Tragedy in Virginia

It is impossible not to react with horror to the mass murder yesterday of 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech university in America. Now personally I hate guns and what they are capable of with a vengeance and have never had a desire to own one. However in the States people have a right to bear arms and I don't expect that right to be rescinded anytime soon. What bothers me though is the attitude that life is cheap, there is something fundamentally wrong with the way some people develop. For instance look at the recent casual killings of young people in London. Whilst not being able to understand the motivation of the killer in Virginia what increasingly bothers me is the ready access to violent images in for example films and computer games. These things may not necessarily be relevant in this tragedy but we seem to be so exposed to violent images these days - think TV reports from Iraq for instance. We seem to be now accepting extreme unprovoked violence as the norm. It shouldn't be so.

Trees come into leaf

Across the valley from my cottage is a steep hillside covered in woodland except where some rocky outcrops poke through. The overall effect is quite stunning. It is in fact a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees; most of the deciduous ones have come into leaf now. When I first moved to this part of the village in 1995 I recall having to wait till the start of May before the trees started to put on their 'summer clothes'. Unusually there has hardly been a frost so far this year.

The tulips in a friend's garden are well out now and in yesterday's Western Morning News there was a beautiful picture of the stunning tulip display in Dartmouth's Royal Avenue Gardens. Must grow some next year! Also seems to be an excellent year for primroses - I have no shortage of them. Have seen one or two blue butterflies and my neighbour had a green woodpecker visit his peanut feeder the other day. There's always something happening in nature isn't there.

First public cruise to view Napoli

Plenty of small boats have been out to see the wreck of the MSC Napoli but we have now had the first public cruise to see her at reasonably close quarters. The visitors were on the 250 seat 'The Pride of Exmouth' and of course the 500 metre exclusion zone is still in place.

I suppose it's nice to hear of a local concern getting some financial benefit from the wreck!

Jackdaws stamping on the roof

One of the routine occurrences in Spring at this little terrace of cottages is the visits by the local jackdaws. We are never short of them here and the way they swoop about chattering to each other is always a delight to behold. Now being in the Tamar Valley there is no shortage of moss on our slate roofs and evidently this is just the ticket when it comes to nesting material. Jackdaws I've noted are pretty untidy with the result that plenty of moss finishes up either in the guttering or out in the road. But what amazes me most of all is the noise they generate when they are running over the roof, it's deafening! For anyone not used to it they could be wondering just what is going on.

The way wildlife interacts with the built environment is one of the things that makes nature so fascinating.

Wasting our License Fee

I tend to watch the BBC's 6 o'clock news on a fairly regular basis. For a long time now the weekday editions have been fronted by two newscasters costing us a good deal of money. Now I'm not overly worried about that because we are in a market economy so far as TV is concerned and no doubt the Beeb would say they have to pay the going rate. But what really bugs me is the way the BBC is dispatching one or other of the two to the scene of action when a supposedly important story breaks.

The most recent one occurred last week when the repatriated sailors and marines were flown by helicopter to the Royal Marines Base at Chivenor in North Devon to meet up with their loved ones. On that particular day all we saw were the relatives embracing their homecomers, it wasn't until the following day that a news conference by some of the detainees was held. So the question is was it so vital to send national newscaster Jane Hill down from London to cover this particular story all at our expense. I think not. And bear in mind we do have regional reporters more than capable of handling such a situation. Yes the BBC which is a treasured institution in many ways really need to stop tossing our money about like there's no tomorrow.

Selling their story

Unsurprisingly the main story in the media in the past week or two has been the capture, detention and release of 15 of our service personnel by Iran. Now a massive row has erupted about those same 15 being allowed to sell their stories to the media.

