http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSLH936617._CH_.2400
What an evil bastard.
That is all.
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Friday 13 March 2009
Everything that is wrong about the Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1161652/Mind-reading-comes-step-closer-scientists-map-peoples-brains.html
- Take a story which could have massive positive medical and scientific benefits.
- Create a headline that invokes the supertitious - in this case mention "mind reading".
- Take a fictional sci-fi film.
- Slant the story in a way that makes scientists look evil.
- Cast a gloomy view of the future, making it seem more like the sci-fi film.
- Blame science.
- Sell more papers to the gullible masses.
The first comment posted below the article says it all really :-
"Do we really want to be so self aware that we know how our own brains work?
I'd prefer a little mystery in life...
- Tim, London, 13/3/2009 09:16"
Translation : I'd prefer to be an ignorant idiot, and carry on reading the daily fail.
Hrmph.
Friday 20 February 2009
The Catholic Church's Pointless Survey
Well, things must be quiet at the Vatican at the moment. Maybe they have bought off all their child-abuse cases, and the dust is settling and they are sat around a bit bored. Normally I would imagine they create a bunch of saints, or issue a Papal Bull {is there a word missing after "Bull"?} but today they have decided to become market researchers and statisticians...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7897034.stm
Apparently men and women "sin in different ways"..
Am I alone in thinking that this could potentially be the most utterly pointless survey in the history of pointless surveys? Leaving aside that sin is an invented concept, and that doing a survey about it surely has ethical problems (do we think that when in confession, each participant was asked if they minded their data being used for market research purposes?) what "sins" are people "guilty" of? Read the report for the fullpeer reviewed statistical analysis of the scientifically gathered results.
One of the key ones I can never get my head around is "pride". Why is it a sin to be proud of your achievements? Surely taking pride in ones work is a motivational force - possibly even diminishing the amount of another sin - sloth?
And why are gluttony and greed separated? Surely greed covers gluttony? Doesn't it?
What do I know? I'm not a Catholic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7897034.stm
Apparently men and women "sin in different ways"..
Am I alone in thinking that this could potentially be the most utterly pointless survey in the history of pointless surveys? Leaving aside that sin is an invented concept, and that doing a survey about it surely has ethical problems (do we think that when in confession, each participant was asked if they minded their data being used for market research purposes?) what "sins" are people "guilty" of? Read the report for the full
One of the key ones I can never get my head around is "pride". Why is it a sin to be proud of your achievements? Surely taking pride in ones work is a motivational force - possibly even diminishing the amount of another sin - sloth?
And why are gluttony and greed separated? Surely greed covers gluttony? Doesn't it?
What do I know? I'm not a Catholic.
Tuesday 17 February 2009
A little bit of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujUQn0HhGEk
Tim Minchin (following up on his brilliant "Take My Wife") doing a spoken word number called, simply, "Storm".
Brilliant.
Tim Minchin (following up on his brilliant "Take My Wife") doing a spoken word number called, simply, "Storm".
Brilliant.
Wednesday 11 February 2009
Write to your MP
Write to your MP. This is serious.
The UK Government has told Geert Wilders to stay at home. He is not welcome on these shores. If you don't know who Geert Wilders is, have a look at the film "Fitna" on Wikileaks. It's a film which plonks passages from the Koran next to images of various nasty things (terrorism, murder etc). The implication being that doing nasty things can be justified using passages from said book.
That literally is all the film is. It's just verses copied verbatim from the Koran and next to those extracts, photos and video of horrors committed by various lunatic muslims.
The British government has basically bowed to pressure (presumably due to fear) and kept the film's maker, who is a member of the Dutch parliament, out of this country. That's all there is to it.
See the letter http://www.geertwilders.nl/images/images/letter-denying-geert-wilders-entry-into-uk.pdf where they say they that his presence in the UK would "pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society", to keep him out. And that "The Secretary of State is satisfied that your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film Fitna and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK."
Write to your MP. I will be writing to mine tomorrow. Last time I wrote to him, he responded in full, therefore I fully intend to write again. I would urge anyone that reads this to ask their MP to raise the question of what grounds he was barred from this country on. Watch the film. See if you judge it offensive - and - even if it was (which it isn't) is that a good enough reason to bar a man from visiting a supposedly free country? How many gay bashing, hatred of nonbeliever inciting clerics does this country let in per week?
I'll say it one more time. Write to your MP.
The UK Government has told Geert Wilders to stay at home. He is not welcome on these shores. If you don't know who Geert Wilders is, have a look at the film "Fitna" on Wikileaks. It's a film which plonks passages from the Koran next to images of various nasty things (terrorism, murder etc). The implication being that doing nasty things can be justified using passages from said book.
That literally is all the film is. It's just verses copied verbatim from the Koran and next to those extracts, photos and video of horrors committed by various lunatic muslims.
The British government has basically bowed to pressure (presumably due to fear) and kept the film's maker, who is a member of the Dutch parliament, out of this country. That's all there is to it.
See the letter http://www.geertwilders.nl/images/images/letter-denying-geert-wilders-entry-into-uk.pdf where they say they that his presence in the UK would "pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society", to keep him out. And that "The Secretary of State is satisfied that your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film Fitna and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK."
