the reductionist

From the recent archives...

2010-12-01T11:58:00.000Z

First read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11659122
A man is accused of flashing at a 15 year old in a clothes shop. He was denied bail.

Now read this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11658279
A man is charged with raping a woman twice. He is granted bail.

So much is badly wrong with our justice system.

Task list

2010-10-14T13:58:00.000Z

This week I must carry out at least three items from this list.

Discourage all traces of shame.
Bear no cross.
Extend all boundaries.
Blush perpetually in gaping innocence.
Burrow beneath the subconscious.
Pass from one world to another in carefree devotion.
Exhaust the primitive.
Generate the free brain.
Forego no succulent filth.
Verify the irrational.
Acquire a sublime reputation.
Make one monster at least.
Multiply all opinions.
Inhabit everyone.

It's in the stars again

2010-08-19T15:58:00.000Z

From the 18th of August:

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My favorite baseball player Tim Lincecum told *San Francisco* magazine: "I think you either get in the canoe with your oar and control the boat, or get into it and let the current take you. I'm kind of in between. I want to be able to enjoy the ride but don't want to be swept away by it. I don't want to be overwhelmed; I want to see what's going on." Whether you are customarily the type of person who controls the boat or the type who enjoys drifting dreamily along, I suggest you take Lincecum's in-between approach for now. Be half in charge and half surrendered.

In the Spams Tonight

2010-08-04T11:56:00.000Z

The very day after I was almost kicked out of my house for buying Tinned Spam (I received mercy only because it turned out to be Corned Beef) this small item of genius dropped into my spam folder:

"People usually trust men who like oligarchs. Create such a role. Do you know what girls want? We do! Check out that info at our site."

I thought I knew what was coming next...

"Want to be noticed by ladies? Wear branded cufflinks. Click once and you will forget that these accessories are not original. Make a great choice."

Brilliant.

The Starry Wisdom, Redux

2010-07-27T12:37:00.000Z

From the 20th of July:

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I think it would be healthy for you to wander out to a frontier and explore a boundary. You might even want to re-examine a taboo you haven't questioned in a while and tinker with a formula you thought you'd never change. I suspect that you would also learn a lot from gently pushing against a limit you've come to believe is permanent. Having said all that, I'm cautious about advising you to go further. If you get urges to actually transgress the boundary and break the taboo and smash through the limit, please do lots of due diligence. Know exactly what you're getting into and what the consequences might be.

What to do with this, exactly, that was my problem. Which envelope to push, which questions to ask. As with all of Rob's guidance, this was about recognising and taking chances.

Coralled!!

2010-07-21T10:14:00.001Z

This week has been a trove of thoroughly ridiculous spam-mail, but here are my two very favourites:

From Simionescu:

"A slim brunette with big boobs in heels from S."

And within, a list of links to, um, questionable movies.

And from Leda Driver (a rarity in that the name matches the email address):

"Does your cock renounce to work? Bring through him ot this illness!"

Seasonal allergy symptoms get thousands of people by surprise every year.

Choose your way to your love-life's chargers.

Just superb!

In the spams tonight.

2010-07-08T11:48:00.000Z

Recently I've received a number of spam emails entitled "Will Facebook kill the high-school reunion?"
I believe that high-school reunions are a very American notion, much like the high-school prom, and as such are fairly alien to cultures outside the US and an adopted "tradition" that has crossed the Atlantic within living memory.

Now I could go off on an ill-informed diatribe about such invented traditions, where people in English-speaking Europe assume US traditions as their own under the full belief that these traditions exist in their own cultures thanks to a smorgasbord of US film and TV providing rich historical and social details about these traditions viewed through the eyes of the participants as a backdrop rather than in analysis. But I won't. My point is somewhat different.

Facebook will never kill the high-school reunion because Facebook does not serve beer.

A Map of the World.

2010-07-03T09:00:00.001Z

I've been going through my email holding tank where I send interesting things for sending to my friends or writing a little bit about and posting here.
Typically I get a bit behind, so rather than having these gathering dust, I'm putting them on in one place for you, dear reader, to poke through.

Timeline: Eta campaign
'Tuned' images from water mission
Google faces competition inquiry
Small dogs may originate from the Middle East, geneticists say
GPS vulnerable to hacker attacks
Death Star
Stunning - Biblical Weapons
Web Security: Are You Part Of The Problem?
UFO investigations unit closed by Ministry of Defence
In pictures - Stalin's Rude Etchings
Smart hominids

More Starry Wisdom

2010-06-30T16:03:00.006Z

I know I've quoted a few of these recently, but Mr Brezsny inspires hope, and hope is an adrenaline shot to the heart.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Are you a dynamic bastion of stability yet, Sagittarius? Have you been growing deeper and deeper roots as you bloom in your power spot? Are you continuing to build your self-mastery as you draw abundant sustenance from the mother lode? You're halfway through 2010, the year when these wonders should be unfolding with majestic drama. The best is yet to come, so I recommend that you declare your intention to make the next six months be a time when you come all the way home.

It's in the stars.

2010-06-29T15:12:00.001Z

This week's horoscope is an odd one:

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

I wouldn't say that things are about to get darker for you.

But they're definitely going to get deeper and damper and more complicated.

I don't expect there to be any confrontations with evil or encounters with nasty messes, but you may slip down a rabbit hole into a twilight region where all the creatures speak in riddles and nothing is as it seems. And yet that's the best possible place for you to gain new insight about the big questions that so desperately need more clarity.

If you can manage to hold your own in the midst of the dream-like adventures, you'll be blessed with a key to relieving one of your long-running frustrations.

From Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology

Indecent Sacrifice

2010-06-09T15:39:00.001Z

I'm a hoarder. I admit it freely, even if it has taken me years to face up to it. I'm also an information junkie; I have a real desire to know shit.

Both these quiet obsessions are fed obliquely by my Google Gmail account. I don't let spam build up to be automatically deleted after 30 days, I monitor it. Possibly this is a hangover from the olden days of creating filters manually and keeping an eye open for false positives, but that is neither here nor there.

Today in my spam folder I received another one of the following pieces of accidental genius:

SPUR YOUR FERVOR!

Your girlfriend will be satisfied! Every single night. Believe me!

Brilliant.

