Those who have read my blog from the beginning may remember this post about a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk to Seamer Road Mere in Scarborough.
I have a big soft spot for the Mere, its wildlife is better than Peasholm Park, its waters are cleaner than the dank pools at Peasholm and it is not infested with feral pigeons and grey squirrels, unlike Peasholm.
Now, Scarborough Borough Council have announced plans to "regenerate" the area, so you can guarantee it will no longer be a peaceful haven for wildlife!
The plans include a surf or ski dome or a water park, a hotel, a visitor centre, "eco huts" and provision for cyclists.
Now, as everyone who is familiar with the idiots who ride cycles round Scarborough will know, they regard the pavements as their own personal racing tracks, so this arrogant, smug attitude will soon be apparent at our beloved Mere. On a brighter note, they could always position the cycle tracks across the local quick sands!
Read about this potential environmental desecration here.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Reading
Over the past few weeks I have been reading some of the books written by Joyce Stranger, who wrote some brilliant animal stories.
The first Joyce Stranger book I read was "Kym" about a Siamese cat, and after reading that I would buy any Joyce Stranger book I saw in the shops, so I had quite a good selection. One of my favourites is "Casey" about a farm kitten which makes friends with a bull.
However, the books I have read recently have all centred around the Lakes. The first one, about a sheepdog which is born wild and then becomes tame and devoted to a small boy was called "Rex".
The last one I read was "The Running Foxes" which is set in the same Lakes village as "Rex" and features some of the same characters.
Tonight I will be starting "Lakeland Vet" which, again, is set in the Lakes village. This will be the book I take on holiday with me when we go to Belgium for Christmas.
The first Joyce Stranger book I read was "Kym" about a Siamese cat, and after reading that I would buy any Joyce Stranger book I saw in the shops, so I had quite a good selection. One of my favourites is "Casey" about a farm kitten which makes friends with a bull.
However, the books I have read recently have all centred around the Lakes. The first one, about a sheepdog which is born wild and then becomes tame and devoted to a small boy was called "Rex".
The last one I read was "The Running Foxes" which is set in the same Lakes village as "Rex" and features some of the same characters.
Tonight I will be starting "Lakeland Vet" which, again, is set in the Lakes village. This will be the book I take on holiday with me when we go to Belgium for Christmas.
Friday, 12 December 2008
Long tailed tits
For the past couple of weeks, the tree outside our flat window has been a feeding ground for a flock of long tailed tits.
We have had the pleasure of seeing these acrobatic little birds flying from branch to branch in search of insects, and the fact that they keep returning means that there must be plenty of insect life in that tree!
That is one advantage of watching birds in winter - it is easier to see them when the leaves have gone from the trees. They seem to come most in the early morning and towards dusk, around 3:30 pm.
We also get other types of tit on the trees, and sometimes goldfinches. We will be putting some food out to try and ensure that none of our smaller feathered friends starve this winter.
More on the long tailed tit here.
We have had the pleasure of seeing these acrobatic little birds flying from branch to branch in search of insects, and the fact that they keep returning means that there must be plenty of insect life in that tree!
That is one advantage of watching birds in winter - it is easier to see them when the leaves have gone from the trees. They seem to come most in the early morning and towards dusk, around 3:30 pm.
We also get other types of tit on the trees, and sometimes goldfinches. We will be putting some food out to try and ensure that none of our smaller feathered friends starve this winter.
More on the long tailed tit here.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Unemployment - they should ask those who know
Yet another bright spark has produced a load of rubbish on how the unemployment issue should be dealt with. Yet again, it is obviously someone who has no idea about unemployment or what it actually entails. The latest gem says that the unemployed should do a 9-5 day of job searching. A previous "expert" said that people were unemployed because they lacked basic skills such as numeracy and literacy! Having seen the examples of literacy among those in work, it is not the unemployed who are illiterate!
As someone who is long term unemployed, I will offer my own slant on this.
I have been on many training schemes and very rarely have I come across people with numeracy or literacy problems. I have a science degree, does that smack of being illiterate and innumerate?
The best way to help the long term unemployed is to provide work-based placements, which allows a person to gain some valuable experience, and also an up to date work reference. Without experience and references, no employer will look at you twice, no matter how many hours you spend a day searching and applying for jobs!
Also, there should be an end to the ageist bias in training. Once you are past the age of 25, there is no proper help available, whereas the under 25s have the Modern Apprenticeship and the New Deal. Any work placements which do come up and have a good chance of leading to a job are only offered to the under 25s.
The New Deal for the over 25s is only available after you have been unemployed for 18 months (as opposed to six months for those under 25). On this scheme you will spend all day looking for jobs, without a hope in hell of getting one when you don't have the proper experience! Without getting a work placement, this scheme is next to useless, and certainly of no benefit to anyone.
The government should ask those of us who are unemployed what would help us the most rather than relying on the "expertise" of someone who has never been in that situation themselves.
As someone who is long term unemployed, I will offer my own slant on this.
I have been on many training schemes and very rarely have I come across people with numeracy or literacy problems. I have a science degree, does that smack of being illiterate and innumerate?
The best way to help the long term unemployed is to provide work-based placements, which allows a person to gain some valuable experience, and also an up to date work reference. Without experience and references, no employer will look at you twice, no matter how many hours you spend a day searching and applying for jobs!
