Lord Blencathra would ban cat flaps to protect wildlife

Lord Blencathra sits in the House of Lords in Parliament. He is a peer of the realm and a life peer. He was a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Penrith and The Border from 1983 to 2010. He wants to protect wildlife and he has some ideas in that respect which he announced in the House of Lords which has been reported by The Telegraph.

The Rt Hon Lord Blencathra.

One of his silliest ideas (and I'll explain why I think it's silly) is that all cat flaps in the UK should be banned under the law. He doesn't believe that cats should be allowed to come and go as they please from indoors to outdoors (which is not an unreasonable thought of itself). 

And to justify that attitude he says that "All independent studies suggest that cats allowed the wonder will kill about 260 million mammals per annum in the UK and 60 million garden birds."

He doesn't say that these statistics are based on estimates from relatively small-scale studies. There is a lot of incidental information that one needs to bring into the equation when you talk about domestic cat predation on wildlife. But that is another story.

In addition to banning cat flaps and allowing cats out manually through the back door when the sun rises and after the sun has set, he suggests that all domestic cats allowed outside should wear bells on collars.

This last suggestion is fairly reasonable because although domestic cats learn to keep the bells as quiet as possible when stalking prey, bells on collars can help save the lives of some birds stalked by domestic cats. I can't see a problem with that suggestion in general terms but both his suggestions are unenforceable.

Enforceability

If a government makes a law in any field of human life, it has to be enforceable to be effective. That means that if somebody breaks the new law it must come to the notice of the authorities and law enforcement. The prosecution services should prosecute the individual and punish them under the law.

How is law enforcement going to find out if a homeowner has a cat flap in their back door or not? There are many millions of them across the UK. No one knows who's got one and no one knows who has not got one. No one in authority can check because they open to the backdoor in the backyard which is invisible from the street.

Neighbours will or might know but that means that neighbours have to spy on neighbours which is going to cause friction. If that goes on across the country it is going to create a problem in society. You cannot rely on neighbours to spy on other neighbours as happened in East Germany during the communist era.

So Lord Bethcathra's suggestion is foolish and entirely unworkable. It will never happen.

And therefore I don't see why he's bothering to suggest it in a debating chamber in the Houses of Parliament. He is wasting his time, the time of the other lords in the debating chamber and he is wasting taxpayers money who pays him to be there.

It's also unworkable to enforce a law which makes it mandatory for domestic cats to wear bells on collars. It's easier to enforce it than the cat flap proposed law but it is still unenforceable. It would rely upon neighbours spying on neighbours as well.

You've got to work backwards with the creation of laws. You've got to ask yourself if it's enforceable and how could it become enforceable. What kind of machinery do you need to make it enforceable? 

And if existing machinery i.e. law enforcement and prosecution services and the local authority can't make new laws enforceable they should not be enacted unless you think that the law is so popular and universally supported by the public that they will comply with the law voluntarily but this makes the law unnecessary. Government advice, under those circumstances, would probably suffice.

In the meantime, there is a need for a much more thorough evaluation of domestic cat predation on wildlife over a much larger area. You can't extrapolate data from a small study in one particular area and say that those figures apply to the rest of the UK. You might get a rough idea but you do not end up with really accurate data.

And we need to know how many feral cats there are in the country. We don't know (accurately) and if you don't know the number of feral cats in a country you can't decide how many birds and mammals they attack and eat

------------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Eurovision Song Contest is very political which is why it has descended into semi-chaos

Eurovision 2024 has descended into a form of political chaos. There are protests outside the Malmo stadium where the contest is being held in support of Palestinians being slaughtered in the Gaza Strip. The climate activist Greta Thunberg participated and we see photographs of her being hauled away by Swedish police.

The Swedish police removed Greta Thunberg from an unauthorised pro-Palestine protest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest which includes an entry from Israel. The Israeli singer, Eden Golan, is under protection in her hotel suite, as reported by The Sunday Times today.

And I can remember a person saying that protests shouldn't take place outside the Eurovision Song contest because it's a non-political contest but he's wrong. It is highly political. It has been a highly political contest for years. In fact I think it was created for political purposes! And the Eastern European block always work together and vote against nations they dislike such as the UK. It is simply hopeless as a music competition. A total waste of time.

Back in the day the best songs won the contest (sometimes). Nowadays nearly all the voting is based on political affiliations. It is highly distorted by political bias. Arguably, the UK is the best country in the world for the creation of new pop songs but Britain nearly always comes last nowadays because of political bias against the UK.

I'm not just moaning about the UK being unfairly treated. I've just decided years ago that the Eurovision Song Contest is a complete joke as a song contest. It is nothing about song. It's about politics and making a statement.

And nowadays it isn't about songs anyway. It's about dance routines and lighting and extreme visual images. It isn't about pure song or music. And that's probably because the songs are rubbish. They've had to jazz up the music to make it interesting and they've done that with dance routines and groups and jazzy lighting.

