The strange shirts worn by leaders at

APEC summits and beyond in order for the "family" photo to be taken should have been raised when the Downunder Prime Minister wore "that t-shirt" the other day.

I know nothing about "Joy Division". The article in the paper really left me no wiser...apart from the fact that it was apparently a "group" of some sort. Well, groups get odd names and, if the source of this name is correct, then it is also nasty. Why would you name any group after women forced into prostitution?  I will leave my comments on that there.

What puzzled me was why the Prime Minister was wearing that sort of t-shirt at all? Why wear something like that in public? 

I know there will be people who will say, "so what?" but it is something I found slightly strange. An ordinary plain polo shirt would not have bothered me. I have seen more than one leader dressed that way. Work clothes would not bother me. A former leader in an open neck shirt with a beer in hand, another with fire fighting gear on, a third in a work shirt and old hat, a fourth in jeans and a plain t-shirt. All those things, from both sides of the political divide, seem to be acceptable but not the t-shirt.

Other people have commented on the t-shirt in question. They have said things like "childish", "teenage", "inappropriate", "a bit odd" and "not what you would expect from a Prime Minister". I was left simply puzzled. It just seems odd to me.

Then I thought of those shirts and other garments worn by leaders for the "family photo". I have quite liked some of the shirts and other garments but the people in them often look faintly ridiculous. They are garments they are not ever likely to wear again. Are they languishing in wardrobes? Have they been given away? The Downunder raincoats might be quite useful I suppose - if you live in a cool enough climate where it actually rains. The very traditional Korean mumu though, or the batik shirts in Malaysia?

I wonder what would happen if the group consisted of women rather than men? I suspect they would have a "family" photo in their own clothes.   

So there won't be an interest rate cut?

Apparently the inflation rate is too high to have an interest rate cut. I suppose that makes sense. 

There will be a lot of mortgage holders who will be disappointed on Tuesday if our Reserve Bank does not cut the interest rate by yet another 0.25%.  I have heard people say they are "relying" on it.  That seems rather foolish to me.

I also wonder whether anyone will realise that the nice little hand out people got to pay their electricity bills has something to do with it. That nice little hand out kept quite a lot of things artificially low while the government boasted about the way the push for renewable power was going to save the economy and make us a world leader in both renewable power and manufacturing.

It is not going to happen. 

I am on a very low income but I could have managed without the hand out. Many people I know could have managed without the hand out. Yes, it was nice to have but I did not need it. I am careful with my money and will go on being careful. Yes, my power bill was up but it was not as high as it could have been. I was cautious about using the heating but there were times when it was essential to use some power for that. I will be even more cautious about using the cooling from the same system in summer but not everyone can do that.

Now I am wondering how many people went out and bought something they did not really need or simply went on buying their "coffee" because the extra seemed to be there. Was inflation fuelled by this? No, that would only have been a very small part of the equation. I only need to look at prices in the supermarket to realise that many things are noticeably higher in price - and often noticeably smaller with it. A little while back I bought the ingredients for the fruit cakes I give my cousin and Middle Cat at Christmastime. The cost, even when "on special", was almost thirty per cent higher than it was last year. Basics like milk and bread are much higher. We have a potato shortage at present and there were some in the supermarket for more than seven dollars a kilo. Nobody can afford those sort of prices. 

A friend is coming for lunch today. It is a fairly regular event. She always insists on bringing her own sandwich - a result of unexpectedly staying one day when she happened to have her own sandwich with her. I would be more than happy to provide the sandwich but she prefers to feel "independent". I will make her multiple mugs of tea but there are people I know who would struggle to do that - or they will do it and then drink water for a couple of days because the price of tea and the power to boil the water is too high.

This week I bought some new sheets - having put a rear paw through one of the old ones. I hesitated over this - one set or two? I bought two sets because I could and because they were labelled as "half price". They are not half price of course. The store will still be making a profit but I wonder how much they paid for them if they can apparently afford to do this. Now I hope I will not need to buy sheets for a very long time and I am grateful I could afford to buy two sets. Have I added to the inflation figures? Hmmmm...

Will the lack of an interest rate cut actually reduce inflation? I think it might take more than that. I do not envy the Reserve Bank board members their decision making process.  

"The power lines have to go somewhere!"

There is a lead story in this morning's paper about the massive new power lines which will be needed to carry our "renewable" energy in and out of the city. Predictably it is also about the farmers who will lose some of their land so that the lines can go across them. The article says farmers will be "compensated" but will they?

Of course they won't be compensated. They will get an inadequate one off payment. It will be at the lowest possible rate the government can get away with and it will be paid to farmers out of our taxes - and their taxes. 

Yes, we need power. The lines are always going to have to go somewhere.  The problem is the plans for these are across prime farming land. We have already lost far too much farming land. 

One possible route is across the farming land in the area in which I was born. It is difficult to imagine the true extent of the likely harm the monstrous pylons will do. It will not simply be that the land around each pylon is no longer able to be used. The pylons have to be put there in the first place. It will be at least one year of cropping which will be destroyed by this process and then less land available every year.  There can be no compensation adequate for that. 

The person who has just spoken to me about this in the very early morning quiet just shrugged. He has never lived in a rural area. He clearly thinks his power is a simple mater of flicking a switch. It isn't like that at all.  

The town is dying because

people are no longer coming in to it to shop or wander the main street.  This is the complaint from someone who owns a small business in a small country town in the hills behind me.  

The hills behind me are littered with small "towns" like the one in question. They are really villages, indeed some of them might be labelled "hamlets" they are so small.

