As I said, right at the beginning, this (blog) was started to record the minutiae of my life, and was intended as a way for me to keep a record of these events in the very likely event that I go nuts and lose the ability to think. Facebook took over a bit, especially for the books, but there is still a place for my musings. I dont expect anyone to agree with me and I may change my mind next week but a least it will give me an idea of what was exercising my brain at the time it was posted. It has been very sporadic, but that is just because I rarely remember to keep it up. The following is very typical and although intemperate, is currently representative. I really do need to get out more...
A Storm is brewing over the showing of the anti-Muslim film “Fitna” by Geert Wilders http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/. This site is very useful for pointing out what is happening and it always pays to be aware of the atheist / humanist fools, as much as it does to be aware of the fundies.
Maybe this makes me a sit-on-the-fence neither-here-nor-there person without a definitive view but I don’t really care as I think it might just give me a more balanced viewpoint. I would not like to be packaged to any of the narrow-minded bigot groups and I would resent the limited philosophical outlook this would allow me to have.
Here: http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/, you can see what happens when opinions are allowed to run freely. The site points out the loonies who frequent the BBCs Have-Your-Say website – it is truly amusing and quite worrying in equal parts. This: http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/the-twat-o-tron/, can provide almost endless amusement.
Back to the point in a round about sort of way and bringing together the above. The MWW website is attracting comments about the cancelled showing of “Fitna” and I can only conclude that they are reaching the depths previously only attained by posters to "Have-Your-Say". You can easily see this happening here: http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/2009/01/23/house-of-lords-fitna-show-cancelled/#comments
I fail to understand why such vitriol is required by "atheists/humanists", or anyone for that matter, in order to make their point, they just look a "bit stupid".
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
This Is a test to see if the system will work . I was quite keen to work out how to use all the features of this new phone . It took me a bit of time to get the email to work. I have even had a very long distance chat over the internet to sort out connection issues! This Is all very exciting (I know I need to get out more) but I have to be able to use every possible phone feature.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Masters of Creation
Ripped from Orbital who ripped it from Russel Davies; just about sums it all up I think:
“You are becoming gods. There's a new master of creation; and it's you! You've unraveled DNA, and at the same time you're cultivating bacteria strong enough to kill every living thing. You think you're ready for that much power?”
"You Lot,?”
”You Lot ?”
”Cheeky bastards... You're running around science like kids with guns, creating a new world, while the world you've got is stinking, but, hands up, hands up; anyone who thinks you've got it right?”
”Yeah, there's always one. I can see you.”
”If you want the position of God, then take the responsibility!”
“You are becoming gods. There's a new master of creation; and it's you! You've unraveled DNA, and at the same time you're cultivating bacteria strong enough to kill every living thing. You think you're ready for that much power?”
"You Lot,?”
”You Lot ?”
”Cheeky bastards... You're running around science like kids with guns, creating a new world, while the world you've got is stinking, but, hands up, hands up; anyone who thinks you've got it right?”
”Yeah, there's always one. I can see you.”
”If you want the position of God, then take the responsibility!”
Sunday, 16 November 2008
panem et circenses
The alien anthropologists admitted they were still perplexed and
On eliminating every other reason for our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death…
Roger Waters: Amused to Death
This seems strangely apt in the face of a rash of advertising for the rather-less-than-erudite “Zack and Miri make a porno”. We truly have reached the peak of human achievement in that case; haven’t we? I would also like to think that it rather weakens the case for evolution as it would appear that we are taking deleterious steps rather than making progress.
... iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli
uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim
imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se
continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat,
panem et circenses. ...
Richard Dawkins might like to think we are developed to such a degree that we no longer have need of religion and that the power of rational thought will carry us forward to a glorious new future but I give you “Zack and Miri make a porno”.
On eliminating every other reason for our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death…
Roger Waters: Amused to Death
This seems strangely apt in the face of a rash of advertising for the rather-less-than-erudite “Zack and Miri make a porno”. We truly have reached the peak of human achievement in that case; haven’t we? I would also like to think that it rather weakens the case for evolution as it would appear that we are taking deleterious steps rather than making progress.
... iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli
uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim
imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se
continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat,
panem et circenses. ...
Richard Dawkins might like to think we are developed to such a degree that we no longer have need of religion and that the power of rational thought will carry us forward to a glorious new future but I give you “Zack and Miri make a porno”.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Catching up
12th June 08
Try this – marvellous!
http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf
This is going to be one-of-those-days. No-one here seems capable of performing even the smallest task without requiring my input – very frustrating. It would also appear that a person who left a couple of months ago, did not leave adequate instructions for certain of their tasks and this is creating significant confusion.
I am still not managing to keep this up. It would appear that it takes up too much of my time. I do actually have better things to do. Reading other peoples blogs can be quite fun. There are, I discover, some people who do this on a semi-professional basis. This, as I have said before, is strictly for my own consumption. Anyone else who reads and is offended or otherwise can just “Jog on”.
This is now the 5th of July and I have just watched “Control”. The film is just excellent and whether you like the music or not, or whether you know the ending or not, are just irrelevant. As a biopic with bias (Its based on Deborah Curtis’ book so you can work it out), it works very well indeed. I felt that it appeared to deal fairly with both Ian and Deborah.
Last Sunday we had a climatologist here for lunch. He was here to represent the A-Rocha charity for the church. I think I may no-longer be in global warming denial. I am slowly ploughing my way through the IPCC 4th Report. It is very convincing. We’re all doomed so live with it.
I read Jpod by Douglas Coupland. This is a most strange book. Quite compelling in its organisation but the story was shallow and uninspiring, and despite the component parts to create a truly excellent ending from the material, Coupland fails to do this and seems to be happy with an ending more worthy of a secondary school literature student.
“Dogs” by Ray Coppinger, is a much better read. Being non-fiction does not stop its content being challenging and surprising. I would love every “dog-breeder” to read it and be chastised, and you can add all those idiots who think that dogs descended from wolves. This book turns a lot of those ill thought-out notions on their head and looks at it from a more logical and biological perspective with less basis on emotion than fact.
27th October 2008
This is not being kept up – all sorts of reasons really – I have lost focus with it and only have a limited length of time to devote to it. It would, perhaps, be better if I spent less time surfing the net and a bit more time recording the minutiae of my life. Who knows – I might even reward myself with a broader overview of what I am actually achieving.
I am, however, using Facebook a lot more and I do like the “Status updates”. This is a helpful way of cataloguing the ongoing bits and pieces.
30th October
Another load of nonsense:
Today I decided that if I had to write my autobiography it would probably be titled “As if anyone was really bothered”. The Evening Mail would probably get very excited about it so I would suspect it would sell well (in Barrow). I could therefore suggest a second title but I'm not going to put it here.
E4B (Electricity for Business) have gone into administration and we are one of the 40,000 customers. BG have taken on the book and by a spot of luck they are able to offer us a very similar deal to E4B. Looks like we might not lose out too much.
Totally random things happen here. So far this week I have seen:
The opening of a new estate agency (In this economic climate??)
The opening of a large leisure / home store (in this town???)
Threats that a charity has had made against it to burn down the kennels because the person was refused a Rottie Puppy. This is an undesirable person to own such a dog and I would suggest that the threats are further evidence of the unsuitability. The person also claimed to have links to Al Qaeda. If such an organisation were active in Barrow I am sure that they would not like their name used in this way. How thick do you have to be?
A puppy called “Nigger”. Neanderthal doesn’t quite do these people justice.
That said, I have tickets to Quantum of Solace on Saturday night and those at short notice as well. I have not got tickets to AC/DC or Metallica. Bit sore about both of those but I’ll get over it in time.
15th November
Another couple of weeks have slipped by. For my books you can keep abreast of the Visual bookshelf on Facebook.
Had a night out at the Apollo in Manchester last night – Danko Jones, Saxon and Motorhead – all extremely loud and all very good. Lemmy was in good form and you knew it would be pretty good after the second track on their set he asked if we would like it “a bit louder”. Dano Jones played some good numbers and very solid rock n roll stuff it was too. The only problem was the lead guitarist / singer who rather let himself down when he opened his mouth. That was almost embarrassing. Saxon were also very dependable stuff , no baldness issues in that band apart from the lead guitarist who has not a hair on his head. I can see why Spinal Tap was based on them – I even thought as much when they came on the stage.
