Onyx Stone

Blinded By The Light

2009-09-14T21:48:00.009+01:00

I'm probably stating something most people already know but Fundamentalist Christianity suffers from a cognitive bias known as framing, it's a form of selective interpretation which allows someone's bias to determine what one believes.

A cognitive bias works much the same in which a literal bias causes a lawn bowl to swing to one side. It is a pre-existing weight that determines how the outcome will be reached before the lawn bowl is even played. When it comes to Fundamentalist Christianity, the bias comes in the form of concepts like"The Bible is our only source for truth," or "What does the Word say?" (meaning, lets ignore everything else, particularly science).

Perhaps the most pointed example of being blinded by the light comes in the form of the so-called seven days of creation.

Science has meticulously compiled evidence that refutes the notion of creation occuring in six literal days and particularly if those six days only occured around 4000 BC.

But, the Fundamentalist Christian will proclaim, "What does the Word say?" Well, what does it say? How does the Word define these days? Does the Bible really describe six literal periods of twenty four hours? (Oh, and don't get me started on the seventh day, which is not recorded as ending at all!)

Genesis 1:20-25
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created great whales [sea creatures], and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Yes, the Bible says God created life, but lets not dumb down the Scriptures, they also say considerably more than just "God created..." The challenge to Fundamentalists is, read what is written and not just what the fundamentalist bias allows...

This section in Genesis describes "the waters" and not God, bringing forth abundantly. It also contains the command given to Nature, itself, to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters." Even the most ardent fundamentalist would have to admit that their vision is one of mass, simultaneous act of creation and not the natural act of procreation described in these verses. Procreation, the act of conception and the gestation of young in order to "multiply," as described in these verses, simply cannot occur within twenty four hours.

Rather than creation occuring like some scene out of Bambi, with all the forest creatures magically appearing all at once, the Bible is describing something that clearly took a process of time. It took time for the waters to bring forth abundantly. Science gives us some idea of the time as it can be measured in hundreds of millions of years.

Oh, for all you Hebrew fans out there, the term "bring forth" is the Hebrew sharats which means to breed. Breeding is the means by which God populated the Earth. Now, that's not so hard to understand, is it? Not even the most ardent creationist would dare suggest the Bible is describing accelerated breeding and the subsequent births as all occuring within 24 hours! Yet this is the means by which the Bible itself describes the Earth being populated. Clearly, the "day" described in Genesis is a general rather than a specific term.

Please, let's read what's written, not simply those affirmations that support our pre-existing bias :)

Why so much friction?

2009-08-08T09:37:00.003+01:00

Why is there so much friction between people, cultures, races, nations?

In the words of Jack Nicholson as the Joker, a homicidal maniac bent on killing everyone in Gotham City... Why can't we just all get along? Oh, the irony in that statement is a thing of beauty.

The answer lies in the way our minds work.

The book of Proverbs declares, Every man is right in his own eyes. We all, inherently, consider ourselves infallible. Consider this, every problem in human relations, from a marriage on the rocks to rockets pounding the Gaza Strip, all stem from this one flaw in our perception of reality - we assume we're right. As Milton observed, evil is never so foul in our own eyes.

Henry Robinson's The Mind in the Making
We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship... we not only resent the imputation that our watch is wrong, or our car shabby, but... that our pronunciation of Epictetus... is subject to revision... We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true, and the resentment aroused when doubt is cast upon any of our assumptions leads us to seek every manner of excuse for clinging to it. The result is that most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

Damn, that last statement says it all... most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

So what should you do when you find yourself in an argument at work? Remember, truth is the first casualty in any war. What actually happened or what was actually said (unless recorded on tape) is irrelevant. It's not what was said that's important but the reaction to what was said. Passion in the heat of the moment will have more to do with offended pride and the need to save face than any kind of logic or reason.

Dale Carengie said the little word "my" carries the greatest impact in life. If it's "mine" it must be right, it must be the best, it couldn't be wrong, it is beyond dispute, it is divine.

Don't forget, it's easy to see this in others. It takes courage to see it in yourself :)

Another Satisfied Microsoft Customer

2007-08-30T10:35:00.000+01:00

Wow... and you thought XP had problems... A ex-cop in the US recently ran into problems installing Vista and struggled to get his old programs up and running. After three hours, his patience had run out but his ammunition hadn't... The unfortunate computer took five slugs to the monitor, a sixth missed, passing through into the next apartment.

I only wish I could get in contact with him and say, "It's OK, we know and understand the feelings and frustration you've been through... All is not lost... You missed the tower case altogether so you can still upgrade to Ubuntu and save yourself a lifetime of aggravation."

:)

Greetings, Fellow Sagittarians

2007-08-13T09:15:00.000+01:00

If you have a distorted brain like mine, you've probably wondered about the angle on which the Milky Way cuts across the sky. It's just all wrong.

The Moon orbits the Earth around the equator. Both north poles point roughly in the same direction. In like manner, the Earth orbits the Sun around its equator and, again, both north poles point in roughly the same direction. But neither the Sun nor the Earth are in-line with plane of the Milky Way.

And the question is, why?

The answer is quite astounding...

Over the past couple of billion years, the Milky Way has been devouring a near-by dwarf galaxy we have come to call Sagittarius. The process of colliding galaxies is quite complex and, if you have Ubuntu, quite spectacular (as Ubuntu includes a screen saver that shows you the interactions of colliding stars graphically).

We've always thought of our sun as forming on the spiral arm of the Milky Way. But the reality is, our sun formed from the fragmented ruins of the Sagittarian dwarf as it collided with Milky Way. Rather than being a part of a spiral arm, we're thundering through a spiral arm of the Milky Way. Our Solar System is punching a hole in the spiral arm, passing through it like a bullet (which is not a bad analogy given the phenomenal speed our Sun is moving at).

And the evidence, the proof, has been staring us in the face each night as we've gazed up at the Milky Way. Rather than being on the same plane as our host galaxy, we're passing through at roughly 60 degrees.

Surprised? Find this incredulous? Unbelievable? Remember, all truths start out as heresies...

Curious? You can read more about this from these links...

ABC Science
The Solar System's direction of travel
We Are Not From Here

Loyalty or Honesty?

2007-08-04T23:49:00.000+01:00

Which is the greater trait? Loyalty or honesty?

It doesn't take most people too long to realise you can be loyal without being honest. Yet history is rife with examples of people who were loyal when, honestly, they knew better. The most sensational example of this is, of course, the Nazi's, but the concept hits a little closer to home than that.

Loyalty will always be valued over honesty by those in a position of authority (be it political, religious, secular businesses or social groups) simply because no one wants to be told they're wrong. We instinctively and inherently resent honest notions that force us to justify ourselves. And so, our natural sense of values are topsy-turvy. Someone that's loyal is seen as more valuable, more of a team player, more of an asset. While someone that's honest is difficult, a trouble-maker.

Reality, of course, is just the opposite. The seemingly loyal devotee isn't at all loyal. They're dishonest. While the honest devotee is loyal to principle before position.

If you find yourself in a position where you are challenged to be either loyal or honest, choose the tougher road less travelled and be honest...

Why Are We So Easily Fooled?

2007-07-29T00:17:00.000+01:00

Yep... there's a bit of a common theme running through the last few posts, the ease with which the mind can be fooled. Here's another one for you. Take a good look at this image...

The squares marked A & B are the same shade of grey.

Absurd, ridiculous, I hear you say. I thought so too until I checked by opening the image with gpaint (The Linux equivalent of MS Paint, although it's a misnomer to call it an equivalent when its clearly superior).

Yes, this is simply an optical illusion but think about it. If we can be so easily fooled by something so simple, what does that say about other judgements we make in life? A bit too sobering or negative? Perhaps. But the most astounding thing about this is the mind's stubborn refusal to see things as they actually are. Even though I can logically convince myself that these too shades are identical, I can't see it. Try as I may, I can see the shades are the same when they're put next to each other, but as soon as I look up again, B is clearly lighter than A, even though I know it's not.

So why is the mind so easily fooled? I'd like to hear what you think? For my part, I think it comes down to the fact that perception is a mental action, not a function of the eyes. Think back to your high school biology class and how the lens in the eye inverts everything, making everything upside down. The mind then has to process that image, turn it right way up so it reflects reality. So everything we see has been processed to one degree or another. It's all be tampered with subconsciously.

In short, we see what we are supposed to see...

The Ambidextrous Mind

2007-07-27T12:37:00.000+01:00

The mind is a remarkable thing, perhaps more remarkable than we dare imagine. Take, for example, this image. Which way is it turning? Clockwise or anti-clockwise? “Why, don't be silly,” I hear you saying, “Of course it's turning clockwise.” Ah... you must be right-handed.

You see it's actually not turning clockwise or anti-clockwise. It's an illusion. It will turn which ever way you want it to turn. Don't believe me, give it a try. As you're reading, slowly become aware of the shadow at the bottom of the image. Try to ignore the legs and just let your eye settle on the shadow and, presto, you'll see she begins to turn anti-clockwise.

Ah... the ambidextrous mind. Now, are you ready for a real challenge? Can you make her turn either way at will? That's a real test of mental strength. You can do it, the trick is in training your mind to recognise which leg she has extended. If her right leg is raised, she'd be turning clockwise. If her left leg is raised, she'll be turning anti-clockwise. It helps if you focus on the shadow again.

The funny thing is, it is harder to unlearn. Getting her to turn clockwise again is harder than getting her to turn anti-clockwise the first time. The mind loves a rut :)

Isn't it bizarre how you can literally talk your mind into seeing whatever you want to see? There's a lesson in there somewhere...

Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)

2007-07-22T23:34:00.001+01:00

Looking for some light reading? Then this book probably isn't for you. But, regardless, it is well worth adding to your collection.

Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) is a rare look into the sordid world of self-justification. It examines how decisions that are clearly wrong can be made by people and justified or even strengthened when events go belly up.

