4 of the people responsible for toppling the statue of slave trader Edward Colston were found not guilty by a court in Bristol. This was despite their pursuit by Home Secretary Priti Patel who spoke to the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset to demand action, setting a dangerous precedent of political interference in police matters.
KAZAKHSTAN
USA WILDFIRES
COVID
Numbers soaring but it is ok says Johnson and the band of killers. he got it wrong last year and thousands died; let us all hope he has not got it wrong yet again. As ever I am confused by the stats. Deaths of people who had covid in the last 28 days is a figure often quoted as misleading. Does that include a person who died in a car crash 3 weeks ago? If this last statement is true then surely the death rate should be spiralling to record highs as perhaps as high as 1 in 10 people in London alone will have tested positive for Covid in the last 28 days?
The map of cases is showing the rest of the country following London – Bristol is unto 1424/100000 and North Somerset up to 863. Essex on 1605.
And the gutter press – which is most of it is championing Johnson – even Mel Gibson has made some trite and uneducated comment reflecting his past glory in Braveheart – jerk.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
By definition, epidemiology is the study (scientific, systematic, and data-driven) of the distribution (frequency, pattern) and determinants (causes, risk factors) of health-related states and events (not just diseases) in specified populations (neighborhood, school, city, state, country, global).
PLASTIC
Can we make 2022 the year we finally reduce our use of plastic. I was a very grateful recipient of Fresh-Lock Lids which can replace cling-film and tin-foil. The packaging says they stretch to 3 times their original size which I have got no where near – but I will never buy cling-film again. I suspect these are still plastic but can be used thousands of times. Single use plastic needs to be phased out asap.
We have wheelie bins for waste – but why put everything in a black plastic bag first? Food waste also has to be put in bags first.
All my clothes are now bamboo. Toothbrushes wooden and bamboo. Razor bamboo – but with metal!!!
CLIMATE CHANGE – A PLEA
There are many scientists and others studying climate change. Can we have a monthly bulletin with statistics – I am not sure people understand them but they are influenced by them. Sea level rise, global temperatures, renewable energy generation, electric car sales, butterfly counts, etc. just keep the topic at the forefront of peoples minds.
James Webb
The $10bn James Webb telescope has left Earth on its mission to show the first stars to light up the Universe. Amongst the dark days of winter clouded by covid it is a beacon of light. Human beings have the potential to make the world a better place. Happy Xmas.
CITIES
JAMES WEBB
Something to look forward to Space telescope tinselled up – Final preparations are under way for the launch of the James Webb space telescope, built to peer back through space and time to the first stars and galaxies that lit up the universe. Regarded as the successor to Nasa’s Hubble space telescope, the mission is scheduled to blast off on Christmas Eve from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. More than 30 years in the making, Webb will orbit the sun, unlike Hubble, which circles the Earth. Its destination is the second Lagrange point, or L2, where the balance of gravitational forces will hold it in place between the Earth and sun.