The Vatican's harmful views about condoms | Sex and sensibility | The Economist
The Economist's article on the Pope's African comments on condoms is not very fair, but I don't particularly care to go into that debate here.
Instead, I'll pray for forgiveness for trivialising a serious issue by joining in the question already asked by some Economist commenters: who is that person with the mountainous red hair standing next to the Pope?
By the way, I wonder how Quentin Bryce's African sojourn is going. If she needs a visit to the hairdresser while there, the result could be interesting.
(You can see photos of her visit here. For a moment there, I thought I spotted a pic which did not feature the GG herself. But no, when you enlarge the thumbnail, there she is on the poster in the background.
Ah no! I stand corrected. There is a pic without her image in any form whatsoever. A breakthrough!)
UPDATE: It appears that the Amazon women with red hair was earlier identified at Tim Blair's, but that massive hat concealing that massive hair makes her look slightly different.
Monday, March 23, 2009
More weekend viewing
Guardian Angels - Landline - ABC
Cute story on Landline yesterday about big white dogs that guard chickens and penguins in Victoria from foxes. It kept putting me in mind of the Looney Tunes sheepdog/coyote cartoons, except I didn't know that dogs were happy to guard birds too. (Actually, I see that it was sheepdog/wolf, just that the wolf looked almost exactly like Wile E Coyote.)
Cat lovers, show us what useful things they do, again?
Cute story on Landline yesterday about big white dogs that guard chickens and penguins in Victoria from foxes. It kept putting me in mind of the Looney Tunes sheepdog/coyote cartoons, except I didn't know that dogs were happy to guard birds too. (Actually, I see that it was sheepdog/wolf, just that the wolf looked almost exactly like Wile E Coyote.)
Cat lovers, show us what useful things they do, again?
Innovative insurance companies
Sunday Night Videos - Yahoo!7 TV
That Sunday night magazine program with the obvious name ("Sunday Night") actually had an interesting story yesterday on Vancouver's success with using "bait cars" to dramatically reduce car theft in the city.
The police and insurance companies work together to put highly favoured "bait cars" on the street; when they are stolen, a command centre monitors where it is and can disable the engine when the police are close enough to nab the driver.
Excellent idea.
There must be more innovative ways insurance companies can reduce claims or costs.
There was a lot of comment recently about the relatively low number of houses that were insured in the Victorian countryside, but what innovative means could be used to encourage taking up insurance? Gangs of masked men from the insurance companies wielding flaming torches appearing at random in front of houses they know are uninsured, maybe?
I guess the insurance companies could buy cheap houses, slap a fresh coat of paint on them, burn them down and then have the pretend owners bemoaning in the media how they didn't have insurance. Maybe a bit of an expensive exercise, though.
I'm sure there's a good idea lurking somewhere in the back of my mind, but it's not coming out yet.
That Sunday night magazine program with the obvious name ("Sunday Night") actually had an interesting story yesterday on Vancouver's success with using "bait cars" to dramatically reduce car theft in the city.
The police and insurance companies work together to put highly favoured "bait cars" on the street; when they are stolen, a command centre monitors where it is and can disable the engine when the police are close enough to nab the driver.
Excellent idea.
There must be more innovative ways insurance companies can reduce claims or costs.
There was a lot of comment recently about the relatively low number of houses that were insured in the Victorian countryside, but what innovative means could be used to encourage taking up insurance? Gangs of masked men from the insurance companies wielding flaming torches appearing at random in front of houses they know are uninsured, maybe?
I guess the insurance companies could buy cheap houses, slap a fresh coat of paint on them, burn them down and then have the pretend owners bemoaning in the media how they didn't have insurance. Maybe a bit of an expensive exercise, though.
I'm sure there's a good idea lurking somewhere in the back of my mind, but it's not coming out yet.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The waterless way
Waterless urinals: Cheap. Green. But many think ‘gross’ | csmonitor.com
Here's an interesting article (honest!) about a device that's becoming more common. They are cleaner than regular urinals, apparently:
[Speaking of which, for years now, I have been wondering who it is was who thought up the terrible design of metal urinals that extend down and below floor level, with a metal grid on which to stand. For any women reading this who haven't partied with Rugby League players, the idea is for the man to stand on the grid so that any drips fall through it and into the urinal tray which extends below your feet. These are, I think, a universally unpopular design, as the tray beneath the feet does not usually drain well and smells, and the grid itself gets urine soaked and grotty anyway, to the extent that some men - especially if wearing thongs or other insubstantial footwear - will stand back from grid anyway, ensuring that the point of the design is completely lost.]
