Saturday, July 20, 2002

never on it to begin with...but definitely now, more than ever before, fischerspooner are off of the artistic roll-call. forever.

--

Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 13:37:46 +0100
To: "313 mailing list" <313@hyperreal.org>
From: "Tom Robbins/Magic Feet"
Subject: Fw: Fischerspooner on TOTP - TONIGHT
Message-ID: <004d01c22f21$17b10aa0$7a306bd5@x2n8x7>

> Don't miss Casey Spooner's big moment as FISCHERSPOONER make their debut UK
> TV appearance on TOP OF THE POPS - BBC1 7:00pm.
>
> Expect dancing girls, glitter and jockstraps (!!!)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Simon
>
> PS. Next FISCHERSPOONER single, a cover of Wire's "The 15th", is released on
> FS Studios in October.
posted by Ken , 8:57 PM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 3:26 PM Þ 

This is exactly how STDs (HIV/Herpes/Syph./Ghon./Chlam.) are spread.
posted by Irdial , 9:40 AM Þ 
Friday, July 19, 2002

Pictures from the radio





Thanks Akin!!!
posted by captain davros , 8:17 PM Þ 

Utter Magic:
Oog Vorbis 1
posted by Irdial , 6:25 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 5:30 PM Þ 

A warm welcome to you Mata Hari.

Giving all stakeholders a voice in relation to moral dillemas and ethical questions is really a nice thought that should be practiced some more, but that is not the same as to say that people who have studied ethics cannot have a more professional and qualified point of view.

I would also add, that ethics experts who are muslims would be no less expert, but totally different in thier conclusions on almost every ethical question.

By analogi, what Denise Caruso says in her article is why have chefs in restaurants if most of us can cook?, or why have weather forecasts if anyone can have a opinion about the weather?

Chefs are experts in preparation of ingredients to a formula. The difference between eating Haut Cuisine and gobbling a burger flipped at Dairy Queen are two entirely different things; one is a spritual experience, the other, "chowing down".

We need these "food experts" over simple folk, people with years or experience to prepare food, because they know, from years of hands on experience and rigorus training, how meat burns (caramelization), how to pound a chicken breast, the correct way to prepare a sorbet... and everything else about the way that food ingredients interact with each other, and how they must be prepared and chosen.

The Chef analogy is flawed, because if a person were to have sufficient moral/ethical expertise in the biotech field, the way that the greatest Chefs know about cuisine preparation, she would have to have experience of the consequences and practices of biotech on multiple human generations. No one on earth has (or will have untill the genie is already out of the bottle) that type of experience.

A single Chef can have a great deal of knowledge about cuisine, in biotech, it would be far more difficult for a single person to have enough knowledge to encompass enough of the field to be a comprable expert.

Perhaps a future, bio-engineered person, pre programmed with all the worlds biotech knowledge will be able to sit and act like a "Pope of Biotech"....
posted by Irdial , 4:53 PM Þ 

Infant Whooping Cough Deaths Rise in U.S. - CDC

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of infants dying from whooping cough, once a major killer of children in the United States, is rising despite record high vaccination levels in the nation, federal health officials said on Thursday.

Yahoo News
posted by Irdial , 4:32 PM Þ 

From: The Moral Minority - We all lose when we leave right and wrong to a clique of ethics experts.

But what mortal could fairly balance the concerns of so many stakeholders — from research scientists who fear for their academic freedom to native cultures concerned about losing biological diversity to genetically modified crops? More to the point: Why should they be expected to shoulder such responsibility? Anyone who has served on a jury knows that most sentient beings, given good information, are capable of reaching a fair moral consensus. So let's find a consensual way to navigate the world that allows progress but mitigates risk.


I can't deny that I was provoked by Denise Caruso's 'view' on Wired. I disagree almost totally with her generalization about ethic experts. When I say almost, is because she surely is rigth about some so-called ethic experts, that misuse their profession and title to advocate for one or another cause, but in general, any ethic 'expert' would know that the best you can do within moral philosophy and ethics is to weight pros and contras, different kinds of theories and present them with their respective advantages and problems.

Giving all stakeholders a voice in relation to moral dillemas and ethical questions is really a nice thought that should be practiced some more, but that is not the same as to say that people who have studied ethics cannot have a more professional and qualified point of view. By analogi, what Denise Caruso says in her article is why have chefs in restaurants if most of us can cook?, or why have weather forecasts if anyone can have a opinion about the weather?

I know that moral is something most people consider to be different than going to the restaurant or seeing the weather forecast (is doesn't affect you in the same way people could say)... anyhow, ethic experts can help clarifying and making a difference between moral questions and bullshit. Consensus and stakeholder thinking is a nice Habermas-like thought, and I believe we should work towards it, but why can't we have some help on the way?

That's all
posted by Mata , 3:16 PM Þ 

ARGH. I am sweaty. I want the sun to DIE. NOW. I wish the temperature would stay under 65/20 ALL THE TIME. It's such a freaking pain in the ass. When I get rich I will move north & south depending on weather and have a house on the northpole. Enough of this shit.

Also, if you decide to shut down your server, barreh, you can come to Blight, it's a friendly place.

You can buy Flex on DVD, I heard, so it's probably out there on the web someplace.

I am in a pissy mood. Holy hell.


From Carthag (Jul19 06:41):

Stop making up stupid excuses for not being able to spell.

"Ooh, but English is a liiiving language, see?!" SHUT UP HO.

