Those Wacky Muslims

So, after The Satanic Verses, the Danish Muhammad,PBUH¹, cartoons², and others I can't quite recall at this moment, you might be wondering what will be next to rile up those who follow follow the prophet Muhammad, PBUH³.

Shoes.

Some smart person decided it might be a good idea to make a shoe with the word "Allah" written on the bottom. Perhaps he was trying to make a holy shoe. And much like it's illegal to step on Thai money because it has a picture of the king upon it, it is not done to walk upon the name of God. Well, it's not really the name of God, it's just the word "the god". It's not his actual name. I mean if it had Zeus written on it, then it's the name of a god, but just writing "the god" doesn't seem that specific.

Anyway, the authorities in the UAE didn't wast any time. The shoes have been destroyed, the shoe seller fined, and made to promise not to "display products that hurt the sentiments of Muslims".

This is one⁴ of the rather frustrating aspects of Muslims as a group.⁵ They are extraordinarily thin-skinned. Take the Danish cartoons. There have been many worse cartoons involving Jesus. I can't find any off the top of my head, but I'm sure they're out there.⁶ The worst a christian group might do is picket the paper or put out a press release or two. The don't burn flags of the country the paper is in, attack embassies, people from completely different countries and generally carry on like a mob.

And the whole Salman Rushdie thing. He wrote a book that's kind of based on the life of Muhammed, PBUH⁷, and he got threatened with death from the outraged Muslims. Compare this to the reaction to The Da Vinci Code, which while not featuring Jesus himself, is based on a rather novel interpretation of the Jesus story.

My advice to Muslims is don't take things so seriously. Take a chill pill, relax, and don't let things get to them so much.

1 Peanut Butter Underneath Helicopters
2 I now present my smiley art picture of Muhammed smiling :-)
3 Pretty Butterflies Unite Homewreckers
4 There are a number of them.
5 Like most groups, any individual I've met is nice and rational and easy to get along with, but as a group they do the most ridiculous things.
6 Please let me know where they are. I want to see them and laugh.
7 Please Buy Unferth Hay

End Post
Writing time: 35 minutes
Time since last post: 56 minutes
Current media: Jpod

Those Wacky Christians

As has recently been brought to my attention, it seems that Easter is this weekend.¹ And hot off the presses is a safety note from Phillipine health officials. Apparently, if you plan to take part in the ritual re-enaction of the crucifixion then you should get a tetanus shot beforehand and sterilise the nails.

Well, of course you should. Because after hours of pain and agony hanging from some pieces of wood which you are attached to by nails, tetanus is a little too much too bear. What next, a clean spear?

And for those who are only into a little flagellation instead of the full crucifixion, then make sure your whip is clean. You don't want to get an infection.

I am also amazed that people are actually willing to do this. The only way I'd end up attached to a cross with nails through my hands and feet is if a rather large unhappy mob put me there.² You'd have to be a serious nut job to consider doing this. Surely if Jesus³ were to look down at these people preparing for this he'd say to them "Look, you really don't want to do that. It's not good for you. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

Can any one give me an example of an atheist doing this sort of messed up shit. I'm willing to accept as a counter that sometimes atheists kill other people, but I don't know of any atheists willingly torturing themselves in such a way.⁴

1 Assuming, of course, that you follow the western tradition. Orthodox Christians have to wait another month.
2 Please don't take this as an invitation to do this.
3 Hypothetically speaking of course.
4 We usually make our self-inflicted torture mental⁵
5 sed s/We/I/ 4 > sed s/our/my/ > 4⁶
6 I think this footnote is superfluous and the footnote it is a footnote to is intentionally obtuse and the footnote that the footnote this is a footnote to is a footnote to is really just an excuse to get in some emotional wallowing into an otherwise easy anti-religious tract and it was also a footnote to the main text so I can do no more convoluted footnote to footnote type phrases⁷ that may or may not be difficult to parse.
7 Or can I?⁸
8 I won't since this is now getting old and the footnotes are approaching the size of the main text.

End Post
Writing time: 27 minutes (damn footnotes)
Time since last post: 5 days
Current media: None

An Interesting Read

Via slashdot I came across an economics paper entitled The Theory of Interstellar Trade. It's nothing too complicated, just a look at a few factors affecting interstellar trade between two planets. I wish to point it out mainly for the fact that the guy who wrote knows more than just economics. His choice of Trantor as the Earth's notional trading partner speaks for his sci-fi cred. And his diagram of a rotation about an imaginary axis is quite novel (you'll have to see for yourself).

I highly recommend it.

Edit: It has been pointed out that the link provided no longer works. To facilitate the dissemination of this fine work, I have taken the liberty of creating an alternate source. The link has been updated.

End Post
Writing time: 17 minuts
Time since last post: 6 days
Current media: Star Trek Voyager season 2

The "Idea of EsonLinji"

I have an idea in my head. It is an idea of who I am. It is an idea built up during my youth and it probably crystalised somewhere around the end of high school and the start of university.

More and more though I think that the "Idea of EsonLinji" is both limited and incorrect. The "Idea of EsonLinji" is an individual who has a very limited range of social activities, mainly things stereotypically nerdish. An individual whose sole interest was his work, almost to the point of obsession. An individual who would not stop to smell the roses. An individual who had absolutely no interest in romance. An individual who barely lives.

The "Idea of EsonLinji" is also not who I am. The "Idea of EsonLinji" does not care about the clothes he wears. I do take some care with what I wear. I want to be more sociable. I occasionally stop and smell the roses. Work is not the be all end all of life, it is a means to enable me to do the other things in life I want to do. Romance, while I'm somewhat behind what might be considered a normal rate of progress, is something that is slowly becoming part of my life.

So the "Idea of EsonLinji" is a bad idea and an incorrect idea. And yet it continues to stick around in my mind. It is a big part of who I think I am. When put into a new situation, the first reactions that come into my mind are usually those of the "Idea of EsonLinji". One of the things that sometimes stops me from trying new things is that I think "I don't do that sort of thing". And it's usually the "Idea of EsonLinji" who says that. Most of the time when I try something new I have fun. But I still have this voice that holds me back.

So what I need to do is to update this "Idea of EsonLinji". But this seems to be a difficult thing to do. I can't just download a patch for my brain like I can for a computer. Rebooting people doesn't work.

I am however reluctant to change the "Idea of EsonLinji". When I think about who I am I think of the "Idea of EsonLinji". While limited and incorrect, it is a big part of how I see myself, and from there, the world. I feel like if I change the "Idea of EsonLinji" I'll lose who I am. I'm afraid I'll change into something I don't want to be. I want to make sure that any change is an incremental point release, not a whole new version. I want EsonLinji 1.1, not EsonLinji 2.0.

Another reason I am reluctant to change is that over time I have convinced myself that I don't really want those things I don't have. That social butterflies are just people who are vain and shallow. That people who go out drinking every night are idiots. That people who watch reality TV are uncultured barbarians. That people who have a strong belief or passion in anything are misguided or delusional. That romance was a perilous minefield in which the dangers and costs far outweighed the potential gains.

I know that these are over exaggerated generalizations. But these are part of the "Idea of EsonLinji"'s "Idea of the world". But now I'm in the awkward mental position of looking down on these things and wanting some of these things at the same time. I'd like to have a passion in life, something that made me want to get out of bed in the morning other than that I've been lying in bed for longer than any sensible person should. The fairer sex really do have a lot going for them. Drinking with friends cane be fun (but there are still some idiots who drink, but they tend to also be idiots when they don't drink). Reality TV is still the realm of the uncultured swine though.

Trying to incorporate these things is a challenge. I can see the need to incorporate some of these things into my self. But I am resistant to the idea of doing so. Indeed, I put roadblocks in the way of making progress in the matter. Man is perhaps the only creature that can sabotage it's own efforts.

So that is the problem. The solution is yet to come.

End Post
Writing time: A few hours. It was originally written in "the deeply unfortunate doings of an ill-fated life"
Time since last post: 5 days
Current media: Stephen Fry's Podgrams

Once again, I despair for humanity

When I saw a headline reading "Uncle Beheads Toddler in Supermarket" my mind conjured ideas of horrendous accidents involving shopping trolleys or checkout conveyor belts. And so it was with a sense of morbid curiosity that I clicked and read on.

I was somewhat shocked by what I read. This was no accident. No, the uncle picked up a knife and cut off the boy's head in front of his mother because he was having a fight with her and her husband.

This guy is scum. I mean really, if you're having a fight with someone, you don't bring others into it. You settle things civilly. You don't hurt someone else. You don't hurt the bloody person you're fighting with. You don't bloody well cut off their kid's head in front of them out of spite.

Jesus Christ, mother of god.

Naturally, since this reprehensible act was performed in a public space, police were rapidly notified and the man has been arrested. And there is a sense of poetic justice when I note that the penalty for murder in his country is death by beheading.

