Panorama - supermarkets

I have made a number of posts about small shops and supermarkets. This evenings Panorama programme on BBC1 called 'Supermarkets: What Price Cheap Food' is an excellent critique of the supermarket business model.

Amazingly, the programme only covers standard economic and cultural impacts of supermarkets which is enough to put anyone off. If the environmental and health impacts were added to the long list Panorama made, one wonders how any council or government would approve.

Do we want a monstrous future dominated by milk and cow factories, with supermarkets destroying communities?

Panorama

Mystery object

A little puzzle for anyone interested. I have uploaded a photo of an object that was produced in 1948, however similar objects have been used for centuries.

I know what it is, can you identify it?

Post your answers in the comments.

Clue: it has nautical connections, however it can be used in a non-nautical context.

Duvet and blanket combo

In these chilly times it can be difficult keeping warm in bed, especially if you don't have central heating. An efficient and cheap trick I discovered in the last few years is the discovery of the duvet/blanket combo.

What I do is spread an old blanket (probably circa 1950s/1960s) over the top of the duvet so that the blanket drapes over the sides of the bed and duvet. This creates an additional layer, but more importantly helps weigh down the duvet so it doesn't move around so much and helps to fill gaps between the duvet and mattress that may develop when you move around.
Because the blanket is a more flexible material, when the duvet shifts to one side, the blanket fills any gaps that might let cold air in. It is important that the blanket drapes over the sides of the bed.

The result is that I am usually cozy warm in the morning, instead of waking up with a cold back or bum because the duvet is half hanging off the bed!

A really cheap and efficient solution to a modern problem, assuming you can still get your hands on a blanket!

Search facility works again!

I had to remove the site Search facility a number of months ago because it suddenly stopped working and it stayed like that for weeks.

But now it seems to work again, possibly because the Blogspot staff have fixed a bug?
So I have put the search box back in the menu column. Should be easier now to find past posts and specific subjects.

Is Carbon Dioxide pollution?

There is an (unfounded) debate as to whether CO2 should be called pollution. The common mistake many people make is that pollution must be damaging to human health in order for it to be called pollution.

This of course is incorrect, although skeptics throw out knowledge and go with the common belief as outlined above when they say CO2 is not a pollutant. The meaning of the word pollutant changes as culture changes, so today we have light pollution and noise pollution. Three hundred years ago we didn't have these problems or didn't really bother to much about them.

Today light pollution stops us seeing all the stars and noise pollution interferes with birds living patterns. CO2 is a new pollution problem, its become a problem because it has an impact on our climate and oceans, that in turn has an impact on us and the planet.

So by definition CO2 is a pollutant. We shouldn't be afraid of calling it that, but we should be afraid of the consequences of not controlling how much we emit.

More Climate Science

Video time

We haven't had a video for some time, so here is a video/radio show from New Zealand and KiwiFM. It has a lot of interesting stuff, including Naomi Oreskes the author of 'Merchants of Doubt' and John Cook of Skeptical Science:

Waterlooville Library - meet your local tree wardens

Havant Borough Tree Wardens are holding a 'coffee morning' at Waterlooville library, where members of the public can talk to a local tree warden. Anyone interested in the voluntary work they do, would like to learn about local trees or are interested in becoming a tree warden, go along and check it out.

Date: 17 Dec
Time: 10:00 to 12:00
Location: Waterlooville library, ground floor

www.havantboroughtreewardens.org.uk