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Biononsense
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2–3 minutes·
No comments on BiononsenseAfter reading this article about human genetic engineering, I have to comment on something that’s been bugging me for a while now. The article is inoffensive enough, but it uses the term ‘biogenetics’. I’m sorry, but there is no such field as biogenetics; it’s either genetics or nothing, and there’s no use in trying to…
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Smoky
Support For New York-Style Smoking Ban – the results of a MORI poll conducted in the UK on whether we should have a smoking ban. One question: is it standard in America to have smoking and non-smoking areas in restaurants, and if so, do they work well? I can’t remember from my previous visits.
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Pinker on the Stand
Pinker on the stand – a transcript of talk and discussion given by Steve Pinker on ‘Human Nature and Its Future’. I can’t say I learned anything particularly new from the talk itself, but Pinker receives a real roasting in the discussion about the concepts of criminal justice and what implications our new understanding of…
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Talking
It’s seems like I’m not the only one who’s having problems talking lately. Not talking in general, but talking about emotive issues (i.e. the war, politics, etc.) Normally I’m perfectly happy to be contrary and debate with people, but I just find it much more difficult these days. It’s not simply that it requires more…
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MP blog
Tom Watson (Labour MP) may be under the scrutiny of the web for his patently joking Teens Page but I’m more impressed by the fact that he actually has a weblog. Not just that, but it’s regularly updated, written by himself, and runs Movable Type. Even better, it isn’t a constant litany of propaganda. How…
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Madness!
The German Family Affairs Ministry has blacklisted EA’s new game Command & Conquer: Generals because it “portrays war as the only way to resolve conflicts,” and that “it gives military force an aesthetic appeal.” When I first heard about C&C: Generals, I have to admit that I was a bit surprised at its premise of…
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Stirring
We will not fly our flags in their country – a stirring speech given by a British army commander to his troops on the eve of war.
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Walkout
Another BBC News story about schoolkids walking out over war. To my mind, this is just nuts. Obviously university students can do what they like (although interestingly most people in Cambridge haven’t done any walking out), and I can just about see sixth formers being of sound mind to do it. But 11-16 year olds?…
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Webcams for schools
Putting webcams in classrooms to catch problem pupils – seems like a great idea to me, you wouldn’t believe the number of parents who think their kids can do no wrong. As for privacy concerns, I think maybe some kind of key escrow agency might be a good idea, wherein (say) at least two out…
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‘Get a life’ redux
There’s been a bit of a ruckus on MetaFilter recently regarding a journalist, Laurie Garrett, who attended the World Economic Forum and sent an email to her friends filled with her personal thoughts an speculations about the conference. The email was of course not intended for publication, but this being the 21st century and what…
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