It’s a Hum-dinger!

Have you heard ‘the hum’? Well thousands of us claim to. It is a low frequency ‘throbbing’ noise of around 20 hertz which seems to have an untraceable source and is incessant in its duration. It has become the bane of many ordinary people’s existence with many complaining that the hum has caused them to loose sleep through the frustration searching for the source of the dull drone. Interestingly in terms of the entire population, it is only a select few (some hundred thousand or so) who are able to hear it. A number of theories have been suggested as the possible source of the noise, from gas pipes and electricity pylons to the rather far-fetched theory that they are created by invisible flying saucers which are surveying mankind. All over the country from Bristol to Leeds, people have been filing complaints with their local council about noise pollution and have pleaded them to identify the source of the hum. 

Now the vast majority of those who claim to be bothered by the hum are women over 50 years old. I know what you’re thinking, the main complainants seem to be women ‘of a certain age’ who may not possibly be entirely ‘all there’ when it comes to mental stability. But personally, I have not ruled out the existence of this strange sound quite yet. Since beginning my course at the University of Sheffield, I moved into a flat in the city centre. During my time as an undergraduate at York, and my childhood in the idyllic countryside of Devon, I had not come to experience the elusive noise. However after setting up camp in Sheffield I have been kept awake many times during the night due to a low humming noise, external to my room (I make a point to turn anything electrical off before I go to bed). Needless to say, earplugs were a wise investment and the sound vanished once I had jammed them in my ears – which goes a long way to proving the sound is not just a creation by my overactive brain. 

So by my own admission (and testimony from thousands of others), the hum may well exist. But what is causing it? And more importantly, how do we stop it? 

Well, a scientist from the University of Cambridge believes he has found an answer. Dr David Baguley claims it is simply a case of oversensitive hearing which is prevalent in only a small section of the population. He states that for these people, their hearing can be particularly sensitive during times of stress or anxiety and they can quite literally “hear a pin drop”. The hum stems from general background distortion which is pitched at a low frequency. The ears pick up the sound and then as the person becomes more and more aware and cautious of it, the sound is amplified and the brain becomes entirely focused on it. Baguley suggests the best way to get rid of the hum is simply to try to ignore it and eventually the brain will no longer process the sound. 

This seems plausible and at least it confirms I’m not going mad. If anything, it may just indicate my hearing is a little better than most. Now where are those ear plugs? 

If you would like to hear what the hum sounds like please visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8056284.stm

Radicals set to rise at the expense of moderate politics.

Firstly I would like to make it very clear that despite mentioning them in this post, I do not want to make a direct comparison between the policies of the Nazi party and those of the BNP. I am merely highlighting the fact they would both be considered parties on the extremes of the political spectrum. 

The revelations about the abuse of expenses by MPs from all three of the major parties has clearly created a storm of public outrage and distrust. One only had to watch BBC’s Question Time last night to see the people of Grimsby fire a torrent of abuse at the Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, Sir Menzies Campbell and the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Theresa May. The MPs could barely get a word in edge-ways as the crowd shouted down all of their apologies and excuses. What worries me about this situation is that people are beginning to loose faith in our political system entirely. The Recession has intensified the rift the common man seems to feel exists between him and the chambers of Whitehall and the expenses scandal threatens to stretch that rift to breaking point. From my experience of observing the trends of politics and society over the last century, history has a habit of repeating itself, even if it is done so subtly, that people fail to notice. 

Cast your mind back to 1929 when the world faced an Economic downturn that caused even more distress than what we are currently experiencing. This recession hit Germany harder than any other nation, with almost half of the nation’s workforce was unemployed by 1932 and four national banks completely collapsed wiping out over a third of people’s savings. By this point, a considerable section of the population had lost faith with the moderate parties of the political spectrum. The German political party which had enjoyed the lion’s share of the vote, the SDP commanding over 30% of the vote in the mid 1920s had seen its vote call to 20%. Furthermore the vote for the National Socialist German Workers Party, aka the Nazi party, saw its vote shoot up from barely 2% in 1928 to 33% in June 1932 with Hitler becoming chancellor seven months later. The German people, put under the extreme pressure of a crippling economic crisis had lost faith in their moderate politicians who strove to preserve the nation’s fledgling democratic and moderate political system. Furthermore, the democratic politicians of Germany had the hand of mistrust over their heads throughout the 1920s with the politcal extremist parties of the right claiming they were responsible for Germany’s defeat in the First World War. When the opportunity came, the German people let their frustrations be heard at the ballot box and many actively rejected their political system in favour of a fascist regime. 

