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Forget political gloom and doom. There are other things to think about!

14/2/2020

Last week I posted a blog full of disjointed whingeing about politicians’ rorts and their lying. Well, never-ending corruption, actually.

I have been absolutely fed up with all that was/is wrong with the people who are pretending to be in charge of this country. I also am sick of myself, as all I do is whinge and feel ineffective in amongst the awful stuff that is the current state of affairs – in this country and across the world.
I apologise to anyone who may have read my last blog. That sort of writing from me is about to stop!

I have written so often about inequality that I have almost run out of accompanying Google Images of empty un-balance scales!
It is time I left political and other world worries for a while.

I will, for a while, only briefly scan Twitter. I will also only briefly scan online daily headlines from ABC, The Age and The Guardian.
I will try to not get too mad when I watch the ABC News at night, as I sip a brandy.
When the 7:30 program comes on, I will leave the room and make a cup of tea whenever a lying politician appears.
That way I hope to retain some needed calm.

Meanwhile at ground-zero on the home-front:
The dog is not well. Her back legs are no longer working and she is seemingly unaware of her surroundings. At almost sixteen years of age, I’m sure she is nearing the end of her life.
I am reluctant to make a call to the vet, as I feel sure that it will not be a happy prognosis and the ‘treatment’ offered will be more final than I can bear at the moment, so I will continue to try some doggie-type home based palliative care for her. I am hoping that the steroid injection I have had in my hip will stand me in good stead, as I try to lift a 12 kg Cavoodle on and off her bed.
It’s all a bit messy.

To add to all this canine patient care, it has been raining for a week. Not just sprinkles, but continuous tropical downpours, averaging over 100 mm per day. The ground is awash and the back yard is underwater. Not a helpful situation with a seriously ailing dog who needs to squat on the grass (with my help) every so often…otherwise it’s inside or on the veranda!

Oh, happy days!
Life has its ups and downs.

For contrast, here’s an upper—totally off-topic but up for discussion…

I offer one of my parenting observations to perhaps provide some irrelevant cheer:

There are times when parents have to temporarily relax some of their rigid rules and principles--with wild abandon. A child’s birthday party is one such occasion. The one time a small child, who is raised on healthy food and healthy habits, should be able to ‘run amok’ (in a dietary way) with permission, is on his or her birthday. It adds to the day’s excess of fun, creating delight and happy memories.
In my mind it is their right!

Lying - The 'new normal'

8/2/2020

Hello to all truth-seeking people. Sorry this is a long post, but ,have you noticed that lying seems to be all the go lately? I’m about to write about lying. Seems it’s de rigueur today – especially in politics.
As hot weather and bushfires are now referred to as ‘the new normal’, it seems as if LYING is also ‘the new normal’!
Australian politicians have been caught out lying a lot lately —and yet there seems to be an acceptance of the habit, with precious little being done to curb it.

So many lies. So many potential scandals and yet we, the everyday people, appear powerless to stop such behaviour. Sure, if there is an election, we can vote out politicians who lie…but that opportunity for us here in Australia will not be available for another two years. Can we survive?

At least, in U.S., anyone who feels they have been lied to by their leader will have the chance to vote him out in November of this year. And, surely that’s what will happen. (Hopefully!)

Everyone knows Donald Trump is famous for lying - and denying it. He lies so much that there is a ‘Fact Check’ website (PolitiFact) set up to record his statements on a “Truth-o-meter”. It’s a busy site, with a fairly big Trump lie added more often than once a week.

Over in UK, Boris Johnson hasn’t had a chance to reach Trump’s standard yet. His lies mostly concern Brexit of course. We wait to see how his pattern of lying develops, as I’m sure it will.

I guess if we stopped to check on most other world leaders we would discover lying in varying degrees.

Is it only politicians and so-called leaders who lie so much? I suspect not. But how terrible if lying is accepted as an almost legitimate mode of operation.

But, back to Australia and to our (non) esteemed PM, Scott Morrison.
An enormous amount of his (and his colleagues’) lies have merely (merely!) concerned ignored promises; that is, mostly promised reforms that have not seen the light of day. So many promises, so many never heard of again, including that important Federal Integrity Commission body “with teeth” that was announced in December of 2018 and yet still nowhere to be seen, apart from an occasional argument about it.
Remember this? “On 13 December 2018, the Australian Government announced that it will establish a Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) to strengthen integrity arrangements across the federal public sector.
The CIC will be a centralised, specialist centre for the investigation of corruption in the public sector. It will also work with agencies to build resilience to corruption and bolster agency capability to detect, deter and investigate corrupt conduct”. (Aus Govt Attorney General’s Dept).

I don’t intend to even mention names such as Angus Taylor…

But here’s a couple of examples of (what I’d refer to as) lies of neglect:

Promises have been made about improving the Aged Care system (so far it seems as if it is, instead, being dismantled by stealth – as observed with Medicare).

The govt. was supposed to fix up the corrupt banking sector, after the Banking Royal Commission— to which they were dragged kicking and screaming. (Concluded in Feb., 2019). Only a tiny amount of the 76 recommendations have been even slightly dealt with.

These are but a tiny example of promises not kept.

Then there are the actual LIES.
Recent lies about rorting have been widely reported. Money has been thrown around, aimed at marginal seats as a means of buying votes. Generous payments, using taxpayers’ money worked really well for Morrison’s party. Hopefully, as more and more evidence of this rorting surfaces, we, the so called ‘Quiet Australians’ will see something done about it. (Don’t hold your breath!)

Another (secret) sports grant has just popped out in the open - $150,000,000 - funding that has an extremely fishy odour about it!
By the way, that’s not 150 thousand $$, it’s 150 MILLION dollars– said to be for something about ‘water, & increasing female participation in sports’ – or some other made-up thought bubble, that went towards 14 swimming pools…

In an ABC report today, “A Queensland community on the receiving end of controversial federal funding to build a new school swimming pool says it did not want the pool anyway.”
What!?
And there are other similar tales, including a tidal pool in Port Macquarie, that no one asked for.

As for Morrison’s countless other lies – they infiltrate every one of his statements.
One of my favourite lies (small but transparently laughable), was (if anyone was listening) at the time of his infamous Hawaii holiday. The excruciatingly badly timed holiday was carried out under a cloak of secrecy. At first, when asked why it had to be secret, Morrison’s answer was that he wanted to give his children a surprise.
A mere week later, when asked why he chose to go to Hawaii at that particular time, he said that he had promised his children they would go.
So, which was it? Did his kids not know, so that it was a surprise? Or did they know and would have been disappointed if the trip was cancelled? All very minor, you might think but lies like that slip out so effortlessly.

And what an excellent idea it was to holiday then, as bushfires raged!
Perhaps being caught out was more the problem!

And good old Murdoch media is along to help ScoMo at every stage.
News Corp’s papers (and TV) have continually supported Morrison and the LNP in its untruths. It’s a weird set up. Does Murdoch have some sort of ‘world domination’ urge? Or is it just his dislike of anything resembling a Labor Party?

Way back in 2013, there were serious reports of Murdoch papers lying about Climate Change (in a study by Wendy Bacon). This has continued relentlessly.
That Climate Change is happening has been denied by the Murdoch Media for years – and yet they claim that they don’t deny the facts.

Well, who’s lying now?

Last Friday several hundred protestors could be seen (physically) lying in the street outside News Corp’s Sydney Office. Their message was simply something like ‘You’re lying here, so we’ll lie here also!’ Good tactic, with probably zero effect.

We can complain. We can lie in the gutter. We can write things on Face Book, or Twitter, or to the newspaper. We can wear a T-shirt with a slogan. But I fear it will have little effect.
Lying is here to stay.
But, is it?

Interestingly, only yesterday it was reported that “Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has been knocked by a "sluggish Australian economy".”
Hopefully, it’s not ‘the sluggish Australian economy’ that is decreasing its profits, but a more enlightened populace who are no longer buying or watching their products; no longer willing to accept the lies.

Lies from the media and lies from politicians, as huge amounts of money changes hands, as nothing less than bribes— from and to the current government. (Hello, Clive Palmer).
It is corruption that can no longer be denied.

I could go on and on about lies and how dangerous and disappointing they are. It is sad that lies form a big part of political manoeuvring these days.
Not much of a good example to be setting for anyone —young or old.

The late Cambodian leader, Norodom Sihanouk, once had something to say about lying. He said:
‘Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them.’

Sadly, I’m not so sure!
We shall see.

Sick of Politics? Me too!

