The right to dry.

A battle is raging across the United States by people fighting for the right to dry their laundry naturally outside on clotheslines.



See Drying for Freedom (trailer of film above)

Tens of millions of individuals across Northern America are banned from outdoor line drying by the very communities they live in, forcing them to turn to the dryer. Homeowners who break the rules are fined, sued and even foreclosed on. This ban is not only infringing on civil rights, it's contributing to the environmental and energy crisis. The dryer is responsible for 6% of the average household's energy bill and it costs residential ratepayers in the US an estimated $5 billion annually.

The right to dry movement embodied by Project Laundry List was founded following a speech by former Australian Dr Helen Caldicott.

See also Chicago Tribune and BBC News Magazine.

The concept of not being allowed to dry clothes outdoors is unthinkable in Australia, where the rotary clothesline known as the Hills Hoist was invented.

Why is it that racists can't spell?

Marieke Hardy, writes for ABC The Drum and is fairly insightful. Her piece 'How do you spell racist?' begins with the following

So the story goes like this. Victorian Labor MP Don Nardella recently received a letter from a very cross constituent who took him to task for not paying enough attention to his 'people' or parking in a no standing area or wearing the wrong tie or whatever. Contained within the presumably passionate missive was the accusation "You seem to not want to help anyone except the immagration people".

Mr Nardella, offended by both the implication and the spelling, penned the following reply: "My advice to you stands from my initial email reply. Learn how to spell 'immigration' before using the word again".

Of course, Hardy did not suggest that the correspondent might be racist but it was a good lead-in to the rest of her article citing other examples. Mr Nardella, responding to the Herald Sun newspaper, defended his response

"Obviously there's a slur there," he said.

"I felt pointing out her spelling mistake was the gentlest way ... to say that her comments were inappropriate."

Perhaps Mr Nardella should have been more blunt.

Back to Ms Hardy's article - read more here. She does have a point. More often than not, the most intolerant people, dare we say bigoted, are usually the least literate. Says a lot really.

France: creating second class citizens

Reported by Bloomberg (and other media outlets)

The French government will present a bill in September empowering it to strip naturalized citizens of their French nationality if they commit serious crimes, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said.

The law would apply to people who have been French for less than 10 years and who commit crimes punishable by more than five years in prison, Besson told journalists after leaving a Cabinet meeting today in Paris.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, responding to a recent spate of riots and violent crimes, said in a July 30 speech in the Alpine city of Grenoble that violent criminals with “foreign origins” should be stripped of their citizenship. There was a night of rioting in Grenoble last month after police shot dead an armed 27-year-old of North African origin who led them on a car chase after robbing a casino.

Read more. See also reporting in Le Figaro (in French).

For a nation that has liberté, égalité, fraternité as its national motto, it is strange that they plan to create a separate class of citizenship for the foreign born. The concept of citizenship is that once it is conferred, that person would be treated equally like other citizens irrespective of country of birth. The same laws should apply equally to all.

Applying different laws to a notionally different class of citizens undermines the concept of equality and citizenship. Citizenship can't be conditional. Either a person is or isn't a citizen.

cruel and pointless

I've written many times expressing abhorrence over cruelty to animals including hunting for sport. The Observer recently reported that the last female rhinoceros at Krugersdorp game reserve in South Africa was killed by poachers for her horn, leaving an orphaned calf. Excerpt

South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off.

Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said Japie Mostert, chief game ranger at the 1,500-hectare Krugersdorp game reserve.

The gang used tranquilliser guns and a helicopter to bring down the nine-year-old rhino cow. Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos.

Wanda Mkutshulwa, a spokeswoman for South African National Parks, said investigations into the growing number of incidents had been shifted to the country's organised crime unit. "We are dealing with very focused criminals. Police need to help game reserves because they are not at all equipped to handle crime on such an organised level,'' she said.

Rhino horn consists of compressed keratin fibre – similar to hair – and in many Asian cultures it is a fundamental ingredient in traditional medicines.

Read more.

