Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother,
Mother and Wife of German Descent
I've lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com
It is interesting that she passed away on the night of our wedding anniversary. A wedding she had originally not liked taking place. In later years she changed her tune and we were good friends. When we saw her last before she suffered her stroke she suffered severely from dementia. She actually did not know who we were. But I must say she was at that stage a very easy going lovely old lady. I think, without her memory her real good self became dominant. She was immortalised in the film about the Olympic Games in 1936 when the camera, probably scanning the crowd, caught her image. I made this into a fictional story and published it in a blog of my own.
02-03-2022: As the corporate media narrative suspiciously switches from one fake bogeyman (Covid) to another (Russia), Australia’s East Coast has been swamped by a real threat which is already taking lives – extreme climate change. Over the last weekend in February, 1.5 metres of rain fell over three days, mostly around Brisbane and South East Queensland (QLD), in what was dubbed a “Rain Bomb”. In the consequent rising floods, at least 8 people were swept away to watery graves,[1] some of them being unable to escape their vehicles while attempting to navigate their way home. 18 000 homes in QLD have been fully or partially damaged,[2] with many owners and residents now attempting to clean through the muddy residue left by floodwaters which rose rapidly to submerge parts of their houses. All public transport in Brisbane has been shut down, and while there is a temporary reprieve from the driving non-stop rain, it is expected to return during the week,[3] causing more chaos.
“Rare” Weather Phenomenon?
With the “Rain Bomb” rapidly moving south into New South Wales (NSW), some media outlets are describing it as a “rare weather phenomenon”, while admitting that the current floods are the worst to hit Brisbane since 2011, when that was referred to as a “once in a century event”.[4] Yet many workers can see with their own eyes and through their own experience, that when several or more “once in a century weather events” seem to occur every few years – it is NOT a one-off. Moreover, many are now aware that these extreme weather events are not only more frequent, they are increasingly dangerous and take the lives of innocents each time they arrive. While the politicians act as if nature is simply at work, it is plain to see that the decades of warnings about carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels – alongside other dire environmental warnings – should have been heeded and acted upon long ago.
One doesn’t need to be a climate scientist to understand the dynamics which lead to the increased frequency of flooding. As global temperatures rise, clouds that can hold a lot of rain become more common in a warmer atmosphere. Warmer oceans leads to gigatonnes more evaporation, which leads to more atmospheric moisture, which in turn leads to more intense rainfall.[5] In colder climates, such as parts of North America, this increased moisture can also lead to more intense snow falls.[6] Think of a pot of water on the stove: the more heat is applied, and for a longer period, the more water simply bubbles away through evaporation. A similar effect takes place for the blue planet. During previous ice ages, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were around 200 parts per million (ppm) and was around 280 ppm before the industrial revolution. Yet in 2013, carbon ppm topped 400 for the first time ever,[7] and has continued rising since then. The rise in carbon emissions mirrors the rise in the burning of fossil fuels, which has led many scientists to name a new geologic era – the “Anthropocene”.
Humans not to blame
Yet “anthropogenic global warming” is a misnomer, in that it implies that humans alone are the cause of climate change, which is just one of the pressing environmental emergencies. Environmental degradation is largely caused by industrial development, which is a necessity both of capitalism and its socialist successor. However, it is only with collectively owned, democratic and planned economies that the needs of the natural (including human) environment can be genuinely taken into consideration on its own account. Capitalism, with private ownership of the means of production and anarchistically unplanned economic competition domestically and internationally – can never be constrained by “external” reasons such as a healthy environment for people to habitate. Socialism, on the other hand, based on public ownership and control of the means of production – has no need for cutthroat economic competition, with its resulting extreme disregard for the soil and natural conditions.
Millions across the globe have mobilised over the last two years against the virtual abolition of liberal democracy under the false guise of “fighting Covid”. This movement for freedom correctly rejects the fraudulent claimed basis of a “health” emergency, as Covid repression clearly worsened health outcomes for many workers – with millions losing their jobs. At the same time, many in the freedom movement also reject the concept of climate change, believing it to be another essentially fictional narrative alongside Covid. This is a mistake, though perhaps motivated by healthy instincts. “Covid” as supposedly the most dangerous disease in history has no scientific basis whatever and is a cover for political repression. Yet climate change does have a scientific basis and is confirmed almost universally by climate scientists.[8] However, many in the freedom movement see the same people and the same forces who shrieked about the “danger” of Covid, likewise shrieking about the danger of climate change – and assume both are false alarms.
Liberal politics at fault, not climate science
Covid “health” fascism was driven not by far-right ultra-nationalism – this task was entrusted to liberal capitalist politics. It was reinforced primarily by already existing parliamentary parties who were aggressively backed by the old Trade Union officials alongside civil libertarians, feminists, “progressives”, and many utterly fake “socialist” and “Marxist” parties. The abject treachery against the working class of these layers which claimed for decades to be “revolutionary” has understandably resulted in some in the freedom movement rejecting everything else “leftists” ever stood for – including climate change. While it is true that the liberal left were animated by the danger of climate change, it was only their prescriptions for a solution that were fictitious. That is, it was fantastic to imagine that production could switch from fossil fuels to so-called renewable energy (primarily solar and wind power), switch to electric vehicles – and the system would right itself. Liberal political forces drove the “climate change” movement because they were concerned above all to save the capitalist system. The peak environmental groups were completely tied to the governments of the Western imperialist states, and thus the “climate change” movement could never achieve any of its fundamental goals due to its resolutely cross-class composition.
