HERE BE DRAGONS

Three danish dragons

2011-09-07T10:34:00.000+01:00

Been a while since added some dragon pics to this blog but found a couple of fine examples on our recent trip to Denmark. The drawing above comes from Ladby museum, NE Fyn.

The architetural decoration below comes from Svendborg in the south of the island.

On Google´s streetmap you can see them in situ.

View Dragons in a larger map

And finally in Copenhagen, how could I resist dessertdragens kageværksted. Excellent cakes!

Any hope of the real problems at the Royal Mail being discussed?

2010-12-20T10:01:00.002Z

Is it something about Christmas that gets Brits het up about stamps?

Either it´s the Royal Mail is or isn´t having christian themes on its stamps. [Its policy is to alternate non-secular and secular themes each year - but with a "non-secular" alternative available in the off year. Given that lots of traditions pre-date the christianisation of Europe, so what? Yet, complaints about the stamps is a hardy annual tradition.]

But this mid-winter there´s a new "old" complaint on the block. The Queen´s head. The current definitive design has been deemed an "icon", using as it does an image of the current monarch from 40 years ago.

Raleigh, pictured, was beheaded in 1618 by order of James I.

Apparently, lots of my fellow Brits are up in arms (or at least commenting to the Daily Mail) that legislation to sell off the Royal Mail doesn´t protect the royal branding. Even though there is currently no legal obligation to use it.

Pictured is a rare error. There are six known examples of this 1973 issue with the head omitted. (thanks to stampcircuit)

How much difference does it make, for gods´ sake. Are you actually going to notice or are you going to be more interested in the birthday card from your grandchild inside the envelope?

The amount of space wasted on the symbolism on what is a record of payment for the performance of a delivery service (again) is ludicrous. The problems at the Mail have nothing to do with the stamps themselves. A combination of poor management and bolshy unions (the two usually going together), being in a declining market, having political masters, underinvestment, pension obligations, public service obligations (hidden subsidy to those people in remote areas)... and other factors have led to the current situation. Will this sound and fury deal with any of those?

But this is Britain we don´t care about real issues - or rather find them too difficult to think about. The image of the monarch on the stamps is something that even a Daily Mail journalist can have an opinion on - especially if its removal can be blamed on Brussels.

Is it any wonder nothing happens to improve this country?

A quieter story about homophobia and religion

2010-12-14T14:45:00.001Z

I could have written at length today about Peter and Hazelmary Bull being in court over whether or not they have ignored equalities legislation and discriminated against a gay male couple.

Stories like this make me hesitate when Andrew and I are booking accommodation in some out of the way places (undoubtedly pure big city prejudice about the risk of homophobia) but fortunately we have never come across any hoteliers like the Bulls and I hope that we never do.

However, in among all the hysterics, I came across a story about another christian, Symon Hill who is planning a pilgrimage of repentance for his former homophobic attitudes - which according to his blog all came after he became a christian. I wish him well but fear he is on a fruitless mission.

His precise "pilgrimage" route will depend on hosting offers - maybe the Bulls, the Wilkinsons, Chris Grayling, and the Bishop of Winchester would like to offer him a room for a night to discuss how he came to his conclusions. Can´t say I´d envy that as an itinerary.

Terror threats

2010-12-13T11:04:00.001Z

How the UK´s FCO sees the level of threat in other EU member states.

Info taken from its website this morning.

The darker the orange the higher the threat. Interestingly, Sweden wasn´t at highest level.

Apple makes a tit of itself

2010-12-12T12:19:00.000Z

Steve Jobs clearly has missed his calling. What he actually wants to be is a one-man Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice - with all the hypocrisy that entails.

Apple´s model seeks to keep totalitarian control of the apps that are available for the iphone. The company as absolute monarch rather than the messy democracy of Google´s open source approach for Android. Not surprisingly, Apple has more than once got tied up in knots over different standards when it comes to nudity.

At least, Apple´s review guidelines are now in the public domain - even if Apple´s own site restricts access to registered developers.

"We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don't work unless the parents set them up (many don't). So know that we're keeping an eye out for the kids."

Sounds harmless - as long as you agree what they´re keeping an eye out against. Can´t wrap kids up in cotton wool. It´s part of growing up!

Apps containing ... "explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings", will be rejected.

Sounds simple enough, at least in theory. But then it´s a question of who´s determining where the line is.

In the UK, the Sun is well known for its page 3 girls. Unacceptable to Apple as part of a news aggregator but apparently fine if the user pays for it.

Playboy is available but horny teenagers are likely to be disappointed. Even so, hardly in line with Apple´s moralising.

46 sizzling videos of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models make the cut. Sizzling aesthetic feelings? - not come across those before

As does UK gay magazine Attitude currently promoting its latest Sex issue (issue 199). Not got an iphone so no idea whether it´s a censored version or not.

But, I´ve picked up on this as a result of a Danish tabloid (Ekstra Bladet) complaining about Apple´s double standards. EB is clearly doing well in drumming up publicity for its campaign.

Apparently, their topless models are unacceptable even for the Danish-specific version of the App Store. One of the paper´s arguments is that pics for gay men are acceptable to Apple but topless pretty girls aren´t (even if they may have smaller tits!).

The article comes complete with large pic of an athletic young man. Erotic or aesthetic. Personally, I can´t see anything erotic in it. Sex is in the eye of the beholder? Yes, of course I´ll provide a link. The story´s in danish, but you´re not going to be interested in that now are you. The pic´s here. BTW, you can enlarge it by following the link to the left of the facebook logo where it says "Se stort billede".

I´m not sure what the answer is - although I probably prefer Android´s approach even if that produces things I personally wouldn´t agree with.

Is Page 3/Side 9 harmless or something that needs to wrapped with warnings? In my view, it´s simply more of an obvious target than the insidious self-esteem effects of the media´s obsessions that lead to things like the sex and swimwear issues. Apple´s prudish approach is more likely to simply reinforce hang ups rather than develop healthy attitudes to nudity, sex and sexuality (and the differences). Is that really what Jobs wants? But, in the end it´ll be money that decides the fate of the policy.

Related:
Is this picture harmful to juveniles?
Spot the difference

European Day of Languages

2010-10-01T10:48:00.000+01:00

In English after the Danish

I sondags var det Den europæiske sprogdag.

I London opfordrede Kommissionens repræsentation bloggere til at skrive på et fremmedsprog (en facebook event men det lyder bedre end konferencen "Negotiating transnational space and multilingual encounters")

I Københaven var organiseret en flersproget rapkoncert. "Fem rappere vil optræde sammen, hver på deres modersmål" (huh - hvorfor det? Pointen var at "understrege fordelene ved flersprogethed"?)

Men man kan se at Kommissionen var ikke med programmet. Listen over arrangementerne online var bare på engelsk. Avisen Financial Times skrevet på en blog i denne uge:

Google Translate er som en skyldig hemmelighed i korridorerne i Bruxelles: alle bruger det, men ingen tør indrømme det ellers deres huller på tysk, fransk eller estisk sprog skal udsætte dem så slemt europæere.

De fleste europæiske medborgere har besluttet at lære engelsk som første fremmedsprog. Er de forkerte? Det er svært for os som har engelsk som modersmål. Hvilket sprog kommer næste? Dem som vil har esperanto bruger engelsk at kommunikere til de fleste!

Problemet er at engelsk er DET fælles europæiskt sprog, uanset Brussels vil hellere tro på.

FROM Google Translate:

On Sunday it was the European Day of Languages.In London, urged the Commission Representation bloggers to write in a foreign language (a facebook event but it sounds better than the conference "Negotiating transnational space and multilingual encounters")In Buying Haven (sic) was organized multilingual rapkoncert. "Five rappers will perform together, each in their native language" (huh - why? The point was to "emphasize the advantages of multilingualism?)But one can see that the Commission was not with the program. List of events online was just in English. Financial Times wrote in a blog this week:
Google Translate is like a guilty secret in the corridors of Brussels: everyone uses it, but nobody dare admit it otherwise their holes in German, French or Estonian language must expose them as bad Europeans.
Most European citizens have decided to learn English as a second language. Are they wrong? It is difficult for us who have English as their mother tongue. Which language comes next? Those who will have Esperanto uses English to communicate to most!The problem is that English is a common language, whatever Brussels would rather believe.

A lo-fact diet

2010-09-07T11:32:00.000+01:00

Back from 3 weeks holiday. One of the advantages of being out of the UK is that I get a break from being a total news junkie. OK, I still skim the headlines (and giggle at some of the very local stories that seem odd to a big city boy) but tend to only look at the weather maps in detail. During our week in Finland basically only bit of the paper I was able to comprehend!

But despite all that, couldn´t miss the interest in Blair´s memoirs. In his book Blair writes that he "stretched the truth past breaking point" in his dealings on the process in N Ireland to end the violence there. Did the ends justify the means?

Coincidentally, my RSS feed popped up with this today from Risk Monger with a preview noting ten years ago, "he believed that facts mattered. Today he has lost his faith." I read the preview as saying the blogger had lost faith in facts. Actually, he´d lost faith that they matter in policy making decisions.

Blair´s memoirs provide evidence in support - but with contentious issues can always find “facts” to provide evidence for both sides. Blair, according to his account, thought that the facts were secondary to appealing to the instincts of the parties he was dealing with. In NI, maybe it will be seen as reasonable approach to break the deadlock. But, it seems that he did the same over the threat from Iraq.

In NI Paisley and the power base he could lead was clearly a fact (unlike Iraq´s WMDs). Even so, should Blair have played fast and loose with the truth? The cynic might say he couldn´t do anything else. Politically, it might have been demonstrating the art of the possible. But at what long term cost? Doctors know that simply dealing with the symptoms isn´t the right approach.

The truth? You can't handle the truth. A Few Good Men (1992)
Facts get lost in instinctive reactions. But is the lo-fact diet (with added artificial mood enhancers and emotional modifiers) we´re currently provided all around us is making it even harder to get to, let alone handle, the truth.

Politicians should be worried. But they seem to be joining in with gusto in peddling an emotional, instinctive society.

Could Estonia´s euro changeover cause an international incident?

2010-08-12T10:49:00.000+01:00

Estonian €2

Eesti Päevaleht in Tallinn reports that authorities have somehow neglected to inform the Russian-speaking community in Narva (on the border with Russia) of the coming changeover to the euro on 1 January, 2011. [thanks to presseurop.eu]

Rumours of all sorts are reportedly circulating around Narva and currency exchanges are exploiting these rumours in order to "play" with the exchange rates of the three currencies, thoroughly confusing the local people.

Of course got all sorts of this stuff with euro changeovers in other countries, but relations between the small Baltic country and its larger neighbour aren´t always the best. Scope for mischief here.

We´ve still got some kroons lying in a drawer from our last trip to Tallinn (worth less than €1). Thing we remember most about the money is that we never seemed to see coins. Although they exist down to 5 cents. (One kroon is worth about five pence). Maybe, they´re a bit American in this respect. So how the Estonians are going to react to a coin worth 31.2932 kroon is anyone´s guess. (Probably just stick to plastic - very Nordic in that respect.)

Couple of other stories about the changeover here and here worth reading as well.

I tend to agree with the Estonian Free Press that the map silhouette is a bit boring. Maybe they should have gone with the three lions. That would have had the Daily Mail spluttering.

Good news for a Monday

2010-08-09T09:16:00.001+01:00

De Koninck stays in Flemish hands

Good to see that some things don´t succumb to globalisation.

Britain´s next man or woman in Vatican City

2010-08-01T12:21:00.000+01:00

Apparently, we´re due to have a new British diplomatic representative to the Holy See.

Incumbent, Francis Campbell, according to the Telegraph last year, was "punished" for being too close to Tony Blair.

The embassy´s website is wonderfully realpolitik-al.

The Embassy to the Holy See is a vital part of the UK’s overseas network. Is that like the IOC chairman claiming every Olympics is the best games ever?

...not to mention the value of the Holy See as a global listening post.
So supports Echelon, GCHQ, BBC monitoring - I´ll take that as in the British interests, but do they really tell us anything interesting?

In an era when religion has once more emerged in international relations, the Holy See is key to the continuing policy debate on the proper boundary between faith and politics. So we seek to maintain good relations with an absolute monarchy which claims a monopoly on truth.

The Holy See is a key stabilising influence in the global faith/politics debate and helps keep discussion rational.
This has to be an FCO joke, right?

As our ambassor said in a recent lecture "religion matters in the world and if foreign policy is to be effective it too must address religion as an issue" - I agree but not on religion´s terms. Here´s other selective quotes from the speech:

>Religious leaders, organisations, institutions and communities can mobilise religion to sanction violence
>For the progressive modern mind, it is simply not admissible that people would fight and die over mere differences of religion (No, we know all too well that they will kill and more religion is not going to be a way. out of that.) Because
>[quoting Clinton] Religious convictions... can‟t be pulled on and off like a pair of boots (Actually, that applies to ALL convictions. It´s human psychology. But how many scientists kill for their beliefs?)
>“a combination of rosary-welding (sic) Solidarity workers in Poland and Kalishnikov-weilding (sic) mujahideen in Afghanistan helped defeat atheistic Soviet communism (only included that ´cos loved the first typo)
>we must begin to see religion as much as a source of healing as we now see it as a source of division. (see first quote)
>Some would say that we do not condemn politics because it has sometimes in the past delivered us tyrannies or dictatorships. (No, but we do condemn appeasement which is what the ambassador is calling for)
>The challenge for policy makers is to harness the unifying potential of faith, while containing its capacity to divide (But if Clinton´s right and I agree with him on the basis of psychology faith has no unifying potential!)
>There is a risk that I too am engaging in selection bias and over-stressing a positive emphasis. (Yep)
>As we have seen here this evening – indeed as we have seen in our own society over the past 40 years of turmoil in Northern Ireland - religion has played a much needed positive role in bringing peace and stability (I kid you not - read the speech)

Our envoy was only upgraded to ambassadorial rank in 1982. Given a time of austerity at home surely we should be revisiting the thought before Campbell was appointed and close the embassy. (BTW, I´ve no idea why the Times archive stores that under sport/football/european_football)

If you´re interested the Catholic Herald has a speculative list of runners and riders for the post.

Given that there is a desire to have rational discussion perhaps we should have an alternative list:

Richard Dawkins
Lord Rees (President of the Royal Society)
Dr Evan Harris (former MP who lost his seat in part due to christian tactical voting)
Peter Tatchell (at least that would prevent him from arresting ratzinger)
Clare Rayner (why the hell isn´t she in the House of Lords?)
Philip Pullman
Salman Rushdie (dislike the man, but he´s got experience of interfaith issues)
Stephen Fry
Ian Paisley Jr (irrational, but would get him out of UK politics)

Any other suggestions?

More Belgian divisions

2010-07-29T08:02:00.000+01:00

Belgium is only now adopting the EU´s vehicle registration standards, the last member state to do so. (UK by comparison adopted the regs w.e.f Sep 2001) "Capitulates to Euro Plate Conformity" as this site has it:

But not everything is sweetness and light.

Walloon politicians didn´t like a Flemish proposal for black characters on a yellow background for Belgian number plates as they´re also the colours on the Flemish flag even though they´re also two of the three colours of the national flag and considered by safety experts to be most legible.

But then the colour issue has been used for political demonstration purposes before:

All very sad that given the real problems of the country - but a reflection of the total absence of common ground? More evidence that the country be put out of its misery?

If you wish to see/learn more about Belgian number plates see here, here, here, here, or here and after that you may wish to retire to your local hostelry to regain some semblance of sanity.

PS ONS includes personalised number plates in estimates of the "wealth" of the country. Apparently, 5% of households have them. Mean value of the £1,400. With 24.9 million households in 2006 that´s an estimate of £1.7bn. Why are these considered "assets"?

Leave thinking to the horses, they´ve got bigger heads

2010-07-27T11:13:00.000+01:00

There´s lots of chatter about the notion of "peak oil" after which the rate of production enters terminal decline with negative effects on the global economy.

I´m more worried about the possibility of peak human intelligence. This selection of articles from the New Scientist rather chimes with my current concerns.

The only way forward for us as a species is to educate people as well as possible into the practice of thinking for themselves. That´s what some trends (of which organised religion is but one element) are making nigh impossible. Not sure most people do not want to think but prefer the simple life and have got lots more pressing issues. Understandable but it´s leading to

History teachers feeling unable to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship.
Teachers that 'fear evolution lessons'
Dumb and Dumber on the health select committee
"Creationist" zoo winning an Education award (Depressingly, it´s in the UK)

Good science has to be done (more or less) within social norms - but what if those norms actively undermine science?

Too many vested interests are excellent at playing on doubts and creating narrative with emotional and rhetorical appeal (and very little by way of factual content - isn´t that always the way with myth?). That can only reinforce the very human habit of simply trying to wish away scientific evidence that challenges a pre-existing view. Perhaps it´s just more evidence that as a species we are pan narrans rather than homo sapiens.

I read recently a comment in response to religion being described as mumbo-jumbo complaining "Economics is said to be a science but it keeps changing the goal posts". The non-dismal sciences do the same. It´s called learning. It´s why text-books become out of date and we don´t use Newton´s alchemical texts or ancient Greek biology. When science starts thinking it has sacred texts (Aristotle´s works, for example) is usually when it starts going wrong. At least its method generally corrects mistakes over time. Religions never seem to admit to any.

In the UK, I reckon that there is a broad consensus that parts (most?) of so called holy books are as out of date as other writings from the time but some of the philosophical content is still relevant in a modern society.

