What If ?

How depressing at election time to be faced with all those shrieking, squawking politicians offering us millions of dollars of public money in the hope of attracting our vote.  As they say in the classics. " It's a helluva way to run a rail road ".

What if we did it in a different way  ?   There are one hundred and fifty seats up for grabs in the House of Representatives and another seventy-six in the Senate.  That is twelve Senators from each state and two each from both the Territories.

Suppose instead of elections we had the computer do a random pick of a citizen from each electorate. A man or a woman - someone just like you or me - would find themselves representing their electorate for the next three years in the House of Representatives or in the split terms that apply in the Senate.

Their first job would be to select a prime minister.   The choice would be Scott Morrison, Bill Shorten,  Pauline Hanson, Clive Palmer or Richard Di Natale.  The prime minister would need an executive cabinet and would make a choice from industry, as is the system in the American presidential system.   Those chosen would need affirmation by the new members of the Australian Senate.

We would have a mixed House of Representative and Senate composed of "ordinary " Australians aged between their eighteenth birthday - and infinity.  They would attract the salary given to present politicians, but when their term ended they would merely receive a moderate superannuation contribution and return to jobs preserved under the same conditions that affect absence for jury service.

This random pick would have safeguards.  People with Dementia or medical conditions that prevented rational decision making could recluse themselves but the formation of political parties would be banned amongst those serving in each parliament.   The computer would assure an even mix of each gender and the policies put forward by the prime minister would need the approval of the majority of each house of parliament to become law.  At the end of each three year parliamentary term, the computer would select a new grouping to fill those parliamentary seats.

Cabinet executives chosen from industry would be compensated with a salary that equates to a similar public service grading. By doing away with the shackles of political party membership in the voting process of the parliament there would be a chance that the rationality of " ordinary " Australians would best serve the will of the Australian electorate.

Of course, it could all dissolve into a monumental shambles, but it is hard to expect anything even remotely worse than the chaos we experience in the present system.

" Heritage Listing " Value Loss !

The owners of historic homes built in the early nineteenth century are always at risk of their council slapping a heritage order on the property.  That usually prevents them making any structural alterations that changes the original appearance, down to the type of letterbox and colour of paint used. A heritage order also usually makes the home very hard to sell because that order limits the new owners use of the property.

Ku-ring-gai council has a heritage order on a Pymble home that was designed by architect Sydney Archer in 1949, well after the end of the second world war and when austerity was necessary because of the shortage of building materials.  The order came into force in 2015 without the knowledge of its owner, thirty years after the property was purchased.

When the property was listed for sale in 2017 it was estimated to bring two million dollars, but when this heritage order became known offers failed to exceed $ 1.3 million.  Homes in that area are sought for demolition and the rebuilding of comfortable family homes and the heritage order prevents that option.

Basically, the council order has devalued the owners asset by $700,000 and the reason given for that heritage order was "  preserve the historic and aesthetic  significance as an example of a modest post war dwelling with modern details. "

The owner points out that the house is far from original.   Fifteen years ago, before that order was in place, she replaced the slate roof with corrugated steel.   How can you have a Colourbond roof with a heritage listing ? " she asks.

The owners request to have the heritage order lifted has been rejected and the council suggested she apply for relief from its " heritage home relief fund ", but this was also rejected.  It seems grossly unfair that a home can be randomly selected and slapped with a heritage order so that any interested third parties can view examples of earlier architecture at their pleasure.  To add insult to injury, the council has the power to order the home owner to maintain the property to that required heritage standard.   In this case, it requires expensive maintenance that the owner can not afford.

It is also a warning that capricious decisions by councils can have a devastating effect on home values.   At one stage a council slapped a heritage order on a whole street of housing Commission homes erected soon after the end of the second world war.   They wanted to preserve an example of that type of housing for posterity and these homes had been originally rented, but sold to tenants when the policy changed.  These owners were locked into a time warp that virtually made their homes unsaleable.

The purpose of that " heritage home relief fund  " was to compensate owners who suffered loss because of a heritage order," but the decision also rested with exactly the same people responsible for the order.  It would be reasonable to expect that if a public benefit is expected from the issue of a heritage order, the cost outcome should at least be equally shared by the authority with the power to enforce that order.

As it stands, it is a one sided deal with all the cost on the shoulders of the  owner of the property on which the heritage order is imposed  !

A Food Source on our Doorstep !

One of the highlights of a visit to Tasmania for many tourists is a visit to the Museum of Old and New Art - or MONA as it is called - eleven kilometres up the Derwent river from Hobart. That delivers a fascinating montage of experiences unlikely to be found elsewhere in the world, including a moving view of food being digested within the human body which culminates in the waste that drops in the toilet every morning.

Kirsha Kaechelle, wife of MONA owner David Walsh has just released a cookbook which explores the feasibility of using the dreaded Queensland Cane Toad as part of the food resources of what is becoming a hungry world.   Surprisingly, the legs of this invasive monster are finding favour with many inventive world chefs despite the fact that the Cane Toad contains a poison gland that makes it deadly to carrion that consume the entire body.

In Asian cuisine, the deadly puffer fish needs very special cooking procedure to become the treasured meal that costs an absolute fortune where it is offered.  The legs of the Cane Toad are safe when removed from the body and there seems no reason why they can not become an interesting food delicacy.

It might take a lot of inventive presentation to convince Australian diners to actually eat part of a Cane Toad.  Frogs legs are not as well regarded here as they are in France, as was this writers experience.  It was at a new product presentation held in a nightclub atmosphere where finger food was circulating.  Trays of what looked like mini chicken drum sticks were simply delicious until I noticed a sturdy central bone, unlike any chicken leg I had previously experienced.   I was bemused, until a waiter asked if I wanted more frogs legs  !

For a start, it might be a very good idea to drop that name " Cane Toad " and call them something else.  "  Olympic Chicken " comes to mind because it tends to explain away that large bone that seems to be part of the frog hopping ability.   That lends itself well to illustrations of fat chooks engaging in weight lifting and other Olympic activities usually performed by very heavily built competitors.

These Cane Toads were a mistake of monumental proportions made here in 1935 to combat beetles that were ravaging the sugar cane crops.  They performed that function admirably in Hawaii but without natural enemies to control numbers they quickly got out of control and now they are fast invading other parts of this continent.  Eventually, we will find them hopping about the streets of Sydney.

There is no reason why the legs of this invasive species can not become a food source for both local consumption and for export.  The world population is heading to ten billion and global warming looks like reducing crop yields and  flooding many growing areas.

The mantra of the future could well be.  If you can't beat them - eat them  !

A Very Unwise Decision !

Theresa May is obviously under immense pressure trying to extricate Britain from this Brexit mess, but her decision to allow the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei to contribute to Britain's 5G rollout will seriously weaken the western alliance.

It is quite clear to the telecommunications experts in other countries that Huawei is technically able to eavesdrop on the communications passing through the 5G system if their advanced technology forms part of its layout.  Huawei is a technical giant that is closely connected to the Chinese Communist party,.

An obvious outcome would be disruption to what is known as the "Five Eyes "exchange of intelligence information around the world.   America, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand share very confidential information gleaned by their embassy structure and from their intelligence services.   Should British communications be compromised, exchange of such information would no longer be shared with that country.

This Huawei threat is not confined to state security secrets.  The commercial world uses the communication system to pass intellectual property information to their overseas branches and China chooses to ignore the protection given by patents or the sanctity of intellectual property as recognised in the rest of the world.   China openly steals intellectual property and uses it to give its manufacturing companies an edge in export volumes.

It is evident that China is in an arms race to match the United States in sea power.  It is fast building a blue water navy to compete with the United States navy and the obvious point of conflict will be the South China sea.   The world court has rejected Chinas claim to territorial rights over this trade route and China has ignored that ruling and constructed artificial islands which are now fortified with airstrips and SAM batteries.  China is becoming more strident in trying to close the passage to naval shipping from other countries.

Until now, the western world has chosen to bar Huawei from contributing to the 5G rollout.  We are only beginning to understand the speed and diversity that 5G will bring to all aspects of modern living and the prospect of the Chinese Communist party having the ability to listen and interfere is both dangerous and frightening.   The ultimate aim of China is very much an unknown factor.