End Post
Writing time: 13 minutes
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: Season one of Star Trek Voyager

Women can do what now?

Is anyone else just learning that it is some sort of tradition that women are allowed to propose on February 29th during a leap year¹?

I've been through many leap years and have never before been told of this.² I wasn't aware there was any sort of restrictions on who was allowed to propose these days. I sort of had the idea that things had changed from the grand romantic gesture to more of a mutually agreed upon decision.³

And while this seems to be a minor gain in a battle I already thought won, it is somewhat undone by the fact that many women still expect the man to cough up for the engagement ring.

1) not that February 29th can occur in any other sort of year
2) I'm pretty sure this only got into the newspaper because today is February 29th.
3) Not that I'm opposed to grand romantic gestures, it's just they can put an awful lot of pressure on a person and can be rather make or break situations. But when done right, very impressive.

End Post
Writing time: 7 minutes
Time since last post: 15 minutes
Current media: still none (I should do something about that)

Hoisted upon their own petard

Most readers will no doubt be aware of what has been dubbed the sub-prime mortgage crisis. It seems a few years ago, a bunch of American financial institutions while seeking new ways to make money decided that it might be a good idea to give home loans to individuals with less than stellar credit histories. Now a lot of those individuals wanted to get a home loan, but couldn't afford the interest rates the banks would offer them. So, the banks, wanting to make a deal said, OK, we'll give you a cheap interest rate for the first few years then. The more astute individuals asked, but what happens when the interest goes back up. I still won't be able to pay the loan. To which the banks replied, No worries. The value of the home will go up, and you'll improve your credit history by paying off the mortgage, so before the interest rates go back up you can refinance. At which point many signed on the dotted line, and all were happy.

Well, almost everybody. Because the banks realised, hey, we've got a lot of loans with a high risk of default and we still haven't made that much money yet because we're giving them cheap interest for a few years, and we need cash to make more deals. What can we do?

We can sell our interest in the mortgages. Someone else gives us a bunch of cash now, and we give them a slow trickle of cash as people pay off their mortgages.

Great. Let's do it.

Oh, no one wants to buy these. How about a package deal? We give them 9 safe mortgages and 1 risky one as a bunch.

That worked. And so it went. Banks got into loan deals, wanted to get rid of the risk and sold off their interests in the loans. Some went bust and their loans were bought by other companies. There has all round been a lot of moving around bits and pieces so no one was stuck with the hot potato of a bad loan.

Recently, this caught up with a lot of people. The cheap interest rate periods were finishing, house prices hadn't risen, refinancing was as easy as people had been told, and foreclosures abounded.

Except for one man. One bulwark against the mighty tide of foreclosures. The man who had a secret that allowed him to stand against those who would take his home from him. And no, it was not pay in time.

The thing that makes Joe Lents stand apart from the crowd is this. No one seems to own his mortgage. He hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million loan since 2002. Companies have tried to foreclose on him several times. And all he does is say "Prove it's you I owe the money to". And it works. In all the financial shenanigans and wheeling and dealing, something got lost along the way. In trying to hide themselves from the risk, the banks have hid themselves from the rights to collect on the debt.

And it looks like Joe is not alone. Judges aren't being so lenient about the matter any more, and more debtors are forcing their creditors to put up or shut up.

End Post
Writing time: 20 minutes
Time since last post: 30 minutes
Current media: None

Three Strikes Against Sharia

These are all a little bit old, but I would like to point these out. The following are a few items of Sharia law being applied in ways that should strike most people as being ridiculous. They are by no means the worst applications of sharia law, but still, the best way to get people to stop taking something seriously is to make them laugh at it (it's all well and good to say something is terrible, but when is the last time you took a clown seriously?).

The first item is about the unfortunate plight of a woman locked up in a Saudi jail. Her crime? Witchcraft. That's right. Witchcraft. Let's hope Emma Watson never goes to Saudi Arabia. And what vile act of witchcraft did she perform? Her accuser says she made him impotent.

Human rights groups have declaimed this conviction because of the undefined nature of the crime, the lack of representation for the woman in legal hearings, beatings by the police, forced confession and the extreme unfairness of a death sentence. It is a good point, and I thank them for making it. I wish to declaim this situation for the sheer stupidity of it. I mean really, witchcraft? This is the twenty-first century guys. This is the sort of thing that makes people look on the sharia as a backwards, middle ages code of laws. And rightly so in this case. Witchcraft is a backwards, middle ages idea. Witchcraft these days is for goths who want a bit of a ritual that may involve killing an animal and seeing real blood. It's for pagan wannabes. No one seriously thinks that there are women who make deals with the devil for power and go about bringing havoc on mankind (please tell me there is no one who seriously thinks this). Executing a woman for such a thing is ridiculous.

Next on our tour, Nigeria. Land of the scammer. Home of the 419-ers. The country full of people who die with no next of kin leaving behind only a pile of money and a less than scrupulous lawyer. And now, to top all of that, 18 cross dressing men. This group of men went out on the town in ladies clothes, and they were arrested. Originally they were going to be charged with sodomy, but the charges were dropped to indecent dressing and vagrancy. Much to the relief of the 18 men as sodomy is a capital offense in Nigeria (why can't they make fraud a capital offense? That would make the internet a much nicer place). Again, this is something most of the world has accepted is really no one's business but those involved, and so long as they do it in private, whatever floats their boat is OK (a few of the more conservative parts of America haven't got the memo yet, but it's in the post).

Lastly, we return to Saudi Arabia. In this case 57 men have been arrested for that most despicable crime of flirting. The men are accused of wearing indecent clothes, playing loud music and dancing in order to attract the attention of girls. Now honestly, you have to admire their audacity. I mean this is right up there with trying to move an immovable object. Trying to stop men trying to get women to be interested in them. Hell, even I've tried (and failed) to do that on occasion, and I am by no means the king of the lewd. If the music is ridiculously loud get them to turn it down. Arresting people for flirting is not so much out of date as just plain stupid. It will happen. No power on heaven or earth has a chance of stopping it.

So that's a look at the lighter side of the bad joke that is sharia law. It makes crimes out of that which is not a crime. It makes crimes out of that which is a natural part of being human. It imposes punishments that are severe out of proportion with the supposed crimes. It is old, it is out of date, and it needs to be dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century.

End Post
Writing time: 40 minutes
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: None

The Money Cometh

I got some good mail today. A bunch of paperwork to claim my unpaid wages from Japan. I shall endeavor to have them sent back by the end of the week. Registered post. After making photocopies.

While this in general is good news, it isn't all great. The total unpaid wages are 430366 yen. Since it's a payment from the government for unpaid wages, they're only going to give me 80%. So that means 344292 yen (the bastards round a 0.8 yen down). Next is the bit I wasn't counting on. Since I'm no longer a resident of Japan (maybe) I have to pay 20% income tax. This is a bit shit since while I was there I only had to pay about 3-5% (I can't remember exactly, but it was a lot less than 20%). This brings the figure down to 275434.24 yen (I'm sure they'll round that down as well).

One thing I'm not sure of is if I still count as being a resident of Japan for the moment. My residency visa is still valid, and I never sort of went to city hall to inform them I'd be leaving Japan (I think I was meant to hand in my alien card if I did so, and I wanted to keep it as a souvenir, so I didn't).

I also have to decide where to send the money. The easiest is to just have them put the money in my Japanese bank account. They've already filled out the forms for this. I didn't close the bank account kind of for this reason. This of course means I'd have to make a trip back to Japan at some time. If I did this I think their chances of not charging me the income tax are slightly better, but not so good because someone knows I'm not living in Japan anymore (namely the people who sent me the documents). The other two options are to have the money sent here, or have it sent to Australia. Having it sent to Australia would probably be better, since no matter what, I'll be sending a lot of the money home to save (I've kind of already mentally written off the money, so anything I do get is kind of like money for nothing now). I'll probably use some of it to buy a digital camera over here (my korean phone is an ok camera, but the way it names photos is annoying. noname.jpg, then noname(1).jpg, etc, etc. and the bluetooth file transfer does not preserve the file creation data. This makes automatic renaming into my prefered photo filename format (yyyymmddnn.jpg, y - year, m - month, d - date, n - photo number for that day) quite frustrating. My japanese phone was much better in that regard). If I do go back to Japan, it would probably just be for an overnight trip one weekend and I think I'd just stay out all night rather than get a hostel room.

End Post
Writing time: 25 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None (I have been watching a lot of Red Dwarf lately though)

Scraping the Barrel (of Monkeys)

I have for some time now been lamenting the lack of quality original work in the cinematic arts. Nearly every movie that has been made, and most of those I've seen in the last few years has been a derivative of some other work (for example the Harry Potter movies, Serenity, Transformers, Stardust, Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men, Ocean's 11-13, 300, Die Hard 4.0, Sweeney Todd, Doom, Sin City the list goes on and on). Long have I waited for an original work, not derived from a book, comic, tv show, another movie, or history.

