Be kind at Christmas

I just had a phone call from a cousin. He's had a rotten year - hip replacements, bowel cancer, eye surgery. Healthwise, things are looking up for him now, but he is still elderly, and far from fit. 

He told me his Christmas was to be 'nice and peaceful,' which I translate to mean 'lonely and miserable.' There is family close, but they have little to do with him now. I don't know whether there has been an argument or they just don't want to be bothered with him. 

What I am saying to you is, if you know someone like that, forgive the transgression if there has been one, tolerate his faults (you also have faults) and be kind enough to offer to share your Christmas. Sometimes, a phone call is all you can do. But make that phone call. We should be kind at Christmas. Other times, too, but especially at Christmas. 

This Christmas, there is an added complication, the paranoia fed by the media. They are actually encouraging people to exclude anyone who has not been vaccinated against Covid. Know that the vaccinations are not actually very effective. We can all catch and spread the virus, so it makes no difference who joins you at Christmas dinner. Do not discriminate on this basis. Family and kindness is more important than listening to the never-ending propaganda. 

I remember one of my first Christmases alone. I was a long way from home, and working. A work friend made a special effort to come in and give me a small gift. It was so sweet of her, and never forgotten. So be kind at Christmas. It is more needed than usual as so many of us had a rotten year.

This web page belongs to M. A. McRae.

'The Unvaccinated." Making them "The Other.'

There is a sinister thing happening in Australia, but not just in Australia. Most of the Western world seems to be affected. A portion of the population has been set aside for exclusion and even vilification. Now, one would think that anyone has a perfect right to do with their body as they choose. ‘My body, my choice,’ right?

I would have thought it so obvious a right that it would not need defending.  

And yet those who have chosen not to be vaccinated against Covid 19 are being sacked from their jobs - 'No jab, no job.'  

And then there is the 'vaccine passport,' now common throughout the Western World, although it goes by different names, such as the 'Green Pass' in Israel.  Without a vaccine passport, in many countries, you will be denied access to venues such as pubs, restaurants, cinemas and clubs. 

Dan Andrews, dictatorial premier of Victoria, says that they are moving from a ‘lockdown’ economy to a ‘lockout’ economy’– those who have not been vaccinated against Covid are to be locked out of society.

In the Northern Territory, the premier is planning to fine a person $5,000 if they decline the vaccine. 

While none of the Covid vaccines are proving nearly as effective as we were led to believe,  those fully vaccinated can still contract and spread the virus,  at least they do seem to provide protection against serious illness. So ‘The Unvaccinated’ are not a big threat to those who are vaccinated. It appears their crime is more in the perceived disobedience, and now their exclusion from society is their punishment.

Australia has achieved extremely high levels of vaccination for this disease. That is what happens when people are threatened with loss of livelihood plus condemnation from all around. Nurses, policemen, soldiers, workers in supermarkets – all are being sacked if they refuse the vaccine.

 Unbelievably, several Victorian MPs will be excluded from attending parliament this week, because they are either not vaccinated, oppose mandatory vaccination or simply think that their medical information is supposed to be private! 

 ‘The Unvaccinated.’ ‘The Other.’  Some think that exclusion from venues such as pubs and restaurants is not enough punishment. They are to be shunned. Gladys Berejiklian, former premier of NSW, said that she would not want to be in the same room as an unvaccinated person. Jacinta Ardern, NZ PM, said the same, ‘people who are vaccinated will want to know they are around other vaccinated people,’ and acknowledged, quite unashamed, that she is creating a country with two classes of people based on vaccination status.

Worse. There have been some unhinged celebrities who speak of ‘re-education camps’ and indefinite isolation for those still recalcitrant. A certain independent reporter in America was able to get people to willingly sign a pretend petition that those who have not been vaccinated should be evicted from their rented accommodation. He said something like ‘They don’t deserve it when they are endangering us all.’

And many were happy to agree that those dreadful people should be denied even a roof over their heads.

That is extreme. It is also extreme when doctors say they will refuse to treat ‘The Unvaccinated.’ And yet, the Victorian branch of the AMA (Australian Medical Association) surprised and disgusted us when it suggested that unvaccinated people who get Covid should “not disturb the public health system, and let nature take its course”. The implication was that they should not be treated.

