'The Biggest Typo Ever' on The Washington Post front page

The Washington Post front page on 6 January 2016…..

How it should have looked…..

We made a big mistake on our cover illustration this morning and we’re very embarrassed about it. We erroneously used a male symbol instead of a female symbol. This is how the cover should have looked. We apologize for the mistake.

* Images from Twitter

Items not allowed around Trump on 20 January 2017

These are items that cannot be near Donald J. Trump during what he refers to as "the show" aka the presidential inauguration. It would appear that protesters will not be welcome if they make themselves visible.

*Aerosols

*Ammunition

*Animals other than service/guide animals

*Backpacks and bags exceeding size restrictions (18" by 13" by 7")

*Bicycles

*Balloons

*Coolers

*Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems

*Explosives

*Firearms

*Glass, thermal, or metal containers

*Laser pointers

*Mace / Pepper spray

*Packages

*Selfie Sticks

*Signs exceeding the size restrictions (20" x 3" x 1/4")

*Structures

*Supports for signs and placards

*Toy guns

*Weapons of any kind

*Any other items determined to be potential safety hazards

https://www.58pic2017.org/faq

Hollywood speaking truth to power in 2017

Publicly saying your piece before neo-McCarthyism hits Hollywood - replacing the 1940s & 50s persecution of alleged Reds Under Beds with Let's Get People Who Don’t Agree With Trump in 2017.

https://youtu.be/NxyGmyEby40

First measles alert of 2017

Given that at this time of year so many holidaying people are still on the move, this is a health alert that should not be ignored.

NSW Health, Media Release, 5 January 2017:

Measles warning following contraction by international traveller NSW Health is warning the public to be alert to the symptoms of measles after a passenger travelled on an international flight to Sydney while infectious.

The young woman travelled on Virgin Australia Airlines flight VA 70 from Denpasar, Bali to Sydney, arriving at 7:40 am on 1 January. The woman also visited the Sutherland Hospital Emergency Department in the late morning of 4 January while infectious and the hospital is contacting people who may have been exposed during this visit.

This case is not linked to the cluster of four cases reported in December last year.

Dr Sean Tobin, Acting Director, Communicable Diseases Branch, NSW Health, said fellow travellers and other people who may have been in contact with this case should be alert to the symptoms of measles in the coming days and weeks.

Measles is very infectious. Symptoms include fever, sore eyes and a cough followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash spreading from the head and neck to the rest of the body. Measles can have serious complications, particularly for young children.

Children or adults born during or since 1966 who do not have documented evidence of receiving two doses of measles vaccine, or evidence of previous measles infection, are likely to be susceptible to measles and should be vaccinated.

“The measles virus is highly contagious and is spread through the air by someone who is unwell with the disease,” Dr Tobin said.

“If you develop the symptoms of measles, seek medical advice. Please call ahead to your doctor or emergency department so that arrangements can be made to keep you away from others to minimise the risk of infection.

“Measles is highly contagious and is spread through coughing and sneezing. For young children, the measles vaccine is recommended at 12 months and again at 18 months of age. Two doses of the vaccine are required for lifelong protection,” Dr Tobin said.

Anyone born after 1965 should have two doses of vaccine (at least four weeks apart). NSW Health offers free MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine through GPs for people born after 1965 with no records of having received two doses of MMR vaccine. Measles outbreaks are happening in many places around the world, and people who travel overseas should ensure that they are fully vaccinated against measles.

For more information visit: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/Measles_Factsheet.aspx

Wondering why there are no horror stories flowing from the financial reassessment of Centrelink pension eligibility?

There are many legitimate complaints and concerns being voiced over the Turnbull Government decision to change Centrelink’s debt recovery system to one which is fully automated, with no human oversight of initial debts raised for those certain individuals receiving welfare pensions, benefits and allowances.

However, there is little being said about the reassessment of asset and income limits for aged pension eligibility which came into effect on 1 January 2017.

Centrelink states:

If you have reached age pension age, Age Pension may help to support you. To qualify, you must first satisfy age and residence requirements. How much you can get depends on your income, assets and other circumstances.

If you are a self-funded retiree or still working, you may be able to get a part pension.

