Liberal Party Senator Cory Bernardi gets a few rollicking reviews

Former parliamentary secretary assisting then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Liberal Party attack dog, Senator Cory Bernardi, has written another book.......

These are Amazon’s Most Helpful Customer Reviews.....

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful

Poor value, and very rough on the nether regions

By Tim Bell on January 6, 2014

Let me be upfront from the start: I didn't buy this book.

It's only 178 pages long, and at the current price of just under $27, it's quite expensive as well. So already one's expectations are for a good quality product, given that it costs over 15 cents per page (or 30 cents per sheet, in other words).

Just for comparison, my local Woolworths has toilet paper on sale for 20 cents per ONE HUNDRED sheets, or less than 1% the price per sheet of this book!!

As I confessed at the start, I haven't actually bought this book, so I just have to assume that it's printed on the same kind of paper that most paperbacks are printed on. If you're like me, and have occasionally wiped your nether regions with a sheet of an old Agatha Christie murder mystery, or maybe a Deepak Chopra self-help title, you know that it's a poor substitute for a good-quality piece of toilet tissue. So, without any evidence or claims to the contrary, I have to assume that this paperback is the same, with rough, untextured and single-ply pages that irritate, and (let's be honest) don't actually do as good a job at wiping as proper toilet tissue.

So that's really all there is to it: it's overpriced, and inferior to competing products, so why would you buy it? The Kleenex and Scott products are much better value for money, more effective, and so much more pleasant to use.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

Won't anyone think of the dachshunds?

By Simon666 on January 6, 2014

As a dachshund, I can't actually read this book or any other, but I thank Corgi Bernardi from the bottom of my heart for stopping gay marriage, and the widespread cornholing of both urban and rural animals that would have occurred should such a thing have eventuated. Like Corgi, I get all my information from fringe US-based religious websites, and so I must apologise for any misspelling that occurs in this post. As I've said, I am a dachshund and can't read, but Corgi looks very Karl Marx on the cover of his revolution book, just with better skin! As he doesn't have much future in politics, he might want to consider a career in infomercials, if there are any products that need angry stupid people in them. I mean, I'm a supporter (and would vote for him if I lived in South Australia), but let's say that Corgi isn't exactly from the highest branch. Also, I think Corgi will be offended by the "flip to back" function below his photo on this page - it's just not natural! Thankyou for reading.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

Does not do what it says on the cover

By Richard L. Watts on January 6, 2014

I read this book hoping to find advice on how to successfully overthrow a tyrannical warmist regime. But there is no details within on how to make gunpowder or bombs contained - not even contact numbers for my local far-right militia! Fail! Nor does THE CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION contain the sort of information I have expected from Mr Bernadi such as graphic details on homo-beast sex or handy drawings explaining why step-families are inferior to Adam and Even normal red-blooded hetero families. Why have you failed me Corny? In short don't bother buying this book - I swapped it for a copy of ATLAS SHRUGGED that was missing half its pages and feel I have the better end of the bargain.

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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

The contents are sader

By Charles Esson on January 6, 2014

The man on the front looks sad; is sad. The contents are sadder. If your from a blended family have step sisters and brothers you love and admire, this is not the book for you.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

Absolutely awful. Embarrassing to Australians. Misogynistic. Homophobic. Reactionary. Drivel.

By Sandra Bekin on January 6, 2014

These are views that would be right at home in the Deep South of the USA or the Southern Baptists. They are not even Conservative views. (Non Australians please note: The Liberal Party of Australia is a Right Wing party, the Left is the Australian Labor Party. There are no liberals in the Liberal Party.)

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

By Steven J Darlington on January 6, 2014

The Dark One hungers. In his pit of eternal hatred he squats in the darkness feeding on the screams of the weak. Soon, his blood tide reaches a peak and he will scourge the unbelievers. Cory Bernardi claims he feels the hunger and screams for the blood of innocents, but his devotion to slaughter is not as strong as he would have you believe. His altars are empty. His axe is not stained wtih blood. This is not the Old Ways, Brother Bernardi. You know nothing of our dark rage. You barely even call for the murder of the pregnant women. NNGU'THALI-SZACTA!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

Promised much. Delivered little

By Amazon Customer on January 6, 2014

Cory Bernadi is a giant of a fish in the tiny pond we call Australia. He is single-handedly responsible for numerous Australian achievements, from the stump-jump plough and Hill's hoist (mistakenly named after a neighbour) to the recent 5-0 defeat of England in the Ashes test series.

