Minor Positive Trump News, Brexit Woes for May. Family Christmas and Returning Themes.

Old Trees in Krefeld

Visiting family over Christmas, I kept my eye on the news over the past week but everyone seemed to be quieting down for the Holiday season.

Two positive items that struck me re across the Pond. Both Melania and Donald Trump took a few calls on behalf of NORAD, answering children's calls on the whereabouts of Santa - a small but significant act of kindness. The second was the news that Melania Trump was apparently going to have the Jackson Magnolia, gracing the white House front, removed. A shock headline that actually obscured a hidden more positive truth. The tree, planted more than 200 years ago, by President Andrew Jackson, had become diseased and weakened and is supported by a pole and wires. It is the tree that the press often stand beneath and there was a significant risk of dead branches falling and hitting people.  

Melania reviewed reports from the US National Arboretum and consulted with White House staff. The trees health was not a new problem and White House groundskeepers have prepared healthy offshoots of the tree “an undisclosed greenhouse-like location”. The magnolia will initially be cut back and the aim is to have it replaced by one of its offspring, to shade to the US's presidential families for future centuries.

Since the UK did not feature to a major degree on the Continent, I only caught scraps of minor events. The most hilarious, were it not for the seriousness of Brexit, was Lord Heseltine's pronouncement that electing Labour and Jeremy Corbyn to Government was a less evil than the current path to Brexit. In his opinion, at least the errors created by Labour governments could be undone, whilst Brexit would have consequences for the longer term. 

The New Year's Honours List also provided light relief with Nigel Farage decrying the fact that Brexit had ruined his opportunity of a knighthood, whilst to his  ire, former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, arch remainer, got one.

Prime Minister Theresa May's New Years Speech was somewhat overshadowed by Labour Lord Adonis's resignation as Chair from the Infrastructure Commission because of the 'Nationalist spasm of Brexit', of feeling hamstrung by the government. He also came out attacking the handling of the railway contracts by Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, to the detriment of the UK taxpayer.

Then Brexit Secretary David Davis made some private  comments that immediately went public, that he thought it was possible that the UK might not leave the EU!

All this happened in the background as far as we were concerned. Christmas was a time with family and friends. Feasting started on the day before Christmas even and continued for three days. I thoroughly sympathised with the caller to a German radio station on Boxing day who, when asked what he was doing that day, replied 'Digesting!' (German: 'Verdauen!').

Alas, all too quickly, it was time to come home to the UK, which, in contrast to where we had been in Meerbusch, was still in travel chaos due to snow and freezing weather. Travelling by train had been the sensible choice, with our nearest airport, Stansted, closed for a time and having passengers sleeping overnight at the airport.

The old year ends and the new year begins with family and some familiar themes. A cold. Continuation of the Brexit and Trump excitement. Countries experimenting with universal income - the Finns started at the beginning of this year and the Scots have just started their own trial at certain locations.

Damian Green Sacked. Trump Pleased and Bullish. Travelling to Germany by Train

Wednesday 20th December: Prime Minister Theresa May had to sack her deputy Damian Green today. This was not because he might have downloaded porn onto his computer or made improper advances on a House of Commons member of staff. His downfall came because he had made misleading and inaccurate statements about having material on his computer.

President Trump has been quite busy this week, it looks as if his permanent tax cuts for businesses and time limited tax cuts for individuals have been approved.  The bill also contained another sting in the tail, weakening his bête noire, Obamacare. His address on the National Security Stragegy was actually less aggressive than the actual document. The latter identified Russia and China as mounting threats and resulted in sharp responses along the vein of "returning to the cold war".

Today's contribution was a blatant threat to those countries in the UN who vote tomorrow for the United Nations resolution opposing the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The US represeatative at the UN, Ms Haley, warned in a letter to dozens of member states to note, "know that the president and the US take this vote personally". A comment wholeheartedly supported by the President who bullishly threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that backed the resolution, telling reporters at the White House:
"They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care."

Jane and I set off on another journey today, travelling within the EU before Brexit restricts movememnt. We caught the bus from Milton to the Science Park and then walked down to Cambridge North Station. The station's car park had been occupied by Travellers wanting to spend Christmas there earlier in the week. However, they had now moved to the old Park and Ride site, and the station appeared to be back to normal.

We caught the through train to Kings Cross, walked through to St Pancras Station where two pianists were playing to the Christmas crowds at either end of the long arcade, one decidedly better than the other. The centrepiec of the arcade was an enormous Christmas tree made of flowers.

Having bought our meal deal from W H Smiths, we joined the snaking queue to enter the Eurostar station. This involved the usual travel rituals: The Scanning Of The Ticket to pass the first portal, The Presentation of The Passport followed by the Trying to Look as Gormless as Your Passport Photo at the automatic face recognition gate, and finally, The Partial Disrobing and Divestment of All Wordly Goods and Suitcases - as they went through the scanner and we through the Gate of Metallic Doom, where woebetide anybody who caused the gate to ping as they were subjected to the body search.

The train from St Pancras to Brussels Midi ran on time. We entered into a conversation with two teachers from Cornwall, off to enjoy EuroDisney, which passed the time. At Brussels, we had a 75 minute wait for the next train. A Tibetan monk, resplendent in full orange regalia, was also travelling to Cologne. With our train being delayed and directed to a different platform, we made sure that he was OK and boarded in the right carriage. In the Thalys train, our partner at the table was a young expectant carpenter, returning from France, where she worked for a Briton, to Germany to spend Christmas with her parents. It was an example of the sorts of opportunities and lives that being a member of the EU made possible.

We arrived in Cologne more than 30 minutes late and missed our next connection by a whisker. Philosophically, we found ourselves a table at one of the food vendors and ate the first 'Pommes' - continental chips - mine with the traditional mayonnaise and Jane with Ketchup. At least the National Express regional train was on time and we made it safely home to my mother, 12 hours after setting off.

128 Countries Vote against US. PM Visit to Poland. Lie-in and Conversation

Train to St Niklaas seen at Brussels Midi yesterday

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly with 128 for the resolution calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I'm pleased to note that the UK and Germany were amongst those who did so, especially as the UK is now under pressure with regards to achieving a trade deal with the US in the longer term.

