Hmmm, looks like the ABC1 Electronic Program Guide has already reverted to Eastern Standard Time. I’m glad that I noticed because otherwise I would have recorded the hour before The Bill, and only 30 minutes of the first 45 minute episode.
The Bill will be screening in my house at 10pm, following Saturday Night Football: Carlton V Brisbane from 3AW Melbourne.
Samuel
April 4th, 2009 at 07:29pm
Or that’s what we hope anyway. They counted to two today:
Power has been restored to the 50,000 homes and businesses in Sydney’s CBD and the eastern suburbs which fell into darkness after two major cable’s failed this morning.
Around 10.30 am (AMEDT) this morning the lights went out again in the northern part of the CBD including areas such as Surry Hills, as well as pockets of the Eastern suburbs.
Around fifty sets of traffic lights were also affected, causing problems on major roads.
[..]
Energy Australia say around fifty thousand homes were affected when two major cable’s failed.The section of the city from Town Hall to Circular Quay are affected including George and Pitt Streets.
EnergyAustralia spokeswoman Kylie Yates says that it was not the same cable which failed last Monday, throwing the city into chaos, but a second one.
According to a 2GB news bulletin this afternoon, the failure occurred while a substation was being worked on, and was caused by some issue within that substation. I can only imagine the sinking feeling which must have been felt by the people working on that substation at the time.
New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees isn’t happy, but perhaps he should nip down to his local newsagent and buy a ticket in tonight’s lottery:
“I want to get to the bottom of this – it’s not good enough,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“I was told the other day that the chances of this happening again were one in a million.
On the bright side for Mr. Rees, if he wins the lottery tonight, he can flee the ailing ship New South Wales and make room for Carmel Tebbutt, making some other punters happy:
New South Wales could soon have a female premier, if the latest betting odds are anything to go by.
NSW Deputy Premier Carmel Carmel Tebbutt has shot up the ranks, with Centrebet placing her as the $2.00 favourite to lead the Labor Party to the next election.
At the very least, he would be able to make somebody happy.
Samuel
April 4th, 2009 at 06:27pm
It only took a nine month hiatus for the 3rd episode of Season two to be released, here’s hoping that there is more to come.
For those of you who haven’t got the faintest clue what I’m going on about. Frank and Dale is an Australian animated series which I first mentioned on this blog in May last year when Season two started.
Samuel
April 4th, 2009 at 12:38pm
Consumerism is invading Easter, but as Samuel explains, the two don’t mix, and more respect needs to be paid to this important holiday.
[audio:https://samuelgordonstewart.com/wp-content/EditorialEchoes/019.mp3]
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You are more than welcome to respond to anything you hear on the show by sending an email to echoes@samuelgordonstewart.com. Emails may be read and responded to on a future episode.
The episode can be played in the MP3 player above or by downloading the MP3 file. You can also subscribe to Editorial Echoes. The RSS Feed can be found at https://samuelgordonstewart.com/wp-content/EditorialEchoes/echoes.xml and you can subscribe through iTunes by clicking on a link which should be sitting here, but isn’t because Editorial Echoes is still missing from the iTunes Store. I’ve submitted it again, hopefully it gets added back in this time.
The script follows.
Samuel
Welcome to Editorial Echoes, I’m Samuel Gordon-Stewart.
Has the consumerism of Easter gone too far? The same question is asked of Christmas every year, but after seeing an ad on television last night, I have to wonder if the majority of the general public even know what Easter is about any more.
The ad in question was for a local golf shop. I won’t dignify them by naming them, but they are a reasonably well known store. The ad starts with a golfer hitting a golf ball, a fairly innocuous start. The golfer then sees somebody, or to be more precise, something, on the course in the distance and calls out “fore!”.
The golf ball then hits the distant thing, which is now identifiable as a large furry rabbit carrying a sack, the rabbit falls over, and the sack flies open, causing a heap of Easter Eggs to fly out, and cause a rather large mess.
Needless to say, the ad is for this golf shop’s Easter sale.
Now, I can understand the advertisements for Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns, these things have become a part of the Easter culture in our society, and it is quite normal to see ads for them (although a number of us do get annoyed when supermarkets start flogging Easter Eggs on Boxing Day), however this advertisement, to my mind, is one step too far.
Easter, for those of you who have forgotten, is a Christian celebration of the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is marked by a series of Public Holidays, and is generally treated with some dignity, even by those who are not Christian. It differs from Christmas in that consumerism seems to fit in with Christmas due to the notion of giving presents to each other as a celebration of Christ’s birth, but it does not fit in with Easter where gift giving just isn’t appropriate.
