Lab-grown meat offers solution for reluctant vegetarians, study shows

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8588418/Lab-grown-meat-offers-solution-for-reluctant-vegetarians-study-shows.html

Summary

According to a study led by Oxford greenhouse gasses emitted by food production could be decreased alot by cultivating meat tissue. Increasingly more people can afford eating meat, which costs more of the land’s resources. On top of that growing meat is much more efficient than slaughter meat in that it can help feed the world’s ever growing populous and the process of cultivation requires much less water and emits less carbon dioxide. The first commercially cultivated meat could be realized within five years.

Response

From the way it is presented in this article it sounds like a very good idea. The benefits of a certain nutrition without the greenhouse gasses and it requires less water to grow. True meat eaters might not find the idea appealing at all but this would of course be an alternative to eating meat. Talking about it being an alternative, it would mean vegetarianism would change entirely as no animals were slaughtered for the meat. Vegetarians could eat meat without moral objection. I am interested in what would happen if this plan were brought to fruition and lab-grown meat would appear in local supermarket shelves.

P.S. I’d like my lab-grown meat lemon-flavored and coloured green please.

Plan to halve jail terms for guilty pleas scrapped

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8587607/Plan-to-halve-jail-terms-for-guilty-pleas-scrapped.html

Summary

To restore the image of the Tories being stern on those who break the law, David Cameron wants to scrap plans that would have the sentence given to criminals who plead guilty halved, excluding rapists. This plan was brought to light last month by justice secretary Mr. Clarke but David Cameron has announced that there will be no such arrangement. The pre-existing  arrangement that gives criminals the possibility to have their sentence cut by a third will stay in effect. Still, a lot of foreign offenders will not face prosecution as long as they leave the country.

Response

I agree with the decision to scrap the fifty percent decreased sentence given to criminals. I believe it is not the solution to having more criminals convicted but more a gamble. The true solution would be to have the judiciary system good enough so that no criminals would be able to escape conviction. As with many other weblog entries, I have no idea as to how this should be attained though. From what I’ve read in newspapers and the Britain book English law could do with a bit of toughening up, good going Cameron.

Confidence in police drops the more contact a victim has, survey shows

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8587819/Confidence-in-police-drops-the-more-contact-a-victim-has-survey-shows.html

Summary

According to a study done by the charity organization Victim Support the public doesn’t deem the British police force very competent. This negative image is even stronger among victims of clime after coming into contact with the police. The people who conducted the study also took a look at other public services and found that the opposite rings true for those. Once people come into contact with these other public services (for instance, the NHS) they become more positive about them. The study also showed that the English and Welsh police have the highest concentration civilian staff in the world.

Response

To me this study shows that the English police should take a good look at how they treat their victims. If your public image is hurt when you come into contact with the people who you need to protect something is obviously very wrong. I have no idea what the English police is doing wrong exactly, but I am sure they have the means to investigate themselves and see what they could do to improve upon themselves. This they should do if you were to ask me.

MUSLIMS TO BREAK AWAY FROM SCOTTISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

source: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/253703/Muslims-to-break-away-from-Scottish-education-system

summary

Muslim leaders in Scotland are opting for the possibility of separate schooling in response to the lack of Muslim education in regular schools. Some Muslims also feel like their children are having values forced upon them that are not in line with their own. All of these circumstances have accumulated in a number of Muslims feeling like it would be a good idea to have (more) special schooling for their children. Some people are opposing this idea however because they fear it could lead to isolation of the Muslim youth.

Response

I think it is the right of these Muslims to have schooling that corresponds with their belief for their children. A lot of other religious people have special schooling for their children and I see no reason as to why it should be any different in this case. I myself went to a largely ‘black/Muslim’ school and I noticed nothing that would imply isolation of any kind outside of school hours. What I find surprising is that there are no Scottish schools for Muslims, I am pretty sure there are such schools in the Netherlands.

Children face longer days and term times under free school plans

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8586788/Children-face-longer-days-and-term-times-under-free-school-plans.html

Summary

In accordance with the decision by the Policy Exchange think-tank chools and academies have been granted certain liberties that leave them not only in control of their teachers’ terms of employment and work wages, but also gives them the freedom to experiment with their schooldays. This means some schools may have class in some weekend days, longer days on average, more extra-curricular activities or less school breaks. In doing this the schools hope they can improve the quality of the education they offer. So far there have been 281 applications for free schools have been made so far.

Response

I first of all want to express my sympathy for the poor, poor students who will be submitted to these gruesome weeks of educational horror. I do think it would make an interesting experiment, the results of the reformation in these schooldays should be apparent in little to no time at all and if it works the changes made could be made permanent. I am interested in what will happen if it ends up not working at all, will they change the system back or stubbornly keep it the way they’ve made it?

P.S. I am so glad I don’t have weeks like the ones these poor pupils are going to have to be suffering through

Uninsured drivers face having car destroyed

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/uninsured-drivers-face-having-car-destroyed-2300053.html

Summary

New laws have been put in effect that have people who own an uninsured car warned to either have it insured or declared off the road. Car owners who ignore this warning face a fine, wheel clamp or even risk having their car destroyed. All this is to reduce the risk of uninsured cars on the road, deaths and the extra burden it places yearly on the prices of insurance of the other drivers. Both the minister of road safety and the Motor Insurer’s Bureau chief executive are in favor of the newly instated laws.

Response

Reducing the risks and improving upon the road safety is always important. There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to traffic safety, but if these laws work as well as they should, at least most of the uninsured vehicles will be kept off the roads. I am, however, not sure if uninsured driving is the biggest problem the road safety minister should be tackling and if this problem is as big a deal as they make it look in this article. Of course I do not have any data to support this idea.

Tube strikes begin, threatening Wimbledon

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/20/tube-strikes-begin-threaten-wimbledon

Summary

Tube strikes are planned by the members of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), who are calling for Arwin Thomas, a driver who is currently awaiting the verdict of an employment tribunal on his claim of injust dismissal. On Sunday there had already been several hours of inactivity in the London Tubes and further strikes have been planned, which would possibly endanger the Wimbledon goers. The London Underground managing director is trying to convince the RMT members to wait for the verdict of the tribunal before continuing their strike actions.

Response

First and foremost I think it is unacceptable to do anything that would endanger the turn-out at Wimbledon. I also find it understandable that the RTM members are planning on going ahead with their strikes. They possibly want to put some pressure on the tribunal by showing they mean business with these strikes. I do not know the details on what inspired Arwin Thomas’ dismissal so I cannot incorporate that in my response. This whole strike situation does make me wonder though how often the London public transportation workers go on strike, I have been told to believe it happens often.

P.S. Don’t mess with Wimbledon ever.