Politics is a dirty word

  Once again, politicians seem to have botched the administration of QR codes. Many thousands of Victorians do not have smart phones. If electronic clock-ins are required every time someone travels, the government will need to provide a phone and a plan for every resident of the State. Most mobiles are only used for making phone calls and have no internet capability. Politicians and bureaucrats have equal difficulty getting their heads around the realities of hotel quarantine.

  Australian Government paranoia about China culminated this week in jingoistic comments by a senior bureaurcrat that the “the drums of war were beating.” The Government needs to take a deep breath and pull in its head (or heads). Military adventures in recent years have shown that Australia’s armed forces are incapable of taking on serious combat roles. The Government thought it could partially overcome this by overspending on the F35 joint strike fighter. But the plane has not lived up to the hype of US arms salesmen. There are he a ps of unanswered questions about its combat effectiveness and suitability. Weapons testing reports show that the fighter is an incompletely designed and vulnerable aircraft that may never be capable of meeting its intended functions. Some of the problems are: its guns are inaccurate and damage the aircraft when fired. Its vital systems are vulnerable to cyber threats. T he aircraft fall s short of airframe durability standards which m...

  The  tv chat show by US  host Oprah Winfrey with Mr and Mrs Harry Windsor-Mountbatten was widely anticipated by royal-watchers around the world. But for many it was a disappointment. The interview with a selfish  man ho displayed feelings of entitlement and an actress who clearly finds it hard to live without following a script, demonstrated the pointlessness of their relationship.The appearance was not an interview, it had all the hallmarks of a carefully crafted reality show, designed to create controversy. It would have more appropriately been part of a Jerry Springer 'trailer trash' show or a Dr Phil segment. Meghan can't understand why life hasn't followed her script. She kissed her prince and he turned into a frog!

  It seems odd that Covid19 vaccines arriving in Australia are being flown in by Singapore Airlines.. Why isn’t the Government using our national carrier, Qantas. In these difficult times it would be good to support a home-grown business.

  It's hard to believe hysterical arguments over Facebook’s response to australian Government legislation to try to force payments to private news businesses. Facebook is a free service available to anyone who wants to use it, but why would anyone use it as a source of news when they can go directly to news websites or various providers such as Huffington Post, Microsoft News,ABC News, Guardian Australia or the Daily Mail? Weather information can be accessed directly from BOM, so WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

  High speed computer processing by supercomputers is only a step away from being available to anyone who can afford it, but Government apathy may limit access. Medium sized quantum processors will soon be available to add to our computers (if we can be bothered)but there is some doubt that the quantum software will be ready to run them. Most software companies have failed to invest in the algorithms and features needed to drive the devices. It seems unlikely there will be any benefit in using sophisticated quantum computers for anyone but researchers and engineers needing to solve complex problems.

  With time rapidly approaching for the rollout of COVID19 vaccines, can Australians be satisfied that sufficient trials have beern undertaken to establish the safety and efficacy of the various products. When researchers began to develop what they hoped would be an effective COVID-19 vaccine, it was already known that H1N1 influenza – a novel virus, like COVID-19 – had more severe effects on overweight patients. People with a body mass index of 30 or above had a higher risk of hospitalization and death from H1N1. A 2017 study at the University of North Carolina discovered that the flu shot was less effective in patients with excess weight or obesity. It is not known if similar studies have been carried out yet on any of the Covid19 vaccines. The UK has started trials on children. Why should we trust vaccines that have not been fully tested?