If you are entitled to vote in US elections and live outside of the US, then get yourselves in gear today, guys. It’s easy and takes all of about 5 minutes. The forms for absentee voting are available at VoteFromAbroad.com. You’ll need to fill them all out, including the absentee ballot, and fax them, and then mail a hard copy. The instructions are comprehensive and easy. Easy is the key word here. So get is sorted.
–IP
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Politics, law 'n' order | Tagged: US election, voting | 
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Posted by irrationalpoint
I have been reading academic texts. I have been curled up in my garret, gobbling up text. My head is hungry.
I’m still exhausted, but it’s wonderful feeling well enough to sit still long enough to read, and having energy to stay focussed. It’s happening slowly, but things are starting to get better.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying having my tea and my reading, and my wee patch of intermittent sunlight.
–IP
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Posted by irrationalpoint
Shanah tova, kiddos.
–IP
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Life 'n' stuff | Tagged: Rosh Hashanah | 
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Posted by irrationalpoint
Two weeks ago, the government set up five sharia courts that can rule on Muslim civil cases. These courts are roughly isomorphic to the Jewish beth din system that has been in existence for some time; religious courts commonly deal with family law cases and, it seems, financial disputes. The rulings of these courts are binding, although Muslims are not required to use religious courts, and appeals can be made to secular courts.
From the Times article:
In the six cases of domestic violence, Siddiqi said the judges ordered the husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders. There was no further punishment.
In each case, the women subsequently withdrew the complaints they had lodged with the police and the police stopped their investigations.
Siddiqi said that in the domestic violence cases, the advantage was that marriages were saved and couples given a second chance.
No. The marriage was not “saved” — an allegation of abuse that isn’t investigated resulting in a woman potentially continuing to live in a totally unsafe situation cannot accurately be described as a “saved” marriage. “Saved” suggests safety, which is exactly the thing that is not being protected in this decision. Giving abusers the stamp of approval to potentially carry on abusing after an anger management class and mentoring isn’t going to change the fact that the abuser was abusive, or that the survivor of the abuse has been told to suck it up and live with potential damage to her health and autonomy by a court of law. It’s illegal to smack people around, but this court isn’t enforcing that. It’s not a second chance if the investigation isn’t continuing — that’s just a carte blanche to continue abuse without consequences. According to this court, it’s more important for two people to stay married than it is for someone to be safe from abuse. And arguably the women in these cases could appeal to a secular court, but what would their living conditions be like in the meantime? To what extent would their safety be threatened?
Some are making the point that it’s unreasonable for Jewish courts to be permitted and not sharia courts. I would argue that it’s utterly unreasonable for any courts to exist other than the ordinary secular court system. If religious courts rule differently for religious people than secular courts do, then that’s a double standard and it’s unfair. If our secular legal system is unfair for some people, it’s potentially unfair for everyone and it needs to be revised to create a single system that is fair for everyone. I don’t think it should be revised such that there is a different system and different laws for different people: it shouldn’t be ok to beat your wife if you’re Muslim, but not-ok if you’re secular; domestic violence is not ok, regardless of who’s doing it.
Hat tip to Butterflies and Wheels.
–IP
No Comments » | Politics, law 'n' order, Real family values | Tagged: domestic violence, religion | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
I have been offered a job tutoring a bright young thing in philosophy and maths. He wants to study logic and read Karl Marx, but I don’t want to kill his intellectually omnivorous leftist enthusiasm by having him read Marx’s prose. We might do some John Rawls instead, maybe. We’ll probably do a fair bit of philosophy of science. As for maths — I’d like to show him a few bits and pieces that tie in together really neatly. Not sure what, just yet.
I’ve been writing handouts for him. I’ve done enough teaching that I can work out a syllabus of sorts without too much difficulty, but little enough that I still enjoy the novelty of it. Do I want to spend a lesson talking about theories of truth, or should I take a deflationist approach as read, but mention that there are problems with it, and there are other approaches? Exactly how technical should I be about argument form? How much time should I spend on the concept of proof? I’m enjoying these questions
Above all, I want to stay away from saying “Here’s a list of rules you must learn and apply, even thought you may not understand them — you just have to take them on faith.” That seems contrary to the aim of teaching how to question assumptions systematically, or reason to reach a conclusion. I want to say “Here are a set of tools. How are they flawed? How are they useful? Can you use them independently?” And that’s the challenge.
I’m off to do my homework: track down a copy of A Theory of Justice. And think about how best to work up to showing him a proof of the Primitive Pythagorean Triples Theorem. Or Cantor’s Diagonal Argument. Or something else, maybe something with primes. Maybe all of the above. Why not?
