[Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes] Teething Problems

So I had to go pick a theme that doesn’t show the post author, and since we now have two authors on the books I’ve had to do theme change.

Why am I not using a customised theme instead you ask? Because underneath this domain it’s ‘just another WordPress blog’ which has limited theme choice, and this is because I’m being a cheapskate.

The other issue I have is loss of comments. I’ve been doing some housekeeping and updating my older content and noticed that I have lost the comments for all my posts which originally started on blogger. I apologise to longtime followers from the early days, I have no way of now getting these back (without painstaking recreation of each one from the old content).

Ce la vie.

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[Bugaboos] 20 Reasons To Abandon Christianity… And Every Reason To Take It Up Again

From Pass_the_Aura – 20 Reasons to Abandon a Bugaboo:

6. Christianity breeds authoritarianism. … If your nonintrusive beliefs or actions are not in accord with Christian “morality,” you can bet that Christians will feel completely justified—not to mention righteous—in poking their noses (often in the form of state police agencies) into your private life.

• But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25–28 NKJV)
• [Jesus speaking] “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37 NIV)
• “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” (Romans 2:1 ESV)

I’m coming to the same realisation that many people reject God based on characterisation are not actually rejecting the God described in the bible, or the God I have come to know and love.

Here are six things God hates,
and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family. – Proverbs (Message)

If you hate these things, you and God may have a lot more in common than you think.

Last year Pass_the_Aura did an excellent YouTube response to all the atheists who thought they were committing the ultimate unforgivable sin, see my post here:

Absolutely Unforgiveable?

Technorati Tags: god, bible, christianity, fear, pass_the_aura, apologetics, jesus, atheism

[New Writer] An Introduction

As this is my first post as a guest writer on AAF, I’d like to introduce myself (very) briefly.

In short, I’m a student from the South of England, interested broadly in politics, literature and music. Politics and a taste for  news with views I trust led me to the Osterley Times, and hence to here.

I’m not sure how long my stay will last, but I’ve got a few posts planned. First of all, I’d like to introduce you to the principles of agorism, and I’ll see how it goes from there. Thanks to Lex for giving me the opportunity.

That seems like enough of an intro for now.

BHudson.

[Linklove] Get Your Blog On…

I find myself lacking time to post, and even more time to keep the sidebar updated, so here goes…

If you link here, or intend to, or I comment from time to time on your blog and I haven’t included you in the blogroll then leave a comment and I’ll update it.

Promise.

[Meme] Random Bunch of Questions

I’ve been tagged by Andy of VandaWeb for this unnamed, unthemed random meme. So here we go,

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Be Kind Rewind. This is an awesome and totally underrated movie. It’s not a typical Jack Black but nevertheless he brings it to the role. You haven’t seen Ghostbusters till you’ve seen it ‘Sweded’. The cinema experience ticked me off though. Lots of parents with kids. Which made me question why parents would bring their kids to a movie which would contain lots of references to 80’s movies?

If you’re hoping for whacky Jack Black in something to keep your under 12 year olds entertained and distracted for a couple of hours, don’t go to this movie. If you’re looking for a hilarious, cult comedy with a subtle message containing tons of pop-culture shout-outs then this is the one.

2. What book are you reading?
Several actually, I tend to think on many different wavelengths at different times which is why my blog tends to be formed of inconsistent ideas with one common theme – stuff I’m passionate about. The Shack, The Way of the Wild Heart, Freakonomics, Super Crunchers, Plato: The Republic, When Good Men are Tempted and The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking.

3. Favorite board game?
Risk. I used to play it a lot with friends before we all moved away. Now I play Attack on Facebook.

4. Favorite magazine?
It used to be Newsweek, but as I became more cynical I started reading Private Eye. I just picked up a copy of Linux Format and now I’m into that.

5. Favorite smells?
My wife, she smells great all the time.

6. Favorite sounds?
Lifehouse, Nickelback, Soundtracks, Classical Music.. it varies, I’m not keen on RnB.

7. Worst feeling in the world?
My life is compartmentalised, it’s something I resent but currently don’t feel like I can bring to a head, my worst feeling when these comparments occasionally meet or clash outside of my control.

