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NBC is refusing to air an ad for the new Dixie Chicks documentary, “Shut Up & Sing.†describing it as “disparaging to President Bush.” Is it illegal to insult the President now? Sounds like Romania just before the end.
Monthly Archives: October 2006
Blessed are the cheesemakers
We had the first of the Romano last night. It’s not the first of our home-made cheese we’ve tried (we had a rather nice Cabra el vino a few weeks back), but this was the first batch of cheese we made – back in June – so it’s special. Turned out quite nice; it’s got a full cheesy scent but a mild, peppery taste. We had it on a salad of (home grown) rocket leaves and pears, with a Balsamic dressing.
I realise I haven’t posted much about our newly-countrified existence. I’ve put some photos after the jump, for those who are interested in such simple delights.
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Bloodwork
I’ve become awfully slack in updating the little widget in my sidebar which displays my latest T-cell count results – it has been updated today for the first time in quite a while. Still fair to middling at 393, but my viral load is undetectable as usual, so no dramas.
Looking at my enormous database of test results, I see it’s been over ten years since I last had a viral load which I could claim was ‘high’ without being called a drama queen – a very respectable 217,450 on 19 March 1996, when I was taking the then-fashionable combination of ddI and hydroxyurea – my last non-HAART regimen. In the decade since, I’ve mostly been undetectable – 35 of 41 tests, including the last 22 in a row. When I have had detectable virus, it’s usually been in the hundreds rather than the thousands.
Something’s working – pity my T-cells haven’t noticed.
More detail here. Or maybe you’d rather watch a short educational film?
Making climate change personal
GetUp’s latest campaign is calling on the federal government to take action on climate change. As big issues go, this is the big one, so I’m sure many of my Australian readers will want to sign the petition, which reads “I want my government to take sweeping action to dramatically cut greenhouse pollution, shift to clean energy and solve the climate crisis now.”
It’s hard to disagree with that.
For this campaign, GetUp is recording your postcode and using that to plot responses on a map of Australia – here’s what it looked like after I signed on this morning:
The real thing is Flash-based, but nicely understated with the dots appearing like raindrops (we could do with some of that; I dreamt about rain last night).
Of course, it’s unlikely our present government is going to get the message strongly enough to change their current course, which is essentially to do whatever the coal lobby asks, and to divert public attention with a distracting and pointless debate about nuclear energy.
I’d like to see the ALP come out with a strong statement on climate change. It’s clear that an increasing proportion of Aussies see this as “the” big issue, and there’s an opportunity for the Labor Party to differentiate themselves from the coalition on this. Beazley should promise to sign the Kyoto Protocol within 10 days of becoming PM, and undertake to invest substantial cash and energy into renewable energy, a carbon trading scheme and a national water plan. He could be “the climate change Prime Minister”.
Will he? Probably not – the ALP is beholden to the coal industry too, and risk-averse when it comes to big issues which might negatively affect some hot-button workers’ groups (think of what the timber-getters did to Latham last time after he promised an end to old-growth logging in Tasmania).
Still, you can hope and dream and sign the petition – it only takes a minute.
Vegemite banned in the US?
The Brisbane Sunday Mail is reporting that the United States has banned the importation of Vegemite, the deliciously sticky/salty sandwich spread much beloved by Australians.
Apparently the importation of Vegemite is prohibited because it contains folate, which bizarre US laws say can only be added to breads and cereals.
Given that folate is simply a water-soluble form of Vitamin B (Wikipedia), this seems a perverse and twisted situation. (Indeed, the high Vitamin B content of Vegemite is what makes it, IMO, the hangover cure sine qua non.)
The Wikipedia talk page for Folic acid has a bit of discussion of the Vegemite import question, and quotes from a couple of pages on the Food and Drug Administration website, which appear to confirm the ban but for other reasons (packaging related, mostly) than some crazy anti-folate stance.
Americans, you don’t know what you’re missing. I strongly urge you to immediately lobby your congressperson to allow Vegemite into the US. You should also demand Vita-Wheat biscuits, as the two are highly compatible. Just remember, you only need a tiny smear of the stuff – this ain’t peanut butter!
(Politically-aware readers will note that Vegemite is made by multinational food manufacturer Kraft, a corporation we generally try to avoid including in our shopping basket. But Vegemite is so damn near to an essential foodstuff we have little choice: just try not to think about who makes it.)
(Via Boing Boing)
Keeping Natasha honest
Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja’s announcement today (she’s quitting parliament at the next election) has, naturally enough, been seen as another sign of the impeding end of her party, the Australian Democrats.
Predictably, Democrat party faithful have insisted that “the party is bigger than any of us as individuals,” and reckon they can carry on without their most popular and visible MP. You don’t need to be Antony Green to see that’s almost certainly not true. The Dems have been in decline for ages and they were hammered at the last election. Stott-Despoja’s stated reason for quitting parliament (spend more time with family, etc) is a standard political cliché, but we shouldn’t trouble ourselves with looking too deeply into what must have been a tough decision. Because Natasha must know better than any of us that, without her, the party is doomed.
So what can we learn from this?
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Movember
My fellow antipodean blogger Gazza (.net.nz) is growing a moustache to raise money for prostate cancer. I’m not too sure what Gareth looks like sans facial topiary, but he assures me he’s going to look “absolutely ridiculous” with a mo.
I’ve already chipped in 50 Kiwi dollars (approx AUD $3.25) to encourage him along. It’s for a good cause, so I heartily encourage you to do the same.
(Image from decaffeinated.org, who may have got it from somewhere else; in any case the likeness of Jihad Jack is rather poor.)
Free hugs
I’m not sure if it’s because it was shot in the nostalgic familiarity of Sydney, but I liked this a lot:
(Thanks, Fiona)
A narrowing distance
Yes, it’s been a while. Just so’s you know, I’m not dead, I haven’t been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, and I haven’t given up on buggery.org. I’ve just been taking a bit a a breather. I would have announced my intention to go on hiatus if I’d had an intention, but this was just something that happened.
To all of you who enquired where’d I’d gone to, and especially to the one of you who said he checks the site every single day to see if I’d come back, thanks. Normal posting will resume in the next few days.
