Book Review:

This really brightened my friday afternoon.

Amazon's book review of 'the secret'.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2X2TB3S4O5I60/ref=cm_aya_cmt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&ASIN=1582701709

( Source )

Gaza, Israel and stuff

OK, so I take it everyone's up to date on Israel vs. Palestine, in the latest episode?

There's a bit more on the subject: http://eumelia.livejournal.com/377630.html

Basically, the situation there is getting rather ugly - Both sides are quite firmly intent on killing each other, and the collateral damage (civilian casualties) are mounting.
This is getting worse, as essential supplies are running out by the hour - food, water, that kind of thing.

You may not care. But if you do, it's worth a little bit of your time to shout at someone about it: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=551
It's a link to a template letter, to our Foreign Secretary.

I won't plug Amnesty overly, beyond saying I signed up a while back, and haven't since regretted the decision. But if you're inclined to do so as well, they're quite keen to have a donation: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=11484
or get you to sign up:
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=73

It doesn't take a lot of money - £2/month, is enough and goes to helping making Human Rights, actual Rights, not 'Optional Extras'.

Human 'Rights'

A Right is a legal or moral entitlement or permission.
We have the Human Rights act, which is a definition of a list of rights.
Actually, it's more like a wish list. Or rather, the other way around. It's not a list of _rights_ at all. It's a list of _obligations_.

They are no such things as 'rights' for those who'd not treat them as obligations as well.

Which is part of the problem with Human Rights - you can't really protest and whine that you have a 'right' to anything, if you're not prepared to stand up - both for your own sake, and for others - to say that this is a right worth fighting for.

And so we have the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They're quite safely ignored. As they say: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

These are not rights at all. They are obligations upon us all. To say 'hang on, this is wrong' when you see them violated. To take action if necessary. A right that's 'optional' might as well not be there at all.

Also

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7818980.stm

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." is the slogan on the side of a bus. It seems to have drawn complaints to the advertising standards authority, for breaking rules on "substantiation and truthfulness.".

I think Carlsberg might have something to say on whether 'Probably' is considered an acceptable modifier to an assertion :).

Small/Medium/Large

If you do 3 sizes of something, say, pizza.
Then the correct sizes to be serving in, is NOT:
Medium, Large, Super.

It's 'Small, Medium, Large'.
Damnit. A 'small' pizza is not a scary thing, to be omitted from your menu.