What is LESS dangerous than a terrorist?

Have you ever wondered what is LESS dangerous than a terrorist? 

After considerable research I can tell you. The information is compiled from National Vital Statistics on deaths

Trivial death risks

• Killed as a passenger on a train - odds 1 in 10,300,000
• Killed by explosion of pressurised vessels such as a pressure cooker or tire - odds 1 in 10,700,000
• Killed by being struck by a person - that's being fallen on or bumping into them not fistfights - odds 1 in 11,000,000
• Killed by being bitten by a dog - odds 1 in 16,000,000
• Killed by being bitten or stung by a bug other than bees,wasps or spiders - 1 in 22,150,000
• Killed by ignition of nightwear - odds 1 in 22,150,000
• Killed by excessive  man-made heat or cold e.g. trapped in a freezer - odds 1 in 28,800,000
• Killed by venomous spiders - odds 1 in 28,800,000
• Killed by a flood - odds 1 in 32,000,000
• Killed by unintentional firearms discharge (You intended to fire a blank) - odds 1 in 57,600,000
• Killed by explosion of fireworks - odds 1 in 57,600,000
• Killed while occupant of street car - odds 1 in 72,000,000
• Killed by contact with venomous snakes - odds 1 in 96,000,000
• Killed by a vending machine - odds 1 in 112,000,000
• Killed by shark attack - odds 1 in 264,100,000
• Killed by rabies in USA - odds 1 in 880,000,000
• Killed by a meteor - odds 1 in 765,000,000,000,000,000

Terrorism with a risk of 1 in 9,300,000 is more dangerous than all of these but terrorism is LESS dangerous than this list:

• Earthquakes - odds 1 in 9,290,000
• Scalding by hot water - odds 1 in 8,200,000
• Riding on a bus - odds 1 in 7,200,000
• Stung by hornets, wasps and bees - odds 1 in 5,300,00
• Cave-ins or falling earth - odds 1 in 5,000,000
• Storms - odds 1 in 4,500,000
• Lightning - odds 1 in 4,300,000
• Legal execution in the USA - odds 1 in 4,300,000
• Bitten by mammals other than dogs - odds 1 in 3,800,000
• Falling from high place - odds 1 in 2,800,000
• Overexertion, travel and privation - odds 1 in 2,250,000
• Accidental firearm discharge - odds 1 in 1,200,000
• Drowning in bath tub - odds 1 in 800,000
• Alcohol - odds 1 in 800,000
• Falling from a ladder - odds 1 in 700,000
• Falling from a building - odds 1 in 520,000
• Drowning in a swimming pool - odds 1 in 450,000
• Tripping/slipping at same level - odds 1 in 450,000
• Falling off a bycycle - odds 1 in 375,000
• Falling out of bed! - odds 1 in 370,000
• Death at your office desk - odds 1 in 140,000
• Riding a motor cycle - odds 1 in 90,000
• Accidental poisoning - odds 1 in 86,000
• Assault by firearm USA - odds 1 in 24,000

The real risks to your life

All of these pale into insignificance when compared with the real risks to your life:

• Heart disease - odds 1 in 3
• Cancer - odds 1 in 5 (and falling)
• Strokes - odds 1 in 20
• Respiratory disease - odds 1 in 20 (more if you smoke) 
• Diabetes - odds 1 in 30
• Alzheimer's disease - odds 1 in 31 (and rising)

Despite spending billions on a trivial risk - remember falling out of bed is 25 times more dangerous than terrorism - we seem unable to stop it. We could easily cut the risk of heart disease though by just educating people to eat less and exercise more often. The cost in terms of health education advertisements would be trivial compared with the arms budget.

Why doesn't this happen? Why are we so concerned about terrorism?

I suspect the real answer is greed. Not from people overeating but the greed of people who make fortunes persuading people to fight each other. Those who finance, make and supply arms and munitions. For their profit:

• They need to persuade people that terrorism is a serious threat to their lives. 
• They need religious leaders to be at odds with each other. 
• They need preachers of hate to stir up fear in the weak willed, easily led people. 
• They need the media to focus on trivialities and stir up the paranoia which sells their stories.
• They need politicians to be coerced by lobbyist enticements and forced into stupid actions by ill-informed electorates.

We are fighting the wrong people!
Our target should not be the morons but the men in suits ultimately behind them.

An Atheist responds to a Christian

Recently a Christian declared their faith by posting this image on Facebook:

They probably didn't expect much in the way of atheist comments but an atheist did respond with a similar format picture:

One thing I would like to ask Christians (or any other religion) "If there is a god/gods why would they want us to worship them?"