This British decision on Huawei even brings the future of NATO into conjecture.   For seventy years NATO has been instrumental in keeping the peace between major power blocks.   The context that any attack on one is an attack on all has been the foundation stone of mutual defence.  Whether a Britain with compromised communications could remain a part of NATO is a question that will soon be openly debated if that Huawei decision stands.

It is common wisdom that the strength of a chain depends entirely on its weakest link..  The strength of the British link is now an open question.

The " Breakthrough " Age !

It sounds like we are on the brink of being able to bring people back from death !  Scientists at Yale University managed to revive a pigs brain four hours after it was removed from its body and tests indicated that it had regained its " thinking " process.

Now scientists at the University of California have developed the ability to read brainwaves and make the transfer to spoken speech.  This breakthrough uses artificial intelligence to provide a link " reading " the instructions the brain gives to activate the mouth, tongue and nerves to articulate words. A second artificial intelligence unit then worked out how the brain signalled the mouth and throat to shape this into spoken words.  The result is coherent sentences which scientists expect to improve further as testing proceeds.

Work is underway at the University of Melbourne to connect this brain connectivity to computers. It is hoped that the day is fast coming when those who have suffered complete paralysis or have suffered crippling injury to the throat and vocal chords may regain the power of speech through a combination of both artificial intelligence and computer power.

It also seems likely to stimulate new interest in freezing the human body in liquid nitrogen with the intent of revival when science makes that possible.  The concept of brain revival is likely to see  a cost reduction where only the brain is involved.   It seems inevitable that these experiments will quickly be applied to the human brain now these breakthroughs have been achieved.

It also seems to open new frontiers for the exploration of space and other planets.  One of the conundrums of space travel was the need to sustain humans during the long journey to reach distant stars. The nourishment for a human brain is far less than the needs for a human body and a brain connected to a computer would be quite capable of controlling the working operations of whatever craft took humankind to space.  Nourishing a brain with chemicals would also take care of the need to grow food in a distant space colony.

Unfortunately, as a species we humans are fast approaching the limits in which this planet is able to feed our ever growing numbers and our wasteful habits are causing a deterioration in both air quality and climate.  No doubt the science fiction writers will discern how the progress of science may be used to protect those with both power and wealth from the ravages we seem intent on inflicting on this planet.

Whether this advance of knowledge proves a benefit or increases the risk to human existence is something the history books will record.

The " Genocide " Issue !

Anzac day will see marches and dawn services across Australia as we remember a first world war battle fought by troops from Australia and New Zealand on the other side of the world.   There will be a big Australian contingent at Gallipoli and we expect that this will be peaceful, despite insensitive remarks made earlier by Turkey's leader, Erdogan.

Amongst the people who have emigrated here and make up part of modern Australia are many Armenians who have cause to remember the events of the first world war.  It seems substantially  clear that they were mistrusted by the Ottoman empire because they did not practice the Muslim religion and Turkish efforts to displace them resulted in 1.5 million deaths.   The Armenian diaspora insist that this was genocide.

Turkey indignantly rejects that epithet. They admit that there were a great number of deaths when the Armenians were forced to leave the places from where they had lived for many years but dispute the numbers and give no reason these deaths occurred.  Most of the rest of the world accepts that genocide label.

The Armenians are a stateless tribe who are scattered across many middle eastern countries.  They recently took a very active part in fighting Islamic State when that terrorist group sought to force its extreme religion on the lands it conquered.  The Armenians who have settled in Australia are peaceful and respected, and in fact the premier of New South Wales has an Armenian background and can trace the loss of her grandparents to that first world war displacement.

Australia seems reluctant to voice its stance on this genocide issue for fear of antagonising the Turkish government.  We are sensitive to the use of that word " genocide " because of the interaction between our early white settlers and the indigenous people which some historians chose to label by that word.

In Tasmania, there was a government effort to drive the indigenous people into a small containment area from which they could be deported to an island in Bass Strait.  This failed, but there were incidents in other parts of Australia where food and water holes were poisoned and armed settlers fired on indigenous groups in what were clearly massacres.   Recording of this early history is unclear and we generally avoid reference to it in our history books.

It is a mistake to try and decide the actions of a past era with the morality that persists today.  When Australia received its first white immigrants slavery was endemic in many parts of the world and the punishments handed out to convicts was simply barbaric.   The punishment for many crimes involved the hanging of the perpetrator as a public spectacle.

Unfortunately, the world has learned little from the barbarity that was the way of life centuries ago in our past.   In the past few days someone's ill will resulted in the lives of about three hundred people being snuffed out in a series of bomb attacks in Colombo and hundreds more suffered disfiguring injuries.  More than likely, this bombing was justified in the perpetrators mind as required by the demands of some kind of religion.

It simply illustrates the imbecility of trying to right the wrongs of a past era !

Confusion at the Ballot Box !

When we cast our votes on May 18 a lot of people are going to be unsure just how they deal with the massive Senate paper because the instructions are misleading.  In the past it was a choice of voting above or below the line.  Select and mark just one box above the line, or number all the candidates in your selected order below the line.

That changed at the 2016 election when voters were urged to select as many as six boxes above the line, and as a result some candidates received votes that were clearly not the wishes of the people making a vote.  When the nationality issue rocked the Australian parliament and some elected members were forced to step down because they held dual citizenship in another country their replacement gained office by gaining less than twenty votes on the countback.

Many people confused that request to mark six boxes with the protocol often followed in their vote for the lower house of representatives in which they graded all candidates from first to last, marking the last the person they least wished to see gain the seat.

When they used this thinking in the Senate paper, they were actually elevating those six choices above all the other parties vying for a vote.  The intention was to get people to select six parties in the order of choice that they preferred, not to grade them first to last across the entire voting spectrum.

This time those same instructions apply.  Voters are urged to select their choice of at least six boxes above the line and it is likely that many will use that same " first and least preferred "  choice and unknowingly deliver a vote to someone they least want elected.

We might achieve clarity by asking voters to number their  choice across the entire number of parties above the line.   That way they would give their first preference to the party of their choice and obviously the last to the one they least prefer to see gain office.  This selection of " first to last " would give a more accurate account of voters intentions.

The intention was clear when the ballot moved away from just a single vote above the line.  Those voting for the two major parties quickly exhausted the quotas needed to elect Senators and delivered no second choices.  By spreading the vote beyond a single choice a clear decision on voters wishes could be obtained.

Now the Electoral Commission has a short time to get that message to the voters.   Hopefully, most people have made a voting choice in the days before the election and that has resulted from careful consideration of what the parties are offering.  Australia is one of the few world countries that insists that voting in a government is a duty rather than an optional choice.  The government that evolves is clearly the people's choice !

Here We Go Again !

It looked like the world had settled down.   Islamic State has been soundly defeated in Syria and Iraq and there was a good chance Afghanistan might end in some sort of negotiated settlement.  Most people believed that the bombing days of " the Troubles " in Ireland were over with Northern Ireland showing a more relaxed attitude to the religious divide.

Now a journalist is dead because a splinter group calling its self " The New IRA " has emerged.  It  seems that the Brexit mess from which Britain is desperately trying to extricate itself has brought back to life the urge for a united Ireland under home rule.  It is probably only a handful of fanatics, but the match to tinder may start a bonfire that is impossible to quench.

We are astonished at the unexpected bombing campaign in peaceful Sri Lanka on one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar.   That island suffered decades of civil war that ended with the defeat of the insurgents, but we had every reason to believe that religion was not a highly divisive issue.

The fact that explosives were used at eight carefully selected sites to deliver Christian carnage hints of a well organized terrorist cell with the ability to carry out its plans undetected.  It was a clever mix of churches and luxury hotels designed to spread deaths amongst both locals and the burgeoning tourist industry.   If it hoped to attract world attention, it certainly  succeeded !

The death toll will continue to rise, but at least 296 are known dead and many hundreds were injured as a mix of bombs and suicide bombers penetrated churches and the restaurants of international hotels.  At this stage it is unclear who is responsible because no claim has been made by the bomber group, but suspicion points to either Muslims or the predominant Hindu Indian religion.  The Sri Lankan government has imposed a curfew and closed social media sites such as Facebook to prevent  the circulation of fake news.

What is surprising is that this attack has targeted Christians.  In the west, church attendance has been falling relentlessly as both Catholics and Protestants tolerate lifestyles condemned by Christian teachings.  Both branches of Christianity are expanding in both Asia and Africa and this resurgence is based on a rejection of those tolerances so accepted in the west.   It is no wonder that this expansion is rubbing raw nerves with the traditional religions practised in Asia.

