Melbourne

Australia is a vast country, about the size of the continental U.S. In fact, it is the only country that occupies an entire continent. But most of the population is concentrated along it's east coast, to the east of the Great Dividing Range. On the other side of that mountain range, the population of the Outback is very sparse.

One thing that Australians are known for is their sense of fairness, making sure that everyone has a "fair go". Another thing that Australians are known for is their friendly sense of humor. If Australians make a joke about you, unlike with many other people, it means that they like you.

Melbourne is the second-largest city in Australia, after Sydney. It is in the far south of Australia and was long the most important city in the country. It hosted the 1956 Olympics, and is today growing faster than Sydney. Melbourne is the real "cultural capital" of Australia, representative of what Australia is all about. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne was founded by free settlers and did not start as a penal colony.

Victoria State is centered on Melbourne, while Sydney is the major city of the state of New South Wales. Like Sydney, Melbourne grew as a result of a Nineteenth-Century gold rush. One disadvantage of being in Melbourne is that it is just so far away from everything, European migrants have a journey to visit back home that is about three times as long as if they were in eastern North America, but yet so many people want to live here.

A good place to begin our visit to Melbourne would be around the the Flinders Street Railway Station. The river is the Yarra River. Notice the bridge with one arch above it, it is of the same design as the one we saw on our visit to "Glasgow", the Clyde Arc Bridge.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8182629,144.9677545,3a,75y,0.21h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN-VCunvyj6RnRTk1m8LgLcrrRLkfthPJ70SQdA!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN-VCunvyj6RnRTk1m8LgLcrrRLkfthPJ70SQdA%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya277.25894-ro-0-fo100!7i5472!8i2736

Here are some more scenes of the central area of Melbourne, beginning on Collins Street.

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The following scenes of Melbourne begin with the Princess Theater on one side and Parliament House on the other side. Parliament House was once the parliament of all of Australia when it served as the temporary capital of the country before the new capital city, Canberra, was built.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8106391,144.9726716,3a,75y,66.68h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTB4ip3Q_SLJYGjNac12P0A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DTB4ip3Q_SLJYGjNac12P0A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.377758%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The following scenes begin inside the old Royal Exhibition Building, where many shows and exhibitions have been held over the years.

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The usual image of an Australian is of being laid-back and carefree, whose main concern is with getting a tan and surfing. There is no surfing at Melbourne because it's waterfront is on Port Phillip Bay, which is mostly shielded from the ocean and it's surfable waves. But Melbourne is shown in these scenes making up for the lack of surfing with motorbike jumping and auto racing, and being promoted by the Melbourne cheerleaders.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8514245,144.9690007,3a,75y,97.49h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN5qd5kynmD9nxzMLBsqcBmAjEXoBUqFMztP7sW!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN5qd5kynmD9nxzMLBsqcBmAjEXoBUqFMztP7sW%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya91.54-ro-0-fo100!7i4500!8i2250

Here is the residential area of Cheltenham. We saw the English city of the same name in the visit, "Gloucestershire And Herefordshire".

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.9661877,145.0664446,3a,75y,98h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0dY2AFaGqJvoUyMeizZIGg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0dY2AFaGqJvoUyMeizZIGg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D98.67331%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Questioning DNA Testing

There was recently a trial nearby that relied heavily on DNA evidence. The thing that I find a little bit disturbing is how DNA testing seems to be considered as absolutely foolproof. If a lab test shows that someone's DNA was found somewhere it is like the Word of God.

I remember when lie detectors, or polygraphs, were where DNA is now, considered as practically infallible. For my first job where I got a paycheck I had to go and take a polygraph test. Getting hired depended on passing the test.

Polygraphs have since fallen out of favor. It is widely recognized that they are not 100% accurate and polygraph test results are usually not admissible as evidence in court.

A hundred years ago if a murder victim had their eyes open a close-up photo was taken of their eyes. It was believed that the last thing a person saw would be imprinted on their eyes. That belief has obviously long since fallen by the wayside.

I cannot help wondering if a day will come when it is realized that DNA testing is not quite as accurate as we thought it was.

Remembering "The Westbound Rule"

With the crisis in fuel prices today I see a way to save a vast amount of fuel in the flight of airlines, by taking advantage of the rotation of the earth. 

The earth rotates eastward and when a jet or rocket takes off it picks up some of the eastward momentum of the earth. This is why nations tend to locate space launch sites on an east coast, such as Cape Canaveral and India's launch site. If some mishap should occur, or when rocket stages are discarded, it will crash into the sea rather than a populated area.

So why don't we use this principle to increase fuel efficiency in aircraft? Eastbound flights should fly as low as is practical, to maximize the boost from the earth's rotation. Westbound flights should fly as high as is practical, to minimize the counter effect of the rotation.

The following link is to the posting:

www.markmeekprogress.blogspot.com/2009/06/westbound-rule.html?m=0

Remembering F.W. DeKlerk

F.W. DeKlerk, the former president of South Africa whose passing was announced today, was behind the end of the Apartheid policy, the separation of the races, in his homeland. I remember his 1994 announcement that Nelson Mandela was being released from prison. Mandela would end up being president of the country, with DeKlerk as his deputy president.

I am certain that the global influence of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms had a strong influence on what took place in South Africa. Like Gorbachev, DeKlerk recognized that the tide was against the system over which he presided and led the change instead of trying to resist it.

P.W. Botha was the less reform-minded predecessor of DeKlerk, as President of South Africa. Has anyone thought that the stroke suffered by Botha, in February 1989, is what led to DeKlerk's presidency and the end of Apartheid?

Did you know that an air force, as a separate branch of the military, originated with an earlier president of South Africa? Jan Smuts, pronounced "Yan Smoots", was in Britain during the First World War, when aircraft were first beginning to be used in combat. Jan Smuts produced a report that would bring about the first new branch of a military since ancient times, an air force that carried on it's own war and not under the control of the army or navy. The result was the formation of the RAF and now most countries have separate air forces. The U.S. didn't start a separate air force until 1947, all warplanes before that were part of the army or navy.

Here is a link to our posting about Mikhail Gorbachev:

 www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/09/tribute-to-great-leader.html?m=0