Will Nikki Haley take the list of those 128 countries who voted against the US to President Trump and this result in cuts of support and funding? Funding overseas activities comes under several different strands in the US, from military and development aid to bolster influence, to humanitarian assistance. A response, if it comes, may be more nuanced. No tweets from POTUS on the subject seen yet. Another interpretation is that this is political posturing for the US domestic base.

The UK does seem to be taking a less discerning attitude with regards to Poland, with Prime Minister Theresea May visiting the latter for talks and seeking support for the UK's Brexit negotiations. Poland is currently under caution by the EU because its changes to the constitution are seen as blurring,, or even removing, the separation of the Judiciary from the Political leadership. The EU is contemplating starting procedings that could potentially cut off EU funding to Poland for not keeping to the spirit of fundamental democratic principles. Should the UK be seeking assistance from a country that is weakening its democracy? The next telling visit would be one to Austria where the far right has gained a foothold in government.

After a lie-in to recover from yesterday's travel we chatted and echanged stories before going out to do some food shopping for the next few days. An old friend dropped by in the evening to share a meal and further conversation.

Last Community Cafe of the Year Before Christmas

Today I can't be asked to comment on Brexit or Trump.

The highlight of the day was the last Community Cafe of 2017. Today, the event was free, with our baker Nathalie providing an exotic trifle, a lemon based cake and mince pies.

Our regulars and helpers went home at the end of the day with a small gift and best wishes for a festive Christmas!

Different Brexit Visions of Cabinet and Barnier. Backlash Against Threatening Trolls. 1 km Walk in 4 h.

The prime minister chaired the first open cabinet discussion on the aims for Brexit. Today, according to The Guardian, the focus was not on transition but the ambitions for a trading arrangement in the Brexit “end state”.

In the same paper, the EU's Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier said it was unavoidable that British banks and financial firms would lose the passports that allow them to trade freely in the EU, as a result of any decision to quit the single market.
“There is no place [for financial services]. There is not a single trade agreement that is open to financial services. It doesn’t exist."

A number of the Tory MPs who rebelled against the government to ensure parliament to have a vote on the final Brexit agreement have received threatening tweets and even death threats. Anna Soubry  MP submitted a dossier of the threatening messages sent to her, including:

• An individual said they would love to go on a tour of Westminster “but can’t make enough explosives in time”.
• Another asked whether Soubry should be subject to treason charges along with May, Amber Rudd, the home secretary, and Philip Hammond, the chancellor. “Is there enough rope to hang them along the Embankment?”
• One used a hashtag naming the Labour MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist. It said the “mutineers” had committed treason and their “heads belong on spikes outside”.

The Prime Minister Theresa May, The leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbin and Speaker John Bercow came out strongly on the defence of MPs to express their opinions in Parliament. The latter stating "You are never mutineers, never traitors, never malcontents, never enemies of the people" .

Waking up to another frosty start this Monday, I headed off to the post office to post Christmas cards, a book order and to stock up the small stand with Milton calendars. I continued going the long way back home via Coles Road and Old School Lane with more calendars, knocking on doors to see who else might be interested in a copy. Whilst many people were out at work, and others were not interested, the short tour took me over four hours. Why? It was the welcome and conversations with both strangers and existing friends, Something I'd already experienced on a similar walk on Sunday. 

The topics and memories that still linger in my mind from both walks are:

• The laughter of surprise when the door was unexpectedly opened by a familiar face and the warm welcome.
• People waiting to be picked up for a memorial service for an old friend or remembering that it was taking place.
• Discussing Mozart's equally talented sister and wife.
• Looking for a doorbell to push and encountering a genuine bell pull. 
• Someone who just moved to Milton and being able to welcome them to the village.
• People who had lived in the village for over half a century.
• The different door chimes from inaudible to Big Ben
• Finding the houses that were used by the original residents of Coles Road when they had to move out temporarily as their faulty properties had to be repaired in the 1960's.
• Photographers who used to develop their own black and white images in the kitchen.
• The fragility of wasp nests and homes for wild bees.
• Considering childhood and children's literature, coming from the opposite ends of reading pleasure and academic research.
• Having to wait till the 7th of January, 2018, to celebrate an Orthodox Christmas
• Finding friends keeping each other company on a cold afternoon.
• The relatives and helpers quietly at work in the background of a senior resident's home.
• Shared delight where someone had already bought the calendar at the School Fair or Post office.
• Admiration for the person who made their own calendars every year.
• Talking about the anticipation and plans to visit family, or be visited by relatives from nearby or afar, for a Christmas together.
• The generosity of complete strangers.

I returned home tired but with a smile on my face.

Putin Thanks Trump. Prime Minister Basking in Acclaim. Painting with milk.

Some constructive news out of the US today, courtesy of President Putin. he thanked President Trump Personally for the information given to the Russian security forces about a planned terror attack. Weapons, explosives and extremist literature were apparently found with terrorists planning ISIS like attacks in St Petersburg.

Closer to home, Prime Minister Theresa May is shrugging off comments by hard brexiteers on last Fridays agreement on the transition period. These included claims.of the UK becoming an EU "Vassal State" by mirroring EU regulations during that period. The dominant Tory noises were of praise for her negotiating skills, recommendations she hardens her control on the cabinet and even, that she should seek cross party support for planning the shape of Brexit. Most notable was the suggestion that she stay as Prime Minister till 2021, the subtext presumably being , let her deal with the poison chalice of Brexit and only challenge her leadership when it has been disposed of.

A busy Christmas preparation day today, packing the small gifts for our community cafe regulars. i also went out for an hour in the afternoon to sell the Milton Local History Group calendars door to door, successfully finding homes for ten.

Having been with the German restorators' delegation a month ago, the Pope caught my attention. Not that he needed restoration, rather, it was reported that milk paint was being used instead of modern paint to redecorate the papal Belvedere Palace. It dates back to 1484 and houses the precious art of the Vatican Museums.

Milk based paint was very popular before the introduction of synthetic paints. The casein protein within the milk is modified by the addition of lime and, when applied to porous surfaces, provides a very durable coating. In liquid form, the paint has to be used within a day of being prepared, but it can be purchased in powder form, to be activated by the addition of water.