The Netherlands entry, Joost Klein has been disqualified perhaps unfairly. The reasons for that are listed below. And now we have more uncertainty with speculation about island's entry performing this evening. The group Bambi Thug took to social media to reveal that they missed the flag parade and dress rehearsals because of an issue which remains unresolved.

The Irish delegation believed that comments made on Israel's Eurovision broadcast, Kan, contravened the Eurovision Song rules stated in the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) about discussions regarding other contestants and their disparaging nature.

Once again this is a political element to what should be an entirely non-political event. But this is what happens when over years and years you gradually politicise what was a pure song contest in the good old days; in the innocent days when it first started.

When you gradually politicise something you end up with this form of fiction because people start using the event as a political platform. And politics is bound to create friction whereas song and music achieve the opposite. It achieves harmony, pleasantness, enjoyment and contentment or at least that's the objective.

But the Eurovision Song contest has been hijacked by political activists because it is a political platform.

It would appear that the choice of Malmo as the town where the Eurovision Song Contest was to be held is shrouded in controversy thanks to the participation of Israel. The city itself has been beset by bubbling ethnic tensions according to The Sunday Times. And, the Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, was under heavy protection last night before the show and Israel advised its citizens not to attend because of a "well-founded concern that terrorist elements will exploit the protests and anti-Israel mood to carry out attacks against Israelis."

In other areas, there have been bubbling tensions and political protests away from the site of the show. For example, student watch parties at the University of Warwick and the London School of Economics were cancelled at the last minute. And the University of East Anglia said that it would not air Israel's entry during the Eurovision party.

The Eurovision Party London was cancelled at the Rio cinema in East London in protest at Israel's participation. A screening at the Duke of York cinema In Brighton was also called off because of safety concerns.

Ollie Alexander was in trouble after he called for a ceasefire in Gaza. He resisted pressure to boycott the contest but broke down in tears in a recent interview because of the stress he was under.

Alexandra Mele pulled out of her role communicating Norway's points citing the inflamed situation in Malmo. And Finland's jury spokesman, the runner-up in last year's contest, announced he would not be fulfilling his role.

The Netherlands disqualification explained by Bing's Co-pilot and AI bot. It is polite.

The Netherlands’ disqualification from the Eurovision Song Contest was due to an incident involving Dutch artist Joost Klein. Here’s what happened:

• Backstage Incident: During the Eurovision Song Contest, a female member of the production crew made an allegation of intimidation against Joost Klein. She reported this to the Swedish police.

• Filming Dispute: The Dutch broadcaster Avrotros stated that Joost Klein was filmed without his consent when he had just come off stage and was rushing to the greenroom. Despite repeatedly indicating that he did not want to be filmed, his wishes were not respected. Joost did not physically touch the camerawoman, but there was a threatening movement towards her.

• Disqualification Decision: The contest organizers decided to disqualify Joost Klein, stating that it would not be appropriate for him to participate while the legal process was ongoing. Dutch broadcaster Avrotros called the disqualification “disproportionate.”

• Favourite to Win: Joost Klein had been among the favourites to win the contest with his song “Europapa,” a pro-European techno anthem dedicated to his late father.

• Suspension: News of his suspension emerged during the first dress rehearsal for the televised grand final. His performance was skipped without explanation, and Israel’s entrant took his place.

• Zero Tolerance: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has a “zero tolerance” policy, leading to Joost Klein’s disqualification.

It’s unfortunate that Joost Klein’s Eurovision journey ended this way, especially considering his dedication to honouring his father’s memory through music. 

Sources: The Sunday Times, general internet searches and Bing's Copilot.

-------------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Catholic priest said that Jesus Christ died with an erection

A catholic priest in County Durham, UK, said in his sermon that Jesus died with an erection. There was uproar among the parishioners as they gasped in shock, murmuring to each other. A complaint was filed against him which was upheld but he kept his job.

Image: MikeB

He delivered his sermon on Good Friday. He is father Thomas McHale.

Father McHale, 53, is from the United States. There were between 75 and 100 Catholics in the congregation at the time.

His argument that Jesus died with an erection is an interesting one. He made the claim in his sermon because when Jesus was crucified his blood would have rushed to his lower body. And it's known that full or partial erections have been seen in the corpses of men who have been executed particular by hanging.

It's also been seen in men who died with fatal gunshot wounds to the brainstem or spinal cord.

The issue was first raised in a 2015 article in the magazine Premier Christianity which referred to the "strange physiological reaction, the final shame of a crucified man".

A spokesperson for the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle confirmed that a complaint had been investigated and upheld.

McHale has been a parish priest at Blackhill for more than 10 years. He is still working in the parish according to a local parish newsletter.

Comment: a lot of people would say that referring to Jesus having an erection was vulgar and inappropriate in a sermon. It probably was but perhaps McHale sees things differently. He sees things in a very realistic way by the look of it. He doesn't see the embarrassment of mentioning Jesus Christ having an erection. It sounds blasphemous and completely inappropriate but if you look at it from a practical, pragmatic and biological point of view it doesn't sound so bad.

