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Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4 If not Latin, then what? Please see the links at...

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #3

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #3 Plants and the moon. For thousands of years, people...

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #2

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #2 An i for an i ? Not nymphs: women! There are...

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #1

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #1 Tom, Dick and Harry explain a statistical method. ...

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Patrick LockerbyRSS Feed of this column.

Retired engineer, 73 years young. Computer builder and programmer. Linguist specialising in language acquisition and computational linguistics. Interested in every human endeavour except the scrooge... Read More »

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A Woeful Lack Of Candour

A Woeful Lack Of Candour

Mar 09 2010 | comment(s)

A Woeful Lack Of Candour


In a recent article I wrote: Godfrey Bloom MEP bemoans the fact that:


"There appears to be a woeful lack of candour and commonsense in modern day politicians."


Godfrey Bloom is an MEP - a politician.  His party is called UKIP.  Godfrey Bloom has so many Google hits that, even if you search for someone famous, up pops a 'UKIP In the Media' result from his website.  Why would that be?  How can it happen?
A Classic Waste Of Breath

A Classic Waste Of Breath

Mar 09 2010 | comment(s)

A Classic Waste Of Breath

An argument that a thing is natural, therefore not a cause of concern, is used greatly in modern times, most especially in connection with the arguments over whether or not we puny humans can interfere with natural environmental cycles.  Such arguments can look good on the face of things.

The naturalistic argument goes back at least to Ancient Greece. 

In the art of misleading an audience with a seemingly open-and-shut case it really is a classic.
All At Sea Over Iceberg Science

All At Sea Over Iceberg Science

Mar 08 2010 | comment(s)

All At Sea Over Iceberg Science


At the opening of the 20th century, British maritime safety was a matter for the Board Of Trade.  This was the era of cork lifejackets.  The consensus of opinion on the saving of lives at sea was that, broadly, a minimum of lifeboats was enough to transfer passengers from a ship in distress to the other ships that were certain to come to her aid.

It was left entirely to ship owners whether or not they wanted to pay for extra lifeboats.

The loss of the Titanic in April 1912 triggered a new round of debates on that topic.

What follows is a speculation on the spin that might have been.

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Godfrey Bloom Demands Re-evaluation Of IPCC Re-evaluation

Godfrey Bloom Demands Re-evaluation Of IPCC Re-evaluation

Mar 08 2010 | comment(s)

Godfrey Bloom Demands Re-evaluation Of IPCC Re-evaluation


Godfrey Bloom MEP bemoans the fact that:

"There appears to be a woeful lack of candour and commonsense in modern day politicians."

UK Parliament Debates Climate Science Report

UK Parliament Debates Climate Science Report

Mar 08 2010 | comment(s)

UK Parliament Debates Climate Science Report



If somebody is in favor of making our planet a better place to live, you can bet your life that somebody with a louder voice is against it. 

Demonstrating that, at least in political attitudes to science, there really is 'nothing new under the sun', I present highlights of a UK Parliament debate on the undesirability of pollution controls.
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Old World Order Overthrown : Newsflash

Old World Order Overthrown : Newsflash

Mar 07 2010 | comment(s)

Old World Order Overthrown : Newsflash


THE THYMES July 1st, 1776

News has just reached the shores of our Britannic Majesty's Kingdom - that certain seditious rebels have defeated His Majesty's armies and our beloved Royal Navy in various battles in the New World.
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A letter to the Thymes.

The Editor,
Esteemed Sir,