text:
'Still water gone green': The Murray-Darling Basin and the political economy of water
By Scott Robinson
5.Jun.20
… one knows a river by a few streaks amid a long-gathered deposit of uncomfortable mud.
George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life
During my sanctioned hours of exercise, riding down country roads, I pass a set of small dams. They are constructed simply of earth walls, congregated in a semicircle to make an uphill facing embankment. Below me, three or four stretch downwards through the trees in the crook of the fields, the sharp, clear afternoon light repelled by their dark depths. Above me two more whose waters I cannot see but whose brown banks loom innocently. The picturesque aspect and rustic forms serve to naturalise what is effectively the privatisation of water.
Dams intercept water as they flow towards rivers and to the sea. Large public dams are increasingly being called for to provide hydroelectricity to replace burning fossil fuel. One report, eerily disappeared from the DEWLP website, extolled the possibilities of 'pumped hydro energy storage.' The dams that capture the waters of the Murray-Darling Basin are by comparison relatively modest. Yet their effects have been devastating for the environment, for the rural communities throughout the Basin, and for the future of public resource management in Australia.
Margaret Simons' Quarterly Essay, Cry Me A River: The Tragedy of the Murray-Darling Basin (2020) traces a brief history of this devastation. Simons describes driving through the irrigated environment during the drought, and encountering 'an earth bank':
It was holding back a small pool of water. It's hard to describe the impact of seeing this crude earth bank. It is such a pedestrian thing – a makeshift dam – yet also profoundly shocking. It says this is no longer a river.
Along with efforts at environmental management – increasingly futile in the face of both climate change and the intensification of water hoarding – these dams are the barricades that reveal the contested political economy of water. If cattlegrids and fences mark the land as enclosed, the dams mark the water as enclosed, part of what Brett Christophers has imagined elsewhere as a new regime of government-enabled private 'enclosure'.
If environmental dams are 'crude', 'pedestrian' things, the private dams that have been funded by the Federal Government's water efficiency schemes enclose 'vast swathes of country'. The geographic distribution of funds is noteworthy, skewing to the north of the Basin, as is the fact that politicians providing them have largely remained silent on their effects, as Maryanne Slattery's report for The Australia Institute attests. There are intersecting stories here that can only be discerned by the 'few streaks' in the dry mud.
What alerted many to the dire state of the Basin were the ongoing fish kills, which the NSW Fisheries department tried to attribute to 'the drought and only the drought.' Even hard-right neo-conservatives like Patrick Byrne knew better, blaming 'infrastructure neglect, deregulation, bank finance, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, radical free trade, to name the main culprits.' The political alignments of rural and agricultural Australia are far from clear-cut, and often linked to nationalist myths. Chris Mayes' exemplary research in Unsettling Food Politics (2018) tracks how alternative agricultural movements have uneasily co-existed with Indigenous sovereignty, although the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and other food sovereignty movements emerge from and explicitly support Indigenous, anti-colonial struggles.
Water legislation in the Basin divides along State lines, in accordance with the constitution's declaration on water regulation. Simons calls the inhabitants
a society without being a community. A society in the sense that they live in an ordered, rule-bound way, and the relationships between them governed. Not a community, because they struggle to recognise common interests.
This may not be a product of farmers' lack of solidarity, but of some farmers actively sabotaging the conditions of that community, and the politicians that enable them. Simons believes that the Basin society is defined by the rules that govern it, but these rules apply differently depending on access to power and money.
This stratification was exposed in the water buyback scheme that followed the 'apocalyptic' fish kills. $79 million dollars was spent on 'strategic' water for the environment. The price was far above the going rate. Authorised by Barnaby Joyce, the money went to Eastern Australian Agriculture through a Cayman Island's based company called Eastern Australian Irrigation. Angus Taylor, another Coalition minister, had founded EAI and been director of EAA, and the relation between the companies is described as 'a tax avoidance arrangement.' Michael West's detailed financial reporting asks the question of whether Taylor (& Co., including a British hedge fund) received 'financial benefit', but studiously avoids accusing anyone of 'corruption'. He writes that it is not 'illegal for a government minister, in this event Barnaby Joyce, to pay a record price for something which experts deem to be worthless.'
This worthlessness is due in part to the fact that the bought water has yet to flow. Maryanne Slattery joined the call for more information and an independent evaluation of this legally convoluted (and yet politically starkly clear) affair. In a sense, Slattery and Rod Campbell argue, the water remains available for irrigators, since
the Commonwealth's water entitlements only exist at the property [from which it was purchased], which means that the Commonwealth has no legal right over the water outside the property. There is nothing in place to prevent that water from simply being extracted by other irrigators.
It is an 'overflow' license, with money spent to store it, but no actual rights to do so. If someone had tried to design a rort they could hardly have done a better job. This debacle represents the systematic problems with government and companies that dominate the ecosystem of the Murray-Darling Basin's political economy. Simons' story of a 'tragedy' implies a certain resigned fatedness that is far from the case in this fundamentally political – and so human – tale of environmental degradation, colonial settlement and agriculture, and greed stoked by political manipulation and self-dealing.
The environmental story: the limits and variations of nature
On my rides through the country, a pleasant smoky odour wafts across the road as the burnoff season begins. But it's hard to forget the season of ferocious and destructive bushfires from which we are emerging. In 1918, Rosa Luxemburg quoted an official report into an 1891 famine, to which a 'simple parson' submitted this cry of despair: 'How many feathered ones have perished in the forest fires, how many fish in the shallow waters!' We seem wedged between disasters; this is our new climate.
Any chronicle of the Murray-Darling Basin that failed to take account of nature would surely fail. Yet the Basin's 'nature' is 'plumbed', as Simons writes, 'defined by big dams and storages' in the south and 'boom and bust' cycles in the north. Peter Davies and Susan Lawrence call it 'engineered', marking the massive alterations to the landscape in the 200 years of colonisation, overlaying millennia of sustainable cultivation by Indigenous people across the continent.
During the Millennium Drought, Water Minister Penny Wong initiated a program of environmental water buyback assisting indebted farmers, but Simons argues that effects on rural communities were not considered. Exodus and unemployment followed, although some researchers have attributed the adverse conditions in rural Basin towns to water markets. They suggest that these markets have increased instability and the flexibilisation of both agricultural labour and crop choice. In an attempt to soften the effects of intensified irrigation under the market regime and climate change-induced droughts, the buybacks have continued in various forms in almost 'constant spending' programs on so-called 'efficiency'. These programs are designed with large, often corporate farms in mind, rather than the small-scale or family-owned farms much loved of publicity campaigns.
The stated aim of the buybacks, however, is to 'restore some portion of 'natural' flows' to the river system. However, the 'stories of the river' concerning exactly what that means are highly contested. . Interest groups and politicians pick research that suits their narrative. Recently, Peter Gell stirred up mud by contradicting his own research into whether the mouth of the Murray was estuarine or not. Opposed by his co-authors, he re-interpreted the data they had collected in a way that suits irrigators.
More reliable are the claims over the land and river by the Barkandji people, who in 2015 won native title recognition – although it failed to acknowledge their right to the water. What the 'people of the river' know is that their river is dying. Having stolen the land, a confederation of Indigenous Nations argued to a Royal Commission in South Australia that 'upstream irrigators were stealing billions of litres of water purchased by taxpayers to preserve Australia's inland rivers.' They confronted 'aqua nullius' with claims for water rights 'to sustain our cultural traditions and build sustainable livelihoods for our communities.'
This precarious state is a product of the fact that water is 'over-allocated.' But water license holders, who Jamie Pittock calls 'adherents of the pioneering myth', refuse to acknowledge this fact. In 2012, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan tried to set 'sustainable diversion limits' based on 'best available science' to maintain the health of the river system. But these limits are contested as well, and their remit to consider 'social and economic factors' that are technically outside Federal jurisdiction is a source of conflict. It is a challenge to communicate the fact that sustainability means water allocation reductions, compounded by what Simons contemptibly calls 'the political animal' that is apt to ignore data.
Simons proposes that, since the 1980s, 'the river has moved past natural variability and towards death' coincident with the expansion of the cotton industry. It is a contest between large-scale industrial users and everyone else, leading to devastating water shortages. The discrepancies in management areas mean that water 'clawed back through efficiency schemes' can 'disappear when it cross[es] the border.' Pliant consultants rationalise these schemes as allowing private irrigators to 'make efficient use of it and expand their operations' with taxpayer money. Yet efficiency schemes by and large do not introduce more water into the environment and certain types of water trades conceal increases in water consumption.
A conventional economic division between 'productivity' and reproduction (of labour, or in this case the environment) enables this obfuscation. The data measures 'productive' use of water; what is 'counted' depends on where you look in the system and what kinds of values are taken into account. The 'efficiency' argument much loved by economists also ignores the creation of parasitic financial markets in water, which benefit directly from decreased water allocation as the number of water trades increases (I draw this conclusion from Fargher and Olsvak's work). Who benefits? Financial investors have planted themselves downstream of the price rises that result from water scarcity. Efficiency, then, depends on where you look, and what you look for.
There are other absurdities in the water market system in the Basin. Water users 'carry forward what they do not use', implying that the water remains (or grows, like an investment) in the river, waiting to be drawn. The assumption on which this is based is demonstrably false. One of the architects of the water market system, Michael Young, initially suggested, quite reasonably, that
rather than locking in a fixed amount of water to be consumed in the future – a sustainable diversion limit – … a base flow – not to be touched, and used to run the water – be decided. Water consumption for the environment should then be set as shares of the remainder – not as a fixed amount.
The amount of dashes Simons uses to explain this eminently sensible proposal indicates something of Malcolm Turnbull's reasons for rejecting it when he pushed through new legislation as Water Minister in 2004: pretend it was too complex; it doesn't help the boys club network of irrigators, so fall in line.
Stories of the river matter. The Commonwealth Water Holder, Jody Swirepik, tells Simons that 'because the living memory is after the Hume [Dam] was built … people don't necessarily have an appreciation of what it might have been like before.' But environmentalists and Indigenous people are not the only ones telling stories. If anything, their stories are the insurgent archive, the buried heresy against the economic rationalist consensus that has literally tried to buy them off. Our notions of (environmental and agricultural) science and the cost-benefit, choice-based models so beloved of bureaucrats and consultants both have histories, both recently told in relation to the Cold War. Climate denialist, coal-mining aristocrat, viscount and capitalist apologist Matt Ridley takes in a great deal of contravening archaeology and anthropology towards the conclusion that the success of homo sapiens can be attributed solely to the fact of exchange and trade. What we all need, he recommends, is to read more Hayek and innovate more. Our stories can diverge wildly based on similar evidence – is exchange an example of cooperation or competition? – but the discrepancy can prove disastrous.
Who governs? divided powers in the basin
There is an institutional story underlying the environmental destruction, one fraught with legal and political complications. Although Section 100 of the constitution effectively prevents the Commonwealth from legislating on water, since the 1980s it has used international environmental treaties such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands to protect certain habitats. The Water Act of 2007 established the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, whose remit was largely environmental, 'with social and economic aims tacked on.' It aimed to transfer some authority over water to the Federal Government, but negotiations with the States resulted in a powerful State ministerial council.
The Authority's task was to 'use the 'best available science' to devise a Basin plan, incorporating every aquifer and irrigation channel'. But it has been both shackled and resented seemingly at every turn, tending towards top-down technocracy. Farmers feel ignored and treated as ignorant, and Simons seems to have little sympathy for the Authority's efforts, referring to the 'desiccated language of the bureaucracy, and of water engineers', or what George Eliot might call 'a melancholy absence of passion … and a passionate resistance to the confession that [Mr Casaubon] had achieved nothing.'
No one really wants to defend the bureaucracy. It is viewed as a sort of necessary evil by the advocates for free markets (however much they rely on these bureaucracies and government power to enforce and benefit from their ill-gotten property rights). The NSW State Government has proven very amenable to irrigators' interests, and has blocked reforms, delayed essential changes and, like a spoiled toddler, threatened to withdraw from the plan. This makes the Authority's position extremely difficult, especially when issues of corruption, water-metre tampering and compliance arise, since States are seen to collaborate in these practices. It is powerless to prevent floodplain harvesting, leading to reduced flows into the lower parts of the Basin and upstream farms underwater weeks after the flood.
One cannot envy the Authority's labyrinthine task of balancing State and Federal Government powers, irrigators, industry and other water users with the environment that sustains them all. It seriously risks being disbanded if it doesn't play nice with the right people. Added to this are the fact that there are powers at work that don't quite figure in the legal map. David Connell calls them 'non-state actors', as though to imply that they operate on the scale of states but without their modicum of accountability. Connell argues that the 'congruence of interests [between government managers and private water users] has broken down' with 'intensified competition between water users' who were increasing their diversions from the system as a whole. Governments are now meant to manage and create markets rather than plan, hence the almost universal opprobrium for the Authority's plan.
Michael Young calls the water trading system, which he helped design, 'close to the world's best practice', and 'one of the most advanced in the world.' In his own writing he refers to it as the 'world's most sophisticated' and 'vibrant water market.' Amidst all this congratulation, some explanation for how things went so wrong is still needed. Young tells Simons that the system's 'design is flawed and the execution lacking.' He triumphantly 'recounts the history of agriculture, taking evident pleasure in contemporary comparisons.' But what his self-serving story leaves out is that, as Brian Fagan points out in Elixir: A Human History of Water (2011) – recalling Karl Wittfogel's seminal theory of 'hydraulic civilisations' – the early ancient agricultural surpluses in Mesopotamia required not only deep social hierarchies and the use of corvée labour, but also 'some form of central authority that supervised irrigation and farming on a considerably scale.' Young's story, like Mike Davis', extols the market as the crucible of successful irrigation, and disguises the need for a strong central state to manage its self-destructive propensity to drain the Basin for the most profitable short-term gain.
The water market, or liquid neoliberalism
In the 1980s and '90s, Simons writes, water licenses that were attached to a particular piece of land' were
progressively unbundled, and trade encouraged. You could own land and sell the water license that had belonged to it, or you could own water without owning land. The idea was that if water could be traded, the market would ensure it found its highest-value use.
Michael Young got his way, and although he demurs that water accounting and over-allocation should have been solved before water trading began, he nevertheless argues that unbundling 'has made it easier to resolve issues step by step. It also makes it much easier for individuals to adjust and innovate.' Well, bully for you.
Not everyone has fallen into the market order. Simons recognises that the water trading regime allows (large) 'companies with deep pockets [who] can fight it out on the water market to make sure their [crops] stay alive.' If 'in drought, the prices rise', then simply hope that you're an upstream irrigator, who can take earlier, and lower water flows. Or have lots of money. Even a generous report from the NSW Government's Natural Resources Commission in September 2019 acknowledged that the 'provisions benefit the economics interests of a few upstream users over the ecological and social needs of the many.'
Much writing seems to skirt the issue of whether or not the introduction of water trading itself should be numbered among the causes of the dire state of the Basin, but it had obvious and immediate effects, including reviving 'sleeper' licenses so that 'they could be sold, and environmental flows were routinely diverted and mismanaged.' It also failed to recognise how water was used in floodplain harvesting, so that attempts to regulate that practice now might 'result in people being compensated for ceasing to do something they shouldn't have done in the first place.' It sounds all too familiar; following the pattern of the Federal Government's use of carryover credits to claim it is meeting emissions targets.