To make it yourself, you curdle low fat milk with either vinegar or lemon juice and separate out the curds from the whey. The curds are then mixed with lime and dye and applied. The surface has to be porous for the paint to bind, so wood and pottery as well as presumably stone or brick walls are suitable. The paint can be applied in layers and has a translucent quality. Once dry, it can be sealed with any of a variety of top coatings. The Earth Pigments site gives a recipe here: http://www.earthpigments.com/milk-paint-with-lime/.

Does NewSpeak for CDC Remove Inconvenient Words Vulnerable and Evidence-Based? Cambridge Christmas Shopping

NewSpeak Alert! (A Satire)

One of my facebook friends alerted me to a report in the Washington Post, that senior policy analysts of the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) were advised Last Thursday, that they couldn't use the words "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based," in reports and budget applications for 2018.
Original report https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-gets-list-of-forbidden-words-fetus-transgender-diversity/2017/12/15/f503837a-e1cf-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html?utm_term=.96654a9ae872

At the time of writing this article, the HHS (Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC) has responded that it “will continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans. HHS also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions.” Other News agencies were still awaiting responses to their queries about clarification of use or exclusion of the seven words from the HHS.

Benefits of excluding problematic words:

Exclusion of the words like "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," from the language of an organisation is important for policy. By removing the word, you can remove the recognition of these states from written existence, and in the future perhaps remove them from public consciousness. This is an early version of George Orwell's 'Goodspeak', language that only contains ideas that are ideologically sound for a particular politics.

Benefit of excluding evidence and science

Removal of "evidence-based" and "science-based," is even more important. Concepts based on evidence and science allow arguments based on accepted common observation.  So you can have ideas based on recorded information that are different to your preferred point of view. By removing the link to an observable and/or measurable reality, you are much freer to ensure that your policies are accepted.

Examples

Good recent examples of inconvenient truths are:

• The greenhouse effect and global warming
• Votes counted for particular candidates
• The existence of LGBT people
• The accumulated forensic evidence in criminal cases.

Downsides

Unless you already have total control, there are still very disruptive individuals and organisations, like opposing parties and the media, who insist on adhering to evidence-based and science-based interpretations of reality markedly different to yours.

Strategies

Previous regimes have simply silenced opponents and opposing views. This solution is still quite widespread globally. However it is less practical in a democratic political environment, where one might have to be elected or even re-elected. A three-pronged approach is currently proving popular:

• Denial of alternative views
• Labeling of evidence- or science-based arguments as fake news or irrelevant
• Ridiculing or denigrating opponents.

Future-proofing

No matter how good you are at removing evidence- and science-based ideas and replacing them with yours, they will unfortunately come back to bite you in the end as reality reasserts itself. The difficult part is deciding to go before the 's..t hits the fan'. The UK has good examples of both those who exited at the right time and those who did not after the Brexit Referendum.

...............................

Jane and I went into Cambridge for some urgent Christmas shopping. Travelling after 10 am, the bus was remarkably empty and to me, this was reflected in the crowds on the streets. It was not the heaving crush that I remembered from the past. You could generally move around in stores and the queues at the tills were not excessive. We actually came back after a successful shop still relatively sane.

The Norwich based Centre for Retail Research predicts that, despite Brexit uncertainty, retail overall is likely to be 1.4% higher this year. However, high street retail is likely to suffer a 2.5% decline this year, as more people go online shopping. One of the key features of recent years is the increase in discounting for almost the whole of the golden quarter up to Christmas. This has led to to "an unexpected dearth of shoppers in the main cities on many days, whilst the smaller retail centres looked like ghost towns". Shoppers see less urgency to buy when the prices are likely to be low not just for a day but in the coming weeks.

See Centre for Retail Research report 'Shopping for Christmas 2017':  http://www.retailresearch.org/shoppingforxmas.php

Brexit Phase 2 Go-Ahead Conditions. Guaranteed to Upset Brexiteers?

Donald Tusk broke the good news for Theresa May, that the EU 27 had agreed that Brexit talks could progress onto the next stage.

Looking at the EU's guidelines for phase 2 of the negotiations (http://www.consilium.europa.eu//media/32236/15-euco-art50-guidelines-en.pdf), The EU's position is that talks will be on agreeing the requested for two year negotiating period after the 2019 deadline, to be sorted by March next year. Trade negotiations would then begin.

All sides agree that negotiations may be more difficult in this second phase, but fracture lines are soon to appear in the UK. Whilst the UK effectively becomes a third country in March 2019, with no say in EU decisions, the UK will still be adhering to the common market and customs union for the two transitional years, with all the associated requirements regarding movement of people etc..

Tonight's Newsnight interview, where Kirsty Wark sounded out both arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg and pro-European Kenneth Clarke, exposed very real differences in the understanding of what was going to happen during the transition period. I suspect the Brexiteers are going to be very unhappy.

St Ives brings out a whole ecosystem of snowmen that cheerfully peek out from inside shops or stand outside, close to the shop fronts and I photographed one on the way to the Taproom. Good discussion at the A14 networking today with Nolan Collins. Having lived and worked in the UK, France and the US, he had a varied working life from his early beginnings in restaurants to current success in social media training, amongst other things. We share a love of public speaking and helping others solve problems where our skill sets fit.

Moved on to the Norris where I spent a couple of hours volunteering - formatting display information prepared by other expert volunteers.Visited a local author, working through the convoluted processes of getting an Amazon Seller account. The newest requirements include more personal details and two step verification process - and a lack of carity for the applicant whether going through the individual seller process or for the business process with a monthly fee.

Finished off the day checking one of the local clothiers for a suit and found one that is possibly worth pursuing.

Grenfell Tower 6m Anniversary. May Welcomed in Brussels. US Repeals Internet Neutrality. Hemophilia Gene Therapy

Grenfell Tower Friday 16th June

Six months since the Grenfell Tower Fire and a memorial service held in St Pauls. Many Families are still homeless and living in single rooms in hotels.

