Saturday, 6 August 2011
Beer prices SLASHED in Yamba
How do they do it?
A Yamba hotel advertised that it was having a cheap grog night last night, Friday night, between 8.30pm and 10.00pm. Beer was going to be extra cheap because drinkers wouldn't have to pay GST on their beverages. However, that's only part of the story because drinkers at the hotel last night also didn't have to pay the carbon tax, the mining tax or the luxury tax.
North Coast Voices contacted the hotel yesterday and sought details about the "special offer". The hotel said that a schooner of beer which usually goes for about $4.50 would be discounted by 40%, resulting in a price of $2.50 ... (we won't discuss their mathematical skills here, that might be a subject for another day).
Hmmmm, wonder which authority will investigate operations at the hotel? Do we start with federal government authorities, state government authorities on local government authorities?
Pub art in Maclean NSW
The Maclean Hotel circa 1903 is situated in the centre of "The Scottish Town" and on the main thoroughfare, River Street.
This mural is on a wall in the beer garden.
Teh Bolta beginning to bomb?
Sydney 24,000 Melbourne 35,000 Brisbane 40,000
Total 119,000
Sydney 20,000 Melbourne 15,000 Brisbane 45,000
Friday, 5 August 2011
Federal Minister for Home Affairs and Justice & Janelle Saffin MP announce additional Safer Communities funding for NSW Far North Coast
In July-August 2011, the Federal Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Brendan O’Connor & Member for Page Janelle Saffin jointly announced Safer Communities funding totalling $296,000 for projects in the Richmond Tweed and Kyogle local government areas.
The announcement follows grants under the same program in 2010 which saw NSW North Coast benefit.This new funding for NSW Far North Coast communities breaks down at follows…….
Richmond Valley Council is to receive:
$28,000 to go toward the development of a Youth Engagement Strategy to connect with young people in the community; and
$48,000 to fund a dedicated Graffiti Clean-Up Program.
Kyogle Council will get $70,000 for its Kyogle Memorial Project which will undertake:
the renovation of the Kyogle Youth Centre,
improved safety at the Memorial Park in Kyogle, and
the preparation of a shire-wide Crime Prevention Plan.
Lismore City Council had been awarded $100,000 for the Goonellabah Plan which will complement and expand upon the Changing the Tune - Goonellabah Youth Plaza initiative, which received $150,000 (spread over three years) from the Gillard Government last year.
Clarence Valley Council will be provided with an extra $50,000 towards its Youth Activities in Yamba (YAY) Project and will use these funds for a range of projects, including a dance, rap, music and video production program and an exhibition of art work produced by local young people.
Other activities such as mentoring camps will be run as part of this project to provide these young people with opportunities to develop life skills they can use in their community, and help them avoid crime and anti-social behaviour.
A mini bus will also be purchased to provide group transport for local young people to attend these and existing programs.
Best tweet of the week
Thursday, 4 August 2011
I wonder how many bloggers have hosted hate content from Norway?
Obviously a sentiment she may also find uncomfortable as the blogosphere continues to speculate on that email’s provenance and, speculates that the writer actually identified himself to her on the basis of this exchange in the post comments section:
The same month Breivik responded to Fjordman, he also surfaces on another hardline blog, Stormfront, a white supremacist forum run by a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and popular among neo-Nazis across the world. Britain, Breivik warns, will be among the first western countries to face a "civil war due to Muslim immigration".
Buses or water wings for Yamba?
There is only one road and one bridge leading out of this town which can take motorists towards the rest of the Clarence Valley and the wider world beyond.
It is regularly cut in at least three places by water during medium and large scale flooding.
According to the ABS Census 2011 promotional material there are around 6,465 souls currently living in the town and it would take 120 buses to move this population.
Sort of places Clarence Valley Council’s airy-fairy flood evacuation policy in a new light doesn’t it?
Hope everyone there is up to the very long swim to higher ground.
# Pic from The Daily Examiner showing an Yamba cut-off by flooding in 2009
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Is the Member for Clarence a ning-nong, or what?
Steve Cansdell, the Member for Clarence, has shown yet again that he knows less than nothing.
Today's Daily Examiner reports:
Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell has revealed the NSW government can't appeal the ruling by Magistrate John Andrews to acquit 10 Adults over their part in the Yamba Riot.
Revealed???
Truly, what does the bloke know about anything?
More on identity theft - a warning about a so-called ATO website
The email states:
"Subject: Please submit your tax refund
After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund . Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 3-6 days in order to process it.
See your refund status by downloading attachment."
The email's attachment leads to a webpage that looks very much like an official ATO page, but it's not! The page seeks tax file numbers, date of birth and other personal details.
Details about the sender of the email are linked to the e address info@stout-associates.com
Who's been stealing my name?
