Bombing Syria? Really? (Part 2: Looking after British National Security?)

I am going to avoid the apparent and terrifying implication in the decision to bomb Syria to protect British National security: that foreign lives are somehow worth less than British lives. It’s a real implication, as the government has agreed to an unknown body count of foreign innocents to stave off terror attacks on British…

How Lying about Science allows You to Claim Anything You Want

If there is a dogma in science, I think it is this: "if there is a perceptible difference between a claim being accurate and it not, science can perceive that difference". If there is no perceptible difference, it is not at all clear how you reasonably became confident of your claim, anyway.

“Doctors are furious…” and other advert slogans.

You've probably noticed, when you're shopping on a totally legitimate  site for some bargain, or reading the drivel that passes as journalism from your Facebook feed, weird adverts. Adverts that tell you dentists are outraged that a mother has release a tooth-whitening secret, or that doctors are furious at some cure for baldness, or health professionals…

Curing Hayfever, Science and the Interesting “Committee on Boring”

Somewhere in the dusty archives of the internet, there is reference to the “Committee on Boring Questions” or “The Ministry of Boredom”... or something like that. Their mission statement is “To answer seemingly boring questions”... or words to that effect. You can probably tell I have not been able to re-enter the murky depths of…

Social Cost of Taboo

A taboo is an unspoken social rule of omission: things you may not talk about. You have every right to say it, but people agree that the speaker will come off badly if they do. Obesity is one of these, where telling a fat person they are fat means the speaker comes off worse than…

Exodus of teachers: a prediction of things to come

I am a teacher. However, I work in the private sector. Therefore, I am protected against some of the policy ideas teetering on the lips of politicians. That said, I still feel the outrage and indignation of state-employees school teachers. Doctors working lives are intrusively and obstructively evaluated. They have to register every year and…

The NHS: it’s necessary to reform our national gem

I like the National Health Service (NHS). I like knowing that my healthcare is free at the point of use. That means I really do not like to impending danger of the UK losing the NHS. We in the UK are likely to lose the NHS to steady erosion. And those who constantly bicker and…