[paranormal] another one at naseby

To believe or not to believe:

The Northampton Paranormal Group caught the figure [of a ghost in uniform] on camera during a visit to the site of the Battle of Naseby, a field between the villages of Clipston and Naseby in Northamptonshire, last month.

Scepticism is fair enough, especially when one said: “I haven’t heard anything like this at the battlefield in all my association with it. It’s fair to say I’m a bit sceptical.”

That's fair enough.

But blind scepticism like: "The effect was caused by the camera itself," makes me sigh.

Really? They conducted experiments on the photo apparatus and investigated the area, did they? Or did they just say "camera effect" as a kneejerk reaction? Anything out of the ordinary must, by definition, be false?

Well how can any of us know? I'd like to see more evidence first but it doesn't seem wise to blindly pronounce it couldn't possibly happen.

[wordless wednesday] seems to follow

[thought for the day] tuesday evening

If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism. If you steal from many, it's research.

[Wilson Mizner - 1953]

Size 42 to fit all

Size 42 to fit all

Have you ever wondered how the government arrived at the figure of 42 days?

"According to Douglas Adams, in the ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’, the answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life and everything", was asked of Deep Thought.

Deep Thought was the "Universe's biggest, best, fastest computer", perhaps built by Microsoft. Deep Thought considered the question for a million years or so, and delivered the answer, "42"...".

[germaine greer] this blog agrees with her

That's right, you read it here - this blog agrees with Germaine Greer:

Outspoken feminist academic and writer Germaine Greer has attacked Britain for slashing a university scholarship program which has drawn hundreds of Australian students to England.

From next year, Britain will no longer fund prestigious Commonwealth scholarships for students from developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. While the move will save about STG2 million ($A4.1 million) a year, money will still be available for students from developing Commonwealth countries.

I don't think anyone would argue that the primary assistance should be to the homegrown Brit of some talent but if there is any left over, then surely it should be available to Britain's closest allies within the Commonwealth, it's first former colonies, if you like.

After that you might cast the net over the third world. Greer is surely right in this.

[stop press] record berry season in iceland

Important news just in from Iceland Review:

It seems as if blueberries and crowberries will ripen unusually early in Iceland this year due to a warm May. The berry season normally begins in late August, but berry pickers have already spotted black and blue berries in some places this year.

“One week ago people were already eating crowberries and said they were good,” physician and berry-picking enthusiast Sveinn Rúnar Hauksson told Morgunbladid, adding that blueberries have also begin to ripen, especially in north Iceland.

The berry season ends in September as soon as the temperature drops below freezing point at night. “Now it looks as if we will have a long berry-picking season which begins about two weeks earlier than in the average summer,” Hauksson said.

Click here to watch an audio slideshow about berry-picking. Don't pass it by!

[harry's place] and the jihadi kerfuffle

All right.

Everyone has by now heard of the kerfuffle connected with Harry's Place and here is the issue in a nutshell:

1. From Cassandra;

2. From Ginro.

I don't visit Harry's Place because I was told two years ago it was ruled with a rod of iron by some shadowy figure who makes his writers toe the political line and unfortunately, the major bloggers who told me this did influence me. Maybe I should look at it again. I do remember commenting several times and not getting any response or acknowledgement whatsoever. Again, I might try to get some sort of response.

That's not really the point here though. The point is that a jihadi type wishes to stifle free speech [and the telling of what I have no doubt is the truth] by means of litigation.

Some readers will remember that my own blog was also pushed off the net on July 4th-6th by threat of litigation and I have no intention of opening that whole thing up again but it does lead one to think about such people.

I do recall a lot of personal support though from quite a few really good blogfriends plus others who were mere acquaintances and well-wishers and that was quite humbling. There is definitely a spirit of closing ranks in the sphere and that's what we should do now against ALL people who feel that litigation is the way to make their point.

If I employ the distasteful term "scumbag" for the Usmanovs of the world, then please forgive me. I can forgive and have done so. I can't forget.

Anyway, at Bloghounds, Cassandra has started the ball rolling and I join her in recommending that if you can see your way clear [we don't go for directives at Bloghounds], maybe you could run a banner of some kind [there's a BMP PNG which Blogger upload doesn't recognize and so I can't personally add it] at Cassandra's.

I'll put up something in the sidebar soon.

Is this where M3 is?

Is this where M3 is?

[thought for the day] monday

How can you govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?

Charles de Gaulle [1962]

[papa rimski on the move] beware all evil-doers

With the weight of that staff, he could easily beat them into submission

With a newly-tuned piano at hand and a borrowed kitten for company, Pope Benedict XVI was recovering from jet-lag in Australia Monday ahead of WorldYouth Day celebrations.

Make no mistake - that kitten is there to ward off Imhotep and the whole gang of underworld nasties. The Cross, of course, speaks for itself. When Papa Rimski travels, he means business. I wouldn't want to try it on when the Pope's armed and dangerous.

Supposed to be in Australia for World Youth Day. Well, all right. Fair's fair.

But don't you think there's also a case for World Senior Cits' Day? I can see it now - all of us zooming round on our mobility scooters and the Pope in his Popemobile. Surely it's time they brought the Popemobile back.

Perhaps we could have a Black Policeman's Day as well? Just a thought.

"At 3.8 metre and 15 kilogram, you attack at your own risk."