The Archbishop of York

Recently the Archbishop of York cut up his "dog collar" on live television and vowed not to wear another one until Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, is out of office. This has attracted much attention as the dog collar is often the most obvious sign that it's wearer is a member of the clergy. According to canon law, that is the law of the church, a member of the clergy can remove their collar if there is a "justifiable reason" for doing so. The Archbishop's removal of his collar, as a form of protest is one such reason. As is removing it for personal safety. Apparently vicars get attacked more often than either GPs or probation officers. As such National Churchwatch advises clergy to remove their collars when they are on their own.

Christmas Cheer

Seeing as how it is the season to overindulge in everything (namely food, alcohol, spending money, and watching TV) I was intrigued to learn that in recent years the strength of wine has increased. I don't actually drink much alcohol myself but most table wines are now 11.5% to 13.5% ABV (alcohol by volume). This means that the old system of units of alcohol which was introduced in the 1970s is now a little out of date. Under that system a glass of wine was equal to one unit but taking into account the increased strength of wine and larger glasses a single glass of wine is now equal to two units.

Which means that now instead of two drinks and I'm anybody's, it's two sips and I'm out cold. I think I shall stick to over-indulging in food.

Passports

While doing some reading for one of my courses (I shan't bore you with the information, I don't have the time to explain) my curiosity was sparked about passports. The term probably originates from the letters needed to pass through the gate of city walls. Such a system was in use in France until 1860. Passports were not needed for seaports but were needed for inland cities and often they contained a physical description of the bearer. Passports only became widely used for international travel during World War I, bizarrely by 1914 passport requirements had been eliminated through most of Europe due to increased rail travel. However the need to monitor who was entering and exiting a country during the war mean that passports were re-introduced. After the war the new controls remained in place.

Part of what I was reading was an analysis of how "emergency measures" tend to stay in place even when the emergency is over.

Employment rights

While surfing the Internet I stumbled across some information that I found quite shocking. Last year I studied Labour Law and in the UK workers have a significant amount of protection from discrimination. They cannot, for example, be fired on basis of their sex, religious beliefs, race or sexual orientation. Therefore I was quite shocked to discover that in the USA several states offer workers no protection against discrimination on grounds of their sexuality. In these states it would be legal to fire an individual because of their sexual orientation.

Quarantine

By the time of the Black Death people had realised the infectious nature of some diseases. The city of Dubrovnik was keen to avoid letting people or ships in should they be showing signs of plague. Hence in a document dated from the fourteenth century newcomers to the city had to spend a period of time in isolation to see if the symptoms of the plague would develop before being let in. Originally this period was 30 days but it was later increased to 40 days. It is from the Italian for forty days that the word 'quarantine' derives from, the original phrase being either quarantena or quaranti giomi (latin for 40 days).

Here's one other fun quarantine fact, when the astronauts from Apollo 11 returned from the moon they were put in quarantine in case they were carrying any unknown diseases from the moon.

One reason to look forward to 2008

I read the paper today and discovered that the United Nations have designated 2008 as the International Year of the Potato. Being a good Irish girl all I can say is it is about time. However I was surprised to learn that global potato consumption is rising and after wheat, maize and rice it is the most important food crop in the world. However my favourite factoid was that when the Spanish Armada was wrecked in 1588 off the coast of Ireland villagers rescued seed potatoes rather than the sailors.

And lo a stereotype was born.

Smallpox

Smallpox is the only known infectious disease to have been eradicated completely. The last person known to have died from smallpox was Janet Parker. She was a medical photographer working at the University of Birmingham medical school in England. She worked above a lab where research was being conducted with live smallpox virus. The head of the medical microbiology department committed suicide following her infection. Once smallpox was eradicated the World Health Organisation recommended that stockpiles of the virus be destroyed. Two known stocks remain, one in the USA and one in Siberia.