January 2012
1 post
December 2011
3 posts
The Muff March against 'designer vagina' surgery |... →
At its most modest, the Muff March is against the pornography-influenced obsession with removing pubic hair. But it’s also about protesting against the sort of surgery that makes you cross your legs. Typical procedures on offer include labiaplasty (trimming or removing the labia) and vaginal rejuvenation (tightening – usually referred to by “designer vagina”).
If I...
Tim Harford — Article — You’re wrong – we are all... →
“Did you hear about that 1 per cent pay rise?”
“I did. Tough but fair, if you ask me.” “Why’s that?”
“Well, we in the private sector have to work to pay for you in the public sector. It’s only fair that you show some restraint.”
“Well, ‘show some restraint’ is not quite the phrase, is it? It’s not as if I’m choosing my own pay. You must be confusing me with the chief executive of a major...
November 2011
1 post
Why is our consumption falling? | Environment |... →
Or is it? Good article for a Tuesday morning.
October 2011
5 posts
Man shot three times in attack outside club | News →
I’m starting to go off London. Britain is starting to take on the worst of America - crime, inequality, poverty. If this is how it’s going to be, I should just move back…
Theresa May put on the spot over Human Rights cat... →
“Earlier today Home Secretary Theresa May made a striking claim about the how pet ownership was interpreted in human rights legislation. She told delegates at the Conservative Party conference of the case of “the illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – and I am not making this up – he had pet a cat.” Ms May’s speech writers would do well to read more Full Fact and...
What's up with bathroom/loo attendants?
Every so often I end up at some establishment with extortionate entry and drinks prices. And toilet attendants. It’s not really my scene and I don’t frequent these places on my own, but sometimes there’s a birthday or something on. Or even they’re in places I don’t expect. For instance I went to this club in London on Saturday that was hosting a not-very-big indie...
September 2011
7 posts
Coffee may help prevent depression in women | Life... →
As if I needed more reasons to drink my coffee!
BBC - Food - Recipes : Fillet of cod with Bombay... →
Made this tonight. Delicious! Pretty easy, too. Served with a rocket and cucumber salad.
August 2011
8 posts
2 tags
The UK riots: the psychology of looting | Zoe... →
I do enjoy treading pragmatic ground, so this suits my thinking quite well. It also somewhat mitigates the problem I’ve had with profiles of the looters so far, namely that, aside from the initial group at Tottenham perhaps, I’m not sure that we really have a good idea yet of who exactly they are (aside from young and largely male), so it’s difficult to confidently explain their...
July 2011
11 posts
Salad experiment
Just made a “Caprese” salad, substituting the mozzarella for low fat cottage cheese and omitting the olive oil. Very passable, healthy substitute. Just thought I’d share.
Newton: The original, thinking man's Jackass?
Warning - Do not try this at home.
From A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson: “[Isac Newton] built his own laboratory, the first at Cambridge, but then engaged in the most bizarre experiments. Once he inserted a bodkin - a long needle of the sort used for sewing leather - into his eye socket and rubbed it around ‘betwixt my eye and the bone as near to [the] backside of...
Freakonomics » Helmetless Motorcyclist Killed... →
“One bizarre unintended consequence of the rollback in helmet laws: more human organs available for transplantation.” Happily, they don’t do brain transplants yet.
“The main significant effect found in this study was that people who’d lived at...”
– The British: Good from afar but far from good? – Chris Blattman
June 2011
12 posts
Lisa Bloom: How To Talk To Little Girls →
Seen this from a couple people now, with good reason! I will have to make note of this. I don’t meet many little girls (most people I know seem to be giving birth to boys!), but I must at some point.
Friday morning car adventure
Our car is due for its annual MOT so I dropped it off at the garage this morning. I walked just under the mile back to our flat only to discover I had left the keys to the flat in the car. Well done, Angie. I had even reminded myself to pick them up off the seat. So I turned around and walked back to the garage to see my car drive by. I’ve not been too quick on the uptake the past few days...
Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door... →
“Most of the johns were startled to learn that the girls were not acting of their own free will—75 to 80 percent of prostitutes don’t.” Prostitution is not an even exchange of services for money, something current or would-be johns would do well to remember. You must be out there somewhere - no supply without demand - and you should be ashamed.
Insomnia: Can't sleep?Try cooling your brain →
Oooh. This could be very helpful. Any ideas about how to cool the brain without the cap thing?
US plans fast-track security checks for low-risk... →
I’ve been signed up tot the UK’s Iris programme for several years now. Though I initially signed up to it because of the long queues I encountered coming in on US to UK flights in the non-EU passport line, it’s also been the speedier option on inter-European journeys, too. In March, on our way back from Sweden, I made it through in a fraction of the time my husband did when...
May 2011
11 posts
