Just thoughts

When did 'science' come into being? Four centuries ago? How long ago?
How did humankind manage before 'Science' came into being? How did they ever manage on good old fashioned 'theory' all those years ago?
Science now tolerates theory and cocks a rather bushy eyebrow at it as if it is a shadowy place where people wander around and around in a state of 'idea'. So what is this place of ambiguity, this place of theory and idea? Where is it? Is it like Narnia or if I go to the back of my wardrobe I may enter it one magical day? I believe this place called 'idea' is accessed via my cookie tin, as I always come away with a cookie and then follows an idea!

Do you think that Science is more respectable than Theory or reasoning through thought alone - ideas, concepts, logic and conclusions? Does something have to be 'proven' to be valid, and who decides what constitutes proof? Science?

What is the one acceptable belief, theory, idea, or call it what you will? I might say it's God? Does science tolerate this without proof?
Am not an atheist because there is no proof to make me so, but I am not necessarily a believer in accepted theological postulation (as there is equally no proof). In searching the bible it does not seem to argue for the existence of God - which is why we may rely on 'faith' alone.

So Science - seems we give it quite a lot of credibility, a lot of trust,
and faith. Does it deserve its lofty position? Have we been forced to accept a rather young usurper that has monopolised what is 'true', 'false', credible, viable, acceptable, and worthy of belief.
Did they shut down the world of 'ideas', where imagination could expand and be creative about the world we live in, where ancient medical remedies lay dusty and forgotten somewhere in the shadows of the past, and so many people were ridiculed and blatantly destroyed - ancient healers, soothesayers, teachers and wise ones.

How old is Science? How wise is it? Are reason and faith opposed?
Is it possible to prove the existence of the universe by reason alone?
Or does science alone have claim to such understanding? Let us hope we do not lose the magic we sense in what we don't really know.. that just by purely experiencing it we find a sense of joy - do I really need to dissect the vocal chords of a bird to know why it sings - isn't it enough to enjoy the song?

Sigh.. think i've overdosed on beechams and lemon tea - or it may be the overpowering mind altering vics vapour - lol.. time for a cookie trip, unless the tin sucks me into another world!

I think there was a philosopher called Anthony Flew (maybe I've spelt his name the wrong way, perhaps its Flu!)... anywy seeing as I'm up to my eyes in Flu I guess his name came back from the foggy mysts of my memory - don't know why or what he is about. Hmm.. maybe he's a psychic happening ? rofl... ahh I think I remember he was a methodists son who became an atheist and then reformed later on in life...anyway does it matter - he's not going to get rid of my 'flu' (sorry about pun).

I guess it was only a matter of time before I got it. Not sure its the Flu as such but boy am I sneezing and coughing. Bmy Bnose is breally psore!!

Its that time of year when the medical profession is advocating we all get flu jabs especially those most vulnerable - who's that again? The elderly? Diabetics? Here I go again with my skeptical juices flowing - its out of control and am now fully addicted to controvertial opinion!

The Times wrote in 2007 ..

Flu vaccination is failing to save the lives of older people who are the focus of intensive annual campaigns, an official study suggests.More than 15 million people in England have the flu vaccine each winter, but the £150 milion programme has little effect in reducing hospital admissions among the elderly, researchers say. The study, by the Health Protection Agency and British universities, will fuel doubts over the effectiveness of the vaccine in older people,following a review that claimed the supporting evidence for mass vaccination had been “greatly exaggerated”. While the Health Protection Agency researchers insist that ministers should not abandon vaccination, they urge them to consider public health measures such as better housing, smoking clinics and focusing on other illnesses associated with winter colds and flu. Such measures would have much greater potential to reduce rates of hospital admissions for respiratory illness than the vaccination campaign has on its own, thes tudy suggests.

An estimated 12,000 Britons died of flu in the winter of 2005-06, when outbreak rates were relatively low. The study, published online by the journal Vaccine, analysed hospital admission rates for the winter of 2003-04, covering 3,970 people aged between 65 and 89 registered with 79 general practices in England. Researchers identified 157 hospitalised caseswho had received a flu vaccine and 639 controls. Even after adjustment for age,gender, chronic conditions, deprivation and smoking status, flu vaccination still had no effect on admissions for acute respiratory illness. The World Health Organisation estimates that “vaccination of the elderly reduces the risk of serious complications or of death by 70-85 per cent”.