A Home-made Cold Remedy

We all hate getting a cold and no-matter what the advertisements tell you, no tablet or liquid will cure them. Eventually your body will destroy the virus and with it a few of your cells, making you a little bit older.

There is no cure for the common cold (yet) but you can get some relief from the symptoms. Here's a remedy which works well at doing that.

A home remedy

In a tall glass:

• add 2 fingers depth whiskey (use cheap stuff - not the 12 year old malt)
• add 2 fingers depth honey
• add 2 fingers depth lemon juice
• Fill the glass with hot water, stir well and drink.
• Snuggle up in bed with a good book and relax.

If you find your symptoms are not better after an hour or so repeat.

Now I know what some of you are going to say. "I don't like whiskey," but believe me - this tastes nothing like it. It tastes good, relieves a sore throat, relieves congestion and after three of them you won't care about the cold!

As to the good book - download 'Immortality Gene'. It's FREE and you can read about staying young and never getting another cold.

iBook 
Amazon
Nook
Smashwords

I Have Seen The Truth And It Doesn't Make Sense!

The EU changed the VAT regulations which apply to digital products on 1st January 2015. To those of us in the UK it meant a 17% VAT increase.

Previously we paid 3% on many Amazon digital products because Amazon shipped them to us via Luxembourg which applied their VAT rate of 3% - the lowest in the EU. From 1st Jan 2015 we were charged the VAT rate of the destination EU state rather than the supplier EU state. The UK therefore have to pay 20% VAT on digital products. (Ireland - 23%)

Does that seem bad? Instead of paying 3% to Luxembourg, we in the UK will be paying 20% to the UK. That means we pay more but at least it will be to our own country and perhaps it will mean we pay less in some other tax. Perhaps that makes some sense for music and video but there's one area where it makes no sense at all.

On January 1st 2015 the VAT rate on e-books changed too. The change affected all member states. The table at the right shows how the new rates affected e-book buyers in the rest of Europe. As you can see of the 28 countries in the EU five give e-books a special VAT rate. Ireland and the UK zero rate paper books.

In the UK the new rates mean a price rise of at least 17%. That doesn't seem a lot on an e-book which cost 77p formerly. They now cost 99p (a 29% price rise) but it's far more than inflation and a sharp contrast with the zero VAT rate on paper books.

Ask politicians and they'll tell you "Here in the UK, VAT is charged on e-books because they are a service."

Let's compare e-books with paper books and see how they compare:

Which of these is a service?

Paper books	E-books
Requires an author	Requires an author
Requires an editor	Requires an editor
Requires formatting	Requires formatting
Trees need to be felled (requires oil)	Not required
Timber needs to be transported to papermill (requires oil)	Not required
Papermill manufactures paper with some waste sludge (requires some oil)	Not required
Sludge needs to be disposed of (requires oil)	Not required
Paper needs transporting to printer (requires oil)	Not required
Ink needs manufacturing (requires oil)	Not required
Books need to be printed (requires oil)	Not required
Books need to be transported to distribution depot (requires oil)	Not required
Sales team need to visit retail outlets (requires oil)	Not required
Books need to be transported to retail outlets (requires oil)	Not required
Customer needs transport to bookstore and back (requires oil)	E-books are delivered direct to reader electronically.
Surplus unsold books need transport back to printer (requires oil)	Not required
Surplus requires storage or redistribution or pulping (requires oil)	Not required
Book pulp requires cleaning of toxic ink and disposal of the toxins (requires oil)	Not required

As you can see far more 'services' are required in the production of paper books than in the production of e-books. 

So:

• The EU and the UK have a declared aim of reducing carbon emissions, yet favour paper books which produce them at the expense of ebooks. It's been estimated that 95% of the carbon dioxide emissions could be eliminated by switching to e-books.
• The sludge produced by recycling books contains some particularly nasty toxins which are expensive to dispose of safely.

As for the reasons we are given for the 20% VAT charge in the UK -

I have seen the truth and it doesn't make sense!

Is there hope that VAT will be reduced for e-books? EC president Jean-Claude Juncker told the German newspaper association that the commission will next year consider the introduction of a reduced VAT rate for online books and digital newspapers. So - they consider this in 2016 and implement any change in 2017? Do you think that's soon enough?

So what can be done?

Know about iBeacon technology? Possibly open to abuse?

iBeacon technology is something you may not be familiar with now but you will be seeing it very soon. It may help you but it may also be open to abuse.

What is an iBeacon?

iBeacons are small devices which transmit a signal to smartphones nearby. Imagine you're in a department store. You plan on getting a new pair of shoes and you're going to browse for a book also. You examine some shoes but don't find what you want. As you walk away your phone beeps and a text message tells you:

 'There are more shoes round the next corner  on the left. We have some special offers there.'

