The Political Compass
In describing the political beliefs of people, parties, and organisations, we have a habit of applying either a “liberal” or “conservative” label. This is a problematic dichotomy in that these labels can only be meaningful when considered in reference to the established norms of the society concerned. An individual who identifies as a “conservative” in one country may have a fundamentally different political perspective from one who is considered “conservative” in another. In many Western countries, the liberal/conservative and left/right distinctions are often used interchangeably, when in fact they need not necessarily refer to the same set of social and economic convictions. Further diminishing the meaningfulness of this distinction is the fact that in middle America the word “liberal” is widely, if unwittingly, used as generic term of disparagement.
The Political Compass offers an alternative continuum on which the beliefs of individuals may be compared. This system proposes two axes – the traditional left/right distinction, and running perpendicular to this, an authoritarian/libertarian scale. An individual’s political stance can be expressed in terms of where their beliefs place them on these two axes. This provides a more meaningful method of comparing individuals, being less open to ambiguity and consequent misinterpretation.
The site, usefully, plots the candidates in both recent and forthcoming elections in several different countries. It also gives the visitor the opportunity to plot themselves on the continuum by asking a series of questions relating to their personal beliefs. Obviously these questions can never be completely value-neutral, and hence some degree of cultural bias is inevitable (the site’s creators openly state that it is intended for use in Western democracies). Of course, it is also the case that even within a particular society, a proposition will be open to varying interpretations.
Naturally I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take the test myself, so here is my result:
The red dot is where I supposedly sit. So much for the moderate views motivated by a sound balance of empathy and pragmatism that I believed I held.
Sesame Street Old School – A review…and a rant!
These retrospectives of early Sesame Street episodes have encountered intense media interest. At some point it was reported – incorrectly – that the DVDs carry an “adults only” rating. Unfortunately, this claim has been indiscriminately repeated and has predictably given rise to much hand-wringing over “political correctness gone mad”.
For the record, the truth is that these episodes commence with a cartoon character giving a mildly tongue-in-cheek advisory that they are intended for an adult audience and may not suit the needs of contemporary preschoolers. You need only watch these episodes for a few minutes to see the truth in this statement. The pace of the early episodes is comparatively slow, and the animation is primitive by today’s standards. Furthermore, there is the small matter that the cast of human and Muppet characters is significantly different today, with at least two human actors and three Muppeteers having sadly passed on – a fact that would likely confuse small children. Finally, there is the undeniable reality that societal values change, and that scenes featuring a binge-eating Cookie Monster, a head-banging Don Music, or an anti-social Count, are unlikely to be looked upon favourably these days.
In all likelihood, this advisory was included purely as a commercial move to try and prevent parents from picking this set up along with the latest Elmo title and then complaining about its dated content.
Okay. With that squared away, let’s proceed to the review. I won’t evaluate the program content itself, as if you are interested in this set it will no doubt be because of your memories of the series. Rather, I will indicate what is included in the packages and describe the technical quality. At present, two volumes are available – Volume 1 covering the years 1969-1973, and Volume 2 covering 1974-1979. Each volume is a three-DVD set containing five full episodes as well as miscellaneous clips and other bonus material.
Volume One contains the all-important episode #1, originally broadcast on 10th November 1969, as well as #131 (1970), #276 (1971), #406 (1972), and #536 (1973). It also features an entertaining sales pitch, hosted by Kermit and Rowlf, aimed at promoting the program to television stations.
Volume Two contains episode #666 (hosted by the Count – eep!) from 1974, #796 from 1975, #926 from 1976, #1056 from 1977, and #1186 from 1978. Also included is an exceptionally primitive “pilot episode” that was shown in certain areas in mid 1969, in order to gauge audience reaction to the concept before the commencement of the series proper. I believe that there were as many as five of these episodes, so perhaps the remainder will appear on future volumes.
Available on Muppet Wiki is a detailed breakdown of the individual sketches in each episode:
From a technical standpoint, these episodes have made a remarkably successful transition to DVD. The street scenes in particular are pin-sharp, with excellent colour definition (of course, the sets were intentionally made to look drab to simulate the inner-city environment). Drop-outs are rare, and encoding artifacts unnoticeable. There is one issue that quite literally rears its head – as you may know, when filming Muppet scenes, conventional CRT televisions were used as monitors to ensure that the Muppeteer did not enter the shot. Depending on your TV, you may occasionally notice a stray shirtsleeve – or as in the rightmost example directly below, Frank Oz’s glasses and nose!
Gripes? Yes, I have a couple. Firstly, the DVDs commence with a preview of the Electric Company box set which cannot be skipped – an annoying trend in sell-through DVDs which should be nipped in the bud. Secondly, the incorporation of full episodes as the prime focus of the collection has resulted in a considerable volume of what I would regard as unessential material. Furthermore, there is some repetition of clips between episodes, and even within episodes. Some purists may prefer it that way, but I believe it would have been better to have included just one full episode in each volume, and to have filled the remainder with carefully selected miscellaneous clips or excerpts. I would also have liked to have seen some “behind the scenes” footage – perhaps this will be included in Volume 3.
All in all, though, an absolute must for anyone with fond memories of the program’s early days. Just don’t buy it for the kids…
So it’s come to this: The famous brand audio player shuffle meme
In the unlikely event that you have not previously come across this, the idea is that one sets their audio player to shuffle mode, then uses the selected track titles as answers to a predetermined set of questions. Presumably the answers are supposed to have some sort of cosmic significance. We shall see. At least it will allow me the chance to demonstrate my impeccable taste in music.