 The statement was later ‘clarified’ to say they didn’t mean any such thing. But it was said. And some doctors are refusing to see any person who has not been vaccinated, at least according to a facebook post I happened to see -  “local GP in my area will not see any unvaccinated patients. His negligence has led to delays in serious medical issues in people. I hope they sue him.”

So how are the majority of people feeling about a percentage of the population being denied their new ‘freedoms?’ There does not seem to be much concern.  

What the news likes to cover are cheerful people enjoying themselves now that lockdowns are mostly over.

 They would not cover an incident such as when protesters were peacefully filing past some outside diners, and were subject to foul insults.

Rebel News journalist, Avi Yemeni, covered that story. Calls such as ‘Get the jab and fuck off,’ and worse. https://www.facebook.com/joinRebelNews/videos/627360201770368









So how are the majority of people feeling about such a large proportion of them being turned into an underclass?

Because, remember, this underclass does not only include those who have chosen not to be vaccinated. Some have not had the opportunity to get the second jab in time, some had a poor reaction to the first, and decided it was best not to get a second, some are pregnant, and sensibly deciding not to risk their unborn baby with such a new vaccine, and some do not have a smartphone or are not capable of downloading the particular app to show vaccine status.

Not computer literate, not smart phone capable.

    

Those excluded might also include those who refuse to use ‘freedoms’ that all of us do not have access to. That would be the principled ones, so probably only a few.

 

In NSW, the percentage of the population fully vaccinated with the two doses is now around 86%.  So 14% not fully vaccinated. Add to that the other groups, and you have over 15%  of the population excluded from normal life.   “The Unvaccinated,’ they call them. Effectively ‘The Other.’

Many are likening the exclusion of this group as akin to the way that Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists and other perceived undesirables were treated by the majority during and in the years prior to WW2. While some people were taken away to ‘work camps,’ the respectable citizens averted their eyes. They were ‘The Other,’ and didn’t count.

 So now ‘freedom days’ have come, and the media is happy to cover all of those people enjoying their returned freedoms, limited though they are.

Those not permitted to enjoy a meal at the pub or even go and have a much needed haircut are totally ignored by the mainstream media. The attitude of most is summed up by a comment made on facebook in answer to my post criticising the vaccine passport. “Chill out, nobody cares. The rest of us are getting on with our lives.”

This is sad. This is sinister. How easily the majority of the population can turn on a minority.

Warsaw, Poland, WW2

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Face Masks - mere superstition?

We know that facemasks have no use at all outside, and virtually none when used indoors.  It is an easy subject to research if you doubt that assertion.

Until a couple of days ago,  (regional NSW, Australia)  there was the irrational requirement to wear a face-mask even when outside, even when no-one was close.  Penalty - $500.  And since the police are engaging in 'high-visibility policing,'  ie deliberate intimidation of the populace, it is quite likely the maskless individual will be seen and fined.

But that requirement has been dropped, and masks are only required when indoors. 

And yet, when I went into town today, nearly every person was wearing a mask. I drove past a high school and even there, at least half of the kids (who were outside)  were also wearing masks. 

Why?   Do people believe it offers some protection against Covid even when outside in the sun and the wind?  Even when no other person is near?  

Or are they thinking it is a sign to other people that they are good little boys and girls who do what they are required to do, and then a bit more?  

I think that the wearing of face-masks has gone from being a perceived aid to the prevention of the spread of Covid 19 to mere superstition. It is surely not a conscious belief, but somewhere in their minds, many people think that if they wear the face-mask, no germ (or Virus) will dare to come close. 

During the days of the Black Death, people used to try and avert the threat with 'a pocket full of posy,'  various herbs or flowers.  These days, the face-mask is our equivalent.   It is superstition.  What a shame that the ones who make the rules, arbitrary, ever-changing rules, appear to share that superstition!  

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BOOMERS - 'We had the best of it.'

The Baby Boomer Generation - 'We had the best of it.'