There was a slight amusement as Motorhead appeared – a pint of beer came flying over the top of me and I was somewhat drenched –all part of the enthusiastic experience. Josh caught the drummers’ towel – we had survived the front row for the whole evening. It was very good value for money in that Danko Jones came on at 7-30 PM and Motorhead left the stage at 11-15.
Today we have been very relaxed. One of our neighbours appears to want our discarded bathtub. We have had the plumbers in to do the main bathroom. They have made a start and are beginning to reinstall already. The Electrician comes in to start his work on Monday and the plumbing work should be under control by the end of the week and then the tiler can start to do his bit.
I made another trip to the gym and my legs have largely recovered from the 20+mile run through Grizedale on Wednesday. That run was very entertaining as I saw a very rare red squirrel run across the path in front of me.
Try this – marvellous!
http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf
This is going to be one-of-those-days. No-one here seems capable of performing even the smallest task without requiring my input – very frustrating. It would also appear that a person who left a couple of months ago, did not leave adequate instructions for certain of their tasks and this is creating significant confusion.
I am still not managing to keep this up. It would appear that it takes up too much of my time. I do actually have better things to do. Reading other peoples blogs can be quite fun. There are, I discover, some people who do this on a semi-professional basis. This, as I have said before, is strictly for my own consumption. Anyone else who reads and is offended or otherwise can just “Jog on”.
This is now the 5th of July and I have just watched “Control”. The film is just excellent and whether you like the music or not, or whether you know the ending or not, are just irrelevant. As a biopic with bias (Its based on Deborah Curtis’ book so you can work it out), it works very well indeed. I felt that it appeared to deal fairly with both Ian and Deborah.
Last Sunday we had a climatologist here for lunch. He was here to represent the A-Rocha charity for the church. I think I may no-longer be in global warming denial. I am slowly ploughing my way through the IPCC 4th Report. It is very convincing. We’re all doomed so live with it.
I read Jpod by Douglas Coupland. This is a most strange book. Quite compelling in its organisation but the story was shallow and uninspiring, and despite the component parts to create a truly excellent ending from the material, Coupland fails to do this and seems to be happy with an ending more worthy of a secondary school literature student.
“Dogs” by Ray Coppinger, is a much better read. Being non-fiction does not stop its content being challenging and surprising. I would love every “dog-breeder” to read it and be chastised, and you can add all those idiots who think that dogs descended from wolves. This book turns a lot of those ill thought-out notions on their head and looks at it from a more logical and biological perspective with less basis on emotion than fact.
27th October 2008
This is not being kept up – all sorts of reasons really – I have lost focus with it and only have a limited length of time to devote to it. It would, perhaps, be better if I spent less time surfing the net and a bit more time recording the minutiae of my life. Who knows – I might even reward myself with a broader overview of what I am actually achieving.
I am, however, using Facebook a lot more and I do like the “Status updates”. This is a helpful way of cataloguing the ongoing bits and pieces.
30th October
Another load of nonsense:
Today I decided that if I had to write my autobiography it would probably be titled “As if anyone was really bothered”. The Evening Mail would probably get very excited about it so I would suspect it would sell well (in Barrow). I could therefore suggest a second title but I'm not going to put it here.
E4B (Electricity for Business) have gone into administration and we are one of the 40,000 customers. BG have taken on the book and by a spot of luck they are able to offer us a very similar deal to E4B. Looks like we might not lose out too much.
Totally random things happen here. So far this week I have seen:
The opening of a new estate agency (In this economic climate??)
The opening of a large leisure / home store (in this town???)
Threats that a charity has had made against it to burn down the kennels because the person was refused a Rottie Puppy. This is an undesirable person to own such a dog and I would suggest that the threats are further evidence of the unsuitability. The person also claimed to have links to Al Qaeda. If such an organisation were active in Barrow I am sure that they would not like their name used in this way. How thick do you have to be?
