Top CDs of the Winter

Lara Fabian - Lara Fabian
A bit extravogant belting out high notes, but I love about anything done with that kind of gusto.



Modern Times - Bob Dylan
Optimistic again after some recent rough (in a good way) albums, but still plenty of twelve bar blues. Workingman's Blues will one day be a classic track.


Bachelor No. 2 - Amiee Mann
Original and tuneful and thick with cynicism. I enjoy the brash fun upbeat rhythm. There are a few female singer/song writers on the CD rack right now, and this is high on the play-list.

Haiku

My Haiku Obscure shadow climbs, Existing onyx joins in: New minds still differ. Get Your Haiku

Racism on Big Brother

The news, the papers and even the prime minister in parliament are talking about racism on TV. The limeys have been bullying Shilpa Shetty in that menagerie that is Big Brother.

Now an Indian junior government minister of external affairs is "considering a formal approach to the UK over the programme."

Perhaps Gordon Brown (on his self-aggrandisement tour of India) can tell the junior minister that if he gives a hint of credence to anything on the damnable show he's as thick as Jade Goody.

For a more thoughtful post, try Morag The Mindbender.

3 Column Blog

Here is one way to convert a blogger template with one side panel so that there is a panel on each side. In this example, I've taken the "Minima Lefty" template by Douglas Bowman and Darren Delaye.

I've widened the template and added another column to the right.

You can adapt this procedure for other blogger templates. My own blog is currently an adaptation of the "Demim" template by Darren Delaye.

First, to answer some basic questions:

1. Is this easy? Well, it's intermediate. If you've edited HTML before, you'll be fine. If not, you'll just need to be bold. I think it's equivalent to re-wiring a plug without the risk of executing yourself.
2. Can I screw up my blog template trying this? Yes, but you'd need to make a lot of mistakes to achieve that! We'll start by making a backup, so you should feel confident that you can always undo any mistakes.
3. Can I loose my posts? No, we won't be touching them.
4. Can I follow the instructions exactly step by step? Not exactly. Every template will be slightly different. But you should recognise the sections ok. I did pretty much the same procedure with this very blog.
5. Are there any guarantees? Only taxes.

Well, I've done my best to put you off. Any intrepid bloggers still reading... here goes.

Step 1:

Go to your blogger Dashboard.
Under the Template tab, select 'Edit HTML'.
Copy the full content of the large Template box.
Paste it into a text editor like notepad or gedit (not Word).
Save it on your computer (perhaps call it MyTemplate.txt).
Make another copy to edit (so that you keep a copy of the original).

Step 2:

Open your template in your text editor.
Scroll down to find a section like this:

/* Outer-Wrapper
----------------------------------------------- */
#outer-wrapper {
width: 660px;
margin:0 auto;
padding:10px;
text-align:left;
font: $bodyfont;
}

#main-wrapper {
width: 410px;
float: right;
word-wrap: break-word;
overflow: hidden;
}

#sidebar-wrapper {
width: 220px;
float: left;
word-wrap: break-word;
overflow: hidden;
}

Copy the #sidebar-wrapper subsection and head the new copy #rightbar-wrapper
Increase the outer-wrapper width to 850.
Decrease the sidebar-wrapper and the new rightbar-wrapper to 180.
On the rightbar-wrapper, change the float from left to right.
Also, rearrange the subsections so they are in order, from left to right.
(I moved sidebar-wrapper subsection above the main-wrapper subsection.)
Add to the main-wrapper section the line "margin-left: 30px;"

The section will look something like this:

/* Outer-Wrapper
----------------------------------------------- */
#outer-wrapper {
width: 850px;
margin:0 auto;
padding:10px;
text-align:left;
font: $bodyfont;
}

#sidebar-wrapper {
width: 180px;
float: left;
word-wrap: break-word;
overflow: hidden;
}

#main-wrapper {
width: 410px;
margin-left: 30px;
float: right;
word-wrap: break-word;
overflow: hidden;
}

#rightbar-wrapper {
width: 180px;
float: right;
word-wrap: break-word;
overflow: hidden;
}

Note: You can adjust to different widths. If your side, middle and right bars (or columns) do not fit comfortably within your outer wrapper, you will find that one column may start below the bottom of another column - stepping too far down the page.

Step 3:

Find the Sidebar Content section.
Copy and paste another copy immediately below it.
In the second copy, change all the occurrences of 'sidebar' to 'rightbar'.