Take, for example, a cult that believed the world would end on December 21st and that they would be spared by being abducted by aliens at midnight on the 20th. Surely, you would think, when 12:01am rolled around, the faithful would be faithless. In a rational world that would be the outcome, but not in the surreal world of emotional illusions. By 4:40am, when it was absolutely clear to the most ardent of the faithful that the prophecy had failed, the prophet had another vision (what a surprise). And the vision was that the steadfast belief of the faithful (a group of about 30) had spared the Earth (the billions of us outside the fold). The "salvation" of the entire Earth lay with those 30 kind souls. Quite thoughtful, really. After this, instead of loosing momentum, the "faithful" then became more passionate and devoted than ever before.

Ah... I hear you saying, but I'm no freak. That could never happen to me. Yet this same mental mechanism, cognitive dissidence, works on numerous levels. Consider smoking. The consequences of smoking are inescapable and horrendous and yet still millions persist.

Moral of the story. Whether its alien saviours or a fag after a pint, Proverbs 21:2 still holds true, every man is right in his own eyes.

I've painted myself into a few corners over the years and got my feet dirty trying to get out of them... Mistakes were made by me...

Here's a few others worthy of note in this category...

The Lucifer Effect With a title like that, how can you resist?
Dont Believe Everything You Think is another...
A Mind of its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives brings some humour and wit to the arguments

...so if you're stuck in the middle of the UK floods and a little bored, go to Amazon.com and order some of these. The military may not be able to get help to you, but Amazon will :)

Courage, Stupidity or a Remarkable Example of Discipline

2007-07-18T10:37:00.000+01:00

It's silly I know, but it does make a point, life is how you see it... So how do you see it? Courage? Stupidity? Or a remarkable example of discipline?

The Problem with Religion

2007-07-15T00:09:00.000+01:00

The one, universal tenet of all religions, regardless of flavor, is they don't think. Could it be put any more eloquently than this...

Religion is based on unquestioning acceptance, and for that reason, it never progresses beyond where it is... Sad, but true.

The great reformers, from Moses through to Christ, Paul and Luther, all shared one thing in common, the courage to question the status quo. You would think we would have learned from that...

Contribute to Cutting Edge Astronomy

2007-07-11T20:08:00.000+01:00

Want to be part of genuine astronomical research? Now's your chance. Computer operated machines have photographed more than a million galaxies (or galaxy candidates). But the human mind is still far superior to computers at pattern recognition. And even if you teach a computer to recognise a spiral or eliptical galaxy, the computer would still fail to recognise anything really unusual or new. The scientists themselves are going nuts trying to classify this many photographs, so they've asked for help.

You can be the first human to set eyes upon a distant galaxy - be the first to classify it!
Here's one I classified as a clockwise (from an observer in the Milky Way) spiral galaxy. I feel 80% sure. If you can do better, then you need to sign up quick! Right now I'm the best they've got!

On the web site, you set up a user-name. Then do a five minute tutorial in galaxy categorisation at the required level. Then do a quick test. If you get 8 out of 10, you can contribute. Perfect for a lunch break. Have a go!

Winning the Lottery

2007-07-09T14:44:00.000+01:00

On the train into work this morning I caught sight of a fellow passenger sharing indignation with the Sun newspaper. Mugger won £4m on lottery! It turns out the winner had previously mugged an 88 year-old lady for £6 to fuel his gambling habit. Apparently, fury among readers of the Sun is stoked by such an undeserving winner.

Well gamblers and readers of the Sun... that's how gambling works. You see, winners are not chosen on merit. A person gambles in the hope of getting something without earning it. It seems just a little two-faced to get upset that someone else gained what he never deserved.

A gambler's winnings are wholly at another's loss. But don't let the exploitation gnaw at blunted conscience - the odds are overwhelmingly in favour of once again becoming one of the chumps funding another unworthy winner.

What does it take to succeed?

2007-07-08T13:29:00.000+01:00

What does it take to succeed?

If the trend of the last 20-30 years is to be believed, all you need is pretty little posters with nice positive, iconic sayings on them. We're becoming a generation of cheerleaders, always there with the pomp pomps ready to inspire. The sad thing is the many people have been fooled into thinking that the pomp pomps actually make a difference. They don't, they're window dressing. It's the players on the field that make a difference.

Gone are the days where hard work was its own reward. No one wants honesty posters, they want fairy tale posters. No one wants to be reminded of Edison's quote about genius being 90% perspiration, 10% inspiration. Why perspire? Why slog away at things when I can quote a few jingles and feel good about myself. And then sit back and wonder why things don't fall into my lap when I was oh-so-positive?

Perhaps I'm bursting my own bubble here, and not yours, but here's reality for you...

OK, I admit, they're humorous. But stop and think about it. What is it that makes them so funny? Apart from the few that are straight irony, the reason these are funny is because they're all too true. They're honest, not pretentious.

The next time you're tempted to look at one of those office-bound pieces of new-age motivational trash for inspiration, remind yourself they're fanciful, not grounded in reality. Don't be hoodwinked by the cheerleaders. Success takes work. That's it. That's all there is. There are no other hidden gems of wisdom that will enlighten your world and make everything as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Welcome to the real world.

Have a nice day :)

Failed Terrorist Attacks

2007-07-01T08:54:00.000+01:00

At times the effectiveness of the security services has been called into question. Happily it's the terrorists incompetence causing their own embarrassment this week in Britain.

Following three car bomb attacks, they've accomplished one parking ticket, one car towed away, one jeep burned out with severe burns to a terrorist, and two arrests on the scene. The police having captured some of the crew, were able to quickly follow with two further arrests.

Thankfully, no one has been injured besides the scum who perpetrated these attacks. I can only hope that this is a sign of the maturing terrorist network becoming as ineffective as most large organisations operating in Britain.

The sad reality is we cannot be so smug. According to the Telegraph, "The security organisation is monitoring 30 suspected plots involving more than 1,700 possible terrorists." That a hell of a lot of arseholes coming out of Friday prayers at the local mosque with murder on their minds.

I have not yet found any reference to Islam in the BBC's coverage of these three attacks. What the BBC is trying to pretend, I just can't imagine.

Congratulations and Thank You

2007-06-30T02:00:00.000+01:00

Congratulations and thanks are due to the police who have made safe two car bombs in London.

An eye-witness reports a police officer climbing into a car to disconnect a mobile phone - possibly a detonation trigger. No one was hurt. Respect to those whose professional service saves life and limb.

On a side note, I can't help observing that for two car bombs, there was one parking ticket and one towing. A fairly average day in London to that point.

A doormat for all occasions

2007-06-30T01:58:00.000+01:00

Yes... its for real...

From the US, With Love...

2007-06-22T14:06:00.001+01:00

Apparently, not many people did. Al Gore got more of the popular vote but lost on a state level. Well, I guess we can be thankful for small mercies.

Genius

2007-06-20T08:59:00.000+01:00

Think you're a genius? Can you solve this?
I took me a while, but there is an answer... I'll give you a clue, think back to high school trig and the ratios that apply to triangles.

I'll post the answer in a few days...

Democracy - We Get What We Deserve

2007-06-14T14:00:00.000+01:00

One thing I'll say for democracy - people get what they deserve. Those of us who remember the "time for a change" mantra of '97 know the shallowness of thought that won the country over. Blair's government has proceeded to ban anything unfashionable, remove our rights, and generally boss us around for our own good - and Britain deserved it. Britain chose it.

We even have the opposition we deserve. If we were a principled people, we would have a principled opposition. But principles don't pay in politics - the electorate neither understands nor desires them. The Conservative party knows better than to put a principled conservative in the leadership role. They've tried that - and the electorate burned them for it. So we have the vacuous Cameron - a showman like Blair - only with fewer principles.

The Palestinians elected Hamas. That's the thing about democracy. This may sound like a bitter injustice to the many good hearted Palestinians who want none of this madness, but they fail to form a critical mass. They will endure what their compatriots have chosen.

Heartless? No, I want something better for people. Pragmatic? Yes, I think the best option for government is to allow the people to choose. The down-side is that the people will get what they choose.

Just what does this mean?

2007-06-11T10:28:00.000+01:00

"DANGER: Bouncing planes may strike your car."
"DANGER: Do not tie plane to car."
"DANGER: Planes equipped with Star Wars Hoth-style tow ropes."
"DANGER: Airplane lavatory may leak onto your car."
"DANGER: Vehicle launched missiles used in this area."

Olympic Logo Analysis

2007-06-05T18:39:00.000+01:00

Some of you will have heard the psycho-analyst on the radio telling us that this logo is the new ink-blotch. What you see in it apparently says more about you than the logo.

See a broken jig-saw puzzle? Better get some counselling for those childhood disappointment issues.

Reminded of the SS collar pin? Get those repressed Nationalist Socialist urges seen to fast.

See oral sex? Spend a little less time on the Internet.

An evil transformer toy? Still in touch with that inner child.

A sumo wrestler taking a crap? Refer to Sigmund Freud.

So, what do I see in the logo? Why, it's a thing of inner beauty and excellence - of course.

Anyone else care to share what they see in the London 2012 Olympic logo? (All subsequent psychoanalysis provided free of charge.)

Olympic Logo Fall Out

2007-06-05T09:07:00.000+01:00

I couldn't believe the scale of the nationwide negative response to the Olympic logo yesterday. Last night there were 8000 signatures calling for the logo to be scrapped - this morning there were 14,000 signatures. (I'm not gonna link to the petition.)

Give me a break, it's just a logo!
And it's a good one, at that! Think of the fun animations they'll squeeze out of it when it starts throwing the discus or jumping hurdles. The vehemence with which critics are calling to dump the logo is as disproportionate as the head-in-the-clouds idiots who attribute virtue and inspiration to the thing. It's just a logo!

But then, maybe it's an essential part of the British character to self mock. We need to come crashing down on ourselves for everything we do. I think that secretly, many Brits envy the Americans for their easy confidence to back themselves.

London 2012 and Utter Bollocks

2007-06-04T17:06:00.000+01:00

As it happens, I like the new logo for the London Olympics in 2012.

See the four digits in there? 2012! Cool huh!

But what the hell is going on when this logo costs £400,000? No wonder the whole Olympics budget is hopelessly out of control!