Hunting - killing innocent animals for sport or fun is despicable. Killing endangered species is just as wicked. Even worse is the manner in which they are killed.


The Observer caption "The last rhinoceros cow in Krugersdorp park, South Africa, bled to death on Wednesday after poachers hacked off her horn. Photograph: Reuters"

unbearable cruelty 3

I've previously written twice about hunting for sport.

Treehugger (part of Discovery, with Discovery channel and Animal Planet) reported about American hunters travelling to Canada to hunt polar bears, including a video from the Humane Society of the United States.



Killing an innocent animal for sport or fun is seriously disturbing.

Allowing hunting of polar bears is so at odds with conservation efforts by various organisations such as Polar Bears International.

Obama the socialist?

Protestors descended on Washington DC on Saturday 12 September 2009 in fear and lack of understanding.

There seemed to be concern about government spending on health care. Strange, these same people didn't complain about the government bailing out the financial sector.

Perhaps they should complain about their taxes being spent on schools too, and on public transport.

Barack Obama was elected to do a job. Critics should deal with it. After all, many others had to deal with that imbecile of a president who occupied the office previously. He spent even more money on a war half a world away.

See
- Wall Street Journal
- New York Times

unbelievable cruelty

From Mercy For Animals

Thrown, dropped, mutilated, and ground-up alive. This is the shocking reality faced by hundreds of thousands of chicks each day at the world's largest egg-laying breed hatchery – Hy-Line International in Spencer, Iowa.

New hidden camera footage obtained at this facility during a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation gives a disturbing glimpse into the cruel and industrialized reality of modern hatcheries.

The warm, comforting, and protective wings of these newly hatched chicks' mothers have been replaced with massive machines, quickly moving conveyor belts, harsh handling, and distressing noise. These young animals are sorted, discarded, and handled like mere cogs in a machine.

For the nearly 150,000 male chicks who hatch every 24 hours at this Hy-Line facility, their lives begin and end the same day. Grabbed by their fragile wings by workers known as "sexers," who separate males from females, these young animals are callously thrown into chutes and hauled away to their deaths. They are destined to die on day one because they cannot produce eggs and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat. Their lives are cut short when they are dropped into a grinding machine – tossed around by a spinning auger before being torn to pieces by a high-pressure macerator.

Over 30 million male chicks meet their fate this way each year at this facility.

For the surviving females, this is the beginning of a life of cruelty and confinement at the hands of the egg industry. Before even leaving the hatchery they will be snapped by their heads into a spinning debeaker – a portion of their sensitive beaks removed by a laser. Workers toss and rummage through them before they are placed 100 per crowded box and shipped across the country.

The callous disregard for animal welfare at this facility is not isolated. In fact, the conditions documented during this investigation are completely standard and acceptable within the commercial egg industry. Referred to by Hy-Line corporate leaders as mere "genetic products," these chicks are treated just as they are viewed – as inanimate objects, rather than the sentient creatures they are.

Egg producers have gone to great lengths to hide their cruel practices from consumers. Grocery aisles from coast-to-coast are stocked with egg cartons featuring idyllic images of free-roaming hens and crowing roosters. These deceptive marketing gimmicks conceal the cruel and violent nature of industrial hatcheries and egg factory farms.

Consumers have a right to know the truth behind egg production.

Citing the troubling findings of this investigation, Mercy For Animals is calling on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to require that all eggs sold in their stores bear a label reading, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry."

Reported by Associated Press and San Francisco Chronicle

If living sentient beings are going to be treated as commodities, the least that humans can do is to treat them humanely.

If it is really necessary to destroy "unproductive" male chicks, then their "disposal" should be supervised by humane societies.

swine flu over-reactions

Egypt has no swine flu cases and that variant of the flu is not spread by pigs to humans, yet the Egyptian government has ordered the destruction of 300 000 uninfected pigs (AP).

China singles out Mexicans for special testing, even though they have been in China all along (AFP).

According to the CDC, the regular flu kills 36 000 people in the United States every year.

