Thursday, 23 February 2023
THINKING ABOUT LAUNCESTON
For those who think of LAUNCESTON as HOME despite theIr ‘cultural reality’ being something other than the ANGLOcentric cum COLONIALheritage that the city still wears as a ‘IDENTITY BADGE’ on its colonial cloak – or might that be COLONIALyoke – it is what it is and it pervades everything in every way.
Then there are those who think of LAUNCESTON as a DESTINATION – a place to go to, an elsewhere 'place'. For those 'at home' in LAUNCESTON the 'place' is what it is – made for us, by us over time. For those for who see LAUNCESTON a 'place' to go to, it is what it as well but it's quirkiness, its 'otherness' is the attractor. Whatever it is that 'attracts', or disappoints, is left behind to be ponder upon 'at home'.
HOW MIGHT ANNY OF THIS BE SUSTAINED AND MAINTAINED? All this 'places' a COLONIALyoke on Launceston's placedness and it is made clear when the city’s mayors BLINGup in their Medieval getups. The message here is we are a SOMBODY among NOBODIES –lesser people.
This is RANKISM and it is discriminatory like other behavior such as bullying and racism – and hazing, ageism, sexism, ableism, mentalism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia etc. etc too.
Come what may, around every corner, under every rock in any place, discriminatory behavior can be found. In many ways it is part and parcel of a place's 'placedness'. No matter where we are there just four life imperatives relative to being 'in the world':
- Getting what you need to sustain life – air to breath, water to drink, food to eat;
- Asserting one's identity – that is who you are within a group, family, tribe, community, a place;
- Fulfilling the need to procreate – genetically, intellectually, idealogically;
- Making a home – a lace where one is welcomed and safe.
THE NOBODY IDEA
Who are the nobodies? Those with less power – at the moment. Who are the somebodies? Those with more power - at the moment. Power is signified by rank. Rank in a particular setting. Somebodies hold higher rank than nobodies. In that setting.- for that moment. A somebody in one setting can be a nobody in another, and vice versa. A somebody now might be a nobody a moment later, and vice versa. [See Robert Fuller on Rankism] The abuse of power inherent in rank is rankism.
When somebodies use the power of their position in one setting to exercise power in another, that's rankism. When somebodies use the power of their position to put a permanent hold on their power, that, too, is rankism.
SO, celebrating POWERFULNESS in MAYROLbling is arguably COLONIALcentric, peri-colonial, a redundant sensibility of-the-past, and RANKIST – somebodiness among nobodies – and it is stratus quo oriented and in the end diminishing for all who live a culturally diverse reality but who nonetheless imagine themselves as 'Launcestonians' – First Nations people,
So, the question hanging here is in the 21st C, seems to be, in a place in the world somewhat at its edge, how might people be ranked relative to place and then their placedness?
It is political in so much as those who perceive that their wellbeing, their relative wealth, their status and authority is invested in the status quo. Ronal Regan said of the ‘status quo’ …. Quite simply it is Latin for the mess we are in.
It turns out that 'the PRESS' in Tasmania/Launceston has been, and largely still is, invested in maintaining the status quo – maintaining all that is and all the power invested in the good ship STATUS QUO and all who sail in her – for example think of EDMUND ROUSE and others.
For those who have much invested in and so heavily in the status quo most/many/some will be prepared ‘to die in a ditch’ defending the status quo a bit like fighting for ‘King, country and the Empire’. Somewhat Interestingly here Kenny Everett said “When England was a kingdom, we had a king. When we were an empire, we had an emperor. Now we’re a country, and we have Margaret Thatcher.” ... and a rather long conga line of other pretenders since. In the UK the need for change is simultaniously embraced and resisted as King Charles readies himself for 'coronation'.
It turns out that despite all the 21st C and its technologies have to offer in the way of CHANGE – necessary change – the realisation of change ultimately becomes a compelling mechanism for its maintenance aided and abetted by current atechnologies.
EFFECTING CHANGE EFFECTIVELY!
In the 21st C the Status Quo is not sustainable albeit that governance’s mindsets and thus their managements have so much invested in ’everything remaining basically the same’ – even if it needs a tweak here, a repair there etc. etc.
As it turns out in the 21st C – now 2 decades in –and its technologies CHANGE can be realised despite the PRESS and its compulsion, and perceived necessity, to maintain the status quo. Social Media has democratised ‘information and news sharing’ within Communities of Ownership and Interest – some vast, some small, all having a diverse and layered membership network.
There are EFFECTIVE democratising mechanisms available, largely cheap and for the most part relatively accessible that can challenge the ‘power of the press’ and even NEUTRALISE its ‘dead hand’ protecting the status quo.
