Somewhere along the line I think I got lost
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alsion's LiveJournal:
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| Monday, July 20th, 2009 | | 10:16 am |
this is sounding strangely familiar
Surprisingly I'd heard nothing about the fires in British Columbia at all on the news, but the pictures and the story all sound depressingly familiar. The postdoc e-mailed me the story - her extended family have lost two houses (aunt/uncle's house and parents of aunt/uncle's house.) Fortunately her extended family are all OK. Of course the lack of reporting here may have been due to a combination of being pre-occupied with the bombings in Jakarta, and of course the cricket. As it turns out my brother knew one of the Australians killed in the bombings, who leaves behind a 3 year old child. It still seems odd that nothing has made it that I've seen on the news here - perhaps it's been a conscious decision not to play footage while the Commission is still in session and risk further stress to people, I don't know. It's still strange though. Edit: OK, it is on the ABC website. Maybe I've just managed to miss the stories on the news or something, it's certainly not impossible. | | Sunday, June 7th, 2009 | | 10:02 am |
At airport, through customs. Am still having trouble conceptualising the forecast at the far end of this flight. Here it's about 8oC and forecast showers (although not right now.) There it's forecast 31oC and thunderstorms with 79% humidity. Hm. Still, bit of time to go before we get there... and we're going via Auckland! I had no idea. Add another transit to the list... :-) | | Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | | 6:39 pm |
heh
And my favourite headline from today (well so far anyway) comes from ProMed: RIFT VALLEY FEVER - SAUDI ARABIA (02): NOT **************************************** ** A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org> ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org> Date: Wed 3 Jun 2009 From: LB <diseasetracker@gmail.com> Re: ProMED-mail Rift Valley fever - Saudi Arabia, alert 20090602.2053 ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------- The original article in Saudi Wave, which was so badly translated to English by Middle East Online, actually attributes the deaths to dengue fever not Rift Valley fever. Below is the Arabic language article. I don't know how someone can make that mistake as the names of the diseases in Arabic have no similarities. [The URL for the Saudi Wave article for the benefit of those able to read Arabic text is <http://www.saudiwave.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1036:q-q-&catid=50:2008-12-02-08-52-24&itemid=115>.] -- LB <diseasetracker@gmail.com> [ProMED-mail is indebted to correspondent LB for provision of this information and correction, and we apologize to our readers for posting an inaccurate and misleading translation. - Mod.CP] [It turns out that the original Saudi Wave URL (in Arabic) has links to English and French versions of the article. Both refer to dengue fever rather than Rift Valley fever <http://www.saudiwave.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1032:the-mermaid-of-the-red-sea-swims-in-a-sea-of-sewage&catid=84:interior-affairs&itemid=182> - CopyEd.MJ] Like seriously, so not. I also love the slightly irritated and aggrieved tone of the writer commenting on how badly the translation turned out given the disease names apparently are quite different in Arabic (and English come to that.) Yes, the things that make me laugh are quite minor. | | Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | | 8:55 am |
Transsexuals in Iran
I watched Transsexuals in Iran last night. It was so, so sad. Iran has the second highest number of transsexual operations in the world, after Thailand. The reason for this is the theocratic government approving the operation as a way of "standardising" people who want to sleep with their own gender. As a solution it leaves a lot to be desired. The documentary followed three young (about 20) men, who were thinking of having male-to-female transitions. One woman was also shown being interviewed about a female-to-male operation. Of the three men, perhaps one genuinely wanted to change gender. The others were both feminine looking men who had been bullied to the point that they'd dropped out of school, couldn't get jobs and just wanted it all to stop. And the only available options for them were to keep being bullied but retain the support of their families, dress as women and risk being harassed and arrested by the religious police and vigilantes or have this operation, become women legally and be safe from harassment, but lose all contact with their families. Homosexuality, after all, is punishable by death in Iran and transsexuals are more acceptable than gays. Two of the three went ahead with the operation. One retained the support of her family and her boyfriend (although he was looking dubious towards the end - then again, her mother was trying to pressure him into marrying ASAP!) and was happy with the outcome. One was disowned by her family (from a small village - her father had previously tried to kill her with rat poison), was working as a "temporary wife[1]" and was extremely depressed. The third, who was a friend from the same village, had decided to live illegally as a woman in Tehran (after seeing the effects of the operation on her friend), and retained some limited (phone only - don't come here) contact with her family. It was so terribly sad. All I could think was that if anyone had grounds for asylum, it was the two from the village. Because they weren't transgender. They were just gay, growing up in a small village in a theocracy and very confused and afraid. One of them (the one who proceeded with the operation) was from a strongly religious background, as evidenced by the father's prayer mark and comments along the way ("Doing it from behind is a serious sin") and could seriously just see no other way out. He didn't want the operation. He just wanted the bullying to stop. I would be interested to know what the suicide rate in post-transsexual operatives in Iran. Because given the lack of support shown for them afterwards (a state radio show was doing a story at the same time and the interviewer asked "but these 'women' - surely any man marrying them would have to have strong homosexual tendencies?") I'd have to imagine it's pretty high. So unnecessary, and so very sad. [1] gotta love hypocrisy. Prostitution is illegal, but you can be my temporary wife for an hour and it's all OK. | | Friday, May 29th, 2009 | | 1:23 pm |
Slate article on the Supreme Court (US) case about strip-searching a student alleged to have ibuprofen. Could also be titled "can we get some more women on the bench, please?" Adam Wolf, the ACLU lawyer who represents Redding, explains that "the Fourth Amendment does not countenance the rummaging on or around a 13-year-old girl's naked body." Wolf explains that he is arguing for a "two-step framework," wherein schools can use a lower standard to search "backpacks, pencil cases, bookbags" but a higher standard when you "require a 13-year-old girl to take off her pants, her shirt, move around her bra so she reveals her breasts, and the same thing with her underpants to reveal her pelvic area." This leads Justice Stephen Breyer to query whether this is all that different from asking Redding to "change into a swimming suit or your gym clothes," because, "why is this a major thing to say strip down to your underclothes, which children do when they change for gym?"
