6. Address any issues identified in relation to the electricity transactions; and
7. Promote competitive electricity prices and ensure reliability of supply.

"Electricity transactions" refers to:

A. The sale of the State-owned electricity retailers (EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy and Country Energy) by the NSW Government in 2010/11;
B. The sale of the electricity trading rights of the State-owned generators (Eraring Energy and Delta West) by the NSW Government in 2010/11;
C. The Cobbora coal mine development;
D. The sale of the development sites suitable for power generation by the NSW Government, including at Marulan and Mt Piper in 2010/11; and
E. The proposed sale of the electricity trading rights of State-owned generators (Macquarie Generation and Delta Coastal) that was not completed by the NSW Government.

The Commissioner is due to provide an initial report on or before 31 August 2011 and a final report on or before 31 October 2011.

In order to ensure that all relevant information is obtained, the Commissioner has been given the special powers under sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Special Commissions of Inquiry Act 1983 (NSW).

An initial public sitting of the Inquiry will take place at 10.00 am on 23 May 2011 in Court 8A, Level 8, John Maddison Tower, 86-90 Goulburn Street, Sydney.

On that occasion, the process to be followed by the Commission will be outlined, including the means by which the Commission will inform itself in relation to the terms of reference.

Submissions to the Inquiry should be in writing and lodged with the Inquiry by 4 pm 17 June 2011.

Submissions must comply with the Directions for Written Submissions which can be obtained by contacting Brad James, Executive Officer of the Inquiry at email address msciet@agd.nsw.gov.au

.
Individuals or organisations who believe they are substantially and directly interested in any subject matter of the Inquiry are invited to contact Clare Miller, Solicitor to the Inquiry, in writing at the address below in order to inform the Inquiry of their interest, and the extent of assistance which they can provide to the Inquiry.

Any person who has information and material which is relevant to the Inquiry is invited to provide it directly to Brad James, Executive Officer, at the address specified below.

Any person wishing to contact the Inquiry may do so at the address below.
Special Commission of Inquiry
Electricity Transactions
PO Box A1150 SYDNEY SOUTH 1235
Phone: 9377 5502
E-mail: sciet@agd.nsw.gov.au

Perhaps Clarence MP should change his sources

The gauntlet has been thrown down in the direction of Steve Cansdell, the Member for Clarence.

Last week Cansdell was reported to have said, "As I'm told, the magistrate said these guys dodged a bullet."
(The Daily Examiner, 17/5/11)

Cansdell made that remark when he said he wasn't surprised that charges against juveniles who were alleged to have participated in the Yamba "riot" were dropped after the adults charged were found not guilty.

Solicitor Mark Spagnolo, who advised barristers representing two acquitted adults and three acquitted juveniles charged over their part in the incident, said Mr Cansdell’s comments were ill-informed and relied on hearsay. (The Daily Examiner, 23/5/11)

Mr Spagnolo said comments made by Mr Cansdell in the story about the youths’ riot charges dropped (The Daily Examiner, May 17), that he was told the magistrate said the accused dodged a bullet, were completely false.

“The statement made by Mr Cansdell was not said by the magistrate at any time,” he said

“Mr Cansdell should check the facts before making inflammatory comments as they do not assist the community.”

NCV has been very reliably informed that a reading of the trial's transcript will show it was the police prosecutor who said something about "escaping a bullet" and it was made in relation to one (singular) of the defendants, not the group collectively.

Sources: The Daily Examiner, 17/5/11 and 23/5/11

Abbott tries to calculate a carbon price on goods produced by a church-owned health food company