Of course, today we have the benefit of hindsight and a far more stable democratic system than that observed in interwar Germany. However, the above example raises some worrying parallels. An economic crisis looms over our heads once again with unemployment currently standing at 2.2 million and that number set to rise even higher. Those who are angered at their situation have begun to point their frustration towards the political system. Similarly, the current crisis has shaken the public confidence in our moderate politicians even further. Many political commentators now expect a public backlash at the ballot box for the upcoming local elections and the European elections on June 4th, and it seems it won’t be just Labour who may suffer a loss in votes. The beneficiaries from the recent situation have been the fringe parties, most notably UKIP and the extremist BNP. Recent television campaigns by the BNP have seen its leader Nick Griffin, berating the current political system, the greed of mainstream party MPs and claiming his party is composed of ‘decent and honest people’ who aim to ‘make our nation great gain’. The latter slogan is one which is a worrying echo of a similar German tranlation used for the Nazi Party election campaign in 1930. It is highly likely that extremist parties like the BNP may see a sudden rise in support due to the current situation and people’s disillusionment with the current political system. This party may see its votes increase for all the wrong reasons, it could see its support rise as a protest against the conduct of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs. What people need to understand is the full extent of the alternative they could be voting for. The anarchic values of xenophobia, racism,  homophobia and hyper-nationalism which were all too apparent in the fascist regimes of the inter-war years. Of course, I do not attempt to predict the BNP will see a rise to power similar to the Nazi party in 1933, that would be preposterous. However it would concern me that their influence would rise, especially on the European stage.

Let us learn from the past. Our political system is not ‘broken’ or ‘exhausted’. I personally still believe, that bar a few notable exceptions, the majority of MPs are still decent and honest people who aspire to be in the positions they occupy because of their willingness to serve the public.

A heartwarming tale of the Devonian kind

 

Something rather special happened on Saturday, on the outskirts of Rotherham of all places! My hometown club Exeter city were promoted to league one for the first time in their recent history. Nearly 3,000 Devonians had made the 200+ mile trip to attempt to bring a carnival atmosphere to the dangerously underfilled Don Valley Stadium to watch their team play Rotherham. They knew a win would be enough to ensure they remained above Bury and could secure promotion into fairly unknown territory for the club. As it turned out, one goal from substitute Richard Logan deep into the second half was enough to see them finish second in Coca Cola League Two with a 1-0 win. I’d travelled the short distance from my flat in the centre of Sheffield meet my friends, lifelong city fans (and George) who had travelled up with the rest of the red and white army to the Don Valley. Though I choose to support Manchester United as they are from the city of my birth I was made to feel entirely welcome as Exeter fans are as friendly and well-meaning as supporters come. In addition, feel only warm admiration for Exeter City as my hometown club from my adopted homeland in Devon. I couldn’t be happier to see them achieve something which had taken years of hard work and tireless support. 

I believe no club deserves it more. City have seen their share of extremely bad luck in the past few years. I was there at St James’ Park (in Exeter, not Newcastle) when City were relegated to the Conference with only one point short of safety, meaning they would spend their centenary year playing non-league football. Furthermore, the club now faced huge debts and the prospect of administration and further woe loomed. However, City supporters love their club and would do anything to prevent it from disappearing. So much so that a collaboration of fans named ‘the City Supporters Trust’ raised enough to buy the club from their previous owners. Ensuring the ownership of City would pass into the hands of those who cared about it most. After four seasons of disappointment, Paul Tisdale, whose managerial background was mostly in University football, took charge of the club in the summer of 2007. In his first season, he took the club to the 2008 Conference playoff final at Wembley and where they defeated Cambridge 1-0 (can you see a trend here?) to make the leap back into league football. Now, after only his second season in charge, he has taken them one step further. Only two years ago, the Exetonian faithfull faced trips to Kettering and Eastborne. Now their fans will travel to the likes of Charlton Athletic, Southampton and Norwich. Places City fans never dreamed they would see back in 2007. 