What really gets me is the crap that the great and the good start to spout at a time like this:

Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge -
"This is a truly innovative brand logo that graphically captures the essence of the London 2012 Olympic Games - namely to inspire young people around the world through sport and the Olympic values."

I thought it was jagged numbers. Ok, it comes in four colours, and soon they'll make the logo's arms and legs do athletic stuff - but inspire young people? values? It's a logo!

Lord Sebastian Coe -
"It's not a logo..."
For fuck's sake!

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell -
"This is an iconic brand that sums up what London 2012 is all about - an inclusive, welcoming and diverse Games that involves the whole country. It takes our values to the world beyond our shores, acting both as an invitation and an inspiration."
What the fuck is she smoking?

Tony Blair -
"When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life."
From looking at the logo? What planet is he from?

London Mayor Ken Livingstone -
"The new Olympic brand draws on what London has become - the world's most forward-looking and international city."
What a pretentious wanker!

Leaving the Seat Up or Down

2007-06-04T13:02:00.000+01:00

Careless of lowering the tone of this blog - the following insight affects us all.

Everyone knows you should leave the toilet seat down after use - except for men who need it up. Surely, if a woman in the household has just gone (stay with me here) this increases the likelihood of a man being next. Quite complicated, really. In fact, the true cost of either strategy (up or down) depends on the constituency affected and the probable reactions of said parties.

At any rate, many would agree that certain people need some decision-making help in this thorny field.
Thankfully, with the deft use of game theory, The Science Creative Quarterly mathematically modeled the cost to John or Marsha.

Please print off the above table as a ready-reference to post in shared convenience facilities.

The Dutch Kidney Scramble

2007-05-30T13:21:00.000+01:00

I suspect the reality show is closer to reality than we care to admit. While the 'best' reality shows are spectacularly contrived and ever more bizarre, it is their connection to the human condition that makes them work.

Three contestants whose own kidneys have failed will - with their families - attempt to outdo each other in miserable accounts of pain and heartache, while a terminally ill kidney donor selects the winner to receive the kidney. Viewers will phone and text in with their votes. The predictable facade of 'money to charity' and 'raising awareness' is both glib and clichéd.

While it would be fun to examine the ethics at stake, I'm also interested in where this 'reality' thing can go from here. What's next? I understand people have already had their marriages chosen by reality show. Perhaps potential suicides will be voted on or off with... "Is life worth living? Dial now to bring your favourite jumper in off the window ledge". How far will this degradation go?

And yet it's really not a sign that things are getting worse. I'm reminded of Pilate who asked the mob who he should release from the death penalty - Barabbus the murderer, or Jesus Christ who had committed no wrong. The mob was thick and the mob was easily manipulated. This is undoubtedly compelling theatre, but hardly the soundest decision making process.

Birmingham Girls Too Ugly

2007-05-30T12:49:00.000+01:00

The city of Birmingham failed to find anyone suitable for the Miss Great Britain beauty contest. 50 miles to the north, they found Sophie Wilson from Stoke-on-Trent who has never even lived in Birmingham. Oh, the humiliation.

What does it mean when a Miss Great Britain spokesman says, "We were desperately looking for a Miss GB entrant from Birmingham but in truth, there was no-one suitable who entered"?

On reflection, I suspect that it's not so much the lack of lookers in Birmingham as the preponderance of thicko's in Stoke-on-Trent with nothing better to do than enter beauty pageants.

Thought for the day

2007-05-27T22:26:00.001+01:00

Man created gods in his own image

2007-05-19T03:26:00.000+01:00

There is no doubt that Christopher Hitchens is one of the more brilliant minds of our times. His incisive wit, depth of thought and ability to articulate what others would never dare consider is second to none.

His latest book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything is challenging, to say the least, for a Christian minister to read, consider and enjoy. (You can read two chapters and the conclusion, here)

The Bible declares that God created man in his own image, however, there can be no doubt that man was not to be outdone by this and so man, in kind, set about to create gods in his own image. Hitchens book offers rich insights into the history of religion, so much so that there may very well be a fatwa declared against him by the Mormon church.

The conclusion, though, is predictable. What should we do when faced with such a tidal wave of irrational, irreverent religious possibilities? Refute them all. Throw the baby out with the bathwater and embrace atheism.

Is there an alternative? Is a belief in God possible without wallowing in the irrational, succoring on emotions and conscience? In the financial realm, when considering an investment move, the wise course is to conduct an impartial audit, to apply due diligence. Perhaps this is the solution.

Catholicism and the celibacy of priests and nuns would stand condemned by I Timothy 4:1-3 where forbidding to marry is accounted the doctrine of devils. In like manner, perhaps in the final analysis of our audit none of the various interpretations and factions would be left standing. But maybe that's not such a bad thing. Perhaps the problem hasn't been God, but misrepresentation. Maybe we would be left with what was originally intended, an actual understanding of both God and man.

I Thessalonians 5:21 says "Prove all things, hold fast to the good." Even in atheism, there is something to learn. Perhaps Mr. Hitchens would find a distilled and purified understanding of the Bible a beauty to behold.

Ten Years of Tony Blair

2007-05-10T13:32:00.001+01:00

On the announcement that Tony Blair is to step down as prime minister on June 27, here (pinched from the BBC) is how he has aged over the last ten years:
Not too bad, really. You should see how the rest of us look after ten years of his sanctimonious and bossy leadership!

And Which Are You?

2007-05-04T13:00:00.000+01:00

In response to Are You Stuck posting Which Are You here's something that makes my operating system of choice look a little better.

Banana Republics

2007-04-20T20:05:00.000+01:00

Within hours of the polls opening in Nigeria, the ballots are not even in the country! This is a big country, with crap transport, and there are 120,000 polling stations needing those ballots - if you can call shacks with no ballot papers "polling stations"...

Never mind, the government won't care how people vote anyway. These elections are just to humour the "international community".

With this scale of incompetence and contempt for the electorate, Nigeria is in danger of being compared to the United Kingdom - remember the election the judge said "would disgrace a banana republic"?

Wipe that grin off your face, Tony Blair - history will be cruel. Why not try on the more fitting dumbfounded-shit-for-brains look of your Nigerian counterpart.

Following the Cricket

2007-04-15T22:37:00.000+01:00

Australia and New Zealand have confirmed their places in the semi-finals. If you're having trouble telling your backward square leg from your silly mid off, then here's something to help.

And if you neither knew nor cared that the Cricket World Cup is in full swing in the West Indies, then you might like to start here:

Which Are You?

2007-04-15T22:15:00.000+01:00

Unseen Cause of Global Warming

2007-04-14T11:54:00.000+01:00

Please don't get me wrong, I'm all for clean energy and protecting the environment but not at the expense of sane, rational, clear thinking. But the hype that surrounds the "Global Warming" bandwagon makes me deeply suspicious.

Perhaps its because I'm old enough to remember the hype around "Global Cooling" in the 1970s that led to the banning of CFCs. Back then we were all going to freeze to death and the Australian Great Barrier Reef was going to be destroyed before the end of the century. Well, the century came and went and that little piece of propaganda was conveniently forgotten. Apparently, Global Warming will destroy it by 2020.

I won't be surprised if our grandchildren look back on us as the generation of Henny Penny, the Post-Cold War generation that lacked a super villain and so got all upset about the sky falling.

Anyway, the guts of this post is to point you to an obscure comment by National Geographic that points out that Mars has warmed by roughly the same amount as the Earth over roughly the same period of time.

Evidently, the Martians aren't looking after their planet either.

As a side note, author Michael Crichton has an interesting perspective on all this

The White Man's Burden

2007-04-08T01:39:00.000+01:00

If you haven't heard the buzz yet, Kevin Garrad, an American solider in Iraq, was saved when an AK-47 round passed through his iPOD before being stopped in his flak jacket (ordinarily, at close range, flak jackets won't stop an AK round).

But perhaps the most amazing part of this story is the swarm of debate it has unleashed. On one hand, the majority of people (myself included) have found it a pleasant curiosity, a novel and perhaps somewhat humorous by-line in the whole Iraq fiasco. On the other hand, some have used this as a soap box on which to bellow out their dogma (both pro and anti war).

I think there's a third alternative that sits between the pro/anti stance and that is understanding that this is just another example of the white man's burden.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The US meant well in Iraq but has paid an awful price for being naive about "bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East." Freedom is something that has to be found, it can't be imported. Like nature, politics and religion abhor a vacuum. If there's no hunger, no desire for freedom, something else is going to fill that void. And all of your well-meaning sincere efforts and mine won't make a damn bit of difference.

Initially, I was all for the war and liberating the Iraqis. Now... I'm in stasis. I'd like to see freedom succeed, but I'm no longer as naive as I was.

Rudyard Kipling penned The White Man's Burden over a hundred years ago. Somewhat ironically it is almost universally interpreted as encouraging pro-American imperialism when, in fact, it is a facetious, scathing, sarcastic review of the folly of forcibly spreading Pax Americana (the American peace).

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.

Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.

Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke (1) your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.

Take up the White Man's burden--
Have done with childish days--
The lightly proferred laurel, (2)
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!

This could have been written about Iraq today. I bet Kevin is thankful he didn't have to pay the white man's burden.

The lesson learnt in Iraq:
You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink...

Music Lovers

2007-04-06T01:49:00.000+01:00

The Internet just gets better and better for music lovers. First there were "radio stations" then pandora and now finetune. It's a bag of mixed lollies, but here's some classics I've enjoyed over the years.

The Pweor Of The Hmuan Mnid.

2007-04-02T13:12:00.001+01:00

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

So it semes I ralely ddint drvesee thsoe lusoy grdas in Hgih Sohcol Enslgih

Great Mysteries of Life

2007-04-02T12:44:00.000+01:00

1 Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?

2 Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?

3 Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

4 Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?

5 Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

6 Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

7 Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a gun at him?

8 Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

9 Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?

10 What is the speed of darkness?

11 Are there specially reserved parking spaces for non-disabled people at The Special Olympics?

12 If you send someone 'Styrofoam', how do you pack it?

13 If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?

14 If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

15 Why do cars have a three-point seatbelt while planes have only a lap-belt?

16 Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer?

