No sympathy

My life would be much easier if I'd learn to keep my mouth shut.

Mac and I were taken out for dinner recently - a rare occurrence and usually a pleasurable one. Not this time.

Half way though the food, the conversation turns to Gaza (I didn't bring up the subject) and our host says: "After Gaza, I have lost all sympathy for the Jews". She meant the Israelis. Of course she meant the Israelis. I quickly corrected her, she accepted it and the conversation moved on. To casualty figures, the number of children killed, the scenes of destruction...

I was in the middle of my dinner. I would have liked to have finished it. But no - we had to have this conversation. Which is a pity, because I had hoped that the tone I'd adopted when correcting our host's initial remark might have been taken as an invitation to change the subject. Unfortunately not.

So I weighed in. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. But, like I said, it's not something I've ever learnt to do.

The thing is, I've come across this formulation before: Because of X [insert action of Israeli government] I have lost all sympathy for the Jews. And, when I hear it I always find myself wondering the same thing: What kind of special sympathy did they have for the Jews anyway?

White DNA

Theo Hobson in the Spectator:-

For whites in post-colonial cultures, racism is a post-religious form of original sin, something we know to be in our DNA and ought to repent of.

Post-colonial genetic repentance?!

Right, and in the meantime, if racism is in white people's DNA maybe we should think about getting it recognized as a sexually transmitted disease. (Though, obviously, I'm not suggesting it could be treated with antibiotics - that would be stupid.)

Isabella

Isabella and the Pot of Basil

Whitehall and the Jews

From a review of Louise London's Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust at History in Focus:

[B]etween 1933 and 1948 Britain held a consistent line on limiting Jewish immigration. Refugees would be assisted only if it was in the interests of Britain, a concept that holds true today if the attitude taken by many towards the current issue of asylum is considered. Thus, while Britain would 'tolerate' a certain amount of immigration for humanitarian reason, this 'toleration' was limited by several interlinked factors.

The first, was the perceived effect that this process could have on the fabric of British society. The charge that antisemitism would increase if too many Jewish refugees were granted entry was stated throughout the inter-war period, by both by government officials and the already-established Anglo-Jewish community. The second factor that was cited was employment, or more precisely unemployment. For this reason, refugees were landed on condition that they did not seek to enter the labour market without permission from the Ministry of Labour. This stipulation, however, was waived in two cases, firstly for refugees able to leave Europe with their business intact and willing to establish new firms in Britain and secondly for those who were able to enter Britain as domestic servants. Thus, on the one hand, refugees had to be able to either create jobs in Britain or had to demean themselves by working in low-paid, low skilled employment, whatever their former circumstances. A third factor was that of assimilation. Foreign Jews were expected both by the government and by the Anglo-Jewish establishment to conform to the British way of life and to minimise their 'foreignness'. They were inundated with advice to avoid showing their alien nature, such as not speaking German in public. Fourthly, the refugees were landed on a temporary basis, on the understanding that they would in the future leave Britain. Whilst in reality some 40,000 remained in Britain, this had not been the government's intention. Refuge was to be for a limited time, in the hope that most would seek other countries in which to settle permanently. Lastly and of greatest importance, was the issue of finance. From the very beginnings of this movement, the Anglo-Jewish community was expected to find the funds that would be required to support the refugees whilst they were in Britain. Foreign Jews were not to become chargeable to state finance in any shape. Again this situation would change, as by 1939 the Anglo-Jewish community had exhausted its funds and came to rely upon government grants.

Monday roundabout

At Normblog: the FKATWOT count reaches 9.

Michael White hosts Humanist Symposium #32 [via FIHD]

Harry's Place notes the arrest of a British diplomat for "inciting religious hatred" against Jews.

Alert Shado: Lileks spots a UFO.

And finally,

At xkcd: the base metaphor explained.

οἱ πολλοί

Weekend reading

The Edge Annual Question 2009: WHAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING?

Charles Eisenstein at Reality Sandwich: Money and the Crisis of Civilization.

The Economist on the British Army's "lack of soldiers, lack of money and lack of conviction".

