I guess we are all taking sides at the moment. Well anybody who could noy guess my politics just hasn't been paying attention.

Nine Million Facts

"There are nine million bicycles in Beijing, and that's a fact" warbles sex thimble songbird Katie Melua on her latest single before going on to wonder if its a fact that her boyfriend really loves her. Now the figure may not be 100% accurate, (the bicycles, not the orchidaceous Katie's figure,) I'm sure even the methodical Chinese have a few forgotten old bikes stashed in a corner of the garden shed along with the unwanted girl children. Allowing for a small margin of approximation however I am prepared to take Ms. Melua's word for it.

Here a heckler yells, "we already worked out that you'd take her word for anything Ian,"

Maybe so, but in this case it not her looks or youthful freshness that sway be so much as the fact sounds utterly believable. It makes sense.

We cannot possibly verify every fact the world throws at us; some things we have to take on trust, that radar speed traps are accurate or George W Bush does not have a tail for example. Can either of these be proved? Remember your wise old granny advising "you should not believe everything you are told." She was right coz she was wise and old.

With this in mind, the "does it sound sensibe" test is the best filter we can apply to sift out nonsense like "terrorism poses a serious threat to our way of life" or "Global warming is just a weirdie-beardie scare story" from useful stuff like "there are nine million bicycles in Beijing." You see how important that filter can be. Believe nonsense and you end up looking an idiot rather like the guy who went to New Orleans this week and said "this did not happen because of Climate Change, it's a result of God getting angry with the sinners who lived here. Traditionally the worst offenders when it came to lies, damned lies and statistics were the newspapers but more recently preachers have overtaken them. God made the earth in six days, evolution is a scientists conspiracy. AIDS is a punishment from God and the only way to prevent it is to put half your pay in the church collection.

Homosexuality is an infectious disease, always disinfect yourself after seeing George Michael on TV. All these things and much much more they spurt out like projectile vomit. Unfortunately enough people believe this crap to make it worth the preachers' while vomiting it, yet all that they present as fact defies possibility and the only argument they can justify to support it goes "anything is possibe with God."

Like the uber-propagandist Adolf Hitler however they understand that if you repeat the lies often enough people will start to believe some of them at least.

There are probably about nine million bicycles in Beijing.

God did not smite the sinners of New Orleans for their wickedness. It was a horrible accident due to Global warming. If we want to avoid more of the same we in the rich western democracies must rethink our lifestyle NOW!

And when people tell you stuff that does not add up, BE SCEPTICAL. you know it makes sense.