It is said that those who fail to learn from history - are destined to repeat it ! Events between Russia and Ukraine bear a striking resemblance to what occurred between Germany and Poland in 1939. This raises the question of exactly what intentions Vladimir Putin has for Russia and how forcefully he will put them into practice.
There is no doubt what Adolph Hitler had in mind for Germany. It was his intention to conquer the whole of Europe by military force and impose a form of "Germanization " by way of culling what he considered inferior races and replacing them with Aryan German stock. It is likely that he would eventually try and impose this concept on the entire world.
Bluff and bravado let him get away with much territorial gain, until the unmistakeable invasion of Poland crossed the line that led to war. At the end of that war one of the victorious allies used military gains in defeating Germany to impose a Communist form of government on the nations reclaimed from German control - and this led to the "Cold War " between east and west that persisted for decades.
Fortunately, cool heads prevailed. The development of nuclear weapons imposed a stalemate. A nuclear exchange would destroy all involved and the concept of MAD - "Mutually Assured Destruction " - kept itchy fingers off the button. Eventually, the Soviet Union imploded financially and it seemed that the world had returned to stability.
The rise of Vladimir Putin as the undisputed Czar of Russia is a troubling event. Both Putin and Hitler achieved the pinnacle of power and in each case it is and was the dictates of those individuals which determine the course of history. What Putin has in mind is not clear.
The subversion of Ukraine by sending both men and materials to aid insurrection by a Russian speaking segment of the Ukrainian population is precisely the method Hitler used to subjugate his near neighbours. Putin rattles sabres by hinting that similar moves may be undertaken in the Baltic states and he seems determined to restore the authority of the old Soviet Union on what Russia claims to be it's national orbit of rule. The guise is to restore a closed trading market to counter the EU.
The Russian economy is reliant on oil and gas exports, and the drop in world oil prices has clipped Putin's wings in sharply expanding his military, and yet that remains a formidable force now that the United States no longer keeps a standing army in Europe. If Putin stirs trouble in the Baltic states it will constitute a challenge to NATO. Whether individual countries still have the resolve to meet such a challenge - is doubtful !
The alarming question is how much the deteriorating Russian economy will push Putin to beat the Nationalist drum to unite his people against what he will present as a threat to their country. His Crimean foray was wildly popular and he has full control of the Russian media. The levers of mind control are in his hands and so far he has been successful in destroying any form of opposition to his rule.
Putin is an enigma. He presents himself to the Russian people as a heroic man of action and there is a danger than the need for adoration may lead to military excess. We face an uncertain world with danger on many fronts. The rise of Islamization is roiling the Middle East and Africa - and it is also bubbling away within Russia. The rise of China raises many questions of future intentions and likely outcomes - and then there is the matter of rising sea levels and a warming planet.
The closest immediate danger is how Putin reacts to his worsening economy and whether it pushes him to aggression to mask the deficiencies in living standards which will affect his people. Just what thoughts are forming in his mind may involve the lives of billions spread across the globe.
Once again the fate of many rests on the decisions made in a single mind !
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Saturday, 28 February 2015
Alcohol !
As long as the human race has existed, alcohol has been one of it's problems. The trouble is that it is addictive and yet at the same time it is quite capable of making our daily troubles fade into obscurity. So many people use it as a crutch - to blot out an unhappy relationship or to shield us from the reality of an unrewarding job that bores us to near insanity.
Over the centuries various control measures have been applied. These have ranged from restricted hours in which liquor could be sold or consumed, to that experiment with prohibition that the United States tried - with disastrous results. The first law of commerce applies. If there is demand for a product, supply will inevitably follow - legally or illegally. That is clearly illustrated with the failed attempt to stem the flow of drugs on our streets.
The introduction of what have been termed the "Lockout laws "have certainly cleaned up problem areas such as Kings Cross in Sydney. The powerful liquor industry is resisting making them widespread, but they seem to be a step in the right direction. The Temperance people are railing about the increased availability of alcohol and demanding both a sharp reduction in the number of outlets offering it for sale - and an increase in the price.
That price issue raises many questions. It assumes that if the price rises sales volumes will drop because the customers can no longer afford to buy it in excess. In reality, alcohol consumption often remains constant and the extra cost is simply deducted from the purchase of household essentials. That thinking ignores the addictive nature of alcohol and in many households it becomes the first priority in the spending of money - and putting food on the table becomes a casualty.
