Doctor Where?
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer is Doctor John Carnie.
So I’m wondering… Where is he?
I’m sure acting CHO Rosemary Lester is doing a fabbo job, but if the state has a WHO-recognised pandemic on its hands, shouldn’t the actual CHO turn up? Shouldn’t it be all hands on deck?
The Kerang verdict
Just over two years after the accident, the verdict in the Kerang disaster case was returned yesterday. The truck driver was acquitted.
There’s no question over the fact that he was at the wheel, or what happened after impact. And we know that the crossings lights and bells worked, because the traffic coming the other way had stopped, and the lights could still be clearly seen flashing hours afterwards in the TV news footage.
The question wasn’t whether he failed to stop, but whether it was culpable driving. Reading some of the news stories, it seems the jury decided it was not, on the basis that he didn’t see the flashing lights and the train until too late — and that V/Line and others had actually asked for an upgrade of the crossing for some time before the crash because of poor visibility.
No infrastructure is perfect. It can’t save you from yourself if you’re inattentive. I think it’s a shame when people don’t take responsibility for their own actions. And I sincerely hope that others don’t take the lesson from this that it’s okay to behave recklessly around level crossings. The attitude towards them seems quite different to that towards other road hazards — and I wonder if this played a part in the verdict.
Indeed, I’m left wondering what the verdict would have been if instead of a railway crossing warning light and a passenger train, it had been a Give Way sign, and a school bus.
See also:
- My initial reaction to the Kerang crash
- Other bloggers reactions to the crash
- National Rail Safety Week is coming up soon
End of week shorties
Had to laugh at the Indian protestor talking to Jon Faine on Monday who appeared to inadvertantly use the phrase “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians” (at about the 20:45 minute mark, using the ABC media player’s weird countdown system.)
I haven’t actually seen this week’s controversial Chaser episode yet. But judging from last week’s effort, I think the real problem with the Chaser this year is they’re going too far for cringe instead of for laughs. (The Mumbrella blog agrees.)
Oh, and it turns out that The Mansion on the Comedy Channel did the Chaser idea first. “Reasonable Request Foundation”.
It’s June, which means it’s stocktake sale season. I’m going to go looking to replace a pair of work shoes, a pair of runners (the Eccos have lasted 3.5 years), and my old Canon A70 camera (which is finally giving up the ghost after 6 years of good service). Where does one find all the catalogues and the best prices? Well, clicking on the Lasoo banner at the top of the web page would be a good start!
Speaking of shopping, here’s an interesting SMH article on loyalty cards — the real value to the retailer is what they find out about their customers. I’ve avoided such things in the past, but given I go to Safeway so much I don’t know what to do with all the fuel dockets I get (and often forget to take them with me when I do need to buy petrol), I might consider getting one.
Some thoughts on swine flu
I’m not panicking about swine flu. From the cases in Australia so far, it appears to be reasonably easily treated, with minimal effects for those who catch it.
Quarantine? Well I don’t think I’d enjoy it much, but I guess I’d get a bunch of tidying and video-game-playing and DVD-watching done. I’d certainly try out online grocery shopping at last.
Now, I’m not an expert by any means, but it does appear to be spreading rapidly now, and at this rate, may be close to going expontential:
Source: Age and Herald Sun reports each morning noting confirmed cases.
One thing some are suggesting is closing all schools for a week or two. Certainly a lot of the spread so far seems to stem from school contacts. The authorities seem reluctant, citing the disruption it would cause.
But wait a minute. The next school holidays aren’t far away — they start on 29th of June. Why don’t we just move them forward by three weeks? Do it sooner, and nip swine flu distribution in the bud?
School holidays have been moved before. In 2006 they were moved to coincide with the Commonwealth Games. Admittedly if done now there’s much less advance notice, and it might catch some people on the hop.
But I wonder if the payoff — stopping swine flu before it gets entrenched — could be there?
Or is it too late?
