Peter Hain says British politicians have failed Northern Ireland: "What a colossal, devastating failure by British politicians over Northern Ireland. The current impasse - with the Northern Irish Assembly still suspended and another set of elections now required, the second since May - is the product of terrible neglect by the British government starting in 2010, accelerated and deepened by Brexit, which has shattered the delicate power-sharing balance required for functioning Northern Irish institutions."
A growing number of children with mental health problems are being treated on adult psychiatric wards as services struggle to cope with a surge in demand, reports Shanti Das.
James West is critical of the way the media covers climate change: "This is one area where many people with no qualifications in science, with largely arts and humanities training and who have no authority in science, feel able to express opinions on climate science and expect to be taken seriously."
"Watching that scene we, the excited children of black Jamaican migrants in Luton, let out a collective 'Yes!'. Sidney Poitier was one cool dude on and off screen - and we loved, absolutely loved Virgil Tibbs, the actor who played him and all he stood for." Colin Grant surveys the career of Sidney Poitier.
Robert Edgar traces the roots of folk horror back to Thomas Hardy.
I am not 100% comfortable with the James West critique of climate change commentators. Caroline Lucas, for example, has a PhD in English Literature. I concede that this provides her with human understanding but she doesn't have a background in scientific process. Her beliefs are rational however given the consensus.
ReplyDeleteI am 100% uncomfortable when climate scientists tell us how to get out of our problems. Climate scientists measure events on earth and in the atmosphere, but they are no more qualified than actors or paediatricians in how our economies need to be reworked. The grunt work needs to be performed by mining engineers, quantity surveyors, transport fleet managers, civil engineers, microeconomists and other unfashionable disciplines. They are the people who know how things are done, well or badly.
I don't endorse everything he says - in the end all political questions are moral as well as technical - but I think this dominance of arts graduates among the commentariat is worth noting.
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