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October 24, 2003

Good News (at last)

There has been a bit of blogging coverage relating to Bushie's visit Down Under. Paul Jané has a photo of Steve Irwin at Parliment House (probably not at the same time as Bushie). Even more exciting (an this is the good news part) is a post by Kathy Kinsley which mentions that US-Australia free-trade agreement. I didn't spot any local references but she got it from the Washington Post (which is almost Gospel). If we see it appearing in the New (registration) York (required) Times then we know it must be time for the second coming.

I could be guessing wildly here but when (if) that agreement happens, it will really annoy Ma-Hard-Hair and the rest of the "too white to be asian" crowd :-)

[Ed: Calling someone "Bushie" could be a friendly modification on the name Bush (or Bushsomething like Bushland, Bushels, etc) or it could be suggesting that they are from the bush in which case the name would imply "country hick" or "hillbilly".]

P.S. While you are checking out "On the Third Hand" (Kathy's blog), make sure you read this and think about it. It is the same double standard as the racism story earlier.

Posted by Ozguru at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Comments

You know, Reuters definitely claims that it was before Bush gave his speech, so it must have been an hour earlier or so that Steve-o showed up to sit in the gallery. And thanks for the link. :-)

Posted by: Paul Jané at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Good news for us in Yankee land too. Cheaper vegemite. ;) (Only half kidding, I actually do like the stuff.) Not to mention good Australian beef... and maybe we can even get some drinkable beer in the states finally!

Posted by: Kathy K at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Paul: You are right. I found a later (poor quality photo) in Spike (not online) with him there when everyone was sitting. Looks like they used an "earlier-in-the-day" shot. According to SMH, Bushie is an Irwin fan and the two spent a fair bit of time chatting round the barbie and Steve gave him some t-shirts/hats. Kathy: I'll bring a bottle of vegemite next time I'm in the States (May?) - just remind me beforehand :-) There's actually some bloke trying to restore the original recipe (it has changed over the years and the modern one is somewhat blander than the original). He has been looking for anyone who still has bottles from the 1940's (it keeps forever).

Posted by: ozguru at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Hmmmmm, I'm going to have to try Vegemite one of these days... I could never bring myself to do so whilst down under...

Posted by: Paul Jané at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Before you try vegemite, you MUST read the Terry Pratchett explanation of how it came about. I will have to find the relevant passage and post it. He claims it is the result of a drunken brainwave - the same sort that figures flour, salt and water make bread so drunk hungry people can try eating the raw ingrediants :-) He also makes rude comments about pie floaters (an Adelaide specialty).

Posted by: ozguru at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Thanks for the link. My source at Australia Zoo neglected to send me that info, but most likely it was due to his being involved in inspections at another facility at the time. As for that free-trade thing....does this mean I'll be able to buy XXXX at the local grocery store now?

Posted by: Da Goddess at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM

Dunno about the beer. Lamb ought to be cheaper. I was at some function where I got ear-bashed by a lamb exporter. Poor old bugger was going broke and figured that I was from the big smoke so I would be able to do something about it (NBL - Not Very Likely). Anyway the deal was, this bloke reckoned that we could land lamb - ready to eat (not live sheep) in the USA for around 10% of what the Americans producers could. We can't compete in the American markets for wheat and beef but we can for lamb and rice. The Americans had decided to protect their (very new) sheep industry by putting in tariffs on imported lamb. We (Australia) complained to the WTO so the US put quotas on as well. End result, lamb export to the US reduced by about 80% and large numbers of very efficient lamb producers were scrambling to find new markers. Some of those markets don't want finished product and that mean closing lots of abattoirs etc.

Posted by: ozguru at October 24, 2003 08:10 AM