I used to use Twitter and Facebook to post items of news that interest me (incuding ones that I disagree with), but since the proposed purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk in April 2022 I have decided to reduce my use of these social media platforms, and instead use this page to keep a chronological record of some of the news items in which I am interested so that I can refer back to them in the future (commencing at the end of April 2022). For material relating to the interface between digital tech and the environment, please also see DESC’s stories page (material posted there is not duplicated here).
Palace must reject Harry and Meghan ‘lies’, says former aide, Valentine Low and Keiran Southern in The Times, 8 December 2022
Elon Musk rejects concerns over beds at Twitter HQ, BBC News, 7 Decenber 2022
China abandons key parts of zero-Covid strategy after protests, BBC News, 7 December 2022.
Onshore wind rules to be relaxed after Tory revolt, BBC News, 6 December 2022
Elon Musk’s firm Neuralink investigated over animal tests, by Joshua Thurston in The Times, 6 December 2022
China’s digital Stasi sees all from cyberspace, The Sunday Times, 4 December 2022
Rod Liddle’s comments on Lady Susan Hussey and Conor Burns in The Sunday Times, 4 December 2022
San Francisco to allow police ‘killer robots’, BBC News, 1 December 2022 – it may be inevitable, but cannot be “right”.
Social media firms told to protect young or pay price, The Times, 29 November 2022
Solar farm is an obstacle to hopes of Olympic gold for Charlotte Dujardin, The Times, 29 November 2022
Facebook: Meta fined €265 m by Irish Data Protection Commission, BBC News, 28 November 2022
Graph of recent Bank of England interest rates – a reminder that during my mortgage the Bank’s interest rates were almost always over 4% and reached 14.88% in 1989 (the actual mortgage rates were of course higher than the Bank rates, reaching an average of 15.25% in 1990, although faling to single digits in 1992).
Crypto collapse is a familiar tale of the big lie, David Aaronovitch in The Times, 16 November 2022
Universities told to ‘decolonise’ maths courses, George Sandeman in The Times, 16 November 2022
UK-Swiss science deal as both barred from EU scheme, 10 November 2022
Leaders of charity backed by Meghan were paid £2m, Ben Ellery in The Times, 10 October 2022.
Netflix pushes back on ‘panicked’ Prince Harry, Meghan Markle over doc edits, by Sara Nathan, Page Six (New York Post), 4 October 2022
Elon Musk X: What life is like on a super-app in Asia, BBC News, 6 September 2022
UK’s Truss joins big European club seeking ‘new order without Russia’, BBC News, 6 September 2022
The Molly Russell inquest verdict damns Silicon Valley. There can be no more excuses, by Peter Wanless and Beeban Kidron in The Guardian, 30 September 2022. See also the BBC’s Molly Russell inquest: Father makes social media plea.
The race to be England’s biggest wine producer is hotting up, by Jancis Robinson in The Financial Times, 1 October 2022
Study contradicts Rees-Mogg over hydrogen for heating, BBC News, 28 September 2022
Labour conference: Starmer ambition to get off fossil fuels by 2030, BBC News, 25 September 2022
Harry, Meghan and the palace insiders who saw what really happened, Valentine Low in The Times, 23 September 2022; see also Harry ‘turned down dinner with father after Meghan was banned’, The Times, 23 September 2022, and Harry, Meghan and the Sussex Survivors’ Club: ‘We were played’, The Times, 24 September 2022
Why the hate for Meghan during mourning period, asks America?, Will Pavia in The Times, 19 September 2022 – this very much shows the difference between USAn and UK cultures. Dislike of Meghan in the UK is actually rather little to do with racism or royal couplings, and much more to do with her arrogance, selfishness and hypocrisy – but such “individualism” lies at the heart of what is seen as success by many in the USA.
Joe Biden sits at back of Queen’s funeral as realms with British monarch take priority, Catherine Philp in The Times, 19 September 2022
Meghan asks Variety to postpone front cover out of respect for Queen, Charlotte Wace in The Times, 16 September 2022 – although according to this article there seems to be some doubt whether she really did ask, or whether Variety made the decision on its own.
Uber investigating hack on its computer systems, Shiona McCalum, BBC News, 16 September 2022
US school app accounts hacked to send explicit image, BBC News, 15 September 2022
Google loses appeal over record EU anti-trust Android fine, BBC News,14 September 2022
Modern slavery shoots up by 10 million in five years, by David Molloy, BBC News, 13 September 2022
Gates-Funded ‘Green Revolution’ in Africa Has Failed, Critics Say, The Seattle Times, 8 September 2022
Simply a classic “Ma’amalade sandwich Your Majesty?” – a happy way to remember the Queen
Clive Coates obituary, The Times, 9 September 2022.
World wonders at the Elizabethan paradox, Gerard Baker, The Times, 9 September 2022
Queen Elizabeth II obituary, The Times, 8 September 2022
New malaria vaccine is world-changing, say scientists, Jame Gallagher, BBC News, 8 September 2022
Meghan shares her self-doubt with young audience, by Sean Coughlan, BBC News, 5 September 2022 – can someone please tell me how anyone can think they could learn anything from her. Surely this is all about her self-promotion? I suppose people could learn about that…
See also Hilary Rose, Meghan and Harry’s not-royal tour — and oh no, another podcast, The Times, 6 September 2022.
Elon Musk loses the race to sew implants into the brain, Danny Fortson in The Sunday Times, 4 September 2022
I was a John Lewis customer for 16 years . . . then it kicked me out, David Byers inThe Sunday Times, 4 September 2022 – can’t help but feel that this is yet another example of how John Lewis/Waitrose has lost its way under the leadership of Sharon White; a once really good company is now performing badly on most fronts!