Information and knowledge
One of the chronic issues that beset all markets is the lack of transparency and active manipulation of the information available. Information is essential to accurately monitor the amount of water in the system so that buyers and sellers can price it as a commodity. But with the increase in water 'being stored in private dams, it becomes hard to know', leading to price distortions and manipulations such as the $79 million buyback from EAA. Moreover, there is no central registry of water owners. Simons laments that it is 'not possible for the ordinary citizen to find out who owns the water, either in the system as a whole or in a particular catchment.'
Neoliberals claim, as Philip Mirowski describes in a paper aptly titled 'This is Water (or is it Neoliberalism?)', that markets are necessary because there is no way someone can have enough information and knowledge to manage or plan for the complexity of a whole society. What they leave out is the way markets (mis)manage information so that it becomes impossible for planning to be effective; in the recently revived words of Thorstein Veblen, they sabotage. Information is a commodity whose value rises with its scarcity and that is manipulated and privatised, just like water. Even apparently public information can only be monetized if you have costly institutional access, know where to look, or can buy it (like paying US$24,000 for a subscription to Bloomberg).
Alternatively, you can make sure you're part of a powerful irrigators group that receives 'special access' from top Authority bureaucrats, as the ABC's Four Corners program notoriously revealed in 2017. The investigation that a followed recommended 'key transparency measures' including a public register for licenses and better monitoring of water metres, which are systematically tampered with. Simons attributes some of the delay for actually instituting these measures to the NSW Irrigators' Council, whose response insists instead on government accountability. (It is telling that they largely represent 'upstream' interests.)
Public spending for private gain
The NSW Irrigators' Council's report places the blame largely on government, deflecting the question of private accountability and responsibility. This is in line with what Loch, Wheeler and Settre found in 2018 when examining the private transaction costs of water trading: 'institutional investment in water markets have improved irrigator private gains from trade.' It demonstrates what Maryanne Slattery argued was happening with Federal funding for private dams. Similarly, Marshall and Alexandra use the concept of 'institutional path dependence' to illustrate how irrigators have been able to capture not only power, but also shape regulation that initially 'took the form of the provision of subsidized or free water infrastructure and the allocation of free water licenses to irrigators,' which eventually led to their holding (without paying anything) 'water entitlements that in the southern MDBA are, collectively, worth some [AU]$16 billion.' What Simons calls the 'old school tie' network is remarkably efficient at funnelling money from government to corporations, but when scrutiny trends in the opposite direction they close ranks and make a very noisy and obstructive fuss.
The defence of water markets rests substantially on their putative capacity to distribute water efficiently. In response to the obvious failures (or perhaps to the erroneous definitions of efficiency) that resulted in the fish kills and water shortages, some called for a single water market, like an ASX for water. Simons puts the free market case bluntly: 'Let the market sort it out.' But this assumes, according to the chief executive of the MDBA, Phillip Glyde, that 'the market is perfect and everyone has equal access to information.' If the bottleneck on information has caused what some academics call a 'post-truth' situation, Glyde simply sees 'an inevitable part of a natural resource management plan. Such a plan,' he says, 'is always full of uncertainties. One must plan, review and adjust.'
Despite their role in directly sabotaging these carefully laid plans, irrigators continue to demand greater leniency and disproportionate oversight. Tim Napier, of the NSW Irrigators' Council and Borders River Food and Fibre (the latter a euphemism for cotton), was 'the most reluctant to agree that there were systemic problems with compliance in the region,' according to Simons. Napier supports the program called Healthy Headwaters, which was allegedly used to defraud the Federal Government of (at the very least) $25 million. Unlike straight environmental buybacks, the program gives money to irrigators for efficiency schemes, like private dams (as Slattery insisted). But Napier complains that 'the struggle has been to get the Federal Government to broaden the water products that are accepted under the Healthy Headwaters program.' In other words, he wants to widen what counts as efficiency so that irrigators can bill more private infrastructure projects to the government for what even he admits are 'quite small' returns to the environmental water cache.
In the wake of an ACCC study into the water market, outgoing Water Minister David Littleproud told the ABC that 'Water is a different commodity to gold or coal' and that the 'market place for water', in his 'philosophical view', should not be the same as that for other commodities. Having created the market with the credo of efficiency, those who happily preside over financialisation in other sectors do not believe that water should be subject to speculators. Call it too little, too late, or simply hypocritical exceptionalism; capitalism has its consequences, intended or not. Certainly his mate Angus Taylor knew and enjoyed the consequences.
Winners and the rest, or, we're all investors now
With concurrent investigations seemingly discovering the novelty of the water market's financialisation decades after its introduction, the terms of reference in discussions of water have developed into an ossified language of market efficiency, share-holding and investor confidence. Michael Young sets the tone, stating that '[o]nce the system is set up the only way to secure an entitlement to a share of water in the system is to purchase a share from an existing water holder.' I hear in this admission not only the high barrier to entry for new or small farmers (who will need capital above and beyond land simply to purchase water), but also the shift in the meaning of 'share' from something social and material to a financial asset.
The discourse of the Basin treats all-comers as investors. Although Napier presents this situation as a 'win-win for the Government and irrigators', it obviously skews in favour of wealthy farmers and big businesses, and has arguably contributed to a consolidation of agricultural land as small farms are priced out. In yet more reports of money simply siphoned to irrigators, Four Corners reported not only that funding of more than $4 billion was spent without effective monitoring, and that many farmers admitted they had been over-paid for works they would have funded themselves anyway; the report also revealed that multinationals like Webster Limited received $41 million which helped it expand and improve its land of hundreds of square kilometres. Earlier this year, a foreign investment fund bought Webster and became the largest single owner of water in the Murray-Darling Basin. The amount of water (200,000ML) and money involved are staggering. (Meanwhile, total Aboriginal water ownership is estimated at 8,237ML, or 0.00007% of the total Basin Sustainable Diversion Limit.) Given these affordances, it is hard to believe that these are simply 'unintended' consequences despite their ruinous effect on people's lives, as ABC reporter Kath Sullivan has detailed.
The disciplining of all water users into investors is conducted in part by the ruthlessness with which they are treated, with regions, industrial sectors and different interest groups pitted against one another. The cotton growers of the north 'knew they were being blamed for the dry river downstream', Simons writes. 'They admitted little or no responsibility. Crop hating on crop, State hating on State,' they stoked a sectarianism that justifies any and all measures to preserve their over-grown power.
The worst offenders in the reported exploitation of the water market claim that 'everyone else' does it too. This conceals the fact that these groups have been instrumental in creating the conditions for such exploitation, which no one – not Michael Young, nor David Littleproud – thought were the proper functions of the market. The attitude of corporations and wealthy irrigators is that anyone in their position would do the same. They subject everyone to the same set of manipulative, venal self-interested motives they use in their own dealings. They claim that the environmental perspective is simply urban NIMBYism, calling them 'Zealots for the Environment' (why not?) who have 'struck at their social license to operate.' This euphemistic phrase always bothers me: why would you need a 'social license' if what you were doing was considered socially good or necessary? Their social license is parasitic on the respect many Australians have for farmers who are so often doing it tough while trying to do the right thing, and implies that their 'legal license' is not enough – even in their own minds – to justify their systematic malpractice.
Despite the campaign to homogenize all farmers, as I have argued, some farms are simply big businesses, with 'high margins', overseas corporate investors, tax avoidance schemes, and money to spend buying water when others have none. There's a portrait of a landowner and farmer in Katherine Anne Porter's story 'Holiday', the 'richest man in his community; almost every neighbouring farmer rented land from him, and some of them worked it on the share system.' Herr Müller is the patriarch of 'a family of real old-fashioned German peasants' who farm in Texas, who most evenings
sat by himself and read Das Kapital… [He] accepted its dogma as a religion – that is to say, its legendary inapplicable precepts were just, right, proper, one must believe in them, of course, but life, everyday living, was another and unrelated thing… He explained his own arrangements to me thus: 'These men, they cannot buy their land. The land must be bought, for Kapital owns it, and Kapital will not give back to the worker the land that is his. Well, somehow, I can always buy land. Why? I do not know. I only know that with my first land here I made good crops to buy more land, and so I rent it cheap, more than anyone else I rent it cheap, I lend money so my neighbours do not fall into the hands of the bank, and so I am not Kapital.
Müller's pseudo-liturgical explanation for his wealth conceals the background of colonialism, the violent resource acquisition and the brute effect of seasonal luck to his success. But he is not Kapital.
The political impasse
There are a number of reasons why there has been no decisive action taken, despite the literally countless reports, towards repairing the obviously broken system. There are so many fractures and dividing lines, each pointing towards different definitions of 'the system': does it mean the Basin Authority, or the water market, or the division of powers (and lack of responsibilities) between the States? One of the appointed auditors, dubbed the 'top water cop', reminded protesters demanding that the Federal Government 'Can the Plan' that much of the blame should be placed on the shoulders of the NSW State Government. The campaign to abandon the Plan reflect attempts to undermine trust in government regulation, and is opposed by a confederation of Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations, who have tirelessly engaged, in good faith, with numerous consultations in order to fight for better water management.
Meanwhile, there is a new Water Minister – though he looks and sounds like old stock – and the waters of the Murray-Darling have joined for the first time in two years. Stagnant green gives way to murky brown as sporadic rain does what the politics seems unable to achieve. Simons argues that 'the politics have become close to unmanageable', briefly describing the dilemma faced by the Nationals, finding their base splintered in acrimony, and voters supporting minor parties like the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers.
In the middle, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority appears both necessary and utterly unloved. If all sides concede that central authority is needed, they very much disagree on its uses and function. Under the legislation, its explicit aims must remain largely environmental, with social and economic effects tacked on. But given the status quo, its de facto role is to manage the market. This puts it between the corporate profiteers who professionally smear this regulation even as they need and benefit from it, and the rest. This confutes Simons' all too neat distinction between those with 'strong faith in free markets' and those who argue for a 'managed system of agriculture.' The markets are (always) managed, just for particular people and ends. Despite the endless consultations, there appears to be nothing particularly democratic about the Authority, and its decision are viewed as 'top down' and lacking 'mediation.' It represents a faith in liberal or market technocracy characteristic of the (centre-)right political consensus, and yet lacks the power to impose its undoubted expertise.
Michael Young, the erstwhile defender of the market, argues against no one that if 'governments got involved in trying to choose crops, they would be very bad at it'. Yet he concedes – Simons implies – that the market pushes Australian farming to 'run at the edge of capacity, not conservatively – but it generates enormous wealth.' What needs clarification is the fact that 'conservatively' is here meant in the sense of conservation, so that Australian farming is far from sustainable, especially as climate change intensifies. And that the enormous wealth flows through costly, private channels to a very few.
The terrifying endgame of the market orthodoxy spelled out by Anthony S. Kiem is that
water trading will eventually do what [it is] designed to do (ie. Reallocate a resource to 'high value' users). However, given that the 'low value' users are in this case agriculture and town/urban water supply (not including drinking water) and the 'high value' users are mining, manufacture, and electricity production (i.e. high greenhouse gas emissions), do we really want the water trading [market-based instrument] to achieve its objective?
Kiem points out that this dichotomy between high- and low-value users doesn't even factor in environmental water, so urgently needed.
These kinds of long-term fractures call out for new political formations to emerge. Yet the mainstream left-wing movements in Australia are largely abandoning these complex issues. Simons laments the sad spectacle of Labour, 'the party born in the shearing sheds of Queensland now so irrelevant in the politics of rural Australia.' The Greens, here as elsewhere, are viewed – justly or not – as representing wealthy urban progressives whose social and environmental conscience and periodic bursts of noisy outrage are no solution to the systematic failures and necessary compromises of rural politics; a non-option, justly or unjustly. The sheer fact (and scale) of agriculture confronts those whose agenda is founded on the preservation of pristine nature.
Rural movements like regenerative and sustainable agriculture or food sovereignty do not fit easily into mainstream political divisions; they are healthily mongrel, and admirably confronting basic problems like soil degradation, which jeopardise the capacity of the anthropologically-altered earth to produce enough food. Front-line activists are also learning from Indigenous people, and supporting their resistance struggles. They are also workers (perhaps uneasily since some are also landowners in the traditional sense, like Porter's Herr Müller) confronting the challenges of corporate globalisation and defying growth- and profit-oriented 'Big Ag', which undercuts the ability of small, sustainable growers and producers to distribute their food. Australia's celebrated 'food security' is reliant on a workforce of cheap, over-exploited labourers, many of whom are working under 'slave-like conditions' simply to retain their visas.
There are ample causes for greater solidarity across the chasm that divides rural and urban politics since the industrial revolution. Moreover, there are lines of radical left heritage within which to articulate this solidarity. If the Maoist experiment of sending intellectuals and students to the countryside ended in a 'Lost Generation' of 'sent-down youths' (xiafang qingnian) – as Tong Lam notes in Afterlives of Chinese Communism (2019) – it also 'did help to address many of the deficiencies suffered by the rural communities.' The disaffection that resulted was also a product of the fact that the regime failed to foster what it had created: 'new political subjects.' This abrogated experiment paved the way for French Maoist solidarity with agricultural workers, and contributed to a land occupation in the region of Larzac that forced the military to abandon the expansion of a camp. Kristin Ross, in May '68 and its Afterlives (2002), describes how the
force of the movement lay in the diversity of people and disparate ideologies it brought together: antimilitary activists and pacifists; regional Occitan separatists; supporters of nonviolence; revolutionaries aiming to overthrow the bourgeois state, anticapitalists, anarchists, and other gauchistes, as well as ecologists.
This diversity of ideologies across the border separating the cities and country demonstrates that these issues affect us all, perhaps more so than many of the hotbed topics that normally circulate. Although I sometimes disagree with them, I admire those who choose to farm sustainably. We need be more aware of our food systems, which does not mean checking the back of the packet for the patriotic little sticker. Supermarkets, recently deemed 'essential' as though to grant them the sacred, untouchable status they already have in the economy, are throttling farmers and stifling democratic attempts to regulate them, as Lindy Edwards shows. Food and its production are often absent from political debate, as though a necessary but unsightly supplement to the busy commercial life of our major, urban population centres. But from first-hand testimony, I can attest that farming can sustain meaningful, fulfilling and vibrant communities full of life, politics and art.
The line in the title of this piece, 'Still water gone green,' comes from a ballad by Tony Smith called 'The Dying Darling', quoted in Simons' Cry Me A River.
Image by Thong Vo
Scott Robinson is a PhD Candidate in philosophy at Monash University and subeditor of Demos Journal.
More by Scott Robinson
From Geoffrey Reudavey on 27 February 2021 at 8.29 pm
An eye opening read to the corruption of the groups who control our MDB water. The corruption arrow would seem to point to Water Minister Turnbull who allowed "Water Trading" on the stock market & to allocate water allocations to those entities that had NO land & NO usage for water. The Federal / State MP's who have gained by purchasing Or setting up the purchasing should have those allocations returned at original purchase costs. It stinks like the rotting masses of fish.
243 Winter 2021 out now


