One week to go

 

Image : Dg Studio /Dreamstime 
How did that happen? The longest campaign in history is nearly finished. Some have been battling covid or I can't believe it's not covid. Some have had other family issues to deal with. There is plenty of sickness around and it is unpleasant. We have had various sorts of debates which have created interest. We have the cheerful turquoise colours of the independents to brighten the dull days. We have valued Simon Holmes à Court's support of climate action via political platforms and candidates because how on earth are we going to otherwise get it on the agenda? His plan for creating change has been a good one. We have valued the contributions of energetic , intelligent candidates who may or may not have been confused with other candidates. We have enjoyed watching journalists learn that the campaign is not about them . It is about us and our country. So many candidates have been busy, positive and hard working. They have been visible in their electorates. So many candidates have gone unseen and unpresent. Postal votes and early polling have been bubbling along. The change will come. We know last time everyone and everything we trusted pointed to a Shorten government. We have not forgotten the pain of how that felt that this was not the case. That still has not been properly explained. Oh yes, there are the Palmer millions, the gullible franking credits public and a few other things . Mr . Morrison won by one seat. One seat. We are wary but in a week, our life will be different because we have found our voice, our intellect and our humour. This time next week we shall be winding up for election evening and it will be great. 

Where to start?

 

Where do I start? Consider this as tipping my head out because it is one way to cope with increasing Covid infections and electioneering.

Two weeks of this election campaign to go and shall we survive? Yes, yes we shall. If you go to the source,  you generally get good information which is helpful and enlightening. If you  only pay attention to the campaign, then there is a lot to be concerned about. Smiling family photos somehow equal good government. Really? Have you looked at the facts and what has or has not been achieved? Too many  media people  are playing daft games and thinking they are stealing the limelight and the campaign narrative. The lack of thought and literacy in some of them is embarrassing and not worthy of us. Baffling why any public platform finds it acceptable . Candidate corflutes have been removed, damaged , defaced and remastered to the extend some independents have been recreated as Greens candidates. Is that because the people doing it think Greens are a liability.? I do wonder what goes on in some people's heads when they get up in the morning. And why would they actually print and distribute false signs? So much wrong with these false campaign corflutes and the vandalism. AEC is investigating it. Pity they have had to put up with some people thinking they are not. Whoever is behind this misrepresentation of candidates needs to be established and dealt with. It is awful. 

Our coronavirus infections are escalating and the deaths as well. We are not getting enough people vaccinated and boosted. We are not getting enough people tested. If you are sick with covid and vomiting or have an upset stomach, testing would be hard. Some are thinking , why bother and just carrying on. Masks are being abandoned and that is irrational because they stop the spread! Sanitising stops the spread. Social distancing stops the spread. It simply is not logical to think this is not a problem when our numbers are going up and up. We have no leadership in this matter other than some medical people who keep trying to put sensible messages out on social media.

Then we have our medical system. It is hard to get a doctor's appointment if you have suspected covid. Some doctors don't seem to want to know you or your child. So you ring the covid helpline and get told to go to emergency and emergency isn't the place. You need a proper consultation if you have a child with a fever, vomiting and not eating and drinking for more than a day. There are adults who can't get proper consultations. I accept clinics want to keep themselves safe. RATs can come up negative even though you have symptoms on the Covid  list. We need to know. This is not going away. We keep supplying hosts. Maybe we need a possibly covid clinic  so people with covid symptoms can get timely and effective help. No one wants to go to emergency but how can they get proper medical advice if there is no one to see? It is especially important for older people and young children. 

We have no leadership and we need it. Two more weeks of things being as they feel like being with these negative undercurrents means we shall grow weary. We need direction. 

Election fatigue

 Image: Clipart Library

We are over it. Clichés are the only way to describe how we feel. We have Covid confusion and exasperation fatigue. It is now SARS-2 , apparently. The masks are off and people are just getting sick. Coupled with that , each day we face another lot of election stuff and nonsense, mostly brought to us by crabby media people. Today we returned to gaffe territory. Phone reliant press attendees fire off questions from their trusty phones and woe betide any politician who fails the daily speed and accuracy questions. Shame on any politician who might need to consult with someone who can provide an accurate answer. These media people would only need to stand in the shoes of a politician to know that a barrage of questions when you have been campaigning non stop for weeks, with or without  Covid, is daunting. Some politicians can keep smiling. Other don’t. Some don’t fall for the speed and accuracy , chook shed slapping approach and just continue to provide good information. It is not a competent way to get rounded answers from anyone and considering these people can’t even remember a question and need their phones to prompt them , then it is just very silly and petty. Media people are going to have to dig deeper, remind themselves of their real skills and forget this quick and dirty approach to interviews and questioning. Some journalists are doing a great job. They are relaxed. They showcase their skills and they give the person being interviewed an opportunity to delve into their knowledge and policies. Those journalists are allowing us to know candidates and parties. They even allow for some genuine humour and lighter moments. Questioning on fast forward is pointless. It just creates frustration for viewers/listeners and participants. 