Just as the Covid left drove the working class into the ultimate cross-class alliance in the supposed interests of “public health”, the liberal left drives working people towards “their own” ruling class on climate, and then complains when people can see that such a movement is going nowhere. The Covid left consciously whipped up support for the police of the capitalist state, the existing parliamentary parties, the armed forces (!), the wealthiest billionaires in history, Big Pharma, Big Tech and Big Media – under the guise of a fake “pandemic”. This open and brazen genuflection before imperialist wealth and power grossly undermined whatever standing they may have had before lockdowns became a part of the vocabulary. Workers could see that this “left” were undisguised servants of the super elite.
The cardinal lesson which needs to be learnt and re-learnt is that the working class cannot ally itself with “its own” ruling class (via capital’s agents of Trade Union officials, liberals and the fake “left”) on Covid, on climate, on NATO’s war on Russia or ANY issue whatsoever! This is largely due to the fact that the war on Covid, the war on the natural environment, the war on Russia, the war on China, the war on Iran etc., is in fact part of ONE war – the war that private finance capital is waging against the international working class for its own survival. The Western imperialist class, as we have seen, will not hesitate to impose fascism (“Covid”) OR to potentially unleash nuclear war against Moscow (over Ukraine or some other trigger). At the very least, this is why they CANNOT be allies in the struggle for a safe climate!! Any climate movement which arises now must break with the liberal political forces which openly collaborates with imperialism on “Covid” and on possible nuclear war.
While climate change is certainly an existential threat to life on Earth, it cannot be separated from the other forms of capitalist exploitation, especially the exploitation of labour power, i.e., working people themselves, and also the scourge of imperialist war. The vegetation and foliage obviously cannot be mobilised in its own interest, so Marxists must concentrate on organising the only real class in society which has no material interest in the maintenance of capitalism, either in its previous form of liberal democracy, or its current form of Covid “health” fascism – the workers. Vanguard parties, linked internationally, can help lead the working class through the dregs of “Covid” and imperialist war to a new society, where those who labour will rule collectively for the true benefit of all.
0 thoughts on ““Rain Bomb” Hits Australia’s East Coast”
auntyutaYour comment is awaiting moderation.I am a slow, 87 year old reader! So far I read perhaps only on third of your blog. However, what I did read so far, does make absolute sense to me!I would like to study a bit more, what you say in this post. I try therfore to reblog it now to my site. I hope, you don’t mind.Sincerely, Aunty UtaLikeREPLY
auntyutaYour comment is awaiting moderation.Reblogged this on AuntyUta and commented: A very interesting blog! I read only some of it so far, and would like to have a closer look at it on this, my site. This is why I re-blog it here.LikeREPLY
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02-03-2022: As the corporate media narrative suspiciously switches from one fake bogeyman (Covid) to another (Russia), Australia’s East Coast has been swamped by a real threat which is already taking lives – extreme climate change. Over the last weekend in February, 1.5 metres of rain fell over three days, mostly around Brisbane and South East Queensland (QLD), in what was dubbed a “Rain Bomb”. In the consequent rising floods, at least 8 people were swept away to watery graves,[1] some of them being unable to escape their vehicles while attempting to navigate their way home. 18 000 homes in QLD have been fully or partially damaged,[2] with many owners and residents now attempting to clean through the muddy residue left by floodwaters which rose rapidly to submerge parts of their houses. All public transport in Brisbane has been shut down, and while there is a temporary reprieve from the driving non-stop rain, it is expected to return during the week,[3] causing more chaos.
“Rare” Weather Phenomenon?
With the “Rain Bomb” rapidly moving south into New South Wales (NSW), some media outlets are describing it as a “rare weather phenomenon”, while admitting that the current floods are the worst to hit Brisbane since 2011, when that was referred to as a “once in a century event”.[4] Yet many workers can see with their own eyes and through their own experience, that when several or more “once in a century weather events” seem to occur every few years – it is NOT a one-off. Moreover, many are now aware that these extreme weather events are not only more frequent, they are increasingly dangerous and take the lives of innocents each time they arrive. While the politicians act as if nature is simply at work, it is plain to see that the decades of warnings about carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels – alongside other dire environmental warnings – should have been heeded and acted upon long ago.
One doesn’t need to be a climate scientist to understand the dynamics which lead to the increased frequency of flooding. As global temperatures rise, clouds that can hold a lot of rain become more common in a warmer atmosphere. Warmer oceans leads to gigatonnes more evaporation, which leads to more atmospheric moisture, which in turn leads to more intense rainfall.[5] In colder climates, such as parts of North America, this increased moisture can also lead to more intense snow falls.[6] Think of a pot of water on the stove: the more heat is applied, and for a longer period, the more water simply bubbles away through evaporation. A similar effect takes place for the blue planet. During previous ice ages, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were around 200 parts per million (ppm) and was around 280 ppm before the industrial revolution. Yet in 2013, carbon ppm topped 400 for the first time ever,[7] and has continued rising since then. The rise in carbon emissions mirrors the rise in the burning of fossil fuels, which has led many scientists to name a new geologic era – the “Anthropocene”.
