MMM PIE #2

Behold our Sunday lunch! Cromagnon did the steak and mushroom filling, and I made flaky pastry using the recipe from Huge Furry-Witteringfool's MEAT cookbook. The result was even more yumscrumpshytastic than Pie #1 (a hot water crust pork pie), and all the rolling and folding of the pastry was jolly good fun in a playing-with-plasticene sort of a way.

It makes me want to rap about the pie.

Happy Darwin Day, every one

I was going to write a bah-humbug post about how this Darwin Day stuff is getting on my wick a bit, and we should be cheering for all the thousands of people who've given us 150 years of cool science, rather than just one Founding Father. But today's Araucaria crossword got me in the spirit. I'll be making a traditional roast tortoise tonight, and following the old Darwinmas custom of hitting wildlife with a stick.

Edit: I just invented the Origin of Species drinking game. Each player has to read out a whole sentence from the book without stopping for breath. If they can't do it, they take a swig and try the next sentence instead. If they can, the book passes to the next player. It'll go like this:

Player 1: "Finally, then, I conclude that the greater variability of specific characters, or those which distinguish species from species, than of generic characters, or those which are possessed by all the species; that the frequent extreme variability of any part which is developed in a species in an extraordinary manner in comparison with the same part in its congeners; and the slight degree of variability in a part, however extraordinarily it may be developed, if it be common to a whole group of species; that the great variability of secondary sexual characters and their great difference in closely allied species; that secondary sexual and ordinary specific differences are generally displayed in the same parts of the organisation, are all..."
(Drink)
"All being mainly due to the species of the same group being the descendants of a common progenitor, from whom they have inherited much in common, to parts which have recently and largely varied being more likely still to go on varying than parts which have long been inherited and have not varied, to natural selection having more or less completely, according to the lapse of time, overmastered the tendency to reversion and to further variability, to sexual selection being less rigid than ordinary selection, and to variations in the same parts having been accumulated by natural and sexual selection, and thus having been adapted for secondary sexual, and.."
(Drink)

Let me know if you try it and survive.

Today's irresponsible tripe courtesy of Jeni Barnett

Global Radio and LBC, who employ actress Jeni Barnett, are threatening to sue Dr Ben Goldacre after he posted an excerpt from her radio show and pointed out what a dangerous spew of woo-crazed drivel it was. Ben's taken the mp3 down because he wants to keep his house, but some other naughty internet people have put it back up again elsewhere. Here's a transcript of part of it (minutes 20-22):

Jeni Barnett: So what would you say – I mean, it’s not my job to say to people don’t do it, it’s not my job to do any of that, but you’re allowed to have your say. What would you say to people – as a mum of eight little lives that you are deeply responsible for – what would you say to people who are in two minds about it?
Caller: Er… I would never recommend having children vaccinated, and people think I’m very strange, but all my younger children that haven’t been vaccinated have been very very healthy. The youngest had measles about three months ago and he was fine, he wasn’t very well for about a week, ten days, and then he was fine and none of my others picked it up. So I think they must have a certain amount of natural immunity and I’m far, far happier for them to have developed that natural immunity than to be constantly being filled with artificial substances.
Jeni Barnett: Well thank you so much, my darling. That’s Amanda in Hayward’s Heath. “Just was listening to your show. If people actually took the time to look at what’s in vaccines, they would think twice about giving them to their children. As well as not being 100% effective, they also have cancer-causing agents. Also, a child’s immune system takes approximately 2 to 3 months to fully get up and running from birth. Also, if we look at the countries who have the highest populated vaccinated, you will notice that they have the most allergies. I’m not totally against immunisations, but we should be giving children at least a year to develop their own immune system to deal with the onslaught.” I didn’t say that. I wish you’d given me your name.

Three things that really grind my gears about this are:
1. Babies are not epidemiology qualifications. (Tara, who has both, would no doubt agree.)
2. Blah blah all we want is a chance to debate the evidence blah blah big pharma has all the money blah blah take down that criticism or our team of highly-paid lawyers will kick your arse.
3.

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me A Job With The Tory Party

TV presenter Carol Vorderman has been appointed the Conservatives' "Maths Tsar" by David Cameron. No, really. She'll be touring schools and then delivering a report with suggestions for new education policies. Perhaps one day, thanks to her expert* guidance, British schoolchildren will be sufficiently numerate to work out that MMR is safe, "detox" is bollocks, and taking out a high-interest loan secured on your home is a very bad idea.

*Third class degree in engineering and knows her times tables.