NSW North Coast: more rain in saturated catchments expected today

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for flash flooding in the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands at 4:23 am EDT on Monday 10 January 2011:

A high near New Zealand is maintaining a humid east to northeasterly airstream across New South Wales. A trough off the southern Queensland coast is creating enhanced rainfall, which is forecast to move into northeast New South Wales during Monday.

Rain and thunderstorms, which may lead to flash flooding, are forecast for the Northern Rivers forecast district and northern parts of the Northern Tablelands forecast district during Monday.

The State Emergency Service advises that people should:

Don't drive, ride or walk through flood water.
Keep clear of creeks and storm drains.
For emergency help in floods and storms, ring your local SES Unit on 132 500.

The next warning will be issued by 11:00 am EDT Monday.

ABC News reminds that:

A flood watch remains in place for the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond/Wilsons, Clarence and Bellinger River Valleys.

The above catchments are wet from recent rain so there is a higher than 70 per cent chance of local and main river flooding developing.

The SES is preparing for level three flood operations which is a major flood event.

This flood watch means that people living or working along rivers and streams must monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground should flooding develop.........

Flood Warnings will be reissued when sufficient rain has fallen to raise river levels above minor flood level at forecast locations.

Remember to never drive, ride or walk through floodwater and keep listening to ABC Local Radio, your emergency services broadcaster.

SES FloodSafe information

Americans more interested in UFOs than in Wikileaks saga?

With official U.S. Government angst on public display over Wikileaks release of Cablegate material, the Dept of Justice out for blood and both American politicians and some news commentators calling for Julian Assange's head, one has to wonder whether the average person in that country is even mildly interested in this ongoing saga.

Here are some Google Trends snapshots covering all of 2010, which indicate that perhaps (in cyberspace at least) Americans have a more sustained interest in alien life forms than in who obtains and publishes copies of U.S. diplomatic cables.

A Tale of Two Images

A paid notice by John X Berlin
The Clarence Valley Review,
4 January 2011 issue, Page 38

Image accompanying The Daily Examiner article
Berlin in court on new charges
8 January 2011 online issue

To Voda, or not to Voda, that is the question

Natalie O'Brien writing in The Age on 9 January 2011 Vodafone mobile records leaked:

THE personal details of millions of Vodafone customers, including names, home addresses, driver's licence numbers and credit card details, have been available on the web in what is described as an ''unbelievable'' lapse in security by the mobile phone giant.

The Sunday Age is aware of criminal groups paying for the private details of some Vodafone customers to blackmail them.

Other people have apparently obtained logins to check their spouse's communications.

The personal details, accessible from any computer because they are kept on an internet site rather than Vodafone's internal system, include numbers dialled or texted, plus the time and location of calls or texts.

The full extent of the privacy breach is unknown, but The Sunday Age has learnt that possibly thousands of people have logins that can be passed around and used to gain access to the accounts of about 4 million Vodafone clients.

Michael Fraser, head of the Australian Communications Law Centre at the University of Technology Sydney, said it seemed to be a major breach of the company's privacy obligations and ''unbelievably slack security''.

Australian Politics: This has to be the worst job of 2011

Senior Adviser - Media

The Hon Tony Abbott MP

Leader of the Opposition

Applications are invited for the position of Senior Adviser - Media to the Leader of the Opposition.

This position would suit a highly motivated person, preferably with several years of experience in journalism or a related communications discipline and experience in the development of and implementation of communication strategies.

Knowledge of government and parliamentary processes would be an advantage.

The position is based in Sydney with regular travel to Canberra and interstate.

The position is offered under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 and conditions are outlined in the Commonwealth Members of Parliament Staff Enterprise Agreement 2010-2012. A salary within the range $111,403 to $146,492 pa will be determined commensurate with relevant skills and experience. In addition, an allowance of $27,500 is payable in recognition of long and irregular hours including weekend work, and a private-plated vehicle or allowance-in-lieu is provided. A probationary period of three months will apply.

Applications setting out details of experience and the names of two referees should be forwarded to:

lynne.barrow@aph.gov.au

Applications close on 21 January 2011. For further information please contact David Wawn on (02) 6277 4022.

7 Jan 2011

Tracy McCormick and US Dept of Justice want details all Twitter accounts with connections to Wikileaks

Glen Greenwald writing in Salon on 7 January 2011:

Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir -- a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament -- announced (on Twitter) that she had been notified by Twitter that the DOJ had served a Subpoena demanding information "about all my tweets and more since November 1st 2009." Several news outlets, including The Guardian, wrote about Jónsdóttir's announcement.

What hasn't been reported is that the Subpoena served on Twitter -- which was ordered by a federal court -- seeks the same information for numerous other individuals currently or formerly associated with WikiLeaks, including Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gongrijp, and Julian Assange. It also seeks the same information for Bradley Manning and for WikiLeaks' Twitter account.

The information demanded by the DOJ is sweeping in scope. It includes all mailing addresses and billing information known for the user, all connection records and session times, all IP addresses used to access Twitter, all known email accounts, as well as the "means and source of payment," including banking records and credit cards. It seeks all of that information for the period beginning November 1, 2009 through the present. A copy of the court-ordered Subpoena served on Twitter is here.

The Subpoena was court ordered, signed by a federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, Theresa Buchanan. It states that there is "reasonable ground to believe that the records or other information sought are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation." It was issued on December 14 and ordered sealed -- i.e., kept secret from the targets of the Order. On January 5, the same judge ordered the subpoena unsealed at Twitter's request in order to inform the users of the Subpoena and give them 10 days to object; had Twitter not so requested, it could have turned over this information without the knowledge of its users. A copy of the unsealing order is here.

However, what is fascinating about the unsealing order of 5 January 2011 is that - it's not in order. Look closely.......

Japan continues to wail about its Antarctic whaling in 2011

The Government of Japan-sponsored Institute of Cetacean Research continues to ramp up its propaganda war against the Sea Shepherd organisation with a long list of video show and tell:

• 2011.01.06 Steve Irwin activists throw glass projectiles toward the Japanese Research vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 (Part 2）(724KB)

• 2011.01.06 Steve Irwin activists throw glass projectiles toward the Japanese Research vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 (Part 1）(1.50MB)

• 2011.01.05 The antiwhaling trimaran Gojira deploys a wire rope aimed to disable the Yushin Maru No. 2 rudder and propeller (2.95MB)

• 2011.01.05 Antiwhaling activist readies to fire a high-power launcher against the Yushin Maru No. 2 (2.69MB)

• 2011.01.05 Antiwhaling activist uses a sling shot to launch a projectile toward the Yushin Maru No. 2 (2.45MB)

• 2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists aboard a zodiac boat throwing glass bottle projectiles against the Yushin Maru No. 3 (2.91MB)

• 2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists aboard a zodiac boat prepare to deploy a rope aimed at the Yushin Maru No. 3 propeller and rudder (794KB)

Accompanied by a handful of press releases:

• 2011.01.06 Steve Irwin attacks Japanese ship Yushin Maru No.2

• 2011.01.05 Japanese ship Yushin Maru No. 2 attacked by antiwhaling trimaran

• 2011.01.01 Antiwhaling activists attack Japanese ship Yushin Maru No. 3