Centrelink further states that the current maximum basic age pension rate is $1,203.00 for a couple and $797.90 for a single person per fortnight.

This basic rate places any recipient who relies solely on a Centrelink pension for their retirement income firmly below the poverty line.

For those receiving additional income there is a reduction in this fortnightly basic rate of 50c for every dollar of additional income above $292 per fortnight for a couple and $164 for a single person. Income is defined by Centrelink as: an amount you earn, derive or receive for your own use or benefit profits, the amount of earnings in excess of expenses, whether of a capital nature or not, and a periodic payment or benefit you receive as a gift or allowance.

Financial assets are subject to deeming rates. For a couple the first $81,600 in assets is deemed to return 1.75% and assets above that amount to return 3.25% and, for a single person the first $49,200 is deemed to return 1.75% and assets above that amount to return 3.25%.

Commencing on 1 January 2017 home-owning Aged/Veteran/Disability pension recipients who have assets of over $375,000 for a couple and over $250,000 for singles now have their part pensions reduced by $3 for every $1,000 dollars over this limit. Non-homeowners who have assets of over $575,000 for a couple and over $450,000 for singles will experience a similar reduction.

Every person who is on a part pension after 1 January will retain their Pensioner Concession Card which allows for Medicare bulk billing and subsidised prescription medicine. Those who have their part-pension cancelled will receive a Low Income Health Care Card and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if of retirement age which allow for the same benefits.

These higher asset limits will possibly make an additional 50,000 retirees eligible for a part-pension for the first time and another est. 116,000-156,000 will receive an increase in their part-pension.

But what does that mean in practical terms?

Well it mean that a home-owning couple will lose their part aged pension if they have assets above $816,000 and home-owning singles will lose the part pension if assets are above $542,500. While the assets limit for non-homeowners is $1,016,000 for a couple and $742,500 for a single person.

What the new rules also mean for example*:

*a home-owning part pension couple with $380,000 in assets then your part pension will be est. $1,307.40 combined per fortnight;

 *a home-owning part pension couple with $500,000 in assets then your part-pension will be est. $947.40 combined per fortnight;

*with $600,000 in assets a home-owning couple would receive a part-pension of est. $647.40 per fortnight and with $700,000 in assets the couple would receive a part-pension of est. $347.40 every two weeks; and

*by the time a home-owning part pension couple reaches $800,000 in assets their combined part pension is an est. $74 per fortnight. At which point the couple's additional retirement income is deemed to have reached est. $980 per fortnight based on those assets.

* All examples are maximum amounts before any tapering for additional income over $292 per fortnight is deducted.

  

So how many people will be heavily impacted by these changes?

Estimates vary, but ABC News stated on 11 November 2016 that:

The increase in the rate that the pension is reduced, as well as the reduction in this top pension threshold, could result in some 88,000 missing out on the pension entirely, and some 225,000 seeing their pensions reduced.

So is the change to age pension eligibility fair?

Well it depends where you are placed on the wealth ladder and whether or not you deliberately structured your retirement funds to: a) act as a form of estate planning to benefit your heirs and/or b) minimised returns on retirement investments in order to qualify for a part-pension before 2017.

Estimates based on the Dept. Human Services calculations show that poorer retirees and part-pensioners will be better off.

However, those who thought they were being rather ‘clever’ in how they structured their post-retirement assets are not so lucky. Suddenly that sea-side holiday home, weekend rural hideaway, expensive boat, regular overseas holidays, top of the range Winnebago and/or speculative land purchase are no longer being comfortably subsidised by the part-pension.

The absence of individual real-life hardship case studies in media articles concerning new pension eligibility rules appears to indicate that most part-pensioners realise that the changes are relatively fair.

Unfortunately for the Turnbull Government this will not mitigate ire at the ballot box in 2018. 

Firstly, because this particular welfare cost-cutting measure is retroactive and removed a measure of certainty regarding retirement income for est. 80,000-100,000 older people. And secondly, because the cost-cutting marches hand-in-hand with the federal government's determination to continue to ignore what ordinary voters view as blatant rorting of the Australian taxation system by very wealthy individuals and corporations.

Yes, it was hot last year and no, 2017 is not going to be much better

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), media release, 5 January 2016

2016 a year of extreme weather events

It was a year of extreme weather events, wetter than average overall, and the fourth-warmest on record for Australia, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Annual Climate Statement 2016 released today.

