Qantas Shutdown.

I'm not going to comment on the dispute between Qantas and the Australian Transport Workers Union (TWU) because that's been going on for ages. However yesterday (29/10/11) the Australian national airline Qantas shutdown all it's operations in response to strike action by the TWU. Australia has just finished hosting the heads of government summit for members to the British Commonwealth. The shutdown has made it very difficult for delegates to leave the country after the summit forcing them to liaise unofficially with their hosts. Australia is also trying to show loyalty to the British Crown by heaping pressure on China - the regional power - ahead of the upcoming G20 summit.

Oh and Lewis Hamilton has been having a bad time at what turned out to be a rather dull inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Apparently India shares a land border with China.

Edited at around 18:40 on 30/10/11: I'm going out for a cigarette.

Apart from that an Australian court has ruled on the Qantas dispute. Flights must resume and the strike must end. This is exactly what Qantas wanted because the strike did not cause the shutdown. Instead Qantas chose to shutdown the flights in response the strike. The idea was to cause a threat to the national economy in order to force the government to break the strike. I don't see this ending well for the Australian Prime Minister because she's a left-winger in the Obama/Blair mould and therefore supposedly backed by the unions. Also it is the policy of the realm to court not confuse China hence Cameron's announcement that British flag carriers (British Airways) should be allowed to shoot "pirates" before they start causing trouble.

Also this evening I've been to visit my grandmother. As no physiotherapy has been provided she fell again. As no psychological treatment has been provided she was very depressed. This depression was made much worse by the fact her glasses which are essential for sight had gone missing. Fortunately I found them nestling beneath nurse Janet Edwards ward notes. I hate to be dramatic but this sort of sensory deprivation is actually one of those techniques everyone calls torture when they're used at Guantanamo Bay.