a fine piece of Bush slagging

Have it, you filthy cristo-fascist cunt.

Britain, the cultural dead zone, looks to the continent for inspiration

How long have I been waiting for someone to start this off?

Too fucking long, for sure.

In Auckland there are free music festivals almost every weekend throughout Summer in the city's various parks. I think there are 2 in Plymouth this year.

reflections on democracy

. . . . "Recent reflection on democracy have yielded two valuable insights …. Modern pluralistic regimes have typically come into being not because of some preexisting wide consensus on "basic values," bur rather because various groups that had been at each others' throats for a prolonged period had to recognize their mutual inability to achieve dominance. Tolerance and acceptance of pluralism resulted eventually from a standoff between bitterly hostile opposing groups.

This historical point of departure of democracy does not bode particularly well for the stability of these regimes. The point is immediately obvious, but it becomes even more so when it is brought into contact with the theoretical claim that a democratic regime achieves legitimacy to the extent that its decisions result from full and open deliberation among its principal groups, bodies, and representatives. Deliberation is here conceived, as an opinion-forming process: the participants should not have fully or definitively formed opinions at the outset; they are expected to engage in meaningful discussion, which means that they should be ready to modify initially held opinions in the light of arguments of other participants and also as a result of new information which becomes available in the course of the debate. …

If this is what it takes for the democratic process to become self-sustaining and to acquire long-run stability and legitimacy, then the gulf that separates such a state from democratic-pluralistic regimes as they emerge historically from strife and civil war is uncomfortably and perilously wide. A people that only yesterday was engaged in fratricidal struggles is not likely to settle down overnight to those constructive give-and-take deliberations. Far more likely , there will initially be agreement to disagree, but without any attempt at melding the opposing points of view—that is indeed the nature of religious tolerance. Or, if there is discussion, it will be a typical "dialogue of the deaf"—a dialogue that will in fact long function as a prolongation of, and a substitute for, civil war. Even in the most "advanced" democracies, many debates are, to paraphrase Clausewitz, a "continuation of civil war with other means." Such debates, with each part on the lookout for arguments that kill, are only too familiar from democratic politics as usual.

There remains then a long and difficult road to be traveled from the traditional internecine, intransigent discourse to a more "democracy-friendly" kind of dialogue. …"

How aptly does this describe the situation inthe UK today? Even though outright warfare has been absent from ths land for hundreds of years we are still in the post-civil warfare state of pluralism. Due to the enormous burden of tradition and conservatism amongst our culture it has proved impossible to cast off many of the more absurdly unjust and antiquated customs such as the monarchy and absence of a constitution. This perpetuates and deepens the class divide and leaves one wondering why simple democratic reforms which are- even now- being stalled in the unelected house of lords, have taken so long to appear.

More here.

"Brown is more bulldog than poodle" - yeah, fucking right!

The depth of my scepticism cannot be described in the English language. Take a very, very, very deep hole and then climb to the bottom of it and dig for a thousand years with a pneumatic drill. Then you won't be any closer to the depths I refer to but you will certainly start to appreciate their magnitude. Brown is the pinnacle of weasellious cock and needs to be removed from power. Derek Wall and Sian Berry should double team him with their green ninja power.

this is very interesting

I have been occasionally browsing this blog and I recently went through the section where they discriminate between 'their' version of economics (Environmental Economics) and Ecological Economics. I reckon that the Ecological one is more relevant to today's problems, despite the problems they mention with Robert Costanza's papers. A site more positively positioned towards Ecological Economics is this one.

If you have time, and are interested in this subject, this paper describes the differences between the two disciplines very clearly.

Boris Johnson is a cock-weasel

Johann says he is, so there.

COntrast this with the Conservative party line, as presented by this moron.

Islamism or cristo-fascism, who is the bigger threat?

Well, according to these chaps its the latter. I couldn't agree more.

The Misanthropic Principle

I was thinking about the anthopic principle and this line of thought happened to cross with the definition of misanthropy I encountered the other day. Anyhoo, I googled this bastard product of idle contemplation out of curiosity and found nothing conclusive except a bizarrely amusing essay in the style of Douglas Adams, a page of letters on the abuse of the anthropic principle in New Scientist and some song lyrics by a punk rock outfit. I am a little disappointed, although also slightly wowed. It has the ring to it of those epic essays on the human condition such as Kant's "What is Enlightenment?" or Hardin's "Tragedy of The Commons". I am certainly arrogant enough to imagine that I have the depth of vision to pen an equally insightful piece and I think the title has been presented to me by my subconscious. I just wish I had timed it better because I am in the middle of a large-scale sampling experiment for my PhD and this is going to niggle at the back of my mind until I can find the time to do something about it. I also don't want to mess this opportunity up by throwing a half-hearted attempt up here and then being too lazy ever to return to improve upon it.

