All entries by this author

Ozywho?

Nov 3rd, 2004 9:54 pm | By

I’m just going to ignore it. That’s okay isn’t it? Just pretend it’s not there. Or at least that I don’t particularly have to talk about it. I mean, what is there to say, and everybody else is already saying it anyway. I don’t have to chime in. (It’s not even just the politics. It’s more basic. It’s the thing about minimal competence. It’s like having a choice between a grown-up and a not very bright child to do a difficult job – designing a bridge, doing research into a new killer virus, figuring out how to get cookies right-side-up on a plate, that kind of thing – and choosing the child.) I don’t have to chime in so I’m … Read the rest



The Myth of Infant Determinism *

Nov 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

The idea that the first three years of our lives make us who we are is scientifically unsound, argues Helene Guldberg.… Read the rest



Ban Homophobic Singer *

Nov 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Gay rights campaigners want police to ban a controversial Jamaican reggae artist from appearing in Britain.… Read the rest



Californians Approve Stem Cell Funding *

Nov 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Californians pass Proposition 71, a $3 billion bond measure to raise money for stem cell research.… Read the rest



Dutch ‘Anti-Islam’ Film Maker Murdered *

Nov 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Theo van Gogh made film that criticised Islam’s treatment of women. … Read the rest



Inhouse

Nov 3rd, 2004 3:43 am | By

Yo, I’m back! Out of the outhouse, into the inhouse, back at the desk, back to work. I’ve left the bright lights and whirling crowds of Bedford Square for the quiet backwater of Seattle. I came in, dropped all my cases and bags and excess sweatshirts in the middle of the living room, grabbed a water bottle, and rushed out to vote. Saw a friend on the way in; did not have to stand in line; saw another friend on the way out. You see what a quiet backwater it is. That wouldn’t happen in Bedford Square.

Ohio. Pennsylvania. Michigan. Florida. Well, we’ll see. I don’t dare let myself think about how I long to be rid of Bush.

More … Read the rest



The Arctic is Melting *

Nov 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

But no consensus as to appropriate response.… Read the rest



Probe into ‘Murder Music’ *

Nov 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

Police have launched an investigation into anti-gay reggae lyrics after the homophobic killing of a man in London.… Read the rest



Gene Screening Controversy *

Nov 2nd, 2004 | Filed by

Not really a surprise.… Read the rest



Darwin’s Greatest Challenge Tackled *

Nov 1st, 2004 | Filed by

Researchers provide concrete evidence about how the human eye evolved.… Read the rest



Scientists to Screen Embryos for Cancer *

Nov 1st, 2004 | Filed by

A team at UCL has been granted permission to screen embryos for a gene which causes rectal or colon cancer.… Read the rest



Musings on Evolution and Christianity

Nov 1st, 2004 1:01 am | By

Okay, so I have to post something so that November isn’t just a blank page (yes, I should have been cleverer when I programmed this thing). But unfortunately I have so little going on in my head that I’m really struggling here…

I did have a thought – a couple of weeks ago now, whilst running over a golf course – about Michael Ruse. In his book, The Evolution Wars, he claims:

I am arguing what history has shown: there is really no reason why a Christian should not be a Darwinian, and there is really no reason why a Darwinian should not be a Christian.

At first thought, this doesn’t seem an unreasonable claim. But it does raise … Read the rest



Paterson Attacks Harold Pinter *

Oct 31st, 2004 | Filed by

Let’s tell it how it is. Pinter’s anti-war poems are dreadful.… Read the rest



Anti-vaccine Madness *

Oct 31st, 2004 | Filed by

Opponents of MMR believe in homoeopathy, the Force, ESP and all sorts of other rubbish.… Read the rest



Eton or the Zoo? *

Oct 29th, 2004 | Filed by

Desmond Morris wonders how we would treat members of Homo floresiensis if they were still around.… Read the rest



Hobbit Species to Rewrite Textbooks *

Oct 29th, 2004 | Filed by

The discovery of Homo floresiensis shows how much we still have to learn about human evolution.… Read the rest



We Were Not Alone *

Oct 28th, 2004 | Filed by

Homo sapiens shared the planet with a hobbit species.… Read the rest



Aborted Foetus Cures Blindness *

Oct 28th, 2004 | Filed by

But, as usual, there are critics.… Read the rest



NHS Nonsense *

Oct 27th, 2004 | Filed by

Whatever affliction it is that Prince Charles is suffering – it’s catching.… Read the rest



Forced Marriage Law Considered *

Oct 27th, 2004 | Filed by

It could become illegal in the UK to compel two people to marry.… Read the rest