Queensland genetically modified bananas anyone?

Is Genetically modified becoming something of a dirty term with the Australian general public?

Putting two and two together it is obvious that the Queensland University of Technology tried very hard to avoid both the GMO acronym and again naming its funding source as the Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) Initiative - which was launched as a health initiative by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is in turn is associated with Monsanto & Co through its shareholdings in that notorious biotech giant.

ABC NEWS 22 December 2011:

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has met Queensland scientists who are trying to develop better bananas for Africa's sub-Saharan region.

The philanthropist has invested $10 million in banana research in recent years through his foundation's global health program.

Successful field trials have been carried out at Innisfail, south of Cairns, in the state's far north.

Professor James Dale, from the Queensland University of Technology, says he was pleased to update Mr Gates and his wife during their visit to Cairns last week…….

Unfortunately for UTS the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator reveals what is was hoping to cover with a little bit of verbal smoke:

* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.

Are we safe? Can I come out from under the bed yet?

“Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.” {National Aeronautics and Space Administration}

I’m getting in early to back NASA’s take on the Doomsday scenario being touted for 21 December 2012 – before those chain emails telling me my end is nigh according to the Bible or the Mayan Calendar begin to arrive in tiresome droves.

For those who would rather enjoy the thrill of the scare, here is a Wikipedia list of the joyful hand of the great bearded father in the sky mass extinction event possibilities awaiting us over the next twelve months, two years, decade, century or wad eva…..

·         A sudden change in the physical constants governing the universe, such as that created by a vacuum metastability event.^[2]

·         A close approach of a black hole to the solar system.^[3]

·         A gamma ray burst or other devastating blast of cosmic radiation.^[4] One especially deadly hypothesized source is a hypernova, produced when a hypergiant star explodes and then collapses, sending vast amounts of radiation sweeping across hundreds of lightyears. Hypernovas have never been observed; however, a hypernova may have been the cause of the Ordovician–Silurian extinction events. The nearest hypergiant is Eta Carinae, approximately 8,000 light-years distant.

·         A drastic and unusual decrease or increase in Sun's power output; a solar superstorm leading to partial or complete electrical or technological death of human civilization. (See solar flare.)

·         Abrupt geomagnetic reversal and/or drastic decrease of magnetic field of the planet Earth. Consequences can be the same as in the cases of cosmic radiation or solar radiation blasts.

·         The solar system passing through a cosmic dust cloud, leading to a severe global climate change.^[5]

·         An abrupt repositioning of Earth rotation axis.^[6] It could be caused by extremely powerful internal geological or/and external cosmic factors. If it happens abruptly (and not slowly within a very prolonged interval of time) it will generate enormous multiple earthquakes, multiple volcano eruptions, a hypercane or multiple megacyclones, giant tidal waves and megatsunamis all around the globe.

·         An impact event causing a collision (or extremely close passage) of a large meteorite, asteroid or comet. A common theory postulates that the extinction of the dinosaurs occurred approximately 65 million years ago as a result of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event when a large asteroid struck the earth, producing atmospheric dust which blocked solar energy and caused a significant lowering of temperatures worldwide ("nuclear winter"). Evidence for this theory includes a sedimentary layer of iridium in the geological record and a large crater in the area of Chicxulub, Mexico. The Tunguska event (1908) was on a much smaller scale. In the case of a close passage of an object (a large asteroid, comet or planet) with a significant gravitational impact on Earth, the consequences could be the same as in the case of an abrupt repositioning of Earth rotation axis. And such a repositioning of the axis would not necessarily have to take place for the earth to see the same global effects.

·         A geological event such as massive flood basalt, volcanism, or the eruption of a supervolcano^[7] leading to the so called Volcanic Winter (Similar to a Nuclear Winter). One such event, the Toba Eruption,^[8] occurred in Indonesia about 71,500 years ago. According to the Toba catastrophe theory,^[9] the event may have reduced human populations to only a few tens of thousands of individuals. Yellowstone Caldera is another such supervolcano, having undergone 142 or more caldera-forming eruptions in the past 17 million years.^[10] Massive volcano eruption(s) will produce extraordinary intake of volcanic dust, toxic and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere with serious effects on global climate (towards extreme global cooling (nuclear winter when in short term and ice age when in long term) or global warming (if greenhouse gases prevail)).

