The aquatic space is used the same way as the terrestial space – just a space to rev motors along. Just as the asphalted Earth is becoming too congested to get anywhere, the little bays, coves and even beaches become race-courses to blow the abundance of fossil fuel away. Problem is, there are these pedestrians and wildlife 'cluttering up my road'. In the blue waterbodies and oceans, swimmers take the fun out of 'having a good spin'.
In Manly the season for mixing water & petrol is truly open. At Manly Beach the fumes of the speeding 'life-saving' boats are breathtaking. The proximity to swimmers of all boats is a great danger to people in the water, at Shelly Beach and Manly Beach.
The land-grabs of foreshore Sydney is on everywhere. The small strip of green along East Esplande, Manly Cove is being conquered with the help of 4 WDRs and a lot of semi-commercial boating gear. Both the green strip and the pedestrian strip are being regularly squatted and people are excluded from using it. No one there to enforce the right of people walking (in the very few spaces set aside for them) and enjoying the Cove. What would happen if one of these SUVs ran over a person on the 10 km/h walkway-only? Why is the public excluded from using the green strip and their walk-way? Watch them make an aqua-car park out of Manly Cove and the jetties swallow up the blue harbour. Count the boats... Image: Manly Cove aerial shot via Google Images, 0807
Update at the end of the day at Manly Beach. Garbage all over the beach, overfull bins, smashed glass and flies everywhere, as every year. Such a convenient life style... (Flies via DotAtelier)
Stuck in the congestedpoodle-pram-parade at Manly Beach beach today. Double and triple decker prams, often with dogs in harness and undivided attention to their mobile.
Should there still be any (hyper)-activity, then plastic toys or sedatives might do the trick. At lunch carers feast in eateries, while the kid is still restrained in its baby 4x4 isolation chamber.Keeping the 'kid busy' might be done by other restaurant patrons.
Young babies can use visual clues to pick up on the community of language users if they are given a chance of face to face interaction. The jogging parent on their wearable, checking out the pack of dogs, is usually pushing the pram away from their gaze. The child/ren at the bottom of the double deckers has a very limited impression of the world. The ones seeing nothing but a black plastic gauze for the first bit of their life, might be 'in the dark' for some time.
The privatisation and intensification of public spaces is racing ahead in most urban places. Industrial commercialisation seeks out urban places (with infrastructure) where people aggregate. It relieves them of their money and is a 'block-buster' for the adjoining residential community.
Popcorn -Yoo Hoo! Manly already has lost a lot of public space to sectional interests. At this stage Manly Council “has given its provisional support” to allow late night open-air movies in Manly Oval/ Ivanhoe Park. This small 'green space' already hosts a variety of sport, childcare and alcohol-related activities. The impact of such a 'movie', blasting advertisements and films over the block would constitute noise trespass for the adjacent residents. Parking and traffic congestion, light spill/glare, littering, garbage, smashed glass and increased vandalism are sure to follow. The pumping noises of the large inflatable screen would further add to the outdoor noise pollution.
24/7 open air entertainment The issue of noise is a serious health concernfor people who live in this area. The strategies are not to prevent noise, but to manage, “regulate” it to acceptable noise intrusions in homes. Initial 'recommendations' , 'restrictions' and practices will find their way to a 24/7 open air entertainment in the end.
Vibrant Manly – Luv it or... With the degradation of an 'residential area' the most sensible thing is probably to pass on the rest-less 'home' to the “vibrant community” that never sleeps, needs commercial entertainment 24 hrs and only lives off alcohol (and other stimulants). Then Manly is THEIR place!.
What's a park good for anyway? And there is the poor park, already so built over and ruined by foreign water-loving pansies. It was once renowned for its beautiful native flora. More and more birds and possums get flattend on busy Raglan St. Many people might have moved there, because of the 'quite green space'.The authorities will probably do a professional flora and fauna impact study before further developing the 'park'.
Menus with imagination and consideration would be appreciated. Instead it often is the usual fish&seafood-mash up, platters full of lobster by the kg or just meat. Vegetarian dishes containing protein are as rare as organic vegetables on the menus.
“Over 80% of foodborne gastroenteritis due to ‘known’ pathogens is caused by pathogenic E.coli, norovirus, Campylobacter and non-typhoidal Salmonella. 32% of all gastroenteritis may be transmitted via contaminated food. Foodborne gastroenteritis results in about 1.2 million people visiting the doctor,300,000 prescriptions for antibiotics and 2.1 million days of work lost each year.” (pdf) Water as well as food is of course a medium of possible transmission.
