Sunday, April 26, 2009

Closed For Maintenance

Time perhaps to pause and reflect.

It is becoming progressively more wearying for me to put down a few lines for this blog. Hanly was right: my creative brain is busy packing up.... Perhaps.


And perhaps not. Certainly my brain is getting tired, but what I mainly feel missing is a good deal of motivations. Practically, after 4 years of Barrydale Times (printed version) and a good half year of blogging, I honestly start wondering what am I doing this for. 


Just today, driving into the village, I saw the usual amount of rubbish under the "Welcome in Barrydale" sign; it was exactly the same rubbish I photographed 3 months ago and wrote about. Nothing has changed and I wonder if something will ever change.


The other day a friend said to me: "Why do you care? Do what everybody else does and stick your head in the sand." 

He is right. Everybody, some more some less, does that, and this is why things are pretty bad all over - people, like ostriches, tend to forget that though their head is well in the sand, their backside is not . Not only, it's also pretty exposed.


Unfortunately, if people keep their head in the sand, one has to scream to be heard, but I'm tired and I'm running out of breath.


To put it mildly, I'm fed up. Fed up not only with writing a blog, with pesticides and rubbish, I'm fed up with humanity, with wars, with corruption, with stupidity, with lack of concern, with selfishness, pettiness and greed. I'm just fed up.


Reading here and there, in the last few years, I came across a lot of words. They tell horrible stories, they talk of oppression, injustice and pain. But words are words, and the sowers of confusion never tire to contradict, to find excuses, to justify pain and turn blood into patriotism and, believe or not, necessity.


Pictures instead don't lie. I could display here a vast collection of them: from that of a beautiful girl with both her legs shredded by the bombs of civilization and democracy, to the one showing a mound formed by the many corpses of 5 and 7 years old Gaza children, died during the last Israeli invasion.


I won't. Enough with blood, we see too much of it, we're getting callous.


I will only show you the most sad and tender of all, the most beautiful and the most heart rending; something to remember in the dark of our hole under the sand.

Enjoy it.




By for now

Barry Duck


Friday, April 3, 2009

THIS ISN'T CONDENSATION, MY FRIENDS!

Look at that!  

Impressive isn't it? But don't ask what it is: no matter what, you'll always find someone who tells you that it is "only" normal condensation trails from jets - and you're a sort of idiot who never heard of them and never noticed.


To me it looks more like a perfect new age abomination. 


But I shouldn't be worried: there is a new educational project - it's called CERES S'COOL, you can google it, and it is from NASA (who else?) - to teach kids in schools, among other things, not to worry and not to care about those whitish long lines in the sky - millions of dollars spent throughout the world to inform the new generations that those lines are just condensation from jet engines. 


WOW! I wonder why they do that! I also wonder how long will it take before having people telling us that bank managers are fairies and politicians took over from Santa.

Better shut up, we don't want to give them ideas, do we?

 

UNFORTUNATELYWHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CONDENSATION.


It is not condensation because condensation trails, due to normal daily flights, don't appear for a couple of days and disappear for months (there has been no trails in the sky whatsoever from the 17 of November to the beginning of March - does it mean that all commercial flights have been suspended in this period?). 

Moreover, contrary to chemtrails, condensation trails don't cause an immediate increase in the temperature (the latest heavy spraying activity on the 31st of March and first of April are just now causing a HEAT WAVE in the Western Cape interior). Contrary to chemtrails, finally, condensation trails don't create areas of high pressures and don't dehumidify the air.



Why should "they" do that? I don't know why "they" do that - nobody does, yet - but at least the effects of the chemical trails are becoming progressively noticeable.


As a matter of fact, after  an intense chemtrails activity the temperature ALWAYS goes up by many degrees, the air becomes ALWAYS extremely dry, and here in the Western Cape, between 2 and 3 days after the spraying, it ALWAYS rains on the coast - the radio has just announced this evening (April the 2nd) that showers are expected in Cape Town by tomorrow. The reason why it rains on the coast after an intense chemtrails activity in our region is easily explainable: an area of high pressure in the interior attracts low pressure over the coast. Therefore, cold fronts that a few years ago, as they were passing further south were skipping the Cape, are now back on course.

Eventually it rains a few drops here as well, but not enough - not in the least - and definitely not enough to compensate for the loss of humidity due to the excess of heat created by the chemicals that have been sprayed.