It is something you commonly hear in a gathering of those of us of similar age - 'We had the best of it.'

And so we did. We grew up in a time of increasing prosperity. Few of us knew real hardship. Hardly any of us knew what it was to go hungry.

1950s

In our childhood, we knew freedom that our grandchildren never know - bonfire nights, being allowed to play near the river without adult supervision, learning independence a lot earlier than they do now. In Queensland, there's a law that children cannot walk alone to school until they are twelve. Twelve!

  

Oh yes, we were so much more free than the poor children growing up now.


In our teen years, we grew more aware of the Cold War, and the prospect of instant annihilation by nuclear bomb. I clearly remember one teacher at high school assuring us that there was a nuclear missile aimed right at us, right then. Since it was a small country town, that was quite unlikely, but all the same, just a few bombs on a few capital cities would have meant that an enemy (the Soviet Union, of course) would not need to spare a thought to possible interference from Australia.

'Mutually assured destruction,' they called the policy, aka 'MAD.' In other words, each contender would have enough destructive power to send the enemy back to the stone age, except that the 'victor' would also be sent back to the stone age.

Even now, I found six books on my shelves from that era - all about the likely course of a nuclear war, and survival strategies - if survival was possible.

 

Did we fully believe that the world as we knew it could end? Maybe, partially. I remember my father once asking me when I was around twenty, and I thought about it and finally replied that Yes, I thought there would be nuclear war one day.

We had no control over it, so most of us didn't worry too much. There was the 1962 Cuba Crisis, but we were children then and took no notice. (I suspect it was largely kept from the news, so adults would have known little more.) We must have come closer to nuclear war then than at any time since.

Most of us went on with our lives, but maybe that threat was a factor in the growth of the Hippy movement - 'Make love, not war,' and choosing to be 'flower people.'

Drugs, as well. The drugs didn't get into my local school until after I had left, but the younger baby boomers - some of those destroyed themselves with drugs, mostly Heroin at that time. (They started with Marihuana and LSD was also big in some quarters - 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.')

From Australian War Museum
Australians in Vietnam

The Vietnam War.

Thousands of young men were drafted into the army for two years, where they were sent to be traumatised in a war that we should never have been in. Sound familiar? We were assured that no soldier who was not a volunteer would be sent to Vietnam, but I can remember news footage of a young man being carried onto the ship kicking and screaming. He did not look much like a willing volunteer.

Opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war mounted, and when a Labor leader, Gough Whitlam, was elected, he put an abrupt end to it. I will always be grateful to him for that, as my young brother would soon have been of an age to be drafted.

So our Vietnam veterans returned, quite quietly. Sadly, some of the opposition to the war was extended to hostility toward the young men who were only doing their best to do their duty.

Vietnam now

It was not long later that America also retreated, leaving victory to the wicked communist North Vietnamese. Except that somehow, they have made a rather nice country anyway, and a favourite tourist destination.

Women's Liberation: 

Another major change was the Women's Liberation movement, helped along by the advent of the Contraceptive Pill. By the time I went to work, it was no longer accepted that women would automatically leave their jobs once married, and families became smaller. I had two children, my parents had four, my grandparents fourteen and five respectively, and that is fairly typical of the generations.


Sadly, the feminist movement has totally lost its way these days. The so-called 'leaders' seem absolutely barmy, and would rather invent offences like 'mansplaining' and 'manspreading' than dream of doing anything about our poor unfortunate sisters living under Islam.

The 'Grand Tour.'

That term is from olden times, when a young man was not considered educated until he had done some travelling. It applied only to the rich, of course.

In our day, it was not only the domain of the rich. We worked for a few years, saved our money, and off we went for a year or two of 'backpacking.' We stayed in Youth Hostels, (far more basic than they are today) and hitched rides, or travelled by bus, plane and train. We could work if we chose. As I recall, the 'Working Holiday' permit for the UK allowed us to work for 6 months of each year.

At that time, the plane fare across the world was relatively far more expensive than it became later, meaning that we stayed longer. It is only in more recent times that so many people have an annual overseas holiday. Surfer's Paradise was fashionable then, not Bali, and not places further afield.

