From the perspective of stay at home who is old, ill, childless, very sane and who would never in a month of Sundays vote Liberals, Nationals, Family First, DLP or LNP – sit on it and rotate Bob!
Monday 11 June 2012
Staying at home on the June long weekend seen as political dysfunction
From the perspective of stay at home who is old, ill, childless, very sane and who would never in a month of Sundays vote Liberals, Nationals, Family First, DLP or LNP – sit on it and rotate Bob!
What Clarence Valley Council is considering without formal community consultation
Local government on the NSW North Coast is nothing if not predictable.
Click on images to enlarge
Reserve Bank Governor reminds Australia that its economy is sound
Peter Martin quoting Governor Glenn Stevens on 8th June 2012:
Of course that didn't stop a privileged blowin like South African-Israeli-Australian Ivan teh Grate from spouting this nonsense, from atop the dizzying peak of his 'on paper' fortune, to the Herald Sun on the very same day:
"IVAN Glasenberg, the nation's second wealthiest person, says Australia is a less attractive place to invest than the world's poorest country, the Congo.
Mr Glasenberg, pictured, the South-African-born head of commodities giant Glencore, said the carbon tax and mining resources rent tax had damaged Australia's reputation.
He told an industry dinner in London that mining companies were disadvantaged in Australia as they had less leverage.
"At least in the Congo they need you, they want you there, and if they start changing the rules you may not continue investing," said Mr Glasenberg, an Australian citizen whose wealth is estimated at more than $7 billion.
The war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo this year was named by The Richest magazine as the world's poorest nation."
Sunday 10 June 2012
School children used as weapons in flying fox fight
This whole sorry saga could have been avoided if the Gulmarrad Public School staff member responsible for choosing articles to be submitted to The Daily Examiner had acted as a responsible educator.
One has to suspect that one or more adults having direct contact with these primary school children decided to use them as a vehicle to spread their own particular anti-flying fox bias. The level of misinformation in the short article in question defies any other explanation.
Children have a right to participate in community debate, but do not have an automatic right to always be protected from learning from their mistakes. Hopefully they will learn that one does not necessarily implicitly trust the views of another person simply because they are older in years or blindly accept the opinions of journalists because these have been published in print or online.
One has to also hope that those who learnt the most valuable lesson from this episode will be the parents and teachers of Clarence Valley school children, so that in the future they provide information supported by fact with regard to Australian native wildlife.
The Daily Examiner 23 May 2012:
Bat track success
I WRITE to thank the numerous people that assisted the Maclean High School Bat Tracking Project and contributed to providing a quality experience for the students.
The project aimed to engage local students of Maclean High School in wildlife research and forms part of their HSC Biology Course. It involved trapping and collaring flying-foxes to track their movements. Despite a few initial obstacles and very early starts, the students (and their parents) persevered and thoroughly enjoyed the field work component.
Everyone worked well as a team and learnt a lot - about each other, about bats and about the controversy of working with this particular group of animals.
The team caught a total of 63 flying-foxes at the Yamba colony and attached four satellite transmitters to adult males. Already we are getting great movement data from these tagged animals. One flying-fox (named "Wayne" by the students) is flying a huge 32km nightly to feed in coastal paperbark forest south of Sandon Village.
A lot of volunteer work by many people over many months made this project a success and I am truly grateful for all the hard work.
The project was supported by a handful of dedicated volunteers, parents of students, local businesses and community groups as well as both local and state governments. Thank you also to Deborah Novak for donating her time and expertise to produce great photos and videos of the project.
Lastly, it was a pleasure to work with these inquisitive, hard-working and bright students and I look forward to continuing to track the activities of the flying-foxes with them over the coming months. Such projects are extremely rewarding for so many people and I hope that similar wildlife project continue at local schools.
To see a small one-minute film go to http://vimeo.com/42398697.
The Gulmarrad Gazette in The Daily Examiner 29 May 2012:
Bats, bats, bats
WHAT do you think about bats? We have been around most of the classrooms at Gulmarrad School to see what students think about the bats.