Humans not to blame
Yet “anthropogenic global warming” is a misnomer, in that it implies that humans alone are the cause of climate change, which is just one of the pressing environmental emergencies. Environmental degradation is largely caused by industrial development, which is a necessity both of capitalism and its socialist successor. However, it is only with collectively owned, democratic and planned economies that the needs of the natural (including human) environment can be genuinely taken into consideration on its own account. Capitalism, with private ownership of the means of production and anarchistically unplanned economic competition domestically and internationally – can never be constrained by “external” reasons such as a healthy environment for people to habitate. Socialism, on the other hand, based on public ownership and control of the means of production – has no need for cutthroat economic competition, with its resulting extreme disregard for the soil and natural conditions.
Millions across the globe have mobilised over the last two years against the virtual abolition of liberal democracy under the false guise of “fighting Covid”. This movement for freedom correctly rejects the fraudulent claimed basis of a “health” emergency, as Covid repression clearly worsened health outcomes for many workers – with millions losing their jobs. At the same time, many in the freedom movement also reject the concept of climate change, believing it to be another essentially fictional narrative alongside Covid. This is a mistake, though perhaps motivated by healthy instincts. “Covid” as supposedly the most dangerous disease in history has no scientific basis whatever and is a cover for political repression. Yet climate change does have a scientific basis and is confirmed almost universally by climate scientists.[8] However, many in the freedom movement see the same people and the same forces who shrieked about the “danger” of Covid, likewise shrieking about the danger of climate change – and assume both are false alarms.
Liberal politics at fault, not climate science
Covid “health” fascism was driven not by far-right ultra-nationalism – this task was entrusted to liberal capitalist politics. It was reinforced primarily by already existing parliamentary parties who were aggressively backed by the old Trade Union officials alongside civil libertarians, feminists, “progressives”, and many utterly fake “socialist” and “Marxist” parties. The abject treachery against the working class of these layers which claimed for decades to be “revolutionary” has understandably resulted in some in the freedom movement rejecting everything else “leftists” ever stood for – including climate change. While it is true that the liberal left were animated by the danger of climate change, it was only their prescriptions for a solution that were fictitious. That is, it was fantastic to imagine that production could switch from fossil fuels to so-called renewable energy (primarily solar and wind power), switch to electric vehicles – and the system would right itself. Liberal political forces drove the “climate change” movement because they were concerned above all to save the capitalist system. The peak environmental groups were completely tied to the governments of the Western imperialist states, and thus the “climate change” movement could never achieve any of its fundamental goals due to its resolutely cross-class composition.
Just as the Covid left drove the working class into the ultimate cross-class alliance in the supposed interests of “public health”, the liberal left drives working people towards “their own” ruling class on climate, and then complains when people can see that such a movement is going nowhere. The Covid left consciously whipped up support for the police of the capitalist state, the existing parliamentary parties, the armed forces (!), the wealthiest billionaires in history, Big Pharma, Big Tech and Big Media – under the guise of a fake “pandemic”. This open and brazen genuflection before imperialist wealth and power grossly undermined whatever standing they may have had before lockdowns became a part of the vocabulary. Workers could see that this “left” were undisguised servants of the super elite.
The cardinal lesson which needs to be learnt and re-learnt is that the working class cannot ally itself with “its own” ruling class (via capital’s agents of Trade Union officials, liberals and the fake “left”) on Covid, on climate, on NATO’s war on Russia or ANY issue whatsoever! This is largely due to the fact that the war on Covid, the war on the natural environment, the war on Russia, the war on China, the war on Iran etc., is in fact part of ONE war – the war that private finance capital is waging against the international working class for its own survival. The Western imperialist class, as we have seen, will not hesitate to impose fascism (“Covid”) OR to potentially unleash nuclear war against Moscow (over Ukraine or some other trigger). At the very least, this is why they CANNOT be allies in the struggle for a safe climate!! Any climate movement which arises now must break with the liberal political forces which openly collaborates with imperialism on “Covid” and on possible nuclear war.
While climate change is certainly an existential threat to life on Earth, it cannot be separated from the other forms of capitalist exploitation, especially the exploitation of labour power, i.e., working people themselves, and also the scourge of imperialist war. The vegetation and foliage obviously cannot be mobilised in its own interest, so Marxists must concentrate on organising the only real class in society which has no material interest in the maintenance of capitalism, either in its previous form of liberal democracy, or its current form of Covid “health” fascism – the workers. Vanguard parties, linked internationally, can help lead the working class through the dregs of “Covid” and imperialist war to a new society, where those who labour will rule collectively for the true benefit of all.
0 thoughts on ““Rain Bomb” Hits Australia’s East Coast”
auntyutaYour comment is awaiting moderation.I am a slow, 87 year old reader! So far I read perhaps only on third of your blog. However, what I did read so far, does make absolute sense to me!I would like to study a bit more, what you say in this post. I try therfore to reblog it now to my site. I hope, you don’t mind.Sincerely, Aunty UtaLikeREPLY
auntyutaYour comment is awaiting moderation.Reblogged this on AuntyUta and commented: A very interesting blog! I read only some of it so far, and would like to have a closer look at it on this, my site. This is why I re-blog it here.LikeREPLY
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02-03-2022: As the corporate media narrative suspiciously switches from one fake bogeyman (Covid) to another (Russia), Australia’s East Coast has been swamped by a real threat which is already taking lives – extreme climate change. Over the last weekend in February, 1.5 metres of rain fell over three days, mostly around Brisbane and South East Queensland (QLD), in what was dubbed a “Rain Bomb”. In the consequent rising floods, at least 8 people were swept away to watery graves,[1] some of them being unable to escape their vehicles while attempting to navigate their way home. 18 000 homes in QLD have been fully or partially damaged,[2] with many owners and residents now attempting to clean through the muddy residue left by floodwaters which rose rapidly to submerge parts of their houses. All public transport in Brisbane has been shut down, and while there is a temporary reprieve…
NSW flood: Sydney residents in west and north-west evacuate as Warragamba Dam spill
NSW flood: a flooded street in Penrith in Sydney’s west. More severe weather is expected overnight and Thursday, with NSW authorities warning communities at risk to evacuate as Warragamba Dam spills. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/EPA
New South Wales authorities have warned communities at risk of major flooding in the Sydney region to evacuate or prepare to evacuate as the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Georges rivers continue to rise.
Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s main reservoir, was spilling at a rate in excess of 70 gigalitres a day on Wednesday after torrential rainfall over its catchment exceeded earlier predictions, according to a NSW government official.
The spill, which began at about 3am, was expected to peak on Thursday. The previous expectation of an upper range of the spill at 350GL a day has now been lifted to match or exceed the 440GL/day rate experienced during the March 2021 floods. That event caused widespread damage to areas to Sydney’s north and west.
“Major flooding is occurring in south-west Sydney exceeding March 2021 levels with major flood warnings in place. It’s raining, with some areas hit harder than others and more rain on its way. Keep a serious eye on the warnings and forecasts,” the NSW Bureau of Meteorology tweeted before 9pm.
“This is our worst fear,” the NSW deputy premier, Paul Toole, said earlier on Wednesday evening. “It will get worse before it gets better.”
In a worst-case scenario, Warragamba’s spill rate could peak at 600GL/ day, Toole told a media conference. A potential evacuation could involve “quite a few hundred thousand people”, NSW State Emergency Service commissioner, Carlene York, said.
Sydney Harbour holds roughly 500GL. More flood water, too, is entering the Hawkesbury-Nepean region from other tributaries that enter the flood plain below the dam.
There were also concerns Redbank Dam could fail, prompting the SES to direct people in some parts of North Richmond, north-west of Sydney, to evacuate.
“We just recently issued an evacuation order for the area in North Richmond downstream of the Redbank Dam because it may fail,” York said. “I want all those residents to make sure they do evacuate from that area.”
Residents were told to evacuate in some areas of Agnes Banks, Bligh Park, Camden, Cattai, Chipping Norton, Georges Hall, Lansvale, Leets Vale, Milperra, Moorebank, Sackville, Warwick Farm and other suburbs.
Authorities also told thousands more residents who were affected by Sydney’s 2021 floods to be on standby to leave.
NSW Health told people isolating due to Covid they should still evacuate their home if threatened by rising flood waters.
“If you are told to evacuate, you must evacuate,” NSW acting chief health officer Dr Marianne Gale said. “An emergency evacuation is a valid reason to leave your home.”
The Bureau of Meteorology shifted its forecast for when Sydney’s heaviest falls may land, predicting 120mm to 150mm on Thursday, up from 50 to 70mm. Since 9am on Wednesday, the city had only collected about 10mm, although inland sites were much wetter, with about 84mm up to 5pm at Richmond.
The bureau has also issued a major flood warning for the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers.
“Significant river level rises have been observed along the Nepean River where major flooding is possible from early Wednesday evening,” the BoM said.
“Along the Hawkesbury and Lower Nepean rivers major flooding is also possible from overnight Wednesday into Thursday at Penrith, North Richmond, Windsor and downstream based on forecast rainfall.”
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“We are going to be getting massive, like torrential rainfall,” Stephanie Heard, a spokesperson for the NSW SES, said.
“We want the community to start preparing for the potential for evacuation. We really need to make sure that the community listens and will follow our advice. Basically, it’s really quite a dangerous weather system that we’re seeing.”
There had already been 18 flood rescues in the Sydney region by Wednesday afternoon. Rainfall totals could reach 150mm to 200mm over the Hawkesbury region, Heard said.
While Sydney itself had been spared most of the heavy rain from the developing east coast low, inland areas including the Warragamba catchment had been receiving big falls.
Ben Domensino, a senior Weatherzone meteorologist, said the rain gauge at Warragamba had collected almost 100mm from 9am to 3pm. By comparison, Sydney’s Observatory Hill near the CBD had only about 30mm in the 30 hours to 3pm on Wednesday.
“This system has continued to surprise as to the extent of the rainfall,” Domensino said, noting its evolution from a so-called “rain bomb” over south-east Queensland and northern NSW into a low pressure system near the NSW central coast.
“This system at the moment is causing much heavier rain on the ranges than it is near the coast. There’s likely to be some heavy rain near the coast especially as the low pressure system comes in overnight into Thursday morning.”
People who may need to be evacuated should prepare an emergency pack and gather pets, which evacuation centres will be able to accommodate, the SES’s Heard said. The kit should include key valuables but also Medicare and other ID. More details can be found here.
Not surprisingly given the spill from Warragamba, the dam is 100% full, WaterNSW said. The entire dam network is sitting at 99.2% and it’s likely they will all be spilling by the end of this rain event.
Along with the warnings about floods and heavy rain, there are strong wind gusts and dangerous surf forecast, the latter up and down the NSW coast, the BoM said.
