Following Obama's deft swatting of a fly, the media seemed to eagerly jump at the chance to praise what an awesome guy he is and how his farts smell of freshly mowed grass. Meanwhile, PETA hatched a cunning plan to squeeze a little publicity from Obama's shadow and so decided to complain about his mistreatment of the fly and send him a "humane" bug catching device. While the story certainly gained plenty of publicity, it's yet another of their stunts which only serves to make them look ludicrous to the general public. Again, they're conducting PR stunts which are only really convincing to those who already at least broadly agree with their goals- hardly a wise strategy. Then again, this comes from people who love Che Guevara, noted serial murderer, torturer and (ironic?) T-shirt icon, so their views are pretty suspect in general.

Thanks to h8d_bitch and jordan179 for the links.

"Irrational" is a word I use quite a lot. I use it to describe people, ideas, religions and decisions frequently. This, it seems, has lead a good few people to infer that I am claiming to be perfectly rational, which I don't believe I ever have. Certainly, I do my best to hold myself to a high standard of rationality in my daily decision making, but I also recognise that I am human and therefore flawed. Like everyone else on this planet, there are certain things that I am predisposed to doing without critically examining them- seek food, and shelter, think in ways that may not be beneficial to my long-term goals, experience emotional outbursts which may cloud my judgment and a host of other behaviours which have been ingrained into me by millions of years of evolution combined with countless influences from the world around me. A large part of what makes me a somewhat rational person, however, is that I recognise these things. When I have calmed down, I tend to be able to step back and admit that the basis for my behaviour was flawed and illogical.

Sure, rationality isn't the be-all and end-all. However much I might like it to be different, I have to deal with the fact that I live with my thoughts being somewhat controlled by a series of squishy, hormone-pumping organs which make demands of me, and sometimes it's just easier to give in to those demands than to fight them in some arbitrary battle for intellectual purity. Provided the risk of negative consequences is minor, it's perfectly acceptable to do things simply because one feels like it. As long as one can afford to do it, and it causes no harm to anyone else, "because I want to" is a perfectly good reason to do something. There's nothing inherently wrong with mindless pleasure. The problems come when one uses feelings as a basis for significant decisions, especially those which one is poorly educated on, especially if they are in fields not well suited to our brains which are adapted for tasks such as finding good fruit, running away from predators and spotting a concealed tiger. Even in these tasks, civilisation has brought methods which vastly improve on the abilities that our bodies are capable of in nature (shop-bought fruit, motorbikes and thermal imaging). In most other areas, whether it be in setting public policies, in deciding what clothes to wear, or in conducting an argument, acting in a rational manner is almost always the best way to go.

In-and-of itself, rationality won't make the world a utopia and won't provide us answers for everything. I'll likely never live up to a perfect standard of rational behaviour and I'll probably never be able to give the definition of exactly what is "perfectly rational behaviour". Nevertheless, rational decision-making is extremely useful, both on a personal and public level and putting aside one's feelings in order to do or think what is correct, rather than what makes one feel better right now, can be extremely important. It's quite often difficult to do- on some subjects, one may have very strong feelings even if one has no factual basis for one's beliefs but, by not thinking rationally on a single issue, one often risks clouding related issues or decisions with bad judgment.

As I've stated, I'm in no way claiming to be able to constantly hold myself up to this high standard of rational thinking, but at least I'm bloody trying. I'm not in denial about being human- I recognise that there are some emotional aspects of myself that I must sometimes bow to- but that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of things about being human which are worth trying to change. I'd like to think that I do a better job than most of reigning in the more unpleasant or damaging aspects of human nature and that I'm more willing to admit mistake and change my position when demonstrably wrong. It may not always make me a happy person, but at least I can honestly say that I try to be a good person and that I generally base my decisions on the best information that I reasonably can at the time.

Then again, maybe hedonism would be a laugh.


Links:
Interesting anonymous British police blog- PC Bloggs.
20 sites every scientist should know.

