Eyes That See in the Dark?

Stroke patient says Kenny Rogers helped brain recovery

Mike Pensom loves country and western music, particularly anything by Kenny Rogers. He hates hip hop and rap. But recently Mike found that his musical likes and dislikes also have a profound effect on his brain. Twenty years ago Mike had a stroke which caused problems with the left-hand side of his body and left him missing things in part of his field of vision. But when scientists played him his favourite tunes he has seen more - and when they played the stuff he did not like there was no change. "When they played Kenny Rogers for me I was able to spot things that I was not able to see before"

Socks and underpants, as usual. Love?

Beware humans bearing gifts - New Scientist

You won't be surprised to be told that academics in cognitive psychology departments the world over are busy producing evidence about the power of reward and its connection to dopamine, because it's something we've all experienced directly - albeit without the technical description. To be rewarded with a gift is to be subtly told that someone loves you, and we love nothing better than to be loved. Even adults will be momentarily taken back to a warm, childlike feeling of deserving the treat that has been given.

Besmirch? Begorra

Gerry Adams: My father was a child sex abuser

"I didn't want him buried with the tricolour. I think he besmirched it".

Gerry Adams Sr was clearly a monster but how many DEATHS was he responsible for?

Elementary

Guy Richie's latest film, 'Sherlock Holmes', is released on Boxing Day. I, for one, have no intention of watching what will be , I am certain, a complete pile of shite.

In protest at this mockney's assault on a great British tradition I have bought the complete boxed set of the great Granada series starring the peerless Jeremy Brett. All forty one episodes for just thirty quid. And not a penny of it going into the pocket of Richie. Ha!

Political blogs? Meh!

Jumping the shark

Tim Worstall asks:

Might we now say that mainstream coverage of political blogs has now jumped the shark?

Absobloodylutely!

Chutzpah

Mr Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aling,from Sudan, head of the G-77 group of developing countries, at the Copenhagen Climate Conference.



Via LFAT

As John Prescott said during a TV interview yesterday: "Fuck off back to Sudan and sort out your own fucking holocaust!" (I paraphrase, of course)

Gordon Bennett, Bennett.

What sort of society praises vigilantes with cricket bats? - Catherine Bennett

What sort of columnist calls a man who, having been attacked in his own home by three masked, armed, dangerous men and seen them tie up his family, rob them and quite possibly prepare to kill them all, (she even admits herself that the 'burglars' didn't appear to be motivated by robbery) and then, in the heat of the moment, attacks one of the criminals - a VIGILANTE?

Answer: A dopey Guardian twat like Catherine Bennett.

And as one of the commenters pointed out: "The fact that the rest of the gang haven't even been nicked speaks volumes about policing in this country."  Yep, leave it to the police, old chap.

Nudge, nudge, sue, sue.

Drug giant General Electric uses libel law to gag doctor

General Electric, one of the world’s biggest corporations, is using the London libel courts to gag a senior radiologist after he raised the alarm over the potentially fatal risks of one of its drugs.

The multinational is suing Henrik Thomsen, a Danish academic, after he described his experiences of one of the company’s drugs as a medical “nightmare”. He said some kidney patients at his hospital contracted a potentially deadly condition after being administered the drug Omniscan.

Looks like an own goal by GE as this article in the S. Times goes on to point up the very risks that GE are suing the good doctor for revealing. GE claims it is suing Thomsen for accusing the company of supressing information but, as the ST piece points out:

A summary of Thomsen’s presentation for the High Court writ, provided by GE Healthcare, appears to show that it was an even-handed account of his clinical experience. When asked by The Sunday Times to highlight any part of the presentation that explicitly stated wrongdoing by GE Healthcare, a spokeswoman for the company was unable to do so. The writ states that the defamation may have been “by way of innuendo”.(Emphasis mine)

End of an era, not the end of the world

Copenhagen was the MPs' expenses scandal writ large

In a speech last month, (Ed Miliband) said: "To make these changes requires leadership from government, but it also requires us to build and maintain consent. To take that consent for granted is a mistake and to assume we can sustain change without it would be wrong in my view too."

Just so. But if Miliband the Younger accepts this, why did he describe those who disagreed with him in the run-up to Copenhagen as "saboteurs"? To provide the context: he was attacking his political opponents, Nigel Lawson and David Davis, and was perfectly entitled to do so. None the less, his revealing choice of the word "saboteur" – disagreement equals vandalism – sent a clear signal to every member of the public who dares to wonder what all this is about, why the changes needed are so dramatic, whether the scientific consensus is as clear as ministers say it is. "Anyone who comes forward at this moment," Mr Miliband continued, "and starts saying 'We can stick our heads in the sand' is irresponsible." Again, the message was crystal-clear. You are entitled to your opinion, as long as it's mine...If you want a "green revolution" – and the evidence suggests that you don't – it must truly be from the bottom up. This Government's strategy – to sneer at the doubters – is doomed, not only because doubt is the cornerstone of democracy but because, on this specific issue, the doubters are in the majority. Copenhagen marked the end of an era: it demonstrated the poverty and self-regard of elite politics, the introspection and self-congratulation of a political class still in love with itself because nobody else will love it.

I'm not usually a fan of d'Ancona but he's hit the spot with this piece today. I particularly liked his description of the Copenhagen Conference:

...like a student union meeting, only with motorcades.

Boom, boom!

Spine chilling

The Ladybird Book of Chiropractic Treatment & English Libel Law



Read the whole excellent post

Via Bad Astronomy

Aussiebandias

 Australia’s great barrier

The latest episode in the long-running Great Australian Firewall saga hit the stands this week with a government announcement that it will legislate to make internet filtering compulsory for all ISPs.

The Australian Christian Lobby were instantly on the case, congratulating the government for its initiative, and politely asking if it would care to extend the degree of censorship already envisaged from RC (Refused Classification) material, out to films currently classified as X or R-rated.

The price of war

RedBedHead: Predator Drone - $4 million. Insurgent Hacking Program - $25. Pentagon Embarrassment - Priceless

it seems that insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan were using a piece of $25 software, purchased off of the internet to intercept the video signals sent by Predator drones back to the remote pilots in the USA. This allowed them to see exactly what areas and people the deadly unmanned planes were surveying for attack. The US military is, of course, now fixing the problem but it could take a while: they have 600 of the $4 million vehicles.