COBIT 5 (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) is an ISACA-created business model for the management and governance of IT initiatives. Since its launch in 2012, COBIT 5 has aided maximization of information value by integrating up-to-the-minute thought into enterprise management and governance techniques.
This credential trains professionals in globally recognized maxims, models, practices and analytical tools that help get one get the best out of the use of information systems. Individuals with this certification are responsible for IT auditing, IT management, IT quality management, IT development, and IT service management.
Holders of this credential have an edge since they are viewed by business firms as individuals who can handle information technology at the highest level.
COBIT 5 is a supporting toolset that allows managers to bridge the gap between control requirements, technical issues and business risks.
Example: Regulatory requirements, e.g. those imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, often require organisations to have frameworks in place for risk mitigation, risk monitoring, and control.
COBIT provides an attractive option to meet such requirements.
COBIT 5 is offered by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and is recognized globally. APMG is a known accreditation body that provides both training and examination for this credential. ISACA founded the COBIT 5 Foundation and has helped propel the IT industry to greater heights.
APMG recognizes ISACA as the founder of COBIT 5 and has created a curriculum that mirrors exactly what ISACA had in mind. The two bodies are not rivals since both have a similar way of presenting the certification to interested parties. While ISACA is the founder of COBIT 5 and takes credit for pioneering the credential, APMG is a renowned accreditation body that offers quality.
There are no formal qualifications required to take up the COBIT 5 Foundation course or examination apart from the experience and knowledge in IT service providing organizations or IT service providing departments in any business organization.
A candidate should also possess knowledge of COBIT 5 principles and the 7 phases of the implementation lifecycle. The candidate should also have a clear understanding of the process capability assessment knowledge area.
The application then needs to be submitted to APMG. The candidate will then be directed to a local operational office for a direct contact. This contact will enable you to coordinate the certification process, offer assistance with exam bookings and provides clarifications for any queries that may arise.
The accreditation program always begins once your application has been accepted. The process thereafter follows a series of training sessions prior to the credential examination.
The COBIT 5 foundation certification is a very important credential for those who wish to make it big in the world of Enterprise IT. Training for the exam is a substantial investment, and proper planning, as well as choice of the right training partner, are crucial factors for success.
Simplilearn's COBIT 5 Certification Training Course is recognized and licensed by ISACA International. With over 10 hours of quality e-Learning content, 16 PDUs, a question bank with 200 questions, an exhaustive COBIT 5 eBook and much more, the course is the one-stop solution for all your COBIT 5 needs.
1. Is training post-exam required?
After a candidate completes the COBIT 5 foundation course, then they are ready to do the course exam. After passing the exam, the names of successful candidates who took the course exam are published in the successful candidates register. The certificates are sent to the candidates using their respective addresses. There is no post-course training that the certification holders are supposed to attend or complete, and successful candidates can begin to deploy their COBIT 5 expertise at work.
There are two modes in which a qualified candidate can take the exam, namely, online, and paper-based. The more popular of these two is the online exam since most authorized training organizations prefer having their candidates take the exam from the comfort of their home. A candidate can choose to take up an exam after a successful training course or, if opting for a self-learning track, could take the exam at a public center.
A training course is more advantageous since it comes with more benefits. However, if a candidate chooses to study independently, they may purchase books from APMG's book store and take up their exam at a public examination center.
The COBIT 5 Foundation exam comprises 50 multiple-choice questions that need to be completed in 40 minutes. A candidate needs to score 50% -or get 25/50 questions right- to clear the exam.
3. What if one fails to pass the exam in one go?
If you took your exam through an ATO, you could get your results instantly or after 48 hours after which you may decide if you want to re-sit. ATOs, however, will advise you to wait until the exam results are released before you retake the exam. You can arrange for a re-sit with your ATO.
However, if you did not take your exam with an ATO, then your result could take up to 7-10 days to be released, after which you can apply for a retake. An examination fee is still paid for a re-sit.
The COBIT 5 Foundation credential is a stepping stone towards enhancing the knowledge of IT professionals. It allows these professionals to perform executions and assessment of the framework within their business organizations. This actually means that a holder of this credential is able to shape his or her career by adding value to the number of processes they take on.
In turn, this earns them recognition, respect, and paves the path to career progress. Some responsibilities taken up by the holders of this certification include IT auditing, IT developing, and IT quality professionalism. Government departments and companies have recognized this credential and value the holders by handing them powerful positions in their IT departments.
If a candidate is able to complete the examination successfully and earn the certification, they are able to earn 18 professional developments units (PDUs). ISACA approved credential-owners can report & submit their CPE credentials.


