Archive for September, 2007

News miscellany

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

This morning’s radio brought the news that the EU has given up on insisting that the United Kingdom give up Imperial measures. Previously, the EU had required that all measures in the UK should be metricised by 2010. Now, the industry commissioner has said that the “great British pint, of milk or beer or cider” as well as the mile and the pound and ounce, will no longer have to be jettisoned, and all decisions about their future will be left up to the British government.

Two-edged sword here. Already British industries that export are likely to use metric measures predominantly, as their principal markets use them. However, there have been “metric martyrs” here, who have been prosecuted for selling bananas by the pound rather than the kilo. If the British government relaxes the rules put forth so far, it will seen as though it is caving in to the anti-Europeans among us. If it does not, then the great unwashed here will say that the government is not taking advantage of the opportunity to emphasize our Britishness.

Make hay by the pound or kilo while the sun shines (as it is doing right at this moment here in London).

Dame Anita Roddick has died of a massive stroke; she was the founder of The Body Shop, a mecca for non-animal-tested cosmetics for many years. I admired her courage in the face of having contracted hepatitis C through a blood transfusion, and think that the Body Shop products that I use (deodorant, in a pump-aerosol bottle, and after-shave balm) are first-rate, and the fact that they are ethically produced without being tested on animals is a plus.

Thought for the Day this morning was not on 9/11; it was on the Madeleine McCann continuing story, and my bishop, Tom Butler, gave it. Unfortunately, the announcer introduced him as “the Reverend Tom Butler” rather than as “the Right Reverend”, and this, for some unknown reason, galls me. I get very exercised over news reporters and announcers who do not get such minutiae correct. If they can’t get the small things right, what about the great ones? Bishop Butler told a story that was told to him by a vicar when Butler was a curate years ago. The vicar had taken his parish on an outing to the ocean, and a little girl was lost while on the outing and the coach had to return without her. The girl was never found. He compared this with the Madeleine McCann story, and prepares us for the eventuality that Madeleine’s fate may never be known.

Lunchtime

Monday, September 10th, 2007

After my usual jacket potato, I ambled into Boots and bought various things, then dropped into Body Shop for deodorant and shave balm. The minion showed me some sort of vanity case, and said, “If you spend

Today’s Culinary URL

Monday, September 10th, 2007

…comes from Atlanta, where a slave^Wminion of McDonald’s isn’t lovin’ it, as she is charged with oversalting the meat. Unfortunately for her, the customer was a peace officer.

Today’s Fried Dough URL

Monday, September 10th, 2007

It seems that that confection greatly prized by Singaporeans and many people in other places may be under threat as Krispy Kreme struggles to restructure. If they don’t get their act together soon, they may never reach Singapore.

Our weekend and welcome to it

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Friday evening we decided to meet in central London and go out to dinner. I told HWMBO that anything (except fish) was OK with me, and we decided after much toing-and-froing that a burger restaurant, Hamburger Union, in Soho, was our destination. What a disappointment. Since the last time we were there, the burgers have become smaller and less tasty and the buns are much less appetising. We shared one salad and one portion of fries. Probably too much information, I suppose, but if you are in London and want a burger, Ultimate Burger is much better than Hamburger Union, in our considered opinion.

On Saturday we decided to go to Tate Modern for the Helio Oiticica exhibition. Luckily, we had already seen the Dali exhibition, because Sunday was its last day and it was absolutely mobbed to the gills. As members we would still have jumped the queue, but who wants to see an exhibit along with 1000 tourists who like nothing better than rubbernecking.

I wasn’t very impressed with the Oiticica, I fear. After exhibits, HWMBO and I give it points out of 10, and he gave it 5-1/2, but I was closer to 4. First, I’d never heard of him. Second he was fond of colour (so am I), but he was very monochromatic in each work, with only one or two at most colours represented.

We ended up at Starbucks, and then walked home. Nice to be within walking distance of so much in London.

On Sunday I attended St. Matthew’s. The Rector has decided not to talk to me unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. In one way, this is good as I don’t have to put up with his inanities. In another way, it puts me in a tight spot as tensions run high. I suspect that he has twigged that I spoke with the Archdeacon. I don’t know who has spilled the beans, certainly not the Archdeacon. In any case, we are at a stand-off. I’ve asked not to be put on the rota for altar duty more than once every two months. When I asked the churchwarden in charge of the rota to do this, she said, “There are only three of you so what can I do?” I told her, “Find some people who get along with Neil (the Rector) to train to be on the altar.” She laughed out loud and said, “Where would I find people like that?” We are all cynical and, I fear, will remain so until the leadership situation is sorted out.