/me is pissy.
__________________________________________________________
From coduNF (Jul18 21:39):

I spell "whack" as wack.

"Whack" sounds like you're hitting something, therefore it is wack to use it as such.
__________________________________________________________
From brc 56k hell (Jul18 13:08):

pfff i live by my own dictionary
i spell 'whack'as w-a-c-k
an 'son' as p-u-s-s-y
__________________________________________________________
From son wroks (Jul18 12:52):

http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=whack
Slang
Exhausted.
Crazy.
Under the influence of a mind-altering drug.
__________________________________________________________
From brc 56k hell (Jul18 02:33):

2 things:

"whack" is like a verb or something
"wack" is some other grammer deal altogether

and:
WTF WAS THAT SPIDER MAN THING

eh its 5am and im carthed [Mikkel says, would you look at that, my nick has come to mean drunk] off my ass . im not thinking as straigt but my typing is oddly phenomial
__________________________________________________________
From son (Jul17 19:32):

brc: the correct spelling of "whack" is "whack," as everybody knows. spelling "whack" "wack" is whack.
__________________________________________________________
From brc 56k hell (Jul17 13:07):

and here is where to voice your opinion about the fee based shit.


http://www.apple.com/feedback/mac.html

get as many people as you can to write how wack it is to charge for email
posted by Mikkel , 2:49 PM Þ 

The Moral Minority

We all lose when we leave right and wrong to a clique of ethics experts.

[...]It is widely assumed by both detractors and supporters of genetically modified anything that bioethicists are biased in the same way expert witnesses are. Most biotech companies keep an ethicist on retainer, if not on staff. But leave aside for a moment the inherent conflicts. Why cede a moral monopoly to any group of people? The whole concept of bioethics — as a distinct and separate practice — is bankrupt. [...]

[...]The alternative is to continue to concentrate an enormous amount of power into the hands of "experts." No matter how well-intentioned, it's absurd to assume that a few select minds can posit the full array of scenarios better than a broad coalition. What's the worst that can happen? Market collapses triggered by a spooked public catalyzed by some unforeseen consequence, global activism that halts positive technological progress, compensation claims on a massive scale when acts of God are redefined as acts of corporate malfeasance, and the like. The worst, of course, is an irreversible biological event of catastrophic proportions. None of these scenarios are out of the question. [...]

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/view.html?pg=2
posted by Irdial , 12:38 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 10:55 AM Þ 

Air conditioning is exactly 100 Years old
posted by Irdial , 10:21 AM Þ 

Am reading The Great Gatsby. London is basking in 20-something degrees of "heat" and a raging cloud of stagnant pollution prowls every street since the wind went on holiday. My eyes are burning from the five-minute stroll up Tottenham Court Road.... urgh.
Smog, 'No Dancing' from Knock Knock. Not while the wires are showing.
Barrie, surely finding yourself drunk at a wedding, one in the morning, pretty girls in floating dresses glide before your eyes.... and then you hear it! 'Dancing Queen' by the god-like Abba... your feet take control, mind is switched off, and you're swept away on a bed of soaring strings and glittering vocals, entranced by the waterfall piano that runs gently down your spine... No? Are you sure? It's a very human weakness...


This Chris Cunnigham thing came back to mind earlier. Video installation called FLEX... the most intense I've seen,... the violence.... with very fitting Aphex music. Not sure if it's available on the web somewhere, but see it if you can, and the bigger the better.
posted by Alun , 9:40 AM Þ 

Good lord. You can have our sun, mary.
Alberta is going through the worst draught in ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE YEARS.
This place is turning into a desert! A 350-million dollar farmer's aid package was just announced. It's a veritable disaster.
Of course, global warming does not exist. count on the oil companies to tell the truth! Boy howdy it's hot.
posted by Barrie , 4:22 AM Þ 

DSL is superior to cable. We did not enjoy the altering flow of bandwidth that cable offered. Oh, but the thought of a telephone + modem... horrors!

I am reading Jitterbug Perfume again. I think its a perfect summer book, good pace, so colourful, rowdy... perfect beach material, if the sun ever shines here again!

I don't think you are missing anything with the dancing, Barrie. Being able to make the music is the step above, I believe. However, you may be so lucky to have someone teach you a few moves, and then, well, you'll get it then... ;)
posted by mary13 , 2:02 AM Þ 

GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
My ISP = HAAAATE.

It's decided. I am CANCELLING Shaw, even if it means I have to shut down my servers! I'm sick and tired of being DAYS without the internet! AUGH! So DSL it is, we just haven't decided who to choose yet.
Though, being net-less has it's advantages. I started reading "The Silmarillion" by Tolkein. A beautiful and elegant piece of work. If gel works in book form, The Silmarillion would be a prime example. So good.

As for the dancing... I can verily see how people can dance. The flowing of the music going through your body and all. But I just can't get myself to know how to do that. I can mimic the instruments, or play instruments, and that truly feels like connecting with the music, moving with the sound. But just dancing... I don't get it. What am I missing here?

Also, new blogdians = good
posted by Barrie , 12:34 AM Þ 
Thursday, July 18, 2002

mr a. manning: have you found something yet?
just wishing you luck[not that you need it].

best wishes on the future!
posted by john , 11:36 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 9:08 PM Þ 

blogger = lagging today

ethno bomb. that is so f*ucked i can't believe it.

yeah dav, i say do it. just stay confident and it will
go great i am sure.
posted by john , 7:37 PM Þ 

Thanks for that link Mary.
Listen to the story of Jesse Gelsinger.
Terrible....

