Water, water everywhere...

Love this awareness campaign, 400 skeptics around the country took part in a mass overdose of homoeopathic medicine, the video below shows the London crowd doing their bit.



Isn't this irresponsible I hear you cry, well, not really you see homoeopathic medicine has nothing in it, as this demonstration proves. Maybe for the next one we could get some Christians and some Lions to see if intercessory prayer works.. hold on I think someone already did that one.. :)

Don't waste hard earned money, buy proper medicine.

One Law for All

Here is AC Grayling talking about the history of freedom of conscience and campaigning for the "one law for all" movement. This campaign is particularly relevant with respect to the various religions currently jockeying in order to exclude themselves from a legal system that the rest of us share, specifically Muslims who apparently require their own justice system and Christians who require the right to discriminate against people based upon biological differences, oh and also those mad Sikhs who want kids to carry knives!



There are two parts to this video, here's the second part...



I particularly enjoyed his comments on the LHC

Old dogs and new tricks...

It's unusual for me to blog on work related stuff, usually there is so much stupidity going on in the faith based communities that I struggle to keep up with it all, however there is one topic that has bubbled up which kind of links the two things (loosely) and one which causes me irritation to the point where I feel I have to share it.

The topic is IE6 or to those not in the know, Microsoft's Internet Explorer version 6. This product was released back in 2001 (this is like the ice age in computing terms) and at the time was a reasonable WEB browser; like most Microsoft products the first few incarnations were buggy and at the time people didn't really appreciate the cunning and persistence of hackers and virus writers so it had lots of vulnerabilities into the bargain. Because of the strength of Microsoft's marketing machine and the various deals struck with hardware vendors the browser became very pervasive, most large corporates installed it and it became part of the "standard package" of stuff that ended up on all those millions of corporate grey boxes under office workers desks in the early years of the noughties.

The problem is not that this browser was buggy nor that it was full of holes that hackers could exploit but the problem, our problem, is that it's still there! Reluctant to switch to more modern alternatives because of inconvenience or perhaps cost or simple ignorance the majority of large corporates and Government departments in the UK still use this browser. At this point, if you're not in the IT game you may be asking "so what, why is this a problem?", but it really is, not only do we waste millions of hours and pounds every year dealing with the viruses and exploits that this browser misses, like some religion stuck in it's dogmatic tradition such inertia actually stultifies progress. In WEB terms 2001 was a long, long time ago, since then there have been all kinds of improvements and innovations that make people's use of cloud resources easier and more profitable, but those people cannot exploit these advances whilst their primary access vehicle to these resources (i.e. their browser) is based on technology that's 10 years old, consequently our European and American competitors are stealing a march on us. This story about Google dropping support for IE6 summarises some of the issues quite nicely.

Another harmful side effect of this resistance to change is that the development costs of software companies delivering cloud based applications and services to UK businesses are forced up by the need for more and more time needed for testing and supporting old technology; this is a drag on productivity and increases the overall cost of software innovation in the UK. If we are not careful we could find ourselves out on a limb in terms of the tools and applications that leading UK companies and Government are able to exploit. Many industry figures, companies and institutions have commented about this issue recently, there is even a Downing street petition that aims to convince HM Government departments to ditch this dinosaur of a product. If you are affected by this and/or have the same concerns as me then pop over there and sign up, who knows, miracles may happen :)

Suffering the daggers of stupidity

I wouldn't want anyone to think that I am only curmudgeonly regarding Abrahamic faiths, far from it, I aspire to seek out irrational  nonsense from any quarter. In support of this ideal I read this story yesterday in the BBC, it's about a Sikh judge called Sir Mota Singh. According to the report Mr Singh can't understand why children indoctrinated into his particular religion should be prevented from wearing ceremonial daggers... to school.

The weapons in question are called Kirpan's apparently Sikhs are required to wear one at all times (presumably not when they're in the shower?) and according to the dogma of Sikhism it is one of five symbolic items that should be worn at all times. From what I can gather this is one of those metaphysical deals where inanimate objects become part of your body, I suppose like the transubstantiation process imagined by Catholics or "magic" underwear imagined by Mormons; to me it all smacks of making stuff up to encourage compliance to herd mentality, but that's just me. Anyway, whatever people wish to do behind the curtains of their West London semi's is fine by me, but inflicting their superstitions on everyone else in the setting of a public school is unacceptable, particularly when it involves combining lethal weapons and children (call me crazy).