Sunday evening I went to the commissioning of the new Area Dean, Andrew Dodd, at St. Mary’s Newington. It’s the old “cardinal” parish of the Elephant and Castle, from which most of St. Matthew’s was split in the 19th Century. Their building was destroyed by our German friends during World War II with the exception of the bell tower, which still stands in front of the 1950’s unfortunateness that is their current church building.

The interior is very spare, with a high altar and baldachino with, more to the point, a tabernacle suspended from the top of the baldachino by a cord. When it is required, the tabernacle is lowered by an acolyte so that the priest can access the sacrament. Outwardly, it looks like a crown with a curtain attached to the bottom of it. I must say that it’s one of the more garish church furnishings it’s been my fate to see. They really need to ditch it and attach a tabernacle to the side wall of the sanctuary.

The service was Evening Prayer with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. I think it’s the first time in 40 years that I’ve attended a Benediction, and with the exception of the fact that the Archdeacon wore no cope, only a humeral veil, and Tantum Ergo and O Salutaris Hostia were sung in English rather than Latin, it was exactly the same as the Roman version. One hundred years ago, a vicar could have been jailed for conducting Benediction; how things have changed!

In any case, I read the second lesson, attired in suit with a nice blue bow tie. Many other attendees complimented me on it, and women in particular seem taken with it. However, afterwards, when I encountered St. Matthew’s Rector in the congregation, he said not “Hello”, but “Does it spin around?” I should have said, “Yes, and it seems to attract women, too. Why don’t you try it?” but I didn’t think of that until this morning, sadly.

A profile in courage

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

It’s difficult to be gay and out of the closet in Singapore–all the more so if you are a secondary school teacher. This man, Otto Fong, has done just that in his new blog. It’s syndicated at if you want to add it. Wotta guy!

Oh, and look at the comments: his students love him too.

Today’s Motherly Love URL

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

There is nothing like a mother’s love, as this monkey knows.

Today’s Library URL

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

When I was a kid, the library was where you went to borrow books and look up things in big reference books. Nowadays, people use it for many different things.

The Bush countdown continues

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

He has 499 days left in office, plus a few hours (as of this writing).

I think I will change to posting with Semagic

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

I have been using LochJournal for posting to my LJ for donkey’s years now. The difficulty came when I changed my screen resolution and realised that the front window of LochJournal had a major but in it: it can’t be resized. Thus, the right hand side of the window is cut off, with no scroll bar or Maximise button to use to see what’s over there. The window also gets a bit weird-looking when the screen resolution is changed.

So I’m currently trying Semagic, which is another front-end editor for LJ. So far, it seems to work OK, and I suppose that I will just change. I have considered moving to blogging from my web page, but will need to consider exactly how to do that–I’ve not tried it and the LJ instructions aren’t the clearest.

Update: I forgot to say, you can add tags at the same time as you post, although the tag list you get is a drop-down that only shows the first letter of a tag unless there is only one existing tag with that letter, thus it’s hard to scroll through and select a previous tag unless you’re very familiar with your tags. In addition, you can edit the last entry through the Semagic front end. Neither of these things is possible with LochJournal.

Something I’ve noticed

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

Lately it’s become clear that those who were born in the 1950’s have come centre stage in the world, and are bound to dominate politics for the next ten or fifteen years.

I discovered that General Petraeus, who is going to be reporting on how well the Surge in Iraq is faring, was born one day before me. The profiles of businesspeople and politicians in the newspapers more and more often list people who were born in the 1950’s.

I feel glad that, at last, those who were born in my decade are coming into their own in politics and the highest ranks of business.

However, as I race wildly on toward the age of 55 (in November), I’m constantly aware of approaching infirmity and worse. Oh well, I suppose the alternative is worse.

Why rejoicing in Sen. McWidestance’s fall is not anti-gay

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

There have been rants lately in some places saying that it’s hypocritical for gay men or lesbians to tap-dance on Sen. Craig’s political grave (couldn’t resist). Let me try to explain why I don’t believe it is.

