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Back from Lexington; tired, grumpy, ready to eat brains (though I might have to have diet brains because, as always seems to be when I go away for work - and especially to Americky - I've put weight on again). More on that another time, perhaps.

But I just wanted to say that the Bishop of Lancaster is a fool. Education is bad, apparently:

Bishop O'Donoghue, who has recently published a report on how to renew Catholicism in Britain, argued that mass education has led to "sickness in the Church and wider society".

"What we have witnessed in Western societies since the end of the Second World War is the development of mass education on a scale unprecedented in human history - resulting in economic growth, scientific and technological advances, and the cultural and social enrichment of billions of people's lives," he said.

"However, every human endeavor has a dark side, due to original sin and concupiscence. In the case of education, we can see its distortion through the widespread dissemination of radical scepticism, positivism, utilitarianism and relativism.

This just in: TV shows that include sex may increase the risk of teenage pregnacies [link].

Teenage girls who watch a lot of TV shows with a high sexual content are twice as likely to become pregnant, according to a study.

Boys watching similar programmes, like Friends and Sex and the City, were also more likely to get a girl pregnant, the research in Pediatrics found.

The study authors said limiting exposure to sexual content on TV might reduce teen pregnancies.

Or, heaven forfend, kids should be educated about safe sex.

I don't know if it's just me who finds this startlingly obvious, but I'll lay out my argument here, just in case.

1. Teenagers, as a rule of thumb, tend to be horny.
2. When done right, sex is fun.
3. Certain TV shows portray sex as fun because it is, when done right.
4. Teenagers watch TV.
5. In the end, with all the different methods of accessing TV shows these days (web, torrent, DVD, hell, even TV itself), it's pretty hard to stop teenagers from watching TV shows, especially the ones that they think are cool to watch.
6. Watching something that says "hey, this is fun" is more likely to increase your desire to do said thing.
7. Because of 5, kids will watch these programmes, even if you don't want them to (get used to it, they're teenagers, they'll do plenty of things you don't want them to do).
8. Teenagers will most likely experiment with sex before they stop being teenagers; Point #6 will encourage them, but it would probably happen anyway because of point #1.
9. If you don't educate your teenagers about safe sex then the chances are massively increased that they will either get pregnant or catch an STI.
10. Ergo, educating your kids about safe sex is the best way to prevent them getting pregnant or catching an STI. They will have sex, regardless of whether you want them to or not.

Thankfully, the BBC article makes this point and quotes a couple of good sources of information, though it fails to link to them. I'd suggest at least linking to Brook, which offers "free, confidential advice on sex and contraception to young people."

So, this news story intrigued me (from the BBC):

Children's author Eoin Colfer has been commissioned to write a sixth instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series.

Now, my first reaction was: WTF? My second reaction was... Why?

I honestly don't get why another H2G2 book needs to be written. I know that the series didn't end on an upbeat note, but the story had come nicely full circle (for H2G2, which means that the circle had lots of corners in it and quite possible existed in more dimensions than the usual two). I don't really understand why the trilogy needs a sixth part.

I can't judge Eoin Colfer's suitability for the project because I've never read any of his books (though I'll now make a point of it). In fact, Colfer himself said:

"My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series."

Which rather anticipates the reaction that this might well get from a lot of fans. Of course, the truth is that - to paraphrase a quote from Arthur C. Clarke's eulogy for Isaac Asimov - there was only one Douglas Adams; these days there's no Douglas Adams and the world is a poorer place for it.

Still, we can but wait and see. It's due to be published next October, which means that it won't be being written on an Adamsian timescale.

I think, for the moment, I'm looking forward to it. What do you think, dear reader?

From BBC News:

A prayer group in Washington DC is claiming the credit for the recent sharp drop in the US price of petrol.

Rocky Twyman, 59, a veteran community campaigner, started Pray At The Pump meetings at petrol stations in April.

So, market forces anyone? Well...

Mr Twyman is sceptical that market forces might be responsible for the lower prices.

But there is an upside to this silliness:

But he and his prayer warriors have changed their motoring habits.

"We believe not just in prayer - because we believe that faith without works is dead. So we've encouraged people to car-pool more and organise their days more, because it's a combination of faith with these other factors."

I just wish we could get the second part of this without people saying "but we need God to sort things out for us."

Well, it doesn't entirely surprise me that someone lumps us atheists into that category, but still. Birmingham City Council has put in place software that blocks people from looking at atheist websites whilst allowing some other belief systems through (link, via Pharyngula:

The authority's Bluecoat Software computer system allows staff to look at websites relating to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and other religions but blocks sites to do with "witchcraft or Satanism" and "occult practices, atheistic views, voodoo rituals or any other form of mysticism".

The irony of atheism being categorised with mysticisms of any kind nonwithstanding, this is plain, old fashioned discrimination, which I hope will be dealt with in due course:

National Secular Society president Terry Sanderson said the city council's rules also discriminated against people who practise witchcraft, which is also classed as a legitimate belief.

He said the society would initially contact the council and ask for the policy to be changed, and otherwise pursue legal action.