An Open Secret

Back in November 28, 2011, the oo ran with the 'breaking' story

CAPITAL spending on the National Broadband Network will top $50 billion and slower-than-expected development of digital video content could put at risk the financial returns for the ultra-fast network, a confidential report to Labor states. 

.....

 The full report by Greenhill Caliburn, obtained under Freedom of Information, also reveals that $50.6bn in capex would have been spent on the network by 2028.

Trouble is, although the oo may well have found this in a report they did indeed obtain from under FOI, these same figures have been available on the NBN's own website in their Corporate Plan 2011 - 2013 for over a year for anybody who was prepared to look, like, you know, a journalist perhaps. So, no, this is not some figure trying to be hidden away by the Government, it is a figure which was released over a year ago, and has been in the public domain all that time.

You keep using that word.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

The oo fails basic literary skills yet again.

Climate change effects unknown: IPCC report

Unknown? Considering the IPCC is very clear about the projected effects of AGW on the climate, many of which appear to be coming to fruition already, the word 'unkown' is deliberately obfuscating what is within the report. Uncertain perhaps, but not unknown.

Everybody's Going It Alone

There is much talk by certain parties about Australia 'going it alone' in regards to the Carbon Price. It is a constant refrain brought out by the opposition and their oracles, but how accurate is it.

Considering that the European model has been up and going since 2005, not very I guess.

But, since the European Union Emission Trading System began, many other countries have also implemented or a planning to implement ETS mechanisms, including NZ, Switzerland, China, Korea, Japan and states in the US, as highlighted on the Governments own site.

I'd be Lying if I said the Price on Carbon wasn't Taxing me too.

The climate of debate within our country at the moment has degenerated into a slanging match of who can fling the most vitriol towards our first female PM.
We have shock jocks wanting to " Put her in the same chaff bag as Julia Gillard and throw them both out to sea." Spectators in the Gallery calling her "a lying scrag", and who can forget the opposition leader appearing in a protest in front of the "Ditch the Witch" and "Bob Browns Bitch" placards. Yes, this is the kind of 'debate' we are having in regards to one of the most important legislations to face out country.

Nothing to see here

In the wake of the extraordinary action taken by Qantas in grounding their fleet at a moment's notice, the (what soon turned out to be short-term) attention of the media turned to who knew what about the grounding. The telegraph came out with a story claiming that the PM had been warned, and that she could have prevented the whole saga if she had just returned a phone call. Luckily, Crikey have snippet from the original online story  which is no longer on the tele's site.

Where's My Beach?

The oo continue to misrepresent and deceive in their continued attack on the science og Global Warming. This time, they have an Engineer, who went to a council meeting where he got the impression that his land would be covered by 6 metres of water by 2015. The fact that this hadn't happened apparently 'discredited' the report.

Unfortunately, the report (and quite likely the meeting where he drew these conclusions) did not say 6m of vertical sea rise, but horizontal, as pointed out by Tim Lambert in his ongoing series The Australian's War on Science

Regardless of what the report actually said (or the council meeting in question), the writer also concludes that the report was 'discredited' on the hear say of a retired Engineer, and draws their conclusion accordingly. It is a shame that a paper the size of the oo didn't have the resources or desire to actually site the report, let alone get a statement from the council over what was stated at the now infamous meeting.

The Gillard Curt(er)sy

Julia Gillard met the Queen the other day. While you would have thought that this would have simply been a time for the meeja to simply run in Women's Weekly mode, they had other things in mind. No, they thought they would create some sort of controversy over the PM's perfectly satisfactory and correct greeting of her Royal Highness. The papers, ALL OF THEM, went into an apoplexy of outrage over the fact that she bowed and shook her hand instead of curtseying. I kid you not.

They began the day declaring that this had been an affront to the queen, but that was soon replaced by a 'she should have done it anyway' once they were informed that she had done nothing wrong. It even descended to the level of the HUN showing a full page picture of a young girl curtseying, and declaring how much better she was than our PM.

The saddest thing about this whole escapade, is that the following day, tony yabot met the Queen, and failed to even bow. This was entirely ignored by the meeja. The fact that he piled directly into local politics with her, instead of the chit chat that is generally accepted as polite conversation in front of the cameras, was also portrayed as a brave and forthright move, rather than the rude and ignorant showboating it was.

Pure Poison have an excellent post up, with front pages showing the indignant outrage from dimwits who should know better. This really is news delimited

NBN Co does not leave local tech firms out in the cold

Recently reported in the oo came the headline

NBN Co leaves local tech firms out in the cold

In it, the story claimed

An analysis by The Australian reveals that of almost $7.4 billion worth of contracts with construction and manufacturing firms, $1.75bn - or 23 per cent - has been given to Australian-controlled companies.
The NBN Co disputes this figure, arguing it is closer to 50 per cent. The analysis has outraged local technology companies, which fear a greater use of skilled migrants as the NBN rollout gears up.

Blogger kezza2 at Crikey highlights the oo's artifice