People with good intentions are putting pressure on the New South Wales government to introduce similar eviction laws as apply to general housing to residents of boarding houses. Those who understand the boarding house culture are horrified - and predict that if it is passed it will sharply increase the number of homeless people living on the streets.
Boarding houses are exempt from the current eviction laws. The Real Estate industry knows that removing a bad tenant can be a long and slow process. " Intention to evict " notice needs to be served with a long response period and then court action is required before the eviction can legally take place. All this takes time and money - and a canny tenant can delay the process by numerous appeals.
Summary eviction is the only option available to those running boarding houses to maintain a reasonable standard of order. Boarding house residents are usually men and many are suffering from the many ills that afflict society. They usually contain those suffering from Schizophrenia, alcoholism, bipolar - and many are addicted to harmful drugs. Anti social behaviour is common and the only way to contain it is the prospect of immediate eviction. This same threat is necessary to collect the rent on time.
Proprietors of this state's boarding houses are adamant that if this proposal becomes law, they will have no option other than closing their doors. The nature of their tenants is such that they will lose their only control power and unpaid rent and social disharmony will quickly spin out of control. Without boarding houses to provide shelter for society's unfortunates, more people will be forced to live on the streets and seek shelter in refuges.
These same boarding house proprietors insist that " tough love " is the only way to maintain order. They run their establishments with an " iron fist " , but the people under their roof have a clean bed and good meals in exchange for obeying the house rules. It is essential that when a tenant gets way out of line, the eviction process instantly happens. It is no idle threat - and without it the system would be in complete disarray !
The government needs to think long and hard before taking this step. In a perfect world an orderly process of maintaining order would be a civilizing element, but most boarding houses cater for a strata of society that lives outside the rules because of their addictions. There is a good chance that pressure from well meaning people will destroy the last refuge for the unfortunates of our society - by making them unworkable !
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Monday 30 July 2012
A new Ferry era begins !
Yesterday, Sydney's tired old Ferry fleet changed hands. Instead of being run by the state government, the ferries will be controlled by Harbour Cities Ferries Consortium, bringing a breath of fresh air to our water transport services.
Sydney is one of the few cities of the world blessed with a magnificent harbour which lends itself as the solution to our transport problems. In the past, ferry services have been stagnant because government departments are not known for innovation and moving with the times. Ponderous decision making and avoiding any sort of risk saw constant changes to service availability and the vessels needed to carry the passengers. Governments also have one eye on the political fallout from these decisions and funding has to compete with the full array of demand from all quarters.
What is incontestable is the fact that our roads are not meeting the ever growing demand of more and more cars. Road journeys at peak - and peak now encroaches on extended periods - are getting slower each year and huge spending on new roads makes very little difference to travelling times. We have this beautiful harbour right in the middle of the city, ready and able to provide the relief that is not possible within the road system.
What it needs - and what it will now get - is a consortium free of government restraint to evaluate and provide a decent ferry system. The people of Sydney will utilise water transport if it provides the right services at the right running times within a reasonable cost structure.
There will probably be little immediate change. This is the stage when all operations will be reviewed and decisions made. Some of the older vessels need replacing and that does not happen overnight. The important decisions will be in the area of getting ferry traffic to coincide with the needs and wishes of the patrons, rather on what suits the ferry operators, as happened in the past.
Few would prefer to sit behind the wheel if a car in bumper to bumper traffic, slowly edging their way to work when there is an alternative of sitting in a comfortable seat on a ferry, enjoying the view and casually being entertained by a book or an electronic news service.
Hopefully, the right people now have the chance to combine the needs of Sydney commuters with a ferry transport option that not only takes some pressure off our roads, but adds to the living standards of Australia's premier city.
Sydney is one of the few cities of the world blessed with a magnificent harbour which lends itself as the solution to our transport problems. In the past, ferry services have been stagnant because government departments are not known for innovation and moving with the times. Ponderous decision making and avoiding any sort of risk saw constant changes to service availability and the vessels needed to carry the passengers. Governments also have one eye on the political fallout from these decisions and funding has to compete with the full array of demand from all quarters.
What is incontestable is the fact that our roads are not meeting the ever growing demand of more and more cars. Road journeys at peak - and peak now encroaches on extended periods - are getting slower each year and huge spending on new roads makes very little difference to travelling times. We have this beautiful harbour right in the middle of the city, ready and able to provide the relief that is not possible within the road system.
What it needs - and what it will now get - is a consortium free of government restraint to evaluate and provide a decent ferry system. The people of Sydney will utilise water transport if it provides the right services at the right running times within a reasonable cost structure.
There will probably be little immediate change. This is the stage when all operations will be reviewed and decisions made. Some of the older vessels need replacing and that does not happen overnight. The important decisions will be in the area of getting ferry traffic to coincide with the needs and wishes of the patrons, rather on what suits the ferry operators, as happened in the past.
Few would prefer to sit behind the wheel if a car in bumper to bumper traffic, slowly edging their way to work when there is an alternative of sitting in a comfortable seat on a ferry, enjoying the view and casually being entertained by a book or an electronic news service.
Hopefully, the right people now have the chance to combine the needs of Sydney commuters with a ferry transport option that not only takes some pressure off our roads, but adds to the living standards of Australia's premier city.
Sunday 29 July 2012
Holding our breath !
The world will be watching the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, but British security services will be holding their breath - wondering if these Olympics will bring a replay of the terrorist attack that marred the 1972 summer games in Munich.
It was a simple escalation of tribal war crossing boundaries in a new era. The original Olympics had been a way of resolving differences on the sporting field in preference to the battle field. It was common for wars to be put on hold so that warriors could attend the games and sometimes the goodwill engendered stopped a resumption and the issue was finally resolved by negotiation.
All that flew out the window in 1972. " Black September " guerrillas invaded the Olympic living quarters and took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. They demanded that Israel release convicted compatriots from Israeli gaols and also called for the release of the leader of the Red Brigade terror gang. The world watched as negotiations proceeded to the stage where the hostages and their captors were about to board a helicopter - and then disaster struck. Shootings and explosions resulted in some of the terrorists and eleven of the hostages losing their lives.
Ever since, holding the Olympics has been a battle between games security and the wide spectrum of terrorist organizations who see the games as an opportunity to showcase their cause and to prove that they have the ability to strike when and where they please. This has raised the cost of hosting the games by hundreds of millions of dollars and ensured that safe games are a measure of national pride.
This year's London games are the epitome of stringent security. There are missile batteries on rooftops around the venue and any aircraft straying into the " no fly " zone risks being shot out of the sky. Every spectator entering the venue will be body scanned for explosive material and have their bags searched. A ring of steel makes sure no vehicles used by suicide bombers can get anywhere near the main venue or the crowds making their way to the many specialist sports stadiums. Nothing is being left to chance.
In seventeen days time - when the closing ceremony has been held - we will know if the security people got it right. There is no doubt that plots existed to disrupt the games and cause casualties and some may be still bubbling away, primed to emerge where they would be least expected.
We live in dangerous times. The world is still reeling from an incident in America where a seemingly average young man took an array of weapons into a movie theatre and killed twelve patrons and wounded dozens more. The element of risk is not stopping Londoners and visitors from all over the world putting up with security measures and taking their seats to watch the games.
Perhaps it is a form of fatalism. Today, people seem to accept risk because that is the sort of world we now live in. It would be quite unacceptable to even think of cancelling future Olympics because the risk was considered too great. Ordinary people will never hand terrorists that sort of victory !
It was a simple escalation of tribal war crossing boundaries in a new era. The original Olympics had been a way of resolving differences on the sporting field in preference to the battle field. It was common for wars to be put on hold so that warriors could attend the games and sometimes the goodwill engendered stopped a resumption and the issue was finally resolved by negotiation.
All that flew out the window in 1972. " Black September " guerrillas invaded the Olympic living quarters and took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. They demanded that Israel release convicted compatriots from Israeli gaols and also called for the release of the leader of the Red Brigade terror gang. The world watched as negotiations proceeded to the stage where the hostages and their captors were about to board a helicopter - and then disaster struck. Shootings and explosions resulted in some of the terrorists and eleven of the hostages losing their lives.
Ever since, holding the Olympics has been a battle between games security and the wide spectrum of terrorist organizations who see the games as an opportunity to showcase their cause and to prove that they have the ability to strike when and where they please. This has raised the cost of hosting the games by hundreds of millions of dollars and ensured that safe games are a measure of national pride.
This year's London games are the epitome of stringent security. There are missile batteries on rooftops around the venue and any aircraft straying into the " no fly " zone risks being shot out of the sky. Every spectator entering the venue will be body scanned for explosive material and have their bags searched. A ring of steel makes sure no vehicles used by suicide bombers can get anywhere near the main venue or the crowds making their way to the many specialist sports stadiums. Nothing is being left to chance.
In seventeen days time - when the closing ceremony has been held - we will know if the security people got it right. There is no doubt that plots existed to disrupt the games and cause casualties and some may be still bubbling away, primed to emerge where they would be least expected.
We live in dangerous times. The world is still reeling from an incident in America where a seemingly average young man took an array of weapons into a movie theatre and killed twelve patrons and wounded dozens more. The element of risk is not stopping Londoners and visitors from all over the world putting up with security measures and taking their seats to watch the games.
Perhaps it is a form of fatalism. Today, people seem to accept risk because that is the sort of world we now live in. It would be quite unacceptable to even think of cancelling future Olympics because the risk was considered too great. Ordinary people will never hand terrorists that sort of victory !
Saturday 28 July 2012
Worse than nuclear !
The greatest fear threatening western nations has been the prospect of terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear weapon or sufficient radioactive matter to fuel a " dirty bomb ". The situation in Syria has added a new element. Syria has no nuclear weapons, but it does have a fully advanced arsenal of chemical weapons of mass destruction - and now there is the question of in whose hands they will fall if the Assad regime is defeated.
The fighting in Syria combines the two worst elements of conflict. Not only is this a civil war, but it is also a religious war. The two main branches of Islam are in a proxy fight with help from Saudi Arabia and Iran to control a country that is a pivot point in one of the world's most dangerous regions. Tribal loyalties are involved in both sides and it is certain that at least some elements have sympathies with the extremists of al Qaeda and similar terrorist organizations.
The Assad regime is experiencing defections and there is a very real chance that the keepers of his chemical arsenal may go over to the other side - and take these weapons into a new dimension. In the hands of terrorists, a small amount of Anthrax scattered in the wind from a high building would be sufficient to bring death to thousands in a world city. It would be a situation that the late Osama bin Laden would have relished.
Assad's chemical stockpile is considered to be one of the most extensive in the world and it probably contains a spectrum that includes blistering agents, nerve gas and lethal toxins that can spread person to person. It is almost certain that if it fell into the wrong hands, the first victims would be the citizens of Israel.
It must be tempting for the great powers to consider a strike to seize these weapons and bring them under United Nations control, but unfortunately neither China or Russia seems willing to abandon Assad and yet there are clear indications that his days are numbered. There is also a chance that a desperate Assad may unleash these weapons against his own people in a last roll of the dice to win an unwinnable war.
The failure of the United Nations to reach consensus and act on Syria may bring on an era more terrible than the threat of nuclear destruction during the " Cold War " years. A nuclear war did not eventuate because nuclear weapons were exclusively restricted to the main players with too much to lose in a nuclear exchange. Those days are over and the " nuclear club " has expanded to include several players lacking that stability.
We may be about to enter an era more terrifying than the threat of nuclear annihilation. If Assad's chemical weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of terrorist groups they will have the perfect weapons to blackmail the west and make demands. People who seek martyrdom by deliberately ending their own lives by triggering an explosive belt to cause the death of others would have no hesitation carrying out those threats.
It seems that the rest of the world is destined to be spectators as events in Syria unroll. Future history books may record that it was our inability to reach consensus and act that unleashed a reign of terror that sharply reduced this world's population ! Perhaps the first horseman of the Apocalypse - " Pestilence " - is destined to be inflicted on this world !
The fighting in Syria combines the two worst elements of conflict. Not only is this a civil war, but it is also a religious war. The two main branches of Islam are in a proxy fight with help from Saudi Arabia and Iran to control a country that is a pivot point in one of the world's most dangerous regions. Tribal loyalties are involved in both sides and it is certain that at least some elements have sympathies with the extremists of al Qaeda and similar terrorist organizations.
The Assad regime is experiencing defections and there is a very real chance that the keepers of his chemical arsenal may go over to the other side - and take these weapons into a new dimension. In the hands of terrorists, a small amount of Anthrax scattered in the wind from a high building would be sufficient to bring death to thousands in a world city. It would be a situation that the late Osama bin Laden would have relished.
Assad's chemical stockpile is considered to be one of the most extensive in the world and it probably contains a spectrum that includes blistering agents, nerve gas and lethal toxins that can spread person to person. It is almost certain that if it fell into the wrong hands, the first victims would be the citizens of Israel.
It must be tempting for the great powers to consider a strike to seize these weapons and bring them under United Nations control, but unfortunately neither China or Russia seems willing to abandon Assad and yet there are clear indications that his days are numbered. There is also a chance that a desperate Assad may unleash these weapons against his own people in a last roll of the dice to win an unwinnable war.
The failure of the United Nations to reach consensus and act on Syria may bring on an era more terrible than the threat of nuclear destruction during the " Cold War " years. A nuclear war did not eventuate because nuclear weapons were exclusively restricted to the main players with too much to lose in a nuclear exchange. Those days are over and the " nuclear club " has expanded to include several players lacking that stability.
We may be about to enter an era more terrifying than the threat of nuclear annihilation. If Assad's chemical weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of terrorist groups they will have the perfect weapons to blackmail the west and make demands. People who seek martyrdom by deliberately ending their own lives by triggering an explosive belt to cause the death of others would have no hesitation carrying out those threats.
It seems that the rest of the world is destined to be spectators as events in Syria unroll. Future history books may record that it was our inability to reach consensus and act that unleashed a reign of terror that sharply reduced this world's population ! Perhaps the first horseman of the Apocalypse - " Pestilence " - is destined to be inflicted on this world !
Friday 27 July 2012
The " uncertainty " of disability cover !
Gaining compensation for any form of disability in Australia has long been a lottery. For a start, the outcome will depend on which state legislation is involved, and then the next question will determine how, when and where that disability occurred. Different legislation covers all forms of disability. For some people, it is an accident of birth. For others it may be caused by a sporting accident, or perhaps the result of a motor accident - or something as mundane as slipping over in the street because of a misplaced paving tile.
The " lucky ones " are those who come under well defined law categories - such as injury in a motor car accident. Compensation schemes and strict laws are in place to dole out the money from funding such as the " Green slip " insurance cover each registration of a vehicle requires. If the disability can be traced to an accident at work, then certainty improves because long established " Workcover " laws swing into place. No such certainty applies if the disability is caused by the onset of disease - or the sheer bad luck of having a small accident in the privacy of the victims home for which no blame can be apportioned.
