The View from Number 80

June 1st 2004

Childhood's End - has to happen sooner or later. If there is anything humans really ought have learned by now is that mixing politics and religion is asking for trouble. The moment you are are dealing with politicians that think they are acting out the will of their particular version of god, you are dealing with the dangerous, the divisive, and the deluded. The different faiths (and the many divisions within those faiths) cannot all be right, they cannot all have the only answer as to how we should conduct ourselves. It seems that very soon after any religion is founded, it fissions, often violently. Some Christians look back nostalgically to a time when their religion was united. It never was. The earliest writings of the New Testament, Paul's letters, detail the often bitter rows among the different factions, and this was within a few decades of when Jesus was supposed to have lived. The same happened in Islam after the death of Mohammed, leading to the schism and ensuing violence between Sunni and Shiite, still bloodily reenacted to this day around the world. Given the above, what the hell do the Catholic countries think they are doing, attempting to enshrine Christianity in the European Union Constitution? The present draft form of words "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe" is more than enough. To mention one faith in particular is pointless and exclusive. To hark back to the idea of a united Christendom is to hanker after something that never was - on the rare occasions when there was partial unity it was to go on Crusades, which have been rightly described as the last of the barbarian invasions.These Catholic countries, (Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) encouraged by a non-EU member, the Vatican, should not attempt to impose their Christian bias on those of different faiths and none. Spain, after the recent change of government, has left the catholic flock on this issue. Quoted in the Guardian, Spain's Foreign Minister said "Spain is a Catholic country, but in the European constitution our government is rather secular, and in this sense we want to respect the text as it currently stands." The Catholic church should stand clear of secular politics - how Europe frames its constitution is no business of the old man in the Vatican. The whole idea that a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels should be sidetracked with this irrelevant silliness is almost beyond comprehension, when other, pressing matters of voting rights and budgets urgently need their attention. To quote Arthur C Clarke, religion is a "disease of infancy" and it is high time the 21st century European Union grew up and left faith out of politics.    (Look here for various opinions on this subject. Also see Operation Religious Bigot and find out how the poll on the frankly daft question "Should the Lordship of Christ over Europe be recognised in the proposed EU Constitution?" is going. Not too well for the bigots, 80 is very happy to say)

By Olympian Zeus! - preparations are in full swing for the Olympic Games in Athens this summer. Much will be made of the Games returning to their spiritual homeland of Greece, where the original ancient Games were staged in Olympia (where else?) from at least 776 BCE until 343 CE, when they were closed down by Emperor Theodosius the Great, as being a pagan religious festival. By then the Christians were in charge and athletics were considered too much a part of pagan culture - although violent chariot races, another pagan legacy, complete with rioting supporters, were apparently acceptable. We will be hearing a lot this summer of the ancient Greeks' gifts to the world but one factor, according to this article, is being glossed over. “The ancient Greeks invented logic, science, medicine and philosophy and built the Parthenon. Are you telling me they didn’t know what they were doing when it came to religion?” So says one of a group of modern Greeks who still follow the old pagan religion of the Twelve Olympians, presided over by Father Zeus, King of the Gods. They have been trying to have the authorities recognize their religion officially and also have " sought court injunctions against the commercial exploitation of their religious symbols by organisers of Athens 2004" - sadly with no success. In fact "In some cases they even face prosecution for participating in an illegal cult" which seems very unfair. It would appear that Orthodox Christianity, the particular flavor of that faith adopted by Greece (and possibly now by 80's favorite upper-class twit, Charlie Windsor) will not tolerate any competition from this far older faith. The pagans interviewed are, in turn, not that impressed with Christianity, "which they regard as an unwanted visitor to Greek shores. “Christianity was the first form of globalisation,” said Doretta, a writer." It seems a shame that these pagans are not allowed to follow their beliefs, as they are certainly no dafter than Christianity (which has borrowed so much from paganism) or any of the myriad "true" religions we humans have dreamed up over the millennia.

Empty-Headed on Mars - sometimes it is a very good thing to have a temporary change of perspective, particularly so when the news is full of humankind's latest idiocies and cruelties. The Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) site is a haven when a bigger picture is needed - and astronomy supplies the biggest pictures of all. From the finest Hubble images of distant galaxies as in the superb Ultra-deep Field, (also see Ironic? and Deep Field Reflection) to images of the worlds in our Solar System, including our home, the blue planet. The only problem is the sheer amount time spent browsing these images, but it is not time wasted, for you are reminded of one of humankind's more worthwhile ventures, the ongoing scientific exploration of our amazing universe. The captions at APOD are short and informative, just explaining enough in order to let the images speak for themselves. Occasionally a little whimsical humor creeps in and is all the more welcome because of its rarity - pictures like these don't need snappy quips as a general rule. Today 80 was browsing APOD and found one bizarre image of a Martian crater taken by the hardworking and now largely unsung Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 1997. The crater in question is called Brain Crater, because the crater floor, surrounded by dunes, has a rippled texture reminiscent of the surface of the human brain. The writer of the caption even has an idea who this "brain" belongs to. "...this brain-terrain on Mars spans about a kilometer, making it just about the right size to fit inside the rock formation once dubbed the Face on Mars." No wonder the so-called Face looks so vacant, his brain is lying in a crater miles away - why, the poor fellow is as brainless as the Face on Mars proponents themselves. (Also see Aliens about Face)

June 3rd 2004

Whited Sepulchre - there is an unhealthy and increasing tendency for the Catholic Church to attempt to influence the outcome of elections and interfere in government, from withholding communion (reg rqd) in the US from politicians that do not toe the church's line on issues such as abortion, to trying to influence the wording of the European Union constitution. Now the Catholic church in England and Wales has issued a pamphlet "urging voters to judge candidates for the local and European elections on their moral stances." as this BBC report puts it. The title of the booklet is "Cherishing Life" and warns of a "slide into a culture of death". This is somewhat ironic from a bunch who prominently display a bleeding man nailed to a cross in their churches, and hang a miniature version of this grisly talisman around their necks. (By the way, it is considered very bad form to point at the crucifix and ask, "Who's that, Spartacus?") Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the church's leader in England and Wales, said "We are creating the culture that diminishes life and that is a terrible thing." This is from a man whose organization lies about the efficacy of condoms in combatting the spread of AIDS, who would ban abortion, driving desperate women to seek illegal and dangerous methods of termination, yet also bans contraception and sensible family planning. And to cap it all, this Cardinal addressing us all from his high moral ground is the same person who covered up the abuse of children by paedophile priests, in particular a Father Michael Hill. The then Bishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor moved this pervert to another parish when allegations were levelled against him, giving Hill a fresh chance to prey on children unaware of his past. Did O'Connor do the moral thing and resign after this astounding behavior became known? Hell, no, but he was fast enough with weasel words "I would agree we haven’t had in the past sufficient compassion for those who’ve been abused." As Margaret Kennedy, the founder of the Ministry and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors group, quoted here by the Scotsman, said at the time this news became public "He should resign. I don’t think the church was naive. It was well aware of the abuse. For years there has been a policy of moving these priests around." Did he give no thought to the suffering victims?  He was likely far too busy covering tracks to protect his church. A man of his record, a high-level operator in a non-democratic, sexist, authoritarian organization, has an unbelievable arrogance to give others moral advice or to attempt to influence democratic elections. He is, to borrow a phrase from his religion, a whited sepulchre, pure on the outside and corrupted within. A child dying of AIDS, a child starving to death, a young girl in agony following a backstreet abortion - these are the images to bear in mind when this "man of God" tries to tell the British how to vote.

Quote - "I knew all this politics crap would be brought up, we all agreed that Fahrenheit 9/11 was the best movie of the competition." Quentin Tarantino on the choice of Michael Moore's film for the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or. And this from the UK Guardian "The French appeared to have delivered another blow to George Bush's war on terror by awarding the Palme d'Or to Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's documentary about the US president's foreign policy and war in Iraq. But it was a jury with just one French member and four Americans which gave the top prize at the Cannes film festival to a documentary for the first time since 1956." On  the lack of a distribution problems caused by Disney in the US Moore told the BBC "I would be surprised within the next 24 hours if we don't have somebody, Miramax has been fielding calls all day."

Beyond Belief - here is a good piece from the Skeptic website about the unbelievably murky background to a Columbia University study published by the Journal of Reproductive Medicine (and amazingly still posted on their site) that claims that intercessionary prayer significantly increased "pregnancy rates in women being treated with in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET)." The story involves fraud, identity theft, arson, you name it. (Of the three authors one will not answer calls, another claims his involvement was merely editorial and number three seems to have been a very busy boy indeed) It also leads one to wonder why the truck-sized holes in the so-called "Prospective, double-blind, randomized clinical trial" procedure went unnoticed. Many news sources were keen to publicize the apparently miraculous outcome of the study - how many actually report its subsequent total debunking remains to be seen. Outside of the skeptical journals and websites, practically none would be 80's guess. The only reason the "practically" is there is that it does make for a good, sensational story - but don't take 80's word for it - read it for yourself.

June 5th 2004

Crying Wolf and Little Fish - the UK news is full of the forthcoming extradition of a radical Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza, to the US on various charges, including involvement with hostage taking in Yemen. In fact he has been fighting the UK's attempts to strip him of his citizenship and deport him to Yemen for some time. (see Not Wanted Anywhere). This long drawn out process has now been leapfrogged by the American request that he be extradited. The odd thing is, why now? This website, Yemen Gateway, has had substantial details of Abu Hamza's Yemen activities for years. The Abu Hamza move, announced by none other than US Attorney General John Ashcroft, seems to tie in with Ashcroft's announcement yesterday, May 26th, that al Qaeda intended to "to hit the United States hard". Oddly, such a dire warning was not accompanied by any increase in the confusing color-coded threat level alert system. Some have pointed to President Bush's plummeting poll results and the need to promote him as the Commander-in-Chief in time of war as a reason for the warning. If indeed Ashcroft's two announcements are connected, this may well be a cynical attempt to press the American electorate's fear button once more. Perhaps Ashcroft et al are unfamiliar with the tale of the boy who cried wolf so often merely to attract attention, that when a real wolf showed up his cries were ignored. Tellingly, a terrorism expert interviewed by BBC Radio 4 classed Abu Hamza as a noisy rabble-rouser, not one of the big fish at all. Whatever size of fish he is, the British will undoubtedly be glad to see the back of him.

Quote - "I for one do not want to leave this to the church, or archbishops, however clever and impressively bearded - not just because I disagree with the Catholic doctrine on abortion, sexuality and much else, but because I am an atheist and have looked all my life to politics, in the broadest sense, to help me find my way through the world. We may not be able to create heaven on Earth, but we can avoid hell. We can make life better for those around us, and for ourselves, with generous, ambitious and humane political choices." Jackie Ashley, writing in the Guardian, on the need for the major political parties to question where our society is going, not leaving all the comment to those who speak from a religious standpoint, which many others do not share. Morality is not something exclusive to believers - after all we humans invented all gods, and their teachings too, good or bad.

Cereal Rotter - it is impossible to know what the health-obsessed founder of the Kellogg cereal empire, John Harvey Kellogg, would make of some of the firm's present-day products. This article in the Guardian, prompted by a shocking House of Commons select committee report on obesity, looks at the marketing methods used to target youngsters. The example used to illustrate the food industry's complicity in the prevalence of obesity is Kellogg's Fruit Winders, which won the less-than-coveted Tooth Rot award by virtue of being one third sugar. Kellogg's promotion of the product emphasizes the fruit content but that is far from the whole story. The group that gave them the Tooth Rot award, an independent panel of 800 parents, set up by the Food Commission to look at children's food marketing said "Kellogg's Real Fruit Winders do contain real fruit, but it has been processed and supplemented with sugar, hydrogenated fat and other ingredients with little nutritional value." The marketing methods employed by the food giant uses a combination of "viral marketing" and "underground communication" to sell directly to kids. A look at the Fruit Winders website now shows a somewhat cruder tactic - hidden in random packs of the sugary stuff is a £5 pound note (US$ 9.00 approx) as a cash incentive. John Harvey Kellogg, a puritanical old boy, would be unlikely to approve. Mind you, he had his own problems, an obsession with enemas and, as he would term it, self-abuse. This is from Wikipedia, quoting Kellogg on how to discourage masturbation "A remedy for masturbation which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment. In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement." My what a charming fellow he was. Maybe the modern day Kellogg's peddling of health-threatening, tooth-rotting sweeties to children is just carrying on a  company tradition of cruelty. (To check on your own weight the BBC have provided a Body Mass Index calculator online - this one is metric and this one is imperial - for those who think the metric system is part of a fiendish European plot.)

June 7th 2004

Psychic Stud - It may be a result of unsympathetic editing or space considerations but 80 is at a loss to know quite what the point is in this little item by Colin Wilson, explaining his belief in the paranormal. It certainly isn't news, as Wilson's fascination with the irrational goes back many years - 80 has a copy of his monumental work on anecdotes and gullibility, The Occult, from 1979. It is subtitled The Ultimate Book for Those Who Would Walk with the Gods although, after looking through its pages after many years, The Ultimate Book for Those Who Would Believe in Any Old Cobblers is more accurate. This recent, very short, piece describes his early acceptance of the supernatural, until, at the age of ten, he tells us "I was seized by a new passion – science". Apparently not seized quite firmly enough, for he continued to read about "ghosts and reincarnation". Then he met the poet, mystic and author Robert Graves who "told me he thought many young men use a form of sorcery to seduce women. I instantly understood what he meant. I believed practised seducers use something akin to telepathic hypnosis. Indeed, I had found that if ever I was strongly attracted by a girl, I merely had to fix my mind intently on seduction and it would sooner or later occur, as if I had set in motion some chain of ‘magical’ force." This sounds like an old man's wishful thinking, and surely only convincing evidence of the paranormal to Wilson (or Horni-Wan Kenobi) himself. Someone who believes that they really possess such astounding occult power but who then uses it to seduce women for sexual gratification (in his dreams), is less than admirable (and very likely on the Dark Side.) It is painfully obvious a few more reincarnations are in order for this occult, septuagenarian lecher to get this out of his system.  

