Will Sweden Win Because They Have More Mothers In The Team?
I am posting this at half-time with the Lionesses two-nil down.
I think that Sweden has two mothers in the team and England has none.
I base my question because of four things.
- I played a game of real tennis once, with a sports psychologist and she felt that in real tennis, there could be an improvement in female players after childbirth. As real tennis has a universal computerised handicap, increase or decrease in performance is easily measured.
- There have also been a number of female athletes who have improved after childbirth.
- Mothers fight for their children.
- C and myself had three children in a short space of time. As we had no help and I was working from home, she looked after the elder two and I had the baby sitting on my desk in a plastic chair.
I would even take George across Regents Park to a client, if I needed to see someone. Sometimes, he would even be kidnapped by the secretaries.
One outcome, was that I was closest to George than my other two children and when he died, a psychologist, who knew me well, felt I grieved like a mother.
Surgeon Invents Plastic-Reducing Urine Collection Pot
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A hospital specialist has invented a new product that manages to reduce plastic and simplify the process of testing urine.
These three introductory paragraphs, add more detail.
Consultant urologist Dr Nick Burns-Cox has been working on his own innovation, the Pee-In-Pot (PiP) for 10 years.
Made from bamboo and sugar cane, it removes four items from the current urine collection process, three of them plastic.
Mr Burns-Cox, who works at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, said he hoped it would cut down the use of single-use plastic in the NHS and reduce the chance of errors.
I like the design of this simple device.
But, personally, I hope it becomes universal, as I have trouble giving urine samples.
I had my stroke in Hong Kong and the Chinese nurses, were so aggressive, when it came to taking urine samples, they have given me an aversion to them.
In my view the device could help the patient psychologically, at what could be a difficult time.
Bonus For GPs If Patients Join Drug Trials In Plan To Lure Firms To NHS
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
£650m boost for medical research after number of participants slumps
These three paragraphs outline what is to be done.
Tens of thousands more patients will be signed up for clinical trials as ministers promise drug companies better access to the NHS to expand the economy and develop cutting-edge treatments.
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, is promising a £650 million package to boost life sciences as he attempts to lure pharmaceutical giants to Britain.
GPs will be offered financial incentives to recruit patients into trials of new treatments and hospitals will be given research targets under plans to reverse a slump in clinical testing while the NHS struggles with the backlog from Covid-19.
It all sounds good to me.
I have been involved in several trials and medical research projects.
- As part of my coeliac disease diagnosis, one endoscopy was performed by Rebecca Fitzgerald at Cambridge, as she was taking samples of bile fluids for her research into Barrett’s esophagus.
- After the death of my wife, I was interviewed by PhD students in the Psychology Department at Liverpool University for their research into widowhood.
- Oxford University interviewed me on diet for their coeliac disease research.
- After my stroke, I spent an entertaining afternoon at the University of East London doing balance tests by computer. Their aim was to develop a reliable balance test for stroke and other patients, that could be carried out by physiotherapists quickly, than by more expensive doctors.
- I have also been on a drug trial at Queen Mary University, but that drug was useless and had no good or bad affects, so the trial was halted. However, it did lead to other enjoyable activities in the field of patient relations with treatment and research.
As a confirmed coward, I should note that with the exception of the drug trial, all of the other projects were low risk.
I should say, that I also sponsor pancreatic cancer research at Liverpool University, in memory of my son, who died from the disease. I wrote about the first Liverpool project in There’s More To Liverpool Than Football And The Beatles!.
A Database Of Projects Open For Volunteers
I believe that this is needed, so that those like me, who like to contribute to research can volunteer.
Perhaps some of the £650 million, that has been promised by Jeremy Hunt, could be used to create the database.
I also believe the database could be used for other non-medical research.
It’s Hugo Lloris vs Jordan Pickford And There’s Only One Winner
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Telegraph.
This is the introductory paragraph.
By most measures, Jordan Pickford has been the better keeper than Hugo Lloris this season — especially when it comes to penalties
The Telegraph uses statistics from a specialist goalkeeping statistics site, which is called Goalkeeper-XG.
So I would tend to put a high level of trust in their deductions.
I found the Telegraph article, when I was looking for any article about the two team captains, Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris, who both play for Tottenham Hotspur, where Lloris is captain.
I also suspect that in training.
- Harry Kane has probably scored more penalties than any other player has against Hugo Lloris.
- Hugo Lloris has probably saved more penalties than any other keeper from Harry Kane.
The two players probably know each other’s strengths and weaknesses well and in addition.
- Eric Dier of Tottenham has played many games in front of Lloris, is also in the England team.
- I suspect several of the England team have taken penalties or been in one-on-one situations with the French goalkeeper in Premier League games.
- Some England players may feel they have scores to settle, after Lloris denied them of a goal, because of a superb save.
All of this information, will be powerful in the hands and minds of England’s coaches and psychologists.
On the other hand, with the notable exception of Olivier Giroud, I suspect that only a handful of the French players have faced Jordan Pickford in a goal-scoring opportunity.
I feel that the battle of the goalkeepers will be key tonight.