Wonderful - you find exactly what you want and it's on offer. You buy them and walk towards the books and magazines section. As you leave the checkout you get another message:

'Do you need a sports bag to keep your shoes in? They are on the next floor up. You can get a 10% discount today.'

You ignore that message.

How it works

The shoes you first looked at carried a small tag like the security tags fitted to some products. The tag detected your phone and triggered the first message as you walked away without going to the payment desk. Had you tried to steal shoes it would have reacted as a normal security tag. There was a second iBeacon near the shoe department entrance. It recognised your phone as belonging to someone who had just made a purchase of shoes and triggered the second message.

iBeacons can be placed anywhere. They are low cost devices, programmable and potentially useful to a shopper.

• As you walk past a coffee shop you could be offered a free coffee 'today only - just show this message'. You get one but the friend you are with has to pay for theirs. It's detected both your phones.
• As you walk past a cinema you are told what is now playing.
• As you pass a newsagent you are told there's an update available on a story you've been following.
• When you are near a clothes shop you are told there's a sale of jackets now on.
• iBeacons can be set to only act if it's target has been near it for some time, you won't be bothered with messages about vacuum cleaners if you are just passing by them but may be messaged if you've been in that area for a while.

 Obviously it's highly targeted advertising which may get irritating after a while. It may draw your attention to things you might otherwise have missed though.

The actual iBeacons are small. They run for years from a button cell. They are self adhesive and cost little - about $10 at the moment but that price will drop. To pick up their signals a shopper would have to have a free app installed on their phone. They will try it out and if they find it benefits them, it will stay on their phone.

How it can be abused

There's nothing to stop someone hiding their own iBeacon in a store which uses the system. The iBeacon could quickly be hidden under a shelf.

• As you browse the books you might get a message telling you it would be much more convenient and cost less to get the book in e-book format at Amazon. Just click this link to download it now to your phone. The link is of course an affiliate link which earns the iBeacon owner a small commission.
• While you wait for a bus outside the store you may get an advert for a game to pass the time.
• A hidden iBeacon may direct shoppers to a competitor's store.

If you want to know more about the technology try this video from Estimote Beacons.

Finally, perhaps I have a devious mind but as soon as I found out about iBeacons, I saw the potential they have. Maybe I could use an iBeacon in a location where people are browsing for books or waiting to direct people to the free ebook I have? I'm sure you can think up some other possible ways to use/misuse the technology. Let us all know in the comments.

If this post has helped or entertained, will you help us? Download a FREE copy of our book 'Immortality Gene' from http://smarturl.it/avi Even if you never read it (but we hope you will) - it will help our rankings.

For those in the UK - How to view the sites the BBC won't let you see

Did you know the BBC has a number of websites which they don't make available to those of us in the UK?

Launched in February 2012 BBC Future was heralded as the new international technology, science, environment and health site from the British Broadcasting Corporation. If you try to access it in the UK (Link http://bbc.com/future ) you'll get this message:

It's not the only BBC site like this, you can't visit http://www.bbc.com/travel or http://www.bbcentertainment.com/ either.

Since the BBC is mostly funded by licence fees paid in the UK many people in the UK feel there's something not right about a BBC site which can't be viewed in the UK. As  the Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said, "Those in Britain unable to access these services available to the rest of the world have every right to feel cheated."

The BBC are caught between a rock and a hard place though. It's a commercial website which earns money for the BBC through advertising; something the BBC is not allowed to do in the UK.
"Under the BBC’s Fair Trading rules commercial websites are not allowed to receive unfair promotion from the BBC’s public services.  This prevents us from being able to provide Future content on BBC.co.uk," they say.

So how do we in the UK view these BBC websites? 

I'm going to show you two methods. I'll use BBC Future as an example.

Method 1 - using the Internet Wayback Archive

There's a very useful site on Internet which keeps a a record of web pages. It's called the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and is available at http://archive.org/web/ . The Wayback Machine archives all BBC pages and you can view their latest 'BBC Future' pages at http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.bbc.com/future This page lists all the days an archive has been made and you can usually click the latest one and interact with it just as someone outside the UK would. It's an easy method where you won't be bothered by adverts - they are not archived, but does have disadvantages. You seldom get today's pages; if you are lucky you will see yesterday's pages. Not all pages are archived and it's poor at viewing the multimedia.

