Hitchens' religion series

For those who haven't already noticed, Slate is running excerpts from Christopher Hitchen's new anti-religion book.

Of course, I don't agree with his thesis, but he at least promises to be a wittier and less irritating writer on the topic than the likes of Dawkins. (His preconceptions clearly influence even his literary judgement though; in the first extract he dismisses CS Lewis as a "dreary" apologist! Lewis may have flaws in some of his arguments, but a "dreary" writer he surely isn't.)

A couple of the extracts are already interesting: those summarising the foundation of Islam and Mormonism (and looking at the similarities between the two.)

Given our proximity in time to the founding of Mormonism, it is remarkable how that church is successful in light of the (relative) ease of investigation into the circumstances of its creation. (Of course, the Church of Scientology is an even more puzzling success.)

On the move in and out of Iraq

Comment is free: Iraq's refugee crisis

That there has been very large population displacement within and out of Iraq is clear. With such large population shifts, it's a wonder that there is not more regional multinational interest in helping end the turmoil. However, as the article notes:

Two million Iraqi refugees are scattered around the region, the great majority of them in Jordan and Syria, with smaller numbers in Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt. Because they are urban refugees - not housed in tents, but rather blending in with the local population in the host countries - they are easily ignored.

I guess that the countries who are most interested in the internal situation in Iraq (I presume, Iran and Saudi Arabia) don't have many refugees and see it as not their problem.

The Tablet reports that things are not going well for the remaining Christians in Iraq either:

Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk warned that attacks on Christians by radical Islamic groups, previously localised in sectors of cities such as Baghdad and Mosul, had now spread across the country, even into areas previously considered a safe haven for Christians.

"In Iraq Christians are dying, the Church is disappearing under continued persecution, threats and violence carried out by extremists who are leaving us no choice: conversion or exile," said the Chaldean archbishop.

Radical Sunni groups in areas of Baghdad were threatening local Christians with violence unless they paid a jizya, or "donation", towards the insurgency, immediately converted to Islam, or handed over their homes and fled the country, Archbishop Sako said...

Ten of Baghdad's 80 Christian churches have closed since 2003. Fifty thousand Iraqis are fleeing the country each month, according to the UN. While they make up 5 per cent of the population, Christians constitute 40 per cent of those fleeing.

Radical Sunnis are such a likeable bunch.

Update: Tigerhawk has a long and interesting post about a talk given by Lawrence Wright, who seems to know what he is talking about when it comes to al Qaeda. Good reading.

Just strange

BBC NEWS | Europe | Dutchman's Noah's ark opens doors:

A half-sized replica of the biblical Noah's Ark has been built by a Dutch man, complete with model animals.

Dutch creationist Johan Huibers built the ark as testament to his literal belief in the Bible.

The ark, in the town of Schagen, is 150 cubits long - half the length of Noah's - and three storeys high. A cubit was about 45cm (18in) long.

The ark opened its doors on Saturday, after almost two years' construction, most of it by Mr Huiber himself.

Al Gore should have been invited to the opening too.

Cranking up the insincerity

Rudd silent on economy, says PM. 27/04/2007. ABC News Online

Kevin Rudd has to resort to the patently silly forms of attack on conservative politics and the PM for the sound bites on TV tonight:

He says a Labor government would set a new standard.

"We stand for community, we stand for country, we stand for the planet," he said.

"By contrast, the conservatives stand for the three great ennobling values: me, myself and I."

Oh, bring me a bucket.

And as for Howard:

"Mr Howard doesn't really believe in a single idea which didn't appear on black and white television."

This is good in its own way. Resort to such platitudes, which we all know Rudd doesn't genuinely believe (he has the personal friendship with Joe Hockey to illustrate that,) means that he is should start to be seen as cranking up the insincerity for marketing purposes. He is thus shown to be just another politician, which may be the start of of a drop in his puzzling popularity.

Speaking of insincerity, Tony Jones on Lateline last night, interviewing a Kevin Rudd who seemed to me to be unusually giggly, missed a golden opportunity in this section:

KEVIN RUDD: ...... Mr Howard's not interested. We could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, I'm advised, by up to 30 per cent by affecting, by implementing, such an effective demand-side management approach. And lastly, what do we do about clean coal and what do we do about hybrid cars and those sorts of things? We've got clear cut policies on the table for the future. What do we get from Mr Howard? Resounding silence, because he's rooted in the past.

What you do, Kevin, if you really believe in them, is drive one yourself. (Not that Tony Jones made that rejoinder).

More Ehrenreich scepticism

Scotsman.com Living - Books - Party, party, party

This is a good sceptical review of Barbara Ehrenreich's book "Dancing in the Streets" that I mentioned a few posts ago.

