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Atheism vs Agnosticism
People get very heated about the distinction between atheism and agnosticism. One common pattern, usually adopted by convinced theists, is that you cannot be atheist unless you aver the non-existence of God with the same vehemence that they aver the existence of their God. If you do no, you are not an atheist but an agnostic. Now, I have never ( Read more... ) -
Voting rights in prison
There is an ongoing clash between the current government and the European Court of Human Rights on the subject of whether prisoners can vote. The ECHR says that the current blanket ban is too harsh, and the government must introduces some subtlety. The government has replied in strong language that they find the idea of those guilty of horrible ( Read more... ) -
Guard cat on duty
One of the problems of this house is the road outside. Mostly quiet, but with occasional fast moving cars. Cats think it safe, and then find out the very hard way that it isn't. We have lost eight cats to the road in twenty nine years, and the only reason we are holding off getting more cats is the danger to them of the road ( Read more... ) -
Observations
The fake gaslights on the ends of the bridge are a spider Cold War zone. There are several spiders on each pane - all large, some larger than others. But when one gets close to another, even smaller, you can see the "You don't want to try that" preparations for total war. Collectively, they are waiting for the loot of dumb moths to fall into the ( Read more... ) -
Creationism
I think that Creationism is a weird, unfortunate, bastard side effect of science. Because science created the concept of exactness and of literal, measurable, truths. Before the invention of the scientific method, people accepted that all records were stories. Some, histories, were believed to correspond fairly closely to historical events. Others ( Read more... ) -
Meme
Passing the time with a meme ( Read more... ) -
Manufacturing vs services: A false dichotomy.
The litany of “Manufacturing or Services” has become so hackneyed that one could take the metaphor literally - an antiphonal chant of economists and entrepreneurs alternating the praises of underlying values or high added value, fundamental skills and fast responses. And yet, it seems to me, that it is a deeply flawed argument. There is ( Read more... ) -
Houghton Lodge Gardens
Today we visited Houghton Lodge Gardens http://www.houghtonlodge.co.uk . They have been there, and open, for all the thirty plus years we have lived here, and we have never visited them before. And boy, have we missed out ( Read more... ) -
The ultimate ungrump
'Tis Christmas and, so I am told, time to put grumpiness aside. So I will attempt to do so ( Read more... ) -
The Adventures of Tintin
I saw this a couple of days ago. Executive summary: Indiana Jones look-alike, but doesn't grab you like Indy did. Unless your plans demand a visit to the cinema, or you have a six to sixteen year old adventure lover to entertain, wait for the DVD ( Read more... )