Here's what Fairfax doesn't want its SMH online readers to see

Herald's Column8 is no longer online.

While Fairfax was shouting from its roof top about its new online National Times, elsewhere in the building The Sydney Morning Herald was being detoured through another route.

Fairfax powers-that-be decreed that as of yesterday (Monday 14 September) the Herald's very popular Column 8 would no longer be available online.

What's next? Will Fairfax start charging its Herald readers for the privilege of reading it online.?

Sounds suspiciously like Fairfax is out to out-do News Ltd with its Murdoch view of the world that online content should have a price tag attached.

Here are a couple of pars from today's Column8.

Who is this bloke?

95% of Australians have no idea who he is.

And, I suspect, the other 5% wish they didn't.

He is invisible to women: only 2% could name him compared with 7% of men.

The Age's Michelle Grattan writes, "An astonishing 95 per cent cannot correctly name the leader of the Nationals.

For almost all voters, Warren Truss is the man who isn't there. An Age/Nielsen poll has found that only 5 per cent of voters can correctly name the Nationals leader - a far cry from the high profile of, say, Tim Fischer, even in opposition.

Mr Truss doesn't even register in the non-metropolitan areas: only 6 per cent of those outside the capitals named him, compared with 4 per cent of capital cities voters.

Unsurprisingly, 3 per cent believed the party's flamboyant Senate leader, Barnaby Joyce, had the top job. If those who couldn't get his name exactly right were added in, the figure increases to 4 per cent.

Swinburne University politics professor Brian Costar said that ''with lots of caveats'', he thought the Nationals should make Senator Joyce leader, although there was the problem of finding him a lower house seat. ''He's the sort of leader the followers want. Some of the parliamentary party would raise their eyebrows, but many of the branch members and supporters would think it was heaven on a stick.''

Heaven on a stick! Cripes, Barnaby reminds me of something on a stick, but it's certainly not heaven!

pic credit: The Age

One of the Clarence Valley's resident "opinionated jerks" is at it again

Once more a journalist who obviously has some difficulty with feminism is holding forth on how bad things are for Australian men.

Snapshot The Daily Examiner, 10 September 2009

Click to enlarge

Still he is getting slightly better at pushing the case that men deserve a day of their own - this time he does not say that he doesn't care what feminists think (or as he likes to refer to this group - my angry little friends - as North Coast Voices previously pointed out in Pink shirts and pig ignorance on the NSW North Coast).

However, the same complaining (almost competitive) thread continues that men are actually worse off than women because of three statistical categories.

Well here is one category the journalist obviously does not care to consider:

Approximately 700,000 women who experienced violence by a partner in a previous relationship were pregnant at some time during the relationship. 42 percent of these women (292,100) reported that violence occurred during a pregnancy and 20 percent experienced violence for the first time when they were pregnant .....

About three people in Australia are killed each fortnight by a lover, spouse or former partner. More than a quarter of the 2,226 killings in Australia between 1989 and 1996 were "intimate homicides" between close partners.....
Intimate homicides are also predominantly committed by males, but in this context most of the victims are females. In 77% of homicide incidents involving intimate partners, a male killed a female; while a female killed a male in 21% of these incidents. [Flood,Michael, [1998],"Statistics on violence"]

Graham Orams would get a lot more female support for his lobbying for a local Dad's Day event if he could resist the urge to indulge in a little feminist bashing along the way.

See: "Orams Returns! (groan)"

Latest 2009 global climate change risk reports

From the Maplecroft.NET Limited media release Climate change risk list highlights vulnerable nations and safe havens on 3 September 2009:

Norway, Finland, Japan, Canada and New Zealand are the countries best placed to weather the effects of climate change, while Africa hosts 22 of 28 “extreme risk” countries, according to the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI), released today by global risks consultancy, Maplecroft.

The CCVI is part of Maplecroft’s new Climate Change Risk Report 2009/10. It rates 166 countries on their capacity to mitigate risks to society and the business environment posed by changing patterns in natural hazards, such as droughts, flooding, storms and sea level rises and the resulting effects on ecosystems.

