...I'm once again reminded why I have concerns about politicians:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7069011.stm
On the need for two signatures for abortion, MPs suggest that "the requirement did not serve a useful purpose and might be causing delays". I can see one purpose it serves - it makes it harder to take a life, which can't be a bad thing.
And thinking back to yesterday, if anyone argues for abortion on the grounds of rape, then they've already conceded abortion on demand is wrong.
Wednesday 31 October 2007
Tuesday 30 October 2007
Another draw...
...another one we should have won, according to the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/7065127.stm
However, I must admit, I've been to a few matches where I've disagreed with the BBC reporter. Disappointing though, at some point soon we actually need to start scoring goals and winning matches. Currently it's a case of lose home games, and draw away ones. Not good enough really... come on Oldham!
However, I must admit, I've been to a few matches where I've disagreed with the BBC reporter. Disappointing though, at some point soon we actually need to start scoring goals and winning matches. Currently it's a case of lose home games, and draw away ones. Not good enough really... come on Oldham!
Interesting indeed...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/10/27/do2702.xml
Abortion hardly seems to be the issue it is in the States here in the UK, but in the Torygraph, a newspaper I usually do my utmost to avoid, is a very interesting article on abortion, taking a clearly anti-abortionist line. I'm certainly against abortion on demand, and would fiercely oppose any attempts, as have recently been mooted, to allow abortion here on only one doctor's signature (against the current two).
However, I wouldn't claim to have seriously thought through answers to issues of rape and the possible resulting pregnancy. My initial thought is, just like a child concieved in infinitely happier circumstances, the child of a rape is human nontheless, and killing it is still killing it. Adoption would of course be an option, but then that would put the woman through nine months of being reminded (more so than otherwise perhaps?) of what happened. Anyhow, I'm not a woman so I'm not sure about whether I can really comment on something like that. I'll leave that to others and simply say I am also anti-abortion.
Abortion hardly seems to be the issue it is in the States here in the UK, but in the Torygraph, a newspaper I usually do my utmost to avoid, is a very interesting article on abortion, taking a clearly anti-abortionist line. I'm certainly against abortion on demand, and would fiercely oppose any attempts, as have recently been mooted, to allow abortion here on only one doctor's signature (against the current two).
However, I wouldn't claim to have seriously thought through answers to issues of rape and the possible resulting pregnancy. My initial thought is, just like a child concieved in infinitely happier circumstances, the child of a rape is human nontheless, and killing it is still killing it. Adoption would of course be an option, but then that would put the woman through nine months of being reminded (more so than otherwise perhaps?) of what happened. Anyhow, I'm not a woman so I'm not sure about whether I can really comment on something like that. I'll leave that to others and simply say I am also anti-abortion.
Friday 26 October 2007
Good news!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4181629.stm
Bed bugs apparently don't thrive on unmade and dirty beds - get in!
Bed bugs apparently don't thrive on unmade and dirty beds - get in!
Monday 22 October 2007
Oh no!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7056501.stm
They're going to have a cull of badgers in the UK! To stop TB in cattle apparently. So it seems that will no longer be the badger!
They're going to have a cull of badgers in the UK! To stop TB in cattle apparently. So it seems that will no longer be the badger!
God FAQ
Actually, there's a proliferation of these websites, as Google points out, but the one in particular that I was directed to by my friend Tom is at http://www.400monkeys.com/God/.
It simply says "Q: Does God exist?", with the response "A: No".
Quite amusing, witty, but slightly unsatisfying. Why doesn't He? What evidence does the author, who turns out to be a chap called Alain Omer Duranceau, have for this? Well, he has none, simply claiming, as most do, that somehow the burden of proof falls on Christians (or God believers) in this case, and not atheists.
Yet atheists are making just as dramatic a claim as Christians are about the existence of God - why should they get away without having to reason why they've said what they've said? Seems a little unfair to me. Dawkins does talk a bit more, but mainly attacks Christians in misguided ways. Though I'm told he isn't atheists' main spokesman these days, he irritates them as much as he does Christians and agnostics, in his position for public understanding of science.
Either God exists, or He doesn't. Neither case will be proved by scientific reason, simply because science asks the "how?" questions, and is stumped by the "why?" question. But it also certainly isn't opinion. The Bible makes dramatic claims about God, as does the God FAQ. All good fun...
It simply says "Q: Does God exist?", with the response "A: No".
Quite amusing, witty, but slightly unsatisfying. Why doesn't He? What evidence does the author, who turns out to be a chap called Alain Omer Duranceau, have for this? Well, he has none, simply claiming, as most do, that somehow the burden of proof falls on Christians (or God believers) in this case, and not atheists.
Yet atheists are making just as dramatic a claim as Christians are about the existence of God - why should they get away without having to reason why they've said what they've said? Seems a little unfair to me. Dawkins does talk a bit more, but mainly attacks Christians in misguided ways. Though I'm told he isn't atheists' main spokesman these days, he irritates them as much as he does Christians and agnostics, in his position for public understanding of science.
Either God exists, or He doesn't. Neither case will be proved by scientific reason, simply because science asks the "how?" questions, and is stumped by the "why?" question. But it also certainly isn't opinion. The Bible makes dramatic claims about God, as does the God FAQ. All good fun...