The basis of the contract between constituents and their representatives is trust. We elect people whom we then trust to be honest and act in all our interests. Now we know that in fact most representatives are slaves of the special interests and only pay lip service to their constituents when this conflicts with their obligations to the big money people who help them get re-elected. However, being consistent and honest in one’s private life and one’s public life is all-important. If, for example, a senator who has large investments in oil and gas development then votes for legislation that would increase his or her own investment worth, this is not honest and creates a conflict. In practice, nowadays representatives put investments in a blind trust and only get income from it, without knowing what investments his or her trustees have chosen.

Senator Craig voted consistently for legislation that limited lesbian and gay rights. At the same time, he was (according to reports) tap-tap-tapping at the stall doors of many public conveniences. Now the question as to why he denies he’s gay (“men-who-have-sex-with-men” or MSMs often do) is not something I’d care to get into. But it shows a disconnection between the Senator and the truth. In one fundamental area of his life, he does not perceive activities that his family, friends, and the general public would see as homosexual acts to be so. The cognitive dissonance, the interior conflict between what he does and how he votes and what he believes, creates quite a bit of stress and tension, I am certain. On a personal level, this is not conducive to mental balance. On a political level, reasoned debate goes out the window when people do not vote as they act. The religious corollary to this is the Church of England priest who preaches faithfulness within marriage but who is also having an affair with the verger, or the Ted Haggard who preaches against sodomites but who happily pokes his butt in the air for his rentboys to plow.

I suggest that this cognitive dissonance, rather than his MSMness or homosexuality, is what disqualifies him for office.

The question of entrapment is also an interesting one. Did Senator McWidestance commit a crime in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport? No, he did not. Was the policeman justified in charging him with a crime, judging from what he did? No, he was not. Did the end justify the means? Well, a senator who has difficulties with his own psychological makeup and who votes against his own interests certainly needs to consider his or her position, and that’s exactly what he did.

I believe that Sen. Craig voted to convict Bill Clinton of impeachment for lying about his sexual activities with Monica Lewinsky. Is it stretching a point if we were to say that that is exactly what Sen. Craig has been doing for years? Why would President Clinton (on the one hand) be a criminal for doing something that Sen. Craig is doing (lying about his sexual activities)?

So, even though Sen. McWidestance did not commit a crime (in my opinion) in Minneapolis, his entire mode of life and his conduct bring into question his fitness for office. The other two closeted senators of whom I’m aware (both of whom are Republicans), one of whom is in high office in the Senate, will do all they can to ensure that Sen. McWidestance holds to his previous intention and resigns, since his continued presence in public life will threaten to shed light on their own unsavoury activities.

As the Republicans have more seats to defend in 2008 than the Democrats do, it’s likely that some of them will lose and the current precarious Democratic control of the Senate will become less so.

Oh, and if a Democratic politician were to be exposed as a closeted gay man or lesbian but his/her voting record were consonant with his/her sexuality, I would be quite a bit less likely to think that s/he should resign. No cognitive dissonance! However, if s/he voted as the homophobes do, out with him/her! And the only openly-gay Republican in the House of Representatives has a good voting record on lesbian and gay issues and I have no problem with him (other than the fact that he should really be a Democrat).

The consequence of the closet is death to the soul, and sometimes the end of a political career.

Today’s Master Criminal URL

Friday, September 7th, 2007

Master Peter Addison is very proud of his name. So proud that he left it at the scene of his crime. So stupid, too. Details here.

Today’s Religious URL

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

I really like this one…there are five others like it which you can find if you go here.

DNA profile database

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

Much in the news here the last few days are the comments of a senior judge in the UK about keeping DNA in a national database. At the moment, anyone who is arrested in the UK for any crime, no matter how minor the crime or how young the miscreant, has their DNA taken, sequenced, and stored in a national database. If they are later found not guilty, their DNA stays on the database. The judge believes this is indefensible. There are more racial minority DNA samples, for example, because of the proportions of people being arrested for crimes.

However, instead of suggesting that the DNA of the innocent be removed from the database, he is suggesting that everyone’s DNA be placed in the database…some 60 million inhabitants of the United Kingdom.

Moreover, he also suggests that every visitor to the United Kingdom have his or her DNA taken. This is 100 million people a year.

Now in the scheme of things many of those 100 million people will be return visitors to the United Kingdom, but determining that (or taking another sample to ensure that they are actually the owners of the DNA previously taken) will take extra time in the immigration process.

