It\’s a real joke on my body to be experiencing winter while it is 65°F on a daily basis. I wonder how long it takes the body\’s internal clock to adjust to the reversal of seasons; maybe a few years? We were going to go down to Lone Pine today, but Dr. Maude and I both seem to have the flu. The sprog will just have to wait another weekend before she can hug a koala.

Back in the mother country, Emperor Bush has decided he is not going to release his toys to the international community after all. I\’m watching the commentary unfold on /.. ICANN (NOYOUCANNOT) vs. USA; and the lessor of the two evils are? How many of us can remember the struggle to force ICANN to release their expensive monopoly on registration? Their poor tech support? The struggle with their bureaucratic process to get even the simplest things done? It\’s essentially attempting to decide between the lesser of two evils. Should the USA gov\’t ever decide to follow in Microsoft\’s footsteps and begin censoring the internet… I\’d like to think that unlikely, but truthfully, I don\’t. Worst case scenario, yes.

Speaking of worst case scenarios… the G8 are meeting at Gleneagles next week. Bush absolutely will not bend on the USA position on global warming. Not only is he continuing to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Treaty, but he will not agree to the G8\’s wording on the global warming crisis. Instead, knowing that the other seven leaders disagree with Bush, they have decided to spend the week pointing fingers at other countries who are not even attending. Instead of addressing how the G8 can fix the problem internally, they are pointing the finger elsewhere. Sounds to me like a case of parental misguidance, \”Do as I say and not as I do.\” That\’s a great formula for adolescent rebellion, and the global environment is at stake. Wonderful. Do we really want to be in a position of antagonising rising countries?

Jamie, I wish I was back there in Edinburgh with you right now. Well, don\’t I always? But today far more than usual. Though the campaign is more than a bit crap, I\’m so full of tension about this week\’s G8 meeting that I wish I had something even to do about it, even if it is a bit crap and total bollocks to boot.

I smell like eucalyptus, but it is from the menthol in the cough drops, Bio Freeze, and pain patches, and not from a hot koala\’s breath. (If you can see this post, it means my residency at El Jay is complete, and that I am officially retired from the world of the /friends/ list. If successful, more about Independence to follow.)

TECHNORATI: icann, bush, censorship, bush, g8, makepovertyhistory