A puppy called “Nigger”. Neanderthal doesn’t quite do these people justice.
That said, I have tickets to Quantum of Solace on Saturday night and those at short notice as well. I have not got tickets to AC/DC or Metallica. Bit sore about both of those but I’ll get over it in time.
15th November
Another couple of weeks have slipped by. For my books you can keep abreast of the Visual bookshelf on Facebook.
Had a night out at the Apollo in Manchester last night – Danko Jones, Saxon and Motorhead – all extremely loud and all very good. Lemmy was in good form and you knew it would be pretty good after the second track on their set he asked if we would like it “a bit louder”. Dano Jones played some good numbers and very solid rock n roll stuff it was too. The only problem was the lead guitarist / singer who rather let himself down when he opened his mouth. That was almost embarrassing. Saxon were also very dependable stuff , no baldness issues in that band apart from the lead guitarist who has not a hair on his head. I can see why Spinal Tap was based on them – I even thought as much when they came on the stage.
There was a slight amusement as Motorhead appeared – a pint of beer came flying over the top of me and I was somewhat drenched –all part of the enthusiastic experience. Josh caught the drummers’ towel – we had survived the front row for the whole evening. It was very good value for money in that Danko Jones came on at 7-30 PM and Motorhead left the stage at 11-15.
Today we have been very relaxed. One of our neighbours appears to want our discarded bathtub. We have had the plumbers in to do the main bathroom. They have made a start and are beginning to reinstall already. The Electrician comes in to start his work on Monday and the plumbing work should be under control by the end of the week and then the tiler can start to do his bit.
I made another trip to the gym and my legs have largely recovered from the 20+mile run through Grizedale on Wednesday. That run was very entertaining as I saw a very rare red squirrel run across the path in front of me.
Monday, 9 June 2008
long-winded nonsense.
Another week over. I have finished reading Ruth Rendell “The waters lovely”. It was a weak outing for her and I longed for an ending which was clever and well constructed, but actually got an ending which was as predictable as the story itself. It passed the time, however, and I am now reading an extremely strange book by Connie Willis “To say nothing of the dog”. I’ll elaborate further as I go. “Dogs” is proving to be a very remarkable read. I will never look at an ethological principle in the same way again. Ray Coppinger comes up with page after page of excellent insight. The paragraph on cheetahs (cats in a dogs book; wtf?), made me sit up and take notice.
I am still waiting for EasyJet to come out with their winter flight schedules. I can then complete my bookings for Switzerland at New Year.
What about the chap who has just had his 112th birthday today – quite brilliant – great little video on the bbc website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7439117.stm
The internet provides far too much opportunity for diversion and I do wonder how some of these bloggers manage to get down quite so much on a daily basis. I even learnt a new descriptive phrase “turdspurt”, in reference to unthoughtful vitriolic postings by unintelligent members of the public and with specifically directed at the BBC’s very own Have Your Say comments. I shall now try to include “turdspurt” somewhere every day.
This has been a very long week at work and is still not quite over. It has, on the whole been a lot less stressful than last week, despite having spent more time here. The work load has been quite sane, although I am looking at a very busy evening consulting period – bring me the pounds please!
The only really “off” moment, was the awkward telephone call I made last night. I spoke to a rather irate client, who lambasted me from a number of angles and made some rather nasty accusations regarding the care of his pet. He was adamant that it was me he had dealt with over this matter, but on looking at the records, I was in Switzerland at the time! Truly surreal to be accused of something which happened when I was nowhere near the building. I do almost hope he takes it to the papers, as he threatened, as I would love to set my legal team onto that one. Hang on!!! I should forgive him; or I am as bad as those idiot fundamentalist nutters I ranted on about above. It’ll take some doing but I’m going to have to get my head round it. I can only claim the high ground if I am prepared to “do the right thing”.
The builders have been trying to get me to press the Structural Engineer to come up with his revisions, and indeed I have engaged in a bit of high diplomacy to see if I can move things faster. This is not easy to keep everyone on-side.
Just booked the cinema tickets for Indiana Jones – I know that this is not my usual high-brow art-house stuff but I love all that corny stuff OK?