"off label uses"
"ethno bombs"

Whats up for tomorrow Bob?

WHAT TOMORROW?!
posted by Irdial , 7:16 PM Þ 

hey dav, go play your cd! expect reaction. what did i read yesterday "everything must change for things to stay the same"

listened to a scary program on gene therapy yesterday. a replay of being human i now understand why the creation of viruses is so important - that is how they get altered genes into the body.
posted by mary13 , 6:07 PM Þ 

back from tokyo. oh wow... what a culture out there.

i discovered dancing only a few years ago. i went to the first Detroit electronic music festival with somefriends and totally lost it to the sounds booming out of speakers making everybody move move move. and i mean everybody. punkrock-looking kids. moms and dads. candyravers. five year olds. homeless men. black, white, asian, indian, etc. from then on i've searched for what really makes me move. and just about EVERYthing does. electronic dance music was just the beginning. 60s/70s funk really does it. maybe the reason that the electric bass guitar and the highhat/snare drum were invented. Eddie Bo, Charles Wright, JBs. wow. and yes, closing yr eyes most definately helps. you can imagine yourself as a piece of biomorphic material that the soundwaves meld into whatever four dimenional shape is required.

but moving to sound shouldn't be delegated solely to "music". and definately not just to "dance music". sound is a challenge to your body. how you should move with or against or in tandem. the sound of rattling subway cars or ambulance sirens makes me immediately grab for my air guitar and air effects pedals. i will surely dance to the throb of commerical air conditioning units.

and this is to say nothing of Aphex and Kid606 and other leftfield trackmakers. dance-able all. just find the groove and lay into it.

dance as a connection to those around you or as a tunnel into yourself.
posted by Josh Carr , 4:53 PM Þ 

That Eyeball thing is outstanding. My jaw hit the floor. That is truly a Work of Art.

Captain D. I have to refer once again to Kid606 as a live performer. 2 laptops and him onstage and it worked. You could feel the connection between the music and the person 'making' it live in front of your eyes. He was having a ball up there, dancing around like some rabid squirrel in between poking buttons. Other laptop performances have been dull to the point of physical pain, no connections at all, just some guy(s) to look at sat at a computer. They should have just played the CDs, or at least looked like it was them responsible for making the sounds, rather than looking like they were ignoring the audience cos they just found a particularly artistic hentai site.

Was dragged to salsa dance class by my good lady last night. 1st time ever. Rythym. Oh what it must be like to have some in your body...
posted by Alun , 4:35 PM Þ 

What do you see around you?
Do you care? Because I do.

More please JB! Plus details!
posted by captain davros , 3:56 PM Þ 

Lots of exclamation marks.

Goooood!

Now for some FACTS:

http://www.cfs-news.org/scandal.htm

And you dont have to sue if you are damaged by a vaccination product, the US Government keeps a special slush fund to compensate people who are damaged by vaccinations.
posted by Irdial , 3:14 PM Þ 

TO CAPTAIN DAVROS

To be quite frank: dont do anything live under those conditions - it would probably just be wierd for you as it would be wird for the listeners... But then again, if you're in the mood to make fun at the event! Do play your cd, it would give reactions!
posted by Alison , 12:30 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 11:28 AM Þ 

thimerosallegalhelp.com!!!!!! cdc not balanced!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ouch! I just fell off my chair laughing. do you think I can sue someone for that? Maybe Blogdial? I'm sure there's a website out there that could 'advise' me on my rights...

Is nothing safe any more? Michael Jackson was right all along - buy your dream bubble now before the market erupts!

And why has no-one drunk The Mix? Maybe because they are sensible enough not to give free publicity to some gimp selling videos and 'lifestyle choices'.

Want some easy money?
posted by Alun , 11:20 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 10:51 AM Þ 

"he told a House committee that "the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."

news.com
posted by Irdial , 10:32 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 12:38 AM Þ 
Wednesday, July 17, 2002

well i am serious for sure. so you would tunnel to my proxy
and then go out from one of my publics. hmmm.

ok, this WILL happen for sure! it will probably require waiting
for colo relocation to go public with it but perhaps an offering
of service to our blogd friends to run tests on bandwidth usage
and to work out the bugs etc. this is going to require thought and
some monies to implement but you have spurred a wonderful
idea in my head. danke!!
posted by john , 9:26 PM Þ 

john if you are serious, you can make a business out of this.

what people need here is a total tunneling SSL service provider that allows access to the net through an encrypted pipe, so that all TCPIP transactions, happen apparently at your machine.

My local isp will record only that i am connected permanently to your server. everything that i and your other users will simply appear as encrypted traffic.

Canada is the only country that has no restrictions on encryption btw.

http://online.securityfocus.com/columnists/95
posted by Irdial , 9:20 PM Þ 

ok this is not irony. it's the other irony [irony2].
the irony that the term irony is always used for but is
not the dictionary definition of intended meaning being the
opposite of actual.

hence irony2 here is:
we are talking about all this misuse and surveillance et al.
now i get a call and i have to and jump thru yet another hoop in
getting settled here in canada. to start my TES position i have
to get a municipal security clearance. no problem but it is irony2
nonetheless. so i guess it's off to the police station!
posted by john , 9:18 PM Þ 

From August net service providers in The UK will be legally obliged to
carry out automatic surveillance of their customers' web habits.