I was Russia’s richest man. Now Putin has $500,000 on my head, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, The Sunday Times, 4 September 2022.
Meghan and Harry: ‘There are no words left for the delusion and tragedy of it all,’ says royal source, Roya Nikkhah inThe Sunday Times, 4 September 2022
Soma Sara: Extreme porn is rewiring boys’ brains to sanction rape culture, The Times, 3 September 2022
Cressida Dick: Sadiq Khan wrongly ousted Met chief – report, BBC News, 2 September 2022
Prince Charles guest edits special edition of The Voice, BBC News, 28 August 2022
Microchip implants threaten to kill off the business card, Alexander Butler, in The Times 26 August 2022
Nigeria becomes first country to ban foreign models in adverts, Richard Assheton, in The Times, 26 August 2022
Prince Harry visits Rwanda before brief UK visit with Meghan, Alexander Butler, The Times, 22 August 2022. Why on earth would President Kagame want to spend any time with him?
It’s not always the perpetrator who pays for sexual harassment at work, Sarah O’Connor, Financial Times, 16 August 2022
England drought: Everyone must rethink their water use, experts say, James Clarke, BBC News, 14 August 2022 – I’ve always been against privatisation of public utilities, and the profits accrued whilst still having very significant leakage seem to reinforce my views.
The rise and rise of anti-Muslim hate music in India, Raghvendra Rao, BBC News, 8 August 2022.
Venture capital’s silent crash: when the tech boom met reality, Richards Waters, in the Financial Times, 1 August 2022
Winland Academy caught hiring writers for uni applications, Sean Coughlan, BBC News, 30 July 2022 – surprise, surprise, this has been happening for a long time. Not surprising when hugher education is a business.
Elon Musk’s Tesla sells most of its Bitcoin holdings, BBC News, 21 July 2022
Addressing modern slavery with data science methods, UKRI, 18 July 2022
Why are there so few black women in England’s Euros squad?, The Sunday Times, 17 July 2022 (note that 3/23 is 13%, far higher than the percentage of black people in England)
I don’t need a talking toothbrush! When ‘smart’ tech gets too smart, Madeleine Spence, in The Sunday Times, 17 July 2022.
Boris Johnson: Fact-checking three years of the outgoing prime minister’s claims, BBC News, 8 July 2022
Don’t blame your bad behaviour on autism, Ben Spencer, The Sunday Times, 10 July 2022
Adam Kay: my electric car hell, The Sunday Times, 10 July 2022
‘Horrendous’ sex education lessons to be investigated by children’s commissioner, by James Beal, The Times, 5 July 2022.
Weak laws on gambling cost lives, warn MPs, by Geraldine Scott, The Times, 5 July 2022.
Hacker claims to have obtained private details of a billion Chinese citizens, by Didi Tang, The Times, 5 July 2022.
Universities tackle grade inflation by cutting firsts, Emma Yeomans, The Times, 5 July 2022
New public buildings must have separate male and female toilets, says minister, BBC News, 4 July 2022
Help, my energy smart meter is lying to me, Ali Hussain and David Byers, The Sunday Times, 3 July 2022
‘Sex positive’ education is harming children, Janice Turner, The Times, 1 July 2022.
Cambridge University fellows dismiss Gonville and Caius College report on slavery as ‘distorted’, Nicola Woolcock, The Times, 27 June 2022
Tangshan and Xuzhou: Fury and questions over China’s treatment of women, Frances Mao, BBC News, 24 June 2022
India’s government cuts Muslim rulers from Indian history books, Penelope MacRae, The Times, 21 June 2022
Plans to close all rail ticket offices in UK…, The Sunday Times, 19 June 2022
Amandeep Singh Gill, Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Executive Office of the Secretary General
Palantir gears up to expand its reach into UK’s NHS, Madhumita Murgia and Sarah Neville, Financial Times, 9 June 2022
Harry and Meghan’s private jet to US raises climate questions, Andrew ELison and Debbie White, The Times, 6 June 2022.
EU sets date for common phone charge cable, Tom Gerken, BBC News, 7 June 2022
Russian phone scammers prey on families of Ukrainian soldiers, Larisa Brown, in The Times, 25 May 2022
Church of England priest accused of antisemitic conspiracy posts, Kaya Burgess, The Times, 24 May 2022.
Clearview AI fined in UK for illegally storing facial images, Shiona McCallum, BBC News, 23 May 2022.
The radio station giving indigenous people a voice, BBC News, 19 May 2022
Girls see physics as for white men only, MPs told, BBC News, 18 May 2022
Europeans’ data shared 376 times daily in advertising sales, report says, BBC News, 16 May 2022
Liz Truss ties aid to trade to take on ‘malign actors’, The Times, 16 May 2022. See also FCDO The UK Government’s Strategy for International Development (May 2022)
Crypto crash: Stablecoin collapse sends tokens tumbling, Joe Tidy, BBC News, 12 May 2022
‘No explanation’ for most first-class degrees as grades soar, Nicola Woolcock, The Times, 12 May 2022
Migrant workers are flipping the script and using Photovoice to tell their own stories, Reena Kukreja, The Conversation, 8 May 2022
Reparations for slavery are just a cynical shakedown, Douglas Murray, The Times, 29 April 2022
Katharine Birbalsingh: Girls dislike hard maths, says education adviser, BBC News, 28 April 2022
Russia’s casual savagery is seared into its soul: The absence of a historical reckoning with the evils of Stalinism has spawned a people who believe brutality works, David Aaronovitch, The Times, 27 April 2022
Britain shouldn’t feel guilty about Empire, says Australian diplomat, George Grylls, The Times, 27 April 2022