Move Along, Nothing To See Here!

As we head towards an election, the fate of the western world hangs by a thread.
Actually, it doesn't, but that's what they'd have you believe.
At such times, rampant scaremongering tends to be the case - after all, the safe choice is the best choice, and you're safe with us™© !
So it comes as no surprise when I read the news ( on the BBC website, no less) that 80,000 people in the U.K. might die if an infection resistant to antibiotics appeared.

So basically, nothing has actually happened and the postulated infection doesn' t even exist.
Phew, huh?
I thought we were goners for sure !
Thank goodness then, for the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies: because the statistics come from their offices.
Another redundant government initiative, you cry ?
Okay, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt here- it may well be the case that the NRRCE (couldn't they get someone to sex-up the acronym even a little ? ) are preparing for a worst case scenario - but why is this presented as news ?
Slow day for news , perhaps ?

They say that there is no smoke without fire, and there is a movement complaining of the lack of new antibiotics, i.e. resistance to all available medicines has reached a high point, so we need more, new antibiotics.
Of course, there is another thread that says Big Pharma would happily keep plying us with medicines because there's more money in medicine than there is in cures...when last did we cheer as a cure was found ?
Certainly the dread TB, once thought eradicated , seems to be re-emerging: and then there's the anti - vaccine brigade, pushing back decades of progress in the fight against childhood maladies.
Many people, myself included, are reluctant to take anti-biotics on the grounds that they swiftly stop being effective.
It is of benefit to  maintain a strong immune system (something I adhered to  until I was diagnosed with MS, a condition in which the immune system fights itself ).

But this post was not originally about the medicines, or shortcomings of the much maligned NHS.

It was about misdirection, in which a casual interest in the news led to a pointless piece of statistical scaremongering.

In hindsight, I might 'spike' this piece, with the ominous words ' needs more zombies'

Easter Bunnies and Chocolate Eggs

This is an image I posted elsewhere in honour of this day of celebrations.
Be they the turning of a bird into a rabbit, fertility rites, or even the resurrection tradition of Abrahamic myth.
From hollow chocolate eggs and bunnies to the risen Lord, there should be room for all forms of celebration in the spring.
I hear repeated anger from atheists that the (old testament probably) Bible condones rape, pillage and murder and suchlike.
Of course, it does - the Talmud was also pretty grisly and the vengeful God thing is a thread passing down through millenia.
The 'scriptures' did not interrupt some idyllic, utopian paradise - of that I'm pretty sure.
The weakest link in the chain is humanity.
Faith can move mountains.
It can also lead to the execution of non-believers.
As a species,we are capable of horrific acts of cruelty .
We are territorial.
We are egotistical.
Yet we are also capable of creating great beauty, capable of acts of kindness, capable of driving our own evolution in a search for better.

Personally, I feel that the act of placing yourself in the care of a greater spirit-based and potentially non-existent being is equal to abnegating yourself, and absolving  responsibilities for individual actions (just ask for forgiveness!).
At its worst, it creates mob mentality, justifying outrageous behaviours.
Then there are the thorny issues of literal interpretations of scriptures , which give rise to schisms , cults, and persecution .
Ultimately, who is right ?
Are the atheists right, with their preference for empirical truth born of scientific rationale, and evidence based reality ?*
Are the worshippers of a patriarchal monotheistic creator god right ?
Are the pagans with their old ways and many shades of magic right ?
What is right ?

And who says the Pope is infallible ?
In Reformation England 1550 , there was a great resistance to the adoption of the Julian calendar on the grounds that it was driven by the Pope, who had previously been named as 'The Antichrist'.**
Protestant and Catholic traditions continue to create divisions - I  fell foul of these divisions in my Scottish childhood.
"Celtic or Rangers ?" was a frequent question, the wrong answer to which resulted in violence.
Far from being a football issue, of course, the question is born of sectarian division.
I remember as a youngster being confused by all of this, up to the point where I would gaze out of the window of our flat in Edinburgh, wondering why we couldn't go outside when the Orange men were marching.
I even wondered whether the name was because they drank orange juice.


* ...of course, the entire fossil record was actually falsified.

** Thomas Cranmer, John Knox and a slew of Lutherans, but also Anabaptists and Methodists upheld this belief...

Information Overload

Information overload is a very real thing.
Even if you don't want that infomation
I never much cared for tabloid media news but in this switched on world of trending posts and clickbait fodder, it's increasingly hard to ignore pointless drivel.
A week ago, if you asked me who Zayn Malik was, I would have stared at you blankly.
Now, through relentless media hype, I know that he is in the band One Direction.
Except he's not, as he's leaving.
My fascination with the subject ended before I wrote any of that.

The current media hype in this country is the suspension (now sacking) of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson following a violent outburst during which he punched a producer.
The two stories have merged.
This has resulted in endless satirical pictures:

This is one of many such 'amusing' memes...

My point is that I don't want to know or care about the events in the lives of Mr Malik or Mr Clarkson :
Neither of them impact on my world, but it seems as though such things are becoming commonplace.
I mean purely in terms of demographics, is there a crossover audience for Jeremy Clarkson and One Direction , because I doubt it.
So the point is..?.

