Minority

If I was to point out one thing that probably defined my childhood was the unease at not knowing if what you were doing was “right”. I don’t mean in a right or wrong kind of sense, but the collective thought that what you were doing was the “right” or “normal” thing to do. I remember pleading with my parents when I wanted my first name brand jumper, only because everyone else was wearing them. It’s that kind of collective youth hivemind that creates trends and it controls the way that you grow up. I realise now that there is nothing clever about trying to fit in as no one ever does, and the more interesting people will never truly find a common ground with the populace.

I guess what I am trying to say is that during the most of my life I have been some sort of minority; A smart kid at a state school, a Scotsman in Great Britain, a person with no real love of a football team. But these minorities mean nothing because we can surround our selves with a barrier of like minded people and feel more at home. I have never felt like a persecuted minority, because I am white, male, English speaking and not homosexual. I have never known the feeling of being unjustly let down by society.

This brings me neatly to something that shocked and upset me yesterday when the company I work for in Texas sent out new internet guidelines. We have already talked at length on this blog about Atheism and my lack of belief in God, and I have also talked already about the Texan fascination with the religious, but what I read yesterday shocked me beyond anything I would’ve imagined – the company sent out a document detailing the different categories that are not allowed to be visited during company time. Most of these follow strange guidelines about sex, gambling, alcohol, social network, the usual thing that you would expect, save for one insane line.

“Alternative Belief / Spirituality: Sites that promote and provide information on alternative / spiritual and non-religious beliefs (e.g., atheism, agnosticism, witchcraft, and Satanism). Occult practices, voodoo rituals, or any other form of mysticism are represented here. This includes sites that endorse or offer methods, means of instruction, or other resources to affect or influence real events through the use of spells, incantations, curses, and magic powers. The category includes sites that discuss or deal with paranormal or unexplained events.”

So let me point out three incredible things that make this seem like parody. One, they are banning me from reading sites about Atheism. Okay, no problem you might say, until I point out that the “Religion” section is free from any sort of block. They have decided to block non religion but allow religion to be read about. That is the scariest double standard I have ever heard of. The second is the fact that they even have to mention voodoo, occult or witchcraft. This isn’t Salem, this isn’t the Crucible, why on earth would you have to even mention this... nonsense in an official issued document to,supposedly learned people? And thirdly, the disgusting suggestion that witchcraft, voodoo and the occult are the same as Atheism, makes my blood boil.

So, as a learn Atheist in the United States I can no longer read some of my Atheist website sites but my religious friends can read about their beliefs? I am not saying they should be blocked from doing so – what I am saying is that I have the religious right to have equality for my beliefs, surely. This is the technological age!

I will finish this post off with a point – the internet is for business use only and people who use it for religious reasons should be doing it on their own time. Would they have kicked up a fuss about having their sites blocked? Most likely. I am not going to let it pass, and will be raising several complaints once I have found out the correct method in which to approach it. I am not the only person in the office that finds it surprising and annoying though.

Own Goal

I rarely talk actual sport on this blog because I am partial to not paying attention to exactly what is happening all the time, meaning I miss out on some big calls and big events very frequently. As for being entrenched in the North American sports for the last 5 months I have also been keeping a watch on the strange beast that is association football, from here on called soccer*. The biggest news in recent days has been my pleasant shock and happiness at seeing a female linesman take charge of the Liverpool game at the weekend. My joy was that maybe, someday, soccer will be forward thinking.

For all that is said of soccer, it is the world’s sport. Apart from the strange American fixation with pig skins and plastic discs on ice and the Indian and Pakistani love of that bore fest Cricket, soccer is truly a global sport, and this causes problems. The main problem is that even though in sport we pretend that the world agrees with each other, it doesn’t. For example, Iran were banned from soccer for two years because they refused to play against Israel, a country that they don’t officially recognise. This is a prime example of something being silly but impossible to ignore.

Now we have the problem of Qatar and the 2022 World Cup. FIFA talk of soccer breaking boundaries and creating equality, but instead FIFA have endorsed poor women’s rights and most inherently problematic, homosexual persecution. All you have to do is wonder if there are any gay soccer players. The answer is of course there are, and statistically, there should be two on the field on each team at the very least. The problem with the sport is the fans, or the vast majority of the hardcore fans, the ones that make the noise, are not tolerant of anything different so due to this environment, homosexual players have to hide their feelings and true identity. Of course, there might be no homosexual soccer players, but come on, who believes that?

Would it make a difference if there were gay players? Not to me, but I am the learned minority, the youth. This will change, as it has done in the rest of society, but it won’t happen until the people in charge take it as seriously as it should be. The inclusion of a female official that, under pressure, got a call perfectly right, makes me happy but I still shook my head when I heard that two of the most prominent soccer pundits made sexist remarks about her not knowing the offside rule – this is the problem and it will take a long time for it to be bred out.

