My afternoon blogging session was briefly interrupted a few minutes ago when I heard some shouting from the street.
By the time I got downstairs, Mac was already on the phone to the police. A violent assault was taking place right in front of the house.
Outside, two cars (both full of young men) were pulled over. One of the drivers was out of his vehicle and lashing violently at the other driver, who having half-opened his door, was struggling to protect himself.
It didn't stop there. The guy returns to his vehicle, brings out a steel nightstick and starts swinging it into the front of his victim's car. Just bashing it in! And all the time, he's screaming obscenities at the top of his voice.
Then, like it never happened, he gets back in his car and drives away.
Just thought I’d share that with you. Got to wonder what Dave would make of it all.
May 24, 2005
Critical malfunction
I just don't understand it.
Michele makes a list of "The Definitive, Never Snobby, Unpretentious, Ridicule-Ready ASV 100 Movies of All Time". And she leaves out "My Cousin Vinny"!
What was she thinking?
Michele makes a list of "The Definitive, Never Snobby, Unpretentious, Ridicule-Ready ASV 100 Movies of All Time". And she leaves out "My Cousin Vinny"!
What was she thinking?
Hypocritical correctness
Marcus Brigstocke, writing in today's Guardian, says that the "straight, white, able-bodied, Christian, PC-phobic majority" should stop going on about political correctness.
But, while I'm at it, what really rankles about Brigstocke's piece is that, after condemning racists and bigots in his opening paragraphs, he goes on to use a couple of pretty offensive characterizations in writing about his fellow Europeans.
In pursuing his point, Brigstocke imagines "some greasy, lank-haired French lad called Didier [...] wearing his rucksack on his front" and "some piggy-faced blond boy called Heinrich [who] came and ate everything in your fridge". Is that really the politically correct way to talk about one's neighbors?
Rank hypocrisy or postmodern humor? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
Accusations of politically correct thought control have become a pathetic and transparent excuse for lazy racists, sexists and Islamophobes the land over. Challenging PC has become a game of chicken for bigots - daring each other to run out into the busy PC motorway and say something stupid before dashing back for cover.Let's stand that on its head (we'll get nearer the truth):
Accusations of racism, sexism and Islamophobia against those who criticize political correctness have become a pathetic and transparent excuse for lazy media elites the world over. Defending PC has become a game of chicken for idiots - daring each other to run out into the busy mainstream and shout some insults before dashing back for cover.There are valid and cogent criticisms of political correctness, particularly in so far as it impinges on freedom of speech. Ignoring these issues and resorting to name-calling does nothing to advance discussion. But then maybe I'm taking Brigstocke too seriously. After all, he's a joker not a thinker.
But, while I'm at it, what really rankles about Brigstocke's piece is that, after condemning racists and bigots in his opening paragraphs, he goes on to use a couple of pretty offensive characterizations in writing about his fellow Europeans.
In pursuing his point, Brigstocke imagines "some greasy, lank-haired French lad called Didier [...] wearing his rucksack on his front" and "some piggy-faced blond boy called Heinrich [who] came and ate everything in your fridge". Is that really the politically correct way to talk about one's neighbors?
Rank hypocrisy or postmodern humor? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
May 23, 2005
Life, liberty & psychiatry
I spent my time as an undergraduate studying psychology, sociology and philosophy. It didn't get me very far - I was majoring in Accounting and Finance. After two years at college, bored with my course, I took a sabbatical and got a job as a nursing assistant on the psychiatric ward of a large general hospital.
The ward was designed to be a short-stay unit - none of the patients were supposed to spend longer than six months there. The idea being, within that time, the patient would be either discharged or transferred to long-term care. In reality, many of the patients had been on the ward for over a year, but none of the nurses had been there longer than six months. When I left to go back to university, I was the longest serving member of staff on the unit.
The place was understaffed, the nurses were undertrained and inexperienced, the doctors all but invisible, and the whole set-up was poorly resourced. Hardly an environment conducive to the relief of mental distress.
I suspect the lack of funding for psychiatric services is due, at least in part, to the social stigma attached to mental illness. Even today, the pervasive prejudice towards people with psychological problems seriously distorts public responses to mental health issues.
As an example, do a search for "schizophrenic" on BBC News and you'll get a list of murder reports, not news of recent medical advances or human interest stories. Or look at the way ASBOs are being used to manage the "anti-social" behavior of people with mental conditions. As the Observer reported on Sunday, some sufferers are in danger of being jailed if they publicly display symptoms.
Or take the Human Rights Act, which recognizes "the right to liberty and security of person" but explicitly denies that right to "persons of unsound mind" - a clause the British government seems keen to take advantage of with its proposals to ban people with mental health problems from leaving their homes.
It's like an old friend of mine once said: Human rights are a fine thing in principle. But how human do you have to be to get them?
The ward was designed to be a short-stay unit - none of the patients were supposed to spend longer than six months there. The idea being, within that time, the patient would be either discharged or transferred to long-term care. In reality, many of the patients had been on the ward for over a year, but none of the nurses had been there longer than six months. When I left to go back to university, I was the longest serving member of staff on the unit.
The place was understaffed, the nurses were undertrained and inexperienced, the doctors all but invisible, and the whole set-up was poorly resourced. Hardly an environment conducive to the relief of mental distress.
I suspect the lack of funding for psychiatric services is due, at least in part, to the social stigma attached to mental illness. Even today, the pervasive prejudice towards people with psychological problems seriously distorts public responses to mental health issues.
As an example, do a search for "schizophrenic" on BBC News and you'll get a list of murder reports, not news of recent medical advances or human interest stories. Or look at the way ASBOs are being used to manage the "anti-social" behavior of people with mental conditions. As the Observer reported on Sunday, some sufferers are in danger of being jailed if they publicly display symptoms.
Or take the Human Rights Act, which recognizes "the right to liberty and security of person" but explicitly denies that right to "persons of unsound mind" - a clause the British government seems keen to take advantage of with its proposals to ban people with mental health problems from leaving their homes.
It's like an old friend of mine once said: Human rights are a fine thing in principle. But how human do you have to be to get them?
Foreign affairs
Last week, the Big Fella was explaining some board game to his friends at school. "It's great!" he tells them. "And you get to play Uncle Joe." Blank faces from his friends, so my boy elucidates: "Uncle Joe! You know - Stalin." More blank looks. The Big Fella was flummoxed.
Friday after school, still astonished by it all, he says to me: "How can anyone get to be ten years old and not know who Stalin was!?"
He's got a point. They've all heard of Hitler. Why does Stalin get a pass?
Friday after school, still astonished by it all, he says to me: "How can anyone get to be ten years old and not know who Stalin was!?"
He's got a point. They've all heard of Hitler. Why does Stalin get a pass?
May 22, 2005
Schlock horror
What is going on at the Social Affairs Unit?
First, Orac at Respectful Insolence points out some anti-evolutionary posturing from history professor William D. Rubinstein.
Then, S J Masty pops up claiming Hollywood is to blame for Abu Ghraib and for rampant police brutality in the US - seems it all started with "Death Wish".
I don't know where I got the idea, but I thought the Social Affairs Unit was a think tank. Obviously not.
First, Orac at Respectful Insolence points out some anti-evolutionary posturing from history professor William D. Rubinstein.
Then, S J Masty pops up claiming Hollywood is to blame for Abu Ghraib and for rampant police brutality in the US - seems it all started with "Death Wish".
The abuses carried out by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib are not a one-off. Such abuses are widespread and are a product of the culture fostered by American movies and cop shows, which glorify law breaking by the "righteous" in order to achieve "justice".Focussing on police brutality in the US, Masty says he knows of "no American who denies that a nasty, unnecessarily authoritarian and bullying cop-culture is afoot across America". (Really? Not one?) And...
My elderly relatives, retired to Florida, [...] now complain that every 82-year-old, retired gynaecologist pulled over for a burned-out tail-light on his Oldsmobile is handcuffed, manhandled, hit or kicked, and occasionally knocked to the ground once or twice for good measure. Once noticed by the police, he becomes a "perp" and forfeits his rights."Accurate or not"!? Is he kidding? Read it all - it's the worst piece of schlock I've come across in a long time.
Staid, middle-aged doctors in Michigan are afraid to write letters to newspapers complaining about local government for fear of being persecuted by the state, mostly by police or regulatory investigators. Accurate or not, their fear is genuine.
I don't know where I got the idea, but I thought the Social Affairs Unit was a think tank. Obviously not.
May 20, 2005
What a picture
Oliver Kamm provides an extract from Christopher Hitchens's portrait of George Galloway in today's Independent.
It's not pretty.
It's not pretty.
May 19, 2005
Worked out
Nothing from me today - I'm burnt out after an afternoon spent delving into the legislation underpinning local authority regulations. If you haven't read the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, don't.
Mañana.
Mañana.
May 18, 2005
Chance meeting
I've been in Bristol for over twenty years now. One of the advantages of living in one place for so long is that I quite often bump into people I haven't seen for years.
Recently, quite by chance, I met up with someone I used to know when I first moved to Bristol. He's now the Deputy Lord-Lieutenant (cute title). Fifteen to twenty years ago, we were both active in promoting local regeneration initiatives in Bristol's inner city, particularly in the St Pauls neighborhood, home to many of the city's Afro-Caribbean population.
Since those days, things have changed a lot for both of us, but some of the problems in St Pauls have gotten worse, thanks largely to the influx of crack-cocaine.
Anyway, back in the eighties, both of us had read and admired "Endless Pressure", Ken Pryce's groundbreaking study of West Indian lifestyles in Bristol. It was essential reading for outsiders like me doing development work in the area, and it was widely appreciated locally for its accurate depiction of Afro-Caribbean life in the city.
