Horsemeat Horror

The story's been running a while now.  First traces of horse DNA were found in burgers at a number of stores.  Why Tesco was so singled out in all the reports I'm not sure, given they were also stocked in Iceland, Lidl and Aldi.  It was almost as if they were the only ones who sold them.  Perhaps everyone just hates Tesco for a number of reasons including workfare and killing the British high street.  The latter is of course true, but only because everyone shops there.

In any case, yesterday we discovered that Swedish ready meal company Findus "beef" lasagne products were found to contain up to 100% horse meat.  Cue loads of fabulously awful horse jokes on Twitter, but also real concern and upset about the whole issue.

A Trakehner: magnificent East Prussian warm-blood

Trust and Labelling

Mainly, the upset is expressed as anger at having been misled.  We cannot trust food labelling and there are questions about whether processed food manufacturers even know themselves what is in their products.  This is, of course, absolutely valid.

It has shone a spotlight on the fact that when you're buying a beefburger, it doesn't contain the meat from an individual animal, slaughtered, and made into a nice patty.  Instead it is full of bits and pieces of different animals (and clearly different types of animals), processed beyond recognition.  Look at this passage from the Guardian.  That's what's legally going in your beefburgers and sausages, ladies and gentlemen, labelled as "seasoning".

If the outcome of all of this is an increased understanding that if you want the meat from a single animal in your beefburger, you need to buy mince from your local butcher and make it yourself, great.   I'm a little surprised that people are surprised, though.

Corned Beef - or Corned Dog - British Army staple

Apparently Bismarck, well over 100 years ago, said "Laws are like sausages — it is best not to see them being made."  We always used to call the German Bratwurst sausages "Schlechteaugenwürste" (roughly: "rotten eye sausages") 25 years ago.   My Dad referred to corned beef as "corned dog" from his Army days.  These are obviously jokes, but we knew that the notion came from somewhere.  People surely don't think that supermarket sausages are 100% meat?  They're packed full of all kinds of stuff, and the actual meat (as low as 47% of the content in so-called value burgers) which is in there... well.

Here's Giles Coren, who is absolutely correct in my opinion:

Health Concerns

Let's also be clear, the Food Standards Agency has said there is no health risk involved with the horse meat.  How they know that so quickly is anyone's guess, but they're scientists and I'm not.  However, they have said this so far.   I can understand people being outraged if something is labelled "nut free" when it's not, or "vegetarian" when it's not, or "kosher" when it's not.  There are actual health, ethical and religious concerns involved.  Here this huge issue is apparently because a different animal has found its way into an animal product.

The trail seems to lead to Polish suppliers.  They may or may not have slaughtered horses in accordance with EU standards (horse meat, is of course, eaten across the continent).  Equally beef supplies from Poland may or may not have been subject to the same level of health standards, but people aren't horribly alarmed by the chance they're not.  Tesco Value Chicken is imported from Thailand: aren't people worried by the potential of poor standards there?  I've no more reason to trust them than to trust that an EU abattoir in Poland did not slaughter these horses in the correct manner.

The Horse in the Room

No, my impression is that it's specifically the horse element that seems to have upset most people, whether they express it or not.  If these were (non-halal/kosher) beef burgers that were found to have contained 60% or even 100% pork, would everyone really be so agitated?  You can of course claim that you want to know what's in your food, and you'd be correct.  I'm just questioning whether every newspaper would be full of this right now.

"Fine Horse Meat: to barbecue" (Switzerland)

Remarkably few people I've seen have mentioned "the horse in the room" and that they're actually disgusted at the idea of eating them.  A few have, and it's very honest.  It also still strikes me as odd, though.  Of course you're entitled to eat whatever you wish, but why the distinction?  Pigs are more intelligent than dogs.  I'd say a lamb, or a calf, is far cuter personally.  Of course horses have been domesticated to a large extent, so humanity has a kind of bond with them.  I do wonder how many of us (outside Surrey) have close relationships to a particular one that we know though.  I can get the idea of eating a dog or a cat because so many of us have them as pets... but horses?