30/1/2020

I’ve had enough.
Yesterday’s National Press Club Address was almost the end of me. The lies and obfuscation were exhausting.
To have a temporary break from messy, nasty politics - and other Australian and world crises - is necessary; These things must be left aside for a breather once in a while to save a person’s sanity.

So, herewith, a more personal blog post:

In 2013, moving from the southern state of Victoria to live in the subtropics of south-east Queensland was a BIG challenge. We loved living in Victoria, the state of our births, but family had moved away and July days in Gippsland (Victoria) had temperatures too often too close to freezing.

Our daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons were (are!) living in Queensland and, what was at first just a glimmer of a thought, eventually became an idea upon which we acted.
We joined them.

There were a few reservations,
‘But, what will I do when the weather is very hot?’ A question for my daughter.
‘That’ll be your chance to just sit inside by the air conditioner and read’ was the answer.
‘Oh, ha!’ I scoffed.
But that is exactly what I have been doing a lot of this summer.

The days are hot at this time of year and I wonder how much longer I can tolerate the humidity.
But I know I will.
One day, in a month or so, we will suddenly realise that the days are sunny and warm, but the air no longer has the thick soupy feel. Our skin will feel dry and breathing will be easier.

Lately, on some days, I gently slip-slide into the pool, holding a ‘noodle’ floating device. I cannot swim because my right hip is not working properly, but that’s okay. It’s peaceful floating. I can gaze at the sky and watch fluffy white clouds floating in that lovely Queensland sky.

Looking towards the rockery at one end of the pool, today I see the peeping head of a small water dragon. Gradually he tip-toes to the pool’s edge and then stops. He is playing statues, thinking I won’t notice him if he remains as still as a stone. But I keep watching from my floating position and eventually he moves to another rock and surveys the pool – and me.

We share our backyard with these beautiful Eastern Water Dragons. We also have magpies, noisy miners, lorikeets, currawongs and the not so popular, crows and (screamingly noisy) corellas.

We have only had one snake, which was harmless but we called the snake catcher anyway, to take it away to a better place.

There are butterflies, bees, beetles and countless other helpful insects. Small geckoes run up the walls, searching for mosquitoes – of which we have too many.

There are cane toads.
Each night at bedtime, my husband, armed with a torch and plastic bags, thoroughly surveys the back and front yards. Bagged toads are put into the fridge, then the freezer. Once a month he takes the (now frozen & well dead) toads to a place where they ‘mulch’ the toad bodies to make cane toad lures.
It’s one way of limiting the spread of these killers of native animals.

So, it’s summer time on the subtropics, where I never thought I’d be.
The young (schoolboy) grandsons we moved to be near have grown and changed. They now drive their own cars, have university degrees and go to work.
It’s not the same world we came to join nearly seven years ago.

But I am happy to be a Queenslander. (Well… almost).

Come and See. Tourism's the answer.

23/1/2020

Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister: “Australian tourism is facing its biggest challenge in living memory.”
Yes, that’s exactly what he said last week.

Today’s news announced: “Tourism Australia will today unveil the first part of its $76 million federal government tourism package: a $20 million bump for its domestic, multimedia, regional-focused “Holiday Here This Year’’ ad campaign.” (Crikey, 23.1.20)

Seriously? Tourism is the problem? And “Holiday Here This Year” is the solution?
What amount of $$$ was some moron paid to think that slogan up?

TOURISM? We need tourists to visit our burnt out, smoke filled continent?
Seriously?

Incidentally, tourism is apparently so important that … get this:
(as we are reminded by Paul Barratt OA, on Twitter), “Government will spend 50% more on Tourism package than on habitat restoration”
Words fail me.

AND, of the $76 million ‘Tourist Package’, $25 million will be spent on a GLOBAL ad to tell people it’s SAFE to come to Australia.
Fair dinkum?

A further $20 million is for domestic ads to ask people to please visit bush-fire ravaged parts of our continent.
Great!

Then, there’s the (wait for it!) $10 million to BRING CELEBRITIES here!
I mean, we are going to PAY CELEBRITIES (who, perhaps??) to visit and pretend that they care?
Geez!
(Is that some sort of joke?)

And WHY is our PM talking as if the fires were something that have ‘been and gone’; that came and went?

Here’s a bit of bushfire history:
Bush fire threats and possible future catastrophes are indeed worsening. We all have to accept that fact.
Previous fires are well known and documented.
Since 1851, there have been over 800 deaths caused by bush fires in Australia.
Have they all occurred in December and January?

While some of the fires have occurred in the months of December or January, the horrendous ‘Black Saturday' fires of 2009, burnt in February to March.
‘Ash Wednesday’ (1983) was in February.
The Tasmanian fires of 1967 were in February.
1926 fires – in Feb-March.
And that’s mentioning just a few of the worst.

May I remind Mr Morrison that it is now still January?
Can you see the problem?

What makes our PM think that the crisis is over? He is assuming that we’ve had our fires for this season and now it’s time for the important work of trying to plug the big hole in the economy and solve all the problems by inviting tourists to come to Australia.
Is he serious?

One (only one, mind you) of the reasons for the big hole in the economy is because many parts of Australia are wrecked. Lives are wrecked, houses, businesses and properties have been wrecked. We’ve lost famous forests and billions of native animals. Whole ecosystems have been obliterated.
What’s to see?

How did this happen?
Don’t even start thinking about the total neglect of planning for what was – and is - an inevitable catastrophe.

So, should tourism be the major concern right now? Really?

What about concern for people who have lost their homes and everything they owned? Aren’t they deserving of real and urgent concern?
What about the ongoing concerns for other programs and organisations, unrelated to bush-fires, that have been ignored and drained of funds lately—such as the NDIS and Aged care—not to mention health and education — all subjects that seem to have been forgotten, while tourism is being put forward as the answer to everything.

What about the REAL and present danger of Climate Change that is affecting us all —all our communities, all our ecology, all our lives —whether you want to accept it or not, it’s REAL.

It may already be too late. How’s that for a thought to bump you awake?

While Scott Morrison and his coal-worshipping acolytes in government and elsewhere continue their purposely ignorant and dangerous attitude to our country - and the world - by rejecting the need to be rid of coal-fired energy, the chorus of the old (was it 2003?) song, ‘What about me?’ keeps spinning in my head.
And, I don’t mean just for me, personally. I mean for all the seemingly voiceless people (young & old).
And the koalas and all beautiful — now endangered —Australian fauna.
And the entire world.

Hey, Scott,
“What about me? It isn't fair
I've had enough, now I want my share
Can't you see, I want to live
But you just take more than you give.”

Mr Morrison, you have a history of being a failed advertising man and a twice failed tourism ‘executive’.
So, forget bloody tourism and do something decent.
Come on, Scott. Move over and let someone with brains and integrity take over.
The world wants to live.

We have lost a lot. Is it our fault?

16/1/2020

I WAS trying hard NOT to be a politically grumpy person. I was hoping to be able to spread a little lightness, happiness and hope, but no chance, sorry!

I apologise for this rant.; a rant that is probably jumbled and unintelligible, but that’s how my mind is functioning at the moment. I am upset at the fire catastrophe. I am upset at the loss of human life and of homes and livelihoods.
I am upset at the toll on dead animals and I am upset at the destruction of our beautiful forests and bushland.

But, most of all, I am upset and appalled by the inability of our so-called leaders to comprehend and act upon what has been obvious for many years.

We have listened to three-word slogans - and verbosity - and we think, ‘That’s okay’.
We don’t look behind the words.
We stop looking to see who – and what - is behind those ‘smart’ words.

When we, as citizens, leave many decisions to others, we neglect to check out WHO are these ‘others’. Are ‘the others’ trustworthy?

“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the Axe, for the Axe was clever and convinced the Trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them.” (Turkish Proverb).
I’ve quoted this proverb before. I like it. It’s a very appropriate ‘story’ to think about right now.
We are all influenced by ‘The Axe’ at times. We think that the Axe is one of us. We are sure it’s like us; we are sure it likes us. We think that The Axe has our best interests at heart.
Perhaps we are wrong.

We neglect to check on what is the BEST way and, instead, accept what sounds right at the time.
We forget that propaganda is easy to push and we forget to check the facts. But it is facts that matter.
It is only facts that matter.
Facts are facts, and facts = truth.

All this is certainly worth thinking about in these drastic times of climate change. Especially here in Australia, as fires rage throughout the country. People have died, millions of animals have perished and environments and ecosystems wrecked – sometimes beyond redemption.

