Archive for August, 2007
Week 2 Fat Loss Results
Posted by: | CommentsIn my quest to lose weight, I’ve been somewhat constrained to the sitting around the house this week, so haven’t had the opportunity to do much. Although now my bathroom refurbishment is nearing completion my home gym should be available for use very soon. Â
With my excuses out of the way let me give you my progress or rather lack off for this week. Â
I have gained 0.7kg
I have gained 0.6% bodfy fat
I have gained 0.5cm around my waist.
I am dissapointed, but not surprised. I’ve had rather a lot of unhealthy foods this week, and I’ve been out enjoying cocktails so there are hundreds of wasted calories. However I need to get back on track, I’m not accepting failure, and I will make progress this week for sure. Later today I’m planning to sit down and work out a programme of activity for the coming week. Hopefully when I combine it with more healthy eating I should have no problems with weight and waist loss.
I’m looking forward to making the most of this lovely sunny weather we have this week and I promise to post something a bit more inspiring next week.
Diana Cooper Speaking to Angels
Posted by: | CommentsWatching the BBC Heaven & Earth Show this morning I saw an interesting little piece on Diana Cooper, who is a published author on the subject of Angels no less. Â
When I say she writes about Angels, I should more correctly state that she writes about her communication with Angels. She describes her communication with Angels as voices in her head, because quite reasonably these invisible friends of hers communicate with her telepathically. During the interview she went on to describe herself as some sort of portal for angel communication, and how she is always finding little white feathers about the place.
My reaction was one of very unkind laughter, and I feel shamed by this now.  I really should not be mocking people who are in my opinion clearly suffering from some form of delusion or mental illness. She not only talks to angels, but they talk back to her! This goes one step further than the average religious nutcase, who only talks to God, or Jesus. I suppose in assuming she is mentally ill, it allows me the benefit of the doubt in assuming she in not some explotative person who takes advantage of religious belief and the hope of seeing lost loved ones again. How is she any different from a spirtualist medium, like we see on television? Claiming something that nobody can prove one way or the other, with broad opinions and no specific detail.
Amongst her works she includes “Angel inspiration”, “A Little Light on Angels”, or my favourite sounding title of all “The Age of Golden Atlantis”. To quote her the description of the book it covers:
“In Golden Atlantis for 1,500 years the spiritual energy on our planet was the highest it has ever been. It was a time of heaven on Earth when everyone had incredible spiritual power. Now we have the opportunity to bring the energy of pure Atlantis back. In the book and on this site you will be able to discover more about the extraordinary gifts, qualities and powers that existed in the golden age. There are also special exercises that will allow you to develop these skills for yourselves”.
Also in her very long list of books she covers the subject of unicorns from the anglic realms, and dolphins as the keepers of cosmic knowledge.
Of course I cannot disprove any of her claims, but if we apply some logic to her position it soon starts to look weak. Firstly, why does God need angels at all if we conclude from religious doctrine that he is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful? Based on this alone, it completely undermines Gods position of being all powerful. So here is new question, why did God create angels? He doesn’t need them, because he sees, knows and can control all. If she truely does have angel feathers lying around the house, why does she not have them independently analysed by scientists so we can determine the nature of these creatures.
So who knows, she could be right, but I think it is more probable she’s a total nut job.
Guns Everywhere!
Posted by: | CommentsI have been at home this week and when I’ve seen the news I’ve wondered to myself what the heck this country is coming to. I don’t think violent crime is a big problem in a lot of places, but there seem to be pockets of troublemakers and gangs in certain cities like London, Manchester and Liverpool.
 
I am appalled not only by the shooting of 11 year old Rhys Jones, but also two night club security guards. It is very sad when our society is reduced to American style drive by shootings, and nobody is offering any real solutions. If I am honest none of this surprises me as our society has been going in this direction for some time now, I’d say over the last 10 years or so. I was recently reminded of school teacher Philip Lawrence who was brutally killed for doing the right thing.Â
My only conclusion is the reintroduction of national service, so we can take young people before they become involved in gang culture and teach them to be responsible and upstanding members of society. Clearly the parents aren’t up to the task of raising responsible and moral children, but of course there are just so many reasons why this happens. Firstly you have social depravation, then parents on drink, parents on drugs, and parents who just don’t or can’t discipline their kids.Â
Schools can only do so much to instill the correct values into these kids, and if parents can’t or won’t teach their children right from wrong, then society at large must intervene through the mechanisms of state. Its not like there isn’t a solution, we’ve seen it on TV so many times! Nanny 911, Supernanny, and House of Tiny Tearaways. Catch them young, with parenting classes for all new parents and make it compulsory learning at school (perhaps replacing the time wasted with religious worship assemblies).
