Entries from July 2009
Those Posters Don't Lie
BBC – Guinness good for you – official The old advertising slogan “Guinness is Good for You” may be true after all, according to researchers. A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Drinking lager […]
Categories: Science and Nature
The Modern Knight Errant Takes Visa and American Express
The Times – Hostages to face bill as France tries to recoup cost of rescues The French commandos swoop into action, shooting dead the kidnappers and bundling the hostages into a helicopter. But the smiles of the former captives fade as their liberators deliver a nasty shock: the bill. That could be the scene after […]
Categories: Geography and Foreign Affairs
Achtung Baby: Let's Blitz This Krieg in Three Languages!
The Times – New rules let Germans in Afghanistan stop shouting and start shooting Taleban insurgents fighting German forces in northern Afghanistan have often lived to fight another day thanks to trilingual warnings that have to be shouted out before the men from the Bundeswehr can squeeze their triggers. The seven-page pocket guide to combat […]
Categories: War and Peace
The First Minister's Cat is a Dear Departed Cat
Oh dear… Telegraph – Downing Street cat Sybil dies<br/> Sybil, the retired Downing Street cat, has died after a short illness. The black and white cat, an experienced mouser, was the first in Downing Street for a decade after Humphrey was retired to the country by Cherie Blair six months after she moved into Downing […]
Categories: Catblogging
Of All the Lines of Defense to Take…
The Times – Former Liberian President Charles Taylor tells war crimes court ‘I am not a cannibal’ The former African warlord Charles Taylor, on trial in The Hague for murder, rape, hacking off hands and sending drugged child soldiers into battle, held up his hands yesterday and swore that he had never eaten human flesh. […]
Categories: People and Current Events
Dust Trends
I was just noting that after all the excitement in the ninme household, #IranElection seems finally to have faded from Twitter’s trending topics. The Times – The dust of dissent can still choke this regime<br/> Oppression in Iran seems tougher than ever, but beneath the surface, cracks are appearing and public anger still burns, by […]
Categories: People and Current Events
That Explains the Depression
Apparently Kurt Cobain took all his inspiration from Rick Astley, and in fact, Smells Like Teen Spirit and Never Gonna Give You Up are in fact the same song:
Categories: Entertainment
Human Achievement: From the Moon Landing to Digitalized Poison Pens
Telegraph – We are now so spineless, I will never see a man walk on Mars<br/> A demented scheme to vet adults who visit schools illustrates how averse the world has become to risk, argues Boris Johnson It was the crowning achievement of humanity so far – to plant a person on the face of […]
Categories: Science and Nature
In Which She Tentatively Returns to Blogging
With an amusingly themed article: The Times – China steps back from one child policy “We advocate eligible couples to have two kids because it can help to reduce the proportion of the ageing people and alleviate a workforce shortage in the future,” said Xie Linli, the director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning […]
Categories: People and Current Events
Guess Where I Am
Categories: Uncategorized
I Am Very Uncomfortable
And my parents and a sister are here. Light blogging. Speak amongst yourselves.
Categories: Wildcard
And the Award for Best Poem About Quantum Physics Tied to a ninme Blog Post Goes To:
This is astonishing. In case anyone misses it in the comments of my Shrödingers Cat post, from HalfEmpty: The greatest American and worlds wisest and bestest man Unca Ceil Adams explains via verse: Schroedinger, Erwin! Professor of physics!<br/> Wrote daring equations! Confounded his critics!<br/> (Not bad, eh? Don’t worry. This part of the verse<br/> Starts […]
Categories: Science and Nature
The 52 Cenotaphs
Telegraph – The July 7 memorial says what words cannot<br/> We have become exceptionally good at revering our heroes and this latest effort is as utterly right as the Cenotaph, says Simon Heffer. The dignity and appropriateness of the memorial in Hyde Park to the 52 people murdered in the London Tube and bus bombings […]
Categories: People and Current Events
Nature Notes: In Praise of Killin' Things
The Times – Stone the crows — and the damage is undone<br/> Let’s celebrate killing a few birds, by Simon Barnes This column is normally in favour of keeping birds alive, but just for a change, let’s celebrate killing them. The house crow has just been eradicated from the Socotra archipelago in Yemen — hurrah! […]
Categories: Science and Nature
We Just Can't Let You Go
~ sayeth the press The Times – Sarah Palin resigned ‘for the money’, says ex-boyfriend Levi Johnston Sarah Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska to cash in on the business opportunities presented by her new-found fame, the estranged boyfriend of her eldest daughter said yesterday. I think that might be “ex-boyfriend”, actually. See, you can […]
Categories: Business & Media