But there's something else to be learned from this article. If you are a journalist who gets an invite to attend the next WTO meeting, make sure you go to the right one:
Here's an interesting article (honest!) about a device that's becoming more common. They are cleaner than regular urinals, apparently:
Maybe. But they don't stop the problem of men who miss or drip onto the floor near the urinal itself.“In traditional urinals, the surfaces on the inside are wet much of the time, and you get biofilms of growing organisms,” says Prof. Charles Gerba, an Arizona State University microbiologist who has researched surface contamination in public restrooms.
Flushing further creates a spray that lands on the rim and floor, creating a breeding ground for microorganisms.
“If easily-maintainable, water-free urinals had been developed first, no one would use conventional urinals because of all the contamination they cause,” he adds.
[Speaking of which, for years now, I have been wondering who it is was who thought up the terrible design of metal urinals that extend down and below floor level, with a metal grid on which to stand. For any women reading this who haven't partied with Rugby League players, the idea is for the man to stand on the grid so that any drips fall through it and into the urinal tray which extends below your feet. These are, I think, a universally unpopular design, as the tray beneath the feet does not usually drain well and smells, and the grid itself gets urine soaked and grotty anyway, to the extent that some men - especially if wearing thongs or other insubstantial footwear - will stand back from grid anyway, ensuring that the point of the design is completely lost.]
But there's something else to be learned from this article. If you are a journalist who gets an invite to attend the next WTO meeting, make sure you go to the right one:
In rural regions of the third-world where sanitary infrastructure is nearly nonexistent, these urinals present the option of leapfrogging past systems that use up precious water, says Jack Sim, an advocate of compost toilets. In 2002, he launched the World Toilet Organization, a nonprofit group based in Singapore and committed to improving toilet facilities worldwide.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Election fizzer
The Queensland election has turned into a fizzer for the LNP, with a swing about half of what had been predicted and way too little to get close to winning government. So ends my alternative career as electoral pundit...
But, as I said in 2007:
Finally, I saw little of the election coverage on TV, but what I did see of Treasurer Andrew Fraser confirmed what I had heard on the radio. If you thought Kevin Rudd could be robotic, Fraser appears to be the perfect political android, but with less charm than Asimo. (He does have a wife and two kids at the age of 32, which I guess proves he is human, but you wouldn't guess it from his media manner.)
But, as I said in 2007:
People need to remember that the voters of Queensland are, shall we say, different. Look at how long Bjelke Petersen hung around, and Goss and Peter Beattie's respective electoral loss and win which neither of them deserved.Save for one short hiccup, it seems like Queenslanders only like to change governments about once every 20 years or so. Maybe the heat makes the incompetence or corruption of governments take an unduly long time to reach the collective brain of the electorate, rather like a brontosaur's (alleged) slow reaction to feeling its backside was on fire. But essentially, it's all a bit of a mystery to your humble blogger.
Finally, I saw little of the election coverage on TV, but what I did see of Treasurer Andrew Fraser confirmed what I had heard on the radio. If you thought Kevin Rudd could be robotic, Fraser appears to be the perfect political android, but with less charm than Asimo. (He does have a wife and two kids at the age of 32, which I guess proves he is human, but you wouldn't guess it from his media manner.)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Talking up LEDs
The next generation of electric lights | A brilliant new approach | The Economist
This article from the Economist talks up the promise of cheaper LED lights in the future, with a new manufacturing method potentially makes the process about 10 times cheaper.
But here's a figure that's handy to keep in your head for the next lull in a conversation:
This article from the Economist talks up the promise of cheaper LED lights in the future, with a new manufacturing method potentially makes the process about 10 times cheaper.
But here's a figure that's handy to keep in your head for the next lull in a conversation:
About 20% of the world’s electricity is used for lighting. America’s Department of Energy thinks that, with LEDs, this could be cut in half by 2025, saving more than 130 new power stations in America alone.
Ayn going nowhere
Thought Experiments : The Blog: Ayn Rand: Meditations on a Crock of ....
Good post from Bryan Appleyard succinctly critiquing Ayn Rand.
Good post from Bryan Appleyard succinctly critiquing Ayn Rand.
Against the wind
Wind energy blowing hot air - On Line Opinion - 20/3/2009
It's been quite a while since I've linked to a decent anti-wind power article, but this one is quite good.
It's been quite a while since I've linked to a decent anti-wind power article, but this one is quite good.
Things we learned from last night's Q and A
No transcript is up yet, but should appear here.
1. Peter Kennedy is pro-choice on abortion. What a surprise.
2. Peter Kennedy acknowledges that St Mary's doesn't run like a normal parish catering to local Catholics. It caters to the disgruntled left leaning Catholics of Brisbane, which makes the claimed "vibrancy" of the parish (700 or so attending masses on a weekend) not so impressive.