Unlike other studies, the index does not attempt to predict changes to patterns of natural hazards or ecosystems as a result of climate change, but instead measures how vulnerable a country is now and how well prepared it is to combat the impacts of climate change.

Norway, (166), is the lowest ranked country in the CCVI and best equipped to address the challenges of climate change. Among the factors contributing to its ranking are its low population density, excellent health-care and communications systems, good governance and a strong institutional framework. Additionally, Norway’s overall food, water and energy security are high and its ecosystems are well protected.
The countries least at risk after Norway are Finland (165), Japan (164), Canada (163) and New Zealand (162). Other low risk countries include UK (155), USA (152) and Germany (151).

Japan’s ranking relates to its institutional stability, strong economy and high net primary productivity. However, 10% of Japan’s population live in Tokyo (5,847 people per km2 in 2007) and as Japan’s population increases, so too will the stress on surrounding natural resources and the land, making it vitally important that Japan addresses its climate change vulnerabilities.

Poorer nations, particularly those located in Sub-Saharan and West Africa, with few natural resources and limited infrastructures are rated as particularly vulnerable by the CCVI. Somalia (1), Haiti (2), Afghanistan (3), Sierra Leone (4) and Burundi (5) are rated most at risk, while other extreme risk countries include Nepal (11), Bangladesh (12), Sri Lanka (25) and Cambodia (27).

Somalia’s ability to adapt to climate change is severely undermined by food insecurity, conflict and political violence and human rights risk, whereas in Haiti, declining water quality and the rising risk of food and energy insecurity all contribute to its very poor rating.
India (56) is the only emerging economy to be rated as high risk.This is due to high population density, increased security risk, poor resource security and concerns about human rights violations. India’s vulnerability is of particular concern to business because of its huge role in global supply chains.
Other countries of concern include Pakistan (29), Philippines (44) and Indonesia (61), which all rated high risk, whilst Brazil (103) and China (110) are categorized as medium risk, with Russia (127) rated as low risk.

The full report is available at a price, however The Sydney Morning Herald article on 11 September stated that this report ranked Australia at 33 out of 135 on its unsustainable energy index and 156 out of 166 on its vulnerability to climate change index.
Australia was also said to have been recorded with a per capita energy consumption of 20.58 tonnes per year compared with a U.S. per capita consumption of 19.78 tonnes per year.

While the Maplecroft report assessed Australia's current vulnerability, a month earlier the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (setup and partially funded by government) released another report Hardening Australia: Climate change and national disaster resilience which factored in future increases in climate change and infrastructure impacts and can be accessed at Download PDF .

This report warns that climate change may be a homeland security issue.

Ahead of the G20 2009 Pittsburgh summit, yesterday E3G and the Australian Climate Institute released the G20 Low Carbon Competitiveness Report, which placed Australia on the lower rungs (fifth from the bottom on the index) when it came to carbon competitiveness but nearer the top when it came to low carbon improvement although the rate of improvement was considered too slow.

Australia's poor showing is primarily due to our dependency on carbon intensive production for income, including carbon intensive exports, high levels of car ownership, high transport fuel consumption and carbon intensive electricity production.

It is one of the three countries mentioned as requiring the largest turnarounds in carbon productivity.

Full E3G/ACI 14 September 2009 report

Media release

One blogger is not playing the game according to the England and Wales Cricket Board

The live streaming for free blog http://britcric.blogspot.com has run foul of the England and Wales Cricket Board who have sent Google a cease and desist notice, because the blog is linking to an "infringing third party" site http://go4gold.webs.com/channel%201.html.

Apparently linking in this case is considered LBW and out!

Clarence Valley athlete comes first in his age group in 2009 Gold Coast ITU Aquathlon World Championships

File photograph from The Daily Examiner

Ray Hunt of Yamba NSW

Ray Hunt had a good meet when he participated in the IUT World Triathlon Championships on the Gold Goast last week.
A first and a fifth place in his age group is not to be sneezed at when competing against atheltes from around the world and shows what dedication to a healthy lifestyle in retirement can achieve.