-what????????? like some carnivore demographic type tool? that is so
messed up i can hardly believe it. what planet did i wake up on?

the time has come for anon proxy service deployment here. f that man, i
can hardly believe it. i am def getting a anon proxy set up ASAP!!!!!!!!!!

dav, i say do it if YOU want to. but i would for sure tell them first that you are
going to play a cd.
posted by john , 7:58 PM Þ 

Ummm I don't really trust the CDC to be balanced hence:

Thimerosal is an ethyl-mercury based preservative used in some vaccines and a number of other biological products since the 1930's. Its purpose was to help prevent potentially life threatening contamination with harmful microbes.

When vaccines containing thimerosal have been administered in the recommended doses to patients with no other exposure to mercury compounds, no harmful effects other than hypersensitivity have been reported. Massive overdoses of thimerosal containing products have resulted in toxicity. The scientific community has developed an increasing awareness of the potential for neurotoxicity of even low levels of organomercurials.

If you or your child was innoculated with a vaccine containing thimerosal and experienced any adverse reactions you may have a valid legal claim.

Concern is raised due to the increased number of thimerosal containing vaccines that have been added to the infant immunization schedule. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with pharmaceutical companies and vaccine manufacturers to reduce or eliminate thimerosal from vaccines.

Today, all routinely recommended pediatric vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts, however. vaccines are being made for adult innoculation using thimerosal as well as pediatric vaccines for non-routine treatments.

Organic mercury compounds affect the central nervous system, the kidneys and / or the immune system. It readily crosses the placenta and blood-brain barrier. Severe developmental and neurologic impairment may occur to children exposed in utero. Organic mercury compounds are readily absorbed by ingestion, and inhalation and through the skin. Methyl mercury is distributed to all tissues but concentrates in blood and brain. [...]

http://www.thimerosallegalhelp.com/
posted by Irdial , 6:46 PM Þ 

Wrong question; why won't someone step up to the plate and drink it?
posted by Irdial , 6:39 PM Þ 

Thimerosal and vaccines...
Why do they want someone to drink it? I'd drink it for 20K.... It's just that this stuff is usually injected....
Enough already.
posted by Alun , 4:19 PM Þ 

Switch on for state snooping

From August net service providers in The UK will be legally obliged to carry out automatic surveillance of their customers' web habits.

Controversial laws passed in 2000 oblige large communications companies to install technology that allows one in 10,000 of their customers to be watched.[...]

BBC
posted by Irdial , 3:52 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 3:50 PM Þ 

I had the most terrible popup today; it was set to have no chrome elements, and take up 100% of the screen.
posted by Irdial , 3:15 PM Þ 

If D = Davros
AND
H = Hassle
If R = Remunerated
THEN
if (D=R != 0) and (SUM R-H != 0) {
do it
}
else
fugettaboutit.
posted by Irdial , 2:33 PM Þ 

AVGPA it never ceases to surprise me what you can find on the web.
posted by chriszanf , 12:33 PM Þ 

To perform or not to perform - that is the question. Or more accurately what is the opinion of the blog on live electronica (when "live" means appearing in public and not actually having any kit onstage other than cd decks)?

I just got asked if I want to do the 20th anniversary show of "Your Song", a legendary twice-yearly night here in Oxford where about 6 or 7 bands play 4 cover songs each. They can be really good nights; I did one back in 1998 and it was fun, but I played "Live" more in those days and felt like singing.

Now I have no such desire and don't feel very much like doing it at all if it involves gathering together leads and amplifiers of any description. I do sometimes feel that small venue live guitar bands are 95% pointless in 2002, but foolishly the idea of showcasing some of my more recent remixes is fun. However, is turning up with a freshly burnt CD-R an acceptable thing (especially as every0ne else will be guitar bands)? Advice, oh community - please!
posted by captain davros , 12:13 PM Þ 


***PRESS RELEASE***


THE FOLLOWING OFFER is made to U.S.-licensed medical doctors who routinely administer childhood vaccinations and to pharmaceutical company CEOs worldwide:

Jock Doubleday, president of the California nonprofit corporation Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc., hereby offers $20,000.00 (U.S.) to the first medical doctor or pharmaceutical company CEO who publicly drinks a mixture of standard vaccine additive ingredients in the same amount as a six-year-old child is recommended to receive under the year-2000 guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The mixture will not contain viruses or bacteria dead or alive, but will contain standard vaccine additive ingredients in their usual forms and proportions. The mixture will include, but will not be limited to: thimerosal (a mercury derivative), ethylene glycol (antifreeze), phenol (a disinfectant dye), benzethonium chloride (a disinfectant), formaldehyde (a preservative and disinfectant), and aluminum.

The mixture will be prepared by Jock Doubleday, three medical professionals that he names, and three medical professionals that the participant names. The mixture will be body weight calibrated.

The participant agrees, and any and all agents and associates of the participant agree, to indemnify and hold harmless in perpetuity any and all persons, organizations, or entities associated with the event for any harm caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, to the participant or indirectly to the participant's heirs, relations, employers, employees, colleagues, associates, or other persons, organizations, or entities claiming association with, or representation of, the participant, by the participant's participation in the event.

Because the participant is either a professional caregiver who routinely administers childhood vaccinations, or a pharmaceutical company CEO whose business is, in part, the sale of childhood vaccines, it is understood by all parties that the participant considers all vaccine additive ingredients to be safe and that the participant considers any mixture containing these ingredients to be safe.