It seems to me that it is way past time that WE (the ordinary ‘little’ people) spoke up.
We have to stop accepting our version of ‘The Axe’ proverb and start looking behind the false soothing words of ‘it will be okay’.

It will NOT be okay if our country continues to pander to the coal lobby. It is not okay for the Mineral Council of Australia to completely infiltrate our government, therefore controlling mining for the sole purpose of making gross amounts of money - totally neglecting the negative and horrific consequences.
It is time for us ordinary citizens, to stop believing the people who are like ‘The Axe’. They are not one of us.
Our future is at stake.

It doesn’t take much effort to check out facts.
Start with checking how much tax most of the coal mining companies pay. (Usually NONE).
Check out how many millions of $$ mining companies donate to political parties.
Check which current politicians have strong connections to the Mineral Council. (Most of them)
Then read the ‘fact checks’ done on what the PM has claimed. (mostly false).

Most of us are sleeping while dirty deeds are being done by people who are supposed to have our interests at heart.
Facts matter.
Check them out. Don’t be complacent. Don’t accept the words and actions without question. It’s too dangerous!

Here are some facts to mull over:

“The Minerals Council of Australia has conceded it makes political donations and pays to attend fundraisers to gain access to members of parliament ...” (The Guardian, Jan ’18)

“We couldn’t possibly have anticipated the scale of what we discovered: a secretive network behind coal’s dirty power that has infiltrated Australia federal government to its core”. (Greenpeace, Jan . ‘20)

“Every year, Australian governments and their departments spend billions of dollars of your money to help more coal, gas and oil to be extracted and burned...” (Market Forces, Feb ’19)

“…71 fossil fuel companies, with a combined revenue of $89 billion in Australia in 2017/18, paid far less than their fair share! In most cases, the company tax paid is a big fat zero.” (Market Forces, Dec ’19)

“About one third of large companies have once again failed to pay a cent of tax, according to the Tax Office's latest corporate tax transparency report…” (ABC Jan ’20)

We are being fooled by slogans and mis-statements to keep us meek and ‘under the thumb’ of despicable politicians and the money men of this country.

“…how does a democratic nation like Australia get to a point where its leader would rather go on holiday and tweet about cricket, than address the unprecedented climate emergency facing its people?” (Greenpeace, Jan ’20)

Is the answer greed?
Is it selfishness?
Is it corruption?
IS IT ALL THREE?
And, meanwhile our country – and the planet - burns.

While the country burns, the Coalition is letting Australia's only renewable energy agency run out of money, and undermining our international obligations with dodgy accounting tricks.

Meanwhile, they continue to subsidise the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $29 billion dollars – effectively paying for the emergency they say they want to address.

They were OUR koalas!

8/1/2020

Is it time to say goodbye, koalas?

A couple of weeks ago, I looked out of my kitchen window towards the neighbouring parkland adjoining the main road and saw what I thought was a small but cumbersome dog lolloping across the road.
On closer inspection, I realised it was a koala. Cars slowed, then stopped. A woman pulled over to one side and took photos.

The little koala made it safely across the busy road and soon clambered up a gum tree.
All good - and all over in five minutes.

In the six years we have lived near this small park on the Queensland Gold Coast we have seen seven or eight koalas there ‘in the wild’. Beautiful creatures.
But their habitat is diminishing as humans take over what used to be their (the koalas’) land and I doubt if we will see many more in ‘our neck of the woods’.

When we lived in Gippsland, Victoria, we could visit Raymond Island and see koalas in many tree-tops. They were not much of a tourist attraction, as such; they just lived there. (Are they still there?)

Way back in the 1960s, a trip to Phillip Island, just off the southern coast of Australia, gave you a good serve of koalas. A quiet stroll into the bush and you’d see koalas everywhere; some low enough on tree branches to allow you to touch them. Sadly, that is no longer.

Over the past 12 months I have been fortunate to have had my fill of koalas. I have seen them up close on three different occasions (not counting our local visitor).
BUT…BUT…The three places I have seen koalas included:

Port Macquarie Koala hospital
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, and
'Dreamworld Corroboree' registered zoo.

Is this the future for Australians?
In these places I have visited, overseas tourists queue up to have photos taken with koalas. But is the time coming when Australia’s own citizens will also have to queue to catch a glimpse of a koala?

Especially now that THEY HAVE BEEN BURNT.
Killed by bushfires.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

From the news: “….Officials fear that 30 per cent of the koala colony in New South Wales had been destroyed as 10 million acres of land burnt to the ground in the state.
Nature Conservation Council ecologist Mark Graham told parliament: “[Koalas] really have no capacity to move fast enough to get away [from the flames].
“…“The fires have burnt so hot and so fast that there has been significant mortality of animals in the trees, but there is such a big area now that is still on fire and still burning that we will probably never find the bodies.”..” (Independent)

Then…after Kangaroo Island bushfires: there are “grave fears for unique wildlife after estimated 25,000 koalas killed”.

An estimated (over) 8,000 koalas have died in NSW.

Again, what have we done?

And, it’s not only koalas that have been lost. It’s millions of native animals and insects from bees and beetles, to beautiful native birds, to lizards and gliders to wallabies, wombats and kangaroos. And on it goes. So many burnt. So many gone.

“Nearly half a billion animals have been impacted by the fires in NSW alone, with millions potentially dead”, (according to ecologists at the University of Sydney).

The time has come!

If we don’t act seriously – and SOON – to try to stop Climate Change induced catastrophes, our children and our children’s children will only be able to see our beautiful native animals in museums and on You Tube videos.

There is no denying that Australia’s inability to acknowledge and attend to the catastrophic effects of our rapidly changing climate has, if not caused, then colossally added to, the severity of these calamitous fires.

AND…with “… media-backed corruption right now in regards to Climate Change… we may not move fast enough to save our planet.” (Unfortunately, I mislaid the original source of this crucial statement):

THE TIME HAS COME!

OR, do we accept it’s goodbye, koalas?

This is Hard.

1/1/2020

I no longer have the strength to complain about this country’s shocking neglect of Climate Change and the repercussions that are inevitable. I can no longer voice my dismay at ‘our’ inept government and its woeful Prime Minister.

My thoughts are only with the people affected by the fires that are consuming our country.

The scenes from Mallacoota are especially heartbreaking and terrifying. The news and pictures of East Gippsland are horrendous.

I lived in Gippsland for 42 years and I know many of the areas affected.
In tv news bulletins, I recognise roads and places I have been and am shocked to the core at the devastation.
I have camped by the lake at Mallacoota and have walked along its shores. The people who live and visit there are, on the whole, a gentle nature loving lot. And now their beloved place is a smouldering wreck.

People have huddled under blankets, waiting for the danger signal to say when they must wade into the water or climb aboard a boat.

The sky has gone from red to black-as-night and the children and pets are frightened. Adults too.

Meanwhile the PM hosts a NYE party and plans his forthcoming trips to China and India to sell Australian coal.

I have no words.

December 29th, 2019

29/12/2019

I’m sorry. This could be an accumulated boiling-over rage-induced little rave.

The time around Christmas festivities and New Year celebrations is often the time for people to tune-out and relax. Time to stop worrying about what is going on in ‘the outside world’.
But, just to break the torpor and be a thorn-in-your-side nuisance, I’d like to point out a few facts:

Let’s do some maths. There are a few figures that need looking at:
I may be wrong, but there seems to be a bulk leakage of $$$$ from our government that does not go towards helping anyone— those in need, or otherwise —or as I would view it.
Others have different views, of course.

A lot of this (following) comment has been lost to most media outlets—and therefore the public’s communal brain.

Let’s start at the latest news concerning Australian Police.
“More than 700 police will be trained to use high-powered semi-automatic rifles, with frontline officers expected to take immediate action to confront terror attacks and active armed offenders…each valued at nearly $6000”. (The Age, Dec 2019).
That seems reasonable — or does it? “…to confront terror attacks…” ?

700 police, each with a semi-automatic rifle, valued at nearly $6000.
700 x 6,000 = 4,200,000.
In words: Four million, two hundred thousand dollars.
Maybe they’ll share their weapons, meaning an entire $4.2m may not be needed at once…but, but, there’s all that training. What will that cost? And all to make us safe in airports - and out in the street! (Not a good look, by the way).

But that amount is small bikkies.
Let’s look at ‘our’ submarines for a minute:
“Australia's new fleet of attack submarines is now estimated to cost about
$225 billion to build and maintain, according to Defence officials.” (SMH, Nov., 2019)

Would you like to read that again? That’s 225 BILLION dollars! And for submarines that are out of date…and, even if they weren’t, why the hell do we need attack submarines? If ever (heaven forbid) we needed war-like protection, I’m pretty sure it would be done using drones, missiles and hypersonic weapons and not out-dated submarines. (Submarines that cost Australia $225 BILLION, by the way).
Ahem: $225,000,000,000.