*Soccer is not only the most used term for it in English, it is actually the correct name for it. Early on in the sports life the distinction had to be made between the two types of football – Rugby and Association. Rugby football became rugby and Association football became “Association” which was shortened, by an Englishmen, to Assoc, and then Soccer. It was only in the 1970s that the term was appropriated by the British press to mean solely the American Soccer teams of the laughable league out there, and since then has been looked down upon by anyone from Britain.

Also good to read: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/soccer/detail?entry_id=81575

Why Don't We Talk About 2010 (2011 too)

2010 was one mother of a year. I moved to America, I found myself an amazing girlfriend, I progressed massively at my job, I started to really save money, I went a little insane in parts, and I grew up. If you had told me in January 2010 what has happened was going to happen, I'd have referred you to my Futureism posts from a while back and told you you were mental.

The year will, for me, go down in my history as probably the best in my life. So much happened in the year that it scared me into taking things seriously for the first time. Life, relationships, children, politics, writing, my hobbies, weight gain and several others were all just random thoughts and strange concepts that rarely, if ever I approached with anything more than confusion and terror.

If I was to say one thing of the year it would be this: it was a great year. The great thing about 2010 is that it has nicely set up 2011 to be even better. See, with my new springboard of good income, great location, and a excellent partner to share it all with, there's a new life coming my way and it is one that I will have never experienced. I have planned several trips to various corners of the world and the United States and these will all be incredible. I also picked up a camera.

The camera is allowing me to suddenly be able to think and take pictures that are technically able to show off the world that I live in rather than just represent it. The iPhone does an okay job at point and shoot but my DSLR is going to be my way of giving you a window into my mind. A fellow blogger, Holly, has started posting on a site where one photo a day is recommended. I am considering starting it in February because I want to see if I can make my photo taking skills into a hobby like I have done with my writing. And, most importantly, Connie has an interest and skill in this too and it will be fun learning the camera and the ways to photograph the world though our eyes.

So, 2010 was a blinder, 2011 is shaping up to be incredible. 2012 better be scared because it's going to have a struggle to keep up with the pace of my life now. And 2009 wasn't too bad either....

Unconnected Miscellany 2

(Part 1)

It's been more than a month since my last bout of posting which might be the biggest hiatus the blog has had since... well, the last time I didn't post. Anyway, the reason for this was that I was on an extend trip home and to Canada. There will be posts about these events in the future, and will most likely feature Ice Fishing and other such Canadian pursuits. Having only been back in the real world for 4 days or so, it's still not quite sunk in. Or reset. Anyway, here are some random thoughts that don't quite a blog post make.

- Tron Legacy
I went to see Tron Legacy at the cinema, incidentally the IMAX, in 3D. This was the first 3D film I have ever seen at an IMAX, the first time I had ever been to the cinema all on my lonesome, and most interestingly for me, at least, was a resounding success to the 3D cinema fashion. It was a well built film, a good story, and it looked stunning - not to mention the incredible soundtrack. It was a good film. One of my bugbears is the strange use of the ":" in the official title - recently, some other things have done this - Halo: Reach for example. The ":" is for the subtitle, or in my head what the film would be called if it were not a sequel - "Reach" almost works, but "Legacy"? For example The Chronicles of Naria: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" makes sense. I would much prefer it if it were just called Tron Legacy, as I have fashioned it.

- Red Dead Redemption (and Kinect)
I picked up Red Dead Redemption after I needed a game to keep my warm at night whilst Connie stayed in Canada for a few weeks. I enjoy the game immensely - it's a masterful story and a true testament to the design of a great computer game. It's slightly buggy, and a little slow, but these things can be over looked. I also played with the Kinect for Xbox - the camera motion sensor thingmy - and it was immense fun too. In fact, whilst I originally was skeptical of the prowess it might possess, I will be picking one up as soon as I can find somewhere able to sell me one.

- The Long Hall part 2
I have already told of the Long Hall. I moved office a while back and it meant that the long hall was gone but last week we moved back to this building and YO suddenly I was able to play my game again. It was going great until yesterday I was beaten down by a man who played the game better than me by asking three questions as he walked towards me and past me, not once waiting for my answer. I will one day be able to that good at the long hall.

- Trips in 2011
New York in February
San Francisco, LA, Pheonix, Vegas, and the rest of the EPIC ROAD TRIP 2011.
Cancun, possibly.
New Orleans, definitely.

- I am the Lead Engineer.
Seriously. How did that happen?