Towards an economy worth believing in

If the recent financial news has awakened a concern in you for the way that we do finance, -and frankly it darn well should- then a good place to start your fact-finding and opinion gathering would be this page; it's chock-full of links to alternative perspectives.Towards an economy worth believing in | Ekklesia. It is worth remembering that the typical model that neo-liberals use to justify their no-holds barred vision of free markets (perfect competition) is actually one which is impossible to replicate in reality because the assumptions that drive the model are not possible to have in a real world situation. And to add to the woes, the indications are that even small differences in the actual conditions from the model lead to considerably sub-optimal solutions. It is for that reason that there is a growing concern for economics to become a real social science based on observation rather than on rarified models and high-level mathematics (okay a bit of a cartoon, but look up Post-Autistic Economics). And of course we should note that much of the rhetoric by neo-liberal ideologues is arguably a way of defending privilege: it acts in effect to bar the way to those who do not have to make a reasonable return on their efforts (hence the Trade Justice movement) and we only have to look at both the way that the practice is actually towards monopoly and not competition and the way that the reality of the need for regulation is quietly 'forgotten', selectively (see my earlier post).

Grooks

Just picked this book up in a second-hand bookshop the other day. It's a series of gnomic short poems. I liked what I saw. I suspect I may be sharing a few here. Here's one I liked today.

Losing one glove
is certainly painful,
but nothing
compared to the pain
of losing one,
throwing away the other,
and finding
the first one again.

-Piet Hein

Amazon.co.uk: Grooks: Piet Hein: Books

proposals to revoke 300-year-old ban on Catholic monarchs -what a laff

So some people are saying that a Roman Catholic or a Muslim should be able to come to the English throne. What I find amusing is when you think a bit more about this: "Jeffrey Jowell QC, a constitutional expert, added: 'The law is incompatible with the present culture of equality, [which] is in itself a much stronger constitutional principle, though unwritten. That justifies the removal of those aspects of the Act of Settlement which offend the principle of equality.'" (quoted in Constitutional experts rally behind proposals to revoke 300-year-old ban on Catholic monarchs | Politics | The Guardian. It's a laugh because the principle of equality would surely mean that a commoner should be able to inherit too? Oh, but that would be a republic* ...!!!

It won't get anywhere of course because in surfacing this debate the more fundamental questions about monarchy and constitution would be raised, and that could upset the status quo a bit severely (US readers note British understatement).

And we should note the reaction of senior CofE figures "... insist that having a head of state who is not a member of the Church of England would inevitably lead to disestablishment and the unravelling of a complicated ball of sometimes ancient legislation, with attendant arcane property disputes - a process which would take up considerable parliamentary time for a Labour government which took seven years to abolish fox hunting."
That, in my naive judgement is an exaggeration (for example a non CofE monarch would not of necessity change the position of bishops in the house of Lords). But nevertheless would be a further and symbolically important weakening of establishment.

The Independent brings a detail to bear that helps to understand better what the equality thing is really about: "Mr Bryant .... In a pamphlet published last week by the Local Government Association, he argued that forcing the monarch to swear to preserve the Church of England and uphold the Protestant line of succession almost certainly represented a breach of human rights. "
However, it is not forced: if they can't or won't do it, they don't get the job. Simple. The real issue is whether it is fair to discriminate that way. But once that issue is opened up, of course, discrimination on the basis of bloodline is hard not to include in the picture. Perhaps that's the aim: to open that debate without seeming disloyal?

*Obviously not quite as straightforward as that; the longer unsoundbitten version is this, the principle of equality should mean anyone could be head of state, and the most likely way to make sure that this was fair would be elective, and that would be republic. Of course the Ollie Cromwell route could be taken, but that would also be a human rights problem.

Lost History-Tarot Cards

I've mentioned before the tarot and how the major arcana /triumphs are capable of Christian interpretations (and see their evangelistic potential here). As a brief introduction to the historical background this YouTube vid can probably not be bettered (unless you know otherwise?)

And to see an interesting and sometimes moving usage of the imagery in Christian prayer, try this:

YouTube - Lost History-Tarot Cards

Is it Better to Be a Creative Generalist or a Specialist?

There's some really intriguing thoughts in here about thinking, creativity and teamwork. And, being a sucker for graphic representations, here's a starter.

