There is a controversy brewing in Barbados concerning Nigerian nurses and HIV – in particular, concerning the way the story was reported by the CBC, which provoked industrial action. As Alison Mayers points out in a (fairly impassioned) guest column in The Nation, there are many things that we might ask about HIV and the use of Nigerian […]
Category: In the News
MP Not at all Dyslexic
Graham Stringer, the Labour MP for Blackley, has dismissed dyslexia as a myth invented to cover up for poor teaching. His claim brings to mind a claim reported a few years ago along the same lines made by Durham’s Julian Elliott. I’m not sure if it’s just a matter of the way in which the […]
When Transplantation goes Odd
A man who donated his kidney to his wife, who subsequently cheated on him and filed for divorce, says he wants it back. His chances are described as slim. Ronseal. […]
Measles! Get your Measles!
Britain, some would have us believe, is one of the worst places in the world for measles. In 2006-7, there were 12000 cases in Europe, many of them in the UK, according to a study in The Lancet (subscription required) and reported by the Beeb. This has not a little to do with the MMR […]
A Bad Day to Detox… and a Diversion to Mill
Sense about Science are truly wonderful people, but, I fear, are engaged in a somewhat futile attempt to rid the world of gobbledygook. Nevertheless, with Stakhanovite determination, they’re putting the boot into the detox industry. Again. On a similar theme, Ben Goldacre showed his mettle on Today and elsewhere. I wish them luck, but I […]
Virgin Schadenfreude
By David Hunter I don’t usually get to post these sorts of stories, usually Iain spots the salacious ones a mile off before I do… It turns out according to the BMJ that a US study has shown that abstinence pledges are ineffective at preventing sex among teenagers, those who vow not to end up […]
Gordon Brown opposes something that noone wants anyway…
Gordon Brown was interviewed on the radio this morning by Cormack Murphy O’Connor, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. A titanic clash of intellects it was not. Apparently Super Gord is against reforming the laws on assisted suicide: In a interview with Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, a guest editor on Today, Mr Brown was asked about calls […]
I was going to write something sensible here…
… but, while waiting for the announcement of the Manchester Congestion Charge vote, I happened across this story. It made me wince. Of course, penis-crush injuries from falling toilet seats are no laughing matter. No, no, no. Nor will I laugh at the suggestion – apparently made in earnest – that certain toilet seats should […]
S. and Marper v. the UK 17 – 0 for civil liberties and common sense
The European Court of Human Rights have today in a unanimous 17 – 0 decision decided that the retention of DNA profiles and tissue samples from people who have been arrested, but not charged with or convicted of any crime is a breach of their right to respect for private life (Article 8 of the […]
Fit notes? Undecaffeinated coffee?
I’m not sure whether it’s an urban legend or actual fact, but I once heard a story about someone who was offered coffee on an aeroplane in either decaffeinated or undecaffeinated versions. Oh, how I laughed at the mindless pleonasm. I only mention it because I was awoken this morning by the sound of someone talking […]