(no subject)

Something I should have made clear in yesterday's posting about brights, and which a couple of commenters have reminded me about, is that the bright movement isn't representative of atheists et al. Many have reacted negatively. The Skeptic Society's email newsletter solicited responses from readers which were overwhelmingly against the term - a copy of their report is archived here. Chris Mooney of CSICOP described how the movement backfired.

OTOH, it is a movement: The Bright's Net, a non-profit organisation, claims a potential twenty-nine million members, although they're not forthcoming about the actual number of brights who've registered with them. (They claim over 3800 responded to a recent poll of members.) Nor has the movement been marginalised by the non-religious community: the Web site BrightRights.org describes itself as "a project of the American Humanist Society".

Hallowe'en Costumes

You must visit the Beeb's page at once and see a horse dressed as K9, a Sutekh jack-o'-lantern, a number of gorgeous infant Daleks and an Eccleston Doctor wearing cut-out ears.

ph33t

Had the MRI scan on my right foot today. This involved lying down and not moving a muscle for about half an hour, while earplugs protected my hearing from the machine's incredible battery of sci-fi sounds. (At one point I thought there was going to be an atomic xplosion.) Anywho, next week the PhD (doctor of ph33t) will be able to tell me if I need keyhole surgery to clean up the ankle, or just a cortisone shot, or just more time.

But lo! A package has arrived, silent as sunshine, on the front doorstep. The organic food fairy has visited us again.

More holiday snaps

( From Cairns this year )

( Better late than never: the Red Centre, last year )

(no subject)

A while ago I bought an imported cooking pot, which I promptly destroyed; but I kept the wrapping newspaper, which had also been imported, and included the intriguing (personal ad?) behind the cut. If anyone has the foggiest what it's all about, comment!

( The mysterious ad... )

Why I don't do drugs

In summary, the most important factors have been lack of peer pressure, concern about interactions with medications, and mental elf.
( A more detailed survey )

I bet you were all gagging to know.

Oh, I meant to say...

... the imminent terrorist threat to Australia?

Bet you a buck it's bullshit.

Actually, it's so embarrassingly obviously outrageously painfully bullshit, that gods know, it could be a double bluff. (Maybe there's actually been a threat for a while, and they kept it up their sleeves in case of hassles.)

ETA: It's a little scary, of course, to publicly doubt such a warning, in case I'm tragically wrong. But Mr Howard can win that dollar by actually prosecuting some of the terrorists about whom he has "specific", "creditable" information requiring the new laws to be rushed through. (Not just arresting or disappearing them, either.) Raising the terror alert level from "medium" in response to the threat might be an idea, too.