The Atheist Bus Campaign
I remember hearing about this campaign a while ago and thinking it was a cool idea to put a different message out there - even if just for the fun and semi-confrontational nature of it. But today I came across the website again through their financial donation website and was quite surprised to see just how much money they have raised. Of course the question is, what the hell are they going to do with all this money?
Their original aim was to raise £5,500 to get some atheist advertising on the side of buses in London: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” However now, after a slow start and with the support of super-atheist Dawkins and associated media buzz, they're up to £102,887.93. A serious amount of money for an organisation that has arguably no serious purpose or goals.
Initially I thought by now they must have some other plans, some other initiatives to handle the money. I was searching their website for evidence of connections with charities or maybe even supporting other groups or organisations that are fighting religious dogma/issues such as teaching creationism in school science classes. I could find none of this.
I hope they do come up with some clever ideas to use the money that will directly benefit society. I also hope they don't continue too far down this negative advertising campaign. There seems to be many more productive things to do to draw attention to religion-related issues and raise the status of critical thinking over belief.
India – moon or poverty?
With the recent confirmation of readiness of India's moon probe, I can't help but wonder if this is the best application of money and scientific minds in a country plagued by poverty and inequality.
Over one-third of India's population, or around 456 million people (World Bank estimates based on 2005 data), live below the new international poverty line. This is a crazy statistic that has not significantly changed even with all the new wealth in India and the rise of the middle class. In many parts of the country new developments coming from local, in some cases fundamental-capitalist-minded, ministers and leaders has increased poverty through actions such as destroying slums to make new hotels (see In Search of Gandhi's India documentary).
I'm certainly not attacking development, progression and the rise of science. These things are especially important in a country where religious and caste divides have a long history of causing problems. But what if these scientists and the funding sources behind them who created this moon mission were able to direct their focus to some of the problems here and now on earth, in their own backyard.
This mission as well seems to have quite a bit of the "I'm in the space race now too, look at me!" type sentiment. The scientific goals of moon mineral testing etc. are very particular and seem (to me at least) to be relatively insignificant in comparison to, for example, a Hubble telescope mission.
One obvious point here is why don't we level the same argument against all space missions? Against projects such as the LHC particle accelerator at CERN? This seems to be a valid argument - i.e. shouldn't we concentrate on fixing our problems here before exploring space? How valuable is knowing obscure details about a distant solar system if thousands are dying daily of starvation? Tough questions.
I agree with something the head of the British Royal Society said recently in relation to these issues. He stated basically that we need to be increasingly aware and considerate of what our money and best scientific minds focus on and put in place more initiatives (such as grants etc.) to get people working towards issues more fundamental for humanity, such as inequality and health.
Italiaover
My days of sweating, eating, walking, gazing, sleeping, eating, swimming, pondering, and finally eating again in Italy have come to a mixed-emotional end.
The sad part is in the leaving of this intriguingly beautiful place. The feeling of walking down cobbled Roman streets to find an archaeological gem around every other corner, the ritualistic buying of coffee at a bar, the discovery of a new favourite church, the drinking beer in an intimidatingly harmonious piazza, the sunset panoramic of orange-tiled rooftops, the shared moments, the the the...
And these are just the city things I will miss. I'm constantly amazed at how Italian countryside is able to impress me, a NZer, and this remember is a countryside that has to deal with 60 million Italians! A windy road on a sheer cliff dropping down to the pristine Lake Garda where the kite surfers swarm. A river which surges through the rolling Tuscan hills; the only sign of humans a thirteenth century castle perched on one of the hills. The gold and olive green landscape of grain and olive trees in the Sicilian summer. The sea. The exquisite warm clear depths of the Mediterranean with all its history.
I find that I can't properly exist without being around the sea for more than a few months (weeks?), but now I'm scared that I've become "seaist" - an ocean snob who may not be satisfied with the Pacific any more. Hopefully not.
Enough poeticising Italy. There is a list equally long of things that I won't miss about the country and its inhabitants. Like the list of missable things these are also well known. Things like corruption, Berlusconi, the hand of the Mafia, a potential for closed-minded ignorance, the Catholic church, views towards and the stereotyping of foreigners, superficiality, the public media, the pitiful political left, etc. etc.
By no means have I attempted to summarise Italy here. Only my relatively brief experiences this year. Even Italians can't seem to summarise this complex and contradictory country. Even though there are common threads, everyone has a differing opinion on what is wrong, what should be done, and where the best pizza is (Napoli). To have an opinion and talk about it often is of course a very Italian trait.
I've been having discussions to one such character recently who is typical in this regard. He'll happily go on for hours, jumping from topic to topic sprouting his views on everything from the importance of religious beliefs to the secret unknown history of the tomato. Interesting, and great for my Italian, but after hour number 3 or 4, when I can actually feel my ears getting sore, I need to pull out some sort of escape plan.
There is an energy to italian life. An energy that's addictive, an energy that can make one forget about the problems in italy and the rest of the world and be content with finding superior parmigiano, perfecting the tomato sauce, wearing cool shoes, and going to the sea. While I realise that from my point of view a significant chunk of this energy comes from a novelty factor, I still believe it exists in some form.
It can be nicely reduced to finding the "beauty" in the "good life" and then talking about it.
Even though I have seen a lot of the country, it would not take me long to come up with a list of areas or things I would still love to see. And also a list of places I would definitely want to return to and new friends to see again. I'll be back for sure.
I had an interesting experience on the Air NZ flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong. After we had finished boarding, one of the stewardesses got on the mic and annouced that "today we are lucky because we have some special VIP travellers onboard." One could feel the suspense build up in the cabin as people thought to who it might be.
The stewardesses went on "Please welcome aboard the NZ sheep shearing champions from 3 years ago!" she said with surprisingly genuine enthusiasm. The cabin was filled with an equal proportion of chortles, joke appaluse, and real appaluse from the Hong Kongians who must have believed these guys were real celebreties. It was a real welcome back to NZ moment.
Stop The SCURP
Every morning and evening millions of people around the world are violated by their shower curtains. Alarming new statistics show that 67% of all shower curtain users will in a normal week have at least 4 incidents of what scientists are now calling Shower Curtain User Rape Problem or SCURP. On the street it's called "scurping" and "to get scurped." The scurping must stop now.
Betty Dorkmouth of Morrinsville was brave enough to come forward with her long suffered recounts of brutal shower curtain violation. This is what she had to say...
"It often happened when I was alone at home. I had known this particular shower curtain for many years and it had always been nice and good - just stopping the water leaving the shower, that's it. But lately something has changed in it."
"For example, one morning I was halfway through my shower with shampoo in my hair when I felt a slimy touch on my leg. At first I didn't realise what was happening but then more and more of my naked legs were being smothered. The feeling was indescribably disgusting."
"I tried to kick it off but the shower curtain just came back stronger, this time for my chest. I was so unprepared with shampoo in my hair and..."
At this point poor Betty broke down into tears and wasn't able to continue. That this woman, by day a successful hawk trainer, has suffered so much at the grip of a shower curtain is a travesty. The scurping must stop now.
Michael Goofton from SOUP, the Society for the Operational Use of Shower Panels, also thinks this is a travesty. He has this to say...
"We at SOUP are tasked with informing the public of the dangers of SCURP and also promoting shower panels as a safer alternative. Clinical trials have shown that panelled showers with doors are 86% less likely to scurp a shower user."
So thanks to organisations such as SOUP we can all shower easier. Hopefully, together, we can work to significantly reduce scurping incidents in this otherwise beautiful world.