Raindrops keep falling on my head

England is showing me the true meaning of bad weather this week, finally. It not that it is actually raining, but more the fact that we went from a week of sunny weather and 20+ degrees to more than a week of constant rain, and barely making it to 10 degrees today. And its not going to stop for a while yet. Essentially the forecast goes like this: "There is a big cloud covering southeast England, and its going to stay there until all that water has rained itself out onto you". No moving on over to France. No gradual dissipation into warm humidity. It just stays there and rains. And Rains. And Rains.

Oh well, I guess I can't complain much, its just a little more persisting down, as one might say.

So in the news today was an interesting article:

A religious ruling by an Islamic scholar permitting women to breastfeed
adults with whom they work has led to his suspension from Al-Azhar University in
Cairo, the world's leading Sunni university.

Dr Izzat Attiya had last month issued a fatwa offering his bold suggestion
as a way around the prohibition in Islamic religious law against a woman working
in private premises with a man who is not her close relative. Breastfeeding, he
argued, would create a familial relationship under Islamic law.

"Being together in private means being in a room with the door closed so
that nobody can see them," Attiya explained to Al-Watani Al-Yawm, after his
ruling sparked outrage.

"A man and a woman who are alone together are not [necessarily] having sex
but this possibility exists and breastfeeding provides a solution to this
problem [by] transforming the bestial relationship between two people into a
religious relationship based on [religious] duties."

In Islamic tradition, breastfeeding at infancy establishes a degree of
familial relationship between nurse and child even if there is no biological
relationship - a wetnurse, for instance, is forbidden from marrying a man she
had nursed as a child.

Attiya argued that if an adult male is nursed by a
female co-worker it would permit them to work side-by-side without raising
suspicion of illicit sex. It would even permit the woman to remove her headcover
and expose her hair in the man's presence.

Attiya headed Al-Azhar University's department dealing with hadith (oral
tradition) outside the Koran, attributed to the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad.

Attiya said he based his ruling on one such tradition according to which,
at the Prophet's order, a man named Salem was breastfed by the wife of another
disciple. "The fact that the hadith regarding the breastfeeding of an adult is
inconceivable to the mind does not make it invalid," said Attiya.

"Rejecting it is tantamount to questioning the Prophet's
tradition."

Nevertheless, his ruling evoked almost universal rejection among Muslim
scholars and in the popular Egyptian press.

Al-Azhar University formed a committee of hadith experts who dismissed his
ruling and the university administration ordered Attiya to publish a retraction.
He complied.

"The fatwa I issued was based solely on my personal interpretation. Based
on what I have learned with my brothers, the religious scholars, I apologise and
retract my opinion, which contradicts [the norms accepted] by the
public."

His apology was deemed insufficient by the head of the Al-Azhar Supreme
Council, Sheikh Dr Muhammed Sayyid Tantawi, a widely respected figure who is the
highest spiritual authority in Sunni Islam.

Far be it from someone like me of an Christian background who knows little about Islam to criticise the Islamic tradition and religion - but what was this guy thinking?? Are Islamic clerics that backward that when they try to be progressive this is the best they can come up with?? (Kudos for trying to be progressive though). How out of touch of reality can someone be? And worse knowing just how dodgy Egyptian men can be I find this an absolutely absurd idea!! And how can adult breastfeeding not be a sexual activity!!?!?!

For a long time I have tried to be understanding of Islamic culture, take the middle ground and say that that's their culture, its just different and who are we to interfere and say what is or isn't right. (The West has interfered and messed up enough parts of the world in the past).

But the reality is I find myself thinking more and more that they do have it wrong. I don't actually like taking this stand, (I'd prefer to remain neutral and out of sight), but when will the more extreme forms of Islam actually treat women with the respect they deserve? (Not that all Christians or non Christians have it right also - as a few episodes of Wife Swap with some southern US families will tell you). What is it about women that Islam fears so much that they must control or restrict them so much? And I'm not talking about headscarves, but rights to vote, to socialise with who they want, to work with men. Do they think the draconian restrictions stop infidelity? I guess they think it does, but then people in power seem to think many strange things.

Well enough blabbing for now. I have plenty of books to read still!

Two weeks late!

Well not really late, but I have been slack in my postings. This is probably down to me starting a new job, helping Louise practice her interviewing, and generally being a good for nothing lazy bones.