Oh, the burden of intellect!

author of CofE guidebook shoots his religion in the foot

In marked contrast to the cristo-fascists in the States who frequently foam at the mouth at the mere mention of JK Rowling's name, it seems that the Church of England has taken a more accepting position to the epic saga of one young Wizard's fight against the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, he shoots himself- and all sky-pixie botherers- neatly in the foot with one concise sentence.

"To say, as some have, that these books draw younger readers towards the occult seems to me both to malign JK Rowling and to vastly underestimate the ability of children and young people to separate the real from the imaginary."

Did anyone else spot his error?

the future of public transport

It wouldn't work in Plymouth 'cos of all the fuck off great big hills. But in flatter country this would transform our society for the better. I love it.

I was in The Hague last year for a conference and hired a bike for 5 days for about 35 euros (why does my keyboard have a dollar sign, but no euro?). It was awesome to cycle around the nice (flat) Dutch urban sprawl, through parks and along cycle lanes, in relative safety and comfort. I can't describe how much the experience contrasts with the ride to work I have to endure in Plymouth. Getting skimmed by buses, dodging holes in the road and sleep-walking edestrians and having my muscles abused by the monster hillage. Oh well, at least I get my 20 minutes aerobic exercise a day when I can be arsed. I haven't ridden in for a couple of weeks because my brakes and duralier need attention. Must get that sorted . . . . .

Max Hastings vs The MOD

Max won. By light years.

I agree with the chap in the comments who is quick to observe that Max fails to condemn the wasting of several £billions on the Trident replacement, not to mention the subversion of the NPT.

Johann Hari on our failed public education system

Johann has some insight into the intellect of two of the Big Brother House occupants. Now, far be it from me to even contemplate watching Big Brother, Johann obviously does and- unlike the vast majority of couch-vegetables out there- has used his time in front of the goggle box to analyse and assess the intellectual potential state of these two deprived urchins.

Appropriate quote for the subject matter:

Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog his own tail. It won't fatten the dog.

— Mark Twain

The cultural implications of this are detailed also, together with some of his usually warm slagging of Blair. The point he makes most strongly, however, comes across in the quote he inserts from the American author, Martha Gellhorn:

“People will often say, with pride: 'I'm not interested in politics.' They might as well say, 'I'm not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.'"

Brown helps restart the cold war

George has done his usual comprehensive job of shitting all over Brown's false rhetoric.

another nail in the coffin of nationalism

For all of those who hold exceptionalist positions and persist in the jingoism of nationalism: You're wrong!

The UK is far from a being a mdoel democracy, our health services are amongst the worst in Western Europe- and deteriorating- and our rail network is a joke. Still proud, are you?

falling birth rates are no comfort

An article in the Economist contains many misrepresentations, misdirections and not a few absurdities. The article makes a good start with a description of how population growth curves are ubiquitous across the spectrum of living organisms, from swallows to bacteria to humans to sponges. This good start is ruined by the next sentence:

"Overcrowding and a shortage of resources constrain bug populations."

For accuracy, and the analogy of a bacterial population dwelling in a petri dish is wonderfully appropriate here, the word "constrain" should be replaced with "kill". A bacterial population, after consuming all of the reources in its agar ecosystem, promptly dies out almost completely. The remaining organisms enter a state of suspended animation in a desperate attempt to survive until some future input of nutrients allows them to revive and reproduce again and life in the agar is, essentially, ended. Compare this description of life within one semi-closed system with another: The human population of The Earth.

There follows an observation that a Malthusian apocalypse is an unlikely future. I must disagree. Do the terms, "climate change", "peak oil" and "nuclear proliferation" mean anything to the author? Apparently not.

Following this comes an observation that the neo-classical economic model has led prices of commodities to fall during the last century, indicating that raw materials have become more abdundant. At last we see a glimpse of rationality as the author observes that the commodities consumed are not the problem, but the emissions associated with their production are, however the following sentence is so counter-intuitive that it defies logic:

"Certainly, the impact that people have on the climate is a problem; but the solution lies in consuming less fossil fuel, not in manipulating population levels."