[NP: The Books - Be Good To Them Always]

Horoscopy

2010-06-09T15:30:00.000Z

This week's horoscope is an odd one:

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

If you live on the Danish island of Mando, your only hope for driving your vehicle to the mainland and back is when the tide is low. During those periods, the water often recedes far enough to expose a rough gravel road that's laid down over a vast mudflat.

Winter storms sometimes make even low-tide passages impossible, though. According to my reading of the astrological omens, Sagittarius, there's a comparable situation in your life. You can only get from where you are to where you want to go at certain selected times and under certain selected conditions. Make sure you're thoroughly familiar with those times and conditions.

Spam Email Subject of the Day

2010-05-28T09:35:00.006Z

Genius:

"Make your dick longer than the Great Wall of China."

I love it.

French Parliament Condemns Full Islamic Face Veil

2010-05-14T11:15:00.000Z

I find this wrong on so many levels.
It's incredible what apparently can be hidden behind the smokescreen of words.
This is not about the oppression of women, for security reasons or to combat fraud; it will do little but cause offence and outrage to French Muslims (at the very least) and give those sections of society who harbour anti-Muslim sentiment the message that, yes, Muslims are definitely beneath them in every way.

If Muslim women want to cease wearing their head and face coverings and perhaps change the tenets of their own religion, only they can initiate this change.

There is nothing behind the legislation in Belgium and France other than the white governments showing that they are the alpha males and they can enforce their will upon each and every upstart threat with impugnity.
And even if they wheel out public concerns about preventing racist attacks on the obviously Muslim population or about security concerns regarding facial concealment, it's all still a smokescreen.

A thick, bitter and acrid smokescreen.

Stephen Hawking Agrees With Me

2010-04-26T09:28:00.000Z

I suppose he is the perfect person to say this in an international forum, and I've very pleased that he did, but Stephen Hawking starkly states: "You wouldn't want to meet the human race on a dark night".

Colleague Defends Anthrax Suspect, Ivins - NYTimes.com

2010-04-23T09:06:00.000Z

I'd wondered what had happened with this. It's amazing how all mention of Al Queda have vanished, along with the stupid notion that it had some kind of link to global Islamic extremists.
And now it turns out that the FBI have scapegoated someone else.

Honestly, the more I read about the operations of US federal services, it reminds me of the purges and cleansings within 1950s CCCP.
Mind you, it also reminds me of 1950s USA...

BBC News - US President Barack Obama warns of nuclear terrorism

2010-04-12T16:38:00.000Z

Finally, now that significant portions of the citizenry of the United States swallow political propaganda whole without even vaguely questioning their sources, Obama has swung the final blow.

The plot of many, many terrible 70s and 80s low-budget movies has finally transitioned into reality. The USA is now a cartoon nation.

The US government wants the world to believe that we're living in an abandoned storyline from the A-Team.

TERROR!!! A-BOMBS!!!

Airline passenger conversations to be monitored under EU project - Telegraph

2010-04-08T14:29:00.000Z

So Brussels is finally bending their knee to the USA in this too.
Flying is by a huge percentage less dangerous than twenty years ago, which was in turn a huge percentage less dangerous than twenty years before that, yet the culture of fear and dependence that the US Government, closely aped by the major EU powers, is insisting we live in would have us see the world in a state of deadly terror under constant but non-specific threat of annihilation.

"We are encouraging the world of social and behavioural science to share their ideas and expertise with us to do this. Academia and industry may be able to provide invaluable assistance and advice in helping to prevent terrorist attacks."

We must learn from the software industry that this kind of knee-jerk, cure-all, attack-the-symptoms thinking simply forces those few would-be wrong-doers into more and more devious exploits, much like the ever-narrowing gaps between new anti-piracy measures being launched and cracked versions of new software appearing on torrent sites.
It's like MRSA - hyperfocus on wiping out a threat and the threat develops immunity and becomes stronger.

Why don't authorities see that dealing with terrorism effectively means dealing with root causes, like disaffection, isolation and demonisation?
Are there no obvious lessons to be learned from, for example, Northern Ireland? Is Politics so concerned with saving face that it cannot acknowledge that the foreign and domestic policies of sovereign governments can cause adverse reactions both within and outwith that country and that addressing this can only start with both admitting and ceasing to make mistakes?

Horoscope

2010-03-25T12:52:00.000Z

When my horoscope says things like this I feel ever-so-slightly encouraged, like a head resting my shoulder.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): NASA scientist Richard Gross believes that the recent 8.8 earthquake in Chile was so strong that it shifted the planet's axis and shortened the length of the day. The amounts were relatively small -- three inches and 1.26 microseconds -- but it was enough to make "the Earth ring like a bell." I predict a somewhat comparable seismic shift for you in the coming weeks.

The main difference is that yours will not be generated by a painful jolt but rather by a breakthrough that's half smart and half lucky.

What Dreams May Come

2010-03-17T18:04:00.000Z

This is my current horoscope from Freewill Astrology:

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The Hebrew word *chalom* means "dream." In his book *Healing Dreams,* Marc Ian Barasch notes that it's derived from the verb "to be made healthy and strong." Linguist Joseph Jastrow says that *chalom* is related to the Hebrew word *hachlama,* which means "recovery, recuperation." Extrapolating from these poetic hints and riffing on your astrological omens, I've got a prescription for you to consider: To build your vitality in the coming weeks, feed your dreams. And I mean "dreams" in both the sense of the nocturnal adventures you have while you're sleeping and the sweeping daytime visions of what you'd like to become.

I have the feeling something important is happening, some unseen machination, some stars coming right (ch-ch-chhh), because not only is this the second week in which dreams have featured in this horoscope (they don't normally), it also coincides with both my learning of this, and of a marked shift in my dreaming.

I don't care how hokey this sounds, significance is personal and wherever you find it. Unless you're clinically diagnosed with certain types madness, of course.

Gold

2010-03-16T11:13:00.001Z

I love this kind of story, where a mother tells her wide-eyed child tales of her own youth, putting all the child's rebellion in the shade...

I Won't Be Happy Unless It All Ends In Tragedy.

2010-03-04T20:55:00.000Z

I mean Tragedy in the sense of not an Epic or a Comedy. Tragedies tend to be meditations on death, loss and suffering but without any final redemption, whereas Epics, though they touch on the same subjects, end with the protagonist learning an essential truth, becoming stronger for it, and experiencing some form of redemption.
Forgive me if I'm offering you a pre-sucked egg here.

