There is a cyclone heading

towards the north east coast of the country! Help! There is a major disaster at hand! There will flooding! There will be high winds!

I do not for one moment want to suggest that a cyclone, any cyclone, is not a serious weather event. They are. They can do a lot of damage. People can lose everything, including their lives.

The problem here seems to be that, unlike some parts of the world, a cyclone is a rare event. There has not been a cyclone of this forecast magnitude for over fifty years. The vast majority of people will have no memory of such an event. They do not know what to expect. It is the unknown which is as frightening as the reality. 

I am not in the cyclone area. My home is a very long way from that. I am actually hoping for something positive from it. That positive would be water, a lot of water. It is just possible that the potentially devastating floods from a cyclone could also help by adding water to our river system. We need it. This state has not had any rain for weeks and weeks now. We need rain. They are carting water in the hills behind us. Yes, it is that serious.

Of course the cause of the cyclone has been said to be "climate change". The warmer surface temperature of the ocean is apparently the trigger. I won't discount that as a cause - although I wonder what happened last time. 

All this has political ramifications as well. Up until the point where the cyclone looked like causing damage in that part of the country it was possible that we would go to the election on April 12. Now it may not be until May. It would be difficult to hold an election while there is widespread flooding and damage. After April 12 we have Easter and Anzac and neither of those week ends are available. We will be heading into May instead. 

It may suit the government but if they want to avoid bringing down another budget then it will be a six week campaign. That is something they may also want to avoid. My guess is that our Prime Minister will be praying for the cyclone to go south at sea and for the damage to be minimal. He will also be praying for the result of a state election on the other side of the country to still be strongly in his favour.

I am glad I do not live in the likely cyclone zone and I am glad I am not the Prime Minister weighing up when to go to Government House. I hope there is not too much damage caused by the cyclone but, naughtily, I am happy for it to cause concern for the politicians.  

"70+hrs saving lives"

was the response from one of those who finally responded to Elon Musk's demand to know what they had been doing in the past week. As a doctor she simply did not have the time to respond even if she had wanted to do so. 

Her colleagues wrote similar things. It was her husband who sent me the responses he had gathered. He does not work for a government department but his fury matched that of some of those required to respond to the ridiculous demand.

I know that there is a lot of wastage in any "public service". I have no doubt that there could be greater efficiency but this is not the way to achieve it. It is also obvious to me that some of the most "precious" ideas, items and plans could be cut without any harm to anyone. A great deal of paperwork and duplicated paper work could be removed at no harm to anyone. 

I know about these things because I have had to waste time on them myself. I am not an employee of the US government but I have worked with many people who are. More than once I have been required to fill out forms which do not apply to me in any way but they are "required" by someone or "it is what everyone needs to do". Apparently this is essential even if you are not being paid. Many of these forms run to multiple pages. The language is arcane and the demands sometimes outrageous. Is it really necessary to show the addresses of everywhere I have lived? There is no security issue involved in my role but someone clearly thinks it is a good idea to ask the question. 

I have resorted to keeping a file with all sorts of such information in it so I can access it readily without having to think. I make sure that the person demanding the information knows if it is - or should be - on file already. That is part of the problem. They are so overloaded with information they cannot find it. File it on the computer? Apparently their systems do not allow for that.

I am now waiting for that email from Elon Musk, unelected hit man, asking me what I have been doing in the past week. It is almost bound to come. Someone will think I am an employee, an unpaid employee, and send it to me. It will be a great pleasure to respond to it but my response will not be printable here or in other public space.  

Rosemary Crowley

was a former Labor Senator in Downunder's national parliament. She was also a friend to me and to the Senior Cat.

We first met during the International Year of Disabled Persons. At that time she attended a number of activities as a doctor interested in the activities which were taking place.  We talked in the casual way people do at such events. I was aware of her political interests but, having always avoided membership of a political party, I was not particularly interested. 

There were times however when she would pounce on me and ask an abrupt question. "What do you think about that Cat?" was something I came to expect...and sometimes dread. If she asked it was because she wanted to know. Rosemary did not ask questions lightly.

We lost touch again for a time because I went off to another state and we had no reason to be in contact. When I returned I eventually joined a craft group of which she then became Patron. Patron? Oh yes, a very active Patron. Under Rosemary things happened. People who had been coasting along for years quite happy with the status quo suddenly found that they had a Patron with ideas. They were ideas she was determined to see realised too. She was good for the group.

And yes, she recognised me and remembered me. "Hello, good to see you here. What have you been doing?" she asked. I told her briefly. There was a pause and then, "We must get together. I want to know more."

And we did get together. I came home from a meeting one afternoon and found the Senior Cat chatting on the phone. He had obviously been talking for some time. "She's just come in," he said and eventually passed the phone over to me. (This was before most people had mobile phones.) "Rosemary Crowley..."

The two of them had been talking for well over an hour before that. They had never met and they were political opposites but they were chatting away like old friends.