One of my staff has just handed in her resignation – we couldn’t fulfil her needs for development and she has looked elsewhere. The real potential benefit of this is that it could improve our short term profitability. That is no bad thing but it is still quite sad to be losing a member of staff. Don’t look back, I say.
Now I am going to have to admit to something rather interesting. I must concede a point to the fundamentalists – a small one, but it’s a point. I am bothered. I am bothered because I wonder on what actual evidence we base some of our scientific “facts”. So much is given to us with the assumption that it is actual truth, but the basis for it may (or may not) be erroneous. We could take, for example, the age of the earth. They love this one because they think it was made in 7 days and is only a few thousand years old. The scientists would have you believe that it is an awful lot older than that. I have never been given any conclusive proof in either direction. This puts both as a statement of faith and you must choose to believe what you wish to believe in.
This is indeed most interesting, as I am sure you will agree. I know that I have a science bias and that I am more likely to take an evidence-based approach, but it doesn’t stop me from being a rational person who can look at the whole picture and appreciate the other sides of the argument. This is something which is sadly lacking from the extreme poles of science and religion. Neither would appear to hold the whole answer. Scientific theory is NOT fact. Holy books are NOT fact. Deal with it.
It also concerns me that some science can be hijacked by those with another agenda to pursue. This is very evident in the area of “health scares” e.g. MMR/autism debate. It would seem that these areas become “crap attractors” drawing in those who seek to side themselves with one camp or another. A whole “industry” then appears to peddle some form of quackery based on ridiculous supposition, the only aim of which is to make money. The losers are of course, those who gain nothing from any of this, those with whatever problem is being fought over.
It also concerns me that “peer review” is all very well but if, as mentioned above, the review is done within the “crap attraction framework”, the review will almost always be favourable, and the inevitable publication of the rather suspect science. This “crap attraction”, is seeing its zenith in the internet, as any old idiot can set up a website and give their opinion, be it right or wrong.
The problem here is that anyone with a personal axe-to-grind can find a like-minded group of individuals within a few minutes and seek comfort in their own little bunker. They will then seek to protect themselves from all forms of attack and the battle lines are drawn. Sadly, all reason is lost in this debate, and truth is thin on the ground.
The number of instances where this occurs are not limited to the sphere of science and religion, you could also add politics, sport (although there is extensive cross referencing to religion there), and anywhere the “unsinkable rubber duck” phenomenon pervades.
As much as I cannot stand entrenched inflexible dogma, I also cannot tolerate those who deliberately seek to offend. The whole “cartoon” fiasco in Northern European newspapers is an excellent example of this. This who are drawing these “cartoons” should grow up and move on and those who react in quite an inappropriately excessive manner should seek to become forgiving. In this way we could start to build a culture of mutual trust, where we could all move forward.
Why have we chosen to take our communities into moral decline? I think this has been a matter of choice. We are seeing an increase in the sexualisation of young girls and as this has been facilitated by our own actions, how can we then declare that paedophiles are the largest menace our children face. Don’t get me wrong here; paedophilia is disgusting and incomprehensible to the normal human mind. These people do require treatment and control. Counter to this would run the argument that we are virtually securing their persistence by exposing our children to an overtly over-sexed culture from a very young age. We are therefore to blame for the position in which we find ourselves. The tools for the improvement of our society are all in our hands, we just need to use them.
I have also had a large amount of fun with the pond. On Friday night I decided that the water level was dropping at a rate that was inconsistent with normal evaporation and concluded that there was a leak. I therefore started to drain and empty the pond. In an ideal world I would have done this at the end of October last year, but this did not happen for lots of reasons. I continued the job on Saturday afternoon and eventually had emptied all the water and plants and sludge from the pond. I found no leak. This was perturbing. I refilled the pond with a large amount of tap water and by this morning 9/6/08 the pond was obviously losing water again. I simply do not know what to do know. I would love to provide a conduit for rainwater from the downspout, but there has been so little rain recently, that this would not have added any significant amount. It still remains the most easily implemented solution and I may have to act on this at the weekend. I have contemplated creating a rainwater deposit tank in the garden to act as a reservoir for this, but the excavation could prove quite onerous. Replacing the liner is out of the question as it runs under the slates at the edge of the pond and I have no desire to empty the pond ever again. I am dreading the water bill at the end of the year as I fear I may have further top-ups to provide.
