Getting it Right !

 It seems that the " working from home "  edict forced by COVID-19 has gained an unexpected permanency and we now have a glut of office space in central Sydney. This will substantially change the graphics of the city in respect of traffic flow, both in the streets and on public transport.

It will also have a vast financial impact. Empty offices contribute no rental money to building owners and there is talk of converting the upper floors of some buildings into housing.  It is suggested that this could solve the problem of finding accommodation for the low wage citizens who maintain inner city services and who presently must commute from the outer suburbs.

That notion opens an opportunity for " developers " to control this conversion trade and that could be a disaster unless strict quality guidelines are firmly in place to regulate standards.  It would be tempting to pack older and unsightly buildings with cramped and poor quality living quarters that evoke the reputation. of " upper floor slums ".

There would also be a tendency to exploit the marvellous harbour and city views offered  by many city buildings to create luxury penthouses to provide a new living style for the wealthy.  It could quickly become the vogue to maintain a luxury country home, but live in an upper floor penthouse for the days their presence is required in the city.

That is a lifestyle quite common in Manhattan and it could easily become a feature of Sydney where a view of the harbour brings the highest prices.  In fact, conversion of office space could be very divisive unless strict legislation is in place to regulate standards.

If inner Sydney becomes a mix of commercial and living floors of city buildings many other aspects of the city will need change.  More and more families are bringing up children in apartments and inner city living brings the question of getting them to schools.  That traditional morning commute could become a two way flow of kids going to school and other family members going to suburban jobs.

Conversion of excess office space could rejuvenate the inner city, if it is handled properly and it is very important that this is not left in the hands of developers whose main aim is to make a profit.  It would be a tragedy if shonky conversions created living areas with a high fire risk and inadequate escape measures.  Good planning and tight controls could create a building boom that makes the centre of the city a creative place to live.

Circumstances beyond our control thrust this pandemic on the world and there may be many more changes still in the pipeline.  If the government puts in place the right guideline standards, these conversions can be a happy experience of inner city living.

The Amazon Burns !

 The biggest patch of rain forest left in the world is the Amazon in Brazil - and its burning !  Year after year, the people living on its perimeter seek to turn more of it into farming land or pasture to graze their cattle.  At last count there were 74,000 individual fires burning and the smoke haze could be seen from space.

This amazing tropical rain forest has been described as " the lungs of the world "  and millions have been contributed by other countries in an effort to save it.  For a long time this money bought helicopters to get police to illegal logging camps where the loggers would be arrested and the camp and its equipment destroyed.

All that changed when Brazil had an election and populist President Jair Bolsonaro won office. He viewed the Amazon through very different eyes and efforts to evict the loggers and farmers trying to clear agricultural land lapsed.  In a short period of time fires were burning across the length and breadth of this proclaimed tree sanctuary.

What horrifies some conservationists is that the Amazon still contain some tribes that have not yet encountered the citizens of this twenty-first century.  They go naked and hunt for their living and they live deep in the rain forest beyond the reach of exploration parties.

It is expected that they will have gained no immunity to the many diseases that run rampant in our society and there is every chance that contact will decimate their numbers, as happened when Europeans first landed on other foreign shores.

Laws were put in place to prevent accidental contact with these tribes but they too have lapsed.  It is President Bolsonaro's view that the Amazon is a commercial treasure that should not be denied to Brazilians as a way of improving their standard of living.  Where it has been cleared it delivers prime agricultural land and the cut trees deliver valuable lumber.

Bonsonaro is confident that this area of Brazil is probably rich in a number of mineral deposits, and he has mentioned gold, uranium and tin as the likely national benefits.  Unfortunately, that will not be proven until the Amazon is destroyed and at the present rate of progress it will be gone long before mid century.

It is hard to predict how that will affect world weather, but the absorption of carbon dioxide by the trees and its replacement with oxygen will certainly increase world warming, just at a time when efforts to hold world temperature below 2 degrees is becoming critical.

Now it depends if the rest of the world can do a deal with Bonsonaro.   Clearly, the Amazon is Brazilian property and saving it probably rests on negotiating a trade benefit that provides adequate compensation !

The " Isolation " Question !

 We are fast finding that forcing people infected with the coronavirus to isolate in hotels is not a practical measure.  When hotels were designed and built the aim was to provide tranquility and comfort for guests and little thought was given to creating airlocks.

The bacteria has shown evidence that it can move from room to room and the movement of staff, delivering meals and servicing rooms provides another avenue for infection.  Hotels were a handy option in the early days of this pandemic, but we need a better solution to repatriate the thousands of Australian still trapped overseas.

Every state has multiple military training camps which contain exactly the facilities needed to service great numbers of people.  Beds, mess halls and exercise equipment is on hand and these camps are isolated from direct contact with the general public.  They have the capacity to house thousands of people with high security if that becomes necessary.

COVID-19 has shown that it has the capacity to develop different strains and those Australians trapped overseas are scattered across many hot spots where contagion is rife.  Our vaccination programme is running slowly and the refusal rate is growing, so we may not have herd immunity for quite a long period of time.

It is essential that when the airlines resume regular services and those returnees arrive we have facilities in place to give the necessary isolation without undue risk.  That will not be possible if we are still isolating people in hotels.

The eruption of this coronavirus caught the world by surprise, and it shouldn't have.   We have had earlier incidences of two similar epidemics, both of which involved the crossover of bacteria from the animal kingdom to humans.

Science predicts a coming food shortage and that will obviously encourage an even greater search for meat in the animal domain.  It has long been suspected that the highest risk comes from water bird species, but some avenues of science are pointing their finger at bats as the origin of COVID-19.

It is probably a miracle that we have had a long break between pandemics with the last one that caused multiple deaths occurring in 1918.  We may not be so lucky in the future and we would be wise to have facilities in place to achieve the necessary isolation should it become necessary.

Sheer logic indicates that military facilities tick all the boxers to make that a reality ! 

The Antibiotic War !

The world got a scare when this coronavirus  pandemic burst out of China and stopped the flow of people from one country to another.  A year later and we are still trying to decide if the vaccines we have developed gives immunity, or whether its constant variations will need an annual booster shot.

So far the pandemic has killed about five milllion people in a world population of about seven billion so the odds of a person dying of COVID 19 are remote.   But we are facing a more immediate danger from the effective withdrawal of antibiotics as a weapon for treating infections.

These miracle drugs. were grossly over used.  Patients demanded them for viruses like the common cold, and often stopped taking them mid course when the symptoms cleared.   That enabled the bug to develop immunity and over time the number of antibiotics available for treatment became dangerously low.  That is now a critical problem in most hospitals.

This comes at a time when a new, flesh eating bacteria is making sporadic appearances after surgery and appears to be resistant to even the last of these antibiotics.  A parliamentary enquiry is considering the case of a tradesman who had the misfortune to suffer a cut to his hip when he misjudged the use of an angle grinder.

He presented at a country hospital and a surgeon treated the wound, stitched it and ask him to return in a week to have the stitches removed.  He asked for antibiotics and they were refused, despite the angle grinder that caused the problem being a " dirty " implement.

The wound became swollen and painful during the next five days and he was then given antibiotics and sent home.  He had a fever and cellulitis and the doctor marked the wound and told him to return if it moved beyond those limits.

Three days later the patient woke in excruciating pain.  The swelling had bloomed from the knee to the hip.  Hospital tests confirmed he had necrotising fasciitis caused by an antibiotic resistant staphylococcus. A surgeon cut away infected tissue before the patient was  airlifted to Adelaide.

The patient went into septic shock and was placed in a coma.  He lost 33 kg, and once a very fit man, finally emerged " as a wreck ". It was almost a miracle that he survived.

Unfortunately, the bug that caused this damage is still a mystery.  We are fast running out of ways to treat it and it can make an appearance from even a minor wound.  What we need is a new line of antibiotics and that can only come if the major drug companies undertake the necessary research to come up with an answer.

A lot of promising drug research has been put on hold while the urgency of finding a vaccine for coronavirus has taken precedence.  Now a new challenge awaits  !