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There is a lot to get your head around with the weather at the moment.
But here are the answers to five quick questions about the floods.
1. How unusual is this rain?
Very unusual.
The rainfall totals from this event have been staggering.
From 9am Thursday to 9am Monday three stations recorded over a metre of rain:
– 1637mm at Mount Glorious, QLD – 1180mm at Pomona, QLD – 1094mm at Bracken Ridge
Brisbane has absolutely smashed its three-day rainfall record with 677mm, by recording over 200mm each day for three days in a row.
Before this week it had never even had two consecutive days over 200mm and had only ever recorded eight in total.
The mean annual rainfall for Brisbane is 1011.5mm and it recorded 741mm in just the four days from 9am Thursday and 9am Monday.
Speaking of records, Weatherzone is reporting Dunoon in NSW recorded the second-highest daily rainfall total in NSW when 775mm fell in just the 24 hours to 9am Monday.
If you are not sick of stats yet, Doon Doon in NSW picked up a whopping 1040mm of rain in just the 48 hours to 9am Tuesday. That is over a metre of rain in just two days.
But it is not just the big totals that have made this rainfall event unusual.
Bofu Yu of Griffith University’s School of Engineering and Built Environment and Australian Rivers Institute observed that while the rainfall amount over south-east Queensland from Thursday to Sunday was huge and widespread, the intensity of rain was moderate at around 50mm per hour.
“This is distinct from the 2011 event when rainfall was concentrated in the western part of the Brisbane River Basin with a much higher peak rainfall intensity,” Dr Yu said.
The result is the rainfall has been spread far more liberally around the catchment this time and more water is flowing down the small creeks and tributaries, which has a flow-on effect further downstream.
Skinner and Lowes Heritage Wharf, Murwillumbah, Tweed River.(Supplied: Fran Silk)
“The peak discharge may not be as high compared to the 2011 flood, but high flows will persist over a much longer period of time,” Dr Yu explained.
South-east Queensland and northern NSW are historically flood prone and have certainly flooded before but this event is definitely different from those we have seen in the past.
2. Is climate change involved?
Attributing any one event to climate change is tricky, especially in the case of rain, which has many contributing factors.
But there is a clear link between a warming atmosphere and its ability to hold more moisture and deliver that moisture in the form of heavy rain.
“With each degree increase in the atmospheric temperatures, air can hold roughly 7 per cent more water vapour that is eventually available to fall as rain,” as Nina Ridder, research associate in the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre, explained.
“This means that under future conditions which are likely to be higher than what we have seen in the past.
“Over the past decades we have already seen an increase in the number and intensity of extreme rainfall events and we are expecting this trend to continue into the future.”
Another major climatic factor at play at the moment is the La Niña, which the BOM declared last year. It has been busy enhancing the rainfall over Australia all summer.
When La Niña conditions are in place warm tropical waters in the north and strong trade winds from the east encourage moisture onto Australia.
So, when individual weather systems come through it gives them another moisture kick.
David Karoly, Honorary Professor in the University of Melbourne School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, concludes that both climate change and the occurrence of La Niña are likely to have contributed to the increased risk of heavy rainfall in south-east Queensland in the current event.
“The difficult part is to precisely quantify the increase in risk or the contribution to the amount of rainfall, both of which are uncertain,” he said.
Brisbane has experienced an extraordinary amount of rain over the past few days.(ABC News: Michael Rennie)
3. What is a rain bomb?
This event has been commonly referred to as a “rain bomb” over the past few days.
But while it may have felt like the rain has been bombing down, a “rain bomb” is not a meteorological term.
There is a thing called “bomb cyclogenesis”, which is when a low pressure system develops unusually quickly, but that is not what happened this week.
Likewise there is another phenomena called a “wet microburst”, which is when a huge amount of rain drops suddenly from a storm, but that is generally over a small area.
What has been going on over the past week has been a surface trough, with upper atmosphere enhancement funnelling tropical moisture off the Coral Sea onto the coast which was blocked from moving off.
This created a large area of prolonged heavy rain.
Flooded canals at the Gold Coast.(Supplied: Reign Scott Drone Imagery)
4. What’s to come?
More extreme weather is forecast over the coming days as an east coast low develops off the NSW coast.
Severe thunderstorm warnings are in place for large parts of New South Wales this evening and flood watches are in place for parts of the NSW coast from Newcastle to Bega, pushing down into Victoria.
Wind gusts are forecast to be up around 90kph and could uproot trees and powerlines.
Where exactly the worst of the impacts will be felt in the coming days will largely depend on where the low moves to.
But heavy rainfall is expected on the southern side of the low, and Sydney residents have been urged to brace for flooding.
Impacts along the NSW coast are expected to linger until Thursday.
Back up in northern NSW and south-east Queensland it looks like showers and storms could return as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
The BOM is saying there is the potential for severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail.
With catchments already on the edge, it is a worrying time for low lying areas
Longer term, summer may be over but there are still two months left of the tropical wet season.
The autumn outlook suggests wetter-than-average conditions are likely to remain across much of the country.
BOM’s autumn outlook indicates above median rainfall is likely for much of the county while fairly average conditions are likely elsewhere. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)
There is still plenty of time for more tropical moisture to make its way south, bringing more heavy rain with it.
With the catchments so sodden, it won’t take much now to trigger more flooding.
