Dilip Simeon's blog

I never seemed to have time to study the birdlife around me before; I just liked the idea they were around and I enjoyed their dawn chorus over the years. In a fairly small space I am pleased to be visited regularly by many species of bird. My friendly robins follow me around listening to my mutterings (they later bring some of their youngsters), but most of the birds are extremely shy and need coaxing with refreshments to stay around.  Now, during my isolation vigil, I watch them as carefully as I did when photographing people.... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/26/charmed-in-lockdown-garden-birds-by-denis-thorpe-in-pictures

“All I wanted to do when I started was change the world, and now, 60 years on, I’ve succeeded,” says the 84-year-old artist. “But it’s worse now than when I started, we’re really living in a hell of a year, aren’t we?”....  When the Welsh artist  Ralph Steadman  picks up the phone, he sounds a bit paranoid. “It’s Friday the 13th, you know,” he says with a doomsday tone. “I’m terribly superstitious,” he adds. “It’s not only that, but the year itself. And everything that has happened this year. We’ve gotta get out of this year. Like that song by the Animals, We Gotta Get Out of This Place.” Viral Menace, artwork by Ralph Steadman: His new picture book  Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink , tracing over half a century of artwork, reflects as much. From his political satire – depicting Boris Johnson as the devil and Donald Trump as a dwarf – to his trademark Gonzo journalism work created alongside the American writer Hunter S Thompson for the novel-turned-film Fear and ...

Amanda Marcotte: Trump leaves a lasting legacy: The right's open embrace of terrorism     In any sensible society,  Kyle Rittenhouse  would be shunned across the political spectrum. The 17-year-old Illinois resident stands accused of shooting three people, killing two of them, during an August Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Whatever the specific facts of that incident, the larger truth is that Rittenhouse is lying in the bed he made for himself. If he had done the right thing, by simply staying at home and leaving the protesters alone, two men would be alive and he would not face homicide charges. But because he got enraptured by violent fantasies of armed confrontation with anti-racists, Rittenhouse picked up a gun, drove across state lines and got exactly what he was looking for. The results were tragic.... https://www.salon.com/2020/11/23/trumps-on-his-way-out-but-leaves-a-lasting-legacy-the-rights-open-embrace-of-terrorism/ Epidemiolo...

One day a Colonel Sa'ab from the Army fell into a well. The soldiers would throw a rope into the well and pull the Colonel Sa'ab out. The moment the Colonel would come up, the soldiers would leave the rope snap to attention and salute. The Colonel Sa'ab would fall back into the well. This happened many times. Someone suggested that a Brigadier  Sa'ab  be requested for help - HE wouldn't have to salute the Colonel. So one Brigadier Sa'ab arrived. He threw the rope into the well and the Colonel Sa'ab grabbed it.  The Brigadier Sa'ab began pulling the rope.  As soon as the Colonel Sa'ab reached the top of the well, he spotted the Brigadier Sa'ab. He immediately left the rope and saluted. And he fell back once more, into the well. There was total silence. Then everyone heard the desperate Colonel Sa'ab's voice from down below  You idiots - get hold of a batch mate !! MORAL OF THE STORY: Batchmates ARE important ! They can save your life!!!  ...

At the heart of Oxford’s effort to produce a Covid vaccine are half a dozen scientists who between them brought decades of experience to the challenge of designing, developing, manufacturing and trialing a  safe vaccine  at breakneck speed. Prof Sarah Gilbert, the Kettering-born project leader, arrived at  Oxford  in 1994 to work with Prof Adrian Hill, a senior member of the team, on the malaria parasite, plasmodium. She soon fell into work on experimental vaccines, starting with one that roused white blood cells to fight malaria, followed by a “universal” flu vaccine. As a student, Gilbert is said to have knitted cardigans with dogs on and played her saxophone in the woods to avoid disturbing her neighbours. As a researcher at Oxford, she gained a no-nonsense reputation, which some attribute in part to her raising triplets, though her husband gave up work to parent them…. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/23/coronavirus-scientists-developed-oxford-vaccine...

Historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha is a man who minces no words. And so, when the 62-year-old historian, in his memoir 'Commonwealth of Cricket: A Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to Humankind', points to what's ailing the game today in India, you know that he is talking about the men in power. Frustrated with the way cricket was being run in India, even at the behest of the Supreme Court of India, Ramachandra Guha had resigned from the Committee of Administrators. The COA was appointed to run the BCCI after its top officials, including two presidents, were removed for either their links with corruption or failing to adopt the Justice RM Lodha Commission reforms that were aimed at transparency and better governance. Even after the Supreme Committee-appointed COA handed charge to an elected body in October last year, Guha sees cricket being run by 'greedy' officials and men with connections with political heavyweights. Guha...

A controversial move in Kerala to enable arrests for content or social media posts deemed "offensive" has been put on hold after a severe backlash. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today that the amendment to the Kerala Police Act "will not be implemented". According to ANI, Pinarayi Vijayan said, "With the announcement of the amendment, different views arose from different quarters. Concerns were expressed by those who supported LDF and those who stood for protection of democracy. In this situation, it's not intended to amend the law." "Detailed discussions will be held in the assembly and further steps will be taken in this regard after hearing the views of all parties," he added…. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-kerala-puts-on-hold-controversial-police-law-after-severe-backlash/365114 A Hard Rain Falling: on the death of T P Chandrasekharan and related matters JNU SFI unit condemns murder of T PChandrasekharan ...