I've been told that it's not in our culture to eat horses: it's an animal that we once worshipped.  Well we certainly don't worship them now and does anyone really believe that as an argument?  Ancient people worshipped all sorts of random things, including circles of stones, but things move on.  It's also the case that the ancient Gauls worshipped horses, but are happy enough to eat them in France today.

Horse Steak

In Dutch the horse is considered a "noble creature".  I remember from my Dutch classes that it even has a special linguistic status. A horse for example has a "hoofd", which is a word for head usually reserved for humans.  Cows, dogs, cats, hamsters and pigs make do with a "kop".  Still, the Dutch eat them, hoofd an' all.

Lots of People Eat Horses

In fact, LOTS of people eat horses.  According to Wikipedia, 4.7 million horses are eaten a year in the world.  They are a delicacy in France, Germany and Scandinavia and are often sold in upmarket "boutique" horse butchers.  According to my Oslo Twitter friend @Lise_79, in Norway, when food is labeled 'dyrekjøtt' (cattle, or 'large farm animal'), it can mean beef and/or horse.

I found a whole range of horse recipes this morning on German websites.  My favourite was "Pferdefleischwurstsalat" (Horse Meat Sausage Salad) - but mainly because I love the length and construction of German words.  Here's a link to a lovely old Horse Butcher's shop in wealthy, civilised Dortmund.  Note the picture: yes it's BLACK BEAUTY.  The site is actually labelled "Thoroughbred Horse Slaughter Place" if you translate it literally.  My impression is that the Germans are much less squeamish and a lot more honest than Brits, at least nowadays, in this regard.

Perhaps the biggest surprise?  Horses were eaten in the UK until the 1930s, apparently particularly in Yorkshire.  This wasn't a War shortage thing, and it somewhat undermines the "we worshipped them 2000 years ago" explanation for why eating them is so abhorrent to the British. 

Picture c/o @MrStevenMoore

Disassociation

I've my own theory on all of this, and I'm sure it's not one that's going to win me too many friends.  It's one I think plenty of vegetarians will however identity with.  It simply comes down to this: many people really don't like associating any real life animal with what they're eating on the plate.  There is a deep seated ability to make absolutely no link between the cute little lambs you'll see this month bouncing round fields, with the meat you eat on Sunday.  Your sausages aren't the ones that were in any way associated with the brutal sow stalls and stomach turning cruelty of the factory farming industry... etc, etc.  We've got that sorted in our heads with regards to cows, pigs and sheep.  We don't have it sorted when it comes to horses.  This is new, and it's challenging.

What this scandal has done is throw up perfectly valid concerns about labelling, provenance, the way in which the ready-food industry operates.  However, beyond that, it has made a very concrete link in lots of people's minds back to actual animals that they eat.  Many people just don't, as a rule, like to think eating what was once a living, breathing being, about where they've come from, or about supporting an industry that many would find sickening beyond belief, if they ever dared to explore it.

Put bluntly, many people are in denial about eating meat in general, and this is reflected in their reactions to this horse meat story.  My friend @TheMrsFong puts it perfectly here, and in her typically gentle and thoughtful way.  Read from the bottom tweet up:

Shergar Steaks, Anyone? 

There we go.  You may be one of the meat-eaters who is not put off by horse meat, and I have a lot of respect for your position.  It has an intellectual honesty about it.  If you eat cow or pig, why not?  By all accounts it tastes extremely good.

For my part, I can't really see any other explanation, for the reasons set out above, why it is such a massive story that horse meat has been found in processed food.  We know processed food is dodgy, we know there's no confirmed health risk, and we know that we don't actually worship horses.  We also know that the newspapers wouldn't be full of these stories, if it had been pork, rather than horse, that was found in a product labelled "beef lasagne".

This story has unsettled many people and filled them with revulsion.  I genuinely think many won't consciously realise why.  If they eat meat anyway, I just cannot see why they are so upset, other than it has made them think for a moment about the meat industry in general.  I'm just guessing plenty have found they don't actually like thinking about that much at all.

Star Trek Exhibition at The Science Centre

The Star Trek exhibition held at Bukit Kiara Science Centre ends on the first week of April. So, be sure to add this to your diary :)

My sister told me about the exhibition and told me to promote to my friends in KL. But, I did not because it is Star Trek. I am not a Star Trek fan to begin with. So, how was I to promote something when I have no interest with it ;p

Firstly, if you have not met my sister and want to meet her, then go to exhibition because she works there :):)

Look at that cool bubble my sister made!!