Method 2 - using a proxy server plugin

I use the ZenMate Chrome plugin. It's free and available from https://zenmate.io/home Instructions on the site will tell you how to install and use it. To view the BBC Future site Click the plugin icon and set your location to New York. Then turn ZenMate on and go to the BBC Future website (http://bbc.com/future) It's as simple as that. Everything, including multimedia and adverts will work. Just remember to turn ZenMate off when you are finished. Zenmate can cause some problems with some websites which detect proxy servers, so to get round that I also use another plugin for Chrome - One Click Extensions Manager . Using that you can instantly disable and enable ZenMate as required. A word of warning though - be careful to decline the other items offered with it.

Enjoy those 'hidden' BBC websites but before you leave - let me tell you about two offers (OK - two shameless plugs):
1. Until July 2014 Shelia Chapman's book 'Blood of the Rainbow' is just £1.87. (US$2.99) This is an awesome paranormal suspense e-book with five star ratings.

2. Download a free copy of the book I co-author 'Immortality Gene'. It's a technothriller, romance, medical thriller, science fiction... a bit of everything. Even if you don't read it, it will help our ratings. Available at Amazon, iTunes, B&N and others FREE!

'Sideloading' apps not available from Amazon on a Kindle Fire HDX

If you get a Kindle Fire HDX then by now you'll probably have found its limitation - you are tied to those apps which Amazon has decided you need. DON'T PANIC! There is a way round this - sideloading.

The Problem

The Nook reader on a Kindle Fire HD!

Amazon's Appstore for Android contained 50,000 apps back in early September 2012 but that was nowhere near the 700,000 offered by Google Play and Apple App Store then. The obvious solution would be for Kindle Fire owners to download Android apps from Google Play - except you can't. The Kindle Fire HDX simply won't allow you to connect to the Google Play store and download the app you want - you have to get it from Amazon. That's very understandable. Amazon tell us they are not making a lot of profit from sales of their Kindle Fire. Instead they expect to make their profit from sales of books, video, music and apps. To do that they make it easy to obtain these from the Amazon site and difficult, but not impossible, to get apps from elsewhere.

The Solution

Android is an open source operating system and the Kindle Fire HDX has version 4.2 of it. So most of the apps in the Google Play store should work just fine. In fact most of them do work, you just have to get them on your Kindle. Here's how to do that using a technique known as sideloading.

You are going to need some equipment, most of which you probably already have:

• An Android device (we'll call this 'device 2') such as a mobile phone or tablet which you can connect to the Google Store
• A USB to micro USB lead which fits your computer and Kindle Fire/device 2
• A computer 
• Your Kindle Fire
• An app - ES File Explorer installed on the Kindle Fire HD/HDX and device 2. (yes this is available from the Amazon Appstore and on Google Play. It's free!)

Now you need to know what to do. As an example I'm going to show you how I installed the Nook ebook reading app on my Kindle Fire HD and my Kindle Fire HDX. Naturally this competitor app is not an app available on the Amazon Appstore for Android but it's very useful to have if you earlier purchased a Nook ereader and want to read your Nook books or epub books on your Kindle Fire.

How to sideload an Android app to a Kindle Fire HD / HDX

The Kindle Fire HDX is even better. Ours took just one day
to arrive from Amazon at http://smarturl.it/KindleHDX

This method also works for the Kindle Fire HD with some minor modifications. I used it to install the Firefox android browser (Sorry Amazon but your browser Silk is rubbish), the Nook e-reader software and some games not available in Amazon's store. Here's the method for the Kindle Fire HDX. I've used the Nook app as an example:

1. Install ES file explorer on your Kindle HDX. It's available free in the Amazon store.
2. Install ES file explorer on your other Android device. It's a free app available at Google Play
3. Install the Nook reader software on your other Android device from the Google Store. Again it's a free app from Google Store.
4. On the Kindle HDX use go to  Settings > Applications and set 'Applications from unknown sources' to 'On'. Accept the warning.
5. On the other Android device use ES File Explorer. Choose Tools >'app manager' from settings. Long press on 'Nook' and choose backup.
6. Connect the other Android device to your computer using the USB cable. You should see it appears in an explorer window as an extra drive under 'Computer'. 
7. Navigate to the Nook.apk file you just backed up. In my case, since I was using a Nexus 7 as my 'other Android device' it appeared as Computer\Nexus 7\Internal storage\backups\apps\NOOK_3.3.0.26.apk Copy this file to your PC. On a Samsung Galaxy S4 the files appeared in Computer\Galaxy S4\Phone\backups\apps
8. Connect the Kindle fire to your PC and transfer the Nook.apk file to it. The root folder will do.
9. Load ES File Explorer on the Kindle Fire and find the file you just placed there. Once you select it you'll get the option to install it. Do that and try it out.
10. On the Kindle use Settings > Applications and set 'Applications from unknown sources' to 'Off' again. 

