Friday, May 31, 2019

Thought for the day


Here's a thought, what if we started talking to Muslims, Christians and Jews in the same tone as they speak to LGBT+ people... something like this perhaps..

- It's not you I hate, just your way of life..
- Your behaviors and beliefs are just a "phase" you'll grow out of it.
- Your religion is "just a choice", why don't you just stop following it..
- You shouldn't be allowed to marry the person you love
- I don't want my children exposed to any information about you, particularly the fact that you exist
- Love the religious person, hate the religion.

The webs we weave


In today's hyper-sensitive, politically correct, identity-driven landscape we're told that we mustn't insult, ridicule or discriminate against people that aren't like us. Superficially this sounds perfectly reasonable but the problem comes (as it invariably does) when we attempt to define these terms and agree on our definitions. For example what constitutes the word "people" in that sentence? Does it just mean individuals that we interact with or does it mean a community of people, like "transsexual's" or could it mean a diverse group of people that happen to (broadly) subscribe to some or all of a religious or political ideology like "Muslims" or "EDL members" for example? We could also debate what it means to "insult", does this mean falsely accuse of bad or immoral behaviour or could it also mean simply pointing out an unwelcome fact, like, someone is bald or a simple biological reality like someone has black skin. The only thing we can safely conclude from even this brief analysis is that words (i.e. the things we use to express ideas and thoughts) are far too imprecise to convey everything that is required to properly disambiguate meaning, other things, like context, intent and world-view are also required, and even then, these additional elements have the same ambiguity issues.

Anyone who has read a complex legal document will realise that a) they are usually very long and b) use language that is totally alien to everyday discourse. This is because those kinds of documents attempt to disambiguate meaning much more rigorously than everyday language, unfortunately you have to be particularly skilled to understand them and even then, they often fail to cover all eventualities. I experience this gap quite a lot in my job, often people ask me to create software under the illusion that they have expressed their requirement perfectly and completely and this alone should mean that my job is simple. This is NEVER the case. Anyone who understands why we can build software that locates a person on a map anywhere on the surface of the earth in about 10 minutes flat (using their phone and Google maps) but require a team of graduates, supercomputer and 10 years of research funding to identify that a particular photograph contains a bird, will appreciate why, just because something is easy to say, it doesn't mean that it's easy to do. Identity politics is like this, simple slogans alone are insufficient to define and delimit the thorny subject of free-speech and legitimate persecution.

Having said this though I believe there are some relatively clear foundational premises upon which we can all (potentially) agree, these are.

- People can be slandered/insulted/offended, ideas cannot
- Religions, politics, hobbies, supporting particular netball teams are all ideas.
- If something is observable, measurable and verifiable then it's a fact
- If something is subjective, unfalsifiable or simply an opinion then it is an idea or belief
- People should be able to hold whatever beliefs they wish, but only act within the law
- The law is a guidepost for minimally acceptable behaviour in society.
- The law should address how we behave and not what we believe
- We should not deny access to facts or beliefs
- Everyone, including children, should understand the difference between facts and beliefs

Unfortunately, as we've seen recently around controversies such as the attempt by Islamic apologists to introduce a "definition" of "Islamophobia" and also in cases like the protests outside of primary schools over the teaching of facts about Human sexuality and many other examples and it's unfortunate that many of our politicians seem utterly oblivious to the dangers in allowing such definitions to be driven by those who have vested interests contingent upon the restriction of criticism against them, and those who fear transparency. There will always be special interest groups attempting (often by bullying and threatening) to impose their favored definitions on the rest of us. In my view this is something that cannot be tolerated and must be resisted and fought at all costs, even when the particular limitation seems innocuous enough in itself. The slippery slope that hides behind this desire for "special treatment" leads straight to hell, for everyone.

Friday Smirk


J&M pointing out in a strictly non-Islamophobic way that many of the stories underpinning the various Abrahamic religions popular these days are somewhat dubious when it comes to expressions of sexuality in the Human species. As the late great Hitch used to say, "people are entitled to their own beliefs and views, but not their own facts"..

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Sympathetic secularists


Here's an interesting scientific paper. It's a study done by the University of Chicago on 1,170 children between the ages of 5 and 12 from six different countries. It contradicts popular assumptions regarding altruism and kindness shown by children brought up in either a religious environment or a secular one. Religious apologists of all stripes often claim that religion is needed for "moral development", suggesting that secular or atheistic people lack the scaffolding to impart moral and ethical teachings onto their children.

This study shows this idea to be fallacious, not only were the secular children kinder but they also had less punitive attitudes toward interpersonal offenses and were more likely to share. Religion on the other hand would appear to negatively correlate with these desirable characteristics, the children from religious families being less sensitive and significantly less likely to share. As most atheists and humanists already know, religion is totally unnecessary in order to live a moral life, and perhaps hinders moral development rather than helping it?