A high percentage of the children recommend that that the bats should be removed from Maclean.
It is a health hazard and not to mention the destruction of our rainforest.
The bats are a big health hazard because their poo is dropped all over the school grounds and all over the kids' lunches. This is terribly bad because it spreads horrible diseases including the Hendra virus. This disease can make people and students very sick and can even result in death.
Secondly the bats are destroying the rainforest and killing all the native animals and their native habitats. Bats are also destroying our beautiful trees and shredding their branches. If the bats do not go soon there might not be a rainforest left for your child and their children to enjoy.
Thirdly students are getting distracted in class because of all the noise the bats are making. Also when a loud sound is made the bats go crazy and circle around the school creating an even louder racket.
In conclusion, the students of Gulmarrad School strongly believe that the Maclean bats should be removed immediately. It is a giant health hazard for the students of Maclean High School and members of the wider community and we hope that when we go there next year they are gone forever and only a distant memory.
Think about your kid's health and education; it might be on the line.
Kalisha Mueller and Matilda Arndell
The Daily Examiner 2 June 2012:
Flying foxes faux pas
PERHAPS the Gulmarrad Gazette Newspapers in Education pages published by the Examiner on 29/5/2012 should be called Newspapers in Miseducation.
I refer to the piece entitled "Bats, bats, bats," which contains far more fiction than fact about flying foxes. If I were a teacher at Gulmarrad School, I would be ashamed to be exposing to the general public mine and my students total lack of knowledge about these animals. Presumably a teacher read this poor excuse for an article before sending it for publication, and chose not to take the opportunity to educate these misinformed students so that they could provide a factual, useful story, instead propagating lies and unnecessary worries about the situation at Maclean High School.
Just a couple of the falsehoods in the story are:
1. the bats' "poo...spreads horrible diseases such as the Hendra virus." It doesn't. Hendra simply cannot be contracted by humans from flying foxes.
2. "Bats are destroying the rainforest and killing all the native animals and their native habitats". They aren't. Humans have already destroyed almost all of the rainforest so that flying foxes are now concentrated in the remnants. Many rainforest trees would die out if it weren't for flying foxes pollinating them and dispersing their seeds, contributing significantly to rainforest ecology. And flying foxes are herbivores, causing the deaths of no native animals.
As for the statement that when a "loud sound is made the bats go crazy and circle around ... making an even louder racket": wouldn't this be an argument against the illegal noise used by residents, and illegal and legal noise made at times by the Maclean High School, to intentionally disturb the bats?
I understand that the Examiner editorship thinks that demonising bats sells more newspapers than presenting facts, let alone good news stories about them. A case in point is the article published recently about the vandalism by residents of equipment being used in the project involving Maclean High students in satellite tracking some flying foxes.
The Examiner seemed desperate to highlight the only negative aspect of the whole fascinating project, rather than take the opportunity to present a truly good news story, where students are learning some state-of-the-art scientific techniques, and thereby gaining insights into these animals that may lead to our managing bat-human interrelations better.
But I would seriously question the ethics of a newspaper publishing misinformation, albeit presented by teachers and students, in any context, without at least acknowledging that it is not factual.
ED'S NOTE: The Gulmarrad School has since arranged for an expert to visit the school to educate pupils further on flying foxes.
The Daily Examiner 6 June 2012:
Lay off the kids!
THE Newspapers in Education offered by the DEX is a wonderful and important opportunity for local school kids to share their opinions with our community.
This opportunity for a class of Gulmarrad kids has sadly resulted in a personal attack on their efforts, their teacher and their school.
While Linda Wright's (DEX, June 2) intention may have been to highlight misinformation presented by students in regard to Maclean's bat colony, such a personal attack on children as young as 10 and 11, hard working teachers, an entire school was inappropriate.
Regardless of "the context", what will the kids ultimately learn from this experience?
Simply, that if you make a mistake in your delivery, an adult in your community will personally attack and humiliate you, your teacher and your school for it.
