Delicious LiveJournal Links for 5-27-2009

[andrewducker]

• Santander scraps UK bank brands
  That's Alliance And Leicester, Abbey and Bradford And Bingley all becoming Santander...
  (tags: banking UK business)
• UK swine flu toll is really 30,000, says leading scientist
  Thirty thousand people in Britain are likely to have been already infected by swine flu, one of the country's leading authorities has told The Independent on Sunday. This would mean that the virus is 300 times more widespread than the Health Protection Agency (HPA) admits.
  (tags: flu disease UK)
• How soup can help you lose weight
  After you eat a meal, the pyloric sphincter valve at the bottom of your stomach holds food back so that the digestive juices can get to work.
  
  Water, however, passes straight through the sphincter to your intestines, so drinking water does not contribute to "filling you up".
  
  When you eat the same meal as a soup, the whole mixture remains in the stomach, because the water and food are blended together. The scientists' scans confirm that the stomach stays fuller for longer, staving off those hunger pangs.
  (tags: food diet)
• The Tory Atlas of the World
  I used to have this in a Spitting Image annual, many many years ago!
  (tags: maps funny UK satire politics map)
• Incomplete Information and the No-Fault Zone
  Repeat after me: Two people, both acting with the best knowledge they have and the purest intentions, can still hurt each other deeply.
  (tags: relationships)
• Record number of trains on time
  There you go - some actual good news.
  (tags: trains transport UK politics)
• Achieving Fame, Wealth And Beauty Are Psychological Dead Ends
  Even though our culture puts a strong emphasis on attaining wealth and fame, pursuing these goals does not contribute to having a satisfying life. The things that make your life happy are growing as an individual, having loving relationships, and contributing to your community.
  (tags: happiness life psychology)

Comments

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

As I recall, the Swine Flu thing was also good news - because the other half of the equation was that everyone else who had had Swine Flu had suffered basically no symptoms.

[andrewducker]

Not necessarily _no symptoms. Scott spent three days last week feeling godawful (sick, faint, etc.) Dunno if that was Swine Flu, but half the country could have felt like that without it being counted as part of an epidemic...

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Yep, OK, misspoke - "mild or no symptoms" I think was the phrase. Having a week of illness is really unpleasant, but I'll take it over, you know, dying.

[randomchris.livejournal.com]

Currently undergoing a few days of flu-like symptoms, and I work in a health service where we've had several people pass through within the last few days, and live in Falkirk - odds on swine flu? Certainly non-zero.

[andrewducker]

Yup - but so far it's not very fatal in general. The WHO's own figures show that 13,000 people have had it, with 92 deaths.

So yes, chances of there being a Death Plague this year is fairly low :->

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Of which about 90% were in Mexico City, right?

[andrewducker]

About 80% I think.

Strangely, despite it appearing in pigs elsewhere, the swine herds in Mexico City itsels have not shown any signs of infection...

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

86%. Including the US too, 98%. There has been one death in Canada and one in Costa Rica.

[andrewducker]

Yup - the deaths aren't spreading much.

Also, I hadn't realised that there were no infected pigs in Mexico City either - it seems possible it mutated in people rather than pigs.

[matgb]

It's been fairly clear Santander were going to merge them under one brand since they bought the other two, all the adverts have been pushing 'part of the Santander groupp' for ages.

I think it's a good move, it worked well for HSBC and while the loss of some old firms from the high street is regrettable, they've been effectively dead since the demutualised anyway.

[andrewducker]

I'm not against it - just thought it was interesting.

I once spent a day working at B&B head office, because they bought some software from the company I worked for. It's odd having memories triggered like that :->

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

As a side note to the whole fame, wealth, and beauty thing, I wonder why no one ever talks about the lower middle-lower class and their need to get out of an economic environment that means they're living paycheck to paycheck. I certainly desire wealth to get out of such a situation, but it isn't the same as desiring to be rich because I want to be wealthy.

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

Tracking alumini from University nowhere near approaches a random sample so the survey cannot really make generalisations about anything other then alumini from Universitys. The sample will likely be skewed towards wealth rather then normally distributed for a start.

Also plenty of people talk about and do extensive research on the nature of poverty and living hand to mouth. They probably garner more research attention then the classes above them!