Strange goings on in Italy

After a flurry of cases in the 1980's, things have been pretty quiet in Britain and the USA recently with regards to claims of satanic child abuse. However, it has made an appearance again in Italy:

Three women teachers were among six people arrested yesterday accused of sedating and sexually abusing children as young as 3 at a school near Rome.

The teachers — two of whom are grandmothers who had taught at the school and at Sunday school for decades — are said to have part in the repeated abuse of 15 children aged 3 and 5 for a year, filming them in sexual acts with satanic overtones at the teachers’ homes and in a wood.

Even the parish priest defends the accused:

Ottavio Coletta, the Mayor of Rignano Flaminio, said that the town of 8,000 people was enveloped in “a poisonous climate of hatred and vendetta”, and Father Erri Rocchi, the parish priest, said he still believed the teachers were the victims of “malicious tongues”. He said that the women were church-goers and taught at Sunday school.

Unless there is actual video evidence, the odds of eventual acquittal for the accused would have to be extremely high.

Attention space cadets

NASA's Mission to the Moon: How We'll Go Back — and Stay This Time - Popular Mechanics

The current issue of Popular Mechanics at the newsagents in Australia has a cover story about the planning at NASA for the return to the Moon. Happily, it is already on line.

Good reading!

Criminal law reform

To serve justice, you have to get past all the babble - Opinion - smh.com.au

Richard Ackland returns to the issue of reform of the criminal justice system in his column today. Worth reading, even though I suspect that 90% of lawyers in Australia are very resistant to any serious change in this area. (I am just pulling figures out the air, but I would like to see some proper research on this.)

Problem not solved

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Despair stalks Baghdad as plan falters

Just so I can't be accused of ignoring bad news from Iraq, this assessment of the grim picture in Baghdad still, I reckon, supports my view that the "get out now" crowd are the ones who would hurt Iraqis more if they got their way.

The ridiculously complicated games of Iraq

Despite his rhetoric, Sadr needs U.S. - for now - International Herald Tribune

This article explains the complications caused in Iraq by Moktada al-Sadr's ever changing (and often contradictory) actions in Iraq.

It seems extremely unfortunate that such a character has a stage on which to strut.

Meanwhile, it is disturbing to see what passes for sensible commentary on the increasingly deranged Road to Surfdom. Ken really feels for the citizens of Iraq (no issue there), but lets this wave of emotion lead him to say the following:

Yet millions of Australians and tens of millions of Americans, people of ordinary intelligence and goodwill, accept all this being done in their name with the complacent justification that the Iraqis are better off than they were under Saddam, or that the known tragedies associated with the occupation pale into insignificance compared to the tragedies that are predicted to accompany any withdrawal – even though the consequences of withdrawal are unknowable and the gates of hell forecasts are made by people who have a blatant vested interest in the occupation continuing.

So, what is more immoral? Leaving now, even against the wishes of a rabid anti-American like al-Sadr (see article above)? Or trying to assist in the prevention of the sectarian violence between civilians, which is clearly what most of the death is now about?

It is possible that an immediate withdrawal might mean that the country settles down in a shorter period, but in all likelihood only at the cost of a dramatic rise in death, displacement and mayhem first. (Who wouldn't expect a serious partition attempt if the US left right now, and who expects that it could be done without large loss of life?) It is quite ridiculous to suggest this view is only promoted by those with "vested interests" in America staying there.

What it comes down to is this: Ken prefers the idea of gambling with the lives of civilians, rather than see something in place that is specifically designed to help protect them. I don't see how you can seriously argue that staying there for now is not the moral thing to do.

UPDATE: a column in The Guardian also takes up the point of the complicated and often duplicitous actions of all the major Middle Eastern players in Iraq. It is well worth reading, but the general point is that many parties who claim to want the US out of there are just posturing. They actually want America to stay, at least for the time being.

Not everything said in this analysis might be accurate, but overall it sounds fairly plausible. It certainly indicates why, contrary to the normal expectation of Western democracy, the opinion of the people in Iraq on this is not something is deserving of enforcement at the moment.

UPDATE 2: Diogenes Lamp posts about a funny/serious letter to The Age about the silliness of comparing Iraq to the V-Tech killings.

War bride stories for ANZAC Day

The 7.30 Report - ABC

This year, the fate of Australian war brides has been getting a lot of attention. Last night's story on 7.30 Report (link above) was a pretty charming interview with a couple of WWII war brides from Australia who ended up in America. (The sprightly 90 year old was nicer than the other one, but she did remind me somehow of Barry Humphries in drag.) Go have a look at the video.

There's also a recent book out (Swing By Sailor) about 669 war brides who went to England in 1946 on a semi-converted British aircraft carrier. This Bulletin article summarises the story:

If any of the brides was apprehensive about what lay ahead, she tried not to show it when the ship left on July 3, 1946. It had cost £16,000 to convert the aircraft-carrier to house 700 women, crew and demobbed sailors, a total of 1854 on board. Berths and bathrooms replaced aircraft hangars; a soda fountain, cinema and even a hairdressing salon were installed. But, writes Dyson, Captain John Annesley "had no idea how unruly a warship of brides could be".

