The
Anchor Hotels main bar was
almost empty last night. Even in deepest Winter this is a rare occurrence.
Whilst it was cold, and everything was covered in a white frost, as always, there’s
was a cheery log fire burning brightly in the bar equalling the warmth of
welcome from
Sharon, Robert, Lyndsay and the rest of the staff. For me the
Anchor is just a short stroll along the sea front from the
House in Scotland, but
for many others getting there will require a car. I think this was the reason
the bar was so quiet. At one minute past midnight last Thursday/Friday
Scotland’s
new alcohol limit for driving was introduced. The new legal limit is just 50mg in
every 100ml of blood (in other parts of the
UK it is still 80mg per 100mls).
This means that even having just 1
pint of beer is likely to take most people over the limit. Between midnight and
06.00 on Friday 4 people were arrested for being over the new limit. 79% of
Scottish motorists support the new reduced limits, and the RAC found that some
38% of UK motorists (living outside of Scotland) believe the lower alcohol limit
should apply across the whole of the UK. 23% wanted a total ban on consuming alcohol
before driving. This time of the year, most Police forces in the UK have a crackdown on drink driving,and such campaigns are almost a Christmas tradition.
A growing Christmas tradition
appears to be
Nativity Play Bashing. Last week the newspapers were once more full
of critical narratives bemoaning the loss of the more traditional
Jesus and
Mary approach, or ridiculing the inclusion of astronauts and other assorted non-traditional
cast members. Given the past week saw: the death of
Jeremy Thorpe; massive civil
rights inspired rioting on the streets in the
US;
NASA sending its first people
carrying rocket beyond Earth’s orbit since
Apollo 17 in 1972; and the
WHO acknowledging
that, 33m people around the world are living with HIV, and 11m don’t know they
have the virus- complaining about children’s nativity plays seemed somewhat
daft and churlish.
Grandson Jack didn't
complain about
being part of his Nativity play. This year he was a Sheep. I can’t show you
what a good looking Sheep he was, because photos taken at the play are forbidden
from being used on any social media site. Here's one of Jack and his brother Harry instead. Such is the world we now live in. Unfortunately
it’s a world where the British police are to launch their new tool in the fight
against child abuse. CAID (Child Abuse Image Database) next week. This database
will store 10s of millions of photos, and videos which can be scanned and
searched for images previously linked to child sexual abuse activity. The
system was created by team of Swedish computer software designers.
There were just under 9000 cases
of abuse against children aged 7-14 in Sweden last year and just over 3000
reported cases of abuse against children aged 0-6 in the same period. Sweden,
of course, is famous for having a culture completely intolerant to drink
driving. There the limit is just 20mg per 100mls of blood. There are severe penalties
for those in breach of this limit, including imprisonment. The Swedish School association
in Scotland has already performed its Swedish Nativity play (Julspel) this
year.
I am not sure how many sheep were included, but Sweden isn't known for its sheep flocks. The country is home to 9300 flocks containing
some 300000 ewes and rams. The average flock size is about 30 sheep, with 30% of
flocks having only nine sheep or less. In comparison, Jack, for just one performance swelled the ranks of the 23m sheep that make up the national flock
in the UK - and he did it in style! Bah Humbug to all those who can’t enjoy a
great children’s Nativity play.
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