• Peter Serafinowicz explains why he downloads files illegally, even ones in which he has a financial interest. There are too many good bites to single one out, but Serafinowicz makes it clear that only a mad person will think that you can make a business plan out of charging people for an inconvenient, limited, hard-to-use approach to a problem that can be solved conveniently, flexibly, simply, for free.
• Margaret and Pippa will be applying for visas this summer, which reminds me of this article from Cracked magazine.
• I automatically doubt any approach that presumes to solve too many problems all at once, but understanding Bowen’s family-system theory has helped me recognise salient pitfalls and possibilities in any number of settings. Yes, people can misapply it or use it for everything under the sun (usually with a knowing, self-congratulatory smile), but it has accurately characterised a great many social-institutional situations I’ve had to deal with.
• The estimable Tom Matrullo pointed my attention to this intriguing story about Islamic life in Glasgow. Two of my favorite establishments — the Bay Tree Café and the Curry Leaf restaurant — are halal; our Religious Studies program at the University is very strong in Islam; and we have a number of Islamic students, a good number of whom hail from from EU countries. Hey, and now the UK has a Muslim cabinet minister (Baroness Sayeeda Warsi).