[dave]

the problem is of course is that power has shifted from the throne to the church then to government and now big business, we are doomed to walk this earth for only a short time, and that time is fast approaching,

the world today is a vastly different one that I grew up in and it is not an improved one, as you say it is money based and financially driven, greed is good!!

the oil spill is an inconvenience that will annoy BP for a short while, folks will shake their fists and people will lose their income for a while but things will return to normal in due course and be forgotten about just as in the exon valdez

the way of the future (and I dont like it but I see no other choice) is nuclear with battery cars, as it is today if you drive a battery car and refuel at home you are merely shifting the pollution a few hundred k away to a coal fired genny, or in the case of Tassie more dams will have to be blocked, solar is not advanced enough and wind turbines are a money making feel good stop gap

the true way is to make ourselves in our own homes self sufficient as in wind/solar/freelight/batteries and other means, including water recycling and storage as in septic and rainwater tanks, this will never happen as big business cannot make money out of self sufficiency and the government is driven and guided by big business

our way of life is simply unsustainable and will not continue for long, we cannot feed the population we have now and yet the anaylists are predicting a doubling of population in the coming years, we have severe droughts and water shortages as it is,

the Chinese are buying up good farm land in australia and Tasmania at a rapid rate on knots, they are aware of what is to come, the Murray is dead and yet taxes still are on the rise (7% increase in vehicle registration)

all that matters on the news is whether the Dow is up or whether the footsy or yen is buoyant, the stock market index has become our alter and the dollar our god, until we drop this nonsense and put PEOPLE and flora and fauna first we will go the way of the inca's

the american Indians had a saying (one amongst many that I recall) once the last blade of grass has gone and the last buffalo has been taken we will realise that we cannot eat gold!!!

[Cascade]

Amen.

Fortunatly, I have my own water bore as my main source of supply but do rely on power to pump to my tanks which are also filled by rainwater runoff, if desperate, I have access to the creek over the road for emergency needs if my bore or tanks run dry. One local informed me he's lived in the area for 75 years and he's never known it to run dry. I'm also self sufficient as much as I choose tobe in the food area and if need be I could go the full bottle and take it to the max if we had to. After all if I had too do it we would probably be back to the horse and cart era for travel as well. But we certainly watch what we buy in the food line.
Don't talk to me about the Chinese takeover. It's off the subject a bit but get this.
1. The Chinese grow and export peas to New Zealand in bulk.
2. New Zealand packages the Chinese import.
3. Because the packaging costs more than the product inside its legaly labled "Product of New Zealand".
4. These are then exported to Australia and elsewhere by the likes of Coles, Woolies and Asda and are then sold here.
5. The coup de gras, China then imports peas from Australia and New Zealand for sale there. (Because a lot of the Chinese will not buy their home grown product due to health fears).
Talk to any farmer that has done a study tour to an Asian country.
It's a fact they still use human waste as a soil nutrient, that they use chemicals that are banned in many other countries and water used to wash some products has high levels of E Coli and other bacterial forms. But I think this is in the process of changing with improved testing.
I think I'll step down of the pedestal before I start on other subjects. And this has nothing to do with "Why I keep my raspberrys in a cage". or perhaps it does.

[dave]

yep I think we are on the same wave length and I had better call a halt to my ramblings as well, suffice to say the modern world is not completely to my liking!

we will try to keep the wolf from the door and focus on the good things that are left to us like the wee animals! and lovely sunsets!

[Mystic]

My, how a thread can change.

First off, thanks Cascade for correcting the spinebill thing. Shane had assured me they were spoonbill's, but spoon and spine sound so close anyway, so I can forgive him

And now we turn to modern society... The current oil spill in the US is the second of its type in less than 12 months, (the first one happening just off the north of Australia). This had me thinking recently about the fact that we have a lot of old infrastructure out in the oceans, drilling for oil, and perhaps we are starting to see just how bad things can get when that stuff starts to fail. With Bass Strait being home to many of these wells, it does pose some serious problems for Tasmania, and, unfortunately, I think it more a case of when it will happen here, not if.

Interesting rant about how society has evolved Dave. I recall, many years ago the words of a lecturer I had on the subject of religion and society... he suggested that we could see the direction of social values by looking at which social sector had the biggest buildings. Quite some time back it was the cathedrals, now it is the banks and financial institutions. That is the way of capitalism though, the only outcome possible of a free enterprise, market driven society is to create greed. Today we view the need for employment and business development above all else. Proponents of the pulp mill in Tasmania supported it because it would supposedly create jobs and it seems that jobs are far more important than the environment, even though raping the earth of limited resources will only ever result in an uninhabitable earth. People think only in the short term, and primarily of themselves though, so what will happen in some future generation is of little concern.

It was curious recently, to see a repeat of an old documentary on the ABC late one night. The pulp mill debate is very reminiscent of the old Gordon below Franklin dam debate. This was particularly fiery here on the west coast, and many violent outbursts were played out in the local pubs on a nightly basis. The greenies protesting against the dam were accused of taking jobs away from a struggling local economy, and the locals wanted those jobs, and to hell with the cost to the environment. What I found most interesting was a series of interviews with locals who had once fought strongly to denounce the greenies speaking with the luxury of hindsight. One important aspect was that while the construction phase of the proposed dam would have created jobs, the power station would have been unmanned, like all the others, controlled from Hobart, and resulting in no further jobs for locals. On the other hand, the west coast is the launching pad for the vast majority of tourists heading into the world heritage area, and this has resulted in a long term employment boom for places like Strahan and Queenstown. It seems the greenies were not so stupid, in the eyes of the locals, after all. By saving the wilderness a massive eco tourism industry was born, providing many more jobs well into the future than the dam construction ever could have created. Not so long ago the west coast council was giving land away in Strahan, in an attempt to attract people to the region, now it is the most expensive place to purchase a home or land on the west coast.

