the future

 

today I was confronted by the future. I was at a restaurant and was told if I wanted to be seated I would have to scan the code on the table. Because I don't have a smart phone they said they couldn't serve me.

that makes me think about what else they could apply this to. I get the distinct feeling that something is in the post in regards to vaccination. There's already discussion about getting vaccinated and air travel. Do you get the feeling that there are going to be other requirements?

really, I can see it now - the vaccine passport. Unless you have some kind of electronic certification that you have been vaccinated, you're not going anywhere. Or doing anything. There is talk about it already in relation to concerts and sporting events.

there is talk about having enough vaccine to inoculate every Australian three times over. Not much discussion about what are in these vaccines exactly or inherent side effects - just the promise of something. So are the powers that be going to insist on such a promise?

who knows, maybe with the implementation of the vaccine or vaccines, they could create a whole electronic caste system. And here's me with my dumb phone, wanting to make phone calls. How arrogant. 

nothing

so we did it. We have purged ourselves of the virus. Anything else?

I did my count of the for lease signs between Bell and Brunswick Street and it is still sixty three, but there are different situations based on the nature of the business. Wedding dress stores and dress stores in general. They haven't been open for as long as I can remember; a certain amount have closed but others still maintain frontage, but for how long?

the Moreland Hotel hasn't been open since March and I really can't envision a time it will ever be. The word is out that it will change hands at some point. I am two minds about this because although the poker machines can rot in hell, when they have the MMA fighting on it is a ball.

maybe there is some merit in not being mobile to see the amount of places that are closed. A friend of mine lives in Frankston and the place has been decimated. One store is offering rent for one dollar a month just to generate some kind of activity.

Then there are the legal and accounting firms that are closed. How have they changed their practice?
 

get ready

 

In the history of I hope I am wrong, this really must be the moment. Or maybe two moments and both of them involve the United States.

Thanksgiving. The volume of people moving around the country from numerous news broadcasts, people are addicted this concept of normal; going about their everyday lives. 6,972 planes in the sky above North America at Noon ET on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Well here's a few figures to put a dent in your concept of normal; 13,122,044 corona virus cases and 268,092 deaths. 7,721,096 people have recovered, but that's cold comfort when talking about these numbers. I dread to see the figures in the following weeks.

now I have had some thoughts in the past about the idea of opportunity cost. The cost of doing one thing as opposed to another. The restrictions here have been so punitive and dumb that I not only fear for our future, but moreover, our economic future. Maybe we are the opposite of many countries but I can envision a lot poor people without a virus here. Plus the future is going to be user pays like we have never seen before.

Trump. When he leaves in the not too distant future every faction of identity politics will be out in force with whatever grievance that currently upsets or annoys them. So what will Biden do when the rioting starts? Will he maintain the same kinds of policies we developed towards policing? Keep in mind, they have a shit load of guns

I dread to see the figures in the following weeks.

Pepys diary entries July/August 1666

maybe this could be seen as something of good fortune.The plague hit properly just over a year ago and now deaths via ever smaller circles of association were becoming common place. Instead of general notes conveyed by the Bill of Mortality, word of mouth in relation to small circles of association became the order of the day. Early September the Great Fire of London would change all that. Strange one disaster could purge the disaster of another. 

(4/7)

"Up, and visited very betimes by Mr. Sheply, who is come to town upon business from Hinchingbrooke, where he left all well. I out and walked along with him as far as Fleet Streete, it being a fast day, the usual fast day for the plague, and few coaches to be had. Thanks be to God, the plague is, as I hear, encreased but two this week; but in the country in several places it rages mightily, and particularly in Colchester, where it hath long been, and is believed will quite depopulate the place."

(26/7)

"Up, and to the office, where all the morning. At noon dined at home: Mr. Hunt and his wife, who is very gallant, and newly come from Cambridge, because of the sicknesse, with us." 

Below we witness that there is no inherent logic to the plague, no matter what logic you attempt to apply.

(6/8)

"Up, and to the office a while, and then by water to my Lady Montagu’s, at Westminster, and there visited my Lord Hinchingbroke, newly come from Hinchingbroke, and find him a mighty sober gentleman, to my great content. Thence to Sir Ph. Warwicke and my Lord Treasurer’s, but failed in my business; so home and in Fenchurch-streete met with Mr. Battersby; says he, “Do you see Dan Rawlinson’s door shut up?” (which I did, and wondered). “Why,” says he, “after all the sickness, and himself spending all the last year in the country, one of his men is now dead of the plague, and his wife and one of his mayds sicke, and himself shut up;” which troubles me mightily. So home; and there do hear also from Mrs. Sarah Daniel, that Greenwich is at this time much worse than ever it was, and Deptford too: and she told us that they believed all the towne would leave the towne and come to London; which is now the receptacle of all the people from all infected places. God preserve us! So by and by to dinner, and, after dinner in comes Mrs. Knipp, and I being at the office went home to her, and there I sat and talked with her, it being the first time of her being here since her being brought to bed. I very pleasant with her; but perceive my wife hath no great pleasure in her being here, she not being pleased with my kindnesse to her. However, we talked and sang, and were very pleasant. By and by comes Mr. Pierce and his wife, the first time she also hath been here since her lying-in, both having been brought to bed of boys, and both of them dead." 

a few examples below of just how voracious the plague had become.

(7/8)

"I receive fresh intelligence that Deptford and Greenwich are now afresh exceedingly afflicted with the sickness more than ever."

