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well that's the received wisdom. According to the economic gurus they are economically unstoppable, although some are talking about energy shortages putting a stop to their gallop. Well, here's another thing that might: China, India and Russia all have growing, uncontrolled HIV epidemics and according to this paper in Foreign Affairs on the future of AIDS. It claims that even moderate epidemics

Welcome to the second in a series where I take issue with Liberal Democrat MPs over their views on education. Yesterday it was Ed Davey: today it is Mark Hunter. Mark held Cheadle in the by-election a few months ago and was even a member of the Liberator Collective before my day. He has a letter in today's Guardian and its central paragraph runs: One only has to consider the government's battle cry of allowing good schools to expand to see the folly of this argument. If the policy is taken to its logical conclusion, a local authority ...

A Guardian leader defends the idea of putting art into hospitals against an attack from the Sun - and Keeley, 19, from Kent in particular. Quite right too. Florence Nightingale herself wrote in 1859 that "variety of form and brilliancy of colour in the objects presented to patients are an actual means of recovery". See an article of mine from OpenMind for up to date research on the subject. However, it is harder to defend practices at South Tyneside hospital in South Shields. There, reports the Guardian, a mother had to wait for her six-month-old baby to be treated while ...

Whilst clearing my desk, prior to leaving, I found these haiku in a drawer. The Church Steeple The Church Steeple standsPointing towards Gods heavenBells call on Sunday The Minister Leaves Red topped and portlyMoving onto other thingsIt is "Good-Bye" time. The Christmas Tree Festival Aldwinckle twinkles brightJoyful way to celebrateSt Giles follows on An Alpha Course Questions, questioningTeaching the Christian BeliefIt's the Alpha way The Church Council It's the Church CouncilTalking. Why do we do it?Who else will pay the bills ? :-) I found out that the plural of Haiku is Haiku. Don't you ...

US top court nominee steps down - Harriet Miers has withdrawn as Supreme Court nominee. © Will on No geek is an island, 2005. ¦ Permalink ¦ No comment Add to [...]

I would like to summarise some thoughts I have been having for some time now. Community Relations are one of the most serious challenges we currently face as a nation. We seem in a state of denial. We like to think of ourselves as a multicultural society yet we have had terrorist bombings in London and recently racial tension in Birmingham. The politically correct like to think that by pussyfooting around words such as 'black' and sanitising Christmas in case we offend anyone is the way forward. We have a government that are going down the road of draconian measures ...

Yes, I have been lax writing up my trip to Germany. I’d better not leave it much longer or I’ll forget everything. I’ve started using Flickr - even though I’m more than capable of uploading images to my webspace - so feel free to have a gander at my Berlin photos. Yesterday at work, we moved [...]

As Iran's charming President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calls for Israel to be wiped from the face of the map, the moderates of the Islamic Umma can look to the website of convert Yvonne Ridley for political guidance. Cheers Yvonne!

I note from The Times this morning that Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, wants to introduce working practices that will deter overweight people from applying for jobs in its stores. In an offensive against obesity, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, plans to make physical exercise a part of every employee’s working day, helping to dissuade unhealthy jobseekers from joining the company. The strategy, disclosed in a leaked memo from a senior executive to the Wal-Mart board, proposes that all roles should encourage physical activity, such as trolley-stacking for cashiers in its supermarkets. It ...

National Grid Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultation has occurred with (a) the general public and (b) industry about the reduction in voltage on the national grid that may be required in the event of a one in 50 cold winter. (John Hemming) A: My officials are investigating the impacts of voltage reduction measures undertaken in other countries in the past year.

by Peter Uncle Vince has been setting out his thoughts on tax and spending in (where else?)Public Finance. Good (if cautious) thoughts they are too. His starting point is that "(b)roadly speaking, the Liberal Democrats have supported Chancellor Gordon Brown’s increased funding for health, education and policing." This is clearly true - but I am one of the minority who thought that the speed with which spending was increased in the Health Service was ridiculous - well beyond the capacity of the Health Service to absorb the extra spending. The task this Parliament will be to find areas where money ...