redfiona99

Archaeology:

Mayan 'nesting doll pyramid' discovered in Mexico - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38008546

Architecture:

Stevenage: The town that aimed for Utopia - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-37826783

Films:

The 21 Documentaries from the 21st Century Everyone Should See - https://www.gq.com/story/21-best-documentaries

Law and Order:

The Dutch prison crisis: A shortage of prisoners - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37904263

Medicine:

The Man Who Fixed His Own Heart - http://digg.com/2016/marfans-heart-aortic-sleeve

Miscellaneous:

Why The Heck Do Animals Live In Our Houses? - http://www.popsci.com/why-do-we-have-animals-in-our-houses

11 times 'The Simpsons' accurately predicted the future - http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-simpsons-is-good-at-predicting-the-future-2016-11

My father's double life as a British spy - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-37892878

Israel's Arab soldiers who fight for the Jewish state - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37895021

The slot machines that changed bingo - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37872831

Is it right to train babies to sleep? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37765001

Politics:

Untangling Trump's Conflicts of Interest - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trump-conflict-of-interest/508583/?utm_source=twb

The Lessons of Henry Kissinger - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/the-lessons-of-henry-kissinger/505868/

'Crazy' to say Facebook helped Trump win - Zuckerberg - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37946713

US election 2016: The Trump-Brexit voter revolt - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-37943072

Science:

Here’s What Happened the Day the Dinosaurs Died - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/what-happened-day-dinosaurs-died-chicxulub-drilling-asteroid-science/

INSIDE THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY: NASA'S CRAZY, KOOKY, LEGENDARY RESEARCH FACILITY - http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a23666/right-kind-of-crazy-nasa-jpl/

Unknown dinosaur almost blown to oblivion - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37902583

Science Fiction:

FRESHLY REMEMBER'D: KIRK DRIFT - http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/columns/freshly-rememberd-kirk-drift/

Sport:

Rugby Union:

China's drive to become a rugby union superpower - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37836744

Cartoons:

From Post-it notes to published cartoonist - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-37623414

Journalism:

How do we respond to threats after our endorsement? This is how -
http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/2016/10/16/publisher-response-to-threats-after-republic-endorsement-clinton-trump/92058964/ From before the last US election. Could also be filed under, "awesomeness F! yeah!"

Law and Order:

How maths can get you locked up - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37658374

How do we beat youth violence? Switch focus away from punishment -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/22/youth-violence-epidemic-punishment-knife-crime-public-health-scotland

Miscellaneous:

Will India's tax evasion amnesty scheme curb 'black money'? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-37640399

The London Zoo gorilla and six other more successful escapes including Ken Allen the Orangutan -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37652722/the-london-zoo-gorilla-and-six-other-more-successful-escapes-including-ken-allen-the-orangutan

Cheran: The town that threw out police, politicians and gangsters - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37612083

News:

Thai king's death: Who holds power now? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37672088

What should tourists do in Thailand after King Bhumibol's death? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37651953

The desperate children of the Calais Jungle - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37654552

'We don't have a future' - Hanjin crews return to uncertain fate - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37604082

In pictures: How a rebel fighter became 'Syria's Banksy' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37523340

Photography:

In pictures: Assignments 2016 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-37623447 The British Press Photographers’ Association selects the best news, features and sports photography from the last 12 months.

Politics:

'Cut her mic' moment left me flabbergasted - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-37661794 From before the last US election.

Science:

Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016) - https://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituary-great-barrier-reef-25-million-bc-2016

Sport:

Football:

Ronald Koeman and Pep Guardiola: Two disciples of Johan Cruyff - http://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/premier-league/2016-2017/ronald-koeman-and-pep-guardiola-two-disciples-of-johan-cruyff_sto5907289/story.shtml

Fifa urged to give red card to Israeli settlement clubs - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37633012

Rugby union:

Anthony Foley: Munster coach's death an 'outrageous loss' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/37672789

Technology:

English man spends 11 hours trying to make cup of tea with Wi-Fi kettle -
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/12/english-man-spends-11-hours-trying-to-make-cup-of-tea-with-wi-fi-kettle I recognise this kind of stubborn.