Google Earth snapshot of the fictitious residence of the creator of the suspicious domain names
That will probably be the question on the lips of NSW Police Commissioner Andrew P. Scipione and two North Coast police officers when they find that their given names have been used to create web addresses and/or they are the nominal owners of not one but at least ten Internet domain names.
One of which spectacularly leads to a male escort website homepage graphically displaying photographs of nude torsos and erect genitalia.
These domain names were registered in 2011 and some are now being offered for sale by the 'owners'.
It seems that one particular New South Wales resident has experienced a burst of dubious creative flair at the expense of the state police force.
No wonder Tony Abbott can't lie straight in bed...
"His previous career was in journalism, where he wrote as a feature writer for 'The Bulletin' and 'The Australian'."
The Bulletin may have been a xenophobic and openly racist Packer publication, but The Australian is of course a News Ltd newspaper and I have to wonder if it was at the feet of Rupert Murdoch that Tones honed his ability to tell political whoppers.
Abbott still writes for News Ltd today under its Daily Telegraph masthead and has been doing so since at least 2008.
In the last few days Tones has been fronting the cameras peddling one of his many proven falsehoods ie ''This is a draconian new police force chasing an invisible, odourless, weightless, tasteless substance''
It seems that, like Murdoch, the Opposition Leader still believes we love to eat manure at breakfast time.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Climate Change and YouTube
Some successful and not so successful YouTube user video lobbying on both sides of the Great Anthropomorphic Global Warming Divide*.......
http://youtu.be/yKUPUznJZoE
http://youtu.be/-zeGY8zbzc8
http://youtu.be/sSTLDel-G9k
http://youtu.be/eLs73KJI36w
http://youtu.be/S9ob9WdbXx0
http://youtu.be/CdvXWZxAAKQ
http://youtu.be/TQlHaGhYoF0
* Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency,
Debunking The Myths
Monday, 1 August 2011
U.S. Election Cycle 2012: Retirees think Obama's best - by a slim margin
When it comes to placing money where confidence or hope lies, then U.S. retirees appear to think a re-elected Barack Obama is worth betting on, according to the Center for Responsive Politics:
†These numbers show how the industry ranks in total campaign giving as compared to more than 80 other industries. Rankings are shown only for industries (such as the Automotive industry) -- not for widely encompassing "sectors" (such as Transportation) or more detailed "categories" (like car dealers).
METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions of $200 or more from PACs and individuals to federal candidates and from PACs, soft money (including directly from corporate and union treasuries) and individual donors to political parties and outside spending groups, as reported to the Federal Election Commission. "Donations to Democrats," "Donations to Republicans," and the associated percentages are based solely on contributions to candidates and parties. Independent expenditures and electioneering communications are not reflected in the breakdown by party." While election cycles are shown in charts as 1996, 1998, 2000 etc. they actually represent two-year periods. For example, the 2002 election cycle runs from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2002.
Data for the current election cycle were released by the Federal Election Commission on Saturday, July 16, 2011.
NOTE: Soft money contributions to the national parties were not publicly disclosed until the 1991-92 election cycle, and were banned by the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act following the 2002 elections. Contributions to Outside Spending groups legalized by the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision are listed in the "Soft/Outside Money" column as are donations of "Levin" funds to state and local party committees. Levin funds were created by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.
According to Open Secrets on 28 July 2011:
People listing their occupation on campaign finance filings as retired have given Romney at least $1.6 million. Pawlenty, meanwhile, has raised at least $577,000 from retirees. And retired people have contributed at least $324,600 to Paul's presidential campaign and $160,300 to Bachmann's.
Obama, meanwhile, has reported raising at least $3.1 million from retirees.
Mr. Denmore: Shock revelation! Tony Abbott is really a Marxist
Has the ever alert tweeter Mr. Denmore, of The Failed Estate, found an earlier mainfestation of the Arch-Denier himself?
MrDenmore
Shock revelation! Tony Abbott is really a Marxist. http://t.co/CiOox2X #auspol
http://youtu.be/DtMV44yoXZ0
Sunday, 31 July 2011
After fifteen months surely The Herald-Sun & The Telegraph could get their disability pension facts straight
On 28 April 2010 the Federal Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs issued a joint media release (with the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services) announcing a modified approach to assessment of impairment in relation to all new applicants applying for a Disability Support Pension after 1 January 2012.
On 10 May 2011 the Minister (along with the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Minister for Employment Participation and the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers) announced welfare measures included in the 2011-12 Federal Budget and made it clear that new work capacity/participation requirements applied to new pension applicants and to those existing pension recipients under 35 years of age who have some capacity to work. At the same time Budget documents made clear that some of those changes affecting new applicants were now expected to start in September 2011.
