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Magnus Hirschfeld
Jim Burroway, over at Box Turtle Bulletin, reminds us that today, 14th May, is a day of significance to LGBT folks. It marks the day, in 1868 when Magnus Hirschfeld was born; the day, in 1897, when Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee; and the day, in 1935, when Hirschfeld died.As Burroway says, Hirschfeld organised "the Scientific Humanitarian Committee for the expressed purpose of advocating for the repeal of Paragraph 175, the German statute which criminalized sodomy. Paragraph 175 was the law that the Nazi’s would later use to send upwards of 15,000 gay men to concentration camps. The Scientific Humanitarian Committee is the first documented formal group to advocate for the civil rights of gays and lesbians". -
Wishful Thinking
I see that tomorrow marks the start of Compassion To Action.CommonPassion.org, in cooperation with many local and global groups, is orchestrating the world’s largest interfaith global meditation and prayer event ever performed. This will be a series of meditation and prayers for community and global peace to be held between May 15th and May 29th, 2007. It is anticipated that over 1,000,000 people will participate in this two-week program from virtually every faith-system, religious group, indigenous community and meditation assembly currently in existence.Apparently they also think that as well as making themselves feel good, they will have a positive effect on the rest of us:Concurrent with the prayer-meditation practices we will monitor crime statistics, emergency call data and other social indicators to ascertain change as a result of this peace-creating program.Oh dear, more woo, I fear. I’m sure that they will collect data, and I’m sure that some carefully selected data will show positive correlations. But it would not surprise me if there is other data that doesn’t. After all, they seem to have selected data before…Leave a comment
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Petal Fatigue
Apparently, most of what we think we know about the 17th Century Dutch passion for tulips: Tulipmania, is simply not true. Damn, there goes another illusion…Leave a comment
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Life With A Dog
Living with a dog can prove stressful at times. Thankfully, ours is so much better behaved. At least, so far. I think.Leave a comment
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You Cannot Be Serious II…
Belatedly, I discover it’s not just the UN that appears to be taking leave of its senses. The Council of Europe is just as guilty. Jobs for the boys, and to hell with the people, eh?Leave a comment
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From The Sublime…
…to the ridiculous. From Sir Ian McKellen illuminating Shakespeare to the camp extravaganza that is known as Eurovision. Yes, tonight is the night of the finale for 2007. Martin and I will be there in front of the telly, waving the flag along to the High Life pastiche that is Flying the Flag performed by Scooch.5 responses to “From The Sublime…”
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How about that block voting though eh? And what about those silver shorts?
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Well, I don’t know that we can complain too much about the block voting phenomenon; after all, if it hadn’t been for Ireland and Malta, the UK would have ended up with null pointes… And I correctly predicted that the Biggins-like character in the shorts would do well. Greece’s Ricky Martin lookalike also confirmed my predictions, although I was surprised that Spain didn’t get more votes. I thought that Russia would have won, but perhaps the Eastern Bloc now think that they can safely thumb their noses at them. I didn’t see Serbia coming at all though…
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I’d rather watch paint dry than Urinevision
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I’d rather watch paint dry than Urinevision
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Coboró, I know what you mean, but for me it’s one of those "so bad, it’s good" type of experience. I have to watch it on BBC, though, in order to share in Terry Wogan’s world-weary commentary – I don’t think I could bear it otherwise. Dutch TV has Paul de Leeuw commentating, and he takes it much too seriously.