The event will be held within six months of the participant's written agreement to the above and further elaborated terms. This offer, dated January 29, 2001, has no expiration date unless superceded by a similar offer of higher remuneration.

Contact Jock Doubleday at jockdoubleday@aol.com.

http://www.gentlebirth.org/nwnm.org/VaccineOffer.htm

Answer for you Mikkel: sex and food is for survivng - but just as you cross the line between surviving and living, music and dance comes in the humans life. Music and dance makes one LIVE. But I understand your point of view, we're just different - but it is funny that girls like more to dance then guys, how come it is so? you never dance i your livingroom, when you hear somthing awsome at home?
posted by Alison , 9:53 AM Þ 

Sex and dance goes together, no doubt about that. It can be foreplay, maybe thats why many people goes out at night? The girls on the dancefloor, guys standing around the girls - wow it so animalistic! Kindda funny ...even silly, huh? But what the fuck? I mean it makes one feel alive as human, the dualistic feeling of body and soul. I hate it when some people only focus on the brainy sides of life and neglect their body - thinking they are very intelligent - cause I find it very unintelligent not to enjoy all the bodies functions and possibillities in cooperation with the mind. And on the other hand it is just as funny and dumb when people ONLY focus on their body and forget to stimulate their mind. Thats a very special balance one need to find in living as human, I find it difficult to balance on that point where I am in 50% touch with my mind and in 50% touch with my body - at once. how do you guys manage? Like I enjoy the internet a lot, it is really interessting in many ways, but never really gets REAL REAL, there is always a dimension missing. I mean Blogdial is interessting to read, but since I dont know any of you and you dont know me - it is kindda like interactive fiction...Do you understand? Thanks again for letting me write broken english and letting me read - it is truely interessting. Peace - I gotta work know
posted by Alison , 9:34 AM Þ 
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
posted by mary13 , 10:35 PM Þ 

and if this dosen't make you
move than i can't help you.
posted by john , 8:38 PM Þ 

Smaller and tighter...or is that the same thing?

Lets try some MathML later...

The power is in the hands of the scientists,so the responsibility rests with them to behave properly, explain thoroughly and serve the public.

The only exception to this is when they are put on the moon (Charon), where they can do anything that they like, with out any consequences.
posted by Irdial , 7:17 PM Þ 

ah come on i just got up! now there are so many
words i am dizzy and i have to make tea. hey mikkel,
glad you kicked those suckas to the curb. good riddens!

as for dancing: when chip e like this is playing my feets
they just start movin'. but really i like(d) to head bang too! the combo
head bang booty shake mind melt ephiany dance. as for sex and
dance: all i can say is i usually feel like having it after dancing so....

posted by john , 7:08 PM Þ 

The circles are getting smaller Akin!.... Opinion and judgement are different things, and there is always place for opinion. I think the public should listen more too. Misunderstanding and fear based on rumour and paranoia is not a good thing for anybody. But 1000 word blurbs in the dailies by necessity print only the juicy stuff, which does neither the public nor the scientist a service.
posted by Alun , 5:43 PM Þ 

Not 'you know nothing, so shut up'. Rather, 'you don't know enough, so don't judge.'

Same thing; the public is being told to refrain from making a judgement, i.e., not to speak because they "dont know enough".

This feeling is not isolated. See the Brian Sewell piece, which was published today in The Evening Standard.

Scientists would do well to listen more, and spend less time defending the indefensible, lest the tide turn completely against them.
posted by Irdial , 5:30 PM Þ 

Not 'you know nothing, so shut up'. Rather, 'you don't know enough, so don't judge.' Ask the right questions BEFORE sticking a big flag with EVIL written on it in the back of any scientist whose work you think is unethical. And when someone is good enough to provide answers, listen with an Open Mind, not with a barrage of prepared responses.
That someone is not me, by the way. I can't judge that molecular biology, although I have my opinions and I DO know how a research lab works from theoretical beginning to published paper.
However, I'm too busy right now rolling up my trouser leg and putting on my apron.

P.S. Brian Sewell is lovely. Opinions are lovely. Dancing is lovely... All over Sheffield from 89 on. Phil Oakey looks big and bad when the shit comes down. Aphex what? How do we dance to this? BlackDog at Rocket, out into the snow, Holloway Road, feeling young, but older now. Sabres of Paradise, dark and dirty places. Too old, too old...
posted by Alun , 5:16 PM Þ 

The first thing, the first element of House Music is dancing. There is (was) nothing in the world like being in a warehouse at 2AM drenched in sweat as "Video Clash" is cut to "The Best Disco in Town".

The flailing arms...The incessant bass...the hi hats that control your mind body and soul (if you have one :] ).

The legendary parties: Energy, Humanity....so much fun, so much great music, friendship, togetherness, "good vibes"....thousands upon thousands of people dancing, as one, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere to "Meltdown". Unforgettable.

Then there was the pure hysteria of the Jeff Mills sets at Lost I marvelled at where my energy came from, and after that, where the whole evening dissapeared to as we were ejected to face the well in progress dawn.