Hello Polly - or the story of dead technological parrot that won't lie down. Where on earth does the British Home Secretary, David Blunkett, get his technical advice? The UK has a penchant for locking people up, the prison population is one of the highest in Europe and places a great strain on resources. Instead of examining the reasons for this, Blunkett appears to be looking at technological fixes to help him out. Two ideas have been suggested, one being a satellite-based tagging system using the Global Positioning System (GPS) which is "is to be tested in England and Wales later this year to track the whereabouts of serious offenders at all times." according to this article. It is claimed such a technology has been used with success in the US, which is certainly more than you can say about the second techno-fix mooted, the polygraph. It seems that Blunkett wants "to introduce compulsory lie detector tests for the first time for convicted sex offenders released from prison." Incredibly, "The lie detector pilot scheme is seen as an effective means of providing reassurance about an offender's inclination to commit a further crime so that action could be taken." Such optimism is based upon "the results of a small voluntary pilot scheme in the north-east has shown their use was welcomed by probation staff involved in supervising sex offenders." Probation staff "welcoming" the use of the polygraph is hardly a good enough reason to smile upon the technology - all it proves is that they are as woefully misinformed of the test's inadequacies as Blunkett. Even 80, with a tiny fraction of the resources available to the UK Home Office, has found many good reasons to doubt whether lie detectors work as advertised. How about a serial killer who was on the loose for 17 years and who successfully passed TWO polygraph tests? As 80 wrote back in August 2002 "The bottom line is that too many sections of society are still enamored of a quick technological fix for problems and the polygraph fits the bill - even if it doesn't work." For more, see 80's previous polygraph paragraphs, The Pinocchio Error, A Better Detector and Lying Test. It is to be hoped that Blunkett does some more homework on this before spending tax money on an unreliable (to put it mildly) testing regime. For another view of the effectiveness of polygraph testing see this page from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) as part of their intriguingly titled Government Secrecy Project.

Quote - "It's not science. It's not technology, But it's sometimes effective theater." Steven Aftergood of the FAS talking to Wired about the polygraph.

June 8th 2004

D is for Dunce Day - the Daily Mirror, a British tabloid newspaper, has published a survey asking "1,000 under 25s across the country what they knew about the Allied invasion of France in 1944". The answer is, despite school history lessons and near saturation coverage in the media, marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day, practically nothing. It seems that "Only six per cent correctly answered all seven questions" in the survey - none of which is particularly daunting. Answering the question "During which world war did D-Day happen?" one dunce, to use the Mirror's appelation, said "Was it World War I? This is really embarrassing." It is more than embarrassing - if these young folk are truly representative, then it is very worrying indeed. Not only does it reflect badly on the National Curriculum in British schools, it is also a worrying sign for the future. Another dimwit, who, according to the Mirror summed up many youngsters' apathy, had this to say "It's not important though, is it. It's past so there is no need to keep remembering it." Perhaps he, and his fellow ignoramuses, should be given a short sentence to write out one thousand times, in the hope that the message sinks in. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905

Ghostbusters say 'docks haunted' - runs the BBC report while the Scotsman comes up with Ghostbusters 'Find Proof of Paranormal Activity' at Navy Base. 80's first reaction is, they would say that wouldn't they? They have to justify their silliness somehow. It seems that Devonport naval base in the UK has been the scene of reported hauntings, centered around the so-called Hangman's Cell (where else?) supposedly the scene of many Napoleonic-era executions. Instead of ignoring these stories the Royal Navy allowed 10 "ghostbusters" to look into things, and they have managed to convince themselves, if no one else, that the cell in particular was paranormally "very active". How this was achieved, whether by instruments or just by feeling a bit spooky is not made clear. Speaking to the BBC, one of the psychic sleuths, "team leader Carole Bromley, known as Goldy" said she had seen a young girl and "quite a few figures" on the base, as if this proves anything beyond the fact that she sees things. The report goes on to say "The paranormal researchers brought toys and blackboards for child ghosts to play with." The only child-like thing here is the faith of these ghostbusters in the existence of their quarry. "They also set up objects, including a made-up bed, balls, marbles and furniture in an attempt to detect poltergeists" Oddly enough, when 80 heard of this story the first thing that came to mind was "balls". Prior to the investigation the base commander, Charles Crichton, had said "The people who walk here report spiritual activity to me all over the place - it's rampant." This is obviously one of those very rare occasions when the word rampant actually means "mind-numbingly stupid". It is not clear whether the team of ten ghostbusters, who spent a couple of nights on the case, were paid for their efforts. Maybe the sheer thrill of people actually appearing to believe their nonsense was reward enough.

Statue Sell-Out - roll up, roll up get your trashy Christian trinkets here, before they are all gone. The Christian Supplies Store surely could not believe their good fortune (if that is really all it was) when a statue of "the Miraculous Our Lady" that they had sold to a Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre at Inala, Queensland, Australia started seeping "a rose-scented oil". Naturally the congregation took this for a miracle (and one obviously easier to achieve than say, world peace) and started buying statues of their own to leave in the church, apparently hoping that they would somehow "catch" this ability to exude oil. So far the Christian Supplies Store "has sold more than 120 statues of the Miraculous Our Lady and tens of kilograms of rosary prayer beads to devout Vietnamese Catholics." The store manager, a Mr Salvati (salvation! another miracle!) happily announced "We have 10kg of rosary beads coming in tomorrow and about 20 dozen more statues, but I don't expect them to last long. I would estimate that we have sold between $6000 and $10,000 worth of stock because of this." It is refreshing for the real purpose of religious relics to be acknowledged in this way - nothing to do with prophets but everything to do with profits. (In a similar oleaginous vein see Holy Oily Jesus)

June 11th 2004

Real Heroes - while we are busy worshipping our favorite pop, sports or movie stars, playing peeping tom with reality TV nonentities, or listening enraptured to a TV evangelist in a $1000 dollar suit, perhaps we should spare a thought for those who are truly deserving of admiration, yet whose bravery, exploits and achievements pass practically unnoticed, and who never get invited onto the big talk shows. Medecins Sans Frontieres "is an international humanitarian aid organisation that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 80 countries. In countries where health structures are insufficient or even non-existant, MSF collaborates with authorities such as the Ministry of Health to provide assistance. MSF works in rehabilitation of hospitals and dispensaries, vaccination programmes and water and sanitation projects. MSF also works in remote health care centres, slum areas and provides training of local personnel. All this is done with the objective of rebuilding health structures to acceptable levels." Surely there is nothing there that even the most rabid zealot could object to, and yet on Wednesday five MSF personnel were murdered while trying to bring a little sanity and medicine to the people of Afghanistan. They were Hélène de Beir: Belgian national, Project Coordinator Willem Kwint: Dutch national, Logistician Egil Tynaes: Norwegian national, Medical Doctor Fasil Ahmad: Afghan national and Translator Besmillah: Afghan national, Driver. All killed by the Taliban, who fired on their car. A spokesman for the killers told Reuters, "We killed them because they worked for the Americans against us using the cover of aid work. We will kill more foreign aid workers." This moron knows nothing of MSF and how it works. Part of the strategy of these disgusting religious fanatics is to target aid workers in an attempt to undermine any chance of reconstruction. They do not give a damn about the health needs of the people they lately misruled. If they can drag Afghanistan back to the middle ages that would suit them fine. Scum like the Taliban can only exist in a climate of violence and fear, their record as as a government is more than enough evidence of that. So these great heroes, these mujaheddin, murder unarmed civilians whose only crime is to help the Afghan people. Real heroes do not go around waving kalashnikovs, slaughtering innocents. The real heroes are the five people they murdered, and their co-workers in MSF and other humanitarian agencies, not these deranged, self-appointed killers.

Update  - to the above. MSF is suspending its operations in Afghanistan. According to a spokeswoman "In the coming weeks we will analyse this event in-depth, but for the moment our priority is to take care of those most affected by this tragedy." The Taliban, those mighty warriors, can feel really proud of themselves, denying women and children desperately needed medical care.They are beneath contempt.

Pentagon Polly - America's former darling among the Iraqi exiles has been accused of passing information to the Iranians about the US ability to read their secret ciphers. According to the New York Times (reg rqd) "Federal investigators have begun administering polygraph examinations to civilian employees at the Pentagon to determine who may have disclosed highly classified intelligence to Ahmad Chalabi", who is supposed to have given this intel to Teheran. The claim is that a drunken Pentagon employee told Chalabi of the code breaking coup. Apart from the debate over whether this story is true or a smear campaign aimed at Chalabi, whose face no longer fits, employing a lie detector to determine the truth is a pointless procedure - it doesn't work in any reliable fashion. The only value it will have is in intimidating those questioned - and then only if they believe the thing works. A sort of faith-based interrogation. See Hello Polly.

Enter The Amazing Randi - stage left. According to this news item James Randi is offering a million dollars to the Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre in Inala, Queensland, Australia, if they can prove their idol seeps miraculous oil. (see Statue Sell-Out) Now this should be interesting....

Dr Debunko - is here! Who he? You may well ask, if somewhat ungrammatically. He is an amalgam, is the correct, if somewhat obscure answer - to know more look here and then here.

The Big Lie - Southern Baptist style. If you repeat a lie often enough and forcefully enough then those who are too lazy to check on the facts for themselves will end up treating it as gospel. And gospel is the right word, as this particularly applies to the loonier end of the Christian spectrum in the US, who never tire of portraying themselves as an oppressed minority. In particular they claim the public school system is against their religion, although it is notable that they don't give a damn whether anyone else's religion, or lack of it, is threatened. The usual whining about this illusory campaign to oppress Christians in the classroom is set to become a cacophony at the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis. But all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, including a resolution to be submitted to the Convention that will urge 16 million Southern Baptists “to remove their children from the government schools and see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education.”, will not change the fact that the accusations levelled against those schools do not hold water. In this article Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center takes a dispassionate look at their complaints and comprehensively rebuts each one. Sadly this is unlikely to make any difference. This illusion of persecution that these Christians claim is taking place actually strengthens the bonds within their church, and makes them circle the wagons. They draw great comfort from a totally inaccurate analogy with the persecuted early Christians and are unlikely to let go of such a useful idea. In the promotion of religion, truth is the first casualty.

June 13th 2004

Good Censor, Bad Censor - the thought of internet censorship of some kind or another brings to mind the activities of oppressive regimes which dare not allow the free flow of information and ideas. An earlier, pre-internet version, was the Soviet Union's attempts to crack down on the spread of samizdats, an underground press that gave voice to dissidents, powered by duplicator and photocopier technology. One modern example is the Chinese authorities' net censorship of "Anything which threatens "state security, damaging the nation's glory, disturbing social order and infringing on other's legitimate rights" " including online games. A dictator trying to keep the lid on electronic dissent is the increasingly repressive, some would say deranged, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who does not want his irresponsible trashing of that country to be discussed. His government is trying to force Internet Service Providers, (ISP) to block emails that are deemed "politically sensitive, objectionable, unauthorised or obscene". The paranoid Mugabe believes that the US, Canada and the UK are using the internet to: "challenge our sovereignty through hostile and malicious broadcasts calculated to foment instability and destroy the state through divisions". (To this observer it seems that Mugabe is managing that quite well without outside assistance.) Now comes news that British Telecom (BT), the UK's largest telecoms company, is to use a technology called Cleanfeed to block internet sites. One would expect cries of outrage from civil liberties groups over this action, but the targets of the blocking are child pornography websites, a list of which has been compiled by the Internet Watch Foundation which oversees the industry. This has government backing and BT has been joined by other ISPs. Early tests of Cleanfeed have been successful and when it is in operation "Subscribers to British Telecom's internet services" according to the Guardian, "who attempt to access illegal sites will receive an error message as if the page was unavailable. BT will register the number of attempts but will not be able to record details of those accessing the sites." An altogether admirable use of the technology, but it is a two-edged weapon - how would it be used by a dictators like Mugabe, the Saudi ruling elite, or the old men that run China? Beyond this rather obvious worry, what would a theocratically-inclined administration like George W Bush's do with Cleanfeed? Would the first targets be family planning sites, pro-choice sites and gems like the Landover Baptist Church and the incomparable Mrs Betty Bowers? This may sound over the top, but Bush and chums have already started the process. What could they do if they have four more years?

Quote - from Bill Clinton, referring to the current US administration "Politics is not religion and we should govern on the basis of evidence, not theology."

Swiss Sense - after a meeting with George W Bush in which he admonished the boy over the Iraq war (although they do see eye to eye on the iniquity of condoms) and in turn received the American Medal of Freedom, Karol Wojtyla, aka the Pope, is in Switzerland at the behest of a group of young Swiss catholics. The rest of the population are not necessarily so keen according to a BBC report that "Three out of four Swiss. believe the Pope is too old for his job." and "Many Catholics here would prefer a more relaxed attitude to contraception and homosexuality." One thing is for sure, they won't get any concessions on those subjects from this increasingly doddery old man, who has been busily stacking the deck of Cardinals in order to ensure any successor will be equally reactionary. 11% of Swiss have no religious affiliation this page from Swiss Info informs us, and they have mixed reactions to Wojtyla's visit. One, Enrico Riboni, is quoted as saying "He [the Pope] has a perfect right to go where he wants, but it shocks me that the Swiss people must pay [security] costs for the visit of a dictator.” Which accords with 80's view of this undemocratic figure whose minions are increasingly interfering with democratic processes. (Riboni has a website that is worth a look, if your French is up to it.) Another, Reta Caspar, laughed "The Catholic Church is so irrational that it must remain as it is. If it starts to open up, it will collapse.” Sadly there is little chance of the church's malign influence disappearing any time soon. A final word from the godless Swiss writer Etienne Barilier, "Personally, I find religious attitudes offensive and inappropriate when they scorn human dignity and reason." 

Whopper of the Week - from Slate magazine features President George W Bush and er, what was that name? Chalabi? This is an instance of the classic Dubya distancing denial. Well, it worked over the Enron business didn't it? No, not really, George, as President practically your every word becomes a matter of public record, including the lies and evasions. Awkward, is it not?

Wigs and Crustaceans - after the business of the non-kosher wigs and subsequent bonfires (see Wicked Wigs) now it has been discovered that the water in New York contains tiny, harmless, wee beasties called copepods. So what, you may ask? Well, you see copepods are crustaceans, and God can't abide his Chosen People eating any crustaceans, be they crabs, lobster, crayfish, Dublin Bay prawns, whatever, they are just not kosher - which is a shame as they are delicious. To look on the bright side, sales of water filters are booming. To know where this divine dietary diktat originated, take a look at the Skeptic's Annotated Bible or scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the God Hates Shrimp banner - even better, do both. In passing, 80 is mulling a piece on religious dietary laws, provisionally entitled Breakfast at Epiphanies.

