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 |   A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
"More than 90% of the Australian population live in urban areas on the coastal fringes--the Outback is there fore mostly uninhabited.." "You can't know everything Mom!"https://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/dangerous_australian_outback_an... I'm reading the Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer. It's a 469 page book about lots of small obscure pieces of knowledge in the world. It talks about laws, social ideas, island inhabitants, arts found in the world, buildings in different places, lots of obscure knowledge. Did you know there is a garden in the UK that has only poisonous plants in it? People who want to walk through and observe are cautioned not to touch any plants by signs and it's only open at certain times. I have added a link about Australia. It is kind of an obscure link but it does give you some ideas you may not have heard about the Australian Outback. Plus I found this quote --"“A queer country, so old that as you walk on and on, there’s a feeling comes over you that you are gone back to Genesis.” ~ Bushman--http://australianruralromance.com/favourite-quotes-the-bush-and-the-land. When I think of the Australian Outback I always think of the USA and our national parks. I also get a thought in my mind of hot arid lands and natives who walk around every year checking out the natural scenery. Maybe I think of them, the aboriginals, as a people who understand nature in the way that it has always revolved from year to year. I'm sure there is another way aboriginals are viewed by the people of Australia. Some of us who went on the internet trip to Australia with the 30-Day-challenge two summers ago in august were able to view some of the social problems experienced in Australia. I recently read in The Atlas Obscura (at 32%/page189) a fact called "Terra Nullis." It is also called "The Discovery Doctrine." European Settlers especially the English or anyone connected to the Catholic church believed these two doctrines which gave them the right to land discovery if it was not already in the hands of Christians "In 1493 a papal bull by Pope Alexander VI declared that any land in the Americas not inhabited by Christians was available to be "discovered." It also said, " a Christian Nation could claim sovereignty over such land. And, explorers were to rid non-Christian inhabitants of their "barbarous" ways by instructing them in the Catholic faith." You should note that this was not just a Catholic doctrine but was also used by Christian Settlers of different denominations and non-christian politics to seize the lands of aboriginals in Australia and Indians of the Continent of America. I won't go into all of the awful things that have been done to the Indians and the aboriginals in the name of Christianity. Zeal can often take horrible forms. Ask any serial killer. In 1992 an Australian High Court rejected this concept of "Terra Nullis." Now Aboriginal Australians can claim land for traditional use. According to the link above the outback is not as dangerously inhabited by wild creatures that are just waiting to eat or poison intruders, as its reputation leads many people to believe. In any event, if it is habitable a new problem will soon evolve and that will be how habitable is it and how will the Australians go about keeping it from being spoiled by the wrong kind of habitation. The main situation is going to be, the preservation on the earth of habitat for creatures other than humans. Whether the Outback is habitable or not it is presently inhabited by creatures that need it to stay alive. Loss of habitat is one of the concerns environmentalist have and is a cause of species extinction. Presently, the earth is experiencing the sixth largest species extinctions since the dinosaurs disappeared. {https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversi...} As we in the USA well know not all politics is geared toward preservation of wildlife. Some politics is just geared toward preservation of human life. I still remember the Star Trek movie where the Enterprise went back in time to preserve the oceans by bringing back whales to repopulate the oceans. Oh, The Atlas Obscura also has an article about fossils of whales that once walked on the earth with legs. Personally, I think living on the coastline of Australia will always take president over the Outback because of weather. But, maybe not I've never been there and I don't have first hand knowledge of the area. I'm just another citizen scientist. Happy Out-backing!  |
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