Have you considered the kids whose first attempts at persuasive writing you described as "a poor excuse," and worse, to be "ashamed" of their efforts?
Your intention may have been to correct misinformation, your approach was heavy handed.
I feel for the parents of the children who wrote the article, who must now explain why an adult feels it is acceptable to defame a child's character, and school, for expressing a different opinion to their own - with or without facts. We are talking about kids here.
Furthermore, teachers at Gulmarrad are not in the habit of deliberately peddling untruths as you suggest.
I am offended that you have questioned the ability of a quality teacher, without knowing anything about the dedicated professional he is.
You speak of the Maclean High School Project. I attended the counting night as an interested community member (with my two excited Gulmarrad children in tow), so that they could understand more about our fascinating colony.
On return to school, my daughter's teacher invited her to share the same facts you list in your letter.
She was so proud of her involvement in the study, and that her knowledge was valued by her teacher and shared in her classroom. Unfortunately she is now upset and offended by your letter, because you claim she is bereft of the knowledge she learnt first hand from this experience.
Linda, your passion and knowledge could have been best shared, (and so greatly appreciated), in the classroom speaking with these kids, rather than publicly shaming not only them, but their entire school.
This would at least have given the class a chance to present all their knowledge on this controversial topic.
In future, please leave Gulmarrad kids out of your ongoing argument with the Examiner.
What on earth is happening at Teh Egg Timer?
Teh Good Ol’ Egg Timer (purveyor of news since 1859) may rarely have looked into local matters in depth, but with the exception of the period when Chappo was editor, it at least checked its facts.
Not anymore, the canary down the journalism mine is lying on the cage floor.
Now it seems any local mischief maker or neighbourhood stirrer can take a lend of the news room.
Here’s the latest not-so-hilarious lurch along the way.
The Daily Examiner 2nd April 2012:
“High school poison scare
THE parent of a Maclean High School student has told The Examiner that a prank at a school social last week resulted in up to 10 students being hospitalised.
The woman said during an all-years social held at the Yamba Bowling Club on Thursday evening, one or more students poured "glow stick" fluid into jugs of drinks.
She said in addition to her own son being sick for two days following the event, she had since heard that up to 10 students were taken by ambulance to hospital.
The Daily Examiner will follow up on this story in tomorrow's paper.”
The Daily Examiner 3rd April 2012:
“Poison claims "wrong"
SCHOOL authorities have dismissed reports up to 10 students became ill after consuming a drink spiked with the contents of a glow stick during a Maclean High School social last week.
One parent told The Examiner a number of students got sick after consuming the drink, but school principal Tony Carr said the claim was wrong. He said one male student had the contents of a glow stick poured into his drink, but he tipped it out. However, he refilled the glass and reported being ill after that. Mr Carr said he was collected by his parents. He said the social was a success.”
The Daily Examiner 9th June 2012:
“The Examiner: 'spiked drink' story apology
ON APRIL 2, 2012, The Daily Examiner published a news brief claiming up to 10 students of Maclean High School had become ill and had to be taken by ambulance to hospital after consuming drinks spiked with the contents of glow sticks at a school social dance. The brief was based on the claims of a parent of one of the students at the school.
The Examiner acknowledges the report was inaccurate and that further checking of the information contained in the brief should have occurred before publication.
The parents of two of the school's students have since said their children were ill after attending the dance and their children reported others were ill.
The children told their parents it was their understanding the contents of a glow stick were poured into drinks.
The ambulance service has no record of attending the dance.
The Examiner apologises for any embarrassment caused to the school or to teachers who were on duty at the social.”
Saturday 9 June 2012
In the loop? Out of the loop? Fruit loop? Decide for yourself.
A few years back The Daily Examiner had a prize (a Lottery/Lotto ticket pack) for the week's best letter to the editor. If such a prize still existed it would surely have to go to John Edwards of South Grafton for his letter in today's Examiner.
Shooters and Fishers
Following the announcement of a Shooters and Fishers Party-sponsored inquiry into the management of public land, the Clarence Environment Centre wrote to the Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, posing three questions.