Most of them consist of some sort of main shopping strip with a few streets branching off at the sides. There might be a supermarket of some sort, perhaps a chemist, a cafe or two, and the "gift" shop or the mini art gallery. Tucked into this there might be a medical centre with reduced hours, one or two might have a "playground" for children next to a church and the cemetery which is a reminder of things past. There might be a "green" with dying grass and a war memorial to the men who went and did not come back.  If you are lucky there might still be a decrepit "community hall" of some sort.

There is one such town which is a tourist attraction - if you believe the advertising. Yes, it has a history of German settlement in the late 1800's and some "quaint" cottages but little else apart from the shops designed to entice tourists. I have been there and have no desire to return.

Many of the people who actually live there commute down the freeway into the city for work. Some will drop their children off at school along the way. At weekends there is sport but not much else to keep you entertained. 

If you want a quiet lifestyle then yes they can be lovely places to live in but I know you will do your serious shopping elsewhere. Those quaint little shops are not for you. They are there for "tourists". They sell things you do not need every day of the week, if you need them at all. The occasional "art and craft" exhibition or event is not going to keep local businesses alive.

I have no idea what the answer is and I doubt the locals know either. The little place I was born in is now a larger country town. It is not in the hills but it is a similar sort of area. Some of those who live there commute to the city to work. They expect all the amenities of city living and, for the most part, they can get these. At the same time they now believe they are "living in the country". 

No, they are not "living in the country" at all. They are living in semi-rural suburbs. Such places can be just as lonely as suburban living and those who really live and work there are being stifled by you who believe they have nothing to offer.  

"I want to do a PhD!"

One of the students for whom I have occasionally read an essay was standing there outside the library. He was saying this to several other students and they were all laughing.

It is that time of the year again here. The students will be faced with external exams, exams set not by their teachers but an external authority. They will be marked by other people. The future careers of these students will, for the greater part, depend on their results this time around.  Will they get an "ATAR" high enough to get into their chosen courses?

I have watched some of these students since they started their secondary school years and one or two even earlier than that. I don't envy them as I might once have envied them. The world has changed too much for that.

The little group saw me of course and one of them said, "J... reckons he wants to do a Project Half Done."  I have heard and seen that before. It's a joke but a joke with a serious side. I have told more than one of them how some doctoral studies never reach completion, indeed how some undergraduates never finish. 

This little group will probably finish their undergraduate degrees in things like computing, engineering and physics. They are about as motivated to succeed as any other student I know.  

Will they go on to do doctorates? I have no idea. It is possible one or two of them might do further study. They will probably need to do it in order to even get jobs of the sort they believe they want. Doctorates might be in the mix but, if they are, I wonder what they be about. It is unlikely I would understand the topics in sciences like physics. 

What I do understand is that there are doctorates being done which are of dubious value and likely of no interest to anyone else. How much value is there in "a participatory audiovisual exploration of haunting in Palestine"?  Apparently "ghosts are more than symbolic" and someone is being paid a student grant to do this. Someone else is doing a doctorate on the architecture of Chinese temples of a certain period (I have forgotten which period) and someone else is looking at "Animals as builders: Exploring animal buildings as sites of agency, rights, and politics". The first and last of these examples come from an article in the Spectator. The middle one comes from an article about research grants here. It is one of the less embarrassing research topics being funded.

I am not sure how these topics get funded. There must be people who are passionate about such things but where are they? I have colleagues who are struggling to even get permission from "ethics" committees to do what seems to be basic research into issues of communication between doctors and patients in hospitals. Another of my colleagues has just had a request for permission knocked back. It was to do some work on ways in which increased capacity to communicate will led to greater participation among migrant women from a particular cultural group. Perhaps I am wrong but I think these things have some value for all concerned. 

Getting a doctorate was once considered a real achievement. You worked very hard for it. There would be nobody around you who understood what you were doing. It was the nature of a doctorate. A person with a doctorate was respected for their academic achievement. The right to use the title "doctor" was considered to be something special. Now a range of people use the title in their daily professions but some have done no more than what amounts to an undergraduate degree in some form of alternative medicine. It is little wonder that using the title "doctor", unless you are actually a member of the mainstream medical profession, is considered showing off by many here.

And perhaps there are too many "projects half done" out there. We need to rethink the whole business...or perhaps we could do what the Italians do and call someone with an actual doctorate "doctor doctor"?  

Rebuild our manufacturing?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the Prime Minister's latest "plan". (It seems he has a "plan" for everything.)

Now he is trying to tell us that, along with business, we can become a great manufacturing "powerhouse" again. This can happen although we now only manufacture a quarter of what we did in 1960.

Even though I was a mere kitten I can remember manufacturing in this state. The Senior Cat would always try to avoid travelling along the main road into the CBD if there was a change of shift at "Holden's". They made cars there and they employed a lot of people, almost all of them men. They were mostly the sole breadwinners for their families.  It was interesting to watch them leave work but we were warned that working hard in school was the way to avoid work like that. Our parents were not snobs, far from it, but they knew what factory work could be like.

Not far from there was the Actil plant which made bed linen and towels. I remember there was a food manufacturing plant of some sort on the other side of that road. In the area we lived in at the time there were "the sugar works" and "the cement works" and "the fish place" and the place that made the immense ropes which attached the ships to the wharves. The wharves were busy with the "wharfies" carting sacks of wheat and barley and wool into the hulls of ships. The wool had been "scoured" at a place just north of the CBD. It has all gone. Any big ships docking do so at the outer harbour and they are almost always tourist vessels. 

Move on and there were places where fruit was dried for export, jams were made for the bread which used the flour which was milled.  They still exist but in a much smaller way. One such place has just filed for bankruptcy. The oven-bake bread rolls my BIL likes come from France. 