So the new job - this is going really well. Best of all are the hours - I haven't worked a 40 hour week since starting. (Although this does hurt my pay packet slightly). But a close second is the work itself. I have already learnt much more about access and excel querying capabilities than I realised existed. Pivot tables are really powerful when you can link them directly to a database of a couple of million rows of data! I am hoping that i can work hard and really make an impression at this organisation. It is really interesting work and is with some very interesting people.

Onto the news... There was recently an article about a local cop who said we were in danger of becoming an Orwellian society because we (as in the Royal UK "we" - gosh am I becoming a Brit?!?) are not so far away from having CCTV cameras on every street corner. Certainly in London I must be recorded every day dozens of times, and it not like I'm covering a large area.

But I have to disagree - there are fundamental differences between an Orwellian society and current UK society. The Orwellian society had a number of elements - Cameras in every home, A reduction of the language down to just 200 words, A world divided into 3 areas, 2 of which were always at war, and the powers that be would change the enemy at will. There were also the secret police, the re writing or eliminating of history, and the constant bleating of the all powerful leader as the only TV channel.

Todays society has similarities - We have CCTV cameras, some now with speakers to tell people to not act a certain way (e.g. "Don't ride bikes because this is for pedestrians only"). But is this really any different to the constant "Don't smoke on the underground". One thing that I feel has stronger similarities to an Orwellian society is that we always seem to have an enemy - The Cold War, Iraq, The Axis of Evil, North Korea (perhaps a truly Orwellian society - minus the cameras). (But perhaps we could all have a common enemy - Global warming. Something to unite and focus us all).

But what Mr Orwell didn't take into account was the internet. The fact that now anyone with a computer can publish, and this information is shared around the world free and to anyone that cares to read. If the internet is ever controlled in a way that stops us from being able to publish our thoughts then freedom will truly be moved backwards in a way our generation hasn't experienced.

I think the other thing that stops us from being an Orwellian society is that we are hedonistic. But Hedonism is complex - its not just about entertainment but fulfilling oneself. People don't watch crap TV programmes like Big Brother because its entertaining, I believe they watch it because they get more out of it, like participating in a conversation the next day, or perhaps they feel better by having a laugh a few idiots on TV. Anyway, please excuse the big pointless digression!

And do we have constant bleating of an all powerful leader on TV?? Not that I see. We certainly aren't like North Korea and the "Dear Leader" (although I wonder if this is culturally misconstrued and every older person is called "Dear", just like here our grandmothers call their grandkids "dear"!!). Perhaps our bleating comes in the forms of advertisments, which tell us how to live. But fortunately there is competition and so we have much choice in which path to follow.

I'm not sure where this plethora of thoughts is actually taking me. Perhaps because I have no answer it means I haven't been Orwellianised yet. Or perhaps it means I am more susceptable to it!! Probably I am part of the machine - spewing forth a host of information in a particular fashion that will make you all think one way without even realising it (both you and me that is). Perhaps you'll just think this is a load of nonsense.

Finally, tonight Louise and I had dinner in a Thai Restaurant. The service was great. They moved around so fast and seriously it was like waiting for a Jackie Chan movie to suddenly break out as he chased the triads to rescue Madeline from evildoer child traders in central London.

Tomorrow is Brighton, Finally!!

Oxford & Books...

Well the great news is I got the job! I start on monday, and I am very excited to see how it pans out. Its sounds really interesting, but I am not going to say here what I will be doing... If you know me, you probably already know!

Yesterday I went to Oxford for a day trip. First though an attempt at buying 25p tickets for the Regents Park open air theatre, but sadly I got there too late and stood no chance of getting a cheap ticket. It wasn't helped by circle line, traffic, then getting off the bus too late and finally not being able to find the ticket office which was actually inside the inner circle and not outside as it appeared on the map.

So off to Paddington and onto the First Great Western via Slough & Reading. It was much quicker than I thought and in no time I was on the hop on hop off bus learning about how if I went to Oxford University, I would only study for 3 years, and then 3 years later, just by virtue of having studied at Oxford, I would automatically get a Masters! Brilliant, of course, there is no chance of me studying at Oxford is there?

Needless to say, my fake International Student Card, which I legally acquired in Egypt, passed the test at the Hop on Hop off Bus ticket agency. And which university do I go to? None other than Oxford University itself.

