"Riverbend" is still alive

Oh, just had to post this. Easy to miss, since the link to "Bagdad Burning" on the sidebar hadn't 'updated' itself.

civil rescue

Interesting concept.
"voluntary" organisations.

Does anyone really know how much it costs?

Bushwalkers 'become lost', 'base jumpers' make an error of judgement,

Motor vehicle drivers drift on the highway.

Smoke and flames come through the bush.

Who ya gunna call?

Post removed

Um, sometimes my premature wry humour is overwhelmed by the truly enormous tragedy in Japan.

Fire and water

I did have the intention of trying to 'superimpose' some maps - Australia, USA, British Isles - to try to give some perspective of the widespread  'natural'  "disasters" Australia is experiencing at the moment. It IS 'widespread'. 59 homes recently lost to bushfires in Western Australia. Severe flooding in parts of Victoria.

Though even this image is misleading, since the "lattitudes" are reversed - upside down. "Cooktown" and "Cairns" should be where "Florida" is in relative terms.

this one came from 

http://www.backyardgalahcam.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=282

(and Ireland should be where Tasmania is..forgive me, am still searching for accurate relative latitudes)

The 'clean-up' behind Toowoomba and Brisbane flooding, Cyclone Yasi;  is already underway (though there 'are' reports in the Murdoch press of  "slow response" to Yasi. Crap; bit difficult when roads are washed away or under 6ft of water and trees have to be chainsawed .. whaddya expect? Instant Plasma TV sets airdrop by Hercules? (or Caribou, helicopter??.  .. and yep, possible, all options are on the table, SES personnel from all over Australia and military are moblised and active .. but .. ).

Aaaand yes, am being somewhat facetious. Prompted, mostly, by Tedious Tony.

We only have a total population of 23 million. Not all of that population are adults. Spread across a land area roughly the size of the USA  ( And the entire British Isles could most likely fit into the state of Victoria).  While Anna Bligh and, especially, Julia Gillard as "Prime Minister" of Australia are doing their best to try to figure out how all this shit can be "paid for" .. Tedious Tony is asking for "donations to the liberal party" to help fight "the great big new tax" (a proposed 'levy' on incomes greater than AU$50,000.00 per year which equates to AU$1-5.00 per week for one year for assistance to Queensland floods)).

Efforf Tony. Tawdry trick, some of us DO remember the Howard Gummit imposed 7 (seven) "levies" on the unsupecting populace - not counting the 'read my lips' no GST. Go suck on yer taxpayer funded parliamentary salary, and never forget that if yer thrown out of YOUR job - you DO qualify for an extremely large, guaranteed - taxpayer funded - pension (dammit).

Perhaps he may be more comfortable departing our shores and having 'tea parties' with expat Rupert Murdoch ....

Extreme ? weather

(first posted at 11.37AM .. edited and bits added )


Hoo boy, i would not, at this point want to be in the shoes of Anna Bligh (Premier of Queensland) or, probably more to the point - Andrew Fraser (State treasurer) -OR, if it comes to that, ANYONE living on the North Queensland coast. Not only are they faced with trying to figure out how to pay for and  "repair' the damage created by the recent, rather extraordinary, flood events in Townsville and Brisbane (and elsewhere), they are now faced with yet another "extra-ordinary" event -(other names for this circular wind event are "typhoon", "hurricane"). 
 Cyclone Yasi *.

3PM Weds 2 Feb 2011

From

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml

To try to put this monster into perspective; the "building code" in Queensland has been written to the (most probable) level of "strong enough to withstand a Category 4 cyclone". Yasi is due to cross the coast within 24 hours, is Category 5 (strongest) and showing no sign of either diminishing, or veering back out to sea (but don't take my word - or that image, for 'truth' - but  there is a series of 'recorded' isobars on the bom website that i also 'interpret'. Why? Well, if one has spent quite some time on the deck, in charge, of a small [32ft] boat on the open ocean [as distinct from four rectangular brick walls and air conditioning] .. one tends to become very interested in what "the weather" is about to throw at ya).