In a 12 May 2011 news interview the Minister made it clear that the new work participation rules would affect up to 90,000 pensioners under 35 over the next two years.
On 1 June 2011 the Minister issued another joint media release (this time with the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers) in which new reforms were again announced. This release also made it clear that eligibility changes applied to new applicants, not to all 815,000 individuals already receiving a full or part Disability Support Pension.
Centrelink’s website also made mention of these changes to the Disability Support Pension.
These welfare reforms were widely reported at the time and remain on the public record. Yet on 30 July 2011 The Herald-Sun ran this line:
DISABILITY support pension applicants will no longer be able to claim they are too fat to work or are unable due to other ailments that would previously have led them to claim benefits. Instead, 815,000 people will be assessed using new impairment tables on what work they could potentially do based on their disability.(See snapshot above)
While The Telegraph made an identical statement of ‘fact’ via the pen of the same journalist:
APPLICANTS for the disability support pension will no longer be able to claim they are too fat to work or are unable due to other ailments that would previously have led them to claim benefits.
Instead, 815,000 people on the pension will be assessed using new impairment tables on what work they could potentially do based on their disability.
At best this is sloppy reporting by News Ltd newspapers and at worst it could be seen as an attempt to produce distress within a vulnerable group and create yet more political mischief for the Gillard Government to deal with.
Unfortunately on the morning of 30 July ABC News Radio quoted News Ltd and helped spread the canard that all existing Disability Support pensioners were to be re-assessed for eligibility.
It wasn't until much later that the national broadcaster began to correct the record, followed by The Telegraph quietly emending that offending paragraph. As of 9pm on 30 July neither News Ltd nor the political reporter who wrote both articles had corrected The Herald-Sun version.
The Banana Mortgage Belt
As we leave July and enter August 2011, buying a banana is still a luxury for many on the NSW North Coast at around $14-$16 a kilo in some of the larger supermarkets.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics kindly places the pain in our wallets into perspective.
ABS CPI June quarter 2011 up 0.9%
The ABS Consumer Price Index rose 0.9% in the June quarter 2011, compared with a rise of 1.6% in the March quarter 2011.
The most significant price rises this quarter were for fruit (+26.9%), automotive fuel (+4.0%), hospital and medical services (+3.4%), furniture (+6.0%) and deposit and loan facilities (+2.1%). The most significant offsetting price falls were for vegetables (–10.3%), audio, visual and computing equipment (–6.3%), electricity (–1.5%), domestic holiday travel and accommodation (–1.5%) and milk (–4.6%).
Fruit prices increased by 26.9% in the June quarter 2011 mainly due to an increase of approximately 138% in the price of bananas due to shortages created by Cyclone Yasi. Banana prices increased 470% over the six months to the June quarter 2011.
The ABS Consumer Price Index rose 3.6% through the year to the June quarter 2011, compared with a rise of 3.3% through the year to March quarter 2011.
When is a Christian not a Christian? When he embarrasses the flock of course!
The disconnected Labelling Debate score stands at
Breivik 'the Christian': 1 O'Reilly 'the Christian': 0.
This is Breivik writing in his manifesto:
Q: Do I have to believe in God or Jesus in order to become a Justiciar Knight?
A: As this is a cultural war, our definition of being a Christian does not necessarily constitute that you are required to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus. Being a Christian can mean many things;
- That you believe in and want to protect Europe’s Christian cultural heritage.
The European cultural heritage, our norms (moral codes and social structures included), our traditions and our modern political systems are based on Christianity - Protestantism, Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and the legacy of the European enlightenment (reason is the primary source and legitimacy for authority).
It is not required that you have a personal relationship with God or Jesus in order to fight for our Christian cultural heritage and the European way. In many ways, our modern societies and European secularism is a result of European Christendom and the
enlightenment. It is therefore essential to understand the difference between a “Christian fundamentalist theocracy” (everything we do not want) and a secular European society based on our Christian cultural heritage (what we do want).
So no, you don’t need to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus to fight for our Christian cultural heritage. It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic or a Christian-atheist(an atheist who wants to preserve at least the basics of the European Christian cultural legacy (Christian holidays, Christmas and Easter)).
The PCCTS, Knights Templar is therefore not a religious organisation but rather a Christian “culturalist” military order.
Religion: Christian, Protestant but I support a reformation of Protestantism leading to it being absorbed by Catholisism. The typical “Protestant Labour Church” has to be deconstructed as its creation was an attempt to abolish the Church Religious: I went from moderately to agnostic to moderately religious
My parents, being rather secular wanted to give me the choice in regards to religion.
At the age of 15 I chose to be baptised and confirmed in the Norwegian State Church. I consider myself to be 100% Christian.
