"The irony is that while maths is all around us, it seems to have become acceptable to be 'bad with numbers', " Ms Truss said.

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The cleric also seems to be articulating the notion that any retaliation would be an acceptable cost in securing the destruction of Israel and ignores the prospect of resultant casualties within the Muslim world.

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The problem, of course, is that the engine always seems to be breaking down and the damage is always worse than acceptable.

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It seems peculiar, conceptually, that Facebook would allow works of art to be acceptable under the nudity policy, but not (computer-generated) images of science.

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But ask fliers directly about acceptable alternatives to those measures, and it seems they may be willing to give up much less: not even the five minutes necessary to buy an overpriced burrito at their gate.

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