This leads Ginsburg to sputter—in what I have come to think of as her Lilly Ledbetter voice—"what was done in the case … it wasn't just that they were stripped to their underwear! They were asked to shake their bra out, to stretch the top of their pants and shake that out!" Nobody but Ginsburg seems to comprehend that the only locker rooms in which teenage girls strut around, bored but fabulous in their underwear, are to be found in porno movies. For the rest of us, the middle-school locker room was a place for hastily removing our bras without taking off our T-shirts.Also interesting point: You see, we now have school districts all around the country finding naked photos of teens and immediately calling in the police for possession of kiddie porn. Yet schools see nothing wrong with stripping these same kids naked to search for drugs. Evidently teenage nakedness is only a problem when the children choose to be naked. And the parents? They are always the last to know.Ah, it's the combination of drugs (aspirin) and self-made porn that's so worrying there. In other news my friend's school has been closed after a second case of swine flu cropped up there. The radio was pointing out that so far all cases are in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, with none being south of the Yarra. I'm amazed they haven't put up barricades on all bridges to prevent the NOY-yobbos fleeing south. God knows there's a subset that would certainly consider it - although that would also limit their access to Brunetti's, ACMI and a few other things, so maybe not. In the meantime it's certainly an incentive to stay away from MacDonalds.Edit: No, they've shut Canterbury Girls School too, so it has made it SOY. I was starting to wonder why it was localised so far north, but apparently it's not. Good. I think. Still, the majority of cases are in the north, at least at this stage. Also - does anyone else think that Catch the Fire Ministries and/or Fred Nile is currently working on a way to link this to either MidSumma, IVF legislation, abortion or possibly gun control? Just me? | | Monday, May 25th, 2009 | | 12:42 pm |
Swine flu
So the student diagnosed with swine flu last Friday goes to the school that my friend teaches at. My friend is so, so hoping the school gets shut down... so she can catch up on her marking and report writing. Heh. So far though? No luck. I had to laugh though - the authorities describing the outbreak as "difficult to contain" when one of the known cases went to the football last weekend along with 80,000 other people... well, yeah, "difficult" might be an understatement. "Impossible" was more the word I think they were looking for. Which reminds me, I better get my flu shot. No good for the N1H1 subtype, but there's all the other ones still out there. | | Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | | 5:00 pm |
Star Trek
I haven't seen the new movie. However, the person in my office who has was discussing it, and mentioned in passing that Winona Ryder plays Spock's mother. "Winona Ryder?!? But she's my age! How old is Spock?" "Oh, it's OK - they aged her with makeup." Actually I'm still wondering how old Spock is meant to be when Winona's his mother. If it's the age the publicity photos show him at, then no, actually it's not OK. Winona Ryder was born in 1971. The actor playing Spock was born in 1977. Are you seriously trying to tell me they couldn't find an actress of the appropriate age to play Spock's mother? At least when Angelina Jolie (born 1975) played Grendel's mother (played by Crispin Glover, born 1967) she was playing a supernatural character who could conceivably be aging backwards or staying forever young or something. Spock (and his mum) are not supernatural. They're Vulcans. They age forwards (at least I'm fairly certain they do, not being fully up on ST canon.) It just bugs me, this whole deal. And yes, it is partly because I'm nearly the same age as Winona and no, I don't want to be put into the "invisible old lady" basket just yet, thanks. But you just know that you're never going to see Zac Efron (born 1987) playing Miley Cyrus' (born 1992) father though, don't you. Even if they can age him with makeup. | | Friday, May 15th, 2009 | | 2:42 pm |
I've mentioned before that I really love Tony Martin. This is why. He makes me laugh out loud, and has been doing so since the early 1990s. | | 9:08 am |
| | Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 | | 12:29 pm |
Royal Commission
Strathewan not warned.Like, at all. I already knew that, I heard it in real time on the ABC. Mr Rush questioned why the Integrated Emergency Coordination Centre in Melbourne, given the pressure the Alexandra control centre was under, did not play a greater role in ensuring up to date warnings were being given to communities.