Unfortunately it looks like I shall have to wait a while longer. For Hollywood has found another mine from which to dig up derivative works. Board games. Universal pictures has signed a deal with Hasbro to make movies based on board games. On the list are Monopoly, Battleship, Candyland and Ouija.

Just how useful is a board game as a base idea for a movie. I mean really, Battleships? Fine, a nautical action/battle movie. That would be fine. Will there be giant red cylinders falling out of the sky taking out ships? Will aircraft carriers unrealistically take 5 hits in different parts of the hull before sinking? Will ships stay in place while barraging each other with gunfire? Will the action take place on a square ocean? I think (and hope) the answer to all of these will be no. So why try and link it to a board game. Let's just make a naval action movie.

Same with Monopoly. There have been a number of finance, wheeler dealer type movies, and there are more to come. A hotel mogul is definitely an idea for a story, but does he really need to be building his hotels on the Boardwalk and the Strand to keep the vibrancy of the idea?

I guess this is just one more case of life imitating art.

End Post
Writing time: 38 minutes (it took a while to find a working link to the right Robot Chicken episode)
Time since last post: an hour or so
Current media: Pleasantville

More Good News

I actually just wanted to post some thought on the new Good News Week. Some are neutral and some are negative.

First, Paul's rendition of the theme song just doesn't seem the same. Bring back the old version.

Next, good god has Mikey Robbins gone grey. He has lost a fair bit of weight though, which is good.

Where is Julie McCrossin? It looks like she's too busy to come back to the fold. I hope she can make a guest appearance some time. I have yet to warm up to her replacement, Clare Hooper.

Also, I'm dubious about the amount of cross promotion that they're doing. It's cheap, tacky, obvious and cheapens the whole thing. And they should at least cross promote things the audience is going to be interested in. I may have been out of Australia for a while, but I really don't think that the people who watch GNW are likely to want to watch The Bold and the Beautiful. At least last week with Supernatural there was likely to be some sort of interest, although I went "who's he?" when they introduced the guy.

Other than that, they haven't changed the formula that much, and I hope to see some of the old regulars such as Adam Spencer, Natasha Stot Despoya, Rod Quantoc and others soon.

End Post
Writing time: 20 minutes
Time since last post: 32 minutes
Current media: Good News Week

Some Good News

Looks like I may be getting paid for September and October soon. Apparently the forms for claiming unpaid wages are finally being sent out to people.

End Post
Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: Good News Week (rated M due to sexual references, drug references and adult themes)

Seoul

The week before last I took a trip to Seoul. I had five days off that started on the Wednesday (6/2/08). The reason for the time off is that it is Chinese new year, which is a reasonably big holiday over here (more so than Japan at any rate). So the school was closed for three days (although the Korean teachers had to come in and teach on Saturday which is pretty bad for them).

I caught the bus to Seoul on Wednesday. I had planned to wake up at 7, pack and get ready until 9, then catch a taxi out to the bus station, and catch the first bus I could. Well, I woke up at 9, packed and got to the bus station at around 11. I bought a ticket for a bus at 12 o'clock. Well, I saw a bus to Seoul at around 11:55 and tried to get onto that, but the guy checking tickets said it was the wrong bus. After a bit more waiting and watching the departing buses, I realised that the buses were running 30-40 minutes late. Anyway, my bus left at around 12:40, and I got into Seoul a little after 5pm. Then I got my first taste of the Seoul subway.

Seen at the Seoul bus station.

The trains in Japan are better. Especially better are the ticket machines. Here the machines only take coins (100 or 500 won) when tickets are in the 1000-1500 won range and 1000 won is a note. In Japan, you could stick a 10,000 yen note in and it wouldn't complain about it (10000 yen is about 100 dollars). In Seoul, most of the time I just bought a ticket from the guy in the ticket booth. The subway is about as complex as the Tokyo subway.

I made it to my hostel and checked in, and then wandered around to try and find some dinner. Unfortunately since it was lunar new year, nearly everything was closed. I found some fried chicken place and got some chicken that tasted strangely like ham.

On Thursday I took a walking tour out of the lonely planet around one of the old palaces. Along the way I stopped into the Seoul museum of history and of course the palace itself. While in the palace, I got to watch what I presume is a traditional dance performance.

After that I went back to the hostel to warm up for a bit before heading out near Incheon airport to have dinner with Sandra, one of my old housemates. She was on her way to Kazakhstan (She never really answered my question of "Why?") and had a twenty-four hour stopover in Seoul. On Friday we did a tour from the airport to a small temple that had a bunch of snow still lying on the ground despite it having been ten days since it snowed. After the tour we hung around in a coffee shop at the airport until it was time for her flight.


Saturday was spent wandering around the two other big old palaces. One was just an open walk around by yourself place, but the other had more original buildings and I seem to recall it being world heritage listed and so you had to go as part of a group. Fortunately I got to this palace at a time which meant I only had wait for about 15 minutes until the next English tour which was lucky. That night I went to one of the casinos in town hoping to find a low stakes poker game I could try my luck at, but there were none. I ended up playing some blackjack instead, but nothing much came of it.


I checked out of my hostel at around 11 on Sunday, and headed back to the bus station. While navigating between the subway and the bus station I came across a book store which had a reasonable collection of English books at very reasonable prices. I ended up buying 4 books for about 35000 won ($40) before having lunch. I caught a bus at 1, and this time the trip was much better. I got back to Daegu at around 4:30, which was about an hour or so quicker than the trip to Seoul.

Overall, the one word to describe Seoul is cold. My hands were cold all the time, as was the rest of me. I wore my beanie most of the time (the one time I didn't my ears got really cold). There is still more I want to see (the DMZ for a start), so I'll probably be heading back some time.

End Post
Writing time: 5 minutes (I cribbed from an email I sent to my family describing my trip)
Time since last post: two weeks
Current media: jPod 1x06

Ceci n'est pas un dialogue

Dramatis Personae
Frem - a nondescript individual
Merl - another nondescript individual
Jeway - a possibly omniscient observer

(Open on Frem, slightly left of centre stage, waist deep in a pool of mud.)

Frem: Oh woe is me for I cannot get up
But once when young fortune did fill my cup
My path stretched on for years and years to come
And I was sure that it was a good one
Alas it seems my path did not run true
And now I sit as though I were in glue
My legs though still are wont to run and walk
My mind has words but my tongue will not talk
The world has not the glory it once did
Now I see the walls that used to be hid

(Enter Merl from stage right)

Merl: I walk the world with no path in mind
No plan on hand I seek naught and thus find
things more wonderful than any one can
dream or hope to find in all his life's span
The journey of life is my goal you see
to succeed I do no more than just be

Frem: Hullo strange sir, who walks by me so free
Perchance you could stop to give aid to me
This path is not as clear as it once was
and has trapped this soul from the land of Oz

Merl: Well met, good sir, and let me have my say
and I do this with no thought of delay
If I thought that you were in any need
I would render you aid with all due speed
but I cannot see this predicament
that your words and deeds so loudly lament
do you not perceive the path before you,
that obstacles are not there to go through
but for you to experience all that is
life's path is not one that is straight and true
a fact that is only revealed to few
your peril is one of your own making
for you desire the woes of which you sing
the way out of your trap is easy seen
if you were to stand up of mud you'd be clean
and with your next step life's glory returns
with a brightness so like the sun that burns

Frem: Sir, your words in tone are both soft and kind
but they make me think thou hast lost thy mind
my woes, my pains are not of my making
but all are due to fortune forsaking
my side and leaving me to sink alone
into this wretched pool that chills my bone
I wish to leave this dire and morbid hole
and be free again to pursue my goal
but truth be told at this very moment
my thoughts as to what that is aren't cogent
once more I ask of you my friend with haste
do not let me sit and remain to waste

Merl: Stranger you sit and whine and waste your time
when if you were to stop this constant rhyme
you could pull yourself out of this deep hole
and walk free and sure and again be whole

Frem: Why do you still insist on blaming me
when it is circumstance that I'm not free

Merl: You tell me that it is fate that holds you
when all can see that it's plainly not true
the reason that you are in the hole still
is simply that you are lacking the will

Frem: If you are not willing to lend me aid
then leave me be to stay I'm not afraid
I'll wait for someone who is more inclined
to help one whose soul is very refined

Merl: I've tried to help you to see that your fate
is yours to discover you need not wait
but the path ahead you choose to ignore
but sit still on your Neptunian shore

(stage darkens. Jeway speaks, seemingly from everywhere)

Jeway: Look upon these mortals and hope to learn
from one who is free and one who does yearn
who share with each other their great folly
behind their words which might seem quite jolly
though verbose they don't speak to each other
they speak at a man and do not bother
to aid or help or do naught but be heard
the message is lost they don't hear a word
they can't make headway or progress at all
and so separated one day shall fall.

