In brief: education for all

I have descended into Marking Hell. No, really, I’m not going to sleep for another fortnight. See you on the other side (if I make it)…

(This post is rather apt on the day that the British government announces that rich kids will be able to buy their university places again. So, the poor won’t be able to afford to go to university any longer, and the rich will be able to pay for places regardless of their talent or aptitude. Higher education is once more the preserve of the elite.)

In brief: Amen to that!

(Via lapetitefeministeanglaise)

I haven’t had a great deal of time for Stephen Fry since, in the very short time I followed him on twitter, he managed to flounce and then return twice. It all started to get a bit grating. Nonetheless, I’m in 100% agreement with him here. I don’t yet know what I’m doing on Friday but it will certainly involve me avoiding all things royal wedding.

Oh, it’s going to rain on Friday, apparently. That doesn’t displease me one little bit.

In other news, I wonder if there’s any danger of me every doing any work ever again.

My carbon footprint and a gawdawful confession

(Imma starting my prompt-posting right now, so I am!)

Would you ever calculate your carbon footprint? (Prompt from Plinky.)

Yes. And then no.

I would like to but I don’t know how. I know I could learn but considering the most travel I do is to Asda in the car (forgetting for a moment a longhaul flight at the weekend), I dare say I’m not doing the most damage. But it would be interesting to know…

Actually, this leads me to a confession. I have recently become involved in a petition/ social justice site whereon I sign numerous petitions every day. They are invariably excellent causes and mirror my own concerns with women’s rights, human rights, animal rights, human trafficking etc. I also sign petitions about the environment and sustainable food, though I don’t always understand The Science.

Anyway, I was sceptical at first and but I signed as many petitions as I thought were worthwhile and waited to see what happened. As it turns out, a lot happens. Advertisers change their campaigns, senators change their votes, the wrong imprisoned are freed, politicians are made accountable, schools change their polices, and, in often very small ways, the world becomes a better place.

But I must confess: I will not sign a petition if the grammar used within is incorrect. I just can’t. If you don’t have your commas in the right place, if you abuse semi-colons, if I spot one too many errant apostrophes, if you don’t know the difference between title and sentence case, I am not signing you. I don’t care if your petition is to save the whole damned world, you will not have my X on the end of you.

I am surely a terrible person. That there just undoes all the good I do otherwise, I’m sure of it…

Post more often

I very much want to post more often and perhaps this – want to blog more often – is the way to do it. And it may even prompt more, non-prescribed posting.

I’m following the steps:

Signing up is simple – do the following:

1. Post on your blog, right now, that you’re participating
2. (You can grab a sample post from dailypost.wordpress.com)
3. Use the tag postaday2011 or postaweek2011 in your posts (tips on tagging here)
4. Go to dailypost.wordpress.com
5. Subscribe to dailypost.wordpress.com- you’ll get reminders and inspirations every day to help you bring your full potential to your WordPress blog!

So:

1. I am announcing that I am participating, starting as of this moment.
2. I’m hoping this post will do.
3. I’m going for the postaweek option; postaday would drive be up and down the walls.
4. Done.
5. Done.

Tumblr

Shocking neglect of this place. Mostly because I’m here on tumblr all the time. Comments enabled and all so check it out, if you please.

In brief: posting by email

I wonder if that will actually make me post more? (I have been saying, after all, that I think that WP could really, really, really use a post-by-email feature.) We’ll see.

Life continues to be very busy, dear reader(s). Let’s call this a holding post, innit.

Vitamins are bad for you

It’s all just a scare, of course, and it’s impossible to know the merits of each of the contributing studies in this meta-analysis, but I’m going to post about it anyway in case any of my readers are rabid vitamin munchers like me. I take about 10 different vitamin and mineral supplements a day. I kid not! I eat healthily as well but it’s become something of an obsession and addiction. I know, I know…

Today, the BBC news revealed that some vitamin supplements do not extend life and could even lead to a premature death.

Oh dear!

A review of 67 studies found “no convincing evidence” that antioxidant supplements cut the risk of dying.

Scientists at Copenhagen University said vitamins A and E could interfere with the body’s natural defences.

“Even more, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E seem to increase mortality,” according to the review by the respected Cochrane Collaboration.

The research involved selecting various studies from 817 on beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium which the team felt were the most likely to fairly reflect the impact of the supplements on reducing mortality.

It has been thought that these supplements may be able to prevent damage to the body’s tissues called “oxidative stress” by eliminating the molecules called “free radicals” which are said to cause it.

This damage has been implicated in several major diseases including cancer and heart disease.

I’m not buying it, even if I should. Mobile phones are bad for you, mobile phones are harmless; fairy liquid causes cancer, fairy liquid’s harmless, etc. etc. I’m going to keep on munching my vitamins regardless (and you should too). In my experience, meta-analysis are not hugely reliable and are often refuted in a short space of time. Besides, issuing blanket advice on whether or not someone (anyone, everyone) should take vitamin and mineral supplements is vastly irresponsible.

Take no notice, vitamin-lovers; they’ll be telling you something different next week.

The price of Cole could leave you feeling a bit sick

I’m off to the Motherland for a week. I leave you with this deliciously biting piece from Marina Hyde in today’s Guardian.

The price of Cole could leave you feeling a bit sick.

Summary: Ashley Cole is an arrogant, conceited, nasty little fvckhead.

I don’t always like Hyde’s opinions but she’s spot on here.

The piece, for the link-adverse, is after the jump.

