The Times UK November 1, 2012:
BBC New
Asia October
31:
The
Australian November 2:
2.3bn yen or approximately AUD$2.7 million
went
to Japan's fisheries agencies to protect its whaling fleet from protests by
environmental activists.
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Google caught doing evil again
Teh Beeb in Britain posted this online on 31st October 2012:
"A jury in Australia has found Google liable for damages after a complaint that its search results had linked a local man to gangland crime. Milorad Trkulja had alleged that the US firm's image and web results had caused harm to his reputation. The 62-year-old had said the site had refused to remove the material when asked. He had previously won a related case against Yahoo. Google has not commented on the verdict and might still appeal. The judge is expected to set the level of damages owed within a fortnight."
Saturday, 3 November 2012
As the meeja world turns?
“THAT
quacking sound you can hear in the distance is Tony Abbott. The Opposition
Leader is slowly but surely turning into a sitting duck, a stationary target
for government and media pot shots.
The
other bird sound you can make out, whenever Abbott says or does something
silly, is the crow's cry that Graham Kennedy mimicked years ago on television
and that got him into so much trouble. Textspeak boils it down to three
letters, WTF.
Pretty
soon, if he doesn't rewire the pathway from his brain to his mouth and change
his strategy, the cocks will start crowing loudly too, as they always do when a
leader is in trouble, and especially when the polls begin to narrow as they are
doing.”{Niki
Savva writing in The Australian on 25th October 2012}
Friday, 2 November 2012
How Australians used online social media in October 2012
Essential Report 23 October 2012:
52% say they use Google at least daily and 46% use Facebook at least daily.
Google is used more by – aged 18-24 (74% daily), aged 25-34 (63%), Greens voters (65%), income $1,600+ pw (61%).
Facebook is used more by – women (53% daily), aged 18-24 (82%), aged 25-34 (60%), Greens voters (55%).
Newspaper websites are used more by – aged 25-34 (28% daily), Lib/Nat voters (25%), income $1,600+ pw (30%).
Other news websites are used more by – men (42% at least several times a week), aged 25-34 (48%)
Blogs are used more by – aged 25-34 (38% at least once a week), Greens voters (45%), income $1,600+ pw (28%).
Campaign websites are used more by – aged 25-34 (31% at least once a week), Greens voters (40%).
Twitter is used more by – aged 18-24 (24% at least once a week), aged 25-34 (29%), Greens voters (26%).
Dumbing Down The News: Google decides tourism promotions with a biblical theme are important news
This nonsense was displayed by Google News on 28 October 2012:
The Dead Sea is the stuff of biblical legend and mystery. In the book of Genesis, Moses explains the Dead Sea was formed when God told Lot and his family to flee the area. They were told not to look back. Lot's wife couldn't resist, and when she did look back, she was turned into a pillar of salt - and the Dead Sea was born.
A ride from the airport to Dead Sea Spa Hotel
“You know Jordan is a country rich with biblical history, Dead Sea which is mentioned a lot in the bible is where I am taking you people. You will be residing in a hotel which is constructed along its shores, another place you should not miss to see is Mt Nebo which is famously known in the world history because it is the place where Moses died and his remains where buried there.”
We checked in to the Spa Club Hotel
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Administrative Decisions Tribunal decision will allow the community to see true cost of logging the NSW's native forests
The Daily Examiner 29 October 2012:
The NCC had appealed against a Forests NSW decision refusing to give information about wood supply agreements in the state's north.
In its judgment the tribunal stated "there is a clear public interest in an agency that is dealing with public assets being accountable for the manner in which it contracts to sell those assets."
For years we have been told by governments and bean counters about the importance of the "user pays" principle. This undoubtedly means the costs of an operation should be covered by those reaping the benefits of the operation.
There are both administrative and infrastructure costs to the public purse in providing logging companies with access to the community's forests.
While logging companies have been paying royalties for the trees they have harvested, their payments have not covered these costs. Indeed Forests NSW has been running at a loss for years, particularly with regard to its native forests operations.
Given various state governments' concerns about expenditure and recouping costs, it is astounding that State Forests has for so long been able to operate at a loss. Perhaps the fact that wood supply agreements have been kept secret has helped delay any move to remedy this situation.
North Coast Environment Council (NCEC) president Susie Russell stated, "For too long the high price of the environment and the community is paying to see the state's native forests being cut down has been kept secret. This decision will now contribute to more sustainable management of our native forests."
A 2009 auditor-general's report into native logging found that if existing pricing arrangements were rolled over without being subject to careful and fair review the community would incur economic loss. Hopefully, now that the existing arrangements can be made public, there will be an increased incentive for the government to ensure that the community's timber resources will be appropriately priced.
Leonie Blain
Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition
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