17 If someone with a split personality threatens to commit suicide, is it a hostage situation?

18 Can you cry under water?

19 What level of importance must a person have, before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

20 If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?

21 Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

22 How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on bigger suitcases?

23 Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up, like, every two hours?

24 If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

25 Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

26 Why do doctors, when they ask you to strip, leave the room or close the cubicle curtain while you change? ............ they're still going to see you naked anyway.

27 Why don't we spell phonetic the way it sounds?

28 Is it just me, or is it weird that weird has an i after the e instead of before. Is that why it's weird?

29 If someone's crying, why do we ask if they're OK?

I was trying to hit thirty, poaching some classics from off the net, but I couldn't quite get there. If you have any other bona fide great mysteries of life, please leave a comment...

Eternal Sunset

2007-04-01T06:51:00.000+01:00

The Eternal Sunset takes me back to when I was working & studying in Scotland and the beautiful midnight sunsets we'd enjoy in summer. I'd stand outside with a cup of coffee and enjoy watching the majestic sun setting behind the hills north of Stirling each night before heading back in doors and drawing the blackout curtains so I could get some sleep in the ever-present twilight. Winter, now that was a different story...

Do you love a beautiful sunset? Then regardless of what time of day it is where you are, you can now enjoy live sunsets from around the world, 24x7...

Space Sounds

2007-03-31T11:44:00.000+01:00

Although sound can't travel in space, this site has some intriguing "sounds" captured by space craft. In particular, I got a kick out of the "noise" generated by Jupiter's magnetic field and the sound of dust particles striking the antenna of Voyager II as she passed through the rings of Saturn. Oh, don't forget to check out the Lion's Roar on Earth...

Check out spacesounds

Abolition of Slavery

2007-03-25T08:33:00.000+01:00

It's 200 years today since the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. While I appreciate the monumental change for good in the legal abolition of slave trafficking from Africa to the New World, I'm a little more ambivalent about this anniversary - and I'm especially sceptical of the fad for ceremonial apologies. Here's why:

Firstly, I have no doubt there are more slaves in Britain today than ever before. Sex slaves are being brought in from eastern Europe in their droves. Children are being flown in from Africa to live with cousins and aunties as unpaid household help [read - domestic slaves]. Uprooted from everything they know, they will fail at school, fall in with the wrong crowd, and eventually run-away, likely into prostitution (as I saw happen in a family I know).

Second, my ancestors were Scottish - some of whom were mercilessly driven off their land tenure. People were cleared to seize land for the wealthy elite. Yes, that's white people being treated as more worthless than chattel.

Thirdly, it's a lot easier to make theatrical apologies for crimes of another generation than to put your own house in order. Our society still consigns people to miserable hopelessness by fostering dependence on welfare and a host of other morally corrupt policies.

Fourth, many of those clambering for an apology can trace their ancestry back to slaves. But it is almost certain that their ancestry also includes the slave masters. Callused as I may sound - apologise to yourself! We did not chose our ancestors, and it's just too damned convenient to chose to identify with the victim rather than the oppressor. The genes from both sides define every cell in your body.

And finally, the vast majority of white British families never kept slaves. They were more likely to lose their jobs to them. My ancestors and yours had enough to think about putting food on the table before their own children.

So apologise if you want. It'll do more harm than good - because it is not honest.

Why are scientists atheists?

2007-03-22T21:49:00.000Z

Why are scientists so dead-set against the concept of God?

They say, "we can't test the theory." But you can't test the string theory either, and you don't see mass revolts against that. There's absolutely no proof for the existence of Dark Matter except that we have a hole in our gravitational calculations and it just so happens that Dark Matter is a convenient way of filling that hole. Occam's Razor would suggest that when 99% of the universe has to be made up of Dark Matter for the our equations to return a result close to what we see around us, it's the equations that are wrong. Dark Matter is fairy dust.

Interestingly, if you adopt the fractal universe and the influence of electromagnetic radiation on large scale structures of the universe, the "need" for Dark Matter to make the equations work disappears... To my mind, the observational evidence for a fractal universe and the elimination of fairy dust are the two strongest reasons to consider fractals. But... that strays from the point.

Science has always been at the cutting edge of suggesting things it cannot prove or substantiate. It took almost a decade before anyone was able to find any conclusive proof about relativity and, even then, some of Einstein's predictions weren't properly tested until the late 1990s, almost a century after they were made. So I don't buy this, "I don't believe in God because I can't test Him" argument.

I love the image associated with this post. It shows the distribution of galaxies through space. The solid green curve you can see is the Great Sloan Wall. A hundred years ago, an image like this was unimaginable. Erwin Hubble would be astounded at how far we have come in such a short period of time.

So why do scientists feel threatened by the existence of God?

The Religion of the Secular Left

2007-03-20T18:51:00.000Z

Those of us who believe in God well know the sneering disdain of the atheist political left. There are of course many kinds of atheists, but few are as self-righteous as the humanist left.

It's striking how religious the anti-religious left-wingers have become.

This stark irony is glaring in the recent bullying of the church by our Labour government. Having grown up in the church I see the worst characteristics of religion in the secular left:

1. Disagreement from the received wisdom is barely tolerable. All efforts are made to suppress dissent. Parliamentary time was not even allowed to debate new laws which will force Roman Catholic run adoption agencies to adopt children to gay couples. The view that "any loving stable relationship" is equal is above question to the elite left. In their arrogance, they smugly dismiss the accumulative wisdom of human history, heritage and design. They have no respect for the knowledge of the church which has been active in caring for orphans and the vulnerable long before the government took an interest. The liberal left's willingness to use children for this reckless social experiment is deeply shameful.

2. Those who dare to disagree are personally attacked. There has to be at least a character flaw, and probably a psychological derangement in anyone who deviates from the holy consensus. To suggest that children should be with a mother and father is tantamount to sacrilege. 'Homophobia' is the much thrown about accusation as though belief that marriage is between an man and woman, or disagreement with gay couples adopting is a mental illness. Actual phobias are real, and can be debilitating to the sufferer. Believing that children in need of adoption should be cared for by a married man and women is not a phobia, it's common sense.

3. Outrageous bossiness. The elite not only demand obedience of action, but obedience of thought. Not content with banning smoking in public buildings, every public building must display regulation signs forbidding the practice. Once again, churches are being made to display the signs. Nobody smokes in church! If the lefties had ever put their head in the door for a moment just to glimpse the heritage of their nation's principles, law, morality and values, they'd notice that no one is smoking in there. We don't need your damned bossy sign defacing the wall! The fashionable morality of the left may be a flash in the pan beside the enduring principles of the church, but those moral fads will be forced on all nonetheless.

4. Condemnation - for all are guilty. We're wrecking the environment, world poverty is somehow our fault, we're supposed to apologise for African slavery. We're even to blame for the shit-for-brains murderous rabble spreading their violence over the middle-east and the world. Your car is too big, your carbon footprint is too big, your arse is too big, you eat too much, waste too much... And fear - the Earth is too small, too warm, too full, too dangerous, and that's our fault too.

Jesus himself detested this religious practice of lording over people...
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Jesus called them together and said, You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

So many times I've heard Christians criticized for "pushing their beliefs on others". Religions certainly have been guilty of this, but no more so than today's political left. Jesus didn't put his energy into bossing others around. He taught and lived what he believed, and people were inspired to follow.

Jesus wasn't religious at all. He said "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." It's the political left and this damned Labour government that has all the hallmarks of a constrictive religion.

Cristiano Ronaldo

2007-03-20T09:06:00.000Z

I don't mind these foreign footballers coming over here and diving in the penalty box. But I can't put up with them using the word 'polemic' in the after-match interview.

If they're gonna play football in this country, they can bloody well learn to talk proper.

ET

2007-03-17T06:35:00.000Z

Artificial Intellegence

2007-03-16T12:26:00.000Z

Do you trust the machine? An intriguing story at Wired tells of a web service providing bankruptcy paperwork.

A web-based "expert system" that helped users prepare bankruptcy filings for a fee made too many decisions to be considered a clerical tool, an appeals court said last week, ruling that the software was effectively practicing law without a license.

First I laughed, but this has huge implications for not-too-distant future technology.

Reynoso entered his personal information, debts, income, assets and other data into a series of dialog boxes, and the program generated a complete set of bankruptcy forms, including an affidavit for Reynoso to sign claiming he'd done all the legal research on his own.

Fair enough! He did do the research - in a manner of speaking. If he had done his research in books he would still be taking the word of the authors. If he printed pages from the web he could be said to be "doing his own research". The affidavit was an attempt (albeit a failure in this case) to make the user take responsibility for the results.

The problem here arose because of an error in the paperwork and the affidavit was apparently inadequate. But this is very early days, software will improve. Some legal advice is fairly simple and a reasonable short term target for AI software. The same can be said for financial advice.

If I need to decide whether a certain level of mortgage is manageable, or whether to pursue a libel case, there are undoubtedly some rules-of-thumb. Answering a few questions ought to give me some guidance.
Perhaps:
Proposed mortgage in described circumstances constitutes: Extreme Risk!
Consider 20% reduction in mortgage level for Moderate Risk.
or:
Libel case success probability: 30%
Libel case failure probability: 70%

Now if I'm choosing between paying £150 for 5 minutes with a lawyer looking down his nose at my small-beer proposal, or paying £5 for consultancy from software that can trawl a database of a million similar cases, the software sounds like a good start. Sure the software can miss things, but so could the expensive lawyer.

A little further down the road - how long before NHS Direct uses some Artificial Intelligence triage? Of course there will be an outcry when it's first suggested, but it will come.

And I think people will want it. How many of us have already walked into the GP's surgery with a fist full of printed web pages filled with possible diagnoses and courses of treatment. We may have used a search engine to find page. Soon we may try a medical search engine - perhaps a search on a symptom database. Perhaps we'll select a category, narrow down the search, answer a couple of questions and view a list of probable conditions. Then who did the research?

Who will take professional responsibility for recommendations made by this software? In the bankruptcy case, the web site maintainer is held responsible. He was ordered to withdraw the service and pay back the fees. This seems straight-forward at first. But web technology isn't bound like that. The site (or something similar) will pop up again, perhaps hosted in a less regulated country. Ultimately, the user will be responsible for the advice he follows.