Nick Griffin, leader of the "we're not racists, honest" British National Party, has been pelted with eggs while trying to give a self-congratulating speech about how well he did at the European election (hardly a triumph considering the level of voter apathy). While I can't really condone egg-chucking as a legitimate method of political expression, it did make me chuckle seeing Nick and his thugs scarpering from a hail of eggy missiles. The troubling thing, however, is that some of the protesters seem to disagree with free speech when it's fascists doing the speaking. Hypocritical much? The woman being interviewed seems to think that her viewing someone as "fascist" automatically bars their opinion from being valid in any way, somewhat undermining the "free" part of "free speech".

Legally speaking, shouldn't those anti-fascist protesters have been arrested for demonstrating too close to parliament, or does that rule only count when one's demonstration disagrees with the government's policies? Or maybe the police have just realised that it's a really retarded law and stopped enforcing it.

I spoiled my ballot for the EU elections. Libertas tempted me somewhat for a while, but they presented no substantive policy ideas beyond vague promises to reduce corruption and bureaucracy, which just wasn't enough to sway me.


Cool gadget: Glasses-mounted display which can track one's eye movements in order to manipulate data. I want one.

It looks like Jacqui Smith might finally be pissing off. With any luck, this marks an end to her reign of incompetent terror. Now all we have to hope is that the next home secretary isn't even worse.

Good news- a Japanese team have managed to create transgenic marmosets with the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene which makes them glow bright green under UV light. As awesome as that is in and of itself, the real story here is that this is the first time scientists have been able to genetically modify a primate and have the gene passed on to the animal's offspring. This is a really important step in genetic engineering, and one which will allow researchers to more accurately model human diseases in primates. Pro-Test's blog had a good piece on the macaque model of Huntington's disease.


Also interesting, California pastors who are refusing to marry straight people as long as gay people can't get legally married.

Britain has secret police, and apparently they're willing to threaten people's families in order to recruit more agents. Even worse, Jacqui Smith knew about it and did nothing to stop it. Fantastic. I live in a country which threatens and blackmails people into doing its dirty work as a matter of policy.

Oh well, not like the US is doing any better. Turns out, Obama is a fan of detaining people indefinitely without a trial, charge or even the accusation that they have actually committed a crime- just that they might commit one. New president, same old shit. At least Bush had the decency to defecate on the constitution crudely and behind closed doors. Obama does it eloquently and in front of a crowd.


Interesting link: various game consoles viewed through an X-ray machine.

Related interesting link: X-ray image of a hand dipped in iodine solution.

Good news: The Cato Institute has released a report on the results of Portugal's drug problems in the light of the country's choice to decriminalise personal use of all drugs back in 2001. The upshot is that fewer people used drugs, there was less HIV transmission, more addicts sought treatment, fewer drug-related deaths occurred and money was saved. Of course it's not completely certain that decriminalisation caused all these pleasant outcomes, but this report is still a rather large kick in the teeth for the war on drugs. More details in this Time article.

Bad news: Work is underway on a new network of cameras which will be able to scan number-plates and flag up the location of the vehicle to police. Sounds like a nice idea, but it seems that it's already been used to harass at least one legitimate protester, and it's somewhat worrying that only now is this being mentioned- when it's too late to stop. Jacqui Smith, upon being questioned about possible civil liberty concerns, mumbled something vague and non-committal about legislation to regulate the system before putting her middle finger up at the country and wiping her arse with a copy of J.S. Mill's "On Liberty".

Awesome news: Kids in Loughton, Essex walked out of class in protest of the new CCTV cameras that had been installed to watch them while they worked. Right on.

More awesome news: Daimler have bought a 10% stake in Tesla motors, the upstart electric car firm that makes the sexy Tesla Roadster, thus providing some much-needed capital so that development on their planned Model S sedan can continue.