Then what about other war machines? For instance:
“The RAAF is expected to have its first squadron of F-35s operational in 2020 with the delivery of about 30 aircraft. The Australian government has budgeted $17bn for 72 of the aircraft.”
(Dec 9, 2018)

Just another few BILLION. This time, only (only!) 17 BILLION dollars for 72 aircraft. (And that figure is a year old). And only what has been ‘budgeted for’.
By the way, 72 billion, looks like this: 72,000,000,000.

That’s just a very small summary of some latest BIG spends.
But, let’s add up just those THREE items:
Semi-automatic rifles = $4,200,000
Attack submarines = $225,000,000,000.
Fighter planes = $72,000,000,000.
Calculators out, please.
Total = $297,004,200,000
In words: two hundred and ninety-seven billion, four million, two hundred thousand dollars.

IMAGINE what GOOD works could be done with even a fraction of that amount!

(Look, my calculations may be wrong. I am not in the habit of working out dollar amounts that are any larger than my meagre bank balance – or estimating how many bananas I can buy for $4— so have a go yourself and see what you make of it!)

Meanwhile, lots of little smaller amounts pile up to make this country poor as opposed to how funds could be used to help people grow and function.

Incidentally, did you see the (almost hidden) announcement that
…the Australian govt has recently given $110,000 to a church attended by the prime minister. (For safety measures, apparently). That’s $110,000 for a church which has a ‘brother’ church (Hillsong) boasting millions of dollars in revenue and a three-level Manhattan apartment.

Then there was another little amount—just (just!!) $380,000—used for an architecturally designed coffee kiosk for Parliament house.

And did you know that the LNP has taken $4.6 billion from the NDIS (National Disability Scheme) to prop up its useless ‘Surplus’?
I wonder what that $4.6 million could have done for disabled folk? Any ideas?

Meanwhile, as the country burns, funds are being raised by the public to help provide equipment for VOLUNTEER firefighters.

AND…People on ‘Social Welfare’ (horrible term) are being demonised for asking for help.

To me, this all seems very wrong.
And there seems NOTHING we can do!

PS:
BTW: “... of the top 100 companies that paid no tax, 22 were fossil fuel companies, meaning most coal and gas companies are not contributing a cent to the cost of the natural disasters their product is fuelling.”

AND the gov has just (quietly) privatised the Aged Care Assessment body. So be ready for profit-making corner-cutting cruelty for our elderly.

How good is Australia? (NOT).

I apologise for this rage induce rave.
I could go on—but I won’t.

It's Christmas

24/12/2019

It’s early morning in Queensland, the place I now call home.
Birds of all sorts - an amazing variety - are calling, displaying a vast range of musical notes and possibilities. Yes, the rainbow Lorikeets are a bit noisy and tuneless but others soften their raspy notes. A Currawong calls, telling us there is rain on the way. Hallelujah!
Magpies warble their glorious song, without moving their lips (sorry, beaks). How do they do this?

It’s Christmas Eve and I have had a seething mass of despair in the pit of my stomach for the past few days, but I have to let it go — at least until after Christmas.
I refuse to let the happiness of this festive season be overcome by the ridiculous, harmful stupidity and callous behaviour of our politicians—one in particular. I will put off writing and voicing my thoughts until another day, yet keep my hopes for fire relief to soon appear.

Meanwhile I will be grateful for what I have at this Christmas time.
Shopping is done. Some gifts already given; books and garden herbs and wooden beads for the littlest one, to mention a few.

The pudding is waiting in the fridge (you don’t hang them in the sub-tropics – a fact I learnt on the first Christmas here!) The shortbreads are about to be packaged in their cellophane Christmas finery, and I am (temporally) at peace with the world.

All that is left is to wish everyone a happy, joyous, love-filled Christmas. Yes, even to those who have no links to the Christmas story or any Christian faith. May it be a peaceful, relaxed time, far away from all the hustle and bustle and worries of the past days, weeks —and the year.

The birds are still carolling.

Soon I will turn on my electronic music source and select some Christmas music and sing along.

Happy Christmas!
xxxx

And Boris makes three: A clown story.

14/12/2019

Once upon a time, there were three clowns. Two of them had funny hair and one of them had almost no hair.
Their names were Boris, Donald and Scott.

They were perhaps not the nicest clowns in the world but many people must have loved them as they were given special chairs in special places, with special houses and special powers and especially lots of money to do with whatever they liked.

Boris had really only just officially joined their group, but now he was there to stay (for a while anyway and…is it really FIVE years?). Boris had some very funny acts.

Did you see the one where he grabbed the phone from the journalist’s hand and put it in his pocket?
Oh, how we all laughed!

Did you see when he couldn’t recall how many children he had?
What a funny joke that was!

Donald was the first in this group, but he was feeling a little upset, since some nasty people said they didn’t like him. But that didn’t stop Donald from being a clown and saying lots of funny things.
Oh, how the world laughed!

He sent lots of funny messages out on Twitter and he said things in his speeches that people called “gaffes” but they weren’t gaffes, they were Donald’s jokes.

My, he’s a funny one!

Meanwhile the super-Pentecostal clown, Scott, made his country laugh when they talked about things that are true and Scott just said, “pffft…no that’s not true!”
Oh, how the people laughed!

“Funny Scott,” they said.

Scott made lots more people laugh by talking about a very silly and funny thing he called the ‘Religious Discrimination Bill’.
Laugh? You should have heard the people in the churches laugh - and the gay people laugh.

Oh, you are a very funny clown, Scott!

And, so Scott, Boris and Donald continue to say whatever they like and do whatever they like and the people cheer.

Or do they?

"The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because it's handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them."
(part of a Turkish proverb)

The burning continent and the absent leader.

8/12/2019

Huge parts of Australia are burning. Biggest bushfires ever.
So far, in NSW, more than 280,000 hectares of land have been burnt and many still burning.
1,000 homes have been damaged or totally destroyed.
At most recent count there are 94 fires raging in NSW alone.

There are serious fires in several parts of Queensland —some out of control.
The country is swathed in smoke and people are finding it hard to breathe.

Our Prime Minister has not been seen near any fires or fire brigade headquarters. He has had nothing to say.
I guess he’s been busy…
To wit: “Morrison took an airforce 737 airliner from Canberra to Sydney last night for the sole purpose of attending drinks with the Murdochs & then returned on it this morning - while refusing requests from firefighters to fund aerial firefighting capabilities.” * (Thanks to Mark Dando on Twitter).

He did manage to appear on TV news, though.
Was he announcing some help for the fire fighters? No.
Was our generous (?) PM announcing funds to help devastated families who have lost their homes and properties? No.
Was there an announcement of an inquiry concerning - or planning -any future mitigation of bushfire risk? No.
Was he apologising for decreasing fire services funding? No
Was he acknowledging (finally) that we have a climate emergency? No.
Was he even sending ‘thoughts and prayers’ (as is his wont)? No, not even that.

His media appearance was to make an announcement that our airports are about to have—wait for it--
a “$107 million package for a new highly-trained anti-terrorism squad”. They will be “armed with Mk18 Short-Barrel Rifles and body cameras to rapidly detect terrorists, undertake behavioural assessments and scope out the airports.”
This proposal is to give “people a great sense of reassurance. They are there to protect the public and the travelling public."
It’s nothing but an expensive & very intimidating look. But…

Have we ever had a terrorist threat at an airport in Australia? NO.

Have we ever had a safety issue with deadly firestorms endangering lives, homes and the environment? YES.

Is our government offering extra help and support to any Fire services? NO.

The need for assistance is so great that a ‘GoFundMe’ page has been set up to raise funds to help the NSW Rural Fire Service. (They were aiming at receiving $10,000 and I am happy to say that, so far $12,000 has been forthcoming. So, it seems that the generous general public at least appreciates what is being done).
And get this: A lot of this desperately sought money is needed to merely feed volunteer firefighters!
(The Red Cross and Salvos are doing a mighty job but are running out of food and volunteers).

Meanwhile in Queensland, Brisbane ABC tv/radio put on a variety concert on Friday to raise money for the 1400 Rural Fire Brigades in Queensland that have been toiling in dangerous conditions and extreme temperatures to keep people and their homes safe. They were hoping to raise $200,000. (Nearly there, at last count).