It's from this article: Wishful Thinking � Blog Archive � Is it Better to Be a Creative Generalist or a Specialist? And, rightly refuses the dichotomy: "we are all generalists and specialists to some degree. Some people will have a longer vertical stroke, others a wider cross stroke, with many variations of size and proportion. (No sniggering at the back, please.) The most wide-ranging generalist will usually have one or two favourite specialisms at which s/he excels; and even the most committed specialist will need some grasp of other disciplines if s/he wants to achieve recognition and rewards." The 'T' referred to is this:

The government is introducing ID cards by stealth

Indeed they are and I felt a chill grip my heart as I read about it today. In response Nick Clegg produced one of the better political soundbites of the month, calling ID Cards "a laminated poll-tax". Sadly not in this article, but lots of good points are. Look at the comments and note that some correspondents have missed the point: it's not so much the ID cards as physical entities (though that's bad enough) but the NIR database behind them that's the big threat. Anyone fancy letting the government lose (for example), leak or sell 60 million of our identity markers at once? Nick Clegg: The government is introducing ID cards by stealth | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Democracy isn't desk bound -or is it? Maybe you can tell

I'd really strongly urge readers who are Brits to both sign up to this and promote it to friends .Democracy isn't desk bound - A Make Votes Count Campaign: "Democracy isn't Desk Bound
The Ministry of Justice still seems to be running scared of a debate on voting systems. That is despite participants to its own Governance of Britain meetings agreeing unsolicited that 'a system of proportional representation would have a positive impact on turnout.' As far as the MoJ is concerned, it was job done with the publication of the review of voting systems. No mention in their latest workplan of any next steps or ongoing conversations on reform.
So it is up to us, not only to make the case for reform, but also to continue pressing for that public debate; taking the issue away from the parties and politicians who have a vested interest in the status quo."

Government regulation is needed to stem speculators' robber-baron mentality

Important reading this:AC Grayling: Government regulation is needed to stem speculators' robber-baron mentality | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk And the real bite to the article, I think, is here:
"With central banks and governments loth to let a bank go under, the cowboys can manipulate matters knowing that they are in no danger whatever of losing out, though lots of other people will do so – and, in the end, mainly the taxpayer. They know, in effect, that at the limit they can put their hands in your pocket and mine and help themselves to our cash: their own pockets are absolutely safe. Alistair Darling says that the short-selling ban is temporary because in normal times the technique is acceptable and indeed useful for providing liquidity and funds for investment. But at the moment it is seriously damaging and irresponsible; and this moment is always waiting to repeat if the reckless push to maximise profits overrides all other considerations, not least among them stability."
Basically it exposes the mendacity at the heart of neo-liberal politics: the market is invoked as the be all and end all in such a way as to hide what is really going on. It's not really about whether or not we have markets, nor even whether they may be a particularly successful way of creating wealth. It's actually about regulation. No market can exist without a regulatory framework. Actually strike that: no market can sustain itself without mechanisms that enable trust; hence regulations (weights and measures, contract law etc). And in fact there are various things which we have learnt not to leave to market forces; hence outlawing child-labour and slavery. So the real issue is how to regulate not whether to. When we hear someone invoking market economics we should reach for our torch and look in the dark corners for the 'racket' they are into.

Metaphors that came in from the cold

Further evidence of the fundamental metaphorical nature of language rooted in bodily experience as per Philosophy in the Flesh. In this article An icy stare really does make you feel cold - being-human - 19 September 2008 - New Scientist we are told: "I was given the cold shoulder', 'she froze me out with an icy stare' – such metaphors describe the social isolation we've all felt on occasion. What psychologists didn't expect is that social exclusion can actually make you feel cold, yet that is precisely what a new study finds."
I need to think about this more, but it would seem that both the experience of exclusions leads to physiological or at least perceptual changes and that these changes form the basis of an enbodied metaphor.

Britons suffer 'cultural amnesia' about Christian art

This is interesting: Rev Michael Nazir-Ali: Britons suffer 'cultural amnesia' about Christian art - Telegraph: "Dr Nazir-Ali, who was born in Pakistan, said: 'What amazes me is how people in this country don't take account of the brute fact that the Bible and the prayer book have shaped so much of its literary and cultural achievements.
'Without the translation of the Bible into English and the creation of the prayer book, it would have been impossible to have a Donne or a Shakespeare or a Milton. Certainly with art, poetry and music, people aren't exposed to the Biblical root of what has inspired people to create these themes. There should be better interpretation of things. With music, you can listen to hour upon hour of Classic FM but nobody tells you what the piece means. A lot of this music was written for worship."
Now he has a point. And for a number of years people have been addressing this, including our college working through it's culture project. And I think it is a good thing to do. However ... what I'm interested to ask is how he would assess similar claims in Pakistan about understanding the Qur'an in order to be able to appreciate more fully the culture of Pakistan?

