louisiana

Dear EDF Agony Auntie Every time I read a headline, EDF thread title, or anything else, the first thing that comes into my head is the title or lyrics of a related song, and I blurt it out. The same thing happens whenever somebody says something to me. About anything at all. People don't take me seriously any more. What can I do?

Anybody got any useful advice on CV's? Apart from the usual 'keep it to no more than two pages'. I haven't written one in years...

dulwichmum Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > To have a terrific cinema at Crystal Palace in > that lovely old building would be such an asset > for Dulwich. We genuinely should not allow this > to happen. Clarification: 'This' meaning a church, not 'this' meaning a cinema, I reckon you meant DM.

Reggae? Dub. I rest my case.

I agree totally, DM. How many churches (particularly ones selling time-shares: see the Shooting People movie footage) can a neighbourhood take? And the Picturehouse people really do want to open a cinema there. This is cycling distance for anyone in East Dulwich, and really deserves our support.

HAL9000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Or should we pass on these ancient superstitions > to our descendants for the foreseeable future? Superstitions is a fine word. It reframes the debate. A vital step. If we were to change every occurrence of 'church' or 'religion' to 'superstition' or 'institution of superstition', this would change the flavour of many of our laws (e.g. the Charities Act 2006, various Education Acts), and might start to sway things.

BG5: I don't accept that atheism is following the same route, as you suggest. Atheists are merely attempting to express views against the religious orthodoxy. Expression of views seems to be a contentious area, unless you are aligned to a religion or group of religions. Our head of state is a religious figure. Many of those in the House of Lords have held their places there owing to their religious/church positions (the bishops). We have had governments intent on promoting religion in schools (including the current one). Religion is forced on anyone entering the education system. The charity system subsidises tens of thousands of organisations promoting religion, and not a single one doing the opposite, as that would not be for 'public benefit' (the words of the 2006 Charities Act) apparently. (And all this despite religious 'membership', church attendance etc etc being at an all-time low.) When anybody just writes a book, or a newspaper article, to counter this situation, they are vilified. When we have at least an agnostic PM and government, that removes compulsory religious observance from schools as well as automatic charitable status for all religious institutions; when the only book available in most hotels is not a bible; when churches are not given automatically favourable terms under local authority planning policy across the country; when a range of churches try to stop me seeing theatre, cinema, TV etc. that I wish to; and when we propose waging our first 'atheist war' against either citizenry here or another country, I shall concede to your point. Until then... Edited for missing word. and grammar!

Technology does not = behaviour. That is a ludicrously simplistic view of the world. Such technological determinism does not credit individuals with minds of their own. You can't blame a technology. It's how people respond to it. Shall we blame the penny post for social ills? Or the telephone? Electricity, perhaps? Or perhaps the car is responsible for much of what we see? There will be people who use it one way, and people who use it another. There may be some trends, and these will change over time, but they will be responding to very complex webs of technologies, behaviours, laws, social norms, etc.

bignumber5 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Like others on this thread, i consider myself to > be agnostic by default. I have always found > organised religion to be a bit militant, > intolerant and judgemental. The culture > surrounding Dawkins and his atheist following is > that they have taken on the very worst of all of > these traits: it has now become atheists that > verbally attack with their teachings and attempt > to convert others to their beliefs and their faith > (yes, Atheism is a faith) in the name of debate. Atheism is a default position in the absence of evidence in support of various belief systems. If someone sets up a religion based on a belief that there exists a blue fairy somewhere in the universe, until there is evidence of such blue fairy, or at the very least until someone can provide a rigorous scientific basis for the probable or possible existence of said blue fairy, my default position will be: 'Various people believe in the existence of blue fairies, but theirs is a belief not based on what we know (fact, evidence) about the world. I reject that belief system. There is an absence of blue fairies.' > If a Christian attempted to convert a Jew in this > country with the aggression with which Atheists > attempt to convert everyone else, it would be > considered intolerant of the individuals faith. One of my countries of origin is Spain. Christians spent many centuries trying to do exactly that conversion of Jews, and those of other faiths, by force. Many tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands (I can't recall the numbers, but I think the estimates went as high as 800,000) of Jews fled the country or were expelled; many more converted or pretended to convert (conversos) and those found out faced trial and retribution. There were no other options. There are many, many families in places like Istanbul that hold the original keys to their Spanish homes, abandoned under threat of annihilation. Similar things happened to moriscos. Well into the late 20th century, it was still not possible in Spain for a non-Catholic to have a recognised burial in Spain. You were a Catholic or you did not exist, even in the late 1990's. Muslims dying in Barcelona in the late 1999's were still being flown out of the country for burial elsewhere (at vast expense to their families) owing to the state authorities in the city not accepting the implementation of a formal non-Catholic burial ground. My other country of origin is Ireland... Christianity 'tolerant'? Don't make me barf. > > Atheists seem to be the newest, fastest growing, > and one of the least tolerant religious groups in > our society. Whatever conclusions one reaches > about the presence or absence of any God, to be > accepting of those who disagree is a basic > courtesy that many religions seem to have adopted. I beg to differ. Many religions have been known for their intolerance. The history books... Have any atheists yet mounted a 'religious' war against others? Invaded countries? Killed people? Wiped out towns and cities? Forced hundreds of thousands of people to abandon their homes and countries? > At what point does debating the existence of God > become militant preaching for the faith of > Atheism? Militant preaching is what I'd like to see less of. And militant preaching given financial support by governments (charitable status) more so. And militant preaching in schools more so: 'religious education' is compulsory in all UK schools, in case you hadn't noticed. Note that the National Secular Society cannot be a charity, while thousands of organisations preaching religion (many of them very militantly) are accepted as charities (with all the consequent financial benefits).