As this weren't enough, and as we live in a world full of surprises, here comes the worst of all discoveries: chemtrails kill insects by the billions.

I noticed that after the usual hosing of the sky, there are no insects swarming on the walls around my external lights. The day before, hundreds of them, the day after, none. You may not believe me, but you can check it out, it's easy.


I made 2+2 and I contacted an overseas group of researchers by internet. They confirmed my suspicions. These trails in the sky kill insects. As a matter of fact, in Europe, were chemtrails activity is non stop, THERE ARE ALMOST NO INSECTS LEFT.


Great, just Great! "Somebody" is selling a scheme to control weather and at the same time is wiping out insects! -  which means to seriously alter the feeding cycle of nature, therefore to jeopardize its very same vital structure! 


Well, there is not much that I can do, apart from writing about it and - provided that somebody cares - trying to create awareness, but... I'm really hoping to meet one of those NASA educators who talk about jets' condensation, I'll probably let him impress me for a while and then I'll kick him in crotch.

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

For more information about the difference between chemtrails  and contrails, please click HERE

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

DISHONORABLY INNOCENT


A few days ago, I was talking with friends about this worldwide economy crisis. I was pointing out that, in spite of what people generally believe - thanks to biased media reports - this crisis isn't just due to a down-sloping of the economy but rather to an implosion of the actual economic system. 


I also expressed the opinion that the consequences of such a situation will have a devastating impact on the whole world. There is no need to go into the meanders of the economy to understand the reason of it;  it is much simpler to make a basic equation: while the world population keeps growing, resources keep running shorter. To make things far worse, our capitalistic economy based on continuous growth and all out consumerism, can only radicalize the problem.


Briefly, I said, we cannot afford this kind of economy anymore. We cannot afford free rein capitalism.


The present situation requires a drastic political change, but unfortunately the constituted power (bluntly put, those in charge) is a creature of this economic system - ie. the political power is totally in the hands of corporations, financial groups, big banks, credit institutions etc. and none of them is willing to forfeit their privileges and power. 


Mind you, they might succeed in patching up the situation - making the man in the street pay for their malpractice and greed - but the result will only be a new and even more devastating crisis in a few years time.


In the course of the conversation, I expressed the opinion that in spite of everything, as there is not an honest will to accept the truth of that simple equation and make the necessary steps, all efforts are irrimediably doomed.

Using quite an overexploited image, I said that humanity, like the Titanic, is heading towards its demise... "I wish" I added "to live long enough to see it."


Predictably enough, one of my guests resented these words and made me notice that on the Titanic there are also ordinary people like himself and me, who, having nothing to do with the present crisis, are totally innocent and shouldn't deserve such a caustic comment.


I didn't reply, but perhaps I should have. In fact I wonder: is there something like innocence in human things? I don't know about the rest of humanity, but as far as I am concerned I certainly cannot protest complete innocence. I lived and grew fat at the border of a rotting system, I saw its greed and stupidity, I accepted it and thrived on it. 

Surely I didn't commit anything evil, but is this enough? As I never really did much in order to prevent others from committing it, perhaps not.


Therefore, as a full-fledged passenger of the Titanic, I cannot claim any right to safety and I won't, but at least I can claim a spectator seat, possibly in the front row. 

Monday, March 23, 2009

FREE COMMENTS FOR ALL


Let me brass up a bit. 

More than 420 hits, soon to be 500, means that Barry Duck is doing pretty well... considering that:

1) Barrydale is a very small village.

2) many still don't have a computer.

3) many of those who have a computer are still without broad-band - and nowadays having the patience to surf the net with a normal telephone connection makes Job look like a neurotic.


I'm happy... and I'm not happy.

I would have liked a better participation, more comments, more ideas, more contributions etc. 


Probably the reason is that many people still have difficulties in posting comments. In order to do it properly, please read the instructions under "AAA Attention Please", scrolling down on the right side of the main column.


After you wrote your comment press "Anonymous" and then "Publish". Please note that "Anonymous" does not mean that your comment has to remain such. You can sign it; if you prefer, you can sign it with a nick name.


So this post is open to everybody. Whoever wants to post comments on any issue regarding Barrydale or the Barrydale Times or Barry Duck or the price of your groceries or whatever, is welcome to do so.

All comments will be published as a post later on.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

"Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do so." Bertrand Russell


Hello everybody!

I just received a comment to the my post "Will It Ever End?" that should be instead published as a post.