Homophile and homoagapaic?

Ever since a college forum on human sexuality in the summer term, I've been musing over the fact that I find the arguments against homosexual relationships (I'm talking about non-promiscuous, here) based in Romans 1 less and less convincing. And today I read something that seemed to make sense of the implausibility, for me.

Wellies

Over the last couple of weeks or so I've been taking the dog for walks and finding that this song by Billy Connolly is running through my head. Could have something to do with the wetness of the weather, the mini-flood conditions in the woodland around us and the fact that I bought my first pair of wellies for about 20 years, and am darn pleased I did. The lyrics may tell you why. Except that the version in my head has the chorus starting this way: "If ya didnae have yuh wellies ..." and I hear it in my mind's ear with Billy's voice. The last verse very definitely dates it!

Wellies they are wonderful, oh wellies they are swell,
Cause they keep oot the water, an' they keep in the smell,
An' when yer sittin in a room, you can always tell,
When some bugger takes off his wellies.

If it wasna for your wellies where would you be?
You'd be in the hospital or infirmary,
Cause you would have a dose of the flu or even pluracy,
If you didna have your feet in your wellies!

But when yer oot walking, in the country way about
An yer strolling over fields just like a fairmer's herd.
And somebody shouts "Keep aff the grass," and you think "How absurd;"
And, squelch, you find why fairmers a' wear wellies.

Chorus

There's fishermen and firemen, there's farmers an a',
Men oot digging ditches an' working in the snaw;
This country it would grind tae a halt and no' a thing would graw
If it wasna for the workers in their wellies.

Chorus

Noo Edward Heath and Wilson, they havna made a hit,
They're ruining this country, mair than just a bit,
If they keep on the way they are goin', we'll all be in the sh..,
So you'd be'er ge(t) your feet in your wellies.

Chorus


Tune: "The Work of the Weavers."
Recorded by Billy Connolly on _Cop yer whack for this_; Polydor (1974).
Note: Connolly remarks:

© Mews Music Ltd

Oh and you can get an indication of the tune here.

Corporate Man

From Undercurrents Alternative News: Corporate Man

Church owes Charles Darwin apology over evolution theory?

Another example of journalistic oversimplification making a charged headline out of something really rather mundane. It's here: Church owes Charles Darwin apology over evolution theory, says senior Anglican | World news | guardian.co.uk; "A Church of England spokesman said Brown's piece was a 'personal view' of Darwin's contribution to science and did not amount to an official apology by the church."
That's the important bit to start with really (the article has it last). The only reason that it gets the official apology treatment is that it appears on the CofE's website as one of a series of articles on Darwin, the Origin of Species and related matters. I'm not sure one can offer an apology, except rhetorically, to a dead person. Regret could be expressed, a change of heart and attitude can be testified to, amends might even be made where applicable. But in this space-time continuum, it's too late to apologise. So I really don't know which box to dot in this survey.Because, apart from anything else, it may appear that to say 'no' to the question "Should the Church apologise to Charles Darwin?" is to say some church reactions (and this is the other difficulty, not all by any means) were justified in their dismissiveness and even venom. Whereas I want to say 'no' because of the reasons I give above.

I guess the other thing we can do is learn to be slow to judge and careful to listen more fully and to think more carefully about new stuff.

Incarnation vs inbibliation

When I lived and worked in Bradford I became much more aware of Islam because I was encountering it in people and media on a far more regular basis. In that time I became convinced that we Christians have no business beliving that the Bible is the word of God in the same way that Muslims belive the Qur'an to be God's word. You see, the Word was made flesh, not book. Our scriptures are more like hadith in the Muslim paradigm: witnesses and background and explanation and exploration of the central revelation. We happen to believe that this witness was providentially ordered by God.

Anyway, it was good to see someone else saying something similar to it. the church and postmodern culture: conversation: Incarnational Christianity and Islam - Further Engagement as a Response to the Points Made by Amos Yong: "Now what does this really mean when we start taking seriously my own 'radical' proposal that incarnational, rhizomic, missional Christianity is the real deal; in other words, it is our revelation, which is not a 'message' handed from on high to a divinely-summoned messenger that is enshrined once and for all in a sacred book, though I admit a lot of today's Christian 'inerrantists' would want it that way. What they don't realize is that the inerrantists are themselves making the Muslim argument, and the Muslims do it much better. After all, their 'inerrant' Scripture supposedly 'supersedes' ours. Our revelation, however, is The Word Become Flesh, Emmanuel or God-with-us, in the form of an historical person, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Our revelation is a person, not a book, and the mission of our 'Great Commission' is not to 'spread the word about what Jesus said' (that's actually not in Scripture), but to 'make disciples,' to become 'Christs to each other.'"