The Commonwealth and the states all agree that Australia needs and deserves a better scheme under which all forms of disability compensation will be covered under a mutual umbrella. A plan was presented at this weeks Council of Australian Governments ( COAG ) meeting to achieve just that result - but it did not gain approval because it divided along political lines.
The usual point of fracture arose - the division of costs to fund such an arrangement, and here there was a sharp divide between the Socialist governed states and those with Conservative administrations. In what some would regard as " normal times ", when the government in office was expected to run it's full term, this disability issue would probably have been settled fairly quickly by negotiation. The Commonwealth and the states would have hammered out an acceptable bargain and singed off on the deal.
These are not normal times. We have a deeply wounded prime minister who is constantly looking over her shoulder for that tap which signals the end of her time in office. She heads a government that is so on the nose with the voters that a massacre seems certain whenever it does go to a vote, and there are so many scandals and legal issues bubbling away under the surface that the sudden end of this administration is just one heart attack away at best.
The fragility of the government is such that there is no possibility of important issues receiving the degree of consideration they deserve. Federal parliament has descended into a tactical battle between the two sides of politics - to the exclusion of all other matters. Surely this can not continue until some time late in 2013 !
Basically, we have reached the stage where Australia no longer has a fully functioning parliament. The divisions are too deep to be bridged and the only way this can be settled is to return the outcome to the voting public and let them decide.
Hopefully, a states person will emerge with the courage to tip the balance - and make that happen !
The " lucky ones " are those who come under well defined law categories - such as injury in a motor car accident. Compensation schemes and strict laws are in place to dole out the money from funding such as the " Green slip " insurance cover each registration of a vehicle requires. If the disability can be traced to an accident at work, then certainty improves because long established " Workcover " laws swing into place. No such certainty applies if the disability is caused by the onset of disease - or the sheer bad luck of having a small accident in the privacy of the victims home for which no blame can be apportioned.
The Commonwealth and the states all agree that Australia needs and deserves a better scheme under which all forms of disability compensation will be covered under a mutual umbrella. A plan was presented at this weeks Council of Australian Governments ( COAG ) meeting to achieve just that result - but it did not gain approval because it divided along political lines.
The usual point of fracture arose - the division of costs to fund such an arrangement, and here there was a sharp divide between the Socialist governed states and those with Conservative administrations. In what some would regard as " normal times ", when the government in office was expected to run it's full term, this disability issue would probably have been settled fairly quickly by negotiation. The Commonwealth and the states would have hammered out an acceptable bargain and singed off on the deal.
These are not normal times. We have a deeply wounded prime minister who is constantly looking over her shoulder for that tap which signals the end of her time in office. She heads a government that is so on the nose with the voters that a massacre seems certain whenever it does go to a vote, and there are so many scandals and legal issues bubbling away under the surface that the sudden end of this administration is just one heart attack away at best.
The fragility of the government is such that there is no possibility of important issues receiving the degree of consideration they deserve. Federal parliament has descended into a tactical battle between the two sides of politics - to the exclusion of all other matters. Surely this can not continue until some time late in 2013 !
Basically, we have reached the stage where Australia no longer has a fully functioning parliament. The divisions are too deep to be bridged and the only way this can be settled is to return the outcome to the voting public and let them decide.
Hopefully, a states person will emerge with the courage to tip the balance - and make that happen !
Thursday 26 July 2012
Disappearing jobs !
Sixty years ago the Australian waterfront was a labour intensive industry. Ships were loaded and unloaded by work gangs using slings and cranes. Each item of cargo was individually handled from the ship's hold to the wharf and this was a dangerous place to work. Accidents were common and the unionised work force was frequently on strike.
The move to handle goods by placing them in metal shipping containers was logical. The loading operation moved from the wharf to the point of manufacture and an operation that usually took days was reduced to a few short hours - and the labour force needed to handle containers was sharply reduced. The days ships spent in port were reduced to a few hours and goods moved around the world at a far faster rate.
Workers at Wollongong's Port Kembla have just got the news that the next stage of " automation " is about to be implemented at their port, and it will result in 270 job redundancies. Port operator Asciano is to implement the same degree of automation that is making Singapore, Hong Kong and many European ports low cost transportation centres where the computer rules - and human workers are reduced to a minimum.
Loading and unloading shipping containers is done by way of giant gantry cranes which are directed to individual containers by a central computer. They travel from the ship to driver less wharf trucks which move them to a designated pickup area - where the normal transport system takes over. This is expected to be fully operational by 2014.
Overall there will be a loss of jobs on the wharves, but automation will deliver a smaller number of new jobs for those who take the time and effort to train for the skills needed. The complex job of directing that automated equipment will involve computer programming and the host of new machinery will need service people to install, maintain and keep it running efficiently - and those jobs will be at the higher end of the pay scale.
Many people bewail the ever shrinking job market but there is a certain inevitability about doing things more efficiently. Back in 1912 when the Titanic was preparing for her maiden voyage, her engines were powered by coal and that coal was brought aboard by stevedores balancing a sack of coal on their shoulders. This primitive method was deemed a vast improvement in speed when measured against crossing the Atlantic by sail, but in a few short years coal was replaced by oil - and so another improvement cycle ended.
Clever people are constantly finding new ways to do things more efficiently. The computer is providing artificial intelligence to replicate the human brain and robotics are well on the way to replacing human muscle. It seems inevitable that at some point the integration of robotic brain and muscle will do all the heavy lifting for mankind.
The only question is what will happen to those humans who lack the foresight and mental ability to accept this situation and retrain for the higher paid jobs that this new order will produce ?
The move to handle goods by placing them in metal shipping containers was logical. The loading operation moved from the wharf to the point of manufacture and an operation that usually took days was reduced to a few short hours - and the labour force needed to handle containers was sharply reduced. The days ships spent in port were reduced to a few hours and goods moved around the world at a far faster rate.
Workers at Wollongong's Port Kembla have just got the news that the next stage of " automation " is about to be implemented at their port, and it will result in 270 job redundancies. Port operator Asciano is to implement the same degree of automation that is making Singapore, Hong Kong and many European ports low cost transportation centres where the computer rules - and human workers are reduced to a minimum.
Loading and unloading shipping containers is done by way of giant gantry cranes which are directed to individual containers by a central computer. They travel from the ship to driver less wharf trucks which move them to a designated pickup area - where the normal transport system takes over. This is expected to be fully operational by 2014.
Overall there will be a loss of jobs on the wharves, but automation will deliver a smaller number of new jobs for those who take the time and effort to train for the skills needed. The complex job of directing that automated equipment will involve computer programming and the host of new machinery will need service people to install, maintain and keep it running efficiently - and those jobs will be at the higher end of the pay scale.
Many people bewail the ever shrinking job market but there is a certain inevitability about doing things more efficiently. Back in 1912 when the Titanic was preparing for her maiden voyage, her engines were powered by coal and that coal was brought aboard by stevedores balancing a sack of coal on their shoulders. This primitive method was deemed a vast improvement in speed when measured against crossing the Atlantic by sail, but in a few short years coal was replaced by oil - and so another improvement cycle ended.
Clever people are constantly finding new ways to do things more efficiently. The computer is providing artificial intelligence to replicate the human brain and robotics are well on the way to replacing human muscle. It seems inevitable that at some point the integration of robotic brain and muscle will do all the heavy lifting for mankind.
The only question is what will happen to those humans who lack the foresight and mental ability to accept this situation and retrain for the higher paid jobs that this new order will produce ?
Wednesday 25 July 2012
The " Super Trawler " era !
Recreational fishermen towed their boats through Tasmanian streets on Saturday to protest the coming arrival of a Dutch owned " Super Trawler ". The " Margiris " dwarfs the usual fishing fleet by a whopping 142 metres in length and has been allocated a quota to take eighteen thousand tonnes of Mackerel and Redbait.
The era of the Super Trawler is also being opposed by both Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace and there are indications that this may result in similar " warfare " on the high seas as was directed against Japanese whalers operating under the dubious guise of " scientific whaling ".
The advent of huge factory ships stirs a mix of emotions in public minds. The first reaction is a fear that they will scoop up so many fish that the seas will become a virtual marine desert. This would disadvantage the much smaller Australian fishing fleet and it rankles that this ship is owned and crewed by people from a country on the other side of the world. Many feel that our waters are being invaded by foreigners - and that they are taking fish that belong to us !
The second fear is that whatever quotas are allocated will be exceeded. Super Trawlers are virtual factory ships designed to process their catch and store it under refrigerated conditions until they return to their home port and discharge the catch onto the retail market. They operate in the lawless domain of international waters It is hard to see how the volume of their catch can be effectively policed.
Fishing commercially in Australia used to be the domain of men who put to sea in very small boats and sold their catch in the markets of the port from which they ventured. Fishing was often a family business, handed down from father to son. Much of the fish we eat today is imported. It comes from all over the world and increasingly it is being produced in fish farms rather than being gathered from the wild fish in the oceans.
It is inevitable that in a hungry world which now exceeds seven billion souls, pressure on fish stocks will become unbearable. The technology exists to modernise the fishing fleets to ever bigger vessels trailing ever longer nets. " Over fishing " is decimating the fish stocks in many parts of the world and consequently the fishing fleets are looking for new territory.
The arrival of the Margiris probably breaks no laws. Australia is permitted to declare both the twelve mile limit of territorial waters and exclusive fishing zones under it's administration. It declares catch limits on various species. The problem is that the vast oceans are virtually " no-mans-land ", open to all comers and in this age of " globalization " we have no control in international waters.
Expect Margiris to be just the first of many such vessels to appear over the horizon. We are about to experience a food famine caused by drought and expanding populations. The sea is the last bastion in the food supply and we may even see the world's navies keeping watch over their national fishing fleets on the vast oceans.
The sea seems to be the last of the lawless frontiers of this ever shrinking world !
The era of the Super Trawler is also being opposed by both Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace and there are indications that this may result in similar " warfare " on the high seas as was directed against Japanese whalers operating under the dubious guise of " scientific whaling ".
The advent of huge factory ships stirs a mix of emotions in public minds. The first reaction is a fear that they will scoop up so many fish that the seas will become a virtual marine desert. This would disadvantage the much smaller Australian fishing fleet and it rankles that this ship is owned and crewed by people from a country on the other side of the world. Many feel that our waters are being invaded by foreigners - and that they are taking fish that belong to us !
The second fear is that whatever quotas are allocated will be exceeded. Super Trawlers are virtual factory ships designed to process their catch and store it under refrigerated conditions until they return to their home port and discharge the catch onto the retail market. They operate in the lawless domain of international waters It is hard to see how the volume of their catch can be effectively policed.
Fishing commercially in Australia used to be the domain of men who put to sea in very small boats and sold their catch in the markets of the port from which they ventured. Fishing was often a family business, handed down from father to son. Much of the fish we eat today is imported. It comes from all over the world and increasingly it is being produced in fish farms rather than being gathered from the wild fish in the oceans.
It is inevitable that in a hungry world which now exceeds seven billion souls, pressure on fish stocks will become unbearable. The technology exists to modernise the fishing fleets to ever bigger vessels trailing ever longer nets. " Over fishing " is decimating the fish stocks in many parts of the world and consequently the fishing fleets are looking for new territory.
The arrival of the Margiris probably breaks no laws. Australia is permitted to declare both the twelve mile limit of territorial waters and exclusive fishing zones under it's administration. It declares catch limits on various species. The problem is that the vast oceans are virtually " no-mans-land ", open to all comers and in this age of " globalization " we have no control in international waters.
Expect Margiris to be just the first of many such vessels to appear over the horizon. We are about to experience a food famine caused by drought and expanding populations. The sea is the last bastion in the food supply and we may even see the world's navies keeping watch over their national fishing fleets on the vast oceans.
The sea seems to be the last of the lawless frontiers of this ever shrinking world !
Tuesday 24 July 2012
Here we go again !
The Federal Transport and Infrastructure minister, Anthony Albanese has announced a new " Scoping Study " to examine the suitability of Wilton as the site for Sydney's second major airport. No costings have been given, but if it follows the usual pattern it will run to millions of dollars.
Surely the airport question and the surveys that have repeatedly examined sites in the Sydney basin have been done to death. These past surveys are gathering dust in some bureaucratic pigeon hole simply because they didn't deliver the answer the government wanted. It seems that the dark art of politics is to keep asking the same question - until by way of sheer exhaustion you get the answer that pleases.
It is suggested that this survey will run for six months and that it will allow for wide " community consultation ". That in itself seems to be a bit of a joke ! It is a classical case of the NIMBY syndrome. The people who live even remotely near Wilton do not want a noisy, smelly airport dumped on their doorstep and the rest of the state population just wants the government to get on with the job and make a decision - and start building the airport that will alleviate the over crowding that is making Mascot an unpleasant travelling experience.
There is simply a single basic question to be decided. Do we build a new airport in close proximity to the city of Sydney, or do we site it as far away as Goulburn and connect it to Sydney by a very fast train service ?
Both present numerous advantages - and disadvantages, and either will bring costs measured in billions of dollars to reach completion. The main reason that a decision has been constantly postponed - is politics.
Siting an airport risks affecting the voting pattern of vast numbers of people and those of both political persuasions fear a voting backlash if they make the wrong decision.
So - here we go again ! Another survey in the vain hope that somehow a miracle will happen and we achieve consensus to allow a site to be finally chosen that pleases the majority of voters.
Surely the airport question and the surveys that have repeatedly examined sites in the Sydney basin have been done to death. These past surveys are gathering dust in some bureaucratic pigeon hole simply because they didn't deliver the answer the government wanted. It seems that the dark art of politics is to keep asking the same question - until by way of sheer exhaustion you get the answer that pleases.
It is suggested that this survey will run for six months and that it will allow for wide " community consultation ". That in itself seems to be a bit of a joke ! It is a classical case of the NIMBY syndrome. The people who live even remotely near Wilton do not want a noisy, smelly airport dumped on their doorstep and the rest of the state population just wants the government to get on with the job and make a decision - and start building the airport that will alleviate the over crowding that is making Mascot an unpleasant travelling experience.
There is simply a single basic question to be decided. Do we build a new airport in close proximity to the city of Sydney, or do we site it as far away as Goulburn and connect it to Sydney by a very fast train service ?
Both present numerous advantages - and disadvantages, and either will bring costs measured in billions of dollars to reach completion. The main reason that a decision has been constantly postponed - is politics.
Siting an airport risks affecting the voting pattern of vast numbers of people and those of both political persuasions fear a voting backlash if they make the wrong decision.
So - here we go again ! Another survey in the vain hope that somehow a miracle will happen and we achieve consensus to allow a site to be finally chosen that pleases the majority of voters.
Monday 23 July 2012
With mass murder on their minds !