Reminded of the eerie atmosphere when I originally saw the tower and reported on it on Friday 16th June (https://brexitrumpdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/connecting-crowd-and-crowds-at-grenfell.html)

Prime Minister Theresa May received to applause at a dinner meeting at the EU in Brussels. A decision on whether the Brexit negotiations can proceed to the next stage is expected tomorrow.

Notable that the Irish PM stated that Ireland's very closest relations were with the EU 27 and then of course the UK. However, the important matter was to ensure that the deal agreed between the UK and EU last Friday is enshrined in law. This is the continued fallout from the perceived breach of trust caused by David Davis' statements that the deal was not binding.

Despite an overwhelming majority of Americans wanting the internet to retain its neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3:2 to repeal the internet neutrality bill instigated in the Obama era. There is a lot of opposition to the action, including from technology companies, and the issue may face hurdles in court. The big fear is that large internet companies can begin introducing differential services, limiting access, speed or costs to the internet and its sites.

The medical news of the day is the apparent success of a gene therapy trial targeting Hemophilia type B. Hemophilia prevents blood from clotting and sufferers are not only in danger from slight external cuts and grazes, internal bleeding at joints can be painful and potentially life threatening. Current treament involves regular injections of the missing blood factors.

The two main types of Hemophilia are Type A (affecting production of factor VIII) and Type B (affecting factor IX). Type A is the most abundant, affecting 1 in 5000 males. Type B was not recognised until 1952. Both are due to mutations on the X chromosome, and are therefore generally carried without symptoms by women (who have two X chromosomes, of which one is normally healthy), whilst appearing in men, who only have one X chromosome.

The gene therapy trial was conducted on ten individuals deficient in factor IX (type B). All showed an improved level of factor IX to an average up to 30%, from an original level of about 2%. Only one patient still had to take supplementary factor IX, but at a reduced frequency (Lindsey A. et al 2017 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1708538). The report was followed within days of another trial, this time focusing on factor VIII (type A ). Here 13 individuals were treated and 10 were able to go without factor VIII treatment, so far up to 18 months since treatment (Savita Rangarajan et al 2017 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1708483#t=articleBackground).

How does the gene therapy work?

Both groups used an "adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector" to carry the factor VIII or IX. The vector is a carrier for the treatment. It is derived from an virus (an Adenovirus) that does not appear to cause disease. It does however penetrate human cells and splices itself in the DNA.

The AAV vector containing the factor VIII gene or the factor IX gene was injected into a vein. It traveled to the liver, where it was presumably take up by liver cells and fused into their DNA. The factor VIII or IX gene was linked to a switch (called a promoter) that would turn on the gene in the liver. The liver cells successfully began making the healthy factor VIII or IX, depending on the trial.

I screened my photos taken during the Geminid meteor shower around 2am this morning. I'd captured three strong shooting stars and a couple of weaker ones, however, they did not match the experience of seeing the actual meteors by eye. The camera was no substitute for the human eye and brain in this case!

Unexpected Voting in Parliament and Alabama. Citizenship Bureaucracy. Geminid Meteors!

Jane's mince pies

Two unexpected votes today. In the UK House of Commons, MP's voted 309 votes to 305 against the government and insisted on giving Parliament a legal guarantee of a vote on the final Brexit deal struck with Brussels. It was rebel Tory MPs who held their ground, voting on a matter of principle rather than on party lines.

In Alabama, Democrat Doug Jones inflicted a surprise defeat on the rather extreme Republican Roy Moore. Whilst older voters and men voted more for Moore, it was the younger generations and, most importantly women, who voted for Jones.

Half the day spent on generating a kindle picture book for a client. Because of its square format, it was particularly suited to being able to display facing pages on PC, laptop and landscape held tablets. Also started a mixed wholemeal loaf, flavoured with soudough, fried onion and roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. It was set for a slow rise using just a teaspoon of dry yeast.

In the evening, attended the last meeting of German friends before the festive break, by a fire and with Christmas snacks and warm drinks. Another member had been through the process of applying for British citizenship and had also experienced some of the demeaning bureaucracy and negative attitudes at the apparently slightly dilapidated test centres, remembered by others in the group. Fascinated and slightly appalled that this involved not only scanning body, bags and clothing, but also extended to looking behind and in ears without any explanation. The rationale is presumably that there have been cheats using broadcasting /communication equipment linked to outside help to try and pass the tests. And the applicants are paying for this treatment

On return later that evening, the bread was almost ready, baked a bit later and recovered from the oven by midnight.

The Geminid meteor shower was due to peak tonight. Unfortunately, cloud prevented decent viewing apart from a short window around 7 pm and again later after 1 am. Setting up the camera at 7pm simply revealed the cloud coming over. However, with the camera taking 10 second exposures at 3200 ISO, f 3.5, there was a good period of cloud free cover. ~I saw four quite bright meteors as I stood for a couple of minutes with the camera at several intervals, before dashing in to warm up again. Inevitably, they all seemed out of the camera view at the time. Looking at the pictures tomorrow will hopefully reveal at least a few captured.

Most meteor showers originate from comets. The Geminids are unusual because the are linked to an asteroid, Phaethon. According to Wikipedia, 'the meteors travel at medium speed in relation to other showers, at about 22 miles per second (35 km/s), making them fairly easy to spot.' This certainly seemed to be the case, once your eye caught one, you could react and see it follow a pace that was slower than I remember from other showers. There also seemed to be a number of quite bright meteors, burning up as they entered the atmosphere at about 39 km above sea level.

Checked at 2 am - caught at least three on camera!

Misbehaving Davis, Voting Moore and Tweeting Trump. Inventing the RitzCrackerBoller

The newly invented RitzCrackerBoller by C Thomas

David Davis' comments about last Friday's agreement raised irritation in the EU 27. The UK interpretation given was, that the deal was merely advisory and that the UK would not be bound to pay the £39 bn to the EU as part of the deal if not getting the agreement it wanted. Sharp comments came from Germany and from MEPs. David Davis had to try to mend relations with Brussels and persuade Guy Verhofstadt, the EU's negotiator, that the UK's word could be depended on. It did not stop the European parliament’s main parties announcing this morning, that they had drawn up an amendment to their Brexit resolution, to be put to MEPs for a vote on Wednesday. It condemns the Brexit secretary personally for damaging trust. Apparently, the guidelines for talks on future relations have been drafted to be “Davis-proofed”, with consequences if commitments were not respected.