Oh, you thought I was joking about the number of links ;)

Data visualisation:

A Compendium of Clean Graphs in R - http://shinyapps.org/apps/RGraphCompendium/index.php?utm_content=buffer32ead&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Really useful R graph examples.

Food and Drink:

Sneaking a taste of North Korea's finest beer - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37316967

History:

Grunwick dispute: What did the 'strikers in saris' achieve? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-37244466

Law and Order:

The terror of young offender institutions - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37291160

Miscellaneous:

The cartoonist called the 'Walt Disney of Brazil' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37284939

The man who squeezes muscles - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-6d083913-0bfb-4988-8cd8-d126fa6dcff1 Okay, so conflict of interest warning, St. Helens is one of the towns where Purple Aki used to do his muscle squeezing. I also can't help but think that if some weirdo was going round squeezing girls's muscles, the article about him would be less sympathetic.

What we know about Ri Chun-hee, the most famous woman in North Korea -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37317041/what-we-know-about-ri-chun-hee-the-most-famous-woman-in-north-korea

Grammars debate trumps expert consensus - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-37315832

News:

7/7 bomber's former brother-in-law: 'There were no signs' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37324130

Politics:

Ail to the chief: A history of US presidential bad health - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-37338018

How Hillary Clinton can get that ‘presidential look’ -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2016/09/07/how-hillary-clinton-can-get-that-presidential-look/?utm_term=.059f29da2fcc From before the US election. Glorious satire.

Science:

Paolo Macchiarini: A surgeon’s downfall - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37311038

Science Fiction:

What if Star Trek Had Never Existed? - https://www.wired.com/2016/09/imagining-a-world-without-star-trek/

Amy Adams takes control in Arrival movie - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37295727

Sport:

Get Inspired: Great North Run and six inspirational stories - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/37305963

Football:

Sylvia Gore: England women's first goalscorer dies aged 71 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37201105

Paralympics:

Rio Paralympics 2016: Kadeena Cox aims to inspire black athletes - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/37331510

Rio Paralympics: 50-year-old Kazakh woman sets new swimming record - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37317460

Technology:

Cybathlon: World's first 'bionic Olympics' gears up - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37196860

The ultra-Orthodox Jews combining tech and the Torah - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37300929

Art:

The blind sculptor who thinks everyone should touch art - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-29837275

History:

Government to 'retire' some of its WW1 debt - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29844961

The interesting bit to me comes later on in the story "The continued existence of the war bond debt illustrates the lasting shadow cast by World War One. According to the UK Treasury there are currently 11,200 registered holders of the bonds. Winston Churchill first issued “4% Consols” in 1927 when he was Chancellor partly to refinance bonds from the First World War. In addition to the war bonds, some of the debt being refinanced by the Treasury dates back to the 18th Century. One of these bonds was issued by William Gladstone in 1853 to consolidate the capital stock of the South Sea Company, which was founded in 1711. The South Sea Company collapsed during the South Sea Bubble financial crisis of 1720, leaving behind it a lot of debt."

Windscale Piles: Cockcroft's Follies avoided nuclear disaster - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-29803990

Language:

This 81-Year-Old Wrote a Dictionary to Save Her Tribe’s Dying Language - http://www.ryot.org/native-america-wukchumni-dictionary-language-extinction/855101 Just ignore the editorialising about the death of English because, horror of horrors, new neologisms are entering the language.

Law and Order:

How Louisiana Became The World's 'Prison Capital' - http://www.npr.org/2012/06/05/154352977/how-louisiana-became-the-worlds-prison-capital

Miscellaneous:

Meet the metal detectorists saving marriages - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29800160 Other people are apparently as bad as I am for losing jewellery. Their's is just more important ;)

The Adventures of the World's Greatest Counterfeiter - http://www.gq.com/long-form/the-great-paper-caper Via @TwistedSifter on twitter.

How to Buy Food: The Psychology of the Supermarket - http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/supermarket-psychology Via @TwistedSifter on twitter.

How Different Groups Spend Their Day - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html?_r=0 The results of the American Time Use survey 2008. Via @TwistedSifter on twitter.

