Abolish all faith schools...

This is one e-petition I whole-heartedly agree with.

Double Indemnity

I thought I couldn't despair more more after hearing about His Alleged Holiness's audience with the McCann's. I won't rant more about this as some people think I might be being a tad insensitive.

But this story leaves me barely able to type...

"Malaysia's constitution guarantees freedom of worship but says all ethnic Malays are Muslim. Under Sharia law, Muslims are not allowed to convert."

Sensitively or not.

(I'm hoping to calm down and write something more constructive soon.)

Good illusion

What's the difference between the shapes of these two table tops?

Obviously (because this is an illusion) the two are exactly the same. Go on, measure! Apparently it's the legs that are the primary influence.

I grabbed this from Beyond Belief (talk #7). The whole thing I highly recommend as a way to fritter away 17 hours of your life. Intelligent debate (mostly). No whooping.

UPDATE: the same talk links to a fascinating online questionnaire highlighting certain innate prejudices we "all" have. For example, to categorize something as, say (fat or black) vs. (thin or white) is a task that can be done much faster than (fat or white) vs. (thin or black). Truly enlightening and I urge everyone to have a go.

Woman: Blame devil for infant in microwave - CNN.com

See - this is what happens

MingeWatch (2)

I can't believe this is my second post on this topic. Now it's
Kylie's turn.

Something must be done.

I will survive

I was sent this a while back and now I have it permanently on my computer to cheer me up whenever I feel low. That's the power of the holy spirit, I guess.

Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip- Starship Trooper

I had forgotten how wonderfully bad this was.

OK, I'll admit it, I was 12 when it came out and was taken in by the leotards and Star Wars theme.





Hey, Captain Strange, won't you be my lover
You're the best thing that I've ever discovered
Flash Gordon's left me, he's gone to the stars
An evil Darth Vader has me banished to Mars

Tell me, Captain Strange, do you feel my devotion
Or are you like a droid, devoid of emotion
Encounters one and two are not enough for me
What my body needs is close encounter three

Still, it's not hard to see how she was on a slippery slope to
this nonsense. (I'm thinking more of the video - the song is actually not too bad.)

Workers rescued from giant vat of fish feces - CNN.com

Oooh, no thank you, Madam.

Are you damned?

Under God?

I was genuinely shocked to learn that "under God" was only added to the U.S. "Pledge of Allegiance" in 1954.

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

This gives me so much more respect for the "Founding Fathers".

YouTube - Lou Dobbs with Christopher Hitchens

YouTube - Lou Dobbs with Christopher Hitchens - New US Citizen

"Religion ends and philosophy begins, just as alchemy ends and chemistry begins and astrology ends, and astronomy begins."

Nice attempt to be "prime time friendly" on the subject of the one-way nature of the birth canal.

Highly recommended.

My theory of quotation marks (and a prediction)

Alan Johnson disappeared in Gaza. For many weeks there was no confirmed news yet it was assumed he had been kidnapped.

Today, a girl was "kidnapped" in Portugal. Quotation marks kidnapped. Despite reporting what appears to be 'clear' evidence of a forced entry, etc., the BBC still talks about a girl who "may have been abducted".

I have seen this sort of thing many times before. I think the BBC knows something but can't report it.

On this basis alone, I predict that the father/uncle/mother/etc. will be found to have had something to do with it.

Update (9th May 2007): as with most predictions, I was wrong...

Update (8th September 2007): maybe not...

Tired and Flushed

Ben found a typically comfortable place to sleep after a long day at school.

Cheap Toys

Playing in the road dirt has lost none of its appeal.

Ryan's Adventures in Wonderland

Ryan was off school today after his eye swelled up badly after an insect bite. He wasn't actually unwell so I used the opportunity to go to Bicester to buy him some new shoes.

We had a great time but I was slightly saddened to realized that this was pretty much the first time I had spent proper "quality" time with him since Georgina died. Ben is frequently asleep at home but I always seem to have wanted to do other ("house") things. And I realized that this was the first time in several years (which in Ryan's terms really means his whole life) that we had been to shops other than supermarkets.

Nevertheless, Ryan said to me that today was "the bestest day in [his] life". And do you know why?

Woolworths.

The absolute sense wonder (and awe) he had walking up and down the aisles (of toys, mostly) really should have been videoed. Truly comparable to young Mr Bucket in the Wonka factory. I had to make many excused to bemused parents because of his constant whelps of delight.

Almost as good, he got some sandals with some flashy-light things.

Slow and sickly

I found this lovely slow worm in the garden and brought it into school for Ryan to "show and tell". It panicked a but and regurgitated 3 slugs it had been digesting. Yuck!

Poor Moor

For many years we've had moorhens nesting in the garden. Every year they hatch around 6 chicks but I've never seen them make past the first day in the water. Maybe a pike gets them.

This year the pair have excelled themselves in poor parenting. Not only have they built their nest right next to the house, so that they get scared away everytime of us makes the slightest noise, but they also seem to be trying to hatch a golf ball. Do they think the pike will choke on it?