Yearly Archives: 2007

Hume on Scots cuisine

Posted on May 11, 2007 by acb

While I was not blogging last month, I did fool around a bit with using my phone as a note-taking device. The idea is to photograph whatever pages seem interesting, using the “document” setting on the camera, and then OCR … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on Hume on Scots cuisine

On Buggering Hedgehogs

Posted on May 11, 2007 by acb

An interesting example of cultural deafness came my way this morning: a blog entry claiming that there are licensed witchdoctors in Bulgaria, one of whom had advised a patient to cure his premature ejaculation by attempting congress with a hedgehog. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God | Comments Off on On Buggering Hedgehogs

Should Damian Thompson be excommunicated?

Posted on May 10, 2007 by acb

I only ask, because yesterday he had a thoroughly humane and sensible post up on his blog arguing that the Irish girl who wants to come here and abort her anencephalic baby should do so. The Catholic Church will oppose … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Journalism | 3 Comments

Why I am an agnostic

Posted on May 9, 2007 by acb

The excellent Gene Expression blog has a pointer to a Plos Article on the effects of meditation on the brain: after three months practising , people got better at noticing things which in normal life we can’t (very crude summary). … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Science without worms | 9 Comments

A project

Posted on May 9, 2007 by acb

Isn’t it time to naturalise the study of atheism? Continue reading →

Posted in God | Comments Off on A project

A note on Swedish pronunciation, and an appeal

Posted on May 8, 2007 by acb

I need to put some kind of pronunciation guide I think, into the book. The most elegant answer would be to do the whole thing in IPA but of course anyone prepared to do that could just as well look … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Sweden | 14 Comments

Sick and dizzy

Posted on May 7, 2007 by acb

The book has gone off, as a pdf, to Granta today. The choice of format is because I know they are people to whom scribbling on paper comes more naturally than annotating; I don’t want to spend more time faffing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Literature | 1 Comment

Climate change and money

Posted on May 7, 2007 by acb

Glancing at Damian Thompson’s blog, I see the well-known trope of climate change denialists — that those who advocate the reality of anthropogenic global warming are very well paid for their efforts. The implication is not just that the denialists … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | Comments Off on Climate change and money

Small random thought from death march

Posted on May 6, 2007 by acb

(I know it’s now death May: that’s known as deadline slippage) Monomaniacs, even Melanie Phillips do sometimes get somethings right. Even a stopped clock must be right twice a day but possibly paranoiacs are right more often, for if their … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

I am an idiot

Posted on May 2, 2007 by acb

You’d have thought, after ten years writing about religious journalism in this country, and twenty years perpetrating the stuff, that I would know better than to take any Times exclusive at face value. You would be wrong. I should have … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 16 Comments