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

A grassy knoll musing: My little canine friend, Veronica Lake, says that humans she meets are starting to wonder about the number of Google searches coming out of Canberra which have the term "therese rein" plus "company", "ethics", "asic" or "problems".
Ronnie is wondering if Malcolm Turnbull's dogs are trying to dig up another mole for their master because his last one ran away. :-D

A bookish musing: Ashby cattle dogs Rolly, Trudy and Rose are about to join Clarence Valley local Steve Otton's old mate Tiny as the subject of a children's book due out in 2011, called RT and Rose: Three Dogs and a Beach Adventure.

Tiny: a little dog on a big adventure is in online bookstores now.

Humans aren't the top of the evolutionary tree musing:

Now as a bona fide Aussie moggy I think that cats are top of the tree, but I do realise that almost every species has the potential to equal humans when in comes to affection, loyalty and mateship.

Mickey the chocolate-coloured Kelpie pup from Nymboida who stayed for five days besides his injured companion dog Buddy. Bringing him wild-caught food and helping to chew through the fallen branch which had impaled him and, then when the older dog was freed leading this sick mate home to a worried owner and the splendid care of South Grafton Veterinary Clinic - well that is a dog who is the equal of humankind! Story here.

I was lost and now I'm found musing: Just like Lassie the adventurous collie dog, a scruffy pet named Muffy will finally return home after a nine-year, 2000km (1250 mile) odyssey down the east coast of Australia. The terrier-cross .... was last seen by her owners on the Gold Coast in Queensland in 2000 ago when she took off from a friend's house one day and never came back. This week the little white dog is reunited with her family.

An all creatures great & small musing:

Monday 27 August 2009 is Cupcake Day for the RSPCA.

It's time to bake up a storm and raise money to help Australian animals who are experiencing hard times or abuse.

Go to this RSPCA link for details. Patty cake, patty cake....I know you all can!

And they're off! 2009 Grafton to Inverell Cycling Classic underway tomorrow, 12 September 2009

The 49th edition of the Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic will be held tomorrow, 12 September 2009 starting from Market Square, Pound Street, Grafton at 8am through to 8.30am.

Billed as the toughest one day race in Australia, the category one event will have a record 272 cyclists in three grades contesting the nine hour long 228km course.

There prize pool contains a total $27,000 in cash plus prizes and random draws.

The race can be listened to online at www.2nz.com.au

According to Cycling News:

Some of the elite men's teams already committed for the 228km event include Fly V Australia, Dixon Homes, Praties, Team Budget Forklifts, HYPE, Mace-McDonagh Blake and Shortis Cycle & Tri.
Cameron Jennings, Peter Herzig and Peter Ladd (all Team Budget Fork lifts) and Tour de Geelong winner Darren Rolfetheir and Bernard Sulzberger, Ben King, Jonathon Cantwell (Fly V) are among those registered. The race also sometimes draws talented off-road racers. World 24-hour solo mountain bike champion Jason English will try his luck on the road this year after cross country star Chris Jongewaard finished second last year.Whilst the focus may be on the pointy end of the race in the elite division, organisers were thrilled to receive 142 entries in the master categories. The Under 23s will also have strong representation with riders from as far away as New Zealand, Launceston, Hobart, Fremantle and Rockhampton.
As for women's competition, the numbers are also up in the second running of the Celtic Country Classic de Femme with 36 women from across the country competing in this year's 95km event.

For more information http://www.graftontoinverellcycleclassic.com.au/

Who won't be the 2009 Australian employer of the year? (Part Two)

Well this is a bit of a surprise! The employer referred to a Federal Parliament privileges committee by the Senate for allegedly threatening a witness to an inquiry according to A possible contempt in relation to a witness to the Committee's inquiry into Access to Justice: Report to the Senate:
1.25 The committee recommends that a possible contempt by the Aboriginal Legal Service Western Australia in relation to a witness who submitted evidence to the inquiry into Access to Justice be referred to the Standing Committee of Privileges.

The short submission from a Yawuru/Bard woman which started all the fuss.
Another version of the matter mentioned in the first submission.