Idiot Proof: Deluded Celebrities, Irrational Power-Brokers, Media Morons and the Erosion of Common Sense - when someone, in this case the admirable and sharply witty Francis Wheen, writes a book with a title as deliciously scathing (and insightful) as that, you owe it to yourself to find out more. (LA Times reg rqd)

June 15th 2004

A Sense of Proportion - the UK Guardian carries a report that a "Muslims on Education" policy document, compiled by Muslim academics and educationalists, says the "state education system is failing to meet the needs of Muslim pupils and parents, according to a report calling for special classes in Islamic subjects, more single-sex education and prayer rooms in secondary schools." The document has been produced by the " Association of Muslim Social Scientists, the education and development campaign FED 2000, the Muslim College UK and the Forum against Islamophobia and Racism." It is notable the document makes once again the accusation of "institutional racism", when the subject under discussion is a pervasive religion, NOT a race. The point cannot be made strongly enough, Muslims are not a race - anyone of any race can be a Muslim. The report makes what are little short of excessive proposals that the state school system accommodate Islam. These "include reform of the curriculum to accommodate Muslim needs, recommending compulsory religious education from 14 to 16, a new A-level in Islamic studies and a teacher of Islam in all Muslim-majority state schools for Muslim pupils who withdraw from religious education." What schools so badly need today is religious education only in so far as it informs students about ALL of the world's religions AND philosophies such as humanism and atheism, in order that children can see their, and their parents', beliefs in a realistic perspective. This policy document is against mixed-sex schooling, and would like to see rooms set aside for Muslim students to pray. It also argues "strongly for the benefits of faith-based schooling". These proposals are divisive and will likely have an effect opposite to what is intended. An Islamic educational apartheid is not the way for young people to learn to be part of wider British society and will only lead to greater insularity in different communities. Children should be educated together and get to know the culture and beliefs of others. Segregated single-sex Islamic schools offer no chance of this. This report and the one issued by the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia (see Islamophobia below) are taking advantage of the fact that no politician wants to be accused of prejudice on the grounds of religion or race. The Islamic community is particularly vocal right now, but what can be learned about fairness and balance from the census figures on religious affiliations? Take England, for example, where looking at just three figures is instructive (do take the time to look at figures for other faiths and countries within the UK here). England has 35,251,244 people who profess to be Christian and 1,524,887 Muslims. Those who have no religion number 7,171,332 (and possibly more, as an additional 3,776,515 did not state any religion, or lack of it). Just glancing at those figures shows the group whose values are being ignored in the state school system are those who do not need the security blanket of a deity. How is the state school system and, by implication, the government, acknowledging this group, the second largest in the country? By allowing more faith-based schools, and by giving totally disproportionate weight to the views of religious groups, that's how. Given that almost a quarter of the entire population of the UK said on their census forms they had no religion, this rather puts the case for the Islamic lobby into perspective. Before even considering their proposals the views of those with no religion should be listened to, and the role of religion in state schools restricted to comparative religion and philosophy classes. If parents insist their children must learn whichever religion they believe to be the true one (there are so many) let them learn it in their church, mosque, temple or synagogue and not in school. Filling children's heads with myths and fairy stories has no place in the classroom. This needs repeating often and loudly, so as to be heard over the clamor of any religion demanding special treatment. (see here a fine essay by Richard Dawkins on the solicitation of "faith" or "community" leader's opinions on subjects of which they are almost completely ignorant)

Islamophobia? - a new report in the UK issued by the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, a think tank set up by what this BBC news item calls the "anti-racism organization the Runnymede Trust", claims persistent and untackled Islamophobia is rampant in Great Britain. The feeling is that not enough is being done although "schools and hospitals had become much more sensitive to the religious needs of Muslims". The Commission claims that key recommendations in its initial 1997 report have not been implemented and warns that this situation could lead to "could lead to 'time-bombs' of backlash and bitterness". The secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which was one of the groups to make submissions to the Commission, said "We have been witnessing a relentless increase in hostility towards Islam and British Muslims and it is clear that existing race relations bodies have been either unable or unwilling to combat this phenomenon effectively." In a way all of this is dodging the question. Islamophobia (in so far as it exists) is not an example of racism - it may well go hand in hand with racism, but they are not the same thing. People of every race (although in 80's view there is only one race - the human race) are Muslims. The tendency to cry racism, which the MCB has done before, does not address the problem which is more complicated than that. One factor is the number of violent attacks by Islamic militants leading up to the traumatic events of September 11th, 2001 and the steady run of shootings and bombings since then. (These would have been taking place even without Bush's idiotic invasion of Iraq - that just made a bad situation much worse.) Turn on any news channel and you can bet that the first or second item you hear will contain the phrase "Islamic terrorists" or "Islamic militants" or something similar. Stop and ask yourself, how many times a day do I hear these words? The constant drip, drip of such news reporting and the repetition of these stock phrases must surely have an effect akin to brainwashing after a sufficient time. The need to be "much more sensitive to the religious needs of Muslims" comes up against not racism or xenophobia, but plain old British reserve. With very few exceptions the British are not the types to wear their faith on their sleeves, and find overt public discussion or practice of religion (outside of a church of course, the "proper place" for such things) uncomfortable or embarrassing. For example, when Dubya gets all misty-eyed and biblical, the British (and a lot of other people) cringe. (Even the Reverend Blair knows better than to pull this stunt, though he comes close.) This is particularly true when they become aware of the fact that every aspect of life and behavior for a devout Muslim is governed by his religious beliefs. The Brits tend to compartmentalize things, football here, God there, politics there. (In fact most British men are far more fanatical about the first subject than the other two) This is, in the main, nothing more than the British being typically phlegmatic, a trait which has been the butt of the rest of the world's jokes for the last few hundred years. As Islamic immigrants have to adjust to the prevailing culture, so the British, in their turn, will accommodate the newcomers. This is always a slow process at best, which has now been crippled by the constant publicity about the violent elements of Islam. It is more inertia than Islamophobia, and it is part of the British culture. Imperfect though it may well be, life in Britain is most likely preferable to that in many immigrants' countries of origin, something perhaps less obvious to a younger generation, who are now British themselves. This is certainly not to dismiss any of the very real problems people face in a world blighted by religious terrorism and superpower arrogance, and to expect current events not to feed people's fears (phobias) is asking too much of ordinary flesh and blood. For the record, 80 tolerates ALL religions - it is respect that is out of the question. With regard to those who commit violence, the old adage applies "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins". That includes anyone else's nose too, regardless of faith, "race", football team or politics, in case you were wondering. Just to nitpick, a phobia is a fear - not a hatred, although they can be close kin - 80 finds the irrationality implicit in any religion frightening. If you wish to know more, just look at practically any page on this site. Religion would seem (as prime cause or handy excuse) to have caused more violence, cruelty, oppression, terror and intolerance throughout history than any other single human activity. It is the same today, plus our technology's much greater destructive potential. Now that is frightening. To put a label on it, 80 suffers from galloping theophobia.  (Islamophobia and the clamor for faith schools is given excellent treatment by Polly Toynbee in "Get Off Your Knees")

June 17th 2004

Nonseance - what do you think became the third most complained about TV show in Britain? The first was the screening of Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, the second was a spoof documentary on paedophilia. So what did the British viewers find so objectionable as to rank with these sensitive subjects? Derren Brown, is a superb illusionist who on his website is quoted as describing his craft "as a mixture of applied psychology, magic, misdirection and showmanship". No mumbo-jumbo for him. In keeping with this stance he mounted a seance on Channel 4 for 12 students. He told them the house where this was staged had been the scene of a mass suicide and according to this BBC report they were "terrified". Brown told them at the end the whole thing had been faked. These students must have been a uniquely gullible bunch, one wonders how they were selected and what subject are they studying, Credulity 101? Even so, they were not half as daft as those who complained. It seems the bulk of the complaints came from "church groups" before the show was even broadcast. The nature of these groups is not mentioned, but two words occurred to 80 immediately - whiny and evangelist. Whether this is correct or not, it certainly fits the profile of those people who agonize over the evil implicit in Halloween and Harry Potter books. The result of the whole proceedings, of course, is that Brown has received a load of free publicity, the 12 students are revealed as superstitious idiots, and the "Christian groups" - well, the "Christian groups", they behaved pretty much as usual.

Toytown Nazis - someone has thoughtfully sent 80 an offensive little document. The fact that it arrived on the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the day when a second front was opened up in the war to defeat fascism, was somewhat ironic. The document in question is a European election leaflet issued by the British National Party (BNP). (80 has mentioned these nazi wannabes before - see Not Wanted -Anywhere) and is an example of crude propaganda, playing, as fascists always do, on people's fear of the other, the unknown. For the BNP, the asylum seeker and the immigrant are their equivalent of the Jew in 1930s Germany, a convenient scapegoat on which to pin their hatred and their (forlorn) hopes of political power. They paint a lurid (and surprisingly well-spelled) picture of a Britain under siege from "2 million" of these invaders. But this is mere bagatelle compared to the "75 million potential migrants from Eastern Europe" who "can now walk into Britain and live here at our expense" (But see here) Furthermore, they claim "97% of all asylum applications are bogus". Naturally not one of these ridiculous assertions is backed by any references whatsoever - but then rabblerousing of this type is not dealing in fact, but in emotions, and one in particular, that of fear. One more example of this absurd hyperbole is that "the government is already planning to build five giant new cities, each the size of Birmingham, over the next 30 years to house over 5 million new immigrants." The only thing true here is that Birmingham's population times 5 is about 5 million. So, they have brushed up on their arithmetic as well as their spelling. A source of accurate information on immigration is available here from the Optimum Population Trust. Even a cursory glance is enough to establish that the BNP's propaganda is baseless. But how many people bother to avail themselves of accurate information? This article by Blake Morrison takes an in-depth look at the BNP, including an interview with one of their candidates for local elections, Trevor Dawson. Dawson does not fit the thug stereotype but seems to be a very muddled individual who believes in all manner of unsubstantiated scare stories which he uses to justify his party's policies. He relates "lurid stories of racial disharmony (rape, riots, murder, attacks with baseball bats, gangs of Asian boys grooming white girls for prostitution, etc), with emphasis on the difference between an older generation of immigrants (who worked and fitted in, just like Us) and an uppity new younger one, Them. "They're arrogant." "They've no respect for our laws." "They don't go round in ones or twos like whites do, but only in gangs." " (Here is a piece noting some of the criminal convictions of BNP members) Sad little men like Dawson are the opposite side of the coin to those who scream racism at every opportunity. Both adopt extreme positions based upon ignorance, often wilful ignorance. It is true that there is a danger of making too much of the BNP, as they are not really much of a political threat but they are useful in one way. If nothing else, their campaigning rhetoric reminds us of why D-Day happened, and why millions died to defeat fascists - theirs is an unacceptable, brutish, ignorant vision of the world that is to be rightly despised.

June 19th 2004

Hubbard's Minions - are at it again. On June 9th there appeared a worrying article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the Narconon Drug Prevention & Education program active in many schools. It turns out the program in the Bay area and elsewhere "teaches concepts straight out of the Church of Scientology, including medical theories that some addiction experts described as "irresponsible" and "pseudoscience."". It seems the creepy yet clownish "Church" is using the program as a conduit to propagate their nonsense among youngsters, under the guise of drug abuse prevention, a jesuitic stratagem if ever there was one. The destructive effects of Scientology are exhaustively detailed elsewhere (see Operation Clambake) and the idea of them pumping their particular brand of pseudoscience into kid's minds is chilling. It is claimed that Narconon, founded by L Ron Hubbard, who also gave the world Scientology/Dianetics, is " secular and that a firewall exists between it and the Church of Scientology". This is obviously a pretty leaky firewall as much that is taught by Narconon is based upon the sect's loony ideas. "Narconon speakers tell students that the body stores drugs indefinitely in fat, where they cause drug cravings and flashbacks. Students are told that sweating through exercise or sauna rids the body of these "poisons." And, some teachers said, the speakers tell students that the drug residues produce a colored ooze when exiting the body." This is utter baloney and typical of Scientologist claptrap. It is obviously a policy of theirs to infiltrate society in various ways by misrepresenting themselves. A comparatively recent example was the attempt to pass themselves off as "National Mental Health Assistance" at the scene of the 9/11 atrocity in New York, in a disgusting attempt to take advantage of that tragedy. Now a follow-up to the Chronicle report informs us, "A popular anti-drug program with ties to the Church of Scientology will be ousted after 13 years in the San Francisco schools unless it agrees to stop teaching what the district calls inaccurate and misleading information" Narconon has until June 24th to revise parts of its curriculum. Narconon has yet to say whether it will do so, although its education director, Tony Bylsma, managed to put a weaselly spin on things "We don't want to desert the kids, I'm going to decide how we're going to respond." "Desertion" by these cultists would be doing the kids a favor. In 80's view it is amazing the San Francisco authorities don't boot Narconon out altogether, on the grounds that their hidden Scientologist agenda has tainted utterly any project involving them, even peripherally. Is the SF schools district so bereft of ideas for drug abuse education that they would still entertain the thought of these people having access to vulnerable young people? Any undertakings Narconon may announce about their future conduct are worthless - deceit is a standard, and well documented, Scientology ploy. (Also see Hubbard's Bare Cupboard and click here for a free online book on Hubbard, his lies and his "Church")

Update - to the above. It seems the Scientology tactic of preying on victims of disasters, whether natural or terrorist, is now being applied to Europe. This unpleasant development will bear close monitoring. Tip, should you come across any "Volunteer Ministers" just ask them what they can tell you about Scientology's involvement in the death of Lisa McPherson.

Scientology in a nutshell - courtesy of Wired
"Hubbard's secret scriptures teach that 75 million years ago, an evil galactic overlord named Xenu solved the galaxy's overpopulation problem by freezing excess people and transporting the bodies to Teegeeack, now called Earth. After the hapless travelers were defrosted, they were chained to volcanoes that were blown up by hydrogen bombs -- and their disembodied spirits continue to haunt mankind today."

Reagan's Heir? - if you have a moment here is an insightful piece from Maureen Dowd, writing in the New York Times (reg rqd) on the efforts of Bush and pals to benefit in some way from the wave of emotion triggered by the death of Ronald Reagan. Whether one approved or disapproved of Reagan's policies, Bush is not in the same league. Attempts to portray him as in some way Reagan's modern day counterpart merely appear ridiculous and cynically opportunistic. To quote Dowd "At every opportunity, as the extraordinary procession solemnly wended its way from California to the Capitol, W. was peeping out from behind the majestic Reagan mantle, trying to claim the Gipper as his true political father. Finally, there's a flag-draped coffin and military funeral that President Bush wants to be associated with, and wants us to see." Also see Mark Fiore's animated cartoon Reaganesque - bang on target. Here is more on the same theme from Philip James writing in the Guardian "Since Bush is inviting the comparison to Reagan, lets indulge him further. The results are not favourable when you stand the great communicator next to Mr Malaprop. Reagan's one-liners are legendary; they filled a book with Bush's garbled utterances."

June 21st 2004

Fatuous Statement - of the week award goes to the book club blurb about a new title, Beyond Coincidence. This volume explores coincidences of many types from the banal to the downright odd, citing over 200 instances. The book club writer ends the usual enthusiastic description of the contents with this, "But while there have been numerous scientific studies into coincidence the book concludes that science doesn't really have the magic answer." This is because there is no "answer" - with the sheer number of people on the planet some unusual or "spooky" interactions are bound to happen - particularly when we tend to remember things selectively. The times you have thought of long lost cousin Fred that were not followed by his sudden appearance at your door are obviously far less memorable than the one time when he did. This is similar to the way a person's memories of a psychic who employs cold reading concentrate on apparent hits and not the many guesses that had no resonance or meaning for that person. Coincidences do not "mean" anything - humans are good at seeing patterns and significance in random events - especially when they are not there. The only real description of coincidences comes down to the eminently sensible "shit happens - live with it" - that is the "magic answer". (A review of Beyond Coincidence by Martin Plimmer and Brian King can be found here For more on the subject of coincidences take a look here and here.)