Secondly, it cost only RM20 per entry. My other sister from Canada says it cost 20Cad in Canada to see the exhibition there. So, it is cheap in KL, why not go. (If you cannot afford RM20, then go and play Phewtick. I am sure by April you will earn RM20 :P:P)

Thirdly, my family went to the Star Trek exhibition few days ago and I wished I was there after I saw the photos. The things I saw in the exhibition looked cool! Below are pictures taken during the exhibition I took from my sister's facebook.

I have nothing else to talk about the exhibition because I am not there.. Except, some people like my mum, will confuse Star Trek with Star Wars :P:P:P My mum says it is interesting...

Be careful in KL

I took the article below from The Star. I think everyone should be aware of these kind of taxi rape cases as it is happening in the heart of KL. 

'The daily also reported that a woman was bound, threatened with a knife and held hostage by a taxi driver and his accomplice shortly after she got into the cab in Bukit Bintang on Sunday.

According to the Harian Metro report, the woman was waiting alone for a cab at about 5pm when the man, in his late 30s, offered to drive her home to Cheras at a cheaper rate without using the meter.

The woman agreed and got into the vehicle but the taxi stalled soon after with alleged mechanical problems.

According to the report, the taxi driver's accomplice then entered the car, placed a knife to her abdomen and threatened to stab her if she screamed.

The 26-year-old woman, who had her hands tied and eyes taped shut, was then driven out of town before the men demanded a RM10,000 ransom from her family, the report said.

The family, who could not afford the amount, pleaded to have the amount reduced. They then banked in RM2,000 into the victim's account.

The taxi driver and his accomplice then withdrew the money and fled after dropping her off at a restaurant in Serdang at 9pm the same day.'

Link: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/2/6/nation/12674394&sec=nation

Tau Fu Fah by Petronas

I read The Star today and found out Petronas made another short film called Tau Fu Fahin conjunction with Chinese New Year. Some people said this was touching, but I did not tear like the videos made in previous years. Someone's dad who was a rojak seller before said she could relate to the film.

Paperman

Faster watch this before they remove it.
This is the love story everyone dreams of :):) Its a short film by Disney called Paperman. To know when a guy REALLY loves you is when he willingly goes through the trouble to get you :)

If you cant watch the video above, CLICK HERE

Abseiling Lesbians

February is LGBT History Month and 2 February 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of a remarkable event in British LGBT history.. the storming of the House of Lords by abseiling lesbians.  This is my little tribute to them.

"Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin"

For anyone lucky enough not to remember, here's some quick background.  In 1981 a straight Danish woman, Susanne Bösche, wrote an illustrated children's book called "Jenny lives with Eric and Martin".  It covered, for example, a trip to the laundrette, a surprise birthday party, and an incident of homophobia in the street.  Her aim was to show to children that it's perfectly fine that some people grow up with different family situations.  As she puts it "It's not possible to go through life without meeting people living in different ways, and they shouldn't come as a shock to anybody" Here's an excellent radio piece from the BBC on it and a lovely Guardian interview with Susanne, in which she describes her gentle, incredibly reasonable, intentions.

When the book came out in English translation, there was uproar from the British tabloid press.  In 1983, the Mail reported that a copy had been found in one school library in Labour-controlled Haringey and a storm developed with the press reporting that outraged parents didn't want their children subjected to "images of semi-naked men in bed with a 7 year old girl".  A cultural gulf between Nordic countries, where families routinely have breakfast in bed together, and 80s Tory Britain where they apparently did not, was about to have explosive results.  The Sun, the Star and the Mail led the hectoring and onslaught of prejudice and hate-speech against gay people.  The book was apparently "blatant propaganda for homosexuality".

Only one copy of the book was ever found in that one school library.  There is no evidence it was ever lent out, nor that a single schoolchild ever read it.  If they had, the homophobic lobby would surely have highlighted it.

