Vegemite is not a human right (cnn.com)
21 points by sumnole an hour ago
zulux an hour ago
As a religious person, I find this ruling troubling.
We bend over backward for religious dietary restrictions.
Why not sincerely held secular dietary restrictions and convictions? I also suspect the ruling would have been deliberated more if this wasn't an Australian inmate requesting Australian foods.
marky1991 4 minutes ago
What is a 'secular dietary conviction'? Religious restrictions are 'God says it is morally wrong to consume this'. Are you suggesting that australian culture suggests 'it is morally wrong to not eat vegemite'? I don't think that's true.
Because if it's just 'australian people like to eat X, I'm australian, thus it's morally wrong to deny me 'X', I don't see how that's reasonable. It's also a strong australian cultural norm to not be confined to a small cell every day for the rest of your life, but that norm was knowingly taken away as part this inmates' conviction and sentencing. Surely eating vegemite is a much smaller concern compared to the imprisonment.
BeetleB 26 minutes ago
He claims this is actually due to religion. He needs the nutrition, and the only alternative is pork, which he can't eat due to his religion.
ChrisRR 15 minutes ago
Or you know, a multivitamin
mrkeen an hour ago
The judge upheld prison authorities’ argument that McKechnie had failed to provide any proper foundations for his opinion that Vegemite does not interfere with drug sniffer dogs.
npc99 an hour ago
When I first heard about the case, I assumed prisoner was suing because he was being forced to accept toast with vegemite already on it or something, but turns out it was the opposite lol
Tade0 an hour ago
Was going to say the same. I acquired a taste for it, but you really have to spread it thinly.
Also the jar lid can and will get stuck on dried Vegemite, so at the same time you have to open it frequently, so as to prevent that.
alexjplant 16 minutes ago
Two slices of bread in the toaster oven. Throw some sharp cheddar on one of them halfway through. Spread a thin layer of *mite on the other. Delicious. I threw some carmelized onions on there one time too and it was even better.
The *mite hate comes from people trying to spread it like Nutella because they think brown = chocolate. One must apply it like sunscreen or thermal paste. My last jar of Vegemite similarly glued itself irretrievably shut towards the end even with a quarter of its contents left. I treated it as a metaphor for existence and discarded it with spiritual indifference.
wiether 9 minutes ago
kleiba2 an hour ago
> Vegemite is typically considered an acquired taste at best by those who weren’t raised on it.
+1
somenameforme an hour ago
I loved it the first time I had it. On the other hand I also loved durian the first time I had it too.
esafak an hour ago
That's cause you're on Team Marmite instead, eh? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite
ChrisRR 14 minutes ago
Marmite would also be banned if it's because it throws off the sniffer dogs
Toynbeeidea an hour ago
I prefer Marmite for its consistency. Marmite is sticky and goopy, Vegemite is kinda waxy.
I've never set foot in either Europe or Australia, but I liked both Marmite and Vegemite the first time I tried them.
kleiba2 an hour ago
Haha, no, my +1 was not because I agree with the statement, I just appreciated the wording.
drooopy 12 minutes ago
Vegemite is more like a human rights violation.
ChrisRR 15 minutes ago
> As a Jew who observed kosher law
> serving a life sentence for murder
Well which is it?
comrade1234 an hour ago
From the article it's not clear if the problem with the drug-sniffing dogs is false-positives or false-negatives. So don't start hiding your drugs in vegemite just yet.
aunty_helen 38 minutes ago
This goes against the vibe of the constitution.
moi2388 27 minutes ago
“ Vegemite had been banned throughout the state’s 12 prisons for the past 20 years because it could potentially impair sniffer dogs’ ability to detect narcotics and could be used to brew alcohol because of its yeast content”
Well yes, but you can brew alcohol out of almost anything.
Also, everything “potentially” impairs sniffers dogs ability. Including attention. The question is, does it actually?
brettermeier 19 minutes ago
I recently saw in a documentation, that jam was banned from german prison(s?) because you can use it for making alcohol. So might not be the first product which got banned because of this.