May I just draw your attention to a blog: Granny Gets A Vibrator. It’s written by a woman who is by no means a spring chicken or in the best of health, but who is seizing life by the throat and shaking it heartily. You go, girl!

 

I can’t recall now whose blog I read with the pointer to granny, but thank you, whoever you were.

Jonah Lehrer, over at The Frontal Cortex, makes some interesting points about people’s reaction to terrorism. We do seem to be irrationally afraid of it (and this irrational fear is of course well exploited by terrorists themselves). Statistically, as he points out, the numbers of people killed in terrorist acts in a year is not much more than the number of Amercians who accidentally drown in their bathtubs each year, and yet there is no Department of Bathtub Security.

 

One person who comments on the piece writes that the difference is that in one case there is a human agency (the terrorists) actively working to kill people, while in the other, the causes of death (car crashes, bathtub drownings) are pure chance and random events. But as Jonah retorts, while the basis of the fear may be valid – terrorists do blow up trains and planes – the fear itself remains irrational, simply because it is so very unlikely to happen to you (I am talking about a "you" who lives in a capital city in the West, of course – statistically speaking, a "you" living in Baghdad is much more likely to suffer a terrorist act).

 

I think he’s right, we do behave irrationally over the risks – and this is a fact exploited not only by the terrorists, but by the authorities who seem to be more intent on amplifying the fear than damping it down. I really do feel that we are beginning to live in the world of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.

Today, Martin and I went on a "fietstocht" – a bicycle tour – organised by our nearest neighbours (200 metres away across a field). It’s apparently an annual event, when someone in the neighbourhood volunteers to plan a seven-hour bicycle ride through the local countryside with stops for coffee, lunch and tea.

 

This was our first time of joining the fietstocht, and this morning, 42 of us – of all ages – set out at 10:00 am to cover a route of about 40 kilometres. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. Gently cycling through the Dutch countryside, chatting with neighbours that we know, and getting to know new neighbours.

 

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.

Spiked has been running a survey these past couple of months, asking a selection of scientists, philosphers and commentators what they think the key challenges will be for the next generation. I’m coming late to this, so there’s a whole pile of reading to catch up on – some of it looks thought-provoking, and no doubt some of it will be dross.

I mentioned an article on the persecution of gay people in Iraq that appeared in last Sunday’s Observer newspaper. Last night, a documentary on which the report was based was shown on a British TV channel. That documentary is available for viewing over the web on this page. Doug Ireland also has more background on the situation in Iraq available via his web site here.