There is a move to couple the price of liquor to it's alcohol content, and the finger is often pointed at the popularity of cask wine. Wine sold in five litre casks is often on special for a price as low as ten dollars, making the content available at just two dollars a litre. Critics claim this is a spur to excess drinking - and some even question whether cask wine should be allowed. The price fluctuates and the massive wine industry in Australia has adopted cask marketing to even out the surplus from bumper grape crops.
The idea of hiking alcohol prices as a health measure must be tempting to a Treasury beset with budget problems. That needs to be considered with extreme caution, because it could easily cause the second law of commerce to apply. Whenever a popular item is deemed expensive, a similar lower cost alternative will undercut that product. We could easily see a rise in "Moonshine " and the quality of illicit alcohol could create an even bigger health problem.
This is illustrated with the outcome of plain packaging for cigarettes and a huge rise in the retail price. We are now seeing a contraband market supplying "chop chop "- loose stranded tobacco smuggled into the country and sold way below the price of legitimate cigarettes. There have been impressive customs seizures, but they have had little impact on the availability of supply.
The one thing that counters all control measures that apply to any product - is herd instinct. If the broad mass of the people have a desire for something that the authorities try to ban or strictly control, then the ingenuity of some and the greed for profit from others will ensure that this demand is met. Even draconian punishment - like the death penalty that applies in some countries - simply becomes an acceptable risk in relation to the rewards available.
Something that our law makers would do well to ponder !
Over the centuries various control measures have been applied. These have ranged from restricted hours in which liquor could be sold or consumed, to that experiment with prohibition that the United States tried - with disastrous results. The first law of commerce applies. If there is demand for a product, supply will inevitably follow - legally or illegally. That is clearly illustrated with the failed attempt to stem the flow of drugs on our streets.
The introduction of what have been termed the "Lockout laws "have certainly cleaned up problem areas such as Kings Cross in Sydney. The powerful liquor industry is resisting making them widespread, but they seem to be a step in the right direction. The Temperance people are railing about the increased availability of alcohol and demanding both a sharp reduction in the number of outlets offering it for sale - and an increase in the price.
That price issue raises many questions. It assumes that if the price rises sales volumes will drop because the customers can no longer afford to buy it in excess. In reality, alcohol consumption often remains constant and the extra cost is simply deducted from the purchase of household essentials. That thinking ignores the addictive nature of alcohol and in many households it becomes the first priority in the spending of money - and putting food on the table becomes a casualty.
There is a move to couple the price of liquor to it's alcohol content, and the finger is often pointed at the popularity of cask wine. Wine sold in five litre casks is often on special for a price as low as ten dollars, making the content available at just two dollars a litre. Critics claim this is a spur to excess drinking - and some even question whether cask wine should be allowed. The price fluctuates and the massive wine industry in Australia has adopted cask marketing to even out the surplus from bumper grape crops.
The idea of hiking alcohol prices as a health measure must be tempting to a Treasury beset with budget problems. That needs to be considered with extreme caution, because it could easily cause the second law of commerce to apply. Whenever a popular item is deemed expensive, a similar lower cost alternative will undercut that product. We could easily see a rise in "Moonshine " and the quality of illicit alcohol could create an even bigger health problem.
This is illustrated with the outcome of plain packaging for cigarettes and a huge rise in the retail price. We are now seeing a contraband market supplying "chop chop "- loose stranded tobacco smuggled into the country and sold way below the price of legitimate cigarettes. There have been impressive customs seizures, but they have had little impact on the availability of supply.
The one thing that counters all control measures that apply to any product - is herd instinct. If the broad mass of the people have a desire for something that the authorities try to ban or strictly control, then the ingenuity of some and the greed for profit from others will ensure that this demand is met. Even draconian punishment - like the death penalty that applies in some countries - simply becomes an acceptable risk in relation to the rewards available.
Something that our law makers would do well to ponder !
Friday, 27 February 2015
Our Road Traffic "Fragility " !
Sydney is Australia's biggest city and an event this week underscored just what a fine edge our road transport balances. At 6-40 am a woman driving a rental van across the Sydney Harbour bridge fell asleep at the wheel, drifted into oncoming traffic and collided with a Taxi, resulting in a multiple car accident. Emergency services rushed three people to hospital, the wrecks were removed and the lanes reopened by 8 am - but the chaos this caused lasted for another three hours.