But that consensus is being undermined by believers with megaphones (literally and metaphorically) who start from the notion of divine* inspiration despite all the errors, contradictions, editing, political compromises and so on that produced them. And then demand that everyone else agree with them and treats the words with the same blind, unthinking reverence that they do (even if they can´t agree about the meaning of said words leading to schisms and sometimes bloody violence).

Not much room for critical thinking and intelligent debate there. Yet, one thing the monotheistic religions can agree on is that they should continue to be able to tell "lies-to-children".

If this post makes me sound a typically arrogant science chappy (I might have an MSc but it´s in Politics and never understood why it wasn´t an MA) rather than an ordinary god fearing person who sees all the evidence needed in the world around them for a loving, omnipotent, invisible deity (as carefully pointed out to them once a week with cherry picked phrases from texts of dubious worth) and ignores anything to the contrary, then guilty as charged. Does that make me feel a I´m a better individual. Nope. I´ll respect many different sorts of people for being prepared to do things I know I couldn´t.

As humans, we often need simplifications to give a sense of belonging, avoid emotional distress or to provide an introduction to more complex concepts. But we need to recognise them for what they are, means to an end - not the end itself. Science gives us hope of being able to understand the world around us. Its method (like Churchill´s view of democracy) is the worst one - except for all the others we´ve tried. We undermine it at our peril.

*One meaning of the word divine (when used as a verb) given by the OED is
To make out by sagacity, intuition, or fortunate conjecture (that is, in some other way than by actual information) [my emphasis]Yep, that sounds about right.

The title of this piece is something a great aunt in Belgium told me once when I was younger. Came back to me when drafting this. Not advice I´ve ever taken.

Things not to do when you´re drunk

2010-01-27T10:05:00.000Z

Summer 2008

a 78-year-old Swede stole a dinghy and tried to row the three miles across the Øresund Strait that separates Denmark from Sweden - across some of the busiest shipping lanes on the planet.

The story stuck in my mind because of the age of the individual - clearly impressed me - no sitting passively in a home for him even if what he did was clearly bonkers.

Why am I mentioning this today?

Pravda is reporting about a drunk Russian sailor, Alexei Vashkevich, (you may have thought that was a dog bites man story) who used a rubber boat while out on a commercial fishing trip to get to Japan when the crew ran out of alcohol. Despite being drunk he managed to purchase a case of beer but it never got to the crew because he was arrested before he could get back as his rubber boat had been seen as suspicious.

Once deported back to Russia, however the story continues: he was still considered a person involved in a criminal case - and once investigators tracked him down he was put on trial last autumn.

Pravda´s English language version of the article leaves questions unanswered:

What happened in his Russian trial? Why is this story being reported now nearly three years after the incident happened?

We´re told that the Japanese were not too strict on him for the unlawful crossing of Japan’s State Border - allowing intoxication as mitigation but (thanks to google´s automatic translation) it turns out from the original article that Vashkevich got a one year suspended sentence with probation for six months after being found guilty of an illegal crossing of the state borders of Russia and that sentence was only passed "the other day".

That´s a costly case of beer.

Technology and tradition

2010-01-13T10:12:00.000Z

This week saw Plough Monday which according to the OED sees the start of the ploughing season "traditionally celebrated by a procession of disguised ploughmen and boys drawing a plough from door to door to collect money."
Or as one website puts it they "demanded money with menaces".

This would have been for their own subsistence, but according to the English Folk Dance & Song Society if someone did not give money or food, their front garden might be ploughed up, outbuildings might be damaged or windows broken. The lads were not there to give a good performance - the show was almost incidental. Their intention was to do just enough for it to be called a performance, but it needed to be threatening enough to encourage generosity by villagers.

Before the Reformation, the Church sanctioned the collection of money (Older records indicate that the collection was for the benefit of the Church - so no surprise there)

The City of London had an annual custom of a Court of Wardmote which included an opportunity for the Lord Mayor to receive "any nuisances or grievances of which the citizens may have to complain". Given the impact of the banking crisis you would have thought that was a decent tradition to uphold but I guess hearing the complaints would have taken til Michelmas at least.

While bankers seem more than willing to follow the ploughboys and demand money with menaces from the taxpayer, the City went for the barking idea of blessing IT equipment, or to as they put it in their press release - Apples and BlackBerries. Did anyone think we´d be fooled by this blatant attempt to distract from serious issues?

On a related point, Sonim chief executive Bob Plaschke maybe could have been forgiven for seeking divine intervention when reporter Dan Simmons from the BBC's technology show Click managed to break a mobile phone marketed by the company as "unbreakable". To give him his due, his reaction is admirable. Watch here

Eccentric, moi?

2009-12-12T12:21:00.000Z

This man doesn´t want to be seen as eccentric or an oddity.

In England, being eccentric isn´t necessarily a bad thing indeed it can be a badge of honour.

But the keys to English eccentricity include being "individualistically creative in behaviour" and having a sense of humour. Williams has the unfortunate position of being head of the Anglican community at a time where both are notably lacking (at least in the extreme and vocal minorities(?) of adherents), in his chosen faith and the other major religions.

Yet, while he wants to be seen as not eccentric he uses the word when describing catholic view that the Pope is infallible (If you really want to waste your time with the sophistry used in the dogma see here.)

At some stage, the monotheistic religions will collapse under the weight of their contradictions - provided we can get them out of indoctrinating future generations at an early age.

An accountant we can feel sorry for

2009-12-11T12:10:00.000Z

You won´t normally find me defending accountants. They come even lower than expense-maximising MPs in my book.

But this story has my sympathy going out to one young individual:

"Holly Leam-Taylor thought it a good idea, after four months at Deloittes, to moot “some sort of Xmas awards ceremony for us ladies about the stuff that really matters at work i.e. gossip/ the boys!”...“It’s something we’re very disappointed by and are urgently looking into,” deadpans Deloittes. I understand that she quit this week."

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article6952430.ece

the e-mail itself looks reasonably harmless - courtesy of the FT

So girls....

It’s been nearly 4 months at Deloitte so I think we should have some sort of Xmas awards ceremony for us ladies about the stuff that really matters at work i.e. gossip/ the boys! This probably massively violates the HR equal opportunities policy, but never mind! It’s all for fun and a bit of a laugh.

Ok, so the categories are below, please get your votes in asap, I’ll send out the results on Friday 18^th Dec (that is all I will be doing that day as I will be SO hungover from the ball!) Any comments as to why you’ve picked a certain person that are particularly good/hilarious can be included, anonymously, of course ;)
1.) Fittest boy – looks
2.) Fittest boy – body
3.) Best dressed boy
4.) Boy most likely to sleep his way to the top
5.) Best piece of gossip you’ve heard so far this year
6.) Most attractive “older” member of staff (i.e above analyst grade)
7.) Boy with the best personality
8.) Most hilarious/embarrassing moment a girl has had
9.) The official Deloitte First-year Analyst Girls “Man of the year”
Enjoy thinking about it!
Much love to all

Holly xxx

You have to love those kisses at the end. I don´t like the shallow nature - but it´s a bit of meaningless frivolity from a junior member of staff that no-one should take seriously.

Someone should ask Bill Dodwell, tax partner at Deloitte, what he thinks given that he worries about human rights.

Or perhaps Holly should get a job on the Huffington Post.

Is it because she´s female she´s been singled out? If you´re telling me that in the city that there aren´t boys´ (and I use the word advisedly) versions of this I don´t believe you. Or was her downfall admitting "This probably massively violates the HR equal opportunities policy...".

When did we lose all sense of humour? Can understand her quitting - would be practically impossible to stand the merciless ribbing, but Deloitte´s response is so
puritanical - makes it sound like they would have sacked her.

Perhaps she should ask for the Christian Legal Centre to support her in a case for constructive dismissal. After all it was at least heterosexual appreciation. I´d love to see Deloittes arguing that because the email went viral it brought their name into disrepute. Accountant shown to be human, shock.

Away with the Manger

2009-12-05T11:19:00.001Z

Manger: A long open box or trough in a stable, barn, etc., out of which horses and cattle can eat fodder (esp. fodder which cannot be placed, like hay and straw, in a rack above). Sometimes used as the symbol of the birth of Jesus.

Thanks to the OED for that.

This feels a bit like intruding on an annual family argument - but it´s the season for such arguments.

The Bishop Of Croydon reckons that Christmas carols are nonsense - saying adults should be embarrassed to sing them.

Whereas the Bishop of Ludlow, Mr Alistair Magowan, claimed that many people are trying to keep the “tinsel and frills” but “throw out the baby”.

I´d turn Magowan´s views the other way round. The Nativity is just the “tinsel and frills” According to one history, Francis of Assisi introduced a living crib scene at his Christmas Mass in Grecchio sometime in the 12th or 3th century. A few years ago, Mr Kiplings ran an ad that involved a "nativity" including a woman depicted in the pain of childbirth. More than 800 people objected.

The credophiles can´t have it both ways. Do they want to have a real message (isn´t the birth of Christ meant to be about god experiencing this vale of tears - ) or just go for comforting myths that make us feel warm inside but are ultimately meaningless (so manger fine just leave out the human bit of what his mother went through to get there)?

At the end of the day, it´s all a storm in a feedbox - except that christianity (and the other religions of the book) want to be safe from the similar sort of criticism that many of their adherents are very quick to throw at others.

One egg or two?

2009-12-02T12:24:00.000Z

In 2005 then cabinet minister John Prescott punched Craig Evans who had thrown an egg at him from close range.

My recollection of the broadcast pictures at the time is that it was an instinctive response. I don´t support the use of violence, but as a reaction it was understandable. The Mail at the time clearly took the side of Mr Evans.

This week more eggs were thrown in political violence. Mail´s response - it´s evidence of the country going to the dogs.

"Self-styled leader of the Luton branch of Al-Muhajiroun, Sayful Islam, denied the group was behind the attack but refused to condemn what had happened." Compare that to the quote from Evans "he wishes he had not thrown the egg and does not want to be seen as a hero."

I think those two quotes sum up the intrinsic difference. Evans expresses remorse, guilt about what he did. Whether that´s genuine or just media savvy is another matter. But what you see between Al-Muhajiroun (hopefully a vocal unrepresentative bunch) and Daily Mail readers (if the highly recommended comments are representative) can´t be described as a clash of civilisations. That would assume that either side was civilised.

PS The Mail isn´t the only culprit. Try these from the Telegraph:

Warsi
Evans

We´re all apes!

2009-11-25T12:57:00.006Z

Responding to the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce's question at a debate in Oxford on evolution in 1860 whether he traced his descent from an ape on his mother's or his father's side Thomas Huxley replied
"...would I rather have a miserable ape for a grandfather or a man highly endowed by nature and possessing great means and influence and yet who employs those faculties for the mere purpose of introducing ridicule into a grave scientific discussion—I unhesitatingly affirm my preference for the ape."

The global media has got itself into a tizzy over google and a year old blog posting with a picture of Michelle Obama. A blog posting at the time covers the original story.

www.Celebrityapes.com uses modern technology to adapt human faces. Puerile, yes. Amusing, maybe. Incisive satire, no way. Scope for media storm, why? As the writer of the piece linked above points out - a visit the source site will show that "this picture WAS NOT created out of racially motivated ignorance."

Is it a quiet news week?

Europe at its worst

2009-11-20T09:03:00.007Z

It´s not been a good week for Europe´s self image:

Thierry Henry admits to breaking the rules - but not to the ref at a time when he could have done something - who does he think he is a banker? I know it´s only a game but it matters to more people than the result of the political horse trading in Brussels last night. I´m not sure that it´s helpful that you have the politicians grandstanding even if French finance minister Christine Lagarde supports the Irish claims for a replay.

On the political field, "Europe's leaders have no reason to feel proud of themselves. The appointments confirm all the prevalent prejudices about the EU" - and that´s a leader from a Dutch paper!

Herman van Rompuy - Belgian PM chosen as the President of the European Council under the Lisbon Treaty. To get the Mail and Guardian to agree on a headline is some achievement! Thanks to politicalbetting.com for the image.

It would be a supreme irony if van Rompuy´s departure from his current position led to the break-up of Belgium. He only ended up as PM after his predecessor, Yves Leterme resigned following an attempt by his cabinet to exert political influence over a judicial decision. According to Le Soir, Leterme looks likely to return which could see instability once again in the country.

Cathy Ashton - The holder of the position of The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission is meant to raise the EU’s profile in the world, “putting a face” on the Union.

I don´t have a problem with the fact that she "has never been elected to public office" EUObserver the 27 leaders who agreed are all in place as a result of their country´s democratic institutions - that´s what REPRESENTATIVE democracy is about.

Question is WHY was she chosen was it because as

a woman from the Socialist political family and a large country, she ticked all the boxes necessary (EUObserver again).

If that was the reasoning then the leaders of the 27 should hang their heads in shame. Just because van Rompuy and Ashton are not well known, now doesn´t mean that they won´t be good in the positions. But Ashton in particular has got a lot to prove.

2012 logo jinxed?

2009-10-13T10:46:00.004+01:00

What is it about the London Olympics logo?

First there was all the bad publicity about the design:

Then there was the promotional video that could trigger epileptic fits:

Now there´s the story about the commemorative 50 pence piece:
An athlete appearing "to be defecating that very same Olympic logo"

Only another 3years to go before it´s all over

First verse of bible was mistake

2009-10-10T09:11:00.002+01:00

Just the first verse?

See NRC here

Another wannabe jesus cult martyr

2009-10-07T12:18:00.004+01:00

As a Lewisham resident will keep an eye on this employment tribunal story. The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement reported “an unprovoked personal attack" which was sent by a Lewisham employee from a work computer. After an investigation, the woman who sent it was sacked.

Hopefully, what she wrote will be reported. Without knowing that, it´s a tad difficult to make up your own mind.

The CLC (which argues in favour of the bigotry in the bible) is supporting her claiming it was "mere expression of orthodox Christian beliefs". Hopefully, they´ll lose and end up repaying Lewisham council tax payers for the costs.

An impious, irreverent entry

2009-09-29T13:32:00.004+01:00

Tomorrow is international blasphemy day

The organisers´ stated objective is:

"to open up all religious beliefs to the same level of free inquiry, discussion and criticism to which all other areas of academic interest are subjected."

I for one won´t argue with that - free inquiry should trump dogma any day. Yet the excessive respect that supports tenets of faith going unchallenged is only slowly being eroded in many societies.

It´s rather like Aristotle's statement that flies have four legs. This fact "was repeated in natural history texts for more than a thousand years despite the fact that a little counting would have proven otherwise." Nature

However there is a real danger that the Punch and Judy nature of the exchanges between the hyper-rational and the credulous will have a centrifugal effect on neutrals - increasing belief rather than critical thinking - victim mentality can do wonders.

So, it may be a bit optimistic to expect faith in supreme beings for which there is no evidence to disappear any time soon. Miracles always take that bit longer.

Re-announcing old news

2009-06-10T09:25:00.003+01:00

What is it about Gordon Brown and Alan Sugar?

Two years ago Sugar became a member of a council of senior business figures Gordon Brown brought together to advise him as prime minister.

The Business Council for Britain has apparently met just twice in Oct 07 and July 08. If it´s met more than that then its website hosted by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly BERR) is keeping that quiet.

Now, Sugar has been appointed as the Government's Enterprise Champion - whatever that is.

Politics of fear

2009-06-10T09:12:00.003+01:00

The election of two BNP members to the European Parliament has caused lots of handwringing among the political classes. But surely if democracy is to mean anything then it has to be how we represent voices we disagree with.

Interesting piece in the Guardian, though.

Thanks to presseurop.eu for putting that my way.

Hundal´s commentary is a much better way of looking at things than the egg throwing adopted by protestors (the same ones who abhor police violence and cherish free speech?) outside parliament yesterday.

London Superbowl

2009-04-25T11:00:00.005+01:00

After the Olympics, could London host that quintessential US event the Superbowl?

Visit London, has told the BBC it is pursuing a long-term ambition to bring the Super Bowl to the city. I just hope that it´s worth it for us.

Visit London estimate that last year´s NFL match at Wembley brought about £20m to the city with 7,000 team employees, sponsors and their guests crossing the Atlantic.

As 83,000 people were at the game were the rest Londoners, ex-pat Americans in the city taking the opportunity to see what is still a peculiarly national sport compared to the global appeal of football - with no benefit for the city´s economy.

FIFA claimed an audience of 26.3 billion for the 2006 World Cup, broadcast in 214 countries and territories. 90% of Super Bowl viewers are from the U.S. Personally, I think that this idea has got as much hope of globalising American football as taking the World Cup to the states in 1994 had of encouraging football over there. Whether it happens or not, I hope that Visit London have more original thinking as well.

Accountants and human rights

2009-04-24T12:52:00.003+01:00

Legislation being introduced in the finance bill will enable the Uk taxman to publish a quarterly list of names and details of individuals and companies who have been penalised for deliberate defaults leading to a loss of tax of more than £25,000.

Sounds reasonable to me.

£25,000 is more than average household annual income in 2006/7 Source: ONS

And what´s the first thing one of the accountants thinks of? Doubting whether the full human rights implications of the proposals had been considered.

Shame on you Deloittes - not worried that there´ll be a lot of your clients on the lists are you?