Psyche Volume 14 2008 (online journal of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness) on attention and consciousness.

Family life

The Big Fella came running through from the TV room earlier with a big smile on his face. "Dad! Dad! They dissed Loop Quantum Gravity on 'The Big Bang Theory'. They reckon String Theory rocks." He said it in a tone of mock belligerence: "That's one in the eye for you, old man!"

The Big Fella's not a proponent of String Theory but he knows my thoughts on Loop Quantum Gravity: he's was trying to get a rise out of me. I took it in good humor.

And yet, I will have my revenge.

I've printed out a copy of a New Scientist article on Loop Quantum Cosmology. It's waiting for him on the breakfast table.

John Martyn 1948-2009

Wednesday roundabout

The Mother of All Quagmires: Michael Totten reports from Israel.

And Still I Persist has video of Obama’s Al-Arabiya interview.

Geoffrey Pullum at Language Log: "human/machine interface design is in a state of total freaking disaster".

Lileks's bleat: World’s Fairs, scrapbook memories and modern day America.

And finally,

Baroque in Hackney has something to say about Elizabeth Alexander’s inaugural poem.

Red Square

Thanks to Norm, I now have yet another option for displacement activity (as if I didn't have enough distractions already): it's Red Square survival.

I made it to 21.234 21.953 seconds. I'd like to hit 25 seconds (I'm adept at setting myself pointless goals).

Meanwhile, I need to get back to work: I'm in the middle of trying to buy a business. Yes, I know we're in a recession. Best time to buy.

So, back to work. But what to do: continue planning the due diligence exercise or start reviewing the draft contract? Hmmm, let's see, it's 3 a.m. and I'm pretty tired so maybe I'll take a look at the contract. Yep, right after I've had another couple of goes at that Red Square thingy. Is 30 seconds even possible?

Update.
Made it to 26.469 seconds. I doubt 30 seconds is possible - it just gets too fast.

Happy Birthday

Interlude

Happy New Year

Here's hoping you all can keep the wolf from your door over the next twelve months.

Festive spirit

Via Language Log:

Oliver Postgate 1925-2008

OP brought a lot of joy to a lot of children and also, I dare say, to a good number of adults. My favorite character of his is Noggin the Nog (we used to read it to the boys when they were little).


All the stories start the same way:-

In the lands of the North, where the Black Rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long the Men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale...

There are affectionate tributes to Postgate in many of today's papers and Michael Moran at the Times links to examples of his work online.

Ulcers

That's what I've got, according to the consultant surgeon I saw yesterday, post-operative ulcers. Well, that would explain the pain and discomfort I've been experiencing since the operation.

I'm relieved it's only ulcers - I was starting to worry that there might be something seriously wrong with my innards. Thankfully not.

So, I have tablets. I'll take them. I'll get better.

Preparing to give thanks

The Junior household has been a hive of activity this morning.

Mac has been out to the allotment to collect some veg and is now busy preparing the turkey, I've been dashing around the local stores doing some last minute shopping (yams, marshmallows, cream and flour) and the boys are sitting around eating chocolate flavored breakfast cereal. They only get to eat it three days in the year - Christmas, birthdays and Thanksgiving - so they're making the most of it and they're not rushing. They know that once they've finished they'll be on Kitchen Patrol with the rest of us.

Anyway, I need to get back to it. Hope you all have a good one.

Me me me

What kind of blogger am I? Well, according to the GenderAnalyzer, I'm 84% male.

And according to the Typalyzer (found via the squiffy folks at DTPW), I'm an ESTP (Extroverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving).

Being labelled ESTP doesn't seem that wide of the mark. I think Mac and the boys would recognize me in the description given of an ESTP, particularly this bit:-

They can sometimes be hurtful to others without being aware of it, as they generally do not know and may not care about the effect their words have on others. It's not that they don't care about people, it's that their decision-making process does not involve taking people's feelings into account.

What can I say? It's the way I am.

A new dawn

A momentous occasion in American politics - for the first time ever the president-elect is younger than I am.