The blog with no name

From the BBC website

Cows have regional accents like humans, language specialists have suggested.
They decided to examine the issue after dairy farmers noticed their cows had slightly different moos, depending on which herd they came from.

John Wells, Professor of Phonetics at the University of London, said regional twangs had been seen before in birds.

The usual Guardian/ICM poll published yesterday shows once again how unpopular this government has become.

What it's actually worse is that the majority of people do not believe what the government says. Not a huge surprise as I have not met a single person who does for a very very long time.

Tony Blair keeps saying that there is no connection between Iraq and Afghanistan but:

72%, including 65% of Labour voters, think government policy has made Britain more of a target for terrorists. Only 1% of voters believe the government's foreign policy has made Britain safer, a devastating finding given that action in Iraq and Afghanistan has been justified in part to defeat Islamist terrorism.

The findings will shock many at Westminster who had expected Labour to gain ground following John Reid's high-profile handling of the alleged plot against transatlantic airlines. Carried out over the past weekend, following the series of terror arrests, the poll shows voters do not believe the government is giving an honest account of the threat facing Britain. Only 20% of all voters, and 26% of Labour voters, say they think the government is telling the truth about the threat, while 21% of voters think the government has actively exaggerated the danger.

A majority, 51%, say the government is not giving the full truth and may be telling less than it knows. That finding comes despite a newly introduced system of public information warnings that saw the home secretary downgrade the threat level from critical to severe.

I've decided to explore more my avatar and I've found quite a few interesting things.

Meerkats actually go to school.

LONDON: Humans aren't the only smart species to educate their young. Meerkats in South Africa's Kuruman Reserve were found 'teaching' their young how to obtain food. The methods employed by these animals were quite in line with the basic principles of teaching, a team of researchers observed.

But these cute animals also have a very dark side.

You are free to adopt one if you like.

Meerkats have their own soap opera called Meerkat Manor. I'm not sure they actually watch it. Above is a video extract.

They also take part in commercials.

Lots of meerkats pictures.

This is a whole documentary about social co-operation in animals and includes meerkats.

And finally we have Michael Portillo that seems to have become an expert in ethology in a radio program about:

Michael Portillo goes in search of natural despots and finds them in some surprising places. Meerkats have the reputation of being cute, timid animals. Their social structure, however, is much more sinister. Over millions of years evolution has honed these animals to find a group solution to surviving the rigours of desert life in South Africa.

This is a hybrid between Google Maps and BBC news feeds.
Basically you see the latest news where they happen in the UK.

I've not thought of any practical use yet.