We used to deal with the wool ourselves, some of the very finest wool in the world.  The last wool scourer in a neighbouring state closed halfway through this year. That leaves another facility much further north of our CBD to do the work but do it in a much more limited way.  Mulesing issues, drought issues and more have decimated the wool industry. Environmental activism has not helped. 

And then there are the unions with their endless demands for "better wages and conditions". They may represent just 13.9% of the workforce but they are still powerful. Many former high ranking unionists are now members of parliament. These people have simply priced us out of most world markets. Why pay twice or more as much when you can get the same thing in countries where the wages and living conditions are half as good?

We won't build high technology industry here. It needs more than reliable power and a reliable workforce. It needs the know how and the ability to pay for it to even start up. 

Unless we lower our financial and lifestyle expectations and are prepared to put in more hours per week rather than reduce them none of this will even start. Industry says we have fifteen years to do it but our school children are behind in not just STEM subjects but the language capacity to do those subjects. 

It is going to take a major revolution not just a Prime Minister with a "plan" to get anything done at all.

AI is dangerous and

we need to be better educated about this.

I do not use AI in my work. It tries to wriggle in sometimes and I have to push it firmly out again. The reason for this is that if AI gets it wrong then the rest of us on the team could put someone's life in danger, someone could die, a building could crumble, a bridge could fall down, a road might not be where it is supposed to be, a fight make break out, someone could be insulted and start anything from a minor altercation to a war or they might commit suicide. No, I am not exaggerating. Communication needs to be accurate - or as accurate as we can make it. There is no room for the sort of errors that AI can make.

This last week someone had tried to rely on AI for information and ended up screaming desperately for help from one of my colleagues. The mess was eventually sorted out and calm has descended again but much was said about AI while all this was going on. People have been warned again. Do not rely on AI to give you the correct answer if your life and the lives of people around you are at risk. Please just do not do it.

Now there is a story in this morning's paper about a lawyer who has apparently relied on AI to support a case s/he was preparing. The court has, rightly, complained it has been misled. The cases "found" by AI do not exist. They do not support the arguments put to the court. Apparently there has been another such case in another state with a similar result. 

This is serious, more serious than the general public realise. Accuracy is very, very important in law. Getting a comma out of place can change the entire meaning of something. There can be no "but this is what they actually meant" in law. It is what is there on the page which matters and nothing else. Relying on AI to provide something accurate in an area which is so important is dangerous. It could mean someone being incarcerated for a crime they have not committed or a murderer going free. Yes, extreme examples but still possible.

The judge in this instance has said that Gen-AI cannot be trusted to provide accurate information. If that is all the judge had to say on the topic I would be surprised. 

We are being told that AI is the way of the future and that we will need it more and more. I am wondering how it will be used and by whom. Perhaps I am wrong but I am beginning to think we may need more and more people who are well educated and can think for themselves because the idea of AI taking over is not going to work well if we really need accuracy - and accuracy may save many situations and lives.   

The latest report on net zero

is showing net negative. Why can't the government and the media just give up on the idea and actually do something useful?

Apparently we could build eight hospitals and four hundred aged care facilities each year for what the net-zero policies are costing us. If that is really the case then I suggest it is time to start building.

I am in no way opposed to the idea of caring for the environment. I know that questioning the "net zero" idea leaves me open to the idea that I am a "climate denier" and much more. I am not. No, I am not.

I think we have a climate problem. I think we have a population problem. I think we have a people problem in all sorts of ways. I think we need to think about our life style and more.

Why do we still allow people to own 4WD vehicles in the city? Why in fact do we allow many people to have cars at all? Do they really need them? I am told yes they do. They are "necessary" for carting the kids to school and after school activities, going to the gym after work and doing the weekly shop. Even while people are saying that those whose jobs tie them to a desk are demanding the "right to work from home". 

The reality? The vast majority of children in this state live within walking distance of their schools. For those who do not there is public transport or government supplied school buses in rural areas. How often do you really go to the gym after work - and do you really need to go to the gym or do you do it because it is "the thing to do"? Walking to the bus stop to catch the bus to work everyday might be a better (and much cheaper) option. Oh, sorry! That takes time does it? You didn't get up early enough? You haven't got the kids out of bed early enough? 

It all did happen once but we now seem to believe that the world has changed so much that cars are essential...and too many people believe that the electric vehicle is the answer to all this. Really? Have you actually looked at the environmental damage caused by creating one and then maintaining it? Is it really any better than any other sort of vehicle? 

China's one child policy was a social disaster but surely we can encourage people to limit their families to a policy of "replace yourselves" to just two children? Isn't that responsible?  It is surely responsible from the "net zero" point of view? Maybe not you say? It is just a thought.

It just frightens me to think of the money being poured in to a fantasy, the idea that this country can achieve the unachievable and do it ahead of everyone else. The idea that we will be held up as an example of how to do the impossible in a morally and financially responsible way is laughable...if the politicians were not so serious about causing the destruction of it all.

The answers may not be simple but I do know that politicians and all those with their financial interest in "net zero" are failing to do the one thing that could be done and might have a small but real impact. Please, could we plant more trees? Could we plant a lot more trees? Could we plant the other plants to go with the trees? That may not be "the answer to everything" but it might help - just a little bit more than that electric car.  

Most of us rate privacy as

important. We want our own space or spaces. Yes, we might share them with "family" or "significant others" or whatever the term is these days but not with strangers.

Now there is apparently a move to build "apartments" with not only no kitchens (already apparently common) but with "shared bathrooms". There is even a claim that this is what people "want". These places will apparently have to have spaces like "roof top barbecue areas" and they will need to get "direct sunlight for at least two hours a day". 