China has long been fighting the Vatican for control of the Catholic religion.  The Communist party claims the right to appoint priests and elevate bishops and it has virtually taken over leadership of  Tibet's religion by forcing the Dalai Lama out of the country.  The Communists fear Christianity as a competitor to their control of the masses.

No doubt the perpetrators of this attack will be made clear, but it seems possible that we are entering a new era of religious divide in Asia.  The democracies of both India and Indonesia are under threat from religion taking control of politics and in both instances Christianity is seen as the enemy.
Hopefully, what happened in Sri Lanka is not the first shot in a new religious war !

The Spectre of " Death Taxes " !

Of course Australia is in election mode and that is where scare rumours originate and they can be very effective in swinging the vote.  During the last election it was rumoured that Medicare might be dismembered.  This time there are whispers that Bill Shorten and the Greens have a  secret deal to reimpose " Death Duties " !

At a time when a modest home in Sydney or Melbourne is reaching the three quarters of a million mark and CEO's are taking home multi million pay packets it is highly likely that " death taxes " are making an appearance in socialist minds.   We had them here in Australia many decades ago, and they were soundly detested across the entire income spectrum.

The tax office was notorious for raiding the home of the deceased before the funeral arrangements were completed.  They were seeking to identify and value wealth and they were looking for items of art, exotic furniture, whether the home contained a safe - and even looking for rings on fingers and any Rolex watches on the wrist of the deceased.

There is a school of thought that insists that we enter life with nothing and we should depart life with very little !   They deplore wealth passing down to the sons and daughters of the wealthy. Obviously people like James Packer would be high on their target list.

The problem is that to generate the tax rewards that make death taxes worthwhile the target range needs to be set much lower and the average citizen would fall into that tax threat.  We would find that the existing tax minimisation industry would swing into action and the wealthy would hide their money and assets overseas.  In short order this tax would fall most heavily on ordinary Australians who lacked both the wealth and the acumen to guard their assets from predation.

A much bigger threat looming on the horizon is the desperation felt by local government who are forced to provide extended state and Federal  functions but are locked out of the tax loop.  Their annual rate increases are locked into a 2.7% maximum limit and their unmet liabilities are increasing out of sight.  Local councils have a growing burden of unfunded needs and they are demanding that limit be lifted and rates rise by 7% a year for the next decade.

The problem is that wages and salaries have been stagnant since the recession of 2008 while corporate profits have lifted sharply.  We are entering an era of a shortage of skilled workers and industry is stubbornly refusing wage increases.  Industry instead prefers to invest in labour saving robotics or the installation of artificial intelligence. A sharp rise in council rates at this time will push many home owners over the financial edge.

It is quite evident that death taxes are not an option under serious consideration at this coming election, but we are facing higher food prices caused by the prolonged drought. All types of grain, meat and nuts are in short supply and under price pressure and retail prices will inevitably move higher.

The threat is a massive jump in inflation.  All the pressure is leading to a wage breakout similar to that era in the 1980's when workers were changing jobs for a few dollars a week of additional pay. A bout of inflation may be the price we have to pay to restore a predictable work/pay cycle.

Leaving a " Will " !

A lot of people have making a Will on their " to do " list but die before they get around to recording it on paper and ink.  That leaves the distribution of their assets reliant on state legislation and that varies widely state by state.

In Queensland the law is very specific.  A Will needs to be in writing and the signature of the person making the Will must be witnessed by two people who have no connection with the signatory.  Should a person die intestate the Public Trustee of Queensland divides the assets between that persons family, including the wife and any children.

In a curious twist, Queensland has just accepted a recorded message on a Smartphone as the legal Will of a man separated - but not divorced - from his wife.  This man had two children from that marriage and another from a previous marriage.  Without that spoken Will the assets would have been equally shared amongst those four people.

In a jovial mood during a work break it seems this man recorded a message on his Smartphone in which he directed that  " all my goods, my interest in property go to my wife " which he then named.
There were two other people present in that lunch room and neither had any personal connection with the man making that Will.

However, it took an application by the wife to the Queensland Supreme court for that judgement to recognise the spoken Will and each case is usually considered on it's merits.  That uncertainty is removed if a valid Will is forthcoming to distribute the assets.

Many people have a lawyer draw up their Will and this usually is at a cost well over a hundred dollars.  Statutory Will forms are available from most newsagents for a little as a couple of dollars and these contain prompts to ensure they comply with legal requirements.  There is no reason a person can not complete a perfectly legal Will using this method.

The law is very precise on how that persons signature should be witnessed.  The signatory and two independent witnesses should be in the same room when the Will is signed and all three should attest their signatures in the others presence.

It is not a legal Will to sign the document and have two other people separately sign as witnesses.  The witnesses must be gathered together and actually see the person making the Will sign in their presence.

The next important function is to make sure the Will can be promptly found when death occurs. Lawyers keep a copy of the Wills they supervise and this is recorded on a public register.  When the public use the forms available from newsagents it is their responsibility to arrange safe custody.  This could take the form of depositing it with their bank or their accountant, or making sure all members of the family are aware of its location.

Every year a surprising number of people die intestate.  The only sure way to know that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes is to leave a written instruction to be followed - and this is what is termed a " Will "  !  It is never too early to make a Will !

The End of " Time " !

For sixty six years there has been a trustworthy institution available for those who want to determine the exact time at that moment.  All they had to do was pick up their telephone and dial 1194 and a crisply spoken male voice would enunciate that information with great accuracy.  In fact it would continuously announce the exact time by the hour, the minuter and countdown the seconds with the words " at the third stroke " , followed by those inimitable " time pips ".  That service was available for the cost of a local phone call.

At the stroke of midnight this October 30 that sonorous voice will fall silent.  Telstra provides that service and it has decided it is no longer relevant in this digital age.  It will probably be sorely missed by the amazing number of young people who - when faced with an analogue watch - are incapable of deciphering the time.  A quick call to 1194 puts them out of their misery.

That spoken time clock was also famous for exacting revenge on an unfaithful lover when the digital age arrived.   If the young lady still had a key to her lovers flat it was common for her to dial long distance to the time clock message in London and then leave the phone off the hook.   Of course, that was a time when overseas calls were outrageously expensive.

It also harks back to the age of the digital watch.  The first of these arrived in the early 1960's and the " Bulova" brand had an asking price of about two thousand dollars.  It promised accuracy of plus or minus two seconds in a whole year and thus setting them on the right time was important.  When mass production caused the price to fall to within reach of ordinary people the quarts watch on most wrists delivered an accuracy feature that was impossible for the old mechanical movement watches to achieve.

In todays digital age that 1194 service still attracts about two million calls a year and call numbers this year were greater than last year.   In particular, the service reaches a crescendo at both the start and finish of daylight saving.  It seems that the Telstra spoken clock is trusted to deliver the required accuracy more reliably than the other alternatives.

Perhaps this discontinuation is a sign of the changing times.  It is a rare person who does not have a mobile phone in their hand or in their pocket these days, and these deliver the time in digital form. Accurate time information appears when we boot up our computers, but in all such instances there is no countdown in seconds between the advancement of minutes and that is not helpful if you need the time with precision.

It would not be a big ask to request the technology providers of computers and mobile phones to add that second countdown to the progress of minutes to serve the fanatics who still rely on Telstra's talking clock.

The Threat of " Immortality ".

It sounds like science fiction but an experiment has proved that it is possible for the brain to actively survive and continue to function after it has been disconnected from the body.  That has long thought to be impossible but a group of scientists has successfully kept a pig's brain functioning in a machine that pumped blood, oxygen and chemicals that prevent brain death four hours after it was removed from the pig's body.

When it comes to organ transplants, the organs of pigs  most closely resemble those of the human body and work is well advanced in seeing what pig to human transplants can be made to prolong human life.   These experiments with pig brains have cracked the puzzle of keeping the brain from deteriorating after removal from the skull which we thought was an automatic process.

The brain is reliant on an uninterrupted blood flow and should this cease for even a few seconds it causes irreversible damage. These Yale scientists have been able to restore brain function four hours after removal from the pig's cranium and there is every indication that it is again " thinking ".