The mortality rate of anything new is grossly over-estimated. Nothing like a good scare for governments to show who is in control. Control being the operative word.

foodie kids

I was most impressed with this article in the (Melbourne) Herald Sun

Hey mum, pass the oysters
Kylie Hansen

January 07, 2009 12:00am

AN army of tiny, sophisticated child foodies is changing Melbourne's dining scene.

Personalised and multi-course menus, allergy-sensitive dining and sandpits are part of an arsenal of offerings by restaurants and cafes to lure children.

And it's food-savvy children who are often in charge of where parents spend their restaurant dollars, according to industry experts.

* Kids' menu: Parents campaign for better food for children
* Tips and links: How to enjoy eating with kids

"The child diner is a growth industry," said Restaurant and Catering Victoria CEO Todd Blake.

"Children are becoming more sophisticated diners than in the past, and business is starting to see the importance of children in terms of their appeal.

"Often it is the four-year-old who has control of the $130 parents spend on dinner."

The Pantry in Brighton offers crayons, tablecloths that double as drawing paper, takeaway child juices and milkshakes to match mum's coffee, and 4pm dinner starts.

"It can be a bit of a zoo in here sometimes and there are perils to child dining -- waiters sometimes end up being childcare workers," said Pantry manager Tim Purton-Smith.

Gail Donovan, of Donovans, said she had noticed a change in the role of children.

"Parents are more relaxed to be out with their kids," Ms Donovan said.

"We notice lots of little babies here and from age four they become quite sophisticated at eating out.

"While we offer a child menu, we find many parents talk them through the main menu and children order from that."

Even the city's high-end establishments are happy to cater to children.

"We do get regular guests who make it a priority to bring their children so that they can show them fine dining," said Vue de monde marketing manager Anna Augustine.

She said the adjoining Bistro Vue offered a children's menu, with mains $16.

The Boathouse restaurant in Moonee Ponds offers a children's menu and will customise food to a child's tastes.

The Boathouse menu doubles as a colouring sheet while Birdie Num Nums cafe in Carlton has installed a sandpit and enclosed play area.

Even Lynch's in South Yarra, well known for its no-child policy, is considering letting children in to its soon-to-be-opened bistro area.

And even advice

Tips to dining with kids
Kylie Hansen

January 06, 2009 12:00am

TIPS to successful dining with kids

Some ideas from Jacqi Deighan, chef, children’s food educator and spokeswoman for the Parents Jury:

YOUR local Thai, Japanese, Greek or Indian are often a good starting point, as they have a wide variety of flavors and tastes to try.

IF the children’s menus is not to your liking, encourage children to order from the main menu. Within reason allow them to choose what they want to try. Avoid saying ‘You won’t like that’ and consider ordering one for everyone to share. Praise them for trying new things.

IF your kids are only used to kids menus try expanding their taste buds a little. Restaurants that offer ‘tasting plates’ are a great way to introduce new foods and flavors. Middle Eastern, Spanish, Turkish and Greek restaurants are good at this.

MAKE sure your kids are hungry but not ravenous as they may try something new but if they are starving they may become irritable and restless.

EAT early, before the restaurant becomes too busy, and leave before boredom sets in.

MAKE it an experience the kids will want to repeat and let them see you eating and enjoying good food.

All those so called "children's meals" at fast food joints - Happy Meal anyone? - are a con job, equally marketed to parents as well as their children. Why would a child eat that junk when they can discover interesting cuisine.

I was at a food court once and overheard a child asking her mother for some satay sticks at a curry stall. Her mother's reaction was to refuse and take her to McDonald's. I was appalled. Grown ups with no palate for tasty food are depriving their children and responsible for them eating junk.

***********
Today was a very hot day.

rescuing Marley and Me

I read Marley and Me a few years ago on the recommendation of Emily. It was a nice story of a real life account of living with a Labrador. I don't know why it had to be adapted into a film, but here is a good article about some important issues with the adaptation in the Los Angeles Times.

