A Japanese perspective on Antarctic whaling

UPI Asia Online reported yesterday on Antarctic whaling and the Japanese perspective.
It appears that there is some domestic questioning of the right to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean, but the Government of Japan is holding out for concessions which allow it to increase its coastal whale kill elsewhere.
By canvassing a suggestion of concessions, the US-based Pelham Charitable Trust has opened Pandora's Box and encouraged the intransigence of Japan's whalers.

An Australian perspective can be found in The Daily Telegraph today.
Along with this article and photo of a slaughtered female Minke whale and calf.

The Australian Government continues to monitor Japan's Antarctic whale hunt with a view to taking legal action.
It should be noted that Japan is not conducting indigenous subsistence whaling in the Southern Ocean. This is a large-scale commercial kill for profit under the guise of 'scientific' research.

The Barack Obama 'Super Tuesday' dog and pony show

In 2007 I found myself on the Obama for America campaign team's electronic mailing list.

Since then I have received innumerable e-mails from almost everyone associated with Democrat presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, except his family dog.

I have even been thanked for my 'help' in the Massachusetts primary. Which came as a complete surprise as I had no idea that I had been so busy!

At the end of Super Tuesday I received this e-mail from an obviously exultant team.

 

E-mail text

"The votes will be counted into the night and into tomorrow, but today we won states and we won delegates in every part of the country.

As of right now, we have won more states and delegates than Senator Clifton. It's a remarkable achievement we can all be proud of.

Tonight, we know one thing for sure -- our time has come, our movement is real, and change is coming to America.

At this moment in history, the stakes are too high and the challenges too great to play the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expect a different result.

This time must be different.

There will be those who say it cannot be done. But we know what we have seen and what we believe -- that when ordinary people come together we can still do extraordinary things.

Yes, we can.

Thank you so much,

Barack"

Partial solar eclipse over NSW North Coast today

"People from Brisbane to Adelaide will see varying degrees of the astronomical event in the afternoon with the most dramatic effects observed in Sydney, Canberra and Hobart. Sightings will begin at 2.19pm (AEST) in Brisbane and conclude at 4.27pm (AEDT) in Canberra."

On the NSW North Coast we can expect to see between 6-14% of this eclipse as the moon passes in front of the sun.

Coalition hopes for caveats to that apology?

The weight of public opinion has finally forced Liberals Leader Brendan Nelson, spitting and kicking, towards 'in principal' support for an apology to the indigenous Stolen Generation.

He now wants every Coalition MP to be heard on this matter before it goes to a vote by Parliament.

I suspect that what Brennie is really after is an opportunity for right-wing MPs to slip in a few on-the-record caveats to this historic apology. Hoping that a few spoilers will take the sting out of the event and lessen its national impact.

The Liberal Party has not covered itself in glory so far, in relation to either the apology or recognising the past injustices which make this apology necessary.

Look 'ere! It's the Saffin-Cansdell dog fight

The Daily Examiner today reported on the dispute between Federal Labor's Janelle Saffin and NSW Nationals'  Steve Cansdell as to who exactly arranged a meeting between canegowers and the NSW Minister for Roads, with the Federal Minister for Primary Industries also attending.

The NSW Minister supports Ms. Saffin's version of events.

Sorry, Mr. Cansdell - you are not all that believable.

On the Lower Clarence you already have a reputation for running to the media and taking credit for funding obtained through the local community's own lobbying efforts.

The fact of the matter is that Ms. Saffin has been steadily delivering for the Page electorate since her election in November 2007.

Just yesterday she confirmed a hefty funding boost for Grafton District Meals-on-Wheels, which provided more than 42,000 meals to aged and incapacitated people in the Clarence Valley district in 2007.

The Daily Examiner yesterday:

http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3762703&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

Another rate rise announced by the Reserve Bank. Are there more to come?

With so many consecutive interest rate rises since 1996, the latest media release from the Reserve Bank offers only limited hope that this will be the last cash rate increase of 2008.

Read it and make up your own mind before deciding on the next major purchase.

 

STATEMENT BY GLENN STEVENS, GOVERNOR

MONETARY POLICY

 

"At its meeting today, the Board decided to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 7.0 per cent.

Recent information points to significant inflation pressures. CPI inflation on a year‑ended basis picked up to 3 per cent in the December quarter, with underlying measures around 3½ per cent. This was a little higher than was expected a few months ago. Indicators of demand remained strong through the second half of 2007, and reports of high capacity usage and shortages of suitable labour persist. In the short term, inflation is likely to remain relatively high and will probably rise further in year‑ended terms, though the Bank expects it to moderate somewhat next year.

The Board took careful note of recent events abroad and developments in financial markets. The world economy is slowing and it now appears likely that global growth will be below trend in 2008. Recent trends in world commodity markets suggest, however, that Australia's terms of trade are likely to rise further.

The pressures in short-term money markets seen late last year have eased in recent weeks, but sentiment in international capital and equity markets remains fragile. In Australia, financial intermediaries have passed on higher costs to their customers over the past couple of months. There has also been some tightening of lending standards to risky borrowers, a process which may yet have further to go.

These developments, together with the effects of earlier changes to monetary policy, can be expected to exert a moderating influence on private demand in Australia over the period ahead. But given the extent of pressure on capacity and the build up in inflation, a significant slowing in demand from its recent pace is likely to be necessary to reduce inflation over time.

Having weighed both the international and domestic information available, the Board concluded that a tighter monetary policy setting was needed now. In future meetings, the Board will continue to evaluate whether the stance of policy will be sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the 2-3 per cent target."

Caroline Overington still M.I.A.

Journalist Caroline Overington appeared again in The Australian online opinion pages briefly in December 2007.

This is the last Google reference I can find after her spectacular, intrusive participation in the November 2007 federal election process which caused that newspaper to issue a public apology.

Overington's career is shaping up to be the lasting journalistic train wreck of the Howard era.

All the other media neo-cons are slowly clawing their way back towards relevancy.

Except for the likes of Piers Akerman (The Daily Telegraph), Gerard Henderson (The Sydney Morning Herald) and Janet Albrechtsen (The Australian) who are irredeemable if their latest efforts are any indication.