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> The Pandemic turns Two
It's past two years since SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) spread beyond China and became a pandemic. Worldwide, at least six million died in the first two years and the pandemic caused economic chaos, principally through disruptions to commerce, travel and related services. Many jobs were lost. Government assistance to shore-up the various economies increased debt and deficit spending that will have on-going repercussions for years to come. Yet thanks to technological advance, leading to at least ten effective vaccines, the deathrate has been a fraction of that suffered during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, that had a similar case fatality rate.
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Energy and the Environment
> Electric Cars again-and-again
Electric vehicles like: trams; trains; and electric: cars; vans; and busses; all assist in achieving better air quality in our cities. Yet, to the extent that the energy they consume is derived from our oldest energy source, fire: the potential toxic emissions and greenhouse gasses simply enter the atmosphere somewhere else. So are they actually more environmentally friendly than conventional, petroleum-fuelled, vehicles?
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> Australia's $20 billion Climate strategy
According to Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, when speaking at the World Leaders' Summit on Climate: "We are investing around $20 billion to achieve ambitious goals that will bring the cost of clean hydrogen, green steel, energy storage and carbon capture to commercial parity"
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> Climate Change - a Myth?
Several friends and acquaintances of my generation continue to assert that the climate is beyond our control or that 'Climate Change' is a myth. Might I be mistaken in other ways?
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Central Australia
This year we were fortunate to get in a trip into Central Australia before the latest quarantine breach (this time a driver transporting air-crew) and consequent travel restrictions.
> Uluru - Alice Springs - Kings Canyon
This June Wendy and I, with our frequent travel companions, Craig and Sonia (see: India; Taiwan; Japan; China; and several countries in South America), flew to Ayer's Rock where we hired a car for a tour to: Uluru - Alice Springs - Kings Canyon - then back to Uluru to fly back.
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Biology - we can't escape it
> Medical Fun and Games
Recently I become aware of a medical problem that's exclusive to men - so if you are a woman, you need read no further.
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> More nuclear medicine
It could have been bad news. My PSA (prostate specific antigen) was on the rise again. Not by much. Yet when will it stabilise? Better have a PET scan to check that the tumour is not regrowing or metastasizing. It turned out to be clear. Nevertheless, I'm recording my experience and insights for those of you who may, at some time, need this procedure. |
> The Prospect of Eternal Life
When I first began to write about this subject, the idea that Hamlet’s apprehension concerning 'that undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveller returns' was still current in today’s day and age seemed to me as bizarre as the fear of falling off the Earth should you sail too far to the west. Yet it has become apparent to me that some intelligent, educated, people still identify the prospect of eternal life, in either heaven or hell, as an important consideration when contemplating their own life and death. |
> Gaia
During our recent trip to Central Australia, I found myself wondering if there is more or less 'life' out here than there is in the more obviously verdant countryside to the north south east or west. Perhaps the entirety of the Earth's biota - James Lovelock's Gaia - is optimised by 'survival of the fittest' to fully exploit the prevailing conditions, so that, at any one time, the total mass of living cells the planet can support has been maximised? Then, maybe, given the present planetary environment, the total biological cake can't get any bigger - it can only swap one: individual; species; order; phylum; etc; for another? This is, of course, pure, unsubstantiated, speculation - born of my 'peripatetic musings'. What do you think? |
> The Chemistry of Life
This article - that begins with 'What everyone should know' was written back in 2013 as an appendix to The Meaning of Life, my wide-ranging essay for my children about understanding: what we can know and what we think we do know. |
Overseas Travel - Remember that
When we reached retirement age Wendy and I determined to travel overseas twice or more each year. As a result, my travel diaries on this website now encompass trips to some 65 countries. To some of these like: the United States; the United Kingdom; Germany; Italy and Turkey, there have been several trips with visits to many different towns, cities and locations.
But now due to the current pandemic our travels have been curtailed and even travel within Australia has been problematic as a result of border closures. So, in 2020 we were fortunate to get in just one trip before the closures began:
> Cruising to Papua New Guinea
On the 17th February 2020 Wendy and I set sail on Queen Elizabeth on a two week cruise up to Papua New Guinea. Just six days after we returned another cruise ship, the Ruby Princess, would set sail from the same terminal in Sydney on an 11-day cruise to New Zealand. By the time the Ruby Princess returned to Sydney on the 19th of March at least 100 passengers had become infected with COVID-19. In the weeks that followed, the Ruby Princess would become infamous as the sauce of Australia's first, large coronavirus outbreak. Around 666 people (the devil's number) would soon test positive and 28 people would die. We were fortunate indeed.
