Mercury fascination.

I think that most of us have been fascinated by mercury at sometime in our lives, probably in one of those lively chemistry lessons at school, when a slight spillage has resulted in a myriad of silver globules scattering over the bench and onto the floor. Hopefully today a little more care is taken with this highly toxic liquid metal, and its harmful affects are more widely appreciated.

It was only this week that I heard about the intriguing tale of German sub U-864. On the 8th February 1945, in the closing stages of World War II, the submarine was on a mission to Japan, when it was intercepted by a British submarine called HMS Venturer. U-864 became the only submarine to be sunk by another submarine while under water. Although the incident cost the lives of the 73 luckless men on board, it also had the affect of releasing an ecological time bomb. This consisted of 1,800 canisters of mercury, which equated to 65 tons, and was destined for the Japanese munitions industry.

The incident which occurred 64 years ago, 3.6 km west of the island of Fedje in the North Sea, is far from over, as the canisters slowly corrode and release increasing amounts into the North Sea. There have been many proposed schemes over the years to deal with the problem, including the one two years ago to entomb the submarine in an sarcophagus, which was a method previously employed on other underwater hazards. It was felt however that this was only postponing the problem, rather than effectively dealing with the situation.

Lets hope the saga will finally come to an end next year, when a proposed £100 million operation, that has finally been authorised by the Norwegian fisheries minister Helga Pedersen, finally comes to fruition. The wreck will be raised with a large container underneath it that will catch loose mercury, and will be brought ashore in a special vessel.

Pink prejudice.

Girls like pink don't they?

Is that why stores seem to stock girls' products exclusively in pink?

Or is a deliberate ploy to widen the gap between sexes and put pressure on youngsters to conform to traditional roles. I don't believe it is the intention of the stores or toy manufacturers, but more a subtle marketing strategy to maximise profit.

The extent to which the marketers have influenced vulnerable young minds, was demonstrated by observations made by Durham 'Speech Therapists', who reported that children could easily identify the colour blue, but would answer 'Barbie' when shown a pink object.

Having products so clearly associated with either sex due to colour, certainly discourages girls or boys from thinking for themselves. Toys are either for 'boys' or 'girls', children are expected to conform, and freedom of expression is suppressed.

But what affect does this have on children as they get older? The same strategies are employed to encourage our youngsters to grow up too quickly, whether it be make-up, 'Playboy' pencil cases or provocative clothing.

Are we not creating future generations that are strongly conformist and intolerant to others' views, religion or sexuality?

Battery hen torment.

Battery hens are to be banned in the EU from January 2012. An estimated 24 million egg laying chickens are kept in battery cages in the UK at any one time, which produce 72% of the countries supplies.

Why is legislation required to prevent a practise that gives each chicken only 450 square centimetres of floor area, equivalent to no more than an A4 sheet of paper. Are we that cruel that we condone such treatment?

I am afraid I am as guilty as many. It is so easy to push these things to the back of your mind when face with rising supermarket prices.

I think the majority of us need protecting from our own greed and selfishness. There is a danger however, that it will only drive this industry outside the EU, unless there is a ban on import of battery eggs!

Health and safety, Indian style!

There's a construction organisation here called "Condident Group" who are building apartment blocks, shopping malls etc. all over Bangalore and Tamil Nadu. Yesterday the recently cast 20th floor of an under construction apartment block slowly collapsed downward taking successive lower floors as it yielded to gravity. It took 50 minutes as collapse was slowed by the rebar bending / pulling out. No one was killed but a few hurt falling over things in escape runs. The injured were treated at hospital and then the whole site was whizzed away by the company to an undisclosed location. Police who arrived to investigate were simply told to p........ off.

Cesar Manrique.

Who is Cesar Manrique you may ask! A few weeks ago I would have asked the very same question, but as our family holiday to Lanzarote draws to a close, I find the same name has been encountered numerous times over the last two weeks. It seems as if this man meant so much to so many people and his legacy as "Lanzarote's most famous son", is richly deserved.

