Brian Everingham

Enjoy these images people!

2012-01-15T02:42:00.000-08:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/105438734511809944998/AudleyWalk#

what is love

2011-12-12T01:36:00.001-08:00

One of my students, in that earlier life, asked me what love is. Given that this delightful lady has her birthday on 14^th December, given that she was born sometime ago (1994) and given that we can all do our maths and we are all aware what turmoil coursed through our own veins at that tender age, I am going to attempt an answer!

Now I am absolutely sure she does not mean that love an infant has for its mother, the total dedication that comes with total dependency, but I must note that there are all types of clever biological tricks to ensure that the bond is in place even prior to birth! I suspect the tricks are in both directions or no mother would put herself in the position of having to go through birthing pains. No, she does not want me to talk of that.

I doubt that she means her love for her sister either; despite strong evidence that such bonds are strong, especially the bonds of twins, and that these bonds are usually longer lasting than any romantic, sexual partnership .

And I am sure she does not mean some mystical love for a transcendent being, even though I know she is a serious Muslim and if I asked her directly she would proclaim a love for Allah.

So is it a love of place? A love such as I have for the Blue Gum Forest, in the Blue Mountains; a place that I have described as my own personal cathedral? I do not think so.

I have a suspicion, built on 37 years of teaching adolescent girls, that she is seeking a meaning to that most powerful of emotions that must be grappled with in early adult life, of trying to work through what it might be – probably for an English assignment!

Yes, that is surely it! I know what English teachers request: deep and meaningful understanding of texts that cover experiences not yet experienced. And that’s fair enough. What better way to learn about concepts before reality hits than playing with the ideas, bouncing them around, testing without damage, so to speak.

Ah, there is no answer: after all, the English language combined several words used by the ancient Greeks into tho sine powerful word: - agape, eros, philia and storge! Within all four words there are a myriad forms and each of us must come to our own understanding and must redefine many, many times as we progress through life.

Net-casting spiders

2011-11-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

Net-casting Spiders

Deinopus species

The net-casting spiders are truly special. They make a net, akin to a fishing net or a lasso, and catch their prey in an active exercise in hunting. They hold the net in those long forelegs and attempt to catch their unsuspecting dinner!

And for that act you need not just those wonderful large legs but exceedingly large eyes! Especially large, considering that most of their hunting is done at night!

Their stick-like bodies are obvious in the photo above and their spindly legs make them instantly recognisable. They feed on ants, beetles, crickets and other spiders.

This spider seems to enjoy resting and hunting, head-down, and I often wonder what happens to all that blood rushing to its head!

But look carefully underneath its resting spot. “In order to have an aiming point, the spider often drops splashes of white faecal droppings onto the leaf or bark substrate over which it is poised. When an insect walks across this 'target', the spider plunges its net downward to envelop and entangle it.”[1]

Brian Everingham

[1] http://australianmuseum.net.au/Net-Casting-Spiders

2011-11-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

Pholcus phalangioides

Or Daddy Long Legs Spider!

I have no doubt that this little creature is hiding somewhere in your house. It is busy spinning a little web in a room corner, tucked under a stairwell or even secreted somewhere in your clothes cupboard. I even suspect that you have a certain fondness for it. It seems so confiding, so confident, so at home in your presence. “They make their webs large, loose, and flat, but they can make them in irregular shapes to fit into surrounding objects. Their webs are normally oriented horizontally. Pholcus phalangioides hangs upside down on the web it makes.”[1]

They are also widespread. Indeed, they can be found almost everywhere and in the USA they are known as “cellar spiders!” They also live for up to three years so rather than throw them out, suck them up with your vacuum cleaner or stomp on them with your shoe, why not get to know them, befriend them and even make them a new pet.

They certainly have endearing habits. They will shake their webs, create a massive vibration in order to distract their prey (and, of course, anything that might be preying on them) and their sex lives are quite fascinating.

“Before mating, a male spider deposits some sperm onto a little web, and then sucks it into a special cavity within his pedipalp. During mating, which can take several hours, the male deposits his sperm into the female's... opening on the underside of her abdomen. Females can store the sperm in a special cavity at the beginning of the uterus...until it is time for her eggs to be fertilized. Timing of fertilization and laying depends on the availability of food. Because the sperm are stored for some period of time, it is possible for a female to mate again. If this occurs, the sperm from the two males mixes in the uterus externa. However, the sperm of the last male mated with has priority in fertilizing the eggs. This is because of a mechanism of sperm removal during mating. Males perform rhythmic movements ...during copulation.”[2] The female will then carry the egg sac around in her jaws until they hatch and then she might keep a careful parental eye over the hatchlings for up to nine days. After that they are on their own!

They kill using their venom but the myth that their poison is deadly to humans if only they could open their jaws to bite us is just that: a myth. Their poison is not highly toxic to us at all. Just because they have been seen to feed on Red-Backed Spiders[3] does not mean they match that one in toxicity. They just have a longer reach (look at the length of those legs!) and are considerably faster in attack.

Take care of them. They are quite charming when you get to know them. They are truly a special tenant and they don’t really take up much space.

Brian Everingham

[1] http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Pholcus_phalangioides.html

[2] Ibid

[3] http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_weavers/Pholcidae.htm

The Basin Plan - a call to action

2011-11-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

The Murray-Darling needs you

The Murray Darling Basin Authority will release its draft basin plan by the end of November and will then begin its twenty week consultation period. During that time I am urging each and every one of you to make your voices heard.

The direct link to the Basin Plan and background papers is at http://www.mdba.gov.au/draft-basin-plan and I ask you to please visit the site and become informed. Then, make your voice heard!

But why should you care?

1. A healthy Murray-Darling system means that we are more likely to secure our food supplies now and into the future. According to the ABC, almost half the food produced in Australia comes from the system.[1] If we squander the water, if we use it to the point of collapse, then we are at risk losing those valuable agricultural lands

2. A healthy Murray-Darling system means that the wetlands are protected and NPA members are clearly aware of the wonders within those wetlands. “Wetlands are areas such as swamps, lakes, bogs and billabongs, which are permanently or temporarily covered by water. They line the Rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. They separate land environments from water environments. They have features of both land and water ecosystems”[2]. Some of the key wetlands along the river are the Gwydir and the Macquarie Marshes. Indeed, ten Ramsar sites alone are found along the Murray-Darling system. [3]

3. A healthy Murray-Darling system means that the birds along the system are able to feed, roost, breed and find protection. Without the Murray-Darling many of the most beautiful birds of inland Australia would not have a future.

4. A healthy Murray-Darling system means that such iconic native fish as the Murray Cod, the Trout Cod, the Eel-tailed Catfish and the Macquarie Perch are able to survive. Those amongst you who enjoy a quiet fish along the inland rivers will appreciate their presence. The river needs the fish and the fish need a healthy river.

A healthy Murray-Darling system is necessary for us all!

To ensure that it is healthy, please make the following points:

1. We need enough water to flush out the salts so that the water is usable

2. We need enough water going through the system to keep the mouth of the Murray open

3. We need enough water running through the system to ensure the health of the wetlands; wetlands that are so important to the overall health of the ecosystems along the length of the river.

4. We need enough water to halt the decline of river red gums, the box communities, the water birds and the fish and we need that water to run in ways that mimic natural river flows

Make your voices heard. What you can do?

1. Write to the Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard, requesting that the Basin Plan delivers on all the points above. Her webpage is http://www.pm.gov.au/

2. Write to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Tony Burke, outlining the same points. He must deliver and must not be beaten into a weak compromise by powerful economic interests and by State Governments. His email is Tony.Burke.MP@environment.gov.au

3. Make sure you use your voice in the media; write to local and state newspapers, contact talkback radio and contact your local MP’s.

4. And do it often!!!!!

PS If you wish to learn more go direct to http://www.irnnsw.org.au/.

Brian Everingham

[1] http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2214520.htm

[2] http://stm.esc.net.au/facts_wetlands_in_the_murray_darling_basin.php

[3] For more information on Ramsar go to http://www.ramsar.org

Coastal Cabins - Heritage listing

2011-11-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Re: Notice of Intention to consider listing on the State Heritage Register of:
Royal National parks Coastal Cabin Communities of Little Garie, South Era and Burning Palms
Heritage Council of NSW
Locked Bag 5020
Parramatta, NSW 2124
heritage@heritage.nsw.gov.au

Dear Sir
In reference to the notice of intention above, The National Parks Association of NSW, Southern Sydney Branch wishes to submit the following points for consideration:

1. The Heritage Office takes into consideration that these lands are now within a National Park and have been in a national park for many years. This change of land use and tenure has its own heritage value that must also be considered in the determination. A National Park operates under its own legislation, has its own planning process and has its own management principles. We ask that any determination does not interfere with the basic aims of that legislation and of the operations of the Office of Environment and Heritage in the management of that park.

2. That would include the necessity of ensuring that the Parks and Wildlife Division have full powers to ensure that invasive species are controlled, that the native vegetation is protected, that threatened species and ecosystems are managed appropriately and that threatening processes are able to be managed.

3. In particular, this would require that whatever the determination of the Heritage Office that this does not interfere with the values of the littoral rainforest.

4. It also requires that careful consideration must be given to the boundaries of the nominations. The maps that show the proposed curtilage for investigation include significant areas of natural vegetation and could restrict the management activities of Park staff.

NPA argues that the various studies of the heritage values of the “coastal cabins communities”, including the study by Geoff Ashley and that undertaken by Brooks and associates, (which, in any case, should be referred to as “shacks”) have failed to take into account the following matters:

1. The natural heritage values of the surrounding areas, within the national park landscape.
The less visible but no less real heritage values of the transient communities, who have walked through, camped in and enjoyed the area have been neglected. Such groups as bushwalkers and the early environmental movement have had important links to the site but because of the inbuilt bias towards physical structures in the heritage industry their presence has not been given due recognition . Byrne et al (Mapping Attachment) used a brilliant technique in recording the transient heritage of Aboriginal peoples across the landscape in the Manning Valley and NPA believes that this methodology could capture the heritage of such groups as the bushwalking community (Myles Dunphy, for example, used Burning Palms in the 1920s). That would help balance the bias towards the built environment in heritage assessments and recognize those transient groups that are not “captured” in the current nomination.

2. The contested nature of the site. Various competing uses of this site have been ignored in the current nomination and the voices of one small community of users have been given undue prominence. NPA requests that these competing users be recognised in the final determination.

NPA is not opposed to the protection of cultural heritage sites within the national park system of NSW. Indeed, we recognise that there are many pre-contact and post-contact sites that are being preserved and should be preserved. We also believe that they should be managed and interpreted appropriately and that adaptive use of such sites is often the most appropriate management tool.

We note that cultural heritage sites are also expensive to maintain, manage and interpret and we are cognizant that any such listing by the Heritage office of NSW can have budgetary implications for the Parks and Wildlife Division. We call upon the Heritage Office to consider the implications of its final determination.

Brian Everingham
Branch President
National Parks Association of NSW, Southern Sydney Branch

an introduction to full pack walking

2011-11-01T23:48:00.000-07:00

The Wild Dog Mountains are suitable when taking a party out on a beginning full pack walk. Specifically, if you drive down to Carlon’s Farm and park in what is now the Dunphy camping area, you can head off down Carlon’s Creek, hit Breakfast Creek and then walk a short distance down to a delightful clearing on the southern banks of that creek.

But first, make sure that the party knows what to take. I advised:

1. A full day pack. If you have not bought one, why not borrow one from a friend to see if you actually like the experience. If you are going to buy one, you must consider the size and volume (if you get a big pack the chances are that you will fill it). You should also consider the comfort of that hip belt (most weight should be taken on the hips) and modern packs are now adjustable for the torso. Good gear shops will set up your pack for your torso length. I prefer a deep pack with minimal pockets because I then use a stuff bag (a canyon bag) to keep gear dry in case of rain but you might prefer a pack cover for such events.

2. Sleeping bag! These can also be expensive but you can do wonders for their warmth by adding a silk inner sleeping sheet. Underneath all, bring an insulating self inflating mat! That smooths out the bumps in the ground.

3. Tent. Share!!!!!!! There are so many good tents around now but I would not go to the $700 plus tents until you know you can walk with a full pack, want to, and want to walk in four seasons. (Then the best, in my opinion, is the Macpac Olympus but it is expensive and heavier!)

4. Ground sheet: Modern tents are light and that means the floor is thin. A light weight ground sheet under the tent does wonders to protect an expensive tent.

5. Cooking gear: The metho-burning Trangia kit is light, compact and effective. It has an in built set of billies that double as bowls and a frypan that doubles as a lid and a plate. You will need to carry a small bottle for fuel and if you do that make sure it has a tight lid and is in a different colour to the water drink container! Add a light weight set of knife, spoon fork and also a set of billy tongs for lighting billies of the fire. Finally, remember to bring matches!

6. Clothing. Make sure you do bring a rain jacket. Other than that, my advice is to accept that you will smell and travel light. Warmth is best delivered by several light layers rather than a heavy one. I am going to carry those light weight long johns (two or three) so I can remove them. I will have a spare pair of sox and undies! I walk in shorts but on this walk there is stinging nettle so I will probably use light weight long trousers that can also be converted to shorts and a pair of long gaiters. I am walking in boots but that’s to protect my ankles, knowing that creek walks can be rough on the feet.

