Islingword Street

Old map of Poland

Nice old map of Poland before the Partitions here.

Categorical imperative

In the current New York Review, Ronald Dworkin suggests more teaching of philosophy in schools, saying:

People who can master the intricacies of peer-to-peer file-sharing through the Internet should have no trouble with the Categorical Imperative.

You can decide for yourself at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

A poem for the txtr generation

A good poem on abbreviated poetry posted on rec.arts.poems.

Demokratische-Junge Quex

There's an extraordinary book being advertised through a sponsored link at This Modern World just now. It's a book called Why Mommy is a Democrat and the few sample pages available on the web site are unbearable - the sort of badly-crafted saccharine propaganda that would raise (rightly) shrieks of protest or howls of laughter if it was published by the religious right.

Do take a look at the sample pages. Apparently - and this is something of which I was previously unaware - Democrats make sure we are always safe, that children go to school, and that we all share all our toys. Unlike the nasty Republicans pictured in expensive schools, ignoring beggars, and presumably on one of the other pages eating a pauper's child for breakfast.

It makes me both angry and sad that people want to fill their children's minds with this dross. For God's sake, show your kids some respect, damn it! Don't indoctrinate your children with this ludicrous partisanship. Teach them to be kind to others and to respect democracy and fairness - then let them find their own politics.

Stanislaw Lem on literature

The Polish novelist Stanisław Lem died today. In tribute, a link to an essay of his on Philip K. Dick.

Starring Shakespeare as himself

Tom Veal's Stromata Blog takes apart yet another new theory about Shakespeare being the front man for someone else. via MeFi.

Left Behind

A magificent, detailed and comprehensive stripping of the ghastly Left Behind books - every Friday at slacktivist. via MeFi

Political correctness gone mad

Good line from a Christopher Brookmyre book Jane is reading:

"And there it was, the line he'd known would be along soon enough: 'Political correctness gone mad.' [He] had referred to it in a column recently as ' the distress cry of the thwarted bigot.' Any time he heard it, he felt he ought to rejoice, because somewhere, something must be being done right. In that respect it was the opposite of 'a victory for common sense', which invariably hailed some act or decision that satisfied the base and brutal instincts human civilisation had spent the last ten thousand years evolving away from."

Christopher Brookmyre, Be My Enemy

The Rap Canterbury Tales

An amazing Rap version of some of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. via BBC News.

Jackanory returns

In a piece of excellent news, Jackanory - the children's programme where people read stories - is returning to TV. It's such a simple format, but so effective. Almost Reithian in theory, I remember it from my childhood as a fun, involving programme. Long may it continue!