Across the Pond, two men were in the limelight. The Alabama Republican candidate Roy Moore looks likely to win the State election to a Senate seat, despite of, or perhaps even because of his opposing the rights of LGBT Americans, Muslims and women, and shrugging off accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls in his 30s. Even some Republicans were were voting for his opponent. His main aim is to bring back God and religion into politics to right the heinous state of today's America - and Britain, when interviewed on Sky News.

President Trump responded vigorously to the call for his resignation by lawmaker and Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, over the sexual misconduct allegations being made against him. he tweeted:

"Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!"

Gillibrand, undaunted, responded with her own tweet:

"You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office."

Found an egg white in the fridge, left over from Jane's mince pie making, and decided to use it to make something. Came across Annie Rigg 'Sweet Things' recipe for the Danish Flødeboller. This used a meringue type mix on a marzipan base, coated in chocolate. Not having marzipan, I looked for another base I could use and came up with an interesting alternative - Ritz Crackers.

Recipe for RitzCrackerBoller now as follows:

• One medium egg white was combined with a pinch of salt, 50 g granulated sugar and a dessert spoon of water in a glass bowl.
• The mixture was whipped for a couple of minutes whilst warming the bowl to about 60 degC, until it became thick and shiny.
• The bowl was allowed to cool while whipping continued till the meringue was very thick.
• The meringue mix was then carefully spread over 14 individual Ritz Crackers in a circa 1 cm thick layer, using a teaspoon.
• The coated crackers were placed in a fan oven at less than 60 degC for an hour to partially dry.
• Made up 200 g of warm tempered chocolate using 75 g cocoa drops, 75 g cocoa butter and 50 g maple syrup, final temperature 31 degC. (You could simply melt and temper a 200g bar of chocolate of your choice).
• Immersed the individual crackers with partially dried meringue topping in the chocolate mix one by one and allowed to drain, before placing on a non stick baking parchment.
• Allowed to set for 10 minutes.

The RitzCrackerBoller tasted remarkably good! 12 remaining RitzCrackerBoller were stored in an airtight plastic container for tomorrow.

Added a handful of broken pecan nuts, a small handful of broken hazelnuts and a handful of raisins to the remaining warm tempered chocolate, mixed and poured into a 20 cm x 20 cm, aluminium foil lined tray and allowed to set. 

Britons in EU feel Betrayed by Friday Deal. Trump MeToo Allegations Resurface. Judging Pictures Through Microscope

Seed capsule of Shepherds purse, Dark ground illumination

The country has still been under the spell of the snow and freezing weather, barely giving Friday's Brexit agreement with the EU (still to be ratified later this week by the EU 27) further thought. The Prime Minister had a fairly good day in parliament with objections to slow or fast brexit muted. However, according to the Guardian, Britons in the EU feel betrayed by the proposed Brexit deal, see https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/11/sacrificed-on-the-altar-of-trade-brits-in-europe-feel-betrayed-by-brexit-deal.

Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe, said of the deal struck last Friday:
“We are very upset about it, as it is not fixed. The media are being told that we can live as we did before and that is simply not the case. In May, the European commission offered to confirm our existing rights but the UK government didn’t accept the offer, and now we are left worse off.” Britons in the EU are likely to find that they are tied to the EU country they are currently resident in without the right to roam for work or business in neighbouring EU countries.

The offer of free movement within Europe had been offered by the EU commission to the UK in May. However the UK declined the offer and the EU withdrew its offer in turn.

The hope for Britons abroad (and EU citizens in the UK) is that EU Chief Negotiator Guy Verhoefstadt warned that the EU would not approve Friday's deal unless the existing rights were included for Britons in the EU 27.

Perhaps we should hunker down for world war iii as several women have come forward again after the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment - with the President Donald Trump in their sights. He may need to generate some more distracting news. Mind you, he was elected on whilst these allegations were made during the campaign, so it is quite feasible that he can shrug it off. White House Speaker Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated earlier today at Monday's White House briefing:

"Look, the president has addressed these accusations directly and denied all of these allegations. And this took place long before he was elected to be President. And the people of this country, at a decisive election, supported President Trump, and we feel like these allegations have been answered through that process."

Respect to the US Representative to the UN, Nikki Haley. When asked about the women coming forward with the accusations against the president, she said whilst appearing on CBS' Face the Nation:

“Women who accuse anyone should be heard. They should be heard and they should be dealt with. And I think we heard from [Trump’s accusers] prior to the election. And I think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up."

Our morning was spent catching up with where we were with work and what was coming up, before having lunch and visiting a friend in Milton for a chat. Later in the afternoon, I ran to the local college to help judge the pictures taken through the microscope during the sessions given earlier in the month. It was easier to send the images to my PC and view them in less of a rush here on a larger PC screen - There were some fantastic images and the first three winners will be chosen.

Brexit Arguments Resume. Snow Chaos Hits England and Wales.

It was a short breather for Prime Minister Theresa May after the Brussels meeting on Friday. Knives put away for the day after were now being sharpened again. The first comments came from Brussels, trying to quash expectations that the UK could get a unique deal. The report was  that international pressure was being exerted by other treaty countries outside of the EU, to deny Britain special treatment.

David Davis, our chief negotiator, was in a far more positive mood, telling Andrew Marr that he wanted a Canada Plus Plus Plus deal, including services. Furthermore, he stated that if we did not get the deal we wanted, we would not pay the £39 bn to the EU. The DUP was concerned about his comments that the deal made was not legally binding.

Keir Starmer, Labour, on the other hand, wanted the UK to adopt a more Norway style model, paying to benefit from the EU but not bound to it.

And all of this before the actual EU meeting that will confirm that the EU and UK can progress onto the next stage of negotiations.

We woke up to a white blanket of snow, as forecast. Approximately 5cm had fallen here but elsewhere, had more, with some areas under 32 cm or more. Also as predicted, this unleashed chaos on the UK's roads, Stansted and Luton airports closed temporarily and train services were disrupted.

