horns of wilmington's cow

By anth

Cute Vermin

I can haz cheezburger!

Still shattered after getting up at 6 (being roughly when the chooks wake up) to mae sure there was no aggro. All seemed fine, till the squawking started, so at 6.30am I was in the garden putting new lawn edging down, letting the old girls free range to keep the peace. The conclusion has been reached that we need to keep the new and old girls separated a bit more to maintain the peace, so the old Eglu run was re-built at 8ish. And quiet has returned.

The old girls have been free ranging, and so have met the new girls a few times through their temporary run - and that seems to be easing into a relationship a bit more easily. We'll be doing more of that this week, then let the new girls out to free range for the first time and see how they meet, with another attempt to move them in together about another week later. It's all very technical this chicken keeping.

Once hostilities had been halted it was into town for an auction viewing (some lovely little Japanese carvings, and a great Hiroshige print, but out of my price range at the moment) and a late tapas lunch at Cafe Andaluz with Mel's dad.

Home, more edging, more chicken rendez-vous. More tired.

Not that any of this matters. Given Ashmageddon we're all going to die anyway. at least if you read the Daily Wail (which also, bizarrely, seems to think that 'someone' should have done 'something' to stop this happening). The Daily Wail has been going out of its way recently, of course, to be even more pointlessly objectionable and lacking in any journalistic credit than usual - I mean, an entire article comparing the feet of the wives of the two main PM contenders? Seriously. Forget policies. We should be deciding to vote Tory because Mrs Cameron has cool painted toenails (well you didn't expect the Wail to come down on the side of Labour did you?).

Mind you, the contenders themselves (plus Nick Wossname) seem to have forgotten policies as well - the recent tv debate serving to show us who is the best. At least, the best at listening to his PR guru. We needed the audience, en masse, to ignore the request for no shouts, applause, or simply getting involved in the democratic process. All these complaints about people not bothering to vote; trying to work out why people feel disenfranchised and apathetic; lamenting the fact that turnout might only be 50% this year. And the people are told they're not allowed to get involved when faced with the three main contenders in what is fast becoming a presidential election (which is even further removed form the way these things should be decided than the hideous party politics system).

(for what it's worth I think the right to vote should be seen as a moral obligation - and if you don't vote understand this, you have no right to complain about who we get in charge)

And Salmond complaining about not being involved? In one breath he's complaining that the subjects of the debate will have no bearing on Scotland; and in the next declaring that he should have been invited to take part (and therefore speak about loads of things that have no bearing on England). So many of the matters he would like to discuss are already devolved, so he's right that Brown, Cameron and Wossname were basically only talking about England (and occasionally Wales). In my mind that makes the debate pointless north of the border in terms of decision-making AND pointless for Salmond to be involved.

Here's how I'm going to decide. I'm going to read the manifestos. I know it's radical, but I like making a decision based on what effect voting a certain way might have, rather than how someone's hair was coiffured (or indeed feet pedicured). I'm going to contact the candidates for my constituency (I might post the letter here). And I'm going to cast my vote according to whose policies I agree with, combined with who I actually trust to implement those policies. And if anybody disagrees with that approach then you might as well turn the election into a phone-in vote hosted by Ant and Dec.

Though to be honest that might improve turnout.

Sad times my friends, sad times.

(Hmmm, started out with a picture of vermin and ended on politicians? Who says these rants aren't structured?)

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