Will someone buy that senator a ticket - pleeeze!

I couldn't believe my ears. Reading between the lines it looks like Steve Fielding wants to go Afghanistan - just think of the headlines he could generate and the multiple spellings he could try out for the name of the country and monikers of leading war lords.
"The chamber would not know this, but I have been speaking to Minister Faulkner and the previous minister for defence about some sort of delegation going to Afghanistan. I am deadset serious about this because this is a good opportunity." is the exact quote according to Hansard on 7/8/09.
Can someone buy this unrepresentative, attention seeking, political simpleton a one-way ticket before the next election?
Maybe we can get his citizenship revoked while he's gone.

Upriver Bill
Northern Rivers

Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segme allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents.
Email ncvguestpeak at live dot com dot au to submit comment for consideration.

Anti-Obama hysterics in Red, White & Blue Land

Google Trends actually has recordable data using the terms; obama is evil, obama is a socialist, obama wants to kill, obama wants to increase tax.
These terms began to get traction in late 2008 after Barack Obama's inauguration.
Google Trends also has enough data for President Obama's death and possible assassin to get a mention.
Can the U.S. anti-Obama hysteria get anymore frantic?

Small investors' rights are better protected in countries such as Botswana, Romania, Ghana and Georgia than they are in Australia.

A World Bank study has ranked Australian laws and regulations on investor protection at 57th in the world. So low is Australia's ranking, it lags behind Botswana, Romania, Ghana and Georgia.

The top three nations are New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The Sydney Morning Herald points out the Australian legal system is weak at holding directors liable for related-party transactions.

The report gave high marks to Australia's disclosure regime and shareholders' ability to sue a company, but it found laws on director liability were unusually weak. Overall, the Doing Business 2010 report ranked Australia the ninth-best place to conduct business of 183 economies, based on an assessment of 11 aspects of running a business here.

The report comes after several collapses have thrown the spotlight on related-party transactions. The failed finance company Octaviar (formerly MFS Limited) faces a potential litigation claim from IMF Australia, which has alleged MFS failed to disclose related-party transactions associated with its Premium Income Fund.

Administrators of the collapsed Allco Finance Group have also queried several related-party dealings, including a $50 million loan made to an investment vehicle owned by Allco directors and senior management.

Who won't be the 2009 Australian employer of the year? Senate witness allegedly threatened

In the Australian Senate Hansard for 9th September 2009:

PRESIDENT

(9.31 am)—The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee has raised a matter of privilege under standing order 81. The matter is set out in a report by the committee to the Senate, which recommends that the matter be referred to the Privileges Committee.

The issue relates to the treatment of a witness before the committee in the course of its inquiry into access to justice. After she gave her evidence, the witness received a written warning of disciplinary action from her employer. The committee pointed out to the employer that threatening a witness with action as a result of the witness's evidence constitutes interference with a witness and a possible contempt of the Senate. The employer subsequently withdrew the warning, but in correspondence with the committee appeared to reserve the right to discipline its employees in respect of evidence given to a Senate committee. The witness resigned from her employment and there is the possibility that she suffered loss of employment as a result of her evidence to the committee.

The Senate's privilege resolution No. 6, in paragraphs (10) and (11), declares that any interference with a witness, and any imposition of a penalty on a witness, in consequence of the witness's evidence, and any threat or attempt of such actions against a witness, may constitute a contempt of the Senate. Such treatment of a witness may also be a criminal offence under section 12 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987.

The Senate Privileges Committee has declared in its past reports that interference with and penalisation of witnesses are the most serious of all contempts, and the committee and the Senate have always regarded such actions as requiring rigorous investigation and firm remedial action. The committee has pointed out that actions which are otherwise lawful, such as the dismissal of an employee, may constitute contempts when taken against a witness in consequence of the witness's evidence.

The matter raised by the committee clearly meets the criteria I am required to consider. I therefore give precedence to a motion to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee. I table the letter from the committee. Other relevant documents are included in the committee's report.

A notice of motion may now be given.