I was dimly aware that Ken Pryce had done other studies, but I never thought much about it, except occasionally to wonder why I hadn’t come across more of his work. Yesterday, I found out why.
My former colleague told me that, some years ago, Pryce had been doing a study on drug dealing in Jamaica and had been found dead, face down in some ditch somewhere, a victim of the violent subculture he’d been studying.
Today, I’m left sadly reflecting that the advent of crack-cocaine, along with the gang violence that accompanied it, not only derailed many of the hopes we had for the inner city twenty years ago, it also took the life of a fine sociologist who, had he lived, might have done much to document and explain the culture that killed him.
Recently, quite by chance, I met up with someone I used to know when I first moved to Bristol. He's now the Deputy Lord-Lieutenant (cute title). Fifteen to twenty years ago, we were both active in promoting local regeneration initiatives in Bristol's inner city, particularly in the St Pauls neighborhood, home to many of the city's Afro-Caribbean population.
Since those days, things have changed a lot for both of us, but some of the problems in St Pauls have gotten worse, thanks largely to the influx of crack-cocaine.
Anyway, back in the eighties, both of us had read and admired "Endless Pressure", Ken Pryce's groundbreaking study of West Indian lifestyles in Bristol. It was essential reading for outsiders like me doing development work in the area, and it was widely appreciated locally for its accurate depiction of Afro-Caribbean life in the city.
I was dimly aware that Ken Pryce had done other studies, but I never thought much about it, except occasionally to wonder why I hadn’t come across more of his work. Yesterday, I found out why.
My former colleague told me that, some years ago, Pryce had been doing a study on drug dealing in Jamaica and had been found dead, face down in some ditch somewhere, a victim of the violent subculture he’d been studying.
Today, I’m left sadly reflecting that the advent of crack-cocaine, along with the gang violence that accompanied it, not only derailed many of the hopes we had for the inner city twenty years ago, it also took the life of a fine sociologist who, had he lived, might have done much to document and explain the culture that killed him.
May 17, 2005
Language blogs
Language Log has a roundup of posts from blogging linguists.
Following the links, I learnt that the Chinese word for 'crisis' is not a compound of the words for 'danger' and 'opportunity', 3,000 of the 6,000-7,000 currently used human languages are headed for extinction, John Betjeman and C. S. Lewis fell out over Coleridge's pants, and Google library ninjas have launched virulent attacks on European culture (or not, as the case may be).
Following the links, I learnt that the Chinese word for 'crisis' is not a compound of the words for 'danger' and 'opportunity', 3,000 of the 6,000-7,000 currently used human languages are headed for extinction, John Betjeman and C. S. Lewis fell out over Coleridge's pants, and Google library ninjas have launched virulent attacks on European culture (or not, as the case may be).
Learning the difference
Damian Counsell, in an excellent post exploring learned responses to human difference, notes that ”humans are naturally disposed to discriminate against members of other tribes."
I think that's right.
And as Damian says, understanding the basis of prejudice doesn’t excuse racism, it allows us “to acknowledge our flaw, resist its effects, and build a world where those who express it are put at a disadvantage.”
I think that's right.
And as Damian says, understanding the basis of prejudice doesn’t excuse racism, it allows us “to acknowledge our flaw, resist its effects, and build a world where those who express it are put at a disadvantage.”
May 16, 2005
Celebrity blogger
You know, sometimes, you can think you really understand somebody. And then, you read their blog and realize you don't really know them at all.
Infamous address
Richard Luscombe, writing for Scotland on Sunday, reports that developers are looking to build a casino complex close to the Gettysburg battlefield.
It's not a new story - the Associated Press piece on which it was based appeared over a week ago and was carried in the Sun-Sentinel. But what is new in Luscombe's treatment of the story is his reference to Lincoln's "infamous Gettysburg Address".
Infamous? Well, it wasn't applauded in certain quarters at the time - the Chicago Times referred to it as a "silly, flat, and dishwatery utterance". But to calll it "infamous" smacks of either ignorance or a particularly skewed perspective.
Or haste - perhaps Luscombe was just cutting and pasting from some other source. I was surprised to find that Google shows 140 results for ""infamous Gettysburg address" including, astonishingly, The History Channel.
Unbelievable!
It's not a new story - the Associated Press piece on which it was based appeared over a week ago and was carried in the Sun-Sentinel. But what is new in Luscombe's treatment of the story is his reference to Lincoln's "infamous Gettysburg Address".
Infamous? Well, it wasn't applauded in certain quarters at the time - the Chicago Times referred to it as a "silly, flat, and dishwatery utterance". But to calll it "infamous" smacks of either ignorance or a particularly skewed perspective.
Or haste - perhaps Luscombe was just cutting and pasting from some other source. I was surprised to find that Google shows 140 results for ""infamous Gettysburg address" including, astonishingly, The History Channel.
Unbelievable!
May 15, 2005
Legitimate target
Madeleine Bunting's opinion pieces for the Guardian usually leave me speechless. Yesterday's column, "Honour and Martyrdom", (in which Bunting argues that western revulsion at suicide bombings is somehow inappropriate) was no exception.
Thankfully, Norm Geras has both the words and the patience to address Bunting's conflated arguments and strange sympathies.
Thankfully, Norm Geras has both the words and the patience to address Bunting's conflated arguments and strange sympathies.
[N]ot one of her factors of supposed explanation addresses the thing she really needs to address about suicide bombing, namely, why moral revulsion isn't the right response to the deliberate murder and injury of innocent people in furtherance of a political cause. For it is sacrificing them: depriving them of, or wrecking, their lives, as a mere instrumentality towards some putatively desirable end, which is sometimes remote, sometimes, even, impossible to achieve. It is a crime against those so sacrificed, a crime under international law, and a crime against humanity by codes and conventions now universally recognized.Except, of course, that such codes and conventions are not recognized by those whose moral relativism allows the conclusion that one person's "innocent civilian" is another's "legitimate target".
May 14, 2005
Images of war
Over the weekend, Channel 4 will be showing “100 Greatest War Films”. The viewers poll has now closed but you can take a look at the nominees – and be surprised at some of the inclusions.
I won’t be watching the broadcast. I’m a fan of the genre, but I can’t sit through those clip-compilation shows without getting itchy.
Anyhow, here are five war movies I really like, all but the last one made it on to Channel 4’s list of nominees:
I won’t be watching the broadcast. I’m a fan of the genre, but I can’t sit through those clip-compilation shows without getting itchy.
Anyhow, here are five war movies I really like, all but the last one made it on to Channel 4’s list of nominees:
All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930)I’m not surprised that last one wasn't nominated - it’s too stagey and melodramatic for modern tastes. But a few of the IMDB reviews do it justice.
Mrs Miniver (William Wyler, 1942)
Went the Day Well? (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1942)
Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
Attack! (Robert Aldrich, 1956)
May 13, 2005
Little monkeys
Seven and ten years old, and already they're engaging in political satire: Spud does a great Bob Dole impression and the Big Fella's Nixon is near perfect.
I'd be worried if I didn't know which Simpsons' episodes they were aping.
I'd be worried if I didn't know which Simpsons' episodes they were aping.
Growing pains
Did I tell you Mac's got an allotment? Well she has. And right now, she's also got a bad back. So it looks like I'll be doing the digging this weekend.
I hate digging - there's too much deferred gratification involved for my liking. And besides, my father's generation gave up on farming; I'm free of romantic notions about going back to the land. But Mac's a wizard when it comes to growing stuff, and I'm looking forward to some choice produce this summer.
Unfortunately, most of the top fruit won't produce until next year - we'll have to wait until 2006 for the blackcurrant sorbets. As for the rest of it, there'll be Charlotte and pink fir-apple potatoes this season, purple-sprouting and Romanesque broccoli, Tuscan cabbage, fennel, celeriac, rocket and more broad beans than we'll know what to do with.
But to get all that - this weekend, I have to dig, and deal with compost and worm bins and such like. Isn't nature wonderful!
If you're out and about this weekend, look for me here.
I'll be up on the left somewhere. Feel free to lend a hand.
I hate digging - there's too much deferred gratification involved for my liking. And besides, my father's generation gave up on farming; I'm free of romantic notions about going back to the land. But Mac's a wizard when it comes to growing stuff, and I'm looking forward to some choice produce this summer.
Unfortunately, most of the top fruit won't produce until next year - we'll have to wait until 2006 for the blackcurrant sorbets. As for the rest of it, there'll be Charlotte and pink fir-apple potatoes this season, purple-sprouting and Romanesque broccoli, Tuscan cabbage, fennel, celeriac, rocket and more broad beans than we'll know what to do with.
But to get all that - this weekend, I have to dig, and deal with compost and worm bins and such like. Isn't nature wonderful!
If you're out and about this weekend, look for me here.
I'll be up on the left somewhere. Feel free to lend a hand.
Manchester buccaneer
BBC News reports that Michael Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is proceeding with his bid to take control of Manchester United Football Club.
Local fans are not happy. Supporters' associations have been running a "Not for Sale" campaign in an attempt to defeat Glazer's bid for the club, and now they're gutted.
Opposition to Glazer centers around both the structure of the bid (it's highly leveraged and could lead to higher ticket prices), and his future plans for the club (which seem unclear).
I'm not sure what to make of it all, but the Guardian is suggesting that United manager, Alex Ferguson, is "repulsed by the prospect" of working with Glazer and is thinking about resigning.
My ten-year-old says it's all good news. But I think that's because he supports Liverpool.
