Gulfnews: Timeline of recent bomb attacks in Indonesia
Many of these from earlier in the decade I don't recall. Still, it's quite an appalling death and injury toll over the period.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Cranky man speaks
Jonathan Miller looks back in anger, and a few laughs - Times Online
Jonathan Miller is probably best known here for his old TV documentary series "The Body in Question," but I also remember him as being terribly funny in some Parkinson interviews in the 1980's. As he has spent most of his time since then doing opera, he hasn't cut a very high profile (outside of those rarified circles) for many years.
He's now 75, and looking his age (he smokes, silly man), but his sharp tongued political observations continue unabated. He was famous for saying Margaret Thatcher's voice was like "a perfumed fart", but here is his assessment of Tony Blair:
Jonathan Miller is probably best known here for his old TV documentary series "The Body in Question," but I also remember him as being terribly funny in some Parkinson interviews in the 1980's. As he has spent most of his time since then doing opera, he hasn't cut a very high profile (outside of those rarified circles) for many years.
He's now 75, and looking his age (he smokes, silly man), but his sharp tongued political observations continue unabated. He was famous for saying Margaret Thatcher's voice was like "a perfumed fart", but here is his assessment of Tony Blair:
“Well, I have a deep disdain for them [Tony and Cherie]. I couldn’t bear that grinning, money-hungry, beaming, Cliff Richard-loving, Berlusconi-adoring, guitar-playing twat. I suppose I would say that, at the risk of being inoffensive. No, it’s that beaming Christianity and that frightful wife with a mouth on a zip-fastener right round to the back of her head. And both of them obsessed with being wealthy. And he got us into this disastrous war with Iraq because he had consulted with God. Like Bush. Well, anyone who claims to do something on the basis of a personal relationship to a non-existent deity . . .”Top marks for invective, anyway.
Nature restored
Male penguin couple splits over widowed female
I also learned from Colbert last night that San Francisco's "gay" penguin couple had split up, with one of them taking up with a "widowed" female. (See story above.)
Funny, but when I search this, it seems to have attracted much less media attention than the original story of the male birds pairing up.
Anyway, I'll allow for humans to start taking their moral cues from animals when hamster mothers stop eating their babies.
I also learned from Colbert last night that San Francisco's "gay" penguin couple had split up, with one of them taking up with a "widowed" female. (See story above.)
Funny, but when I search this, it seems to have attracted much less media attention than the original story of the male birds pairing up.
Anyway, I'll allow for humans to start taking their moral cues from animals when hamster mothers stop eating their babies.
Guns, guns, guns
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Difference Makers - Doug Jackson | ||||
| ||||
Colbert Report has a funny/amazing story on some gun law changes in the USA.
When it comes to guns, a substantial number of Americans are undoubtedly "different", but not in a good way.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Track the shuttle
A Google gadget for real time space shuttle tracking is now at the bottom of this page. (I may fiddle and put it somewhere more prominent later.)
Do people also realise that the "Clouds" gadget is updated every 3 hours to show global clouds. (I expect some people think that clouds are fixed.)
All very cool, if you ask me.
Do people also realise that the "Clouds" gadget is updated every 3 hours to show global clouds. (I expect some people think that clouds are fixed.)
All very cool, if you ask me.
Green shellfish
How to pick out sustainable seafood. - By Nina Shen Rastogi - Slate Magazine
Interesting to note for the above article:
Interesting to note for the above article:
For an easy way to cut your seafood-related emissions, try to shift your diet toward farmed oysters, mussels, and clams—these shellfish don't require any processed feed. (They eat plankton instead.) Many experts also recommend that you make like a European and learn to love smaller, schooling fish like sardines, anchovies, and mackerel. They're easier to catch than big, bottom-dwelling carnivores like cod and haddock, meaning less fuel is expended to harvest them. (Plus, since they're lower on the food chain, they're naturally more energy efficient.)For some reason, though, fish shops around Brisbane charge quite a high price for sardines.
Media trouble in Gaza
Why Palestinian leaders have banned Al Jazeera | csmonitor.com
Kind of hard for peace in the Middle East to be reached when one side is so incredibly fractured. (Yes, Jews are pretty divided on how to reach peace too, but their problems do not extend to internal kidnappings, murder and media bans.)