What I like about that is it also begins to show how it makes a mission difference.

Hurrah! TUC threatens industrial action against national ID cards

This is heartening: TUC threatens industrial action against national ID cards | 11 Sep 2008 | ComputerWeekly.com: "The TUC in Brighton this week has pledged to resist the national ID card scheme 'with all means at its disposal', including industrial and legal action."

Kicking away the Ladder

This is a handy brief guide to the difficulty with neo-liberal approaches to development. Thanks to George Monbiot. [ Source:www.monbiot.com ]

Please Enter blog title

[ Source:drmoose.wordpress.com ]

Open Source Architecture

Despite the populations of cities in the UK shrinking (which, imho, is actually about cities expanding into the countryside), the future really is urban, and we need to think about the global consequences. WorldChanging: Open Source Architecture, The Power of Collaboration: "Overall, the urbanization of the planet is a good thing, helping people struggle out of absolute poverty, increasing access to essential services like health care and education, and raising the status of (and opportunities available to) young women (and thus helping to bring down birth rates and stabilize population growth). But the sheer magnitude of urban growth -- by some estimates, two-thirds of the cityscapes that will exist by mid-century have not even been built yet -- presents dire challenges as well. Already, over a billion people make their homes in urban squatter settlements: how do we build communities to house the two billion more who are expected to live in slums by the middle of the century?"

Sandbag: real action on climate change

I'm considering getting involved in this. I commend it to your consideration too. Here's the deal: "Permits must be bought by polluters to let them keep polluting. But there is a finite number of them in circulation and the good news is anyone can buy them. So by buying a permit and taking it out of the system we can reduce the amount of pollution taking place and force industry to invest in cleaner technologies. One less permit means one less tonne of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
Join us and we will guarantee to take permits out of the system on your behalf. Once you feel the sense of satisfaction you get from taking such an easy and positive action, we hope you will also join us in putting pressure on the people who receive them for free and the people who decide how many permits to hand out each year."
Sandbag: real action on climate change:

Improving biblical literacy in the media

This could be quite an important contribution to cultural progress: a guide to the Bible aimed and journalists.

The publication of the guide is a not-so-subtle hint on the part of its authors that religious reporting could use a little expertise. Though the pack of established religious affairs correspondents are expert – one, The Daily Telegraph's George Pitcher, is a practicing priest – religious coverage spills over into so many general news stories that the authors of the guide apparently feel that all journalists might benefit from a flick through it. ... "Especially when the Bible is badly misrepresented by bigots and fundamentalists pursuing their own narrow agenda."
The guide's 80 pages include facts, figures and explanations aimed to "help media professionals report Bible stories with confidence". It does not shy away from the controversial areas of religious coverage, such as how Christians deal with violent texts in the Bible. Its 20-page glossary of biblical terms and ideas goes from Abraham to Zionism, taking in creation, Judgement Day and Satan on the way.

MAMMA MIA!

As part of a wedding anniversary treat, I went to see Mama Mia, the film, the other day. I have to say that my daughter's recommendation was not wrong. I enjoyed it in ways I wouldn't have thought possible. It was funny and mostly the songs were appropriate to the plot or cunningly reworked. Okay, the plot was a bit sugary but it was fun. I found the re-using of part of the background music to significant parts of my youth was strangely moving, I think it was to do with the kind of content of the plot at the salient points and the resonances they had with my emotional life at the time (which I'd kind of forgotten). The music pulled the remembered emotional texture to the fore. I was also impressed by Meryl Streeps abilities both as a dancer and a singer. There were some nice touches, including a scene where two of the 'fathers' discuss the night before and we the audience think they are each misunderstanding the other. It turns out that only one misunderstanding takes place, and we were suckered. Nice.

Gotta say that the irritating bit was the wedding: presumably a Greek Orthodox chapel; but then the priest appears to be RC (after all that was the background already established for Meryl Streep's character), but who then goes on to officiate at a wedding where one character is a self-proclaimed divorce... and that's without the question of what the proper wedding preliminaries should be in that jurisdiction. But hey, sometimes facts need not to get in the way of a plot!
MAMMA MIA! The Global Smash Hit - The Movie Trailers

Help those most affected by rising tides

I thought you'd like to know about this urgent call from Small Island nations for action on global warming. Read the email below to learn more about the issue and take action.