Local fans are not happy. Supporters' associations have been running a "Not for Sale" campaign in an attempt to defeat Glazer's bid for the club, and now they're gutted.
Nick Towle, chairman of fans' pressure group, Shareholders United, claimed he has ripped up his season ticket.That sounds like wishful thinking to me. But the fans' anger is real enough.
He said: "I am very sad - I still love the club but I refuse to put a penny into the company. And I believe as many as 20,000 fans may also leave Man Utd."
Opposition to Glazer centers around both the structure of the bid (it's highly leveraged and could lead to higher ticket prices), and his future plans for the club (which seem unclear).
I'm not sure what to make of it all, but the Guardian is suggesting that United manager, Alex Ferguson, is "repulsed by the prospect" of working with Glazer and is thinking about resigning.
My ten-year-old says it's all good news. But I think that's because he supports Liverpool.
May 12, 2005
Continuing evolution
A few days ago Susanna over at Cut on the Bias wrote a post characterizing the decision by scientists to boycott the KSBE hearings on intelligent design as an attempt to silence critics of evolutionary theory and stifle debate.
Susanna, also noted that the fever to debunk intelligent design was so widespread amongst evolutionists that one of them had even attempted to debunk a satirical piece by Scott Orr. (Debunking satire!? Ye Gods! Is nothing sacred?)
Yesterday, Susanna found she'd been labelled an apologist for intelligent design and her post well and truly debunked. Predictably enough, by the same blogger she'd cited for debunking Scrappleface - Orac at Respectful Insolence.
And what a debunking! Like Susanna says:
However, his conclusion is starkly concise: (they're his italics)
In the meantime, those with a taste for satire might enjoy Language Log's take on it all.
Susanna, also noted that the fever to debunk intelligent design was so widespread amongst evolutionists that one of them had even attempted to debunk a satirical piece by Scott Orr. (Debunking satire!? Ye Gods! Is nothing sacred?)
Yesterday, Susanna found she'd been labelled an apologist for intelligent design and her post well and truly debunked. Predictably enough, by the same blogger she'd cited for debunking Scrappleface - Orac at Respectful Insolence.
And what a debunking! Like Susanna says:
He has me for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a couple of snacks too, but still manages to leave a little for a few friends to gnaw on.Snark aside, Orac's post is an excellent rehearsal of the arguments against intelligent design - but there's an awful lot of snark to wade through before you get to the good bits.
However, his conclusion is starkly concise: (they're his italics)
The bottom line is that ID has utterly failed to gain a foothold in biology as serious science the way that every accepted scientific theory ultimately becomes accepted: through the preponderance of evidence and through the theory's ability to unify, explain, and to some extent predict natural phenomenon.To my mind, unless and until that happens, intelligent design should have no role in informing science standards in our schools.
[...]
If ID advocates really want to get their concepts introduced into the classroom as science, then the best way to do it is to divert some of that massive money and effort used to bulldoze various initiatives forcing the teaching of ID as "science" in high schools and use it to produce the goods. Do the research. Show scientists the evidence. Publish the research and evidence in peer-reviewed journals. Present it at national meetings of biologists. Show how ID explains the diversity of life better than (or at least as well as) evolutionary theory does.
In the meantime, those with a taste for satire might enjoy Language Log's take on it all.
Poetry corner
Franklin P. Adams
Nowadays, Franklin Adams is little remembered. But, between the wars, he was a prominent New York columnist and a leading member of the Algonquin Round Table - he once said of Dorothy Parker that he had "raised her from a couplet".
In his humorous column, "The Conning Tower", Adams frequently published readers' contributions and assiduously promoted new writers, including James Thurber and Eugene O'Neil.
These days, his aphorisms are sometimes quoted but his light verse is all but forgotten. Which is a shame, because some of it is delightful (To a Thesaurus being a fine example).
Us PoetsFrom "Tobogganing on Parnassus" by Franklin P. Adams
Wordsworth wrote some tawdry stuff;
Much of Moore I have forgotten;
Parts of Tennyson are guff;
Bits of Byron, too, are rotten.
All of Browning isn't great;
There are slipshod lines in Shelley;
Every one knows Homer's fate;
Some of Keats is vermicelli.
Sometimes Shakespeare hit the slide,
Not to mention Pope or Milton;
Some of Southey's stuff is snide.
Some of Spenser's simply Stilton.
When one has to boil the pot,
One can't always watch the kittle.
You may credit it or not--
Now and then _I_ slump a little!
Nowadays, Franklin Adams is little remembered. But, between the wars, he was a prominent New York columnist and a leading member of the Algonquin Round Table - he once said of Dorothy Parker that he had "raised her from a couplet".
In his humorous column, "The Conning Tower", Adams frequently published readers' contributions and assiduously promoted new writers, including James Thurber and Eugene O'Neil.
These days, his aphorisms are sometimes quoted but his light verse is all but forgotten. Which is a shame, because some of it is delightful (To a Thesaurus being a fine example).
May 11, 2005
Talking movies
Via Michael Totten: Dr Frank has a review of Ridley Scott's new movie:
Kingdom of Heaven asks a question that has plagued historians for decades: what would happen if a late 20th-century, secular, agnostic, multiculturalist, progressive, sensitive Hollywood type were to be transported back in time to participate in one of history's grandest spectacles? Could one of the most embarrassingly culturally insensitive chapters of our history be rewritten or perhaps even avoided altogether, through the efforts of one determined, sensitive man who is as open-minded about stuff as we are?Read on.
Random quote
I have no bumperstickers, for the same reason I do not paste editorials with which I agree on the seat of my pants.James Lileks.
Reasonable disagreement
I was following bits of the BlogNashville conference, particularly the session on “How to disagree without being disagreeable". Unfortunately, it sounds like the workshop wasn't an agreeable experience for some of the participants. And the wrangling over the fall-out seems to be getting a little out of hand.
So what went wrong? How did the disagreement begin and why did it become so, erm..., disagreeable?
When conference sessions go wrong (and believe me, I've seen some lulus), it's tough not to blame the participants, but I'd like to focus instead on the process. Because, it seems to me, a number of process factors were so wrong here that, regardless of the personalities involved, a positive outcome for all concerned was not a likely event.
In particular, there seems to have been a lack of fit between participants' expectations of the session and what they actually got.
The write-up suggests that the session may have been intended as a social experiment "challenging an audience of bloggers to respectfully disagree with one another", as well as an attempt to arrive at "a set of shared values that may be suggested as guidelines for the blogging community."
From the information provided beforehand, participants might have reasonably anticipated the latter but would have been ill-prepared for a challenging social experiment.
Confusion and conflict are predictable outcomes of role-ambiguity. In this instance, there seemed to be confusion around the session leader's role in the discussion. Was the group expecting to be moderated or led? Was the session leader required to lecture or facilitate? Open discussion or focussed debate? Or something else entirely?
It doesn't look to me like this issue was explicitly resolved either before or during the discussion. Frustration and conflict with the leader were characteristic of the session and continue to overshadow the post-mortem debate.
I certainly don't want to get involved in any of that. But I do think more attention to process would have likely reduced the possibility of conflict.
As to the question of how to disagree without being disagreeable, my advice is simple: Don't disagree with people who don't want to be disagreed with.
Update
Dave Winer points to a BloggerCon page that provides background on the role of discussion leaders at the conference.
It not only demonstrates a concern for process (so scratch my remarks to the contrary above), it also clearly sets out the role of the discussion leader as being that of both reporter and editor.
As Winer describes it, the role of the discussion leader is to be both "a reporter who is creating a story with quotes from the people in the room" and an editor "so if he or she feels that a point has been made they must move on to the next point quickly. No droning, no filibusters, no repeating an idea over and over."
It's a fascinating and challenging structure, casting the discussion leader as storyteller, required to weave a narrative from diverse contributions. I've seen it used in other contexts, most entertainingly at a European bankers' conference where, over three days, a professional storyteller mixed with the participants, eliciting contributions before combining them in a compelling (and highly amusing) narrative for the conference finale.
Anyway, thanks to Winer, I now have a better understanding of the BloggerCon process and, referring back to the point of my original post, it doesn't look now like process was the problem.
Of course, having learnt a little more about them, I'm keener than ever to get along to one of these blogger conferences.
Maybe one day.
So what went wrong? How did the disagreement begin and why did it become so, erm..., disagreeable?
When conference sessions go wrong (and believe me, I've seen some lulus), it's tough not to blame the participants, but I'd like to focus instead on the process. Because, it seems to me, a number of process factors were so wrong here that, regardless of the personalities involved, a positive outcome for all concerned was not a likely event.
In particular, there seems to have been a lack of fit between participants' expectations of the session and what they actually got.
The write-up suggests that the session may have been intended as a social experiment "challenging an audience of bloggers to respectfully disagree with one another", as well as an attempt to arrive at "a set of shared values that may be suggested as guidelines for the blogging community."
From the information provided beforehand, participants might have reasonably anticipated the latter but would have been ill-prepared for a challenging social experiment.
Confusion and conflict are predictable outcomes of role-ambiguity. In this instance, there seemed to be confusion around the session leader's role in the discussion. Was the group expecting to be moderated or led? Was the session leader required to lecture or facilitate? Open discussion or focussed debate? Or something else entirely?
It doesn't look to me like this issue was explicitly resolved either before or during the discussion. Frustration and conflict with the leader were characteristic of the session and continue to overshadow the post-mortem debate.
I certainly don't want to get involved in any of that. But I do think more attention to process would have likely reduced the possibility of conflict.
