Whatever happened to bird flu?

Now we’re in full flu and norovirus season, I wondered what had happened to bird flu. In 2006 and 2007 it seemed to be the biggest threat to the world, never mind the UK.
Checking the World Health Organisation figures, I realised how few people had been killed by the ‘deadly’ H5N1 virus. 32 in 2004, [...]

Knife crime

I woke up today to hear a very hyped story about murders involving knifes. The Conservatives, needing to make Labour look soft on law and order, told us that ‘Knife killings have soared to a record high in England and Wales… citing police figures obtained under freedom of information laws.’ (Reuters)
As with all reporting of [...]

British National Party membership: the null hypothesis

A few weeks ago the British National Party membership was leaked online. Although this was a breach of individuals’ privacy, the media seized upon the list and provided a great deal of analysis, to satisfy the curiosity of those who want to know ‘who are the BNP?’ (see the Telegraph,  the Guardian, the Times, and [...]