Also, finally a news outlet manages to avoid using the term "cannabis factory" when referring to a grow-operation, and even correctly calls it a farm. This goes against just about every other news source. It might just be a pedantic little pet peeve of mine, but farms are where one grows organisms for consumption and factories are where raw goods or less complex goods are processed or assembled into more complex products. If these people were turning cannabis plants into hashish or cannabis oil, or synthesising THC on an industrial scale, then "factory" would be accurate. But they're not. In fairness, it seems that the police are using the term themselves, shifting the blame away from the journalists somewhat and onto the police who should at least get their terminology right if they do insist on being complete dicks and breaking down the door of everyone who simply wants to grow a bit of weed.

Obviously this whole expenses affair is rather deplorable- many of the individuals who were meant to be representing the people and protecting taxpayers' investment were in fact systematically defrauding the system- but I fail to understand how this is what's finally gotten the country up in arms about government corruption and waste. Politicians have been pissing away money that isn't theirs, fostering unhealthily close relationships with industry and generally treating the country like their private ATM for years. It seems that the newspapers and TV news have been screaming about the affair in an effort to prove their continuing relevance, whipping up the public into a frenzy over just another one of many examples of MPs putting themselves in front of their duties to the public. I'm certainly glad that people are moving towards greater scepticism of the political establishment but it's a little worrying when one considers their alternative voting options. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a significant increase in British National Party votes next general election, continuing their rise into the mainstream. Seeing how they're little more than thugs in suits, I'd say it's definitely something to be concerned about..

In case you haven't seen it, do take a look at Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan laying into Gordon Brown at the European Parliament.


Oh, and The Register has an interesting piece on the government's use of statistics when legislating morality, and how they tend to ignore real evidence when it conflicts with their message.

Are we finally seeing the end of one of the most costly and long-running wars of modern times? Gil Kerlikowske, Obama's new "drug czar" has signaled a shift away from a "war on drugs", which so often turns into a war on innocent people, and instead treat drugs as more of a public health issue. While it's certainly not the full legalisation I would like to see, it's definitely a very positive move- hopefully one which can be taken further in coming years. Some of the proposed changes on the table include:
-Increasing the role of treatment in sentencing and reducing that of jail-time.
-Reducing the disparity in sentencing between crack and powdered cocaine.
-End to federal medical cannabis raids in states where it's legal, possibly meaning that the feds would also leave alone states who legalised recreational use of cannabis.
-Ending federal ban on needle exchanges, which can reduce rates of HIV transmission significantly.

Thanks to h8d_bitch for the link.

Lord Foulkes, a Labour peer who seems to have been given his peerage for being a good little Labour flunkey for so many years, had a little hissy fit at a BBC presenter while she was questioning him over the MPs' expenses row. The best quote came when he accused journalists of being paid "to come on TV and sneer at democracy and undermine democracy." He seems to fail to understand that the press' questioning of government is one of the most important features of a democracy and is vital to prevent the whole institution from sliding into a state of utter corruption. Often, in fact, the press maintain too close a relationship with the government- downplaying or holding off on certain stories to ensure that the govenment press offices will keep them in the loop in the future. He does have one point, though- MPs aren't paid enough for the job to seriously compete with private sector jobs requiring equivalent skills and qualifications. At the moment, the job appears to primarily attract the people mainly interested in the power and kick-backs.

I'd like to note that Dr Evan Harris, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and long time Pro-Test supporter, has been campaigning for quite a while for a more transparent parliament. I may not agree with him on everything, but if the majority of MPs were more like Dr Harris, I'd be a lot less suspicious of giving power to the government.

As you've probably heard, Jacqui Smith decided to publish a list of 22 people not allowed in the UK because "We won't allow people into this country who are going to propagate the sort of views... that fundamentally go against our values." A few points:
1: Where does that bitch get off presuming to speak for the values of sixty million people?
2: If Britain does have some kind of collective values, surely the ability to speak freely should be one of them.
3: Making a big song-and-dance over censoring certain people only gives them a more prominent platform from which to spew their idiocy.


Here's an interesting piece on the possible role of diamond in quantum computing.

Plus, a New Scientist interview with Ray Kurzweil, trans-humanist extraordinaire.

Also, shirts with electronic displays- coming soon.

Oh, and innocent people will have their DNA removed from the UK's database... after 6-12 years. Because you're innocent until proven guilty or until somebody decides to accuse you of something.