As to the question of how to disagree without being disagreeable, my advice is simple: Don't disagree with people who don't want to be disagreed with.
Update
Dave Winer points to a BloggerCon page that provides background on the role of discussion leaders at the conference.
It not only demonstrates a concern for process (so scratch my remarks to the contrary above), it also clearly sets out the role of the discussion leader as being that of both reporter and editor.
As Winer describes it, the role of the discussion leader is to be both "a reporter who is creating a story with quotes from the people in the room" and an editor "so if he or she feels that a point has been made they must move on to the next point quickly. No droning, no filibusters, no repeating an idea over and over."
It's a fascinating and challenging structure, casting the discussion leader as storyteller, required to weave a narrative from diverse contributions. I've seen it used in other contexts, most entertainingly at a European bankers' conference where, over three days, a professional storyteller mixed with the participants, eliciting contributions before combining them in a compelling (and highly amusing) narrative for the conference finale.
Anyway, thanks to Winer, I now have a better understanding of the BloggerCon process and, referring back to the point of my original post, it doesn't look now like process was the problem.
Of course, having learnt a little more about them, I'm keener than ever to get along to one of these blogger conferences.
Maybe one day.
May 10, 2005
Radio Martini
Take equal measures of vanity and nostalgia, top up with vodka, add a microphone and stir vigorously. What do you get?
I'm not sure but I think we're about to find out - Stephen Green is looking at podcasting.
I'm not sure but I think we're about to find out - Stephen Green is looking at podcasting.
Mental hygiene
Scott Burgess is back at The Daily Ablution after a couple of weeks off.
He's been reading the Independent again. I guess somebody's go to do it.
He's been reading the Independent again. I guess somebody's go to do it.
So farewell then
David Aaronovitch in his last column for the Guardian:
I've come to regard Aaronovitch as one of the few voices of sanity at the Guardian. He has been, at times, thoughtful and incisive. And aside from the occasional lapse into pomposity (surely excusable in a man of such girth) highly readable.
He'll be back in June at the Times.
Since I decided, in January 2003, that if Iraq was invaded I would not oppose it, I have had the almost astral experience of finding myself excommunicated from the movement, sometimes by fellow journalists who I know do not possess a political bone in their entire bodies.I have to say it: Read the whole thing. If only because Aaronovitch's experience accords with my own and will, I'm sure, be eerily familiar to those on the left who supported the liberation of Iraq.
All of a sudden I began to experience the left from the outside. And the first thing that struck me was its capacity for smug certainty and uniformity of response.
I've come to regard Aaronovitch as one of the few voices of sanity at the Guardian. He has been, at times, thoughtful and incisive. And aside from the occasional lapse into pomposity (surely excusable in a man of such girth) highly readable.
He'll be back in June at the Times.
May 09, 2005
Evolving standards
The Washington Post reports that the Kansas State Board of Education is, once again, considering changes to science standards that will allow teachers to present the idea of intelligent design as a scientifically respectable alternative to the theory of biological evolution.
Not surprisingly, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is opposed to the changes on the basis "that the lack of scientific warrant for so-called 'intelligent design theory' makes it improper to include as a part of science education".
I strongly agree. I don't object to notions of intelligent design being taught in philosophy classes. But unless a theory has gained wide acceptance within the scientific community, I can't see how it can sensibly be used to inform science standards.
But then, I'm not in Kansas.
Not surprisingly, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is opposed to the changes on the basis "that the lack of scientific warrant for so-called 'intelligent design theory' makes it improper to include as a part of science education".
I strongly agree. I don't object to notions of intelligent design being taught in philosophy classes. But unless a theory has gained wide acceptance within the scientific community, I can't see how it can sensibly be used to inform science standards.
But then, I'm not in Kansas.
May 05, 2005
Imperial games
Roger Simon points to a piece in the New York Times suggesting that the history of cricket's development as an international game may offer lessons for the promotion of democracy abroad.
It's an interesting idea. As is the article's contention that: "Cricket lost ground in North America because of the egalitarian ethos of its societies." That's a new one on me. But it sounds a lot like the old saw that Americans don't play much cricket because we're temperamentally unsuited to the game.
As I've said before, I think the explanation is simple - cricket withered in the US after 1898 when the British-controlled Imperial Cricket Conference effectively excluded the US team from first-class international competition.
No lesson in democracy there then.
It's an interesting idea. As is the article's contention that: "Cricket lost ground in North America because of the egalitarian ethos of its societies." That's a new one on me. But it sounds a lot like the old saw that Americans don't play much cricket because we're temperamentally unsuited to the game.
As I've said before, I think the explanation is simple - cricket withered in the US after 1898 when the British-controlled Imperial Cricket Conference effectively excluded the US team from first-class international competition.
No lesson in democracy there then.
Kos abroad
I learnt yesterday that the Daily Kos has been snooping around these parts: Markos Moulitsas has been in Bristol reporting on the election for the Guardian.
Bristol West is a key marginal that could go any one of three ways, and Moulitsas covers all the bases in a straightforward piece of reporting. It makes a change from some of his posts on the Guardian's election blog, which have seemed to me either ingratiatingly cliched:
In any case, he fits right in at the Guardian.
Bristol West is a key marginal that could go any one of three ways, and Moulitsas covers all the bases in a straightforward piece of reporting. It makes a change from some of his posts on the Guardian's election blog, which have seemed to me either ingratiatingly cliched:
We Americans are cursed with an inarticulate president, studiously avoiding a castrated press corps, which - when given the chance - is unable or unwilling to ask any tough questions lest they have all access cut. So forgive us for feeling a tad bit - nay, a great deal - jealous about your prime minister and your press corps.Or simply clueless:
I won't pretend to know what this all means, but it was refreshing being at a political rally in which people did not feel compelled to wear their patriotism on their sleeve. Brits are obviously patriotic people, yet self-assured enough that gaudy displays of nationalism are not necessary.At least in the second example, his commenters provide some much needed context.
In any case, he fits right in at the Guardian.
Smashing Paredes
Blog-journalism, participant observation or improvisational street theatre?
It's a little of all three as Citizen Smash confronts Pablo Paredes at the San Diego Earth Fair.
It's a little of all three as Citizen Smash confronts Pablo Paredes at the San Diego Earth Fair.
May 04, 2005
Work in progress
I'm supposed to be redecorating the study. But instead, I'm messing around with my stylesheet and uploading different versions, trying to pick a new look for the blog.
So, apologies if it gets a bit gawdy around here today.
So, apologies if it gets a bit gawdy around here today.
May 03, 2005
Band of Brothers
I've just finished watching the first two episodes of 'Band of Brothers' - they're re-running it on UK TV Drama. It's the second time round for me. The first time I watched it, I went straight out and bought the book by Stephen Ambrose on which the series is based.
Earlier today, I caught a couple of David Adesnik posts rightly praising the series but also (strangely, to my mind) handing out demerits on the basis that Band of Brothers does not adequately address issues of racial and religious prejudice.
I think this criticism of Ambrose is way off the mark for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, if there's a fault, it's in the source material. Ambrose's book is not a work of fiction - it's based on the personal recollections of a group of men who served together in the 101st Airborne. It's their story, not Ambrose's.
Secondly, and more importantly, Ambrose has not ignored issues of prejudice and segregation in his other work. In 'Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army From the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany', Ambrose pulls no punches in detailing the experiences of African-American servicemen:
Earlier today, I caught a couple of David Adesnik posts rightly praising the series but also (strangely, to my mind) handing out demerits on the basis that Band of Brothers does not adequately address issues of racial and religious prejudice.
First and foremost, in ten hours of action and dialogue, there isn't a single negative remark made about blacks or homosexuals.As the series is essentially a straightforward dramatization of Ambrose's book, Adesnik concludes that "the demerits given to the filmmakers above belong partly to the author of the book, Stephen Ambrose."
In the first couple of episodes, BoB makes a big deal about the tensions caused by a very specific set of ethnic and religious differences. [...] But after that, everything is just peachy.
So what's going on here? Aren't Hollywood liberals like Spielberg and Hanks supposed to be reminding us of the dark side of American history, of our betrayal of our own democratic ideals? In general, yes. But not when the subject of discussion is The Greatest Generation. Because they are perfect. Because they live in a timeless land that has never heard of partisan politics.
I think this criticism of Ambrose is way off the mark for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, if there's a fault, it's in the source material. Ambrose's book is not a work of fiction - it's based on the personal recollections of a group of men who served together in the 101st Airborne. It's their story, not Ambrose's.
Secondly, and more importantly, Ambrose has not ignored issues of prejudice and segregation in his other work. In 'Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army From the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany', Ambrose pulls no punches in detailing the experiences of African-American servicemen:
The world's greatest democracy fought the world's greatest racist with a segregated Army. It was worse than that: the Army and the society conspired to degrade African-Americans in every way possible, summed up in the name Jim Crow. One little incident from the home front illustrates the tyranny black Americans lived under during the Second World War.You can read more of the same here.
In April 1944 Corp. Rupert Timmingham wrote Yank magazine. "Here is a question that each Negro soldier is asking," he began. "What is the Negro soldier fighting for? On whose team are we playing?" He recounted the difficulties he and eight other black soldiers had while traveling through the South -- "where Old Jim Crow rules" -- for a new assignment. "We could not purchase a cup of coffee," Timmingham noted. Finally the lunchroom manager at a Texas railroad depot said the black GIs could go on around back to the kitchen for a sandwich and coffee. As they did, "about two dozen German prisoners of war, with two American guards, came to the station. They entered the lunchroom, sat at the tables, had their meals served, talked, smoked, in fact had quite a swell time. I stood on the outside looking on, and I could not help but ask myself why are they treated better than we are? Why are we pushed around like cattle? If we are fighting for the same thing, if we are to die for our country, then why does the Government allow such things to go on?"