And what happens when the software is sophisticated enough to amend itself, or to update it's own research database? Then the software will write new software - a generation removed from human authors!

Science fiction authors have been thinking about this for decades. We'd better all start thinking about it. It's here.

And now for something completely different... a fractal universe...

2007-03-15T11:20:00.000Z

The thing I love about science is it never stops thinking... Just when you though it was save to go back in the water along comes Jaws, or at least, the scientific equivalent of it.

I'm no scientist, but I love the simplicity of design. To my mind, the Big Bang never made sense, and not because I believe in the Creator, but because it is contrary to experience. Order never follows chaos.

So it is interesting to see the emergence of the fractal universe theory. To me, at least, it seems to hold true because it extends a simple concept found all around us in nature. So that the same holds true at the macro level of the universe is no surprise. The real surprise will be if the scientific community is open minded enough to embrace this dynamic concept and take it further.

Check it out for yourself

Easter

2007-03-13T10:20:00.000Z

Easter is on the horizon, and it's got me thinking about the impact of Jesus Christ's life.

Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus Christ stood against religion, not for it. It seems almost anytime he healed someone, he upset the religious status quo. He confronted tradition, challenged dogma and exposed hypocrisy. Eventually, it was the religious leaders of his day that orchestrated his murder. I've often wondered just how welcome he would be today in the numerous churches that bare his name. Has anything really changed?

Anyway, here are some quotes about religion that I think Christ would approve of...

Steven Weinberg
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”

Anais Nin
“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow.”

Ghandi
“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.”

Richard Dawkins
“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”

Stendhai
“All religions are founded on the fear of the many and the cleverness of the few.”

Sinclair Lewis
“When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

Georgis Harkness
“The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.”

And from an unlikely source, Larry Flynt
“Religion has caused more harm than any other idea since the beginning of time. There's nothing good I can say about it. People use it as a crutch.”

From what I read in the Gospels, Christ would agree.

Why wait till Valentines Day?

2007-03-11T04:08:00.000Z

Why wait till Valentines Day?

Send a love song to someone special...

More English Ales

2007-03-04T23:23:00.000Z

Second place: Fursty Ferret. Clean, clear.
No place: Tribute - How the hell did this get into the photograph?
First place: Old Hooky - Strangely bitter and sweet at the same time. This is the one I'll look for next time.

Fursty Ferret and Old Hooky deserve their place among the quality ales previously sampled.

Dylan Hears a Who

2007-03-02T14:38:00.000Z

Zimmerman meets Seuss! The confluence of America's finest thinkers?

This is unbelievably good. I have no idea who is behind it but even a Dylan fan could almost believe Bobby himself is strumming these Dr. Seuss numbers.

Have a listen and laugh. Whether you love Dylan or Seuss, this is the finest site I've found for a while.

(The music may not work if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer. Try Firefox.)

Killer Vitamins

2007-02-28T12:50:00.000Z

I've said before, I choose health studies like I choose my shoes. They've got to support what I wanted to do anyway, and cost me next to nothing.

So I'm delighted to report the latest study showing that vitamin supplements shorten life!

Now I can stay out of those damned health food shops where the staff always look so acned and emaciated that I'm hoping they didn't handle my £10 jar of echinacea (or some shit that some kook said would fix some ill I didn't know I had).

Taking things too far...

2007-02-26T21:40:00.000Z

A translation too far...

A "pictorial translation" of The Bible in Lego has been published on the Internet. Although it's all very cute and funny, it takes itself quite seriously and (not surprisingly) strays into the kinds of inaccuracy that cause the things of God to fall into disrepute.

For example, Jephthah is described as killing his daughter when to give someone as a burnt offering, in Biblical culture, meant to be dedicated to service in the temple (Romans 12 speaks of living sacrifices, not dead ones). Also, Judges 11:40 goes on to say she was visited (King James says 'lamented') for four days each year. It's pretty hard to visit someone that's dead.

Samson gets a raw deal in the Lego Bible, apparently he's a mass murderer. I guess that saying is true after all, one man's freedom fighter is another man's mass murderer/terrorist.

The Lego Bible is political correctness gone mad...

Aliens?

2007-02-25T08:41:00.000Z

Why are Christians (especially) threatened by the possible existence of aliens?

Why can't there be life on other planets?

I've been recently reviewing such
astronomical details as The Great 
Attractor and the Sloan Great Wall,
things that just baffle the mind for 
their sheer size. If the known
universe (and The Great Attractor is 
unknown, we can see its gravitational effect, how it is attracting our 
galaxy at a phenomenal rate, but we have no idea what it is, while the 
Sloan Great Wall is probably only a small portion of the actual wall), 
but if the known universe was the size of the earth, pick up a grain of 
sand and look at it. That's still larger than our entire galaxy! Let 
alone our solar system or the Earth itself. We are a really, really, 
really small part of this universe.

For those of you that are Christians, think Psalm 8:3-4

I think most people would agree with the definition of an alien being a 
lifeform that does not originate from Earth. In that regard, the Bible 
is full of aliens. Think angels, devil spirits, cherubim, seraphim, etc.

OK, sure, these are all classes of spirit beings, not physical beings. 
But they're alive and they do not originate from the earth. Why does 
life have to be limited to just the physical realm. That's all we can 
investigate at the moment, but pause to remember, 100 years ago a 
wireless connection would have been witchcraft, flying to the moon was 
considered a flight of pure fantasy. Now days, no one blinks an eye at 
these concepts.

Is it egotistical on our part to assume or to insist that we are the 
sole intelligent inhabitants of this universe? Why couldn't God create 
life in some other galaxy (there's certainly plenty of them) or even in 
this one? It's His prerogative, not ours. Who are we to insist He 
couldn't have done that?

Deuteronomy 29:29 says the secret things belong unto the Lord our God. 
Perhaps the Bible is just silent on the subject and we've misread 
silence as a declaration of exclusivity on mankind's part. Perhaps He's 
taking the US nuclear warship policy, refusing to either confirm or deny.

Perhaps one day ET will return our long distance call... It would 
certainly lead to some very interesting conversations and comparisons 
between the development, culture, intellectual and religious paradigms 
of two previously isolated worlds... Rather than feeling threated, I 
think it would be fun. There would be a lot we could learn. Perhaps 
we'll be surprised by how different "they" are. But, given that the laws 
of science are universally applicable, perhaps we'll be even more 
surprised by just how much we share in common. And in the meantime, 
there's always Hollywood to stir the imagination :)

SETI Found Something!

2007-02-22T14:21:00.000Z

SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is an organisation set up to search for off-world intelligence. SETI@home is a project where anyone can share their computer's spare time helping to process radio waves from the universe. You install a SETI screen-saver, and your home PC picks up some data from SETI, and analyses it for patterns that may indicate intelligence or communication.

Presumably, if some little green men are doing the same thing 35 light years away, they're watching M*A*S*H for the first time right now.

I love SETI@home because it allows me to mercilessly take the p*ss out of my work colleagues who installed the thing. As far as I'm concerned, there is no E.T. except for those caught on film during the making of Men In Black. So I'll laugh at these guys now. I'm gambling that if they do find some slimy seven-legged exo-brain critter around Alpha-Centauri, SETI fans will be too excited or freaked out to notice I've stopped laughing.

So imagine my surprise when I read that SETI@home has found something! Actually a guy running SETI@home found something even less likely than Borg on Betelgeuse - he found his wife's stolen laptop!

When the hot-fingered new 'owner' turned the laptop on, it contacted SETI giving clues to it's new location. The rightful owner figured it out and gave the cops what they needed to recover the laptop.

"I always knew that a geek would make a great husband," she said. "He always backed up all my data, but this topped it all... He's a genius - my hero."

Gandhi, Martin Luther King, John Lennon and Madonna

2007-02-16T23:16:00.000Z

Madonna has said she "wants to be like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon".

I'm all for it... so long as she wears a nappy, gets a tan, then gets shot.

Science and Fashion

2007-02-14T17:37:00.000Z

I've long felt that popular science is as subject to whim as any other fashion. Studies come and go - especially relating to health. Just pick the ones you like, and ignore the rest until they pass out of vogue.

Here's one for tea drinkers. A cuppa protects against heart disease and cancer!

And don't forget to finish up with an ale for long life!

Bible Quiz

2007-02-06T07:48:00.000Z

Now, I don't mean to brag... (maybe I just copied this html certificate from Bel's site.)

You know the Bible 100%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

But then, I am on holiday - and only doing fun things. And in truth, I'm definitely no scholar, I just believe the book.

Beautiful Singapore

2007-02-01T08:34:00.000Z

This is not the first time my holiday has begun with a stopover in breathtakingly beautiful Singapore. This tiny, stunning country may be the greatest argument for socialism (which my every instinct detests) on the planet. The government rules all, even the unions - as our self-employed taxi driver explained with indignant mock disbelief. "I am treated like an untrusted employee - although I lease this franchise from the government union - paying them!" He receives nothing for his extra taxes but the privilege to drive a taxi through this suffocatingly over-regulated city-state.

"Look at that!" he exclaims pointing to the roadside warning, then the automatic meter on the dash registering a $2.50 charge for crossing an otherwise invisible electronic boundary. (Ken Livingstone would salivate.)

And the bossy government brooks little dissent. A 40% vote for the opposition yeilds only 2 opposition MPs from 80. (Check the stats with my taxi driver.)

Yet Singapore works. Landed at 7:15, through friendly and efficient immigration, tidy baggage claim, and in the taxi by 8:00 - slowed only by my delay at the ATM and kid's restroom stops. Please send someone from Heathrow to see how it is done!

There is an unadvertised racial divide in this city. The Chinese restaurant was filled with Chinese on the inside tables and outside under sun umbrellas. I ate well for two dollars something (£1), then bought more steamed rice, sweet and sour meat and veg for the family sleeping off jet lag at the hotel. The neighbouring halal restaurant full of Muslims diners may have been equally tasty. I felt no more inclined to enter than the local Chinese.