"One of the captain's first talks was about sex not rearing its ugly head on his ship," recalls Monk. Even before the ship had left the Heads, however, there was "carrying on", she says, hooting with laughter. "It was like a smorgasbord to some of the girls - so many lusty young men available."

Hey - I thought it was about going to be with your new spouses! Just goes to show that images of a prime and proper pre-1960's world of sexual behaviour are far from accurate. Also, it sounds like Sydney may have had somewhat of a gay reputation even then:

Edna Wroe met her husband Eddie Monk in front of a jukebox at Playland arcade on Pitt Street. He was blond, blue-eyed and in a tight-fitting sailor's uniform, she says, and "if I wasn't fending the girls off, it was the guys trying to pick him up".

But back to this sex voyage:

As the ship entered warmer climes and the women sunbathed on deck, forbidden liaisons multiplied so quickly that "chastity rounds" were instituted. Monk was one of a dozen women whose husbands were travelling with them. Finding a "nookie hole" proved difficult, she says, because everywhere "was already occupied. Our secret spot was in one of the gun turrets. Being a gunner, Eddie knew".

All this fun can its consequences, though:

Word got back to some of the waiting husbands of affairs between their wives-to-be and crew. Telegrams would arrive saying, "Don't come. You're not wanted". Those who received no letters from their husbands began to wonder if anyone would be there to meet them. Indeed, some Aussie war brides were left stranded; others slipped away with their newfound British sailor boyfriends.

I also heard on Radio National recently a repeat of a documentary about Japanese war brides in Australia. It was very good, but there appears to be no audio or transcript available. The culture shock of moving from Japan to, say, Canberra at that time (as I seem to recall one of them did) must have been enormous.

These are not stories of great hardship, compared to what goes on during war itself, but as social history related to war, it's all very interesting in its own right.

Back to the drawing board

Hamas Says Truce With Israel Is Over - New York Times

Never forgets

Tim Blair has a mind like a steel trap, doesn't he? It often surprises me how he remembers examples of hypocrisy from years ago.

About happiness

It’s sad but Dionysian orgies ain’ t what they used to be--David Aaronovitch-TimesOnline

This is a pretty interesting article on the (apparent) state of unhappiness in Britain now. It also casts a sceptical eye over the recent book by Barbara Ehrenreich which proposes as follows:

It is Ehrenreich’s contention that one significant factor in modern depression has been the suppression, over time, of communal rituals and festivals. And, in particular, the suppression of those events in which human beings collectively gave themselves over to ecstasy.

While initially sounding plausible, there are reasons to be sceptical of this theory. For example, Aaronovitch writes:

If it were possible to apply Ehrenreich’s analysis to the here and now, we should expect to find that those countries most influenced by Calvinism would be the most depressed and unhappy. And what we find is the exact opposite.

One of the comments at the end of the article also notes:

Isn't happinness something that arises within the human heart which subsequently organises parties? The argument of the article is that you organise events in order to generate happinness. Have a party, get slightly hammered, and then you'll get more of a feel-good glow. Well, we've had more and more of that in our city centres over the last ten years and the result, apparently, is less joy.

Oddly, despite pointing out reasons to be sceptical, Aaronovitch still seems to end up thinking that more communal partying is part of the answer:

We need more revelries. We need less anti-fun Nimbyism and more bonfire nights, street parties, open-air samba classes, Olympic Gameses, London Marathons, local carnivals, park concerts, Demis Roussos and raves.

Raves! Surely 10 hours of "doof doof" music at deafening volume is only made enjoyable by the attendees being under the influence of powerful illicit chemicals. (Alcohol alone being inadequate to the task.) Then those who get through the night on ecstasy are likely to have a downer when they come off the drug. No, amateur fiddling with brain chemicals is not a likely path to increased communal happiness.

But before I leave Aaronovitch , I do like this reminder of the extremes of some past communal celebrations:

Today the casualty of a rave might come to in a lockup minus his dignity and his watch. When the Anatolian cult of Cybele came to Rome in the 2nd century BC, its wild celebrations were marked — at their height — by members of the priesthood cutting off their own testicles. You can imagine waking up in the morning, asking yourself whether last night’s revels had really happened, and then looking down.

They don't make clergy like they used to.

People like Andrew Norton know a lot more about happiness research than I do, and it is a mildly interesting topic. But it should never be taken very seriously. I suspect it's like quantum physics; the attempt at observing probably changes what you are looking at anyway.

Great moments in prison administration

BBC NEWS | Americas | False fax allows US prison escape

A prisoner in the US state of Kentucky was mistakenly freed after a phoney fax ordering his release was sent from a nearby grocery store.