[Hurricane Katrina: (August 2005) Category 5 at landfall; winds 280kph [175mph]. Locally, Cyclone Larry (North Qld:20March2006) was a category 4; gusts to 240kph , but only 50 klm across. This one is ??klm wide]

Heavy rainfall and floods are one thing - but when combined with wind strengths of 250-300klm/hour (150-190 miles/hour) things become somewhat awkward. Not only that, it closely coincides with the (normal) high tide event. One often hears the words "storm surge" - which, due to the low pressure in the eye of the cyclone, raises the average sea level..

Queensland tidal ranges can be in the vicinity of 7 - 12 metres (.. feet), so most coastal communities are aware of that, and build above the highest known tide height .. but .. the 'storm surge' for this one is predicted to be in the region of 4 metres (14 feet) over and above the high tide mark. This, of course, is not counting the wave heights whipped up by the 200kph winds which have to be added onto the heights (especially in the southern half of the circle)..

There will also be massive amounts of torrential rainwater coming down from the catchments – but can't go anywhere except sideways if the estuaries are already rising from incoming high tide and storm surge.

I read where there are some areas in the USA experiencing snow. Would, frankly, prefer the minor discomfort and inconvenience of having my car or house buried under 12ft of snow – than owning coastal property hit by 300kph winds then swamped by 30ft seas.

Oddly, phone calls from Cairns (to ABC RN an hour ago) are saying that - at the moment - all is quiet. Just another "perfect Qld summer day".


Another oddity, have just finished reading “The Perfect Storm” ; a story written by Sebastian Junger [published in paperback by HarperTorch; 2000] about an unusual confluence of weather events off the coast of Newfoundland in 1991 - and made into a movie.

{* why 'Yasi"? .. ah, depends on where they originate. This one originated outside of the Australian Bureau of Met jurisdiction, who tend to give cyclones 'male' names}.

Will have to leave this post here, too much 'updating' info coming in.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/

http://www.theweatherchaser.com/videos/201101-tropical-cyclone-yasi

5.21PM .. and believe me - when it hits do not expect "immediate" rescue .. the local 'emergency' services are already being 'locked down' .. but they'll be back as soon as they can . And yep, there were BOM staff on Willis Island, they pulled them out at the last minute, but left the radar running. Willis Island radar ceased transmitting.

8.36PM. For weather nerds

http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/cyclone-season-2010-2011/comparison.htm

10.32PM. OK far be it from me to actually admit that twits and twats actually exist - or even that have 'heard' about them .. errm

http://twitter.com/cycloneupdate

um, lotta rubbish -
prefer this one
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/cyclone-yasi/

11.39PM; am listening to ABC Radio National. It IS a severe and destructive storm.  The "help" systems have done as much as they could .. whoever is still there in Townsville .. hang on.

12.38AM .. ok, nuffin i can do about it from here .. gone to bed.

In the defense of Julian Assange.

(Updated 15 Dec 2010 - found some links .. heh. Will "post to other" when have a bit more info)


[still under edit:was written "offline"; still trying to find the reference links; might be me who's getting confused, but did 'save' a whole heap of   "reference links". Gruogle "Krum" don't make it easy. Might revisit Firefox.  ]

For a start; am not a lawyer, nor involved with any “law enforcement” agencies, official or otherwise. Am just an ordinary citizen of Australia (Rtr'd).

All this 'internet' furoré has me fascinated, so was wondering if there was some factual basis. All of the following is opinion.

I see where some politicians are calling for the “arrest” of Julian Assange (fair enough – means 'to bring to a standstill' or 'stop' (from the Old French; arester or Latin; restãre – to stand still). Can quite understand their embarrassment. Being caught with yer pants down does tend to invoke some anger generated by surprise. However, Julian has been very careful to distance himself and the organisation known as “WikiLeaks” from any link, collusion with, or knowledge of who actually happened to “break the law” (according to their own, individual, conscience or motive). “assassination” is quite a different concept, mostly confined to “primitive”, “uneducated” Nations.