Rosemary and I organised the first of many meetings together. I was concerned at first because my political leanings, if I have any, would not be in the same direction. They are much more cautious than hers were. They have had to be because of my own work. 

In all the time I knew Rosemary I was very, very careful not to let my personal views be known about any very political issue. It was sometimes difficult but she was someone who was fiercely loyal to her party and it was not my business to question the worth of a recently retired person's career. She respected my reluctance sometimes. At others she would say things like, "Oh come on Cat! You must have thought about it."

We would have lunch together occasionally. She would sometimes arrive at our home and sit at the kitchen table chatting to the Senior Cat. It was often about education and educational methods. They would sometimes discuss religion - a topic on which they surprisingly had much in common. There was gardening to discuss and theatre. The Senior Cat taught her how to do a simple conjuring trick one day. 

I sorted out knitting problems for her and they were many. She was making a pullover for one of her three boys and we pulled apart three times before she managed to get it right. Part of it was sheer impatience to get on with the job but I was becoming aware that there was another issue too. 

Yes, there was the occasional halt to her once fluent speech as she searched for a word. There was her confusion about arrangements which were made. One day she phoned and asked if I would visit. We had seen one another the day before but she sounded a little agitated. I sorted out the problem she had encountered but it was something that confirmed my concerns.

By then I felt I knew her well enough so I asked her if she was worried about her ability to remember and organise. She admitted it with relief but asked me not to say anything to anyone else. Eventually though it became too obvious to ignore. One of her children arrived and plans were made to move her closer to them. Rosemary pretended it was all part of a long term plan but she knew what was happening to her. 

"Don't try and contact me Cat," she told me, "I want you to remember me now and not as I will be. You've been a good friend, a very good friend."

I hope I was because, despite all the companionship she found among her like minded political friends and her committee work post politics, I think she was a lonely person. 

 

Knitting needles

are a more complex topic than would at first appear. It was with that in mind Middle Cat and I went off to talk to people at a yarn event yesterday. 

I was looking forward to it. After weeks of packing, unpacking, sorting, giving things away, throwing things out and living in the chaos of moving house this was going to be fun.

It was fun. It was hard work but it was fun too. Middle Cat was there to talk to people about hand issues, muscles, joints, wrists, shoulders, sitting positions and more. As a (retired) physiotherapist she knows about these things.

I was there to talk to people about the right needle for the knitting - the right tool for the job. No, not all knitting needles are the same. Not all people knit the same way. Not all needles suit all people. There are differences.

I had done a bit of research some years ago. I went back to it and reminded myself about early knitting needles and their development. We are so used to going into a shop or looking on line now that we forget they have to be manufactured and that there is a history to that.

The earliest needles were perhaps made by the users themselves. By mediaeval times they were often made by the local blacksmith. I can almost imagine myself going down to the forge and asking for him to make me some. They would have been steel of course. Right into the first part of the twentieth century most knitting needles were steel. It is one reason why so much fine wool and fine knitting took place. Steel needles were heavy. You simply could not make them too big or they were too heavy to handle.

It was not until Victorian times that knitting needles were commonly made with points or knobs on the ends of the straight variety. Now you can get a variety of points for different types of knitting - like the longer lace points I was using. They can make knitting easier and smoother and perhaps even faster.

We had a wonderful variety of needles to show people and get them to try. It was interesting to watch people and how they handled them. "Not for me,"someone said after trying a small circular needle with fine points. The woman next to her said, "Oh, I love those!"

There was a young man, early twenties perhaps, who came along with a ball of yarn he had bought to make a friend a small scarf. He tried several points on the yarn we had attached. He consulted me about the size he thought he should use. We discussed it for a bit and he went to the display of needles next to us and then to M... who spent the day acting as "the money man" for so many people. 

Yes, there were men around. Three stalls were run entirely by men. One of them dyes yarn in brilliant colours. I was too busy to talk to him but I saw someone almost staggering off with two large bags of his yarn. I would love to know what that person was intending to make.

There were the soft natural colours too and the wool from the various types of sheep. It always fascinates me how varied that can be. My friend K... was there. She worked as a laboratory chemist before she retired and she understands far better than most people how yarn will take up dyes. Her work is lovely and she always has a wonderful and very professional display. I saw it and others in my quick tour before the venue opened for visitors.

What is really good is that there were so many people there. Although money really is tight for many people they came along and they were buying the things which will hopefully give them hours of pleasure and something worthwhile at the other end. The physical and mental health benefits were obvious.  It is just a pity I did not see a single politician I recognised in the crowds there. Perhaps if they had come along money might get spent on encouraging more people to participate in such activities. It has to be better than passively watching sport on the telly. 

 

Cutting foreign aid to the

bone tells me just what sort of person you are Mr Trump. You have absolutely no idea of how much harm you have done have you? I doubt you would care even if you did know but let me tell you anyway.

My job has been to offer communication support to aid workers. Do you even know what an aid worker is? No? Let me explain. They are the people who go and get their hands dirty. They are the people who actually do the work? They are the people who risk their lives when there is a natural or man made disaster. They are the people who help to make peace and keep peace.

