Two sort of depressing things that were briefly on my mind today

I half-read a New York Times article about the increasing prevalence of diabetes in India as diets become Westernised and more sugary. This is a big problem here in the Philippines too. (The article is here, but I think you need to register to see it.) One line, which wasn't directly related to the main thrust of the article, really struck me:

“For the world has now reached the point, according to the United Nations, where more people are overweight than undernourished.”

I guess this could be interpreted as a positive thing, but I’m pretty sure it has more to do with the surge in the number of overweight people than with a large decrease in the number of undernourished people.

The other thing was to do with Australian politics. I can’t be bothered giving any background, so for the 10-or-so people who read this regularly, apologies if you're not Australian have no idea what I’m talking about. Basically, Kim Beazley’s tripe about visitors to Australia signing a commitment to “Australian values” (which we kid ourselves revolve around “mateship” and “a fair go”) made me despair for the state of the ALP and, consequently, any chance of deposing Howard in the near future. It reeks unbearably of an attempt (a very poor one) to woo the xenophobic crowd that are Howard’s domain (and which, in my unresearched opinion, has become larger and more vocal under Howard’s leadership). If Beazley/the ALP can’t do better than that, they deserve what they currently have. Unfortunately, I guess, so do I. This blog captures my feelings well.