Politics

Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister who took science seriously

Written by Julian Champkin on 08 April 2013.

The death of Lady Thatcher was reported today. Better known as Margaret Thatcher, she was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990. A controversial figure, her life and career will doubtless be reported at greater length in many other outlets. But on this site we should record one important fact about her: She had a degree in Chemistry, from Oxford. She was Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. She was also our first, and so far only, Prime Minister whose initial training was in science.

The Pope vote: left to chance?

Written by Michael Wallace on 13 March 2013.

115 Roman Catholic cardinals have been having an almighty lock-in to decide who will be the next Pope. With a two-thirds (rounded up to 77) majority required to get to wear the fanciest of hats (pictured left), some suspect they could be there some time, but what would happen if everyone voted at random?

Kenya, Elections and violence: beating Swords into shillings?

Written by Julian Champkin on 11 March 2013.

Kenya has been having elections. The results were announced on Saturday. Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's richest man, was declared winner with 50.07% of the vote. The runner-up, Raila Odinga, alleged massive fraud and said he would challenge the results of the "tainted election" in the Supreme Court.