It raises important ethical questions because it is inevitable that somewhere - someone is going to duplicate that experiment with the human brain and we seem to be tinkering on the edge of immortality.  If the human brain can be kept alive after death it sounds conceivable that it could be linked to computer science to create what ethicists would term a " Frankenstein monster ".

Another impossibility in the science world was the ability to edit genes and we tried to introduced ethics to prevent permanent alteration to the human species, but already rogue scientists have ignored those prohibitions and we lack the ability to control genetics.  Progress on keeping brains alive after death is about to deliver a new ethical question which will certainly intrude into the sphere of politics.

The one saving grace about megalomaniacs who desire to rule the world is that they eventually die and are hopefully replaced by saner minds.  The thought of a human brain preserved and directing the armies of a country indefinitely is chilling.  In many ways it was a sad day for planet earth when we invented the nuclear bomb.  Where science is taking us now is even more frightening.

Will we see the day when people of the ilk of Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison are deemed too import to be allowed to be lost to humanity by the closure of death.  It sounds like we are on the cusp of preserving the human brain indefinitely in a functioning state and that will certainly be attractive to those men and women who have attained great power during their lifetime.

Perhaps there are some aspects of science that are better left undiscovered !

Another Aged Care Scandal !

The deciding factor for many people seeking aged care facilities is the evaluation of what each aged care facility lists in  their brochures and the expectation that these will be detailed in the legal agreement each new resident signs.  These agreements are full of legal jargon and their complexity is beyond the grasp of those without legal training.   They are usually signed unread, like the acceptance required when buying computer software services.

The consumer watchdog has started legal proceedings against Bupa which provides seventy-eight aged care homes in Australia.  It is alleged that between December 12, 2007 and February 22, 2018 it charged residents of twenty-one of these homes up to a hundred dollars each day for services it either did not provide or which were partially provided.

This extra charge was levied for air conditioning, access to audio books, physiotheraphy rooms, hot breakfasts and travel escorts to external appointments. Bupa has compensated residents $ 3 million to date and notified the watchdog of its actions but this remedial action was not enough to avoid  litigation.  To date they have repaid approximately 550 residents and the refund has been about $ 2000 for each year they have been in the facility.

Age care is expected to be a major growth industry as Australia ages and it is vitally important that people choosing a provider get factual information on just what care will be provided.  It is both costly and difficult for residents to change service providers and many lack a supportive family to act on their behalf.

We are seeing economy of scale change the aged care industry as big companies bridge the gap between the provision of a range of accommodation that takes residents from self care through the provision of additional services as their health deteriorates, until they need a bed in a nursing home.    Company size is important in enabling the service range needed to provide continuity through all aspects of ageing.

Originally, aged care was in the hands of charitable organizations who provided facilities for those lacking the care of a loving family and the homes provided were small and scattered.  These provided an important service and they will continue to be the choice of many people but the sheer size of future demand favours group home facilities.

It is encouraging that when the big end of home care gets something wrong they confess to the watchdog and get it right.  New entrants to aged care are encountering a very complex industry and it will take time to get things right.   It is important that the watchdog ensures that the tenancy agreement is couched in simple terms that the average person can understand and that the service provision is spelt out clearly.

It is a service that most Australians will need at some stage of their lifetime.

Legally Defining " Parenthood "

A case seems to be heading to the High Court to achieve clarity on whether a " sperm donor " can in some circumstances legally claim to be a " parent " of a child conceived with his sperm. At present there is a clash between state and Commonwealth law and getting this clarified will be of immense interest to the many single women who have used a sperm donor to achieve motherhood with the intention of raising the child without a " father figure " present.

The claimant in this case had known and been friends for twenty years with the woman he inseminated and in December, 2006 they " privately and informally "conceived a baby.  At that time the mother was starting her long term relationship with her current female partner but the donor was present at the birth and actually cut the umbilical cord.

For twelve years he has been involved in that child's life and this included overnight visits - and countless trips to ballet rehearsals.  His name is on this childs birth certificate and both her and her sister - to whom he is not biologically related - call him " Daddy ".

It is quite apparent that this relationship was both harmonious and likely to remain intact indefinitely until the mother and her female partner announced that they intended to move with the children and take up residence in New Zealand.  The donor of the sperm that conceived this child went to court to block that move.

The problem is that under New South Wales state law the father of any child conceived under the use of his sperm is presumed to be the father unless he is the husband or de facto partner of the mother - and this presumption is " irrebuttable  "

Family Court judges usually rely on Commonwealth law and this does not define the rights of a sperm donor if the mother does not have a partner at the time of conception.  Nowhere is the term " parent " defined.

It looks like the High Court will have the task of sorting out a problem that seems to have the law out of touch with evolving family arrangements.  It leaves many families in an uncertain legal position and there seems a need to provide for conception agreements and the need to list more than two parents on a birth certificate.

Originally, sperm donors were to be anonymous and their identify fully protected but in todays world a more casual approach is fast gaining momentum.  It is now not unusual for the mental ability, height and colouration of a father figure to be taken into account when choosing the probable outcome that may be apparent in the child conceived.

The event where sperm donors become involved in the future of children they conceive brings a new aspect to the intent of the law.

Jury Misconduct !

The law is very clear on what is to happen when someone is charged with a serious offence. They are deemed " innocent until proved guilty " and guilt needs to be proven by a jury of twelve of their peers.  The duty of a judge in such a trial is to adjudicate both the prosecution and the defence to ensure that the trial conduct is within the tenets of the law.

In most Australian jurisdictions the jury pool is randomly selected from all who appear on the electoral roll.  Both the defence and the prosecution lawyers have the right to " challenge " and discard individual jurors without giving any reason and this process proceeds until a jury of twelve men and women have been selected for the trial.

Judges admonish the jury to make their decision solely on the evidence presented and not discuss the case with either the media or outside interests and in serious cases the law required a guilty decision to be unanimous.  In some instances a majority verdict will now be accepted.

The Facebook phenomenon has caused the states highest court to order an investigation into a recent trial because one of the jurors chose to post a comment on that media a day before the trial on which he was sitting reached a verdict.  His comment suggested that " sex predators should be put down like dogs " and it is believed that this juror  was related by marriage to a complainant in a second trial who claimed this same defendant assaulted her.

It is customary for the judge to ask jurors  being empanelled for a trial if they have strong views or any association with the people involved in the trial and this juror should have been excluded on those grounds.  It is now highly likely that an appeal will result in the conviction being set aside and the case may be retried with the renewal of costs imposed on both the prosecution and the defence,

It is now common for defendants to ask for the case to be heard by a judge sitting without the presence of a jury.  There is a trust that the judge will be impartial whereas the jury may be swayed by both public feeling and the attention that type of crime is getting in the media.  In some cases, the technical evidence presented may be well beyond the ability of ordinary men and women to fully understand and better handled by a judge.

The notion of conviction by an impartial jury is full of peril.  We humans are haunted by our phobias and those with strong moral or religious beliefs have problems disassociating them from what the law determines is legal in this country.  Many potential jurors find that their moral compass differs greatly from how the law has evolved in recent times.

Perhaps this struggle is exemplified by Israel Folau.   This Wallabies star is about to walk away from the fame and fortune his undoubted talent is capable of delivering on the playing field because he can not except the legal tolerance of homosexuality that applies to others in his playing code.   He has taken to making outbursts that are not acceptable to the games administration and this may force the parting of the ways.

It does suggest that this morally changing, highly vocal media world no longer delivers the impartiality that was the key note of the jury system. At least the decision of a learned judge is framed within the statutes of the law as they apply.  The jury of today works within parameters that were unheard of when this jury system was first conceived.

The Country that Fears its Citizens !

No !  Its not one of those tiny little republics between Mexico and South America and it is not that huge land ruled by Vladimir  Putin.  The country that is being turned into  a vast prison ruled by its police force is that most democratic founder of freedom and justice, the United States of America.

There were two major events that so scared the ruling elite on Capitol Hill that they granted extended police powers to rule the streets by force.   The first was the Watts riots of August 11-16 1965 when injustice against African Americans boiled over and vast sections of Los Angeles were first looted and then put to the torch.  Miles of shops and warehouses became blackened shells. Raging mobs of black people threatened the lives of the citizens of that great city.

The second was a bank robbery in Hollywood on February 28, 1997.   Two bank robbers donned body armour and armed with assault rifles expected to rob a bank and escape before police intervened.  A police car on its way to pickup lunch  spotted them entering the bank and police were waiting when they emerged.