Double standards

2009-04-04T11:37:00.003+01:00

A Canadian widow living in Cuba has died after failing to get treatment for respiratory problems due to a shortage of cash. Her money was tied up in a Boston bank due to the US trade embargo. I´ve no idea how her late husband earned his money, but since 2007 the US government has generously allowed her to withdraw $96 a month of it.

Meanwhile, Bernard L. Madoff’s brother, Peter, gets access to $10,000 a month for living expenses under an agreement approved Friday in a lawsuit accusing him of swindling a law student.

There really is nothing one can say.

What do I need to know about?

2009-02-17T08:49:00.008Z

Heard Andrew Motion on Today this morning arguing his case that the bible is an "essential piece of cultural luggage" children need to be taught throughout their education.

I agree with him that religion has played a key role in the development of English culture as expressed in its literature, but I think that the more important thing is to teach curiousity, which I believe was the point made by John Mullan, professor of English Literature at University College, London in response to Motion.

One of the examples in the discussion on the programme was about a reference in Hamlet to Niobe. Now this was a gap in my knowledge so I have spent some time this morning looking her up. Wikipedia is the obvious starting point, but can´t be the only source.

Do I feel any less educated for not knowing about her? No more or less than not knowing about any other fictional character. But then I´ve just scored 9/10 on the Today programme´s biblical knowledge test. Not sure how, most of it was guesswork, but it proves nothing.

Motion makes clear that he is not arguing for religious indoctrination and I for one would be happier if the religious "holy" texts were studied solely in the same way as Shakespeare rather than as "gospel". but surely as a professor Motion should be capable of pointing his students who do not share his cultural assumptions in the right direction and stimulating their intellectual curiousity, shouldn´t he?

I appreciate that it´s not easy in the current educational climate with the various groups - both religious and cultural fighting to make sure their view of "truth" is the only indoctrinated into the nation´s children.

In my view, Motion is arguing for the sort of education more suited to turning out tv quiz show contestants, rather than creating individuals capable of thinking for themselves.

Destroy a corporation for Palestine

2009-02-08T13:46:00.004Z

Not sure how it would help anyone, but it´s an interesting insight into the mind of the leader writer from the Tehran Times.

Compare that to a piece from Lebanon´s Daily Star a while back: Why terrorism instead of chocolates?

Unconditional love? Dream on

2009-02-06T09:10:00.005Z

So Blair´s beaten Brown to see Obama - so what?

But the Times´ piece has got a little nugget about Blair that I couldn´t let go:

"I was ten years old. That day my father – at the young age of 40 – had suffered a serious stroke. His life hung in the balance," he said.

"My mother, to keep some sense of normality in the crisis, sent me to school. My teacher knelt and prayed with me. Now my father was a militant atheist [sic]. Before we prayed, I thought I should confess this. 'I’m afraid my father doesn’t believe in God,' I said. 'That doesn’t matter,' my teacher replied 'God believes in him. He loves him without demanding or needing love in return.'

If that were true, perhaps the credulous would stop all their arguing, but the first commandment says something along the lines of Do not have any other gods before me. You shall worship no other god, because the Lord is a jealous god.

Now I can see that talking to a 10 year old, there´s a question of ensuring that you don´t cause unecessary distress - but repeating this blatant falsehood apparently with respect all these years later?

The more we hear about Blair´s faith, the more worried I am this man got to be PM. It sheds more light on why his spin doctor, Alistair Campbell, was keen to make sure that Blair didn´t do god.

You wait ages for one religious bus ad...

2009-02-05T13:00:00.007Z

Not surprisingly the credulous have decided to spend money on bus ads. Not just one group, but three!

Fr Andrew Phillips of the Russian Orthodox Church - slogan ‘There is God. Believe. Don’t worry and enjoy life’ thinks and I use the term very loosely "people would be worried more if they didn’t believe in God. It seems logical." huh? I´m not going to hurt my brain trying to understand his "logic".

The Christian Party proudly boasts, ‘There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life’. They´re clearly having such a good time that they can´t be bothered to file their 2007 accounts with the Electoral Commission. The fact that they also want to get rid of the Welsh dragon does not suggest that I would enjoy life as a member.

While the Trinitarian Bible Society [Telephone 020 8543 7857] uses a quote from the ancient hymnal of the Jews "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." Not even the no god ads called the believers fools.

The TBS is also offering free copies of the Bible, I hope that they´ve got enough to give out as there will be lots of non-believers only too willing to take them up on the offer to bankrupt the organisation - the ASA´s code does cover freebies and availability which could get them into difficulty.

Whatever, more complaints are coming to the ASA, surely.

Anything to declare, Sir?

2009-02-04T22:24:00.004Z

I realise that Australia has very strict quarantine regulations for very good reasons and trying to smuggle pigeons into the country as this man did seems madness.

However, the BBC´s report that "Customs officials say they also seized ... an undeclared aubergine" put a smile on my face.

They tell us that

the birds were wrapped in padded envelopes and held to the man's legs by a pair of tights under his trousers
he had two eggs in a vitamin container in the his luggage and
there were seeds in his money belt.

One hesitates to ask where the aubergine was!

Why Darwin matters

2009-02-04T11:56:00.003Z

Creation Ministries International wants to "demonstrate that the Bible "can be trusted in matters of history and science," including the origins of the universe."

CMI hopes to illustrate how the evolutionary viewpoint is far from the tried and tested science fact that many "believe" it to be and sees 2009 as a pivotal opportunity "to challenge the false foundations of the theory of evolution."

Given the evidence of yesterday´s poll it´s likely they´ll find all too willing an audience. I hope that this is a case of the hypointelligent wing of the christian faith fighting a hopeless last stand.

My questions for CMI:
Given that the bible has numerous inconsistencies, why should Genesis be any better than the rest of it? From Genesis itself, the sun and moon are the same type of thing - "two great lights". Not the best of starts really.

Why should Genesis be better than not only scientific evidence but also other candidates whose cosmogony mentions a time frame in connection with Creation - see here for some options.

Lies, damn lies and surveys

2009-02-03T10:42:00.003Z

Q3. Atheistic evolution is the idea that evolution makes belief in God
unnecessary and absurd. In your opinion is Atheistic evolution: (five possible answers definitely/probably true or untrue and don´t know.)

This was the question in a ComRes survey for Theos. Talk about a leading question! Why not simply ask the question about scientific evolution? Posed that way 57% thought that atheistic evolution was untrue against 34% who thought it true.

Compare that to the previous less tendentiously worded question asking for the respondents´opinion on theistic evolution - which the pollsters premise as "the idea that evolution is the means that God used for the creation of all living things on earth." [responses: 44% true 46% untrue] That I can cope with, On big bang I´m agnostic. The concept doesn´t do it for me as a pan narrans or storytelling ape. - but using the word God in the question immediately brings lots of baggage.

Or the following question - Intelligent Design is the idea that evolution alone is not enough to explain the complex structures of some living things, so the intervention of a designer is needed at key stages.[responses: 51% true 40% untrue]

I guess the most worrying thing for me (unless the poll responders were reflecting typical English bloody-mindedness and having a laugh) was that a third of the people in the survey said that they thought the earth was definitely or probably less than 10,000 years old! I suppose I should take comfort from the fact that at least a majority disagreed.

Creationism is attractive because it's easy: it requires no thought and people who don't think evolution is true don't really spend a lot of time thinking at all. I´ve adapated that thought from Adam Rutherford. He´s a bit more forgiving than I am and as this piece here demonstrates, there are major methodological problems with undertaking these surveys.

Apparently, 6 million Brits tuned in to watch David Attenborough's documentary on Darwin on Sunday night. I´m guessing that proto-creationists preferred Dancing on Ice which attracted some 7 million.

Don´t get me wrong, I´m not saying that the ITV programme shouldn´t be watched - I´m with Jeremy Bentham "... push-pin is as good as poetry." (For quotation) I enjoy reading fiction, which could be described as "lies-for-entertainment" in that the books I read don´t represent reality. Unfortunately, too many followers of the Abrahamic religions have lost the ability to tell the difference when it counts.

The NHS is not a pulpit

2009-02-02T15:54:00.005Z

UPDATE 6 Feb:

NHS North Somerset has contacted the publicity hungry nurse saying she can return to work 'as soon as possible' but evangelising is unacceptable: "spiritual support" (whatever that is) can be part of care when the patient asks for it and the initiative lies with the patient and not with the nurse.

Petrie´s response - "If they said 'please don't ask patients to pray' then I am sorry, I can't promise that, so where do we go from there? I would have to contact my lawyer." She clearly is a single-minded individual who takes a black and white view of the world. IF her religion is that important, what is she doing in nursing?

Very pleased to read that an elderly woman patient has complained to her local health trust after a nurse asked during a home visit if she wanted her to say a prayer for her.

The nurse´s justification is that I believe (despite the evidence) in the power of prayer. According to the Press Association, "She said she had seen her supplications have real effects on patients, including a Catholic woman whose urine infection cleared up days after she said a prayer." So nothing to do with the medication that she was on, clearly.

She´s also a recidivist - she had been reprimanded over her faith before, in October, when she gave a homemade prayer card to an elderly patient.

If you´re unwell and in your own home why should you have to deal with such evangelists? If she wants to pray for her patients as a consenting adult in private that´s her affair.

When I ring up my bank I don´t expect the person in the call centre to ask me if they want a prayer for guidance on setting a household budget. Honestly, there is one on the established church´s website:

Lord God, your will is to bring hope and a future to all your people.
Really? Matthew 10:34 - "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword"
Trusting in your steadfast love, see above
we ask your guidance as we work out a household budget.
Help us to learn to let no debt remain outstanding,
except the debt to love one another,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I think I´ll stick to excel or google spreadsheets.

London - It´s not snow usual

2009-02-02T13:55:00.009Z

Londoners do not routinely see much winter snow and the city rarely seems prepared for unusual precipitations.

This quote comes from the New York Times. I´m not so sure we Londoners should have a downer today.

Up to 4ins of snow has fallen in some parts of the capital, but that´s the worst snow for 18 years. So, I think that we can take that as unusual. If you live in areas where snow is more common you´re going to be more prepared for it! Do we really want to pay for all the equipment that would have been needed and would just sit idle for the other 6570 odd days for a once in a couple of decades event? We should be grateful that we´ve got a climate that doesn´t suffer from major extremes.

And the problem isn´t simply the snow: The Highways Agency said there have been too many minor accidents on the roads "to put a number on". That´s going to have knock on effects. However, we also shouldn´t overplay the problems. My other half got to his office in 90 mins today, by a circuitous route, using public transport. Twice as long as normal, but hardly earthshattering.

I´ll leave the last word to Boris:

"There's no doubt about it, this is the right kind of snow, it's just the wrong kind of quantities."

PS Which cleric is going to be the first to claim this is his skygod´s judgment on the capital?

Thanks to Bishop Alan Wilson for pointing me in the direction of the bus slogan generator. Great fun!

Darwin - Heritage of his ideas

2009-01-30T10:58:00.005Z

If David Attenborough gets hate mail for not recognising any role for ~~imaginary beings~~ gods in his documentaries, what are the non-thinking religious elements going to make of the UK nominating Darwin's home and workplace: Down House and its environs for inscription on UNESCO´s World Heritage list?

This has been on the "tentative list" since 1999, and an earlier nomination in 2006, was withdrawn a year later following concerns raised by the World's Heritage Committee's advisory body. According to the nomination documents the natural sciences are particular areas under-represented on the List and this is something the committee wants to redress and as 2009 is both the 200th anniversary of Darwin´s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species" it would seem fitting for the area to be listed this year.

The Galapagos, the isolated islands that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection following his visit in 1835, have been on the list since 1978 (and on the "in danger" list since 2007). Yet, as David Attenborough points out in the supporting documentation, Darwin "gathered and collated the vast majority of his evidence sitting in his study at Down House and observing, with unparalleled acuity, the processes of nature in his own English garden and surroundings."

Stonehenge and Avebury have been on the list since 1986 - and there are numerous cathedrals on the list of 679 cultural properties. I´m not saying that they shouldn´t be - given that they are testimony to earlier times, but scientific ideas need to be there, too. A quick search of the database throws up just ONE listing for human scientific endeavour.

The Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian and helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet.

As well as being a testament to the application of human intellect, it is also a good example of international human co-operation. When it was originally measured, the chain went through the territory of only two countries, Russia and Sweden. Now it runs through ten states: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, the first World Heritage Site to go through such a large number of countries. These countries have been cooperating since 1993 to ensure the chain´s protection.

Hopefully, Down House will be joining the list soon.

Funny Money

2009-01-29T12:07:00.003Z

Didn´t watch much of Million Dollar Traders, part of the BBC´s City season.

The my profit trumps all attitude doesn´t make for comfortable viewing. What´s the point in making a small amount in shorting financial shares, if you break the whole system - and have nowhere safe to put the money you made? In that sense, the programme was all too close to reality.

But I caught the end of the last episode, and the unreality of it all came all too clearly.

The man who put the money up (I wonder how much of a fee he got) the wonderfully named Lex van Dam told the best trader he wasn´t going to get a bonus because they didn´t make any money. Compare that to The New York Times’s report that employees at financial companies in New York collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008.

Much better is the always watchable Evan Davis. It´s a shame that the BBC didn´t make more of a series they made 45 years ago looking at the City which is available on their archive.

The Army and Olympics Security

2009-01-28T16:19:00.002Z

Gen Sir David Richards told the Commons Defence Committee that the Army may need new units, re-training and explosive specialists to be prepared properly for the event.

It may just be my gallows sense of humour but I read that as relating to specialists to create explosions. Is that bombers or fireworks experts?

Evolution - It happens, get over it

2009-01-28T15:58:00.004Z

Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail from viewers for not crediting God in his nature programmes. At least, for not giving credit for beautiful things like hummingbirds. "I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in East Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball," he says.

With the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin´s "On the Origin of Species" creationists and other non-thinkers are going to go into overdrive. Don´t think that this matters? A google ad on the Radio Times´ webpage with the listing for "Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life" claims "You can prove creation". On the website, its promoters bewail the fact that "Only a few generations ago laws prevented the teaching of the theory of evolution in some communities and regions in the United States. The Bible was commonly accepted as true and a reliable account of our origins. But now almost the opposite is true."

That´s because it´s patently absurd. The argument seems to be that it´s true, because it was written down. That gives the bible about as much credibility as the average tabloid.

I´m not going to provide a link here. If you want to read that garbage you can find it yourself. But, this is an issue that cannot be ignored.

Men spend nine hours of their life in a state of orgasm

2009-01-28T15:03:00.004Z

Average life span say 77 years or 675000 hours (give or take) 9 hours in orgasm don´t sound like that much - guess I´m more interested in the amount of time leading up to that.

Average orgasm 12.4 seconds so that makes something like 2600 orgasms in a life time, 40 a year for an average male after puberty. Given that they won´t be evenly distributed, some years are clearly going to be more fun than others!

A man usually ejaculates three or four portions of sperm during orgasm. All I could think of when reading that is the UK NHS´s "five a day" campaign. Not sure that was what was meant.

Just wonder, why did Pravda think this was information that we needed?

Gaza: the BBC is not the most important issue

2009-01-27T11:35:00.010Z

Arguing over the rights and wrongs about whether the tax-payer funded BBC should or should not show the DEC Gaza appeal is so much easier than dealing with the underlying issues.

~~More than 100~~ Nearly 150 of our elected representatives (mainly Lab and LibDem) have signed a motion expressing astonishment at the BBC´s decision not to show the appeal, compared with less than three dozen who put their names to a motion earlier in the year that expressed concern about "the impact [the current escalation of violence] is having on Gaza's children", and "that the ongoing attacks will only worsen the situation and occur at a time when the Gazan population is already severely afflicted."

By my reckoning, only 20 MPs have signed both, including my current favourite LibDem Mike Hancock, who thinks that you should be able see contentious ads asking you for money but not those that ask you to think.

Likewise, far fewer MPs signed a motion from William Hague that "recognises the need for the international community to begin an urgent and substantial humanitarian relief".

The MPs may have clear arguable cases for not supporting these earlier motions, but it does look like hypocrisy and going for the easy target. Especially from the SNP, every one of its seven MPs have signed up.

BBC, DEC and Gaza

2009-01-26T09:51:00.005Z

Heard Mark Thompson on the Today programme defending his decision not to air the Distaster Emergencies Committee´s appeal for aid for Palestinians.

I accept he is between a rock and a hard place. He either shows the appeal or not. There can´t be any middle way - and as a result whatever decision you make can be used as evidence of partiality.

The top two recommended comments on the BBC´s own message board neatly highlight the dilemma:

Gaza is not a natural disaster, it was caused by an intent of Hamas to get rid of Israel and the Jews. Have Iran given any aid, have any other Arab states given any aid?

This isn't about taking sides, it's about helping people in need. Stop worshipping Israel and show the appeal.

And as usual because of the risk of abuse the message board has to be fully moderated.

I like the analogy in the BBC´s own report on impartiality from 18 months ago. Twelve bottles on the alchemist’s shelf: Accuracy, Balance, Context, Distance, Evenhandedness, Fairness, Objectivity, Openmindedness, Rigour, Self-Awareness, Transparency and Truth. The alchemy link is inspired, because this is not and cannot be a scientific process and the binary nature of the possible outcomes in this particular case shouldn´t be allowed to become a stick to beat the BBC with in general.

Few random thoughts:

The majority of the DEC´s members are charities that are christian or have christian origins with the notable exception of Islamic Relief. Would it have helped if there had been a jewish faith-based charity involved in the appeal?