/* Sidebar Content
----------------------------------------------- */
.sidebar {
color: $sidebartextcolor;
line-height: 1.5em;
}

.sidebar ul {
list-style:none;
margin:0 0 0;
padding:0 0 0;
}
.sidebar li {
margin:0;
padding:0 0 .25em 15px;
text-indent:-15px;
line-height:1.5em;
}

.sidebar .widget, .main .widget {
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
margin:0 0 1.5em;
padding:0 0 1.5em;
}

/* Rightbar Content
----------------------------------------------- */
.rightbar {
color: $sidebartextcolor;
line-height: 1.5em;
}

.rightbar ul {
list-style:none;
margin:0 0 0;
padding:0 0 0;
}

.rightbar li {
margin:0;
padding:0 0 .25em 15px;
text-indent:-15px;
line-height:1.5em;
}

.rightbar .widget, .main .widget {
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
margin:0 0 1.5em;
padding:0 0 1.5em;
}

Note: you may have noticed the $sidebarcolor. Leave that as it is for now. That way the same colour schemes will apply to both side and right columns.

Step 4:

Toward the bottom of your template, you'll see a "div id='sidebar-wapper' " section similar to the graphic below.
Copy the whole section and paste another copy beneath it.

You guessed it, rename the 'sidebar' bits to 'rightbar'.
Arrange the sections in the order shown below: sidebar-wrapper, main-wrapper, then rightbar-wrapper.

Now, delete some of the widget lines so that each widget line appears only once in either the sidebar, or the rightbar section. A widget cannot appear in both. In this example, I have only two widgets, so I'll put the Profile1 in the sidebar and the BlogArchive1 in the rightbar.

Step 5:

Save your work!
Copy it back into the Blog, Template, Edit HTML text box.
Click the Preview button.
If it looks good, hit the SAVE TEMPLATE button.

Bossy Governments Are Never Good

I've been trying to figure out what to say about this bossy government's move to raise the leaving age for compulsory education to 18.

Saving me the trouble, ThunderDragon has put together an excellent and concise post.

(And besides, I was sick and tired of seeing a Labour politician as the last photo on this site.)

Uncomfortable Affiliations

A few weeks ago I joined a loose association of bloggers called blogpower. There are some good thinkers and writers in the group, and we link to each other's sites. The group has helped me find some great sites, and brought some welcome traffic this way.

Some of the crowd are concerned to varying degrees by the inclusion of Central News because it is written by a BNP supporter. He has at times contributed comments on this site. And from memory, I think I've commented on his. I've also posted on issues relating to the BNP - not supporting a BNP position, but opposing restrictions on free speech.

Currently there is hot debate on what to do about the blogpower situation. Some want to ask him to leave, some have suggested disbanding blogpower. Other's have already withdrawn their blogs from the group eschewing any association.

To be clear, this is not an issue of free speech, it's a question of who and what bloggers want to be associated with and linked to.

If blogpower asks him to leave, then exactly what is the criteria for being part of this exclusive circle? Where is the master list of acceptable opinions that we must adhere to? Or where is the list of blasphemous views that will see a blogger cast out? Who is this new authority to decide? Is the majority view to decide what is acceptable? - That would really be disconcerting!

This all sits uneasily in the blogosphere. Simply by being on the Internet you are by definition connected to the rest of it! I see this as a place where we can speak and disagree freely. If you disagree with Central News or the BNP, then say so! Blogging is an ideal medium for this!

If it's the BNP's support for capital punishment that offends you, then make your argument. If you disagree with their immigration policies, then state your case. (It's their restrictive immigration based on race that I object to - far too prescriptive. Like all left wingers, too interested in curtailing freedom. I think of the BNP as 'far-Left'.) If you just think they are a pack of racist bastards, you can say that too, but don't expect me to keep coming back to your blog. I'm looking for something a little more thoughtful. (Of course, if you say it in a funny or clever way, then that could work too.)

Now, if a blogger wants to withdraw from the association, of course they are free to do so. If those working to maintain and host the group can no longer do it, then that is their choice. But I thank them for their work and I hope they keep it up.

Empty Excuses

Thinking about Labour MP Ruth Kelly and her dyslexic child attending a private school, I'm struck by the emptiness of her arguement.

Ruth Kelly's defence is that the needs of her child are most important in this decision (doesn't every parent care?), and that the school authorities recommended the move (...and so what if they didn't?). I don't think she needs to defend the choice at all, only abandon her hypocritical Labour government job.

Dyslexia is somewhat on a high right now. As Ellee rightly pointed out, there are some notable dyslexic achievers - Branson, Churchill, Einstein. But over the last few generations, I expect there have been many more who did not find such success. Countless intelligent and talented (or not especially intelligent, but precious none the less) children have suffered misery at schools that could neither help nor understand.

I went to school with one young rebel who was a complete horror to our teachers. Today, I expect he would have Attention Deficit Disorder, or some such labelled condition - perhaps even dyslexia.

Either we happen to live in the time that all learning-imparing afflictions have finally been categorised and understood (which would be an extraordinary coincidence) or there are some more thick kids out there who will one day look back on a cruel system that failed, but never diagnosed them.

