According to Maud Up The Street every time Tony tells a pork pie.......

.....another hair follicle dies.

NSW North Coast beaches receive mixed review in latest DEWCC report

Photograph of Wategoes Beach at sunrise from World Tourism

Thirty-seven ocean beaches and river swimming spots on the NSW North Coast in Byron, Ballina, Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley and Coffs Habour local government areas, were included in the recently released State of Beaches 2009-2010.

A total of 265 swimming locations along the New South Wales coast were monitored during 2009–2010 under three programs: Beachwatch, Harbourwatch and the Beachwatch Partnership Program.

However, not all popular northern ocean and river sites were included in this NSW Dept. of Environment, Climate Change and Water report.

Of those included, The Strand, Belongil Beach, Wategos Beach, Tallow Beach (Byron Bay), Tallow Beach (Suffolk Park), Seven Mile Beach, Lighthouse Beach, Airforce Beach, Main Beach (Richmond Valley) and Shark Bay received the highest rating given “Very Good”.

Nineteen other locations were awarded a “Good” rating, two more were classified as “Fair”, three “Poor” and three “Very Poor”.

What was surprising was how Clarence Valley river sites fared in comparison with other North Coast areas – with not one location in the highest category.

Gradings used in the report:

Very Good – Location has generally excellent microbial water quality and very few potential sources of faecal pollution. Water is considered suitable for swimming for almost all of the time.

Good – Location has generally good microbial water quality and water is considered suitable for swimming for most of the time. Swimming should be during and for up to one day following heavy rain at ocean beaches and for up to three days at estuarine sites.

Fair – Microbial water quality is generally suitable for swimming, but because of the presence of significant sources of faecal contamination, extra care should be taken to avoid swimming during and for up to three days following rainfall or if there are signs of pollution such as discoloured water, odour, or debris in the water.

Poor – Location is susceptible to faecal pollution and microbial water quality is not always suitable for swimming. During dry weather conditions, ensure that the swimming location is free of signs of pollution, such as discoloured water, odour or debris in the water, and avoid swimming at all times during and for up to three days following rainfall.

Very Poor – Location is very susceptible to faecal pollution and microbial water quality may often be unsuitable for swimming. It is generally recommended to avoid swimming at these sites.

Public servants still doing better than other cogs in the Great Oz Wheel

If your fate is to be one of those anonymous grey workers wending a tired way to work five days out of every seven in one of the sprawling metropolises, then it really does pay to be a public servant according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics – around an average $127 more each week in fact or $130 in seasonally adjusted figures. Bet there are nicer bickies in the tearoom too!

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1840s attack on Darling Downs indigenous family group on display at National Library - ATSIC readers note that there are images of deceased persons

Click on partial depiction of drawing to enlarge

The National Library of Australia goes from strength to strength with the acquisition of the Ffoulkes Family Collection.

This historically unique pencil sketch by Thomas John Domville Taylor depicts 11 squatters firing on a group of 25 Indigenous people (including women with very small children) of whom three appear to have been shot.

Orams Returns! (groan)

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For a couple of months I've been receiving the occasional email alerting me to the fact that opinionated jerk journalist Graham 'the natural state for womankind is under the male of the species' Orams is once more gracing the pages of Grafton's The Daily Examiner.

First he dipped his toe back in local waters in letters to the editor columns, then he wrote one or two news and opinion pieces.

I tried to ignore his presence until (audible groan) this sentiment was published under his by-line on 17 November 2010:

Most people don't choose to be gay; although sadly, it has become somewhat trendy for straight women to indulge in lesbian sex, which I'm sure annoys genuine lesbians who fight hard for acceptance.

The Daily Examiner is once more in danger of becoming a newspaper to avoid if one is likely to break out in a rash when reading this sort of nonsense.

UPDATE:

At 3.56pm on 22 November 2010 I received an email from the risible Mr. Orams objecting to my use of a particular word in the "Orams Returns! (groan)" post seen above and threatening legal action if I did not remove this legitimate descriptive term found in English language dictionaries.

After I finished laughing uproariously I decided in this particular instance to oblige Mr. Orams, as he stated in the same email that he found being called 'opinionated', 'a jerk', acceptable.

Consequently I have replaced the original word with Mr. Orams' approved terms.

His additional emailed comments on his "dislike of radical feminism", the fact that he is "always extremely well-liked by women wherever I work" and his belief that he "may be many things but a misogynist is not one of them" I leave unaddressed.

About THAT wedding that's planned for sometime next year

The first 10 minutes of tonight's NBN news was given over to reports about a couple of Poms who have plans to tie the knot. And if that wasn't enough the newsreader then proceeded to do a couple of in-house announcement (aka ads for programs shown on the channel) for two further shows that will give even more coverage to the circus event.

