Crinkley Bottom Observer

27th April 2006

A parrot has spent five days under police 'interrogation' in prison in Argentina. A judge ordered Pepo to be held in custody until he told police who was his real owner, reports UOL. Two neighbours, Jorge Machado and R Vega, were disputing ownership of the bird. Judge Osvaldo Carlos decided the parrot should be sent to prison until he said the name of his owner. After five days, Pepo said Jorge's name and also sung the anthem of his favourite football team San Lorenzo. Mr Machado said: "I knew he wasn't going to let me down, he is a real friend and we support the same football team."

24th April 2006

Iran today announced successful testing of what it calls the world's first bird flu-based weapons system.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, acknowledging that his nation's campaign to develop nuclear weapons had ruffled feathers internationally, said Iran would abandon nukes in favor of bird flu bombs, which he claimed are just as effective and far less expensive.

"Cheap, cheap, cheap," said Ahmadinejad, who made the announcement with a brightly colored parrot perched on his left shoulder. "You just take some avian flu — only the finest H5N1 strain of course — swab it onto the tip of a missile and, kablooey, a million dead infidels."

At one point, the parrot interrupted to shout, "Polly wanna uranium yellow cake?" The parrot also called President Bush a "bird brain" and squawked about "wiping Israel off the face of the map."

Experts warn that bird-to-human transmission of avian flu has killed hundreds, but that millions could die in a pandemic if the deadly virus mutates into one capable of human-to-human transmission. However, health officials have failed to consider the full impact of missile-to-human transmission.

Iran has consistently thwarted the efforts of U.N. bird flu inspectors, prompting new fears that scientists there may also be monkeying around with swine flu, mad cow and monkeypox bombs.

19th April 2006

The owners of a hen were stunned when it turned into a cockerel.

After eight months of laying eggs she suddenly sprouted a scarlet comb and started crowing at dawn.

Jo Richards, 42, who has now christened the chicken Freaky, said: "One morning out of the blue she just started crowing. I've never heard of such a thing."

Freaky now wakes up Jo every sunrise at her home in Saltford near Bristol reports the Mirror.

He also fights with other males and even tries to mate with his former laying mates.

Victoria Roberts, of the Poultry Club of Great Britain, explained that the sex change was a one in 10,000 rarity, caused by soaring testosterone levels.

Adrian Keep, secretary of the National Federation of Poultry Clubs, confirmed: "It does happen but the odds are very, very rare. I've only seen it once in 55 years.

Ananova – Hen turns into a cockerel

17th April 2006

BOY! was that a good weekend! but I can still put on a great smile.

Pic courtesy of b3ta

16th April 2006

Tornadoes

With the amount of media coverage dedicated to American storm-chasers, you'd think the US had the monopoly on these twisters. It doesn't. It might come as a shock, but the United Kingdom is actually the world's most tornado-prone nation.

This fact was calculated by the late Dr Fujita of Chicago University. He devised the standard method of measuring tornado intensity. Fujita figured that since Britain has an average of 33 tornadoes every year in an area 38 times smaller than the USA, you're twice as likely to witness a tornado here.

More on this story here.

15th April 2006

I am not a bible pusher but I came across this picture whilst surfing through them blogs, it made me sit up and think. Yeah! it's not all booze and chocolate! What that guy had to go through. Just a thought! but a worthy one… I thought!… for this time of the year.

14th April 2006

The world is likely to suffer a temperature rise of more than 3C, the government's chief scientist warned.

That would put up to 400 million people worldwide at risk of hunger, said Professor Sir David King in a report based on computer predictions.

He told the BBC the world had to act now to tackle global warming expected to happen over the next 100 years.

He said even if international agreement could be reached on limiting emissions, climate change was inevitable.

The UK Government and the EU want to stabilize the climate at an increase of no more than 2C, but the US refuses to cut emissions and those of India and China are rising quickly.

The government report says a 3C rise would cause a drop worldwide of between 20 and 400 million tonnes in cereal crops and put about 400 million more people at risk of hunger.

Professor King told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "We don't have to succumb to a state of despondency where we say that there is nothing we can do so let's just carry on living as per usual.

"It is very important to understand that we can manage the risks to our population.

"What we are talking about here is something that will play through over decades – we are talking 100 years or so.

"We need to begin that process of investment."

He said it would be a major challenge for developing countries, in particular.

