Imprisoned journalists: a Turkish badge of dishonour

The truth. Does it exist? Sure it does. Universally irrefutable occur. For example today’s date, the value of pi [1], the 2010 AFL premiers (Go pies) [2]. In contrast, non-facts must be interpreted. For the past 200 years or more, that interpretation’s been done by the media. Specifically journalists. And whilst they haven’t done a perfect job, they’ve done okay. And clearly the more independence they’ve had, the more credible their output’s been. And vice versa. Interference by media bosses, and by governments more so, detracts from the media’s credibility. And thus utility. So then, which nation has the most imprisoned journalists? According to the International Press Institute, it’s Turkey [3]. With 57. (China and Iran tie for second, with a mere 34 each.) A surprise? Not really. For me, anyway. Traditionally a fairly liberal democracy, recently Turkey’s been islamising [4]. Because islamisation restricts freedoms, it’s no shock Turkey leads the world in jailed journalists. I hope, but I’m not optimistic, this badge of dishonour will be taken into account when the EU decides on Turkey’s membership application [5]. That application, and Turkey’s continued NATO membership [6], should weigh heavily on the minds of Turkey’s voters come the 11 June national election. I await its outcome. With interest.

Happy Pi Day to you

Today’s Farmdoc’s Blog post’s devoted to Pi Day [1, 2] which was last Monday. So I’m three days late. Better late than never, eh. Pi Day celebrates pi (ᴨ) [3] – the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet. It’s the mathematical constant formed by dividing a circle’s diameter into its circumference. Here are some facts about pi and Pi Day:

· Pi is so named because it’s the first letter of the Greek word for ‘perimeter’.

· Pi was first used with its current mathematical meaning in 1706.

· Pi Day is on 14 March, or as the Americans put it, 3/14. This is because pi begins 3.14.

· Pi’s decimal representation’s infinite. And no numerical sequence in it ever repeats.

· Pi has been computed to over a trillion digits.

· The ratio of the perimeter to the height of the Great Pyramid at Giza (constructed c. 2589-2566 BCE) is exactly twice pi.

· The Guinness-recognised record for reciting digits of pi is 67,890. It took a Chinese graduate student 24 hours and 4 minutes to do it – without an error.

· In 2015, Pi Day will reflect the first five digits of pi, i.e. 3/14/15.

· A common method of celebrating Pi Day is by eating its homophone, i.e. pie.

· Pi Day’s website’s a wealth of more good stuff about pi [4].

So, friends, I wish you, belatedly, Happy Pi Day.

P.S. It’s only 127 days to Pi Approximation Day - on 22 July (i.e. 22/7) because the fraction 22/7 is a common approximation of pi.