New year, new blog: Mostly Harmless

Honourable readership of (probably) less than ten, you shall have to re-configure your bookmarks, as The Inverted Squirrel is moving, and changing its name.

However, fear not - what has been created is a bigger, better site with more shiny features for me and all of you lovely people. I'm still moving all the old posts over, so bear with me in the meantime.

The name 'Mostly Harmless' comes from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which the only entry for Planet Earth reads 'Harmless'. It would have been revised to 'Mostly harmless' if Ford Prefect had been able to send his updated entry to his editor before Earth was destroyed to make way for an interstellar highway.

I think it's appropriate, as Douglas Adams was a pioneer in the area of online community-building as well as a literary great. He was also a great Macintosh fan like myself. I hope to have the occasional update on the new site with Guide related stuff, seeing as the long-awaited (and nervously-anticipated) Hitchiker's movie will soon be out.

So, here it is.

RSS feeds for Mostly Harmless (yes, even these are much-improved):

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In the News: Religious responses to the Asian tsunami disaster

A nice piece by the Guardian's Steven Bates on religious responses to the recent Asian tsunami disaster. It centres on the somewhat unfair misquoting of the Archbishop of Canterbury in relation to his thoughts on the disaster. Although I am not religious (some would say religiously non-religious) I found the Guardian's rent-a-humanist's response somewhat crude:

But Fergus Stokes, a former priest turned humanist, said that Christians and other believers were trying to have it both ways: "Either God has a hand in the fishbowl, in which case you can pray to him, or he doesn't."

In some ways it's a shame they couldn't have found a more lucid advocate of non-religious points of view. But then is there really a way to represent non-religious people? Many, like I, may feel that a very important part of their world-view is that they cannot be typecast into an pseudo-orthodoxy of 'humanism', 'secularism' or even the phrase I earlier used, 'non-religion'. It seems awkward to suggest it but I believe it's a valid point. It makes advocacy of viewpoints like these troublesome as through recognising that belief systems are discrete and individual it prevents mass organisation - but then this sort of mass organisation is in many cases what one might dislike about religious systems.

Here's a longer extract from the article:

Guardian | 'Where is God in all this?' - the problem for religions: "

Confronted with the world's greatest natural disaster for half a century, religious leaders yesterday strove to make theological sense of the tsunami and console congregations that might ask why God allowed the tectonic plates under the Indian Ocean to shift so catastrophically on Boxing Day.

Christians stressed God's presence with the suffering, Hindus reconciled themselves to fate, the Chief Rabbi composed a prayer and the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote an article for the Sunday Telegraph.

Lambeth Palace complained last night that the archbishop's words had not borne the headline that the newspaper chose to put on them: 'Archbishop of Canterbury: This has made me question God's existence' - which would indeed have been an extr"

(Via The Guardian.)

[UPDATED] Asia Tsunami relief

The recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami in south-east Asia has devastated millions of lives and taken hundreds of thousands - I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone of the suffering which is happening in the countries affected at the moment. Here are some links where you can donate money to help with the relief efforts:

If you live in the UK:
The Disasters Emergency Committee is an umbrella group of UK aid organisations - including ActionAid, British Red Cross, Oxfam - working to provide clean water, food and shelter to thousands. To call from the UK dial 0870 60 60 900.

Oxfam is a development, relief, and campaigning organisation that works with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the world.

Christian Aid has already allocated £250,000 from its emergency fund to help the victims of this disaster but says more money is needed.

World Vision has also launched an appeal and has already delivered relief goods to thousands.

If you live in the USA:
American Red Cross International Response Fund
AmeriCares South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund
Direct Relief International International Assistance Fund

Global organisations
Médecins Sans Frontières International Tsunami Emergency Appeal
Oxfam Asian Earthquake & Tsunami Fund
Sarvodaya Relief Fund for Tsunami Tragedy
UNICEF South Asia Tsunami Relief Efforts

Links, photo and text about aid organisations taken from the BBC site and Apple's home page. The BBC has a more complete list here.