In the evening, past English football on shop window TVs, I took my book over the bridge for a stroll. I'd planned to read a chapter with a beer in the hot open nighttime air. Live music at the riverside Crazy Elephant drew me in. A rock and blues band made up of an Australian and some local musicians brought in the crowd. Each band member threw his heart into his own solo winning fulsome cheers from a rocking audience. The Crazy Elephant was waited entirely by Malay girls. Just as achingly beautiful as the "Singapore girl" of the national airline, but not so porcelain. Surely employment selection programmes in Singapore are not operated wholly on merit.

Then on to New Zealand.

Top CDs of the Winter

2007-01-25T19:58:00.000Z

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

2007-01-19T16:02:00.000Z

My Haiku

Obscure shadow climbs,
Existing onyx joins in:
New minds still differ.

Get Your Haiku

Racism on Big Brother

2007-01-18T13:46:00.000Z

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

2007-01-16T22:28:00.000Z

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

2007-01-14T19:12:00.000Z

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

2007-01-11T14:51:00.001Z

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

2007-01-10T15:33:00.000Z

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

2007-01-09T16:02:00.000Z

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

2007-01-08T16:31:00.000Z

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

2007-01-04T23:48:00.000Z

"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?

2007-01-03T20:33:00.000Z

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

2007-01-02T20:30:00.000Z

Back to work today. All my clothes have shrunk.

Moral Fashion

2006-12-30T00:26:00.000Z

When my five year old came home from school chanting:
"Eenie meenie mynie mo..."
I thought, here we go...
"Which will stay and which will go...?"
I'm sure we used to say, "catch a nigger by the toe." Ah hem. I flinch as I type this. "If he squeals, let him go..." Ah, stop! Excuse me. But no one battered an eye back then. I suppose a few did, but I wasn't aware. I didn't even know what a nigger was!

This year I've been fascinated to watch the new ethical fashions come and some of the old go. There's been a clear establishment of the view that drug sellers are bad while drug users are victims. With the five murders in Ipswich there's been a surge of acknowledgment that those selling sex are victims while the users are bad.

I think it's fair to say that these were not widely held views a generation ago. Fashions in morals seem as fluid as any other field. Perhaps more so with the abandonment of an absolute standard in the slide to a secular society.

There are issues we debate, and there are underlying assumptions accepted by both sides of the debate. A few swim upsteam... one columnist had the audacity to suggest that the prostitutes lives were of less value than most - no great loss, he implied. He was roundly put down by left and right, by legalist and libertarian. Most agree that an individual murder victim's social position should not prejudice the vigour of the investigation nor the exactness of justice. But that has not always been the prevailing moral climate. There is little reason to think it will remain as it is now.

There are two possibilities here. Either we have just arrived at the final and complete set of ethical standards for humanity... or fashion will change again. (It would be a remarkable coincidence if this is the age that finally figured it all out.)

It is a near certainty that our children, as post-enlightened adults (or whatever they'll call themselves) will look back on some views held today with a roll-of-the-eyes and mock embarrassment - "oh, that's just how people thought in those days." So I asked myself, what thoughts and values are approvingly smiled upon today by the great and the good, but will seem ridiculous to a new generation?

Perhaps discrimination against the thick will become unacceptable. Nowadays stupid people get an awful rough time, low pay, over-representation in prisons. In future, employees telling jokes about dummies will be frog-marched to tolerance classes. We'll observe Meat-Head Awareness Week, and Dim Pride! No longer will promotion by merit sound so noble... perhaps.

I'm not making judgements about what morals I approve or disapprove of here, I'm just wondering what current standards will prove less enduring than they feel today.

Any other ideas?

Putting Christ Back Into Christmas - Again

2006-12-28T13:11:00.000Z

Ok, the Christmas post is late. But so is Christmas!

Jesus was not born in December. And if you check with your local C of E vicar, I'm sure he (or she - but that's a post for another day) will tell you that no one in the church is seriously suggesting that Christmas is the anniversary of Jesus' actual birth.

The pagan celebration of the winter solstice and the Roman feast of the birth of Sol (the sun-god) are among the pre-Christian festivals whose timing and customs were adopted when their adherents converted to Christianity. That's when they first put Christ in Christmas, so-to-speak.

Today as a wave of atheism purges 'Winterval' of any Christian reference, a rearguard of Christians urge us to remember what the season is all about! I read one columnist (Jeff Jacoby) who hurls any Xmas card without Christian reference straight into the cylindrical file. "Remember the true meaning of Christmas that we've trowelled on after we pinched the celebration from the pagans!"... lacks a certain ring as a rallying cry.

(Now I don't mind trying to be accurate about the birth of Jesus Christ since the subject comes up at Christmas. So while I'm at it...
There is no mention in the Bible of three kings at the birth of Jesus. An unknown number of magi visited the young child Jesus, perhaps years after his birth.
The angels never sang, they spoke.
The angels didn't fly, neither is there any suggestion of wings, they stood.

But Christian friends, please don't alter the words in Christmas carols to make them Biblically accurate. Oh, it hurts.)

I find myself trying to balance two arguments. On the one hand, the Apostle Paul said he rejoiced that Christ is preached "whether in pretence or in truth". In other words, be thankful that someone is speaking up for Christ, even if they got half the facts wrong. So sing those ridiculous carols! On the other hand, Paul and the first century church got along fine without "Christ in Christmas".

I guess Jeff Jacoby wouldn't accept any Christmas cards from First Century disciples. Especially if they look like this.

Drinking for Longevity

2006-12-21T17:27:00.000Z

I've always thought you should pick your health studies by how much you like the conclusions (and never read the small-print). There are always a few around that extol the virtues of tobacco, coffee and chocolate.

Here's a study that says drinkers live longer.

Instant Family

2006-12-21T13:32:00.000Z

A woman with two wombs has had triplets. Identical twins from one womb, another baby from the other. "The odds of having triplets from two wombs are around 25 million to one."

I'll bet this woman knew she was pregnant! Well done.

Girl Gives Birth at School

2006-12-20T08:21:00.000Z

I loved reading that a 15 year old Catholic school girl had arrived for class in the morning, gone into labour, and given birth before the ambulance showed up. She was apparently unaware of her pregnancy! The youth and vigour of it all is inspiring, don't you think?

A Spokesman for the Catholic Diocese said "It is not going to help to go moralising on the whole situation. That is not important..." Is that the new Catholic position on morals? The Catholics have had a few run-ins with morality over the years, and wouldn't want any morals ruining their Christmas good cheer. "...the girl is OK, the baby is OK, and hopefully they will be home this weekend and spend Christmas at home," Lovely. (And of course it makes no different that this was a Catholic school, other than to spice up the story a little.)

Now I find morals uplifting, not oppressive or condemning as the Catholic spokesman seems to fear. Given the right moral framework, I think a 15 year old can be well equipped to raise great kids. Mary was about that age when she gave birth to Jesus. What an impressive culture that produced teenagers morally and emotionally prepared for marriage and kids!

Spoof Belgian Split

2006-12-15T13:23:00.000Z

A public television station in Belgium ran a two hour spoof story that the Dutch-speaking half of the nation had declared independence. It was half an hour into the report before "this is fiction" appeared on the screen. By this time thousands were taking in, including foreign ambassadors in Brussels who "sent urgent messages back to their respective capitals".

I won't laugh at those who fell for this, it must have been convincing. Even current politicians in on the joke gave spoof interviews. They're not laughing in Belgium either. But then, Belgians don't laugh much.

The TV channel thought to provoke debate, and it seems to have worked. If the Flemish are inspired and emboldened, they may just gain some form of independence. It's upset many too, which is another plus. Of course, unless they split from the European Union altogether, they'll still be serfs to the unelected council of busybodies in Brussels.

Having been on several business trips to Belgium, I can offer my informed and balanced opinion that Belgians are barking-mad. But not in a good way. If you don't know what I mean, go to a restaurant in the Flemish north and try ordering in French.

Lib Dem Says Loose and Quit

2006-12-13T12:51:00.000Z

Liberal Democrat MP, Sandra Gidley in a caricature of her over-prescriptive, hater-of-excellence, all-must-be-mediocre, far-left self has called for an end to school sports days. She says schools fail to consider the feelings of children with little sporting ability... school sports days publicly humiliate children who finish last.

What a wonderful example of a socialist solution. Some fail, so no one can be allowed to succeed! All must be prevented from excellence so that no one's feelings will be hurt.

Apparently Gidley's feeble efforts on the school sports track left her so bitter that quitting was not enough. All must quit.

A right-of-centre solution focuses on individual freedom. I would insist on the right of children to refrain from public sports just as others choose to compete. I would also encourage participatory games that are more fun for the less competitive.

And perhaps more important for parents, teach children to enjoy participating in a variety of activities with different levels of proficiency. Win with grace, loose with dignity. Respect your opponents, give your best, develop character.

Coming last on sports day is not a humiliation. Sulking all the way to Parliament is.

Marriage is Best

2006-12-08T12:23:00.000Z

Half of co-habiting parents split by their child's fifth birthday, while only one in 12 married couples do. The Conservative policy group has pointed out this stark reality that deluded lefties have denied for years.

This family breakdown leads to massive problems of poverty, underachievement, hopelessness and unemployment, crime and drug abuse. The Tory group costed this at £20 billion a year.

For years socialist politicians have insisted that any "loving, stable relationship" is of equal value, arguing for equal recognition of de-facto or same-sex relationships. The sad debris from this social experiment is the feckless underclass that expect to contribute nothing but dead weight.

And yes, there are thousands of tremendous, contributing individuals who come from broken homes (and there are worthless scum from married parents). The individual can overcome any "statistic". But is it willful ignorance to deny the superiority of marriage over de-facto relationships in family outcomes.

One of the greatest things people can ever do for children is marry and make it work. About the greatest thing a father can ever give for his kids is faithfulness in marriage to their mother.

In response to the BBC article:
He [Ian Duncan Smith] insisted that the focus of the report was not to "lecture" people to get married, but to help couples, both married and co-habiting, to stabilise their relationships.
And they will fail because they are still too spineless to conclude the obvious - that co-habiting will remain inferior and less stable than marriage because it is a deliberate rejection of the traditional commitment. The outcomes for children are catastrophic.