7. Food. It is going to be light weight. I am not making any recommendations but will gladly give points for nutrition, texture, taste, etc. Do not bring wine. It is too heavy. I might slip in some whiskey instead!

8. Lighting. A small head torch is an excellent way to travel so you can see what you are cooking and/or eating while leaving both hands free.

9. Miscellaneous. I am also taking a small plastic spade and toilet paper. I will have a first aid kit and safety beacon. Finally, I will add map and compass (for Lydia). And, perhaps, the lightest of cameras!

That was not enough information. During the two week period prior to the walk I was also asked about the amount of water, the desirability of taking a walking pole, etc. Note that published advice already indicated the map sheet required and earlier training sessions also trained participants in the use of map and compass.

Within a half hour we struck our first problem. One participant felt dizzy and had to be returned to the car. A series of health problems had not been reported to the leader. That is OK. All people have privacy rights. But in this case it did mean that the leader had to return the person to a car and then get that person out to the safety of care. The party was sent ahead.

Problem 2: Despite the training and despite showing the party where we were going on the map, no-one else had brought map and compass and, to be truthful, no-one had really listened with intent to the explanation of the journey at the beginning of the walk.

Problem 3: Creeks can be very slippery when it is raining and it is far easier to accept wet feet, plunge in and avoid those slippery rocks. Quite a few falls might have been avoided if that simple walking principle had been followed.

And, of course, there was the inevitable failure of equipment or failure to pack equipment. Advice given at a camping shop was faulty in regards the type of fuel suitable for use in a certain stove – advice that could have led to a flaring explosion if the fuel had been used – and, in addition, some people had not remembered to bring enough fuel and had even forgotten matches.

Such are the delights of walking, especially for beginners. We learn that way. We become more resilient and more capable.

And, yes, we still love camping out, even if that tent is way too small and claustrophobic!

Gardening

2011-11-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

Gardening is a relaxing way to fill in an afternoon; be it pruning, watering plants or picking mulberries. The garden hides so many delights.

I love the scurrying skinks, the flitting butterflies, the skulking Koels and the arrogant and proprietal magpies. If I stop, in a way reminiscent of Gilbert White, I can also admire the many species of spiders that occupy this space with us. Indeed, the next time I pause, I shall take time out to share with you a few of those beings that inhabit our space with us.

The new blogger

2011-11-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

I had to revert to the old format. Damned if I could find how to add posts. Why do people have to continually fiddle with platforms?

Coastal Cabins- Royal National Park

2011-11-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

I have spent the morning reviewing the nomination of the Coastal Cabins Communities for listing on the NSW Heritage register. The story is a long one, going right back beyond the 1994 Cabins Conservation Plan by Geoff Ashley and the 2004 study by Brooks. I seem to have been involved since the early 1990s in the debate and in discussions/consultations.

The National Trust reports listed Era and Burning Palms as worthy of protection, with historic references in some detail for at least the Burning Palms landscape. It was followed by the Brooks report which led to a Coastal Cabins Management Plan. I participated in that report and made a detailed submission to that report. This has finally led to the nomination to the Heritage Office.

Now I am thinking through the NPA response. I note that the PMC discussed this matter last night and on the matters reported from that meeting I comment:

·        The wording of this nomination does not differ significantly from the Coastal Cabins Management Plan prepared by Brooks et al.
·        There are no major inconsistencies with the previous National Trust listing, except, perhaps, on the recent emphasis on the recreational significance in the latest nomination as opposed to the Depression links in previous studies.

We must ensure that the nomination does not contradict the nomination for the littoral rainforest (and so we must look at the landscape aspects of this nomination) but apart from that I also believe that:

·        The heritage assessments in Ashley and Brooks and in the various nominations do not accurately reflect the contested nature of the sites. I made this point to Brooks in the lead up to the final report. The National Trust nomination does mention the bushwalking presence but they then disappear from the story. Byrne et al (Mapping Attachment) used a brilliant technique in recording the transient heritage of Aboriginal peoples across the landscape in the Manning Valley and I wrote at the time that this methodology could capture the heritage of such groups as the bushwalking community (Myles Dunphy, for example, used Burning Palms in the 1920s). That would help balance the bias towards the built environment in heritage assessments and recognize those transient groups that are not “captured” in the current nomination.

·        Nowhere in the Heritage Office nomination do I note the importance of the concept of a “national park”, of its development as a concept beyond what was there in the early days when the park was declared and the modern ideas of a national park. That also needs to be addressed.

The historian within me wonders why the Bulgo community is not considered (and was not by the National Trust). The conservationist within me wonders how we can reconcile natural and cultural heritage values. The park manager within me wonders about the nomination and its implications on the draft plan of management being developed as we consider this nomination. The cynic within worries about earlier DEH desires to rent “cabins” (what’s wrong with the word “shacks”) for commercial return.

Teaching in a diverse classroom

2011-08-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Multicultural teaching

I found this website today (http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tsmdt.php ) and thought you’d be interested in some of its findings.

You know how keen I am to get away from teacher-centred learning (and that’s why source-based analysis for the history teacher is central to our learning/teaching strategies) and how I wonder, constantly, why Geography teachers are not doing field work and Science teachers not doing experimental science in those labs. You might have even heard me speak about a book that inspired me in my youthful days as a teacher, entitled, Streetwork; the Exploding School.

Well, have a look at the site I mention.

Look at http://ginsberg.umich.edu/downloads/Principles%20of%20Good%20Pedagogical%20Practice.pdf

I would like to recommend the following as a final statement for this piece:

There is much that a teacher can do to promote a safe, engaging classroom climate:

• Arrange the classroom in a way that maximizes interaction; ideally, students should be seated in a circle or horseshoe shape that maximizes the amount of eye contact students can have with each other.

• Encourage but not compel participation in whole class discussions. The teacher may state that s/he will not call on students individually to participate, and students have the right to not participate. The teacher can bring people into discussion indirectly- using prompts, eye contact, and statements such as "Let's hear from the back (or second) row" or "Let's hear from some people who haven't been talking." Perhaps most importantly, do not expect minority students to educate their peers, to speak for their race or group.

• Be clear about the distinctions between course grades, teacher expectations of students, and class norms.

• Introduce the concept of triggers.

• Model learning about diversity.

• Actively intervene in the class when necessary.

Sustainable schools

2011-08-21T16:42:00.001-07:00

As I head into retirement I am thinking of those target areas where I failed to deliver. One of those areas was in shifting the leadership in my school towards sustainability. I suspect most of the explanation is inertia but I will outline a few other theories later.

Let’s begin with the obvious areas:

1. Electricity consumption/lighting. The school is a 1950s site and most of the school has old fashioned light switches. They should be replaced. The lights should turn off automatically and be sensitive to movement. The cost of retro-fitting should be recovered in a relatively short time. In any case, it will reduce the carbon footprint. In addition, we have fluorescent bulbs. They are better than incandescent bulbs but we now have LED technology and that should be investigated for future installation.

2. Electricity consumption/air conditioning. There is a tendency for staff members to turn on air conditioning units and leave them on, at a higher temperature than is necessary. The rooms are often vacated and the air conditioning units continue to operate. This must be excessively heavy on electricity. I wonder if they can also be switched to an automatic system, set to a temperature that cannot be increased and turned off if there is no movement in the room.

3. Electricity generation. I cannot but be amazed that we have so much roof space and on not one portion of that roof is there any solar panel. We have so much roof space I suspect we could generate all the power requirements for this location on site!

4. Water capture. Given that amount of roof space, it is also amazing that we have no water tanks to capture what rain falls on that roof space.

Yes, there are other aspects I could address. Indeed, these items are not new. I have presented them to various leaders and moved no-one. Apart from inertia, the following possibilities emerge:

1. Lack of financial incentive. Would this be corrected if global budgeting is introduced, if the site was responsible for its entire budget and had to find savings from utility costs?

2. Lack of leadership. I refer to those above and beyond the school leadership team. A systems-wide lead in such matters might drive change across the entire school system and generate savings that a local school cannot manage, just because of the size of the reform. This can even be a whole-of-government initiative. It is not just schools that have such issues. Hospitals, railway stations, etc all have the same issues and the same opportunities.

That is a start. It goes forward from here!

Watch this space.

Travel Warnings

2011-08-11T14:57:00.001-07:00

On 12th August 2011 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade lists the following countries as places to avoid in your travels abroad: Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Iraq, Libya, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

It also advises that you reconsider your plans to travel to the following places: Algeria, Bahrain, Burkino Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe.

Apart from the irony of warning Australians away from places where many of our refugees come, of apparently believing that those places are safe enough for the locals and not for ourselves, of thinking it is too dangerous for us but safe enough for potential migrants to seek the requisite paperwork in an orderly manner, there is one interesting omission.

There is no travel warning to the United Kingdom!

Remembering and forgetting

2011-07-08T03:05:00.001-07:00

This morning, in the final session, Tracey Banivanua-Mar, a most impressive historian from La Trobe University, spoke about the ways we “remember”, shape our memories, forget (obliterate in some cases) and then argue about what we might be allowed to remember and how we do that remembering. It was a pretty impressive fifteen minutes.

When the conference did come to an end, not long after her performance, Faye and I drove north along the Tamar valley once more and did our own “remembering”. Our target was the Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Site. There is a museum at the gold mine. It has been on this site since 1984 but since this little mining town came to prominence in 2005 the museum has expanded to at least twice its original size and now “remembers” that mining collapse on 25th April 2005 and the subsequent miracle rescue of Todd Russell and Brant Webb. The museum also “remembers” the death of Larry Knight in that same accident.

The mine has commenced operations once more and gold is being taken from it for whatever market it seeks and as we walked around the museum we could hear the bell signifying movement in the shafts and drives below. We could see the mine shaft, the cage through which the miners emerged and the board on which the tags of the miners underground were pinned until they emerge and remove those tags at the end of the shift.

I had wanted to see this particular site. I have long argued that we “remember” wars and associated military events way too easily – an argument forcefully presented by Henry Reynolds today – and that the key places and events in the lives of the working class are underrepresented in our collective memory. So today it was good to bring some semblance of balance to that strange preoccupation we have developed.

The caring corporate world of tobacco

2011-06-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am amused that the tobacco lobby is portraying the Australian Government plain packaging legislation as an exercise in “Nanny State” protection, as an attack on individual rights. I have a simple answer: if smokers, addicted as they are, wish no protection from the State, I propose that all associated health costs be borne not by the tax-payer but by the individual who opts for the dubious pleasures of smoking. Further, that that individual accepts the individual right to be sued by anyone who might be affected by the effects of passive smoking.

No doubt the individuals so afflicted by rising health costs will attempt to pass on those costs to those companies who sold them the tobacco in the first place. I am sure the tobacco companies, mindful of the rights of their entire customer base, will step in and voluntarily pay the additional costs out of their profits.

After all, they are such caring, considerate corporate citizens.

Dharawal

2011-06-23T02:52:00.000-07:00

This letter was published in the Tuesday edition of the St George Leader

Dharawal National Park
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Posted By Brian Everingham

Dharawal is a special place and needs to be protected. National Parks status, as promised by the O'Farrell team when in Opposition, will give that additional protection and, despite the difficulties created by the existing mining leases, it is a promise that must be fulfilled. I therefore express my gratitude that in a recent visit to the site, Lee Evans and Robyn Parker repeated that pre-election promise.

The National Park when delineated and gazetted must also be proclaimed to a depth that will not allow future mining under the Reserve. The preference is for gazettal to the centre of the Earth; a legal construct used in national park declarations in the past.

Finally, the Plan of Management, when it is developed, must ensure that the importance of the water catchment is uppermost in the managers of this special place. Inappropriate recreational activities that interfere with water quality must not be allowed in such a special area.

Brian Everingham
President
Southern Sydney Branch

ethics for a sustainable business world

2011-06-14T19:01:00.001-07:00

Dear Sir/madam... Or anyone else who might read this blog

I wish to commend the following program as worthy of a thirty minute break in your busy life. It comes from the Carnegie Council of Ethics and it is part of their GPI program of workshops for ethics in business.

You can access the podcast at http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/resources/audio/rss/index.html

Mindy S. Lubber: Working with Companies to Address Sustainability Challenges

Mindy S. Lubber, Julia Taylor Kennedy 06/14/11

Mindy Lubber is president of Ceres, a national coalition of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change and water scarcity.

I found this highly relevant to the way businesses operate in Australia or should operate and I trust and hope that your management team and the Board also find it of value.

If you are not on a Board or are not in middle management, do pass this on to anyone you know who might be so involved and also pass on to all investors. Perhaps, in the long run, it is only through investor pressure that we might push Australian business to make the necessary changes that are advocated in this fascinating interview.

Climate Change Rally

2011-06-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

There is a community of people in Australia not beholden to the shock-jocks, the narrow-minded bigots and the simply senseless. Yesterday they stood up, were counted and asked, politely, that our governments take climate change seriously and try to move our economy to a more modern low-carbon one. Let's hope that someone listens!

Lockley's Pylon

2011-06-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Family File, part 1

2011-05-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Family File

I do not, as far as I know, have a file on me inside ASIO. Even if I do, I am sure it does not fill anywhere near 85 volumes and over 14,000 pages. Mind you, unlike Mark Aarons (The Family File, Black Inc, 2010), I was not born into Communist aristocracy. I cannot claim such a radical lineage.

