We can rebuild him...

I'm now mostly recovered from the back episode, although I'm still waking with backache and I might well stick with sleeping on a futon on the floor for another few days. Sitting is now just about bearable; when my back's bad, I can lie down or, when things improve a bit, walk, but sitting upright for any length of time is very painful. (This is why my LJ'ing has been rather brief these last few days, BTW.) I'm also getting back some of the IQ points which seem to drain away when your lower back is continuously yelling for attention...

We managed to walk into Cambridge and back yesterday, which did me no end of good - if nothing else, it was a relief to get out of the house for the first time in three days. Even so, I was reminded of the problems bugshaw used to have when her back was chronically bad: every uneven paving slab is a nasty jolt, every potential seat has to be gingerly tested to ensure it's safe to sit on. But we got in and out OK, and even managed a bit of shopping (most of which bugshaw ended up carrying, in what I would have regarded a few years ago as an amazing role reversal).

I'm still in wibble mode over my exam result. I already knew I'd got 83% overall on the coursework, and based on the tutor's comment that "people usually do better in the coursework than in the exam" and my own gut feeling as to how the exam went, I was expecting an exam mark maybe somewhere in the seventies. I actually got 88%, which I'm still rather astonished at. What is particularly good is that getting a Distinction in a Level 3 course like the one I've just done is a crucial milestone towards getting First Class honours under the OU's somewhat baroque degree classification rules. Next task: write to Imperial and ask for a transcript of my undergraduate degree so that I can get enough academic credit transferred to bring me up to the required level for a degree once I finish the core LLB modules; whilst that won't be for a couple more years, the sooner I get it done, the better.

I might or might not be at the Tun tonight, depending on how stable my back feels. If I dip out, Merry Christmas etc to everyone there.

Not Tunning, Alas

Discretion being the better part of valour, I've decided that it's best not to risk my still-fragile back on the trip into London (not to mention dodgy pub seating). Apologies to anyone I was hoping to see - in particular, if Roger Robinson is there, could someone let him know that I won't be along and have sent him email.

Merry Christmas to, well, everyone I'd otherwise have said "Merry Christmas" to this evening.

Intelligent Design, Stupid and Dishonest Fundamentalists

Thanks to muskrat_john for linking to the text of the judgment in the recent 'Intelligent Design' case in the US. It's a long read, but worth the effort in order to see how thoroughly Judge Jones dissected the 'ID' position to reveal it for the fundamentalist religious interloper into secular education that it really is. If there was a Richard Dawkins Award for kicking creationists where it hurts, Judge Jones - who, it is worth noting, is a Bush appointee - would be a shoo-in.

Without wishing to sound too snarky, I will note how several witnesses who would evidently describe themselves as born-again Christians were found by the judge to have lied repeatedly under oath in the course of their evidence. You know, the oath where you put your hand on the Bible and swear to God to tell the truth?

I have no problem with other people's religious beliefs, so long as they don't assume that they somehow apply to me (or any other innocent party). Stinking, blatant hypocrisy is another matter, though.