Tragedies can be difficult to sit through and, forgive me for saying this, often seem to be taking themselves far more seriously than necessary. To quote an esteemed colleague, movies that are hard-going for hard-going's sake just seem to defeat the purpose...much the same [as] "earnest" movies.
Bill Murray, as one example, has an amazing knack for taking serious, "earnest", complex roles and injecting both humanity and humour, allowing the viewer to watch and enjoy (because let's be plain here, we're not talking about documentaries, we're talking about work that is designed, marketed and consumed primarily as entertainment) the movie, but which also serves the process of the art much better in that it communicates the human experience involved, adds extra levels of communication between actors and audience and forms connections, bonds, between actors and audience granting those unspoken dimensions a presence onscreen.

As another example I think Deer Hunter was more in the "hard-going for the sake of it" camp, although perhaps it was intended/received as a necessary catharsis for Americans from the Vietnam era, 'cos heaven knows such a thing was necessary given what the vets experienced both in service and on their return home.

This is in stark contrast with another war movie, Apocalypse Now, which is one of my favourite movies (especially the 45 min longer Redux cut), and, y'know, it barely seems like a war movie at all to me. I'm a bit of a Joseph Conrad fan, and I really really like the exploration & exposition of personality that his storytelling deals with, and I think Coppola reflected this brilliantly. The war aspect was just a distracting device through which to explore the otherness of white guys going crackers in the jungle (amongst slightly more weighty topics ;> ).
Better than Romancing the Stone, anyway.

But here, if you fancy some luscious cinematography, find a Russian movie called The Return. so good. Also an Epic. Or its successor, The Banishment, a Tragedy.

I had a dream...

2010-01-20T11:02:00.002Z

This morning I dreamt that I had a one of those pens from the 80s that has a little digital clock built into the end of it. It had an alarm in it which started to go off and I didn't know how to stop it, so I started to take the pen apart to try and find the beeper and break it off or disconnect it. It took me ages to work out how to take it to pieces, as it seemed to be all one solid piece.
It kept peeping and peeping and peeping until finally I broke it down into its component pieces and after about half an hour of frantic tinkering (on the wee clock I could see time ticking past) I found the piezo beeper. I disconnected the connections and it kept peeping. I broke the beeper off the end of the circuit board completely, and as it lay in my hand it kept on peeping.
I could feel my blood beginning to boil so I threw it on the floor and started smashing it with my heel, but it just kept on peeping and peeping.

And then, within the dream, I realised: "Oh, it's my phone alarm, I need to wake up."

Words fail.

Top Ten Albums of the Decade

2009-12-22T20:16:00.000Z

In chronological order:

Queens of the Stoneage - Rated R (2000)
Royal City - Alone at the Microphone (2001)
Martin Tielli - We Didn't Even Suspect That He Was the Poppy Salesman (2001)
Sigur Rós - () (2002)
Tom Waits - Blood Money (2002)
Piñataland - Songs for the Forgotten Future Volume 1 (2003)
Cursive - The Ugly Organ (2003)
Jaga Jazzist - What We Must (2005)
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (2005)
The National - Alligator (2005)

And some runners-up and honourable mentions:

Noxagt - Turning It Down Since 2001 (2003)
High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings (2005)
Mastodon - Blood Mountain (2006)
ZZ TOP - Chrome, Smoke & BBQ (2003) [purely for *finally* making those first 6 albums available on CD without the shocking 1987 "Six Pack" remix hack-job]

From the archives: EU visitors to have fingerprints taken - Times Online

2009-07-21T11:50:00.000Z

I was gonna publish this with some comments last year when this article was new, but in waiting for a follow-up, it slipped between the cracks.

Given now that the various security database and mandatory ID measures threatened by the UK government have been all but abandoned, I now wonder if this issue has been revisited by the press, and whether, now that the U.S. government have had their way and forced RFID chips into most nation's passports and invasive disclosure into everyone's airport experience, have these plans also been shelved?

BEW and Friends

2009-07-17T10:19:00.001Z

Great show last night at the Waterfront Penthouse Bar.

Roll on more of the same!

The Banishment

2009-07-13T22:13:00.000Z

The considered pace of the camerawork belies the speed at which this story moves.

From the family's initial move to the country to the Konstantin Lavronenko's character's return to that city, only two days pass.

The mounting pain and the points-of-no-return are delivered so quietly that what would be difficult viewing is rendered both gripping and heartbreaking by the actors and director.

This movie rivals Andrei Zvyagintsev's debut The Return, but repeats nothing from it apart from the refusal to dwell on character history and the gorgeous cinematography.

And the ravine runs through everything.

Roma's exit 'more than racism'

2009-07-09T12:31:00.004Z

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Roma's exit 'more than racism'

This is yet another example of the acceptable face of racism displayed by the authorities and media in this country.
And as if the content of this article isn't bad enough, it appears that it has been edited and reworded in the fine and frequent manner of the BBC; on the both BBC breakfast news and the BBC1 red-button text news at 9am this morning it was stated that the Roma believed "they were entitled to benefits".
I find this change of wording very significant.
And also almost as disgusting as the content of the article itself.

Man arrested on top of Big Wheel

2009-06-23T06:51:00.001Z

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Man arrested on top of Big Wheel

LANYARD.

Teens charged over racist attacks

2009-06-21T23:48:00.002Z

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Teens charged over racist attacks.

Combat 18 slogans chanted, extracts from Mein Kampf shoved through letterboxes, CCTV and news footage showing incidents as they happen, entire families forced out of their homes in fear of their lives and this is all the police can manage? Two barely pubescent teenagers?

PSNI, you're joking, right? Right?

BBC| Northern Ireland | MP submitted claim for £300 pen

2009-06-19T10:05:00.002Z

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | MP submitted claim for £300 pen: "In 2006, Mrs Robinson submitted a receipt for £352 - the printed receipt showed a £300 Montblanc pen, a £6 bottle of ink and £46 for perfume."

Don't you just love this happy couple? The staged photo is brilliant - she extravagantly laughs, while still holding hubby's arm, he looks nervously towards the door...
I'm keen to know how this lovely Mont Blanc has served us in Northern Ireland, it clearly has had very important work to do...

expenses, robinsons.

a horoscope

2008-03-04T23:29:00.003Z

I know this is a little more personal than I usually like to be here, but the last sentence makes this quote is a killer: I've tried enough blagging (and face enough potential relief after working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for 2 months) this week to make me think actually, fuck it; shit or bust.