The BBC is seen as the lightning rod, even given the growth of multiple media outlets. OK Sky has now also decided not to show the appeal, would there have been so much national debate as a result?

The risk of manipulative, emotive editing is one that can´t be ignored - this was highlighted in the BBC report mentioned above. Scheduling the appeal after a major news bulletin does create a juxtaposition that could be problematic. That´s not saying that the audience is stupid, but the issue isn´t as clear cut as some would like people to think.

The pressure being put on the BBC from all sides, may not be representative of general views - and even if they are, the BBC has to weigh up the demands on it, against its own professionality. Just because you are in a minority doesn´t mean you´re not right but given one of the BBC’s purposes is to represent the UK to itself - it can´t be generally perceived as being on the "wrong" side too often. In a multi-cultural society with some extreme mutually incompatible viewpoints, achieving balance is (with British understatement) tricky.

The Muslim Council of Britain has said the BBC’s decision not to screen it was “a serious dereliction of its public duty” claiming it was "sabotaging" the DEC´s appeal. Given the amount of coverage the BBC has given to its navel gazing on this issue, the MCB again demonstrate its one-sideness. This is the same organisation that praised the "exemplary good sense (of the British media) in not following in the footsteps of Denmark, France or Germany (in publishing the Mohammed Cartoons). This was no ordinary case of self-restraint and it spoke of the latent virtue of culture and civility in public discourse in mainstream Britain" which now complains about the BBC being "tame" in its coverage of the region.

I started off writing this entry on the basis that I thought Thompson had got it wrong, and I´d have made a different decision. Now, I´m not so sure. Worse, the debate about the rights and wrongs of his decision is unlikely to remain civil.

Brits schizophrenic? Or just media?

2009-01-24T08:33:00.005Z

BBC: Britons 'bored but happy' - study
Guardian: British 'among least happy in Europe'

The BBC headline refers to a study by the New Economics Foundation (NeF) that found UK residents were among the six happiest nations out of 22 European countries.

The Guardian writes that Britain comes third from the bottom in western Europe in the National Accounts of Wellbeing report, published today... by independent thinktank the New Economics Foundation.

It´s Saturday, I´m not bored enough to look at the report itself to see what it says.

Northern Rock bonuses

2009-01-23T08:13:00.004Z

When I first read about the outrage over bonuses being paid to staff at nationalised bank Northern Rock, I guess I wasn´t too concerned.

As FSA chairman Lord Turner said, "Those people were given a promise and it is important to realise that these are not fat cat bonuses of millions, these are ordinary workers who have done the job that they have been told to do which was the job people thought was the sensible thing at the time."

But the bonuses are reportedly for "hitting targets on repaying the bank’s £26bn Government loan." Yet, we learn that the Treasury is considering lending Northern Rock, another £5bn-£10bn.

I don´t begrudge the ordinary staff the bonus on the basis of meeting a reasonable promise, but surely, if the taxpayer needs to stump up more money the targets haven´t been met in any meaningful way. That´s the sort of "heads I win, tails you lose" outcome that is a real problem.

Getting your feet wet

2009-01-23T00:02:00.006Z

This cartoon comes from the Daily Mail. I like this cartoon. It sums up very neatly the way that Obama is currently seen. Unfortunately, sooner or later, there are going to be some very disappointed people.

I have no idea whether he will be a good president or not. I´ve not even thought through how I would weigh an answer to that question, and as a European I´ll have a very different scale from a US citizen. Closing Guantanamo, is a necessary move, definitely good politics, but certainly not sufficient.

What Obama has, as Mac´s cartoon clearly demonstrates is a huge reservoir of goodwill internationally. Now comes the hard part. To mix watery metaphors, like King Canute he´s going to have get his feet wet to demonstrate to foolish sycophants that he´s not onmipotent. How they react is another matter.

President Obama, Lewisham salutes you

2009-01-22T12:36:00.003Z

Good to see that my local council has its priorities right:

COUNCILLORS spent more than 20 minutes praising American President Barack Obama at a council meeting last night, leaving no time to discuss other issues affecting Lewisham residents.

A motion tabled by mayor Sir Steve Bullock to recognise the importance of Mr Obama's inauguration took priority over other motions such as the provision of free school meals for all.

The meeting was ended before councillors had time to discuss the motion tabled by Green councillor Darren Johnson.

Thanks to this is local London for that.

Someone else who should have kept his big mouth shut on the subject of the new president, Bishop of Maidstone Graham Cray.

The world can change, not because there is a new generation in the White House, or even because of the first black president, but because God has created a world in which change can happen.

The inanity of this statement is just breathtaking. See Obama´s own words here.

Empty vessels make the most noise

2009-01-22T10:19:00.004Z

Not surprisingly, Stephen Green, proud self-publicist at christian voice isn´t happy with the ASA´s ruling against his complaint.

"Their ruling is just another example of how the deck is stacked against Christians today."
Well, I for one am very pleased he thinks that. He doesn´t want equal rights, he wants a theocratic UK. If that´s what the deck is stacked against, then that´s all for the good.

Green, as is so often the case with fundamentalists, tries to twist the ASA´s code by leaving out relevant parts. He says: advertisers must hold evidence to prove the claims they make omitting the fact that the code actually says evidence is required to prove all claims, whether direct or implied, that are capable of objective substantiation. (My emphasis)

So, religious types can make claims about their god, heaven, hell etc none of which can be shown objectively, what they can´t do is infer from that they have carte blanche to make claims about the way the world is (or they would like it to be) based solely on those beliefs. Of course, then we´re in the realm of lies, damned lies and statistics - but that can be dealt with by rational debate. People who live by any one book tend not to be good at logic.

While scientists can make reasonable estimates of how many human beings have lived and died on this planet, no-one can give a population estimate for heaven and hell that is anything other than subjective. That´s the difference in the claims. Unfortunately, the ASA´s ruling would appear to allow religious types to advertise 100% of atheists go to hell. I would hope however that would get caught under the code provisions to prevent causing fear and distress.

Green´s lack of support from other christians speaks volumes.

ASA - atheist bus, stop worrying

2009-01-21T17:44:00.003Z

The ASA has decided that the atheist bus ad campaign is not in breach of the Advertising Code.

The ASA Council concluded that the ad was an expression of the advertiser’s opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation. Although the ASA acknowledges that the content of the ad would be at odds with the beliefs of many, it concluded that it was unlikely to mislead or to cause serious or widespread offence.

It´s good to see that we still have a sense of perspective in this country.

The problem is that the ASA´s ruling doesn´t deal with the issue of what is an acceptable claim that is not capable of objective substantiation - whoever the promoter. This won´t be the last time we have these arguments.

Czech position on Entropa

2009-01-21T09:43:00.002Z

Bowing to official protests from Sofia, the Czechs have covered the Bulgarian depiction with a black cloth.

But I like the candour of Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek "Publicly, my position on them is strongly neutral. Privately, I am laughing as anybody else".

Thanks to EUbusiness.com for reporting that.

Limits on freedom of speech

2009-01-20T09:11:00.006Z

The ad campaign supported by the British Humanist Campaign is "religiously offensive and morally unhelpful".

So claims Bob Spink MP for Castle Point - a little chunk of south east Essex in an early day motion put down in parliament.

According to the Times, Doctor Spink (he has a PhD in Economics and Management from Cranfield) is a “hang-em-and-flog-em” rightwinger. Just under a year ago he became the UK Independence Party´s first MP at Westminster, when he jumped/was pushed (delete according to preference) from the Tories. (Just as an aside he is listed as an independent on Parliament´s own website.)

While it´s no surprise that someone like him would come up with a motion like this, what did shock me was that a Liberal Democrat, Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South) is one of the very few MPs who has signed up to it. Seems extremely illiberal, Mr Hancock.

At time of writing, only nine MPs have put their names to the motion. In addition to the two names above, two are members of the DUP - surprise there is that more of them haven´t, while the other five are Labour MPs either with significant muslim populations in their constituencies or describe themselves as committed christians. To give an example of how few that is, 93 members have signed up to a motion calling on the Government to prioritise research into bee health. A number of the MPs named here have signed both.

There is also a second EDM on the issue of the adverts, which claims that the rationale behind the ads "is that people can be less careful about their lifestyle choices and general approach to life’s consequences..." I can see how "Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life" can be read in that way, but only until you think about it. Three tories have signed up to this one, in addition to Spink and the two DUP MPs. Two of them are Nicholas and Ann Winterton. No comment necessary. The third is Lee Scott, another Essex MP (what is it about Essex?) who told the BBC that his hero is Yitzhak Rabin - an insurgent against the British in Mandate Palestine.

So, in total 12 members of the house have signed up to these two motions. That it is so few is gratifying. But still cause for vigilance.

"Freedom of speech is not limited to polite observations. Freedom of speech means anyone can be as offensive as they wish provided they do not break the law of the land." I await the ASA´s view of the ads with bated breath!

Thanks to The Freethinker for the heads up about the EDMs.

An American Entropa?

2009-01-19T12:54:00.003Z

Following on from the fuss over Entropa, the LA Times says "We'd like to think we could laugh at a portrait of the United States a la Cerny. Though that might depend on how close it hewed to the truth."

I have to say that from my experience, I´m not so sure. Back in 97, the International Herald Tribune wrote that "Europeans tend to rely on ancient but often accurate national stereotypes to help them understand their neighbors... While those ideas may often be caricatures, they also reflect centuries in which Europeans have observed each other, as trading partners and on the battlefield, at very close quarters. European stereotypes apply not just to individuals but to whole countries, too. Thanks to their differing histories, cultures and geographies, the European nations have developed distinct and recognizable personalities."

It is that self-recognition of the truth in the caricatures (whether good aspects or not) that draws the sting of any offence. If it´s "good" (e.g.French make the best lovers) it´s something to aspire to; if "bad" (Italians are the worst drivers) something to be dealt with. The problem comes when individuals see the "bad" as something worthy of emulation.

From my two short trips to the states and from meeting US citizens in Europe there seems to be much less willingness to laugh at even gentle fun-poking from outsiders.

Maybe that´s the issue. For all that nationalism still exists in the EU, there is a sense, in my view, that the majority see themselves as Europeans (even if only in distinction to the others - Americans, Africans etc). Had Entropa been created for a non-European audience rather than to be on display at the heart of the EU, would it have had the same reaction? It´s a question of familiarity and knowing where the boundaries lie between humour, bad taste, and outright offence. These shift and there are no right or wrong answers. What I will say about David Černý is that in my opinion if he overstepped the mark in just one of the 27, that´s a pretty good hit rate.

Entropa update

2009-01-18T21:59:00.004Z

Sofia - The Czech ambassador to Bulgaria was given a toilet bowl as a present on Friday, by a youth organisation during his official presentation of the priorities of the Czech European Union presidency in Sofia, the state BTA news agency reported. LINK

Malta: BBC quiz adds to Malta depiction controversy (my emphasis) This is a headline from the Times of Malta. Not sure how a BBC online quiz, asking its readers what image was used to depict Malta is adding to the controversy. According to the Malta Independent the EU’s smallest country was portrayed as one of its famous prehistoric dwarf elephants, above which hangs a magnifying glass several times larger than it. Not quite sure what problem the two Maltese journals have.

Bulgaria: On Monday the Bulgaria module will be dismounted or covered, according to Standart citing Bulgaria's embassy in Brussels. I can understand why the Bulgarians had most to get upset about - and I´d really like to understand what the artist was trying to suggest, but this sort of censorship poses difficult issues especially in the context of the recent Mohammed cartoons.

According to one source, the depiction was because of a personal memory from a childhood trip. Hmmm, rather goes against the grain of "stereotypes" then if it´s totally personal. My other half associates those sorts of toilets with France.

I don´t know much about Bulgaria. One of the things that has stuck in my memory though is that Bulgarians nod for "no" and shake their head for "yes" - contrary to almost everyone else. UNLESS I was told by a Bulgarian ex-colleague they had travelled and then they tried to conform to the European norm when talking to foreigners leaving open the possibility for much confusion.

Sweden: The Local an English language news website sees the Nordic country´s depiction as "a less-than-subtle jab at Sweden’s alleged involvement in attempts to bribe Czech politicians into approving a massive order for the Gripen fighter jet". The accompanying catalogue, now removed from the Czech presidency´s website, talks of the depiction as "an IKEA flat pack in the shape of the Swedish kingdom, which conceals an inconvenient truth." The Local explains with a hole toward the bottom of the box, viewers can also see a small piece from the Saab JAS-39 Gripen aircraft.

Oath of Office

2009-01-18T10:15:00.004Z

On Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.

It´s a shame that he won´t follow the example of John Quincy Adams who despite being a devout christian took his presidential oath upon a "Volume of Laws" because as he wrote in his diary, it was the Constitution he swore to preserve, protect and defend.

The oath that an incoming President has to swear or affirm is laid down in the US Constitution. "So help me, God" which most of them add isn´t there.

Thanks to the LA Times for that.

Update: Obama took the oath twice, after Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts got the words of the oath a little wrong, which prompted Obama to do so too. The second time no bible was used. Officials have insisted Obama has been authentically president since Tuesday afternoon, despite getting the words of his swearing-in wrong - but wanted to make sure there were no grounds for any legal challenge - a fair point in the notorious litigious US.

More religious nuttery

2009-01-17T10:25:00.001Z

What is it about religion, stupidity (OK they might be one and the same thing for a lot of people) and wanting publicity?

"Committed christian" Ron Heather went on strike rather than drive a bus with an atheist advert, but I guess it makes a change from the faithful complaining about gay people.

He was reported in the Daily Mail: 'If this had been a slogan which had been as derogatory about another religion then I'm sure people would be up in arms."

Bit of news for you, Ron: the message is about the deities from all religions. Interesting though that you take it to mean your particular one.

I´ve no problem with religious zealots as long as they are consistent. Is Heather really saying that since 2004 this is the first advert he´s objected to?

Haven´t they had ads
using scantily clad underwear models (surely that´s incitement to covet if not adultery)
offering expensive loans (usury)
promoting Sunday shopping (not keeping the sabbath holy)
divorce lawyers (usurping the role of the skygod)

etc in Southampton? Or should we take it that he´s content with those. He´s quoted as saying its the starkness of the message that got him. So, to be charitable, I´ll assume it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel´s back.

However, his employers´ response

"As a company we understand Mr Heather’s views regarding the atheist bus advert and we are doing what we can to accommodate his request not to drive the buses concerned."

gives a hostage to fortune allowing anyone to attempt to curb legal free expression.

In his now notorious speech where Rowan Williams argued the adoption of some Sharia law in the UK (in the form of arbitration) seemed "unavoidable" the churchman recognised the risk that appeal to a claimed belief becomes a trump card but offers no solution. "The secular lawyer needs to know where the potential conflict is real, legally and religiously serious, and where it is grounded in either nuisance or ignorance."

I know in which of those categories I put Heather´s alleged complaint! Interestingly though, he seems to have spurred people to make more donations to the original campaign organisers.

PS I would love the letter shown here to be genuine. Does sending a free toilet to Stephen Green count as offensive?

Give a hand to the Czechs

2009-01-15T14:29:00.003Z

After the media frenzy over the art installation in Brussels to mark the Czech´s presidency of the EU, Alexandr Vondra, their Deputy Prime Minister for EU Affairs had a difficult task at the official unveiling today.

Although his speech includes the obligatory political apology to those who felt offended, the Czechs seem to be big enough to recognise that while they were misled, the art work has had value for the reaction it generated.

"We gave opportunity to free expression ... We hope we will be able to laugh with you – not at you."

So much better than censorship.

Czech sense of humour

2009-01-14T09:41:00.014Z

After Nicolas Sarkozy´s hyperactive six months when France were holding the rotating presidency of the EU, there were worries when the Czechs took over on the 1st of January that they would be more low-key. Well, the Czech presidency has suddenly been thrust into the limelight.

Nothing to do with major issues that need addressing - Israel´s collective punishment of the Gaza Strip, Gazprom vs Ukraine, CAP, the wasteful travelling circus that is the parliament or even the Czech´s three ‘E’s’ it has set itself as priorities: Economy, Energy and Europe in the world....I could go on, but it´s not the point.

The Czechs have managed to generate media interest for their contribution to the tradition of the country holding the presidency installing a decoration in the Justus Lipsius building atrium. So why the fuss? Is it because, the Czechs are charging €50,000 for renting it to Europe until the 30 June 2009. (Seems a bit rich that!) Nope.

The Czechs believed that they were getting the joint work of 27 artists, each one from a different Member State and depicting one Member State using common preconceptions. The title of the piece is Entropa: Stereotypes are Barriers to be Demolished

But the whole thing is a hoax. The political symbolism of Entropa (even before the individual elements are considered) is priceless; a work claiming to be an example of European co-operation but in fact the product of one country.

The artist, David Černý, explains that he misled the Czech government, so that they did not have "to bear the responsibility for this kind of politically incorrect satire. We knew the truth would come out. But before that we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself."

The question is, will Europeans live up to Černý´s view that Europeans have the necessary sense of irony. The brochure that goes with the work is a wonderful parody not only of European national stereotypes, but also the pretentious nature of contemporary art.

I could understand why Czech officaldom wouldn´t want to be associated with this, not least because it will be a distraction from important business, but as Milena Vicenová, the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the European Union in the Czech´s official press release, 'Making fun of prejudice destroys it most efficiently.'