Revive Live Music !

It seems that the lights are about to go on again in Kings Cross.   Hopefully, that will not result in the bad behaviour that caused the government to restrict trading hours and limit the drinks that can be served.  The problem was that Kings Cross evolved as the biggest entertainment Mecca for the city of Sydney and that concentration took crowd numbers to a dangerous level.

One of the reasons that happened was a tightening of noise restriction laws.   Dozens of suburban pubs hosted live bands over the weekend and it became the fashion for nearby residents to complain, both about the music and the slamming of car doors when the crowd dispersed.

The law came down hard on live music and most of these venues opted for poker machines as a distraction.  It became harder for the promoters of a new live band to get a following  and the live music scene in Sydney simply died.

In the majority of cases the suburban pub had been in existence for years and live music on weekends had a following, but the people complaining were the residents of newly built tower blocks.  They would have been aware of the pub and its music when they bought, but demanded it be shut down for their own convenience.

This was exemplified by the experience of Luna Park on Sydney's north side.  This fun park was established before the harbour bridge was built and there were few homes in the surrounding area.  The water views attracted development and high prices for units, and immediately there was pressure to stop the noise of people having fun at Luna Park.

New rides were prohibited and restrictions on opening times threatened to close this venue.  It seems that dropping crowd numbers encouraged the criminal element to cause fatalities when one of the rides was torched in an attempt to gain the valuable land the park was situated on.  Fortunately,  law revision now allows Luna Park to further prosper with new entertainment rides.

It is time those noise limitation restrictions on suburban pubs received similar treatment.  Many Australian bands that rose to world fame got their start playing in suburban pubs and this spread of venues dispersed the entertainment scene widely.  It would be unwelcome if Kings Cross regained its sordid reputation as the  sex and " girly show " in this city because it was the only operating venue.

This coronavirus lockdown has seen the end of many suburban pubs as land value increases for apartment blocks.  The local pub used to be the convivial meeting place for residents in most communities  and if we are not careful  they will become a disappearing relic of yesteryear.

Unfortunately, some people consider the sound of people enjoying themselves to be a " nuisance "  !

" Ghost " Guns !

  It usually doesn't  take long for any new idea to spread around the world and it seems that commercial interests have devised a way to circumvent gun laws that prevent unsuitable people buying guns.  It started in America, where soft gun laws have made urban massacres a common  crime and it seems inevitable that we will see it here in Australia.

Criminal elements are manufacturing guns which are broken down into component parts which are individually mailed to their customer.  When all the parts have arrived, the customer simply fits it all together and has a weapon that lacks a serial number or any other form of identity.

They are called " Ghost guns " because of that characteristic.  Usually, the selling price relates to the quality of the weapon. This is a fast expanding trade which quickly moved from basic hand guns to more sophisticated automatic weapons.  The growing demand has resulted in backyard manufacturers investing in machinery to produce an extensive range of weapons.

This trade is helped by the popularity of inline sales which are usually delivered through the mail system. It is impossible for mail inspectors to check all individual parcels and gun parts can not be easily identified. Those parts individually arrive scattered over multiple deliveries to reduce the chance of interception.

These ghost guns are of high value to criminal elements.  Any gun from a legitimate manufacturer has a serial number and that can be traced by law enforcement. A criminal planning a murder would welcome a ghost gun that could be thrown away afterwards, leaving no trace for the police to follow.

This illegal source of weapons is a new threat in Australia.  The clamp down  on gun ownership after the Port Arthur massacre took many guns out of circulation and obtaining a gun license is now subjected to an intense security check.  Despite this, there are illegal weapons finding their way into the hands of criminals and often feature in domestic murder/suicides.  

The availability of ghost guns would be welcomed by the malajusted threatening violence after relationship breakups and would cause many families to live in fear.  It would set gun control back many decades in this country.

There is the inevitability that the law of " supply and demand " will apply.   As we see with the drug trade, when demand is strong the profit motive will always have suppliers risking the penalties that apply.  Our borders are porous if enough money is forthcoming to speed illegal cargo to its destination.

The threat not only applies to overseas interests importing  gun components to Australia.  It is likely that we will see this type of merchandise manufactured here by criminal elements.  It seems that clever ideas find a home on both sides of the law !

The Coming Hydrogen Age !

 In 1720 the invention of the steam engine was the start of the industrial revolution which changed the entire world.  For the first time, mankind was able to manufacture things with a source of energy beyond his or her muscles or the strength of an animal, but that was not universally welcomed.

It was a time of industrial chaos, with angry mobs invading factories to smash the machinery geared to the steam engine because they could produce faster and cheaper products that put the previous makers out of work.  For some, the steam engine was a threat to their agrarian way of life - to be resisted by all means.

That steam engine was simply the forerunner to the industrial progress that followed, and the fuel used was predominantly coal and oil, and when we burn these fossil fuels we release the carbon dioxide that is stored away in them.  We are raising the temperature of planet Earth and the consequences will be dire for humankind.

Fortunately, there is another product readily available that can deliver the same benefits as coal and oil, but without generating carbon dioxide or any other harmful gases.  It is called hydrogen and it is a component of water.

There is more water on this planet than land and hence the base source of hydrogen is unlimited.  All it takes if electricity applied to water to divide the chemical formulae known as H20 into hydrogen and oxygen., and the energy to  create the necessary electricity can be obtained from solar panels or wind turbines.

The addition of solar panels on rooftops is fast reaching the stage where we are generating surplus electricity and if this is channelled  into hydrogen production we would have a completely new industry to replace coal and oil and stop polluting the planet.

That is the obvious solution facing Australia and it is the direction we must take along with other nations if we are to keep global warming within reasonable limitations, but it is highly likely the plan will generate heated opposition, as happened when that first steam engine replaced the horse as a means of transport and machines did the work of home industries.

We are about to undertake a new industrial revolution and there are many earning a living from oil and coal who will try and sabotage this new hydrogen industry.  They will see it as a threat to their way of life and dispute the damage carbon dioxide is making to this planet's temperature.  They already argue with the scientific community about the dangers of global warming and produce false evidence to enhance their point of view.

Just as those " luddites " deliberately smashed machinery to preserve their way of life when the steam engine was invented, expect supporters who make their fortunes from oil and coal to raise heated objections to hydrogen as this replacement fuel enters production.  Large amounts of money will be generated to stop the solution to this planet overheating.

It seems that the hydrogen era is just as inevitable as the change brought by the steam engine in its day. It is the only sure way to save planet Earth !

An Untimely Death !

 Australia is often called the " lucky country " and its citizens enjoy good health because it maintains a public hospital system across all states and territories.  Citizens with an ailment or an injury are entitled to approach either an out-patient or emergency department and have that treated at no cost to themselves.

This public hospital system is connected by road ambulance fleets and air ambulances which move patients from hospitals in small country towns to regional base hospitals with better facilities, or to the giant medical centres located in capital cities.

This system works well, but it is not perfect and a recent death has it subject to review to ascertain what went wrong, and what can be done to ensure there is no repeat.

An eighteen year old boy named  Alex lived in the far western New South Wales town of Broken Hill and he experienced an in-grown toe nail that had become infected.  He presented at Broken Hill regional hospital and was given a course of anti biotics which quickly healed the infection.

What was missed was that the infection had spread to his knee, and he was experiencing great pain. He presented three times at Broken Hill hospital and each time he was sent away and told to treat the problem with rest and ice.  The pain was so intense that he Googled the question  "  Can you die from pain  ? "

An ambulance was called, only to learn that no ambulance was immediately available to take Alex to Broken Hill hospital.  Her was driven there in the family car and the treating doctor remarked that " he was the sickest person he had seen at Broken Hill ".   He was given a triage rating of  three which means attention by a doctor within a thirty minute time frame. It was intended to fly Alex to Adelaide, but it was quickly learned that no bed was available there.  Perfection is impossible to obtain, but it is important that we live and learn by the mistakes that were made there.