Then there are the teal candidates. The colour of their brochures isn’t teal. It is turquoise and I am sure a Pantone colour chart would identify the colour accurately. The teal candidates are independents but some Liberals have also adopted this colour. It is a good colour but for a Liberal candidate, it is not their colour. Candidates are their character and history. Independents are independent and we have a strong field of them this election. Many of them are well credentialled, articulate, thoughtful people. The Liberals not flying under their blue colour means what? They don’t identify with their party? They love teal which actually not teal? They want to be thought of as independent? They haven’t explained it so we don’t know. 

Our early voting polling booths  will be open on Monday next week. Many can’t wait to vote because most people just want the election done and dusted. They know how they are going to vote. Since 1901 Australia federal elections have been by secret ballot. Always bothers me there are phone and online  polls and social media people who want to know how you vote. We should respect our silent vote. Meanwhile, it is back to the election trail and may the last couple of weeks be worthy of us. 

Build communities

Image: webstockreview
 Bell Cares community based home care service is the brain child of Lesley Bryce. It is worth reading the linked  article to understand just how good this idea is and how we need to lend support to thinking it through so that community based homecare becomes a solid part of the Australian way of life. It has been established in the town of Bell in Queensland. The article mentions it is going to be trialled in other Queensland council areas and also in South Australia and Western Australia. This idea centres on establishing this programme in towns which are quite a distance from city areas and hence facilities. It is about using local community members to help each other. At the moment it is privately funded. There needs to be a business model where it is properly funded as a concept so that wages are guaranteed and there is an avenue of employment for those who wish to help others. 

For many , it would be attractive to have local work. We all go through different stages of life and need flexible working arrangements at times. It is a way of skills sharing and skills upgrading. The helpers can learn from those who need help. It ought not only apply to those who are older or older and infirm. It ought to apply to anyome who needs help. Not everyone has the physical strength to complete some tasks like shifting furniture. Not everyone can get their bins and rubbish out the front of their place. Not everyone can sew buttons on or repair curtains. Everyday there would be people who have things they want to do but cannot do them themselves. We can go online to find and hire helpers but if we centered it on our communities and local areas it would draw people together. There would be other benefits. It would be a different way of getting small job tradie help , medical help, housework help . I got someone to repair my fridge. He was someone who liked to work but could no longer do anywhere close to a full time job. He lived in the local area. He was easy to deal with and it was better than what often becomes tradie hoo ha. If he doesn't want to do the job he says. He was happy just doing bits and pieces. I got my fridge repaired. He got to use skills he loved using. 

One of the market gaps is people who own homes but don't have the income or energy to run them properly any more. Some of that is the process of ageing. Some of it is illness. We haven't even seen the impact of long covid yet , so I am thinking creating community based help and making that normal is a good way to help people keep thriving. 

Covid has not gone away

 

Image: Tip chiplanay

Covid has not gone away. In January it was the second leading cause of death in Australia and by now it might be top because our death rate has increased. But, it is okay , isn't it, it is only old people . The very people who built the strength, safety and security of Australia. The ones who spent their lives making this a prosperous, positive nation. It is okay if they die as long as we can have coffee, go on trips and be normal. The death rate for older people is not acceptable at all. While they are dying, younger people are dying too but no one seems to care. It is only a cold. Just mild really.  There was an article which tried to address this lack of care we had. In the end it assumed it wasn't our fault really. All very understandable. Killing old people is pretty normal and if we had the death rate we have been having this year for anything else, we would be acting on it. We have more than doubled our deaths this year form the previous two years. South Australia has just lost it. Until November 23rd 2021 we had four deaths from the pandemic. It has stayed that way from the beginning. Today we have 351. What is wrong with people?

