Friday, 9 October 2009
Thursday, 8 October 2009
'Thought for the Day' Appeal
A bulging ring-binder arrived by special delivery from the BBC Trust today together with a letter confirming that my (and others') appeal about lack of balance in' Thought for the Day' will be heard on 5th November by both the Editorial Standard's Committee and the General Appeals Panel.
The binder contains all the paperwork that will be provided to these two committees and, as one of the appellants, I am invited to comment on the factual accuracy and completeness of the material. Judging by its weight they intend this to be a very thorough job. I feel we are approaching a watershed moment in this long-running dispute.
At this stage the paperwork is confidential but my final letter, which is included, has already been published here.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Cash cuts hit space science - Times Online
BRITAIN could be forced to pull out of the world’s highest-profile physics project, Cern’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), because of financial failures by a government research council.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has already had to slash university grants, prompting warnings that physics departments may face closure.
Now managers are warning that Britain’s membership of Cern, based in Geneva, is also threatened, along with its involvement in global astronomy projects.
Richard Wade, chief operating officer at the STFC, said: “We may now have to reconsider our memberships of international partnerships including Cern.”
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The warning comes as scientists prepare the £2 billion LHC to start next month on its first investigations into the constituents of matter.
Further cuts being considered by Wade could see British astronomers pulled out of the Alma radio telescope in northern Chile and the twin Gemini telescopes, in Hawaii and Chile. Gemini is designed to look 14 billion years back into the past, close to when the first light was emitted.
The STFC has already announced 25% cuts for universities and has failed to post grant cheques.
Andy Parker, head of the high-energy physics group at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, said: “The people who pushed through the creation of STFC and those who have led it are turning a thriving area of UK science into a basket case.”
Are there any government agencies that succeed? The Learning & Skills Council went bottom-up a few months ago.
Friday, 2 October 2009
Thursday, 1 October 2009
The Holy Spirit is SO real!
All us unfortunate atheists should watch this 2 minute video to be able to fully appreciate what we are missing by our
stubborn rejection of Invisible Magic Friends.
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