The two numbers referred to- the consumption of fossil fuels per head and population levela, are the two key factors in determining the survival of our civilisation. Too many people consuming too much and we all drown or burn or fight to death. On the other hand, a lot of people consuming minute quantities of resources and producing a small amount of pollution and you have a very frsutrated and bored bunch of people. My preference, and I think many people will agree with me here, is of a world where consumption is not limited but population is so that the quality of life of the population is maximised but pollution is limited to a level that allows the biosphere to flourish- further enriching our existence. Why have a population of 6.5 billion where 2 billion have no access to electricity and 1.1 billion currently have no access to safe drinking water? Why not have a stable population of 500 million people all with the quality of life currently enjoyed by the Western World? Falling birth rates could lead to immigration from more developed countries and population control in those countries would then lead to a global trend toward falling population. Population centres would shrink but quality of life would progress. Its a combination of the humanitarianism, rationality and responsibility.

Anyway- I got distratced there. The rest of the article is a big whinge and contains many snipes at phenomena that I consider to be good things, eg:

"The Russian army has had to tighten up conscription because there are not enough young men around."

I'm sorry, what? How can falling numbers if armed men possibly be a bad thing? The more conscription there is the unhappier the population will be and the more feeling will turn against such a barbaric practice (the Russian Conscripted Army is, essentially, a borstal outfit).

The remainder of the article is fairly level headed and contains endorsements of sexual equality in the workplace and maternity legislation to allow mothers to avoid suffering for the gap in their careers that results from childbirth.

books to read

Half Gone by Jeremy Leggett.

ARM THE HOMELESS

This is scrawled on Tim's guitar in the video for People of The Sun. It fucking rocks!




Yeah!

the ecotopian idyll

Nice. It justs goes to show that you can live the dream. I'm not sure how comfortable the place would be in the middle of a storm though. It also sounds like a lot of work growing and maintaining. I'm a very lethargic character and whilst being surrounded by a flourishing and diverse flora and fauna appeals greatly I would rather occupy a lower maintenance environment. Just my personal opinion, you understand, but my talents lie apart from weeding and pruning. Maybe that's the whole point. If such a lifestyle became mainstream you would have the option of career choices - you could tend to your community's permaculture or you could contibrute with direct financial contributions whilst being part of the community but being excused from most of the communal duties. Kind of like 'buying' your way out of having to weed the fields. You would still be entitled to the produce and materials from your community.

This all sounds delightfully quaint until I realised that I am a lazy bugger and will do absolutely anything, including lying brazenly to my wife's face, to avoid having to do the washing up.

Incidentally, in direct contrast to public opinion and common sense (big fucking surprise), the government appears to be hell-bent on making it impossible to even attempt to live in such an idyllic setting. £2000 per acre of land! I could happily make do with half an acre, given the opportunity to construct and reside within my own bender. As I observed above, it would be a trial to make it through your 1st winter but I'm certain that I could make it comfy enough to survive. Compare the cost of that to the £85000 price tag of a grotty 1 bedroom flat that is the alternative!

floods of tears

Here is the brutal truth: however good our flood defences, transport planning, emergency relief and so forth, it is all inadequate if we don't face up to the primary question: not "Why hasn't the government been better prepared?" but "Isn't our failure to respond to climate change by changing our economy and lifestyles simply idiotic?".

Hear, hear!

I only wish the rest of the piece were as strongly worded. In fact, after bewailing the British resposne to "the (climate-change-caused) bad summer by getting into (climate-change-causing) jets and flying to the Mediterranean - where, by the way, global warming is causing innumerable heatwave deaths?" she then goes on to brand us all hypocrites before stating unabashedly that "I hold my hand up too. Our long-planned week's holiday to a Greek resort will go ahead if the airports are open."

I'm sorry? Did I misunderstand you there, Jackie? You think that climate change is bad and a real problem but you aren't doing anything about it? In fact, you are wilfully making it worse! The conceit and arrogance of this little gobshite truly becomes clear in the penultimate sentence: "I need to be cajoled, led, provoked and taxed into changing my ways, as do we all."

Only if you're a lackadaisical fuckwit with the moral compass of Pol-Pot, you do. Fucking whinging, liberal toerags waiting for someone to come along and legislate them out of trouble. I fucking hate people like this.

RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! !



On a less ranty and more holier-than-thou note I would like to announce that I am going to the South of France in August by train. Yes, not by plane or ferry but by good old choo-choo. Admittedly I am going wakeboarding on my friend's fat boat for a week but I still reckon that's half the CO2 of the flight.

Smugness is me.

The Threat to Reason by Dan Hind

I want this book. The author was on Radio 4's Start The Week program and was a very interesting chap.