Once again we wonder what can possess the mind of a person who deliberately sets out to murder a large number of strangers by an event that will make world news headlines. Some will suspect that it is this very notoriety that is the motive.
James Holmes ( 24 ) a university dropout in Aurora, Colorado, attended the first night of the new Batman movie dressed in military body armour and equipped with a frightening array of weapons. He carried smoke and tear gas canisters, two Glock pistols, a pump action shotgun - and most alarmingly - an assault rifle equipped with a hundred round rotary magazine.
When the firing stopped twelve movie patrons were dead and another fifty-eight were seriously wounded. Holmes surrendered to police with the remark that he was " the Joker ", the villain portrayed in the movie " The Dark Knight Rises ".
It is too early to predict the motive for this mass killing, but like similar events in other parts of the world, it is interesting to note that the killer made no attempt to end his own life. Perhaps that surrender was part of the scenario running through his tortured mind. Perhaps the real reward is yet to come. Perhaps that is the enigma of taunting the relatives of those victims with the reason for such a meaningless crime.
It would be easy to lay the blame on the American gun culture. Guns are freely available in the US and the right to bear arms is even written into the Constitution, but that ignores other similar mass murder events that have happened in other parts of the world - where guns are not so readily available.
On July 22, 2011 Behring Breivik dressed himself in a police uniform and detonated a massive bomb in the government district of Oslo. He then went on to a small island where young members of a political party were holding a gathering. Armed with an assault rifle, he calmly and systematically stalked his victims for several hours, leaving sixty nine dead and over a hundred wounded, fifty-five of them seriously.
Breivik claims that his action was justified because he sought to rid the country of Muslim residents.
Australia had a similar mass murder on April 28, 1996, when Martin Bryant walked through the Tasmanian tourist village of Port Arthur and gunned down thirty-five people and wounded a further twenty-three. Once again, an assault rifle was used and no satisfactory explanation for the murder spree has been discovered.
These three events made world headlines, but there have been numerous others scattered around the world and in most cases the perpetrator has either committed suicide or been shot by police rather than submitting to arrest. What stands out in most of these cases is the fact that the murderer is male, usually young and seems to revel in the attention of the media and even gloat over the carnage he has caused. It is rare for such a person to express regret for his actions.
Each event delivers repercussions. In Australia they provoked a tightening of gun laws and similar revisions are under way in Norway. Little change is expected in America. It is an election year and the influence of the National Rifle Association will prevent any significant reform.
It is doubtful if the medical profession can do anything to head off rampages of this kind. The perpetrators are usually very normal young men who tend to be withdrawn and secretive, but displaying no evidence of the dark thoughts running through their minds. It seems that getting involved in such a murderous incident is simply a matter of " being in the wrong place at the wrong time ".
After all, who would have thought that there would be danger in visiting a prime Tasmanian tourist spot, participating in a youth weekend on an idyllic island - or enjoying a first night of a newly released movie ?
James Holmes ( 24 ) a university dropout in Aurora, Colorado, attended the first night of the new Batman movie dressed in military body armour and equipped with a frightening array of weapons. He carried smoke and tear gas canisters, two Glock pistols, a pump action shotgun - and most alarmingly - an assault rifle equipped with a hundred round rotary magazine.
When the firing stopped twelve movie patrons were dead and another fifty-eight were seriously wounded. Holmes surrendered to police with the remark that he was " the Joker ", the villain portrayed in the movie " The Dark Knight Rises ".
It is too early to predict the motive for this mass killing, but like similar events in other parts of the world, it is interesting to note that the killer made no attempt to end his own life. Perhaps that surrender was part of the scenario running through his tortured mind. Perhaps the real reward is yet to come. Perhaps that is the enigma of taunting the relatives of those victims with the reason for such a meaningless crime.
It would be easy to lay the blame on the American gun culture. Guns are freely available in the US and the right to bear arms is even written into the Constitution, but that ignores other similar mass murder events that have happened in other parts of the world - where guns are not so readily available.
On July 22, 2011 Behring Breivik dressed himself in a police uniform and detonated a massive bomb in the government district of Oslo. He then went on to a small island where young members of a political party were holding a gathering. Armed with an assault rifle, he calmly and systematically stalked his victims for several hours, leaving sixty nine dead and over a hundred wounded, fifty-five of them seriously.
Breivik claims that his action was justified because he sought to rid the country of Muslim residents.
Australia had a similar mass murder on April 28, 1996, when Martin Bryant walked through the Tasmanian tourist village of Port Arthur and gunned down thirty-five people and wounded a further twenty-three. Once again, an assault rifle was used and no satisfactory explanation for the murder spree has been discovered.
These three events made world headlines, but there have been numerous others scattered around the world and in most cases the perpetrator has either committed suicide or been shot by police rather than submitting to arrest. What stands out in most of these cases is the fact that the murderer is male, usually young and seems to revel in the attention of the media and even gloat over the carnage he has caused. It is rare for such a person to express regret for his actions.
Each event delivers repercussions. In Australia they provoked a tightening of gun laws and similar revisions are under way in Norway. Little change is expected in America. It is an election year and the influence of the National Rifle Association will prevent any significant reform.
It is doubtful if the medical profession can do anything to head off rampages of this kind. The perpetrators are usually very normal young men who tend to be withdrawn and secretive, but displaying no evidence of the dark thoughts running through their minds. It seems that getting involved in such a murderous incident is simply a matter of " being in the wrong place at the wrong time ".
After all, who would have thought that there would be danger in visiting a prime Tasmanian tourist spot, participating in a youth weekend on an idyllic island - or enjoying a first night of a newly released movie ?
Sunday 22 July 2012
Famine knocking on the door !
It is a fact of life that a handful of countries provide a disproportionate amount of the grains that feed the world. Corn and Soybeans rank high on the sustenance table and one in every three tonnes that feeds hungry mouths comes from the United States - and the United States is experiencing a drought that looks like wiping out this year's harvest.
It is fashionable to blame any change in the weather on global warming, but that ignores the fact that weather has never been predictable and the human race has suffered droughts and floods ever since the time of the Pyramids. They even rate constant mention in the Bible.
The scorching temperatures that are searing the American mid-west have sent prices soaring. Corn has reached a record high of $ 8.16 a bushel, and Soybeans are trading at $ 17.17. Even at these prices, food supply is fast becoming a disaster for the people who subsist on earnings of just two dollars a day, and there is every chance that they will skyrocket further before the rains return and bring relief.
What many see as the " rich " countries of the world are troubled by asylum seekers pouring in over their borders. If the world food supply falls short because of natural disasters, this inflow will increase to an unstoppable flood. No risk is too great if it is the only option to survive in a starving world.
Unfortunately, much of the land previously given over to food production is now growing crops destined to replace oil. Soybeans are in demand to be converted into bio-diesel and ethanol and a new factory is on the drawing board for Wollongong's Port Kembla, tempting Australian farmers to replace other food crops with Soybeans.
We seem to be facing an inevitable cycle of disaster. Because of drought in America the price of world food staples is rising to a level that will make them uneconomic for fuel conversion, but put them beyond the reach of the world's poor. There is every chance that the austerity measures forced on former wealthy Euro countries may cause them to join the ranks of starving third world citizens. The future looks bleak for a high proportion of the world population.
Hungry people are angry people. The first priority for the United Nations should be to try and bring the world food supply to a sustainable level. Many people still oppose genetically modified crops, but it is proven that GM can provide hybrids that resist drought and deliver bigger yields. All areas of science needs to be harnessed to solve this world problem.
There is an alternative. We can do nothing. The only problem with that strategy is that problems that seem safely far away have a nasty habit of suddenly appearing on our doorstep !
It is fashionable to blame any change in the weather on global warming, but that ignores the fact that weather has never been predictable and the human race has suffered droughts and floods ever since the time of the Pyramids. They even rate constant mention in the Bible.
The scorching temperatures that are searing the American mid-west have sent prices soaring. Corn has reached a record high of $ 8.16 a bushel, and Soybeans are trading at $ 17.17. Even at these prices, food supply is fast becoming a disaster for the people who subsist on earnings of just two dollars a day, and there is every chance that they will skyrocket further before the rains return and bring relief.
What many see as the " rich " countries of the world are troubled by asylum seekers pouring in over their borders. If the world food supply falls short because of natural disasters, this inflow will increase to an unstoppable flood. No risk is too great if it is the only option to survive in a starving world.
Unfortunately, much of the land previously given over to food production is now growing crops destined to replace oil. Soybeans are in demand to be converted into bio-diesel and ethanol and a new factory is on the drawing board for Wollongong's Port Kembla, tempting Australian farmers to replace other food crops with Soybeans.
We seem to be facing an inevitable cycle of disaster. Because of drought in America the price of world food staples is rising to a level that will make them uneconomic for fuel conversion, but put them beyond the reach of the world's poor. There is every chance that the austerity measures forced on former wealthy Euro countries may cause them to join the ranks of starving third world citizens. The future looks bleak for a high proportion of the world population.
Hungry people are angry people. The first priority for the United Nations should be to try and bring the world food supply to a sustainable level. Many people still oppose genetically modified crops, but it is proven that GM can provide hybrids that resist drought and deliver bigger yields. All areas of science needs to be harnessed to solve this world problem.
There is an alternative. We can do nothing. The only problem with that strategy is that problems that seem safely far away have a nasty habit of suddenly appearing on our doorstep !
Saturday 21 July 2012
The Olympic Games - and Ramadan !
The London Olympic games scheduled for Friday, July 27 to Sunday, August 12 will pose a difficult cultural problem for the three thousand five hundred Muslim competitors who will compete. This seventeen day event falls within the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is one of the pillars of the Islamic faith. It is a time of fasting, prayer and attending to the charitable needs of the less fortunate. The faithful are required to fast from sunrise to sunset on every day of Ramadan and to cease from such activities as smoking or sexual relations during daylight hours. As a result, most Muslims have a big breakfast before the sun rises and celebrate the breaking of the fast with a celebratory meal in the evening.
The problem is that most Olympic events are held during daylight hours and diet and preparation are essential to fine tune the human body to deliver optimum performance. This sets the scene for a clash of religion and sport and it seems certain that many Muslim competitors will be harshly criticised by ultra strict Imams, and in some Muslim countries such an adverse comment can be a virtual death sentence.
There will also be the problem of appropriate wearing apparel. The Olympic committee has approved wearing the Hijab by women competitors, but Islam frowns upon bare legs and that will impose dress limitations at the athletic track and in the swimming pool. A Muslim woman competing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics won gold, but was vilified in her home country for competing with bare legs before a mixed male and female audience.
Once again the uneven treatment of the sexes will come to the fore. The original Olympic games was a male only competition, watched by a male only audience - and those competing did so nude. Women made their appearance from the times of the modern Olympics, and Muslim women athletes are a fairly recent addition.
Islam appears to have accepted male Muslim Olympians in recent decades without demur, but women seem to rub a raw nerve whenever they intrude on what many Imams believe should be a male only world.
Each individual will need to make his or her own compromise with religion. One British Muslim rower has compromised his need to break the Ramadan fast by donating 1800 meals to the poor. He will provide sixty free meals each day to atone and hopes that this will meet religious approval.
Hopefully, moderate Islam will treat the Olympics in a spirit of goodwill and allow this meeting of nations a little latitude in the strict interpretation of Ramadan. Muslim competitors are just as keen to bring glory to their country as those from any other religion. Perhaps the Olympics is an opportunity for world religions to enjoy seventeen days of peace and goodwill towards one another.
Ramadan is one of the pillars of the Islamic faith. It is a time of fasting, prayer and attending to the charitable needs of the less fortunate. The faithful are required to fast from sunrise to sunset on every day of Ramadan and to cease from such activities as smoking or sexual relations during daylight hours. As a result, most Muslims have a big breakfast before the sun rises and celebrate the breaking of the fast with a celebratory meal in the evening.
The problem is that most Olympic events are held during daylight hours and diet and preparation are essential to fine tune the human body to deliver optimum performance. This sets the scene for a clash of religion and sport and it seems certain that many Muslim competitors will be harshly criticised by ultra strict Imams, and in some Muslim countries such an adverse comment can be a virtual death sentence.
There will also be the problem of appropriate wearing apparel. The Olympic committee has approved wearing the Hijab by women competitors, but Islam frowns upon bare legs and that will impose dress limitations at the athletic track and in the swimming pool. A Muslim woman competing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics won gold, but was vilified in her home country for competing with bare legs before a mixed male and female audience.
Once again the uneven treatment of the sexes will come to the fore. The original Olympic games was a male only competition, watched by a male only audience - and those competing did so nude. Women made their appearance from the times of the modern Olympics, and Muslim women athletes are a fairly recent addition.
Islam appears to have accepted male Muslim Olympians in recent decades without demur, but women seem to rub a raw nerve whenever they intrude on what many Imams believe should be a male only world.
Each individual will need to make his or her own compromise with religion. One British Muslim rower has compromised his need to break the Ramadan fast by donating 1800 meals to the poor. He will provide sixty free meals each day to atone and hopes that this will meet religious approval.
Hopefully, moderate Islam will treat the Olympics in a spirit of goodwill and allow this meeting of nations a little latitude in the strict interpretation of Ramadan. Muslim competitors are just as keen to bring glory to their country as those from any other religion. Perhaps the Olympics is an opportunity for world religions to enjoy seventeen days of peace and goodwill towards one another.
Friday 20 July 2012
Justice delayed is justice denied !
It seems incredible that a fifty year old victim of the drug Thalidomide is only now getting a settlement to provide care for the rest of her life. Lynette Rowe's mother took Thalidomide during pregnancy to relieve morning sickness and as a result her baby was born without arms or legs. Her parents have cared for what is virtually a living torso for the past half century and were despairing as to what was to become of her when they were too old to maintain their vigil.
Equally incredibly, this multi-million dollar settlement has been given against the drugs distributor in the United Kingdom, not against the actual manufacturer, who is still fighting any responsibility for the Thalidomide disaster.
Lynette Rowe's degree of disability is extreme. Many victims suffered lesser injuries but surely there is something wrong with the court system when a compensation case takes half a century to come to settlement. During that time the victims parents have virtually put their lives on hold and been totally occupied meeting the care of their disabled daughter.
It is claimed that winning this case has opened the door for compensation to flow to other victims of what was thought to be a promising new drug when it was released. The courts in various world countries have reached verdicts and settled claims for hundreds of medical malpractice cases over the years and it would be reasonable to ask why Thalidomide has been the exception ?
It is said that the wheels of justice grind slowly. It could also be said that justice delayed is justice denied. How many other cases could reveal decades of suffering by both the victim and the carers ? What has happened to those victims who did not have carers prepared to sacrifice their own lives to care for loved ones ? Are there Thalidomide victims marooned in remote nursing homes, waiting out the end of their days in mind numbing limbo ?
