farmdoc's blog post number 630

Wishing someone Happy New Year. In recent days millions of people around the world have done it. It’s a nice thing to do. A gesture of goodwill. A bit trite and shallow, maybe. But pretty innocuous. Not so, though, if your name’s Mohammad-Mansour Azimzadeh Ardebili. He’s the director of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s [FFIRI’s] foreign relations office. And recently he emailed new year greetings to all national association members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association [FIFA]. Trouble is, included in the list of recipients was the Israel Soccer Federation [ISF] – specifically Amir Navon who’s the head of the ISF’s legal department, and ironically ‘an Israeli of Iranian origin’. As Israel’s a robust if not boisterous liberal democracy, irony and tongue-in-cheek humour aren’t lacking there. And so the ISF replied to the FFIRI’s greeting with a ‘happy new year to all the good people of Iran’ and a hope that they’d have a happy soccer year. And for good measure the ISF added a smiley wink. Totalitarian theocracies, however, lack senses of irony and humour. So due to his errant email Mr Ardebili resigned his FFIRI position. Or more likely he was sacked. (He’s lucky he wasn’t executed.) Anyway Farmdoc wishes you a happy new year, sir. And remember: you aren’t the first person in history to score an own goal. And you won’t be the last.

farmdoc's blog post number 622

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. the F1 blogosphere was awash (can a blogosphere be awash?) with posts about the Australian Grand Prix being without a naming rights sponsor 2½ months before this year’s event [1]. All indicators point to the event being moribund – if not dead. But the government continues its life support. Why?

2. in last Sunday’s Sunday Age, its production editor, a Mr Coulter, wrote an article advocating buses to replace Melbourne’s trams [2]. As you didn’t mention the buses’ fuel, your view is not worth the paper it’s written on, sir.

3. this Age piece confirmed the benefit of businesses having easy-to-remember phone numbers [3]. They’re useful for individuals too. Mine ends in 1230.

4. Nutrition Diva wrote that frozen vegetables lose little nutritional value during freezing; and in the off-season they may be more nutritious than fresh vegies from far away [4]. What about the packaging?

5. this ABC News item tells of 1,300 people – labelling them ‘peace activists’ – who are in Egypt hoping to cross into Gaza to protest against Israel’ economic blockade of Gaza [5]. What – no mention of Gilad Shalit? How very convenient of these bleeding heart do-gooders to overlook the Hamas’s barbarian treatment of him, let alone its stated aim of eliminating a UN member state. A pox on all 1,300 of them.

6. treehugger.com put up an item about San Francisco offering free water to the public [6]. It’s happening, PJ. Not yet at the global tipping point, but every step’s one step towards it. Roll on, GlobalTap.

7. also in treehugger was a story of a group of girls in northern England who’ve started a campaign to make bicycling stylish for girls – who are under represented among cyclists [7]. This is one for you, Meg. Roll on, BikeBeauty.

8. yesterday my fellow Mole Creek resident Pete the Maremma [8] turned seven years old. Happy birthday, Petey Boy. Mate.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week – and year.