One of these was: "Would you support the opening up of national parks to recreational hunting?"
On May 22 we received the following response: "There is no proposal for recreational hunting in national parks in the Clarence electorate being considered by me or the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government."
Less than 10 days later the Government announced 79 national parks and nature reserves where recreational hunting will be allowed.
I'll let readers form their own opinion on their member's response.
Among the affected parks that have been reported in the media are Kosciuszko and Dorrigo, which are among the most visited reserves in Australia, and where tourists will now experience the tranquillity of those forests being shattered by the noise of gunfire, and the possibility of being shot.
The decision has outraged many in the community, but has been welcomed by hunters who claim they are the answer to feral animal control.
However, if there is a serious feral animal problem, it is because successive governments have failed to properly fund control programs.
Recreational shooters have been hunting in state forests for over five years, and I challenge anyone to produce evidence that they have had any significant impact on feral species in those forests.
In fact last year the national parks service had to run local eradication programs for feral pigs which they believe were deliberately introduced by hunters.
In trying to justify breaking an electoral promise, Barry O'Farrell claims it was necessary to balance political expedience with public interest.
This isn't the first time this government has sacrificed public interest, and I'll guarantee it won't be the last.
John Edwards, South Grafton
Sometimes the young make my heart sing - Part Six
It has become a morning habit to sing Bohemian Rhapsody on the way to school in the morning. Depending on traffic, we can usually start the song as we pull out of the driveway, and pull into the school just as the song ends.
From the 'How Stupid Can A Federal Government Be' file
Friday 8 June 2012
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his ministers have questions to answer
There always was a political stench attached to the Howard Government in relation to its handling of Wheat Board trade contracts, which saw Government fail in its duty of care and allow a breach of UN sanctions which aided Saddam Hussein by corruptly paying $300 million in kickbacks to the Iraqi regime.
Unease over the role of the Prime Minister and his ministers was apparent before, during and after the Inquiry into certain Australian companies in relation to the UN Oil-for-Food Programme
This article wafts that stench under voters’ nostrils once more.
In The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 June 2012:
THE man who led the Australian Federal Police investigation into the AWB scandal has alleged he was offered a promotion to shut down the inquiry.
In an explosive statement lodged with the Federal Court, the former AFP agent Ross Fusca said another senior officer told him that if he could ''make the oil-for-food taskforce go away, he would be appointed as next co-ordinator''.
Mr Fusca, a 30-year AFP veteran, has declared the inquiry into the wheat marketing body was never given enough resources and was shut down prematurely.
And he has alleged the police's AWB taskforce - which ran from late 2006 to August 2009 - had a high-level political informant who indicated that federal government officials were aware of AWB's payment of kickbacks.
In an interview with the Herald and ABC television's 7.30, Mr Fusca said he believed the offer of a promotion represented an improper inducement.
Mr Fusca's Federal Court claim also alleges that a day after the offer of promotion was made, another senior AFP officer pressured him into
Court documents state: "[The officer] insisted that the brief be completed by April 2009, claiming that the taskforce was out of budget. The applicant [Mr Fusca] maintained his position that an April 2009 deadline for the brief was unachievable" and that the earliest it could be finished was December 2009.
In a statement last night, the AFP said it was aware of Mr Fusca's claims, but that it could not comment.
The AFP shut down the taskforce in August 2009, handing responsibility for the case to the corporate watchdog ASIC………………..
The federal police-led taskforce was set up in late 2006 as a result of the Cole Royal Commission. The commission found that AWB Limited and some of its executives had corruptly paid $300 million of kickbacks to the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, but that no Australian government officials knew of these payments. But Mr Fusca said a credible political informant had provided the AFP with intelligence that suggested ''senior government officials were aware … of the kickbacks''.
Opposition leader Tony Abbott, a Cabinet Minister in the Howard Government from 2001-2007, has set the I know nothing tone for Liberal Party and Nationals response:
"I'm just not aware of those reports, just not aware of them. [I'm] afraid I haven't yet read the newspapers, not aware of that report, so I just can't comment on it,"
The Tele comes a cropper and deservedly so
Mr Latham also complained that the articles breached the privacy of his family, especially his children while engaged in an educational program, without any justification in the public interest.
