Not Right

I don’t mind sounding like a broken record when referring to this pamphlet I found in the Medicare office.  Emblazoned on the cover was “Have a Medicare card – it’s you’re right”.

Please government stop peddling this message.  This is what has led to the demise of the health system.  It’s having people think of health services as rights instead of privileges.  It’s the lack of respect for health services that leads to the endless demands from the masses for government to ‘fix it’. 

Government will never be able to fix anything until there is a collective attitude adjustment, and it starts with how we regard our public services.

Continue to view them as a right then enjoy a health system that will continue to decline.  Adjust the attitude and regard health services as the huge privilege it is and you will see an improvement.

It’s up to you, not the government.

Stubborn or Just Realistic

The older generation, especially those that lived through war times, tend to be stubborn when it comes to the administration of health care.  “I’ll be right”, they say casually.

I like this attitude and more people should adopt it, however it has its flaws.

The elderly tend to only ask for help when they really, really need it.  This can result in the request coming too late for help to be effective.

Younger people need to take a leaf out of the book of the older generations.  Don’t be too proud to ask for help but be realistic.  There’s no need to be impetuous, and get majorly worked up immediately.  Just look at the bigger picture regarding your condition.  Is it really and emergency or can I wait to see my GP?  Sometimes a good sleep works wonders. 

Seems that the further we get away from war times the more spoilt we become and we don’t know how to deal with the smallest amount of suffering.

Here We Go Again

The Project covered a story about the ‘glass ceiling’ women have to break through to climb the corporate ladder. 

Natasha Stott-Despoja was on.  She claimed that we’ve had years to deal with this “problem”.  Really? Problem?  We’re still forgetting that most working women have no intent on climbing the corporate ladder.  Rather they are very willing in sacrificing some career advancement to have children.  It’s only the vocal minority that see this as a “problem”.

Some bozo was calling for quotas of women working in public and private sectors.  As if the current ‘targets’ aren’t bad enough.  Quotas and targets defeat the purpose for which they were intended.  Instead of gaining a job on merit, which is what all the complainers say they want, they will now get it potentially on tokenism.  Or there may be the continual speculation of whether it was gained on tokenism.  This would create immense pressure to perform.

Feminists want a level playing field.  But there never will be.  Men and women are different.  Why is that people continually need to be told that?  We have different aptitudes.  Men have strengths in leadership.  Women have strengths in nurturing.  This isn’t to say that women can’t lead and men aren’t nurturing.  It’s a generalisation, because it’s generally true.

A case study from Norway was shown and it featured some interesting consequences from its policy of quotas.  The policy was bound to all publicly listed companies.  So they found that many publicly listed companies got out of the stock exchange.  They also found that there were boards with women directors but it turned out to be the same women on multiple boards.  So no net gain for women in Norway.

People need to really think about what they aim to achieve by such policies and look at their potential side effects.

Changing Minds

Watched the documentary called ‘I Can Change Your Mind On Climate Change’.  It was followed by a Q and A panel on the same topic.

It featured Anna Rose, co-founder of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and Nick Minchin, former coalition senator. Both participants invited the other to speak to a selection of experts of their choice, in an effort to convince them to change their mind.  It was an interesting yet futile concept.

Rose would be considered an alarmist.  She appealed to emotion very often.  Asking viewers to think about future generations or those in third world countries.  She wholly believes that the world will end if we don’t act on climate change.  She is very naïve and idealistic. 

Minchin is less emotive.  He’s labelled a sceptic despite saying that he agrees that the climate is changing.  He takes a common sense approach and is disappointed about the lack of a fair dinkum debate that has long been stifled by a supposed consensus in the science.

The stifling of debate and alarmism over ‘the science’ seems to have been counterproductive, the by-product being the growth of a dismissive apathy from the general public.  This infuriates the alarmists, as they can’t stand the fact that there are people who disagree with them.

Washington DC journalist, Marc Marano, disagreed with her.  But Anna wouldn’t engage in discussion due to her assertion that Marano is involved in dodgy practices in his efforts to discredit climate scientists.  Her strongest defence was that Marano appeared to have links to a certain tobacco mogul. Minchin later rightly pointed out that such a defense was tenuous in that it had no direct bearing on the climate change debate, much less Marano’s involvement in the same. There was no rebuttal from Marc as the documentary moved on, although he appeared miffed at her behaviour.  Not surprising as it was rude, childish and cowardly, and certainly not exemplary of the accepted rules of civilized debate.

Anna’s uncle is a farmer near Moree.  She took Nick there to hear his views.  To Anna it is land like this for which she is fighting.  Her uncle reported that by his own measurements his land is warming - so much so that he is planting his summer crops up to three weeks earlier than usual.  Anna would contend that this is a sign that the science is true; that the earth is warming dangerously and the world will cease to exist with inaction.  Another view is that him planting crops earlier is a great example of adapting to the already changing climate and that earlier crops may mean more crops, or perhaps even a competitive edge in the agricultural market, if there are other regions of the world requiring what he plants, when they’re all waiting for their warmer season to arrive.

Both extremes were on display during the documentary and the panel.  On one end is the alarmism view held by Anna Rose, although even she seemed not to be able to sustain such a tiring stance. At the end of the documentary she stated, “the Science is never 100%”. So the question is, can even she trust the zealous approach she currently takes on climate change, when the data underneath her are turning on a dime? Even Rose herself did not appear entirely set on her stance.

At the other end is dismissing that the climate is even changing.  Fortunately no one on the panel held this view, as this would be to blatantly deny all the fluctuations we have experienced since records began. Like most issues the truth might be somewhere in the middle.

The documentary did manage to crystallise my views on this issue.  The climate is changing as it always has.  It is always active, warming or cooling, currently warming (even though we remain in an ice age).  Therefore causes of warming are mainly natural with a small role played by human forces. The world will not end through inaction but we ought to be good stewards of this planet by looking towards alternate sources of power.  Nuclear should be considered if you’re serious about quitting coal.  In the meantime other sources need to be developed to make them cost competitive and capable of managing base load power.  Our economy should not be harmed unnecessarily in the process.

Sensible decisions are needed - not emotion driven alarmism.

I Love My Ring

The origins of the giving wedding rings goes back a long way. It is a symbol of love and commitment to each other.

But there are extra ways to be reminded of that special someone than the mere presence of the ring.

1. A callous has formed on my hand below my ring finger. It reminds me that marriage is hard work, but worth it.
2. Touching something metallic results in a clang. A ring from the ring that makes me think of my wife
3. Her rings sparkle more than mine but watching her admire them always makes me smile