To 'blether' using the old Scots tongue and expressive language was often associated with conversation conveying little useful information or else downright lies. A person of renoun committing such crimes might have been known as a 'blatherskite' and yes, this word is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary! On occassion though, such verbose tones deliver the kind of radical thoughts the World desperately needs and begins a new realm of speculation and possibility that none have feared to express before. Welcome to our open forum area.
Ewe Couldn't Make This Up!
For centuries, sheep have roamed the barren hills and glens of Scotland and have contributed meat at countless mealtime tables while consumed by many wearing garments made from the woollen fleece shorn from their bodies. Even today, sheep contribute to the national economy while often compelled to eke out a lliving on land virtually uselless for any other purpose. In many parts of our nation, particularly in the North Western regions, life is hard and where weather can be fairlly severe yet regarded as normal. In such circumstance, they are permitted to roam freely rather than be enclosed within fixed perimeters.
There are about 30 million sheep in Europe and about 7.1 million of these are resident in Scotland. There are more sheep in Scotland than there are people whose current population is far less at around 5 million. As such, sheep farming does contribute to our national economy and anything affecting flocks is usually bad news. The latest proposal from the EC though sounds like something people might regard as humour yet sadly; it's true!
Apparently, some nameless beaurocrat(s) in the EC wants all sheep to be electronically tagged with a tracking device although what benefit this would bring has not been specified. Taking this on board and accepting the necessity of such expenditures and investment; there would need to be staff to monitor such results and then files kept of such movements with no perceivable benefits whatsover. After all factors are brought to bear in a logical fashion, it might seem better to electronically tag the individual or group who came up with this idea so they can be monitored for signs of mental illness, stress or jobworthy muppetry!
Lampoons On Life
Looking on the 'brighter side of life', I suppose we are 'better off' than many citizens of the World. Allegedly, the UK is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet but it doesn't always seem that way for many of its residents. Apparently, it's the reason why British Government representatives still get invited to these International high power financial meetings and whose outcome doesn't seem to make a jot of difference to any noticeable degree. If anything, they seem to present a bleaker Global picture and where we're still ready to hand out major sums of cash to other countries despite being in deep debt ourselves. At least, we can still afford the price of a daily newspaper and it's in this connection that I spotted a cartoon, often a lampoon on real life, in which an obviously delighted old woman pensioner opens her front door and is confronted by the sight of the 'grim reaper'. The caption says it all, "Thank God it's you! I thought you were here to read the gas meter!"
Of course, we've been here before. I still vividly remember a similarly quirky cartoon that appeared during the second Harold Wilson administration of 1974 to 1976 and when taxes were escalating beyond logic and reason. In this version, a cabinet officer is seen rushing into the office of Harold Wilson and proclaiming the people cannot afford to live. In response, the Harold Wilson then declares, "Raise the death duties!"
G-FIFE comes home!
Those in the aviation fraternity will probably know how the first letter of an aircraft registration represents the country in which was registered with G being internationally recognised as an aircraft from the United Kingdom. N is the comparable equivilent for the United States of America. The above photograph was taken at Glenrothes Airfield and shows a Cessna (model 150?) parked beside the 'Tipsy Nipper' restaurant and neighbouring aircraft hangers.
The Trouble In UK Today ....
Our modern World is a strange place and bizarre place few of our ancestors would have understood! Even if we totally ignored the whole arguments about technological advances, the issues of morality and truth would still be questionable in their eyes. Easy credit, using plastic cards, and consequential debt issues would never have happened in their time and events taking place on the other side of the World would have meant little in terms of daily life within our nation. By sharp contrast, a huge level of what we buy in our shops today originates from overseas and where operational costs are typically far lower than in the UK. Eighty per cent of our food is imported and where butter imported from far off New Zealand competes easily with local sources on supermarket shelves. Cheese from the EC locations fall into the same category and at a time when local farmers claim poverty and inability to meet such competition.
In terms of high technology products, we are now clearly incapable of building colour televisions with twin speakers (albeit monoaural sound) and include the infrared remote control and batteries at a cost of £79.95 available in every local Aldi or Lidl store! How can British companies compete?