That's all it takes to create a traffic snarl that extends for twenty-one kilometres and reaches into the suburbs from Epping to Eastlakes. Economists calculate that it probably cost the economy about fifty million dollars and the ripples reach far and wide. Very many people on their way to the airport missed their flight. The entire Sydney Tax fleet sat idle and without income for a vital portion of the day, and the Transport industry will be a long time sorting out the cost of missed "Just in time "deliveries to production factories and the supermarkets of the city, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who arrived seriously late for work.
Every time this sort of thing happens we hear calls for more spending to widen existing roads and create new highway systems. The point that seems to be missed is the "interconnectivity " that ensures that any blockage on any of the vital arterial roads will have a knock-on effect and snarl the interchange that inevitably occurs when these traffic streams converge. Once the traffic stream comes to a standstill - the "shunting effect "comes into play and it takes a lot of time to return to an even flow.
It is probably amazing that the event that had countless drivers fuming this week does not happen more often. We consider it a "normal commute "when we creep along at a snails pace and often see pedestrians on the footpath making faster progress than the car stream, but what Sydney experienced with that bridge crash was - Gridlock. That is fortuitously rare.
Usually we only get gridlock resulting from a major traffic accident. Someone tries to drive a high load truck through one of the Sydney road tunnels or a semi trailer with an inflammable cargo catches fire on an expressway. Unfortunately, no amount of road widening or the provision of new road links will remove that problem. None of our road systems exist in isolation - and when one stops it is inevitable that the flow on connection will radiate widely.
This fuels the debate between the public transport lobby and our love of the automobile. It is a fact of life that whenever we do manage to create an unobstructed roadway that allows car traffic to move freely - it sends more people to drive their cars and depletes the numbers travelling by train or bus. On the other hand, congested roads and slow commutes compel many to abandon the car and seek the reliability that public transport delivers.
Right at this moment the debate in the political world is between selling off this state's "poles and wires "to private equity to free up money for the infrastructure that is so badly needed - and yet the big ticket items are divided between better public transport and a bigger and better road network.
On the one hand, we are reinstalling trams in the inner city and building a new rail structure to service the western suburbs, and at the same time planning to deliver more cars into the city by way of a vast new road network.
That seems to be the way of politics - to cover all options !
That's all it takes to create a traffic snarl that extends for twenty-one kilometres and reaches into the suburbs from Epping to Eastlakes. Economists calculate that it probably cost the economy about fifty million dollars and the ripples reach far and wide. Very many people on their way to the airport missed their flight. The entire Sydney Tax fleet sat idle and without income for a vital portion of the day, and the Transport industry will be a long time sorting out the cost of missed "Just in time "deliveries to production factories and the supermarkets of the city, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who arrived seriously late for work.
Every time this sort of thing happens we hear calls for more spending to widen existing roads and create new highway systems. The point that seems to be missed is the "interconnectivity " that ensures that any blockage on any of the vital arterial roads will have a knock-on effect and snarl the interchange that inevitably occurs when these traffic streams converge. Once the traffic stream comes to a standstill - the "shunting effect "comes into play and it takes a lot of time to return to an even flow.
It is probably amazing that the event that had countless drivers fuming this week does not happen more often. We consider it a "normal commute "when we creep along at a snails pace and often see pedestrians on the footpath making faster progress than the car stream, but what Sydney experienced with that bridge crash was - Gridlock. That is fortuitously rare.
Usually we only get gridlock resulting from a major traffic accident. Someone tries to drive a high load truck through one of the Sydney road tunnels or a semi trailer with an inflammable cargo catches fire on an expressway. Unfortunately, no amount of road widening or the provision of new road links will remove that problem. None of our road systems exist in isolation - and when one stops it is inevitable that the flow on connection will radiate widely.
This fuels the debate between the public transport lobby and our love of the automobile. It is a fact of life that whenever we do manage to create an unobstructed roadway that allows car traffic to move freely - it sends more people to drive their cars and depletes the numbers travelling by train or bus. On the other hand, congested roads and slow commutes compel many to abandon the car and seek the reliability that public transport delivers.
Right at this moment the debate in the political world is between selling off this state's "poles and wires "to private equity to free up money for the infrastructure that is so badly needed - and yet the big ticket items are divided between better public transport and a bigger and better road network.
On the one hand, we are reinstalling trams in the inner city and building a new rail structure to service the western suburbs, and at the same time planning to deliver more cars into the city by way of a vast new road network.
