Comedy of Terrors
Pretty much the only sensible reporting I’ve seen on the recent terror attacks
in London and Glasgow has come from The Register: firstly, secondly. That second link is an article by a bomb-disposal technician, who, having pointed out precisely why this last weekend’s attempted car-bombings were hilariously rubbish, goes on to note that the UK survived tons of explosives raining down on it every night for six years
during World War II.
Our parents and grandparents stood that kind of punishment, not to mention four times as many military dead, and got on with life. Sad though it is to confirm the oldsters’ world view, by comparison our generation - our generation’s journalists, anyway - seem a bit lacking in backbone.
Well, quite. Massive press overreaction aside, the only really scary thing about this whole episode is that some of the suspects were working as NHS doctors. If they are the culprits, that means that people who can’t successfully burn out a car full of petrol, a basic skill of the lowliest twoccer, are getting jobs as neurosurgeons. Now that is terrifying.
MP Correspondence Update (Lies in Science, Part 2)
Further to my update the other day, I’ve just received a full reply from my MP regarding my letter about the unscientific codswallop being peddled to kids in UK state school science lessons.
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MP Correspondence Update (Lies in Science)
I heard back from my MP in reply to my letter about the cryptocreationist nonsense being peddled to kids in UK state schools that got me all worked up last November: she’s written about it to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education and Skills. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll reply to any one specific query, but hopefully other people’s MPs are asking similar questions, which might bring the issue to his attention and get something said or maybe even done about it.
Petition the PM
Whilst we’re on the subject of pestering politicians, I’m pleased to see that the government seems to be trying to make it easier for us to try to knock them back in line, online, by “signing” petitions at:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/.
I’m less overwhelmed with glee that the most popular petition so far is for repealing the ban on fox-hunting, as if our elected representatives haven’t wasted enough time and effort on the dratted thing already.
The second most popular is a petition against the proposed introduction of ID cards. Everyone who isn’t John Reid should sign it. ID card legislation is an even more stupid waste of time and money than both fox-hunting and the ban thereof combined, and it’s considerably more dangerous to boot.
I just wrote to my MP
First time I’ve ever done that, with the exception of a couple of organised pro-forma postcard things.
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