Australistan

The debate over the RU486 drug has really gone a bit crazy.


Exhibit A: Danna Vale

"I've actually read in The Daily Telegraph where a certain imam from the Lakemba mosque actually said that Australia's going to be a Muslim nation in 50 years' time."

"I didn't believe him at the time, but you know when you actually look at the birth rates and when you look at the fact that we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence by 100,000 abortions every year - and that's on a guesstimate."

"You multiply that by 50 years - that's 5 million potential Australians we won't have."

There are several problems here.

1) "I've actually read..." means "I saw somewhere that someone who sounds important^* said it. So it must be true."

2) The subtle distinction being made between 'us' and 'them'. We are aborting ourselves... she cries - implying, of course, that 'they' aren't.

3) 100,000 abortions every year. Is that really the expected figure for the next fifty years? Or are we just fear-mongering?

4) Even if it were true, what's the big deal? Why would more Muslims be a bad thing? What exactly are you saying about Islam, Danna?

5) And this one's not entirely on the topic, but weren't there race riots in Danna Vale's electorate barely two months ago?


Exhibit B: Jackie Kelly

"Ms Jackie Kelly said the lack of babies for adoption in Australia was leading to "a trade in babies" from overseas.

She said the West was "plundering" the developing world for children. This led to social problems in the countries from which the children were removed.

"You create a trade in babies which leads to some tragic decisions for a woman overseas," Ms Kelly said.

"You've got an option of selling a kid sort of on the sly to support your own children".

The West had to look to itself to solve its problems, she said.

The West has to look to itself to solve its problems. Exactly. We shouldn't have to plunder the third world for unwanted children. We could make our own home-grown unwanted children right here. We should be stimulating our own economy in 'baby trading'. And why stop there? If we produce enough unwanted babies, we could start exporting them ourselves.

When you remember that this debate is about whether a government minister should determine if a drug is safe, or whether it should be left to an expert committee, the whole thing becomes more and more bizarre.


* No insult intended to the imam of Lakemba mosque, Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman (no puns please). If Sheikh Shady happens to be reading this, please be aware that I'm sure you are a wise person, and that your statements could easily have been made in a proper and commonsensical context. I am aware that I don't actually know what that context was. The point is, I bet Danna doesn't know either.




The song that got annoyingly stuck in my head today:
An old 'Play School' tune that goes:
Put a spot over here,
and a spot over there.
Put a spot in your ear,
and a spot in your hair...

5 weird things

Alright, I got tagged ages ago, so here it is...

The rules are: The first player of the game starts with the topic, "5 weird habits about yourself". And people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits, as well as state this rule clearly. In the end you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged, and link to their web-journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog/journal that says "you have been tagged" and tell them to read yours.

5 things...

1) I once received a three-monthly phone bill for $4,969 and zero cents. I have also kept the pages and pages of correspondance between me, the phone company, and the telecommunications ombudsman - who determined that the phone company behaved badly in allowing the debt to accumulate so highly before sending me a bill, thereby absolving me from paying for the 'premium' calls (largely to psychic hotlines) that were made over those three months. I have not kept in touch with the ex-housemate that made those calls.

2) I make sound effects to everyday actions, just to liven them up every now and then. I will reach for something and say "Yoink!" when I've grabbed it. I will make creaky-hinge noises as I come through a door, and glug-glug-glug noises while pouring a drink.

3) I have fire-walked.

4) During high school, I decided to memorise pi to 50 decimal places, just to see if I could do it. Then I went and accidentally remembered 55. I can still remember the first twenty (3.14159 26535 89793 43846), and the ones from 46 to 55 (37510 58209). What the middle 25 digits are I've got no idea (except that only one of them was a zero, and that zero was preceded by a five and followed by a two).

5) Sometimes incredibly useless information gets stuck in my head and is easily recalled (like pi, above), but if you asked me on Wednesday what I did on the weekend, I'd have to stop and think really hard before I remembered what I'd actually done. It drives my Lady Friend nuts.

I wasn't going to tag anyone, but then I remembered that some people don't blog enough and need a good kick up the jacksie bit of inspiration. So: My Brother, my Sister-in-Law, Jellyfish, TX Alexis, and, oh, that'll do.

6) Sometimes I break the rules just for the hell of it.


The song that got annoyingly stuck in my head today:
The ovalteenies ad jingle.