4 Corners "The Carbon War" and "At Home With Julia"

If you didn't watch this program on Monday night I suggest you do so
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2011/09/15/3318364.htm
or watch it on Youtube

At least the ABC has got the gumption to stand up and provide some much needed "balance" on the political hysteria surrounding the Climate War, Carbon Tax and our political system.
I noticed the vast majority of people on the show can be said to belong to the WASP older electorate demographic. When I ask younger people what they think, they want the whole debate over and done with and a price on carbon.
If we couldn't do it when the nation was doing so well then its disingenuous to put off the idea now that there may be some tough times ahead. After all the Stern report warned strongly that the cost of doing nothing is even higher. (1% now vs 20% later).
As far as I know most elections produce a Government who then proceeds to govern, not asking us to vote again for another 3-4 years, and certainly not asking us to vote on every big issue that comes up.
And most scientists I know (and I know several) will argue the science with far more accuracy than those climate deniers featured here.
BTW its also the same demographic that is outraged by "At Home With Julia" - Tim and Julia G characters under the flag, in her office, having a cuddle! Give us a break, have a bit of a laugh and remember your history- see Crikey's list of Badly Behaved Pollies to see our finest with feet of clay.
People in glass Houses etc etc
After all we are supposed to be able to laugh at ourselves!

Aged Care & Robots

I watched the ABC's 4 Corners Program last night on the problems associated with the frail aged in nursing homes. It was extremely disturbing to say the least. My partner couldn't take the graphic scenes of bedsores and wounds so missed some of the report. As both of us have parents entering the frail-aged state the problems of how to care for them when they get so needy is worrying.
Mother-in-law already needs some care and has been uprooted from her home and country to reside, uneasily, in Australia. Her needs are simple but not easily met. Her physical health is slowly deteriorating so we all wonder what will happen when she needs full-time care. Her children work full-time and will probably find it very difficult to reduce their lives to the needs of a highly dependent frail woman.
Mother is hanging onto her home and doesn't want to downsize to an independent unit in an Aged Facility. She lives overseas and not easily reached by any of the family other than a nephew nearly her age. She is the main visitor to her older sister, currently going downhill in a nursing home.

So what does my family and system do when mum needs care? Do her 3 children who live in different countries need to develop a plan? And I wonder what she will say. She is fiercely independent and doesn't want to be a burden.

And I shudder to think how the system will cope when those in their 50's - 60's reach the need for aged care as the system will have surely failed under the pressure, unless more funding, carers and systems are in place. I'm sure these people will shout long and loud about their needs.

Ah, perhaps technology will provide the answer as the following article in the Australian Senior Newspaper discusses. Do Robots Care? "Designed especially to assist seniors, the robots will be able to track facial expressions and other cues to evaluate the emotional state of hospital patients or interact with older people living in their own homes."
Obviously they're not designed for appropriate physical care of the patients though. Perhaps emotionally intelligent robots haven't got that ability yet! The next page in the newspaper shows a cartoon with Dr Who's eternal nemesis, the Dalek. Of course the solution here is "Exterminate"