ABER-RANT

Pro-active There is no such word as pro-active You can act or react , but you cannot pro-act You may be active or passive , but you can never be pro-active

The Scientific Scandal of Antismoking By J. R. Johnstone, PhD (Monash) and P.D.Finch, Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Statistics (Monash) Science is not always a neutral, disinterested search for knowledge, although it may often seem that way to the outsider. Sometimes the story can be very different. Smoking and health have been the subject of argument since tobacco was introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century. King James I was a pioneer antismoker. In 1604 he declared that smoking was "a custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse." But like many a politician since, he decided that taxing tobacco was a more sensible option than banning it. By the end of the century general opinion had changed. The Royal College of Physicians of London promoted smoking for its benefits to health ...

What is morally repugnant is a government that sets-up tax-avoidance schemes and then moans like fuck when people have the temerity to use them. A previous government removed the Inland revenue's duty to only collect that tax which was due ; instead it switched the burden onto the tax-payer. It would therefore seem that it is every citizen's legal duty to avoid tax.

euro crisis...simple solution get rid of the single currency and let sovereign governments re-value their currencies People wonder why in Britain we have a north-south economic divide...simple two different economic systems sharing a common currency, namely the pound...if a small region like England struggles HOW THE FUCK CAN IT WORK IN EUROPE YOU FUCKWITS

I haven't posted about fish-keeping before on this blog. So , I thought I'd describe the set-up in my two main tanks:- 4 ft cold/temperate tank One Ryukin (Miss )Piggy Malone( aka Doris) A Moor named Jet (juv male) An Oranda called Rocket (juv male) 6 baby apple snails planted with Amazon swords --------------------------------------------- 3 ft tropical tank 2 Bristlenoses Charley Farley(m) & Skitter (f) 4 Adult Apple Snails 8 neon tetras 2 Fire-Red Honey Dwarf Gourami: 6 Black Neon Tetra 2 Red Cherry Shrimp 2 Dwarf African Aquatic Frog Planted with Anubias & Amazon Swords ---------------------------------------------------- I shall add to this given time-constraints

In Gauderman et al. 1997 at pp.208-209 the authors stated: “The results from these analyses support previous findings that a major gene plays an important role in lung cancer risk. An additional finding not previously observed is that there is no apparent interaction between the putative lung cancer gene and smoking.” At p.177 the authors wrote: “[T]he flaws we found in the nicotine research literature are of such magnitude and occur in such a regular fashion that they demand an explanation. A partial list of the methodological shortcomings compiled in this book includes: I Systematic exclusion of subjects from statistical analyses Absence of saline control groups for injected drugs Result-biased selection of number of sessions to test manipulations Absence of statistical comparisons [...]“ Also, from the same book: “Thus, nicotine’s role in maintaining the smoking habit bears no similarity to the role played by genuinely addictive drugs such as heroin, barbiturates, alcohol or ot...

A friend of mine had to see a neurologist.....I report the gist of the consultation Consultant: you mustn't be around smokers Patient: I don't allow smoking in my house Consultant: Just being around smokers would be dangerous for you Patient: Well, as I said no one smokes in my house, or work, or car Consultant: SMOKERS ARE BAD FOR YOU WHETHER THEY'RE SMOKING or NOT !!! I kid you not...this is the sort of mediaeval superstition we are all up against .