I've been dismayed over and over again at the way evolution is routinely misrepresented by people who ought to know better. So I decided to keep a log of instances where I see it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * First up: the Guardian's science correspondent Natalie Grover. 27th Aug 2021 "Female hummingbirds look like males to avoid attacks, study suggests". No, there is no intention in evolution. Female hummingbirds who look like males turned out to have an evolutionary advantage - more of them survived because they were attacked less. * * ...
So, the good news is that the Belgian numbers are pretty stable, with today showing hospitalisations, ICU cases and reported infections down since yesterday, and infections also down from last week. Of course, kids have gone back to school in the last few days, which will cause an uptick; but it feels like it's all under control. The Brussels rentrée is under way, with the Liberals hosting a reception a week ago at the Grand Central - you can see me talking to a Bulgarian MEP at a couple of points in this video.And there's another reception this evening, hosted ...
"Shropshire Council has all but disowned the young people in this county. That's a disgrace." That's the view of Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow East after a cabinet meeting this morning. Tracey had asked a series of questions to the council's cabinet today. Shropshire Council failed to give a guarantee that Ludlow Youth Centre will reopen but said it hoped it might be used for community purposes in the future. It would not guarantee that the Youth Centre, valued at £851,000 on its books, will not be sold to help plug its growing gap in capital finances. It would ...
Tue, 12:56: Hooray! https://t.co/vV66mBBV4F Tue, 18:38: The Wonder, by Emma Donoghue https://t.co/0wnaoLu6s2 Wed, 07:22: Happy Independence Day, North Macedonia! https://t.co/LQVeNcMuds Wed, 10:45: Hollywood struggles with accents in Branagh's Belfast https://t.co/b7Hzc0cIih 😂 Though I have no problem with adding subtitles - better to be sure you are being understood. Wed, 10:52: RT @leana_ahmed: Happy Star Trek Day everyone! Live long and prosper. 🖖🏾 #startrekday #startrek #StarTrekMemes @ Southern California https...
I was only 19 when I first visited the West Bank in 1964 but was sufficiently gripped that, after studying the region's history at university, I retained a strong interest in the area thereafter. The Israel-Palestine conflict seems far less amenable to a solution today than it did then. That is why I greatly welcome Conference's Motion F39,'Towards a lasting peace in Israel and Palestine'. There are two particular issues I should like to flag up. The first concerns UNRWA, the UN agency of Palestine Refugees for which I worked in the 1970s. As we watch the refugee crisis in ...
As if empty supermarket shelves, tens of thousands of unfilled jobs in key industries and a massive increase in red tape for businesses was not bad enough, we are now faced with one of the other consequences of Brexit being more polluted water courses. The Independent reports that the government has given polluters the green light to dump risky sewage that has not been properly cleaned into rivers and the sea because Brexit and Covid have disrupted normal water treatment. They add that in recent weeks some businesses have found it more difficult to get hold of water treatment chemicals ...
Poor Wendy Chamberlain hasn't had much luck this Summer. She was pinged not once but twice by the app before the rules changed which meant she had to spend much of July cooped up in her London flat. She was still able to take part in votes in Parliament, though, and speak, because she was able to take part virtually. But all that modernity was too much for Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg. As soon as the rules ended, so did the chance to participate remotely in Parliament. That is out of step with many workplaces which ...
Parents and carers of the children using the Roseangle/Magdalen Green playpark contacted me recently about the popular zip wire not being operational. As one parent said, "The zip line is a big hit and I feel so bad for them that it's gone." I therefore contacted environment management at the City Council and have been advised : "The zip wire seat was removed as part of a routine inspection/maintenance visit by our Play Team due to wear on the attaching U bolts. Replacement bolts have been ordered and the seat will be replaced as soon as they are received."
One of the most remarkable stories I ever reported on this blog was the Kids for Cash scandal in the city of Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania. As the Wikipedia page on the scandal says: In 2008, judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of accepting money in return for imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles to increase occupancy at for-profit detention centres. Many of the children and teenagers were locked up for trivial offences and kept behind bars for years. In 2013 Robert May released a well-received documentary, Kids for Cash, on the scandal. That film is not online, but you ...