The second part of the solution would be boot camps for the already disaffected young people. ASBO’s just move the probem around, so lets actually set up compulsory boot camps for these kids and send them there.  We’ve all seen Brat Camp and other similar shows! These kids are crying out for love, attention and the feeling of belonging to society, so lets deal out some tough love and get them back on the straight and narrow.
Finally those that won’t work or join employment training schemes when they leave school should be given national service. We’ve seen it work with Bad Lads army, and so I think we should roll it out on a wider basis.Â
It’s all well and good saying there will be tougher measures for people who commit crime, but we need to deal with the root causes. Quite simply the root cause is that kids are not being taught the correct values to enable them to be contributing members of our society. I’m sick of our government and all these liberal idots making excuses for why we have these problems. There are NO excuses for this type of criminal and antisocial behaviour, and it should be dealt with before it becomes a problem.Â
Let me just sum by quoting one of my favourite mentors when I say “Life gives you what you ask of it”. Has anyone ever told these kids what we expect of them? How they meet the requirements of our society? or should they just be left to figure it out all by themselves?
BBC News Report: Man spared jail for sex attacks
Posted by: | CommentsThe BBC reported yesterday that, “A Jehovah’s Witness has been spared a jail term after admitting a series of sexual assaults on children and adults in Clevedon”.Â
I heard about this story on the 10pm news on BBC, and I was outraged at what I heard as the points listed by the judge as he summed up. Apparently he was let off lightly for the following reasons:
- He pleaded guilty to the charges.
- He was a man of “faith”.
- He was already getting counselling.
I know I sometimes have some pretty unusual ideas but I’d love the judge to explain how this mitigates, to quote the BBC: “24 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency on 13 victims aged 18 months and older”.
In an interview with Michael Porter’s sister she thought it was a disgrace the way his religion and wife we supporting him and I agree entirely. This man was in a position of trust and he completely betrayed that trust. He caused injury to an 18 month old and other children through his actions, and he is let off with a community rehabilitation order.Â
The police and CPS are reported to be looking at appealing the sentence.  I am normally very liberal and I believe in rehabilitation of offenders, but I also think there is an element of punishment that is also required. Where are the consequences for this man? He gets to go home, and resume his life with his wife and church.
I think I feel a letter to my MP is in order, as this question should surely be raised in parliment. What kind of judicial system takes into account the fact that a person believes in some mythical invisible friend as mitigation for such a dispicable crime against children.
I think the fact that the Jehovas witnesses have not expelled him from their ranks, or made any comment to the press is also completely unacceptable. Any responsible citizen of this country should have no hesitation in condemning the act of child abuse.
I have put a link to the BBC News web site for those who are interested in reading the story in more detail.
My iTunes
Posted by: | CommentsIn case you’ve ever wondered what music I like and what I’m currently listening to, here are some really handy iTunes widgets that tell you exactly that.
Enemies of Reason – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsAfter seeing Richard Dawkin’s first part of this two part series I couldn’t wait to see the second instalment “The Irrational Health Service”. In the firing line this week was spiritual healing, homeopathy, and Deepak Chopra. I found nothing in this show at all offensive and Richard Dawkins raised the crucial issue of how science is coming under increasing attack. In fact Deepak Chopra openly expressed his distain for what he called the arrogance of science. I found myself languishing in incredulity when the charming Deepak explained how science has misappropriated the word “Quantum”.
What I found equally disturbing is how some of the fully qualified medical doctors interviewed, were now practising homeopathy.  I was appalled to think that doctors, supposedly intelligent and reasonable people, would place any stock in something so unproven. I particularly liked the way Dawkins challenged the doctor on why there were no clinical studies into the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies. If it’s such a good cure why not gather the evidence to prove it, but no, no, we must have faith! Abandon all reason for it will not serve you here! In fact there have been many studies most of which prove nothing more than a placebo effect.