The problem is that Christians who worship God and Jesus look up to Christ. He is perfect and not of this world. But of course he was of this world and he was a living man and I think Jesus himself would agree that he was imperfect. I'm sure of it. And I'm sure that he wouldn't mind a reference to an erect penis. I think he was a very honest, open and direct man. He must have been to have had the views that he espoused in his sermons.

-----------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Dog owner makes an insane request of a cat owner

This is a first for me. It's about a dispute between neighbours; one lives with a dog while the other lives with their cat or cats. The cat caregiver's cat likes to sit on the windowsill looking out as cats like to do as it entertains them. It is said that windows are "cat television" for the domestic cat particularly for indoor cats.

But the problem in this instance is that the dog owner's dog also likes to look out the window and he sees the cat opposite and becomes agitated and barks. No doubt the barking irritates the owner or owners living in the home and so they have asked the cat owner the following question:

"Can you please keep your cats out of the window? They are causing my dog to sit in the window and bark all day long."

You have got to hand it to the dog owner; he had the gall to ask the question in the first place but it is an unreasonable question. What he should be doing is training his dog not to bark and that's possible if he knows what to do.

Stop your dog barking at people who pass the front of your house.

As it happens, I have a page on that topic (click on link above). Dogs bark at people and other animals because they are protecting their group. The bark is a vocal warning to their group and the dog's owner is the alpha dog in that group so this dog is protecting the leader of the pack. It is an entirely instinctive aspect of dog behaviour but it can be dealt with through training.

ALSO RELATED - a similar scenario: Best way to stop dog barking when there’s a knock on the door?

The cat owner was stumped as to what to do. They went to the Reddit.com website and asked for advice. As it happens the cat owner has five cats who love to sit at the window and do nothing but sleep they say.

The request in the conversation on Reddit.com has garnered 12,000 comments which is unsurprising. One responded by saying the following:

"Make sure to send them a letter like 'please keep your dog out of the window, his presence is disrupting my cat's chakras and chill vibes.'"

Although that is likely to exacerbate what is at the moment a minor neighbour dispute. No neighbours should be entering into a dispute with any neighbour. There is almost nothing worse than a long-running neighbour dispute for ruining your life depending of course on how bad it gets.

Another responded by saying:

 "I'm totally a dog person, but trying to make your neighbour discipline their cat for sitting in a window because you won't discipline your dog for nuisance barking is SHEER INSANITY. I mean what the hell? Train your cat not to chill in a window because training a dog not to disturb the s*** out of everyone is too hard? I can't believe this neighbour had the nerve."

Another possible solution would be to block the dog from looking out of the window but that would be unfair. This dog likes to look out the window. The key, as I see it, is as mentioned; to train the dog to not bark when they see the cat. That will take time and effort. More effort than it takes to write to the neighbour to stop their cat sitting at the window but it would be the only reasonable solution.

--------------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

A cat came dancing - Early Years (5) - Nursery Rhymes - Video

This is a departure from my normal sort of article. I want to show you a short video on YouTube and on the BBC website made for children of about the age of five which is the reception year at schools. It's nice to create an article for five year old kids. That does not say that any five year old kids will actually view this article. I don't expect it actually. It would be a near miracle if a five year old child or her mother clicked on a link to come to this page but, there it is, I am writing it nonetheless.

This is a charming video.

Below are the lyrics to the song.

A cat came dancing

A cat came dancing out of the barn,
With a fiddle under her arm.
She could play nothing but fiddle-cum-fee,
The mouse has married the bumble bee.
Play cat, dance mouse,
We'll have a jig in our good house,
Play cat, dance mouse,
We'll have a jig in our good house.

A pig came dancing out of the barn,
With a drum under his arm.
He could play nothing but diddle-dum-dee,
The mouse has married the bumble bee.
Play cat, dance mouse,
We'll have a jig in our good house,
Play cat, dance mouse,
We'll have a jig in our good house.

A cow came dancing out of the barn,
With a horn under her arm.
She could play nothing but tootle-tum-tee,
The mouse has married the bumble bee.
Play cat, dance mouse,
We'll have a jig in our good house,
Play cat, dance mouse,
We'll have a jig in our good house.

Here is a little more on the nursery rhyme:

“A Cat Came Dancing” is a delightful nursery rhyme that features whimsical animals and their musical talents. Here’s the charming verse:

A cat came dancing out of a barn,
With a fiddle under her arm.
She could play nothing but fiddle-cum-fee,
The mouse has married the bumble bee.

The rhyme continues with other animals joining the dance:

• A pig comes dancing out of the barn, carrying a drum under its arm, playing “diddle-dum-dee.”
• A cow joins in, with a horn under her arm, playing “tootle-tum-tee.”

The recurring refrain is:

Play cat, dance mouse,
We’ll have a jig in our good house.

It’s a whimsical and playful rhyme that captures the joy of music and dancing animals. 🎶🐱🎻

If you’d like to listen to an animated version of “A Cat Came Dancing,” you can find it on the BBC Teach website. Enjoy the delightful rhythm and imagery! 😊

-----------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.