UPDATE: Here's CNN's list too:

AmeriCares
Action Against Hunger
ADRA International
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
American Red Cross
Association for India's Development
CARE
Catholic Relief Services
Christian Children's Fund
Church World Service
Direct Relief International
Doctors Without Borders
Food for the Hungry, Inc.
International Aid
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
International Medical Corps
International Rescue Committee
Islamic Relief Worldwide
Lutheran World Relief
MAP International
Mercy Corps
Network for Good
Operation Blessing
Operation USA
Oxfam America
Plan USA
Project Concern International
Salvation Army
Save the Children USA
UNICEF
U.N. World Food Programme
World Concern
World Vision

In The News: Jet Is an Open Secret in Terror War

This story's about the CIA's policy of clandestine 'renditions', that of transferring terrorist suspects to outwith the USA, where constitutional and legal protections don't apply, and someone else can do the 'dirty work', i.e. aggressive interrogation or torture. We already know that a lot of this goes on, with Egypt being a favoured destination for suspects, but this story is unique in that it identifies one of the particular planes used in these forced transportations, even down to the plane's tail number.

Interrogation under torture is one of those things which is very easy to condemn but equally hard to present alternatives to, especially in situations where 'suspects' may be prepared to die to hide what they know. Yet while I can see the dilemma facing the CIA and the Bush Administration, it is truly a shame to see a free nation going to these lengths to circumvent the legal protections Americans and others have worked hard to preserve.

Jet Is an Open Secret in Terror War (washingtonpost.com): "
The airplane is a Gulfstream V turbojet, the sort favored by CEOs and celebrities. But since 2001 it has been seen at military airports from Pakistan to Indonesia to Jordan, sometimes being boarded by hooded and handcuffed passengers.

The plane's owner of record, Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., lists directors and officers who appear to exist only on paper. And each one of those directors and officers has a recently issued Social Security number and an address consisting only of a post office box, according to an extensive search of state, federal and commercial records."

(Via The Washington Post. Registration required)

Random Guff: What 'Mean' Girl from the movie 'Mean Girls' are you?

Apparently I'm 'Cady'...

You're Cady. (pronounce Katie) You are very smart
and very trusting. You want nothing more than
people to accept you and like you. And as a
result you happen to get caught up in a lot of
'mind games' You're very creative and funny.
And your job within the clique is comic releif.
Be Nice, and Watch Your Back!


What 'Mean' Girl from the movie 'Mean Girls' are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Random Guff: Desperate Housewives (not what it sounds like)

I saw an ad the other day for Desperate Housewives, which seems to be some kind of black comedy in the vein of American Beauty. It sorta looks like either a good show or a really trashy one with good production values. I also just HAPPENED to notice that there is a really hot housewife, the Hispanic one. Take a look for yourself at the Channel 4 site. Her name appears to be Eva Longoria.



Ooh.

Music: Muzak

Currently playing in iTunes: Whatever Happened To My Rock & Roll by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Arses. Ever time I've posted here it's been in the early morning...

I've just ripped a bunch of old CDs into iTunes, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's B.R.M.C. album. It's quite fun - I had forgotten how good it is. I got it a few Christmases ago and hadn't really listened to it as my old computer and iPod were pretty full. Not so much of a problem now so I'm getting all the old cool stuff back.

Remember I mentioned The Bad Plus yesterday? Well, it turns out that my friend Matt has not only heard of them but got the album. I'll try to get it somewhere too. They really are good (apart from the dodgy Nirvana cover).

Rice'n'Peas

Currently playing in iTunes: Mini Bar Blues by Fun Lovin' Criminals

Several new bands I'm checking out (well they're new to me).