Indeed, I was born into what I call the “peasantry”. My great-grand father was a Selector of a rural block on the mid-north coast of NSW, near Taree, in 1896. He carved out a parcel of land from the bush and passed it on to my father, with the substantial debt that came with the property, and turned me into the son of a small-sized dairy farmer complete with loyalty to the Country Party!

And yet the journey Mark lays out in chapter 1, the introductory sweep of his own life, is eerily familiar. Perhaps his working-class/Jewish/urban/Communist inheritance is not so far removed from my Anglo/rural/Country Party background after all. Or, perhaps, his date of birth (25th December 1951) and mine (12th January 1952), creating a gap of about three weeks, means that we were born to a time, shared a period and lived through the same social movements. Perhaps society is more powerful than genetics in mapping out our futures.

I, too, shared in the early days of opposition to the war in Vietnam. I, too, became active at an early age, writing my first protest letter to the government over the jailing of Zarb for conscientious objection (I think I was in Year 9) and I did not participate in any Eureka League (try finding one of those in Taree in the 1960s) but I did run discussion groups with fellow students on Aboriginal rights, the war in Vietnam, apartheid, environmental rights and other important issues that drove the debate in that heady decade. And I did stay active in all of those areas, way beyond the initial enthusiasm of youth. I even subscribed to Tribune.

My parents even told me to turn the radio down though I never remember them using that same loud sound to drown out ASIO bugs when Dad met with the local Country Party MLA to discuss local politics or when he had the local Anglican priest for lunch and discussed Diocesan intrigue.

I won’t write a long account of the parallel lines of our later lives but it was so nice to work with Mark during his time in Debus' office, especially as we struggled to protect the Pilliga. I might just convince ASIO to open that file after all. But I do ponder on the nature versus nurture debate anew, having begun a fascinating book by Mark.

Congratulations, Mark, on a wonderful book. It is a most invaluable addition to the history of the labour movement in our country and a fascinating insight into an important and influential family.

Brian

Human Rights and the teaching of History

2011-05-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

1. Introduction

I ought to confess immediately. I do not teach civil rights. I don’t even teach civics and citizenship. I teach history.

And if I teach about civil rights and if I teach about civics and citizenship, it is within the framework of teaching history and not some civic-building, state-building enterprise.

Not only that but I believe that history is a series of contested narratives, a clamour of voices and is not such a clear, obvious story that is often made out when the writers of national syllabi would have us believe.

When I we used to teach about the settlement of Australia I’d just as happily place a question mark after the title and explore the power of that question mark. When it became more fashionable to teach about the invasion of Australia, the question mark remained and served the same purpose.

So why I am I here today speaking of the teaching of history and civil rights?

On 6th May 2011 Francis Fukuyama spoke to the Carnegie Council for Ethics about his latest book, The Origins of Political Order . You will remember that Fukuyama’s book, The End of History and the Last Man, was published in 1992 and caused considerable interest at the time and since, being much misunderstood and much maligned. It will be of interest to see how this book and the second volume, when it is written and released, will be received.

I note, in passing, that it is once more the fashion to write sweeping histories of the world and as soon as historians delve into such flights of fantasy there is usually a critic waiting to pounce and I will be interested in the reaction to Niall Ferguson who has eclipsed many with his latest tome, entitled Civilization.

On ABC Radio National, on 8th May, via Big Ideas, Professor James Allen, Garrick Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, spoke about the language of human rights and argued it is the dominant language of moral discussions in today's world, but went on to state that this language alters a State's scope for action. This program was a broadcast of an earlier presentation made by Professor Allen at the Centre for Independent Studies.

Both presentations provided some invaluable insights and I recommend that teachers of human rights in whatever discipline should find time to download the podcasts. I do not recommend that you agree with what they say but I do think your thoughts will be clarified if you do hear what they say and I will refer to their ideas in my own brief presentation.

2. History as a discipline

But before I speak of human rights, let me refer you to the NSW History, 7-10 Syllabus and its rationale:

“ History is a disciplined process of inquiry into the past that allows students to locate themselves in the broad continuum of human experience. It enables students to appreciate and enjoy the human endeavours and achievements of the past, both for their own intrinsic interest and for their legacy to later generations. History provides opportunities for students to explore human actions in a range of historical contexts and encourages them to develop understanding of motivation, causation, consequence and empathy.”

They key phrase there is “disciplined process of inquiry” and historians and history teachers must always be mindful that we are teaching history as a discipline and that our purpose is not to celebrate a particular way of life, a particular set of political institutions and even a particular set of values.

The rationale continues:

“The study of history provides the intellectual skills to enable students to critically analyse and interpret sources of evidence in order to construct reasoned explanations, hypotheses about the past and a rational and informed argument. History also enables students to understand, deconstruct and evaluate differing interpretations of the past. The cognitive skills of analysis, evaluation and synthesis underpin the study of history and equip students with the ability to understand and evaluate the political, cultural and social events and issues that have shaped the world around them.”

3. The subject matter – people. And that makes it about people who must live together

When we history teachers in secondary school receive our students we often spend some time explaining to the fresh-faced children in front of us that History is about time, place and people. We then explore the complex interaction amongst those three categories. Now when people live together they form societies, in a variety of structures, and if people live in societies they must then learn to live together. This operates in the simplest of social units, including in our own families, and it is surely an endless fascination to watch such socialisation take place, generation after generation.

4. Development of normative behaviour

Such socialisation is often referred to as the development of normative behaviour. Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit. They have also been described as the "customary rules of behavior that coordinate our interactions with others. What they are not is fixed and they are certainly not universal. They change through time and they differ across places.

5. Development of governance

It is how these norms become part of the political process that interested Fukuyama. Note, it is not what those norms happen to be but the process of norm formation that he speaks. There is no reason why those norms are universal across groups, states or civilisations but that the processes are built around certain evolved behaviors like favoring relatives, reciprocal altruism, creating and following rules, and a propensity for warfare.

Because of this shared human nature, with its biological foundation, “human politics is subject to certain recurring patterns of behavior across time and across cultures,” he writes. It is these worldwide patterns he seeks to describe in an analysis that stretches from prehistoric times to the French Revolution…

The book traces the development of political order from the earliest human societies, which were small groups of hunter-gatherers. The first major social development, in Dr. Fukuyama’s view, was the transition from hunter-gatherer bands to tribes, made possible by religious ideas that united large numbers of people in worship of a common ancestor. Since a tribe could quickly mobilize many men for warfare, neighboring bands had to tribalize too, or be defeated.

Warfare also forced the second major social transition, from tribe to state. States are better organized than tribes and more stable, since tribes tend to dissolve in fighting after the death of a leader. Only because states offered a better chance of survival did people give up the freedom of the tribe for the coercion of the state.

Much of Dr. Fukuyama’s analysis concerns how states develop from tribes. This transition, in his view, is affected by geography, history, and in particular by the order in which the different institutional components of the state are put in place.

You can see that there is no innate reason why there ought to be universal rights. There are many variables that can lead to different outcomes, from one time to another and from one place to another.

In our western tradition of political theories, from the Ancient Greek thinkers of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, via the Romans and then through Christian thinkers such as St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas, and on through the modern period of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, JS Mill, Marx etc the main theme is the complex relationship between the individual and the evolving institutions of the State. It is fascinating to see how this balance plays out in practice and it is through the development of those political theories, often in opposition to each other, that the concept of human rights arises as a factor in history and I urge History teachers to develop a working knowledge of the main ideas of these key theorists.

6. The historical development of a concept of human rights

Human rights are often defined as being "rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Proponents of the concept usually assert that everyone is endowed with certain entitlements merely by reason of being human. Human rights are often considered to be universalist and egalitarian. However, there is no consensus as to the precise nature of what in particular should or should not be regarded as a human right and the abstract concept of human rights has been a subject of intense philosophical debate and criticism.

Christians and Muslims would argue that the concept of human rights began with a universal God and the Natural Law tradition. In more modern times this has been separated from the religious tradition and in the French and American Revolutions these started to sound much like we think of when we speak of human rights today.

But before we look at that and at how we deal with such matters in the classroom the historian in me would like to refer to an older version; the Twelve Articles of 1525 when Swabian peasants defined their rights in opposition to the Swabian League. To quote but the first three:

1. Every municipality shall have the right to elect and remove a preacher if he behaves improperly. The preacher shall preach the gospel simply, straight and clearly without any human amendment, for, it is written, that we can only come to God by true belief.

2. The preachers shall be paid from the great tithe. A potential surplus shall be used to pay for the poor and the war tax. The small tithe shall be dismissed, for it has been trumped-up by humans, for the Lord, our master, has created the cattle free for mankind.

3. It has been practice so far, that we have been held as villain, which is pitiful, given that Christ redeemed all of us with his precious bloodshed, the shepherd as well as the highest, no one excluded. Therefore, it is devised by the scripture, that we are and that we want to be free.

That is enough to illustrate the point that I have been making in this presentation: that these rights are specific to a particular place and time and as such are historic and not universal. The same point can also be made by close textual analysis of the American Declaration of Human Rights , the American Bill of Rights and the various versions of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen. Despite the universal claims made by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , this also applies to that document.

Allen, to whom I referred in my opening remarks, makes the careful distinction that to say IS does not mean the same as to say OUGHT. The latter is a wish, not a statement of fact. For example, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 23, clause 4, it reads:

“Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.”

It is certainly not a universal truth. It is an aspiration. Allen also adds that no-one can argue with the language of human rights but when we speak of the specifics it then becomes problematic and contested. His case study, of speaking about the right to freedom of speech is of interest when he then asks are we supportive of the right of tobacco companies to advertise to children.

7. And how does that apply to history?

In other words, historians must not think that the language of human rights is absolute and, in particular, the precise nature of how that civil right is dealt with in civil society cannot be seen to be absolute. It is specific to time and place, has its own antecedents, its own (contested) narratives and its own consequences. We historians know and understand this and we are good at dealing with the specific, placing that specific into a narrative and not thinking that universal generalisations are somehow universal laws.

8. How does it apply to what happens in our classrooms?

I therefore advocate that history teachers deal with human rights not as some abstract set of universal laws but as historical constructs, enabling us to delve into the contested discourses in each particular situation. In following this course we avoid falling into an anachronistic trap of imposing modern language, modern concepts onto past situations and making judgements about events or people in the past that cannot and should not be sustained.

Let’s take the institution of slavery as a case study. It would appear that one universal human right to which we all adhere is that expressed by Jefferson when he wrote that

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.’

And we rejoice in the irony that Jefferson was himself a slaveholder and we are titillated by the details of his relationship with Sally Hemings, his slave girl.

It was once considered that slaves built the pyramids in Egypt. It is still possibly taught that way in some of our own classrooms in NSW. Recent textual evidence suggests that this may not be quite the case and that the word has shifted in meaning. “In ancient Egypt, textual references to slaves are indistinct. From word usage along, it is difficult to ascertain whether one was a slave or a servant. For example, a priest could be read as a god's slave, but by our definition and understanding of slavery he was not. In reading Egyptian texts, therefore, context is the only criteria for determining such a status, and even then, it can be difficult, because there were different levels of servitude.” Any discussion in a Year 7 class should make sure that the richness of the debate is reflected in what and how we teach the concept.

Further discussion of slavery in ancient Athens (the silver mines of Athens) and Ancient Rome can enrich any class and give endless opportunities for students to see the richness in diversity, the complex interrelationships between people and contested nature of the concept. Slaves might have done the dirty work that Romans wished to avoid but not all slaves were treated badly and some became exceptionally successful, especially after they became freedmen or liberti. If we are speaking of rights, slaves in Rome had no legal status; however, several emperors began to grant more rights to slaves as the empire grew. It became prevalent throughout the mid to late second century CE to allow slaves to complain of cruel or unfair treatment by their owners. Claudius announced that if a slave was abandoned by his master, he became free. Nero granted slaves the right to complain against their masters in a court. And under Antoninus Pius, a master could no longer execute a slave without just cause, or else the master could be tried for homicide. Legal protection of slaves continued to grow as the empire expanded.

The concept of slavery is blurred during Medieval times – but all teachers who teach about that period must look carefully at the feudal system and the complex balance of duties and obligations – but by the time we teach about the USA and the coming of the civil war we must tread warily through the debates on slavery in that conflict.

And that takes us to the final example that I wish to use to illustrate my argument: the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s!

Some time ago I received a grant through the Department of Education to address how we taught human rights in our school. At Birrong Girls High School we have the luxury of teaching both mandatory Australian and Elective History in Stage 5 so we opted to use the money to create the time to develop a teaching program about the Civil Rights movement in the USA, arising out of the situation that Negroes faced in the “Deep South”, an analysis of the Jim Crow laws and inequality that accompanied such an imbalance of power. The USA, for all its faults, provides so much material online. It is no trouble at all to get original source material on Emmett Till, on Rosa Parks , on the Woolworths sit-ins, on Martin Luther King and on a variety of responses, from all sides in this story of the development of the civil rights campaigns. Furthermore, teaching materials suitable for students of a variety of ages are available and those teaching materials provide for many types of teaching activities – class debates, role plays, textual analysis, etc - and these can be replicated across the entire topic.

That study provides students at Birrong with an interesting transnational context for the study of Topic 6 in the Stage 5 History syllabus, Changing Rights and Freedoms . We are not so blessed here in Australia to have archival material so readily available and in such an accessible manner as in the USA and it is my dream that one day the rich body of resources will become used and integrated into teaching kits. If only we had the resources across the whole syllabus that war-related topics receive, our classrooms and our lessons would be so much enriched. There is some good material. Aussie Educator is one such site .

