Questionnaire

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olympic spirit

Well done Nick Clegg. The Lib Dem leader has written to Gordon Brown telling him that he should not attend the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Ahead of the arrival of the Olympic torch in London this weekend, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has written to Gordon Brown urging him to pull out of the ceremony in the light of China's human rights record.

He added that he did not believe the Prime Minister could attend the Beijing Games 'in good conscience', unless and until the Chinese Government took steps to 'honour the spirit of the Olympics' in its conduct from Tibet to Darfur.

He further quotes the Charter of the Olympics:

Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."

This is all to the good, but it's not quite enough. I think Britain should withdraw from the Beijing Olympics altogether. I am sorry for the athletes who have trained for it and everything, but only withdrawal (and trade sanctions) would hit the Chinese government where it hurts the most - in their pockets.

So far the Chinese government's record on human rights has got worse in advance of the Olympics, not better.

• They have cracked down on protests in Tibet [sign Tibet petition];
  
• imprisoned Hu Jia, human rights activist [sign Hu Jia petition];
• had a general crackdown on human rights activists (Amnesty report);
  
• rounded up all the cats in Beijing (not just strays but domestic cats) and left them to die slowly in tiny cages [sign cat petition];
• sentenced a businessman to death for allegedly spying for Taiwan;
• arrested a Christian bookshop owner (December 2007); part of an ongoing campaign. (I am as irritated by Christian evangelism as the next person, but there's no need to torture and kill them.)
  

in memoriam

In memory of Martin Luther King Jr, murdered on this day in 1968.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Soulforce have a special update today reflecting on the relevance of Dr King's message to the struggle for LGBT equality; the parallels are quite startling.

While LGBT people defend their own dignity and struggle toward liberation, there are those within the Methodist denomination who would seek to attack the disenfranchised and label them "disrespectful, disruptive, and self-righteous."

Similarly...

In 1939, the Methodist Church told African Americans they were not welcome in the same church pews as whites and the Central Jurisdiction was formed as a racial compromise.

Chinese human rights activist jailed

Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia 胡嘉 has been jailed for "subversion" by the Chinese government.

He has long campaigned for the environment, religious freedom and for the rights of people with HIV and Aids.

BBC - Jail for Chinese rights activist

Sign the Reporters Sans Frontières petition.

When will the Chinese government realise that the more they suppress dissent, the more of it there will be, and the less impressed the rest of the world will be with their human rights record (both in China itself, and in Tibet)?

name meme

1. ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car): Spicy Passat

2. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite Kind of shoe): Ginger Doc Martens

3. HIPPY NAME: (what you ate for breakfast, fav tree): Jordans Birch

4. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Angharad Southampton (I haven't actually got a middle name but my dad wanted to call me Angharad)

5. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Abu Yv

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink): Green Green Tea

7. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers/grandmothers): Felix Harold Mildred Doris

8. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Ylang-ylang Winegums

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 4th grade teacher’s last name, a city that starts with the same letter): Evans-Teush Edinburgh

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Beltane Cherry-blossom

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Sharon Hoodie

(Found at Copper's Klatsch and Catch-All)

ET loves Firefox

Even aliens prefer Firefox:

cheezburger kweschchun

Haz enywun akshly observd teh kittehs eatin teh cheezburgers? Must hav objektiv evidenz. Ai notiz that there iz no akshul kittehs in teh picturs akshly eatin cheezburgers. Simlurly, there iz no akshul evidenz of teh gendah of teh Ceilin Cat. Kthxbai

would you Adam and Eve it?

Parents in Manchester have complained about naked swimming, claiming that it's unhygienic (though it's obvious that the complaint is really just motivated by prudery).

The naked swimming is taking place in a private, closed session in a public pool (so no-one actually sees the naked people in public). The group concerned book the swimming pool of an evening.

Parents have complained that their children subsequently have to swim in the same pool. Well, as various commenters on the story have pointed out, swimming trunks are not an impermeable membrane - people's naked tackle is touched by the communal water when they've got swimming trunks on as well. Besides, that's what chlorine is for.