It comes from Jurgen Shirmarcher's wife. The Shirmarchers are battling since years against the plague of pesticides in Riebeek-Kasteel and thanks to them something has been achieved. I think we all should be grateful to them.


Here it is:


"Hello Barry Duck


I sympathise with you regarding this pesticide matter.

My husband and I live in the Boland and we too are being sprayed, in an unlawful manner, with pesticides, so much so that we have ( including our children) ended up in hospital and have been diagnosed as having been exposed to pesticides and organophosphates.

As I type this to you, my joints and fingers are aching ( I have recently spent 2 weeks in hospital) and the diagnosis is pesticide induced multiple chemical sensitivity.My kidneys, liver and spleen were also affected by the pesticides.

The farmer has said that "nothing he sprays is harmful to man or to the environment" and he probably really either believes this, or is is just a very good liar. We forced him, by means of a High Court Order, to notify us in writing, what he sprays us with and to our horror we discovered that many of the pesticides are 1b highly hazardous chemicals, that many of them have been banned in 52 countries (except South Africa which seems to be decades behind) and that many of them have been found to not only cause damage to ones central nervous system, ones endocrine system, but are also carcinogenic and give one cancer.

The problem is not just endemic to Barrydale, but also to most rural towns in the Western Cape and other parts of South Africa. Similar complaints have come in from Stellenbosch, Paarl, Villiersdorp,Franschoek, Grabouw, Riebeek-Kasteel,Groblersdal ... the list is long.

The hardest part about raising public awareness, is that the farmers will say that they were here first and that if you dont want to be sprayed with toxic pesticides then go back to the city. What they dont seem to understand is that if they allow their pesticides to get blown out of their vineyards/orchards then they are actually breaking the law and are guilty of a criminal offence. They may also then say that because they have Eurepgap Certification (if they export ) they have to adhere to strict standards. But do they really? and who keeps a tab on the way that they spray?

It may take years for some people to get cancer as a result of the pesticides. For others they may have almost instantaneous side effects - it varies from person to person.

Nausea,headaches, tingling tongue and metallic taste on lips, ahcing joints, chronic fatique, vertigo, painful joints, heart palpitations are all well documented symptoms of exposure to pesticides and in particular organophosphates. The more serious long term illnesses like cancer, hodgsons lymphoma, parkinsons ..... take a little longer to manifest themselves.

Should we all be concerned ?? YES.

Are our rights, to be able to live in an environment that is not harmful to our health being infringed upon ? YES

The next question is , what are we going to do about it, to protect our health, our rights and the health of our children ?

Those who dont think and or believe that the pesticides will make you ill, should put their money where their mouth is, and allow themselves to be exposed to the spray drift. When they too get ill, they will then believe how serious a situation this is."

Saturday, February 28, 2009

"THE ADVENT"


The "Advent" will change SA's destiny once and for all. After the "Advent", all problems will be solved, all differences settled, everybody will be rich and we'll all live happily ever after. From that moment on, every event in SA will be defined as having taken place either before or after the "Advent". 


The "Advent"  is not going to be a sort of miracle like Fatima etc. it will be the 2010 Soccer World Cup. 


During the "Advent", a boundless crowd of enthusiasts, from all over the world, will flood the country throwing money at whatever moves. They'll try to eat five meals a day, sleep in 2 or 3 different places at the same time and buy whatever they can lay their hands on.


Since South African main cities won't have enough resources to accommodate their spending frenzy, in between games, millions of soccer fans will invade every other city, small city, village, dorp - or any aggregation of more than three dwellings - tasting all local delicacies, buying every ostrich egg, all wall-to-wall posters of the big five, every clock in the shape of the African continent and thousands of cubic meters of biltong. 


As there are doubts that the soccer fans will succeed in reaching any remote corner of the country in such a short time, the best brains of Barrydale - as well as of every other city, small city, village, dorp or aggregation of  more than three dwellings - are at work in order to convey to them the most unmistakable message of welcome and readiness - this in the unfortunate eventuality that our soccer friends decided, for whatever reason, to dissipate their riches somewhere else.


Apart from sticking flags of any size, colour and nationality wherever possible, so far no great plans came out of our local - not to be underestimated - creative elite. Except that just the other evening at a meeting on the necessity to put once and for all Barrydale on the international maps, the remarkable idea of placing a makeshift goalpost at the side of the road with kids kicking balls into it whenever a car seems to approach the village, left the audience gaping.