Have a look at this awesome article on the Mises economic blog which argues that the A-Team are exemplars of anarcho-capitalism. Whether or not you agree, it's still pretty amusing.

Plus, "we're all going to die of swine 'flu... maybe... who knows?" says Ben Goldacre of the Bad Science blog.

EDIT: Also, good news for me- people who get up late may outperform those who get up later in the day.

The UCLA Pro-Test demonstration on Wednesday went off without a hitch and attracted around 700 marchers according to police estimates, compared to around 50 individuals attending the anti-research demo which was held at the same time. A hearty congratulations to all who attended. Further coverage is available here and here. CNN video of the demo below.
Embedded video from CNN Video


In worrying news, UK police have been caught trying to pay a protester to become an informant and rat on others involved in the demonstration group "Plane Stupid". While I may disagree with a lot of what the group has to say, and I find some of their "direct action" methods deplorable, it's extremely worrying that the police are (and probably have been for some time) building a spy network inside campaign groups. Of course, anyone actually involved in demonstrations that involve damaging of property or harming of people needs to be prosecuted as appropriate, but installing spies inside a largely legitimate political protest group is simply Orwellian. Where's the assurance that this isn't happening inside other groups that happen to disagree with what the government has to say?


In awesome news, check out this poster which gives a good overview of everything a time traveler stranded in the past would need to know. I've often pondered how I'd survive if stranded in the past with my current level of knowledge, and I suspect I would run into trouble with practical metallurgy (and, depending upon how far back and where I landed, with language). Of course, the ideal situation would be to have a laptop with the entirety of Wikipedia loaded onto it along with a wood-powered generator, but the poster deals with a lot of the important basics. Available as a T-Shirt and poster from Topatoco.


And, finally, have you ever wondered what to do in the event that you accidentally swallow the Higgs Boson? Wonder no more, thanks to this The Morning News article.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but if you're a US based student and are a supporter of animal based research, you might be interested in the Michael D. Hayre fellowship, founded by the Americans for Medical Progress which was created with the aim of providing education regarding animal research to members of the public and young people. If you're interested, more details are available here. Deadline for application is 30^th of this month.

In other interesting news, Square Enix have announced a videogame controlled by brainwaves recorded using bioelectric sensors. Pretty cool stuff.

Lockheed are offering a ready-to-go exoskeleton which enhances the user's strength.

General Motors and Segway are teaming up to make this badass car-scooter-thing.

And this is pretty awesome. An illustration entitled "the indie rock universe".

Plus, here's a video of a cannonball floating in mercury:

There's a mercury fountain at the Miró museum in Barcelona. A video of it is available here, but sadly it's one of those things which requires an in-person viewing to get the full effect of quite how cool it is.

EDIT: Also, as a wise rapper once eloquently posited, fuck the police. I don't agree with most of the G20 protesters, but the way the police handled it was rather appalling. Here's some more cops beating and forcibly detaining people. And more police ignoring civil liberties.

And, a new study suggsets that the UK would save up to £14bn a year by legalising drugs. That's three Large Hadron Colliders, or a London 2012 and a half, every twelve months. Alternatively, lower taxes and more police training to reduce some of the above abuses and perhaps get some real crimes solved. It's a bit of a shame that legalisation is only seriously being talked about because of the monetary savings, rather than because of the immorality of the war on drugs, but at least it's a start.

EDIT #2: I do note that £1 on hashish and £2 on "skunk" is a little silly seeing how most good quality hash is significantly more potent than even the strongest buds by weight. Wouldn't bother me, admittedly, just doesn't make much sense.

Great news- there's a demonstration planned by a Pro-Test "splinter group"- Pro-Test@UCLA. They're marching to support the continuation of vital biomedical research at UCLA, as well showing solidarity with the scientists who carry out that research. While animal rights related violence has been low in the UK lately, there have been increasing numbers of attacks across the pond, especially in Los Angeles, and it seems that the students and scientists have quite rightly had enough. They'll be marching under the Pro-Test banner on Wednesday the 22^nd of April 2009 at 11:30am starting from Junction of Westwood Blvd & Le Conte Ave, UCLA campus. Their Facebook page is here.