It's not clear to me why, if these things are purely ceremonial, they can't be made of plastic or made harmless in some way, apparently this is unacceptable which leaves me thinking that perhaps this is really just a nostalgic hankering for the good old days when theocratic retribution for someone dis'ing your pet superstitions was swift (and barbaric) and involved the business end of a steel blade; you could say religion's true tradition.

We've all been there... well, perhaps not.

I saw this article in the Daily Fail today, about a slightly unhinged US soldier. I'm always suspicious of this particular newspaper so I take a certain type of story there less seriously than perhaps I would in other papers, however on reflection I can see how this one could be true. I figured that one of the reasons you join the Army in the first place is to learn new skills that you can apply in "civi-street" after you leave, which is all this particular trooper is doing; you could say that he was just fulfilling the message in the recruitment poster, just in a rather unorthodox way.

The story is about a soldier called Joshua Tabor who upon learning that his 4 year old daughter couldn't recite her alphabet properly thought he would add a little incentive, he waterboarded her. Fortunately Mr Tabor is now under the watchful gaze of the Washington police department so hopefully his ideas about parental encouragement won't be re-enacted again too soon.

Although, on second thoughts I know a few kids whose "enthusiasm" might dampen down to normal human levels after a visit from "Josh the slosh"..

TGIF?

Here are some random snippets of news stories that caused my interest nerve to twitch today...

The story in  the Telegraph about a Turkish girl buried alive by her relatives, her crime, she talked to boys. Apparently there are estimated to be about 200 occurrences of this kind of thing every year accounting for half of all murders in Turkey, barbaric doesn't cover it, from the soil in her lungs it was clear that she'd been alive and concious when they buried her.

Then there is the news that our Government has capitulated under pressure from religious lobbying regarding equality laws, the Daily Telegraph quoted a Downing Street spokesman as saying: “We are clear that these parts of the Equality Bill should not go forward", these narrow minded religious institutions will remain able to discriminate against people for accidents of Biology, what a nice bunch of people. The Pope also got in on the act criticising the bill as an "attack" on freedom of religion (shouldn't that be freedom of discrimination?) The Pope is visiting us this summer and apparently it's going to cost the British tax payer £20M for the privilege, I wouldn't give you tuppence for the interfering old bigot.

On a lighter note, apparently you can go to Cambridge university now and study comics and computer games, boy was I born in the wrong age..

Catholics seem to be in the news a lot lately, I also read about Cherie Blair letting off some thug or other more lightly than she might of because he claimed to be "religious", she is quoted as passing judgement to a Mr Shamso Miah (devout Muslim) thus,

“I am going to suspend this sentence for the period of two years based on the fact you are a religious person and have not been in trouble before. You caused a mild fracture to the jaw of a member of the public standing in a queue at Lloyds Bank. You are a religious man and you know this is not acceptable behaviour.”

So what's the moral of the story here, is a fractured jaw is less painful if inflicted by a Muslim than an equivalent blow by a Christian and perhaps less harmful than the same injury dished out by an Atheist. 

Is this a case of Cheria law we've heard so much about?

You WILL be saved!

Ten evangelical American Christian have been apprehended and charged in Haiti with child abduction and criminal conspiracy; seems like they got caught with their metaphorical little hands in the till of moral one-upmanship. The Bible bashing swat team were apprehended on the boarder between Haiti and the Dominican Republic with 33 unaccounted for children! For those interested in the detail of this story here's the write-up from the BBC. I read one report that their leader was confident of "God" ensuring they were released and urged everyone to pray, as we can see, her confidence was misplaced. But then again, you have to hand it to them, such breathtaking arrogance, such blatant contempt for the law of the land and a complete disregard for its cultural sensibilities, then again when it comes to most flavours of Christianity, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, as they say in those parts.

Nope to the Pope

It looks like this Summer's visit by the Pope to Britain is causing a few feathers to be ruffled, first there are his negative comments about the recently debated UK equality laws, obviously the leader of the Catholic church insists that his organisation remain able to discriminate against people on the basis of biological characteristics that they cannot change, that's nice. Then we have the fact that the visit will cost the tax payer some £20M, that's good news for poor old cash strapped Britain, I mean who needs new hospital wings when you can have a bigoted old man in a frock waving his ring at you. There is even a petition on the number10 website in order that people can register their objection to these things (among others), so, if you're that way inclined, drop by and sign up!

Abortion etc.

