We Rarely Intervene

"Despite what some people think, we rarely intervene in the affairs of men," they told him, and so it was. An eagle dropping like a stone from 500 feet into complex circumstance. Seeking out its prey. A javelin through to a poisoned heart. Now, his Watchers on the Watch finally realised, they were not dealing with ordinary circumstance. The chances of any of this being "natural", as is, born on this Earth, were so vanishingly small as to be non-existent. The "clitter bugs" as he thought of them, those multidimensional, clearly alien craft which had lodged in the out of phase spaceport opposite him because of the sound, if it was a sound, they made as their onboard computers made millions of calculations a second, as they communicated with each other in order to affect the timeline, as they moved to change the history of this place. 

"Nothing really matters," as Nick Cave sang in a recent song; and in a sense, in the long distance spatial distortion billions of years sense, well no, it didn't. But here, now, for these sentients, yes it did matter. As custodians we are here to help you. To quash the local insanities. To pour water on absurd contradictions. To rediscover your humanity; by which he meant kindness. To help you into a new humanity.

They knew their task. He knew his.

Beloved of Earth. Of a B-Grade movie with more dead bodies than a gas attack. Of organics destroyed by parasites. Of things that only you could understand. 

Yes, the surveillance made it difficult. 

Yes, we were washing into a different state of being. 

Yes, there was more to come. 

Beloved of Earth. 

For Old Alex, he was shaking off a kind of possession, having been seized for days by an arrow of destiny, when he had no choice but to pursue a line of work, when he was greeted with a thumbs up and a happy grin, that all that work was finally beginning to pay off. 

For the nation: there was turmoil at the top. There were people covering their tracks, although their secrets were safe with him, a forgiving kind of creature; if they didn't try it on again. If they stayed to assist or stayed out of the way. And there was a political leadership in sad and disconsolate disarray.

That's what you get when you betray millions of people. You get your just deserts.

HEADLINES

Australia news live: new vaccine booking website hit by technical problems; PNG's Covid-19 crisis

Several users receive error messages hours after site is launched; vaccine rollout fast-tracked over fears Papua New Guinea’s outbreak could spread to north Queensland. Follow live

The Queensland health minister, Yvette D’Ath, steps up:

I just want to reiterate what Dr John Wakefield has said. Any other vaccine in this country, there are reactions to it, they are treated and we never hear about it.

We put out a notice to the vaccination hubs today, simply saying you should make people aware if they have had a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis in the past that they may choose to delay the vaccination, and that for everyone else we will just be extending their observation for a little bit of extra time.

We put that up this morning, so we are standing up today as a matter of transparency and letting the public know that we have told our vaccination centre staff that that is the conversation they should be having with people when they come in to get their vaccinations today.

‘Cannot be trusted’: Backlash over plan for undercover cops after Sarah Everard murder

Plans to send plainclothes police into British nightclubs in the wake of a high-profile murder case have been criticised as “laughable” by policing experts and rights campaigners.

The UK government announced the measure, alongside plans to improve public lighting, on Monday (local time).

It came as the death of Sarah Everard, 33, and police’s handling of a memorial vigil, where they tussled with mourners, fuelled a national debate over women’s safety and criticism of police.

Weight of evidence' suggests AstraZeneca vaccine does not cause clotting: TGA head

17/03/2021|1min

Live breaking news: PM issues warning over COVID-19 situation in PNG

A COVID-19 catastrophe unfolding in a neighbouring nation has prompted Scott Morrison to take drastic and action to protect Australians.

Head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration John Skerritt says reports of adverse events connected to the AstraZeneca vaccine are being taken seriously, but the “weight of evidence” suggests it does not cause blood clots.

“We take all adverse event reports seriously, and we’re working very closely with regulators and health authorities throughout the world,” he said.

“In fact, we were talking almost till midnight last night with about 18 of them.

“We’re goin