“We are more than ever obsessed with individual identity, our personal brand, putting our stamp on the world. But we bow to the plain text of the smartphone, bland and unblotted. A WhatsApp message will never have the personality of a sibling’s spider-scribble. Digital communication can never match the intimacy of a handwritten letter. If …
For days I was wrestling with a recalcitrant email system. Emails refused to depart from my computer, and I could find no one who understood even how the system works, let alone correct it. I paid a silly amount to someone purporting to be an expert, but it turned out he wasn’t . So let …
My wife and I went mackerel fishing off the coast of Dorset, in Southern England. There were about 15 people on the boat, the weather was glorious and the catch quite good, enough for everyone. We had fresh, baked mackerel for dinner that evening, caught on the end of a line. I got talking to …
I did it all myself. For sure, I did it all myself. I never used networks or old college friends On whom the success of so many depends. I went out to work at the age of eighteen Thin as a rake, but determined and lean, And I laid rows of bricks and mixed tons …
Continue reading ‘”I Did it All Myself” – the cry of the very rich’ »
Extreme weather is commonly seen as a product of climate change. But it is also becoming a significant driver of the crisis, a new report suggests. In its annual review of global energy trends, BP calculates that global demand for energy grew by 2.9% last year – the biggest rise since 2010 – and that …
A new non-invasive MRI scan for prostate cancer could “revolutionise” diagnosis of the disease, scientists have claimed. Men in the UK aren’t screened for prostate cancer because the existing blood test – which looks for raised levels of the protein PSA – is unreliable. Most men with raised PSA levels don’t have cancer, but must …
Continue reading ‘Good news – A quick scan for prostate cancer’ »
Manaus, Brazil The Vatican has opened the door to the possibility of married men becoming priests in remote parts of the Amazon basin. There is currently a drastic shortage of priests in the region – which extends across the borders of nine South American countries – and ministering to such a far-flung flock poses severe …
Letter to The Guardian: “Your article on “zero heroes” ( e.g zero emission champions) was worthy but it tiptoed around the main factor causing increased global pollution: increasing human numbers. Progressives often parade their environmental concerns loudly, but are strangely silent on the question of population growth. How can we get on top of warming …
Continue reading ‘Environmental concerns begin with population’ »
We were on our way home from Catania airport, Sicily, on a British Airways flight. It turned out that BA had transported 18 disabled people from Gatwick airport – in wheelchairs – to Sicily, and that these same people were on our return flight. ( I hope they enjoyed themselves) Now you would think that …
Continue reading ‘Big company mismanagement: don’t fly British Airways!’ »
The threat posed by antibiotic resistance has finally got through to governments. 98 new formulations are being tested in animals, and nearly two-thirds attack bacteria differently from older drugs, increasing their chance of success. In May this year, the UK government will pay two companies to bring new anti-microbial drugs to market. The price of …
Continue reading ‘The war against antibiotic resistance: Part 2, the good news’ »
GPs have blamed under-resourcing and recruitment difficulties as surgery closures across the UK reach an all- time high, affecting an estimated half a million patients last year. According to research by the medical website Pulse, 138 surgeries shut their doors in 2018, compared with just 18 in 2013. Data released under freedom of information by …
Earlier this year, the National Rifle Association opposed a bill that would prevent convicted stalkers and abusive boyfriends from possessing guns. “Why? Because any gun purchase increases profits for gun manufacturers, and any regulation – even common-sense measures – is to be opposed.” Having brought the group to this indecent and immoral policy the NRA …
Continue reading ‘The NRA is now an extreme political party’ »
Kruschev was nuts but he was prescient when he said, “We will defeat you from within”. (John Chappell) Is there anyone out there who agrees? If so, why?
Publicity for Blue Apron, a company selling pasture-raised, slow-growth, heirloom chickens direct to consumers as meal-kits, weekly if you want them, is a welcome development that points up the disaster that is now ubiquitous factory farming, In the Midwest, rural towns are being (have been) destroyed by huge corporations buying up land and building vast …
This notice can now be found in all French churches: En entrant dans cette église, il est possible que vous entendiez l’appel de Dieu. Par contre, il n’est pas susceptible de vous contacter par téléphone. Merci d’avoir éteint votre téléphone. Si vous souhaitez parler à Dieu, entrez, choisissez un endroit tranquille et parle lui. Si vous souhaitez le voir, envoyez-lui un SMS en conduisant. Translation: It is possible that on entering …
