This week, Christopher Hitchens died. Author, journalist and celebrated atheist, Hitchens was brilliant at what he did. His work on religion, perhaps what he is most famous for, is, at times, both infuriating and exactly what I want to shout out. He was incredibly erudite, and had a way with words which is rare. Reading his own reflections on the cancer which would eventually kill him was a terribly moving experience. This Vanity Fair article is upsetting for the honesty and the vulnerability of humanity that Hitchens came to know: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009.
We disagreed on the afterlife, but I respect his opinion on this. It was the result of a surety based on his assessment of the evidence on show. For that reason I won't say 'RIP'. To do so would be to disrespect his belief that death is the end; instead, I praise his achievements in life. For all the reasons listed above, I am grateful that he was alive.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
What on Earth?!
Question: what search term could produce the following list of results on the University of Edinburgh's "searcher" function?
"Violence: Recognition, management, and prevention: Assailant's' Sexual Dysfunction During Rape: Prevalence and Relationship to Genital Trauma in Female Victims"
"Feeling the Heat" (with subjects listed as sport clothes and merchandising)
"ARE YOU SURE you're still a VIRGIN?" (With the funny capitals as well)
"Serum biochemical reference intervals for wild dwarf ornate wobbegong sharks (Orectolobus ornatus)."
[All results from the first page of results]
Answers on a postcard, please...
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