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Places I never went...


Wandering through Covent Garden yesterday and I noticed this little blue sign. It's on Neal street and is where the Roxy Club used to be. The Roxy is known for being the birth-place (or at least early crucible) of punk rock and I remember lusting to go there back in the day but being told by my parents that I was too young (15) to be going to places like that. It didn't last long as a venue, only a couple of years but the legacy of those three chords with "attitude" i.e. the movement started there, can still be heard in some modern bands today. Below is an album cover picture from it's heyday..

#UDUMASS


Probably the most important video you'll watch today ... lol

Campbell is outski..


I see that Alistair Campbell, the renowned spin-doctor of Tony Blair, UK Prime-Minister from 1997- 2007 has been expelled from the Labour Party for voting Lib-Dem in the European elections. Even in my most generous moods I don't much care for most current Labour politicians but that's not to say I don't think there have been many good ones in the past, and some decent policies over the years too. This current crew just smack too much of left-wing identity politics, reminiscent of the Soviets to me. They seem to be too keen to silence opposition rather than promote their ideas, and too quick to jump to actions like this. But, they only act quickly when it suits them, when people hold them accountable, like the ongoing (3 year old) antisemitism row, their velocity of action seems to take a nose dive. 

I met Campbell a couple of years ago and found him surprisingly straight-talking and reasonable (for someone in that position) it strikes me that many people have been quick to tar him with one particular brush, i.e. as liar in chief over the Iraq war (dodgy dossier etc.) and therefore refuse to listen to anything he says on any topic. It's understandable, but an error in my view, he holds many reasonable centrist views on many things that this country could do with right now, certainly more palatable than the kipper brigade.

Dangly bits


Christian evangelical huckster lobbyist, Tony Perkins, who once claimed that his "God" sends natural disasters in order to punish acts of homosexuality has been somewhat "hoisted by his own petard" recently. The Louisiana home of this frequently "gay bashing" blowhard was destroyed in, guess what, a natural disaster when a flood overwhelmed his compound and he had to evacuate in a canoe! I have no idea what Mr Perkins sexuality really is, nor do I care, but I would give one small piece of advice to him and his kind. He may, as many do, believe that some supernatural being pulls all of our cosmic levers and commands floods, earthquakes and hurricanes according to some bizarre and hidden agenda (usually anger about what we do with our dangly bits) but repeated experience and careful observation of nature aka. science had this sorted out centuries ago, just don't build your shit on the flood plain, the clue is in the name dummy!

Sensibilities


Sunday, May 26, 2019

New whites


Tried a new wine yesterday evening from a producer down in the Languedoc region of France called "Gassac". Now, I love this producer and have had many examples of their reds over the years and pretty much enjoyed every one but until now I'd never had any of their whites. I was mooching around in a wine shop near Guildford the other week and I spotted the bottle pictured above recognizing the name I bought it and yesterday had some family round for a BBQ and decided to give it a run around the block. It was delicious, good body, delicate aromas of white fruits, straw and apricots with a strong fruity finish. The wine is made from a blend of Voignier, Petit Manseng, Chardonnay and Chenin plus a few more obscure varieties and at only £8 for a bottle this is an absolute steal, knocks the socks off of your cheap new-world supermarket sauvignon blanc's and chardonnays, if you see it buy some.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Kipper pastilles


The scene at the top of Everest as UK politicians attempt to get as far away from the poison chalice that is Brexit as they possibly can. In other news this week, I wonder who won the EU elections, probably some unelected fat-cat Eurocrat according to a Brexit party spokesman. Which reminds me, what lasts longer a kipper politician or a Rowntrees fruit pastille? It's a close run thing.

Friday Smirk


Love this little story, just goes to show that some people would prefer to believe unadulterated nonsense than to simply admit they don't know about something.I guess blind-faith costs nothing in terms of calories whereas true learning involves real effort.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Toujours Blasphemy


J&M pointing out the problem with enshrining blasphemy into law. Hate speech against PEOPLE is one thing and already covered by our laws, but, satirizing or criticizing Islam (or any religion) is simply attacking an IDEA that you don't agree with or that you wish to change or reform, pointing out the FACTS of a religion, culture or holy books is simply observation, foundational for any sensible conversation. Ideas and Facts are things that cannot have "hate speech" directed at them and never could. Some Muslims need to get to grips with these principals and concepts if they are to roll along with the rest of us here in the West, I'm sure they can find enough real examples of prejudice and discrimination in their lives that they don't need to invent imaginary ones too.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Phone culture