I can really see these moves working - not. The news comes as we are about to have the Annual General Meeting for this group of units. This is something that must be held by law. It will be held next week in the middle of the afternoon. This is what suits the company which is supposed to oversee the management of the external areas of the block. That is understandable as they work office hours but it is awkward for owners.

I have not been here a year yet. I have not even met everyone who owns a unit (renters are not eligible to attend) and I am not aware of all the issues which might come up. It was therefore good to talk with the man opposite when he actually stopped and asked if I was aware of the meeting. I told him I was and that I intended to attend it - via the phone option. He has offered to take me instead as it will give me the opportunity to meet some of the other owners. I have,. reluctantly, accepted. I do not want to get involved in what are obviously ongoing arguments about exterior painting, gutters and fences. His own remarks suggest he has more than a modicum of commonsense about these things but will he be outvoted on who gets the job to replace the fence or whose exterior gets painted first. (His argument is that the latter gets done in strict rotation and according to a schedule - not because someone wants theirs done now.) 

I will also go because the contract to mow the "lawns" has failed. On my return from "holiday" I found the areas we are paying to have mowed had not been touched. They are now almost knee high in weeds and it is no longer safe. Even with the rain we have had the ground is not soft enough for me to remove the weeds and the rest of it looks dreadful. My view on this is that the management company we pay a hefty fee to should have dealt with this weeks ago. They apparently knew what was happening and did nothing. One of the owners is making demands of any contractor which simply cannot be met. The contractor is not her personal gardener but she treats them as such and complains if her demands are not met. She is the one who needs to be pulled into line. Will it happen?

I hope something is done soon. I may need to get my long suffering BIL to do my bit - and too bad if the owner who demands so much does not like my bit looking a little tidier than hers. The whole area really needs to have a proper grassed area put in but the expense is something not likely to be acceptable to owners who just want to put out their hands for rent money.

Yes, we have this and other problems here. I thought of this when I read the proposal for "shared" bathrooms and kitchens and other spaces. This is not co-housing Danish style. It is much more likely to be a slum style disaster in waiting.  

Should Rudd "retire"?

For those of you in Upover and Elsewhere I will probably have to explain who Kevin Rudd is. He is Downunder's Ambassador to the United States of America. 

When it comes to diplomatic posts there are none considered more important in Canberra. It is a post which should only be given to someone with outstanding diplomatic skills, personal relationships and understanding of both national and international affairs. 

Although his supporters may try and suggest otherwise Rudd has none of those things. He was perhaps the worst Prime Minister we have had in recent years. The complaints I heard from colleagues when he was Prime Minister, people who actually had to work with him and his parliament on a day to day basis, have never been equalled. They may not have cared greatly for other Prime Ministers from both sides but they actively disliked Rudd. 

Rudd became Prime Minister, lost the position to Julia Gillard, and then won it again. He used tactics that still cause concern in Canberra today. They will likely go on causing concern. When he lost the election, as it should have been lost, he gave a lengthy self-serving speech. It was not the "gracious" gesture many claimed it to be. He knew exactly what he was doing. 

He refused to believe his political career was over. He knew his attempt to become Secretary-General of the United Nations was doomed to failure.  He was trying to pave the way to eventually becoming President of the Labor Party in Downunder.  It would have been a very powerful position in his hands and the current Prime Minister was having none of it. How to get rid of the threat? Offer him an Ambassadorship he could not refuse, the top post in diplomacy.

He had already been highly and very vocally critical of the now President of the country he was being sent to. That alone should have been enough to question his suitability for the position. Apparently it was more important to see him sent abroad than risk his interference here.

The exchange between PresidentTrump, Prime Minister Albanese and now Ambassador Rudd might be amusing to many but it also shows there is a problem.  Our Prime Minister is still supporting his old foe. He does not want him back here causing problems. He is still telling the world that this man is doing a great job.

In reality he is doing a very poor job. He has not been able to make the connections he should be making in Washington. One of his predecessors played golf with the President. It is most unlikely such an invitation will ever be willingly extended to him. That they loathe each other is all too obvious.

He could be removed from the position. It would be a very political move, an acknowledgment he cannot do the job. This is unlikely to happen but it is there as a possibility. He should be aware of that but he would probably laugh it off if someone suggested it to him.

If he had any self-awareness and he really did care for his country though then he would announce his retirement. It is time for him to go and that would solve the problem he presents for the rest of us.   

 

  

Could we have some plain English please?

I have been struggling through a document intended for people with disabilities. It is something I should have been able to read quickly and easily. 

The document relates to the problems at a sheltered employment centre for people who, for the most part, have intellectual disabilities. Some of them will be able to read the words. Others are not able to read at all. It is doubtful any of them will understand what the document means or how it relates to them.

I have more than one university level qualification and I struggled to understand what the document was saying. The person who gave it to me, the mother of a person who works there, does not understand it. Her husband, well used to dealing with bureaucracy in his own work, is also struggling.

I have gone further afield in an effort to find out just what is going on. Nobody seems to know. Those responsible for the document are not answering questions apart from saying, "We have sent the necessary information out."

In the middle of it all there is a statement suggesting the person who has received the document should ask someone else for clarification. I very much doubt they got as far as that. The document runs to three and a half pages of bureaucratic rubbish. They are simply trying to say, "Your employment here is at risk because we owe money. We are doing the best we can to sort it out. We will keep telling you what is happening." 

