Wolfram Alpha: still haven’t found what I’m looking for

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Wolfram Alpha is a new search engine that promises to provide fewer, more precise answers to searches.

Ever eager find trivia more quickly, I decided to give it a try. I quickly discovered that it has a unique feature: it consistently hangs Firefox. Undeterred, I tried it with Internet Explorer; it invited me to enter a question, so I tried: “what is the population of Oakville, Ontario” whereupon it enlightened me with the populations of both Oakville Missouri and Ontario, New York.

The Alpha is in the name for a reason.

How am I mean? Let me count the ways

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A few recent conversations started me thinking about how utterly rotten I am to the Diocese of Niagara and the Anglican Church of Canada; possibly even downright abusive and taunting.

What has been keeping me awake at night is, is it justified?

The parish I attend is an ANiC church that used to be in the Diocese of Niagara; the diocese is suing 3 of the ANiC churches in Niagara – or more accurately the wardens of the churches. The parishes in question had a choice of whether to fight for their buildings or to hand over the keys to the diocese; I think a moderately convincing case could be made for simply handing over the keys and avoiding further strife: the case could be based on 1 Cor 6, or Matt 5:40 for example. J. I. Packer addresses these issues to some extent here. He makes the point that parishes have a duty to try to hang on to their buildings if the gospel would suffer by letting them go. I find this convincing for at least the parish I am familiar with.

In that context, let me get back to being mean. Two reasons have been presented to me for being “nice”:

First, as a parish, being kind and generous is “who we are”; the person who suggested that would probably concede that it is not who I am – but let’s examine the idea anyway. It is true that the parish I attend is a loving, caring, giving community of wonderful people. Nevertheless, we are engaged in a lawsuit that we believe to be legitimate. Fighting someone in court is not an amicable activity: to pretend otherwise, adopt a simpering grin and make gestures of phony friendship is merely concealing a warzone with treacly charm: it is futile. I concede, though, that we are programmed to adopt the veneer of politeness from an early age and it probably does help to hold anarchy at bay. After all, if I were as naturally impolite as this individual, it could have ended up with riot police and fire-hoses – perhaps not the end of the world, but it would have ruined the carpet.

The second is the game-playing aspect: we want to look like the good-guys. Preferably the innocent, downtrodden, set-upon by an unfeeling institutional Goliath, helpless, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-our-mouths good-guys. Well, the simple fact is, we are the good-guys, but we are also fighting a messy battle in court where cut, thrust, chop and dice make a little verbal taunting look tame. To insist on verbal niceties would be like forbidding 2nd world war solders from singing the vulgar version of Colonel Bogey so as to avoid offending Hitler.

So now, back to sleeping soundly and – counting the ways.

It may be rubbish, but is it art?

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A record album is being covered up in UK supermarkets. The author of this Guardian article is at pains to point out that the painting could be interpreted in many ways; perish the thought of the painter intending to convey anything specific by it.

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The impact the Manic Street Preachers album cover has made raises the interesting possibility that hand-made, painterly images now have more power to shock than conceptual artworks.

It’s hard to imagine the chain of decisions that led to Jenny Saville’s painting of a boy’s face in colours that vary from olive green to reddish brown, blue and black, being judged too offensive to go on public view. The painting can apparently be interpreted to show blood on the boy’s face – although as the band rightly point out, this is a subjective view. He might have crimson scars and battered lips; or these might just be the colours Saville has used to evoke the appearance of flesh. The whites and creams, the blues of his eyes, are just as shocking.

The author of the article goes on to explain what it means to him; one would expect no less than an interpretation that includes psychic hurt. After all, most modern art induces psychic hurt.

For me this is a painting of psychic hurt, a portrait of pain. In that sense it is truly troubling – but to see it crudely as an image of a child who has been hit (which must be the supermarkets’ view) is to impose your own subjective interpretation. Paint creates uncertainty. It is genuinely impossible to know if those red marks are bloody scars or expressive smears. In the end, what has caused offence is the intrusion of emotion and artistic depth into the temples of commercial banality.

We are left with the predictable jibe at what has supposedly caused offence. The problem is, the writer of this article blames the supermarkets for having a subjective opinion which has been “imposed” on the art, while at the same time having his own subjective opinion, also, one assumes, “imposed” on the art.

If art is to be valued entirely subjectively, an art critic can scarcely complain if people find it subjectively offensive and respond by covering it up.

The World Council of left-wing elitist, no heavenly or earthly use Churches pontificates

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Earth shattering news: the World Council of Churches calls for peace in South Asia and blames the lack thereof on the USA:

South Asia has become a hot bed of the war on terror and a victim of the strategic interests of major power blocs keeping the region in constant turmoil and uncertainty. The nature of its volatility and that of the conflicts has been redefined by the US-led war on terror, wherein the rulers of the region have joined together as partners.

Although the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is engaged in counter terrorism in Afghanistan, the overwhelming presence and reliance on 52,000-strong foreign forces in Afghanistan has created more animosity among the local people as well as in neighbouring Pakistan. This situation creates an atmosphere ripe for extremist groups to exploit the religious sentiments of ordinary people and involve them in committing more violence. Today, Afghanistan is plagued by a new insurgency and a deep humanitarian crisis prevails in the country. This warrants a situation where we must step forward with assistance to strengthen areas of governance, rule of law, democratic institutions and reconstruction of the country.

Naturally, the WCC:

Calls for the withdrawal of U.S.-led international combat troops from Afghanistan and appeals to the international community to ensure that the resultant power vacuum may be filled by a UN-sponsored peacekeeping force with Asian forces as major players, which will help the country’s transition towards stability;

Since no-one is quite as villainous as the US, when we get to specifics others are merely urged, appealed to and subject to expressions. However, it’s good to know the WCC has the solution for Afghanistan: a UN peacekeeping force – just like in Rwanda, no doubt.