End Post
Writing time: about a week or so of thought. Maybe a few hours of writing in a notebook or typing actual words
Time since last post: less than a day
Current media: None

I have something to say

There is no god. The universe is a material thing. There is no supernatural. There is no higher being. Mankind is not special.

The universe has a set of rules. We do not yet know all of these rules, but we are working towards that goal.

A human being is a material being. It is made up of material components, and is a part of the universe. There is no supernatural component in a human being.

I wish to be quite clear. The universe has a set of rules. We may not know those rules, but there are rules. And every person, with no exception, is subject to those rules.

The rules are well understood. Humanity has expended much effort into understanding the universe, and has a long way to go still. The rules we have discovered, within their realms are incredibly accurate and precise.

But these rules are not the full story. We understand how to work with one particle. That is easy. We understand how to deal with two particles. This we can do exactly in almost every circumstance. Three particles is a different story. There we have to make approximations. We have to do mathematical tricks. We have to divide time into discrete chunks. We have to make approximations.

Everything we experience is a collection of billions upon billions of atoms. For some things, new approximations come into play, and again we can be exact. The motion of an object in the gravitational field of the earth can be described simply and elegantly by a mathematical equation. The behaviour of gases and other materials can be described by the rules of thermodynamics.

These rules are not derived from the behaviour of individual particles (although I would like to think that some general principles could be derived, and indeed may have already been derived from quantum theory), but are what are called emergent phenomena. One could study quantum mechanics for many lifetimes, but would not necessarily predict the phenomena of superconductivity. This is because superconductivity is a property of a collection of particles. No single particle by itself can superconduct. It is the collection of particles, interacting with each other, which creates this new, unpredictable phenomena.

And so it is with humanity. The human mind is a collection of particles, amazingly organised, which together exceeds the sum of its parts. The rules of the universe set the ways in which two particles interact, and these interactions are incredibly limited. There are merely four ways in which particles affect one another. But the rules describe the interactions between just two entities. And so, when a collection of particles interact and affect each other, the outcomes can be something which someone who studied the rules for millennia would never consider.

Emergent behaviour is something with which we are familiar. John Conway's Game of Life is a set of simple rules that apply to a two dimensional grid. Looking at just the rules, you could not predict the existence of patterns which not just sustain themselves, but produce other entities which endure in the universe of the Game. But such patterns exist.

And so it is with out universe. There is a set of rules by which all particles abide. But the behaviour of a collection of particles may follow those rules in ways no one could predict or expect.

And so it is. Without any intention of anthropomorphising, matter has found a way of organising itself which no longer believes itself bound by the rules of the universe. Human beings, and other creatures to a varying extent, are not just chunks of matter, but matter organised in such a way as to be self aware. To be able to think.

This is an awe inspiring thing. To consider that a set of rules that rigidly define the interactions of any two given particles, when applied to billions upon billions of particles acting upon each other gives rise to such amazing complexity and originality is mind boggling.

This is not something to be treated lightly. The ability to think, the awareness of one's self, the ability to weigh the consequences of ones actions and change them accordingly is a rare gift. It is something to be treasured.

The entire human condition is something of a contradiction. We are a material being, made up of material components which follow rigidly defined laws. But, the collective of matter displays properties which would never be predicted just by looking at the laws of nature. The Schroedinger equation, while being the fundamental underpinning of all the universe, does not answer all the questions.

But just because we are a collection of material parts, does not mean that humanity is not important. Actually, it does not mean that sentience, awareness is unimportant. The ability to think, to reason, to plan, to consider ones situation, to reflect on the past and hope for the future is a treasure.

It is not something to be thrown away lightly. Every human has these abilities to varying degrees, and different animals also have these capacities, although at the moment to a lesser degree than humans.

Intelligent life is precious. It is precious because it is able to recognise what it is, and to value itself. A rock can not do this. A plank of wood can not do this. At this time, a computer can not do this. But a human being can.

This capacity for thought, this behaviour which while following the rules of the universe, is not explicitly defined by the rules, is what is exceptional, is the thing which is to be treasured.

Life is precious. The idea that a collection of matter is able to arrange itself so as to be aware of itself, to think, to reason is extraordinary. It is to be revered. And so too is the universe which allowed such complexity to exist.

The universe is an amazing place. It is so full of wonder, of possibilities that the human mind reels away when considering the full grandness of it. When compared to the idea of a complex universe such as the one we live in, the idea of a supreme being tinkering with dials to make sure the universe is just right for humans seems small minded and self centred.

I will say this: Human beings are special. But so to is any creature who is aware of itself, who can reason and think, as would be shown by its actions. It is through this emergent behaviour, this going beyond the simple rules and finding new patterns of existence that can endure and spread that we rise above the simple rules that govern matter and become worthy of recognition.

Simply to be aware of oneself is a wondrous thing. Nowhere in the rules of the universe is such a thing described, but still it exists. It is a marvel of the universe that it can produce such things.

But, it is not a contradiction of the rules of the universe. The interactions of the particles in my mind, in any mind, follow the rules of the universe. By working together they can behave in complex, unpredictable ways, but each individual particle follows the rules of the universe.

I feel this has been somewhat of a rambling post, but let me summarise. The universe is purely material. The material universe follows a set of rules, which we do not as yet fully understand, but they do exist and we are trying to improve our knowledge of them of. The human mind is a collection of material components which exhibit behaviour that while not described in the rules, does not contradict the rules. Such entities which display such behaviour are rare, and deserve to be treated as special and important, despite the fact that they are merely a collection of matter.

End Post
Writing time: 1 hour 21 minutes (I'm not at my most coherent right now)
Time since last post: two hours ish
Current media: Pleasantville

DAAS

It has been quite some time since I listened to them but the Doug Anthony All Stars are still fucking awesome.

Although hindsight it makes me question why I thought it was a good idea to play my copied tapes of them in the car with Mum on the way to and from home on the weekends when I was in high school. Songs about bestiality, BDSM, and transvestites are not to be listened to with ones mother. Sorry Mum. At the time my enthusiasm outweighed my rationality. I now understand why she would buy me MacDonalds in exchange for listening to something else on the 45 minute trip between Cairns and Babinda.

Twenty odd years has not diminished the goodness that is the Doug Anthony All Stars (It's not twenty years since I heard them but it's about twenty years since they performed.).

Fuck Yeah

End Post
Writing time: 6 minutes (I thought I was much more distracted than that)
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None (just the music in my head)

I want these

Two cool items have recently popped up on Slashdot that I would like to acquire, but probably never will.

First up is the new rail gun the US Navy has acquired. It fires projectiles at up to Mach 8, but the electricity bill is likely to be the killer. The weapon requires 32MJ of energy, and can draw current at up to 3 million amps. That'll blow most fuses. It is also a prototype, so don't expect ships loaded up with this beast any time soon.

A bit more attainable is The Torch, and it definitely deserves the definite article. This illuminating device puts out a impressive amount of light. It can light cigarettes, ignite paper and even fry an egg. Battery life though is less than impressive, a mere 15 minutes. Maybe I could take the batteries from the rail gun and connect them up to the torch.

I'll finish with something I don't want. McDonalds in the United Kingdom is set to offer a employee training course that grants the completer the equivalent to completing high school. Sure give training, and make it worthwhile, but I don't want people dropping out to work at McDonalds instead.

End Post
Writing time: 22 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

The End is Nigh

Don't go making any plans for beyond two weeks from now. Apparently the Rapture is imminent.

The Rapture is of course that event in Christian Armageddon where all the virtuous and pious individuals are physically taken up into heaven leaving all the unbelievers here on Earth to deal with the forces of Satan. Of course the people preaching about the Rapture all say that it will be the true believers who are taken up into Heaven to be with God. And they always include themselves in the group who will be Raptured away.

Actually, this could be a good deal for us. All the die hard fundamentalist Christians go away, leaving the rest of the world a better place.

In fact, it looks like God might be jumping the gun a little on his rapture plans. The head of the Greek Orthodox and Mormon churches died today, and Heath Ledger predeceased them by less than a week.

February 11. Keep the calendar clear. Or not.

End Post
Writing time: 12 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: None

What is the sound of 100000 people saying "wop"?

A while ago I was reading Life, The Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams (again) and had an idea for a project.

The section that provided the inspiration for this project was the description of a Kricket warship. The noise it makes was described as being like the sound of 100000 people saying "wop". I began to wonder what such a noise would sound like, and how I might go about creating it.

At first I considered just recording my own voice and playing it over itself over and over again, but I realised that that wouldn't really work the way I wanted it to. Then I thought about somehow altering the recording in various ways before doing the superimposing, but that didn't seem right either.