Regarding my personal relationship with God, I guess I’m not an excessively religious man. I am first and foremost a man of logic. However, I am a supporter of a monocultural Christian Europe.
This is FoxNews Impact host Bill O’Reilly in runaway denial:
Now, on Sunday, the "New York Times" headlined "As Horrors Emerged, Norway Charges Christian extremist". A number of other news organizations like the "LA Times" and Reuters also played up the Christian angle. But Breivik is not a Christian. That's impossible. No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder. The man might have called himself a Christian on the net, but he is certainly not of that faith.
Also Breivik is not attached to any church, and in fact has criticized the Protestant belief system in general. The Christian angle came from a Norwegian policeman not from any fact finding. Once again, we can find no evidence, none, that this killer practiced Christianity in any way.
So why is the angle being played up? Two reasons: First, the liberal media wants to make an equivalency between the actions of Breivik and the Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh and al Qaeda. The left wants you to believe that fundamentalists Christians are a threat just like crazy jihadists are.
http://youtu.be/Z3_DEp--J8c
Extended YouTube compilation of O'Reilly commentary:
http://youtu.be/mAxf3aL1WmU
The Young Turks response to O'Reilly:
http://youtu.be/dl6lOP_BfLg
Saturday, 30 July 2011
A thought for News Ltd journalists to ponder
Journalists (or most of them) wish to report what they see as the truth. If there are opposing views about some political or artistic issue, they may seek a balance by presenting an account that lies somewhere between the two extremes. This is not the same as impartiality, which involves a refusal to favour one point of view, particularly where politics is involved. In science reporting, though, balance and impartiality seem often to be conflated. When faced with strongly opposed views in a scientific discussion a journalist may not be certain of the facts presented by each side and may apply balance while describing it as impartiality – but if one proponent is presenting dubious evidence that claim is not justified.
As some within the world of broadcasting perhaps fail to realise, impartiality checks are built in to the scientific enterprise. The objectivity of researchers is judged as they undergo a series of painful processes from the successful grant application, to endless discussion within a group as to the validity of a result, to a journal’s peer review before a piece of work becomes public and then, quite often, to the presentation of contrary views in the scientific literature. Many of those put up in opposition to a scientist on the broadcast media have had, in contrast, no scrutiny at all of the claims they put forward. A certain amount of emphasis might be placed on the differential examination that the ideas of each party have undergone when considering the need for due impartiality. [BBC Trust review of impartiality and accuracy of the BBC’s coverage of science,July 2011]
The beauty of ephemeral art
From the studio of Anna-Wili Highfield
these sensitive paper sculptures of Australian wildlife.
Seahorse
Barn Owl
Brown Warbler
Friday, 29 July 2011
Australia's Clean Energy Legislation Public Consultation, 28 July – 22 August 2011
The submission period is open from Thursday, 28 July – Monday, 22 August 2011. Submissions are invited from all interested stakeholders.
The purpose of this public engagement process is to confirm that the draft bills implement the announced policy and that they do not, as drafted, create any uncertainties, ambiguities or risks of unintended consequences. The Government has also released draft commentaries on the bills, and seeks views as to whether they clearly explain the content of the bills.
How to make a submission
Complete a submission cover sheet (DOC 99 KB)
Prepare your submission. Preferred format is Adobe PDF
Email your cover sheet and submission to cleanenergybills@climatechange.gov.au
Alternatively, post your submission to:
Carbon Price Legislation Branch
Carbon Strategy and Markets Division
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
GPO Box 854
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Draft legislation**
Clean Energy Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011
Clean Energy Regulator Bill 2011
Climate Change Authority Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Unit Shortfall charge—General) Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—General) Bill 2011
Clean Energy (Charges—Excise) Bill 2011
Clean Energy (International Unit Surrender Charge) Bill 2011
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment Bill 2011
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment Bill 2011
Fuel Tax Legislation Amendment (Clean Energy) Bill 2011
Excise Tariff Legislation Amendment (Clean Energy) Bill 2011
Customs Tariff Amendment (Clean Energy) Bill 2011
Note: The legislation to implement household assistance in relation to the carbon price will not be exposed in draft.
**At the time of posting not all secondary DCC&EE links were functioning. Hopefully that will be rectified soon.
How low did Lamo go?
Sometime around 21 May 2010 self-identified hacker Adrian Lamo and Bradley Manning began a series of private online conversations. These chats Lamo reported to the FBI , then allegedly sent a full log of these conversations to WIRED and subsequently gave numerous media interviews embellishing his storyline.
Two entries in a three-day transcript from the alleged full log titled Manning’s alleged chat logs diff at CablegateSearch:
(10:23:34 AM) info@adrianlamo.com: I’m a journalist and a minister. You can pick either, and treat this as a confession or an interview (never to be published) & enjoy a modicum of legal protection.