We have to beg for money for the heroic fire fighters!
It’s a sad state of affairs; tragic, in fact. To have under-resourced fire brigades in this time of tragedy and trauma is shameful.

Extreme weather conditions are now the ‘new normal’.

Climate scientists/experts are bewildered at the government’s inaction.

The awful sight of gun-toting security at airports is not going to solve the fear that is being felt in our nation.
Our population’s real fear is the fact that Climate Change is producing uncontrollable infernos that we are now witnessing.

It’s not just that there has been little acknowledgement of the devastating fires from ‘our leader’ but it’s the incredible inaction and ignoring of the drastic and deadly Climate Change reality that is oh, so obviously contributing to the disaster.

The NSW Rural fire service has been quoted as saying they are ‘at breaking point’.

Where’s the PM?

‘In July of 64 A.D., a great fire ravaged Rome for six days, destroying 70 percent of the city and leaving half its population homeless. According to a well-known expression, Rome’s emperor at the time, the decadent and unpopular Nero, “fiddled while Rome burned.” The expression has a double meaning: Not only did Nero play music while his people suffered, but he was an ineffectual leader in a time of crisis’.
(from History.com)

Remind you of anyone?

* This is so outrageous that I am still trying to confirm that it is true. (Canberra to Sydney is a 3-hour drive).

'Black Friday' Sometimes Has Different Meanings.

30/11/2019

Called in to the shopping centre yesterday morning, (Friday 29th November), just to buy a few necessary items such as bananas, apples, cheese and (shudder!) cockroach baits. (Yes, we’ve had a few ‘cockies’ of the nasty type appearing lately).

I was wondering why there seemed to be so many more people in Westfield than usual.
Queues in every shop; shoppers actually bumping into us as we walked from one shop to another. Then I saw a large advertising sign:
‘Black Friday Specials’

What the hell is ‘Black Friday’?

Over the past few days, I had noticed a few uninvited emails popping into my in-box with something about ‘Black Friday’, which I had just deleted. But it was not until I saw the sign in the shopping centre, that (being a bit slow on the uptake) I realised that this (somehow 'special') Friday had something to do with shopping. But what, exactly, I had no idea.

So, once I was home, off I went to read what Mr Google had to say.
At first, when I ‘researched’ ‘Black Friday’ all that came up were ‘Black Friday’ sales advertisements.
There they were for Kmart, Amazon, The Good Guys, Myer and all manner of retailers, including pharmacies and even airlines and newspapers!

I wasn’t really interested in sales, so I searched for ‘What is Black Friday?’

Here, folks, is what I discovered:

“Black Friday, in U.S. history, Sept. 24, 1869, when plummeting gold prices precipitated a securities market panic. The crash was a consequence of an attempt by financier Jay Gould and railway magnate James Fisk to corner the gold market and drive up the price.

That didn’t sound right, so I looked a little further and found:

“Black Friday is the name given to the shopping day after Thanksgiving. It was originally called Black Friday because the volume of shoppers created traffic accidents and sometimes even violence. ... In the 1950s, people began calling in sick the day after Thanksgiving to give themselves a four-day weekend.”

What the hell? It’s obviously some crazy American thing.
But, but…we, here in Australia, have never celebrated Thanksgiving…I’m so ignorant I don’t even know what the Americans give thanks for.

Later, I read that Australia has been using the ‘Black Friday’ selling campaign for about five years. Who noticed? Not me!

So, next question:
Australia and 'Black Friday'?

Google answer:
Without the Thanksgiving marker, or any public holidays, Black Friday is currently not a big event in Australia. ... Cyber Monday, the Monday after Black Friday, popular for online shopping super sales, has even lower awareness in Australia”.

Cyber Monday!!!!!!???? Cyber Monday??? Cyber bloody Monday????
What on earth is that supposed to be? I must have been living under a rock, as I have never encountered these strange commemorative sales days.

In Australia, our ‘Black Friday’ used to be all about the horrendous bushfires of 1939:

“The Victorian bushfires of 13 January 1939, known as Black Friday, were the culmination of several years' drought in the state, following by high temperatures and strong winds. These conditions fanned several fires – some of which had been burning since early December – into a massive fire front.”

We have had other, even worse bushfires.
One referred to as ‘Black Saturday’ in 2009, killed 173 people.

So, really, our ‘Black’ days are nothing to celebrate!
To any intelligent Australian, using the term ‘Black Friday’ as a maniacal selling tool should be nearer to an insult than an encouragement to go out and buy, buy, buy!.

Actually, ‘Black’ any day is nothing to really celebrate in U.S. either.

For example:
“Black Thursday is the name given to Thursday, October 24, 1929, when panicked investors sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 11 percent at the open in very heavy volume. Black Thursday began the Wall Street crash of 1929, which lasted until October 29, 1929.”

So, this ‘Black Friday’ is just another marketing ploy dreamed up to get the gullible out and about, with their credit cards at the ready.

I truly think Australia could well do without it.

PS: The picture I have used to accompany this little whinge was taken on Australia’s ‘Black Friday’ in 1939.

A Visiting Crow. (an observation)

25/11/2019

He’s a handsome bird.
Where else does he go?

I suspect he visits the back of the bakery across the road.

He’s been here a few times, bringing a piece of bread with him. Sometimes the piece of bread is too big for him to manage. He’s smart. He perches on the edge of the birdbath in our courtyard and drops the bread into the water, making the wet bread easy for him to eat.

Yesterday the lump of bread was bigger than usual. It looked like the bottom half of a bread roll.
At the birdbath, the handsome crow dropped his meal into the water. He grabbed small wet pieces hungrily into his beak but I could see he was never going to eat the whole thing.

I made a note to myself to remove what was left after the crow flew off, but I forgot to do so.

It wasn’t until the next day that I went to remove the soggy bread. There was no identifiable bread in the water; no sign of anything bread-like. What had been a piece of bread roll had completely dissolved, turning the water into murky, milky, unpleasant gunk.

Perhaps any bread left in water for 24 hours would end up like this but it did make me wonder what the modern bread recipe consists of.

Progress! And why sometimes I don't like it.

18/11/2019

Popped into Kmart the other day for a T-shirt for my husband.
Made a quick selection and proceeded to the big ‘PLEASE PAY HERE’ sign. All of the eight register points were closed, with an airport-like barrier set up to prevent customers from entering the area.
So, it’s ‘self-checkout’ only now. I AM SO ANGRY!

A similar thing happened in Target a few months ago. But at least they still have two registers where people like me can front up and expect a ‘service person’ to manage the transaction.
(I do this, not because I am unable to master the do-it-yourself register, but I refuse to not give an employee something to do).
But, not so Kmart. It’s do-it-yourself only.

At first, I thought I would just dump the T-shirt on the nearest shelf and walk out, but then I told myself that this is the ‘progress’ I have to tolerate.
So, I joined the queue.
Yes, there was a bloody queue to serve yourself.
Let me repeat that: There was a queue to wait in before being able to serve yourself!
Efficient? I think not!

After waiting for a while in said queue, a woman waiting behind me pointed to a newly vacated register. I made my way over to it, only to find a sign declaring, ‘CARD ONLY’.
The T-shirt I was buying cost $3.75. I was damned if I would use my EFTPOS card for that amount, especially as I had $4 cash in my hand at the ready.
So, back to the queue to wait for a vacant machine that actually accepted CASH.

Yes, I know, cash is only used by old decrepit people unused to modern technology.
BUT, BUT….
As I fumed, I looked back at the eight deserted registers and wondered what happened to the salespeople who, not so long ago, worked there.
Are they all on ‘New Start’ now? (Paid by the taxpayers).

I know that having to pay only $3.75 for a man’s T-shirt is amazing. It is so very much cheaper than (equivalent) I would have paid 30 years ago. I suppose we are supposed to feel lucky that clothes cost so little. (It’s called ‘fast fashion’ apparently).
But, if that T-shirt had cost twice as much — even four times as much, which would still have been cheap—would that have possibly allowed Kmart to employ more staff, without affecting their ever-important profits?
(And with an added bonus of making people think twice before buying clothing items en masse that end up in landfill).

Don’t be fooled by the words, ‘progress’, ‘efficiency’, ‘convenience’ or ‘time-saving’.
We, the public are being ripped off. Not only do we have to do the ‘work’ of checking out our own purchases, but we, the public are left paying (via our government) for every person denied a job in this greedy and heartless retail sector.

As an aside: Things can only get worse/better, with some Woolworths stores now trialling a ‘scan-and-go system, where customers scan the goods on their iPhone as they select them off the shelves…and bingo! Shopping done, with never a queue – or an interaction with another human being. Wow. How good is progress?

