Memo to that little spiv from Sussex Street, Sam Dastyari

I’ll keep it short ‘n’ sweet Sammy.
My ballot paper belongs to me. I get to decide how I cast my preferences.
A salaried factional heavy and his NSW Labor mates - who wouldn’t know where to find the Northern Rivers on a map - have no say whatsoever.

BOOM, BOOM! Boson joke of the year

 

So bad it’s funny…………………

A Higgs boson walks into a church.

We don't allow Higgs bosons in here!" shouts the priest.

"But without me, how can you have mass?" asks the particle.

Like everything else Tony Abbott tries to organise....

…..even his carbon-based Apocalypse (ordered directly from God’s eBay account for delivery on 1 July) went seriously awry as a meteor arrived early and missed mainland Australia entirely so that Whylalla, along with every other mining town in the country, was not wiped off the map:

Jockey ducks and weaves

Jockey Matt Dacos certainly earned his riding fee in race 6 at the Grafon races on Thursday. Dacos was aboard Cee Jay Clang near the 1200m mark when he was struck in the face by a low flying duck. Dacos overcame that obstacle, continued to ride his mount and eventually finished in second place.   

NSW jockeys earn the princely sum of $162 whether their mount wins or loses. If their mount wins or runs a place they also pick up a standard 5% of the prize money, which is sometimes accompanied by a "sling" from grateful connections.

                                                Does anyone know how the duck fared?

                                                               Image credit: dailyexaminer.com.au



Gulaptis admits he "stuffed up" & then offers a string of weak excuses to 2,000 strong crowd

First untruth – I didn’t know about the closure of the gaol as it was happening {What, questions raised in Budget Estimates and on the floor of the House didn’t give you a clue? You certainly knew at least 300 positions were being deleted across Corrective Services NSW – after all your minister confirmed this - and yet you didn't check to see if your election promise still held? Pull the other one!}

Second untruth – I know what it is to lose your job and have to move out of town {Maaate! You quit your council elected office and headed north across the border to a new job after a failed bid to enter Federal Parliament in 2007 and that’s not the same thing as facing forced redundancy.}

Third untruth - "If I lied, I would tell you that I lied" {A triple pork pie with pike as local government voters can attest from bitter experience.}

Fourth untruth – I want to work with the unions "to put a hold on this” {Did you think no-one noticed that all you are promising is to talk with O'Farrell about a future regional investment package - not actually keeping the gaol from being downsized and downgraded?}

While I'm at it I dips me lid to The Daily Examiner for its beaut news coverage.

UPDATE: If the body language of fellow Nats Williamson and Challacombe didn't give the game way when Gulaptis was saying he knew nothing of the closure of the gaol until it was happening, then this confirms the suspicions of many - MAYOR Richie Williamson said he was devastated after a meeting with Acting NSW Premier Andrew Stoner and Attorney General Greg Smith SC, in which they said State Government would charge on with its plans to downsize Grafton Jail. Cr Williamson said the State Government wasn't interested in doing business or listening to the delegation of Grafton community and union representatives in Sydney this afternoon and that jail transfers would continue. "And the heart will be ripped out of the Clarence Valley," he said. {The Daily Examiner}

The Great Garbage Swindle

 

Clarence Valley Council is running the old pea and thimble scam, but are using garbage cans instead of thimbles.

Here is how it works.

If you are lucky enough to have the three wheely bins, green red and yellow, you are not in the firing line of this sting.

If you are one of the many in Valley rural areas who only receive the service of the red and yellow bins, read on….

It pays to think on the fortnightly cycle of the garbage service outside of the towns. 

Last year the red bin was collected every week, therefore in one fortnight 2 red bins were collected and one week in the same period the yellow bin was collected. This makes a grand total of 3 bins per fortnight. 

This current year the red bin is collected one week and the yellow bin the next week, the total number of bin per fortnight collected is 2.

When you look at this there is a 1/3 reduction in our garbage service, but the council assures me that the price we will pay for garbage services in our rates will remain the same. 

So my argument is: since the garbage service has reduced by 1/3 or 33.3% and the price we pay for this service is the same as last year we are in affect paying 33.3% more than we did last year.

To put this in dollar terms if the garbage charged on my rates last year was $300, this current year I am in effect paying $100 more this year.

All this without a visible increase in the rate notices.

If this isn’t the best little pea and thimble scam you have seen in a while let me know. 

In fact I hear that an unprecedented number of ‘Nigerian’ emailers have applied for Australian residency visas so that they can sit at the feet of a veritable scam meister.

Bins from Google Images 

 

NSW Government closes forty-five year old, inefficient power station which has been surplus to requirements for last 12 months - media wildly blames introduction of carbon price

Apparently desperate for a bad news story to match the 1 July 2012 introduction of the national carbon price scheme, the mainstream media decided that this media release from NSW Government trading enterprise, Delta Electricity, met its needs - despite all evidence to the contrary.