3. Peter Kennedy could not answer why it is essential that the church he (barely) presides over could not be run from virtually any location in Brisbane. The union building he has already been offered for weekends is probably less than 100 meters from the physical church he presently uses.
4. As already noted in this blog, the charitable projects for which his parish claims much credit are in fact primarily outsourced government funded projects. (I think he said government funding is $10 million, local parish support is $40,000. Maybe some parishioners work for free for this as well, but if so I would like to know the details.)
5. Peter Kennedy wants the Catholic Church to become a democracy in which women play a large role, because he thinks that is the way to make a church more relevant and vibrant, etc. I guess that explains why the Anglicans are doing so well then.
6. Tony Abbott is surprisingly soft on liberal Catholics. George Pell needs to smack him around a bit and toughen him up.
As a final note, Kennedy really did seem old and inarticulate at the start, but warmed up and sounded more "with it" later. But he clearly isn't going to be around forever, and "his" parish is going to have a succession crisis sooner or later in any event.
I certainly can't see why he would be considered charismatic, though.
1. Peter Kennedy is pro-choice on abortion. What a surprise.
2. Peter Kennedy acknowledges that St Mary's doesn't run like a normal parish catering to local Catholics. It caters to the disgruntled left leaning Catholics of Brisbane, which makes the claimed "vibrancy" of the parish (700 or so attending masses on a weekend) not so impressive.
3. Peter Kennedy could not answer why it is essential that the church he (barely) presides over could not be run from virtually any location in Brisbane. The union building he has already been offered for weekends is probably less than 100 meters from the physical church he presently uses.
4. As already noted in this blog, the charitable projects for which his parish claims much credit are in fact primarily outsourced government funded projects. (I think he said government funding is $10 million, local parish support is $40,000. Maybe some parishioners work for free for this as well, but if so I would like to know the details.)
5. Peter Kennedy wants the Catholic Church to become a democracy in which women play a large role, because he thinks that is the way to make a church more relevant and vibrant, etc. I guess that explains why the Anglicans are doing so well then.
6. Tony Abbott is surprisingly soft on liberal Catholics. George Pell needs to smack him around a bit and toughen him up.
As a final note, Kennedy really did seem old and inarticulate at the start, but warmed up and sounded more "with it" later. But he clearly isn't going to be around forever, and "his" parish is going to have a succession crisis sooner or later in any event.
I certainly can't see why he would be considered charismatic, though.
Gadget time
World's First Color E-Book Reader Goes on Sale | Gadget Lab from Wired.com
Hey, I didn't even know that coloured e-paper displays were in the pipeline.
This new Fujistsu e-book reader sounds pretty sexy, if expensive. But in Australia, no one is even selling black and white e-paper devices such as the Sony Reader or the Kindle. What gives? I just want to be able to see one in a shop, not necessarily buy it.
I am surprised that the Greens do not push the adoption of technology such as this as a way of reducing paper production.
Hey, I didn't even know that coloured e-paper displays were in the pipeline.
This new Fujistsu e-book reader sounds pretty sexy, if expensive. But in Australia, no one is even selling black and white e-paper devices such as the Sony Reader or the Kindle. What gives? I just want to be able to see one in a shop, not necessarily buy it.
I am surprised that the Greens do not push the adoption of technology such as this as a way of reducing paper production.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A festival best avoided
The New York Times has an article on the small but enthusiastic culinary following in parts of America for "mountain oysters":
But hey, there's an Australian connection!:The cooking of testicles — also known as calf fries or lamb fries — is a living tradition on ranches throughout rural Nevada and the Intermountain West down through Central Texas (the annual fry here is nicknamed the “testicle festival”). ...
Liz Chabot, 77, who grew up on a ranch near the fly-speck town of Paradise Valley, Nev., described the delicacy as “a taste like none other,” and recalled how the fries were thrown into the fire at branding time, pulled out with a stick and then peeled and eaten like a fresh fig.
Seven teams of up to four chefs each had two hours to prepare dishes using 20 pounds of the jiggling raw ingredient (flown in from Australia this year).Evidently our testicles are world class quality.
Even Ken prefers a carbon tax
A carbon tax is the way to cut emissions | theage.com.au
The very Green left Kenneth Davidson supports carbon tax over emissions trading. Will he support the Liberals blocking Rudd's ETS then?
The very Green left Kenneth Davidson supports carbon tax over emissions trading. Will he support the Liberals blocking Rudd's ETS then?
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