Euro 2008. My Oh my, is there no topic which is safe from my comment? The French were decidedly poor this evening and with Italy and Holland in their group; one would have to put money on them not progressing beyond the group stage along with Romania. It will be very interesting to see how Capello manages to bring a team on, and perhaps we can avoid the embarrassment of non-qualification for future tournaments.
I am still waiting for EasyJet to come out with their winter flight schedules. I can then complete my bookings for Switzerland at New Year.
What about the chap who has just had his 112th birthday today – quite brilliant – great little video on the bbc website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7439117.stm
The internet provides far too much opportunity for diversion and I do wonder how some of these bloggers manage to get down quite so much on a daily basis. I even learnt a new descriptive phrase “turdspurt”, in reference to unthoughtful vitriolic postings by unintelligent members of the public and with specifically directed at the BBC’s very own Have Your Say comments. I shall now try to include “turdspurt” somewhere every day.
This has been a very long week at work and is still not quite over. It has, on the whole been a lot less stressful than last week, despite having spent more time here. The work load has been quite sane, although I am looking at a very busy evening consulting period – bring me the pounds please!
The only really “off” moment, was the awkward telephone call I made last night. I spoke to a rather irate client, who lambasted me from a number of angles and made some rather nasty accusations regarding the care of his pet. He was adamant that it was me he had dealt with over this matter, but on looking at the records, I was in Switzerland at the time! Truly surreal to be accused of something which happened when I was nowhere near the building. I do almost hope he takes it to the papers, as he threatened, as I would love to set my legal team onto that one. Hang on!!! I should forgive him; or I am as bad as those idiot fundamentalist nutters I ranted on about above. It’ll take some doing but I’m going to have to get my head round it. I can only claim the high ground if I am prepared to “do the right thing”.
The builders have been trying to get me to press the Structural Engineer to come up with his revisions, and indeed I have engaged in a bit of high diplomacy to see if I can move things faster. This is not easy to keep everyone on-side.
Just booked the cinema tickets for Indiana Jones – I know that this is not my usual high-brow art-house stuff but I love all that corny stuff OK?
One of my staff has just handed in her resignation – we couldn’t fulfil her needs for development and she has looked elsewhere. The real potential benefit of this is that it could improve our short term profitability. That is no bad thing but it is still quite sad to be losing a member of staff. Don’t look back, I say.
Now I am going to have to admit to something rather interesting. I must concede a point to the fundamentalists – a small one, but it’s a point. I am bothered. I am bothered because I wonder on what actual evidence we base some of our scientific “facts”. So much is given to us with the assumption that it is actual truth, but the basis for it may (or may not) be erroneous. We could take, for example, the age of the earth. They love this one because they think it was made in 7 days and is only a few thousand years old. The scientists would have you believe that it is an awful lot older than that. I have never been given any conclusive proof in either direction. This puts both as a statement of faith and you must choose to believe what you wish to believe in.
This is indeed most interesting, as I am sure you will agree. I know that I have a science bias and that I am more likely to take an evidence-based approach, but it doesn’t stop me from being a rational person who can look at the whole picture and appreciate the other sides of the argument. This is something which is sadly lacking from the extreme poles of science and religion. Neither would appear to hold the whole answer. Scientific theory is NOT fact. Holy books are NOT fact. Deal with it.
It also concerns me that some science can be hijacked by those with another agenda to pursue. This is very evident in the area of “health scares” e.g. MMR/autism debate. It would seem that these areas become “crap attractors” drawing in those who seek to side themselves with one camp or another. A whole “industry” then appears to peddle some form of quackery based on ridiculous supposition, the only aim of which is to make money. The losers are of course, those who gain nothing from any of this, those with whatever problem is being fought over.
It also concerns me that “peer review” is all very well but if, as mentioned above, the review is done within the “crap attraction framework”, the review will almost always be favourable, and the inevitable publication of the rather suspect science. This “crap attraction”, is seeing its zenith in the internet, as any old idiot can set up a website and give their opinion, be it right or wrong.