During his 21 years as Prime Minister of Canada, Mackenzie King (1874-1950) sought counsel from ouija boards, crystal balls, psychics, and spirits. As one of the most powerful Sagittarians who has ever called on supernatural sources for help in making practical decisions, he's your role model in the coming week. It's time, in my astrological opinion, for you to seek information from beyond your old reliable sources, including at least some that transcend the fixations of your rational ego.

From Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology

I'm curious...

2008-02-28T17:58:00.000Z

Y'know a thing that I find mighty curious? Y'know, curious in that full-on its blatant internal contradictions kinda way?
It's this: if you can't see a woman's nipples, then she's not naked.

Please explain this one to me, for it makes no sense to me, no sense at all.

potted philosophy, strawman

World War One Color Photos

2008-02-28T17:36:00.001Z

I had no idea colour photography was so old, and to find it used in wartime, right in the trenches, has amazed me.
I've seen many, many wartime photos but since every single one of them has been black and white, so these colour images seem retrospectively staged. The colours imply a modernity that jars with the historic nature of the content. Perhaps it's more difficult to believe they're real because they seem too real, as if the subjects are actors in period costume, glimpsed on-set in-between takes.
Funny thing, perception.

Here's the link: www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com.

As a post script, here's Colour Photography on Wikipedia. I shoulda guessed that this was a gaping hole in my knowledge...

WWI, photography, historic

The Peanut Butter Kiss kegacy

2008-01-13T22:54:00.000Z

As I've written previously, anaphylactic shock was not what killed this girl. Turns out it was asthma.
Poor boyfriend, receiving judgement from the world.

CNN have helpfully (also curiously) deleted their coverage from their website.

peanut butter, condemnation, misinformation, news mistakes, strawman

a process of learning

2008-01-13T22:42:00.001Z

I've never ever known how a sewing machine works. Perhaps it was machine elves, who knew?
This diagram finally opens my eyes.

sewing, machines

Gimme ten reasons...

2007-08-14T17:59:00.000Z

Ten Reasons Gay Marriage Is Un-American is an unattributed satirical gem. It neatly, pithily and entertainingly refutes each of the ten most common arguments (if that word even applies) against gay marriage.

Well observed, that pundit.

The Sports Car: Anacronism?

2007-01-26T12:18:00.000Z

When were sports cars last used for competitive sports?

Surely not since the early seventies? Le Mans and Grand Prix cars have evolved way beyond the possibility for production road versions, and as the 70's progressed Rally cars also moved away from the sports car model into its current guise of the souped-up and heavily modified saloon car.
Similarly televised motorsport is dominated by the British Touring Car championships, and in States they have Nascar, again using souped-up and heavily modified saloon cars.

Is the sports car, long a classic icon of wealth, elegance and performance, an anacronism? Is it now just a dead-end and flat-out statement of disposable income with little or no redeeming aesthetic or social meaning?

3 culls roaming charges

2007-01-16T12:35:00.000Z

3 culls roaming charges
From The Register.

"3 customers will no longer pay to receive calls, and will be able to use their bundled minutes, text, and data, when roaming onto a 3 network abroad."

This is rather excellent news, especially for 3 customers, but also for all other UK mobile users - this could set the precedent which forces the other providers to do away with this ludicrous money-pit that anyone who crosses borders regularly gets forcibly invited to help fill...

traffic

2006-11-03T19:44:00.000Z

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights here bear witness to stretch-limos, converted fire engines and decommissioned army land-rovers doing laps of our city centre one-way system, screaming girls hanging out their windows, drunk or on their way to it.
It's what they call fun.

quadruple x

2006-11-03T14:01:00.003Z

I bought a pack of beer a fortnight ago, and when I lifted the second can out of the pack, it felt very light. I shook it around a bit and it seemed to be about a quarter full. The can was unpunctured, its seal completely unbroken, so my beautiful and resourceful girlfriend called up their customer service line to mention it.
And they've sent her a letter and a padded envelope in which to return the faulty item for investigation....!

is economics all there is?

2006-10-09T20:18:00.000Z

notatu dignum

"We have to stop allowing economics to be used as a trump card. Capitalism is like math. It is amoral. It is good at producing wealth; it's bad at distributing wealth. Unless it operates within a moral framework it will produce an unjust society.

- CHARLEY REESE
'Is Economics All There Is?', July 18, 2003

Don't mention the weight at Milan fashion week

2006-09-29T16:17:00.000Z

Don't mention the weight at Milan fashion week.
From Reuters.com

The designers refuse to engage with it, the models are either too stupid or too afraid of ostracism to acknowledge it.

So designers dress up 14-year-olds to make them look like 19-year-olds who look great in clothes that will be sold to 40-year-olds.

That sums it up, doesn't it?

girls are like...

2006-09-10T13:47:00.000Z

Girls are like...

Something about this page really spooks me, as if there's something inherently special or transcendent about the female of our species.

It's true that women are still treated as subordinate to men in almost all walks of life, a fundamental error that humanity really needs to sort the fuck out, and this is part of the same process.
Here we see in action the same phenomenon in which gallows humour allows people to relax in difficult situations: "Don't be concerned about a life of sexual harassment and inequality, just focus on netting Mr Right, that's all you need worry your pretty little head about. And honey, you're a little princess xx LOL."

Scary isn't it?
Bring back the matriarchal society.

More Brits become overweight

2006-08-21T10:05:00.000Z

More Brits become overweight

from The First Post Sunday eMail:

"The Department of Health will this week forecast that by 2010 more than 14m Britons, from toddlers to the elderly, will be dangerously overweight, thanks to junk food and a sedentary lifestyle. The 'stark' report will also say that there will be a huge increase in conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes."

In the UK's usual fashion, the 21st century is falling into the same pattern as the 20th, following the USA's lead in all things....like the inability to stop cramming food and refreshments down our throats.

I wonder when someone will do a study to learn why this doesn't happen, as a rule, on the European mainland?

1.4 million gallons of oil spilled in Indian Ocean

2006-08-15T13:42:00.000Z

Large oil spill occurs in Indian Ocean - Boston.com

The scale of oil spills at sea is shocking. A little like commercial aeroplane crashes, they don't happen particularly often but when they do the sheer size of each discreet event seems to overwhelm its significance in the overall scheme of things.