Is Blair Next - for the Michael Moore treatment? Even before Moore's movie Fahrenheit 9/11 is out on general release he is talking about the possible subject of his next effort. The man described in the Guardian as the "cinematic equivalent of a rottweiler" is thinking about a documentary on Blair's, and Britain's, role in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. In an interview with Reuters, Moore said "I personally hold Blair more responsible for this war in Iraq than I do George W. Bush, and the reason is Blair knows better. Blair is not an idiot. What is he doing hanging around this guy?" It would appear from the "kicking" administered by voters to Blair's Labour party in recent local and European elections that many Brits feel the same way, as even Blair and others in his party acknowledge. Whether this will alter Tony's cosy relationship with Dubya remains to be seen. Meanwhile, contacts between Blair and the possible next Whitehouse incumbent, John Kerry, are conspicuous by their absence. This is in spite of Labour's ideology being much closer to the Democrats' than the Republicans'. Whether Blair will manage to disassociate himself from Bush in the event of a Kerry win is the subject of much speculation - as is the question of whether Blair will still be in office by then. There are many in his party and the country that believe Iraq has irrevocably tainted Blair, rendering him a liability in a General Election. It may be that when Michael Moore turns his sights on Tony Blair he will find that the quarry is no longer worth pursuing.

Quote - "A church school is a church where the congregation is - as school-children are - captive. I've been asleep to this creeping indoctrination. I'm awake now." David Aaronovitch's somewhat belated  realization of the danger to British society inherent in faith-based state schooling, from the Guardian. Belated he may be, but his contribution to the debate is most welcome.

Smokin' Euro 2004 - if you were a Portuguese police officer faced by large crowds of English soccer fans at Euro 2004, which would you prefer them to have been imbibing? Beer or dope? The cops have pragmatically "decided that a stoned crowd is easier to control than a drunk one." According to this Guardian article, "Lisbon police confirmed yesterday that England fans will not be arrested for puffing on joints on the streets of the Portuguese capital, following a recommendation from the Dutch authorities responsible for policing the English during Euro 2000" It is well known that crowds fueled by alcohol can turn to violence, whereas stoners are more likely to giggle. A drunk would use a broken bottle as a weapon but a doper would prefer to turn it into a bong. Oddly enough, it is western society's legal drug of choice that is considered more of a threat to public order than a drug that is still deemed illegal. A police spokesperson summed it up thus, "If you are quietly smoking and a police officer is 10 metres away, what's the big risk in your behaviour? I'm not going to tap you on the shoulder and ask 'What are you smoking?' if you are posing no menace to others. Our priority is alcohol." This is in tune with the Dutch view that "cannabis was a positive influence on public order at Euro 2000. "Cannabis ... was part of the conditions which meant everyone had a good time." " If the police already know this, how long will it take the legislators to catch up?

Additional - to the above. It may make for a more docile soccer fan, but there is a great deal of concern about the risks of addiction to the stronger varieties of dope and also the possibility of cannabis induced psychosis. See this somewhat alarming piece from The Observer.

June 23rd 2004

Different View - two items from the BBC news pages make for an unusual picture of opinion in what is called the Islamic world. The first is a selection  of excerpts from the Arab press roundly condemning al Qaeda and its murderous activities in stronger terms than you would often read in the western newspapers. Take this example in al Bayan, from the United Arab Emirates, "It is impossible for those whose hands have been soiled by the blood of innocents to be propagators of truth and jihad, as they claim. They are propagators of falsehood, destruction and havoc." and from al Jazirah "No-one knows what is in the minds of those addicted to cold blooded murder. Their evil terrorist acts have added to the negative portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in the whole world." This is a facet of Arab opinion that does not receive anything like enough attention in the western media, in 80's view. Second is a report of the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Abdelwahed Belkeziz, who "denounced what he called the extensive backwardness of the Islamic world." He attributed the rise and spread of violent fundamentalism to a feeling of powerlessness in Muslim countries and a look at at this page "How democratic is the Middle East?" helps us understand why. (80 will be looking at the question of whether Islam is compatible with democracy in the next View) This is not to say that a lot of these unrepresentative governments have not been helped by the collusion of an oil-addicted  Western world in keeping them in power. Belkeziz told the assembled foreign ministers that their countries had a poor record in vital areas such as "education and health to economic development." and called for reform. At first glance this would seem to conform with George W Bush's call for a move to democracy in the Middle East. The problem is that in many, if not most, Muslim eyes, Bush and his administration are irrevocably tainted by the invasion and subsequent chaotic occupation of Iraq. It is likely only a new government in the US will lead to any improvement in this situation but to undo the harm Bush has done to America's standing in the world (and not just with Muslims) will be a herculean task. It is an open question whether John Kerry will be up to the job but he would have to be astoundingly incompetent to make matters worse than they are already.

Johnny B Worst - Paul Krugman, writing in the New York Times (reg rqd) about US attorney general John Ashcroft has a couple of interesting points to make, backing up his assertion that Ashcroft is the worst holder of that post in history. This may or may not be true, but Krugman does point out that Ashcroft has yet to achieve any "major successful prosecutions" in the war on terror. He also finds a pattern in that whenever Ashcroft suffers a reverse of some kind it is followed a few days later by a high profile "dramatic announcement of a terrorist threat" in order to divert attention. While this idea is not new (see Crying Wolf and Little Fish) Krugman's presentation of the case is certainly more convincing than anything Ashcroft has managed to come up with so far against alleged terrorists and "enemy combatants". The attorney general would do better to apply the kind of effort he currently uses to subpoena women's private medical records, or finding ways around the rules banning torture of prisoners, in the "effective pursuit of the war on terror." Perhaps it all comes down to the fact he is clearly not up to the job, promoted beyond his limited ability, allowing his personal obsessions and prejudices to get in the way of what he should be doing.

Satanic Superhero - this news story sounds like an episode straight out of a Marvel comic. It happened at Groena Lund amusement park in Stockholm, when a boy fell out of the gondola on a Ferris wheel and was left dangling there, 30 feet up. By a strange quirk of fate (as they say) nearby was an employee of the "Ghost House", fetchingly dressed up as a devil. More to the point, the exotically monikered Ben-Hur Pereira's other identity, when not frightening the punters with his "black body suit with flecks of red, a goatee and a silver stud in his lower lip", is that of a trained acrobat. He climbed the Ferris wheel and pushed the hapless boy back inside the gondola. (The boy was later found to be unhurt.) The episode conjured up for 80 the vision of a devout fundagelical in the same precarious position, white-knuckled and desperate, yet steadfastly refusing assistance from the Evil One at any costs. But of course, this was secular Sweden, not Bush's America.

Still Waiting - a while back 80 asked what was Boykin's role in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse affair. Lieutenant-General William G Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, you will recall, was the one who addressed church groups dressed in his uniform, claiming the war on terror was in fact a war against Satan. Al Kamen, writing in the Washington Post, (scroll down to Rewinding the Tape) is also wondering why it has been seven months since the Pentagon announced an investigation into into Boykin's speaking engagements but nothing has been heard since - and that is without an inquiry into any possible role in Abu Ghraib.................

June 25th 2004

Science, Spirituality, Superstition - and animal welfare. Plans to help a lost orca (killer whale) rejoin its family are being challenged by local native Indians, the Mowachaht-Muchalaht band, near Nootka Sound, Canada. These whales are very social marine mammals and why this one is 130 miles away from where its pod, or social group, spends the summer, off the Canadian-Pacific coast, is not known. In its search for companionship the orca, nicknamed Luna, has taken to following boats and is in some danger of injury from propellers or a collision (to say nothing of the danger to the boats). Scientists have been using this behavior to lure the creature into a floating pen, preparatory to reuniting it with its pod. The Indians have stymied this by attracting Luna away from the capture area. Their reason for this action is that the whale arrived in the area a week after the death of a chief who had predicted his spirit would return in the guise of an orca. Believing this animal to be that spirit, they oppose the scientists' plans. The Reuters headline for this story is "Science, Spirituality Clash Over Canadian Whale". They have it nearly right - all apart from the second word, which should be superstition. The Mowachaht-Muchalaht people have every right to their beliefs, but none whatsoever to impose them upon an intelligent, social, marine mammal. The need for this creature to return to its pod for social and safety reasons must outweigh the wishes of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht. There is a tendency these days to have an overly politically correct respect for anything labelled as spirituality - this attitude must not be permitted to influence events to the detriment of this animal's welfare. It is not the spirit of a deceased Indian leader - it is a 1.8 ton whale, of the order Cetacea, the family Delphinidae of the genus Orcinus orca, which is in need of human help, not human superstition.

Jurisprudence - see the latest animation from Mark Fiore featuring the Torture Team. Recommended.

Sleepy Agony - in a short piece on a Swiss newspaper's ploy of improving their team's chances against England in Euro 2004 by encouraging fans to stick pins voodoo-style into a picture of the captain, David Beckham, the reporter closes with this comment "Sometimes the magic works: Peru employed a shaman to put their Colombian opponents to sleep before a 1996 World Cup qualifier. Eerily, one of the Colombians collapsed with appendicitis before the game." Eerily, the excruciating agony of appendicitis is nothing like falling asleep - even for a soccer player.

Update - to the above. It seems the awesome power of voodoo is as effective as any other type of magic - England beat Switzerland 3-0

That Makes It Better? - after combing through old archives relating to the Inquisition's treatment of assorted "Jews, Muslims, Cathars, witches, scientists and other non-Catholics in Europe between the 13th and the 19th centuries" it is now claimed that far fewer died than had been hitherto supposed. The research, by Professor Agostino Borromeo, indicates that of the 125,000 people tried by church tribunals in Spain "only" one per cent were executed - or in 80's view, murdered. It is comforting that they were such meticulous record-keepers. This of course does not say how many others were tortured, abused and just plain scared crapless by this Holy Office. Nevertheless, this revised figure has been seized upon by Karol Wojtyla, the Vatican's increasingly frail head honcho. In 2000 he had apologised for the "unnecessary violence" of the Inquisition (which makes you wonder about his thoughts on necessary violence) but now one of his mouthpieces, Cardinal Georges Cottier, a theologian (a singularly pointless pursuit) has said "You can't ask pardon for deeds which aren't there." So if a lesser number are tortured and executed for their beliefs that makes it a little better does it?  Oh, and by the way, the Inquisition still exists - only the name has been changed to protect the guilty - it is now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, known as the "Pope's enforcer". The gangster type description is wonderfully apt as this bunch continues to threaten, silence and harass those it deems dissidents - see here for more. Contempt is too mild a word for 80's opinion of these self righteous hypocrites.

Legal Weasels - the wish to retain the "under God" phrase in the US Pledge of Allegiance (added in 1954) has resulted in some rather peculiar distinctions being made by justices in the Supreme Court. It appears that the contentious phrase, which is being challenged by Michael A. Newdow, is not what it seems, at least not to these mighty legal intellects. According to Chief Justice Rehnquist "reciting the pledge, or listening to others recite it, is a patriotic exercise, not a religious one." Then why mention a deity at all? You can be patriotic and have no superstitious beliefs - to assume otherwise is offensive to literally millions of US citizens (see this incredible exchange with George Bush senior). Justice Sandra Day O'Connor came up with a bizarre description of the phrase as used in the Pledge - it is "ceremonial deism". What in hell is that supposed to mean? "Ceremonial (adj) - Marked by pomp or ceremony or formality", seems obvious enough, but what about deism? "Deism (noun) - The form of theological rationalism that believes in God on the basis of reason without reference to revelation" is one definition - surely one that is unacceptable to most religionists. Another, more detailed one is "Belief in God that is derived solely by reason. It admits of a Supreme Being that posited order in a pre-existing chaos, but denies that He concerns Himself providentially in man’s affairs. As a clock is made and set to operate by the craftsman, so did God, in this view, fashion the universe to run mechanically and, relative to His presence, at a distance" Wow - that one would certainly not go down too well with the bible-thumpers. No miracles, no intercession, no answering of prayers and certainly no special treatment for the USA, whether the nation is under God or not. It is also obviously unacceptable to atheists and sounds suspiciously close to Intelligent Design claptrap. This business should be clear cut, but these justices are doing their level best to muddy the waters. "Under God" is a religious phrase and no mealy-mouthed references to "deism" are going to change that. Its inclusion in the Pledge automatically excludes those who do not believe in a supernatural being, whether this being pokes its holy nose into human affairs or not. And still these learned justices failed to address the real issue - does the Pledge in its present form fall foul of the First Amendment prohibition on establishment of religion? This question the Supremes have left for another day - and doubtless more verbal ducking and weaving.

June 27th 2004

Educational Debauchery - in case anyone living in the UK thinks that the teaching of creationism fairy tales to children as factual is peculiar to the more backward areas of the USA, a look at this article in the Independent will remove any smugness they might feel. "A controversial chain of schools teaching Biblical "creationism" has been given Tony Blair's personal support despite serious doubts raised by parents and teachers". Blair, described as a "committed Christian", notwithstanding his Mayan rebirthing ceremony and his wife's New Age nonsense, has backed an old school chum, millionaire car dealer Sir Peter Vardy, in a scheme to take over comprehensive schools and turn them into Christian Academies. These will be run by the sort of clowns who say things like "Clearly, schools are required to teach evolutionary theory ... Clearly, also, schools should teach the creation theory as literally depicted in Genesis. Ultimately, both creation and evolution are faith positions." No they are not, there is no evidence for any supernatural creation and plenty supporting evolution. The fact that those promoting what Richard Dawkins has called "educational debauchery" are welcomed by Blair and his government is deeply worrying. In a world that must use scientific knowledge to survive, filling children's heads with recycled Mesopotamian mythology is not only stupid and irresponsible, it is very dangerous indeed. Schools are for education - not religious indoctrination.

Remembering Reagan - in this essay from 1981 by the estimable Isaac Asimov. featuring what he terms "The Reagan Doctrine", learn the equally late, "Great Communicator's" views on religion and morality. "No one who disbelieves in God and in an afterlife can possibly be trusted." It is then instructive to look on the present occupant of the Oval Office, and reflect on just exactly how far things have progressed.

Seeking Silliness - here's an odd piece called "What's happened to weird?" from the Guardian, bemoaning the drop in manifestations of the paranormal and strange. The writer, Sean Thomas reckons ghost sightings are down, Nessie and Bigfoot are in hiding and UFOs are hardly ever seen. This opinion only goes to show that he has not been trying very hard, Nessie is not the only lake monster and UFOs appear in places other than the UK - the most recent big sighting was in Mexico. All Thomas needed to do was to look at Paranormal News (currently with 5 ghosts, a sprinkling of UFOs and a Sasquatch) or The Anomalist (ghosts, voodoo, animal mutilations and the Yeti) or even that bastion of accurate journalism, Pravda's "Science" page with headlines like "CIA and KGB were fighting for alien's dead body" and "UFO fragments yield sensational results". So, what's happened to weird? Nothing much, it is still around in abundance as humankind remains as gullible and cheap thrill-seeking as ever. To paraphrase the X-Files - the crap is out there, loads of it. All you have to do is look.

