Odd beliefs. A bit of chaos. Mismanagement.

There’s an old chap in Vietnam, Nguyen Van Chien, who has dreadlocks five metres long. He hasn’t cut, washed or combed his hair for 80 years. As a schoolboy he had to cut it but when he had the “revelation” that he should not mess with his god-given locks he left school and that was that. “I believe if I cut my hair I will die. I dare not to change anything, not even combing it,” said Chien, who believes in a faith that prescribes leaving untouched what a person is born with. Chien follows a near-obsolete faith known as “Dua”, the coconut religion, named after its founder who claimed he survived only on coconuts to retain his vitality. Dua is banned in Vietnam and categorised as a false belief.

Chien is 92. So I think he might be excused for having some odd beliefs. What excuse do the followers of QAnon have? They are mostly Americans but I hear that there are more and more Europeans joining in. Basically it is a conspiracy theory believers group who think that there is a satanic “deep state” of global elites involved in paedophilia, human trafficking and the harvesting of a supposedly life-extending chemical from the blood of abused children. They also believe that Donald Trump is the best hope there is of combatting this satanic group who are supposedly taking over the world, or at least trying to do so. The FBI has declared it to be a terrorist organisation but POTUS himself has neither endorsed nor condemned QAnon. “I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate,” he said. “I have heard that it is gaining in popularity.” However, they like him! That’s good, isn’t it?

And the president has praised Marjorie Taylor Greene, a supporter of QAnon who won the Republican nomination in Georgia’s 14th congressional district, describing her as a “future Republican Star”. Now I read that she was invited to attend his nomination acceptance speech. All of that against a background of continuing racial problems with vigilante groups patrolling Kanosha, the place where the latest shooting of a black man by police.

And still the Republican Convention pretends all is well. “In speech after speech, a collection of Trump’s family members, allies, rightwing campaigners and swing-state farmers portrayed the president as the best hope for America’s future.” So said a newspaper report but then they would say that, wouldn’t they? Thy are hardly going to stand up and say, “He’s made a big mess of things, but, hey! Vote for him anyway!”

It makes our politicians seem quite sane and mostly harmless in comparison. But only for a little while. We have seen U-turns about a variety of things. Contracts have been given to companies with no experience in the field related to the contract. And so it goes on.

And then I read this story:

“The New South Wales government has confirmed that 10 newly purchased ferries will not be able to safely pass under bridges along the Parramatta River if commuters are sitting on the top decks.

Purchased from Indonesia, the new River Class ferries are set to join the NSW transport fleet later in the year, operating along the Parramatta River and on inner harbour routes. The new boats include an upper deck with 10 seats, but these commuters must be called below before the boat can travel under the Camellia Railway Bridge and the Gasworks Bridge near Parramatta due to their low clearance levels.

The NSW shadow minister for transport, Christopher Minns, has criticised the government’s decision to purchase the ferries off-the-shelf rather than have them custom built. “This is another example of what happens when you buy ‘off the shelf’ transport infrastructure from other countries. There are too many variables in our transport system,” he said.”

Maybe the press is producing these tales to make our government look good!

As for us, personally, we just get on with life, observing what is going on and trying to organise ourselves around the changeable weather and the changeable circumstances.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!