Please excuse this viewer while he vomits!

Sic ém, Harry!

Sometimes being Speaker in the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament would test the patience of a saint.
On days like this Harry Jenkins is a joy to behold.
Yesterday Harry went Teh Poodle, snapped at Robb, sat Hockey smartly on his behind, and warned Randall along with about eight other MPs:
The SPEAKER—Order! The member for Canning
will resume his seat. The generosity that I have shown
with both the original question and the supplementary
question may have a downside, and the downside is
that there is greater scope given for direct relevance in
an answer. The member for Canning stretches any
friendship with anybody when he makes comments
like that. He made his point of order. He has used the
point of order now for this question and he will sit
there in silence. The Prime Minister has the call......
Mr Pyne interjecting—
The SPEAKER—Order! The Prime Minister will
resume her seat. The member for Sturt’s inability to
understand standing order 65(b) is breathtaking. He is
warned and he knows that a warning is a precursor to
naming. He cannot expect to interrupt continually
without being in danger of being put outside the services
of this House for longer than one hour.
Mr Pyne—Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on
the statement that you have just made. I ask you: how
can the opposition be expected to not respond to the
slurring, smearing and attacking of us by the Prime
Minister?
The SPEAKER—The Manager of Opposition
Business will resume his place. As I have said before,
as much as some people in this House, and as much as
some people outside this House, think that question
time is a debate, it is not a debate. I simply say to the
Manager of Opposition Business, who I understand
believes that he has a duty to do something on behalf
of his side of this House, that I absolutely regret the
generosity given in the way in which the questions
have been framed today. He does not take from anything
in the conduct of the House that he can, as I have
used the word before, prattle on incessantly. I do not
care how aggrieved he feels. There are other avenues
and devices that he might like to use if he wants to
have a debate if he feels aggrieved, but he is warned
for his disruptive behaviour.
Mr Robb—Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It
is a very important issue. I put to you that the propositions
advanced by this side in the questions that have
been asked to date are all statements of fact. Facts may
provoke the other side, but the responses have been
highly provocative—
The SPEAKER—Order! The member for Goldstein
will resume his seat.
Government members—Not a good one.
The SPEAKER—It may not have been a good one.
I can hear comments like that. The member for Goldstein
should realise that there is no point of order. The
questions were ruled in order. I was making observations.
The Prime Minister has the call......
Mr Hockey—Mr Speaker—
Government members interjecting—
The SPEAKER—Sit down. The Prime Minister has the call.
She will be directly relevant to the question.
Opposition members interjecting—
The SPEAKER—Order! Those on my left could
learn a lesson by not interrupting as much as they do
because, quite frankly, I could not listen to the answer
because of the hubbub that was going on, and given the
reaction of members on my left I am assuming that the
member for North Sydney was going to raise a point of
order on relevance. He is lucky not to have been named
or given one hour because of the way that he approached
the dispatch box. We might rule a line in the
sand about this question time now, but I am telling you,
the behaviour has got to pick up. The Prime Minister
has the call. She will be directly relevant to the question....
The SPEAKER—Oh, it was the member for
Bendigo. There are a few dobbers in the House.
Regrettably now the member for Bendigo—it has been a
big day for Bendigo today—is warned.
I suggest to the member for Sturt that if he stepped
back and tried to disengage himself from his positions
on some of these answers, he would understand that, in
this case, it may not be the answer that his side of politics
is seeking but it is an answer that could be considered
directly relevant to the question. I am not in a position,
as Speaker, to dictate how a minister or the
Prime Minister answers the questions. I think that the
member for Sturt should learn to sit there quietly. If he
really wants to make changes that will get the result
that he wants, he should engage with the Procedure
Committee as they review the success or not of the
newly implemented standing orders. The Prime Minister
has the call. The Prime Minister knows that she
must be directly relevant in responding to the question....
Mr Pyne—Mr Speaker, on a point of order. I seek
leave to table the article in the Australian of 1 November
which refers to the quotation, so that it can be put
beyond any doubt.
Leave not granted.
The SPEAKER—I simply say that some of the devices
that have been used today make me think that
some of the people should reflect upon them. The
Manager of Opposition Business was involved in the
point of order about identifying who the officer was.
The Leader of the Opposition and the Manager of Opposition
Business are incredulous but, if we are to see
stunts like this, where the information was available
and could have been given to the member for Dawson,
the generosity that I displayed to the member for Dawson
as a new member will not be as forthcoming. The
alternative was that I could have ruled the question out
of order.