Marley & Me" spreads a rescue-friendly message

5:55 PM, December 24, 2008

When the live-action "101 Dalmatians" film was released in 1996, the American Humane Assn. was overwhelmed by the public's response; filmgoers purchased dalmatians in droves, often with unpleasant end results for the dogs. Since dalmatians are a high-energy (not to mention large) breed, many families found out too late that they didn't fit in with their lifestyles and the dogs wound up abandoned in shelters across the country.

More than a decade later, the organization had an education-centric plan in place for the release of "Marley & Me," the new film based on the best-selling novel by John Grogan and starring Jennifer Aniston (along with the 22 Labrador retrievers who play Marley at various ages).

The idea was threefold: to make sure that Labs (already the most popular American Kennel Club breed) don't become impulse purchases for the "Marley"-viewing public, to encourage adoption and to nip opportunistic puppy-mill breeding in the bud. (Puppy mills have notoriously flooded pet stores with breeds featured in popular movies, like "101's" dalmatians and St. Bernards after the release of "Beethoven.")

The group partnered with 20th Century Fox, the studio behind "Marley," to distribute pet ownership tip pamphlets and educate viewers about the importance of adoption. (Clyde, the dog who played Marley during most of the film, is a rescue himself.) Adoption events and a pet food-blanket drive were held in connection with "Marley" premiere screenings. "[Fox was] one of the most outstanding studios that I've had the opportunity to work with," says Jone Bouman, the head of communications for American Humane's Film & TV unit. "I'm just so grateful to them."

American Humane (not to be confused with the Humane Society of the United States) is the group behind the "no animals were harmed" end-credit disclaimer. They supervise and rate more than 1,000 productions a year to ensure the welfare of animal actors ("Marley" received an Outstanding rating).

Early reviews for "Marley" look good -- Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman calls it "the single most endearing and authentic movie about the human–canine connection in decades." And PETA, not to be outdone, gives it "two paws up."

--Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Dan Steinberg/Associated Press

It is a timely message as many dogs end up in shelters at this time of the year, surrendered by their people before they go on holidays (vacation) instead of paying for board. They are joined by puppies who were unwanted Christmas gifts.

See also, from the Sydney Morning Herald
- Grim end for Christmas puppies
- Dead dogs walking get reprieve
- RSPCA says adoption is best

People who treat companion animals as if they are disposable are despicable.

*******************
Seven days off work now, and I have not done anything I intended like tidying and cleaning the house.

unbearable cruelty 2

From Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund press statement of 3 September 2008

SARAH PALIN SUPPORTS SHOOTING WOLVES AND BEARS
FROM AIRPLANES
Governor is Strong Proponent of Controversial Alaska Program

Washington, DC - Alaska Governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a strong promoter of the aerial hunting of wolves and bears, a practice that has been condemned by conservationists, scientists and many hunters alike. It involves shooting wolves and bears from the air or chasing them to exhaustion and then landing and shooting them point blank. The animals, shot with a shotgun, usually die a painful death. The hunters involved in the program keep and sell the animals' pelts.

"Sarah Palin's anti-conservation position is so extreme that she condones shooting wolves and bears from airplanes or using airplanes to chase them to exhaustion and then shoot them point blank. Most Americans find this practice barbaric, but it's routine in Alaska under Palin's leadership," said Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund president Rodger Schlickeisen.

Sarah Palin has supported aerial hunting since taking office despite the fact that the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, the American Society of Mammalogists, and more than 120 other scientists have called for a halt to the program, citing its lack of scientific justification and despite opposition from many hunters who see it as violating the sportsmen's ethic of fair chase. Palin in 2007 even proposed offering a bounty of $150 per wolf, as long as the hunter provided the wolf's foreleg as proof of the kill. And just earlier this year, she introduced legislation to expand the program and derail a scheduled August 2008 citizens' vote on the issue. The bounty was determined to violate the state's constitution and her legislation failed.

"Sarah Palin's positions against America's wildlife could put her to the right of even the Bush administration," said Schlickeisen. "She is a promoter of one of our nation's most ugly and cruel wildlife hunting programs and Americans deserve to know her views on such matters before they vote."