The only real surprise here is that the WCC didn’t somehow manage to blame Israel for everything.

Transphobia, a new social disease

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Transphobia could, I suppose, be the irrational fear of any number of things: transubstantiation; trans fatty acids; GM bringing back the Trans-Am. We all know that it’s really the irrational fear of “gender variance in society”, though, don’t we. I don’t know about you, but I can scarcely bring myself to step outside my front door for fear of encountering rampant gender variance.

The usual Episcopalians, Unitarians, and other left-leaning quasi-religious dubbed those who believe one is born either as a man or a woman harbingers of violence. Rabbi Steven Jacobs of Temple Kol Tikvah in Los Angeles warned against an apparent new social disease, “transphobia,” which is “the fear of gender variance in society.” The rabbi lamented: “Gender rigidity impacts all of us, even if we are not transgender. That belief that there are only two ways to be human leads to violence and oppression.”

Sadly, evangelicals are now being recruited into this lunacy. Tony Campolo, although always a willing victim of political leftist fantasies to some degree, now seems to have gone completely off the deep end:

“Justice is love translated into social policy,” Campolo insisted at the Human Rights Campaign Clergy Call press conference. “This [legislation] is a chance to practice that love.” Previously expressing support for traditional marriage, and a popular speaker for evangelical conferences, Campolo appeared slightly uncomfortable surrounded by hard-line sexual identity activists, many of them seemingly post-operative transsexuals. Still, he soldiered on, asserting that supplementing federal hate crimes legislation with protection for “sexual orientation” would not threaten free speech among the clergy, “as long as [a sermon] does not promote violence.” Campolo declared:  “We evangelicals who have such a high view of scripture should want justice for gays, lesbians and transgendered persons.”

Bishop Michael Ingham recognised for compassion and commitment to reconciliation

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The Episcopal Divinity School fawning at the altar of apostasy:

Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts conferred honorary degrees (doctor of divinity, honoris causa) on three individuals “with distinguished and faithful ministries in social justice”: Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada; the Honorable Deval Patrick, governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts; and the Rev. Margaret G. Payne, bishop of the New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Ingham was recognized by the Rev. Dr. Ian T. Douglas, in acknowledgment of his “commitment to God’s mission of justice, compassion, and reconciliation in the Church and in the world.” In 1994, Ingham was elected bishop of New Westminster and with his leadership, the diocese has been at the forefront of the struggle for full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. “Your diocese’s authorization of the blessing of same-sex unions has challenged the Anglican Communion and led, in part, to the Windsor Report and the “Windsor Process,” said Douglas. “You continually call the church to work for justice for those excluded and your reputation of speaking truth to power precedes you.”

Examples Ingham’s compassion, commitment to reconciliation and thirst for justice include:

Threatening James Packer and David Short with trespassing.

Acting in a fiercely territorial fashion.

Being unable to reconcile with anyone who disagrees with him.

Being unwilling to even obey his own Canons.

Mere peccadillos in the  eyes of the EDS, no doubt, which, after all is a special place:

Episcopal Divinity School is a special place. Throughout its history the EDS community has been shaped by several key commitments: to live out the Gospel values of justice, compassion, and reconciliation; to liberate institutions and people from the grip of all forms of oppression; and to lead the Church and society with courage and compassion in an ever-changing world.

A statement of purpose apparently inspired by the arid, lifeless dregs of committee constrained  mediocrity.

How things change

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I left South Wales, UK for Canada in 1974. The last few years I spent in Wales were in a village called Machen in the Rhymney Valley; our house was perched on the side of Machen mountain and through our kitchen window you could see the mountainside, scattered allotments and hear the brook that ran through out back garden. On weekends we would often climb the mountain for a view of the adjacent valley and in the summer pick – and eat – wild blackberries. The weather wasn’t always particularly good, and I remember the month I came to Canada it had rained every day for 30 days – not quite Biblical, but close.

Just down the road from where I lived was Caerphilly Castle, the second largest castle in the UK; it is humanity’s bane to take the readily accessible for granted and I only thoroughly explored it when visiting years later.

Before living in Machen I grew up and lived in Cardiff; I remember being struck by Canada’s cleanliness when I arrived. Cardiff was grubby by comparison – a grubbiness, like the castle, I had taken for granted.

A Polish photographer has taken it upon himself to document the “drunken revelry” prevalent in Cardiff.

Looking at these photos, I recognise most of the locations; what is unfamiliar is the fact that the city is not just a little dirty: it has turned into a pigsty complete with porcine inhabitants.

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A good cure for any vestigial home-sickness.

I like the Pope, I really do

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He stands against abortion and euthanasia, promulgates unpopular views such as the ineffectiveness of condoms to curb AIDS and has done his best to upset radical Muslims. Yet he cannot resist wading into Middle East politics and getting it wrong:

While acknowledging the suffering of Palestinian people following the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Pope nevertheless urged moderation, telling Palestinians they should not use violence and extremism.

In his most sensitive speech yet of his tour of the Holy Land, the Pope sent a message of solidarity with moderate Palestinians such as Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and president of the Palestinian Authority, who welcomed him to Bethlehem.

“The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbours, within internationally recognised borders,” the Pope said.

Mahmoud Abbas is not moderate since he has made repeated statements that the Palestinians will never accept Israel as a Jewish state; and a “sovereign Palestinian homeland” will solve nothing if the inhabitants of the “homeland” continue to be bent on Israel’s destruction – which they almost certainly would.