Uta says: First my comment to this article. Can anybody please tell me, why on earth Australians should not be worried about the safety of the submarines until 2040?!! It gave me a shock, to hear about all this a few minutes ago on the 7.30 Program!!
Former submariners with over 500 years of collective service in the Royal Australian Navy are warning a newer version of the Collins-class boat is needed as a stopgap measure before the AUKUS nuclear-powered boats start hitting the water in the 2040s.
Key points:
The Collins-class submarines are due to start getting major upgrades from the mid-2020s to extend their life
A group of submariners are pushing to find a replacement sub that can be used until the nuclear subs arrive
The Swedish designer of the Collins class says it is happy to help Australia with a newer model
The veterans, who have served on Australia’s current submarines and the predecessor Oberon-class, are urging Defence to consider building an interim boat based on the Swedish-designed Collins to address a looming capability gap.
In an “Expression of Grave Concern”, the group argues: “Australia must keep the Collins submarines running until 2040+ or acquire some new conventional submarines:”
“The fact is that arguably both must be done, or the Collins submarines will be retiring at age 45 and beyond.
“It’s reasonable to ask whether they would still be safe to operate, let alone whether they should be used in a fight. This would be very poor value for money.
“Getting on urgently the Collins life extension and building more submarines are both necessary for sustaining today’s submarine capability and preparing industry and Navy for nuclear submarines.”
Lew, thank you very, very much for writing in great detail your views on a great number of things. It makes me think about my views about the present situation not only in the USA but also about what it is like in Australia, my adopted country. 🙂
Actually, I would like to reblog this post of yours, and think about it a bit more, before I start making some comments about it, I feel, you raise a lot of issues, that can lead to very interesting discussions! 🙂
I would for instance like to ask you, with the voting system the way it operates in your country, how can your ‘independent’ views be recognized by the politicians in power? 🙂 Do you mean, you vote for one of the major parties as a compromise?
Our very recent Federal Elections here in Australia did bring major changes to what people were able to be voting for, meaning it looks like there is a chance now for holding politicians more to account! 🙂
“Something that confirms all fears and many conspiracy theories about government is finding out what our elected representatives would put into law if they could.” ~ P. J. O’Rourke[1].
Rather than avoiding discussions involving politics, religion, or sex as generally recommended, I enjoy talking about them – as long as civility is maintained; especially with someone who does not share my opinions. If someone agrees with me, we simply reinforce what each of us already believe and neither of us learns anything from the other. One of the problems today is that too many people associate only within their own political tribe. I am realistic in that I do not actually expect to change someone’s opinion. I accept that and will never vilify them on that basis (regardless of what I might actually think).
I copy here my above ‘Private’ Diary Post from Saturday, 25th 0f April 2020:
‘Everyone has by now some idea about the Coronavirus. It definitely has brought a lot of changes to our lives. How will all this end? Nobody knows for sure. We may have some ideas how it might end. However we cannot really know it, not exactly . . .
I think back to World War Two. Eighty years ago at this time of the year we had already eight months of war behind us. I was still only five years old. School started after Easter. But I was not allowed to go. I was considered to be still too young!
Our war in Germany ended on the 8th of May 1945. By then I was a ten year old. I emigrated to Australia in April 1959 with my husband and two daughters who were five months and sixteen months old. I left fourteen postwar years in Germany behind and started a new life in Australia. My dear little family did thrive in Australia. We did not make it to become rich. But we had a life in Australia, a good life. Neither Peter, my husband, nor I ever regretted our move to Australia. Yes, Australia has been very good to us!
Over the years we made a number of visits to our old country. We were amazed how prosperous Germany had become. Still, we were always glad to be going back to Australia. Four years ago, at the beginning of June, Peter and I made our last trip to Germany. Most of the time we stayed in Berlin, our home-town. Our son Martin had come with us and stayed with us, which was good. At the same time our daughter Caroline had come to Berlin with Matthew. They loved to get to know this interesting city. However on short notice they suddenly had to leave: Daughter Caroline had been called to Darwin on a job opportunity.