That seems to be the way of politics - to cover all options !
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Speaking with a Forked Tongue !
New South Wales goes to an election next month and the big ticket item is a government plan to divest Sydney's "poles and wires " from public ownership to fund the billions of dollars of roads, transport and general infrastructure improvements that are otherwise financially impossible.
The Unions that cover electricity workers are spending millions of members funds on television advertising opposing this move. There are dire predictions of massive hikes in electricity charges if this goes ahead, and yet utter silence when it comes to comparing the situations in both Victoria and South Australia, where just such a scheme is in place - and power charges have actually decreased.
These same power unions are made ridiculous when their superannuation funds pour members money into investing with the very firms that are now the owners of poles and wires in Victoria and South Australia. The wise people who plan superannuation investment can see both safety and good dividends from such investments, but of course the union bosses and the moneymen are seeking very different outcomes.
Where the government is the employer the unions use pressure tactics to gain both pay rises and outrageous working conditions that are only a dream in the private sector. This is particularly evident when the commodity produced is electricity. The threat of a power strike would cripple industry and turn the state into chaos, and so the government usually is forced to compromise, resulting in a bulging work force and fat pay packets.
If poles and wires in New South Wales go private, the days of the gravy train are over. The work force will slim down and there will be pressure on awards to set more reasonable terms. Private enterprise has to achieve a profitable result, and it is a fact of life that profit is a word that does not seem to exist in the government lexicon.
The unions want to keep poles and wires as a government employed industry to preserve the conditions they have gained by the use of their muscle, and they know the only way to achieve that objective is to frighten the voters into believing a lie. Hence the prediction of rate hikes for electricity prices when exactly the opposite has been the reality where poles and wires have passed into the hands of private firms.
The Australian experience with government control of essential services is something that voters would do well to consider. When the second world war ended, telephone services were a monopoly controlled by the Postmaster Generals Department ( PMG ) and the waiting time for a phone connection was measured in months - and sometimes years. We were a laughingstock in comparison with Canada and places overseas - and this only improved when that PMG control passed into the private sector. Strangely, the implementation of Broadband follows a similar pattern. Way over budget and years behind in schedule. A familiar - government controlled - story !
Political commentators must at least get a chuckle from the dilemma facing the power unions. On the one hand, they are opposing the privatization of poles and wires and trying to sell the story that the sale will lead to big price increases and mayhem for families - and at the same time the superannuation that their members will rely on for retirement is pouring money into the very industry that controls poles and wires in other states.
It is said that politics is the art of speaking with a forked tongue !
The Unions that cover electricity workers are spending millions of members funds on television advertising opposing this move. There are dire predictions of massive hikes in electricity charges if this goes ahead, and yet utter silence when it comes to comparing the situations in both Victoria and South Australia, where just such a scheme is in place - and power charges have actually decreased.
These same power unions are made ridiculous when their superannuation funds pour members money into investing with the very firms that are now the owners of poles and wires in Victoria and South Australia. The wise people who plan superannuation investment can see both safety and good dividends from such investments, but of course the union bosses and the moneymen are seeking very different outcomes.
Where the government is the employer the unions use pressure tactics to gain both pay rises and outrageous working conditions that are only a dream in the private sector. This is particularly evident when the commodity produced is electricity. The threat of a power strike would cripple industry and turn the state into chaos, and so the government usually is forced to compromise, resulting in a bulging work force and fat pay packets.
If poles and wires in New South Wales go private, the days of the gravy train are over. The work force will slim down and there will be pressure on awards to set more reasonable terms. Private enterprise has to achieve a profitable result, and it is a fact of life that profit is a word that does not seem to exist in the government lexicon.
The unions want to keep poles and wires as a government employed industry to preserve the conditions they have gained by the use of their muscle, and they know the only way to achieve that objective is to frighten the voters into believing a lie. Hence the prediction of rate hikes for electricity prices when exactly the opposite has been the reality where poles and wires have passed into the hands of private firms.
The Australian experience with government control of essential services is something that voters would do well to consider. When the second world war ended, telephone services were a monopoly controlled by the Postmaster Generals Department ( PMG ) and the waiting time for a phone connection was measured in months - and sometimes years. We were a laughingstock in comparison with Canada and places overseas - and this only improved when that PMG control passed into the private sector. Strangely, the implementation of Broadband follows a similar pattern. Way over budget and years behind in schedule. A familiar - government controlled - story !
