Richmond-Windsor District flood March 1978–(pt. 2 of a series)

I grew up in Melbourne, and not once during my growing years did I ever encounter the devastation of a flood. This is despite the fact that Victoria had her share of floods during that same period. Places such as Echuca, Horsham and Shepparton were known to be flood prone. Even in my family tree, there is the death of a boy aged about 14 that was probably a drowning due to floods in Horsham (I need to verify that point).

However, things changed when I married and relocated to the Richmond-Windsor district. First of all, in 1977, when I was living in a unit in Richmond, there was a minor flood. This happened when I was away visiting my in-laws who were living at Port Macquarie at the time. Our top floor unit was flooded due to the debris on the roof. However, it was the following year that I ended up in the middle of a flood.

It was in March 1978 that we had a week of non-stop rains. I had a newborn son (my oldest) and we had arranged that he would be baptized at the Easter Vigil at our local church, St. Matthews, Windsor. Since my husband was in the RAAF at the time, we were expecting our relatives to arrive from both Melbourne and Newcastle in time for the Baptism. What happened though, is that the region became flooded because of the heavy rains.

My memory of the whole thing has faded over time, but I do remember that there had been several deaths. Two of those deaths were a couple whose vehicle had been washed away in Toongabbie. The one that I remember most, though, was in Windsor, where a teenage boy was electrocuted when his boat touched overhead electricity wires as he was attempting to rescue people. This accident happened somewhere near a tavern known as the Jolly Green Frog which is located close to McGrath’s Hill.

This flood occurred because Warragamba dam had been full to capacity due to the rains that NSW had that year. As a result of the heavy rain the flood gates were opened and there was a spill that flowed into the Hawkesbury River. The twin towns of Richmond-Windsor are located on the Hawkesbury River.  There are several other river tributaries including the Colo River. Windsor gets cut off at one end (heading towards Colo) and South Windsor also gets cut off. Richmond was also cut off from North Richmond (the other end of the town heading towards the Blue Mountains).  South Windsor has flood plains, and even though we were on high ground we were surrounded by flood waters. There were houses at the other end of Cox Street that were flooded. Behind our street there was a golf course, and it was flooded. At our end, of Cox Street the railway line had been cut off because of the flood waters. We were cut off from Blacktown, yet we could get to Penrith via one road that had not been cut off.

During this period my husband’s squadron at the RAAF base Richmond, had been detailed to help evacuate people from their flooded houses. They worked to help these people, yet those rescued were not exactly grateful for the help that they received.

What did I learn from being almost cut off because of the floods? I learned about the wisdom of Governor Macquarie who had designated what are known as the five Macquarie Towns.  What I learned is that the NSW government had released land in an area that was a known flood plain, and that the house that had been built on the flood plain were the ones affected. For the rest of us, we were safe from the effects of the floods. This is because our homes had been built according to the plan set out by Governor Macquarie.  In other words, in 1978 some of the devastation from that particular flood in the Richmond-Windsor district was avoidable.

What was seared in my memory, however, is that the flood was in part caused by the opening of the floodgates at Warragamba dam. In other words if the dam is too full when there is heavy rain then the floods themselves are inevitable.

The floods in Queensland prove that Globull Warmists talk rubbish pt. 1

Here in Australia we have several climate zones – in the north, which includes Queensland we have the tropical zone, in the middle of Australia such as in Sydney we have the temperate zone, and in Victoria and Tasmania for example we have a colder zone.   What is important about these zones is the fact that in the tropical zone, there are wet and dry seasons, rather than summer, autumn, winter and spring. 

Australia has just undergone yet another period of drought, but thanks to the rains that we have had since winter 2010 the drought has been broken. This is due to the El Nina effect which has hit Australia. It is nothing new, and it is a part of the normal weather cycle.

The Globull Warmists, or Watermelons love to peddle their scenarios about climate change, and now we have further proof that these Watermelons are nothing but scam artists. For example, Senator Bob Brown the leader of the Watermelon Party aka the Green Party, is attempting to lay blame for the devastating floods on the Queensland miners. The problem with that theory is that it is way off the mark.

