On an average wage today, half a second of work will pay for an hour of light. In 1950, the average wage earner worked eight seconds to run a conventional filament lamp; in 1880, 15 seconds of work was needed for a kerosene lamp; and more than six hours of work for an hour of light by tallow candle in the 1800s. In 1750BC, your average ancient Babylonian needed to work more than 50 hours to get an hour of light from a sesame oil lamp. That 43,200-fold improvement…
Why rational optimism beats ephemeral happiness, The Australian, 22 June 2011
Janet Albrechtsen summarizes Matt Ridley’s argument. (ht: sully)
The reasons for the high Scottish mortality between 1950 and 1980 are unclear, but poverty and deprivation linked to particular industrial employment patterns, poor housing and unhealthy cultural and behavioural patterns seem the more likely explanations. From 1980 onwards the mortality pattern changed and this seems most likely to be attributable to the changed political context, produced by neoliberal political attack, and the consequent hopelessness and community disruption experienced in Scotland and Glasgow.
A controversial new report (1.9mb) from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health suggests that policies from the Conservative Government in the 1980s, aimed at deliberately weakening Scotland’s indiustrial heartland, may have led to the “Glasgow Effect”. This may explain, they suggest, why people in the West of Scotland live less long than those of other comparable cities.
On the other hand, maybe the real cause of the “Glasgow Effect” is blaming other people for our woes…
In the 1980s and 90s, thousands of Glaswegians were declared “unfit” for work, to remove them from the unemployment statistics. Surely this must have had a major effect on how our city and inhabitants see ourselves… Officially incapable :(
(ht: Glasgow Guide)
British Transport Police (BTP) have issued a warning to fans of Take That ahead of three performances at Hampden starting on 22 June… Recent performances in Manchester resulted in hospital staff saying they were “inundated” with drunk women who had been at the event.
(via BBC News - Police warn Take That fans over Hampden gigs behaviour)
Glasgow: The city where they die young | UK news | The Guardian →
What they call the “Glasgow effect” has puzzled health professionals for years. Glaswegians die earlier, whether it be from heart disease, abuse of alcohol or drugs, or cancer, than anywhere else in the UK. Yet nobody knows why. Liverpool and Manchester have near identical areas with the same social problems: a history of industrial decline, engrained deprivation, and high, long-term unemployment, plus a history of heavy drinking, smoking, poor diet, reliance on benefits, and damp housing. But there are 30% more premature deaths in Glasgow, compared with these northern English cities. And now it seems Glasgow’s adult life expectancy rate is on a par with that of the Palestinian territories and Albania. David Walsh, of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, says there is no clear explanation. On average, a Glaswegian male aged 65 will die within 13 years, sooner than any other Briton – in Liverpool, for example, an average 65-year-old male will die in 15.7 years…
Help find a cure for diabetes buy drinking huge volumes of sugary soda.
/facepalm. (via falblog)
Tesco mistake leads to beer rush
An error which slashed the price of beer and cider led to a stampede of customers at a number of Tesco supermarkets in Scotland.
A deal offering three boxes of various alcoholic drinks for £20 was going through the tills at three for £11.
Police were called to Tesco in Greenock after heavy congestion was reported in the car park as customers rushed to get the deal…
News of the error spread quickly from about 1900 BST, with many people posting messages on social networking sites…
One customer said the situation was “bedlam” as people phoned their friends and some went home to change clothing to come back and buy more beer.
BBC News, 1 June 2011
nerdbeauty asked: Thank you for following! What exactly is the Glasgow Effect?
Hello to you :) ”The Glasgow Effect” is…
1. What health researchers call the complex bundle of causes which means people living in Glasgow live less long than those of anywhere else in the UK - even accounting for social class, income and lifestyle :(
2. A cool name for a blog which is kind of about Glasgow and culture and stuff and which sometimes talks about health stuff :)
Ying and yang. Good and bad. Such is life. xx
[Edit: I was kind of joking there, but that acceptance of the way things are is probably a good example of Glasgow’s problem. A little more aspiration would do the place the world of good. I was away for ten years, and it’s been a bit odd being back. Hence the desire to blog about the place ;>]
School Lunches from around the world
Click on the picture and scroll down for a slideshow.
I’m sure school children in Glasgow would love to get a whole artichoke with their lunch :)