So while I didn't attended that days public lecture of "Transgressing the boundaries of genre: the children's stories of the Soviet Yiddish writer Der Nister (1884-1950)", I did manage to find the Oxford University Press, which made me think a great souvenir from Oxford would be a book! But I wasn't too chuffed with Oxford Dictionaries or the Oxford Companion of Oxford Press's Big books. Nor did I find any of the textbooks of much use or interest.

So I set off and found the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Fairly plain and boring on the inside, it did have a tower which I duly climbed which gave me a good view of Oxford itself.

Oxford is actually a very nice, relaxed city. What stood out for me was the bikes. I'm not sure if I will see as many bikes (that's bicycles for non Kiwis) anywhere else except Holland. you could barely go anywhere without tripping over, walking into or getting run down by a bike.

Carrying on with the bus tour, we came to a Library which is a copyright library, so it has a copy of every book that is copyrighted in the UK. Apparently it extends well underground and when you want to get a book out you must order it then come back six hours later while they find it!

And then up ahead was an apparently small looking bookstore which seemed to replicate the library, you went into a tiny shop front, down some stairs and into a massive cavernous area the size of an Olympic swimming pool. Now here was a place I could buy some books!

Keeping in mind I am now supposedly budgeting hard, I found myself walking away with five books, and worse, I stopped at another bookshop and came away with six more!! So back to London, Eleven books heavier!! At least I can say I spent my birthday money thanks mum! What were the books then I hear you wondering? (Or not perhaps, but I'm going to tell you anyway because I am unemployed and have the time to do so for once!)

Well first there were two travel books, the first about a blind man who travelled the world, (in the early 1800's no less!), the second called The Pharaoh's Shadow, about travels in Egypt.

Next a book by Alistair Cooke (a famous broadcaster who recently died), which covers life in America as it builds up to World War 2, and then a book on The Battle of the Somme. the next book, Bad Lands, follows the war theme and is written by the founder of Lonely Planet, as he travels through "The Axis of Evil" countries.

Which brings us into modernity with "The Islamist", a story of a British Muslim kid who became an Islamic fundamentalist at school and then five years later came back to being more liberal/normal/ standard Muslim type practice. (I'm not sure what you would call it. In fact reading the back of the book he calls it a return to normality). The Muslim theme then takes us to Iran Awakening, the story of a female lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize defending vulnerable cases that others refuse to touch.

Also on the theme of Religion is a book I have heard good things about - The five people you meet in heaven. Essentially the idea is you die and then go to heaven (if you haven't been too naughty I suppose!), and review you life with five people who have had a dramatic influence in your life, whether you realise they did or not.

And speaking of Heavens, I have finally buckled and bought A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (recently seen experiencing zero G). This will be a rather serious and heavy read which is why I bought The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, a book about the murder of a dog and the investigation of it by a boy who has Aspeger's Syndrome.

And finally after all these serious, depressing and inspiring books, I have The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton, a modern philosopher who puts a historical and psychological spin on ideas about how to be happy through modern architecture and living spaces.

So a lot of reading to do, and hopefully with my new job I will find the time to read!

Hofstadters Law

So true, so true.

I'm waiting with hope that I will be offered a job today. Fingers crossed. I have never been so keen on a particular position, so its like waiting for Christmas to come when you are kid. Lets hope Christmas isn't cancelled!!

On another note, I made it down to Walton-on-Thames on Sunday. Really nice little place with big country type homes and a great pub on the river. It was nice to be so low to the Thames for once. Its not often that I get out of London, so this was great, and I'm looking forward to many more trips away. I have compiled a list and hope to start ticking them off this weekend!

Louise and I also managed to see a small part of the British Museum on Sunday, including their hoard of Egyptian artifacts. I also bought two pairs of new shoes, and finally hooked up my posters and maps via a clever bulldog, string & pin arrangement.

On Friday (just since I seem to be going backwards in time), we caught up with Kim, in Swiss Cottage, which was great. Spent most of the evening talking to a Canadian who lived right near the Olympic ski jumps in Calgary, which I remember driving past almost a year ago. She and her husband were building a one room cabin on an island near Vancouver that is only accessible by boat, and they didn't even have a boat!!

It is amazing to think it has now been a year since I left little old New Zealand. Time goes fast and much experience is gained. So glad I left, as hard as it was.

The power of water...

Watch this to see just how powerful water really is... and wait for the lucky guy on the road near the end..