Rumours of rain and war

Please sign this petition. It's against the damming of the Mary River in Queensland, the only breeding area of the incredibly ancient Australian Lungfish.

Whenever it rains in Sydney there's a sudden explosion of umbrellas. I never see anyone carrying a folded umbrella any other time, so I can only assume that they have them cunningly folded and secreted about their person at all times, ready to spring into action at the first sign of moisture from overhead.

I find umbrellas amusing in direct proportion to their complete uselessness. To me, an umbrella is symbolic of not taking weather seriously. In a real storm, and even assuming it doesn't turn violently inside out and become a colander, an umbrella isn't going to keep you dry. The little bit of water it will keep off in a gentle shower probably isn't going to change your life one way or another, now is it? Not to the same extent as having your eye poked out my someone else's umbrella, anyway.

Of course, not taking the weather seriously is a popular pastime in Sydney. How else do you explain a city that regularly gets down to freezing over winter and over thirty degrees in summer, where houses aren't insulated and don't have decent curtains...