Magic Statistics

According to two blog posts by British reporters, very few journalists know who's prime minister of Canada.

First up is David Blair of the London Telegraph, commenting that most of the G8 leaders appeared quite uninterested in their summit meeting.

The two most obscure members of the G8, Shinzo Abe and Stephen Harper, the Japanese and Canadian prime ministers, appeared utterly bewildered. (Incidentally, most of my fellow journalists have no idea who these guys are). Only Tony Blair had some success in pretending to be interested.

The other is Richard Lloyd Parry of The Times of London.

There was George, Tony, Angela, Vlad, Sarko, Prodi, the EU bloke (Barroso) the Canadian prime minister (I know it, don't tell me . . . Harper! Stephen Harper) and - making his debut at the G8 ball - Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

So, when Bono blasted our prime minister, most reporters didn’t know who the rock star was complaining about.  That’s a relief.

At right is a photo of the G8 leaders, along with that important EU guy.  I think I recognise all but two or three of those folks.

Previous related post: Harper stands out at La Francophonie

At least, the patient had green blood, like Mr Spock.

Doctors at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital came across something highly illogical when they tried to put an arterial line into a patient about to undergo surgery: his blood was dark green.

Blood tests indicated that the man had a rare condition called sulfhemoglobin, triggered by a medication he was taking for migraines.

I wonder if Mr Spock suffers from migraines.

The Dalai Lama is on a speaking tour of Australia, focusing on reducing poverty and protecting the environment.

"Taking care of the environment should be part of our daily life," the Dalai Lama said.
. . .
Just as important was the need to reduce poverty, he said.

"The gap between rich and poor is growing, it's huge," he said.

And, of course, he's walking the talk by minimising his environmental footprint and conserving resources for the poor.

On this, his fifth Australian tour, which starts today, the 71-year-old Dalai Lama and his entourage of 10 will fly business class and stay in four to five-star hotels. He is expected to speak to more than 200,000 people and more than 500 volunteers have been trying to make sure most costs can be met.

The 10-day tour is expected to cost $3.5 million.

Hundreds of devotees are volunteering their services so the Dalai Lama and his “entourage” can fly business class and stay in four- and five-star hotels.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Private donors are paying for most, but not all, of the cost.

Organisers are also relying on donations being made and on merchandise sales.

He’s soliciting charity to pay for top-flight travel and accommodation.  What’s that saying (incorrectly) attributed to P.T. Barnum?

Alan Molloy, the tour's director, admits managing costs is a large part of his job.

I have a suggestion that may not have occurred to anyone: The group could fly economy and stay in two-star hotels.

"Religion and money are inflammatory," he concedes. "A balance has to be achieved in that because nothing exists without resources in this world."

How do business class and top-flight hotels contribute to “balance” in resource usage?

Enough of this petty criticism. Dalai’s a busy guy.  After touring Australia and New Zealand preaching austerity and environmental rectitude, he’s scheduled to move on to India, Germany, India, Spain and Portugal, India, USA, Canada, Italy, India, United Kingdom, and USA.  Airlines and hotels await.

h/t: Andrew Bolt

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In their campaign against unIslamic shops and activities, Islamists in Gaza have targeted internet cafés.  Now Hindu fundamentalists in Mumbai have adopted the same tactic to shut down those who offend their religious sensibilities.

Students from the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS) have sent a letter to Mumbai internet cafes ordering them to block orkut.com, an online community which they believe defamed Chhatrapati Shivaji, a Hindu hero, and Bal Thackeray, head of a Hindu nationalist party, the Shiv Sena (SS).

Last Sunday SS militants stormed two cybercafés in the Mumbai suburb of Kalyan, attacking owners and clients alike. Following the incidents in Kaylan, some cybercafés blocked orkut.com.
. . .
The online community is host to a group calling itself ‘I hate Shiv Sena’.

Instead of protecting café operators by apprehending the attackers, police counsel acquiescence to terrorism.

On Tuesday police called on cybercafés to discourage access to orkut.com.

The BVS is already working on blocking the offending site, not just to cybercafé patrons, but to all Indian internet users.

The BVS said it is also preparing, with the help of its own information technology experts, software that blocks unwanted sites.

This software will be sent to internet service providers so that they can take quick action. The latter however stated that they will have to “check the legal implications of installing such software. A final call in this regard would have to be taken by the Department of Telecommunications.”

Sounds like the ISPs are ready to cave if the government says it’s OK to prevent the free flow of information.  Will no one stand up for freedom of speech?  Isn’t India supposed to be a democracy?

In other news, Hindus in the US are up in arms over a drawing in the June issue of Stuff magazine, which they claim is “defamatory to their religion”.  The illustration depicts two Hindu deities in an unflattering manner.

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Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, along with other Christian and Jewish leaders, spoke to the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works earlier this week.  She called for mandatory policies to halt climate change as a means of alleviating global poverty.

"Science has revealed that global warming is real, caused by human activities and is a threat not only to God's good creation but to all of humanity."

Jefferts Schori highlighted that global warming will have a negative impact on all of God's creation including those living in poverty, communities of color, and vulnerable communities in the U.S. and abroad. Jefferts Schori stated that "inaction now is the most costly course of action for those living in poverty" and noted that climate change legislation now will help protect those who would suffer most from global warming.

She is to be commended for focusing on the terrible scourge of global poverty but, if one considers the most pressing problems impinging on the world’s poor, climate change would be well down the list.  Many initiatives would have a greater and more immediate impact than greenhouse gas emissions reductions, which would be very expensive and of indefinite effect.

For the cost of one year’s worth of Kyoto-mandated GHG reductions, we could supply clean drinking water for everyone in the world, thus saving two million lives and avoiding half a billion serious illnesses every year.  That’s an immediate and lasting benefit.

Two billion of the world’s citizens have no electricity—no lighting and no refrigeration in their homes, places of work, hospitals and clinics.  If those poorest of the poor had electricity, deaths would be averted, diseases diagnosed and treated, and the quality of their everyday lives improved.  But if the overriding aim is to reduce GHG emissions, as +KJS advocates, then providing electricity to more of the world’s people would be discouraged.

As I said, it is good that Bishop Jefferts-Schori wants Western governments to help the poor.  At the same time, I suggest that there are ways of helping which provide larger and long-lasting benefits with much greater certainty and far less expense than climate change policies.

The full text of Bishop Jefferts-Schori’s statement can be downloaded here (pdf).

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