The problem here is that anyone with a personal axe-to-grind can find a like-minded group of individuals within a few minutes and seek comfort in their own little bunker. They will then seek to protect themselves from all forms of attack and the battle lines are drawn. Sadly, all reason is lost in this debate, and truth is thin on the ground.
The number of instances where this occurs are not limited to the sphere of science and religion, you could also add politics, sport (although there is extensive cross referencing to religion there), and anywhere the “unsinkable rubber duck” phenomenon pervades.
As much as I cannot stand entrenched inflexible dogma, I also cannot tolerate those who deliberately seek to offend. The whole “cartoon” fiasco in Northern European newspapers is an excellent example of this. This who are drawing these “cartoons” should grow up and move on and those who react in quite an inappropriately excessive manner should seek to become forgiving. In this way we could start to build a culture of mutual trust, where we could all move forward.
Why have we chosen to take our communities into moral decline? I think this has been a matter of choice. We are seeing an increase in the sexualisation of young girls and as this has been facilitated by our own actions, how can we then declare that paedophiles are the largest menace our children face. Don’t get me wrong here; paedophilia is disgusting and incomprehensible to the normal human mind. These people do require treatment and control. Counter to this would run the argument that we are virtually securing their persistence by exposing our children to an overtly over-sexed culture from a very young age. We are therefore to blame for the position in which we find ourselves. The tools for the improvement of our society are all in our hands, we just need to use them.
I have also had a large amount of fun with the pond. On Friday night I decided that the water level was dropping at a rate that was inconsistent with normal evaporation and concluded that there was a leak. I therefore started to drain and empty the pond. In an ideal world I would have done this at the end of October last year, but this did not happen for lots of reasons. I continued the job on Saturday afternoon and eventually had emptied all the water and plants and sludge from the pond. I found no leak. This was perturbing. I refilled the pond with a large amount of tap water and by this morning 9/6/08 the pond was obviously losing water again. I simply do not know what to do know. I would love to provide a conduit for rainwater from the downspout, but there has been so little rain recently, that this would not have added any significant amount. It still remains the most easily implemented solution and I may have to act on this at the weekend. I have contemplated creating a rainwater deposit tank in the garden to act as a reservoir for this, but the excavation could prove quite onerous. Replacing the liner is out of the question as it runs under the slates at the edge of the pond and I have no desire to empty the pond ever again. I am dreading the water bill at the end of the year as I fear I may have further top-ups to provide.
Euro 2008. My Oh my, is there no topic which is safe from my comment? The French were decidedly poor this evening and with Italy and Holland in their group; one would have to put money on them not progressing beyond the group stage along with Romania. It will be very interesting to see how Capello manages to bring a team on, and perhaps we can avoid the embarrassment of non-qualification for future tournaments.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Builders and nuts
OK – the building inspectors… This story is nearly as farcical as the Fawlty Towers episode “The Hotel Inspectors”. It all started because we needed full building regulations approval on our new extension. This apparently is because we are a commercial business, otherwise we could have made-do with a “building notice”. I only learnt this gem of information out, today. Because we needed the full regulation, we had to employ a structural engineer. He was then instructed to create a design. We then received a large bill. I then wanted to know why we had to use him on such a small project.
What fell out of this is, that the builder had pressed ahead with works, without full approval from the building inspector. We were told that the building inspector was happy with changes to the structural engineers design suggested by the builder in order to save time and money. What the building inspector actually said, was that the structural engineer would have to approve any changes. The builder progressed and the structural engineer had no input.
Because I was looking for answers on the bill, I contacted the architect and from our discussions the whole of the story came out. In order to work out this chain of events I made 4 calls to the structural engineer, another 4 to the building inspector and several face to face discussions with the builder. It was a very long day. This was lengthened by the impromptu bitch Caesar at 7PM in the middle of evening surgery.
