Just Learn To Ignore Them!

A Christmas fair has been forced to ditch its live reindeer in a 'woke' row over animal welfare. Organisers of Richmond Christmas Fair in North Yorkshire had initially advertised that actual reindeer could feature at this year's event on Sunday, November 29.

Once again, an organisation folds like a paper napkin instead of telling these fun-sponges to take the sex and travel option, thus emboldening them and practically guaranteeing they will find something else to freak out about, perhaps the selling of meat at the fair next time…and what about the people who had wanted to come and spend their money at the fair because of the reindeer?

However, the suggestion caused an uproar from eco zealots on social media and led to the booking of the animals being cancelled.The decision has now angered parents who had promised their children the chance to see a real-life reindeer for the first time.

As the parents are council rate payers, and the lunatics on line probably aren’t, and may not even be UK citizens, I fail to see why the council shouldn’t prioritise them. But then I think of the sort of feeble weak-willed little pipsqueaks that staff council offices, and realise that’s a futile hope.

The event, part-funded by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, is run annually by Richmond Business and Tourism Association. They said in a statement:'The decision was made to protect the hard-working volunteers from undue harassment and stress in the lead-up to the event and also to protect the enjoyment of the day for everyone from protests that were building.'

And just to forestall any blowback from the business who’s livlihood they are endangering: 

'We would like to reassure everyone that this decision does not reflect any concerns about the company we had booked,' they added. 'Throughout the process, we found them to be professional, knowledgeable and clearly dedicated to the welfare of their animals.'

Then why didn’t you stick to your guns, and tell the mad animal rights nutters to go fuck themselves? 

Well, Talent at Kickyball Doesn't Often Go Hand in Hand with Brains

Former Premier League footballer Jermaine Pennant says he needed more than 50 stitches after being mauled by a dog.

The 43-year-old was walking his two dogs in north London last week when he was attacked by a German Shepherd. The former Liverpool and Stoke City winger said the dog latched on to his leg and refused to let go as he tried to protect his own dog, King.

And what breed was King? An Akita - a Japanese hunting breed bred to take on bears and wolves . So why did he feel the need to try to protect it?

He added that King was unhurt, but did not give details about the German Shepherd. He said he declined to report the attack to police.

Oh, that’s not terribly suspicious in any way, is it? 

That Tune's Familiar: Parody Songs

No parody song compilation would ever be complete without the acclaimed master, Weird Al. Most would vote for his splendid 'Star Wars' version of American Pie, but thois one's my personal favourite.

Never Change, 'Guardian'

A review of a completely AI generated tv show on Prime generated this gem:

*sigh*

She Didn't See This Coming!

 If you laugh at this, you're going to Hell. And I'm going right along with you!

H/T: Dave Ward via email

Sunday Funnies...

 Ony 15? Pretty sure there are more than that just in the UK alone....

Why Are We Worried About Food Security, And Not About Food Purity?

What’s worrying French supermarket bosses should be prompting British ministers to action. On Sunday, hackers forced up the temperatures of refrigerators in hundreds of food stores across France to as high as 50C, resulting in waste and fires. Beyond the immediate destruction and inconvenience, it raised the prospect of other malicious actors finding new ways to play havoc with the food chain.

 Well, how stupid is it to sync all your fridges together and not password protect them?

Only weeks before, 150 experts together warned the British government that it does not have a plan to feed people in a crisis ­– and that the west is entering an era in which not only disruption but the weaponisation of food is a real possibility.

If so, the government has opened the door when they sanctioned actions like these.

The Covid pandemic was a salutary reminder of how vulnerable modern systems are – a shock for consumers used to strawberries in October.

i remember no lack of strawberries in the first lockdown, or the second. In fact, no shortages of anything, even the infamous toilet rolls. 

One issue is overall supply in the UK, which imports about 40% of its food. But affordability, logistics, distribution and nutrition are also essential components of food security.

But not knowledge of whether your meat is religiously slaughtered, of course. Or whether it contains an additive you don’t need and would rather not consume. 

The government has encouraged households to stockpile several days’ worth of tinned goods and bottled water in case of an emergency.

As long as you have the room to store it all in, of course.  

Real improvement requires a structural shift away from the “leave it to Tesco” approach decried by Prof Tim Lang, a leading food-policy expert.

Why wouldn't we want to leave it to them? They know what they are doing, after all -who else should we leave it to?

Geographical distribution – including relocalisation of food production – is also central. Almost 95% of retail food comes via 131 food-distribution centres. Disruption to just one supermarket chain’s infrastructure could have a mammoth impact.

Experts have rightly called for food supply shortages and disruption to be included as risks in their own right in the national security risk assessment. There is also a strong case for a dedicated national food council to focus on food security.

Oh, the State? Well, I think you can imagine how much I think of that idea! 

Tweet Of The Month

Quote Of The Month

Longrider on the futility of government attempts to force us all to buy electric vehicles: 

"I know I’ve mentioned it here before, but my Renault dealer faced exactly this problem. I was just one of many regular buyers who decided to keep what I had rather than be forced to buy a milk float. If the new Renault 5 had a decent petrol engine and sporty performance (RS version), they would have had a deal. As it is, all-electric means a hard pass from me. Now I have the facilities in place to install a charger if I want to. I don’t want to. I do not want to buy what amounts to a massive battery that causes the whole vehicle to become obsolete once the battery is worn out. I don’t want to have to spend ages charging when I can refuel a petrol car in a matter of minutes, and despite some gains in range, it still isn’t close to where it needs to be and is unlikely to ever become so."

"

Post Title Of The Month

 From Tim Worstall, some economic prediction: