holiday season

[tielan]

On Sunday night, I booked a flight to Darwin to visit my cousin and his wife, who've been living up there for the last year, and whom I briefly saw while travelling through Darwin on my way to Indonesia after being on the Ghan.

Reading all the posts about the advice to Americans this holiday season, I feel vaguely guilty. Also, a little anxious: 4.5 hours flight in a small tin tube with IDK how many other people, any of whom could be carrying COVID-19...

And we have a 'very nasty' cluster of cases in Adelaide c/o a quarantine that went wrong. The current number of cases? 24.

I'm not dismissing it as 'small' - after all, this worldwide pandemic started maybe a year ago with a handful of cases. There's...rather more than a handful of cases in most countries. And yes, in Australia (and NZ) we have a better chance of keeping it under control than plenty of other places because we're islands and a long way off. But...yeah. It's concerning.

Terrible as it might be, I am amused that this has happened to an conservative-led state, without Dan Andrews at the helm, with the ADF in charge, and basically all the accusations/arguments that the conservatives levelled at the Victorian situation completely turned around so they're utterly invalid. Honestly, if I ever doubted that God Almighty enjoys the comeuppance of the smug, 2020 would leave me certain of it.

Anyway, I'm praying for the US, for you guys to stay safe, for your families to be sane this holiday season, for you all to look after yourselves.

I'm also actively at the point where I'm praying for Mitch McConnell and Trump to die so someone with even a fraction of sense can take the helm. Yes. I am going there. I doubt the answer will be yes but I'm asking all the same.

One of the cats has just perched herself on my belly and her butt is about to land on the kyeboard , typing is going to be an effort so I"ll just ring off. here,

Comments

[wpadmirer]

Man, I so understand that.

I've been working so hard to not do that. I want to do it. My heart wants them both eradicated from the planet.

But I read a lot of Thich Nhat Hanh many years ago, and he talks a lot about prayer. I remember in particular one essay about how wrong it was for Bush to pray that the USA be successful in the war in Iraq. He said you cannot pray to kill your enemies. It's just wrong.

I struggled with that, and still struggle with it. But I don't pray for them to die. I do pray that they fail to do what they want to do, and that good people will stop them.

I think it's a good middle ground.

[tielan]

Yeah, I know I can't. I feel bad for even thinking it. So last night I changed it to praying for a way out of this deadlock that moves your country forward in a way that allows for abundance for the many and not just the few.

It is good middle ground.

[havocthecat]

TBH, I hope the two of them stay alive so that there are no martyrs to the cause or something ridiculously craptastic like that, I don't know, I just can't even. But I get it. I get it, they're terrible people and I can't even feel just vague antipathy, I really loathe McConnell especially, and Trump too (and Pence), it's all I can do to not call them names out of respect for the offices they hold, not them, because I do not respect their actions.

Anyway, if you can travel and enjoy yourself, PLEASE DO, I want someone I care about to be able to enjoy themselves and have fun since I can't travel or do any of the stuff that I want to. I'm a little jealous, but I'm glad there's someplace where there's a government that has a fucking clue on how to handle this - at the federal level, not the state or territory level, for goddamn one. (I'm swearing a lot when I think about how we could have done so much better over here. So much better.. You have heard about IL's heist movie shenanigans for protective equipment? If not, lmk, I'll dig up news links.)

[tielan]

It's true that the danger of martyrdom is sadly present in the present situation. So maybe a better prayer is for thwarting at every turn?

And to be honest, our federal government also devolved a lot of responsibility to the states. But the states held the line - particularly the 'big three' of the east coast - NSW, Victoria, and Queensland. Lots of people in, lots of people out, lots of movement between the states. Two Labor (centrist) state governments, one Liberals/National Party - LNP - (right wing) state government; but they all held the line - and one of the Labor premiers even held onto and secured her governments for another four years in an election less than a month ago.

Alas, our LNP in NSW has been rocked by scandals: more corruption in politics, including the Premier turning out to have known her boy-toy (also a politician) was involved in some questionable shit and turning a blind eye. She's held her job for the moment, but...man.

The difference is that the Federal Gove did shell out money for unemployed Australians - and grumbled a LOT about it - but not for overseas visa holders, temporary workers, or refugees. And all the recovery focus from the federal government has been "building, trades, fossil fuel industries" with almost nothing on arts, sciences, social work, or education. Now, tell me what the difference between the majority makeup of the workers in those two groups is, and you'll see that our LNP is pretty much GOP-lite: and trying to drag us to the American model all the way.

Sorry. That got long and I have Feelings about our present government(s). They've managed the situation well, but that's mostly because of the management of the states, not the feds. The only thing the feds have provided is the money for the unemployed - I think the equivalent is your HEROES act that the US Senate won't pass? On the other hand, that unemployment (and rent freezes, etc.) went quite a way to giving people the leeway to stay home and not have to risk themselves and others.

But the idea of Scott Morrison (PM) taking credit for the work of Dan Andrews (Victoria's premier) - who he and the Murdoch Media and the Victorian state LNP battered at like it was all out war? Boils my blood.

[grav_ity]

My absolute wish for Mitch McConnell to die is one of my least favourite things about myself, but I cannot help it.

[tielan]

I am coming around to the position of 'survive, but is thwarted at every turn by Life, The Universe, And Karma'.

An incapacitating medical incident would put him out of action, while denying him martyrdom, and opening up opportunity...

[beatrice_otter]

I want Trump to live.

Why? Because he will still have the worst of America in his pocket and I'm pretty darn sure he's going to keep trying to use them in ways that will really hurt the GOP. For example: he's threatened to start up his own "news" service to punish Fox News for their disloyalty, and if he does, he could absolutely split the Fox viewership. What would we be able to accomplish if that demographic ... was at each others' throats instead of at everyone else's throats?

[tielan]

Yeah, as other people have pointed out, a martyr complex will make things so much worse. And a whole bunch of people are way down the rabbit hole and a lot of others are rapidly being sucked in there, too...

*sigh*

[alphaflyer]

Flying is not so bad. Few people onboard, decent ventilation, everyone's masked....

As for Mitch and Trump, I only want to go To The Pain. "To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.... The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right. ,,, Your ears you keep and I’ll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, “Dear God! What is that thing,” will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever."

[tielan]

My thought is that when I go, it will be private school holidays but not public school holidays - but it's the last week of public school so...many kids may not attend?

Also, with COVID relatively contained here and both govt and citizenry willing (reluctant and screaming bloody oppression in some cases, but still largely willing to knuckle under) there's likely to be a lot of travel this Christmas, given how many people have had to refrain from it through the year...

Anyway, I will wear a mask and it's only four hours.

I hope you're safely back home as you read this and enjoying your time with Eilidh!

(And yes, "TO THE PAIN" would be perfect.)

[queenbookwench]

This kind of makes want to purge by writing a litany of deeply unpleasant yet minor curses: May they have to get root canals and may their pain medication fail at a crucial moment; may they step on a Lego every night on the way to the bathroom, may waiters spit in their food orders, may their cars get keyed, may someone egg their house, etc.