Here’s Tones in crusading mode last week as he began his latest media blitz against a national price on carbon pollution:
“This carbon tax is going to be so toxic because it's going to make the price of manufacturing everything here in Australia much, much higher,” Abbott told the Herald Sun at the NSW Sanitarium Health Foods factory, which makes the popular Weet-Bix breakfast cereal.”
Oooh, aah, we won’t be able to afford our hot weeties on a cold winter morning if the dastardly Gillard gets her way!
Hold on – isn’t there a small problem with this scenario? Not only is the manufacture of health foods, spreads, snacks and breakfast cereals not listed among the highest polluting industries in Oz, but the Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd (trading as Sanitarium) is owned by the very conservative Seventh Day Adventist Church, a charitable institution operating on Christian based principles.
Which is really a polite code signifying that its profits are protected in large measure (eg. Income Tax exemption, GST concession, FBT rebate) and under the new rules proposed by the Federal Government loss of tax exemption status will not apply to its existing commercial activities for some years to come.
So if anyone could absorb the probably low flow-on costs from a so-called carbon tax introduced in 2012-13 it would surely be this church-run business.
In fact the only price rises Sanitarium itself is foreshadowing are due to rising global commodity prices (including cereal grain prices) which affect its supply of raw materials. Something I'm sure they quietly told Tones. Along with the fact that the industry peak body to which it belongs told the Gillard Government in early 2011 that it agreed with a carbon pricing mechanism:
"AFGC is of the view that it is not a question of whether Australia should become more energy efficient and reduce emissions, but by how much, by what means and at what cost to the economy.
The most critical response to climate change is a globally consistent approach, including a common price signal for all greenhouse gas emissions. In this global context, Australia should develop a strategic national approach to emissions reduction and carbon pricing policy measures".

Every child is the responsibility of everybody says former magistrate

FORMER children’s court magistrate Barbara Holborow has implored communities to play a greater role in the lives of young people.

Ms Holborow was critical of a decision to make all new magistrates take a turn on the children’s court bench, where they were once hand picked for the job. ‘‘When you get on the children’s court bench you need to be able to speak to children, to relate to children, to understand children and for them to be able to relate to you,’’ she said. ‘‘That’s not happening now [and] it’s a tragedy.’
Ms Holborow said it was always her desire to hear what children had to say. She recalled the case of a young boy whose grandmother lived at Cronulla.
‘‘I had a little four-year-old boy come before me. His solicitor said he wished to speak to me ... [so] we went into my chambers,’’ she said, recalling the moment he sought protection from his mother’s boyfriend.
‘‘He said ‘I want to stop him from making my nose bleed’. I promised him, ‘If he makes your nose bleed again he will go to jail’. [Then] he said, ‘I want you to stop him from making mum’s nose bleed’.
‘‘That is when I got really angry.
‘‘Where was this mother when her son’s nose was bleeding? Where was he when her nose was bleeding; letting him witness that violence?’’
With the mother pregnant to her boyfriend and reluctant to leave, Ms Holborow was back in the courtroom when the child’s grandmother said she would take custody of him so he could still see his mum every day but would be safe.
‘‘I did not see [him] again which probably means everything worked out,’’ she said.

BARBARA'S VIEWS:
On ageing
‘‘A few years ago I fell and broke [my] left femur in 10 places. When I came out of rehab I was on a walking stick. People think you are deaf. Then I got a walker. Now they think I have lost all my marbles.’’
On children today
‘‘Children have become monosyllabic and I blame computers. I ring my grandchildren ... and they answer [questions] with one word. It’s like pulling teeth. I want to throw every computer away. I really think we need to keep conversing with children.’’
On keeping children in school until they are 17
‘‘There are kids that should be leaving school at 14 and 15 and put in a trade because they are not academic. They will never be academic, even though their mothers and fathers and our PM want them to be. Give them something that they feel good about themselves rather than force an education on them.’’
On curfews
‘‘I would like to see 12, 13, 14, 15-years-olds with a curfew. And if they are out I would like to see them taken to the police station and mum and dad phoned to collect them. Parents have to take responsibility for their own children. Be parents for goodness sakes and stop trying to be their best friend. Kids will have a lot of best friends. Be their mother or their father and be their strength.’’

Read the full story here

Source: St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

So the Gillard Government's response to keeping the Murray-Darling Basin river systems alive is going to be a purely political one after all?

In The Age on 21 May 2011 it was reported in Key scientists cast doubt on Murray water return that:

LEADING scientists have walked away from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority because of serious concerns over changes being made to the volume of water to be returned to the river.
The Wentworth Group of scientists were advising the authority but have called on it to hold an independent review of the science that determined the volume of water to be returned to the river system after hearing that the proposed amount is now 2800 gigalitres.
The original draft plan found that 3856 gigalitres would be a minimum volume of water that would need to be acquired from the 11,500 gigalitres of irrigators' entitlements to maintain the river……
The group did not attend a two-day science forum on the project on the basis that it did not believe the science being discussed was independent. It was there that the executives revealed the authority was going to draft a plan that recommended returning just 2800 gigalitres.