When I worked in the public service I saw many work practices that defied logic. The justification was that it was because that was the way it had always been done before. People tend to shy away from change, and prefer to stick to what they have always known and done. Forestry workers destroy forests, but that is how you get the timber out, it is how generations have done it, and people who have grown up in those kinds of areas see only trees as timber and jobs. Tasmania spends more on promoting and defending the forestry industry than it does on creating effective tourism plans and projects. When we do develop anything new in the tourist market, it is generally aimed at the upper end of the market. We seem to be trying to attract only those people with loads of disposable income, and price the average family or backpacker out of the game. Any doubt to this can be quickly removed by seeing the new pricing structure for entry into our parks. Cradle Mountain can cost a family almost as much as an annual pass, for a single day visit. Many other tourist attractions cost an arm and a leg to take advantage of. Try spending a week in Strahan and your bank balance will plummet. We need to rethink how we develop our environmental assets and learn to take advantage of the green tourist dollar more effectively by creating more affordable and low cost facilities that will be enjoyed by ever increasing numbers, bringing more tourist bucks into the state over the long term. But, we don't do things that way, we never have, and we don't want to change.

[Cascade]

Thats it, pass the buck on to Shane.

On your other comments. Hear, hear. The wheel of time is but a circle. Don't know who said that, if anybody, so I'll take the credit.

As Dave said previously, we all seem to be on a similar track. Perhaps there's hope yet.

[Mystic]

I guess if we don't have hope we are hopeless, and in more ways than one.

Back to earlier discussions and steering us away from the political...

Just took a shot of the new swimming pool.

[Shane V]

Spinebill...spoonbill...they are just birds to me, and beautiful ones at that. I love watching them and sitting down to listen to their beautiful songs. I definitely prefer listening to them over some types of music, in fact if I am going to listen to music it is usually late at night when most birds are asleep.

Keep the bird baths going guys and girls, there's nothing like em for a harmonious melodies and sights.

[Cascade]

Wow, I hope there's a window close by, because if there is you should get some great shots.

Here's where mine is located, it's about 14 mtrs from the sliding door to the outside world.



As you can see the liquid amber sucker shoots are kept neatly clipped to maintain full vision.(The tree had been cut down before we purchased the house).In the background is a Japanese maple which the Silvereyes and Pardalotes love, plus its very dense for the birds to hide in excepting winter. To the left but not obvious is a large Weeping Willow. Weeping Willows and two hybrid species of Pussy Willow (S. x calodendron and S. reichardtii) are not listed as Weeds of National Significance otherwise it would have been gone long ago.

In preperation of the bird bath, I removed the receiver and bent the long arm back and bolted it in place. It doubles as a perch and a hose holder. the wrens love the fine spray from the multiple selector head on the handpiece during the summer.I find the larger birds tend to land on the perch before hopping down for a splash.

I don't know what bolts you removed but if you take out the bolt on the bottom of the adjusting arm link you can wind it in untill it supports the dish in a level position. Then you just have to tip the dish up on the hinged part to empty it and to give it a clean out. You can also see it needs a repaint.

[Mystic]

Cool setup Cascade. My dish is a couple of metres away from a bedroom window, or only about five away from the front verandah. I had to remove the lower adjusting arm hunge as it would not go flat otherwise, swung that around to take the weight on top of another bolt. It sits nicely flat and can easily be raised by hand to empty.

[Shane V]

Way cool set-up there Cascade. Thanks for showing us

[Cascade]

Looks like yours is better situated for close-ups than mine is.

Dont throw the bits you removed away. I'm assuming you probably have to do the other bolts up tight to keep it level?

Picture showing how I use it as a leveling support with adjustment made on the nutand locking nut..



Picture showing proximity and size of Weeping Willow. Taken with 90mm so I couldn't fit the whole tree in. Couldn't be bothered to change the lens.

[Mystic]

Almost similar setup, except the bottom plat is resting lengthwise on the same bolts yours is. I like the way you have used that bottom plate though so might have to change mine around next time a certain someone who shall be nameless brings my spanners back around.

[dave]

you should all be able to receive the next moon landing quite clear! my bird bath is under the rear veranda which is well used and i have one out the front which I rarely see but continues to need topping up so it must be used

I noticed this morning that the Willy wagtails are back and looking to nest relatively high in our gum tree!

[Cascade]

Early morning, frozen birdbath, Green Rosella's still in town. They seem to be infatuated by the ice and constantly work on the perimeter untill spooked.

[Shane V]

They just like their reflections Cascade Way cool shot, especially catching the one coming in/leaving

[Mystic]

Great shot Cascade

[exislegirl]

Another great shot!

Natalie

[dave]

ah more unripe birdies, I would say landing may be a bit tricky with a few oppurtunitys to have a hilarious shot!, very nice pics

[Shane V]

Totally agree Dave