Veils - Its a cultural thing

Hi,

Middle eastern females wear veils and their cultures reinforce them doing so.

Parts of the Koran also talk about veils and body concealment. but then again you can read an awful lot into the Koran.

There continues to be alot of discussion about this on the net. Is it a religious thing, is it an oppression thing etc. Blogs in the west tend to agree that mandatory veil wearing is not a good thing.

But don't veils make women more alluring and sexy?

The Egyptians are definitely pushing this angle with advertising showing that girls who wear veils find it easier to get a husband. In fact Egyptian women are finding that veils just increase harassment.

In some ways do veils and body covering clothing mean that a woman has to be alluring on a more than physical level. There are middle eastern "beauty" contests where other attributes are seen as being more important than just good looks.

Isn't considering a woman as something more than being physically attractive a good thing?

Of course the clothing police do not stop at veils.

There are new lines of clothing for Strict Muslim ladies to allow them to enjoy sporting activities without exposing their bodies.

So at what point do veils and concealing clothing become something that is aberrant to western women?

Well the control aspect is definitely not their cup of tea. Especially when it can be enforced to extremis.

Or are Western women just preoccupied with their looks?

NP Out

Favourite Philosophers No 1 - Alan Watts

Hi,

Just a quick blog about a philosopher I never stop reading or listening to - Alan Watts.

He was a conflicted man, both personally and philosophically. But his take on common sense mysticism and his deep understanding of different points of view / religions is something I find alot of solace in.

He was a late 60's counter culture philosopher, but also in his life a minister and theologian. By the time he died he had published numerous philosophical works and changed a generation.

Here are some on-line links to some of his talks and video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKGO7dAIvQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRq0ZnA4V7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0caqNCIUSZM

He's the kind of philosopher who can point out the emperor is naked and turn it into dry humour. The emperor in this case being a society of people accepting everything they are told.

Also he's normally sporting a top beard, which earns him several hundred cool points.

Np Out

The Darker Side of Photo ID

Hi,

I'm a big fan of anonymity. When someone wants to shrink into the background and not have their daily routine and habits measured they should be encouraged to do so.

I won't even carry a Flybuys or swipe my AA card when I buy something just out of general principle. I'm missing out on my reward points which is fine by me - though my better half gets a little up tight about it...

The Liberty organisation in the UK is dedicated to maintaining equal rights and the ability of citizens to be anonymous if they want to. They've been around for years and campaign against things national ID cards and photo drivers licenses. I fully support them.

However there are other reasons to insist on anonymity that I find intriguing and scary at the same time.

The increasing level of surveillance and ID tracking is a sign to some people that Satan has arrived and is busy marking his followers.

I'm all for people believing what they want - but the thought of people making decisions based on a fiery revelations ending makes my knuckles itch.

NP Out

Word for the day - Terrorism

Hi,

"Terrorist" as a word has grown massively in the last few years. It is being adopted and used to provoke reactions in all kinds of settings and with much greater meaning than ever before.

Just like "Virgin" went from being a high impact, in your face, word in the 80s to a brand name, Terrorist is now a brand label too.

This clothing line is produced by Joe Corre - the son of counter culture designers Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. From what I've seen of the clothes they are bloody brilliant and rival some of his mothers tailored pieces for quality and originality.

Hopefully "Terrorist" will go the same way as "Virgin" and become a completely accepted brand name and lose some of its slap in the face quality.

Right now of course it is being used to illiterate all kinds of threats to western society, including the threats posed by modern culture and media.

I might not agree with the label being used in this way to describe threats to good old fashioned Christian values. I do however nod approvingly at the end of this article which suggests people actually take a parental in what their kids read, watch and play. Hell - that's just good parenting IMHO.

Are bad parents terrorists? I guess it depends what they do to their kids.

Terrorist is a label that is also used correctly in the media. People who use fear to drive change by killing people just abhors me.

As an anarchist I just get angry when people threaten and take lives to try and engineer a change in society. I've also got major doubts about its effectiveness. Whether its a terrorist cell or a government.

Scare people and hurt them and they somehow never end up agreeing with you.

However I'm always up for a little bit of ontological terrorism...

NP Out

The Governator vs COBOL

Hi,

Arnie 0 - COBOL 1

This isn't a reference to Arnie taking on a world from Battlestar Galactica.

It's a reference to the 2nd generation programming language COBOL halting his plans for pay cuts in the Californian Public Sector.

This is a great example of old technology lasting longer than the people who can support it. Like NASA searching rubbish tips and eBay for computers old enough to run their 80s software.

Reading on in the article it is pretty obvious that firing the part time workers who maintained this code wasn't a good move for Arnie. Asking for help from people he's trying to give pay cuts to also seems to be a poor strategy.

The moral of the story is - if you're making a 40 year investment in a computer system make sure you've made a similar investment in the people who maintain it.

I'm still chuckling over this, and considering sending in my CV and asking for a big money contract :-) I've got mad COBOL skills from wayyyyy back.

NP Out