Write to your MP. I will be writing to mine tomorrow. Last time I wrote to him, he responded in full, therefore I fully intend to write again. I would urge anyone that reads this to ask their MP to raise the question of what grounds he was barred from this country on. Watch the film. See if you judge it offensive - and - even if it was (which it isn't) is that a good enough reason to bar a man from visiting a supposedly free country? How many gay bashing, hatred of nonbeliever inciting clerics does this country let in per week?
I'll say it one more time. Write to your MP.
Saturday 31 January 2009
The Times.
A depressing article from the times :
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5621482.ece
Has kicked me out of my slumber in respect of this Blog.
One particular sentence sprung out at me, "But while the biggest Christian population is among over-70s bracket, for Muslims it is the under-4s. "
Wait what?!!?
So the biggest population of Muslims is under four. I know I'll sound like I'm preaching from the gospel of Dawkins when I say this but here goes anyway. A child of four no more knows it is a muslim than it knows it's a member of the National Trust. It is an utterly ridiculous statement, and one that the particular newspaper should have at least poked at.
And - am I pleased or happy. On the one hand, the biggest group of muslims isn't able to know what it means to be a muslim. That's good - right? On the other hand, given that they are already labelled, then surely that means that in twelve or thirteen years, that group will be a very large group indeed of 18 year olds, who have been brainwashed their whole lives.
In other news, Geert Wilders has apparently been charged with some kind of hate crime for simply lifting quotes from the Koran and splicing them together into a film. Wow, and I thought the Netherlands was supposed to be quite a liberal and free place.
Very disappointing.
On the plus side, the ASA did make the right judgement call about the Atheist Bus campaigns - ruling them acceptable. Stephen (bird shit) Green responded in his typically childish and nasty way by drawing attention to the fact that Lord Chris Smith who is in charge there is a homosexual. Very mature Steve. Very mature. Never mind, it'll all be worthwhile when you die... (because then you will shut up and fuck off).
Happy new year!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5621482.ece
Has kicked me out of my slumber in respect of this Blog.
One particular sentence sprung out at me, "But while the biggest Christian population is among over-70s bracket, for Muslims it is the under-4s. "
Wait what?!!?
So the biggest population of Muslims is under four. I know I'll sound like I'm preaching from the gospel of Dawkins when I say this but here goes anyway. A child of four no more knows it is a muslim than it knows it's a member of the National Trust. It is an utterly ridiculous statement, and one that the particular newspaper should have at least poked at.
And - am I pleased or happy. On the one hand, the biggest group of muslims isn't able to know what it means to be a muslim. That's good - right? On the other hand, given that they are already labelled, then surely that means that in twelve or thirteen years, that group will be a very large group indeed of 18 year olds, who have been brainwashed their whole lives.
In other news, Geert Wilders has apparently been charged with some kind of hate crime for simply lifting quotes from the Koran and splicing them together into a film. Wow, and I thought the Netherlands was supposed to be quite a liberal and free place.
Very disappointing.
On the plus side, the ASA did make the right judgement call about the Atheist Bus campaigns - ruling them acceptable. Stephen (bird shit) Green responded in his typically childish and nasty way by drawing attention to the fact that Lord Chris Smith who is in charge there is a homosexual. Very mature Steve. Very mature. Never mind, it'll all be worthwhile when you die... (because then you will shut up and fuck off).
Happy new year!
Monday 24 November 2008
Most hilarious review of Southpark : Bigger Longer & Uncut I've ever read...
Nothing more needs saying about this :-
http://www.capalert.com/capreports/southpark.htm
Amazing. I really do think that as religiousness increases, sense of humour often drops away... I wonder what you'd call the point where the two lines cross? Suggestions on a postcard.
Read the review though. On a more serious note one cannot help raise an eyebrow at phrases like this :-
"Many of the children seemed to be laughing because their fathers expected them to laugh, looking up at their fathers, laughing nervously and loudly just so dad would know they were laughing along with him, not likely knowing at what it was they were laughing half the time. As long as dad was laughing. That was reason enough."
Now let me write my version based on another place one can go and be part of an audience.
"Many of the children seemed to be praying because their fathers expected them to pray, looking up at their fathers, worshiping nervously just so dad would know they were praying along with him, not likely knowing what it was they were praying to half the time. As long as dad was praying. That was reason enough.
Capiche?
I find it absolutely amazing that a religious person could have written that and not seen the pot/kettleness of it. Of course the whole site could be a spoof, but it looks too big to fall into that category....
http://www.capalert.com/capreports/southpark.htm
Amazing. I really do think that as religiousness increases, sense of humour often drops away... I wonder what you'd call the point where the two lines cross? Suggestions on a postcard.
Read the review though. On a more serious note one cannot help raise an eyebrow at phrases like this :-
"Many of the children seemed to be laughing because their fathers expected them to laugh, looking up at their fathers, laughing nervously and loudly just so dad would know they were laughing along with him, not likely knowing at what it was they were laughing half the time. As long as dad was laughing. That was reason enough."
Now let me write my version based on another place one can go and be part of an audience.
"Many of the children seemed to be praying because their fathers expected them to pray, looking up at their fathers, worshiping nervously just so dad would know they were praying along with him, not likely knowing what it was they were praying to half the time. As long as dad was praying. That was reason enough.
Capiche?
I find it absolutely amazing that a religious person could have written that and not seen the pot/kettleness of it. Of course the whole site could be a spoof, but it looks too big to fall into that category....
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