Towards the end of June daughter Monika had come to Berlin with all her tribe, that is with Natasha who is one of her daughters, and also with her twin sons, Troy and Ryan, as well as Ryan’s Partner Ebony and their sons Lucas and Alexander. They were on a tour from London to Paris to Switzerland to Berlin, where they stayed for nine days only, and then back to London, touring England a bit and then back home to Australia.
Why I mention our stay in Berlin four years ago is because that is where Peter first noticed something wrong with his bladder: Often he could hardly make it to the toilet on time! He always had to run, run, run to the toilet. A few weeks later in Australia a test showed that there was a tumour in his bladder!
For two years Peter received BCG treatment at Wollongong Hospital.
(BCG stands for Bacille Calmette Guerin. BCG is a weakened (attenuated) version of a bacteria called Mycobacterium bovis which is closely related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the agent responsible for tuberculosis. … BCG is also used as an adjuvant to stimulate the immune response and in cancer chemotherapy.)
Peter ended up with a battery of specialists: Urologists, an oncologist, cardiologists, a skin specialist, a dentist, hearing specialists, an optometrist and an ophthalmologist.
About two years ago heart bypass surgery was suggested because of Peter’s blocked arteries to the heart. Because of Peter’s brittle bones and his advanced age Peter decided he did not want any bypass surgery.
Recently Peter ended up in Wollongong Hospital with severe kidney pain. After successful surgery to drain the kidney and the insertion of a stent to the bladder the pain is gone. But Peter gets off and on severe back pain. Sitting in a comfortable easy chair usually helps him to immediately get rid of the pain. Also when he lies down on his side, the pain does go away instantly. However some Ex-ray revealed now, that Peter has the start of bone-cancer, which means that his bladder cancer has spread further.’
With the bone cancer spreading, Peter had no chance of survival. Peter died on Saturday, the 12.12.2020. For the last few weeks of his life he was given palliative care at home with daughters Monika and Caroline, as well as son-in-law Matthew and son Martin doing all the necessary caring with me mostly just sitting by his site.
After we had returned from our Berlin visit in 2016, I thought I would never again be able to go for another visit to Berlin. Surprise, surprise, it so happened, I did visit Berlin again in May of this year! We, my daughters and I, as well as one granddaughter, had just ten full days in Berlin. But I was able to see a lot of family and friends during this short stay in Berlin. So, I was glad, that I was given this chance for another visit.
Lyrics: Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon Show me slowly what I only know the limits of Oh dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the wedding now, oh dance me on and on Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long We’re both of us beneath our love, we’re both of us above Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the children who are asking to be born Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn Dance me to the end of love Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in Touch me with your naked hand, touch me with your glove Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love Dance me to the end of love.
0:36 / 6:06
Mix – Leonard Cohen
YouTube
Leonard Cohen – Bird On The Wire (Live in London)
Lyrics: Like a bird on a wire Like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free Like a worm on the hook Like a knight from some old-fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee And if I have been unkind I hope that you will just let it go by And if I have been untrue I hope you know it was never to you Like a babe stillborn Like a beast with his horn I have torn everyone who reached out for me But I swear by this song And by all that I have done wrong I will make it all up to thee I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch He said to me: “You must not ask for so much” And the pretty woman leaning in her darkened door She cried to me: “Hey, why not ask for more?” Like a bird on the wire Like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free.
Cameron Stewart says, that the unvaccinated at some point will have to be reintegrated into mainstream life.