Killing innocent animals for sport or fun is abhorrent. Utterly despicable.



**********************
Another do nothing day today. Just saving up the chores until next weekend!

unbearable cruelty

The 'world famous' bearskin (hat) worn by the ceremonial Grenadier Guards will finally go. See the Guardian.



PeTA's campaign worked. Actually, I was surprised that bears in north America were still being hunted and killed just to make those hats.

Where bears skin comes from (warning - this may be highly disturbing)


I find any form of hunting despicable, being that it is some form of enjoyable leisure time activity or sport. Killing for pleasure is disturbing. To make an animal suffer is beyond redemption. Even rangers who need to kill bears because they are a danger to human life do so humanely using tranquilisers first (I hope).
******************
I lost my glasses.... again, second time this year.

Oh dear! Celebrities should stick to their principles.

Last year, I wrote about Sophie Monk going nude for vegetarianism for a PETA campaign.

She even criticised KFC.

Now look what she's done.


Why should the general public take any notice of celebrities who cannot stick to their principles?

***************
What a boring day today at work.

Stella came over after work for dinner of duck leg confit, roast pumpkin and beetroot, and broccoli. She didn't want to come when I walked Kane.

child labour and child exploitation

There was an International Conference on Child Labour and Child Exploitation, which has just been held in Cairns, Queensland (in northern Australia). From the conference, comes this report in The Age newspaper (it makes somber reading)

Women tricked into selling unborn into slavery
Carol Nader
August 5, 2008

UNBORN babies are being trafficked across international borders and born into slavery and prostitution, and are deliberately maimed and forced to beg, Chief Federal Magistrate John Pascoe says.

Mr Pascoe said pregnant women were coaxed from poorer countries with a few hundred dollars and deceived into believing their babies would have better lives. Instead, the women gave birth and did not know what became of their babies. They were not registered at birth and never officially existed.

Some were illegally adopted or their organs were removed for the foetal tissue for restorative or so-called health purposes. Some were recruited as child soldiers or groomed into athletes.

"These women travel and give up their child for various reasons: they may be coerced through debt bondage, have themselves become trafficked victims and become pregnant during their servitude, been offered monetary compensation and free maternity care for their child, or it may be that traffickers prey on their maternal instincts with promises of a better life for the child," Mr Pascoe said yesterday in a speech at a child labour and exploitation conference in Cairns.

"Whatever the reason for the movement of the pregnant mother, one must have grave concerns that the child will not be born into a better life, but taken from the mother and forced into a life of exploitation which may also be quite short."

Mr Pascoe told The Age he was prompted to expose the issue when, early this year, he was in the Golden Triangle around Thailand, Burma and Laos. "I met a number of women who were themselves victims of trafficking. They had contracted HIV and then were literally sent back to die," he said.

"It's hard to believe that this sort of wickedness would be out there."

Mr Pascoe said it was an issue in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. He said the law was ambiguous when it came to protecting unborn babies, because of the debate about when a baby became a legal person. While this debate usually took place in the context of abortion, it should apply to babies yet to be born.

"Part of the problem is it's so hidden. These children are the ultimate victims, they don't even know where they've come from," he said.

"We understand that some of them are used for sexual exploitation. They can be used for pornography from a very young age. It's absolutely horrible. Some of them are deformed and then used for begging. They're not born deformed but they are maimed and deformed and then used for begging because people feel sorry for them and give them money."

He cited a case in 2004, in which Italian police arrested six people who had recruited pregnant Bulgarian women in the hope of trafficking their babies.

Save the Children child rights adviser Holly Doel-Mackaway said: "It's hidden because there's so much silence that surrounds this crime.

"When people are trafficking unborn children they are trafficking an entity that hasn't taken a breath yet, that isn't yet considered a human being."

World Vision chief executive Tim Costello said it was dispiriting that the law did not protect unborn babies.

"They just disappear, and that's what's terrifying," he said.

"What we know with child labour is these children are modern-day slaves."