Thanks!

--------------------------------

Dear friends,

Imagine the sea rising around you as your country literally disappears beneath your feet, where the food you grow and the water you drink is being destroyed by salt, and your last chance is to seek refuge in other lands where climate refugees have no official status. This is not a dream, it's the fearful reality for millions of people who live on islands around the world, from the Maldives to Papua New Guinea.

That is why these small islands are taking the unprecedented step of putting an urgent resolution before the United Nations ahead of next week's global climate talks, calling upon the Security Council itself to address climate change as a pressing threat to international peace and security.
This is a creative move born of desperation, a challenge to global powers to end their complacency and tackle this lethal crisis with the urgency of wars. But the island states' campaign is meeting fierce opposition from the world’s biggest polluters, so they need our help. Sign the petition now to raise a worldwide chorus of support for this call -- it will be presented by the islands' ambassadors to reinforce their resolution at the UN next week:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sos_small_islands/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

For the first time in human history, the North Pole can be circumnavigated -- the Arctic ice is melting quicker than many anticipated, accelerating sea level rise. Now small island nations, whose highest points are often only a few meters above sea level, are preparing evacuation plans to guarantee the survival of their populations. They are on the frontline, experiencing the first wave of devastating impacts from climate change which soon will threaten us all.

President Remengesau of Palau, a small island in the Pacific, recently said: "Palau has lost at least one third of its coral reefs due to climate change related weather patterns. We also lost most of our agricultural production due to drought and extreme high tides. These are not theoretical, scientific losses--they are the losses of our resources and our livelihoods.... For island states, time is not running out. It has run out. And our path may very well be the window to your own future and the future of our planet".

Beyond the islands, countries like Bangladesh, whose population of 150 million people is already suffering, face losing large parts of their landmass. The experience of our planet's most vulnerable communities serves as a warning sign of the future world we can all expect: extreme weather growing in intensity, conflict over water and food supplies, coasts disappearing and hundreds of millions made refugees.

The small islands' brave campaign for survival is our campaign too -- and the more signatures we raise to be delivered to the UN next week, the more urgently this call will ring out to protect our common future:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sos_small_islands/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK

With hope,

Ben, Iain, Alice, Paul, Graziela, Pascal, Ricken, Brett, Milena -- the Avaaz team

PS: For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2

PSS: These are the States who are sponsoring the resolution: Canada, Fiji, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

For a draft of the Small Islands States Resolution please see:
http://islandsfirst.org/draftres.pdf

For more information about those presenting the petition please visit:
http://islandsfirst.org

For information on Tuvalu's evacuation plan and climate refugees:
http://www.wwf.org.au/articles/climate-refugees-in-a-drowning-pacific/

For information about how rising sea levels will affect us all:
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update2.htm

For more information on the Ice melt:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/for-the-first-time-in-human-history-the-north-pole-can-be-circumnavigated-913924.html

For more information about all of the Island States:
http://www.sidsnet.org/aosis/

First internet bereavement

Strange. Only the other day I was wondering what happens internet-wise when someone dies. And today I learn that an acquaintance and former coleague has died, notice was posted on his blog. Here's then, a link to that as part of my pause to honour Tom's memory. I posted a comment at the notice. Sad and sobered. He was not far off my age; slightly younger I think.
Bigbulkyanglican: Bigbulkyanglican

Forensic Linguistics!

I thought this was pretty interesting. [ Source:www.sciencedaily.com ]

I know that, as someone linguistically trained, I do sometimes pick up things about people that most other people don't seem to notice. However, it should be said that there are perils about this if the corpus is not big (worth checking this blog post for why).

Now then, when's the television series? And what title would you give it?
Lost Words? Slip of the Tongue? Finding Words? Said and Done?

Feeding our livestock grass, not grain, will slow climate change ?