I am going to get my second vaccination with Astra Zeneca on Sunday, 17th of October 2021. A few days ago I turned 87. Of course, at my age, I am not free of underlying health conditions. And, of course, we have quite a few experts in Australia who could testify to this. Our decision makers in government in this country claim, that all their decisions are made on the advice of experts for the good of all Australians. So, the advice is, that just about everybody should be fully vaccinated, and that the available vaccines are totally safe. They do admit, that even if you had your two doses of vaccines and are regarded as being ‘fully’ vaccinated, you can still catch the virus in a milder form, and this is…
Down the Adelaide Central Market, between Marino’s butchers and the Samtass fish market, there is a walk-through breezeway to Gouger Street. Years ago there was an arcade type stall there selling second-hand books..it was run by a bloke in his fifties, if I recall…I used to browse there when I was going past.
At the end nearest the street, there was a tray holding hundreds and hundreds of these …”penny dreadfuls” I suppose you’d call them…not even with a cardboard cover, but just some lurid pic on paper with around 50 pages or so stapled in a folded booklet type thing. Many of them so old and dog-eared as to be almost a throwaway item..
I asked the man behind the stall there about them..
“What are all these scribbled, tags inside the front cover?” I asked.
“That’s the personal initial or tag to identify that…
“Located at 5 Crown Lane Wollongong, Kneading Ruby offers authentic woodfire pizzas & bespoke dishes made to share. Produced traditionally with the freshest seasonal produce, join us for a dining occasion with a casual modern approach.”
We had a lovely time on that day sharing some very good food. We had booked a table for eight.
At the moment the great news is, that finally we are actually planning to build a deck: It looks it may be happening very soon now!
On the following Sunday, 16th May, Peter would have been 86. I am going to have on that day some family and friends over for afternoon coffee and cake in memory of Peter.
So wonderful to have Mother’s Day memories AND to make new Mother’s Day memories! I love that you will be honoring Peter on the day of his birth. (((HUGS))))
I DO CONTINUE WITH A BIT OF DIARY FOR TODAY, 24TH OF MAY 2022:
For Dinner tonight, I wanted to have a bit of wine. But I had no wine left, none whatsoever. What to do? I checked the cupboard. Voila, some of last year’s DIARONNO was left. I had a bit of it with some Tonic Water. It was delicious together with my well cooked beautiful Dinner! 🙂
In last year’s Diary from the 10th of May I mention, how much I love to spend time with my son Martin. Actually, he rang me today. Following our phone conversation, I wrote to him an email about our recent trip to Berlin. Here is some of what I wrote about that trip:
We saw Ilse and Finn three times; and Peter Uwe and Astrid
I saw probably four times. I saw Corinna and Walter once;
also, Hendrick and family I saw once, Bergers once, Nadine
twice, and Petra once. Some people I saw in our apartment
only, other people I saw only at their place, or meeting
somewhere for a nice meal.
By the way, Michael Berger besides losing his father and
sister Gudrun, he also lost his wife to cancer some time
ago. His two daughters are married, each with three
children. Gudrun had two sons. One son is married
with three children also. 🙂
So, Doris has already nine great-grandchildren! 🙂
We saw Nadine’s partner, Stefan, and her little daughter,
Lina, who turned three on the 16th of May. (Dad’s birthday!)
We celebrated Ilse’s birthday at her place on the 13th of May, and then
with the whole family in an Indian restaurant on the 14th of May.