The only thing that did lighten the programme slightly was the interview with some crazy old hippie lady with white hair. She tried to explain how we came from Atlantis and originally had loads of DNA strands that we are now missing. However she can give us extra DNA strands through chanting and meditation. I have no doubt these strands of DNA she’s adding will be undetectable by modern science. Equally entertaining was the doctor who told us we all have tiny little black holes in our body which are a creative force.
I admit that I have, in the past, gone in for some of this mumbo jumbo to my shame. I even went to see an iridologist once, and looking back I feel like an idiot. It was in America, and cost me about $25 for the session. The woman proceeded to look at my eyes and tell me all my ailments. She them “prescribed” a whole bunch of vitamins and supplements, such as kelp, and flaxseed oil etc. This was based purely on how much my arm resisted when she pushed down on it. Ultimately it didn’t do me any harm, and when I got home to the UK I didn’t splash out on all her list of supplements.Â
Now I live in a state of reality where these people have no influence on my good judgement, however there are the desperate and vulnerable people that would pay bucket loads of money to these people with no benefit beyond the placebo effect.
What worries me with homeopathy is that you’re buying small bottles of water. How can they advertise this as having medicinal properties but not come under scrutiny from regulating bodies such as the MHRA.
In my opinion homeopathy is a fraud, I’ve tried it and it didn’t work for me. I was a teenager with horrific zits all over my face, and I was recommended a homeopathic remedy. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn it had no effect whatsoever. I found a combination of Panoxyl gel and oxytetracycline did more than plain old water droplets. I noticed a significant improvement using these combination of tried and proven medicines.
In conclusion, Richard made some extremely pertinent observations, in particular how science has now become Frankenstein’s monster, with its genetically modified crops and gene therapy. I for one am grateful for what science has given us, and as I work on a daily basis with scientists from the food and pharmaceutical sectors, I know what dedicated and diligent people they are.
For more information on this programme go to the Channel 4 web site.
Wife Swap: Islam meets liberal atheism
Posted by: | CommentsI just watched a very fascinating episode of Wife Swap on Channel 4. There was a British Muslim family of Pakistani ancestry and another was a very liberal white British family.
I loved the fact that the programme makers, and indeed the families involved had chosen to take part in such an interesting and provocative film.  The issues addressed were of a very challenging nature, but which come up in our society all the time. For example, how many average British men would think twice about shaking hands with a woman? Most would even give them a peck on the cheek. For Islamic women this is strictly not allowed, and if the dude is not your husband (or at the very least a male relative) you DO NOT touch him. Equally it is the case that Islamic men don’t touch women who aren’t their wives.
The other interesting area for discussion was the teenage daughter of the liberal family who happened to be a lesbian. If you factor in what the Muslim lady’s beliefs, I think she was quite restrained in the way she dealt with the teenage girl.  One area I thought the Muslim lady nailed it dead though was how the mother should spend more quality time with her children, and how the children should be respectful to their mother. It’s not always easy when you’re working to make time to spend with your kids. I know I struggle with it at times, and although she came of as very condescending I think the Muslim lady made some valid points about discipline and mutual respect in a family.
Of course being a humanist I don’t agree with the basis of the Muslim family’s beliefs and therefore, much of what they impose seems unreasonable. For example, not allowing an 18 year old daughter to attend a rock concert seems unreasonable, given that she is allowed to drive, have sex, drink, vote, and pay taxes under British law. Her parents seem to imply that at 18 she cannot make a sensible judgement about what is consistent with her religious beliefs and values.
The liberal woman also struggled with some of the Muslim values as well, and I can understand why doing all the housework would seem unreasonable to her. However let’s not kid ourselves, if we had someone who would willingly wait on us hand and foot would you say no? It seemed to me that the Muslim woman gained her sense of purpose from her place in the family, even if our culture views it as a form of oppression. Where my concern would come from, is if a woman wanted to leave that situation would she be free to do so?Â
One thing that I noted is that the children of the Muslim parents seemed to have the desire to learn more about western culture, and one even said she should help out more in the house. At 18 you’d think that would be the case.
