Space – Race – Surely we can do better this time around

It’s Sunday, May 31 2020.

It proved an interesting morning

After waking for a music special starting at 4am, I then watched the Space X Falcon 9 rocket launch a pair of American astronauts in to space.

Like many children of the 1960’s I was a little obsessed with the Space program and closely followed the Gemini and Apollo missions culminating in the moon landings.

In the minds of the broader U.S and world communities, the finals years of the 1960’s were the halcyon days of human space flight.

The Space X launch today was being ‘billed’ as a return to those Halcyon days.

To the days when engineers, designers and scientists were hailed as heroes, the calmness of Mission Control Operators exhalated with the true stars being the Astronauts. As they all were today too.

We are sending American’s in to space at the end of the 2020’s, as we were at the end of the 1960’s.

Similarly, now, as at the end of the 1960’s, American Cities are subject to the anger and frustration expressed by way of protests turning in violent and destructive riots by people who feel deprived, oppressed and persecuted based on their race.

I am not there, and cannot pretend to understand the feelings of the protestors or the feelings of those being protested about or against.

I am a white male of a mildly privileged background who has never been subjected to real or perceived oppression, deprivation or persecution and cannot pretend to understand the feelings of the protestors or the feelings of those being protested about or against.

I have never wanted for educational, business, social or transactional opportunities and as such, cannot pretend to understand how those that feel denied such opportunities feel, or how those perceived to have denied them such opportunities feel.

 

I can imagine or pretend to imagine how it feels, but I can not know how it feels.

It is too simplistic to blame the situation unfolding on the streets of American cities on the current federal administration. It is not four years in the making. It is the product of decades of policy and funding failure by Federal, State and Municipal administrators of both red and blue colours. Let’s call it a purple problem.

America made history when successfully launching Astronaut Alan Sheppard in to Space aboard a Mercury – Redstone Rocket on 1 May 1961.

This was the first major step towards landing an Astronaut on the moon.

Today, Astronauts’ Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley became the first to be launched in to space aboard the Space X Falcon 9 rocket developed for commercial purposes.

This is the first major step towards achieving the Space X objective of sending humans to Mars.

Personally, as a space junkie, I hope this is achieved.

More importantly, as a member of the society of the world, I hope the Americans' we land on Mars leave from a country that is united in all its people. I hope the country they depart from is one where fairness is such a given it is never discussed and where opportunities in education, employment, medical treatment and human decency are overtly equal for all.

And may the rest of the world have followed the example.

And selfishly, I hope I am here to see it, all of it.

Who wants to watch with me?

Colin Morley

PS – Usual Covid -19 Blog Post will be out on 2 June this week

 

 

Border Disputes, German Engineering and Saved by Football

Monday 25 May 2020  8.20 am

There is a debate evolving in Australia concerning the continued closing of state borders.

 

Put simply, all Australian States and Territories closed borders as part of their Covid-19 infection containment strategy accept Victoria and New South Wales. Australian Capital territory has since re-opened its border but all others remain closed.

 

My focus is on Queensland

 

Taking a safety first approach to closing the border was perfectly understandable. At the time, we had little understanding of the likely numbers of infections or resulting deaths. The medical advice was sound and the State Government took decisive action.

 

It was understood and accepted that businesses and their employees would be severely affected and all were encouraged to utilise financial support programs established federally.

 

The growing argument to open the border is based primarily on economic needs. Queensland is a largely tourist based economy and school holidays loom. Tour operators, accommodation owners, restaurateurs, café and bar proprietors and all associated businesses need tourism and need the borders to open in order to re-establish themselves.

 

In my opinion, the economy is not the reason we should open the border.

 

I believe the border should be open because on balance, it is safe to do so.

Social distancing requirements apply equally in all States and various levels of crowd restrictions are also in place.

It makes little difference if there is 1.5 metres separating two locals as if separating a visitor from Cairns and one from Canberra.

 

New infection rates range from very low to zero and the reality is, this will likely be the case for many, many months to come.