The 1970s. 

 Parties, candles, colour. A fad for meditation and Astrology. A fun time, and the first generation where it was fine to enjoy sex before marriage since the risk of unwanted babies was slight.

Marrying, having our own families, and because we were such a large bulge in the population, things seemed to become available just around the time we needed them - everything from pantyhose in our teens (remember stockings and suspenders?) to the slow and reluctant passing of voluntary euthanasia laws right around the time we started to think about our last days of life.


Retirement.

Surely we are the first generation to have sufficient financial security that so many of us have been able to buy ourselves a caravan and become 'Grey Nomads.' Some of our parents managed it, but the Boomer generation managed it in their hundreds of thousands. In the last decade, there have been more and more of us on the roads, in all sorts of vans, from the small and second-hand to luxurious motorhomes. Nearly always friendly, snobbery a rarity. None especially rich, (the rich had overseas holidays) and none especially poor, as the lifestyle did, after all, cost something.

Entertainment around a campfire, gossiping, seeing new things. Enjoying life as much as possible before old age and poor health takes over. 'Adventure before dementia,' some would say. Or 'Every day above ground is a good one.'

Wandering, relaxing, enjoying life

But all good things come to an end.

In 2020, China exported a particularly nasty virus. But worse than that - it has managed to export its notions of how to deal with a population who might prefer to be free than to be confined. The idea of 'lockdowns' came from China, and now, in September, 2021, the idea of having a 'social credit score' and living under constant surveillance seems to have come here as well.

Australia is no longer a free country. It saddens me greatly. The excuse was a disease that kills mostly only the very old and the very sick. And yet what damage the fear of it has brought about.

There are other indications of a bleak future ahead.

  America withdrew from Afghanistan in a show of defeat so utterly incompetent that some have aired their suspicion that deliberate treachery was involved. The Taliban are now in charge there, and the women, never very free, will now be made invisible again behind their personal tents. Under Islamic Sharia Law. How very, very sad.

 

2001

The triumph of these barbarians will inspire other Jihadists. We can expect more attacks. There was already one in New Zealand (3rd September) when a man grabbed a knife in a supermarket and started attacking whoever was close. The 20th Anniversary of 9/11 is imminent. What's the betting that there will be Islamic attacks on that significant day?

And yet, the Islamists are not the threat that China is. It may be only a few years ago that Australia's leaders (very foolishly) signed a Free Trade Agreement with China, but now China is showing itself as undisguised enemy.

It has used economic coercion to try and bring other countries to heel, (and often succeeded) it has taken over the South China Sea, with a few objections, but no-one tried to stop it, it brought down the jackboots on the citizens of Hong Kong a lot sooner than they were hoping for, and worst of all, sometime probably in the next few years, it will try and take over Taiwan. With America ailing under a weak president, it is unlikely that anyone will try and stop them.

Soldiers of the Chinese Army

Once Taiwan has been digested, China is likely to turn its attention to further conquests. War with America would be a disaster.

If America under Biden prefers to act the craven incompetent, as it did as they left Afghanistan, that is also likely to end up in disaster. I don't know what will happen there, but I can see nothing good.

From a free country to what?

There is the loss of free speech, the rise in censorship, the 'Cancel Culture,' and our grandchildren being subject to lunatic ideologies in their schools, such as the ideas that males are bad, that whites are automatically oppressors, and that girls can turn into boys and vice versa.

And right now, we are losing our freedom in our own country. Signing in wherever we go, face-masks mandated whether or not they have any protective function whatsoever (they surely have none when outside alone) and the latest unconstitutional order is that proof of vaccination will be required as a condition of travel and as a condition of doing just ordinary things like having a meal at a pub, or crossing the state border - when the state borders finally open, that is.

It makes me sad and it makes me very angry. Those people who choose not to be vaccinated, (and they have a perfect right to make that choice,) will be the new under-class, along with any of us who stand on principle and refuse to use this new form of control. We have lost our privacy and we have lost our freedom

This image of a little statue which I have had since the 70s is displaying the sign which seems to alternatively mean 'Peace' or 'Victory.' Whichever, it is a sign of optimism.