This cartoon reminds me of most (male) sales/marketing people I know when they have to attend any kind of meeting that involves anything remotely technical (apart from discussions about cars or watches of course) .. On a more serious note though, this kind of approach to business seems to be the norm these days, meetings seem to be open house for non-business activities like eating, drinking, catching up with personal emails and generally running your daily affairs whilst supposedly listening to colleagues. And don't get me started on conference calls and video conferences, normally a triumph of technical incompetence over apathy, my personal favourite though (particularly prevalent among millennial's) is the phone call 5 minutes before the start of a meeting to let people know you're not going to turn up at all! Perhaps all this is telling us that we should all be having less meetings? Sounds like a manifesto for 2020's and gets my vote every time...

Monday, May 20, 2019

Rocket, man


Loving this hi-res video of the recent Falcon 9 launch in California, viewed from a vantage point above downtown LA you can clearly see the second stage rocket kicking in and if you're quick the descent burn at the end. Amazing..

Friday, May 17, 2019

Friday Smirk


J&M pointing out the bleeding obvious again (obvs. to people who are guided by empathy as opposed to a bronze-age book of magic spells) It's OK though, American children can still be randomly killed by psychopathic Christians, Muslims or Atheists all of whom have easy unfettered access to automatic weapons in that country, as they like to say over there... "go figure"..

Thursday, May 16, 2019

No point crying over spilt Pomerol



I'm rather envious of the customers of steak-joint Hawksmoor who (by mistake) got a bottle of 2001 Le Pin instead of the wine they ordered. On their menu this uber rare Pomerol (Bordeaux, France) was a £4,500 bottle, even retail it would be around £3,000 to buy as 2001 was a stunning vintage for Pomerol. I wonder if they noticed? I can just imagine their TripAdvisor comment, "house wine quite nice" or even worse "house wine quite nice, once we added ice and lemonade" .. ah, lady-luck is a delightful mistress sometimes.


Tuesday, May 14, 2019

NF = Nigel Farage?


So here's an internet conundrum a-brewing. Above is a photo of a young Nigel Farage, it's definitely him as the picture is from him and has been validated as such. But now fast-forward a few years up to a point where young Nigel is around 15 years (1979) old and look at the picture below, is it him (on the left)?


Because, if it is then this could be big news since the guy next to him leading the group is Martin Webster, head of the National Front (remember them) leaving court on a charge of inciting racial hatred. Below is a montage of photo's side-by-side to assist in facial recognition.


Facial recognition software pegs the probability at around 76%, I'm not sure, looks a bit too old to me but I suppose it could be him, but whichever it is I think middle-aged Nigel should answer some questions about it and rule himself in or out, don't you?

When you're smiling..


This little cartoon by Garry Larson (Far Side) sums up perfectly for me the situation we find ourselves in with Brexit at the moment. We have the various political constituents in-fighting, falling out and generally bitching about each other, including that populist clown Farage (rejected by the UK electorate 7 times) getting back in on the act. But, no one seems to be focused on the real danger here, i.e. the disastrous economic consequences that a hard-Brexit would entail. An outcome that would be especially relevant to the people in the North, who seem unreasonably keen on shooting themselves in the foot financially as a result of being conned by the likes of smiley-face Farage (who has personally trousered half a million quid as a result of the Brexit campaign) No wonder he's smiling, probably can't believe his luck that he lives in an era with so many gullible people around.

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Balance


Having a 17 year old teenage son ourselves, my Wife and I thought this was hilarious! Mind you (in the spirit of balance) I've seen some OAP's struggling just as much with automated checkouts at the supermarket..

Taking snakes


Saw this little snark (and have heard this very objection from Christians) and after it made me smile, I thought about how myopic all those literalist Christians, Jews and Muslims are in believing that gay people are somehow "unnatural" or have any choice about their nature. As the late Christopher Hitchens used to say, "if you want to be truly wise, you need to read more than one book"...

Friday, May 10, 2019

Awesome


Love this little clip - a rocket launch seen from the vantage point of the ISS; awesome!

Friday Smirk


J&M on the money WRT Human nature again.. It's incredible how we often can't see our own bias and ignorance (or refuse to accept it) - often people need a lesson in critical thinking before they "get it". I'm put in mind of all those hardened "just get on with it" Brexiters desperate to get OUT of Europe; only this week relishing the participation of UK teams, populated with European players and run by European managers, playing football games IN Europe - WTF?