It was then learned that while there was a plane available to take a gravelly ill Alex to a Sydney hospital, the pilot available could not take the trip because the distance would exceed the flying hours he was permitted without adequate rest. Alex and his mother were left to wait at Broken Hill airport while arrangements were made and a suitable aircraft made the journey from Sydney.

Hours later Alex reached his destination, but he died from a bacterial infection known as Group A Streptococca (GAS).   An inquest has since heard that the mandatory investigation of the cause of this death was not carried out by the hospital.  Alex went into cardiac arrest and died soon after arriving at  Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

It is evident that the seamless transfer of getting patients to where the required level of care is available broke down in this instance.  Perfection is impossible to obtain, but it is important that we learn from the mistakes that are made and the necessary improvements implemented so they do nor recur.

Ending the New Slave Trade !

 Most civilized countries abolished slavery centuries ago and it is now relegated to pockets in totalitarian states.  In the early days of Communist Russia, any form of dissent saw citizens shipped off to the " Gulags " to serve the rest of their lives in misery. 

The Communist state refused to accept the concept of religion.  It required citizens to swear allegiance, not even to the state but specifically to the Communist party and this brought it into conflict with the Roman Catholic church.  Eventually, it tried to take over religion by the state appointing priests and bishops in defiance of the Pope.

Communism died in Russia, but it gained a new life in China and once again religious persecution is an organ of the state. It now tolerates religion but insists that the state maintains control by selecting church leaders who are subservient to the ruling Communist party.

Within China's borders are millions who follow Islam.  They are called Uighur's and they live in the province of Xinjiang.  The Communist Chinese government has created massive " reeducation camps " where Uighur men, women and children are imprisoned while undergoing indoctrination and a change to the Han way of thinking.

At the same time, the central Communist government is moving Han Chinese into Xinjiang province to make the Uighur isolated in their own part of the country.  Millions are locked away in detention and forced to work as slaves in industries that pour finished goods into western markets., and in particular - in the clothing industry.

The news leaking out of Xinjiang is grim.  Torture is rife and beatings are common as a whole race of people are forced to change their outlook.  China is facing growing international scrutiny, but the Communist government simply accuses western countries of " interfering in Chinese internal politics " and refuses entry to organizations like the Red Cross.

Australia is being asked to join a boycott aimed at refusing merchandise created in these reeducation camps by what we see as slave labour.  It is estimated that much of the garments selling in our discount stores is created at this source and it gives China an unfair advantage against competitors in the manufacturing world.

China is quick to use trade as a weapon.  Australia has earned its displeasure by insisting on a proper scientific enquiry to discover the origin of the coronavirus that seems to have  first appeared in Wuhan province.  Without warning, China is refusing to accept Australian barley, wine and coal and this is inflicting damage on the Australian economy.

A trade war is in nobody's best interest but in a civilized world the slave trade can not be allowed to prosper.  A boycott cuts both ways.  A drop in exports would cause unemployment in China and that is something the Communist party there most fears.  Contentment with Communist rule only exists while jobs are plentiful and that requires mutual trade harmony  !

History is Unfolding !

 There is no doubt the Brits are past masters  at staging " Royal " events that attract a world audience.  Be it a Wedding, a Coronation or a Funeral, it will be staged in pomp and circumstances that bring it to television screens that fascinate millions of people.

The funeral of the Queen's ninety-nine year old husband, Prince Phillip was such a showcase event  orchestrated to cover rifts in the Royal family and with the splendor of Windsor Castle as the backdrop. Colourful military uniforms and Royal salutes from historic cannons provided the spectacle outside St Georges chapel, but the entire Royal family wore civilian attire to mask the fact that rebel Prince Harry has been stripped of his military ranking.

Queen Elizabeth conducted herself with dignity, but her frailty was obvious and soon she will join her husband in St Georges Chapel and there will be a Coronation to anoint Prince Charles as the hereditary King of England.

The history of Europe was ruled by Kings and Queens in earlier centuries and most have now been replaced by Presidents.  The glue that held England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales together as a country is loosening and if it ends in rupture it will raise a doubt about the future of the House of Windsor's rule.

It is also doubtful that overseas countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand will indefinitely retain an overseas monarch as their head of state. That was an inevitability when Britain headed a mighty empire, but its withdrawal from the EU leaves it a lonely little island in the North sea.

The past history of the rule of Kings in England is colourful.  There have been numerous civil wars as competitors have challenged for the throne, and Kings have been executed when they lost the confidence of their subjects.  One king was deemed quite mad and that madness lost the country its American colonies.

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales is next in line to sit on the throne and now he is a colourful old man. It is likely that his past will come back to haunt him.  There was the ongoing scandal of his marriage to a beautiful commoner that the people took to their hearts and Charles wrecked that marriage by his insistence in maintaining a mistress.

That ended with the untimely death of Diana in Paris, followed by Charles marrying his former mistress who will probably serve as his Queen when he assumes the throne.  In the eyes of some of his subjects his former antics make him unfit to head the Church of England, which is automatically the task of the King of England.

Charles will come to the throne with baggage and may not attract the respect his mother gathered by her long years of faithful and obedient service to her nation.  How he fares will depend on public opinion and be recorded in future history books !

Equal Pay for Equal Work !

It really is a question without a reasonable answer  ?   Why are women paid less than men when they are doing exactly the same job ?

Exactly a century ago it was unusual for women to hold down a paid job after they married.  The genders were divided along the lines that the male was the breadwinner and the woman was the homemaker.  It was not unusual for a woman to be automatically terminated when she married.

To some extent, that situation was changed by the two world wars.  Men serving in the armed services created labour shortages and women filled the gap in most industries, but at wars end those divisions reverted to type.

Change came gradually. At first it was a small percentage of married women who embraced a " career " and it was those families that bought bigger and better homes and enjoyed overseas holidays.  Many working women suffered from a skill deficit.   The male of the family was more likely to have gained a higher education with a university qualification.  Women gravitated to lesser job rankings and were consequently paid less.

Gradually, this change began to show in the standards of living.   We began to embrace the " two income family " concept and women became concentrated in nursing, teaching and child care.  In many cases these were government employ and wage levels were set lower than for males doing the same job.

The national economy quickly embraced the " two income family " concept and this became a necessity for home ownership at the price of houses escalated.  Women gained equality in the numbers attending university and earning qualification, but the " glass ceiling " prevailed and few were promoted to higher office.

That is where this situation persists today.  In parliament.   In board rooms.  In higher levels of management.  Women are paid less than men and fewer are chosen for elevation to the rank at which their .qualifications deserve.

Equality is fast becoming in both elevation and pay levels in government employ, but is still lacking in the private sector, but shareholder pressure is forcing most companies to institute change.  The political parties are aiming for gender balance and unequal pay levels on the shopfront floor are under pressure from women's groups.

It is evident that management relations and profitability both improve when there is a mix of genders running companies but often men in power feel more comfortable  when the management group is predominantly male.  It may take another decade or so for equality to filter through all aspects of industry, but that looks to be the inevitable outcome !

A New Health Risk !

 Prospective buyers visiting display homes are usually entranced by the beautiful artificial stone benches in the kitchens and bathrooms.  Unfortunately, this growing industry is cutting a swathe of death through the tradies who trim and machine this product for the building trade.

This is not a natural product and it is far cheaper to produce than  marble or granite, but where those natural products contain forty percent of silicate, the artificial stone contains ninety-five percent of this deadly lung contaminent.

The health authorities have long been concerned about a growing trend of silicosis maiming workers in this industry.  Silicosis is an incurable disease that scars the lungs and makes breathing difficult.  It is usually terminal, but life can be prolonged with a lung transplant.

The popularity of this product is ever increasing and it is now a feature in most new homes and this is reflected in health data.     Silicosis is a notifiable disease and last year there were 107 cases in New South Wales, with just 40 cases reported in 2018/19 and  only 9 in the year before that.

This fast growing trend has the government considering imposing a ban but the outcome would be massive job losses in the industry and there is no other alternative at anywhere near the price of this artificial product.