I hope the reader can feel some optimism, because this lady has none left.

Yes, we had the best of it. 

 

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"No, thank you, I prefer to live in a free country."

 

When they first spoke of ‘incentives’ for people to be vaccinated, we assumed they would be incentives. But they are not offering incentives, they are instead threatening wicked punishment of those who, for their own reasons, either prefer not to be vaccinated or see it as no-one else’s business but their own. We are not living in a free country if we are expected to show our papers wherever we go.

I think, therefore, that there should be mass objection – whenever we are asked to show this ‘vaccine passport,’ we should decline, maybe with the words, "No, thank you, I prefer to live in a free country."

If business owners find that people are refusing to show proof of vaccination, then they will lose profits and think again about their discriminatory practices.

A small sacrifice by some (you might not get into a restaurant, for instance) can help secure freedom for us all.

We MUST NOT allow Australia to remain the police state it has become.

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Australia - Police State.

 

From 12th July, 2021,  Australians in NSW will be required to use a code on their mobile phones to check in everywhere we go!   If a person does not have a mobile phone, the retailer must provide an alternative such as a sheet of paper, or simply record name and some details.  

example - police state

Most other states of Australia have similar requirements, all enforced by wicked fines and an encouragement to citizens to inform on anyone not complying -  reminiscent of other police states such as East Germany in the post war period, Stalin's Russia and present day Communist China. 

The requirement to check in at pubs, restaurants and hairdressers - places where you spend some time - that was accepted by most of us. A nuisance, of course, and there was some non compliance, but nearly all of us went along with it.  The difference now is that we are supposed to check in at every single shop we might visit, even if it is only to pick up a newspaper.  

This is a terrible attack on our privacy and our liberty. I doubt there is a SINGLE OTHER COUNTRY in the world that has these onerous requirements.

I did not expect this to happen, simply because it is impractical, and will reduce the numbers of people shopping for pleasure - so reduced profit for retailers. and considerable damage to the economy, even more than what has already been done.   

Like most things these days, the excuse is the Coronavirus pandemic.  This disease has caused far less direct harm than it has caused indirect harm.  It came from China, probably from a laboratory that was engaged in the reckless 'gain of function'  research.  

And then we followed the example of China with the lockdowns that have caused tremendous harm, even when the same effect can be achieved with less damage. It is like nuking a house to get rid of a mouse problem. It destroys quality of life.  Restrictions on travel, both overseas and interstate, and at times, even restrictions on leaving your home.  Wearing face-masks, and while that can be of some small use in crowded areas, it also means rebreathing your own expirations, which is not good for your health. 

And cruel, cruel things, like a new mother being separated from her newborn baby. Like family being stopped from visiting sick or dying relatives.  Like old people in Nursing Homes dying of despair when family no longer visit and they do not understand why. 

 There was once a government campaign aimed at improving health - 'Life, be in it."

Now the message is 'Life, better not to bother. Stay home." 

We used to sing the National Anthem with pride. 

"Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free..."

But -  we are no longer free.

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Who are the 'carers' in Nursing Homes?

Old people are not objects.  They were once young;  they had jobs and families, ambitions, trials and triumphs.  They are to be respected. Not neglected and certainly not abused.  

Even the children in this old photograph are now elderly. The adults are mostly gone.  They led full lives,  but some of them spent their last years in nursing homes. 

We cannot banish old age, but we must do all that we can to make their last years tolerable. One day, it will be our last years. 

 

Yesterday by Alison McRae

Recalling lost gone days of youth,

No sad tale is told.

There is no fear of life or death,

Young hearts are strong and bold.

Knowing with happy certainty,

They never could be old.

In my selective memory,

Each shining hour is blue and gold.

I can run and skip and dance

And the gentle wind is never cold.

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Training to be a Carer in a Nursing Home:

Lisa Backhouse writes:   

"There is no regulation for care workers in Australia , no national register to guard against this type of behaviour" (hitting residents) "No blue card or equivalent." "Nurses are registered under the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency, but this does not extend to carers.'