Restaurant PapadamDie ganze Genusswelt Indiens erwartet hungrige Besucher im PAPADAM in der Scharnweberstraße 6 – 7 in Reinickendorf. Das Papadam-Team hat sich eine klare Mission zum Ziel gesetzt: Wir möchten nicht nur ein sehr gutes indisches Restaurant sein, sondern Ihnen eine Wohlfühloase bieten, in der Sie gerne verweilen.papadam-berlin.de
Wednesday, the 18th of May, was the day when Bergers met us
for lunch at an Italian Restaurant at Prager Platz. And Iles and Finn
San Marino – Prager PlatzWILLKOMMEN IN BERLIN´S “LA SERENISSIMA” San Marino ist die älteste bestehende Republik der Welt – seit dem Jahr 301 unabhängig. Mitten in Italien, zwischen den Regionen Emilia-Romagna, Marken und Rimini, ist San Marino mit nur 60,57 km² zwar winzig klein, jedoch sehr fein gelegen.www.sanmarino-berlin.de
My Carpal Tunnel Relief Operation is on Thursday, the 16th of June! 🙂
Back to Berlin: The 16th of May was the only day that I did spend just
with Caroline, Monika, and Krystal! We had ‘Ice Becher’ at Victoria Luise
Platz. And then we went by Public Transport to the Ka-de-We. where the
four of us had a good time in the Restaurant at the Top, thinking of Papa. 🙂
We also did buy a few things at the Ka-de-We. I bought an old fashioned,
My top 10 favorite waltz part2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4ueH… Download these waltz here –https://canticum.bandcamp.com/album/w… 1.Dmitri Shostakovich – Waltz No 2 – 0:0 2.Johann Strauss II – Voices of Spring Waltz-3:41 3.Johann Strauss II The Blue Danube –9:14 4.My Sweet and Tender Beast – Waltz by Eugen Doga-18:54 5.Eugen Doga Gramafon –22:24 6.Nino Rota – Waltz (BSO -El Padrino-) –27:22 7.Tchaikovsky – Waltz of the Flowers 31:05 8.Johann Strauss II – Vienna Blood Waltz 38:35 9.Frederic Chopin waltz op.64 no 2 –45:42 10.Frederic Chopin: Waltz in A minor (Op. Posth.)- 50:10 More music https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4CZ…
UMG (on behalf of Polydor); Wise Music Group, LatinAutorPerf, ASCAP, União Brasileira de Compositores, SODRAC, LatinAutor, and 19 Music Rights Societies
Song
An der schönen, blauen Donau, Op. 314 – The Blue Danube
Artist
George Szell;The Cleveland Orchestra
Licensed to YouTube by
SME (on behalf of Sony Music Canada); Sony Music Publishing, Public Domain Compositions, and 6 Music Rights Societies
Song
Gramophon
Artist
Eugen Doga, Russian State Symphonic Orchestra of Cinematography & Sergey Skripka
Album
May Dreams of You
Licensed to YouTube by
CD Baby; LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, Warner Chappell, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, LatinAutorPerf, CD Baby Sync Publishing, and 7 Music Rights Societies
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Nic Raine
Album
The Godfather Waltz
Licensed to YouTube by
MNRK Music Group, UMG (on behalf of Decca (UMO) (Classics)); ASCAP, LatinAutor – SonyATV, União Brasileira de Compositores, Sony Music Publishing, LatinAutorPerf, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, CMRRA, and 13 Music Rights Societies
AdShare for a Third Party (on behalf of APM/SON); LatinAutorPerf, Sony Music Publishing, Polaris Hub AB, Public Domain Compositions, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., Adrev Publishing, and 15 Music Rights Societies
Song
Wiener Blut, Op. 354
Artist
Eugene Ormandy
Licensed to YouTube by
SME (on behalf of Sony Classical); LatinAutorPerf, Polaris Hub AB, Public Domain Compositions, and 8 Music Rights Societies
Song
Waltz in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2
Artist
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Licensed to YouTube by
SME (on behalf of Sony Classical); Warner Chappell, LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, UMPG Publishing, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, and 4 Music Rights Societies
Anthony Albanese and Labor have a plan for a better future.
Australians deserve a leader who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work needed to get things done.
But after nearly a decade in office, Scott Morrison still refuses to take responsibility, goes missing in action, blames others and can’t admit his mistakes.
From the bushfires to the bungled vaccine rollout to not securing enough rapid tests, Morrison’s mistakes have held Australians back.
Australians deserve so much better.
With your support at the 2022 federal election, Anthony Albanese and Labor will:
AuntyUta 