Those of you waiting with bated breath for my report of the Ros Scott interview will have to wait a little longer, as I'm not going to get it finished before I go to work. But what I AM going to do is clear down some of the tabs I have open as "interesting stuff to link to":

1. Star Trek Perfume. Is anyone else really disappointed that they didn't get BPAL to do these?


2. The Gallileoscope! $15 for a working replica of Gallileo's telescope? Hot damn! This International Year of Astronomy isn't half throwing up some interestingness.


3. Fellow Calderdale Lib Dem Nader Fekri's anti-Faith-School amendment might have been defeated, just, at conference, but that doesn't mean those of us who are against the state-funded religious indoctrination of children are giving up. Give the BHA some money, go on. For those who are not clear on this: I don't mind religious people having schools for their children if they want. But if that's what they really want, they can fund them for themselves. State funding for faith schools must end, IMHO. My views on this have really hardened since I have seen it happen to my daughter.


4. El Presidente thinks that the bloggers who interviewed her were "really nice, actually". Oh that's NOT helping... LOL

Oh well. See you after my nice eight hour shift...

This was something I was never going to miss: Lib Dem Christian Forum Vs Lib Dem Humanists and Secularists discussing faith schools, with Vince Cable on the side of the Christians and some guy called Paul for the Humanists... Fight! Fight! Fight!

( not really, but partly )

The Downing Street website that we all thought was great because it was a Wordpress install, and must therefore have been veryveryvery cheap? Cost £100,000. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS. For fuck's sake! I could do it at home for nothing and all I would need is a computer, and internet connection, and a small aubergine...! Now, yes, that IS cheaper than other government websites, but it's also fucking ridiculous for something on free software with a ripped-off theme.

When is this government going to get even a tiny clue about how the intertubes work? There must be at least one of them who could say hang on a minute....

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And speaking of WRONG in the government, here is a brilliant dissection of them being WRONG in respect of the citizen's equality before the law.

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They're talking about choice in schools on the radio again. Is it me, or is this the perfect example of how most politicians are trapped in the Westminster bubble? Yes, in London, it's meaningful to have a choice of schools/hospitals/post offices, etc., because there's so bloody many of them in such a relatively small space. In normal, not London places, there is ONE of each of these things, if you're lucky. You can't choose between one. You just want that one to be good.

When the government shuts things down in the name of choice and streamlining, IT IS REMOVING ESSENTIAL SERVICES FROM PEOPLE.

Bastards.

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Good news? Mitch Benn is releasing his new single on the first of September, and it has Rock Wankman on it and everything! YAY? Nay. It's frigging iTunes only. AGAIN.

* stabs Steve Jobs *

Just because you aren't Microsoft, doesn't mean that restrictive monopolisation of a market sector is GOOD, you know.

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Hmm. I appear to be rather grumpy today. Sorry 'bout that.

First things first: endless_psych in brilliant defence of British Sci-fi. And he doesn't even MENTION HG Wells or John Wyndham.

Secondly, today's xkcd_rss is awesome:


Speaking of teachers, Teachers teach to the test shock.

Via Chicken Yoghurt, What are your a-levels worth? 3 As and a D for me. This means Jaiesh 4 As is smarter than me?

Tory Party Election Slogans. - “Tories: because money-grabbing opportunists are STILL better than well-meaning psychopaths.” - “Tories: We’re marginally less likely to march the whole country down the slow road to becoming Airstrip One.” - “Tories: Because you want to believe there’s a difference.”

I want one! Best spider EVAR!

OMG the BPAL update!! I want Hellhound and John Barleycorn and Sugar Skull and Sticky Pillowcase...

This is broadly in tune with my own views. But you all knew that anyway.

Other times, things give me hope. The very existence of Imaan gives me hope, for example. YAY tolerance!

Also, the very existence of innerbrat gives me hope, because while she's around making wise and thoughtful and thought-provoking posts like this one (see here for background), the world is a better place for just having her in it.

Ever been raped?
Know someone who has been raped?
Ever voiced an opinion on the topic of rape?

Read that post. If it were up to me it'd be put in the national curriculum.

In completely non-political news, my friend Imogen has signed up for LJ, but she can't work out how to add me to her f-list (you know, silly me, having a comm for my public blog and all) so this paragraph is just to say OI! IMOGEN! COMMENT ON THIS POST!! because once you do that I can friend you and it's all good ;)

First things first, happy birthday briargate!

Secondly, we just got in from a nice pub lunch and a long dog walk with our two dogs and our friends and their two dogs. And this inspires a poll.

Poll #1159124 Dog walking Etiquette
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

You have a large, aggressive German Shepherd dog, and you wish to stand and chat to a friend for half an hour or so. Where is the best place to stand with your dog?

View Answers

?In your house, with all the doors and windows barred
2 (15.4%)

In a deserted field, where it can run and play while you chat without upsetting other dogs.
10 (76.9%)

in the middle of the narrow footbridge over the beck that pretty much everyone entering or leaving the park with a dog has to cross
1 (7.7%)

If you chose option three, was this because you are...?

