Category: Society

The Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics has done something rather interesting and scary with its census data. You can now use Google Earth to check out census data at the level of neighbourhoods across the country. Hours of fun and sombre reflection.  

The case of Gillian Gibbons is a salutary example of how truth is stranger than fiction. I admit, that when I saw the headline that people were demonstrating against her sentence of 15 days for allegedly insulting Islam, I thought: at last, people are coming to their senses. But no; it turns out that the demonstrators want to have her executed. I’m sorry, but I am going to turn into a cranky misanthrope, if this is the best that my species can muster.

 

I trust that at least Khalid Al-Mubarak is reflecting on his ill-chosen words that the whole affair is simply a "storm in a teacup". But I leave it to Mo to point out the idiocy of the whole affair.

The UK seems to be moving towards having a tough stance on asylum-seekers, and to hell with the consequences. The Independent reports on two disturbing cases (Maud Lennard and Meltem Avcil), and Craig Murray reports on an even more disturbing third case (Jahongir Sidikov). Today I don’t feel proud of being British.

What makes for a good "quality of life", when looking at a society as a whole? Is it possible to come up with metrics? After all, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. I see that the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency has released a report that attempts to define that rather slippery phrase.

Flea has another brilliant post. This time she is musing on how best to teach history to her young son. Worth reading.

National treasure Stephen Fry shows, once again, why he is a national treasure.

 

He weaves together denialism of global warming, the difference between British and American culture, and Pascal’s Wager. Simply brilliant. Jim is a twat, by the way, but of course the fact that I immediately fall on that position whilst Mr. Fry is altogether more subtle merely shows why he deserves the title of National Treasure. He does, and I am merely capable of venting my spleen on ad hominem attacks.

Sigh, I’m not listed, but then that’s not really important. The kernel is that these sites hold the torch of rational thought aloft. Check them out.

 

 

I see that the Lyrical Terrorist has had her sentence handed down.

 

It’s a difficult case. Some, Like Inayat Bungawala, make her out to be almost a wronged innocent. I can’t say that I fully agree. I’m closer to agreeing with Rachel. She was a foolish young woman, but nevertheless was very close to being the unwitting foot-soldier.

 

When it all comes down to the line; when I was 23 years old, I did not dream of killing people to the extent that this misguided young woman appeared to do. Her mind has been poisoned. Hopefully, the poison can be drawn without destroying her.

I’m sorry, but in amongst a few good points, Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari does talk a lot of nonsense. Stoning is a metaphor for disapproval? Tell that to those who have been killed by it. I also see that, rather than being in favour of book-burning, he is in favour of pulping those that he disapproves of. Oh well, perhaps he wants to keep his carbon footprint smaller.

 

Ah, I see that Ophelia has more. Worth reading.

Stephen Bates looks back on his stint as the Guardian’s Religious Affairs Correspondent. We live in interesting times, as the Chinese might say. And clearly, if Graham Dow, the Bishop of Carlisle, is anything to go by, there would seem to be more walking around outside the asylum than in it.

But obviously not to the Society of Homeopaths. I can’t say that I am surprised.

I think Mr. Eugenides has nailed it. Shared Values? Steve Bell also has a pertinent comment and Peter Tatchell gives chapter and verse.

David Smith ("Ludens") has a thought-provoking piece on his Preoccupations blog. It’s about Sherry Turkle and her views on what she calls "the Robotic Moment" – how the growing encounters that we humans have with cybernetic devices are changing our worldview.

 

Smith kicks off the piece with an extract from Turkle’s 2006 article for Edge. I remember it well; she has a knack of being able to point to something that is simultaneously simple and profound. I have a copy of Turkle’s book Life on the Screen in my library, and it is stll very good, even though it is now 10 years since it was published. As the blurb says, she explores not only what the computer does for us, but what it does to us. Methinks I should put her new book Evocative Objects onto the wish-list. 

 

While I’m on the subject of human-computer interaction (HCI), I should perhaps just mention an even older book by Brenda Laurel: Computers as Theatre, published in 1991. Laurel introduced the idea that effective HCI design should be like effective theatre and drama, engaging the user directly in an experience involving both thought and emotion. At the time, her ideas seemed way out, but now, technology and HCI design has caught up with her.

Rob posts a useful Anthropomorphism Checklist for those of us curious to see where on the spectrum they might lie.

Orac points out how much attitudes have changed to cigarette smoking. I find it interesting to watch old films and see how taken for granted smoking was. The contrast with today’s attitudes is very striking. The zeitgeist moves on…

Once again, the Telegraph‘s Obituary column delivers it in spades. This time it’s for Sammy Duddy, aka Samantha. I swear, you couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.

I don’t know whether to be appalled or fascinated by this image of Mikhail Gorbachev being used to advertise Louis Vuitton luggage. Well, OK, I’m appalled. It would be rather like seeing Nelson Mandela advertising smack and crack. Ah, alright, that’s been done, but then that was a joke. This Gorbachev image is not – and it stinks. The one saving grace might be the book, but even here the effect is of a post-ironic comment that robs the image of any real power. Ah, Gorby, that you have fallen so low!

George Monbiot has an interesting column in today’s Guardian, pointing out that while he and the former chairman of the Northern Rock bank both trained as zoologists, they draw very different conclusions from their examinations of the same evidence. Worth reading.

Simon Sellars, over at Ballardian, reports on his growing feeling that Melbourne (his home city) is taking on the feeling of Ballard’s Kingdom Come. Disturbing.

Richard Overy makes his choice of the 50 key dates in human history. Looking at those associated with the sciences, then I would broadly agree. However, I really do question his choice of 1959: Invention of the Silicon Chip. That, to me, is mere packaging; the real key date was 1947 when Bardeen, Brittain and Shockley invented the transistor – a totally new technology that replaced thermionic valves.