 

I believe it is time to re-open the Queensland Border because on balance, it is safe to do so. It just so happens, the economy will benefit and that a very good thing too.

 

How Good Is Germany?

We all respect German engineering and precision so it was of little surprise to see both qualities applied by a café owner to ensure a safe dining experience. Is it possible the initiative at Café Rothe in Schwerin, Germany will generate a shortage of pool noodles? (Photo lifted from Insider.com – here is the original report)

Football (Soccer) saves the internet *

 

Internet traffic typically increases by about 3% month on month. As the various versions of isolation and lockdown kicked in across the world, internet traffic increased 30% in March alone.

 

Up to 30% of all internet traffic passes through more than 275000 servers in 136 countries operated by an organisation called Akamai based in Massachusetts.

 

As might be expected, Akamai are constantly looking forward at likely spikes in traffic and adjusting capacity accordingly. However, the had no way of predicting the Covid-19 shutdown and resulting increases.

 

However, they did foresee a traffic spike due to the European Football Championships which of course, did not go ahead and expanded their capacity accordingly.

 

So when we successfully complete another Zoom meeting or download that must see episode, we should also thank the world game

 

*Source The Hustle Daily Newsletter 1 May 2020. The Hustle is interesting, often amusing and occasionally eclectic daily reading. If interested, here is a link to subscribe https://thehustle.co/?ref=7ad36b3fbc

 

As for Podcasts, I have enjoyed the first 2 episodes of the latest series of the The Greatest Season That Was as it explores the 40 years of impact of Australian Rules Football in the United States.

 

My reading this week will be a little different.

 

Thanks to a list curated by Author, Writer, Speaker James Clear, I am going to read one of the “great speeches of all time” each day. Here is the the article containing the links to the speeches.

 

And I conclude with a couple of thoughts.

 

Alarm clocks are perhaps the only device that annoy equally when they work as when they do not

 

For something that is 70% water, us humans have very poor fire resistance.

 

Stay safe, remain diligent and helpful and, thank you for the feedback last week.

 

Colin Morley

The Other, Less Discussed Pandemic

Monday 18 May 2010  4.50am

Covid-19 is awful.

It is highly contagious, debilitating for many, and lives are lost.

There is no sustainable medical cure and no vaccine. It is non-discriminatory. Covid-19 infects royalty as it does the disadvantaged.

It is a pandemic the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Spanish Flu.

There is a clear pathway for those impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pathway includes triage followed by a decision as to the need for hospitalisation, intensive care or home quarantine all backed up by a regime of testing.

For those who cannot work, Jobkeeper is allowing a semblance of financial normality while support and relief options are in place in the hope businesses may recover, re-open and resume employment.

Be it medical or economic initiatives, all are in place with overall united support from all points of the political compass.

Then there is what I am calling the other pandemic, one that has been inflicting hardship, pain and death throughout our communities for years counted in decades. This pandemic has also united all points of our political compass be it by way of apathy and inaction cloaked in the camouflage of occasional outbreaks of targeted, strategically timed statements and speeches, public appearances and photo opportunities.

I am talking Domestic Abuse and I am referring to it as a pandemic.

Domestic Abuse has many, if not all of the Covid-19 characteristics. First and foremost, it strikes without discrimination. If impacts all races, religions and all social, religious, educational, economic and geographical demographics.

Domestic Abuse victims also recover at home essentially in isolation, in hospitals including intensive care as need be and victims may also lose their life.

Just like Covid-19.

Our political leaders and media commentators have expressed concern at the impact isolation is having on Domestic Abuse. They are even suggesting addressing the issue.

What rubbish.

No victim is feeling any more fearful now than they were in January. What is needed now, was needed before Covid-19. The only difference is increased opportunity for abuse by perpetrators already inclined to do so.

If only our politicians were as quick and decisive in responce to the Domestic Abuse pandemic as to the Covid-19 challenges.