View Answers

stupid
7 (53.8%)

ignorant
5 (38.5%)

aggressive yourself, and think that having a big dog that causes trouble makes you look hard
6 (46.2%)

a complete twat
11 (84.6%)

a special snowflake to whom all the normal etiquettes of dog ownership do not apply
5 (38.5%)

Between the guy on the bridge and the other guy who just would not let his poor spaniel off the lead to play when it desperately wanted to in case its pedigreeness was sullied by our dogs' mongrelosity...

* headdesk *

Thirdly, the first of a bunch of things I want to link to today, here's an American data set about abortion. Yes, it's an American data set, but our stats are closer to the American ones that the rest of Europe, so it's worth looking at. Some of it I find quite worrying - like the number of women going for an abortion who hadn't used contraception at all (46%) as opposed to those who had had contraceptive failure - but some of the reasons given to the why have you come for an abortion question are quite interesting. I think it possibly gives ammunition for both sides, but the main thing that comes out of it for me is the woeful amount of properly used contraception. Education, education, education, you guys.

Fourthly, and on the same subject, Why I Am An Abortion Doctor. The tone of it is distinctly North-American-continent but, again, it's worth reading from a UK perspective too. I can understand why people are disquieted about abortion. I am disquieted about it. I am unlikely to ever have an abortion, because of my disquiet. But that's my choice. I would never force that choice on somebody else. Abortion is a difficult enough decision to make, without adding Slippery Elm Bark complications and back street abortionists to muddy the waters further.

Fifthly, Ten Things Every Adult Should Know. Definitely not for the easily offended (the title of the website should be a clue to that one), although it would probably do the easily offended good to read and inwardly digest...

Sixthly, PeeZee and Richard Dawkins have a good laugh about some silly creationists who tried to misrepresent them on film and then ban them from attending the film afterwards:



Seventhly, a step by step guide on How to Pack Up and Leave LJ without losing anything you don't want to lose, should you ever actually want to.

Eighthly, lastly, and shamelessly copied from innerbrat, Mitch Benn on Grammar:

I know there's a rule about starting sentences with "but", but screw it, it just means you end up starting them with "however", and since "however" at the beginning of a sentence just means "I really wanted to start this sentence with 'but' but I'm not allowed" , and everybody knows this, then frankly you may as well just start with "but", so I just did

&hearts Gotta love the big geeky fella.

The government is trying to take all the stress out of exams. Is it just me, or are exams supposed to be stressful? Isn't the point of having them to see how you cope under pressure? Isn't that why we have exams and coursework, so that delicate flowers who crumble under pressure can still get some marks? Isn't trying to remove all stress from teenagers' lives just going to lead them to a very rude awakening when they get into the world of work? Am I going to stop asking rhetorical questions soon?

Sometimes, I just despair.

In order to distract myself from horrible news of man's inhumanity to (wo)man such as this¹ and this² I am watching Question Time and This Week³ with a rather large G&T, have slathered myself in Dr. John Seward⁴, and am reading these amusing tales of Toy Horror that tyrell linked me to. I particularly like the Build Your Own Atomic Lab⁵ and Battlestar Galactica Missile Launcher...

Oh all right; there is one thing that I'm cross enough to blog about even though I'm otherwise happy: if you don't submit to the NIR and pay for an ID card, you won't get a student loan. FFS. Is there not some way we can mobilise a group of anti ID card activists to provide alternative loans for students? I mean, there's the inevitable Facebook group, but...

[this week]Blargh. Ross Kemp on about gang culture... Gang culture is not new in this country. People have been bemoaning the violence of the youth of today since time immemorial; the difference is that it's not just the underclass that are killing each other these days. The middle classes don't just play at it any more like they did when they were mods and rockers... And Michael and Andrew are trying to have it both ways. if you centralise everything, and create a nanny state, which is just as much a Conservative trait as a Labour one, then everybody gets the mindset that the government should do something and nobody wants to do anything themselves. Nobody wants to take responsibility because the government has allowed them to develop the idea that they don't have to take responsibility. It's somebody else's job... Ooooh I take that back! Michael just advocated localism. You closet liberal, Michael ;)[/this week]

ETA: Hello, Miss or Mr BBC Researcher? Am LOVING the Six Nations trailer. Oh yes. Rawr rugger boys.

* dribble *

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¹ thank you sovietkiki
² thank you ginasketch
³ which, let's face it, is my version of Easenders and Corrie - Westminster Politics is just such a drama far removed from reality as a soap opera...
⁴ starts off all lavender and bubblegum, but within five minutes is a fine balance between fruity and floral with a subtle undertone of soft herbal smoke; no one note dominates, and it's a lovely scent.
⁵ there are instructions in the comments which tell you how to build your own, since the kit is no longer available

Meme from irreperable:


Free-IQTest.net - Accurate IQ Test

This is a lovely example of an information-harvesting meme. It makes it appear that you have to fill in your name and address and phone number to get your results, but you don't, just your email address. Still, if one has an IQ of 154 then it's easy to realise this ;)

More seriously, it's also proof of the truism that the more IQ tests one does, the better one gets at IQ tests. When I did the facebook one a couple of months ago, I hadn't done one in ten years. It pegged me at 140. Now I do this one, having done one a couple of months ago, and I come out at 154...