It's a little involved but really quite simple.

Of course the same technique can be used to install almost any Android application which isn't available on the Amazon Appstore. There are a few which don't work, Sky Go for one. It installs and you can see what programs are available but it won't let you play them.

You can also download apps to your PC from other sources and install them BUT - a word of caution. Although the apps available from Amazon and Google are generally safe, the same can't be said for all app sources. It's unwise to download and install apps you are not certain of. You might install a rogue app which could cause a lot of problems.

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If my blog has helped you - can you do me a favour?

Download a free copy of the book I co-author 'Immortality Gene'. It's a technothriller, romance, medical thriller, science fiction... a bit of everything. Even if you don't read it, it will help our ratings. Available at Amazon, iTunes, B&N and others FREE!

Thinking of getting a flu shot?

What do you know about flu shots? I did a few minutes research on Internet and found the following out:

Flu shot image - Fox News

1. There were 128,000,000 flu shots given last year in the US alone.
2. Current prices for the shot can be calculated fairly easily as follows. (These are NOT bulk purchase prices which may well be lower):
• 10 flu doses - $15.38
• 10 disposable needles & syringes - $4.59
• 200 alcohol prep pads - $3.49
I make that $2.01 per shot or less.
3. If you buy the shot in the US most places seem to charge $20.00. That's a healthy $17.99 profit.
4. The drug companies stand to make $250 million in sales from the flu shots in the US assuming the same number of people get one this year.
5. Assuming just one in ten flu shots is bought, Doctors and pharmacies will make $230 million from flu shots alone. They do give away the other 9 free right?
6. The CDC is keen on everyone getting a flu shot.
7.  Flu vaccine can be obtained in large bottles with multiple doses to bring costs down. These large bottles contain a preservative which contains mercury. The other single dose vaccines do not contain mercury.
8. Mercury is an accumulative poison.
9. The CDC says 5 to 30 percent of the US population will get the flu each year.
10. Other sources say 3% get the flu each year
11. Some sources say just 2 out of every 100 people will not get the flu because of a vaccine. Since 3% would normally get the flu the manufactures claim a 66% prevention rate.
12. 590 out of every million pregnant women who have a flu shot will abort. However getting flu can cause an abortion too but no-one quotes figures on that that I can find.
13. The number of people who have unpleasant side effects from the flu shot exceeds the number who get the flu.
14. Flu can kill you
15. People have died from the flu shot.
16. They put MSG in the nasal spray version of the vaccine which can cross the blood/brain barrier and cause brain problems
17. The spray vaccine contains a live virus which could give you the flu but is very unlikely to do so. 
18. Statins don't mix well with flu shots.
19. A recent report found the flu vaccine was ineffective for those under 2 and for the elderly.
20. Those who get the flu shot and who still get flu have a much greater risk of being hospitalized from it.

Now I'm not a doctor or medically qualified. It seems to me some doctors in the US have an interest in promoting flu shots though. There are doctors on both sides of the get vaccinated/don't get vaccinated argument.

One doctor, very much against the annual flu shot is Dr Mercola. He cites evidence that there are more effective prevention methods than flu shots. His suggestions also help prevent or lessen the effects of other flu like diseases such as the common cold.

• Vitamin D can be 4 to 10 times more effective. The best results coming from people who got vitamin D by exposure to sunlight. Failing that krill oil, fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon are good sources. Take as a prevention.
• Garlic. Take as a prevention.
• Zinc supplements - Up to 50mg per day but only when you have symptoms of cold or flu.
• Vitamin C. Take as a prevention but step up the amount if you have symptoms
• A tea made from a combination of elderflower, yarrow, boneset, linden, peppermint and ginger; drink it hot and often for combating a cold or flu. It causes you to sweat, which is helpful for eradicating a virus from your system.

Can someone who knows more about this than I do explain why we should or shouldn't get a flu shot?

Something Advertisers Should Be Ashamed Of

Advertisers are using dubious methods to put your computer at risk!

Here's the problem
I recently updated my copy of the Calibre program - a wonderful bit of software against which I have no complaints, just praise. This is what I saw. I've set the screen capture to display what most people would see if they use a common screen size - 1366 x 768 pixels:

Now here's what they would see if they had a taller screen:

As you can see that large green download button isn't where you download Calibre - it's an advertisement and something the advertiser should be deeply ashamed of because it's designed to trick people into downloading something they would not normally choose to download.

In this case it tells you you are downloading 'Premium 7-Zip' but it doesn't tell you anything about the program. A search on the Web indicates it might be useful or might also contain a computer worm.