(9/8)

"In my [way] I inquired, and find Mrs. Rawlinson is dead of the sickness, and her mayde continues mighty ill. He himself is got out of the house. I met also with Mr. Evelyn in the streete, who tells me the sad condition at this very day at Deptford for the plague, and more at Deale (within his precinct as one of the Commissioners for sick and wounded seamen), that the towne is almost quite depopulated."

(17/8)

"Sir John Minnes come home tonight not well, from Chatham, where he hath been at a pay, holding it at Upnor Castle, because of the plague so much in the towne of Chatham. He hath, they say, got an ague, being so much on the water."

(20/8)

"This afternoon I visited Sir J. Minnes, who, poor man, is much impatient by these few days’ sickness, and I fear indeed it will kill him."

(21/8)

"I passed down into the Hall, and there hear that Mr. Bowles, the grocer, after 4 or 5 days’ sickness, is dead, and this day buried." 

part of me, having read all this makes me think exactly how rampant the plague could have been without the great fire.

which category are you?

 

we had the restrictions changed in Victoria a few days ago, and lo and behold it led to.... confusion. Not just one but a whole range of uncertainties. I don't know what it is about our premier; maybe it's the way he tells them. So what's your newly found outlook towards masks?

there's the person who wears a mask, whether it be indoors or out.

there's the person who doesn't wear a mask, whether it be indoors or out.

the person who wears a mask under their chin, in any environment and just in case they have to be told to put it on.

the person who does or doesn't wear a mask in all kinds of different places, depending on their mood.

finally the person who has no idea what the hell is going on.

I must admit that I felt some hesitation on the first day; not because of compliance but because of wearing them for so long I felt naked.

personally, I find the whole thing confusing for one important factor - mental exhaustion.

so where do we go from here?

standard apolitical caveat; don't take anything I say as embracing or dismissing any inherent bias or affiliation - that's your baggage and I don't give a shit.

go back in time to a point not really all that long ago. To the evolution of a lie. Barack Obama is not an American citizen. Trump not only lied but believes it as truth, probably to this very day. Never back down and never surrender seems to be his mantra and has been for his entire term, compounding so many lies upon lies and subsequently generating such a bizarre state of confusion.

the question of now has to be where do we go from here? This man positively adores dictators and will surely attempt any trick in the dictator play book to rationalize not only why he should stay but indeed how how he is going to stay. Then the 11th hour will come the curt reply to the final demand - 

"No, I'm not going."

there will be a critical mass at this stage where serial bleating about imagined conspiracy theories relating to fake news and big pharma start spewing out at an alarming rate, then the true moment of terror.

nobody has to listen to him anymore. Maybe loyal factions will, but surely his authority is gone.

maybe some issues come to mind - starting with the Proud Boys. Will they no longer be standing by? Will Antifa magically transform from an ideology into an organisation? Based on the actions of supporters from both sides post election, when Trump is dragged kicking and screaming, this is going to be really ugly. Then I can only assume every faction and their associates will come out in force.

vaccine - day nine

well there have been screen shots of the packaging of ChAd0x1-S [recombinant] vaccine by AstraZeneca Pty Ltd, so I did a bit of a look around on the internet and found provisional determination for the company to apply for registration by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. I also found articles mentioning the vaccine in the Lancet, but mainly I found hundreds of articles debunking the claims made against it. There was also some discussion of the minimal short term side effects. 

Now all I want to do is make an informed decision based on the ingredients of all these vaccines. I can get plenty of information of what these vaccines aren't, I just want to know what these vaccines are. Surely there is a great deal of information regarding their development

so pretty please, with sugar on top, can someone proffer some objective overview as to the nature of all these vaccines? Before we pay the invoices?

Pepys diary entries June 1666

now one matter of the day that was a point of concern was the trade war with the Dutch. Not like a trade war of modern times, but an actual war and with it comes the spoils of war. Pepys role at the Victualling Office focused on the sale of seized goods, and this month was filled with entries concerned with such transactions. Now there is part of the following entry that notes the disappearance of sayings of old. "I make use of as a monkey do the cat’s foot"

The Monkey and the Cat. Aesop's Fables 

A Monkey and a Cat lived in the same family, and it was hard to tell which was the greatest thief. One day, as they were roaming about together, they spied some chestnuts roasting in the ashes. "Come," said the cunning Monkey, "we shall not go without our dinner to-day. Your claws are better than mine for the purpose; you pull them out of the hot ashes and you shall have half." Pussy pulled them out one by one, burning her claws very much in doing so. When she had stolen them all, she found that the Monkey had eaten every one.

A thief cannot be trusted, even by another thief.

there is also mention of the fasting day of penance. 

(6/6)

"Up betimes, and vexed with my people for having a key taken out of the chamber doors and nobody knew where it was, as also with my boy for not being ready as soon as I, though I called him, whereupon I boxed him soundly, and then to my business at the office and on the Victualling Office, and thence by water to St. James’s, whither he [the Duke of York] is now gone, it being a monthly fast-day for the plague. There we all met, and did our business as usual with the Duke, and among other things had Captain Cocke’s proposal of East country goods read, brought by my Lord Bruncker, which I make use of as a monkey do the cat’s foot. Sir W. Coventry did much oppose it, and it’s likely it will not do; so away goes my hopes of 500l.."

so a visit to one of his dalliances was not without concern. Following the death of a servant from the plague, Mrs Bagwell had "whitened" part of the house. Limewash was used as a disinfectant, hence the term.