Despite this, there are good textbooks, using hyperlinks, and good activities. But the point that I am making here is that this was a historic struggle, specific to a particular time and place, and as such it is open to historical inquiry.

We can, and must, teach good history as a discipline when we teach about this struggle – be true to our discipline and we will excite the imagination of our students. We might not be advocates for human rights but we will engage students and they will be better for our enthusiasm and, no doubt, be better, more informed citizens.

Borderlands and Bordered Lands

2011-05-13T23:42:00.001-07:00

Cyrus Schayegh (American Historical Review, April 2011), writes about the narcotics trade in the Middle East in the interwar years and delves into the murky world of state formation, boundaries and borderlands with aplomb.

In his article he refers briefly to a moment when various French officials place stones and markers on the boundaries of the new territory of Lebanon (the mandated territory!). He did not go into detail. Yes, it was not his theme, I know, but I could not help but be sidetracked into imagining what the scene might have been like. How those stones marked the boundary, how the local villagers viewed them (I can see some villagers in my mind, thinking that these stones would make excellent material for the partially completed house!) and how the authorities then enforced their meaning over the population is surely another article. Please write it, Cyrus. I wonder what evidence these officials left behind and I wonder what traces are left of the memories of the peoples so affected by this newly constructed line in the landscape.

Sound, fury and politicians

2011-05-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

During a reading of “On Being Heard”, an article about soundscapes in history in the April 2011 edition of The American Historical Review, written by Sophia Rosenfeld, I started thinking about how this as influenced politics in recent times.

It was not that long ago that politicians made their name, garnered a following, generated their rise to the top, etc through street meetings, town hall meetings and large gatherings in parks. Politicians spoke above the crowd, argued with hecklers, drowned out the hissing and the booing and honed their skills in rhetoric, if not logic, amongst the people/crowd/mob.

As the last century dragged on, those public meetings disappeared into a quaint backwater for the local backbench candidate and politics became a monologue, an endless round of politicians speaking to us from behind a microphone. If there is a camera nearby, the speeches came out as sound bites. There was no dialogue here.

The Comte de Mirabeau may have been right to describe Frenchmen as “wishing to speak before they listen” but are we better off now when we can be spoken to and not get our own message across to an increasingly isolated “representative” in an increasingly isolated Parliament? Where is our own voice? What is the sound that is being heard by our representatives? Or do they prefer being deaf?

Animals on Trial

2011-03-16T12:14:00.001-07:00

Hi all

Just a little snippet that might excite the learner inside all:

This morning I listened to a BBC Documentary (The Wednesday Documentary on Radio 4) and it is available for you via podcast or on your computer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f8885#synopsis

Now this will truly enrich your teaching of Year 8 History! How I wish I could!!!! The program is called animals on trial.

In 1750, Jacques Ferron was convicted of coupling with a female donkey in France. Both he and the donkey would face certain execution. However the parish priest petitioned for the court to show mercy, unfortunately for Ferron the priest would only vouch for the good character of the animal.

The donkey was spared and Ferron was burned alive.

Throughout history donkeys, pigs, dogs, rats, even insects have been put on trial and some convicted and sentenced.

Crime thriller writer and former solicitor Frances Fyfield looks at these extraordinary cases of animals in court.

And my favourite is when the field mice are expelled forever from a certain field but the judge said that if any were with child they would have fourteen days to comply!

Ah, there is nothing like learning in the wee hours of the morning!

Brian

Sea levels and Kurnell; planning for the future

2011-03-13T01:57:00.001-08:00

Sea levels and Kurnell

According to The Leader (Thursday 10th March 2011) the Sutherland Shire Council meeting on Monday night (7th March 2011) considered a report prepared by its Environment and Planning Department.

That report recommended that the Council adopt a planning guide that development be 90cm above the 1990 sea levels benchmark the NSW Government believes will be required by the year 2100. It believed that the Council should act now rather than wait.

The NSW Government guidelines had set sea level rise planning benchmarks at 40cm by 2050 and 90cm by 2100.

Councillors decided to follow those more conservative guidelines. They adopted the 40cm benchmark. They also decided to hold an information session with the residents of Kurnell before new development control plans were prepared.

Beyond the immediate issues for residents – a matter that does not concern NPA as an organisation – the projected sea level rises do have important planning implications for our reserve system and for the ecosystems protected within them and on other land tenures. Some of those issues are listed below. Can you add to them?

1. What are the implications for the water table and for associated wetlands in the Kurnell peninsula?

2. What are the implications of increasing salt levels further and further inland?

3. What are the implications for protecting foreshores? Do we rely on engineered structures to hold back the sea level rise and associated frequent storm surges or do we recognise the importance of resilient ecosystems such as our mangrove forests to provide a buffer? How do we ensure that those ecosystems are given appropriate protection? And how do we place a dollar value in the service that they will provide?

4. What are the implications for the biodiversity within those ecosystems? How will the Little Tern colony cope with such a rise? What will happen to the habitat for the White Fronted Chat?

5. How does the NPWS modify its plans of management to deal with such matters?

6. Should Sutherland Shire Council consider the biodiversity of its Shire during this planning process? And how should it communicate such matters to residents?

Mammals of the USA

2010-10-08T02:08:00.000-07:00

Lady Carrington Drive

2010-10-08T02:06:00.000-07:00

home

2010-09-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

Home

Just occasionally it is imperative to stop and enjoy home. It is a good time to do so in early September, especially after having a restful Friday and, when waking up on Saturday morning, it really feels like Sunday. Today is such a day. Even the washing on the line feels homely.

But, perhaps, the most homely part on such a day is the front balcony, the scene of a lazy breakfast and the site for a decadent lunch. It is warm, open and friendly.

In the garden, made clean after a mowing session yesterday and a morning of weeding this morning, the grevilleas are in full spring bloom. Their entangled flowers delight. Grevillea is named after Charles Francis Greville who was one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804 . There are over 300 species in the genus and quite a few can be found in our own garden.

To appreciate the little things , that truly gives us resilience and show us the way forward. And home is so often the place where we have the time to do so.

Brian Everingham

a new government

2010-09-10T03:55:00.000-07:00

Australia is settling down after its election and the long and sometimes painful post-election wait while three erstwhile "Independents" enjoyed their time basking in the media sunshine. I believe they claimed they were weighing up which way to go, which party to anoint. They collected costings from Treasury, met both sides numerous times, received endless offers and ... took endless minutes in front of the cameras before announcing they would back Gillard, sort-of!

I do hope this does not lead to paralysis of governance. It might be a stable government. It might even be a good one. But I do fear it will be a government which lacks fire and lacks courage.

Let us see

Curra Moors - a tribute

2010-07-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

Nambung National Park

2010-07-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

Lesueur National Park

2010-07-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

Scheyville and Castlereagh

2010-06-27T01:15:00.000-07:00

The album here is of a field trip to Scheyville National Park. It also includes a lunchtime visit to Mitchell Park (part of Cattai National Park) and an evening in Windsor. On the Sunday, on the way home, we also visited and walked in Castlereagh Nature Reserve.

Kiama to Gerringong

2010-06-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

2010-06-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Well, Australia went down. 4-0! It could have been worse; much worse. We were outplayed all over the park and even a few refereeing howlers did not provide an excuse. Germany were better; much better.

When the team was first chosen, I was critical. In remember I was one of a small percentage who said that Verbeek did not get the team right.

It is too old and too slow. It was the team for 2006. It is not the team for 2010. The back four looked at sea and were metres slower than the German attack. We were ahead of them on the ball and they still split us apart. We often played them onside. We covered badly. We were left in the position where we lunged and got the player and not the ball.

I had wanted a blend of youth and experience, of A League players with fast, youthful legs and hard heads to hold the team together. It should have been a policy through the program to the World Cup.

I also wanted a more attacking style of play; not a campaign designed to grab a goal on the rebound.

Under Verbeek, the Australian game has become boring, dull and predictable. It is now exposed as putting the long term health of the game at risk.

Please, FFA, no more Dutch!

Uloola Ridge

2010-06-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

Barren Grounds

2010-06-12T00:39:00.000-07:00

banks

2010-06-10T19:33:00.001-07:00

Apparently, Australia's banks have told the prime minister to do his homework before he criticises them for "gouging" customers on fees after Kevin Rudd on Friday said "there's been far too much gouging in the past on bank fees and charges".

The chief executive Steven Münchenberg claimed that:

"Any commentary on the banking industry should be based on the facts and that's why we urge those who debate these issues to read a copy of the ABA's report Fees for Banking Services," he said in a statement.

Mind you, he did confess that the fee revenue figures "look big" but argued that was because "billions of transactions flow through the banking system each year".

He said households paid on average just 13 cents a week more in fees last financial year - an increase of one per cent.

He did not say what that fee was, on average.

Well, let me help clarify the position by an anecdote. I had a trading account at the Commonwealth Bank. It was gaining me on average about 0.05 cents interest each month. That appeared ridiculous so I inquired about a higher interest bearing account. Yes, they had one. It attracted a certain rate and would earn me interest. I signed up, pleased that my money could be moved to the trading account if and when I bought or sold shares, secure in the knowledge that I could earn some interest.

I was wrong. At the end of that month I discovered there was a $5 monthly fee on the account and I had earned interest of 0.05 cents. There had been no mention of the fee.

Mr Rudd said people were "right to be angry". He is right! That is gouging. I closed the account and told the bank it reminded me of a certain ad.

Don’t be intimidated, Mr Rudd. You have my support.

Julie Bishop

2010-05-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

So Julie Bishop believes that there is no evidence that Israel forged Australian passports to commit a murder of a Hamas official: further, that even if they did, we all do the same. I do not have any evidence one way or the other in regards to whether the agents who did forge the passports did commit that murder. That is a matter for the authorities in Dubai to determine. I do know that both the British and Australian authorities have looked carefully into the matter and have good reason to believe that Israel has used our passport system in such a way.

Further, it is apparent that Julie Bishop’s original remarks were unhelpful. Her subsequent remarks on what other agencies do were intemperate and demonstrate her lack of judgement, her ability to talk without thinking (she is not alone on the Liberal/National front bench on that score, is she Abbott and Joyce?) and her capacity to just play local politics without any concept of the wider picture.

Bishop has demonstrated that she is not fit for the office of Deputy Leader of the Liberal party and spokesperson on Foreign Affairs.

2010-05-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

If you ever stopped long enough to give me a chance, you will have heard me speak of the historian, John Dower. His book, Embracing Defeat (on the history of post-war Japan) is simply stunning and it won him a Pulitzer Prize. Well, he gave an address that can be accessed via ITunes U or direct on http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/572 . It is entitled Cultures of War: Pearl Harbour/Hiroshima/9-11/Iraq.

Indeed, you can access all sorts of lectures at http://mitworld.mit.edu/ . I also listened to a talk on the history of the formation of Israel, given by Victor Kattan from this source. It was introduced by Noam Chomsky and delivered on February 22nd 2010.

Rydges, Canberra - Capitol Hill

2010-04-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Report on a stay in Rydges, Capitol Hill, Canberra

Booking for the nights of 16th/17th April 2010

Room 260: Dominion Suite.

This is a full suite, offering a dining room, lounge, kitchenette, bedroom, walk in robe and spacious bathroom. It is your top suite.

Despite being Priority guests and paying for the full suite, our stay is affected by:

1. Slow service during check-in, even though we were already checked in via the online facility. No directions to car park or room until we asked. No explanations of what was in the room or how we might get support if we required it.

2. Despite providing a kitchen, there was no cutlery, no crockery, no saucepans no microwave. Later, on a small notice, tucked into a corner we found information as to how we might obtain that material.

3. The housekeeping number rang out with no response. It took two visits to the front desk manager to finally get the said equipment, delivered after thirty minutes. That was done in bad grace.

4. In “compensation”, we were offered two desserts or candles. That was more than insulting and at the time added to my sense of grievance. I was pleased, however, to receive a discount from the Manager when we checked out on Sunday morning.

5. There were no instructions on how to use the TV systems. Two remotes existed. One did not work beyond the menu settings. One TV had no aerial and did not receive adequate reception at all during our stay.

6. One light bulb was not working. We reported it but it remained unfixed during our stay.

I feel more relaxed now than I did on the initial Friday evening. The room was certainly spacious. The location is also fine. However, there are also some generic comments I’d like to make regarding the hotel.

1. It is imperative that the front desk gets it right. This is the first point of call for any guest and in this case the impression was of a place that did not care. It was unprofessional. If this is just one poor employee or one employee having a bad day, it can be excused. If not, it is a management issue that must be addressed.

2. The place looks tired. Carpets are worn, beds are sagging, fittings require maintenance. This might be a cyclical matter but several properties we have stayed at give the same impression.

3. The breakfast was fine, within a narrow choice suited to very “Western” tastes, but no covered hot plates had labels and that meant all had to be opened to ascertain what was inside. Simple things help.

I was more than willing to discuss these matters further and wrote to them directly. They did not reply to my email. I do hope that these comments will lead to improve service delivery. It might match other Australian establishments but we have the choice to spend our travel dollars overseas and the comparison is then quite poor.