Also, there should be an end to the ageist bias in training. Once you are past the age of 25, there is no proper help available, whereas the under 25s have the Modern Apprenticeship and the New Deal. Any work placements which do come up and have a good chance of leading to a job are only offered to the under 25s.
The New Deal for the over 25s is only available after you have been unemployed for 18 months (as opposed to six months for those under 25). On this scheme you will spend all day looking for jobs, without a hope in hell of getting one when you don't have the proper experience! Without getting a work placement, this scheme is next to useless, and certainly of no benefit to anyone.
The government should ask those of us who are unemployed what would help us the most rather than relying on the "expertise" of someone who has never been in that situation themselves.
Virtualbox and live disks - never again!
Tux the Linux mascot
I have been considering trying out Linux for a while now, having read that it was a stable, secure, reliable operating system. Last week I bought a magazine devoted to starting up with Linux, which contained a "live CD" containing the Ubuntu 8.10 system.
The magazine contained instructions on using Linux but still keeping Windows XP - you could set up a dual boot system which would mean having both the Linux and Windows on the same computer and choosing which to run on boot up or you could install a virtual machine which would run the Linux as a "guest" system within the Windows "host".
I chose to use the virtual machine, and, having specifications which were OK, I installed "Virtualbox".
And then the nightmare began!
The Ubuntu disk started up in Virtualbox, and I thought things were going OK, until the right CTRL key stopped working, which meant that the "guest" system had "captured" my computer keyboard! Then I got a message saying that Virtualbox had encountered an error and needed to close down. Then the fun started. The DVD drive on my computer jammed with the damned live disk still inside! Pushing the emergency eject button made no difference and I could not eject the disk via the link in My Computer.
I tried System Restore, but, predictably, instead of booting into Windows when it started up, the damned Linux screen appeared! After several seconds of frantically pushing the eject button on the DVD drive, the disk tray finally opened and the disk was taken out, never to be tried out again!
I have never been so happy to see the Windows XP screen appear on boot up! Needless to say, Virtualbox has been removed from my PC and to be honest if I never see that software again it will be too soon!
As for running an OS from a disk, that is something I will never do again in a hurry!
Saturday, 15 November 2008
The victims of factory farming
Some of the videos in this post may (or should) upset you. For that I do not apologise, as it is time that people woke up to the suffering of farm animals. By "farm animals" I do not mean the cute and cuddly veal calves that everyone chelps on about, I mean the less visually appealing ones (therefore the ones that many people believe do not matter).
Foie gras is a French "delicacy" which is produced by force feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell to bursting point (and their stomachs often rupture). Stores which refuse to sell crate reared veal on the grounds that it is "cruel" will not remove foie gras from their shelves. If you replace a duck or a goose with a calf, and force feed that until its liver swells, there would be an international outcry and the practice would be banned.
Here are some videos taken undercover by Hillside Animal Sanctuary on an RSPCA "monitored" "Freedom" Foods farm. It shows the disgusting conditions poultry are kept in.
Here is an Animal Aid one:
And here is one about veal. Watch the others first and then this, and ask yourself if it's still OK to ill treat something with feathers and wrong to ill treat something with fur!
After watching that I can say that the calves are in better (and more roomy) conditions than those endured by battery hens. Yet all those who moan on about veal will happily go out and buy battery eggs and intensively reared chicken and then have the nerve to say "I like animals, I will never eat veal because it's cruel but I like eating chickens because chickens are nothing, it doesn't matter about them!"
The anti-veal, and the anti-live exports brigade and moaners, are the biggest hypocrites alive.
Foie gras is a French "delicacy" which is produced by force feeding ducks and geese until their livers swell to bursting point (and their stomachs often rupture). Stores which refuse to sell crate reared veal on the grounds that it is "cruel" will not remove foie gras from their shelves. If you replace a duck or a goose with a calf, and force feed that until its liver swells, there would be an international outcry and the practice would be banned.
Here are some videos taken undercover by Hillside Animal Sanctuary on an RSPCA "monitored" "Freedom" Foods farm. It shows the disgusting conditions poultry are kept in.
Here is an Animal Aid one:
And here is one about veal. Watch the others first and then this, and ask yourself if it's still OK to ill treat something with feathers and wrong to ill treat something with fur!
After watching that I can say that the calves are in better (and more roomy) conditions than those endured by battery hens. Yet all those who moan on about veal will happily go out and buy battery eggs and intensively reared chicken and then have the nerve to say "I like animals, I will never eat veal because it's cruel but I like eating chickens because chickens are nothing, it doesn't matter about them!"
The anti-veal, and the anti-live exports brigade and moaners, are the biggest hypocrites alive.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Gouldian Finch
My male red headed gouldian behind the white zebra finch
Today I lost my male red headed gouldian finch. I had had him for more than four years, so I have no idea how old he was.
He had been getting weak, and very recently had been bullied, so I made the decision to take him to the vet to be put to sleep.
The vet was very good, and the procedure was over quickly. I signed a consent form and then the bird was injected (a very narrow syringe making it look like hell of alot of drug). It took a couple of minutes but he went very peacefully and relaxed.
I have not seen a bird put to sleep since helping at the vets when I was at school. It is also sixteen years to the day that my old Dalmatian was put to sleep, he died at home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