It is not the only such document I have been reading. The other relates to the AGM for the residents in this group of units. The agenda for this runs to many pages. As I only moved here earlier in the year I am unfamiliar with what might be ongoing issues. Perhaps they will be cleared up at the AGM. I will attend that out of necessity but, as a new resident, I have very little idea. I do not even know the people who have nominated for positions. It is not for want of trying. I have simply not even seen them to introduce myself.  The language the document is written in is not encouraging. There are details lacking but it is still far too long for anyone to take in quickly. 

I suppose I have always tended to write things too concisely. Perhaps it has come about from not having the physical capacity to write rapidly and legibly. I would like to think it has also come about because I want to be understood. Yes, I know I write "run on" sentences and I witter away here but if I need to write something for everyone to understand I can do it concisely and in plain language. 

Is it too hard for the very people who should understand the need for plain English to write it for those with learning difficulties? 

"Exterbadant" is not a word

you will find in a dictionary. Some will argue it is not a word at all.It was a word in our house when I was growing up - and it still surfaces occasionally. 

Where or how it came about I am not sure. It had multiple meanings. If the prospect of something pleased one of us kittens there was likely to be an enthusiastic "exterbadant!"  It was certainly seen as a substitute for words like "far out" and "blast".  We were told that the former was "inappropriate" and the latter was considered to be a swear word by our mother. That the Senior Cat had been known to mutter "blast" on occasion was not mentioned. 

Oddly our mother joined in the use of the word occasionally. It was not often but if she said, "No it is not exterbadant" or "I want it done exterbadantly" then we knew that something was unacceptable or had to be done immediately. I doubt she ever used the word in a positive context. It was almost certainly a source of irritation to her. 

Yes, it was a word with many potential meanings. It depended on context. Perhaps that is why it faded away to no more than the faintest ghost of a use?

As a family we played with words. We still do. Punning is definitely a family thing. There was also "verse and worse" and the discovery of new words. The Senior Cat would sometimes tell us about words he had come across as he finished his third year of English at the university. We thought it was "unreal" that this sort of thing happened in our house.

I find it difficult to keep up with the abbreviations and slang used by teenagers. Some of them take pity on me and explain but most of them indicate that their language is none of my business.  

I wondered about all this again yesterday because I pulled out something I wrote some time ago. On the first page, set in the sixties, I talk about the young hero's mother going "ballistic". It is appropriate to the time but now I wonder what a modern child, who is not a lover of words like the Whirlwind was, will make of it.  Will they "dig it" or just think it is "far out"?

Childhood vaccination rates

are apparently falling. They have been falling since Covid. The level needed to ensure that as many people as possible are safe is apparently around 95%. This apparently ensures that the very small minority of people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are protected by the vaccination of the rest of us.

If my mother had been solely responsible for the vaccination of me and my siblings then we would not have been vaccinated. Our mother's "Christian Science" beliefs did not allow for vaccination. It was the Senior Cat and my godmother, a nurse, who saw to it. I sometimes wonder whether my mother's choice of her very close friend as my godmother was subconsciously influenced by another subconscious desire to ensure the safety of her children.  Whatever it was we got the jabs available at the time. Now we get other jabs when our GP deems them necessary and because we do believe that immunisation is a valuable weapon against some forms of illness.

The article in this morning's paper was therefore something I viewed with curiosity and alarm. There is apparently a growing "anti-vaccination" movement on social media. It is going beyond the disproven and dangerous belief that vaccinations cause autism and brain damage and even SIDS - sudden infant death syndrome. 

There is a "no jab, no play" law in this state. In a nutshell what it says is that a child under six must be vaccinated in order to attend day care, pre-school and so on.  There are now sites on social media advising parents how to provide false medical certificates to suggest their child has been vaccinated. Some parents are agreeing to vaccination schedules they have no intention of carrying out. They are suggesting alternative "natural" cures for potentially fatal diseases like whooping cough.  They are using AI and Chat bots to deliver false information. Ask the "right" questions and you can obtain a "yes" to the idea you can be arrested for feeding your child the ingredients in a vaccine.

My mother had a cousin who was rarely mentioned. I have written about him elsewhere. He was intellectually retarded and lived in an institution for such people. He was financially provided for, indeed we were the beneficiaries of his estate when he died but we were not even aware he was still alive. It is something I still feel angry about because the only thing I remember about him is from my early teens. We went to visit his parents for some reason and he happened to be there. We only glimpsed him briefly as he was sent to his room. Later we were told that he "does not learn very well because he had a high fever as a result of a measles vaccination. It's why I did not want you children vaccinated."  This was actually incorrect. He had not been vaccinated at all.

There will always be people who will put their children at risk. When they start to spread misinformation and put others at risk then we have an even bigger problem. I hope we can get back to that 95% which will protect the most vulnerable, those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. 

    

The "social media ban"

about to come into existence for those under sixteen is now becoming more widely discussed.

I suspect many people believed it would not happen. They did not believe the government would be so foolish as to try and implement such a ban.

Whether it is foolish or not is yet to be seen. The idea that, on a certain date in December, you can simply stop young people from accessing any form of social media is yet to be tested. To hold the "big tech" companies responsible for implementing the ban is also something which has yet to be tested.

I use social media of course. This blog is part of social media. I have a "Twitter" account - used largely for keeping up with world news as it is given to most people. (I have other sources as well but it is useful to know what the general public has access to and how it is being said.) I have a Facebook account which I use mostly to keep up with friends overseas. I don't look at it all day or even everyday. The same is true of things like "Linked In" - which is something I mostly forget to look at. 

Now I am wondering how the government plans to ensure that, as a user of all these things, I am not under that delicate age of sixteen. How will they know that, at sixteen, I am somehow suddenly sophisticated and mature enough to use social media wisely? How will they know that I will not suddenly spend excessive hours on the now new and addictive platforms that make up social media?

