Women Aren't Good At Science

Apparently, if Capita is to be believed, women aren't any good at science.

That at least is the conclusion that one must draw based on the fact that Capita ran an advert for a temporary science teacher at a male Muslim school, which specified "male science teacher".

Whatever happened to Nanny's equality laws (passed in the 70's)?

Unsurprisingly a few eyebrows were raised, and Crapita (sorry, Capita) were forced to withdraw the advert.

It seems that Nanny is scared of religion.

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Nanny Bans Cooked Meat

I see that some research carried out at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that browning meat in the oven, grill or frying pan (ie cooking meat) produces chemicals which may increase the risk of developing dementia.

Advanced glycation end (AGE) products have been linked to diseases such as type-2 diabetes. Mice fed a high-AGEs diet had a build-up of dangerous proteins in the brain and impaired cognitive function. AGEs occur during the cooking process.

A short-term analysis of people over 60 suggested a link between high levels of AGEs in the blood and cognitive decline.

However, whilst (according to experts) the results were "compelling" they do not provide "definitive answers".

Derek Hill, a professor of medical imaging sciences at University College London, is quoted by the BBC:

"The results are compelling.

Because cures for Alzheimer's disease remain a distant hope, efforts to prevent it are extremely important, but this study should be seen as encouraging further work, rather than as providing definitive answers. 

But it is grounds for optimism - this paper adds to the body of evidence suggesting that using preventative strategies might reduce the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in society and that could have very positive impact on us all."

Dr Simon Ridley, from the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said:

"Diabetes has previously been linked to an increased risk of dementia, and this small study provides some new insight into some of the possible molecular processes that may link the two conditions. 

It's important to note that the people in this study did not have dementia. This subject has so far not been well studied in people, and we don't yet know whether the amount of AGEs in our diet might affect our risk of dementia."

Whilst those with scientific backgrounds are clearly flagging that the findings are not definitive, and that further work and study is required, pound to a penny the scaremongers and Nanny's little helpers will mount a campaign against cooked meat.

Therefore in one step we will end up back to the age of the caveman (pre discovery of fire) when we ate raw meat.

Still, I for one am very fond of steak tartar.

Steak tartars all round!


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Nanny Bans E-fags

My thanks to a loyal reader who has pointed me to a particularly stupid piece of Nanny nonsense, emanating from Nanny's chums in Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Nanny has decreed that because E-cigarettes (designed to help people quit smoking) look so much like the real thing, that they are to be banned from all buildings and grounds covered by the Trust (eg the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital).

A spokesman is quoted by the Argus:

“The trust’s smoke free working group took the view that some makes of e-cigarette look remarkably similar to ordinary cigarettes, particularly when seen from a distance or at a glance.

Allowing people to use e-cigarettes on site could therefore give the impression that the trust condones smoking on site, or does not actively enforce its no smoking policy. 

During the consultation process, the trust council, the health and safety committee and the hospital management board were all asked to consider this point and the rationale for banning e-cigarettes.”

What a load of bollocks!

Hospitals are ghastly stressful places to be in (whether you are a patient, or a member of staff); people incarcerated in these places should at least be given some means of stress relief, especially if that relief is provided by something as harmless as an E-cigarette.

I dare say the Trust will also ban people drinking Lucozade, Irn-Bru (and the equivalent) lest people mistake it at a distance for whisky!

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Nanny Sells Medical Records For Pittance

Last week NHS England agreed to delay its medical record sharing project (Care.data) by six months, so that people could be better informed about its "benefits".

This delay prompted a backlash from various organisations (eg the BMA) accusing the NHS of backing down to scaremongering (whipped up by the media and various pressure groups) about the dangers of sharing data.

One week on and blinkey blonky blimey we see that the the NHS has been forced to admit that it has been wrongly sharing hospital admission data (from 1989 to 2010) with the insurance industry (the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries).

The information given to the Institute (in exchange for a nominal sum of £2,220) contained details on treatments and diagnoses, age, the area the patient lived in, but not their names. The information was used to produce a report to help insurance firms price their products.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre, which runs the database of records, said "greater scrutiny" should have been applied.