text:
Sanctuary for the lost
Like many runaways, Dee's childhood left much to be desired. When you ask the Detroit 19-year-old about her father, she says, "What father?" Her mother wasn't much of a permanent fixture either. Dee spent most of her life in foster care — in her case a sentence of alienation and abuse.
"I went through a lot of things that young girls shouldn't go through," she says. "A lot of bad stuff happened to me."
Dee, whose name Metro Times has changed to protect her identity, says she was "locked in closets, left on the porch in the rain and stupid stuff like that. … I was treated like an animal."
Being gay made life harder. One foster parent in particular, Dee says, stood out for her cruelty.
"She told me I was gonna grow up to be a dyke. I never understood what she meant. I just knew I was different," Dee says.
Dee ran away at age 11. She sums up street life as "lonely … cold … depressing … hard."
Staying alive was a battle every day. She almost lost the fight when she was beaten and raped at age 13.
"At the time, I was thinking if I ever make it out of this, I am going to make my life better," she says. "I laid there for hours and hours and hours until I pulled myself up."
Today, Dee works about 30 hours a week and plans to start college next fall. She's looking at Wayne State University, where she hopes to become a drama or computer science major.
Dee was lucky. She's one of the thousands of gay teens every year who've found their way to Detroit's Ruth Ellis Center. Since February, she's been enrolled in an 18-month residential program that aims to equip 16- to 21-year-olds with the know-how to live on their own.
A Detroit gem
The Ruth Ellis Center is the only nonprofit organizations in the Midwest providing shelter and social services specifically to homeless LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) teens, and one of four nationally, says Grace McClelland, executive director of the program. In Detroit, the center estimates there are 5,000 homeless people under the age of 21, and that about 40 percent of them are LGBTQ.
"Their needs are just not being met by mainstream services," says Beth Bashert, the Ruth Ellis Center director of development and public relations. "These are kids that have been discarded by their family. That is part of the problem. That leads to low feelings of self-worth, and there is this feeling that they are not going to succeed even if they try, so we have to work on the issues of self-worth. There are also issues of safety and homophobia. They are coming out, but they need to learn how to handle that in order to keep themselves safe. We really have difficult challenges with some of these kids."
Founded in 1999, the center is visited 6,000 times a year by youth seeking help and companionship, and has a staff of 12 full- and part-time workers, says Bashert. The center gives LGBTQ youth not only a safe place to sleep, but a place to be themselves.
The nonprofit, funded almost entirely by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with local grants, is named after the lesbian activist who opened her home to the gay black community in Detroit during the 1930s and 1940s. Though Ellis, a photographer, printer and jack-of-all-trades, never made more than $10,000 a year, she was known for giving all she had to gay youth for school, food or whatever else they needed, according to Bashert.
"We get to carry her name and her work into the future, and that's truly an honor," says Bashert.
The center's shelter has a 24-hour on-site staff that provides everything from food, drug-abuse counseling and medical attention to life-skills counseling, education planning and job-prepping — all things McClelland says are virtually nonexistent for local homeless youth. The shelter, with residencies up to a year and a half, opened earlier this year, and by year's end the center hopes to add a short-term shelter.
"What we are working on is a short-term shelter which would be for 15 to 30 days, so the kids could just walk up to the door, come in and get a bed," says McClelland.
In the long-term shelter, the teens "direct their own plan and treatment," says McClelland. "They set out short-term goals, first for 30 days, and then for every three months at a time. They work their plan, and we make adjustments."
Dee says the shelter wasn't what she expected.
"This program has forced me to get to know myself, my limitations. It has not been a walk in the park, but it has taught me a lot. It's taught me that I need some type of structure in my life," says Dee.
McClelland says it's challenging to deal with the countless problems faced by homeless LGBTQ teens, including prostitution and drug use.
"Homeless young people nationally do what they need to do in order to survive. Some of those things include stealing, typically shoplifting things like groceries," she says. "They also engage in prostitution to try to survive. It's problem for homeless youth across the board."
McClelland also runs a drop-in site at McNichols and Woodward that provides hot meals, community support, clothes, shower and laundry services, as well as life-skills counseling. It's open Monday through Friday from 4 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 8:30 p.m. Dozens of young people a day receive aid from the drop-in center.
"A lot of the folks that come into the drop-in center come because this is the only safe place they've got. There's a young transgendered woman who is squatting in a house nearby," Bashert says. "She comes into the drop-in center, finds a couch and falls asleep. She can't sleep safely in the house she's squatting in. She's not getting any rest."
Outreach staffers also go into areas with transient youth populations.
"Whatever is popular for the kids is where we try to be. We pass out safe sex kits and information about how to find our house and how to access services," McClelland says.
Bashert says every year more than 1 million kids fend for themselves on the streets of America.
"It sounds like a shocking number, like we're inflating it, but we're not. I wish we were inflating it," Bashert says.
With the insurmountable needs in southeast Michigan, the Ruth Ellis Center needs as much support as it can get, Bashert says.
"It all comes down to money," says Bashert.
"We are going to do whatever we need to do to meet the needs of LGBTQ youth," McClelland says.
You can learn more about the Ruth Ellis Center at ruthelliscenter.com or by calling 313-867-6936.
Anthony Martinez Beven is a Metro Times editorial intern. E-mail letters@metrotimes.com
Culture Letters to the Editor News Comics Free Will Astrology Spirituality Love & sex Savage Love The Food Guy Food & Drink Lifestyle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Tidal to SE during flood to NW during ebb.
Fog from June to Sep.
Póvoa de Varzim is located 21M south of Viana do Castelo. The south facing entrance of the harbour is protected by an outer breakwater, north breakwater heading SSW, with red flashes light and siren. The other breakwater, south breakwater heads NNW, and has a long flashes green light. Although the harbour is well protected from northwest, the entrance might be rough if the swell is heavy; even with moderate swell, braking water is to be expected off the breakwater end. The north coast has offshore dangers and a 2M clearance should be given. The south coast is sandy with rocks; as it also has offshore dangers; navigation should keep outside the 20m line. A wire fence surrounds the port.
When approaching from the north, give a good clearance to the end of the north breakwater and associated turbulence that extends up to 30m off to the south. The entrance should be made heading NNE towards the southern breakwater, swinging to N, once sheltered by the northern breakwater. Once cleared from the head of the southern breakwater, swing to starboard giving a 50m clearance and leaving the small green buoys well to starboard. The entrance is about 3,5m chart datum.


