Category: current affairs

Pat Robertson tells residents of Dover, PA, that they have forsaken God by forcing a school board out of office because they endorsed so-called "intelligent design".
I’m not a Christian, but I went to a Christian school. There I learnt that the Christian God is a merciful one. So, let’s take these ridiculous assumptions as being true:

• God exists.
• Pat Robertson is right about intelligent design – evolutionary theory is heretical claptrap.
• Some naturally-occurring disaster befalls Dover.

What will happen? The all-forgiving God will forgive the people of Dover on judgement day. The American nation will come to their aid (even if the American government is a bit slow off the mark) in their time of need. Robertson will burn in hell for preaching such un-Christian hateful nonsense.
How does this man get the support (and money) of so many Americans? Are they really that stupid, ignorant and small-minded?

Setting aside the political issues, which are, of course, not to be dismissed lightly, the completion of the world’s highest rail route is a pretty impressive feat of engineering. It’d be great to take a trip on that, and I’m sure the Chinese government has one eye on (tightly controlled) tourism as well as tighter control of the populace.

Citizens should report unusual bird deaths, but not "any old sick pigeon".
Hmm. How long before panic sets in? I’ll bet that poultry sales are going to start dropping off pretty soon.

Further reading:
H5N1 – the bird flu blog.
The Flu Pandemic Preparedness Snowball – a remarkably level-headed discussion of what governments should be doing and, more importantly, what you and I should be doing.

Ronnie Barker, RIP.

I’ve lost count of the times that the Home Secretary has denied on TV, radio and in the press that there is a shoot-to-kill policy against suspected terrorists in London. Today, it has been revealed that the head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair, has effectively curtailed the investigation into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station. In a letter he wrote to the Home Office explaining his reasons for this, he said:

Will the Home Secretary now admit that there is a shoot-to-kill policy? Will Sir Ian stand down? Will the IPCC now be allowed to carry out a proper investigation?
Somehow, I get the feeling that we’re looking at no, no and no again.

Man arrested on Tube. Worth reading, particularly in light of Sir Ian Blair’s demand for Judge Dredd powers.

On this day 50 years ago, the Admiralty announced the annexation of Rockall – the last expansion of the British Empire.
Surely there must be something laying around that we could annex now? We need more useless lumps of rock.