• The Bad Plus - an American progressive jazz trio, played on NPR's All Songs Considered a while back, and also on this week's Later... with Jools Holland. They seem to like Charles Mingus a lot, which is no bad thing. The drummer was playing in this weird rock-jazz crossover style on Jools, which was quite refreshing. I probably listen to too much laid-back jazz like Miles Davis.


• Taking Back Sunday - a sort of emo/indie band (or whatever the kids are calling it these days). I discovered this lot off this blog, which I discovered at random while checking out the ModBlog system. Is it just me or is the girl from that blog really hot? Good taste in music too.


• A Perfect Circle - OK I know these guys are famous but I just discovered them after a late-night ad-hoc vodka-and-coke fuelled music discussion with my friend Alex.

(that's 'coke' as in 'Coca Cola', by the way)

Children Roasting on the Open Fire

Currently playing in iTunes: Now The Action Is On Fire by Biffy Clyro

Well, I had a really nice Christmas. Making a list for 'Santa' certainly prevents disastrous 'grandma got me socks with reindeer on them' incidents. It's not all about the gifts, of course - they just help.

I was thinking the other day about what some may see as my hypocrisy in celebrating Christmas, given that I'm not religious - more so, I am anti-religion in the sense that although I accept that faith is a part of some people's lives, I have always seen organised religion as a sort of veiled form of social control.

I tend to avoid the overtly Christian symbolism that can come with Christmas - though that's really not hard to do in the U.K, given that it's more a celebration of family (and consumption) than anything else. That's how I've always seen it - never as a religious festival. I don't think I know anyone who goes to church on Christmas Eve. Not that there's a chance of me ever worshipping or anything.

Apart from maybe at the now-deceased Church of SpongeBob.

I'm going to a little night in with some of my friends tomorrow night, which should be good. Apparently it's a 'games party' - though if you listen to his girlfriend, you'd think that's just my friend Chris' attempt to discourage girls from coming. God knows why you'd want to discourage women from coming to a party, but then again it isn't really supposed to be a party :)

[Updated] Politics & Economics: China's Army May Respond if Taiwan Fully Secedes

Very worrying stuff. It rather puts to rest notions that China's previous threats were benign. Clearly Taiwan is still a sore point for the Party decades on. It's difficult to see a scenario whereby China could survive politically and economically if they did act this out - though any form of economic sanctions against China itself would clearly drag the whole world economy down with it.

Soft-power and diplomacy are clearly in order here - though realistically, what tools do the US and Europe really have? Limited bargaining power at best, especially when the U.S. needs continuing Asian purchasing of dollars so that its slide doesn't turn in to a crash.

It'll be interesting to see if other papers reflect the NYT's alarming tone in reporting this law change. I'll try to find Xinhua's coverage too. Official Communist Party news is always a laugh.

China's Army May Respond if Taiwan Fully Secedes: "China's top leaders have said consistently that they would wage war against Taiwan if it were to declare itself an independent state."

..."A draft law forbidding secession by any part of China, announced Friday by the New China News Agency, suggests that President Hu Jintao is seeking to eliminate any lingering doubts that the Chinese military would attack Taiwan if the island formally severed ties with the mainland."

..."The United States has pledged to defend Taiwan if the mainland attacks, and China would risk derailing its trade-dependent economic growth if it launched an attack.

(Via New York Times > International.)

UPDATE: Here's the only Xinhua article I can find on the issue.

In The News: San Francisco Supervisors Eye Ban on Handguns

This is pretty interesting stuff. Apparently there's already a handgun ban in Washington, D.C. that may be repealed. It strikes me that a city-wide ban is probably pointless - it's a wonder it doesn't occur to anyone in the U.S. to ban handguns outright. Still, this is the country that has let the 10-year ban on assault rifle sales expire. I will be following this one with interest.

San Francisco Supervisors Eye Ban on Handguns: "San Francisco city supervisors have placed a measure on the municipal ballot for next year that would, if passed, effectively ban handguns in the city. Kristin Wiederholt of member station KALW reports."

(Via NPR News: Top Stories.)