I realised that the right way to do this would be to get 100000 people to record themselves saying "wop" and email it to me. And that's what I'm going to do. I've set up a website for the project, http://100000wops.googlepages.com, and a new gmail address to store what gets sent my way, 100000wops@gmail.com.

So to any readers out there with a computer and a microphone, record yourself saying "wop" (please include a few seconds silence before and after) and email it to 100000wops@gmail.com.

Thanks.

End Post
Writing time: 26 minutes (I'm trying to use the dvorak keyboard layout, but it seems I have too much practice with qwerty)
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: None

Keeping Tabs

I currently have a bunch of tabs open in Firefox that I kind of want to comment on, but not really enough to make a full post. So, here, from left to right (which kind of matches up with oldest first), are the contents of those tabs.

First, a diatribe from the chaplain of the London Stock Exchange about how liberalism has gone too far. I do disagree with his opinion that secularism is a greater threat than international terrorism.

Next is a video about Fractional Reserve Banking. It's a bit long (47 minutes), but it has made me think a bit about the current money system. The system seems to be based on nothing, and the ideas behind it don't seem to actually work. There is a huge uncertainty in the whole system.

While I was reading up on Fractional Reserve Banking, I came across Islamic banking. Islamic banking is a system whereby financial institutions in Islamic countries organise financial deals so that they make money but don't technically charge interest, which is forbidden by Islam. They plan the deals out so that the amount of money they make is the same as if they pay interest, and that the actual situation is as close as possible to what most people would consider and interest bearing loan. It boils down to obeying the letter of the law but not the spirit. On the plus side, it should bring Christians and Muslims together, since the Christians did this in the middle ages.

Next is a troublesome story of a reporter in Afghanistan sentenced to death for blasphemy because of an article on his computer about women in the Koran which was actually written by someone else.

Finally two interesting blogs. One is based on the letters of a soldier during World War One. the letters are put on the blog 90 years after they were originally written. The other is a collection of strange maps.

End Post
Writing time: 25 minutes
Time since last post: one day
Current media: The Colbert Report

Why won't other people do what I want

I recently paid for something over the internet. And as it happened, because two different groups didn't do what I wanted them to, it's ended up costing me 50% more. And right now, I feel like ranting.

The first troublesome group is paypal. I have a paypal account. I set it up when I first started buying a few items off of ebay. When I buy stuff on the internet, I use my credit card. One because it's easier, and two, the things I buy on the internet are usually luxuries, not essentials and my wants don't always mesh exactly with my pay cycle. Even when I use paypal, I want to use my credit card. This shouldn't be a problem, except I also have my bank account linked in to paypal. Why would I do this? Because I have occasionally been paid by people via paypal, and while you can send money through paypal by credit card, to get it out you need a bank account.

OK. I can handle that. Money goes out of paypal into my bank account and when I pay by paypal they take the money from my credit card. No Problem. But wait, if you have a bank account linked in the default payment method is they take the money from your bank account. If you want to use another payment method, then you have to choose it for every single purchase. While you have a bank account linked in, you can not change your default payment method (I wonder what happens if you link in two bank accounts. Surely you must be able to choose between bank accounts. Why not bank accounts and credit cards?).

So they took the money out of my bank account instead of my credit card. What's the big deal. Why am I so angry? Well, I don't live in the same country as my bank account and credit card. I mainly still have a bank account so I can pay the credit card easier. If other people could deposit money into my credit card and I could deposit funds from overseas into my credit card, I wouldn't use the bank account at all (Also, it will be handy having an existing bank account if and when I return to Australia). For the last year or so the typical balance of my bank account has been $0.

So, when paypal decided I wanted to pay from my bank account instead of my credit card, guess how much money was in my bank account. $0. Now what should happen when someone tries to take money out of a bank account with no money in it. They should tell them fuck off. Indeed, that's what I want my bank to do when I try to take money out of my bank account that I don't have (I have different expectations of my bank account and credit card. They are different beasts and should be treated differently.) What I don't want my bank to do is to is to give the people asking for money I don't have is to give it to them and then charge me a $40 fee for doing so.

So now I have to sort out what I'm going to do to avoid this problem in the first place. I think I shall take my bank account off of paypal (If I need it again in the future I'll set up a separate account for payments received), and Westpac is going to get an annoyed call demanding I have a $0 overdraft on my regular bank account.

God damn it.

End Post
Writing time: 34 minutes
Time since last post: 2 days
Current media: Eurotrip (it has Michelle Trachtenberg in it)

Overkill

Heath Ledger is dead. I'm sure everyone has heard this news.

This is an unfortunate event.

It is not important enough that more than half (32 out of 63) of the news articles in my RSS feeds are about it (news.com.au is mostly to blame).

The death is news. Kevin Rudd's reaction to the death is not news. Mel Gibson's reaction to the death is not news. How his family is grieving is not news. You get the idea.

Something happening to a celebrity is not automatically news.

Journalists please take note of that. I don't want to hear about Britney's latest fuck up or the new hairdo Jennifer Aniston got after breaking up with Brad Pitt (I know that's old but I don't pay attention to this shit). It's not news. Celebrities doing token charity work is not news. Ordinary people dedicating themselves to charity work is news.

Anyway, apologies to Heath Ledger for using his untimely death as an opportunity to rant about the news industries obsession with celebrity.

End Post
Writing time: 10 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None

A Dilemma

Would you buy something really cool if you knew that the money would go to a group of people you strongly disagreed with? While the item in question is well out of my price range, I'm sure there are a number of groups pondering this question.

The item I'm talking about is a mastadon skull that has been put up for auction by Mt Blanco Fossil Museum, a creationist institute. Apparently they are running out of cash and are selling the skull, which is one of their prize artifacts, so that they can continue to operate.

I'm sure there are a number of universities and museums who would like to purchase this item. But I'm also sure that most of them would not want to support the Mt Blanco Fossil Museum, because quite frankly, they shouldn't be supported.

My recommendation, wait for bankruptcy, and then pick it up on the cheap.

End Post
Writing time: 9 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: None

Do not go to this college

Beware Bergen Community College in New Jersey. It was planning on requiring all students to sign a "civility code" in order to attend the college. It is now backing down on the idea due to bad publicity, but those behind it are still running the show. The code itself is interesting, and I would consider it an example of taking a good thing too far and turning it into a bad thing.

Before further discussion though, here is the "civility code" that was put forward.

In the full knowledge of the commitment that I am freely willing to undertake as a student, I promise to respect each and every member of the college community without regard to race, creed, political ideology, lifestyle orientation, gender, or social status sparing no effort to preserve the dignity of those I will come in contact with as a member of the college community. I promise to Bergen Community College that I will follow this code of responsibility.

1. Honesty, integrity, and respect for all will guide my personal conduct.
2. I will embrace and celebrate differing perspectives intellectually.
3. I will build an inclusive community enriched by diversity.
4. I am willing to respect and assist those individuals who are less fortunate.
5. I promise my commitment to civic engagement and to serve the needs of the community to the best of my ability.

So, starting with the intro. Some nice verbiage to make it sound more like a free choice affirmation than a statement of "I'm agreeing to this to get into the college." Next we have a list of things we cannot discriminate on the basis of. I agree with most of this list. Race, sexual orientation (seriously, what the hell is lifestyle orientation? It's the stupidest politically correct term since someone came up with the idea of calling short people vertically challenged.), gender, and social status should not form the basis of discrimination.

Religious creed and political ideology are a completely different ball game. If I met someone who espoused support for, as an example, a return to the white Australia policy, I will not respect that idea. I would oppose them and seek to discredit their arguments. If they were able to their position well, I might start to respect their abilities, but I still would not respect their ideas. The same goes for most religious beliefs. I oppose them, I think they are bad, and there is no force in the universe (save God actually turning up and talking to me) that would make me respect them.

I'll point out here this does not mean I think these people should be forced to give their ideas or beliefs. Just because I disagree doesn't mean they have to give them up. But if they disagree with me, it doesn't mean I have to agree with them, or like what they think, or like them. I don't have to support them in any way. I just shouldn't harm them personally. I will attack their ideas, but I won't attack the person. If they feel attacking their religious or political beliefs is attacking their person, then I can't help that, but they are two separate things.

As for the actual bullet points. 1 is pretty obvious and I agree with fully. 2 is a bit trickier. I will accept differing perspectives. I will tolerate differing perspectives (to a point. See this for an example of when I don't tolerate a differing perspective). When presented with new ideas or new perspectives, I will give them consideration, consider the evidence for and against, and will make my decisions based on the strength of the evidence. I will not embrace or celebrate for the sake of embracing and celebrating. I'm not sure if 3 is actually saying anything or not. 4 is charity, nothing objectionable there. 5 is a bit like 3 and sufficiently open to interpretation so as to not really place any obligations on a student.

