polydaidaloi.com

Just wanted to say hello. Sorry I’ve been not posting here. I’ve been doing a lot of other things. And I lost the link for the edit site. You know what would have been funny? If my last post had been, “I’ll be back”. Like Arnold, see? Because he was Austrian as well. Haha.

Alas, a sign of time passing is when you teenage musical heroes start shuffling off the mortal coil. I was quite saddened to hear of the passing of Ronnie James Dio this morning.

A small man with a powerful voice, Dio was one of the great rock vocalists. His work with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and of course Dio was a benchmark for old school metal vocalists. I know Dio mainly from his work with Rainbow which is where I first heard him back in the mid 80s. However it was only in the past few years that I got into his solo work such as the 80s metal classic Holy Diver.

Anyone who has ever banged a head will be mourning Dio’s death. And let’s not mark his passing with respectful silence but noise. Three of the best from Dio. Stand up and shout!

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…is how Bob Brozman described himself on Friday night at Lizotte’s during his usual spectacular set. Not afraid to speak up, Bob threw out political references throughout the set, the best being one about bow many people in the United States only have one language while Sarah Palin doesn’t even have one. And when he spun that line the laughter was an indication that thankfully the Central Coast of NSW does not harbour many ex-pat Palin fans.

Bob’s views stem from a love of country and I was thinking of his concerns as compared to the patriots du jour the Tea Baggers. From my vantage point over the pond, the Tea Baggers seems to be a mix of barely disguised racism, ridiculous paranoia, outrageous sense of entitlement and warped views on democracy and freedom. Bob’s views come from a distress against the promotion of anti-intellectualism and lack of concern for those less fortunate. One comes from a love of this country and concern for fellow humans. The other seems to be a manifestation I’ve got mine, screw everyone else.

It is no coincidence that Bob uses the blues as his vehicle for political views. During the show he pointed out that the blues often was a means of commenting on current events.
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France is considering banning the burqa and the same idea seems to have support in England.

But banning the burqa is a bad idea. I do find the concept of the burqa offensive, repressive and a restriction of womens’ rights. But this is one issue that can’t be resolved by simplistic state intervention.

As an atheist, there is no logical justification to why a woman would choose to wear a burqa or have the wearing of it mandated by society. But as a matter of culture and religion, women do choose to wear a burqa. As much as I find the practice distasteful, banning the burqa will clash with religious rights that a secular society should protect. There is a great discussion from Irish radio on the burqa that covers all sides and shows the issue to be quite complex (third item down – Newstalk Ireland’s Wide Angle Program).

Banning the burqa in France, England or Australia will not help women in Afghanistan. Nor will it even help Muslim women in France. If Muslim woman can’t wear a burqa then their participation on society could be severely restricted. It also could strengthen notions of persecution reinforcing the patriarchal control.

But a liberal democratic society will not stop the wearing of burqas by banning them. It will stop the wearing of burqas through debate and discussion pointing out how the burqa is a sign of oppression against women and pointing out the problems. As the Muslim population engages in such debates, a younger population comes through more attune with the ideals of liberal democratic country. Then there will be no need to talk about banning the burqa as the practice will become marginalised and considered belonging to the past.

Taking away a freedom, now matter how distasteful we find it, will not create a freedom.

Brian Johnson has a deserved go at Bono and other “do-good” rockers:

“I do it myself, I don’t tell everybody I’m doing it,” Johnson said.

“I don’t tell everybody they should give money – they can’t afford it.

“When I was a working man I didn’t want to go to a concert for some bastard to talk down to me that I should be thinking of some kid in Africa.

“I’m sorry mate, do it yourself, spend some of your own money and get it done. It just makes me angry. I become all tyrannical.”

I do think there is a place for charity concerts as long as the money is properly accounted for. But, good intentions aside, do we really need a remake of We Are the World for Haiti? It was a god awful song then and the assembled “talent” this time around is not going to make it any better.

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I don’t particularly like Marieke Hardy’s writing but her article for The Drum on Australia Day is a winner.

Walking down the main street of Tamworth the other morning – gamely dodging yodelling couples in his ‘n’ hers double denim begging for loose change – I passed a man wearing a rather fetching navy blue singlet.

