a brand new website online in order to trace the expansionof Victoria’s brown coal induscheck outisn't anyw live, exposing the real extent of the coal mining land grab within the state’s farming regions.
the internetsite, CoalWatch, is a part of Environment Victoria’s campaign for a moratorium on new coal mining leases, which the organisation argues inhibits the developmentof renewable energy resources within the state and delays Victoria’s transitidirectly to a blankenergy economy.
employinga Google Earth map, Coalwatch will permitusers to go online and consider spacesof the state which were leased to coal companies and zoned for future mining purposes.
"From the Otway Ranges to East Gippsland tens of thousands of square kilometers of farmland, towns, bushland and key tourism icons are subject to mining or explorations leases - it’s like a ticking time bomb," said EV Campaigns Director Mark Wakeham.
"We’re sure that many Victorians don't seem to keep in mind thon the bests to the coal resources deep beneath their houseshave alin a positionbeen granted to a coal mining company."
the los angelesunch of the location comes at the back of comments within the Age newspaper from the Victorian state government that, despite agreeing to honour the shapeer Labor government’s 20 %greenspaceemissions reductiheading in the right direction, they mayshieldVictoria’s brown coal induscheck out"come hell or topwater."
The Age also reported the Liberal Baillieu government would think aboutproposals to open up prime dairy councheck outfor coal exploration in South Gippsland.
Environment Victoria have continued to voice oppositidirectly to any expansion of coal mining or new coal-firedchronic stations within the state.
"Victoria has fantastic wind and solar power resources that we may well be may well be making an investmentin to create new blanktechnology jobs in as opposed to proceedingto depend on outdated polluting brown coal technology,” Mr Wakeham said.
Friday, 4 March 2011
The pool that popped up at a council house
The pool is about in a patio on the modest three bedroom semi in a sorter mining village and that is so large it may be clearly seen on Google Earth.
The pool, which takes up some of the los angelesrge back garden of the home, was spotted by a member of a hoemployingcontrolcompany who was finishing up routine checks on houses within the village of Rossington, close toDoncaster.
St Leger Homes, which shall weout properties on bepartof Doncaster Council, has now launched an investigation.
Neighbours named the couple as David and Lisa Frost, both within the ir forties, who moved within the red brick built spacealmostsix years ago.
Mr Frost, a landscape gardener spent thousands of pounds renovating the run down property that had previously been the spaceof an elderly woman for a few years.
the internal was given a pricey facelift including wooden flooring and was redecorated. He installed large wooden gates on front of the right kindty and neighbours watched as builder moved to dig up the los angelesrge back garden and started laying the pool, skirting it with wooden decking and dadving.
A six foot topwall of brick and woodenwas erected across the garden to fence it for privacy.
because then the couple, who've two young sons, have staged several summer pool parties for friends and relatives, but no neighbours have also been invited.
round the corner neighbour, 84 year old widow Gwendoline Taylor said: "i will be able to peer the pool from my bedroom window and that it takes up all of the garden with the decking around it.
"They use it rather a lot when the elements is kthey usually have got had a couple of parties with friends. however there hasn't ever been any noise with the exception of the splashing around.
" i've no ideawhether or not they have got permissidirectly to construct the pool or not, it is nothing to do with me. however they have got done an actually projob with it.
" they seem to be a lovelycouple and since the day they moved within the y have got almethodsbeen very greatto me and that i do know that if i needthem they are going to be there. They almethodsspeak to me and dadss the time of day."
Another neighbour added: "It was a little of a wonderonce they first moved in and began doing all this figure. this can be a council estate and that it is not this type of road while you standardly discover a luxury swimming pool in a garden.
"There hasn't ever been any problem, the don't combinemuch with the neighbours alalthoughthey're delightfulenough, they retawithin the mselves to themselves.
"they have got had barbecue and fizzl parties over the time they have been hear however they don't seem to be nuisance neighbours and there is never been an issue.
"He works as a landscape gardener and has a truck and so far as i'm consciousthey don't seem to be on benefits or anything like that.
There has obviously been rather a lot of cash about because with the exception of the cash they've spent at the home there were a lot of posh cars parked outside including Mercedes and BMWs."
a lady, believed to be Mrs Frost, answered the door but refused to comment.
A spokesman for the corporate said: "We undertake tenancy verification visits on our properties to be sure that tenants don't seem to be illegally subletting their homes.
"We also select issues this type ofs tenants own improvements where permission has not been sort.
"Permission for the pool was not sought previous to it'sing built and do not were granted.
"we're currently investigating the history following our staff reporting its existence.
"All applicants for a council home at the moment are assessed financially before they're eligible for a correctty."
A six foot topwall of brick and woodenwas erected across the garden to fence it for privacy.
because then the couple, who've two young sons, have staged several summer pool parties for friends and relatives, but no neighbours have also been invited.
round the corner neighbour, 84 year old widow Gwendoline Taylor said: "i will be able to peer the pool from my bedroom window and that it takes up all of the garden with the decking around it.
