Blog Archives
POTENTIAL TO REDUCE RIVER FLOODING
Could your home be flooded by the Brisbane River? Southeast Queensland has been visited in many years by one or more tropical cyclones. Rain has fallen downstream of the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams, preventing their flood relief. Then the flood height reached has depended on the capacity of the river channel and floodplain to carry away the floodwater.
Low-lying suburbs flooded previously could be flooded again, but also suburbs not previously flooded could be submerged when the downpour falls on them. Flooding could also be worsening because the river channel is being blocked by sediment from farm run-off, dredged until 1996. The river channel is also being obstructed by concrete bridge support islands. The combined backwater effect of numerus obstructions built in the river channel and on the floodplain could raise flood heights and bring flooding to suburbs so far unaffected.
Brisbane River Anti-Memoir examines potential to reduce flooding now, rather than being a historical record or personal data. Martin Knox is an engineer who uses philosophy to analyse physical and statistical evidence, as well hearsay, all in a phenomenological framework that discovers potential for important flood mitigation.
The conclusions apply widely to Brisbane River flooding, as a guide for needed government action and for home preparation for evacuation, including by people who have so far been lucky.
The novel: Brisbane River Anti-Memoir is available from Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/24jad5ku
Reviews and excerpts from Knox’s seven published novels are on his blog: martinknox.com
BRISBANE RIVER TRUTH ALERT
Youtube.com/watch?v=LsS3w5TcnU
Science is not able to predict large scale phenomena like floods with certainty.
In a speech he gave at Harvard on May 26, 2023, the actor Tom Hanks told graduates at their commencement that the nation needed men of iron and women of steel, like them, to be ‘superhumans’, a newly incorporated justice league of avengers, who could rescue TRUTH in the nick of time.
‘Because truth is no longer empirical;
‘Because truth is no longer based on data;
‘Because truth is no longer common decency;
‘Telling the truth is no longer the benchmark for public service. It’s no longer the salve to our fears or the guide to our actions. Truth is now considered malleable, by opinion, by zero-sum end games,’ he explained.
‘Imagery is manufactured with audacity, with purpose to achieve the primal task of marring the truth with mock logic to achieve with fake expertise, with false sincerity.’
. . .
‘Now, literally, you can’t believe your eyes,’ he said. ‘Someone will report the way you wish it, full of alternative facts.
‘Rejigging the rules of the playing field depends on where you are on the money food chain or on the moral spectrum.’
Hanks exhorted the graduates to hold TRUTH sacred, unalterable, chiselled into the stone of the foundation the Republic. He wanted them to volunteer honesty, honour and sincerity to expose truth: ‘If you don’t, who will?’
Australia is without a Bill of Rights and is unable to make a similar call to arms. TRUTH is also under threat in Australia and the need is similar.
My novel Brisbane River Anti-Memoir presents TRUTHS about threats to many Brisbane residents from the river, as perceived by my phenomenological analysis, requiring government responses. A superhero makes appearances calling for TRUTH, JUSTICE AND A BETTER TOMORROW.
The book is available on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/24jad5ku
My blog with reviews of my books is at martinknox.com
BRISBANE RIVER COMMUNITY FLOODING THREAT
The February 2022 flood impacted 23,400 properties. The next flood could impact more properties if cyclonic rainfall encounters a deteriorated Brisbane river flow channel. Flooding could affect more properties and is a problem able to be reduced by early community action before it could occur.
My new book Brisbane River Anti-Memoir analyses the Brisbane River flooding problem from the engineer’s Cartesian perspective and then by philosopher Heidegger’s phenomenology, which considers the potential for reducing flooding.
Brisbane River flooding is probably being worsened by obstructions constructed in the river: bridge support pillars; piers; jetties. Ending of dredging in 1996 has reduced removal of sediment accumulated from erosion of farmland. Approved construction of buildings and earthworks on the river flood plain flow have probably reduced river flow ways.
The book considers philosophically advantages and disadvantages of residing in a city beside a river that floods, suggesting how future impacts can be minimised. The author adopts both scientific and humanitarian perspectives, viewed from his flood-prone home.
Book available from Amazon. My blog martinknox.com has information about my books.
WHEN NEIGHBOURS COME TO STAY
250 years in the future, Australia’s small densely populated neighbouring country Bhakaria could cast envious eyes on large and sparsely populated Australia. Martin Knox has written a speculative fiction novel The Grass Is Always Browner.
Immigration is discouraged by Australia’s harsh climate and by strict border controls. Nevertheless, workers enter and a religion Yamism grows, with a majority of Australians becoming followers.
The nation has suffered severe droughts and famines, dispersing city populations for self-sufficiency. Low-lying areas are flooded by rising sea levels.
The story follows the epic rise of the Yabras, an indigenous family who become a dynasty ruling democratically with science.
Will Prime Minister Abajoe be able to limit immigration, end religious conflict, prevent civil war and maintain peaceful relations with Bhakaria? Siti, a feisty Bhakarian woman activist, becomes his partner.
The story continues through 50 years, with dystopian realism and rearrangement of the institutional furniture to accommodate future Australian society, trending now.
Abajoe leads his people to avert conflict, copying strategies that worked for historic statesmen: Chiang Kaishek, Mandela, Ghandi, De Valera and Parnell. Will he be able to create lasting peace?
The book is 462 pages of relevant content, delivered with page turning at a brisk pace.
Available: Amazon. See reviews: martinknox.com
