A post to capture a link collection from Johnnie Moore …. not had chance to digest yet.
Excluded Middle Again
Division rather than integration is the verdict on the holy site of Ayodhya. Missed opportunity.
Separating Functions
Interesting in this latest post-Deepwater Horizon BP story, not just creating an independent safety group with teeth (which I’m not sure about, being seen to do something decisive I guess), but more importantly re-organizing E&P into three separate operations Exploration, Drilling and Production.
Mentioned in my earlier post on BP’s accident report [the second post-note] that there must be some cultural hangover between wild-catters and producers in terms of who takes what kinds of risks to get their respective jobs done. BP takes corporate responsibility for the whole, but behaviour patterns within the whole are complex and culturally conditioned by local history. Separating the areas may allow greater focus on the systemic problems of each.
Doubled in one day
Only just noticed this – that Microsoft (MSN / Live Spaces) is migrating all users to WordPress. Wow.
Personally I think it is healthy that Google still offers the hosted Blogger option for simpler blogs where users don’t want to be bothered with configuration of many optional plug-in functions and separate ISP provision of other content management. (Even though of course, WordPress itself offers pretty well any content management as a hosted service too.) Can’t see any natural reason for a monopoly in this space. Interesting move.
For Walking
Utopia is on the horizon; I walk two steps, it takes two steps back. I walk ten steps, and it is ten steps further away. What is utopia for? It is for this, for walking. – Eduardo Galeano
I like that. Via Euan Semple.
Rent a Nutter
I see my view of Dawkins is becoming more widely accepted. [via Sam]
[Post Note: Science vs Religion and Dawkins piece in this “Capitalism4.0” edition of Thinking Allowed. Ha-Joon Chang, the pragmatic capitalist, I like.]
Arctic Struggle
Arctic Oil & Gas makes mainstream media.
Shirky Sense
Clay Shirky has the balance about right. Web Suicide is the extreme option for those unable to kerb their 24/7 online habits.
Creative Genius
Full marks to the judge for coming up with this sentence. Beats an ASBO.
Bonfire of the Inanities
Burning books is a very bad idea – except where there are surplus quantities available ie plenty of copies not being burned are saved for future society. Destroying all copies of any book is a crime against humanity – even very bad books. And of course it would be very difficult to destroy all copies of anything these days. Causing offence however is a very bad reason not to burn books, (or not to draw cartoons) in fact some might say being offended is the real sin ?
No problem burning copies of the Q’uran as a protest, provided it’s OK to throw Bible’s and Torah’s and what-have-you (flags, constitutions) on the same bonfire. Respect is a two way street.
Oh, and I see great minds think alike Sam.