(no subject)

The OS trip ate our bank account. One of my coping strategies has been to "scavenge" for "remaindered" vegetables at the greengrocers; stuff which is still perfectly edible, but is a little old and ugly, flogged at half-price to get rid of it. I've obtained perfectly good brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes this way. (In times past I've also got tomatoes and apples for cooking and freezing.)

I confess I feel a little guilty about this. Other people are feeling far worse a pinch than Jon and I, and I'm mindful that we could survive without my saving a few bucks this way. OTOH, there's no shortage of the stuff, and there's only so much I can carry and use - so there's still plenty left for more needy people.

Voluntary simplicity, downsizing, etc, seems to mostly be a middle class thing, perhaps because it is voluntary. I'm not sure what proportion of frugal shoppers are comfortable and what proportion have no choice but to eat rejected spuds, or beg for the stuff that's going in the dumpsters round the back - or extract it from the dumpsters under cover of darkness.

One challenge my "scavenging" presents is that you've got a lot of fresh food which needs to be consumed promptly, so you need to be clever about incorporating it into meals. Last night's magnificent repast was package mac and cheese combined with steamed brussels sprouts (and frozen peas and crusty bread).

In other household news, I climbed up on the fence thing and ripped down about a ton of Lt. Bush. He has made a foray into the neighbour's yard; two vines have snaked across the patio and wound themselves around a neglected rake. O the embarrassment.

Refugees

An article in today's Sydney Morning Herald claims this:

The Home Office in Britain estimates that "over two-thirds" of rejected asylum seekers there disappear into the community.

I can't find the "over two-thirds" estimate anywhere. I've been rummaging through the Home Office site and the British online media and generally flailing about in Google, and in fact I can't find any statistics on how many rejected asylum seekers abscond in the UK.

What I have found out is that in 2003 there was controversy over the lack of figures on how many failed asylum seekers don't leave the country - no-one was actually compiling those figures. The most recent Home Office research, excluding basic quarterly figures, is based on 2003.

The supposed Home Office estimate is given in support of the article's claim that Community release creates the risk that applicants with weak or non-existent cases will abscond. However, in Australia, from 1996-1998, not one asylum seeker released on a bridging visa while they were being processed did a vanishing trick. The article also refers to an INS official's estimate of 90% absconding - which contrasts with a 1992 INS trial which resulted in over 90% not disappearing. (see this HREOC report for references)

In short, I think the figure's a furphy. I think there's no credible evidence that most asylum seekers, if not detained, will try to vanish. I think proper safeguards prevent frightened or dishonest applicants from absconding. I think this whole line of argument in favour of detention is a puff of smoke.

ETA: Some sleight of hand which I've only just spotted - the article's author says asylum seekers being processed would disappear; but the Home Office figure is about asylum seekers who have been processed and didn't succeed in being recognised as refugees. In Australia, the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers do succeed - so he's taking figures about a tiny minority and applying them to everyone. Further, his US figure doesn't seem to be about asylum seekers, but anyone caught by the border patrol. So neither figure is relevant.

Naughty.

Anyway, I've emailed him to ask where the Home Office figure came from.

(no subject)

ide_cyan pointed me to the official Rush Web site, which is full of cool stuff, such as Geddy being interviewed by his dog. I found out that Alex will be performing at the White Ribbon Concert in Toronto on 7 June, raising funds to raise awareness of violence against women. How cool is that?!

(Hell, no Rush ikon!)