Another selection of recently encountered quotes.
To be ruled is to be kept an eye on, inspected, spied on, regulated, indoctrinated, sermonised, listed and checked-off, estimated, appraised, censured, ordered about, by creatures without knowledge and without virtues. To be ruled is, at every operation, transaction, movement, to be noted, registered, counted, priced, admonished, prevented, reformed, redressed, corrected.
[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]
After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.
[Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance]
I think I’ve discovered the secret of life — you just hang around until you get used to it.
[Charles M Schulz]
Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
[William Shakespeare, The Tempest]
5% of the people think; 10% of the people think they think; and the other 85% would rather die than think.
[TA Edison]
Compare with that other often quoted statistic: 5% of people can think and do; 5% of people cannot think; the other 90% can think but don’t bother.
I have no idea what day it is and I’m eating cold parsnips for breakfast. The Christmas brain wipe is complete, fresh mind ready for 2015.
[Girl on the Net @girlonthenet on Twitter]
I’ve never had a humble opinion. If you’ve got an opinion, why be humble about it?
[Joan Baez]
Being a housewife and a mother is the biggest job in the world, but if it doesn’t interest you, don’t do it.
[Katharine Hepburn]
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.
[Edgar Allan Poe]
A truly great library has something in it to offend everyone.
[Unknown]
In our dreams we may all be anarchists, but in our actions, for the vast majority of the time, we’re the most rigid of conformists.
[Will Self; Foreword to Bradley L Garrett, Subterranean London]
This perfect democracy fabricates its own inconceivable enemy, terrorism. It wants, actually, to be judged by its enemies rather than by its results. The history of terrorism is written by the State and it is thus instructive. The spectating populations must certainly never know everything about terrorism, but they must always know enough to convince them that, compared with terrorism, everything else seems rather acceptable, in any case more rational and democratic!
[Debord, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle (1984); quoted by Will Self; Foreword to Bradley L Garrett, Subterranean London]
London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.
[Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1887)]
The game is up for Zone 1; soon it will exist only as a nucleus of tourist hell, the city will become defined by its sprawl and the heart of it will be like Centre Parcs, but with less wholesome family bike rides and more pay-per-hour Gumtree day brothels.
[Anonymous comment on central London]
All posts by Keith
Weekly Photograph
This week a wintry photograph that I took at New Year.
Frosty Leaf
31 December 2014; Greenford
Word: Gynandromorph
Gynandromorph
An organism that contains both male and female characteristics.
The term is mainly used in the field of entomology where butterflies occasionally occur displaying both male and female characteristics because of sexual dimorphism.
A gynandromorph can have bilateral asymmetry, one side female and one side male, or they can be mosaic, a case in which the two sexes aren’t defined as clearly (as in the calico lobster below).
As well as insects, cases of gynandromorphism have also been reported in crustaceans, especially lobsters, in birds and very occasionally in mammals.
Gynandromorph is derived from the Greek gyne female + andro male + morph form.
Note that gynandromorphism is different from hermaphroditism where only male and female reproductive organs are present as in, for example, some slugs and snails.
Encrypted Bollox
So David Cameron wants government agencies to have access to all forms of communication and be able to access every form of encryption does he?
Or at least he thinks he does, but he has no clue what he is actually asking for.
The consequences of such a policy being enforced are so very clearly laid out by Charlie Stross in a post titled Cloud Cuckoo Politics.
Samuel Gibbs and Alex Hern in the Guardian are of the same opinion.
These two articles are worth reading. But in a nutshell if this were enacted then it would cripple all electronic communication — and that means all commerce including the government’s ability to collect taxes. It may even shut down the internet completely in the UK.
As Charlie says, this is beyond bonkers. On the other hand why are we surprised? Cameron knows nothing about technology and moreover is an “executive manager”. And we all know that as soon as anyone is made a manager they have their brains removed and forget what it’s like to do the job on the shop floor. Moreover we all also know that no manager ever understood anything technical, even if they were once a technician. Add to that the general ineptitude which seems to accompany all public service and you’ll see why the whole of government etc. is mindlessly inefficient and its leadership dangerous.