Locking up the land on the ABC

2010-03-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

Once again it would appear that our ABC journalists have failed us. On a PM broadcast on ABC Radio National on Friday 5 March at 6:50pm entitled “Ban on red gum logging sparks jobs debate, we heard the old furphy, of a national park “locking up” lands.

The story in question had many inaccuracies but I am particularly concerned with the ABC reporters’ repeated use of the term ‘lock up’. It was used once by PM host Mark Colvin, and twice by reporter Bronwyn Herbert.

Now this is an emotive term. No, I go further. It is inaccurate.

It’s a term invented by the anti-National Parks movement in the US, brought to Australia and actively promulgated by the National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI). It would suggest that the area is off-limits, unable to be enjoyed by the public. In reality, of course, it usually meant that they might be excluded from actively using “resources” in an unfettered way, from extracting timber, running cattle, digging up the earth for minerals and for making a profit, irrespective of what harm might befall the environment along the way.

It is anything but that. National parks are there so that the public can access them. There is a specific objective in the Act that encourages appropriate recreation in a national park.

If the term, to “lock up” has any validity, it would apply to the privately owned lands and private leases across this country. It is those lands from which the public are excluded, subject to trespassing laws and harassed, if they dare visit.

I call upon the ABC to get its language right.

If you agree, please let the ABC know. To make a general complaint that will be considered by a separate unit you can do this at http://www.abc.net.au/contact/complaints.htm. You can also make a complaint direct to http://www.abc.net.au/pm/contact.html.

Channel 7 and its tennis coverage

2010-03-04T14:50:00.001-08:00

I searched the Channel 7 website for a direct place to send this material. I could find no place from which to send it.

I refer to the TV coverage of the Australian Open tennis by Channel 7. I have been most unhappy with it and I was not at all surprised when a SMH story reported that crowds were up at the tennis but that ratings were down for the 7 coverage.

I took some time out to think through why I was dissatisfied:

1. During the tournament there were too many times when the programming was filled out with empty promotional "hot shots", trivia, etc. These moments, before matches, after matches and between matches, were certainly avoidable, especially in the first week. There were other matches that could have been covered. What happened was an insult to the audience.

2. The choice of camera shot was sometimes astray. Key points were missed at crucial moments. It looked like the network was looking for clever effects rather than giving a complete and satisfying coverage.

3. The commentary was uncritical. When matches were poor, or when players were playing poorly, there was no honest appraisal. Sandy Roberts, in particular, was gushing and fawning. He was not the only one. It is better to say when the play is bad! The audience is not stupid.

4. Indeed, there was too much talk. Sometimes, when on TV, it is better to let the picture talk. The silence is instructive.

5. The self-promotional push for future TV schedules was irritating in the extreme. I do not now want to watch any of them.

I doubt if it will make an impact, of course, and these are not my only critical comments of our media, but it makes me feel better just expressing them

Brian

Glimpses of Lake Illawarra from Barren Grounds Nature Reserve

2010-02-27T01:57:00.000-08:00

A little youngster

2010-02-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

When you are a little youngster, when your bill hardly rates, when your cackle is not much more than a spluttering starter engine, that's when you learn to stay near to that barbecue picnic site and develop the skills your elders have honed so well - spot that steak, swoop on that unattended sausage, pounce on the left over slice of bacon and enter a bird's Nirvana!

Which Muslim country will make the next big step?

2009-06-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

I was wondering allowed the other day: of all the countries in the world that have majority Muslim populations, which might make it to greatness?

I came up with: Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Indonesia.

I chose these because of population, potential economic success and geopolitical location.

Interestingly, only one is Arabic; and it can deny its Arabic status and hark back beyond to an ancient time if it so chooses.

Equally of interest is that all are at turning points:

Nigeria: Will it overcome its ethnic and religious divisions, its poor governance and its corruption and take its place within Africa as its leader? Or will it plunge into chaos?
Egypt: Will it go beyond the dictatorial rule of Mubarak? If it opts for a democratic transition on his passing, what role will the Muslim Brotherhood play?
Turkey: Will it be “European”, secular or will it veer towards an Islamic future?
Iran: Will its revolution of 1979 continue to be compromised by a clerical dictatorship? And how will it use its desire for nuclear parity?
Indonesia: will it succeed in its democratic transition or will localism, corruption, etc destroy its impressive chance since Suharto’s fall?

Note that I did not include Pakistan. Sadly, that government has not recognised the internal contradictions encouraged by elements of its military and is in serious danger of becoming what we now describe as a “failed state”.

I did not include Malaysia either. As tempted as I am, having great affection for the place, I do not think it will succeed until it strips itself of its own internal restrictions on all its citizens. No country can survive if it creates different levels of citizenship (please note, Fiji and Israel)

And, no, I do not think Saudi Arabia has what it takes. When the oil runs out, what is left but the odd pilgrimage site? Perhaps, Iraq? But that is a long way away now, isn’t it?

2009-01-02T13:49:00.001-08:00

As I ponder the task before Jean and Bob, the task before all land managers across Australia (and, indeed, across the world, given the international links that bring humans, animals and flora together in unprecedented ways) I wondered about weeds some more.

The Yahoo online dictionary defines a weed as:
NOUN:

A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden.
Rank growth of such plants.
A water plant, especially seaweed.
The leaves or stems of a plant as distinguished from the seeds: dill weed.
Something useless, detrimental, or worthless, especially an animal unfit for breeding.
Slang
Tobacco.
A cigarette.
Marijuana

Waldo Emerson (1964), wrote, "A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered". I like that one!

But what makes them noxious?

Noxious weeds are plants which are considered to be a threat to human and animal health, agricultural production, native landscapes or natural resources and must be controlled in accordance with the Noxious Weeds Act, 1993.

That’s the legal position in NSW. And that creates a problem for me. When I looked into that book on noxious weeds in Australia I discovered the regular docks, Rumex crispus (Curled Dock) and Rumex obtusifolius (Broadleaf dock). Further exploration discovered that Acetosella vulgaris (Sorrel) was once Rumex acetoselia and also listed as a weed. Buried in the list, however, was Rumex brownii (Swamp dock) and that little plant is a native. It was there because it caused problems to cattle and sheep.

And here is the problem I face. When you look at that definition above you will note that most of the emphasis is on its commercial and not its environmental impact. Methinks that the cattle and sheep might be the interlopers into the Australian ecosystems; not Rumex brownii!

10 Mary Street

2008-10-17T02:24:00.000-07:00

Over the course of this week I have been teaching English once more: the regular lady is away on her honeymoon and I was asked to fill in. Yes, I jumped at the chance. It has been a long time since the last time I had a class of English literature: except for the year in England in 1989 when I had a Year 9 class, the last time I taught English was 1983. Before that, of course, I had nine happy years teaching it!

And the theme this time seemed to fit. The Year 12 girls were learning about “belonging” and doing so through the poetry of Peter Skrzynecki.

I was assigned to explore a poem entitled “Feliks Skrzynecki” but soon I became distracted by another: “10 Mary Street”. I read them both with the girls, played with the lines, teased them out and decided that on my second lesson we would go on an excursion, to 10 Mary Street!

You see, Peter Skrzynecki grew up in Regents Park and

“For nineteen years
…….
Each morning …..
……
Hid the key
Under a rusty bucket:”

I wanted the girls to see that house, see the “still too-narrow bridge” and turn the corner
“Around the factory
That was always burning down.”

I wanted to see if the “china-blue coat
With paint guaranteed
For another ten years”
Was recognisable and wanted to feel if Peter Skrzynecki would still have a sense of belonging, or alienation, as exposed in that earlier poem and within which he appeared to drift so far from his father.

So we walked, looked into the mix of old homes, fibro and geranium, factories and reborn places and arrived once more at 10 Mary Street.

And found the home, now covered in a cheap brick-veneer.

The garden no longer appeared to have a “whole block … gazetted for industry”; indeed, the garden appeared much neglected since the days Felicks Skrzynecki
“Spent years walking its perimeter
From sunrise to sleep”

And yet, I can imagine him, still, smoking, his dog by his side, as he stared into the stars, thought of Germany and muttered “but I’m alive”

The trans-Appalachian frontier

2008-10-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

The consistently high standards exhibited in the articles within The American Historical Review continue within volume 113, number 3, June 2008. While I rested between lectures and or walks at Logan City and Lamington National Park I read every article in this volume and enjoyed every single one.

In this piece, however, I will highlight just one: Francois Furstenberg’s piece entitled “The Significance of the Trans-Appalachian Frontier in Atlantic History”.

This article takes the trans-Appalachian frontier as its starting point and notes that many historians of early USA focus on the region as “something of a sideshow destined to form part of the expanding nation” (p648). It is this historiography that Furstenberg finds questionable.

Furstenberg notes that the story of this area before Independence was very much one of separate agencies negotiating for power through e very-shifting alliances. The British, the French and a variety of Native tribes vied with each other to protect their own self interests and there were many changes in these alliances as circumstances changed.

The defeat of the French left the English “too powerfull” (sic), in the words of one Delaware chief (p651) and Indians under the Ottawa chief, Pontiac, launched a series of assaults to try to check the British advance. One could argue that the American War of Independence arose out of settler opposition to British attempts to seek accommodation with these powerful tribes and in imperial historiography this is but one more example of local forces on the frontier/borderland/marchlands acting upon the centre to drive policy.

From the perspective of the trans-Appalachian region the War of Independence was not a break, a turning point, but part of a continuum. The French sided with the Americans to check the British and the Spanish then intended to protect Mexico and ensure their dominance in the Gulf of Mexico.

It was not a foregone conclusion, therefore, that this area would one day be part of a nation-state called the USA. Atlantic settlers looked east, describing the Appalachians as back country. Those on the other side looked south, down the Mississippi to New Orleans and the Caribbean. The future of the area would be determined by who controlled New Orleans – complicated by Native military power and settler localism (eg Bacon’s Rebellion) - and that was not a decision determined by the War of Independence.

You can see why I like this journal. This is quality history and the same standard applies throughout.

the teaching of History, part 2

2008-09-07T15:08:00.001-07:00

But let me illustrate from History Syllabus Documents kept on the library of the Board of Studies, NSW.

In 1954, in NSW, Modern History students faced a very different course to those who now sit for this subject. The aim, as stated, “is to give a general survey of world-history. For the first three years, students will make a preliminary survey of Ancient World History (to 1453) and will then go on to study the development of Britain and the Empire”[1].

By 4th and 5th years, the senior studies, the course was a political study of Europe from the Renaissance, and the emphasis was chronological – narrative! Historians then, and now, love to tell a story.

In the 1971 Syllabus in History, Years 7-10[2], there was some change in emphasis. The objectives were:
“ a knowledge of historical facts is necessary to provide a basis for interpretation, generalization and understanding of the past. A knowledge of recent national and world history is essential to provide a background for understanding the present.

“ A study of history should develop an understanding of the ideas, aspirations and cultural differences or people in other times and places. The student should develop a sense of history as a continuing process in which he has a place. Self-reliance, independence and critical appraisal should be developed in students who are to become citizens in a democratic community in a complex and changing world.

“ The skills to be developed are the acquisition, evaluation and reproduction of information relevant to an understanding of historical issues. The development of these skills should lead students to an awareness of some of the problems and techniques of the historian”

Within this course the concept of general survey studies and depth studies were introduced.
“The depth study approach allows selected topics to be taught in a way which will achieve the objectives …. Particularly through attention to details, complexity, relationships, and the problems and techniques of the historian”

In relation to that last phrase, this syllabus spelt out the skills objectives in detail. They included:
1. Ability to locate information or data
4. Ability to classify, compare and contrast
5. Ability to use data to illustrate or test a statement
6. Ability to test data for relevance and consistency
7. Ability to understand time concepts and to relate events to historical periods
8. Ability to distinguish fact from opinion
9. Ability to distinguish between supporting and conflicting evidence
14. Ability to make judgments based on the available evidence.

It was quite explicit that it expected students to “commit themselves … (to) objective inquiry through self-reliance and independence in appraising evidence and in forming judgements”

In its advice to teachers, there was a greater flexibility. Indeed, experimentation was to be encouraged. Teachers could use a chronological approach but might equally choose from a biographical, inductive, thematic and period approach. It did advise that younger students might find thematic studies challenging but teachers were encouraged to experiment. Documents and field studies, however, were seen as integral and inquiry methods were essential. Teachers were also encouraged to consider

“ inductive or discovery type lessons in which children are presented with a problem or question. The teacher assists but does not direct their attempts to establish an answer or hypothesis; he provides source material through which the answer can be tested and modified”

Note that the subjective nature of the historian, the selection of documents or source materials, is not yet open to question.

The 1975 Modern History Specimen Examination Paper helps us understand the nature of History as a discipline in NSW in the mid 1970s. To take the questions from the 3 Unit paper, by way of example – though note that the questions vary from this section to 2 Unit and the 2 Unit A papers merely in degree of difficulty of language – you will note that History was influenced by the work of the British Marxists and the borrowings from Sociology and Geography.

In Section 1 there were questions on the economic revolution, European nationalism and its links with liberalism, the growth of political democracy, socialism, national unity in the USA.

eg
“The Economic Revolution in nineteenth century Europe and North American was not only involved in major changes in methods of production and distribution. Basic changes in the structure of society were also involved.”

