Saving Lives !

When we hear reports of new medical discoveries they usually come with the disclaimer that it will be years before they become available for general use.  First will come extensive medical trials and then the laborious progress through the health evaluation system to gain approval  by the drug licensing authority.

How refreshing to find that researchers at Sydney University have discovered a technique that has the potential to save thousands of premature babies who often die if they are born before twenty-six weeks.   What is even more amazing is that what is required can be put into practice without any delay - and it costs absolutely nothing !

A Sydney research team has found that simply delaying clamping the umbilical cord of a newborn for a time of sixty seconds after birth will slash the risk of the babies death in hospital by a third.

This study has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and it reports the increased volume of blood transferred from the placenta to the baby, improving blood pressure and haematocrit - the proportion of red blood cells in the blood.

At present, early clamping has been the usual procedure because of concern about such harms as delayed resuscitation, hyperthermia and Jaundice.  Trials revealed that later clamping did slightly increase the incidence of jaundice and polycythemia but that its adoption on the world scene would save somewhere between  11,000 and 100,000 lives each year.

There is other good news on the medical front.   The supply of donor organs for transplanting has always been far short of demand and many patients die waiting for a transplant that never comes
Not only does an organ available for a transplant need to have a " match " to the  recipient it needs to be in near perfect condition - and many are rejected because they are infected with hepatitis C.

This opioid epidemic that is sweeping the world is killing a lot of younger people and this is bringing a sharp increase in the number of organs presenting for transplant, but the use of shared needles that is so customary on the drug scene means that the presence of hepatitis C is also common.

Hepatitis C is now not the killer it was several years ago.   A new breed of drugs has the ability to cure this disease and so the medical profession is having a second look at the thousand or so organs that are rejected each year in the US because of hepatitis C contamination.

Patients waiting for a transplant are now being offered an option.   Accept a heart or a kidney that is hepatitis C infected with the chance that once it is in their body the application of these new drugs can achieve a cure with a 98% success rate ?

That is an option that many people would find acceptable, and it seems inevitable that this will become normal practice in the rest of the world.   It seems that the loved ones of  opioid victims are more altruistic in making organs available for donation and their younger age means that the quality of their organs is significantly improved.

On the medical front, the good news just keeps coming !

Demountable Classroom Logic !

Schools have long been a political battleground in ever growing Sydney.  We create new suburbs to house our growing numbers and that creates pressure on the transport system to move them to employment sources and for new schools to accommodate their children.  The problem is that suburbs tend to change their identity within a couple of decades and what is provided for one era becomes surplus in another.

We have all seen suburbs popular with young families change character as the kids grow up, finish their schooling and enter the workforce.  Streets that were once full of kids playing at weekends no longer have that activity.  The suburb changes character and now becomes the residential home for middle aged people heading towards retirement, and that is a huge challenge for government planners.

There is a very logical preference in school planning for the use of demountable classrooms as opposed to permanent school buildings.  These demountables can speedily provide the classrooms needed as suburban numbers grow and can be moved to new locations when that demand declines. That is the degree of flexibility evident in todays school planning.

Permanent brick and mortar school buildings have a budget of $4.2 billion to be spent in the next four years and this will be concentrated where the new transport lines will provide mobility and there is the expectation that high rise will provide living density.  There is the expectation that more Sydney families will live in high rise blocks in the future and that child numbers will remain high in such suburbs.

The New South Wales education system presently has five thousand one hundred demountable classrooms in use.   There is the expectation that school numbers will rise by 175,000 extra children by 2030.  These children will be accommodated with an increase in the demountable stock to six thousand one hundred units between next year and 2020.

Some parents have a very unreasonable distaste for demountables.   They prefer multi room school brick and mortar blocks from their own childhood, but that inflexibility is no longer relevant to todays changing needs.   The demountable - with attached air conditioning - can quickly expand to serve the numbers needed and can be moved from place to place as those numbers change.

We have seen a past era where brick and mortar schools were far apart and kids were expected to travel long distances to attend.   The thinking today is to create schools close to where the demand exists and create flexibility so that can change as circumstances change.

Love them or hate them.  Those demountables are the schools of the future !

A " Near Miss " ?