The hearing continues.Same story, different newspaper.CFA Chief Officer Russell Rees was recalled today and he could not explain why there was no mention of Kinglake on the CFA website on Black Saturday between 4.35pm and 5.55pm, when a warning was finally issued.
The commission heard yesterday that the firestorm that swept across Kinglake had been acurately mapped hours earlier in the IECC.
Mr Rush asked Mr Rees why Strathewen, where 27 people died, was never mentioned in any CFA warnings.
Mr Rees said Arthur's Creek, which was nearby, was mentioned.
Mr Rush suggested Strathewen was mentioned in other CFA communications.
"Why would Strathewen miss out (on warnings)?" Mr Rush asked.
"I don't know the answer to that," Mr Rees replied. Chaotic I think is an understatement. | | Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | | 11:45 am |
post-fire
It's three months since the bushfires. It seems longer, probably because the seasons have changed and it's currently 32oC lower than it was on the day. It's also both greyer and greener - both of which relate to the recent rain. Not enough to bring the dams up, but enough to start the grass growing. ( Read more ) | | Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | | 12:22 pm |
| | Friday, May 1st, 2009 | | 8:02 pm |
Reading the Mx on the way home I notice that the state government has - yet again - announced that this time, definitely, no, really, definitely definitely, the South Morang rail extension is going ahead and will absolutely be taking passengers by 2013.Which can of course only mean one thing - there's an election next year, and if they are returned to office the extension will return to the same backburner it's sat on since the 1999, 2002 and 2006 elections.Cynical, me? What's even more irritating is that they haven't just bitten the damn bullet and extended the line all the way back up to Whittlesea. Given that they've allowed development along all the green wedges in that area, that the area to the west from Epping to Wollert is also going to be developed and that Plenty Rd, McDonalds Rd and Epping Rds are struggling as it is. There's a reason we take the back route to Whittlesea, and the reason is that Plenty Rd sucks now during quiet times, and is bumper to bumper the rest of the time. Naturally there's no mention of the Aurora extension, which was also a definite election promise about three times. "Green" development my arse. Naturally of course though a new freeway is going ahead right now - because everyone knows that the answer to congestion is roads! More roads! Bigger roads! Built with public:private partnerships so that the government doesn't have to spend, and companies make a profit! We're all winners, with new toll roads! (oh come on, they promised not to toll Eastlink before the election too. You seriously think they're not going to toll this road?) Unless of course people don't drive on the road, as appears to be happening with Eastlink. Profit margins? Not so good then. But on the positive side, we've got a new bus! It'll be magic! Or something. *sigh* The thing that makes me giggle the most about this is the government advertising. As you come into Clifton Hill station there's a big sign informing you of the cost of the duplication, when it started and that "it's part of the plan". To which most people reply "there's a plan? We thought you were making this shit up as you went along." Because God knows when you're crammed into your technically not overcrowded ("there is no stated limit") train staring at the sign in you do find yourself wondering about the lack of infrastructure funding, the lack of coherent development, the lack of any apparent ability to actually fund public transport effectively and how, exactly, this constitutes a plan. Other than "re-elect us please, we promise this will happen. No, really this time." | | 11:56 am |
Foofing around with currency exchanges, and I came across: $1AUD = $213ZWD. Wow, Zimbabwe's currency's picked up recently! Then I read: " Notice: The Zimbabwe government redenominated the ZWD again on February 2, 2009 at a rate of 1,000,000,000,000 old ZWD to 1 new ZWD." ?!?!?! So as of January 31st, $1AUD = $213 x 10^12 ZWD. Holy crap. And now I want to know how much a loaf of bread costs there these days... | | Friday, April 24th, 2009 | | 7:55 pm |
Confessions of a Bailout Wife. Well at least she's hanging in there, unlike the ones who said "when I said for richer or poorer? I meant for richer" and left. Even so though, it certainly raises a couple of laughs when you get quotes like: ( Read more ) | | Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | | 5:41 pm |
| | Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 | | 4:11 pm |
I check out the Sexy People blog every so often. I have to say, I really want to know what this kid grew up to be. And whose idea it all was. | | Monday, April 13th, 2009 | | 10:06 am |
Three Peaks Madness
One of my friends from Uni is doing this absolutely insane race over the Easter weekend. It's the Three Peaks Race, which involves sailing to one point, sending two runners up the mountain there, sailing to the second point, back up and down the mountain, then to a third point, ditto, before heading to the finish line. My friend is one of the runners (which indicates that he's considerably fitter than (a) me and (b) he was at Uni! Must be the lack of beer or something. ;-)) I'm getting huge amounts of entertainment out of reading the race blog - seriously, you guys are completely nuts! (And very lucky with the weather. This would be an absolute bastard to do in bad weather.) Still, Carn TasMaCo! (my nickname for them - if you're not going to give yourself one that's short enough to fit with "carn" then we'll have to do it for you!) | | Friday, April 10th, 2009 | | 10:52 am |
| | Friday, April 3rd, 2009 | | 11:32 am |
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