If you are in a potential risk zone and have not yet thought about what you would do in a flood situation, this would be the time.
5. Where can I find the latest information?
ABC Emergency is the go-to place for up-to-date local emergency warnings.
The website also has a number of resources on how to prepare for and protect yourself from different disasters and emergencies.
It also release near daily severe weather updates during big events on its YouTube page.
If you would like the latest updates on rainfall numbers and where all the river levels are sitting across the country that can also be accessed through the BOM website here: http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/flood/?ref=ftr
Flood maps for your local area should be available on your local council website.
This is an edited extract from The Idea of Australia – A Search for the Soul of the Nation, published by Allen & Unwin, out now
Sun 27 Feb 2022 06.00 AED
‘The necessary fictions of Australia’s official foundation story, the one that starts with European sailors and offers a cursory nod to those who were already here, have become an increasingly threadbare, lazy shorthand for a much more complex identity.’ Photograph: Sean Gladwell/Getty Images
In this extract from her book, Julianne Schultz says the topography of an evolving national identity reveals peaks of great change and long valleys of fearful, censorious complacency
Stories make us fully and uniquely human. They are the way we make sense of the world, our lives and relationships. They may not always be true, completely, or even substantially. They may be tinged with hyperbole and hope, fiercely contested or modified…
Looks like an interesting post, Stuart! –
There may be quite a lot to think about, for instance, about what is true, what is fake! – – –
So, Stuart, thank you very much for publishing this!
Here’s your chance to check reality against my predictions made 8 years ago Saturday, August 30, 2014
Last Thursday the Ukrainian government, echoed by NATO spokesmen, declared that the the Russian military is now operating within Ukraine’s borders. Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn’t; what do you know? They said the same thing before, most recently on August 13, and then on August 17, each time with either no evidence or fake evidence. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
You be the judge. I put together this helpful list of top ten telltale signs that will allow you to determine whether indeed Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday, or whether Thursday’s announcement is yet another confabulation. (Credit to Roman Kretsul).
Because if Russia invaded on Thursday morning, this is what the situation on the ground would look like by Saturday afternoon.
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political, and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million[2] people out of the state’s population of 5.1 million.[1][4][5]The area covered by South East Queensland varies, depending on the definition of the region, though it tends to include Queensland’s three largest cities: the capital city Brisbane; the Gold Coast; and the Sunshine Coast. Its most common use is for political purposes, and covers 35,248 square kilometres (13,609 sq mi)[6] and incorporates 11 local government areas,[3] extending 240 kilometres (150 mi) from Noosa in the north to the Gold Coast and New South Wales border in the south (some sources include Tweed Heads (NSW) which is contiguous as an urban area with Brisbane/Gold Coast), and 140 kilometres (87 mi) west to Toowoomba (which is simultaneously considered part of the Darling Downs region).
South East Queensland was the first part of Queensland to be settled and explored by Europeans. Settlements initially arose in the Brisbane and Ipswich areas with activity by European immigrants spreading in all directions from there. Various industries such as timber cutting and agriculture quickly developed at locations around the region from the 1840s onwards. Transport links have been shaped by the range of terrains found in South East Queensland.
The economy of South East Queensland supports and relies on a wide diversity of agricultural manufacturing industries, commerce and tourism. The region has an integrated public transport system, TransLink. The gross domestic product is $ 170 billion[2]
South East Queensland, classified as an interim Australianbioregion, comprises 7,804,921 hectares (19,286,380 acres) and includes the Moreton Basin, South Burnett, and the Scenic Rim along with ten other biogeographic subregions.[7] The term South East Queensland has no equivalent political representation. The area covers many lower house seats at the federal and state levels. As Queensland has no upper house, there are no Legislative Council provinces or regions to bear the name either.
South East Queensland was home to around 20,000 Aboriginals prior to British occupation. The local tribes of the area were the Yugarapul of the Central Brisbane area; the Yugambeh people whose traditional lands ranged from South of the Logan River, down to the Tweed River and west to the McPherson Ranges; the Quandamooka people whose traditional lands encompassed the Moreton Bay Islands to the mouth of the Brisbane River to Tingalpa and south to the Logan River; and the Gubbi Gubbi people whose traditional lands were known to exist north of the Pine River, to Burrum River in the north, and west to the Conondale ranges. According to history researchers the Aboriginal population declined to around 10,000 over the next 60 years.[8]
Early explorers in the area including Matthew Flinders, Allan Cunningham, John Oxley and Patrick Logan. Around 1839, European settlers were able to move into the region. Logging was the first industry to develop. The first railway built in Queensland linked Grandchester to Ipswich in 1865 along a narrow 1067 mm gauge.[9]
An emergency alert has been issued for the Gympie area from the Gympie Regional Council regarding major flooding.
Council advises if you live at Southside and are in an impacted area, you need to evacuate now and seek shelter with friends or family on higher ground. If you live on the hospital side of the river and are in an impacted area, you need to evacuate now and seek shelter with friends or family on higher ground. Take essential medication and secure your property.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is having a meltdown over being told by the courts that it must now procure the first monthly batch of 55,000 pages of data from Pfizer backing the company’s Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) “vaccine.”
The agency had initially asked if it could get away with producing just 500 pages per month instead, which would have allowed many decades of buffer time to obscure the truth. Legal challenges are speeding up that timeline, however, and Big Pharma is really not happy about the situation.