Scalability of the database will be a difficulty; let’s say that of the 100 million visitors a year, 40 million are new visitors. That means that in the first year, you will have 160 million entries in the database. The next year 200 million, It will never get smaller as you can never expunge an entry (if you’re using it for crime detection purposes, crimes can be solved after the death of the perpetrator, thus his or her DNA must be kept in perpetuity).

If a match is found between a foreign person and DNA at a crime scene, we then have to deal with tracing that person (so addresses will need to be kept and updated regularly) and getting him or her extradited to face justice.

In the UK the scheme will have to be linked with the ID card database (still only a gleam in the Home Office’s jaundiced and jaded eye) so that DNA can be linked to its owner wherever the owner currently lives.

Technically, all this will be a challenge. If it happens, then civil liberties protection requires the highest level of security and accuracy. With the current woeful state of government procurement of IT services (eg, the NHS IT system, which is a shambles, or the Passport system, which was so ineptly rolled out at the beginning of the holiday season after new laws had taken effect requiring children to carry their own passports that the Passport Office (as was) had to pass out logo’ed umbrellas to all the punters who had to queue in the rain to get their passports) it is unlikely that the required level of security and accuracy will result from the procurement process.

There were several comments from foreigners who said that if such a program (of typing the DNA of all visitors) is started they will never visit the UK again.

Another difficulty is identical twins. Now you have the problem of identifying which twin actually committed a crime, as witness statements might not be able to distinguish between the two. If this program comes about, it will be the case that each twin will have to justify his or her movements if there is a DNA match, as identical twins’ DNA is, well, identical.

Personally, I think that the government is well-aware that this half-brained scheme is not practically achievable at a reasonable cost in a foreseeable time period. However, they made sure that the comments were widely circulated (the judge was on the Today program yesterday and there were approving noises from the government that fell short of an endorsement) in order that people will begin to understand that they have no rights any more here in the United Kingdom.

Now back to the main idea. There is a tendency nowadays to equate the ability to do something or other with the necessity of doing so. Just because we are (theoretically) able to collect and store DNA information from every citizen and resident of, and visitor to the United Kingdom does not translate into the necessity of collecting and storing it. We have had the ability to store fingerprint information for more than a century. However, if it has ever been suggested that all fingerprints be collected and stored centrally to assist in crime detection it’s not come about.

Not everything that is possible is desirable.

Miscellany

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

I haven’t posted any updates for the past few days, so here we are. Friend-locked because of the job-related information.

Monday my tie broke. Sounds bizarre, but bear with me for a moment. As many of you are aware, I am now mostly wearing bow ties. In order that they might fit a wide range of necks, they are usually adjustable. A tie that is too long looks very odd, since the wide ends of the loops go past the widest part of the tie into the taper. So the adjustment is normally done with a metal latch of some sort, with varied styles depending upon the cost of the tie.

So I was tying my tie at the mirror in the gents’, and all of a sudden the metal latch pulled away from the rest of the tie, and I was left with two pieces of cloth no longer connected. What a pain. I need to do more research on bow ties and perhaps get this one repaired (as it’s a nice one: blue with red spots).

Tuesday was my second interview in Ealing. This, unfortunately, coincided with a Tube strike here in London. These are normally very painful things, with congested roads, lots of people getting on buses and querying the driver as to whether s/he goes to someplace they wish to go (s/he usually doesn’t), and late appointments. I was determined not to miss this, so I left the house at 9 am (for an 11 am appointment) and got to Ealing around 10:20, which was very good time indeed. I took a 148 bus to Lancaster Gate and walked to Paddington, then took a Heathrow Connect train to Ealing Broadway.

The interview itself was interesting. I got to the building and called for the lift. A gentleman entered the vestibule and when the lift came, I motioned for him to enter first. He pressed the same floor that I would have pressed. When I did not press a different button, he asked, “You here for an interview?” I said, “Yes, are you {name of person who would be interviewing me}?” He was, so I think I made a good impression right away. We talked for 50 minutes, and then I spoke with the Chief Operating Officer, who was similarly interesting (and tough). I think I did well, but the proof will come when the second person they are interviewing finishes and they make their decision. The questions suggested by the Chief Happiness Officer seem to really interest interviewers and I recommend using them (see my previous blog entry for details). They spark a discussion that is positive and upbeat, rather than concentrating on unhappy experiences elsewhere.