It’s Time We Used Cyber Dark Arts To Foil Putin
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times, which was written by Edward Lucas.
This is the first paragraph.
Breaking the Kremlin’s grip on the Russian people is the greatest national security priority of our lives. We cannot (or rather, will not) fight the Russian invaders in Ukraine. But we can fight inside Russia, using disruption and subversion to disable the war machine, ideally to the point that the country becomes ungovernable.
He suggests the following.
- Russian speakers could sow doubt about the regime’s lies and brutalities.
- Use the Russian diaspora to contact friends and relatives back home.
- Build and unleash a psychological warfare arsenal against Putin’s cocktail of crimes, lies and secrecy.
- Send condolences to family members for their losses in the war.
- Prepare Nuremberg for war crimes trials.
- Highlight the friendly treatment that Ukrainians give Russian deserters.
- Use wit as a weapon.
Edward Lucas then talks about the antics of Sefton Delmer in World War II. Wikipeda says this about him.
During the war, he led a black propaganda campaign against Hitler by radio from England. It was so successful that Delmer was named in the Nazis’ Black Book for immediate arrest after their planned invasion of Britain.
I suspect he was very good at his job. Two of his weapons were.
Aspidistra, which was a 500 kW radio station.
A daily “grey” German-language newspaper titled Nachrichten für die Truppe (“News for the Troops”). These leaflets were delivered by the USAF.
Edward Lucas says that we should all read Delmer’s autobiography, which is called Black Boomerang, which is now out of print and difficult to find.
Wikipedia gives this explanation of Black Boomerang.
When fighting entered Germany itself, black propaganda was used to create an impression of an anti-Nazi resistance movement.
At the end of the war in Europe, Delmer advised his colleagues not to publicise the work they had been involved in, lest unrepentant Nazis claim (as had been the case after the First World War), that they had been defeated by unconscionable methods, rather than on the battlefield. Consequently, former Nazis were able to claim, without contradiction, that they had assisted the fictitious resistance movement; Delmer described this unintended consequence as a “black boomerang”
Edward Lucas suggests reprinting Black Boomerang.
If someone has a good clear copy, I could possibly arrange it.
Demoralising The Russians
Edward Lucas believes, we can use similar techniques to Delmer to attack the Russians.
But instead of using a massive radio, he proposes using the Internet and its various messaging apps.
I suspect with a bit of arm-twisting Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft et al, could produce a very good list of Russian Internet users.
It might be against the law, but who cares? It’s a war out there, we’re not using the information to physically hurt anybody or steal anything of value.
News For The Troops
I believe we can go one better than Sefton Delmer.
We are dealing with Russians invading and occupying Ukrainian territory, where many of the inhabitants can certainly read Russian.
So could we develop a truthful leaflet, that is delivered across Ukraine to both Russian Troops and the Ukrainian population?
Delivery would be primarily by the Internet, but why not deliver it by drone?
Delivery from say 5000 feet would distribute the leaflets over a wide area.
Could We Go Candy Bombing?
Gail Halvorsen, who died recently was known as the Candy Bomber.
This is the introduction to his Wikipedia entry.
Gail Seymour Halvorsen (October 10, 1920 – February 16, 2022) was a senior officer and command pilot in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the “Berlin Candy Bomber” or “Uncle Wiggly Wings” and gained fame for dropping candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949.
I think, his actions could be copied in Ukraine.
Consider.
- The Ukrainian people are starving in the occupied territories.
- The Russian soldiers aren’t doing much better.
- These days, we can supply nutrition bars instead of sweets.
- Automated drones could deliver them safely from 5000 feet.
- They could be flown on behalf of the Red Cross from over the border in Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Slovakia.
Organised properly, the Russians would have a problem.
- If they let the drones through, the siege will be broken in a small way.
- If they shoot them down, their soldiers won’t get the smallest snack and the Russians will be attacking the Red Cross.
We might lose a lot of drones, but eventually we’ll get the nutrition through, each wrapped in a large dollop of propaganda.
The Power of Research
I’ve always been a great believer in research. This came home to me in spades, when as an engineer at ICI, I was investigating the dynamics of a particular chemical reaction. In the end, I found a lot of the information I required by going back to the 1900s, where a Chinese researcher working in Canada had obtained the rate constants I needed. So when you have a problem, there’s probably someone out there who has the information you need. But it may be extremely difficult to find, like my rate constants.
When C died, I needed help and as I was in touch with Liverpool University at the time, I asked if they had an expert on bereavement. They do in Kate Bennett and several times, I’ve talked things through with her and her research has shown me the way forward. So yesterday, as I had time to spare, I popped in on Kate for a coffee and a chat. All her publications are on her web site. There is a link there so that you can participate in her research as I have done, and that to me is better than any therapy, as by doing so, you’re not just helping yourself, but others too.
If you think about it, perhaps a million people lose their spouse or partner to death every year in the UK and how much does all this cost the taxpayer through the NHS and in ruined lives? But little research is done into the subject in reputable instutions to find ways to overcome problems in a constructive way.
I’ve asked Kate simple questions and got simple answers, which have been invaluable.
So thank you Kate for your help and support, these last three years.
The Anonymous Widower 