Sunday, 1 August 2010
Oops, fly's undone!
Came back from fishing to find that one of my drafts has sneaked its way into today's posts.
Now removed. Sorry all!
Incontinent Victorians and other southerners brown off one Northern Rivers cane farmer
From The Daily Examiner letters to the editor on 27 July 2010:
Browned offIF you'll excuse my language, I write to say that I am sick of the s**t and the p*ss. No, I don't refer to the election.
I refer to the travellers through our region - almost exclusively Victorians in my observation - who think it reasonable to come onto my property to take a pee and a poop. I am sick of the toilet paper along the side of the road, the disposable nappies and the doggie doo.
I am sick of people pulling onto a cane pad 150 metres off the highway, down a gravel country road, hidden behind large cane, within sight of a single farmhouse, without a public notice anywhere evident, who think it is reasonable to say: "Oh, we didn't realise this was private property."
Apparently you and your dogs can take a crap on any piece of public property in Victoria.
Ferry Park, Maclean, is five minutes one way from my place and within half-an-hour drive in the other direction you will have come through Grafton, South Grafton, Ulmarra, Brushgrove and Tyndale village.
I believe there is a website now which lists public conveniences all over the country.
Is there an epidemic of incontinence from Victoria?
Then of course there are the decent people who call in to ask if they might have a closer look at a piece of sugar cane - mostly southern New South Welshmen,South Australians and Tasmanians.
Happy to oblige and put on a bit of an act with the old fashioned cane knife.
I get four or five a year, but I imagine there are more who just pull up somewhere out of sight and steal a bit.
Because, yes, it is theft, and it is trespass, and it is public indecency.
My front paddock is no more open to public utility than their balcony or driveway at home - unless it could be considered an invitation, a mutual exchange of convenience when next we travel south - is the garden state facing a compost shortage?
So I have started a log, if you'll again pardon the pun, of the rego numbers of the dumpers and slashers, the overnighters and the light-fingered.
JAMES MOLONEY
Tyndale
Are whaling nations slaughtering cetacean friends?

It is known that Japan's whaling fleet kills lactating female whales and their young in the Southern Ocean, but is this slaughter doing even more damage to cetacean social bonds?
Humpback whales form lasting bonds, the first baleen whales known to do so.
Individual female humpbacks reunite each summer to feed and swim alongside one another in the Gulf of St Lawrence, off Canada, scientists have found.
Toothed whales, such as sperm whales, associate with one another, but larger baleen whales, which filter their food, have been thought less social.
The finding raises the possibility that commercial whaling may have broken apart social groups of whales.....
The longest recorded friendships lasted six years, and always occurred between similar-aged females, and never between females and males. (BBC NEWS )
Mayne gets down and dirty in Senate seat fight
Senate hopeful Stephen Mayne was emailing this about last Tuesday:
"The gaming watchdog will investigate the presence of two teens on the gaming floor of an Altona North hotel part-owned by Liberal Senator Julia McGauran, after a complaint by rival Senate candidate Stephen Mayne.
Mr Mayne, an independent, said that two 15-year old girls in the gaming area at The Millers Inn last week. Senator McGauran is a part-owner of the pub, at which punters lost more than $12 million last financial year.
A spokesman for anti-gambling independent Senator Nick Xenophon, cited as a witness, said the girls were on the gaming floor for 10 minutes. Senator McGauran said it was 2.5 minutes."
2010 Election Campaign Day 16 - Political advertising
Can you find any legible authorisation on this official National Party campaign pic gracing candidate Kevin Hogan's Facebook page?

Nup, didn't think so.
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Details of all NSW North Coast candidates in the 2010 Federal Election
NSW North Coast Federal Electorates - the candidates, their details and positions on ballot papers.