Add caption

These images are used for educational purposes

Of course, a common piece of advice these days is that if you don't agree with something, just move on.
That's the nature of the online world: and in fairness, I have no opinion on 1-Direction, or infact, any such popular combo, but I resent being swamped with electronic spam reminding me endlessly of their continued existence.
And whilst I'm ignoring them, we get this warped crossover moment, and I swear I can see the machinations of hell at work.
It's trivial, it's pointless, and it's in your face.

Whatever happened to - gasp- news ?

Information overload is a very real thing: the figures below are taken from analysis by GoGulf  :

Every Sixty Seconds

168 million emails sent

694,445 Google searches

695,000 Facebook status updates

370,000 Skype calls are made

98,000 tweets on Twitter

20,000 new posts on Tumblr

13,000 iPhone apps downloaded

6,600 new pictures on Flickr

1,500 new blog entries posted

600+ videos posted totalling over 25 hours duration on YouTube
 These figures are for the U.S.A.

Of course it's important that we have the opportunity to switch our brains off occasionally, for fear of overheating - especially in the 24/7 info culture we currently embrace.
But do we switch off?
An incoming text makes a noise or vibration on your smartphone - do you check ?
How long can you resist the allure of 'The Book of Face' - a friend of mine has even given it up for Lent !
Sign of the times, or a real addiction ?

Apparently the average Farcebook user spends 7 hours and forty - five minutes online with FB every month.
In my mind, I see  a chap with a stopwatch and a notebook following someone from room to room.

Unsettling, isn't it ?

Exactly, and on that note, we should all write to our collective MPs.
Or just 'like' the form...

This timewasting trivia brought to you by me.

Thank you !

Updates To Date

This is a revised version of the previous 'Excuse us while we catch up', as that post included a tribute to the late, great Leonard Nimoy,  whereas the updates (and Mr Nimoy) are best with a dedicated page, so here it is.
There's a pattern quickly emerging, which seems to be that news swiftly follows my postings, so regular updates are needed !

Anti-Social Media' was so anti-social, it vanished !

My post (Nudge Nudge Wink Wink !) , was inspired by news of an impending clampdown by Google on blogs containing explicit material.
That clampdown was amended to a light spanking, and all's well that ends well (apart from the outrage I feel at having needlessly exposed my teenage secrets)...that said, I wonder if Google were simply following the adage "If you want a correct answer to something online, just post the wrong one and wait..."
Perhaps they realised that the very threat of censorship would have bloggers up in arms and creating lewd and salacious content in defense of free speech, thus generating lots of online 'traffic' - if so, well played, Google, you sly dogs!


In the post Kindergarten Konspiracy, I gave a thumbs up to those campaigning (in the U.S.) for Net Neutrality, and that was ultimately upheld by the FCC, so well done, freedom fighters - and boo hiss to the corporate Keepers of the Gateway (Verizon and Comcast) who sought to create a two lane virtual highway with broadband throttling for those who didn't pay more for their interweb.
Like most things in my blog, that's a gross over - simplification , but anyways...


Recent post Leaving Before The Rush, written on the sad passing of  author Terry Pratchett, is now an example of serendipity, in that I mentioned my first exposure to his work was book number 33 in the  Discworld series, Going Postal , and now, as an ongoing tribute to his genius, a line of code has been inserted into the headers of many web servers, as happened in that very book following the death of  John Dearheart, because: "A man is not dead whilst his name is still spoken".


This link is to the relevant article from The Guardian 


P.S.

The post 'Anti - Social Media' has been removed on the grounds that it is negative and pointless. Saying that, I have included a collage  (above)  I made for that post, which should give you an idea of what a 'bad trip' it was...

Further updates pending !

Defiantly Grammar Nazi

So it finally happens.
That, I mean - using 'so' as an opening word.

I mean it's grammatically correct, but it implies laziness on the part of the writer- or an ongoing dialogue, in which the word 'so' is a continuity marker.
It seems to be all the rage, anyways.
I accept that the English language is one of the most dynamic and constantly changing.
 However, what I don't accept is the blatant re-appropriation of entire words and meaning.
I have seen (and used) many forms of slang and differing meanings, but one case that riles me everytime is the word defiantly.
It is currently, popularly in use (certainly online) as a replacement for definitely.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the two words have different meanings?
It's fairly obviously laziness on part of the writer somewhere along the line, but continued laziness across the board seems to have led to widespread adoption.
Is this the slow creep of lazy language, or - lingo ?
I thought the term 'bae' was a lazy 'valley girl' shortcut for 'baby' as in 'sweetheart', but likewise it seems to be spreading. I believe it's pronounced as 'bay', in which case, why not just add the extra 'b' for 'baby' ?
Perhaps it's born of auto-correct culture.
I confess, I'm guilty of never using auto-correct as a default, mainly because I hate the frequency with which it suggests wrong words.

a world where everyone communicates in images and colours

I understand that in this multi - cultural world, ease and speed of communications is gained through use of foreshortening and loss of vowels, and I long ago gave up arguing the toss against the 'Americanisation' of words such as colour/color, neighbour/neighbour,aluminium/ aluminum, etc.
But even so, what's the next step ?
If I was a clairvoyant, I might predict a future world where everyone communicates in images and colours.
Nuance could be conveyed in differing shades of colour - which brings me to another point -
We're losing the nuance of words with online media like the global behemoth that is Facebook.
At least here on my blog, I can use italics to emphasize words or even this to strengthen them.

