It's in the bag

Granny Herald told us yesterday that federal and state governments had failed to reach an agreement over the problem of disposable plastic bags.
No national ban or levy, indeed no solution at all, has been decided on.

Which sort of demonstrates the bigger problem really - at every step of the climate change response is someone who will either lose income or someone who will be forced to pay more for goods and services.
So nothing gets done with a coordinated national approach. Instead we get lots of wordy hot air, because every pollie has an industry lobbyist at their elbow or an electorate sensitive to a particular topic.

Kevin Rudd keeps going to the media with his 2020 mantra of a new way forward.
This magical date is just around the corner, but the number of life problems in which it has been held out as a goal increases every time I open the paper or turn on the television.
It seems there is nothing that can't be cured by a judicious application of 2020 twice a day.

If the plastic bag issue is any guide, then 2020 will see us no further forward than we are today and we'll all be in deep in global warming trouble before any solution is actually tried.

Rats in the ranks of Clarence Valley Council or how to scuttle a North Coast affordable housing scheme

On 15 April the Senate Select Committee into Affordable Housing was on the NSW North Coast at Ballina listening to local concerns.

On the same day Clarence Valley Council voted to sink its own plan to enter into an affordable housing scheme, which it had been investigating and progressing for the last 18 months or so.

 

It seems that with Mayor Ian Tiley absent from the ordinary monthly meeting, those four very rightwing councillors present decided to vote for the longterm benefit of local commercial interests.

In this they went against both council committee and council officer recommendations, in one of the meanest Nationals-inspired paybacks I have witnessed for quite a while. 

 

Their shortsighted approach to the housing crisis was characterised by yesterday's The Daily Examiner editorial as Housing decision beggars belief.

A sentiment I'm sure that most of the Valley agrees with.

Japan's whalers may raise the price of 'scientific' whale meat

Despite the fact that Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research has been running its so-called scientific whale research in the Antarctic at a financial loss for some time, has found it difficult to sell on the whale meat from its annual kill and in recent years has taken to reducing the domestic wholesale price, Japan's whalers are now considering raising the price of this meat.

 

As the whaling fleet made its way back to home port, the whalers have done their best to portray protest ships as the reason for both their limited catch and need for further government subsidisation.

 

Greenpeace Japan has received wide coverage for its opposition to continued Southern Ocean whaling and "On the streets of Tokyo, far from the handful of small coastal villages where a few hundred Japanese fishermen slaughter dolphins, most people say Japan should spend tax revenues on programs such as health insurance and renewable energy initiatives that help everyone, not just a few hundred people employed by Japan's moribund whaling industry.

"I cannot understand the stubborn and backward attitude of a few old, out-of-touch politicians promoting a dead industry that sells whaling as 'Japan against the West -- us against them'," said 33-year-old salaryman Takashi Endo.

"Norway and Iceland are still located in the West and still whaling so what does that mean?  Are they actually Japanese just pretending to be Westerners ," Endo added.

"We Japanese think whale meat is unhealthy and that's probably the main reason we don't want to eat it.  And I also think it's true that most younger Japanese of my generation feel that whales have more value alive than dead. Stand in front of Tokyo Station where we are now and show a picture of whalers killing whales and another one of people like me watching them. I think almost everybody would tell you that the whale watching image reflects their feeling about how Japan should treat whales."

 

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett needs to stand firm and not falter in putting Australia's case for the protection of whales inhabiting or migrating through our waters and the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary.

By the same token Opposition environment spokesperson Sharman Stone needs to do her homework instead of needlessly calling for Rudd and Garrett to tell the Japanese about whale meat health risks. Something Japanese society is well aware of due to persistent domestic media coverage.

Is this the kiss of death for Brendan Nelson?

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop and former Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer recently sprang to the defence of their leader Brendan Nelson.

I seem to remember both these pollies staunchly supporting John Howard in the dying months of his government.

Is this an omen?

