I don't tend to make political or religious posts on my blog. Let's be honest, I don't make many posts on any subject on my blog! So, please feel free to ignore this post.

However, I wanted to post on this subject. P Z Myers, the author of the blog Pharyngula and biologist at the University of Minnesota, Morris, has (intentionally) got himself into the cross-hairs of Bill Donohue's Catholic League, for the (according to Donohue) heinous crime of desecrating a cracker. The back-story can be found quite easily on Pharyngula, and many other places around the web, so I won't go into it here.

Myers has been taking a lot of abuse for his threats against crackers, with many idiots describing his behaviour as inciting hatred of Catholics, and calling for his dismissal from his position at UMM. As you may be able to tell from my tone so far, I'm entirely on Myers side in this. It is not inciting hatred to say that someone's beliefs are nonsense. It is not inciting hatred to say that they're idiots for believing something ridiculous. It is not inciting hatred to damage a cracker.

It may be inciting ridicule, or scorn, or contempt. But so what? There's no opinion, belief, or practice that people shouldn't be able to treat with ridicule, scorn or contempt. Someone may fervently and honestly believe that the cracker in question is the actual body of their god. Who knows, David Icke may believe the nonsense he spouts as well. I'm also sure that plenty of Daily Mail readers believe the tripe printed in their paper. And I don't see why any of them should be exempt from having the piss taken or their beliefs mocked. No one should.

I completely fail to see why a religious belief is priviledged over any other belief (and there are plenty of far more eloquent discussions on this subject at Butterflies & Wheels than I can make). I see no difference at all between saying that the Bible is a dangerous book, stuffed full of appalling immorality, and providing a lousy guide for how to behave, and making the same statement about the Daily Mail or the Independant, say. I see no difference at all between saying that people are idiots for having religious beliefs and saying that people are idiots for being Tories, Greens, or Socialists.

I'm also with Dawkins in his point that it makes no more sense to talk about a Christian child than it does a Conservative child; both are systems of belief that people either absorb as they're growing up (and in many cases fail to throw off), or they're belief systems that they adopt as adults. In either case, it's a very different thing to an innate characteristic such as the colour of their skin, or their gender, or their sexual orientation, and certainly shouldn't be protected in the same way through anti-discrimination legislation.

Anyway, vent over. This blog shall now return to its normal program of sporadic posting on non-controversial subjects.

This makes very depressing reading: A physics teacher begs for his subject back. I have a degree in physics (albeit not an impressive one, but hey, that's the effect that a very close and cheap bar had on me when I was that age...), and I thoroughly enjoyed the subject at school. It spoke a language that just made sense to me. The article says:

Given the sort of teaching that he describes, I just can't see that I would have given a damn. It would have bored me to tears. Hell, if I'd wanted that sort of a subject I'd have studied sociology or something (no insult intended to the sociologists out there!); what I loved about physics was the elegance of a mathematical proof being able to illustrate the reality of our universe.

I believe that the understanding of science is of vital importance. I'm not talking degree-level understanding, but the ability to grasp the basics. How else can you evaluate the constant barrage of competing claims, the latest health scares, the ridiculous uses of statistics, that we're all subjected to?

The author (Wellington Grey) is asking for help in making this issue better known. It certainly should be.

Update (2007-06-26): A petition has been created - please sign it.

Apparently, there's a certain number that isn't very popular, at least with the MPAA. So unpopular, in fact, that they want to ban it.

In case you're interested, the number starts (in hex) 09 f9, then has a bunch of other digits, and ends 88 c0.

If you're a decimal person, parts of the middle look like this: 17 2 157 116 227 91 216 65 86 197 99 86.

Just for the sake of it, here's a string of 0s and 1s: 1001111110011000110100111011110100111000111011011110110001000001101011011000101110001110101101000100011000000.

Doesn't seem so scary when it's just 1s and 0s, does it..?

From Christopher Hitchens: A Life of Living Dangerously. I completely agree with his eloquent defense of the right of all of us to go to hell in our own ways, or, as it's otherwise known, enjoy ourselves. I am an adult; I am quite capable of deciding what I wish to eat, drink, and do, for myself and don't need the constant hectoring of our government reminding me that these things may be bad for me. I know this, but consider the pleasure of indulging to be of more importance than the risks they entail. As Hitch says in the article, 'Above all, I could say that whenever I hear someone intone, “Sir, I’m going to need you to…” my instinctive response is, “And as for you, sir, I need you to stay the fuck out of my face.” '

Hat tip: the Drink-soaked Trots.

I really wish I'd been able to make it to the Calexico gig at the Roundhouse on Sunday - it sounds like it was a great gig! At least I saw them earlier this year with Iron & Wine at the Forum in Kenntish Town. Is it just me, or is the sound at that place always poor? Calexico sounded ok (they must have a sound engineer who knows their job!), but every other band I've seen has sounded, quite frankly, lousy. When I saw British Sea Power it was awfully muddy - I couldn't even pick out the guitar lines, it was just a wash of sound. Maybe it's my ears, I don't know...

Anyway, the following message has just been posted on the Calexico website. While I don't live anywhere near the places they're playing, I still think it's a good idea to post this as widely as possible. So, dear readers (both of you), here you go:

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Calexico’s seven-date December tour broaches some of the most serious social issues facing citizens on either side of the US - Mexico border today. Accompanying them on these dates will be representatives from several organizations including Humane Borders and Music for America raising awareness about humanitarian issues stemming from border and immigration policies.

So, the contest, you ask? What of the contest? Well, we’d like for you to help Calexico spread the news and bring people out to the shows by telling everyone you know about the events. The following is a list of things you can do to help. Every time you complete one of the opportunities from the list, you’ll be entered to win two tickets to the Calexico show nearest you, a copy of World Drifts In (Live at the Barbican) DVD, and a vintage Calexico tour poster. In other words, the more you do, the more likely you’ll be to win.

If you don’t live in any of the cities covered by the tour, don’t worry! You can still enter the contest and participate in spreading the word. See below.

1) Write your local newspaper, radio station and/or television station and tell them about the event. Ask them if they’d be willing to help by publishing an announcement about the event to inform your community. Send a copy of the letter to us at calexicocontest@tgrec.com or

Calexico Contest – Quarterstick Records
PO Box 25542
Chicago, IL 60625

2) Repost this bulletin including a personal message to your friends. Then post a comment on our myspace page (myspace.com/tgqs) saying that you’ve done so.

3) Post this message on your personal blog (non-myspace blogs) and send the direct link to calexicocontest@tgrec.com .

Calexico Tour Dates:

12/02/06 - Rialto Theatre, Tucson, AZ w/ Annuals
12/03/06 - Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM w/ Annuals
12/04/06 - Orpheum, Flagstaff, AZ w/ Annuals
12/05/06 - The Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ w/ Annuals
12/07/06 - Soho Restaurant, Santa Barbara, CA w/ The Broken West