It is worth remembering that essentially THE COVID-19 VIRUS empowered the QRcode (Quick Response Code) and what was once obscure is now generally well understood thus overturning what passed for WISDOM – The Proper Way. zenZING proverb – The PROPERway is that straight and narrow pathway from wherever you happen to be and all the way to mediocrity.
All this opens up a bunch of cliches that invokes a can of worms, the flood gates and of course pandora's box were only theAUDATIOUS might dare go! The 'four life imperatives' impact upon everything that we all do, all the time and always. Putting such considerations aside is perilous and especially so given that in that it impacts upon those who have their lives and wellbeing invested in a place – places that have diverse Communities of Ownership and Interest that all too often go unacknowledged.
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
WHAT IS TASMANIAN OSMIUM
Two extraordinarily rare elements in the platinum group of metals are osmium and iridium.
In Tasmania we find them together as a pure silvery alloy we call osmiridium.
It averages about 50/50 osmium and iridium, varying from site to site.
In the 19th century, osmiridium had no value.
From 1881 it was found with gold from Salisbury (Beaconsfield) all the way down to Renison, and regarded as an annoying impurity.
Its density was similar to gold's, making it difficult to separate by sluicing and panning.
It was particularly abundant and annoying to miners east of Corinna, and they were the ones who had it identified, finding out it was worse than worthless.
The mint charged them to remove it from their gold.
By the end of the century, industry was realising how useful its constituent elements could be - from fountain pen nibs to light bulb filaments to munitions, often alloyed with platinum.
The price skyrocketed and by 1920 an ounce of osmiridium was worth nearly ten times as much as gold.
And for years prospectors had been throwing it away!
A rush began prior to WWI, to localities around Waratah and Savage River such as Luina, Heazlewood and Nineteen Mile Creek.
The mineral was found as alluvial deposits in the creeks and rivers, where it looked like steel filings in the pan.
In 1913 a gold miner from Golconda named William Caudry found an original source of the mineral in serpentine rock at Bald Hill, west of Waratah.
This was the first time in the world that a source had been found, and he was granted a reward claim of 40 acres.
Miners followed the finds south along a broad belt of this serpentine rock.
They lost it for a while, until picking it up again in the Renison/Dundas region.
Soon Tasmania was the largest producer in the world.
As these first discoveries petered out at the end of the war, the price was taking off.
In late 1924 a new field was discovered in the Adams River valley, on the eastern side of today's Lake Gordon.
A second rush began and the town of Adamsfield was born.
Well over a thousand miners' rights were issued in 1925, and in spring of that year more than 800 men were prospecting on the field.
Enthusiasm was severely dented when large scale production arose from Russia, leading to a price crash in 1926-7.
Even when prices recovered, the number of miners and local production didn't get back to the previous peaks.
Then came the Depression.
Declining production from the ageing field coincided with falling prices and rising output from South Africa.
A jump in the price during WWII made little difference and Tasmanian production dwindled away to nothing in the 1960s.
You can still find it out west though, and the price has recovered to be about twice that of gold.
END
Osmiridium is a popular name for a naturally occurring alloy of the metals iridium and osmium. Corrosion-resistant, it is used in the manufacture of a variety of articles from pen nibs to munitions. First recognised in the 1880s as an undesirable impurity associated with alluvial gold in western Tasmania, it was discarded by the miners. A penalty was imposed by the Mint for its removal from gold.In 1909 a dramatic increase in price created a boom for the metal, with a rush of miners moving into a number of western mining fields. The collapse of the Russian industry as a result of war and revolution saw prices continue to rise. By 1920 the price reached £38 per ounce and that year the Pieman fields produced 2009 ounces with a value of £77,104. Tasmania had now become the world's largest producer. A second osmiridium rush followed in 1925 with the commencement of alluvial mining at Adamsfield in the state's south-west. In that year £105,570 was paid to miners, but by 1930 the boom had passed with only £16,235 paid to all the miners in the state.The excitement and adventure of the Tasmanian osmiridium-mining boom was the subject of a novel, Jewelled Nights, by Marie Bjelke Petersen, published in 1923. In 1925 a film based on the book starring Louise Lovely was made, largely in the Pieman district. Production of osmiridium continued until 1954, by which time more than 881 kg had been mined.Further reading: A Alexander, A mortal flame, Hobart, 1994; C Burrett & E Martin (eds), Geology and mineral resources of Tasmania, [Brisbane], 1989; A McIntosh Reid, Osmiridium in Tasmania, [Hobart], 1921; C Bacon, 'Notes on the history of mining and exploration at Adamsfield', Mineral Resources Tasmania Report 1992/30, 1992. Chris Tassell |
RANDOM RESEARCH REFERENCES JOHN H ROBINSON LINK ......... https://forum.pmat.org.au/t/finding-osmiridium/265 ......... https://www.appleisleprospector.com/osmiridium-in-tasmania/ ......... https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/osmiridium ......... https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/osmiridium-coin-develops-new-extreme-density-un-counterfeitable-platinum-group-metal-coins-300454943.html ......... https://www.jstor.org/stable/24964944 ......... https://www.facebook.com/tasmanianpioneers/posts/3565039016841620/? paipv=0&eav=AfZWoaJfXghn167Bz1KsY2rnL3CYJ3jfuekFlfjAOvDmTYLgKruqzJgyknExHw5xYbU&_rdr .............. https://collection.maas.museum/object/218132 .......... https://nichaygarth.com/index.php/2017/06/16/on-the-trail-of-hooky-jack-portuguese-ossie-digger/?fbclid=IwAR2dnQxQe-YfzdwX7SNDYY0W6KWzP_qSMK5Hmh8qAlE3YyGeD2rvXTyPfPc
https://forum.pmat.org.au/t/finding-osmiridium/265 .............. https://www.appleisleprospector.com/osmiridium-in-tasmania/ .............. https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/osmiridium .............. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/osmiridium-coin-develops-new-extreme-density-un-counterfeitable-platinum-group-metal-coins-300454943.html .............. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24964944 .............. https://www.facebook.com/tasmanianpioneers/posts/3565039016841620/?paipv=0&eav=AfZWoaJfXghn167Bz1KsY2rnL3CYJ3jfuekFlfjAOvDmTYLgKruqzJgyknExHw5xYbU&_rdr .............. https://collection.maas.museum/object/218132 .............. https://nichaygarth.com/index.php/2017/06/16/on-the-trail-of-hooky-jack-portuguese-ossie-digger/?fbclid=IwAR2dnQxQe-YfzdwX7SNDYY0W6KWzP_qSMK5Hmh8qAlE3YyGeD2rvXTyPfPc
Sunday, 19 February 2023
worldSILLYweek in LAUNCESTON 2023
..
GO2 ... https://worldsillyweekzone.blogspot.com/2023/02/world-silly-week-in-launceston-12.html
It is in fact a sanctioned transgressive cultural activity throughout the 11days of worldSILLYweek in Launceston!
There is one condition! No harm should arise from any 'action' albeit that some egos might get dented just a littleBIT.
This years GUESTcurator is Dr. Martin Notcher-Bowen
BE AWARE & BEWARE
BUT DO NOT BE ALARMED
It is all in the aid of charity and it involves the number
11 thus its 11days. The nominatedcharity for 2023
2023 worldSILLYweek COLLECTIONproject #1
URINEcollectors
AN IDEA, A CODE? 369
TO WATCH GO TO
14:29 MINS & 7,798 people have commented thus far
Nikola Tesla (/ˈtɛslə/ TESS-lə; Serbian Cyrillic: – 10 July [O.S. 28 June] 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. ....CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Saturday, 18 February 2023
FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOUSING STRESS
STRIKE IT OUT TASMANIA is on its way with a mobile shower trailer and is starting to come together with:
- The trailer built and registered;
- The two portable showers in place;
- Water tank built and grey water tanks installed underneath.
Then they'll nee an electrician to install solar panel battery power etc.
It is so exciting to see this project coming together, another piece of our infrastructure which will be self sufficient .
A BIGthanx to Jason for building the trailer which STRIKE IT OUT received a very good price for. A huge shout out also to the team at Phil Davey Sheetmetal who are working with us on this project and doing a fantastic job
Also a BIGthanx als o tall he generous people who have financially given to bring this project to life we would not be able to have done this without you!!
THINK ABOT THIS ... This kind of think can be achieved IF you are engaged and you are disinclined to sit upon your hands. For many month the City of Launceston has had 'a committee' that is yet to deliver something and the the good people of Launceston pay the salaries of the non-performing bureaucrats at Town Hall. Indeed, Town Hall busies itself 'moving these people on'.
Meanwhile, people sleep rough, some have died on the streets, and all the people out there on the streets want and need is a place to call HOME. There isv too much looking the other way going on and it diminishes us all!
We might well remember here that the City of Launceston has committed something in the order of $600K for a couple of showers and a toilet for EXECUTIVESshowers after riding their bikes to work MMMmmmmmm!?
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