"Moggy Musings" [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A serpentine musing:

The hot weather is starting to give snakes the idea that garages, garden sheds and the crawl space under a house are good places to find a little cool shade.

Keep an eye out for these visitors and call your local W.I.R.E.S to help with relocation.

A solidarity 4ever musing:

With January 2009 being so hot further south in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, I thought I'd send a greeting to all those companion animals trying to cope with the heat wave and celsius temps rising into the 40s.

Hangs in there my fellow moggies, mutts, cavies, birds, horses etc!

Even I had to do an emergency moult last week, so I know how you are suffering.

Is it a record? musing:

Peeking at The Clarence Valley Review this morning, I see that Yamba boasts a tiny 8 week-old healthy kitten which weighed just 360 grams (12.7 ounces) on Monday, 5th January. Now that is really a small kitty!

Happy Easter to one and all

North Coast Voices

Image: Wikimedia

It seems that only The Greens are going to bat for the NSW North Coast on the matter of climate change impacts

According to The Northern Star on 7 April 2009:

More than 100 Northern Rivers residents yesterday attended a public forum in Ballina, hosted by Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change Greg Combet and Page MP Janelle Saffin.

Environmental Defender's Office Northern Rivers education officer, Mark Byrne, said an effective carbon reduction scheme was urgently needed.

"The fact is we don't have a lot of time. This really is a crisis," he said.

"This Government was elected largely because they said they would do something.

"It's time for real leadership and this scheme does not provide that."

Let us hope that Mr. Combet and Ms. Saffin heed the community concerns raised at this forum.

Coming as it did on the heels of the Environmental Defenders Office's own public meeting on 3 February 2009, I have to wonder if the two Labor MPs were there more to counter considerable grass roots resistance to the proposed national emissions trading scheme than to exchange views with local residents.

After speaking with one individual who attended this forum, I am now almost certain of this.

Given that the Rudd Government is holding to the line that the states are responsible for land use and NSW Nationals MP Steve Cansdell appears to be hoping that climate change will just disappear as an issue, it seems that The Greens are the only party at both state and federal level which is able to make the connection between global warming science and potential effects on the ground.

NSW Hansard record Thursday 26 March 2009:

2937 PLANNING—SEA LEVEL RISE—Ms Hale to ask the Minister for Police, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Rural Affairs representing the Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo— Planning, Climate Science and Sea Level Rise
(1) Is the Minister aware that scientists including John Church of the CSIRO and Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of Potsdam Institute for Climate Change met in Copenhagen in March 2009?
(2) Is the Minister aware that at this conference these scientists have warned that sea levels may rise by a metre or more before 2100, and then continue to rise for centuries?
(3) Is the Minister aware that these scientists have indicated that the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change predictions of less than 59cm sea level rise by 2090 is wrong?
(4) Is the Minister aware that scientists meeting in Copenhagen this month have warned that sea level rises will rise by a metre or more before 2100, almost double the previous estimate of 20cm to 59cm made in 2007 by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?
(5) Is the Minister aware that scientist John Church's study centered on Australia showed that coastal flooding events that today we expect only once every hundred years will happen several times a year by 2100?
(6) Will Planning NSW be revising its estimates of sea level rise in relation to coastal development in New South Wales?
(a) If so, when?
(7) Will Planning NSW advise councils via a SEPP or other instrument on the most scientifically recent and accurate sea level rise predictions?
(a) If so, when?

2938 PLANNING—WEST YAMBA LEP—Ms Hale to ask the Minister for Police, Minister for Lands, and Minister for Rural Affairs representing the Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo— West Yamba LEP
(1) Given the Mid North Coast Regional Strategy has identified West Yamba as a low lying area, are there major development constraints in the face of climate change impacts, specifically flooding and inundation, in West Yamba?
(2) Will consideration be given to the latest climate science and sea level rise predictions when assessing the draft West Yamba LEP Amendment based on new data contained in the Government's Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement and coming out of the Copenhagen conference?
(3) Clarence Valley Council has determined that residential development can be safely achieved by filling the West Yamba floodplain to half a metre above their projections of the 2090 maximum flood level, basing its calculations for safe floor levels on the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change predictions of less than 59cm. However, new predictions by scientists meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 estimate sea level will rise to double the level of the 2007 predictions. Should the Department and councils such as Clarence Valley Council therefore be revising their estimates of sea level rise and therefore the West Yamba LEP?

New X-Men movie leak has 20th Century Fox hopping mad and trying to freeze online 'evidence'

It's not only Aussie actor Hugh Jackman who's "disappointed" over the leaking of the pre-release version of the new "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie - Twentieth Century Fox is livid and out to sink the vile pirate, me hearties.
Over at Chilling Effects are copies of the legal bun fight with Digg Inc:

• DMCA takedown notice
• Fox Requests Preservation of Data as Evidence

Dob in those high petrol prices

Road Tube a website set up by the NRMA is inviting motorists to report high petrol prices.

"Motorists across NSW and the ACT are being encouraged to report high petrol prices over the Easter period on NRMA’s new RoadTube website.
Average unleaded petrol prices across Sydney should not exceed $1.25 over the coming days when considering the international benchmark price and the Australian dollar.
Regional prices are typically four to five cents more expensive due to transport costs and less competition in regional towns.
If motorists drive past service stations selling petrol for $1.30 or more they are being encouraged to record the details with their mobile phone via video or camera or leave a blog with the details at www.roadtube.com.au.
Drivers of the vehicle are reminded to pull over before using their phone.
NRMA Motoring & Services President Wendy Machin said if motorists encountered over-inflated petrol prices this Easter long weekend they could now do more than suffer in silence.
“Petrol prices have remained stable this week and we don’t expect them to reach the $1.30 mark over the long weekend,” Ms Machin said.
“However, if motorists see prices above the $1.30 barrier we want them to report it on our RoadTube website via video, photos or by leaving the details as a blog comment.
“The NRMA will collate the reports from the motoring public and present them to the Petrol Commissioner.”

Comic relief

No penis, no microphone

Herald journo Peter FitzSimons has this par in today's Sydney Morning Herald

Columnist for the Grafton Daily Examiner Peter Chapman on Tuesday: "While I hold no concerns about women reporting sport, I do not believe they should be handed a microphone to comment on major male sporting contests … I don't mind female sports journos doing colour reports, but for blow-by-blow, it has to be a male." His supporting argument? There wasn't one. Just, no penis, no microphone.