text:
Balboa è un cratere lunare di 69,19 km situato nella parte nord-occidentale della faccia visibile della Luna.

Il cratere è dedicato all'esploratore spagnolo Vasco Núñez de Balboa.

Crateri correlati
Alcuni crateri minori situati in prossimità di Balboa sono convenzionalmente identificati, sulle mappe lunari, attraverso una lettera associata al nome.

Note

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Balboa
Caratteristiche esogeologiche lunari con crateri correlati

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Frank Kaven, left, and Christopher Kukich, arrive by carriage at Martini's Bistro on Sunday fro their ceremony.
Life partners, Frank Kaven and Christopher Kukich, owners of Martini's Bistro in Longmont, held a formal commitment ceremony Sunday that affirms their commitment to each other.
For more photos and a video of the ceremony, go to http://www.timescall.com.


This is the Habbo Flooder for use with Habbo Hotel.
"Habbo Raper" is a special program aimed toward those who enjoy the "raids".
Enables your browser to get the freshest content from Habbo Community.
Get Habbo tools Community's content delivered to your browser.
It's a widget that allows you to stay connected to the Internet.
Used with serial modems to graphically configure and monitor wireless networks.
Yreal Status Community Toolbar — stay connected and get so much more.
Habbo For All Toolbar is a great way to stay on top with latest news and more.
Enables your browser to get the freshest content from Rock-Habbo Community.
Allows you to update your profile's status or your fan page's status.
This tool will add a status symbols menu above the status box.


text:
Q: spoofing request method in laravel action() helper method? In a Laravel 5.5 project, I have a student controller with destory method.
public function destroy(Student $student)
{
    //destroy $student and redirect
}

I have the route for the controller as follows
Route::delete('/student/{id}', 'StudentController@destroy');

Now let's get to the question.
I have a page to manage students and it has a delete button.
  <a class="btn btn-danger"
       href="{{ action('StudentController@destroy', ['id' => $student->id]) }}" >
  Delete
  </a>

when i click the delete button it throws method not allowed exception since the request is not a delete request. Is there any way/workaround to specify/spoof the request method through action()/route() helper functions?
Normally I would have created a form with a hidden _method="delete" input and post the form. but if I am adding an update button, then I would have to create another form with a hidden _method="patch" in it and I don't think this is a good practice.
please give some ideas to go forward.

A: Answering your question - yes, you should create form that will allow you to delete the student. This is how REST should be used - you don't create workarounds but you just use valid HTTP method for given action.
There is also one other reason why you shouldn't use links and GET methods for this. For example let's assume your URL to remove student looks like this:
http://example.com/students/1/delete

When you type url in browser, browsers usually remember previous urls, so you could remove some student by mistake if you used GET method to remove students.
Of course in above example you could use JavaScript that will be launched when you click the link that will run valid HTTP action, but it might mean more work than using simple form.

