IN an attempt to make us "bond" with fish, PETA have come up with an interesting campaign idea.The propose re-branding them as "Sea kittens". Apparently, people don't empathise with slimy, scaly things, only with cute furry creatures. So the very attributes that serve to keep fish alive and give then a lustrous appearance are actually being down-played by PETA.

Labels: food

This from Taste of Manchester

'Finally, how can I talk about the best MFDF events and not mention the Nexus baking demo in the Learn Marquee? David Gale, who hosting Saturday’s demos, was certainly not expecting the likes of Hayley Curbishly and Fabienne Camm to bring their distinct and flamboyant baking techniques to the kitchen theatre. In want was by far the most entertaining demonstration I’ve ever seen, the girls created a Cake Castle, and demolished the kitchen in the process: Not since the Blitz has Manchester seen such a mess created! But full credit to both Hayley and Fabienne, they both deserve a role on Blue Peter for their sheer charisma and talent for creating fun on grey days!'

Well done Fabienne and Hayley!

I guess you've been wondering what God thinks of Barack Obama.

Well, here's the answer. Television preacher Dr James David Manning (Bernard's long lost son, methinks) has been speaking to the Lord, and here's what He had to say.

A delightfully loony clip courtesy of La Bête.

On last week's "Question Time" (Still available on the BBC's iPlayer, if you're quick), the Government's proposal to keep a record of every phone call, email, blog post and text message was discussed. The usual balance of civil liberties versus national safety was bandied about, but then a curious exchange occurred.

Geoff Hoon, Minister of "what haven't I tried yet?" was asked how far the government is willing to go in undermining civil liberties in order to monitor extremists.

"To stop terrorists killing people in our society quite a long way, actually." Which suggests that record keeping may not be the limit of government plans. Certainly, suggestions have been made* that they should be able to install spyware in any computer to read its hard drive or record every keystroke made. **

"The biggest civil liberty of all is not to be killed by a terrorist," was Mr Hoon's justification. Is he right? What actions would be justified? How much liberty must we lose to guarantee our liberties?

Discuss.



* Seriously. European Interior Miniters considered the matter at a recentsymposium.
** This is the same technology that phishers use to stel your banking details. If anyone else does this, it can land you in jail.

Labels: freedom, politics

I used to be quite snobbish about graffiti.

Tagging, the scrawled style you see here, was a blemish on the canvass of graf art compared to the glorious multicolour lettering you'd get on the side of railway bridges and, sometimes, on the trains themselves.

But this tag, 'welcome to clone town', was wonderful. I even got off the bus just to take this piccie. It was on the side of the new Costa Coffee in Didsbury Village, just opposite the mecca of all good food, the Cheese Hamlet.

I say 'was' because a few days later, Costa opened its doors for the first time and the graffiti had been Cillit Banged away.

There's a simple way to make your protest against a chain coffee shop Didsbury doesn't need. Use the two dozen independent coffee shops in the borough instead (see the South Manchester Reporter for more).

Or, in the words of one friend who saw this picture: "What's a clown town?"

Tonight in Sanctus1 we're starting a new series exploring what Sunday Schools Stories teach us about the character of God.

We're starting by looking at Noah's ark...Is it just a Sunday school story? is God a mass murdering meglomaniac? How do we reconcile the God of the flood with the God revealed in Christ? These questions and many more will be explored...