A previous report, in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, stated that there was insufficient evidence to determine to what extent flu jabs cut the death toll in winter, if they did so at all. That review found that the “observed effects in the community-dwelling elderly are likely to be overestimated”, adding: “Solely relying on the influenza vaccine to control the annual winter bed pressure in hospitals isunlikely to be a sufficiently effective yearly strategy.”Jeremy Hawker, one of the authors of the latest study, said: “Of the elderly people who became ill with an acute respiratory infection such as bronchitis and/or emphysema, not just flu, in the winter, the ones that ended up in hospital were no less likely to have been vaccinated than those who were successfully treated in primary care.”Patients’ immune response to influenza virus, as well as to the vaccine, deteriorates with advancing age. But although vaccination may not protect all elderly people from infection, most of them benefit by at least having a less severe illness, Dr Hawkersaid.

Times Database•HAVE YOUR SAY From Peter, London W1, My experience of the flu jabs has been similar to that ofBeryl, Windsor and her husband. Every time I have had the jabs, flu has followed.This year there was a slight variation in that the jabs were followed in 2-3 days by an attack of diarrhoea which was then followed by the flu. Why do the health authoritieshand out leaflets saying that the jabs do not cause flu, quite contrary to the evidence?Peter L. Griffiths, London, UK .My husband had Leukaemia and Heart Disease so was urged to have the flu jabs. Ashis "Primary Carer" [in fact his only Carer] I was told I must have them too. 3 years running we had flu jabs, and 3 years running we caught the flu. We stopped taking the jabs, and didn't get the flu again.The flu jab only works if that particular flu virus comes around. If the wrong type comes round you have no protection. It's all guesswork by the Drug Companies as to which one is about to arrive, and they do get it wrong.

Beryl, WINDSOR, England I stopped having 'flu jabs (without adverse effect) because my Buddhist teacher told me it was introducing poison to my system unnecessarily. After fifteen years without it, I saw a frightening poster and in view of the description that it could destroy my immune system, etc., I called the doctor to apply for one. I am 63 and asthmatic but I was rejected by the receptionist as it has changed to 65 and because I was not on a green or brown inhaler. I have looked this up and it indicated level 3 Asthma, which I have but I use an orange inhaler which is not as commonly prescribed.

Sigh ... what to do ? My mother is Diabetic and the last time she followed her doctor's advice and had the flu jab she had the worse case of Flu she had ever had, and was hospitalised for four days due to breathing problems. Never before had this happend to her.

I too succumbed to the flu only after having the Flu jab and refused any further jabs after that.

It seems relevant to suggest that the introduction of the flu via vaccine may work for some and not for others, but then again I've always argued that there's no such thing as 'just a cold' - one man's cold being another man's pneumonia!!

Anyway am feeling pretty sorry for myself right now and am going to
make another lemsip. Am even off my cookies so I must be poorly

In past days I would have argued the guts out of the issue of 'truth', and dragged my sorry arse back all the way to Aristotle, and quotes from Pilate who I think asked 'what is truth' but did not stay for an answer from Jesus. Anyway does it matter? And does truth matter? Hmm...such a small question which 'feels' as if it requires a 'huge' answer, and perhaps that is why so much was written about it, or should I say pondered upon?

So if we seek the truth how do we go about it? Is a lie an opposite to a truth? So rather than stretch my brain further, and seeing as I am
at least for the moment (and it may changed tomorrow) concerned with
worldly issues, and political agendas and so forth, perhaps a view of some lies would help to identify what is 'not truth' or at least what is considered a 'lie' and then we can ask again if any of it really matters... ok? (Thrusting a bite size cookie in my mouth and chewing with expectation shining in my eyes and ... a shut up will ya!) Just one last thought .. is there such a thing as a 'Noble lie'? Plato might suggest there is or is not?

ok here we go then...Just a few examples

Jack Kelley: In 2004, it was exposed that USA Today correspondent and Pulitzer Prize nominee Jack Kelley had been fabricating stories and sources. He denied the charges and resigned.

Bill Clinton: The 42nd President of the United States. Lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and subsequently, in 1998, became the second president in U.S. history (the first was Andrew Johnson) to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

Richard Nixon: The 37th President of the United States. After it came to light that he had been involved in illegal activities, including wiretapping and harassment of political opponents in the Watergate scandal, Nixon lied and tried to cover up the misdeeds. The truth eventually came to light and he resigned before he could be impeached.

Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany has come unstuck for telling the truth about lying. He wasn't tricked or trapped. It wasn't a late night ramble to his closest confidant that was caught on tape. Instead his recorded words were from an amazingly honest speech about not telling the truth, to his own party.

And while he didn't intend it to get out to a wider public, he knew what he was saying and meant it to shock. He admits that his party has made a mess of Hungary's economy, and that "We lied morning, noon and night".

Andrew Burgin guardian.co.uk, Friday March 19 2004 12.33 GMT Article history

On the anniversary of the Iraq war the anti-war movement is marching once more. Demonstrations will take place in more than 100 cities round the world. In London people will march under the banner "No more lies, Mr Blair!"
What is clear is that the Iraq war was based on deceit and lies. Blair now says that when he went to the House of Commons to make the case for war he did not know that the 45-minute claim related only to battlefield weapons. To paraphrase Aneurin Bevan: if he knew this not to be the case he is too dishonest to be prime minister and if he really believed it then he is too stupid to be prime minister.

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There were no links between al-Qaida and the Iraqi regime. But the biggest lie of all was that this war on terror would make the world a safer place. In Britain Sir John Stevens, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, now says that a terror attack in London is inevitable.

We also now know that the war was illegal in terms of international law. There was no second United Nations resolution and the military was concerned enough about the legality of military action to demand further assurances from the attorney-general. Lord Goldsmith had to search far and wide to find support for the position that the attack on Iraq would be lawful.

At a time when hopeful people around the world welcome Obama as President of the United States, when people have referred to the 'changes' he promises and cried tears over his rhetoric, I feel somewhat emotionless. Is this part of getting old? Have I already seen too much? I remember a time when 'words' were believed, rhetoric ignited passion and rekindled hope, a time when jingoistic speeches were
the springboard from which we cheered our way to the future. Then along came Tony Blair (creepy shark music please). Having voted labour for
most of my voting life, here was something new! I listened to his
great speeches, his great promises, his call for 'change' too - and there was something wrong with all of it. Then somehow it all seemed a bit depressing - and as I told a good friend of mine who was still
waving the Labour flag three days after Labour won the election "Tony Blair is nothing more than a closet conservative". For the first time
in my voting life, I did not vote Labour and this seemed to shock some of my friends. And I have never voted labour since. In fact it is becoming increasingly obvious that voting at all for any particular party is a waste of time as the 'govenment' gets in anyway!

So who do we trust? The Government that lies about 'weapons of mass destruction' and plumets us into yet another conflict in foreign parts?
The most blatant and telling truth is that the world is in a mess, and for all the rhetoric, fancy talk, statistics and number crunching, and political mumblings, none of the political leaders have done anything to address the 'global' issues that will and are affecting our daily lives.

They talk about globalisation which is aimed at more control of the masses by a handful of rich and powerful people. This does not really have anything to do with cleaning up the earth or helping the starving in Africa for example. If it were, by now, things would be much better, and all the excuses for the 'unsuccessful' outcomes would never have existed.

Mark Lynas a climate change writer has an interesting blog site that readers may want to visit ..www.marklynas.org

"The irony is extraordinary. At a time when world leaders are expressing grave concern about diminishing food stocks and a coming global food crisis, our government brings into force measures to increase the use of biofuels - a policy that will further increase food prices, and further worsen the plight of the world's poor."

Biofuels will take food out of starving mouths, and hey! even our own!! And the UK Government is keen to play its part in all of this. I wonder if anyone will fall for the great lie they will spin us to justify this? After all we must have cars right? We have to work? To pay for the food 'we' eat, and prices have rocketed?

"The UK is not uniquely implicated in this scandal: the EU, the United States, India, Brazil and China all have targets to increase biofuels use. But a look at the raw data confirms today's dire situation. According to the World Bank, global maize production increased by 51 million tonnes between 2004 and 2007. During that time, biofuels use in the US alone (mostly ethanol) rose by 50 million tonnes, soaking up almost the entire global increase."

Next year, the use of US corn for ethanol is forecast to rise to 114 million tonnes - nearly a third of the whole projected US crop. American cars now burn enough corn to cover all the import needs of the 82 nations classed by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as "low-income food-deficit countries". There could scarcely be a better way to starve the poor.

http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2008/04/food-prices-lynas-biofuels

I guess its time we considered Global stockpiles of grain which is being severely depleted - as it will affect each and every one of us. And if food prices continue to rise as predicted there will be millions pushed deeper into the poverty ditch, and it won't just be African people starving - how about a Global famine?

So who do we trust to run our lives? Have we abdicated too much power to individuals who feather their own nests? If we relinquish any more of our own power to the State one day we will not even have this place to debate issues freely - and as we are seeing of late, sites apparently are being shut down.

As if to add weight to an already gloomy outlook, thunder explodes over the village and the rain hammers down like shingle against windows and doors. It is hard to keep hope alive in a quagmire of liars, but as the old addage goes 'the truth will set you free' and the 'truth' is out there but VERY hard to find.

Another November 5th comes and goes and rain has not come to dampen sparklers and rockets - I like fireworks. My little dog hates the loud noises and has parked herself on my lap since 6pm and has remained there other than my excursions to the bathroom or kitchen for tea and cookies.
My back yard lights up occasionally as the bigger fireworks are set off ..and she barks and growls and I sit and soothe her. I have been
in a very withdrawn mood which has grown since yesterday - I get like this sometimes when I seem to need to 'go inside' to 'sort things out', and at these times conversation is very stilted with me. There are times when I do not like to speak, preferring to write - in fact I think I communicate best when I write. Perhaps I ought to start writing notes to people rather than engage in long and often unnecessary (in my opinion) conversation. I have a habit of analysing behaviour (perhaps it is the years I spent studying it) and quantifying certain things.. like collecting data. What I notice about conversation on a daily basis is that it tends to include much of the 'same', and I find myself
wondering why we engage in this? I can almost write the script I will
hear each day. This need us humans have to speak about 'anything' rather than 'nothing at all' is odd to me.

My partner rings and asks me every day 'what's the news'? I answer the same as I always do 'nothing' - a single word which seems to make him very uncomfortable. So perhaps I ought to stretch the reply out a bit with more unnecessary words? I am sure I may appear rude but really I have a thing about wasting time and energy on unnecessary stuff.
So my partner says "well you must have some news". I reply as usual,
'no, nothing'. Then I ask him what news he has and guess what! He says
"I don't have any". Ok he uses more words than me.

There is something about the telephone perhaps? We have these contact calls as I call them... a means of having some sense of the bond between us. It is always a relief when we are actually together because we
can see each other smile or look a certain way, and we talk - but then
I am either full on with talking or completely mute and just a listener.
Sometimes I have things floating around in my mind, ideas, and a bit of knowledge, but for some peculiar reason I find it hard to engage in
conversation and just let it float around up there without speaking about it. How strange am I? Well how far down the rabbit hole shall I go?

And so fireworks...there are no children in my house so there were no fireworks, however I had a great view of the fireworks exploding over the hill in front of the house - rockets firing in all directions from
unseen houses - zilions of tiny star-like orbs of silver, gold, red and green - rainbows of colours. I couldn't help but think each firework reflected the way I feel and think - burning bright one minute then fading one by one into nothingness. Something tells me I am a little weary of having ideas that are pointlessly shared because even in the sharing they fade into the nothingness of disinterested ears.

Perhaps that's why I write so much - here they can linger and become
more than just fading sparks.

I try to entertain myself with computer and music, and sometimes painting - sigh .. am staring at a half finished painting I promised my mother, but I have no enthusiasm for it. My muse has taken a hike and may return some time this year .. who knows.

November is not a good month for me - the grey low ceilings of cloud, and an eerie stillness creeps me out - always has. Perhaps that is why I withdraw - hiding from the weirdness of November. December restores my energy and it is upward and onward again lol..

Think I've written enough...time for a cuppa and the usual cookie

THE FOLLOWING SITE IS WORTH VISITING FOR MORE PICTURES OF FAMOUS AND POWERFUL PEOPLE USING THE STRANGEST OF HAND SIGNS SAID TO BE SATANIC IN ORIGIN

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/signs_of_satan.htm

HAVE INCLUDED A FEW PICS HERE FOR EXAMPLES ...

The first image Represents the horned god of witchcraft, Pan or Cernunnos. Note the thumb under the fingers and given by the right hand. The next image is a sign of recognition between those in the Occult. When pointed at someone it is meant to place a curse. Note the thumb over the fingers and given by the left hand.

Note the same hand signals used by powerful people in the world .. why the same hand signal? Why the sign of Baphomet.. an association with satanism..all very odd...

More pics of those powerful people using the sign/signal... whatever the hell its for?

Did you know :-

It's illegal in France to name a pig Napoleon? Or that in Ohio you're not allowed to get a fish drunk?

It is illegal for a cab in the City of London to carry rabid dogs or corpses.

It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down. (OOPS!)

Under the UK’s Tax Avoidance Schemes Regulations 2006, it is illegal not to tell the taxman anything you don’t want him to know, though you don’t have to tell him anything you don’t mind him knowing.

Royal Navy ships that enter the Port of London must provide a barrel of rum to the Constable of the Tower of London.

In the UK, a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants – even, if she so requests, in a policeman’s helmet

In London, Freemen are allowed to take a flock of sheep across London Bridge without being charged a toll; they are also allowed to drive geese down Cheapside.

In Chester, Welshmen are banned from entering the city before sunrise and from staying after sunset.

In the city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.

In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

In London, it is illegal to flag down a taxi if you have the plague

In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman’s genitals but is forbidden from looking directly at them during the examination; he may only see their reflection in a mirror.

The head of any dead whale found on the British coast is legally the property of the King; the tail, on the other hand, belongs to the Queen -in case she needs the bones for her corset.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article2251280.ece

Government black boxes will 'collect every email'

Home Office says all data from web could be stored in giant government database

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Internet "black boxes" will be used to collect every email and web visit in the UK under the Government's plans for a giant "big brother" database, The Independent has learnt.

Home Office officials have told senior figures from the internet and telecommunications industries that the "black box" technology could automatically retain and store raw data from the web before transferring it to a giant central database controlled by the Government.

Plans to create a database holding information about every phone call, email and internet visit made in the UK have provoked a huge public outcry. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, described it as "step too far" and the Government's own terrorism watchdog said that as a "raw idea" it was "awful".

Nevertheless, ministers have said they are committed to consulting on the new Communications Data Bill early in the new year. News that the Government is already preparing the ground by trying to allay the concerns of the internet industry is bound to raise suspicions about ministers' true intentions. Further details of the database emerged on Monday at a meeting of internet service providers (ISPs) in London where representatives from BT, AOL Europe, O2 and BSkyB were given a PowerPoint presentation of the issues and the technology surrounding the Government's Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), the name given by the Home Office to the database proposal.

Whitehall experts working on the IMP unit told the meeting the security and intelligence agencies wanted to use the stored data to help fight serious crime and terrorism, and said the technology would allow them to create greater "capacity" to monitor all communication traffic on the internet. The "black boxes" are an attractive option for the internet industry because they would be secure and not require any direct input from the ISPs.

During the meeting Whitehall officials also tried to reassure the industry by suggesting that many smaller ISPs would be unaffected by the "black boxes" as these would be installed upstream on the network and hinted that all costs would be met by the Government.

"It was clear the 'back box' is the technology the Government will use to hold all the data. But what isn't clear is what the Home Secretary, GCHQ and the security services intend to do with all this information in the future," said a source close to the meeting.

He added: "They said they only wanted to return to a position they were in before the emergence of internet communication, when they were able to monitor all correspondence with a police suspect. The difference here is they will be in a much better position to spy on many more people on the basis of their internet behaviour. Also there's a grey area between what is content and what is traffic. Is what is said in a chat room content or just traffic?"

Ministers say plans for the database have not been confirmed, and that it is not their intention to introduce monitoring or storage equipment that will check or hold the content of emails or phonecalls on the traffic.

A spokesman for the Home Office said that Monday's meeting provided a "chance to engage with small communication service providers" ahead of the formal public consultation next year. He added: "We need to work closely with the internet service providers and the communication service providers. The meeting was to show the top-line challenges faced in the future. We are public about the IMP, but we are still working out the detail. There will a consultation on the Communications Data Bill early next year."

A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said the organisation was pleased the Home Office had addressed its members and was keen to continue dialogue while awaiting a formal consultation.

Database plans were first announced by the Prime Minister in February. It is not clear where the records will be held but GCHQ may eventually be the project's home.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/government-black-boxes-will-collect-every-email-992268.html

Fat people are more jolly

Ever since Falstaff, fatness has been associated with jollity. According to psychologists at Lakehead University in Canada, the "jolly fat" hypothesis might actually be true, at least among women. Not only have they found a link, they suggest a mechanism, too: oestrogen.

They put forward the idea that body fat protects women again negative moods. In other words, the fatter a woman is, the less depressed she gets.

In the two-part research, the team looked at Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure that takes into account both weight and height, and compared it with mood in a group of young women. They found that the higher the BMI and body size, the lower the number of symptoms of depression, anxiety and negative mood. In fact, the most depressed were all thin, while the largest were the least miserable.

For explanations, the psychologists turned to biochemical research that suggested the possibility of a link between oestrogen and mood, and the brain chemical, serotonin, the target of widely used antidepressant drugs. They say very potent oestrogens are primarily found in fatty tissues, suggesting that women with higher body weight may have higher levels.

That's right - there is nothing wrong with our minds! That's the good news! The bad news is we are being prevented from knowing this! If we question anything (and we should) then we are probably sticking our necks on the chopping block of those who control everything, from media to the stock markets - your brain and your jobs

Anyway just to prove that the world has been influenced by some real
no brain personalities here's some interesting statements that made me laugh a lot ...

"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.
- Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer, 1926."

"Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.
- Darryl F. Zanuck, Head of 20th Century-Fox, 1946."

Radio has no future.
- Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist.

Communication

This `telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.
- Western Union internal memo, 1878

Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value.
- Editorial in the Boston Post, 1865

TRANSPORT

...no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery, and known forms of force, can be united in a practical machine by which man shall fly long distances through the air...
- Simon Newcomb (1835-1909), astronomer,
head of the U.S. Naval Observatory

What can be more palpably absurd than the prospect held out of locomotives travelling twice as fast as stagecoaches?
- The Quarterly Review, England (March 1825)

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.
- Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
British mathematician and physicist

Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.
- Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859)
Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy

Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.
- Marshal Ferdinand Foch,
French military strategist and World War I commander.

It is an idle dream to imagine that automobiles will take the place of railways in the long distance movement of passengers.
- American Railroad Congress, 1913

Men might as well project a voyage to the Moon as attempt to employ steam navigation against the stormy North Atlantic Ocean.
- Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859)
Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy

Computers

There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.
- Ken Olson, President of Digital Corporation, 1977

The Internet will catastrophically collapse in 1996.’
- Robert Metcalfe, internet inventor

Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
- Popular Mechanics, 1949

We have reached the limits of what is possible with computers.
- John Von Neumann, 1949

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
- Thomas J. Watson Snr., IBM Chairman, 1943

NUCLEAR POWER

...any one who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine...
- Ernest Rutherford (1933)

There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom. The glib supposition of utilizing atomic energy when our coal has run out is a completely unscientific Utopian dream, a childish bug-a-boo. Nature has introduced a few fool-proof devices into the great majority of elements that constitute the bulk of the world, and they have no energy to give up in the process of disintegration.
- Robert A. Millikan (1863-1953)
speech to the Chemists' Club (New York)

There is not the slightest indication that [nuclear energy] will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.
- Albert Einstein, 1932.

All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.
- Ronald Reagan, 1980

I rest my case