Political commentators must at least get a chuckle from the dilemma facing the power unions. On the one hand, they are opposing the privatization of poles and wires and trying to sell the story that the sale will lead to big price increases and mayhem for families - and at the same time the superannuation that their members will rely on for retirement is pouring money into the very industry that controls poles and wires in other states.
It is said that politics is the art of speaking with a forked tongue !
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Ending in a "Whimper " !
The Parliamentary Committee report on the bugging of a hundred New South Wales police on dodgy warrants has ended with a split finding along political lines. Labor, the Shooters Party and the Greens released a majority report with the fanciful recommendation that " the premier and police minister demonstrate to the community that the two deputy commissioners can maintain a professional relationship. " It is perfectly clear that Nick Kaldos was the wronged party - and the finding called for him to receive an apology. The government will soon table it's own minority report.
This curious matter has been simmering in police ranks for more than a decade. Over a hundred senior police had their homes and offices bugged, but the real targets were Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldos and Channel 7 journalist Steve Barrett. Both the present police Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Police Internal Affairs received adverse criticism for not settling this matter sooner - but both will keep their jobs - and as the Commissioner is retiring in several months, it leaves the matter of his successor in limbo.
This has been a dogs breakfast as far an enquiries go - and as is usual when politics intrude on rationality - it is ending in a pitiful whimper. There is a vague suggestion about setting up some sort of new administration to oversee the issuing of future warrants. The use of a corrupt police officer wearing a wire to circulate at a social function and attempting to trap police into making indiscreet comments is deplorable. The warrants used to authorise these buggings were seriously deficient under the existing rules - and yet it seems nobody has been called to account and that issue has lapsed.
Trying to reach a conclusion on this war within the upper ranks of our police force costs millions and involved a long and tedious enquiry by the Ombudsman, which left many questions unanswered. It is quite clear where the feelings of rank and file police stand in this matter. The fact that when Nick Kaldos took the stand the room broke into applause is something the government would be wise to consider. They will shortly have the task of selecting a new commissioner - and surely the best way to settle this present unease would be to promote a person who has the confidence and support of the men and women who look to the commissioner for leadership.
It seems to be the way of parliamentary enquiries to be discreet and not ruffle too many feathers. This was clearly a case of a power struggle at the very top of our police force - and the methods used to blacken reputations and stymie promotion could be termed as "running a vendetta ". In fact, the aspersions cast caused some senior people to leave the force in disgust - and led to at least one case of suicide. The finding merely calls for apologies - and no heads roll. Are we seriously expected to believe that the tensions that led to this tactical war between senior ranks has now been settled and goodwill prevails - with the shaking of hands - and good relations restored ?
Years of turmoil and millions of dollars spent - and all we get is a mild reproof that "more should have been done ". Instead, a "Don't rock the boat " ethos prevails and exactly the same people will have their hands on the levers of power.
Whatever happened to the notion of delivering "justice " ?
This curious matter has been simmering in police ranks for more than a decade. Over a hundred senior police had their homes and offices bugged, but the real targets were Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldos and Channel 7 journalist Steve Barrett. Both the present police Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Police Internal Affairs received adverse criticism for not settling this matter sooner - but both will keep their jobs - and as the Commissioner is retiring in several months, it leaves the matter of his successor in limbo.
This has been a dogs breakfast as far an enquiries go - and as is usual when politics intrude on rationality - it is ending in a pitiful whimper. There is a vague suggestion about setting up some sort of new administration to oversee the issuing of future warrants. The use of a corrupt police officer wearing a wire to circulate at a social function and attempting to trap police into making indiscreet comments is deplorable. The warrants used to authorise these buggings were seriously deficient under the existing rules - and yet it seems nobody has been called to account and that issue has lapsed.
Trying to reach a conclusion on this war within the upper ranks of our police force costs millions and involved a long and tedious enquiry by the Ombudsman, which left many questions unanswered. It is quite clear where the feelings of rank and file police stand in this matter. The fact that when Nick Kaldos took the stand the room broke into applause is something the government would be wise to consider. They will shortly have the task of selecting a new commissioner - and surely the best way to settle this present unease would be to promote a person who has the confidence and support of the men and women who look to the commissioner for leadership.