This case should provide the incentive for a blast of fresh air through the legal system. There can be absolutely no excuse for a settlement case to meander through the courts for half a century before it reaches finality.
If it means subjecting the law to time limits - then so be it !
Equally incredibly, this multi-million dollar settlement has been given against the drugs distributor in the United Kingdom, not against the actual manufacturer, who is still fighting any responsibility for the Thalidomide disaster.
Lynette Rowe's degree of disability is extreme. Many victims suffered lesser injuries but surely there is something wrong with the court system when a compensation case takes half a century to come to settlement. During that time the victims parents have virtually put their lives on hold and been totally occupied meeting the care of their disabled daughter.
It is claimed that winning this case has opened the door for compensation to flow to other victims of what was thought to be a promising new drug when it was released. The courts in various world countries have reached verdicts and settled claims for hundreds of medical malpractice cases over the years and it would be reasonable to ask why Thalidomide has been the exception ?
It is said that the wheels of justice grind slowly. It could also be said that justice delayed is justice denied. How many other cases could reveal decades of suffering by both the victim and the carers ? What has happened to those victims who did not have carers prepared to sacrifice their own lives to care for loved ones ? Are there Thalidomide victims marooned in remote nursing homes, waiting out the end of their days in mind numbing limbo ?
This case should provide the incentive for a blast of fresh air through the legal system. There can be absolutely no excuse for a settlement case to meander through the courts for half a century before it reaches finality.
If it means subjecting the law to time limits - then so be it !
Thursday 19 July 2012
Fingers in the Cookie jar !
Many people are mystified by the banking upheaval in London. Veteran British bank Barclays has been levied fines for allegedly tampering with the LIBOR rate, and it's CEO has fallen on his sword as a result.
Here in Australia we keep our eye on the Reserve bank because it seems to regulate interest rates, but this LIBOR mechanism applies to the behind the scenes pressure on what our investments earn and whether we will have enough superannuation to one day comfortably retire - so it might be helpful to understand LIBOR.
The acronym stands for London Interbank Offer Rate. It is a mechanism by which the world's leading banks calculate the interest that will apply to the money they will borrow to fund their operations. At regular intervals banks such as Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo, Deutsche Bank, Citi Group, UBS, JP Morgan and others report on what interest they expect to be charged for their borrowings.
An " averaging " mechanism then swings into place. The highest and the lowest contributions are .discarded and the remainder pooled to produce a mean average - and that becomes the rate that these banks will charge one another when they borrow money from one another on the international market.
This LIBOR rate then has an effect on a host of other interest rates that apply across the world of commerce, including things like derivatives, interest on superannuation investments, even the world price of commodities like grain and sugar. The whole world of commerce is closely related to the highs and lows of the LIBOR mechanism.
Like many such institutions in merry olde England, the setting of LIBOR rates comes from the world of gentleman's clubs and deals settled by a shaking of hands. There are no hard and fast control mechanisms to keep wayward fingers from straying into the cookie jar - and it seems that LIBOR rates may have been adjusted to suit the needs of the banking fraternity on a " nod and wink " basis.
The commercial world was certainly thrown into turmoil by the GFC, but there are suggestions that such a mighty institution as the Bank of England may have quietly condoned a degree of LIBOR manipulation to artificially improve trading conditions and relieve pressure on the money supply.
This world seems equally divided into opposing interests when money is concerned. On one side are the people who need to borrow money to finance world trade, and on the other are those who need to get a return from the money they have to finance every day living. When interest rates rise, one side is advantaged, but the other side disadvantaged, and when rates fall the reverse applies.
The London enquiry is probing whether vested interests between and within the banks conspired to artificially control LIBOR rates and whether this was condoned from the highest echelon of member governments. No doubt there will be accusations, but arriving at a conclusion will be difficult.
What does seem certain is that there is a need for an independent umpire to oversee the entire LIBOR question. The tricky part will be constructing a mechanism that is entirely free of sticky little fingers straying where they are not supposed to go !
Here in Australia we keep our eye on the Reserve bank because it seems to regulate interest rates, but this LIBOR mechanism applies to the behind the scenes pressure on what our investments earn and whether we will have enough superannuation to one day comfortably retire - so it might be helpful to understand LIBOR.
The acronym stands for London Interbank Offer Rate. It is a mechanism by which the world's leading banks calculate the interest that will apply to the money they will borrow to fund their operations. At regular intervals banks such as Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo, Deutsche Bank, Citi Group, UBS, JP Morgan and others report on what interest they expect to be charged for their borrowings.
An " averaging " mechanism then swings into place. The highest and the lowest contributions are .discarded and the remainder pooled to produce a mean average - and that becomes the rate that these banks will charge one another when they borrow money from one another on the international market.
This LIBOR rate then has an effect on a host of other interest rates that apply across the world of commerce, including things like derivatives, interest on superannuation investments, even the world price of commodities like grain and sugar. The whole world of commerce is closely related to the highs and lows of the LIBOR mechanism.
Like many such institutions in merry olde England, the setting of LIBOR rates comes from the world of gentleman's clubs and deals settled by a shaking of hands. There are no hard and fast control mechanisms to keep wayward fingers from straying into the cookie jar - and it seems that LIBOR rates may have been adjusted to suit the needs of the banking fraternity on a " nod and wink " basis.
The commercial world was certainly thrown into turmoil by the GFC, but there are suggestions that such a mighty institution as the Bank of England may have quietly condoned a degree of LIBOR manipulation to artificially improve trading conditions and relieve pressure on the money supply.
This world seems equally divided into opposing interests when money is concerned. On one side are the people who need to borrow money to finance world trade, and on the other are those who need to get a return from the money they have to finance every day living. When interest rates rise, one side is advantaged, but the other side disadvantaged, and when rates fall the reverse applies.
The London enquiry is probing whether vested interests between and within the banks conspired to artificially control LIBOR rates and whether this was condoned from the highest echelon of member governments. No doubt there will be accusations, but arriving at a conclusion will be difficult.
What does seem certain is that there is a need for an independent umpire to oversee the entire LIBOR question. The tricky part will be constructing a mechanism that is entirely free of sticky little fingers straying where they are not supposed to go !
Wednesday 18 July 2012
Coordination is the key !
A sad case is emerging to illustrate how good ideas fail to achieve their objective when they are under government control. The ratepayers of Shellharbour are stuck with a bill because of a lack of coordination in putting timing in the correct order.
Across Australia the amount of electronic equipment going to landfills was causing concern. This was filling up valuable space and at the same time, recoverable amounts of copper, lead, zinc, rare earths and even gold were going to waste. Planners expected this to surge when the change from analogue television to digital got under way. Old analogue TV's could be converted to digital by using a set top box, but it was anticipated that many people would use the change to upgrade to the new big screen sets because the surging Australian dollar made them much cheaper.
A scheme was put in place, paid for by the electronics industry and regulated by the Federal government. Unwanted television sets and computers would be collected and pass through a recovery process to reclaim valuable components.
The obvious time to have this in place was just prior to the shutting down of the analogue system and it's replacement by digital. On the assumption that this would be so, Shellharbour council waived it's tip fee to receive electronics - and now finds itself saddled with 4,100 old television sets, presenting it with a $ 300,000 disposal fee.
The promised collection point to be established at it's landfill site - simply did not happen. It is still in the planning pipeline, and it will probably emerge some weeks - or maybe months - in the future, when the surge of unwanted electronics has passed and the present backlog has gone to landfill.
The timetable for the introduction of digital replacing analogue has been known for years and it was the subject of an intense government advertising campaign prior to it's implementation in the Illawarra. It is being rolled out across Australia in a coordinated manner, hence there is no excuse for collection points not being ready to receive as priority indicates.
This disgraceful lack of coordination lends credence to those wags who disparage government services by suggesting that government administrators couldn't " successfully raffle a duck ! "
.
Across Australia the amount of electronic equipment going to landfills was causing concern. This was filling up valuable space and at the same time, recoverable amounts of copper, lead, zinc, rare earths and even gold were going to waste. Planners expected this to surge when the change from analogue television to digital got under way. Old analogue TV's could be converted to digital by using a set top box, but it was anticipated that many people would use the change to upgrade to the new big screen sets because the surging Australian dollar made them much cheaper.
A scheme was put in place, paid for by the electronics industry and regulated by the Federal government. Unwanted television sets and computers would be collected and pass through a recovery process to reclaim valuable components.
The obvious time to have this in place was just prior to the shutting down of the analogue system and it's replacement by digital. On the assumption that this would be so, Shellharbour council waived it's tip fee to receive electronics - and now finds itself saddled with 4,100 old television sets, presenting it with a $ 300,000 disposal fee.
The promised collection point to be established at it's landfill site - simply did not happen. It is still in the planning pipeline, and it will probably emerge some weeks - or maybe months - in the future, when the surge of unwanted electronics has passed and the present backlog has gone to landfill.
The timetable for the introduction of digital replacing analogue has been known for years and it was the subject of an intense government advertising campaign prior to it's implementation in the Illawarra. It is being rolled out across Australia in a coordinated manner, hence there is no excuse for collection points not being ready to receive as priority indicates.
This disgraceful lack of coordination lends credence to those wags who disparage government services by suggesting that government administrators couldn't " successfully raffle a duck ! "
.
Tuesday 17 July 2012
When " Excellence " becomes a liability !
Most people will have heard the news that Darrell Lea is under administration with sadness. The shops displaying that magnificent array of confectionery were a sight to behold, and to step inside and savour the smell was to get the taste buds salivating. For eighty five years this family owned business has been serving the sweet tooths of Australians and now it seems another icon is to be lost.
The Australian retail landscape has changed greatly in those eighty five years. Two gigantic food retailers have come to dominate the world of supermarkets and in doing so they have wiped the floor with the era of " corner stores " that was their fore-runner. The weapon used was - price !
Eighty five years ago, manufacturers told resellers what price to charge for their product. It was an age where stores that sold below the approved selling price were actually punished by manufacturers refusal to supply for that misdemeanour. The age of the supermarket dawned with bulk buying being used to force down prices and destroy the stability of an agreed price regime.
You will not find Darrell Lea products on offer in the major supermarkets.. That is the provence of the manufacturers of confectionery who compete on price. The product they produce is a fine balance of ingredients mixed to deliver an acceptable taste at the lowest possible cost. The quest for " excellence " belongs in another realm.
Darrell Lea catered for that " excellence " market and so the product offered was restricted to four market opportunities each year - and that was Christmas, Easter, Mother's day and Father's day. The human psych dictates that the gift we bring on those auspicious occasions must be far removed from the dreary product with mundane packaging found on supermarket shelves, and Darrell Lea specialised in not only confectionery with great taste, but the splendour of artfully crafted packaging that engaged the eye appeal and invited compliments.
Early on, the family that owned Darrell Lea understood that to successfully promote their products they would need to have control of it's presentation, and that required it to be sold from premises under their control. The Darrell Lea brand became known for it's dazzling presentation in speciality Darrell Lea shops. It was the only place to go if you wished to select a gift that stood head and shoulders above the confectionery crowd.
It seems that the relentless march of overhead costs and the contraction of spending arising from the 2008 GFC has made those four peak sales periods each year less able to deliver an annual successful bottom line.
Hopefully, a buyer will be found and the business will continue, but if not - the fable of the great days of Darrell Lea, when confectionery of excellence was a welcome gift on special occasions will pass into folk lore.
The Australian retail landscape has changed greatly in those eighty five years. Two gigantic food retailers have come to dominate the world of supermarkets and in doing so they have wiped the floor with the era of " corner stores " that was their fore-runner. The weapon used was - price !
Eighty five years ago, manufacturers told resellers what price to charge for their product. It was an age where stores that sold below the approved selling price were actually punished by manufacturers refusal to supply for that misdemeanour. The age of the supermarket dawned with bulk buying being used to force down prices and destroy the stability of an agreed price regime.
You will not find Darrell Lea products on offer in the major supermarkets.. That is the provence of the manufacturers of confectionery who compete on price. The product they produce is a fine balance of ingredients mixed to deliver an acceptable taste at the lowest possible cost. The quest for " excellence " belongs in another realm.
Darrell Lea catered for that " excellence " market and so the product offered was restricted to four market opportunities each year - and that was Christmas, Easter, Mother's day and Father's day. The human psych dictates that the gift we bring on those auspicious occasions must be far removed from the dreary product with mundane packaging found on supermarket shelves, and Darrell Lea specialised in not only confectionery with great taste, but the splendour of artfully crafted packaging that engaged the eye appeal and invited compliments.
Early on, the family that owned Darrell Lea understood that to successfully promote their products they would need to have control of it's presentation, and that required it to be sold from premises under their control. The Darrell Lea brand became known for it's dazzling presentation in speciality Darrell Lea shops. It was the only place to go if you wished to select a gift that stood head and shoulders above the confectionery crowd.
It seems that the relentless march of overhead costs and the contraction of spending arising from the 2008 GFC has made those four peak sales periods each year less able to deliver an annual successful bottom line.
Hopefully, a buyer will be found and the business will continue, but if not - the fable of the great days of Darrell Lea, when confectionery of excellence was a welcome gift on special occasions will pass into folk lore.
Monday 16 July 2012
The Credit Card " Sting " !
Australians are drowning in credit card debt, and we are paying the highest credit card interest rates in the world. Our " big four " banks dominate the provision of credit and they are charging interest rates of 21%. This compares with just 3% in Japan and between 9 and 11% in Europe.
The credit providers justify their high interest rates on the grounds that these debts are not underwritten with collateral security. Interest rates for car loans are lower because the car can be repossessed if repayments are not met and in commercial loans the money is advanced against assets such as property, shares or business activity. With credit card debt, the risk is higher because the applicant is not required to lodge security for the loan.
That is precisely where the credit provision system in this country fails. The credit providers are taking the " shotgun " approach : Providing credit to almost all applicants on the basis that the number of defaults will be submerged in the greater number of people who actually fully repay their loan - at a high interest rate.
One of the tactics offered to make credit cards more attractive is the requirement that repayments may be as low as just 2% of the outstanding balance each month. If $ 1000 was the amount on loan and the borrower made only the minimum repayment each month, it would take seven years and nine months to settle the debt, and the interest would have amounted to $ 859.
The credit card system in Australia seems designed to deliberately get people into financial trouble. The banks are literally showering people with raised credit limits because of the huge profits arising from those extortionate interest rates. People with no financial skills are being encouraged to spend money well beyond their means, and insolvency firms are finding many people seeking help with debts in excess of $ 50,000 - which they have no hope of ever settling.
This situation will persist as long as the credit provision laws remain unchanged. It is essential that obtaining and providing credit be subject to mutual obligations. The credit provider should ensure that the limit imposed is within the applicants capacity to service the loan and if that amount has been recklessly exceeded, it should be within the power of a solvency court to declare that excess null and void.