(13/6)

"So we left the church and crowd, and I home (being set down on Tower Hill), and there did a little business and then in the evening went down by water to Deptford, it being very late, and there I staid out as much time as I could, and then took boat again homeward, but the officers being gone in, returned and walked to Mrs. Bagwell’s house, and there (it being by this time pretty dark and past ten o’clock) went into her house and did what I would. But I was not a little fearfull of what she told me but now, which is, that her servant was dead of the plague, that her coming to me yesterday was the first day of her coming forth, and that she had new whitened the house all below stairs, but that above stairs they are not so fit for me to go up to, they being not so. So I parted thence, with a very good will, but very civil, and away to the waterside, and sent for a pint of sacke (wine) and so home, drank what I would and gave the waterman the rest; and so adieu. Home about twelve at night, and so to bed, finding most of my people gone to bed."

Pepys diary entries May 1666

 

a fair amount of sickness seems to preoccupy the Pepys household that is not plague related. The matter of business and personal accounts seem to be the focus this month. Still there is some mention of plague numbers

(1/5)

"There I met with Mr. Castle, and was forced against my will to have his company back with me. So we walked and drank at Halfway house and so to his house, where I drank a cupp of syder, and so home, where I find Mr. Norbury newly come to town to see us. After he gone my wife tells me the ill newes that our Susan is sicke and gone to bed, with great pain in her head and back, which troubles us all. However we to bed expecting what to-morrow would produce. She hath we conceive wrought a little too much, having neither maid nor girle to help her."

so Pepys wife, in a fatigued state, lashes out at Pepys as she may be aware of his extra marital activities

(9/5)

"Thence with them to Cornhill to call and choose a chimney-piece for Pierces closett, and so home, where my wife in mighty pain and mightily vexed at my being abroad with these women; and when they were gone called them whores and I know not what, which vexed me, having been so innocent with them. So I with them to Mrs. Turner’s and there sat with them a while, anon my wife sends for me, I come, and what was it but to scold at me and she would go abroad to take the ayre presently, that she would. So I left my company and went with her to Bow, but was vexed and spoke not one word to her all the way going nor coming, or being come home, but went up straight to bed. Half an hour after (she in the coach leaning on me as being desirous to be friends) she comes up mighty sicke with a fit of the cholique and in mighty pain and calls for me out of the bed; I rose and held her, she prays me to forgive her, and in mighty pain we put her to bed, where the pain ceased by and by, and so had some asparagus to our bed side for supper and very kindly afterward to sleepe and good friends in the morning."

(12/5)

"This day come home again my little girle Susan, her sicknesse proving an ague, and she had a fit soon almost as she come home.

The fleete is not yet gone from the Nore. The plague encreases in many places, and is 53 this week with us."

questions

 

so you have this organisation and it is a good organisation. You embrace the very good of it's nature because it is full of good people. Are there any bad people you know of in this organisation? I'll let you describe them and point them out because I have no desire to know them.

so let's just introduce a hypothetical. If a bad person does something abhorrent and bad to defend your organisation, say slaughter someone in defense of the name of your group, is that a bad thing? Or does the very act embolden your group?

if someone disparages the actions of this person in the name of your group, does this dishearten the nature or even the very essence of your group?

here's another hypothetical. Name one. Name an organisation, faction or a group. In this day and age, personally, I am thinking of more than one.

Pepys reflections

 

I know it's only been one day but a new craze has hit my circle of association. Using insults of old to not only offend but confuse and the number one contender goes to Samuel Pepys and his barb impertinent prating coxcombe

from is diary April 22nd 1666 describing someone he hadn't seen in some time,

"find him the same impertinent, prating (to talk foolishly or at a tedious length about something) coxcombe (a vain and conceited man; a dandy) that ever he was."

this may come across as a bit of a paradox as he looks a bit of a dandy himself and his conceit in the department of extra marital affairs becomes legion the further you read the diary

I am thinking my next project, should I decide to accept it, is to collate the insults of Samuel Pepys. This will be huge for the reason that it will involve reading the entire series. Maybe I'll take it a year at a time.

Added to this, there will be some reflection of all these entries once the plague is over

Pepys diary entries April 1666

 

maybe it's the matters of the day, of which there were many in this month, or it could be similar to now. The plague had become such an integral part of life that specific details were no longer mentioned aside from the statistical reality of the Bills of Mortality. Maybe, like now, people are just over it. 

(5/4)

"The plague is, to our great grief, encreased nine this week, though decreased a few in the total. And this encrease runs through many parishes, which makes us much fear the next year."

strange news to hear of an associate who hasn't died of the plague

(8/4)

"The Court full this morning of the newes of Tom Cheffin’s death, the King’s closett-keeper. He was well last night as ever, flaying at tables in the house, and not very ill this morning at six o’clock, yet dead before seven: they think, of an imposthume (abcess) in his breast. But it looks fearfully among people nowadays, the plague, as we hear, encreasing every where again."

still reminders of the plague and the degree to which it effects everyday life

(9/4)

"Thence by coach to Mrs. Pierce’s, and with her and Knipp and Mrs. Pierce’s boy and girle abroad, thinking to have been merry at Chelsey; but being come almost to the house by coach near the waterside, a house alone, I think the Swan, a gentleman walking by called to us to tell us that the house was shut up of the sicknesse."

(10/4)

"Bad news that the plague is decreased in the general again and two increased in the sickness."

another example of the plague not essentially making the heart grow fonder

(22/4)

"Thence walked wearily as far as Fleet Streete and so there met a coach and home to supper and to bed, having sat a great while with Will Joyce, who come to see me, and it is the first time I have seen him at my house since the plague, and find him the same impertinent, prating (to talk foolishly or at a tedious length about something) coxcombe (a vain and conceited man; a dandy) that ever he was."

(23/4)

"The plague, I hear, encreases in the towne much, and exceedingly in the country everywhere."

the term impertinent, prating coxcombe has now become a part of my lexicon.

vaccine - day eight

 so here's the oxymoron that seems to be so prevalent today. What's the deal with the lazy news? This morning they announced a poll of 3000 people and whether they would get vaccinated

58%  likely

25%  don't know

7%    unlikely

by the late morning news all they reported was the unlikely figure and changed it to 6%. So based on the morning figures, what do the remaining 10% think? Certain cheeses can be your friend? Scourers for the kitchen are not what they used to be? Pisces males shouldn't go out with Sagittarius females on a Thursday?

way to go; a great piece of fact checking and reporting there. 

it's alive!

 so last night Daz came around and we fired up the pedal board. Nothing short of amazing! It's alive I tell you! I have added some expression pedals and slightly changed the signal path so the order goes like this - 

Gamechanger Audio Plus sustain pedal

Boss MO2 Multi Overtone generator

TC Electronic Brainwaves Polyphonic harmonizer

Zoom MS50G multi effect pedal

Boss DD500 Multi Delay

Boss Rv500 Multi Reverb

if there is anything else I can add, basically having no room, I have no idea. Maybe remove the expression pedal but the board is an instrument unto itself. Add Daz on sampler and a small mixing desk and this will be a force unto nature and a force to be reckoned with.

drive by

 

so here is my standard apolitical caveat; don't take anything I say as embracing or dismissing any inherent bias or affiliation - that's your baggage and I don't give a shit.

this is different. The moment I saw the drive by at the rally on the television with just one look. Boy Trump looks really old - and frail. Looking every bit of his 74 years. There must be some kind of statute of limitations in regards to age and holding office. Nancy Pelosi is 80 and Joe Biden is 77.

I have already mentioned this before but Biden reminds me of a relative before they had an episode.

then there are other concerns. The division in the country. Biden pleads for calm then every two days there is some kind of conflict from one type of faction. Maybe the one saving grace is that with the virus, coupled with all the dissent means that so many types of social justice warriors on social media haven't really had that much of a look in for ages.

maybe the most surreal thing I saw was Washington. Protesters screaming "Fox news sucks!" A whole new form of cult has just been invented, but you can't compete with the cult of Murdoch.

but the whole thing is exhausting and I am over it.

vaccine - day seven

so we have a new vaccine in the market place and now they are talking about a vaccine available by December. When I say they, from the mouth of Dr Anthony Fauci, no less. Discussion of emergency measures to implement the vaccine.

so please, can we have another or further discussion? Using the gold standard, like the rules of evidence in law. Any mention of this seems to have floated off into the ether. Peer review and documentation. Actual publishing of findings including side effects. Then even after that once one or a number of vaccines have been implemented, what protections are available should anything go wrong?

look, we have had so much lazy news during the election. Why confront us with more?

so there are a few organizations I would like some detail from in regards to the vaccine approval process

the World Health Organization

the Center for Disease Control

the Food and Drug Administration and their Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research 

including such details as the multi-step approval process, which typically includes

the Investigational New Drug application

Pre-licensure vaccine clinical trials

A Biologics License Application (BLA)

Inspection of the manufacturing facility

Presentation of findings to FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)

Usability testing of product labeling

if you go to the CDC website, these are just a few steps in regard to the vaccine approval process. A little more detailed than Dr Fauci on the television stating,

"Well, everything should be fine by December." 

an oldie but a.....

so there's this theme coming back to me. It seems to keep confronting me and I can't control it. I suppose it all stems from the pheromone I give off that encourages crazy people that gravitate toward me.

on the way home tonight it happened again. I am walking along the footpath; not interacting and not doing anything and this rather tall elderly woman is walking in the opposite direction. She stretches her arm out straight but not entirely unlike the woman above.

my initial thought was boy that was extremely hostile and a really confronting way to dictate social distancing. Surely one step away from me would suffice. Then it dawned on me what this action reminded me of.

the Hitler salute. So my obvious response was, "Zeig Heil!! Jawhol, Mein Fuhrer!"

and her response? "How dare you say that to me!"

my response was how dare you do that to me. All you had to do was to step to one side. Upon reflection, all I can see your action as a violent attempt at social distancing. I am unsure and I really don't want you to clear up my confusion because there are some other overriding concerns. It's a toss up between anger management issues and mental health issues. If this scenario should present itself again in the future, could you please strive to do your very best to keep the fuck away from me altogether?

plus, it comes across like a Hitler salute. You are opening up a whole can of problems with that one. Besides, this is the kind of thing a feminazi would do. Now go away.

Pulmonary Fibrosis

this is a sample of a lung infected by Pulmonary Fibrosis. Thinking about everything regarding the phenomenon of now at this moment; I hate it, but not for the reasons you may think.

so what is it?

Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) is a type of rare lung disease that causes the tissue (interstitium) around the air sacs (alveoli) within the lungs to become thickened and scarred – this is called fibrosis. This scarring makes the lungs stiff which makes it increasingly difficult to breathe deeply. This stops the efficient delivery of oxygen into the bloodstream where it is needed to be transported to the rest of the body. There are many types of PF. Some people with PF may already have features of other associated conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or scleroderma. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a specific disease where the underlying cause is unknown. 

now I can't remember when the symptoms developed and I have not the foggiest idea as to why but one of my dearest friends has it. Forgive the tacky pun but, fuck it, I love him like breathing.

and I hate it.

the first thing I hate is when he is on the phone and he apologizes for coughing. This may be his nature based on his background and upbringing but my internal dialogue is screaming,

"Can you please not apologize!?! In the vast history of all the people who do not need to say sorry, surely you must be the number one candidate in that department!!!!"

this is the same person who, on the phone has made me laugh until I was in pain, screaming words back to him like, " You can't do this to me!!" and "Please don't do this!!" All the while laughing even harder.

the second thing I hate is parity. Sometimes I hate going out into the world and interacting with people now. Losing their shit over mundane things like hand sanitizing wipes that don't meet their exacting standards right now or just products that are out of stock; abusing unsuspecting counter staff. I want to scream the problems of someone that is doing it so hard in comparison to the menial nonsense you are bleating on about right now. Aside from being quiet, can you please get a perspective?

or just treat yourself to a big hearty bowl of shut the fuck up, with a side order of you really need to fuck off right now.

 

vaccine - day six

 

so have a look at this page. It pretty much explains every topic of concern. All the way back from July. No conspiracy theories to see here. Says what it means and means what it says.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-risks-of-rushing-a-covid-19-vaccine/

the thing is, is anyone allowed to raise these concerns? Are they not relevant? When I found this article I had to trove through a many sites debunking a massive range of conspiracy theories. The author, do you dispute his qualifications?

What exactly are the rules of evidence when little to no evidence has been provided? This is not in the realms of a normal vaccine trial, because this is in no way a normal vaccine trial. 

now the news this morning of a vaccine "mega factory" to be built in Melbourne

two shocks in one night

 

6th September 1980. The paradox here is that I am talking to my eldest about sounds that changed my life and these two bands came up. Magazine and XTC. Equipped with the same musical tools with so many other groups of the day, but with a respective outlook that changed everything. Amazing irony and sarcasm in their own individual ways. Certain types of human frailty and not only hitting out but doing their best to defy. I have fond memories of the EP above and the subsequent film clip from the concert because I was there.

I made mention of certain types of the shock of the new in a previous post. Well this was two shocks in one night. Magazine took elements of relationships and human interaction and confronted them head on. XTC did the same with all the other things in the world, from diplomacy to religion and so much more. Let's start with Magazine

now XTC

plus both bands were so tight. Do a search on YouTube for all the film clips from that night.

the market

this one is not without some introspection. First off I had a discussion a while ago with my sons about drugs in general; I was full and open about my drug history and that it was occasional when I was young and dumb. My concern was a whole new range of drugs available today and you have no idea what are in them. I have inhaled in the past but whatever you do, to coin a phrase, please stay away from the chemistry set. I asked my eldest straight up how long would it take to get hold of the majority of drugs available today. His response? Half an hour. He also told me about a party he went to that deterred him from any chemical based narcotic. This girl totally spaced out on Ketamine terrified him to his core.

the main point of focus here is marijuana. So what are the side effects? Without going into an extensive list, I discovered many of those side effects are similar to alcohol. One point raised on the news was that a record cannabis crop was found recently in New South Wales and the proceeds of that crop were being used to fund the manufacture and distribution of harder drugs, mainly Ice.

when I used to record proceedings in the courts I remember how boring pot house cases were for all concerned, where individuals set up entire houses for growing dope. Because they are so prevalent they take up a great deal of Police resources and fill up the courts with plea cases. One exception was this hippie who wanted to plead to possession but not distribution. He grew it in his back yard but never sold it - he gave it away. Even had a few of his hippie mates testify to this. One was even asked questions by the judge. He said he never bought it and sometimes when the accused wasn't home he would occasionally just pluck it from the plant. But what he said next was breathtaking,

"It was good shit, but. Oh fuck, I just said shit in front of a judge! Now I said fuck!"

he then proceeded to go into what I could best describe as a thirty second "shit fuck" loop, to which the judge responded for the witness to remain calm.

my main point is this. Marijuana is readily available drug. He chooses not to, but even my eldest can obtain it without any great deal of trouble. The proceeds of the sale of it lead to the manufacture and distribution of harder drugs.

just legalize it and regulate it. Personally, I find the consumption of it kind of boring and pot heads boring in general, but people are doing it anyway. 

perhaps go to this site and have a look around. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/alcohol/alcohol-tobacco-other-drugs-australia/contents/drug-types/cannabis

just under the heading of key findings alone - 

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia.

Cannabis was the second most common drug type identified at toxicology for transport accident deaths in 2016.

Recent use of cannabis among the Australian general population increased significantly between 2016 (10.4%) and 2019 (11.6%).

People who use cannabis are older than they were previously—the average age increased from 29 in 2001 to 35 in 2019.

Cannabis is used more frequently than other illicit drugs—37% of recent users reported weekly use compared with 6.7% and 4.5% of ecstasy and cocaine consumers respectively.

There has been an increase in tolerance for regular adult cannabis use among the Australian general population, rising from 14.5% in 2016 to 19.6% in 2019.

In 2019, 41% of Australians supported the legalization of cannabis for personal use.   

sure, there is the detracting factor in relation to road deaths, but people - a lot of people, are doing it anyway.

  

Pepys diary entries March 1666

there are other entries relating to the "new normal" of the City in the last month  but examples of the sickness are appearing in close associates. The Bill of Mortality makes mention of deaths other than the plague far outnumbering the total and only six in the City.

(1/3)

"Up, and to the office and there all the morning sitting and at noon to dinner with my Lord Bruncker, Sir W. Batten and Sir W. Pen at the White Horse in Lumbard Streete, where, God forgive us! good sport with Captain Cocke’s having his mayde (maid) sicke of the plague a day or two ago and sent to the pest house, (a type of building used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox or typhus. Often used for forcible quarantine, many towns and cities had one or more pest houses accompanied by a cemetery or a waste pond nearby for disposal of the dead.) where she now is, but he will not say anything but that she is well. But blessed be God! a good Bill (of mortality) this week we have; being but 237 in all, and 42 of the plague, and of them but six in the City: though my Lord Bruncker says, that these six are most of them in new parishes where they were not the last week. Here was with us also Mr. Williamson, who the more I know, the more I honour."

it seems absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder in reference to his Aunt

(12/3)

"Up betimes, and called on by abundance of people about business, and then away by water to Westminster, and there to the Exchequer about some business, and thence by coach calling at several places, to the Old Exchange, and there did much business, and so homeward and bought a silver salt for my ordinary table to use, and so home to dinner, and after dinner comes my uncle and aunt Wight, the latter I have not seen since the plague; a silly, froward, ugly woman she is. We made mighty much of them, and she talks mightily of her fear of the sicknesse, and so a deale of tittle tattle and I left them and to my office where late, and so home to supper and to bed."

the affairs of the day were being tended to but not without fears of the plague being far from their thoughts

(13/3)

"Up betimes, and to the office, where busy sitting all the morning, and I begin to find a little convenience by holding up my head to Sir W. Pen, for he is come to be more supple. At noon to dinner, and then to the office again, where mighty business, doing a great deale till midnight and then home to supper and to bed. The plague encreased this week 29 from 28, though the total fallen from 238 to 207, which do never a whit please me."

so there was no isolation and social interactions at other people's houses didn't seem to be frowned upon, but not without reservations in the form of fear

(14/3)

"Thence to walk all alone in the fields behind Grayes Inne, making an end of reading over my dear “Faber fortunae,” (an essay by Francis Bacon, Of Fortune) of my Lord Bacon’s, and thence, it growing dark, took two or three wanton turns about the idle places and lanes about Drury Lane, but to no satisfaction, but a great fear of the plague among them, and so anon I walked by invitation to Mrs. Pierces, where I find much good company, that is to say, Mrs. Pierce, my wife, Mrs. Worshipp and her daughter, and Harris the player, and Knipp, and Mercer, and Mrs. Barbary Sheldon, who is come this day to spend a weeke with my wife; and here with musique we danced, and sung and supped, and then to sing and dance till past one in the morning; and much mirthe with Sir Anthony Apsley and one Colonell Sidney, who lodge in the house; and above all, they are mightily taken with Mrs. Knipp. Hence weary and sleepy we broke up, and I and my company homeward by coach and to bed."

mention of Pepys affairs seem to maintain the form of interactive gossip, with one mistress discussing the details of another

(18/3)

"So walked to Westminster, very fine fair dry weather, but all cry out for lack of rain. To Herbert’s and drank, and thence to Mrs. Martin’s, and did what I would with her; her husband going for some wine for us. The poor man I do think would take pains if I can get him a purser’s place, which I will endeavour. She tells me as a secret that Betty Howlet of the Hall, my little sweetheart, that I used to call my second wife, is married to a younger son of Mr. Michell’s (his elder brother, who should have had her, being dead this plague), at which I am glad, and that they are to live nearer me in Thames Streete, by the Old Swan."

one short entry about the plague and the observation of relief in relation to the local area. 

(22/3)

"The plague increased four this week, which troubles me, though but one in the whole (city)."

it seems the marriage of one of his mistresses poses no impediment to his further and future dalliances.

(23/3)

"Thence I to Westminster, to the Chequer, about a little business, and then to the Swan, and there sent for a bit of meat and dined; and after dinner had opportunity of being pleased with Sarah; and so away to Westminster Hall, and there Mrs. Michell tells me with great joy how little Betty Howlett is married to her young son Michell, which is a pretty odd thing, that he should so soon succeed in the match to his elder brother that died of the plague, and to the house and trade intended for him, and more they say that the girle has heretofore said that she did love this little one more than the other brother that was intended her all along. I am mighty glad of this match, and more that they are likely to live near me in Thames Streete, where I may see Betty now and then, whom I from a girle did use to call my second wife, and mighty pretty she is."

vaccine - day five

 so as of yesterday, although our government is stating that vaccination will not be mandatory, there is discussion of a national register of those who will be vaccinated. Now all kinds of variables and concerns come up in relation to this. The main one being what are the powers that be going to do with that information, especially in regards to those who have not been vaccinated.

now it has been raised but I am not an anti-vaxxer. I would rather consider myself indifferent to vaccines. I got one once and I was incredibly sick so I resigned myself to never do that again. You don't call me and I won't call you.

this time it's different. Different types of vaccines with different methods; all produced in record time, about to be used in volumes in a way never seen before. I want everyone to have the ability to legally protect themselves from such a speculative venture, especially in relation to side effects, be it short or long.

friends

 

in my very first post for this blog was some discussion of the very nature of friends on social media. I wanted to reunite a person with his passport and he had over 400 friends on Facebook. I started the process of contacting as many as I could to achieve a result. I got about twenty friends in and the responses started arriving. The first response was probably the opposite of what I was expecting - definitive and abrupt."I don't know him". The next person said she hadn't seen him for years since they were together in Thailand, then another who had seen him recently said she had messaged him on all available media. My mind went into overdrive. Email, fax, Facebook message, homing pigeon with a note on its leg, message in a bottle - just to name a few.

lately I have been thinking about what are the protocols to friendships on social media. Are there differences between you becoming friends with someone as opposed to someone becoming friends with you? Are there limits to the type of and how much information can you send in messenger? I was unfriended by someone for the act of posting about this blog. Others relish the information.

there are a few people I have known for years and we are not friends online. Maybe because we talk so often and if I want to inform them of anything big I will send them an email.

Is there some kind of new hierarchy or a set of standards in relation to social media associations? If so, please fill me in. This goes to bigger questions as what you can and can't do overall. Especially when you know they are they making it up as they are going along. 

someone sent me a link to a person we both know. We both went out with her but not at the same time. I'm not going to expand upon this because I don't want to get banned again. Protocols are so beyond me. Let alone friends.

vaccine - day four

 so there have been a few new developments in the vaccine story. Day four and we are already in saga mode. A strange blend of what we are not being told and now what we are being told. From the head of Pfizer, no less and their track record.

the full track record can be found here - 

https://www.mp-22.com/vax

so there has been an expansion of the discussion of get the vaccine or become a social pariah. If you want to go to a concert or a sports event you may need proof of vaccination or a negative test

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8939601/Ticketmaster-says-fans-need-proof-theyve-vaccine-negative-COVID-test-result.html

meanwhile, who says Albert Bourla can't multitask? He sold $5.6 million of company stock Monday as shares soared 15% on the news that a late-stage trial found the company’s COVID-19 vaccine to be 90% effective.

Surely, based on the scale of what is being planned and rolled out all over the world, can we get as much information as possible in relation to who and to what we are dealing with? Plus this Albert Bourla. Whenever he speaks he conveys the feeling that there is something he's concealing.

vaccine - day three

 

now it's only up to day three and it had to come sooner or later. The "for all I know" moment. Looking around on the internet for side effects so far in trials and for what exactly do all the vaccines contain, for all I know they could have monkey toenails or ground chicken beaks in them. I thought the military industrial complex was bad. Big pharma is huge in comparison.

now we have been given the news that a corona virus vaccine was found to be 90% effective in global trials. 90% effective in doing what? I went to the Wikipedia page for the vaccine and got information on how it works but no mention of what the result is.

today I have been told by the federal health minister that we have on order enough to vaccinate our population three times over. One question. Why would you want to do that? Surely it would make sense to continue testing and those who come up positive should get the vaccine.

my main concern is are they going to demand everyone gets the vaccine? If I don't need it, I don't want it. Not without some kind of legal protection.

as of this morning, there is a new phrase in the lexicon courtesy of our federal treasurer - as soon as it is medically safe to do so. Actually, there was mention of a potential side effect in the same news stream that the vaccine generates the feeling of a bad hangover. The testimony of one person from Texas. So now everything is fine? A little more detail would come in handy here.

monkey toenails and all.

they even have an organisation for that

 

this is David Marchick, Director of the Center for Presidential Transition. The Center for the Center for Presidential Transition has it's own web page and Presidential Transition even has it's own Wikipedia page, listing Presidential Transition Acts from 1963 to 2015.

so is there a fair degree of preparation for a potential scenario? Not that I am undermining or demeaning the organisation. What if nothing happens? Does it turn out that there is much ado about nothing? Surely, it is something that happens only every four years. To be fair, there is a lot of infrastructure to put into place and legal and logistic responsibilities that need to be implemented and  understood that go along with the role of President

is now a whole new scenario? When the president has a tantrum and behaves like a petulant child? Here's the dilemma; the Presidential Transition Act was enabled to establish the mechanisms to facilitate an orderly and peaceful transition of power. Like that is happening in any grand fashion right now.

needless to say, the Center is earning every dollar of its funding at this moment. I envision a late night raid with a team of covert operatives to not so much kidnap Trump but extract him to the nearest Greyhound bus station. And leave him there.

Then the next big challenge; the transition from the President elect to the Vice President elect.

vaccine - day two

so can we slow down a bit here? Yesterday we were introduced to Albert Bourla, head of the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer. Giving assurances about how many vaccines he can produce among other guarantees about how none of this is political. That the announcement of the vaccine now that Trump has gone is merely a coincidence. Well your assurances come across a bit like the assurances of Trump and we've had four years of those.

nothing to see here? Let's not kid ourselves, this person is doing something he knows what to do in this situation; positioning himself in the market place.

can you describe something for me? Especially in relation to the vaccine you are selling me. Significant side effects. Yesterday I was told that one significant side effect was the temperature for storage, by a doctor, no less. Well that is not a side effect of the vaccine; that is it's nature. Don't be afraid to go into some detail. I think I deserve a description a little longer than a news headline and a five minute item. Fill your boots. Take your time.

Actually, can we get detailed descriptions of all the potential vaccines in the market place? And not on business news?