PS. Interesting list of confirmed swine flu cases by local government area.
Common decency
I was saddened to see the -600x400.jpg)
damage to the Flinders Street Station stained-glass windows on the news, from the protests by Indian students today, but I think it probably shows just how angry they are about the crimes against them. I’d be angry too.
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said there was a perception that Indian people were easy prey for criminals.
“I don’t think they are (racist crimes) in general . . . We think the majority of these things occur through opportunistic activity,” he said.
I think perhaps Walshe is using too narrow a definition of “racist”.
He seems to be of the view that unless the motivation for the crime is the hate of a race, it’s not racist.
He might well be right that it’s not an inherent hate of Indians that’s behind it. But if criminals are targeting members of a specific race as victims, because they are believed to be more vulnerable and more likely to be carrying valuables, is that not racism?
racism — 1. The belief that each race has distinct and intrinsic attributes.
– Wiktionary
Sounds like it to me.
In any case, enough pussy-footing about.
Until this stops, how about getting teams of TravelSafe staff and police on every single train and every single station after dark on the most vulnerable lines (Sydenham and Werribee), as well as on stations at any other trouble spots.
If specific people in our community are being targeted, common decency dictates that we have an obligation to ensure they are protected.
And if you prefer to take the economic rationalist view, the overseas education industry is worth $15.5 billion per year, and is our third-largest export industry, and given its reputation is at risk, that needs protecting too.
PS. Wednesday: Here’s another interesting viewpoint: Dr [Yadu] Singh, who heads a committee at the Indian consulate looking at Indian student issues, labelled the reporting “irresponsible”. … He feared the outrage could mask the genuine issues faced by Indian students, who Dr Singh said were over-represented in robbery statistics in Melbourne and also faced exploitation by employers.
Clare the bogan
One commentator says Claire Werbeloff (the “fully sick” “Chk Chk Boom” Kings Cross bogan hoaxer) is this year’s Corey Worthington.
Uh huh. Well it might be worth pointing out that last year’s Corey Worthington is now an unemployed nobody looking for a labouring job.
Perhaps the best Claire Werbeloff commentary came from the victim of the incident: “I’m just a bit upset about the fact that I’ve been shot and that I almost lost my life and there’s this girl all over the news getting popular all because she has no brains.”
You dirty swine
Just days ago I was watching an interview with a guy on The Daily Show, who, like most of their guests, was flogging a book. His was called “Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have Fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to the Avian Flu“:
Even at our most level-headed, the thought of an epidemic can inspire terror. As Philip Alcabes persuasively argues in Dread, our anxieties about epidemics are created not so much by the germ or microbe in question—or the actual risks of contagion—but by the unknown, the undesirable, and the misunderstood.
I’m amazed at how timely it seems, given in the few days since, the swine flu has appeared.
So far in this part of the world, only the 10 NZ students have confirmed cases, with most of them already recovered. Their samples were processed at the Melbourne lab of the World Health Organisation, I wouldn’t be surprised if (for once) the media were staked out at a bio lab somewhere.
Let’s not panic unduly, people.
Oh, and can I point out that I’ve had this cough for weeks, and I’ve never been to Mexico.
- One Israeli health official called for the swine flu to be renamed Mexican flu (via Pratap)
Eric Ray Smith
This is Private Eric Smith.
According to the Australian War Memorial listing, Eric, of Bentleigh, enlisted on 12 March 1915. This photo was taken in May. He sailed to war aboard HMAT Wandilla on 17 June 1915. He died of illness on 22 August 1915, aged 27. He was buried at sea.
The listing says that his death is commemorated at the Lone Pine memorial at Gallipoli.
He’s also listed among the other “Bentleigh Boys” who didn’t return from World War I, on the cenotaph.
This pic taken last Sunday. They seem to do the ceremony each year on the Sunday before ANZAC Day, I assume so those attending can also go to the Shrine on ANZAC Day itself.
