Sneeze Guard

I am allergic to everything in the animal kingdom except goats and rabbits. I encourage you to live with the mystery of that statement.

If for some crazy reason I ever want to add cats to my potential pet shortlist, now I can. For just under $4,000.

Allerca Inc., California, USA, says it has managed to breed the world's first hypoallergenic cats. People who are allergic to cats and buy one of these will not experience sneezing, red and itchy eyes or asthma - except in very acute cases.

The company says that as soon as the news got out people rushed to place orders and now there is a waiting list.

The company tested thousands of cats, looking for those tiny few that do not have glycoprotein Fel d1. Glycoprotein Fel d1 is what triggers allergic reactions in humans - it can be found in the fur, pelt, saliva, serum, urine, mucous, salivary glands, and hair roots of the cat. On finding a decent number of cats that did not carry glycoprotein Fel d1, the scientists selectively bred them.

The company wants to stress that their cats are not the result of genetic engineering, but selective breeding. Yeah, uh, that's just low-tech genetic engineering, dude.

Give Till It Hurts Politically

So what I did a few weeks ago was I went and got myself a job as a grantwriter. Now at work I get a daily update of headlines from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. (Something funny about the url "philanthropy.com")

There's a world of nonprofits that you never hear about, and I don't know why. It's just as interesting as for-profit business, and there are even more colorful characters.

Here's a news story that fell into my work mailbox today. It contains several fascinating observations in a compact space.

Federal Aid Reaches Few Black Churches, Report Says

Fewer than 3 percent of black churches have received federal funds under the Bush administration's effort to help religious charities, reports The Washington Post.

A survey by the Joint Center for Political Empowerment and Economic Studies concluded that because black churches have a limited ability to run social programs, very little of the estimated $2-billion in federal money available for philanthropic work each year ends up in their hands. One quarter of the 750 black churches surveyed have annual revenue of less than $250,000, the study found.

The survey also examined the political affiliation of religious organizations that received federal grants. Liberal churches tended to view President Bush's attempts to help churches with skepticism, but they were also more likely to apply for and receive money, the report said.

On the other hand, far fewer conservative churches, despite supporting President Bush politically, have sought federal aid.

The Bush administration might inadvertently have done some Democrat-style work while appealing to a Republican Christian constituency. I'm glad someone's doing it.

Cripes

Thanks to Sarah, I have been turned on to Geez magazine, an Adbusters for the curious and faithful and maybe the self-loathing.

The magazine is full of the Adbusters brand (oh, it’s a brand all right) of intellectual self-flagellation that starts with a genuine, admirable desire to know and improve thyself, and proceeds from inquiry to recrimination to eventual numbness.

It pulls like a tide, and then an undertow, page after page of earnest, “Doesn't modernity kind of suck? Are you doing enough? Didn’t you know you’re kind of not good enough?”

The answer is yes, I’m well aware that I’m not good enough. Now get off my fucking case.

But, it’s good bathroom reading, and I do enjoy the navel-gazing. I also like people attempting to answer the questions they bring up, and these Geez kids don't always seem on that bandwagon.

I can’t figure out if I like Geez yet. I think maybe I don't. But I have a subscription. And I like getting it in the mail.

If you’re getting mixed messages, it’s because I’m sending them.