The last time there were devastating floods in Brisbane was in 1974. As a result of these floods the Wivenhoe Dam was built. The building of this dam was supposed to mitigate the effects of a severe flood, but it did not – why? I will cover that in a later article.

The Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, has announced that there will be a Royal Commission into the devastating floods. This is good news, because there is a real need to examine how the devastation happened.

I have some of my own theories about why this year has been so bad. My theories are based upon what I believe to be a lack of real judgment in decision-making, including the failure of the SEQ water authority to release water from Wivenhoe Dam in a timely fashion. Since the flooding was so vast, there are many stories and articles that need to be followed up.

In the meantime, here is a video that shows the ferocity of the floods:

check out the ferocity of the flow of water as cars are left swirling in the water.

Guess who might be considering profiling at airports despite cries from the usual suspects.

Here is yet another informative article in Der Spiegel regarding airport security. This one is quite surprising, yet it shows that at least some Germans do get it: that lining up innocent people, making them remove shoes for no good reason, and to place their laptops in a separate container is nothing more than a waste of time which clogs up the security checks as people head towards their flights.

Der Spiegel writes:

German airports are considering assigning passengers to risk categories based on their age and ethnicity, and checking them accordingly, under a proposal by the designated head of the country's airports federation. Critics say the move would foment racism, breach anti-discrimination laws and fail to boost security.

The article goes on to state that the system under consideration is profiling as implemented by the Israelis. It also points out the Britain looks like adopting the same procedure….. interesting… did you hear that Janet and TSA?  Looks like you are out of step with the rest of the world.

Here is the money quote from Blume as to why he is considering this move:

"Every new incident leads to further checks and security measures. This creates a security spiral in terms of new technical equipment which at some point will reach its technical and operational limits."

Do people really think that there will be another shoe bomber? Will a Catholic, or a Lutheran, or a Presbyterian decide to use a bit of PETN in his or her shoes in order to cause an explosion? Personally, I would expect such behaviour from an Anarchist, but I would not expect a Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Sikh, or a Jew to be involved in a plot to blow up an aircraft.

Being realistic, the threats have come from one source, but different countries. Even when they talk of British nationals, or French and German nationals, one has to look a bit deeper to see that these are naturalized citizens who have migrated from countries that are dominated by the religion of Peas.

How many men and women who like to knit, crochet, tat or do embroidery, are likely to use their knitting needles, embroidery or wool needles, embroidery scissors, or crochet hooks, or heaven forbid a tatting shuttle for such nefarious purposes as the hijack of an aircraft. If such a crime ever eventuates then I will eat my words, but until then, I think that those restrictions are not necessary.

The German proposal is that the passengers be profiled according to their background and their travel habits. The intending passengers will be directed down three security entrances. Obviously, some passengers will end up being checked more thoroughly, and I would expect that any naturalized German with the obvious profile would be checked more thoroughly. Most will be innocent of any wrong-doing but if there are any with suspicious contacts then yes, they should get the full treatment. In that way those members of the religion of Peas who are not involved in Jihad activity will be free to travel without suspicion being cast upon them, and the rest of the travellers will not have to put up with the inconvenience of unnecessary and reactive measures.

Denmark spoils the fun of some intending terrorists.

The group of terrorists arrested in Copenhagen had plans to seek revenge for the publishing of the Mo the Paedophile cartoons.  It seems that they are denying that they had any intention of doing such a thing. However, the special forces involved with counter-terrorism would not have swooped upon these Muslim Jihadist fanatics if they did not suspect that their plans were about to be put in motion.

 

Der Spiegel has an interesting article on the alleged terrorists, as well as their probable links to David Headley who was involved in the planning of the Mumbai massacre.

 

Danish and Swedish authorities are currently investigating links to the attempted plot by David Headley. Der Spiegel relates:

 

“What is known is that authorities in Sweden and Denmark are currently investigating whether there are any connections to the so-called "Mickey Mouse Project." That terror plot, which was also cantered on Jyllands-Posten, was foiled with the arrest of David Headley, a United States citizen of Pakistani origin, at an airport in Chicago in October 2009.