Reinfection is undesirable, killing people is not nice, putting under 5s at risk is horrible. Forgetting we are coming into flu season and there are other Covid variants is high risk behaviour. So why do we not care? What is the matter with us? Doing what works is not hard and being a rebel without a clue is silly. We are not rebelling, though. We just aren't doing what works. We are not using preventative measures which make a difference. That is not rational. The statistics to do with Covid are starting to amass and picture is not pretty. Living in a disadvantaged area increases your chances of not surviving. 

While we are spouting election tripe we should focus more on our own health and welfare. The election campaign should not exclusively fill the airwaves when we need to stop putting ourselves at risk from a vile disease. Not wanting it is not sufficient reason to ignore it because we have to collaborate to get rid of it. 

For a start , it needs to be broadcast about the distance between primary vaccinations which ATAGI has just notified. They have changed this based on all the data they are collecting. We do have people who are spending all their time trying to help us get through this pandemic. We need to practice the art of noticing and, at the very least, put on a mask. 

Half way through Election 2022

 

Image: Clipart Panda
Are we there yet? No. It is going on and on with very little of great consequence and a lot of people loving the sound of their own voice and image, though perhaps that isn't very fair to those who are doing a sterling job. Much of it is drowned out by mass media white noise. Classic was electorates holding meet the candidates evenings. LNP candidates in key seats were often missing. Mr. Frydenberg held his meeting in Kooyong at the pub while the other candidates were gathered elsewhere. Today he had big coverage in newspapers because his seat is  hotly contested by an independent, Dr. Monique Ryan.  We have had some film noir photos of Anthony Albanese, opposition leader , as he spoke with Grace Tame  for In Style magazine. We have great photographers i in Australia. They are being underutilised and unchallenged on our election trail , so the black and white photos of Mr. Albanese were a refreshing break and so good. Art and elections can co exist. WA's Senator Jordan-Steele put up a Tik Tok asking why we couldn't have a person with disabilities become the Minister for Disabilities? He would make a very good person for that position because he articulates his experience and case well. Bill Shorten has also done a stellar job of advocating for NDIS funding and improvements. He has a genuine interest in disability support. 

Mr. Albanese had to isolate for a week because he had contracted Covid. This is happening to various politicians and is part of the potholed campaign trail. Mr. Morrison strangely said he had worked much harder than Mr. Albanese when he was in isolation. Jaws dropped across the nation and the air was filled with speech bubbles with question marks. 

A lot has happened and nothing has happened. We have had cranky press conferences and cranky media people. Grumpy has thrived and lack of social graces from media pack has often been noted. Maybe because someone slapped the shed just before they were sent into the conference and off they have squawked?

We are wondering how we shall survive the next three weeks but we shall. We shall go to the source. We shall ignore favoured special pleading in the press and we shall be patient and tolerant with those who cannot filter their thoughts as most well mannered people can. The gems are there in this campaign. You have to go looking for them. 

Bunnings

 

Image : Daria Nipot

Bunnings is my favourite place to shop next to ebay. Bunnings offers so much in terms of repairs, upgrades, plants, landscaping. Everything to improve your home and hobbies . In a world where we should be sustainable it offers a lot so that you can maintain and repair things. It offers practical help and such a huge range of goods. When trouble shooting a lot of issues at home or for my hobbies, I have always found what I have needed at Bunnings and it has made such a difference. They offer helpful videos online to help solve many house maintenance issues. They have helped me stay creative when it comes to repairing hobby equipment, toys and my home. They welcome children and offer little trolleys but they talk to them too and make them enthusiastic about all these things they can see. Last time I had my three year old grand daughter with me when I was buying paint. She was desperate to see over the counter to see all the things to do with paint an the mixing machine. The man was talking to her and she was asking things. She was given a colouring book and pencils by him. That made her day. She had socialised , learned a lot , been fascinated and then had some colouring to do of her own. 

So it is with a positive attitude to Bunnings that I approach this article about the good people of Brunswick, in Victoria,  fighting having a Bunnings in their area. It is a massive building which commands the landscape. In my area it is a good  landmark   to help orientate others in the area. They cannot miss Bunnings and so if they are looking for the beach or the train station you can direct them easily. I understand some areas need to keep the integrity of their landscape and lifestyle and not have massive eyesore buildings destroying land, habitat and horizons. 

