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It's not the principles that kill you in the end, it's the books. - Michael Swanwick, The Iron Dragon's Daughter

What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence. - Wittgenstein

Never express yourself more clearly than you think. - Niels Bohr

A labyrinthian man never looks for the truth, but only for his Ariadne. - Nietzsche

What else do you do with dark and sinister forces but play with them? - Deadlock, Khronicles of Khaos

There are three things that are real: God, human folly, and laughter. Since the first two pass our comprehension, we must do what we can with the third. - Valmiki, the Ramayana

If you want to tell the untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got to find a language. Which goes for film as well as prose, for documentary as well as autobiography. Use the wrong language and you're dumb and blind. - Salman Rushdie

Even the oldest stories are new to somebody. - Neil Gaiman, The Kindly Ones

Perhaps Kafka laughed when he told stories... because one isn't always equal to oneself. - Primo Levi

When you set out for Ithaca, ask that your way be long. - Constantine Cavafy

"You can't do that", she said. "You can't have 'fairy tales' without 'fair'! And stuff you find out by determining what words are inside other words is never wrong. Now drink more tea." - Hitherby Dragons
page summary
tags
razor edges
reflections, predictable transformations, and barrier properties
mirrorshard
So, my GP referred me for an allergy test, to find out what it is that keeps making me sneeze and generally feel like the living dead. The reminder letter I got (I've been putting it off because they insist on my using the phone and I hate doing that) tells me I can use the "NHS Choose and Book" service online to remind me of their phone numbers. So I do that. It wants me to log in with the number and password they gave me, so I do that, and keep the phone numbers onscreen, since I need my laptop and Google Calendar with me by the phone.

And the nice guy at the end tells me that he can't make my appointment, because they have to use the same system and he can't log in while I'm logged in. Presumably it gives extra functionality to them, since all it does for me is show me this. (It gives me an option at Homerton Hospital as well, but they're unrated and the only advantage they have is a 21-day wait time.)
General Allergy (LCH) - Allergy - Barts and The London NHS Trust - RNJ

* Distance: 3 miles from postcode E11 ***
* Approximate Wait Time: 41 days
* Location: THE LONDON CHEST HOSPITAL, BONNER ROAD, LONDON, GREATER LONDON, E2 9JX
* Booking Instructions: 0800 043 0143 Mon-Thurs 0800-1800; Fri 0800-1700; Sat 0900-1200

And then he tells me that it will take 20 minutes to release the lock on the system after I'm logged out, so I'll have to call back. WTFF? Even by the normal standards of government IT systems this is fairly epic comedy fail.

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mirrorshard
Looks like Prince Charles is being an idiot again.

Summary: Foreign firm Qatari Diar commissions Lord Rogers to design a block of flats. Charlie writes in to complain, probably in green ink. Qatari Diar withdraws planning application.

Dammit, I want attractive modern buildings on my city's skyline. I don't want a half-arsed pastiche job that looks like it belongs in some third-rate Lowry knockoff.

He'd be a lovely chap if only he gave up the princing job. (And the duking job, and everything else he got from his mum.)

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mirrorshard
If you haven't seen this appallingly racist cartoon in the Times, I recommend it for sheer did-they-actually-publish-that value.

Edit: please read the comments before leaving "helpful" corrections. If someone else has already said it, I don't need a "me too". Thank you.

I can't find an address specifically for complaints; comment@thetimes.co.uk gets autorejected. I've sent the following to online.editor@timesonline.co.uk as the apparent next most appropriate thing.

Read more... )

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mirrorshard
More Catholic Fail: nine-year-old rape victim pregnant with twins, has abortion, bishop excommunicates everyone who helped her, Vatican defends the bishop.
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Really quite sad. I almost pity him, except, well... he took up bishoping of his own free will, and Peter Principle or not he knew what was coming up.

Since I'm genuinely curious - what's the point of bishops? Why do we still have them? What do they do that any other priest can't?

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mirrorshard
Here's a print I did last night. I'm quite pleased with most of it, but I did make one glaring error I really shouldn't have.

Pentagram 1 on parchment

[Edit: explanation here.]

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