Some of the changes have already been made and the structural engineer is busy re-working his design to adapt to the changes made by the builder, whilst leaving the building structurally sound. Parts of his original design are to be done as per plan and hopefully my telephone diplomacy will leave us with everyone (relatively) happy. I still have a large bill to pay and I have no doubt this has just grown with the further involvement of the engineer and the adoption of his original plan (at least in part).
But … Just when you thought it was safe to go near the internet….
The fundamentalists are back…It seems that no-one can run from these guys – I thought I had finished with them for a while but this story from BBC website – today 31/5/08 neatly summarises just what is actually wrong with these idiots. It wont be long before one of their pals over here gets hold of this story and starts protesting outside Starbucks businesses in the UK.
Anger at 'slutty' Starbucks logo
US coffee chain Starbucks has come under fire for a new logo that critics say is offensive and overly graphic.
The Resistance, a US-based Christian group, has called for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant. It says the chain's new logo has a naked woman on it with her legs "spread like a prostitute... The company might as well call themselves Slutbucks". Starbucks says the image - based on a 16th century Norse design of a mermaid with two-tails - is not inappropriate. Rather, the image is a more conservative version of the original Starbucks design, which hung above the chain's first store when it opened in Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1971.
'Rubenesque'
It says the image - the longstanding logo for Pike Place bags of coffee - is appearing on some of its cups as part of a promotion, and will remain "for several weeks". Howard Schultz, who bought Starbucks in 1982, described the emblem in his memoirs as "bare-breasted and Rubenesque; [it] was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself". Although its share price has plunged in recent years, Starbucks has 16,000 coffee shops in 44 countries worldwide, employing more than 170,000 staff. The chain has just opened its first outlet in Argentina.
Based in San Diego, the Resistance claims to have more than 3,000 members across the US and has gained a reputation for espousing diverse conspiracy theories.
What fell out of this is, that the builder had pressed ahead with works, without full approval from the building inspector. We were told that the building inspector was happy with changes to the structural engineers design suggested by the builder in order to save time and money. What the building inspector actually said, was that the structural engineer would have to approve any changes. The builder progressed and the structural engineer had no input.
Because I was looking for answers on the bill, I contacted the architect and from our discussions the whole of the story came out. In order to work out this chain of events I made 4 calls to the structural engineer, another 4 to the building inspector and several face to face discussions with the builder. It was a very long day. This was lengthened by the impromptu bitch Caesar at 7PM in the middle of evening surgery.
Some of the changes have already been made and the structural engineer is busy re-working his design to adapt to the changes made by the builder, whilst leaving the building structurally sound. Parts of his original design are to be done as per plan and hopefully my telephone diplomacy will leave us with everyone (relatively) happy. I still have a large bill to pay and I have no doubt this has just grown with the further involvement of the engineer and the adoption of his original plan (at least in part).
But … Just when you thought it was safe to go near the internet….
The fundamentalists are back…It seems that no-one can run from these guys – I thought I had finished with them for a while but this story from BBC website – today 31/5/08 neatly summarises just what is actually wrong with these idiots. It wont be long before one of their pals over here gets hold of this story and starts protesting outside Starbucks businesses in the UK.
Anger at 'slutty' Starbucks logo
US coffee chain Starbucks has come under fire for a new logo that critics say is offensive and overly graphic.
The Resistance, a US-based Christian group, has called for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant. It says the chain's new logo has a naked woman on it with her legs "spread like a prostitute... The company might as well call themselves Slutbucks". Starbucks says the image - based on a 16th century Norse design of a mermaid with two-tails - is not inappropriate. Rather, the image is a more conservative version of the original Starbucks design, which hung above the chain's first store when it opened in Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1971.
'Rubenesque'
It says the image - the longstanding logo for Pike Place bags of coffee - is appearing on some of its cups as part of a promotion, and will remain "for several weeks". Howard Schultz, who bought Starbucks in 1982, described the emblem in his memoirs as "bare-breasted and Rubenesque; [it] was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself". Although its share price has plunged in recent years, Starbucks has 16,000 coffee shops in 44 countries worldwide, employing more than 170,000 staff. The chain has just opened its first outlet in Argentina.
Based in San Diego, the Resistance claims to have more than 3,000 members across the US and has gained a reputation for espousing diverse conspiracy theories.
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