Profoundly Deaf and Composing Classical Western Music in Japan

Back in the dark days of 2001, just a few short days after the World Trade Centre attack, Time Magazine published a touching story about a Japanese composer who had lost his hearing just at the time he was beginning to be recognized. Momoru Samuragochi was born in Hiroshima in 1963 to parents who where both hibakusha or atomic bomb survivors. Hibakusha and their children have suffered terrible discrimination in Japan and there is little doubt that Samuragochi would have also suffered because of this. Among other things, he had no classical music training at all despite being a prodigious talent from an early age and possessing 'perfect pitch' - the ability to determine a note without reference.

The Perils of Speaking Unpopular Truth

Several months ago, I wrote a post about Virtuous Authoritarians that mentioned Islam in passing, then last December I wrote a post highlighting the overrepresentation of Islamic groups in the Global Terrorism Database and finally, about two weeks ago I wrote a longish post on the difficulty of even suggesting that there is a problem with Islam. This is the sum total of my writings on Islam but nonetheless punishment is being meted out for my recklessness.

Letter to an Anti Trump Campaigner

Dear Anti-Trump Campaigner

I’d like you to calm down for a minute or two. Take a deep breath, put down the placard and think about what you are doing. I’d like you to read this little epistle. I’ll make it as short as I can, but I want to make sure that I get three key points across to you. Three things I’d like you to think about.

We Need to Talk About Islam

Over the last few months, I have had an occasional exchange with a faithful reader on the subject of Christianity specifically and religiosity more generally and I am in fact working on yet another response to said faithful reader (soon, I promise!). Our discussion has been good humoured and thoughtful and conducted with mutual respect. That’s the way it ought to be. I can disagree with the opinion held by a person, but once I attack the person themselves or begin to appeal to emotion rather than logic, I lose all relevance.

Bourke Street Attack

A few days ago there was a tragic incident in Melbourne where a disturbed man drove a car at high speed through parts of the city including the Bourke Street Mall. The end result was that 5 people were killed and more than 20 injured, not counting the trauma suffered by those not physically injured. The dead included a 3 month old baby and a 10 year old girl.

Donald Trump is not my President

In case you have been in the bath for the last eighteen months, I should begin by noting that the US Presidential election took place on November 8th and was won by Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. It was probably the most unexpected election win of modern times and in the immediate aftermath, there was quite some angst on the part of the losing Democratic Party that included a trending hashtag on twitter that proclaimed #notmypresident, presumably in an attempt to dissociate the poster from the President Elect.

The Virtuous Authoritarians

This was first published at LinkedIn on 2nd July 2016. It's a long read, but I think it's worth the effort.

The left/right, progressive/conservative dichotomy is dead. The new political dichotomy is between authoritarians and libertarians and it’s the authoritarians that have the upper hand.

The authoritarians have established their position beginning at universities and spreading throughout much of the media by use of virtue signalling, conspicuous moralism and selective outrage. They believe themselves to be better equipped intellectually and morally to grapple with the issues of the day and by virtue of their intellectual and moral superiority, they have no compunction in forcing their decisions on lesser folk when those lesser folk won’t take them voluntarily.

Global Terrorism Index Report for 2016

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) Report for 2016 has been released. It shows that 74% of all terror related deaths are attributable to Boko Haram, ISIL, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

All of the top ten worst attacks were committed by these groups along with Al-shabaab, Sinai Province of the Islamic State and the Ansar Al-din Front.

It got me wondering whether there is a common thread that links all of these groups? Some common belief or understanding. Couldn't find anything though. Anyone able to help?

http://economicsandpeace.org/…/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.…

(Note: the word "Islam" appears only 6 times in the 100 page report, so it can't be that.)

This was originally published on my facebook timeline on 17 November 2016 so if you think you've seen it before, maybe you're right!

Hitchens, US Elections and Word Play

Christopher Hitchens in 2008 looking pensive and slightly aggressive at the same time.

Christopher Hitchens died in 2011 which annoyed me terribly although it probably annoyed him more. One of the annoying things for me was that I enjoyed his opinion on the various goings on in the world; even when I disagreed with him, he expressed his thoughts so clearly and with such humour that I couldn’t help but enjoy reading them. He was also my go-to source for commentary on US politics and middle east tensions; on both of these subjects the depth of his knowledge was formidable, giving him an understanding that was available to few others.

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians live, on average, between 10 and 20 year shorter lives than non-indigenous Australians. Part of the problem with estimating the difference in life expectancy is that nobody’s too sure exactly what it is, but it’s around 10-20 years difference.