Responses so far and ones that may be expected:

The Bulgarian government has expressed its unhappiness at being depicted as a "Turkish" squat and drop toilet and apparently is demanding that the part of exhibit representing it is removed. vulgar exhibition in the heart of the old continent. Bulgaria does probably come off worst.

Unsurprisingly, the eurosceptic UK media has pounced on the empty space representing the UK as a worthy aim. My view is that, as an airfix kit, Europe won´t work with the UK missing!

German view from Der Spiegel: Great Britain, one imagines, has no opinion one way or the other. The historically euro-skeptic country was left off the sculpture altogether. (No opinion? They don´t get our robust sense of humour!) But Der Spiegel has the best gallery I´ve seen so far of the individual elements - but even they only have 10 of the 27 member state depictions!

Germany - the autobahns were described on the 1am GMT news on the BBC World Service this morning as faintly looking like a swastika - can´t see it myself. Looks like a number 8 to me.

Denmark - BBC and ABC in Australia are trying to suggest that the lego blocks used are reminiscent of one of the Mohammed cartoons - again that´s hard to see. You really have to want to see it as shown here.

On the islamic theme, the Netherlands is shown as minarets above a flooded landscape. That will provoke!

The Vatican has yet to comment as far as I can see on the piece representing Poland entitled "Stand by your faith" that priests raising the rainbow flag.

"It is great, I think that it represents (particular countries) very well," Silvio, an Italian employee of the EU Council. ceskenoviny.cz

Ireland: Clearly, the Czechs have a sense of humour.

Adam Smith Institute: The Czech Republic should be made permanent holders of the EU Presidency.

The French with all their cultural sensibilities must be a bit miffed. As previous holders of the presidency, they installed a giant balloon, which got no coverage, but did run the risk of becoming a metaphor for hot air. Now they´re shown as a country on strike!

As a work of art, if nothing else it has created debate and that has to be good!

Update 15 Jan

Despite positive support for the piece, a London correspondent for the New York Times ended up with an article headlined: Art Hoax Unites Europe in Displeasure - claiming that the work was intended to "symbolize the glory of a unified Europe by reflecting something special about each country". Oops

Denmark´s foreign minister defended the artist´s right to free expression (link på dansk), although according to one paper in the UK there are suggestions that the depiction of the country was amended so that it didn´t look so obviously like the most problematic of the Mohammed cartoons.

Slovakia could ask for the removal of its depiction: a salami tied by a string in the colours of the Hungarian tricolour.

When the work went "live": AP
Toy cars on Germany's autobahns immediately started moving, Greek forest fires lit up... and Italian soccer players did unspeakable things with the ball. More for the Vatican to complain about there!

ASA to rule on non-existence of God (maybe)

2009-01-11T10:45:00.006Z

I know, I shouldn´t give Stephen Green who claims to represent "christian voice" the oxygen of publicity, but his reporting of the atheist bus ads to the ASA is just too good an opportunity to miss.

When a newspaper in the UAE describes Green´s organisation as "a fundamentalist ministry" - it´s clear that you´re at the extreme end of skygod believers.

He claims that the ads appearing on buses in the UK encouraging people to stop worrying and enjoy life as there probably is no god breach the ASA´s code - as the claim can´t be substantiated.

The idea of the ASA being a suitable forum to decide on the likelihood of the (non-)existence of any supreme being is just beyond satire. Maybe as another blog mischievously suggests, "Green is actually a campaigning atheist, using clever subterfuge to make Christianity and Christians look ridiculous." Or as one of the comments adds, he is proof of the existence of a deity as SOMETHING must have put Green on the earth for our amusement!

I can´t wait to read the ASA´s adjudication - or will they duck this and refuse to investigate? As its relevant code says "The ASA does not arbitrate between conflicting ideologies" (1.4)

A muslim´s christmas message

2008-12-26T10:36:00.003Z

Not surprisingly, Channel 4´s choice of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give its "alternative Christmas message" has got the UK media into a tizzy, led by the Daily Mail which called it a cheap stunt and claimed that "The abuses perpetrated by the Ahmadinejad regime against women and homosexuals are inimical to everything Channel 4 and its viewers represent."

True enough, except that Channel 4 is also meant to offer pluralism. If you read the words of Ahmadinejad´s speech it´s no more or less offensive than one that could be given by Rowan Williams, any Pope, or "some daft old aristocrat who has spent her entire life having her every wish catered for by an army of flunkies and has never washed a single dish or paid one bill." (A letter to the Scottish Daily Record)

However,one sentence in particular jumps out at me - If tyrannical goals are repackaged in an attractive and deceptive package and imposed on nations [again], the people, awakened, will stand up against them.

I guess Ahmadinejad was talking about the way the US does things. But that could also, in my view, be applied to islam and in particular sharia law.

In an earlier speech to the UN Ahmadinejad has talked about the need for "a little more listening to other points of view" including things you don't like to hear. Would that he practised what he preaches but Channel 4 has tried to get the British public to do that and is criticised for it.

Can the king refuse again?

2008-12-19T18:42:00.004Z

In Canada, parliament is currently suspended after a request from Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he wanted to avoid losing a vote of no-confidence.

In Belgium, Yves Leterme, doesn´t seem to be able to go.

It took more than 200 days for politicians to stitch together a workable coalition after the election in the summer of 2007. Leterme twice failed to form a government, but was asked by the king to try again. He only took power at Easter after an interim goverment was appointed this time last year. When a self imposed deadline of 15 July to reach a deal on reform to devolve yet more powers failed King Albert refused to accept Leterme´s resignation. This time it´s not devolution but separation of powers between the judiciary and executive. Judges blocked the government's bail-out and sale of its stake in Fortis to French bank BNP and Belgium's highest court said the government had tried to influence the ruling.

Flemish broadcaster, VRT, is reporting that Leterme´s position "looks untenable following the statement by the chairman of the Court of Cassation that there was an attempt by the cabinet of Yves Leterme to exert political influence", but the BBC is again reporting that the King won´t accept the resignation. Under Belgium´s constitution, the only scenario envisaged for the government to resign is in the event of the loss of a vote of no-confidence and the naming of a successor by the House of Representatives.

The lack of any successor is clearly an issue. PM of Belgium is clearly a less attractive job than it was at the time of the elections eighteen months ago or when the country was put up for auction.

But surely, it is now time to give the matter back to the people? A Federal election isn´t due until 2011, but early elections are possible. Next June Belgian voters elect their regional parliaments and their members of the European Parliament.

That would seem a reasonable time to re-elect the Federal parliament. It may not produce a more clear cut result, but with the financial débacle across Europe, voters´ minds ought at least be concentrated on what Belgium actually is for.

More woolly beliefs

2008-12-19T09:12:00.003Z

I asked a while back, what does Rowan Williams believe in?

According to an interview this week: "I believe the Church exists because of God, not because of the state".

Errr, surely the coE exists because it has colluded with the English state from its origins as a result of "Tudor nationalist belief that authority over the English Church properly belonged to the English monarchy" and not to the Pope in Rome. (History of Church of England)

I´m not saying that the CoE´s ability for compromise with temporal powers is a bad thing, but Williams´s view does seem rather at odds with the history.

Protection from what (I think) I want

2008-12-01T11:00:00.001Z

UPDATE: Lewisham LBC v Malcolm - Common sense prevails in important Disability Discrimination Case

Wrote this in September 07
Not sure what to make of this judgment. I guess the next thing is that Lewisham will be hit with a claim for damages. Interested me as I´m a council tax payer so I looked up the full report. As a result this entry rather goes wider into mental health issues.

A schizophrenic man who had sublet his council flat could not be evicted because that would count as unlawful discrimination. The Disability Rights Commission claimed that he didn´t have "sufficient appreciation of what he was doing and the consequences of his actions". If you have someone with a fluctuating condition can they ever really give informed consent to things with long term consequences e.g. mortgages, credit cards, contracts of all sorts?

Prior to stopping taking his medicine, he´d been able to hold down a job. During the time he stopped he was able (whether assisted or not I don´t know) to

apply for housing and unemployment benefit
make an insurance claim
apply for a mortgage and
deal with solicitors to allow him to exercise his right to buy (a process that had started two years earlier).

He was proposing to buy the property for the purchase price of £42,000 but was letting at a rent of £625 per month, which the original judge described as "an extremely good return on that capital outlay". 17% a year, I should say so.

He claimed that his "decision to sublet was an illogical decision made when he was unwell". The original judge found that "the sub-letting through agents was a planned decision closely linked with the defendant's proposed purchase on mortgage." As you may be able to tell, I´m with the original judge. It is the consequences of the ONLY action that was detrimental to him out of all of these for which he is claiming discrimination. Yet, the Lady Justice Arden found "clear evidence that Mr Malcolm was suffering an abnormal inability to carry on normal day-to-day activities and that inability could not be described as minor or trivial."

Although Lewisham´s possession proceedings were dismissed, Malcolm´s secure tenancy was not revived and he lost the right to buy the flat. Its notice to quit was also declared to be unlawful discrimination and on that basis the contractual tenancy would continue. (One of the judges disagreed on the notice to quit, because at the time Lewisham were unaware of his schizophrenia but recognised that would cause problems as to the status of Mr Malcolm. He´d become a tolerated trespasser.)

A law firm has given a potential implication:

Imagine a tenant who suffers a nervous breakdown and is not expected to recover for a few years. During that time, the tenant does not pay his rent. Again, the landlord could be prevented from recovering possession.

Surprisingly, the lawyers don´t mention what would be the likely outcome - the landlord taking the government to court claiming that the effect of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 breaches the Human Rights Act 1998: "No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest".

Dealing with competing rights and duties are going to come up more and more.

One example given in the judgment is that a publican commits a criminal offence by selling alcohol to a person who is drunk but refusing to serve a customer who is lying down as a result of a disability rather than alcoholic consumption the publican risks committing an unlawful act and damages for discrimination although it is a defence to have a reasonable opinion that the denial of service

is necessary in order not to endanger the health or safety of any person DDA 20(4)
or because the person can´t give informed consent DDA 20(5)

Is the law really asking a pub employee to be able to make such decisions?

This year the Mental Capacity Act 2005 comes into force. Its key principles include:

A presumption in law that adults have the capacity to make their own decisions unless it is proven otherwise and that
Everything practicable must be done to support individuals to make their own decisions including allowing them the freedom to make unwise decisions - although a carer can also be guilty of a criminal offence of ill-treatment.

According to the BMA, the government believes there is a "single clear test for assessing whether a person lacks capacity to take a particular decision at a particular time" but with amazing self-restraint they limit themselves to saying in reality it "is always likely to be slightly more complex." If it´s complex in a clinical setting then what hope is there for the rest of us?

I´m all in favour of anti-discrimination legislation especially if it stops casual assumptions - but we appear to be in danger of allowing such legislation to undermine protection for vulnerable people.

The euro and the soundbite.

2008-12-01T09:46:00.003Z

Widespread coverage of Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso saying on France's RTL radio that some British politicians have told him, 'If we had the euro, we would have been better off'.

That´s a debatable point - but I´m more interested in Barroso´s later point.

"I know that the majority in Britain remain opposed to this idea, but it is evolving and the people who count in the United Kingdom are in the process of thinking about it," he said. I´ve used the quote from Reuters, (the BBC refers to people who matter, but the thrust is the same. - Barroso, from Portugal was talking in French).

Getting a promised referendum on the euro in the UK is in the hands of the politicians, but the decision is (rightly or wrongly) in the hands of voters. It is difficult for people like me who are instinctively European to deal with this. Barrosso has handed a gift to those who believe that the EU is anti-democratic.

But this was just one subject in a lengthy discussion between Barroso and RTL´s "Grand Jury" of 3 journalists about a wide range of European issues. Link: bit about the UK is about 15 minutes in.

Just before claiming the UK was closer to joining the euro than ever (which may be true - but I happen to think it is still a long way off) Barroso stressed that London is the primary European financial centre (that´ll please Frankfurt) and he noted that one of the best things about les britanniques is that they are pragmatic.

We complain about our politicians talking in soundbites, but when this is how our media behave is it any surprise?

John Sergeant - BBC Sports Personality?

2008-11-23T11:25:00.006Z

Just my two penn´orth on Strictly Come Dancing and John Sergeant.

1/ It shows the problems with referendums. People don´t necessarily vote on the question. Cherie Lunghi's partner, James Jordan said "This is supposed to be a dance contest...Please, please, people at home, vote for the dancing."

BBC viewers were looking for entertainment not technical excellence. Absolutely fine when you´re dealing with I´m a non-entity looking for idolatry not so good if you´re dealing with serious issues.

2/ All I saw of his dancing was his final attempt last night. His chat afterwards can have done his media image no harm at all. I think there is scope for John for a top 3 finish in the BBC Sports Personality of the year. According to the BBC press office, the title is "awarded to the sportsman or woman whose actions have most captured the public's imagination over the last year". Sergeant is certainly a sport and his actions have clearly caught the public imagination.

Can only see a small number of other people who have had the same thought.

Martin Kearns, St Etienne du Bois, France in a Times online forum

Clapton is God in a PC Advisor forum before JS quit dancing.

G in a Scotsman forum

Unfortunately - this won´t happen, the nominations closed a week ago and were provided by a panel of over 30 leading sporting experts from a selection of newspaper sports editors (national and regional) and magazines - not public opinion.

Barclaycard customer service - don´t bank on it

2008-09-28T10:09:00.009+01:00

About 10 days ago I got a letter from Barclaycard telling me that I should have received my new card and PIN to replace my Morgan Stanley card which would stop working on the 22nd.

Just one thing. I hadn´t. Not going to go all through my conversations with Barclaycard but key points:

Their attitude - we had a lot of cards to send out. The last ones weren´t sent until Wed 17th. Ring us if you´ve not got it by next Friday i.e. the end of the week after my current card was going to stop working. No-one seemed to be in the slightest bit interested that the card may have gone astray or that I could be without a card for a week.

Someone from B/Card did call me to find out if I´d received my card. Her comment when I said no was "great"! But at least she did let me know that the cards had been extended for a week.

Because they use an automated call system when ringing them they want you to enter your Barclaycard number. Fine except of course I don´t have that. MS used a freephone number, Barclaycard don´t - so this is costing you money.

This week I get a PIN (only one, despite there being two cards on the account). Still no card.

Get two emails telling me the balance of my account and when payment is due. With different amounts and dates.

On Friday I rang the number on B/Card´s website. Number unobtainable. Then realise that they have transposed a couple of digits when looking at the number on other pages. But that is only for Goldfish cardholders. All the Scottish call centre can do is put me through to India which hasn´t worked to date - so I tell them not to bother.

In frustration, as a shareholder, I ring investor relations - and they pass it on to a very empathetic woman in Barclaycard´s directors´ office. She reassures me that my MS card will work until Tuesday and is going to ring me back Monday. As I explained to her, the fact that I got to that stage reflects very badly on the bank.

The FAQs on B/Card´s website recently explained that online registration was unavailable. Today it now says: ... "We are increasing our capacity to ensure that we can handle all of your requests as soon as possible." Why was that not done BEFORE? They knew they were issuing 1.7m cards, and would have known how many cardholders used online servicing.

It certainly hasn´t gone the way Amer Sajed, managing director of UK cards at Barclaycard, claimed: "Over the next few weeks, we are focused on ensuring a simple and seamless transition for our new customers and we feel that the new card offers and our customer service will make them feel welcome to Barclaycard." I´m a realist I accept things can go wrong, but this changeover seems to have been poorly planned, appallingly executed and with no customer service back up in place.

As I´ve written here before, my other half remembers as a student in the eighties "Don´t bank on apartheid" - a campaign to get Barclays to pull out of South Africa. So he wasn´t particularly happy with moving over. The lack of customer service to date hasn´t made him feel any better.

Update 2 Oct - Now have PINs for both cards. Just a slight problem - no cards. Spoke to the woman at B/Card again yesterday. My MS cards have been extended til the 8th. Ah well, maybe the cards will get here tomorrow.

Update 7 Oct - Finally, cards have arrived. Barclaycard´s dispatch agents still claim that they were posted by on the 30th. I think someone there is telling porkies.

Hazards of travelling in London

2008-04-27T11:41:00.003+01:00

Last week, I was shouted at on a bendy bus for the length of the journey. Typical religous nutter who has got it into his head that bus passengers need to have highly partial extracts from a chaotically cobbled together anthology of disjointed documents shouted at them.

Typical London reaction is to look away embarrassed. Me, I started heckling. Unless ordinary people challenge the dross that these people shout, it will be seen as acceptable behaviour.

I´d argue that the preacher (who wasn´t the most intelligent of individuals, no surprise there) was causing a nuisance contrary to The Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990. But getting him to shut up or get off requires the driver to take action - very unlikely. (OK, my heckling could also be seen as causing a nuisance, but that was only reactive to the shouting credophile.)

Free speech is one thing, but TfL provides the bus service to get people from A to B. Not to provide a travelling pulpit. Care in the community has a lot to answer for.

London´s choice

2008-04-20T14:10:00.003+01:00

The Economist hits the nail on the head this week, with this piece on the elections for London Mayor - Send out the clowns.

Incumbent Ken is a megalomaniac who cosies up to fanatical Islamists (while still trying to claim to be homo-friendly); tolerates dodgy practices and is vindictive and insulting to anyone who disagrees with him.

The only man who can beat him is Boris Johnson. A man who before becoming the tories´ candidate hadn´t shown much interest in London. Even card carrying tories of my acquaintance call him a buffoon.