The police were armed with revolvers and one shotgun and it was an uneven fight. A number of police and civilians were seriously wounded and the police were pinned down until an armoured money truck arrived and gave them cover.  It was a public humiliation and while law and order eventually triumphed, the police from that time became armed with assault rifles and the military equipment that saw them become an internal armed force that now rivals the American army and the Marines.

The change is clearly evident by just watching the news service.  Should a motorist jump a red light, the pursuit quickly moves from a single pursuing police car to a cavalcade of black and whites and the arrest is carried out by a small army of heavily armed officers.  It involves the use of force and the offender is exhibited to the news cameras like a rare hunting trophy.

All this is becoming clear to Australian audiences as they follow the trial of a Minneapolis police officer charged with shooting a woman who called police to report suspicion of a nearby assault. When Justice Damond, clad in pyjamas - approaching the arriving police car one of the officers leaned across the driver and shot her through the side window,   It appears the police were unnerved by the prospect of this becoming an ambush and such is the relationship between the police and the public that is not an unusual occurrence.

This officer was then advised by his colleagues to " keep his mouth shut " and may choose to never give evidence in court.  The police unions are very powerful in America and in many similar cases the outcome is usually the police action being justified, irrespective of a threat to the officer not being proved.

The prevalence of guns in the hands of the American public is blamed for this increasing police militancy, but policing is a dangerous job here in Australia where firearms are heavily controlled. Police firepower has increased to deal with the terrorist threat.  Hopefully, Australian police will never evolve into some sort of occupying army as it now is in America.

Sexual Harassment Peril !

The conclusion of a sexual harassment case against veteran actor Geoffrey Rush and a woman playing a supporting role will have newspaper editors and their financial backers having a long, hard look at what they will in future feature on their news pages.

In recent days the Federal Court upheld Mr Rush's defamation claim against the Daily Telegraph and awarded the Oscar winning actor $ 850,000 in compensation and aggravated damages.  What is yet to be decided is the amount that will be awarded for future lost earnings and there is the expectation that will run into millions of dollars.

That has sparked a national enquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace because this judgement will have a chilling effect on the " Me Too " movement.  Across the world, women who have been sexually harassed in their workplace have spoken out and in many cases their harasser has been driven from public office.  This is an offence that is rarely supported by cut and dried hard evidence and the public seems to accept guilt if a number of different women make precisely the same complaint.

There is no doubt that in the film industry there were many men with power who were absolute monsters in forcing women seeking star roles to offer sex on what was called " the casting couch ". Unfortunately, this coercion in more subtle form is often present across the entire work spectrum where seniority delivers the power to decide promotional advancement and the elevated salary levels that go with such elevation.  The workplace is far from a level playing field for most women.

In many cases a claim of sexual harassment was handled " in house " and settled with a small amount of money tied to a confidentiality clause.  In most cases it involves the complaining woman seeking other employment.  It is usually only when the matter at issue attracts media attention that it is treated seriously and this is where the " Me Too " movement has brought sexual harassment into the open.  Women who in the past simply suffered in silence are finding the courage to publicly name their harasser.

If the outcome of this case shuts down media reporting of sexual harassment claims the progress made in bringing it into the open will suffer a serious check.  The prospect of finding themselves in court and with the need to prove what they claim is correct would be a daunting task that many victims would reject.  In such cases, the onus of proof is always the responsibility of the claimant.

But it is equally clear that the wrongly accused suffer irreparable damage.  Career and job prospects go out the window under the miasma of guilt that such an accusation brings.  It is quite possible that sheer personal animosity may urge vindictive women to make such a claim when in reality their own incompetence held them back from a promotion they think they earned.   The power of such an accusation is awesome.

The safety of women in the workplace probably hinges on this national enquiry setting realistic goal posts on how sexual harassment cases should proceed - and how they will be reported in the media. Perhaps names need to be suppressed until a decision is reached but the relay of innuendo is so prevalent in this country that the people involved will quickly become common knowledge.

The Geoffrey Rush case is probably the ideal template of how a sexual harassment case should not be handled  !

The " Dark Web " - and Drugs !

The  " Dark Web " is a mystery to most internet users, but with special software it can be a treasure trove of encrypted business when it is used to sell and deliver illegal drugs on the Australian drug scene. A recent arrest will test the prosecutions case when the law comes to terms with convincing a judge and jury that this provides the legal evidence to sustain a prosecution.

In fact, this court case may be based more on the " unexplained wealth " aspect of the law than with hard evidence of drug selling activity.  The security of the dark web enabled buyers and sellers to negotiate a sale safe from the ears and eyes of the police and the actual drugs were simply mailed through the post is small quantities.

In this case the New South Wales Crime Commission won the right to seize the assets of a young 25 year old man and his two sisters, aged 24 and 20.   Under the trios control was a multi-million dollar home at Callala Bay on the south coast, Maserati and Mercedes Benz cars and varying amounts of cash spread across Commonwealth Bank accounts and secreted away in three south coast homes.  The police also located 2.5 kilograms of powder, believed to be Cocaine and a quantity of tablets believed to be LSD, but their authenticity has yet to be tested.

So far very few dark web prosecutions have been successful because of the difficulty of producing hard evidence.  Considering the astronomical profits that quickly accumulate from drug sales it is no wonder new players are constantly entering the supply chain.  The creation of the dark web must be a very attractive option to those with the technical skills to learn its secrets.  Fortunately for law enforcement, those same riches usually make successful drug dealers stand out from the crowd.

By its illegal nature, cash is the conduit between buying and selling drugs.  The huge number of these illicit transactions soon generates large amounts of cash money and today's cash reporting laws make establishing some sort of laundering process high priority. A suitcase full of cash is fast becoming an embarrassment. The avenues open to its placement are constantly shrinking as " tap and go " payment systems replace cash.

Fortunately, human nature seems to be the drug dealers worst enemy.  When people become rich they seem unable to resist flaunting their wealth.  The " look at me " syndrome kicks in and they need to drive the car that turns heads and live in a house that draws the admiration of their colleagues, and if that wealth can not be legally explained it now becomes the key to their undoing.

In todays shrinking world there must be few businesses that only accept cash and lack the ability to process credit based purchases. Mobile services that come to the customers home now have that sort of payment system and it seems inevitable that the drug supply will mask its activity with some sort of legitimate business and insist on other than cash payments.

The use of the dark web to peddle drugs is early warning that the crime scene has the ability to change with the times.  We may be about to see credit replace cash on the illicit drug scene.

Compatability of Electric Cars !

Whether we like it or not, electric cars are the inevitable replacement for the internal combustion engine and the only question is how soon they will be a viable option in new car sales showrooms. Battery development is progressing at an amazing rate and both the range of electric vehicles and the speed at which they can be recharged is ever improving.

Henry Ford taught the world that the automobile could be brought within the financial reach of ordinary people when he produced the Model T on a production line basis.  This vast industry is in constant upgrade and driver and passenger safety have improved out of sight with crumple zones and the development of air bags.  The car of today is a vast improvement on the model of just a few years ago.

What is surprising is that both governments and the car industry have failed to set a few basic standards to ensure that electric cars are compatible on a world wide basis, and the most obvious need  is compatibility of charging points.  We have not even laid down a standard to ensure that the public charging points in adjoining states mesh with one another.

Car makers today make vehicles for world distribution.  A long time ago that lack of standards resulted in the division of the world into the confusion of right and left hand drive becoming established in different world segments.  Its probably too late to rectify that mistake, but the era of the electric car presents an opportunity to get a lot of things right from the start.

Petrol and diesel operated cars delivered big profits to their makers from the sale of spare parts and there is a vast price difference between basically the same part once it is branded with the car makers logo.  The electric car is very different and it will involve far fewer parts and this presents an opportunity to achieve price stability.  Where interchange can be achieved, the supply chain improves and the price of individual parts drop sharply.

We should learn the obvious lessons from the past.  When the Australian colonies decided they needed railways they disagreed on a common gauge resulting in trains unable to use the rail system between individual states.  People of that era remember the necessity on a Sydney to Melbourne journey - on a frosty winter night - to disembark with their luggage and change trains at Albury because of this fiasco.

We will only get this one opportunity to get things right with the electric car and ensure that the same car can easily transit from state to state in Australia, and be transferred anywhere in the world without facing a difference in charging plug type or spare parts incompatibility.