On the subject of stupidity as opposed to identity theft....................
Thursday 7 June 2012
When it comes to the crime of murder, don't believe everything you read in NSW North Coast newspapers
On 2 June 2012 The Northern Star and The Daily Examiner online trumpeted that:
But statistics obtained from the state homicide squad have revealed the strip between Newcastle and the Queensland border had the second highest number of murders in the state last year, even as NSW topped the nation for the number of people murdered.
The Northern Star spoke to police in every state and confirmed that the NSW northern region was the regional murder capital of Australia.
Of the 84 murders across NSW in 2011, 20 were in the Northern Region police command, which runs from north of Newcastle to the border....
The state had 15 more murders than in 2010....
The Northern Rivers where these two APN daily newspapers circulate is traditionally thought to include Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley, Lismore, Ballina, Kyogle, Byron and Tweed local government areas only.
One interesting fact remains unreported entirely. Since 1990 the number of NSW murder victims has been steadily falling, so that in 2011 there were 42 fewer recorded victims compared with 1990.
* Murder is defined in s 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) in the following terms:
“Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him or her omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him or her, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for life or for 25 years.”
Let's hear it for the chickens! Greens urge Stoner to show leadership for free-range egg farmers
Media Alert: 5 June 2012 Greens NSW MP John Kaye will be joining local community members in Bellingen this Saturday to urge local member and Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner to stop the large industrial producers exploiting the label "free-range." John will be distributing action kits designed to help community members outraged by the misuse of free-range label to lobby Mr Stoner to assert some leadership within the O'Farrell government to safeguard the future of genuine free-range egg farmers. With the Egg Corporation pushing ahead with their plans to increase the free-range stocking density from 1,500 to 20,000 birds per hectare, the only way to ensure "free-range" means free-range is through legislation. When: Saturday, 9 June 2012, 9am Where: Bellingen Growers Markets, The Bellingen Showground Corner of Hammond and Black Streets Who: Greens NSW MP John Kaye For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 Photograph from Free Range Eggs
In 2012 Christopher Monckton goes way beyond being a media tart
The point at which Viscount Monckton of Brenchley changes from an irritating media tart into a pathetic media whore?
Wednesday 6 June 2012
The plot begins to unravel - will Abbott and Pyne be left holding the thread?
It must have been a hard twenty-four hours for the Coalition lynch-mob headed by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and his trusty henchman Christopher Pyne.
First a Federal Court judge asked for reasons to be presented as to why he should not find Health Services Union (HSU) national secretary Kathy Jackson in contempt of court because she allegedly attempted to inappropriately contact him without other parties being aware.
The judge also referred to a June 1 affidavit of Ms Jackson which contained "potentially scandalous allegations" and unless it was read in court, he would not allow the public access to the document. "This case is going to be conducted in court and not in the newspapers," he said on Tuesday.
Then a former sex worker (pictured below) at the heart of one of their favourite allegations went on television and stated she was out of the country in May 2005 and couldn’t have met with Craig Thomson.
Transit of Venus: I saw'd it, I saw'd it!
(Photo: Terry Cuttle)
Using the tools of my childhood - two white cardboad sheets acting as both 'pinhole camera' and photographic paper - I saw the 6th June 2012 Transit of Venus.
It was as magical as the first time I, in my skewed tie, baggy shorts and long woollen socks, used this crude instrument to watch my first solar eclipe in the schoolyard so many years ago.
