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I wrote this a couple of years ago after seeing so many vile and venomous attacks on the parents of Madeleine McCann on internet forums etc. (most of which were subsequently removed). My fascination was with why people seemed to be completely transfixed with the parents' perceived characteristics, traits, motivations, and such like and how blame was apportioned to the parents with virtually no consideration of the situational factors that may have given rise to Madeleine's tragic disappearance.

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There’ve been noises from the government about making children swear an allegiance to the Queen or British flag; in other words, they want to instil a sense of patriotism.

What does patriotism mean though?

To many people it simply means some sort of pride in one’s country, a sense of historical or cultural identity, or a unifying concept that transcends religious and ethical differences: the pride in one’s nation should have precedence over other allegiances such ...

This is something gabbled at me by an old dragon of a Maths teacher many moons ago. She also predicted me a D at GSCE (Serves me right for disliking her son I guess) but I got 'A's at GCSE, AO and A level so shows how much you knew Mrs A!

Anyway the phrase isn't just used in the context of a personal vendetta against fearful students. Apparently it's part of an ancient Arabic proverb:

He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool-shun him.
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On the subject of religion, I openly admit I am confused. Perhaps confused in the wrong word - undecided might be better. Richard Dawkins in his book The God Delusion classifies people’s belief in a deity on a sliding scale from the religious devout to the absolute atheist. On this sliding scale, I guess I sit somewhere towards the atheist but overall, if religion where likened to British politics, I would probably have to sit with the Liberal Democrats.

Convention would therefore ...

It is true that some plants contain pharmacologically-active substances and on that basis, perhaps there is some utility in herbal remedies. Closer examination however, reveals that not only are many of the claims of the herbalist very spurious, there are hidden and pernicious dangers.

Off all the Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM), from homeopathy to urine therapy, perhaps the one that might have some basis of rationality is herbal medicine. Plants have evolved an array ...