Cancer.... It is actually scary how little we know about it. It seems than every week a new study comes out finding a link to cancer with something we have taken for granted for generations. It's coming to the point where nobody is taking these studies seriously, because of the fact that they couldn't all be true.
A study completed this week seems to have finally defamed the commonly-held belief that mobile phone use causes cancer.
Anybody who actively seeks to avoid every potential cause of cancer would surely live a very stilted life. The fear-mongering that these studies cause are surely more damaging to society than the actual cancer (which, despite all the studies, and preventative measures, still seems to be thriving.) Nobody knows what to do and not to do in order to avoid cancer. Why don't we all just LIVE our lives, instead of holing ourselves up like Howard Hughes, and take our chances until we actually find out what causes it?
In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if cancer was simply a complete lottery, and every person on the planet had 1/3 chance of getting it.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Omagh....still a shithole...
Omagh is one of the largest towns in Northern Ireland, and is the fourth largest settlement in the western half of Ireland. It is also one of (if not the) fastest growing towns in the E.U.
So why is it one of the most underdeveloped part of the island?
The roads have been left to rot for pretty much the last twenty, while the M1 came down as far as Dungannon, and inexpicably stopped.
Omagh would be a perfect hub for a rail network in the North, with services to at least the county towns.
The hospital is being stripped from the area, even though it's geographical location is more practical than in Fermanagh.
Three of the best grammar schools in the country are situated in the town, and no doubt, if they combined their efforts more, would probably produce some of the best exam results in Britain.
If any young people harbour big ambitions, they are nearly always forced to leave the town in order to fulfil them.
The house prices are skyrocketing at an intimidating rate, much faster than even London.
Many Nationalists would point to the inaction of successive Unionists MPs for this trend, but electing a Sinn Fein MP hasn't exactly helped either - they will not even represent us in Parliament.
After Cairan Deeny had such a massive victory in the Assembly elections, he has not even had a chance to raise the issue in the house, and the next elections are just a year away.
Is it not about time West Tyrone had a representative that will actually be able to represent? Put the green/orange politics to bed, it has grown VERY old.
So why is it one of the most underdeveloped part of the island?
The roads have been left to rot for pretty much the last twenty, while the M1 came down as far as Dungannon, and inexpicably stopped.
Omagh would be a perfect hub for a rail network in the North, with services to at least the county towns.
The hospital is being stripped from the area, even though it's geographical location is more practical than in Fermanagh.
Three of the best grammar schools in the country are situated in the town, and no doubt, if they combined their efforts more, would probably produce some of the best exam results in Britain.
If any young people harbour big ambitions, they are nearly always forced to leave the town in order to fulfil them.
The house prices are skyrocketing at an intimidating rate, much faster than even London.
Many Nationalists would point to the inaction of successive Unionists MPs for this trend, but electing a Sinn Fein MP hasn't exactly helped either - they will not even represent us in Parliament.
After Cairan Deeny had such a massive victory in the Assembly elections, he has not even had a chance to raise the issue in the house, and the next elections are just a year away.
Is it not about time West Tyrone had a representative that will actually be able to represent? Put the green/orange politics to bed, it has grown VERY old.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Fortune Tellers
Listening to Ray Darcy on Today FM this morning, I heard a peculiar story about a fortune teller.
A man took his triplet sister to a fortune teller, who didn't seem to be doing very well, in that all that he was reading from her was wrong. That was until they realised the fortune teller was actually reading him, through his sister.
After explaining that because triplets are so close...blah blah...the fortune teller told the sister that she would have lots of babies blah blah...
He then said never to buy a silver car, because she would have three crashes in it, the third being particularly bad. They thought nothing of it until the brother bought a silver car, and had two crashes in it...
He now does not know whether to believe that he will have a bad crash, or just shrug it off as pish-posh.
Now, I am not going to go into whether it is or it isn't pish-posh, but I do have a bone to pick with wanting to know your future.
If a fortune teller can tell the future, no matter what you do, it will still happen (which makes his advice against buying the car slightly foolish)
if the future is your own hands, there is no point in giving your money to someone to lie to you.
Unless you want to give it to me.
A man took his triplet sister to a fortune teller, who didn't seem to be doing very well, in that all that he was reading from her was wrong. That was until they realised the fortune teller was actually reading him, through his sister.
After explaining that because triplets are so close...blah blah...the fortune teller told the sister that she would have lots of babies blah blah...
