Monthly Archives: March 2007

a meeting of mindlessness

Posted on March 30, 2007 by acb

I was talking the other day to a politician who is, for all I know, a perfectly nice, competent person, doing their best at a difficult and important job. I have to take this on faith, though, because their minders … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in British politics | 6 Comments

Fear of Flying

Posted on March 24, 2007 by acb

My flight out of Skavsta left at 21.55, and I was tired enough to think it worthwhile to stand queuing for half an hour to get a decent seat to sleep in. I had headphones on and a Swedish book … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Travel notes | 2 Comments

Is Cannabis a parasite on humans?

Posted on March 18, 2007 by acb

Whatever the silliness and arrogance of his views on religion, the Dawkins of The Extended Phenotype continues to fascinate me. The idea that genes are selected as much for their effects on other phenotypes as on those of the bodies … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Science without worms | 11 Comments

Small nerdy note

Posted on March 14, 2007 by acb

While I am waiting 20 minutes for the PNAS site to let me back in, I might as well explain why I have been barred: I use scrapbook. It is an extremely useful Firefox extension that grabs whole web pages … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in nördig | Comments Off on Small nerdy note

usual apologies

Posted on March 14, 2007 by acb

Looking back down the page, I notice that the entries here have been increasingly trivial. This is, I know, my fault. I have added at the bottom of the recent posts listing a feed to my more serious pieces on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Housekeeping | 7 Comments

More nose news

Posted on March 12, 2007 by acb

You will all, I hope, be as glad as I am to hear that the doctors in Växsjö have managed to sew back on the nose tip and ear of the Dutch lorry driver who had them bitten off last … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Travel notes | Comments Off on More nose news

Better than Crufts

Posted on March 9, 2007 by acb

The venerable Dr Clifford Longley who was religious affairs editor of the Times for twenty years, has let rip at his successor, a Ms Gledhill, who has been doing the job ever since, in the letters page of the Catholic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 1 Comment

I should be working but

Posted on March 9, 2007 by acb

I cannot resist a story in Dagens Nyheter about a fight in a Dutch lorry which was parked in Växsjö, a small and not overwhelmingly interesting town in Småland, a large and not overwhelmingly interesting region of southern Sweden. In … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Travel notes | 4 Comments

HIgh water

Posted on March 7, 2007 by acb

It really has been a filthy wet winter. I was down by the Cam yesterday and the little river, which two years ago in March looked like this looked instead like this These are, as near as I can manage, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on HIgh water

String theory

Posted on March 7, 2007 by acb

I threw away the palm pilot this morning. It still worked if I took it to bits every six weeks and reassembled it, a voodoo which restored the touch screen to touch sensitivity, but I have just got a new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 5 Comments