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If the success of any country - its economy, culture and civil society - depends to a large extent on the ingenuity and education of its citizens then we do indeed need to rethink or educational policies. We must focus more attention on recognizing and...
The old maxim, Feed a Cold Starve a Virus was found to have truth to it some years ago. The loss of your taste is probably a bodily defence to lower your metabolic rate by stopping eating so much so the virus has less energy to work with whilst the body’s...
How do you prevent your glasses from steaming up when wearing a mask? One tip, says is to submerge your glasses in soapy water and then let them dry by themselves, creating a thin antifog layer on the lenses. Otherwise, you can play around with where...
The danger is that the only comparison point you have is to "the way things were" and without being Cassandra-like about it, those times are not coming back any time soon. I think I can reassure you that the prospect of you having to commute every day...
mankind's greed is destroying the planet. Which will in turn destroy mankind. Coronavirus might be the saviour of man. It is time to end our mindless slaughter of species, which is becoming an orgy of extinction. It is time to change our industries into...
Welcome to a world of dizzy pleasures! Planting from seeds It is easy to find great online catalogues, but get to know your neighbours - swopping cuttings, plantlets and a love of plants is the best way to learn and enjoy. Before you get going with seeds,...
A sign of decaying civilization when truth becomes expendable in pursuit of power, no matter what the cost. Covid 19 has exposed all of those governments where truth has been sidelined. Yet as the corpses pile up, its hard to spin your way out of such...
A A' bhiast as mutha ag ithe na beiste as lugha. Translation: Big fish eat little fish. English equivalent: Men are like fish; the great ones devour the small. Meaning: "Small organizations or insignificant people tend to be swallowed up or destroyed...
In the middle of the 14th century, the plague - also called “The Black Death” - also also called “The Greatest Catastrophe Ever” - ravaged Europe, killing 50 million people, or about 60% of the population (a vastly higher death rate than coronavirus),...
THE Scottish Government has promised there will be no change to fares or timetables when state-owned operator CalMac Ferries Ltd takes on responsibility for the Kilcreggan-Gourock ferry service next month. After years of campaigning, the route will finally...
Regular waves of infection are an inevitability. There won't be future lockdowns, the purpose of this one was to build field hospitals and temporary mortuaries before health services were overwhelmed - that work has now been done. There is no guarantee...
A pandemic is now shutting down human civilisation as we know it. This pandemic now risks a social calamity and crisis. The social order of our world is exposed where ordinary people are endangered whilst the elite seek the high ground with the greatest...
It takes heavy lifting to persuade the public to pay any extra tax, but it’s a politician’s job to lead, and who better placed to prove his skills than the great booster-in-chief, who managed to persuade the country to vote for a self-immolating Brexit?...
I was surprised at the high standard of public hygiene in Italy Toilets, whether publicly provided or in cafes etc. seem to be of a very high standard - Attendants are common. And hand washing in the men's toilets far more frequent than in England. washing...
This is Spring but let us suppose that it is summer time, that you are in the country, and that you have fixed upon a certain day for a holiday ramble. Some of you are going to gather wild flowers, some to collect pebbles, and some without any very definite...
Look at the abundance you have and if you have some extra, give to someone who doesn’t. Learn to cherish what you do have, not whine about what you don’t, because, I promise, there are tens of millions out there who would kill for a tenth of what you...
Things to do so we can breathe easier in our cities Remove through motor traffic from residential streets and extend pavements near shops, schools and parks to make walking safe and enjoyable for transport and exercise. Introduce safe access routes on...
The Nurse of CoronaVirus19 A nurse’s job is to look after people - who are ill. Hospitals are full of sick people who need special care to help them to get better. These sick people are called patients. Many nurses work in hospitals, taking care of the...
Trying to do something rather than doing nothing is extremely important for resilience. This is a real opportunity, and we need to recognise it as such. And don’t forget that coronavirus isn’t the only thing that’s contagious: happiness is contagious...
The pandemic has already exposed the limits of the market and highlighted the importance of effective state intervention and strong public healthcare provision. In the future this may well create a tolerance for higher and more progressive taxation. Governments...
Trees are a perfect illustration of the butterfly effect, or chaos theory. Stand back and look at a sycamore tree (for example) and compare it with a couple of others. The general shape and spread will be roughly the same. Then, closer at the tip of a...
cultivating your soil. Pounding rain, gravity and other forces can cause soil to become compacted over time, so loosening it before planting should be a priority. If you plan to plant in a young bed that you need to cultivate in order to remove rocks...
This year i have chanced upon a revelatory way to ensure maximum seed sprouting. I sow seeds into any trays small enough to be secured in a large freezer bag (i can fit your average 4-6 'pod' seed tray in a bag and secure it) and leave them in a spot...
Ever since the Brexit vote Britain or more accurately England has been adrift. When the most important government policy is to leave the EU without a plan for what happens next it is hardly surprising that the whole country feels as if its peering into...
Informed democracy re-defined through the prism of trickle down economic, brand democracy neoliberalism, ever shrinking of the trickle down hole soon to be just a damp spot/water mark and on high octane steroids, rich richer poor poorer, ever widening...