Perhaps it’s the economic crisis that’s too blame. Perhaps a population with less disposable income has caused a sharp decline in the sale of golf clubs. If so, why not advertise a “stimulus payment sale” in an effort to get a slice of the $900 payments which start flowing on Monday. That would be more dignified and respectful than an Easter sale, surely.
Then again, perhaps I’m just being outmoded here. After all, the retail association want a relaxation of the Easter trading restrictions which apply in most states, although not in the ACT I might add. In New South Wales retailers want trading to be permitted on Easter Sunday and the TAB has decided to open on Good Friday.
Perhaps in this increasingly secular society we shouldn’t have public holidays to mark events on the Christian calendar. Or perhaps, as I’m inclined to believe, we should remember the heritage of our society and treat such holidays with the respect they deserve.
Nobody is going to force non-Christians to conform to a Christian lifestyle, but it would be fair to say that non-Christians look forward to the Easter long weekend just as much as Christians do, even if for different reasons, and as such, should at the very least remember why they have the holiday, and have a little respect for the reasons.
A little respect in exchange for a few days off is a very reasonable bargain in my books, and I can guarantee you that I will not be spending any of my $900 stimulus payment in that golf shop, be it on the Easter weekend, or at any other time.
I’m Samuel Gordon-Stewart on Editorial Echoes. If you would like to respond to today’s episode, please send me an email, echoes@samuelgordonstewart.com. Until next time, tada.
April 4th, 2009 at 06:39am
Something Padders wrote over at The Right Aussie reminded me that I’ve been intending on posting my Political Compass results on this blog for some time, and keep forgetting to do it.
The Political Compass isn’t perfect, but it is a useful tool for tracking where you stand on political issues over time. Unfortunately I don’t have any of my old results on-hand, but that doesn’t stop me from starting to publish my results on a regular (probably annual) basis from now on.
So, for April 2009, my score is:
Economic Left/Right: 3.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 4.00
I will, as the years go by, chart any changes in these results for you. In the meantime, I’d be interested to hear what your score is. Take the test, and then let me know in the comments.
Samuel
2 comments April 4th, 2009 at 04:18am
Padders informs me by email that The Hutch has been closed, and has been replaced by The Right Aussie.
The move is apparently so that Padders can “pitch to a more targeted audience” with his musings. I assume, from that statement and his recent posts, that the new site allows him to write more from a conservative angle, on a site which unashamedly targets a conservative audience. I always thought that The Hutch targeted a conservative audience, but I can see how The Right Aussie targets it better.
So far I’m impressed with what I have seen on The Right Aussie and I look forward to seeing more posts there. Bookmark it or add it to your feed reader folks, it’s well worth the read!
Samuel
1 comment April 4th, 2009 at 12:55am
It’s time for a new poll (it’s been that time for a long time according to Mr. Wolf), and thus, here’s a topical poll:
Total Votes: 12
Started: April 3, 2009
As usual, if you would like to elaborate on your vote, feel free to do so in the comments section below.
The results from the previous poll:
Total Votes: 42
Started: December 2, 2008
From personal experience, I think the “not going to make a difference” vote is spot on, but I must say that I found the pessimistic mood interesting, with only 19% of voters saying the buyout would be good for customers.
Results from previous polls can be viewed at https://samuelgordonstewart.com/weekly-poll-results.
Samuel
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:07pm
Samuel’s Blog is now going in to maintenance mode while it moves servers and I clean up a few bits and pieces.
The photo gallery will be offline for a bit longer while I sort out a few issues with it.
Update 6pm: We’re now running off the new server. A minor glitch in the process means that a number of files are still copying across, however all “core” files are in place and the site should be operating normally. End Update
Update 10:30pm: All files which reside directly in the wp-content directory have been uploaded. This is the vast majority of general images and audio files. Files belonging to specific galleries or categories which were allocated their own directory are still being uploaded in alphabetical order.
At this time all Editorial Echoes and Samuel’s Persiflage files are offline.
Approximately 1000 files totalling about 1.5GB have been uploaded to the wp-content directory. A further 2300 or so files remain. End Update
Update 5:30amAll Samuel’s Persiflage and Editorial Echoes files are now online (they have been for an hour give or take a few minutes but I’ve been too busy with my AIR News commitments to notice) and most other files are online as well. Approximately 2,400 files have been uploaded, with another 900 or so to go.
