O.J. Schofield

On the Death of a Politician

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept : for I had longed to see him hanged.

~ Hilaire Belloc

My favourite photo from my recent Nice - Paris cycle ride....

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 20:34:41 +0100

My favourite photo from my recent Nice - Paris cycle ride. That’s Dijon mustard in the background, and the contrasting colours really make this shot special.

Kit and the Widow played this at the BBC’s new Comedy...

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:25:00 +0100

Kit and the Widow played this at the BBC’s new Comedy Prom, which is well worth a watch. It’s very clever - sort of a classical version of the Four Chord Song I linked to a few months ago. The only disappointment about the Comedy Prom was that Bill Bailey didn’t make an appearance!

PS My favourite bit starts at around 1:31!

As a road cyclist, it is quite unusual for me to go mountain...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:43:00 +0100

As a road cyclist, it is quite unusual for me to go mountain biking. However, going today for the first time in a few years has convinced me that I must get back into it: not only is the riding exhilarating, but the views are incredible! The only worrying moment came as I tiptoed around a large black bull which had stationed itself directly in my path…

Do you speak English? It’s funny ‘cause it’s...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:05:19 +0100

Do you speak English?

It’s funny ‘cause it’s true…

Some highlights from my trip to Wimbledon on June 28th, 2011.

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:50:13 +0100

Centre Court with the roof on

Philipp Marx goes for a big serve

Federer!

Jurgen Melzer and partner

As close to Centre Court as I'll ever be

Some highlights from my trip to Wimbledon on June 28th, 2011.

That is excellent! Quality journalism from the Mail.

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:21:25 +0100

That is excellent! Quality journalism from the Mail.

"I will follow you into the dark"

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:28:44 +0100

“I will follow you into the dark”

- Orpheus (via historysaidwhat)

If only it were actually that easy!

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:20:37 +0100

If only it were actually that easy!

This is a totally safe Physics experiment…

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:49:00 +0100

This is a totally safe Physics experiment…

"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity."

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:45:08 +0100

“Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”

- George Carlin

It’s amazing, the illusion of power that little flags...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:31:08 +0100

It’s amazing, the illusion of power that little flags provide! This is the Security Council at BISMUN 2011.

Embryos and Flies

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:16:00 +0100

“A three-day-old human embryo is a collection of 150 cells called a blastocyst. There are, for the sake of comparison, more than 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. If our concern is about suffering in this universe, it is rather obvious that we should be more concerned about killing flies than about killing three-day-old human embryos… Many people will argue that the difference between a fly and a three-day-old human embryo is that a three-day-old human embryo is a potential human being. Every cell in your body, given the right manipulations, every cell with a nucleus is now a potential human being. Every time you scratch your nose, you’ve committed a holocaust of potential human beings… Let’s say we grant it that every three-day-old human embryo has a soul worthy of our moral concern. First of all, embryos at this stage can split into identical twins. Is this a case of one soul splitting into two souls? Embryos at this stage can fuse into a chimera. What has happened to the extra human soul in such a case? This is intellectually indefensible, but it’s morally indefensible given that these notions really are prolonging scarcely endurable misery of tens of millions of human beings, and because of the respect we accord religious faith, we can’t have this dialogue in the way that we should. I submit to you that if you think the interests of a three-day-old blastocyst trump the interests of a little girl with spinal cord injuries or a person with full-body burns, your moral intuitions have been obscured by religious metaphysics.”

— Sam Harris, on stem cell research. (via bostonwalkforchoice)

Hm. I’m not sure I agree, but it’s a very interesting and important argument, and one that doesn’t get as much airtime as the alternatives.

"Dude looks like a lady."

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:16:00 +0100

“Dude looks like a lady.”

- Louis XV to Chevalier d’Eon

My submission!

A Thought Experiment - Any Answers?

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 21:31:00 +0100

psychologeek:

Lawrence Kohlberg spent many years developing the findings and theories of other psychologists such as Piaget on the subject of moral development. To test his theories, he devised a number of dilemmas for his subjects. Have a go at the most famous, I will add discussion of the findings at a later date :)

Heinz and the Druggist.

Heinz’s wife is near death due to cancer. The doctor believes there is one drug, recently discovered by a biochemist, which may be able to save her. The drug is pricey to produce - costing $200 for a course of treatment, however the biochemist is charging $2,000 for this amount. Heinz tries many forms of fundraising and borrowing to raise the money, but cannot gather more than $1,000. Heinz goes to the biochemist, asking him for a reduced price or to let him pay at a later date, however the biochemist stubbornly sticks to his price. An act of desperation, Heinz breaks into the biochemist’s lab and steals some of the drug.

Was Heinz justified in his action? If so, why? If not, why not?

It would be great if people could comment their reactions to this conundrum, an interesting study certainly. I will post discussion soon! Please spread the word and do not hesitate to reblog - the more feedback we get the more interesting it will be. :)

My answer: yes. That stems largely from my innate belief in the sanctity of human life, and the responsibility of humans to guard and prolong that life over other considerations. Life > Money.

Either drop an answer in your reblog, or by commenting on the original post!

Quite possibly my favourite minor character from the first half...

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:38:42 +0100

Quite possibly my favourite minor character from the first half of this series!

Real tennis fans watched Ward-Mannarino and Tsonga-Nadal at the...

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 13:00:32 +0100

Real tennis fans watched Ward-Mannarino and Tsonga-Nadal at the same time.

Anonymous and Nato

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 10:34:00 +0100

hypertroll:

Dear members of NATO

We are Anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us…

Dear members of Anonymous,
We are NATO.
We have many legions of soldiers, tanks and fighter planes.
We do not sit in front of our computers all day.
We do not pretend to be important (we actually are).
Expect us…

Bath Cycle Races last month. I was a marshal, as road racing is...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:07:00 +0100

Bath Cycle Races last month. I was a marshal, as road racing is a bit too scary for me! This is the Cat 3/4 race, in which a Bath CC rider (pictured here at the front) came second. The guy with the yellow shows who is in second place in this photo went on to win.

I like to believe it was from Faust, though whether it was or not has no bearing on the fact it's an awesome quote :)

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:07:51 +0100

You’re quite right. I especially like the fact that there are V words in the phrase!