A cutting ban is already in place in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland to abolish what is known as " dry cutting " and with this comes a reduction in dust levels and a reduced risk of silicosis.  Most high volume artificial stone industries now use a " wet cutting " method, but often the product needs a final trim to size as it is being installed.

The risk factor includes the " do it yourself " renovation trade.  Altering an artificial stone bench in an existing kitchen can release silicone breathed in by the entire family and this is enhanced by cutting holes to install taps and reposition plumbing.  Like exposure to asbestos, even a little silicone can be deadly.

We are fast reaching the stage where fashion dictates that artificial stone is necessary to sell new homes and the silicosis risk must be contained.   The ACTU has told the industry it needs to establish a funded compensation regime for silicone sufferers and it is obvious that Fair Work will need to stamp out any remaining incidence of dry cutting that remains.,

Perhaps the greatest risk reduction may come from publicity.  The dust from cutting stone was thought to be harmless in small quantities and this encouraged small workshops to experiment on the fringe of the trade.

A lot will depend on how these silicosis rates hold up in the future.  If they continue to expand it is likely the government will impose  draconian laws and licensing regimes that will make stone cutting impractical for other than a dedicated cutting shop.  It needs the right equipment in place to reduce the health risk.

Another Lost War !

 At last we are coming to the end of Australia's longest war.  Unfortunately this will not end in the victory that was promised twenty years ago when we decided to support America in going after Osama bin Laden's terrorist movement which was making Afghanistan its new home.

There is a rather eerie resonance between the outcomes in both Vietnam and Afghanistan.  They were both wars we undertook with good intentions.  We tried to impose our ideas of democracy and freedom that were alien to the wishes of the people who had lived there for centuries.

In particular, Afghanistan has had a troubled history in world affairs because it is positioned between India and Asia.  It has seen countless occupations by the great powers and in the 1800's with Britain ruling India, Russian encroachment  convinced the British to invade Afghanistan and install an unpopular king on its throne.

That was a disaster. A British led army of mainly Indian Sepoys was massacred as it tried to leave the country.  Of course the British sent a bigger army to enact revenge, but Afghanistan is tribal and it has never known peace. Its ways are foreign to us.  It lives by the laws of earlier centuries and women are subservient - and girls go uneducated.

When  both America and Australia pull out in several months time our erstwhile enemy, the Taliban will rule.  They fought a successful guerilla war and it is likely they will close schools and forbid girls to be educated once we leave.

This war has been a costly experience for Australia.  It cost us the death of forty-one of our soldiers and millions of treasure deploying an army there over the years. It is likely that many Afghans who fought on our side will ask to be repatriated to Australia to save them from  Taliban revenge.  When we left Vietnam that provoked an amarda of " boat people " arriving on our shores.

For a " middling power " like Australia security depends on defence treaties with powerful friends who will come to our aid if we are attacked.  That usually also means our involvement in punative actions if those great powers become involved  in skirmishes over trade deals or commercial matters.  The great powers to which we are allied are constantly changing as the evolution of the world progresses.

The fast emerging country with the capability to dominate world trade is China.  It has set its military footprint on the South China sea, an international trade route vital to Australia and it seems inevitable that there must eventually be a sea clash if the navies of other countries are denied access to this waterway.

The combat situation in Afghanistan is almost over, but world tensions mean other flashpoints await  !

Unlimited Personal Debt !

 We have just experienced a massive flood that ravaged the east coast of Australia  and a lot of the damage was not covered by insurance.  Even a relatively low level of muddy water penetrating the average home can damage electricals such as refrigerators and freezers, bedding and carpets and after the water subsides much of the contents ends up on the local council tip.

The average daily newspaper has been reducing in size and increasing in cost.  Fewer people are buying newspapers and the news industry is struggling to survive, but there has been an outstanding change in the type of advertising that fills newspaper pages.

The big discount stores are filling many pages with offers that extend long term credit.  It is not unusual for goods to be offered with a thousand days payment holiday and to further induce buyers, the customer is rewarded with a company gift card directly related to the value of the debt undertaken.

These discount houses compete with one another by the nature of extended credit offered.  Their message is " buy now " and no deposit is required and you get no interest charged for a period of sixty months.  This is a money trap because few bother to read the small print that tells them what happens when that credit limit expires and the debt remains unpaid.

The question such customers need to ask themselves is:  "  If you can not afford to pay for that item now, why do you believe you will be able to pay in five years time  ?   "

It is not only the big discount houses using this sales ploy,  finance groups that specifically extend similar credit to the smaller shops are shooting up the leaders board on the stock exchange.   The interest the banks pay on term deposits has attracted self funding retired people to take a gamble on the stock exchange in what they see as profitable enterprises.

The government is becoming concerned at the growing consumer debt and it seems stuck between a rock and a hard place.   That unusual rain event was triggered by global warming and it destroyed many items that most people consider housing essentials.  Replacement by buying for cash is out if the question for many households and these extended credit offers seem the only solution.

When television arrived in Australia in 1956 the government worried that the buying of television receivers would overburden household finances and restricted transmission to capital cities for the first twelve month period. It then moved to provincial cities and country areas followed.

Perhaps similar limits need to apply to extended credit.  It can be justified in flood areas where households have a genuine need to replace water damaged essentials but much of the sales traffic is occurring in city areas where sheer greed prevails.

These unlimited credit offers are only leading the unaware into future financial difficulties  !

Wage Theft !

 Australia now has employers troubled by a shortage of people with the skills they need. Industry is fast recovering from the coronavirus lockdowns  and  we may be about to see the long awaited pressure for a wage increase.

In recent times, the distinction between " employees " and  " self employed contractors " has become blurred.  The result is a lot of people earning far less than the minimum wage set by the government. This is particularly prevalent in the food industry and not only are workers deprived of a living wage, they also  lose access to annual and long service leave.

State parliament is about to crack down on what it terms " wage theft ".  The penalties for the under payment of wages will increase from $ 10,000 to $110,000 for each offence.   Under this new package  these penalties will apply to employers who lie to tax inspectors or make false records to conceal tax evasion.

The government is going after employers who " cook the books " to conceal the crime of paying employees less than the award specified  for their job classification, but unfortunately this also seems to be a case of " self interest ".   Under payment of wages also results in a loss of tax that is applied to the wage structure and flows into government coffers.

In particular, it is hard for the government to justify what is termed   " payroll tax " which is applied to employers who have a wage bill that exceeds $1.2 billion.   This has nothing to do with profitability, which is taxed seperately and is another of those " temporary " taxes applied to fund a war - and which persisted when the war ended.

Even the dreaded " income tax " was such a temporary tax when it was first levied but tax is similar to  heroin to a junkie.  It quickly becomes essential to government spending  and absorbed into the money flow that keeps governments solvent.

In many respects, this increased fine legislation to deter wage theft will increase the government payroll. It employs far too few tax inspectors to monitor the number of registered businesses in the state and to be effective those numbers will need to increase.

If this tax crackdown works to plan  there will be an upsurge in offences detected and the number of fines applied, but then those fines will become absorbed in government spending and we will see a drop in the incidence of wage theft.

Such is the outcome of penalty increases in the world in which we live.  Whenever the revenue flow decreases a new source of income has to be devised. and fines are fast becoming essential to the government money flow, as evidenced with speeding fines. 

Pricing for Cremations !

Sooner or later, every family is tasked with making funeral arrangements for a loved one.  It is usually a time of grief and high emotion and because of the shrinking availability of burial plots the choice today is overwhelmingly towards cremation.

The funeral industry is competitive and the prices if offers vary but few ask for competitive quotes because that does not seem  appropriate, and the lack of pricing details up front has been criticised by the New South Wales independent pricing tribunal.

The industry standard requires  funeral providers to prominently display an itemised  price listing of services on their website and at their business address.  However, only about two thirds actually comply with this requirement and  fewer than half were supplying all of the information required.

The tribunal found there was a wide variety of prices charged and these ranged from less than $2000 to more than $7000.  It was difficult for customers to gain a final estimate of costs beforehand.   The vice president of the Australian Funeral Directors Association NSW  said most reputable providers were already transparent about prices.

