Cook and Tasman

 Not the founder of Australia,  James Cook was a celebrated English captain funded by the English crown to sail around the world. 

Cook did command three extensive sailings around the world but met his untimely end in Hawaii, where he was killed by the natives there after getting involved in a misunderstanding with the community there.

James Cook never set foot in Australia or New Zealand.  He sailed around the Aussie coast, even passing by the Wollongong coast, and watched things from afar but in the safety of his well furnished ships. 

Cook had Joseph Banks on board - this was the botanist who later recorded much of the flora and fauna in Australia and drew detailed drawings of plants or animals.

James Cook had his underlings come ashore at Botany Bay NSW, near Sydney Airport today. These underlings are celebrated today as landing on 26 January 1788.  To the many Indigenious people around Australia today, that was Invasion Day for them. 

The British colonials denied the existence of around 200 Indigenious nations in Australia when they arrived - and constitutionally declared the land as empty - Terra Nullius or " land legally not belonging to anyone".

The Australian continent was exploited by Britain in the 18th to 20th centuries as, amongst varied purposes, a place for agriculture, initially sending unwanted people, an empty land to carry out nuclear experiments and as an alternative climate wise to colder England.

The Federation of Australia was created in 1901 by these colonists and the rest is history.

ANZAC forces were utilised to fight the wars of Britain and the USA in the 20th century.

Abel Tasman the Dutch explorer had already mapped the coasts of Australia long before the arrival of Cook.  He was also the first European in 1642 to map some part of the coast of NZ - west part of North Island.

In 1769, on the first of his three world wide voyages, James Cook was the first European to circumnavigate around NZ.

The British colonists signed the Treaty of Waitangi with Maori chiefs on 6 Feb 1840 - this forms the basis of the National Day for contemporary New Zealand.

A few months later, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over a place called Russell, leading to wars between the colonists and Maoris 

The Formula on Covid Vaccinations

 The Playbook

When vaccination rates are low, blame it on the unvaccinated.
When vaccinations cause side effects, always say they are very rare in occurence.
When vaccination rates are high, get the children to be jabbed.
When most people have had been double jabbed of the vaccines - and infections are still spreading - compel booster shots on the population.
When new mutations occur, give the populace the same vaccines when they are yet to be updated.
When fully vaccinated people still get breakthrough infections, blame it on the people.
When vaccinations do not fully perform, force the citizenry to have more jabs.
When infections still significantly occur, emphasise that symptoms are mild.
When infections have to be down played for economic reasons, still insist on vaccinations as the passport for movement freedom.
Vaccinations are to be always least blamed but consistently put on the pedestal with no liability from their makers.
Repeat.

Blog 18th Anniversary - Covid 19 Times

 

Many significant matters in our personal lives, and that of the world, seem and are at the same time put on hold, as if in a freeze-frame of photography -  as media, politicians and commercial medical providers overcrowd our attention to a virus we cannot even see.

And in the rising din, underlying panic and ever changing positions generated by various parties in this on going circus, of how to best manage this c19, it seems to me that things can just be plucked from the air and covert intentions not fully disclosed to the public.  There can be too much talk and too little meaningful action which brings results.  Politicians change their directions increasingly to serve their survival, rather than the health of their voters.  Medical bureaucrats can be under unstated pressure by the powers that employ them.  There are increased concerns in the militarisation of the public management of this Coronavirus. 

The connundrum between choosing lockdowns or vaccinations is the latest dilemna faced by governments.   Are vaccinations encouraged with creating a false positive sentiment as elections draw near?   Why has there been no progress and communication by Big Pharmas in developing a treatment for c19?   Canberra has made serious mistakes in over depending on only two types of vaccines - and looks like only going to over rely on Messenger RNa vaccines in the future. 

Several nations are beginning to stare c19 in the face, as they cannot maintain a zero tolerance approach in snuffing out c19.  Movement restriction, if continued for too long, is increasingly impractical.

Individually, each of us has to grab the proverbial bull by the horn and tame the beast .  For around 18 months, no reassuring results have been achieved by those who rule us - if this was a Board and senior executive of a listed conpany, they all would been sacked at an extraordinary General Meeting.

How I cope is to follow and implement the four principles of self preservation and personal development.

P - Presence of positive spirit and mind is always good to be conscious of and practice.

A - Agendas, good and bad, are to be discerned between the lines, exhortations and varying policies we are put up with.

I  - Intelligence, not Inoculations, is the primary tool we possess to counter this Delta spread.

N - Negativity is to be avoided, so that we can maintain our own clarity and purpose in our journey amidst distractions, deflections and devastation.

Oscar Wilde is reputedly quoted with " Suffering is nothing, when there is love."

The suffering imposed on each of us, in this challenging time, can not be accompanied with empathy, humaneness nor concern by the people and organisations we put in power to take care of us.

So I say, "Suffering is nothing, especially when we just take more care of ourselves."

And I am no Oscar Wilde.

#yongkevthoughts

Where We Are Born, Where We Are Now

 Where we are born holds our cradle of culture and emotion.

Life's mobility offers us more options and choices.

Truly the world can be our oyster when possibilities seem endless.

Choices can only be open for a while before they close again, as history shows.

I value what my country of birth has taught me, but any society can change.

So I am content to practice the best of what my country of birth has taught me, wherever I am.

Two Dominant Supermarts in Australia

 The ACCC complaint in 2024 echoes one of the reasons I hardly go to Coles and Woolworths for three years now....

these supermarkets now make net annual profits of at least around a billion aud.

In past 2 years, when I see their outlets, they have political like banners in big font shouting out 1/2 price, Down  Down Down and such stuff.

Is excessive corporate greed is so obvious from Coles and Woolworths?  Just check with our own gut feel.

The Australian government
mentality is as usual - wait for the matter to grow exponentially and then only point fingers.  Singapore has a different approach.

Coles and Woolworths have grown so market dominant they are too big to fail and are a duopoly, capturing 90 pc of the Australian retail market for groceries. Across Australia, we most probably and instinctively do not say "We are going grocery shopping" - we naturally say " We are going to Coles" ( or Wollies).

I prefer to buy from several other sources like independent local shops, online delivery options, local fresh markets and small businesses.

The most insulting thing from Coles and Woolworths is that they underestimate the intelligence of their customers.

Most of their products are also manufactured processed food with unhealthy dosages of fat, salt, sugar and preservatives.

Coles has also bought into offering Malaysians their products.  My view is to avoid them.

#yongkevthoughts