Re: Hey Farml, Rob, David and All..

On Sat, 5 Apr 2008 15:30:44 +1000, "David Hare-Scott"
<compost@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>
><Charlie> wrote in message
news:vc3dv3p68vbutj0eu287j50m4d6dpjfdod@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> Temp and linear measurement conversion I can handle, with a converter
>> ;-), but after reading the previous thread on monetary conversions and
>> whatall.....fuhgeddaboutit.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Charlie
>>
>
>In a rush to be silly I left off anything practical.  Aside form the
obvious
>inversion of seasons the thing that you will find most foreign is the
climate.

Heh heh.......is not the silliness one of the benefits of the Usenet?

>
> Taking just the lower 48 the USA is overall much cooler than Oz.  There
is
>only a small part of Oz where it ever snows and much of that is
wilderness and
>we don't live there.  There is virtually no permanent snow in Australia. 
Much
>of the country is warm temperate and a fair bit sub-tropical or tropical.

And this surprises me.

>Also Australia is rather dry.  Much of it is dryland or desert but few of
us
>live there either.

This I have seen on a few docu-things...one of the most interesting was
about the "land-trains" and the wide expanses they traversed and the
towns and areas they serviced.  Another dealt with the rainy season in
an area in your north that was inacessable during the raintimes.  Damn,
I wish I could remember where and what that was about, perhaps it was
an article in National Geographic.

>Crocodile Dundee notwithstanding we are very urban, living mainly in big
>cities on the somewhat wetter coastal fringe.   We have a strange love
affair
>with the bush and popular culture will often idealise country people as
"real"
>Australians.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Heh heh, this is true.  Think Foster's beer commercials and Outback
Restaurant commercials in the US. ;-)  Myself, I ain't that fond of
Foster's.

>The soils are typically shallow and poor.  It is an old continent and
much of
>the indigenous plant life is adapted to low fertility soil that results. 
The
>soils on the coastal fringe can be better than the centre but good soil
is
>uncommon and usually found only by rivers as a result of alluvial
deposition.
>We are carefully making that soil unproductive anywhere near a big city
by
>turning it into housing developments where it grows grass that nothing
eats
>but the mower.

This destruction of soil by urbanization is a problem here as well.  In
fact, we colonized an incredibly rich land and proceeded to rape it to
the max.  Once rich farmland has been destroyed, through erosion,
rapacious farming practices, greed, you know the story.  The soil has
become seriously depleted in trace minerals and nutrients.  i don't
need to go into great detail, as I am sure you are aware of the story.

>Australia has a wealth of minerals, coal, iron ore and bauxite to name
some
>big 'ns.  Another way we destroy our best river valleys is to open cut
mine
>them for coal or we longwall mine them and f--- up the rivers.  This will
>continue while ever our Governments are addicted to the ex****t earnings
that
>pay for our im****ts and the royalties paid by the miners.  I hope that I
don't
>have to explain to my grandchildren the meaning of "you cannot eat coal"
but I
>fear it is likely.

'tis no different here, my friend.

And therein lies much of my angst and fear...what is being left to our
grandchildren.  I now have three and it breaks my heart visualizing
what they will suffer.

I often think of this quote, and I am not sure if the attribute is
correct,

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was
loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our
ancestors; we borrow it from our children." Ancient Indian Proverb.

It's sad that so few understand this.

>Despite such melancholy matters I count myself indeed fortunate to live
where
>I live.

Indeed you should, as should we all.

Thanks for the overview, David. 

Care
Charlie

PS...If rob shows, I owe him an apology.  I know he lives in NZ, just
overlooked this.  I trust he doesn't feel I pissed in his hat.  ;-)