June 29th 2004

The Quranic Curses - no, this is not a new Salman Rushdie novel but an interesting take on how to deal with the corruption claimed to be endemic in the Tanzanian government and civil service. Frustrated with the failure of conventional methods of addressing this problem, Masoud Haroub Saidi, a member of parliament, has turned to the Quran for help. Handily this contains a verse that can be used as a curse to make ministers "drop dead" like locusts. Whether locusts drop dead differently from other lifeforms we are not told. Saidi reckons the Halbadiri, described in this BBC news item as an "Islamic death curse" will do the trick. Parliamentary officials have not let him carry out the threat even though "Halbadiri cannot harm a clean person. But those people who continue to commit such evil deeds will be affected" according to Saidi. In 80's view he should be allowed to proceed and the Tanzanian government and civil service will be decimated - or probably not. If it works there is not a government in the world that would be safe thenceforth, but the most likely outcome would be nothing at all, although, as is often the case with curses, any misfortune whatsoever, from a hangnail to a parking ticket, would be attributed to its baleful power. For an informative look at the Quran go here.

Quote - "Nobody denies we have an affinity with the United States, but that is a different matter from having an affinity with the president." Mary O'Rourke, leader of the Irish Senate, on George W Bush's visit to Ireland and the protests that accompanied it.

Johnny B Worst Part Two - here is more from Paul Krugman writing in the New York Times (reg rqd) about US Attorney General John Ashcroft. Ashcroft, always ready to hog the limelight with dramatic announcements about the latest arrests of so-called terorists, who then turn out to be not quite the evil masterminds he initially portrayed them as, seems to be operating dual standards. You would think a haul of "automatic machine guns, remote-controlled explosive devices disguised as briefcases, 60 pipe bombs and a chemical weapon — a cyanide bomb — big enough to kill everyone in a 30,000-square-foot building." would have had Johnny crowing all over the media - but no. The world at large knows little or nothing of William Krar and his murderous stash - why is this? Read Krugman's piece to find out a possible (and convincing) reason for this strange omission. (also see Johnny B Worst)

Land of the Free - but for how long? Wired reports on a worrying development for Joe (and Joanna) Citizen. "Pentagon Seeks U.S. Spy Powers" looks at a proposal that Congress allow military intelligence to operate in the United States. The bill would "allow Pentagon intelligence agents to work undercover and question American citizens and legal residents without having to reveal that they are government agents." The Pentagon says it is no threat to civil liberties, but a lot of people are going to need some pretty good justification for such a move. Then there is the British Medical Journal. The BMJ are not given to tabloid style headlines but they seem to have made an exception with "Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness" which sounds kind of nannyish for a Republican administration. One of the big ideas is a type of care "in the community" package, thereby saving money on mental health institutions (now that's more like the GOP). This would also involve Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) recommendations for treatment - here comes the kicker - "with newer, more expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs " supplied by big drug companies. (Right, it is a Republican program after all) This will definitely be one to watch closely, and the accuracy of the story may perhaps be gauged by the dismissal of a whistleblower, Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, who alleges "key officials with influence over the medication plan in his state received money and perks from drug companies with a stake in the medication algorithm". Also the fact that "the companies that helped to start up the Texas project have been, and still are, big contributors to the election funds of George W Bush." is surely just a coincidence. Spied on by military agents and screened for mental problems  requiring the use of expensive ie profitable drugs? Legislation helps profits to pay to keep the guys in position to legislate to help profits........... Someone is taking Joe Citizen for a sucker - and you can't get away with that sort of thing indefinitely.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time"
Abraham Lincoln 1849

July 3rd 2004

Cardinal Liar - not only has the European Union rejected a specific reference to Christianity in the European Constitution it is also taking issue with the Vatican over the Catholic church's lies concerning the efficay of condoms in halting the spread of AIDs. (see Wicked) In a BBC documentary, Panorama, European Commissioner Poul Nielsen accused the church of bigotry and "hurting and bringing into great danger the lives of millions..." It is about time the lies inspired by religious dogma are nailed once and for all. These holier-than-thou types, from their aged boss, Karol Wotjyla downwards, bang on about the sanctity of human life while in reality condemning thousands to a cruel death. The Panorama program spent six months checking references used by Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo for a paper on the subject. In fact they went even further, collecting evidence from places of heavy condom use where the church does not go (not officially anyway), the brothels of Nevada. It is evident that Trujillo used the old pseudoscientific trick of cherrypicking data out of context to support his case. This should not be surprising as the church has always been happy to bend and distort the truth in the service of its "higher aims". The conclusion of the Panorama survey is "Condoms can significantly cut the risk of HIV infection, but are not perfect or foolproof." Not perfect or foolproof - nothing in life is, but this is a very long way from the Roman Catholic church's cruel lies. It is time these old men shut up - they are guilty of nothing short of mass murder if they persist. (Here is the Panorama program page with detailed links to the research undertaken.)

Food Chain Barbie - Unfettered! - as regular readers will know, 80 is always keen to follow the ups and downs in the life of that cultural icon, Barbie. We have seen the involvement of the Saudi religious police and lesbianism (not together you understand) and the humorless and overly sensitive toy giant Mattel's attempts to shield their product from unseemly usage. Mattel's latest effort to halt Thomas Forsythe, an artist who produced Food Chain Barbie, which featured our clean-living heroine in various poses with kitchen equipment, has backfired. Beginning way back in 1999 Mattel has tried to stop Forsythe through the courts. Failing to do so in January of this year Mattel has doggedly pursued the case - only to lose again. The New York Times (reg rqd) reports that "a federal judge late last week instructed Mattel to pay Mr. Forsythe legal fees of more than $1.8 million." Ouch! This, by any standards, is a nice result for Forsythe. Yet another unintended consequence of Mattel's legal action has been to make Tom Forsythe's images well known around the planet, although the artist is somewhat ungallant about the petite blonde mannikin, "I thought the pictures needed something that really said 'crass consumerism,' and to me, that's Barbie.'' The real story is that big corporations that try to crush artists who parody their product will need to get some better legal advice than Mattel had- otherwise it can cost them a lot of money. For earlier stories of the trials and tribulations of Barbie as followed by 80 look here and here.

Dying for Democracy - the recent European Union parliamentary elections were categorized by the now sadly familiar low voter turnout. In 80's view if you don't use your vote you effectively forfeit your right to criticize those in power. Outside the western democracies there are people literally dying for the right to be enfranchised and have a say in how their country is run. A case in point are the women of Afghanistan who bravely defy religious and cultural discrimination to exercise this right as do those determined that they should have this freedom. They have great obstacles to overcome. This article (reg rqd) from the New York Times details such obstacles. In the more conservative areas women are not even allowed to leave the family home, so voter registration becomes a painfully slow process of house calls. Photo identification is not permitted and as many of the women are illiterate, they give their thumbprints instead. Even after registration problems are associated with the actual vote casting. Women that are not allowed outside can hardly walk to the nearest ballot box. A suggestion has been made that the men can collect their voting cards and take them to a polling station on their behalf - which seems to be asking for male manipulation of the women's votes. This treatment of their own mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, nieces and aunts by the men, as repressive as it undoubtedly is, seems almost benign compared to the violence inflicted by the resurgent Taliban. Recently a bus load of election workers was bombed, killing two women and injuring others seriously, including a child. The reason offered by a Taleban spokesman in this BBC news piece is " that it had committed the killings in order to stop people becoming involved in the electoral process". This shows where these scum are coming from - their actions are not solely driven by religion, although it is given as justification. The real concern is that a population that has lived under these murderous, puritanical zealots is hardly likely to vote them into power. The Taliban are scared of democracy and will kill indiscriminately to halt its advance. These oh-so-brave warriors of God are frightened of their own people. That is a testament to the power of the democratic vote. Next time someone says to you "I can't be bothered to vote, it doesn't change anything", tell them of those dying in other countries for the right that they discard so casually and so foolishly.

Update - to the above. The brave Taleban warriors have now murdered another 16 Afghan citizens, according to this BBC report. The reason? They were carrying voter registration cards. These self righteous killers are totally beneath contempt. What is infuriating is the lack of resources within Afghanistan to root out these murderers and bring them to trial. Bush's ill-considered preemptive invasion of Iraq has turned the tragedy of Afghanistan into a mere sideshow.

July 5th 2004

Wacky Windsor's Wizard Wheeze - if Charlie Windsor stuck to pontificating on his own areas of competence he would be (blissfully) silent. Sadly, no such luck. When the dilettante aristocrat isn't bleating about architecture or education or religion it is his other hobbyhorse, so-called complementary and alternative medicine (sCAM) that enables him to display the woolly process that for him passes as thought. Now he is backing the "Gerson Therapy, which eschews chemotherapy in favour of 13 fruit juices a day, coffee enemas and weekly injections of vitamins." This is total and dangerous quackery, and Windsor is criminally irresponsible to use the pulpit that his unelected, elevated position gives him to promote nonsense. He is quoted in The Observer as saying "I know of one patient who turned to Gerson Therapy having been told she was suffering from terminal cancer and would not survive another course of chemotherapy. Happily, seven years later, she is alive and well. So it is vital that, rather than dismissing such experiences, we should further investigate the beneficial nature of these treatments." Charlie, this may be difficult for you to grasp, but anecdotal evidence is not data. Before opening your mouth, why don't you, or one of your handlers if you are not up to the task, bother to see if there is any truth in the stuff you plug. The American Cancer Society's website has this to say "Gerson Therapy can be very harmful to the body. Coffee enemas have been associated with serious infections, dehydration, constipation, colitis (inflammation of the colon), electrolyte (salt and mineral) imbalances, and even death." There is no evidence that Gerson's treatment is in any way beneficial and plenty to suggest the opposite. For a multimillionaire to propose that the UK National Health Service spends scarce funds investigating treatments that are effectively worthless is, in 80's view, obscene. If you are so keen, Charlie, pay for the research yourself - oh and by the way, do shut up, unless you have something useful to contribute. (For a more detailed look at Gerson's worthless "therapy" see here. Also see A Royal Mess by Ben Goldacre in Bad Science.)

Dr WHO - still in the world of sCAM the World Health Organization has issued new guidelines on "therapies ranging from acupuncture to herbal medicines and food supplements." Astoundingly, the WHO says "unregulated use of alternative medicines can cause unpleasant or potentially dangerous reactions." and also notes "Adverse drug reactions to alternative medicines have more than doubled in three years." (Let's hope someone tells Charlie and that he understands) The full report, downloadable as a 3MB Adobe PDF file, is available here. The free Adobe Reader is here.

Federal judge in New York apologizes for comparing Bush's rise to power with Hitler, Mussolini - now and again you see a headline that just has to be a spoof, doesn't it? Apparently this was not about Bush per se, but about the subversion of the democratic process which put him in the Oval Office. Judge Guido Calabresi, 71, of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan and a former dean of Yale Law School, was commenting on the Supreme Court's role in the outcome of the December 2000 election.

Moore Profits - Fahrenheit 9/11 "has become the first documentary to top the US box office chart in its opening weekend." according to this BBC news page. Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which compiles and supplies box office statistics is quoted as saying "This blows away any conceivable box office record for a documentary." To read opinions for and against Michael Moore's opus, see this page where you can add your own reaction. Here is one point of view expressed by Sayilen from Bangalore, India, "Michael Moore bent facts to get his point of view across, resulting in entertainment. George Bush & Tony Blair did also bend facts to get their point of view across, resulting in untold misery and death to Iraqis, Americans, British soldiers & civilians." Louis, from Miami, Florida, USA made this observation "The movie was biased and mostly one-sided. However, Mr Moore has the right to air his views and speak his mind, which most of my fellow Americans seem to forget."

July 7th 2004

Blind Justice - not to mention deaf and mute.This a frightening story of a Nepalese man, whose only crime was to overstay his visa, but who fell into the Kafkaesque web of the post 9/11 US justice system. Observed videoing New York sights for his folks back home, just before his intended return, he made the mistake of unknowingly pointing his camera at an FBI office. The story of his subsequent arrest and confinement makes for deeply worrying reading. Purna Raj Bajracharya ended up spending 3 months in solitary confinement (visa violation carries the penalty of deportation) in a "6-by-9-foot cell kept lighted 24 hours a day" at a facility "notorious for the abuses documented there by the Justice Department's own inspector general" according to the New York Times (reg rqd). Ironically it was only by the efforts of the FBI agent who originally detained him, and that agent's involvement of Legal Aid in the situation, that Purna Raj Bajracharya returned home to his family. He is quoted as saying, "What happened to me could have been an isolated incident. I still believe the American government is the best in the world." But he is also "willing to testify against those who mistreated him if he were asked, though he fears what the government would do to him if he did so". Heightened security in this terrorism-blighted world is a necessity, but the treatment given this man shows we should be careful we do not lose the freedoms and standards of behavior we are fighting to preserve. That would be handing a victory to the bombers and the murderers.

Druidical Drollery - there is a lot of pressure on museums from indigenous peoples around the world to return items that have been collected/appropriated/stolen/robbed (take your pick) from them in the past, mainly during the colonial period. One famous example are the so-called Elgin Marbles, lifted from the Parthenon, and which are the focus of strong Greek demands for their return from the Britsh Museum. Also there are the many items, including body parts, of the native peoples of New Zealand and Australia and elsewhere, the return of which is the subject of dispute. In 80's view these things should be given back to those with a legitimate case - unlike the Native American's demand for the Kennewick skeleton. Now evidence has been found that connects not just the famous Bluestones of Stonehenge with what is now Wales, but also the likely builders, after an examination of exhumed tooth enamel. This fascinating discovery has had one odd, not to say silly, consequence. Dr Robyn Lewis, the archdruid of Wales, has asked that Stonehenge be returned to that country. He cites the Elgin Marbles dispute and the return of the Stone of Scone to Scotland as examples. Pretending for a moment that he is serious, let's just look at the legitimacy of his request. Firstly, while he may be called archdruid, the movement which he heads dates from the 18/19th century and has no connection whatsoever with the Celtic Iron Age wise men. Secondly, Stonehenge was built by Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures that long predated the time of the historical druids. There is no evidence of any druidical connection to Stonehenge, except in Victorian romances. They may have used what to them was already an ancient monument for rituals, but certainly had no hand in its construction. Thirdly, the island of Britain in the Bronze Age is hardly likely to have been divided along national boundaries such as England, Scotland and Wales. To project our modern national borders into the distant past is an example of anachronistic thinking and, not to put too fine a point on it, daft. Lewis's seriousness may perhaps be gauged by the picture that appears in this BBC report, (scroll down) which shows the bespectacled archdruid wearing what looks suspiciously like the high priest's costume from Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark - which incidentally matches modern druidry for historical authenticity.