–IP
3 Comments | Life 'n' stuff, Logic, philosophy, and mind games, Sciences and other geekery, Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
In today’s Maureen Dowd column, Aaron Sorkin writes a scene in which Obama asks Jed Bartlet, the fictional president from “West Wing”, for advice:
OBAMA What would you do?
BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!
OBAMA Good to get that off your chest?
BARTLET Am I keeping you from something?
OBAMA Well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of that and it took you like 20 minutes to say.
BARTLET I know, I have a problem, but admitting it is the first step.
OBAMA What’s the second step?
BARTLET I don’t care.
OBAMA So what about hope? Chuck it for outrage and put-downs?
BARTLET No. You’re elite, you can do both. Four weeks ago you had the best week of your campaign, followed — granted, inexplicably — by the worst week of your campaign. And you’re still in a statistical dead heat. You’re a 47-year-old black man with a foreign-sounding name who went to Harvard and thinks devotion to your country and lapel pins aren’t the same thing and you’re in a statistical tie with a war hero and a Cinemax heroine. To these aged eyes, Senator, that’s what progress looks like. You guys got four debates. Get out of my house and go back to work.
OBAMA Wait, what is it you always used to say? When you hit a bump on the show and your people were down and frustrated? You’d give them a pep talk and then you’d always end it with something. What was it …?
BARTLET “Break’s over.”
Read the whole scene. Hat tip to Mustang Bobby at Shakesville
–IP
1 Comment | Politics, law 'n' order | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
Via Asymptotia. The ScienceDebate2008 crew compiled a list of questions for the US presidential candidates on current scientific issues and matters of science policy. Obama and McCain have now replied to the ScienceDebate questions put to them, and you can read those answers here. In particular, note the differences in reply to energy, education, stem cell research, and health.
–IP
No Comments » | Politics, law 'n' order, Sciences and other geekery | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
I’ve been watching some of the Paralympics opening ceremony — the Paralympics started on Saturday. You can pick up highlights from the Paralymics on BBC iPlayer.
–IP
No Comments » | Life 'n' stuff | Tagged: Paralympics | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
Today’s nifty xkcd:
Fetishes
Image description: The top caption reads, “Author Katharine Gates recently attempted to make a chart of all sexual fetishes. Little did she know that Russell and Whitehead had already failed at the same task.” The comic shows Russell and Whitehead, one of whom appears to have longish hair and be smoking a pipe while taking notes, who are interviewing a third figure. Russell and Whitehead are saying “Hey, Gödel — we’re compiling a comprehensive list of fetishes. What turns you on? Gödel replies “Anything not on your list.” R and W reply “Uh…hm.” The mouse-over message reads “They eventually solved this self-reference, but Cantor’s ‘everything-in-the-fetish-book-twice’ parties eventually sunk the idea.”
In other news, I am attempting work out the recipe for an item of confectionary which cures all ills. Yes, it really does. It even reduces the number of pain killers I have to take. It consists of a nice thick layer of a lovely light shortbread, a layer of deliciously goey caramel, and covered in dark chocolate. And no it’s not just the same as millionaire shortbread at all. It is much nicer, and it is infused with love and healing properties.
The recipe, when I have worked it out (and I shall work it out — I was not born a stubborn little madam for nought), shall remain top secret; unless I really love you and you ask very nicely.
–IP
1 Comment | Body, soul, and recipes, Logic, philosophy, and mind games | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
Far more exciting than the news of Obama’s running-mate is the news that last week, I purchased a second-hand mobility scooter. It’s sleek, it’s fast, it’s mean, and above all: it’s shiny.
It’s been wonderful having it the last few days. I’ve become so accustomed to not going out, or to being dependent on other people when I do go out. And suddenly, I’m not dependent on anyone anymore, not even the silly Sunday bus timetables. I can just go out whenever I want to, and I’ve remembered what it’s like to be a pata caliente (a curious Spanish expression which roughly translates as “a party-goer”). I’m meeting up with people, I’m going out, I’m running errands, and it’s all jolly good fun.
Plus, I can zip along faster than you can walk, slowcoach.
I think I shall name my new machine. Any suggestions? I thought about naming it Ms Frizzle from my memories of The Magic Schoolbus (”Wahoo! Take risks, make mistakes, get messy!”), but I think I’m distinctly lacking in yellowness and frizz, which is rather a shame.
–IP
4 Comments | Life 'n' stuff | Tagged: Mobility, mobility scooter | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
I have posted before about the importance of listening and respecting the statements a person makes about the restrictions they may have on their abilities. I haven’t posted about the importance of listening and respecting the statements a person makes about what they can do, although it’s just as important.
For all that my pain means that right now, there are a lot of things I can’t do, or need help with, including a lot of daily living tasks — there are also a lot of things I can do. And it’s important to remember that.