When the final whistle blew on that Saturday afternoon, the police could not stop thousands of elated fans from flooding the pitch to hug the players and the manager. I was so pleased that they could savour this moment, as the sun above beat down on their heads. The celebrations continue as thousands of fans are set to flock the cities streets to see the club make their triumphant victory parade through Exeter. I for one wish them all the best next season, and look forward to more pilgrimages to St James’ Park (failing getting tickets to Old Trafford that is!).

We just can’t resist a good ol’ fashioned pandemic!

It has been a busy week for the World Health Organisation. From seemingly out of no-where a strain of mild ‘swine flu’ has shot through their ‘pandemicometer’ scale from ‘slight piggy sniffles’ (level one) to ‘full blown world ending apocalyptic pandemic’ (level 6). Quite naturally, the world’s media had a field day because nothing preoccupies public attention more than worrying about something. Here, as soon as a Scottish couple, fresh from their Cancun honeymoon were named as the first Britons to have contracted swine flu the BBC reporter proclaimed “this is it, now it could really explode”. The following day the tabloids announced ‘killer flu is here!’ (the Express) and tried to press the public panic button firmly with their printed-word thumbs. 

So where are we now? Indeed, swine flu has now spread to well over 20 countries worldwide. At present Britain has dozens of confirmed cases….and you know what? The people stayed indoors for a few days…and GOT BETTER. Shock horror. It seems that plans for the ‘mass graves’, ‘floating mortuaries’ and the rather medieval pandemic containment method of ‘bricking over the doors of the afflicted’s houses’ (the Sun) seems rather unlikely. The hundreds of thousands of predicted global deaths now seem a monumentally silly estimation. Mexico has even brought their death toll down from ‘170 confirmed deaths’ from swine flu to a little over 17 and is currently investigating the cause of 70 other deaths. The fact of the matter is, Mexico is a developing nation and people die from flu in areas of poor health care – just like those in the developing world gain access to the appropriate treatment and stand a better chance of a full recovery. The only problem swine flu presents as a minor flu virus is that we have no current immunity to it. The worst thing that could possibly happen is you miss work/school for a few days and become a social pariah for having contracted the modern ‘plague’. 

Above I have explained, in rational terms why swine flu is nothing worth worrying about, and that it is something which should be left to government health officials to manage and contain. So why the fuss? Well as I outlined, the national media cannot resist ‘bad news’ and even better if that news has even the slightest chance of provoking Armageddon. Especially among the British as by our very nature, we are a breed of scaremongerers. This treatment of modern epidemics is all too familiar. We have seen SARS and Bird Flu come and go, with rather small and manageable consequences. However, the footage of Latin Americans wandering around with surgical masks, health officials warning of ‘possible deaths’ and the delight of labelling ‘victims’ makes for excellent ‘news-tainment’. Internet sites and 24-hour rolling news channels know this is exactly the kind of story which runs for days, even weeks and can provide fresh updates on almost an hourly basis. In truth, swine flu is not something which provides a serious threat to the existence of humanity, it is the perfect modern news story. One which I’m afraid may unite with our old friend ‘the recession’ for a few more months to come.

No Justice for Heroes

 

Yesterday’s announcement of only a very limited selection of Gurkha soldiers being offered the right to live in the UK has caused yet another outpouring of resentment towards the Government’s treatment of these men. This recent legislation means only the very high officer class of Gurkhas who have been awarded the highest bravery honours and have a physical impairment will be offered the right to live and work in the UK if they served before 1997. This equates to less than 5% of Gurkha veterans. Furthermore, there was no amendment on the meagre pension pre 1997 veterans are given, which has caused men who have given 20 or more years of service to the British Army to live below the poverty line in their native Nepal.

Peter Carroll, from the Gurkha Justice Campaign’s reaction to today’s verdict encapsulates my own personal sentiments: “The one group of people that has never let this country down has been let down today in a manner which is truly appalling.”