This commendable display of lateral thinking, vented by a notorious and respected representative of Barrydale's think tank force, will certainly have the merit of reminding our visitors about soccer - in case they momentarily forgot - and somehow conveying to them, in no middle terms, our eagerness to be thrown money at.


I cannot but applaud.


At the same time, having heard during the meeting all sorts of brilliant and semi-brilliant ideas on how to promote Barrydale from a touristic point of view, I wonder how come that nobody had the simple idea of making Barrydale worthy of being visited. 


How come that nobody mentioned that perhaps it would be a good idea to get rid of the incredible amount of rubbish lying all over, in and around the village? And how come that nobody spent a word about cleaning the river and - perhaps - letting it flow instead of sucking it dry? And again, I wonder why nobody has proposed to eradicate some alien vegetation, or clean the verges and the empty plots, or, even better, try to do something about the cloud of pesticides that in certain days makes the air unbreathable.


How many thousands of flags one needs to hide all that? 


Friday, February 20, 2009

The Future Is Green - Apparently

Seeing we are talking pesticides and all sorts of monstrosities in modern agriculture, I want to propose to the readers of Barry Duck - therefore me - this extremely interesting article about food, agriculture and future trends.

Hope you'll enjoy.

 


Published on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 by Inter Press Service

UN Seeks a Green Revolution in Food

by Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - The food crisis that spilled over from last year could take a turn for the worse in the next decade if there are no explicit answers to a rash of growing new problems, including declining agricultural production, a faltering distribution network and a deteriorating environment worldwide.

"Changing the ways in which food is produced, handled and disposed of across the globe - from farm to store and from fridge to landfill - can both feed the world's rising population and help the environmental services that are the foundation of agricultural productivity in the first place," says a new study titled 'The Environmental Food Crisis' released by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP).


A woman checks vegetables in a market in Beijing in 2008. The UN Environment Programme has unveiled an ambitious seven-point plan to feed the world without polluting it further by making better use of resources and cutting down on massive waste. (AFP/File/Peter Parks)


With the steep increase in food prices in 2008, the number of chronically malnourished has reached a staggering 963 million, mostly in the world's poorest countries.

Anuradha Mittal, director of the U.S.-based policy think tank Oakland Institute, says the findings of the latest UNEP study have to be seen in the light of its report released last year which offered evidence that organic agriculture can increase yields, improve soil, and boost incomes of farmers.

A crisis of this proportion raises major questions about industrial agriculture and how best to address the needs of the hungry, she said.

"Unfortunately, the widespread hunger and poverty is being used to make the case for increasing agricultural production through technical solutions such as genetically engineered (GE) crops and chemical-based agriculture," Mittal told IPS.

However, UNEP's research demonstrates that organic small-scale agriculture can deliver the increased yields without the environmental and social damage that has resulted from industrial model of agriculture.

"We need to pay heed to these findings and start crafting a different vision for agriculture which works with nature and not against it," said Mittal, an international expert on issues relating to trade, development and agriculture.

A briefing paper by the Oakland Institute released Tuesday also confirms the success of the organic model, noting that on average, in developed countries, organic systems produce 92 percent of the yield produced by conventional agriculture. In developing countries, organic systems fare even better, producing 80 percent more than conventional farms.

In a study released last week, the Geneva-based U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that despite the economic crisis, organic agriculture would continue to grow, representing an opportunity for developing country farmers including those in Africa.

The report said that sales of certified organic produce could reach close to 70 billion dollars in 2012, up from 23 billion dollars in 2002.

"We need a Green revolution in a Green Economy but one with a capital G," says Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

"We need to deal with not only the way the world produces food but the way it is distributed, sold and consumed, and we need a revolution that can boost yields by working with rather than against nature," he added.

The UNEP study released Tuesday says that unless more intelligent and creative management is brought to the world's agricultural systems, the 2008 food crisis - which plunged millions back into hunger - may foreshadow an even bigger crisis in the years to come.

The major findings of the study include:

- The 100-year trend of falling food prices may be at an end, and food prices may increase by 30-50 percent within decades, with critical impacts for those living in extreme poverty who spend up to 90 percent of their income on food.

- Up to 25 percent of the world's food production may be lost due to 'environmental breakdowns' by 2050 unless action is taken. Already, cereal yields have stagnated worldwide and fish catches are declining.