Paul Howes - braggart extraordinaire
OMG! It's 2012 - let's announce a celestial tragedy expected in 4 billion years
Tuesday 5 June 2012
A celebration of the timeless poetry of voice and instrument
rirrakayunmina ḻiyanydja milkarri, nambawu ḻarruŋana Murrurrŋawu
roŋiyirri rirrakayyu. y..a barrawaḻayu y..a Mutjwutjŋa gaḻaṉiṉiyu
Ga namba Guwalilŋa, ga namba Warraḏika, ga namba Yumayŋa, m..m
Yä wulman ŋäthinana, yä dhiyaŋuna ḻanyiŋdhu dhungununayu
yä bāpa Kamba-Djuŋadjuŋa. miḻŋ'thurruna bayma Mayaŋ-ŋaraka
yä ŋäṉḏi maṉḏa. marrkapmirri maṉḏa. nhumanydja ŋayathaŋana Ruypu Milinditj
yä ŋäṉḏi maṉḏa. marrkapmirri maṉḏa. nhumanydja ŋāthiyaŋa milŋurr Burarrapu
yä namba guwalilŋa, yä gunambal warraḏika, yä namba Yumayaŋa
m..m
(english)
Two scrub fowl crying out, looking for Guwalilŋa
the calls like women crying, looking for Murrurrŋawu
the cries returning his mind to the jungles at Mutjmutjŋa
oh place Guwalilŋa, Warraḏika, Yumayŋa, m..m
Oh the old man cries, from this drink
oh dad Kampa-Djuŋadjuŋa, home Mayaŋ-ŋaraka bright in his mind
oh my two mums, beloved mums, hold Ruypu Milinditj
oh my two mums, beloved mums, cry for the sacred spring Burarrapu
oh the place Guwalilŋa. Warraḏika, Yumayŋa, m..m
Wiyathul as written by Yunupingu
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powerd by LyricFind
Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858831261/#dsPWVgkbbJwFDFwQ.99
Barry O'Fibba's perfidy exposed
Like a bad dream, the party whose leader appears to happily involve himself in the disreputable slaughtering of African elephants for their ivory, has this to say in Shooting News on 30 May 2012 about his backroom deal with the O'Farrell Coalition Government:
Despite losing the fight against the ammunition control bill last night, the SFP is celebrating this significant win, which comes in return for their qualified support for the privatisation of the state's electricity assets.
The SFP has also guaranteed support for its amendments to the privatisation legislation that will protect workers affected by the sale of power generators and other infrastructure.
The SFP has been pushing to legalise hunting in national parks for some time, and has succeeded in forcing O'Farrell to back down on his opposition to it after blocking the electricity sell-off in the upper house.
"We expect to have that legislation through by the end of June and, subject to the implementation program, we expect to be hunting in some national parks by Christmas," SFP MLC Robert Borsak said. "It will be rolled out progressively."
NSW hunters should also be able to hunt duck and quail by then, too.
"These are all positive changes for NSW, which has seen our precious national parks suffer under the idealistic 'protection' of the Greens," Mr Borsak said.
"Australia's once vibrant hunting heritage has been smothered and primary producers have been devastated by ducks in plague proportions. We will at last begin to bring some sense and balance back."
He said government support for the legislation wasn't without conditions. Wilderness and heritage zones will not be gazetted for hunting and a number of high-use national parks close to metropolitan areas would not be included in the program.
Only about 70 of the state's almost 800 parks and conservation areas are to be opened up, although whether more may be added in the future is not clear.
Permission to hunt in parks would be run under the same model as conservation hunting in state forests, but the state's duck and quail shooting would follow a new 'adaptive' model.
"What we're talking about is not your traditional open and shut duck season," Mr Borsak said. "We're talking about a new model for sustainable, progressive utilisation based on species, populations, periodic need for mitigation and so on."
Both national park and gamebird hunting would be managed under the Game Council, which has overseen conservation hunting under R- and G-licences since being formed in 2004.
Hunters will also gain protection from harassment under the legislation intended to reduce the likelihood and seriousness of attacks by protesters, although the details of this are still to be worked out.
"Conservation Hunters save the people of NSW millions of dollars and their impact on pest and feral animal populations has been proven," Mr Borsak said.
"There are around 20,000 licensed Conservation Hunters active in State Forests and on private property, and they remove over 600,000 feral animals every year, a huge benefit for our native flora and fauna."