I am wondering if....

anyone is actually reading this and what they think of these miaous. There have not been too many purrs lately.
And I have to miaou again today. First there is the nonsense about 'free travel' for seniors on the front page of the paper. The idea is to give those in possession of a seniors card (over 60 please) free transport outside peak hours. It sounds good but it really means very little. It will not significantly reduce road traffic - which is what we should be aiming at. There is also a distinct shortage of public transport at the relevant times.
If the government was serious about reducing congestion on the road then they would provide more public transport (completely accessible please!) at shorter intervals - and make it much more difficult to use a car, especially a car occupied by just one individual. They would make it much more difficult for the young to obtain a licence. They would ban the use of entertainment systems in cars. Anyone caught using a mobile 'phone (even hands free) or any sort of entertainment system should be liable to an instant loss of licence. Tough stuff? If you are driving then you should be concentrating on driving. If you want to travel and be entertained or carry on a conversation then use an MP3 and text your messages on public transport.
Ah yes, put those measures in place and we will have a riot on our hands - or so they tell me.

Then there is the report on page 3 of the 'Tiser - more dubious research about the iniquities of eating red meat and how it harms our health and makes us more liable to heart attack. Now I am not fond of red meat but others are and I doubt this will stop them. What bothers me is that the conclusions they draw may not be based on the evidence. Those who were said to over-indulge in red meat and have a heart attack as a result of its consumption were also found to be overweight, smokers who led a sedentary lifestyle and ate other foods with a high fat/salt content. So, what's to blame - the meat or the diet and lifestyle. I suspect that the latter may, at very least, be an influence here. Miaou! The cat is having fish for lunch anyway.
Purr wise - Juliana dropped off a lovely book review for the newsletter. I wondered if I had made a mistake buying 'No Idle Hands' for the Guild library. It seems not. Her review should encourage more people to at least dip into it. Perhaps if more people read and knitted our health would improve, there would be less time for cooking all that dreadful red meat and our fingers would be too busy on the needles to snack?