(1:55:10 PM) info@adrianlamo.com: i told you, none of this is for print.
In a much earlier interview on 1 December 2001 Lamo answered the question What is your real name?:
Adrian Lamo. . if you want to be technical, its the Doctor Reverend Adrian A. Lamo, Ph.D . . Doctor of Divinity and minister through the Universal Life Church, the grandma of all diploma mills everywhere. . .i don’t take those seriously, and don’t expect anyone else to, but i put them on my resume and my business cards to make a point of my disdain for the certification and educational process.
Earlier yet in 2003 he allegedly admits to drug abuse.
To date I can find no evidence that he was a bona fide journalist.
This is Salon commentator Glenn Greenwald’s opinion on 14 July 2011:
In sum, the full chat logs -- in particular the parts Wired concealed for over a year -- prove that Adrian Lamo is a serial liar whose claims are inherently unreliable. But Wired's selective editing prevented this from being proven -- served to shield from critical scrutiny the person the BBC accurately described as Poulsen's "long-time associate" -- and thus enabled Lamo to run around for a full year masquerading as a reliable source, making claims that were fabrications and driving much of the reporting about the Manning and WikiLeaks investigations. Enabling false claims to be disseminated to the public on a vital news story -- by withholding plainly relevant information that proves those claims false -- is the opposite of the purpose of journalism, as is needlessly withholding key context to the events one is purporting to describe; yet that's exactly what Wired did here, and continued to do despite growing calls for the release of this information.
Saffin welcomes $154,000 boost for Page electorate tourism
Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin today announced TQUAL Grants totalling $154,000 for two quality tourism projects in Ballina Shire and the Clarence Valley.
Ms Saffin said Alstonville’s House With No Steps will receive $110,000 for its Farm Gate Tractor Tour, and Clarence Valley Council $44,000 for its Clarence BOOST project.
“The $110,000 will go towards constructing a 30-minute tractor ride tour over the House With No Steps’ 172-acre property – the first of its kind for our region,” Ms Saffin said.
“This tour, with signage educating tourists about local history, farming and Northern Rivers food, is set to become a major tourist drawcard.
“The House With No Steps employs up to 90 people with disabilities, and the Farm Gate Tractor Tour will further enhance this iconic tourist attraction and the great work it does.”
Ms Saffin congratulated Clarence Valley Council on its Clarence BOOST project which aims to show tourism operators how to compete in an experience-driven world.
“The council’s TQUAL grant will pay for consulting services to develop skills and capacity building at Clarence BOOST,” Ms Saffin said.
“Clarence BOOST is a boot camp for the Valley’s tourism community – operators, stakeholders, agencies and local residents.
“The project aims to help the Clarence tourism community to play its part in building a sustainable regional tourism future.”
Ms Saffin said the projects were among 117 to receive a total of $8.5 million in Australian Government funding in the latest round of TQUAL Grants.
With dollar-for-dollar matching investment from tourism operators, this funding round represents at least $17 million in new tourism investment nationwide.
Details of grant recipients and the competitive selection process is at www.ret.gov.au/tqual
[Media Release from the Office of Janelle Saffin MP, Page Electorate, Tuesday, July 26, 2011]
Thursday, 28 July 2011
'Lock the Gate Alliance' Mining Forum, North Coast Regional Botanic Garden, Coffs Harbour at 2pm 31 July 2011
From A Clarence Valley Protest
The Coffs Coast Advocate, Forum to explain mining plan, 27 July 2011:
The Lock the Gate Alliance has convened a Mining the Coffs Coast forum at the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden in Coffs Harbour at 2pm.Alliance spokesman Michael McNamara said the session was the result of “unprecedented pressure to mine sensitive parts” of our region.
“With proposals to mine coal seam gas throughout the Clarence Valley, antimony in the headwaters of Coffs Harbour's drinking water supply, and gold throughout the forested hinterland, there has never been as much pressure on the mineral resources of the region,” Mr McNamara said.
“There are serious conflicts between mining and the internationally-significant biodiversity of the region and even more serious conflicts between toxic mining practices and the protection of clean water supplies.”
Mr McNamara said he and his wife, Julie, were so passionate about the issue they were undertaking a promotional speaking tour of NSW during August and September to promote National Day of Action on October 16, also the start of National Water Week.....
MeadowLea and The Case of the Missing Non-GM Oils
Snapshot from MeadowLea About Our Products Ingredients, 26 July 2011
MeadowLea promotes its margarines as Non GM on the outside of its tubs.
However, on the base of the these same tubs a question arises as to the legitimacy of this claim.