After clearing the snow from our drive and path, it was back inside for the afternoon. Jane baked the first home made mince pies of the season and we enjoyed three each by the end of the day.

Santa Run. Microscopy Quiz. The Grant Museum Talk. Crossword pen.

Saturday 9th December: For most of the day, the conservative truce between soft and hard brexiteers stood and there was no significant news from across the pond.

I cycled to Cambridge North today, arriving 10 minutes before my train for London Kings Cross was due to leave. I only needed to pick up my ticket. unfortunately, lots of other people had the same idea. I missed the 11:11 train but caught the 11:15 to London Liverpool Street. Arriving, there seemed to be a mass herding of Santas, in occasional clumps or purposefully moving individuals. i later found out that they were all streaming towards Battersea Park for the 5km Santa Run.

With a Smith's meal deal, I munched my sandwiches on the Circle Line, heading for South Kensington. The last few stops I chatted with a grandmother on her way to visit her daughters to go out shopping for the nine grandchildren. The queue at the Natural History Museum wasn't too long, so I made my way to the central cafe to buy a tea, passing the 2.6 billion year old rock slab from Australia which showed the shift in the earths atmosphere to producing oxygen. The increase on oxygen meant that any iron in the oceans turned rust red and precipitated, creating layered mud that turned to rock over billions of years.

The event was the last meeting of the Quekett Microscopical Club, with a quiz, mince pies and other nibbles, and an interesting talk by Hannah Cornish, now working at the Grant Museum of Zoology UCL as the Curatorial Assistant. The Museum is open to the public Monday to Saturdays 1 pm - 5 pm - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/grant-museum-zoology. Hannah had brought along a slide of Diatoms made by a famous German Victorian slide maker, Johann Diedrich Möller, 1844-1907 (http://microscopist.net/MollerJD.html)

The two hours went by quickly and at 4:20, I set off to join the Christmas crush on the Piccadilly line to Kings Cross for the journey home. Settling down to do a crossword to pass the time, I realised I hadn't got a pen as today's shirt lacked a pocket to put one into. Asking the lady opposite me sporting a voluminous handbag if she could lend me a pen, an older gentleman from across the gangway leapt over and offered me his to borrow, a lovely 0.7mm drawing pen - to be returned! Managed to finish the concise crossword but stumped by the cryptic one after 4 clues. Pen returned.

UK and EU Agree Move to Phase II of Talks. Snakes and Ladders in Politics and A14 Networking.

With a quick early morning dash across the Channel to Brussels, Prime Minister Theresa May's turn at Brexit Snakes and Ladders took a significant step forward.

The EU and the UK have agreed 'Joint report from the negotiators of the European Union and the United Kingdom Government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the United Kingdom's orderly withdrawal from the European Union.'

See: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/joint_report.pdf

There had been movement by the UK on the question of the 'divorce payment'. Both the UK and EU moved slightly on the question of EU citizens rights in the UK. The DUP, whilst still in talks with the government, did not put any stumbling blocks in the Prime Minister's way when she decided to set off on the early morning trip to meet with Jean-Claude Juncker. The UK had committed to aspiring for an open border between North and Southern Ireland

The result was the announcement from the President of the European Commission that “sufficient progress” had been made in the first phase of negotiations to allow movement to the next phase.

Rather than jubilation, there was more an air of relief. Both hard line brexiteers and remainers in the Tory cabinet made positive noises about Theresa May's achievement. The only real sour grapes came from Nigel Farage, who saw the event as a humiliating capitulation by the UK to the EU's terms. In a sense he is right in that the EU has had the upper hand throughout, setting the direction and pace of the talks. It just took much longer for the government to get to a stage where they could actually present today's decisions and offers.

The text of the entire document has been described as a masterpiece of bureaucratic wording, allowing all sides to give their positive spin on the agreement. The immediate next stage is to negotiate the transition period beyond the UK leaving the EU in March 2019. Then the talks on the actual trade deal can begin. These difficult negotiations are likely to be like the slide down a snake on the game board as they re-expose the cracks between brexiteers and remainers again.

I arrived early at the Tap room in St ives for the A14 networking and discovered a basket of games. Taking out the snakes and ladders board, Natasha dn Karen joined in the game as gradually everyone else arrived and the conversation began to flow. Natasha Won!

Spent a couple of hours at the Norris helping convert photos of three walls of painting on display into a pictorial guide with another volunteer. Dashed off after 12 to catch bus to Huntingdon, meeting a group of HBNers for lunch in the Wetherspoons there. I like the combination of being able to order from your table via the Wetherspoon app and the clear listing of the calories in the different dishes. My baked potato with chilli con carne came in at just under 500 kcal.

Post Trump Jerusalem Protests. Hectic Irish Border Negotiations. Camilla, Artists and Craftists.

Following President Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Palestinians on the West bank went on strike and demonstrations began. Predictably this led to 31 Palestinians injured, rockets fired at Israel, and Israeli retaliation.

Negotiations are continuing into the night on the EU - UK solutions to the Irish border. UK and EU sounding more positive, apparently wording agreed that Westminster DUP team finds acceptable. This still needs to be confirmed with the DUP in Belfast.

New multi-billion pound aircraft giant carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth commissioned by the Queen. The fighter jets  promised for the ship are getting more expensive by the day, due to the pound's devaluation - they are bought in dollars.

Camilla sourdough had been languishing in the fridge for a fortnight and therefore in danger of dying. Last night, refreshed the culture, placed half in the fridge and another half weighing 300 g was allowed to recover overnight at room temperature (about 17 deg C). Today, made the culture up to a 500 g mixed wholemeal and white bread flour, placed in a bread tin and allowed to rise over the next 8 h till doubled in size. Baked and cooled, had two slices of this delicious, tasty, moist sourdough loaf.

Otherwise spent the morning taking photos of photo prints for a family history in production and the afternoon on final edits on a children's book. Went to the Milton Artists and Craftists meeting. A small select group today with Minoan dolphins being painted on one side of the table, cross stitch started on another and mosaics rounding off the set. I've been working on an alphabet in pen and ink and managed to complete C.

Modern Fairy Tale of the Cabinet's New Clothes. Trumpeted Jerusalem. Toastmasters' Xmas.