Hygiene – as infrastructure and practice A measure for good hygiene in eateries (or anywhere) are the bathrooms. Facilities and updated cleaning are essential. There seems to be a general decline in the tradition of washing hands (properly, video), often the infrastructure to do so for staff and clients is also lacking. Recently it was overheard in Manly that a small boy wished to wash his hands after a pee. His male carer convinced him that it is not important. With eateries that do not offer a lavatory one is forced to use the public ones which are in dubious states. Having (lap-)dogs on seats or eating off dishes is common and a health hazard.
Mental spam pollution – while having a drink Apart from many neon-lit 'convenience' places springing up, another new form of enforced attention grabber has sprung up. Huge screens peddling 'solid state spam', unwanted and unwelcome messages"
It would be advisable to have ecological and ethical audits for businesses, as well as for municipalities, to encourage an open transparent communication with their clients that is sustainable and reciprocal.
Australia as champion in eradicating life of Earth Life on Earth is being eradicated by human action. Winners in this 'hall of shame' are: Australia, Brazil, China and Mexico. “ People, either directly or indirectly, are the main reason for most species’ decline. Habitat destruction and degradation continues to be the main cause of species’ decline, along with the all too familiar threats of introduced invasive species, unsustainable harvesting, over-hunting, pollution and disease. Climate change is increasingly recognized as a serious threat, which can magnify these dangers... Our lives are inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our very survival." via Science Daily 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species report IUCN
Australia opposes human rights declaration Indigenous people's rights to self-determination and human rights are guarded by the United Nations. “ Indigenous peoples say their lands and territories are being threatened by such things as mineral extraction, logging, environmental contamination, privatisation and development projects, classification of lands as protected areas or game reserves and use of genetically modified seeds and technology....Indigenous advocates note that most of the world's remaining natural resources - minerals, freshwater, potential energy sources - are found within Indigenous peoples' territories.“ (abc)Images:Weedy Sea Dragon, Manly sculpture and one of the dead ones at Manly Beach 2007
A growing amount of the Earth is sealed with non-absorbent surfaces to ease the flow of automobiles. The result is warmer urban temperatures and polluted water ways.
Human induced changes on the planet: Human activities heating up the planet, deprive the inhabitants of these extreme cold regions, of their habitat. The melting ice and associated higher temperatures are a threat to the fauna.
Homeless beings, out of food and rest get sick Malnourished seals, whales and penguins, struggling to reproduce also have to live in water bodies saturated with pathogens and toxins. A weakened immune system is more susceptible to pathogens.
The displacement of the inhabitants of the Antarctic and Arctic might be a sign that the Earth is being turned into a hot and in-hospitable place for all, a primordial atmosphere.
Questions:
Could it be that disoriented, malnourished and injured seals at our 'doorstep' are a sign of the large mammal decline that is principally anthropogenic?
Are our actions robbing them of a habitat, food and a place to rest ?
Is our effluent and waste making the ocean unfit for life?
For most of our centuries, walking was our primary means of locomotion. With the advent of motorised transport our known planet became restructured to suit the flow of these auto-mobile devices. People underwent a century ofreprogramming their central nervous system in tune with the flow/jam of the 'traffic'. Children (video) and adults (video) were being instructed to fit in to motorised society.
Check for cars, 4WDs, (especially the black ones with tinted black windows), because they might just want to go in spite of any lights.
Remember, they just throw in their weight.
If all seems clear and the lights haven't changed to red.
Run – looking right/left simulaneously.
Pedestrian Council of Australia Perils for Pedestrians, videos The End of Suburbia Video via Endofsuburbia, "We're literally stuck up a cul-de-sac in a cement SUV without a fill-up" - James Howard Kunstler Update 110907 Urban planner concludes: "..Sydney's roads, footpaths and traffic light configurations all conspired to favour the car... They were a product of traffic engineering that was refined in the 1960s and '70s but never reviewed. Sydney pedestrians can spend as much time waiting to cross the street as they do on the move because the car has ruled the city unnecessarily for 30 years. Measures to alter the balance between drivers and walkers range from the radical - doubling tax on fuel - to the subtle - altering the configuration for turning left and right off thoroughfares."
The aquatic space is used the same way as the terrestial space – just a space to rev motors along. Just as the asphalted Earth is becoming too congested to get anywhere, the little bays, coves and even beaches become race-courses to blow the abundance of fossil fuel away. Problem is, there are these pedestrians and wildlife 'cluttering up my road'. In the blue waterbodies and oceans, swimmers take the fun out of 'having a good spin'.
