The Official Nonsense Thread

[Caspin]

I don't think I have ever seen an Ibsen play previously either, but I would recommend him after last night. Despite being knackered I really enjoyed the play. I can only imagine the moral outrage that it would have met with when first performed. I also cannot think of a topic that a new play written these days could offer that would result in such a reaction now. "Ghosts" is apparently a very grim play which Ibsen wrote in part as a follow up to A Doll's House. I would really like to see that and will be looking out for it.

They could vaccinate the badgers and in fact there are some pilot schemes to do so, although I can't remember where. They could also try vaccinating the cattle, but the EU won't allow it. They are unwilling to go down that route because then you can get the same positive result for a TB test for a cow that is infected as from one that has been vaccinated and some countries then won't accept our cows for export. I don't see what the problem is, really - surely these days we can just substitute some horse or whatever other meat is going spare!

Cigarettes are hidden down here as well, behind screens, but they are still in branded packages, which apparently makes them more attractive to young people and makes smokers feel attached to their chosen brands (even the ones with 'you will die' written in massive font and pictures of tarred-up lungs). The Australian study found that the youth really go for the shiny branded boxes and that if you put them in a plain box in a sludgy-green colour, the kids are less keen to smoke them and be seen with them. People are very susceptible to shininess and pretty fonts.

I am sorry about your dentistry woes, Minty. What a time for an important phone call. Hopefully you weren't also all tripped out on painkillers!