(Miscellaneous debris)

[Gozu]

The failed MyATM looks to have popped up again now as OurATM:

MyATM was major sponsor of Port Adelaide Football Club until the deal was ended on October 31. It’s understood Port Adelaide is still owed around $350,000 from the sponsorship.

Investors in the machines included senior state Liberal MPs Iain Evans and David Ridgway.

One of the company’s founders and current director is State Liberal Party President Grant Chapman.

He co-founded MyATM with Donald Fleming, who in 1990 was referred to in State Parliament as a “criminal” by then-Treasurer Stephen Baker.

Fleming has previously been at the centre of Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigations and Australian Taxation Department investigations.

In 1987, he was declared bankrupt with about $10 million in debts.

In 2005, 10 companies run by Fleming and his wife collapsed, leaving investors $17 million out of pocket. The companies were involved in commercial property investments, grape seed crushing, pistachio farms and coconut plantations.

http://indaily.wordpress.com/2012/01/31 ... m-venture/

[Leaping Lindner]

Very interesting analysis of the current Labor leadership situation by Barrie Cassidy on ABC local radio 774 this morning. He claims (and he's got the contacts) that there is at least three members of the current Government that would - in his words - "Kamikaze" and quit the party if Rudd got the leadership back.

[Sojourner]

ALP are happy to pour money into GMH but could not care less about the jobs of workers at Custom Coaches Adelaide who they have overlooked in favour of imported buses from Malaysia.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 6259571914

[southee]

Very interesting analysis of the current Labor leadership situation by Barrie Cassidy on ABC local radio 774 this morning. He claims (and he's got the contacts) that there is at least three members of the current Government that would - in his words - "Kamikaze" and quit the party if Rudd got the leadership back.

I think a few of the support staff would too !!!

Not a popular man with his staff members a good source tells me

[Gozu]

Not sure who the genius was that foisted the likes of Alexander Downer on Cyprus but not unsurprisingly it's going pear shaped:

The Cyprus parliament has taken the unusual step of rebuking United Nations envoy Alexander Downer over perceived bias it says is hindering long-running reunification talks.

MPs unanimously approved a resolution late Thursday decrying Downer's "one-sided and detrimental statements and actions" that they say have eroded his credibility as an impartial facilitator in the talks.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/cyprus-parl ... 1qw5e.html

[Gozu]

A good read, Guy Rundle on the campaign trail with Ron Paul in Las Vegas:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/02/06/run ... las-vegas/

[Q.]

The end of baseload? It may come sooner than you think

By Giles Parkinson

One of the principal architects of Germany’s push into renewable energy technologies, Hans-Josef Fell, believes that the country could achieve 100 per cent renewables in its electricity sector by 2030 – and may do it quicker. The rest of the world could follow soon after.

Fell, a Greens politican and architect of the the feed-in-tariffs that have helped the country already produce 20 per cent of its energy from wind, solar, biomass and geothermal sources, and pushed it to the forefront of clean energy technologies, says the growth of renewables will continue at an exponential rate. This is partly because of the growing cost of conventional fossil fuels, and partly because of their inability (apart from gas) to balance the intermittent nature of renewable energy generation.

In an interview with RenewEconomy, Fell says a 100 per cent renewables electricity grid in Germany may be 40-50 per cent wind, 30-40 per cent solar, with the rest coming from other sources. Balancing this generation, however, would be the key challenge.

“This is not possible with baseload, because you cannot switch them on and off very fast,” he said. “It was possible with gas-fired power stations, but peaking gas stations were also emissions-intensive, and European countries such as Germany had to depend on gas imports from Russia.” He said new smart grid technologies and storage, where costs would also rapidly decline, would provide the answer.

Fell is effectively echoing the scenarios painted by Australian researchers David Mills, and from Mark Diesendorf and Ben Elliston at UNSW, along with preliminary work by the IEA, which suggests the concept of baseload and peaking power – the current model for electricity grids worldwide – will be replaced by a system of flexible and inflexible energy sources.

[Psyber]

End of non-Green base load sources?
It would be nice if at could be made to work.
So far I'm not fully convinced, but I'll be delighted if it comes true and the power is realistically affordable.

[Q.]

End of non-Green base load sources?
It would be nice if at could be made to work.
So far I'm not fully convinced, but I'll be delighted if it comes true and the power is realistically affordable.

Be nice if we led the way on this one, for once.

[Psyber]

End of non-Green base load sources?
It would be nice if at could be made to work.
So far I'm not fully convinced, but I'll be delighted if it comes true and the power is realistically affordable.

Be nice if we led the way on this one, for once.

True - so long as it is viable, and the power supply is affordable to the consumer.
Leading the way as a pose in something that is not viable from the outset, for the sake of popularity, is what I fear.

[mal]

William Mcmahon
If he was still alive he would be celebrating his 104th birthday
Im so so glad he married Sonia Hopkins, so we could all see her more often in the media spotlight

[Psyber]

I have feedback from my private health fund about the effects of recent changes to the subsidy and the Medicare Levy.
It won't effect me because I'm in the lower income bracket.

Summary 
On 15 February 2012 the House of Representatives passed the legislation which proposes to means test the private health insurance rebate you will receive on your health insurance premium. 
Currently, the rebate is available to all members and reduces the premium you pay by 30% if you under 65 years of age. The rebate increases to 35% for those between 65 and 69 years old, and 40% for those over 70 years old.
The proposal will progressively reduced the rebate, based on your taxable income.
This legislation has yet to pass through the Senate. It is proposed to be effective from 1 July 2012.
The rebate will vary in accordance with the table below and will depend on whether you have a singles or family/couples policy. The income tiers will be adjusted annually to reflect increases in average weekly earnings.

Income Tiers
 
Singles
$83,000 or less
$83,001-    96,000
$96,001-129,000
$129,001 or more

Families
$166,000 or less
$166,001-192,000
$192,001-258,000
$258,001 or more

Rebate
 
Under 65
30%
20%
10%
0%

65-69
35%
25%
15%
0%

70 and over
40%
30%
20%
0%


Medicare Levy Surcharge. Payable if no private cover in addition to the baseline 1.5% levy.

All ages
0.0%
1.0%
1.25%
1.5%

[Gozu]

"LNP to keep candidate linked to porn site":

The Liberal National Party (LNP) will retain a Gold Coast candidate linked to a soft porn website.

A party spokesman has confirmed that Mark Boothman will contest the seat of Albert for the LNP.

In a statement issued through the LNP on Thursday afternoon, Mr Boothman claimed a website he helped to run was shut down six years ago because it was hacked by people uploading adult content.

The site was set up almost 10 years ago as a forum for car enthusiasts, he said.

"But, unfortunately over a period of time, adult content was uploaded to the site," he said.

"In 2004, the site was continually under attack from hackers and was being hijacked from its original purpose and was getting beyond my control."

Because of this, it was shut down in 2006, he said.

"As a family man I am embarrassed about the publicity that this episode in my early life has generated, as I have done nothing wrong," he said.

"This experience is behind me, and I am more determined than ever to contest the seat of Albert as the LNP candidate."

The Gold Coast Bulletin on Thursday reported Mr Boothman was the registrant, administrative contact and technical contact for DarkOsiris.com, which promoted "hot sex scenes" and had links such as "Control Your Bitches", "So much porn" and "hot teen".

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... 1uljf.html

[westcoastpanther]

And you don't muckrake...

[Gozu]

This is one of the top political stories around today?

Don't get upset I'm sure the LNP will still get in.

[Gozu]

Some more muckraking by me:

A bullet has been fired through the window of a Liberal National Party MP's electoral office on the Gold Coast.

Michael Crandon, the LNP member for Coomera, said it appeared a large-calibre bullet was fired through the window of his personal office.

It hit the ceiling and a wall before disintegrating.

"It's a little bit concerning when you come into the office to find a bullet was shot through the window," Mr Crandon told AAP.

The incident was discovered around 8.15am (AEST) on Thursday when staff arrived for work.

"Police are currently there doing ballistic and forensic tests," he said.

"The only thing that's happened recently is that disparaging remarks were written on the back of a postal vote application form, complaining about vehicles taking up spaces in the car park outside our office.

"I've handed that on to police."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/art ... ps-office/

[Wedgie]

"LNP to keep candidate linked to porn site":

The Liberal National Party (LNP) will retain a Gold Coast candidate linked to a soft porn website.

A party spokesman has confirmed that Mark Boothman will contest the seat of Albert for the LNP.

In a statement issued through the LNP on Thursday afternoon, Mr Boothman claimed a website he helped to run was shut down six years ago because it was hacked by people uploading adult content.

The site was set up almost 10 years ago as a forum for car enthusiasts, he said.

"But, unfortunately over a period of time, adult content was uploaded to the site," he said.

