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Public reaction seems to be in favour of the altruistic (and artistic) pothole painters of the Shire. We can understand the safety concerns of the police and Council, especially the way some drunken drivers infest the roads around here, but the artwork has probably saved lots of undercarriages and preserved public goodwill. And the number of dangerous potholes is unlikely to decrease, given the state of funding for councils. Q Q Q Q
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‘It’s like a game of Monopoly where there are rules set out in a little book but no one is expected to play by them. In fact, the game is how to get around them. Except here the board – all those mining rights and rail lines and spot rezonings – is our world. It’s where we live, and these guys are tramping all over it.’ So says Elizabeth Farrelly in her article demonstrating the contempt in which many of our politicians hold the responsibilities of public office: http://bit.ly/Farsmh. Q Q Q Q
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While on the subject of contempt: Vatican City has been described as the ‘smallest internationally recognised independent state in the world’. If its representatives keep abusing citizens of our own sovereign state, isn’t it about time we imposed sanctions against it, or at least gave its leaders here a severe talkingto? Oh that’s right, most of our senior federal politicians are in thrall to the magical thinking coming out of that state. Q Q Q Q
In related news, Cardinal George Pell has publicly insulted every truck driver in Australia, the chair of the
Australian Trucking Association, Noelene Watson, said last week. She was responding to Cardinal Pell’s comments to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, when he stated that the Catholic Church was no more responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company would be if they employed a driver who molested women. ‘These comments are a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the Royal Commission being faced by the Catholic Church and other institutions that deal with children,’ Ms Watson said. ‘Cardinal Pell must realise that he cannot solve these problems by insulting Australia’s hardworking truck drivers, who deliver the goods we use every day.’ Unfortunately Pell is hardly of a mindset to realise anything.
the Australasian Times, and it’s fairly obvious that it’s an attempt to create an alternative voice to everyman billionaires like Murdoch who are also helping to ruin our atmosphere. Meanwhile Murdoch’s News Corp – Australia’s biggest and most influential media company – is acting like a baby without its dummy. It threatened online media outlet Crikey
with legal action after it leaked confidential information detailing its declining print performance. That’s despite News Corp gleefully publishing confidential details on Fairfax and the ABC. It’s a tough gig, newspapers. Perhaps it’s time to again mention a big thanks to our advertisers who make the job of reporting possible. Unlike Murdoch, The Echo does not side with corporations and governments that are ruining our atmosphere. Q Q Q Q
After watching ABC Catalyst’s Gut Reaction program, Backlash thought he better check his coffee intake’s impact on gut bacteria. It seems to be positive. (But don’t discount the impact of coffee on other body systems.) Find out more at the ScienceNews website http://bit.ly/gutcof.
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‘Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel’, Mark Twain once said of newspaper proprietors. But what would Mr Twain say to Clive Palmer’s ambition to start a national daily in opposition to Murdoch? The everyman billionaire helping to ruin our atmosphere has registered
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48 August 26, 2014 The Byron Shire Echo
30 DAY CHALLENGE Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au