Oh yes.
posted by Irdial , 5:16 PM Þ 

Writers are much abused for expressing opinions on matters in which they have no particular qualification. "What right have you to comment on the drugs problem?" was the immediate response of many to my plea, some months ago, for cannabis to be decriminalised and made as accessible as alcohol and tobacco, from much the same retailers and at much the same cost. "What right have you to comment on Israel and the Palestinians? When were you last there? Have you lost relatives in a terrorist explosion? Are you a Jew? For if you are not you cannot possibly understand what Israel means to us and you should stick to being pompous about art." To be critical of a black African regime, to muse on the current mess as opposed to how things were when much of Africa was the Empire rather than the feeble Commonwealth, is to call down coals of fire on one's head and be accused of racial prejudice. On such subjects one is invariably accused of errors of fact "too numerous to correct", of bias and downright malevolence, of ignorance and irresponsibility.

All this suggests that we live in a world of expertise in which only "experts" have a right to an opinion, and the assumption must be that their opinions are reliable, backed by the sort of PhD of which Mo Mowlam boasts. No expertise is to be tested against common sense, a body of anecdotal evidence or experience - if an expert expresses an opinion, then it is gospel truth to be believed and must be acted upon. Yes, of course, the experts were right about mad cows, right about foot-and-mouth disease, right about factory farming, right about emptying the seas to feed fish to chickens; they were right about thalidomide, right about pin-down for aggressive adolescents, right about electric shock aversion therapy for homosexuals, right about nuclear fission as the cure for industrial pollution, right about masturbation making us all blind. [...]

Brian Sewell Says...
posted by Irdial , 5:08 PM Þ 

It might look silly when you dance - but then again, people look silly when they have orgasms as well.... The thing thats awsome about dancing: it is fun almost pleasure... can almost be a sexual experience, if the music is sexy, or dancing can be a good way to get rid of anger... it's basic, just like food and sex, people all over the world dance, no matter what kind of music, age, sex, culture or religion. Dancing is great - to the music you find great, otherwise it can be torture...

I love dancing too. In fact, that is what drew me to techno music, was the dancing. How boring to sit on your arse and drink beer and blather on about the state of the world (well, actually than is fun too, but even better when you can shake it off with a little boogie), when instead you can be having a moving, breathing, living experience? We were out last week, I sat in the speaker for about 5 minutes, just letting all my cells vibrate, ahhhh! I find the best thing to do is close your eyes if you feel silly (if you want to be serious about it), then you become invisible... ;>
posted by mary13 , 4:22 PM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 4:09 PM Þ 

From:  carthagtuek@softhome.net
To:  carthagtuek@softhome.net
Date:  16 Jul 2002, 07:06:00 AM
Subject:  FUCK BLOGGER GODDAMN THEY SUCK ASS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I dunno Alison. I don't see dancing as something basic. After all, sex and food are required for the survival of the species, and I don't think people danced much before they invented music (however long ago that was). It might be ancient arcana in the cobwebs of our brain, but bah. Personally, I can definitely see Barreh's point of view. Actually, I can see your point too, that dancing is part of human nature. Where the hell am I going with this? I HAVE NO IDEA!

In the end, it comes down to feeling comfortable with what you're doing. I get bored dancing, even if dancing with a hot girl I like, it get's boring. My mind starts wandering and I start to feel it's difficult to look engaged in the whole thing. Which is why I rarely dance for more than one song at a time. Heh.

I think it's like dyslexia or asperger's or all other kinds of human variance. The brain has different areas and different people have certain areas stronger than other areas. In this case, rhythm sense and crap like that.

Oh & your English sounds fine to me. But I'm not a native speaker either.

(The punks are out. Gave them an ultimatum: Pay rent or leave. Hah.)

Also, goddamn, that discussion is long by now! Holy moly!
posted by Mikkel , 3:49 PM Þ 


Ya
posted by Irdial , 3:27 PM Þ 

Why do you get to decide who is evil?

Who said that I did?

I propose that you, along with most others including myself, do not have the right background knowledge, training and information to understand either the true nature of the science or the primary driving force that initiated these studies.

Thats precisely the sort of language that I said that people use to sheild themselvs so that they can carry on their work unimpeded. "you know nothing. so shut up". Sorry, we simply do not buy this.

the lunar exile of Einstein.
I laughed...

Nukes are not alive. They cannot escape from a lab and replicate inside your body. They are not contagious. I repeat: Biolotech is different from nuclear technology.

And there IS a group judging "these scientists" - their peers

Like this group?. Dont make me laugh!

And whats an LQA? One that cites peurile examples as comparisons or one that states strong opinions with little background in fact?

Yes, just like we have seen.

Dr Evil

Never mind that, THIS is what we are talking about!!!
posted by Irdial , 3:15 PM Þ 

I said "These Scientists" not "All Scientists" I am clearly talking about only those scientists who are evil. English is the language of science; with it, you can be very precise, unfortunately, its ultimately up to the reader to read properly. Why do you get to decide who is evil? I propose that you, along with most others including myself, do not have the right background knowledge, training and information to understand either the true nature of the science or the primary driving force that initiated these studies. Therefore one cannot judge, only prejudge and condemn. Do not fall into this trap. These actions in the past may have led to the lynching of Jenner, the stoning of Pasteur, the lunar exile of Einstein.
And there IS a group judging "these scientists" - their peers, who are government appointed in the case of those assessing funding proposals. Luckily, the peers are not armed with a rubber stamp marked EVIL, however necessary some members of the public may deem this. They have one marked NOT GRANTED instead. Is it therefore implied that every (or at least a majority) scientist on these panels has an 'evil streak' which they indulge by granting only the most hideously unproductive, unnecessary, potentially extinction event science they can find? Whilst throwing back their collective malformed heads and cackling an Evil Laugh.