A conservative's view of US08 presidential race

Issue	Obama	Clinton	McCain	Aligned
Abortion on Demand	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Affirmative Action	Strongly Favors	Favors	Opposes
Homosexual Rights	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Favors	X
School Prayer	Opposes	Opposes	Favors
Death Penalty	Opposes	Favors	Strongly Favors
3 Strike Sentencing Laws	Opposes	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Private Gun Ownership	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Socialized Medicine	Favors	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Privatize Social Security	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
School Choice	Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Restrictive Energy Policy	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Favors	X
Enforce Drug Laws	Strongly Opposes	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Church Based Welfare	Favors	Favors	Strongly Favors	X
Increased Punitive Taxation	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Illegal Immigration	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Favors	X
Free Trade	Opposes	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Expand Armed Forces	Opposes	Opposes	Favors
Restrict Campaign Funding	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors	X
Patriot Act	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
War on Terror	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Liberal Positions in RED   Conservative Positions in BLUE   Chart found at The New Media Journal.US

iParliament delivers little for NSW North Coast browsers

iParliament is quite a good idea. An easy to navigate one-stop shop allowing your local Federal MP to highlight official records, media releases, articles etc., for their electorate's attention.

Alas, although North Coast MPs Saffin, Elliot and Hartsuyker are listed as members of this site they have yet to post any entries.

A opportunity gone to waste it would seem.

An American look at global food shortages. Just how vulnerable are First World countries?

How Far is the US From Food Shortages and Food Riots?

by Monica Davis ( davis4000_2000 [at] yahoo.com )
Saturday Apr 12th, 2008 2:37 PM

 

Even the United States is not immune from the potential for food shortages, food riots and food insecurity. We're just blind to the possibility.

As Americans complain over high gasoline and food prices, many third world countries are experiencing food riots over price and scarcity of food. In some parts of the word rice is so expensive that it is transported in heavily guarded convoys and farmers guard their fields from thieves.---

Experts say the high prices will continue for years, putting billions of people at risk for malnutrition or starvation. World leaders continue to cast fearful eyes at the burgeoning bio-fuels industry, noting that the competition generated by the industrial biofuels industry and food agriculture is pushing up food prices and making it more profitable to grow fuel crops for industrialized countries than it is for big farmers in Third World countries to grow food for their own citizens.---

 

So far, Americans are mostly bystanders in the game, content to grumble at the gas pump and complain in the grocery aisles. As a "First World" nation, the United States so far has not been subject to the food riots, which we have seen in Haiti and other parts of the world. Americans have more per capita income than much of the world; hence the crisis of the Third World, so far, is inconvenience in the "First World" and in developed nations such as the United States.

That said, however, we must understand that this situation is not sustainable. While Americans do have more disposable income than the rest of the word, that income is not unlimited and our food supply is much more vulnerable than we think. When it comes to food security, both in terms of supply and accessibility, this country is much more vulnerable than we think.

As one retired grain salesman noted, most of the nation's grain is moved around the country by just TWO railroads. Little is stored in the event of disaster and the whole system is extremely vulnerable. While we in the United States look at the food riots in other countries with a sense of disbelief, we are not immune. Under the right circumstances, we could be in the same boat. (Ibid)

In order for riots to break out the whole food supply doesn't have to be wiped out. It just has to be threatened sufficiently. When people realize their vulnerability and the fact that there is no short-term solution to a severe enough drought in the Midwest they will have no clue as to what they should do. Other nations can't make up the difference because no other nation has a surplus of grain in good times let alone in times when they are having droughts and floods also. (Robert Felix, "US Food Riots Much Closer than You Think")

Critics say the US is currently too preoccupied with foreign excursions and oil to pay attention to food security, particularly how concentration of suppliers and processors threaten the food chain. The highly concentrated meat processing industry has generated millions of pounds of recalls this year. Outbreaks in e.coli and other food borne pathogens continue to haunt the headlines, as food prices rise around the world.

 

Complete article here.