Cameron is living in cloud cuckoo land and there is probably little hope for him. But let’s just pray someone can reconstruct his brain before it is too late for the rest of us.
Gawdelpus.
Hat tip Chris Comley for the link to Charlie Stross’s post.
Something for the Weekend
Your Interesting Links
There’s a definite post-Christmas feel to this latest selection of links to articles you probably missed.
Astronomers take yet another look at interpreting the Star of Bethlehem and relating it to the actual biblical accounts.
Virgin births are not quite as rare as we might think — except for humans.
Five things you didn’t know about Christmas Trees, including their ability to turn to glass at very low temperatures.
While on plants, there’s a new herbicide craze sweeping America … goats. Turns out they eat almost anything (well who knew?) and so are quite good at clearing overgrown land.
But how do we clear all our drugs out of the water supply? It seems that a lot of the drugs we take come out the other end and survive the sewage system and water purification. So not only are we getting minute doses of all sorts of chemicals, but fish are getting blissed out on Prozac! OK the article is US-centric, but there is no reason to presume the UK is any different. [Long read]
Where do you go to see wildlife? You would think you’d go to the depths of the country. But there is far more wildlife in our towns and cities than we realise — and some ecologists are now realising it is worth studying. Again the article is US-centric but urban areas in the UK are just as full of wildlife if you know where (and how) to look.
For some reason we seem to find blue eyes attractive. But how do they get their colour? Well actually they don’t, they are just not brown. Here’s a brief explanation.
[NSFW] Scientists have been looking at female ejaculation and come to the conclusion it comes in two varieties. Much to the disbelief of many girlies, apparently.
While on the subject of “lady bits” … Girls do you fancy turning your vagina into a video game controller? Turns out there is a product imminent to do just that, and let you do your Kegel exercises at the same time. Brings a whole new meaning to Wii.
Spoon Theory. Christine Miserandino developed her spoon theory as an analogy of what it is like to live with sickness or disability. An enlightening read and also a great analogy.
OK, so lets get onto something much more fun … Champagne.
First off here’s something which (starts to) explain some of Champagne’s chemistry which makes it so alluring.
Although it seems that Champagne hasn’t always been bubbly, and we probably have the 17th-century Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon to thank for the fizz. Rebecca Rupp has the history.
Meanwhile Stephen Clarke in the Guardian goes on a short Champagne tour and is enchanted by some of the small houses like Roger Brun, in the village of Aÿ near Epernay.
And then of course there is that other winter-time favourite: mulled wine. Everyone seems to have their own favourite recipe, but Andy Connelly, again in the Guardian, has a method.
Maybe after all that alcohol we’d better have some food, although nothing too heavy. Avocados need big herbivores to spread their giant seeds. But there aren’t too many elephants left now in the avocado’s native Mexico, so we humans have taken over the job.
And then there is the other food of the Gods, the olive. And yes, according to Greek legend it was indeed a gift from the Gods.
Which brings us nicely to history and the cult of Edward the Confessor, our last truly Anglo-Saxon king.
Still on history, I bring you chirographs … the way Medieval lawyers ensured their documents were verifiable.
And finally I’ll leave you with some strange predictions from 1930.
Compulsory Voting?
Today Labour backbencher David Winnick (MP for Walsall) is introducing a ten-minute rule bill to parliament aimed at making voting a “civic duty” in an attempt to get more voters to turn out at election time.
Currently the UK has an awful record on electoral turnout. According to a recent BBC News article, At the last General Election in 2010 only 65% of those registered bothered to vote — that’s a massive 16 million who didn’t vote. Add to that the estimate that around 7.5 million who are eligible to vote don’t bother to register (although repeat “offenders” can mow be fined) and we have around half the country who aren’t expressing their opinion (even if that is “none of the above”).
And that’s for a General Election. Local government elections often have turnouts of no more than 25%, yet people continue to complain about their local services.
And the figures are even worse amongst the younger generation with only 44% of 18-24 year-olds voting in 2010.
One suggestion is that voting should be made compulsory, as it is in Australia where there is always around a 98% turnout. This is an idea I like and one of the few places where I would be prescriptive in telling people what to do! After all the state already makes us do other, often more onerous, things (eg. jury service) as a civic duty so it isn’t as if there is no precedent.