It´s not quite the level of choice the French got in the presidential race in 2002 "Better the crook (Chirac) than the fascist (Le Pen)" but it´s close.

Ring of fire

2008-04-07T19:34:00.004+01:00

Yesterday, protesters turned the torch´s progress through London into the sort of scenes more usually reserved for mass murderers or pædophiles being escorted into court.

Even in the secure zone of Downing St, the Chinese were worried trying to protect the torch from being seen by the media.

When the the London Olympic team released their rightly derided logo last year, the team´s official blog only showed positive comments. The team´s blindness to anything that doesn´t match their view of reality is now reaching European Commission standards. Even the Chinese felt they had to comment.

On the London team´s blog?

An inspirational day with the Torch: Not because of the support shown for human rights, but because I got to fetch water for Paula Radcliffe!
Beijing Torch Relay - my day in pictures: Not a single protester in sight - but lots of police
Warm hearts melted the big chill: Heartwarming piece about activities in Newham.

In France, the complaints of the French Olympic Committee were even worse than those of the Chinese. "The Olympic sacred fire is a symbol of peace, tolerance... and should not be affected by anybody in any way," Guy Drut told France 3 television.The Olympic "family" are second only to the credophiles for wanting to be untouchable.

The first torch relay was held in Berlin in 1936 (yep, Hitler´s Olympics) and only became a global event for the Athens Games in 2004. Hopefully, this will be the last. Given the UK´s reputation, I can see similar problems in four years times.

Painting the traffic lights red

2008-03-02T20:34:00.004Z

What to make of this story from the Economist about the ongoing shenanigans in Belgium?

"In Brussels and the French-speaking south, the posts of traffic lights are painted with red and white bands, but as soon as you cross into Dutch-speaking Flanders, they suddenly turn yellow and black striped" - the colours of the Flemish flag. I must admit I´d never noticed that before, but then you don´t do you.

According to the Economist´s correspondent, David Rennie "In the Flemish suburbs closest to Brussels, they have been quietly adding a red stripe to the posts..." to give the national colours.

Hmmm he doesn´t say but would this be happening in Halle-Vilvoorde?

The question the correspondent reports, "whether patriotism could be equated to vandalism" is an amusing one, but the francophones who are doing this need to be a bit more careful. The symbolism of the red stripe dripping down (as Rennie saw in Tervuren could be rather unfortunate!

In one sense it´s all very civilised - much better spilling paint or than blood. But in another it´s all depressing. The two parts of Belgium think that it makes sense having different colours of their traffic light poles and others waste time on such petty matters. Sad, really.
Those involved should read their Lewis Carrolland the three gardeners, busily painting the white roses red. Alice thought this a very curious thing. Perhaps it´s a good thing that Belgium has a King at the moment.

Should you keep a secret?

2008-03-01T17:44:00.005Z

British media agrees not to report fact Prince Harry is fighting in Afghanistan.
After three weeks Australian media (I´m guessing not Murdoch stable) report his presence there.
Time passes. This week German tabloid and US website repeat the reports.
Agreement thus breaks down, and UK media go into full frenzy on the story.
Harry comes home as military commanders fear he may expose his fellow soldiers to additional danger

That´s the story in a nutshell if you´re in the media.

But it throws up some interesting nuggets:

The story was published in Australian tabloid´s website in early January but it wasn´t until it was retold by the Drudge Report this week that the agreement fell apart.

Drudge originally reported New Idea and the German tabloid Bild were the first to break a embargo but later dropped this mention, claiming the exclusive as their own.

Shows the US bias of UK media. Drudge is getting all the credit if that´s the right word. Story gets published in US and it becomes an issue rather than the appearance in Australia (Head of State Harry´s grandmother, but did anyone notice the item?) and the more recent publication in Germany (speculation in a diary column).

The BBC is rightly saying that "When lives are at risk, it's not always helpful to have things played out in the glare of publicity." But the problem is that you can´t have democratic debate about if it´s right to turn a blind eye in a particular circumstance. Rather defeats the object.

Clearly, the BBC, ITV and Sky News who have been filming with Prince Harry could see that the price of their silence was worth it for the payback afterwards. That footage is now very valuable! But what did CNN, Reuters and the Associated Press, who also agreed not to publish details, get out of it?

Was this lying by omission?
I´m guessing this piece in the Mirror in mid-Feb is linked to the journalists embedded with the prince. Does it lose anything from not mentioning him? Should it take a member of the royal family to get a journalist out there?

Or why is the media not making more of the written Commons answer in which the MoD revealed that 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, prior to deployment to Afghanistan, was 200 soldiers under strength, with 100 listed as being left behind on recruiting duties or were physically unfit.

So, while we have to take the BBC on trust when its world news editor tells us, "there are no other "voluntary agreements" in place at the moment," his claim that, "there's nothing else we're not telling you" is badly made. The BBC is a news gathering organisation and has to be selective about the stories it covers, so in effect there is LOTS that the BBC isn´t telling us.

Jon Snow asked if this was something that could not happen other than in a totalitarian state? He really can´t believe that someone like Robert Mugabe would go through a similar rigmarole. But it is a legitimate question if the UK media should have agreed in the first place?

The media is going to be debating their handling of this for ages, when what is happening in Afghanistan, with or without the presence of the spare to the heir, is far more important. The only British national newspaper that did not put the Harry story on its front page on Friday was the Independent having decided that in itself wasn't big enough to warrant the front page.

Islamo-christian fascism

2008-02-29T20:35:00.004Z

Freedom in expression is valuable, but "can never justify harming people's feelings in religious matters."

Yep the religious mobs continue to form unholy alliances to stop the rest of us from exercising a basic right. It sounds reasonable - so we can all live together. Except that´s what they want you to think.

It is simply a statement of agree with us - or else.

Without freedom of expression - including the right to offend (especially the all-too-thin skinned credulous members of humanity) then everything else that has been gained since the Renaissance is lost.

It´s all too easy to ask who should have to shut up? And more importantly who decides when free expression becomes offensive?

We´re back in the woolly thinking of Imam Rowan Williams (I am using deliberately offensive description for rhetorical purposes) and the dangers of vexatious appeals to religious scruple.

At some stage the Abrahamic religions will get a life and leave the rest of us to get on with ours.

Making the earth move

2008-02-21T08:39:00.005Z

There is a well known story about the jewish man who loves to read anti-Semitic newspapers. When his friend asks him why he reads such garbage, he responds by the journals make him feel great. The jewish press is always talking about how persecuted and oppressed jews are. The anti-Semitic papers, on the other hand, describe jewish domination of government, banking and media. Reading these tracts can really make a jew feel good about the might and power of the people!

I was reminded about this when I read that a member of Israel´s Knesset proposed that it "find a way to prevent mishkav zachar [sexual relations between men], and thus save [us] a lot of earthquakes." According to Haaretz, he thinks that this would be "a cost-effective way of averting earthquake damage". So, reinforcing buildings, evacuation drills and the like are not enough. In any event, his ~~omni~~ impotent imaginary friend hasn´t managed to stop sexual relations between men, so why should he and the members of the Knesset be able to?

Floods in England, earthquakes in Israel, what next from the skygod believers?

PS: and now quakes in the UK

Cartoon from www.slapupsidethehead.com

National Rock

2008-02-18T08:54:00.004Z

I AM a tax payer and it is not in my interest for the Government to steal my shares in Northern Rock

This is the political problem that the goverment face. The above quote comes from a UK Shareholders´ Association press release. The small group (relative to the number of innocent taxpayers) have every interest in making a lot of noise.

Robert Peston at the BBC has calculated that Rock is being supported to the tune of £3,500 per tax payer. If the government succumbs to the pressure from UKSA taxpayers who are Northern Rock shareholders will pay less individually than the rest of us.

Imagine for a second that we are in the fantasy world that sees NR´s shares worth £4.25 each. Someone with the demutualisation holding of 500 shares will see their share of the support reduced to £1,375. So the NR shareholders pay less than the rest of us who had NOTHING to do with NR.

The UKSA press release goes on with the whinging sod:

This will be the second time the Government will have stolen from me as I had shares in Railtrack.

This is the other problem that the government faces - history. In that case, the government used taxpayers´ funds to pay shareholders around £2.50 a share in compensation despite their shares being worthless because government had lost confidence in the company and was not prepared to throw good money after bad.

That UKSA takes this line isn´t surprising. Take their earlier press release on the question of nationalisation.

This of course is equivalent to the common thief who says it is better value for them to steal
from you rather than enter into a commercial transaction.

The comparison with common thieves should be made with the northern rock shareholders who are trying defraud the taxpayer to pay for their company´s business model which so comprehensively failed.

Using your belief to justify hurting others

2008-02-16T09:10:00.008Z

It all seems to be kicking off again over the Danish cartoons. Last Tuesday, the Danish Security and Intelligence service (PET) arrested a 40-year-old Danish citizen of Moroccan origin and two Tunisians to prevent "a terror related assassination". The particular cartoonist is not named - but Jyllands Posten (who orginally published the cartoons) said that the intended victim was Kurt Westergaard who drew what is arguably the most controversial - shown above. Stage II - Numerous Danish papers (and a Swedish daily) reprint it arguing solidarity with those threatened. Stage III - Muslims demonstrate. In Pakistan they did so in defiance of a ban on demonstrations and chanted, "Death to the cartoonist" and burned effigies of him and the Danish prime minister. In Copenhagen, muslims exercising the right to free speech that they wouldn´t have in any muslim country, called that right a plague. [link artiklen på dansk]

I happen to consider the Westergaard cartoon to have been misjudged, but I can understand the Danish editors wanting to show solidarity in defence of one of their own. The cartoons have become totemic dividing lines. For the media show any image of mohammed and you´re a islamophobe, refuse to and you are appeaser. This cartoon from France gets it right:

On the other side I wonder how easy it is for a muslim in Pakistan (let alone Denmark) to agree that the view - Islam´s prohibition of depictions of Muhammed, cannot be pressed on others.
Can there be rational debate about the limits of free speech when reaction includes those who may be prepared to live down to the slogans we have seen such as "Behead those who insult islam" and when preachers remind their flock,"The punishment for blasphemy in Islam is death" -

or even when you get the farce of an Al-Jazeera journalist asking the Icelandic president if he would "apologize for the behaviour of the Danes, and ... ask forgiveness for what they did, this insult, this provocation, this disgrace – he used very strong words...".

This cartoon was one of the JP originals.
Clearly the artist was expecting a response but where were the voices for calm?

Stage IV There is a very odd piece in the PET press release. PET expects that the Danish person arrested "will be released following interrogation unless any other information surfaces which offers a further basis for continuing the investigation." but he will "continue to be the subject of PET’s interest." Meanwhile, the two Tunisians will be expelled rather than put on trial. It does rather beg the question what evidence PET had before acting at an early stage. But they are clearly media savvy - they have an English language press release on this subject which is not the norm.

I don´t know what the answer to all this is. There are extremists who realise that simply getting media attention for an image of mohammed can create extreme reactions, but the response to provocation - whether deliberate or not is what feeds the view of Islam as violent, reactionary, backward etc etc.

Setting an example

2008-02-10T10:31:00.000Z

Israel´s interior Minister Meir Sheetrit has called on the Israeli army to choose a Gaza neighbourhood to make an example of, warn residents to evacuate and wipe it out.

"That is how those in Gaza will understand that we are serious," said Sheetrit at Sunday's cabinet meeting, adding that all the Hamas leaders must be brought to justice, "or we must bring justice to them."

It will be interesting to see the US reaction to this - which clearly represents collective punishment contrary to all the rules of civilised behaviour. It comes at a time where the US has belatedly realised what was bleeding obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense that when its military operations in "countries where local institutions are fragile... efforts to win over a wary population are vital."

Why does the EU treat Israel with kid gloves? We should be dealing with the Tel Aviv regime in the same way as Robert Mugabe´s Zimbabwe. It can´t be too long before members of the Israeli government are up on war crime charges, can it?

English law

2008-02-09T12:13:00.000Z

I asked yesterday whether arbitration under [insert choice of sky god] any different to turning to the court for arbitration in sport?

The London Evening Standard yesterday ran a story headlined Sharia court frees London knife youths. It involved a a group of Somali youths who were arrested by police on suspicion of stabbing another Somali teenager in Woolwich.

The victim's family told police the matter would be settled out of court. Male elders ordered the assailants to compensate the victim. According to the report, the youths´uncles and their fathers were there and, "they all put something towards [the compensation] and apologised for the wrongdoing".

I have conflicting views on this. On the one hand, the involvement of families in dispute resolution likely to make any solution more permanent.

However, this is a criminal matter. Knife and gun crime in London is a matter for all Londoners. I´m not denying that the process may be effective. However, it is wrong to allow violence within the Somali community to be simply an issue for that group. Having a procedure wholly separate from the national legal system is a problem - it reinforces isolation and tribalism and a lack of respect for the justice system. The process is as important as the outcomes.

I am gratified that Rowan Williams´ ideas have been so roundly condemned. As is so often the case we now have the clarifications and what-I-meant-to-say-was non-retractions and all that sort of backpedalling we expect from ~~theologically~~woolly-minded clerics.

Williams explains that his core aim was to: "to tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state" and was using sharia as an example. In that he failed miserably. The only coherent message from his speech is that any religious convictions (as opposed to cultural traditions) must be privileged where there is conflict with the wider law. Special interest pleading at its most naked.

Troubled archbishop

2008-02-08T08:35:00.000Z

What was Rowan Williams trying to do? Dr Williams told BBC Radio 4 he believed the adoption of some Sharia law in the UK seemed "unavoidable" and added that we have to "face up to the fact" some citizens did not relate to the British legal system.

The interview came ahead of a speech that the Archbishop of Canterbury gave as part of the Temple Festival organised by the church of Inner and Middle Temple, two of England’s four ancient societies of lawyers.

Entitled Civil and Religious Law in England: a religious perspective it came in the slot in the festival was ISLAM IN ENGLISH LAW: FOUNDATION LECTURE. Academic now, but why did the church invite a christian theologian on the subject? Not surprisingly, the speech has created the media storm that he must have expected. Hardly the genuine and respectful conversation that the organisers claimed to have wanted.

Williams acknowledges that popular perception of sharia is a "pre-modern system in which human rights have no role... wedded to archaic and brutal physical punishments... " that´s why his comments on the radio (but not in the speech) got the headlines, but what Williams is seeking is higher level of public legal regard being paid to communal (read religious) identity." Another case of the credulous seeking common cause.

He is right that "we do not simply have a standoff between two rival legal systems when we discuss Islamic and British law". But where there is incompatibility British law has to prevail - but that´s not what Williams seems to want.

Is arbitration under [insert choice of sky god] any different to turning to the court for arbitration in sport? Yes. I can see that an adult convert to any religion has made a conscious decision to join that community. But that´s not how most people end up in a religion - they are born into it and to a greater or lesser extent their upbringing reinforces the initial situation. That´s why religions fight for to be able to ~~indoctrinate~~ educate children in society. Deciding to leave is much harder - even without what the Archbishop describes as "the historic Islamic prohibition against apostasy, and the draconian penalties entailed." (By historic - does he mean long-standing or extinct?)

I accept that Williams acknowledges problems with what he is suggesting:

1. vexatious appeals to religious scruple

Williams recognises the risk that appeal to a claimed belief becomes a trump card but offers no solution. "The secular lawyer needs to know where the potential conflict is real, legally and religiously serious, and where it is grounded in either nuisance or ignorance."

So he wants the secular legal system to sort out what is a theological dispute? And how can the state determine what is religious and what is cultural? The latter Williams seems to accept as not specially privileged.

2. 'supplementary jurisdiction' could have the effect of reinforcing in minority communities some of the most repressive or retrograde elements

First of all, why only in minority communities? Just look at some of the christian groups in this country!

Williams seems to believe that this is simply a matter of sorting out the ground rules and making sure that "we" (he doesn´t explain who this we refers to) "do not collude with unexamined systems that have oppressive effect". I suggest that the Archbishop looks in the mirror first. Again he´s relying on the secular legal system to sort out theological disputes. One woman´s oppression is another man´s proportionate regulation.

3. supplementary jurisdictions are incompatible with equality before the law

Unfortunately, there is a British precedent. As the colonial power it gave India "The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937" Under the Indian constitution Muslims still have the right to separate laws in matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. The institution that sets out those laws is suffering from the same lack of authority that the Archbishop fears the British state has for some citizens. So, you simply end with turf wars over things like age of consent and the like.

Imagine a situation where there were two ages of consent in the UK - puberty for girls born to a muslim father, 16 for the rest and you see why Williams is just so, so wrong. But if that´s not the sort of issue that he meant, what should be covered?

Williams has every right to speak his mind. I doubt that his views represent those of his dwindling congregation in this country. He has focussed on a genuine issue - the legitimacy of the state, but not surprisingly his "solution" doesn´t stand up to even the most cursory of scrutiny.

Is this picture harmful to juveniles?

2008-02-05T09:51:00.000Z

The image was an ad for a US retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch. It was confiscated by police in one town after "several complaints". The store manager was issued a criminal citation on obscenity charges but the police after a meeting with City Attorney Les Lillie decided the displays were not "technically obscene". Don´t you just love that. A lawyer and a cop sit in a room deciding about the technicalities of obscenity.

Don´t get me wrong protection of children is a good thing, but what was it about that picture that even begged the question?