At sixteen I should be preparing for my last years at school. I should be doing extra work to pass the examinations needed for my future. I should not be distracted by something new...or should I? 

Too much already happens at sixteen, not least the ability to get a licence to learn to drive. That is a huge distraction. There is also the business of increasing sexual awareness and relationships. Sixteen year old students want increasing freedom from parental controls and much more. 

There is also a demand in some quarters to give sixteen year olds the right to vote. Just imagine the knowledge of a sixteen year old who has to rely on what their parents and teachers tell them about politics and the world. They will be so well informed - not. I don't know of one teenager who regular reads our state or national newspaper - unless it is the sports section at the rear of the state paper. They rely on the "news" from radio or commercial television but like to believe they are well informed. At least access to social media has provided a bit more (mis)information. 

Perhaps the ban will work in the way it is intended. Some will find their way around it. There is always the possibility that some will find other sound sources of information too.

The ban is an attempt at social engineering on a large scale. I have no idea if it will work or not. The idea that it will halt teenage suicide and cause teenagers to become more socially aware is something I am prepared to hope for but I will wait and see what happens before I pass judgment. 

  

Roadworks along a shopping strip

are always going to be disruptive. Add in other issues and those owning businesses along it are going to suffer even more financially than they otherwise would.

There is a once popular shopping strip in a beachside suburb which is dying because of a lack of planning and a lot of arrogance. The local council decided that the area needed to be rejuvenated and uplifted. The state government decided to halt the trams which run through it to the beach. Nobody can get in and out easily because of the roadworks.

It has brought many local businesses to their knees. Now too many of them are not surviving. 

The area is a curious one. It has the air of an English seaside town in some ways. In others it is very definitely the sun and surfing and sailing of Downunder communities. There are everyday shops such as a greengrocer, a chemist, the bank, the supermarket set back from the street, a shoe shop and so on. There are shops which sell clothing and footwear, a cinema, places to eat and more to buy food you can take down to the beach. There was even a bookshop and, around the corner, one of the few places where knitting wool can be bought. The beach end has an entertainment area with one of those fountains which spring up as you walk past. There is a playground for the children and the library off to one side. Just a little further on there is the jetty and a sandy beach.  

It should be a good area in which to run a small business in summer. Yes, there are some problems with alcohol and drugs but the local community has endeavoured to keep those at a minimum. 

Right now it is apparently almost a ghost town. I have not been there since Brother Cat last brought his family over and we went to watch a Christmas parade several years ago. I hear things about it occasionally from friends who like to swim there. 

No, that should be "liked" not "like" because there is another problem. There is the algal bloom affecting the coastline which makes safe swimming impossible.

All these things mean the area is dying, as it is dying in popular areas to the north and south of it but not at the same rate. The road works, the new paving and the supposedly smart new entrance to it all which is still being built have had a disastrous effect on it all.

This has been going on for months and will likely go on for months more. Nobody working on these projects seems to be in any hurry to finish them. The landlords are still demanding rent. The council is still demanding rates. The shopkeepers still have all the other bills to pay...and the number of customers has decreased and decreased and then decreased again. 

I wonder at the time all this is taking. I suspect I could go down there each day and find road workers standing around. They are in no hurry. They will still get paid. 

When it is all over no doubt the Mayor and the Premier will congratulate each other and there will be a party to reopen the strip. I will then wonder what has happened to those who are not invited to the party, who have had to go and who are wondering how to pay their debts.  

Unpacking is much more difficult

than packing...or so it would seem. 

Is it the jet lag or is it something else? 

The little case I took away with me is sitting there only half empty. The washing remains undone. I keep telling myself I must do that today. There is not a lot but I am not a cat with a lot of clothes.

So, what went into the case? Well, yes there were clothes. There were the essential clothes so that I could go out and about without being arrested for indecency...and that was it. I packed presents for friends. Those t-shirts with Mr Percival on the front were vital for young friends. I packed calendars for other friends. Calendars last twelve months and, given early enough, people are unlikely to buy their own. I packed a ball of wool and the needles for the mittens to knit in the evenings...and they are done and given to the intended recipient. There were more Downunder books for Upover friends.

You think I am going home with less? No, of course not. On the last morning but one I bought socks for myself and Middle Cat.  I bought books I cannot get here. (No, they are not banned books! They are craft books that will not be published here and may never see a library either.) 

I found two yarn shops and failed to visit a third. The third is supposed to be well known. When we found it the place was closed and quite possibly inaccessible even when open. I went to the alternatives by accident. One was in London and I plan to let them have a pattern when I have rewritten it. The two workers in there were very lovely people indeed. The other was in Cambridge and next door to the cafe where I met my friend A.... It was sheer chance, serendipity chance, we happened to see it...actually Middle Cat saw it first. We had to go in of course. I came out with yarn for my friends S... and I... and another skein for me. No, I did not need it but it was a souvenir of my time in Cambridge...along with a set of post cards which were far superior to the usual scenes. 

I don't know what has taken up so much space though or why I have failed to unpack after four days...perhaps memories take up space and I do not want to lose them? Today I must unpack and put those in a safe but visible place.  

Searching for missing children

must be one of the most difficult and, all too often, heartbreaking things the members of the emergency services need to do.

While we were away a small boy disappeared from outside his grandparent's home in the north of the state. He was four. They searched for some days, called off the search and have now resumed it. They will be looking for a body now.