The photo gallery will be offline until further notice. End Update
Update 7:15am: Files and downloads should now all be available, however due to file permission issues some files or pages might not be working properly. I’ll work on it when I’ve had some sleep. In the meantime, please email me if you run in to any problems with the site. End Update
Samuel
April 3rd, 2009 at 04:30pm
It looks like the phrase “me too” was banned during the 2007 election campaign, as Kevin Rudd prefers to use the phrase “your prime minister included”.
The pretentious phrase was used as Mr. Rudd tried to bumble his way out of today’s fiasco, the revelations about his amazing ability to reduce females in the Air Force to tears:
Kevin Rudd apologised to a flight attendant on a Royal Australian Air Force VIP flight earlier this year after she was subjected to an angry outburst from the prime minister over not being served the meal he wanted.
The incident occurred on a flight from Port Moresby to Australia in January and News Limited newspapers report that the 23-year-old RAAF flight attendant was reduced to tears over Mr Rudd’s anger.
But Mr Rudd downplayed the incident when he was asked about it at the conclusion of the G20 summit in the British capital on Thursday, saying he did not “observe” any tears over the matter.
Cue the Rudd-speak
“As I recall it, there was a flight, I think from Port Moresby, and I had a discussion with, I think, one of the attendants on the provision of food. It didn’t last very long and if anyone was offended by that, including the attendant concerned, of course, I apologise,” Mr Rudd said during a news conference.
“The provision of food”? That sounds like he was selecting the menu and choosing which meal would go to each person on the plane. A more sensible phrase would have been “my meal”.
Mr. Rudd went on to demonstrate that he knew his choice of words was offensive by saying that people shouldn’t worry about it:
Mr Rudd said that as he recalled, he told a member of the crew not to worry about the language he had used.
“I said to the member of staff not to worry about it,” Mr Rudd said.
Mr Rudd is well known for his extreme work ethic and rumours abound of accounts involving staff who have been on the receiving end of the prime minister’s sharp temper.
“Extreme work ethic”, didn’t Barack Obama use that excuse a few weeks ago?
Mr. Rudd has apologised for upsetting people, but I can’t find any apology for the incident itself.
“As I said before, if I upset anybody on that particular flight I’m really sorry. I apologise for it and, as I said at the time to one of the staff on the plane, that’s it.
“We’re all human, we all make mistakes, your prime minister included.”
Yes your Majest…err…Prime Ministership.
April 3rd, 2009 at 04:00pm
Or maybe he’ll just tell us “it’s in the tapes” like he has been doing for ages.
Perhaps giving us the context will incriminate him, and he will refuse to give us the context on those grounds. The Federal Grand Jury certainly seems to think the context will incriminate him.
Blagojevich Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges
FOXNews.com
Thursday, April 02, 2009Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was impeached and ousted, has been indicted on charges he engaged in a “wide-ranging scheme to deprive the people of Illinois of honest government.”
A federal grand jury handed down the 19-count indictment against Blagojevich, his brother, two former aides and two businessmen Thursday. It accuses Blagojevich of corruption involving billions of dollars in state pension bonds.
U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitgerald had until Tuesday to get an indictment against Blagojevich but Thursday was the last day for the grand jury to meet.
FBI agents arrested the Chicago Democrat in December on allegations that also include trying to auction off President Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
Illinois lawmakers impeached him and threw him out of office in January.
Blagojevich released the following statement Thursday evening:
“I’m saddened and hurt but I am not surprised by the indictment. I am innocent. I now will fight in the courts to clear my name. I would ask the good people of Illinois to wait for the trial and afford me the presumption of innocence that they would give to all their friends and neighbors.”
The PR firm representing the governor, The Publicity Agency, will send out alerts and advisories as developments warrant.”Blagojevich has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has promised to fight the charges in court and has a book contract to tell his side.
The former governor is not in Chicago; he’s with his family at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Obama’s deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the White House would not comment. Blagojevich’s indictment does not allege any wrongdoing by Obama or his associates.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., whom Blagojevich defiantly appointed to replace Obama in the Senate, told FOX News the senator nor his staff will have no comment on the indictment.
Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., who was one of several Senate appointees Blagojevich considered, told FOX News Blagojevich’s indictment is “a sad day for the state of Illinois. It’s a sad day for politics.
“I’m still hoping that the governor is not guilty,” he added. “I think the voters and the citizens must put this behind them as quickly as they can.”
Illinois Republican Party seized on Blagojevich’s indictment to denounce Democrats.
