Small-Mindedness In All Its Glory
The letters page of yesterday's Metro offered a spectacular exhibition of Middle England-ness. Two correspondents wrote quite chunky letters complaining that Gordon Brown has announced an increase in borrowing while (how dare he?) also announcing an increase in the overseas development budget. This kind of attitude makes me sick. God forbid that people in Britain should have to forgo odd luxuries, or endure the horrifying hardship of overcrowded trains. No no - these clearly represent a far more serious priority to the government of a supposedly civilised country than helping millions of people who are starving, or dying in epidemics.
The price of our privilege should be an absolute moral obligation to help those less privileged. When everyone is on an equal standing, then we can start to worry about luxuries.
Two pages on from the letters page was a large feature on efforts to slow the AIDS epidemics of the developing world, which puts it all in context, I thought.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
I may be able to extract entertainment forever from this little snippet I spotted on the way in to work.
That TV series Pimping For Rich People Mr Right has ended with 'Mr Right' selecting his ideal woman and her deciding that she's not really interested in him after all. Oh the irony.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
I'm heading out of town this afternoon, so updates over the weekend may be sporadic, though they will happen.
See you later.
Prizes – Yer Actual Prizes!
This isn't, despite any appearance to the contrary, a transparent effort to get more participation going here.
Sometime soon, the one thousandth (at least since the commencement of the Movable Type-driven version of the site) comment will be added here, and as I'm in expansive pre-festive season mood, I'm going to give something to the person who submits it. The final prize is open to conjecture at the moment. If the commenter has an Amazon wishlist, it might be something from that, if they don't, or if the mood takes me, it might be something that I think they'll like, or want to introduce someone new to.
Is that an incentive, or what?
A couple of notes:
I'm actually switching off commenting on this posting, to encourage comments to be context-based, not about this offer.
Obviously I'm not going to be too specific, but the magic one thousandth will be within the next thirty comments from the time of this posting.
Yes, I'm bored and trying to find ways to make this place a bit more interesting....
Stuff
I find myself unexpectedly involved in Sue Perkins' eviction from Celebrity Big Brother. I suppose it's because she's the only one of the six starting housemates that I particularly liked (or in some cases had even heard of), and also because - and I admit it's shallow - there was part of me that thought it would be cool, what with the UK's regular BB having generated the world's first gay winner, to have a lesbian winner too. She's brilliantly funny, isn't she? (Who, me? Jealous?)
Sidenote - I've got way less respect for Rhona Cameron than I might once have had.
In a different direction entirely, I quite agree with Graham - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle does look like wonderful, if ridiculous, fun. Mind you - I love the first one....
I’m Very Impressed
For something I'm writing elsewhere, I've been doing a lot of research lately into the issue of vital drugs being priced out of the reach of the people who need them the most in, for instance, various African countries. It's a depressing subject, to say the least.
But a glimmer of official sanity has appeared today in the form of International Development Secretary Clare Short's proposals that drugs used in the treatment of three key diseases, AIDS, tuberulosis, and malaria, should be sold to the countries identified as most in need of them at cost price. It's difficult to overstate how radical a suggestion this is. Most of the major drug companies have resisted any such proposals vigorously whenever they have previously been raised. But the group producing the report had the involvement of the biggest British companies, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.
The reoprt and its proposals were commissioned in the wake of a G8 summit last year, and the plan is to have the G8 countries accept the proposals, which may prove a stumbling block, as the US government has traditionally sided with the major US drug companies over this issue. But perhaps right will prevail.
There are other, wider issues involved too, of course, and The Guardian reviews some of them in its leader today.
Regardless, the proposals alone, and their acceptance by the companies already on board is a huge step, and I for one would like to commend all involved.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I have no idea if I have any American (I should say USAian) readers - I know I have readers who live in the USA, so I suppose for these purposes that will count - but anyway - Happy Thanksgiving!
And remember: The Christmas shopping season starts today!
Seeing Sam
Pleasant interlude in the day today, Sam came in to have lunch with Barnaby and I. She's one of a number of people we know who've lost their jobs recently, so it's not the best of times for her, but it's always a joy to see her, and it looks like we'll be seeing her a bit more in the near future.
Truth Hurts
The senior aide to Canadian Prime Minister who was identified as the source* of the reported comment that George W Bush is a moron has resigned, having decided that her position is untenable. Which I should say it probably is, though it's a pity that she has to go, as she seems to have a very solid grasp on the reality of the situation.
*Not the original source, obviously. I'm sure countless people have been saying it on a daily basis for years.
Like Some Chocolate?
I saw an item about this on BBC News 24 at some obscure hour of the night, but Charles has pointed me in the direction of the online story. The UK's Co-Operative chain of supermarkets has announced that they're going to shift all of their own brand chocolate over to production from Fair Trade-produced cocoa. At a stroke, this will double the amount of Fair Trade chocolate sold in the UK, but will still only represent a fraction of the overall market. The rest of the industry, needless to say, seems rather reluctant to follow their lead.
Link And Think (Again)
It's less than a week to World AIDS Day, and so I thought I'd offer one more encouragement to people to participate in this year's Link and Think programme. It's essential that people take the time to make sure real information about AIDS issues is available, and linking to resources, or telling real experiences, is an excellent way of doing that. Even if you don't have a personal experience to talk about, take part, track down some useful links, and publicise them. It's absolutely worth it.