As anyone who has been involved in arranging a funeral will know, a lot of the cost is associated with what happens after the cremation has been completed.  There is a thriving " memorial " industry that swings into place and usually offers a suitable repository for the ashes.

Often, the deceased have left clear instruction for the disposal of their ashes.  Some instruct that they be scattered at a place that holds fond memories but we now have vast memorial gardens replacing former cemeteries offering a range of choices.  Ashes can be scattered in a rose garden or the life of the deceased commemorated by a plaque  set in a well manicured lawn.  In many cases, the engraved  testimonial can have a costing of several thousand dollars.

This is frequently offered at the time the funeral is being arranged, but  the exact details left to be decided at a later date.  In some instances, relatives are led to believe this is part of the service to which they have agreed and they are locked into that commitment.

A death in any family is a time of grief and relatives need a clear head when making the necessary funeral arrangements.  It is usually a task with which they are unfamiliar and often it will be placing a burden on family finances which were unplanned.   It is essential that these costs are easy to follow and the arrangements can be organized without delay.

Pressure is building for the government to intervene to ensure that prices are prominently displayed in clear detail. It is usually an essential service, required at short notice.

Our Changing World !

There is a tendency to dismiss natural disasters that hit Australia because this great continent has always  been prone to bushfires, floods and cyclones.  Science tells us that global warming will simply increase the intensity and make these disasters happen more frequently.

The fire season of the 2020 summer was one we have cause to remember vividly.  There was widespread  evacuations and despite airline tankers bombing the fire front we lost entire towns.  These fires were not contained to individual states and it was  clear that all of Australia was on fire.

We have just had an unusual rain event which flooded most of the east coast of Queensland and New South Wales. The financial loss will be significant and most  will not be covered by insurance.  Replacing lost electrical goods and furniture will force many families into unexpected debt and we are seeing a shortage of new cars readily available to replace those lost in the flood.  As a consequence, the price of second hand cars has jumped sharply higher.

Now another unusual event has occurred off the coast of Western Australia.   We have two cyclones merging with one another in the Indian Ocean and the combination under the name of " Seroja " has come ashore much lower down the coast than the traditional cyclone belt.

It hit the little holiday town of Kalbarri and badly damaged seventy percent of the homes there. This is way south of where cyclones are expected to strike and the buildings are not constructed to repel winds of this force. It is now evident that in the future southern Australia may experience cyclone effects as this phenomenon claims new territory.

Treasury is expecting the damage from weather events will treble in the next twenty years and will reach $ 17 billion a year.,   It predicts that coastal erosion will affect between 39,000 and 46,000 properties and cause a loss of land estimated between $650 million and $ 1.3 billion annually.

We also need to consider the damage that will be caused to our agricultural interests.  Changes to rain patterns, runoff and temperatures will affect what we can grow in our food bowl and it is evident that we will then be looking at a world food shortage.  By necessity, there will have to be a vast diet change to accommodate food scarcity.

The one thing absolutely certain is that a reduction in the world food supply will cause hungry people to migrate to where they hope food may be plentiful.  Once again our borders will be under pressure from hordes of people seeking entry and for self preservation we will need to keep control.

Unfortunately, while many are aware of what is predicted, the time frame envisaged is a lot further into the future.  The effects of global warming are becoming apparent now if we take the trouble to look at what is happening around us.

The Truth Revealed !

on  June 9, 1979 fire engines rushed to Luna Park, the iconic amusement park on Sydney's northern shoreline.  A blaze had broken out on the " Ghost Train " ride and people were trapped. When the fire was finally extinguished  seven people were dead and these included a father and six children.

There was immediate suspicion that this fire was  deliberately lit.   Patrons at the amusement park spoke of " bikie elements " talking about kerosene and matches.  It was rumoured that crime interests had their eyes on Luna Park because it was sited on government owned land and if Luna Park could be forced to close it would present a redevelopment bonanza.

There was an immediate enquiry, but the fire damaged site was quickly cleared away. Other park users who witnessed the tragedy were leaned upon to change their statements and eventually the fire was deemed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

Later, the National Crime Authority held an investigation into the fire.  The authority was scathing about the original police enquiry and this report suggested that local crime figure Abe Saffron was involved. It was suggested Saffron coveted the park and wished to evict the tenants to gain control.  It was suggested some senior police were corrupt but the enquiry stalled for lack of direct evidence.

And so the matter rested, until the ABC produced a documentary titled " Exposed ".  The National broadcaster sought out witnesses to this twenty-two year old event and that included retired police officers.  It seems clearly evident that this was a coverup.  Abe Saffron was the crime identity running Kings Cross and he was a man with ambitions to reach new heights.  His power and his money reached across many boundaries and people in power were beholden to him.

Abe Saffron is long dead  and those forced to remain silent are now free of threat.  For a while Luna  Park was crippled by noise reduction rules and regulations, but now the worst of these have been lifted.  The Coroner is again looking at that Ghost Train fire and the state government is thinking of holding a new enquiry.

If that fire was deliberately lit by bikies working under Saffron's orders they would now be old men, but the long arm of the law can still reach them for this crime.  Many of the police involved are now either dead or retired and there may still be obstacles to the truth being revealed, but this is a major crime and now the plot has been publicly aired it can no longer be ignored.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the ABC for having the courage to open this amazing revelation of crime flourishing in our midst.  By dragging the events surrounding the Ghost Train fire kicking and screaming into the open we throw the light into dark corners of crime and corruption and make it harder for it to repeat itself.

Ducking for Cover !

The practice of " buying off the plan " to secure a new apartment at the price the developer is offering comes with many hazards.   The finished apartment may differ from the configuration  shown on the plan and may lack many of the features designated, but the biggest obstacle is whether the new building has been constructed in accordance with the building laws.

The experience of a Sydney woman who bought a $625,500 apartment off the plan in a three hundred apartment complex at Kellyville illustrates the lack of security  that is associated with the integrity of the building.

The crucial document at the completion of any new building is the issue of  the " Occupancy Certificate " which ensures that the building complies with the necessary building code.  Originally, these were signed by the relevant council building inspector, but because the volume of work was causing delays private certifiers were licensed by the government.

From a legal point of view, once that occupancy certificate is signed, the developer has the right to demand the buyers complete the contract and release the mortgage money.  If later building defects become apparent, fixing the problem then becomes the responsibility of the new owner, as Sydney learned with the experiences of Opal and Mascot Towers.

That can run to millions of dollars and it caused the state government to appoint a new building commissioner, but the powers invested in this post seem inadequate for the task.  The woman who bought this Kellyville apartment took an architect and a qualified builder with her on her inspection and laser measurements revealed the apartment did not meet fire regulations or drainage requirements, and these deficiencies were corroborated by the relevant council engineer.

The new Building Commissioner has chosen to walk away from involvement in the dispute, claiming  it is " not within his jurisdiction ".  The woman buyer must either complete the contract and take possession of her unit - or lose her life savings deposit by refusing to complete the sale.

It seems that this building work was done by a number of unlicensed sub contractors and many changes in the relevant documentation were noted.  The choice of the independent certifier rests with the developer or the builder and hence the only penalty for error is a fine imposed by the government.

The licensing of private certifiers has been a disaster.  The body charged with upholding the integrity of  building practice lays with the council and the building inspectors who need to be constantly checking the materials used and the work application.  It is imperative that they have the power to issue stop work orders where faults are detected to ensure safety and guard the interests of the ultimate people who will reside in these towers.

We have had ample warning that all; is not well in the Sydney building industry with a spate of buildings clad in the same external cladding that resulted in the Grenfell Tower fire disaster in London. All this will continue until the parliament decides to bite the bullet and make the necessary changes to protect the buying public !

Flood Rains !

  A lot of New South Wales residents are mopping up and trying to get their lives back in order after the worst flood in living memory and they will be astonished to learn that while Warragamba dam was overflowing and contributing to their misery, the Sydney desalination plant was running at full tilt and adding fifty milllion litres of water a day to the flood.