One has to suspect this wide divergence, from those rather conservative science-based recommendations found in the original Guide to the proposed Basin Plan (produced by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority), has a political basis and one doesn’t have far to look for the former state politician and lobbyist a beleaguered Gillard Government placed in a position to recommend this short-sighted, piecemeal ‘fix’ once Tony Abbott et al had stirred up a high level of rural hysteria against the government of the day.

A fix, I might add, which will continue to leave NSW east coast rivers exposed to the possibility that continuing problems with Basin water security will see one or more of these coastal rivers dammed and diverted to meet the unrealistic expectations of Basin communities, agriculture and industry.

Excerpt from transcript of evidence given before the House Standing Committee on Regional Australia’s Inquiry into the impact of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in Regional Australia on 25 March 2011 by Mr. Craig Knowles, Chair, Murray-Darling Basin Authority:

Mr Knowles—Thanks, Tony, and thank you to the members of the committee. I apologise right at the outset for not being able to be with you, but as I suspect you know I am on a fairly extensive move around the basin over the last few weeks and for the next couple of weeks. I am more than happy to catch up again in the future, if that is what you would like to do. I think I should put on the record right at the outset my position as I have explained to people as I go around the basin in relation to the guide and all of the problems that arose out of it.
Whatever failures individuals might think it had, my principal concern was that it showed very little respect to people and their efforts, both historically and indeed their desire to be involved in matters that are obviously very dear to them when it comes to water management. That is why I have said, frankly, that I do not have a high degree of ownership of it and I would like to think that, symbolically, my appointment offers the hope of a fresh start and an opportunity to reengage with communities and incorporate their wisdom and their desires, as best as they possibly can be, into the work that I will do with the authority over the next little while.
I talk about also the need to better acknowledge history of effort in things that relate to water savings, whether they are various state programs or some of the Commonwealth programs historically. The work that has been done by many of us over many years seemed to be absent from the guide and from the dialogue with communities. I think probably your committee, Tony, is hearing the same things that I hear as I get around the basin and that quite clearly is, ‘Not only do we want to be heard but we want some of the things we’ve done historically taken into account, because we believe that we have made a contribution to this concept of a healthy working basin. We believe if we are farmers that we respect and understand the need for good environmental health of our landscapes and our riverscapes and to be put in a position where we have to defend that knowledge and that history is what rankles a lot.’
Equally, I liken the basin guide to a bit of a blunt instrument. It certainly created the impression, whether it was intended or not, that whatever number you picked it was a big cut all happening on one day and that clearly is not the case. First of all, whatever the number is, the thing I am trying to pursue at the moment is how much have we already done and what is left to do and how much time do we have to do it, because it certainly will not all happen on one day and it certainly will not happen with things like water cuts or buybacks alone. There will be any number of Commonwealth and state programs in infrastructure and the activities of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder and the state water holders and all those sorts of things which will make up a more complete set of initiatives over time to achieve the desired concept of a healthy working basin.
With that in mind, I have been talking to stakeholders about how we go about engaging them again, hoping to re-establish relationships where they have been fractured, and that includes also the Commonwealth and state agencies. I am talking about SEWPaC in particular, but of course the state agencies who play a vital role in all of this. In the end, in terms of implementation, they have had well in excess of 100-odd years of doing this and have enormous resources and skills that need to be incorporated.
But the most fundamental thing I talk to people about and I hear back in my journeys around the basin—and, I suspect, nothing different to what your committee has heard, Tony—is the need for much higher levels of localism in the implementation and, indeed, the engagement of the processes to make this work in a far more fine-grained sense in the recognition that what might work in one place almost certainly will not work in another because catchments are different, hydrologies and geologies are different and we have to respect all of that and have structures in place that both encourage localism as best we can and make sure that that fits into the overarching strategic directions.