An declaration of war on the Internetz and a Scientology call for censorship of the Australian media

If I were superstitious I would say that it was no accident that 9 September 2009 saw a moon which was around 83.8 per cent illuminated, because all that moonlight reflecting off monitors onto unprotected heads probably led to the fact that the Internet Storm Centre recorded a DDos attack which made http://www.pm.gov.au unavailable for a few minutes.

From somewhere strange on the Internetz 09.09.09.

Formal Declaration of War

To the Citizens and Netizens of the Internet:

On the morning of September the 9th, the Government of Australia, pursuing its course of internet censorship, have shown to us that they have no response nor intend to provide one concerning their plan. The long-known and the long-expected has thus taken place. The forces endeavoring to belittle and undermine the freedom of the internet are now moving towards their final goals. Never before has there been a greater challenge to freedom of information, liberty and civilization. Delay invites great danger. Rapid and united effort by all of the peoples of the world who are determined to remain free will ensure a world victory of the forces of justice and of righteousness over the covert powers of censorship and of oppression. Australia is not alone in this regard: countless governments from across the world can also be exposed as fascists and dictators in this regard. Therefore a state of war between Anonymous and the Australian Government, and between Anonymous and all other governments which find themselves so inclined to impose censorship upon the internet, will be recognized.

Our declaration of war is as follows:

Declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of Australia and aforementioned governments and Anonymous and making provision to prosecute the same.
Whereas, the Government of Australia and aforementioned governments have formally declared war against the freedom of information and speech which embodies the internet; and
Whereas, the Australian government is guilty of planning to force censorship of the internet and make it mandatory to their online users; and
Whereas, such acts continue to pose extreme threat to the security and freedom of the internet and its users; and
Such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that Anonymous exercises its rights and acts in defense of themselves and the supporters of net neutrality.
Therefore, be it Resolved by the united conglomerate that is Anonymous, that the state of war between Anonymous and the Government of Australia and aforementioned governments which has thus been thrust upon the Anonymous is hereby formally declared; and the conglomerate that is Anonymous is authorized and directed to employ the entire power and force of our collective to carry on war against the Government of Australia and other aforementioned governments; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the collective are hereby pledged by the united conglomerate of Anonymous. -

Anonymous

From somewhere ever stranger (with a hat tip to Slashdot).

A February 2009 Church of Scientology submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission complaining about Anonymous, the blogosphere, the media, as well as suggesting remedies including censorship of mainstream media 1931 Church of Scientology Australia:

Recommendation 1:
The implementation of Criminal and Civil Restrictions on Religious Vilification.
Recommendation 2:
Restriction on Anonymity on acts of Religious Vilification:
2.1 Websites created with primary purpose of inciting religious vilification shall be removed or their access to the Australian public restricted.
2.2 Creators of websites whose primary purpose is the incitement of religious vilification shall be prevented from concealing their identity.
Recommendation 3:
Restriction on Religious Misinformation and Misrepresentation known or reasonably known to be untruthful in the Media
Recommendation 4:
Include a form of Bill or Charter of Rights into the Australian Constitution, which prevents the Commonwealth from making any law, which 'directly, indirectly or incidentally' prohibits the free exercise of religion to the extent of such prohibition.

New South Wales has gone fishin'

Sometimes I come across an online mention which highlights a great Aussie lifestyle.
This 2000-01 DPI doc rated a blip on the radar.
Survey of Recreational Fishing in New South Wales which stated; "Almost 24% of the NSW male population went fishing while about 10% of females fished. The participation rate in NSW country regions was twice as high as the rate observed in the main metropolitan area".
Here are a graph showing the NSW North Coast is up there in the fishing for pleasure & food stakes, with a total of 124,000 anglers:

When is John Howard going to realise he's dead and lie down?

I'm getting sick and tired of the way former Australian prime minister John Howard keeps popping up in the media giving his totally useless views on current Australian politics and world affairs.

He lost the last federal election for the Coalition - if they don't shut him up he will lose the next as well.
This media tart's irritation factor is 100+.

Maudie's Ex
Yamba

Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents. Email ncvguestpeak at live dot com dot au to submit comment for consideration.