Mr Speaker

[Adam Blake]

In a completely non-bullying way I'd just like to say that crystals, channeling and all similar new age mumbo-jumbo is a load of bollocks. If I've offended any goblins I'm very sorry.

Good to have that cleared up once and for all, thanks Des.

[jackdaw version]

In a completely non-bullying way I'd just like to say that crystals, channeling and all similar new age mumbo-jumbo is a load of bollocks. If I've offended any goblins I'm very sorry.

You've pissed this goblin off royal, you fuckin' TROLL! Me and all my gnome mates are coming over to get you. Gonna cut you into little pieces and send you to Japan. We don't give a toss how bloody sorry you say you are.

(Hope everyone's sense of humour is still intact. As a practicing goblin, I would, of course, never threaten a troll — not openly anyway. Far too dangerous. Besides it's just not cricket and, under Article ∞ª§¶, Section ºº¶§∞£¢, subsection £´•∞§ª¶ of the Rules Concerning Relationships of Imaginary Underground Creatures and Other Lifeforms, it is also strictly forbidden and so, although irresistible, is not advisable for fear of waking the Sleeping Dragon. Time to go outside and dig a real hole now!)

[howard male]

So, this is where the real conversations are going down, man!

Adam wrote -

Are you the only one here who is allowed to mis-behave and generally act like a c***, Des?

I take it that the C-word you refer to, Adam, is 'can't.'

A 'can't' is someone who can't see the wood from the trees, and can't see the point in ever trying to do anything about anything because it can't possibly make any difference, and, anyway, they really can't be bothered. What a can't!

Joel wrote -

Auras, crystals, channeling, healing, string theory...

I'm intrigued by the fact that you put string theory, which at least has a veneer of scientific respectability, alongside some of the more obvious nonsense, Joel.

Could you elaborate, as I have my own personal theory that many scientists are just spouted bullshit-for-grants in much the same way that contemporary artist do, but I have neither the evidence nor the intellectual brainbox power to be able to support this theory.

Parallel universes are another fab idea, but are they about as likely as garden fairies too, or is there more proof for them?

[Des]

Adam wrote -

Are you the only one here who is allowed to mis-behave and generally act like a c***, Des?

I find this very offensive. I do NOT act like a c*nt. I AM a c*nt.

[jackdaw version]

* *lw*ys th**ght y** w*r* a c*nt, b*t n*w * g**ss y*u'r* * c*nt. S*rry *b**t th*t. Mys*lf, *'m * r*v*ng h*ppy w*th * d*sh *f p*nk *nd j*st * sm*dg**n *f b**n*k f*r fl*v*r*ng. S*m* d*ys th**gh * j*st g* str**ght f*r th* w*d*-scr**n f*t*r* w*th * f*ll-*n cyb*r-gl*b*l m*nds*t *r r*v*rt t* n*t*r* w*rsh*p p*g*n*sm. Wh*n *n d**bt, * *s* * l*t *f asterisks. *t's h*rd*r th*an *t l**ks. Is th&t cl**r?

[Des]

Is th&t cl**r?

Perfectly clear.

I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas innit tho.

[joel]

I'm intrigued by the fact that you put string theory, which at least has a veneer of scientific respectability, alongside some of the more obvious nonsense, Joel.

Well, I'm no expert. Far, far from it, but life the universe and theories of everything are fascinating.
What I can grasp is that one fundamental problem with string theory is the complete lack of experimental data with which to confirm it. Of course this also means there are no experimental results which might show that it's wrong... and there's now an awful lot of unproven string theory that is built on previous, equally unproven string theory. The same applies to the multiverse idea.
Not surprisingly, the more religiously oriented seem to like this kind of approach, as God also lives in a place where there is no requirement for rigorous scientific proof (or is that a requirement for no rigorous scientific proof), or what we used to call facts.

Parallel universes are another fab idea, but are they about as likely as garden fairies too, or is there more proof for them?

Lee Smolin of the very serious Perimeter Institute has this to say on the multiverse:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/39306

So, what is string theory good for?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... d-for.html

The Smolin link came from Not even wrong, a blog that helped ignite the string wars of a few years ago.

Joel

[jackdaw version]

So, string theory has as much to do with everyday reality as Manson had to do with hippies? Is that it?

[Des]

The trouble with our local hippies is that they keep banging on about living in harmony with nature blah blah then go and have a rave on the only bit of semi-natural greenspace in inner-city Bristol, managed as a nature reserve for the whole community to enjoy, and trash the place. They have destroyed trees to make firewood, burnt the grass and defecated all over it. Fuckers.

[joel]

Des' "local hippies" are followers of Charles Manson and therefore not in fact hippies at all. QED.

[Dayna]

For a long time, people thought bikers were all bad, too. There are good & bad ones in every group.