There are many models for localism. At this stage I have refrained from putting my own views about what localism might look like, but I have certainly been throwing the imagery out there, encouraging individual groups and states and territories to consider what localism might look like to them. I do not think it will be a one-size-fits-all approach, but certainly if I could encourage your committee to consider anything. It is again how you go about devolving as best as is possible opportunity, responsibility, capability and resources, of course with all the necessary accountabilities, to ensure that we go about not having this as my plan or the authority’s plan or the Commonwealth’s plan or the states’ plan, but that people have a far greater degree of ownership in it; so the better alignment of all those Commonwealth and state programs imbued with anything I might do, the concept of a healthy working basin, and creating an opportunity for people to actually genuinely be involved.
You would have all seen, I am sure, as I have after many years away from water policy, the quite excellent efforts of local communities in managing both water for consumption and production and for environmental management. Very frequently local communities are filled with people with diametrically opposed interests but, because they all know each other, they tend to turn up at each other’s cricket matches on Saturdays and things like that, they can sort it out far better than the sort of totemic arguments that take place with the peak groups and lobby groups, as important as they are. But in the end this is about making sure things happen in local settings, recognising local constraints and local needs, and I would obviously seek to impress upon the committee the strong view that I have that this is an important feature of anything we might do going forward. I will stop there because I am conscious that there will be many questions. Thank you for the opportunity.
CHAIR—Thanks, Craig. We are hearing similar messages and obviously if we had our ears open we would all be hearing similar messages. The localism issues, the local solutions, as we have moved through a number of the subcatchments, when you do engage with people they do come up with various scenarios.
Mr Knowles—Yes. Tony, it sort of reinforces that concept that there just cannot be a one-size-fits- all approach here. It has to be valley by valley, catchment by catchment and even subcatchment by subcatchment. It does not have to be lowest common denominator stuff. In fact, a lot of the organisations and groups, catchment management authorities and so on are heavily imbued with very competent people who are more than capable of incorporating good, quality information into sensible and appropriate tailor-made approaches to managing their system, both in terms of environmental imperatives and environmental health, as well as strong productive capacity.
Mr Knowles—Do you mind if I call you Sharman?
Dr STONE—Please do.
Mr Knowles—Sharman, I have been asked this. I have a number of components to my response, so I will try and be as brief as I can. First of all, importantly, I am comfortable that I have enough room and scope within the act for me to proceed in the way I wish to and I think my public position about not being able to separate or provide precedence to one of the triple bottom line objectives is well recorded. I just cannot conceivably understand how you could not have the balance of environmental, social and economic objectives, and that is the way I wish to work.
I say that for a couple of reasons. One is that the legal advice that has been tabled is highly consistent with anything else I have seen. I think I can assert reasonably that I have done a considerable amount if not a large amount of my own environmental legislating over the years, in forestry, catchment management, native vegetation and water, and I have had all of those various—Ramsar and JAMBA and CAMBA—agreements to wrestle with, and there is no difference with this Water Act.
Importantly, my point that I do make to people is that in many ways it is really not my problem. The parliament, and your work, and indeed the Senate inquiry that Senator Joyce has got up and running, is the place for this conversation, particularly the specific references of the Senate inquiry. Parliaments make the laws. Parliaments change the laws. If there is a view that it needs to be amended, I think the inquiry should work that out, but in the meantime I think somebody has got to get on with the job.
The reason I say that is that I too hear—as you have heard in the evidence you have received from some of those interest groups—the commentary about the act, but it does tend to be limited to the peak lobby groups, the professional lobbyists and indeed—with no disrespect; I was one once myself—the politicians out there on the ground. I rarely hear it raised with me unless those peak groups are with me on the road, and they have been over the last few weeks. Importantly, most people just say to me, ‘Would you please get on with this.’ They are less interested in the lawyers’ picnic that surrounds these arguments, they are more interested in somebody getting on with it, and I think the prospects of success are getting on with it and working on those objectives that I have outlined in as balanced a fashion as I possibly can.

Onya, Bob!

Murdoch
Granny Herald on 20th May 2011 reported Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown letting fly:
"Of News Limited and its coverage, Brown said yesterday what many government people say privately - but won't say with a recording device under their mouths lest they offend a powerful someone in New York or Sydney.

Brown

"It's not balanced. It is opinionated. It's not news. It's not what you would read in other countries around the world," was the pitiless Brown verdict. "I think the Murdoch media is doing a great disservice to this nation."
Needless to say, Granny isn't in the Murdoch stable.

Then on the other side of the world Al Gore via The Guardian joined in with:
"News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch,"
Again, not a Murdoch publication doing the reporting.

Sometimes the young make my heart sing - Part Two

http://youtu.be/LiYZxOlCN10