And really, that's why this book is such a disappointment.

Turns out, Bernadi is just a bit of a tool.

965 of 1,034 people found the following review helpful

Take extreme caution.

By May Kadoody on January 6, 2014

A good friend and I perform an annual gift exchange, where we purchase each other the least suitable present imaginable. This year my friend received merkin underpants and I unwrapped "The Conservative Revolution". I congratulated her on winning this round, and threw the book in my drawer ne'er to be seen again.

Or so I thought.

Two weeks ago I hosted a dinner party at my apartment. We discussed how luscious Sarah Hanson Young's hair is whilst dining on miso glazed tofu, then retired to the sitting room for port. I entered the room to find guests whispering worriedly; as I approached my heart leapt into my throat - Bernardi's book was lying on the coffee table. Despite assurances it was a joke gift, my friends left hurriedly. I glared at the offending paperback and tossed it in the bin, confused and angry.

My life started to spiral out of control after this, everytime I met up with friends "The Conservative Revolution" would inexplicably be on my person. After I was nearly mobbed at a Newtown cafe, my friends asked that I stop calling. I tried leaving the book in a Salvation Army bin, on a bench, in a skip, but it would always be back in my loungeroom or bag. I even tried to burn it: the darkness behind Bernardi on the cover grew deeper - as though it absorbed the flames, but the remainder of the book wasn't even singed. Yesterday I returned home to find my collection of Sarah Waters novels thrown off the balcony, and a giant portrait of Julie Bishop painted on the wall. I feel as though Cory is watching me with those fanatical eyes, judging my sinful lifestyle.

If anyone knows an atheist celebrant I can hire to perform a conservative exorcism, please let me know.

Desmond John Thomas Euen wants a sea port

Readers may have noticed that rumours have resurfaced about the Port of Yamba being targeted as a coal terminal at the end of a west-east rail line linking north-western NSW with the coast.

This plan was first mooted by some of the people involved in unsuccessful lobbying to dam and divert water from the Clarence River catchment system for the benefit of irrigators and mining corporations in the Murray Darling Basin and, at the time was estimated to cost at least $3.5 billion to achieve.

Though the latest manifestation of these rumours owes little to Mal Peters & Co and more to an ‘entrepreneur’ from Booval in Queensland.

According to ASIC documents Desmond John Thomas Euen is the only director, shareholder and company secretary in a $1-1 share company registered in New South Wales on 31 August 2012, Australian Infrastructure Developments Pty Ltd, and elsewhere he has variously described himself as the company’s Managing Director and Executive Director.

Mr. Euen also has a website which appears to be locked or parked:

Whois http://whois.domaintools.com/australianinfrastructuredevelopments.com.au

Domain Name:                     australianinfrastructuredevelopments.com.au
Registrar ID:                    WAR
Registrar Name:                  Web Address Registration
Status:                          ok

Registrant:                      LYNX BUSINESS SERVICES PTY LTD
Registrant ID:                   ABN 56146166574
Eligibility Type:                Company

Registrant Contact ID:           R-006499331-SN
Registrant Contact Name:         Des Euen
Registrant Contact Email:        Visit whois.ausregistry.com.au for Web based WhoIs

Tech Contact ID:                 C-001573771-SN
Tech Contact Name:               Des Euen
Tech Contact Email:              Visit whois.ausregistry.com.au for Web based WhoIs

Name Server:                     ns1.designandhost.net
Name Server:                     ns2.designandhost.net

On doing a Google search of the second company which appears to be associated with Desmond Euen, I found this:

As well as this as yet unexplained and possibly unrelated notice.

It appears to be Mr. Euen’s current goal in life to turn a small working port, on which the local fishing and tourism industries also heavily rely, into a generic freight hub at the end of a phantom west-east rail line and, in the process destroy a significant Yaegl cultural and spiritual site, Dirrangun reef.