I feel this is a missed opportunity, though. Most people benefit from Bunnings , judging how any Bunnings here is always so busy. It supplies a lot and encourages people to get active and make good changes. The Brunswick people have every right to block a building which would disrupt the look and feel of their area. Bunnings has tried to negotiate and has tried to adapt to the surroundings. This is a great chance for an area to really negotiate with a big, successful company and find a way, both architectually and functionally, of adapting a building to its new surroundings. Is it possible? Do we have architects and planners who can think outside the big box in a very real sense? 

Wiggles for the win!

 

Where would parents and grandparents be without The Wiggles? In Australia they are part of life for most children growing up. They entertain, educate and make children want to move, laugh , sing and know. Children find them fascinating and they concentrate on The Wiggles like nothing else. Why? Wiggles magic. They have this winning way of connecting with little ones and making them happy. We all know The Wiggles songs. Thank heavens for technology, connectivity and Wiggles magic, though. Today we had a story of a little girl, Nayvah, getting her foot stuck in an outside drain in a house. These drains hold a fascination for toddlers. They are like sinks and so toddlers are drawn to them . Usually they have a loose grate over the top of the pipe opening but that can go missing. Today's story was a reminder to protect toddlers from those drains. The mother had a phone and the firemen knew the Wiggles songs so the little girl was kept safe and happy as they removed pavers and broke the earthenware  drain pipe as it was the only way to release the little girl's foot. Nayvah was distracted by the Wiggles music and so managed the whole event comfortably. It probably soothed the adults too to be singing the songs because that was all a big worry. I am wondering now whether the pipe was easily fixed and the paver's replaced and if that was all within the financial means of the house owner. The rest of the story, that we don't know,  is the fall out from a toddler being a toddler and adults problem solving that. The property damage is significant and would be costly to repair. Hoping the house owners are able to have that all dealt with in a good way. 

The other amazing story about the Wiggles is how they helped a Down's Syndrome woman who was in ICU because she was fearful of wearing an oxygen mask and was seriously ill with Covid. The Wiggles made her a video to watch because she loved them so much. They showed her how to wear the mask and with their Wiggles magic made it all okay. The woman responded to her beloved Wiggles, wore the mask and could start recovering from Covid. 

Childhood media friends and personalities are invaluable in life and can contribute to  critical problem solving in a way nothing else can, especially when we have technology.

Step Up. Stay Safe.

 

SA Health has created an informative little video which you can find on the SA Health site under the Stop the Spread in SA link. It is 30 seconds long and so a good video for short attention spans. People are busy and preoccupied at the moment and concentration levels seem to be less than optimum. People are confused about what is going on. Some are in denial but everyone knows we keep losing people to Covid. Ten in the last two days. We have such a high infection rate for a small state. People worry about the spread, some could not care less and it sets up a lack of ease and tension. Even if you are pretending, getting Covid is no fun. Giving it to someone is disturbing and seeing people you care about die, because this disease can kill , is making people worry considerably. Even if they are putting on a “normal” front, the truth is still there and cannot be avoided. Too many people are getting it and hating it. Some can shrug it off. Others are feeling really depleted  and depressed by it. Like the rest of the country our hospital numbers and infections are up. The death rate this year from Covid is horrible. I feel for those who are losing parents,  grandparents and family members. It is tragic, the moreso because we are faking coping.

This little video is unassuming but makes the points clearly. There is something you can do. You can get tested and you can wear a mask. You can stay home if unwell. Our case numbers are up today because people have had the sense to get back out there and get tested. Hope they put their masks back on too. Double masks in public are so much more effective than if one person hasn’t worn one. It is easy. Testing takes far more effort , but thank goodness people have got back to that good practice! We will get there if we follow good practice and help each other. 

Limited news

Image: all-free-download
 Every day we get up and every day the news package with bait arrives. Unpleasantly predictable. Media have become routine news dumpers and very little is discussed in an impartial fashion. Once in a while we are pleasantly surprised. It is a shame. Limiting news approaches is limiting ideas and involvement in any genuine sense. The repetition is wearing. The facile thinking is unnecessary. The sameness is mind numbing. We need to look at ideas and explore them properly. We would all be a lot happier. Today was no different. I use Edge as a browser normally but have come back to Chrome just to get some open links to something which ought to be important news in South Australia but is being drowned out by political clap trap and Elon Musk buying Twitter. Truth is, he could use all that money to do what Peter Malinauskas is doing, and make a difference for the the homeless. His money , though, so he can do as he pleases with it and he wants to buy Twitter. Our media is being aggregated into fewer sites owned by particular types of people and so we are now limited in what we are served . 