"They use it rather a lot when the elements is kthey usually have got had a couple of parties with friends. however there hasn't ever been any noise with the exception of the splashing around.
" i've no ideawhether or not they have got permissidirectly to construct the pool or not, it is nothing to do with me. however they have got done an actually projob with it.
" they seem to be a lovelycouple and since the day they moved within the y have got almethodsbeen very greatto me and that i do know that if i needthem they are going to be there. They almethodsspeak to me and dadss the time of day."
Another neighbour added: "It was a little of a wonderonce they first moved in and began doing all this figure. this can be a council estate and that it is not this type of road while you standardly discover a luxury swimming pool in a garden.
"There hasn't ever been any problem, the don't combinemuch with the neighbours alalthoughthey're delightfulenough, they retawithin the mselves to themselves.
"they have got had barbecue and fizzl parties over the time they have been hear however they don't seem to be nuisance neighbours and there is never been an issue.
"He works as a landscape gardener and has a truck and so far as i'm consciousthey don't seem to be on benefits or anything like that.
There has obviously been rather a lot of cash about because with the exception of the cash they've spent at the home there were a lot of posh cars parked outside including Mercedes and BMWs."
a lady, believed to be Mrs Frost, answered the door but refused to comment.
A spokesman for the corporate said: "We undertake tenancy verification visits on our properties to be sure that tenants don't seem to be illegally subletting their homes.
"We also select issues this type ofs tenants own improvements where permission has not been sort.
"Permission for the pool was not sought previous to it'sing built and do not were granted.
"we're currently investigating the history following our staff reporting its existence.
"All applicants for a council home at the moment are assessed financially before they're eligible for a correctty."
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Why We Blog: Google Earth Mormonism
With the sun on their backs on Dec. 7, 1972, the crew of Apollo 17 shot the earth. Their photograph, “Blue Marble,” was probably the maximumilluminated symbolof Earth up to now, putting earlier black-and-white weather satellite images to shame. just one0 years earlier, media theorist Marshall McLuhan had coined the phrase "global village," relating to a future globalunited through improved communication technologies. “Blue Marble” looked as if it would prove McLuhan's theory in full color.
Such utopian visions predated McLuhan. Orson Pratt, certainly one of early Mormonism’s foremaximumauthors and publishers, exultantly wrote from England that in 1850 that duringcreasing ease and speed of travel had “almaximumunited the 2 continents into at least one.” Technological developments enabled Isaiah’s prophesied “fastmessengers” to collect the elect to Zion.
“The extensive flowof the broadcast word,” Pratt declared, “has also given an impetus to the rolling of the greatwheel of salvation.”
The gospel would turn the los angelestter-day global village into the dominion of God in the world. Radio and televisionmultiplied channels of communication beyond Pratt’s telegraphic horizon. a fewfreshmedia theorists echo Pratt’s excitement. Cutting-edge technologies have “spread out new methodsof having and exchanging information, destroying geographical and political boundaries within the process."
This utopian dream of an international united through media seems less probcapable ofday. Our developing technologies embody the improbskillat the same time because the y challenge it.
think aboutthe detail provided by “Google Earth,” pcsoftware that makes "Blue Marble" appear to be the work of an impressionist. With lightning speed we will be able to zoom in to identifys all over the place Earth's surface, stunningly close enough to peer a pack of African elephants at the move. we will be able to peer the highest of the problemhorn (at Disneyland or Switzerland) in seconds. As we zoom closer, the arena's fragmentation becomes transparentagain.
The global village depicted by "Blue Marble" is seen through Google Earth because the globe of villages. the web, a device providing more international commerce of thought than any technology in history, too may result in fragmentation and boundary creation.
Professor Feisal G. Mohamed of Texas Tech University has noted how advancements in digital media don't have anyt “put an finishto parochialism,” as McLuhan anticipated. Instead, “on the contrary has occurred.”
Mohammed observe: “(W)e live in a cacophony of hidebound parochialisms where individuals seek association only with those to whom they relate by the use of primordial intuition. … The liberal state, with its dependence on rational association, is dissolving right into a spread of masses united by the parochialisms of ‘religion’ and ‘culture.’”
this type of phenomenon can also be observed among Americans who, divided along political party lines, can hunt down news sources catering on to their very own prejudices. As Mormon websites and blogs were multiplying and replenishing the webfor greater than a decade, a comparatively tightknit community has emerged. New venues offera spot for marginal voices, be they “liberal” or “conservative,” “active” or “inactive,” or anythingelse entirely.
The gut interpretation of all that is the netis bringing more Mormons together and making a decent community spanning several continents. Global Mormonism may also be viewed as a “globe of Mormonisms” with new boundaries emerging between people concerningwhat it means to be Mormon.