If this show demonstrated one thing, it is how little white British people understand other cultures and how some other cultures do not want to integrate with our society. However I won’t condemn them just because they were Muslim. In my experience that could have easily have been a devout Christian family, with rigid beliefs and restrictions. I wonder what a show with the Amish would have revealed.
For more information on the programme see the Channel 4 web site.
Week 1 Fat Loss
Posted by: | CommentsI said last week that I was planning to lose some weight and get my belly down to a sensible size. I did go out on my bike this week and I’ve been eating sensibly. According to my heart rate monitor the bike ride burned about 537kcals.Â
I had some rather nice microwaveable pasta and sauce at work for lunch on a couple of days, although I was mocked because it was kids pasta. So what! It tasted great and didn’t leave me feeling hungry. It wasn’t all smiles and sunshine though and there were a couple of evenings where I went of the rails and had some wine, which of course led to cheese on toast. I didn’t let it deter me though and I managed to get back on track for the rest of the week.
 We also missed badminton this week due to a birthday celebration, however we’ll be back next week for more. I also have some work colleagues lined up who are interested in playing after work, and I think that would be great fun too.
So as a result week one looks pretty promising. As far as weight itself goes, I didn’t lose any at all. Body fat percentage has redeuced by 0.5 and my waist is down 1.5cm.Â
I’m not beating myself up about the odd little treat, because I’m not going to restrict myself so much I can’t eat anything I like. I think that would just have the reverse effect and I’d be putting the weight back on again.
So this week I’m pretty happy, and I’ll continue next week.Â
BHA Reports on “Church con trick” to raise money from Business
Posted by: | CommentsI read an interesting and yet incredulous news article on the web page of the British Humanist Association, which if true (and I have no reason to doubt it), shows the church in an appallingly bad light.
Allegedly the BHA along with many other businesses have been sent a bill that appears to be a local non-domestic ratepayers ‘rate demand’.  You can read their news release in detail and a copy of the letter that they have written to the Rector William Jacob at his church in London. According to the news release by the BHA the demand is completely unenforceable, but looks like a legitimate bill.
I would be very interested to know if this tactic to raise money is official church policy or if this is a lone ranger reverend who has taken it upon himself to raise extra money for the church.
In my view this is preciesely why all these old laws which extend special privileges to the church should be removed from our statue books, including the ridiculous blasphemy laws.
I also think this demand for money from business is totally and utterly reprehensible, because businesses with many bills to pay, in particular small businesses may simply pay up without realising that they are not required to do so.
For more information please see the BHA Web Site
Enemies of Reason – Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsEvolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins did a show on channel 4 this evening that investigated how organised faith and primitive religious are a negative influence on our society.
I watched the first of this two part documentary with great interest and drew some pretty obvious conclusions.
In the first instance, he pointed out that astrology was mumbo jumbo, and then asked an astrologer to prove astrology worked. When the astrologer wouldn’t (or couldn’t) and retreated into making excuses, I didn’t really see what the point of the conversation was.
Surely anyone who has some semblance of a brain in their head would know that astrology is completely unsupportable. Of course if you challenge astrologers to provide evidence as to why it works then they will very likely fail.
Equally with the spiritualists who allegedly commune with the spirits of dead people, he debunked (quite eloquently) the practice as simply cold reading. Of course I do believe that some of these people actually think they have some special gift. They are so desperate to feel loved they create a delusional state where they think they’re actually helping people and this makes them special.
Sure, religion and superstition goes against reason, and I agree it is harmful to some extent. However I wish I could understand what he hopes to accomplish in the quest to pick apart everything that people believe. Religion and spirituality also serve the purpose of providing inspiration for creativity, and let’s face it the religious have to be a pretty imaginative bunch to believe in what they do. I’m not saying you cannot be creative without religion, I’m just saying that for some people it is part of their creativity.
I’m not convinced about his tough love, beat them to death with reason style of atheism, despite the fact I agree wholly with his personal views on religion.
So I’m faced with a simple question. Richard Dawkins, why do you love shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel? With one clean shot through the barrel and all the water drains away. Then what are you left with? The answer to this is quite simply, dead fish.
When he’s done will Richard do a nice TV show, that examines humanism and atheism? which shows that we are deeper than this, and we not just about debunking god.
