Friday 13 June 2003

The High Court orders two young girls to be vaccinated against MMR against the wishes of their mothers. [BBC News] 2:48:37 PM

Is Britain undergoing a culinary renaissance? Simon Busch doesn't think so. [Guardian Unlimited] this is interesting because only this week i went looking for the Bliss on the recommendation of Lisa from HCED ..... I ended up at Arthur's Cafe but I could as easily have gone to 'The Mess' on Amherst Road or further down to Faulkners on the Waste or even to any of dozens of Vietnamese kaffs - this article is such a load of old tosh, the more that people get lectured on what is good for them and charged a fortune by poncey rip-off merchants for small portions of what they don't like (that isn't consistently good) the more they stick to their guns - go back to "fresh and wildly expensive" on the Church Street and cook at home and leave us alone 2:46:13 PM

Is intellectual life in terminal decline? Ideas can define and transform society, but how healthy is intellectual life today? A weighty bunch of speakers will debate knowledge, the university system, media punditry, the rise of think tanks, the demise of peer review, and the rise of public experts. "In a period when Big Brother refers not to George Orwell, but to a reality TV show, and when bright young things are developing gameshow formats rather than scribbling essays, is intellectual life in terminal decline?" June 20 to 22, Goodenough College, London. [Doors of Perception] 9:52:27 AM

Plans by Benetton to weave RFID (radio frequency ID) trackable chips into its apparel have run into opposition. A group called CASPIAN (Consumers Against Privacy Invasion And Numbering) has launched a website, boycottbenetton.org. "Anytime you (go) near an RFID reader your identity will be revealed to anyone with access to a database - all without your permission." http://www.boycottbenetton.org/ [Doors of Perception] 9:40:47 AM

Life: Alok Jha discovers the places being sacrificed in our battle with global warming. [Guardian Unlimited] 1:15:56 AM