ANZAC DAY

APRIL 25 (ANZAC DAY) is a big day in Australia and New Zealand. and I thought those of you who are not Aussies may like to know something about this tradition. It s probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

Why is this day special to Australians?

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 14 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

The day begins with dawn services at small and large memorials in towns all over Australia when the solemn words are repeated:

"They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old; age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn; at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them; we will remember them"

Later, there are big parades in the larger cities, with men and women who served in all wars marching in their old company groups, or else children and grandchildren of citizens who served and who have passed on. Afterwards, many will meet at reunion dinners or for drinks at favored local pubs. As one leaves the War Memorial in Canberra, on the wall there is an inscription to the effect that one cannot understand the Australian culture until one understands the experience of Australians at war.

Does this mean that Australia is a bellicose nation? That is hardly the case, since we have never started a war although we do have a habit of joining with allies to fight. ANZAC Day is important to us because it was in the crucible of conflict that the Aussie spirit of "mateship" emerged, of helping your mate when he/she is down, of looking after the underdog, and looking out for the general good. This attitude drives much of the social services, including the health system.

ANZAC Day, and the memory of that drawn out and futile battle for the Dardinelles has formed a bond between Australia (and New Zealand) with Turkey. These former enemies now have a common ANZAC memorial at the place of the intended invasion. Each year Turks and visitors from Australia and New Zealand stand, at dawning and with heads bowed, for a simple memorial service to reflect on and recall the futile irony of war. Similar ceremonies occur in France and Belgium.

I’M IN PORTLAND, having traveled on Saturday last by air from Elmira (the local airport to the Corning area) to San Francisco, via Philadelphia. I spent a good bit of the day in San Francisco wandering around after stowing my luggage in the storage room of the Downtown SFO Youth Hostel where I will be staying May 1. Then I caught the train up to Portland overnight arriving on Sunday afternoon and was met by my good friend, Jack (the Jack who has the hybrid Camry). The picture is of two street cars passing in Powell St., SFO.

It is not as easy as one might think to get by train from San Francisco to Portland . You catch the BART from SFO Airport around to Emeryville (EMY), which is just a little south of Berkley. Emeryville AMTRAK station is the closest station to downtown SFO. Is this not kind of bizarre? I mean, that is miles from the downtown. AMTRAK, the national rail passenger network, does not own any track instead depending on the good graces of the private rail companies for passage. Due to this, quite a few AMTRAK stations are in out of the way places, in relation to population centers.

The strangeness of the journey does not end there. The Portland Train does not go directly to Portland. It goes to Klamath Falls where passengers transfer to motor coaches to travel over the Cascade Range into the Willamette Valley to Eugene. Here they get on another train that goes north to Seattle and Vancouver BC, passing through Portland. Is not that also bizarre? All this makes the journey somewhat longer that it might otherwise had been. However, it is not all downside. The train leaves EMY late evening (c. 10:20 PM) resulting in it passing below beautiful Mt Shasta just as one is thinking about breakfast. Let me tell you, the dining car on this train is in the grand tradition with real cutlery, white line tablecloths, and proper napkins (‘serviettes’ to you Aussies). And … proper waiters and chef. How about eggs with toast and apple chicken sausage, with coffee and orange juice for $9? Not to mention the magnificent view across wide valleys, dusted with the previous night’s snow, stretching away to one side and fleeting views of Mt. Shasta on the other. Yes, this is train travel indeed. No bothersome security checks, big comfortable seats and lots of legroom. Tired of your allotted seat? Go to the Observation Lounge for great views of the magnificent Cascade Mountains. Too bad you only have an hour or so of this before arriving at Klamath Falls.

At Klamath Falls snow had began to fall, intensifying as the bus climbed up over the Klamath Pass before descending to Eugene. Once more the travel was through beautiful mountain country anointed now with an inch or so of fresh ‘whiter than white’ snow. The train to Portland awaited us and I completed a most pleasant journey. As a senior traveler this cost me less than $60. Not bad…not bad at all.

Now let me contrast this with my journey from Paris (Oley) Airport to Marseille a couple of years back. The Very Fast Train (TGV) passes through the airport and is a few minutes by shuttle from the air terminals. The journey takes about four hours, the train running on dedicated track and passing through great vistas of forest, the manicured French countryside, and pretty villages.

Ah, I hear you say, at last he is off the energy thing and back to ordinary matters.

