In the news

It's horrific, how many years could this set back research into HIV?

^Well Joep Lange was on board, so this is a serious blow.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-crash-joep-lange-among-up-to-100-aids-researchers-and-activists-on-board-flight-mh17-9613821.html

^^^ fuck that's awful. (not that 300 people being shot out of the sky isn't bad enough, but that's just an extra level awful. )

I have no reason to believe so but I'm shitting myself that old colleagues from when I worked at the Dept of Sexual Health & HIV Research were on board. Strange how the brain works, tiny chance but a tiny chance is all it takes to make you sick with worry.

My friend at the MRC has said none of her immediate colleagues were on board, and thankfully the two editors from my group had already safely arrived before yesterday. It's going to be a somber meeting.

There seems to be a trend emerging:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tooting-car-crash-driver-beauty-salon-mitcham-road-london-window-collision-9608577.html

The third crash like this in about as many months, if I remember correctly.

Indeed it must be the latest craze in that neck of the woods. They're at it again

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/pedestrians-escape-with-just-cuts-after-car-mounts-pavement-and-smashes-into-starbucks-window-9614104.html

Indeed it must be the latest craze in that neck of the woods. They're at it again

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/pedestrians-escape-with-just-cuts-after-car-mounts-pavement-and-smashes-into-starbucks-window-9614104.html

Cafe nero people should stick to what they know.

That article is missing the quotes from plod and the driver's parent about how it illustrates the importance of cyclists wearing helmets.

It's also missing the vital piece of information as to whether Starbucks was wearing a helmet at the time of its collision with the vehicle. Remiss of the editor there.

This is amusing:

I'm getting fed up with reading stories about motorists driving on pavements. Every day this week! When will motorists learn? DON'T DRIVE ON THE PAVEMENT. It may only be a significant minority that do but you are giving ALL motorists a bad name.

amazing how that silver vauxhall corsa mounted that pavement BY ITSELF! are silver vauxhall corsa's known for this sort of dangerous behavior? that poor driver - he really should have a word with his silver vauxhall corsa, just in case it decides to mount a pavement again. someone could get seriously hurt!

Ingrid Temmerman, 44, from Wimbledon said: "I'm extremely lucky to be alive"

We all are Ingrid, we all are...

The Russians do have a track record for shooting down passenger jets though.

This would make, what, number 3, including Korean Air Lines Flights 902 and 007.

[Edit]

But the Ukrainians also seem to have taken out Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 with a missile in 2001...

Sources saying that Russia had closed roads in the flight path of the jet on their side of the border several hours before the 'Ukrainian separatists' fired the rocket.

State sponsored terror.

It's also missing the vital piece of information as to whether Starbucks was wearing a helmet at the time of its collision with the vehicle. Remiss of the editor there.

And come to think of it, have you ever seen a Starbucks cafe stop at red lights? Never.
This was bound to happen.

Just chiming in because I see a lot of knee jerk stuff on something I'm following pretty closely,

I don't think that the tragic aircraft downing is going to precipitate a war. It's going to be a while before the investigations are concluded - if, indeed, they can be concluded successfully - and without a smoking gun, it's hard to make the case for anything other than non-military measures.

And nobody wants military measures. The US ruled out doing anything more than supporting NATO today, and the EU doesn't want a war. Fuck me, both sides have nukes, who the fuck wants to do anything that makes their use possible?

But if it's proven that the separatists shot the plane down and that the Russians somehow were involved, expect the EU to ratchet up the sanctions. It would be too much of a loss of face not to ratchet them up.

Question is, how can we ratchet them up without hurting ourselves too much? We need Russian energy. We are addicted to Russian money. We don't want to kill our weak economic recovery.

We have to accept some pain ourselves to inflict real pain on Russia economically, but who knows how much pain we have the stomach for.

This is important, though. If we blink, we've just basically admitted that Russia is the hegemon in Europe, and it will be because economic pragmatism has trumped political principle. To quote (from memory), from the Melian Dialogue - 'the strong do what they will, and the weak suffer what they must'. Are we the weak, suffering what we must?

We thought the west had won the Cold War, but maybe Russia is winning the rematch.

We'll see, I guess.

Think on that.

From our very own Sparky: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10977082/Russian-government-edits-Wikipedia-on-flight-MH17.html

Stay classy Russia.

Question is, how can we ratchet them up without hurting ourselves too much? We need Russian energy. We are addicted to Russian money. We don't want to kill our weak economic recovery.

Stop them being able to buy houses in London

From our very own Sparky: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10977082/Russian-government-edits-Wikipedia-on-flight-MH17.html

Stay classy Russia.

RuGovEdits ГосправкÐ

Garbled charsets in 2014, really ? The world has had utf8 for decades ffs.

Stolen from Pips Facebook : http://sfglobe.com/?id=1658&src=share_fb_new_1658

^
^^
Not Cyrillic then?

From our very own Sparky: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10977082/Russian-government-edits-Wikipedia-on-flight-MH17.html

Stay classy Russia.

it's like the foffapaedia wars all over again.

Stolen from Pips Facebook : http://sfglobe.com/?id=1658&src=share_fb_new_1658

Insane. Just insane.

Made up. Just made up.

ftfy

Agreed. Total bs.

27 out of 45 made the waiter take a group photo.

May I be the third to call pork pies.

If you gon make up some stats at least make them half believable.