Category: Society

Sometimes, I feel such a misanthrope. This is simultaneously sad and disturbing.  

I’m sorry, but I don’t have too much sympathy for this pair. They may be only 16 years old, but they appear to have no nous whatsoever:

Yup, you certainly didn’t think. And I am fascinated by the little factoid that their families thought the girls were on holiday in France, when in fact they were in Ghana. Something tells me there’s more going on here. 

Well, bless her, Margaret Sanger’s heart (and wishful intellect) was certainly in the right place when she penned this in 1923; but unfortunately, things didn’t always turn out quite as she would have wished…

Terrance, over at The Republic of T, is blogging about the holiday cruise he’s currently on with his husband and young son, Parker. He’s enjoying it, and makes the point, without labouring it, that families come in all shapes and sizes. It’s worth reading, so please go and do just that.

Last year, I found an entertaining blog with the intriguing title of Granny Gets A Vibrator. Just as I became hooked on the writings of Liz, her blog disappeared. But now, thanks to Trudi, I learn that Liz is back and blogging once again. Hooray!

While I might wish it otherwise, being gay is of itself no guarantee of being rational and wise. Here’s ample proof: the Education Minister of the German state of Hesse has recently come out both as a lesbian, and for the teaching of creationism in school biology lessons. Duh.

Dan Dennett recently did an interview on Danish TV to talk about the ideas in his book Breaking The Spell. The interview has inevitably been put up on YouTube. Part 1 is here.

 

If you haven’t read the book, Dennett does a good job of covering the contents in a straightforward and relaxed manner, it’s worth watching.

 

 

Part 2:

 

 

Part 3: 

 

 

I’ve been reading the One Good Thing blog for some time now, and occasionally drawing your attention to entries that seem to me to be especially relevant to life.

 

I thought that I had Flea’s blog on my blogroll, but I’ve just discovered that I was mistaken. I’ve now corrected that oversight, and by way of penance, I implore you to go and read Broke, Part I and Broke, Part II. You won’t regret it.

Sometimes, following the rulebook can be a good thing. Sometimes it can kill.

 

We’ve just had a bizarre incident here in the Netherlands, in Pernis, a town near Rotterdam. Apparently, two idiots were so taken with the schlock-horror film Hostel 2 that they decided to try torturing a third person to death, imitating a scene from the film. Neighbours heard the screams and called the police. Instead of entering the premises, the two policemen who arrived (and who were armed) hung around outside for 20-25 minutes and listened to the continuing screams of the victim. Apparently, they thought he was a hostage, and the rulebook says that you have to call for backup in such cases.

 

By the time the backup arrived, it was too late, the victim had been mortally wounded and died shortly afterwards.

 

Seems to me that someone made an error of judgement here, and a man died as a result. However, the Public Prosecutor’s Office says it sees no reason to order an investigation into the incident. Er, hello?

 

Klein Verzet has more.

Watch this little film to the end to understand the question.

 

 

(hat tip to Houtlust)

The shrill reporting by much of the British media over the attempted acts of terrorism in the UK last weekend is beginning to bring on a Victor Meldrew moment in me. Luckily, Lewis Page, writing in The Register, provides a countering voice. It struck me as an odd place to find his piece (The Register reports on IT matters in a manner that reminds me of the satirical magazine Private Eye), but then I discover that Mr. Page has been a bomb disposal expert in the past. So I assume that he knows whereof he writes.

Of course, one of the issues about interpreting theology is that sometimes the interpreters give every indication that they are at least sixpence short of the full shilling. Here’s some senior Church of England bishops who appear to think that us gays are to blame for the flooding in the north of England. Sigh.

Yesterday, the Observer carried an interesting opinion piece by Hassan Butt, calling on his fellow Muslims to renounce terror. Butt was, until recently, a member of radical group Al-Muhajiroun, raising funds for extremists and calling for attacks on British citizens. He appears to have had a change of heart.

 

What I found most interesting about his piece was that he downplays the role of Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war as a major factor in the radicalisation of young British Muslims. In effect, he says it’s the theology, stupid. That seems to be to be the crux of it. Yes, Iraq has been, and continues to be, a disaster, but until we manage to focus on the real wellsprings of power – the theology itself and the life-destroying interpretations of it that currently hold sway – little progress will be made. Rachel picks up on this theme over at her blog.

Hans Rosling is very good at showing statistics about societies. And he’s got a rather stunning party trick. Watch this video – right to the end.

(hat tip to TED Blog)

Your signature is more powerful than you think – an award-winning advert for Amnesty International

 

 

 

(hat tip to Houtlust)

PZ Myers draws our attention to Micah, a dog who is either a mathematical genius or whose owners are deluding themselves. My money is on the latter. As PZ says, they’ve clearly never heard of Clever Hans.

 

No, wait! This is obviously clear evidence of reincarnation… Hans has been reborn as Micah! How could we have been so blind?

A cheery little ditty from those wonderful folks at the Westboro Baptist Church. The von Trapp family, they ain’t. Delusion in action, and a clear demonstration of the "enclave" theory of Mary Douglas. The saddest thing is the short solo from a little girl right at the end of this. It breaks the heart.

 

http://embed.break.com/Mjc4MDU5
God Hates the World – Watch more free videos 

 

Oh, apparently our Shirley has an illegitimate child. Funny how that’s OK for her, but would be a one way trip to Hell for anyone else.

On the eve of the 40th anniversary since the UK decriminalised homosexuality, there a good article in today’s Observer about the times as they were then, and how, step by small step, things have changed. Worth reading.

For failing to obtain a licence, a respected biologist, Marc van Roosmalen, faces 14 years in prison. I smell something fishy about this. One wonders whether vested interests of those who are involved in clearing the Amazonian rainforest may have something to do with it.

 

A rather sad irony is that van Roosmalen, who was born Dutch, took Brazilian citizenship in 1996. That means that the Dutch government no longer have any power to intervene in his case.