Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2007

  • Denial…

    …is not just a river in Egypt. Here’s President Ahmadinejad in full flow:
    "In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals. In Iran we don’t have this phenomenon. I don’t know who has told you we have it."
    Of course, he appears to be doing his best to kill them off or make them flee the country, so I suppose in that sense he is merely anticipating what he sees as the desired outcome.  

  • Roller-Coasters

    Just a note to point out that my somewhat reluctant attraction to roller-coaster rides may be something of a two-edged sword. 

  • Just Talk It Over

    Flea points out how easy it is to lose trust between parents and children, often without ever realising that the process is happening. Boiling frogs again. 

  • The Savages Are Taking Over…

    This time, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown writes with a modicum of rationality. As she says, people deny facts, or commit the perversion of calling violence a question of honour.
     
    (hat tip to Ophelia for the link) 

  • Love Your Chemistry

    PZ Myers gets somewhat hacked off by yet another fool claiming that, without god, us atheists have no free will and no morality. Dear lord, that is such a tiresome argument. As PZ says, our chemistry is beautiful, elegant and sufficient; no god need apply for the position of driving force. 

  • Things I Don’t Miss About Work

    This week’s Bug Bash takes me back… Been there, heard that, mentally shook my head in despair…

  • The Council Of Europe On Creationism

    I’m pleased to see that the Council of Europe has got to the facts in its report on Creationism:
    Creationism in any of its forms, such as “intelligent design”, is not based on facts, does not use any scientific reasoning and its contents are definitely inappropriate for science classes.
     
    However, some people call for creationist theories to be taught in European schools alongside or even in place of the theory of evolution. From a scientific view point, there is absolutely no doubt that evolution is a central theory for our understanding of life on Earth.
     
    The Assembly calls on education authorities in member states to promote scientific knowledge and the teaching of evolution and to oppose firmly any attempts at teaching creationism as a scientific discipline.
    It’ll be interesting to see what happens when this report (The dangers of creationism in education – Document 11375, dated 17th September 2007) is submitted to the full Council for voting on its draft resolution. It will be even more interesting, if the Council supports its findings and the draft resolution, as to whether the 47 member states will have the guts to implement the report’s suggestions.   
     

  • Fry On Smartphones

    National Treasure Stephen Fry is passionate about gizmos and gadgets. On his newly begun blog he has a quite staggeringly good post on Smartphones that he has known. Well worth reading. 

  • The Mayor’s Epiphany

    The Mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, has an epiphany and realises that the right thing to do is to support gay marriage. Watch the video to see the depth of emotion that is here. He did the right thing. It’s a pity that in too many places in this sorry world his humanity isn’t followed as a shining example of what is right. 

  • Extensive Travel

    Steven Poole salutes NASA for doing what it says on the tin. 

  • Ernst Tungendhat

    I’ve only just come across Ernst Tugendhat. He’s German, and a philosopher. There’s a rather good interview with him here, and via that, I came across this excellent piece that he wrote examining religion as a human need. It’s a very good exploration of an aspect of what Daniel Dennett calls the "belief in belief". 

  • Mary’s At It Again

    Mary Midgely, that is. And by "it", I mean a total misrepresentation of the views of Richard Dawkins. There’s a piece in today’s Independent which seems to show that, almost thirty years on from her crass misunderstanding of Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, she still hasn’t learnt anything and continues to peddle falsehoods. I’m almost inclined to believe that the term "moral philosopher" is an oxymoron in her particular case. 

  • Quite

    Jason Kottke Makes a good point. I’ve just been reading Rupert Everett’s Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, and while I grant that he writes well, the milieu that he describes I find singularly repulsive.  

  • History Repeats

    Joel Spolsky writes about software development, among other things. His current article is well worth reading. In summary, it says, in effect, that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. My money is on him being proved right. Those of us who have been in the business for a long time can see the signs, but Spolsky spins the story to show the writing on the wall for all to see.

  • Love In A Cold Climate

    Except, of course, because of climate change, it’s the warmth-loving species that are thriving. The Central Bureau of Statistics in the Netherlands has the graph to show it. 

  • Goalpost Shifting

    Jesus and Mo engineer a win-win situation. Or at least, that’s what they think. They clearly seem to have forgotten that in real life, the house always wins… 

  • Prinsjesdag 2007

    Today was the day when Queen Beatrix formally opened the Dutch Parliament. Prinsjesdag, as it’s called, is similar to the State Opening of the British Parliament – an excuse for pomp and circumstance, and a chance to hear both queens (Beatrix and Betty) lay out the plans of their respective governments.
     
    We watched the proceedings on telly, beginning with the royal entourage processing in a variey of horse-drawn carriages from Noordeinde Palace to the Binnenhof (the Dutch Parliament buildings), and then watching the Queen’s speech from the throne in the Ridderzaal (Knights’ Hall).
     
    What I really adore about living in the Netherlands is the way you get suckered into thinking that things are just the same as in the UK, but then something sneaks up on you and slaps your brain awake to make you realise that, no, they do things differently here. So there I was, watching the procession, with the gilded coach and the over-the-top liveries, and listening to the Dutch commentator droning on. And just as I was settling down to thinking how like the home-life of our own dear queen this was, I snapped awake as I suddenly realised that the commentator appeared to be giving medical histories of the Dutch Royal Family. Had she really just said that Pieter van Vollenhoven had been treated for cancer of the foreskin, and that while he would have regular checkups from now on, his doctors were confident that the treatment had been successful? Yes, I do believe that she had… Perhaps not so like the home life of our own dear queen, after all… 

  • Hox Genes and Manx Cats

    PZ Myers has a wonderfully clear post on what we currently know about the Hox genes, and how they influence animal morphology. Loren Petrich, in the comments thread, points out that mutation has occurred to produce the tailless Manx cat. Fascinating stuff.

  • Note To Self…

    …If I ever do end up contemplating suicide, then using a crossbow is probably not a good method. Dorothy Parker should have included it in her Resume. 

  • The Accident

    There was a road accident involving a car and a bus in London’s Tower Hamlets last Saturday night. Here’s the view from 30,000 feet, as reported by the BBC News.
     
    And here’s the view reported at ground level by Tom Reynolds. Tom speaks directly to each of us, and makes us stop to pause and reflect.