Look At Me, Look At Me! - it has been revealed that David Beckham's famously bendy penalty shot in the Euro 2004 soccer match against Portugal was not his fault. Desperate, as usual, to be noticed, conjuror and so-called psychic Uri "look at me" Geller claims it was he that caused the ball to curve in the wrong direction, by inaccurate transmission of "positive energy", according to British tabloid, The Sun. The only energy Geller possesses fuels a seemingly infinite craving for publicity, good or bad. As his star has faded he spends more and more time associating himself with celebrities in the news in the hope that some of their fame will rub off on him. Whether he is sharing newsprint with Michael Jackson, David Blaine or David Beckham, this tiresome, childish clamor for attention merely emphasizes what a sad individual he is.

July 9th 2004

Without a Prayer - a short while ago 80 mentioned that Skeptic.com had an article on a fraudulent Columbia University intercessionary prayer study, published by the Journal of Reproductive Medicine (JPR). The paper has now, finally, disappeared from the JPR website. At the time 80, in an uncharacteristically cynical observation, wondered how many of the mainstream press would run the story and said "Outside of the skeptical journals and websites, practically none would be 80's guess." although the story's sensationalism could tip the balance. Now Time magazine has a good in-depth report on the whole murky business by Leon Jaroff, examining how a respectable university and a prestigious journal could print what, in the final analysis, was total hogwash. Alarm bells began to ring when one the paper's authors, Daniel Wirth, far from being the standard image of the objective scientist "was not a medical doctor — he has a law degree and a masters degree in, of all things, parapsychology." and had previously published "many research articles claiming miraculous, supernatural healing." Read Jaroff's piece to unravel this highly embarrassing story. It is likely that Columbia University and the JPR are in need of a little intercessionary prayer themselves right now, to make the whole mess go away. (An archive of Jaroff's column, The Skeptical Eye, features much that would interest readers of 80's pages, including psychics, health supplements and dowsing - recommended)

Polio Fiasco - when Islamic authorities halted the World Health Organization's (WHO) polio vaccine program in the north of Nigeria, thwarting the aim of eradicating the disease in that country by 2005, the clerics cited fears that the vaccine would damage children, spread the AIDS virus and/or affect women's fertility. In June of this year the WHO announced the good news that the jabs were to resume in the northern state of Kano. According to the BBC news the interruption of the program had contributed to the reinfection of "Ten previously polio-free African countries" including Darfur in Sudan, where the population are already on the receiving end of their own government's genocidal attacks. Now hopes that the injections could resume have been dashed by the revelation that the sterile water used in the vaccines is not safe. Nigeria's Food and Drug Administration tested nearly 150 brands (none produced in Nigeria itself) and found only two that were sterile and safe to use. The testing had been triggered by reports of adverse effects and cloudiness of the supposedly sterile water. This could prove disastrous, and may well be taken as proof of their original accusations by the religious leaders in Kano. The news could have even wider repercussions as supplies of the contaminated vaccine are likely not confined solely to Nigeria. If the Nigerian findings are correct, and the director of the agency, Dr Dora Akunyili stands by them, the suppliers of the tainted water should not only be named and shamed, but prosecuted for their negligence. Incredibly, Dr Akunyili seems to think the reverse may happen and her agency could be on the receiving end of legal action by the suppliers. She told the BBC "We have the samples - If they challenge us, we will disgrace them in court." As ever, the ones to suffer most from this chain of events are the children, it is estimated "257 Nigerian children who have been paralysed by polio since the start of this year." The boost to the irrational anti-vaccination lobby is another consequence of this fiasco giving them, for once, a real reason for their paranoia.

Update - to the above. A suspected polio outbreak in Kano is currently being investigated by the World Health Organization.  

July 11th 2004

Warning - Ignorance Kills - reports such as this one from BBC news headlined Medicines 'killing 10,000 people' quote a British Medical Journal (BMJ) paper as saying that adverse drug reactions are the reason for this toll of death. Even though there are reassuring phrases such as "Millions of people take medicines every year without experiencing any problems." the overall effect of the headline verges on scaremongering. Chief among the culprits are the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which are not only prescribed in huge quantities, but are also available, without prescription, from pharmacies and supermarkets. It is likely that many patients are unaware that the pain-killers they buy over the counter are the same as their prescription medicine, and by taking both they are placing themselves at great risk. This is not to say that there is no problem with adverse drug reactions - there obviously is, but patients themselves should at least attempt to inform themselves exactly what is in the tablets they so readily swallow. Hard pressed family doctors can only do so much in the short time they have with a patient, and educating them all is just not feasible. This piece in the Times looks at another factor contributing to the BMJ's alarming statistics. More and more people are taking so-called "complementary" medicines that can seriously complicate the effects of their prescription medication. Often a doctor will not ask a patient if they taking health supplements or herbs, and patients do not seem to volunteer that information. With the doctor this is unforgivable, even with the time constraints on consultations, and should be remedied. With the patient it is a different story, in that a large part of the advertising budget for health supplements, particularly herbal and traditional remedies, goes into how "natural" they are. In many consumers' minds natural equals safe, a very dangerous assumption indeed, especially as many of these remedies manage to dodge the legislation that applies to pharmaceuticals. The BMJ reports that one in five patients taking the common anticoagulant, warfarin, were also taking complementary medicines. A Somerset general practitioner told the Times, “What was really striking was that one in five people is taking something and nine out of ten are not discussing it with their doctor. If complementary medicines were perfectly safe and had been thoroughly tested, there wouldn’t be a problem. But most of these medications remain untested and unresearched. This is potentially very dangerous.” If ever there was a case for health supplement and herbal therapy testing and regulation this is it, even though the hugely lucrative complementary and alternative healthcare industry squeals like a stuck, and very fat, pig about "loss of patient choice". Loss of profits is nearer the mark, as these firms are as greedy and rapacious as any of the big pharmaceuticals and wish to avoid the expense of regulation.There should be a level playing field in the testing and regulation of both conventional pharmaceuticals and the "alternatives". Both positive and negative outcomes of such testing should be published, so as to allow intelligent choices to be made by healthcare professionals and their patients. An added benefit of testing "alternatives" is that if they work as claimed they can be added to a doctor's armoury, and if they don't, good riddance.

Street Theater - as if confirmation were needed, the LA Times (reg reqd) reports on the famous toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad last April, as a put up job by a US army psychological operations team. Even at the time it was remarked that the crowd in the background looked more like a few idle bystanders, rather than a mob celebrating the advent of democracy. It seems an unnamed psych. ops. colonel saw the statue as a "target of opportunity" and eventually used a Marines' recovery vehicle to haul the effigy to ground, having thoughtfully packed that vehicle with "with cheering Iraqi children." 80 feels disillusioned by this revelation but it was only a statue - we still have the big serious stuff like WMDs and al-Qaeda links, don't we? At least that's what Honest Uncle Dick says....

July 13th 2004

Rupert Must Be So Proud - that paragon of responsible, accurate reporting, Fox News, has come into 80's view a couple of times recently. Last month the British TV regulator, OFCOM, took it to task for breaching broadcasting rules in a rant that accused the BBC of "frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Americanism". OFCOM accused Fox of failing to show "respect for the truth" and warned the Rupert Murdoch-owned news network that "opinions expressed must not rest upon false evidence". Fox came to the notice of OFCOM's predecessor, The Independent Television Commission, last year, for failing to meet strict "due impartiality" rules. In that episode the ruling was apparently watered down because "Fox News could justifiably claim to have achieved a level of accuracy and impartiality that was appropriate to its audience in the US, where different rules apply." The fact that this was offered as an adequate excuse should be very worrying to anyone concerned about the quality of news reporting in the US, particularly regarding the invasion of Iraq and its justification. The other Fox item 80 spotted was much more in Fox News' true area of competence - a mindless gush piece about how "Jesus chic" is the style to wear after " "The Passion of the Christ" craze at the box office." 80 immediately had a vision of a model on the catwalk wearing a long robe, sandals and bleeding profusely from hanging strips of scourged skin. Happily, outside of 80's fevered imagination, the wish to copy the look of Gibson's Jesus only applies to the clothes, albeit with barely a nod towards authenticity (like the movie, see Authentic Lethal Passion?). It seems "A slew of designers and boutiques have been jumping on the Jesus bandwagon, offering everything from T-shirts to belts paying homage to the Lord." Anyone worried about the inaccuracy of New Testament T-shirts or the lack of any kind of taste involved can take comfort that admirable and no doubt saintly "celebrities from Madonna to Pamela Anderson have been spotted sporting the Jesus chic wear." All this unseemly taking of our Lord's clothes in vain has upset the anti-pornography Christian website XXXchurch.com. The founder, Craig Gross is quoted by Fox as saying "A lot of people are wearing them not because they want to display their relationship with God, but because it’s the cool thing to do." Gross needn't worry too much - it is not cool, it is deeply sad - but then, in 80's view, so is going around "displaying your relationship" with God. Fox kindly gives Gross the last word on the current craze " I don’t think there’s much spiritual significance in the popularity of the Jesus junk." Which tidily, if unwittingly, also sums up Gibson's box office hit. (80 looked at Fox and its role in the Apollo moon hoax silliness in Hollow Fox Abduction)

No Connection - after extensive research 80 can confirm that the "Jesus chic" mentioned above was in no way inspired by the scandalous Jesus Dress Up website.............probably.

Link Kinks - now and again 80 receives requests to link to other sites -  but a few of these requests obviously emanate from folks who have not bothered to check the kind of content 80 runs. When this happens the request is treated as spam, as it is unsolicited email. A few will receive a polite reply pointing out the unsuitability of such a link - as in the case of a Native American Prophecy group whose powers obviously failed when it came to predicting 80's view of such things. Others have received harsher treatment such as an "occult fiction author" and a "John Travolta webmaster". The latter is particularly odd as the writer claimed to have visited my "John Travolta website" which was in fact Time Travel Clams. 80's Travolta paragraph reads like this "It is a failing in the modern world to pay overly much attention to the attitudes and opinions of movie stars, pop stars and the like. Just because someone is gifted as an actor, singer or dancer does not automatically imply that they have wisdom or knowledge in other fields - they may indeed do so but it should not be assumed purely because of their celebrity. Which preamble brings to mind John Travolta, Tom Cruise and their well-known association with the so-called religion of Scientology." This was followed by a less than flattering look at that unpleasant and dangerous cult. Another request was from "Psychic Central" who earned their own paragraph in 80's newsletter and the description of their site owner as a knucklehead - see here. The latest totally inappropriate link request arrived the other day, and is from www.5starpsychicadvice.com apparently run by a Pamela Rivette or a P J Sawyer (or both). After a little spiel about how linking to his/her site would help with 80's Google ranking, comes the site info "Live Verified Authentic Psychics And more $1.00 - $2.50 per. Minute" If Rivette/Sawyer had taken a second to look she/he would soon have learned 80's opinion of operations such as his/hers - hell, he/she could have asked one of his/her Verified Authentic Psychic ripoff merchants to check out 80's pages - surely that can't be beyond their Verified Authentic powers. 80 did take a moment to look at 5starpsychicadvice, and found it typical of the breed. Poor layout and misspelt text will gain no one's confidence in your business, whether you are peddling psychic twaddle or anything else. Sadly the folk who are targeted by psychic hotlines are usually uncritical and often the least able to afford what is, after all, a money-making machine for the unscrupulous. There is even a disclaimer "This site is best viewed by internet expolorer (sic). If you have any complaints about any of the psychics who work here for fraudgelant (sic) actions please contact RainbowMoonUnderSun for further Investigation immediately." (RainbowMoonUnderSun is not a Native American spirit guide, but a throwaway Yahoo email address) Assuming that fraudgelant is not some secret psychic buzzword but a typographical error for fraudulent, this word aptly describes the whole site. Still, Rivette/Sawyer has gotten his/her link on 80's index page, although he/she may not like this accompanying text............

July 15th 2004

Religionist Hatred - the British Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has announced plans to make inciting religious hatred a criminal offence. This immediately gives rise to concerns about the effect on freedom of speech. Originally proposed as part of a package of anti-terrorism laws in response to the September 11th 2001 atrocities in the US, the measures failed to be passed. Now back on the agenda, one thing is for sure, they will have to be drafted extremely carefully, and "religious hatred" defined with precision, if such laws are going to do anything other than enrich the legal profession. 80's position on religion has been stated on these pages often enough. The religious beliefs of others are tolerated but not respected. (In fact such beliefs are often held up to ridicule, ab absurdo.) Anyone has a right to their faith in the supernatural, but there is no corresponding right to impose such a world view upon others. The ramifications of such legislation, if passed, will require the most intense scrutiny. Rowan Atkinson, actor and star of TV's Blackadder, is quoted by BBC news as worrying that jokes about religion would fall under the edict. He also asks, had such laws been in force at the time, would a film like Monty Python's Life of Brian have been made? This may seem a trivial example to many (not to 80), so instead, consider a touchy and litigious cult such as Scientology. Would 80's overwhelming contempt for their misbegotten melange of trashy science fiction and cod psychology lead to a court case? This highlights the question, what exactly is a religion? When does a cult become a religion? Is there any real difference? What is the deciding factor, numbers maybe, or duration?  Perhaps, like the "faith groups" wholly unrepresentative of the general population, which are increasingly consulted by the British Labour government, the more you influence legislators the more established your religion becomes, whether such establishment is enshrined in law or not. In trying to protect the Muslim community against any misguided backlash against terrorism, (see Islamophobia), which appears to be the main rationale for the new law, is the government overreacting? One important point worth remembering, is that religious hatred rarely, if ever, stems from the religion-free - atheists, humanists and non-believers - it is perpetrated by religionists against other religionists. 80 makes no apology for once again quoting Mark Twain on the subject, "Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight." 

Read Richard Dawkins' view on the subject, "Stop respecting religion and start submitting it to the same scutiny as any other idea or argument...." 

This piece by Johann Hari, on Blunkett's proposed measures, asks the question "Are we supposed to masochistically capitulate towards every medieval belief-system in the world, and ignore the fact that it is Enlightenment philosophy that brought us science and technology?"

Blair Infallibility Shock - also on the subject of Iraq Tony Blair accepted, conceded, admitted (depending on the report you read) that Weapons of Mass Destruction, his main rationale for the invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, may not ever be found. An error, then? Not in Blair's eyes, although Saddam "may have removed, hidden or even destroyed those weapons - we do not know and we have to wait for the Iraq Survey Group to complete its findings - but what I would not accept is that he was not a threat, and a threat in WMD terms". He is strong on belief - but short on facts (and WMDs) "I genuinely believe that those weapons were there and that is why the international community came together as they did." Nothing like a bit of blind faith when you send young men and women to war - and what's this "international community" stuff? This must be a new interpretation of the phrase, meaning the US and a couple of chums.

Sovereign? - Terry Jones writes in the Guardian on the handover in Iraq, and discovers this is not your regular sovereignty. In Iraq, it's already July 9th.