Independent of Margaret Harris of the World Health Organisation who has gone into sales pitch mode, I want a whole lot of detail than what is on offer here.

the fickle finger of fate

 

so here is my standard apolitical caveat; don't take anything I say as embracing or dismissing any inherent bias or affiliation - that's your baggage and I don't give a shit.

so first it was Trump, then it was the press secretary Kayleigh McEnanay. Fox News cut away from their respective press conferences. Fox News. The biggest shill for the Trump agenda has dropped him like a hot potato. Admittedly, the statements were totally without substance or even fact, but my, how the tide has turned. Plus the republican politicians! They are coming out of the woodwork like crazy, denouncing the president and his petulant frenzy. Probably excited to be actually noticed after being ignored for the last four years. 

maybe the clip I saw on YouTube says it best

but I am prepared to forgive someone for their sins. Apparently, nobody knows - 

this stuff better than me / about taxes and income better than I do / more about construction than I do / campaign finance than I do / consultants better than I do / more about drones than anybody / more about this type of technology than I do / in the history of America has never known more about infrastructure / more about H1-B / more about H2-B / more about ISIS than the generals do / more about the press / more about environmental impact statements / more about the environment than most people / more about renewable s than anyone on earth / more about courts than any human being on earth / more about steelworkers than anybody that's ever run for office / I know more about golf than Obama does 

nobody knows more about banks, trade, nuclear weapons, tax laws, law suits, offense, defense, devaluation, money, the system, debt, the game, contributions, politicians, the other side...

if I was the legal body looking into Trump, I would ask him to testify. Forget all the election nonsense. He can take as much time as he likes. Explain all of the above. Actually explain how much he knows about all this.

or when he finally is dethroned he can restart his television career. With a game show. Have contestants like tax and income lawyers, criminal lawyers, consultants, architects, senior generals, scientists, doctors, technicians, maybe a few retired judges and a few politicians from either side, just to name a few. Versus Trump.

"Good evening and welcome to Nobody Knows More!"

do you get the feeling that the powers that be will actually have to physically remove Trump from the White House? When he goes out golfing, get a crack team of locksmiths to change the locks and movers with boxes to pack everything up. Buy some time by pretending something is wrong with the helicopter.

vaccine - day one

 

 

this morning the news announced a vaccine with a 90 percent success rate. They spoke to someone from Queensland, a Doctor Paul Griffin, and asked about potential side effects and they said that it needs to be stored at an extremely low temperature. Well that isn't a potential side effect - that is it's nature. Now it's safe to say that the development of this vaccine has been a bit of a rush job. I want a few assurances before I believe the hype.

what's in it? What are it's contents from established practices to new developments in vaccine technology as far as not only potential but actual side effects go? Sorry, you can publish your findings in the Lancet to the world but I want it extensively described, without fear or favor before I go anywhere near it. I don't want to have a "for all I know" moment, I want to make a detailed and informed decision.

even after this, I want to get a legal document for the person giving the vaccine to me stating that if there are any detrimental side effects, I can sue the powers that be for those side effects. Whatever drug administration says everything is fine - well there is already one uncertainty being discussed even this morning in regards to how many doses need to be applied and you should be responsible for your actions, or in this case, assertions. If you don't know - asserting value won't warm the cockles of my heart.

can we also get some actual reporting in regards to this instead of this lazy news? Within the space of the news broadcast I am still watching and I haven't finished writing, the success rate went from 90 percent to 95 percent. They went to some representative from the World Health Organisation and the first question they asked are the world markets must be jumping for joy? What a tacky and stupid thing to ask.  

centrelink revisited

 

so here are the total deaths in Victoria as of 9th November 2020. The problem is that the site that I rely on has given up on updating the data because the total is 907 deaths and not 817. Looking at other sites the numbers in the 20's to 60's range has stayed the same.

20's	1
30's	2
40's	1
50's	14
60's	28
70's	129
80's	349
90's	283
100's	12

people in their 20's to 60's    - 46

people in their 70's to 100's  - 761

so these are the numbers for Victoria alone but between March and July 2020 Centrelink saw over 1 Million people at their branches nationwide with no social distancing and few wearing masks. Only due to an outbreak of cases at a branch in Mill Park were restrictions and protective measures put in place

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8556099/Fears-Centrelink-coronavirus-explosion-450-staff-sent-isolation.html

there are 918 branches of Centrelink in Australia. They take the form of Access Points, Agents, Remote Service Centres, Service Centres and a My Gov office in Perth. Victoria has 136 of these and New South Wales has the most with 220.

so how many people went to branches in Victoria in their 20's to 60's? How many in their 70's to 100's?

hindsight is an interesting thing when looking back at the restrictions that were not put in place. From March to July. It didn't add up to anything.

Factor in one figure that is not in dispute. The Victorian hotel quarantine bungle was responsible for 768 deaths. Then couple in the number of those who died in aged care homes. The idea of closing down the state as a result of all this was a nonsense. Decimating an economy for how many deaths?

To add insult to injury, this talent less suck hole singer in her best suck hole voice says on breakfast television, hasn't Daniel Andrews done a great job? Well his job isn't over just quite yet and go away, you annoying pest. Nobody asked you. Your job is singing soppy mediocre muck.

I give it to February and there will be a mass exodus of this state. Whatever businesses have left of their crumbled existence will have their sales and then get the hell out of this sorry state. Then we might ask for an opinion as to how great  this hack has done.