The guys at South Park said it pretty well in the Lemmiwinks episode, there is a big difference between tolerating something and liking something. There are many things I think should be tolerated that I don't like. There are many things I think should be tolerated that I would prefer no one actually did, but I don't it isn't a matter that anyone other than the person or people involved with should be concerned with. I tolerate a lot more things than I like.

I think the people behind this code have mistaken tolerance for liking. Tolerating and accepting that people have different opinions is a good thing. Trying to like everyone's opinion is a recipe for schizophrenia.

End Post
Writing time: 42 minutes
Time since last post: 7 hours
Current media: None

I like it

You've probably already read it, but the latest xkcd is pretty good.

End Post
Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: two days
Current media: iPod

I'm confused

Could somebody please explain to me why this product exists? I really don't get it.

End Post
Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: 8 days
Current media: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

Oh, this is going to work

Problem: A global faith based organisation has had, and faces concerns that it still has a worrying large number of officials who have, on occasion, got their jollies from young children.

Solution: Perpetual prayer to cleanse the clergy by every diocese, parish, convent, monastery, and seminary.

That's right. The Roman Catholic Church's latest weapon to clean up its act after numerous allegations of paedophilia by priests is to have everyone pray for it to stop.

Because, as we all know, prayer works. It can cure the sick. It's been tested. Oh, wait. No, it didn't work. Actually those prayed for ended up getting worse. Perhaps we should pray for priests to become paedophiles (note: I'm not actually suggesting this), because apparently God digs reverse psychology.

I get the Church has a vested interest in promoting prayer. But on this matter, they really should be doing something a little bit more concrete.

End Post
Writing time: 12 minutes
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: None (I'm waiting for season 4 of Deep Space 9 to arrive)

Naming Day

On Wednesday I got to name my first kids at work. After some consideration of where to get names from, I used the following two sources this time. The first were actors from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I figured this was better than characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The other source were people I knew in Japan. Finally, one student seemed to already have a name in English, so she obviously kept that. The list of names is as follows
Jully (The kid already with an English name. I'm guessing this is a misspelling of Julie)
Aly (Alyson Hannigan)
Emma (Emma Caulfield)
Mark (one of my housemates in Japan)
Karl (another housemate from Japan)
Dani (a coworker from Japan)
Vera (another coworker from Japan)
Kim (yet another coworker from Japan (sort of, she worked at a different branch to me) (It was only in hindsight that I thought perhaps Kim would not be a good English name since Kim is a common Korean name as well. Ah well))

The kids were pretty young and have very little knowledge of English, so trying to get across the idea that this is your English name was a little bit of a challenge, but after a little bit of time they started to get the idea. The lessons at this level are a bit hard to make last 40 minutes (learning table, chair and the letter B if not done carefully can go very quickly).

I think next time I may use people I knew from Australia, or actors from a Star Trek series.

edit: A new kid showed up the other day, so another name has been added to the list.

End Post
Writing time: 35 minutes
Time since last post: an hour or so
Current media: still season 3 of Deep Space 9

There must be violence against women

I came across this rather unenlightened piece of writing from the Yemen Times the other day. Entitled "There must be violence against women", it is a collection of rationalisations, flawed arguments that to my mind completely fails to achieve what the author aimed to say. Rather than just comment on the article, I'm going to do a paragraph by paragraph commentary, copyright be damned.

There must be violence against women
Maged Thabet Al-Kholidy

This title may sound strange, but it’s actually not just a way to attract readers to the topic because I really do mean what it indicates. Violence is a broad term, especially when used regarding women. In this piece, I want to shed light on those instances where violence against women is a must.

Yes, the title is strange and will draw a crowd. The same sort of a crowd that stops to look at a car crash or some other disaster, but still, a crowd.

First, we should know the meaning of the word violence. Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English defines violence as “behavior that is intended to hurt other people physically.” However, the term violence mustn’t be confused with other concepts and terms such as gender inequality or absence of women rights.

This definition of violence seems to be a bit narrow, concentrating on only physical harm, but I'll let it slide. What I won't let slide is this idea that there is a confusion between violence, gender equality and the absence of women's rights. Violence can be used to continue the other two, and they can be used to justify violence, and all are deplorable, but few people would confuse them.

Occasionally – if not daily – we hear about events occurring in Islamic and Arab societies. Some human rights organizations recently have attacked violent acts against women, standing against any type of violence – even that between a father and daughter – and citing the cases of some women as examples.

Good on these organisations. Violence is wrong, and should be stood against in all circumstances. This includes man against woman, woman against man, woman against woman, man against man, etc, etc.

Consequently, they offer solutions such as complaining to the police, taking revenge or leaving them men, who are either their husbands, fathers or brothers – with no exceptions.

Of course, doing nothing and being beaten again and again is much better than any of these solutions. Wait. No, it's actually a pretty shit solution.

One such case involved a woman whose husband allegedly had beaten her. Without revealing the husband’s reasons for doing so, such human rights organizations immediately urged the wife to complain to the police and the courts, while at the same time generalizing the instance and other similar solutions to any type of violence.

I'm sorry. What reasons justify beating your wife? Let me see, I'm thinking, I'm thinking. No, none. Wife beating is wrong, and the wife is right to seek to prevent further beatings. And this does generalise to other types of violence. Violence is wrong, it should be prevented, victims should be protected and offenders punished.

If a man and woman are husband and wife, the Qur’an provides solutions, firstly reaffirming any logical and acceptable reasons for such punishment. These solutions are in gradual phases and not just for women, but for men also.

For men, it begins with abandoning the marital bed, by opting to sleep elsewhere in the house. After this, they may discuss the matter with any respected person for the husband’s or the wife’s family, who could be in a position to advise the wife. If this also does not work, then the husband yields to beating the wife slightly. They do this because of a misunderstanding in the Quran, as the word says Darban, which is commonly understood today as beating. However, in Classic Arabic it means to set examples or to announce and proclaim. The more accurate meaning of this last one is that the husband finally has to set forth, to make a clear statement or proclamation, and if these measures fail, then divorce is preferable.

So start by talking about things. Good idea. This works for me too. Talking I have found is actually pretty good at solving problems even if the solution isn't exactly to your liking. If direct communication doesn't work, getting the help of a trusted individual can also help. The next step however shouldn't be slightly beating your wife though.

The next bit though is a outstanding piece of work. Remember, the aim of this article is to show when violence against women is appropriate. And here we have the claim that the reason the next step is a beating is because most people have misread the Quran. The word that most people see as beating, actually means to proclaim. So the next step is actually that the husband tells his wife to "shape up or ship out." The important thing to note is that this means beating your wife is not a good thing. I'm glad we agree on something.

Similarly, wives may take actions such as abandoning the marital bed, following by leaving the husband’s home for that of their parents, brothers or any other relatives. They may do this more than once, but if such action fails, they may not continue to live with their husband and via their relatives, they may request a divorce.

Glad to see women have equal rights on this score. Now if only they didn't have to still live with a male relative after the divorce, or get lashes for adultery after being raped.

Despite such instructions, beating is considered a type of violence, according to human rights organizations, which urge women to complain to the police. I just wonder what kind of families our societies would have if Muslim women started doing this regarding their husbands.

Beatings are considered a type of violence by human rights organisations because they are a type of violence (those wacky human rights organisations and their crazy ideas. Whatever will they think of next? Freedom to choose your own faith?). And I too wonder what would happen to Muslim society if women actually stopped putting up with abuse from husbands, brothers and fathers.

Relationships between fathers and daughters or sisters and brothers also provoke argument from human rights organizations, which propose the suggested solutions for all relationships. Personally, I don’t think fathers or brothers would undertake such behavior unless there was a reason for it.

At the risk of repeating myself, there is no justification for violence. Whatever reason a father or brother may have for beating a woman, it is not a good reason.

Fathers are responsible for their daughters’ behavior, but human rights organizations deny this too. Brothers also should take action regarding their sisters’ behavior, especially if their parents are too old or dead. If a daughter or sister makes a mistake – especially a moral one – that negatively affects the entire family and its reputation, what’s the solution by such organizations?

Once a person is an adult, they and only they are responsible for their actions. While I want my sister to live a good and proper life (she does, but I'm making a point here), I am not responsible for her actions and have no right to tell her what to do or not do. And, if I were to disagree with her on a matter, discussion is the solution.

According to them, women should complain to the courts about any type of violence against them. Likewise, should fathers and brothers complain to police if their daughters or sisters violate moral, Islamic or social norms?

There is a significant difference between the harm caused by violence against a person and the harm caused by someone doing something you disagree with. The former is much, much worse than the latter.

Fathers should handle their daughters via any means that suits their mistake; thus, is it better to use violence to a certain limit or complain to the police? Shall such women then complain to the police against their fathers or brothers? It’s really amazing to hear this.