The photo is damn impressive, as are the figures quoted, but I'd forgotten exactly how big the Exxon Valdez disaster was: eleven million gallons. Shit.

Americans too fat for X-rays & scans

2006-07-27T10:43:00.000Z

CNN.com - Study: More Americans too fat for X-rays, scans - Jul 26, 2006

HAHAHAHAHAHAH you fat cunts.

a cross-slice

2006-05-29T21:04:00.000Z

Holy Fuck - divorce!
Holy Fuck - Thalidomide!
Holy Fuck - Diego Garcia!

quadruple x

2006-03-11T09:56:00.000Z

I bought a pack of beer a fortnight ago, and when I lifted the second can out of the pack, it felt very light. I shook it around a bit and it seemed to be about a quarter full. The can was unpunctured, its seal completely unbroken, so I called up their customer service line to mention it.
And they've sent me a letter and a padded envelope in which to return the faulty item for investigation....!

Peanut-butter kiss didn't kill teen

2006-03-06T09:51:00.000Z

"SAGUENAY, Quebec (AP) -- A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy did not die from kissing her boyfriend following his peanut butter snack, a coroner said Friday, countering reports that drew international attention last year.
Saguenay coroner Michel Miron said Christina Desforges' death had a different cause. But he refused further disclosure, saying he first wanted to report to the provincial coroner and examine more test results.
Miron said he was speaking out now to head off an allergy group's plan to use the case as an example in an awareness effort."
From CNN

I wrote about this last year so it's nice to hear some sense finally emerging on this subject, but it's a real shame that the threat of a nationwide campaign based on this complete superstition was what finally forced a medical professional to publicly engage with this fallacious nonsense.
Entering anaphylactic shock and then dying after kissing someone who may have eaten a peanut-based snack nine hours prior is impossible, and the young man in question was internationally blamed for his girlfriend's death based on nothing more than incredibly wild and unbelievable conjecture.

And yet I doubt a single news source will print an apology.

allergy, stupid, myth, truthiness

on leave for anti-Bush remarks

2006-03-03T22:56:00.000Z

Teacher put on leave for anti-Bush remarks
"Sophomore Sean Allen recorded about 20 minutes of Bennish's class during a February 1 discussion about Bush's State of the Union speech and gave the recording to his father, who complained to the principal, Amole said."
From CNN.

What I want to know is: why was a student recording a lesson, and why did he feel the need to play it back to his father?

police state, report your neighbour, 1984

George Michael

2006-02-28T10:18:00.000Z

'My fault' admits George Michael
"Singer George Michael has admitted that he was in possession of Class C drugs when he was arrested in London's West End on Sunday."
From BBC NEWS

I've mentioned my respect for George Michael before, and this article merely confirms it. He is a pretty cool guy.

PM urges progress on UK pay gap

2006-02-28T10:15:00.000Z

PM urges progress on UK pay gap

A 'massive amount of work' remains to be done to close the pay gap between men and women, Tony Blair has said.
His comments followed a report by the Women and Work Commission which found that women in full-time work were earning 17% less than men."
BBC NEWS

Partly this doesn't surprise me, and partly it does. So much for being a world leader, so much for labour being a party of the people.

The US ports deal.

2006-02-28T10:01:00.000Z

Dubai Ports will be taking control of six US ports
High Court bid to block P&O deal (BBC)
Review agreed in P&O takeover bid (BBC)

This baffles me. Once again, a show trial. Suddenly where previously no connection existed US "lawmakers" are insisting that nationality equals ideology. In the many countries in the world who have hired American firms to perform important state tasks, has a single government raised the spectre of compromised security, even though the American ideology demonstrably accompanies every step US commercial interests takes upon foreign soil? No. Well, apart from those government with whom the US constantly argues, like Venezuela. Argued with, denounced and threatened.
And yet simply because a company based in the United Arab Emirates seeks, in it's US-inspired capitalism, to buy a lucrative American contract, the prejudices and fear-mongering of the current US government snaps its jaws like a sprung trap, calling down wrath upon the image of itself.
And now they're trying to stop it with a technique designed to assert American imperialism over foreign competition - the hampering of the ability to trade.

Iraq makes terror 'more likely'

2006-02-28T09:55:00.000Z

Iraq makes terror 'more likely'
US soldiers uncover a weapons cache in Iraq
The US has ruled out any hasty withdrawal
People across the world overwhelmingly believe the war in Iraq has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks worldwide, a poll for the BBC reveals.
Some 60% of people in 35 countries surveyed believe this is the case, against just 12% who think terrorist attacks have become less likely.
From BBC NEWS

A friend of mine recently wondered "Is anyone listening" - it seems he's not the only one wondering...

Europe's chill linked to disease

2006-02-27T09:51:00.000Z

Europe's chill linked to disease.

Europe's "Little Ice Age" may have been triggered by the 14th Century Black Death plague, according to a new study.
Pollen and leaf data support the idea that millions of trees sprang up on abandoned farmland, soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This would have had the effect of cooling the climate, a team from Utrecht University, Netherlands, says.
From BBC NEWS

This is a fascinating little theory. Although there are disagreements, it's interesting to note a little lateral thought involved in interpreting the pollen count figures...

Unruly classes 'tamed by praise'

2006-01-06T10:06:00.000Z

Ftom BBC World News:
"Unruly classes 'tamed by praise'"

"Positive feedback is the key, say researchers.
Unruly classes can be turned around by praising pupils rather than telling them off, research suggests."

Would you ever have guessed?! Shouting and getting angry at kids foments rebellion! What a shock!

Girl dies in peanut butter kiss

2005-11-29T14:07:00.000Z

"A 15-year-old Canadian girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten a peanut butter sandwich hours earlier, reports say."
From BBC.

How in the name of all that's reasonable can they seriously believe that kissing someone NINE HOURS AFTER they'd eaten a peanut butter sandwich could cause death after an allergic reaction? Nine hours??

allergy, stupid, myth, truthiness

'reasonable prospect of holding it together'

2005-09-23T19:00:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS | Politics:

"Ex-Blair envoy gives Iraq warning
The UK and US may have to abandon Iraq if central government breaks down and the country is engulfed by chaos, Tony Blair's former special envoy has said.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock said a pullout from Iraq might be needed if the US and UK had no 'reasonable prospect of holding it together'."