Should they be permitted to make money from this incident? Emphatically not is my point of view. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the original event, whatever the extent or otherwise of the psychological pressure they were under in Iran they should not now financially profit from what happened. Yes I do understand that the incident was more political than military (it's worth remembering we are not at war with Iran) and that the aftermath is all about propaganda but when our young people join up it is all about the discipline of operating within the constraint of certain rules and Queens Regulations prohibit the selling of a story whilst in service unless there are very special circumstances.

It has been argued that permitting these personnel to tell their stories in their own words is a necessary counter to the Iranians version of events. I would say that it is very bad for the morale of other service people and what about the bereaved of those who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan? There might conceivably be a short term gain in the propaganda war, although even that is debatable, but surely this is setting an unwelcome precedent for the future.

No fire deaths in Cornwall last year

For the first time in its history Cornwall Fire Brigade was able to report that there were no deaths from fire in the last financial year. The chief fire officer said that he believed the brigade's community fire prevention work was a factor in achieving this zero figure. Apparently firefighters had visited 18,000 homes in Cornwall last year performing home safety checks and, where appropriate, fitting smoke alarms free of charge.

Having just written this I've been compelled to check my smoke alarm! All is well I'm glad to say. I must make a point of checking it on a weekly basis. Now here's an interesting comment I once received from someone very knowledgeable about batteries: he is only prepared to sell the Duracell type of batteries for a smoke alarm. This is because the cheaper batteries aren't really capable of continuing to emit that high pitched sound over a lengthy period. In other words for that heavy sleeper who comes home after a heavy drinking session shall we say he may not awake soon enough.

My cottage is so small that one alarm covers the whole house: it is located on the landing outside my bedroom. Putting it up was the very first thing I did when moving in - my reasoning being that the first day was just as likely to see a fire as any subsequent day. I'm pleased to say though that nothing eventful happened...

Branscombe Beach now fully open

The beaching of the MSC Napoli off the Devon coast is no longer on the radar of the national media of course. So I'm pleased to have the opportunity of posting an update which happens to be good news. This past week has seen the full reopening of the beach at Branscombe: I believe that there is still a secure compound down there but this shouldn't spoil the pleasure of those visiting. Excellent news then to follow the traumas of those dark days back in January when the original beaching took place.

Interestingly local businesses then were understandably despondent about the immediate future but I think with the fairly recent lifting of travel restrictions in the village there will now be many people visiting. Certainly the media attention on Branscombe at the height of the drama could induce folk to go there if they are in the vicinity. It would seem that after the early problems at Branscombe some really good organisation has swung into place - not that that is something the media would feed on.

I do hope that businesses in Branscombe do well on this sunny Easter weekend.

Progress in Northern Ireland

I backed Blair in my previous post and will do so again. Now I very much doubt that this will be habit forming but credit must be given where it's due. Although Mr Blair will mainly and understandably be remembered for the hell of Iraq he should also be remembered for his success in moving the peace process forward in Ulster, building on the hard work of John Major.

Seeing Sinn Fein leaders entering 10 Downing Street used to be quite gut wrenching as was the early release of criminals from both sides who had been actively involved in the killing. But it now seems that cooperation between the nationalists and loyalists could really be the end of the troubles.

There would have been a time when it was impossible to imagine Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley in the same room together. But incredibly it has now happened.

Blair right, Archbishops wrong

I have a good deal of respect for the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, normally less for Tony Blair. But when it comes to the matter of whether we should apologise for this country's part in the slave trade these two religious leaders are hopelessly wrong. I do hope that Blair sticks to his guns and not formally say "sorry". As with most countries our country has done many things in the past which now appear reprehensible and the slave trade is just one of them.

Saying 'sorry' for something that happened centuries ago is a total misuse of the word. It implies responsibility for something that has happened over which the apologiser in fact has had no control. It must be remembered that attitudes were so different back then. What about the Africans that actually did the deals with British slave traders, surely they are just as culpable. If a formal apology is made then this opens the floodgates for the never ending list of dirty deeds performed by our ancestors.

The whole thing is so crystal clear to me - I just can't understand why these intellectual church leaders are unable to see it.