Firstly, only the canola seed is claimed to be Non-Genetically Modified on the tub bases.
Secondly, on the bottom of Salt Reduced and Extra Light tubs, I've noticed the claim only covers part of Vegetable Oils 65% (Containing 52% Canola & Sunflower Oils) and Vegetable Oil 31% (Containing 26% Canola & Sunflower Oil) respectively.
So what is the nature of the remainder of the vegetable oil (13% and 5% in the examples quoted) called plant & seed oils on its website and hidden within the term Vegetable Oil(s) on its tubs.
Could it possibly be from plant material that cannot be guaranteed as Non-GM?
Hhmmmm.....
Bolta the Unbelievable
This was Teh Bolta on the 23rd July 2011 before the first of many judicious post updates:
“Once the identity of the attackers becomes known, the consequences for Norway’s immigration policies could be profound:
Police say seven people have been confirmed dead following a bomb blast outside prime minister Jens Stoltenberg’s office in Oslo.
Acting Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim told broadcaster NRK that investigators suspect today’s bombing was linked to a shooting spree that killed four people at the Labor Party’s youth camp later in the day by a gunman in a police uniform.
The bomb left seven people dead and another 15 injured, two seriously, police said.
Already the unconfirmed reports suggest our immediate suspicions are correct, although the shooter’s appearance tells us to still be cautious about our conclusions:
Abu Suleiman al-Nasser, an Islamist with links to Al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups, has claimed responsibility for today’s bomb in Oslo…”
The fourth update by Bolta to the original post:
“He claims to be a Christian.”
And this was the same eejit Murdoch journalist four days later:
“HEAR that gloating sound, among the sobs for the 76 people murdered last week by Anders Behring Breivik?
Hear that cackling among the moans?
It’s Leftist polemicists, gleeful that the Norwegian murderer was a “far-Right Christian”.
How often you’ve been reminded.
One ABC news story filed on Sunday mentioned three times that Breivik was a “Christian”…”
So it’s alright for Bolta to quickly publish his erroneous suspicion that the acts of terrorism in Norway were the work of Islamic extremists, then to later mention the declared religious allegiance of the actual perpetrator – but it’s hands off the news story completely if you're not prepared to bash Teh Big Bad Left along with with him?
Andy has more hide than Jessie the Elephant!
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
In which Rupert Murdoch, John Howard, Peter Costello, Ross Cameron, Keith Windschuttle & Cardinal Pell are used as building blocks for terrorism
In 1998, Rupert Murdoch owned 34% of the daily newspapers and 37% of the Sunday newspapers in the UK. Successive UK governments have allowed his empire to grow in return for his media's support. 53% of UK newspaper and magazine distribution is controlled by just two companies, WH Smith and John Menzies. Cross-media ownership and the fact that a small number of people own so many of our means of obtaining information is a threat as it institutionalises globalism and multiculturalism....
Luckily, not all Christian leaders are appeasers of Islam. One of the intelligent ones comes from Australia, a country that has been fairly resistant to Political Correctness. They have taken serious steps towards actually enforcing their own borders, despite the predictable outcries from various NGOs and anti-racists, and Prime Minister John Howard has repeatedly proven to be one of the most sensible leaders in the Western world....
Federal Treasurer Peter Costello [28] said Australian Muslim leaders need to stand up and publicly denounce terrorism in all its forms. Mr. Costello has also backed calls by Prime Minister John Howard for Islamic migrants to adopt Australian values. Mr. Howard caused outrage in Australia’s Islamic community when he said Muslims needed to speak English and show respect to women....
All over the developed world, the same pattern is apparent. Russia, Britain, Ireland, Australia, Spain, Italy and dozens of other countries are contending with fertility rates well below replacement levels....
A study from the United States [13] identified the main barriers to men tying the knot. Heading the list was their ability to get sex without marriage more easily than in the past. The second was that they can enjoy the benefits of having a wife by cohabiting rather than marrying.
The report lends weight to remarks by Ross Cameron, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Family and Community Services, who chided Australian men, blaming Australia’s looming fertility crisis on men’s commitment phobia.
“The principal reason young women say they don’t get around to having children is they can’t find a bloke they like who is willing to commit,” he said. “This commitment aversion in the Australian male is a real problem.”....
Australian writer Keith Windschuttle [22], a former Marxist, is tired of that anti-Western slant that permeates academia: “For the past three decades and more, many of the leading opinion makers in our universities, the media and the arts have regarded Western culture as, at best, something to be ashamed of, or at worst, something to be opposed. The scientific knowledge that the West has produced is simply one of many “ways of knowing.”
