Stay in bed, two reasons to...

I’m ashamed. Really ashamed. But I’ll come clean. I tried my hardest. I did. But I managed only 9:46 a.m. What’s this about? Yesterday was Stay in Bed Day 2010 [1, 2, 3]. It’s an initiative of the Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation [4]. The first one was in 2009. It aims to raise community awareness of mitochondrial diseases [5, 6]. The AMDF says about 90,000 Australians are at risk of developing one. What’s the link between mitochondrial disease (‘mito’) and staying in bed? A main symptom of mito is energy loss – so severe that sufferers have trouble getting out of bed. Mito diseases are genetic, so I don’t know what can be done to prevent them. Stem cells, maybe. Effective treatment seems more feasible. Either way, it’s a worthy cause. But, to come clean again, the main reason I stayed in bed yesterday – until 9:46 anyway – was the gloomy election result. Most likely it’ll be Australia’s second hung parliament (our first was in 1940) [7]. The thousands of postal and absentee votes to be counted may influence the overall result. Or not. But what’s 100% clear is delay: delay declaring a result, and if it’s a hung parliament, delay forming a workable government. And even when a government’s formed, it’ll be beholden to minority interests. So the bold and expensive initiatives needed to move from a carbon economy won’t happen. I think I’ll go back to bed. And get in training for Stay in Bed Day 2011. Ho hum.