Decoding the Wheat Genome
In some ways I am pleased that scientists at mine and C’s old university, Liverpool, have led a team that has decoded the wheat genome.
I could make a sarcastic comment about what good is that to me as a coeliac, but it should help to ease the problems of feeding the world. Something that is needed even more given the problems in Russia and Pakistan, which may well be repeated elsewhere. Although new varieties will come too late for the current crisis.
I do suspect though, that science that works for wheat will also work for rice, maize and the other staple cereals. This is actually confirmed in the BBC Report, which says they are less complex and have already been done.
Don’t They Ever Learn?
Pakistani cricketers are once again in the brown stuff. This time, it’s about spot betting on whether a delivery is a no-ball or not. But the Pakistani cricket team has been involved in all sorts of scandals over the past few years. So you’d think that with all the problems in the country, that the cricketers would be playing to try to give some sort of lift to their unfortunate compatriots.
If the allegations are proven to be true, then those involved should be banned for life from ever playing cricket again!
The real curse is this spot betting. Imagine yesterday at Portman Road and you could bet on Grant Leadbitter hitting the bar from a free kick. (Actually, what he did deserved a goal!) But bookmakers in some places will take such a bet. Certainly no reputable or licensed one would.
As an aside to this Oxfam have just said that billions of pounds will have to be spent to reconstruct Pakistan and it must start now! Can we trust the country to spend the money wisely and not let it end up in the hands of crooks?
Even if we can, these cricketers have sowed the seeds of doubt in many peoples’ minds.
Rachel Burden on Fishing
I like and respect Rachel Burden on BBC Radio 5 Live.
She went up even more in my estimation, when she described her fishing expedition in Devon recently.
Fishing really is one of the most boring pastimes. It’s almost as boring as watching soaps like East Enders or Coronation Street.
August Birthdays
With Samantha Cameron having given birth in August, there has been a lot of talk recently about the disadvantage of August birthdays.
But it wasn’t always so!
Both my late wife and myself would have considered ourselves successful; she as a barrister and racehorse breeder and myself as a computer programmer, who helped create a multi-million pound company. We were both born in August many years ago.
Our most successful son of three is at the peak of his profession in London, despite leaving school with no qualifications at all. And he too was born in August.
So why this stigma against August births? Perhaps Leos and early-Virgos have a drive lacked by others, born in colder months.
I should say that some years ago I analysed all the birth weights for a year in an English county to see if we could find any patterns that might point to why some children were born with a low weight. One of the findings was that twins were more numerous eight or nine months after Christmas. Unfortunately, the data wasn’t good enough to know if the twins were identical or fraternal.
So I do wonder if some August children, having been conceived perhaps after a party, just want to get on with life and don’t succeed.
Iranian Football Rules
Ali Karimi has been called the Maradona of Asian football. However, he has now upset the regime for various reasons according to this article.
It would appear that he broke the rules on fasting during Ramadan by drinking in a training session, but the BBC reckons the real reason is politics not religion as he showed open support for those that felt they had been cheated of victory in the elections.
Is Iran on the Point of Melt Down?
History shows that as regimes get close to their end they get paranoid and do strange things. Just look at what happened in the last days of the Toman Empire or Nazi Germany at the end of the Second World War.
The news coming out of Iran seems to get worse and more vindictive and bonkers every day. We have the stories of whether women, such as Sakineh Mohammadani Ashtiani will or should be stoned, Ahmadinejad’s bomber drone and now we now have a fatwa on cats and dogs. I know that pets aren’t that important in the scheme of things, but The Times carries an article today by an Iranian expert, that says that Iran is on the point of melt down!
I just hope that what replaces the current odious regime isn’t more so. But I’m afraid though that dictators be they military, religious or racist do seem to have immense skills on hanging on to power.
Do We Need Libraries?
I rarely use a library and I haven’t borrowed a book in perhaps forty years. I’ve still actually got it as my mother-in-law’s dachsund chewed it and as I had to pay for it, they let me keep it.
I only use a library for reference. I was in Cambridge a few months ago and I needed to answer a question, so I looked it up in an old directory of the city. At home, I would have used the Internet and usually on the move, I’d find an Internet cafe.
So to me libraries only have one point and that is as a place to look up facts or perhaps get ideas.
To me books are something to buy and cherish. Perhaps, this is because my father was a printer, but also because most books I read regularly, are the sort of reference books or histories, you don’t find on the web or in libraries. I suppose now, I probably buy more books on the Internet than anywhere else too.
Books too, are a recyclable resource. When I move, a lot of my fully-read histories and references will go to Oxfam. but why can’t they go down the pub or the local cafe. The rules should be as they are in many hotels; you can take the book, if you add another one to the collection. Many pubs and cafes could and some already do, provide a quiet room, where customers could read, whilst they are having a coffee or a glass of something stronger.
So I very much feel that libraries as we know it are past their sell-by date. Perhaps, though, we do need quiet reading rooms in very much the old Victorian tradition, where knowledge can be passed on, books can be recycled etc.
The trouble is though the Middle Classes won’t like it. But in these times of austerity, they’d actually support more jobs, by buying the book they want to borrow in the first place and then recycling it creatively. They might even get more pleasure, if they then swapped it in the local cafe for something they would have never thought about reading in the first place.
So before you criticise me, just think when was the last time you borrowed a book from a library!
Remember too, that before public libraries were as common as they are now, companies like Boots used to run them.
Sarah Brown is an Optional Extra at £12,800
I do find it very tasteless when former useless Prime Ministers tote their services as speakers on the after-dinner circuit. Books are one thing, as you have the choice about buying them and they may contain some interesting nuggets, but who’d pay Prudence about £64,000 for a speech. Perhaps, an arse-licker of the first level might, but I prefer to kick arses rather than lick them.
What however got me about this story, was that Sarah Brown is an optional extra at £12,800 and she will present a prize for that! Most of the women, I know would consider this a supreme insult. C would be laughing like a drain at the ludicrous nature of it all!
Jim Swire’s Web Site
I’ve just found this site, which has been setup by Dr. Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph.
The material on the site forms the basis of the one man show Lockerbie:Unfinished Business, which I saw at The Gilded Balloon.
An important witness in the trial of Megrahi was Thomas Hayes. Read his Wikipedia entry. I know this can be suspect, but his involvement in other cases; Maguire Seven and Judith Ward, is a matter of public record.
My question about Hayes is why did he not give truthful evidence to the Court? Scientists are brought up to know that in research evrything must be true and able to be shown to be true. Somehow some seem to develop a theory and then prove it to be true. I prefer the different approach of we have a problem and let’s solve it.
Was Andy Murray Victimised Over Lockerbie?
I’ve just watched Andy Murray crash out of the tennis in Cincinnati. It was to be expected as it was his seventh successive start in the heat of the day. He did ask for a later start, but this was refused. Here’s what the BBC said.
The Scot was treated court-side for the heat in the second set, which Fish took with ease as Murray’s strength waned.
Murray showed immense reserve to force the final set to a tie-break but Fish proved just too strong for the Scot.
The players took to the court at 12pm local time (1700 BST) in temperatures reaching 33 degrees in the shade, after Murray’s request for a later start on Friday was rejected by tournament officials.
I wonder why they rejected his request?
Could it be that Murray was a Scot and the Americans wanted to vent their fury over the release of Al Megrahi on someone Scottish?
What’s the odds that he gets a terrible draw in the US Open?
The Anonymous Widower 