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Foucault and crises of governmentality
According to Foucault, a supposedly liberal government will sometimes be driven into contradictory efforts to constrain individuals’ freedom. People can only act as responsible citizens if they are made conscious of certain dangers eg financial ruin, communicable diseases, that demand appropriate behaviours eg insurance, immunization. Foucault would add fear of crime through news or fiction…
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Tristan and Isolde
Story tellers always seem to be on the side of the lovers, despite their illicit, tragic affair. What this story created was the idea of love as a force independent of individuals’ own volition, indeed, having its own ethical imperative. They can be forgiven, because they were driven by love. Tristan is a typical hero…
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Charity needs to think big
Charity is stuck in small scale, limited vision with no potential to deal with the massive social problems they often seek to address. They are unable to attract the best talent by offering competitive wages, unable to advertise, unable to invest in growth (cf Amazon, no profits for 6yrs), unable to take risks due to…
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Love
Love is the most codified of all emotions, the most subject to the rules of society & culture yet we continue to believe it the most spontaneous & genuine! In medieval society it was bound up in valour & chivalry (producing the Tristan and Isolde paradox, that the best knight deserves the queen but must…
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Babel
2 TEDtalks came up with conflicting conclusions. Marc Pagel, a biologist, says that different languages come about as a way of protecting knowledge and skills from competing groups. If we want to deal with global problems, then we need a common language to enhance the speed at which we can share experience and solutions. But…
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Anti-Zionism gets harsh treatment
Student Paul Donnachie was found guilty on Tuesday in Cupar Sheriff Court of ‘racially aggravated conduct’ after showing contempt for an Israeli flag on the wall of a two-bed student residence shared by his friend and an American Zionist. The Sheriff did not allow expert witnesses from Scottish Jews for a Just Peace and the…
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Learning about nature – water dropwort
Looks a lot like cow parsley, rounder flower clusters. Prob the most poisonous plant in Britain, cows sometimes die from it. Responsible for the “sardonic grin” – in Phoenician Sardinia, old people (!) and criminals were killed with it, the grin was one of the effects of the toxin!
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Learning about Nature – Oak galls
Having grown up next to a park full of oak trees, I was well aware of the brown lumps you find under the leaves, but never knew what they were. Never asked anyone either… I now know, courtesy of the Chatelherault visitors’ centre, that they are made by the larvae of tiny gall wasps. Courtesy…
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Learning about nature – Alder
Found often by rivers. Bark is dark grey and fissured, while the young branches are smooth and slightly green in colour. The twigs are sometimes sticky to the touch. Leaves are oval, almost circular, with shallow irregular teeth. Has catkins are that are dark yellow-brown and stubby. Flowers are found on the same tree, much…
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Coleopterology
Reuben loves playing with snails in the garden, but he also recently discovered an amazing iridescent green beetle. My best guess is that it is a Thick Limbed Flower beetle – catchy name, eh? Beetles are the biggest single group of life forms on Earth, making up 40% of all insects, and 25% of all…