Archive for December 2024

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 
– In recent years, too many children have been failed by their last line of defence: the state.
– This bill will be a seminal moment for child protection. No more words, no more lessons learnt. This government will put children first at every turn.
– That means a child-centred government, with better protections for young people and real join up between children’s social care, schools and local services. Alongside further measures to drive high and rising standards in our schools, this bill will deliver on this government’s Plan for Change, so that all children, whatever their circumstances, can achieve and thrive.

A new study shows that long-term exposure to air pollution contributes to millions of deaths in India. The research emphasizes the need for stricter air quality regulations in the country.

In 1993, sociologist George Ritzer introduced the concept of McDonaldisation to describe how principles like efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control, derived from the fast-food industry, permeate other sectors of society…. Today, with artificial intelligence revolutionising industries at an unprecedented pace, a critical question arises: does AI represent a new form of McDonaldisation in higher education?

The man who murdered Thompson, for whatever reason, deserves to be punished. But if we’re going to be honest about the public’s utter lack of sympathy, we have to acknowledge that it springs from the legalized murder practiced by all the Brian Thompsons who run the American medical insurance industry. The last thirty-six hours have seen an outpouring of statistics, personal testimony, and news stories that I find perhaps even more coldly upsetting than the footage of the murder. The statistics include UnitedHealthcare having the highest denial rate — 32 percent in 2023 — of any U.S. insurance company.