Judging " Native " Honey !

It has long been assumed that when the first fleet arrived in 1788 they brought with them the European bee, along with cows, sheep, pigs and horses which quickly overwhelmed the fragile soils and bush of this dry continent.

The Indigenous people who had lived here for fifty thousand years before that European arrival knew all about honey and it was a great but rare delicacy in their nomadic lifestyle.  The native Australian bush bee is not as prolific as its European counterpart and its hives produce only about six hundred millilitres of honey each harvest, but it is fast becoming of interest as our use of pesticide in agriculture thins the number of European bees nurturing crops.

For the first time the honey from native bees has been included in competition at Sydney's Royal Easter show.  The craft of bee keeping is complex and involves the skill of knowing where to move hives to gain the flavours that come from the type of plants that are usually described on the labels of honey sold in the shops.  This hive movement usually follows seasonal crops around the country and is an integral part of the crop pollination that forms part of farm culture.   The farmers welcome bee  keepers and their hives because without them there is the prospect of crop failure.

Because this is the first time native honey has been judged at the show the selection has been placed in the hands of the chief researcher at the University of Queensland and there are eighteen entries awaiting his decision.  He has chosen to reveal some of the techniques he will use when he faces those eighteen entries sitting in bottles awaiting his grading.

Shining a light through the honey is a good way to assess its clarity and brightness, and listening for the " pop " when the jar is opened will indicate if it has started to ferment.  Like judging wine it is important to sniff the aroma, and finally the ultimate test is what the taste buds reveal.   Taste is what consumers seek when they take honey off supermarket shelves and taste has a big influence on the price asked.

The humble bee is something we take for granted and some people get annoyed to find bees buzzing around in their garden, but the food industry would be devastated without them and a mixture of global warming and our use of pesticide is resulting in hive collapses and increasing areas where bee numbers are insufficient to complete the pollination process.

Bees in the city represent the surprising number of citizens who are self taught and have a hive of bees nestled away in suburbia.  It becomes more than a hobby and to many of these people the bees are as constant a companion as their pet dogs and cats.   The people with multiple commercial hives usually keep them well away from the cities and concentrate on crop rotation in the farming centres.

Hopefully, these native bees may be more hardy than their European counterparts and may adjust to global warming.  Native bees have been here for more than fifty thousand years and now it seems they are destined to fill a growing gap in the agricultural scene.

" Animal Rights " Threat to Food Supply !

Social media and the Internet were used to create an Australia wide demonstration in  support of animal rights at the weekend.  In Melbourne a group of people sat in the middle of the road in the inner city, badly disrupting the traffic flow while another group blockaded the city aquarium.  Others in distinctive black and white " uniforms " surged into farms and abattoirs, chaining themselves to machinery and freeing sheep and cattle and allowing them to roam freely.

In New South Wales this activity was centred on Goulburn.  Activists had to be physically carried away by the police and nine people were arrested.   In Queensland there was a bizarre deal  struck between the management of an abattoir and the demonstrators when they agreed to leave peacefully in exchange for three sheep.

One of the alarming aspects was that the organizers have managed to print a detailed map of Australia which located individual farms, abattoirs and factories that process meat products.  That resulted in small groups of activists invading farms , breaking down fences and allowing stock to disperse to neighbouring properties - and in some case into the path of traffic on surrounding roads.

All this seems to be the work of vegan activists who object to the farming of animals and the consumption of meat in any circumstances.  They seem intent on forcing their vegan lifestyle on the rest of Australia by delivering financial harm to farmers and the meat industry.

This has caused the attorney general to classify the movement as an organization and as such it is engaging in a systematic effort in collecting, using and disclosing personal information to the detriment of farmers and agricultural producers.  Its exemption under the privacy act as been revoked and now for any breach of the law under the privacy act it may be fined up to $ 2.1 million or $ 420,000 for individuals.

The issue behind this activism is animal " cruelty " and to the activist any form of farming - however benign - is cruel.  They object to sheep being shorn because they may feel the cold without their wool clip.  They object to stock being confined in paddocks and desire to let them free to roam widely.  In fact they disagree with the process of farming that has been practised for centuries.

Recently, publicity disclosed the plight of sheep shipped to Middle East markets in the height of the northern summer.  The sweltering conditions caused distress and some deaths and changes have been made to alleviate those conditions.  Some abattoirs handle cattle processing roughly and again publicity has achieved change, but social media is being used to convince many ordinary people that all forms of farming are needlessly cruel.

It is very important that people attracted to animal activism by strident social media calls to action not act impulsively and take the time to carefully evaluate fact from fiction.  Invading farms and breaking down fences imperils the right of farmers to earn a living and they have the right to seek redress.  Just don't be spooked by fanatics in pursuit of a cause that defies reason.

The " Israeli " Threat to Peace !

The Middle East has long been the focal point of religious war because it favours heavily in the  starting point of three of the world's great religions.  In medieval times great armies fought wars that lasted centuries for control of the city of Jerusalem.

On May 14, 1948  the newly formed United Nations voted to grant Israel a homeland that immediately sparked a war of independence with its Arab neighbours that lasted until 1949. The dispossession of the Palestinian people living in what is now Israel has been the cause of several subsequent wars and the Israeli military has emerged as the victor in each of these encounters.

Jewish people suffered horribly in the second world war when Nazi Germany unleashed the Holocaust.  At the time of Israel's creation, many hoped that eventually there would be peace in the Middle East and Israel and the Palestinians would learn to live side by side in newly created national states. Numerous attempts to create that have failed.

Israel has become a small nation surrounded by Arab enemies and its success in repulsing Arab invasions has enlarged its borders.   The West bank, the Gaza strip and the Golan Heights are areas recognised by International law as " land sized in war " and as such can not be annexed.   This has resulted in armed tension between the Israeli military occupiers and the Palestinians who live as virtual prisoners.

The West Bank is critical to the eventual creation of a separate Palestinian homeland and Jewish settlers have been steadily encroaching on it with new home constructions.  These settlements are illegal, but Israel has done little to stop their spread and now - with an election looming - a desperate prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising to ignore the United Nations and declare this West Bank land as legally part of the Israeli state.

What seems to have embolden Netanyahu is the tacit support of Donald Trump.  The American president enraged Islamic countries when he announced that the US embassy in Israel would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  This formally recognised Jerusalem as the nations capital and destroyed the hope it could be an independent capital for a future Palestinian state.

This seems a desperation move by Netanyahu to bolster political support at a time he is facing corruption charges, but it could easily spark a new war with surrounding Arab countries.  The West Bank is home to about 2.8 million Palestinians and at present it has just 400,00 Jewish settlers.  It seems inevitable that if new settlers rush in to claim land it will displace Palestinians.

When Israel got the UN vote in its favour to create a Jewish state there was immense sympathy worldwide because of the Holocaust.  This move to annex the West Bank in defiance of United Nations law is a form of arrogance that will not go down well with the independent nations that make up the rank and file of the UN.

Donald Trump is playing with fire if he continues to encourage Netanyahu to ignore UN protocols and expand Israel's borders to the detriment of its Palestinian citizens.  That could encourage Americas enemies to give military support to the Arab nations that surround Israel and expand the conflict.  It would be wise if Netanyahu had second thoughts on that dangerous gamble  !

Empty Shelves !

It is a fact of life that about eighty percent of this nation's grocery sales pass through the checkouts at Woolworths or Coles.   The buying power of this duopoly is enormous, but the rules of commerce are still supposed to apply.

Customers of Woolworths are encountering empty shelves in the breakfast food aisles.  Uncle Tobys products are missing and this includes all the high volume brands marketed by the giant Nestle corporation.  The reason given for those empty shelves is " a price dispute " !

Earlier in the week a similar situation existed in the pet food aisles of both Woolworths and Coles. This time the missing products were from Mars Petcare and the brands included Whiskas, Pedigree, My Dog, Dine and Chum.  Stock has been restored at Coles and they are advertising heavily to gain a sale advantaged at Woolworths expense.

We have been suffering a record drought and everything from grain to meat products have risen in price.  The giant food companies are finding their profit margins shrinking and they need a price rise to restore their profitability level.  Such is the buying power of Coles and Woolworths that they refuse to negotiate any level of a price increase and their suppliers refuse to supply at the old unprofitable price level.