You see, Pfizer has been raking in the mega-dough from selling its mRNA (messenger RNA) Fauci Flu shots to countries around the world. This year, Pfizer expects to generate upwards of $54 billion in sales – that is, unless its little scam completely falls apart, which is becoming more of a possibility.
In its most recent earnings report from Q4 of last year, Pfizer warned investors that things are not looking to good moving forward. It turns out that whatever is contained within the disclosures is not exactly favorable to the company and its covid injections.
Many now believe that they reveal fundamental fraud and deception as the basis behind the “science” that was used by the FDA to first emergency use authorize (EUA), then approve, Pfizer’s experimental gene therapy injection.
The Q4 earnings report explains to investors that there could be “unfavorable new pre-clinical, clinical or safety data and further analyses of existing pre-clinical, clinical or safety data or further information regarding the quality of pre-clinical, clinical or safety data, including by audit or inspection” revealed throughout this process.
The report further mentions that “challenges driven by misinformation” could affect the company’s stock price moving forward, this being a signal to investors that the Pfizer gravy train is soon coming to an end due to “concerns about clinical data integrity.”
Now that Pfizer has made billions due to fraud, the company says covid could magically “disappear entirely”
Interestingly, Pfizer also made reference in its report to the fact that the time of the plandemic could be coming to an end right – how convenient! – as a critical mass of the world’s population finally wakes up to the truth about the plandemic scam.
Pfizer actually admitted in the report that the plandemic will probably now “diminish in severity or prevalence, or disappear entirely” – again, how convenient.
It would seem as though Pfizer’s goal all along was to milk the planet for obscene profits for as long as possible on the back of its “vaccine” scam. Knowing that people would eventually start figuring it all out, however, the plan was baked in such a way as to hide all of the incriminating clinical trial data until 2076 when many of the people currently alive are long gone, allowing Pfizer and its investors to run with the cash scot-free.
These devious plans are now getting thwarted, thankfully, as the 2076 timetable is moving closer towards a now timeline due to ongoing lawsuits. This has basically forced Pfizer’s hand, resulting in a death knell for its stock price.
“How would a trial for crimes against humanity impact the business?” asked someone at Zero Hedge, reading the writing on the wall.
“It wasn’t for nothing,” said someone else about the persistence of lockdowns and mandates, which we now know did nothing to stop the spread.
“It was for depopulation, profits, control and they probably were able to figure just the right formula to get most of the population to drop dead at about the same time. Brought to you by Pfizer.”
More related news about Pfizer’s deadly covid injections can be found at Corruption.news.
This interview is part of the Europe Matters podcast. A bold, fresh and curious podcast series that delves deep into thought-provoking questions pertinent to where Europe is at and where it is heading. You can listen to other episodes here: https://pod.link/europe-matters ————————————————— Subscribe: Website: https://europematters.com
5 days agoIt’s painful to know everything he says is true. Its more painful having confirmed especially in the past 5 years there are even more people around me who support these evils than I knew
2 days agoI do love his wide lens view and years of experience. I have read him over the years and honor his opinion. Shame about Assange. I will watch this show again, not listened before. Comments here are rough, I wish I had an ounce of his knowledge even if I don’t always agree, He deserves respect. As he comes to his last years He must be sad to see this world as is. I have Hope in our youth to carry on and find the missing links to save people and planet in a non violent way and work toward equanimity.Show less
3 days agoYou (the interviewer) showed some incredible intelligence in just letting Mr Chomsky talk. Too many interviewers try and make themselves appear intelligent by shoehorning their ideas into a Chomsky interview. And doing so they normally prove themselves quite the opposite.Read more
15 hours agoHow brilliant. I cannot thank Mr Chomsky enough. It is still the clearest voice I have heard on world issues. I try to follow all the non mainstream media I can from different regions in the world and I’m still massively ill informed. Until I hear Mr Chomsky link all the strands of the past that shape events today. How one person can have this depth of knowledge, perspective and integrity I do not know. But I do know that we all need to do better.Read more
1 day agoFunny how Noam Chomsky can sum everything in just a few words. I was just remembering the Russian tank that came back to our scrap yard in Saudi to be melted down. Whilst these tanks were stuck on the road trying to get back to Baghdad, the American planes were flying up and down firing depleted Uranium shells killing everybody they could. Just like in Vietnam. Kill as many as possible. Even in WWII, red cross vehicles weren’t targeted because they work for both side. Not in Iran however. I saw for myself. The US have long ceased giving quarter due to their arrogance. Please don’t complain when the tables are finally turnedRead more
3 hours agoWhat will we do without Noam Chomsky? He is like a walking, living version of cliff notes with keen insights. He’s literally read every book, every government memo, so you don’t have to. Not advocating not reading or certainly not being a critical thinker but he is such a wealth of information. He can recall the Minsk agreement and how it could help. The what? Well you remember whe Gorbochev conceded West Germany to join Nato but not a step east agreement. Oh, ya . . But he does make it easy to jump in and get up to speed on a number of issues and proposed solutions along with examples of the same issue happening 75 years ago and how it was handled. Great interview!Read more
5 days agoIt’s a joy to listen to someone with such a grasp on the actuality. Chomsky is the guru of the 21st century. We have to listen to him. Those who have the means to make a difference must take on the Chomsky mantle of wisdom and carry it forward asking his guidance whilst he is still around to give it.
10 days agoFrom Singapore. It would be nice if you can interview someone who can explain why US has so much control over Europe and what Europe can to do to be more independent from US.