“Cultural relativism claims there are no absolute standards for assessing human culture. Hence all cultures should be regarded as equal, though different.” “The plea for acceptance and open-mindedness does not extend to Western culture itself, whose history is regarded as little more than a crime against the rest of humanity. The West cannot judge other cultures but must condemn its own.”
He urges us to remember how unique some elements of our culture are: “The concepts of free enquiry and free expression and the right to criticise entrenched beliefs are things we take so much for granted they are almost part of the air we breathe. We need to recognise them as distinctly Western phenomena. They were never produced by Confucian or Hindu culture.” “But without this concept, the world would not be as it is today. There would have been no Copernicus, Galileo, Newton or Darwin.”....
George Cardinal Pell [30], Archbishop of Sydney, tells of how September 11 was a wakeup call for him personally [31]:
“I recognised that I had to know more about Islam.” “In my own reading of the Koran, I began to note down invocations to violence. There are so many of them, however, that I abandoned this exercise after 50 or 60 or 70 pages.” “The predominant grammatical form in which jihad is used in the Koran carries the sense of fighting or waging war.” “Considered strictly on its own terms, Islam is not a tolerant religion and its capacity for fear-reaching renovation is severely limited.” “I’d also say that Islam is a much more war-like culture than Christianity.” “I’ve had it asserted to me is that in the relationship between the Islamic and non-Islamic world, the normal thing is a situation of tension if not war, or outright hostility.”....
Our traditional Judeo-Christian religions have proven this capability. Islam never has, and probably never will. As Australia's Cardinal George Pell [13] says, "some seculars are so deeply anti-Christian, that anyone opposed to Christianity is seen as their ally. That could be one of the most spectacularly disastrous miscalculations in history." ....
"The 20th century has been characterised by three developments of great political importance. The growth of democracy; the growth of corporate power; and the growth of corporate propaganda against democracy." Alex Carey, Australian social scientist.
[ Berwick, Andrew (believed to be Anders Breivik) 2083: A Europen Declartion of Independence, 2011]
* The complete manifesto is not linked for download due to the nature of its contents.
Catholic Church to issue sly apology for forced adoptions and human rights abuses in Australia
CathNews on 24 July 2011:
Catholic Health Australia will today issue an apology to the victims of forced adoption practices from the 1950s to 1970s and offer those affected counselling and a pathway for complaints, reports The Australian.
The apology will be made through a Senate committee, which is inquiring into the past practices of hospitals and social workers employed by government, churches and charities, who forcibly removed babies from unwed and teenage mothers and adopted them out.
The adoptions often occurred against the wishes of the mothers, who sometimes signed consent forms under duress or the influence of sedatives and other medication. In some cases no birth records are available.
"We acknowledge the pain of separation and loss felt then and now for the mothers, fathers, children, families and others involved in the practices of the time," Catholic Health Australia says in its apology.
"For the pain and suffering that arises from practices of the past, we are genuinely sorry.
"These practices of the past are no longer tolerated, nor allowed by today's law, and are deeply regrettable."
At the time of writing it would appear that few in the mainstream media have noticed that: (i) this so-called apology (not the Church’s first on this subject) would again be given under parliamentary privilege; and (ii) statements made to the media are carefully based on the protected Catholic Health Australia submission already before the Inquiry. Which may possibly be an attempt to limit liability on the part of the Catholic Church and its agencies managed by the Sisters of Mercy, Christian Brothers and Sisters of St Joseph amongst others.
The agency intending to make this particular 'apology' states no authority to formally apologize on behalf of the wider Australian Catholic Church and senior church official, Cardinal George Pell, remains strangely silent on the matter. One has to wonder if any journalist has bothered to contact him this week.
The agency also claims no expertise in adoptions, repudiates any detailed agency knowledge before this year, is careful not to mention the word “compensation”, blatantly attempts to minimise the number of women affected, sidesteps the illegality involved in Church-endorsed policy/practices and, expects government to address the problems created by these forced adoptions.
It is publicly canvassing this 'apology' at a time when the Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs has no future public hearings scheduled for this inquiry and presently expect to hold only one other hearing on a yet unspecified date.
But Lily Arthur, from the forced adoption support group Origins NSW, is sceptical about apologies. "I don't think that anyone can accept an apology for something that's never been basically dealt with legally," and Therese Pearson, of Merewether, and Juliette Clough, of Windale, agree that nothing will ease the decades of pain they have endured and they want to launch a class action against the organisation that drugged them and "stole" their babies.
I also note that Catholic Health did not make its brief two-page submission until after the Inquiry closure date was extended and is only the second Catholic agency identified in the published submission list to date.