A: There are 2 ways that I can think of it:

*

*Create a form with method DELETE
{!! Form::model($student, ['method' => 'DELETE', 'action' => ['StudentController@destroy', $student->id]]) !!}
    {!! Form::submit('Delete', ['class' => 'btn btn-danger']) !!}
{!! Form::close() !!}

*Create an ajax request with request type DELETE
$.ajax({
   url: '/students/'+id+'/delete,
   type: "DELETE",
   data:{ _token: "{{ csrf_token() }}" }
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Stephen Colbert Provides Live Democrat Debate Coverage on The Late Show
Posted By: Trevor Jeffery
Stephen was in full form last night during his live Late Show event, following the 10th Democratic Debate in South Carolina.
It's at the point in the campaign trail where the candidates aren't being friendly anymore. And Bernie Sanders is mopping the floor with the lot of them. So… they're all sniping at him. And failing, it seems like.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is proving himself again and again the doddering old timer people are quickly realizing he's always been. For your convenience, Stephen Colbert gave a quick highlight reel of the debates, which will be sure to edify and entertain:
The new-ish comer Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York, gave everyone reason to believe that he's full of it. He spend a whole lot of time inserting and re-inserting his foot into his mouth over statements he must have presumed to be woke. In actuality, the opposite occurred where he revealed how ignorant he truly is. Typical billionaire, right? Bloomberg in this 10th debate pulled a real Beto O'Rourke – if you all remember the first debate, Beto overplayed his hand when he tried to answer a question in Spanish. Really terrible Spanish. But Bloomberg believes himself the invincible billionaire, and kept doubling down.
After Stephen was done roasting the Democratic race for the chance at the Presidency, it was time to move on to everyone's favourite target: Donald Trump (note: just to clarify he's everyone's favourite only in the context of being a target). With the Corona virus outbreak holding steady, eyes turn to the President of the United States for leadership, unfortunately. Even more unfortunate is the revelation that Trump removed a whole lot of safeguards to prevent this kind of thing.
Speaking of viruses and loudmouth, unlikable politicians, Chris Christie was Stephen's special guest on the show. He provided a Republican perspective on the evening's debates, as he had before. Despite Stephen's long track record of mercilessly making fun of the man, they seem to get along well, strangely. And Christie does provide a perspective that 90% of Stephen's usual guests don't. So hooray for Chris Christie?
Probably not. But anyway, Christie gave his initial opinion on the debate: Biden and Bloomberg bombed, but Bernie is bulletproof.
There are eight candidates left (of the eight, seven debated last night – Tulsi Gabbard didn't qualify). The next debate will be March 15, when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be sure to again go live. So be sure yourself to tune in!
Catch more of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing weeknights at 11.35 et/pt on Global, and watch the latest episodes online here on GlobalTV.com!
News From The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
SNL Weekend Update Anchor Michael Che Visits The Late Show May 26, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Chris O'Donnell Talks 14 Years of NCIS: LA on The Late Show May 8, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Anne Hathaway Explains How To Make Jared Leto Break Character Mar 16, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Bernie Sanders Calls Out Political Corruption on The Late Show Mar 2, 2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live Stream Free Sketches
All New This Week | Up Next: Michael B. Jordan Free Sketches
The Talk Stream Latest Episodes
ET Canada Watch Live Weeknights | Streaming Next Day
Hot Ones Limited Free Access | Stream Latest Episodes Limited Free Access | Latest Episodes


The NBN is due to be connected to our premises towards the end of April, so I am investigating my options.
The connection will be fibre to the curb, so I will not need a modem.
I currently have a TP-Link Archer C5400 wireless router which I intend to directly connect to the NBN NCD.
I am currently making telephone connections via a VOIP box connected to the Archer via ethernet.
I will keep the Archer as my main management device and wireless server as it has high speed connections and the range I need to reach all our wireless devices.
I have an existing Foxtel Platinum service from Telstra but am not interested in their current regimented NBN offerings.
Does Foxtel have a plan which would suit me?
Foxtel nbn is not available for Fibre to the Curb.
nbn from Foxtel service not available to fixed wireless, Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) and satellite technology addresses.
Scroll down when on the webpage, it's in the fine print at the bottom.
Thanks for that, I will remove them from my list. Seems a silly business decision though, FTTC will be a fair bit of the installed base, and it seems the easiest technology to connect to.


Unmetered (don't know its exact hardware specs).
Up to 10% discount on the overall amount.
Up to 2 Additional Tera Bytes to your monthly transfer cap.
irssi (you can then install autodl-irssi on top of it).
Once you've maxed out your monthly data-cap, you'll still be able to transfer content to your SeedBox at your current plan's max speed.
However, content transferred from your SeedBox will be limited to 7-10Mbps.
From what I've been told by staff, plans are currently being made to introduce in the coming weeks a way for all metered-plan members to purchase additional monthly Tera Bytes of bandwidth, should they max out their monthly data-cap.
I'm currently leasing the Vampire Box.
At 10Gbit/1Gbit, it all boils down to disk I/Os, and SeedBoxes.cc's new metered plans leave little room left to be desired.
Though my Torrent client of choice is Deluge (thin-client mode), I've also tried out ruTorrent with around 115 active torrents (out of which Roughly 25 were actually seeding) - and the interface was very responsive.
SeedBoxes.cc's support is currently ticket-system/Email only, and yet, the average ticket turn-around time during normal business hours (GMT +02:00) can usually be less than 10 minutes, and no more than 3 hours!
Responses are always thorough, courteous and leave absolutely 0 guess work on your part!
Looks cool and cheap too.
Definitely one of the most competitively priced services out there judging from the screenshots.... I think that this would be an excellent way for inexperienced seeders to affordably familiarize themselves with seed-boxes.
Lord Cutler Beckett: "No doubt you've discovered that loyalty is no longer the currency of the realm, as your father believes."
Elizabeth Swann: "Then what is?"
Lord Cutler Beckett: "I'm afraid... currency..... is the currency of the realm."
found cheaper and faster box's than this one and used this service before its a good seedbox but if you look around well enough is more out there cheaper and faster....but nothing wrong with this seedbox either.
Thanks for the review. Very appreciate.
Could you please give an example of a better seedbox and the plan ?
I'm using this seedbox provider for a month and I'm really impressed by the performances.
It was difficult to find a better plan. The only cons for me is the limited bandwidth (3Tb/month for the cheaper offer) because it disappears quickly with a 10gb link.
Nice seedbox only problem is metered bandwidth..
I will blindly vouch their service.
Seedboxes.cc was the first seedbox i've ever had. Then I tried seedhost.eu, seedbox.io and finally Feral Hosting in that respective order. I then returned to seedhost.eu to try out their dedicated seedboxes as opposed to their shared seedboxes and I've never looked back. If I recall, the reason I left Seedboxes.cc in the first place was not only to try out other seedboxes, but at the time (early 2017) I felt their pricing plans with regards to their bandwidth limits and speed to be not the best, but after seeing this review, I may scoop by to put their boxes to the test once more.
Seedmybox Seedboxes and VPS (EvoSwitch) | 1GBPS | LOWEST PRICES | 10% off!