  ('The Australian,' May 11-12, 2019)

Below is a post copied from a social media conversation.  It shows just why there are so many carers from other countries working with vulnerable old people. I would also point out that some of these people could easily harbour grudges against white people for perceived past crimes.

"A few years ago a young woman I know worked helping to care for the elderly and had to pay $10,000 to do a TAFE course to become a registered nurse.

At the same time Indian nationals answered advertising IN INDIA which enabled them to be flown to Australia for FREE, do the nursing course for FREE and be ASSURED accommodation and a job at the end of it!

The young woman - born, bred and schooled in Australia to Australian parents had NO such guarantee.

These IMPORTS told her they had NO interest in being nurses! They were doing it for a free ride to Australia! AND many of them couldn't even speak English properly!!!

To add insult to injury these imports got their certificate IMMEDIATELY while the young girl had to sign a stat dec to say she could read and write English!!! There was absolutely NO requirement for the Indians to have to do that!!!"

When I personally enquired into the training to be a Carer in Victoria, Australia, they said it was a 6 month TAFE course. It varies from state to state, no doubt, but is, in no way, demanding, and does not require any sort of personal qualities that might fit a candidate for the role.

 

Below is an ex-nurse talking about the training of carers and the care her mother received in a nursing home.

 'They do a course of around three months, with a bit of placement. Then they are unleashed upon the poor public. Nobody fails the course, and many are totally unsuited to the role. They only need common sense (rare) empathy and kindness (also rare) and a willingness to perform tasks thoroughly and thoughtfully (bloody rare.) They have no medical knowledge, mostly a low IQ, and it's just a job for people who couldn't get any other.

'Mum preferred me to take her to the toilet, because I was gentle and knew the mechanics of 'transfer' without hurting her. I also wiped or washed properly.  I was appalled one day when Mum asked me to cut off her 'dags.' She wouldn't hear of me complaining, for fear of retribution, which is totally understandable. 

'She was also left on the loo and cold for extended periods, mainly due to under-staffing. When being put back into her recliner or into bed, staff often forgot to make the call bell accessible.' 

There was more.  She concludes:  'Helpless people don't get 'care,' they get tight-lipped heaving about by resentful, overworked Personal Care Workers. Yes, a minority of them were good, but I witnessed so much that was quite substandard.'

Probably most of those in aged care are not deliberately assaulted, but that happens as well. There have been stories, sometimes horrific stories.  I remember the smell of old and helpless people lying in wet beds for hours on end quite well, but it appears there is a lot worse than neglect going on.  

  

This one, for instance. A care worker was helping look after a couple in their own home. He wheeled the disabled husband out of the bedroom, and then raped the woman, aged 83.  Old women are not like younger ones. A rape can cause a great deal of damage to fragile and inelastic tissue.  That is not to mention the devastating humiliation of the poor old girl.

The perpetrator accused the victim of framing him, but there was DNA evidence.  One wonders how sick a man must be to do that to an old, old lady.  He faces up to 25 years, the article says. I think that execution would be more appropriate. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7594909/Aged-care-worker-Simon-Prodanovich-raped-grandmother-bed.html?fbclid=IwAR03qPMR_9XXDkF8Tm_x_94iw9kAu8CvW3l56NU1pLugWFs0DW_7wO6gDvU

And then there is the story of an old man with dementia being beaten with a slipper.  'A Sydney nursing home worker was caught on a hidden camera using a shoe to hit an 82-year-old man with dementia, a court has been told.  Footage from the camera, placed by a concerned relative in the elderly man’s room, also showed Prakash Paudyal roughly pulling the resident by his shirt.' 

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/sydney-aged-care-worker-admits-assaulting-elderly-man/news-story/25a1d41df42413d8fc77d845db82ea8c

To make matters infinitely worse, in 2020, there has been the Pandemic - Covid 19.

In some areas, people infected with Covid were sent back from hospitals to Nursing homes which were quite unequipped to treat them and could not even manage to keep them from infecting others.  In New York, for instance, under Governor Cuomo, the death rate in Nursing Homes was horrendous.

