Not All Cockroaches Are Pests

Sometimes this world bewilders me, and one bewildering thing at the moment is an electronic backpack for cockroaches which allows the insect’s movements to be controlled by a mobile phone app. It’s about to go on sale in America, and is ostensibly intended to get more youngsters interested in neuroscience. Unfortunately, in order to attach the backpack, the cockroach has to be placed in icy water to subdue it before sandpaper is used to remove the waxy coating on the shell of its head; an electrode connector and electrodes are then glued on to the insect's body and a needle is used to poke a hole in its thorax in order to insert a wire; its antennae are then cut and electrodes are inserted; a circuit is attached to its back, and signals are received through the mobile phone app allowing users to control the cockroach’s movements to the left and to the right. How on Earth did this make it on to the market?! This is clearly cruel! I find all animal cruelty abhorrent, but I accept that there will always be some psychopaths in the world; what I don’t accept is animal cruelty being promoted (and seemingly accepted by retailers!) under the veil of education! I hope there is some sort of backlash against the company producing these insect backpacks (a company I’m not going to dignify by naming), and that the products are taken off sale as soon as possible.

Saving Lives Should Not Be Optional

Firefighters have recently gone on strike (and will continue to go on strike) because of pension age requirements; at the moment, they are able to retire at 55, but the government wants to extend that to 60. Neither side is willing to compromise, and that is the problem. One solution could be to say that at 55 a health check can be administered so that those who are physically unable to fight fires can retire on a full pension, but those who are capable must continue. This would be reasonable negotiation which should satisfy both sides, but they are all unwilling to recognise pragmatism! Firefighters are there to save lives, not to have political issues; I’m sorry if that seems narrow-minded to some people, but I don’t want even a small risk of my house being burnt down without succour from all the resources available rather than just from ‘contingency plans’. If a person chooses to be a part of the emergency services then they should take that responsibility more seriously than financial conflict. I am very disappointed by the strike action; there should be a more concerted effort towards mutual agreement. But that isn’t to say that the government is let off the hook (far from it, they are often the demonisers of workers’ rights!), it’s just that I think firefighters should have a certain morality which says that they never risk letting a fire harm anybody, even if politicians are shits!