Tech: Cybersky P2P television re-broadcasting

This is one to watch I think, both to see what the technology can do and also to see what the lawyers will do. Basically it offers decentralised peer-to-peer file sharing, as per KaZaA/gnuTella etc., but with BitTorrent speeds and streaming video. Deutsche Welle reports on it.

Global TV Shakes Up Industry: "What Napster and Kazaa did for music and movies, Cybersky hopes to do for live television programming. The online sharing software, developed by a feisty German company, aims to globalize television -- but is it legal?"

(Via Deutsche-Welle Top Stories.)

Also, here's what seems to be the official home page of the software until its launch.

Politics & Economics: Turkey and the E.U.

I posted this yesterday on my internal work blog. Since I wrote the article, Turkey has been given the date of 3rd October 2005 to start accession talks.

This week will see developments in the frayed relationship between the European Union and Turkey come to a head. Turkey is looking for the 'carrot' (towards progress, as opposed to 'stick', oddly) it has for so long desired, that of a start date for EU accession talks. Thursday will see a decision by the European Commission on whether or not to start accession talks. Some members of the European Parliament have already made their feelings clear on the issue.

Turkish membership is a question which has in the past decade vexed Europe's political élite. There are real issues with admitting Turkey. It poses very obvious economic problems, for a start: despite a sustained annual GDP growth rate of 6%, the country still possesses a workforce which is still largely unskilled, and whose dependence on subsistence agriculture would surely bring the CAP to its knees (though maybe that's a good thing).

It's also intensely political. Washington, predictably, has long been lobbying the capitals of Europe to admit Turkey into the 25 member bloc. Turkish membership would suit American strategic objectives. Perhaps more than any other state, Germany has always made a noise about it - the legacy of the Gastarbeiter ('guest-worker') scheme has gifted Germany with the largest Turkish immigrant community in northern Europe. The CDU opposition have even been trying to change the constitution to permit a referendum on the issue.

But some nations have concerns about the issue, none more so than France. Turkish membership offends the French in two main ways. Firstly it serves as a re-affirmation of the popular sentiment that the British/Eastern European 'vision' of an ever-widening, less uniform bloc of independent states. Turkish membership would mean a less 'manageable' EU, and one in which the Franco-German 'integration motor' would be both numerically unable to dominate, and politically isolated.

Secondly, Turkish membership would almost certainly mean (and this includes France itself) permanent or semi-permanent restrictions on the beloved 'freedom of movement of people, goods and capital', with an emphasis on the 'people' part. While the availability of Turkish labour would be helpful to stem France's 'demographic time-bomb', its aging workforce, France has worked too hard to guarantee these freedoms to let them go that easily.

Ultimately a lot of the arguments being put forward on either side are the same as those being mooted over the possibility of Ukrainian accession. But somehow Turkish membership will prevail, sooner or later. France and others may wave their vetos proudly but in the end opponents know that because EU membership is the ultimate 'carrot', its usage must be accompanied by a real commitment to reward applicant nations for their progress - progress that is, in Turkey's case, undeniable.

In The News: Woman Fired Over SpongeBob Balloon

Well I must say that Burger King have really pissed me off with this one. I wouldn't want to give a 10-foot SpongeBob SquarePants balloon back either. The inflatable was part of promotions relating to the new SpongeBob movie (trailer).




The woman was apparently given the balloon by her manager but asked to return it later - unfortunately she'd already sold it for over one thousand dollars on eBay.




Her manager sounds nasty. I wonder if he's called Mr. Krabs...

Tech: R.I.P. iChat

Well, this time I've gone and done it. My installation of iChat AV 2.1 is well and truly dead. I tried to install a pack of custom smileys, but alas something went wrong and now one or more frameworks on my system are damaged. Or a least that's about all I or anyone else seems to be able to get from the error log from CrashReporter. I've posted on the Mac OS X Hints forums to see if anyone has any ideas but I suspect I might have to do a full system re-install.