"In 2004, the site was continually under attack from hackers and was being hijacked from its original purpose and was getting beyond my control."

Because of this, it was shut down in 2006, he said.

"As a family man I am embarrassed about the publicity that this episode in my early life has generated, as I have done nothing wrong," he said.

"This experience is behind me, and I am more determined than ever to contest the seat of Albert as the LNP candidate."

The Gold Coast Bulletin on Thursday reported Mr Boothman was the registrant, administrative contact and technical contact for DarkOsiris.com, which promoted "hot sex scenes" and had links such as "Control Your Bitches", "So much porn" and "hot teen".

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... 1uljf.html

As person who has created several online forums and witnessed many morewhich are constantly bombarded by spammers I'm wondering how the hell this can even be close to news?
The person doing the raking either has to be very stupid/ignorant or are really struggling for something with substance, that really is pathetic.

[westcoastpanther]

"LNP to keep candidate linked to porn site":

The Liberal National Party (LNP) will retain a Gold Coast candidate linked to a soft porn website.

A party spokesman has confirmed that Mark Boothman will contest the seat of Albert for the LNP.

In a statement issued through the LNP on Thursday afternoon, Mr Boothman claimed a website he helped to run was shut down six years ago because it was hacked by people uploading adult content.

The site was set up almost 10 years ago as a forum for car enthusiasts, he said.

"But, unfortunately over a period of time, adult content was uploaded to the site," he said.

"In 2004, the site was continually under attack from hackers and was being hijacked from its original purpose and was getting beyond my control."

Because of this, it was shut down in 2006, he said.

"As a family man I am embarrassed about the publicity that this episode in my early life has generated, as I have done nothing wrong," he said.

"This experience is behind me, and I am more determined than ever to contest the seat of Albert as the LNP candidate."

The Gold Coast Bulletin on Thursday reported Mr Boothman was the registrant, administrative contact and technical contact for DarkOsiris.com, which promoted "hot sex scenes" and had links such as "Control Your Bitches", "So much porn" and "hot teen".

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... 1uljf.html

As person who has created several online forums and witnessed many morewhich are constantly bombarded by spammers I'm wondering how the hell this can even be close to news?
The person doing the raking either has to be very stupid/ignorant or are really struggling for something with substance, that really is pathetic.

My thoughts exactly, what has this guy done wrong.

That's what makes me question Gozu, desperate much??

[southee]

"LNP to keep candidate linked to porn site":

The Liberal National Party (LNP) will retain a Gold Coast candidate linked to a soft porn website.

A party spokesman has confirmed that Mark Boothman will contest the seat of Albert for the LNP.

In a statement issued through the LNP on Thursday afternoon, Mr Boothman claimed a website he helped to run was shut down six years ago because it was hacked by people uploading adult content.

The site was set up almost 10 years ago as a forum for car enthusiasts, he said.

"But, unfortunately over a period of time, adult content was uploaded to the site," he said.

"In 2004, the site was continually under attack from hackers and was being hijacked from its original purpose and was getting beyond my control."

Because of this, it was shut down in 2006, he said.

"As a family man I am embarrassed about the publicity that this episode in my early life has generated, as I have done nothing wrong," he said.

"This experience is behind me, and I am more determined than ever to contest the seat of Albert as the LNP candidate."

The Gold Coast Bulletin on Thursday reported Mr Boothman was the registrant, administrative contact and technical contact for DarkOsiris.com, which promoted "hot sex scenes" and had links such as "Control Your Bitches", "So much porn" and "hot teen".

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... 1uljf.html

As person who has created several online forums and witnessed many morewhich are constantly bombarded by spammers I'm wondering how the hell this can even be close to news?
The person doing the raking either has to be very stupid/ignorant or are really struggling for something with substance, that really is pathetic.

Yep ..... Gozo .... Your clutching at straws there !!!

Keep trying !!

[Gozu]

I put it up as it was one of if not the leading political stories from yesterday it was reported on ABC 24 and obviously the SMH but you're all acting like it was something from a gossipy muckraking site like Vex News or something. Whether you like it or not it's legitimate news, sure it's origins were probably from an pro-Labor dirt unit but that's where a lot of these stories come from on both sides.

Partisan knobs, take a look at yourselves. I've been criticised on here for putting up anti-Lib articles and R&B has had a go at me for putting up anti-Labor articles, perhaps the real issue here is your objectivity or lack of it.