Some statistics have been released which, if correct, maye you wonder what’s happening over in ‘dear old blighty’. The figures released imply that 1 in 9 people living in Britain were born ‘overseas’. Globalisation, cheap travel, easy migration and wide differences in living standards have encouraged people to move in ever greater numbers from place … More What does it mean to be "British"?
The fires are not yet out… the death toll not finalised… and Melbourne suffers another blow as projections of some of the long term issues become clearer. This time the problem is water supply. Rainfall in the catchment area for Melbourne is already at its lowest on record, and the dams are currently only at … More From bad to worse.
The death toll currently still stands at 181 but there are areas yet to be accessed by police and there are known dead waiting to be moved and counted amongst those lost. The end total is still estimated at ‘300’ but it will be some time before anything like a final ‘exact official figure’ can … More Death toll etc.
Police have arrested a 39 year old man in connection with the blaze that killed 21 people and wiped out 36,000 hectares of South Gippsland. The man’s solicitor said his client was “in a fragile state” and needed immediate psychological support. Police consider the cause of fires started at Marysville, Murrindindi, Buxton and Narbethong to be ‘suspicious’. … More The first arrest.
Theories are beginning to be mooted about the causes of the Victorian Bushfire Disaster, and whilst they are many and varied it appears nearly all contain an element of ‘truth’ about them that could explain just what went so horribly wrong. To make it a little simplet. it’s useful to look at the situation in … More Firebugs or Natural Disasters or… ?
The kids went out in the garden a weeks or so ago and found an old bowl we’d been using under a tap as an extra water source for our dogs. Over the months it managed to develop a hole a few cms from the bottom so was pushed to one side. Still, it does hold … More The environmentalist.
The fires in Victoria are still burning though some overnight rain has given the firefighters some chance of finally gaining a measure of control over the course of the twenty-one blazes they are currently dealing with. Currently no more homes are under threat, as far as we’re aware but of course the clean-up has yet … More The wheel turns.
We’re relative newcomers to Australia having only been here 15 years or so, but ‘new’ or not we *feel* Australian, which is really strange when you think just how*huge* this country is. What brought it into perspective was the concern we feel here in Sydney for our fellows down South in Victoria where they are … More Soul of a Nation
So here we are again after the long summer break raring to go with a load of topics to discuss. Yet what a place to begin. With the possibility of 300 or more people dead in the worst bush-fires Australia has seen hanging over us it’s hard to restart the blog with anything positive. That … More And… we're back.
We’re a scruffy bunch here sometimes. For example, I like a bit of ‘wildness’ in the garden and so apart from throwing handfuls of slug pellets out now and then I tend not to do much in the way of pest control. Likewise I do *very* little pruning in some areas. Once such area is … More They're coming!!
The Eclectic Interweb 