RICHMOND
1 | van LIESHOUT, Joan | Liberal | Local Councillor | Phone (work): 07 5599 2385 |
2 | ELLIOT, Justine [incumbent] | Labor | Member of Parliament | Phone (work): 07 5523 4371 |
3 | HARTLEY, Matthew | Independent | Film Maker | Email: mattharcla@gmail.com |
4 | ROBINSON, David | Australian Democrats | Poultry Farmer | PO Box 16 Phone (home): 0412 458 477 |
5 | FAULKNER, Nic | Independent | Research Consultant | 39 Fingal St Mobile: 0488 404 882 |
6 | HUNTER, Alan | The Nationals | Company Director | PO Box 1856 Phone (work): 13 0005 7200 |
7 | BOYD, Julie | Independent | Educational Consultant | PO Box 66 Phone (home): 0414 868 854 |
8 | EBONO, Joe | The Greens | Manager | Phone (work): 02 6684 2416 |
9 | HEGEDUS, Stephen M | Independent | Lawyer | PO Box 2253 Phone (work): 0428 665 955 |
PAGE
1 | JOHNSON, Jeff | The Greens | Renewable energy consultant | Phone (work): 0438 677 202 |
2 | SAFFIN, Janelle [incumbent] | Labor | Member of Parliament | PO Box 139 Phone (home): 0418 664 001 |
3 | HOGAN, Kevin | The Nationals | Consultant | PO Box 50 Phone (work): 02 6622 4562 |
4 | SUMMERVILLE, Merle Desley | Independent | Client Service Officer | "Hiddenvale" Phone (home): 02 6667 1131 |
5 | MELLAND, Julia | Australian Democrats | Bookkeeper | 163 High St Mobile: 0431 357 585 |
6 | BEHN, Doug | Independent | Motor Mechanic | 12 Flame St Phone (home): 0412 123 421 |
COWPER
1 | SEKFY, Paul | Labor | Community Worker | Phone (work): 0419 440 065 |
2 | KING, Dominic | The Greens | Teacher | |
3 | ARKAN, John Singh | Independent | Coffs Harbour City Councillor | Phone (home): 02 6654 7673 |
4 | LIONS, Deborah A J | Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group) | Mngr house emergency acc.& stdnt | Mobile: 0431 603 848 |
5 | HARTSUYKER, Luke [incumbent] | The Nationals | Member of Parliament | PO Box 2056 Phone (work): 02 6652 6233 |
LYNE
1 | OAKESHOTT, Robert [incumbent] | Independent | Member of Parliament | PO Box 330 Phone (work): 02 6552 4780 |
2 | LIPS, Frederik | Labor | Medical Practitioner | Phone (work): 02 6584 5988 |
3 | GILLESPIE, David | The Nationals | Specialist Physician | PO Box 2011 Mobile: 0488 628 701 |
4 | WRIGHT, Barry | Independent | Retired | |
5 | OXENFORD, Ian | The Greens | Retired | 9 Loganvale Pl Phone (home): 02 6559 4834 |
All Australian electorate details here.
Betting odds for political candidates on the NSW North Coast - then and now
Whether you believe that where the money goes indicates voter intentions or not, it is interesting to note that betting on Day 14 of the 2010 federal election campaign on 30 July 2010 was going Labor's way on the NSW North Coast in much the same way as it was going Labor's way on Day 39 of the 2007 federal election campaign on 21 November 2007.
THEN:
Sportingbet at 3.23pm 21 November 2007 (from North Coast Voices archives).
PAGE
Janelle Saffin (ALP) $1.53
Chris Gulaptis (NATS) $2.35
RICHMOND
Justine Elliot (ALP) $1.80
Sue Page (NATS) $6.00
COWPER
Not found but Centrebet has Luke Hartsuyker at 1.41 and Paul Sekfy at 2.70
NOW:
Sportingbet at 9.30am 30 July 2010.
PAGE
Janelle Saffin (ALP) 1.45 [Sportsbet 1.35] [Centrebet 1.42] [BetFair 1.26]
Kevin Hogan (NATS) 2.55 [Sportsbet 2.55] [Centrebet 2.63] [Betfair 1.11]
RICHMOND
Justine Elliott (ALP) not listed [Sportsbet 1.02]
Alan Hunter/Joan van Lieshout (NATS/LIB) not listed [Sportsbet 5.50]
Any Other Party not listed [Sportsbet 101.00]
COWPER
Luke Hartsuyker (NATS) not listed [Sportsbet 1.50] [Centrebet 1.38]
Paul Sekfy (ALP) not listed [Sportsbet 2.00] [Centrebet 2.78]
Any Other Party [Sportsbet 34.00]