Cesar Manrique was born in Arrecife, on April 24th 1919, and sadly died in a car accident on the 25th September 1992, at the age of 73. He became involved in many things during his life, he was a painter, sculptor, architect, ecologist, monument preserver, construction advisor, planner of urban developments, outliner of landscapes and gardens.

His profound influence on Lanzarote's development was inspired by its amazing volcanic landscape, so much so that he built his studio home on top of a volcanic trail, formed from an eruption that occurred between 1730 to 1736.

Unconditional Love.

I recently read a moving article in the July edition of Candis. In it Lauren Booth described how, as an adult, she broke off all contact with her Mother, after a difficult Mother-Daughter relationship that started to go wrong as early as when she was two!

Lauren seemed to put it down to the fact that she looked and sounded too like her father Tony Booth, who was very famous for his role in 'Till Death Us Do Part'. Lauren even described her mothers feeling towards her as hate.

One thing that particularly stuck in my mind was her description of her Mother's reaction, when at the age of twelve, she proudly produced her school report. A quote from her year tutor read, 'Quite simply, Lauren is an asset to the class'. After reading the report and exhaling a single word in a cloud of cigarette smoke: 'Creep'.

I can only imagine at what such a comment would do to a young girl, especially from her mother! Now a mother herself, I can only identify with her delight, as her daughter Holly ran up to her, flung her arms around her, saying 'Mummy, you are really, really nice!'

Such a simple statement may not sound much, but the love of a child is one of the the most amazing things in this world! As adults, whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly judging people and having deep rooted unconscious thoughts about them.

A child is completely different, all they need is your time, for you to show an interest in them and to show them love. What do you get in return is worth all the money in the world... their unconditional love. Something to be nurtured and treasured for a lifetime.

My daughter Kim will be eighteen in a couple of days time and as I look back over the last eighteen years, I am proud to say that not only is she the best daughter I could have ever asked for, but she is one of my best friends. Thanks Kim.

Supermarket Scam

Supermarkets seem to have moved on from the ‘buy one get one free’ type promotion, to alternatives that are far more lucrative to these dictators of the retail industry. The buy two instead of one promotion seems to have taken over to a large extent, although instead of just saving a few pence by purchasing the second, the first is priced so uncompetitive that buying two is the only option.
It is not unusual for a product costing £2 to £3 to be available as a ‘buy two’ offer for not much more than an additional 20p. Is this a case of our local supermarket being ‘super’ generous? I think not! It just means the first is so grossly over-priced that the poor old consumer has no choice but to buy two of the same item and the supermarket shifts twice as much stock in one go.No wonder so much food is thrown away rather than eaten, as highlighted by Gordon Brown in the last few days.

The Humble Bumble.

The UK has eighteen species of Bumblebee, of which many are under threat from habitat loss and the Varroa Mite, which causes a condition called Israeli Paralysis Virus. In addition, there is a condition, which affects Honey Bees called Mary Celeste Syndrome, named after the ship discovered deserted in 1872. This is where a Honey Bee hive is found essentially deserted and has recently been found in Scotland.

Although a lot of pollination is wind blown, Bees are very important pollinators and it seems they are all facing threats simultaneously…something that should be a big worry for us all. If there is no pollination, flowering crops will produce no crops, as well as wild flowers not producing seeds. This will have a dramatic affect on both the landscape of the countryside and the price of food in the shops.

Morality over the ages!

I have often wondered where the phrase “living over the brush” comes from. We all know it means an unmarried couple that live together, but apparently it originates in the tunnel building days of the 19th century. If a boy and a girl (usually a camp follower, a prostitute in reality) took a liking to each other then the other men and woman would respect them as man and wife. They could not afford a church wedding so, holding hands, they jumped over a brush or broom handle held by two others. They were then married in the eyes of their peers.