- Today, over one third of the world's cereals are being used as animal feed, rising to 50 percent by 2050. Continuing to feed cereals to growing numbers of livestock will aggravate poverty and environmental degradation.

- The amount of fish bycatch currently discarded at sea - estimated at 30 million tonnes annually - could alone sustain more than a 50 percent increase in fish farming and aquaculture production, which is needed to maintain per capita fish consumption at current levels by 2050 without increasing pressure on an already stressed marine environment.

- Losses and food waste in the United States could be as high as 40-50 percent, according to some recent estimates. Up to one quarter of all fresh fruits and vegetables in the U.S. is lost between the field and the table.

- In Australia, it is estimated that food waste makes up half of that country's landfill. Almost one-third of all food purchased in Britain every year is not eaten.

- Food losses in the developing world are also considerable, mainly due to spoilage and pests. For instance, in Africa, the total amount of fish lost through discards, post-harvest loss and spoilage may be around 30 percent of landings.

The study, compiled by a wide group of experts from both within and outside UNEP, also warns that climate change has emerged as one of the key factors that may undermine the chances of feeding over nine billion people by 2050.

Increasing water scarcities and a rise and spread of invasive pests such as insects, diseases and weeds may also substantially depress yields in the future.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

WILL IT EVER END?


I was fairly happy. For some strange reason, since I live on farmland, down at the river, I don't get much affected by pesticides, or at least not as much as before. I even thought things were somehow improving. 


But unfortunately they were not - as usual, all fits of optimism in Barrydale don't last long - hope you noticed.


At the beginning of this month, heavy spraying took place a bit further down from the Pad Camp. Whatever they might have used affected me like never before. During those days I suffered of:

1) Strong heart palpitations.

2) Tingling tongue and thirst.

3) Nausea and stomach acidity.

4) Pain to liver and articulations (fingers, elbows, knees and hips).


These symptoms stopped a few hours after the end of the spraying operations, except for the pains to the liver and joints that are still bothering me, though at a lesser degree - the way it has been explained to me, the problems to the liver and the articulations are due to the fact that the body doesn't recognize these chemicals and doesn't know how to get rid of them. As the liver cannot process them, the excess get stored around the sinews and in cartilaginous tissues - don't know more, I come from Barcelona.


Since there were no doubts whatsoever that the spraying was the cause of these  problems, I contacted the Ministry of Agriculture for help and support - other big fit of optimism. They sent me a list - scarily long - of all banned chemicals and wanted to know from me (?) what they were spraying.

So I went to the police and ask them to check. Guess what? The police didn't want to know about it - no big guessing here, I suppose - but kindly suggested me to contact - guess who - the Ministry of Agriculture - usual ping pong. 

Back to the Ministry of Agriculture I was told that they would happily come and check, but as they were momentarily short of staff, they will eventually send somebody in a near future. Since this expression in the public sector means anything between 4 weeks and 5 months, I wonder why they should bother, by the time they are here, there' ll be no trace left of these chemicals. 


So practically, farmers will always get away with anything, no matter what they spray.


And this in spite of the law. Funny enough, there are a few laws and regulations on the matter - still nothing compare to the 300 and more pages on the use of tobacco in public places - but fortunately there are. Act 36 of 1947, for instance, OBLIGES FARMERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR SPRAY DOES NOT AFFECT PEOPLE OR PROPERTIES .


Our "friends" instead - I don't know who exactly they are, but does that matter? - not only spray a few meters from the Pad Camp and the houses of Smitsville, but they don't even bother if a strong wind is blowing towards the village. Basically, they don't give a hoot.


For a few crates more of plums, in spite of many safer and Eco-friendly alternatives, these people affect other people's health, pollute the environment, contaminate rivers and table water. 


This is insane.


Thursday, February 5, 2009

A PERFECT CRISIS



It's the 6th of February - a month where temperatures are supposed to be well over forty throughout,- I'm sitting having breakfast and I'm cold. Yesterday I felt cold in Swellendam, of all places. Where is summer? Evenings are pretty cool, mornings are chilly and the wind is going full steam since months.

Should the trend persists, we are going to freeze our but off well before winter. 


Anyway I didn't mean to talk about the weather. 

