At last! The Alstonville bypass delivered to the people of the NSW North Coast

Hard working Federal MP for Page Janelle Saffin's media release on 4 April 2011 announced the federally funded NSW North Coast bypass at Alstonville is finally operative - well done to community groups, local governments and politicians involved :

Community prepares for Bypass celebrations

Page MP Janelle Saffin has announced that community celebrations to mark the end of work on the Alstonville Bypass will be held on Saturday 7 May.

“This is something the people of Alstonville community have waited decades for, so they are certainly ready to celebrate, and I look forward to joining the party.

“In particular I want to mention the role played by Bob Wilson and members of the Alstonville Bypass committee who lobbied so hard for so long for this bypass.

“Bob has played a key role in community consultations on the bypass and also chairs the organising committee for the community celebrations on May 7.

“It is very rewarding for me to see this project through to completion - from my 2007 election commitment of $90 million for the Alstonville Bypass, to delivering the funding, to the start of works and now celebrating the end of the project.

“The celebrations will be held at the Kay’s Lane end of the bypass, and many community organisations are coming together for this mini-festival.

“On the day, people will also have the opportunity to take a bus tour of the completed bypass route - a sneak preview before the road is officially opened to traffic shortly afterwards.”

4 April, 2011 Media contact: Lee Duncan 0448 158 150

Be honest. Would you vote for this man?

NSW Labor Oppositon Leader John Robertson MP
- no hair, no loyalty, no nous.

These are some of the comments concerning the Member for Blacktown:

"Come on - this destroyer of the Labor Party would not have even known where Blacktown was if he was not dumped into it a few weeks ago. I was one of the many who deserted Labor and voted Lib.... all because of the likes of Robertson and Roosendaal. Now Sussex St has shown us what they really think of us by oozing this grub into the leadership, it will probably be decades before they get my vote again." {'Glenn' online comment in Blacktown Advocate online 31st March 2011}

“John Robertson is very much part of the Labor Party’s problematic past." {Former NSW Premier Morris Iemma in Blacktown Advocate 29th March 2011}

"Let me tell you, if the Labor Party stocks ever get so low as to require your services in its parliamentary leadership, it will itself have no future" {Paul Keating in a 2008 letter to John Robertson according to SBS World News 28th March 2011}

"if the Government goes down the lethal tally of men and women who lose their seats will be to your account" {Paul Keating in a 2008 letter to John Robertson according to Laurie Oakes on Weekend Today program 27th March 2011}

"John Robertson makes the village idiot look like an intellectual." {Gordon Thomas of Hurstville in The Sydney Morning Herald online 2nd April 2011}

no_filter_Yamba: Robbo as next (or next to next) NSW Premier? Has anyone with a shaved head ever led a government in Australia? #auspol {Twitter 3rd April 2011}

Memo to Australian politicians re climate change: There is only one place in the Universe where we humans can live.....

.....so stop aiding and abetting polluting industries to destroy it.

The Earth is where we make our stand - Carl Sagan

David Penberthy stands reality on its head in an effort to avoid a rap over the knuckles from the Press Council

This was David Penberthy on 1 April 2011 in Penberthy: Waking up from the Green dream:

Screen snapshot

To the enduring disgust of the Labor Party, the Greens chose to direct preferences to the One Nation founder ahead of the ALP, and she may now creep into the Upper House courtesy of their support.

This is David Penberthy on 4 April 2011 in Sorry Greens, we’re not apologising:

Screen snapshot

The Greens are taking The Punch to the Press Council over my column of last Friday accusing them of pushing Pauline Hanson ahead of the ALP by refusing a preference swap with Labor at last weekend’s NSW election.

The story has definitely changed - from preference being officially identified by The Greens to no preferences being identified. This journalist obviously thinks that readers are fools with little short-term and no long-term memory.

The Punch should be ashamed of allowing this cowardly wriggle to be published online. Definitely not Australia’s best conversation by any definition of that term.

Exit Hatzistergos trailing smoke

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/topics-for-the-post-mortem-on-the-poll-20110401-1crv2.html

* I'm told Gemunu Kumarasinhe is an impeccable dresser, a flamboyant and sometimes theatrical courtroom performer, as well as a barrister who enjoys a reputation for fighting hard on behalf of his clients in matters before Local and District Courts on the NSW North Coast.

A snippet of Tony Abbott's family history

Just discovered in the bowels of the Vatican Secret Archives - the genuine ancient Abbott family crest.

40,000 defendants escape reverse class action suits brought by adult film companies

One doesn't know whether to cheer on civil liberties or worry that so many access p0rn0graphy on the Internet............

From an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release on 16 March 2011:

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked an Illinois judge to quash subpoenas issued in a "reverse class action" lawsuit accusing thousands of people of illegally downloading pornography, and urged the court to dismiss the case. In a friend of the court brief filed Tuesday, EFF argued that the plaintiff's "class action" strategy is an improper attempt to sidestep the rights of the defendants.

EFF has been involved in a number of copyright troll cases where content owners and lawyers team up to try to obtain the identities of thousands of anonymous alleged file sharers at once in order to extract settlements from them. In response, judges across the country have been cracking down on such abusive strategies. Thousands of unnamed "John Does" targeted in lawsuits filed in California, Washington D.C., Texas, and West Virginia have been severed, effectively dismissing over 40,000 defendants. These rulings may have a significant impact on this misguided business model, which relies on being able to sue thousands of Does at once with a minimum of administrative expense.

In this case, OpenMind Solutions v. Does, the plaintiff has taken a new approach: calling its complaint a "class action" lawsuit against the alleged infringers. Normally a class action is used by a group of plaintiffs with similar complaints of a single defendant -- not a single plaintiff targeting thousand of defendants with no attorney in place to defend the rights of the accused. OpenMind then asked the court for permission to issue subpoenas seeking identifying information for the Does, which was granted without the opportunity for anyone to speak on the unknown defendants' behalf.......

For the full amicus brief: https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/openmind_v_does/openmind-amicus-filed... For more on copyright trolls: https://www.eff.org/issues/copyright-trolls