Moan, moan, moan----get it off your chest or have a chat

[Anthony Darby]

This weekend I went for my usual country walk with Heidi to discover the environmental vandals have sprayed weed killer over the wild flowers that used to make my walks a joy. In some places two metres from the edge of the rough forestry roads have been sprayed. Moronic! The last of the automata did not die out when the dinosaurs became extinct! Most of these verges are bordering woodland and, in my book, it is totally inappropriate to destroy the environment like this! At least litter can be picked up and strimmed verges regrow, but not this. Only the grass will survive. Everything else is dead!

The first pic shows one of the borders with buttercups and orchids taken in July. The next seven show various views on sections of the track after spraying, including a very dead orchid! The last two pics, also taken yesterday with knapweed in flower, have not been sprayed as they are on a footpath not readily accessible to an industrial weed sprayer. They show what the sprayed verges should look like.

[Panu]

Nice Weimaraner

[Paddy Tobin]

Anthony,

This is similar to a practice here which annoys me for the same reasons you mention above. New roadways must, it seems, have tidy verges and miles and miles of native plants are sprayed off to achieve this result.

How beautiful it is to see a large long patch of, for example, Hemp Agrimony (a species of eupatorium which would add to any garden) along the side of a road and how terrible to return a week or so later and find it has been killed.

Like Anthony, when I walk I am constantly looking at the wild flowers along the route and find it very interesting and enjoyable and bemoan their loss.

Paddy

[Ragged Robin]

Is your Local Council responsible for this?  Would The Forestry Commission do this?  

What mindless carnage, wildlife living in the road verges must have been devastated too, effecting bird/insect life as well

I have to say I have only ever seen verges like this cut.  How can it be more economical to spray as it is nearly the end of the growing season?

[Luc Gilgemyn]

How stupid can one be  

[Lesley Cox]

I know it would be time consuming and probably frustrating, but can you Anthony, and others like minded start a campaign of letter writing to locals papers, couuncil, radio stations etc and start some community debate going? Some results have been achieved here by so doing, and getting on board local land owners who can "covenant" to keep their verges and wilder spots in their natural condition. Takes time, but worth doing, surely.

[Lesley Cox]

What's with Paypal??? For weeks I've been getting unsolicited emails telling me my Paypal account is at risk, or being hacked, or on the verge of expiry or urgently in need of updating or a dozen other things. I DON'T HAVE AND NEVER HAD a Paypal account. There's nowhere to tell them to cease and desist and if they don't stop immediately I'll open a Facebook account specifically to tell them (publicly) to B....r OFF!!

[Martin Baxendale]

What's with Paypal??? For weeks I've been getting unsolicited emails telling me my Paypal account is at risk, or being hacked, or on the verge of expiry or urgently in need of updating or a dozen other things. I DON'T HAVE AND NEVER HAD a Paypal account. There's nowhere to tell them to cease and desist and if they don't stop immediately I'll open a Facebook account specifically to tell them (publicly) to B....r OFF!!

It'll be a phishing scam.

[Maggi Young]

What's with Paypal??? For weeks I've been getting unsolicited emails telling me my Paypal account is at risk, or being hacked, or on the verge of expiry or urgently in need of updating or a dozen other things. I DON'T HAVE AND NEVER HAD a Paypal account. There's nowhere to tell them to cease and desist and if they don't stop immediately I'll open a Facebook account specifically to tell them (publicly) to B....r OFF!!

 It's got nothing to do with PayPal, Lesley - these are spam emails  "phishing" for those with paypal accounts to try to fool them into giving their details.... like with the same sort of emails that fly about telling us that our accounts with Bloggs' Bank/ Building Society etc have been similalrly interfered with. All spoof, spam, assorted drivel. The hope is that their trick will catch someone with an account and net them a catch....Delete and forget!

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks. This stuff is supposed to be caught by my security system. I even got one today from NZ Inland Revenue Dept (IRS in the States).

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks. This stuff is supposed to be caught by my security system. I even got one today from NZ Inland Revenue Dept (IRS in the States).

Can't depend on any of these systems.  The fact is, lots and lots of spam/scams/hoaxes will get through (and heaven forbid; viruses).  As an active computer user in the year 2010, one needs to be savvy and very aware of the constant barrage of spam, spoofs, and hoaxed emails... asking you to click here or supply your login credentials to this site or that.  This unsavory side of computing has become very much part of the norm.

[Lesley Cox]

Well I've certainly become aware of all the trash Mark and I never reply ot click on anything I don't know the sender, Forumists for instance but one might expect one's government's biggest dept (IRD) not to do such junk.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Well... only last week I received a friendly mail informing me I had won a huge amount of money (in a lottery I had never heard of).  All I had to do was mail my bankdetails and the money would follow... 
Why wasn't this true ?? 

[fermi de Sousa]

The latest scam here is getting an e-mail from someone you know (because the scammers have hacked into their system or something) asking for money as they've had to rush off overseas for a family crisis and they can't use their credit cards for some reason. They supply details for a Western Union account and ask you to send money asap! Because it comes from someone you know you might think its legitimate but again just a scam and your friend has to change e-mail accounts!
cheers
fermi

[ranunculus]

I've put the $3000 in the post Fermi and I hope your second cousin can purchase her release from those Somali pirates as soon as possible!

... And I'm so sorry to hear about your porcupine farm going bankrupt (the economic bubble has definitely burst), I will send another cheque on Tuesday along with our bank details as requested.