It seems that Earth is an angry planet judging by the threats that are being exchanged between nations.  America and North Korea are threatening one another with nuclear weapons and Spain is in turmoil because the Catalans want to break away and form their own nation.   We have a very complicated shooting war in the Middle East and that has been morphing into a religious crusade that brings terrorist attacks on civilians in many world cities.

Even where nations are at peace there are tensions over trade and the latest flash point is the tide of refugees fleeing war zones or in many cases escaping the economic hardship of poor countries which can not finance even enough basic food to keep their citizens alive.   Their perilous journeys are finding closed frontiers and they are fast becoming the world's " unwanted " !

Unfortunately, not even a threat to this planet from the mystery of the universe in which it circles the sun in our galaxy is able to bring the nations to consensus to try and avert danger.  We are aware that millions of years ago just such an object collided with earth, creating a dust cloud that enveloped the world and not only wiped out the Dinosaurs but most of the creatures that existed in that time frame.  The few survivors went on to create the world we know today.

An amateur with a private telescope based in Hawaii discovered an unusual object - thought to be either a meteorite or a comet - that had entered our solar system from what is termed the " Kuiper belt " - an area where debris left over after the big bang circles in endless orbit.   Sometimes these collide, sending matter on a new course which may enter our solar system and pass close to earth.

This object was given the designation A/2017/U1 and it is estimated that it is about four hundred metres in diameter.  Should it collide with earth a mass of that size would create a titanic nuclear explosion and deliver a giant tsunami and a dust cloud that might obliterate sunlight for a period of years.  It could eliminate human life on this planet.

Science tracked its journey with trepidation.   When it passed near the planet Mercury the massive gravity effect of our sun caused it to be slung into a new orbit which caused it to pass earth at a distance of just fifteen million miles - and in space equations that is considered a " near miss " !

From time to time our planet does get hit with objects from outer space.  Many burn up before they hit the surface but the history books record devastation that can only have been objects from space hitting this planet.    One such meteorite struck a remote region of Russia and flattened hundred of miles of forest.  There is evidence that this is not unusual and there is the expectation that similar hits will occur in the future.

Astronomers track most large meteorites sith a possible earth orbit, but visitors like A/2017/U1 can appear at very short notice.   Had it be destined to strike earth we would have had only a few months to prepare or take action to divert its course.

Perhaps it will take such a fast approaching Armageddon to makes the tribes of earth forget their differences and combined their efforts to survive such a catastrophe.  It seems that A/2017/U1 failed to deliver such a message !

That " Gambling " Issue !

It seems to be a human frailty that most humans are attracted to " games of chance " in which they may win or lose money.  Gambling - in its many forms - even gets a mention in the Bible and some religions regard it as a " sin " !

There is no doubt that some forms of gambling can be equally as addictive as narcotics.  We regularly hear of people who have gambled away their entire fortune and sometimes it is money stolen from an employer which means that gambling losses will land them in a prison cell.  Both the Federal and state governments impose restrictions to try and regulate how gambling may be kept to a relatively safe level.

The gambling industry sees it differently.  As long as it is legal they employ tactics to encourage people to gamble because all forms of gambling deliver a hefty winning margin to the gambling organizer.  Those profits are heavily taxed by the licensing authorities and these tax returns are important to both Federal and state Treasuries.

Poker machines have long been in the sights of the anti gambling fraternity.   They are present in huge numbers in pubs, clubs and casinos and the machine manufacturers are very canny in making them attractive to patrons.  The question being asked by an enquiry into the industry is whether this attraction has crossed the border and become " compulsorily addictive  ".

What drew the ire of the inquiry was a feature built into most poker machines that convinces a player that they have won - when in fact exactly the opposite has occurred.   It seems that what attracts and keeps players sitting at their machines is the constant euphoria of flashing lights and symbols across the screen, accompanied by frenzied music that signals a win.  Often, this " win " being signalled is less than the amount being gambled in that roll of the wheels.

For instance, the gambler may be committing a dollar bet riding on each roll of the symbols on the screen and the combination win on that play may deliver a return of just twenty-five cents.   The player has actually lost seventy-five cents, but the machine is applauding that twenty-five cent win with bell and whistles to convince the player that the opposite has occurred.

Another incentive is the lure of a huge Jackpot that may be possible if the correct winning sequence is obtained on one of many linked machines sited in a number of venues.   The actual odds of such a win are in the millions to one category, but that is not apparent to most players.  As with most forms of gambling, that big win is an allusion that attracts media attention when it " goes off " after very lengthy intervals.