The Scientific Activist covers the story here.
And the Guardian's science blog has mentioned it too.

Bad news:
The UK government is planning to ban cartoons or comics featuring nude under-18s, which completely misses the point of prohibiting child pornography. The purpose of these laws should be to prevent children being sexually abused but no child is harmed when an artist puts pencil to paper, as opposed to the process of creating real child porn. Banning drawn depictions of people under the age of 18 would leave the government room to censor works such as Watchmen, The Lost Girls, South Park and Simpsons Movie. If people think something is obscene and don't want to see it, they're welcome to not read/watch it.
In addition, the UN has passed a resolution condemning "defamation of religions". Fuck god, fuck Mohammad, fuck organised religion in general, fuck the UN and fuck censorship laws.

Good news:
A pizza vending machine is being rolled out in Italy. For 4 euros, you get a freshly cooked pizza with your choice of toppings and it's automatically made in front of you. That's pretty damn cool. While there's certainly no substitution for a really good quality pizza, being able to get fresh pizza in minutes from a vending machine would just be awesome. Now if only someone could just install one near me. Also, maybe some Japanese ones (SFW).
EDIT: Also, Tesla cars release details of their new model- the Model S. Looks great and they're promising an impressive range of up to 300 miles.

Stupid news:
Barack "I inhaled frequently... that was the point" Obama laughed off the suggestion that legalisation of cannabis would be of benefit to the US during an online Q&A session, despite it being the session's most popular issue. It's possible that he really believes that prohibition works, but I suspect that he just doesn't have the guts to risk the political fallout from suggesting putting an end to one of the longest-running and most expensive wars ever. Perhaps he should go back and watch his favourite show again. His move seems especially gutless given the fact that several more states have legalised medical use of cannabis (including New Hampshire, which has also repealed the death penalty, making it an even more desirable place to emigrate to), plus both California and Massachusetts are debating outright legalisation. With any luck, the state of the economy will encourage America to stop blowing billions fighting its own citizens and the rest of the world will eventually follow suit without the US leading the charge.

Happy 95^th birthday to Dr Norman Borlaug, one of the greatest human beings ever to have lived.

For your reading pleasure, Cracked's "5 real life soldiers who make Rambo look like a pussy".

The world is a barren and depressing place now that Jade Goody is dead. At least, that's the impression I'm getting with the flowing eulogies plastered all over every part of the media. I really do my best not to comment on things like Goody's slow death or on Madeline McCann's fruitless search, but the degree to which this "celebrity" is being celebrated is mind-numbing. I didn't personally know her so she may have been a genuinely pleasant person but, from what I have seen of her, she appeared to be spiteful, ignorant and to possess no remarkable talents whatsoever beyond the ability to capitalise on media interest (which, admittedly, I can't blame her for- it's the fault of the media and everyone who watched/read about her tedious antics). She was famous simply for being on television and achieved nothing in her life causing me to care in the slightest about her demise. I'm sure it's all very unpleasant for her friends or family, but that goes for the loved ones of any of the other 60,000,000 or so individuals who will cease to live during 2009. Perhaps Gordon Brown would like to comment how amazingly awesomely courageous every single one of those were?

It does, however, amuse me that this is in the "entertainment" section of the BBC news site.


In other news, the UK government may start snooping on Facebook traffic. I'm sure Al Qaeda are going to be really worried now that they can't post their new photos on Hezbollah's wall.

And Alphabete, a fellow frequenter of #BTC, posted a very positive link to my blog, which I appreciate muchly.

If you haven't already seen it, check out this cool story about a guy who has replaced his severed finger with a USB drive. I'm vaguely tempted to go hack one of mine off right now. As soon as it's possible to get multi-tool replacements for one's fingers, I'm having an "accident" with a band saw.

Also on the subject of emerging cybernetics, TED has a great talk by Aimee Mullins about her prosthetic legs. Again, I want a pair.