·         An exceptionally devastating hypercane^[11] probably combined with global dust storm, taking up to the atmosphere enormous quantities of dust.

·         A global pandemic (assuming that the causing agent of the pandemic would have a natural origin) with very high or even 100% mortality rate.^[12] ………..

·         A global pandemic with very high or even 100% mortality rate caused by a human-made infectious agent, which could be released among population on purpose. The source could be an individual, a laboratory workers group, a terrorist group, governmental or international organization.

·         A nuclear, chemical, or biological war. A "softer" and "stealthier" case of each of these three types of warfare could be nuclear, chemical, or biological terrorism. Again the source could be an individual, a laboratory workers group, a terrorist group, religious zealots, governmental or international organization.

·         A grey goo scenario, in which self-replicating machines (often imagined to be nanomachines) get out of control and indiscriminately consume all kinds of matter in the process of building more replicas of themselves, eventually making earth inhospitable for biological life altogether.  

A note of caution - none of the above will impress the boss as a good reason for not turning up to work this week.
I wouldn't try to convert your local priest, pastor or rebbe either as that might see them leading you into A&E for a quick scan of the ol' brain box.

Another Australian mining company fails to understand what community consultation really means - with tragic consequences* *WARNING: Graphic Images

It is not only Australian-registered corporations like Andrew Twiggy Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group or Chinese-owned Anchor Resources which make a mockery of the concept of community consultation.

Recently another mining corporation (described last year as Australia's 60th largest gold company by market capitalisation) went a step further in Indonesia......

This is what a publicly listed mining exploration company, Arc Exploration, formerly Austindo Resources Corporation N.L., told the Australian Stock Exchange on 4 October 2011 concerning the proposed open pit gold mine at Bima and its current plans to conduct further exploratory test drilling in the 250sq.km mining tenement project it 95% owns and manages:

Snapshot of excerpt from Quarterly Activities Report - September 2011 Quarter

Again on 29 November 2011:

Snapshot of opening paragraphs in Exploration Recommences at Bima

Not quite one month later on 24 December 2011 JATAM - the Mining Advocacy Network reported:

Residents reported to The National Human Rights Commission, which then conducted an investigation on April 2011. On November 2011, The National Human Rights Commission issued a recommendation No. 2.784/K/PMT/XI/2011 for The Regent of Bima, The West Nusa Tenggara Chief of Police, and The Director of PT. SMN. The National Human Rights Commission recommended The Regent of Bima to improve the information system and publicize mining activities; started from exploration to exploitation, and also to suspend the activities of PT. SMN while waiting for the conduciveness of society’s social life. The West Nusa Tenggara Chief of Police was asked to take coordinative and communicative steps with all elements of government and community leaders to prevent horizontal conflicts in Bima. The National Human Rights Commission urged the warranty for residents’ freedom of speech or aspiration (demonstration) in accordance with statutory provisions, and to avoid repressive measures by using weapons with live ammunition in securing rallies.

On 26 December 2011 ABC News reported in the article Indonesian police fire on gold mine protesters:

Video has emerged showing Indonesian police firing on protesters who were demonstrating against a planned Australian-owned gold mine.

Two people were killed and 10 others injured in the incident in the town of Bima on the island of Sumbawa, east of Bali.

The confrontation occurred on Saturday when nearly 1,000 villagers refused to end a week-long blockade of a local port.

Police were ordered to fire directly into the crowd.

Later they can be seen dragging and beating one of the injured protesters.

The group was trying to block the construction of a gold mine, owned by Indonesia's PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara and Australian company Arc Exploration….

Arc Exploration's Board of Directors; investment consultant and former banker Bruce James Watson (Non Exec. Chairman), UK & Indonesia-based mining geologist John Charles Carlile (Managing Director), Indonesian Rich List nominee and businessman George Santosa Tahija (Non Exec. Director), lawyer and mining industry advisor Robert Moyse Willcocks (Non Exec. Director), Indonesian businessman Cahyono Halim (CFO), lawyer Andrew John Cooke (Comp. Secretary) and its Top Twenty Shareholders, might like to explain the company’s extensive consultation process (in partnership with PT. Sumber Mineral Nusantara [SMN] which according to de.indymedia.org has as its Managing Director John Carlile and as its Company Secretary Andrew Cooke).

