[england] not this time, lads

Oh well, we can but dream.

[blogfocus saturday] controversial opinions

1. David Farrer gets half the issue right on warming:

This week's newspaper reviewers were Carol Thatcher and "Comedian and Actor" Patrick Kielty. I took an instant dislike to Mr Kielty because he spent the programme squatting on one of his legs so that his shoe looked like it was scuffing the license-payers' sofa. Straightaway I had him marked down as a leftist.

Sure enough my intuition was proven correct when the subject of Al Gore's Nobel Prize for Fiction Peace was discussed. To be fair, Kielty wondered why Gore was getting a Nobel Prize for Peace. (Kielty is from Northern Ireland.) But he spoiled it all by saying that Gore was merely stating the obvious - that the world is heating up. But that's not what Gore is on about. Gore claims that global warming is primarily caused by the actions of humans - and that's certainly not accepted by all scientists.

The thing is that it is actually happening but it has been cynically seized on to the point that detractors of the cynics swing wildly the other way and deny anything is due to human agency. Remember, David, that Them is "human agency" too - not just the common man.

2. Matt Sinclair is writing about political bias at the LSE but as I commented, it has always been the way at universities, particularly if the opinion is leftist. Impartial is not a word which comes into student politics very much:

Also, the LSE is a very international university and, although I can't find statistics, I know that Israeli students do attend. This kind of massively biased language coming from Students' Union officers who are supposed to be looking after students' interests could contribute to creating a real climate of fear. We've all grown accustomed to students saying crazy things but the manner in which this extremism was expressed makes it worrying in the way a lone crank sounding off is not.

3. The Morningstar challenges lovers of good armchairs to rethink their values:

Armchairs really are the problem, I need an armchair that will keep me upright and stop me from slumping to one side while it supports my back, it also need solid arms at the right height to help me stand up. Most modern armchairs fail as they are more like bean bags with vestigial arms, I might as well sit on a bin bag filled with jelly. A lot of the fancy recliners fail for just being too low or they swivel in a way that means I can’t use them to support myself as I get up.

4. Julie is perhaps taking this obesity permission a bit literally:

Obesity 'not individuals fault' - BBC - so straight down to Greggs the Baker for me in the morning, then, it is. Yipee!

..except it appears to be a disappointingly misleading headline which is not supported by what follows - an outline of a report calling for more wide-ranging government initiatives to help in addressing the issues of obesity rather than merely assuming that people will be able to look after their own health and weight in view of the bad food stuffs which flood the market, and today's sedentary lifestyles.

I really am fancying one of those cream doughnuts by now, though...I do love cakes...and biscuits...and chocolate. I am sure half the people in this town have put on an extra stone since Greggs the Baker opened here a couple of years ago. :-)

[science quiz] about time for another

1. What name is "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" now known?

2. The prefix mega- is a millionfold in the SI units and giga- is a billion. Tera is a trillion but what is the quadrillionfold (10 to the power of 15) prefix?

3. What does CAT stand for in a CAT-scan?

4. What is 0º Fahrenheit in centigrade?

5. What is an eolic power station?

6. What is an Ishihara test used for?

7. What is panphobia?

8. Where, in a household, would you find a magnetron?

9. What would a Conchologist be interested in?

10. Which crop is attacked by the boll weevil?

Answers here

[isolation] ye olde iceland

Not too long ago there were inhabited places in Iceland that were not served by roads.

The Öraefi at Skaftafell, in the shadow of Vatnajökull glacier, was one the most isolated places in Europe, blocked on all four sides by the glacier in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the south and mighty rivers to the east and west.

The excerpt above, from Iceland Review, highlights the problem of tourism - thousands traipsing through hitherto untouched communities and landscapes and what it does to both the environment and the locals.

Though the article says that there is still a rustic welcome for the "guest", it must, by definition be different - if only in the spirit of community greed. And the behaviour of tourists generally must exacerbate that problem.

I saw an appalling instance in France many years ago where the man really did drop into Pidgin French after he'd gone through the hard business of finding an "authentic" French cafe - it was highly embarrassing.

Years ago, at a pub in Goathland, I was entertaining a young lady whose stock answer to mention of any geographic destination was: "Did that". China? "Did China last October."

How does one "do" China? Intercourse with the majority of residents in each city? How many tourists take a "been there, intercoursed that" approach?

Simplified and yet to the point article here about "the ugly tourist":

The principle reason for this aberrant behavior comes from a simple case of cultural shock. The travel industry endorses a “museum-scope” perspective by promoting traveling mainly as entertainment, not as an enriching experience of cultural exchanges.

It presents a tight schedule of sightseeing and show performances but neglects to provide an exchange program for tourists to interact actively in the local environment with the people. Therefore, the tourists expect to absorb all they can without giving up any part of themselves (set of beliefs or values) in the learning part of international exchange.

Maybe it's not just the travel industry - surely it's the purpose of the visit and in this the dollar or euro reigns.

Most people I know would bridle at being called a tourist - independent traveller sounds so much better - and yet one wonders how far the dislocation to communities and even wildlife can be countenanced.

I plan to ask the dolphins at Monkey Mia one day that very question but then I'd just be another tourist - Catch 22.

[england] swing low, sweet chariot?

The Big Day cometh:

"I'd like to be able to erase the memories of a 36-0 defeat but unfortunately they don't go away," said Vickery.

"But whatever has happened in the past counts for nothing, it's a one-off game.

"We thoroughly deserve our chance but being here is not good enough - we want to go out and perform and retain our trophy."

Ashton said in his final news conference on Friday: "All in all it's been a very good, relaxed week's training.

"There have been one or two changes tactically, which I will keep to myself for you to hopefully see tomorrow, but we're feeling good. Will there be something different from us? Maybe."

[cecilia] you're still breaking my heart

Nothing here to change this opinion. Forgive me but I still think she's spoilt.