5 days ago“Brains are not concentrated in rich countries.” Noam Chomsky you are and Always be my Hero. I love and respect you. I wish I could have Seen you in person. You make me feel so peaceful… Wish you all the best. Thank you for this great interview.
9 days agoPure wisdom and formidable courage that is noam chomsky. Funny on all reports on msm regarding Ukraine crisis never heard Minsk 2 agreement referred to by a reporter. Why could that be?
1 day agoMy question to you is with all the dramas leading up to and during this so call pandemic you believe people should be trusting these vaccines.
1 day agoWith all respect, I believe mr Chomsky is very naive regarding the intentions and way of thinking of Vladimir Putin, in relation to the internal situation in Russia. At the end of the day, Russia has developed into a corrupt, autocratic state.
8 days agoCongrats, nice podcast. Someone who could explain the tech gap between EU and the US/China. The other day read the Villani’s strategy for the AI…would be cool…
1 day agoThe Misk agreement is officially dead after Russia has proclaimed independence of the so called Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and started moving more of their troops (not hiding this time) on the Ukrainian land.
21 hours agoChomsky refers to the Taiping rebellion when he discusses the most devastating war outside of China – it’s really very obscure in England, I never learnt about it until I started researching precursor’s to the Boxer rebellion (also looking up Gordon’s actions in Sudan), yet claimed a comparable number of lives to the devastating world wars and was instigated by a millenarian cenobitic Christian, incredibly unusual.Read more
1 day agoThe US devotes more money and resources to their military and have sadly used it and their media to utilize it as their solution to disagreements and conflicts worldwide. Hardly difficult to see others being wary or even hostile to US actions. The EU does not speak as one. China and Russia do ( like it or not within their internal boundaries) and they see Ukraine entering into NATO and the EU economy as a threat. US dominance in the decision making weakens the EU’s integrity and influence in world affairs.Read more
8 hours agoGreat Interview. Prof Chomsky is always on point and great at reading the pulse of the global situation. I think you guys should definitely interview Diem25s Yanis Varoufakis, hes great at local European politics.
3 days agoThe Russian people have suffered and sacrificed for centuries, in fact for its entire history, in ways Americans will never be able to comprehend. Meanwhile we Americans continue to revel in our material greed and point our weapons of mass destruction at anyone we deem will get even a tiny share of the world’s resources. Our collective karma is coming for us.Read more
Europe Matters4 days ago (edited)We have added Italian, German, Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese subtitles. Most of these translations have been made automatically with Google Translate, so if you find any mistakes please reply to this comment with the time stamp and text to be improved. Don’t forget to subscribe for our upcoming video with Social Innovator of 2022 professor Alberto Alemanno.Read more
1 day agoThank you Noam for talking about the USA as a backwater, that Bernie could run run as a Christian democrat in Germany, but in America he’s a radical big bad wolf…universal healthcare, free university education, these are too radical when profit is the last word….
1 day agoLuckily my medicare (government insurance) covered my emergency room when I was stung by a swarm of ground bees in my yard (I’m allergic to their venom as it turns out) and I got prompt care upon showing my medicare card. Prior to turning 65, I had no insurance at all. The bill they sent to medicare was over 5 thousand dollars for my 45 minutes in the ER.Read more
3 days agoFantastic interview! In spite of being purely speculative, I think that counter-factual regarding Assange was actually quite an interesting thought-experiment to consider the degree of domination the US has over Europe.Read more
4 days agoI love Chomsky! It is always a privilege to be able to take away a piece of his wisdom. I have to ask, though, why has no one responsible had to answer to the world for this pandemic? So many deaths with roots to the decisions of certain people. Is it simply politics? If it is, do the deaths of these innocent people truly mean less than some form of face value? Side note here; it is absolutely gut wrenching to know how the poor of the world take the biggest hit in regards to lack of care.Read more
4 days agoSgt. Rah “Taylor, I remember when you first came in here. Talking about how much you admired the bast$rd. Pfc Taylor “I was wrong” Sgt. Rah “Wrong? You ain’t never been right. Bout nothing.”
1 day agoI am deeply ashamed to be European. At least US is saying what it does and does what it says. In contrast the EU is spineless, coward and unprincipled. They sanction but benefit as well all the while they communicate a third thing.REPLY
6 days agomy gratitude for your mercy. If’s the European Union 🇪🇺 going’s out of the USA and the British government, I found that the European Union 🇪🇺 is more strong than the past of the USA propaganda stirring awareness against them for the Russia wrongs but it’s the democratic alliance threatening with no respect for the government’s policy of the European Union . The USA has no cultures but violate laws and selfishness against their beliefs with Nato as the human in control of the military justifying.Read more
1 day agosorry but I need to point that some notions here are very naive – implementation of Minsk agreement would not make Ukraine neutral but rather dependent on Russia and unable to freely integrate with EU against the will of Ukrainian people…REPLYAllNoam ChomskyListenableRelatedRecently uploadedWatched1:09:13NOW PLAYING
berlioz1935
auntyuta
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my gratitude for your mercy. If’s the European Union 🇪🇺 going’s out of the USA and the British government, I found that the European Union 🇪🇺 is more strong than the past of the USA propaganda stirring awareness against them for the Russia wrongs but it’s the democratic alliance threatening with no respect for the government’s policy of the European Union 
AuntyUta 
