Organ octaves...

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You may have heard about or have seen Canadian lingerie firm La Senza's Cup Size Choir Ad but did you know there is an interactive version where each girl sings her note when you use your keyboard: "Play the Girls"...for all you musical types. Ahem.

Ows opines...

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A few words on last weekend's wildcat strike by the Spanish air-traffic controllers: I was traveling - as you might expect - but luckily only by car to see some cousins in the South of France. Anyway, those few words: you're fucking fucked you nepotistic bunch of selfish, stupid fuckers. Talk about Spanish practices. I've seen some of the reports but nobody seems to be telling all of it. Reported: this was unannounced; this was one of the most important weekends of the year (double bank holiday this week), it was too rash, too unadvised, too sudden...(with apologies to Will the bard).

The way it's going to turn out is sure to get conspiracy theorists maintaining there is a government mole high up in the ATC union of the 2200 controllers that have a monopoly and rule the roost, literally: largely unreported: 80% are relatives or friends of the more "experienced employees"...should I repeat that? The first bit is that the government has been trying to end this monopoly, this strike was SO FUCKING STUPID that the government's wishes will come true...and then some: apart from gaol time not being out of the question, wages will be lowered to a more reasonable level (apparently 50,000 to 70,000 Euros per year is the average whilst in Spain the average is EUR200,000...reaching 600 thousand on occasion); wages will be slashed, less overtime, fewer privileges; they may even be made to pay for the losses they have caused; the nepotistic dream of veterans being allowed to veto new signings will disappear etc. This will be one case of unions for workers rights being completely and utterly crushed and yet the whole country will cheer it on. [details in Spanish]

Obvious outcome: official openness...

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Dan the Man today hits the Wikileakphobia nail on the head:

"There are one or two very specific areas where governments need to act in secret, but most of what has been leaked falls into the Pretty Bloody Obvious category. The only reason it is of interest is that it was classified. The days of official secrecy are over; they have been displaced by technological change. Get used to it."

Out of order VI...

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Lying bastard politician...Andy Burnham (Labour's shadow education secretary) has said that: "English schools are better today than they were in the 80s and 90s but of course we all want them to be amongst the best in the world". [Link]

Overall scores for UK pupils, down in every discipline (no doubt including discipline itself if they measured it!): "stagnant at best" according to the OECD. The only bright spot was that in Science they were above average...and only fell a couple of places. 'Education, edukaysion, eaduqcashun'.

Update 9pm: Gold star to 13th Spitfire:

You're smart, you're average and you're thick. Don't worry, we have something for all of you.

"And most of all, they keep their education system away from the clutches of Politicians. Their kids are far too important for a few dozen idiots to ruin. It's time we learned to be honest with our population again. We OWE it to them."

Organisms' other options...

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Scientists have been torturing and force-feeding bugs! OK, they've 'trained' a bacterium to eat and grow on a diet of arsenic instead of one of six elements considered essential for life - phosphorus in this case - "opening up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere in the universe or even here on Earth using biochemical powers we have not yet dared to dream about." Chemist and molecular biologist Dr. Gerald Joyce said,

"It's a really nice story about adaptability of our life form... ...It gives food for thought about what might be possible in another world."

This successful substitution of phosphorus of course is sure to stimulate a "rush" to replace one of the five other chemical elements (C, O, N, H, S) "essential" for life...like the substitution of silicon for carbon...In Space nobody can hear you scream! I'm joking of course: there are reasons why this particular one probably wouldn't work (strength of molecular structures etc) but chemical swaps are not that uncommon, in fact I have dealt with a particular one (sulphur for selenium in yeasts) for years.

Odd oversight or obscurantism....

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The News. Or not the News? MP Expenses in the millions. I guess it depends how it's written and what agenda the particular media have, especially if you're not keen on the Coalition: BBC and DT both have similar headlines: "MPs' expenses: £3.1m claimed in three months", or "MPs claiming £1m a month in expenses; MPs were paid £3.1 million in expenses in the first three and a half months after the General Election". Both the BBC and DT have details of various claims, explain the process with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, both have various articles about this news but neither, yesterday or today, in all their reporting - as far as I can see - mention one important fact:

"Expenses claimed by MPs have halved in the new Parliament, the first breakdown of payments since the general election has revealed."

That from Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor The Independent.

Update 12:45 CET: somewhat connected news: Tom Harris MP Tweets that IPSA's communications director Anne Power was named as source of leaks against MPs: in Hansard (Column 1029).

Other opt-out option?...

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In a word: No. "...we remain financially liable (thanks to the last act of Alistair Darling’s Chancellorship) until 2013 for bailing out whichever failed euro-state follows Ireland's dismal example."