Attorney-General Robert McClelland told the conference at the weekend that child exploitation was abhorrent. "It strikes at the most vulnerable members of our society. It strikes at our very humanity."

People who exploit other human beings are truly evil. This includes underpaying rightful wages and denying other people their human rights. Sickening indeed.

*************
I left work earlier today and Sue B gave me a ride home. Unfortunately it was raining, so the timing wasn't even conducive to going on an early walk with Kane. In fact, I fell asleep on the couch for an hour.

Saving Lucy's bacon

From The Age (3 August 2008)

Little Lucy threatens pig farmers' bacon

TOMORROW in Canberra, senior executives of Australian Pork Ltd are meeting to draft a media battle plan — in response to a sad-sounding little girl they had hoped would go away but now threatens the pig industry.

"We certainly could be hurt by this," says Australian Pork CEO Andrew Spencer. "We didn't want to come out and pour fuel on the flames, but I think it's got to a point where we have to make some sort of response."

What's got pig farmers squealing is a radio ad campaign by Animals Australia. It features a young child voicing the purportedly miserable life of a pregnant sow kept in confined quarters.

In one ad, with the sound of babies crying in the background, the girl says: "Everybody's crying today. It's the same every day. It never stops … I wish I could close my eyes and not wake up and then I wouldn't hear it any more."

Disturbing enough, but what's got talkback radio listeners complaining is the campaign's punchline, voiced by a deep-voiced man: "It is commonly accepted that a pig has the intelligence of a three-year-old child."

In fact, outrage is such that donations from horrified listeners are keeping the campaign running. "We only had enough money to pay for a week's worth of air time in the capital cities," says Glenys Oogjes, Animals Australia's executive director. "But the overwhelming public support means we are now in our fourth week … and I don't know how long it's going to last."

The campaign, "Lucy speaks", was designed by Sydney creative director Josh Moore three years ago when he was working in New Zealand. Asked to tackle controversial pig-farming practices, such as the use of sow stalls, he came up with Lucy Speaks.

The Kiwi version of the campaign died because of a lack of money. But this time, as cash pours in, it is bringing home the bacon.

Here is the link for Animals Australia's Lucy Speaks campaign.





The Animals Australia campaign is only on radio. No doubt if it was on television, the reaction would be even stronger, like this YouTube clip.



It makes turning vegetarian a decent (and humane) proposition.

*********************
Today was another almost lazy day. After weeks of neglect, I did some house cleaning and also aired out the house with the front and back doors open. Still, there is nothing better than daytime naps on the weekend.

when people confuse art with porn

There has been a debate in Australia about whether world renown photographer Bill Henson's photographs of naked youth are art or child pornography.

Bill Henson's recent exhibition, which included naked youth, at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, Sydney, was cancelled following complaints by Hetty Johnston, a child protection campaigner.

Police seized some of the exhibits in order to work out what charges could be laid. In the end, no federal charges were laid. In the meantime, every gallery in Australia examined their collections in a climate of vigorous public debate, joined in (somewhat unnecessarily) by the Australian Prime Minister.

See
- The Age 'The controversial career of Bill Henson'(25 May 2008)
- Eureka Street (2 June 2008)

Fellow artist Victoria Larielle is exhibiting her photographs in support of Bill Henson and to protest against censorship (Herald Sun, 3 June 2008)



What is really wrong with this picture (excuse the pun) is that there are people who are unable to see photographs of nudity, particularly of children or youth for what it really is, innocent nudity in its natural state. The real people with the problem are those who see things that are not there. They should not be the moral arbiters of society.

Nudity/nakedness does not have to be sexualised.

What is more disturbing are advertising images of children in provocative poses who are still fully clothed. Even worse are American child pageants.

*******************
I went to the football club today, but the database I was working on was down so I didn't stay very long. I went to Thomas and Sarah's place and went dog walking with them and Timmy and Morgan, the Beagles who are not very obedient. No wonder I so enjoy walking Kane, who is such a pleasure.

more on food prices

Food prices have been rising in Australia, along with housing (rental or mortgage repayments due to rising interest rates), and petrol.