No amount of pleading that "the government paid for the work" will save them from the noose. In many many cases the government actually decide what they want and contract for the work to be done on their behalf. Whose responsibility? Are Einstein et al personally responsible for everything from Hiroshima to Chernobyl via Bikini Atoll?

And whats an LQA? One that cites peurile examples as comparisons or one that states strong opinions with little background in fact?

Dr Evil is now starring in a cinema near you....
posted by Alun , 2:56 PM Þ 

Vitacost.com Acquires DrKoop.com

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:01 a.m. ET

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Vitacost.com, an online source of consumer health information and products, has acquired the health Web site DrKoop.com, company officials said Monday.

The $186,000 cash purchase by privately held Vitacost.com will give the Web site the ability to provide daily information updates about mainstream, alternative and natural medicine. The deal included the brand name, trademarks, domain names, the Web site and the e-mail addresses of its registered users.

No other personal information -- names, phone numbers, health information or purchase histories -- was transferred. Users were given the option to remove themselves from the database in advance of the sale.

Vitacost.com sells most of its health products at wholesale prices while also providing consumer health information.

DrKoop.com currently attracts more than 900,000 visitors per month and has a database of more than 2 million registered users.

DrKoop.com was established in 1997, funded with more than $200 million and reaching a market capitalization of more than $1 billion before the crash of the Internet stock market. The company filed bankruptcy in December 2001.
posted by Irdial , 2:56 PM Þ 

And this is why you should sign that petition:

[...]
Still, the corporate element is glaringly evident this time around. Instead of the Detroit Electronic Festival, the festival is now the (Ford) Focus Detroit Electronic Music Festival, and the stages have been named Ford Focus, Miller Genuine Draft, and Bacardi. What's next – charging admission for the festival and bringing on the Chemical Brothers as the headlining act?
[...]

http://www.sfbg.com/AandE/Electric/3534.html
posted by Irdial , 2:05 PM Þ 

[7/9/2002 4:23:30 AM | Barrie Sutcliffe]
Looks nice, John. Ahhh, summer nights.
I admit, though, I don't dance. I can't dance, nor will I even go to a place that gives a chance to dance. I don't understand what dancing is all about. Sure, it's moving with the music, but I don't think it feels right. I can move with the music if I play an instrument, but flailing my body around just feels wrong wrong wrong! And I've never experience a chance where I would want to flail around.
So what's with dancing? Me not understando.
Though, often I *do* flail around, but it is only when I'm going bat-shit insane on whatever air instrument I feel like playing ("air instrument" meaning I am playing something that is not there, not a trumpet, oboe, etc). Of course, I never even think of doing it when other people are around, it is FAR too silly. So I don't think that's dancing.





Hi there Bariie: You made me think: how come you cant even understand what dancing is all about? how come somthing thats almost a basic human instinct is something you find 'wrong wrong wrong'?
Hav'nt you heard of body and mind working together - just like when having sex. Mind og body works together and it is straight up pleasure, like hugging and kissing and having sex - don't you get it? Silly? whats so silly? Silly compaired to what? I was just wondering ...

It might look silly when you dance - but then again, people look silly when they have orgasms as well.... The thing thats awsome about dancing: it is fun almost pleasure... can almost be a sexual experience, if the music is sexy, or dancing can be a good way to get rid of anger... it's basic, just like food and sex, people all over the world dance, no matter what kind of music, age, sex, culture or religion. Dancing is great - to the music you find great, otherwise it can be torture... Thanks for letting me write, sorry about my broken english, but it is not my motherlanguage
posted by Alison , 1:39 PM Þ 

Scientists call for vaccination strategy

"Vaccination should be part of any strategy to control a future foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK, a government-commissioned report recommended on Tuesday."

"They [farmers] were also worried that vaccination would lead to lengthy bans on meat and livestock exports. "

"The Royal Society urged international research groups to investigate "a vaccine that conferred sterile lifelong immunity against all foot-and-mouth strains", which would globally reduce the threat from the disease. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Now read the TRUTH about Foot & Mouth Here.
posted by Irdial , 1:24 PM Þ 

It makes you seem like you've watched too many James Bond films.

I said "These Scientists" not "All Scientists" I am clearly talking about only those scientists who are evil. English is the language of science; with it, you can be very precise, unfortunately, its ultimately up to the reader to read properly.

I've said before, scientists come from a cross-section of society as much as any profession and there are likely to be good, bad, misguided and stupid scientists as much as there are computer programmers or milkmen.

Yes, we read this. What we need to hear is a total condemnation of these evil bastards, from a group of responsible scientists. IS there such a group? Hmmmmm.

"Would a musician be enraged if I sat demanding the extraplanetary departure of all musicians because some shithead had the audacity to push Britney Spears into my ears?"

That is a Low Quality Argument® Try harder!

Would you miss your car if they were all blown up cos some geezer decided to smash into a crowd?

And another LQA®

Yeah....responsibility is another thing. But anything can be labelled offensive or dangerous (guns anyone?) and censorship is a dark and dangerous realm populated by vigilantes...

Weapons of mass destruction, which include biological weapons are not the same as Britney Spears, the Car Problem or the prohibition of gun carrying. Be serious.

No one is saying that someone cant write a scientific paper. What we are saying is that if scientists cannot find it within thier souless bodies to behave in a responsible manner, that the will have to be stopped, before they inadvertantly cause a catastrophe.

Nuclear capability changed everyones lives.