He rather arrogantly asserted to one journalist that; the local indigenous population would be handsomely compensated and provided with jobs.

Dirrungun reef and the Clarence River below Harwood Bridge fall within two registered native title claims by the Yaegl people of the Clarence Valley.

Desmond Euen has created a power point presentation to support his grandiose plan but has not yet submitted a proposal to the O’Farrell Government.

He appears to be having trouble getting a hearing from relevant federal and state ministers. Indeed, to date the only ‘meeting’ he seems to have achieved has been a very short one with a senior staffer from the NSW Roads and Ports Minister’s office and it resulted in this statement:

“A proposal of this nature is highly unlikely in the current market environment and the government has no plans for the Port of Yamba”

The ever hopeful Mr. Euen has approached at least one local newspaper and, The Daily Examiner reported on 1 August 2013:

In the wake of a recent story on speculation the Port of Yamba was to be converted into a coal freight hub, the managing director of ADI, Desmond J T Euen contacted the paper.

Mr Euen said he was upset rumours were circulating a coal hub was on the agenda and said in fact his organisation had been speaking to the State Government about converting the Port of Yamba into a freight hub.

He said the development would bring billions of dollars worth of investment and thousands of jobs to the area.

Mr Euen also said a funding deal, from the private sector, was in advanced stages.

By 2 August Mr. Euen had reportedly become insistent "I'll tell you this; the Yamba Port is going to be developed in exactly the way I'm saying it will," Mr Euen said. "And it's got nothing to do with coal" and Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson was showing his usual fence sitting skills when it comes to Lower Clarence issues "We would welcome responsible and sustainable development and jobs in the Clarence Valley….And any proposal that reflects that should be given due consideration on its merit."

If Clarence Valley Council management or its executive has given Mr. Euen any form of encouragement they have seriously misjudged the aspirations and priorities of the Yamba community.

The Port Paper: a NSW North Coast National Party saga continues

Screen snapshot 2 December 2011

The Port Paper was until the end of August 2011 allegedly one of the NSW Nationals political propaganda and campaign broadsheets masquerading as a print and online community newspaper.

Once found out it ceased publication and has idled online ever since under a new address; http://portpaper.publishpath.com/.

Its parent company Australian News & Media Pty Ltd is under external administration, although an associated entity Australian Corporate & Marketing Services Pty Ltd appears to be operating.

What is interesting about the new registrant Whois Privacy Protection Service Inc (which now hosts a skeleton presence of The Port Paper on the Internet) is its history of being found to be a party to acts in bad faith.

As evidenced by Carnie Wilson v. Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc. a/k/a Whois Agent Claim Number: FA0502000417186, Asahi Breweries Ltd. v. Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc., Demand Domains, Inc.Case No. D2009-1481, Jacuzzi UK Group PLC v. WHOIS Privacy Protection Service Inc. Case No. D2004-0254, Fluke Corporation v. Whois Agent and Whois Privacy Protection Services Inc. [2004] GENDND 1061.

Whois Privacy Protection Service Inc. is also listed as owning a male m@sturbation website.

It would appear that The Port Paper and the North Coast Nationals have finally found their natural home.

The Port Paper parent company dissolved by Loughlin, Nardella, Atkins and 'friends'

From Crikey via Your Democracy on 25 September 2011:

The holding company of a purportedly "independent newspaper" set up by National Party staffers to secretly attack Lyne MP Rob Oakeshott under the cover of journalistic impartiality has collapsed.

An administration notice for the notorious Port Paper's parent company, Australian News & Media, was published in The Australian's company notices section this morning, however its significance appears to have eluded the national broadsheet's news editors.

The Port Paper's homepage is now blank, with the paper's individual stories attacking Oakeshott stating instead that the site "is currently undergoing redevelopment".

One notorious yarn penned by the paper's editor Sharon Davidson -- a very recent staffer of the Nationals' Cowper MP Luke Hartsuyker -- that claimed Oakeshott was unpopular based on flawed polling has vanished. As Crikey explained last month, the polling was picked up by The Daily Telegraph and run as a straight news item under the headline 'Poll shocker for MP Rob Oakeshott as support plunges'.