There is a lot of criticism levelled at the water authorities because this heavy rain event was predicted and the Warragamba level could have been lowered beforehand to reduce the risk of flooding.  That would have been a risky option if the rainfall had been less than expected because Warragamba is the key  source of Sydney's drinking water.

This big rain event actually delivered  1212 gigalitres to the Warragamba catchment area, which is sixty percent of the dams capacity.  For those not familiar with the gigalitre term, that is 1,212,000,000,000 litres so a major overflow was inevitable.

It was not so long ago that Sydney had water restrictions imposed because of falling catchment levels and today Warragamba is near full capacity.  There is a plan in place to  raise the wall level to increase storage but that would inundate a lot of farmland and historic sights  and we would still get flooding if we had a repeat of this recent rain event.

Keeping that $2.3 billion desalination plant running when the dam was overflowing does make a lot of sense when you consider what the floods left behind.  Flooded home owners are dealing with mud that washed into their homes and in many areas there is a critical shortage of safe drinking water.

A lesson was learned from the disastrous  2013 Brisbane flood which so contaminated the water supply that drinking water was being drawn from a desalination plant on the Gold Coast as a health initiative. There was no shortage of drinking water in Sydney during this flood, despite the water flowing into Warragamba being polluted to below a safe level.

Science tells us that one of the effects of global warming will be intermittent rain variations.  This unusually heavy rain event is part of that pattern, just as we can expect more droughts over a longer period of time.  Given time, the sediment contained in the flood will settle to the bottom of the Warragamba catchment and the inflow will be safe to drink, but until that settles the flow from the desalination plant will be critical.

It is doubtful if weather prediction will ever become reliably accurate.  Drinking water is as essential for human life and if Australia is to receive a drier climate because we live in a warmer world, keeping the taps flowing will probably depend on more desalination plants.

The tricky bit will be how we deal with excess rain like this recent flood event.  If the scientists are right we may have to deal with it on a more regular basis  !

An Ongoing Tragedy !

The Edwards family lived a life of fear.  Wife Olga and son Jack (15) and daughter Jennifer (13) were careful to keep the address where they were living secret from their estranged husband and father, John. They had endured  constant abuse over a period of time and it was known that John bore ill will towards then.

On July 25, 2008 John Edwards made his move.  He hired a car that would not attract the suspicion of his daughter and waited outside her school and followed her as she left the train and walked home.  When his car turned into her driveway she dropped her school bag and ran inside, seeking the protection of her brother.

Jack and Jennifer tried to hide under a desk but John had a Glock pistol and numerous ammunition clips. He fired repeatedly and seven spent cartridges lay on the floor around the dead children.  John Edwards then drove to his home in Hornsby and ended his own life with that same gun.   Five months later as depression took its toll., Olga took her own life.

This week the New South Wales Coroner delivered her findings.  John Edwards had a long history of violence against his wife and children and this was compounded by similar aggression towards six previous partners and eight children.  This should have been taken into consideration when he applied for a license to buy and own a firearm, but the license was quickly approved.

The Coroner was critical of the Independent Children's Lawyer who represented Jack and Jennifer at the  Family Court proceedings.   She did not regard the risk posed by John Edwards sufficient to grant the children's request that they not spend time with him.

In fact, the  whole system devised to protect children like Jack and Jennifer broke down and the Coroner made twenty-four recommendations in relation to police procedures, gun registration and the role played by the Independent Children's Lawyer,.

The public are left to wonder if John Edwards was " mad " or just " bad ".  Unfortunately life is full of people who live in fear of a previous loving partner with homicidal intent to do them harm and they can not rely on the protection written into the law.

Surely, this tragedy deserves positive action to make it very clear that sloppy handling of issues like the issue of a gun license has consequences..   Someone's signature is on the issue of that license and that should be sufficient for termination of employment.  Dismissal for incompetence would make future employment difficult and that would be a small price to pay for the death of two children.

Few people will seriously expect the findings of the Coroner to bring much change to the  workings of the police.  The police hierarchy will blame the work load and the need for an expanded police budget, but this tragedy would not have happened if the existing rules had been carefully followed,.

All that would change rapidly if job termination was the inevitable outcome of not following the correct procedure where life is at stake !

Buying without pressure.

 One of the most intelligent ideas to create a stress free evaluation of the makes and models of cars is about to become reality in Sydney.  At present, when we are thinking of buying a new car it means a visit to a dealer's showroom and constant pressure from sales people.

Just imagine visiting a vast showroom where every current make and model is on display and the staff are technical advisers, not salespeople. The customer can enlist impartial advisers to explain the new features built into each new model car and assist the potential buyer in making a choice.  Armed with that information they can then deal efficiently in the showrooms of the people selling the make and model they wish to buy.

Todays motor market is a bewildering array of similar new cars with vastly different technical attributes that take us ever closer to the driverless car.  The beeps and buzzes that alert drivers to the presence of other vehicles can be very distracting and in some cases introduce a fear factor.  Getting all this understood before making a buying decision would best be made without pressure from salespeople.

This bright idea also has the advantage of saving the waste of a lot of time.  All the cars are on view at the one address and not scattered across the city at individual showrooms.  This idea presents the opportunity to carefully compare the differences between cars in a similar price range for the benefits they offer, as well as evaluate the advantages of different model types.

This is a " choice concept " that seems certain to spread well outside a major city like Sydney.  The electric car has not made the sales progress estimated earlier because many buyers are confused about the benefits.  This model showroom will allow buyers to evaluate both the benefits and shortcomings of a choice between electric and petrol.

Choice of a new car is a big ticket item and should be made with care.   The safety evaluation is important and todays vehicles are constructed with crumple zones that protect the occupants in the event of a crash. There is the expectation that each new car offers a higher safety standard than the model it replaces and such ratings are accorded after models participate in crash tests to determine outcomes.

Buying a new car used to be an ordeal in which the hapless customer was besieged by competing sales people.  The outcome was decided on price and not always did the customer drive away in the vehicle best suited for their needs.  Car salespeople were noted for the pressure they exerted..

This viewing concept reverses the growing custom of buying from the internet and reintroducing product comparison as was the custom in the old brick and mortar stores.   The modern car is so complex.it needs  evaluation with the help of an independent expert whose pay does not depend on making the sale.

This multi car showroom is the concept of the future - now !

Our Changing Work Pattern !

This week the Reserve Bank of Australia sent a clear message that it does not intend to move interest rates upward until at least 2024.  That is extremely bad news for self funded retirees who took their superannuation in a lump sum and expected to live off the interest earned.

It also sets in stone the incredibly low interest rate charged on home mortgages which is the root cause of inflated home prices.  First home buyers are flooding into the market in desperation before it moves out of their reach and the median price of a Sydney home is fast approaching the million dollar mark.

At the same time as low interest rates are put on hold, the Reserve Bank is opposing any increase in the minimum wage.  The reasoning seems to be that the small business community can not afford to pay its workers more as it emerges from the lockdowns caused by the coronvirus.  Most are struggling to show a profit after being forced to close their doors for weeks at a time.

In contrast, the big end of town has been doing really well.  Company profits are on the rise and manufacturers have had the protection of government wage subsidies to keep employment level.  Any increase in the wage level will take place across the board and it is feared will deliver a hike in the unemployed numbers which are at present holding up well.

The business community rode out the lockdown by having employees work from home and this was assisted by the prevalence of home computers.,  Now there is resistance to moving people back to the office, but it seems that the working day has lengthened.  There is a growing tendency for office related phone calls and emails to arrive out of office hours and over the weekend.  It is quite apparent that the division between work and leisure time is shortening.

Now there is pressure for labour laws to be tightened to forbid contact outside of work hours to stop this growing practice. Questions that need an answer often have employees doing the necessary research in their own time and pressure is building to restore the old work/leisure cycle.  This looks like culminating in employees being able to switch off phones and email receipt after office hours.

We are fast reaching the stage where employees are on call 24/7.  That is acceptable in an emergency, but it is becoming normal practice in many forms of employment and it intrudes into the proper division of each twenty-four hour period.  That called for eight hours sleep, eight hours work and weight hours of leisure.

The Reserve Bank is trying to juggle what is best for the national economy but in Australia the job market is segregated heavily into sectors.  The big end of town is doing well and could afford a pay increase, but the small business sector which runs cafes and coffee shops is struggling to stay open and make a profit. Any wage increase will see working hours shorten and reliance on casuals replace permanent employees.

By end end of this year the majority of Australians will have been immunised against the coronavirus and the work situation will be clearer.  We can not go on indefinitely increasing the sale price of homes and wage levels need to reflect the ever increasing cost of living.

The Reserve bank would be unwise to make long term predictions.  We live in a changing world and our economy needs to adapt to change as it is happening !

Pain Relief !

Most households in Australia  are likely to to have Panadol in their medicine cabinet because it is a well advertised form of pain relief and there is a common belief that is effective against pain anywhere in the human body.

Its active ingredient is Paracetamol and University of Sydney researchers have just completed a study of pain relief which revealed that this particular drug is only effective in four of the forty-four pain conditions for which we seek relief.

The outcome of their research shows this is an effective form of pain relief for hip and knee  osteoarthritis, craniotomy, tension headache and perineal pain after childbirth,   What is alarming is that this medication is believed to treat - and is used for relief of migraine, post operative pain, dental procedures, childhood middle ear infections, back pain, abdominal pain and common cold related headaches.

It is probably the most widely used pain relief drug in Australia and this has been increased since legislation was introduced in 2018 to reschedule codeine medication to require a doctor's prescription.  Before that many addictive pain killing drugs were available over the counter and drug addiction was becoming widespread.

This prescription requirement has seen paracetamol based drugs capture 60.1 percent of market share, which is a seventy-five percent increase on their use before the prescription requirement came into affect. It is supplying a placebo relief for many forms of pain relief because it is firmly fixed in people's minds that this type of medication gives universal pain relief.

This research finding is not entirely new.  An article comparing relief of back pain by Paracetamol appeared in the Lancet in 2014 and was roundly refuted by vested interests.  The drug trade is a big and profitable industry and it advertises extensively to promote its products.  This notion that Paracetamol is a pain reduction product in all circumstances will be difficult to remove from people's minds.

Sadly, a lot of people are not getting the pain relief they are hoping for and are wasting money on a product unsuited to their need.  They would be wise to discuss the type of pain they are suffering with their doctor and get professional guidance on the type of product that will give relief.

In areas where access to a registered general practitioner is difficult and delayed, the local chemist is able to advise on the most suitable medication type to treat the type of pain described.  The pharmaceutical trade has diverged into a wide variety of specialist products and the days of depending on a popular cure all are over.

The big problem is getting people to look beyond the claims made in advertising commercials that popular remedies cure all problems.

Reforming the Prison System !

 A long time ago, prisons were a source of labour for getting government work done.   In our early days prisoners shackled in leg chains worked in what were referred to as " chain gangs " building our road system.

Today's prisoners spent a lot of their time simply locked in their cell.  This is totally unproductive and we are constantly building new prisons as the number of people in retention grows. It seems that prison is the only option for punishing those who seriously offends against the rules society imposes on the masses.

Little has changed over many centuries. Deprivation of liberty for a stated period of time is the option available to judges in serious cases and it is hoped the prisoner will mend his or her ways and emerge a model citizen.

What happens is usually the opposite.   For young offenders the prison becomes the " University of Crime ".  They learn the tricks of the trade from the old lags and they form associations which allow them to avoid police attention.  Prisons have become the recruiting grounds for violent religion and issues such as white supremacist hatred of Asians and people of colour.

Unfortunately, we mix violent offenders and those is prison for lesser crimes together in our prisons.  Good behaviour is rewarded with early parole but rehabilitation could be enhanced by putting  non violent prisoners under a milder form of retention where their labour served for the common good.

This could take the form of a prison farm, where prisoners work cultivating vegetables for both the prison and hospital systems.  Security would not be as rigid as within the prison system, but should a prisoner escape he or she would spent the rest of their sentence under close confinement in a regular prison when recaptured.

That " loss of liberty " punishment would remain but under milder conditions more akin to working in a remote mining camp.  Not only would the prisoner retain a degree of dignity, he or she would be performing a service to repair the harm they had done to society.  On release, they could expect many of the conditions imposed on former prisoners to be relaxed.

In particular, people sent to prisoner for the non payment of fines would be better  housed in these lightly guarded open prisons than the fortified jails that are their present destinations, and the outcome of their labour would help support the cost of the prison system.

Its time crime was punished by the type of prison awarded and not simply by the length of the prison sentence.  If nothing else, the benefit of offenders learning to live in harmony with others would be a big advantage of an " open  prison system.

Prisoners would benefit by " earning " their release and their work would actually bring a benefit to society.

Keeping it Honest !

We value our right to " freedom of speech " but when it is misused there are consequences.  We have   access to the courts to sue for justice, but that is useless if the defamer hides his or her identity behind a false name and makes the attack through public media.

Facebook is a phenomenon that made its founder a billionaire and is a medium through which millions of people express their views. Mixed among them are " trolls " who get their kicks by creating negative images  and spreading disinformation.  In some cases they are agents of a foreign power and that disinformation is intended to influence the vote at elections by maligning  candidates they oppose.

Social media has long been the province of revenge attacks.  When relationships end it is not uncommon for the rejected party to publish photographs taken at the height of the romance that can only be described as pornographic.  This is personally humiliating to the person in the photograph and is seen by a wide audience.

Victims have had limited success in getting Facebook management to take down offensive material promptly and now the Federal government is examining ways to exert a degree of control not only on Facebook, but the many attributes that have emerged as dating apps which present a growing danger.

We are seeing an incidence of sexual assault and even rape arising from liaisons between total strangers introduced to one another on social media. Their known history is only what they choose to say to one another and in some cases this is the unfortunate connection of a trusting person with a psychopath.  It is not unusual for the rejected to pursue the instigator of a breakup with personal vilification over a long period of time.

The government is considering making it necessary for the applicant wanting a social media account to satisfy a hundred point table of personal identification in order to gain access to posting material on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.   This would be similar to establishing an account to buy a mobile phone.

Basically, applicants would need to personally show the type of documentation accepted in Australia as an identity source.   That includes a photo driving license or its equivalent issued by the Traffic Authority, or a selection of bills from providers of gas, electricity or similar household services with that persons name and home address.

This is amongst the host of recommendations  arising from a parliamentary enquiry into ways and means of reducing family violence, sexual assault and deter hackers.  It would ensure that a complainant against any matter publicly posted could identify the author should the matter require court action.  It would simply end the era of the anonymous contributor.

If this becomes the legal position in gaining access to social media it in no way inhibits freedom of speech.  We simply accept responsibility for what we say, should the other party challenge the  truth expressed and take the matter to court.

That is the basic of our entire justice system.  It requires us to to ensure that any action we take remains within the jurisdiction of the law and be clearly identified if the truth is challenged.   Facebook and its attributes need to pass the " fairness "  test  !

The Power of the Veto !

 Without any warning, the Myanmar military arrested that country's democratically elected leader. and imposed  martial law.  They say they will hold a democratic election when they have restored order, but are vague about just when that will be.

There is no doubt about the reaction of the men and women who make up the population of that country. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in noisy protests, banging pots and pans and inflicting civil disobedience.  The police and the military are now firing live bullets indiscriminately into the crowd and at least 536 people have been killed, including 43 children.

The restive Karen people on the Myanmar border with Thailand have long been an armed camp and now the Myanmar military have commenced bombing operations against their villages.  Refugees are crossing the border and seeking shelter in Thailand and opposition to Junta control is continuing in Yangon and other Myanmar cities.

Britain called a meeting of the United Nations Security Council with the aim of imposing sanctions on the Myanmar military but China used its " veto " to take that off the agenda.  When the United Nations was set up at the end of the second world war it was obvious that five nations had access to nuclear weapons and were granted special powers.