Today instead I want to talk about this flipping crisis. I can feel it in the bones, or I rather perceive it  on the shelves of shops and supermarkets, in shopping centers and in front of estate agents' advertising boards. Doom and gloom all over! The pessimists are having the time of their life and the only ones who still smile are the die-hard optimists, those still stuck to the mind over matter story.


As far as I'm concerned, I'm more worried about the solutions than the crisis itself.


All over, governments are printing money and reducing interest rates - this is what worries me the most. They are intentionally  igniting an inflation spiral that - they think - should theoretically counteract an inevitable price plunge and push people to get rid of their money in order to support the economy - if everything is going up, rather spend.

It worked in the past, but I seriously doubt is going to work now, given the present recession. It might work for a little while, mind you, but soon afterwards things will get worse.


The fact is that especially in the last 20/30 years the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. I.e. a policy of containment of salaries has been worldwide tacitly enforced with the result of reducing the masses to the breadline. At the same time costs kept escalating - basically everybody, except the masses, wanted to make money out of the masses. It couldn't last. If you don't pay people, you can't go back to people and ask for the money you didn't give them.

The dentist wanted more money, the government wanted more money, Eskom wanted more money etc. and up to here it works because you can't say no to the dentist, the government, Eskom and eventually the green-grocer. But then you have to say no to pizzas, new socks and a few days holidays, unless you're prepared to sleep in the back of the car and eat chips.


So restaurants are half empty, shops don't sell, doctors and lawyers run after ambulances.

 

To ignite a hyper-inflaction in the present situation is a risky business. People do not consume because they don't want to, but simply because they can't afford it. With an increase of prices due to inflation, people will consume even less and will get seriously irritated. The South African government, just to be on the safe side, should send an official delegation to Lourdes. 


Looking at the bright side of life, we have already the first excellent victim: globalization - not dead yet, but comatose: cargo flights are down a serious 23.9% - serious but not dramatic - while shipping is down 93% - just dramatic.


As a consequence, industrial farming will end soon - hopefully; all those stupid and useless things from China will disappear by magic; mass tourism, the plague of the century, will come to a stop - many will cry, I won't; chain stores  and colossal supermarkets will collapse like Goliath hit by the stones of David; local products will take over. That, especially, is going to save us a lot of money -  having South Africans decided long ago that importing is easier then producing, there are basically no local products - wine and biltong apart.


The beauty of all this crisis is that there is absolutely nothing we can do. Or just about...


Personally, I'm already preparing some nice Christmas cards to send to all heads of state, finance ministers, tycoons, financial groups executives and newspaper editors. Something like this: 



Tuesday, January 20, 2009

RUBBISH...RUBBISH EVERYWHERE

True, I'm paraphrasing Coleridge. I must say I loooove that overwhelming sense of greatness and defeat in his words "Water, water everywhere..." while dying of thirst in the middle of the ocean. 

I'm also overwhelmed by a sense of greatness and defeat, not by the vastness of the ocean but by the rubbish. Rubbish in Barrydale is ubiquitous and unbeatable, a cosmic force against which it seems useless to rebel, like gravity. And although I'm certainly not on the verge of dying because of it, the rubbish - everywhere - always triggers in me a sense of depression. 

Admittedly depression is quite a personal feeling and in order to be depressed by rubbish one has to be a particular kind of person - the wrong one. The other one litters and lives happily ever after.


Obeying to an inner masochistic streak, I took my camera and went for some pictures hunting - some things MUST be immortalized. 




The first item in this collection of images is actually a pearl: Barrydale's welcome sign to visitors. It talks loads about municipal standards and criteria. And plenty more about pride, care, dignity, as well as attracting tourism and promoting local business. 

It looks like a joke. I suggest either we remove the sign or we remove the rubbish. As nobody seems to understand that rubbish doesn't necessarily belongs to the landscape, I guess removing the sign would be a better and more permanent solution.


 


Pictures 1 and 2 describe the situation at the school's sports ground. Here the pictures seem to emphasize education, cultural models and local legacy to future generations. Useless wasting more words.



 

Finally a surprise for those who seem "to know" where littering comes from. Pictures 3 and 4 show a massive illegal dumping of rubbles at the side of the road (the so called Escape road). Ie. a smart ass' clandestine operation gone wrong: there have been witnesses - Barrydale is too small for smart asses. 


In 15 days time charges will be laid.

Why in 15 days time?


Well, perhaps in the meantime the offender will reconsider and clean up the mess.

What can I say? Ducks are real "softies".