There are some strange things about this particular case. There is no suggestion of any sort of foul play. He is simply missing. According to the reports in the media his grandmother saw him playing in the dirt around five o'clock. When she went to call him in for his evening meal at five-thirty he was no longer there.  A tracker found one shoe print, just one, but there has been no other sign to suggest where he might have gone.

Why would a small boy wander off when he had been happily playing in the dirt? Why would he wander off at a time when he was likely beginning to feel hungry? Why was only shoe print found and not a print for the other foot? What happened to the other prints he must have made?

Hours and hours and many dollars have gone in to the search for him but nothing has come of it. Police say his family is cooperating fully and they have no reason to believe there has been any sort of interference. I cannot even begin to comprehend what they must be thinking and feeling.

The place where this little boy went missing is remote. It is harsh, hard country. It gets very hot in summer and even on days in autumn and spring. It gets very cold at night. The people who live out there are normally resilient, independent and often able to turn their hands to anything. Children are normally safe playing alone outside. Despite all the tales of snakes and spiders and other dangers most children, even those of four years of age, know something about all this and often know how to avoid harm. There is no evidence of dingoes being around and no cries were heard from the child. He has simply disappeared. 

Years ago there was a story in the paper about the brother of a former premier of this state. He had gone missing in a notorious location in the north. They had searched for him at the time, searched within a fairly confined area because he could not have gone far. They had never found him. All the years later they found his skeleton in a tree. There was evidence to suggest he had broken his leg but somehow managed to climb the tree. For some reason the trackers and the tracker dogs had not located him. It would have been an appalling ending to his life but the family at last knew and could lay his remains to rest. 

With the little boy they cannot yet do that. It is a reminder of how very hard the remote areas of this country can be.   

The return of the hostages is not

the end of the story. It is not a solution. 

I was watching the crowds last night and, for all the excitement, I sensed anxiety as well. 

They are right to be anxious. Israel is releasing prisoners who will be more determined than ever to get their way. Hamas is still armed. Hamas is still in control of the Gaza strip. 

Yesterday Hamas was still killing other Gazans who were not cooperating with them. Hamas was beating young men to death, young men who do not want to fight or be part of the plan to destroy Israel. Hamas has not given up on that - and they won't.  Despite the so-called "recognition" there is no Palestinian state for now. Hamas is not going to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority. To do so would mean giving up power and agreeing to a two state solution. That is never going to happen. 

The Gaza strip has to be rebuilt. Without a proper and stable government it is a situation ripe for yet more corruption. It is likely billions of dollars will be wasted and a few will become very rich while the majority continue to live in poverty. That alone is a situation which will allow Hamas to continue to stir up discontent and hatred towards Israel.

And then there are the hostages. Right now there is euphoria that some of them have survived even while the deaths of others are acknowledged. Many people will see it as "heart-warming" when pictures of the hostages being reunited with their families are shown. It is all too easy to forget that these hostages have survived yes, but they have survived appalling physical and psychological conditions. It is not going to be a simple matter of "they are back with their families and normal life can resume". Life for them will never be normal again. It will not be normal for their families. They may never be able to work or function normally in society.

I am not cheering the release of the hostages. I am grateful some of them have survived but I hope it will not be impossible for them to live again. I am worried by what Hamas will now attempt to do. It may not come immediately but I do not believe they are really ready to negotiate a lasting peace.  I would very much like to be proven wrong though.  

I am already missing

the quiet of London traffic. This may sound strange to Upoverites but the number of electric vehicles in London does make the traffic much quieter. There are very few motorbikes there too. That also makes a difference.

I know I will go on missing the way the traffic gives way to pedestrians. For a slow cat like me this is much appreciated. I am happy, or as happy as I will ever be, to cross roads there. The pedestrian signals last longer and the roads are narrower. It all makes for comfortable walking. 

I will miss Kensington Gardens. It was a short prowl from where we were staying and it was a joy to take Middle Cat there. She needs to take move some photographs from her phone to elsewhere because she kept finding new leaves, new colours, another squirrel or two or three. She also photographed the signs about the trees so she can bombard our Premier with "what can and should be done" instead of cutting down trees for a golf course that locals will not even be able to play on. No, don't ask. It upsets both of us too much.

I am also going to miss M&S crispbreads. They are excellent. I will be less inclined to miss their ready meals. They are very good indeed but one between the two of us was enough and they tend to be heavy on the pasta. (This is understandable. I like pasta but in small doses.) 

Then there are the museums and the museums and the museums and the libraries and the libraries and all the history right around you wherever you go. Sometimes you need to look for it but it is there.  I was a little perturbed by how little history Middle Cat knows. Like me she did almost entirely a limited history of this country. I went on to read books and more books. I did a unit of economic history in high school with nothing more than the book to guide me but Middle Cat went on to do physics and physiology, chemistry and biology. Our interests are different but she was still fascinated by the cobbled streets in Cambridge and the college greens.  Such things do not exist here. It will take another six hundred years at least!

Today I must unpack properly...but it is tempting to repack the case and depart.   

Jet lag is

no joy. The return journey to Downunder was also to be endured rather than enjoyed. 

This was especially so because there were two very loud and very talkative young males behind me. They kept demanding alcohol and were eventually denied any more. This did not please them but, fortunately for the rest of us, they did not become aggressive. I imagine they are nursing fine hangovers today.

My BIL, bless him, had turned the hot water back on. A hot shower made me feel strong enough to heat some soup and unpack some of the luggage before I crawled onto my sleeping mat at just after 8pm. Although feeling very tired I only slept on and off. This morning the bread I had left in the freezer proved to be inedible and there is no cereal left. I had also left a small carton of milk in the freezer. It proved drinkable but I need to do some shopping.