Discuss this statement either in general terms or with particular reference to Britain and two other relevant countries

Note the Marxist terminology; “the methods of production and distribution”; note the assumption that these changes led to changes in relations, in the “structure of society”. All that is missing is the phrase “class struggle”. EP Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm, Raymond Williams and Christopher Hill could not have written a more precise question, reflecting the changes in historical language that appeared in the 1960s and early 1970s.

The 2 Unit A equivalent question read:
Write several paragraphs on each of three of the following in relation to the Economic Revolution in Great Britain and/or continental Europe and/or the United States of America.

In Section 2 there were questions in the “Far East”. Note that in keeping with the sociological bent of History as a discipline at that time, the area was still the “Far East”, even for those studying History in NSW schools. Nevertheless, the same style of questioning as in Section 1 is evident:

To what extent did Western technology affect the economic and social life of the countries of South and South-East Asia in the century before 1914? In your answer, you may direct your attention to one country or you may discuss the matter in more general terms.

I will dwell on only one more section of this examination and that is Section 5. It was not often done but in it were the questions of a sociological nature that were the province of what was then known as the new history. The questions touched on urban history, Darwinian theories of evolution, the role of art, music and literature and even historiography. I will include two examples to illustrate my point.

“Since the First World War, the city has become the characteristic mould within which society has arranged itself.”

Consider this statement with reference to a major region that you have studied.

Sociology and Geography had truly left their marks on History; in the subjects we considered legitimate for study and in the language we employed; in the sources we used and in the theoretical constructs we used to view the world. 2 Unit A students might have been faced with:
Describe some of the ways in which the development of large cities has affected modern society. In doing so, you might refer to some of the material that you have used in other sections.

Back in the 3 Unit paper, meanwhile, students could grapple with:

Do you think that History is a science? Discuss this question either in general terms or by reference to a major historical issue to which you have given consideration.

While 2 Unit A faced:
You will have noticed that historians write about the same events in different ways. Why do you think they do so? Give some examples.

Most students, for both courses, would have read EH Carr’s What is History.[3]

In 1982 the Secondary Schools Board approved a new History Syllabus, 7-10 and set out, at length, a rationale for the role of History to a student’s education. It stated that formal education, in general, should promote the personal development of students, facilitate their entry into the group life of their society and provide them with opportunities to develop critical, or “discriminatory attitudes”, so that “they do not merely fit into existing society, but are able to recognise its shortcomings and to be concerned for its betterment.”[4]

It should come as no surprise to note that it believed that History had an important role to play in all three objectives. To select several phrases from this rationale illustrates the argument and also sheds light on the changing nature of the language employed by historians and history teachers.
History is incontestably about people: it shows humans at their best and also at their worst.
As Francis Bacon said: ‘History makes men wise’. This implies not only the acquisition of knowledge but also the cultivation of balance, judgement and objectivity.
History can give people a strong sense of their heritage
History helps us interpret the present
(History) is a synoptic study. It gathers its data from many fields of human inquiry. It sees significance in statistics and railway stations, in novels and in antique tomb inscriptions. ‘Whatever moves men’ is history’s field.

And quotes favourably, at the end of this rationale
“Not to know what happened before you were born is to remain forever a child”

[1] NSW Department of Education, Syllabus in Modern History, 1954, p1
[2] Secondary Schools Board, Syllabus in History, Years 7-10, 1971
[3] E H Carr What is History, Penguin, 1961, revised edition 1966
[4] Secondary Schools Board, Syllabus in History 7-10, 1982

Teaching History, Part 1

2008-09-07T03:40:00.000-07:00

Over several entries I wish to explore the teaching of History and its links to Quality Teaching.

These will be combined and presented at a conference to the HTAA in October.

Part 1

I was born in 1952 on the mid north coast of NSW, to a small-scale dairy farmer, indebted to the bank and clinging to the closer settlement block that had been carved out of the bush by three successive generations of Everinghams. My father was too young to go to war, 1939-1945 and my appearance in 1952, therefore, might possibly place me as outside the true definition of the “post-war baby boom”.

Notwithstanding that, my life has been influenced by the demographics of that time. I entered high school in 1964, the third year to face the Wyndham Scheme in NSW and facing the prospect of wonderful scholarships for university studies. The optimistic certainty of that era must surely have had an impact on how we viewed History.

Modern History in NSW in those glorious days was a study of the glorious dual revolutions of the French and the industrial, political, social and economic, leading to a playing out of the three themes of nationalism, liberalism and socialism – at first within Europe, and then in Asia and the USA. It was a broad scale study and it forever influenced what I thought to be the true study of history and the nature of historical inquiry.

It also introduced me to my first formal attempts to deal directly with documents. I say formal, please note, because my real opening to this world of analysis came with a publication of documents that explored the origin of the American involvement in the Vietnam War and questioned the very basis of the official claims as to why they were there in the first place. That study, I hasten to add, was not on the official curriculum.

Who can but forget the analysis of Selected Documents! The selections were just that: selections. But they were the beginning to a process of historical inquiry where the sources were at the centre and the process of source-based analysis was central, even at High School level.

Cranfield, who was later to teach me the history of political thought at the University of Newcastle; and his colleagues, Dalton (UNE) and Stambrook (Sydney) compiled the selection and the documents were to introduce First Level students to the art of doing history. As the Challis Professor of History at the University of Sydney, John M Ward, wrote in the Foreword,

“critical study of original sources is obviously both possible and academically very desirable for good History students”[1]

Walshe’s The Student’s Guide to World History, 1789-1965 and Hagan’s Modern History and its Themes complemented this syllabus. It was only later that I realised just how much they relied on the work of Hobsbawm and the British Marxists. It was only later, I guess, that I was so aware just how much I had accepted the language, the modes of thought and the possibilities of History that this course created.

In these early days – or for those teachers in this room, now approaching retirement – History had so many possibilities. It had grown out of its narrow confines of political, diplomatic and military history and was no longer the story of great and powerful men doing great and powerful deeds. There was space for the ordinary man - though not yet ordinary women – and there was space to write about cultural and social history; even in the exams. Our history, influenced as it was by those British Marxists; by Raymond Williams, EP Thompson, Christopher Hill and EH Carr; freely borrowed from the world of sociology, freely used organising principles of class and freely expected it could explain history in broad, sweeping detail, its generalisations based on rigorous understanding of the sources and its form of communication so obviously based on the academic essay, complete with footnotes.

[1] John M Ward as a foreword to Select Documents, edited by Cranfield, Dalton and Stambrook, 1966, Adelaide

While the Billy Boils 1

2008-09-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

These first appea in the NPA Journal and also exist on the npa website. I hope they help any inspired first-time bushwalkers.

While The Billy Boils 1

So you have joined the NPA, decided you’d go walking, thought you’d get fit and begin the makeover. It’s a New Year resolution and 2008 is going to be THE YEAR. But, gosh, what do you pack, how do you prepare and can you keep up with all those keen walkers? Perhaps you came along on an initial Great Australian Bushwalk, thought about it for a while, joined, looked at the activities program and just waited. Perhaps you were a little shy, thought you needed some extra skills, hoped that you would absorb them as you looked over place names and wondered just where and when you’d go.

Or, perhaps, some malevolent relative has purchased this NPA membership as a gift pack, a Xmas gift, as he/she poked you around the midriff and hinted dark thoughts about that body and what it used to be like in days of yore.

Well, this column is for you. Over the course of the coming year - and beyond, if the readership so desires and the writer has not gone off walking into the distance – we will explore all and any themes that come to mind. It will be your column. Send in your questions, provide your own comments, add your own anecdotes, and I’ll attempt to synthesise your contributions to provide some invaluable advice.

But first, let me tell you a story. It’s about me. The year was 1975 and yours truly had arrived in this city to take up a teaching position. It’s a strange place for a boy from the country and I hankered to go and walk, get out into the bush, relieve myself a few hours each week of the burdens of lesson preparation and marking. That’s when I discovered the NPA. On the walls of the Hurstville library was a notice and it offered walks!

Well, I joined. I even went to the local Scout shop and bought a compass. I tried it out in the bushland at Menai. You can’t do that now. It’s all gone, buried under housing estates. I need not have bothered, I might add. By the time I actually got brave enough to book myself onto a walk, a two day camp at Bundanoon, using the youth hostel, I found out that others could navigate and read maps and get me there and back without too many lost byways.

So don’t hesitate. Throw yourself in. Phone up. Make that booking. It won’t be as daunting as you imagined. But first, remember that those walks leaders are all volunteers. Be nice to them. Most will surely answer your questions with patience and give you all the time in the world but sometimes they might also just be rushing to remove the boiling pot pan from the stove or rescue the child from the neighbour’s dog. And if they seem distracted, they have probably returned from a hard day of earning a living. So phone at the times stated on the program, or at a reasonable time in the evening. State your name clearly. Ask if there is space on the walk. Admit your competence. Accept the advice of the leader if he/she thinks you are not up to this activity. Don’t take it as a personal slight. And accept if the walk is full. There will be space somewhere for you. And then you, too, can try out that new compass.

Brian Everingham
brian.everingham@gmail.com

PS Contributions to this column are welcome. Indeed, I would be adrift without. Lost. Without a compass and a map. Please write and write often.

PPS Next journal will be devoted to just how leaders determine distance and altitude gained. Yes, just how they claim this strenuous hill is “relatively flat’, “undulating” and a “doddle”.

And, finally, if you think I am going to debate the merits of Dunlop Volleys or walking boots, you will just have to come on an overnight campout and sit around a camp fire, while the billy boils.

Harrigan's Irish Pub, Harrington

2008-09-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

Over the years, on various trips, I have stayed in a variety of places and eaten in even more. I have kept my thoughts to myself but I think it’s time to add reviews here on this blog. If I inform others, that’s useful. If my comments lead to improved service, that’s even better. It’s hardly a blog that reaches wide readership, so I suspect it will do neither. Who knows?

The first of this series will be in reference to our stay this weekend at the Harrigan’s Irish Pub and River Lodge at Harrington. The facility sits on the Manning River and enjoys a glorious location. It also backs against a golf course built into the new Harrington Waters Estate. I can’t comment on that facility. I am not a golfer. Indeed, I was even opposed to the development going ahead when it was first planned. My letter to that effect is available; I am sure; on the Manning River Times website or in their archives. It was published.

This review, however, has nothing to do with that earlier opposition to the destruction of wetlands, the potential acidic soil leachate or the inappropriate development on the edge of what was a sleepy fishing and holiday village.

We stayed in Room 2, a riverview studio. It was huge. You can see that in the photo included in this review. Its king size bed was comfortable, its LCD television was clear and easy to use, its air conditioning worked a treat. The bathroom was immense and all facilities worked admirably. Indeed, the space within was exactly what we had hoped.

There is but one criticism so far: in such a huge room, why was there but one comfortable arm chair and one chair for the table setting? The room is designed for two. It seems a pity that the space was not planned to have at least two seats.

I mention Room 2 deliberately. When we arrived we noted that there was a large humming sound coming from outside. We phoned reception and soon two people came to check the noise. As we suspected, it was the pool filter, situated right behind our wall. We were offered a change of rooms if they could not correct the sound but they turned the filter off and that problem went. Mind you, in the same location can be found the units that power the air conditioning units and we also heard that noise during the night. This might be a room specific issue but at $191.50 per night it is an issue for anyone wanting a quiet rest.

We did not use the outdoor setting that faced onto the river. The winds outside were far too fierce for that this visit. We did note, however, that the area was also a public thoroughfare for paying guests and the quiet garden might not be so quiet in summer. I also noted that the plants used to edge the gardens did not truly fit into the local landscape. Local native plants would have been in harmony.

When we arrived, I add, there was no-one at reception and we had to go over to the hotel to complete bookings. In our case it was smooth but given that we booked in at 3.00pm and given that reception was not manned until the next morning, I thought that was poor service.

Mind you, the hotel, about 100 metres away, did provide a pleasant location for dinner and the singer gave a more than competent rendition of Irish folk songs while we drank wines by the fireside. That was a relaxing highlight.

I can’t be so complimentary about the food. It was ordinary. I had the salt and pepper squid, advertised as in Sichuan style. This was anything but that style and rather bland. My wife, who requires gluten-free meals, had just one choice and she said it, too, was uninspiring. Several of the main courses could have been modified to accommodate her requirements but the cook (not described as a chef by the person behind the bar!) was not able to imagine any of those possibilities.

Overall, the room was excellent and any other room might have been perfect. If you want good food, however, go elsewhere but then return for a glass or two and listen to the entertainment.

The return of football

2008-08-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

The football season has returned. And armed with my 2008-2009 season passes (Bay 35, Row MM, seats 34 and 35 – right at the back, on the end of a row and mid-pitch!), I took my unwilling wife along to watch the season opener! This was a match against Melbourne Victory, our deadly rivals!

Expectations were low: mine because we had eight regular players out through injury, suspension, Olympic duties, etc; hers because she did not expect to have much of a night. Her injunction to me was to “find a bloke”. Well, all such creatures on my friendship list were otherwise occupied so she dutifully came along.

And surprisingly, I suspect, she enjoyed it. Yes, the match was a 0-0 draw. But it was not a “boring” draw. The game moved from one end to the other; there were shots on target; drama; excitement! And, to make it all the more fun, we sat next to two Melbourne fans who had travelled up to watch it. The one right next to Faye was originally from Ireland – Derry! And he had a wonderful thick accent, a sense of humour and a great sense of occasion. Oh, and on the bus back to Central we were regaled by a loud and charming group of Melbourne fans who sang bravely amidst a sea of pale-blue and took us on in repartee.