Assistant Director Climate Information Services, Neil Plummer, said 2016 was an eventful year with significant climate drivers affecting the country’s weather.

“The year started off very warm and dry, with bushfires in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, and a nation-wide heatwave from late February to mid-March. We had our warmest autumn on record partly due to a very strong 2015–16 El Niño," Mr Plummer said.

“In May the El Niño broke down and the dry start was followed by record wet from May to September as a negative Indian Ocean Dipole developed, with ocean waters warming to the northwest of Australia.

“Widespread, drought-breaking rains led to flooding in multiple states. Even northern Australia saw widespread rainfall, during what is usually the dry season, greening regions that had been in drought for several years,” he said.

For Australia as a whole, annual rainfall was 17 per cent above average.

Notable events during the wet period included an East Coast Low in June, causing flooding down the east coast of Australia to Tasmania, and damaging coastal erosion in New South Wales. There were also significant storm and wind events which affected the southeast.

In the Murray–Darling Basin, already wet soils and full rivers meant rain caused flooding in many areas throughout September and October.

Australia was warmer than average in 2016, with a national mean temperature 0.87 °C above average, and it was the fourth-warmest year on record.

Sea surface temperatures around Australia were the warmest on record in 2016, and were 0.77°C above average.

The World Meteorological Organization figures have announced that 2016 is very likely to have been the warmest year on record for global mean temperatures.

The Annual Climate Statement is available on the Bureau's website.

Quick facts: Major weather events in 2016

§  Very large fires in northwest Tasmania during January and February following an extended dry period; about 123 800 ha burnt, mostly in remote areas

§  Significant flooding in Tasmania in January

§  Significant fires at the start of the year near Wye River on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, and in southwest Western Australia affecting Yarloop and Waroona

§  An East Coast Low caused major coastal flooding and erosion in New South Wales in early June, with flooding also affecting Victoria and large areas of Tasmania

§  Flooding occurred from June to September in western, central and southern Queensland following the State’s second-wettest winter on record

§  Periods of flooding in inland New South Wales and northern and western Victoria during September and October

§  Supercell thunderstorms caused extensive damage across southeast Australia and parts of southeast Queensland during early November, with widespread reports of golf-ball sized hail

§  Severe thunderstorms and a tornado outbreak caused widespread damage in South Australia during late September

§  On 21 November, lightning storms associated with a strong and gusty change ignited grassfires across northern Victoria, caused damage across parts of Victoria, and along with a high pollen count, triggered thousands of incidents of thunderstorm asthma.

§  A tropical low at the end of the year brought exceptional December rainfall to a number of regions between the northwest of Australia and the southeast, with some flooding and flash flooding resulting in the Kimberley, around Uluru in Central Australia, and around Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOM Climate outlook overview for 2017:

January to March rainfall is likely to be below average in parts of eastern Australia and above average in northwest and central WA.

The January outlook shows a drier month in the east, while a wetter January is likely in northwest WA and western Tasmania.

Warmer days and nights are likely across eastern and northern Australia, with cooler days and nights more likely in Tasmania and southwest WA.

The outlooks are influenced by the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), as well as warmer waters surrounding northern Australia. SAM is currently negative, and forecast to remain negative through January (a negative SAM means Australia experiences higher pressures than normal, resulting in reduced rainfall and higher temperatures during the summer months). The warmer than normal sea surface temperatures surrounding northern Australia are likely to enhance rainfall in northwest WA (see the Climate Influences section for more detail).

BOM Heatwave Forecasts

Heatwave Situation for Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday (3 days starting 11/01/2017)

Heatwave will persist over similar areas in central and eastern Australia. Severe to extreme heatwave conditions are forecast for much of southern Queensland, northern NSW, northeastern SA and the far southeast of NT.

#NotMyDebt: the electorate's face remains turned against the Turnbull Government's debt recovery policy

oecomuse: Musings from home and hearth, 8 January 2016:

According to Appendix E – Data matching of the 2015-16 Annual Report, the Department of Human Services spent $19.5 million in 2013-14, $25.5 million in 2014-15 and $8.3 million last financial year on its data matching program. That is, our government has allocated over $50 million in the last three years to produce the outcomes reported in the first week of 2017: outcomes so appalling that a government agency is making blanket referrals to the suicide prevention service Lifeline for hardships caused by its own actions.

