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July 2008 Kangaroo Valley Voice Page 34Star struckBy Gerard KeyserOnce again it's worthwhile getting astart on your observing as early aspossible in July as the New Moonoccurs on the 3 rd .This means the best conditions forobserving will be happening as yourValley Voice arrives.June has been a bit of a washout with days ofrain or threatening clouds keeping me insideand now the sky is clearing the Full Moon iswashing out the sky in a different manner.As it did last month the Moon guides us tosome very interesting alignments and objects.On July 1 Mars and Regulus are within 1° andon July 10 we should make a special note tolook for Mars and Saturn.Appearing only 0.7° apart.This is less than the width of your fingernail atarms length and both planets will be visible inone field of view in binoculars or low power inyour telescope.For those with telescopes you should try andrecord the positions of Saturn's moons duringthis alignment. Note: Some of the magazinesgive the date of this occurrence as the 11 th sotry both nights.Early in the month Saturn is setting around 9pm and by the end of the month 8 pm.We need to view this beautiful gas giant planetnow as by the end of August Saturn is settingonly half an hour after the Sun.Early in May I observed Saturn in companywith four visitors to the observatory and oneFor Valley Voiceadvertisingplease phone44 651 621ANJON PROFESSIONAL SERVICESMINI DINGO DIGGER HIREMOBILE LOG SPLITTINGJOHN MCKINLEYKANGAROO V ALLEYMOBILE - 0428 610 508A.H. - 4465 1181FAX - 4465 1904lady with especially keen vision could see fourof Saturn's moons.This was an outstanding effort.Jupiter rises at about the same time as the sunsets so it is prime viewing from now untilChristmas.Take a look at the alignment of three moons onthe 2 nd at 7.15 pm, all stacked on top of eachother.Again on July 3 rd at 10 pm, Callisto, Io, andGanymede form a lovely equatorial triangle onone side with Europa visible on the other.This month Jupiter reaches opposition whichmeans it crosses our meridian at midnight.On the 21 st at around 8 pm Io appears frombehind the planet just before Europa begins totransit (go in front).The actual times are 8.13 pm for thereappearance of Io, at 8.42 pm the transit ofEuropa begins and at 9.18 pm the shadow ofEuropa will follow the little moon across.Both the moon and its shadow will be seen fortwo hours until Europa passes the planet.Similar events occur daily, some at excellentviewing times and tables or positional diagramsare published in the better Astronomymagazines as well as our Almanac, Astronomy2008 by Qasar publishing.A bit of an early warning is due here regardingthe only Total Solar Eclipse to occur this year.This eclipse is exclusively a northernhemisphere event but can be viewed “live”through the NASA website.The path of the eclipse goes from northernCanada over to Russia and then culminates inXian, China.The duration will be a maximum of 2 minutesand 27 seconds.It will occur on August 1 so there won't beanother article to give you any moreinformation to prepare.I hope someone is able to photograph theconjunction of Mars and Saturn on the 10 th (orthe 11 th ) and I would be interested in seeinganyone’s efforts.Clear Skies.* MOBILE LOG SPLITTING* CHAINSAW OPERATING* LAWN MOWING* FIREWOOD SUPPLIES* 4 IN 1 BUCKET* TRENCHING* POST HOLE BORING* SOIL LEVELLING* POLY PIPE LAYING* ROTARY HOEING* STUMP GRINDING* ANGLE BLADE* RUBBISH REMOVALDIFFICULT & CONFINED AREAS 1.1 MTR ACCESSThe fuel debate(Continued from page 14)sanctioned price fixing (simple as that). Parityallows fuel companies to sell their products forthe highest current price they find in the AsiaPacific region.It completely disregards supply and demandeconomics and eliminates any need forcompetition amongst themselves.Don’t believe me? Just look at the price ofDiesel.If you remember growing up when Diesel wasalways 10-15c p/l cheaper than Petrol you mightunderstand this more.How can a product that costs far less to produce(partially a by-product of producing Unleadedas well) and a product that Australia uses moreof than any other fuel be MORE EXPENSIVEthan Unleaded?Simple, ring Singapore, where they don’t use alot of Diesel and import all their fuel, find outhow much it’s selling for there and charge thesame here – sound fair? NOT!Any other industry who tried this one would behauled of to the High Court quick smart andprosecuted for price fixing!Oh but hang on, our government ALLOWSthem to do thisNUMBER TWO – BARRELL PRICEThat price the news loves to show us each nightis the PREMIUM GRADE crude oil price.Australian oil companies DO NOT buyPREMIUM GRADE crude oil! In fact Australiaproduces around 70% of its own oil and importsabout 30%. The cost of production per litreproduced here is cheaper than that of importedfuel, but in no way is this factored into