{"id":4388,"date":"2013-02-17T07:05:47","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T07:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/?p=4388"},"modified":"2013-02-16T11:57:32","modified_gmt":"2013-02-16T11:57:32","slug":"17-february-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/2013\/02\/17\/17-february-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"17 February 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning to you all. Boy, did our weather change in a heartbeat! One evening we went to bed with about six to eight inches of snow on the ground and temperatures hovering just below freezing. The next day we wake up to no snow and temperatures a balmy, Spring-like 46o<\/sup>. We\u2019d had rain over night as well as rising temperatures and naturally, with so much snow on the ground, there was widespread flooding. Our regular trek around the Edgecote estate was impassable due to the flooded Cherwell \u2013 not even Penelope with her high-legged Wellingtons was able to cross the river this time!<\/p>\n

I wonder to what extent our current horsemeat saga has hit the news outlets in other countries \u2013 it\u2019s been big here. In short, inspectors have found significant quantities of horsemeat in pre-packaged ready-meals advertised as beef which has, not surprisingly, caused uproar. Of course, there have been those who suggest that the coalition government\u2019s decision to slash the Food Standards Agency\u2019s budget and sack three-quarters of the already surprisingly low number of inspectors has come home to roost, but I suspect that\u2019s somewhat unfair. This sort of thing has undoubtedly gone on for ever as this Path\u00e9 News footage from 1948<\/a> illustrates. I do, however, suspect it\u2019s easier to get away with substituting horse for beef when there is no one around to carry out the necessary inspections.<\/p>\n

The one \u201clight\u201d side to the scandal has been the number of amusing cartoons and PhotoShop manipulations, a small sample of which you\u2019ll find below. Click for a larger version.<\/p>\n