Not quite…

Just before I left on this journey Delta and Northwest Airlines had decided to merge. This was opposite to what the pundits had expected. The reason the managements of these airlines gave for the decision to merge was the tremendous increase in the price of jet fuel. Another had airline filed for bankruptcy while others have ceased operation, citing rising fuel costs. Further, United Airlines has just posted a loss for the first quarter, once again citing the increased cost of fuel. Airline ticket prices have jumped eight times this last year; expect more increases, warn the airlines.

The cost of my lone journey last year from Portland to Painted Post by car was twice the cost of the same journey by air. Travel by car is more costly than by air and the differential will most likely increase. Train travel is the least costly way of getting from anywhere to anywhere over land. Too bad development of passenger rail infrastructure has such a low priority! You may just have to take the bus.

When oil reaches $130 to $140 per barrel it is possible that the cost of distance travel by car and plane will pass beyond the reach of the ordinary person, even with the most economical cars and larger, more economical jets. Already, experts are predicting significantly diminished summer ‘08 holiday traffic due to the rising cost of fuel. The latest news…for the first time in two decades, Americans annualized demand for fuel has fallen.

Expect the cost of energy to continue increasing. Since coal now costs three times more than two years ago the cost of electrical power likewise will rise. If you believed this is really going to happen, what is the best course of action you might take?

THE STREAKER'S LAMENT

Remember the streakers? Those interesting and seemingly more than slightly crazy folk who would run out over the sports field in their birthday suits, chased by the police or security guards. Often as not they were arrested although some really fast streakers, who really streaked, got away.
One streaker, seeking to explain his odd behavior to the judge, said "Your Honor, it seemed like a good idea at the time." This was The Streaker's Lament.
Many things seem like a good idea at the time and I am sure you have your own treasure trove of things that seemed to be a good idea at the time. How about the idea of using ethanol as a replacement for gasoline? To be fair, adding some ethanol to gasoline was a good idea and resulted in a significant reduction of smog in places like Los Angeles a decade or so back.
Not such a good idea when this is proposed as a alternative to gasoline. Why not? you ask...
Well, for starters, it takes about as much energy to produce ethanol as ethanol yields. Only corn subsidies paid to farmers made it look economic for a while. Then it seems like it takes lots of water to produce ethanol and water seems to be getting relatively scarce. Oh, and now we are being told that the carbon footprint for corn-based ethanol is bigger than that of gasoline when all the energy inputs are considered. Not to mention, finally, that growing lots of corn for ethanol results in less corn to eat.
Much the same story goes for biodiesel from feedstock such as sorghum and palm oil. I do think collecting used vegetable oil from McDonald's and the like, turning it into biodiesel and glycerine and using the former in your diesel powered motor car is a really smart idea, especially when done by small cooperatives. What did they do with all that vegetable oil before this turned up?
However, biodiesel production on a large, commercial scale seems to have unfortunate consequences for the poorer folk around the world, especially in Asia where palm oil is important for cooking. Thanks to biodiesel production, many folk are finding it more and more difficult to find oil to cook their food.
Farmers, who are really smart people, knowing that the increased demand is leading to better prices for corn and sorghum, are planting more acreage to these crops, even turning thumbs down to government subsidies for not planting crops so that land can be returned to natural growth. In the meantime, the price of corn at the ethanol factory door has risen so high that it is no longer profitable to make ethanol. Due to drought, even wheat has become a much more profitable crop and is competing for land formerly planted to corn.
All of which seems to take us back to our starting point: producing biofuels so as to reduce acreage planted to food crops is not really so smart an idea (especially when it leads to increased food prices when we shop)...although it seemed a good idea at the time.
At least the farmers are making more money and it is hard to argue against that!
Delta and Northwest airlines have decided to merge. A week or so back, it looked as if this mooted merger would probably not eventuate. What changed opposition to collaboration? Why, the realization that the price of jet fuel has risen so high that it is threatening to ruin the air travel industry. Even airline executives seem to be realizing that the high price of oil is not going to go away. The US Air Force is planning to run its vast fleet on fuel converted from coal.
What is driving up the price of oil? Two things are acting together: one factor is that oil production cannot keep up with rising demand (there is a little less oil produced each year due to depletion of oil fields and less oil is discovered than the increase in oil consumption. The other factor is that the rest of the world (particularly China and India) want to live like the Western World and drive lots of motor cars. India alone is building several oil refineries each of which will be able to refine more oil that is refined currently in Australia. It seems the only new refineries are those being built in Asia!
Someone should get over there and tell them that there is not enough oil to go around and they should give up this crazy idea. But...would they listen?
Hey, someone should shout the same to us. But...would we listen?
Eventually, the price of oil will make us attend. Gasoline in Europe costs about US$ 7.80 per gallon. Which is why Europeans drive smaller cars and prefer diesel engines. The cost of fuel is of less concern to them because most live in compact cities with excellent public transport including very fast intercity trains (think 200 mph). European cities do not have the sprawling suburbs we are accustomed to nor do parents spend large amounts of time and large quantities of fuel transporting children to this and that event because of the greater convenience.
My friend Jack recently purchased a Toyota Hybrid that gives 35 mpg around town and better than that on the highway. Another friend, Douglas, has been driving a diesel Jetta for some years and does not mind the 50 mph economy he gets, even at the current price of diesel. It seems that, if we all followed this path, we would be off dependence on foreign oil supplies or greatly reduce it. This is in the US, of course. Those of you in Australia can buy the new Peugeots, Renaults, etc with the efficient clean diesel engines. Petrol averaged AU$1.42 per litre last month, equivalent to US$4.79 per gallon. Compare Canada, where gasoline averaged CA$1.14 per litre, equivalent to US$4.19 per gallon.
Put it this way...if you really knew that gas would cost $10 per gallon at the end of next year, how might that change your motoring choices?