Blogs offerplaces for individuals to return together — usuallyto appease a way of isolation by hoemployinga community more suited for at least one’s organicproclivities, usuallyto find a community that feels more like home than those in closer geographical proximity. These two constructs — the "Blue Marble" and Google Earth — constitutetwo how you am i able tomagine new media’s effect on community: its potential to sweepine or divide us, for smartor ill.
Such utopian visions predated McLuhan. Orson Pratt, certainly one of early Mormonism’s foremaximumauthors and publishers, exultantly wrote from England that in 1850 that duringcreasing ease and speed of travel had “almaximumunited the 2 continents into at least one.” Technological developments enabled Isaiah’s prophesied “fastmessengers” to collect the elect to Zion.
“The extensive flowof the broadcast word,” Pratt declared, “has also given an impetus to the rolling of the greatwheel of salvation.”
The gospel would turn the los angelestter-day global village into the dominion of God in the world. Radio and televisionmultiplied channels of communication beyond Pratt’s telegraphic horizon. a fewfreshmedia theorists echo Pratt’s excitement. Cutting-edge technologies have “spread out new methodsof having and exchanging information, destroying geographical and political boundaries within the process."
This utopian dream of an international united through media seems less probcapable ofday. Our developing technologies embody the improbskillat the same time because the y challenge it.
think aboutthe detail provided by “Google Earth,” pcsoftware that makes "Blue Marble" appear to be the work of an impressionist. With lightning speed we will be able to zoom in to identifys all over the place Earth's surface, stunningly close enough to peer a pack of African elephants at the move. we will be able to peer the highest of the problemhorn (at Disneyland or Switzerland) in seconds. As we zoom closer, the arena's fragmentation becomes transparentagain.
The global village depicted by "Blue Marble" is seen through Google Earth because the globe of villages. the web, a device providing more international commerce of thought than any technology in history, too may result in fragmentation and boundary creation.
Professor Feisal G. Mohamed of Texas Tech University has noted how advancements in digital media don't have anyt “put an finishto parochialism,” as McLuhan anticipated. Instead, “on the contrary has occurred.”
Mohammed observe: “(W)e live in a cacophony of hidebound parochialisms where individuals seek association only with those to whom they relate by the use of primordial intuition. … The liberal state, with its dependence on rational association, is dissolving right into a spread of masses united by the parochialisms of ‘religion’ and ‘culture.’”
this type of phenomenon can also be observed among Americans who, divided along political party lines, can hunt down news sources catering on to their very own prejudices. As Mormon websites and blogs were multiplying and replenishing the webfor greater than a decade, a comparatively tightknit community has emerged. New venues offera spot for marginal voices, be they “liberal” or “conservative,” “active” or “inactive,” or anythingelse entirely.
The gut interpretation of all that is the netis bringing more Mormons together and making a decent community spanning several continents. Global Mormonism may also be viewed as a “globe of Mormonisms” with new boundaries emerging between people concerningwhat it means to be Mormon.
Blogs offerplaces for individuals to return together — usuallyto appease a way of isolation by hoemployinga community more suited for at least one’s organicproclivities, usuallyto find a community that feels more like home than those in closer geographical proximity. These two constructs — the "Blue Marble" and Google Earth — constitutetwo how you am i able tomagine new media’s effect on community: its potential to sweepine or divide us, for smartor ill.
Tips for employingour Google Earth Interface to SoilWeb
Deactivating the interior Browser
if you want to displayoff the interior browser, you'll be able to take action by getting intoto headogle Earth -- Preferences -- General on a Mac, or Tools -- featuresand searching outwithin the Display segmenton a computer. Select the check box that says 'displaynetends up in external browser'. All netcontent from within Google Earth will now open for your default external browser.
Taking a dip on benefits: The council spacewith a pool within the back garden
From front, the housesat the deprived council estate in a sorter mining village lokmuch the similar.
But to the astonishment of local authority inspectors, one property was hiding a feature that made it the envy of all of the neighbours.
as opposed to a patch of los angeleswn, all of the back garden was taken up with a swimming pool and decking.
Heated pools could also be nothing to gloat about in Hollywood, however they don't seem to be common in Rossington, South Yorkshire.
Unfortunately, the 10ants are in hot water with the council, since they did not have planning permission once they installed the pool – which will also be seen on Google Earth – three years ago.
Mother-of-two Lisa Frost, 31, said she and husband David, 33, spent ￡4,000 installing the pool.
But to the astonishment of local authority inspectors, one property was hiding a feature that made it the envy of all of the neighbours.
as opposed to a patch of los angeleswn, all of the back garden was taken up with a swimming pool and decking.
Heated pools could also be nothing to gloat about in Hollywood, however they don't seem to be common in Rossington, South Yorkshire.
Unfortunately, the 10ants are in hot water with the council, since they did not have planning permission once they installed the pool – which will also be seen on Google Earth – three years ago.
Mother-of-two Lisa Frost, 31, said she and husband David, 33, spent ￡4,000 installing the pool.