Vegemite - 86 years strong!

There would hardly be a household on the NSW North Coast that didn't have a jar of Vegemite tucked away in the pantry cupboard. It's probably been that way since 1922.

Mothers use this brewer's yeast spread as a quick filler of hungry kids, uni students and pensioners use it to eke out the skimpy food budget, and if the global credit crisis continues many more people will be relying on it for a meal.

My boofhead dog loves his Vegemite toast crusts at breakfast and Maud up the Street drinks Vegemite 'tea' when she is feeling a bit off-colour.

Many of us also like teasing overseas visitors with their first experience of this spread and delight in the alarmed expressions when they realise that they are expected to actually eat this strange food.

Along with the first lines of Waltzing Matilda, I bet most Aussies can sing the opening to the Happy Little Vegemites jingle.

At least a billion jars of the old 'axle grease' have now been officially sold.
So here's to Vegemite - a source of both nostalgia and necessity.

Old advertisement found at Kraft website.

Monday's antidote for all the doom and gloom dominating the media

Thanks to a local journo for passing on these classics from A Steroid Hit The Earth: The Catastrophic World Of Misprints by Martin Toseland, published by Portico Books this month.

Misprints:

People in Preston ward are invited to a meeting at 7.15pm tonight in St Mary's Church Hall, Brighton, to meet councillors and beat police officers. (Evening Argus)

The skeleton was believed to be that of a Saxon worrier. (Express and Echo)

The strike leaders had called a meeting that was to have been held in a bra near the factory, but it was too small to hold them all. (South London Press)

One man was admitted to hospital suffering from buns. (Bristol Gazette)

Police in Hawick yesterday called off a search for a 20-year-old man who is believed to have frowned after falling into the swollen River Teviot. (The Scotsman)

The first aid treatment for a broken rib is to apply a tight bandage after you have made your patient expire. (Manchester Evening News)

Corrections:

Error: The Observer wishes to apologise for a typesetting error in our Tots and Toddlers advertising feature last week which led to Binswood Nursery School being described as serving 'children casserole' instead of chicken casserole. (Leamington Spa Observer)

'The name of this column is still Corrections and Clarifications*, although it is not immune from error as the printed title in yesterday's paper demonstrated.' *The column appeared as Corrections and Clairifications. (The Guardian)

Adverts:

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council: Crematorium assistant required. The Council operates a no-smoking policy. (Sheffield Star)

Sports:

The mystery fan behind the takeover bid for Port Vale today said he will pull out of the deal if his identity is revealed. It is understood Stone-based businessman Peter Jackson wants to remain anonymous until the contract is signed and sealed. (Staffordshire Sentinel)

Pssst! Did you hear the one about the flash cove who?

Did you hear the one about the flash cove who took on the job as mayor of the biggest local government area on the NSW North Coast and within a week was trying to palm off any part of this role which would take him away from his 2GF microphone overnight?
Apparently he thinks that being a DJ is way more important than representing the interests of local communities at conferences, seminars, and regional or state-wide meetings.
Including it seems the valuable face-to-face contact with ministers which often occur in these settings.
Talk about a conflict of interest!

Wall Street the day after..........

Scenes on Wall Street the day after Bush's financial bailout became law.

The bankers

Retirees, small investors and homebuyers

Graphics from Gooogle Images

Australian Government Treasury on climate change mitigation policy modelling

The preliminary Australian Government Treasury 33-page document modelling climate change mitigation policy was released on Friday.

The economic outlook has been G-cubed, GTEMed, MMRfed and generally subjected to a wide range of assumptions.

My favourite of which is:

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology combined with coal and gas electricity generation

is assumed to be available on a commercial scale from 2020 in both Australia and the world. The

approach to modelling CCS in MMA and GTEM differed, reflecting the level of detail in the

respective models and the inherent uncertainty surrounding a technology that has yet to be

demonstrated on a commercial scale.

Which leaves the Australian coal industry (and the rest of the world) just 12 years to solve all the problems associated with this proposed technology.
Has the domestic industry seriously started yet or is it waiting for Rudd's new taxpayer-funded body or an overseas mining company to produce the miracle?

'Mr. Plod' of the Crime Commission gets a bollocking

"AUSTRALIAN Crime Commission chief executive Alastair Milroy says the leaking of a "secret dossier" on Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus is part of a malicious campaign to destabilise the nation's peak criminal intelligence agency."

Wrong, Alastair! The ACC is doing a good job of wrecking its own credibility without any saboteurs being involved.

But I get the feeling that your little investigation of the matter will find in favour of management and its mates.

I can see the headline now - It was a one-off!

Even though the document has internal briefing paper figuratively written all over it.

C'mon! it was written by the ACC general manager.

See what happens when John Howard's leftovers remain at the helm of an intelligence gathering agency.

Bob Debus is just discovering a similar experience to those a previous Whitlam Labor Government had to contend with during its days in office.

Pic from The Age

Update on The Bow and Arrow Bill (or how to rescue a banker or two)

The Bow and Arrow Bill to rescue Wall Street and investment bankers from their own folly started its life in the US House of Representatives as H R 3997, a bill To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes.

After its ignominious defeat it again came before the House via the Senate as H R 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Title: A bill to provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. [RI-1] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors (274)
Related Bills: H.RES.1014, H.RES.1525, H.R.493, H.R.1367, S.358
Latest Major Action: 10/1/2008 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Passed Senate, pursuant to the order of September 30, 2008, having achieved the required 60 votes in the affirmative, with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Yea-Nay Vote. 74 - 25. Record Vote Number: 213.
House Reports: 110-374 Part 1, 110-374 Part 2, 110-374 Part 3
Note: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. On 10/1/2008, the Senate passed H.R.1424 as the vehicle for the economic rescue legislation. In the EAS version of the bill (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by the Senate), Division A (pp.1-110) is referred to as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; Division B (pp. 110-255) is referred to as the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008; and Division C (pp. 255-441) is referred to as the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008. See also documents on the Senate Banking Committee and the House Rules Committee websites.

Its 451 pages now contain gems like:
Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.

Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.

According to the House Committee on Financial Services this is what the Act means in terms of the rescue bid.

The House is now debating as I write and progress can be followed at the Clerk's Floor Summary here.

Update:

The New York Times live blogged the debate.

1:25 p.m. Bill passes: The bill passed 263 to 171. The vast majority of Democrats voted in favor (172 yeas to 63 nays), while a slighter majority of Republicans voted against (91 yeas to 108 nays).
1:08 p.m. Voting begins: Representatives are entering their final votes on the bill. They have 15 minutes to do so.