A Neoconservative omelette

The NeoCon hawks who now have so much influence in Washington might sum up their foreign policy as: "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs."

However neither does one make an omelette by taking six eggs and smashing them with a hammer.

Another period of silence

During which I have got a job as a trainee actuary in Reading. I start next week so it's all crazy. I'll have to see how many random thoughts I have left over which I can post here.

Don't worry oh imaginary audience I haven't forgotten you...

Social Glue

Trust is essential to an advanced civilised society. Even if we had the time and ability to personally check up on the expert opinions and professional advice we recieved we would have time for nothing else. Trust makes society more productive. At a basic level it makes society itself possible.

We trust strangers all the time. We trust that they will not cave in our skulls our snatch our possessions away. We trust them to behave sociably. (Interesting aside - this trust does not come naturally to people with a disorder on the autistic spectrum perhaps that gives a partial insight into what a Hobbesian state of nature might enatil psychologically).

That is why fraud and professional misconduct are so serious and so damaging to society. That is why a winner takes it all high rolling economic system is so dangerous. Any of us is likely to cheat - if the stakes are high enough.

How to avoid good advice

Ever had some good advice you just didn't want to take. Here's a commonly used strategem for letting yourself off the hook.

Take the piece of advice and apply it to an extreme unrepresentative situation, the more ridiculous the better. Then shout at the person who gave you the advice
-See! It won't work!

That should do it. If it doesn't you can always put your fingers in your ears and chant
-La la la la la
la
la
la
la

Things I wish I had been told 1: Networking

I hate the word networking; it conjures up pictures of men in sharp suits and women with foot high shoulder pads talking on brick sized mobile phones and eating pretentious canapes. It is filed in my personal thesaurus between exploitation and sliminess.

So you wouldn't expect me to tell you that networking is great. But I am.

And you do it every day.

This is what I have realised. We are (almost all of us) social creatures. We naturally form friendships and make acquaintances. This unconscious process is netorking. It gives us people we can rely on, help and be helped by and enjoy spending time with.

The problem is that networking has been given a bad name by people who use it in a selfish nonreciprocal way to try and get an unfair advantage over the rest of us. People who are only interested in others for what they can get out of it.

Networking itself is a powerful and natural way of making our lives more fulfilling. It is the basis of society. Let's not allow the bad networkers to spoil our fun; meeting likeminded people to enjoy a shared interest is one of life's simple pleasures whatever you call it.

Don't Get Angry, Send a Fax.

Ever wished you could be more involved in politics or government? Do you think that no one listens to your views? Could that be because you're not telling them what you think?

Just in case the cost of a stamp and the effort of walking to the post box is holding you back from writing to any of your representatives (MP, MEP, MSP, AM, councillor etc) use this great site to send a fax and let them know your views.

It probably won't solve all the world's problems in one go but if enough of us do it it may make this country a better place.

Go on, after all they work for you!

On the Meaning of Blurbs

They say that any novels most important words aren't written by the author. They are written by the sub who writes the blurb. Robert McCrum in the weeks Observer provides a witty translation of blurbs for readers. If only he had provided a model blurb that would have guaranteed a sale. Then all editors and authors would need a quick cut and paste to make sure of a best seller. If only life was so simple.

Dust or Monkey

It seems strage to me that some Christians have objected to evolution on the grounds that to believe that we are descendended from some kind of monkey dimished the dignity of Humanity. Surely the Bible teaches us that we were made from dust and to dust we return (Genesis et al). This objection is understandable as an emotional reaction but not compatible with Christian humility.

Ah, but some say that we are made in image of God. Are monkeys, and proto mammals and trilobites all made in the image of God? But surely we do not believe that we are physically made in the image of God. Or that God (pre incarnation) had human form? Rather it is the soul (whatever we mean by that) that is in God's image. We are conscious, social, intelligent, moral creatures (some of the time at least). This is God's gift to us and his image in us whether made of monkey or of dust.

The Wind in the Willows

On Friday night I went to see Illyria performing The Wind in the Willows out doors in Pitmedden Gardens. Anyone who knows the Northeast of Scotland will realise that even at the end of June this is a potentially damp evening. Fortunately the weather held off. It rained before and after but not (very much) during.

Even if we had suffered a downpour it would have been worth it. The play is aimed at children but the energy, theatricality and sheer joy of the performances made it eminently enjoyable.

The company's use of props was wonderful. Two crates became anything at all (remember those childhood games when a box was a magically toy). Toad's (pedal powered) motor car was a delight (complete with plastic frog crest).

Personally I most enjoyed the the use of acknowledged theatrical artifice (the crates, the throwing of water onto the stage, the 'horse' with only two legs). This was deliberately part of the fun and most importantly communicated the story successfully.

I would recommend you go and see an Illyria show next time there is one in your part of the world.