FOOD...THE GREAT TRAVELER; FOOD MILES

Just suppose you decided to produce all the food you eat...
The first thing you would notice is that you have little time for anything else. On those little farms that once dotted the land the farmer worked most of the day to produce food for his family and, with a little luck, some extra produce for sale in the town or for barter with other farmers. And not just the farmer but also his family; and the more family to help the better. That was the main reason for big families. Once I lived in a little town in the mid-north of South Australia. Actually, twice I lived in that little town as it was the town where I was born and to which later I returned as a pastor for the local Baptist community. The second time I lived in Clare my neighbor across the street was the 13th child in a family of 2o children, 13 of whom had survived childhood. They had all helped to work their parents' farm.
That is the reason we have longer school holidays in the summer...so that children could work on the farm during the harvest time.
The second thing you would notice is that your diet would become greatly restricted; essentially made up of the fresh seasonal food grown locally, stored preserves, and food that would last from one season through the next.
Nowadays the farmer mainly produces large crops that are sold away for processing in the food industry for eventual sale in the supermarkets. If they are of a mind to, the farming family can grow vegetables in their garden and run some animals for their own eating or chickens for the eggs. More likely, the family will drive into town to shop at the supermarket.
Farmers still tend to work from dawn to dusk as this is the natural way of things when you enjoy the work and like the outdoors. Using modern farming equipment the average farmer can grow food for many more than himself, perhaps for as many as 300 families.
All this is possible because of cheap energy the form of sunlight and fossil fuels (stored sunlight from yesteryears) enabling the farmer to multiply the benefits of his labor manifold. It starts with fossil fuel to make the fertilizer he puts on the fields, continues with fuel for his machinery, goes into the pesticides he applies to his crops, enables the transport of farm product from the farm to the food factories, and finally to the supermarkets. The role of energy does to stop there as we then drive from our homes to the supermarkets to purchase the food we need.
The result is a wonderful array of foods from near and far, much more replete and varied than was possible in the local stores of yore.
So how far did the food you buy at the supermarket travel? Economists are beginning to look at Food Miles. In the US, the average distance is between 1300 and 1500 miles! If you think this is surprising, consider that a recent Australian study of 29 food items commonly purchased showed that these had traveled an average of just over 70,000 kilometres (43,759 miles). Now I know that Australia is a long way for everywhere else but this seems incredible. Perhaps a bad selection of items?
Hmmm...this would explain the ten or so 18 wheelers for every car Uma and I saw on the way down to Texas! Apparently, since most of America's food is transported by just four or five transport companies, a clever terrorist group could virtually disable the nation by knocking out these companies. Apparently this is a threat under serious examination by Homeland Security.
More immediately serious is the looming threat by truckers to cease delivery for several days to protest the rising price of diesel fuel.
Walmart is becoming concerned about this issue and has adopted a "buy within 100 miles" policy wherever possible. My local supermarket has a policy of purchasing produce from local farmers and features particular farmers each Saturday. Farmers' Markets are springing up all over.
Buying locally does not always guarantee a reduction in the 'carbon footprint' of the food purchased as an article in the current Newsweek shows (Technology Section: "Sounds Good, But ...").
However, it is becoming evident that the rising cost of fuel may significantly affect food distribution and raise the price of food to much higher levels. Beyond that, the food distribution system may falter.
If one were to take this seriously, what changes might one make?