Human rights defenders are perfectly entitled to ignore FIFA’s plea to ‘focus on the football’ and use the World Cup to shine a spotlight on Qatar’s regressive regime, says Stephen Evans.
Urban foxes: are they ‘fantastic’ or a growing menace?
16 October 2022 by Leave a Comment
When Larry the cat chased off a vulpine visitor from No 10 last week, many of us cheered him on. But others argue the fox deserves its place, both in our folklore and in our cities…
Instead of demonising them, says Scott, we should remember that we have already lost so many animals in the wild and then “take a step back and see that foxes are an amazing, beautiful wildlife that we’re lucky to be able to see”.
Forget the urban myths and behold the urban fox!
Source: Urban foxes: are they ‘fantastic’ or a growing menace?
Brexiting on ourselves from a great height: a budgetary Truss-up
3 October 2022 by Leave a Comment
In one fell swoop the Truss-Kwarteng ‘fiscal event’ has sent the economy into freefall. What if ‘the lady’s not for turning?’
Source: Brexiting on ourselves from a great height: a budgetary Truss-up
A Salesman’s Trick, Ignoring R0, Shaming, Conspiracy, Premature Declaration, Strategic Omission, and Fanciful Fiction
3 June 2022 by
I can’t stop thinking of a recent analysis that estimated over 300,000 Americans might be alive today had all adults been vaccinated. How did we get here?
…
My previous articles have examined several techniques these COVID minimizers use to mislead their readers. These include:
- A salesman’s trick: Using a number that is larger than the COVID death toll to minimize that death toll.
- Ignoring R0: Focusing on the infection fatality rate of COVID while ignoring how contagious it is.
- Shaming: Shaming people who try not to get COVID or who are bothered by its death toll.
- Conspiracy: Claiming the COVID death toll can’t be trusted.
- Premature declaration: Acting as if the pandemic is over.
- Strategic omission: Omitting key facts that are needed to understand some aspect of the pandemic.
- Fanciful fiction: Just making stuff up.
CRICKET AND THE CRAVING FOR A QUICK FIX
30 December 2021 by Leave a Comment
This is why, compared to Test cricket, T20 can seem more exciting yet less satisfying. It can electrify but, stripped of the wider storyline that infuses it with meaning, it can also feel soulless.
This is true not just of cricket. At the climax of this year’s Formula One season in Abu Dhabi, a genuinely thrilling showdown between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen descended into controversy and farce thanks to the decision by the race controller to ignore the rulebook and create a one-lap contest in the final lap. It was a stark reminder that contrived thrills rarely satisfy in sport.
Opinion | Is Mark Zuckerberg a Man Without Principles?
20 October 2021 by Leave a Comment
A long time ago, I was very close to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. They both were happy to be bazillionaires. They both were megalomaniacs, in certain ways. They could be very unpleasant, but they had some principles. They had a red line. In my encounters with Mark Zuckerberg, I’ve never been able to discover any principles.
— Walt Mossberg
Wow!
WANT TO RAISE WAGES? REBUILD OUR UNIONS
12 October 2021 by Leave a Comment
Blaming migrants is politically cheap but socially costly. It diverts our attention from the real causes of low pay and holds us back from taking the kind of collective action necessary to defend living standards.
Want to improve wages? Don’t scapegoat immigrants. Don’t create shortages. Rebuild our unions.
The origin of SARS-CoV-2, revisited
31 May 2021 by Leave a Comment
Since early in the pandemic, scientists have overwhelmingly concluded that the evidence makes a natural origin for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a far more likely explanation for the pandemic than a laboratory origin. Over the last three weeks or so, however, there has been considerable chatter about the “lab leak” hypothesis, and President Biden even ordered US intelligence agencies to…
Public oppose bishops in the Lords by more than three to one – new poll
24 March 2021 by Leave a Comment
A new survey has shown that the British public is against the House of Lords continuing to have places for Church of England bishops by more than three to one. The YouGov poll found that 53% of adults favour removing the bishops, with only 16% favouring keeping them. The result was consistent across supporters of […]
Source: Public oppose bishops in the Lords by more than three to one – new poll
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