Further to my recent posting on meat and climate, this article makes interesting reading. The comments are worth checking out too. Here's an interesting point.Graham Harvey: Feeding our livestock grass, not grain, will slow climate change guardian.co.uk: "And even as Britain's pastures supplied us with healthy foods, they were taking carbon from the atmosphere and storing it away safely in organic material in the soil. Far from damaging the world's climate, grasslands help to stabilise it. There are even plants in traditional grasslands – the yellow-flowering bird's-foot trefoil is one – which reduce the methane emissions of ruminant animals."
Of course, it doesn't address the issue of land use and protein production per hectare under pasturage or arable usage, the only mitigant in that for meat production being raising livestock on land which is too marginal for grain or similar. But it is true that 'proper' field rearing is better and there are advantages to good soil-care in locking up CO2.

flood on the Tyne

A couple of days ago, this is how the Tyne river looked (click on picture for clearer image) as I walked the dog. The rain had just stopped after about 36hours pretty continuous precipitation some of it heavy. The river is normally at least 2 metres lower on the bank. Note all the debris and the colour of the river, and I can tell you it was moving way more swiftly than normal. We're due for more of the same again. The river was just getting back to normal this afternoon, too.
Global warming? Probably linked: warmer air hold more water, warmer climate means more energy in the weather systems so more turbulence...
flood on the Tyne 070908 - Free hosted at iimmgg.com I recommend these image hosters; courteous and prompt customer service for a free service.

Greenbelt ... - Brian McLaren

I have some friends in the USA, some of whom when they hear about Greenbelt wonder why the USA doesn't have something like it. Well, that may be about to change: Greenbelt ... - Brian McLaren: "There's a rumor spreading that a 'faith-art-justice' festival in the spirit of Greenbelt is being planned for the US. As someone involved in the dreaming and planning for this, I can tell you that the rumor is true ... stay tuned."
Having spent time with Brian at Greenbelt and asked about this and heard him talking with USAmerican friends and acquaintances, I can also say that they are hoping to develop something for 2010 probably to happen in July and initially in the geographical centre of the USA, I think that it might be a place to which red slippers might take you... but that's all in negotiation at the moment. The rest of us: pray!

Meat by numbers

The Observer has an article on some numbers associated with meat; whole article here: Meat by numbers. Two of the salient numbers are: "7lb The amount of grain it takes to produce just one pound of beef.
36.4kg The amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the production of just 1kg of beef, according to a recent Japanese study. It also releases fertilising compounds equivalent to: 340 grams of sulphur dioxide and 59 grammes of phosphate. It consumes 169 megajoules of energy. In other words, one kilo of beef is responsible for the same amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 250 kilometres, or the energy required to light a 100 watt bulb fo 20 days."
I was also shocked to discover that consumption of meat in the UK has grow by 50% in the last 40 years. We need to stop eating so much meat people. I've said it before and I say it again; just because you like it doesn't mean it's right to eat so much. Either reduce drastically your consumption or become vegetarian. I've opted for the latter (believe me it keeps things simpler).

Another article in the Observer treats with the issue, their article quotes the UN's Dr Rajendra Pachauri who gives a less drastic piece of advice: "People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, "
Also note this:

Compassion in World Farming, ... has calculated that if the average UK household halved meat consumption that would cut emissions more than if car use was cut in half. ... [and the Climate Research Network report said that] eating some meat was good for the planet because some habitats benefited from grazing. ... vegetarian diets that included lots of milk, butter and cheese would probably not noticeably reduce emissions because dairy cows are a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas released through flatulence.

Flat World Knowledge

Not here yet: Flat World Knowledge LLC: "Site is info only. We're coming January 2009!
Join our list for updates (email address)." but it promises to bring online textbooks as e-texts. I've signed up to be informed when the project goes live.

The Dwelling of the Light: Praying with Icons of Christ: Rowan Williams: Books

Amazon.co.uk: The Dwelling of the Light: Praying with Icons of Christ: Rowan Williams: Books
A book which reflects both on the purpose of icons and uses four fairly famous ones to reflect theologically on the themes they depict. Devotional work with good theological meat and a nice appreciation of the visual depiction.

Queuing for Beginners: The Story of Daily Life from Breakfast to Bedtime: Joe Moran: Books

Amazon.co.uk: Queuing for Beginners: The Story of Daily Life from Breakfast to Bedtime: Joe Moran: Books
Each chapter in this book is devoted to a different aspect of ordinary British daily life, starting with breakfast and going through to bedtime. Each chapter draws on surveys since the 1930's which give insights into what people did with their days. So there develops a history of breakfast, the commute, coffee break, lunch etc along with some nice cultural comments. I kept being reminded of Barthes' Mythologies. I'm thinking of putting this on a booklist for theological reflection because these are nice examples of things that would help in the analysis stage in the pastoral cycle.