[Adam Blake]

Dear Des, Joel and Dayna,
I agree wholeheartedly with you all. But I am in Spain and in a very good mood. Normal contrariness will be resumed when I am back to my post in London.
Best
Adam

[jackdaw version]

The trouble with our local hippies is that they keep banging on about living in harmony with nature blah blah then go and have a rave on the only bit of semi-natural greenspace in inner-city Bristol, managed as a nature reserve for the whole community to enjoy, and trash the place. They have destroyed trees to make firewood, burnt the grass and defecated all over it. Fuckers.

Hippies don't "rave." They have be-ins and happenings. Any naturalist observing human cultures in an academically rigorous way would know that.

[jackdaw version]

Things just aren't the same on Haight Street as they were in the good old days.

From the SF Gate (online version of the Chronicle) at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/02/BA2F18HIAP.DTL

Head shop moratorium a head-scratcher

The ban on head shops on Haight Street sounds like a joke. Of course there are head shops on Haight. Isn't that the whole point for the home of the Summer of Love?

Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a moratorium Tuesday on new "tobacco paraphernalia establishments" for at least three years. Not that much will change.

There are an estimated dozen smoke shops along Haight Street with handcrafted pipes, bongs and bubblers. Really, this isn't so much about law and order, or preserving the culture of the Haight, but rather good old profits in dollars and cents.

In February, when a local merchant opened Goodfellas - which one competitor calls "the Wal-Mart of bongs" - the rest of the smoke shops began to feel the pinch. If any more of those places opened, they'd drive the old incense-burning, tie-dyed head shops right out of business. The result was the moratorium, introduced by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi.

But that doesn't solve the underlying problem.

"It's too late," said Mark Faigenbaum, who manages the Into Video store. "I've been here since 1982 and it has just gotten worse and worse with stores selling all that hippie crap."

The ordinance is just a symptom of the bigger problem, which is that the residents of the Haight have to decide what they want to be. Do they want to gentrify the Haight or hate the gentrification?

I'd say the answer is already clear. Having verged dangerously close to becoming a hippie theme park, the area is now bustling with business activity. Families continue to move in with children, determined to make life in the city work.

There are going to be some tough calls as the Haight moves toward a vibrant business area, and this is one of them. Goodfellas isn't my idea of a great addition to the neighborhood, but if it works and makes money, residents are just going to have to deal with it.

Mirkarimi's legislation says the smoke shops "contribute directly to numerous problems in the city, including violations of the peace, and health, safety, and general welfare problems."

That's a nice thought, but let's be honest, the problems on the sidewalks of the Haight are the seedy-looking guys who are panhandling, drinking and yelling at tourists.

A better argument is that mega-shops are not in keeping with the culture of the neighborhood.

"Quite honestly what set everyone off was Goodfellas," said Joey Cain, president of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council. "This uber-giant bong shop."

Goodfellas and Puff Puff Pass across the street have shelves of bongs that stretch from the floor to the rafters. Legally, those products should not be visible to pedestrians under 18 years of age from the street, but the displays are so large they are impossible to miss.

"When tourists come here and see a Wal-Mart of pipes, that's not what Haight is all about," said Elissa Fircano, who works behind the counter at Distractions, a Haight Street fixture for 33 years. "We want Haight back to what it used to be. These other stores are not Haight Street friendly."

I don't know about being Haight Street friendly, but they certainly aren't media friendly. Neither store wanted anything to do with an interview. At Puff Puff I was told the owner was "away," for at least "a week," and if I wanted to talk to somebody else there was "nobody."

There isn't any question that the bulk bong folks are hurting business for the old timers. Distractions has a for-sale sign over the door - "legendary head shop for sale" - and other stores admit to feeling the pressure.

However, the irony of head shops campaigning for regulation of head shops isn't lost of some of the residents. Praveen Madan is co-owner of Booksmith on Haight.

"Would I like a moratorium saying that there would be no more bookstores?" Madan said. "Of course I would. That's what we are struggling with here. Do you really want the government to step in and decide which is a good business and which is bad?"

And then Madan really goes off the deep end.

"In a free market," he said, "if there are too many head shops, some of them will go out of business."

As difficult as it is to say, he's right. Personally, I don't like the idea of a big, flashy, obnoxious bong store. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have a right to exist. You can't legislate against the poor taste of tourists. No matter what they're smoking.

Followed by a lot of comments I haven't been bothered to read.

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, for the topic drift. This just seemed like as good a place as any to stick it.

[Adam Blake]

Those pesky hippies have had it all their own way for far too long anyway. It's way past time they were all eaten alive by giant bongs from Wal-Mart and re-cycled in McDonald's hamburgers.

There's only one head shop left on Portobello Road - run by an original head too. Bless him. He's too old and stringy to make a good hamburger. Might as well leave him to continue his good works. He does a great line in anarchist post cards too...