The Catholic Health Australia website professes that it seeks to promote the interests of a just health system and the dignity of the human person and lists its stewardship board as including:Mr Tony Wheeler [Chair],
Br Joseph Smith OH [Deputy Chair], Mr Pat Bugden [Treasurer], Sr Therese Carroll rsj, Dr Michael Stanford, Mrs Lynne Sheehan, Ms Madonna McGahan, Mr Michael Thom, Sr Berneice Loch rsm, Ms Rowena McNally, Bishop Joseph Oudeman, Accociate [sic] Professor Kate Birrell, Sr Helen Monkivitch rsm, and Dr Michael Walsh. However this list may be outdated.
One has to wonder why Catholic Health Australia and its board would expect this ham-fisted Clayton's apology to ease the obvious distress of the women and children who suffered under Church adoption policy.
*Catholic Health (CHA) Submission No. 279, dated 1 July 2011: Inquiry into the Commonwealth contribution to Former Forced Adoption Policies and Practices
*Mackillop Family Services Submission No. 86, dated February 2011: “THE LEGACY OF PAST ADOPTION PRACTICES:ACCESSING RECORDS AND SUPPORT”
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Vale Margaret Hannah Olley 1923-2011
Margaret Hannah Olley
Born 24 June 1923 in Lismore NSW
Died 26 July 2011 in Paddington NSW
Sadly missed by all who appreciate her art
Yaegl people claim native title over Crown land & water in an area covering 1,400 sq kms on the NSW North Coast
A fifth native title claim covering traditional lands on the NSW North Coast has been lodged with the National Native Title Tribunal.
This claim covers approximately 1,400 sq kilometres and appears to be the second claim involving the Yaegl People of the Clarence Valley.
The first co-claim (with the Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr peoples) which primarily involves waters of the Clarence River, from below Harwood Bridge to the sea, is yet to be determined
National Native Title Tribunal
Notice of an application for determination of native title in the State of New South Wales
Notification day: 27 July 2011
This is an application by a native title claim group who are asking the Federal Court to determine that the group hold native title in the area described below.
A person who wants to become a party to this application must write to the Registrar of the Federal Court, Level 17, Law Courts Building, Queens Square, Sydney NSW 2000, on or before 26 October 2011.
After 26 October 2011, the Federal Court’s permission to become a party is required.
Under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth) there can be only one determination of native title for a particular area. If a person with native title rights and interests does not become a party to this application, there may be no other opportunity for the Federal Court, in making its determination, to take into account those native title rights and interests in relation to the area concerned.
Application name: Yaegl People #2
Federal Court File No: NSD168/2011
Date filed: 23 February 2011
Registration test status: The Native Title Registrar has accepted this application for registration.
Description: The application covers areas of Crown land and water in the vicinity of the towns of Maclean, Yamba and Wooli.
The application excludes: freehold land, other areas where native title has been extinguished and the area covered by NSD6052/1998 Yaegl People #1.
The application falls within the Local Government Authority of Clarence Valley Council.
Data statement: claimant application boundary compiled by the NNTT.
For assistance and further information about this application, call Nicole Maher on freecall 1800 640 501 or visit www.nntt.gov.au.
The largest and most successful North Coast claim to date was made on 29 November 2007, when the Federal Court of Australia made a consent determination recognising the Githabul People’s native title rights and interests over 1,120 sq km in nine national parks and 13 state forests in northern New South Wales.
The 'weightless' flight of Mister Abbott
Monday, 25 July 2011
Breivik: a frightening perspective on the world
The Sydney Morning Herald on 24 July 2011:
The suspect in twin attacks in and near Oslo that killed at least 92 people has admitted responsibility, his lawyer says.
Anders Behring Breivik, 32, was arrested and detained for allegedly shooting at least 85 people dead at a youth Labour Party meeting on an island and killing seven more in a car bomb explosion which ripped through government buildings in Oslo.
His lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said his client had admitted he was responsible for the two attacks.
Snapshots (24.07.11) taken from a lengthy video allegedly created and posted on YouTube by Anders Behring Breivik:
Click on images to enlarge
In July 2011 Australia really began to drag its knuckles in the dust
In response to a journalist who wrote of her dislike of the term Juliar, a foot soldier in Abbott's Army wrote this:
Albert Henry of Tamworth: "Your story was the greatest lot of crap ever written. It is obvious your political bias does not give a true picture of how we true Australians think and the hatred we have against traitors like yourself, defending that very ugly female atheist communistic destructive Prime Minister Juliar Gillard.
It is so easy for second-class lesbian reporters like yourself to run down ordinary Australians who see very clearly that this ugly ranga with the long ears and witch-like nose and a big-arse has set her sights on destroying the living standards of all Australians. Claire, we realise you can't change your lesbian ways and your love for that ugly Juliar Gillard, but the chances of you bedding her are zero. Sorry Claire, you will have to just dream. I truly understand your problem in getting yourself a man because you are so ugly."