This dictatorial purchasing power is slowly decimating the dairy industry in New South Wales. Coles and Woolworths decided they would sell milk at a dollar a litre and this dictated the price they would buy their milk from the dairy industry. It has cut any profit from the people who milk cows to the bone and herds are decreasing as people leaved the industry. Now the duopoly is proposing to add ten cents a litre as a benevolent gesture with that stipend going to the milk farmers.

Whatever happened to the first rule of commerce.   That stipulated that the manufacturer of a product recovered the cost to produce and added a profit margin in setting the price it would be offered to retailers.  The retailer then added a margin to cover store costs, plus profit margin and that established the retail rice it was offered to the public.   Both the manufacturer and the retailer shaved their profit margins to increase sales.  Thus began the era of " Big turnover - small profit " of the retail wars.

The danger is that world food production is in the hands of international companies and we are fast heading into a world food shortage.  Uncle Tobys and Mars sell their products on a world wide basis and if they can't get a reasonable profit in Australia they will seek outlets elsewhere.  The fact that this duopoly has cornered eighty percent of the retail trade has the capacity to restrict the choice of what is offered to the public.

A healthy competition keeps prices low but what is happening to the dairy industry is to Australia's disadvantage.  If lack of a reasonable profit causes this industry to collapse we may find ourselves buying milk from overseas - at whatever price it is available.  A retail price of a dollar a litre for milk is probably unrealistic and it may take government intervention to save the dairy industry. Similar price intervention is needed to ensure that our giant food processing companies are not starved of a reasonable margin and driven offshore.

Purchasing power used wisely keeps prices low.  When it spins out of control it can become a very destructive force.

An Impending Arrest !

The Julian Assange story seems likely to finally reach its conclusion.  Since 2012 he has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, protected from arrest because he skipped bail to avoid being deported to the US where he would probably face life imprisonment - or even execution - for the revelation of state secrets.

Assange is now 47 and as a younger man he founded Wikileaks.  With the help of a complicit US soldier who worked in data transmission he gained copies of matters that both the US government and the CIA hoped would forever remain secret.   Wikileaks released that to the world and still has a trove of information that it threatens to reveal.

The US soldier charged and found guilty of what the court regarded as espionage has served his time and had a pardon from President Obama.   He has had a sex change operation and now - as Chelsea Manning - is back in civilian life with a clean record.  It is Assange who regularly addresses the media and the public from the safety of his London bolthole.

Assange has his supporters and they regularly gather outside the embassy to protest the British governments pursuance of charges which has resulted in a ring of police surrounding the embassy to prevent his escape.  Assange is an Australian citizen and our London embassy provides him with regular consular contact, but stays well clear of the issue of theft of state secrets which has propelled Assange to infamy.

Now it seems the Ecuadoreans have tired of his presence and are threatening to evict him into the waiting arms of the London police.  If that happens, it is certain that what follows will make news headlines, and the British government may welcome that as a diversion from the Brexit mess.  It will certainly force the US government to show its hand if it seeks to have Assange deported to America to face criminal charges, something that it has neither admitted or denied.

This Wikileaks saga raises an uncomfortable reality that is present in the records of most government agencies.  Things they do as a national necessity that are clearly illegal and break moral codes cause embarrassment when they are revealed, as happened with Wikileaks.  It can be argued that Wikileaks is providing a public service by cleaning up governments and making them pay a price for secrets they never expected the public to learn.  It could be argued that when governments break the law they have no right to state confidentiality.

Julian Assange has his detractors and supporters in the court of public opinion. How this Wikileaks issue works out will certainly be in the full glare of the world media.

An Option for Islamic State Fighters !

Brunei - to  Australia's north - is a tiny country with just over 400,000 people and the Sultan who rules it has just implemented full Sharia law.   It is also an incredibly rich country because of the oil beneath its land and as its people are predominantly Muslim it is their right to live under the law that prevails for that religion.

Unfortunately, Sharia in its full form is repugnant to most Australians because it runs counter to many of the freedoms we hold dear. This new penal code in Brunei will now deliver death by stoning for anal sex, heterosexual extra marital sex, and abortion.  Lesbian sex can be punished by the application of a hundred lashes.  Children who have reached puberty can be tried as adults and receive this same punishment.

Punishment for crime is also severe under Sharia law.  People convicted of theft can have limbs amputated and it is a crime for sex to occur between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, even if they are legally married.  Merchants can be prosecuted for selling food, drinks or cigarettes during the hours of Ramadan.

The imposition of this strict form of Sharia law was the aim of Islamic State when it rampaged through Syria and Iraq.  Executions were publicly performed and all other forms of religious belief was ignored.  Their captives led a life of misery and it was greeted with great relief when mainly Kurdish forces gained control and defeated this religious oppression.

Now we are hearing  entreaties from both Islamic State fighters who abandoned their Australian citizenship to join Islamic State and Australian women who fled this country to offer themselves as Islamic wives.  They - and their young children - demand to be repatriated to Australia as an act of mercy despite retaining their Islamic State views and allegiance to IS aims.

We simply don't want them back in our society and it seems that Brunei is now offering the type of life they were willing to impose on people who came under their control.  They illegally forced their way into Syria and Iraq with domination in mind and it seems quite reasonable to expect that now they should aim to live in Brunei under the penal code that they favour so greatly.

Of course Brunei may not welcome dissidents who wish to form some sort of Caliphate on their soil but neither did Syria or Iraq offer such a welcome.   Islamic State arrived as invaders and now they are defeated they have become homeless people.  Clearly it is the view of many here that they have forfeited their right to claim Australian citizenship when they went to war against the obligations imposed on those who claim the right to belong to this country.

Of course, we may probably see citizens of Brunei looking to migrate to Australia because of opposition to Sharia law.  Many Muslims are devout to Islam but intolerant to the extremity of Sharia law and simply refuse to live in a country where Sharia is paramount.  One of the attractions of Australia is our acceptance of all religions and the right to religious freedom.

Those men and women who have embraced Islamic State - and their unfortunate children - have refused that religious freedom to others and that is the reason they should not be allowed to return to this country.

A Legal " Abyss " !

Slowly grind the wheels of justice and it is not uncommon for judges to reserve their decision and not immediately  deliver a finding in a case they have just heard.   There may be complexities which they want to consider at length before reaching a decision and there is the expectation that an outcome will be delivered in a reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately, the decisions of a New South Wales Supreme Court judge has been referred to parliament with a report from the NSW Judicial Commission stating that they have no confidence that this judge would be able to deliver judgements in a timely fashion.

The Judicial Commission tabled evidence where judgements were delayed between one and three years.  Delays of between 22 and 34 months were common and in one instance this judge took two years to write a judgement of three and a half pages.

The tenure of a judge is highly protected and it usually takes an overwhelming vote of no confidence from both houses of parliament sitting together to remove a judge from the bench.  In the past, the convening of such a move is usually persuasive in having the offending judge submit his or her resignation to avoid the shame of being removed from office.

Judges are human beings and as such they are not immune to the ravages that age can deliver to the human mind.  The onset of Dementia can seriously affect the lucidity of decisions and it can also have the effect of causing unconscionable delays.  A judge experiencing this would be wise to immediately remove themselves from office.

Unfortunately, the effect of this on the litigants is catastrophic.  There is no other option that to set aside judgement and take the case back to court and on the docket of another judge.  The case would need to be reheard and this would involve both the witnesses again being summonsed to court and the cost of the lawyers starting proceedings again from scratch.

Such a time delay may make a reasonable outcome impossible.  Memories fade and important witnesses may have died. In some cases the litigant may not be in a position to finance the legal representation such a case deserves.

Fortunately, the failure of a judge to perform to the standard required is rare but when it happens is  usually because of unreasonable delays in handing down judgements.  It would be reasonable to expect that the Judicial Commission would be closely monitoring the performance of judges and stepping in before the litany of delayed judgements became a reason to involve the parliament.

An erring judge getting a tap on the shoulder and a suggestion it is time to quit preserves the integrity of the court system - and saves litigants from the anguish and expense that is otherwise inevitable.

Starting a Vendetta !

What does the average driver do when they see another driver backing up and likely to damage their car  ?   They usually sound their horn to alert that other person to a coming danger and that is the reason horns are fitted to cars.

