Thursday, January 04, 2007

Fin

My readers, I have not nearly been distracted enough lately to justify maintaining a blog. I have been working too hard. This blog was just for odds and ends and not so serious subjects. Even so, the quality has been seriously dropping off and so I am signing off. Distractions I assure you will be revived in another form at some point.

Adios

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

And People Thought Grand Theft Auto Was Bad...

This videogame incites Christians to Apocalyptic holy war and murder. Just what the world needs.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

CNN

This morning I find this article in the default Google personalised homepage. Why CNN would be among the members is well beyond me. Why CNN, a supposed news organisation, would report on this boggles the mind. Why police would arrest a 12 year old for opening a present and playing gameboy is completely absurd. It is a waste of police resources and a false arrest. Amazing.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The Power of Art

Simon Schama, a brilliant historian at Columbia University, has a new series focusing on the histories of famous artists as seen through their masterpieces. To use a hackneyed phrase: It is television at its finest.

Here is the UKNova link. If you are without a membership to this site and wish to obtain these files I may be able to help. It would be a shame to miss out on this masterpiece.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Borat and Breast Milk

Here is a link to a torrent of the new Borat film. I was somewhat disappointed with some of the skits that they were cut very short. We never see the full riot he caused at the rodeo nor much of the interview with Allan Keyes.

At one point when meeting with a foreign dignitary, Borat presents some cheese to his interviewee which he then informs comes from his wife's breast milk. A friend of mine who knows my thoughts on the matter asked me to share with the world my unconventional theories about human breast milk and after reading it, you will understand my reluctance.

As a mammal and a large consumer of bovine milk as well as occasionally cheese made from goat's or sheep's milk, I have often considered how strange it is that in a modern consumer society, the commercial consumption of human breast milk does not occur. Before the invention of baby formula, women were of course hired as nurses to feed other women's children. Considering the size and fertility of humans, the potential to transmit disease and competition with feeding babies, human breast milk is very dear and commercialisation faces many hurtles. Maintaining freshness and ensuring a consistent, fresh supply of organic, hormone and disease-free mothers willing to sell the milk they once fed their baby is very expensive to say the least. Still I would expect in large metropolitan areas for such a thing to exist for babies at hospitals and specialty food stores for the smug elite.

After doing a little searching I found a couple news stories and a few medical organisations that sell milk for a high premium.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Something to Hide

I am often amazed with the vitriol and passion of many homophobes. I have noticed it often comes from those insecure with their own sexuality. The recent Mark Foley scandal and National Association of Evangelicals illustrates the point quite well. It is OK to be gay, and those who are should be made to feel comfortable enough with it that they can be honest rather than repressive to the point of harming or attacking other gays in a sad attempt to prove their own heterosexuality. It just so happens Ted Haggard of the gay methamphetamine evangelical row was also featured in Richard Dawkin's atheistic documentary, 'The Root of All Evil?' Watch the segment on YouTube.

See Bruno with Pastor Quinn.

Scanner Darkly

I watched the film recently, 'A Scanner Darkly' which originally was a novel by Philip K. Dick. Here is the audiobook. The film was masterfully directed by Richard Linklater who also directed 'A Waking Life.' The most striking feature about these films is the revoltionary animated filming technique.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Richard Dawkins on Religious Assault

Richard Dawkins is quite correct in his attack on Creationism which rejects the basic foundations of science. Lately, with the publication of his new book, he has been aggressively and passionately hammering the rational notion that God almost certainly does not exist. He makes some very good arguments e.g. that atheism now has the same status homosexuality did 50 years ago and deserves more respect. While one cannot easily discount his points of the probable nonexistence of God, one should also not dismiss the richness of culture that religion has given humanity. Religion has often provided a level of cohesion and psychological comfort in society which surely must at times have been an evolutionary advantage. Just as people now use artificial birth control rather than abstinence to control population, people naturally have a hard time giving up the supernatural in their life even if they know rationally it is probably false.

*Update*
His new book is called 'The God Delusion.' The torrent for the audiobook read eloquently by the author himself is available here.