In Victoria, Australia, Dan Andrews, premier of Victoria, ordered the same thing. As a consequence, Victoria's death rate was far higher than in any other state. 

Dan Andrews

This was bad, but there are other problems to do with Nursing Home lockdowns. Residents have so few protections aside from the regular visits and concern of family.   In most countries of the world, visitors are banned. Sometimes exceptions have been made if the old person was dying, sometimes they were not.

The ban on visitors was supposed to be so that Covid did not spread to the residents, but without concerned family, I wonder how many of the old ones died of neglect or even malnutrition because no-one was checking up on them.  Little has been reported about this, though I did see something about old people who tested positive for Covid being put on 'End of Life' drugs rather than treated.  In other words, euthanasia, but not voluntary euthanasia. 

I saw a video, too. A 'visit' was permitted - through a window. The daughter saw that her old mother was looking very ill, and pleaded that a qualified nurse check on her. The request was ignored, 'ring back Monday,'  she was told, and the sick old lady was wheeled away.  

We are now in March, 2021,  and most nursing homes are still in lockdown. My heart bleeds for the old people.   Some would be confused, not understanding why the nurses are masked, and why they no longer see family.  How many die, not of Covid or of natural causes, but of a broken heart?   

Right: This is a picture of Grey Nomads.

It is so sad to think that within just a few years, many of these grey-haired people will be the  residents of a nursing home and subject to the 'care' of some quite uncaring 'Carers.' 

Once proud and competent adults are treated sometimes with brisk indifference, sometimes with a surface kindness that masks indifference. They are lucky if they are not too much neglected. 

And this is the saddest fact of life there is.

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This old lady was lucky enough to spend her last years reasonably active. She never lived in a nursing home.

Her grand-daughter, beside her, is getting old now.  I do hope she also escapes the helplessness of living in a nursing home. 

My conclusion -  

It is a very big problem in nursing homes that a large number of 'carers' are from overseas. They have minimal training at no expense to themselves, often no desire to be in aged care, but want the visa that goes with the pretence that they do. Further, they have no special affinity with those of different nationality, different race. Instead of thinking that this old lady is like my granny, they are merely 'other,' and because they are other, a few of them go from neglectful to abusive. This is a big part of the problem, the carers. 

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety report has just been released. It will have appalling stories, stories that make you cry.  It is unlikely to say that using foreign carers could be a problem as that would be  'racist.'  It is not racist.  It is a statement that we need people who care and can see the person in the body of a sad old man or woman.  We do not want our elders to be at the mercy of those who merely want the visa. 

We need our own people to look after our own elders. Training does not need to be extensive, but a bit of common sense is essential, (often sadly lacking) and real caring is also essential. The carers have to understand that the old person is not just an object to be heaved around and food thrust at them, but a human with a history, a person who has lived, maybe had a family and has had his achievements and his heartbreaks. They should be respected and they should be treated with as much dignity as possible. As my own old mother told me once, 'Old age is so humiliating.' It is a carer's job to make it not humiliating, just as much as they can.

Luckily, there are carers like this, usually middle-aged themselves, Australian, who very much care for the welfare of their charges.  It is sad that they are in the minority. 

https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/aged-care/aged-care-reforms-and-reviews/royal-commission-into-aged-care-quality-and-safety

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Nursing Home:  Alison McRae

Imprisoned within helpless bodies, crying voicelessly to unheeding gods to set them free.

Tired nurses patiently coax unwanted nourishment between reluctant lips.

Loud cheerful voices strive valiantly to penetrate the pall of apathy.

Sad wives and dutiful children come and go, hopefully bearing gifts

that cannot heal the grieving spirit, mourning lost independence,

pride and dignity, believing itself unloved, unlovable.

Bewildered wanderers pace endlessly, seeking in vain their own lost selves,

forever haunted by vague memories of a distant yesterday,

of tasks unfinished, promises unfulfilled.

A desolate figure waits forlornly by locked doors, imploring embarrassed passers-by to take him home.

In my dreams their yearning eyes still follow me, pleading hands reach out to me,

And a lonesome voice keeps calling, calling

“Is anybody there?”