Flying days
Well, we survived a weekend under canvas, the highlight of which turned out to be a visit to the National Birds of Prey Centre.
For me, the best bit was getting close to a female Bald Eagle. For Mac, it was the flying demonstration - watching a range of Raptors being flown from the hand, including a Peregrine Falcon and a Eurasian Eagle Owl. But it was the Red Kite that Mac fell in love with. She wants to go back and fly one herself!
Happily, it looks like she's going to get the opportunity this summer. Mac's birthday is coming up, and one of the center's Falconry Experience Days sounds like an ideal present.
By the way, here's something I didn't know: while the Old World vultures are related to hawks and eagles, the New World vultures are more closely related to storks. It's another example of convergent evolution, the most intriguing illustration of which is the Tasmanian Wolf.
For me, the best bit was getting close to a female Bald Eagle. For Mac, it was the flying demonstration - watching a range of Raptors being flown from the hand, including a Peregrine Falcon and a Eurasian Eagle Owl. But it was the Red Kite that Mac fell in love with. She wants to go back and fly one herself!
Happily, it looks like she's going to get the opportunity this summer. Mac's birthday is coming up, and one of the center's Falconry Experience Days sounds like an ideal present.
By the way, here's something I didn't know: while the Old World vultures are related to hawks and eagles, the New World vultures are more closely related to storks. It's another example of convergent evolution, the most intriguing illustration of which is the Tasmanian Wolf.
April 30, 2005
A weekend away
We're going away for a couple of days camping in the Forest of Dean.
To my mind, taking the boys camping in England in April seems somewhat akin to the Spartan practice of exposure, but Mac assures me their both likely to survive the experience.
No 1 Son (or Pseudonymous Bob as he now prefers to be called) won’t be coming with us. Like many sixteen year olds, he’s far too busy with exam preparation - plus the guitar lessons, Parkour, Tai Kwon Do and the circus skills school he’s recently joined. What a life!
Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the cooking - I’m making a jar of pesto to take with us, as well as a whole load of cheese and potato chimichangas. Yummy.
See you Monday.
To my mind, taking the boys camping in England in April seems somewhat akin to the Spartan practice of exposure, but Mac assures me their both likely to survive the experience.
No 1 Son (or Pseudonymous Bob as he now prefers to be called) won’t be coming with us. Like many sixteen year olds, he’s far too busy with exam preparation - plus the guitar lessons, Parkour, Tai Kwon Do and the circus skills school he’s recently joined. What a life!
Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the cooking - I’m making a jar of pesto to take with us, as well as a whole load of cheese and potato chimichangas. Yummy.
See you Monday.
April 29, 2005
Mind and brain
Alan E Brain has a post today about consciousness, neuroscience and the latest developments in human brain-mapping, with a little futurology thrown in for good measure. Like the man said, it's a post and a half.
It's an interesting and informative piece but I'm sceptical of Ray Kurzweil's prediction that: "We can have confidence of reverse-engineering the brain in twenty years or so."
The reason I'm sceptical is the problem of consciousness. You can reverse-engineer all you like but whatever you end up with is unlikely to be conscious. It's an issue that the quoted article addresses:
Kurzweil, with his dreams of reverse-engineering human personalities, appears to be banking on the latter. I wouldn't bet my life on it but Alan seems game:
It's an interesting and informative piece but I'm sceptical of Ray Kurzweil's prediction that: "We can have confidence of reverse-engineering the brain in twenty years or so."
The reason I'm sceptical is the problem of consciousness. You can reverse-engineer all you like but whatever you end up with is unlikely to be conscious. It's an issue that the quoted article addresses:
Now, it may be that a human brain contains n logic-gates and runs at x cycles per second and stores z petabytes, and that n and x and z are all within reach. It may be that we can take a brain apart and record the position and relationships of all the neurons and sub-neuronal elements that constitute a brain.Unfortunately, it's not only science fiction writers who "hand-wave this step", neuroscientists are also guilty of a certain sleight of hand when it comes to consciousness. In general, they either ignore it entirely or they believe that consciousness emerges spontaneously as a result of the brain's functional complexity.
But there are also a nearly infinite number of ways of modeling a brain in a computer, and only a finite (or possibly nonexistent) fraction of that space will yield a conscious copy of the original meat-brain. Science fiction writers usually hand-wave this step: in Heinlein’s "Man Who Sold the Moon," the gimmick is that once the computer becomes complex enough, with enough "random numbers," it just wakes up.
Kurzweil, with his dreams of reverse-engineering human personalities, appears to be banking on the latter. I wouldn't bet my life on it but Alan seems game:
It's just possible that if you, the reader, can hang on for another 30 years without snuffing it, you may be able to get an upgrade to better hardware.After you, mate!
April 28, 2005
Spring cleaning
Time to update the blogroll and maybe spruce things up around here - it's looking kind of dowdy. And, I've recently discovered, it looks even worse if you're browsing with Firefox. Expect some changes.
In the meantime, I've updated the blogroll to include a couple of new links:
Harry's Place One of the top British political blogs; virtual cornerstone of the pro-liberation left and solidly anti-fascist.
Samizdata A group blog by (mostly) British libertarians - usually thoughtful, sometimes playful, always worth reading. Actually, I'm lying. The people who run Samizdata are (by their own admission) "a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property." Read them anyway.
In the meantime, I've updated the blogroll to include a couple of new links:
Harry's Place One of the top British political blogs; virtual cornerstone of the pro-liberation left and solidly anti-fascist.
Samizdata A group blog by (mostly) British libertarians - usually thoughtful, sometimes playful, always worth reading. Actually, I'm lying. The people who run Samizdata are (by their own admission) "a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property." Read them anyway.
April 21, 2005
Totalitarian tours
Fancy escaping from the terrorist threat this summer?
This magazine piece from the BBC looks at a selection of "relatively risk-free" holiday destinations, including North Korea.
The idea of holidaying in a brutal dictatorship has never appealed to me, but travel writer Claire Boobbyer takes a different view:
This magazine piece from the BBC looks at a selection of "relatively risk-free" holiday destinations, including North Korea.
The idea of holidaying in a brutal dictatorship has never appealed to me, but travel writer Claire Boobbyer takes a different view:
"Oh, I so want to go there, I just love communist countries. I like the fact that it's so closed, and I'd love to see all the communist memorials, the memorials to the dear leader. It's just the most closed society on earth, and that appeals to my curiosity."Curiosity's a funny thing, isn't it? Personally, I'm curious about the thousands of political prisoners held in Kim Jong Il's labor camps. But I guess they're not on the tour.
April 20, 2005
Poetry corner
Anna Denise
A brief visit to A Small Victory reminds me that it's still National Poetry Month over there.
I'll maybe post links to some of my favorite poems later in the week. In the meantime, here's a poem I like from the Library of Congress's poetry for high schools project.
It's called How to Change a Frog into a Prince by Anna Denise.
A brief visit to A Small Victory reminds me that it's still National Poetry Month over there.
I'll maybe post links to some of my favorite poems later in the week. In the meantime, here's a poem I like from the Library of Congress's poetry for high schools project.
It's called How to Change a Frog into a Prince by Anna Denise.
April 19, 2005
The strangest thing
Monica, blogging at An American in London, keeps a list of strange things she's noticed about England and the English.
This is by far the strangest.
This is by far the strangest.
April 15, 2005
African diaspora
PooterGeek highlights the work of Spencer Wells and the Genographic Project.
I'm excited by the project, particularly as it follows on from some of Wells's earlier work which I think deserves wider public attention.
In recent years, the work of Wells and other population geneticists has provided strong evidence in support of the Out of Africa model of human origins. But there are still questions and controversies over both the number and timing of successive migrations and this new research should throw some much needed light on these issues.
In any case, the central message remains the same - to paraphrase Peter Tosh: No matter where you come from, if you're a human, you're an African.
I'm excited by the project, particularly as it follows on from some of Wells's earlier work which I think deserves wider public attention.
In recent years, the work of Wells and other population geneticists has provided strong evidence in support of the Out of Africa model of human origins. But there are still questions and controversies over both the number and timing of successive migrations and this new research should throw some much needed light on these issues.
In any case, the central message remains the same - to paraphrase Peter Tosh: No matter where you come from, if you're a human, you're an African.
April 12, 2005
April 06, 2005
Roadside dining
Looking for an alternative to Burger King? The Barefoot Chef recommends Steak au Van.
March 29, 2005
No comments
You're reading this because the last time I clicked on one of my comment sections I got this message:
Did I ever tell you how much I HATE spammers?
If you are seeing this web page it's because Moveable Type comments have been disabled on the server your site is hosted on. The server was hit so hard by Moveable Type spammers that either the load on the server is out of control or it crashed and had to be rebooted. All mt-comment.cgi files will be disabled until the spam attack stops.Needless to say, the spam attack shows no sign of stopping. So, comments are off - which is a shame. I've already had to turn off trackback for the same reason.
Did I ever tell you how much I HATE spammers?
March 24, 2005
Early learning
At the breakfast table this morning, Spud (who's just turned seven) leans across to his ten year old brother and says: "Go on then, give me some algebra - don't make it too hard."
I had to step in after I saw the glint in the Big Fella's eye - he was working up a doozy of an equation for his brother to solve. In the end, he settled for 3x+2=11, which Spud reckoned was a little too easy.
Where do they get it from? At a guess, I'd say their older brother has been sharing some of his book learning with them. Maybe he's been running math seminars for them in between their mammoth Play Station sessions.
