Because I have insomnia and so you must suffer also

News roundup! Actually some of this is pretty positive.

Up Over:

Minnesota voters send first Muslim to Capitol Hill

All Eyes on Kennedy in Court Debate On Abortion

South Dakotans Reject Tough Abortion Ban

Down Under:

Nuclear power on agenda; Ministers push case for nuclear solution

Kyoto denial costs farmers $2.5b in carbon trade cash; I'll never shut failing farms, Howard vows (ie pay farmers to abandon land wrecked by climate change)

Great moments in Australian history: 1818

January: the Poet Laureate is awarded two cows

May: the departure (under duress?) of Jeremiah OFlynn the Popish Priest.

ETA: Why Are English Sailors Called Limeys? notes that millions of modern Americans suffer from scurvy!

(no subject)

HOLY FLAMING COW

DIAL DOUBLE ZERO!!!

It's out! On DVD! The Bradbury story that scared me so bad I wouldn't answer the phone for months!!! For which I have been searching for YEARS!!!

Comparative costs

It would cost $625 million over four years to vaccinate Australian women and girls against (most) cervical cancer, plus $34 million each year after that, possibly more if the vaccine requires booster shots. According to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, this is too expensive. About 740 Australian women are diagnosed each year; about 270 women die each year. Even if you include their families, that's not many votes.

The vote-earning detention centre on Nauru costs $1.8 million per month to keep open, even when empty. Last year it cost $21.4 million. It cost $225,000 to fly seven asylum seekers there in October.

According to The Big Issue, Australia's education budget falls $3 billion short of what's necessary to provide a basic education for every child.

(Ta to barrington for the heads up on the vaccine. Stats from The Cancer Council of NSW.)