I really ought to find out who the bloke was who narrated the British Pathe News Reels of the 1950s. He embodied the optimistic spirit of the age. Here he is, telling us about the activities of some complete nutters.
And the winner is: A VW Beetle
Eh, lad. They don't make 'em like they used to.
In my post a few days ago, I touched on the subject of giving children bullshit answers to their questions. I saw this video featured on Pharyngula earlier, and felt the need to share it.
I like the style of this Thunderf00t video.
I had a dream last night. One that I remembered when I woke up, that is. It was enough of a curiosity that I made an effort to commit it to memory before going back to sleep. Perhaps I should add, in case you've pictured me as a lazy-bones who doesn't like to get out of bed of a morning, that it was part way through the night when I woke.
It being a normal sort of dream, on recollecting the storyline after waking, there were many inconsistencies, which, of course, did not seem inconsistent while the dream was happening. The gist of it was this:
I was talking with Richard Dawkins, who seemed very at home in the basement study I used to own and occupy several years ago. In fact, so much at home that it appeared to be his. Part of our conversation was about blogging, the details of which escape me, but in the course of our discussion he kindly gave me a roll of cling film.
I feel I should point out that this was no ordinary roll of cling film. This roll came in a cartridge, with a plastic gear wheel attached to each end of the core of the roll, obviously designed to go in a very hi-tech dispenser (of which I knew nothing). As is often the case with dreams, it didn't seem strange that he should give me such an odd artifact.
I don't know what I did with his gift. It went 'out of focus' and played no further part in the story, which had already moved on to me offering to make coffee. He accepted my offer, and in response to my enquiry "how do you like it", he replied "black, white, third and dill".
In the transission from basement study to kitchen, Richard morphed into a woman, who, it seemed, was my high-powered boss. I mentioned to her, as I began to prepare the coffee, that I understood what "black, white" meant (although the meaning is not at all clear to me now), but that I'd never heard the "third and dill" part, and would be grateful for enlightenment.
She explained that 'dill' meant 'very little milk', to which I said, "oh, I see, just a dash". She looked puzzled, and asked me what that meant, so I told her it meant 'very little milk'. She said, "oh, I see", after which we embarked on a discussion of the etymology of the word 'dash', and it's various meanings.
I woke up before finding out what "third" meant. Damn and blast!
I tend to think that dreams are what happens in our brains when we relax the stricter insistence on logic that we usually impose during our waking hours. Dreaming is just letting it all hang out, goin' with the flow, chillin', layin' back. Unless you can convince me otherwise?
No post yesterday because... well... here's a clue:
But now I have a nice, pristine Windows 7 installation up and running again, which is pleasing. All updated and ready to get back into the fray!
I featured Calamities of Nature yesterday, which tends to look at life from thoughtful perspectives, and occasionally offers something which some would consider controversial. Here's the latest from Jesus and Mo, another site I heartily recommend.
As you can see, J&M tends to be a bit more controversial, although the controversy often seems externally manufactured. There's some sort of delicious poetry in the fact that those externally manufactured controversies are often the subject of the 'controversial' cartoons.
When people make 'unwelcome' comments about Christianity, one often hears the response, from disgruntled Christians, that "you wouldn't say that about Islam!" It always strikes me as a particularly stupid comment. Perhaps those who make it hanker for the good old witch-burning days of yore?
One of the beauties of the Jesus and Mo cartoons is that the aforementioned criticism (if you can call it that) cannot be levelled at them. The are always well balanced!
I heartily recommend a visit to Calamities of Nature. Here's an example of the type of thing you'll see there.
I read this article on the BBC News website, about five 'killer' whales being named as plaintiffs in a court case, which raises some interesting questions.
Actually, the article itself doesn't raise many, if any, interesting questions, but reading it provoked some of my own. The gist of the article is that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have brought a lawsuit, in San Diego, against Seaworld (the owners of the properties where the whales are located), on behalf of the whales. They are citing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the USA, which abolished "slavery or involuntary servitude".
PETA are claiming that the whales are enslaved, which, bearing in mind they are wild-captured animals being held in captivity, and 'forced' to perform 'unnatural' acts, seems a reasonable claim. But, as Seaworld's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, is reported to have said, "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people...' when the Constitution was adopted."
He's got a point, and, consequently, it seems highly unlikely that PETA will win in court. But then, I think it highly unlikely that PETA's objective is to win, more likely to gain attention for their cause.
I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, but I have some reservations about PETA. It is alleged that although they claim to eschew violence, they make large donations to the Animal Liberation Front, who apparently set fire to the Coulston Foundation primate-research facility some years ago.
I don't know about that. The issue I have is this: how do we, as humans, know what animals want and like? How do we know that those whales are not enjoying their lives? Just because I wouldn't want to spend my days doing what they do, and living like they do, doesn't mean that they feel the same way. Saying that 'if they were released they wouldn't stay there' is not proof that they are unhappy.
Claiming to know what animals want, and what's best for them, is not very dissimilar to claiming to know what gods want, and what they think is best for everyone. I wrote about what people think their god thinks, just the other day, and I suspect that a similar mechanism operates when we think about what animals think.
There is a difference, of course. We can observe animals' behaviours which can give us a clue to how they are feeling, or at least some of them at any rate. I'm just not very convinced that the whales in question have such a bad time. Their lifestyle is nowhere near on a par with battery hens, for example.
But whatever the pros and cons of PETA's actions, be kind to an animal whenever you get the opportunity.