These men have an extremely proud and decorated tradition, serving the British Army for almost 200 years in every major conflict ranging from the Crimea, both World Wars and in Iraq and Afghanistan today. 

I am fully aware that given the current economic climate, Labour are wary of increasing their number of state dependants. They estimate that over 100,000 Gurkha’s, including their relatives, could emigrate to the UK to live as dependants. However, I’m sure the vast majority of the British population believe that these men, who fought with such bravery, skill and professionalism for an adopted mother nation have earned the right to be respected and to live in the country for whom the gave so much for. 

*UPDATE* This week the Government was convincingly defeated in a commons vote of 267 to 246 on their policy of restricting the rights of former Gurkhas to live in the UK. They now must rethink their policy in order to comply with the public sentiment. This is something which Gordon Brown got catastrophically wrong in this instance, with the estimation that in most cases the British public are anti-immigration. The case of the Gurkhas is not your run-of-the-mill immigration case, it as asking for the right of people to live in a country which they risked dying for. 

If you agree with my sentiments and would like to find out more, please visit  http://gurkhajustice.org.uk

Whatever happened to thick skins?

Firstly, I would like to make it clear that in no way do I approve of what Damian McBride and Derek Draper were planning on publishing on their ‘smear blog’ towards the Conservatives. I do, however, believe the uproar on the issue has been blown out of proportion. From what I can gather from the various articles published on the matter, the two planned to create rumours of a sexual nature about senior Tory officials. 

For instance, their intercepted emails contained plans to spread rumours that the Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne frequently took drugs with hired prostitutes and that Tory Leader, David Cameron had a embarrassing STI which he was finding difficult to treat. Now, as harsh as they may sound, surely they are something which politicians have frequently found printed about them in the tabloid press. The fact that these allegations were not even published means that if conservative officials had not made a matter of them and dealt with the issue privately – then they would never have reached the public domain. Such a reaction of sheer ‘outrage’ and demands of apologies and insisting Gordon Brown must sack all individuals involved with the smear campaign seemsa little ‘over the top’ to me. 

Politicians should not be people of weak character. They enter an profession which is continually under public scrutiny and should be able to brush off allegations and insults better than most. A little matter of some rumours shifted around by a few immature members of the Labour party should not be an issue which makes them hot under the collar. After all, many Hollywood celebrities have to contend with daily rumour mongering from the bloggesphere – one famous example being that Richard Gere enjoyed forcing gerbils up his backside. 

In any case, the plans to spread rumours about the opposition party should be an issue which the Labour Party deals with in private and it is there responsibility to reprimand those involved.

It’s all smiles for Gordon

So the G20 summit has some to an end, and the majority of reporters can claim it was a success. The 20 most powerful nations in the world agreed to a $1 trillion financial stimulus package and agreed to develop a system which will heavily scrutinise how our banks operate in the future. A new financial frontier if you will. Gordon Brown has received acclaim from all of his guests as he swaggered and beamed in his new role as ‘Chancellor of the World’.

I personally attended Prime Minister’s question’s in the House of Commons on Wednesday, and saw Brown waltz in with a broad smirk across his face at 11.55. That smirk never left as he sat opposite Cameron and absorbed the Conservative onslaught about an inquest into MP’s expenses. He knew, even then, that this week may well be his finest hour in his term as Prime Minister. 

He had plenty to smile about having pulled it all off because he knew what was at stake. Had Sarkozy walked out of negotiations, had Merkel remained staunch on Germany’s contribution to a stimulus – then it all could have turned out very different. If all the world’s key leaders managed to achieve was a wishy-washy agreement on financial cohesion and regulation with no clear guidelines, then Gordon would have appeared an embarrassment on the global stage and faced a huge backlash from his public. 

