Monday 3 June 2013

Fun Online Polls: Chemtrails; a Master's degree in Irish history

The response to last week's Fun Online Poll was as follows:

Chemtrails: do commercial airlines deliberately add barium, aluminium, polymers and radioactive material to their fuel for Purposes Unknown?

No - 67%

Yes - 26%
Other, please specify - 7%


The number of people who reckoned there might be something in this had hovered at about ten per cent until a couple of days ago, but then there was a late surge of people voting "Yes", as a result of which we ended up with a good turnout of 138 votes. Maybe somebody linked to it or something?

Thanks to everybody who took part. As it happens, I bumped into the man behind Critical Thinking (who had inspired the poll) on Saturday, I put the various objections to him but he was having none of it and came up with plausible counter-counter-arguments to all my counter-arguments. I'm still not convinced, but hey.

Top comment, from the poll:

Spadger: The only fuel additive I know of is a commercial product called Prist, added to standard Jet-a1 fuel for small high flying jets, such as the Lear, it is an anti-icing and biolgical inhibitor for cladosprium resinaii, the so called diesel bug used to prevent fuel filters from blocking by ice or bugs.

It is Diethelene glycol monomethyl ether. I don't know what happens when you burn it, it can be purchased ready mixed but as airliners don't need it and as it is an added cost, don't use it. I have only ever used it in aerosol can form, added when refuelling.

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My oldest son has finished his degree in economics at Munich (nope, he did not manage to convert them all the Georgism) and now wants to tack on a Master's degree in early 20th century Irish history.

He's been offered places at Dublin, Belfast and Coleraine (County Derry), the tuition fees seem to be the same in all three places and he asked me which place sounds best. I don't have a clue about universities in general or Ireland in particular, so I'll throw this one open to the crowd.

Cast your vote here, preferably with an explanation of points for or against.

5 comments:

Junican said...

Early Twentieth Century Irish History?
What a wonderful subject!
It is to be hoped that he can see his way through to the REALITY, as opposed to the PROPAGANDA, of the times.
What a job he is taking on! A riddle within an enigma (or some such) sounds about right.

Good luck to him, but very intellectually rewarding. I studied 'Feynmans Lectures on Physics'just for fun. Difficult stuff, but, in many ways, just like reading a detective story.

Anonymous said...

*tsk*, ELDEST son, Mark!!

Anonymous said...

J, thanks, but where is best?

RA, nope.

john b said...

Is that Trinity, Dublin and Queen's, Belfast? If so, both are excellent unis; Dublin is a nicer but more expensive place to live than Belfast. I know c.sod all about the town of Coleraine, but I don't think the uni is as good.

Mark Wadsworth said...

JB, no, he's had an offer from University College Dublin, he's not heard back from Trinity yet. Dunno about Belfast.