Elizaphanian

TBTM20091123

2009-11-23T13:22:00.003Z

Word count: 46786.
Which means that I have finished a first draft (still aiming for about 60000 at the end).
Now off to Pleshey for a few days to see some friends.

TBTM20091121

2009-11-21T12:50:00.002Z

Word count: 41087
I'm too sexy, and now I'm going to watch ManC vs Liverpool.

The collapse of climate science (allegedly)

2009-11-20T18:25:00.004Z

Much twittering about a leak of a great number of files, coding and e-mails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. It certainly humanises the process (and gives a different meaning to saying that 'the science is in')!

Interestingly (for me at least) in the bit of the book I was processing today, I said this:

Yet Mammon also has his soldiers. Think of a listed company which has a certain legal personality and certain legal duties in terms of maximising the value for its shareholders, an institution which is geared up in pursuit of very defined aims, and those who work within that company, if they do not pursue those aims, they can either be liable, or they can be sacked or even taken to court. What this means is that a situation can develop where an entire company is oriented on something which is destructive of wider humanity. The people involved will work for what the whole company is designed to do, to pursue economic growth for itself, and that is reinforced and strengthened by everything surrounding it in terms of its legal structure and its corporate ethos.

A good example is Exxon, and its financing of climate denial. For the last ten or fifteen years, Exxon has funded at least a dozen so-called “think tanks” with very impressive academic sounding titles like The Institute for Climate Research, and there was a conscious strategy to persuade the media that there is debate in the scientific community about the nature of global warming. It wasn't even to prove that global warming is wrong, the aim, the conscious aim was to ensure that the media portrayed it as a debate. Now for those of you who went to see Al Gore's film, "The Inconvenient Truth", there is this wonderful moment when he surveys the last fifteen years of published scientific papers on global warming, of which not 1% denied the reality of global warming, and it compared it to the articles in the media, discussing global warming, which were split pretty evenly between those who said it was true and those that said it was false. In other words Exxon's strategy had succeeded. This is a good example of where a company has pursued its own interest at the expense of the wider community. Within the terms of what the company has set up to do it is entirely rational, it makes perfect sense. This has meant that they can have a better return on their investment for their shareholders. So we can think of them as mammon's soliders, because they are working for mammon.

Even though I've become an AGW sceptic since speaking those words, I still think the above is true.

UPDATE: this video will give a good flavour of the issues at stake:

TBTE20091120

2009-11-20T18:06:00.002Z

Word count: 31448

Loved this, in e-mail from Tess: "It's fascinating to see how theology has meandered through a maze of 'not quite right' solutions to the evidence God gives us about his character and our purpose. It resembles quite strongly the struggle physicists are currently having trying to find a unifying field theory of everything. Every solution they find that fits some of the data fails to explain something else, or even contradicts something else. Theology seems like water trying to find a path down a mountainside, sometimes carving channels, sometimes bouncing off rocks."

Burn After Reading

2009-11-20T15:15:00.003Z

Absurdly and horribly hilarious. Brad Pitt deserves a prize for his performance. 4/5

Memorable Musical Moments

2009-11-19T11:41:00.005Z

Jon tagged me with this, which Banksy originated (and he's responsible for some of these ;). "Think of eight memorable musical moments, not necessarily all time favourites, but those when, for example, you felt compelled to wait in the car when listening to this amazing song on the radio because you just had to know who it was by. Or the piece you heard on the tv in a drama that drove you straight onto iTunes to download... (remember once we spent the princely sum of 6s 8d on a vinyl single?!). Optional details for each song give where, why and Spotify or youtube links ..."

I'm not going to restrict myself to just eight.