This was a ghastly time for many in Britain.  Thatcherism was causing enormous social and political upheaval. Terrence Higgins had in 1982 become the first gay man in this country to die of Aids. Several Labour councils were pilloried for taking the (radical!) step of including sexual orientation in a list of discrimination policies, and the Labour-controlled Greater London Council, headed by Ken Livingstone, was attacked for funding the London Lesbian and Gay Centre which occupied a  building in Farringdon.  Bear in mind also that it was only in 1980 that sex between consenting adult males men stopped being a criminal offence in Scotland, and in 1982 in Northern Ireland.
 
"Pretend Family Relationships"

The Thatcher government's response to all of this was to introduce Clause 28 of the Local Government Bill.  Dame Jill Knight, a leading supporter of the amendment, claimed that gay lobby groups were aiming to "abolish the family".  Tory MPs claimed that gay people were attempting to "indoctrinate" children into becoming homosexual.  It's been said many times, but how anyone can influence anyone to do anything with someone of a person of a gender they're not attracted to is beyond me.

The Clause was vile, spiteful and designed to offend the LGBT community with its use of the words "pretend family relationships".  It provided as follows:

A local authority shall not:
(a) Intentionally promote or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality.
(b) Promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality in a pretended family relationship.

Protestors Take to the Streets

There was a huge amount of protest over the Clause. It led to Ian McKellen's coming out just over 25 years ago, on 27 January 1988.  He did so on Radio 3 as a result of it and featured on the front page of the Gay Times.  It's extraordinary to think that "coming out of the closet" was such a political act back then for an actor.  It wasn't THAT long ago.. and it's weird to think that today Gay Times has pictures of 19 year old straight Olympic divers happy to get their kit off for their adoring gay male fans.

"Out of the closet and fighting"

Here are some pictures from rallies against the Clause.  These first two were in Manchester when LGBT protestors occupied Albert Square and Piccadilly Plaza.  Some had to be removed by firemen and weren't going to leave quietly:

Albert Square, Manchester, February 1988

Defiant Manc Lesbian taking on the Coppers

"Gay Proud + Angry"

Five lesbians chained themselves to the gates of Buckingham Palace on 8 March 1988 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Suffragettes doing the same, and were joined by other protestors, some in period costumes!

Abseiling Lesbians

The two most high profile protests, however, were the abseiling into the House of Lords 25 years ago on 2 February 1988, and the invasion of the BBC Six O'Clock News (more on that later).

What happened in the dusty old House of Lords (remember, this was before the Blair reforms, when literally hundreds of ancient Tory hereditary peers could be wheeled in to fall asleep on the benches), was that the peers had just had a two hour debate on the Bill.  They voted 202 to 122 to pass it.  A group of protestors in the public gallery began heaping abuse on them, while four lesbians attached wires to the ironwork and unfurled two thin wires.  Three of them abseiled down into the chamber, shouting "LESBIANS ARE OUT!"  Three House of Lords Ushers, all retired naval warrant officers, tried to quell the protest and in the chaos two of the three abseilers walked out of the chamber.

Sadly no pictures of the protest exist, even though this was after filming was introduced in the House of Lords. This piece in the Guardian records it.  It has also entered this list of high-profile historic protests in parliament and has achieved somewhat legendary status.  They are still remembered fondly today:

So who were the abseiling lesbians?  Very little is known about them.  Click on this link if you want to see a copyrighted picture that shows the four women.  The woman on the right is Janet McLoughlin (not Jane as it says in the caption).  The tall woman at the back is a German woman who went by the name of Tim.  A third woman was Stella Blair (also quoted in the Guardian report) but it's not clear from the caption which one is Stella.  And the fourth remains nameless.  If anyone knows what they are doing now (and PLEASE check that they're happy for that information to be made public), do add a comment below.

Labour Peer Lord Monkswell, who had obtained passes for the women, was forced to apologise to the House a few days later.  His apology was reported in the Guardian.  He doesn't exactly sound sorry though: he declines to condemn the action, and he quotes a 12 year old girl as saying "This is just what Hitler did to the Jews."

BBC Six O'Clock News

The second famous protest was the invasion of the BBC Six O'Clock News on 23 May 1988.  This was the day before Clause 28 was enacted into law as the notorious and hated Section 28.  One woman managed to chain herself to Sue Lawley's desk and another was sat on by Nicholas Witchell.   It really is worth watching this video: Sue Lawley's composure is absolutely remarkable.  Do watch to the end because there's also an interview with the two women who invaded the studio.