Which is to say, it’s important for me to remember that. But it’s also important for the people around me to remember that, and not make assumptions about what I can and can’t do, or override my statements about what I can or can’t do. In fact, this last point is key. At a time when someone needs a lot of things done for them, it can be hugely important to be able to do certain things without help, to retain control over the things that the person can still do unassisted.
–IP
No Comments » | Disability and ablism | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
So I went to the Event with a hired scooter, and was scooting up and down muddy fields in the pissing rain, honking my bike horn at pedestrians who cannot keep up with my shiny scooter, and happy as a pig in shite. It was brilliant. It really is wonderful to be able to get out easily, and keep doing some of the things that I enjoy. It’s been months that I have been staying in and doing very little, and now I’m kicking myself for not having used a scooter before now.
Even better was the fact that, the very day I left for the Event, just before departing for the Event, I had an appointment with my rheumatologist. I saw a lovely doctor who treated me like an intellegent self-aware patient, and who did a very clever grip test which I had never had done before. It consists of two levers which one squeezes together as hard as one can in one hand, and a dial at the top which measures the force one is exerting. They agreed on a new set of meds, and a referal to a pain management clinic, which I am most pleased about.
And off I toddled, with my scooter.
After returning from the Event, the Existentialist, decided that it was too hard keeping up with me on foot when I use the scooter, and since he was feeling rotten anyway from his health issues, he hired a scooter as well, and we both zipped about town, cackling with happiness like mad plotting grannies.
–IP
No Comments » | Life 'n' stuff | Tagged: Mobility, mobility scooter | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
I usually hate shopping. But did you know that mobility scooters do a wicked three-point turn? And they are fast. And they are Teh Shiny.
Which is all by way of saying that I went out yesterday, on Shopmobility scooter. And it was so much fun. I’ve been largely stuck in my house for a while, so a day out and about was quite welcome. And I had no idea it could be easy. The Existentialist had been suggesting a mobility scooter for a while, and I had been resisting the idea, on the grounds that hiring or purchasing one would be expensive, there wasn’t anything I wanted to do in town anyway…and by basically being a grump. But he insisted some more, and looked up the Shopmobility scheme information for where I live, and off we went. Bless him.
For those unfamiliar with Shopmobility, the idea is that one can borrow a wheelchair or mobility scooter and take it around the city centre to do one’s errands or shopping or whatever. Where I live, the scheme is free, but I gather in some areas there is a small fee.
So we ran some errands, and had lunch, and then I went shopping for the Existentialist’s anniversary present. And then we had to return Teh Shiny, which was sad.
The downsides were that I cannot kerb-climb in a three-wheeled scooter, so I am largely confined to main roads with smooth wide pavements and dropped kerbs. And I cannot take the scooter into most shops, which is a major pain if it’s a big shop. Also, I have not been nearly stepped on by so many people since I was a very small child, or possibly ever. But cor, it was soooooooo worth it. I had a day out. I am now very much looking forward to using another scooter at the Event.
(One of my anniversary presents from the Existentialist was a big bike horn, which is for the next time I use a scooter. It makes a very loud noise, and I shall get to blow it at people who try to step on me. This makes me absurdly happy. Although not, of course, as happy as my anniversary. \end{slush} )
–IP
No Comments » | Disability and ablism, Life 'n' stuff | Tagged: Mobility, mobility scooter | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
Having thought long and hard, and having finally decided that it was just not practical for me to attend a particular Event while being able to walk about 50 metres, I booked a mobility scooter for the Event. I will let you know how it goes.
Perhaps I should practice this mobility scooter lark a bit before the Event. I’ve been thinking about heading down to my nearest Shopmobility point and hiring one of theirs and getting out and about — most days I stay at home, unless I need to go out and then someone drives me to where I want to go, but that’s awkward with city centre parking and one-way streets and pedestrian zones. Only problem is that I’m not sure I can actually be driven in a private vehicle to the Shopmobility point. There certainly isn’t a bus that goes there from where I live. Which leaves taxi, or getting there on foot — the latter rather defeating the purpose of the Shopmobility scheme in the first place. I have a very odd city council.
But anyway. I’m getting a scooter for the Event, and that makes me happy, because I wouldn’t be able to go otherwise. I wonder if the scooter is fast enough for chasing pigeons in? I hear some scooters can go up to 8 miles per hour. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!
–IP
2 Comments | Disability and ablism, Life 'n' stuff | Tagged: Mobility, mobility scooters | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
Don’t forget to catch the Doctor Who prom on the BBC’s radio iPlayer before Sunday. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2. The prom includes music from the Doctor Who show as well as other “music of the spheres” — Jupiter from Holst’s Planets, The Ride of the Walkyries, and a selection of others. Do pop over for a listen.
–IP
No Comments » | Life 'n' stuff, Music | Tagged: Doctor Who, Proms | Permalink
Posted by irrationalpoint