Still, it thinks I am in the top 1% of the population for IQ, so I'm not going to complain too hard ;)

Inspired by the delectable matgb, whose post here has caused some amusement. The first question is semi-serious. Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar are three of my favourite things. I know I'm not perfect on these issues, but I strive for perfection. I also know that when people correct my SPaG I am happy, because I learn something (or I get to have a good argument; either way, it's fun). However, I am aware that, to some people, correcting their grammar is mean and nasty. I am interested in what you guys think.

Note for Non-LJers: Showing lovely British qualities of Stiff Upper Lippedness and Good Sportmanship, matgb has left instructions in the first comment for you on how to vote. Bless him. ♥ He's not doing it so that he can skew the vote by voting with all his different accounts, are you sweetie?

Also, if any of you change your mind and wish to change your vote, click here and select "fill out poll" at the top.

* waits for the appearance of talkiethetoast with baited breath *

Poll #1106532 Syntax
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 39

SPaG: using them well is...

Using Polls on LJ is:

All LJ polls should have

A text entry box so that instead of reading the comments you have to click another annoying option to see what people think (cruelly restricted to 5 characters)

... are divided into two groups. Firstly the OMG you're INSANE! petitioners:

FFS stop my neighbour's cat crapping in my yard! (I adore the url of that one!)
I have no clue about my own bloodline, let alone anyone else's. Seriously, you have to read the full text of this one, it's comedy gold.
The human body disintegrates at thirty miles an hour! This one really shows the damage that stupid speed limit legislation has done.
Parents should teach their children dangerous occult practises, not schools!
It looks like English, but is it? If anyone can work out what this one is actually asking for, I'd be grateful...

Secondly the nice idea, but it'll never happen ones:

I'd love to see this happen. Sadly, too many rich people in positions of power. But, the way to bring state schools into line with private schools is to tax private schools like buggery and use the proceeds to fund state schools. Not removing choice, but evening the playing field.
Make public transport free! Well, IMHO a renewable deposit for a pass would be a good plan; then if you vandalise, you lose your pass and your money and can't use public transport.
Give MPs a taste of their own medicine. We're actually seeing the fruits of this locally with councillors; I don't see it happening in Westminster any time soon, though. Still, there's always the fabulous TheyWorkForYou
Footballers get paid too much! Well, yes, they do, but this is because idiots are willing to pay stupid prices for tickets and strips. Stop buying the Man U shirts and suddenly they'll stop making as much money It =/= rocket science.
I've been saying this for years. Sadly, vehicle excise duty is more about the database than the tax, these days, so this will never happen. But, for pay-as-you-go road tax, it can't be beaten, and certainly won't cost billions like Darling's madcap plan.
This is a far better solution, IMHO ;)

Today's Sexism Watch is brought to you by shishmish (with a sly wink to strangefrontier, the world's biggest Spitfire fan): the British Dietetic Association have been talking about the decline of the brewing industry, which is, of course, at least one fifth the fault of women. Now, never mind the fact that they refer to lager and Proper Beer as if they are the same thing, where does this assumption come from that smaller glasses is the way to attract women? The idea that men drink pints and women drink halves is entirely culturally imposed. In my experience (of a ten to telve handpump real ale pub) the beer connoisseurs of either gender tend to drink halves, because that way they get to try more different beers before falling over.

Ah well, yet again, it appears I am a bloke in a female body.

In which case, as a bloke, I feel I ought to do the blokish thing and post a list. These are the not-randomly selected highlights of the Petition the Prime Minister website at the moment:

Good Ideas

Change Organ Donation from an "opt in" system to an "opt out" system
Make Sex Education a Foundation Subject. (I'd add to that: stop letting people opt out of it).
Enforce existing road safety laws instead of making up new ones. Actually, enforcement of existing laws rather than making up new ones would be good in a lot of arenas, but really, I'd LOVE to see some ten year old on a mini moto being pulled over by the rozzers and asked to produce his licence and CBT certificate, and questioned on why he wasn't showing L-plates... >:D
Another bike-related one: please don't use External Vehicle Control on a vehicle which is kept upright by the movement of it's wheels. If you force a car to brake with EVS, the car stops and the driver shouts a bit. If you force a bike to brake mid corner with EVS, the bike falls over and the rider dies.
If you're going to have hate crime at all, make it include ALL hate crimes, and not just some.

and, yeah, I know some of you won't agree with me on this one, but please let me have my child educated without having her indoctrinated into a religion.

Less Good Ideas

I Can't Be Arsed to Fill In an HC1 Form. Please make it so I don't have to.
Plastic glasses suck! Please don't make us drink from them!. Srsly, I prefer a proper glass too, but if it's that or close the pub?

Clearly, these people are on crack ideas

Train the Paras to use Parachutes. Not the petition starter who's on crack here, but the MOD - what's the point in having a parachute regiment that can't use parachutes?
Ban TV programmes that show things I don't like!
We'd like permission to continue mutilating our pets, please.