Another rapid-fire burst of stuff

Possibly of no interest to anyone outside of Australia, the House Speaker resigned today to return to his native Labor Party. While Speaker, the rep is not involved in party politics. In the interim, the Deputy Speaker Peter Slipper has become House Speaker. Slipper's from the Coalition. Slipper seems to have been on the outer with his party. If he accepts the job permanently, his party have threatened to kick him out. If he is offered the job (traditionally Government offers the job to a member of their party), and he accepts, the Lubs and Nats kick him out, and the ALP can stop being a precarious minority government, ending Tony Abbott's ploy to call an election everytime someone farts or sneezes. More on ABC News here.

One of Australia's favourite media douchebags - and perennial Arseholes of Australia contender - 2GB's Alan Jones recently got a good pwning from The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). While I have no idea of the controversy that got him that slapping, I'm glad to see he's also under investigation for his continuous stream of climate denialist horseshit. Check out more here. If you don't know Alan Jones, he's the radio 'personality' largely responsible for starting the Cronulla race riots.

Live in NSW or Queensland? Want to know if there are planned fracking operations near you? Then check out this beauty.

Can Bernie Sanders run for President. Please?

UPDATE: Great Barrier Reef Petition

GetUp! have fixed their petition page to allow international signatories for the campaign to stop fracking in the Great Barrier Reef, which I mentioned here.

Go to http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/coal-seam-gas/great-barrier-reef/save-the-reef if you're interested in signing, no matter where you're from.

Update: Fracking in the Great Barrier Reef

The GetUp! petition is still going. I first covered it here. If you're keen to sign the petition, please go here. If you care about Australia's Great Barrier Reef and you're from outside Australia, the petition won't work for you (it requires an Aust postcode). Consider instead sending an email of support to info@getup.org.au with 'Save the Great Barrier Reef' in the subject line.

GetUp! need 14,481 more signatures at time of writing.


Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters has nmore to say on it here.

A shocking act of sheer insanity

The Federal Government has approved the dredging of an area of the Great Barrier Reef for three CSG/Fracking plants to be built.

Fracking. In the Great Barrier Reef. In a world heritage listed area.

To Minister Tony Burke and the Gillard ALP Federal Government. I have but one short message for you: FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING MORONS!!

Now that's out of my system, let's get down to brass tacks.

If you're angry already, go sign this petition

UPDATE: Big thanks to America's Progressive Voice on Facebook for spreading the word of GetUp's campaign to US folk. Cheers! A glass of Australian beery goodness is yours should you ever meander in an Antipodean direction!

More dangerous news about fracking

Many people already know about the toxic nature of fracking - its capacity to poison drinking water, and many other deleterious effects. Now, it is revealed that fracking may also cause seismic activity, as a fracking site in the UK (part Australian owned) causes approximately 50 earth tremors.

This comes as, in Victoria, it has been arbitrarily decided by the Liberal State Government, that wind farms must be built a minimum set distance from residential property but exploratory drilling for fracking can be done almost... anywhere.

Read about Tony Windsor's (independent MP) call for investigation of fracking here.

We need to talk...

This piece touches on the practice of Coal Seam Gas drilling, aka 'fracking', but it more broadly addresses our failure as a society to honestly discuss important issues.

(Update: and this is what I'm talking about right here and of course here )