Reported in The Age about one family:

Rebecca Avery, 43, and her family have felt the impact of the rising cost of living. As Ms Avery, a single mother, struggles with a mortgage, rising food and petrol prices have taken their toll on her fortnightly budget.

For Ms Avery and her two daughters, Georgia, 14, and Kaitlin, 12, eating at restaurants and getting take-away food has become a luxury.

At the supermarket, she said, lamb cutlets have been replaced by mince meat. "It's the petrol that's so expensive, food and vegetables and meat are also ridiculous," Ms Avery said.

Lamb cutlets? At over $30 per kg, they have always been a luxury. Silly woman, she needs to shop smarter. If she was buying lamb cutlets and now talking about mince meat, I have no sympathy for her.

Firstly, mince meat is around $10 per kg. If she knew how to shop smarter, she would know that corned silverside can be bought for as little as $5 per kg. Instead of lamb cutlets, she can buy lamb forequarter chops on special for under $6 per kg.

I have as much sympathy for someone complaining that they can no longer afford lamb cutlets as someone who can no longer afford lobster.

Eating at restaurants and getting take-away (take-out)? I grew up in a working class household. We were lucky to have take-out. Restaurants were out of the question and only for really special occasions (I can only remember twice as a child/teenager).

It seems that too many people want more than they can afford these days.

*****************
A quiet day today, although I was out in the afternoon to watch a football game not shown on free-to-air TV, at a club. I spent the rest of the time watching the latest episodes of Smallville, Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica online. My addictions.

I put the washing out in the morning and it rained.

Saturday, February 30, 2008

When I was in Melbourne last weekend, Michelle asked me for the date of my birthday. I told her February 30 and she believed me. It was quite funny when she found out - I made her look up a calendar.

In any case, I don't see why February should not have 30 days (and 31 days in leap years).

February has been unfairly shortchanged by at least TWO days.

There are four months with 30 days (April, June, September and November).

The rest have 31 days (seven months).

It would be equitable to redistribute a day each from August and January towards February, so that there are seven months of 30 days, and five months of 31 days.

In leap years, there would be six months of 30 days and six months of 31 days.

I mean really, why February? It has been a long time since the old Julian calendar when emperors decided to lengthen the days of the months named after them (Julius Caesar and Augustus).

We must rectify this historical megalomanic anachronism.

I propose an international campaign called 30 Days for February.

************
Today was a do nothing day, aside from a few walks with Kane.

Keiser would have turned 18 today. I'm still sad that she didn't make it to her 17th birthday. If she did not have the tumour near her liver, she would still be around today.

boys and guns

The Guardian (UK) reported on 29 December 2007 that

Boys should be encouraged to play with toy guns at nursery school because it can help improve their academic performance, according to government advice issued yesterday.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said boys aged between three and five had fallen behind their female classmates partly because nursery staff tried to curb their desire for boisterous play involving weapons. Boys were more likely to become interested in education and would perform better if encouraged to pursue their chosen play.

Understandably, teachers' unions are critical of this advice.

See - booklet 'Confident, capable and creative: supporting boys' achievements'

And in separate reporting by The Independent (UK) of 24 December 2007

Record numbers of children are being recruited to fight on the front line of eastern Congo's escalating and increasingly brutal conflict, it is claimed today.

Concern over the plight of child soldiers increased after aid workers for Save the Children reported seeing youngsters in militia close to some of the worst of the fighting near Goma, capital of the war-torn North Kivu district. The charity says that as well as acting as combatants, children are being recruited to work as porters, spies and sex slaves by the rampaging armies. There was also evidence, the charity said, that militias were targeting schools to boost their numbers as clashes between government soldiers and rebels forced 800,000 people to flee their homes in the region, contributing to a major humanitarian emergency as people were left without access to clean water or health care. Hussein Mursal, Save the Children's country director, called on the international community to step in to prevent another generation of Congolese children from being brutalised by armed conflict. "The situation for children is eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is catastrophic. Fighters from all sides are using children as frontline fodder, raping young girls and attacking houses," he said.

