Sperm and science and journalism: We're all doomed

Sperm, science and journalism were three of my main concerns today, as I awoke to a rash of headlines about the latest scientific breakthrough, the most alarmist of which was The Sun's 'Men Doomed as lab grows sperm'.

Of course, it is not accurate. Men are not doomed and, some argue, a lab hasn't grown sperm, or at least not fully functional sperm. Still, best not let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Ben Goldacre has made a good career out of pointing out the considerable shortcomings of science reporting by journalists. I imagine today would have been one of his busier days.

It took me ages to make the video above, and despite my best efforts in a very limited amount of time and with the very limited resources at my disposal, I imagine it is not entirely accurate either.

Still, I saw two interviews with Prof. Karim Nyernia, and his message was different in both. One was far more muted on his ambitions than the other.

I think, based on those, that he has aspirations to create sperm from skin cells and ultimately humans from that skin and that sperm, but he is reluctant to say so too loudly and clearly because he knows there might be a backlash.

But in spite of the slightly varied message, the reporting has been lamentable for the usual reasons: journalists are crap at science, they all studied English Lit. and know bugger all about maths and science. They have no time, and so they don't really check if what they say is true. And probably, if we're honest, many don't care.

And so when something as significant as genetic engineering, and all that it entails, hits the headlines, all we get are some miselading headlines and some screaming alarmism.

Today that happened again, but at least the 'we're all doomed' headline caught your eye.

Violence in changing China

Another flare-up of violence has Chinese authorities on the defensive at home, and on the offensive abroad, accusing outside influences of fomenting the trouble.

This time, instead of Tibet, it is Xianjing and the Uighur people in that province.

But unlike last year's trouble in Tibet, this appears not to have been a story which goes: people oppressed, people protest, authorities crack down, oppressed people die.

This time, it seems more like: people oppressed, people take law into their own hands and go on the rampage, riots and murders hurt Chinese, Chinese seek revenge, Uighurs die.

That is not quite as straightforward and sexy a story for the international media, and so I suspect it will not be covered adequately, or in as much depth as Tibet.

As Melissa Chan says, this latest episode is the result of 'complicated ethnic tensions'. So it is not quite as clear a dichotomy as perhaps first thought.

But once again, it is a case of a minority ethnic group which feels aggrieved rising up against what it sees as the Chinese oppressors.

For the Communist Party the question is: Do you crack down even more, or do you give them greater autonomy? It is very likely they will opt for the former, although the latter might be a more judicious move.

'Fuck the BNP'

'Fuck the BNP' - London, 17/06/09

Michael Jackson: Profit from a loss

Michael Jackson was a remarkably talented man.

But he was also a business, maybe even a whole industry.

And now, with more attention on him than there has been for decades, that industry is in overdrive:

Iraq's Oil, BP's challenge

After 37 years, Iraq has put its oil out to tender.

A consortium headed by BP has won an oil contract in Iraq.

It beat Exxon Mobil.

But that is just its first challenge.

Bernard Madoff: Victims demand more investigation and tighter regulation

As Bernard Madoff goes down for 150 years for the biggest fraud in history, his victims demand further action.

They want more work done to establish if anybody else assisted him with his crimes and a tighter regulatory framework established.

One of their placards reads: "Madoff stole it. SEC ignored it. IRS kept it."

Setanta sinks and Bercow bites

Video for today, and first up, a package I did on Irish sports broadcaster Setanta's collapse.



And second up, a remarkable spat between ITN's Political Editor, Tom Bradby, and The United Kingdom's new Parliamentary Speaker, John Bercow, full of his new-found importance.

Hats off to poiht87hfg who wrote: "He's not quite so servile when chatting with one of his perceived inferiors". Quite.

Blogger anonymity

Hats off to former university pal Gary Andrews for a great post about blogger anonymity.

It's in reaction to a ruling by Mr Justice Eady to reveal the identity of blogger NightJack.

I can't help feeling the biggest victim here, but certainly not the only one, is truth.

The Maldives' 'Baby P'

It is a case of apparent child abuse that led to the death of an eight-month old baby, and it has echoes of the 'Baby P' case that shocked Britain.

"An eight-month-old baby boy who had been severely beaten by his mother and her boyfriend died this afternoon [12 June] in the intensive care unit of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

"Addressing press this morning, Inspector Hamdhoon Rasheed, head of the police investigation unit, said initial test results revealed the baby had extensive injuries, and also showed signs of having been sexually abused".

Unlike here in the UK, the police have chosen to name the suspects. Can we really be certain it was the mother and her boyfriend who beat the child? Is that not for the judicial process to establish?

The mother of Baby P and her boyfriend were not named in the UK because of fear of reprisals. Her lodger, who was also involved, was named - Jason Owen.

In one sense, it is a hopeless aim. A quick search on Google and it is easy to find the names of Baby P, his mother and her boyfriend. In the Maldives, it would not even take a Google search - it is such a small place everyone would know who was involved before too long anyway.

But this will be a difficult case, not only because of the public outrage it is likely to generate. What specific crimes have been committed? Can a charge of murder be established? Baby P's mother and boyfriend were charged with 'causing or allowing his death'.

"All three suspects were taken into police custody and they all tested positive for morphine". It is something which again highlights the scourge of drug abuse in this small country and its miserable social effects.

But on a positive note, the opening up of Maldivian society is allowing these crimes to be found out and punished.

“Considering the increase in the number of cases being reported, you could say it was because people are becoming more aware,” said police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam.

So hopefully we are seeing a fall in the levels of child abuse in the Maldives.

Proportional representation, perverted

There is something rather perverse about the fact that it seems Labour is planning to rush through parliamentary reform, not least a form of proportional representation as an electoral system, by relying on the excessive executive power it has.

By this I mean that the issue of the MPs' expenses scandal and the problems associated with it and raised by it, not least a legislature of diminished power, are in part caused by the executive having too much power.

This is a trait of the British political system - the executive is all powerful, the legislature less so, in part due to the first-past-the-post electoral system.

This is a headline-chasing government. It works like this:

Problem arises - bad headlines hit the press - public becomes angry - government placates them by rushing through reactive 'reform' - government wins positive headlines to replace negative ones - problem solved on the surface.

Of course, the executive is able to do this because the governing party dominates in parliament, so they can rush through flawed legislation with minimal scrutiny in order to be seen to do something.

They are now repeating this process to deal with that very problem.

And this, my friends, is perverse politics.