Nuclear scientists, at least the bomb makers, are starting to behave responsibly. They are simulating thier bombs instead of exploding them to test them, with computers like the ASCII White.

Breeding (esp selective breeding) changes what life is.

Selective breeding has built in natural barriers that stops certain types of thing happening. You cannot put a pig gene in a human with selective breeding. Selective breeding is natural, slow moving and not a trans species activity. There is no comparison between selective breeding and the "not available in nature", trans species hybridization that scientists are now carrying out.

It frightens everyone that biologists cannot make this distinction, and is the cause of the slur that they think that they are God. They are comparing thier work to the breeding and selection processes that occoured before man was even here.

GPS: find your way through Yosemite, or guide a bomb to its target. Molecular medicine: identify the gene for deafness, alzheimers, Cystic fibrosis.... or open up the potential for biological weapons. Nuclear physics: understand how the universe functions or make fission bombs. Computers: the internet or terrorist training and communication tool.

In some of these cases, a scientist is the enabler. The choice to work on evil is theirs and theirs alone. They cannot pass the buck. The buck stops with them. After the printing press or the telephone or the internet is created, how the public uses it is a matter for everyones individual concience. Each of the latter cannot, through the acttions of one person destroy all life on earth. They are fundamentally different from the irresponsible biologist.

Anyway, the point is there are always opposing views in any argument, but they should be rational and fact-based, without the kind of language that The Sun would find inflammatory.

Inflamatory language is appropriate because the sons of bitches are not listening. They get on thier high horses, say bend over and take the shot, because you know nothing and we know everything. That behaviour is the cause of inflamatory language. The total disregard for everything other than thier work is the cause for inflammatory language. And if you think that this is inflammatory, you should read the works of the anti vivisectionists, who go out and "solve the problem" after some inflamatory writing.

Members of parliament, after using inflamatory language, go out and "solve the problem" by violently tearing up the contaminating crops being planted all over the country.

Akin, you defended the development of nuclear weapons because "When pushed to war, when everything is at stake, all bets are off".

I dont defend it, I made a statement of fact. Let me say it a different way: When you initiate a war, any and all means will be used against you to destroy you.

Will you now defend these evil vermin virologists because Dubya has declared a war on terrorism?

Firstly, the war on Terrorism is not a true war. Everyone knows this, so that is a LQA.

War is no more an excuse than anything else. The US didn't push for the A-bomb to end the war, they did it to get the upper hand in all negotiations following the war. The bombings on Japan were unnecessary.

So they say...today. Did you know that after the first bobm (yes, bobm) was dropped, the Japanese government refused to surrender? Its a fascinating story, however its off topic.

Jeez...

Slip of the tounge? :]

These people are state funded. They have to say what they're going to do before they get the money. They have to report every year. For the govt to say 'hey, we didn't know they were doing that!' is plain bollocks. Spin spin spin. Don't believe the hype.

Once again, scientists make the proposals, scientists do the work, they are guilty. Period. If and when these weapons are released, and their side looses, they will be hung for crimes against humanity as the creators of these pathogens. No amount of pleading that "the government paid for the work" will save them from the noose.
posted by Irdial , 12:12 PM Þ 

Please, try and understand science, and scientists, before imposing charicatures such as "evil scientists working for equally evil corporations in league with corrupt governments", "irresponsible people who think that they are God" and "These scientists have an astounding tunnel vision when it comes to their work; nothing is more important, no life, no right of another person or animal, nothing can stand in their way". It makes you seem like you've watched too many James Bond films. As I've said before, scientists come from a cross-section of society as much as any profession and there are likely to be good, bad, misguided and stupid scientists as much as there are computer programmers or milkmen.
Would a musician be enraged if I sat demanding the extraplanetary departure of all musicians because some shithead had the audacity to push Britney Spears into my ears? Would you miss your car if they were all blown up cos some geezer decided to smash into a crowd? Yeah....responsibility is another thing. But anything can be labelled offensive or dangerous (guns anyone?) and censorship is a dark and dangerous realm populated by vigilantes...

Physics is profoundly different to biology. Biology, especially genetics changes fundamentally what life is, in a currently unpredictable way. Nuclear capability changed everyones lives. Breeding (esp selective breeding) changes what life is. It's a naive view, but its been done for millenia. Farm animals, good or bad?
GPS: find your way through Yosemite, or guide a bomb to its target. Molecular medicine: identify the gene for deafness, alzheimers, Cystic fibrosis.... or open up the potential for biological weapons. Nuclear physics: understand how the universe functions or make fission bombs. Computers: the internet or terrorist training and communication tool.
Anyway, the point is there are always opposing views in any argument, but they should be rational and fact-based, without the kind of language that The Sun would find inflammatory. Akin, you defended the development of nuclear weapons because "When pushed to war, when everything is at stake, all bets are off". Will you now defend these evil vermin virologists because Dubya has declared a war on terrorism? War is no more an excuse than anything else. The US didn't push for the A-bomb to end the war, they did it to get the upper hand in all negotiations following the war. The bombings on Japan were unnecessary.

No, these people cannot be trusted to police themselves, and so they will have to be shut down by force.
Jeez... These people are state funded. They have to say what they're going to do before they get the money. They have to report every year. For the govt to say 'hey, we didn't know they were doing that!' is plain bollocks. Spin spin spin. Don't believe the hype.
posted by Alun , 11:34 AM Þ 
posted by john , 8:18 AM Þ