It seems to be the way of parliamentary enquiries to be discreet and not ruffle too many feathers. This was clearly a case of a power struggle at the very top of our police force - and the methods used to blacken reputations and stymie promotion could be termed as "running a vendetta ". In fact, the aspersions cast caused some senior people to leave the force in disgust - and led to at least one case of suicide. The finding merely calls for apologies - and no heads roll. Are we seriously expected to believe that the tensions that led to this tactical war between senior ranks has now been settled and goodwill prevails - with the shaking of hands - and good relations restored ?
Years of turmoil and millions of dollars spent - and all we get is a mild reproof that "more should have been done ". Instead, a "Don't rock the boat " ethos prevails and exactly the same people will have their hands on the levers of power.
Whatever happened to the notion of delivering "justice " ?
Monday, 23 February 2015
The " Silent Epidemic " !
The term "Sexually Transmitted Diseases "sends a chill through most people. It conjours up visions of diseases such as Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Genital Herpes, all of which are unpleasantly evident when contracted. Unfortunately there is also another very common STD which shows few symptoms - and if left untreated - leads to infertility.
Chlamydia is on the rise in Australia. Researchers think that it claimed about 356,000 victims in 2013 and these were four times the number that were actually diagnosed. The fact that it does not reveal itself by noticeable symptoms means that it usually is dormantly unrecognised while it silently does damage that will prevent it's host from bearing children later in life.
Chlamydia is prevalent in young women in the fifteen to seventeen age grouping, and this is where many gain their first sexual experience. Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where change of attitudes is constant and sex is now prevalent between young people. There is an expectation that dating couples will engage in sex very early in the relationship and casual sex is now about on the same level as the shaking of hands from a few decades ago.
The health message that is repeatedly drummed into the public is that condom use prevents both STD's and unwanted pregnancies. When AIDS burst onto the scene decades ago it certainly advanced the use of condoms but unprotected sex is again in the ascendancy - particularly amongst our young people. Statistics show that if a condom is available it is usually used, but few take the trouble to seek out such protection before the act.
Wise heads in the health department advise that we need to increase the availability of condoms. The rest rooms of most pubs and clubs now have coin operated condom vending machines and they are widely and openly sold in supermarkets and even small corner stores. It is suggested that such machines be installed in the girl's toilets of the school systems - and that will provoke heated controversy.
The thinking of the older generation is out of kilter with the sexual revolution that exists in young minds. We grudgingly accept that most young people live together without the sanctity of marriage but most feel that teen sex should be forbidden. In particular, the churches are vehement in their opposition to sex outside of marriage and some even forbid the use of condoms by married couples. Their message is a demand for abstinence - and obviously that falls on deaf ears.
This silent epidemic that is Chlamydia can cut a swathe through the ranks of today's young women and in a generation leave them childless. No amount of finger wagging or lecturing is going to turn back the clock and teenage sex is now a fact of life. Health realists accept that the only way to stop this epidemic in it's tracks is to promote the use of condoms - and to achieve that they must be readily available when they are needed.
To do that, it is necessary to make that availability within instant reach and hence the idea of condom machines in the toilets of schools is no longer fanciful. Achieving it is another matter. It is inevitable that there will be howls of protest from a big sector of the public and it will receive unrelenting opposition from the churches. It is almost impossible to envisage condom vending machines in the girl's toilets of Catholic schools.
The meat in the sandwich will be the state education systems. The warnings from the health department will come into conflict with what moralists will call "the silent majority " who will see such a health initiative as encouraging promiscuous sex. Stuck in the middle will be the politicians - who will probably need to move legislation through parliament if such vending machines are to become a reality.
So the health people are stuck on the horns of a dilemma. We have an increasing epidemic that can only be stopped by an action that will be blocked by both the churches and a significant portion of society. The politicians will be reluctant to move if they feel that it reduces their chances of continuing to hold office - and it is absolutely certain that today's teenagers are not going to change their habits when it comes to sex.
That seems to be a case of an unstoppable force coming into collision with an immovable object !
Chlamydia is on the rise in Australia. Researchers think that it claimed about 356,000 victims in 2013 and these were four times the number that were actually diagnosed. The fact that it does not reveal itself by noticeable symptoms means that it usually is dormantly unrecognised while it silently does damage that will prevent it's host from bearing children later in life.
Chlamydia is prevalent in young women in the fifteen to seventeen age grouping, and this is where many gain their first sexual experience. Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where change of attitudes is constant and sex is now prevalent between young people. There is an expectation that dating couples will engage in sex very early in the relationship and casual sex is now about on the same level as the shaking of hands from a few decades ago.
The health message that is repeatedly drummed into the public is that condom use prevents both STD's and unwanted pregnancies. When AIDS burst onto the scene decades ago it certainly advanced the use of condoms but unprotected sex is again in the ascendancy - particularly amongst our young people. Statistics show that if a condom is available it is usually used, but few take the trouble to seek out such protection before the act.
Wise heads in the health department advise that we need to increase the availability of condoms. The rest rooms of most pubs and clubs now have coin operated condom vending machines and they are widely and openly sold in supermarkets and even small corner stores. It is suggested that such machines be installed in the girl's toilets of the school systems - and that will provoke heated controversy.
The thinking of the older generation is out of kilter with the sexual revolution that exists in young minds. We grudgingly accept that most young people live together without the sanctity of marriage but most feel that teen sex should be forbidden. In particular, the churches are vehement in their opposition to sex outside of marriage and some even forbid the use of condoms by married couples. Their message is a demand for abstinence - and obviously that falls on deaf ears.
This silent epidemic that is Chlamydia can cut a swathe through the ranks of today's young women and in a generation leave them childless. No amount of finger wagging or lecturing is going to turn back the clock and teenage sex is now a fact of life. Health realists accept that the only way to stop this epidemic in it's tracks is to promote the use of condoms - and to achieve that they must be readily available when they are needed.
To do that, it is necessary to make that availability within instant reach and hence the idea of condom machines in the toilets of schools is no longer fanciful. Achieving it is another matter. It is inevitable that there will be howls of protest from a big sector of the public and it will receive unrelenting opposition from the churches. It is almost impossible to envisage condom vending machines in the girl's toilets of Catholic schools.
The meat in the sandwich will be the state education systems. The warnings from the health department will come into conflict with what moralists will call "the silent majority " who will see such a health initiative as encouraging promiscuous sex. Stuck in the middle will be the politicians - who will probably need to move legislation through parliament if such vending machines are to become a reality.
So the health people are stuck on the horns of a dilemma. We have an increasing epidemic that can only be stopped by an action that will be blocked by both the churches and a significant portion of society. The politicians will be reluctant to move if they feel that it reduces their chances of continuing to hold office - and it is absolutely certain that today's teenagers are not going to change their habits when it comes to sex.
That seems to be a case of an unstoppable force coming into collision with an immovable object !
Sunday, 22 February 2015
Cleaning up the State !
Mike Baird has made an election promise. If his government is returned in the March election he will impose a deposit on all bottles and cans and install " reverse vending machines " so that people can recover their deposit money. This is similar to legislation that has been in place for many years in both South Australia and the Northern Territory.
In a broad brush approach, the deposit has been set at ten cents on each can or bottle, and there will be a need for at least eight hundred reverse vending machines scattered across Sydney and every town and village in the state.
This is a great idea - in theory. In practice, there may be problems. Presumably these reverse vending machines will disperse cash in return for deposits and this will obviously become a target for thieves. Perhaps it may be wise to borrow an idea that the banks use for accepting small change. Coins are tipped into a machine that sorts and counts them, and delivers a receipt to the customer which may be converted to cash by the bank tellers - or deposited into an account. We seem to be headed towards a cashless society - and this avoids the task of repeatedly loading the machines with money to trade cash for cans.
Perhaps now would be a good time for a little navel gazing to determine exactly what we hope to achieve. After any public event, the ground is littered with throw away rubbish - and certainly cans and bottles are part of that mess. How we deal with cans and bottles seems to be split into the categories of - at home or away.
Most people use the yellow top recycling wheelie bins for the disposal of recyclables, hence this is not where we have a cans and bottles problem. If we hike the price to include that ten cent deposit is that going to change the present thinking ? Will we see wheelie bins put out for collection overturned and rubbish strewn on the road as opportunists search for cans and bottles to put back through these reverse money machines ?
It is unlikely that crowd behaviour will change at public events. Even if the lure of money reduces the number of cans and bottle left behind, there will still be the usual trash of food containers, fruit peelings and the vast array of debris that people seem to accumulate in a picnic atmosphere. Cleaning up after the New Year fireworks takes an army of people and a fleet of garbage trucks. Do we really expect that a ten cent deposit will change that situation ?