No one is asking the Conservative party to "lecture" people what to do, just tell the truth!

Mr Duncan Smith said he was not making a moral judgement about marriage.
That's because the Tories have no morals. They abandoned conservative morality when it went out of fashion.

Microsoft and Spam

2006-12-06T17:23:00.000Z

Three years ago Bill Gates predicted that the problem of junk email would be solved by 2006. Well, he's got three weeks to go (giving him a couple of days off for the festive season). Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that spam email has doubled in 2006.

To be fair, most of us in IT don't really need Bill to provide the solution. We just want him to stop being the problem! We just want him to stop Windows PCs from being hijacked to spread spam.

From the NY Times article: "...by conscripting vast networks of computers belonging to users who unknowingly downloaded viruses and other rogue programs. The infected computers begin sending out spam without the knowledge of their owners." That's your machines, Bill!

Microsoft Word and Zero-Day

2006-12-06T11:32:00.000Z

There is another zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Word. This means that the attacks are out there and there is no fix available.

Microsoft says the "Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution". In other words, slime-bags can write and run malevolent software on your computer. (Nothing new for Windows users.)

Microsoft's suggestion is that users "not open or save Word files," even from trusted sources. Not really an acceptable recommendation, is it. And comments from Microsoft such as "users should always exercise extreme caution when opening unsolicited attachments from both known and unknown sources" are not much help either. As a software professional, I'm not sure how to exercise extreme caution opening an attachment in Windows when there is no fix for the vulnerability available. Perhaps you close your eyes and cover your important bits with one hand while clicking the mouse with the other. Do any non-technical users out there have any ideas?

I exercise sensible caution by running Linux on my desktops - at work, at home, and on the kids' machine. (The kids' must see computers at school and wonder what all that windozy zero-day stuff is.)

UPDATE: 8/12/2006

Still no patch for Word scheduled.
Now another zero-day exploit, this time in Windows Media Player. Ouch!

Sampling American Food

2006-11-22T13:18:00.000Z

I'll be away for a week......in the land where python eats alligator and bursts.

Traffic Signs and Thinking Minds

2006-11-20T18:41:00.000Z

Sometimes you wonder whether a story is a spoof. Apparently, it's real - seven European cities are felling their traffic signs and signals, and asking drivers to be thoughtful and considerate!

Bravo! It may be a function of our highly regulated culture that I am initially slightly nervous at the prospect of removing the road signs. My first reaction is wonder if we can make it without someone telling us how to handle each junction. But pretty quickly the 'less is more' instinct kicks in. Best government is small. Best legislation is minimal and simple.

The linked article is littered with unhelpful terms like 'anarchy' and 'utopia'. Of course, this is neither. It is a realisation that the more busybody regulation lumped on people, the less they think. Someone finally had the courage to ask - what if we allow intelligent people to engage their own brains? What if the driver is actually best placed to make his own decisions?

My favourite quotes from the article are: "The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate." That's right! Rules replace thinking.

..And: "The glut of prohibitions is tantamount to treating the driver like a child and it also foments resentment. He may stop in front of the crosswalk, but that only makes him feel justified in preventing pedestrians from crossing the street on every other occasion. Every traffic light baits him with the promise of making it over the crossing while the light is still yellow."

This does not mean there are no road rules at all. And a legal framework is still necessary to judge situations when things go wrong. It's just a huge shift in balance... coming at the same problem from an entirely different angle. And apparently it's working - from the article, "the number of accidents has declined dramatically."

Traffic-light controlled intersections are governed by computers. Anyone who has sat at a red-light on an otherwise deserted intersection knows the unique blend of humiliation and fury of trying to reason with the machine-in-charge.

This is why round-abouts work so well... though an entire mystery to our American cousins. They give a guiding direction to the traffic flow rather than interrupting and controlling it. The rules are simple and elegant - go clockwise... give way to those already on the round-about - that's about it! It scales beautifully from the lonely white circle painted in a village centre to the huge garden-planted island in a city rush-hour.

Most shoking of all about this story is that someone in the European Union is actually thinking about trusting people rather than bossing them around.

Top CDs of the Autumn

2006-11-20T09:47:00.000Z

Here are some cracking CDs I've had on this Autumn.

Shine Like It Does - Eileen Rose
Brash and beautiful from the opening chord. This album is tuneful rock with a story-telling Irish lilt throughout. It's bluesy, a touch nostalgic, and very human.

Love and Theft - Bob Dylan
A rough album. A gutsy collection of rugged ballads and thumping blues. Lonesome Day Blues has one of the best blues guitar riffs I've heard.

The Storm Inside - Laura Michelle Kelly
Sweet voice, contemplative piano and vocal lead tracks. A quieter sound. I haven't a clue what the lady's singing about.

My CDs from the Summer are all still top picks.

Top English Ales

2006-11-18T16:41:00.000Z

Having lived in England for more than a decade, I have some English ales to recommend.

In third place: Tangle Foot. Not to be underestimated.
Runner up - Bishops Finger. A favourite when guests come 'round.
Outright winner - Hen's Tooth. Bottle conditioned, dry - just right.

Islam and Islamism

2006-11-17T00:33:00.000Z

In response to the Queen's speech, British MP Paul Goodman spoke thoughtfully in Parliament about the government and nation's approach to terrorism and security. (Hat tip to Melanie Phillips. The speech is not short, but worth reading.)

Interestingly, he makes the distinction between Islam - a great religion ...as various, as complex, as multi-faceted and as capable of supporting a great civilisation as Christianity.

... and Islamism - an ideology forged largely in the past 100 years...

First, it separates the inhabitants of the dar-al-Islam-the house of Islam-and the dar-al-Harb-the house of war-and, according to Islamist ideology, those two houses are necessarily in conflict.
Secondly, it proclaims to Muslims that their political loyalty lies not with the country that they live in, but with the umma-that is, the worldwide community of Muslims.
Thirdly, it aims to bring the dar-al-Islam under sharia law.

I do not agree with this analysis. It seems to me that the Islamic religion is oppressive, aggressive and regressive. The 'moderate/radical' distinction is that so-called 'moderates' are influenced by the western style pick-and-choose belief system. They pay more attention to the nice parts of their religion, and wish-away the slay-the-infidel-wherever-you-find-em bits.

Those very committed to every tenet of Islam will of necessity oppose freedom and peace. Islamism is Islam's response to 'corrupting' and particularly, western influences. 'Moderate Islam' from a western point of view is really just 'back-sliding Islam' from the committed.

I think it's fair to say that Islam is not going to 'go away' anytime soon - though frankly, I'd rather it would. (I don't consider it a 'great religion' or even helpful in the world.) The next best is that it be watered-down, westernised and marginalised.

Actual Conversation

2006-11-16T10:33:00.000Z

me: Can I ask you a question?
Four year old son: Daddy, you can ask me three questions.
me: Ok. Question one - are you going to finish your pasta?
Four year old son: Yes.
me: Can I save my other two questions for later?
Four year old son: Yes, you can use question number two and question number three next time.
me: Will you answer my two remaining questions?
Four year old son: Yes.

As pasta disappeared, I savoured the knowledge that I had gained the upper hand in some future interaction... if only I use my questions wisely. Patience.

Management Consultants Strike Again

2006-11-15T12:22:00.000Z

I laughed when I heard this story - until I realised it was our millions in tax money down the drain.

HM Revenue and Customs brought in management consultants to improve efficiency. The consultants implemented such a dim-witted litany of busybody rules (no personal photos on desks...) that they completely alienated the workforce. Now they're dealing with work-to-rule and overtime ban among 14,000 civil servants. Improve efficiency? Not likely.

I've previously posted on what I think of pointy-haired rules. If Revenue and Customs really want rules to improve efficiency, they might try some long-term thinking:
1. Show staff a little respect.
2. See rule 1.

World Heroes

2006-11-14T13:43:00.000Z

I was interested to see Linus Torvalds (author of Linux) makes Time Magazine's heroes of the past 60 years. The programmer is listed among 'Rebels and Leaders' alongside Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher.

The rest of the list is peppered with the brave, the visionary, the busybody do-gooders and a fair number of names I didn't know.

Any other surprises in there?

Human Rights and Drugs in Prison

2006-11-13T22:43:00.000Z

Our embarrassing government is handing over our money in settlement for alleged breeches of 'human rights'. Prisoners denied illegal drugs while in prison had to tough out cold turkey.

So what are rights? This is a fundamental question and the Government of this country is getting it all wrong. A 'right' must be free. If a right costs something, then does it become someone else's obligation to pay? That would be an infringement on others' rights! This is why there is a right to freedom of speech, not a right to a microphone, air-time and an attentive audience.

The Americans understood this. They have a right to 'the pursuit of happiness'. Not a 'right to happiness'. If you want it, pursue it for yourself! The rest of us have no obligation to make you happy.

In Britain we hear so much about human rights to education or health care. This really makes no sense as a principled position. How much education is a right? Primary, secondary, university? If there is right to health care, does that mean any treatment possible must be made available? If these things are human rights, then people become victims of human rights abuses whenever they get less education or health care than someone else.

The only realistic way to provide this equality is to prevent the most resourceful from getting the excellence in education and health care that they might otherwise obtain. This perverted idea of human rights breeds envy, mediocrity and victim-hood.

The right must be to pursue education, to pursue health care. If I work hard to achieve something for my family, that hurts no one else. I am not preventing anyone else from providing abundantly for their own. But the twisted ideals of human rights bring ever increasing taxes to level-down achievement so that even those who do little or nothing to look after their own can have what the rest of us must work for.

These were convicted prisoners wanting illegal drugs. The moral vacuum in which they can successfully fleece the rest of us for compensation is beyond belief.

The Home Office said it "reluctantly" decided to settle out of court to "minimise costs to the taxpayer". They won't even fight. Utterly useless.

Nick Griffin, the BNP and Islam

2006-11-11T10:41:00.000Z

The court has cleared Nick Griffin of 'hate crimes'. The leader of the British National Party had said that Islam is a "wicked, vicious faith". This was a test of new religious hate laws criminalising speech that is likely to stir up racial or religious hatred. I'm pleased he was cleared as I believe we need the right to criticise religions. My observation is that criticising Islam is likely to stir up hatred. That in itself is a criticism of Islam.

