My Facebook wall has been bombarded by petitions this week, or to be more accurate, the same petition over and over again. My virtual friends are encouraging me to sign up persuade the BBC to sack Chris Packham of all people. His crime is to support an initiative by Natural England which has changed the laws that decide what types of birds people can or cannot shoot.
Here in rural Suffolk the farming community in particular is up in arms and Mr Packham is public enemy number one, they will be burning his effigy come November 5th. Apparently the gate of his home down south has been adorned with dead Rooks over night...
I haven't signed the petition and I don't intend to. To be honest I'm conflicted about the situation. On the one hand I think Pigeons and Corvidaes need control and there is certainly no shortage of them around these parts, despite farmers having had free reign to blast the shit out of them. (In fact one farmer I knew - now deceased - took great pride and pleasure in his Magpie trap...) But on the other hand the world is going to shit and we need more people like Chris Packham to stand up and shout about environmental issues. But surely true conservation doesn't just focus on one species, it looks at the environment as a whole? Like I said, I'm conflicted.
One thing I do know is this law change is unenforceable and will not alter how country people go about their lives one little bit. The people who have been shooting Crows and Pigeons will not stop, they will continue to do so, just as Fox hunting has never stopped. Rural Police do not have the resources to enforce this law and it would be truly criminal if they diverted officers from more serious work.
I have to admit to liking Chris Packham even though I may disagree with some of his opinions. He has overcome much adversity in his life and his autobiography is one of the most moving things I've read.
On a similar vein some keyboard warriors have been up in arms about the Extinction Rebellion protests that have been causing havoc in parts of London. I think it's great, climate change is real and there needs to be drastic changes to the way we live, these changes have to come from the top and must not be used as another excuse to tax poor people. If governments were listening then there would be no need to protest. Obviously the disruption hasn't affected me one little bit so I have no reason to be pissed off, I like to think I would feel the same way if I lived in London? There was a picture doing the rounds that allegedly showed the mess these 'hypocrites' had left behind. There was no evidence produced to support the authenticity of this picture and I think had it been genuine it would have been much more widely displayed by the true rabble.
Coincidentally a sixteen year old schoolgirl activist from Sweden called Greta Thunberg has been in the country speaking to politicians about climate change. Greta is the founder of the movement that lead to school children around the world going on strike. Miss Thunberg spoke to most of our political party leaders although obviously Theresa May didn't turn up which is hardly surprising considering her attitude to our own school kids going on strike. The rabid right has only one message on this subject; "bloody entitled millennials moaning, they should be in school..."
Like Chris Packham young Greta has Aspergers syndrome and came over here speaking in her second language which is an incredibly brave thing to do, this is obvious to anyone with the slightest knowledge of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. A family member has Aspergers so I am probably better informed than most and I have nothing but admiration for this young lady. Of course the vile right wing press has attacked Greta Thunberg and Toby Young of the Spectator was particularly nasty. This is nothing new, media all over Europe has attacked miss Thunberg and printed lies about her and her family. Karma will sort these people out.
Meanwhile life goes on and all over the country people will be driving their kids to school in bloody great 4WD motors that drink fuel and spew smoke but it's fine because at least they'll be displaying their worth and success to the rest of the world.
Here in rural Suffolk the farming community in particular is up in arms and Mr Packham is public enemy number one, they will be burning his effigy come November 5th. Apparently the gate of his home down south has been adorned with dead Rooks over night...
I haven't signed the petition and I don't intend to. To be honest I'm conflicted about the situation. On the one hand I think Pigeons and Corvidaes need control and there is certainly no shortage of them around these parts, despite farmers having had free reign to blast the shit out of them. (In fact one farmer I knew - now deceased - took great pride and pleasure in his Magpie trap...) But on the other hand the world is going to shit and we need more people like Chris Packham to stand up and shout about environmental issues. But surely true conservation doesn't just focus on one species, it looks at the environment as a whole? Like I said, I'm conflicted.
One thing I do know is this law change is unenforceable and will not alter how country people go about their lives one little bit. The people who have been shooting Crows and Pigeons will not stop, they will continue to do so, just as Fox hunting has never stopped. Rural Police do not have the resources to enforce this law and it would be truly criminal if they diverted officers from more serious work.
I have to admit to liking Chris Packham even though I may disagree with some of his opinions. He has overcome much adversity in his life and his autobiography is one of the most moving things I've read.
On a similar vein some keyboard warriors have been up in arms about the Extinction Rebellion protests that have been causing havoc in parts of London. I think it's great, climate change is real and there needs to be drastic changes to the way we live, these changes have to come from the top and must not be used as another excuse to tax poor people. If governments were listening then there would be no need to protest. Obviously the disruption hasn't affected me one little bit so I have no reason to be pissed off, I like to think I would feel the same way if I lived in London? There was a picture doing the rounds that allegedly showed the mess these 'hypocrites' had left behind. There was no evidence produced to support the authenticity of this picture and I think had it been genuine it would have been much more widely displayed by the true rabble.
Coincidentally a sixteen year old schoolgirl activist from Sweden called Greta Thunberg has been in the country speaking to politicians about climate change. Greta is the founder of the movement that lead to school children around the world going on strike. Miss Thunberg spoke to most of our political party leaders although obviously Theresa May didn't turn up which is hardly surprising considering her attitude to our own school kids going on strike. The rabid right has only one message on this subject; "bloody entitled millennials moaning, they should be in school..."
Like Chris Packham young Greta has Aspergers syndrome and came over here speaking in her second language which is an incredibly brave thing to do, this is obvious to anyone with the slightest knowledge of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. A family member has Aspergers so I am probably better informed than most and I have nothing but admiration for this young lady. Of course the vile right wing press has attacked Greta Thunberg and Toby Young of the Spectator was particularly nasty. This is nothing new, media all over Europe has attacked miss Thunberg and printed lies about her and her family. Karma will sort these people out.
Meanwhile life goes on and all over the country people will be driving their kids to school in bloody great 4WD motors that drink fuel and spew smoke but it's fine because at least they'll be displaying their worth and success to the rest of the world.