This extensive consultation resulted in a thousand-strong demonstration and at least three dead at the hands of the civil authority including Arief Rachman, 18, and Syaiful,17 (both allegedly pictured below).

Indonesian police are not admitting to these shootings, however investigations are ongoing.

According to The Australian on 28 December 2011; Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights is investigating the clash on Christmas Eve at the site of the Arc Exploration project at Bima near the port city of Sape.

The Jakarta Globe had previously noted the connection between another mining company associated with an Arc Exploration director and an alleged $14 million annual payment to Indonesian police for what might be assumed by a reasonable person as being some form of extraordinary 'protection'. In February last year the company involved denied there was any graft involved in these payments.

By 28 December 2011 the Chairman of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission was characterising Arc Exploration's assurances regarding local community support as ill-founded and, raising the possibility that Arc Exploration had paid local police to act as corporate enforcers.

At the same time Australian Greens Senator Chrisitne Milne was saying; Arc employed John Carlile as managing director because of his experience with Newcrest Mining operating in Indonesia.....Newcrest admitted in 2004 it had paid Indonesian security forces to manage its site in Indonesia. Newcrest was registered as an Australian corporation in 1980.
This business relationship with paramilitary police appears to have existed in 2003 and possibly earlier. Various online sources mention payments of $35,000 U.S. dollars a year to a 65-man strong contingent of the Mobile Brigade.
Using  Brimob police against protesters with lethal force was endorsed and possibly encouraged by then Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and the Howard Government according to various media reports at the time.

On 28 December 2011 Arc Exploration gave a brief statement to the Australian Stock Exchange concerning the recent violent events at Bima. However, like the past and present business interests of its board, this does not necessarily create confidence under closer scrutiny.

Snapshot of Further Anti-Mining Demonstrations at Bima

A further short clarification was issued later on the same day.

One has to wonder why anyone would invest in this mining company.

It will come as no surprise to concerned residents and community groups on the NSW North Coast - opposing the proposed antimony mine in the Clarence River catchment area - to find that Anchor Resources Managing Director, Ian Price, was listed in 2003 by Austock Research as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arc Exploration when it traded as Austindo Resources Corporation N.L. He apparently held this position from 18 November 2002   to 31 July 2006, serving alongside Messrs. Watson, Tahija and Carlile and Cooke.

Nor will communities in Northern NSW battling the high-handed methods of the coal seam gas industry be astonished to learn that until 7 June 2011 Bruce Watson and Robert Willcocks were respectively Non-executive Director and Non-executive Chairman of Orion Petroleum Pty Ltd which currently holds an interest along with Santos-owned Eastern Star Gas in exploration licenses in the Goondiwindi, Kurrabooma, &  Maules Creek areas and, in its own right in the Whalan Creek, Willaroo, Moree and Gwydir districts.

That the Australian mining industry contains complex business relationships is obvious; that this country may be used as a corporate flag of convenience so that foreign nationals can take advantage of tax law favourable to their overseas mining interests is suspected; that certain superannuation schemes may be growing on the back of corporate bullying of small farming communities is a distinct possibility; nevertheless the idea that mining business culture has become so debased as to ignore human rights and civilised behaviour comes as something of a shock.

With communities in rural and regional New South Wales under so much pressure from mining interests and their political supporters, it may be wise to remember the absence of ethics which appears to be festering within both multinational and national corporations these days.

Photographs from no2mininginpalawan.com
Video from YouTube

UPDATE

The Jakarta Post report on 1 January 2012:

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said on Friday he had requested West Nusa Tenggara administration to scrap the mining permit of PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara (SMN) after two people died last week during an anti-mining protest. Jero said the province’s governor would order Bima regent, Ferry Zulkarnain, to revoke the permit, which was first issued in 2008 to explore gold in the regency......

Herald-Sun on 28 January 2012:

INDONESIA on Saturday revoked a gold mining exploration permit granted to an Australian miner after a series of violent protests against the project left two people dead last month, reports said.
The decision came after thousands of people on Thursday demonstrated in the city of Bima on Sumbawa Island, east of Bali, with government buildings set ablaze.
''We decided to revoke permanently the permit for the sake of security stability here,'' Bima district head Ferry Zulkarnain told local television station MetroTV.....