Mostly, the person hooted sees the wisdom of that warning and it saves many a fender bender, but when this happened in the drive through line of a McDonalds restaurant in Wollongong the young woman on the receiving end was so affronted that it was the start of a very serious vendetta.

She not only recruited her partner, who was not present when this incident occurred but took the trouble to complain to Wollongong police. Honking to avoid a collision is not a law breach and this affronted family decided to take the law into their own hands when the police dismissed their complaint.

This was the start of a prolonged stalking and harassment campaign.  They successfully located the home address of the other driver .   The windows of their car were smashed when it sat at the kerb outside their home one night.   That was followed by a barrage of online threats and all this culminated in an explosion that completely wrecked their Ford Ranger many days later.  The police report that this blast could have easily resulted in a death.

Both the 31 year old woman and her 33 year old partner have been arrested and they will face charges laid by the altercation, counter terrorism and  special tactics command on the New South Wales police force.  The man has been charged with using a carriage service to threaten harm,  two counts of using a carriage service to threaten to  kill, two counts of stalking, damage to property, placing explosives near a vehicle with intent to cause harm and threatening a witness. His girlfriend has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to destroy property and stalking with the intention of physical harm.

This six week nightmare is the outcome that many people dread when they get behind the wheel of their car. " Road rage " is a new phenomenon that has affronted other drivers physically attacking people for perceived slights or road discourtesy.  In an extreme form, it can result in a vendetta  that becomes life threatening.

Unfortunately, there is no relief for drivers to avoid this type of anger.  Even a mild toot of the horn to warn of an impending bingle can set off rage in some people and bring a totally unreasonable response.  Perhaps just another example of the stress people feel in coping with the demands of this twenty-first century.  Fortunately, in most cases it just expresses itself in rude hand gestures and shouted profanities.   We have to be really unlucky if it develops into an ongoing vendetta.

The American Justice System.

In July, 2017 joint Australian/American citizen Justine Damond made a 911 call in the early hours of the morning when she heard noises from an alley behind her Minneapolis home that seemed consistent with a sexual assault.   Clad in pyjamas, this forty year old life coach approached the police patrol car that arrived and one of the police officers inexplicably leaned across the driver and fired a shot, killing her instantly.

That policeman was Mohamad Noor, a 33 year old who immediately claimed his rights and refused to be interviewed.  His partner, Mathew Harrity who was driving the car, reported he heard a voice, heard a thump and glimpsed someone outside his window.    He looked over to see Noor had fired a shot past him, through the cars side window and that shot hit Damond.

Nearly two years later this case is going to trial.  Noor was fired from the Minnesota police force and that dismissal is under appeal.  He faces charges of second degree intentional murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.  The most serious charge - second degree murder - carries a presumptive sentence of twenty-five years in prison.

Both the prosecution and the defence know this will be a challenging trial.  The law in America allows police officers to use deadly force to protect them or their partners from death or great bodily harm.  However, prosecutors have said there was no evidence that Noor faced such a threat.  His lawyer will claim he acted reasonably in self defence.

The combined police unions in American will be watching this case closely.  A police career in the United States is a very dangerous occupation because of the prevalence of guns in the hands of its citizens.  In police shootings the benefit of the doubt usually is exercised heavily in favour of the police and most shootings end with the police action being justified.

The statistics are not encouraging.  They show that since 2015 American police have shot and killed between 900 and 1000 people each year, but only 98 city police officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter in cases of on duty shooting.  Of these, only 35 have been convicted and often for far lesser offences.

Only three officers have been convicted of murder and four others have had their convictions overturned on appeal.  There is speculation that whatever verdict is reached in the Noor case, it will be heavily and repeatedly subjected to appeals funded by various police associations.   The police jealously guard their rights to use force on the dangerous streets of America.

Justine Damond's family await the outcome of this court case. Her father has file a $50 million lawsuit alleging his daughters civil rights were violated, but this will be put on hold until the criminal trial is concluded.  That final outcome may be many years into the future.

Ending Sexual Harassment !

It seems that sexual harassment in the workplace is much bigger than we have been led to believe.  A report by Women's Legal Services NSW makes the claim that one in every two women and one in four men experience sexual harassment that they are reluctant to report.

This report is titled  " Me Too.  Legal Responses to Sexual Harassment at Work " and claims  existing laws are failing to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.  It makes forty-five changes that are needed to regulate the use of confidentiality clauses in sexual harassment matters.   It says civil penalties are needed and the six month time limit on lodging a complaint should be extended to twelve months.The report also recommends amending the Fair Work act to expressly prohibit sexual harassment as a means of improving the present ratio of only one in five victims making a formal complaint.

There is no doubt that the recent outing of pressure for sex in exchange for plum movie roles in Hollywood brought sexual harassment into the open in a very big way.  Many people with power and prestige went into oblivion when they were publicly named and because of this women are more inclined to speak up when they encounter sexual pressure in the workplace.   The trouble is that some  sexual harassment is so subtle that they fear they will be disbelieved.

That is also a huge problem for management.   How do you accurately separate sexual harassment from the normal good humour between men and women working together in the workplace  ?   There is always risk when what can be termed " office romances " come to an end but they are a fact of life in the society in which we live. Any sort of compliment can be construed as a sexual advance if the intent is misunderstood.

Management can certainly come to terms with overt sexual harassment.   The telling of off colour jokes and similar subject discussion can be clearly banned and it is important that men and women working together should feel comfortable that adequate supervision is in place.  It is important that any complaint be treated quickly, openly and with a logical conclusion that is both fair and consistent.

It is quite evident that we still have a long way to go before sexual harassment disappears from the work place and human nature  ensures that will never totally happen.  The distribution of power will always give one person an advantage and sex is a driving force that produces strange conduct in both genders.

At least we are heading in the right direction.  Sexual harassment is becoming less flagrant and covered by more laws.  Both genders are now more vocal with their complaints.

Setting a " Sea Wall " Precedent !

Few people would have forgotten the vivid television news pictures from June of 2016.  A storm cell off the New South Wales coast was dumping rain on the city and high winds were creating a tidal surge that was sending huge waves crashing onto northern beaches.  In particular, this wild weekend stripped the sand from Collaroy beach and the damage became alarming as it undermined houses backing onto that beach.

Residents were forced to grab what they could and move out. Their backyards disappeared and many will remember the sight of an entire swimming pool being dislodged and left on what remained of the beach when the storm subsided.  There was a real risk that this erosion would destroy Pittwater road, one of the main conduits from the northern beaches into the city.

Collaroy beach sustained the main damage, but this storm was a warning of what was to come from rising sea levels caused by global warming.  Some home owners tried to protect their property by building sea walls and they were stopped by edicts from some councils.  There were threats that unauthorised sea walls would be dismantled and their property owners sued.  Property owners have waited in limbo for this sea wall issue to be settled.

This week the Northern Beaches Council approved a $ 3.46 million package to protect the 57 properties that back onto Collaroy-Narrabeen  beach.  The cost of constructing a sea wall will receive a ten percent contribution from the council and this will be matched by a ten percent contribution from the state government.

The balance will have to be met by the home owners.  Assuming each home has a ten metre section of beach frontage, the cost will average out at about $ 150,000 for each property.  This seems to be setting a precedent and it is now likely that a similar arrangement will be sought wherever beaches facing the sea face a danger from sea surges posing threats to seaside homes.

Considering that homes backing onto a beach usually sell for well over a million dollars that $ 150,000 contribution to their safety sounds very reasonable, but it will bring howls of outrage from critics who say it is simply subsidizing wealthy land owners.  These sea walls will be extended to cover any public land under threat and in some cases this will include play areas and public carparks.

Engineering experts say that to be effective the sea walls need to be continuous.  They warn that if an individual neighbour decides not to contribute and have the wall protect that property the gap may act as a funnel and concentrate water damage through that gap.

It is quite possible that  this solution may encounter oversea owners who are hard to contact or ignore their obligation to contribute to the sea wall.  There could also be issues with residents who are asset rich, but lack the ability to front with cash money and decide to opt out of this form of protection.  The matter of legal obligation to create mutual  property protection will probably not be settled until a court case creates precedent.

The actual design of the sea wall has not been decided, but it is unlikely to be vertical which might bar access to the beach.  It is hoped that it will consist of a mound covered in sand, but whatever the style it is likely to attract a range of criticism.   It seems that this sea wall matter is still very much a work in progress.