“Today’s indictment opens another tragic chapter in the national embarrassment of Blagojevich Democrats have brought on the people of Illinois,” state Republican Chairman Andy McKenna said in a statement.
“This is another sad day in our state’s history, but Republicans are ready to bring change and reform to government and are fighting to bring a new beginning for the people of Illinois,” he said.
Samuel
April 3rd, 2009 at 02:13pm
I received a press release from the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation a short time ago, and they seem to be a tad over-excited:
The Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (AER) today welcomed the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia’s (DSICA) announcement they will place a moratorium on TV advertising of alcohol brands represented by the Spirits Council before 9pm for a period of twelve months, with its effects to be assessed.
AER Chairman Scott Wilson said the move is an encouraging step towards the more responsible alcohol marketing and advertising code called for by Senator Steven Fielding, AER and many public health organisations.
On the face of it, this sounds like a very big story. No alcohol advertising before 9pm is a big step, but the more you read, the less the story seems even remotely interesting. Two paragraphs later Mr. Wilson had this to say:
“This proactive announcement by DSICA covers a handful of alcohol brands that pay significant amounts to promote their products to sporting enthusiasts, young and old. It is important to ensure that alcohol brands across the board adopt a more responsible advertising code, and we believe all alcohol promotion, advertising and sponsorship of sport at all levels should be Government regulated.”
What Mr. Wilson means by “a handful” is “nine”. Yes, that’s right, nine alcohol companies. According to the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia website, these nine companies are:
I can think of a few companies which aren’t on that list, and are therefore not affected by the moratorium. Mr. Wilson went on to say in a side-splitting manner:
“Without this regulation in place, we risk giving other alcohol brands an opportunity to take centre stage – and the game, the players and the audience will suffer the hangover.”
Mr. Wilson is right. Other alcohol companies will take over the vacated advertising spots.
The only thing being achieved by this moratorium is a decrease in the brand-awareness of the nine listed companies, which is only likely to damage those companies in favour of the unlisted companies. It won’t reduce alcohol sales, but it might send the nine companies to the wall, which would give the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation a chance to gloat in their supposed success…after all, the companies must be selling less if they collapse, right?
Samuel
4 comments April 3rd, 2009 at 12:46pm
The Federal Government’s stimulus payments have been declared legal by the majority of the High Court bench. This means that the $900 (or less, depending on your annual income) payments will start flowing next week.
Legal academic Bryan Pape was challenging the legitimacy of the payments in the High Court, claiming the government doesn’t have the power to hand out the money as a tax bonus.
But the majority of the High Court bench has ruled that the payments are valid.
Outside the court Mr Pape said he wasn’t disappointed by the loss, instead he says he was pleased he was given the chance to mount a challenge.
I’m pleased to see the High Court reach a swift decision on this matter, as a decision either way was going to set an important precedent, and having the decision pending wasn’t helpful for anyone.
Update: The Tax Office have issued a press release, stating that stimulus payments will be made between the 6th and 16th of April:
Following the High Court’s decision, the Tax Office today said 7.4 million people who have already lodged their 2007-08 tax return will begin receiving their tax bonus payments from next week.
Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo said if people have lodged their 2007-08 tax return and meet the eligibility criteria they don’t need to do anything else to receive the payment.
[..]
“Eligible people who have received their 2007-08 notice of assessment before 27 March 2009 can expect to receive their payment between next week and 16 May 2009.“Those who received their notice of assessment after 27 March 2009 can expect their tax bonus payment around four weeks after they received their notice of assessment.
“Please be patient if you don’t receive the payment immediately.
“We are working closely with Australia Post and the Reserve Bank to distribute around 7.4 million payments over the next six weeks.
[..]
It is not too late for people whose returns are still outstanding, but they must lodge by 30 June 2009 to be eligible unless they’ve already have an extension.“We have extended the availability of e-tax until 31 May 2009 for those who want to do their own return online, or people should contact their tax agent as soon as possible,” Mr D’Ascenzo said.
End Update
Samuel
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:39am
Meet Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary-designate.
Kathleen is the latest in a string of Obama cabinet nominees to realise that she has a tax problem. Kathleen’s tax problems over the last three years were worth $7000. Funny how she forgot about it until she was nominated.
I’m not going to waste much time on this one, because quite frankly if I put much effort in to the stories about the Obama cabinet tax cheats, then I’m going to have to start putting the same amount of effort in to stories about the sun rising and setting each day.