Michael Jackson's Beat It (the first song I can remember really dancing to; still makes me want to move)
David Bowie's Kooks (could have been one of many tracks, always reminds me of a friend who introduced me to Bowie)
Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax (coincided with the release of hormones and the wearing of big baggy t-shirts!)
Wham's Freedom (I tore ankle ligaments playing rugby and got taken to the hospital for physiotherapy on a regular basis by the housemistress - this was always playing on the radio in the car, Terry Wogan had a very predictable playlist)
George Michael's Careless Whisper (a particular party...)
Dire Straits' Love over Gold (could have been many different Dire Straits tracks - it would have been 'Hand in Hand' but I couldn't find a decent one - all reminiscent of being a moody teenager plugging into headphones and pushing the world back)
Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb (I travelled around North America for three months in 1989 - on Greyhound buses, so lots of time to listen to music on my walkman. This was the only album I didn't get fed up listening to)
Right Said Fred's I'm too sexy (soundtrack of my early undergraduate days dancing in the Beer Cellar)
U2's Ultraviolet (a representative track from Achtung Baby which I listened to religiously in my room at Uni)
Mozart's Piano Concerto #21 (can't remember when I first heard it, it was around about this time, I just assume that this is what is played in heaven)
Van Morrison's Sweet Thing (articulated some grief for me in the mid-90's; this is a cover version, can't find the original on YouTube and the live version doesn't capture the poignancy of it... 'I shall never ever grow so old again')
The Blue Nile's Headlights on the Parade (particular person, particular time and place)
St Etienne's Nothing can stop us (reminiscent of house sharing in West London and watching 'This Life', amongst other things. Hmmm Sarah Cracknell, just one of the wonderful things to come from Essex [grin])
The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony (discovered in a friend's room at Westcott)
Stone Roses' This is the One (forever associated with meeting Dearly Beloved)
David Gray's Babylon (caught on MTV in fragments and I just had to track it down)
Black Eyed Peas' Where is the Love? (brilliant and godly song, sadly always associated for me with a tragic teenage suicide just after I arrived in Mersea)
Martyn Joseph's Turn me Tender (the first MJ I ever heard, brilliant man, brilliant song)
Mendelssohn's 'Lord God of Abraham' (discovered in Mersea and has become more meaningful as time goes on, for all sorts of reasons)
Brian Doerksen's The River (my own video, which is self-explanatory!)
Show of Hands' Are we Alright (a never to be forgotten moment in a pub in London which I've learnt to sing on occasion...)
Sarah Brightman's A Question of Honour (which brings me up to date)
I tag Ian, Graham (who could do it just by linking to some of his to other posts!) and Doug.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

2009-11-19T11:26:00.001Z

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

WHEREAS the recommendations of the GRAHAM BADMAN REVIEW OF ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION have been accepted in full by the Secretary of State.

AND that these grossly disproportionate recommendations hold serious implications for the civil liberties of parents, children and families in this country.

AND that these recommendations place primary responsibility for assessing the suitability of education and the welfare of the child on the state, rather than the parent - with no prior evidence that either is unsatisfactory prior to this grossly intrusive intervention.

AND that the recommendations of the review assumes that the home is an inherently unsafe or unhealthy place for the child to be.

AND that these recommendations undermine the role of the parent and trample over family freedoms in its haste to set parent and child up against each other, bestowing additional and selective "rights" on home educated children that only the government can adequately minister to.

AND that these recommendations destroy the very possibility of true autonomy in learning.

AND that these recommendations operate from a position of requiring proof of parental innocence rather than reasonable suspicion of guilt.

AND that these recommendations discriminatorily use the coercive and interventionist tools of parental licensing, warrantless entry to the home, inspection according to arbitrary external standards, and an unconscionable new power to interrogate the child without the parents present.

AND that the outcome of these recommendations will be horribly discriminatory to a minority community, the measures eventually having to apply to anyone who has their child at home with them: parents with under 5s, those whose children attend private school, and also those with school-aged children who are at home in the evenings, over the weekends, and throughout the summer holidays.

AND that the outcome of these inspections will be based on the very human whim and prejudices of a local authority officer, who will have the power to destroy the life and education that that parent has conceived for his or her child.

AND that if the government is to avoid further discrimination it also stands to reason that each child who attends school must be given the same "rights" as home educated children - to "have their voices heard" regarding whether or not they are happy to be educated in school, whether they are satisfied with their teachers and whether they feel safe in such an environment.

WE ACCEPT that it is right that appropriate and proportionate action, as currently outlined in the law, may be taken to rectify a situation if there are serious concerns about a child's welfare, observing that a child being at home with its parents is not, and never has been, in and of itself a child welfare issue.

AND HEREBY RESOLVE that any such utterly disproportionate legislation if passed will fundamentally alter the relationship between citizen and state, and would constitute a fundamental violation of our rights,

AND that any such legislation is illegitimate on its face.