The Fate of BC's Carbon Tax

I didn't know that BC had intro'd a carbon tax until I read this Worldchanging article: WorldChanging: The Fate of BC's Carbon Tax It seems that it is a centre-right party that has introduced the legislation, but (if I read the implications aright) they may not have done anything else to make it green: "two messages about BC’s carbon tax come out loud and clear. The first is that revenue neutrality is a bust — people may be willing to live with a new tax on carbon but think that giving the money back is a dumb idea; they would rather have revenues spent on public transit or anything else that would reinforce climate action. Second, they want tough action on industry."
Any BCers or Canadians able to throw more light on that?
As the article points out, what happens here could repercuss more widely.

Church Times - Clergy can get shirty over trade

I've not bought a new clerical shirt for ages, but now there is a fair trade option; why didn't anyone thing of this before? Here's the article Church Times - Clergy can get shirty over trade and Simon Butler's rationale: "“About six months ago I was discussing the issue of fair trade with my colleagues, and we real ised there was nowhere you could buy Fairtrade clerical shirts. It seemed ridiculous that clergy didn’t have the option to buy accord ing to conscience when it came to our own uniform. All of my col leagues are com mitted to fair trade, and it got my mind buzzing about doing some thing about it.”"
Good, eh?

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals

From the Washington Post, this shows an interesting difference between the US presidential frontrunners. I like the pictorial presentation, that's the biggest reason for noting this.

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals - washingtonpost.com

New underwater turbines

This looks potentially important: a new and more efficient and easier to install way to generate leccy from tides. Read more here: New underwater turbines promise clean energy from UK tides |
Environment |
guardian.co.uk. It's a big deal because: "There is an immense potential resource of clean energy from the tidal flows around the UK: conservative estimates suggest there is at least five gigawatts of power, but there could be as much as 15GW, equivalent to 15 million average family homes. Tidal generators can harvest the energy of these moving streams, with the added advantage that the resource is, unlike wind, predictable."

UK tides ... stronger tides are yellow and red. Image: DTI

Wall E Kleenex

Wall E Kleenex: "In what must surely be the height of tragic irony Kimberly-Clark is using Wall*E a movie about conservation to sell Kleenex a disposable paper product containing absolutely no recycled content"

OH, and please note this is on EcoTube, an environmental campaigning video sharing site.

New browser: should we care?

The big buzz for the more geeky at the moment is Google's launch of a new browser. Sadly the Linux version is not yet with us, but this is not only 'a new kid on the block' thing; if I read it aright it's a new block. Here's why:

When Microsoft's Internet Explorer and the codebase at the heart of Firefox were originally conceived, browsing was less complex. Now, however, functions that previously could be performed only on the desktop — email, spreadsheets, database management — are increasingly handled online. In the coming era of cloud computing, the Web will be much more than just a means of delivering content — it will be a platform in its own right. The problem with revamping existing browsers to accommodate this concept is that they have developed an ecology of add-on extensions (toolbars, RSS readers, etc.) that would be hopelessly disrupted by a radical upgrade. "As a Firefox developer, you love to innovate, but you're always worried that it means in the next version all the extensions will be broken," Fisher says. "And indeed, that's what happens." The conclusion was obvious: Only by building its own software could Google bring the browser into the cloud age and potentially trigger a spiral of innovation not seen since Microsoft and Netscape one-upped each other almost monthly.

So I will be giving a try on the windows partition of my machine. Let you know if I'm very impressed or disappointed.

Homo Creator

Interesting little post from Maggi Dawn. maggi dawn: "Only God can create ex nihilo, but our creative powers go far beyond simply reproducing or rearrainging what was there before". Nice quote from Schillebeekx to support.

Atheist leaders are better? Really?

I couldn't believe how badly thought out this particular philosopher's diatribe about atheism was. Grayling is someone I have tended to think of as more careful than this; but this really is more like one of the worse of Dawkins' anti-religious rants. Let me share with you what he writes and why I think it is difficult to sustain. Overall, I think that his difficulty is that the rant assumes that being an atheist, per se, confers superiority, and he tends to compare the best atheists with the worst of the religious. This latter attitude is well known in interfaith relations as likely to lead to much heat but little light. It's about time atheists recognised that they too have a belief system which in certain crucial respects is comparable and analogous to religious belief. So here we go:

Atheist leaders are not going to think they are getting messages from Beyond telling them to go to war. They will not cloak themselves in supernaturalistic justifications, as Blair came perilously close to doing when interviewed about the decision to invade Iraq.

Now the real issue here is constitutional: are there checks in place to stop an individual from 'going off on one', whether religiously-motivated or the result of atheist dogma (such as Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot's, for example). It is as easy for an atheist to sense the 'hand of destiny' or the 'dialectic' or 'progress' and act on that as for a religious person to have a God moment, rightly or wrongly interpreted.