In some cases, violence is necessary, but there must be limits. Those “good human rights organizations” don’t make any exceptions in their solutions because their aim is to serve society. Will it be a better society once we see wives, mothers, sisters and daughters going from one police station and one court to another, complaining against their husbands, fathers, brothers and even sons?

It will be a better society when we see women who are not beaten by the men in their family.

As the proverb goes, “If the speaker is mad, the listener should be mindful.” This proverb is good advice for every man and woman not only to keep their ears open, but also to avoid the misleading propaganda of such organizations, whose surface aims hide other destructive ones to destroy society’s religious, social and moral norms. This matter requires consideration.

And I am indeed mindful of the words you have spoken. And I will be quite blunt. If a society's religious, social and moral norms condone beating and killing women then those norms should and must be destroyed.

Dear readers – especially women – don’t think that I hate or am against women; rather, I simply mean to preserve the morals and principles with which Islam has honored us.

I hope my message is clear, since it’s really quite relevant to the future of our societies, which must be protected from any kind of cultural invasion.

The message I have received from you is that you are a unenlightened little man trying to justify the unjustifiable, and trying to protect an outdated set of values that should be changed. You have not provided any specifics on when you believe violence is acceptable other than a rather vague notion of going against religious, social and moral norms, which quite frankly could be just about anything. You have not provided any justification for this claim that violence is necessary. In fact, you have provided arguments against violence in your piece.

End Post
Writing time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Time since last post: 5 days
Current media: season three of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Fundamentalists Making the World a Better Place

Here are two recent examples of fundamentalists making the world a little less good for the rest of us.

First are the Christians. A Texan higher education panel has recommended the Institute for Creation Research be allowed to offer masters degrees in science education. While it's not yet final, this is not Texas' first dalliance with creationist leanings in recent times. This is troubling, but unfortunately not surprising. I should not have to explain to readers why this is a bad thing.

Next up are the Muslims. Al-Azhar, one of Islam's highest seats of learning located in Cairo, has come out and said that any woman who becomes pregnant due to rape must have an abortion. While it's nice to see someone religious supporting abortion, my quarrel is with the must part. This is taking freedom away from the woman to make the decision. Most may want to do so, but such a decision should never be forced. I also don't like the reason why raped women must have an abortion: to maintain social stability. Social stability is not a participant in deciding to have an abortion. It is a matter for the mother, usually the father (but not in this case), possibly a doctor in the case of medical issues, and anyone else they want involved. The state should not require or prevent an abortion in any situation as it is a matter for the individuals concerned.

Writing time: 1 hour 13 minutes (this does include time for other non-computer activities)
Time since last post: 1 week
Current media: The soundtrack to Grosse Point Blank

Skiing

Today, for the first time I went skiing. Before going into much detail, let me just say, I sucked. And now, onto the narrative.

The story really starts last night when, knowing I had to wake at 5am, I attempted to get an early night. I don't think I could have failed at this more if I had tried. I lay in bed for about an hour trying to go to sleep before I came to the conclusion that I was getting to sleep anytime soon. So I went back to the computer and did some writing and played some Starcraft (when in Rome). At any rate I was still going strong when my alarm clock went off at 5am.

I got prepared (and opened one of my Christmas presents early, since I thought a beanie would be useful today. My family need to be less descriptive on the customs declaration forms.) and met up with the other teachers who were going. For the first time in Korea I got to say "Good Morning" to someone. We caught a taxi to where the bus to the ski resort was picking us up.

The bus trip was about two hours, and I did manage to get a little bit of sleep on the bus up there. Once we arrived, the tour organisers distributed ski clothes and boots. This mostly went without a hitch, although my boots were a little too small, but they quickly found a pair that did fit. The ski clothes fit and were pretty warm. I wouldn't have minded keeping the jacket actually.

So after getting kitted up and putting on my skis, I started trying to move. Good arm exercise to say the least. A little bit of time at this, and I thought I might try the slope that was front and center. There was a small travelator that would take you up a little way, so up I went. I fell over getting off the travelator. Then after the guy manning the top of the travelator helped me up, I went about a meter and fell again. After I got up I tried going down the hill sideways, but almost ran into a little girl being taught by her father. He pushed me out of the way and a little bit away. I slowly slid down the hill sideways, but would sometimes get some forward momentum and would then end up falling over. After one fall where my ski came off, I was unable to get the ski back on properly and decided to walk down the hill. An inauspicious start.

After that I took a break for a while with a fellow Australian teacher who was doing about as badly as I was. After this, some of the other teachers who were more familiar with skiing (a Canadian and an American) who took us all the way up the same slope and taught us a little. I got a little control. But not enough to turn or slow my descent if I went more then a little more than moving perpendicular to the slope.After a number of falls, including one where I was stuck bent over with my legs spread and my hands on the ground in such a position such that if I moved a hand or foot I would start sliding down the hill and I couldn't just fall over because the boots were attached to the skis and I couldn't bend my ankles enough to put my body on the ground. After some more sideways sliding and falling over, I took a longer walk down the hill. On the way down I noticed a large very flat area behind one of the buildings that turned out to be the very beginners area.

After another break we went over there and were much more able to control ourselves than on an actual slope. After some practise stopping we tried the small slope from the beginner lift. I managed to get all the way to the bottom and only fell down once, and managed to repeat the feat a second time. After this the day was getting on and those of us who were newer to skiing called it a day, while those from the American continent kept skiing a bit longer.

That was not the last piece of excitement for the day. On the bus trip back our bus driver caused a three car accident. He rear-ended a car into the back of another car and destroyed the rear window of the car it hit. Apparently his driving had been reckless for most of the trip, but I hadn't noticed as I was half asleep and listening to my iPod. Anyway, no one on the bus was hurt, although several were really pissed off at the driver.

And that is my skiing trip

End Post
Writing time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Time since last post: 2 days
Current media: Deep Space Nine 1x01 The Emissary

Another good move

Following up on my previous post, I'd like to present another example of political foolishness. The Lakota people, one of the tribes of native Americans, has decided it is withdrawing from their treaties with the United States of America, and wishes to be independent and reclaim its territories that cover 5 states.

Let me make a prediction here. It's not going to happen. There will be no Independent Nation of the Lakota (I don't know what sort of formal name for the country they would choose, but United States of Lakota just sounds silly and copycatish, and the Commonwealth of Lakota is a bit to British, and God forbid they go with the People's Republic of Lakota.). America will not give up the territory. Sure it's the middle of nowhere, but still, it's not going to happen.

Even if they did, they will allow people living there to become citizens if they renounce there US citizenship. Brilliant. So the Lakota, who a minority, give a bunch of United Statesian citizenship in their new country, are thus outnumbered and lose any sensible democratic election, and the new government rejoins the United States in a much less revocable way.

Now, I'm not denying that Native Americans, like most natives outside of Europe, have been treated pretty shit. Australia has its own appalling history with that. But, this action at best will garner publicity, but there will be no independent government, there will be no Independent Nation of the Lakota.

End Post
Writing time: 18 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: None

Shooting Themselves in the Foot

Among the many news stories that turn up on news.com.au everyday was a little gem the other day about how a Nationals Queensland MP suggested that the possible merger of the conservative parties in Queensland should include those some might consider a little extreme, namely Family First and One Nation. The rational seems to be that those parties draw voters away from the Nationals and Liberals, so to avoid splitting the vote they should be included.

This seems stupid because the fringe parties get only a small share of the votes (although this is Queensland where One Nation actually did pretty well for itself), and preferences would then flow to the larger conservative party. Also, including these parties into a large combined conservative party would possibly scare away those close to the middle who while preferring the coalition to Labor, don't want to support those on the far right.

I can only hope that they do do this, and suffer as a consequence (I'm not exactly a fan of the conservative parties).

End Post
Writing time: 49 minutes (I got distracted)
Time since last post: two days
Current media: The Office (US version) season 3

A Brief Trip to Thailand

Before making my permanent departure from Japan (not that the Japanese government has been informed. I figure they'll work it out when they never get any response to the letters about city tax. At any rate, I wasn't about to surrender my Gaijin card, so we'll see what happens when I return to Japan to get my money) I made a short trip to Thailand. Very brief. I left Japan at 1:30am on Monday and returned at 7pm the following Friday.

The purpose of this trip was to visit my sister. I had originally planned to go to Thailand earlier and for longer. I had organised four shift swaps and my sole paid vacation to get nine consecutive days off in October, and was all set to buy my tickets after payday in September. However, this was not to be. That was the payday when we were paid late. So on my day off instead of going forth and buying tickets, I went forth and checked my bank balance. The money was there, but I didn't want to spend the money on tickets until I was sure about next months pay.