The " Veto " was the right afforded to Britain, the United States, Russia, China and France to remove any subject from discussion or action without giving a reason.  World politics has since seen this veto used to block any form of action opposed by the competing world power blocks.   As a result, the United Nations has become a toothless tiger.

Myanmar was formerly known as "Burma " and is a little country tucked away between India and the rest of Asia.  China sells military equipment to the Myanmar military has had major investments in that country, and these include  oil and gas pipelines that stretch from Yunnan province to the Bay of Bengal.  It is part of the new trade route China is building across Asia.

Basically, the world is prevented from taking any positive action to restore order in Myanmar because of this veto held by the five major sponsors of the United Nations Security council.  With the support of China and Russia the Myanmar military may indefinitely ignore the wishes of the civilian population of their country and go on killing with impunity.

Of course, other nations in addition to those holding a veto now have nuclear weapons and were not added to the veto listing.  At least this arrangement has prevented any issue culminating in a nuclear war even if delivering justice has been a necessary casualty.

Russia invaded Ukraine and has annexed the Crimea peninsula despite this clearly breaking a treaty signed by the other veto powers, and the situation in Venezuela has starving citizens fleeing over the borders while help is being denied.

It seems that the citizens of Myanmar will continue their protest and many more will die from military bullets without any hope of deliverence from the rest of the world.  It seems that the United Nations charter to protect the weak against the strong is just as useless as its predecessor, the old League of Nations !

Replacing the Great Barrier Reef !

 One of the " wonders or the world " is fast becoming a casualty of global warming.   Our Great Barrier Reef is melting away before our eyes as between seventy and ninety percent of the coral will disintegrate as the world abandons hope of keeping world temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees.

The Australian Academy of Science warns that the ambitious target of the Paris Climate Agreement has slipped out on reach and is " virtually impossible ".  It is looking likely that the temperature of the world we know will rise by three degrees and that will be fatal for this coral phenomenon.

The loss of the reef will have a big impact on tourism in Australia.  The reef was a big drawcard and economists put its value at $ 5 billion.  Much of the Queensland tourist industry is centered on access to the reef and it was the starting point of many holiday destinations.

A leading biologist specialising in coral reefs warns that even if that 1.5 degree of warming was attained, the reef would be badly damaged. The heat factor would cause seventy to ninety percent of the coral to shrink, and if warming rose to two degrees, just one percent of the coral would survive.

Unfortunately, this destruction of the Great Barrier Reef actually started with the Industrial Revolution  several centuries earlier.  It was the invention of the steam engine that contributed to a warmer world and it looks like we have long past the point of no return.

At the Paris Climate Conference of 2016, Australia committed to keeping global warming below two degrees and as close to one point five degrees as possible.   We promised to reduce emissions by 26 - 28 percent based on 2005 levels by 2030.  That attainment is now looking very unlikely.

Now that we have a warning that our Great Barrier Reef is about to disappear we urgently need an action plan to replace it.  Coral reefs are common in many parts of the world and survive even warmer water than we are seeing here in Australia, but it is not the same coral as in our reef and the colours are not so vibrant.

It is within our reach to select warmer temperature corals from around the world and build a new Great Barrier Reef, and we need to do it quickly before the destruction under way becomes too evident.  The Great Barrier Reef is home to an amazing variety of tropical fish and along with the coral these are sights that attract the tourists.

It is important that we retain these fish by creating a new home for them with coral that can stand a warmer temperature and that will only be achieved if we put in place a selective replacement routine by hiring biologists with the knowledge to select the right corals to thrive on the Queensland coast.  It is essential that they achieve the right compatability.

Obviously, creating a new Barrier Reef will cost a lot of money and there will be a high degree of trial and error, but it is necessary if we are to retain our status as a holiday destination for the world.

The Winds of Change !

Politics in Australia has long been a battle between the socialist way of thinking, backed by the Australian Labor party and the Conservatives at both the Federal and state levels.  The Labor party has had the backing of the trade union movement.

This arrangement is now in disarray here in New South Wales with one of the biggest unions, representing Health Services, voting to disaffiliate  from Labor and cease paying the  $ 250,000 in affiliation fees that it contributes annually.

The reason it gives for this decision is that " the party is not improving in performance " and " the voters are walking away in droves ". A meeting of the union's council agreed " there was little prospect of improvement ".

The leader of the Labor party in New South Wales is Jodi McKay and she hit back angrily when this   decision was made public.  She unwisely tried to connect union discontent with the progress of the feminist movement by claiming  she had " been attacked by men ".   She was obviously referring to both the union's boss and its national secretary.

They were quick to point out that Labor was heading for one of its worst defeats in a hundred years in New South Wales if an election was held now.  The decision was made democratically and after careful consideration.

Joining a union has lost appeal to many men and women in recent years.  Politics is no longer just a battle between Labor and the Conservatives.  The voting pattern has widened with the appearance of a number of new political parties backing green issues and which are not getting the needed attention from the main political contenders.

It is obvious to many former supporters that the union movement has diverged from the old issues of worker's pay and worker's rights and taken on a manifesto of its own.  In some cases leaders have emerged  to employ strike tactics that are not in the workers interest and seem more interested in consolidating their power than listening to their membership.

The defection of the big Health Services Union is a savage blow to Labor prospects in New South Wales and raises the question of whether  other unions may follow this lead.  The issue of global warming is not receiving the attention it deserves and is fresh in the minds of many people from both sides of politics.  It will probably be indicative in future voting patterns.

Union men and women dislike their funds being allocated to a political party without their individual consent.  Many hold different political views as is evidenced by the wide support for a range of political parties at election time.

Jodi McKay is unlikely to restore Labor's fortunes by tying this rejection to her gender.  The women of Australia have found their voices and demanded change on many issues that directly affront women, and politics is not one of these.

She needs to look at the real reasons the union movement is  expressing discontent by walking away from support for Labor.

  

Revenue Raising !

Speed camera traps in the form of cars with heavily tinted windows parked at the kerb in city streets collected more than five million dollars in the entire `2020 year. During that time, motorists were warned by roadside signs that their speed had been checked, but in its wisdom the government voted to remove these signs in the interest of road safety.

What an amazing difference.   In just the month of February this year, those same speed cameras have collected more than six million in fines, more in one month that the entire result for the full year and this revenue is likely to go even higher because curbs will be removed on the hours the cameras will be permitted to operate.

The government proudly boasts that this has been vindicated by a road safety dividend.  So far this year there have been six road deaths fewer than in the quarter to March last year.   If that trend continues twenty-four lives will be saved in 2021 - at a cost to the motoring public of  forty-five million dollars in speeding fines.

Keeping to the precise speed limit is an almost impossible task in the city of Sydney.  The limit changes from area to area with bewildering frequency and more and more pedestrian areas are becoming forty kph zones.  These speed cameras are unmerciful.  Being just a fraction over the posted speed limit will bring a draconian fine - and a loss of demerit points.

It should also be remembered that February was a month of slower traffic density because of the lockdowns to combat the coronavirus.  Now that the vaccination programme is underway there is the expectation that traffic will attain normal volumes in the months ahead and there will be an unforeseen outcome from what is clearly a revenue raising operation.

It is inevitable that the loss of demerit points will result in driving license cancellation for some drivers and when that happens, by necessity some continue to drive without a license, creating an insurance hazard.

That would be acceptable if these speed traps caught  only people driving at dangerous speeds, but the usual victims are innocent people just a fraction over the posted limit and moving at consistent speed with the traffic flow.  Getting that fine in the post is usually a shock because they are unaware that they have committed a crime.

There is certainly doubt that these speed traps contribute much to road safety.   The sight of a marked police car has a tangible effect on road manners and vehicle speeds but their presence on the roads only seems to increase on long weekends and other holiday periods.  Putting them where they would do the most good would impact on the police budget.

Instead the government in relaying on these static revenue raising money traps to restore the damage done to the economy by this pandemic.  The claim that it is saving lives fools no one  !