Before the advent of credit cards, people seeking a loan usually approached their bank manager to apply for an overdraft. They needed to make their case and convince an astute banker that the thinking and planning behind the application was sound. Exactly that same principle needs to apply to credit card applicants - and if the provider strays too far above prudent loan limits - the provider should share in the consequent loss.
If an eighteen year old girl with no other income than the occasional shift behind the counter at the local cafe at twelve dollars an hour is allowed to rack up a credit card debt of twenty thousand dollars, then the party managing her credit limit has been grossly incompetent.
It will take a law change to make lenders share responsibility in setting reasonable credit limits to reign in this attitude to " easy money " that is getting so many people into financial trouble - and bring down interest rates by decreasing " bad debts " !
The credit providers justify their high interest rates on the grounds that these debts are not underwritten with collateral security. Interest rates for car loans are lower because the car can be repossessed if repayments are not met and in commercial loans the money is advanced against assets such as property, shares or business activity. With credit card debt, the risk is higher because the applicant is not required to lodge security for the loan.
That is precisely where the credit provision system in this country fails. The credit providers are taking the " shotgun " approach : Providing credit to almost all applicants on the basis that the number of defaults will be submerged in the greater number of people who actually fully repay their loan - at a high interest rate.
One of the tactics offered to make credit cards more attractive is the requirement that repayments may be as low as just 2% of the outstanding balance each month. If $ 1000 was the amount on loan and the borrower made only the minimum repayment each month, it would take seven years and nine months to settle the debt, and the interest would have amounted to $ 859.
The credit card system in Australia seems designed to deliberately get people into financial trouble. The banks are literally showering people with raised credit limits because of the huge profits arising from those extortionate interest rates. People with no financial skills are being encouraged to spend money well beyond their means, and insolvency firms are finding many people seeking help with debts in excess of $ 50,000 - which they have no hope of ever settling.
This situation will persist as long as the credit provision laws remain unchanged. It is essential that obtaining and providing credit be subject to mutual obligations. The credit provider should ensure that the limit imposed is within the applicants capacity to service the loan and if that amount has been recklessly exceeded, it should be within the power of a solvency court to declare that excess null and void.
Before the advent of credit cards, people seeking a loan usually approached their bank manager to apply for an overdraft. They needed to make their case and convince an astute banker that the thinking and planning behind the application was sound. Exactly that same principle needs to apply to credit card applicants - and if the provider strays too far above prudent loan limits - the provider should share in the consequent loss.
If an eighteen year old girl with no other income than the occasional shift behind the counter at the local cafe at twelve dollars an hour is allowed to rack up a credit card debt of twenty thousand dollars, then the party managing her credit limit has been grossly incompetent.
It will take a law change to make lenders share responsibility in setting reasonable credit limits to reign in this attitude to " easy money " that is getting so many people into financial trouble - and bring down interest rates by decreasing " bad debts " !
Sunday 15 July 2012
A Mafia murder !
Thirty-five years ago Australia came of age in a developing era of organised crime. Liberal candidate and furniture store proprietor Donald McKay disappeared from the car park of a Griffith hotel. Blood and bullet casings were found on the ground beside his vehicle - but his body has never been discovered.
This murder set off a trail of revelations that shook Australia. Griffith - in the Riverina - had a high proportion of immigrants from Italy farming the fertile soil served by irrigation canals. It was common knowledge that hidden amongst the tomato, rice and grape crops were illegal plantations of Marijuana.
This was " Mafia Country ". Huge profits were being made growing the " Pot " that supplied the drug pushers of Melbourne and Sydney, and the rewards of those profits were plain to see. The area was dotted with opulent " Grass Castles ", imposing mansions with gold fittings, set in immaculate grounds. The streets of Griffith provided a showcase of glitzy, high priced cars for hordes of swaggering young Italian men.
It was a cozy little arrangement. The local police were not adverse .to turning a blind eye to what they termed " harmless local commerce " and there was a constant and growing market for the merchandise from Australia's expanding drug culture - and then a troublesome local political candidate started to blow the whistle and draw attention to this Mafia fiefdom.
The response was quick - and deadly. The Mafia Dons put out a contract on Donald McKay and in true Mafia fashion - he " disappeared ", but it was a case of " too little - too late ". The media were onto the story and there was no relent. Colourful characters like " Aussie Bob " - Robert Trimbole drew newspaper headlines, and eventually the whole sordid affair became a very successful TV series under the title of " Underbelly ".
To mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of Donald McKay's killing the police have increased the reward for information leading to the discovery of his remains from one hundred thousand dollars - to double that figure. So far, the Mafia code of silence has held firm, but we live in a changing world and it is likely that many of those involved have now passed on - and perhaps their children will be more inclined to exchange old secrets for hard cash.
Each wave of immigrants have brought with them organised crime from their former country. With the Italians it was the Mafia, but since then we have hosted the Triads and more recently Middle-East crime gangs have been shooting up the western suburbs of Sydney.
Initially, each crime wave hides behind a wall of silence. New citizens from their old country have no love of the police and can be deterred from speaking out by threats. Eventually, the passage of time and the integration of their offspring dilute that fear - and information becomes more readily available.
Perhaps Donald McKay may yet end his days in a marked grave !
This murder set off a trail of revelations that shook Australia. Griffith - in the Riverina - had a high proportion of immigrants from Italy farming the fertile soil served by irrigation canals. It was common knowledge that hidden amongst the tomato, rice and grape crops were illegal plantations of Marijuana.
This was " Mafia Country ". Huge profits were being made growing the " Pot " that supplied the drug pushers of Melbourne and Sydney, and the rewards of those profits were plain to see. The area was dotted with opulent " Grass Castles ", imposing mansions with gold fittings, set in immaculate grounds. The streets of Griffith provided a showcase of glitzy, high priced cars for hordes of swaggering young Italian men.
It was a cozy little arrangement. The local police were not adverse .to turning a blind eye to what they termed " harmless local commerce " and there was a constant and growing market for the merchandise from Australia's expanding drug culture - and then a troublesome local political candidate started to blow the whistle and draw attention to this Mafia fiefdom.
The response was quick - and deadly. The Mafia Dons put out a contract on Donald McKay and in true Mafia fashion - he " disappeared ", but it was a case of " too little - too late ". The media were onto the story and there was no relent. Colourful characters like " Aussie Bob " - Robert Trimbole drew newspaper headlines, and eventually the whole sordid affair became a very successful TV series under the title of " Underbelly ".
To mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of Donald McKay's killing the police have increased the reward for information leading to the discovery of his remains from one hundred thousand dollars - to double that figure. So far, the Mafia code of silence has held firm, but we live in a changing world and it is likely that many of those involved have now passed on - and perhaps their children will be more inclined to exchange old secrets for hard cash.
Each wave of immigrants have brought with them organised crime from their former country. With the Italians it was the Mafia, but since then we have hosted the Triads and more recently Middle-East crime gangs have been shooting up the western suburbs of Sydney.
Initially, each crime wave hides behind a wall of silence. New citizens from their old country have no love of the police and can be deterred from speaking out by threats. Eventually, the passage of time and the integration of their offspring dilute that fear - and information becomes more readily available.
Perhaps Donald McKay may yet end his days in a marked grave !
Saturday 14 July 2012
Medical advances - and Patents !
Sometimes great medical steps forward come unexpectedly, and sometimes they are the result of long and expensive research by pharmaceutical companies. Sometimes they happen by sheer good luck. Such an event recently happened in California.
A man suffering AIDS was given a bone marrow transplant to try and treat Leukaemia, and to the surprise of his doctors - the AIDS disappeared. Further research revealed that the bone marrow specimen came from a person with a fairly rare blood cell immunity to AIDS. The medical fraternity realised that they were on the cusp of a new discovery. If they were able to isolate - and then replicate - this genetic " miracle " they could possibly have found a cure for both AIDS and Diabetes.
Like most medical breakthroughs, it is a long road from theory to the day when a new product appears on pharmacy shelves to begin treating patients. There is a lot of research still to be done and then will come the long journey through the labrynth of testing on a small group of patients, some of whom will form a control group by being given a placebo while others get " the real McCoy ".
The " testing time " is usually measured in years, and that opens up the can of worms involving the recovery of the cost of development. Bringing a new drug to life can run to millions of dollars and the laboratory concerned has a right to patent protection. As a result, for the term of the patent the company that developed the drug or the treatment method is entitled to exclusive manufacturing rights. Even recovering the money spent on development can cause the product cost to be way out of reach of most patients and that is before the company starts to make a profit.
Here in the developed world new drugs face a battle with the bureaucracy to get acceptance onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme. Miracle treatments save lives, but they also blow out health costs and there is usually a time gap between discovery and the time they come into wider use. For the people in the developing world, that is a gap that may never be bridged.
Perhaps we are treating the funding of medical research from the wrong way around. The various medical disciplines are constantly asking us for money for medical research and yet when that research succeeds, patents are involved and often the very people who donated to try and find a cure are denied that drug on cost grounds.
Medical research companies are not going to risk the research gamble unless there is the lure of financial reward for success: That can only be assured by way of patent protection. Perhaps we need to encourage people to donate to a non-specific fund to provide a pool of money to acquire the patents on developments which are deemed " essential to all humanity ". For instance, a treatment that cures Malaria or a drug that prevents Alzheimer's disease would fit that category.
When such a breakthrough occurs, it would be worth an expert panel estimating the total return the patent holder could expect from that patent, and the law changed to require the patent to pass into public hands after the payment of that sum of money. It would then be available for the treatment of patients in all countries of the world - without the .cost barrier.
It would also return decision making to the general public. If a new development offered a cure for an ailment that people deemed essential and the fund was insufficient to reimburse the discoverer, then to achieve that result the public would need to make donations according to their ability. It would be the " carrot and stick " approach. If you want this benefit for you and your family - then the only way to get it at an affordable cost for all - is to write a cheque !
A more specific way of raising funds - with a very qualifying target in sight - might achieve rewards lacking in the present system !
A man suffering AIDS was given a bone marrow transplant to try and treat Leukaemia, and to the surprise of his doctors - the AIDS disappeared. Further research revealed that the bone marrow specimen came from a person with a fairly rare blood cell immunity to AIDS. The medical fraternity realised that they were on the cusp of a new discovery. If they were able to isolate - and then replicate - this genetic " miracle " they could possibly have found a cure for both AIDS and Diabetes.
Like most medical breakthroughs, it is a long road from theory to the day when a new product appears on pharmacy shelves to begin treating patients. There is a lot of research still to be done and then will come the long journey through the labrynth of testing on a small group of patients, some of whom will form a control group by being given a placebo while others get " the real McCoy ".
The " testing time " is usually measured in years, and that opens up the can of worms involving the recovery of the cost of development. Bringing a new drug to life can run to millions of dollars and the laboratory concerned has a right to patent protection. As a result, for the term of the patent the company that developed the drug or the treatment method is entitled to exclusive manufacturing rights. Even recovering the money spent on development can cause the product cost to be way out of reach of most patients and that is before the company starts to make a profit.
Here in the developed world new drugs face a battle with the bureaucracy to get acceptance onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme. Miracle treatments save lives, but they also blow out health costs and there is usually a time gap between discovery and the time they come into wider use. For the people in the developing world, that is a gap that may never be bridged.
Perhaps we are treating the funding of medical research from the wrong way around. The various medical disciplines are constantly asking us for money for medical research and yet when that research succeeds, patents are involved and often the very people who donated to try and find a cure are denied that drug on cost grounds.
Medical research companies are not going to risk the research gamble unless there is the lure of financial reward for success: That can only be assured by way of patent protection. Perhaps we need to encourage people to donate to a non-specific fund to provide a pool of money to acquire the patents on developments which are deemed " essential to all humanity ". For instance, a treatment that cures Malaria or a drug that prevents Alzheimer's disease would fit that category.
When such a breakthrough occurs, it would be worth an expert panel estimating the total return the patent holder could expect from that patent, and the law changed to require the patent to pass into public hands after the payment of that sum of money. It would then be available for the treatment of patients in all countries of the world - without the .cost barrier.
It would also return decision making to the general public. If a new development offered a cure for an ailment that people deemed essential and the fund was insufficient to reimburse the discoverer, then to achieve that result the public would need to make donations according to their ability. It would be the " carrot and stick " approach. If you want this benefit for you and your family - then the only way to get it at an affordable cost for all - is to write a cheque !
A more specific way of raising funds - with a very qualifying target in sight - might achieve rewards lacking in the present system !
Friday 13 July 2012
Phone plan clarity !
At long last the Australian Communications and Media Authority ( ACMA ) is making the Telcos clean up their pricing act. Thousands of people have been utterly confused with the terms that apply to their mobile phone contracts and many have been led astray into deep financial trouble when confronted with " bill shock ".
Phone " deals " have ranged from merely " misleading " to outright " lies " mixed in with confusing terminology that serves to make any sort of price comparison impossible. One of the tricks used is to guarantee a high spending limit per month for the fee charged. This can look quite attractive, but it is meaningless unless it can be compared with the actual charge for each phone call or SMS message.
The new Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code will require plans to clearly state the " unit price " of mobile to fixed line and mobile to mobile calls and the price charged for SMS activity. The other requirement that will be most valued by mobile phone users is notification that they are approaching stated measures of their credit plan. For instance, they will automatically get a message from their phone company advising that they have used fifty percent - then eighty percent - and finally - one hundred percent of their credit allowance for that thirty day period.
That will certainly put a dent in the " bill shock " problem. As things currently stand, a novice phone user doesn't have a clue what charges are being racked up - until the bill arrives. Bill progress notification will allow use modification to fit within the free limit range and avoid financial trouble.
Another requirement in this new code is a warning of the charges that can occur if the phone is left on " roaming " mode while the person is travelling overseas. Low domestic user rates available in Australia can rise to critical proportions in some overseas countries and these have resulted in " horror bills " hitting some unwary returning Australians.
The code also applies to Broadband charges and will be welcomed by users of the new I-Pad technology and the fast spreading use of mobile phones to access news services and the entire mobile communications sphere - and it is long overdue !
ACMA has the punitive powers to make the Telcos step into line. For too long this industry has hidden behind subterfuge to confuse the public by deliberately creating phone plans full of if's, but's and maybe's that can not reasonably be made to connect with one another.
At last - we are about to get a dose of clarity !
Phone " deals " have ranged from merely " misleading " to outright " lies " mixed in with confusing terminology that serves to make any sort of price comparison impossible. One of the tricks used is to guarantee a high spending limit per month for the fee charged. This can look quite attractive, but it is meaningless unless it can be compared with the actual charge for each phone call or SMS message.
The new Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code will require plans to clearly state the " unit price " of mobile to fixed line and mobile to mobile calls and the price charged for SMS activity. The other requirement that will be most valued by mobile phone users is notification that they are approaching stated measures of their credit plan. For instance, they will automatically get a message from their phone company advising that they have used fifty percent - then eighty percent - and finally - one hundred percent of their credit allowance for that thirty day period.