HAHAHAHAHAHAH! WANKERS!
Rough translation: "Um, if we decide we can't fix the mess we've made, then fuck them, some other cunt can deal with it."

Things Working Out 'Very Well' for New Orleans Poor

2005-09-06T12:05:00.000Z

I am completely stunned by this smug, supercilious, never-worked-a-day-in-her-life bitch's comments.

From "Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans" on editorandpublisher.com.

" 'And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.' "

Wife to one president and mother to another. These are the values that run America. These are the values that are being foisted on the rest of the world.

Shuttle crew expresses surprise at foam shedding

2005-07-29T14:45:00.000Z

From CNN.com:

"Foam may have struck wing

NASA officials said Thursday that analysis of camera footage from the launch showed a small piece of foam may have struck the wing of the orbiter -- a scenario eerily similar to the accident that doomed the shuttle Columbia in February 2003. That chunk of foam left a crack in Columbia's wing, causing it to disintegrate during the heat of re-entry and killing seven astronauts aboard.
[Officials] also said a thermal blanket under one of the orbiter's windows appears to have been slightly damaged, which may need to be further evaluated."

What must it be like to be in space orbiting the earth at 18,000 mph knowing that your only means of returning home is a vessel that may be damaged in the same way that caused the destruction during re-entry of the previous space shuttle?
To know that you have no choice but be baptised with fire?

Holy Fucked Up Weather, Batman!

2005-07-28T16:12:00.000Z

From ITN:

"Mini-tornado hits Birmingham
A mini-tornado has ripped through parts of Birmingham, injuring several people, uprooting trees and causing extensive damage to buildings.
Motorists are being advised to avoid the nearby Ladypool Road area after a number of trees were blown down and roofs were reportedly lifted off buildings.
'I have had a report back from the scene that approximately 300 metres of the shopping centre in the High Street has been severely damaged by adverse weather conditions."

Freak weather or what?!

The Phoney Secret Police

2005-07-01T12:11:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Italy:

"Italy probes phoney secret police
Italian police have launched a big inquiry into a 'parallel' intelligence agency created to fight Islamist militant groups, Italian media report.
The Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA) was reportedly set up after the 2004 Madrid train bombings, in which 191 people died.
Many of those under investigation are policemen, and some of them are said to have been unaware of the fact that their activity in the DSSA was illegal.
The alleged aim was to benefit from funding that has become available, nationally and internationally, after the Madrid blasts as part of the global war on terror."

Isn't this amazing? I've read a few bits and pieces about corruption and mafia connections within the Italian police, but this is amazing.

It's a little larger than a bogus meter-reader calling at your door to rob you!

CorpWatch: Index

2005-06-30T19:57:00.000Z

From CorpWatch:

"A proposal to 'relocate' three Andean glaciers to mine for gold has local people up in arms. This billion dollar development by Barrick Gold could destroy a major source of clean water on the border of Argentina and Chile."

HOLY FUCK

Iran leader 'kidnap role' probe

2005-06-30T16:36:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iran:

"The US says it is examining reports that Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took part in the 1979 hostage-taking at Tehran's US embassy."

I've been following this here and then more here

Woman in car crash 'already dead'

2005-06-26T16:48:00.000Z

From CNN.com:

"The woman, who was in the back seat of the car, was believed to have died one or two days before the accident, police were quoted as saying. There was no immediate explanation of how she died."

This is a very sad tale in which an entire young family have died, but I'm drawn to wonder exactly what happened to the woman. How did she die? Where was her husband taking her? Why was the child there also?

I have a suspicion that the crash may have been deliberate.
Could the woman have died in childbirth the previous day, and the husband, stricken with grief over losing his wife and their new child, "kept" the body, and was now determined that if she was no longer alive, then he and their son didn't deserve life either?

On the other hand, he might simply have killed her himself and was on his way to dispose of the body. Mind you, this doesn't explain the boy's presence...

I wonder will we ever hear any more about this...

Nearly six in 10 Americans now oppose the war in Iraq

2005-06-21T13:50:00.000Z

From CNN.com
"(CNN) -- Nearly six in 10 Americans oppose the war in Iraq and a growing number of them are dissatisfied with the war on terrorism, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.
Only 39 percent of those polled said they favored the war in Iraq -- down from 47 percent in March -- and 59 percent were opposed."

Maybe the American people will finally stand up against Bush Cronyism?

"Cardinal Sin is dead"

2005-06-21T00:53:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific:
"Cardinal Sin is dead"

I can't help but laugh at this headline.

car bites man

2005-06-20T16:57:00.000Z

From CNN.com
"PINE BLUFF, Arkansas (AP) -- An airborne car crashed through the wall of a man's bedroom, landing on him as he slept.
'It hit the outside bedroom wall, continued through the bedroom, over the bed and partially exited through the side wall,' police Lt. Bob Rawlinson said. 'The guy was pinned under the car and rolled up in the mattress. Their car left the road, crossed a grassy area, clipped a utility pole, ruptured a gas main and went airborne before crashing into May's house, about 500 feet from the road. The car was totally inside the house and a little bit sticking out through the other side.'
Devlon Chandler, 34, also of Pine Bluff, was ticketed for failing to maintain control of a motor vehicle, driving on a suspended license and not having proof of insurance, police said."

So straight away I'm thinking: "He was ticketed??"
For destroying a man's home and costing him a finger and potentially his sight in one eye, he received tickets??
Should he not have been arested on the spot for dangerous driving, criminal negligence and so forth?

Katie Holmes embraces Scientology

2005-06-13T18:00:00.000Z

From CNN.com

"LONDON, England (AP) -- Katie Holmes says she's converting to the Church of Scientology, embracing the religion of her boyfriend, Tom Cruise.
Holmes, in London to promote her new film, 'Batman Begins,' said Monday that she's excited about her lessons in Scientology, a religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard."

What the fuck? Is celebrity religion the thing to wear on your sleeve tihs season?

US: not equal opportunity killer

2005-05-19T13:23:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS World

US rejects ban on women in combat
"Republicans in the US Congress have ditched a flat ban on women in combat."

The first I heard about this was an article earlier today that has disappeared completely (sorry) which discussed how the US Congress were deciding about legislating to ban women from the front lines of battle.
Not fully understanding the headline, further reading of the article told me that female US troops are currently banned from fighting on the front line but since the conflict in Iraq involves "fighting insurgents" (ie unplanne skirmishes) there is no front line and so women are both involved and killed in direct combat with the opposition.
This led lawmakers to propose that women be banned from any kind of situation that might find them under direct attack.