Five Ways to Lie with Charts - http://nautil.us/issue/19/illusions/five-ways-to-lie-with-charts

What lies beneath London? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29566275 From deep-level air raid shelters to the colossal Crossrail construction, beneath London lies a labyrinth of tunnels. BBC News delved underground to visit some of the capital's rarely seen subterranean spots.

Watch a Japanese Kokeshi Doll Emerge From a Spinning Block of Wood - http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/10/watch-a-japanese-kokeshi-doll-emerge-from-a-spinning-block-of-wood/

Baroness Trumpington profile: From Lloyd George to the Lords - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27888144 She has worked at Bletchley Park, served as a headmaster's wife, mayor of Cambridge, a government whip and as a health minister. Besides this, she famously flicked a V-sign to her colleague Tom King during a Lords debate.

Who The Hell Keeps Calling Me? - http://digg.com/2014/when-gamergate-hits-the-wrong-target Or the gamergate idiots can't even dox the right people. Via nwhyte.

Science:

Geneticists tap human knockouts - http://www.nature.com/news/geneticists-tap-human-knockouts-1.16239 - Sequenced genomes reveal mutations that disable single genes and can point to new drugs. Although part of me wants to agree with the commenter on inthepipeline who pointed out that these aren't knockout mutations.

Ebola crisis: A village fights back in Sierra Leone - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29899630 Or, yet more evidence that local knowledge is vital.

Why NASA Blew Up a Rocket Just After Launch - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141030-first-person-rocket-explosion-antares/ A National Geographic staffer's on-scene account of the Antares rocket failure.

Sports:

Two football/free speech articles:

FA made £350,000 from Twitter fines in just three years - https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/early-doors/fa-made-%C2%A3350-000-from-twitter-fines-in-just-three-years-101858229.html

Pornhub sponsored team banned from football league - https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/early-doors/pornhub-sponsored-team-banned-from-football-league-145621037.html#more-id

Football:

Rayo Vallecano fans produce brilliant, Simpsons-themed protest banners - https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/early-doors/rayo-vallecano-fans-produce-brilliant--simpsons-themed-protest-banners-151633262.html#more-id Or, the Rayo Vallecano fans would like for their matches to not always be the Monday night match.

Formula 1:

Formula 1: Where does all the money go? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29905081 Really interesting if you've got even a passing interest in F1, and it explains why the gap between the big teams and the rest never seems to get any smaller. (And when it does, it's because Ferrari have stuffed up, again. Why can you not hire engineers as good as your lawyers, Ferrari?)

Caterham & Marussia struggles highlight need for cost-cutting - FIA - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29841569 We've been saying this for years.

BBC pundit slams ‘disgraceful’ and 'unfair' Formula One - https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/motorhead-uk/jordan--formula-one-is--unfair--and--disgrace-165218934.html#more-id

Electric chair haunts US former executions chief - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26273051

What do those squiggles on the pavement actually mean? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25915468

Interview: Arsenal’s Robert Pires – The Early Years - http://frenchfootballweekly.com/2014/02/05/interview-arsenals-robert-pires-the-early-years/

Team Sky cyclist in UCI inquiry - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/24321502 - or, as I put it, oh no, here we go again.

Beatles fans get reply to fan letter 50 years later - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-24318839

End war on drugs, says Durham police chief - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24320717

Mostly because Question Time last night brought home the fact that most politicians are neither trained orators nor particularly good at rhetoric. David Aaronovitch, ye though I have undoubtedly mis-spelt his name, on the other hand ... Although Tim Farron did a really good job of selling the most recent budget, a far better job of it than the Chancellor ever did.

That being said I am annoyed at the number of people in Britain involved in political and judicial life who seem to think it's okay to send Abu Quatada (a bad, bad man, I know) to Jordan because they've got a promise that *his* trial won't use evidence gained by torture. How about, you know, we don't treat with countries that use torture, or does that only apply when they're torturing people we like.

I'm similarly miffed by the lack of government response re: the Bahrain Grand Prix. I seem to recall reading that the French government actually banned the French F1 teams from competing at the South African Grand Prix back in the apartheid era. Could we not do that again? (And no, there's no hope of convincing Bernie, and Bernie will fine the teams if they don't turn up without good reason.)