Media Statement

3 July 2012

Munmorah Power Station to close after 45 years of operation

Delta Electricity announced today the closure of Munmorah Power Station after 45 years of operation. The station has been maintained on standby but has not been in production since August 2010.

Decreasing energy demand in NSW has created an excess supply situation. Munmorah’s place in the market has been overtaken by newer and more efficient generators and alternative electricity sources.

The station’s ageing infrastructure and high maintenance costs mean that it is not economically viable to operate. The carbon tax further erodes its viability.

Greg Everett, Delta’s Chief Executive, said that “As a part of the decommissioning of the station, the Delta Electricity Central Coast business will reduce in size.

“Approximately 100 positions were deployed at Munmorah when it was in service and since that time have been reassigned to work at Vales Point.

“The process of decommissioning will require staff activity at Munmorah over the coming weeks and we will consult with staff and unions on the structure of the business for the longer term”.

The decommissioning of Munmorah Power Station will involve the shutdown of all non-safety and non-essential service systems at the station, removal of fuel and chemicals and securing of buildings.

Koala Park, Extreme Park and Camp Breakaway are unaffected by the decision and will continue to be available for community use.

Munmorah Power Station has development consent for rehabilitation as either a coal or gas fired generator but this would require substantial new capital investment by a future owner.

Julia Harvey

Delta Electricity

Corporate Relations Manager

Background

Munmorah was constructed when the Central Coast was a series of coastal and seaside villages. 110km north of Sydney and just south of Newcastle it is located on the coastal strip between the Tuggerah Lakes. Its location was chosen because of its proximity to supplies of coal on the Central Coast and the Hunter.

Four English Electric 350MW generators were constructed with a capacity of 1400MW. One unit was completed in 1967, another in 1968 and the remaining two in 1969.

The power station continued to operate as a four unit plant into the early 1990s when Units 1 and 2 were taken out of service and decommissioned. Units 3 and 4 operated efficiently during the last 22 years, setting records for reliability. Munmorah Unit 4 was last operated in March 2009 with Unit 3 continuing to operate for the pilot carbon capture plant until August 2010.

Just how much is Cardinal George Pell's word worth?

It's up to you to judge the contents of this ABC Four Corners 3 July 2012 transcript:

“GEOFF THOMPSON: Kevin Lee says that incident was reported to superiors. A church investigation was finally ordered. On the 3rd of September 1992 Father F was called to a meeting at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. What happened at the meeting is crucial to understanding the major flaws in the way the Catholic Church deals in-house with allegations of sexual abuse. The meeting with Father F was presided over by three senior Catholic priests - Father Brian Lucas, Father Wayne Peters and Father John Usher.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: The file note of that meeting shows... does not show that he made any admission - and that is the recollection of the three priests who were actually at that. They were dissatisfied with his credibility; they thought he represented some sort of danger for the future, and although he'd made no admissions to them, they suggested to the Bishop who followed it that he should be stood down……

GEOFF THOMPSON: So, let's be perfectly clear. Under oath, in this court of law, Father F admitted to having oral sex with young boys. What's more, he confirmed he made that admission at that 1992 meeting with three senior priests - including Father Brian Lucas who is the current General Secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Now somewhat strangely, Australia's most senior Catholic, speaking on behalf of Brian Lucas, says he does not believe that admission was made.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: I certainly didn't know that; I'm surprised at that. I would take the word of three priests against that allegation. I think it's fair enough for Brian Lucas, as one of those three priests, to have me speak for him - I've reported what the file note says and what he said about what happened at that particular meeting.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Since interviewing Cardinal Pell, Four Corners has obtained a report of that meeting - a copy of which is contained in the court file of Daniel Powell's extortion case. It tells a very different story….”

Catholic Church Tribunal Letter 1992

Four Corners goes on to mention that "F" is now a lay person living and working in Armidale.
For a number of years he's apparently been writing for The Armidale Express and The Armidale Independent, as well as for The Catholic Weekly. He belongs to the Catholic Historical Society among others.
A University of New England newsletter seems to point to "F" having had contact with that educational insitution in the early 2000s.
If the snapshot from the 5th July 7.30 Report can be believed "F" i s also a member of Lions up Armidale way - having been sponsored by a fellow Census collector and probably distant rellie.

 
UPDATE:
The Sydney Morning Herald on 18th October 2012:
"A former NSW priest who allegedly told three senior Catholic clergy a decade ago that he had repeatedly sexually abused altar boys has been arrested in Armidale for historic offences against girls.
Detectives arrested the man known as Father F in the state's New England region today in relation to a number of child-sex offences against three female children in the 1970s and 1980s.
The State Crime Command's sex crimes squad set up Strike Force Glenroe in July to investigate allegations that Father F had abused altar boys while a priest based in Armidale and Parramatta."