Japan earthquake: intensity, aftershocks and civility
By Nancy Baldwin In my whole life I have never experienced this kind of intensity, although I have felt many earthquakes growing up in California and living in Japan for over 25 years. I guess what...
View ArticleVideo: Why World Plumbing Day isn’t just about en-suite sinks
Today is World Plumbing Day. It’s not that well known – but figures from the United Nations and the World Health Organisation make frightening reading. About a third of the planet’s population don’t...
View ArticleVideo: Edinburgh to become more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists
Recent research suggests that the centre of Edinburgh has a problem, with shoppers not using Princes Street, George Street and other key central areas in the way that either the business community or...
View ArticleJapan earthquake: advice and information
Some links that might be useful in light of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office – messages of condolence from the Queen, prime minister David Cameron and foreign...
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Japan earthquake in pictures: walking home from work in Tokyo
By Nancy Baldwin A few pictures taken while heading home from work in Tokyo after the earthquake hit on Friday afternoon. An account of the journey itself appears elsewhere in these pages. – People...
View ArticleA quick rummage through the history of ladies’ undergarments
By Elizabeth McQuillan The whims of ladies’ underwear have varied according to the culture, practicalities and fashion of their time. More about avoiding draughty drawers than inspiring eroticism,...
View ArticleJapan earthquake: intensity, aftershocks and civility
By Nancy Baldwin In my whole life I have never experienced this kind of intensity, although I have felt many earthquakes growing up in California and living in Japan for over 25 years. I guess what...
View ArticleWhy John Hutton gets it and Alex Salmond doesn’t
For the past few months I’ve been lecturing part-time at a further education college and a university. Both roles will go soon, not least because one of the courses I am involved in has been axed in...
View ArticleJapan earthquake: from 26 floors up inside a swaying skyscraper
By Giles Tuck in Tokyo I work on the 26th floor of a modern 54-storey tower in the centre of Tokyo. I was at my desk on Friday afternoon when we felt the first jolt. We all glanced around slightly...
View ArticleFirst Minister Alex Salmond’s speech to the SNP spring conference
The address given by First Minister for Scotland and SNP leader Alex Salmond to the SNP spring conference held in Glasgow, 12 March 2011. Delegates, first and foremost our thoughts are with the people...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: sumph
By Betty Kirkpatrick English has a great many words for a stupid person. It has, for example, fool, idiot, nitwit, numskull, nincompoop, dolt, dope, clot, twit and airhead. Scots, however, can trump...
View ArticleWill bee pollination be a vote-winner come polling day?
By John Knox It’s good to see at least one politician with a Plan B. The Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant has begun her election campaign with a plea to save the bumblebee. While others are...
View ArticleScotland’s brave performance fails to disguise long-term malaise
Respected rugby writer Stephen Jones warned in yesterday's Sunday Times that Scotland, a once proud rugby nation, was in danger of slipping into "freefall", that the nation's decline was now almost...
View ArticleHelicopter crash robs Lake District tourism of significant character
The death of businessman Mark Weir, on the evening of Tuesday 8 March, brought to a premature end the career of one of the most imaginative and colourful characters in the Lake District. Weir’s body...
View ArticleNo job might be better than a bad job, new report suggests
Having a bad job can be just as harmful to mental health as having no job at all, according to newly published research. A study drawing on data from more than 7,000 people of working age in Australia...
View ArticleHealth fears grow as new “legal high” spreads across the country
Ivory wave, a drug being described as “the next mephedrone”, is growing in popularity and has already been implicated in deaths and illness across the UK, according to a critical-care paramedic. The...
View ArticleHorseshoes, herbs and urine: all useful for warding off fairies
By Betty Kirkpatrick Anyone who has recently read a story to a young female of the species cannot fail to be aware of the immense popularity of fairies in modern children’s fiction. Are these fairies a...
View ArticleHousing sector sceptical over government planning and provision
With first a budget, then an election in the offing, it’s hardly surprising that the special pleading has started. The housing sector has definite grounds for concern. The fall in house-building...
View ArticleOpinion: How scientific illiteracy mars reporting of the Japan disaster
By Doug Small The events in Japan are terrible. The death toll threatens to be horrendous. Thrown into the mix, as if it were needed, is the threat of nuclear meltdown. Those with responsibilities in...
View ArticleAftershocks and aftermath: a diary of anxious times in Tokyo
By Gordon McKenzie in Tokyo Saturday 12 March It’s been a strange day. Things give the impression of having pretty much returned to normal, except that the phones are unreliable. Some folk are without...
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