Now if only these senior policy makers can also join the dots.

Innocent children in places like Africa, South America and Asia are being forced to engage in civil or guerrilla warfare and carry real guns for killing people including other children.



Why would any sane parent or childcare worker give children toy guns?



***********************
Food Safari on tv tonight featured Pakistani cuisine. The Sindi Biryani looked amazing.

Pakistan is also the birthplace of the tandoor oven and is used to cook many of the breads as well as meats like chicken, lamb or fish. The rice in Pakistan is regarded amongst the best in the world with long grain basmati rice especially prized and used in the classic biryani, a spectacular combination of spiced rice cooked with meat.

Mmmmmmmm....

celebrity activism... driving the policy agenda

There was an interesting article in The National Interest last month by Daniel W. Drezner about celebrity activism, particularly in world politics, discussing whether they are actually effective.

Increasingly, celebrities are taking an active interest in world politics. When media maven Tina Brown attends a Council on Foreign Relations session, you know something fundamental has changed in the relationship between the world of celebrity and world politics. What’s even stranger is that these efforts to glamorize foreign policy are actually affecting what governments do and say. The power of soft news has given star entertainers additional leverage to advance their causes. Their ability to raise issues to the top of the global agenda is growing. This does not mean that celebrities can solve the problems that bedevil the world. And not all celebrity activists are equal in their effectiveness. Nevertheless, politically-engaged stars cannot be dismissed as merely an amusing curiosity in foreign policy.

Um, who is Tina Brown and why should I care? I think this may also be a case of political leaders wanting some celebrity glamour to rub off on them

Why has international relations gone glam? Have stars like Jolie, Madonna, Bono, Sean Penn, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Sheryl Crow carved out a new way to become foreign-policy heavyweights? Policy cognoscenti might laugh off this question as absurd, but the career arc of Al Gore should give them pause. As a conventional politician, Gore made little headway in addressing the problem of global warming beyond negotiating a treaty that the United States never ratified. As a post–White House celebrity, Gore starred in An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize, promoted this past summer’s Live Earth concert and reframed the American debate about global warming. Gore has been far more successful as a celebrity activist than he ever was as vice president.

Al Gore had a film to promote. Without the film, nobody would have taken any notice of him.

Current entertainers have greater incentives to adopt global causes than their precursors. Furthermore, they are more likely to be successful in pushing their policy agenda to the front of the queue. These facts have less to do with the celebrities themselves than with how citizens in the developed world consume information. Whether the rise of the celebrity activist will lead to policy improvements, however, is a more debatable proposition. Promoting a policy agenda is one thing; implementing it is another thing entirely.

Some of these celebrities should put their money where their mouth is and run for high political office with an election agenda.

The final reason more celebrities are interested in making the world a better place is that it is simply easier for anyone to become a policy activist today. An effective policy entrepreneur requires a few simple commodities: expertise, money and the ability to command the media’s attention. Celebrities already have the latter two; the Internet has enabled them to catch up on information-gathering. Several celebrities even have “philanthropic advisors” to facilitate their activism. This does not mean that celebrities will become authentic experts on a country or issue. They can, however, acquire enough knowledge to pen an op-ed or sound competent on a talk show.

Perhaps some of these celebrities want to be taken seriously and use activism as a means to demonstrate that they have some intelligence. It's a pity that many don't show any sound judgment.

At its core, star activism hints that the famous are somehow better than you or me. Some Americans view celebrities who pontificate on politics and policy as taking advantage of a bully pulpit that they did not earn. There’s a fine line between principled activism and righteous indignation, and the celebrity who crosses that line risks incurring the wrath of the common man or woman.

Ha! I wonder if Governor Schwarzenegger has traded in his gas-guzzling Hummer. Some of these celebrities could reign in their over-consumption for a start and live by example.

*****************
After three days off work (public holidays), it was strange going to work on a Friday. Hardly anybody was in. Strangely, I completed a fair bit of work today.