July 17th 2004

Gwyneth's Cups - runneth over with nonsense. Often seen at the forefront of quackery of one sort or the other are many of the celebrities with which our society is obsessed. The latest instance of this is the appearance of movie actress Gwyneth Paltrow at a premiere, looking like she has had a tussle with an amorous octopus. Across her shoulder blades, she sports a row of "large circular bruises" pictured in this BBC report. Had she worn a dress with a back, the marks would have passed unnoticed, which makes one wonder at her motives for the wardrobe choice. Perhaps she wished to distract attention from other celebrities walking the red carpet or wished to evangelize the practice of cupping, for this is what caused the blemishes. The BBC report uncritically describes this as "a kind of acupuncture" that "has been practised for thousands of years for the treatment of disease and pain." It is interesting that the antiquity of of a practice is seen somehow as confirming its efficacy, when of course it does no such thing. The report goes into more detail on this ancient treatment "It is a form of acupuncture that focuses on the movement of blood, energy - called qi - and body fluids, such as lymph - which circulates around the body's tissues." The BBC reporter, Michelle Roberts of BBC News Online health staff, should be aware that there is no evidence whatsoever of the existence of "qi" and it likely reflects the ignorance of human anatomy in ancient China, for, as in other ancient cultures, dissection of corpses to test theories was forbidden. Once this became possible no evidence for qi has been found - apart from the inevitable anecdotes. Alarmingly Roberts raises none of this, and the whole piece is an undisguised plug for this questionable treatment. To add insult to injury external links to the British Acupuncture Council and, inexplicably, the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital are included. Maybe if you can swallow acupuncture then homeopathy is bound to seem reasonable. The only note of sanity, and a minor one at that, is tucked right at the bottom of the piece. Professor Edzard Ernst, from the department of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, is quoted as saying the one accurate statement on the whole page "There is no evidence for its efficacy. It has not been submitted to clinical trials, but there have certainly been satisfied customers for 3,000 years." As no doubt there have also been for bloodletting, propitiative sacrifice of virgins and the ingestion of mercury. For a sensible counterpoint to the BBC's lapse into quackery try something that Michelle Roberts patently didn't, and read Acupuncture, Qigong, and "Chinese Medicine" by Stephen Barrett and, for an analysis of qi and its equivalent in other cultures, read Reality Check The Energy Fields of Life by Victor J. Stenger. 80 has defended the BBC before against accusations of dumbing down - maybe that stance is in need of urgent revision.

The Nucular Option - a long time ago, back during the Cold War, after listening to a general on the TV news, 80 opined that if you couldn't even pronounce the name of a weapon correctly you certainly should not be allowed to play with it. In the San Francisco Chronicle, Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguistics professor at Stanford University, elaborates on his fascination with President George W Bush's mispronunciation of the word. He describes the nucular option as a "thinko" rather than a typo and asserts that with "senators on the Armed Services Committee and military spokespeople" rather than a mistake it is a deliberate choice, a bit of "Pentagon swagger". With Bush, he notes that at his schools and at home Dubya is unlikely to have heard the N word pronounced this way - certainly not by his daddy. So did he borrow it from the Pentagon types, attempting to sound "in" with the military, or is it what Nunberg charmingly calls "faux-bubba" speech? The reason being, perhaps, to differentiate his image of himself as a Texan, from all those Yale types. Here, in 80's view, Nunberg misses a much more likely reason, and that is Bush, the privileged rich kid, is appealing to the famously anti-intellectual average American voter. That would make it all of a piece with the assumed good ol' boy folksiness that he attempts to project. Be that as it may, Nunberg has much to say of great interest about the influence of language on all we say and do. He has also come up with a suggestion that may even make 80 attempt a chore that so far has proved impossible, and that is listen to an entire speech by Bush. Why? "If he says 'nucular' all the time, then it's most likely a faux-bubba thing. But if he only says 'nucular' for weapons, it's probably a bit of borrowed Pentagon swagger," says Nunberg, "I'll be keeping my ears peeled." For more, do read the whole Chronicle piece by Heidi Benson (how did Clinton pronounce it?), and then take yourself off to Nunberg's own website for more of his essays and articles.

July 19th 2004

Two Bushes and a Body Count - President George W Bush, when told that the occupation of Iraq could lead to a terrorist "Mecca" with al Qaeda and others attacking the US and coalition troops at every opportunity, responded thus, "There are some who feel like that conditions are such that they can attack us there, my answer is: Bring them on. We have the force necessary to deal with the situation." In the light of this deeply stupid and irresponsible challenge, which risked neither Bush's own life or limbs, it is instructive to look at the Iraq Body Count and also to remember the words of another President Bush "Extending the war into Iraq would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Exceeding the U.N.'s mandate would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land." (with Brent Scowcroft, Time Magazine, March 2, 1998)

Windsor's Worries - the self-appointed watchdog of wicked science is at it again. Charles Windsor is returning to a previous pet peeve, nanotechnology. He was most recently mentioned in these pages for promoting a quack cancer treatment, which attracted much criticism, including this comment in the British Medical Journal. Windsor's earlier warning of the potential dangers of nanotechnology, (properly the science and art making things on the scale of one-millionth of a millimetre) latched onto the possibility that self-replicating objects on this scale could become a "grey goo" damaging the environment. This fear is more science fiction than science fact, as even he now acknowledges. In the unlikely event of a swarm of "nanobots", something far beyond present technology, escaping from a laboratory, it is the bots which are likely to be in danger. This planet already swarms with tiny replicating objects, bacteria, which have been evolving for the last few billion years, and are likely to give any nanobots a very hard time. This is not to say that research into nanotechology should not be scrutinised for possible dangers - this should apply to all scientific research to a greater or lesser degree. Charlie has backpedalled a good deal from his earlier stance, to the point that his latest comments are little more than a call for science to be used "wisely and appropriately" and the need for "significantly greater social awareness, humility and openness on the part of the proponents of emerging nanotechnologies than we have seen with other so-called 'technological advances' of recent years." Which is a fairly unobjectionable view, although he really needs to sort out whether he is talking about science itself (a method of inquiry about our universe) or technology (the application of science to commerce or industry). In passing, 80 wonders if Charles appreciates the irony of a call for greater social awareness and humility from someone who is Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Earl of Chester, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, a multimillionaire and heir to the throne of Great Britain. Somehow 80 doubts it.

By George! A Miracle! - perhaps his imaginary friend above, the one he never ceases mentioning, managed a minor but very useful miracle. The US Department of Defense has announced that microfilm containing payroll records of the Texas Air National Guard for "two three-month periods in 1969 and 1972........apparently disintegrated as staff were trying to preserve it from decay." The second of the two periods just happens to cover the time that George W Bush is alleged to have gone AWOL. Wow, what are the odds of that happening? What did they use to "preserve" the microfilm, a blowtorch? This may well put any definitive documentary evidence of what Bush was really up to during that period beyond reach for ever, but it sure as hell leaves a nasty smell in the air. Scorched celluloid, perhaps. This Washington Post article details the controversy over Bush's "missing" period and quotes the man himself, in 2000, answering the allegations saying that he did "show up for drills. I made most monthly meetings, and when I missed them I made them up." Yes, he is quite good at making things up........... (for more detail, see the website dedicated to this issue at AWOLBUSH.COM)

July 21st 2004

Psychic Cat of Doom - here is an odd little story sent to 80 about a psychic cat. So what, you may say, all cats are psychic, aren't they? Well they are at least as psychic as any other creature (that includes Sylvia Browne). This particular cat, which rejoices in the name Sissy Cat, has an unnerving speciality, it can sense when someone is terminally ill. As the cat resides at a "nursing center, which has 100 beds and houses the most critically ill patients" it obviously has more opportunities to display its powers than if it lived in, say, a nursery school. Backing up claims of the cat's affinity for the soon-to-be-dead is the usual ragbag of anecdotes. The activity director of Ridgecrest Village, the scene of of this psychic felinity, obviously has too much time to spare. Pat Oostendorp "has tracked a dozen cases where a pet tiger cat named Sissy Cat has seemed to know when a patient is near death." In fact the director is the most likely source for the whole psychic cat business in the first place. "It is as if God sent Sissy down to comfort those who are at the edge of death. One has to see it to believe it, the way she immediately attaches herself to those who are about to die. She’s like an angel." says Pat. Perhaps another explanation would fit - Sissy Cat may well be an angel, the Angel of Death. Instead of sensing a patient's imminent demise this hellish creature may actually be causing it. This is at least as likely as the director's "explanation". Or, as hinted at above, as the cat is surrounded by the ageing and terminally ill, so naturally it cannot help but be in the company of those soon to die. Add one fantasy-prone director, a gaggle of supporting anecdotes from staff and patients to back up the assertions of this authority figure, and hey presto! Enter Sissy, Psychic Cat of Doom.

Quote - as part of an occasional Yeah, Right section 80 offers this from George W Bush. "Today, because America has acted and because America has led, the forces of terror and tyranny have suffered defeat after defeat, and America and the world are safer." Sadly, repeating something ad nauseam  does not make it true. (see this by Fred Kaplan for more)

Worldly Wealth - a phrase from an old Tom Lehrer song, "doing well by doing good" popped into 80's mind when this BBC news item came up. It seems the Church of England's (CofE) share portfolio "rose 17% in 2003 to £3.9bn ($7.2bn) - the best return in four years..." which is hardly chicken feed (it is in fact clergy feed). The idea of a Christian church even having a share portfolio, let alone one running into billions, contrasts with the advice given in the New Testament tale to the young man who asked of Jesus "....Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?". Among other things he was told "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." (Matt. 19:21) This the young man could not do, and he "went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." At least the CofE has money to play with, unlike the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Oregon, which has filed for bankruptcy following huge payouts of $53m (£29m), to victims of priestly sexual abuse, with more cases due to hit the courts. The wages of celibacy perhaps. You have to wonder what a first century itinerant preacher would make of it all. It is one with the ability to cherrypick the laws and admonitions in the Christian bible that are to be complied with, and to ignore the rest. A recent example is the row in the CofE over gay clergy, with sections of that organization, particularly the Africans, citing the bible to condemn homosexuals. A Kenyan bishop, Thomas Kogo, said "It is unbiblical, the Bible says we cannot allow such people to work in the Church." Yet you can bet that he and his flock blithely ignore the strictures against eating shellfish (an abomination), for instance. The execution of adulterers is not common in Kenya either, as far as 80 can ascertain. This shows that if you want to justify a particular behavior you can find scriptural confirmation of the rightness of your position, and those who oppose you can find conflicting verses to, in turn, bolster their argument. The Ten Commandments say do not kill, but the god of the Old Testament is shown almost hopping up and down with glee over mass murders that he has instigated. It confirms that literal belief in the entire bible leads to nonsensical and contradictory behavior, hence the need for cherrypicking, and reveals the hypocrisy at the heart of much organized religion. Religionists often say that atheists can have no morals without belief in holy writ. The answer to that is that yes, they can, and they base that morality on human rights and tolerance - as opposed to riffling through an ancient book and selecting which rules suit you (and your prejudices) and disregarding the rest.

The Atheist and the Archbishop - Roy Hattersley, politician, writer, journalist and ex-deputy leader of the British Labour Party, attempts, and only partially succeeds, in 80's view, to bring some badly needed clarity to the famously gnomic utterances of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. In this special report from The Guardian, the wide-ranging talk covers the invasion of Iraq, and whether Blair and Bush will answer to a Higher Authority for their actions, the appointment of gay clergy, and the Church's role in guiding the nation's morals.

July 23rd 2004

Heretic Priests - can rest easy- for now. In what seems like a failed attempt to return to the Middle Ages the General Synod of the Church of England has narrowly rejected the introduction of heresy trials. Don't laugh, it's true, with all that is going on in the world around us, war, famine, epidemics and torture, this bunch were debating heresy. This report in the Times says the measure was "was thrown out by a majority of 103-99." Hardly thrown out, more sort of nudged to one side for a little while. The Times goes on to point out that, had the motion been passed, the clergy could have landed up "in the doctrinal dock for preaching a sermon in favour of homosexual ordinations." Now that would have been interesting, given all the other barmy Old Testament rules that are quietly ignored. Here is a list of a few of them - it would have been fun to see these earnestly argued over in a heresy trial. Here is just one to think about - if you are disabled, God does not want you anywhere near his altar. " Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken..." Leviticus 21 Apparently, God is not keen on cripples..........

Wonder Waters? - a popular, and it seems, easy way to make a fast buck is to sell bottled water. Most of the stuff lining supermarket shelves is good enough, although far more expensive than the perfectly acceptable and safe mains water supply. In fact some bottled water is just that, mains water with a fancy label and inflated price. Sometimes though, even a sure fire earner such as this can backfire, as in the case of Coca Cola's Dasani product. (see Liquid Asset) Looking at the UK bottled water market, 80 found this page on This Is London, apparently "website of the year 2004". One award they will not win is for any kind of investigative journalism. An article by Anastasia Stephens of the Evening Standard asks the question "Do 'wonder waters' work?" This refers to a number of bottled waters that make claims verging on the medical, but usually left just vague enough not to be illegal. Stephens lists a number of these products and their claims, followed by a paragraph for each one, entitled Does It Work? Here she merely parrots the companies' claims, including some outrageous pseudoscience. Penta water for one, claims to be made of smaller molecules than regular water (by the process of "reverse osmosis") and is therefore absorbed more quickly (14.3 per cent faster than tap water!) This is hogwash. Stephens should have fired up her web browser and taken a look at the "Gallery of water-related pseudoscience" before she started uncritically plugging these 'wonder waters'. A journalist she is not. One of the products in her thinly disguised ad is Lakeland Willow Springwater, now the subject of investigation for "claims that it could cure eczema and psoriasis" according to the Independent newspaper which goes on to say "The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Cumbria County Council have launched inquiries after Lakeland Willow began a new promotion last month which alleged that people who drank the water saw "remarkable improvements to a whole host of skin complaints" ". This article also mentions the ridiculous Kabbalah water, "a product blessed by a rabbi and endorsed by the singer Madonna." (and perhaps passed by a Protestant pastor?). But back to Lakeland Willow, whose managing director, David Jones, admits there is no scientific evidence for the water's claimed properties beyond "unsolicited testimonials" which is not good enough to satisfy the FSA. But wait, apparently Jones is trying to set up testing "with the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital." Great - testing pseudoscience by appealing to pseudoscience. Homeopathy is already incapable of proving its massively diluted "medicines" are anything other than plain water, despite appealing to codswallop such as water possessing a "molecular memory". How the hell will they test Lakeland Willows product - by dowsing? The sooner all these companies are told to put up real evidence or shut up shop the better. 80 has certainly detected something in these waters. Sharks, lots of 'em.