My first reaction was a raised eyebrow: reading on just had me exclaim aloud "What the fuck?"
It seems that the US Army's major objection to this proposal was that it would be difficult to supply replacement male troops for the female troops they'd have to stand down. That's pathetic enough as an excuse for this bizarre reverse sexism, but what I really can't grasp is why the Pentagon banned female front-line combat in the first place.

Reasons? Anyone?

One from the archives

2005-05-02T18:12:00.000Z

"I would not bury Amin. I will never touch Amin. Never. Not even with a long spoon," he said in his first public comments on Amin's death.
- President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, after the death of ex-dictator and genocide, Idi Amin.

I know this is a very serious issue, but this turn of phrase made me laugh.

From BBC World

N Korea wages war on long hair

2005-01-12T19:56:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific:
"N Korea wages war on long hair North Korean Television campaign on hair Men's hairstyles reflect their 'ideological spirit'

North Korea has launched an intensive media assault on its latest arch enemy - the wrong haircut.

It stressed the "negative effects" of long hair on "human intelligence development", noting that long hair "consumes a great deal of nutrition" and could thus rob the brain of energy.

Men should get a haircut every 15 days, it recommended."

Rwandan coffee used to make beer

2004-12-08T13:19:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS | World | Africa:

Rwandan coffee used to make beer

"A London brewery has started producing beer brewed from Rwandan coffee beans.
The beer, which has a 4% alcohol content, is targeted at adult drinkers as a cappucino drink or as a digestif."

Genius! The first person to bring a bottle of this gets a big wet kiss! Maybe two!
Now if they can only find a way to incorporate monkeys and an MP3 player, it'd be the ultimate stress-relief product!

www.purple.com

2004-11-25T21:43:00.000Z

www.purple.com

I find this site pleasing and amusing. See for yourself, but be quick!

AND SO IT BEGINS

2004-11-10T13:03:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS:

"The US Secretary of State Colin Powell says the US will continue its 'aggressive' foreign policy during President George Bush's second term."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez takes on pirates

2004-10-20T10:18:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS

"The publication of the new novel from Colombia's foremost writer has been brought forward after pirated copies went on sale across the country."

It seems amazing to me, surrounded by media, industry and government uproar about copyright theft and piracy of music through the creation, duplication and distribution of MP3 files (something that is virtually impossible to track or halt, a process that takes all of a minute to complete), that in a country like Colombia, people are pirating books. How much effort does it require to not only source a proof-copy or an edited manuscript, typeset it and print a few thousand copies? Mind-boggling.
Old-school crime!

More on human RFID implants

2004-10-15T12:30:00.000Z

From The Register

"Solution looking for a Problem:
What is the problem that this technology solves? We don't think there is one, unless doctors' offices are being flooded with people who can't recall their own medical histories. Yes, some people do suffer from dementia, but these are most often found already in nursing facilities and hospitals, or at least supervised by a nurse or family member."

FDA Says Docs Can Chip Patients

2004-10-14T11:02:00.000Z

From Wired News

"The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved an implantable computer chip that can pass a patient's medical details to doctors, speeding care."
Nearly 200 people working in Mexico's attorney general's office have been implanted with these radio frequency microchips the size of a grain of rice to access secure areas containing sensitive documents."

HOLY FUCK - people actually let themselves submit to this?
The end of the world is clearly nigh.

How to kill a website with one email

2004-10-14T10:57:00.001Z

From the Register

A Dutch advocacy group, Bits of Freedom, signed up with 10 ISPs and used the websites to host text by an author who died in 1887. They then sent a 'complaint' demanding via a Hotmail account that 'copyright infringing' content be pulled by the 10 ISPs.
Seven of the ten providers (ISPs Tiscali, Wanadoo, Demon Internet and Planet Internet; hosting firms Yourhosting, iFast and Active24) pulled the content without either scrutinising the 'offending' website or demonstrating a basic understanding of copyright law.

Bits of Freedom said its test show a worrying willingness to comply with complaints without question. "It only takes a Hotmail account to bring a website down and freedom of speech stands no chance against Texan-style private ISP justice," it concludes.

And with everything we say online being scrutinised via Echelon, everyone's just a bit too jumpy. Doesn't anyone have a healthy disrespect for authority anymore??

Israel 'worried over world image'

2004-10-13T18:51:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS
"A secret Israeli report warns Israel's world image could fall as low as South Africa's during the apartheid era in the next decade, local media report."

Ha! I can't even begin to explain how funny this is.

UK ID cards to be issued with first biometric passports

2004-10-13T18:50:00.000Z

From the Register
"What's left of the 'voluntary' figleaf to the UK's ID scheme will erode in the next few months, when Home Secretary David Blunkett introduces legislation that will allow implementation of the scheme and include provision for a rolling programme to issue ID cards along with passport renewals."

I'm a bit disgusted about this. It's a useless technology which will serve merely as an expenditure device in order to garner more income for the government by selling information, all at the cost of our privacy and our tax money. But it's all in the name of security, so that's alright. Wankers.

Learning extra languages 'boosts brain'

2004-10-13T18:44:00.000Z

From BBC NEWS
"Learning a second language 'boosts' brain-power, scientists believe.
They found learning other languages altered grey matter - the area of the brain which processes information - in the same way exercise builds muscles."

This is something so simple and yet so revelatory. I believe it must be a similar thing which leads to creative artists branching into different genres.

Driver Watching DVD: Not Guilty

2004-08-12T11:08:00.000Z

From Wired News:

"'He hasn't been able to drive in over two years,' she said. 'He just wanted to be alone for a while. He's very happy he can get on with his life again.'
Stein argued that Petterson and his passenger Jonathan Douglas were watching a DVD movie when Petterson's pickup truck crossed the center line, hitting the Weisers' sport utility vehicle head-on. Petterson testified he was not watching a movie and that his truck strayed into oncoming traffic when he reached for a soda.
The Weisers died at the scene.
David Weiser, a son of the dead couple, said the family was not surprised by the verdict because skid marks at the scene and Petterson's driving record were not allowed as evidence."

Incredible isn't it? A jury acquitting a person who killed two motorists as he watched a movie while driving his truck. A panel of legally sane people unanimously announce to the world that they believe it's completely fine to ignore the entire world around you while in solitary control of several tons of moving metal.
These people sound like the type who would kill abortionists while preaching abstinence.

