Weekly Round-up 2018.42
John Herety on the ‘heartbreaking’ closure of JLT-Condor
“Hang on a minute, I’ve not died, no-one’s died, life’s gonna go on!” John Herety says, half-agreeing that seeing the news in print was like reading his own obituary and half laughing at the very concept. “It’s not as bad as you think. A well-established team that’s been around for a few years in your eyes has suddenly gone, but not in our eyes.”
Dr. Rachel McKinnon – transgender athlete
In a recent study by Stephané Bermon and Pierre Yves Garnier, they tested over 2,000 IAAF world championship track and field athletes and found that 1/6 of the male athletes were in or below the female range of testosterone, so a disproportionate amount of elite males have very low testosterone. This study showed there is absolutely no relationship between testosterone in terms of performance in males. The relationship they found in women was weak and sporadic.
When science doesn’t back your opinion up, of course the science is wrong.
Original Big Bird, Caroll Spinney, Leaves ‘Sesame Street’ After Nearly 50 Years
“I always thought, How fortunate for me that I got to play the two best Muppets?” he said. “Playing Big Bird is one of the most joyous things of my life.”
I haven’t seen Seasme St. in years but loved it when I was small. Oscar was my favourite of course.
Relax, Ladies. Don’t Be So Uptight. You Know You Want It.
Here’s a fun game. Ask yourself: What strongly held opinion of mine will my grandchildren one day struggle to understand?
China Plans to Launch an ‘Artificial Moon’ to Light Up the Night Skies
Scientists are hoping to hang the man-made moon above the city of Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, according to a report in Chinese state media. The imitation celestial body — essentially an illuminated satellite — will bear a reflective coating to cast sunlight back to Earth, where it will supplement streetlights at night.
If this worked, they project savings of $173 million per year in electricity costs. There are soo many questions though. I’ll file this under “not going to happen”.
Britain fell for a neoliberal con trick – even the IMF says so
Privatisation and austerity have not only weakened the country’s financial position – they have also handed unearned wealth to a select few. Just look at a new report from the University of Greenwich finding that water companies could have funded all their day-to-day running and their long-term investments out of the bills paid by customers. Instead of which, managers have lumbered the firms with £51bn of debt to pay for shareholders’ dividends. Those borrowed billions, and the millions in interest, will be paid by you and me in our water bills. We might as well stuff the cash directly into the pockets of shareholders.
I can’t think of one example where privatisation of anything in Ireland has been good for it’s citizens.