SMOKE FILLS OUR VALLEY
We are experiencing a period of hot, dry weather. This is what the farmers need to ripen their tomato crops before Christmas. Have you ever noticed how expensive tomatoes are at Christmas time? The crops in the northern districts like Bundaberg and Bowen are finished and the backpackers are moving south looking for work. Here in the cool mountain highlands of the border between Queensland and New South Wales our tomato plants can not be planted until the frosts are finished. This year the farmers on the Granite Belt had heavy rain in May to fill their farm dams and the weirs across the creeks and Severn River. They have water to irrigate their crops and now have been blessed with a heatwave to encourage the quick growth and early ripening of their vegetables.
But last night the weather forecast for today included a severe fire warning. And yes, I awoke this morning to the sight of our valley filled with smoke.
Bushfire smoke
With visibility reduced by this pall of smoke I do not yet know where the fire is situated and if it is headed in our direction. What I do know is that thanks to our foresight in clearing trees in close proximity to our house and undertaking a controlled burn of our country at the end of winter, we will not need to evacuate our home.
While the Peter Spencer hunger strike continues the numbers of people joining the Agmates site which offers an opportunity for members to post blogs, write in a FORUM and advertise products is attracting attention and growing in membership.
I have already elaborated on the reasons that Peter Spencer is sitting on a 300metre wind monitoring pole and is undertaking a hunger strike, so I suggest new readers of my posts on http://fayhelwig.com should go to previous posts in the Peter Spencer series.
There were over 40 new posts on the Peter Spencer site this morning from concerned people to get his message out to the media. Every day during the past week I’ve been typing the name of Peter Spencer into the Australian section of the great Google Search Engine. Peter Spencer is quite a common name and it did not bring any response until I added the words ‘Hunger Strike‘.
Whereas, if you type my name Fay Helwig into the same section, Google will load pages in reference to me. This is partly because in August of 2008 I paid Barnaby de Palma and the Alive Online team in Brisbane to set up this blog for me and provide linkage in such a way that Google observes every word I write on this site, or social pages like Facebook. This is called Search Engine Optimization and my reason for undertaking the expense was to have Google place our business Das Helwig Haus B&B on the first page of a Google search for Granite Belt Accommodation.
In searching for ways in which I could assist Peter Spencer I came across this Australian Blog Directory available on http://au.loadedweb.com/
I listed http://fayhelwig.com on this site two days ago. Now I suggest you go on to the Google Search Engine, tick Australian search, and type in the words Peter Spencer. The number of entries about Peter Spencer have risen from none on the first page to 5 entries, including my posts via the Loaded Web page.
It comes up under the site http://au.loadedweb.com/blogs/tag/peter+spencer.html
If my blog writing can put the name of Peter Spencer on the first page of the Google search engine alongside the few features written about him in rural newspapers, how much more successful would it be if the Agmates group got behind Peter Spencer with a blog that was recognised by Google! Sure, it will cost a couple of thousand dollars, but my suggestion to all the followers of Peter Spencer is that they should contact people with the knowledge to undertake the work like Alive Online and get the necessary linkage. Go to the top, go to Barnaby.
Mt. Stirling wreathed in smoke
It is naive to think that Google will pick up Peter Spencer’s fight quickly unless such action is taken.
Tuesday a reporter and photographer from the Sydney Morning Herald were due at Peters property to do a spread on Peter and his cause. But, late the night before the reporter called to say that he’d just been advised by his editor that he was pulling the story – The Sydney Morning Herald is owned by Fairfax Media who own more than half of the media in this country. They own Metro newspapers , the SMH, The Melbourne Age, The Australian Financial Review, The Brisbane Times, The Canberra Times, WAtoday plus 200 other rural and regional publications, magazines, TV and a host of other media.
It appears that there are powerful commercial and political forces conspiring to keep Peter Spencer’s fight out of the mainstream media. If we are to see Peter Spencer and his cause gain coverage we must use the modern methods of communication not the newspapers to create public awareness.
While comparing my name with that of Peter Spencer on the Google search engine yesterday I discovered the national library in Canberra has obtained a copy of my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine. If you want to make suggestions concerning what I write on http://fayhelwig.com you may email me at helwig@halenet.com.au
Book cover