Cthulu is rising

2004-07-28T10:24:00.000Z

Wired News: Freak Waves Are No Tall Tale:

"In 2001, two cruise ships in the South Atlantic -- the Bremen and the Caledonian Star -- reported that their bridge windows were smashed by 100-foot rogue waves.
Researchers suspect that rogue waves also played a role in the sinking of some of the 200 large supertankers and container ships that have gone down in bad weather over the past two decades.
Unfortunately for those in harm's way, there is still much more research to be done before a solution can be proposed. For instance, no one yet seems to know how the waves are formed in the first place.
'We don't know what's going on out there,' said Paul Liu, an oceanographer and rogue-wave researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

Lovecraft was right! In the depths the mighty one awakes from his eternity of sleep.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US 'exploring Iranian 9/11 role'

2004-07-19T21:50:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | World | Americas
US 'exploring Iranian 9/11 role'

"President George W Bush has said the US is exploring whether Iran had a role in the 11 September 2001 terror attacks."

Oh for fuck sake.

I think what this chap has to say sums it up for me.

Vengeance is not Restitution

2004-07-19T19:16:00.000Z

Here's an interesting and thoughtful little piece on the nature of crime and punishment.
It focuses on the death penalty but I believe it's basic philosophical argument is applicable to most areas of human interaction.

from www.kuro5hin.org

Wired News: Los Alamos Lab Halts Operations

2004-07-18T16:13:00.000Z

Wired News: Los Alamos Lab Halts Operations: "Los Alamos National Laboratory director Pete Nanos shut down the country's leading nuclear weapons lab on Friday, after a set of classified computer disks disappeared and a student was hit in the eye with a powerful laser beam -- all in the space of a week. "

A second strike this week! Those security-conscious Americans are really really getting this whole thing right...

Many monkeys today were spotted....

2004-07-18T15:06:00.000Z

This is a test of a potentially lovely piece of software call w.bloggar.
Here goes!

And these people are the self-appointed guardians of democracy?

2004-07-16T08:52:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | World | Americas |:
"US nuclear lab loses secret data
Los Alamos has suffered other security lapses
One of America's largest nuclear weapons research laboratories has suspended its activities after secret information went missing."

So, eh, how inept is this?

Salon.com News | On the phone with Ralph Nader

2004-07-14T21:32:00.000Z

This is pretty funny. Nader can't even grasp the simple questions.

Salon.com News | On the phone with Ralph Nader: "July 14, 2004 | Last Friday, Ralph Nader's campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese e-mailed Salon, saying that Nader wanted to speak with Salon editor David Talbot 'about recent articles that have appeared in Salon concerning him and his candidacy.' The following is a transcript of the ensuing three-way phone conversation among Nader, Zeese and Talbot. It ranged over Rupert Murdoch (whose company published Nader's new book), Democratic 'dirty tricks' against the independent candidate's presidential bid, and Nader's acceptance of conservative money and support. "

Just for the sake of argument

2004-05-05T12:35:00.000Z

A bit of a hoohaa over at www.myboyfriendisatwat.com over RSS and Atom XML Newsfeeds.

It's interesting that the LiveJournal Friends page, a feature that I find really really useful is alien territory to the classic Blogger. But that's a side issue really. So to that end, I'm attempting to add an Atom newsfeed to this blog, just to see if I can syndicate myself onto LiveJournal.

Geek? I think so.

How deeply cool is this man?

2004-02-17T16:19:00.000Z

Terry Waite, when asked how he would feel about meeting the people who held him hostage, replied that he thought it was "highly unlikely".
"I understand the Americans put a reward on their heads of $1m, and I don't think they will come out and see me while it's there. But I wouldn't mind meeting them. It would be very interesting to see where they are some years later."

From BBC News

How personally sorted do you have to become to say something as cool and genuine as that? Awesome (in the archaic sense of "awe").

Dressed in black, a 35-year-old Frenchwoman has married her boyfriend.

2004-02-11T10:15:00.000Z

"But Christel Demichel's wedding needed special permission because her policeman boyfriend, Eric, was killed by a hit-and-run driver 18 months ago."

BBC NEWS | World | Europe

The world, upside down.

2004-02-05T10:36:00.000Z

Today we of this office learned of the failure of our company to secure a particular tranche of funding. Now regardless of the fact that this bid for funding is a very recent development, the various other circumstances of our company make it highly likely that this represented a make-or-break point for our investors.
With this in mind we are almost certainly facing an uncertain future here. To my mind it seems that closing the doors would realize so little of the investment that it would actually cost more to declare bankruptcy right now than to continue for the time being with a strict deadline for product-to-market and perhaps the introduction of new management. So the only real option seems to be downsizing.

So naturally one begins to speculate about who is to go, and when, and what the fuck will happen, how will I pay my debts? I was the last developer hired, so of course I'm worryin' about this.

NP: [Depeche Mode | Waiting for the Night]

Genius

2003-08-25T15:16:00.000Z

2003-06-09T13:33:00.000Z

Do I hear pogrom?

2003-06-05T16:41:00.000Z

Desertification or Scorched Earth?

2003-05-29T17:04:00.000Z

At the Acid Mothers Temple Soul Collective last night, I had good fun.
The music was enthralling. It was as if Hawkwind had come home from the Space Ritual tour and jammed with the Ornette Coleman Double Quartet while Godspeed You! Black Emperor threw suggestions from the sidelines.
This was free jazz meets space rock! Fantastic.

Some cool photos here by Iona Bateman.

2003-05-29T17:01:00.000Z

Dreaming o'riches on this mortal coil.
The idea of not living on a shoestring once I start this new job is having trouble wedging itself between my wee ears.
The last time I had a proper disposible income was between 1992 and 1995, ever since I've somehow struggled to meet my expenses. Only about three times ever have I ever gone into a record shop thinking "Oooh I'll get a couple of CDs, what'll I get", similarly only about five times have I ever done the same with books in a book shop.

It's bizarre to realize that the concept of consuming beyond need and escapology (i.e. beer, wine, etc..) is an unfamiliar thing.

Just thinking that actually reminded me that after a rant, Nine suggested I make an Ethical Consumer quiz.
With the free brainspace I have now I know this employment stress is coming to a close, I believe I will do just that