There is a likelihood that the plan foiled on Wednesday was at least inspired by Headley's plot. Indeed, both apparent plots bear strong similarities.

For his part, Headley was operating on behalf of top terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri. The Pakistani is the head of his own terror group, Harakat ul-Jihad Islami. In addition, he has close and very explosive connections to the terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LiT) and al-Qaida. Initially, Headley also served on behalf of LiT and scouted targets for them that would eventually be attacked in the terror strikes in Mumbai in November 2008. Headley had also filmed the site of an attack in the Indian city of Pune before a bomb exploded there -- in front of a German bakery. Kashmiri later claimed responsibility for the attack”

 

You can read more here

Thwarting Terrorism the English way–Proactive vs. Reactive pt. 3

In the UK twelve people from different ethnic backgrounds were arrested on the grounds that they were planning a terrorist strike. You can read about the story here. The potential targets included:

• the American Embassy;
• Big Ben;
• Westminster Abbey;
• the London Eye;
• the Church of Scientology;
• Boris Johnson’s London Mayoral Office;
• the British Stock Exchange;
• the house of the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral;
• two synagogues

It looks like the group were planning something on the scale of the Mumbai massacre, targeting well-known sites and slipping in their possible real targets – the synagogues. Their intention was obviously to cause mayhem and to kill as many people as possible.

The special terrorism unit had uncovered written evidence of possible sites, as well as observing the group on their reconnaissance missions around London.

The 9 defendants, of Bangladeshi origin have been charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion.

Police involved in rounding up the group uncovered copies of the extremist Al Qaeda magazine “Inspire” which included instructions on how to make a pipe bomb and what to expect in Jihad.

It is said that the extremist American-Yemeni Anwar Al-Awlaki was the inspiration for the plot. The men were said to have downloaded information from the Internet, discussed acts of terrorism and tested explosives while “unlawfully and maliciously conspiring to endanger life or cause serious injury with one or more explosions”.

A few months ago I remember hearing of the warning that someone was plotting a major terrorism act. Amongst the listed targets was the Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace, and I believe from memory that either Prince William or Prince Harry were listed as possible targets at that time. I am assuming that those warnings are related to the arrests and arraignment of the 9 suspects that has now taken place.

What we see here is the results of a proactive terrorism squad. The squad does its work through surveillance. Once the plotters are identified they are watched and observed as they plan their attacks. In this case the surveillance included following the “target” suspects as the suspects were seen observing various locations for their plot.

The reactive responses to previous terror attempts do not work. There is no point to many of the measures that have been implemented when it comes to travel. If the plot has been thwarted there is no point in banning liquids being taken on board, and there is no point to banning such articles as: embroidery scissors, blunt ended wool needles, knitting needles, or even nail clippers, let alone umbrellas. Ordinary travellers are not going to use any of these items as an offensive weapon. The response to the use of the box-cutters by the 9/11 hijackers and jihadists is irrational. It is the same with the irrational requirement that passengers travelling inside of the USA must remove their shoes to go through the metal detector.

The worst of the reactive responses is the latest assault on the American travelling public namely the full TSA grope. It is not necessary to pat down those passengers. Little old men and women are not carrying bombs. Women who have had a breast removed are not going to be wearing a breast implant with a bomb inside. Neither are those men and women who have had colostomies and other similar operations. There is no need to pat down people with knee and hip replacements. If they have a letter proving that they have had these operations then they should not be molested by the TSA.

If the USA is serious about countering terrorists then they need to change their tactics and they need to stick with counter-terrorist surveillance. More terrorists have been caught via the counter-terrorist surveillance than all of the stupid restrictions at airports. Several groups of would be terrorists have been caught because of their purchase of “parts” from the ACME explosives company. The last group to have been caught purchasing ACME equipment came from Maryland. 

The increased surveillance should include security cameras in vulnerable areas such as the railway stations, but it should not include the stupid bag and body searches that are now the in thing at the airports.