Now the Internet and the home computer have brought the reality of the " virtual casino " to computer screens.  It is a rare computer owner who has not received unsolicited offers to play a wide variety of gambling games and in many cases this offer includes either a free cash inducement to start the process - or an offer of many " free spins " as an introductory offer.   It usually demands the establishment of a credit card account - on the guise of where winnings will be paid, but both the ethics and reality of what is being offered remains in the hands of unknown people in a distant foreign country.

Government authorities face a dilemma.   If they impose restrictions that make gambling unattractive to the public that reduced flow of tax dollars cripples the economy.  Gambling is a purely voluntary option that most people choose as a form of entertainment and it is a well known fact that the odds are heavily in favour of whoever owns and suppliers the gambling option.  Most people expect to lose money when they gamble.

The odds are that this enquiry will provide fire and fury, and a lot of froth and bubble  - and little will change !

" Ownership " of Australia ?

For a very long time the Indigenous people who lived on the Australian continent before the British decided to create a penal colony in Botany Bay were virtually ignored.  That is a grievance they have every right to protest, but that is also not the situation today.  They now have exactly the same rights as any other of the twenty-four million people who call themselves " Australian " !

During the last census about six hundred and seventy thousand people claimed to be " Aboriginal or Torres Strait islanders ".   That represents three percent of the Australian population, but the true figure is probably much greater.  It is not certain how many people with some degree of Indigenous blood in their ancestry chose to tick that question box - and how many elected not to.

One of the problems our original Australians have in being heard is their uneven distribution within the Australian states.  In the Northern Territory they represent thirty percent of the population and  that can not be ignored, but in some other states their numbers are not significant - and they find it hard to mount a forum.

There seems little doubt that past injustice is both recognised and a subject of regret across the wider community and some form of restitution is favoured - but exactly what will achieve that end has not emerged as a possible solution to either community.

The latest proposal was to create what was termed a " Voice to parliament " in the form of a separate chamber from which Indigenous people would debate their concerns and bring forward plans for adoption by the Australian parliament.   It would have no power of veto over the deliberations of that parliament and it would be unlikely to gain the support of a referendum needed to bring it into existence.   At most it would be a powerless " talking shop " while others may claim it as a " third chamber of parliament ".

A proposal to include Indigenous people in the Australian Constitution has wide general support, but exactly what form that should take has become the stumbling block.  Unfortunately, the integration of our Indigenous citizens into a prosperous Australian culture has been very uneven.   Some have chosen to retain a traditional tribal life remote from urbanization and this has made it difficult to provide both education and health services.  It is unlikely that either will reach all strata  of the Indigenous communities by the middle of this century.

One of the sticking points between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is the  contention that white people " stole the land ".   The settlers certainly did not ask permission and the arrival of the first fleet was a form of " invasion " but such were the protocols that existed in that day and age.  Similar dangers exist today.

During the second world war this country faced imminent invasion by the Japanese and our small population seemed unlikely to be able to beat back such overwhelming numbers.  We are heading towards an overcrowded planet and it is quite likely that in the future we will come under stress from other nations jealous of this great lands food production capacity.   We only have ownership of this land as long as we can defend it from others.

Perhaps the best we can offer our Indigenous people is help to educate their kids and bring them good health.  The Australian society is prosperous and Indigenous people are scattered through all walks of life and that is rapidly increasing.  Instead of a separate chamber of parliament, Indigenous people can best be served by standing for office and winning seats - and making their voices heard as we advance this country together.

New Islamic State Tactic !

Islamic State is not short of ready cash.  It has support throughout the Islamic world and its clever manipulation of social media in the west ensures a steady trickle of donated funds.  Now that its " Caliphate " dreams in Iraq and Syria have imploded it is devising new tactics to keep its revolution firmly in the headlines of world news.

The seizure of the Philippine city of Marawi seems a textbook illustration of what we can expect in the future.  Marawi was in a part of the Philippines which is heavily Islamic and it took a force of just nine hundred supporters to take control and create fear to send police and other defenders fleeing.  Once in control, the black flag was prominently displayed and they were able to maintain control during a 154 day siege before the army gained the upper hand.

While Islamic State ruled that city it seems that their experience in Mosul was the template for civic control.  The killed or departed Islamists left behind many videos illustrating the regime put in place in Mosul and bundles of cash money had been provided to allow this administration to secure the support of locals.

It was certainly a bloody occupation.  At least three hundred thousand refugees fled the city and when the army sought to regain control this led to a street by street battle which destroyed entire neighbourhoods.  Islamic State casualty figures are unknown, but at least 165 police and army fighters lost their lives and forty-five civilians were caught in the cross fire.  The city is now a blackened shambles and it will take both years and millions of dollars to rebuild.

Many Asian governments fear this will be the IS plan for the future.  The IS leaders regards their freedom fighters as expendable.  It only took nine hundred to gain control of Marawi and refusal to give ground resulted in the death of many defenders, but many others managed to mix with civilians and make an escape.   Because this civilian population was used as human shields, the invading Philippine army could not use the heavy weapons usual in a war situation.   The advantage was heavily with the Islamists.

IS must keep its name before the public or it will wither away.  It seems certain that its prominence in Iraq and Syria is ending and its extreme Wahabist views on how Islam should be practised bring it into opposition with the Islamic government in many countries.   The targets selected could be equally spread across many countries in both Asia and Africa, all of which guarantee maximum exposure on the world news scene.

Unfortunately, it seems that Islamic State will continue to be a toxic presence long after its influence wanes in the war zones of the Middle East.   Its ambitions find resonance in the minds of many in countries which purport to be friendly with the west and a steady stream of money flows from this source.

As long as Islamic State manages to maintain this war the settlement of peaceful Islamic followers in western countries will be viewed with suspicion.

Rental Tenancy Certainty !

In Sydney, the number of  rental properties available falls far short of the people looking for a place to call " home ".  For every listed vacancy, a horde of applicants apply and when someone is successful it results in many disappointed people being rejected.  Unfortunately, once the period of the lease expires, tenants have no certainty that their tenancy is secure.

A case in point recently made newspaper headlines.  A family with two small children lived in a two bedroom rented apartment and when the marriage fell apart the husband moved out and obtained his own flat across the road.  Both the husband and wife held jobs and the split was amicable because of the needs of the children.

The original rental was taken out in the husbands name and the fact that his wife was now the tenant imposed certain legal difficulties.   The wife complained to the landlord about a fifty dollar rent increase because her rent had increased four times - from $ 290 in May 2014 to $ 750 on June 2016.  She was given the option of applying for a new lease -  at a market rental rate of $840.

She was then served with a " No grounds eviction order " requiring her to vacate the premises within ninety days.  Such orders do not require any reason to be stated but the agency told her it was because she was not named on the property lease.  She also claims she was told she " shouldn't bother " to apply for other properties managed by that rental company.

This tends to illustrate the " low profile " dictum that most tenants now believe is necessary to avoid bringing themselves to the attention of landlords.  Complaints about rent increases or demands for repairs now often bring eviction and replacement with more docile customers.  Where an individual agency has a big share of the rentals in a district it has the power to virtually blacklist an evicted person from living in that suburb.

In this instance, the rental agency does have a point that once a lease expires it is the duty of its management role to adjust the rental rate to market value.  The price of property and the scarcity of available rentals has sent rents soaring in the past few years.  This is an obvious hazard for those intending a lifetime of rental tenancy.

The law does require landlords to maintain rental properties in good working order. Utilities that form part of the property must be replaced or repaired if they cease to function and in todays competitive world many tenants are reluctant to demand their rights because of fear of eviction.  That " no cause " eviction order is a catch-all option that can be deployed without the need to state a reason for the eviction.

Of course, in the combative nature of politics the party not in power will promise all sorts of remedies that they may abandon should they ever win office, but there does seem room for the government to introduce a degree of fairness by way of legislation.

Perhaps that " no cause " eviction notice may have passed its use-by-date and should be rescinded.  It would not be unreasonable for tenants to expect to hear why they are being asked to leave rather than just being served an unstated eviction order and perhaps rent increases should be limited to half yearly intervals.   Constant rent changes can be oppressive and impossible to budget and market changes rarely occur with such necessity.

We would do well to remember the draconian imposition of "rent control " imposed at the start of the second world war.  Decades later, we had " protected tenants "  paying rentals that failed to even meet the outgoing for council rates on the properties they occupied.   This is an area to be legislated with great caution.