It has been reported that a UK supermarket withdrew some own brand bags of nuts from its shelves after the Food Standards Agency issued an allergy alert because there was no warning on the packaging that the product may contain nuts.
Whilst the warning and action may at first appear somewhat bizarre, the reason for the alert was because the bags were labelled as “monkey nuts”, which are peanuts that are still in their shells, but there was no mention of peanuts on the packets.
The 2012 London Olympics are finally upon us after years of careful planning and preparation. Certainly there have been one or two hiccups along the way, but the overwhelming view at the start of these games is that everything has been well prepared and those responsible deserve our heartiest congratulations.
Of course, alongside the work to deliver the various venues, individual athletes have been doing their own preparations, each following a very carefully developed training regime. Whilst most everyone considers it a great privilege and honour to be chosen to represent their country in a particular event, what each one is really after is to be a medal winner – particularly a gold medal winner.
It’s worth pausing to consider for a moment, their goal and the effort they have expended to achieve that goal. According to the bible, the work put in by athletes preparing to compete in the games has much to teach us about the way less athletic mortals should go about living our routine lives.
The Greek people go to the polls today to elect their next government. What the outcome will be is anyone’s guess but the issues couldn’t be much graver.
It is only six weeks since Greece last had an election but the votes were so spread between the seven political parties and their views were at odds with each other to the extent that it proved impossible to form any kind of democratic government – hence another vote just six weeks later.
If the country is to know any degree of stability, it is essential that this vote proves more decisive than the last. The difficulty is that nobody knows how to vote in order to bring about that stability.
At this point in time, the uprising in Libya appears to be coming to a conclusion – at least the armed struggle, though there is still a very long way to go and many obstacles to be overcome before we can expect to see a new stable government in the country.
The scenes of violence, rioting and looting that we have seen on our streets in recent days are appalling to all decent citizens of our nation. Many people are facing a high cost in terms of businesses, employment, goods, homes, injury and even loss of life. It all amounts to an extraordinary degree of suffering, misery and loss inflicted on innocent people by irresponsible and thoughtless individuals.
As is so often the case, the wider community is faced with paying a very high price for the ill gotten gain of a wild few.
The unrest in a number of Arab countries is continuing with no end currently in sight. It started in Tunisia only a couple of months ago and soon spread to Egypt. Now the presidents of both countries have been ousted.
Subsequently, the opposition to authoritarian rule has spread to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Algeria and Iran. Other nations that could soon find themselves in the same situation are Morocco, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
The story continues to run in the media of the couple – Mr and Mrs Bull – who have a Bed and Breakfast in Cornwall and have been branded as criminals by the UK justice system because of the stand of conscience they took in regard to unmarried couples sharing a bed.
Jesus’ parable of the Wedding Banquet provides a picture of God’s relationship with humanity.
The well-loved account of Peter and John healing the beggar who usually sat outside the gate of the Temple is the first recorded miracle associated with the Christian Church after they had been filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury is a prominent supporter of a campaign by Christians living in Britain against the marginalisation of Christian belief in our nation.
