current affairs, personal, science

Class

Does class still matter in Britain today?

BBC Lab UK works with leading scientists to create real, ground-breaking scientific experiments. One of their current experiments is to find out if class still matters in modern Britain. And if so, what does the real class system look like?

You can contribute and find out how YOU wield power and influence by taking the BBC’s Britain’s Real Class System test.

At the end you’ll find out something about you and your place in British society today – and have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve contributed to research.

current affairs, history, memes, personal, photography

4/52 Katyn Memorial

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4/52 Katyn Memorial, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Week 4 of the 52 week challenge of a photo a week.

This is the memorial in Gunnersbury Cemetery, west London to the thousands of Poles murdered by the Russians at Katyn in 1940. I’ve inset the inscriptions as otherwise they are unreadable. Click on the picture to get a larger version.

The cemetery itself is rather interesting, if not a little OTT with competing acreages of black, white and brown polished marble. It is owned by the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, although it is actually in the LB of Ealing. Consequently it is the final resting place of many from the Polish and Armenian emigré communities. Many of the Armenian graves are written in Armenian script; and not all have a simultaneous translation. You will also find members of the Chinese community, at least one member of the French nobility and the expected English including architect Aston Webb. There is also a grave commemoration a number of members of the 24th Polish Lancers and a small group of twenty WWII war graves.

It is immaculately maintained and well worth a visit, even on a cold January day; it’ll look really pretty in the Spring when all the cherry blossom is out.

medical, science, words

Labia minor

Labia minor is a good example of the unexpected surprises and humour which exist in the world of biological nomenclature. In this case the name applies not just to the “two longitudinal cutaneous folds on the human vulva” but is also the specific name for the Lesser Earwig.

Fortunately such eclecticisms are being collected by Mark Isaak at Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature. As Isaak says:

Scientific names of organisms are not usually known for their entertainment value. They are indispensable for clarity in communication, but most people skip over them with barely a glance. Here I collect those names that are worth a second look.

Some names are interesting for what they are named after (for example, Arthurdactylus conandoylensis, Godzillius), some are puns (La cucaracha, Phthiria relativitae), and some show other kinds of wordplay (such as the palindromic Orizabus subaziro). Some have achieved notability through accident of history, and many show the sense of humor of taxonomists.

If you’re interested in either biology or words it’s well worth a look. But prepare to be amazed for amongst the collected examples you’ll also find:

  • Unifolium bifolium (European May Lily); basically “single leaved plant with two leaves”
  • Abra cadabra (a clam)
  • Ba humbugi (a snail); from the Fijian island of Mba
  • Panama canalia (braconid fly)
  • Mozartella beethoveni (encyrtid wasp)
  • and of course Labia minor (Lesser Earwig); “small lips”; don’t ask why this would be appropriate for an earwig!

Isaak has even included an essential guide to the basic rules of biological binomial nomenclature. And a section on the (increasingly weird) names being given to genes – the well known gene sonic hedgehog isn’t the half of it!

My favourite? Well one of the best named is surely Boselaphus tragocamelus, an antelope (below) whose name translates from the Latin as “ox-deer goat-camel”. Clearly named, as well as designed, by a committee!

food+drink, ramblings

Early Burns

On 25 January the Scots celebrate their national poet, Robbie Burns, with the eating of haggis, mashed potatoes and mashed neeps (turnip and/or swede depending who you believe) and the drinking of whisky. Not being traditionalists, nor of Scots ancestry (at least in the last couple of generations), we celebrated Burns’ Night in our own way this evening. Yes, we had haggis; but no we didn’t have the whisky.

In fact what we had was a rib-sticking meal of haggis, crushed potatoes, steamed Jerusalem artichokes and steamed broccoli. It was a very quick and easy meal: the potatoes and artichokes took the longest with the haggis needing just a few minutes in the microwave. The artichokes were steamed, with the broccoli florets added almost at the last minute. The potatoes were also steamed and then broken up rather than being mashed to a pulp. We forewent the whisky in favour of supporting the Auld Alliance by washing it down with one of our last bottles of 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau, which had just the right roughness to complement the haggis. The broccoli and artichokes went extremely well with the haggis too. Yes, it was good!

So it wasn’t traditional. So what? I remember buying deep fried haggis and chips from the local chippie when I was a student in York. Equally not traditional but bloody good food on a cold winter’s night on the way home from the pub.

I’ve always liked haggis and fail to see what so many people (think they) dislike in it. These same people would be happy eating gamy terrine, and dishes containing oats (eg. porridge, oaten biscuits). So why the aversion to haggis which is really only a lamb-based, slightly dry, slightly peppery, terrine or coarse sausage with pinhead oats. OK, yes, so it does have offal in it – so does most terrine and sausage. And yes traditionally it is stuffed in a sheep’s stomach – but then traditional sausage casings are pig intestines. All these foods were originally designed as ways not to waste small, less appetising, pieces of animal especially during the lean times of winter. So where is the problem?

