Good health!

Pharmaceutical companies are being accused of "inventing" diseases so that they can sell more drugs and thus make more profit. I've no doubt there's some truth in it, but of course in order to succeed, it depends upon the public being willing to believe they are not well. We're not just talking hypochondria here - the fact is that good health is a very subjective thing. There is no doubt that the health of the nation has improved dramatically over my lifetime, and yet doctors' surgeries are as full as they ever were. If a 1950's doctor were to be presented with a modern day doctor's list of patients, I imagine that he would spend much of his time saying "What have you come to see me for - there's nothing wrong with you". What has happened is that, as people's health has improved, so their expectation of what constitutes good health has gone up as well. So we're just as much to blame as the drugs companies.

Folic folly

Big hoo-haa being made over the question of whether or not folic acid should be added to bread, to cut the risk of babies being born with certain defects. The main opposition seems to come from those who object on the grounds that this is "compulsory medication". I wonder if these people realise that flour is already "enriched" by law with certain additives, so the principle is well settled. Anyway, anybody who objects can always stick to wholemeal bread, because that will not be affected.

This is news?

Papers over the weekend full of stories about Prince Harry going out on the razz with some of his mates to celebrate finishing their Officer Training Course, and ending up at a lap-dancing club. So? Am I missing something?

National disaster.

You might wonder why anyone would choose to bet on the Grand National. It is after all the biggest lottery of any horse race. Fallers and loose horses can ruin the chances of the best of them. And yet, it has this fatal attraction - people who know nothing of racing, and who never otherwise go into a betting shop will study form and put their money on their fancy. If you work in an office, bet you had a National sweep. I have this crazy system just for this race. This time it gave me Innox. Great choice - fell at the first fence! Ah well, there's always next year.

Gospel truth?

Have you read about the Gospel of Judas? Fascinating stuff, and I have no real opinion on its authenticity, but what is clear once again is that the New Testament is in fact a highly selective compilation of writings designed to promote a certain image of the life of Jesus which the Church wished to disseminate. It perhaps comes as a bit of a surprise - shock even- to those who take the New Testament as being the last word on the subject, to realise that there is much other material which was simply left out because it didn't fit the picture which the Church wished to put forward. So spin isn't new, you see.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Always nice when you find your judgment is shared by others. A list of the "100 Most Beautiful Women Ever" puts Audrey Hepburn at No. 1. Couldn't agree more. Grace Kelly No. 2 - again for me spot on. Not sure about Cindy Crawford at No. 3 but certainly wouldn't argue with Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe at 4 and 5. But Brigette Bardot down at No. 31? You cannot be serious!

Growing old gracefully.

Why on earth are they tarting up the Sphinx? Surely the whole point is that the Sphinx is ancient, and it should look it. It should show the ravages of time. What exactly are they trying to do?

How safe is safe?

We all know Sod's Law - "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong", but this is just an eye-catching way of presenting a much wider truth - if it can happen, it will happen. A thing - anything - is either impossible, in which case it can never happen under any circumstances, or it is possible, in which case, make no mistake, it will happen, sooner or later. Probability is a measure of how long we are likely to have to wait before it happens. It's worth bearing all this in mind when someone tells us that something is "safe". Following the death of a young lad from measles and a general increase in the disease, doctors are once again pushing the MMR jab and assuring us that it is safe. But this doesn't imply a complete absence of risk - simply that the risk can be regarded as negligible, and that the dangers associated with not having the jab are massively greater than those which may result from having it. This is what parents need to be aware of when making their decision.

La plume de ma tante...

One can have some sympathy with President Chirac in his attempts to maintain the status of the French language and to fight against the hegemony of English, but it is, I'm afraid, rather like Canute trying to hold back the tide. I can't help but feel that much of the problem, historically, lies with the Académie Française and its insistence over the years in attempting to maintain the "purity" of the French language. One of the reasons English has been so successful - apart from being the language of the USA - is that it absorbs words and ideas from other languages like a sponge. It's a mongrel language, with minimal grammar, and an ever changing vocabulary. It is capable of being all things to all people - that is its strength. The French language sees itself as a thing of beauty, with heavy reliance on correct grammar, and - if the Académie had its way - with a strictly controlled vocabulary. That is its weakness.

Success (n), define.

Story in the papers over the weekend about the intention to use airport-style scanners at tube and railway stations to detect people carrying knives. This follows a trial of such measures in London which the Transport Secretary described as "extremely successful". Statistics published show that some 10,000 people were scanned, 68 knives were seized and 100 people arrested - presumably some for reasons other than carrying knives. So 1% arrests and less than 1% where knives were discovered. Obviously it's better than nothing, but given that this was targeted and not random scanning, I would hardly describe such a result in such glowing terms.