However for me compulsory voting would only truly work if every ballot paper had a “None of the above” option at the bottom thus allowing a positive abstention to be counted (although one always has the option to spoil ones voting paper). If nothing else the level of positive abstentions would be enlightening. One could even look at a system where if the rate of positive abstentions is too high (maybe over 25% of votes cast?) then the vote in that constituency is declared null and void and has to be re-run. That could concentrate the minds of not just a few politicians but also the electorate who would have to do their civic duty again, and again, and again … while paying the cost through their taxes!
Somehow we have to energise the great British electorate into being rather less apathetic. But then some integrity and common sense from the elected politicians would be a good start!
Thoughts anyone?
Public Service vs Private Business
Trying to run a public service like a business will never work
A public service is an inherently different beast from a business and asking one to behave as the other is like asking a fish to ride a bicycle
So says Kerry-anne Mendoza in short, but spot-on, analysis in yesterday’s Guardian.
This is why our public services — NHS, railways, utilities etc. — are in a mess. They need to be run a services not as profit generation for shareholders.
Politicians, please note and action!
Oddity of the Week: Dog Food Taster
Professional Dog Food Taster Is Actually a Real Job
Pet owners sneaking a nibble or two out of their pets’ bowls, out of curiosity, is completely understandable. But eating dog food for a living? Now that’s pretty hard to digest!
So what exactly does the job entail? Well, as the name suggests, it pretty much involves tasting dog food to make sure it meets a premium brand’s exacting quality standards. Tasters regularly open sample tins of each freshly made batch of dog (or cat) food, and then proceed to smell it, and eat it.
Well how did you really think pet food companies did their testing and quality checks?
From www.odditycentral.com/foods/professional-dog-food-taster-is-actually-a-real-job.html
Book Review: Subterranean London
Bradley L Garrett
Subterranean London: Cracking the Capital
Prestel; 2014
This is a beautifully produced book of photographs which peels back the layers under London’s streets and brings you clandestine views of all those things we depend on but which are largely out of sight: sewers, cable tunnels, the tube, communications hubs and even Crossrail construction.
It is the work of a group of either brave or foolhardy (depending on one’s point of view) explorers intent on making this infrastructure visible, often when the authorities don’t wish it to be. They follow on in the pioneering spirit of Duncan Campbell from 30 years ago, gaining illicit access — through manholes, ventilation shafts and derelict buildings often right under the noses of “security” — to that which is normally off limits.
The book contains relatively little text — just a single page of explanation at the beginning of each of the four sections, a couple of pages of introduction and a short foreword by Will Self. This lack of text is my only major gripe; I wanted more about the places and the exploits which got the explorers to them.
But the book is about the images, each minimally captioned, which record some of the places the group have penetrated. Much of the photography is excellent and strong; well lit, well composed and professionally produced — quite remarkable considering it was all done on the hoof, at speed and with the ever-present danger of the long arm of “security”.
A long disused Mail Rail train parked in an abandoned station which is still lit
and with a working digital clock which says 0424.
From www.placehacking.co.uk
To get a better idea of what these guys do — whether you call it “place hacking” or just “urban exploration” — there is a documented visit to the now disused Post Office railway (Mail Rail) over at www.placehacking.co.uk/2011/04/24/security-breach-london-mail-rail/ from which a handful of photographs in this book are taken.
This is a book for those that like to know what’s beneath their feet, how cities hang together, what “the authorities” don’t want us to see or to indulge in some vicarious dare-devil excitement. Yes, I like a bit of all of those, but I also appreciate the photography and indeed some of the (especially Victorian) architecture — see for instance the photographs early in the book of Finsbury Park Reservoir. This is stuff which is hidden from sight, but deserves to be seen and appreciated for both its beauty and its engineering.
Having said that, when you look at the haphazard state of some of the cabling, and the dilapidated state of many of the tunnels themselves, one really does start to wonder how anything functions at all!
So yes, this is a book for the geek and the vicarious explorer. A book to dip into to appreciate the photography, the beauty and the engineering. As such it is almost endlessly fascinating and it is only the lack of text which prevents it from getting a full five stars.
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