Hello Romania, the USofA, France and Ostraya, Ostraya, we love you Ostraya...(for the uninitiated that's 'Australia' said with an Ostrayen accent-Ed)...apologies for the constant digressing that sees ADTP drag into a third day, but we'll get it done today...and another day older and deeper in debt...well, not quite in debt, but there's the car rego is due, 2 utilities bills and the phone...(and food for a large angry hippy-Ed)...well, yes, that is a considerable impost...
And what great problems to have...just enough money to cover these bills, and somewhere to spend it, and a roof over my head, etc...and no cynicism and no sarcasm, etc, because I am referring to the wholesale destruction in the Philippines created by Typhoon Haiyan, described as the largest storm ever to make landfall...and about the only good news is that the death toll appears to be far lower than the tens of thousands originally feared dead.
Beyond that, the typhoon and associated massive tidal surge has done damage comparable with the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and March 2011 Japan Tsunami...and as both Government and Non Government Organisations, the United Nations, etc, rush to provide aid, one is reminded of the devastation in Haiti from the 2010 earthquake, and that very little has been improved there...and the outbreak of Cholera because the UN sent 'infected' Nepalese troops in to Haiti...may we learn from our mistakes.
I personally feel that these 'extreme events' are likely to increase, whether it is our impact on global weather patterns through pollution, deforestation, etc, a natural cycle, or a combination of both...and increasing populations throughout 'tropical zones' will continue to place more and more people in harms way...and 'climate change' will potentially push these tropical weather systems, typhoons, cyclones, etc, further away from the Equator and into even more densely populated areas...
May it never happen again anywhere, but it probably will, and consider the implications for say Brisbane or even Sydney were a similar storm to go through these cities...and then multiply that by whatever for the many major population centres dotted across Asia...but I digress...
On this day in 1942 Tobruk in Libya, North Africa, was 're-captured' by Allied forces and remained in their control until the end of the Second World War...and I see where some Australian soldiers who were refused service medals because of 'larrikinism' and 'disrespectful conduct', etc, may soon be awarded those medals after a South Australian man pursued the issue on behalf of his father (or uncle?)...(does that mean Pops?...was he one of these soldiers?-Ed)...possibly...
Pops (my grandfather) was repeatedly promoted to Corporal because of casualties in his unit...basically, if you survived long enough, you were promoted...and was repeatedly busted down to Private again because of his 'disrespectful behaviour', once spending several weeks in Gladstone Gaol for being Absent Without Leave, etc...and he was also a 'Rat of Tobruk'...which segues nicely into Armistice Day...
Generally commemorated as being the end of World War I, Armistice Day and the associated treaty of Versailles have also been described as the start of the Second World War because of the German Nationalism fueled by the deliberate 'humiliation' visited on Germany...(sorry, the end of WWI started WII?-Ed)...yes, as I understand it, the Versailles Treaty and attached national humiliation were utilised by Adolf Hitler to undermine the Wehrmacht government and other traditional institutions as being betrayers of the German people...(how so?-Ed)...
Well, at the time of the Armistice, within Europe, technically WWI was still being fought in France, on French soil, and German forces hadn't even been pushed back inside their own borders...(really?-Ed)...yes, it was a decision based on economic and political considerations, not specific military necessity...
And through the late 1920s and early 1930s Hitler used the dual humiliations of capitulation and punishment to fuel Nationalism and therefore support for the Nazi Party and the Third Reich...he promised redemption from this 'national disgrace', nay he demanded it, and promised to reverse the capitulation by forcing 'German rule' on all those who had humiliated Germany in 1918.
(But surely the USofA entering the fray in 1917 influenced the German 'surrender'-Ed)...well probably, but the withdrawal of Western ally Russia following their 1917 Revolution, meant that the over-all balance of power didn't really change...And of course the structures of 'Alliances' that dragged Europe into WWI were still largely intact following Versailles, and therefore the 'Us and Them' mentalities didn't just remain but were exacerbated and magnified.
Transport Plan: and the second major omission that I've picked up (the first being no plan/funding for the highly dangerous Penola Rd/Wireless Rd intersection) is arguably far more critical and clearly more costly...that there is no plan/funding for any infrastructure works on the South East Drains System Bridges...I have heard several recent claims that this maintenance or replacement program is long overdue and could cost anywhere from $30million out to $80m...
Again, I am not a Structural Engineer or any kind of relevant professional, and I'm just trying to glean the realities from the ideologies and politics, largely via the media...but I believe that outside of the dismissive and disinterested Labor Party, there is a general consensus of opinions re the problems and the remedies, if differing ideas on the cost...(I believe that some of this cost disparity stems from different priorities, eg, what must be done now will cost approx $30m, but overall maybe $80m total would not be unreasonable-Ed)...well that makes sense...
Perhaps there are critical bridges, eg, between Millicent and Kingston, or in Kingston itself, that require immediate attention and that will probably mean replacement...and there are then 'younger' bridges, or those on private land that have received far less punishment, and perhaps these can be upgraded with wider decks, etc, but don't need to be completely replaced.
There are several issues here...1) the bridges are relatively old...(50+ years I think-Ed)...yeah, give or take for different areas...but across the board they have not received the proper basic maintenance that they should have, therefore potentially compromising their structural integrity...and that now possibly means replacement rather than repair...
2) Many of these bridges are designed and constructed to cope with a much 'lighter' traffic load, both in number and size of vehicles...this is particularly relevant to the size of modern trucks and agricultural equipment...which brings in the number of bridges on 'private land'...I'll have to check my facts and figures re the total number of bridges, distribution, etc...just as soon as I get my home computer working again...again...
However, I am aware that there are several dozens of bridges, and that when it comes to dealing with modern, larger vehicles, every one of them is virtually obsolete, and that this weighs the argument heavily in favour of 'replacement' ahead of 'repair'...(yeah well that does make sense-Ed)...as much as we'd all like to see as much as possible freight, grain, stock, etc, off the roads and transported by rail, the South East Rail system only gets gets a cursory one sentence mention in The Plan, and that's only about 'the Easement', but no actual detail and certainly no funding.
(Indeed it could be argued that the 'lip-service' payed to SE Freight Rail in The Transport Plan, and the non-mention of passenger rail services, is as good as total omission, because nothing will come of it, mentioned or not!-Ed)...good point...
In the foreseeable future, trucks will remain a critical factor in the economic health/production of the South East and therefore of the entire state, and roads must be maintained to support safe travel for both truckies and us 'civilians', and that also means the bridges under those roads...but the biggest problem with road infrastructure across Regional SA is, 3) an arrogant, incompetent, Adelaide obsessed Labor Party that seems almost determined to destroy Regional Infrastructure...
Again, I consider that this entire Integrated Transport and Land Use Plan is a crass, taxpayer funded political advertisement reeking of empty rhetoric and unobtainable aspirationings entirely based on promoting Labor to Adelaide voters ahead of the March 2014 state election, and at best a glossy distraction from the realities...I'll look more closely at the 'Land Use' issues and post later.
Tomorrow: Housekeeping and Feedback
All manner of bits and pieces, and in one paragraph I'll go nut-sack crazy about something...just haven't decided what yet...perhaps it'll be the Child Abuse Royal Commission or the latest Adelaide After School Carer facing charges for abuse...maybe the farcical Adelaide Oval that I heard hilariously referred to as 'A Giant Toilet Seat' because that's exactly what it looks like from the air...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...as always, thankyou for your patronage, and cheers and laters...
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