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> Turkey
In August 2019 we returned to Turkey, after fourteen years, for a more encompassing holiday in the part that's variously called Western Asia or the Middle East. There were iconic tourist places we had not seen so with a combination of flights and a rental car we hopped about the map in this very large country. We began, as one does, in Istanbul - the end of the Silk Road.
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> The Balkans
In September 2019 we left Turkey by air, to continue our trip north along the Adriatic, in the Balkans, to Austria, with a brief side trip to Bratislava in Slovakia. The Balkan Peninsula was among the first regions on Earth to be civilised. The ancient Vinča culture of the area developed Old European Script, the oldest form of writing known, and clay tablets have been found in the area dating back to around 5,300 BCE. Consequently, it is a much contested geopolitical area, prized by conquerors and by those who want to capture the hearts and minds of their followers. |
> The Caucasus
More Silk Road Adventures One of the birthplaces of the Bronze Age, the Caucasus Mountains have long acted as a barrier between Eastern Europe and Central Asia. |
> Ireland
In October 2018 we travelled to Ireland. Later we would go on to England (the south coast and London) before travelling overland (and underwater) by rail to Belgium for a few days and then on to Berlin to visit our grandchildren there. |
> Central Asia
In the footsteps of Marco Polo In June 2018 we travelled to China before joining an organised tour in Central Asia that, except for a sojourn in the mountains of Tajikistan, followed in the footsteps of Marco Polo along the Great Silk Road. |
> Hawaii
We were there in February and had noticed that it was hot underfoot on Kilauea. Less than 100 days later, on May 3, a 6.9 level earthquake shook the Island, damaging buildings we had stood in in downtown Hilo, including the Post Office. Several lava vents simultaneously opened east of the Kilauea summit and 2,000 people had to be quickly evacuated as poisonous gasses belched out. Why is it always just after we leave that things get exciting? See the May 2018 Addendum at the end of The Volcanos chapter at the end of the Big Island page... |
> United States of America - 'middle bits'
In October 2017 we returned from the United States where for over six weeks we travelled through a dozen states and stayed for a night or more in 20 different cities, towns or locations.
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> Japan
Here is the story of our 2017 Japanese sojourn, when we took a short introductory package tour: Discover Japan 2017 visiting: Narita; Tokyo; Yokohama; Atami; Toyohashi; Kyoto; and Osaka.
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> Romania
Here it is at last. I've finally given up my fight with Google Pictures and accepted URLs the length of small essays, just so that I can store my images in The Cloud. Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait - particularly for those of you who like to travel and have not yet been to Romania. |
> Korea - addendum or: - How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb
The biggest news of 2017 was on American Independence Day, the 4th of July 2017, when North Korea had launched a rocket that travelled vertically to reach an altitude of 2,802km (1,731 miles) well beyond the orbit of the International Space Station. Thus demonstrating that they could put a nuclear weapon into orbit, to strike anywhere on the planet. That N Korea is not bound by The Outer Space Treaty, the convention that prohibits putting these weapons in orbit, is a point the media seemed to ignore. |
More Travel
Miscellaneous
> The McKie Family
This is the story of the McKie family down a path through the gardens of the past that led to where I'm standing now. Other paths converged and merged as the McKies met and wed and bred. During that time Newcastle grew from a small port town into one of the World's most important and innovative cities. Thus, they contributed to the prosperity, fertility and skill of that blossoming town during the century and a half when the garden there was at its most fecund. |
> Luther - Father of the Modern World?
Continuing the religious theme, 2017 also marked 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his '95 theses' to a church door in Wittenberg and set in motion the Protestant Revolution.
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> Alternative Facts and other Untrue Tales
Most fiction has its roots in real events. Yet the flights of fancy (untruths) these inspire can be more fun. Some of these tales can be read in a few minutes others like: The Cloud and The Craft, require a good bit longer.
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