That will certainly put a dent in the " bill shock " problem. As things currently stand, a novice phone user doesn't have a clue what charges are being racked up - until the bill arrives. Bill progress notification will allow use modification to fit within the free limit range and avoid financial trouble.
Another requirement in this new code is a warning of the charges that can occur if the phone is left on " roaming " mode while the person is travelling overseas. Low domestic user rates available in Australia can rise to critical proportions in some overseas countries and these have resulted in " horror bills " hitting some unwary returning Australians.
The code also applies to Broadband charges and will be welcomed by users of the new I-Pad technology and the fast spreading use of mobile phones to access news services and the entire mobile communications sphere - and it is long overdue !
ACMA has the punitive powers to make the Telcos step into line. For too long this industry has hidden behind subterfuge to confuse the public by deliberately creating phone plans full of if's, but's and maybe's that can not reasonably be made to connect with one another.
At last - we are about to get a dose of clarity !
Thursday 12 July 2012
" Power " - and the MilitaryCulture !
There is nothing either new or surprising coming out of the revelations of sadistic practices and bullying at our Defence Forces training facilities. The old " Duntroon Military College " was notorious for what was termed " bastardization " and " initiation " rituals going back to the middle of last century.
This was covertly encouraged by the top brass. They held the notion that if you wanted " iron men " who would be invincible on the battlefield, a degree of pain was necessary to stamp out the civilian culture and replace it with an unflinching dedication to duty under all circumstances. Without the safeguard of rules in place to curb excess, what started as mild initiation rituals soon took on darker form and in many cases involved sexual humiliation.
Half a century ago, military training facilities were virtually an all male institution. Psychologists tell us that there are some people with psychopath tendencies in any group of people and these come to the fore whenever power is put in their hands. The events now under investigation go back a long way and some of the people involved will now be in the middle and top rank of our officer corps. If this investigation leads to punitive action, it could well gut our defence forces of it's leaders.
There will be a tendency to put a line under the past and concentrate on evolving a new military structure that will not tolerate a return to past practices. The structure of our defence forces has evolved out of sight in recent decades. Women are now an integral part of the three services and this whole sorry matter burst into national prominence when a boorish male cadet used a hidden camera to record him having consensual sex with a female cadet - which was showing live to a distant male audience.
The presence of women will certainly have a softening effect in military academies, but as we are seeing in schools, bullying is often instigated by girls who use the Internet to launch cruel and vicious attacks against others of both sex. Psychopath tendencies are not limited to males and unless checks and balances are in place - and rigorously maintained - this undesirable sub-culture will quickly be replicated.
Wise heads are contemplating the next move. A Royal Commission is on the cards. The deeper the investigation digs, the more dirt that will surface. If history is to be followed, a few hapless scapegoats will be offered in ritual sacrifice and compensation will be handed out to some of the victims. The " fog " of memory will protect any highly placed and valuable officers from adverse comment and the whole matter will soon be bundled in red tape and consigned to a remote pigeon hole somewhere.
What matters is how the outcome affects the future of the men and women who join our defence forces as a career path. The days of a macho " brawn and guts " training regimen are over and our present needs are for highly trained technocrats to understand and operate a technology that is ever expanding - and truly frightening.
The time has come for the defence academy to be dragged - kicking and screaming - into the twenty-first century !
This was covertly encouraged by the top brass. They held the notion that if you wanted " iron men " who would be invincible on the battlefield, a degree of pain was necessary to stamp out the civilian culture and replace it with an unflinching dedication to duty under all circumstances. Without the safeguard of rules in place to curb excess, what started as mild initiation rituals soon took on darker form and in many cases involved sexual humiliation.
Half a century ago, military training facilities were virtually an all male institution. Psychologists tell us that there are some people with psychopath tendencies in any group of people and these come to the fore whenever power is put in their hands. The events now under investigation go back a long way and some of the people involved will now be in the middle and top rank of our officer corps. If this investigation leads to punitive action, it could well gut our defence forces of it's leaders.
There will be a tendency to put a line under the past and concentrate on evolving a new military structure that will not tolerate a return to past practices. The structure of our defence forces has evolved out of sight in recent decades. Women are now an integral part of the three services and this whole sorry matter burst into national prominence when a boorish male cadet used a hidden camera to record him having consensual sex with a female cadet - which was showing live to a distant male audience.
The presence of women will certainly have a softening effect in military academies, but as we are seeing in schools, bullying is often instigated by girls who use the Internet to launch cruel and vicious attacks against others of both sex. Psychopath tendencies are not limited to males and unless checks and balances are in place - and rigorously maintained - this undesirable sub-culture will quickly be replicated.
Wise heads are contemplating the next move. A Royal Commission is on the cards. The deeper the investigation digs, the more dirt that will surface. If history is to be followed, a few hapless scapegoats will be offered in ritual sacrifice and compensation will be handed out to some of the victims. The " fog " of memory will protect any highly placed and valuable officers from adverse comment and the whole matter will soon be bundled in red tape and consigned to a remote pigeon hole somewhere.
What matters is how the outcome affects the future of the men and women who join our defence forces as a career path. The days of a macho " brawn and guts " training regimen are over and our present needs are for highly trained technocrats to understand and operate a technology that is ever expanding - and truly frightening.
The time has come for the defence academy to be dragged - kicking and screaming - into the twenty-first century !
Tuesday 10 July 2012
An end to " Political Stability ? "
Australia has been served well by the traditional competition between the Australian Labor party and the Conservative coalition of Liberal and National parties. The balance of power has continued to change between them and as a result this country has enjoyed two centuries of political stability. To the consternation of many, that stability is now at risk.
Two Labor power brokers, NSW Labor secretary Sam Dastyari and Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes have called for preference voting for the Greens to be abandoned and placed last on Labor's order of preference. It has become clear that this embrace of the Greens to form a minority government has become poisonous - and stands a good chance of destroying the once mighty Labor movement.
Any coalition can only work if both parties adopt a " give and take " attitude to issues. To gain power, Labor adopted the Greens demand for a carbon tax, despite that decision breaking a major promise in the run up to the election. Labor could reasonable expect a Greens reciprocation on the offshore processing of asylum seekers. It is now clear that the Greens are totally dogmatic in their left wing ideology and it is their intention to " take ", but not to " give " anything in exchange.
Dastyari and Howes view the opinion polls with alarm. Labor has been recently decimated in state elections and the writing is on the wall that the next Federal election will see a similar result. If Labor does not cut the shackle to the Greens, there is every chance that this grand old worker's party may be destroyed beyond the point of no return.
Politics in Australia has divided the electorate into almost equal numbers of Labor and Conservative supporters, with a balance of swinging voters deciding each election. If this swing against Labor reduces Labor numbers in both houses to a rump it is certain that the void will see the emergence of a number of small, single issue parties.
Two scenarios are possible. One is that the Conservatives will gain such a hold on power that they will dominate politics for decades. Unfortunately, we are best served by regular changes in government to bring new challenges and invigorate the decision making process. Total domination by either side of politics will inevitably bring decay.
A profusion of minor political parties would usher in the same type of politics that has made several European countries ungovernable. In particular, the life of Italian governments has been measured in months- and sometimes in days. We would not like to wish on Australia a misery of constant groupings of small parties in unstable coalition, but breaking and reforming to suit their leaders ambitions, as it now happening in Greece.
Dastyari and Howes are urging Labor to stand up for it's principles, abandon the coalition with the Greens and take the punishment that the voters will surely hand out - but survive as the Labor movement of this country with the ability to rebuild itself.
That would seem to be good advice. The two major party system has served Australia well.
Two Labor power brokers, NSW Labor secretary Sam Dastyari and Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes have called for preference voting for the Greens to be abandoned and placed last on Labor's order of preference. It has become clear that this embrace of the Greens to form a minority government has become poisonous - and stands a good chance of destroying the once mighty Labor movement.
Any coalition can only work if both parties adopt a " give and take " attitude to issues. To gain power, Labor adopted the Greens demand for a carbon tax, despite that decision breaking a major promise in the run up to the election. Labor could reasonable expect a Greens reciprocation on the offshore processing of asylum seekers. It is now clear that the Greens are totally dogmatic in their left wing ideology and it is their intention to " take ", but not to " give " anything in exchange.
Dastyari and Howes view the opinion polls with alarm. Labor has been recently decimated in state elections and the writing is on the wall that the next Federal election will see a similar result. If Labor does not cut the shackle to the Greens, there is every chance that this grand old worker's party may be destroyed beyond the point of no return.
Politics in Australia has divided the electorate into almost equal numbers of Labor and Conservative supporters, with a balance of swinging voters deciding each election. If this swing against Labor reduces Labor numbers in both houses to a rump it is certain that the void will see the emergence of a number of small, single issue parties.
Two scenarios are possible. One is that the Conservatives will gain such a hold on power that they will dominate politics for decades. Unfortunately, we are best served by regular changes in government to bring new challenges and invigorate the decision making process. Total domination by either side of politics will inevitably bring decay.
A profusion of minor political parties would usher in the same type of politics that has made several European countries ungovernable. In particular, the life of Italian governments has been measured in months- and sometimes in days. We would not like to wish on Australia a misery of constant groupings of small parties in unstable coalition, but breaking and reforming to suit their leaders ambitions, as it now happening in Greece.
Dastyari and Howes are urging Labor to stand up for it's principles, abandon the coalition with the Greens and take the punishment that the voters will surely hand out - but survive as the Labor movement of this country with the ability to rebuild itself.
That would seem to be good advice. The two major party system has served Australia well.
Monday 9 July 2012
" Gift Card " rules !
The government has decided to make no change to the " expiry period " applicable to gift cards. Decades ago, most cards lacked any sort of " use by " date, but limits crept in and today many cards have a twelve month period of acceptance, with a few extended to a maximum of two years.
It is a fact of life that about seven percent of gift cards are never presented for claim. They get lost or forgotten, or perhaps they only apply to a line of merchandise not favoured by the recipient. In such cases, that card value is simply a bonus that goes directly into the merchants till.
The retail industry complained that mandatory extension on the life of gift cards would be an imposition on merchants. They would be forced to make provisions on their books for demands on their stock which could take place over an extended period. This ignored the fact that with gift cards, purchase of that stock has already been paid for.
It is not only card time limits that irk many people. Some merchants impose conditions on gift card use that has no application in law. It is not unusual for a merchant to claim that these cards can not be used on already heavily discounted sale items. The whole concept of gift cards was for them to serve as an alternative for cash money. Placing restrictions devalues that concept. It could be likened to the Mint stamping banknotes with an issue date - and reducing their value as legal tender as they aged.
The gift card allows us to avoid what some consider a breach of social etiquette by simply proffering money as a birthday gift. It packages spending power in a more acceptable form. It also solves the ever present dilemma of gift choice, particularly when the recipient is a teenager with unknown tastes in music or clothing.
The decision of choice is neatly transferred - and a problem is solved.
Unfortunately the whole gift card concept took a battering when the Angus and Robertson chain closed it's doors. Prior to the closedown, some branches honoured cards whilst others demanded that an equal amount of value be added to the purchase. This made some people wary of cards that were accepted at only a particular retail chain as opposed to those issued by banking organizations and which are accepted universally.
The government contends that the present situation is working well and that there is no need to implement new rules. That assumes that the GFC does not extend to a " double dip " that sees a thinning out of the retail sector. Consumer protection could be enhanced by demanding that clear and consistent rules be issued with each new gift card, detailing both the merchant and card owners rights and obligations of use.
To provide the ultimate protection, issuers of gift cards could be required to lodge the proceeds from such cards in a trust account, to be reimbursed monthly as card transaction apply. In the event of a retail bankruptcy, card holders would be paid out from the trust fund.
Gift cards are a growing industry and in their present form there is scant protection, nor a clearly known and articulated code of use to guide both users and merchants. Ignoring possible future problems is a sure way of guaranteeing that these problems will grow in size and complexity.
It is a fact of life that about seven percent of gift cards are never presented for claim. They get lost or forgotten, or perhaps they only apply to a line of merchandise not favoured by the recipient. In such cases, that card value is simply a bonus that goes directly into the merchants till.
The retail industry complained that mandatory extension on the life of gift cards would be an imposition on merchants. They would be forced to make provisions on their books for demands on their stock which could take place over an extended period. This ignored the fact that with gift cards, purchase of that stock has already been paid for.
It is not only card time limits that irk many people. Some merchants impose conditions on gift card use that has no application in law. It is not unusual for a merchant to claim that these cards can not be used on already heavily discounted sale items. The whole concept of gift cards was for them to serve as an alternative for cash money. Placing restrictions devalues that concept. It could be likened to the Mint stamping banknotes with an issue date - and reducing their value as legal tender as they aged.
The gift card allows us to avoid what some consider a breach of social etiquette by simply proffering money as a birthday gift. It packages spending power in a more acceptable form. It also solves the ever present dilemma of gift choice, particularly when the recipient is a teenager with unknown tastes in music or clothing.
The decision of choice is neatly transferred - and a problem is solved.
Unfortunately the whole gift card concept took a battering when the Angus and Robertson chain closed it's doors. Prior to the closedown, some branches honoured cards whilst others demanded that an equal amount of value be added to the purchase. This made some people wary of cards that were accepted at only a particular retail chain as opposed to those issued by banking organizations and which are accepted universally.
The government contends that the present situation is working well and that there is no need to implement new rules. That assumes that the GFC does not extend to a " double dip " that sees a thinning out of the retail sector. Consumer protection could be enhanced by demanding that clear and consistent rules be issued with each new gift card, detailing both the merchant and card owners rights and obligations of use.
To provide the ultimate protection, issuers of gift cards could be required to lodge the proceeds from such cards in a trust account, to be reimbursed monthly as card transaction apply. In the event of a retail bankruptcy, card holders would be paid out from the trust fund.
Gift cards are a growing industry and in their present form there is scant protection, nor a clearly known and articulated code of use to guide both users and merchants. Ignoring possible future problems is a sure way of guaranteeing that these problems will grow in size and complexity.
Sunday 8 July 2012
The " Land Resource " question ?
There have been recent warnings that the fruit and vegetables on offer in our supermarkets are increasingly imported and this raises the question of how our land resources are allocated. The spread of housing is gobbling up farm land near our cities and agriculture is under threat from the expansion of the coal industry and the fast developing coal seam gas well projects. At the same time, foreign interests are acquiring rural properties to ensure long term food availability for their citizens.
Now a new threat to Australian farming feeding this nation is emerging. The expansion of Wollongong's Port Kembla will include a $ 273 million Biodiesel plant, due to commence operations in 2014. This will help to replace our reliance on mineral diesel fuel, but it is it's future plans that raise concerns.