It's just a small-minded response to the idea of nudity. Though I wonder if the fact that the naked swimming group also happens to consist of gay men might have something to do with it.

The Secret

(warning: may cause explosive laughter)

And for those who don't know what The Secret is. You probably will by the end of the video.

I found this very funny indeed, as I am deeply irritated by the utter smugness of the Secret, cosmic ordering and all that. So basically, if bad things happen to you, it's your fault for not attracting good things to you. Yeah, let's kick the dispossessed while they're down.

Spotted by Alison

a new decalogue

Pope Crys at the Complaints Department has issued a list of commandments. This seems like a fun thing to do, so I'm going to join in...

1. Thou shalt not exceed thy carbon footprint
   
2. Thou shalt worship Ceiling Cat and all his furry minions
   
3. Thou shalt not build inaccessible webpages
4. Thou shalt not wear too much perfume in a built-up area
   
5. Thou shalt not drum into the wee small hours
6. Thou shalt not write interminable bad poetry
7. Thou shalt not put the toilet roll back-to-front on the holder
8. Thou shalt not pollute thine ears with Chris de Burgh
9. Thou shalt honour LGBT people, especially the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
10. Thou shalt not publish thy rants upon YouTube, unless they are about contraventions of the first nine of these commandments.
    

rendezvous with Yama

It's the end of an era, the death of Arthur C Clarke. He was one of two authors who introduced me to science fiction (the other being Ursula K Le Guin).

My favourite one of his books has to be The Fountains of Paradise, but I also found Childhood's End deliciously creepy. One of his short stories, The Nine Billion Names of God, is one of my favourite short stories (even though Buddhists don't believe in "God" in quite the way that the story implies).

He also invented the space elevator and the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays.

Quite a few people have remembered him on their blogs:

Here is to Arthur C. Clarke. Here is to Sri Lanka. by Iva Skoch
Gadling - http://www.gadling.com

Arthur C. Clarke: An Appreciation of a Life Well-Lived by Jeff VanderMeer OMNIVORACIOUS - http://www.omnivoracious.com/

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917 - 2008 by The Bad Astronomer
Bad Astronomy Blog - http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog

Arthur C. Clarke Appreciation by Jeff VanderMeer
Ecstatic Days - http://www.jeffvandermeer.com

An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke
Official Google Blog - http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Arthur C. Clarke, RIP
skepticalobservor - http://skepticalobservor.blogspot.com/

Remembering Arthur C. Clarke by Dave Itzkoff
Paper Cuts - http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com

Arthur C. Clarke: 1917 - 2008 by Dan Sandler
Control Freak - Video Games - http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_videogames/

Arthur C. Clarke RIP by Stuart Woods
Quillblog - http://www.quillandquire.com/blog

RIP Sir Arthur - Liz Williams

Arthur C Clarke is dead by Al Billings at In Pursuit of Mysteries

Stand with Tibet

I just signed an urgent petition calling on the Chinese government to respect human rights in Tibet and engage in meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. This is really important.

Please sign the petition.

After nearly 50 years of Chinese rule, the Tibetans are sending out a global cry for change. But violence is spreading across Tibet and neighbouring regions, and the Chinese regime is right now considering a choice between increasing brutality or dialogue, that could determine the future of Tibet and China.

We can affect this historic choice. China does care about its international reputation. Its economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and it is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China that is a respected world power.

President Hu needs to hear that 'Brand China' and the Olympics can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention. Click below to join me and sign a petition to President Hu calling for restraint in Tibet and dialogue with the Dalai Lama -- and tell absolutely everyone you can right away. The petition is organized by Avaaz, and they are urgently aiming to reach 1 million signatures to deliver directly to Chinese officials:

Please sign the petition.

Thank you so much for your help!

signs and pawtents

Teh Ceilin Cat make Her appearunz in teh sky...



And here is Her pawprint...



U not knoe wot is a Lolcat?