Another worthy cause post

Like the title says: returntoromance.

From the journal’s userinfo:

I am undertaking a sponsored walk starting at the end of January 2008, from Gosport to Rome, a total of 1,200 miles in memory of my late wife Anne. The aim is to raise monies for 4 charities that Anne supported and the project is called “Return to ROMANCE”, which stands for Return to ROMe for ANne and CharitiEs.

The route takes me from Gosport to Portsmouth, across the channel to Caen and onward through France and Italy, arriving in Rome in mid May 2008. In addition to the walk there will also be a charity golf event at the end of June 2008 which will include an auction to raise further monies for the charities.

The beneficiaries of my walk will be Action Aid, two local charities; Harbour Cancer Support Centre based in Gosport and the Friends of Oncology and Radiotherapy Cancer Charity (FORT) based at St Mary’s Hospital Portsmouth who support sufferers and their families across Southern and Eastern Hampshire and West Sussex. The fourth is organised by the Catholic Church in Gosport, which is twinned with the parish of Mbetta in Cameroon and raises funds for education, health as well as pastoral projects in the area.

Each charity will receive an equal share of all monies raised.

About Anne:

Anne was born in Easington in 1957, grew up in Seaham Harbour and was educated in Seaham and Sunderland before joining the Royal Navy as a nurse in 1975.

Anne was first diagnosed with cancer in August 2001 and over the next four years, suffered from three different types: Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bowel cancer and liver cancer (twice). During that period, Anne underwent chemotherapy via peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines) for over 20 months and had three major operations until she was in remission from the Hodgkin’s, clear of bowel cancer, had recovered from her latest liver surgery and had been given the all clear by her surgeon, much to mine and her family’s relief.

Having fully recovered, she commenced a precautionary course of chemotherapy in early November 2005 to eradicate any rogue cells that may have remained. Unfortunately, on 23 November Anne developed what appeared to be flu, hospital tests did not reveal anything suspicious and she appeared to be recovering. Her sudden and unexpected death on the 26 November 2005 aged 48 turned out to be due to a rapidly developed infection in her heart.

Anne was a qualified midwife and nurse and from day one she never complained or wanted to hide away and was determined to win her battles. Whenever able, she carried on working as a midwife in Southampton and Portsmouth and later as a nurse in the radiology department at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport. Her experience as a nurse and cancer sufferer enabled her to support others who were starting treatment by giving advice when having intravenous lines fitted in the radiology department and also on the oncology ward when starting their chemotherapy, often while she was having her own treatment.

Anne and I were due to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in Rome in March 2006 and she would have celebrated her 50th birthday in June 2007. This sponsored walk is to honour that plan and to celebrate a life taken suddenly but also importantly to acknowledge many of the people / charities that Anne supported or which supported us through Anne’s time of need.

If you would like to join me in walking some of the route and are happy to obtain sponsorship, require information about the golf event, want to provide non-financial support or just want general information about the walk etc, please e mail me at Ret2rom@aol.com

You can sponsor me through my ‘Just Giving’ site.
http://www.justgiving.com/nigelhearnden
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to donate: FORT Cancer Charity will receive your money electronically and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in Gift Aid will be added to your donation at no cost to you.

Once all monies have been collected, FORT will ensure that each of the four charities included in this fundraising project receive 25% of the monies.

Please donate generously.

Many thanks for your support.

What a fantastic person. Give, if you want and can.

Reprieve and Agent Provocateur

This is from a recent email circulated around our department.

Reprieve and Agent Provocateur [possibly NSFW] recently unveiled a new line of Guantánamo-orange underpants emblazoned with the slogan Fair Trial My Arse. We currently have a limited number of these knickers, which were featured in Vivienne Westwood’s London fashion week show, being auctioned on eBay. 100% of the final bidding price will go to Reprieve.

As all this is quite a diversion from our usual work (legal briefs), I wanted to tell you more about them and the issues that we hope that the knickers will highlight.

The Fair Trial My Arse lingerie initiative came about when US military authorities bizarrely and falsely accused Reprieve lawyers of smuggling Under Armour underpants and Speedo swimming trunks to a Guantánamo prisoner, Shaker Aamer. Shaker is a British resident who has endured six years of imprisonment in Guantánamo Bay, without charge or trial. Almost 280 men remain in Guantánamo Bay, yet only 14 of them stand charged with any crime.

Prompted by this strange story, and the fact that the small number of Guantánamo prisoners being put before a military court can be convicted based on secret evidence and evidence gained from torture, Agent Provocateur developed handcuff-accessorized bikini-briefs in Guantánamo orange, emblazoned with the slogan Fair Trial My Arse across the rear. They are being sold in Agent Provocateur stores in aid of Reprieve as well as on our eBay site. Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith presented the first pair of pants to Gordon Brown on February 14th as a special Valentine’s Day gift, with a letter asking him to intervene in the plight of British residents Shaker Aamer and Binyam Mohamed in Guantánamo Bay.

It is hoped that the limited-edition bikini-briefs will highlight the inhumane and illegal treatment of prisoners held without trial in Guantánamo Bay and in countless other secret prisons round the world.

Please do check out the knickers and make a bid at ebay.

Thanks for your support,
Reprieve

Unfortunately the knickers are a little pricey but I wanted to draw your attention to the initiative anyway.

There are lots of stories about this around the web. Combine some or all of these search terms: reprieve, agent provocateur, knickers, clive stafford smith, gordon brown, london fashion week, vivienne westwood.