Monthly Archives: January 2012

Japanese Archery

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

I often drop by Jeffrey Friedl’s blog. He’s a computer scientist living in Japan, but in addition to this, he’s a keen, and talented, photographer, and his blog usually has stunning images of Japan and Japanese society. He recently attended … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, Society, Sport | 1 Comment

If You’re Not Angry, You’re Not Paying Attention

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

That’s the culmination of an excellent speech and article by Maryam Namazie. Please, just go and read it. Her argument rings true.

Posted in Society | Leave a comment

I Don’t Believe It!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

You know, when I was at university, in the dim and distant past, back at the beginning of the 1970s, the LSE (the London School of Economics) was viewed as a hotbed of student activism. So recent events at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Organizations, Society | Leave a comment

Burka Ban

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

Five years ago, I thought that news that the Dutch government were considering a burka ban to be a very bad idea. Fast forward to today, and now the current Dutch Cabinet has voted in favour of the ban, despite … Continue reading →

Posted in News and politics, Society | Leave a comment

The Science Delusion

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

There’s a book review in today’s Guardian. It caught my eye, because the book’s title is The Science Delusion, which sounded rather provocative. Turning to the review, I saw that it was written by Mary Midgley, and my heart sank. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science | Leave a comment

De Botton’s Folly

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

A few days back, I wrote that I was not convinced by Alain de Botton’s presentation of his Atheism 2.0 thesis, and even less impressed by his use of a false categorisation of Richard Dawkins. Now I see that de … Continue reading →

Posted in Folklore, Society | 2 Comments

“Verging On Fascism”

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

There was unease last week in Amsterdam’s Orthodox Jewish community when it emerged that their nominal Chief Rabbi, Aryeh Ralbag (who lives in New York), stated that homosexuality was an illness that could be cured. As a result of this … Continue reading →

Posted in Folklore, LGBT Politics, Society | 7 Comments