Australia's Great Divide

Source: The Readers Panel, SMH, 23/10/10

Face it, Howard. You lost bigtime

John Winston Howard’s publicist is obviously out doing a bit of a beat up for the imminent release of the former Oz PM’s memoirs.
From what’s been written in the meeja so far it seems that Howard is looking to place the blame for the Coalition’s resounding 2007 general election defeat elsewhere than at his own feet.
Howard probably just can’t face the fact that he lost both his seat and government because enough Aussies thought he was a dangerous, jumped-up little shite.

What is interesting about Howard's publicity teasers was not the predictable Costello response they were designed to elicit, but the fact that Mrs. Bucket encouraged Howard to tread that ruinous political path.

The little woman behind the man seems to have nurtured some of his worst features and supported unwise decisions right to the bitter end.

In 2010 nothing much has changed.

Cartoon from Google Images

A fact that all those living in the Murray-Darling Basin need to consider

Photograph of Clarence River displayed at abc.net.au,15 October 2007

With Senator Nick Xenophon now on the interbasin water transfer bandwagon and yet more discussion about damming and diverting Clarence River catchment water into the Murray-Darling river systems, it is once again time to actually look at the physical reality.

This is a photograph of the freshwater flow in the upper reaches of the Clarence River.

Most of the popular images of the Clarence River showing what appears to be a wide full river, are from within the approximately one third of its length which is salt and strongly tidal.

When are all those local councils, communities, primary industries and irrigators in the Murray Darling Basin going to open their eyes and finally admit that extracting anymore fresh water from the Clarence and its tributaries is nothing more than an unsustainable pipe dream?

Dispiriting questions about water security

What hope is there for Australia ever developing and implementing a national water security policy - if every Man Jack in the Murray Darling Basin with even one drop of water entitlement seems determined to not only hold on to that entitlement, but also appears hellbent on increasing allocations by supporting unsustainable inter basin water transfers?
Is 2010 the year we see the fate of the one mighty Murray-Darling Rivers finally abandoned to individual greed, naked self-interest and blind chance?
Future generations will curse us all for this.

Ginger Meggs's school boy howler

A mate who reads everything and anything has picked up a howler in a recent Ginger Meggs strip.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Can you find the howler?

Thanks, Yamba's Apostrophe Person, for the tip.

Why Clarence Valley businesses are giving Telstra the flick

A Grafton business owner has provided ample evidence of why local businesses are leaving Telstra (which is closing its Grafton call centre) in droves.

Daily Examiner (22/10/2010)

I have a business in Grafton that I will soon be relocating to different premises, but still in Grafton.

Over the past week I have made three separate attempts to notify Telstra that we are moving and will need to have our services relocated.

I originally notified them and gave them the new address, which is a current business premises in Prince Street.

The person from the call centre (not in Grafton) said they could not verify the address in their system and said someone would call me back later that day.

No-one did.

I called again the next day, they still couldn't work out where the address was and assured me they would call me back.

Still no-one called back.

So on my third attempt and after 15 minutes of the usual recorded messages telling me how important my call was, I finally got through to a customer support person who was fantastic.

She was from the call centre in Grafton.

Her name was Cheryl.

In no time at all she had verified the address, booked the relocation of the service, and gave extra useful advice.

What a pity Telstra is going to lose helpful staff like Cheryl and we will all be forced to tolerate the generic incompetence that is so often the benchmark of large call centres either in southern cities or offshore, where staff appear to have scant knowledge of regional issues (such as reality of ADSL speeds) and little empathy towards customers.

So, well done Cheryl, but Telstra, I can fully understand why local businesses are moving away from your services in droves.

BONNIE CAPELL,

Grafton.

Source: The Daily Examiner

Do you need the services of a Justice of the Peace?

Finding a Justice of the Peace can at times be a bit of a problem.

The NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General has a very handy online site that provides a Register of JPs.

JPs on the register are volunteers so, understandably, they may not be available at short notice or at all times of the day.

Click here to find a JP in your local area or submit a name and check if someone is a JP.