Atheist leaders will be sceptical about the claims of religious groups to be more important than other civil society organisations in doing good, getting public funds, meriting special privileges and exemptions from laws, and having seats in the legislature and legal protection from criticism, satire and challenge.

And if the boot is on the other foot? Not sure that this amounts to anything more than prejudice. I would agree that in a democratic society the kinds of privilege hinted at in this are fair-game: we should reform the Lords, including the religious representation and we should, imo, repeal the blasphemy law or better, replace it with something more suitable. On the other hand, in a fair society we should not, either, assume that a non-religious perspective is more valuable than a religious one. Grayling seems close to making this assumption.

Atheist leaders are going to be more sceptical about inculcating sectarian beliefs into small children ghettoised into publicly funded faith-based schools, risking social divisiveness and possible future conflict. They will be readier to learn Northern Ireland's bleak lesson in this regard.

This seems to presuppose that this is what faith schools are about and there is debate about that and evidence to suggest that the insinuation is untrue. It leaves unaddressed too, the issue that a secularist approach is also a belief-system and is not necessarily as neutral as assumed in this bit of the rant. The solution to education in a multi-belief society is not as easy as imposing a soi-disant 'neutral' perspective. That is to swap one 'tyranny' or set of dogmas for another.

Atheist leaders will, by definition, be neutral between the different religious pressure groups in society, and will have no temptation not to be even-handed because of an allegiance to the outlook of just one of those groups.

No they won't; they will favour ones that accord more nearly with their own views and they will favour the faith of the self-declared unbelievers. The mistake here is to assume that atheists are not, in a multi-philosophy-of-life society, another belief group. Again, the real issue is constitutional, not personal.

Atheist leaders are more likely to take a literally down-to-earth view of the needs, interests and circumstances of people in the here and now, and will not be influenced by the belief that present sufferings and inequalities will be compensated in some posthumous dispensation. This is not a trivial point: for most of history those lower down the social ladder have been promised a perch at the top when dead, and kept quiet thereby. The claim that in an imperfect world one's hopes are better fixed on the afterlife than on hopes of earthly paradises is official church doctrine.

Also not necessarily true. I know, personally, of few Christians who would not make a very high priority of the this-worldly welfare of living people. I can also think of atheist positions which are willing to sacrifice people for the cause, and for whom life is cheap because 'merely' biological and of no ultimate significance. Tu quoque.

Atheist leaders will not be tempted to think they are the messenger of any good news from above, or the agent of any higher purpose on earth. Or at very least, they will not think this literally.

And yet, that's just how some of them act. Maybe not a message 'from above', but messengers of the 'good news' that God is not. I think he should look again at how, eg, Dawkins behaves (I use him because I have recentlly viewed some video of him at work). Or how Marxist leaders have often behaved.
Could do better, I think. This is a thinly veiled attempt to back-slap an atheist just for being atheist; it doesnt' thereby actually help us to address the questions of a multi-philosophy society.

Bonobos May Have Greater Linguistic Skills Than Previously Thought

I'm still reflecting on the significance of this, but I think that it is important. I suspect over the next year or so, there will be further thoughts from various quarters. See the whole report here: Bonobos May Have Greater Linguistic Skills Than Previously Thought. The guts of the resulsts seem to be these:

After applying conversational analysis tools, Pedersen asserted that language is more than the simple act of transferring information, but a conversational interaction between active participants. Language-competent bonobos use lexigrams, which are made up of arbitrary symbols that represent words, as the basis for conversations with humans. Pedersen said linguistic aspects of the conversation included turn taking, negotiation, pauses and repetition, and went far beyond information sharing made possible through the use of lexigrams symbols.

Preliminary thoughts on my part: it seems to be that if there is the ability to use symbols and to form the idea of exchanging information, then turn-taking strategies are a natural outcome; so I'm not sure about how significant that is. I have a question about how far forward this takes us: it is already known that apes can use symbols if taught them, however it seems that they don't develop or 'get' syntax. So simple symbolising has an intrinsic entail of communication and it would be mere 'mechanics' to develop strategies of turn taking in exchanging symbols. I want to see more evidence about syntax and more complex semantics such as are developed in cultural exchanges. I think.

Incidently, as someone who is comfortable, theologically, with evolution as a mechanism/entail of creation, I don't really have a problem with linguistic abilities in other animals; in fact I would expect it to some degree. It's part of the implication, symbolically and theologically, of creating Adam from the dust of the earth.