Apparently the Super-bowl (the world cup of American football which excludes the rest of the World) this year will feature an advertisement by the odious "Focus on the Family" a religious organisation that makes a lot of money (tax exempt) from believers and opposes abortion, evolution, homosexuality etc. (the usual evangelical Christian canards). The ad will feature a football player called Tim Tebow whose Mother Pam contracted a serious disease whilst pregnant and doing "missionary" work in the Philippines; anyway the doctors advised an abortion based on comparable case histories but being a Christian she declined and luckily  for both had a healthy baby who grew up to be the football player. You can imagine the nature of the storyboard behind this advertisement.

In an article in the Slate this story is summarised and the author (clearly a pro-choice advocate) rounds it off with a nice concluding statement, I liked it a lot and thought it worthwhile reproducing it here,

Pro-lifers have always struggled with the invisibility of unborn life: millions of babies aborted every year, concealed in wombs behind closed doors. How do you open the world's eyes to what it can't see? In Tim Tebow, they see the invisible made visible: a child who has lived to tell his story because an abortion didn't happen. "If his mother had followed her doctor's advice," notes LifeSiteNews, "he would be just another abortion statistic."

But what's true of abortion is also true of pregnancy complications. If Pam Tebow's abruption had taken a different turn, her son would be just another perinatal mortality statistic, and she might be just another maternal mortality statistic. And you would know nothing of her story, just as you know nothing of the women who have died carrying pregnancies like hers.

And what do you know of the women who chose to abort in similar circumstances? You never saw their tears for the life lost. You never heard their prayers for another chance. Maybe you've seen them rocking their babies or laughing with their toddlers. But did you make the connection? Do you know their stories? Is Pam Tebow's choice the only way to celebrate life and family?

Pam made a brave choice, and she has raised a fine son. Celebrate his life. But celebrate her luck, too—and say a prayer for all the women and babies who didn't make the cut.

Real life is never as simple as we would like it to be, but its always worth asking the question "will our actions reduce or increase suffering?" I believe it's only within the context of that question that the truly ethical position lies.

A little pun for the weekend sir?

1. A vulture boards an aeroplane, carrying two dead racoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."

 

2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says "Dam!"

 

3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

 

4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies, "Yes, I'm positive."

 

5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

 

6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?” they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!"

 

7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to Spain; they named him 'Juan'. The other went to family in Egypt and was named 'Ahmal'. Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

 

8. A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town, to 'persuade' them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

 

9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a 'super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis'.

 

10. And finally... there was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Blair "believes" so that's ok then

I've just been watching the Iraq enquiry on the BBC web site and listening to our ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair giving evidence about the various components and decisions of the lead up to the invasion of Iraq and subsequent fall out etc. Something that comes up over and over again is the phrase "I believed", for example "I sincerely believed the threat of WMD was real", even other ministers are getting in on the "belief" game, I heard one of the ex-cabinet on the radio the other day defending the ex-PM saying (in effect) the war was warranted because Blair "sincerely believed" there was a threat.

Surely this whole thing is about evidence, not belief? The question on the table is was the war justified and legal based on the evidence available, not what any particular person "believed", sincerely or not. I see this tactic used by religious people a lot (obviously the trick is not lost on Blair), i.e. they wish to blur the distinction between evidence and belief, to elevate the role of "belief" up to the same status as evidence. Some of them even go as far as to say that belief actually is a form of evidence, a sub-set of it or an alternative to it. To the scientific brain this is preposterous, and any rational person can see that "here be dragons", if you can justify actions based on "belief" then you can justify anything. It seems like there are almost two kinds of brains out there and perhaps why some people simply cannot "believe".

iPad, another Newton?

So, we now have a new iGadget for some to obsess about, the iPad a new piece of kit from Apple that looks like an iPod Touch with growth hormone problems. Sure it looks sexy, and as usual the marketing surrounding it was flawless in execution, however being the geek that I am I feel the need to point out a couple of (what I think are) serious omissions.

- No USB, sorry apple I can't live without this, for reasons of resilience most stuff I value is on USB sticks or drives so not being able to access them directly means I can't use this device for anything other than the pre-canned stuff you spoon feed me.

- No SD slot, again my camera puts photo's onto SD cards (among other devices) if I can't access them directly then this device would slow me down and waste hours of my life watching progress bars

- No multi-tasking, this isn't an issue for simple applications but I'm not a simple application user so again, this rules the device out for a large swath of things I'd want to do with it to justify the price tag.

- No Adobe flash support, come on Apple get over your little spat with Adobe and support the most ubiquitous graphical presentation vehicle in the world, it's just childish.

All in all a massive "so what" on my new gadget-o-meter, it will be interesting to see how this plays out..