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 […]
Category: In the News
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 […]
There’s going to be some kind of vote in America…
You may be aware that some Americans are going to be casting votes on… oh, something or other, this week. In Colorado, they’ll be doing the presidential shtick – but they’ll also be voting on whether to accept an amendment to the State constitution that would extend the definition of “person” to include all humans […]