The raw material to be converted into Biodiesel will be Soybeans. Initially, these will be imported from the USA but that is only an interim measure. The plan is to convince Australian farmers that converting to Soybean production will give them a better financial return. There is a danger that land presently used for wheat and other grain production will be given over to Soybean and as Australia is a world leading wheat exporter, this valuable part of our economy will be damaged.
From the point of view of economics, it would not be in our interests to reduce the quantity of an export product that brings dollars into this country with an internal product that simply fuels the Australian transport industry.
In a democracy like Australia, farmers are free to make their own decisions on what they plant and what they grow to achieve an economic return. If Soybeans prove to be easier to bring to maturity with fewer risks than other crops, then that would be the logical decision to make. What is best for the farmer would not necessarily be best for this country or it's economy.
The last thing we need is some sort of bureaucracy .dictating to farmers what they are required to grow. That was tried in several Communist countries decades ago, with disastrous results that included famines.
What we do need is a logical plan to balance our agricultural output and ensure that this country is at least self sufficient in it's food needs. We live in an uncertain world and relying on imports for our daily requirements could one day lead to a food disaster.
There is probably room for a Soybean production farming segment in Australia, but to prevent it damaging or replacing other essential crops the taxation applied to farmers incomes needs to be selective in regard to what is being grown. If a bigger wheat crop is in the national interest then the income from wheat growing should be more lightly taxed to influence farming decisions.
As things stand, the " one size fits all " taxation policy we have does nothing to prevent disastrous changes to our farm economy !
Now a new threat to Australian farming feeding this nation is emerging. The expansion of Wollongong's Port Kembla will include a $ 273 million Biodiesel plant, due to commence operations in 2014. This will help to replace our reliance on mineral diesel fuel, but it is it's future plans that raise concerns.
The raw material to be converted into Biodiesel will be Soybeans. Initially, these will be imported from the USA but that is only an interim measure. The plan is to convince Australian farmers that converting to Soybean production will give them a better financial return. There is a danger that land presently used for wheat and other grain production will be given over to Soybean and as Australia is a world leading wheat exporter, this valuable part of our economy will be damaged.
From the point of view of economics, it would not be in our interests to reduce the quantity of an export product that brings dollars into this country with an internal product that simply fuels the Australian transport industry.
In a democracy like Australia, farmers are free to make their own decisions on what they plant and what they grow to achieve an economic return. If Soybeans prove to be easier to bring to maturity with fewer risks than other crops, then that would be the logical decision to make. What is best for the farmer would not necessarily be best for this country or it's economy.
The last thing we need is some sort of bureaucracy .dictating to farmers what they are required to grow. That was tried in several Communist countries decades ago, with disastrous results that included famines.
What we do need is a logical plan to balance our agricultural output and ensure that this country is at least self sufficient in it's food needs. We live in an uncertain world and relying on imports for our daily requirements could one day lead to a food disaster.
There is probably room for a Soybean production farming segment in Australia, but to prevent it damaging or replacing other essential crops the taxation applied to farmers incomes needs to be selective in regard to what is being grown. If a bigger wheat crop is in the national interest then the income from wheat growing should be more lightly taxed to influence farming decisions.
As things stand, the " one size fits all " taxation policy we have does nothing to prevent disastrous changes to our farm economy !
Saturday 7 July 2012
An interesting " Whodunit ! "
Eight years after his death, claims surface that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat did not die of natural causes. Laboratory tests reveal that there were traces of the radioactive poison Polonium 210 on his clothing and personal items. When he died on November 11, 2004, Polonium 210 was virtually unknown. No tests were carried out at that time and it only became a news item two years later - in 2006 - when former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with it and died in London. Litvinenko was a critic of Russia and had earned the enmity of the Kremlin.
It will be almost impossible to name the person responsible for Arafat's death because he had far more enemies than friends. At the time, he was a virtual prisoner in his West Bank headquarters. He was primarily responsible for the Intifada and the resulting Israeli blockade had him pinned down and unable to travel.
Arafat was a commanding figure in the long running dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. The west regarded him as a terrorist and initially he was revered as a hero by the displaced Palestinians, but his dogmatic refusal to compromise saw several promising peace plans wither and die. In the end, many of his former followers thought his time had passed and he was no longer relevant. Enemies gathered on both sides of the political debate and nobody was surprised when he suddenly suffered a massive brain haemhorrage and was airlifted to a French military hospital.
This Polonium revelation will throw the spotlight on other suspicious deaths. Polonium 210 is a radioactive substance so deadly that an amount too small to be seen with the naked eye is inevitably fatal. Before tests to reveal it's presence were devised, it would have seemed the ideal way to remove a troublesome high official or eliminate a rival. The finger of suspicion will be pointed at many deaths that involved the sudden demise of people holding or seeking high office.
It will also heighten fears held by world leaders. The risk of assassination is always present, but now the risk is increased to throw suspicion on the members of a leader's inner circle. Will we see a return to the medieval practice of the chef being forced to taste the dishes put before a leader to guarantee the absence of poison ?
It is said " Uneasy lays the head which wears a crown ". In an age when the leaders of commercial industry collect salaries measured in millions of dollars - the exponential line of succession has incentive to speed that process !
It will be almost impossible to name the person responsible for Arafat's death because he had far more enemies than friends. At the time, he was a virtual prisoner in his West Bank headquarters. He was primarily responsible for the Intifada and the resulting Israeli blockade had him pinned down and unable to travel.
Arafat was a commanding figure in the long running dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. The west regarded him as a terrorist and initially he was revered as a hero by the displaced Palestinians, but his dogmatic refusal to compromise saw several promising peace plans wither and die. In the end, many of his former followers thought his time had passed and he was no longer relevant. Enemies gathered on both sides of the political debate and nobody was surprised when he suddenly suffered a massive brain haemhorrage and was airlifted to a French military hospital.
This Polonium revelation will throw the spotlight on other suspicious deaths. Polonium 210 is a radioactive substance so deadly that an amount too small to be seen with the naked eye is inevitably fatal. Before tests to reveal it's presence were devised, it would have seemed the ideal way to remove a troublesome high official or eliminate a rival. The finger of suspicion will be pointed at many deaths that involved the sudden demise of people holding or seeking high office.
It will also heighten fears held by world leaders. The risk of assassination is always present, but now the risk is increased to throw suspicion on the members of a leader's inner circle. Will we see a return to the medieval practice of the chef being forced to taste the dishes put before a leader to guarantee the absence of poison ?
It is said " Uneasy lays the head which wears a crown ". In an age when the leaders of commercial industry collect salaries measured in millions of dollars - the exponential line of succession has incentive to speed that process !
Friday 6 July 2012
Ducking for cover !
It would be any householders worst nightmare ! To be woken in the middle of the night by bright electrical flashes from appliances and the smell of something burning. To be in the dark with no light - and the expectation that worse was to come.
That was the situation on Sunday night in two streets in the Wollongong suburb of Austinmer. The electricity supplier describes it as " an over voltage at a pole mounted sub-station ". What that means is a transformer that reduces high voltage to house power failed and allowed thousands of volts to run through the system, frying the motors and wiring of fridges, televisions, computers - all the household electrical equipment,
It seems that the company that supplies electricity is far from generous when it comes to compensation and making good the damage done. Residents are instructed to make a claim on their insurance company, but if they are not insured or their company rejects the claim, they will evaluate the situation on a " case by case " basis, and award restitution on a " depreciated value " basis.
Most insurance polices these days have abandoned " depreciated value " and replaced it with a " new for old " clause. Under " depreciated value " the age of the damaged item is taken into account, If an item is deemed to be half worn out, then the reimbursement is for just half it's value. The owner is deemed to be " no worse off " because the item has already delivered half of what was originally paid for. This ignores the fact that the owner will be deeply out of pocket and forced to make an unplanned purchase to regain the former standard of living.
This damage goes far beyond the replacement of electrical items. If the house wiring has been subjected to a massive surge of electrical current the overload may have caused " hot spots " in the wiring that will continue to deteriorate - and may lead to a house fire. Owners would be wise to have a qualified electrician run wiring tests to determine the risk.
This incident seems likely to deteriorate into protracted negotiations between the electricity supplier and the residents involved. Most residents will probably have no problems getting the damage covered by their insurers but as was evidenced by floods in recent times, there are insurance companies who will fight tooth and nail to avoid making legitimate payouts.
This tends to reinforce the wisdom of making careful decisions when buying insurance. The cheapest price is not the best criteria. The wise carefully evaluate the reputation of the company they intend dealing with and it would be a good idea to ask a few questions to try and determine it's past performance in settling claims.
That was the situation on Sunday night in two streets in the Wollongong suburb of Austinmer. The electricity supplier describes it as " an over voltage at a pole mounted sub-station ". What that means is a transformer that reduces high voltage to house power failed and allowed thousands of volts to run through the system, frying the motors and wiring of fridges, televisions, computers - all the household electrical equipment,
It seems that the company that supplies electricity is far from generous when it comes to compensation and making good the damage done. Residents are instructed to make a claim on their insurance company, but if they are not insured or their company rejects the claim, they will evaluate the situation on a " case by case " basis, and award restitution on a " depreciated value " basis.
Most insurance polices these days have abandoned " depreciated value " and replaced it with a " new for old " clause. Under " depreciated value " the age of the damaged item is taken into account, If an item is deemed to be half worn out, then the reimbursement is for just half it's value. The owner is deemed to be " no worse off " because the item has already delivered half of what was originally paid for. This ignores the fact that the owner will be deeply out of pocket and forced to make an unplanned purchase to regain the former standard of living.
This damage goes far beyond the replacement of electrical items. If the house wiring has been subjected to a massive surge of electrical current the overload may have caused " hot spots " in the wiring that will continue to deteriorate - and may lead to a house fire. Owners would be wise to have a qualified electrician run wiring tests to determine the risk.
This incident seems likely to deteriorate into protracted negotiations between the electricity supplier and the residents involved. Most residents will probably have no problems getting the damage covered by their insurers but as was evidenced by floods in recent times, there are insurance companies who will fight tooth and nail to avoid making legitimate payouts.
This tends to reinforce the wisdom of making careful decisions when buying insurance. The cheapest price is not the best criteria. The wise carefully evaluate the reputation of the company they intend dealing with and it would be a good idea to ask a few questions to try and determine it's past performance in settling claims.
Thursday 5 July 2012
Search for the " Higgs Bosun " !
The mysteries of science intrigue many people. Usually, the objective being sought can be clearly understood. Perhaps a cure for cancer ? Perhaps unlocking the hydrogen content of H20 to give us cheap car fuel ?
A story from Europe leaves most of us bemused. The world's top scientists have spent hundreds of million of dollars creating a twenty-seven kilometre tunnel under the land on the border of France and Switzerland. This is called the " Large Hadron Collider " and it's purpose is to speed particles of matter in opposite directions until they reach nearly the speed of light - and then smash them together in a head-on collision.
Science admits that it is not clearly certain what will happen. Some people think that there is a possibility of setting off a chain reaction similar to nuclear fusion, while others think this could create more " Black holes " in space and these could endanger planet earth.
So - why are they doing this ? What do they hope to discover ?
It seems that they are looking for the " Higgs Bosun ". This seems to reach back into the very laws of physics that existed at the time of the " Big Bang " that created the universe. Current theory has it that at the moment of that colossal explosion a physical change occurred that gave some particles of matter their mass.
Without mass, matter can not exist. It has to have some form of substance - and that substance is termed - mass.
In 1960, Physicist Peter Higgs developed a theory that something that became known as the " Higgs Bosun " momentarily appeared for a fraction of a second and conferred the missing mass, and then disappeared. Science hope that using this Large Haldron Collider to create a mini replay of the Big Bang may prove or disprove that theory.
The strange thing is that this Higgs Bosun will not actually be seen. It is far too small to be visible to the naked eye, even through the amazing tools of reproduction that exist today. Science will be satisfied if it can be sensed, thus proving the theory and allowing research to make sense of the universe and decide what constitutes " Dark Matter " !
Now, here is another mystery ! What is " Dark Matter ? " Like the Higgs Bosun, it is something that can not be seen, but science think that it makes up most of the universe. The planets swim in a sea of dark matter and it contains numerous " black holes " that suck the life out of anything that approaches.
At that point, most of us mere mortals shut our minds down and go back to playing :" Dungeons and Dragons ". Hopefully, one day one of the gaming companies will convert the Higgs Bosun into some sort of computer game. Until that happens, it is better that we do not know what is happening deep under the turf of the French border. The workings and mystery of the Large Haldron Collider and the people in white coats who work it is far beyond the world in which we live !
And we thought computer games were scary !
A story from Europe leaves most of us bemused. The world's top scientists have spent hundreds of million of dollars creating a twenty-seven kilometre tunnel under the land on the border of France and Switzerland. This is called the " Large Hadron Collider " and it's purpose is to speed particles of matter in opposite directions until they reach nearly the speed of light - and then smash them together in a head-on collision.
Science admits that it is not clearly certain what will happen. Some people think that there is a possibility of setting off a chain reaction similar to nuclear fusion, while others think this could create more " Black holes " in space and these could endanger planet earth.
So - why are they doing this ? What do they hope to discover ?
It seems that they are looking for the " Higgs Bosun ". This seems to reach back into the very laws of physics that existed at the time of the " Big Bang " that created the universe. Current theory has it that at the moment of that colossal explosion a physical change occurred that gave some particles of matter their mass.
Without mass, matter can not exist. It has to have some form of substance - and that substance is termed - mass.
In 1960, Physicist Peter Higgs developed a theory that something that became known as the " Higgs Bosun " momentarily appeared for a fraction of a second and conferred the missing mass, and then disappeared. Science hope that using this Large Haldron Collider to create a mini replay of the Big Bang may prove or disprove that theory.
The strange thing is that this Higgs Bosun will not actually be seen. It is far too small to be visible to the naked eye, even through the amazing tools of reproduction that exist today. Science will be satisfied if it can be sensed, thus proving the theory and allowing research to make sense of the universe and decide what constitutes " Dark Matter " !
Now, here is another mystery ! What is " Dark Matter ? " Like the Higgs Bosun, it is something that can not be seen, but science think that it makes up most of the universe. The planets swim in a sea of dark matter and it contains numerous " black holes " that suck the life out of anything that approaches.
At that point, most of us mere mortals shut our minds down and go back to playing :" Dungeons and Dragons ". Hopefully, one day one of the gaming companies will convert the Higgs Bosun into some sort of computer game. Until that happens, it is better that we do not know what is happening deep under the turf of the French border. The workings and mystery of the Large Haldron Collider and the people in white coats who work it is far beyond the world in which we live !
And we thought computer games were scary !
Wednesday 4 July 2012
The " Pop-up bar " concept !
