McDonald’s profits have plunged in Britain to the worst level since they launched 30 years ago. Apparently this is a sign of growing concerns about obesity, exemplified by the recent documentary “Super Size Me”.
But maybe Brendan O’Neill in Spiked-Online is right in saying that what we really hate are the people that eat at McDonald’s.
Enhance your pooch with canine techno-gadgetry
Wired: Engineering God in a Petri Dish
Keats’ real interest is to explore whether faith and reason can peaceably coexist. “There’s a schism between science and religion, a sense that you have to pick sides, and it threatens to turn us all into fundamentalists of one sort or another,” he said. “Science rejects God for want of empirical evidence, and religion rejects the scientific method the moment it contradicts the Bible.
“I’m trying to explore whether faith and reason can peaceably coexist. I think they can. So this project is truly a thought experiment: By taking the assumptions of extremists on both ends of the spectrum, and combining them, I’m hoping we can sort out the implications.”
As if in direct answer to Keats’ stated motivations, William Dembski, a proponent of intelligent design, called the project “scientifically jejune and theologically incompetent.” Dembski, a Baylor University professor of science, religion and philosophy, also noted that if the God element were removed, the project would be “strictly conventional biological research.”
Other observers, however, may be picking up on Keats’ decidedly dadaist undertone. “It’s hard to tell from this whether Mr. Keats is just having some fun or is seriously deranged,” said Michael Behe, Lehigh University biology professor and renowned anti-Darwinist author. “I wish him well and look forward to hearing of his results.”
Violence in Ulster drives 1,240 people from homes
Northern Ireland is more segregated than ever, with a geographical apartheid that many feel is now worse than during the 30-years of the Troubles.
The BBC’s political editor Andrew Marr presents tips for reading newspapers intelligently, under the headings:
- Know what you’re buying
- Follow the names
- Register bias
- Read the second paragraph; and look for quote marks
- If the headline asks a question, try answering “no”
- Read small stories and attend to page two
- Suspect “research”
- Check the calendar
- Suspect financial superlatives
- Remember that news is cruel
- Finally, believe nothing you read about newspaper sales — nothing
via Lance Knobel
Cutting greenhouse gases isn’t just about economics. It is about righteousness — Richard at Connexions.
A survey of European office workers reveals that UK emailers are the most prolific liars
The survey of 750 office workers in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy showed that 11% of Britons admitted denying receipt of emails, much higher than the Spaniards (4%), the French and Italians (3%), and the Germans (1%).
The British also showed the least concern about having to chase up emails: only 13% said they bothered to reply, compared with 60% in Italy.