Rob the Banks Because That is Where the Money Is

Part 2: Mark Purdey.

The late organic dairy farmer Mark Purdey was tall, unkempt, and played the saxophone to his cows.

Purdey was a man with a problem with authority. He first came into the news in 1984 when he successfully quashed the UK government's compulsory warble fly eradication scheme in the high courts, thus exempting his farming business from treating his organic cattle with high doses of organophosphate insecticides.

Organophosphate insecticides are, incidentally, a by-product of Nazi research into nerve gas. They are an anathema to organic farmers.

Purdey came up with a hypothesis that “mad cow disease” (BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was due to a mineral imbalance between copper and manganese. This imbalance was primarily due to the unnatural diet which was then being fed to livestock, a diet which included chicken manure and ground up animal carcases. Phosmet – an organophosphate insecticide – acted as a “force multiplier” on this imbalance, with fatal consequences.

Purdey had first hand experience to back up his theory: cows bred on his Somerset farm did not contract BSE, but some cows that he had purchased from other farms did. Of course, this small sample did not prove the hypothesis. Much more research was needed for that, the sort of research that needed government funding.

If Purdey was right, there would have been an inexpensive solution to this debilitating, mysterious, and deadly disease. It would have saved farmers and the taxpayer millions, saved hundreds of human lives, and best of all, people won’t need to be scared any more.

The government funding for the research never came.

It does not look like the bulk of Purdey’s hypothesis has stood the test of time — or at least not yet. But could it be that the main reason that he didn’t manage to “sell” his idea was simply that it was not frightening enough?

A rather generous obituary of Mark Purdey can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/nov/21/guardianobituaries.bse

A lazy Sunday morning in the Irvine house...

.... Involves a fainting competition.

Introducing Couple 100 (homage anyone?) displaying great style and technique.

Did they win? You be the judge! (But given there was no competition, it's highly likely!!)

(Apologies for the long delay, no I wasn't strangled by the pumpkin vine, life has been crazy here. More to come, I promise!)

Rob the Banks because That is Where the Money Is

- or -

Heresy: when the Scientific Establishment gets it completely wrong.

A story in three parts.

Part One: Barry Marshall.

Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Barry Marshall found that the real cause of gastric ulcers was not stress or spicy food, but a bacteria called Heliobacter pylori living in the lining of the stomach and intestine. When this bacteria is eradicated by an appropriate course of antibiotics, the patient is cured.

This discovery was one of the true breakthroughs of the last century. It saves approximately half a million lives each year, and eventually eliminated a multi-billion dollar drugs and surgical industry.

I now have a question for you. What do you think was the reaction to Marshall’s findings? It is a very difficult question, so think hard.

Do you think the surgical and pharmaceutical industry said “Eureka! – at last someone has found a cause and cure for this confounding and catasrophic disease that causes so much misery?”

No. I am afraid you are wrong.

Do you think they said “Yippee! Our patients will be genuinely cured. More time for Golf!”

No. Wrong again.

Ready to give up? OK. How about I give you a hint? Notice the words multi-billion dollar in the second paragraph. Yes. That’s right. Marshall was a painted as an abrasive quack and ignored for as long as possible. Because ignoring him was where the money was.

Marshall’s first mainstream paper appeared in 1983, and by 1997 Australia had only recently licensed antibiotic treatment for ulcers.

The point here is not that you have to be cynical. If we didn't have institutions, pressure groups, and companies, nothing would get done, and our country would look like Amy Winehouse's apartment. We need all these things. Even Amy Winehouse. But we also need to verify that their interests remain at least loosely aligned with the common good.

We need to more questioning of institutions that purport to protect us.

And we need to be nicer to our eccentrics, heretics, iconoclasts, and tortured artists. After all, the whole reason they see things other people have missed, thereby enriching our lives, is because they can't help but look at problems from a different angle than you or I do.

Marshall got his message across in ten years, rather than fifty was because he was a natural showman - but most people simply aren't born with that skill. They need help.

--

What Sydney has

Easter saw the female part of the Irvine family on a road trip to Sydney. It's ages since we have been in Sydney and Steph claimed she couldn't remember it at all. Given that she moved away at age 18 months and has only been back once or twice since, she's probably right.

My lovely friend Lisa kindly lent us her apartment at White Bay for a few days and we were off. This trip was all about what Sydney has that Canberra doesn't.

1. Panzerotti

One of my favourite Sydney things is having a panzerotto at Pasticcierra Papa at Haberfield. When we lived in Sydney and my sister was in Rodd Point, this was a regular occurance on the weekend.

A panzerotto is a sweet bread filled with ricotta and dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar. Heaven with a cup of coffee. One each for breakfast and then one each takeaway to have later on.
2. Taronga Zoo

Sydney has Taronga Zoo. I have been going to Taronga Zoo my whole life and watching it change and develop is fascinating. Since our last visit they have finished the entry plaza and some more animal enclosures and are now working on a new home for the chimpanzees. I remember when that area first opened.... 25 years ago?

So despite the weather, we headed for the zoo, met up with grandpa and checked out the animals.
Sydney has elephants. Baby elephants. Baby elephants that play in the water from the hose. Enough said.

3. Shopping
Birkenhead Point, the Kumfs outlet store. Two pairs of shoes reduced from $225 to $99. Need I say more?

4. Taronga Zoo again
Easter Sunday was sunny and beautiful so we went back to the zoo.

Seal show, penguins, playground, rainforest aviary... and beautiful views over Sydney harbour.
5. Balmoral Beach

A sunny afternoon on Balmoral Beach is the perfect place for children to play.

It's a harbour beach so there are no waves. The island is great for those who like scrambling on rocks.

It's close to home so when you swim in your clothes, going home only dressed in a towel doesn't matter much.

6. Rain
Sydney has rain. Canberra doesn't have nearly as much, nearly as often. Of the four days we spent there, three were wet. There are some pluses to life in the National Capital.

We'll go back again, for more things we don't have here. My list includes a ferry, Hyde Park, Chinatown...

But we came home to a tree that looks like this.

Nice.