Davidson was recently in the news after it was revealed she was hired to work as a spin doctor for disgraced north coast state MP Steve Cansdell shortly before the state election.

Oakeshott has filed two complaints to the Australian Press Council over the paper's coverage and has also made a submission to the feared NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. A separate investigation is being conducted by the NSW Electoral Commission.

Crikey understands that after The Australian ran a story last month reporting that Oakeshott has referred the paper to the authorities, most of its advertisers headed for the hills.

Administrator Domenic Calabretta from Hall Chadwick confirmed late this morning that had the paper had folded and wouldn't be resurrected. He said he was attempting to flog off the masthead but that "it doesn't seem that there's much interest in the paper."

Calabretta, who blamed soft retail demand for the closure, said he was also trying to offload a monthly lifestyle magazine also owned by Australian News & Media. The company's sole director is former police officer Paul Loughlin, a close family friend of founding Port Paper editor and sole shareholder Rob Nardella -- a former Port Macquarie councillor who now works for NSW Nationals deputy premier Andrew Stoner.

A meeting of creditors will be held next Friday at Hall Chadwick's Sydney offices.

As Crikey reported in August, The Port Paper was established by former Mark Vaille staffer Nardella in March. Nardella, a member of Mr Stoner's campaign team in the lead-up to the March state election, registered the domain name portpaper.com on February 9, 2011 and actively sought advertisements for his publication.

Records show that AN&M was originally registered on December 14 last year by the National Party's Lyne Electorate Council chairman, Noel Atkins.

Mark Vaile was Oakeshott's predecessor in Lyne before his resignation in July 2008. Following Oakeshott's victory at the resulting byelection, a cabal of National Party figures have battled to reclaim control of the electorate that they argue is rightfully theirs.

A question in images - just who does this electorate staffer work for?

On 25 August 2011 the Federal Independent MP for Lyne Rob Oakeshott queried the employment status of the editor of Nationals supported The Port Paper citing this information:

On 26 August Clarrie Rivers did the same and posted this:

On the same day Federal Nats MP for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker went to the media with this statement:

Now I find that disgraced NSW Nat Steve Cansdell went public with his own claim on Facebook in March 2011:

Two of my hardworking staff, Deb & Sharon. Janet did the sensible thing and went home a tad earlier! Thanks guys, you've been a tremendous support.

How many times did this electorate staffer take annual leave or resign to end up being 'employed' by so many in the space of three months or is she just on permanent rotating loan within NSW North Coast National Party circles?

Nationals testing the waters in Clarence

ReachTel conducted a telephone poll this afternoon/evening in the electorate of Clarence.
 
Do you remember the name ReachTel? They're the mob The Port Paper (Port Macquarie) commissioned to conduct a poll in the Federal electorate of Lyne in August and then go to town on the local member, Rob Oakeshott.  
The Port Paper had a distinct smell about it and after completing a join-the-dots exercise it was not unreasonable to arrive at a conclusion that it looked very much like a front for the Nationals. The Port Paper has since folded, although its website euphemistically says it is "currently undergoing redevelopment".

Today's ReachTel polling in the electorate of Clarence was testing the waters in relation to a number of names.

Respondents were asked to provide their assessment of  a number of individuals.
1. Favourable
2. Neutral
3. Unfavourable
4. Unknown

Given that it was all about the by-election to be conducted in Clarence later this year, the list of names included a couple of red herrings.

The names provided (in order) were:

Steve Cansdell

Richie Williamson

Stuart George

Janelle Saffin

Kevin Hogan

Karen Toms

Next question: If a state election was held today, who would you vote for?

Nationals

Labor

Greens

Independent

Christian Democrats

Then, the $64 question: If you were forced to make a choice between the following candidates, who would you vote for?

1. Richie Williamson, Independent

or

2. A candidate from the Nationals

Read more about Stuart George, the son of Thomas George (Nationals MP for Lismore) here.

Stuart George

A now defunct Port Macquarie newspaper gets caught out in yet another conflict of interest

The Port Paper shutdown with suspicious alacrity once its connection to The National Party of Australia began to surface.