Sunday 21 October 2007
I like Scrabble, and I like writing
Well, I've just finished a real live game of Scrabble. Not one of those online ones, great as they are. I like Scrabble, but I guess it's just like golf really, it can still be very frustrating. I think quite possibly I take it a bit too seriously - it did really affect my mood the other week, when on arriving home from a great road trip through the Rockies, into Vancouver and on to Vancouver Island, I found that a friend had got a seven-letter word and gone out (effectively) in a game against me, and won!
Or maybe that's just the competitive gene I have in me (not to excuse myself by genetics!), as my dad is currently bemoaning his poor strategy, as I just edged our game tonight by a couple of points.
I'm currently in a good mood about Scrabble, so I'm going to go and ruin it by playing a game of Scrabulous...
Or maybe that's just the competitive gene I have in me (not to excuse myself by genetics!), as my dad is currently bemoaning his poor strategy, as I just edged our game tonight by a couple of points.
I'm currently in a good mood about Scrabble, so I'm going to go and ruin it by playing a game of Scrabulous...
Missing Canada?
Finally I've got round to setting up a blog where I can rant on things unrelated to my work. My "work" blog originally began as a way that I could try to link being a Christian with being an economist. That still runs, and is mainly work related, hence not really the place to write all the thoughts that come across my head that I think I'd like to write on something people might even choose to read.
I do wonder about the value of setting up a blog. I can rant about the world around me to my friends, so am I just spending more time online I could be spending socialising? Or am I spending more time that I should be working? I'm also not taking much in while I do this, just ranting my own self-declared important and interesting views. Maybe I should spend this time reading? Reading my Bible even, perhaps? Or doing some work? Or finally transferring all the numbers from my old phone to my new phone? Or watching the football?
Anyhow, I thought I'd lament on missing being in Canada, since I am. I don't think I'm missing being on holiday as such. Anyone who knows my girlfriend lives in Canada will know I have a good reason to miss it. I certainly miss her a lot and miss being in the same city as her. But there wasn't just that there. I was there during the autumn, so I didn't get the freezing cold winters they get (though even in September there was at least three frosts!), but then also I didn't get the wonderful hot summers I kept being told about. There's a lot more to learn about a place than you learn in one month, and for sure the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side. I think right about now it's browner over in Edmonton than here in England, and yellower in the summer, but maybe I do fancy that move away from Oxford.
I have a wonderful base in Oxford, and I've had five memorable years there. I have a great church to go to, I have many friends both in church and in the economic department, and there's no doubt I'd leave them behind. I'd have to attend a church which sung some of the most lame Christian songs I've ever heard, even despite otherwise being very biblically sound and forthright (this is Beulah Alliance church), and I'd be starting from nearly scratch in terms of friends. Would I be able to carry on doing economics? Well, I think I'd only be moving there if I got a job with a university, so yes I'd carry on doing economics. It could be pretty exciting too, and I wouldn't shut off working with people back here in Oxford, given the modern age and Skype, email, and super-fast internet connections.
Anyhow, this was all prompted by playing a track I listened to loads while out there last month, which is Mi Swing Es Tropical by Nickodemus, which is the salsa track off the recent Apple commercials. I'm sure I'll rant a lot more on this and on other things on here. Woohoo...
I do wonder about the value of setting up a blog. I can rant about the world around me to my friends, so am I just spending more time online I could be spending socialising? Or am I spending more time that I should be working? I'm also not taking much in while I do this, just ranting my own self-declared important and interesting views. Maybe I should spend this time reading? Reading my Bible even, perhaps? Or doing some work? Or finally transferring all the numbers from my old phone to my new phone? Or watching the football?
Anyhow, I thought I'd lament on missing being in Canada, since I am. I don't think I'm missing being on holiday as such. Anyone who knows my girlfriend lives in Canada will know I have a good reason to miss it. I certainly miss her a lot and miss being in the same city as her. But there wasn't just that there. I was there during the autumn, so I didn't get the freezing cold winters they get (though even in September there was at least three frosts!), but then also I didn't get the wonderful hot summers I kept being told about. There's a lot more to learn about a place than you learn in one month, and for sure the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side. I think right about now it's browner over in Edmonton than here in England, and yellower in the summer, but maybe I do fancy that move away from Oxford.
I have a wonderful base in Oxford, and I've had five memorable years there. I have a great church to go to, I have many friends both in church and in the economic department, and there's no doubt I'd leave them behind. I'd have to attend a church which sung some of the most lame Christian songs I've ever heard, even despite otherwise being very biblically sound and forthright (this is Beulah Alliance church), and I'd be starting from nearly scratch in terms of friends. Would I be able to carry on doing economics? Well, I think I'd only be moving there if I got a job with a university, so yes I'd carry on doing economics. It could be pretty exciting too, and I wouldn't shut off working with people back here in Oxford, given the modern age and Skype, email, and super-fast internet connections.
Anyhow, this was all prompted by playing a track I listened to loads while out there last month, which is Mi Swing Es Tropical by Nickodemus, which is the salsa track off the recent Apple commercials. I'm sure I'll rant a lot more on this and on other things on here. Woohoo...
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