Let that sink in: Centrelink is using social media platform Twitter to refer income support recipients to Lifeline, because some ‘customers’ are suicidal after receiving letters sent by the agency demanding repayment of debts that people have not, in fact, incurred. This is the return on a $50 million investment of public moneys.

Many were letters stamped with the Australian Federal Police logo demanding information under the code name Operation Integrity.

It will surprise no one who has observed the Turnbull government that the operation has no integrity. The link above does not provide a breakdown of Operation Integrity costs. But it offers this:

“From 1 July 2016, $45.1 million will be invested in the myGov digital service over 4 years, to ensure people can continue to interact with the Australian Government online, ensuring access by all tiers of government. … the next phase of improvements to myGov. $5.4 million will be invested over 2 years to modernise this service and ensure it continues to deliver on the government’s commitment to make services simpler, clearer and faster.”

From what I can tell, and I may not be reading it correctly (the reporting methods are oblique at best), this amounts to an additional $50 million for a total of $100 million for the years 2013-20. Again, to use the government-preferred econospeak, this ‘investment’ has a return. In the first week of 2017, the dividend included driving some low-income Australians to suicidal despair. And causing incalculable hardship to other welfare recipients across the country.

The New Daily, 8 January 2017:

With a flagged $4 billion to be recovered over four years, Centrelink’s demand letters over alleged debts could be just the start.

The Turnbull government’s mass invoices – constructed from data matching to claim discrepancies exist with Centrelink’s casual, disabled and vulnerable income earners – are expected to be used across the entire pensioner and social security sector. New discrepancies can be created over a recipient’s claimed asset values to substantiate invoices for ‘over-payments’.

Data matching and garnishee was originally implemented by Labor in government, but it was the Turnbull government that devised the more aggressive, presumptive and system-wide invoicing strategy.

While a responsible government has every right on behalf of taxpayers to eliminate fraud and ensure financial control in a country under deficit distress, the anecdotal hypocrisy of MPs who are extended travel allowance indulgences under lax rules adds fuel to what is becoming an explosive backlash across Australian postcodes.

A crowdfunded court challenge to the legality of the alleged debt invoices is now expected…….

In the current clawback, Centrelink has repeated its customer risk protocol by referring any distressed recipients to Lifeline for psychological support. More petrol on the fire.

Centrelink’s response to one of the widespread complaints from distressed welfare recipients. 
Photo: Twitter

One Centrelink senior staffer, who asked not to be named, told The New Daily the anger and rage generated by the data matching strategy had placed counter staff under confronting pressure.

“They just want to spit on us,” he said.

He asked why DHS had not quarantined vulnerable recipients, many of whom were intellectually disabled, from the more able casual income earners.

If DHS had a genuine “customer focus” the entire casual income reporting process would be “bulletproof” for recipients so they could neither calculatedly defraud nor inadvertently fall into error. A department wanting to engender trust with Australians striving to earn sustaining incomes in a now highly casualised economy would act protectively towards them.

“One intellectually disabled bloke screamed, ‘I’ve had a go mate … I did some work’.”

Our informant said the Centrelink data matching strategy would soon be exposed as counter-productive, with recipients now likely to desist in seeking any paid work for fear of losing any of their welfare payments.

With a Newstart allowance at $34 a day and city rents now at extortionate levels, many vulnerable people had little money left with which to clothe and feed themselves.

“We are dealing with the most impoverished and vulnerable sectors of the community. This is cruelty.”

No Place For Sheep, 6 January 2017:

Centrelink has now begun using its Twitter account to refer people to Life Line if they are experiencing distress. Life Line is a voluntary organisation given little or no support by the federal government. The government has also ripped millions from frontline services for domestic violence victims, community legal aid centres, and over a billion from aged services. You can bet that these outrageously underfunded services will be stretched to their limits by Turnbull’s latest attack on vulnerable citizens.

I cannot remember anytime in this country when a government department has referred citizens to an emergency service because they are experiencing suicidal levels of distress as a consequence of that government’s policies.

Does anyone?