July 25th 2004

Proofless Prof - Northern Kentucky University does not immediately strike one as the likely home of a UFO/ET believer, but philosophy professor Dr. Robert Trundle is just that. He has written a book, "Is ET Here? No Politically, but Yes Scientifically and Theologically" the subject matter of which is implicit in the title. Having academic qualifications is no proof against gullibilty or delusion regarding matters outside one's area of expertise - or even within one's own speciality on occasions. Trundle has signed up to belief in the popular myth that the US government (and maybe others) has been in contact with extraterrestrials for 50 years. If this is so, it has kept the secret remarkably, even unbelievably well, looking at the usual bureaucratic track record. The idea that various administrations, over half a century, have sat successfully on this news is risible - but not to Trundle. Through a combination of good old-fashioned ignorance, anecdotes galore and the use of a straw man argument (surely a philosophy professor can do better than that) Trundle has convinced himself he has a case. As he told the Cincinnati Post "Scientifically, I argue that thousands of well-regarded witness accounts cannot simply be dismissed." Prefacing silly ideas by the word "scientifically" does not help his case, and "well-regarded" by who, we may well ask, the Disclosure Project? (see Disclosure Poseur). He goes on to say "For example, science says it's impossible to travel at the speed of light. If it were possible, it would take four years of traveling at the speed of light to get to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. Given our current technology, it would probably take us 50,000 years to get there, plus or minus (sic). Based on that, the scientific establishment somewhat blithely dismisses the existence of extraterrestrials." The "scientific establishment", insofar as it exists, does not dismiss the existence of extraterrestrials - to paraphrase Carl Sagan, if there is no life elswhere in the universe it seems an awful waste of space. (Intelligent ETs with starships are rather less likely) The problem is not whether they exist, but whether there is any convincing evidence that they exist here on Earth - to which the answer is no. But as Trundle accepts that ETs are already here, he feels free to speculate on what they might be up to. One idea is that they are checking out the Earth to see if it is "habitable" - I assume he means for ETs, as it is obviously teeming with indigenous life. If these creatures can traverse light years they surely have many planets at their disposal whose invasion/settlement would not be complicated by the presence of homo sapiens. It also occurs to mind that beings that have such advanced technology could likely terraform a suitable planet, rather than sneak around on Earth, laying their wicked plans. Trundle's other suggestion is nothing new, "An even more worrisome possibility is that they have a hybrid program of sexually mating with humans to strengthen their species." Yeah, right - 3 billion years of separate evolution won't be a problem. ETs with advanced technology are unlikely to muck around impregnating earthlings - it is such a haphazard, low-tech process. David Wecker's article has the truth about Trundle in almost the last paragraph " He's convinced he's right. All he's lacking is cold, hard proof." (Almost sounds like Tony Blair and WMDs) On the subject of proof Trundle is given the last word "If I had that, it would be the most astonishing event since the resurrection of Christ." And, of course, there is plenty of cold hard proof for that.......

Arthur the Earner - here is an interesting piece by Joanne O'Connor about the amalgam of folk history, New Age gobbledegook and a rapacious tourism industry that is the "Grail Trail" in England's West Country. She visits the places associated in the popular mind with the story of King Arthur, Glastonbury (Avalon), Cadbury Hill (Camelot), and Tintagel (Arthur's birthplace). If Arthur was not already a king he would certainly qualify for ennoblement in recognition of his valiant and distinguished services to tourism, a huge moneyspinner in Britain. A vital part of keeping the whole show going is not to question too deeply whether there is any real connection between a Dark Age warrior and commander and any particular locale. Cases have been made for setting his story in Scotland, the North of England, Wales and even Brittany, France. The whole thing is aptly summed up by the owner of an Arthurian Centre, quoted by O'Connor in The Observer article, on the historical reality, if any, behind the Arthur/Grail industry. "We will never know for sure, but then we don't really want to know. It's more fun this way." And more lucrative. (If you are determined to find the truth behind the legend there is only one place to look)

Speech Impediments - even if David Blunkett did not possess the common sense to realize his anti-religious hatred laws are unworkable, (see Religionist Hatred) was he unaware of what has been happening in Australia? Read Nick Cohen in The Observer on the whole sorry mess. This article came to 80's view courtesy of National Secular Society's Newsline - highly recommended

Time for Trivia - despite the rejection by the Senate on a constitutional amendment to make gay marriages illegal, George W Bush has said he will keep on pushing the measure. He refers frequently to "traditional marriage" which he sees solely as between a man and a woman, one of each. It has been a characteristic of his administration that if the facts don't fit they can be spun or ignored. WMDs in Iraq, global climate change, the inability of abstinence campaigns to halt the AIDS epidemic are some obvious examples. Traditional marriage, as defined by Bush is just another instance. This statement, dated February this year, by the "Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association, the world's largest organization of anthropologists, the people who study culture" dismisses any justification for Bush's stance. With so much happening in the world that requires urgent attention it is surprising that Bush has given what is essentially a trivial matter so much of his time. Unless, of course it is a cheap vote-winning ploy pitched at the religious conservatives, whose backing Bush needs for a second term.

July 27th 2004

A Better Religion - at last, a Church that "doesn't want your money and only wants you to be happy." And what's more "A Church that doesn't attract people by hating or excluding a certain type of person." Also, intriguingly, "A Church that offers complexity for the complex, and simplicity for the simple. You can even mix the two up if you want." This sounds almost good enough to win over an atheist - no, only kidding - much as the creators of the SpongeBob Squarepants Church are kidding - perhaps. The popular animated children's character seems to taking on a new, and ecclesiastical role. This BBC report tells us that "More than 700 members of the Church of SpongeBob meet for services in New York, Texas and California." The all-inclusive attitude of the church is perhaps understandable as questions have been flying around about SpongeBob's sexuality for some time now, although his Creator, Stephen Hillenburg, denies this, claiming the strong gay following for the show is because it has a tolerant attitude. Which, in 80's view, makes a pleasant change from the increasingly rabid fundamentalist Christians and Muslims who are never happy unless they are condemning this and calling for a fatwa on that. Hate, fire and brimstone are a long way from the world of SpongeBob. The Church's own website is a witty creation where the Nickelodeon channel, although unnamed, is defined as the Holy Conduit and followers become Absorbents, ie adherents of the Holy Acronym, YAP, which of course stands for Yellow, Absorbent and Porous. This lot certainly have two things in their favor - they are no nuttier than any other religion and are also far less harmful.

Modest Martha - the arrogance and total lack of contrition over her crime is bad enough, but Martha Stewart has excelled herself with this statement made in a TV interview "There’s many other good people that have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela." Stewart, appealing a 5 month prison sentence for lying to investigators over a stock sale, seems to see nothing wrong with comparing her short sentence for thieving with Mandela's 27 year incarceration for his opposition to apartheid. How such an absurd comparison will affect the progress of her appeal remains to be seen. It will surely take a very objective judge to be unaffected by this woman's remarks.

Talking of Martha - apart from inspiring contempt for her arrogance, she has also inspired the winner of the Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for  bad writing. The best bad entry, by Dave Zobel, features exquisite, exquisitely painful, that is, prose such as "She resolved to end the love affair with Ramon tonight ... summarily, like Martha Stewart ripping the sand vein out of a shrimp's tail ... though the term `love affair' now struck her as a ridiculous euphemism ... not unlike `sand vein,' which is after all an intestine, not a vein, and that tarry substance inside certainly isn't sand ... and that brought her back to Ramon.'' Winners and runners-up from this year's competition can be seen here.

July 29th 2004

A Chip Off the Old God - an item in The Register which caught 80's rheumy eye seemed to herald the court case of the millennium, that between computer chip giant, Intel and one of mankind's many gods, Yahweh aka Jehovah. One UK church is displaying a poster mimicking the computer Goliath's "Intel Inside" logo with one that says "Jesus Inside" and the slogan "Upgrade to a higher power". But this was yesterday's news, today, according to one Register reader, the story has become shrouded in mystery. During closer examination of the poster a familiar image appeared. 80 suspects this is just the tip of a religious iceberg. (The original name for Intel's Centrino mobile chip was Banias, a New Testament place name. Coincidence?) But it is not just the good guys inside your PC - read the astounding story of the computer that spewed "a stream of obscenities written in a 2,800-year-old Mesopotamian dialect!" much to a priest's horror. Having wrestled with many a malevolent computer 80 is convinced that the Reverend Jim Peaseboro was on to something when he claimed "Any PC built after 1985 has the storage capacity to house an evil spirit..." Perhaps it is time to return to the fundamentals, back to the pure and innocent days of DOS and floppies, before we were all seduced by a pretty graphic interface and the seductive charms of that Whore of Babylon, the Internet.

The Passion of The Christ - Part Two. This trailer is made available through the charitable kindness of Betty Bowers - America's Best Christian, bless her. Oh, by the way, here is that sainted woman's review of Mel Gibson's masterpice.

Act Against Faith - if you are a UK resident and share 80's concern over the growth in the number of "faith schools", which can only lead to discrimination and sectarianism, please go to this BBC page and register your opinion. (Scroll down, lower right) The question posed is "Should faith schools be abolished?".  In 80's view there can only be one answer to that question.

Perfidious Plots Proliferate - they have always been around, think JFK assassination, Apollo Moon landing hoax, Area 51 and advanced alien technology, the Elders of Zion etc etc. Now, according to Jonathan Raban, writing in the Guardian, such paranoid conspiracy theories are on the rise, filling the information gap created by the Bush administration's obsessive secrecy. He notes that while this has become more intense following the 9/11 atrocities, the don't tell culture was already thriving beforehand, as illustrated by the invocation of executive privilege to hide from the public and investigators the composition and workings of vice-president Dick Cheney's energy task force. This paranoid atmosphere has been further enhanced by Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which plays upon the Bush dynasty's contacts with Saudi Arabia and the bin Laden family. (Talking of Michael Moore, singer Linda Ronstadt was escorted by the management from a Las Vegas casino where she had been giving a show, not even being allowed to return to her suite. The reason? She had dedicated a song (reg rqd) to Moore.) Now the latest chatter is about the US government leaning on Pakistan to produce some high level al Qaeda operatives just in time to steal headlines from the Democratic party's upcoming convention. Also doing the rounds is the story that Ronald Reagan died a while ago, but had been kept on ice so that the news of his death could be timed to eclipse the Abu Ghraib prison abuse row. Daft as ninety-nine per cent of this stuff is, the atmosphere of secrecy is like oxygen for even the nuttiest of conspiracy theories. Staying with the world of evil plots at every turn, here is a great piece by Dwayne A. Day in The Space Review called We never went to the Moon (No, really.). In a conspiratorial tour de force Day manages to knit together just about every conspiracy theory you ever heard of (and a few you haven't) into one great semi-coherent convoluted loony paranoid jigsaw. JFK, Moon Hoax, Roswell, Zero Point energy, the Bermuda Triangle, O J Simpson, Martha Stewart, John Glenn, Richard Nixon and Halliburton are just a few of the subjects and people he has ingeniously connected together into one glorious whole - by the time he finished he must have had a brain like a pretzel. (No, not the killer pretzel of the Illuminati that almost did for Dubya. The truth about that incident is here)

Update - to the above, Mark Morford takes a typically manic run through some of the latest election ploys, real and imagined, in "Rig My Election, Please" For more on Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old firm, and the huge profits to be had from war and the attendant human misery, see this extract in the Guardian from the new book, The Halliburton Agenda  by Dan Briody.

July 31st 2004

A Damning Document - that lets the fundamentalist cat out of the educational bag. 80 has mentioned before (Educational Debauchery) concerns about the taking over of schools in Britain by the Emmanuel Schools Foundation and the subsequent teaching of creationist nonsense to children. Now we learn every subject is to have a religious underpinning. The target of the latest attempted takeover by millionaire Sir Peter Vardy, Northcliffe School in Conisbrough, near Doncaster, has received much press coverage for the vigorous attempts by parents and others to resist this action. The Conisbrough And Denaby Parents Action Group's website is a rallying point and posted  there is an interesting document that was originally on the Emmanuel College in Gateshead website but which, as the BBC euphemistically puts it " has since been removed in a re-design". The document, Christianity and the Curriculum, was removed not as part of a redesign, in 80's view, but because it confirms the worst fears of those who oppose schools run by religious groups. Here are some choice bits of idiocy which Vardy and pals push as education. "In this context, it becomes important to peruse why Hitler paused at the English Channel when an immediate invasion might have lead to a swift victory. Could it be that God was calling a halt to this march of evil?" No, see here and one might well also ask why did God not intervene at Auschwitz or Buchenwald?  "God did it" is not only a fatuous, simplistic explanation for historical events but is also completely useless. Invoking a deity as a reason for anything is a copout and teaches us nothing. "Science and geography may speak of the glory and wonder of God's creative activities. History can be seen not as a cycle of meaningless events but as a story in which God speaks and acts." (there is no evidence history is cyclical and would you call the defeat of, say, Nazism, a meaningless event?) No wonder the parents of Northcliffe are so worried, this kind of education, with every subject viewed through the distorting lens of "biblical Christianity", is of no educational value. To employ another metaphor, it is as though each child is to be fitted with a little pair of blinkers to enforce the tunnel vision promoted by these religious fanatics. Viewing our strife-torn world in this way is one of the main reasons why the world IS strife-torn. If you are taught that you already have all the answers, handed down by divine fiat, then there is no need to listen to the views of others. If you are right, with the certainty that God is on your side, then obviously anyone else who does not agree with you is wrong (and damned forever to boot). This is the sort of mindset behind religious fundamentalist bigotry and violence and has no place in our schools. The arrogant point of view expressed in this final quote from the Curriculum document should sound alarm bells for anyone concerned about the subversion of our education system by these religionists. "Christian Truth must play a vital part in all of these matters because left to themselves they will be distorted and drained of meaning. Christianity and Biblical Truth must find a place across the whole Curriculum and not just be confined to the Act of Worship and Religious Education." Christian Truth? Biblical Truth? This is obviously a shading of the word truth  of which 80 was previously, blissfully, unaware. If there are different types of truth then the Vardy version is just another social construct, with no God-given claim for universality and definitely no right to warp young minds. This Curriculum completely gives the lie to the "teaching creationism and evolution and then letting the pupils make up their own minds" smokescreen. Every subject is trussed in the straitjacket of their superstition. Not exactly an atmosphere conducive to free inquiry. The Blair government, with its faith-based schools agenda, and dazzled by Vardy's money, seems unable to acknowledge the danger to children's education from such fundamentalism. (for more on this see here and here)

People Living in Glasshouses - should not throw stones, nor should a pot call a kettle black. Cliches, whilst hackneyed, have achieved their status by being true. Australia has been going through the same self-examination as the US and Britain over how inadequate intelligence led to the death of thousands of people, Iraqis and coalition troops. This has obviously made some cabinet members overly touchy about any criticism on the subject. Australia's Treasurer, Peter Costello, is not happy about Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 docco, and Moore's puzzlement at Premier John Howard's willingness (much like Blair's) to go to war, on what we now know to be shaky evidence. So what does he say in the way of a reasoned critique of Moore's work and comments? He calls him "the quintessential ugly American". On this BBC news page there are pictures of both Moore and Costello and neither of them are likely to win any awards for their finely-chiseled features - on the basis of this pictorial evidence 80 feels that Costello would have done better to have left out the personal insults, they do him no credit. (For comparison, on this page is a fair likeness of 80, top of the page, with the sunnies)