The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday banned Al Jazeera television from operating in its territory and threatened to take legal action against the Qatar-based Arabic satellite channel because of allegations it made against President Mahmoud Abbas. Al Jazeera ran an interview a day earlier in which Farouk Kaddoumi, a senior leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), charged that Mr. Abbas conspired with Israel in 2003 to kill Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat....
Officials in Ramallah have complained in the past few years – particularly since Hamas ousted Fatah from Gaza amid intense fighting in 2007 – that the station has grown more sympathetic toward Hamas than Fatah.
Kind of hard for peace in the Middle East to be reached when one side is so incredibly fractured. (Yes, Jews are pretty divided on how to reach peace too, but their problems do not extend to internal kidnappings, murder and media bans.)
Bing off
Bing continues to climb. What’s Microsoft’s target? (Hint: It’s not Google.)
Apparently, Microsoft's Bing search engine is gaining ground at a good enough rate.
I am not convinced. Based on comparisons for the same search terms in Google, I reckon it's pretty hopeless. (Especially when I search for this blog!)
Apparently, Microsoft's Bing search engine is gaining ground at a good enough rate.
I am not convinced. Based on comparisons for the same search terms in Google, I reckon it's pretty hopeless. (Especially when I search for this blog!)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Some Japanese photos
Japan hasn't featured around here much lately, but I can recommend these links for the photos, all from Bouncing Red Ball:
* One of the great things about Japan is the apparent laissez faire attitude to town planning and building design, yet the cities still work. Can you imagine, for example, even the smallest cafe or bar in Australia being allowed to incorporate a toilet situated like this one?
* It's not just the corridors, there are entire buildings which are just incredibly narrow by Western standards. Such designs make me very curious as to how the interior is set out.
* I've already posted about the giant model Gundam robot that has been built in a Japanese park, but you should really look at this very impressive set of photos of it.
* One of the great things about Japan is the apparent laissez faire attitude to town planning and building design, yet the cities still work. Can you imagine, for example, even the smallest cafe or bar in Australia being allowed to incorporate a toilet situated like this one?
* It's not just the corridors, there are entire buildings which are just incredibly narrow by Western standards. Such designs make me very curious as to how the interior is set out.
* I've already posted about the giant model Gundam robot that has been built in a Japanese park, but you should really look at this very impressive set of photos of it.
Pork your way to health
Eat more pork to fight type 2 diabetes
The funding for the study came (surprise!) from Australian Pork Limited and the Pork Co-operative Research Centre, not that there's anything wrong with that...
The funding for the study came (surprise!) from Australian Pork Limited and the Pork Co-operative Research Centre, not that there's anything wrong with that...
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Odd behavioural problem of the day
Treatment for Hair-Pulling Shows Success - TIME
Quite a surprising report about how an over the counter antioxidant appears to help a majority of people who suffer from compulsive hair pulling.
The report also notes some interesting details about the condition:
Quite a surprising report about how an over the counter antioxidant appears to help a majority of people who suffer from compulsive hair pulling.
The report also notes some interesting details about the condition:
We seem wired to attack our hair under traumatic conditions, possibly because forcibly extracting hair is painful; it can divert attention from stress to the more immediate matter of how to solve a pressing problem. For chronic hair pullers, that diversion turns into addictive psychological relief. Some people with trichotillomania pull out hairs not only from their heads but also from their pubic areas and armpits; as many as 20% eat their hair; a small minority pull other people's hairs.Why does the antioxidant work?:
The compound is thought to work by reducing the synaptic release of a neurotransmitter called glutamate. As Grant told me, glutamate is the communication chemical that "tells the brain, 'Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!' And the rest of the brain can be overwhelmed by this drive state." Reduce glutamate and you may reduce the drive state. Previous studies have suggested the supplement may also reduce urges to use cocaine and to gamble.Well, that sounds a useful first thing to try for other strange obsessions then, from wanting a perfectly normal limb removed to having a sex change operation (at least if you are not genetically inter-sexed). Cue Zoe Brain to explain why I should not be drawing equivalences between those two conditions.
