Veggie Nuggets

Beef Ban Lifted

March. The 11 year old ban on live veal exports from Britain to the EU has been lifted by the EU Vets’ Committee. In late 1994, these exports were the source of heavy protests from animal rights campaigners at air and sea ports. They criticized the conditions that animals suffer on long journeys to Europe, such as heat, overcrowding, lack of food and water. Concern for animal welfare, however, wasn’t what prompted the ban of these live exports. It was the fear of mad cow disease entering the European food chain that brought it about. While the government and farmers welcome the lift, animal rights campaigners have warned that protests could resume. RSPCA's head of farm animals, Dr Julia Wrathall has stated that “long distance transport can have serious negative short- and long-term effects on the health of young calves”.

During the protests 11 years ago, one campaigner was killed. 31-year-old Jill Phipps ran towards a lorry with veal calves and got trapped beneath its wheels.

Sexy Veggie

Ross Minett from Edinburgh and Stéphanie Rebato from Paris were selected from among hundreds of entrants from across Europe to be named sexiest vegetarian alive in a contest organised by PETA. Both winners will receive GBP 350 worth of prizes.

Shoot your Shot

February. US Vice-President Dick Cheney has accidentally shot and injured one of his hunting buddies during a quail hunting trip. The victim, lawyer Harry Whittington, was on the trip with the Vice-President at a ranch in south Texas. The incident occurred when Mr. Cheney turned around to shoot at a bird, unaware that Mr. Whittington was behind him. The victim was sprayed with shotgun pellets, hitting him in the cheek, neck and chest. He was admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit where he later suffered a minor heart attack, possibly caused by a pellet lodged in his heart.

Dick Cheney came under strong criticism for not reporting the matter to the public immediately. Details were only released the day after the accident happened.

Who's a Pretty Boy then?

A man was alerted to his girlfriend's infidelity when his pet parrot Ziggy squawked “I love you Gary” as the two of them were having a cuddle on the sofa. What gave the game away was the fact that Ziggy spoke the fatal phrase in a perfect imitation of the woman’s voice. The indiscreet parrot also blurted out “Hiya Gary” every time her mobile phone rang and made kissing noises each time the name Gary was mentioned on television. Needless to say the deceived boyfriend dumped his cheating partner. Sadly enough he also got rid of 8-year-old Ziggy because it simply was too painful to hear him repeat the name Gary over and over again.

Like a Mouse on Fire

A resident of New Mexico, US, found a mouse in his house and wanted to get rid of it. He threw the rodent onto a pile of burning leaves outside in his garden and could only watch in horror as the mouse ran back into his house and set the building ablaze. Though no one was injured, the house and everything in it was completely destroyed.

I'm Loving it Not

Fast food giant McDonald’s closed down its restaurant in Altamura, Italy after a 5-year battle with a local baker’s bread. The baker, Mr. Digesù, said he never set out to force McDonald’s to close down, but had merely offered the 65,000 residents of the southern Italian town his tasty filled panini. These were clearly preferred to burgers and chicken nuggets. Despite the Golden Arches’ best marketing efforts, queues outside the bakery grew longer while McDonald’s gradually emptied. McDonald's opened their restaurant in one of the town's piazza's in 2001, infuriating devotees of traditional local gastronomy, who now feel very victorious.

There are also further signs that McDonald’s is losing the fast-food battle against coffee chains and sandwich shops.

Patisserie for Pets

Paris has always had a reputation as a pet paradise, with the city's 200,000 dogs being welcome in department stores and allowed to eat at the table in restaurants. Now, there is a bakery that cleverly combines two real Parisian passions - pets and good food. Patisserie "Mon Bon Chien" offers freshly made gourmet biscuits and is a real hit with Parisians. Flavours change, based on what’s going on for the holidays. They offered Halloween and Christmas specials.

Becks' Boots

David Beckham has ditched his controversial kangaroo skin football boots for synthetic ones, following a four-year campaign by Viva!. His new boots, which he helped to design, are made from high-tech synthetic materials and are being promoted as “the most accurate, lightest and most powerful” ever. The ultimate test to see whether Beckham can still bend it whilst wearing his new boots, will be the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The rest of Adidas’ so-called Predator Absolut range, unfortunately, will continue to be made from kangaroo leather. Adidas is now one of the world’s biggest customers for kangaroo skins.

Rudolf Meyer

June. Rudolf Meyer, former president of the VEBU, the German Vegetarian Society, passed away. Meyer started as Deputy President in 1976 and became President of the VEBU in 1983, a position he was to hold until 1996. He organised the 1982 World Vegetarian Congress in Ulm at which 750 people participated and took care of the cooperation between the VEBU and the IVU.
Thanks to him, the German Vegetarian Society got a permanent office with modern equipment such as computers and they had paid employees to take care of business. Lots of people will miss him, not just as a former president, but also as a very good friend.

Something Fishy

Surstromming, a national dish in Sweden, is without a doubt, an acquired taste. It’s fermented herring which, according to some, smells like rubbish left out in the sun for days. The Baltic herring is fermented in barrels for months before being put in tins, where the fermentation process continues.

This symbol of all things Swedish has now, however, been banned from major airlines such as British Airways and Air France, classifying it along with dangerous weapons like shoe bombs and firearms. The airlines argue that the cans are pressurised goods and must be seen as potentially explosive. The dish is no longer allowed on their flights and the sale of the delicacy from Stockholm’s international airport has been stopped. The producers of surstromming call the airlines’ decision “culturally illiterate”, saying it's a myth that the cans can explode. They do, however, admit that a punctured tin would emit a foul smell and that the content might spill quite forcefully. They continue their argument by saying that any airlines worried about explosives and foul smells should then also ban bottles of champagne and French cheese.

Meat for Thought

A new European league of IQ scores has ranked the Germans top of the table, with an IQ of 107.

Professor Richard Lynn, professor of psychology of the University of Ulster, has published these findings in a new book. He spent three decades analysing thousands of test results to scrutinise the role of evolution in IQ. Lynn said that populations in the colder, more challenging environments of Northern Europe had developed larger brains than those in warmer climates further south. The average brain size in Northern and Central Europe is 1,320cc and in southeast Europe it is 1,312cc. “The early human beings in northerly areas had to survive during cold winters when there were no plant foods and they were forced to hunt big game,” he said. “The main environmental influence on IQ is diet, and people in southeast Europe would have had less of the proteins, minerals and vitamins provided by meat which are essential for brain development.”

Professor Lynn caused controversy last year by claiming that men were more intelligent than women by about five IQ points on average.