My isolation allows time to consider this and much more too.

First of all, we can all see the impacts of Covid-19. The number of cases, fatalities and tests are broadcast pretty much every hour of every day.

Politicians hold press briefings daily and answer questions about the pandemic. In fact, they dismiss any non Covid-19 related questions.

Politicians, like everyone else, understand and feel the economic impact of businesses being shuttered and incomes being reduced. There is also an easy response. Provide money and support to people and businesses.

However, our politicians do not, and largely cannot understand Domestic Abuse.

The overwhelming majority of politicians are men.

'Us' Men fall in to two categories when considering Domestic Abuse.

The first category are those men who perform acts of Domestic Abuse. I have read numerous reports and studies that suggest a staggering one in eight of us men commit acts of Domestic Abuse.

The second category are those men who do not and have not committed acts of Domestic Abuse.

The fundamental problem is, those men in the first category certainly do not want to address the issue so stay silent and;

Those in the second category simply do not understand how anyone could commit such atrocities. Worse still, the second category routinely argue the abused should just leave, walk away, remove themselves from the situation, take control, protect themselves and other similar rhetoric.

Logically, I will know a male who is a Domestic Abuser. I do not know who they are but on the basis of the numbers, I must know someone who is.

Logically, I will also know women who are victims of Domestic Abuse. In several cases, I know who they are and in two cases, I have had conversations, sad, terrifying conversations with them about this.

In all the cases I have personal knowledge of, the victims share common traits and qualities.

They are all highly educated and overtly intelligent. They are all superb communicators, verbally and written. They are all highly successful in their chosen careers and are all strong and independent. They are also all now in second or subsequent loving, supporting and successful relationships and are all Mothers.

Likewise, the two I have spoken to, all express the fear and helplessness they felt causing an inability to leave, the financial and social control imposed upon them and a real concern for their life and the lives of their children.

It is understandable that so little changes in the providing of support pathways for Domestic Abuse victims when the policy and decisions makers are dominated by men like me who cannot understand or even imagine the true impact and challenges faced.

We quite rightly unlock funds to implement Jobkeeper and Business support programs to help us through the economic and societal impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is way past time we unlocked funds to provide a safe physical pathway for Domestic Abuse victims and made these widely known by way of an ongoing multi media advertising campaign. The objective being that everyone knows what action they can take to be provided support and help, the number to call, the email address or direct message to use, even a safe or code word to use to a Doctor, Dentist, Pharmacist, Community Care Professional or Police Officer.

It is also past time to fund financial support programs so victims can transition to independent lives knowing they are not trapped in a dangerous living arrangement due to a lack of financial resources.

I would argue the primary differences between the Pandemic of Covid-19 and the Pandemic of domestic abuse is there is a readily available medical and financial treatment for victims of the later, perhaps even calling it a vaccine of sorts.

A final point if I may.

Whenever I write about Domestic Abuse or dysfunctional behaviour towards women, I receive many comments and messages mostly of a critical and almost abusive nature. Many also follow a similar theme.

When commenting or messaging I provide the following information:

Be assured, I do know there are also male victims of Domestic Violence. Like you, I also know these are in the significant, hugely significant minority.

Similarly, like you, I know that domestic violence related deaths of Women are frightening and are of numbers in Australia that far outweigh the current fatality threat of Covid-19 in this country.

Finally, be they positive, supportive or otherwise, I long ago determined I would not publish comments that are submitted on the blog. Notwithstanding, I do read and appreciate the engagement.  

Given the seriousness of todays musings, I will leave the frivolity of a book and podcast discussions for another week.

Stay safe, stay diligent and keep caring for each other.

Colin Morley

Sometimes the F Bomb is Appropriate

Monday 11 May 2020  5.42am

Let’s begin today with something to think about in the form of a quote from Austrian neurologist psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom

Today, I find myself battling the urge to be angry.

There is a difference between annoyed and being angered by something or someone. Anger is a little like hatred, it has a greater negative impact of the portrayer of the emotion than the recipient of it.