the pumpprice, because they don’t need to (SEE PARITYABOVE) we pay a pump price based onPREMIUM GRADE crude oil price the same asif we imported all of it, say somewhere likeSingapore! Starting to get the picture?NUMBER THREE – LEVIESEveryone knows that both State and FederalGovernments take a large slice of the cost of alitre of fuel.This equates in total to about 46% of the priceper litre. This money is used for infrastructure,road trauma etc. etc. so fair enough right?WRONG!What is wrong is that it is a PERCENATGE!Look at this.If a litre of fuel costs $1.00 then theGovernment gets 46c p/l, right?A week later fuel rises to $1.10 p/l; theGovernment gets 50.6c p/l, bingo! Somethingtells me that in one week, their costs, IN NOWAY have gone up 9%!As I stated previously – THE GOVERNMENTHAS A VESTED INTEREST TO KEEP FUELPRICES HIGH. THEY MAKE LOTS MOREFREE MONEY!Why else do they allow fuel companies tomaintain PARITY?If they changed the tax (sorry, levy) to a flat ratetied to the GDP then the fuel price would dropdrastically and immediately!NUMBER FOUR – GST - THE DOUBLEDIPNow this one is outright “THIEVERY” and alsoapplies to cigarettes and alcohol.(Continued on page 43)
July 2008 Kangaroo Valley Voice Page 35KVRFB UpdateSince the last edition of the Valley Voicethe Brigade has been called upon on oneoccasion.The first call came at 9.23am on the fourthJune for Kangaroo Valley and Beaumont torespond to another MVA, but again thedetails were somewhat confusing.The call was to Moss Vale Rd Barrengarry 10kms from Kangaroo Valley.Nothing too unusual about that, however theambulance headed out towards Cambewarra.So as Valley 1 was getting organised to go amember was stopping cars coming fromBarrengarry direction to see if any accident wasseen.With the answer as no, we headed towardsCambewarra with five crew on board, two othermembers turned out at station if required.As we passed the Nelsons farm it was confirmedthat a vehicle had rolled on CambewarraMountain and we were to keep heading thatway.Beaumont brigade had also called on asresponding with five crew on their tanker.We arrived on scene to a single vehicle roll overwith the driver out and unhurt.As police were not there yet we assumed therole of traffic control in the rain and fog.Beaumont arrived on scene and they assistedwith traffic and clearing the road after the policeand tow truck arrived.We returned to our stations at 11.40 am wherewe received a message that there was also, at thesame time, another MVA on BarrengarryMountain which was very minor that theKangaroo Ambulance also attended but did notrequire our help.Although it has been a quiet few months withcallouts the brigade members have been busywith training.We had eight members do the RFS accreditedchainsaw course that entailed two nights theoryat the fire control centre and a day’s practicaldown the south coast near Tomerong.As this course came up quickly only five of themembers were able to attend the practical daywith the others having work commitments andwill do the practical at another time.Computers for wrinklies(Continued from page 31)They are constantly checking their mobilephone for new messages.They leave theirphones on at night and are irritable if they areaway from their phones.Software FixesIn conjunction with Optus mobile phones thereis now a product by LeopardLabs that can be installed on your child’sphone. According to the SydneyMorning Herald 24th June 2008 Leopard clawsinto kids' mobile useParents can control their children's Optusmobile phone usage completely includingwhat websites they can visit, who they cancontact and when they can usethe builtincamera usingnew Australian software.This software is so far only available throughOne member has also done the aviation basicknowledge course (self learning) and theassessment which was a pre course for them tocomplete prior to attending a three day Airbase operator’s course at Mittagong.Craig Winter for KVVRFBOptus Zoo but may be worthchecking out if you are concerned aboutcontrolling mobile phone usage in yourhouse.The “Floppies” ConclusionOur household is happy to be out of touch andbehind the times. We’re happy tohave no mobile reception at all. Occasionallythe two phone junky teenagers willeven talk to us when they stay. Oh such bliss tobe communicating with a 14year old girl!!http://www.childalert.co.uk has someinteresting information about mobilephones and teenage self esteem as well assafety.Mr FloppyFor Valley Voiceadvertising please phone44 651 621GARETH WARD has theenergy andexperience to keep onlistening anddelivering forKangaroo ValleyCampaign OfficePhone: 4421 8973Post: Po Box 55 Bomaderry NSW 2541Email: garethjamesward@gmail.comGARETH WARD: Fighting for Kangaroo ValleyAuthorised by G Ward, 41 Tarawal Street, Bomaderry, Printed by the Kangaroo Valley Voice
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