Instead I’ll just take heart in the knowledge that at the beginning of January, Obama’s approval to disapproval rate in the daily Rasmussen poll was 69% to 29%, and today it is 56% to 44%.
Samuel
April 3rd, 2009 at 08:57am
From Livenews.com.au, sourced from AAP:
Thirsty camels learn to turn on taps
Wednesday, 1 April 2009 4:46 PM
Australian Associated PressThirsty Northern Territory camels have acquired the knack of turning on taps.
The dry desert heat can make anyone thirsty, but the marauding pests – who some estimate now roam the outback in their millions, are causing havoc in their pursuit of a drink.
“If there are any taps adjacent to houses they’re quite capable of either turning the taps on or knocking the taps off so they get water,” said Wayne Wright from Central Australia’s MacDonnell Shire Council.
“Because of the fairly dry conditions that have occurred over the past year or two there’ve been more and more feral camels moving into communities.
“They take the opportunity to find water whatever way they can.”
While the animals can be applauded for their ingenuity and impressive motor skills, they are posing a real threat.
Work has now begun to protect the land from the unwanted trespassers, who show little respect for sacred Aboriginal sites, the livelihoods of cattle owners and the unique ecosystem of the nation’s red centre.
The MacDonnell Shire Council is seeking $4.5 million from the federal government to built camel-proof boundaries in the form of cattle grids around 14 communities.
Donkeys and horses would also be kept out if the application is approved next month.
“Unless we can limit the access to those areas, we are going to be wasting our money,” Mr Wright told the Northern Territory News.
“They destroy anything that’s been planted in the community.”
In the Northern Territory alone it is estimated there are about 300,000 camels, with more than a million plodding the arid sands of Australia nationwide.
Up to eighty per cent of maintenance costs are set aside by farmers for camel collateral, with producers spending up to $60,000 a year to fix fences, tanks, bores and buildings.
“The issue of wild camels has had more surveys, discussions and meetings without achieving a single positive outcome,” outgoing president Roy Chisholm told the NT Cattlemen’s Association conference in Alice Springs last week.
“While we take our time trying to make a decision on how to deal with the problem, the camels are happily breeding themselves into a huge uncontrolled herd.”
Meanwhile, average townfolk just want the willowy water carriers to stop eating their lawns and shrubs – and to find their own drink.
The story sounds a bit too outlandish to be a true story on the 1st of April to me, but then again Wayne Wright does exist according to the minutes of MacDonnell council’s meeting from August 29 last year.
That said, I can’t find any reference to MacDonnell council’s request for a $4.5 million camel damage prevention grant online, nor can I find any reference to Roy Chisholm’s statement that “the issue of wild camels has had more surveys, discussions and meetings without achieving a single positive outcome,” published prior to about today, despite the fact that he reportedly said it last week.
AAP and a number of other outlets have picked up this story this afternoon. The Northern Territory News ran the story this morning, but there was one other news outlet to have the story before them.
CBS 42, a TV station in Austin, Texas, published the story on their website at 9:05pm on March 30, which was 1:05pm yesterday (March 31) Canberra time. CBS 42 sourced the story from the World Entertainment News Network where, sadly, the trail goes cold, not that I can claim to be surprised as the World Entertainment News Network seem to be obsessed with celebrity photos and stories, and not with camels and other four-legged animals. With the trail apparently ending at the World Entertainment Network, I can only assume that they may have made the story up in a hope to get a bit of publicity for themselves…why else would a story about Northern Territory camels first surface in Texas?
What I assume happened though is that the World Entertainment News Network overestimated the appeal of the story within the United States, and so only got a tiny bit of publicity. Then the Northern Territory News noticed it and saw a use for it as an April Fools’ Day joke, and AAP later saw the NT News story, thought it was credible and distributed it to most of the nation’s press.
Unfortunately I can’t find the story on the AAP newswire, although I can see that it was a prominent story in today’s Nothern Territory News, according to AAP’s summary of ABC Radio’s summary of the major stories in today’s newspapers.
I think I’ll have to call the MacDonnell Shire Council in the morning to see if they can shed any more light on this story. As much as I’m sure it’s a hoax, it will be interesting to see how much MacDonnell Shire Council knew about the story before it hit the press, if they had any knowledge of it at all.
Update April 2nd, 3:37pm: It’s a true story according to MacDonnell Shire Council, however there is one minor correction to the story. The camels are not turning the taps on, merely knocking them off. End Update
Samuel
April 1st, 2009 at 07:23pm
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