However his success at hosting the G20, as well as gaining heaps of praise from Barack ‘the world’s most popular man’ Obama, means he can keep his smile broad and his head held high for now at least. I predict his standing in the opinion polls will shoot up over the next week or so. However, two main issues seem to have arisen from this week that will still cause concern from the Prime Minister. Firstly, the issue of the environment took a back seat at the negotiations, despite Brown pledging they would take a priority. Any such reform on carbon emissions will have to take place in the Copenhagen summit in November. Secondly, it’s all well and good that Mr Brown has established a positive reputation on the world stage, but what about among his own people? David Cameron was quite right to point out, that what does the G20 mean for the average man in Britain who is still worried about losing his job and losing his home? Brown is still very much on thin ice among the British population, what he will be hoping is that the positivity around what happened this week will be expressed in our own financial system experiencing a noticeable recovery. Only then will he be able to go into the next election with a real chance of being able to prevent a Conservative victory.

Publican problems

Here is what has pretty much dominated my life for the past 2 weeks. A radio package on the decline of the British pub industry. 

Here is the cue (to be read by a newsreader before the package is played)

 ‘Local pubs are a historic cornerstone of British life, but 4,000 have closed in the last five years and many more risk going under. Nick Smith is in Sheffield to investigate why crisis has hit the pub industry.’

Now click here: http://www.zshare.net/audio/57774484b11066a6/ and enjoy!

Phallic popularity

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7961000/7961224.stm

It’s been two days since Newsbeat published the story, but it is still the most read and the most shared story on the BBC news website. The 60 ft penis painted by an adventurous eighteen year old has managed to bring out the immature sides in all of us. Firstly, I am amazed at the situation itself – so many questions: where did the chap find all the chalk and manage to haul it onto his parent’s roof? Also how did his parents find out it was there after a year of the roof-top schlong going unnoticed? I formed an incredibly amusing scenario in my head about an Arial photograph salesman knocking on the door of the house with a big grin on his face asking the boys parents whether they fancied buying it a photo of their house. 

Anyway, what this exposes is that we British can’t help but continue to be amused by people’s naughty bits and private bodily functions. I don’t know why there is any sort of taboo about finding this sort of stuff funny. If pulled off in the correct context, like this little scamp managed to do on his parent’s roof, it’s downright hilarious. It also exposes that our most read stories on news websites are more often then not, something weird, wonderful and funny. Sure Barack Obama could be announcing a $1 trillion stimulous, or Gordon Brown could be outlining his ‘battle-plan’ to convince those at the G20 to toe in line with his way of thinking; but at the end of the day, people just wan’t news that will amaze them or just let them have a good chuckle. 

So long live the odd-box, long live the mermaid girl born in India, long live the otter found in a post-bag and long live the giant dong of a roof top. News to amuse! 

 

P.S. Two minor criticisms of said penis:

1. He made the school boy error of failing to include lines protruding from the head

2. Some hair on the scrotum and other details would have scored extra points.

Put your ‘faith’ in Stem Cells.

President Obama announced yesterday that he was to lift the ban on US government funding for stem cell research which had been imposed by President Bush. It’s about damn time! Stem cells hold the key to what could be the most significant advances in medicine since penicillin or the development of vaccination. What they essentially offer is a blank sheet, which if treated properly, can mould themselves into cells which perform specific function. To put it into practical terms, it is believed that stem cells could replace broken nerve cells in the spine of a paraplegic or repair damaged cells in the optic nerves of a blind person. Similarly, they could also replace the bone marrow of a cancer patient.

The very fact the previous US neo-conservative administration even entertained the knowledge of trying to stop stem cell researchers is beyond my belief. I am fully aware of the supposed ‘ethical’ dilemmas stem cell research involves. Obviously using dead foetus’, or even specifically breeding one for the purposes of research is unsettling to some people. However, this is something that is a minor evil which the greater good significantly quashes. I have little time for fundamentalist Christians who brand these scientists as ‘murderers’. These dead babies had no know-ledge of existence or any time to comprehend it, in any case I think they should be happy these unborn’s did not die in vain, but for the purposes of scientific achievement.

In any form of progress, there is almost inevitably sacrifice. Stem cells have placed scientists on the verge of massive breakthrough in medical treatment. Trying to get in their way would be like telling a man who had managed to perfect the art of extracting energy from nuclear fusion on an industrial scale to stop what he was doing, just because some airborne bacteria were getting a little bit hot and uncomfortable.

Thank you President Obama, thank you for seeing sense and letting progress continue.