Look who is in Sunday School this year!
As soon as I started reading, I knew this was a diet change I should be making, starting immediately. I should mention that I had been primed by two friends from church, Johannah and Kim who had separately and briefly on the web, referenced going without sugar for a time . Neither of them even know I read that, but I did and I thought long and hard about it. I mentioned it in passing to my husband before we went to bed already wondering what I would eat for breakfast. My typical quick breakfast is a cup of Lipton tea with about three teaspoons of raw cane sugar and milk and a bread item, sometimes a bagel, sometimes a piece of toast spread with peanut butter. If we have Tropicana orange juice(my fav and only purchased on a good sale)I'll have a small cup of that too. The bagel would be a problem because the only kind left in my freezer is a cinnamon raisin. And on top of that, they were lousy so it was easy to not see the need to finish the last two.
So for breakfast this week, I've mostly had the toast(which is my homemade bread with cane sugar to help speed the yeast which I can cut back or eliminate)spread with a thin layer of regular store bought peanut butter which does have sugar in it. But I have been using it sparingly as I think about other quick options. And I've been using honey in my tea. It's an okay option, not quite the taste I'm used to in my tea but it gets the job done.
Saturday brought an unexpected loot of candy to our house, (including a tempting Kit-Kat bar) as we attended our town's annual parade where the participants threw candy at us. Later as I stood looking at the stash piled on the kitchen counter, I convincingly told myself, "You're not interested." And for the most part, I was right with that one wafery exception which I did not eat, just for the record!
Another tricky time for me is after dinner when I usually make a cup of tea and have something sweet while I drink it. So first thing, I checked my little bag of New York Style Almond biscotti to see where the sugar faired in the list of ingredients.
First item. Nooo! I put the bag back and didn't eat anything that night.
Sunday lunch(I actually call it dinner on Sunday but let's not confuse anyone) brought my husband's brother and his wife and two store-bought desserts to my house. One, apple pie. Okay so pie isn't really a big deal for me. Move on. Two, a brownie caramel cheesecake. My heart stopped. For real? Brownie? Caramel? Cheesecake? What is this? Who does she think I am? Worst part? She actually saw my status update on Facebook on Friday talking about this plan. So cruel. But we laughed and I instantly started to rationalize about having a piece. By the time I had fixed lunch and served it, fed my girls, got them to bed for a nap, put the tea kettle on for dessert tea, cleaned up some dishes and sat down to eat my late lunch, I knew I would be having a a small slice. It was delicious and it was all I could do to not go into the kitchen and enjoy a second and third helping. But surprisingly I confined myself to one tiny wedge and enjoyed it with little or no guilt. As they prepared to leave later in the afternoon, I put the lid on the remaining cake, silently bid it farewell, and gave it to her in a bag. Yes, it was a little sad, I won't lie, but that night, the biscotti didn't tempt me at all.
But oh it was waiting for me Monday night after I put our girls to bed. The tea was hot and steaming and the biscotti dipped in the tea became a warm comforting mouthful. Three bites and it was over. I ate two, put the clothespin on the bag and shoved it back in the pantry. Wednesday night they beckoned again. Perfect nightcap. Perfect devils those crunchy cons.
But I tell myself, I did not eat the leftover apple pie in the fridge, nor any of Mrs. Dunster's whole wheat sugar donuts trucked home from New Brunswick back in August now sitting comfortably in our freezer, nor did I even have a sip of the ginger ale that I bought for my husband in case of nausea with his migraine last Thursday. And it was purchased in a two liter bottle which once opened isn't fizzy very long. But as much as I would have loved to have a small glass, I firmly closed the door and left it in the cold dark of the refrigerator waiting to drank by my fully recovered husband.
The only other sugar I've had is a natural sugar item in the form of a large jug of apple cider that I paid good money for and could not fathom pouring it down the drain. So I drank that instead of the ginger ale. It didn't have any additional sugar but like apple juice it is very sweet. But what I am aiming to eliminate is the junk sugar that comes from soda, candy, and the like. Chocolate cake included. More sorrow because cake is a dear friend.
This looks like a project I'm capable of doing.
In our summer travels, I used jarred baby food to feed my two girls and one that they both seemed to like was Sweet Corn Casserole made by Beech Nut. Searching for recipes for Corn Casserole yielded a dish similar to a thick corn bread or pudding dish. Not really what I was looking for. So I turned to looking for Creamed Corn recipes which is what many people call cream-style corn and I came up with a modified version of those recipes.
I started with chopped onion and a glop of butter(I don't measure butter, I enjoy it!). I then remembered that I have tons of celery growing profusely in the garden that needs to start making guest appearances in food, so I grabbed some stalks and finely chopped some of that too. At this point I considered adding some sweet red pepper but due to time issues, I passed it by. But I think it would add some great color and flavor so try it and let me know.
Now here is where the photography gets tricky so please pardon all the fuzzy and wobbly photos. Only two hands, both sticky with sweet corn, a sharp knife, slippery cobs and a finicky camera. To eliminate extra steps and more dirty containers, I cut the corn off the cob and right into my saucepan which I pulled off the burner temporarily to get all this done on camera. Using the sharp blade of the knife, cut only the top portion of the kernel off. You do not need to cut right into the cob, we'll get the rest on the second round. So for now, your mission is to go around the cob once and remove the top third of the corn kernel. It will be messy, but it goes quick.
Then, flip your knife upside down and use the back of the knife to scrape the rest of the kernel and juice into the pan. More mess but this is the good stuff.
Most recipes I found called for 1 cup heavy cream. I don't keep cream on hand so I used milk, 2% at that. To compensate for the lack of cream, I added two teaspoons of cornstarch to help thicken the corn and milk. If you use cream, you probably can skip that step or reduce to a teaspoon or less. Stir as it thickens and then dig out the power tools.
You could leave it like this, but I know Kate won't be able to chew and swallow this, so I used my immersion blender stick to blend it all together until it was at a consistency I thought both my girls could handle.
I tested it at this point and thought it was still too much to chew for her so I continued to blend.
Every kitchen needs a taster, one that will give their honest and unbiased opinion. Here's mine.
It was also polished off by her older sister(not pictured)with nary a scowl or gag. A success to be sure!
Here is the barebones recipe. Feel free to tweak it. I purposely left out sugar and salt but you do what you want. I am freezing this like I do my other vegetables but will be careful about reheating it due to the milk content.
just to be clear, they do have toys, but clearly these are much more fun!
I use a ten dollar Black and Decker coffee grinder to grind rice and oats. I have tried soybeans with my old inherited grinder, but it didn't like the hard beans and broke after my second batch. I definitely would use a grain grinder to grind legumes, but a coffee grinder is sufficient for long grain brown rice and oats which is what I use.
Now this is where it gets noisy so you may want to either warn anyone in the area or move to a more remote part of the house to avoid hearing complaints or crying.
It should look powdery and dry. I dump it into the container that I store it in for later use.
The oats are much quieter, quicker and softer to grind up than the rice but still end up looking just as powdery and dry as the rice.
Add the measured cereal to a medium saucepan or pot and admire your work, unless your children are hanging off your legs crying for food, then get busy adding the water.
Half cup of cereal needs two and half cups of water. Rice alone or mixed with oats, the water amount stays the same.
Add the water, turn the heat to high and do not leave the stove!
Stir it immediately to distribute the grain and avoid huge lumps from forming.
With the heat on high, it will soon begin to bubble. Stir frequently. I like to use a silicon spatula, since I can use it to scrape the cooled cereal out later.
Almost there, stir some more.
This is a full boil and it's time to turn down the heat to low-mid range, simmering is what I guess it would be called. Take it off the heat for a moment if you feel it's going to boil over and make a terrible mess, but do keep up the stirring!
As the full boil begins to slow down, the cereal is now starting to thicken. Lumps can still form quite easily so frequent stirring is best.
It may seem somewhat thin right now, but it will thicken to that porridge state very quickly over the next couple of minutes.
If you need to serve it right away, pull it off the burner, keep stirring and allow it to start cooling. As it sits, a crust will form over the top, but it can be mixed back in without causing too much texture change.
Once it has cooled sufficiently to be put into a container, it should all fit nicely into this medium container. I then refrigerate it until I need some at which point I put it into a microwaveable bowl and heat it until warm. It likely will be more firm than boxed baby cereals but my girls have no problem with the texture and Special K doesn't chew her food yet so it works well for both of them.
Store the uncooked cereals in a airtight container. I am feeding two children up to three meals a day so I make the amount above every other day right now. I could make it in bigger batches but this works for me just as well.
I know that this is considered baby cereal but it can easily be given to an older toddler or child as a better alternative to most breakfast cereals. Also many people are into soaking their grains before cooking which was done in previous generations by peoples all over the world. If you are interested in pursuing soaking, here is one book and one site to check into. Nourishing Traditions is a popular book which I own and use as a reference. And The Nourishing Gourmet is one website that I have done some reading on. Soaking is a commitment which I have yet to commit to but I think many people find a good deal of health benefits including tolerating wheat products that previously they were allergic to.
You will definitely save money by making your own cereal as a bag of rice costs as much as a box of baby cereal and will last much, much longer. But just as important, in my opinion, it has more nutrition than the boxed cereal. I serve this warm with a fork-mashed banana to my girls for the main part of their breakfast. At lunch, they get another serving with their vegetables and at dinner again with more veggies and meat. Everyday works a little differently but this is a typical menu.
And I do cook my own vegetables unless we are traveling then I usually buy it in the jar.


text:
'Abysmal job of running health': Why this regional doctor can't take any more
ABC Eyre Peninsula
/ By Evelyn Leckie
Posted Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 2:47am Wednesday 3 Nov 2021 at 2:47am Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 2:47am , updated Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 4:36am Wednesday 3 Nov 2021 at 4:36am Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 4:36am
Dr Scott Lewis says the lack of support from the health system has taken a toll on his physical and mental wellbeing. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Samantha Jonscher)
abc.net.au/news/scott-lewis-retires-after-14-years/100590250
An outback doctor on the Eyre Peninsula has slammed SA Health, saying he can no longer tolerate working in a system which he says has little respect for frontline medical and nursing staff.
Wudinna's sole doctor will resign, citing a lack of support from the state's health system
Dr Scott Lewis says SA Health has a complete lack of understanding of rural communities
SA Health says work is underway towards a sustainable agreement between GPs and hospitals
Dr Scott Lewis has been the sole GP in the isolated community of Wudinna for 14 years and was previously the vice-president of the Rural Doctors Association SA.
He said he believed there was no chance SA Health would change its ways to support rural doctors in the future.
"We have a health system that is not supportive, that doesn't support the needs of rural communities and has done really quite an abysmal job of running health particularly on the Eyre Peninsula," Dr Lewis said.
Dr Lewis warned SA Health throughout the pandemic warning he'd retire unless medical staff were supported in regional areas. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Samantha Jonscher)
Dr Lewis said he had been contacting SA Health for several years about remuneration issues in regional hospitals and chronic health staff shortages in the regions.
"This is a problem that's been developing for over a decade now, it's a culture that's developed - a culture of brushing things under the rug."
Wudinna is an isolated farming town on the Eyre Peninsula (ABC Eyre Peninsula)
Dr Lewis said he was frustrated that local GPs in Port Lincoln, south of Wudinna, had been forced to remove their services from the hospital in November last year due to contract disputes with SA Health.
"They've been replaced by unfortunately an extremely varying quality of locum workforce."
He said he had been angry for so long and his emotional mental and physical health had suffered.
"I've basically been on-call 24/7 for 14 years."
"That's a manageable thing when you're supported by a system, but when you don't have that support, that toll becomes unbearable.
"Our communities deserve better than that."
'No one wants to come'
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Rural Council chair Dr Michael Clements recently visited regional areas across SA.
He said warnings of SA Health's lack of adequate contracts to keep local GPs working in hospitals were shared around the nation's medical community.
"To be blunt, any rural GP that is thinking about moving around the country to try out a different town won't be looking at SA, given the noise that we've been hearing and what we've been hearing on the ground about these contract disputes."
RACGP Rural Council chair Dr Michael Clements (middle) said the national medical community are aware of contract disputes in regional SA. (Supplied: Michael Clements)
New contracts on their way
Health Minister Stephen Wade said he was disappointed Dr Lewis was stepping down.
"I think he might be currently the vice-president of the Rural Doctors Association of SA," Mr Wade said.
South Australian Health Minister Stephen Wade wants to gain a better understanding of what might have led to Dr Lewis' retirement. (ABC News: Michael Clements)
"I've often had conversations with Scott [and] I look forward to the next one where I can get a better understanding of the issues that might have influenced his decision."
Eyre and Far North Local Health Network CEO Verity Patterson said she was sad to see Dr Lewis go but respected his decision.
"The challenges facing the Eyre and Far North about attracting and retaining doctors are well known and Scott has been a passionate advocate for improving those arrangements," Ms Patterson said.
"We have listened and learned from him.
"A new GP contract is currently being negotiated on our behalf by SA Health's Rural Support Service, which works towards a coordinated and sustainable agreement that benefits the rural GP medical workforce."
Dr Lewis will move to the Adelaide Hills with his young family and finish in Wudinna on December 31.
Posted 3 Nov 2021 3 Nov 2021 Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 2:47am , updated 3 Nov 2021 3 Nov 2021 Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 4:36am
Regional SA doctors want agreement to address 'absolute degradation' in health services
Doctors and Medical Professionals
Surgical Medicine