No kidding!

A spokeswoman for the Health and Social Care Information Centre is quoted by the BBC:

"The HSCIC believes greater scrutiny should have been applied by our predecessor body [the centre was known as the NHS Information Centre at the time] prior to an instance where data was shared with an actuarial society. 

We would like to restate that full postcodes and dates of birth were not supplied as part of this data and that it was not used to analyse individual insurance premiums, but to analyse general variances in critical illness.

We are absolutely committed to the public understanding what is being done with their information."

I wonder why the rules were not followed, and why the sum Nanny received was so small?

I don't know what annoys me more, the fact that Nanny shared the data with the wrong people or that she sold it for a pittance.

Either way this clearly shows that Nanny cannot be trusted with our data!


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A Little of What You Fancy - Liquid Bread

I was gemused and heartened to read a wee while ago some sensible words of wisdom from Professor Charles Bamforth of the University of California, and author of Beer, Health and Nutrition,  about the benefits of drinking.

The professor was musing about those people who, during January, go "cold turkey" and give up booze for a month in the belief that it is good for them. The professor is of the view that drinking regularly throughout the post-New Year period would have had far more health benefits than going cold turkey.

He is quoted by the Independent:

“It’s well known that drinking too much can cause serious health problems. Many people don’t realise that drinking in moderation has significant health benefits and that moderate drinkers have a longer life expectancy than non-drinkers.

Regular moderate intake of alcohol is good for the heart and blood circulation.

The key is a little and often.  You are seriously mistaken if you think that having a month without drinking will protect you from the effects of excessive drinking for the rest of the year.

The best advice is to drink moderately throughout the year

The great thing about beer is that it is low in alcohol and brewed from natural raw materials so it’s a good source of important nutrients such as antioxidants, B vitamins and dietary silicon that promotes strong bones. Indeed beer used to be known as liquid bread”.

Nanny should stop trying to interfere in our drinking habits, and allow us to act as adults wrt sensible imbibing of liquid bread!

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Bread and Circuses

It has long been a maxim of governments, despots, Nanny et al that the people whom they rule need to be diverted from the important issues; usually via bread and circuses.

Step forward Peter Kyle, Labour parliamentary candidate for Hove, who is offering his own small "circus" in the form of a piano at Brighton station in order to divert the attention of commuters from the delays and generally squalor of commuting.

Kyle has offered to cover the costs of getting a piano. He is quoted by the Argus:

“Brighton and Hove is a creative city, packed full of talent. 

Just think how much of that talent passes through the wonderfully renovated central station at any one time? 

With all the delays and the travel chaos what better way to raise people’s spirits than to have a piano.”

Would it not be better, and more appreciated by the commuters, if the issues of the delays and chaos were addressed instead?

Kyle has sent a letter to Chris Burchell, managing director of Southern, making a formal offer to buy the piano.

“I would love to work with you to see if a suitable place could be found in our fantastic station to place a piano. 

Think of the potential to delight passengers as they spend a moment waiting for a train, or at other times when it could dissipate the frustration felt by people facing delays or those who have been battered by the weather on their journey to the station.”

May I ask loyal readers who have endured delays and travel chaos on trains if they would feel their frustrations dissipated by hearing a fellow commuter bang out a tune on the ivories? All of this assumes that the pianist is both sober and competent at playing the piano.

Kyle would better spend his energies looking into ways to improve the quality and punctuality of the train services from Brighton, especially at peak times.

By happenstance (as per the BBC) most train passengers are unaware of their rights to compensation after cancellations or delays. As many as 75% of those using Britain's railways do not know enough about claiming money back, according to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

 

Pianos all round!

Meanwhile spokesman for Southern said:

“We think this is a great idea, but we have to look into the practicalities of it. 

We’ll be responding to Mr Kyle’s letter once we have gone through that process.” 

In the unlikely event a piano is installed, I would like to hear from loyal readers their requests for appropriate "commuting tunes" that should be played.

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