Your "efficiency" cuts put in place by a man who is not even an elected member of your government are causing more problems than I want to think about, than I want to face. Let me tell you about just a few of them. 

There is the surgeon who was going to perform an operation on an eleven year old boy. The surgeon is obviously highly intelligent. He is also compassionate and caring. The boy is also highly intelligent. He had dreams of one day having a job and doing something for his country. That operation is now at risk. The surgeon was giving his time and expertise for nothing. His community in the US raised the money for the operation but the operating theatre may not be working because of the cuts you have made. Yes, it is just one child but there are many more like him. He has a mother who loves him. His father was killed in a war you do not even seem to be aware of.

There is the vaccination team trying to eradicate measles. The vaccines are at risk because you have cut aid funding. You have appointed someone who does not seem to believe in vaccines in your own country. Any vaccine program in another country is something you think you can just dismiss. It won't matter to you that children will die of a preventable disease because your son has undoubtedly had his shots. That is all that matters to you.

There is the community which raised the money for the refrigeration unit which would be used to store medicines in another overseas community. That unit is now sitting on the docks and nobody knows when it will be able to be loaded on a ship to go - or whether it will be able to go at all.

There is the civil engineer who is trying to delay his departure from a major project in a poor country. You want him to return to America even if it means the project will not be finished and millions of dollars will be wasted. You think they can do it themselves but the reality is that their war torn country has not been able to train engineers for many years. This might help them to do it. He was volunteering his expertise.

There is the teacher who went to a village three months ago. He expected to stay at least three years. He loves what he is doing but the money is suddenly not there. The money is not to pay him but to provide the essentials so schooling can actually take place. He was volunteering his services. 

Oh and please don't forget that water supply which is being built so people can grow their own food and be independent. Some young adults from a church somewhere in the mid-west of your country on their way to help the local people set this up when you halted all aid to that project. 

I could go on. I only know about these things because all I do is provide a tiny bit of help so people can communicate with each other. It lets each side know they care about the other. It is about both sides saying both please and thank you. It is about all those people I know who have given up so much to go and help. I have known people who have lost their lives helping in some of the most dangerous situations on the planet. I can see you shrugging and saying something like, "Well they knew they were taking a risk." You just do not care do you? 

I do care. I know many, many other people who do care. It is why we work long unpaid hours in a week while you jet off to your fancy home in Florida for the weekend. I had plans to "retire". Your actions mean I have not yet been able to do that. We are trying to find ways around your stupidity and selfishness.

It may come as a surprise to you Mr Trump but the very best form of defence any country has is foreign aid, genuine foreign aid. It is not the "aid" given in the form of expecting something back. Leave that to Russia and China. This is the sort of aid that comes from following the commandment, "Love one another".

It is clear to me that you love nobody but yourself Mr Trump.   

We are heading into war

again. I am sitting here reeling at what has, if my sources are correct, just gone on in the Oval Office. I was told that the Ukrainian delegation was actually told to leave. If correct then that is almost unbelievable.

Their crime? Not doing as they were told. There was apparently no attempt to negotiate, no attempt to listen. President Trump has in effect said, "You owe us all the money we have spent on your war. Now you have to pay it back, with interest."

Yes, there are billions of dollars involved. America has put millions of dollars into the defence of Ukraine. They did it because, at the time the war started, it was in their interests to do so. No country spends billions of dollars on a war in another country unless it is in their interests to do just that. 

I have no doubt that the Americans were very well aware of the mineral wealth in Ukraine right from the start. They had other reasons to go in as well of course but, underneath it all, there is money to be made.

Trump is out of control, dangerously out of control.  He is also unpredictable, dangerously unpredictable. Even among the Republicans who publicly support him there is apparently considerable disquiet at his "executive" orders. He is well aware that he is not running a big company but he is testing the boundaries of his office. 

I am wondering what will happen when, inevitably, he argues with Elon Musk. He can sack him of course but what else will happen? The "Department of Government Efficiency" may sound good to some - until they too are in the firing line. Already there has been rebellion. A friend in America responded to the demand to know what she had been doing in the past week with an email saying, "80+hrs saving lives". I don't know if she sent it off to Musk but she did send it out to her mailing list. 

The judiciary has been trying to rein him in but it is difficult to handle someone so unpredictable and so hell-bent on getting his own way.

I also wonder what is going on between President Trump and President Putin. Does Trump owe Putin something? Has Trump been promised something? Their relationship has not really been questioned yet but there must be something there. Putin wants his borders to expand. What has Trump promised?

No doubt we will soon learn much more. Will President Zelensky just capitulate or will Europe move in and rescue him thereby incurring Trump's further wrath? What are the trade implications in all of this?

I have no idea what the answers are of course but when one country decides it needs a "special military operation" to bully another and take what it wants then we cannot do or say nothing. It makes us the next target. Our government seems to think we are "probably" safe from Trump's tariff's and more. It seems very unlikely to me. 

America what have you done to the world?