Makes sense
If you care about climate change, stop talking and start taxing. - By Anne Applebaum - Slate Magazine
Applebaum argues that governments simply need to tax oil, gas and coal at sufficient levels so as to make alternative energy investment attractive to clean energy entrepreneurs.
A tax can do that tomorrow. A carbon trading scheme full of compensation, introductory periods and in need of further amendment down the track may take years to get that right.
(The only hesitation is that taxes are subject to revision too, I suppose, but still it removes so many of the complexities of carbon trading, I think it's a worthwhile risk.)
Applebaum argues that governments simply need to tax oil, gas and coal at sufficient levels so as to make alternative energy investment attractive to clean energy entrepreneurs.
A tax can do that tomorrow. A carbon trading scheme full of compensation, introductory periods and in need of further amendment down the track may take years to get that right.
(The only hesitation is that taxes are subject to revision too, I suppose, but still it removes so many of the complexities of carbon trading, I think it's a worthwhile risk.)
Krugman is down
Paul Krugman was on Colbert Report tonight, and seemed so depressed about the prospects for economic recovery that he simply ignored most attempts to engage in humour:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Paul Krugman | ||||
| ||||
Probably right
Bruno review: The Current Cinema: The New Yorker
My favourite movie reviewer Anthony Lane has written about Bruno. While I have no interest in seeing it, I strongly suspect Lane is on the money.
I note in particular that he now agrees completely with what Christopher Hitchens said about Borat, namely that Baron Cohen's humour actually misfires in that his American targets come out of it as showing remarkable good manners in the face of attempted humiliation. Here's Lane:
Also, I strongly suspect that Lane is correct on the question of whether the film hurts or harms gays as a group:
It's a pity the media sucks up Baron Cohen's "talent" for self promotion with such gusto. But then, I suppose reality TV has shown the public's current unfortunate appetite for humiliation as entertainment.
My favourite movie reviewer Anthony Lane has written about Bruno. While I have no interest in seeing it, I strongly suspect Lane is on the money.
I note in particular that he now agrees completely with what Christopher Hitchens said about Borat, namely that Baron Cohen's humour actually misfires in that his American targets come out of it as showing remarkable good manners in the face of attempted humiliation. Here's Lane:
I realized, watching “Borat” again, that what it exposed was not a vacuity in American manners but, more often than not, a tolerance unimaginable elsewhere. Borat’s Southern hostess didn’t shriek when he appeared with a bag of feces; she sympathized, and gently showed him what to do, and the same thing happens in “Brüno,” when a martial-arts instructor, confronted by a foreigner with two dildos, doesn’t flinch. He teaches Brüno some defensive moves, then adds, “This is totally different from anything I’ve ever done.” Ditto the Hollywood psychic—another risky target, eh?—who watches Brüno mime an act of air-fellatio and says, after completion, “Well, good luck with your life.” In both cases, I feel that the patsy, though gulled, comes off better than the gag man; the joke is on Baron Cohen, for foisting indecency on the decent. The joker is trumped by the square.Hence, I have no interest in Baron Cohen's style of comedy.
Also, I strongly suspect that Lane is correct on the question of whether the film hurts or harms gays as a group:
....I’m afraid that “Brüno” feels hopelessly complicit in the prejudices that it presumes to deride. You can’t honestly defend your principled lampooning of homophobia when nine out of every ten images that you project onscreen comply with the most threadbare cartoons of gay behavior. A schoolboy who watches a pirated DVD of this film will look at the prancing Austrian and find more, not fewer, reasons to beat up the kid on the playground who doesn’t like girls. There is, on the evidence of this movie, no such thing as gay love; there is only gay sex, a superheated substitute for love, with its own code of vulcanized calisthenics whose aim is not so much to sate the participants as to embarrass onlookers from the straight—and therefore straitlaced—society beyond.Mind you, I also agree with the point made by Piers Akerman that it's a bit rich for gays who support the Sydney Mardi Gras and the image that it promotes to complain about Bruno showing a stereotype.
It's a pity the media sucks up Baron Cohen's "talent" for self promotion with such gusto. But then, I suppose reality TV has shown the public's current unfortunate appetite for humiliation as entertainment.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)