|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Fur Flies After Road Workers Paint over Dead Badger Sep 10, 9:13 am ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Local officials in Britain were reported to be furious after road workers apparently painted a white line on the side of a highway right over the furry body of a dead badger.
Britain's Sun newspaper on Tuesday splashed a photo of the badger across half a page, saying the picture was taken by a passerby who saw it on the side of the highway in Somerset, southwestern England.
The freshly-painted white line at the road's edge went right over the dead animal's back.
"This is totally unacceptable and we will be asking for an explanation," the paper quoted a local government spokesman as saying.
The lines were painted by an independent contractor, he said.
--------
Badgers? Badgers? We don't need no steenking badgers!
TEd
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear TEd: I have an idea the lane markers on roads are guided by the median, not the edge of the road. So the guy laying the line never saw the badger. Newspapers love stories that get the bleeding heart animal lovers upset. Incidentally almost a year ago thousands of badgers were to be culled because of recurrence of bovine tuberculosis was blamed on them. I haven't heard followup on that. Have you?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
Yep, it's a true story, TEd - we read it in the pub just this lunchtime, courtesy of The Sun. For those who don't know, The Sun is an English newspaper popular precisely because of the accuracy of its reporting and its tendency to take a moderate viewpoint. Oh, and its avoidance of all forms of bias and sexism. Ahem. Here's a link, with graphic pictures and probably gratuitous pop-up ads etc: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002420237,00.htmlI have to confess I couldn't help laughing when I saw the article, and even more when I saw the picture. Somebody really wanted to get the job done and dusted. Performance related pay, perchance?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Dr. Bill is right. They don't have time to stop and clean up every little thing that gets in the way and even if they did, the guy running the paint machine (they don't do it by hand, you know, they have a large piece of road equipment that puts them up higher than a suv) didn't even see it. There's a similar picture of a possum (original American style) with a yellow stripe down its back (it *was in the middle of the road) that's gone the rounds over here. I was looking for it but couldn't find it right quick. Sure, it's funny, but it's not evidence of mal- or even misfeasance.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I found it. We sent it to a fellow AWADer (who probably *wishes to remain anonymous) from a Southern e-postcard site as an admittedly twisted birthday greeting: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q10122FB1
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
But was there more of a stink kicked up over the skunk?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Dead Skunk Loudon Wainwright III words and music by Loudon Wainwright III
Crossin' the highway late last night, He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right, He didn't see the station wagon, car, The skunk got squashed and there you are!
(Chorus) You got yer Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Stinkin' to high heaven!
Take a whiff on me that ain't no rose! Roll up yer window and hold yer nose, You don't have to look and you don't have to see, 'Cause you can feel it in your olfactory,
(Repeat Chorus) You got yer Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Stinkin' to high heaven!
Yeah you got yer dead cat and you got yer dead dog, On a moonlight night you got yer dead toad frog Got yer dead rabbit and yer dead raccoon, The blood and the guts they're gonna make you swoon!
You got yer dead skunk, in the middle, Dead skunk in the middle of the road. Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Stinkin' to high heaven. C'mon stink!
(Fiddle break)
You got it, It's dead, it's in the middle, Dead skunk in the middle! Dead skunk in the middle of the road, Stinkin' to high heaven! All over the road, technicolor man! Oh, you got pollution. It's dead, it's in the middle, And it's stinkin' to high, high heaven! (Fiddle fadeout) © 1973 by Loudon Wainwright III
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
From the bottom of Fish's link, there is this fishy point made:
"A month ago we told how workmen painted yellow lines around a traffic cone in Huddersfield, West Yorks. "
Now 'splain how that was done with a machine....
Beast regards, WW
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 279
enthusiast
|
enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 279 |
Howye fokes
Sinsationalised and shocken stories like that just go ta show that paper never refuses ink. Don't know nothin about ded badgers refusen paint, though.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Could the badgers claim their indictment in bovine tuberculosis problem had been whitewashed?
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,430
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
663
guests, and
1
robot. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|