Moreover haggis has the advantage of being extremely filling. You think what’s on your plate is a mean helping, but I assure you it isn’t – it’s all in the oats!

If you’ve never had haggis now is the time to try it. Most supermarkets will have haggis at the moment; indeed many now stock it all year round. The commercial brand leader seems to be McSween’s, although if you’re in Scotland you’ll likely find haggis in most butchers. And, for the veggies, McSween’s also do a vegetarian haggis; which I must try sometime, if only to work out how they do it.

So why not push the boat out and have haggis for Burns’ Night on Tuesday? You’re unlikely to regret it unless you overdo the whisky!

amusements, food+drink, sexuality, thoughts

A Difficult Question

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OK, so here’s a really hard question for everyone which I saw being discussed on the internet a few days ago.

Which would you rather give up forever … cheese or oral sex?

And no, you aren’t allowed to negotiate restrictions and loopholes. It means all oral sex, both given and received. And it means all cheese: from cheddar to Camembert and Gorgonzola to cream cheese.

Although it is interesting to speculate why one might ever have to make such a decision, it is a hard question, isn’t it?

I think I have to agree with the apparent majority and elect to forego oral sex. As one person has remarked: there are lots of ways to have an orgasm but only one way to eat pizza, macaroni cheese or deep-fried brie.

What would you choose – and why? (And no you don’t have to make your decision public if it embarrasses you!)

memes, music, personal, photography, topographical

3/52 Horns


3/52 Horns, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Week 3 of the 52 weeks photographic challenge and I almost didn’t get a decent picture this week. But then I saw this window display in Selfridge’s Department Store in London’s Oxford Street. All these brass instruments looked absolutely stunning – but impossible to photograph well because of all the reflections.

beliefs, current affairs, history, quotes

Quote of the Week

This week’s usual rag-bag of oddities which have crossed my path in the last 7 days or so …

*****

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you first must invent the Universe.
[Carl Sagan]

*****

I like your Christ. I don’t like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.
[Mohandas Gandhi]

*****

Journalists write to support democracy, sustain truth, salute justice, justify expenses, see the world and make a living, but to satisfactorily do any of these things you have to have readers. Fairness and accuracy are of course profoundly important. Without them, you aren’t in journalism proper: you are playing some other game. But above all, you have to be read, or you aren’t in journalism at all.
[Tim Radford at Guardian Science Blog]

*****

Trivial is a favourite insult administered by scholars. But even they became interested in their subject in the first place because they were attracted by something gleaming, flashy and – yes, trivial.
[Tim Radford at Guardian Science Blog]

*****

The Guardian used to have a special Muzzled Piranha Award, a kind of Oscar of incompetence, handed to an industrial relations reporter who warned the world that the Trades Union Congress wildcats were lurking in the undergrowth, ready to dart out like piranhas, unless they were muzzled. George Orwell reports on the case of an MP who claimed that the jackbooted fascist octopus had sung its swansong.
[Tim Radford at Guardian Science Blog]

*****

3 July 1679. Sending a piece of Venison to Mr. Pepys Sec: of the Admiralty, still a Prisoner, I went & dined with him.
[Guy de la Bédoyère; The Diary of John Evelyn]

*****

26 May 1703. This dyed Mr. Sam: Pepys, a very worthy, Industrious & curious person, none in England exceeding him in the Knowledge of the Navy, in which he had passed thro all the most Considerable Offices, Clerk of the Acts, & Secretary to the Admiralty, all which he performed with greate Integrity: when K: James the 2d went out of England he layed down his Office, & would serve no more: But withdrawing himselfe from all publique Affairs, lived at Clapham with his partner (formerly his Cleark) Mr. Hewer, in a very noble House & sweete place, where he injoyned the fruit of his labours in geate prosperity, was universaly beloved, Hospitable, Generous, Learned in many things, skill ‘d in Musick, a very greate Cherisher of Learned men, of whom he had the Conversation. His Library & other Collections of Curiositys was one of the most Considerable; The models of Ships especialy &c. […] Mr. Pepys had ben for neere 40 years, so my particular Friend, that he now sent me Compleat Mourning: desiring me to be one to hold up the Pall, at his magnificent Obsequies; but my present Indisposition, hindred me from doing him this last Office:…
[Guy de la Bédoyère; The Diary of John Evelyn]

*****

For more than forty Cold-War years the United Kingdom played the role, in the words of the eminent investigative journalist Duncan Campbell, of America’s Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier.
[Nick Catford; Cold War Bunkers]

