The House of Commons authorities would be surprised if the clock tower fell into the Thames any time soon. It may well be raised with the Speaker on Monday. Given that Big Ben is situated over the Speaker’s apartments, he may have a view on it.

Thomas Docherty, a Labour MP on the Commons administration committee, according to this Sunday Times article.

The news reader announces a 30% chance of rain tomorrow. Thirty per cent of what? Most people in Berlin think that it will rain tomorrow 30% of the time. Others believe that it will rain tomorrow in 30% of the region. In New York the majority believe that it will rain on 30% of the days for which the prediction was made.

This is the (edited) opening of BMJ 2012;344:e245, a fascinating paper about single event probabilities by Gigerenza and Galesic. It’s only short, quite fun, and may convince you to change your practice. Well worth a read.

Milton adored inventing words. When he couldn’t find the right term he just made one up: impassive, obtrusive, jubilant, loquacious, unconvincing, Satanic, persona, fragrance, beleaguered, sensuous, undesirable, disregard, damp, criticise, irresponsible, lovelorn, exhilarating, sectarian, unaccountable, incidental and cooking. All Milton’s. When it came to inventive wording, Milton actually invented the word wording.

Mark Forsyth, in The Etymologicon

In 1989, I was mugged, beaten and stabbed by a group of boys. To add insult to injury, not only did I lose half my blood but I lost my boyfriend too: he dumped me the next day, which wasn’t the most tactful piece of timing.

Graham Norton, in a Telegraph report about being burgled yesterday.

Whilst portfolios may encourage students to reflect, the quality of those reflections cannot be assumed. The substantial time commitment required for completion of a portfolio may detract from other important aspects of learning. It is vital to ensure that portfolios can be completed as easily and efficiently as possible, perhaps through encouraging students to include fewer pieces of evidence.

Select sentences from Buckley et al, 2009, Medical Teacher 31: 282-298. Just thought this might brighten up the day of some of my medical colleagues.

Happy new year!

Inspired by @sillypunk’s 2011 success, I’m going to try the Photo a Day idea for 2012… First picture to arrive shortly…

Were the Occupy protests about economic protest and attempting to right wrongs? Or were they harmless, spontaneous gatherings because people are lonely and were in need of a bit of excitement in their cities?

Tyler Brûlé, in his latest Fast Lane column, attributes the Occupy movement to uninspiring architecture whilst imitating the Queen. I think he’s finally cracked.

The problem faced by public health campaigns in the UK is the tendency for people to react to being told what to do.

Benjamin Daniels, Confessions of a GP

The royals cook, and serve the guests. They do the washing-up. You think I’m joking, but I’m not. They put the gloves on and stick their hands in the sink.

Tony Blair, writing about Prince Philip’s traditional barbecues, in A Journey.

When you watch the movies, you root for the cowboys, but when you read the history, you root for the Indians.

Amy Waldman, The Submission