Still, it makes a change from the usual breakfast time conversation; I was getting a little bored with comparative theology.
I had to step in after I saw the glint in the Big Fella's eye - he was working up a doozy of an equation for his brother to solve. In the end, he settled for 3x+2=11, which Spud reckoned was a little too easy.
Where do they get it from? At a guess, I'd say their older brother has been sharing some of his book learning with them. Maybe he's been running math seminars for them in between their mammoth Play Station sessions.
Still, it makes a change from the usual breakfast time conversation; I was getting a little bored with comparative theology.
March 22, 2005
Race relations
Is the promotion of multiculturalism, together with increasing racial awareness, producing a racialist society dominated by identity politics?
Andrew Anthony, writing in today’s Guardian, seems to think so. I'm inclined to agree.
Kenan Malik has been saying much the same thing for some time.
For those interested in an anthropological take on the subject, I strongly recommend Peter Wade's recent paper on hybridity theory and kinship thinking from the Manchester Anthropology Working Papers.
Andrew Anthony, writing in today’s Guardian, seems to think so. I'm inclined to agree.
Kenan Malik has been saying much the same thing for some time.
For those interested in an anthropological take on the subject, I strongly recommend Peter Wade's recent paper on hybridity theory and kinship thinking from the Manchester Anthropology Working Papers.
March 19, 2005
Last Supper
Visiting a friend's house earlier in the week, I noticed he has a print of 'Last Supper' by Cornell Barnes.
We sat there starring at it for a while, trying to figure out who's who - couldn't get more than four: Frederick Douglas, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
So, who are the other guys?
We sat there starring at it for a while, trying to figure out who's who - couldn't get more than four: Frederick Douglas, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
So, who are the other guys?
March 14, 2005
Movie trivia
After I posted that last entry, Mac mailed me a link to the IMDB’s bio of James Cagney. And, here’s something I didn’t know, Cagney spoke fluent Yiddish.
According to his authorized biography, Cagney, although of Irish and Norwegian extraction, could speak Yiddish since he had grown up in a heavily Jewish area in New York. He used to converse in Yiddish with Jewish performers like Sylvia Sidney.
Mistaken identity
So, last night, my mother phones to tell me she’s Jewish. She’s just finished reading a book about a North London Jewish mother and is struck by the similarities.
‘I never realized I was so Jewish.’
‘What, Mom! The Yiddish, the mannerisms, your attitude to chicken soup – these weren’t clues for you?’
‘But I never realized!’
‘Mom, when I was growing up, I used to call you my Yiddishe Momma!’
‘Yes, I suppose. But so Jewish?!’
After the call, Mac says to me: ‘You know, I only heard half of that conversation but it made perfect sense to me. Apart from one thing - your mother’s not Jewish.’
‘I know. I know. But sometimes she needs reassuring.’
‘I never realized I was so Jewish.’
‘What, Mom! The Yiddish, the mannerisms, your attitude to chicken soup – these weren’t clues for you?’
‘But I never realized!’
‘Mom, when I was growing up, I used to call you my Yiddishe Momma!’
‘Yes, I suppose. But so Jewish?!’
After the call, Mac says to me: ‘You know, I only heard half of that conversation but it made perfect sense to me. Apart from one thing - your mother’s not Jewish.’
‘I know. I know. But sometimes she needs reassuring.’
March 10, 2005
On a lighter note
PooterGeek's Future News service presents Fiskistan - 'the forgotten front in the so-called War on Terror'.
March 08, 2005
A class apart
Anyone else thinks it's strange to see the head of the Commission for Racial Equality calling for separate teaching for black schoolboys?
And, just a thought, anyone know any kids (boys, girls, black, white or whatever) who think this would be a good idea?
And, just a thought, anyone know any kids (boys, girls, black, white or whatever) who think this would be a good idea?
March 07, 2005
Catching up
I celebrated my forty-fifth birthday last Tuesday.
Mac and I went to see Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion play.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting. I was keen to see them mostly because Sarah Lee is the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie/daughter of Arlo.
It was a good gig - easy listening all the way, a mellow blend of folk and country that had me tapping my feet and thinking of home. We had a real good time.
I got to talk with Sarah Lee briefly after the show. Predictably, I had only one question: "How's your Dad doing?"
Turns out, he's doing fine. Remember the Church from 'Alice's Restaurant'? The one featured in the movie? Well, Arlo bought it and has turned it into an inter-faith community center.
Really, it's got a website and everything. Looks like it's thriving.
Mac and I went to see Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion play.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting. I was keen to see them mostly because Sarah Lee is the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie/daughter of Arlo.
It was a good gig - easy listening all the way, a mellow blend of folk and country that had me tapping my feet and thinking of home. We had a real good time.
I got to talk with Sarah Lee briefly after the show. Predictably, I had only one question: "How's your Dad doing?"
Turns out, he's doing fine. Remember the Church from 'Alice's Restaurant'? The one featured in the movie? Well, Arlo bought it and has turned it into an inter-faith community center.
Really, it's got a website and everything. Looks like it's thriving.
Only in Kenya
Joe Gandelman at Dean's World links to one of the boys' online favorites!
From which, comes Spud's new catchphrase: 'Forget Norway.'
Strangely compelling.
From which, comes Spud's new catchphrase: 'Forget Norway.'
Strangely compelling.
One sick blog
I decided not to post while I was ill (I didn't want to end up listing my symptoms and conditions) but I've had to revise that position.
Word is, healthy isn't someplace I'm going to be anytime soon.
So, if I'm ever going to blog again, I better start doing it now.
Word is, healthy isn't someplace I'm going to be anytime soon.
So, if I'm ever going to blog again, I better start doing it now.
December 14, 2004
Sing along with Louis
Back in the Fifties, Louis Farrakhan used to be a calypso singer. He even recorded some albums.
Surprised? You will be - the folks at Fade to Black have not only tracked down three of his recordings, they've digitized them and made them available for your online listening pleasure.
So now, you too can sing along with Louis.
Priceless.
Surprised? You will be - the folks at Fade to Black have not only tracked down three of his recordings, they've digitized them and made them available for your online listening pleasure.
So now, you too can sing along with Louis.
Priceless.
Festive felafel
Today, the Big Fella (he's 9) is having a Christmas party at school.
Other children bring in party-size bags of chips, a packet of mince pies or some sandwiches. Not the Big Fella, no store-bought party food for him. Every year, he takes in a huge tray of felafel, pita bread and salad.
Which means that rather than stay in my sickbed this morning, I'm up at seven making felafel. And later in the week, if the last two years are any guide, I'll be getting requests for the recipe from parents and teachers.
Other children bring in party-size bags of chips, a packet of mince pies or some sandwiches. Not the Big Fella, no store-bought party food for him. Every year, he takes in a huge tray of felafel, pita bread and salad.
Which means that rather than stay in my sickbed this morning, I'm up at seven making felafel. And later in the week, if the last two years are any guide, I'll be getting requests for the recipe from parents and teachers.
FelafelThe thing is - I don't think they'd be so keen if they knew where I got the recipe.
1 lb. canned chick-peas (drained)
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbs. finely chopped parsley
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 cup breadcrumbs or fine bulgur (crushed wheat)
1 tsp. ground coriander or cumin
1 tsp. dried hot peppers
1 tsp. garlic powder
vegetable oil (for frying)
Combine chick-peas with onion. Add parsley, lightly beaten egg and spices. Mix in blender. Add breadcrumbs until mixture forms a small ball without sticking to your hands. Form chick-pea mixture into small balls about the size of a quarter (one inch in diameter). Flatten patties slightly and fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain falafel balls on paper towels.
Serve individually with toothpicks as an hors d'oeuvre or as a sandwich filling with chopped tomato, cucumber, radish, lettuce, onion, hummus and/or tehina inside pita bread. Makes about 24 falafel balls.
December 13, 2004
Sick of being sick
Different year, same illness. Bear with me, I'm going to blog through this one.
But probably not today.
But probably not today.
December 09, 2004
A nation in denial
From the Jerusalem Post via Norm Geras:
Eve Garrard equates this kind of thing with Holocaust denial. She's right, of course. But worse than that, as Melanie Phillips notes, for some it provides a retrospective justification for the Holocaust.
Six decades after the mass extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany, more than 50 percent of Germans believe that Israel's present-day treatment of the Palestinians is similar to what the Nazis did to the Jews during World War II, a German survey released this weekend shows.I have never been tempted to hold modern day Germans responsible for their nation’s history but reading stuff like this just makes me want to rub their noses in it.
Eve Garrard equates this kind of thing with Holocaust denial. She's right, of course. But worse than that, as Melanie Phillips notes, for some it provides a retrospective justification for the Holocaust.
December 08, 2004
Christmas shopping
Every year in December, I listen out for the hints that Mac throws me about what she’d like for Christmas. By the 23rd, I have a mental list a mile long. Unfortunately, by the time I set out on Christmas Eve to do my seasonal shopping, my mind has gone a complete blank and I end up buying her something completely unsuitable.
This year, in an attempt to ameliorate the effect of my cognitive deficiencies, Mac has written out a couple of lists and pinned them to the wall on my side of the bed.
As a testament to Mac’s eclectic musical tests (and a personal reminder that maybe I shouldn’t leave everything until the last minute this year) - here’s a list of the music CDs she’d like.