One such program I've seen people being tricked into downloading is 'BrowserSafeguard.' This is a browser extension which intercepts your searches at Google and sends back a list of five or so of it's search results before the real Google results. Nothing really wrong with that except, when I checked it, every single site they linked to was flagged by Web of Trust as being of dubious quality. It changes your proxy server settings to do this.
Can you imagine Google will be happy with that? Look closer at the images above.
See that little icon at the top right of the advert?

This means that this advertisement is being produced through Google's advertising service. Shame on you Google for allowing these trickster advertisements!

So what can you do to avoid being caught out?

1. Use the scroll bar and make sure that download button is not an advert.
2. Hover your pointer over it and make sure what the status bar tells you it is sending you to is not something unexpected.
3. Refresh the page and see if you get a different advert where that download button was:
   
   
   
   

Maybe the ultimate answer is to demand that Google and other advertising firms forbid these adverts designed to trick us. Here's how to do that:
1. When you see one of these fake buttons trying to trick you look for the small X at the top left

2. Selecting it allows you to 'Report this ad'

3. Tell Google the ad was inappropriate

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If my blog has helped you - can you do me a favour? Download a free copy of the book I co-author 'Immortality Gene'. It's a technothriller, romance, medical thriller, science fiction... a bit of everything. Even if you don't read it, it will help our ratings. Available at Amazon, iTunes, B&N Google Play and others FREE!

Reductio ad absurdum 3 - The revised National Curriculum 2014

"Beginning in 2014, the United Kingdom will require all British schoolchildren to complete a unit on the history of Islam, proudly reports Press TV, Iran’s very own 24-hour English language news organization.

Michael Gove (The unflattering picture which was here,
 courtesy of The Telegraph, has been removed but you won't have any difficulty in finding an equally unflattering replacement.)

British Education Secretary Michael Gove announced the addition of a Muslim-specific component after revisions were made to address an outcry over a prior draft that did not include any references to the monotheistic Abrahamic religion."

So starts an article at Yahoo News. Now I have to admit to being doubtful about it because I could find no reference to this news story at the BBC, Sky, or any of the major UK newspapers. However let's assume it's accurate and take this to it's logical conclusion. ('Reductio ad absurdum' - Latin for following implications to an absurd extent.)

Islam is the UK's third most common 'religion'. In the 2011 census, Christianity was declared as the most popular religion (59%), 'No Religious Affiliation' the second choice (25%) and 'Islam' the third (5%). Now if a religion which has a mere 5% following gets a study in the UK National Curriculum then far more time should be devoted to a 'religion' which has five times Islam's following. That means we should ask UK children to complete five study units dedicated to the history of 'No Religious Affiliation' or atheism.

Of course it's very difficult to study nothing (although for hundreds of years, many children have successfully studied it at school). So just what items should we study?

My first thought was that we leave the content to the UK politicians - after all they are very good at doing nothing, however, they are also very good at making bad decisions so we need to help them out with some ideas. To give you a start there are some excellent websites out there on why you should be an atheist of no religious affiliation. 

One of my favourites is Plasma Engineer's Something Surprising blog Try his Grandfather Gospel Challenge for ideas and follow some of his links.

The Rosa Rubicondior blog is good too. Try the article Another Easy One For Muslims... Or Not!

No 'religion' of course can be considered 'true' unless it has it's martyrs. That being the case you need to read 'On blasphemy, wielding both standards and stories' from the Richard Dawkins foundation.

I'm sure you can find lots more. Just remember these politicians need our help if our children are to avoid studying 'the nothing' from the Never Ending Story


Please - add your suggestions on what should be studied about the history of 'No Religious Affiliation' in the comments below and I'll make sure the UK's Education Secretary of State, gets them. Alternatively you can send your suggestions to the minister directly at  ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk

When your garden goes wild...

For the last few weeks I haven't been able to do anything in my garden due to an injured wrist. We've had rain and periods of sunshine and my garden has gone crazy!

This was my back lawn. I can't believe how a month of alternating rain, sunshine and no grass mowing has changed it.

All sorts of flowers we didn't plant have sprung up.

Anyone know what this is?

Cornflower?

My driveway is the old railway line I live on. Here's the end of the drive

Thistles can be quite pretty

My wrist is getting better but I'm not looking forward to mowing the lawn! I think the nettles and thistles will have to go but for this year at least I'm going to end up with a wildflower garden.

How to get round the 'bedroom tax'

Lots of people are very upset in the UK over what has come to be known as the 'bedroom tax' or 'Under occupancy rules'. It hits poorer families renting from their local authority or a housing association hard.

What is the 'bedroom tax'?