(Direct link here if your browser doesn't work.  Firefox properly supports Blogger)

Even more amusing is this little sound clip (just for the first part). A man can be heard saying "Oh f*cking hell, we've got a nutter in the studio! Get them out!... Get security. Get security quickly!"

(Direct line here)

The final priceless thing from this event is the front page of the Daily Mirror the following day:

A Long Road

And there we are... it all seems like another world to me, though I remember 1988 incredibly well.  I was in the lower sixth form and struggling with my sexuality.  You can imagine what the grotesque manifestation of homophobia from the then Tory party did to young gay people of my generation.  I'm not sure I've ever forgiven them for it.

One immediate result of Section 28 was the setting up of Stonewall in 1989 to work within Parliament as well as outside to make sure nothing like this ever happened again, and of course to campaign for the repeal of Section 28 and other discriminatory laws.

Labour first tried to repeal the Section in 2000.  The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also opposed the Section.  The attempt passed the Commons, but was defeated in the Lords following a campaign by Baroness Young (Conservative).  It was at this time that David Cameron defended Section 28 and publicly accused Tony Blair of being anti-family.  He added that Blair wanted to "promote homosexuality in schools". 

Section 28 sent out a message that the Government sanctioned homophobia; it endangered vulnerable children (because it appeared to prevent teachers from intervening in homophobic bullying); and it implied that gay people were dangerous to children.  Not one prosecution was ever made under it. The Section was repealed under Labour by the Local Government Act 2003. 



Michael Howard, who voted for the Bill, was Tory leader in 2005.  He told Attitude Magazine that "I thought, rightly or wrongly that there was a problem in those days" but added "Nobody’s fussed about those issues any more".  Never mind the damage it caused.  In 2006, Tory Chairman, Francis Maude, who himself voted for it, told Pink News that the policy was wrong and a mistake.

David Cameron voted against the repeal of Section 28.  In 2009, 21 years after its introduction and 6 years after its repeal, he finally apologised on behalf of the Conservatives for the Section.  He accepted it had been "offensive to gay people".


A Different World

It is a different world in this country today.  There is still bullying in schools, there is still homophobia in the workplace and we have seen a disgusting amount of it from (certain) Church figures relating to the issue of marriage equality.  There's also an enormously long way to go in the fight against outright violence towards trans* people.

However, the days when people were openly proud of their homophobia have gone.  We have an equal age of consent and anti-discrimination work protection.  It's no longer permissible for a hotel owner to shout in someone's face  "We'll not have any of that here" as happened to my friend Henrietta and her girlfriend not so long ago.  People go to lengths to deny they are homophobic, even if the content of what they are saying blatantly is.

My experience is that young gay, lesbian and bi people are growing up feeling much more secure, balanced, and happier than ever was the case.  It's not across the board, but I genuinely think it is the case broadly speaking... and it is a wonderful thing.

Marriage equality is of course going before the House of Commons on Tuesday.  The Prime Minister supports it, despite a groundswell of anger from grassroots Tories.  I wonder how many MPs who do vote against the proposals will look back in 25 years on marriage equality, as the likes of Howard and Maude do now on Section 28?  Let's hope the hateful rhetoric of those times will be a thing of the past during the debate, that the measure will pass, and that we don't even have to call on the help of abseiling lesbians into the House of Lords during the process :-)




Huge thanks to my friend Anya (@anyapalmer) for suggesting and editing this post, and for providing me with loads of the source material. 

The drive

So, i stayed up for 48 hours to push myself to finish my research project.

Amazingly I did it!

I thought I lost that kind of motivation.

Side effects: dizziness- literally felt like the room was spinning; feeling heavy in the head...

After I was done, I went out for Burger King. Not a good choice coz the brain which was dead and couldnt jump start anymore made me feel oblivious to my surroundings. Looking left and right also took effort! Lol

Anyway, completing a research project does feel like a very heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulder. It was undeniably stressful. I think I grinded my teeth more and had cold sweat too many times while sleeping because of this.