What makes you happy?

16/11/2019

No strength to whinge about politics today…
Instead here are some Musings on happiness.

Yes, I know, it’s a big topic, which philosophers have written about and psychologists have tried to unravel. Self-help books have been written (and sold!) on the subject but, happiness, I guess, is mainly the art of feeling positive.

The current Dalai Lama says:
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
Sounds pretty accurate to me. Think about it.

In the 19th century, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying:
“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
Another fairly accurate summation, I would think.

Then there’s this favourite gem of wisdom:
“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world:
someone to love,
something to do,
and something to hope for.”

These words are often attributed to the U.S. author, Tom Bodett.
But many people claim it more likely originated from Immanuel Kant, the Prussian German philosopher (1724-1804), who also said (so it is claimed):
“Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination”
AND:
“Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.”
Now, that’s a good one. Mull over it for a while!

So, what is happiness?
A feeling of happiness can often just appear, with no obvious reason, apart from the fact that everything is ‘going well’.
I think that happiness is often merely the absence of UNhappiness.

Happiness is worth pursuing, but I’m not sure it’s a pursuable commodity.
Yet, perhaps we should take note of the wise sayings above.

* * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, life is good when over 54,000 Australians bothered to place a vote for what they considered to be ‘The Australian Bird of the Year’. That news makes me happy, in a time when political shenanigans are constantly suspect and the country is on fire.
For birds to briefly take centre stage shines a little light of happiness into our days.
For anyone interested, the final ten popular birds are:

Black-throated finch – 11,153
Tawny frogmouth – 3,351
Superb fairy-wren – 2,875
Australian magpie – 2,725
Laughing kookaburra – 2,650
Wedge-tailed eagle – 2,402
Sulphur-crested cockatoo – 2,341
Willie wagtail – 1,970
Rainbow lorikeet – 1,711
Australian white ibis – 1,147

(I voted for the grey shrike-thrush, whose count was apparently infinitesimal).

The Coal Worshiper Objects to Objectors.

9/11/2019

Climate Change is bugging me again…still.
Sorry to be political…BUT:
Quote:
“PM Scott Morrison told a room full of mining lobbyists that he's begun work on legislation to outlaw climate activism – banning climate protests, boycotts and "disruptive" strikes.”

This is such an outrageous proposition that it even made news in London and New York!

“I’ll Punish Climate Activists” (‘quoting’ PM Morrison) was a headline in The Times (London).
“Why is Australia Trying to Shut Down Climate Activism?" The New York Times headline.

How embarrassing! How appalling!
I didn’t think that silencing dissent belonged in Australia. But here it is! And other parts of the world are shocked.

A couple of days after the talk of banning climate protests, came this news:
‘The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.’
‘Eleven thousand scientists from around the world have “unequivocally” declared a climate emergency, calling for “major transformations” in the ways society functions…

The statement — signed by scientists from 153 different countries, including more than 350 Australians — warns of “untold suffering” if the climate crisis is not addressed soon, noting it is accelerating faster than most scientists expected. The report suggests six critical steps be taken, including curbing growing population and leaving fossil fuels in the ground, with scientists arguing they have a “moral obligation” to warn humanity and “tell it like it is”.

So, what can we do if PM Morrison is not heading the facts — and is threatening those protestors who do (rightly) head the facts?

I’m old enough to have marched in Anti-Vietnam war moratoriums.
I thought I was now too old to fire up enough to be part of a protest march, but show me where the next Climate Action one is please!

I have children and grandchildren. I want them to be able to live in a world that is not alien to human life.
I have family in UK and, as we wonder how they are coping with Boris and the Brexit Deal/No Deal, they are wondering how we are coping with a government who talks of punishing anyone who disagrees with their worship of coal.

And, to be even handed:
While most of the (enlightened) world is attempting to grow Billions of trees, we have the Queensland premier recently giving the go-ahead to clear hundreds more hectares of forest “To save 500 jobs” (did she mean ‘votes’?):
Quote:
‘Palaszczuk Government takes action to support timber industry jobs’

(This added to the already well over a million hectares cleared in past few years in Qld.)

What are our leaders (of all persuasions) doing to us? Doing to the planet?
More than “Wrecking the joint” (to misquote Alan Jones!).
They are wrecking lives and wrecking the future of our planet.

Where are all the horses?

26/10/2019

I live in Queensland, Australia, and I have a very nice, but small backyard.
I do not have a horse in my backyard. Do you?

There are apparently a lot of horses being re-homed. Where are they?

According to the Australian racing Industry, only a tiny percent of ‘retired’ racehorses end up in a knackery. They claim it’s about .4% — that’s POINT FOUR percent, which equates to approximately 34 horses per year in Australia.

BUT, we have just seen evidence that, in a knackery in Queensland, 300 ex-racehorses were recently slaughtered in only 22 days. And, apparently, that’s not unusual.

It is reliably estimated that 500 horses are slaughtered for pet food and export every MONTH.
In ONE knackery.

One knackery accounted for 4,000 horses killed a year! FOUR THOUSAND!
Anyone can see that 4,000 is a number way larger than the 34 suggested by racing industry figures.
And, how many other slaughter houses are there? The annual numbers of dead horses could be more than four thousand.

“Oh, no”, say the racing people, “most of our retired racehorses are re-homed with people who love horses. They are used for pony clubs - or retired on farms, where they live out their lives in peace and tranquillity.”
(That’s not a direct quote, only an estimate, but certainly a more realistic estimate than the figures quoted by industry spokespersons).

If we are to believe the racing people, then where do these phantom horses go? If not ‘relaxing’ on farms or being ridden by kiddies at pony clubs, 4,000 horses a year must be somewhere. Even 4,000, minus the 34 they claim, is still 3,966.

That’s why I ask if you have a horse in your back yard. Because, at 4,000 re-homed horses a year — that’s 40,000 in a decade— almost everyone must have a horse somewhere, surely? That’s an awful lot of horses! (Shhh! But I think they’re dead).

Melbourne Cup, anyone?

Shouty Bits, or Humility?

25/10/2019

A few months ago, I heard someone on tv say, “Humility is part of most religions—not the shouty bits”. That statement has stuck in my mind ever since.
But, is it true?

You’d wonder, with the ‘shouty bits’ that are going on lately, concerning religion.
It’s the ‘shouty bits’ that make news.

It’s not only the ‘usual’ comments about Muslims, Jews, Catholics and others that produce ‘shouty bits’.
Lately there have been shouts concerning the Sydney Anglican archbishop’s request for those who support SSM to just leave the church. He’s shouting and people who disagree with him are shouting back.
Well, I guess they’re not actually shouting but they were certainly making headlines.
Humility is a bit thin on the ground there.

Then, there’s the latest of our PM’s ‘shouty bits’ as he suggests we pray for rain to ease the horrific effects of drought. Seriously! Meanwhile, he ‘fiddles the figures’ to make it look as though the government is helping.
Nothing very humble about the PM — a man who loudly espouses his Pentecostal faith.

I don’t wish to upset people of faith. I suppose I consider myself to be a ‘person of faith’, but am reluctant to shout it out.
I guess the words ‘humility is part of most religions’ is the important segment of the original statement.

But, too many of the ‘shouty bits’ surround opposition to other faiths. It’s surely time for a bit more humility towards those holding beliefs different from people’s own ideas and ideals.

Joumanah El Matrah, a PhD student at Western Sydney University, writes:
“….when Israel Folau states that hell awaits “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolaters”, religious conservatives respond not by drawing a line between faith and hate, but by campaigning to enshrine their view of faith…”
And so on it goes…

I’m sure that humility in all areas would make a better world.
Not just in religion but with everyday people practising humility every day.

And fewer shouty bits.

Need a hip replacement?

12/10/2019

Seven weeks ago, a very dear friend of mine was admitted to hospital in Melbourne for ‘routine’ hip replacement surgery.
After being on the hospital’s waiting list for many months, although anxious, she was happy that finally something would be done to alleviate her dreadful pain and inability to walk without a stick.

The scheduled date of the operation was to be the day before her 79th birthday.
‘That will be the best gift ever to receive this year’ was how she saw it.

The surgery was estimated to last an hour. It went for longer than that. It lasted for over four hours.
She was told later, after regaining consciousness, that she had endured a heart attack during the procedure and that is what had lengthened the surgery time.

But that was not all.

As she stirred back into reality, my friend noticed a strange feeling—or, more accurately—a non-feeling.
‘What has happened to my leg?’ she enquired of the nurse watching over her.
The nurse knew nothing.