The  'bedroom tax' is reform to the way housing benefit is provided in England, Scotland and Wales. It is due to be start on 1st April 2013.

The Government calls it removing the 'spare room subsidy' but it's also been referred as an 'under-occupation charge'.

Where does it apply?

The rules apply to those of working age (currently those born after  05 October 1951) living in council houses or housing association property.
Under the new rules
• Couples are expected to share a bedroom (Whether you snore loudly or can't stand the sight of each other  or not.)
• Two boys or two girls under 16 are expected to share
• A boy and a girl under 10 are expected to share

What does it mean to the poor?

The changes mean a cut to the amount of housing benefit people will receive if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their council house or housing association home.Those with one spare bedroom will have their housing benefit cut by 14%. Those with two or more extra bedrooms get a cut of 25 per cent. Tenants on housing benefit will either have to make up the difference towards their rents themselves, or move in to smaller properties.

The government's idea is that they should reduce the housing benefit of those who have more bedrooms than they need. If a couple have one child and they live in a three bedroom house then the government says they should either move to a two bedroom house or rent out the spare room. By doing this they hope to reduce the pressure on housing and save a billion pounds a year. Seems a reasonable idea at first but:
1. Moving is expensive.
2. Where a family has split up keeping a bedroom available for when you look after children isn't allowed.
3. Those disabled can not assume a bedroom will be allowed for their carer or essential equipment - it's up to the council.
4. There are few available houses with one or two bedrooms
5. If you are settled in a location it's hard to be forced to move to a new location.
6. Should young children have to share a bedroom as the rules suggest?
7. If your spare room is caused by a death you have a year to find alternatives.
8. You may be forbidden to rent out a room as the government suggests in your rental agreement.

Has this sort of 'tax' been used before?

Window tax caused this blocked up window

Yes, we in the UK have had this sort of 'tax' before:
• In 1696 - 1851 a window tax was in force - we bricked up a lot of windows
• 1662 - 1689 a hearth or fireplace tax was introduced - we bricked  those up too.

Is there a way round the bedroom tax? 

Yes there is! A bedroom is defined as a room bigger than 70 square feet of floor space. Anything smaller is considered a box room. Many UK houses have a third bedroom little bigger than this. By building a false wall or a cupboard in this room it's floor space can be reduced to box room size. With careful design this permanent cupboard can be easily removed when this stupid regulation is repealed.
Unfortunately this is going to cost money for the materials - timber framing, plasterboard, a door. It may be you can persuade your housing association/council to help but if not then those least able to pay will have to do it all themselves.

If this proves useful to you can you do us a favour in return? Download a free copy of our A Vested Interest book from Amazon. Even if you don't read it it will help our ratings at Amazon. You can get the book at http://smarturl.it/avi and if you do want to read it, (It's a top 20 technothriller and romantic suspense), you can read it on a phone, a tablet, a computer or even - a Kindle!

Reading between Tesco's lines

Here's a quote from Tesco's website:

"When we became aware that two of our products had been contaminated with more than 1% horse meat, we immediately withdrew them from sale - our frozen Everyday Value beef burgers on the 15th of January and our frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese on the 5th of February."

What a very cleverly worded statement. The implication being that 1% horsemeat had been found in these products. The reality is a little different. According to the BBC the Everyday Value beef burgers contained more than 29% horsemeat and the Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese more that 60% horsemeat! That is certainly MORE than 1%.

I'm also a little concerned that the implication is that up to 1% of horsemeat in a product is acceptable. 

Here's another quote from Tesco:

"So far, we have completed tests on 149 products as part of our new DNA testing programme.
149 products came back with negative results for horse meat. 

This is the start of our testing programme to support our promise that what’s on the label is in the pack. We are now extending our use of DNA testing to look at those products where we think that there is a greater risk of rogue ingredients being used."

Hang on a minute! What about the two products known to contain horsemeat? Shouldn't that be '151 products with 149 free of horsemeat.' You sell a lot more than 149 products are you going to test ALL the rest? What about lamb, pork and chicken products? Are you testing those to see if they contain substances other than what they should contain? I don't find that 'where we think there is a greater risk of rogue ingredients being used' at all reassuring. Does this mean you were aware of this risk before and did nothing?

Sorry Tesco but this damage control statement isn't going to cut it. The only thing that will restore confidence in your 'Everyday' products is complete honesty and openness. You've been selling products labelled 'Beef' which were not 'beef' and my understanding is that that's against the law. Granted you may have been mislead by your suppliers but we trusted you to check that your suppliers supplied genuine products and you appear to have let us down.