He then said never to buy a silver car, because she would have three crashes in it, the third being particularly bad. They thought nothing of it until the brother bought a silver car, and had two crashes in it...
He now does not know whether to believe that he will have a bad crash, or just shrug it off as pish-posh.
Now, I am not going to go into whether it is or it isn't pish-posh, but I do have a bone to pick with wanting to know your future.
If a fortune teller can tell the future, no matter what you do, it will still happen (which makes his advice against buying the car slightly foolish)
if the future is your own hands, there is no point in giving your money to someone to lie to you.
Unless you want to give it to me.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Complete opposites, yet exactly the same.
I think it is quite ingenious that Islamic extremist, Abu Hamza and BNP boss, Nick Griffin, are both in court at present, charged with the exact same crime!
If anyone can point out any other glaring similarities between these arseholes, please don't hesitate to post.
If anyone can point out any other glaring similarities between these arseholes, please don't hesitate to post.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Y2k bug starting a few years late
It seems as though the digitisation of the 21st century has started backfiring... about time too, the Y2K bug was due SIX years ago.
An ordinary Freeview box managed to send out a fake SOS signal from Scotland, sending the RAF on a wild goose chase all round Portsmouth Harbour.
Repent people... this is the first sign of Armageddon. The machines are gearing up for a revolution. I'm just wondering what they've been doing for the last six years. I had a tenner on Judgement Day being in 2000.
Computers, eh. They never do what you want them to, until your sick of waiting.
An ordinary Freeview box managed to send out a fake SOS signal from Scotland, sending the RAF on a wild goose chase all round Portsmouth Harbour.
Repent people... this is the first sign of Armageddon. The machines are gearing up for a revolution. I'm just wondering what they've been doing for the last six years. I had a tenner on Judgement Day being in 2000.
Computers, eh. They never do what you want them to, until your sick of waiting.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Life really does imitate art.
Anyone who is a fan of Family Guy will probably remember the episode where Brian became the police sniffer dog, and consequently got a cocaine addiction. Well, it appears life really does imitate art, as shown by this story.
Police sniffer dog, Jazz, managed to successfully sniff out a bag of heroine, but while investigating it, managed to rip it with his teeth, spreading the heroine all over his gums, and swallowing some of it as well.
He was rushed to a vet, who, thankfully, (after some drastic measures like pumping his stomach!) managed to bring him back to full health.
Its a dangerous job, but someone has to do it.
Police sniffer dog, Jazz, managed to successfully sniff out a bag of heroine, but while investigating it, managed to rip it with his teeth, spreading the heroine all over his gums, and swallowing some of it as well.
He was rushed to a vet, who, thankfully, (after some drastic measures like pumping his stomach!) managed to bring him back to full health.
Its a dangerous job, but someone has to do it.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Free Speech is the most important thing in the World.
We in the Western World, often take free speech for granted. Think of how many times in the last week you have criticised the government, in China, that would merit jail time. China seems to be the bastion of censorship, they have successfully lobbied Microsoft and other Internet providers (I would mention them, but I can't think of them offhand-that's not just a stab at Microsoft-I think AOL also, but I can't be sure) to prevent people from blogging, or taking part in forums, in order to prevent them from possibly planning a revolution (that wasn't mere hyperbole, it probably is a realistic threat within China's communist government). Also, Wikipedia has now been banned in China, because it documents Taiwan's push for independence neutrally.
In Britain, Free Speech continues to be eroded away at a frightening pace since Blair took his third office.
Legislation after legislation is put before the commons which is effectively turning the UK into a police state. Notable examples are that it is now legal for police to arrest anyone they suspect of being involved in a crime, and hold them for up to 28 days before charging them with anything.
(so, feasibly, you could be wearing the same jacket as a suspected terrorist, and be locked up for up to 28 days.)
In the US, Free Speech is a joke of a concept. While technically it does exist, in practice it is a very different story. Unless a musician seriously re-edits their lyrics, their song will not be picked up by radio, seriously stifling it's ability to make an impact on anyone. Look at the difference in lyrics between D12's popular 'Purple Hills' compared to the original 'Purple Pills'. Also, American media outlets are all-to-quick to ban something. After 9/11, many radio stations banned a lot of songs which may not sit well within the climate at the time. Songs with lyrics about crashing planes were held back, which is understandable, but John Lennon's Imagine, a song whish should have been played multi-fold over the period was also banned.
It's important to remember how important it is to have free speech protected, without it, Blair would already be ultimate dictator... now he'll have to wait a few years first.
