The UK’s Chief Scientist has completed and published a
report on fracking for the Government. It has been reported by some newspapers that
the report raises major concerns about fracking by comparing it to “other innovation trajectories that later
proved to be problematic”, such as asbestos, dioxins, thalidomide or tobacco,
and that the report also argues that the UK could make up any shortfall in energy
from fracking from renewable energy. In fact, these comments are not contained
in the main report, but in one chapter of a supplementary publication in which
a number of experts were invited to contribute personal views. The main report
does, however, suggest that the indirect risks of adopting new technologies
such as fracking need to be considered, along with the risks of failing to act.
The fire chief of the city of Atlanta has been suspended
from duty without pay for one month by the mayor – because he wrote a chapter
in a book that said same sex marriage was wrong and called it a “perversion”.
He has also been ordered to undergo sensitivity training and banned from
distributing copies of the book.
Following the US Supreme Court victory for private companies
who do not wish to include abortifacents in the “Obamacare” health care cover
that they must offer their employees, an entire U.S. State has now followed
suit. A pro-life couple in Connecticut discovered that every “Obamacare” health
policy available in the State included a compulsory extra payment that could
only be used to fund abortion – and furthermore, that healthcare providers were
banned from providing information about this payment, so many people were
unaware of it. The couple sued the State, and State authorities now say that
new health plans that do not include this payment will be made available.
The Chief Constable of Southwark has been answering
questions about the anti-abortion protest outside the GP surgery/abortion
clinic in Blackfriars. He said that after consultation with police, the
protesters had re-located some of their banners, but otherwise they were not
breaking any laws.
In sport, the world of cricket has been shocked by the death
of 25 year old Australian Test batsman Phil Holmes, who was struck on the head
by a ‘bouncer’ cricket ball, and died in hospital two days later. There has
been much discussion over whether cricket helmets should be redesigned to
protect batsman better, but it turned out that Holmes was struck high up on his
neck (and suffered a burst artery) in an area where it is very difficult for
any helmet to provide protection. A doctor described it as a ‘freak’ injury,
which has only been recorded once before in the whole history of cricket.
Former England and Yorkshire cricketer Geoffrey Boycott suggested that helmets
are actually part of the problem; “they make batsmen feel invincible,” he said,
“so they attempt pull and hook shots almost every time a short ball is bowled.”
Holmes was playing a ‘pull’ shot when he was struck.
In technology news, the US Supreme Court has been asked to
make a judgment about the law on cyberstalking and cyber-harassment. The case
involves a man who was dumped by his wife,
and turned to social media as an outlet for his feelings. However, he
was aware of the law against making direct threats against someone on social
media, and so he contented himself with indirect criticisms and threats, such
as “It’s illegal for me to say that I want to kill my wife. Not saying I’d do
it, just that it’s illegal to say it” and “Hell hath no fury like a crazy man
in a kindergarten class.” Both sides in the court case against him acknowledge
that his postings have created fear in his wife and others; however, the
defence allege that he did not intend to create fear but that the posting were
simply “a form of therapy, an imitation of rap lyrics, and exercising free
speech.” The Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether the law on
cyber-harassment should require intent. The court must walk a fine line in this case, as illustrated by two cases: a woman who
moved house nine times in 18 months and changed her job four times in an attempt
to escape an ex-partner; and a college professor who was suspended from his job after posting a picture of his 7 year old wearing a T-shirt
captioned with a violent-sounding quotation from TV show “Game Of Thrones”,
which the college interpreted as a threat of a school shooting.
And finally, a 430-mile team endurance race in Ecuador had
an unexpected ending for a team from Sweden. With two stages left to go – a
20-mile mud-and-jungle run, and a 36-mile kayak – the team stopped for a meal,
and one of them threw a meatball to a stray dog (breed unknown, but possibly
part-golden retriever). When they left, the dog followed them through their 20
mile slog, and when they tried to leave the dog behind for the final stretch it
started swimming after them, so they hauled it aboard one of their kayaks. The
team and dog (now named Arthur) crossed the finish line together, and the team
then set up a social media appeal to pay for the dog to return to Sweden with
them. Arthur is now in quarantine in Sweden, receiving regular
visits, and the team have set up the Arthur Foundation to help other stray
dogs.
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