According to KICC, it's not about continuation, it's about money and assets and property and wealth and... Oh, and about buying timeshares from people running the church, and about handing over ?1,000 cheques into big buckets. With the odd song here and there. Read this paragraph (from the movie maker). and then watch her little movie. But then what's the church got to do with God, anyway, eh?

I've set up a pledge on Pledgebank, to get ten others to join me on sending in a planning objection when the time comes. There are now more than 2,000 people who've signed the petition online (plus another 1,000-plus on the paper petition). Corrected for Saturday-night arithmetic!

BBW, blame woofmarkthedog.

Spam.

I'm not surprised Mellors. At a community council meeting I attended last year, the argument I heard from one councillor for allowing a nasty oversized building was that there were other nasty oversized buildings in the vicinity already, and it's not as if this was a nice place worth conserving. Or words to that effect. I may be exaggerating slightly, but not much.

So KICC wants to open another 'church'? These people are bizarre. I watched the movie that Darryn de la Soul shot on her mobile http://www.campaign.picture-palace.org/?page_id=88 http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=51972 Investments, assets, territories, wealth... Waste bins for cheques. Selling timeshares... It's the church of money, especially for the people who run it. And these people get to be a charity, with all the benefits that confers (tax etc.)?? (Although investigated by the Charity Commission owing to management living a profligate life.) This is something that Crystal Palace can really do *without*.

As I understand it, the authorities refused to put this in writing and it was not guaranteed.

AFAIK, the extradition treaty as is would not prevent a UK citizen (non-military) from going before a US Military Commission. It's only a subsequent diplomatic note (not part of the Treaty) that suggests otherwise. I also understand there is nothing to prevent the US government from sending any UK citizen extradited to Guantanamo, under any of the current agreements, though I may be wrong. From what I read in the CPS evaluation of the evidence and case - Gary accepts he did what is said. - Gary has also highlighted to UK authorities evidence of many other successful hackers on same systems, probably from China - UK CPS says there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Gary in UK. In particular, lack of info concerning most of the systems said to be accessed (systems etc. not specified by witnesses), considerable amounts of hearsay 'evidence', non-compliance with ACPO evidence rules, and the alleged value of damage (unsubstantiated by US authorities in any way) - the CPS accept that there may be grave effects on Gary's mental state should he be extradited etc. But there's nothing they can do about that. I gain the impression that any 'damage' caused was incidental, not deliberate (he tried to delete file logs for his own access, not other stuff). He just didn't do it very well. The question should be: Gary McKinnon - Muppet or Terrorist? He's a muppet with benign psycho-social problems but he's being treated as a potent threat to national security. Unfortunately, the internet has opened up whole swathes of our citizenry to serious areas of the law, stretching from copyright through libel to national security with some very serious outcomes.

To address your initial point Mark, "Now his legal team is arguing his Asperger's syndrome should have been considered by the home secretary when she gave the go-ahead for his extradition in October. "Mr McKinnon was diagnosed with the condition only last August after an expert in autism watched him in a television interview and contacted his solicitor. "The initial hunch was confirmed by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a leader in the field." [From the BBC website profile] So this diagnosis was not initiated by either his legal team or himself/family. The guy also left school at 17 to become a hairdresser...

Mr Keef, in the Drawing Room, with The Chair.

The extradition treaty is one-sided. Nothing to do with the individuals involved. If they wouldn't do it for us, why should we do it for them? Another legacy of the so-called special relationship. Spelling corrected.

The Barry Road Incident. It could be the title of a thriller. Or a landfill indie band.

If you're already decided that he doesn't exist, you might like to join the group of atheists performing Thriller on and around the 4th plinth Sunday 3.50-5pm. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=716435926&ref=profile#/event.php?eid=113752157492&ref=nf

Andystar Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How about showing them where V1 & V2 rockets were > dropped on LL, go to the sushi lady outside > Moxtons, check out the art work in the Palmerston > & show them the spot where Oscar the cat was > found. You could take a tour & introduce them to > the angry bus driver on the 185. >:D<

I was nearly knocked down today by a white van man hurtling illegally over the Give Way sign at junction between Underhill Road and Dunstan's (he nearly did for a car as well, lots of hooting). He was heading for Barry. Barry does seem to be a magnet for the badness in ED. Bad Barry. Bad.

Does anyone think a mouse can make it up a waste pipe and into a bath through the plug hole? I've been told (by the Southwark exterminators) that mice can get through a hole the size of a pencil. And my last mouse managed to get into the bottom of the bath in what is in effect and brand new and totally sealed bathroom (not a gap anywhere).