We recognise that you are not the only supplier at fault Iceland, Aldi, Findus and others share your blame. Just don't try to fob us off with talk of 1% and giving those who have bought 'beef' products that were not 'beef' money back would have been a better gesture. 

Update 26 Feb 2013

Iceland have now sent out emails about their food. Unlike Tesco they didn't try to be evasive:

some good news from Iceland.
All Iceland own brand products containing beef have been tested by an independent scientific laboratory to ensure that they are completely free of horse meat. I am very pleased to tell you that they found no evidence at all of any such contamination in any Iceland beef product.
We aren't at all complacent, and will be testing a wider range of other meat products in the weeks ahead; as we constantly check to ensure that everything we sell under the Iceland brand is made to the recipe we specified and is correctly labelled.
I am sorry for any worry you have been caused by the publicity around this issue.

They also took the opportunity to tell me that Iceland did not use MSG, mechanically recovered meat or GM foods in their own brand products - something I didn't know.

So: 

Tesco - you left me doubting your meat products still.

Iceland - I'm happy to buy from you again.

15 screen wallpapers

Over the years I've collected a number of images which I have set as screen wallpapers. Most of these I collected from the Internet. I don't own them. Please do not assume they are public domain. Since they are publicly available though, you should be safe to download them for personal use. Where I have details I've credited the original author or website. A few are pictures I took myself. Since my laptop computer has a 1920 x 1200 screen they are all quite large images.

I have no idea where this image came from. Original filename: 4c66e3eb0f678b561
5c81a4063a82474.jpeg
Size: 2048 x 1365
Download link

 This appears to be what is called  a HDR image (High Dynamic Range). I first came across this image on an HTC Desire phone and looked for a higher resolution image which I found at http://http://bradwhitt.com
Original filename: Beautiful-Land.jpg
Size: 2560 x 1712
Download link

At first I assumed this was the Norfolk Broads in England but then I noticed the Canadian flag on the boat.
The picture was taken by Janine DeBaise in Canada and shows her Father's boat. In the background is the US I believe. Janine uses this as her Twitter page background (@writingasjoe) and that's probably where I got the image. You can also find it at her blog at http://writingasjoe.blogspot.co.uk/
2007/06/gone-fishin.html
Size: 1511 x 977

This image was created by Rogerio Stefanuto of Brazil. It featured on his page at the Computer Graphic Society where he describes how it was created. http://stefanuto.cgsociety.org/
gallery/840553
Size 1600 x 1200
Download link

This image of a very pretty garden in Japan I found at http://www.hdwallpapers.in/
japan_digital_landscape_hd_wide-wallpapers.html
Sorry - no details of exactly where in Japan it is.
Size 1920 x 1200
Download link

I found this lake picture at www.wallpapers.org - a site which has many other attractive images
Again there are no details of the actual location.
Size 1920 x 1080
Download link

This image of hot air balloons at Cappadocia, Turkey is a National Geographic 'Best image of the Day'. It was taken by  Kani Polat,
Details
Size: 1600 x 1200
Download link

An amazing picture - Myst - Point Reyes National Seashore, California taken by Patrick Smith through a row of trees on the way to the Point Reyes Lighthouse.
Size: 1920 x 1200
Download link

This one is quite a small image but it still makes an excellent screen wallpaper. It's of Bambrough Castle in Northumberland and was taken by Dave Hudspeth. I got the copy I have from Visit Northumberland's Facebook page. You can get this image at http://www.redbubble.com/people/
davehudspeth/works/7216075-bambrough-rainbow

An image of the Space Shuttle on it's launch pad from NASA. Look carefully and you'll find some people in the picture which give you an idea of the scale.
Size: 3872 x 2592
Download link

Another National Geographic Photo of the day by  David Doubilet, David took this underwater picture of a river Bushman in a canoe in the Okavango River in Botswana.
Size 1600 x 1200
Download link

Yet another Photo of the Day from National Geographic. This one is of a oceanic whitetip shark in the Bahamas. The picture was taken by  Brian Skerry. Now the question is - is that shark in front or behind the diver?

One of my pictures now and no prizes for guessing it's of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. I took this picture in August 2006. If you would like to see a 360° panorama of Stonehenge try here. You'll need to have Java installed
Size: 1600 x 1200
Download link

This image is from Microsoft's Erie Autumn Theme for Windows 7 Download the theme from http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows/halloween-download-theme They describe it as 'spooky park fog in Copou Park Iasi, Romania'
Size: 1920 x 1200

Finally this image was constructed for our book 'Stones, Stars and Solutions'.
It's not a real place unless you know of a pyramid in the Arizona desert near Death Valley.
Image size: 3643 x 2482
Download link