This striking new unit is available in 3 sizes, a twin cluster model up to 160 watts for tanks between 24? to 36? long, a 240 watt model with three clusters for tanks between 36? to 48? and a bigger unit with four central LED clusters, and up to 320 watts of power for tanks between 48? and 60? long.


text:
Dangerous Obsession
N J Crisp
A Thetare Royal, Bath, production
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and touring
How much of a thrill can you get with only a cast of three? and how many twists and turns can a plot take to confuse us? Well – in this production it does pretty well.
The scene in set in the elegant modern conservatory of a luxury home, presumably in the Home Counties, and what an opulent home it is, with every conceivable technical gadget available. Not only is the music centre operated by remote control, but also the doors and the window blinds which can descend like shutters, shutting out the outside world – but also enclosing the inhabitants in a cocoon, or a prison!
Suspended from the ceiling is a CCTV screen surveying the whole of the house and garden. The owners must be very conscious of the need for security, but right now Sally Driscoll is relaxing in a sarong after a swim in the pool, bombarding herself and us with loud music, and unaware that she is being watched.
The observer, business-like in dark suit and carrying a substantial brief case, comes to the door and, believing him to be a salesman, Sally sends him away, but he returns and claims that they have met previously at a social occasion. His name is John Barrett and he certainly seems to know a lot about her. Then follows the kind of conversation where Sally desperately tries to recall where and when and who, looking for clues as they talk, but finally has to admit that she just cannot remember him – at the same time confessing that she often drinks too much. Is this a clue to later developments?
As the conversation progresses Sally begins to feel uneasy as she is complimented on her appearance and is aware that she is wearing very little. She keeps mentioning that her husband will be arriving any moment, and when he does turn up it would appear that it is really husband Mark that Barrett wants to see. The Driscolls would like this boring little man to leave – "give him a drink and get rid of him" - but he is not going to go until his mission has been accomplished……….and that is as much as I can tell you without giving away the plot, but Barrett's "Regrettably a degree of fear is a necessary part of our conversation" certainly adds to the suspense..
A splendid performance from Liza Goddard as Sally, well balanced by that of Martyn Stanbridge as husband Mark, while Ian Oglivy's portrayal of Barrett was so convincingly and unwaveringly in character it was hard to believe that he had ever played any other part.
Suffice it to say that this stylish production contains intrigue, mystery, tension, suspense and a few shocks. Add the ingredient of quality acting, a good script and Alan Cohen's tight direction and here is a enjoyable and exciting evening entertainment – but don't forget to lock your doors when you get home and be careful who is watching!
Continuing to Brighton and Richmond.
This review was first published in Theatreworld Internet Magazine
Reviewer: Sheila Connor
Associated books from Amazon
Dangerous Obsession (Acting Edition S.)
N. J. Crisp
Dangerous Obsession (Acting Edition) by N. J. Crisp (1-Jan-1989) Paperback


Over 150 participants from IAPO member organizations descended on Barcelona from more than 25 countries including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Macedonia, Moldova, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Uruguay for the 2nd Global Patients Congress organized by IAPO in association with the Spanish Coalition of Citizens with Chronic Illness and the Catalan Rheumatology League.
The International Painful Bladder Foundation was represented at this congress by Jane Meijlink, IPBF chairman, who was also a member of the congress organizing committee.
The Congress in Barcelona brought together patient leaders from around the world, alongside healthcare representatives, including the global health professionals associations and the World Health Organization (WHO), to work together to develop strategies to bring patients to the centre of healthcare systems. The delegates from disease-specific and cross-disease organizations represented millions of patients with conditions including Alzheimer's disease, arthritis and rheumatism, asthma, autoimmune related diseases, Crohn's disease, cancers, diabetes, epilepsy, haemophilia, heart conditions, HIV/AIDS, incontinence, infertility, migraine and headache conditions, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, painful bladder syndrome / interstitial cystitis, polio, rare diseases and ulcerative colitis. The congress was the perfect opportunity for networking and making new contacts and delegates took full advantage of this throughout the congress.
The theme of the congress was fully supported by participants, reflecting their commitment to effect change through working in partnership to address the main issues considered during the Congress: Patient-Centred Healthcare and Patient Safety.
IAPO is calling for the support and collaboration of policy-makers, health professionals, service providers, and health-related industries to endorse and commit to these Five Principles and make them the core of their policies and practice.
Speakers on this topic were: Jo Harkness, Policy & External Affairs Director, IAPO; Kathy Kovacs Burns, Past Chair, Best Medicines Coalition (Canada); and Regina Namata Kamoga, IAPO Board Member and Country Manager (Uganda), Community Health and Information Network. The Chair was Sandra Dill, IAPO Board Member; Chair, International Consumer Support for Infertility Patient Leader Network; and Executive Director of ACCESS Australia Infertility Network. IAPO's Declaration on Patient-Centred Healthcare can be found online, with some references on the impact of a patient-centred approach in IAPO's publication, "What is Patient-Centred Healthcare?: A Review of Definitions and Principles", available at www.patientsorganizations.org/pchreview.
A second policy focus, on Thursday 23 February, lay on patient safety responding to the global problem of patient safety - the World Health Organization estimates that in developed countries, up to one out of every 10 hospital patients experiences an adverse event and in developing countries, over 50% of medical equipment is faulty (WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety, A Year of Living less Dangerously, Progress Report 2005).
Speakers were: Martin Fletcher, Technical Officer, World Alliance for Patient Safety, WHO; Margaret Murphy, patient advocate; Yves Juillet, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations; Dr Kgosi Letlape, World Health Professionals Alliance; and Britt Wendelboe, Danish Society for Patient Safety.
Stephen McMahon, IAPO Board Member and Chairman of the Irish Patients Association chaired an international panel of policy-makers, patient advocates, industry and health professional representatives that considered the global challenges to improve patient safety. The session raised awareness of patient safety issues such as medical errors, the importance of communication and information to patients and how risks and benefits of medicines are considered. Speakers highlighted concrete initiatives to improve patient safety and during the Congress, education, training and debate equipped and encouraged patients to connect with healthcare systems in a coordinated, powerful and highly effective way to improve safety for all.
Margaret Murphy, patient advocate and member of the steering group of Patients for Patient Safety, part of the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety, emphasised the valuable role that patients and patient advocates play to improve patient safety both on a personal level in interactions with the healthcare system but also by working in partnership with health professionals, policy-makers and others involved in healthcare. Margaret commented, "I am optimistic in relation to authentic, meaningful and productive partnership. Honouring the patient experience requires root cause analysis and accepting responsibility in relation to flawed systems, processes and behaviours. These constitute the first steps in the journey from experience, through learning, to improvement and safer outcomes." Delegates were deeply moved to hear about the circumstances surrounding the death of Margaret's son caused by a series of medical failures and misjudgements.
During the session, the need was highlighted for an international concerted effort to address patient safety. "The World Health Professionals Alliance (WHPA) was pleased to participate in this very successful World Congress and looks forward to working with IAPO and patient groups everywhere towards increased international action on patient safety and building a responsible, sanction free healthcare environment", stated Dr Kgosi Letlape, President of the World Medical Association who represented the WHPA at the Congress.
In addition to commitment to work in partnership with Patients for Patient Safety, IAPO is concerned about the specific patient safety issues related to counterfeit medicines. IAPO supported the proposal to establish an International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) during the WHO International Conference 'Combating Counterfeit Drugs: Building Effective International Collaboration' in Rome, 16-18 February 2006. This resulted in the publication of the Declaration of Rome which declared that counterfeiting medicines was a vile and serious criminal offence that puts human lives and risk and stated that WHO should lead the establishment of IMPACT.
See also IAPO's Global Patients Congress 2006 Evaluation Report.


text:
Sea Viper
Former roller coaster at Sea World. Built by Arrow Dynamics and opened in 1982.
Theming/Storyline
Upkeep/Presentation
Queue/Efficiency
The ride was previously known as Corkscrew Rollercoaster, and was the first triple looping roller coaster in Australia.
At the end of 2009 the ride was rebranded Sea Viper, with the main changes being a new 'low profile' train built by Kumbak, and the track being repainted from white to orange.
More Sea Viper Stats
Sea Viper Photos
More Sea Viper Photos