Australian Acceptance Day

Easter commemorates nailing a Jewish bloke to a cross. We accept the holiday, we no longer hate the Romans.

Anzac Day commemorates thousands of deaths: Aussie, Kiwi, even Turks. Thanks in part to the annual commerations we are able to join hands to commemorate all of the losses.

VE Day commemorates invasion, death and war. We are now able to accept that today's Germans are not to blame. We can commemorate VJ Day without maintaining a hatred of Japanese.

The British monarchy was founded on war, invasion and oppression. Yet even republicans accept a holiday to commemorate the Queen's birthday. We embrace Irish, American and Chinese cultures on their respective national days.

All this commemoration and celebration does not mean that we are glad of the brutal histories behind each day. What it means is that we are willing to deal with the world as it is. As it is today.

It also allows us to learn a bit or remember a bit about the history behind each day. And it perhaps allows us to accept what happened. To forget blame. To make sure that we all can accept Australia as it is now.

With understanding and acceptance we can even improve the future.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I took out a loan to pay for an exorcism. If I don't pay it back, I'm going to get repossessed." … Olaf Falafel
===
   

health agency in-action

There's a new virus spreading in China. Thanks to modern transport it is also spreading to the rest of the world. China closes cities in an effort to contain the spread of this new disease.

What does the rest of the world do? Absolutely nothing.

The World Health Organisation is on alert. Holding meetings. That is, doing nothing.

Australia's Health Department has activated its national incident room. Members are probably flying round Australia to have meetings. That is, they are doing nothing.

Is this just a case of bureaucratic inertia? National and international organisations are saying, it's not yet an emergency. So they do nothing.

Meanwhile, people with actual brains are saying, we should be doing something to prevent this from becoming an emergency.

But then, if we actually do something... and the emergency is avoided...  how will the big health organisations justify their huge emergency response budgets?

Remember the Year 2000 computer crisis? It's still a joke because... nothing happened. Why not? Because an enormous effort went into prevention -- before it became a crisis. But there is no glory for prevention.

I would like to see a coronavirus crisis averted. Before it becomes an actual crisis. But there is no glory in prevention. It's in the interest of major health groups to allow a health crisis to happen. Power and glory will follow... as long as the crisis is not averted by acting in a timely fashion.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I took out a loan to pay for an exorcism. If I don't pay it back, I'm going to get repossessed." … Olaf Falafel
===
   

swearing

Gosh. Experts have discovered that kids swear because of the influence of vloggers, video bloggers.

Have these experts never watched a movie? Never watched tv? Never listened to a "comedian"?

You can tell the kids who watch comedians on tv. They are the kids who swear and discuss their genitals.

You can tell the kids who watch Australian comedians. They are the kids who swear and discuss their genitals and shout a lot.

Thanks to years of "pushing the boundaries", swearing is now part of general conversation. Get used to it. If you object, set your own standards.

Or complain to tv stations, movie theatres, publishers... and vloggers. As a group who are following "accepted" practices.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I bought shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day." … Steph on Twitter
===
   

sporting weight

I never really understand weight categories for sport... Well, okay, I do:

As an 85kg adult I could probably, in a boxing match, thrash the living daylights out of a 40kg child. If winning is my only aim then I will happily cheat to be in the 40kg children's competition.

A young woman died in her efforts to lose weight in order to fight against "lighter" muay thai competitors. Presumably she could not beat people in her normal weight range so she wanted to thrash the little punks in the lighter category.

When I compete in an age category it is based on my actual age. And on the actual age of all the competitors. If I compete in a weight category I expect to compete against people of my own weight.

In a sport with weight categories -- use actual weight. Weigh competitors well before the competition. Weigh them regularly. Whatever weight they are usually at -- that is their competition weight.

If you can't win against people in your own weight range -- or age range -- train harder. Or accept that you can't always win in a fair fight.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I bought shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day." … Steph on Twitter
===
   

missionary ban

Aboriginal elders want to ban missionaries (Christian missionaries) arriving in a community and trying to convert the locals. What an excellent idea.

If a missionary wants to help, that's great. If they want to convert, that's bad.

Mind you, "help" is not always good. A few years back a group of do-gooders taught New Guinea tribespeople to bake good European-style food. Soon enough the locals were dependent on imported floor and sugar, overweight, suffering tooth decay.

I support people's right to practice their own religion -- within the laws of whatever country they are in. But keep it to yourself. Religion is a belief not a truth. You may believe that your religion will help you in an afterlife, the central tenet is normally, What can it do for *me*? Other people must be free to select their own beliefs.

===

My sister is a member of a strange religion. Not Christian, as far as I understand it. They go into a community to convert "by example". By being there... just in case the locals ever want to speak about religion. So I have been told.

I also read a paper by one of that religion's "experts". He relied entirely on one book written by another "expert" in the religion. It was worse than embarrassing -- it was frightening.

The paper said that missionaries should go to poorer communities. To those suffering misery and oppression. Why? Because people in those communities will clutch at any straw. They will try anything -- even a weird religion -- in the hope that it will be better than their current misery.

These missionaries don't care about the "benefits" of their religion. All they want -- in the words of the "expert" -- is the numbers. The growing numbers of converted and brainwashed followers.

Missionaries often do great work. They just need to remember that their beliefs are not a universal truth. If the aim is to change the local belief system -- go away.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I bought shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day." … Steph on Twitter
===
   

good news for miners

Well, there's some good news. According to today's paper, digging minerals out of the ground will save the planet. Yes, that's sarcasm.

The Fed Gov has a new "Critical Minerals Facilitation Office". The new boss will encourage us -- that is, rich multi-national mining companies -- to dig up as much "rare earth" as possible. The more we dig, the more we are supporting renewable energy! Wow!! And I thought that digging holes in the ground was just to destroy the environment... and make money. Silly me.

Australia will become a world leader in renewable energy -- simply by digging out rare earth. Or, more practically, by allowing overseas based multinationals to dig out our rare earth.

Will this extra mining help Australia to reduce greenhouse emissions? the new Facilitation boss was asked. Oh, it will "absolutely assist" she replies. Like a boy scout could "absolutely assist" a little old lady across the road... by asking a nearby mugger to lend a hand.

Above the story is a photo of a leopard licking the face of a young impala. "Befriended" says the article. Tasting the main course, thinks the leopard.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I bought shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day." … Steph on Twitter
===
   

transgender birth

Somewhere in the wild world of social media, one person said, Only women can have babies. For saying such a terrible thing (no, don't ask me what's so terrible) that person was banned from a planned part in a podcast.

In a letter to today's paper is the statement from Frank: Only females give birth.

In another letter Jasmine tells us her truth: Transgender men can and do give birth.

In Wikipedia, "Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their sex assigned at birth."

To make sense of Jasmine's "truth", a transgender man is really a man with a woman's body. A woman can say, today I am a man, today I am pregnant, therefore a man can give birth. Take that, Frank!

Today I shall identify myself as a multigender, transspecies jellyfish. See? Even a jellyfish can look like a man.

We can play with words. We can call ourselves whatever we want. It doesn't alter the basic binary system of human genders.

Nor does it change anything when we refuse to listen to people with different ideas.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
===
"I bought shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day." … Steph on Twitter
===