Written on the front were the following words: “THIS IS AUSTRALIA. WE EAT MEAT, DRINK BEER, AND SPEAK F-CKIN’ ENGLISH!” My first thought – outside of “I wonder if he’s single/looking?” – was that it must mean January 26th was just around the corner. Of course, I realised with a start: Australia Day is upon us. Time for those racist t-shirts to be dusted off and paraded about by small-dicked rednecks.

Australia was never a country for such overt displays of racism as patriotism. But the past few years has seen such sentiments as “We grew, here, you flew here” ,”100% Aussie Pride” and “Fuck Off, We’re Full” with associated displays of drunken thuggery rise as a chosen means of celebrating Australia Day over the traditional quiet barbie and a few beers.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating the national day. I’m love living in Australia. It is a great little nation with plenty to be proud about. But the nation has had trouble coming to grips with its past. It is no coincidence that those that eagerly take to Australia Day with an Anglo-nationalistic fervour are the same ones who would just as eagerly deny any of Australia’s many sins. They are also likely to be the first ones to scoff at Australia’s Indigenous population who, with justification, prefer the term Invasion Day.

Everyone from politicians down try and claim Australia Day for their own purposes. I’d prefer less of the overt nationalism that prevents clarity in both hindsight and foresight and more honest reflection and acknowledgement of the past and our shared future. That may be a way back to an Australia Day for all Australians.

I wanted a netbook for downstairs computing so I recently brought a Dell Mini 9 cheap from Grays Online. A lovely little machine and the first thing I did was blow away the default Windows XP and install Ubuntu. That all was fine until I learned that people had got the Mac OSX operating system running on Dell Minis.

I was a Mac user back in the 90s with a Mac IIsi and then graduating to one of the early Powerbooks. My Powerbook died just before I left the US in 96 and I drifted into Linux then Windows upon returning to Australia.

The chance to use Mac OSX was too good to resist. I did some research and found the following instructions. From eBay I got a 2GB ram chip and then brought a Toshiba 8GB USB stick. I had a few 2GB ones lying around for the boot loader. Of course, I got a copy of Snow Leopard from the Apple store.
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Below is a list of my favourites albums of the past decade. It is not a “Best of” but albums that I have played a lot over the past 10 years in no particular order or ranking.
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The media have been reporting on the case of Rom Houeben, a man who was believed to be in a coma for 23 years but was actually conscious the whole time. I didn’t may much attention until a tweet via @SkepticZone alerted me to James Randi’s take on this.

Now after having seen a video of Mr Houben’s “facilitated communication” via keyboard, I’m sure that the carers have hoodwinked the media. It is extremely strange that Houeben with limited motor skills, can negotiate a keyboard with such ease. As mentioned by Randi and pointed out at Wired . Arthur Caplan, who is cited in the Wired story, has a longer opinion here. His concerns are:

Most troubling about the claim that Houben is communicating are the facts that he is doing so with the help of a therapist who points his finger to the keys on a computer keyboard.

The therapist, Linda Wouters, has told news reporters that she can feel Houben guiding her hand with gentle pressure from his fingers. She feels him objecting when she moves his hand toward an incorrect letter. But, given his injuries, Houben should not be able to generate any pressure in his fingers. And if he can do so, why did no one else detect this ability over the past 23 years?

The technique of having someone point your finger to a keyboard is called facilitated communication. Sadly, it has been shown time and again to be unreliable. There is something of the ouiji board about the whole thing.

Many experts have sent me e-mails noting that people have used facilitated communication with autistic children and other brain-damaged individuals but that it did not hold up. The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Association on Mental Retardation have called facilitated communication a “discredited technique” and warn that “its use is unwarranted and unethical.”

Yes, the story of Rom Houben plays out well. But that is no excuse for the media to be stupid and lazy which describes their coverage of Houben.

…the Pope wants you!

Pope Benedict XVI introduced a fast track for Anglicans seeking to join Roman Catholicism, paving the way for conservative Anglicans frustrated by their church's blessing of same-sex unions and homosexuality in the priesthood to enter the Catholic fold.

Posted via email from shaunc’s posterous