Saturday 3 July 2010

A vote for Gillard or Abbott is still a vote for Internet censorship in Australia?


According to the Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy as reported by ZNet:

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has reiterated the government's support for its mandatory internet filter policy after the change in Prime Minister and has slammed proposed amendments by Senator Kate Lundy that would allow Australians to opt in or out of the technology...... "We have got an election commitment to deliver," Conroy told journalists in a doorstop interview in Sydney this afternoon. "Just because [Greens Senator] Scott Ludlam says it's been shelved, doesn't mean it's true."

Because there has been leadership change and Australia has a new prime minister in Julia Gillard there is no reason to suppose that the intention to impose Internet censorship is off the government's political agenda. Even if Gillard herself has been remarkably reticent in the face of this contentious issue.

While arch-conservative and professional 1950s-style Catholic, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, should have alarm bells ringing with his view that the nation should have a new way of ensuring that proper community standards are applied to the media, all media, including new media.

Both Federal Labor and the Coalition would be prepared to dump on Internet users in an effort to secure support of the 'Christian' bloc at the 2010 federal election. The first preference polling numbers are still too close to do otherwise.

How sweet it is watching Howard bark his shins


How sweet it is watching former Oz prime minister John Howard bark his shins against the reality of his personal and political reputation.
L'l Johnnie wonders aloud about the unfairness of being refused the vice presidency of the International Cricket Council - he doesn't for the life of him understand why he has been rejected.
Gar'n John!
Even in your own country you have a dodgy reputation as a closet racist.
Some of your fellow countrymen even laid complaints at The Hague alleging that you're a war criminal {first was by a Melbourne-based academic and in 2008 by a group}.
Besides which mate - you're a fair dinkum pie chucker.

Cartoon displayed at Google Images

Friday 2 July 2010

Telstra's telephonic logic

 

During the telephone outage that hit the Clarence Valley last week I used my mobile phone to contact the faults number and report the problem.

 

When I finally got to talk to a human I gave them my mobile number and warned them that since reception on that phone is intermittent the conversation could be cut off at any point.

They suggested that I could use a computer to fault register; not very convenient when the only connection you have is dial-up.

 

I managed to report the fault but half way through confirming my identity the phone cut out. Since they did not ring back I thought that the fault was registered.

 

It was mid-day the next day before the landline worked and it surprised me to find a message on the phone that I reported faulty asking me to call back so Telstra could confirm the fault report.

 

All this made me question the intelligence of people who work for Telstra.

I think I may invest in some homing pigeons - much less complicated, more reliable and if the worst happens at least I can make pigeon pie.

Gillard sucks all the air out of the political debate and Abbott panics.....


One of the most amusing things to observe over the last week has been how Julia Gillard becoming Australia's first female prime minister sucked all the air out of the political debate and left Opposition Leader Tony Abbott beached az 'n' gasping.
Desperate for some positive air time poor Tones has had to resort to an outright gimmick and then tweet about it in case some missed his silly stunt with old bathers and a bonfire on the Matt & Jo Show:
TonyAbbottMHR Burning speedos with Matt and Jo in Melbourne this morning. http://twitpic.com/215vt

















However even panic driven stunts fall flat:

Yes, but won't people ask why you're not in them while they're burning?

But the best bit has to be the camera jockey caught in frame - snapping away at a pair of flaming budgie smugglers. Yep, sophisticated political coverage at its best!

At last! A reason why Territorians see so many UFOs?



On any day you can go to The Northern Territory News online and this is a slice of what you'll bring up from the archives concerning Unidentified Flying Objects:

Cops investigate NT UFO invasion Northern Territory News ...

27 May 2010 ... A FULL-SCALE alien invasion of the Northern Territory has begun.

"But highly-qualified UFO-ologists said they believed the bright lights were space ships on a pre-attack scouting mission.
Darwin-based UFO expert Alan Ferguson said the flares were obviously aliens. "This all sounds like UFO activity," he said."

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/05/27/150751_ntnews.html


So are Territorians the darlings of the intergalactic set or is something else at work here?
Well, at last we have an answer - the area around News Ltd's most northern Oz newspaper headquarters in Darwin is affected by gravity to a different degree than most of the nation.
A few little brains reacting to a difference in pressure perhaps? ;-D



Pic from BBC




Original BBC article here





Thursday 1 July 2010

NAIDOC Week in Yamba


NAIDOC WEEK IN YAMBA

Monday 5 July (10am-3pm)

Treelands Drive Community Centre, Yamba

10am “Official Opening” MC Trevor Kapeen (Yaegl Man)
10.15am “Flag Raising” Mrs. Veronica Pearce, Aunty Boona (Yaegl Elder)
10.30am “Welcome to Country” Mrs. Lillian Williams, Aunty Lil (Yaegl Elder)
11am Welcome to Country Dancers (Lenny Anderson)
11.20am History of NAIDOC & Aboriginal Medical Service Grafton Speakers Jordan Walker and Talarna Gardiner (Year 12 Students Maclean High)
11.30am (Trevor) “Thank you to Dignitaries in Attendance” and Apologies
11.40am Lunch Announcement Trevor
11.45am-12.45pm Services Information Share
1pm-2pm Lunch
2pm-3pm Entertainment Jerry Byers local entertainment country & western as well as Andrew Hegedus from Grafton

Wednesday 7 July (9am-3pm)

Family and Children’s Day (Children aged 0-10 years) at Angourie Sports Field – Angourie Road, Yamba

* jumping castle
* pony rides
* Indigenous games
* farmyard Nursery Animals
* age Races
* face Painting
* boomerang design
* story telling
* BBQ lunch
* light entertainment after lunch “The Maclean Mob”

Friday 9 July (9am-3pm)

Yamba Youth Fun Day (young people aged 11yrs-18yrs), Raymond Laurie Sports Centre off Angourie Road, Yamba

* hip-hop workshops
* boxing workshops
* Indigenous games (Balund A Boys)
* jewelry making
* soft ball
* basketball
* table tennis
* boomerang design
* BBQ lunch
* girls Rugby league exhibition game
* basket weaving

Terry Randall Memorial Golf Day (Maclean Golf Club) – All Welcome

Friday Evening

Women’s Karaoke Yamba Bowling Club, 7pm-10pm hosted by Eileen McLeay

More information:
Norma Collins at Birrigan Gargle Local Aboriginal Land Council on 6646 1664, or Grace Clague at Clarence Valley Council 6645 0014 or email grace.clague @ clarence.nsw.gov.au

More information and to reserve a place:
Contact Norma Collins at Birrigan Gargle Local Aboriginal Land Council on 6646 1664, or Grace Clague at Clarence Valley Council 6645 0014 or email grace.clague @ clarence.nsw.gov.au

Bl**dy Typical Pollie or The Nats At Play


Rumour round the water cart is that now McDonalds has its Yamba development consent safely tucked under the arm, the North Coast Nationals are looking to create a little mischief by encouraging locals to bombard the NSW Minister for Local Government with letters complaining about Clarence Valley Council's conduct.
Of course the sitting federal and state Nats MPs were very careful to keep a low profile while there was actually a chance to send Maccas packing when the development application was first being considered (in fact I heard that Hartsuyker outright refused to get involved) and they're obviously not telling anyone that the real way to go is a formal complaint to the department head cc'd to the minister.
And pollies wonder why they're considered lower than a snake's belly!

Coral snake gif found at Google Images