In Britain, Free Speech continues to be eroded away at a frightening pace since Blair took his third office.
Legislation after legislation is put before the commons which is effectively turning the UK into a police state. Notable examples are that it is now legal for police to arrest anyone they suspect of being involved in a crime, and hold them for up to 28 days before charging them with anything.
(so, feasibly, you could be wearing the same jacket as a suspected terrorist, and be locked up for up to 28 days.)
In the US, Free Speech is a joke of a concept. While technically it does exist, in practice it is a very different story. Unless a musician seriously re-edits their lyrics, their song will not be picked up by radio, seriously stifling it's ability to make an impact on anyone. Look at the difference in lyrics between D12's popular 'Purple Hills' compared to the original 'Purple Pills'. Also, American media outlets are all-to-quick to ban something. After 9/11, many radio stations banned a lot of songs which may not sit well within the climate at the time. Songs with lyrics about crashing planes were held back, which is understandable, but John Lennon's Imagine, a song whish should have been played multi-fold over the period was also banned.
It's important to remember how important it is to have free speech protected, without it, Blair would already be ultimate dictator... now he'll have to wait a few years first.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Wikipedia's Trouble
The website, Wikipedia is the kind of thing the Internet was made for. It is basicaly a free encyclopedia, which is maintained by people creating entries for various subjects. The most prominent word there is 'free'. As anyone who might have wanted to research a topic on an online encyclopedia recently will have found, all the established names (Britannica, Encarta - once a mainstay in the 'research' (read; cut and paste) of any 2nd year's essays) have an extortionate fee to charge anyone who might want to use the service once .
However, while the people who genuinely maintain the site are to be congratulated, there are too many dickheads out there who try to ruin it. Some arsehole wanted to win a bet, so he changed the details of an entry to accuse somebody of the Assassination of John F Kennedy. And there are worse dicks, people who do it for no other reason than they have no lives beyond the 12-foot radius of their computer screen. This practice ruins Wikipedia's reputation as a source of information, and therefore forces students or academics to pay for good-but-not-worth-the-fee encrypted encyclopedias.
However, while the people who genuinely maintain the site are to be congratulated, there are too many dickheads out there who try to ruin it. Some arsehole wanted to win a bet, so he changed the details of an entry to accuse somebody of the Assassination of John F Kennedy. And there are worse dicks, people who do it for no other reason than they have no lives beyond the 12-foot radius of their computer screen. This practice ruins Wikipedia's reputation as a source of information, and therefore forces students or academics to pay for good-but-not-worth-the-fee encrypted encyclopedias.
Possible Republic of Ireland Manager
Steve Staunton is lined up to be the next Rep Ireland manager....
DISGUST AND HORROR BEFALL ME.
He is currently an assisstant manager to Walsall, a team struggling in the old division 3... yet he has practically been confirmed as the manager of an international team, ranked among the top 25 in the world (Check the FIFA World rankings for this). That's quite a promotion. On a scale of a classroom assisstant being appointed Minister for Education.
(basically, The FAI, the people in charge of this sort of thing, tend to give less than a watery faecal material about how the team is playing football, and prefer to line their own pockets, and Staunton would be very cheap for four years...typical Paddywhackery from Irish Instutions.)
I urge anyone who likes football to email the FAI, (info@fai.ie, david.blood@fai.ie, john.delaney@fai.ie) informing them of your disgust at their blatant disregard for the national team's wellbeing on the pitch.
It was bad enough Roy Keane's debut for Celtic ended in disgrace, and Aston Villa only scraped past Hull in the FA cup.
Such a week!
Disgusting.
DISGUST AND HORROR BEFALL ME.
He is currently an assisstant manager to Walsall, a team struggling in the old division 3... yet he has practically been confirmed as the manager of an international team, ranked among the top 25 in the world (Check the FIFA World rankings for this). That's quite a promotion. On a scale of a classroom assisstant being appointed Minister for Education.
(basically, The FAI, the people in charge of this sort of thing, tend to give less than a watery faecal material about how the team is playing football, and prefer to line their own pockets, and Staunton would be very cheap for four years...typical Paddywhackery from Irish Instutions.)
I urge anyone who likes football to email the FAI, (info@fai.ie, david.blood@fai.ie, john.delaney@fai.ie) informing them of your disgust at their blatant disregard for the national team's wellbeing on the pitch.
It was bad enough Roy Keane's debut for Celtic ended in disgrace, and Aston Villa only scraped past Hull in the FA cup.
Such a week!
Disgusting.
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