Even my annoyance levels have changed over time. I now aim for mildly annoying which is much easier to dismiss than the real thing.

So why is today the day where anger threatens?

Let’s look at the bunch of sportspeople who contravened quarantine in Adelaide. In doing so they may have threatened the immediate future of their sport and the employment of thousands of people, but that is not what is potentially angering me.

They may also have set a disgraceful example as to how to act and behave safely which if followed by others, could lead to Covid 19 infections. This may be stupidity or even arrogance but it doesn’t anger me as such.

What has the potential to trigger my anger is the excuse being offered on their behalf that they are young men and may not have understood the rules that were to apply to them – all 16 of them.

FFS – what if we said to all 18 to 23-year-old males, “its ok, you are young and don’t understand”?

What if we said, “you may be adults and carry the legal responsibility that goes along with that but hey, we won’t hold you accountable for the accident you caused because you had too much alcohol before driving”?.

Just because these Men can run a bit better than most and kick and catch a ball does not remove their personal responsibility to society.

To suggest an 18 to 23 year old is incapable of accepting responsibility for themselves and others is ludicrous. To understand young Men accepting and understanding responsibility, have a chat to a Vietnam Veteran. After all, in many cases they were drafted against their wishes and sent to fight a war.  They were only 19 (on average).

And today, a 19 year old is deemed incapable to understanding 14 day quarantine.

I will instead choose to be disappointed and to remember there are many highly capable and responsible people under the age of 23.

But that’s not all, the British Government announced mandatory quarantine for anyone flying in to the United Kingdom from all countries except Northern Ireland. It has only taken the death of 30000 residents to have them do what many other countries have had in place for a month or more.

But, to offset this, they are replacing the “Stay at Home” instruction with the suggestion that people should “Stay Alert”.

WTF are they staying alert to? “Excuse me Officer, you might want to investigate the child over there with a running nose”

What does it mean? It seems they don’t really know but it is a nice slogan.

But is it worth anger?  Instead, I will remind myself that many countries are adopting vastly different approaches when protecting their residents. The approach in Australia and New Zealand are reasonably similar and entirely different to Sweden. The USA and UK are adopting different strategies also. I will remind myself that it is only in retrospect we will know what actually worked best.

Moving on:

My coffee bean delivery finally arrived. A big thank you to everyone who made contact and offered to drop off an emergency supply of beans to tide me over – to both of you, thank you.

Nick Earls is an Author I enjoy, despite rarely reading fiction

Through following him on Twitter, I picked up he was appearing on a Podcast and listened accordingly.

It was a funny and interesting discussion about the challenges facing authors seeking an audience.

I have since listened to an episode of the same Podcast where the conversation is with both Jane Harper and Karina Kilmore.

The Podcast is The First Time hosted by authors’ Katherine Collette and Kate Mildenhall and I highly recommend it.

I enjoyed last week’s book. It certainly talked about the trials and tribulations of a not very talented or fast endurance runner however, what I found most interesting was the relationship between the Author’s career evolution as a writer to his running. I have an interest in running and writing and suspect the book would be hard to enjoy if neither is an interest.

I have a number of things on my agenda this coming week so will not commit to reading something new.

May we all remain diligent, safe, healthy and caring, and even more as a we start to open up schools and businesses. Finally, may you enjoy your coffee while wisely using the space between stimulus and response.

Colin Morley

PS - On a personal note, my thoughts are with life long friend and habitual rascal Ted S as he undergoes serious surgery tomorrow. See you soon in Melbourne as we plan another Eildon reunion.

Living in a Ghost Town, Mojo Chasing, Pasta and Plastic – another week in isolation

Monday 4 May 2020   6.27am

 

Let’s cast our mind back a few weeks to a time when shopping became a sport as the competition for a packet of lasagne sheets, jar of pasta source or roll of toilet paper was as intense as any we see in our professional sporting codes.

