Sunday, March 16, 2008
Quoth the raven nevermore...
Well it seems the good folk of the Western suburbs have decided to take a stand on an issue that really matters for once. Not the drought, not the housing affordability crisis not even the parking problems in Claremont caused by selfish b*****ds in 4wds. No, the real problem is the Australian Raven. Due to the fact that the gentlefolk of Mosman Park have for the last few years destroyed much of the native trees in the area, the Ravens have lost nesting space and as a result, they are coming into people's gardens and making a noise- God forbid. So, Mosman Park council is about to engage in a cull. This is despite the fact that replanting some of the native trees would be a much more humane and environmentally friendly act than killing off a native species. Its good to know that they have their priorities right. I think the process should be extended. Given the nuisance caused by Dalkeith tractors in the area perhaps an immediate cull for anyone not using one for a legitimate purpose might be in order?
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Loonies in Lycra?
One of the great joys of my week is to read the letters page of the local free newspaper. It gives me a sense of what is troubling the underprivileged citizens of Perth's Western Suburbs (average house price $1000000 and rising). Hot topic this week is people publicly masturbating and engaging in gay sex on Swanbourne nudist beach, which for those unfamiliar with Perth is the city's premier gay beach.
Since I have no desire to spend time on Swanbourne beach, another topic has been closer to my heart. Local residents (most of whom drive overpriced, petrol-guzzling 4WDs to carry their little darlings the 1km to their overpriced private school) have been whingeing about cyclists.
As a cyclist, I would be the first to admit that some of my fellow cyclists are complete knob jockeys. I have almost come to blows with some of them on occasions for doing things like running red lights. But fairs fair- what the minority of loonies in lycra do is comparable with what most average drivers do towards cyclists and pedestrians on a daily basis in this car-obsessed city.
As a regular commuter by bike here's what I have to deal with on an almost daily basis.
1). Being shunted into the gutter by drivers too impatient to give me the space I need. .
2). Having drivers at junctions or roundabouts pulling out in front of me, centimetres from my nose despite my having right of way. And I know they have seen me from the shifty look on their faces when they do it.
3). Being cut off at junction by drivers too impatient to wait that few seconds for me to pass.
Many of the writers to the local paper complain about cyclists not using cycle paths. I do and here's what I have to contend with.
1) Punctured tires on an almost weekly basis because kids and/or drunken idiots drop bottles on the middle of the cycle path and the council doesn't clean up for weeks on end. Cyclists don't count as usual.
2) Workmen fencing off whole sections of the path without putting up signs. Potholes left afterwards for months.
3). Struggling to get past dopey pedestrians, seven generations of their extended family and assorted pets who seem to have difficulty grasping the concept of 'keep left' and who get outraged if I have the audacity to ring my bell.
4) Aforementioned pedestrians shouting verbal abuse at me if I pass them at anything less than 3km an hour despite the fact that they are on the wrong side of the path and I have rung my bell twenty seven times to warn them.
5). Braindead surfers who feel entitled to hang out on the cycle pathwith their brain dead mates all carrying boards which take up any remaining space.
6). Mothers with kids who think that the cycle track is a great place for kids to play or to have their nappies changed.
I almost tempted to write a letter to the local paper except for the fact that I don't want to become one of those idiots who writes letters to the local paper.
Since I have no desire to spend time on Swanbourne beach, another topic has been closer to my heart. Local residents (most of whom drive overpriced, petrol-guzzling 4WDs to carry their little darlings the 1km to their overpriced private school) have been whingeing about cyclists.
As a cyclist, I would be the first to admit that some of my fellow cyclists are complete knob jockeys. I have almost come to blows with some of them on occasions for doing things like running red lights. But fairs fair- what the minority of loonies in lycra do is comparable with what most average drivers do towards cyclists and pedestrians on a daily basis in this car-obsessed city.
As a regular commuter by bike here's what I have to deal with on an almost daily basis.
1). Being shunted into the gutter by drivers too impatient to give me the space I need. .
2). Having drivers at junctions or roundabouts pulling out in front of me, centimetres from my nose despite my having right of way. And I know they have seen me from the shifty look on their faces when they do it.
3). Being cut off at junction by drivers too impatient to wait that few seconds for me to pass.
Many of the writers to the local paper complain about cyclists not using cycle paths. I do and here's what I have to contend with.
1) Punctured tires on an almost weekly basis because kids and/or drunken idiots drop bottles on the middle of the cycle path and the council doesn't clean up for weeks on end. Cyclists don't count as usual.
2) Workmen fencing off whole sections of the path without putting up signs. Potholes left afterwards for months.
3). Struggling to get past dopey pedestrians, seven generations of their extended family and assorted pets who seem to have difficulty grasping the concept of 'keep left' and who get outraged if I have the audacity to ring my bell.
4) Aforementioned pedestrians shouting verbal abuse at me if I pass them at anything less than 3km an hour despite the fact that they are on the wrong side of the path and I have rung my bell twenty seven times to warn them.
5). Braindead surfers who feel entitled to hang out on the cycle pathwith their brain dead mates all carrying boards which take up any remaining space.
6). Mothers with kids who think that the cycle track is a great place for kids to play or to have their nappies changed.