My distressed friend reached down to touch her right leg. It was numb. Completely numb, from hip to toes. She told the nurse.
‘I’ll put a note for the doctor.’ Was all she said.

Hours went by.
Days went by.

Nurses came and prodded and poked. A junior doctor hummed and haaa-d over it.
‘My leg feels like a piece of dead meat’, my friend complained to anyone who would listen.

All feeling in her right leg was gone.
She could not get out of bed.
She could not wrangle herself into a wheel chair without the aid of two nurses.

There was nothing that could be done to alleviate this situation. My friend was now crippled and had to face the fact that she may never walk again; she would never again drive her precious little car. Worst of all, she may never be able to return to her home.
Plus, she was in horrendous and continuous pain.

Tests were ordered, revealing that her sciatic nerve had been severed during surgery. There would be no improvement in her mobility.
The future was bleak.

So, what did the hospital do?
Very little!

My friend was moved to a rehab hospital, and wheeled to physiotherapy sessions twice a day.
Her ‘dead’ leg was fitted with a stiff plastic brace.
She still could not walk.

One day she was summoned back to the original hospital to see (confront?) the operating surgeon.
She was conveyed by ambulance to hear (what she hoped would be) an explanation of how this tragic mistake had happened and what would be done to help her.

There was no apology.

The surgeon spoke of how (maybe) the nerve was not completely severed and (maybe) it was merely stretched. This would mean there could be some improvement in her condition, but she would have to be patient, as this occurrence could take up to two years!

Time passes. The rehab place continues to offer twice a day physio. They help with wheel-chair use and encourage ‘walking’ practice with a walking frame, but, for my friend, there is still no idea of what her future life will involve.

She has been instructed to wear suitable shoes. Her ‘dead’ leg and foot do not cooperate with shoe putting on. She asks the hospital if they can assist her in purchasing shoes that will suit her new situation.
The reply is negative.

Her daughter investigates various types of shoes and brings them to the hospital for my friend to try.
Many hundreds of dollars later, they find some orthopaedic shoes that will fit the lifeless foot and my friend is almost able to put them on with little help.
But they are not magic—and they do not make her walk!

Legal advice is sought, but soon discarded, once my friend discovers what it involves and how long it will take to even appear like compensation could be accessed. Although her case would most likely be settled out of court, with the hospital’s insurance paying any award, it would be a laborious process that my friend cannot bear to face.
So, what can she do?
Right now, nothing much.

She is still in hospital.
Of the two promised visits from social workers, who might offer her some helpful advice, neither has eventuated.

She has been fobbed off by the surgeon; the hospital offers nothing in the way of compensation.

And so, her life continues; twice-a-day physiotherapy, awful hospital food and sleepless nights, only interrupted by nightmares of what the future holds.
(That special birthday was nearly two months ago!)

Hip replacement anyone?

PS:
Do not brush my friend off as ‘just a little old lady’. This is not what she is. She is (or was!) a strong woman. She has been a teacher. She is an author. She is an ardent and well-known advocate for carers of the mentally ill and disabled. She is what is known as a ‘pillar of society’

If you wish to know the name of the Melbourne hospital in this story, message me in the comments section (below), or email at gendi@netspace.net.au

(Confusing set-up: If 'leave a comment' cannot be seen, click on '0 comments' or '2 Comments' or whatever reference to comments is on view, to leave a comment. Thanks)

Climate Change, the Stressor? "And a little child shall lead them"

22/9/2019

According to a study I heard quoted on television last week, the rate of people presenting at doctors’ offices with stress, anxiety and depression symptoms has increased by something like 60% in the past five years.
Its occurrence is a noticeably greater in those in the late teenage years. (And the elderly, but more on that another day)

Anxiety and depression in young people. Do we know why?
We can have a guess. Climate change and the fear of future catastrophe would have to be a major factor in the case of these young people.
How do you think you’d feel if, at the start of your life, as you looked forward to setting goals for every part of your future existence, if you were faced with the fact that the world as previously known — as it has been for generations — is changing so drastically that our Planet Earth might be unliveable in their lifetime?

I have been so impressed with the turn-out of students at the recent Climate Change strikes/marches. Good on the kids for ditching school and joining in a protest about such a crucial subject many of their elders have dismissed. Someone has to do this and they are the people most affected. (Yes, I know many older people joined in as well and I am ashamed of myself for not making the effort to join them on the train into the city on Friday).

As for Greta Thunberg — what an amazing girl! (Surely I am not the only person who has had the phrase, “and a little child shall lead them” constantly in mind over the past days). Just look what she has created!

Of course, our politicians really DO know about climate change, but to accept the scientific evidence about it and then do something (BIG & WORTHWHILE) about it would affect the incomes of their major donors from the mining industry. Thereby affecting the chance or the outcome of who ‘runs’ the country.
Sadly, ego and money both play a huge part.

You see, it’s mostly all about money (and ego). But money is king and money rules the planet—for now!

Just wait, if you can, and see how the planet will fare once our world succumbs to further rising sea-levels, rising temperatures, rising increase of catastrophic bush fires and floods, leading to unliveable conditions.
Also, how will countries cope with the millions of people fleeing water-logged Pacific islands?
What will the wealthy mining magnates, hole diggers, coal, oil and gas promoters have to say then? Bugger all, I imagine, as they bunker down in their safe and secure havens.

So, back to the increasing tide of depression and stress.
Individually, I think we can help. For a start, everyone must keep up the pressure on politicians and people ‘in power’ about ceasing coal burning, coal producing and other carbon emission ‘habits’. Vote for 100% renewable energy; be serious about getting it done.

I have been refreshed by a recent holiday away from everyday stressors, but escape from some facts is not always possible.

Please feel free to add a comment.

Latest news item, 23/09/2019:
‘A dramatic new UN report paints a dire picture of the climate crisis, arguing that countries need to triple their emission reductions in order to keep global warming below two degrees.’

The world is burning and our 'leaders' are hopeless!

28/8/2019

A holiday is planned. I leave next Saturday and I will not include electronic devices in my luggage.
I will try to resist watching new bulletins.

I have almost no words left in me to describe the state of our world; Actions of many so-called leaders are abysmal – they're seemingly only ‘in it’ for their own benefit…bloody hopeless. Climate Change is no longer threatening – it is here and yet Donald Trump didn’t even bother attending the G7 meeting to discuss it.

The Amazon Forest is burning and, to soothe the consciences of our ‘leaders’ – and to take the heat off (no pun intended) they have promised 22 million dollars to help rectify the problem. PFFT! Billions were given to repair the Notre Dame cathedral, and yet only a few million promised (& when will that happen?) to save the planet! *

The arctic is not only melting – it’s on fire - and hardly a word about this is mentioned.

Russia is firing ballistic missiles into the arctic snow!

We have clowns in charge: Trump, Boris Johnson and Morrison, to name but three!
I can hardly bear to mention Putin.

I need a holiday. I need to recharge my batteries. I need to spend time with relatives, especially children, before I have the strength to again face the awfulness of the world’s situation.
Sure, I know my holiday will not improve the planet’s survival, but it might save mine!

Just as I write this, a news bulletin appears (see below) to convince us all that many ‘leaders’ are more than hopeless and think only of themselves!

*Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he will consider accepting a $US20 million ($30 million) offer of help from G7 nations to fight Amazon fires, but only after the French President Emmanuel Macron withdraws an "insult".

Give me strength!!
I'll be back in a few weeks.

Story from a Teacher

18/8/2019

I was a primary school teacher for over thirty years. It was a job that I loved but, when I was in my fifties, I left fulltime teaching as I could no longer do exhaustion.
I still remember most of the children (there were hundreds) who each spent at least a year ‘in my hands’. I loved them – and some of them even loved me, I am sure.
Each child had a story in which I became a part.
Here, I have included a story of one small boy, recalled from some years ago.
I called it, ‘A Year with Billy O’Dowd’:

He was the youngest of a large farming family; happy-go-lucky, cheeky and unbelievably grubby. Billy O’Dowd had been a thorn in the side of his first two teachers. I was the third teacher to have the pleasure of Billy’s company for a year.

Now he was in Year Two, he was even more competent at creating chaos. Blissfully unconcerned with his grotty appearance, Billy also seemed unaware of the difference between right and wrong and had absolutely no awe or fear of any chastisement, punishment or threat, even when issued by the school principal. At just seven years old, Billy was one of those kids who makes you wonder why on earth you ever wanted to make a career of teaching.