There are, actually, quite a few “laws” in many countries around this planet relating to 'confidentiality', 'loyalty' and 'submission'. Most of the 'enlightened' systems of governance rely on individuals 'signing a contract'. Won't go into detail, but the “Spycatcher” case some time ago illustrates the general principal of what am alluding to.

Will also remind readers to read the detail of any TOS - “terms of service” that internet host providers supply. You'd be surprised at how vague some of the clauses are.

As far as I can gather; Julian Assange – by publishing information given to him - has broken no specific law. He is, yes, “Editor in Chief” of WikiLeaks. If, in fact, he IS guilty of “publishing information” given to him in secret - then I would suggest that EVERY “Editor in Chief” of EVERY print, radio, video transmission, media on this planet is, essentially, guilty.

The list, and details, of these sort of practices is far too long for me to summarise here; but am sure you will know what I mean. (Remember “Deep Throat”; Woodward and Bernstein)

As a side-track; Am very disappointed by Julia Gillard and our own Attorney General. Ask Assange to “cease and desist”, perhaps; call for his “arrest”, perhaps. But shouting to the rooftops that what he has done is “illegal” - letting him know that you are just acutely embarrassed, uninformed; is not the mature stance, or response, that I would expect of an Australian National Leadership.

So, let me look at the “legalities” of what happened in Sweden in August, and subsequent.

Timeline1

So, who knows. Am very suspicious about the “timing” -

And it IS tempting to “invent” some dialogues. [Disclaimer – not fact, “rape” is objectively difficult to define. This is a short summary based on 50 years of interaction between me and various human European origin females; and what have been able to discover from the internet.]

Female 1:(very happy, wanting to share) “'alloo, S here, you know Julian?'

Female 2:“Ya”

Female 1:“We have beautiful night”

2: “Oh?”'

1: “ya, he is so beautiful”

2: “you have sex with him?”

1: “Ya, he very strong”.

Long pause …....

Yes, can imagine the sort of thing that happens next. Information sharing. 'Me also. What, no condom?” “No”. “Have you?”, “No”, “Oh shit, has he ....?” “No idea”. Ring the bastard! Ask him````````````````````````````. No contact, where is he?, report to police, find him, ask him.

The whole Swedish situation seems to have gone a bit pearshaped from there.

Guess Who!!

[minor edits, again]

OK, haven't done extensive research on this one .. and will probably be an angry bittuva rant ..

Was listening to ABC Radio National this morning discussing the legal aspects of the "oil spill" in the Gulf of Mexico, and a comparision come up about the similarities with the Montara undersea oil blowout off the Western Australian coastline last year.

Guess who was the contractor responsible for the 'concrete' capping that held the well head in place ......

Clues ..

They were the company responsible for massive corrupt rip-offs during the invasion of Iraq.

They were the company responsible for the concrete capping holding the well head on the Gulf of Mexico oil platform ...

Yup, you got it .... HALIBURTON!!!!!!!!

Why the f*ck can't somebody STOP these arseholes!!! Put them in prison! Confiscate their assets! Appropriate every penny, cent, dollar these guys have STOLEN and use it to TRY to repair some of the DAMAGE this shonky, shoddy, CORRUPT company has created!

EVIL C#NTS!

Come to think of it .. whatever happened to Prick Cheney? Where's Saul Wolfowitz? What's Dunny Rumsfeld doing these days? Is Kral Rove enjoying wahines in Tahiti?

Whatever happened to the concept of "crimes against humanity"?

the good oil

Um, wonder if I could pipe some of that into my little heater .. heh.

.. and there ARE quite a lot of people who want to try this sort of thing in the Alaskan Arctic wilderness.

{insert; Sunday 16 May} Am not making any comment about veracity, but there's some interesting info at Twelfth Bough.