In the News

[stimpsonslostson]

I mentioned this last night at the PQ.
One of the most disturbing stories I've seen in a long time:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 602716.ece

in other news: bonobos don't gamble, but chimps do!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 621693.ece

If you've seen something interesting keep em coming.
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[Mike]

The French murderer is what can only be described as sick, I mean really sick. That is just shocking to think what they went through before death. . . That person must literally have no empathy what-so-ever.

Oh, on the lighter story. I think I would be a Bonobo because I don't take massive risks for extra food!

[stimpsonslostson]

I dunno which I'd be... its a case of a bird in the hand etc isn't it. I've always liked game theory and the evolution of foraging strategies etc.
I'd be interested to see if the strategy varied when they were hungry or full, or rather than playing with quantities how about different "values" of food, is a banana worth the risk of winning a grape? Or should you stick and take the apple? I think I'll find the paper and read it.

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[mr_e]

The French gentleman and his wife were arguably missing a large part of the social / innate conditioning that most people take for granted. I'd be interested to hear about his upbringing, and I'm hopeful that more of that will come out during the trial. However, I'm guessing it's an unfortunate combination of bad genes and bad environment that results in the serial killer mentality. That article did upset me a little, because I have quite a vivid imagination and empathy.

The bonobo experiment would be cool if it's been done with some additional details as mentioned. Mike, we shall further the experiment by depriving you of food then seeing which of the similar options you take. Thinking about it, either way the average amount of food was the same... so there was no real risk in the long-term. I understand what the experiment has demonstrated, but maybe a more sophisticated approach is needed?

[BarcelonAl]

Ok, can it get more weird than this story about a married American man who is pregnant with a baby girl?

He used to be a she, but had gender realignment surgery and is legally considered to be male. The one thing he/she didn't have done was to be sterilised. The baby is due in July.

Not really sure where my feelings lie with this one. On one hand as long as the couple are going to be good parents, who cares? On the other, it does seem a bit like having your cake and eating it. He obviously didn't feel happy being female, but is more than happy to take advantage when necessary.

[Mike]

Cough Medicine has been pulled off the shelf because it has been linked to five deaths since 1981. So in the last 27 years there has been 5 deaths. . . . ie one death every 5.4 years or 0.18 deaths a year. . . .

Is it me or is this just ridiculous. . . I blame the people for NOT reading the instructions before dosing up a child, not the medicine itself. The world is going crazy. . . .

[Fez]

further to this 'scare' is the fact the vast majority of doctors dont advise giving cough medicine to under fives anyway, honey and lemon drinks and inhaling steam is more effective according to the expert intervewed on bbc news, and its highly unlikely that the medicine was the main contributing factor to the five deaths.

query: is it the unnecessary use of medicine and over-protective parenting in general that is producing more and more 'weakened' children with alergic reactions and intolerences to previously innocuous things?

working in a school means i know full well some parents become traumatised by the most insignificant of incidents involving their precious urchins. running round full of beans and farts means of course they're going to fall over and bang their heads on the playground once in awhile, yet everytime it happens i have to phone home because of health and safety regulations. its impossible to explain to some of them that children bounce and a bit of a fall does not constitute a brain-haemorrage.

eee when i was a lad, coming home covered in blood, not necessarily my own, sporting a few cuts and bruises was a good day out. i was one of the timid short-arses who didn't like fighting and climbing trees, but even i thought football was a waste of time if someone didn't lose an eye or at least break a limb. i think we'd be a stronger society if small children were out on the streets hitting each other with sticks, toughen 'em up, dont breed a generation of nancies!

[johnriley1uk]

Cough Medicine has been pulled off the shelf because it has been linked to five deaths since 1981. So in the last 27 years there has been 5 deaths. . . . ie one death every 5.4 years or 0.18 deaths a year. . . .

Is it me or is this just ridiculous. . . I blame the people for NOT reading the instructions before dosing up a child, not the medicine itself. The world is going crazy. . . .

The really bizarre thing is that doctors know that cough medicines don't work. Try reading the British National Formulary for confirmation of that. There is nothing in a cough medicine that could possibly affect the trachea after the medicine is imbibed via the oesophagus. Iy's all in the mind.

Having said that, Simple Linctus is delicious and worth a few coughs to have an excuse to buy a bottle!

[stimpsonslostson]

I don't think I would have made it thru my childhood without Calpol- I took it so often that I could have used it instead of milk on my cerial! I think there is more than a little placebo effect. It STILL makes me feel better.
H&S is a nightmare- thinking back to some of the things I did as a kid , yikes! I was always up trees, crawling thru bushes looking for bugs, playing british bulldogs (I BET thats banned!) and whatever dangerous pursuits took my fancy! I was CONSTANTLY covered in cuts and bruises (and still am), I once had to have my skull stapled back together by the doctor after a particularly spectacular fall in the playground... and I got told off for bleeding on my shirt! No mention of sueing the school, just a slapped leg for me .
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[Mike]

The only advantage I can see for a cough medicine is that it coats the throat so you don't get that irritated feeling so much. . . placebos have been proved to be very effective on illnesses. The more expensive the better apparently - the report suggested that placebos should be used more frequently by Doctors for ridiculous illness.

[johnriley1uk]

Calpol is different in that it is a medicine - Paracetamol.

Plain cough medicines contain all sorts of things that warm and irritate the oesophagus, but they don't actually do more than that!

[stimpsonslostson]

from the BBC. louis theroux does big game hunting on sunday. What do you think? I'm mixed I must say. IF the cash went into conservation I'd probably feel better about it, if not then no way.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7329425.stm

There's a whole issue about killing wildlife for whatever reason. Some I really object to, (Matt was stunned when I refused to order sharks fin soup last week). Others I have less of a problem with- I'm not vegetarian (and LOVE venison and other game).
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[mr_e]

Definitely a tricky one morally. It increases the stocks of the animals that are being hunted, in a sustainable way (no animals = no money). The meat from the animals is used, so no wastage there. For me it hinges on how the revenue's distributed: too much private profit from the whole thing would be unpalatable.

Hunting with bows sounds cool in a slightly crazy kind of way.

[Mike]

The Clintons have make public their income over the last 30 years and have actually earned about $100 million in the last seven years since Bill Clinton left the white house. It also revealed they have paid $34 million in taxes. . . it seems like a lot of money but we are paying a similar proportion of our normal wages in tax.

Halifax have joined a range of lenders who are seeming people with larger deposits. You now need at least 5% of the house value to get a mortgage and people with a 25% deposit will be getting preferential rates. I hope that this has calmed down by 2012 when our mortgage is up for renewal!

[Mike]

Chris Clarke a man in the US has made $2.6 million from the sale of http://www.pizza.com. Wow. He apparently regrets not buying more domain names in the 1990's now. Personally, I regret not buying domain names in the 90's too! You could have got some amazing ones. Lego.com, vodka.com, pizza.com, beer.com, thewhitehouse.com, architecture.com the list is endless!