As recently as the 60s Sydney still had 3 large coal fired power stations around the harbour. Coal was mined under Sydney harbour.

Then there was the gas works just up the Parramatta River. You had to wind your windows up when traveling within several miles of the river, it was FOUL!

Contemporary photos of the southern approach to the bridge show a thick smog hanging over the city. The occasional car in the traffic with engine blowby gasses emerging from under it, adding to the lethal mix.

Great improvements have been made.

As a kid, back in the pre-XPT days I used to gaze in awe at the smoke that used to billow from the Clyde Engineering 42-class locomotives that used to haul some of the trains between Sydney and Melbourne.

When I worked at Gladesville Hospital in the early 1990s the hospital still operated four huge coal-fired boilers. Two were for the hot water and heating (in winter time) for all buildings on both sides of Victoria Road and the other two were for the steam laundries.

Trucks would arrive each week to tip new coal supplies into the hoppers.

To the list of people sending me SMS messages about the virus I can now add "AusGov". I don't know if "AusGov" has my mobile number on file or this is a shotgun message blasted out to all mobiles.

I've received 2 messages recently. They just get deleted like the rest of the spam.

It's a global SMS on every network.
Yes I got it too.

I'd say that is send globally to every mobile number registered on the network. You get such messages whether you like it or not.

And. You can't block them.

A few people I spoke today have not (yet) received that AusGov SMS message.

My dad worked at the Mortlake gasworks as a gas tester. That was back in the days when they made their own gas by heating coal in retorts and extracting the methane that came off the coal. That site included the largest gas holder in the southern hemisphere. I scored a tour of the whole place when I did my school work experience there in the 1980s.

Sadly, all that is now gone, apart from the main gates. Within is a gated estate comprising flats and townhouses. You will need a quid in your pocket to buy at Breakfast Point.

Coronavirus: Leaked intelligence report shows US was warned about COVID-19 in November

QUOTE: In early November, US spies noticed a series of “red flags” appearing over the city of Wuhan in China – but their warnings fell on deaf ears.

US intelligence officers knew a new contagion was sweeping Wuhan in November but they couldn’t get the message through to the top.

Spying is a complicated game — it’s not just about secret agents and deep hacks.

Intelligence agencies across the world also monitor the daily pulse of life across the planet.

How much has it rained? Are crops healthy? Are people following their usual behaviour patterns?

According to documents obtained by the US ABC, a series of “red flags” began to appear over Wuhan in November.

Behavioural patterns were changing — businesses were behaving differently, so too were local authorities. It all matched the profile for an emerging contagion.

So analysts delved deeper by tapping Chinese communications and accessing digital records. Frantic Chinese messaging revealed they already knew an epidemic was out of control.

The American secrecy "industry" is labyrinthine. An idea of this can be gained from this book:

Deep State Marc Ambinder & D B Grady "Inside the government secrecy industry"


It more or less tells you who leaks what and why, and what doesn't get passed on to other agencies & why. After 9/11 there was an upheaval to help ensure that information gets passed on to where it is needed.
But even if it is passed on it must be listened to and appreciated for its importance.

I passed this book on to a relative with the comment: "Informative but style a bit of a trial and editing left something to be desired. Inconsistencies and contradictions often. This might be due to poor editing or changes required by the authors' former masters. Anything written on intelligence may also carry misinformation. Still worth reading though."

Naturally, those in Washington who were made aware of those NCMI reports now suffer from "I don't recall" syndrome.

More interesting stories today.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-10/coronavirus-triggers-struggle-between-donald-trump-and-china/12138772

A nation accustomed to being a world-beater in business, innovation, sport and on the battlefield, has been reduced to its knees.

"All our pharmaceuticals are manufactured in China. All of our masks are manufactured in China. Basically everything is manufactured in China," he told ABC.

"We have this incredible logistics capability for deploying [military] forces abroad but it's all dependent on the help of the Chinese Communist Party."

And he sees that as a clear and present threat to the United States.

In a matter of weeks, the pandemic has relentlessly exploited America's weak spots.

Inadequate health care, rampant inequality, cumbersome bureaucracy, all-pervasive politics and millions of people who trust shock jocks and preachers more than scientists.

America's problems are deep-seated and won't go away any time soon. Those who live there think it's normal because they've never known anything different.

https://www.9news.com.au/world/coronavirus-spreads-through-nicaragua-as-government-thwarts-measures-to-contain-covid19/6ff92819-bf4d-4d12-a7ca-a1a45c75b1d2

This dictator tells his people to party on as if nothing happened.

This dictator tells his people to party on as if nothing happened.

Poetic justice if he was taken out by the virus himself.

Remember Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine"?

He went across the border to Canada and was shocked to discover a very different society.