However, even the quoted paragraph below by The Poll Bludger  on 27 August 2011 and the earlier 
allegations of push polling do not explain why the newspaper’s owner/s folded their tent so quickly or why there appears to be deliberate obfuscation over the company name.

In other poll news, a fortnightly Port Macquarie-based publication called The Port Paper has published results from an automated phone poll conducted by ReachTEL in Rob Oakeshott’s electorate of Lyne showing support for Rob Oakeshott at just 14.8 per cent, against 55.3 per cent for the Coalition and 17 per cent for Labor. This has raised eyebrows on a number of counts. Firstly, the question on voting intention was the last of three put to respondents, after attitudinal questions on carbon tax and pokies reforms (both of which were strongly opposed), which is commonly recognised in the polling caper as the wrong way to get an accurate response. Secondly, the principals behind The Port Paper are very strongly associated with the Nationals. And thirdly, Bernard Keane in Crikey today relates that ReachTEL “proudly announced it was an associate member of Clubs Qld, which has this year been campaigning aggressively against the Andrew Wilkie-led poker machine reform push. The Port Paper story fails to disclose that.”

Perhaps that grave acronym ICAC being publicly coupled with a certain NSW O’Farrell Government Minister (who joined the Solar Bonus Scheme at the then optimum kilowatt hour pricing and whose own electorate abuts Port Macquarie) is what routed this supposedly independent publication - given an associate of the newspaper is also reportedly a policy adviser to this same minister.

The close proximity of yet another Nationals MP (whose electoral office is only approximately four street corners away from the newspaper office and who is a Facebook friend of The Port Paper editor and its website registration contact person aka ministerial policy advisor) probably didn’t smooth the feathers of the publishing company’s handful of unidentified shareholders either.

One has to wonder if they are also connected to the National Party in some manner, as The Port Paper paper often reads like those political campaign leaflets or MP newsletters not uncommonly found in NSW North Coast letter boxes.

At least one of the newspaper's advertisers (also quoted in a prominent anti-Oakeshott article) may possibly be one of these shareholders.

Good riddance of bad rubbish

The Port Paper is closing its doors today ... how sad! Not too many tears will be shed over that bit of information.
The paper, which paraded under a banner of so-called independence, has been nothing but a mouth piece for local National Party stooges.

Hartsuyker attempts to deceive Parliament

This is the Nationals Federal MP for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, according to his own media release on 25 August  2011:

Federal MP Luke Hartsuyker tonight (Thursday) has told the Federal Member for Lyne Rob Oakeshott that it’s not too late for him to change his position on the carbon tax and start reflecting the views of his electorate.

During a speech in the House of Representatives, Mr Hartsuyker said a poll which appeared in the local newspaper – the Port Paper - confirmed Mr Oakeshott was ignoring the views of his electorate. “We come to this place to represent our electorates. We come to reflect the hopes and aspirations of the people from our communities, and a member of this House occupies their seat at the pleasure of the voters in their electorate,” Mr Hartsuyker told the Parliament.

“A member who acts contrary to the wishes of their electorate will ultimately be judged at the ballot box. Today's headline in the Port Paper, 'Oakeshott support plummets', says it all. We see in today's paper a reflection of what everybody on the North Coast knows. The people of Lyne know that they have been abandoned by their local member. The people of Lyne know—and I will use their words—that they have been betrayed. The people of Lyne know that they have a representative in this House voting against their interests.

As Clarrie Rivers posted last week, the Port Paper appears to be a front for the Nationals.

When Hartsuyker rose to his feet in the House of Representatives and told Parliament The people of Lyne know—and I will use their words—that they have been betrayed he was knowingly directly quoting a Port Paper article written by the editor who is a National Party member and former staffer of three Nationals MPs (including Hartsuyker until May this year).

An article Port Paper displays online at a domain address registered by yet another Nationals staffer.

Hartsuyker would have also known that the survey commissioned by Port Paper and conducted across the Federal electorate of Lyne on Tuesday night (23rd August) used fully automated voice broadcast to contact the 448 respondents. Even right-wing journalist Andrew Bolt hedges his bets on this polling technology.