Live in Manchester and Dublin – Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Smile – Brian Wilson
Cruzando El Rio – Radio Tarifa
Alan Lomax’s Southern Journey Remixed – Various Artists
Amassakoul – Tinariwen
Girls With Guitars – Various Artists
Impossible Broadcasting – Transglobal Underground
The Cape Verdean Blues – Horace Silver
Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See – Jim White
Mac tells me this may not be the final list - it seems the jury is still out on Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn and Jack White. Anyone got any views on that one?
By the way, if your wondering where Mac gets her picks from, she's been listening to Mystery Train.
This year, in an attempt to ameliorate the effect of my cognitive deficiencies, Mac has written out a couple of lists and pinned them to the wall on my side of the bed.
As a testament to Mac’s eclectic musical tests (and a personal reminder that maybe I shouldn’t leave everything until the last minute this year) - here’s a list of the music CDs she’d like.
Live in Manchester and Dublin – Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Smile – Brian Wilson
Cruzando El Rio – Radio Tarifa
Alan Lomax’s Southern Journey Remixed – Various Artists
Amassakoul – Tinariwen
Girls With Guitars – Various Artists
Impossible Broadcasting – Transglobal Underground
The Cape Verdean Blues – Horace Silver
Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See – Jim White
Mac tells me this may not be the final list - it seems the jury is still out on Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn and Jack White. Anyone got any views on that one?
By the way, if your wondering where Mac gets her picks from, she's been listening to Mystery Train.
Stereotypical prejudices
The last vestiges of my American accent disappeared sometime in my twenties (I’ve spent far too long in England), which makes for some interesting conversations when I run into people who give voice to strong anti-American sentiments.
I usually let them spout on for a while before politely mentioning that I’m an American. Depending on their personality type, this either enrages or deflates them, and the conversation can take a number of interesting turns. But sometimes I get a response that leaves me completely dumbfounded.
A while back, we had a couple of friends over for dinner. During the meal, one of them started criticizing my fellow citizens for being “fat, Bible-thumping morons”. When I pointed out the difficulties inherent in generalizing about a nation as diverse as America, his reply was: “Oh, I’m only talking about the white ones.”
I was reminded of this incident earlier in the week when, on being told that I was from the US, a guy says to me, “Well, you don’t look American.” I have no idea what kind of stereotypical image of Americans this guy carries around in his head – maybe I’m not fat enough for him.
Quick, somebody super size me!
I usually let them spout on for a while before politely mentioning that I’m an American. Depending on their personality type, this either enrages or deflates them, and the conversation can take a number of interesting turns. But sometimes I get a response that leaves me completely dumbfounded.
A while back, we had a couple of friends over for dinner. During the meal, one of them started criticizing my fellow citizens for being “fat, Bible-thumping morons”. When I pointed out the difficulties inherent in generalizing about a nation as diverse as America, his reply was: “Oh, I’m only talking about the white ones.”
I was reminded of this incident earlier in the week when, on being told that I was from the US, a guy says to me, “Well, you don’t look American.” I have no idea what kind of stereotypical image of Americans this guy carries around in his head – maybe I’m not fat enough for him.
Quick, somebody super size me!
December 07, 2004
Uncommon courage
In 2002, Mukhtar Mai, a Punjabi woman, was gang raped by four men on the orders of a Pakistani tribal council. Such violence against women is commonplace in Pakistan and many rape victims, shamed and ostracized by their communities, commit suicide – not Mukhtar Mai.
As the BBC reports, not only did she take the unusual step of taking the case to court but also, having won compensation, she used the money to set up two schools in her village.
Mukhtar lives under constant police protection because of the threats that have been made against her, but she refuses to be silenced.
If you want to know more about Mukhtar's work or would like to offer support, she now has a website and e-mail address.
As the BBC reports, not only did she take the unusual step of taking the case to court but also, having won compensation, she used the money to set up two schools in her village.
Mukhtar lives under constant police protection because of the threats that have been made against her, but she refuses to be silenced.
"School is the first step to change the world," says Mukhtar. "It's always the first step that causes the most trouble, but it's the start of progress."Update
If you want to know more about Mukhtar's work or would like to offer support, she now has a website and e-mail address.
December 06, 2004
Remembering Auschwitz
The BBC is to screen a six part series on Auschwitz to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day. Richard Ingrams, writing in this week’s Observer, decries the need for it:
Hmm, “frightened and disturbed” I can understand, but “excited” – what kind of people does Ingrams mix with? Probably the kind who quote Hitler approvingly, as Ingrams does later in the article under the sub-heading: “Hitler was right”.
That phrase is not something I ever expected to read in the Observer, especially in an article that deals with the Holocaust.
By the way, if you're Jewish and you feel like writing to complain, don’t bother – Ingrams won’t read it.
the BBC justifies the series with solemn talk about the need to educate the British public which, it claims, is ignorant about the Holocaust, a likely tale in view of the fact that it is referred to on news bulletins and current affairs programmes at every opportunity.Ingrams must watch a whole different set of news and current affairs programs to me, but that’s by the by. As regards ignorance of the Holocaust, the BBC recently released the results of a survey which showed that nearly half of British people had never heard of Auschwitz, a fact of which Ingrams seems unaware. Still, he later concedes that some people may be educated by the programs but claims that “a great many more will be excited while others will be frightened and disturbed.”
Hmm, “frightened and disturbed” I can understand, but “excited” – what kind of people does Ingrams mix with? Probably the kind who quote Hitler approvingly, as Ingrams does later in the article under the sub-heading: “Hitler was right”.
That phrase is not something I ever expected to read in the Observer, especially in an article that deals with the Holocaust.
By the way, if you're Jewish and you feel like writing to complain, don’t bother – Ingrams won’t read it.
December 05, 2004
Modern Britain
A group of travelers has moved on to the waste ground opposite our house, there's a guy selling heroin in the street and you can buy cocaine in my kids' schoolyard.
Twelve years ago we moved out of the inner city to get away from drugs and guns and gangs.
What do you do when the problem follows you?
Twelve years ago we moved out of the inner city to get away from drugs and guns and gangs.
What do you do when the problem follows you?
December 04, 2004
Day by day
It's been a few days now, but for those of you who still don't know - Chris Muir is back at the drawing board.
Plagiarism punished
A few days ago, I posted a link to an article in Frontpage Magazine by Alexis Amory that I’d found at Zacht Ei (one of my go-to blogs for information on the situation in the Netherlands).
As blogger Arjan Dasselaar made clear at the time, part of the article was lifted verbatim from one of his earlier posts at Zacht Ei.
Amory has since apologized for the incident but the story doesn’t end there, Rogier van Bakel at Nobody’s Business wasn’t satisfied with Amory’s apology and so took the matter up with Frontpage editor David Horowitz. As a result, Amory won’t be writing for Frontpage Magazine anymore.
Here’s Rogier’s take on it all.
As blogger Arjan Dasselaar made clear at the time, part of the article was lifted verbatim from one of his earlier posts at Zacht Ei.
Amory has since apologized for the incident but the story doesn’t end there, Rogier van Bakel at Nobody’s Business wasn’t satisfied with Amory’s apology and so took the matter up with Frontpage editor David Horowitz. As a result, Amory won’t be writing for Frontpage Magazine anymore.
Here’s Rogier’s take on it all.
December 03, 2004
Dow deception
The BBC has given extensive coverage to the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. The coverage included a BBC World broadcast this morning in which a representative of Dow Chemicals revealed that the company has now accepted responsibility for the disaster.
Unfortunately for the BBC, the story is false and BBC World is now claiming that it was the victim of an "elaborate deception".
We're not told how "elaborate" the deception was but, reading between the lines, it's tempting to conclude that this is just another example of sloppy journalism at the BBC.
Update
This Times article has more details, including the identity of the hoaxer.
Unfortunately for the BBC, the story is false and BBC World is now claiming that it was the victim of an "elaborate deception".
We're not told how "elaborate" the deception was but, reading between the lines, it's tempting to conclude that this is just another example of sloppy journalism at the BBC.
Update
This Times article has more details, including the identity of the hoaxer.
Independently clueless
Scott Burgess at the Daily Ablution adds the Independent's Terence Blacker to the list of journos who've come out against blogging.
Blacker thinks that blogs are "socially harmful" because they foster "the delusion that professionalism is a sort of myth used by the powerful to protect their own interests".
OMG! I'm deluded, and it's all the fault of those damned bloggers!
Blacker thinks that blogs are "socially harmful" because they foster "the delusion that professionalism is a sort of myth used by the powerful to protect their own interests".
OMG! I'm deluded, and it's all the fault of those damned bloggers!
December 01, 2004
Dutch dilemma
From a Dutch woman, quoted in Frontpage Magazine, referring to the murder of Theo Van Gogh and its aftermath:
“The question is no longer how we stop the madness, but how we survive the madness.”Thanks to Zacht Ei for the link.
November 29, 2004
Busted in concert
They're Spud's favorite band (he's six). I'm taking him to see them in Birmingham Wednesday night.
No, I can't quite believe it either.
November 26, 2004
No icon
Reading Naomi Klein - it's like listening to a child thinking out loud.
"Iconic images inspire love and hate, and so it is with the photograph of James Blake Miller ..."Bless her.
"In truth, the image just feels iconic because it is so laughably derivative ..."
"But never mind that. For a country that just elected a wannabe Marlboro man as its president, Miller is an icon ..."
"On second thoughts, perhaps Miller does deserve to be elevated to the status of icon - not of the war in Iraq, but of the new era of supercharged American impunity."
Talking turkey
The day after
I didn't post yesterday; I was too busy eating, drinking and giving thanks. I hope you all had a good one. We sure did.
Though we did have a small crisis Thanksgiving morning when Mac came back from some last-minute shopping:
- What are these?