In a report for the UK's prestigious Hadley Centre he warned that even if international agreement could be reached on limiting emissions – for CO2 at 550 parts per million in the atmosphere – this could result in an increase of 3C or more.

The government's ambition to cut CO2 by 60% by 2050 was founded on a report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution that assumed 550ppm was a safe level.

But to hold temperature rise below 2C with a high degree of certainty global levels of CO2 should be kept below 400ppm, the Hadley Centre says.

Scientists admit the Earth's mechanisms are so complicated their calculations are uncertain.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has criticised Professor King for accepting global temperatures could rise above 2C.

Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said: "It is technologically possible to significantly reduce our emissions and deliver 2C – Professor King should be pressing for government polices to deliver on this rather than accepting the current lack of political will and talking of 3 degrees as an inevitability."

So far, the US, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has been unwilling to debate a CO2 threshold.

President Bush's chief climate adviser, James Connaughton, said he did not believe anyone could forecast a safe level and cutting greenhouse gas emissions could harm the world economy.

13th April 2006

The South West and West Midlands could lose most of their beef and dairy farms if the threat of bovine TB continues, farmers' union the NFU has warned.

NFU regional director Anthony Gibson spoke as a row erupted over new compensation payments for farmers with cattle affected by TB.

The South West is one of the worst-affected areas for bovine TB.

The Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the payments were fair.

'Engine room'

In the South West, 2,807 (12%) of cattle farms were under restrictions in February this year because of positive TB tests.

In Devon the figure was 981 (17%) and in Cornwall, it was 511 farms (14%).

Defra has introduced new compensation payments for farmers following research by Reading University which suggested that farmers suffered a net loss from losing infected cattle.

But the NFU warned that if the new compensation values for affected cattle were not increased, farmers would give up their herds.

Mr Gibson told BBC Farming Today: "What was a fair compensation scheme is an unfair scheme in some cases."

And he warned the "engine room" of beef and milk production in the UK was under threat.

He said: "If the situation continues to worsen, TB could be a major factor in determining whether, particularly in the South West, but also the West Midlands, those areas remain as major mainstream players in beef and dairy production."

Farmers have been calling for a badger cull to reduce the spread of bovine TB, but conservationists oppose the move.

The government, which paid farmers £35m compensation in 2004, is considering its next step after consultation ended last month.

Defra said in a statement: "No farmer will be under-compensated, because the amount is determined on the basis that the affected cattle are healthy.

"Table valuations are based on average sale process so compensation will fall somewhere between the minimum and maximum price achieved within each category."

Worcestershire farmer Ruth Goodman, who is selling her dairy herd, blames low milk prices and poor TB compensation.

She said: "The dairy industry and the herds in this country cannot afford for TB to spread and remain endemic.

"It has got to be addressed."

More on this story.

12th April 2006

The Union Jack is 400 years old this week according to barnze from Nottingham, so I am flying the flag in respect of his post.

I don’t know where he got his information from, but I’ll take his word on it. 

11th April 2006

The Government has suspended the operation of controversial new rules on "sham marriages" following a High Court ruling that they breached human rights laws.

The test case judgment, won by couples including an illegal entrant to the UK from Algeria, also led to the immediate launch of claims for damages from those denied "the right to marry". Hundreds of other cases are potentially affected.

The judgment is a serious blow to Government moves, set in motion by former Home Secretary David Blunkett, to end marriages of convenience which abuse immigration controls.

The judge said preventing sham marriages was a legitimate aim, but the new marriage rules, introduced in February 2005, were not "rationally connected to that aim".

Unlawful discrimination had arisen because Church of England marriages were exempt from the rules, which prevented persons subject to immigration control from marrying unless they obtained certificates of approval from the Home Office.

The rules unfairly disadvantaged not only non-Anglican Christians but also members of other faiths, including Muslims and Hindus.

Later the Home Office said it was "disappointed" as the new regime had already led to a dramatic fall in the number of immigrant "suspect marriage" reports from marriage registrars.

An appeal was under consideration, and meanwhile moves were being made to comply with the judgment.

But the spokesman added the Government was "determined to protect the UK's immigration system and marriage laws from abuse, in particular from those entering into sham marriages".

He said that, since the new rules were introduced, the number of suspicious marriage reports received from registrars had dropped from 3,740 in 2004 to less than 300 between February 2005 and March 2006.

Ananova – New 'sham marriages' rules suspended