If we lose the right to criticise religions, how long before we are not allowed to criticise political parties? What is the difference? They are both made up of groups of people with common beliefs that they take personally. Some people care passionately about their politics and are easily offended. How long before they require equal protection from offence?

Widespread offence only happens when the criticism might be true. If I say that the Ladies' Crochet Circle is wicked and vicious, no one would take it seriously. When Griffin says Islam is wicked and vicious, the authorities worry it may be more believable.

Government minister Lord Falconer, has said there should be "consequences" from saying Islam is "wicked and evil". Why? It is the expression of an opinion. It infringes no one else's rights. Neither does it incite others to illegal acts. If the opinion is misinformed, let us put the counter argument.

So is the statement correct? Is Islam a wicked and vicious faith? This is too general a statement to be either true or false. Islam is not one thing, it means something different to each adherent, and different things again to the rest of us. To describe Islam as 'wicked and vicious' is as ridiculous as asserting that Islam is a 'religion of peace'. It certainly isn't a religion of peace to all Muslims.

I think slightly more specific statements such as "Islam is conspicuously over-represented among the wicked and vicious", or "Loads of Muslims want to kill each other and the infidel" are more verifiable.

Victoria Beckham

2006-11-10T18:18:00.000Z

Now I wouldn't normally comment on fashion, but I'm hoping this new look from Posh catches on. Think of the savings to the family clothing budget!

Even with a few more kebabs inside (which the doctors must surely recommend), you could loosen the binding-twine, shake out some more sacking, and it's still a top look. Respect!

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin

2006-11-09T07:59:00.000Z

I read an essay the other day suggesting that, while Christians talk about loving the sinner, hating the sin... when it comes to homosexuality, in practice they often hate the sinner, too. The author gives examples of the particular disgust shown for homosexuals above exponents of other sins. I enjoyed reading the article (while disagreeing with several points), and it got me thinking. Other immoral or sinful behaviour doesn't elicit such disgust. Is this a case of double-standards? Jesus railed on hypocrisy much more than he talked about homosexuality.

First, homosexuality is disgusting just as genuine sex is attractive. I can't explain why either is the case, we're built that way. Some may say it's just my perspective or preference. I believe God made it that way. Sex is good and attractive, and a perversion of it is repulsive.

Other sins may not provoke the same emotional reaction, but it is instructive to consider how we do respond. A man who keeps his life in sound balance and cares for his family wins my admiration. One who becomes alcoholic and lets his family down - I pity. It's a different emotional response from disgust... in me. Honesty wins respect, hypocrisy or lying earns distrust and a whole different flavour of disdain.

My emotional reaction to the bad may well be the opposite (or in stark contrast) to my response to the corresponding good. It then follows that where one becomes ambivalent about the Godly design of sex, there will be no strong reaction to the perversion of it.

Emotions are far from any guarantee of a balanced response. But they are part of being human, and often they get us to an appropriate response faster than our intellect can fully analyse the facts. Emotions depend largely on our conditioning. So the way we condition our minds is likely to be reflected in our emotional response to both good and bad.

Jesus responded with compassion at times, and at other times approached people with anger (Mark 3). Emotion can form part of our full appreciation of the situation and can add some zing to our response. If you are conditioned to a Godly design of sex, then you may well consider homosexuality disgusting.

Of course, to genuinely help people, emotions must be kept in check. A group of likeminded people can get carried away with a common emotional response. A group of Christians may be over-the-top in their disgust of homosexuality. As in all things, a balance is needed. Wishing injury or disease on homosexuals is also a perversion. However, I consider it sound to strongly dislike the practice and promotion of homosexuality because I care about the way God designed life and sex.

Often when we see homosexuals on TV, they are flaunting this perversion. There is an exaggerated gay walk and talk. Why is that? - if not for marketing and brand-recognition. When an alcoholic is portraited in a film, he is likely to be a sad case in need of help. But homosexuality is likely to be celebrated in modern media. This is particularly galling.

In contrast, when I work with others who are homosexual, there is no problem. We co-operate in meetings and projects. This is where it makes more sense to speak of loving the sinner, hating the sin.

Visual Arts

2006-10-27T18:31:00.000+01:00

Of all the visual arts, sculpture and photography do it for me. Only one of them works on a computer screen.

Check this moon over waterfall by Harry Reid.

The Trouble With Performance Targets

2006-10-27T13:27:00.000+01:00

Good people work hard and care about what they do. They also understand what they do and why it is important. When some authority comes crashing down from above with performance targets, it invariably cocks things up.

1. Targets measure the wrong thing. In the old Soviet days there was a directive to produce so-many shoes. So the manufacturers produced that many shoes. They may have been hideously uncomfortable and all of them brown, but the targets were met.

2. Targets prioritise the management of the task above the task. In Britain the New Labour government introduced targets to cut hospital waiting lists. So the hospitals treated all the easy cases first - this reduced the waiting lists, but it increased the waiting time for anything non-routine! Think about it... the length of the waiting list doesn't matter a bit! It's how long you have to wait that counts.

So now our beloved leaders have introduced targets to cut waiting times. And now the quick treatments are prioritised to lower the average waiting time. The result - patents needing slower treatments need to wait even longer!

All along, the targets are there to get the government re-elected, not improve health care. In the health service, targets pervert clinical priorities. Good practitioners don't need targets. Government does.

3. Targets make the right thing damned inconvenient. Yesterday we heard the report that a Welsh police force had reached its targets on tackling violent crime. Good news? Only if you're a violent criminal. In response, the police have stopped collecting intelligence in the field because it would lead to a higher target the following year. So the target becomes an incentive to do a worse job.

Top Books for 5 Year Olds

2006-10-23T18:48:00.000+01:00

Old Blue - The Rarest Bird in the World - Mary Taylor

This non-fiction account of the Chatham Island Black Robin brought back from the brink of extinction is a compelling tale. The real-life drama of setbacks and victories tell a memorable story.

Guess What Happened at School Today - Jez Alborough

A collection of fun poems about the trials of school life. Unless you're the model student, you'll identify with the characters in these verses.

Awesome Dinosaurs Giant Plant-eaters

Full of facts and illustrations. It's not a 'story-book' but it gets the imagination rolling. Adults and kids love these awesome critters, perhaps because we never met them!

The Dog That Dug - Jonathan Long and Korky Paul

This is one of my all time favourite children's books. This is also great with kids younger than five, but years later, the zany characters and ridiculous turns in the story still work brilliantly.

How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen - Russell Hoban

A cracking story of laughable adults outwitted by a mischievous rascal. You know it will be a happy ending, but it's better than that.

Top Books for 4 Year Olds

2006-10-22T12:48:00.000+01:00

Hello Ocean - Pam Munoz Ryan and Mark Astrella

This book is stunning. Beautiful illustrations and a quietly intelligent narrative make it something special.

How to Catch a Star - Oliver Jeffers

The twist in this book got me - I never saw it coming. A gem for its uniqueness and for offering no explanation to distinguish between the real and imagined.

George and Sophie's Museum Adventure - Thomas Taylor

A detective adventure. A bit scary in the shadows... Good triumphs over evil, kid-heros save the day.

What Do People Do All Day? - Richard Scarry

Good question! I remembered this book from my own childhood, and even details of the illustrations had stayed with me.

Bible Story Book - Egermeier's

This is a big book of almost 600 pages. It's not dumbed down. Bible records are retold for children, and the outstanding illustrations will help shape the Bible reader's thoughts for many years.

Top Books for 3 Year Olds

2006-10-21T10:30:00.000+01:00

Tiny - Paul Rogers and Korky Paul

Being an astronomy fan, I just love the scaling up from Tiny the flea to the universe! The illustrations are so gritty and full. This is a Dad's favourite.

My Grandson is a Genius - Giles Andreae

Thick with irony. Perfect for a grandparent's gift. The humour works from the perspective of each generation - young and old can laugh at themselves in these pages.

The Great Big Little Red Train - Benedict Blathwayt

So much to find and examine in these illustrations. Loads of trains and lorries - the belittled becomes the hero. Great stuff.

My Mum and Dad Make Me Laugh - Nick Sharratt

Oh, yes they do. Whether kids are interested in colours and patterns, or the eccentricities of the family are beginning to dawn on them, this book is a real chuckle.

Winnie the Pooh - A. A. Milne, Illustrated by E. H. Shepard

It'll take another 30 years for kids to get the characters and humour of this great book. Inseparable from Shepard's line drawings, this one's a masterpiece.

Top Books for 2 Year Olds

2006-10-20T08:47:00.000+01:00

Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs - Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds

Good characters hold together a blend of reality and imagination. Especially worthy if you like dinosaurs.

The Jumblies - Edward Lear

A nonsense classic. Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. If it doesn't work for you, that's probably a good thing.

Fix-It Duck - Jez Alborough

We had this on CD also, so now everyone knows the story off by heart. You'll love it if you know someone like Duck (or the Frog).

Horton Hears a Who! - Dr. Seuss

Great children's books have to work for adults. This speaks to anyone who's swum upstream, defended an unpopular cause.

Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper - Lynley Dodd

Not for bedtime! The kids love making the animal noises. And yes, the moral is not lost.

Top Books for 1 Year Olds

2006-10-19T12:12:00.000+01:00

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

A quiet book with a beautiful rhythm. Great for settling the little ones to bed. Unspoken extras, like - find the mouse on every page.

Monkey Puzzle - Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

The humour and unexpected turns work well. This book is exceptional for reading out loud.

Guess Who? - Pam Ayres

Pam has class. I can't tell you why this book works so well. You can hardly find a copy on the Internet. Simple, but with a puzzle on each page.

Diggers - Usborne Touchy Feely

This book makes the list because the big heavy pages and rough textures match the subject matter. It's rugged.

Counting Kiwis - Kevin and Andrew Ward

An imaginative implementation of the classic 1 to 10 counting book with a New Zealand theme throughout ... Seven kiwis sail in a Cook Strait gale...