Ah, the football season has returned!

Pictures of the walks in the Pyrenees

2008-07-19T00:31:00.000-07:00

During the zombie phase of today I have placed thirty pictures … a tiny selection … of both trips in the Pyrenees on Facebook. The links are:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44035&l=add4d&id=728426665

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44044&l=3308f&id=728426665

The first link is to the walk in the Basque region of the Pyrenees. The second is to a loop walk in the Grand Cerdagne.

My favourite picture there is of the Brimstone butterfly on the thistle. Some others might like the Griffon Vulture on the rock. And for those who like flower photography, what better place than late June in the high Pyrenees!

Trood

2008-06-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

Last night I wasted an hour of my life listening to a repetitive Senator Trood speak what could only be described as a pathetic attack on Rudd and his foreign policy. If he sought brownie points for loyalty to his side, he gained them. If, however, he had presented the paper for marking, he would have failed. He hinted at something in sentence one, confirmed by repetition in sentence two and elided through to established fact some time later: all without the benefit of evidence. I did not stay for question time!

For those who take an interest in foreign policy matters, a summary of the substantive idea within that rubbish is that Rudd has faith in multilateralism and the structures of decision making and that Trood thinks that great power interests will override such a policy position. Now how Trood thinks that a “middle ranked power” can operate other than by following Rudd’s position is left open, given he apparently claimed some distance from the Howard approach of siding too closely with the ONE GREAT POWER! I doubt he meant that. Somehow, I think he hankers after the glowing approbation of the Right in Australia.

Literacy

2008-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

I have to warn one and all that from this date forward any email - any correspondence -that includes the word “literacy” will be formally blocked and the said correspondence will head directly into my trash bin, never to see the light of day.

I have watched its insidious spread with horror but now, after listening to the latest episode of Life Matters on ABC Radio National, I declare enough is enough. I coped when literacy described the act of reading and writing and attempted to explain what complicated processes went on in the brain of those who read the words of others. I did not truly mind when literacy seemed to encompass listening and speaking, given that there is an act of “decoding” going on similar to what happens in the act of reading the written word. (Should I also block “decoding”?)

But there are limits: “Asia literacy”, “financial literacy” (most recently in the edition of the Sydney Morning Herald, 5th July 2008) and, now, horror upon horror, I heard the phrase “body literacy”. Yes, in a discussion about various forms of contraception, I did hear one woman, who ought to remain nameless just to protect her dignity, utter that phrase. Why she did not just say that women must get to know their own bodies, I can not fathom, but she did not. And, hence, as an attempt to rescue the language from total annihilation, I hereby declare that I have added “literacy” to my filters.

All writers who do wish to communicate with me, you are forewarned.

Brian Everingham

Angry Skies

2008-06-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

Angry Skies

On a wet and windy day in Sydney we walked the coastal track from Garie Beach to Little Marley and back. The coastal track is one of those tracks that gets heavy usage. I am not sure how many walk it. I am not even sure of the methodology used to count such visitation. Nevertheless, even on a wet day there were many visitors, including at least three Duke of Edinburgh groups. It’s good to see young people getting out into the bush.

And why wouldn’t you go here? We found a pair of White Bellied Sea Eagles, a lone Peregrine Falcon, an obliging Brush Bronzewing, two separate views of Beautiful Firetails and countless numbers of New Holland Honeyeaters!

But the views over the ocean are why you wish to linger and on a wet day they are even more enticing. Just enjoy and wish you could be there.

2008-05-31T02:51:00.000-07:00

The Power of the Adjective

Modern news broadcasters have taken to adding additional words into sentences – adjectives and adjectival clauses, to be precise. In days of yore, at least on the ABC, the news reader would look into the camera or speak clearly and concisely into the microphone, and intone that

‘ the Prime Minister has had to face questioning in Parliament today over …”

Now, with an impish grin, an ironic inflection, it is

“ the embattled Prime Minister ….”

Ah, setting the tone early!

No, there is no particular party political bias that I can detect. This is a much more subtle form of bias; the bias to find conflict, the make politics a spectator sport. And it has the effect of making politicians “safe”, also playing the straight bat, hoping to not make so-called errors where their words can haunt. It has a deleterious effect on policy debate.

But how do we rid ourselves of this fetish?

balance in motion

2008-05-18T02:22:00.000-07:00

To walk, over rocky creek beds, full pack on shoulders, seeking the route and trying to maintain ankles intact!

We call it fun!

2008-05-18T00:52:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1980’s I led a series of bushwalks along a variety of creek and river systems, clambering over moss-strewn boulders and pushing through all sorts of ferns, lianas and prickly shrubs. I linked them thematically by saying that we were looking at fungi. I even bought a field guide.

This weekend I returned to that world. On my first full pack walk for some time – a rather easy stroll down Carlon’s Creek and Breakfast Creek, in the Wild Dog Mountains – I found a world of fungi. And I cleared my head! Ah, to walk, full pack in place, and to just drift, was sheer bliss!

2008-05-10T02:54:00.001-07:00

The Barren Grounds sits on the escarpment to the west of Kiama and Jamberoo. It is technical part of the Southern Highlands, I guess, and the actual Nature Reserve covers some 1500 hectares – 1532, to be exact.

The rise up onto the escarpment from Jamberoo takes you through rainforest and often a Superb Lyrebird will cross the path. None did today. Instead, we were accompanied by a male Satin Bowerbird.

Once on the escarpment and into the reserve proper there is glorious heath! Even at this time of the year there are flowers to enjoy but of course it is especially magical in Spring. Then the place is a riot of colour.

Our own walk today covered some 21km, from the car park, south to the Stone Bridge and on, up, and out to a glorious spot overlooking the town of Berry and the Seven Mile Beach National Park. We retreated from there and completed the Griffiths Trail back past the Illawarra Lookout to the cars.

Today, among the New Holland Honeyeaters, Little Wattlebirds, Eastern Spinebills, White Faced Honeyeaters and Crimson Rosellas we found one Ground Parrot. We usually do see them and it is a special place for them. But we usually flush them off the path as we walk. It was no different today. Mind you, we have had some wonderful cooperative birds that sat on the edge of the path and let us observe as long as we would like. I guess those opportunities must as a matter of course be rationed or we would become selfish. Nature is not there for our entertainment, is it?

We also saw a snake. After much discussion we have decided it is a Hemiaspis signata or Marsh Snake. The NPWS Atlas does not record it but nor does it record a Diamond Python and we also saw that in this reserve some years ago.

We return refreshed. Why would we not. The day was a delight, the walk was refreshing and we were alive.

The New Naturalist

2008-05-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

If I were a total addict to books and England I would rush to buy the latest offering from the Folio Society. It is a facsimile edition of the first 10 volumes of The New Naturalist.

I am tempted. It is almost irresistible. The books include butterflies, "British game", Mushrooms and Toadstools, Insect Natural History and "A Country Parish". If I lived in England I would pounce on it and spend the rest of my life exporing just how much had changed since the volumes were first released.

You see, what I find most fascinating is that this series of books was hatched as a concept over lunch in 1942, in the midst of the doom and gloom of World War Two, as a statement that one day the war would be over and life would return to normal. Not only that, but that "ordinary people" would want to watch wildlife. What an affirmation of life! And what better way to illustrate why I do love England and its quirky ways so much.

Tibet and China

2008-04-12T12:57:00.001-07:00

Tibet hovers over the Olympic Games this year, demanding our attention and forcing itself into our consciousness, to the point where I have been asked on a number of occasions my own thoughts. And at the risk of treading into deep waters, I shall respond.

The situation today is that Tibet lies within the boundaries of sovereign China, part of the Chinese nation-state. There are those within Tibet and Tibetan exiles living abroad who want this to change and want Tibet to be an independent sovereign nation. I might add, there are some who argue that Tibet can survive within China but as an autonomous region, running its own affairs. Interestingly, that is the legal fiction propagated from Beijing, that this is an “autonomous region”, but the migration of Han Chinese to the region and the administrative, economic and military arrangements do make that to be fiction.

In the “West” there are several groups who have sympathy with the Tibetan cause. It’s not surprising that anti-Communist forces are pro-Tibetan. They would take any issue and any cause to be opposed to anything this current Chinese government would do and use this as one more issue with which to attack the government. Often they know little about Tibet. Many, while mouthing the platitudes of human rights, are little interested in them even in their own countries. Witness those within Australia who were quite willing to attack our own human rights, in the name of the “War on terror”, but blame the Chinese for their human rights record.

Another group who are keen to support the Tibetan cause are those who genuinely fight for human rights everywhere. Tibet is but one example where the peoples of China are not given true political, economic, social, religious or personal liberties.

And then there is an interesting group of left-leaning libertarians. Many would have been drawn to the China of the revolution, if alive and active in the 60s; however, they often spent time in Nepal, climbing in the Himalayas, and came into contact with the form of Buddhism that emanated from Tibet. Many even met Tibetan exiles. They have a romantic notion of the spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism and are often pro-Tibet from this cause alone.

I am not so sure about these arguments. I begin with the notion of a “nation state”. It is an idea that arose in the West and does not neatly translate into other regions of the world. Fixed, immutable boundaries of sovereign states do not accurately describe what the history of this region was. The western provinces of China have been fluid structures for millennia. The groups moved around, their territories waxed and waned and the influence of China did likewise. Whenever a Chinese dynasty was strong it exerted its control over the area. The area has been as much part of China as it has been a separate entity. Dominance was often exerted, however, through the cultural pull of China and expressed as “tribute” to the Middle Kingdom.

Nor do I feel comfortable with the notion that the romantic left of the West have towards Tibet. When Tibet was autonomous, distant and out of the reach of Qing officials, the theocracy was a vicious “feudal” order, treating the poor peasant with contempt and keeping them in servitude.[1]

So what do I now think should be the situation? I accept that the area is within Chinese borders, part of the sovereignty of China. I am no lover of new national identities. There are enough so-called “nations” in the world, all clamouring noisily for attention and many rapidly heading towards “failed nation” status. I do not see that Tibet would have the strategic or economic position to be anything but an awkward addition to the family of nations if it became independent. Mind you, I think I would also prefer many of those other new states to have remained within the Russian empire as well.

That said, I do believe that China needs to create space for true local autonomy and allow a true sense of local cultural identity to grow. It ought not to be afraid of difference. Tibet is no different in this respect, however, than many other regions in China. There are many “Chinas” and even within the area that is truly Han Chinese, there are local differences.

And what I have said for China also goes for Indonesia, India, Nigeria and a number of other large modern “nation-states”: the creation of local autonomy within might forestall the break-up of the larger entity. I do not want that. I do not want a whole series of little states. I don’t want a power vacuum!

Ah, I have waded in deeply. Thank goodness this blog is read by very few!
[1] The British thought them backward and thought they would be better under the eye of British control. Mind you, the Younghusband expedition was as much action from India as it was from England – more so! The British government disowned it in retrospect. It was all part of what has become known as the “Great Game”.

2008-04-06T00:51:00.001-07:00

It’s the end of the day and showers are about to descend on Sydney. Already the lightest of showers have fallen in Engadine and there is the promise of more to come.

It was decent of the rains to hold off until Sunday merges into darkness. That meant that a whole day could be spent out in the national park, at ease with the world.

It was an NPA walk! A “beginner’s walk”, in fact! This was one of a series I have planned to introduce new walkers to the finer points of walking. Today’s focus was on packing a rucksack, working out what to carry and generally sharing some tips about the load that sits on your shoulders over the day. There was a general shyness to discuss these matters until I broached the subject at lunch, unpacked my bag and talked through what was inside it. Funnily, at that point, people started to ask questions, unleashed from a reticence and willing to ask the “obvious”. Now I have not ever thought that the “obvious” was, indeed, “obvious” and it was so again today. And, yes, the weekend pack was also discussed. I am glad I did it. I was thanked for the information. I will do it again. Gosh, I might even place some tips on the blog.

This all happened in Royal National Park, on the loop track from Otford, via Garrawarra Farm to Era, Burning Palms and on through the Palm Jungle back to Otford. It is a delight on any occasion; under autumn sunshine it was pleasant to be alive. And, to make us all happier, the birds on the ridge line screamed. As soon as I looked up I found the reason: a hobby skimming above the canopy. And almost immediately the danger passed, a Superb Lyrebird did its full range of songs, in practice for the serious courting to come.

Chasing Bubbles

2008-04-05T00:01:00.001-07:00

I sat, entranced, on the train this afternoon. Two ladies – girls, really – were travelling home with a little two year old. As is their way, the two year old captured all their attention and amidst the parcels, the paraphernalia of travel, emerged a bubble making toy.

Captivated, the little girl blew bubbles, and the three poked the bubbles to their destruction. Some escaped. They then enchanted others. Up in the vestibule, little boys tried to capture them as well.

And as soon as any were caught they disappeared.

So, too, did the two ladies, the girls, and the child in tow.

And so we chased bubbles. It seemed an apt metaphor on the journey home, having watched Robyn Nevin play the part of Joan Didion in “The Year of Magical Thinking”.[1] In that play, based on the autographical account of a year in which she loses both her husband and her daughter, Joan Didion’s life is itself, perhaps, one of chasing bubbles.

