What the papers said in the week ending 7 August 2021
There are straws in the wind that say that appreciation and protection of things old is gaining ground:
- Whilst supporting innovation, The Church of England does not want to lose the strength of the established: C of E traditionalists launch fight against worship in ‘takeaway, cinema or barn’ | Anglicanism | The Guardian
- The Repair Shop has touched our fondness for items and skills which have history: BBC One – The Repair Shop
- Today it’s cool, tomorrow it’s junk. We have to act against our throwaway culture | Jonathan Chapman | The Guardian
- This is more than romance: Repairing and reusing household goods could create thousands of green jobs across the UK | Green economy | The Guardian
- And we remember the way things were with respect and affection: The changing art of the subeditor: ‘You had to read the type upside down’ | Newspapers | The Guardian
- Walter Scott, the 88-year-old Guardian subeditor who was a walking Wikipedia | Letters | The Guardian
But if you are driving an older car beware: some models will not be able to cope with a new formulation of petrol which is being introduced to reduce its climate qualities: E10 fuel: Check before you fill up – it can damage older cars | Motoring | The Guardian
Check if your vehicle can run on E10 petrol – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Covid and policies combine to produce an environment which is hostile to the weakest:
- Johnson faces rebellion over ‘intolerable’ hunger and poverty in home counties | Poverty | The Guardian
- Boris Johnson refuses – but what are the rules on when to self-isolate? | Boris Johnson | The Guardian
- Energy firms join charity push for social tariff to offset fuel poverty | Energy industry | The Guardian
- Debt and mental health: Covid has increased the pressure but help is available | Borrowing & debt | The Guardian
- Drug poisoning deaths in England and Wales reach record high | Drugs | The Guardian
- Smoking-related cancer twice as prevalent among poor in England | Smoking | The Guardian
- We find that the average adult has been spending a third of their waking lives watching TV or similar: Britons spent third of time watching TV and online videos in 2020 | Ofcom | The Guardian
There is a lobby which would have us make vaccines available to poorer countries rather than provide booster jabs for our own older people, or extending the ‘roll-out’ to even younger people. But there are arguments both ways: UK faces difficult choices on future Covid vaccination strategy | Vaccines and immunisation | The Guardian
- Fifth of Covid hospital admissions are aged 18-34, says NHS England | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- Vaccine policies that are ineffective and unethical | Letters | The Guardian
We have learned that Covid-19 is a virus which spreads to more than the respiratory system. But we do believe that wearing masks indoors is protective: Covid discoveries: what we know now that we didn’t know before | Coronavirus | The Guardian
The impact on societies is destructively dangerous: ‘New wave of volatility’: Covid stirs up grievances in Latin America | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Evidence of environmental instability mounts day by day and around the world: Eight dead as wildfires continue to rage across southern Europe | Wildfires | The Guardian
- Last month was worst July for wildfires on record, say scientists | Wildfires | The Guardian
- Climate crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse | Climate change | The Guardian
Other matters:
Lessons of the damaging effects of the ‘hostile environment’ and enforced repatriation seem not to have the influence they might: Home Office challenged over ‘sped-up’ removal of Vietnamese nationals | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian
There are concerns that a mechanism to fast-track approval of potentially important new drugs has not always been used prudently. The recent case of an anti-dementia drug comes to mind for consideration FDA allows drugs without proven clinical benefit to languish for years on accelerated pathway | BMJ
But there is hope for effective treatment of certain brain tumours: Trial to test if cannabis-based mouth spray can treat brain tumours | Cancer | The Guardian
Further studies confirm the risk of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders amongst professional footballers: we now know that defenders have the greatest risk and goalkeepers the least. Long service – beyond 5 years – adds to the risk. Football should consider eliminating heading, dementia expert says | Football | The Guardian
- Association of Field Position and Career Length With Risk of Neurodegenerative Disease in Male Former Professional Soccer Players | Neurology | JAMA Neurology | JAMA Network
- State of the art genetic research is teaching us more about the timing of the menopause: Genetic secret to age women start menopause discovered | Menopause | The Guardian
Another sort of science assures us that grand-parenting is valued in other herd species: Giraffe grandmothers are high-value family members, say scientists | Mammals | The Guardian
Therapy via the internet has been the only option for many during the pandemic – Not a panacea, but an option likely to retain a position: Therapy via Zoom should make mental healthcare available for all – it hasn’t | Hannah Zeavin | The Guardian
Some are already keen to take to the waters in a big ship: ‘Lovely to be back onboard’: Princess cruise ships return to sea | Travel & leisure | The Guardian
David Jolley