*****

Spring Quarry near Corsham in Wiltshire became the Central Government War Headquarters – the alternate seat of government to which the Great and the Good would decamp in the event of a nuclear war. The very existence of the site was denied by the Government for decades. When its secrets were finally revealed in December 2005 it proved to be a grave disappointment. Starved of cash by successive administrations, its development had been halting and, despite its enormous size, the Spring Quarry site is bathed in a gloomy aura of half-hearted compromise.
[Nick Catford; Cold War Bunkers]

*****

Apropos this last quote, when you start reading about the UK’s WWII bunkers and the like (of which Corsham is a prime example) you seriously wonder how the country achieved anything, let along managed to win the war. But then reading Sam Pepys’s diaries and letters things were much the same in the 17th century – ministerial obfuscation at every turn and a serious lack of funding. Oh, what do you mean? It isn’t any better now? Surely not!

beliefs, current affairs, medical, science, sexuality

On Legalising Sex Work

In the UK, as in much of the English-speaking world sex work (selling sexual acts for money) is illegal, although there are naturally nuances of the law defining where the boundaries are. But this is not the case in many other countries and, somewhat surprisingly, it isn’t the case in the entire English-speaking world.

There’s an interesting article by Kate McCombs over at My Sex Professor about sex work in the Australian state of Victoria where it is both legal and regulated. And it isn’t as if Australia is any less puritanical than the UK or USA.

I’m not going to reproduce the whole of McCombs article (you can read it for yourself) but what follows is a summary with a few observations of my own.

To be legal sex workers must be consenting and over 18 which is achieved through registration of individuals, brothels and escort agencies. Street-based sex work is illegal for both worker and client but, of course, hasn’t been entirely eliminated – and frankly never will be. (Any legalised and regulated activity will always have someone prepared to work outside it, for whatever reason.)

All sex workers in Victoria are required to undergo monthly checks for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and trichomonas; and quarterly tests for HIV and syphilis. (You can’t enforce that without a registration system, which of course also has the side benefit that it brings the sex workers within the tax system!) Legal sex workers have significantly lower rates of all STIs than the general population of the state. What’s interesting is that the few STI cases which do occur among legal sex workers almost all derive from their partners and not from clients.

While there is still stigma and discrimination within the healthcare system this is an improving situation. State police are formally trained about sex worker rights and take charges against clients seriously. Consequently sex workers can make decisions based on their own safety without fear of legal reprecussions.

This is all supported by good education for the sex workers about their rights, navigating the health and legal systems, and what to do if they’re the victim of a crime. This education incorporates feedback from the sex workers themselves, which further helps drive the positive outcomes.

The police believe sex workers themselves (both legal and illegal) are one of the best resources for reducing trafficking, which remains illegal. Apparently sex workers do inform the police when coerced or underage work is happening in their areas.

Overall it seems that compared with the more normal prohibitive situation, the approach of Victoria has well researched public health benefits, based as it is on laws which help keep people safe and reduce stigma for both worker and client. Surely this has to be a better way forward?

natural history, photography

Barn Wowl !!


Barn Owl , originally uploaded by nigel pye.

This just leaves me stunned! It is probably the most spectacular shot of a Barn Owl I’ve ever seen. The colours and the detail are just out of this world. Nigel Pye, the photographer, specialises in birds and particularly Barn Owls. Despite my years as an amateur photographer I just don’t know how you take pictures like this. Guess that’s why I’m not a pro.

memes, personal

Thing-a-Day Preparation

Ready … Steady … Wait for it!

Again this year the Thing-a-Day challenge is running for the whole of February, and I intend to take part.

Join artists and creators of all types and backgrounds in a collective creative sprint to beat the February blues. Thing-a-Day invites you to join in a daily creative endeavour where everyone who signs up commits to making one “thing” (project, sketch, exercise, photograph, recipe) per day and shares it online on Thing-a-Day @ Posterous.com.


Participation is simple … 

Starting on February 1st, spend about 30 minutes making one thing a day. Knit, sew, cook, draw, paint, tape, solder, write, destroy, invent, document – or whatever you decide!  (Last year I posted a mix of photographs, recipes and haiku.  Who knows what this year will bring!)

In whatever way works for you, document what you’ve done and make that available on the Thing-a-Day Blog. 

The usual rules apply: no old/recycled work and no stealing the work of others – just something you did, new every day.

You have to register (so you can post to the Thing-a-Day Blog).  Registration opens on Friday 21 January and closes at midnight on 1 February.  You will need a Posterous account, but having set everything up you can post your daily contribution via email to Thing-a-Day and to your blog, Flickr, Facebook, etc.  This is in fact a test post to make sure I have all this set up correctly.  Last year’s registration instructions are here, but of course this years may be different when we get there.

OK, so now let’s see if this works properly. If it does then this post, with the photograph of my new dodo friends, should appear on my Posterous, the TaD Posterous feed, my Zen Mischief weblog, my Flickr photostream and my Facebook stream.