In the playground, Billy was not one to get into fights or arguments. That was not how he caused continuous stress. No, Billy was the one to always be ‘out-of-bounds’, looking for an imaginary snake or chasing the ball he was sure had gone over into the adjoining property. Billy would be the volunteer to fetch the wayward football from the school roof (without permission, of course). He could run like the wind and climb like a small Sumatran orangutan. If there was a school rule Billy had not broken, I was unaware of it.

Billy’s academic achievement was a somewhat secondary concern for me while dealing with him. Keeping his little bottom on a chair for more than 60 seconds was a major accomplishment. To have him complete any set task, a miracle. I’m sure he lost more library books and readers that the rest of the school student population put together. And any books that weren’t lost, were often barely in a suitable condition to be returned to the shelf.

All Billy’s possessions were battered, bent, torn and (mostly) filthy.

As winter approached, Billy began wearing a dark blue nylon parka every day. He really liked it and kept it on when in the classroom.The edges of the parka’s collar were often in his mouth. Eventually he could even talk while chomping away on the collar. After a while, he began to nibble at the cuffs also. Perhaps there was a deficiency in his diet. One day, for ‘play-lunch’, he brought to school a tube of blue toothpaste, which he proceeded to squeeze into his mouth, have a little chew and then swallow. At my stern expression of disapproval, his calm reply was, “But, it’s delicious!”

Every school day of every year, Billy ordered a meat pie from the school canteen. Summer or winter, a pie was his lunch. (That’s about 1,400 pies over the years, I think). Whether it was the pie diet or the thick layer of dirt that covered his skin and provided some sort of protection from virus attack, is anyone's guess, but Billy was never ill. His school attendance record was perfect. So there was no respite for his teacher for even a day.

But there was no doubting he was a happy little boy. The fact that Billy was almost always in some sort of trouble at school was of no consequence to him. It was water off a duck’s back. He was not purposely a horrible little kid. That each of his teachers, in turn, ended up a little the worse for wear after the experience of a year spent in Billy’s company was certainly no concern of his.

As my year with Billy rolled towards a close, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. My heart was also feeling lighter, because now he could read a little, his Maths was “coming along” (as we say) and even some pages of his workbook were still intact. There was only two-thirds of the old blue parka left (Billy having eaten much of it) but otherwise I felt quite successful. At least I had survived.

This was all way back in the 1980s.

Several years after he had left school, I came across Billy, the grown teenager, with some mates at a tourist area in our part of the country. He still looked very much the same, only much taller.

“Hello, Billy,” I greeted him brightly.

“G’day,” he replied and, before I was out of earshot, he turned to his mates and said, “Who the f--- was that?”

No Turning Back.

13/8/2019

Once upon a time, teenagers used to sit in milk bars and drink milk shakes from tall glasses, topping the yummy liquid up from icy-cold metal containers. Now kids barge into a shop, quickly purchase, not a milk shake, but a ‘slushy’ in a flimsy plastic container, with plastic lid and plastic straw.
Once it is hastily consumed the plastic stuff is tossed away – sometimes in a bin, oft times just anywhere.
Is this a ‘no turning back’ situation?

Let’s have a quick random count of other ‘no turning backs’:

Drinking bottled water.
Driving huge cars.
Building huge houses, dependent on artificial heating & cooling.
Replacing items by buying new and not repairing.
Buying cheap clothes in bulk.
Using plastic in all its horror guises.
Eating from bagged ‘lunch-box treats’.

That’s but a few…I could go on, and on…

However, there are TWO deadly serious ‘no turning backs’ that deserve a mention:

U.S. gun ownership and the destruction of life that results -

and the BIGGEST ONE:

CLIMATE CHANGE.

Concerning the American gun situation, where ‘fear of the other’ has escalated to the point of insanity and turned into ‘hate of the other’, many U.S. citizens cannot comprehend how people in other countries such as Australia can ever feel safe if they don’t carry a firearm. That’s craziness gone too far – and now it is quite possibly beyond turning back. Poor America.

As far as Climate Change – or Global Warming – no matter what you name it, it may sadly be beyond us to drag the world back to sustainable levels. Existence on our once beautiful planet is threatened and yet still some leaders are unwilling to forego their dependence on their coal lobbyist donors to do anything serious (& effective) about it. Can we ever retrieve all that we have lost? Poor World.

HAVE WE REACHED NO TURNING BACK?

A Gift of Bananas

2/8/2019

Stopping by the fruit market stall with my small calico bag ready to fill with bananas, I was greeted by a young woman (of perhaps Indian descent) who asked me if I wanted some bananas.
‘Yes’, I answered, ‘I’m about to buy some.’
‘Here’, said the stranger, ‘I have some bananas for you,’ and she proffered a bag full of lovely bananas.
‘Oh, no’, I said, 'You can’t give me your bananas.’
‘But I have bought them for you,’ she said. ‘Here, see, this is the receipt to show I have just bought them.’

I protested again, ‘But you can't give me your bananas. I am just about to buy some.’
The stranger took a breath and said, ‘I really want you to have these bananas.’ And she went on to explain that, every week, she bought something just to give away and today she had bought bananas and she wished me to have them.

I must have looked totally confused, but she further explained that she was from overseas and, even though she had a husband and children here in Australia, she missed the rest of her family very much.
She said that to regularly give something away made her feel connected to her new home - and she again asked me (begged, almost) to take the offered bananas.

After listening to her story, I was a little overwhelmed and was feeling a little teary. I accepted the bananas and it was then that she asked if she could ‘have a hug’.
I more than willingly obliged and gave her a big hug. Then I looked closely at her and asked, ‘Do I remind you of your mother?’
‘Oh yes,’ she answered, tears welling in her eyes.

Another mutual hug ensued as I told her what a lovely, thoughtful person she was to give something away every week.
After both of us, blinking back further tears and me with lots of thankyous, there was not much more that we could say to each other.

As I held on to the gift of 2 kgs of bananas, we parted, neither knowing each other’s names nor sharing any other contact information.

They were beautiful bananas.

Later that day I made a banana cake for my grandson. My husband and I ate the remaining bananas over the following days, thanking our generous mystery donor with each bite.

True story.

Where's the sense in today's world?

23/7/2019

As I look towards the sea and the gentle fishing boats, a wheeling tern plunges into the sea and emerges holding a tiny fish in its beak. I watch gulls in the gentle breeze, swooping through a cloudless sky.
The peacefulness is just what I need as I let the serenity wash over me and calm my stressed-out mind.
I’m not sure how long I sit there but enough to feel renewed and refreshed.

Then I come home and stupidly turn on the computer to be greeted with more ‘News’ of the day. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Once upon a time Australia had a Prime Minister who believed in ‘the brotherhood of man’.
He had his faults, but he remained as a man of compassion and fairness.
With this man’s death two months ago, we have been awakened to a huge gap; we’ve been reminded what a country’s leader can be – and could be – and could DO.

Unfortunately, we have no one of this calibre – in our country or in anywhere else - that I can see.

Australia has a Prime Minister with no vision and no decency.
He is a man following the Trump program of fear of ‘the other’ as his main emphasis.
A man claiming to be of Christian faith who displays not one ounce of Christianity, as he uses tactics to scare the populace with his plans to ‘make the country safe’, by refusing settlement to refugees and continue building up military defence, spending billions on worthless, outdated submarines and jet fighters.

The needy in our country are neglected. The poor, the disabled and the homeless are of no consequence. Needs of schools and hospitals are ignored. Aged care has been transformed into a money-making venture by businesses that harm and rip off the elderly.

The government is seemingly corrupt, with tax-payers’ money being distributed to shonky companies, who no doubt help fill the government’s (and its members) coffers.

Meanwhile, the GREATEST challenge of all, CLIMATE CHANGE and how to deal with it effectively is relegated to a place of ‘we’re doing well’, when we are so obviously NOT.

Whatever happened to leaders who believed in ‘the brotherhood of man’?
There is so much anger, ignorance, resentment, fear and misery being dished out by world leaders today, it is very disheartening.

When I was a schoolgirl, many moons ago, we used to sing a hymn (yes, I know school kids no longer sing hymns, but we did). The words of the hymn become a bit ‘schmaltzy’ but, considering it was written in 1848, it’s not so surprising. It begins with the words, ‘Oh, brother man…’, which is what made me think of it as I wrote this. The final words of the hymn are,
‘Love shall tread out the baleful fire of anger,
And in its ashes plant the tree of peace.’

I don’t suppose there’s any hope of that happening today.
Perhaps I should go back to my seat by the sea.