One has to wonder why Hartsuyker has such little regard for the Australian Parliament that he would attempt to deceive it in this manner.

Update on the National Party's very friendly Port Macquarie newspaper

Comments flowing from National Party sources about the independence of  The Port Paper don't stack up.
Although the paper parades with the banner "Your 100% locally owned and totally independent newspaper" some very elementary investigations reveal that the paper's website is owned and administered by Rob Nardella, who (like the paper's editor Sharon Davidson) has serious form in The Nationals' camp.

 Nardella, a former councillor on Port Macquarie Council, is now a policy adviser for NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner. 

The information Nardella provided when setting up the domain portpaper.com reveals he's not real strong in Australian geography. He located Port Macquarie in the Australian Capital Territory!


PS Stoner has a few problems of his own on his plate. Stoner had a prominent member of the local branch of the National Party fast-track his solar bonus scheme application. Read a report in today's edition of a Sydney newspaper about that scandal here.

Barry O'Farrell and electoral priorities on the NSW North Coast

These problem are chronic and will affect tens of thousands of NSW families - many of them living on the North Coast:

BABY BOOMERS taking a seachange in their dotage face the prospect of widespread shortages in aged care, revised projections of the impact of dementia show.Australia will be 279,000 aged care places short by 2050 without significant policy changes, and hardest hit will be coastal areas popular with retirees, a study by Access Economics has found.The heavier than expected demand for aged care results from the failure of official projections to take account of the increased prevalence of dementia that has emerged from the growing number of people aged 85 and over, the report says.At present, aged care projections are based on numbers of people aged over 70.The expected growth points in elderly populations show that sea-change locations such as Port Macquarie, Tweed Heads and the NSW south coast would experience shortages of 2000 or more aged-care places by 2050 without a change in policy. In the Paterson electorate in the Hunter region, the shortfall would be just under 3000 places. [The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 February 2011]

TWO crashes, two dead, two injured, two straight stretches of road, but only one question: how did it happen? [The Daily Examiner,25 February 2011]

Erosion due to higher sea levels is also a key risk for coastal areas. In New South Wales there are approximately 3,600 residential buildings located within 110 metres of ‘soft’ erodible shorelines, of which approximately 700 are located within 55 metres of ‘soft’ coast. [NSW Parliament, Briefing Paper,June 2010]

So what is NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell focusing on as he begins election campaigning?

Mr O'Farrell on Thursday said that, if he wins government at the March 26 state election, he will take his fight against the introduction of a national carbon price to Canberra. [The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February 2011]

While at the regional launch of the Coalition election campaign last Sunday O'Farrell endorsed the possibility that speed limits would be increased on country single lane highways.

That’s right. O'Farrell appears to believe that one size fits all. That on the NSW North Coast where we are on the climate change front line in many small towns and villages, where highway deaths are a constant concern and where an aging population is a big issue; ignoring the coming dementia care crisis, adding another 10k per hour to traffic speed and actively fighting against climate change mitigation measures will win over local voters in March.

Can’t you just tell that his focus groups are probably all in metropolitan areas and that the North Coast comprises very safe state Nationals seats this time around.

NSW North Coast councils & businesses that just have to lift their game in 2010

Not every local council or business on the NSW North Coast lives up to its promise (or for that matter its promises) and here is a short list of those who could do better this year.
Maud Up the Street wants me to lead this post off with her pet peeve so I'll oblige.

BUSWAYS - contracted by the NSW Government to supply transport across the Clarence Valley this was its inadequate response to holiday travel needs according to its own website:Friday 25th December: No services
Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie had similar bus timetables for the 25th December. Great Lakes had one of its three bus routes operating on Christmas Day. Seems Busways management thinks that people without cars don't deserve to move around on Christmas Day unless they live in Campbelltown, Blacktown or on the Central Coast. The north-east of the state can go hang!