I found it hard to get links to articles about what Premier Malinauskas is doing. On Edge the links were behind paywalls. On Chrome there wasn't much choice. So I offer the only two links I could find. We need to ensure our local news is broadcast across a number of media outlets so people can read it and know about it. I think working towards solving our homelessness problem needs us behind it and to do that we need to know what Mr. Malinauskas is doing. He is having a good look at social housing and working out how we can have more homes available through he Housing Trust. Affordable housing is critical to a safe and happy life. Be it everso humble and all of that. He is also putting significant funding into centres and organisations which have already been working hard to help homeless people. He seriously wants to end homelessness for us and that is a worthy aim for us all to achieve together under his leadership. May there be access to decent information so we can get this idea off the ground as a state. 

Lest we do it again

 

Image: WallpaperAccess

My Dad is fourth from the left, back row,  in the above photo. He joined the 3rd tank battalion of the Scots Guards just before the outbreak of World War 2. It became part of the 6th Guards Armoured  Brigade . He was on the right flank as a radio operator of a Churchill tank for David Scott-Barrett, his commanding officer. 

My mother was in the ATS. Her family home , in London, was bombed and my grandfather moved the family to Gloucester. She was bombed at work in the ATS barracks at Shoebury and suffered back problems for the rest of her life as a result. Two of her nieces were evacuated to Wales for the duration of the war and they had two mothers they loved for the rest of their lives. 

My family had done their bit , as was expected, and then had to get on with life, no matter whom they had lost and what damage it had done to them personally. Neither spoke much about the war but occasionally there were stories. My Dad was clear. The people he was fighting were like him. They were fighting for leaders who had created a war. They were protecting their own as he was protecting his own. My Mum was clear about the awful damage , loss , personal grief and pain. Her mother's husband was missing presumed dead from the first world war. Mum was a child of the second marriage. My grandfather had lost his wife in the first world war. Dad said he had fought in the war so we would not have to. He had considered it to be a terrible waste of his young life, but like millions of others like him ,he had shown courage , strength and a capacity to endure. 

None of us will ever be able to say enough about people who have been involved in wars and suffered so much harm. Ukraine plays out before our eyes. Anzac Day reminds us not to forget. We don't forget those we lost on Anzac Day and this year, we are not forgetting those in our families who fought for us. We are not forgetting Ukraine which stands boldly and in so much pain against yet another aggressive onslaught. 

It is a waste of young life. We should not be doing this to ourselves. No amount of flowers will make it better. There is a shift in thinking this year. We really do want war to stop. We really don't want unwarranted aggression against others. We want the violence to stop. Maybe this year will be the year where we can work out our differences, as trite as that sounds. Maybe we shall just not do this ever again. 

Coping with Covid

 

I am starting to get it, or, at least, I can see what they are trying to do. We are being taken out of a state of emergency and panic with coronavirus onto a terrain where we can manage it in a way which is a bit less invasive and more in keeping with other serious diseases like whooping cough, pneumonia, AIDS. We are being asked to take on the responsibility of following good health advice and managing Covid in a way we manage other serious medical illnesses. It is causing a significant number of deaths. It does spread ridiculously easily. It can cause real health problems in those who catch it. None of this can be ignored but we can manage it better if we follow salient health advice and ask for what we need. 

Professor Michael Kidd is well credentialled and , just as importantly, he has a well modulated voice and a good manner for delivering helpful and useful health information so we can do better at managing this vile virus. Every week he puts up a video on his YouTube channel which is featured on our Australian government health site to answer the top 3 questions  we have with regard to dealing sensibly  with this virus . This week it was about masks use, symptoms and when to act to get medical intervention. He explains it clearly, calmly and well. it is clear from the video we have ways of helping those who are vulnerable and that they can have access to anti viral medication via their GP if they need it. It explains clearly how to go about isolation and gives reference to another site where you can get better help for dealing with Covid at home. 

In South Australia you can get free Rapid Antigen Tests if you are a close contact from RAT collection points and you can find those on the link on the SA Health site. 

People need to know that consulting medical people is the way to go about dealing with Covid and that it is important to be following good health advice. By consulting the federal government and state government health sites you are off to a good start because they are now mustering resources for public awareness raising and education. It is not about what you want. We are dealing with a harmful virus which spreads easily. We need to tackle it in a methodical, adult fashion. 