Being sure about the next months pay never happened. Well, we bacame sure we weren't going to get it. So I never made the trip. My nine days off become eight as a coworker left before our swap happened. I spent most of the time playing online poker.

As the situation in Japan got worse, going to Thailand became more likely. Not as a destination, but as a stop on the way somewhere else (originally Australia, but it turned out to be Korea), but planning obviously rested on deciding what I was going to do.

Once I got my second (and lasting) job offer in Korea, and the visa was sorted out and all that, I got my tickets to Thailand. My plan was to leave Japan, spend a week or so in Thailand and then fly from Thailand to Korea. This seemed to be the ideal travel plan with a minimum of hassle. I'd checked out the website of the travel agent I planned to go to and they had advertised flights to Bangkok for 20,000 yen and flights to Korea for 15,000 to Seoul, so I was expecting a cheap set of tickets.

I was to be disappointed. The advertised prices werefor one leg of a return ticket, and did not include taxes, etc. More frustrating was the fact that the travel agent would only book flights with one end of the flight in Japan, so Osaka to Bangkok to Seoul was not something they would organise. In fact, they refused to do so. I got their quotes for flights to Bangkok and Korea, and then went hunting for a better deal.

By looking at the Thai Airways website I was able to get flights on my ideal days, but the cost was about $3000, which is significantly more than my credit card could handle (when it looked like NOVA was about to hit the wall, I should have asked my bank for a limit increase to give myself more room to breathe (or get into bigger trouble)). AFter examining my options, the travel agent I started with was still the best deal, but the schedule was not exactly what I wanted.

The final travel plan was to leave Japan stupidly early on Monday, arrive in Bangkok at a merely early hour on Monday, spend a few days in Thailand, have a return flight that left Bangkok Friday morning, went via Manila, and arrived back in Japan at 7pm Friday night. My flight to Korea left at 3pm Saturday afternoon, which gave me just enough time to get through customs to get to the B-Trip for a sayonara party at 9pm on Friday night adn afterwards get some sleep.

So now to the important part, the actual trip to Thailand. After a few hassles with immigration, I got into the country. I met my sister at the airport, and then we caught the bus to her place. I spent some time recuperating after the flight and then headed to her office to meet up for lunch. Then I wandered back to her apartment. I was going to do some sightseeing, but by the time I got to the train station I was so exhausted I just went back to the apartment.

On Tuesday we caught the bus up to Mae Sot, which is up near the border with Burma. The trip took most of the day, and I spent most of the trip reading and watching Family Guy on my iPod. We stayed with a friend and coworker of my sisters who has what is probably one of the nicest places in all of Mae Sot, but it still didn't have hot water.

Wednesday was spent sight seeing. My sister and I rented a motorbike, then went to a a temple or two, and then down to the river which is the border. Then we wandered through a market next to the river. After lunch she had to work, so I had a look at one of the other markets in town. It's the first time I've seen live toads for sale.

Dinner was a party at my sister's office as it was both hers and a coworker's birthday. The pary consisted of cake, prawns, fruit and beer. A good time was had by all.

On Thursday I went exploring by myself, and got to ride the motorbike by myself. My main problem was that all my imagining from watching TV and such was that you rolled the handle forwards to go faster, which is in actual fact the opposite of the way it works. This is a problem when it means that your instictive reaction to slow down makes the bike go faster. Once I felt like I had some control over the bike, I headed back to the border. I parked the bike and then went to the bridge across the river which is the border crossing.

There was a small queue at the crossing, but after I joined the line, they waved me over to what turned out to be a foreigners (non-Thai or Burmese) line. I then walked across the bridge and entered Burma. It was much like Thailand but dirtier and even more run down. I wandered around for an hour or two before heading back to reclaim my passport (the Burmese immigration office kept it. Foreigners aren't allowed to stay overnight in Burma when they enter via Mae Sot.) and returning to Thailand. I had dinner and then caught an overnight bus back to Bangkok.

The bus trip was back was quicker than the bus trip up (they speed more at night or something). I got in at around 4am, and then got a taxi to the airport. It is just as well my sister had told me how much such a taxi ride should cost, cause the guy wanted to charge me more than it should have cost, so I knew enough to haggle with him over it. The taxi driver than drove somewhat like a maniac (I think he got up to at least 140 km/h). Once at the airport, the waiting began, and then after a long time I finally returned to Japan, where I was fingerprinted as part of a new paranoid security scheme.

Anyway, you can check out the photos here.

End Post
Writing time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Time since last post: 2 days
Current media: Season two of My Name is Earl

Would a student by any other name learn as well?

One of the notable differences between teaching in Japan and Korea has to do with names. In Japan, students used their own names. This was not surprising, and indeed I had never considered the possibility of doing otherwise. This caused some problems at first, because I was unfamiliar with Japanese name, and mangled more than a few pronunciations, but I learnt at least the more frequent students names, and learnt to dread a few.

Over here students all have English names. Sometimes the students already have previously acquired an English name, but sometimes new students to the school need a name, and their foreign teacher gets that privilege. They can and sometimes do change their English name at whim later on though. The Korean teachers and staff also have English names, although they have significantly more freedom to choose and change names.

To me it seems a bit weird and undignified doing this. I know I would be reluctant to give up my name if I moved to a different country (even most of the names I've gone by on the internet are somehow related to my real name, although in some cases the connection is quite convoluted).

There seem to be two main arguments for this. The first is to familiarize the students with English names, which while true, is probably just as effective as the kids watching American TV and calling foreign teachers by their real name.

The second is that Korean names are difficult for the foreign teachers to pronounce, which right now is true because 1) I don't know the language very much and aren't familiar with the sounds used, and 2) the only names I've seen have been written in Hangul, so I've had the extra burden of deciphering the alphabet as well as the pronunciation (try pronouncing and English word correctly while reading at a rate of one letter per second). I am sure that just as with Japanese names, in time any teacher would become competent with Korean names if given the opportunity.

Ultimately it is a matter of respect. I know how I'd feel if someone said to me "It's too hard to pronounce your name, so I'm going to call you Bob instead." Not impressed.

End Post
Writing time: 13 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: iTunes shuffle, currently Miami International from the Casino Royale soundtrack

The Empty Room

In the course of my life I have moved a lot. My current abode is my 18th home, the fourth without family. Many of these moves have not really had much significance. A number occurred before I was old enough to really know what was going on. A few were just moving a short distance from one company house to a better company house. After that a few moves in and around the same city that had little effect on life. Then the move away from home for university, later moving out on my own, then to Japan and now to Korea.

The last two moves have been different to the rest, and have been the source of some sadness. The last two moves have involved saying a much more significant goodbye to people I have grown fond of. Moves before these last two have not entailed such major goodbyes.

A significant point in moving is the empty room. It has a finality to it that brings home that a part of your life is ending. That you really are leaving. A room with nothing in it any more is irrevocable. The move is definite, the end is nigh.

The significance of the empty room is almost entirely symbolic. The decision to move has long been made, the departure yet to come. But the empty room is a significant milestone. It means there is nothing material holding you back. No longer can you say "but all my stuff is here." Your stuff is gone. If anything, it is drawing you to your new destination.

The lack of material connection to a place also reinforces the immaterial connections. My apartment in Japan was just a place. I spent a lot of time there, but still it was just a place. What saddened me upon seeing the empty room was knowing that it will be a long time before I see anyone from Japan again, if ever.

That is the real sadness of the empty room.

End Post
Writing time:
Time since last post:
Current media:

Aqsa Parvez

I'm sure most people have heard of the unfortunate fate of Aqsa Parvez. Her claim to fame us quite unpleasant, and definitely somethings should did not want or expect.

Aqsa Parvez was killed a few days ago by her father. And what drove her father to such an act? She decided to stop wearing the hijab, to better fit in with her friends and society.

Many have commented on this incident. I have read many, and I agree with some and disagree with others.

What I don't get is just how someone can care so much about a scarf that they would be willing to kill their daughter over it. Is fashion that important? How can any symbol mean more than flesh and blood?

This is the problem with causes. They let people transform mere things into symbols, and then elevate those symbols into a matter of life and death. No piece of clothing is worth killing over.

End Post
Writing time: 40 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: Reaper

The enemy of my enemies

They say you can tell the quality of a man by the enemies he makes. If this is true, the Olsen twins have just stepped up a few rungs.

I mean seriously, how immature is this?

End Post
Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: an hour
Current media: None

Back Online

After several bureaucratic hassles, I've finally got an internet connection at home. The guy came around at 9:15 this morning, and after about half an hour of fiddling around with the modem, phone line and other stuff, it was all set up. Since then I have managed to download around 4 gigabytes of stuff, and am not even half way through the queue.

At any rate, I now have internet, and plenty of free time, so expect plenty of blogging goodness to come.

End Post
Writing time: 3 minutes
Time since last post: 13 days
Current media: None (in between)