COLES - this large supermarket chain has a captive market in certain NSW North Coast towns because of the absence of any real competition. In some stores it shamelessly rides roughshod over its customers with frequently understocked shelves and an ever-diminishing range of brandnames\goods for sale. Now after years of being presented with bananas stored too long before being presented for sale, The Australian Banana Growers' Council tells us that "bananas must meet very particular length, girth and colour specifications before Woolworths and Coles take them".
It's ROFL time to think that this supermarket chain likes to think it has fresh food standards!

CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL - under the leadership of Mayor Richie Williamson and General Manager Stuart McPherson certain council staff have been getting quite lax if mutterings round the traps are any indication. This Daily Examiner story of alleged council negligence is just icing on the cake and as usual council tries to squib out of responsibility.
There is also a persistent rumour circulating that councillors are not always aware that they're possibly allocating trust funds improperly on a regular basis, because management allegedly is careful to refer to funding sources in monthly meeting business paper items only by internal accounting codes in order to rob Peter to pay Paul in an irregular manner without challenge.

Monday's antidote for all the doom and gloom dominating the media

Thanks to a local journo for passing on these classics from A Steroid Hit The Earth: The Catastrophic World Of Misprints by Martin Toseland, published by Portico Books this month.

Misprints:

People in Preston ward are invited to a meeting at 7.15pm tonight in St Mary's Church Hall, Brighton, to meet councillors and beat police officers. (Evening Argus)

The skeleton was believed to be that of a Saxon worrier. (Express and Echo)

The strike leaders had called a meeting that was to have been held in a bra near the factory, but it was too small to hold them all. (South London Press)

One man was admitted to hospital suffering from buns. (Bristol Gazette)

Police in Hawick yesterday called off a search for a 20-year-old man who is believed to have frowned after falling into the swollen River Teviot. (The Scotsman)

The first aid treatment for a broken rib is to apply a tight bandage after you have made your patient expire. (Manchester Evening News)

Corrections:

Error: The Observer wishes to apologise for a typesetting error in our Tots and Toddlers advertising feature last week which led to Binswood Nursery School being described as serving 'children casserole' instead of chicken casserole. (Leamington Spa Observer)

'The name of this column is still Corrections and Clarifications*, although it is not immune from error as the printed title in yesterday's paper demonstrated.' *The column appeared as Corrections and Clairifications. (The Guardian)

Adverts:

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council: Crematorium assistant required. The Council operates a no-smoking policy. (Sheffield Star)

Sports:

The mystery fan behind the takeover bid for Port Vale today said he will pull out of the deal if his identity is revealed. It is understood Stone-based businessman Peter Jackson wants to remain anonymous until the contract is signed and sealed. (Staffordshire Sentinel)

Business Council of Australia in 2008: Irresponsiblity Unlimited

Thursday's press release from the Business Council of Australia let the cat out of the bag - business is not interested in doing anything about climate change and especially not interested in an effective national emissions trading scheme.

Ever since we set up our first crude commercial efforts at Botany Bay in the late 1700s, business big and small has been producing consumable goods and services laced with a good measure of pollution.
In 2008 this peak body still wants business to get a free ride to continue polluting with greenhouse gases.

BCA President Greig Gailey today launched the BCA paper, Modelling Success: Designing an ETS that Works, incorporating research from Port Jackson Partners Limited (PJPL) examining the impacts of the proposed emissions trading scheme on 14 businesses across a range of sectors including minerals processing, manufacturing, oil refining, coal mining and sugar milling.
Mr Gailey said: “In releasing its Green Paper the government has invited input into the final design of its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). The BCA fully supports adopting a comprehensive emissions trading scheme as the best way to reduce emissions, but getting the design detail right is critical”.
“The Green Paper puts Australia on a path to addressing climate change challenges through a partnership between business, government and the community. But the scheme must send the right signals to businesses,” he said.

The "right signals" Mr. Gailey speaks of are apparently for government to essentially change nothing, except for a bit of window dressing which would allow business to be 'paid' for doing nothing and fully pass on the supposed cost of this inaction to the consumer.

I'm predicting that the Business Council of Australia will suddenly discover the vital necessity of a nuclear power industry to ensure that they can all point to something which would allow, by misdirection, their 'big bag of nothing' to continue.

The 'study': Modelling Success: Designing an ETS that Works
Tip - page 3 starts the real laughs coming.