Archive for May, 2013

I was about to feed my child into the shredder, when I noticed this warning…

At the end of April, I travelled to York to compete in the Division E International Speech Contest final. You can see a video of speech in a previous post, albeit it at a different competition to this one. I only managed third place, but live and learn – only four months until the next one!

At a recent A-Soc talk, James talked us through some of the witchcraft he and his chemistry buddies are coming up with, including plastic that heals any cuts in it just by shining a light on it! You’ll find the video on Worfolk Lectures later this month.

I was quite excited to get onto Sourcery, the fifth book in the Discworld series, as I’m a big fan of the wizards. Plus, who doesn’t love Rincewind? I’m seriously considering it as a middle name for Chris Junior. While I was an enjoyable read, I didn’t find it quite as good as Equal Rites or Mort – but then anything with that amount of Death in it is always going to be hard to beat.

I can totally accept that as a last resort, I would drink the liquid from elephant dung. It’s a great survival technique. But here is my question. How did the first person figure that out? What were they doing that lead to that discovery?

I was walking home a few weeks ago, having been out shooting restaurant photos, when I saw a bird sitting by the canal. Rob tells me it is a Canada Goose.

At the April meeting of the Humanist Society of West Yorkshire, Guy Otten presented a talk on the origins of Islam. The thesis of the talk was that the origins were mythological, and were created in a similar way to the Christian religion, being affected by politics and evolving over time.

There is something truly magical about the Spanish Grand Prix. While the sport us ultimately dominated by Britain, the following in Spain is colossal, and is reflected in them having both the Spanish and European races in the country.

What was most impressive about Sunday’s race was the sheer noise generated by the crowds. Usually you can’t hear anything above the roar of the engines, but every time Fernando Alonso passed the grand stands you could hear their cries – no wonder he brought his Ferrari home to a dominant victory.

Last month, Michael Burgess gave a talk to Leeds Atheist Society on “The Christian Ideology of New Atheism”. The video will be available on Worfolk Lectures at a later date.

Were you under the impression that you were not allowed to cover your face while in a bank, because of security seasons? I was. But it turns out that I was mistaken.

For privacy reasons, I’ve hidden the identity of the subject, but as you can see, this is a bank customer who has clearly hidden their face. Why is this an issue? Because if they are, but I am now, that is religious discrimination. You have to treat everyone equally, and if you grant or restrict extra privileges for one specific group, you are discriminating.

I wrote to HSBC to ask them to clarify the situation.

To Whom It May Concern:

I was of the understanding that when using your bank, I was not allowed to cover my face for security reasons. However, when I visited your branch on 17 April, I noticed a customer using the banks facilities while wearing a full-face veil. I was hoping you could clarify whether these restrictions have been relaxed?

Yours faithfully,
Chris Worfolk

HSBC phoned me a few days later in response. They said that balaclavas and motor cycle helmets were specifically band, because they are associated with burglaries, but I was otherwise free to cover my face while using their bank.