I almost tempted to write a letter to the local paper except for the fact that I don't want to become one of those idiots who writes letters to the local paper.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Control Ian Curtis Film
Last night I went to see Control - the new film about the life and death of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division by Anton Corbin. Many people have described it as a beautiful film and, strange to say, despite the grim subject matter of a young man's suicide, it was. For those of us who loved him (and we did love him) watching his descent into depression, his increasingly severe bouts of epilepsy and the turmoil caused by his being torn between love and duty was harrowing. Fortunately, Corbin saved us the horror of watching his actual suicide, although we see the events leading up to it and the aftermath. The settings in black and white bring out all the grimness of Manchester/ Macclesfield in the pre 'Madchester' days.
Ian died two years before I discovered his music and seeing this film makes me realise why it spoke to a troubled young boy that I was then. Despite all the hype surrounding him it was all about the music and particularly his darkly poetic lyrics. The picture that emerges of him was that of a basically good man torn to pieces by his inability to handle his emotional life. No doubt these days he would have been banged full of Prozac and who knows whether he would have been able to produce such sublime music.
And just to remember HOW sublime there's a You Tube clip here of them live. Awesome.
Ian died two years before I discovered his music and seeing this film makes me realise why it spoke to a troubled young boy that I was then. Despite all the hype surrounding him it was all about the music and particularly his darkly poetic lyrics. The picture that emerges of him was that of a basically good man torn to pieces by his inability to handle his emotional life. No doubt these days he would have been banged full of Prozac and who knows whether he would have been able to produce such sublime music.
And just to remember HOW sublime there's a You Tube clip here of them live. Awesome.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Watson Affair Race and Intelligence
The recent furore over James Watson's idiotic musings on race and intelligence illustrates the continuing hold on the public imagination of simplistic views of genetic causality.
Put simply, Watson went public with his claim that intelligence might (just might) be linked to race. As usual this was further mangled in media coverage to become the suggestion that intelligence is genetically linked to race.
As Steven Rose points out in his trenchant reply to Watson's nonsense the largely arbitrary (in biological terms) category of race is not the sort of thing that can be fruitfully understood in genetic terms. The shocking thing about Watson's intervention is that anyone with High School biology ought to know that.
For some reason, Rose's suggestion that Watson not even be given airspace has blown this into an issue of free speech. I suppose that anyone is entitled to make an idiot of themselves in public and the internet provides us with ample opportunities. I personally think that it is more an issue of responsibility in media coverage of science issues. On this issue, see Ben Goldacre's wonderful Bad Science website.
The next time someone parrots a claim about a genetic basis for this or that behaviour, press them on the question: at what locus is the supposed gene, which alleles are implicated, what role does RNA play in the encoding and decoding of the supposed gene, what other developmental resources (including environmental ones) are involved in the alleged gene's expression and so on? Invariably the claim will be modified to some vague reference to heredity.
Clearly there is a genetic basis to skin colour but not in the way most racists would suppose. White people (or as a former Japanese girlfriend of mine preferred 'pink' people) are mutants who are unable to produce sufficient melanin- hence the prevalence of skin cancers in Australia, where I live. Fortunately for us, our ancestors migrated (or were more likely driven out for being annoying) to places like England and Ireland, where the chances of skin cancer were negligible. Skin colour is one of the most obvious examples of the phenomenon of gene-culture co-evolution, along with lactose intolerance and sickle-cell anemia. It is good to have someone like Steven Rose who can hit the genetic reductionists where it hurts- in the lab.
Put simply, Watson went public with his claim that intelligence might (just might) be linked to race. As usual this was further mangled in media coverage to become the suggestion that intelligence is genetically linked to race.
As Steven Rose points out in his trenchant reply to Watson's nonsense the largely arbitrary (in biological terms) category of race is not the sort of thing that can be fruitfully understood in genetic terms. The shocking thing about Watson's intervention is that anyone with High School biology ought to know that.
For some reason, Rose's suggestion that Watson not even be given airspace has blown this into an issue of free speech. I suppose that anyone is entitled to make an idiot of themselves in public and the internet provides us with ample opportunities. I personally think that it is more an issue of responsibility in media coverage of science issues. On this issue, see Ben Goldacre's wonderful Bad Science website.
The next time someone parrots a claim about a genetic basis for this or that behaviour, press them on the question: at what locus is the supposed gene, which alleles are implicated, what role does RNA play in the encoding and decoding of the supposed gene, what other developmental resources (including environmental ones) are involved in the alleged gene's expression and so on? Invariably the claim will be modified to some vague reference to heredity.
Clearly there is a genetic basis to skin colour but not in the way most racists would suppose. White people (or as a former Japanese girlfriend of mine preferred 'pink' people) are mutants who are unable to produce sufficient melanin- hence the prevalence of skin cancers in Australia, where I live. Fortunately for us, our ancestors migrated (or were more likely driven out for being annoying) to places like England and Ireland, where the chances of skin cancer were negligible. Skin colour is one of the most obvious examples of the phenomenon of gene-culture co-evolution, along with lactose intolerance and sickle-cell anemia. It is good to have someone like Steven Rose who can hit the genetic reductionists where it hurts- in the lab.
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