"They believed absolutely in the power of the telephone numbers they had at their fingertips, the right doctor, the major donor, the person who could facilitate a favor at State or Justice."

Or was that the mirage? Did the solid reality that kept them so acutely aware of the world, become the bubble, the mirage that collapsed on the death of John Dunne?

This is a powerful piece of theatre. I am told her own book is even more powerful, honest and tough. I must read it!
[1] http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/memoir/fr/yearMagical.htm

Qing Ming Ferstival

2008-04-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

My friends in China are having an extended weekend and it’s all due to the Qing Ming Festival. The visits to the graveside, the sweeping of and caring for the places of the ancestors and the reverence to those ancestors all seem a fitting activity to be held in Spring.

Apparently people often go to sweep and weed graves with whole family and take a walk in the countryside as well. I know my friend, Qinghua, did. She and her little girl planned to pick bamboo shoots. Now I know that’s not a traditional exercise but the bamboo shoots are at their freshest right now.

And given that in Tang Dynasty the habit of taking an excursion on this day was developed, it would appear that bushwalking is not just an exercise of the Western world. And what better time to enjoy the countryside! At this time, in the northern hemisphere, spring returns and dominates the earth again. Yes, you can see the blossoms, watch the sap rise, see the new growth and feel alive once more. I suspect that this year, in China, it might be more poignant. After all, the winter has been bleak!

It must have been bleak for Chong Er too. It was he who was accused by a concubine of trying to foment rebellion and he who had to hide in the mountains. themselves in a mountain and went hungry for quite some time. Mind you, he did become king but her also forgot his supporter through all the years of hardship. Poor Jie Zitui! He was scorched to death – a man who would not be forced to yield to power but who would do anything for true leadership!

And so, in horror of the fire that killed him, cold meats are eaten! I think that I, too, shall set aside this day to eat just cold meat and contemplate true friendship and the man that was Jie Zitui!

Wingham Brush

2008-04-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

Wingham Brush Nature Reserve is such a small pocket of what once covered much of the valley floor in the Manning. At most it covers no more than 10 hectares and is a delightful pocket of subtropical lowland rainforest. There are huge Moreton Bay figs, strangling the existence out of old trees, their roots buttressing out over the forest floor. There are giant stinging trees. There is greenery everywhere!

And, yes, there are Brush Turkeys. On March 22, 2008, at 11.00am, we found more than 15 all gathered in one tree and its close neighbours; a veritable convention of birds. I am not sure why so many would gather. I am guessing it might be in autumn, where breeding mounds do not need to be built, and that in the breeding season they will once more disperse. However, it was quite a sight.

Finally, above, in the crèche that is the maternity ward for the Grey-Headed Flying Fox, the youngsters are now gathered in adolescent groups. Only a handful of mothers now have young attached to their backs.

It is magical. It is special. It also looks so much better than when I visited so long ago, in the 1960s. Then we walked anywhere and the ground beneath was trampled, the brush under stress. NPWS, you have done a wonderful job. And to the locals who fought so hard to maintain it, well done. Whenever I return, almost once every 6 weeks, I just feel alive when I enter this place.

Dubbo Zoo

2008-04-02T02:44:00.000-07:00

After the school day finished on Friday I caught the trains and no 400 bus to the airport[1] and barely finished my coffee before Faye sent me a text message. She had arrived at the airport car park. Soon enough she had also arrived with the luggage and we were inside the airport. No, her leg did not set the alarm off![2] I think she was disappointed. Anyhow, we watched planes come and go, had a walk around and finally left, via gate 58 – the 3rd attempt at a gate allocation – onto our Dash 8 plane. We were in row 6, seats A and B.

We left Sydney on time but sat on the tarmac for an additional 15 minutes. There were storms about, to the south. Indeed, we learnt a little about storms and the airport this evening. They have a system of strobe lights. When the lights go white the storm is around, but not within 5km. If the lights go blue then get off the tarmac! I guess that would mean no flight movements at all. Apparently there have been deaths from lightning strikes at the airport and this is an OH&S operation.[3]

We arrived at Dubbo at 8.20pm and we managed to get a taxi to the motel and be settled and in our room before 9.00pm. The home for Friday night is the Dubbo City Country Comfort motel and we are in room 5, a non-smoking ground floor room with a queen-size bed. There’s not much else to be said. It is a basic motel room.[4]

I must report that apart from the zoo attractions at Dubbo there are other local delights this weekend. Within the wider region there are sheep dog trials and, apparently, there are also mouse racing championships OK, so that's an aside. But local radio does cover these things. Local newspapers are also a great source of such trivia.

But back to Dubbo! And before we went to the zoo we did a small walk around town. We found the Catholic Church and Brigid's Convent occupied by the police station – somehow, given the history of policing in colonial NSW, this seemed appropriate.

We arrived at the zoo gate a little before 9.45am and booked our luggage in at the gate, then wandered around until 2.00pm when we were placed in our Zoofari lodge – Ours is the Lion room.

I spent some time watching the Ring Tailed Lemur sunning itself in the cool morning light before Faye and I watched the Black Handed Spider Monkey feeding on apple. The latter is a monkey out of Central America and has a vestigial thumb and elongated four fingers. Its tail is also an extra hand and one male seemed to lovingly caress his own penis with his tail. Naughty boy!

The morning was almost entirely devoted to the African section: the African Hunting dogs, the White Rhinoceros, the Cheetah, Elephants, Eland, Small Forest Buffalo and African Lions. At the latter enclosure we watched the lions trying hard to extract meat from a hard coil of cardboard. Each time a lioness seemed to gain success the male would chase her. That happened several times. No, there was no real violence but it was a wary female who protected her food.

There are several forms of wild horse here in the zoo and today we also spent time watching the flock of Persian Onager, each with their own distinct brand on the rump. They are a delightful small horse but they can reach upwards of 50kph in speed and in sprints they can achieve 70kph.

On the way back to the lodge from lunch, where we were harassed by at least one flock of Apostlebirds[5] (Faye was struck on the head four times, she claims. I saw her ducking and saw the birds looking innocently at her lunch), we found a lone male White Handed Gibbon. It did have a mate, we were told, but she was at rest and this one wanted to gain our attention. He swung on ropes, twirled around trees, hung upside own, balanced and hooted at us. He came as close as the stream would allow and then did his toiletry over the water!

Naturally we also spent time looking at the native birds that are an incidental extra at this zoo. I guess the most common were White Plumed Honeyeaters and Superb Fairywrens but I also loved seeing a Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater and Double Barred Finches.

This afternoon, before dinner, we went on a bus tour behind the scenes of the zoo. Our guide, Nalina, took us to see the Bengal tiger, the breeding program for Black Rhinoceros, the African Hunting dogs (where we learnt that the reason why they seemed so agitated this morning – and were again this afternoon – was that they had come into “contact” with the other pack in the enclosure behind their own. They were still pacing, off their food and most active.) and a variety of other exhibits, including the meerkats.

In the evening, on the spotlight tour, we also went to see the lions -and learnt that the male we saw chasing the lioness today was “in love” with the other lioness but the one he chased was in love with him. Yes, a classic love triangle! We also saw the maned wolf: indeed, all three. They usually hunt and live in the savannahs of South Africa. And, yes, we spent some time watching the hippopotamus. They are so large but so dangerous.

Oh, and on the drive I saw an echidna wandering on the side of the road!

And in between we had a three course meal all washed down with a Rothbury Sauvignon Blanc. I ate a squid salad, followed by Atlantic Salmon and noodle and finished with a water melon salad.

And so we slept through the night. I did not hear any zoo sounds but occasionally, when awake, I could hear the trucks on the Newell Highway. Faye woke me at 6.30am and we were prepared and out in time for the 7.10am early morning tour of the zoo.

Our exhibitions today included feeding the giraffes, visiting and feeding the bongo and watching the Siamang family produce its early morning territorial warning song. The male and female mate for life and they had one three year old child as part of the extended family and when the adults called their extended vocal pouch under the chin blew up like a small balloon. We ended at the African elephants, watched the keepers clean their feet and feed them and learnt a little more about the life of elephants.

Back at the lodge we dined on a huge breakfast and then packed at our home. Our lodge, Lion lodge, is a canvass structure on top of a heated tile floor. We had a fridge and table on the front porch, a double bed and two single beds inside, a separate small alcove for shower, toilet, etc. And the windows were flaps that could be wound up and down. Over the whole tent there was a second fly tent to provide a cool ventilation.

We checked out and took the bus back to the main zoo at 10.00am, stored our luggage at the entrance and spent the rest of the day in the zoo grounds. We went in the opposite direction, taking quite some time at the Koala enclosure and at the enclosure with the Whiptail Wallaby. We also spent ages at the bison enclosure, the otter enclosure and the Maned Wolf. Yes, we had seen this one last night but it was good to have another close look in the morning. It was also good to have another look at the Przewalski's Horse, a species we first saw at Woburn Abbey in 1989.

We looked once more at the Siamang and in the 45 minutes that we devote to this mammal we were witness to a large variety of behaviour. The old male was taking care of the youngster while his partner was having a sleep, her head resting on her arms and her legs crossed in repose. Then, the youngster did a series of acrobatic performances and kept landing on his mother. She seemed to cope with this behaviour. But all were diverted when the keeper arrived, threw grapes and bananas and went onto the second island to do some work. When she returned and put the ropes back in place the Siamang all began their chorus of howls.

We finished, after lunch, at the visitor centre, looking at the lemurs and spider monkeys come to life after their mid day siesta, looking at the mallee aviary (yes, there were Mallee Fowl, and they did have a mound), the meerkats and a rather active wombat.

And so we come to the end of a delightful weekend. Now that was some Xmas present!

[1] Why go to the airport on the train and pay an exorbitant exit fee at the railway station when a weekly travel pass gives access without additional cost from either Bondi Junction or Rockdale!
[2] Remember that she does have a plate of metal on one side and several screws on the other to keep her intact following the last holiday special I purchased for her. That broken leg at Green Cape is still swollen and she must exercise often just to keep the swelling at bay.
[3] Later we learnt that this was the evening when several people used lasers at incoming planes, apparently even in a coordinated manner at the one plane. Now that is serious.
[4] In discussions with my students today, regarding the movie “Caddie” and in response to a question about the type of accommodation that she moved to, I realised that the word “motel” must be a post-WW2 creation. People did not motor to hotels in such numbers until mass car travel after the war.
[5] Yes, it is the bird in the photograph!

Road Kills

2008-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

I have been down on the South Coast, attending another State Council of the National Parks Association. We met at Ulladulla.

On the way down I drove along the coastal route adjacent to Seven Mile Beach National Park. There were two road kills on that stretch alone: a wombat and a Red Necked Wallaby. On the way back, in the strip of forest between Milton and Sanctuary Point, I found another dead wombat. Clearly this was one more road kill victim. At this carcass a red fox was exploring its options for a cheap meal.

It’s hard to think through how road kill numbers can be reduced. Road speeds are part of the answer but I doubt if drivers will comply. Perhaps the answer is to try to reduce the carve-up of the landscape with a network of roads. The larger the core bush areas, the better the chances of animals surviving without the need to cross such dangerous barriers.

In the meantime, we spent time today in Jervis Bay National Park, on the coastal strip south of Vicentia. The sands are so white here and the waters are so tempting. The showers that whipped across the Bay just made the landscape even more enticing!

But how do we solve the problem of road kill?

the centrality of parliament

2008-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

In Sydney sometime next week ENGO staff will meet to discuss whether it is worth their while keeping the position of Parliament Liaison Officer. This position has been reserved for a person whose role is to track legislation, inform member groups of the relevance of this legislation and help member groups develop coordinated responses.

Current thinking is that parliament is no longer as relevant as it once was, that decisions are made by government and that the processes to influence government decisions lay beyond the parliament.

This is of concern. I am currently reading a book by AL Gore entitled The Assault on Reason. An ex-student of mine sent it to me for my birthday (thank you Hong Minh) and in chapter 1 he quotes Walter Lippmann:

“The manufacture of consent … was supposed to have died out with the appearance of democracy … but it has not died out. It has, in fact, improved enormously in technique … under the impact of propaganda, it is no longer plausible to believe in the original dogma of democracy”

Gore goes on to refer to the systemic decay of the “public forum” and I can not help but join with him in calling for the renewal of our public institutions. I wrote long ago about “social capital” (see http://360.yahoo.com/brian_e121) but the lack of relevance of parliament takes this one step further towards an authoritarian and bureaucratic system of governance. It is a step that must be resisted and I hope environmental advocates take a long term view and uphold the centrality of parliament.

honesty

2008-01-06T14:12:00.001-08:00

It appears that I have set up the page! I am not sure what other features operate here. If you stumble across this website just don’t expect any flashy gimmicks! I’m not into flash! Furthermore, those who do use them annoy me when I try to read their work. Writing should be simple, direct and honest. So, too, should the background.

And so should the writer!

a beginning

2008-01-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

A new blog page on Google might be somewhat daunting. After all, it would appear that I can create a webpage with my own name as part of the URL. Who knows if that leads to loads of “hits”? Indeed, if it’s worth visiting.

I do have another blog. It lives over at http://360.yahoo.com/brian_e121. I also live on Facebook but that’s by invitation only.

Meanwhile, if you want to know about me, why not go over to the old webpage, eh? I’m not likely to want to repeat too much.