Quick Hits

• I overlooked this yesterday, since I was just online and didn't have an actual copy of The Washington Post in front of me. But the Centers for Disease Control have raised their estimates of U.S. HIV infections by 50 percent. Instead of 40,000 new infections annually, they now believe it to be 55,000 to 60,000. Unfortunately, they don't yet know whether this means the rate of infection is growing or if there have been more people infected than we've assumed for all these years. Here's the money quote from the article:

"People in the United States are under the impression that this is more of an international than a domestic issue," said Rowena Johnston, vice president for research at amfAR, an AIDS research foundation. "Yet these new CDC numbers are telling us that not only does this continue to be a serious problem, it is actually a larger one than we suspected."

Gee. Maybe someone should look into AIDS prevention education.

• The recent Australian election probably isn't on most people's minds in the U.S., but there's one intriguing development that I'll pass on. New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has appointed Peter Garrett, former lead singer of Midnight Oil, as Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts. Garrett's been involved in politics for awhile, and if I remember correctly, he's been on the ballot for prime minister in the past. The new position may not be as clear cut as it seems, though, because Australia also has a Minister for Climate Change and Water, which seems like it would overlap environment to some extent. I'm sure that they'll figure it all out somehow. Of course, this appointment just raises the question, has the time come to say fair's fair? Maybe so. Rudd was sworn in on Monday (which is still Sunday for us), and he's already fulfilled his promise to ratify Kyoto.

• I was remiss in overlooking the 100th birthday of Jacques Barzun on Friday. Back in the day (i.e., the middle of the 20th century), he was a major player in U.S. intellectual and academic circles, and perhaps the supreme example of how the term "public intellectual" can be a good thing. Barzun wrote very insightfully about a broad range of topics, and much of what he had to say is as valid today as it was then. A quick look at Google News suggests that a lot of other people were remiss in marking the occasion, as well, but it will point you to a nice remembrance in The Wall Street Journal. To find somewhere where Barzun fans actually were on the ball, check out the Jacques Barzun Centennial page. Pick a few things to read and dig in! Happy birthday, Dr. Barzun.