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McKellen On Richard III
Wow – this is wonderful stuff. Sir Ian McKellen taking you through the heart and soul of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Marvellous.Leave a comment
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You Cannot Be Serious…
…is this really going to be the candidate country to head the UN’s Commission for Sustainable Development? Has the UN been taken over by Monty Python? Bizarre in the extreme.Leave a comment
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Gunkanjima Island
Via BLDBLOG, I came across an island off the coast of Japan called Gunkanjima. Its history is fascinating. And via the BLDBLOG entry, I found this documentary made of the island and the people who lived there. Haunting.Leave a comment
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I Am A Strange Loop
I mentioned, back in January, that Douglas Hofstadter had a new book coming out: I Am A Strange Loop. My copy arrived last month, and I immediately fell to reading it. It is, of course, a fascinating read, even though at times I felt I was only dimly understanding the points being made. Hofstadter has a knack, though, of being able to present some pretty abstruse material in an understandable way by means of analogies or thought experiments.One thing that surprised me somewhat was that nowhere, in this whole book devoted to the nature of consciousness, was there any reference to the work being done by researchers such as V. S. Ramachandran (Phantoms In The Brain). Indeed, he seems to dismiss neuroscience as incapable of giving insight into the mechanisms of consciousness at all, instead preferring a more abstract, philosophical approach to the topic. That, I think, is a shame and a missed opportunity. I think that a conversation between Hofstadter and Ramachandran would be something that would create some sparks of illumination.In the meantime, here’s a link to a recent interview with Hofstadter that is worth reading.Leave a comment
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Not Yer Meat And Two Veg…
Rufus, over at That’s How It Happened, shares with us his experience of a 26 course meal at L’Enclume. Frankly, it’s all a bit beyond me.(hat tip to Jason Kottke for the link)2 responses to “Not Yer Meat And Two Veg…”
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I’m not sure when it was that some chefs stopped thinking that they had an obligation to served food rather than science experiments but I blame Ferran Adria of El Bulli. The comment that Adria thinks that "food should taste of itself" is so far off from what happens at such places that I don’t know where to start. Dishes in places like this, El Bulli, the Fat Duck etc usually lack seasonality and are often very cheap ingredients indeed – they are not very interesting to start with, so in fact the last thing you want is for them to taste of themselves. For some examples of real cooking read my blog (www.andyhayler.com) this week about eating in four 3 star Michelin places in Paris. In places like Meurice and Ledoyen the chef is out to dazzle you with his ingredients and quality of cooking, not trying to shock you into submission. Fay Maschler makes this point more eloquently thiks week in Restaurant Magazine.
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Andy, thanks. I’m glad that I’m not alone in thinking that the emperors have no clothes…
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Decoding The Message
Steven Poole, over at Unspeak, decodes Tony Blair’s resignation speech.Leave a comment
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Plus Ça Change
You didn’t really think that Nicolas Sarkozy and friends would change their spots, did you?Leave a comment
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A Bit Rich
Alexis Petridis has a rather amusing review of Rufus Wainwright’s latest album: Release The Stars. He thinks it is great stuff, but probably too rich for commercial success. Well, I think I’ll probably buy it, but I don’t think that will help tip the balance.Leave a comment
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The Past Is Another Country
Christopher Hitchens has an excellent article about his visit back to London’s Finsbury Park area, where he grew up. He finds it has changed, and in ways not necessarily for the better. A consumate wordsmith, he makes you smile before you realise the full import of what he has just written. For example:Until he was jailed last year on charges of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred, a man known to the police of several countries as Abu Hamza al-Masri was the imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque. He was a conspicuous figure because, having lost the use of an eye and both hands in an exchange of views in Afghanistan, he sported an opaque eye plus a hook to theatrical effect. Not as nice as he looked, Abu Hamza was nonetheless unfailingly generous with his hospitality. Overnight guests at his mosque’s sleeping quarters have included Richard Reid, the man in whose honor we now all have to take off our shoes at the airport, and Zacarias Moussaoui, the missing team member of September 11, 2001.The "exchange of views" is very droll, and that "not as nice as he looked" phrase is a brilliant touch. Go and read the whole article. The Q&A session accompanying the article is worth reading too.Leave a comment
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Quirkology – Take Two
Following on from my mention of Quirkology last week, I see that Professor Wiseman has an article in New Scientist listing his favourite studies into the quirks of our species. Worth reading – the revelations about female van drivers is pretty scary stuff.Leave a comment
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Wonders Never Cease
For the first time ever, I can agree with something that Inayat Bungawala has written. Staggering.Leave a comment
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Planed
Get yer Planed here… Piping hot; only until 10th May 2007… And I missed the programme as well. Damn.Leave a comment
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What Is Life?
I become increasingly uncertain as to where borders and interfaces lie when I read articles such as this.Leave a comment
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A New Era?
Dear god, I hope so.3 responses to “A New Era?”
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If you’ve heard Paisley talking about this on political programmes, I’m not so sure. I think he feels he has no choice, but he’s not giving one inch. Maybe its the same both sides, maybe it will hold out.
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I haven’t seen him on TV recently, but I did read that there was no handshake between the two men in the parliament. As the Princess Irulan wrote: "A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct".
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I almost ran off the road the other day when the World Service news played a speech where Paisley said, "We agree with Sinn Fein…" It felt like the day you heard the Berlin Wall was coming down. My keyboard to God’s ear, but we’ll have to see.
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