New peril ahead for Gillard and Abbott in 2012?

A bloke called Chris McCracken from Parkes in New South Wales has registered JULIAR.ORG until 25^th February 2012, but mightn’t renew his right to this domain name since he hasn’t posted a thing on the home webpage after what seems to have been his Day One on 3^rd March last year and it looks pretty well unsellable.

Do a Google search and you still bring up over a quarter of a million mentions of the term juLIAR a rather juvenile attempt to insult the Aussie Prime Minister. Of course that number’s complicated by the fact that Juliar is a legitimate surname for quite a few people with an internet presence.

But if Julia Gillard thought 2012 might begin to see that pejorative term quietly disappear she may have to think again, because once the .xxx adult content domains went on sale in December 2011 the existence of an as yet unregistered Juliar.xxx  came to light.
As well as the fact that JuliaGillard.xxx has been purchased by an unknown individual.

Then again, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott may have snapped up .com and .com.au, but tonyabbott.xxx is still for sale. So the bottom feeders can really go for it and we may see both senior pollies become reluctant p0rn 'hosts' before Federal Parliament begins the new year.

Happy New Year 2012 from North Coast Voices

To all our friends and readers

including those who stumbled upon

North Coast Voices

for the first time in 2011

Graphic from Google Images

*****Happy Festive Season To All In 2011*****

North Coast Voices

wishes everyone

a happy festive season

Keep safe and well during the holidays

We will be back from our annual break

on 1 January 2012

Is the Japanese whaling fleet overfishing the Antarctic?

From IWC Report of the Scientific Committee 2011

On July 25, 2007 a The Sydney Morning Herald article stated :

Japan's whaling research body, the Institute of Cetacean Research, today said 91.6 per cent - or 262 of the 286 mature female minkes taken during the last hunt - were pregnant.

In June 2011 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE 2011 addressed the issue of declining Minke Whale stocks in the Antarctic:

WHALE STOCKS……..

Two different methods for estimating Antarctic minke whale abundance from these data have been developed in recent years (see below) and although they gave different estimates of abundance, both were consistent in showing an appreciable decline in estimated circumpolar abundance between CPII and CPIII……..

It is clear from Table 5 that while circumpolar Antarctic minke whale abundance estimates have declined during the period from CPII to CPIII, there are substantial differences in relative changes between Areas, with only relatively moderate increases or declines in some Areas, but appreciable declines in others (Table 6). No significant decline is seen in Areas III, IV and VI, whilst estimated abundance is substantially lower in CPIII for Areas I, II and V. Areas II and V encompass the Weddell and Ross Seas

As noted above, large declines in estimates of Antarctic minke whale abundance occurred in Areas I, II and V (there were no statistically significant changes in the other three Areas). The Committee agrees that these declines do indeed reflect genuine changes in abundance in the open-water areas surveyed that need to be explained. Such changes may be due to changes in distribution or reflect a true decline (or some combination of both)……

There are two classes of explanation for possible true declines in abundance. The first, quantitative approach involves the population dynamics statistical catch-at-age analyses (SCAA) from Area III East to VI West, which can potentially account for the changes in overall abundance in terms of variations over time in mortality and recruitment (note that this may explain how but not why changes occurred). The second, less quantitative approach involves attempts to identify mechanisms whereby mortality and recruitment may have changed (e.g. ecosystem effects, interspecies competition, climate changes, etc.).

It may be time to reflect on the fact that one of the management areas identified in the IWC report as experiencing an agreed marked decline in minke whale numbers is also one of those areas in which Japan’s whale fleet has actively hunted these whales, for at least twelve austral summer seasons during its approximately twenty-three year history of Antarctic commercial whaling conducted under the guise of scientific research.

During that time Japanese research documents show that the fleet has consistently taken both lactating and pregnant minke females.

From Polar Biology, Vol 31, Number 12

Click on image to enlarge

The Government of Japan’s whaling fleet is heading towards its Southern Ocean killing grounds as I write.

During the 2011/12 season the inappropriately named Institute of Cetacean Research will sponsor so-called ‘lethal research’ on as many as 930 minke whales and possibly a handful of fin whales and even humpbacks according to Japan Times Online on 11 December 2011. The IWC's own documents clearly indicate that the whaling fleet again intends to operate in one of the management areas showing significant minke whale decline.