He's back!

...and with a distressingly large email inbox at work....:(

Anyway, Vietnam was great, and I have many thoughts, that I must commit to here before I start forgetting any of them.

But first, have to transfer a large number of photos to the laptop, as that makes for easier posting of them.

Some random thoughts in the meantime:

*  happy to see Lidia Thorpe hurt her image further by her "look at me" protest on Saturday night.  Could never stand her, and the Greens are far better off without her. 

*  I saw about 5 minutes of the start of the ABC coverage of the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney, with the few hosts all dressed up in gay glitter outfits and make up for the occasion.  Also noticed how Kylie Minogue was the big attraction the night before.   Made me think:  do younger gay folk think their older cohort is "trying too hard", and have daggy taste?    But when I think about it, the non enthusiasts for the event have always puzzled over the hyperbolic commentary and thought it might tone down, eventually.   But nah: same old, same old.

*  It has seemed to me that hospital systems in many, many countries have really struggled over the last few months, despite the Covid slow down.  I've read about problems in France, (I think) Germany, and Britain, although the later can blame itself for making it a less appealing place for Europeans to work in.  But I think the cake may be taken by Malaysia, where things are very bad in the public health sector, despite a new government:

Last month, a Twitter account of a group championing the rights of contract doctors that goes by the handle @HKontrak shared a photo of a packed emergency department at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

The post claimed that patients had to wait for more than 24 hours before being admitted to the hospital. It added that there were also about 100 patients waiting to be seen at the emergency department.

The Star also reported that some emergency departments in other parts of the country were facing overcapacity, with patients having to wait for at least two days to get a hospital bed.

It reported that in a government hospital in Sabah, the wait time could go up to two days or even beyond four to five days.

Most recently, a psychiatric patient became agitated and stabbed an elderly man at Selayang Hospital in Selangor on Tuesday, after being left at the hospital’s accident and emergency department while waiting for a bed to become available.

Yes, getting stabbed by another patient while waiting for a hospital bed is about as bad as it can get.

*   I wonder if there will eventually be a Netflix series based on this gruesome, cooked body murder in Hong Kong, involving multiple family members and money?