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
5 more minutes.

9. Favorite fast food place?
In the world? A&W

10. Future child’s name?
We’re not decided on any names yet for future children but we’re definitely looking outside Anglo names.

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?
Put it to work on a lot of projects I have burning holes in my head.

12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Heh… no.

13. Storms – cool or scary?
Cool.

14. Favorite drink?
Some days I’ll just chug one can after another of Coke Zero. I don’t know why.

15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?
waste it… as I do now.

16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
I don’t eat broccoli.

17. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
Jet black

18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?
Bedworth, Coventry, Nuneaton, Leicester, Dielsdorf, Zurich, Ealing, Watford.

19. Favorite sports to watch?
Tobogganing and the Winter Olympics.

20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
I’ve never met Andy but from his blog and communication I’ve had I can tell he’s a thoughtful, considerate guy and occasionally funny guy.

21. What’s under your bed?
Some plastic boxes with stuff my wife packed.

22. Would you like to be born as yourself again?
I almost feel like I was back in 1997, when I became a ‘born-again’ Christian.

23. Morning person, or night owl?
Night Owl, the later it is the more efficiently I work- I still go all night occasionally.

24. Over easy, or sunny side up?
Sunny side up.

25. Favorite place to relax?
Home, on our balcony with a beer and book or watching one of my favourite shows.

26. Favorite pie?
Apple.

27. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Fish food.

28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?
I imagine it will be LWTC or Lord Matt. I’d like to see Grace (since I trolled her comments for a while) and The Dane (haven’t had a good debate since DYL went offline).

Now, I tag Louise, Grace, The Dane, Lord Matt, LWTC and Gavin.

The last meme I took part in only got answered by Cecilleaux, I didn’t see a response from Yellow, Stef, Joshua or Kel, so if any of you guys want a second chance just go to the previous meme and follow it up.

[Echo Chamber] I Know The Feeling

I have nothing to add other than… I know the feeling.

On second thoughts, another problem I’ve always had is posting a long and/or excellent comment on someone elses blog and wishing I had done a post on my own blog instead!

I do that often.

Hidden Fees

I received an email a while ago from Sue Craig of not-for-profit Hidden Fees requesting a link to their site providing genuine, free advice on avoiding hidden fees.

The site looks promising and contains many articles. I thought it was a great idea and have now added a link on the blogroll. I wrote back to Sue and advised that it needed some guides and template letters to make it really useful and she wrote back to thank me and advise it “should be on the site in the next month or so [emailed 5 Apr 08]”. For now you’ll have to have a bit of time on your hands to navigate and read the detailed but useful articles.

One thing that did concern me was their archaic and heavy-handed IP & Copyright Notice which surprises me coming from a site that purports to be helping people avoid fees and such:

Except as permitted below no part of the Website may be reproduced, displayed, copied, translated, adapted, downloaded, broadcast, used or republished in any form including (without limitation) distribution, or storage in a system for retrieval.

Considering the service they are offering it’s forgivable, but I would hope as they progress they change this not to be so drastic. Technically speaking your webpages are already downloaded and stored in the cache (physically on the hard drive) of anyone who visits the site to read the information from a library or shared computer (read ‘public’) then they are already breaking your copyright notice.

It’s something I’m willing to overlook in linking to Hidden Fees but it’s something worth bearing in mind when considering the target audience- people who seek to avoid or fight predatory and subversive systems. People who read software EULAs and seriously consider open-source. People who don’t like signing unfair contracts.

Students. Should they all be marched out into the cold and shot?

Bill Sticker recently emailed me to ask if I could help a fellow blogger in need:

“A fellow blogger needs a grand to continue with medical school, and needs it within two weeks.  Now I’ve met Merys, she’s a good kid going through a tough patch and I wonder if you can help.  All donations, a pound, a tenner, pennies even are needed to save a career.”

