A flight of fancy

Having had occasion recently to journey to the fair city of York I picked up a copy of New Scientist to read on the train back home, and came across a few articles that were rather interesting, so in the order in which I encountered them. The first concerned the ethical problems for anti-addiction drugs – now obviously helping people beat an addiction is a good thing. The drugs described though are vaccines that prevent you getting a high from the drugs, and as the article observes there is the risk that this will just cause addicts to take much … Continue reading

Stony Stratford II

In case I ever doubt the value of even small protests ever again it’s with some cheer that I pass on reports that councillor Bartlet has withdrawn his motion to ban smoking in Stony Stratford – to allow those opposed to the ban time to prepare their arguments. The Boiling Frog and Dick Puddlecote have more details. Yes it was a small battle and yes he’ll no doubt try again, but these days I’ll take whatever victories I can. +20

The good the bad and the soggy

Not going to say much about the recent protest in Stony Stratford as Dick Puddlecote has said pretty much everything that needed to be said. The turnout seemed to be predominantly local – though the record for furthest travelled must got to a chap over from Russia. The anger both at the proposed ban and the councillor in question was quite pronounced. For a very sodden Saturday morning the turnout seemed really quite respectable, and the atmosphere was very friendly and sociable. The general message did seem to encompass more than just the local ban, and reflect a growing dislike … Continue reading