New Dymocks book store

 

Well, it is not actually new, but Dymocks  in the city mall has a new , swish venue. It was heartwarming to hear that people in Adelaide had got there really early in the morning to visit the new premises . It was wonderful to hear the queue had been very long and Adelaide people were still so much in love with books. It was reassuring to know that Dymocks has just endured and grown stronger in the Mall , no matter what. We had a Borders store in the Mall  close by to Dymocks which opened with much fanfare, enticed and entranced everyone and then it closed down. I loved Borders. It was a whole new book experience but always ended up at Dymocks afterwards on the same day to get the other sorts of books I wanted. Both stores had a wide range of books and were well stocked. Dymocks endured because it is solid. It has a loyal community. It is a great shop to buy calendars for the new year. It has book type gifts which make great presents. It offers a sound selection of foreign language books. It really does bargains when it is has a markdown table and I have found some fabulous books on those tables. I have also found great cookery books and then good books for children and for my own reading. Dymocks offers what readers want and if you are a lover of sitting with a real book and just enjoying it, then Dymocks does not let you down. It is the range and then the efficient, professional service. I am looking forward to seeing Dymocks in its new home. 

It is sad the Regent Theatre is no longer open but I feel Dymocks is a worthy successor to the venue. The Regent will hold memories for many people in Adelaide but sadly cinemas seem to be losing their place in the lifestyle we live now and coronavirus has damaged things which were important to us.  This particular changeover is a good one. We could not stop the Regent from losing trade, but we can bring people back to the venue so they can enjoy the beauty of it and celebrate our love of books. So many Adelaide people are big readers. The pandemic has disrupted some readers, I know. They just can't sit and read a book anymore. My way is to sit and read a chapter, maybe two , a night. It is how I have held on to my reading. A book brings you a perspective nothing else can. I did not want to lose my connection to reading. Hopefully this new Dymocks will rekindle that love of reading we have always valued. My approach means I read at least a dozen books a year. I am happy with that. 

There is a lovely review of the new store on Play&Go.

You can find the Adelaide store on Facebook and read how heartwarmed they were they got so much support when they reopened. 

Mask up!

 

No matter how you think or feel, the pandemic is not over. Coronavirus has not gone away. We have to fight and manage the spread as adults, not fanciful toddlers with the I want ,I want , I want. I don't want covid. I don't want others to get covid. It is horrible . According to our national statistics, 20s and 30s are getting the disease in huge numbers, but older people are dying from it. As politicians forgo mandates and restrictions they must have a knowledge that what they are doing with that is killing old people in significant numbers and subjecting younger people to repeated reinfections and the possibility of long covid. Avoiding hard and difficult conversations about the reality of this disease matters not one bit to the virus. It will infect any host it finds. 

Stephen Colbert addresses the situation in America where they changed mask mandates for flying and some people were caught up in that as they flew. The change was immediately effective. No consideration at all for the health and welfare of others. Flying in a closed box means you can quite easily catch what others have. Been there, done that  as many would have even before the pandemic. The bonus with this clip is you get a bit about the presidentials in France. Colbert is very good. 

Image : Integris
Politicians may be saying one thing but we have to continue to follow good health advice to put barriers between us and the transmission of this virus. More sick people will not make it possible to run businesses and organisations. You need happy, well people to do that. We need to look at how to manage the virus and keep people healthy. Uninfected. Masks help. They really help. Social disancing helps. We have to do the things which keep us effectively in control. Ramping up case numbers and deaths is not a good ploy . How is that helping? Why are we also risking illness to under 5s? Taking control does not equate to locking people up and down when we can achieve vaccination numbers, good air quality and we have RATs available so people can test themselves. For those who think RATs are unreliable , maybe we need to have a good look at that to see if they are or not and how to make them , and people using them, more effective. Dealing with the issues and roadblocks is better than open slather which will create more cases. That is what happens. 

We have increased our flu cases in South Australia. Nobody needs flu either. The advice is to wear masks and social distance and , at least, there is vaccine for under 5s. 

Wearing a mask is the least possible thing you can do besides nothing. Masks work!

