Yet another good reason that the UK public smoking ban was a really good move

The BBC reports today that there has been a sharp fall in the number of children admitted to hospital with severe asthma since the introduction of smoke-free legislation in England. The actual study that reports this add to the rising evidence that the legislation was a really good health move. If I recall correctly, one of the … Read more

Religious boundaries are being crossed … and that is good news.

Today I’d like to point to an article by a Rabbi, not because I’ve suddenly decided to convert and embrace a god I do not believe in, but rather because the rabbi has a bit of rather good news … Muslim-Jewish marriages herald a brave new world Muslims and Jews in the UK are beginning to … Read more

Mathematicians aim to take publishers out of publishing

The archaic Victorian concept of publishing papers in peer-review journals that are locked behind paywalls is rapidly changing, and rightly so. Many balk at the concept of having to pay for access to the results of publicly funded research. Nature News reports on the latest community that is attempting to embark down the path of open-access … Mathematicians plan to launch a … Read more

Heaven on Earth: a Journey Through Shari’ah Law by Sadakat Kadri

Nicholas Lezard, a literary critic, has a review of  “Heaven on Earth: a Journey Through Shari’ah Law” which has been written by Sadakat Kadri. It does appear to be interesting (I’ve not read the book, just the review), so I’ll not comment too deeply upon it until I’ve finished reading it myself (then again criticism … Read more

Islam and Non-belief in Egypt

There is an interesting article today in Albawaba (a Jordanian based news and media site that publishes in both english and Arabic). In it a Egyptian parent laments about the effect that the rise of fanatical Islam is having upon the younger generation … apparently they are all turning away and rejecting it … “Son, … Read more