Wednesday, May 08, 2019

Freedom to blaspheme


I read that the Saatchi gallery in London has covered up a couple of paintings as a result of complaints from some Muslim visitors claiming that they were "blasphemous". Many liberal commentators have expressed concern that free-speech and freedom of expression are being attacked and have protested the act of censorship, including think-tank Quilliam (staffed mainly by liberal Muslims) The images are kind of collages of symbolic images such as the American flag, Islamic script and a classical nude figure, all designed to represent the conflict between these things in reality. I have included one of the two images (above) under dispute so that you can make your own mind up, in my tradition and culture, this is your right.

Tuesday, May 07, 2019

Environmental Tuesday


Lot's of environmental stuff getting discussed in the news lately, it's great to see, none of us (no matter how rich) can realistically live somewhere OTHER than planet Earth so it's pretty important that if we see people or organisations unnecessarily destroying our home then we should be calling them out. The challenge of course is that we all have different perspectives, one man's legitimate business venture is another's wanton vandalism and like the free-speech debate that flares up from time to time we have a tendency as a species to other-think these things sometimes. I noticed that the odious Katie Hopkins got upset recently (no change there then!) about a doctor explaining "herd immunity" to her in relation to vaccinations, she was indignant about the possibility that the doctor was referring to her offspring as "animals" and that somehow this was perceived as derogatory. I have news for snowflake Katie, we're all animals love (certainly not vegetable or mineral!), every living thing on this planet is related to every other living thing and the sooner we realise this salient fact the better for all.

Memories


It's funny the things we remember. I vividly recall the sunny day exactly one year ago yesterday and my parents visiting our house for lunch. We cooked up a cracking BBQ and my Dad, Son and I lubricated proceedings with a 2 litre (4 pint) growler of beer (see picture above, white wine for the ladies of course!) I remember it because it was the very last time my Dad ever visited our house and also the last (of many over the years) beer we ever shared and enjoyed together. As (bad) luck would have it a few weeks later he was diagnosed with cancer and his health deteriorated quickly, so quickly in fact that he wasn't able to come over again and sadly died in March this year (2019). The beer was called "White Tips" from our local brewery (Siren) and is a fruity wit (wheat) beer that they only make at this time of the year (they just released a new batch in the last couple of weeks). Just before everyone came round I made a special trip over to the Siren tap-yard and grabbed a couple of litres fresh from the line, especially for him to enjoy with his burger and sausages. He really liked the beer, which I was really happy about, and we all had a lovely day chatting, eating, drinking and laughing. Funny the things we remember.

Sunday, May 05, 2019

Chilly Festival


Spent a pleasant couple of hours at the Reading beer festival yesterday - usual massive selection of beers but bloody freezing cold and interrupted by bursts of hail stones, I ended up wishing I'd taken a thicker coat. Met with an old mate who I haven't seen for 30 years, wow, where to start? Amazing to catch up with stuff, we essentially unloaded the highlights of two entire lives over a few beers, marriages, kids, highs, lows etc.. all very interesting to see how we've ended up (not that we're quite at the "end"yet!)

Friday, May 03, 2019

Bad day at the office


Local elections here in the UK. Many of the Brexit spin merchants will no doubt attempt to spin this as the people expressing dismay at the incumbent parties and that Brexit hasn't happened yet. My interpretation is somewhat different, this says to me that all the parties who want to "get Brexit done" lost and those that support a second referendum (and hence remaining in the EU) won; how about best of three?

Friday Smirk


I'll just leave this one here..

Thursday, May 02, 2019

Name collisions

One of our favourite beers from last year was called "Yu Lu" from our local Brewer Siren over in Finchampstead. It's a lovely pale ale, almost lager-like, made with fruity American hops with an addition of Earl-Grey tea which gives it a certain familiarity and curiosity, and at only 3.6% ABV it's very drinkable, especially on a warm day. It's the go-to beer for all the Women in our little crowd. Apparently though this name isn't unique, there's a theoretical physicist (and quite a famous one) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing called professor Yu Lu! 

Here he is holding up a "Yu Lu" beer mat, lucky man, I bet he'd get a free one if he turned up at the Tap Yard in Finchampstead.. :)

Impressive


This has to be one of the most impressive (and scariest) photos ever taken. It's astronaut Bruce McCandless performing the first ever untethered space walk back in 1984. Just think about all of the discovery, science, innovation, hard-work and engineering needed to realise this picture, from the camera taking it to the space shuttle needed to get him there. When you think about it us Humans can be quite handy when we stop thinking about imaginary stuff and focus on the (real) universe we actually inhabit!

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Mid-week Mirth


J&M pointing out the obvious problem that some Liberals have with the hypothesis that quite a lot of Women in this world find themselves under unreasonable pressure, if not physical danger, from men (for no good reason) to wear a particular type of clothing and therefore wearing it is not "a choice" in any realistic sense.