Chapel, Climate & Turkeys

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 11 February 2007 21:34:13

Today has been a quiet and uneventful. We went to try the local chapel this morning. It was closed. Nothing to say that mind.

We arrived at 10:45 for the 11:00 service. No sign of life, no lights and the door was closed tighter than a tightly closed thing. So wife went to our local Church of Wales (Anglican to you English) instead. Apologies to my Anglican readers but I find it difficult to get through an Anglican service. I don't believe, like some non-conformist, that is anything less than anyother demoniation. I just can't cope with the format. I think I'm a little more relaxed in my worship.

So, I went home, read the paper and watched the sport.

There were some interesting stories in the Sunday Times. One that said that Global Warming my have been overstated and that the science may not be as sure as people think. It seems that, while the Artic is getting warmer, the East Antartic is getting colder. It may have something to do with the sun's activity. I'm not a scientist so I can't comment. However, whatever it turns out to be, I still think that cutting our energy consumption is a good thing for everyone.

Another was about the former Labour MP for Newark. She died at the end of January from liver failure, brought on by post traumatic stress and alcoholism. She had been having problems for several years relating to her political life. She was accused of fiddling her election expenses and, initially, found guilty but later quashed on appeal. The Labour party turned their back on her as, essentially, "mud sticks". No one from the Labour Party attended her funeral.

Finally, there was a story relating to the Avian Flu outbreak at the Bernard Matthews Factory in Suffolk.

For those unaware, Bernard Matthews is the UK's most famous turkey processor in the UK. He used to head a marketing campaign that described his products as "boootiful". Personally, until this week, I thought he'd died a few years ago.

Anyway, it seems that most of his turkey meat is imported from Hungary. The birds are farmed just 30 miles from an area in Hungary that is closed off because of an Avian Flu outbreak there. Initially the UK outbreak was blamed on wild birds. Then it was believed that the imported turkey meat was infected.

Now we find out that a further consignment was imported last week, after the outbreak. The Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has the power to block such imports on public health grounds. It chose not to on this occasion. Why? They felt that their banning it would lead to other EU countries banning UK exports in retaliation.

There you are then. Our exports are more important than our health. That's something to remember if things get worse.