So biofuels are iffy?

With all the debate about whether biofuels are merely bad for the environment or just plain catastrophic, one can be forgiven for being confused as to what is the "right" thing to do. The same applies to a range of other measures intended to save the planet.

One strategy that is almost bound to be effective:

JUST USE LESS OF EVERYTHING!

Why not try it?

Incidentally - here's a hilarious "Chelsea-tractor" post (a little dated perhaps, but I only just discovered it).

Beware of malicous "comments"

Friends,

A little warning: I've had a "comment" on one of my blog postings. This turned out to be a piece of malicious software ("malware"?).

PLEASE: if you open a comment on a blog posting, and there is no obvious readable message - only one or more active links saying something like "here" - DO NOT CLICK ON THEM.

I stupidly did, and had to spend the next eight hours or so doing a full virus scan.

Sorry for this one. It ought not to be necessary, but we live in a decidedly dodgy world, I'm afraid.

Cheers
Mike

Help Tibet

Image courtesy of http://www.avaaz.org

Hi Folks,

This petition came my way. I hope you will consider joining me in signing it.

Many thanks,

Mike

The Mount Sinai Bedouins - a correction

In a previous post (since corrected), I described the St Katherine Bedouin community as numbering approximately 25,000. Our collaborator on the project has pointed out that this is in error. The true figure is even smaller: closer to 4000. The entire Bedouin population of Southern Sinai is actually only about 25,000, but this covers a much larger land area.

Apologies. To make up for my mistake, above are some more examples of the Bedouins' beautiful work. I'm afraid my photos don't do them justice. You really need to feel the quality (as we used to say, in the trade!).

Mike

Knutsford "Royal" Mayday under threat? Whatever next?

I see from my local paper, that a Knutsfordian tradition going back to 1864 is in danger of being allowed to die through lack of cash.

Knutsford Royal Mayday (the "Royal" part deriving from the fact that the event was apparently attended, on one occasion, by the actual reigning monarch) is something I and countless other townsfolk grew up with. Rumour has it that one of my great grandparents was once May Queen. Certainly, a cousin of mine (now, sadly, deceased) was Crown-bearer in the 1950s; and three generations of my family - from my late Dad to my sons - religiously took part. In fact, we've all been "Beefeaters" at one time or another.

Mayday is by far the biggest event in Cranford's social calendar, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year. Admittedly, many of these come as much for the fact that the largest funfair in the Northwest is in town for the weekend (longer, actually). But the festival itself is very traditional, in the sense that- apart from the occasional horse-drawn brewery dray - it is entirely non-commercial. And it is almost exclusively children who take part in it, these being attired in a diversity of splendid costumes. I recently saw an estimate of as many as 600 children involved.

Having said it is non-commercial, it does act as a significant source of income for local charities, thanks to the army of eager collectors who generously give up their time on the day.
(And, incidentally, it also enables local hostelries to make an ABSOLUTE MINT!).

But the event itself does not raise money for its own survival. On the other hand, it is very expensive to put on. Much of this cost goes into policing, especially owing to the fact that routes through the town have to be temporarily closed.

The thought of Knutsford without its Mayday is a bit like the thought of Cheshire without Jodrell Bank (don't forget to sign the petition, by the way).

I read a good suggestion today that those taking part could be asked to pay a small fee - say £2. This seems to me to be a reasonable and modest amount, yet it could really make a big difference. Actually, I think it should be made optional, and the amount left to people's discretion: if we value the tradition that much then we will be willing to pay for it. Knutsford is famous for being pretty well-heeled, after all. On the other hand (and perhaps not so well-recognised by the outside world) it is also home to many much less well-off families for whom it would be totally wrong to impose any financial hurdle to their participation.

Surely, those of us who can afford it would be prepared to dig into our pockets to save this gem of ours?

See my blog post and the pictures I took of the 2006 festival here

Here's a thought: how about a local "Mayday Tax"?

What do you think?

Mike

Mount Sinai Bedouin Projects

The picture above shows an example of the excellent embroidery and handicraft skills of the Mount Sinai Bedouin women.

Recently, some of my colleagues and I have been in discussions with a researcher who is coordinating various projects aimed at improving the life-prospects of this small (circa 4000) community, which is based close to the ancient monastery of St Katherine at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Originally nomadic, they were forcibly "settled" in the 1960's, since when they have faced many serious hardships including, in recent years, increasing severity of drought. As a result, their traditional lifestyles and livelihood are under threat unless ways can be found to help them promote their skills to the wider world.

If you are interested in learning more about the Mount Sinai Bedouins you can read about them here, on the website of the South Sinai Foundation.

M

It's been a quiet day in Lake Cranford ...

I just couldn't resist passing on this highly informative little nugget of ace reporting, from today's issue of my local paper, relating to an alledged incident at a well-known spot in the town:

"One man, who could not see the [name of location] from his flat, said he did not hear the incident on Friday night."

Well blow me down ... that man could quite easily have been me! (He wasn't).

Puts one in mind of the old tagline: "Not many dead", does it not?

Only the best is good enough for the REAL Cranford.






Don't forget to sign the petition to save Jodrell Bank:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/jodrellfunding

M

JODRELL BANK TO CLOSE?

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/jodrellfunding/

When Jodrell Bank radio telescope - brain-child of Professor Sir Bernard Lovell - was conceived and constructed, during the 1950s, it was the first of its kind; it soon became world-renowned: a unique and immediately recognisable icon of 20th-Century excellence.

It is barely possible to overstate the contribution Jodrell Bank has made to our understanding of the Universe and of space exploration. One need think no further than its role in tracking the first-ever artificial satellites launched by the (then) USSR and the USA, and in monitoring countless space missions, including the manned Apollo missions to the moon, to realise its historical significance. But the importance of JB goes way, way beyond - quite literally. It has long been at the forefront of the quest to understand "The Meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything" - not insignificant questions: the search for galaxies, black holes, supernovae, extra-terrestrial intelligence, not to mention the very origins of space-time itself.

So the plan to axe it, for want of some £2.7M - a figure described by one Radio-4 commentator this morning as "little more than loose change" in treasury terms - is, to be blunt, mind-boggling. It's virtually inconceivable that its closure would be contemplated at all - let alone for the sake of such a relatively small amount of additional funding.

What would the late Douglas Adams have made of it? The words "DON'T PANIC" in large friendly letters may not be enough. And what will be the next piece of national heritage to go? Could Stonehenge have to give way to a distinctly terrestrial highway needed to facilitate easier access to a planned gigantic out-of-town supermarket warehouse? (Surely not!)

Yes, I confess a personal interest: Jodrell happens to be in my "back yard"; and it is technically owned by my employer (The University of Manchester); both of which facts only serve to intensify my anguish.

A couple of further thoughts: which of the two, I wonder, would future generations be likely to look back upon as more worthy of retention: Northern Rock or Jodrell Bank? and which will been deemed to have given better value to UK tax-payers in the long-run?

As recently as December, 2001, Jodrell Bank appeared to have a bright future, as evidenced by this posting on the official Merlin/VLBI National Facility website.

But now we read this article in The Times about the proposed closure.

Please speak up, and exert any influence you can, before it's too late.

Don't let Jodrell Bank close without an almighty fight!!! At the very least - if you haven't already done so - please sign the petition:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/jodrellfunding/

Mike