The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is under attack by the very body that should be upholding it – the UN Human Rights Council. Roy Brown writes about the latest racheting up of the attack.
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Equilibrium
A fine review of a not-so-fine restaurant by the Guardian‘s Food Critic today. One almost feels sorry for the restaurant owners. Almost.Leave a comment
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The Executive Summit
This story, from The Daily WTF, reminds me of what I often observed in my working life. To be fair, though, in some of the buildings the facilities seemed as though they had been designed as an IQ test by a particularly fiendish architect.Leave a comment
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Pilobolus
The American dance group Pilobolus is currently touring the Netherlands, and last night we went to see their performance at the Arnhem Schouwburg. Stunning as always. Hard to believe that I first saw Pilobolus well over thirty years ago at the Sadlers Wells Theatre in London. Of course, many dancers in the troupe have come and gone since then, but the style and vision remain consistent: surprising, organic and striking.
The programme that they are currently touring with includes five works, four of which are new to the Netherlands. One was actually a shadow play; we see the dancers momentarily at the beginning and at the end, but for the rest of the time the stage is filled by a giant screen on which the dancers behind create images of light and shadow. The fifth – the finale to the programme – is one that we have seen many times before, but which we never tire of seeing again: Day Two. It’s a real crowd-pleaser, and had last night’s audience giving a standing ovation. Well, almost all the audience: there were three ballet students behind us in row three, and one in front of me. I think they were a little taken aback at what they saw, and didn’t know quite how to react. They sat resolutely slumped in their seats at the end while the rest of the audience was on its feet and applauding wildly. We enjoyed it, and the three friends that we had persuaded to come along with us (one of whom had never been to a live dance performance before) were bowled over by what they had seen.
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Where Is My Mind?
Here’s a great video of science writer Jonah Lehrer talking about the material of his latest book – about how the human mind makes decisions. There is some really interesting research going on at the moment that he draws our attention to.I see that Lehrer has also reviewed the philosopher Alva Noë’s book "Out of Our Heads", in which Noë argues that our consciousness arises not solely within our brain but in the interplay of the brain with our environment. He’s not a dualist exactly, but he has an interesting way of looking at the phenomenon of consciousness that I really should take a look at.Leave a comment
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What’s In The Box?
That’s the title of a short demo film reportedly made for 150 Euros and a pizza by a young Dutch guy. It’s very well done. He should go far.Leave a comment
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Little Red Riding Hood
An old tale seen through scientific eyes…http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3514904&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.(hat tip A Blog Around the Clock)Leave a comment
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It’s About Power
I’ve mentioned the power of Matt Taibbi’s writing a couple of times before. Here he is again writing about the shenanigans on Wall Street. Worth reading in full.“The latest bailout came as AIG admitted to having just posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history — some $61.7 billion. In the final three months of last year, the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That’s $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second. And all this happened at the end of eight straight years that America devoted to frantically chasing the shadow of a terrorist threat to no avail, eight years spent stopping every citizen at every airport to search every purse, bag, crotch and briefcase for juice boxes and explosive tubes of toothpaste. Yet in the end, our government had no mechanism for searching the balance sheets of companies that held life-or-death power over our society and was unable to spot holes in the national economy the size of Libya (whose entire GDP last year was smaller than AIG’s 2008 losses).So it’s time to admit it: We’re fools, protagonists in a kind of gruesome comedy about the marriage of greed and stupidity. And the worst part about it is that we’re still in denial — we still think this is some kind of unfortunate accident, not something that was created by the group of psychopaths on Wall Street whom we allowed to gang-rape the American Dream…”Addendum July 2017: …and, wouldn’t you know it, Mr. Taibbi turns out to be a despicable human being himself.Leave a comment
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Another One Bites The Dust
Following hot on the heels of the BBC’s Horizon’s inexorable decline is, it appears, New Scientist magazine; now heading for the grubbier shores of tabloid journalism and bad science. A pity, I used to like reading the NS, but it’s obviously not what it was. Another once-proud flagship reduced to a “patched and ailing dinghy”…
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ISS Sighting
The International Space Station is back in our night skies at the moment. I went out last night at 20:08 to watch it cross the sky from the SSW to the SSE. It’s just a light travelling across the sky, but I never fail to be stirred by it. What made last night’s sighting even more special was the fact that travelling behind it in convoy at about one degree behind it was a fainter light. That, I assume, is the space shuttle Discovery approaching the ISS.If you want to see the ISS for yourself, go to Heavens Above, feed in your position (Latitude and Longitude) and you’ll be given the dates, times and positions in the sky when the ISS will be passing over you.2 responses to “ISS Sighting”
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ISS past over Spring Hill Fl on 9 May 09. Got a fantastic photo but I don’t see where this blog allows posting.
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Dave, since this is my blog, I’m the only person who can post photos on it. Why not post your ISS photo on your own Windows Live Photos area and let us all see it?
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Health Warning
This Pope is dangerous to your health. Perhaps the Eucharist wafers could be stamped with a health warning?Update: Joanna Bogle: part of the problem, not part of the solution.Update 2: Hank puts into words all the frustration and disgust I feel over this Pope’s abominable behaviour. If there really was a God, then this Pope would be recalled home very quickly.Leave a comment
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The HULC
In the spirit of turning swords into plowshares, I would like to think that consumer versions of the military HULC system will one day become available. It would be wonderful to be able to continue walking in the countryside well into my old age… But somehow, I think the possibility will remain, like the dream of a personal jet-pack, forever out of reach…Leave a comment
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Abiogenesis
A good video that sets out a clear description of one of the current theories of abiogenesis. It wasn’t lightning striking a mud puddle as some idiots would have you think.Leave a comment
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Deborah Drapper
Deborah Drapper is 13 years old. She is a bright, intelligent girl. She is also an evangelical Christian.BBC Three has made a one hour documentary about her (and her family of 10 brothers and sisters and her parents). It was truly cringeworthy stuff. Partly because of the cruel nonsense that she believes without question, but also because of the shallow nature of the documentary. The idiotic questions posed by the documentary makers ("do you know who Britney Spears is?") and the posing of the binge culture lifestyle as the only alternative to Christianity are simplistic and a lost opportunity.And I don’t think that I’m the only person to note that her eldest brother, Matthew, set off the gaydar alarm. I kept hearing the tune and lyrics of ""There may be trouble ahead, but while there’s music and moonlight and love and romance, let’s face the music and dance".The final few moments of the film show a vulnerable, bright 13 year old who has been completely screwed over by her upbringing. Heartbreaking.Deborah has a web blog. Hopefully she will win through and come to realise that she is not a "wretched horrible person", just human, like the rest of us.6 responses to “Deborah Drapper”
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That’s exactly what I thought, she’s so young…It was totally wrong of her parents to indoctrinate her in that way. As for her brother…now that I think about it he did seem pretty feminine…I wonder what he’ll do when he finally realises that he’s gay…
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Caz, as I say, "there may be trouble ahead…" If Matthew is gay, then I doubt whether his father will be too pleased about it…
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leave debbie alone she has the rites to believe in whatever she wants to. If she feels that the way of life she is following is right for her then let her live that way she has not told you how to live your life so mdont comment on her
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XxleannexX adderley – sorry, but I will absolutely comment on aspects of this society and world that I find interesting/wonderful/exasperating/wicked. I did, however, enjoy your Freudian slip about "she has the rites to believe in whatever she wants to". Rites can be constraining like chains. Rights can liberate us.
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Deborah Drapper and her family is an example of what should be the new generation of young people, it is an awakenning call to all who having eyes want to see and having ears want to hear, and with a heart of good will be reborn in spirit and water, water that springs to eternal life.
May God bless the family Drapper, the people of good will in the UK and the world. Amen. -
Matthew is a delightful young man, and certainly set off my gaydar. If I am correct, I pray he will be able to integrate his spirituality and his sexuality. Deborah is thoughtful, but it’s too bad she is so self-hating and obsessed with judgment. That is the spirit of the Pharisees, not the Spirit of Christ, who came not to condemn, but to save the world.
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Mardi Gras
Here’s a wonderful impression of this month’s Mardi Gras in Sydney by filmmaker Keith Loutit. He uses a time lapse technique coupled with tilt and shift focus that turns the parade into an animated film using toy figures. The end result brings a smile to my face.Leave a comment
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Why Is Science Important?
Back in 2005, I mentioned a survey of over 250 renowned scientists, science communicators, and educators – including 11 Nobel laureates – asking what they would teach the world about science and why, if they could pick just one thing. That survey, thanks to Alom Shaha, is now in video form. and here it is. Over 250 candles lit to beat back the darkness…Leave a comment
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