My point is twofold. First, without the contemporary status of dyslexia, Ruth Kelly may never have found the support of the local school educators to remove her child from the state school. Does she still believe that parents should be able to choose the best school for their child even if there is no Latin word for whatever is holding the child back?

Second, each child is an individual and some may have no diagnosable condition, yet would greatly improve their results from a private school. They may have the same measure of increase toward fulfilling their unique potential that a dyslexic child by gains with expert attention. Does not every parent have the right to pursue the best for his or her child?

Labour's hate campaign against private and church school education is deeply hypocritical. The moment the presure is on, their leaders run to the private sector.

And for what it's worth, the church was educating children long before the governments gave it any thought.

Topless Haka

Some New Zealand Maoris have been upset by a women's rugby team doing a topless haka. As a New Zealander, I'm so offended I can hardly speak.Any hint of disrespect toward the haka is tantamount to a cartoon of Mohammad's ugly mug in a Danish newspaper.

Envy and Hypocrisy: the Hallmark of Socialism

I will not criticise Ruth Kelly (Labour MP and former Education Secretary) for sending her child to a private school. It is none of my business how much the school costs. Nor is it my business what special educational need her child has. Every child is unique and responds in different ways. Some kids even thrive in bog-standard Comprehensives! (The state school system worked fine for me.) And every parent has a duty to do what they believe best for their own children.

I will criticise her for being a socialist.

Socialist Principle 1. Prevent others from achieving excellence by enforcing equality of outcome.
Socialist Principle 2. Once in power and wealth, grab the goodies of high living that no one else should be allowed.

Envy and hypocrisy - the hallmark of socialism.

All Men Are Created Equal

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
- - The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

No one person is born more important than another. No elite has a right to rule over the masses by virtue of their birth. There is no blue-blood, there is no ruling class.

I've heard it argued that these assertions are neither true nor self-evident. But what Thomas Jefferson and friends were saying is that they held them to be true, and were not planning to waste their breath trying to convince the vested interests in the mother country. They said no one people has a divine right to rule over another people.

Jefferson apparently believed that we are all created, and I agree. I think that the Creator sees the beauty and value of every person.

Comments on my previous post leave me wondering whether I should be ashamed of the post. I never said that one race was superior to another (because I don't think this). In fact, I think it's kind of irrelevant because I'm not defined by my race.

I did argue that some ethnic groups run faster runners than others. Then I asked the question of whether other abilities could be stronger in one ethnic group than another. This is a reasonable step of logic. This is also an interesting question because it is so highly charged. Particularly with respect to intelligence.

But this is not a judgment of a people or an ethnic group. It's a question. Upon reflection, I think that if no one were racist, it would be OK to ask this question.

I love the quote in which Martin Luther King looked to the day that persons "will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Are Whites Smarter Than Blacks?

I'm intrigued by opinions that should not be expressed - questions that should not be asked.

If I said, "New Zealanders are smarter than Australians", you might conclude I'm a New Zealander looking for a bite. You'd be right. But if I say, "whites are smarter than blacks", there'd be trouble. Why? I think there are two reasons. One is that a history of exploitation makes this no laughing matter. A belief in white superiority has been used to justify many atrocities.

The second reason, and the more interesting to me is that people are afraid that it might be believed.

Can one ethnic race be superior to another in anything? Let's say we select the five fastest women from a great nation of 1 billion. Pit them against the fastest women from a tiny island nation of 250,000. Who would you put your money on? The large nation is India, the small is Barbados. My money is safe on the five from Barbados.

I'm always amused by the refusal of athletic commentators to acknowledge the glaringly obvious. The 100 metre finalists are black! Their ethnic origin is west central Africa. They may be from Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, but their genes are not. Sure there's an occasional white finalist pumped up on Romanian steroids, but that only highlights the point!

I think that the average black is no faster than the average white. (I love these clumsy generalisations.) Well, maybe on average slightly faster, but not so that you'd notice. I don't think you'd notice the difference until you get to the elite. That's where the tiny difference shows up. Once you've selected the very fastest men and women on the planet, they are black.

My first trip to Kenya taught me lesson. As I stepped out into Nairobi I was surprised to see that Kenyans are fat and thin, tall and short, just like English people. Half of them looked like they wouldn't make it around the block (just like New Zealanders). Unknowingly, in the back of my mind was expecting a nation of long-distance runners. "Ah", the locals told me, "the runners all come from that region...", pointing vaguely into the distant mountains. The best up there are among the best in the world.

If one ethnic group has the edge in sprinting, another for endurance running, then can an ethnic race produce better thinkers? Ability to think is not on a linear scale like sprinting. But outstanding thinkers do... well... stand out.

Happy New Year

Back to work today. All my clothes have shrunk.