The Sunday Times ran a story a couple of weeks ago with the intriguing title: Science Told: Hands Off Gay Sheep. Unfortunately, for the journalists in question, their story was utter rubbish from beginning to end, as Dr. Ben Goldacre points out in today’s Bad Science blog entry. Still, when did a concern for the truth ever matter to a certain type of journalist?
Year: 2007
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Tears of the Black Tiger
Walt, over at Inquietudes, draws our attention to the fact that Tears of the Black Tiger (Fah talai jone) is currently showing in New York City. As he says, it is:an overwrought, melodramatic western film that is at once so difficult to take seriously it’s bound to make you swoon and fall in-love with it.If you haven’t seen it, I can also unreservedly recommend it. It’s out on DVD (at least here in Europe), so you don’t have to wait until it comes to your local cinema. -
Five Luminous Towers
I have been known to be a collector of pop-up books. The paper engineering that goes into them speaks to the engineer in me. I particularly like the work of Robert Sabuda.But here’s a pop-up book that, while I may lust over it, I’m never going to get, because it is quite simply out of my reach. It’s Five Luminous Towers, by Carol Barton. It’s being made in an edition of 50 copies, each of which costs $2,000. Gulp. Move along, nothing to see here…(hat tip to BibliOdyssey for the picture of the book) -
How Not To Rant
As I noted before, the issue of gay rights versus religious rights has recently been in the news in the UK. Of course, such things are fodder to the media, and the radio phone-in debate is the perfect platform for some knockabout fun.This BBC Radio Fivelive debate is a good example. There are some gems in here worth listening to. The studio guest, Andrea Minichello Williams of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, is not the shiniest example. Her "we certainly don’t want to discriminate against gay people, but…" schtick becomes irritating very quickly, as it is blatantly obvious that this is precisely what she wants. If it is enshrined in the law that one can’t discriminate on the grounds of religion, but one can discriminate on the grounds of the fact that someone is gay, then how could it be otherwise?The star of the show is definitely Dr. A Majid Katme, apparently qualified in psychiatry, and spokesman of the Islamic Medical Association in Britain.His contribution, if one can call it that, begins about 29 minutes into the broadcast. A fine example of spittle-flecked invective against gays, and the perfect example of how not to rant. The fact that this man might conceivably be a psychiatric practitioner in the UK gives me pause for thought. -
Good News
Alright, I admit it. I’m a simple person. I always have a feeling of schadenfreude when someone delivers a reprimand to the lovely Rita. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving case. -
How To Rant
While I enjoy having a good rant, I am nowhere when it comes to the masters of the art. Here is an extended nine minute rant from Keith Olbermann on George Bush’s latest misstep in Iraq. Part of me exults at the justness of Olbermann’s rant and part of me weeps at Bush’s idiocy. -
Parent Power
I see that a parent in Seattle has been initially successful in his attempt to prevent local schools from showing the Al Gore film An Inconvenient Truth. He’s clearly in full possession of the facts and an intelligent rationalist:"Condoms don’t belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He’s not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that’s being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. … The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn’t in the DVD."Wonderful.Update: Apparently Frosty has been moved to give us a deeper peek into his rationale (and I use that word advisedly) behind his objections. Stop digging, Frosty… -
New Comet
There’s a new comet in the night sky. So far, all I can see are clouds and pouring rain… -
Stereotypes Only
A somewhat disturbing story in the Guardian today about the treatment meted out to Joanne Lees by the media. Her crime? She’s a woman in control of her emotions, instead of the tearful victim the tabloids want. There’s more than one Nicholas Hellen out there… -
I Was Blind…
…but now I see. Take a look at this wonderful photo-essay by Teju Cole. Gawd, I wish I were an artist! -
Matching Pairs
I am like Diamond Geezer, I hate shopping for clothes. Fashion is probably the 13th worst idea in the history of the world. -
The Gadget Lovers
I know that at times I’m in danger of falling into this trap, but please don’t let me lose my mind like this… Besides, I simply can’t afford an Apple iPhone, even if it were to be the threshold to a totally new experience. And, when push comes to shove, it’s just another gadget that I don’t need. -
The Alchemist
The Alchemist is the title of an article about Grant Achatz, chef at the Chicago restaurant Alinea. Trouble is, when I see a title like that, part of me thinks "yup, another charlatan designing the Emperor’s new clothes". I think of El Bulli, which is supposed to be one of the great culinary experiences of the world, but which I fear is just shock tactics executed on jaded, satiated palates, whose owners wouldn’t recognise good food even if it snuck up their anuses, crawled through their intestines and exploded in their stomaches. Er, I digress. But the point remains. Is this good food, or pretentiousness for the chattering classes? Andy, what do you think? -
Human Diversity
There’s another very good presentation from the TED conference of 2003 is now posted. It’s by Wade Davis, talking about his experiences amongst a wide variety of idigenous peoples of the earth. Worth watching. -
Time and Love
Another story, this time a universe away from Delany’s. This time an altogether gentler, elagiac love story involving a woman and a traveller who might be a man. First, read the appreciation of the story here, and then follow the link to read the story itself. -
The Mad Man
The Mad Man is the title of a dark and disturbing book by Samuel R. Delany. I bought it in hardcover when it was first published in 1994, but I’ve never been able to read more than a few chapters, so disturbing did I find it. -
Synthetic Controversy
Not Saussure has an excellent entry discussing the recent Gay Rights vs Religious Rights issue that’s arisen in the UK over new laws to ban discrimination against gay people. His point is that some of the objections to the law seem fantastical in the extreme, usually a sure sign that a synthetic controversy is being whipped up.I found it interesting that some of the objections that had been raised had already been dismissed in a previous debate in the House of Lords, and yet they are still circulating in the media (even popping up on the BBC TV News last night) as though they were valid. Obviously, you can’t keep a good meme down.In the event, the attempt to derail the bill was defeated in the Lords by a majority of three to one, so sanity has prevailed. It’s good to see that the UK has now reached a point (in banning discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, sex or sexual orientation) that the Netherlands reached in 1983. Better late than never, I suppose. -
The Life-expectancy of Pessimists
Vaughan, over at the Mind Hacks blog, draws our attention to studies that appear to show that pessimists are more likely to die earlier than optimists. Bugger, that’s me done for, then. However, the entry does point out one interesting chicken-or-egg aspect of this:…one of the difficulties with these sorts of studies is determining causality.Does being pessimistic make you more likely to have poor health, or does having poor health make you more likely to be pessimistic, or might it be a combination of both, perhaps working as a self-reinforcing cycle?Iinteresting questions. And I take some comfort from the fact that I enjoy good health – I’m just a pessimist by nature… -
Dangerous Historian Apprehended
The American Historical Association has been holding its annual conference in Atlanta. During the conference, Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto committed the heinous crime of jaywalking. For this, the former Oxford don was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and kept in a cell for eight hours while the authorities decided what to do about him. Watch the interview with this urbane man here, and marvel at the subtle policing that citizens and visitors to Atlanta can experience. -
Ballard Conference
I see that there’s going to be an international conference on the life and works of J. G. Ballard: From Shanghai to Shepperton. It’ll be held in May at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. I doubt whether I’ll get there, but I do hope that the papers will be published for the wider audience.(hat tip to J. Carter Wood, over at Obscene Desserts, who will be presenting one of the papers)
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