Remarkable news today as David Davis reveals to the Exiting the EU Committee that the 57 Brexit impact assessments don't actually exist, that some of the material submitted to the committee was of a poor standard, and anyway, most of the information was in the public domain. In fact, David Davis thought that it wasn't even worth conducting economic impact assessments because Brexit was such a great paradigm shift that predictions were useless.

This seems to confirm that Brexit has more of the nature of an ideology than a rational, evidence based action.

The difficulties in the Cabinet were further revealed when the Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed that the cabinet had not yet had discussions on the final target for Brexit negotiations.

Prime Minister Theresa May has a bit of a challenge on her hands. There's an intransigent DUP and Barnier has set a Friday deadline for submitting a proposal that can actually be reviewed by the other EU states before the critical meeting next week.

A plot to kill the Prime Minister was foiled late November, but the news only emerged overnight.. The attacker wanted to plant a bomb outside the gates of Downing Street and use the ensuing confusion to penetrate into 10 Downing Street armed with an explosive vest and knives to assassinate Theresa May.

President Trump has broken the 50 year old consensus on the status of Jerusalem. Since annexing East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, Israel has declared Jerusalem its capital, whilst the Palestinians still regard East Jerusalem as theirs, although it is in Israeli control. Because of the special nature of Jerusalem for the three Abrahamic religions, sacred to the Jews, Muslims and Christians, most nations have avoided placing their embassies there, awaiting a political solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

The US has had a nuanced approach to date, acknowledging Jerusalem as the Israeli capital but deferring moving their embassy there.

President Trump has now officially recognised Jerusalem as the capital and initiated the US embassy move there. He claimed it was acknowledging the status quo. Israel was delighted by the decision, The Palestinians are upset at an apparently partisan move. Most of the rest of the worlds nations disapprove as it could be a trigger for renewed violence in the region.

What a relief to be able to go to the Toastmasters' Christmas Event for a light-hearted evening of preposterous hats (puddings, presents, reindeer) and jumpers. With a floppy hat on my head and brightly coloured scarf around my neck, I went as a earlier version of Dr Who. Lots of laughter and a turkey free meal, though fortunately there were mince pies! Discovered a Dalek app for the smartphone that simply calls out "Exterminate" when tapped.

Did Chivers Silver Plate Its Jam Making Vessels to Decrease or Enhance Taste of Sugar?

President Trump to move US embassy to Jerusalem. Prime Minister Theresa May to come up with a new solution acceptable to Brexiteers, the EU and the DUP.

David Oakley from the Histon Village Society gave a talk to the Milton Local History Group tonight, on the 'Chivers' Jam Factory from 1873 to 1960'. Apparently, you could tell which jam or marmalade was being made by the smell emanating from the factory. The greatest pride of the founder and later his sons, was the number of local men and women that they employed.

The company was founded by fruit farmers who exported to the North of England and added making preserves of all forms to their skills. The company started with one factory on site and then expanded. Fruit was not just sourced locally, but as far afield as Scotland. They also diversified into canning and dried foods.

One of Chivers' claims to high quality and fame was the silver plating of their copper vessels used in making jams. Whilst recent studies have shown that silver can have antibacterial properties, there is also the fact that it can impart a strong flavour to some foods. However, metals such as copper and zinc can actually make sugar taste sweeter. The question therefore is, was the silver plating of copper vessels for jam making aiming to reduce the sweetening effect of copper? Or was it to ensure that there was a metal induced flavour enhancement of the sweet preserves (as well as giving an extra aura of novelty/aspiration)?

UK-EU Talks Fail after DUP Intervention. Trump Travel Ban Active. Trump lies?

Prime Minister Theresa May is in an impossible situation. She thought that the UK and the EU were on the verge of being able to agree that sufficient progress. Jean Claude Juncker thought that they were on the verge of an agreement. There had been progress on payments by Britain to the EU. There were constructive proposals on treatment of EU citizens in the UK. May thought that there was a wording to show progress on keeping the Irish border open between North and South.

Then there was a leak from an EU representative and from the Irish Taoiseach that this might mean a special arrangement for relationships between the different parts of Ireland.

Hearing of this, the DUP leadership stepped up to the cameras and Leader Arlene Foster said her party would not accept a Brexit deal that "separates" Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon acerbically commented that they, as Remainers, would also like to have a special deal allowing them to have free borders/trade with the EU.

Bang! Lunch halted as the government has to reiterate that the UK, including Northern Ireland will exit from the EU united. Negotiations now to continue later in the week in the hope of finding an acceptable phrasing in time for the EU meeting next week.

President Trump has another cause for celebration as the Supreme Court allows his travel ban against citizens of eight mainly Muslim countries to come into effect - at least for now. On top of this, his lawyer suggests that the President cannot 'obstruct justice' because he is the country's top law enforcement officer. (An assertion made by President Nixon before he was pressured to resign.)

President Trump came out strongly for Michael Flynn, claiming that the latter is being penalised for lying to the FBI whilst his former opponent Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI and was  not punished for this. Specifically he publicly said "Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied and they destroyed his life. I think it's a shame. Hillary Clinton, on the Fourth of July weekend, went to the FBI, not under oath. It was the most incredible thing anyone's ever seen. She lied many times; nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and it's like, they ruined his life. It’s very unfair." See https://news.sky.com/video/trump-fbi-ruined-sacked-advisers-life-11156541.

I searched Reality Checks online to find then-FBI Director James Comey testifying under oath to the House of Representatives in July 2016, about Clinton's handling of classified information on a private email server. "We have no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI.""I have no basis for concluding that she was untruthful with us." (from NBC https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fact-check-trump-accused-clinton-lying-fbi-said-she-did-n826361). "The FBI also did not find that Clinton lied to the FBI, contrary to Trump’s claim." according to FactCheck.org http://www.factcheck.org/2017/12/factchecking-trumps-criticism-fbi/.

I spent the morning visiting a local artist as we catalogued historical material for a book project. Sold the first Milton Calendar and left copies at the Post Office for sale. Late in the afternoon, it was off to drill some holes in a wall at S & L's to put up a curtain.