However, in the millions of everyday social media chit-chat texts and messages we now send, it's down to the recipient to try to guess the nuance and intention of  meaning.
Otherwise IT'S SHOUTING.
The loss of nuance equates to the loss of subtlety in language, and that, ultimately, is my gripe.
Where does it end?
Will there be a film entirely in txt spk lol ?

Watch The Skies!

The skies are afire with wondrous things - it dawned on me recently that we (i.e. humanity) are making some serious headway in the exploration of our solar system.
Three years ago, I became aware of the Curiosity lander on Mars. I'd followed previous excursions - Opportunity, etcetera, but Curiosity had better PR, and presents some of  the best quality images - and of course the Mars Orbiter (or mothership), like a benevolent watchful satellite continues to monitor from above... I must admit, I was stunned when Curiosity even successfully landed, given the previous track record of landings on Mars.

Curiosity 'selfie' on Mars

So far, so good - then I learned that Voyager is heading into deep space, mankinds first ever probe to go that far. Hurrah! -because I'd forgotten all about Voyager - didn't we all ?
Then, following a path that began with a launch in 1973, Rosetta, in a nail-biting moment sets a new record by placing a lander on a comet !
Now the Dawn explorer has entered orbit around distant mini - planet Ceres, and in July the New Horizons explorer does a flypast of outermost planet Pluto and its moon , Charon!

Ceres with the mysterious double-dot

What a time to be a science nerd! My inner 'Sheldon' is truly amazed!
 I vaguely remember the black and white moon landings (well they were black and white on our tv back then) , and then the slow building of the ISS, and the sad fate of the Beagle2 (Colin Pillingers ill-fated eccentric British Mars lander).

But now, it's an all - out space race! (without the Cold War posturings).
Heck, there are even people who've signed up for a one-way ticket to Mars! - in fairness, I don't feel so excited by this, infact, maybe I've seen too many dystopian sci - fi films, but I feel a bit queasy when I think of people on Mars.
Don't get me wrong, though - the future is now- we have robots exploring the outer solar system!
It's here and it's real!
(this burst of childish enthusiasm will only be understood by those who remember the old Look and Learn magazines)

Sunset on Mars taken by Spirit rover

Recent Mars findings indicate the former presence of a huge ocean which once covered most of the red planet. This is interesting, but what of the subsurface ocean of Jupiters moon Ganymede, as recently purported ?
What of the iced -over oceans of Enceladus with their geysers issuing plumes up to 500 kilometres into space, with minute particles of silica becoming part of Saturns rings?

The geysers of Enceladus, up to 500 km high

It  is astonishing, and it's information that's reaching us on an increasingly frequent, almost daily basis.
My tiny mind is well and truly boggled !
But -focus- this means that there are considerable bodies of water, with the potential for life, in our own solar system. Yes, this little solar system on the distant outer edge of the milky way.
Not some far flung and rubbish - named  planet in the mythical 'goldilocks ' zone of a distant sun, but
right here.
On our doorstep.

Leaving Before The Rush

Sometimes I sit down and go blank.
My last post was a slightly surreal piece drawing parallels with the behaviours of social media, and I withdrew it from public view .
The post was called 'Anti-Social Media'.
The little post prior to that was about the recent passing of  Leonard Nimoy.
Maintaining interest in the fantastical, the logical direction of this post would be to mourn the passing of Terry Pratchett (Sir Terry, technically, but I'm sure he didn't stand on ceremony) - sadly taken from us following a lengthy battle with early onset Alzheimers disease.

He was a prolific writer, blessed with a wild and limitless imagination, which spanned some forty books of the Discworld, and thirty others .

My first experience of the Discworld was actually book number 33 in the series , 'Going Postal', with its parallels of snail mail versus the internet, or 'Clacks'.
 Beneath the hyperactive comedy, it contained an almost whimsical melancholy, bemoaning the loss of the old ways - and this was the essence of the man - the way that he could address so many simple truths in such seemingly oblique ways.
The entire construct of the Discworld is modelled on some slightly skewed vision of  London and New York, being almost but not quite , yet entirely true.
His body of work contains many words of wit and wisdom, and I can only recommend that you make his acquaintance.
Just start small - one book, perhaps. Nothing daunting.
Which one, you ask ?
Ahh - of course, a circle begins anywhere.

I am not going to detail his battle with early onset Alzheimers, as that is covered elsewhere in greater depth - suffice to say that with his great standing, he helped raise the profile of that vile 'embuggerance' as he called it, which hopefully helped many other sufferers.

His legacy of wondrous , humourous writings is global, and it means that his ongoing existence will be assured for a long time. Possibly longer.

The t- shirt Terry Pratchett wore to conventions

To quote (Good Omens, the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes The Nutter):
Don't think of it as dying, said Death. Think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush.