Did you know . . .

When Christopher Columbus 'discovered' the Americas, he had a map to follow and the kings of Portgual and Spain had already got the Pope to agree how they would split the bounty.

When we had that Millennium Bug scare at the end of 1999, it had happened before, a thousand years earlier. Expecting the end of the millenium to signal the 'end of days', people from northern Europe sold up all their wordly goods and made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When the world continued as normal - as it did in January 2000 - the penniless hordes placed their fortunes in the goodwill of their Muslim hosts. Which led to a lot of conflict. Which eventually led to a rescue mission. Which precipitated three hundred years of warfare we call the 'Crusades'.

The present fuss about climate change masks the real issue which is that there are far too many people on the planet. But no-one can talk about this, least of all the governments whose job it is to sort out global problems. You see, the more people there are, the more votes they get and the more taxes they receive . . .

Two thirds of the world's population adhere to one or other of more than thirty thousand religions. Many of them believe in the literal truth of their scriptures and deny evidence to the contrary. The fact of the matter is that these scriptures are not only not true, they are literally and demonstrably untrue! No evidence has yet been adduced to the efficacy of religious faith save that it holds communities tight. And ignorant, unfortunately.

Why don't people say it like it is?