An exception?

Regular readers will know that I’m a pretty hard-core atheist. It’s not just that I disbelieve in god; I find the whole concept of god incoherent.
However, having observed the rituals and manifestation associated with this particular deity, I might be persuaded to make an exception:

Cricket pads look rather good on an elephant, don’t you think?
😉 🙂 😉

heading home early

I’m just about to board my flight home from SFO to SEA. I got to the airport early, added myself to the standby list for an earlier flight, and it came up trumps – window seat, exit row. Sweet.
I had a great weekend, took lots of photos, saw lots of friends, and made some new ones. More details when I have access to my computer. (I’m composing this on my iPhone.)

Heading south for the weekend

I’m flying down to the San Francisco area for the weekend, to visit friends and family. I’m really looking forward to it, although not to the early departure and late return. I shall take my iPhone and my Kindle, which should be enough gadgetry to be going along with; I don’t think I’ll need a laptop as well.

Hitchens eviscerates Romney

Here’s Hitch, in characteristically forthright style, shredding “Mitt Romney’s windy, worthless speech”. Money quote:

A long time ago, Romney took the decision to be a fool for Joseph Smith, a convicted fraud and serial practitioner of statutory rape who at times made war on the United States and whose cult has been made to amend itself several times in order to be considered American at all. We do not require pious lectures on the American founding from such a man…

Terry's rhetorical question

Terry poses a rhetorical question that should be repeated.

So, torture mongers and apologists explain that torture (according to the sources they choose to believe) works.
They also say that because it works, and it saves lives, we need to use it.
We are also told that it is only used when the case is so strong that it justifies the moral quandaries of little things like breaking the law and violating the norms of the civilised world and the principles we used to hold countries like the USSR and PRC accountable for, because such things were evil.
It is further explained that because such careful decisions are made those who engage in torture can always depend on the courts to vindicate them. They will just explain that it was needful, they were certain the guy had the info, he gave it up, and lives were saved.
The, inevitable, result, so they say, is the jury will acquit.
Given all of those things; one wonders why the CIA felt it had to destroy the evidence, and commit a completely different crime, not one against people but against the rule of law.

American exceptionalism?

From: Human Rights Watch:

[A]t at the end of 2006, more than 2.25 million persons were incarcerated in US prisons and jails, an all-time high. This number represents an incarceration rate of 751 per 100,000 US residents, the highest such rate in the world. By contrast, the United Kingdom’s incarceration rate is 148 per 100,000 residents; the rate in Canada is 107; and in France it is 85. The US rate is also substantially higher than that of Libya (217 per 100,000), Iran (212), and China (119)….
The new BJS figures also show sharp racial disparities in US incarceration rates, with black men incarcerated at a rate 6.2 times higher than white men.

Exceptionally criminal? Exceptionally vengeful? Exceptionally racist? Whatever the explanation ((Yes, yes: I know.)), it certainly makes a mockery of US claims to be the “land of the free”.

"It rarely rains in dreams"

I’ve been reading – and listening to – one of my favourite poems: Robert Hunter‘s “Flight of The Marie Helena”. I got a cassette copy back in 1985, when it first came out, and played it so often that the tape wore out. Fortunately I found an MP3 version a few months ago. ((But if it were re-released, I’d buy a copy in a heartbeat.)) I love the strange and gently surrealistic journey that Hunter invites us on…

The Marie Helena glides upon
the bright white ocean of
our second day.
Everyone aboard her is
a stowaway. There were
no tickets for the passage.

… and the way he returns to the real world:

After a week’s unfolding
many things have changed.
It is time now to
change them back again.
It is still true, in spite of
the flight of the Marie Helena,
still true, that it rarely,
very rarely, rains in dreams.

Mmmm. That was a good way of putting the world on hold for 37:30. Of course, the world may have something to say about that!

Tossing my wristwatch
into the snapping sea,
my timepiece is returned by an
indignant wave, rewound.

Indeed.

Cognitive dissonance about girls and science

Exhibit A:

NEW YORK – Girls swept a prestigious high school science competition for the first time Monday, winning top prizes of $100,000 scholarships for their work on potential tuberculosis cures and bone growth in zebrafish.
It was the first time girls had ever won the grand prizes in both the team and individual divisions of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

Exhibit B (From Melissa at Shakesville):

Almost exactly one year ago to the day, I wrote about the Discovery Channel Store’s curious gender segregation—and, this morning, I got an email from Shaker Mariah complaining of the same thing. In other words, another year passes, and it’s still Same Shit, Different Day.
[…]
The first five items offered for girls ages 8-12 are:
~ Rainbow In My Room
~ Discovery Sew Fun Sewing Machine
~ Discovery Pink Slide and Text Messengers (“Chat with your friends wirelessly and transmit text messages up to 15′ away.”)
~ Discovery Diamond Dust Microscope
~ Discovery Fashion Design Studio
What a “Fashion Design Studio” has to do with science is something I cannot explain to you.

Click through to see the difference between the boys‘ and girls‘ microscopes.
OK, I know that the Discovery Channel is a symptom, not a cause. For all of their noble rhetoric, they’re just another entertainment company with a retail operation that’s trying to make a buck from cheap Chinese imports with bling. But it’s still frustrating.