Anyway, on to the links -

With a grateful nod to nwhyte who posted a link to a defendant's own blog, which then provided a link to the British and Irish Legal Information Institute's link to the judges summation of a recent libel trial where two of the defendants were Amazon and Richard Dawkins (and his foundation) - http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2012/B3.html

Now judge's judgements, summations and what-have-you are normally worth reading, because it's good way of learning about law in a country where precedence has a strong weight, and it also clarifies a lot of legal issues. It's also useful when the judgement is being spoken of, because this is being spoken of as a victory for the forces of reason, when mostly the judge's summation seems to be, 'yeah, he was rude, but that's not actionable'.

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The BBC posted an interesting link about Norway's legal system - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17740229

Which it is talking about because of the Brevik trial. About which the BBC posted another interesting article here - 'Singled out' Breivik survivor tells of trial necessity - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17750133

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On a less serious front, in the football news, this makes me glad - Turkey's Emre banned for insulting Zokora - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17784555

While I have nothing against Fenerbahce or Turkey, that the Turkish FA are willing to ban players ought to be a signal to UEFA that it really needs to get it's own house in order, and I'm talking about the fact that Arsene Wenger got twice the fine for complaining about the ref than Porto did for it's fans shouting some vile things at Mario Balotelli and the rest of Man. City's black players.

So during the Featherstone vs Castleford Challenge Cup match, Rangi Chase accidentally broke Tangi Roopati's jaw. He, understandably, is very apologetic (it's one of those odd situations where I actually believe that the player throwing the punch didn't mean to break the other man's jaw). The problem lies in the UK's bloody-minded visa system which says that Roopati can only earn money from rugby-related activities, which means he's basically paid to play. If he can't play, he can't get paid. This is a problem when you've got a 12 week injury lay-off. So Featherstone Rovers are organising a fund to help out, which I'm very tempted to contribute to - http://www.featherstonerovers.net/article.php?id=7944

But then again, that's the thing about rugby league, it is very much a community sport, like when Bradford had to get out their begging caps for money, I know Saints fans who chipped in (admittedly because you can't get the joy of beating them if they don't exist), and the Widnes chairman gave them £10,000.

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I do love that Fergie doesn't like it when his players dive - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17770220 Or rather, I suspect, he wishes that they'd keep it for the big matches so people don't get suspicious.

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And on an arts theme we have:

Giant Puppets invade Liverpool - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17762154
Images here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-17787778

And shots from the Avengers red carpet here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17781301

The entire family love Munch. Even if my Mum calls him, 'oh the cadaverous looking one'.

And it was spot the B5 star out of homeground today, what with Richard Biggs who played Dr. Franklin turning up on CSI playing the anti-Stephen, and Jason Carter appearing on Charmed. Who have an entirely different character called Cole, but it was distracting.

But yes, if anyone who watched B5 remembers how Marcus always looked borderline unhinged, well this character had no hinges what so ever. And he look throughly disreputable and seethed a lot.

Which brings me on to pairings that I 'ship. I was thinking about it because most people have something that they're all 'no, you will not split them up' about, and I've got a couple. The worrying thing is that they're both het couples.

( And those couples are: )

Managed to miss Smackdown completely. I will record the Monday re-run, and watch the highlights tomorrow. Yes, it's a little arse backwards but still.

I'm slowly converting the family to CSI. They like the gore.

And finally caught Law and Order: SVU (by the way, if I call it L&O SUV just ignore me). And it's very funny.

I sense however it's not supposed to be. I will be watching it again, if only for Munch. And if the character's name isn't Munch, again, cut me a little slack.

There was a guest star this week who's accent made Druscilla's seem to be reasonable. He went to the Boreanaz school of accents if you catch my drift.

Of course the minute he appeared you knew who'd done it because British accent (however badly done) = bad guy.

I'd like to know why no one told me that thingimy Meloni has a twin because that is not the same guy who played Keller. ;)

In other news, leg is still icky and itchy, but I went ot the walk-in centre and they stuck a drawing lotion (to remove the goop) and a dressing.

It itches, it itches.