Ridicule invited

Sheryl Crow's view on toilet paper: one sheet a visit | News | Guardian Unlimited Music

The most surprising paragraph from this article is at the end:

Crow's environmental opinions are not limited to toilet paper. She also believes paper napkins "represent the height of wastefulness", while she has designed a clothing line which features a detachable "dining sleeve" that wearers can use to wipe their mouth while eating.

She is truly God's gift to comedy writers.

Bad news for Pete

PM gains, but Rudd leads - National - theage.com.au

The Age reports:

People were asked to imagine Peter Costello was PM and then quizzed a second time on how they would vote. Labor's two-party lead rose to 61 to 39 per cent. Asked whether they would prefer Mr Rudd or Mr Costello as PM, an overwhelming 60 per cent preferred Mr Rudd, to 32 per cent for Mr Costello.

I have never really understood Costello's unpopularlity. He doesn't seem to me any more insincere than your average politician, and the media who spend time around him seem to think well enough of him. It's hard to criticise his job as treasurer. He's nowhere near as demeaning to others in his parliamentary performance as Keating was; in any event, Keating showed that nasty headkicking can have an appreciative audience.

So why is he still unpopular?

The household gas chamber

Lucy Siegle: How can I evict house mice? | Magazine | The Observer

From this story one can learn the PETA recommended way to kill a mouse in the house:

...Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recommends a mousetrap that actually kills the animal, and gave the Radar (Rodent Activated Detection and Riddance device) an award last year. This is allegedly the world's smartest mouse trap: when a mouse trips it, the doors close and a tiny canister releases carbon dioxide. In 10 seconds the mouse is out cold, in 60 it's dead. The device then sends an email to a pest controller - all 'without any toxins going into the environment', boasts Rentokil.

I am sorely tempted to wonder out loud if they are manufactured in Germany, but that would be cruel.

(And anyway, they appear to have been developed in England. Damn!)

UPDATE: It also occurs to me that having such a device in your house must provide one of the most peculiar pretences you could ever use to get out of a date or meeting you were not enjoying: (After checking at your e-mail on your mobile device): "oh, sorry, must rush home, the mousetrap has just emailed me that it has caught something."

Some China reading

A few weeks ago, I noted that there seemed to be some pretty compelling reasons to be pessimistic about China's economy. If there was something fundamentally flawed in what Friedman says, I would like to hear the explanation.

On the issue of potential political instability, there have been a few articles around this week of interest. First, this one (reprinted from the WSJ by the looks) paints a glum picture of the potential for reform:

Many in the West think that Chinese growth has created an independent middle class that will push for greater political freedom. But what exists in China, Mr. Mao argues, is not a traditional middle class but a class of parvenus, newcomers who work in the military, public administration, state enterprises or for firms ostensibly private but in fact Party-owned.

The Party picks up most of the tab for their mobile phones, restaurant bills, "study" trips abroad, imported luxury cars and lavish spending at Las Vegas casinos. And it can withdraw these advantages at any time. In March, China announced that it would introduce individual property rights for the parvenus (though not for the peasants). They will now be able to pass on to their children what they have acquired—another reason that they aren't likely to push for the democratization of the regime that secures their status.

Earlier in the article, it notes that the size of the middle class as follows:

...200 million of China's subjects, fortunate to work for an expanding global market, are increasingly enjoying a middle-class standard of living. The remaining one billion, however, are among the poorest and most exploited people in the world, lacking even minimal rights and public services.

The New Yorker, meanwhile, runs a lengthy article on a political prisoner. It's a pretty interesting read that covers a lot of Chinese modern history.

Finally, China continues in the tradition of nations founded as worker's paradises which have appalling workers' safety standards. Today's news is of a particularly gruesome accident:

At least 32 workers were killed and two injured today when they were buried in white-hot molten steel at a metal factory in North East China, officials said.

The mishap was triggered when a 30-tonne-capacity steel ladle sheared off from the blast furnace, spilling liquid metal onto the factory floor three metres below.

The molten steel engulfed an adjacent room where workers had gathered for a routine shift change, the State Work Safety Administration said.

An exam to remember

Indian teachers 'purify' students with cow urine - World - theage.com.au

Extract:

The Times of India reported yesterday that upper-caste headteacher Sharad Kaithade ordered the ritual after taking over from a lower-caste predecessor at a school in a remote village in the western state of Maharashtra earlier this month.

He told an upper-caste colleague to spray cow urine in a cleansing ceremony as the students were taking an examination, wetting their faces and their answer sheets, the newspaper said.

"She said you'll study well after getting purified," student Rajat Washnik was quoted as saying by the CNN-IBN news channel. Students said they felt humiliated.

Wittier readers than me can supply their own wisecracks.