I always wondered why so few charity collectors knocked on my front door

I’m a POYSN! A poison person living in one of those "poor, old, young, stupid and non-english speaking" households.

So it’s been other people’s bigotry which has kept me safe from unwanted solicitations via phone or doorstep.
A big thankyou to the Legacy Marketing Team, David, Chris and Amanda!
Ain’t life grand?

Mart

Lismore

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration.

Today the Clarence Valley Mayor seeks support for LGA moratorium on coal seam gas mining

Clarence Valley Council Ordinary Council Meeting

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Mayoral Minute 10.001/12 Coal Seam Gas (CSG) Operations

REPORT SUMMARY

As Councillors are aware, Coal Seam Gas (CSG) operations in NSW and on the North Coast are coming under community scrutiny and there are great community concerns regarding the affects CSG activities will have on the environment and on prime agriculture land. The following recommendation proposes to give Council a general policy position on the matter.

RECOMMENDATION

Whilst Clarence Valley Council acknowledges their statutory responsibilities in relation to planning development applications and assessment, Council as a matter of social responsibility and in the long term sustainability interests of the environment and the community which they represent, does not support or endorse Coal Seam Gas activities within the Clarence Valley area and will not alter this position until such time as;

1.There are clear land use legislation and policies enacted by the NSW Government to responsibly guide and regulate the Coal Seam Gas industry in relation to their activities and in particular with the impact on and/or loss of prime agriculture land and other environmentally sensitive issues; and

2. It is scientifically proven and demonstrated that the impacts of the Coal Seam Gas industry will not result in any significant and detrimental environment outcomes particularly in relation to aquifer water quality;

3. The General Manager be directed to report to Council for their consideration any development application made to Clarence Valley Council which involves proposed activities associated with the Coal Seam Gas industry on Council land.

4. The State and Federal Governments be informed of Clarence Valley Council position.

BACKGROUND

Council will also be aware that Kyogle and Lismore City Councils late last year passed motions which have imposed moratoriums on Council owned lands. These motions are now coming under legal scrutiny. On this point, the NOROC meeting held on 3 February 2012 unanimously resolved the following;

“That NOROC seek legal advice on behalf of member councils in relation to the implications of imposing moratoriums on seismic testing, exploration and other coal seam gas activities on roadside reserves and council-controlled land.”

Given that further legal advice is being sought on behalf of NOROC regarding the validity of the motions that have been carried by Lismore and Kyogle and the fact that Clarence Valley Council is not in receipt of any applications for activities on Council owned land, I am not proposing a similar moratorium at this stage, however, should the Council be in the receipt of an application for consideration and/or once the legal advice is received, this position could change. It is noted that no applications have been lodged with Clarence Valley Council to-date.

I have also asked the General Manager to report any applications to the Council for seismic testing or exploration activities on Council land. This will allow the Council can make a decision based on the merit of the application.

I also represented Council at the “A Division Conference” of the NSW Shires Association. The division also passed the following

That "A" Division call on the NSW State Government to release the terms and conditions controlling the issue of licences for coal seam gas mining within the Northern Rivers area immediately.”

I also consider it important for Councillors and the community to realise that Council cannot abrogate their statutory decision making responsibilities and obligations in relation to development applications and associated planning matters and as such the recommendation as stated above is prepared in the context of Council’s social and community responsibility.

I believe that leadership on the issue by the State Government is required to identify what the parameters are for the coal seam gas industry.

Cr Richie Williamson

MAYOR

UPDATE:

The Mayor's office confirms that this Minute was unanimously supported by Clarence Valley councillors attending the Ordinary Monthly Meeting of 21 February 2012.

Psst! Do you swap family pics with Al Qaeda?

Who needs stand-up comics and old knock-knock jokes when we all have the US legislature within mouse click reach. I kid you not this is US Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Chairman Pat Meehan seeing Twitter, Facebook and Blogger villains everywhere last week:

“However, use of social media isn’t confined to terrorists. It is also a criminal issue and represents an entirely new operating space, both for individuals sharing pictures with friends and family and terrorists, criminals, and other bad actors.”

* Mad bomber lighting up on Google Images

The Abbott-Hockey Economic Theory of Small Government

With so many conflicting explanations of how a Tony Abbott-led federal government (with Joe Hockey as Treasurer) would manage Australia's economy, I went in search of the theoretical basis of various Coalition claims about small government, lower taxes, budget costings and wandering surpluses.

This is where I think it all starts for these maestros of mathematics.................

(a + b) (a - b) = a² - b²  + 1

Graphic from io9.com

'Steve' Gulaptis MP - Wannabe Koala Killer

When I first heard on the grapevine that Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis was going to honour one particular so-called promise of that notorious speedster and disgraced former Clarence MP Steve Cansdell I was gobsmacked.

Last Saturday The Daily Examiner confirmed the gossip – Gulaptis is asking NSW Roads and Maritime Services “to review the speed limit on Iluka Road within the next two months, with a view to returning the limit to 100kmh from its present 80kmh”.

For the sake of cutting 2-3 minutes off a journey into or out of the sleepy little coastal village of Iluka, former land developer Gulaptis wants to risk local wildlife – including the increasing rare coastal emu and koala populations.

I’m betting fellow Nat and Roads and Ports Minister Duncan Gay is probably endorsing this move. He doesn’t have a clue about this local road or how the Lower Clarence feels about its wildlife and I'm sure Gulaptis will be careful to keep it that way.

Grandpa Koala's response to this irresponsible political vandal:

ABC Radio NSW Sound & Reference Library - Koala - grunting and growling Powered by abmp3 search engine

70th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin 1942 - revisionism run wild

Let’s get real folks – all these glowing media reports on the 70^th anniversary of the first Japanese bombing of Darwin are so distorted that they bear little relation to the 1942 reality.

Yes, there was an attempt to defend this northern city and some of it could be described as ranging from brave to heroic. Yes, the entire subject was censored at the time and not all eyewitness records are in the same place.

BUT. The was also widespread NT Government, civilian, Australian and American defence forces panic, with a good many fleeing without authorisation to the Adelaide River (some servicemen getting as far as southern cities) in a rout wryly described at the time as The Adelaide River Stakes.

There was looting by civilians and servicemen and in at least one case a cruelly racist response to Aboriginal casualties.

So let’s be adult about this and truly Aussie on the first national day of observance – reject the historical revisionism currently doing the rounds in the meeja.
You can start with Charlie Lowe's March 1942 first report in the official investigation and go on from there.

Pic from ABC News

Misogynists of the World Unite! Then move to Oklahoma USA

This is the Oklahoma Senate in 2012. You will notice that it is predominately Republican and male.

So it should come as no surprise that this Senate has decided to pass bill SB1433. Thereby bringing closer the creation of the Personhood Act which establishes that The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge on behalf of the unborn child at every stage of development all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state.

This strange bill apparently makes medical abortion or even some forms of contraception a criminal offence. While at the same time, somewhat perversely, it leaves the door open for a woman to quietly neglect her health to such a degree that she spontaneously miscarries.

On the 15 February 2012 it was passed by 34 to 8 votes.

An even stranger amendment seems to have languished without support:

In the spirit of shared responsibility in issues of reproduction, if a woman declares that she is pregnant non-consensually, the sperm donor shall be required to undergo a statutorily mandated vasectomy, shall be fined Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), and shall also be financially responsible for the offspring of such pregnancy until the age of twenty-one (21).