Some people will argue that the fact that the whole thing was dropped by the police show that there is no problem. The system worked. I disagree. What appears at first glance to be a totally innocent picture becomes a matter of debate - where in any civilised, grown-up society none would exist. This image to my mind isn´t even in a grey area.

Some of the same issues come out in the film Calendar Girls which I caught at the weekend on the BBC. I knew the basic story, Womens´ Institute members of a certain age get their kit off to raise money for charity. Without wanting to burden what is a light movie (If you really want to see it burdened try this review), the film covers many issues with modern morality.

The film shows the WI frowning on the idea "we don´t do nudity" is one line, although according to the BBC the women encountered nothing but support from their own group and the national organisation. However, the Spartacus moment when the women stand up at the regular meeting introducing themselves in turn as Miss January, February etc after the uptight, prudish fuddy-duddy chairwoman (who prefers speakers on their tea towel collections, broccoli and other uplifting topics) has forced them to reveal their plans is inspired comedy.

The women themselves worry that the difference between art and pornography and that they are not young and glamourous. Before shooting the calendar they all drink copious amounts of alcohol to get the dutch courage.

The film suggests that they did it to raise £1,000 for a sofa in the relatives´ area of the local hospital. As a result of the media storm they generated they´re hoping to reach a total of £2 million.

And there´s my problem. You can´t deny that the women have done exceptionally well and without (unlike the fictional unemployed steel workers in the Full Monty) baring all. They became a media story despite showing less than can be seen on the average Mediterranean beach in summer. What is it about what they did that got the money pouring in?

Part of me thinks it´s the reverse of the extreme prudery shown in Virginia Beach and the "christian" review of the film linked above. I prefer to think that the images of young men and old WI members are life affirming. Paradoxically, it is the prudes who see the sex in them.

Cityphilia

2008-02-03T13:41:00.000Z

‘Well, drunk sailors tend to be spending their own money,’ Tony said. ‘By contemporary standards they’re quite prudent.’

This quote rather leapt out at me in this piece in the London Review of Books looking at the role the city plays in the UK economy. It´s not entirely clear from the piece to whom Tony, a banker, is referring - banks, city bankers or the rest of the population - but all of them have been on imprudent sprees.

I´ll start with the ordinary mortals. I remember my dad telling me a story about how when we wanted a overdraft once he went to see his bank manager and explained exactly how he was going to pay the money back.

How attitudes to borrowing have changed. Littlewoods recently tried selling a credit account to women using a cartoon character who believes that,"Hot dates won't wait 'til payday. By the time you can afford that sexy new outfit Mr Right (or Mr Right Now!) could be long gone." The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the ad was irresponsible while SDFS told the ASA it felt the ad did not encourage recipients to spend excessively and beyond their means.

SDFS referred to the mailing as having "an element of fantasy" and that´s precisely the problem. Borrowing is seen as a way to a certain lifestyle. The joke in the UK is that the complaint went to the ASA. Although SDFS is regulated by the Financial Services Authority, it doesn´t cover the selling of loans or credit cards!

But this week we hear that Egg, now part of the giant Citigroup, wants to ditch 160,000 credit card customers that it sees as unacceptably "high risk". Although it´s going to stop the cards working customers can still pay back at minimum monthly repayments. Just looking at my cards, if my providers did that it would take me 13 years 6 months or so to pay the balance off. I honestly can´t believe that Egg is going to be so patient. However, why should their actions be, as Labour MP Nigel Griffiths told the BBC, "unacceptable"? Isn´t it part of responsible lending - not being the drunken sailor?

If they´re simply getting rid of the people like me who pay their balance off at the end of the month, and thus get interest free credit as one of the people who contacted the BBC suggests, that´s another matter.

Bankers can feel aggrieved that there are double standards at work here - now they´re being criticised for NOT lending money, but they don´t deserve too much sympathy. In part that´s because of their underhand tactics in making money and also because of their rewards.

There is a growing debate about how these work. Last April, Antony Hilton wrote in the Standard headlined "Pay schemes that incite execs to flirt with disaster". This issue has been taken up again by the broadsheets on both sides of the Atlantic with the Wall Street Journal on bankers' pay, following Raghuram Rajan and Martin Wolf in the FT.

I doubt we´ll ever get to a stage where banks and bankers are popular, but we need to get back to where they are respected. Unfortunately that´s not likely to be any time soon.

The meaning of Christmas

2007-12-17T10:34:00.000Z

I got Dawkins´ The God Delusion as a present last Christmas. This year Borders is giving away with every copy a "controversial Christmas card" with the message “O come all ye faithless”. Not suprisingly, some people have got upset about this. The Evangelical Alliance's head of theology Justin Thacker added: “I think the atheists will love it because it's bashing Christians around the head. It's another thing to take a Christian festival and abuse it.”

Hardly abuse. If Justin, a "scientist of the nature of an imaginary being" really wanted to hear abuse then he should have listened to the "updated" beatbox version of Silent Night on Radio 4´s today programme. Hardly uplifting, but not a new thing.

Back in 2004 Quentin Letts writing in the New Statesman suggested that carols needed to be updated to "save the Church of England from demise". The piece was headlined with the very phrase that has now got the EA upset. recognises that they appeal to the emotions not to logic. Even Richard Dawkins agrees. Community singing is a way of creating just that - a community, but the trick is how to make it inclusive - and that´s where the problems lies in that societies are becoming less homogenous. We all need to share the public space (both physical and virtual) and finding the limits is the test for the 21st century.

Evolving traditions
From the EA it´s a bit rich to complain about people appropriating "your" traditions for their own ends. The early church was all too willing to absorb existing customs. Most relating to Christmas are adapted from the Roman Saturnalia and the Northern European Yule. I think this is probably what worries Justin most. He knows from the history of his own church that this philosophical cross-dressing works. And it frightens him that his chosen belief system might not have a privileged place in this country for much longer. I don´t want to end up with the culture wars they´re enduring in the US, but it looks like we´re heading that way.

I was brought up in a christian family, but now describe myself as an agnostic. Yet I, like lots of other people in the country have sent cards in this past week. Some of these included images of the Yule Goat - a tradition in Sweden that pre-dates christianity, none I think would Justin take as "christian" and I refused the Royal Mail´s special stamps. Logically consistent? Nope, but using the time to think about friends and family is what it´s all meant to be about. Isn´t it? And that doesn´t depend on how you think the universe was created.

Swedish Phalliban

2007-12-14T09:19:00.000Z

Is this Sweden getting in shape for a repeat of nineteenth century English prudishness when its crown princess Victoria takes over from her father? Or more evidence of the rise of what Mark Simpson calls the Phalliban?

The Local - an English language news site in Sweden reports that protests from female soldiers have led to the Swedish military removing the penis of the heraldic lion depicted on the Nordic Battlegroup's coat of arms.

Göteborgs-Posten who provided the original report helpfully gives its readers the before and after pic reproduced here.

Given that the before picture doesn´t appear on any of the official webpages I´m not sure how much of a story this is. The complaint to the European Court of Justice isn´t sourced.

I wonder if Vladimir A Sagerlund delivered the version with the penis which was then removed by the army before use, which seems to be what is suggested in the last paragraph of the Swedish original.

Sagerlund is responsible for genitalia on animals in coats of arms for Bohuslän, Dalsland, the Gothenburg high court and Ystad court.

Sagerlund complains that "coats of arms containing lions without genitalia were given to those who betrayed the Crown". Given that the EU defence forces are meant to be more touchy-feely than the US counterparts using the traditional symbol of virility is probably over the top in the 21st century.

Other things I learned from the story:

Sweden has an official heraldic artist while the Swedish army has a 'tradition commission'. It was the latter that carried out the penectomy - but they did use a computer. Isn´t it warming to know even hi-tech Sweden has such anachronistic positions.

The Nordic Battlegroup is more than 80% Swedish but includes troops from Estonia and Ireland. I thought for a second that was a typo in original GP story and it should have been Iceland. (In Swedish it´s a single letter change as well.) But nope, Ireland has rejoined its Viking forefathers.

The battlegroup´s motto is "Prepared for all Things" - given that the original lion´s penis could only be described as rampant it´s clear what it was prepared for.

The story also gives me the excuse to reproduce this pic of Finnish soldiers
that came up on a google image search for Nordic Battlegroup. I think they need more basic training about where to wear a gas mask. Thanks to Finland for thought for that.

Beyond surrealism

2007-12-04T11:17:00.000Z

First of all, apologies for the alphabet soup in this posting. But that´s what get when you dive into Belgian politics.

After Flemish Christian Democrat (CD & V) Yves Leterme threw in the towel, for a second time, at the weekend, and admitted he could not form a government King Albert has asked the "outgoing" Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD) to seek a way out of Belgium's political crisis.

Verhofstadt has remained as caretaker PM since his government lost the election six months ago, but the administration has been unable to take any new policy initiatives and has only been dealing with "current affairs" which didn´t include the budget for 2008.

Verhofstadt´s outgoing cabinet consisted of members of the Liberal Parties (VLD and MR), and Socialist Parties (PS and SP.a/Spirit) across the linguistic divide. Leterme had been trying to put together an orange-blue coalition of christian democrats and liberals [CD & V/NVA and cdH, VLD and MR] i.e. excluding the socialist parties. The socialists were the biggest losers in election back in June losing 14 seats between them, along with Verhofstadt´s VLD.

That the losers get to remain in power reminded me of the "resignation" of the Santer Commission back in 1999. After a damning report on corruption and nepotism inside the EU´s executive (with the all to believable quote, "It was becoming increasingly difficult to find anyone who had the slightest sense of responsibility.") all 20 commissioners "resigned" but remained in post for another six months.

Give Belgium back to the people

2007-12-02T09:19:00.000Z

One thing you can say about the first past the post electoral system as used in the UK is that normally it deliver clear results. When a government has been defeated you get the sight of the new prime minister on the steps of number 10 the very next day.

In Belgium they are coming up to six months since the parliamentary elections and the loser is still in office because it is proving impossible to form a new federal coalition. Plans included a two-year convention to discuss further devolving power from the federal government.

Surely the answer now is for fresh elections. According to the FT back in June that election "failed to capture widespread public interest". Surely a rerun couldn´t do that if the future of the country is at stake.

It´s up to the King to decide whether to dissolve Parliament and go for new elections, but the politicians have clearly had long enough.

Word of the moment: thugocracy

2007-12-01T19:53:00.000Z

Very visible this week:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy used it talking about riots in Paris after the death of two boys (Of course, the President of the Republic was speaking in French - the word he used was voyoucratie)

The English neologism dates back according to one source to 1982, when Paul Zweig used it in a book review in the New York Times talking about socialism. So it could easily be applied to demonstrators at the Oxford Union - left wingers who don´t like hearing opinions that they don´t share - and don´t think anyone else should hear them either. However as the piece on the Oxford Union debacle shows, there is a perfectly good English word for what it tries to deal with - totalitarianism. I don´t object to showing disapproval of the OU´s decision, but what we saw this week was an attempt at mob rule.

But I can see why thugocracy is preferred to both that and a much older English word: ochlocracy. The OED traces this back to 1594. And that can also be easily applied to fanatics in Sudan - calling for the death of Gillian Gibbons over the naming of a teddy bear Mohammed. But the meaning of a state ruled or dominated by the populace in that instance is wholly inappropriate. I can´t believe that in Sudan the government didn´t acquiesce.

And my final link is Sunday´s "elections" in Russia. The OED´s final example of ochlocracy cites the Observer, quoting Pravda describing Boris Yeltsin running for President with this backing. Putin hasn´t resorted to mob rule, but from afar, it is not clear why he has needed to rig an election his party would easily win cleanly.

Distinguishing between democracy and mob rule isn´t always easy. Sir James Mackintosh in his defence of the French Revolution [again cited in the OED] worried about the "despotism of the rabble, not the dominion of the people." But it is likely to be a major question.

Funny Money

2007-11-28T08:58:00.000Z

The problem with the current debate over dodgy donations to (in this case) Labour is that it simply confirms popular views that politicians can´t be trusted. Labour´s answer to Abrahams should have been either you give the money openly or we don´t want it. There, not difficult is it. But politicians seem to follow St Augustine who could easily have said, "Give me integrity, but not yet". (Believe it or not there is a patron saint of politicians: Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII´s Lord Chancellor.)

Our politics is nowhere near as clean as our politicians or commentators such as Michael White like to pretend. When offered money they don´t want to ask too many questions. There are two ways of looking at it:

The tory supporting Daily Mail asks, "Isn't it hard to avoid the conclusion that Labour is corrupt to the core?" while the Labour-friendly Daily Mirror is left gobsmacked by the party´s "unforgivable stupidity".

Corruption or stupidity? Either way the political class comes out as not worthy of election.

Unfortunately, democracy costs money, but people generally don´t want to pay for it. In part, because of stories like this.

I don´t believe it
According to the Electoral Commission´s figures, Labour has returned just one donation (out of 7561) as being from an impermissible source and that was back in 2001.So what was it about Andrew Smith´s money that wasn´t good enough for Labour?

That´s the same number of impermissible donations as the Official Monster Raving Loony Party reported, which only declared a single reportable donation! In comparison the Tories declared 46 donations from impermissible sources.

While the focus is rightly on the politicians and the donors, a supplementary question springs to my mind. The people Abrahams used as conduits to make the donations, what, if anything, did their banks do under money laundering regulations?

Government incompetence

2007-11-26T10:33:00.000Z

As chancellor, Gordon Brown was responsible for many of the chickens that are now coming home to roost.

He is the accountant of popular perception knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing and thinks nothing of penny pinching.

His statement in PMQs about the computer discs with details of every child benefit recipient in which he apologised "for the inconvenience" demonstrates what I have always thought. Whatever he was like as chancellor (and I wasn´t a fan) he should never be PM.

We apologise for the inconvenience is what you hear when your train has been cancelled. But then this government is about as competent as Railtrack, so maybe that´s not a surprise.

God and the weather

2007-11-20T16:39:00.000Z

Which of the Abrahamic faiths is going to claim responsibility for this?

A hailstorm on Tuesday afternoon caused hundreds of cluster bombs scattered throughout southern Lebanon to detonate, the Lebanese National News Agency said in a report cited by Reuters that was picked up by the Jerusalem Post.

Was it the god of the jews trying to ensure that the bombs dropped by Israel in 2006 did their absolute worst?
The god of the christians whose environmental judgement is indiscriminate?
Or the god of the muslims trying to clean up the mess made by the Israelis?

No injuries were reported so it must have been Allah.

That it was simply the combination of 1 million failed cluster bombs dropped by an all too human army and weather created by understandable forces here on earth clearly won´t wash. It was in Holy Land for god´s sake.

Is Eurostar taking the piss?

2007-11-17T12:46:00.000Z

Not surprisingly, this Eurostar poster for the Belgian market has got the Daily Mail up in arms.

I think it´s quite funny. You can´t fault the targetting ability displayed. I´d have preferred a sexier skinhead though. Perhaps something along the lines of the plumber
used by the Polish tourist board to get French tourists over or

the Swiss tourist board´s ad during the World Cup in Germany.

Hopefully, the reactions shown on the Daily Mail´s webpage isn´t a reflection that we English are losing our sense of humour. As a nation we take the piss out of the rest of the world big time. We should be big enough to accept it when others turn it on us. No, our football hooligans don´t reflect England, but then Belgium is more than beer, chocolate and the pissing boy. If you think that the eurostar ad is bad, then don´t follow this link to his website.

I see this ad in line with Belgium´s art history. The country is the home of surrealism. As a piece of creative artwork, I´ll take this over Damien Hirst anyday.

London deserves better

2007-11-01T20:07:00.000Z

When a football manager gets a statement of full confidence from his chairman, it´s usually means his days are numbered.

Hopefully, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith´s statement in relation to Ian Blair will follow this pattern.

He is clearly not fit to provide London with the police service it deserves. On Jean Charles de Menezes they didn´t just get it tragically wrong they got it AVOIDABLY wrong and then used every trick that unscrupulous PR people and defence lawyers use to avoid being held to account. I´d be interested to know who was responsible for agreeing the Met´s defence strategy. I can´t believe that Blair had nothing to do with it, but should the Met Police Authority also be resigning?

If, unfortunately, Blair is still in place come next May, I will vote for any mayoral candidate who promises to get rid of him. But that´s a problem

Ken is backing him, as is the MPA.

While Boris is so interested in London that he hasn´t written anything on his campaign blog since winning the tory party´s candidacy. On his other page today he was more interested in why he wants Hillary Clinton for US president. Admittedly that was before the guilty verdict against the Met, but even there he hasn´t written on London since September 6.

More religious bigotry

2007-10-22T08:43:00.000+01:00

This is a bit more serious than having to wait for your alcohol in Sainsbury's.

Under the Adoption and Children Act 2004, the law was changed to allow children to be placed with couples in a civil partnership. In January 2006, a former magistrate began legal action against the government, claiming that he was forced to resign from his role. He wanted to be sure that he, "was not risking sending children into same-sex households." McClintock is quoted as saying that, "one cannot permit political dogma to affect the lives of children." I could totally agree with that as long as religious dogma goes out as well.

He was supported by the christian bigot industry. The tribunal heard from a Dean Byrd, from what the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship describes as the the foremost research body in the USA on the subject matter of medical and social study of homosexuality.

Actually, NARTH doesn't act in good faith; it simply wants gay people to be socially unacceptable. It claims, "teenagers are encouraged to investigate homosexual relationships when they are too young to make critical lifestyle decisions." Really? Surely it's more likely that they have been indoctrinated into a religion when they are too young decide otherwise.

