Seriously thoughtful UK flights grounded by Icelandic volcano

[AprilHare]

A lecturer of mine, Professor Benjamin J. Eggleton of the University of Sydney, had a good excuse for missing the lecture he was to give today: he was stuck in Europe due to the volcano.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

A lecturer of mine, Professor Benjamin J. Eggleton of the University of Sydney, had a good excuse for missing the lecture he was to give today: he was stuck in Europe due to the volcano.

What !

No ferry ! ....


Teachers in Coventry (UK) are being threatened with docked pay for not being in school - even if their excuse is a valid one !

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

What !

No ferry ! ....


Teachers in Coventry (UK) are being threatened with docked pay for not being in school - even if their excuse is a valid one !

It's a bit of a ferry ride from Europe to Australia - he'll still be late!
Docking his pay seems to be a bridge too far!

[YGG-]

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...-volcanic.html
and the next cloud is coming... http://db.eurad.uni-koeln.de/prognos...r_1h_movd0.gif

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There was an item on the news this morning, saying that, while this may be inconveniencing a lot of passengers, it's a disaster for several countries in East Africa, whose economy is dependent upon selling fresh fruit and veg, and flowers, to Europe by air. Kenya, they said, gets 20% of its income from this, and employs a million people in the industry, and so far 6,000 tons of fruit and flowers has had to be thrown out, at a loss of £2m per day this problem persists.

On a BBC Radio 4 interview the question was raised as to whether people might be surprised that Europe was importing food from Africa, and might it not be better if the food went to feed Africans.
The spokesperson replied that Kenyan farmers were growing mange tout; and Africans don't eat mange tout - "it's not in their diet".
It all seemed a bit odd to me.

[HarryT]

Yes, I heard that myself on my way to work, and it struck me as slightly bizarre, too.

[cmdahler]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

*sigh* I just should stick to my age old rule: don't tell jokes - you suck at it.

So anyone who was offended, felt slighted or dumb cos you didn't see the joke - don't worry. It's not you, it's me.

I promise I won't do it again.

Nah, always remember that in any crowd, there will always be a few people who either have no sense of humor at all, or who just don't get your particular brand of humor, or who are so mega-sensitive that everything comes across as offensive. Don't worry about it - it was a simple, amusing little quip. Keep the humor flowing, God knows we all need it.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

On a BBC Radio 4 interview the question was raised as to whether people might be surprised that Europe was importing food from Africa, and might it not be better if the food went to feed Africans.
The spokesperson replied that Kenyan farmers were growing mange tout; and Africans don't eat mange tout - "it's not in their diet".
It all seemed a bit odd to me.

I understand this kind of situation is not uncommon, and is often cited as one of the undesirable effects of globalization: developing countries turn their agriculture to export, instead of producing what they need locally. This works when export prices are high, but if they suddenly drop, the country is left with heaps of worthless products and not enough to eat.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I understand this kind of situation is not uncommon, and is often cited as one of the undesirable effects of globalization: developing countries turn their agriculture to export, instead of producing what they need locally. This works when export prices are high, but if they suddenly drop, the country is left with heaps of worthless products and not enough to eat.

I'm not sure that scenario entirely applies here, though. Kenya isn't growing flowers for export instead of food for locals; the country is self-sufficient in agriculture, and grows more than enough food for its people.

You might ask "why grow flowers for Europe instead of food for people in Darfur?", but the answer to that is simple: Europeans have money to buy Kenyan roses; the Sudanese don't have money to buy Kenyan food.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A south wind is good news. It's a wind from the south, so it will blow the ash northwards.

I wonder if that's what the folks in Norway think!

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not sure that scenario entirely applies here, though. Kenya isn't growing flowers for export instead of food for locals; the country is self-sufficient in agriculture, and grows more than enough food for its people.

I stand corrected. That's good to hear anyway

[Ea]

It's my impression that Africa as such is more than (potentially) capable of producing enough food for itself. It's war, bad political management, and lack of infrastructure that's the worst.

[HarryT]

Things seem to be up and down at the moment. Some flights have resumed this morning from Scottish airports, but airports in Northern England, which were due to reopen at 7am will remain closed until at least 1pm, due to an overnight intensification of the ash cloud.

I've now had personal proof that the ash really is there: it rained here yesterday morning, and my car is now covered in a sort of very fine sandy residue; obviously the rain brought down a lot of ash with it.

The Royal Navy is now being drafted in to help get people home from Spain and the Channel ports, and there's talk of requisitioning passenger liners to bring people home from North America. The government estimates that 150,000 British people are stranded in other countries.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The government estimates that 150,000 British people are stranded in other countries.

I suspect the cucial figure might be how many Labour supporters from marginal constituencies are stranded overseas, and where exactly are they?

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I suspect the cucial figure might be how many Labour supporters from marginal constituencies are stranded overseas, and where exactly are they?

When is the election?