New South Wales eased it's draconian liquor laws to encourage cafes to serve wine with meals and to encourage small, intimate bars to compete with the big clubs and old hotels with their decors little changed from the old days of the " Six O'Clock swill ". Getting a liquor license used to be a time consuming and costly journey through the labrynth of red tape.
This law change opened the doors for bright people to try new concepts, and one of these was the " Pop-Up bar " idea that found favour in many other places. It involved the creation of a temporary venue that existed for a short period of time - usually somewhere between eight and sixteen days, and which presented an interesting theme to create " buzz " and pack in the customers. This time around the Pop-Up bar might present an art show. Next it might be the turn of somebody's contemporary music to arouse it's followers interest. The idea was to be always " different " - and never go " stale " because it always existed for just a short period of time.
Unfortunately it has run into problems here in Wollongong. To succeed, the organizers need to find a constant stream of available venues scattered across the city, and not all of these are suitable or meet the standards required by the licensing laws. One of the stumbling blocks revolves around the expected number of patrons. What would be suitable for a gathering of a dozen people might pose a huge danger if well over a hundred turned up, and that would bring into focus matters such as the number and location of exits, the buildings fire safety arrangements - and if liquor is involved - provision of toilets.
Usually a Pop-Up bar creates a fill-in while a building is between leases or is awaiting structural modification. It may have previously been a shop or perhaps offices, but this new concept most likely packs in a vastly greater number of patrons - and brings it under new planning rules. Obviously, it would be uneconomic to create new entrances, meet fire safety standards and install additional toilets for the short period it would be a bar - and which would not be necessary when it reverts to it's former use.
There is a tendency to hope that the consent authorities will lower the rules because of the short nature of the intended use, but this would be a huge mistake. A fire disaster can be both sudden and catastrophic . A crowd trying to escape and finding their way barred by an exit door swinging inwards can result in multiple deaths, The loss of electricity powering lights can leave people confused and helpless when lit exit signs are not provided, and the very structure of buildings has an impact on how they would perform in a fire scenario.
The Pop-Up bar concept is a great idea. Now it rests on the ingenuity of it's proposers to think through the obstacles and custom fit the concept. Perhaps there are not enough suitable indoor venues in this city and it would be better served in an outdoor setting, great in summer and served by those mobile gas heaters common in alfresco dining areas in winter.
Obstacles are simply challenges those with brighter minds overcome on their path to success !
This law change opened the doors for bright people to try new concepts, and one of these was the " Pop-Up bar " idea that found favour in many other places. It involved the creation of a temporary venue that existed for a short period of time - usually somewhere between eight and sixteen days, and which presented an interesting theme to create " buzz " and pack in the customers. This time around the Pop-Up bar might present an art show. Next it might be the turn of somebody's contemporary music to arouse it's followers interest. The idea was to be always " different " - and never go " stale " because it always existed for just a short period of time.
Unfortunately it has run into problems here in Wollongong. To succeed, the organizers need to find a constant stream of available venues scattered across the city, and not all of these are suitable or meet the standards required by the licensing laws. One of the stumbling blocks revolves around the expected number of patrons. What would be suitable for a gathering of a dozen people might pose a huge danger if well over a hundred turned up, and that would bring into focus matters such as the number and location of exits, the buildings fire safety arrangements - and if liquor is involved - provision of toilets.
Usually a Pop-Up bar creates a fill-in while a building is between leases or is awaiting structural modification. It may have previously been a shop or perhaps offices, but this new concept most likely packs in a vastly greater number of patrons - and brings it under new planning rules. Obviously, it would be uneconomic to create new entrances, meet fire safety standards and install additional toilets for the short period it would be a bar - and which would not be necessary when it reverts to it's former use.
There is a tendency to hope that the consent authorities will lower the rules because of the short nature of the intended use, but this would be a huge mistake. A fire disaster can be both sudden and catastrophic . A crowd trying to escape and finding their way barred by an exit door swinging inwards can result in multiple deaths, The loss of electricity powering lights can leave people confused and helpless when lit exit signs are not provided, and the very structure of buildings has an impact on how they would perform in a fire scenario.
The Pop-Up bar concept is a great idea. Now it rests on the ingenuity of it's proposers to think through the obstacles and custom fit the concept. Perhaps there are not enough suitable indoor venues in this city and it would be better served in an outdoor setting, great in summer and served by those mobile gas heaters common in alfresco dining areas in winter.
Obstacles are simply challenges those with brighter minds overcome on their path to success !
Tuesday 3 July 2012
A " Holy " Civil war !
The United Nations Security council has been careful to describe the bloodshed in Syria as a clash between " dissidents and the government ". It has avoided describing what it really is - a clash between two branches of the same religion.
Bashar al Assad's ruling party consists of the lesser Sh'ite numbers in the Syrian population and the militants are in the more numerous Sunni sector which is trying to overthrow a regime that imposes religious rule to which they are opposed. This is the worst kind of war - a " Holy " civil war !
The west is being condemned for it's lack of action to separate the combatants and sadly 15,800 people - many of them women and children - have lost their lives in the eighteen months that fighting has been waged. The Americans have stood aloof from involving their military muscle and both China and Russia have used their Veto to block meaningful sanctions or outright intervention.
Arms and munitions have been pouring into Syria from adjoining countries and International envoy, Kofi Annan has done a good job in preventing this becoming a larger dispute involving religious fighters widening the clash. Syria is surrounded by Muslim countries composed of both factions of Islam and it could easily flame out of control and involve the entire Middle East.
The bitterness and loss is too deep for the present aim of getting the government and the dissidents to agree to form a composite administration to succeed. It seems that all the west can hope for is that this civil war reaches some sort of final conclusion without drawing in the remainder of the Middle East. Eventually, a victor will emerge and in all probability that victor will install a cruel despotic rule on the vanquished.
It could go either way. Assad has a well equipped army but the dissident numbers have shown no sign of disarray, despite intense shelling and murderous forays by militia's loyal to the government. The opposing forces are becoming better armed and the trickle of Syrian army personnel defecting to the dissidents is becoming a flood. In many cases the only thing stopping this defection from widening is the fear that harm will be used against the families of those who defect across religious lines.
Distressing as it is to see a country torn apart, the most dangerous thing the world can do is to interfere in a religious war. Religion does not obey the rule of common sense. In the long history of planet earth, the millions of people who have perished in it's countless wars were usually of opposing religious persuasions.
Along with politics - religion is the most divisive force on the planet !
Bashar al Assad's ruling party consists of the lesser Sh'ite numbers in the Syrian population and the militants are in the more numerous Sunni sector which is trying to overthrow a regime that imposes religious rule to which they are opposed. This is the worst kind of war - a " Holy " civil war !
The west is being condemned for it's lack of action to separate the combatants and sadly 15,800 people - many of them women and children - have lost their lives in the eighteen months that fighting has been waged. The Americans have stood aloof from involving their military muscle and both China and Russia have used their Veto to block meaningful sanctions or outright intervention.
Arms and munitions have been pouring into Syria from adjoining countries and International envoy, Kofi Annan has done a good job in preventing this becoming a larger dispute involving religious fighters widening the clash. Syria is surrounded by Muslim countries composed of both factions of Islam and it could easily flame out of control and involve the entire Middle East.
The bitterness and loss is too deep for the present aim of getting the government and the dissidents to agree to form a composite administration to succeed. It seems that all the west can hope for is that this civil war reaches some sort of final conclusion without drawing in the remainder of the Middle East. Eventually, a victor will emerge and in all probability that victor will install a cruel despotic rule on the vanquished.
It could go either way. Assad has a well equipped army but the dissident numbers have shown no sign of disarray, despite intense shelling and murderous forays by militia's loyal to the government. The opposing forces are becoming better armed and the trickle of Syrian army personnel defecting to the dissidents is becoming a flood. In many cases the only thing stopping this defection from widening is the fear that harm will be used against the families of those who defect across religious lines.
Distressing as it is to see a country torn apart, the most dangerous thing the world can do is to interfere in a religious war. Religion does not obey the rule of common sense. In the long history of planet earth, the millions of people who have perished in it's countless wars were usually of opposing religious persuasions.
Along with politics - religion is the most divisive force on the planet !
Monday 2 July 2012
Journey to a far star !
Voyager 1 has become the longest travelled object launched from planet Earth. It is about to leave the Heliosphere, the outer edge of our solar system, having passed by and photographed Jupiter and Saturn and passed through the Kuiper belt of asteroids.
This 722 kilo satellite was launched by NASA on May 5, 1977 and has now travelled eighteen billion kilometres.. It has survived long past the expectations of the scientists who designed it and there are expectations that it will continue to send radio messages back to earth until about 2025 when it's power source is likely to finally fail. Radio messages from that distance take sixteen hours to reach us here.
When it's battery power fades to zero Voyager 1 will continue it's journey at sixteen kilometres a second - forever ! A few centuries ago, people thought the earth was flat and mariners setting out on voyages of discovery feared reaching the end of the world - and dropping off the edge. Today's scientists think the cosmos is still expanding after it's creation in " the big bang " and therefore Voyager 1 will never run out of new space to explore.
In centuries yet to come this man made object will continue it's travels and it is possible that one day it will be captured by the magnetic pull of a distant star. Perhaps it will be pulled into orbit around a planet such as our earth or land safely on it's surface due to a lower force of gravity.
We are capable of imagining a host of different scenarios. If life exists on that far star it could range from a sophistication far beyond our best and brightest, or it could be life at the lower end of the journey of evolution. Voyager 1 could be laughed at as a simplistic experiment from a early attempt at understanding science - or as a message from the Gods - to be venerated and used as the focus of prayers.
At least we know that if our civilization becomes extinct by either a nuclear world war or our refusal to heed the messages this ailing planet is sending, at least Voyager 1 will be somewhere in the cosmos giving testimony that human beings once existed !
This 722 kilo satellite was launched by NASA on May 5, 1977 and has now travelled eighteen billion kilometres.. It has survived long past the expectations of the scientists who designed it and there are expectations that it will continue to send radio messages back to earth until about 2025 when it's power source is likely to finally fail. Radio messages from that distance take sixteen hours to reach us here.
When it's battery power fades to zero Voyager 1 will continue it's journey at sixteen kilometres a second - forever ! A few centuries ago, people thought the earth was flat and mariners setting out on voyages of discovery feared reaching the end of the world - and dropping off the edge. Today's scientists think the cosmos is still expanding after it's creation in " the big bang " and therefore Voyager 1 will never run out of new space to explore.
In centuries yet to come this man made object will continue it's travels and it is possible that one day it will be captured by the magnetic pull of a distant star. Perhaps it will be pulled into orbit around a planet such as our earth or land safely on it's surface due to a lower force of gravity.
We are capable of imagining a host of different scenarios. If life exists on that far star it could range from a sophistication far beyond our best and brightest, or it could be life at the lower end of the journey of evolution. Voyager 1 could be laughed at as a simplistic experiment from a early attempt at understanding science - or as a message from the Gods - to be venerated and used as the focus of prayers.
At least we know that if our civilization becomes extinct by either a nuclear world war or our refusal to heed the messages this ailing planet is sending, at least Voyager 1 will be somewhere in the cosmos giving testimony that human beings once existed !
Sunday 1 July 2012
Cracking the whip !
Some councils are in the habit of introducing draconian rules that they have no intention of actually implementing. They are there as some sort of reserve in case a problem develops that needs fixing to keep the ratepayers happy.
Such seems to be the case in Kiama with it's " Short Term Holiday Rental policy. " Many years ago, when land was cheap and council rates were low, many Sydney people owned a holiday cottage at Kiama. It seems that one in every five Kiama homes now has an absentee owner and that one thousand five hundred of these dwellings are available for short term holiday rental.
The council has decided to completely bar pets accompanying people on these rental holidays. This seems to be an edict that ignores the owners wishes and would prevent family or close friends from taking their pets with them when holidaying with the owners consent. It seems a strange outlook in an age when health experts praise the benefits that a well loved dog or cat brings to the health of elderly people.
Another embargo concerns the number of people permitted to occupy a rental house. This is restricted to six adults and opens an interesting can of worms. Is the council saying that only six people can be on the property at any time, or is more than six permitted if the person renting decides to hold a BBQ for visiting friends ?
Perhaps the rule that will cause the most angst is the requirement that a sign be erected on the fence of each rental property proclaiming it as such and including a phone number which must be contactable on a twenty-four hour basis. Once again, this ignores the wishes of owners and could result in many unwanted approaches from people wanting to book future rentals.
It seems evident that this is a control measure that the council hopes to be able to invoke in the event of noisy, drunken parties or loud music that disturbs neighbours. In such instances, control is in the hands of the police, not the owner of the property and council is mixing the reach of administrative control with that of criminal policing. The police have no duty to count heads and insist on a council by-law being obeyed. That is a civil matter that council would need to properly channel through the courts.
Home owners in Kiama have the right to object to this policy on the grounds that it is heavy handed and will be offensive to many people. In particular, many owners will strongly object to their property being branded as a rental property for all to see. That seems an invasion of personal privacy and an intrusion on each owner's right to keep income sources from becoming public knowledge.
There will be a doubt whether all aspects of this new policy are within council's legal right to enforce !
Such seems to be the case in Kiama with it's " Short Term Holiday Rental policy. " Many years ago, when land was cheap and council rates were low, many Sydney people owned a holiday cottage at Kiama. It seems that one in every five Kiama homes now has an absentee owner and that one thousand five hundred of these dwellings are available for short term holiday rental.
The council has decided to completely bar pets accompanying people on these rental holidays. This seems to be an edict that ignores the owners wishes and would prevent family or close friends from taking their pets with them when holidaying with the owners consent. It seems a strange outlook in an age when health experts praise the benefits that a well loved dog or cat brings to the health of elderly people.
Another embargo concerns the number of people permitted to occupy a rental house. This is restricted to six adults and opens an interesting can of worms. Is the council saying that only six people can be on the property at any time, or is more than six permitted if the person renting decides to hold a BBQ for visiting friends ?
Perhaps the rule that will cause the most angst is the requirement that a sign be erected on the fence of each rental property proclaiming it as such and including a phone number which must be contactable on a twenty-four hour basis. Once again, this ignores the wishes of owners and could result in many unwanted approaches from people wanting to book future rentals.
It seems evident that this is a control measure that the council hopes to be able to invoke in the event of noisy, drunken parties or loud music that disturbs neighbours. In such instances, control is in the hands of the police, not the owner of the property and council is mixing the reach of administrative control with that of criminal policing. The police have no duty to count heads and insist on a council by-law being obeyed. That is a civil matter that council would need to properly channel through the courts.
Home owners in Kiama have the right to object to this policy on the grounds that it is heavy handed and will be offensive to many people. In particular, many owners will strongly object to their property being branded as a rental property for all to see. That seems an invasion of personal privacy and an intrusion on each owner's right to keep income sources from becoming public knowledge.
There will be a doubt whether all aspects of this new policy are within council's legal right to enforce !
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