In his witness statement, Byrd claims that the American Psychiatric Association has "sought to prevent open academic debate and discussion on this controversial subject matter." Bad science does happen (usually due to political or religious aims) but I find it incredible that the APA's policy is simply that. My guess is that what we have here is sour grapes from religious bigots who can't cope with the idea that on the balance of evidence (not just the"chaotically cobbled together anthology of disjointed documents" that is the bible) other people took a different view.
The problem for an interested observer is it is impossible to get objective information. Both Byrd's witness statement and the APA's policy statement quote a number of the same papers while people draw mutually contradictory conclusions.

NARTH quotes studies (no sizes given, I mention that because they also seek to draw definite conclusions from a study of 45 children "raised by lesbians") that find sons of lesbians "are likely to be more nurturing and affectionate than their counterparts in heterosexual families" and are "somewhat less sexually adventurous and more chaste than boys raised by heterosexuals". Surely with these conclusions NARTH (and McClintock) should be campaigning for all boys to be raised by lesbians! But of course, they can't deal with that.

I'll leave nearly the last word to the chief executive of Barnardo’s, Martin Narey, who says that the objective is to find suitable parents to help children, “Their race, gender, age or sexual orientation does not matter. Their ability to give a child a loving upbringing does.” If McClintock can't square that with the christian message, then he really ought to think whether he's got the right religion.

What does the Archbishop of Canterbury actually believe in?

2007-10-15T15:54:00.000+01:00

Rowan Williams gave a speech at Swansea University over the weekend entitled "How To Misunderstand Religion". At the time of writing a transcript isn´t available on Lambeth Palace´s website, but media reports have him whining that Dawkins and Hitchens have got it wrong. "Whatever the religion being attacked here, it's not actually what I believe in". So what does it mean to be an Anglican - You believe

The Old and New Testaments 'as CONTAINING all things necessary for salvation' and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. (my emphasis)

Nice, choice of words. So this "chaotically cobbled together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and `improved´ by hundreds of anonymous authors editors and copyists" [Dawkins´ God Delusion chapter 7 p237] is the Anglican´s gold standard. Not you notice do they claim it to be the inerrant word of God. Nor does that statement logically imply that everything in it is kosher. Compare that to the evangelicals´ view: "We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God without error (yeah, right) and is the only complete authority in all matters of faith and doctrine."

Here Williams wants to have his communion wafer and eat it. On the one hand, unlike those who view the bible as the literal word of god, he leaves himself wriggle room. This is what the bible says, this is what we say it means and so we go through the Looking Glass.

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

So, unhelpful passages can be ignored, considered as allegory etc. But get onto anything relating to sex outside of a marriage between one man and one woman and the ancient, arbitrary, and ill-informed rules get elevated to the status of gospel truth [pun very much intended]. At least the early church were prepared to edit, revise etc!

Nicene creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith
This includes beliefs that

god made heaven and earth: On this one I´m agnostic. Big bang doesn´t do it for me as a pan narrans or storytelling ape. But even if you believe in a supreme creator, what follows from that? Belief in creationism, not necessarily. Human morality, hardly. [Also, no mention in here of six days to create the universe.] SO, Rowan, what does this belief in such a creator mean?
Jesus was crucified for our sake: Dawkins describes this doctrine as "vicious, sado-masochistic and repellent." Why did god require torture and execution (of himself) as payment for his forgiveness? Hardly a progressive ethical stance.
the Holy Spirit has spoken through the prophets : Interesting choice of verb tense. Does he/she/it do it any more?

I could go on, but like Dawkins, I don´t really care. It is up to the religious to decide what parts of their incoherent books they actually take seriously. Then perhaps it's possible to have a rational debate and maybe some labels that mean something. So you can know if you´re dealing with a mild-mannered CoE type or a rabid, bigoted evangelical.

But the critical thinking required to do that is not the hallmark of faith people. I´ve got to wear this [ring, cross, scarf, veil, underwear, knife, t-shirt, sunglasses] otherwise I´m going to hell. In the meantime as Marcus Brigstocke asked can the rest of us have our planet back?

Darling - foot in mouth epidemic

2007-10-13T14:08:00.000+01:00

Whenever governments make tax changes there will always be short term opportunities for arbitrage, so I´m less worried about what happens between now and next April (although the Monetary Policy Committee will have to work out the impact on economic activity). What is more important is that the government´s proposed changes to capital gains tax will have perverse effects:

Private equity - the bosses will still be able to pay lower tax rates than their cleaners by artificially structuring deals to create capital gains rather than income. Why pay 40% when you can get away with 18%?

Second property owners - These are already recognised as disrupting the property market in the UK. The tax rate on profits from sales of such properties is currently 40% in the first three years falling to a minimum rate of 24% after 10 years of ownership. Thanks, Darling - the chancers who have made it impossible for the average worker to afford to buy a property; and who have the advantage of being able to offset interest from income tax will be able to flip properties. Our tax system is now best for speculators.

Landlords account for 940,000 mortgages, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders of which nearly 20% taken out in the six months to June. OK, if they don´t make any profit, then there´s no loss - but there is a danger of more speculators buying in the short term.

MPs- Is it a coincidence that almost all MPs own two homes? The constituency and Westminster home owners already benefit from a tax-free allowance worth £40,000 annually to pay their mortgages. Now they can sell the taxpayer funded second home and only pay the reduced capital gains - a 55% tax cut for MPs. Guido Fawkes

Share option schemes-Watch for remuneration consultants working out how to get executive directors´ share option schemes into CGT for the lower rate. But whatever, there is no incentive for directors to hold onto the remaining shares after exercise.

Fair and simple
The British system of income tax [I´d say tax full stop], like that in many other countries, has grown ever more complex. It is now so far from the understanding of those who pay it, that experts and accountants have to be employed by anyone wishing to make sense of it, or to avoid unnecessary liability to it. [That] cannot be good in a democracy...

So wrote the Adam Smith Institute three years ago.
The operation of our tax system is in the hands of lawyers and accountants who despite all their ethical pronouncements are trusted about half as much as the average person in the street.

I´m all for a debate on tax, but once again we have the unedifying sight of a chancellor making policy on the hoof with no thought to the consequences. There is six months before the CGT changes are intended to come into force. Hopefully the government will realise its error and correct it.

Gordon Brown and Admiral John Byng

2007-10-06T23:00:00.000+01:00

After this autumn´s fiasco about misleading the public on the likelihood of a snap poll, Gordon Brown better not have an election until the last possible date - June 2010. He could have saved the country all the fevered speculation, by saying weeks ago "I'll not be calling an election", as he does in a interview with the BBC´s Andrew Marr to be broadcast on Sunday. Keeping the opposition guessing is one thing, allowing the voters to be fooled is another. The BBC´s political editor describes Brown´s loss of nerve as "a considerable embarrassment". That´s an understatement!

I´m no fan of Brown (nor of Cameron or Campbell come to that) but when a sitting PM encourages such speculation only to pull out he can´t blame the British people for seeing him as weak, cynical, ridiculous, reckless, vacillating, timid, a big girl's blouse (thanks to one B Johnson MP), a dithering coward, lacking bottle, spineless. I could go on but you get the picture. And this is not the result of external events, but a problem entirely of his own making.

If Brown were a chief executive he´d now be under investigation for allowing a false market. William Hill pulled the plug on betting on the date of the election as punters continued to wager exceptional amounts on a 2007 poll. Are they now going to get taxpayer-funded money back guarantees?

Back in July, I was prepared to accept that Brown is genuine in his desire to have more accountability after he moved to curtail some of the powers available to him and his successors. The only people he´s not prepared to be accountable to is the British electorate, whether on his own position or on the European constitution. (I happen to agree with him on the latter, but his political opponents won´t be so generous.)

Admiral John Byng, executed in the 18th century for failing to do his utmost, an event satirized by Voltaire in his novel Candide with the phrase "pour encourager les autres", led one historian to consider, "Many things might go wrong with an attack on the enemy, but the only fatal error was not to risk it." Brown has made a fatal error. His personal approval ratings deserve to take a hammering.

Men don´t want to look at naked men

2007-10-06T19:55:00.000+01:00

Here´s an interesting test - which ad campaign is better at selling underwear to young men?

JBS the underwear company from Jutland behind the nun picture denies that it is using porn to sell its products. It argues that while all the other firms use half naked men as sex objects that´s not what other men want to look at. Instead it´s used four tired clichés and a nympho inhabited world of male sexual fantasies: a nun, a chambermaid, a secretary and a nurse.

But don´t go looking for the pics on their Norwegian site, they´ve had to take them down (why is it as soon as you start talking about underwear, the most innocuous phrase sounds like it´s straight out of a Carry On movie?) after the Nordic country´s consumer watchdog got involved. JBS is claiming censorship - and simply linking to their danish site.

Although in Dk they´re arguing that the campaign was never for the daily papers the pictures (unsurprisingly not the one of the nun) have been in the tabloid BT, on the website of DR (the Danish equivalent of the BBC) very tightly cropped and the world famous JyllandsPosten.

Too be perfectly frank, I´d much rather see the Serie A players rather than some rural dane´s vision of a teenaged male fantasy. Anyway the Danes´ whole premise is rather undone by the fact that men do check each other out.

Perhaps this whole thing is just because a Jutlander has been traumatised by Swede, Freddie Ljungberg being the face (bulge?) of Calvin Klein.

To date, I´ve not seen the Catholic church complaining about the nun pic, but that can´t be far behind.

Jean Charles de Menezes

2007-10-03T12:44:00.000+01:00

The man on the left is Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian shot seven times in the head on a tube train in London.

I have no doubt that the police have a difficult job when it comes to dealing with terrorist suspects. But my worry is that the Met seems institutionally incapable of learning from its mistakes.

Clearly, every mistake is not a crime as the Met´s defence lawyer claimed in court, but it appears that there was a catalogue of errors leading to the death of an innocent man on a tube train in Stockwell followed by an inept cover up if not led by, then at least not prevented by Ian Blair.

The misinformation continues to this day. The Met is trying to defend themselves saying that their officers couldn´t tell the difference between Jean Charles and their suspect, Hussein Osman. Compare the two pics above. We are asked by the defence to understand why some of the officers at least thought Jean Charles might be Osman on the basis of the composite they put together. None of the officers on the day said he was definitely Osman.

Look at the picture of the two men at the top of this entry. No wonder the defence had to cheat to get them to look alike. Is the Met really trying to say that should be able to shoot to kill on that basis? You couldn´t get convicted on such flimsy evidence! On that basis the officers could just have easily shot Ian Blair.

Lack of discipline
Commander John McDowell, head of the Stockwell operation, said: "At the forefront of all our minds were the events that happened in Madrid..." So what happened to the legal presumption of innocent until proven guilty? The whole point about police discipline is to avoid this sort of thing. In this case, the officers became judge, jury and executioner - in a country where we rightly do not have the death penalty.

The Met´s lawyer said that a guilty verdict could result in police across Britain losing the discretion to make arrests when they see fit. "The prosecution are attempting to dictate to police how they should be doing the job," Had police arrested him all of this could have been avoided. Yes, it would have been embarrassing, but given the incompetence of the Met, no different from any other day. What the lawyer is asking for is for armed police to have the ability to shoot first, with no questions asked later.

Look at what the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) chair, Nick Hardwick has said, "I cannot see anything [Jean Charles] could or could not have consciously done differently that would have allowed him to escape." That is a damning indictment.

Time to go
In the IPCC reports, Blair comes across a total waste of space. You don´t expect the commissioner to know every detail, but he seems to have been disinterested in the fact that someone was shot. As a Londoner, its that fact alone that makes him unsuitable for his role.

Blair talks the talk as in his Dimbleby lecture, "policing is too important to leave to police chiefs". The sooner he is out of the post the better; he is a man totally unsuited to the role, a man who never misses an opportunity to try and scare us.

When there was panic about people who had absconded while under control orders, he helpfully said, "there was no guarantee that the three do not pose a threat to the UK" which the Sun duly published while omitting his caveat "but the intelligence is pointing in another direction."

On the Met´s website today, only two of the three appear as wanted. The third only warrants a mention in relation to the two brothers.

His resignation won´t bring Mr de Menezes back. But hopefully we can then get a Met Commissioner who understands that a police force that is not accountable is no better than vigilantes. That the Met is being prosecuted under health and safety legislation is farcical. What is needed is a public inquiry. it took two weeks for one to be set up after David Kelly´s death and Hutton reported less than six months later.

No faith in the workplace

2007-10-02T09:48:00.000+01:00

EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY LEGISLATION 2003 (RELIGION OR BELIEF)

In brief, these regulations make it unlawful on the grounds of religion or belief to:

discriminate directly against anyone. That is, to treat them less favourably than others because of their religion or belief

So is a muslim checkout assistant who forces me to wait longer because he won´t sell me alcohol discriminating against me?

How consistent is he? Identifying bottles of wine are easy, but what about Christmas puddings now appearing on the shelves? How can he check if they´re alcohol free or not without handling the product? And what if I tell him I´m going to make alcohol from the fruit, sugar and yeast that I´m buying?

And the so-called solution, getting someone else to scan it is just so blatantly ridiculous. The sale of the alcohol has nothing to do with scanning it. He´s still prepared to handle the money.

Does his religious principles force him to ask, if you use a debit card, are you paying interest to your bank, because that is also haram? And what about credit cards? I haven´t paid interest on my card for years because I always pay it off at the end of the month, so does that cause a problem? But what business is it of his?

Actually, would Sainsburys agree for a muslim (or anyone else) to refuse to serve me because I´m a gay man? Or surely, if they´re a pious woman, they shouldn´t be dealing with men full stop!

Certain muslims are trying to make out that the problem is with the individual: Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, director of the Muslim Institute said: “this shows a lack of maturity." Rent-a-quote Inayat Bunglawala´s comment, "merely passing [the alcohol] through a checkout... is hardly going to count against you on the day of judgement"

How can he know? It´s all to easy to find other psuedo-academics who claim the opposite. A fatwa obtained by taxi drivers in Minneapolis claimed "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits them from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."

According to the so called Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, "It is a matter of principle in Islamic jurisprudence that where there are opposing views yet each opinion is derived from a recognised scholar then each opinion is valid" So both Bunglawala and Mustapha can claim to be "good slaves to Allah". For us who prefer to be free human beings, we can only shake our heads in disbelief.

I´m all for Edmund Burke´s dictum - 'It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph' but if such a person feels so strongly about this they shouldn´t be seeking employment in a British supermarket. Campaign against the evils of drink (or pork, or black pudding, or whatever). Otherwise shutter yourself away, commune with your books about your psychotic imaginary friends and leave the rest of us in peace.

Rock Bottom?

2007-09-27T18:58:00.000+01:00

Northern Rock milks its local roots for all its worth. The under-pressure bank is the shirt sponsors for the local Premier League team, Newcastle United

Before last weekend´s game against West Ham advertising hoardings persistently flashed up the message "Rock Steady". During their warm-up the home team wore T-shirts with the same message of support.

The brass neck of the bank´s PR department beggars belief. Basically, they´re trying to reassure people that their savings are safe with ~~Northern Rock~~ the British taxpayer. Surely, as a nationalised company, NR´s board should now be paid on the same basis as National Savings´. They only get £100k pa.

At least the board finally realised that it couldn´t pay the dividend that had been announced before the turmoil. A dividend that even the FT described as amoral.

I´ve never had any money in NR, as a deposit or shares and unlikely to start now. Ok the share price has been rising over the past couple of days, but have a look at this chart of the price of NR´s perpetual subordinated notes courtesy of the Daily Telegraph.

In the event that NR got wound up (solvent or otherwise) then holders of these notes would get paid after all other debts, but before the shareholders. However, these instruments are not covered by the nice Mr Darling. At the current price of around £76 they´re yielding more than 16% pa. If I held any of these I´d now be looking very carefully at what rights I have if NR gets taken over.

RBS credit analysts see the debt as high risk. If so what greater risk of buying NR shares? Solvent doesn´t mean that there is necessarily any value for shareholders. Citigroup have calculated a range of share price values from 6p to £2.20. Of course, working out a "fundamental" value of any company is a matter of taste. Whether anyone buying large stakes in NR make or lose a fortune won´t necessarily be the result of rational considerations.

Belgian options

2007-09-27T09:57:00.000+01:00

If a country is going to break up, you need to know what the options are.

This blogger has list of possibilities that give no fewer than 128 permutations with Flanders an independent state, and Wallonia part of France the most likely option.

How much of Wallonia is another question. The attitude of the German speaking community and the status of the province of Luxemburg are complicating factors. He also hedges his bets on Brussels an independent city-state, part of Flanders or shared by Flanders and (an enlarged) France.

One option that he doesn´t include is for Flanders to replace Scotland in the UK.

I used to joke with Dutch friends that given much of the problems in the Northern Ireland can be linked to William of Orange perhaps the UK should offer the province to the present day House of Orange and have NI join NL.

In truth, I wouldn´t want Flanders to join the UK. We´d be a bad influence on them!

A few years ago Kronenburg ran an ad campaign in the UK suggesting how things could have been better if Napoleon had won at Waterloo. All very stereotypical - poodle racing instead of greyhounds is one image that I clearly remember but the mainline was we English would eat better (lobster with our chips), be better lovers (yeah, right) talk a sexier language, and so on. Now imagine an ad campaign aimed at the Flemish trying to do something similar.