David Speirs

 

Image : David Speirs 
Today we discovered David Speirs is the new Liberal Party leader. He was their environment minister. I knew nothing about him. This is why we need local and broader news coverage. We hear about the same select few politicians and we hear the same messages about them. We need to know all our politicians and who they are. One family member did know him from when he was an MP for Bright. She lived in his electorate at the time. She said she heard nothing from the Labor MP at the time but knew a lot about David Speirs because he kept his electorate informed and was across his social media skills. He was excellent for a year for all the  things they needed doing in the area and then , she said, he became a pea brain and she had no idea what brought about the change. He has since become the MP for Black which basically covers coastal areas and has worked hard on the environment there which is something the people in that area would value. He won his seat back with a 6.5% swing against him to Labor. Whether this was part of the state swing to Labor in our recent election or a swing against David Speirs is yet to be discovered. The Labor candidate for Black , Alex Dighton, is strong and competent. 

David Speirs was elected as party leader with a significant number of votes so he does have the support of his party. Like Premier Malinauskas he is fit, enthusiastic and can be a very good listener. If we have two positive people at the head of our state we shall benefit from that and they ought to be able to form a good alliance because they have common ground. Enough of the adversarial politics. Time to work together and collaborate for the benefit of all and then, when the time comes, may the best person win. 

He has a Facebook page  and his website is here. 

Mainstream media miasma

Image : Janeh15

 What a crashingly unspectacular week it has been for our 2022 election campaign. Media have focused on trivia and tripe. Social media have allowed politicians to speak with us directly  , if they wish , and at least you get the information from the horse's mouth. Twitter has largely swirled the morning bait from the msm sources and pictures and thoughts have been repeated incessantly. If you want a break from that you have to go off on a foraging journey to try and find some good information. Many candidates are new. We need to know more about them. One, in particular, has been high profile this week and it has been too much unpleasant  information. The leader of the opposition didn't know a figure, which was then labelled a gaffe on msm , which was cleverly rebuffed by Green's leader : Google it! But it came back again as a gaffe. They are stuck in a groove and capable of redescribing reality, splicing videos to clean them up, insulting the public and , no, I won't go on. It is uninspiringly dull. Swill. Dirty dishwater. We used to have good election coverage and we used to be able to get a good understanding of candidates and issues. By now, we know LNP  government exceedingly well and we know what the issues are but we are not allowed to talk about them. We are not the only country where mainstream media is driving the general populace mad. Some just get information from social media. Some just tune out as I have said before. Meanwhile , our mainstream media is locked into an alternate reality which is doing it harm. Is it a play to get rid of it? Shall we all then be on Tik Tok, Twitter and Facebook and those sorts of sites? In many ways , throw Twitter a problem and by the end of the day there are many views and solutions. It is a good way to problem solve. Mainstream media and our federal government throw out the bait in the morning and it can often backfire spectacularly but sometimes it just depresses people. Not a good use of an aggregate of well informed, motivated people. Media shouldn't dull the senses and thoughts, especially at election time. Mindless repetition can drive people crazy. And the point is? 

Our media is narrowly owned. We have some good independent sources of news but they need more funding. They are worthwhile and keep us on the ball. AIM has published an article which is well researched and well argued so we can understand the benefits of a broad range of media. Right now we have bland and nothing everywhere. Same message and it is stifling the airways. We need to open up and let the fresh air in and the new ideas with it. 

Happy Easter

 

Image: dreamstime.com

Wishing you all a Happy Easter and hope you can enjoy some family time and a break from the demands of this world. We have lovely weather today so it looks like it will be an outdoorsy kind of day in Adelaide. 

Magpies swooping

 

Image: Buzzfeed

I was sitting in a park at McLaren Vale in our famous wine region. It is just a lovely place to visit whether you like wine or not. There was a massive whoosh and something sped within a millimeter of my ear and the noise was huge. It was the only time I have ever been swooped by a magpie. I got up and walked slowly to another part of he park and sat down and , for me, the problem was over. I must have been near a magpie nest. I don't know what they teach in primary schools these days but they used to teach children to wear and ice cream container or a bike helmet with plastic zip tags poked into it if you were walking in areas where magpies swooped. I confess I have never seen children wearing those things ever. 

It happens. We tend to be able to avoid it but it is very disconcerting if you are swooped by magpies . I have not heard of aggressive attacks here , which does not mean they haven't happened. I have heard of aggressive attacks interstate. Could be that here there is more room for bird and human to get away from each other easily. The statistics bear me out. South Australia is not high on magpie attacks compared with other states. 