- They're cranberries.
- What did you buy them for?
- I was going to make cranberry sauce.
- You can't make cranberry sauce. No one makes cranberry sauce.
It comes in cans. With ridges!
At least it will next year.
I didn't post yesterday; I was too busy eating, drinking and giving thanks. I hope you all had a good one. We sure did.
Though we did have a small crisis Thanksgiving morning when Mac came back from some last-minute shopping:
- What are these?
- They're cranberries.
- What did you buy them for?
- I was going to make cranberry sauce.
- You can't make cranberry sauce. No one makes cranberry sauce.
It comes in cans. With ridges!
At least it will next year.
November 24, 2004
Carnival time
Just so you know...
Interested-Participant is hosting Carnival of the Vanities this week, Carnival of the Capitalists is at SocialTwister and Boudicca's Voice has the latest Carnival of the Recipes.
Interested-Participant is hosting Carnival of the Vanities this week, Carnival of the Capitalists is at SocialTwister and Boudicca's Voice has the latest Carnival of the Recipes.
Multicultural Bristol
From the Bristol Evening Post:
He doesn't specifically mention Satanists but I presume they keep a goat on hand just in case.
Muslims who have been arrested and held in a police cell in Bristol can now demand a copy of the Koran and a prayer mat. They will also be put in cells that have an Islamic symbol on the wall to guide them to pray facing Mecca.According to Police Sergeant Jon Ames, the new culturally sensitive procedures will apply to "all faiths, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Hindu or Judaism - all of them."
He doesn't specifically mention Satanists but I presume they keep a goat on hand just in case.
Talking turkey
Thanksgiving 101
What's the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans?
It's traditional.
What's the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans?
As the Puritan impulse might be primarily associated with (though it actually preceded) Foxe's Book of Martyrs, so the "Pilgrim" ethos might be traced appropriately to Robert Browne's book, Reformation Without Tarrying for Anie, first published in 1580. Browne might be called a disillusioned Puritan. He shared the vision which informed Foxe's work, but after more than a decade of seeking revival within the English church, he came to the conclusion that it just wasn't going to happen. Browne "separated from" the English church and, with the like-minded Robert Harrison, started his own congregation in Norwich in 1581.The good folk of Plymouth, England are holding a Thanksgiving Festival this weekend. Unfortunately, we won't be there; we'll be spending the weekend at the mall.
Thus was formed the "Separatist" movement, a movement which later produced suchleaders as John Smyth (whom some regard as the father of English Baptists), John Robinson, William Brewster, and William Bradford. The latter three were directly involved in that group of Separatists which, in 1608, left England for the Netherlands, and then later decided to emigrate to the New World, landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
Many (probably most) Puritans chose to remain within the English church working for reform, and it was from this group that a much larger group of emigrants left from England for New England in the late 1620's, establishing their colony at Massachusetts Bay.
The Boston and Plymouth colonies were distinct political and religious entities (at least until the English government combined them in the late 1680's) and, while relations between them were generally friendly, members of both groups were crystal clear on the differences between them.
"Puritans" wanted to remain as part of the English establishment, working for biblical reform from within. Even as they emigrated to New England, they affirmed their "Englishness" and saw the main purpose of their new colony as being that of a biblical witness, a "city on a hill" which would set an example of biblical righteousness in church and state for Old England and the entire world to see. As deeply committed covenant theologians, they emphasized especially strongly the corporate righteousness of their entire community before God.
"Pilgrims" wanted to achieve "reformation without tarrying," even if it meant separating from their church and their nation. While they continued to think of themselves as English, their emphasis was on their new political identity and spiritual identity. Because of their passionate commitment to the necessity of reformation immediate and without compromise, they emphasized especially strongly individual righteousness before God.
It's traditional.
November 23, 2004
Photoblog Ukraine
Blog de Connard, an American expat blogging from Ukraine, has some pictures of the protests in Kiev.
November 20, 2004
Heathrow to Hell
Pootergeek has the in-flight safety briefing:
Good morning, chattels and infidels. On behalf of all of the team, welcome aboard this wide-bodied handcart from London Heathrow to Hell. Your flight has been the subject of a hostile, but successful, takeover bid by Intellectual Jihad.Read on.
November 17, 2004
A policeman’s blog
A British bobby recounts his experiences with the Newtown Police, or, as he prefers to call it, “the 5th Battalion of the Newtown Regiment of the People’s Motorised Bureaucracy."
November 14, 2004
Some hope
David Aaronovitch, writing in the Guardian, on the prospects for peace in the Middle East:
All may be well if Arafat is replaced in elections by some 'moderate' Palestinian who - somehow - manages to rise above all pressures, dangers and his own inherent powerlessness, to discover the ability to destroy or marginalise Hamas in places where he has no forces, constructs the capacity that even Britain doesn't have to prevent every act of terrorism by absolutely any of his citizens, and to deliver a democratic, peaceful Palestinian entity out of mile after mile of rubble and resentment.Some hope.
November 13, 2004
Septic tanks
Monica, blogging at An American in London, discovers the joys of Cockney rhyming slang.
November 12, 2004
Peres on Arafat
From Timesonline: Shimon Peres on Arafat:
His declared policies were courageous, but he did not carry them out. He did not turn his back on terrorism and hate. He failed the hopes of many people, and lost his credibility with those who could have done most to help his cause. Arafat kept alive for the Palestinian people dreams and hopes that had no place in this world. He did not open the way for the painful, but necessary, process that every person and nation must go through, of leaving behind dreams of grandeur that bring nothing but misery, and learning to live, love and prosper in this world.
November 07, 2004
Random quote
The marines that I have had wounded over the past five months have been attacked by a faceless enemy. But the enemy has got a face. He's called Satan. He lives in Falluja. And we're going to destroy him.Lt Col Gareth F Brandl, 1/8 Marines
Philosophy in a hurry
Squashed Philosophers brings you:
The books which defined the way The West thinks now. Condensed and abridged to keep the substance, the style and the quotes, but ditching all that irritating verbiage.Link via: The Ministry of Information.
Stolen dreams
I wondered how long it would be before this grubby little meme reared its ugly head:
Using a variety of criminal methods that they have perfected over the past four years, the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney-Karl Rove syndicate stole another election, and extended their illegal occupation of the White House. Experienced, informed and unblinking observers were not fooled by any aspect of this utterly predictable goose-step towards full dictatorship.Susanna over at Cut on the Bias points to more of the same.
The politics of contempt
Kelley at Suburban Blight asks the question:
Is it so hard to give a modicum of respect to those who vote in a way that you don't understand? Is it so difficult to just believe that your political opposite is wrong, rather than that they're gun-totin', knuckle-draggin', homo-hatin', bible-thumpin' trailer-park Betties? I keep hearing about Bush's "policies of hate" from his detractors...paired with vituperative death-wishes for those who voted for him.Norm Geras takes up the theme:
A tour of left and liberal blogs allowed you to pick up the same style of language: 'idiots', 'ignorant', 'self-deceiving', 'dumb' and 'fools'. This is the payoff of the chimp theme and of the venom and hatred with which it has come to be invested. If 58 million people or more vote for an evident moron, what else can they be themselves than morons? The partisans of this talk all take it for granted, of course, that they are the folk with the interests and values of democracy at heart. But their contempt for their fellow citizens or (as the case may be) the citizens of another democracy, and that one of the world's greatest, tells its own story.RTWT.
November 05, 2004
November 02, 2004
LePore law
From yesterday’s Palm Beach Post:
A widely published investigative journalist was tackled, punched and arrested Sunday afternoon by a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy who tried to confiscate his camera outside the elections supervisor's headquarters.Howard Simon, from the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, asks the same question I had when I read the report:
About 600 people were standing in line waiting to vote early when James S. Henry was charged with disorderly conduct for taking photos of waiting voters about 3:30 p.m. outside the main elections office on Military Trail near West Palm Beach.
A sheriff's spokesman and a county attorney later said the deputy was enforcing a newly enacted rule from Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore prohibiting reporters from interviewing or photographing voters lined up outside the polls.
"Where did Theresa LePore get the authority to criminalize activities protected by the First Amendment?"Anyone out there know the answer to that one?
October 31, 2004
Spam spam spam
And I thought I had it bad.
Kelley at Suburban Blight is getting buried in the stuff.
Kelley at Suburban Blight is getting buried in the stuff.
I've probably gotten ten thousand spam comments in the last ten days. I just got an e-mail from my host, threatening to shut down my blog if I don't get my MT-Blacklist activity under control. Evidently, the processes launched simply by comments-denial knocked their server offline, taking down a number of other blogs in the process.
October 30, 2004
Plastic sand beasts
Have you visited Strandbeest yet?
Since about ten years Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic matierial of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventualy he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.Check out Theo's movies of his strange plastic creatures in action, particularly Animaris Currens Ventosa walking. It's a hoot.
US election map
The BBC has an interactive US elections map highlighting the swing states, providing information on past election results and explaining how the election college system works.
Cool graphics too.
Cool graphics too.
October 18, 2004
Home thoughts
I’ve been sorting through some of the photos I took during my last trip to the States. Hard to believe it was three years ago.
Here’s my favorite. It's a shot of the New Mexico Museum of Space History from November 2001.
Here’s my favorite. It's a shot of the New Mexico Museum of Space History from November 2001.
Long time gone
Tomorrow sure was a long time coming.
Acute respiratory failure, followed by a dark depression, kind of got the better of me for a while. Still, I’m back.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Acute respiratory failure, followed by a dark depression, kind of got the better of me for a while. Still, I’m back.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
February 27, 2004
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