He’s a bloody hippie

Prof. David Nutt is a dick head. He was a governemnt advisor on drugs, but managed to get himself sacked because he misunderstood the role of an advisor. Thew clue is in the job title. An “advisor” is there to advise the government. David Nutt thought that he was supposed to make policy decisions and got most upset when the government decided to reclassify cannabis as a class B substance as I recall. He also has a history of saying stupid things. In fact he managed to get himself sacked for announcing that LSD and ecstacy were less harmful than alcohol. He has been calling for a relaxation in drug laws for years. What gets me is why he doesn’t stand for election. If he wants to make drug policy, become a politician. Actually, come to think of it, I do know why he doesn’t stand. He’s a bloody hippie and no one would vote for him.

His latest stunt seems to be a call to relax laws so that experts (like himself presumeably) would be able to research mind altering drugs. He claims that researching these drugs is currently illegal, though he then seems to contradict himself by refering to a study he’s conducted himself on magic mushrooms. In real terms Nutt is just someone who likes the idea of a society in which drugs are tolerated. He completly misses the anti social aspect of recreational drug use every time. God that man just gets up my nose!

For years I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that the conventioanl theory of how aeroplanes fly is wrong. People who really should know better will tell you that the shape of the wing means air traves faster over the top than the bottom because it has further to go. However, that theory presupposes that air parted at the leading edge meets again at the trailing edge. It doesn’t, and a Cambridge academic has release a video to support my belief. In fact air does seem to travel faster over the top of an aerofoil than under it, but that has nothing to do with lift. Have a look at the video here to see for yourself.

I’m pleased that the Telegraph published that story. It’s good science. However, almost as if it felt the need to balance this with some apalling science reporting, the Telegraph published this article today about Venus, which is so full of horrifying errors that someone should actually be taken outside and strung up by the bollocks. In fairness, after a plethora of negative comments, the author has since corrected his most serious gaff. Orginally it stated that Venus, “has a surface temperature of 464C and gravity 9 times more powerful than Earth’s”. Now it states, “gravity 0.9 times more powerful than Earth’s”. One could argue that, while technically correct now, he’s substituted bad grammer for bad science. The picture caption I note still states, “a picture from the Venera 13 probe on Venus implied life on the red planet”.

Now I’m not sure whether I believe this story or not, but it’s been reported that three women have been arrested in Kuwait for not wearing anything beneath their abayas. The odd thing is, an abaya is a full body covering and I can’t see how anyone could possibly have known that they were naked beneath them. Apparently police were alerted to the situation after a young boy told his mother that he had seen one of them naked. The report also claims that the women told police that they had just had sex in an apartment, consumed alcohol and “had become drunk.” It all sounds like a publicity stunt to me. I shall watch for more news of this.

It was Chinese New Year day yesterday, and we celebrated in some style in the evening with a banquet prepared by the Dragon. I ate my own body weight in pork dumplings. We also had chicken hot pot, and a whole sea bass. I’m told a whole fish is traditional and one is not supposed to eat anything from the head or tail because it’s sybolic of always having enough to eat in the coming year. So, we’re now in the year of the dragon and I’m hoping that means we have a nice summer.

I had to walk to the station in the rain this morning. I hate that. I did manage to catch the 7.35 train however.