Here are a couple of things that have caught my interest today.

Here are a few of the things that have interested me today, and a little about what I think of them:

This, it's nice to see, is a reasoned discussion about extremism in both Western and Islamic cultures. It has comments from prominent Islamic academics and is an interesting discussion that concludes that the best way to combat extremism on all sides is to be louder than the extremists. As one academic quotes (from a 13th century poet, he claims), 'a drum bangs so loud because inside it is hollow'.
In their opinions, #muslimrage and the mocking of religiously offensive material is the best way to deal with such things. They also suggest that the resulting violence in the Middle East (I hate that term) was incited by the rulers of those countries involved, for their own agenda.
This is an AJStream program filmed, I assume, in the US.

This video would be wise watching for the government today, and for many people who demand that cuts do not happen in their own area. It is a highly relevant speech; I wish I were hearing its like by David Cameron or Nick Clegg.
I would like to clear this up, in light of recent statements by the Liberal Democrat party. Just to clarify:

• 'national debt' - the money that the government owes to the World Bank, and to other countries, in the same basic sense as a personal loan. This is currently £1.05 TRILLION upon which the country is also paying interest.
• 'budget deficit' - the amount of money that the government spends every year that it does not have. The basic formula is that the income that the government receives is less, by a long way, than the money that it spends. This happens every year. In essence, the government is borrowing from other countries in order to pay for the daily running of the country. The deficit is, currently, 8.9% of GDP. 
• GDP - the total value of everything that this country produces in a year.

For more details, see this website.

The offending liberal democrat statement is here. 

Everything you put on the Internet can be found. Those of you with your whole lives on facebook, you are the Internet's property now. Remember in Serenity, Mr Universe states 'you can't stop the signal'? It's true.

David Starkey's Monarchy, 'The Glorious Revolution'. It seems that, as does everyone, he has a theory about when 'modernity' came into being. It's nice to post something that contradicts my assertions. I feel like it makes me seem more open-minded. Youtube will not let me embed these, sadly.

 Emirates' idea of a staff-training video. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Finally, a video of an exceptionally talented young boy. Only 9 years old, he's a piano prodigy. He plays, he says, because it makes people, and himself, happy.