Paul Smith's Blog

Well I stumbled across my old friend, TheDailyCreationism. On a new website, again claiming to do daily updates but failing to do regular posts. Quite disappointing I have to say as I'd love to read a creationist blog that is well, up to date with fresh arguments not those stale things from a hundred years ago. Anyway one of the posts on this blog featured Mr Kent Hovind's $250,000 offer. He presents it like James Randi presents the $1 million paranormal challenge, prove evolution and you get $250,000....

Yes that's right, a creationist, Don McLeroy, has been appointed to head the Texas school board. This guy now has the ability to spew his anti-science ideology over 4.5 million school students, and the damage that could happen to the already poor science textbooks in the United States could be felt across the whole country. Just check out some of this nonsense. I don't think I share a common ancestor with a tree....

Come on David, go down to your shed and grab your bucket! There are photo opportunities you're missing in your very own underwater constituency. What are you doing flying (yup that is helping the whole climate change thing ain't it David) off to Rwanda to get your pretty photos in the press, when you could be helping out with your bucket in Witney? As your new propaganda advisor, I advise you should fly home, get your bucket out of your shed, phone the press and get them to meet you splashing around in the water for a bit....

From the BBC: Prime Minister Gordon Brown is considering plans which could see the minimum wage reduced in Northern Ireland, it is believed. The minimum wage is set at £5.35 across the UK, however, if the plans go ahead it will be reduced in NI, Scotland, Wales and the north east of England. Employment Minister Sir Reg Empey said he was disappointed with the idea. "We have difficulty in getting people to leave benefit and go to work, this would make matters worse,"...

Jesus is well known for "curing" the blind, in this case the irony is overwhelming when a christian goes blind while searching for the Virgin Mary in the Sun. Amal Nassif believed 17-year-old Francesca Zackey when she said the Virgin Mary would appear if Nassif gazed into the sun. Now 37-year-old Nassif, a devout Catholic, may be blind for life. She went to Zackey - the Benoni girl who claims to have repeatedly seen the mother of Jesus - to receive a blessing....

Britain has recently expelled four Russian diplomats in some kind of childish hissy fit because Russia (obeying its constitution) declined to extradite Lugovoi to stand trial in Britain for the murder of Litvinenko a few months back. The Russian government offered to put Lugovoi on trial in Russia for the murder, an offer which the British government refused. So in response they expel four diplomats. Utter hypocrisy, Russia has been putting in requests for the billionaire tycoon Boris Berezovsky to be extradited for years, the most recent being in April....

I had an e-mail from Nick Wall, a GMB member and political activist from Merseyside, arrive into my inbox the other day. It's a petition to number ten, campaigning for a living wage. Here's the link to the petition. We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take steps to replace the national minimum wage with a living wage based on the level of pay and conditions that enables a full-time worker to make ends meet for themselves and their family....

Companies in Britain avoid paying £90-£150 billion of tax per year. What could we do with that money? Every person in Britain, every man, woman and child could get an extra £1500 - £2500 per year in their pocket. Just think, that's an extra £10000 per year for a family. That much money could pay for 360 - 600 new top of the line hospital buildings every year, and that's a conservative estimate....

I made a voyage over to Apple's support forums. One post stuck out for me, out of the endless iTunes problem threads where Apple's advice is "we suggest a wipe and reload of your system": will Apple ever make it so us canadians can get movies and tv on our ipod's Perfectly valid question, when will Apple release TV and movies in the iTunes store in Canada? This is how the zealots respond to it:...

With Respect falling apart around us, (shocking I know), the SWP seems to of reverted to a more aggressive state. Their national organiser nonetheless assaulted a previously expelled SWP member at this year's Marxism event (they're calling it a festival now). The CPGB's Weekly Worker has the details. On July 7, the second full day of this year's Marxism, SWP national organiser Martin Smith physically assaulted Communist Party comrade, Simon D....