Pressured Theresa May. Trump Gossip. Positive Paddington 2. Comfort Food. Alexandra Burke Bias?

Polar Bear Fur

A blow to Theresa May's government with the resignation of leader Alan Milburn and the entire Social Mobility team. They did so because they felt that little or no attention was being focused on the lack of social mobility in the UK. Presumably this is due to the overriding problem of Brexit. However, the Prime Minister herself had pledged to tackle the growing social inequalities.

On top of this, hard brexiteers are attempting to apply pressure on her before the critical meeting with Jean Claude Juncker tomorrow in Brussels. They want guarantees from the EU before agreeing any payments to the EU and are adamant about the European Court of Justice not having any say in the UK after the 19th March 2019.

Lots of media gossip about President Trump's tweets  regarding Mike Flynn, the FBI (apparently reputation in tatters), reporting mistake by ABC anchor and the attempt to redirect focus again on Hillary Clinton's historic email account.

Our highlight of the day was a visit to the cinema to see Paddington 2. After a slow start, it romped along a a fair pace of humour and action. A very family friendly movie with a message of good manners and good intentions winning out in the end. A welcome contrast to current politics misogyny and xenophobia. Interesting that there was also a swing in underlying cookery book themes, as mentioned on the BBC's Food Program. Comfort food is in, sharing food and time with family are in, as opposed to narcissistic self flagellation with dieting. In these confusing times, we need our comfort food.

Biggest disappointment was Alexandra Burke being voted into the 'Strictly' dance-off, despite being one of the best dancers. There appears to be a serious public bias against her which is, to my mind, so unfair.

Trump Keeps Tax Cut Promise. From Barter to the Cashless Economy

President Trump and the Republicans appear to have achieved a major milestone, with the Senate passing their tax reform bill. It reduces tax on business from 35% to 20%  and apparently simplifying personal tax. According to the BBC, private citizens would generally benefit till 2026, after which those families earning less than $75,000 a year could be worse off.

This is a major victory for President Trump in terms of his election pledges.

Cutting tax could potentially mean the need for the US borrowing an additional trillion US dollars. The gamble is that the tax cut will promote business and more than recover the losses.

It looks as if we are drifting increasingly towards a cashless society. I notice it myself in that I make more and more payments by card, from a cup of tea, to bus ticket, to shopping in the supermarket or online. Locally, more bank branches are disappearing from villages and small towns. Apparently, ATMs are also likely to follow them. Retailers might pick up the provision of physical cash - until digital person to person money transfers via NFC or similar become as easy as paying with coin and paper.

Before cash, there was bartering - exchanging goods. This progressed into using either animals such as cattle or physical items such as stones or shells as money. The most dramatic example that I saw of this was a giant stone disk used as money in a Polynesian culture, displayed in the Uebersee Museum in Bremen. Fixed weights of metal, gold or silver began to be used about 4000 BC. The first manufactured coins did not appear till between about 700 BC and 500 BC, seemingly simultaneously in China and the Aegean. The advantage, you could carry the value of an item in the metal itself, although debasing coins with inferior metals was already a phenomenon during later Roman times.

The ribbed or textured rims of coins were introduced later to counter the fraud of  'clipping' as fraudsters looked to stretch out the value of their metal. 'Sweating' was another coin debasing fraud - shaking of a bag of coins and collecting the metal dust!

The conceptual leap to using paper, which is based on the promise that a paper item will be guaranteed as an alternative payment, occurred in during the Song dynasty in China in the 11th century. The idea was taken up in Europe in the 13th century, after travelers like Marco Polo reported its use in China.

It has only been in the last century or so that paper money became disconnected from linkage to actual physical gold reserves and more a feature of confidence in a particular economy. Digital money in our bank accounts and accessed through our cards has been a logical progression.

Going completely cashless has one advantage/disadvantage - all transactions become traceable. The digital solution to this has been the rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which can be used for normal transactions (where accepted) but also on black markets.

Whilst the trend to a cashless society might seem simpler and beneficial in some quarters, it also disadvantages the elderly and others either without access to technology or the capability of dealing with it.

Flynn Confessed Liar. Irish Brexit Veto. Cutlery and the Modern Overbite.

Both the US and UK news is going into overdrive with the newest development of the Russia-White House investigation. Former General and National Security Advisor of the United States for 27 days, Michael Flynn has admitted publicly that he lied to the FBI and did hold talks with the Russian ambassador during the electon campaign. There are as yet unverified reports that he was directed to do so by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. The Flynn announcement even made the Fox news, normally very supportive of President Trump.

There is of course a lot of hot air being spent on whether this will lead to President Trump's loss of office. I'm not so sure until there is more evidence. The president still has a fall-back position of having been misinterpreted by staff who then acted on their own.

Just a couple of days to go before Theresa May meets Jean Claude Juncker with an offer that will allow Brexit negotiations to progress to the next stage.  Pressure on the remaining Irish border question intensified today. Donald Tusk visited Ireland and gave a joint press announcement with the Irish Prime Minister. Tusk reiterated that Ireland could halt Brexit negotiation progress if dissatisfied with the UK offer/solutions to avoid a hard border, with the full support of the EU.

My second visit to the dentist within a week, this time for minor fillings on two front teeth, on in the top and one in the lower jaw. The option was to try without anaesthetic, as the injections themselves would be very uncomfortable, and fortunately this turned out well.

Part of the work after the fillings was to fine-tune the bite of the two opposing teeth. I have an overbite, in line with a significant proportion of modern day humans in the developed world. Overbite is where the top front teeth bite over the lower ones, rather than the tips of the teeth meeting. this is apparently a relatively recent phenomenon in the human population, with the incidence having increased over the past 250 years. Skulls of earlier humans show that the majority had teeth meeting on top of each other, and also showed considerable wear on the biding surfaces.

The American anthropologist, C. Loring Brace, proposed that this is actually due to the invention of cutlery. Rather than having to bite off pieces of hard/tough food, which promotes the front teeth cutting on each other, we now cut our cooked food into smaller pieces with knives and forks, negating the need for the sharp cutting tooth action and allowing an overbite for chewing with the back teeth. This is not a genetic change but a consequence of changing eating behaviour.