 

Remember the Prime Minister and other Leaders begging, almost lecturing us to “cease and desist” stock piling goods? We were told “Panic Buying is stupid”.

We produce more food than we consume, exporting the excess. Likewise, evidence was provided confirming our local toilet paper manufacturing more than meets our needs.

 

All of this is true. So why are some supermarket shelves still empty now the panic buying has long passed?

 

What we do not have, and what threatens our food supply chain is packaging.

We have an almost total reliance on international supplies for the packaging in to which our locally produced foods is placed. The tin for the can of fruit and the resins that make the plastic for our milk containers all come from overseas, mainly China. All our plastic packaging is reliant on overseas supply chains.

 

Highly sophisticated, “just in time” based warehousing and supermarket delivery systems mean only 30 days supplies of goods are in the system at any one time.

 

The real threat to running out of basic produce was not our ability to produce food or make toilet paper. It was and is the reliance on disrupted international supplies of the packaging that make our produce supermarket ready.

 

Maybe stockpiling was not as silly as it seemed?

 

More importantly, maybe we can look at alternatives to plastic as our packaging of preference?

 

Important as our national food supply chain may be, there is something else causing me significantly more concern.

 

I have finally succumbed, it’s got me.

 

After 4, or is it 6 weeks of being overtly cautious, I am forced to concede to forces seemingly outside my control.

 

Despite meticulous planning, conscious foresight and diligent self education to live my best and safest life in isolation, I have still been struck down.  

 

I have fallen victim to that mildly annoying, hardly hideous and almost irrelevant syndrome of all.  

 

I have that common affliction of the mildly privileged.

 

I have a first world problem.

 

I have run out of coffee beans.

 

A change in my supplier’s delivery arrangements means the time between order and receipt is longer than usual, all exacerbated by it being a public holiday where I live.

 

Do I risk all, break isolation and seek out an alternative bean?

 

Do I go without?

 

Yes, a first world problem bathed in irrelevance.

 

Moving on:

 

What about those Rolling Stones?   

 

Pandemic inspiration sees their first original music release since 2012 and in many countries raced to the top of the streaming charts.

 

If you want to do yourself a favour, here is Living in a Ghost Town from the Rolling Stones.

 

Just a warning, if you have adverse reactions to strobe like images, I am not sure the video will appeal.

 

And to the world of literature:

 

This week, I will be reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running a memoir by Haruki Murakami translated by Philip Gabriel. This book comes to me with both a high recommendation and a clear assurance it is much more than a repetitive dialogue about one person’s long distance running endeavours. Further, I am told an interest in running is not required to enjoy and take something meaningful from the book.

 

If that doesn’t seem appealing, and I understand why it may not, I suggest Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler. The book covers the 1000 year story of Constantinople and is one of the best, most compelling books I read in 2018.

 

A quick comment about last weeks (fortnights) book, the Once While Travelling  - The Lonely Planet Story. It is a generally engaging read although I felt it maybe 50 or so pages too long. The interesting learnings are “do the work” and “if you wait until everything is ready, you will never be ready”.

 

My podcast recommendation for the week is “The Mojo Radio Show”.

 

This is a weekly podcast hosted by Gary Bertwistle who among other things was a 2018 Australian of the Year finalist. Each episode is centred around a long form interview preceded and followed by some fun banter.

 

The The Mojo Radio Show describes itself as follows:

 

We interview todays leading lights in every area of our lives.... health, fitness, creativity, wellness, strategy, brand, performance, and management. If it’s helping us towards our dreams and a better life... we will cover it for you.

 

It is a weekly must listen of mine and one that requires concentrated listening. It may also take a couple of episodes to get the rhythm of the pod and it is worth looking at their past shows too.

And a thought to contemplate.

We typically want our fiction to be believable and our non fiction to be unbelievable  *

 

Stay happy, stay safe, remain supportive of others and accept the support of others, and enjoy your coffee while you can

 

Colin Morley


*Quoted from The Hustle