Generally we live and let live with magpies. They can be huge birds. Some people feed them and they become firm friends. Magpies can imitate lots of sounds and are good socialisers. I have never fed the ones which have always come to my front garden. They love a freshly mown lawn. They are also birds with social responsibility firmly built in, hence the swooping. They protect their own. I watched my two magpies   protect a rosella in the protea bush next door from the neighbour's cat. I was watching because I thought the rosella might need help. I need not have bothered. The two maggies herded the cat away from the rosella and would not let the cat move back to the shrub until the rosella had recovered itself  from the worry of a possible feline attack and had flown happily away. When I saw maggies do that, I had nothing but respect for them. They used their size, strength and strategies to keep the rosella safe but they did not harm the cat. I love hearing them in the morning. It is one of the sounds I wake up to here. 

Midget Farrelly

 

Why would I know about Midget Farrelly? Why have I never forgotten his name? Why should we, as Australians , remember his name from time to time and celebrate his achievements? I am not a surfer. I am not interested in surfing. If you knew me, you would know surfing and I do not go together. I can watch top world surfers, of which he was one, and admire their expertise and their capacity to take on the awesome power of nature. They are fit, skilled and not lacking in courage.

I arrived in Adelaide March 13th 1965. My parents had taken us to dinner in town. Later, my sister, five years older than I am, and I were sitting by the Torrens and thinking Adelaide was a nice place to be. Two young lads came up and started talking to us. It wasn't threatening or unpleasant. Our father would have been quietly keeping an eye on us as he sat with Mum but they were not close by. The boys were happy to know we had made the long trip from England and had come to Adelaide as migrants. We knew all about the English pop scene at the time and they could tell us all about Adelaide. At one point one of the boys was proudly talking about Midget Farrelly and seemed to think we would be impressed. Then he said he was a surfer. We knew about football (soccer) and cricket, hockey, netball, tennis. Surfing we had no idea about. So the boys tried to explain surfing to us and the concept of a beach in Australia. We were used to stones and black mud and lots of big red crabs. "Midget Farrelly is my cousin, " the boy exclaimed in the end. "He is so cool. " We tried to be impressed for him even though we were totally clueless. I have never forgotten that first night in Adelaide. Midget Farrelly's cousin and his friend helped us in the short time with us to know our new country better and had tried to teach us what to value now we lived here.

Midget Farrelly, born in Sydney, achieved a lot for us as a nation by just being himself and doing what he loved. The year before we spoke to his cousin he had won the first official surfing world championship at Sydney's Manly Beach The year before he had won a major surfing title in Hawaii and in 1965 he won the Australian surfing title.

We should not forget people like Midget Farrelly. We spend too much time thinking about people who are not very nice who are damaging our environment, our country and our capacity to achieve well in an amazingly positive way. We can't built a positive world on negative thoughts. We need to get out there in the ocean of life and do good things like Midget Farrelly.

Mask mandate ending

Image : Nick Fewings

Coronavirus is quite clearly there. It is placing a burden on us and our hospital and medical staff. If you look at our statistics people in their twenties and thirties are predominantly getting it  and older people are the ones dying. Under fives do not have a vaccine. So, what do we do? Lift the mask mandates. Yes, I know. It is a terrible burden wearing a mask when it protects you and others from a disgusting virus. People just want to be normal. So glad the virus has been told this because as we ease the barriers to infection, we ease the transmission of the virus. Those who were leading at the beginning of the pandemic are now saying, go for it. Just pretend it is normal and we are not in a pandemic. Some people are saying post pandemic , which is clearly not the case given we have a J curve of  infection rates. Masks work. 

Part of this is politicians and medical people will be fed up telling us what works and then people just bang on with their own needs and wants which fly in the face of reality and facts. This is a nasty virus. You do not want it. You do not want to be reinfected. You also need to understand that vaccinated people can get it as well and yes, they can be in hospital. All of this has been explained to us. Masks and vaccines along with fresh air and hygiene will work in our favour. But normal. Eyeroll.  Masks being removed will see an increase in infections. We have seen that elsewhere. Why don't we think that will happen in South Australia? People are their own worst enemy and they are the enemy of the older people and those who are vulnerable. This virus has killed over six million people worldwide, but, you know, normal. Repeat eyeroll.

We are ending our mask mandate in South Australia. Pretty cavalier attitude given the infection rate, the hospitals under pressure and the under fives having no vaccine. Cavalier, might not be the right word , though. Cavliers had the saying, All for one and one for all. You fight a pandemic together. It requires collaboration. Egocentric takes on it are unwise. Prudence, We need to be prudent. Don't know about you, but my mask is staying on.