A very long time ago, soft drink bottles did come with a refundable deposit for return - and that was a major headache for many shops. They were required to repay the deposit and store the bottles until the owning company made a collection, and space was a big problem. It was also very unsuccessful because parks and beaches were still littered with what the kids of that day thought to be " uncool " to be seen collecting. We would be wise to deeply consider how this vending project will sit with the youth of today.
Perhaps there is a simpler way to rid the world of those pesky cans and bottles. Right now the charities are very keen to collect aluminium cans and cash them in at metal recyclers for their metal value - and that is far less than the proposed ten cent bounty on each can or bottle. If this deposit applies to all and every liquid container it is most likely that everybody from the Surf Life Savings movement, Boy Scouts and the huge range of charities who mail us and bewail their need for a donation will jump on the bandwagon - and organize collectors.
Of course, the present thinking revolves around the public being able to reclaim the deposit they pay when they buy goods in cans and bottles. Human nature being what it is, a lot of the public will probably not go to the trouble of seeking refunds - and this entire reverse vending machine project will cost a mint of money to establish - and operate.
Perhaps a smaller deposit - five cents comes to mind - may be sufficient to galvanise the charities to rid us of cans and bottles and that extra dollar or so we have to outlay at the supermarket for our drinks could be considered the imposition we have to pay for a cleaner state.
The idea has worked is South Australia and it is certainly worth considering for New South Wales, but sometimes innovative thinking can achieve an even better result.
In a broad brush approach, the deposit has been set at ten cents on each can or bottle, and there will be a need for at least eight hundred reverse vending machines scattered across Sydney and every town and village in the state.
This is a great idea - in theory. In practice, there may be problems. Presumably these reverse vending machines will disperse cash in return for deposits and this will obviously become a target for thieves. Perhaps it may be wise to borrow an idea that the banks use for accepting small change. Coins are tipped into a machine that sorts and counts them, and delivers a receipt to the customer which may be converted to cash by the bank tellers - or deposited into an account. We seem to be headed towards a cashless society - and this avoids the task of repeatedly loading the machines with money to trade cash for cans.
Perhaps now would be a good time for a little navel gazing to determine exactly what we hope to achieve. After any public event, the ground is littered with throw away rubbish - and certainly cans and bottles are part of that mess. How we deal with cans and bottles seems to be split into the categories of - at home or away.
Most people use the yellow top recycling wheelie bins for the disposal of recyclables, hence this is not where we have a cans and bottles problem. If we hike the price to include that ten cent deposit is that going to change the present thinking ? Will we see wheelie bins put out for collection overturned and rubbish strewn on the road as opportunists search for cans and bottles to put back through these reverse money machines ?
It is unlikely that crowd behaviour will change at public events. Even if the lure of money reduces the number of cans and bottle left behind, there will still be the usual trash of food containers, fruit peelings and the vast array of debris that people seem to accumulate in a picnic atmosphere. Cleaning up after the New Year fireworks takes an army of people and a fleet of garbage trucks. Do we really expect that a ten cent deposit will change that situation ?
A very long time ago, soft drink bottles did come with a refundable deposit for return - and that was a major headache for many shops. They were required to repay the deposit and store the bottles until the owning company made a collection, and space was a big problem. It was also very unsuccessful because parks and beaches were still littered with what the kids of that day thought to be " uncool " to be seen collecting. We would be wise to deeply consider how this vending project will sit with the youth of today.
Perhaps there is a simpler way to rid the world of those pesky cans and bottles. Right now the charities are very keen to collect aluminium cans and cash them in at metal recyclers for their metal value - and that is far less than the proposed ten cent bounty on each can or bottle. If this deposit applies to all and every liquid container it is most likely that everybody from the Surf Life Savings movement, Boy Scouts and the huge range of charities who mail us and bewail their need for a donation will jump on the bandwagon - and organize collectors.
Of course, the present thinking revolves around the public being able to reclaim the deposit they pay when they buy goods in cans and bottles. Human nature being what it is, a lot of the public will probably not go to the trouble of seeking refunds - and this entire reverse vending machine project will cost a mint of money to establish - and operate.
Perhaps a smaller deposit - five cents comes to mind - may be sufficient to galvanise the charities to rid us of cans and bottles and that extra dollar or so we have to outlay at the supermarket for our drinks could be considered the imposition we have to pay for a cleaner state.
The idea has worked is South Australia and it is certainly worth considering for New South Wales, but sometimes innovative thinking can achieve an even better result.
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