There are several variations on the question set, so I just chose one at random. Oh, and of course, cheating is strictly prohibited – no matter how embarrassing the selections are. Okay, here we go:
1. How are you feeling today?
Lola – Madness
2. Will you get far in life?
The Trial – Pink Floyd
3. How do your friends see you?
Carlsberg Special – Roy Wood
4. Will you get married?
Uncle John’s Band – The Grateful Dead
5. What is your best friends theme song?
Sunny – Morrissey
6. What is the story of your life?
Glosoli – Sigur Ros
7. What was high school like?
Return to Sender – Midnight Oil
8. How do you get ahead in life?
Every Little Thing – Transvision Vamp
9. What is the best thing about your friends?
Every Little Thing – The Beatles
10. What is in store for this weekend?
All I Really Want to Do – The Byrds
11. What song describes your grandparents?
Ticket to the Moon – Electric Light Orchestra
12. How is your life going?
The Sound of the Crowd – The Human League
13. What song will they play at your funeral?
Love Me Like You – The Magic Numbers
14. How does the world see you?
No Dancing – Elvis Costello
15. Will you have a happy life?
Everything Must Go – Manic Street Preachers
16. What do your friends really think of you?
Brainiac’s Daughter – Dukes of Stratosphear
17. Do people secretly lust after you?
Perfect – The The
18. How can you make yourself happy?
Lucky Lisp – Morrissey
19. What should you do with your life?
Bummer in the Summer – Love
20. Will you ever have children?
Rocket from a Bottle – XTC
Not quite as esoteric a selection as I would have liked. Oh well. Mmm – I wonder how I should interpret #20…
Waiting for the train that never comes
This railway station has always intrigued me. It is Esplanade Station in Fremantle, not to be confused with the new CBD station of the same name. It is a “ghost station” situated beyond Fremantle Station itself, and hence beyond the present limits of the Transperth network. It was constructed in 1986 to provide rail access to southern parts of Fremantle during Australia’s defence of the America’s Cup, and was presumably closed shortly after the Cup wended its way back to the States. Curiously, it still appears on many maps.
I don’t see any prospect of rail services being resumed to the station, for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that the electric wiring presently ends at Fremantle Station (at the time of Esplanade’s operation, the rail fleet consisted of diesel multiple units – the network was electrified in the early nineties). There are also a couple of tight corners on the short journey between Fremantle and Esplanade, and I’m not sure whether the current fleet of electric multiple units would be able negotiate them. What’s more, I believe and I’m sure most would agree that operating a heavy rail service in this area would spoil the aesthetics of the adjoining Esplanade Reserve and compromise pedestrian access to Fishing Boat Harbour. Finally, there is the question of whether such a service would attract sufficient patronage to justify itself. After all, this part of Fremantle is not that far a walk from the main station.
So here’s the bit that puzzles me. The station no longer has seating or rubbish bins, but otherwise remains more or less intact. When other stations have been decomissioned (such as Leighton and, more recently, Lathlain), practically all trace that the station ever existed was almost immediately removed – presumably to avoid passenger confusion. I realise that, as the station lies beyond the end of Transperth network, the Public Transport Authority does not necessarily have responsibility for it. It must be someone’s toy, though. So why is Esplanade still there? Does anyone know?
Teh evilution!!
Last Tuesday’s episode of Insight examined the proliferation of “faith schools” around Australia, and debated whether such schools genuinely encourage critical thinking or are mere institutes of indoctrination. The transcript of this episode does not appear to be available yet, but I will provide a link as soon as it is.
The classic difference between faith schools and other sectors (although by no means the only one) is the manner in which evolutionary theory is dealt with. On the program I witnessed the asinine spectacle of a Christian school science teacher offering his students Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design as possible alternatives to evolution as an explanation of our origins, with the justification that it was giving them the freedom to “make up their own minds”. Remember, this was a science class, not a comparative religion class.
This teacher committed a classic logical fallacy. His implication was that all the perspectives he indicated have merit and are worthy of consideration. On the contrary, we know the evolutionary process to be a reality. Whether it has a theistic or atheistic explanation is not a debate I intend to enter into here. The best scientific evidence we have overwhelmingly supports evolution as an explanation for the origin of the species. Any alternative positions must be firmly relegated to the fringe. Promoting such positions as having anywhere near equal merit is just bad science.
The hostility of fundamentalist Christians towards the ToE evidently stems from the fact that it is inconsistent with a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The Theory of Gravity and the Theory of Relativity do not encounter similar derision. The ease with which those who are not from a scientific background dismiss evolutionary biology invariably indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the field’s key concepts. Even at the most basic level, a surprising number of people do not recognise the particular definition of the word “theory” within a scientific context.
I would be most interested to know what the science teacher’s excuse is.
Perhaps there is a need for greater regulatory oversight of what is taught in such schools – particularly in light of the generous public subsidies they receive. Objective reality does not vary according to one’s religious beliefs. It is unfair on the students attending these schools for their perception of the natural world to be distorted by the dogma of the instituion. We owe it to these students to instill in them the best scientific knowledge that we have, to give them a genuine ability to see through these ancient superstitions that have no place in the modern world.