 

Ah.... I managed to go shopping for at least some more milk, some orange juice and some actual food. I will need to do more tomorrow but it will do for now. 

The really important thing is to put the local SIM card back in the phone. I need to pedal around and get my BIL to do that for me as it is much too fiddly a job for my paws. The rest of the day will involve some unpacking and tidying up - if I can stay awake!

 

 

 

  

We spent the last day in London

 At the British Museum again. It was not planned but Cousin T…had called us and suggested we might like to meet for a very fancy afternoon tea at a nearby restaurant. 

Middle Cat and I decided the museum was the best option for prior entertainment and spent a long time looking at things Egyptian and avoiding the bookshop. This was essential as there is no time for a visit to the post office in the morning.

It was late and Middle Cat was so tired we caught an Uber back. 

I think we are pretty much packed. I will schedule this for the morning 

This is our last day in London and

 And this means packing and making sure we don’t leave anything behind and double checking everything is ready. 

Middle Cat has ordered transport to the airport because she won’t cope with the train and the fact she has bought a set of pan pipes to add to the tshirts and hoodies she has bought for the men in her family. Yes we are going back with more than we came with. I just hope the books don’t weigh too much. 

When she is sorted out we might take a trip out!

I caught up with an old friend

 Today. I have not seen her for many years and she had never met Middle Cat but they were talking like old friends in no time at all. I almost felt out of place as they teased one another. The meeting had serious moments as well because I needed to catch up with news of other friends and, all too often, they are no longer with us.

I then went to a meeting with one of my colleagues while Middle Cat went for a snooze 

It was a curious train journey back to London

 Yesterday because we caught an earlier one than we planned and could have travelled for nothing. Our tickets were never checked at all. Perhaps it was because we were the last passengers to leave the train and it was a long way up the platform.

A

The reason for travelling earlier was so that Middle Cat could get the journey over in the morning and sleep for part of the afternoon. We were returning to the same place as before and they were very good about allowing her to go to bed almost immediately. She slept for a while and I went off to get a suitcase. Yes, we need another one. The small backpack i brought with me objected to the idea of carrying books.

Middle Cat surfaced a bit later and managed a short prowl in the sun while we picked up some milk and orange juice to add to the water supply.

Internet has been down but here you are now 

We go back to London

 Today but I would happily stay here in Cambridge if I could. Middle cat has not been well enough to do what we planned and she is feeling very anxious about the trip back. I am feeling equally anxious about her being able to manage it. Hopefully Singapore airlines will be as good getting back home as they were getting here.  

I feel at home in Cambridge though and even managed to give directions to two tourists yesterday. I think they thought I was a local.!

I am going to miss not seeing my friend A… She is so easy to talk to and it is so good to be able to talk about things that matter to both of us.

Thank goodness for email!

It was wonderful to meet

 A young person in real life after hearing about her for almost twelve years. She was just as I had imagined her and as excited to meet her me as I was to meet her. I suppose I knew we would both have no problems connecting as she is one of those people who loves to read 

.

It was very difficult to make sure I did not take up too much of her day. I would have been very happy to spend a lot more time with her.

Other than that it was a very cool and windy day. I met Middle Cat again at the market where she was looking for more fruit. Plans to go to the museum again did not come to anything because she was not feeling like prowling the distance. We might get there today if she feels more comfortable.

Cambridge is a very good place

 In which to find people I know.  Of course this was purely by accident.Middle Cat had yet another trip to emergency but didn’t want me to go with her so I prowled off with plans for some touristy type exploring. It didn’t quite happen because I was passing Trinity when a voice behind me said hello and there was a member of staff from my university days. 

He is retired from teaching of.course but he was in Cambridge to do some research on a topic he was “just interested in “ and had been staying with a friend. He was heading home that afternoon but did I have time for a chat?

I gave up the idea of prowling in the rain and we spent a long time together in a tiny coffee shop instead. I will regret not seeing the library exhibition but it was good to catch up on some news.

Today is reserved for another catch up with A… and her granddaughter 

We strolled down

 To the Cam late yesterday afternoon. I needed to convince Middle Cat people really do punt on it.  She was fascinated by the quite large number of people who were being treated to a rather chilly ride. 

We declined all offers to take us on to the water at any price. It was more fun to watch the tourists. Of course we are also tourists but not in quite the same way. We at least speak English of a variety the locals understand and, despite being lost yesterday, I managed to give directions today.

I spent some hours with my dear friend A… and her family as well. It was such a privilege and I had to be careful to remember they were not on holiday.

It was wonderful to meet

A… today.  I was well aware that people you meet “online” can be very different in “real Life” but A… proved to be as warm and friendly as I hoped when we finally met. It was an added bonus for Middle Cat as well as she was finally able to meet her. Three hours of conversation was much too short.

After A… had left Middle  Cat and I prowled slowly around a small corner of Cambridge. We did not get far because she kept finding more things to photograph. I really needed a tour guide for her!

We padded back to the rather swish place we are staying in for a short break before heading out to find the inevitable M&S and food for the rest of our stay. That was more of an adventure than we planned as Middle Cat insisted we turn the wrong way to get back and we ended up at what felt like the opposite end of the central area.

We eventually made it back with good directions from a bus driver who had just finished his shift.

And yes I did go in to the wool shop next to the cafe where we met A… and I bought a small souvenir skein of wool. 

We made it to Cambridge

 And hope to catch up with my friend A… today. The place we are staying in is in the centre of the city and we both enjoyed a good hot shower this morning. 

Now we need to get a map and go for a proper prowl of the immediate vicinity. Middle Cat knows nothing about any of this so I will have to do some explaining.