Artificial Intelligence - the Way Forward

The dangers of AI in both education and government services are being documented everyday.  The way forward is to be aware, proceed with caution and check sources.  Looks briefly at various reports of how it can all go wrong and suggests a possible solution for checking for veracity in results.

https://www.academia.edu/116629864/Artificial_Intelligence_the_Way_Forward

This is What's Wrong with the World......

 where so many think they havw an entitlement and everything wrong is the fault of someone else.  There is an urgent need to educate people to take for granted that they habe a personal responsibility, at every level.

Making the tobacco industry pay for cigarette litter could stop 4.5 billion butts polluting the Australian environment

Cigarette butts with filters are the most commonly littered item worldwide, with a staggering 4.5 trillion of them tossed into the environment each year. This is a huge problem; many end up on beaches and in the ocean, and the tar from burnt tobacco in the filter can be toxic to wildlife.

Home Office Take Note!

 

Report reveals opportunities for new era of patron-centered library services Lean Library today released "Librarian Futures," a white paper based on a large-scale survey of 4,000 librarians and patrons that examines librarian-patron workflows and relationships. The report finds that while patrons are unaware of the full extent of librarian support (with 77% beginning research discovery outside of the library), more than 80% greatly appreciate librarians and would want the library more deeply embedded in their natural workflows.

Eat right to stay safe.....

 Professor Tim Spector, lead scientist at ZOE COVID Study and professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, says,

“You don’t have to go vegan, but getting more diverse plants on your plate is a great way to boost the health of your gut microbiome, improve your immunity and overall health, and potentially reduce your risk from COVID-19.”

This doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive - check out our ten top tips for getting more plants on your plate if you’re looking for some fresh (or frozen!) ideas, or check out our blog post on 7 ways to improve diet quality and protect against COVID-19

ReplyForward

Confusion will surely reign!

 Expanding symptom list in line with other countries could improve the UK's pandemic response - really?

Here's the list:

high fever

a new continuous cough

loss or change to their sense of smell or taste

headache,

weakness 

tiredness

muscle aches

runny nose

appetite loss

sore throat

sneezing

21 November 2017 / Accepted: 8 January 2018 Wuhan Institute of Virology

 As a control, we also collected 240 serum samples from random blood donors in 2015 in Wuhan, Hubei Province more than 1000 km away from Jinning (Fig. 1A) and where inhabitants have a much lower likelihood of contact with bats due to its urban setting.   None of the donors had knowledge of prior SARS infectionor known contact with SARS patients.

Serological Evidence of Bat SARS-Related Coronavirus Infection
in Humans, China

https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Virologica-Sinica-SARSr.pdf

Makes sense!

 

Outfit colour clashes affect performance in football matches The response times of footballers is slowed down when part of the kit worn by both teams is of the same colour, a new study shows.

You ear it hear first!

John Bercow has jumped on what he sees as a way to becoming Prime Minister.  Keir Starmer doesn't seem likely to make it, so maybe.....

Watch this space! 

And the rest!

While the Coalition buckles under the strain of economic stagnation, a new Civitas report shows that supporting the electronics sector could protect and create jobs. Selling Circuits Short by Stephen Clarke and Georgia Plank, reveals that the Government is ignoring the size and significance of electronics manufacturing.

Ello, ello ello!

Institutional racism is an unfair allegation to level at British police forces and its universal acceptance by public officials has led to harmful policymaking, according to a new Civitas report. In Mind Forg'd Manacles Jon Gower Davies outlines the history and influence of 'institutional racism' since the Macpherson inquiry, following the murder of Stephen Lawrence. He finds the evidence for institutional racism within British police forces to lack substance and describes how the resulting bureaucratic burdens placed on police forces have impeded their ability to serve the public.

Here endeth today's lesson. Harken & learn!

"The Food Stamp Program, administered by U.S. Dept of Agriculture, is actually proud that it is distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by U.S. Department of the Interior, asks "Please Do Not Feed the Animals."  Stated reason for policy - because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves. 

Shelling out evidence: NIST ballistic standard helps tie guns to criminals

(Phys.org) -- Thanks to a new reference standard developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), law enforcement agencies will have an easier time linking the nearly 200,000 cartridge cases recovered annually at U.S. crime scenes to specific firearms. http://phys.org/news/2012-08-shelling-evidence-nist-ballistic-standard.html#nwlt

Big Brother fights crime

New York police launch high-tech surveillance 
New York police on Wednesday launched what officials say is a revolutionary camera surveillance system that will simultaneously scan the streets and call up data on suspects.

Could apply to police commissioners too!

Electing - rather than appointing - state court judges has drawbacks, study finds 
In traditional economic thought, competition is always good, and just as it's good for the economy, competitive elections should also make things better. But elections of public officials such as judges may have serious drawbacks. In the case of state court judges, for example, elected judges are far more variable in their sentencing than appointed judges, according to a new study.

A New take on the Broken Windows Theory

Study finds with vacant lots greened, residents feel safer 
Greening vacant lots may make neighborhood residents feel safer and may be associated with reductions in certain gun crimes, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Results show that residents living near greened vacant lots feel safer than those near non-greened sites. Additionally, researchers noted that incidents of police-reported crimes may be reduced after greening. The results expand upon previous studies and are the next step in helping researchers understand the full impact of vacant lot greening on crime, safety, and health. Full results of the study were published online this week in Injury Prevention.

Bother the country - let's just play tit for tat!

Plans to reform the House of Lords are being abandoned after Conservatives "broke the coalition contract", Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has announced.

Agreement on an elected Lords could not be reached with Tory opponents, he said, and the plans would be shelved rather than face a "slow death".

As a result, he said Lib Dem MPs could not now support Conservative-driven changes to Commons boundaries in 2015.

Virtual Terrorists are not alone!

How the 'lone wolf' terrorist networks 
A mounting global threat is of terrorists who act as "lone wolves". Locating and preventing such terrorist activity is more complicated than organizational terror threats. A new study conducted by Prof. Gabriel Weimann of the University of Haifa, reveals that these "lone wolves" are not in fact so isolated and belong to virtual terrorist communities on the Internet.

UKIP is NOT anti-European!

We're not anti-European!  We love Europe!  Europe is a rich tapestry of cultures, history and languages.  It has always resisted bureaucratic uniformity, long may it continue; vive le difference!  We respect the rights of sovereign states and their peoples to democratically determine their own futures, to live in peace and harmony whilst trading with each other.  We're already working with other democratic, freedom loving organisations, like ours, across Europe.

http://ukip.org/page/the-truth-about-the-eu

Nor is it right-wing, like the people of this country, it is a mix of all sorts.

Longer custodial sentences lead to consistent reductions in crime

Longer prison sentences contribute to reducing property crime, according to a new Civitas report which shows that prison is effective, especially when targeted at serious and repeat offenders. Acquisitive Crime: Imprisonment, Detection and Social Factors by University of Birmingham economist Dr. Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, with assistance from his colleagues Samrat Bhattacharya, Marianna Koli and Rudra Sensarma shows that for some crime types, longer custodial sentences lead to consistent reductions in crime.

UK election outcomes irrelevant, because of EU

"We are not governed from Westminster, we are governed from Brussels. It does not make any difference," he told the BBC's Hardtalk programme.

Continue reading the main story

Find out more

• Watch the full interview Hardtalk: Nigel Farageon BBC World News at various times on 6 August 2012

"It no longer matter who sits in No 10. The penny is beginning to drop with the British people and British businesses that we are no longer a self-governing nation. That matters far more than which brand of social democracy gets into No 10."