ThePickards
standards, accessibility, and ranting and general stuff by the web chemist

Who stands to gain? What do they stand to gain?
Let’s start with a biblical quote I came across the other day…
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.Mark 13:8
This is then used by some people to justify that we are now approaching [...]

Read: Apocalypse Cui Bono »

Creationism should be discussed in school science lessons, rather than excluded, says the director of education at the Royal Society.BBC News
I have no objection to people being ‘Creationists’ or proponents of ‘Intelligent Design’. It may indeed be that an almighty being has chosen — via whatever mechanism — to create man as he is today, [...]

Read: Creationism isn’t science, but nor should it be taboo »

…only I wouldn’t like to predict exactly how nigh.
A huge particle accelerator experiment is about to start and a tiny group of people believe it could spell the end of the world. But why are we so obsessed with the possibility of apocalypse?BBC News Magazine
In summary, the basic theory is this. The Large Hadron Collider [...]

Read: The End of the World is Nigh… »

Your past life diagnosis:
I don’t know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Portugal around the year 1575. Your profession was that of a sailor or shoemaker.
Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Inquisitive, inventive, you liked to get to [...]

Read: Come again? »

I have lived in a number of haunted houses. Well, I say haunted, but that may not be actually the case.
I know people who are afraid of ghosts. I am ghost-agnostic. I don’t believe in them, but nor am I positive that there is no such thing. But I’m quite happy to write off unexplained [...]

Read: Things That May Or May Not Go Bump In The Night »

Some oddments from the meedja this week…
Firstly, it appears Edgar Mitchell, former astronaut and one of the few people to have walked on the moon, believes that we are being visited by aliens:
Apollo 14 astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell, said he was aware of many UFO visits to Earth during his career with NASA but each [...]

Read: Of Aliens & Abominable Snowmen »

I recorded this the other night as I was out when it was on, so decided to watch it tonight instead.
I had been hoping to enjoy this: I’d really enjoyed the BBC Series ‘The Invisibles’, so when they were pushing another drama series, I thought I’d give it a bash.
I had to admit I was [...]

Read: Bonekickers »

After all, it’s been there more than 800 years now…
In Anglo-Saxon times the vicinity of the old Roman fort at Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester after a small community of monks who settled in the area. The later name Newcastle did not come into existence until Norman times when Robert Curthose, eldest son [...]

Read: It’s not really a New Castle… »

I’ve seen a poster at York Railway station a few times now. It basically just says:
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.King James Bible, Romans 14:12
Irrespective of whether you’re religious or not, the idea of being able to justify yourself and your existence crops up more and more. There’s [...]

Read: Romans 14:12 - justify your existence »

Former prime minister Tony Blair has called for faith to be given a central role in tackling the world’s problems.BBC News
What’s that, Tony? You had faith that sending the country into an illegal war with Iraq (that had — as at August 2007 — resulted in over a million violent deaths) was the right thing [...]

Read: Faith In Tony Blair? »