Wednesday was pretty much a washout. I worked at home because of the strike, and then went to yoga class last night. That was not a washout. I feel that every class I do a bit better. I will never be as limber as everyone else (especially since I am too heavy to support my own weight in many of the positions) but I am getting better at various things and always feel better after class.

I was on the District Line this morning going from Embankment to Victoria (the strike was called off Tuesday night but yesterday was still chaotic, especially in the morning) and saw a spider right in front of my nose. S/he was swinging from point to point on the straphangers’ bar, being blown around by the breeze coming from the end windows when the carriage was moving and swinging around very energetically when it had stopped. I couldn’t see where the web or strand of spider silk was attached, just the spider swinging around. S/he got very close to one straphanger’s head and I debated whether to warn him or not. I decided not, and the spider just blissfully swung to the other side of the carriage. Very calming.

Happy birthday, <lj user=”devinjay”>

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

and many happy returns of the day. Hugs.

More on Senator Tapper McWidestance

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

Those who vote for Republicans deserve everything they get.

If Senator Tapper McWidestance thinks that the Senate and Republican “leadership” are going to let him get away with not resigning, he’s got another think coming. This could drag on into next year if he doesn’t quit now, and it will keep those lying sons-of-bitches in the news for all the wrong reasons well into the primary season. Plus, there are still two Senators that rumour has flagged as being as gay as Sen. T. McW. and they are scared witless that they too will be outed.

As McDonald’s says, “I’m lovin’ it.”

Today’s SPAM[tm] Subject Line

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

Dirt-encrusted bride.

I’ve heard of that fetish…

Today’s Sartorial URL

Monday, September 3rd, 2007

If you have a cheque for $41,000 in your pocket, you might want to keep your trousers on. This gentleman didn’t follow that rule.

Refreshing one’s tags has desirable side effects

Monday, September 3rd, 2007

As you may be aware, I’m slowly going through all my livejournal posts, adding tags.

While I do that, though, I am finding typos to repair, dead links (as of today) that I can tag as such, and nostalgic posts to revisit.

Not that anyone is going to visit them again, alas, but I like it.

TrustFlow results for <lj user=”chrishansenhome”>

Monday, September 3rd, 2007

I used this meme in March 2006 AND June 2006. My friends list has changed since then, so here’s the new list, and next time someone remind me that I’ve overused this one.

I tried out TrustFlow II for LiveJournal. The following people not on the friends list for are close by:

  • (450 – 500)
  • (500 – 550)
  • (550 – 600)

  • , , , , , , (600 – 650)
  • , , (650 – 700)
  • , , , , , , (700 – 750)
  • , , , (750 – 800)
  • , , , , , , , (800 – 850)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , (850 – 900)
  • , , , , , , , , (900 – 950)
  • , , , , , , , , (950 – 1000)
  • , , , , , (1000 – 1050)
  • , , , , , , , , (1050 – 1100)
  • , , , , , , (1100 – 1150)
  • , , , , , , , , , , , (1150 – 1200)
  • , , , (1200 – 1250)

Created by ciphergoth; hosted by LShift.

TrustFlow II: Who is closest to your friends
list?

Today’s Sen. Toe Tapper experience

Sunday, September 2nd, 2007

We went to the Serpentine today; this year’s pavilion is awesome and I will post pictures as soon as I download them. We stopped off in the gents’ on the way, and a rather unfortunate creature was jerking off as hard as he could in the next urinal over.

We paid him no mind, of course, but I believe there was some interest behind us.

We then walked all the way to Earls Court via Notting Hill Gate, then took a bus to Baker Street, by which time HWMBO was finally hungry, so we ate at a Pizza Express.

Oh, and we bumped into Kym, my yoga instructor, at the Serpentine Pavilion. Cute as always, it was nice to be able to introduce him to HWMBO.

Today’s Political URL

Sunday, September 2nd, 2007

Thanks to , this is one hell of a clip. The woman’s name is Sonya Renee, and she rocks, completely. It was a Poetry Slam competion.

Today’s Religious Image

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

…comes courtesy of Spank the Male Nurse, an absolutely great Singapore blog. I wasn’t aware that Jesus was so afflicted, but it appears that He told us so.

For those who believe that Sen. Foot Tapper is a Republican aberration

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

…you really need to read this.