I’m not normally one for blogger appeals, we all have our problems, but being myself a former ‘drain on society’ I can resonate with what Merys is going through right now.

In the last year of my own study at University, I struggled with finances so much so that it really did affect my study and at one point I was going to ask for a reprieve to finish off my second term the next year. I was talked out of it in the end, and with the richness and generosity of my own friends, I got through.

Merys works 2 jobs (one as a nurse as part of her training, the other as a barmaid) so it’s not like she’s blown all her money partying, therefore I join Bill in asking readers here if they can spare a few quid to help her meet her funding.

Read Bill Stickers post: Save Merys

Merys’s blog (I Am Not A Drain On Society) has a Paypal donate button on it. Her humble appeal is here: Seriously, I wouldn’t ask if my career didn’t depend upon it

Technorati Tags: merys jones, save merys, students, medical student, doctor, drain on society, financial struggle, generosity, altruism, friends

Bigger Fish Eats Big Fish

I don’t suppose anyone’s seen the irony in it yet? Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads published some unfavourable commentary about Russian tyrant millionaire Alisher Usmanov and his lawyers ordered the England based webhost to take it down.

What I find interesting is the reaction of those, friend and foe alike, to the take-down. Mostly political bloggers (and mostly self-titled ‘liberal’s) who have been accusing each other and tossing about libel threats for years. Most of these people were the first to put up those stupid ‘Find Lowde’ campaign buttons and bemoan her many ‘libelous’ blog posts.

Suddenly it’s all turned from empty threats, hollow accusations, angry rants and become a little bit more real and threatening hasn’t it? Perhaps those who are quick to shout libel will now consider what they are saying before they commit.

A lot of discussion has taken place recently over at Cecilieaux’s blog regarding a post he made on Felicity Jane Lowde. I think his summary is spot on, in his own commentary on the explosive response that took place:

“Someone blogs about you and you don’t like it? Ignore it or blog back. Someone e-mails you and you don’t want it? Delete it, filter it out and so on.
People who get riled about these things need to take a deep breath and repeat after me: “This is just a hobby.” Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat three times. Feels better, no?
What is it about computers that induces this kind of behavior?
I write pretty much the way I speak. Most of you would not like me and — surprise! — I probably would not like you.
But I sense that some of the nonsense posted here by the commenters goes way beyond what they are accustomed to saying to someone on the street. For example, how many commenters would really go around referring to women as “tits” in the presence of women capable of beating them up or, at a minimum, shaming them?
Nonetheless, thank you all for providing a window into cyberobsessions that I never imagined existed.
I’m sure also that American visitors were also enlightened as to the appalling lack of liberties in Britain — my sympathies. As you rise and I go to sleep, rest assured I will honor your U.S. constitutional right to rant. Let the circus continue.” – Elephant in the Blog

It’s nice to rely on something as a weapon till it’s used against you isn’t it?

 

UPDATE: Tim Worstall has published a list of bloggers who have commented on and criticised the actions of the Russian tyrant billionaire. Whilst I stand in solidarity against this libel action, if you want to see what I mean about irony, take some random links from that list and type in the following to google: “libel site:[url of blog]”. It won’t be long before you find some who have previously threatened libel action against fellow bloggers.

Technorati Tags: libel, lawyers, blogidarity, tim ireland, bloggerheads, russian millionaire, alisher usmanov, trolls, politics webhosting

Felicity Is Back

Whether she did wrong or right, she has paid her debt to society and is now appealing. Technically this means she is now a free citizen (notwithstanding an ASBO), with no outstanding offences and should be treated as such… will she be, I wonder?

Welcome back Felicity, I would cautiously advise not getting involved in any further flame-wars, email campaigns or debates and stick to blogging your knowledge and experiences only. It’s a wise move to de-link and stick to the requirements of your ASBO. Let’s hope your appeal goes favourably (and accept if it doesn’t) and that there will be no more witch-hunts.

Technorati Tags: fjl, felicity jane lowde, stalking, libel, asbo, blogidarity