NOW UNDERSTAND that by this declaration, Parliament is PUT ON NOTICE that I and others will not co-operate with any such legislation, and strongly caution you not to consider, debate, or enact any such legislation.

~~~

We're not actually home educating at the moment, but we remain very sympathetic to the cause.

TBTE20091117

2009-11-18T11:28:00.003Z

Following on from a comment I left on +Alan's blog yesterday, here's a link about coal.

TBTM20091117

2009-11-17T11:04:00.002Z

Yeast people.

Zack and Miri...

2009-11-16T15:35:00.002Z

Simultaneously cynical and sweet; probably Kevin Smith's best since Chasing Amy, but as a window into contemporary US mores, the mind boggles. 3.5/5

2012

2009-11-14T10:46:00.003Z

Total nonsense but I loved it, and the script was wittier and more interesting than I expected (so: it had enough ideas for an episode of Fringe...) 4/5

TBTM20091114

2009-11-14T10:37:00.001Z

Word count: 20805
One month left of sabbatical (boo hoo)
Today's link: the adaptive function of literature

Trunk Music/Angels Flight (Michael Connelly)

2009-11-12T20:16:00.001Z

Just noting that I'm continuing to read these, and enjoy them.

License to Wed

2009-11-12T20:13:00.002Z

Unfunny and unChristian. 2.5/5

Get Smart

2009-11-12T20:10:00.002Z

Well, it made me laugh. 3/5

Back in the saddle

2009-11-12T20:00:00.003Z

Word count: 17519, which brings me to the end of chapter 3.

Went to hospital on Tuesday - bit of a hellish journey, I should have gone on the bike - to the Ear, Nose and Throat Unit at Addenbrooke's. I've now been recommended to get a CROS hearing aid. Having managed my deafness moderately well so far I'm really intrigued to know what difference it will make. I expect the main difference will be to my levels of energy, but we shall see. (For more info on what my form of deafness involves, go here or here.)

Dreams from my father (Barack Obama)

2009-11-09T09:39:00.003Z

Nice guy; not quite up to the job. The book is an interesting read but I think he might have missed his calling.

A joke

2009-11-09T08:45:00.002Z

What's the difference between an economist and an astrologer?
Astrologers get some predictions right.

(I just made that up)

TBTM20091109

2009-11-09T08:22:00.002Z

Some things I've found interesting on the web in the last 24 hours:
An interview with Michael Ruppert
Lessons from the Edge (which I identify with)
On priesthood in the NT
The case for deflation (with some stunning graphs)
That U2 concert (h/t DMK)
The exorcist, secularisation and folk piety

Red Kite

2009-11-08T12:37:00.003Z

One of the wonderful things about where we go to in Wales is the large number of Red Kites based on the farm. Magnificent creatures.

Up

2009-11-08T12:08:00.002Z

What Phil said. 5/5

5 Deeply de-Christian doctrines

2009-11-08T11:21:00.003Z

Joe tagged me with this (and the people I would tag have already been tagged, so I won't bother). Basically, anything good which gets raised too high becomes de-Christian; anything which is less than God which starts taking on divine attributes (especially perfection) becomes idolatrous and oppressive, and thereby de-Christian. So with that said...

1. Sola Scriptura: not just meaningless but, in so far as it eclipses the truth that a human being was the incarnate Word of God, anti-Christian.
2. Papal Infallibility: ultimately it is the consensus fidelium which is infallible, but even there, there are some things which we cannot stand just yet.
3. Private Judgement: source of the ten thousand things and all manner of distress. Has a role as part of an iterative process, it cannot be a final locus of authority on its own.
4. Penal Substitution: if suggested as one possible metaphor for understanding atonement, I can just about bear it; when imposed as the only possible understanding then it is the ultimate "doctrine of man" and graceless.
5. "Family Values": source of much of our present distress, and not something that Jesus was particularly supportive of. There is the individual in their relationship with God, and then there is the church family. Biological links come some way behind that, at least as Jesus taught.

Dunroamin

2009-11-08T11:14:00.002Z

Back from a two week holiday in Wales.
Normal service will resume shortly.

Delightful video on leadership

2009-10-22T09:38:00.000+01:00

(h/t Rob Hopkins)

Some links

2009-10-21T17:04:00.003+01:00

Whilst my brain barely nudges out of neutral at the moment (although I have a double book review to do for the Church Times by Friday), I'm still reading a fair bit. Some interesting links:

One of the reasons why I think it's wrong to be a partisan re Israel/Palestine:

The Dreyfus model of skills acquisition. There aren't many things I'd claim to be proficient in using this model.

The end of contrarianism. Interesting, as I'm somewhat that way inclined :)

And on that subject... and also this and this and this.

Interesting long article about James Cameron.

Re: the Holy Father's attempt to recruit some elements of Anglo-Catholicism, I thought this was funny and this was to the point.

MadPriest on the BNP.

Reasons for liking Tolkien.

Bad options on Iran.

And finally, something I'm looking forward to purchasing one day.