The evening before yesterday, I treated myself to viewing the first of a series of three programmes made and presented by the anatomist and biological anthropologist, Alice Roberts. In the first of her programmes entitled ‘Bones’ she detailed how perhaps as a result of climate change, some chimps evolved from living in the jungle to living in woodland becoming bi-pedal (standing erect and walking on two feet) and we can illustrate this by the study of skulls from the fossil record which show how the skull gradually became more erect held in place by crucial ligaments. But I learnt two things from this first programme which I suspect is knowledge not widely shared. Dr. Alice Roberts mused who the large muscle in our buttocks the ‘gluteus maximus’) is the size that it is because it would appear to be ‘over-engineered’ in biological terms for the simple act of standing and walking. But it really comes into own in the act of running giving that extra punch to the leg muscles. Combined with the fact that we lost body hair and could thus sweat freely, the combined effect was that we could outrun practically every other animal on the planet and this gave our ancestors a crucial evolutionary advantage. Even though other animals could run faster in the short term, humans could eventually outrun them as the muscles of most animals locked up with lactic acid and they became heat exhausted. Hence eventually humans could track animals and feast on their meat which large amounts of protein no doubt, as subsequent programmes will show, was crucial for sunseqent brain size and development. In fact, there are ‘man versus horses’ organised to demonstrate this biological fact. The annual race, over 21 miles (34 km), has runners competing against riders on horseback through a mix of road, trail and mountainous terrain. The race, which is a shorter distance than an official marathon road race, takes place in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells every June. The first woman to run the race was Ann King in 1981. In 1982, the route of the course was amended slightly to give a more even match between the competitors. The course is slightly shorter than a traditional marathon at a reported 22 miles, but over rougher terrain. In 1985, cyclists were allowed to compete too – and that year, U.S. ladies’ champion cyclist Jacquie Phelan narrowly lost to the first horse. In 1989, British cyclist Tim Gould beat the first horse by three minutes – the first time that a horse was beaten by a human in the race. The second thing I learned from the programme was the critical advantage bestowed on humans in their evolutionary journey by not only the opposable thumb but also its strength and versatility. So chimps given an apple will hold it in both hands as they lack the grasping ability which humans now possess as a result of their evolutionary history. Now this means from the time of ‘homo habilis’ onwards, man evolved not only to make tools but also to use them in a way that animals cannot. The ability to use tools in this dextrous way evidently helps to kickstart us on our evolutionary journey which no doubt is still continuing as I constantly marvel at how the younger generation write texts on their mobile phones by using their thumbs alone. So, I have learnt a lot from last night’s programme, and I have the remaining two available to me on the BBC iPlayer for the days ahead.
First thing in the morning, I attended at the doctor’s surgery for a 9.00am appointment. In order to see a doctor face-to-face one has to make an appointment on a website the day before and then receive a telephone call to assess whether you actually need to see a doctor at all. Finally, when you do see a doctor, it was, in my case, with a physician associate (= cut-price semi-qualified medical practitioner) who I have admittedly seen before. The outcome in my case was no diagnosis but a reference onwards to two other clinics and one can only reflect how incredibly hard it is in these post-COVID days to actually see and get treated by a doctor I returned home by car and had my customary chat with our domestic help at whose urging I set forth to walk to the coffee bar to meet with my ‘Tuesday’ coffee-drinking partners. But in the event, they were not there so I turned around and immediately walked back up the hill but did find hat after a walk of over couple of miles, there and back and with no coffee sit-down in the middle, was pretty exhausted when I did reach home again. After a rest, I went down by car and had my usual Pilates class after which I returned home and made myself a mackerel risotto.
In the USA, there is something called a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) which is a lawsuit filed to intimidate and silence critics of powerful individuals or organizations, such as corporations or government bodies. These suits are often meritless, and their goal is to burden the defendant with the high cost and time of litigation, not to win the case itself. By bankrupting or exhausting opponents, SLAPPs can have a chilling effect on free speech and public participation. But in the last day or so, we have the extraordinary situation of the tables being turned against the Trump coterie. Author Michael Wolff has sued first lady Melania Trump, charging that she threatened a $1 billion legal action against him to stop him from reporting and writing about her alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. ‘Mrs. Trump’s claims are made for the sole purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing or otherwise maliciously inhibiting Mr. Wolff’s free exercise of speech,’ said the suit, which was filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan. The filing includes as an attachment a letter Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, sent to Wolff, the author of ‘Fire and Fury,’ last week demanding that he retract and apologize for public comments he has made linking his client to Epstein, the notorious sex offender, and that he make ‘a monetary proposal to Mrs. Trump to ameliorate the harm that you have caused.’ Trump has been aggressive in pushing back against what her lawyers describe as false reports linking to her Epstein, and her office said in a statement Wednesday that she ‘is proud to continue standing up to those who spread malicious and defamatory falsehoods as they desperately try to get undeserved attention and money from their unlawful conduct’ The letter from Brito cited comments Wolff had made to The Daily Beast this year in a story headlined ‘Melania Trump ‘Very Involved’ in Epstein Scandal:’ as well as comments he made on a Daily Beast podcast. Now nobody is in a position to predict how this will play out as very few cases actually get to court. But in legal theory it is possible that Wolff may be able to subpoena the president to appear as a witness which, of course he will not. What happens then is anybody’s guess but there could be further legal sanctions against Donald Trump if he fails to appear as a witness.